Leila tried to breathe deeply, trying to save her voice, but the fast-working poison were strong against her immune system as she cried out in pain, sweat soaking her hair and her gown, coughing out blood every now and then...
Jules was in agony, trying to comfort her, holding her hand, hating to see his love in pain, wiping her forehead with a handkerchief. The fast-working medicine by the doctors, considering the period of the mid-1800s, was barely slowing the poison down, trying to cleanse it out.
"Please... Leila... you can fight this... you'll be alright...", Jules whispered as he gently held her hand and was just praying that she would pull through. He already lost one love... he didn't want to stomach through watching another one die in front of him.
Leila weakly looked at him with a small smile before wringing the sheets in pain as she cried out in pain, and Perla called to the doctors, "Done, I got the herbal remedies made!".
The first doctor nodded, "Good, let's help you feel better, mademoiselle.", as they gave her the remedies over several minutes, and Leila felt a bit better, a bit stronger, yet she was still in pain, still coughing out blood.
Perla frowned, "They should have worked!", tears in her eyes, afraid to lose her second mother in Leila as she did so much for her including delivering Carlo, before a guard knocked on the door, and the second doctor called out, "Come in!".
The guard replied, "Pardon me for the intrusion, but we have interrogated Eleanor Tremaine on the king's orders, and found the poison bottle on her person. We checked the seal on the bottom, and we went to the apothecary's name on the seal in town, and the poison itself is aconite mixed with belladonna.".
"My God...", one of the doctors muttered. "And a child was the original target of it?". Jules looked to him as the doctor sighed. "Monsieur, the child would have been dead in only a few moments...", he admitted as Jules' heart skipped for a moment hearing that. Just how close Ella was to death if not for Lelia...
Leila herself was horrified of the measures that Eleanor Tremaine would take...yet she wouldn't hesitate to take it all over again, for she wouldn't want to see any other people suffer if they took it...She coughed harshly, replying, "P-Perla, remember what I said about a-aconite?".
Perla nodded, "Yes, the aconite can be stopped with herbs found by the sea.", before widening her eyes, "Shit, we need fresh herbs, not bottle-stale herbs! But what about the belladonna?".
The castle doctor frowned, "The fresh herbs for the antidote to belladonna is even harder to find, in the mountains...", and the village doctor replied, "Then we need to hurry, I will go to the mountains, while you go to the beach, Mademoiselle.".
"Wait, how long would all that take?", Jules had to ask. "Does Leila... how much time does she have if we can't treat her in time?", he asked.
The doctors looked at each other, and the castle doctor replied, "Monsieur, I'll stay here to help the best I could. Since the kingdom is literally near the sea, if Mistress Perla is quick, she can come back in good time, but for the mountains, farther away, at least two hours, maybe one, if the horse is fast. We are fortunate that tonight is a full moon, it'd be a bit easier to find the herbs in each place.".
The village doctor then sighed, "One hour, Monsieur...We were fortunate that the medicine and the bottle-stale herbs helped a little, but apparently, the poison altogether is strong...", and Jules held Leila's hand with a sob.
Perla squeezed Jules' shoulder, "I'll find the herbs by the sea fast, I swear.", before looking at Leila, "Hold on, Leila. You got a lot to live for.", and Leila gave her a small smile before Perla narrowed her eyes, and then all but ran in her dress, with the village doctor demanding for horses to the guard who led them to the stables across the castle.
Jules whispered, "I'm so sorry, Leila...If I had known...this is my fault for listening to society...", and Leila groaned in pain before replying, "Jules...You just wanted love, a mother for Ella...It's not your fault...I love you...and Ella as a daughter...I never thought I would find love again...yet I'm glad it's you...".
Jules teared up as he leaned down to kiss her hand. His heart just felt like a war had raged in it and left nothing but ruins with how he was feeling at the moment, seeing her dying from Tremaine's deceit and the chance to save her very limited in time. He quietly prayed that he wouldn't lose Leila; that she could just hang on long enough to be saved.
Leila kept wrenching in pain, coughing out blood and pale with cold sweat, for the next 30 minutes with the castle doctor trying to give her herbal soup, water when Perla returned with the herbs from the beach.
"Good thing my horse was fast, and the moon guided me.", Perla panted deeply as the castle doctor went to work the herbs into a remedy, not mentioning that the Evening Star had beamed on the perfect spot for the herbs to be found, thanking Evangeline mentally.
Leila was helped to drink it, and the wrenching of pain within her body seemed to ebb away, with the coughing of blood less violent, but she was in terrible pain, so pale as the herbs for the aconite destroyed it, but with the belladonna, it was fighting back.
