After Horel talked to his son, he became even more convinced that his doubts about Madeleine were not infallible. This gave rise to negative emotions in his heart, directed at Lillian. At one point, he seemed to see clearly from the enchantment enveloping him and was now overwhelmed with the desire to protect himself from this woman.

He wanted to think clearly and give an account of his actions, and not be an obedient and submissive dog on a leash from Lillian.

Horel noted the silence and emptiness of Marro Castle, which arose due to the fact that Lillian executed everyone right and left, even for the smallest offense.

But no matter how much he blamed her, the biggest blame lay on his shoulders, since he had been blind all this time and could not see what was happening around him, did not notice, was inactive, negligent of his direct duties to protect his people.

He brought his country into decline. Personally.

It was absurdly ridiculous that he could not even gather a council, since many ministers, advisers and generals were deprived of their heads for the "treason" that Lilian had invented.

Horel found himself in a difficult situation when he did not have people capable of managing state affairs and had to urgently look for a replacement for them, which he was going to do in the very near future. Immediately.

***

Approaching the thicket of thorny thorns, Amanda took out a small bottle of Raphael’s blood, which he had left for her before leaving, and poured one drop on a dry twig. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

In an instant, a drop of blood soaked into the branch and spread throughout the bush, covering it with an obsidian crust before crumbling to dust at Amanda’s feet, opening a passage to the underground dungeon in which Adamanian Princess was kept.

She did not use her vampire abilities, preferring not to frighten Giselle, so she descended into the dungeon slowly, letting the princess get used to the sound of her footsteps.

Such meetings have already become something commonplace, which happened several times a day, because Giselle was not a vampire capable of living without food and water for a long time.

Since Raphael gave control to Amanda, she has done everything to make the stay of the Adamanian princess in custody as comfortable as possible. Together with Dexter, they helped clean up the place and bring the necessary furniture.

Giselle ate twice a day tightly enough to be able to recover faster, her exhausted stomach could not take more food yet. But even despite this, her appearance has improved and her complexion has acquired pink shades from pale gray.

And although Amanda thought that sunlight could improve her condition and mood, she could not go against her brother’s orders.

Amanda was happy that Raphael agreed to her request at all, so she did not complain and did not rebel, so as not to stir up his crazy side of personality again.

During the time that she looks after the castle, she recruited all the necessary missing staff, distributed responsibilities and life in the castle began to play with new colors. She felt lightness and freedom again, now it was pleasant and not scary to be in this place. Still, Abion lacked a woman’s hand.

- Good morning, Giselle. - Amanda smiled as she placed the tray of food on the table. – How are you feeling today?

- Good morning, Your Highness. – Giselle sat down, bowing slightly to the princess, straightening her slightly rumpled, but still new and clean dress that Amanda had given her from her stocks. – I feel good, since you take care of me, I feel an indescribable surge of strength.

Amanda laughed good-naturedly, covering her mouth with her hand.

- Stop it. It’s the food that works wonders, there is no merit of mine in this. - She waved away the praise. -But you really look good and the bruises are almost gone. It pleases. Aren’t you bored here? Maybe you should bring some more books?

Giselle gallantly declined the offer.

- No books can replace live communication. – she answered modestly, and Amanda noticed the sadness reflected on the face of the Adamanian princess. – Will I ever be able to get out of here?

- My brother is very strict, but he is not devoid of soul. I’m sure he will thaw out in time and we’ll be able to get you out of here. - Amanda said.

- I made the mistake of trying to impose myself on a man whose heart was already occupied, but I was genuinely in love with him from an early age. – lowering her head, she mumbled. – Now it is, of course, in the past, but I want to believe that I did not do something that could not be forgiven after a long time and suffering.

- We’re all not without bad qualities, Giselle. Not you, not me, and certainly not Raphael. Each of us deserves to be in this dungeon, and my brother deserves it more than you and I put together. But life is always unfair, so your situation is developing now in a similar way. Just be strong until the time comes. - Amanda urged her.

