"Hi," Elizabeth said softly. "Can I sit here?"
Julitta did not respond to her and only kept slipping stones into the small pond.
"I can understand how you feel about this issue. Diana told me that you had been with her even before Coco was born. I told her that that was very wonderful and that I would be thrilled if I watched her grow another baby in her belly and birth her."
Julitta scoffed silently.
"I understand that maybe I'm not the best person you'd want to speak to, right now. But I will also tell you something else."
"Diana always spoke about you while I did your make-up. Oh, if Julitta was here... She would do this and that and somewhere, I got jealous-"
"Was that why you chose to steal the child's affection from me?" Julitta snapped.
"Steal is such a strong word, don't you think?" Elizabeth asked, cocking her head to the side. "Look, when I met Diana, I didn't know she had a child. I assumed she was just a young woman, probably engaged or newly married and she wanted to gain the king's favour for herself and her man with the dresses she bought from the store."
"But I was sorely mistaken when she gave me an address to come for home service and it was the castle. I was surprised. I thought that perhaps she served the king and I never knew that she was the same Diana I had heard rumours about."
"The one who ran away because the king mistreated her but he's so in love with her now, she's lucky."
"I wished to be you-"
"So you did steal it-"
"Let me finish, Julitta. I wished to be you but I never said anything about taking care of Coco. It would have never been my request if I was to ask. And if I wanted to replace you, do you think I'd ask for it to be a job? I would have asked her if I could always come around to assist her in doing things. Don't be such a baby, Julitta."
"What do you mean? Do you know what I went through during the war?!" Julitta demanded icily. "You just up from nowhere -" she sprang up to her feet and began swinging her arms carelessly. "- and you waltz into my best friend's life and try to take my position?
Do you know how many dark days I suffered not being able to transform back to my human form-"
"You're not the only one in that!" Elizabeth yelled.
"But I fucking am the only one who suffered the pain!" She swung her arms and this time, it hit the stroller so forcefully that the stroller flew into the pond. It began to sink quickly since it had mostly metal on it.
"Oh my God, Julitta!" Elizabeth screamed. "What have you done?!"
Julitta became afraid instantly, she heard footsteps approaching and she screamed. "What did you do?!"
Elizabeth did not hear her since she had dived into the pond to save the boy. She assumed it was deep and banged her head on a rock. She had a momentary concussion and her head began to bleed.
Nevertheless, seeing the baby and not remembering who it was, she just knew he wasn't supposed to be there.
The stroller was heavy and she could not lift it, especially since she was losing blood. She began to unfasten the belts and clips and was finally able to bring him out. The Pind had already begun to change colour since she was losing so much blood.
Elizabeth felt someone snatch Coco away from her hand and she fell back into the water, sinking. She was too weak to swim up again.
Julitta turned to find Diana and Calhoun standing there. She shakily took the child to Diana.
"What happened?" Diana asked.
"I think she got mad and while she was waving around, frantically, she pushed the stroller into the pond." She answered.
Diana's gaze turned hard and she glared at the pond where Elizabeth's body was missing. She turned to Julitta.
"Let's take him inside and clean him up." She said, She was not going to save Elizabeth for almost killing her son.
Calhoun watched her go in with Julitta hurrying behind her. He stared at them as they went. After a while, Julitta looked back and their eyes met. She quickly looked away and Calhoun scowled.
He walked over to the pond and he could see a faint red colour spread around. The girl was bleeding and drowning too?
He slipped into the pond and took her out. Rather than taking her into the castle, he drove to the packed clinic and instructed them to attend to her immediately.
"No matter what happens, make sure that a word of this does not get out. Okay?" He warned.
They nodded and soon, he was on his way back to the castle. Once he entered his chamber, he found an angry Diana pacing the floor.
"Where have you been?" She demanded. "Our son was just in the water for such a long time and you couldn't even come to check up on him?!"
"Oh, come on darling. I knew you would do a better job. How is he now?" He asked, changing the subject. Diana moved to hug him but he moved back a bit and she paused.
"What?"
"Oh, I'm very cold right now. Let me change into something warmer and less itchy." Calhoun said. "That way I can hug you and you can find comfort in my arms."
Diana nodded. She allowed him to go into the bedroom while she sat down and waited patiently. Calhoun entered and was surprised to find Julitta seated on their bed.
"What are you doing here?" He asked rudely. Julitta could not meet his gaze and she kept her gaze down.
"Are you mute? Or you're just feeling guilty?" Calhoun demanded. "Leave before I open my eyes."
She quickly left the bedroom and Calhoun changed his clothes quickly. When he came back out, he still met her there.
