The King exhaled, "Very well. She is in the dungeons, in one of the cells. She won't hurt you as long as you don't go in.", and the Grand Duke replied, "I'll take you, Jules.".
Jules glanced at the pale, slowly recovering, slumbering form of his wife, and Perla replied, "I'll take care of her, Jules. She needs clean clothes and such as it's not hygienic to stay in that gown since she fought so much, and she'll feel better if she's clean and all.".
"Okay...", Jules nodded, and he kissed Leila on the forehead, whispering, "I'll come right back to you, I promise. You're strong, my wife...You open those eyes soon, shining like the stars when you feel better. I love you, Leila.", realizing that they hadn't gotten rings on, as he held her hand.
The King replied, "I have more jewelry than I know what to do with. Francois, see that you lead Jules to one of the few rooms where jewelry is available for the staff, on the way to the dungeons.", noticing Jules's predicament, replying to the Grand Duke whose name is Francois.
The Grand Duke nodded, "Yes, sire. Come along, Jules. We must leave Miss Perla to take care of things as the doctors will lend the supplies for Leila.", and Jules nodded, with Perla giving him a surefire smile of understanding, and so, the men left the room, with the King heading another way, to oversee the proceedings of the ball party, with the Grand Duke and Jules heading the other way.
Upon the way several minutes later, Jules found two beautiful yet simple rings of bronze with silver beading, and put the husband's ring on his finger, exhaling in awe as he realized that he's married again...to an incredible woman, and he knew he wouldn't dare to break her heart for he loves her than he'd ever imagined.
He reverently hid his wife's ring in his breast pocket behind his waistcoat, near his heart, and then nodded to the Grand Duke, and so, they then headed down to the dungeons, with corridors to confuse any criminal in case if they escape or such, with guards at every main point.
"Some days I still find it surprising that this place still stands after the revolution.", Jules admitted as Francois nodded.
"Yes... the Jacobins kept the place standing but looted everything in an attempt to 'restore the treasures stolen by the monarch from the people' when a lot of the leaders just horded the stuff themselves; or sold it over the borders before the Monster of Europe, Napoleon, stole a lot of it back...", Francois said.
He then motioned Jules to one of the dungeons, "Don't waste too much time with her; I'm sure you'd much rather be with your wife.".
Jules nodded, a lingering thought that they couldn't have a wedding night thanks to circumstances, but he pushed it back, going to think about it later, and then took a deep breath, "Thanks, Francois.".
Francois replied, "I'll wait here. With any luck, I might overhear her, and report to the King.", and Jules replied, "Fair enough.", before heading down the corridor, soon approaching the cell, seeing Eleanor Tremaine, not an upper-class woman, but a measly woman.
With female servants among the guards, Tremaine was removed of anything that would be used as a weapon, to kill herself or hurt the guards, leaving her a mess, having her long brown hair down, some of her dress stripped down, taking her shoes, and of course, makeup all awful through she tried to make it better.
Hearing footsteps, Tremaine looked up from her seat on the chained hay bed, and she gasped, getting up, seeing Jules, "Jules!", and Jules narrowed his eyes, glaring through the bars, "Don't call me that. I'm Richard Russo now.", flashing his ring at her intentionally.
If Tremaine had any plans to try and bluff and fake her way out of things, it was clearly done now. "So...you married her...", she growled as she leaned back as Jules nodded.
"Yes... and she'll thankfully live despite your efforts...", he sighed. "My own daughter... a little girl and you planned to murder her...".
"I intended to win my bet with that common whore by any means... and don't think for a second now that I ever cared about your spawn or even you...", Tremaine scowled at him.
"Only cared for wealth, that's right?", Jules raised an eyebrow at her; any sort of anger or rage was mostly buried deep inside. She wasn't going to let her get to him no matter what.
Tremaine replied, "I only cared about raising my own daughters, to survive in a man's world, and I needed to be wealthy to put my daughters up into their introduction to the world when they came of age.", with a sharp scoff.
Jules then replied, glaring at her, "And then you'd have gone to push one of them to marry one of the higher nobles, perhaps the prince.", and Tremaine flinched, and Jules replied, "The punishment for your sentence would have been the same if you had mixed the drinks and murdered the king's son. Execution.".
Tremaine widened her eyes in horror, "What?! But my daughters!", and Jules replied, "They are innocent, but they are horrified of you becoming a monster. They are now in the care of the King's head of staff, and they will be raised to be servants or ladies-in-waiting, which is far better for them, rather than being raised spoiled and greedy because of you.".
