"I don't know, my queen," she said, and the queen waved a hand to dismiss her.
"I want to be left alone. Do not tell anyone where to find me. Let me know the moment Damian arrives," the queen ordered, and the maid bowed to her. But before she could hurry away, the Queen instructed her to inform some of her guards to follow the physician and make sure no one tries to force him into treating Luciana. Williams was her priority.
Alone now, the queen stood still, looking around nervously as if she didn't know what to do anymore. This wasn't how she planned it. Everything seemed to be falling apart. What was she going to do now? She definitely couldn't face her brother right now, nor could she face Damon, who was angry with her, or Luciana's parents, who would be very upset right now.
No, she couldn't. They would all blame her, as usual. She wished Damian was back with Harold and his witch so she could channel all their anger at him and his witch.
She turned around and returned to the library. She was going to stay there until Damian returned with them.
Meanwhile, in the other part of the palace, while Susan and their mother were with Williams, tearfully begging him to stay with them as their mother tended to his wound while waiting for the physician to come and decide the antidote for the poison, their father was already searching for Ivan since he did not find him in his chamber.
Susan had never felt so useless in her entire life. The only thing she could do was cry as she watched her crying mother try to help Williams as best she could. If she had known, she would have spent her time learning medicine instead of stupidly running around.
"Why isn't any physician coming?" Susan cried. She wanted to run to go find anyone herself, but at the same time, she didn't want to leave her brother alone even for a moment.
Williams groaned in pain and tried to open his eyes, but it was too painful for him.
"P-Princess..." He muttered slowly.
"What is it?"
"What is wrong?"
The two women asked immediately as they tried to get their ears closer to hear what he was trying to say.
"Prin..cess Luciana. Ch-eck... on her." He spoke before he closed his eyes and went still.
Their mother used her hand to cover her mouth and cried softly in helplessness before she looked at the door.
They needed to know the poison Ivan had used before the physician could find the antidote. There was no poison in this palace that didn't have an antidote inside the palace too.
So why were William's father and the physician not coming?
Susan no longer wanted to stay still and stood up before running out of the room. The cloak had fallen from her body now, so she looked very... unpleasant, with blood all over her, half of her stomach exposed, wearing men's clothing and boots, and her hair tied in a messy bun. But that was the least of her concerns. And at this point, that was the least of anyone's concerns right now because the palace was a mess.
In another part of the palace, Ivan also could not stay still. How could he when Luciana was in such a state because of him? How could he stay calm when her parents were all over him? Even Luciana's handmaiden was there, shedding tears and begging him to do something until he ordered her to go find the physician and bring him back here as soon as possible. He would have done that himself. But he didn't want to leave her alone. He was worried and didn't care what anyone said to him at this point. He already hated himself enough.
It was taking all the self-control Ivan had not to set the palace ablaze as he waited for the maids and guards to find the stupid royal physician.
Luciana's parents, for the first time since they arrived, were not staying calm or taking things lightly, not when their daughter's life was at stake.
"Why are you just standing there instead of going to find the royal physician yourself?" Luciana's father growled at Ivan, who stood over Luciana's body watching her pitifully while holding her hand and begging her to stay alive.
"You could have let us take our daughter back home instead of trying to kill her because you no longer want to be married to her," Luciana's mother, who was seated on the floor beside Luciana's unconscious form, wailed.
"If anything happens to my daughter, I will never forgive you!" I won't let this go!" Luciana's father threatened as Luciana's maid came to tearfully report to them that the head physician was not coming.
"What?" Luciana's father asked in disbelief.
"WHY?!!" Ivan roared and listened in disbelief as the maid informed them that the Queen had instructed that no royal physician was to treat Luciana; otherwise, she would have their heads.
Without saying a word, Ivan picked up his sword and walked away from there to find his mother. He was going to kill her if that was what he had to do to get the physicians to treat his wife.
Who did she think she was to do that to him? When was she going to know her place and realize that without the king beside her, she was nothing?
Luciana's father, who was also boiling with rage, followed Ivan. He wasn't going to let the royal family treat his only child this way. It was one thing for them to have stripped her of her title unfairly the way they had done, but he was not going to let them kill his only child!
The moment his daughter was well, he was taking her out of the palace and back home since the royal family had cut her off. He would rather have his daughter alive and useless than dead.