The Legend of Gryffon

Azgul Castle II

Gabriella looked around the garden as if it was her first time there. She went around looking at the flowers, getting lost in the maze, and almost smashing her head against a pillar.

Eventually, she got tired and the two went back to the palace.

When Gabriella arrived at the palace, as she was casually fanning herself with her white lace hand fan, she saw a woman standing in the garden, talking to her brother, Max.

Max seemed extremely uncomfortable. When he saw Gabriella, the way he looked at her was as if he was looking at his life savior. He walks past the woman and greets Gabriella.

Gabriella smiles and greets him. She pulls him in for a hug and whispers.

" Who is that?"

" The witch of the Stafford family"

" Which one? There are many witches in the Stafford family"

" Lillian Stafford"

Gabriella's smile froze. The warmth in her eyes disappeared. Her grip on Max's coat tightened and Max frowned in pain. Gabriella let of Max and walked towards Lillian. She opened the fan in an attempt to hide her face.

Lillian wore a white high-cut knee-length dress with a white high block heel paired with two gold opera necklaces along with a pair of gold studded earrings. There really wasn't anything wrong with what she was wearing except for the diadem she was wearing.

" My oh my. What do we have here? Lady Lilian?"

Lillian smiled and spoke.

" Hello, I'm Lady Lillian of house Stafford. Which noble house do you belong to?"

" What's with the diadem?", asked Gabriella.

Lillian got flustered.

" This diadem is a diadem that belongs to the second princess. I have seen her highness wear it before. I wonder how you got your hands on it..."

"It's just an imitation"

" Oh...then how you explain the gem in the center of the diadem. It's a Gedsian gem. Only one of them exists and don't tell me that it's an imitation too. The real Gedsian gem will glow yellow when its rightful owner isn't wearing it and the gem...it looks yellow to me"

" I-I- I didn't mean to lie! One of the ladies-in-waiting of the second princess sold it to me and I-"

" You should have reported the theft to the butler. You shouldn't come to the palace and flaunt it for everyone to see. Now hand over the diadem Lady Lilian"

Lillian trembled in fear as she slowly took off the diadem. But before she handed it over she asked.

" May I know who you are? "

Gabriella froze for a moment before laughing.

" You don't need to know that", said Gabriella before she snatched the diadem out of Lilian's hands.

She walked inside the palace. Lilian watched Gabriella disappear into the hallway. Her hands were balled into fists and she was gritting her teeth to dust. Her mood worsened when she heard the maids whispering.

" How embarrassing"

" She should know her place"

" She really treats the palace as her home"

----

Gabriella stormed into the palace flinging the doors and sweeping the curtains.

The head butler was running after Gabriella. His forehead was covered in sweat. He wondered what happened this time.

" Summon all the ladies-in-waiting!", Gabriella yelled.

" Yes, your highness"

Gabriella went inside her room and started searching her jewelry collection. Sure enough, a lot of the jewelry was missing.

Gabriella loved jewelry. Especially ones made of rare materials. Every single time her father and brother visited the other kingdoms, they will bring back jewelry for Gabriella. Many noblemen have gifted rare and expensive jewelry pieces to Gabriella in hopes of courting her. So her collection was quite large. Despite the fact that the collection was large, she remembers every single piece she ever owned.