IGIWS FIRST DRAFT: Ch.382 The Plans of a Foul Noblewoman

Hilda had been wandering the halls of the Manor looking for Leandra. The goddess told her that her the Foul Noblewomen was her only chance to save Quinus from that Dark Elf and she was going to do it for her Prince's sake.

"You?! Get the hell out of my sight you pretentious prude!" Alaric roared but Hilda didn't seem impressed as she walked inside the room with Belial running in after her.

"You must leave. My lord is busy and doesn't have time to entertain your nonsense. You must go," Belial said as he tried to catch his breath. He thought no one would be dumb enough to enter the Duke's study when he was this mad and went to retrieve his Lord's secret stash in the Duke's bedroom. He was surprised to see the young woman enter the room without a second thought.

"Really? Busy with what?" Hilda said in a deadpan voice.

She looked at Alaric and Leandra with a raised eyebrow feigning ignorance. Hilda knew well that they were completely out matched by the dark elf, even she almost gave in to Rya's natural charisma and beauty, and nearly agreed to step back from her arranged marriage to Quinus. But the Goddess's voice was loud and clear. She was the only one who was giving a message from the divine, and that meant she was the one with the right to Quinus heart. Not Rya who stole him away from her.

"You ignorant little girl! You helped that dark elf make a fool out of me when you collaborated that I accessed the Crown Prince of murdering my son! We helped you and this is the thanks we—"

Hilda didn't like how the Duke wanted to frame her Prince and once this whole ordeal was over she was going to find a way to punish Alaric for that. Maybe a few years in the dungeons and a few lashings would suffice before Hilda had him executed for treason. Her trust was in Leandra. She was the only one who visited her when she decided to stay in the Royal Palace to combat the Dark Elf's influences. She was the only one who seemed to care... That was until a few weeks ago, but Leandra must have been busy with trying to get this party planned. And the Goddess said that she was the one who could help her save Quinus. Who is she to question a higher being.

"I spoke the truth, Duke... Because the facts of the matter are that you tried to frame the Prince and you think you could have switched the blame on Princess Rya. Which would have done what exactly? Do you think that if I agreed with your accusation that the Dark Elf Princess didn't have other means to prove you were lying?"

Alaric was about to speak, but he held his insults because he knew she was right. He didn't have a backup plan and he never thought he'd be caught.

Leandra was surprised that the sheltered Foreign Princess was able to shut up Alaric with her words as easily as Rya, and Hilda wasn't a mage or a warrior to force him into submission. It was quite the spectacle to see Alaric unable to speak in his rage. His face was red and his eyes were twitching in anger. He looked at her like he was going to kill her but the laws of the Kingdom wouldn't let him harm her. And that only seemed to anger him more.

"Well... What brings you to my husband's study today, Princess Stoneworthh?" Leandra said in a calm voice.

The Duchess looked down on the young woman with a smile, but Hilda wasn't fooled. However, she needed her help and she couldn't tell Leandra that the Goddess told her that the duchess was the one to help her.

"I've come for your assistance. I need to save my Prince from that creature and I believe you are the one to help me do so."

Alaric's anger towards Hilda vanished in a instant and he became intrigued. He thought that she had sided with Rya like all the rest of them, and came here to insult him to his face.

"Is that so?" Leandra said in a curious tone before glancing at her husband who also glanced at her. They were both wondering if this was a trap of some kind.

"It is," Leandra asked in a calm tone. "What would you want me to do to help you?"

Hilda walked up to the Duchess and stared her in the eyes.

"Help me save Prince Quinus. Help me break the spell that Princess Rya has over him. I will do anything to free him..."

Duke Alaric and Duchess Leandra looked at each other in shock.

"Anything you say?" Alaric asked with his usual swagger that the Dark Elf took away from him earlier today. And Hilda blushes as she realized what she said.

"A-Almost anything! I refuse to murder for you! I am a devout follower of the Balance of the Three, and I'm here to save the Prince from himself. I will not do something that will damn my soul to the underworld and be a pawn in your schemes to ruin this Kingdom. And if I find out you're using me for something else like you tried to do earlier, I will tell everyone what you did!"

