63 Negligence
Selma Payne’s POV:
“Speaking of this… “My mother said, “It seems like Lennon already has a candidate for a son-in-law.”
“So soon?” I couldn’t understand. “Is he that assured about Carolyn’s current situation? There’s already concrete evidence of her magic fluctuations, and as a father, he’s still in the mood to arrange a blind date for his daughter?”
“There’s something wrong with Lennon. He wasn’t like this last year when he brought Carolyn to the Moonlight Festival,” my father said with a frown. “He was a kind father, and he stuck to his principles. Carolyn was also a polite lady who kept a low profile. The father and daughter pair had changed too much. I’m worried that Lennon might have been affected by black magic.”
“That’s impossible!” My mother exclaimed. “Lennon is such a powerful warrior. Even a legendary wizard lost to him.”
“But Dorothy didn’t sense any magic fluctuations from the southern Duke. Once witchcraft is performed, there will be magical fluctuations left behind. No matter how good the concealment spell is, it can’t hide from a divination witch with superb insight.”
“This is where the problem lies.” My father said, “Either my guess is wrong, or we are facing an unprecedented powerful enemy.”
“Can’t we give the southern Duke a checkup too?” I asked.
“Unfortunately, my child, I can’t. A Duke has his unshakeable dignity. We’ve already checked his daughter. It’s too outrageous to check him.”
“But this is all to ensure their safety… “I said, unwilling to give up.
“Sometimes, status and dignity are more important than safety.” My father said, “Even the Lycan King has his concerns.”
Due to what happened to the southern Duke, I’d been depressed all morning.
The first step of my plan was blocked, making me extremely frustrated.
In the afternoon, I went to the training ground, and Aldrich was already waiting there.
“What happened?” He noticed that I was not in a great mood.
“It’s the southern Duke. It’s not just Carolyn; he might also be under the witches’ control. It was my idea to inform the southern Duke of Carolyn’s strange behavior and get him to cooperate with us in examining his daughter. Unfortunately, there’s something wrong with the southern Duke, which means that everything we’ve done before had probably alerted the enemy. I’ve messed everything up.”
I curled up on the stone steps, feeling stupid.
Even the daughter of the southern Duke had fallen for it. How could the witches have released him? I should have thought of this possibility, but I didn’t, so everything was ruined.
Aldrich came to my side and hugged me gently.
“No, it’s not. It’s just a small mistake,” he said.
“Of course, it won’t be that simple!” I was a little angry. “What I’m doing is equivalent to sending a message to the witches. Once they know that we’ve noticed their traces, they’ll be more vigilant, which means that everything will be more difficult from her on!”
“Is that really the case?” Aldrich was not angry at my sudden anger. Instead, he was quite tolerant. “If everything was as bad as you said, would you still be here?”
“What?” I didn’t understand. “But we made an agreement…”
“No, no, no, that’s not what I meant. If the situation was urgent, would the Lycan King be as calm as he is now? He should have discussed countermeasures with you and her Majesty the Queen, just like when he accepted your opinion.”
“Maybe the King and the Queen are discussing a strategy.” I buried my head in my arms. “They don’t trust me anymore because I messed everything up.”
Aldrich pulled me into his arms like a baby penguin.
“I know the Lycan King. He’s an open-minded King and a tolerant senior.” He said, “The Lycan King won’t take his anger out on you because he took your suggestion. He won’t blame you either because the negligence of a young man is always worthy of forgiveness.”
“Really? How do you know?”
“Because I’ve made a mistake before, but the King forgave me and taught me more ways to make up for it.”
Well, maybe my father wanted to teach me the same way he taught Aldrich, so he asked me to go to his and my mother’s place at night.
“Let’s not talk about this.” I pulled myself together. “Where’s the gift? I’ve been looking forward to it since last night’s dream.”
Aldrich put on an act and said, “Ha! A young lady with an unpredictable mood.”
“Don’t change the topic!” I reached out and tickled him. “Take it out, show it to me!”
“I surrender! I surrender!” He laughed until he was breathless and took out a long jewelry box from his pockets.
I opened it. There was a pendant inside, inlaid with black opals that were as bright as the night sky.
“Wow,” I couldn’t help but exclaim. “It’s so beautiful.”
Aldrich put it on for me.
“From the first time I saw you, I was attracted by your eyes that were as mysterious as the night,” he said.
“Back then, I thought that maybe I was a meteorite that the Moon Goddess had dropped into the human world.
“Otherwise, why would I be so eager to return to the night sky?”
