?Chapter 0530


    Nichs must have felt the same. He nodded toward the door. I followed him from the kitchen to the sitting room near the front door. We didn''t sit, just stood there, but it was privacy enough to finally speak.


    *She''s hiding something," Nichs said. "She''s never been that cagey before, as long as I''ve known her."


    "Do you think Charlotte''s really sick?" I asked.


    *Illness is taken seriously here. Everything she said was true in that regard, but to not allow leniency when I asked for it... She is exceedingly loyal to the crown. In the past, she would always allow me and my brothers special treatment. The only time she wouldn''t was when..."


    Suddenly, he frowned.


    *...when?" I asked.


    He looked me in my eye, and his were swarming with a tirade of emotion: anger, regret, annoyance. None of them good.


    "When my father specificallymanded otherwise, Nichs said.


    By order of the King? To keep everyone away from Charlotte?This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    That seemed so oundish, I almost couldn''t believe it.


    We needed to talk to Charlotte, find out if she was sick and what she knew, then we could make our conclusions. Until then, we were just guessing, and I really didn''t want to guess about the royal family. Nichs would only get a light scolding, but I could lose my head if we were wrong.


    "Hey, what''s up with Selma?" Julian asked.


    I jumped, not having heard him approach. God, I really was strung tight. Nichs''s words had put fear into my heart.


    "Whoa, it''s okay." Julian came nearer to me. He ced a hand on my shoulder. "I''m not a ghost or anything."


    "I''m sorry," I said. "We were just talking and... I was surprised."


    Julian looked between the two of us, likely garnering the wrong kind of assumptions.


    "We were talking about Selma," I said quickly, to bring his mind back on track, instead of following those incorrect leads he was no doubt surmising. "Nichs was saying she seemed off when we talked to her."


    "She''s still off," Julian said. "She walked right by me and didn''t even say hello. That has never happened before, not even when we were children." Julian nced from me to Nichs. "What did you say to rattle her?"


    "Charlotte is missing," Nichs said. "Selma ims she is sick."


    *You don''t believe that," Julian said. It wasn''t a question.


    "Someone was in my room yesterday. They stole my swimsuits and turned off my rms. Charlotte still should have been in to wake me and see me off," I said. "That she wasn''t..."


    "It''s connected," Julian said. Again, not a question. His quick mind seemed to piece everything together at once." So where is Charlotte?"


    *Selma says she is in her room," Nichs said.


    "She''s going to be sent home today by ne," I added, hinting at the urgency.


    "Well, there''s only one thing to do then," Julian said with a shrug. "It''s so simple, I don''t know why you didn''t think of it. Although, you are both so goody-two-shoes, you''d likely not do anything without permission."


    "We should go see her for ourselves," I said.


    Julian shed me a mischievous smile, a touch of pride in his eyes. "Visitors typically don''t go into the servants'' quarters but it''s not totally off-limits. It''s just through a door under the stairs. We won''t want to be seen, of course. Last thing we want is for Selma to know we''re suspicious of her. But with discretion..."


    "Let''s do it," I said. Julian nodded.


    We both looked at Nichs, expecting him to be the one who might be against this n. But with a sigh, he said, "We need the truth."


    And it was decided.