Alaric confident grin grew into a smile and he started to chuckle. Leandra had to stifle a laugh as well.

'So, she's abandoned the Divine Three for Iyomelka and the two idiot Goddesses. Interesting.' Alaric thought to himself as he looked at Hilda to see if she was tricking him, but she was an open book. She was too Innocent to lie to someone and her face would give her away.

"Alright Princess. You've got yourself a—"

"I didn't ask for your schemes, Duke! I only trust, Duchess Leandra," Hilda interrupted him and Leandra laughed this time.

"You'll be the death of me, girl!" Leandra laughed and Alaric acted like he was offended. However, they already had a plan to use Hilda when they first met. And Leandra was well aware of the plan and was ready to implement it for the next phase. The Duke was a master at manipulating people to get what he wanted. He just thought that Hilda was no longer an option until she came here to seek their help.

'This might work. The whore probably thinks the Hilda is out of the picture. My chances for revenge are back on the table.' Alaric thought as he stood there and watched the two ladies talk to each other. Leandra would look at her husband from time to time and he would shake his head in agreement.

"I think I have an idea of how we can save my beloved nephew from that foul creature." Leandra said in a happy tone as Hilda started to feel relieved.

"Thank the New Three. We should discuss this in private. Do you have a—"

"There's no need to leave," Alaric cut in, getting the attention of everyone in the room. "Please, use my study and have some refreshments on us for my rude behavior from earlier. I will leave to not offend our guest. But know that you have my support in whatever way I can be of service. I want to see my nephew return to his senses as well." Alaric said in a sincere voice and gave a deep bow to the Princess.

Hilda looked at Alaric with a skeptical look. She believe him for one second that he wanted to save Quinus, but she needed their help. So, she decided to put her trust in the Duchess, and if anything happened that felt wrong, she would leave and never come back. She didn't know what the Duke planned, but the Duchess seemed to have a plan, and that was enough for Hilda. And the Duchess was very smart and cunning. She was also very beautiful. Hilda was sure the Duchess could handle the Duke if the need arose.

"I will accept this offer of goodwill and trust you. But if I find out you're trying to use me for something else other than saving Prince Quinus, I will tell the King and Queen what you're doing. I promise you that." Hilda said with a serious tone.

"I swear on the New Three, I will not harm my nephew, Princess." Alaric said with his hands up in the air. "I have a bad habit of jumping to conclusion without proper evidence... And in the past I put the blame of my son's death of my nephew because he was the one who is leading a company of the Kingdom's best knights to deal with a labyrinth problem. I hate to admit it, but I was wrong at the time and didn't realize that the death of my son was the inaction of the Dark Elf. I pray that you never have to barry your son we have, Princess Hilda. Especially, since you will give our kingdom so many strong and talented heirs. I can see why Marquess Duval wanted you to be the Crown Princess of Fiafyr. I was blinded by my own stubbornness to see it. And once you free my nephew from that Dark Elf's clutches, he will see what I can finally see before me," Alaric smiled at her and she blushed.

Hilda knew he was spinning lies in with the truth, but she didn't know how much of what he was saying was true and how much of it was false. And she wanted to know what he meant by 'What he sees before him'.

"A-And what is it that you see?" She asked with a stutter.

"A strong, kind, and beautiful young woman, who wants nothing more than to be loved and deserves that love. A wise woman who will give our kingdom a bright future. And a woman who can give the kingdom an heir that the Dark Elf can't," Alaric gave a warm smile and bowed to Hilda and turned to his wife. "I shall leave you ladies to talk. If you need anything, ask a maid or my butler for assistance. Come, Mr. Belial. We need to give these ladies their space to come up with a plan. The longer it takes, the more suspicious the Dark Elf will become if she finds out that Princess Hilda is here." Alaric walked to the door with Belial following behind him.

Hilda's eyes widened in fear as she didn't consider that Rya could find out that she was still in the Divalo Manor and might find that suspicious. "W-We will be quick to make a plan, Duke Revelia." Hilda said nervously.

Alaric nodded his head with a small smile, and then he walked out of the room with Belial closing the doors behind them.