A sigh of resigned rage, "I see...", Tremaine exhaled before glaring at him, "Was it that negro who told that whore? My slave, Ray?". Jules nodded, "Yes, and I would thank him a hundred times over for saving my daughter and informing my wife despite your threats to sell his son. Leila told me that you intentionally spied on me and my wife when we were alone, threatening her reputation and mine.".
Tremaine scowled, "I nearly puked when I saw you touch that common whore. You, a gentleman, was willing to break the society rules for her. Pathetic.".
"I'm beginning to think you never cared for your previous husband either... did you do away with him similar to how you tried to with my daughter? Would I have shared that same fate years down the road?", Jules asked as she looked away and didn't answer. That probably was all the answer he needed, though maybe still vague on the fate of her husband being by her hand or other causes. "And this bet of yours with Leila?".
Tremaine exhaled deeply, "If she wins, she gets Ray and Naveen, to free them from being slaves ever again, telling me to keep my mouth shut about that secret meeting of yours in the maze, and to go away forever, to never talk of the deal, which is two weeks of courtship, and by the end of the two weeks, if she is proposed, she wins the deal. But if she loses and I win, being proposed to you, I get to gossip all I want about her, to ruin her reputation, though not your reputation as she pathetically cares for you and your spawn, saying that your daughter doesn't deserve to see her father in ruins because of the scandal. And also, exile them out of the kingdom, her and her family forever from this village, and to burn all the pathetic materialistic things they own to flames and ash, leaving them in their clothes that day as the only thing they own.".
Jules scoffed, "Cruelty knows no bounds for you, does it?". He then closed his eyes before opening them again, "Well, you've lost the bet; not only because you tried to cheat in the worst way possible by killing my daughter and framing Leila for it... but because she still won her end of the agreement.".
He didn't know about Evangeline encouraging Ray to stop the horrible plan, slightly cheating, but technically, she was of the skies, not earth, and she wasn't human, but a fairy, so, Leila didn't cheat.
Tremaine snorted, "Fine. You can find the will of the ownership of those slaves in my temporary manor.", knowing that she will be executed, so she will be permanently shut from telling anything in death.
Jules nodded and then glared at her, "I have the feeling that my previous wife, Amelie, bless her soul, will ask the Lord to berate and shout at you before you are sent off to hell, for you nearly murdered her innocent and beloved daughter, and she will be making absolutely sure that you will never, ever hurt anyone again. Goodbye, Eleanor Tremaine, and you will be forgotten.", before leaving the corridor, hearing an enraged screech a few minutes later as he walked with the Great Duke.
Francois replied, "I'm appalled that she didn't even feel sorry for anything...", and Jules sighed deeply, "Everyone has a pure soul when they arrive and die, but her...Her soul has gone black.".
"I would have to disagree with you on one aspect there... I can think of plenty of people whose soul was black when they died. Robespierre for starters. How many innocent men, women and children died at the hands of his and his fellow revolutionaries so called 'Committee of Public Safety'?", Francois replied with a weary sigh.
Jules shook his head, "Either way, she will be no more soon enough, and we'll all move on with our lives. Now then, if you'd be willing to escort me back to my wife.".
Francois smiled widely, "Of course, I can do that.", as they walked on, and a few minutes later, "I might be saying the same thing as the doctors when we get there soon, but you might need to hold back the wedding night...considering the circumstances...But pardon me if I am a bit personal there, as...well, traditions to marriage...", with a shrug.
"It's alright... I think we might wait some time before that night... right now, I just want to make sure she'll recover.", Jules told him as they made their way back to Leila's room. Things was much quieter now as people had left and gone home with the party having ended quite some time ago.
Jules had a feeling that the town would be talking about this as the big news for a while, and he couldn't blame them. He knocked on the door, and the castle doctor came out smiling, "Hello, Monsieur Russo. Mrs. Russo is regaining some strength, she's having some color back to her cheeks, and she's all brushed up and clean, thanks to Miss Perla, but she's still deeply asleep, but it's looking good as she might wake up in the middle of the night.".
Jules looked so relieved, "Thank goodness.", and Francois nodded with a smile, "Told you.". before he left them.
The castle doctor then continued on, "My comrade had to head back to the village, and Miss Perla and the family, including your daughter is resting in the rest of the wing here, not far from here. And one last thing, you'd have to wait a bit to consummate your marriage with your wife. Even after recovering, she needs to take it easy.".
"Don't worry, we'll wait a while until she feels ready...", Jules replied, and the castle doctor nodded, "Good. Well, good night, Monsieur. I'm just down the hall if you need me.", leaving him with a smile.
