The Archduke's Songbird-Chapter 144: The Oddities

Jerrick nodded. "A potent poison. You were covered in its spores, and somehow..."

"It’s probably the other poisons in my system," Jessamyn shrugged. "They acted together to—"

"The mixture of poisons should have been lethal and killed you."

"Why didn’t the Datura kill you? If I was covered in spores and you were—Ugh!" she gasped. "When did you tear away my clothes? How long was I..." naked?

She covered her mouth, wide with shock. Jerrick raised his brows, cocked his head, and smirked.

"Never mind!" Jessamyn quickly closed her ears, not wanting to hear him speak.

From what Isadora had told her, she had been in his "embrace" from the moment he picked her up, and it was a long way from where she fell to Theodulf Castle.

She didn’t want to think about it anymore. It would probably be better for everyone if they forgot that night. At least now she knew he tore away her clothes because they were covered in poison, not for whatever reason he had implied earlier.

Ugh! Why did I ever believe his words? I should never take his words at face value. He lies with the intent to tease me all the time. ALL THE TIME!

Jerrick smiled at her, but inside, he was more confused than ever. He had believed she had some antidote to the poison already in her blood, something that had caused her to act so strangely. But it appeared she didn’t even know the flower was poisonous, let alone have an antidote.

She hadn’t mentioned anything about an antidote. He had heard that some people could develop a tolerance to poisons if they trained, but the poisons she seemed accustomed to were not the type one could gradually get used to. They were deadly—paralyzing, causing organ malfunction, and ultimately leading to death, even in small doses.

He wondered if it was that spell on her bag that protected her. But it didn’t look like a protective spell. Besides, spells wouldn’t work if they weren’t directly touching the body. It would be different if she wore the spell as a pendant, but a spell on her bag wouldn’t offer any protection.

Moreover, she wasn’t a strong warrior. Why hadn’t the council bothered to put a protective spell on her if they knew how to cast such spells?

As he thought about it, everything seemed increasingly suspicious. Jessamyn’s resilience to the poison, her lack of knowledge about the danger she was in, and the council’s apparent neglect in protecting her all pointed to something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. The more he pondered, the more questions arose, each more perplexing than the last.

He wanted to look into it deeply as superficially it looked like the council was using her for whatever reason, and didn’t care for her wellbeing. The suspicion against the council was stacking up and he didn’t like the odds.

Jessamyn, sensing his internal conflict, looked at him with concern. She wanted to ask him what bothered him, but since he looked out of it, she decided to make a run for it.

The talk with him was mostly awkward and she didn’t want to stay there anymore. Clutching the crossbow to her chest, she turned to leave.

"Someone cut off a branch from the Elm tree at the gravesite of Brennan Theodulf," Jerrick said.

After William told him that the wood of her crossbow was over a thousand years old, he checked the old trees in the kingdom and of course, it was his ancestor’s gravesite that was desecrated.

"It is said that a new branch would appear with each new generation born in the Theodulf family," he added.

And a very particular branch was cut off, which was most likely made into the crossbow in her hand.

Jessamyn instinctively looked at her crossbow. She knew her bow was made of elm wood. "Who would desecrate a sacred tree?" she asked.

Brennan Theodulf was the first of the Theodulf family and the founding father of Ayberia. His gravesite was considered sacred and no one would be allowed there.

Also, if what Jerrick said was true, wouldn’t there be no new branches in the tree for almost a century since the Theodulf family had died out?

But... It wasn’t!

The white wolf must be a descendant of the Theodulf family!

"Are you allowed to visit? Can you bring me there?" she asked. Out of excitement, she leaned forward almost forgetting that she was standing on a stair.

Jerrick took a hurried step forward seeing her almost tumbling, but she managed to hold her balance. He relaxed looking into her eyes.

"The elm tree in the gravesite of Lady Selene is blooming..." Jerrick said.

"Selene?" Jessamyn raised her brows as her first thought went to her mother. But then her mother’s grave didn’t have an elm tree. He must be talking about...

"The Queen Mother?" she asked.

According to their legends, the first of the Kaiser family, the Queen Mother, and the first of the Theodulf family were the three who tamed an untamable land and formed the kingdom. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

There was also a side love story—a triangle, as both men loved the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother loved Theodulf, but ended up not marrying either of them and she was the one who died first.

The men were broken with guilt wondering if they were the reason for her untimely demise. From their tears, the first elm tree was born, which bloomed red every year until Brennan Theodulf was alive.

The tree stopped blooming after Brennan Theodulf was dead.

It was interpreted that the tree bloomed red portraying the heart of the Queen Mother who missed her love. But after he was united with her, she stopped blooming overall.

It was from that story, that the concept of being reunited with their soulmate originated. Jessamyn too waited to be reunited with her husband.

Jerrick nodded.

"It... is blooming?" she asked. "After all these years? For the first time? Now?"

Jerrick nodded. "It’s blooming white."

"White?" Jessamyn asked. She was more shocked.