Lord Richard looked at Isadora skeptically. Why did she want to use his room, alone at that? His gaze shifted to the open window and a thought flashed across his mind. What if she wanted to escape? He wanted to laugh but suppressed his feelings. She wanted to use him so that she can ran away? Did she think he was so naïve to just believe her?

"If you want to escape, then I am afraid I cannot let you do that." He said searching her face. But what he saw in those glimmering eyes was hope and fear. Fear of something or of someone. Did she fear him or for Alexander’s life? That, he couldn’t tell.

Isadora looked at Lord Richard surprised by his words. Did he think that she wanted to escape? She almost chuckled thinking about it. Escaping from this place was a piece of cake to her. Only a call to Gareth and she would be gone. Come to think of him, she wondered if he knew about her case. She shook her head slightly. He couldn’t have known yet. Because if he had, this castle would be bathed in red blood. But she was glad he didn’t know. He would cause some problems, not some but great problems, and that is what she was avoiding.

"I have no intentions of escaping my Lord. All I want is to find a cure to the poison that is inside Alexander’s body. And I hope you also want the same." She said looking in his face. His face was now a mix of emotions and she could tell he didn’t trust her yet. He was probably contemplating on whether to believe her or not.

"And why do you need to be alone? Are you getting the cure from my room or what?" He asked making her eyes to widen. She had not thought that far. How could she even answer that question. She couldn’t tell him that she wanted to summon someone, King Griffin at that. That would be sparking a war. The two countries were in bad terms as far as she could remember. Valoria had even refused to trade with their kingdom just because they got their hands on the rich minefields. Valoria would rather travel across the sea to get the mined resources than trade with their kingdom. And now, here she was, ready to summon the enemy king, and to make the matters worse, in their palace. Lord Richard wouldn’t hesitate to have her executed. She knew at that time, he wouldn’t care if she spilled his secret or not.

Lord Richard raised a brow at her at the silence that followed. She blinked several times as if waking from a dream. Right. He had asked her a question. But how the hell would she answer that. Honestly, absolutely not. She wanted her head intact after all. Treason was not just a minor offence but something punishable by a public trial of beheading the perpetrator. That was a norm that all the kingdom’s in the continent practiced. And so Valoria was no exception.

She faced Lord Richard but she didn’t even what to say, so she spoke what came into her mind that time.

"I can’t tell you what I will do once alone but you have to trust me on this My Lord. All of us want to see Alexander in good condition. I know that you care much for him and that’s why you have to trust me on this." She looked at him as if expecting an answer to a question.

Lord Richard sighed heavily. He didn’t know why but for some odd reason, he decided to trust this woman. She just had an aura that unfit for a maid that he couldn’t point out. One befit for a ruler, if he was specific.

"Okay." He breathed the words. "But I have to station guards around just in case you try to escape. Don’t even about it." He said and turned around to leave. Isadora sighed softly as she rubbed her hands nervously.

Standing by the open door, Lord Richard turned to her and said, "Be quick. I don’t like sharing my room." Then he closed the door behind him.

Isadora was now alone. She saw the open window but she knew a guard might be placed on the other end to check on her so she didn’t bother to go near. She listened for any movements outside but no one was there. She was at least glad that Lord Richard trusted her. She looked around his room and it was close to that of a royalty. Of course being a King’s advisor had its own benefits.

The advisor back at their kingdom lived a life nearly to that of a prince. Right! She was not here to admire someone’s room. And Lord Richard had made it clear that he didn’t like sharing his room, so she had to act fast.

She searched for something in her blouse and slowly took out the dagger that had poisoned Alexander. It was now wrapped with a piece of cloth that she had found in the dungeon. It took a while to unwrap it before the leather coated pocket of the dagger was in full display.

She threw the piece of cloth on the floor and unsheathed the dagger. The blade shined brightly as its surface gleamed in the bright sunlight. Isadora had to squint her eyes to adjust to the sudden bright light. The effect of the darkness of the dungeon had not yet dissipated completely so she found the light irritating on her eyes.

Throwing the leather pocket on Lord Richard’s bed, she held the knife high and her left hand. Her veins were visible and she was glad for this. The advantage of being skinny, she thought. Slowly, she brought the tip of the dagger closer to her arm as she let out shallow breaths. This was going to be painful. But it was the only way she could come up to save Alexander without King Griffin noticing. She closed her eyes tightly bracing for the pain to come before she let the dagger’s edge cut through her skin, deep into the visible vein on her hand.