"Darling, why is she here?"
"Oh, she was just keeping me company while you were not here," Diana answered. She didn't understand why Calhoun was uncomfortable about Julitta's presence.
"Okay, I'm here now. She can leave. Remember, this is our family chamber. You're going to be the queen and Luna soon, meaning you're not just another woman I'm housing in my chamber. So other people cannot come in except if they're your servants." Calhoun explained.
Diana nodded in understanding. Julitta took the cue and left.
"She's so shaken up, I don't think anyone would have suspected that Elizabeth could do such a thing," Diana said weakly. "I just imagine my baby, falling into that pond that never freezes during such a cold time of the year."
Calhoun chuckled. "He's as strong as his father. Come on, let's go and cuddle you both to sleep."
Diana readily accepted. She and Calhoun slept on either side of Coco but they snuggled up together so that everyone felt warm despite the coldness outside.
The only person who did not sleep was Julitta. She could not sleep. She had not only lied against Elizabeth but had also left her in the freezing water to die. She felt so guilty and from the way Calhoun looked at her, it was obvious that he knew something. She could not hide her secret forever.
Her only problem was what if Elizabeth had died? She believed there was still a chance to save her. But even if there wasn't, she had to make sure the girl was dead so that she would know if her confession was necessary or not.
She silently left her room and tiptoed out of the castle, careful not to awaken any of the servants or alert any of the guards.
Once she had successfully gotten out, she slipped to the back of the castle and went straight to the pond. There was no more red in it and it was crystal clear again. When she peered in closer, she saw that Ellie was no longer there.
Her heart leapt to her throat. She assumed that if Ellie was dead, she would feel happy. But now, she feels even worse.
Just as she was about to step back, she slipped and fell into the pond. She began to fight for air and to come out. Julitta was the only soldier in the entire Fraco army who was terrible at swimming. She hated going near the water.
She caught a shadow and she tried to call for help without having to swallow so much chilling water.
"Help... Uh, hel.. help!"
The shadow came closer to her and when she saw who it was, she felt like it was better for her to drown than to be saved by the devilish man.
Calhoun crouched over the pond, watching her fight for her life, amused. He chuckled even.
"How the tables have turned." He said.
Julitta knew at that moment that Calhoun knew what had happened. If he did, why did he not tell Diana?
"Don't worry, I didn't tell her," Calhoun said. "And I won't tell her. You'd be the one to tell her."
Julitta stared at him and she begged with her eyes. She could not stay up any longer.
"Help me, please."
"Oh how much Ellie would have cried within her for help." Calhoun mocked. "But because someone has told a lie, she wasn't saved. The poor thing is dead now."
Julitta felt her heart calm down a bit. If Ellie was dead, all she needed was to ensure that Calhoun never told Diana and she would be fine. But it would be better if Ellie was alive than for Calhoun to be aware of what exactly had happened.
Calhoun reached his hand out and grabbed her by the hair. Julitta screamed as he pulled her up. Rather than just dropping her so carefully, he flung her to the dirt ground and she rolled against the ground covered in snow mixed with dirt. Julitta went sub-zero and she didn't know if she could move her limbs at all.
Calhoun chuckled. "Poor you. Since you found out what took you out to the pool, why not find your way back into the castle? Oh and do it very quickly because Diana will soon awake."
He left her standing out in the cold, shivering terribly. Julitta struggled to get into the castle and when she finally did, she was attacked by the warmth and she shivered all the more. She got to her room with more struggle and the first thing she did was to soak in room-temperature water.
After cooking her body, she started to increase the temperature of the water until it was hot enough to soothe her. Once she was calm, she began to cry. Julitta spent the rest of the night, soaking and crying in the bath.
By the following morning, Diana was mad! She was fuming mad and all she wanted to do was rip Julitta apart but Calhoun kept consoling her.
"Don't do that, it doesn't mean anything." He said.
Diana was not going to take it at all. How could Julitta play on her intelligence easily and betray her? Did she not mean anything to her?
"Come on, let's go downstairs for breakfast. I want you to be on your best behaviour. She pleaded with me not to tell you."
"Then why did you?" Diana asked.
"Because I want you to know that I love you and have eyes for you only. Also, it would make you stop inviting her into our chamber so easily," Calhoun said.
Diana shook her head. "I still find this disbelieving. Julitta, tried to seduce you? She made attempts at you?"
Calhoun sighed and shrugged. "There's nothing too surprising."
Julitta came down for breakfast and she couldn't help but notice Diana's glare on her and Calhoun's smug smirk. Her heart skipped several beats and she just believed that she had been found out. She had to just confess now.