For the next 30 minutes, she cried in pain from the terrible pain as it got worse, and the castle doctor bit his lip, "She can't hold on much longer, Monsieur...If the village doctor doesn't return by the end of the next 30 minutes...we can't treat her in time...".
Jules closed his eyes in pain, and he whispered, "Can you leave us for a few minutes?", and solemn nods came from Perla and the castle doctor, with Perla stifling a sob as they left the room, standing outside, closing the door...
Leila gave a little smile, "That night, with the little pond...I loved dancing more than anything in that moment with you...I don't regret those moments of secret passionate love...do you?", remembering their courting days over the past two weeks, how they held each other in passion, in secret alcoves, like under the weeping willow, by the dark section of the gazebo, and of course, the first moment of passion in their spot where they had their first kiss, feeling his hands ravish her, his lips passionately kissing her.
"No... I don't...", Jules teared up as he just wanted to let it all out; his hand gently brushing her hair as he stayed at her side. "Please... Leila... you have to keep fighting, just help buy that doctor a little more time...", he whispered as he kissed her forehead.
Leila whispered softly, "I will keep fighting to the end, but I can't promise that I can keep my strength up...Do you know what I regret?", and Jules shook his head.
"Not being bold enough to ask you to marry me...I always wondered what'd a French wedding would look like...But I was trying to be a gentlewoman, to let you take the reins as you were the duke and all...I appreciated the time you did so much to be kind and gentle in our courting dates, not rushing anything much...Don't think I hadn't noticed...You were afraid to hurt me, weren't you, Jules?", Leila replied.
Jules sniffled as he nodded. "I'm sorry, Leila... so sorry for everything... I... I was just trying to spare you from the pain...", he told her.
Leila gave a small smile, "I'm not afraid to love you now, Jules...Heh, took me two weeks and a deadly potion for me to realize that you aren't that...that bastard back in Italy...", and Jules exhaled, giving her a soft smile, "I'm not afraid to love you now either, Leila...", before remembering what she said earlier, and then replied, "I know this is not traditional or public, but would you take this man's hand in marriage, and take Ella to be your daughter? I'm a duke, after all...I can ask for us to be married right here, right now...But if only you want to, my star.", relieved to see that her beautiful hazel eyes are still bright as stars, still fighting despite her state.
Leila started to tear up as she took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes... yes, Jules... I would be honored to be your wife... to be Ella's mother...", she sniffled as she now was praying herself to be saved now that she really had something extra to live for... hearing him wanting to marry her; it was almost just so much emotionally for her.
Jules gave a bright, tearful smile, nodding, and called out, "Perla, doctor, come in!", and the duo came in, with the doctor replying, "Is everything alright?".
Jules replied, "She's fighting for something more. I asked for her hand in marriage. Is there someone who can officiate us, right here, right now?", as Perla gasped, an emotional sob of bittersweet joy spilling out, praying so hard for the village doctor to return.
"I can do one better.", a warm smile replied, and they looked back to see the Grand Duke, the right-hand man of the King, along with the King in the doorway. A chorus of gasps, along with bows, with the exception of Leila as she was partially sitting in the bed, resting, "Your Grace, Your Majesty!".
"Please...", the King said. "Let us put aside the decorum for the moment since time is against us...", he said as many nodded. "Someone... please tell me the other doctor has arrived... I just...", Jules couldn't speak as he started to sob again.
Leila caressed his cheek, "Jules, please...Let this be a happy moment right now...", and Jules nodded softly, and gently helped her to sit up a bit easier with fluffing the pillows behind her, and then took a deep breath to look at the King.
"Sire, I denounce my title as a duke the moment I marry Leila...", Jules replied as Perla and Leila widened their eyes in shock, as Jules continued, "Being duke...it brought so much turmoil for me, to Leila as you have seen tonight...And I intend to be recognized as Richard Russo, for the sake of the safety of Leila's family and my daughter. Only my true name, Jules is reserved for my soon-to be wife and the family, and by you and the grand duke. But with your permission, sire, of course.".
The King and Grand Duke was surprised and shocked, and then the Grand Duke replied, "Are you certainly sure, Jules?", as he knew the man for many years, thanks to being in social circles and such.
"With all my heart. I have my daughter, Leila, and her family, it's all what I need, along with some of my gifts to Ella.", Jules nodded, and the King replied, "Well, I cannot dispute that logic. Alright then. Let's make this happen.", with an impressed, proud smile.
Jules smiled, and the King cleared his throat, "On this night, before God and the heavens, we are all here to witness two people in holy matrimony, who has experienced turmoil yet finding love with each other.".
"Jules D'Artaque, do you swear to love Leila Russo, to care for her through highs and lows, to grow with her through good times and bad times, to be her husband for all time?", the King continued.