Once they were alone in the room, the Duchess spoke to Hilda. "Please sit down, Hilda. We need to come up with a plan to help my nephew."

Hilda nodded and took a seat next to Leandra and asked, "What will our first course of action?"

Leandra gave a wicked smile to Hilda that made her shiver with fear and then Leandra said, "We need to start some drama that will make the Dark Elf Princess question the loyalty of my nephew. But the question is how?"

Hilda was silent for a long moment before she said, "That seems impossible to do. Prince Quinus does show interest in me, but there's is like some invisible wall that is forcing him to not go any further with me or any other female for that matter."

"She must be using some type of artifact or enchantment to influence Quinus." Leandra said as she was in deep thought before saying, "I think I have something that could break through this barrier that is preventing the Prince from realizing that he's become property to the Dark Elf."

Hilda was curious as to what the Duchess had. And Leandra stood up from her chair and went to one of the drawers in her husband's desk and pulled out a small box. She brought the box over to the table where Hilda was sitting and opened it up for the Princess to see.

Hilda leaned over and saw a particular looking candle. The wax was pink, the wick was wooden and had a blood red color to it, and lastly, the outside of the candle had these purple runes going up and down its length. The runes looked like some demonic language that made her weary about this item.

Leandra picked up the candle from its box and stood it up on the table.

"This is a AphroAroma Wick... This item will break through whatever spell or enchantment that is preventing Quinus from becoming a man." Leandra told Hilda.

Hilda was confused and didn't know what she meant by 'become a man'.

"W-What does it do? Why do you have this candle in the first place?" Hilda asked.

Leandra paused for a moment as she think to come up with a story about why her and her husband had this aphrodisiac in their drawer. Luckily, Leandra came up with a believable lie within a few seconds. She frowned in disappointment and gave a sigh as she looked at the AphroAroma Wick in her hands.

"I...I heard rumors about my daughters' problems with their husbands. Especially, my second oldest, Jemma. I thought that this could help bolster their struggling relationship. I must be the world's worst mother for not realizing how terrible Ethan was to her..." Leandra paused for a moment to act hurt and hoped to see Hilda buying into the story. Hilda was staring intently at Leandra. Her eyes were watery and she felt sorry for her. 'Got her!'

Leandra continued her story. "Anyway, If there was one good thing to come out of my husband's humiliation. It that my daughter isn't married to that terrible man. We're lucky that we have this candle for another purpose. To use this to release my nephew's ambitions."

"Y-You want me to have—um? You wish for us to fornicate? But we aren't married and I—we can't consummate. That is against the teachings." Hilda said in a panic.

Leandra wanted to laugh at Hilda, but she looked at her like she was clueless.

"You think I am telling you to have intercourse with my nephew to back the enchantment? And have the Dark Elf kill you? You need to think outside the box, Princess. We need him to have an affair with one of the wood elf girls." Leandra told her.

"An affair? But that is frowned upon in the Church!" Hilda argued.

Leandra rolled her eyes at the young Princess and set down the candle in front of Hilda. The Princess was hesitant to touch it. And looked at Leandra.

"Dark Elf women are territorial of their 'forever mates', and they get really mad if it is a different species of elf that their mate is with. Especially if their lover is cheating on them." Leandra stated as a matter of fact. "She will be blinded by rage when she finds out that Quinus has cheated on her and will attempt to kill the mistress. Do you have a powerful mana vein and can go toe to toe with that monster?"

Hilda didn't answer her. Besides her beauty, she wouldn't last one second in a fight. She's never been in a battle before and has never trained with a sword, nor has she had a high enough Mana Vein to survive an attack from Rya. She was the most sheltered Princess in the entire Holy Kingdom of the Alliance.

"What are you saying? What are you planning to do with this candle, Duchess?" Hilda asked.

"You will sneak this candle inside the Prince's chambers, light it, then get my nephew to enter his room. After that, you will find one of the wood elf women and tell them that the Prince wants to talk about something with them. They enter and get ravaged. Then once the Dark Elf finds out, she will go in a fit of rage and go after the Wood Elf. Maybe even both of them if we are lucky. By then, my nephew will have been freed by her enchantments to see the monster that she is, and he is the only one strong enough to kill her. He can't die because of his Mana Vein. He will survive the fight. And hopefully, she dies." Leandra explained her scheme.

