The Web of Knightspur-Chapter 228 - 226

The room was filled with all kinds of flowers - with every imaginable color - perfuming the air itself, as though there was a wedding ceremony about to happen.

The High Priest was happy as he looked around in satisfaction. His eyes were filled with many hopes for a glorious future of the Empire. He was a man lucky enough to know the will of god. Although the Priest of the temple had always told the people that they received God’s prophecies, he was the only one who truly received it. A man who was blessed to correct the past mistakes of the priests.

Priest Erasmus smiled as he looked up at the place the Emperor and Empress would be sitting. He could see two chairs by the side. One was reserved for the current Crown Prince, Richard. While the other was for the first Prince.

’Yes, it should be Princess Eleanor making the decision.’ Priest Erasmus closed his eyes as a sly smile formed on his face. There were many secrets that he had been hiding for a long time. ’It will be fun to see the Empress’s expression.’

Priest Erasmus walked to the side as he saw nobles entering the room one by one. They all bowed to him as Priest Erasmus enjoyed the attention. He was a man with power and he knew that. Maybe at times, his influence on the masses was greater than that of the Emperor.

Priest Erasmus thought that maybe he should have been greedy but he knew that the power he had now was far greater than what the royal family had. Although he could not claim to be totally in the clear, he would not pronounce judgement prematurely when he knew the dark secrets he was looking into.

"I hope the High Priest makes the right decision." A soft voice said as he looked down at the person bowing before him.

"Princess of Cenid Kingdom." Priest Erasmus smiled as he thought how silly the lady was behaving in his eyes when she said those words. "Princess Vida."

Princess Vida looked up at the man who held great importance in the Empire. Like all the other Princesses, she had tried to meet the man but to no avail. She did not even manage to see his face in those days even though she had tried everything, using the Gio family’s name.

"High Priest." Princess Vida smiled innocently. Today she was wearing a red dress with roses holding up her hair. Her lips were tinted red as if she was ready for a fight. To attack when needed.

"Princess Vida sure is brave." Priest Erasmus’ eyes narrowed as he shook his head. "I had only heard of the rumors in the Empire that the Princess does know how to turn the wind in her favor. But looking at you now, I think the Princess is really trying too hard." Priest Erasmus did not even bother speaking nicely to her.

He could see the unhappy expression clearly displayed on Princess Eleanor’s face as she bit on her lips agitatedly. Her thoughts about how things would be playing out were completely ruined with those words from the priest.

"Princess Vida, a word of advice, if I may." High Priest Erasmus looked straight into her eyes as he spoke with an innocent face, "I am not some other noble who would be influenced by your words. I am the one, who others get influenced by. Keep that in mind, and do not try your petty tricks in the future. I make my decisions according to what has been ordered by God and not by mere mortals. I hope Princess Vida understands this and does not try to feed ideas into my mind."

Princess Vida’s hand formed a fist as she looked at the High Priest. The expression on her face was not pleasant and she knew it. Princess Vida somehow managed to control her expression after a few breaths before turning around and walked to the other side of the room. But she did not know that her lady-in-waiting, Kelly, did not follow after her.

Kelly was afraid as she saw Princess Vida turning around, but her steps faltered before freezing to the spot when she saw the High Priest looking at her straight. But it was a heartbeat later when Kelly realized that he was not looking at her face, but at her arms.

"You should be careful, child." Priest Erasmus warned softly as he blinked. "A person who cannot show sympathy to her own, can never be an Empress of the land loved by God. I hope you make a better decision in the near future."

Kelly swallowed hard as her breathing increased after receiving such profound advice from the High Priest. However, she was afraid to say anything else. Her eyes blurred for a moment before realising that Princess Vida had already walked a long distance off. Without waiting another second, Kelly ran towards Princess Vida. But when her gaze moved back to the High Priest one more time, she could swear she saw him mouth out, ’Make the right decision.’ As if the man already knew what they were planning to do.

Priest Erasmus shook his head as he looked at Princess Vida one last time. He knew what the other Princesses were facing. It was not the first time that he had seen some people getting poisoned in the Palace. When healers were called from the temple to check on the Princess candidates, he had known then that it was done by someone who was from the internal Palace itself.

’Princess Vida sure was careful in injecting herself with the poison too. But did she really think that we would not know the dose she injected herself with?’ Priest Erasmus thought as he shook his head disapprovingly. ’We are known to experiment on people to find out the effects of poison and medicine. And she wanted to fool us. Is she underestimating us, or overestimating herself?’ 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Priest Erasmus shook his head again as his lips curled downwards slightly. ’But why should I care about a person who is insignificant in the Empire? All I wanted was to see the chosen one getting better. And now that she is, we need to care and show a good image in front of people.’

Priest Erasmus walked around and soon saw Lady Gisella walking towards the garden. He did not know why she was there and where the Princess was. "Lady Gisella."

Lady Gisella turned around as she bowed to the High Priest. "High Priest is still here?" Lady Gisella did not shy away, from his approach. "I thought you would be meditating in a quiet room."

"How could I, when I have an important task to deliver God’s words?" Priest Erasmus said as his eyes narrowed, "But if I may ask... What is Lady Gisella doing here? Shouldn’t you be keeping Princess Eleanor company at this time?"

"Princess Eleanor wanted some time alone." Lady Gisella’s eyes sparkled. "After all, it’s her big day. It is not daily that you get to experience such a significant event."

Seeing the hidden meaning behind her words, Priest Erasmus was silent. "Does Lady Gisella know something that I don’t?"

"How can that be possible? I only know what I have heard from my Lord. Anyway, I should not keep the High Priest here. You are a busy man. So please, excuse me." Lady Gisella bowed her head before smiling sweetly as if she was an innocent lady who was unaware of the happenings around her. But the reality was something different and Priest Erasmus knew it.

Lady Gisella did not mind the questionable gaze towards her from Priest Erasmus. She simply smiled as she walked towards the distance.

Lady Gisella looked around only to see the man’s back. She knew who he was and she knew her purpose there. Lady Gisella followed the man into the garden only to be surrounded by rose bushes. There was only one man who loved roses. "Crown Prince Richard." Lady Gisella greeted and blinked her eyes as she stopped. Looking up, she gazed straight at him.

"I hope Princess Eleanor is ready." Crown Prince Richard asked as he turned around. "I cannot afford to have anything going against me today."

Lady Gisella nodded. "The Princess is ready and she seems happy." Lady Gisella’s tone was filled with joy as she continued, "It looks like Princess Eleanor is looking forward to this as well. I heard she is angry with Duke Felix now that he has become King of the Angevin Kingdom."

Lady Gisella smiled as she saw the glow in Crown Prince Richard. "There is something that is bothering her a little." Lady Gisella said in a small tone. Her eyes looked down as she bit her lips. "Maybe she is feeling betrayed that she does not want to face it from the Crown Prince."

"There is nothing for her to be afraid of." Crown Prince Richard declared magnanimously as he shook his head. "All she has to do is be happy and enjoy whatever is coming her way. This is going to be her big day and I want Princess Eleanor to enjoy it fully."

Crown Prince Richard turned around as he continued. "But make sure that she knows who she should marry. I am her only hope. The man who could help her in getting whatever she wants even if it is revenge." Crown Prince Richard’s eyes turned sharp as he continued his reminder. "Make sure that the Princess remembers this well."

Lady Gisella nodded her head as she smiled. She was happy but it was for Princess Eleanor. But there was a little concern that started blooming in the corner of her heart. ’How will Princess Eleanor react when she knows the truth?’