Chapter 526: The unexpected guest
Rose was busy in her private garden in the early hours of the morning minding her flowers.
It was the one thing she was allowed to do that tooo her mind off her misery.
Her life was in absolute chaos.
Her marriage was non existent.
Her status as Queen reduce to barely nothing.
Her health? Still healing from being poisoned.
Her relationship with her daughter and sister deteriorated.
She felt more lonely than ever.
The witch who had told her about Jasmine was still nowhere to be found.
It was like she had vanished into thin air.
Now she knew that Scarlett had died.
How that had happened she had zero idea.
But the thought that Scarlett had had a child.
She felt her gloved hands tremble as she worked on the soil.
She had to find her.
She had to make things right at least.
"Don’t kill your self Rose."
It was Hildegard.
Her personal maid since she was a child and her best friend.
Hildegard stood at the door of the glass garden.
Rose went back to work on the weeds around the flowers.
"I’m just cleaning out weeds." Rose mumbled.
"I know you too well." Hildegard said as she gently walked up to where Rose knelt.
Rose picked up a chrysanthemum that had fallen for the stalk.
"Coral hates me. I can’t even blame her for that." Rose said. "And my sister is literally her mother. What a joke I am."
Hildegard crossed her brows. "Don’t let that get to you. Coral is an adult. A grown woman. She can’t keep on blaming you for the past."
Rose went from kneeling by her plants to sitting on the wet soil in exhaustion.
"I just...." She went quiet. Then she shook her head. "Look at me. I’ve become a shadow of myself. Still feel the effect of the poison."
"Which also isn’t your fault." Hildegard said going low to the ground with her. "Yes you made mistakes. Things could have been better. But you survived. You don’t give yourself any credit."
Rose sighed as she looked down on the crumbled chrysanthemum that remained on her laps.
Hildegard playfully pushed her. "You have something to look forward to. Jasmine is coming soon.
Rose smiled.
"Aren’t you happy that you will get to see her?" Hildegard asked as she sat we with her on the soil.
"I am. Truly." Rose said a smile spread across her face. "She is such a sweet girl. After everything she has gone through. That girl still has so much faith and perseverance. Never quite seen anyone like her."
"Same." Hildegard said leaning against her shoulder.
Rose took in a deep breath. "I’m just worried about the decision they want to make on her behalf. The council would want to punish her for these rumours of her kidnapping. I can’t let Roland handle them, he dislikes her and would give her the death penalty if given the chance to."
"Do you think she was capable of it?" Hildegard asked.
"From what I’ve seen so far? No." Rose said.
"Then there you have it." Hildegard prompted. "Make the decision yourself. You are Queen and it’s in your power to pass judgement over her. Roland might use her as a lamb to the slaughter to appease the angry council."
"I hate politics." Rose said annoyed.
"Don’t we all?" Hildegard rose a brow.
Hildegard looked up and saw some guards gathering at the glass door.
Hildegard got up to her feet. "I’ll be right back. Do give me a few minutes."
Rose nodded absent mindedly as she resumed tending to her flowers and trying her best not to think of her predicament.
Then a few minutes later, Hildegard returned.
Rose turned to look up at her.
She saw Hildegard’s face had changed.
Her heart raced instantly.
She knew something was wrong.
"What has happened?" She asked quickly sit up to her knees.
"It’s nothing really serious." Hildegard hung between words.
"And?" Rose prompted her to keep up speaking.
"It’s just that." Hildegard finally continued. "There is another imposter in the castle."
Rose’s stomach dropped.
Since she had lost Scarlett, she had had numerous people coming to claim they were her daughter.
None of them were.
It had put Rose in a state of peril because with every single impersonator that came, came the hope that perhaps it was her daughter.
And the hope was always destroyed.
But now she knew better.
She turned her back to Hildegard.
"They can leave." She said grimly. My daughter isn’t alive anymore."
"That is the problem." She heard Hildegard say. "The person didn’t say they were your daughter."
Rose froze.
"They said they were your grand daughter." Hildegard expressed.
Rose’s face went red and her skin broke out with goosebumps.
She got up to her feet.
"What did you say?" She demanded.
"The person said she is your grand daughter. Not your daughter." Hildegard said.
Rose became pale.
How many people knew that she was no longer looking for her daughter but grand daughter now?
She felt a chill down her spine and shivered.
Was it true? Has her grand daughter now come to find her?
"W... wh.... Where is this person now?" She stuttered
"Being held by the guards." Hildegard explained. "Do you want them to send her away?"
"No!" Rose snapped to quickly.
And then she hurried out of the garden pushing past the guards at the glass door.
She hurried down the hallways, anxiously taking off her gloves and flinging them to the ground as she went on barefoot.
Her heart raced on, her wolf hungry and her body at an abnormal speed.
"Take it easy." Hildegard said from behind along with the many other guards following her.
But she paid them no heed.
She went down the massive stairs until she came to the door of the stairs.
There were guards around a small figure.
The figure was being held hostage as though a stranger and the figure had fire red hair.
The smal figure as if sensing her, turned around and faced her.
Rose instantly saw her daughter.
Scarlett