Hilda had a feeling that the Duchess was planning something like this. There was a reason why she was married to Duke Alaric. She was just as devious and cunning as her husband. And she was using Hilda to do the dirty work.

"I-I don't want to kill anyone," Hilda told her.

Leandra sighed in disappointment and looked down at Hilda.

"Are you the one using a weapon to kill someone?" She questioned her. Hilda remained quiet as the Duchess looked at her with disappointment. "You are doing what is needed to help the kingdom, Princess. Do you want the Prince to be in the arms of a monster?" Leandra asked her.

Hilda looked the Duchess straight in the eyes with newfound determination. "No," she whispered with a bit of anger in her voice. "I don't want that monster to have him in her arms. She doesn't deserve him."

"Good. Because weather you like it or not this is the best option to free Quinus. Now, we need to work fast. With everything that has happened at my par—uh? My daughter's party, the members of the House of Lords that were reluctant to approve the Dark Elf as my nephew's new wife, will now be convinced with the majority of the Ladies' Court on her side. So you have to get the candle to Quinus and use it as soon as possible. So!?"

Leandra stood up from her chair and walked over to her husband's wardrobe, which had a hidden compartment inside. Leandra was careful to not show Hilda that there was a secret compartment as she found one of the wood elf cloaks of camouflage. She pulled it out and presented it to Hilda.

The Foreign Princess wasn't sure what she was looking at. It looked like a nicely made brownish-green cloak. Hilda thought it looked nice but was confused as to why the Duchess would show her a cloak.

"What is this?" She asked.

"It's a cloak of wood elven make. It can make one invisible when you channel some of your mana into it

"This cloak is special. It will hide your appearance and keep you from being noticed by those you don't want to notice you. It's called a Silvan Shroud, and it's a very rare item outside of the elven kingdoms. But with it, you should be able to sneak in and out of any room in the palace without anyone seeing you. This is how I was able to met you in your chambers without anyone knowing about it." Leandra explained.

Hilda took a closer look at the cloak and saw that it was made of fine cloth.

"So, that's how you've been able to vanish in a instant?... How fascinating." She said, and put the cloak on.

It fit perfectly, and she found that it was quite comfortable to wear. She pulled the hood over her head and was surprised to find that it didn't obstruct her vision in any way.

"I can still see everything around me," Hilda said with astonishment.

"Of course. The cloak is enchanted to allow you to see through the fabric, while also obscuring your face and body from others. Now, channel your mana through it and cover yourself with the cloak."

Hilda stood there for a few seconds with question marks over her head.

"Ummmm? How do you channel mana into this thing?"

Leandra's eyebrow twitched in frustration. 'I forgot the this helpless girl hasn't even killed a insect to grow her mana vein yet.' Leandra thought in irritation. She took a deep breath, and then exhaled in a big sigh. Hilda felt like a failure as she realized that her underdeveloped mana vein wouldn't allow her to use the cloak's enchantments or light the AphroAroma Wick's fuse.

"Okay, change of plans...your maid, what was her name?"

"Oh, Dori," Hilda told her.

"Yes...Ms. Dori. She can use her mana, yes?"

"I... Yes, she's the one who turns on the mystic torches, fae-baths, and—"

"Good! She will have to be the one who sneaks into the Prince's quarters," Leandra said, interrupting Hilda.

Leandra's plan was simple. She would give the servant girl the cloak, and have her sneak into the prince's bedchambers. Once the girl was in the room, she would light the candle and let the magic of the aphrodisiac do its work. Then, the servant girl would be able to get out of there before the wick's time-delay fuse reaches the enchanted wax. After that, it would only take a few minutes for the prince to succumb to the effects of the drug and go into his lust frenzied state.

"So, do you believe that your maid is willing to help you in this endeavor?" Leandra asked.

"Dori is like family to me. She'll definitely help us," Hilda said, with a bit of apprehension in her voice.

Leandra could see that Hilda was still hesitant to commit to the plan, but she knew that the young princess would eventually come around. Hilda was a naive girl, and Leandra was confident that she could convince her to go along with her plan. After all, the princess wanted the prince's affections more than anything else in the world.

