Chapter Text
Corona heavily relied on Nigel’s exceptional expertise and efficiency in handling paperwork. He’d been the one to sort out Cassandra’s adoption, a task that should have been daunting given the girl had no papers, her birth mother was equally a mystery and he wasn’t even allowed to talk to her during those first weeks during which the queen kept the girls hidden from the politics of royalty for the sake of rest.
But Nigel handled it with no issues.
Where Cassandra knew all there was about criminal law, Nigel knew bureaucracy by heart, whether it be Corona or any of the other neighbouring kingdoms.
However, the un-adoption plus divorce was turning out a bit more complex. But Nigel would figure it out. He always did. That’s why he was the best at his job. That’s why he hoped to keep it, and with that job came a home, a place he belonged, a place where he was able to make a positive difference.
Nigel opened the door to his room, a small room in the servant’s quarters he’d come to love and cherish, he’d turned down bigger rooms, far too attached, plus bigger rooms were harder to upkeep, he was shocked to find his room was a mess.
Papers littered the floor.
Drawers were opened.
His mattress had been slashed open.
His closet was open and the clothes lay in piles on the floor.
“Oh, hi there Nigel.” Eugene Fitzherbert was sitting at his desk going through papers. “Come in. Close the door behind you.”
“What’s the meaning of this?” Nigel looked horrified.
Eugene looked up. “Nigel.”
“How dare you?”
Eugene tilted his head, then slowly held up a letter with a broken seal. “This is me doing my job, Nigel. Now, do you want to come in or have this conversation publically?”
Nigel’s eyes widened, but he nodded. He stepped inside, closing the door behind him. “What do you know?”
“I know you released that Koto spy back into the world.” He shook his head. “Really minimised my hard work there, Nigel.” Eugene’s eyes moved back down to the letters as he passed through them. “Gave the saporians the wand. I really thought you’d grown to like Cassandra, but I guess I was wrong.” He put the letters down. “Oh, and you’ve been conveying sensitive information to a third party.” He twirled the latest letter with the broken seal in his hand. “Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” Eugene laughed, clearly not believing him. “Think of something better.”
Nigel frowned.
Eugene leaned back. “I did some research into you, Nigel. Found out what your story is . You caused a lot of damage to your hometown, huh? They’re still rebuilding. They haven’t forgotten you. Neither have any of the surrounding areas.”
Nigel backed away.
“Everybody turned their back on you, saw you as a liability. But not King Frederic and Queen Arianna, they saw potential and gave you a second chance. Clearly a mistake.”
“It wasn’t a mistake.”
“You betrayed them though Nigel.”
“I…” Nigel’s eyes were downcast, reflecting a deep sadness.
Eugene frowned, his eyes darted around the room. “Why?”
Nigel didn’t speak, but his eyes moved ever so slightly.
Eugene frowned. He followed Nigel’s gaze, straining to see what he saw, but his single eye made it difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the clue.
“What are you going to do now? Kill me? Arrest me?”
“That depends…” Eugene frowned, still squinting at the area Nigel had been looking towards. It could be anything in that corner.
“Does anybody else know you’re here?”
“Thinking you can kill me and get away?”
Nigel shook his head.
“Good, cause you can’t and, of course, somebody knows I’m here. I’m a professional.” Eugene stood up. “Lance always has an envelope on him with who to blame if I go missing or show up dead. It’s standard protocol.”
Nigel nodded. “You can’t tell anybody about this.”
Eugene frowned as Nigel crossed the room to the corner, removing one of the floorboards and pulling out a stack of letters. “This is how it all started.” He pushed the letters forward. “I was ordered to burn them… and I did. These are copies I made. I tried my best to maintain the handwriting of the original, but I had very limited time to do it. There’s also… stuff I had to burn and couldn’t… I wanted to test them, but… I couldn’t risk it.”
Eugene hesitated before walking over, taking a letter and starting to read. Eventually, he sat down on the ground, reading one after another. “I see…”
“I couldn’t risk it.”
“Who’s Acacia?” Eugene’s nose scrunched up. “I went through so much research into your background and can’t recall anybody with that name?”
Nigel took a deep breath. “She’s Queen Arianna’s Mother.”
Eugene’s eyes raised. “Oh…” He looked down at the letters once more. He recognised the handwriting, but he chose to keep that to himself as he stood up. “Are you expected to write to them tonight?”
Nigel nodded.
“What do you have to tell them?”
“About the divorce, Cassandra’s custody staying with Arianna, the fact the queen left yesterday alongside Willow and what Corona’s intent is with all of this.”
“The intent behind the divorce is pretty obvious to anybody who understands politics. No harm there… I need you to not disclose where Arianna is heading. Can you do that?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good. Then send the letter as usual. I’ll have my best agent on the case of getting the queen’s mother back before you know it.”
Nigel’s eyes moved to the ground. “Thank you…” he muttered under his breath, his face betraying a sense of unease despite the good news.
Eugene put a hand on his shoulder. “Sorry I got all interrogation on you there. I really didn’t know if you were with or against us.”
“I… it’s fine.”
“But I’m sure the king will appreciate you protecting his mother-in-law. Just, next time, come to me.”
“I was told they’d know.”
“Yeah… they always say that,” Eugene sighed. “But I guess sometimes they’re telling the truth…” He frowned. “I’ll figure out a system for this for the highest ranking employees. Can’t be having any old blackmail messing with us now, can we?”
“It isn’t ideal… no…”
“We’ll talk about this once I’ve fixed it, alright? Just you and me.”
Nigel looked scared.
“As friends.”
Nigel wasn’t happy with Eugene suddenly changing his demeanour, it did not bring him any comfort.
Eugene kinda felt bad and was trying to overcompensate. It wasn’t working.