- You’re right, Your Highness, I just have to be strong. - She nodded encouragingly. - What about my mother?

- I ordered her body to be interred with all the necessary honors. I’m sorry you couldn’t say goodbye to her one last time. - Amanda said with a restrained heart.

- It’s all right. - Giselle smiled. – I am grateful for your concern. At least her bones aren’t rotting like garbage somewhere. I am grateful to you for that alone.

Amanda walked slowly to the edge of Giselle’s single bed and, with her permission, sat down in the corner, while Giselle herself sat in the chair opposite Princess.

- Tell me, Giselle, do you know how to play chess?

Giselle batted her eyelashes at the question and immediately nodded her head. Any training of aristocrats included learning chess, as it developed logic, attention and perseverance. But why was this obvious question?

- You must be surprised, why am I asking this? - Amanda chuckled, noticing Giselle’s lost face. – Do you know why the king never chooses "his own color" of the cage?

- Because these are the rules of the game? - Giselle shrugged, confused.

- Partly yes. - Amanda agreed with her. - But the main reason is that the queen has the advantage. She is the main one on the field and she has more opportunities for movement. So it is in life... The king is only the shadow of the queen. The one who can’t step further than one cell around him, the one who can’t rule without the queen and his subjects. He’s nobody alone.

- I don’t quite understand, Your Highness. – the Adamanian princess was confused.

- When the time comes, think about accepting Thea as the queen of Abion and only this will help you get out of here for sure. If you win her over, then all your problems will be solved in the blink of an eye.

Amanda didn’t need to have the gift of foresight to know that her brother would stop at nothing until he regained Thea and her affection for him.

Giselle’s heart broke from the realization of how much she had screwed up. Of course, she was not a fool, not knowing that the rumors about the connection between the king and the maid were not unfounded, but she could not imagine such an outcome in which she would end up in prison, and her mother would be torn to pieces by her own fiance.

That’s why she didn’t care about being kind to the maid, but when Amanda said on one of her visits that the same servant was none other than the Princess of Riliya Teanna Rivaldi, she was discouraged to the core and realized with horror how deep she had dug her grave.

Was there any way at all to beg forgiveness from the Riliya princess? Was there a way to get this forgiveness?

- If it is possible, I would like to try to correct my mistakes. – she mumbled and Amanda, overcome with a pleasant sense of satisfaction, smiled.

- That’s great, because she’s a wonderful girl. If you got to know her better, I’m sure you could even become friends. Your arrogance and bias have played a cruel joke on you and you can and should try to fix it. - Amanda said. – Well, I think I’ll go. Next time I’ll bring you something sweet. Maybe a cake?

At the word "cake", Giselle’s eyes flashed with unprecedented happiness.

Saying goodbye, Amanda left the underground prison and a thorn bush grew as if by magic, filling the entire space and hiding the underground entrance.

Her ears immediately caught the calm heartbeat of Dexter, who was standing next to the tomb of Artemis, leaning his back against the stone wall and crossing his arms on his chest.

- What are you doing here? - she frowned.

- I’m trying to catch you, since you constantly avoid me. – he replied in a calm tone.

- Isn’t that what you usually do? - she sang mockingly. – If you need any help, then I have recruited enough staff to whom you can turn.

Amanda was about to walk past him when his hand grabbed her hard, stopping her from further movements.

- You look tired. - He said dryly, making her skin crawl.

- Does it really bother you that much? Maybe you also sleep badly from this thought? - she quipped.

- Your words can’t hurt me, Amanda. You’re only making it worse for yourself by putting everything on your shoulders. – he retorted in the same restrained tone, which only made Amanda more nervous.

After she stayed in charge of the palace, she often had to cross paths with Dexter. Her heart still ached painfully from the way he pushed away her feelings and confessions for the millionth time. And now he’s standing here pretending to be a caring innocent. Annoy.