Chapter 74: Mishandled

Adolph came to visit every day. It seemed that Laurel was seeing him more since she had woken up than she’d seen him in the days leading up to their wedding. He didn’t stay long as there was still a lot to do regarding the investigation and running the castle, but he was spending all of his free time in her room, sometimes to catch a few moments of rest in the chair beside her bed, sometimes just to hold her hand.
The door opened again. The priestess walked into the room with the flutter of her robes.
Laurel met the priestess’ gaze as she smiled, “Praise be to the Moon goddess by her light we are saved.”
Her eyes twinkled, filled with a secret Laurel wanted to know, but she didn’t ask. There was something about her eyes that was familiar, but she couldn’t place it exactly and she didn’t want to assume that the priestess was also a member of the Raymond family though she certainly seemed to be. She didn’t remember this priestess from when she married Basil in her past life.
“You should take it easy for a while, but you’ll be just fine. Maybe just one more dose to be safe, but after that, you’ll be poison-free.”
“Thank you, priestess.”
She nodded as the door opened again. Lily and Lynn into the room behind her.
“Oh, Miss Laurel, I’m so glad that you’re okay!” Lily cried. “Maybe things will finally get back to normal!”
Laurel chuckled, “What do you mean?”
Lily’s eyes widened and she looked at Lynn then the priestess who chuckled and excused herself.
“No one told you?”
“Told me what?”
Lily winced, “Lady Delia was named acting luna by the ministers.”
Laurel frowned, “Okay…”
Did that mean she wouldn’t have to take the position back? It would be a bit of a relief not to have that title again and be able to focus on the attempt on Adolph’s life, but Lily’s expression told her that there was more to it than that.
“What’s wrong?”
“… she tried to pull the funding for the orphanage, school, and the hospital several days ago.”
Laurel clenched her jaw and tightened her grip on the blanket. The fear of the position was burned to ash as her fury rose. She hadn’t been unconscious for long enough for Delia to do something so ridiculous and dangerous.
She knew Delia was an idiot, but she hadn’t thought she was that stupid.
“Miss Laurel?”
“Tell me everything.”
Lily sighed and nodded before taking the seat beside Laurel’s bed and began with the day Delia was named acting luna.

******
Laurel knew she wasn’t supposed to necessarily be out of bed or so worked up, but Lily’s report had been too much to take without doing something. She got dressed in a rough working dress, put on her simplest shoes, and marched out of her room. Lynn followed her as her escort, but he said nothing. She wasn’t sure if he was just there to make sure she wouldn’t kill anyone or he was there to watch what she would do.
It was one thing to allow Delia to burn through the budget she was allocated as the wife of the prince for whatever she wanted. Even burning through Basil’s allowance wasn’t surprising. He was infatuated with her and had likely not even realized what he’d done.
But moving to increase her budget and embezzling funds from the luna’s accounts was too much. She was furious with Delia for being such a greedy, selfish creature, but that fury was nothing compared to the rage she felt for the minister of finance.
As Laura, he’d fought her every time she dipped into the luna’s budget and demanded every coin to be accounted for the proper use for the kingdom. There were legitimate expenses he refused to allow the luna’s accounts to pay, forcing her to use the budget she’d been allocated as Basil’s wife to cover them.
She reached the door of the minister of finance’s office and shoved it open. The group of ministers looked at her in shock and alarm as she closed the door behind her.
“What are you—“
She crossed the room to lean over the table and glared at the man, baring her teeth.
“How much leniency should you be shown for blatant mismanagement?”
“What are—“
“How could you allow her to misappropriate the luna’s budget so much in just a few days?” Laurel hissed glaring at all of them. “What purpose do you serve if you will not at least monitor the luna’s budget?”
“You can’t—“
“It wasn’t bad enough that she blew through her and the prince’s budget? You didn’t think to check what she was purchasing? You didn’t bother to even ask? How can you justify such frivolous spending during an investigation and while the kingdom is still recovering from the war?”
The minister of finance turned red in the face. He glared at her. How had she found out about Delia’s spending and what she’d been buying? Delia had come in with papers with requests to withdraw money from the luna’s accounts. He’d signed them without checking them because Basil was with her and he couldn’t afford to offend him or Gavin.
Now that it had come to his ears through the servants that she had been spending all the money on herself, he had to find some way to move the money in the accounts around to make it right. With Adolph back, that was harder than usual.
It wasn’t his fault! Gavin had been clear that she was meant to do whatever she liked so long as it didn’t interfere with the inflow of money for trade and bribery.
“Who are you to talk to me like that?” He asked, sneering at her.
“As if the little girl would know anything about the budget?” Gavin sniffed. “You are not in a position to be speaking about matters of the state. You were never meant to be luna.”
Laurel refused to flinch at the feeling those words brought. Gavin’s voice held all of the cold Basil’s voice had. Her heart clenched with terror and her blood turned cold, but she pushed those thoughts away. Laura had lived in quiet misery and died believing those words, but she was Laurel.
She would not take their cruelty in stride nor stand for their incompetence.
She was luna as she had always been meant to be.
“His Majesty may have given you the position for a time, but you have no real power,” one of the ministers said. “You’re just a girl named acting luna.”
Laurel stood her full height and lifted her head to look down at the minister of finance with the cool aloofness she’d seen in Adolph’s mother’s portrait.
“… As soon as we are married, my first act as luna will be to dissolve the ministries.”
Gavin almost choked. The other ministers flinched as she turned swiftly and left just as quickly as she’d come. The door closed behind her with a soft click that seemed to echo throughout the room.
Gavin turned to the other ministers who looked pale and cleared his throat, “You all look like you’ve seen a ghost!”
Gavin chuckled. “What nonsense? An empty threat! His majesty may favor her, but he would not be so foolish to forget all that the ministries have done for this kingdom.”
They murmured a bit of agreement and continued with their discussion about hiding Delia’s spending in the budget and the food store’s shortage while Gavin considered Laurel’s words. He remembered the look on Adolph’s face when he admitted to loving Laurel. It wasn’t the look of a man who would soon lose interest in a woman.
He looked at Laurel the way Adolph’s father had looked at his mother. Laurel’s threat was as real and as dangerous to his status as Adolph’s love for her was.
This was bad. Gavin held a lot of sway among the ministers as a father of the late luna, but he had no real power. His position was ceremonial as a sign of trust and fidelity between families.
He was cunning enough to use information and his family’s wealth to gain control over people and their power, but if the ministries were dissolved, Gavin would lose all of his ability to increase his wealth.
It wouldn’t take long for Basil to figure out that Gavin had no real power after that. He was already thinking too much to be safe. He’d hated Laura as she made Basil start thinking. Now, Laurel was doing the same with more power and conviction than Laura ever had.
If only Tina had succeeded in her poisoning attempt, at the least they would have more time to get Basil firmly under control and deal with Adolph. How long would it take Adolph to realize that Gavin had rendered his only son useless as a ruler?
How long would it take Basil to realize he had become useless?
He was running out of time to find answers to those questions and more.