Chapter 79: Desperate

Delia woke up early, dressed quickly, and skipped breakfast. Basil hadn’t returned to her room the night before and the servants said he hadn’t returned to his room by morning. She left her room hoping to run into him and found him standing in the doorway of her office, simply staring inside the room with a complicated look on his face.
He didn’t react as she walked towards him, but when she touched him, he turned his head and looked down at her. The shimmering attention had faded from his eyes. They seemed almost hollow and glossy in the early morning light.
“Were you looking for me?”
“… no,” he said and frowned, turning from her. “I’m… late for breakfast.”
“We should go together.”
“No,” Basil said, shaking his head. “I’m having breakfast with my father.”
Delia watched him walk away from her before looking back into the room. She hadn’t changed anything in the room since she’d been given the key because she didn’t spend much time in it. She hadn’t even changed the way the desk was set up in the room from when Laura used it.
Had he spent a lot of time in the office with Laura? She clenched her fist and turned. She’d start making major changes to erase Laura from the palace, but she needed to see Eden as quickly as possible.

Something was off about Basil, Adolph thought as he entered the dining room. He was late, for one, and his eyes were sleepless and dreamy as if he wasn’t quite asleep and wasn’t quite awake. It reminded him a bit of his days on the front line in his youth, constantly fighting for his sanity against the raging tide of slipping into the rogue mindset.
Why would Basil look that way? He had no martial training, nor any stressors that would contribute to him slipping into a rogue mindset. As he grew closer, Adolph could smell the scent of the wind on his clothes and dirt. There was dirt staining his clothing and his hair was a mess. He seemed pale and shocky.
“You look terrible,” Adolph said as Basil lowered himself into his seat. “Are you alright?”
Basil’s head bobbed a bit before he started eating. Adolph reached over to put his hand against Basil’s cheek. He didn’t flinch or even seem to notice, but his skin was cold and clammy. Werewolves didn’t tend to get sick.
Had he been poisoned?
Adolph set his silverware on the table and stood before hauling Basil out of his chair and half-carrying him out of the dining hall. Basil stumbled after him, slowing him down a bit until Adolph picked him up and ran towards the castle’s infirmary.
“Your Majesty?” The doctor asked shocked as he lay Basil on the cot.
“Check him over. Something is wrong with him.”
Basil blinked blearily before his eyes closed and Adolph’s heart lurched with fear. The doctor and her assistant began to examine him, mumbling between each other before pulling a blanket over him.
“He’s just exhausted, Your Majesty,” the doctor said with a smile. “He just needs some rest.”
Adolph eyed Basil suspiciously, “Keep an eye on him to be sure and alert his wife.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”

Eden was getting ready to eat breakfast, pretend to care about someone’s love prospects, and spend the evening contemplating his next course of action.
Then Delia entered the inn in little more than a hooded cloak when he saw Delia enter. He sighed at her incompetence. Did she not even think to do a better job of hiding her face? She saw him and crossed the room towards him. He glared and stopped her in her tracks before glancing towards the back door.
He turned towards the back door and led her away from the inn and into a secluded alley before turning to her.
“What are you doing?” Eden asked, glaring at her. She looked up at him; her eyes were harried. He clenched his fist, waiting for her reply. Had Adolph found out about her poisoning attempt? It would be conspicuous to get rid of her now, but he could blame thugs in the capital.
“I need more of it,” Delia said. “H-He’s… I don’t know? Fighting it? It’s wearing off.”
Eden relaxed and eyed her, “What are you talking about?”
“He growled at me,” Delia said, wringing her hands. “It’s not working. I don’t know where you got it, but it’s wearing off. You said it would—”
“Don’t question my abilities because yours are lacking,” Eden said, lifting an eyebrow at her. “What happened?”
Delia’s jaw trembled, “He… That girl woke up and took back the position of luna…”
Eden listened with half an ear. He’d heard most of it from the servants already. It was useful to try and empty the royal treasury, but she was going about it stupidly. She should have been focusing on keeping the luna position and figuring out what Laurel was doing with the position and what other plans Adolph had, but he didn’t choose her for her smarts.
“As I said, it’s not working anymore—”
“Even if I was inclined to give you more, it wouldn’t do any good,” Eden said. “It only works once.”
“What?” Delia gasped, “That’s… That can’t be right.”
“It’s supposed to last for at least a year, which would have been plenty of time for you to ensnare him otherwise, but it seems you pushed a lot of buttons you didn’t realize were there and burned through your time.”
“B-But if he finds out… If he finds out he’ll—” Eden darted forward, backing her up against the wall to glare down at her.
“You are trying my patience,” Eden said softly, barely a whisper against her neck. “Try some of those tactics you think work on me… Try whatever you have to. Seduce him. Pump him full of guilt. Work at it until you have him around your finger… Have his kids. Whatever it takes or be pulled.”
Delia gasped, trembling at the graze of his breath across her neck. Eden pulled back.
“Just know that if I have to pull you, you’ll go back to where you came from or worse.”
Delia gasped, “B-But…”
“I can’t afford loose ends.” He stepped back, smirking at her. “Get going. You have work to do.”
Delia ducked her head and rushed off towards the castle. Eden chuckled to himself as he walked back to the inn to eat. He hadn’t been gone long enough for anyone to notice. With any luck, nearly no one noticed that Delia had been in the inn.
A man he recognized came to sit with him and tell him about his love troubles. He offered advice as best as he could manage while considering his options.
Finding out that Basil was breaking free of Delia’s control was an unexpected turn of events, but it wasn’t an insurmountable problem. Delia would do what was necessary to get him back under control soon enough.
If she managed that, he’d give her the task of collecting more information. The servants were nice enough to provide him with enough information to make good guesses about what was happening and his relationship with Gavin made it easy to get a little more. He sighed and sat back in his seat.
“I recognize that sigh,” the man said. “Sounds like you’ve got love troubles of your own!”
Eden smirked, “I’m trying to convince her to run away with me… but she thinks she’s in love with another man.”
The man laughed, “Who knew Eden was such a romantic?”
“No advice for my plight?” Eden asked dramatically with just a hint of a laugh. The man hummed.
“Well, if you could manage it, you’ve got to make sure she understands you’re the best man for her. Flowers and chocolate and stuff.”
“And if that doesn’t work?”
“Well… if you were a werewolf, I’d tell you to fight him!”
Eden smirked, “That’s the werewolf way of doing things, hm?”
The man laughed, “He can’t be the best option if you can beat him in a fight!”
What a simplistic way of viewing things.
He laughed and thanked the man for his advice before finishing his meal and heading back towards the palace. He nodded at the knights guarding the gates and walked down the halls until he reached Laurel’s room and knocked.
The priestess opened the door. Her eyes searched his face before she smiled lightly.
“You seem troubled,” she said and let him in. “I’m sure His Majesty will reward you greatly for taking the time out to help treat his fiancé.”
The word burned him but he smiled anyway.
“Laurel is a good friend. I don’t need a reward for helping her.”
He rounded the table to start filling the boiling pot with water as she returned to grinding flowers and herbs into a fine paste.
This would be the last dose of antidote Laurel would have to take, and Eden still hadn’t made any progress on getting her to give up on Adolph and come with him.
Maybe it could be as simple as a challenge of skill, but how could he challenge Adolph?