Unfortunate Incident
Lilith’s POV;
“Your Highness, it’s time for breakfast,” Julia said for the umpteenth time. A long sigh expelled from my lips while I stood up.
I was already dressed, but the thought of Maya being there at the table terrified me. I don’t know if I should ask Adams what she was doing in the mansion.Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.
Now that I think about it, he must’ve really taken advantage of my meekness, knowing that I wouldn’t ask what she was doing in the mansion.
I heard Julia’s footsteps as I walked to the dining area.
“Don’t follow me,” I said and, without turning around, I knew that the familiar expression of surprise was etched on her face.
“Your Highness?”
I said nothing, there wasn’t a need to. She heard what I had said.
“Lilith! You’re late!” Maya cooed in between spoonfuls of what I suspected to be the scrambled eggs in front of her and I smiled softly, noting that they had already begun to eat.
I knew that it was already way past breakfast time, but still, it pained me to think that he couldn’t even check on me to know why I wasn’t present.
“Morning, cupcake,” he said after dropping the glass of orange juice, his eyes fixed on the papers in front of him.
I muttered a greeting and sat down. My eyes flew to the far end of the hall, where Julia always stood to wait or watch me, whatever she did, and surprisingly, just as I had told her, she wasn’t there.
“What’s the matter? Do you need something?” Maya questioned, her eyes following mine.
I shook my head and began to eat, taking note of how disengaged Adams was with us, or me rather. Whatever was in the papers seemed to be important, as his brows were pulled together in concentration.
I hadn’t taken more than five spoonfuls of white porridge when I began to feel uneasy. I dropped the spoon and rested my body back onto the chair in a comfortable position. I could feel nausea slowly creeping up on me and I tried to remember if I had eaten something that my body was allergic to.
I shut my eyes tightly, allowing the wave of nausea to pass and struggling to compose myself. I couldn’t afford to fall sick at the moment.
“Are you okay?” Maya said, making my eyes fly open to see her concerned face. It looked sincere that if I hadn’t seen that letter or the garden incident, I’d have been happy that someone cared about me.
I nodded and managed a stiff smile, suddenly finding it hard to maintain my usual emotionless face. I was panting heavily now.
Deciding to get some fresh air and throw some water over my face, I stood up without a word, for fear that I was going to throw up, and tried to walk to the bathroom.
“Lilith!” I heard Maya’s voice, but it seemed so far away.
My legs felt Ron heavy and I almost toppled over, but eased myself onto the wall for support. It was then that I felt two people by my side, my husband and his mistress.
“I’m not… I… I’m not,” I trailed off, trying so hard to compose myself, but still couldn’t.
“Lilith, what’s wrong?” Maya was saying, and I could see how her face wrinkled with confusion. Their voices sounded far away, and I heard Adams calling out for the doctor.
“I’m.. I’m not. I’m not feeling well…” I trailed off as my vision blurred and my head swirled. They were saying something, but it sounded so distant, and they were looking at me with a mix of fear and worry.
I was trying not to give in to the darkness. I wanted to tell Adams that I knew about him and his mistress and that I wasn’t fooled, but no matter how hard I tried, the darkness was inevitable, and I finally fell into it, my husband holding me back in place with his arms before I fell to the ground, his face being the last I saw.
My eyes seemed so heavy and wouldn’t open, no matter how hard I tried. I was hearing the whispers of people my brain couldn’t quite place. I had never felt this tired, weak and physically drained.
Someone was stroking my hand. “Please, Your Highness, wake up!” It was a familiar voice, but I couldn’t quite place a face on the voice, as my memories were all jumbled up.
It was a female voice and immediately after, I began to hear the sound of choked sobs. She was crying because of me. Whoever she was, she must’ve really loved me a lot.
“Whoever did this to you, they are going to pay, your highness….” Her voice was lower this time around and I wished so badly that I could see the person’s face.
“Sleep well, Your Highness.”
I wondered why her voice became this firm, and it didn’t seem like she was crying anymore. Instead, the voice sounded as though she was mocking me. Why would she be telling me to sleep well?
Suddenly, I began to feel the little energy I had sapping away, my head feeling very heavy and my thoughts becoming disoriented.
The last thing I heard before the blackout was receding footsteps. She had walked away, and I had a feeling that she had done something.
“Your Highness, can you hear me?” I had no idea how long I was out, but I still couldn’t move my body, and neither could I open my eyes. I was getting weaker by the minute.
The voice sounded familiar, and it was as if he was either talking on the phone or in the room with someone else.
“Do you think she can hear us?”
“I don’t think so, your highness. Come, I miss you.”
“Not here. She’s here.”
“And? I’m also here, your highness, my body craves you and your touch.”
“Someone could come in here and see us.”
“When am I here? And you?”
“Not here..”
“Fine, I’m bolting the door,” just as she had said, I heard the clicking of the door and knew that it had been shut.
My heart felt like it had shattered into a million pieces as my memories began to rush back to me.
It felt like Raider all over again. But this time, with my second chance mate, who had promised and sworn and spoke about his love.
I know the sound I am hearing now. The sound of a man grunting and the woman moaning. They were having fun, right in front of me. I couldn’t help but wonder if they were responsible for what was happening to me.
I slipped back into the darkness again, ready this time around, to meet my parents. It was time for us to be reunited as a family.
“Lilith!” I heard this voice, it was Maya. I wondered if she had finished having fun.
“You have to wake up! Please!” She was wailing, the dirty pretentious bitch!
It felt as though my body was being nudged. But I couldn’t feel a thing.
“Don’t do that, my lady,” an unfamiliar voice said and, for some reason, I was glad that they wouldn’t have fun before me again as there was someone else in the room.
“Will she be fine, doctor?” I heard my husband’s voice, but it was strange. It was very unlike the voice I heard earlier.
While this one sounded concerned and worried, as if he was tired of it all, the previous one sounded carefree and relaxed. He was either a good pretender or he had a personality disorder.
“The poison is a rare one and it’s very effective. From my diagnosis, she’s ingested this poison gradually over time. If it was given to…”
“Can she be cured?”
“It’s very difficult to answer that question, your highness. The only thing I can say for now is that you should prepare for the worst.”
So this was it. It was poison. Whoever wanted to kill me was very calculating. They must’ve known that feeding me poison at once was going to arouse suspicion, so they decided to give me a little at a time.
My head was whirring, and the darkness was calling out to me again. Although my eyes were closed, I could feel my surroundings, and it didn’t seem so dark, but now, I had to give into the darkness again, something so terrifying.
That was how I kept losing and regaining consciousness and hearing the different people that came to my room speak, most times, not recognizing their voices. For some reason, I could tell whose sympathy was sincere and whose wasn’t.
Maya and my husband, to the best of my knowledge, didn’t have fun in the room anymore.
“Lilith,” I heard someone say, as soon as the door shut. It didn’t sound like Maya whom I had thought, as she was the only one who called me by my name.
“Don’t try to live anymore. You’ve gone through a lot and you’ve outlived your usefulness. It’s time to say goodbye.”
My heart began to race. Whoever was behind the poisonings was back and was in my room, currently.
I struggled to say something, but the darkness was overwhelming, and I finally slipped into it.