章 22: Chapter 022: The Campbell's Family

Esther was busy cooking in the kitchen in the early hours of the morning. Since the servants in her palace began to decrease one by one, she himself was independently cooking her own food. As she was cutting the ingredients for cooking, she suddenly felt someone hugging him from behind.

Esther looked behind her, it turned out that the person hugging her was her own son, Arthur. The child embraced her affectionately and buried her face in Esther's neck.

"What's wrong with you, Arthur? It's so hard for you to wake up early like this," said Esther, who was still cutting the groceries.

"I don't know. I don't know either. Maybe I just miss you and want to be with you," Arthur replied softly.

Esther shuddered at Arthur's answer which sounded creepy to her. "Stop talking nonsense, Arthur! You'd better help me prepare breakfast. After that we will go to your grandfather's house."

"My grandfather? You mean Count Arbellion?" Arthur asked again.

"I mean Duke Campbell, your real grandfather. But if we have time I think we can visit Count Arbellion's residence."

"In that case, okay." Arthur let go of his arm. "I will help mother prepare breakfast first."

"By the way, how come we're allowed to go out officially like this. Usually aren't we strictly forbidden to see the outside world or meet other nobles?"

"Maybe your father took the wrong medicine or food to allow us to go out to meet your late mother's family," replied Esther, who had finished cooking and walked into the dining room.

"Stop lying mom! I know that dad will never be like that even if he takes the wrong medication," Arthur replied.

"Okay, I'll tell you the truth. Yesterday I threatened your father into letting us visit the Campbells because there's a favor I'd like to ask Duke Campbell for."

Arthur frowned upon hearing Esther's confession.

Two days ago, Esther had deliberately visited the King's palace at night. She used her teleportation magic to sneak into Lucius II's room. However, something was different about him now. This time, she brought two glasses of tea and a plate of snacks.

Lucius II who was reading a book accompanied by the moonlight was surprised when he realized Esther's presence which was considered very sudden. Esther placed the tray of plates and cups on Lucius II's bed.

"What else do you need in my room, Esther?"

Esther casually sat down on Lucius II's bed. "Just visiting you and wanted to make a little deal."

"What deal do you want? Is it related to Arthur?" asked Lucius II as he gently massaged his temples.

"Before that, please enjoy the tea and snacks that I have brought for you," said Esther, inviting Lucius II to eat the snacks and tea that she had served.

Without hesitation, Lucius II took a sip of the tea and ate the snacks on the plate. Seeing that, Esther just smirked.

Suddenly Lucius II started coughing and bleeding from his mouth. The panicked Lucius II immediately looked at Esther as if to question Esther what was going on with her right now.

"I just put a little arsenic in your tea," Esther replied casually.

"W-What?" said a surprised Lucius II.

"I just want you to feel what I felt while I was here."

"What do you mean, Esther?"

"As long as I'm here there's no one I can trust other than Arthur and my ladies-in-waiting."

Cough... Cough... Cough..

Lucius II again bleeds from his mouth.

"Don't worry, you're not dead yet. This poison only works for an hour and I brought the antidote with me too. But before I give you the antidote, I want you to put a stamp on this letter I've brought." Esther pulled out a roll of paper from her dress pocket.

"What kind of letter is that?" asked Lucius II who was in pain now.

"Just a permit so that Arthur and I can get out of the palace for a day. I just want to invite Arthur to visit the Campbell residence. If I have a permit with the king's special stamp, then that bitch Averia won't be able to get in my way," said Esther while handing the scroll to Lucius II.

Lucius II who felt his body began to weaken immediately took the roll of paper and stamped it in the letter. Esther quickly took the letter that had been stamped by Lucius II and examined it. After completing the examination, Esther handed over the antidote to Lucius II.

"This is the antidote. Then I will return to my palace first. Thank you brother." Esther immediately used her teleportation magic to return to the Marigold palace.

After finishing breakfast, now Esther and Arthur were getting ready to leave for the Campbell residence. This time, Esther had purposely not brought Anne and Helene with her.

In front of the Marigold palace, there was already a simple horse carriage that seemed to be waiting for the two of them. Arthur helped Esther to get into the horse carriage by holding her hand. Esther just smiled at being treated like this. Now her son has grown up quickly without him knowing it.

It took thirty minutes to get to the Campbell residence. From the outside, the Campbell residence is very luxurious. It really shows that they are a noble family from the upper ranks.

The arrival of Esther and Arthur was warmly welcomed by the Duke and Duchess Campbell. Arthur got off first then stretched out her hand to help Esther get off the carriage. Esther just smiled and held out her hand to Arthur and descended gracefully.

"Welcome to the Her Majesty Concubine Beatrice and Crown Prince Arthur," said Duke Campbell as he bowed his body along with his wife.

"There's no need to give such a formal greeting, Grandpa. I'm only visiting here as a grandson," Arthur said.

"Then, let's go into the mansion immediately," said Duchess Campbell, inviting Arthur and Esther to enter the mansion.

The four of them immediately entered the Campbell mansion. As expected, the contents of the mansion were extravagant. Many of the expensive and antique items in there were in stark contrast to the contents of Esther's Marigold palace.

"Let's have lunch together. I'll have the maids prepare our chef's delicious menu," said Duchess Campbell enthusiastically.

"Of course, we should have lunch together. But before that, I'd like to invite Her Highness Beatrice to have a brief chat in my workspace. You are can go to the dining room first," said Duke Campbell.

Esther held Arthur's hands and said, "Tiny, I'm going to have a little chat with your grandfather. So you just wait for me in the dining room with your grandmother."

Arthur just replied to Esther's words with a nod of his head. Esther immediately left with Duke Campbell leaving Arthur with Duchess Campbell.

Duke Campbell led Esther into his workspace. Arriving at their destination, Esther was immediately invited to sit on the sofa. A maid came and served two cups of tea to Duke Campbell and Esther.

"So what do you want to talk to me about to leave the palace and visit my mansion, Your Majesty Beatrice?" asked Duke Campbell.