"I do, sir...", Jules nodded as he looked back to Leila; praying every single second in his mind to not allow Leila to be taken from him.
The King then continued on, "Leila Russo, do you swear to love Jules D'Artaque, to care for him through highs and lows, to grow with him through good times and bad times, to be his wife for all time?".
Leila spoke in her strongest voice she could, "I do.", never taking her eyes off Jules, and the King then continued, "Then vested in France, in the kingdom of Seile, and by I, the King of the kingdom, under the name of the Lord, I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Richard and Leila Russo. You may kiss the bride.".
Jules gently took Leila's neck in one hand and her waist in the other, and he kissed her for the first time as husband and wife, and Leila had a little strength to wrap her arms around him as they kissed tenderly yet deeply with a hint of passion.
The crowd smiled both happily and solemnly, praying and watching the time, as the newlyweds had to pull back for fresh air, barely noticing the others, with Leila whispering, "My husband...", and Jules whispered back, "My wife...", reveling in the moment before Leila wrenched in pain, crying out in pain, fighting as she held into Jules, barely keeping the weak strength to stay awake.
Jules held her, "I'm here, I'm here, my love...", as a few minutes later, a voice shouted, "Let me through, let me through!", revealing the panting village doctor, already mashing the herbs from the mountains in a pestle. He nearly had lost hope as the forests in the mountains were nearly pitch dark, barely noticeable with the lantern, searching for the herbs when he saw a moon-lit glade, only to find that the Evening Star miraculously beamed upon the glade, right on a spot where he found the herbs, thanking the angels and the Lord.
Perla lends a bit of water quickly to the pestle, and the herbal antidote was ready in seconds, and Jules swiftly took the bowl, "Leila, look at me, drink...You got this...", tilting the bowl to Leila's lips as she weakly drank, resting her back on the pillows.
She felt so exhausted as the belladona sensed the antidote, and fought as she broke down in cold sweats, blacking out, heading into a slow recovering coma, barely hearing Jules's cry of fear, "Leila!".
Jules was in agony, "Is she...she?!", as the doctors checked on her, and the castle doctor shook his head, "No, she's not gone...She's in a coma...She needs the strength to fight, and she has been awake for the past couple of hours. She's exhausted. We just made it in time to treat her, thank the Lord.".
Jules took a huge sigh of relief as the doctor placed his hand on his shoulder, "I wouldn't be so sure as of yet... we'll need time to tell if indeed she'll recover.". Jules nodded, "I know... but... call it a feeling or a complete trust in fate... but I think she will pull through.".
Perla smiled softly as she replied, "I believe you, Jules, and besides, this makes you my father-in-law, which is technically a bit weird considering my age, but I don't care about that...You love Leila, and that's more worthy than anything.".
Jules smiled gratefully at Perla, "Thank you, Perla.", as the King replied, "What do you want to do with Eleanor Tremaine? And her daughters?".
"Her daughters are innocent in all of this, I know it...I doubt they ever knew of their mother's horrible plan...Yet I feel I might be hesitant to take them in since...they would remind me of their mother, and what she did to my wife, attempted to do on my daughter...", Jules sighed.
The King nodded, "They have been gently interrogated compared to their mother, and they didn't know, that's for sure...they were horrified of the deed as they were in the ballroom, witnessing the scene as everybody else. Prudence, my head of the staff, has offered to take the daughters under her care, if that's acceptable.".
"That's up to you, sir...", Jules said. "As we said, they're innocent... they're fairly young to begin with and I doubt Tremaine would've risked her plot by telling it to them.".
The King nodded, "Very well then. Anastasia and Drizella then will be the wards of Prudence, and with luck, they will soon forget about Tremaine considering that they are 4 years old, and with Prudence's care, they will be raised differently than what Tremaine would've done. And since Eleanor Tremaine did the crime right in front of everyone, in my castle, and if she had a second to think, she would have done away with my son...", with a furious look.
The doctors, Perla, Jules, and the Grand Duke realized what that meant, and the King then exhaled, "To have pinned a horrible crime right on one of my dukes' daughters, and if it wasn't for Mrs. Russo, I wouldn't have wished the same thing on you, Jules, considering what you have been through with Lady Amelie.".
Jules nodded, and the King replied, "And so, Eleanor Tremaine is to be executed. I understand it's beyond your control, Jules, but if she had done it in your chateau, you would have exiled her or put her in jail for the sake of her daughters, but in my own castle, it's a different story.".
"Understood, sire... as you mention, something could've happened, a mix up that took the life of the prince.", Jules took a deep breath. "If it would please your highness though... I would very much like to talk to her before that happens... I... there are some things I wish to discuss with her.".