"B-But how will we make sure that Princess Rya doesn't fall under the spell of the AphroAroma Wick and solidify her bond with Prince Quinus?" Hilda asked, with worry on her face.

Leandra laughed at the naive Princess at first, but after a few chuckles she realized that Hilda did make a really good point. Leandra was so caught up in the idea of making the prince look like a fool and a man of ill-repute, that she forgot about the possibility of the prince and princess hooking up and wasting the AphroAroma Wick all together.

Leandra's laughing grew less confident and then she stopped laughing altogether. "Y-You have a good point, Princess... Hmm..."

Leandra paced around her husband's study trying to come up with something to get Rya out of the palace while leaving Quinus behind, which was Highly uncommon. If anyone left the palace out of the two, it was Quinus and not Rya. And if the Dark Elf did leave the palace, the Crown Prince wasn't too far behind. She needed something but the only thing that she could do that would guarantee Rya leaving the palace without Quinus, was to use herself as bait. But the problem was she wasn't too fond of the idea. But, she knew what she had to do, and it was to sacrifice herself for the sake of her family and to get revenge on those who wronged her and her family.

"I know of a way to keep Princess Rya occupied long enough to make sure she doesn't see the Prince until after the deed has been done," Leandra said, with a look of determination on her face.

Hilda was curious as to what her fellow co-conspirator was planning, "And what would that be, Duchess Revelia?"

"I will use myself as bait to draw her away from the palace and to make sure she doesn't get in the way of our plan," Leandra stated firmly.

Hilda was taken back by this statement; she wasn't expecting the Duchess to volunteer herself to keep the Princess away from the Prince. It was surprisingly noble, coming from a foul woman. 'I-I can't be tricked. Her husband hates my Prince. So I must remember that she is only doing this to get rid of the dark elf. But she might help her husband in the future. Or I'll get burned by the Duchess.' Hilda thought to herself, and she was right to be cautious of the Duchess.

"How are you going to keep Princess Rya out of the palace?" Hilda asked.

Leandra sighed and sat back down in her husband's favorite leather chair. She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts.

"You heard the Queen's accusation about me poisoning her with Sterilith Bloom to make her infertile?" She asked Hilda, who looked at her with a bit of disgust.

"Well, it's true—"

"Why would you do something so diabolic—"

Leandra raised her hand to silence the Foreign Princess. "I was young, and jealous... I was told that I would become the Queen Consort when I married Alaric. But the old fools from the last generation of House of Lords didn't believe that he was truly of King Raymond's blood. So, my consolation prize was becoming a Duchess... I was so furious at losing my birthright that I took it out on the future Queen. I was immature and brash... I regretted it ever since. And it didn't stop Rianna from having Quinus. So, no harm, no foul, yes?"

Hilda wasn't buying it but she held her tongue. Leandra knew what this naive Princess was thinking and she had to hold back from rolling her eyes at her.

"Anyway, I will send out a message to all the Major Ladies of the Court, including Rya to come over here. I will formally admit my wrong doings to the Queen and will accept the Court's judgment. I will most likely be stripped of all influence within the Ladies of the Court. But I pretty much lost all of it today. However, I am sure that Rianna and Rya won't be able to pass up an opportunity to publicly take me over the coals, so to speak... I think can get them here in a few days. You should be able to get Quinus to bed one of the wood elves by then."

"I can't believe that I'm actually agreeing to this." Hilda said, sighing.

Leandra smirked as she grabbed the AphroAroma Wick and Silvan Shroud, before handing them to Hilda.

"We are Nobles, Princess Hilda. We need to get our hands dirty, every once in a while to make sure the world doesn't go to hell in a hand basket. And that is the reason why I'm helping you in the first place." She said to the Princess of the Divine Three.

Hilda just stared at the items in her hands and begrudgingly nodded in agreement. She needed to save Quinus and she will pray for his forgiveness after she saves him. For now, she would need to be discreet in the upcoming days and get Dori on board with this plan. She was on a mission from the Goddess and Hilda will need to be clever in the next few days if she was going to succeed.