Jules then went into the room, closing the door, seeing his wife truly looking better, sleeping peacefully, dressed in a nightgown, warm with the blankets on her, and he smiled tiredly as he sat down in his chair, pulling out his wife's ring from his front pocket of his shirt, and gently took her hand, kissing her fingers, donning the ring on her married finger, and sighed as he rested his head on the side of the bed on his arms, holding into her hand, watching her sleep, not going to scare her in case she doesn't remember what happened earlier if he went to sleep on the bed.
So far, she seemed to look alright now; life was slowly being restored into her as she looked a bit better than she did at some of her lowest moments. But the words still rang out in his head... about the doctor saying that they needed to wait and see if she'll recover or might take a bad turn for the worse. He quietly prayed as he looked out to the Evening Star.
Jules then blinked in confusion as the Evening Star looked even brighter...maybe shimmering...wait, is it glowing outwards? He heard a faint ringing sound as the glow came through the window, and Evangeline started to appear. Jules instinctively moved to protect his wife, looking at Evangeline with shock, awe, and wary curiosity.
"That will not be necessary, Jules. I am a friend, one that your wife there is very familiar with.", she explained to him as he glanced back at Leila before looking to Evangeline once more. Jules exhaled deeply, "You just...just came from the Evening Star.".
Evangeline nodded, "Indeed. I'm Evangeline, the Blue Fairy. I grant wishes to people with pure hearts within reasonable ways. I have granted her wish, her family's wishes, and now with you married to Leila, I can grant your wish. I can heal her to full health and strength.".
"You- you can?", Jules stammered as this all sounded almost too good to be true… But she did claim that Leila and her family knew her. If Leila recovered, she'd probably be able to explain more.
Evangeline smiled, "I can. But I see that you're hesitant to let me near your wife. You're a man who believes in seeing. If I show you how I granted her and her family's wishes, would you then let me near, if you know me better then?".
Jules still was a bit hesitant, but he nodded as Evangeline smiled. "Good. I must tell you, I'm sure she was going to tell you all this sooner, but I think seeing is believing with what I've done.".
Jules exhaled, looking at Leila, realizing that she would have told him if even all of this attempted murder didn't happen as she loves him.
Evangeline reassures him, "It will be a short minute here, but we will come right back here like you've always have been here all this time.".
Jules nodded once more as he took a deep breath. "The sooner that she's alright... the better... if that's alright.", he told her as she nodded.
Jules leaned over to kiss Leila on the cheek, "I'll be back in a flash, my love.", hearing her soft deep sleeping breaths, "I love you, Leila, and I'll say it over and over again.", as he stroked her hand softly before leaving her side, and exhaled, "Okay, let's go.", unknowing that he's technically going to spend a whole day of seeing the adventures, while he's technically gone for a minute from his wife's room.
Evangeline gently held into his shoulder, and her wand glowed in a flash, and before Jules knew it, he was in Italy, almost like an invisible ghost to everyone and everything except by Evangeline's side.
He was in awe and amazement when he witnessed Pinocchio coming to life, seeing Geppetto as Evangeline explained his pure wish to have family again, or more specifically, a child, after telling some of his past bad times.
Jules felt for Geppetto when he heard that he lost his wife and son all in two days within the disastrous birth. He wouldn't have wished that on anyone, even his worst enemy in Tremaine.
Yet to see Geppetto overjoyed when he has Pinocchio, it was like the burdens came off Geppetto, and he was a father again, and Jules was happy for him, yet he's still a bit confused why Evangeline brought him here...He honestly thought it could be Perla, or the circumstances of his wife when her son Romeo ran away.
He watched as the puppet went off to school... and never return before Geppetto went out to find him. The scene then suddenly shifted before he saw a man that he didn't recognize abusing a young red-haired boy... one that looked quite a bit like Leila in many ways.
His blood boiled in rage when he couldn't do anything to stop him hurting the young boy who is clearly holding back tears, stifling his sounds of pain, hearing that man call him a wimpy boy among other things.
Jules exhaled sharply as he then saw his wife as the scene shifted, with the young boy, calling him Romeo...His wife looked younger and smiling as Romeo hid his signs of abuse so well, hardly flinching as his wife tucked him into bed...
He then saw Romeo in the dark of the night, with a bag of some food and water, casting one last look of sadness and grief at the house, and Jules was concerned as he didn't see Juliet anywhere, to stop him, like the story the family told, with Romeo telling Juliet to keep it quiet for their mother.
The scene changed to seeing his wife asking around the large village, with red-rimmed eyes, asking anyone if they saw her son, looking terrible like she hadn't properly slept for several nights.
Jules felt so much for her, a bit upset at her son for doing such a thing to his mother, yet he realized that Romeo couldn't take the abuse, never telling the truth to his mother, afraid that she wouldn't believe him over her husband, her second husband who abused her own son when she wasn't looking.