Chapter 51: The Daily Life of An Argyris

It wasn't a bit of a shock to hear to be weary of the third prince's mother, most people had always looked down on her for having unknown origins, simply claiming her son to be the child of the king. Others found her suspicious, but because of her attitude had always labeled her as a crazy woman, desperate for power that would only cause her own demise.

"I assume you won't tell me why to be weary?" The duchess questioned, Isaac nodding as he wanted to keep it brief, she could find out on her own or with enough context clues he was giving to her with his next explanation.

"Onto why the Argyris family has decided to support the crown prince," he sat up straight, eyes staring directly into her as this is what he truly came for. "I do hope you listen to everything closely."

Opening his mouth, she heard words fall out of it that were somewhat shocking and otherwise intriguing. If this were true, there's a bit more to the story than she'd actually ever pictured.

Back at the Argyris estate, Theia continued working with the beasts trying to sit and come to her for hours. It wasn't perfect by any means, but she figured out the current distance she could stand from the majority of them for her to call them without yelling.

Taking a break, she came out of the sanctuary to find three maids about to enter, asking about lunch. It was a perfect timing actually, she was beginning to get hungry. "One moment," she ordered heading back in, picking out one of the beasts she wanted to try and train at the moment.

It wasn't called a jackal in this world, but rather a wolf of the desert, but she could see the semblance quite a bit. It looked both like a fox and a wolf so she couldn't blame them for calling it a wolf, however, it was definitely much larger as it towered over her in sheer size.

Golden fur, grey eyes, and a nice collar around its neck without a leash. This was either a smart decision, or a bad one. She waved her other beasts goodbye as she took the beast out with her back towards the maids who widened their eyes and stepped back, not arguing with her decision.

Every few steps she walked everyone could of gone twenty steps ahead of her, but the idea clicked. "Down," she ordered as her beast laid, the maids watching as she climbed him as though he were a horse. Actually now that she thought of it, were there any wild horses she could have added to her sanctuary which might need an upgrade in size? She likely couldn't ride a horse inside but it would be much more convenient.

She wished Theron were this size as after she gave her next order, "Up, follow that one." The beast did a good job of following behind the maid she randomly picked out to walk at the front, the other two beside her. This was bliss, fluffy fur and she didn't have to walk for two years just to reach her bedroom anymore.

After happily eating lunch, she stared at the maids on the floor, one shaking violently with tears brimming in her eyes and one squashed under her giant beast. "I should do something about this now, shouldn't I?" She asked to no one but herself as she got up from the table.

It was quite obvious to her that two of the maids had tried to poison her, she being one of the few Argyris to not have poison resistance yet. It was subtle but extremely clear to her that once again Penelope was plotting against her with how quite she'd been. The two refused to give away their master so she'd kept them squashed.

"Did they tell you anything?" She questioned the maid beside her as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. It's likely they were bribed and promised freedom, it's not like the Duke ever actually check what his wives spent their allowance on. It was a shame people still believed in the second wife despite the obvious fact she's been falling out of favor rampantly.

The maid she assigned to follow them throughout the last few days shook her head, "No, my Lady. They are extremely tight lipped. I have done a background search as you requested and it has been found that they have ties to Lady Belle." The news didn't shock her as she already told Nyx who she suspected it was and to simply let her handle it. Bringing this up to the Duke would do nothing for her and having Nyx always take care of this wouldn't make people afraid of her, but rather of him.

"I'm tired of cat and mouse," she hummed, looking at the maid scratching at her neck, gasping for air. "Make sure they don't die or have the opportunities to kill themselves. Gag them if you must to prevent them from biting off their own tongues and send them to the underground." She ordered as the maid bowed.

The underground was a fancy word for the dungeons, Isaac primarily used it when he was with her or their mother, despite her knowing what it meant. She was tired of the same games Penelope would pull as petty revenge, poisoning, physically harming her, she needed to get better actors or a better scriptwriter at this point. The original Theia really wasn't much of an Argyris if she couldn't do this much.

Beckoning her beast by her side, she got on it one more time as she watched the two get dragged away, annoyed she had the audacity to break the glass and spill the tea containing the poison onto the floor. Whatever, as long as they confessed things would be fine at the end of the day.

Sighing, this was simply the daily life of the Argyris family, nothing new about it. Closing her eyes and thinking, she pondered how Isaac was and where he was, it was in fact quite some time since he returned. Hopefully this would all be settled before he did, it'd be a pain if he hovered around her every meal for the next year.

Back in the Northern Territory, the room was filled with silence, both the Duchess of Elyas and Seventh Young Master of Argyris had finished talking and discussing, the woman understanding just the whims of his family once more. "I really never understand what goes through anyone's head these days…" she muttered to herself, standing up.

"Would you like a room to stay for this evening?" She questioned as the boy shook his head, insisting on leaving first. Sneezing lightly into a handkerchief, she laughed at his attitude and prepared him a room for the night as he relented, clearly upset by the idea.

Sniffling, he thought about back at the estate with Nyx and Theia. What an annoying woman the third prince's mother was, if it weren't for her there wouldn't be any issues at the moment. He'd be catching a glimpse of her soon at Theia's tea party, how bothersome she had to have a son around her age. Why do almost all the children from royalty and ducal households near her age have to be boys!