The Crown's Obsession (WN)
chapter-294

"This is ridiculous!" exclaimed Lady Rosamund, "I did nothing but sit here and listen. You cannot put me in the dungeon!"

"This is only for precaution," Calhoun promised, "It is not like no one in the family has not stayed in the dungeon. Consider it to be a fulfilment of the Hawthrone's tradition."

Rosamund Wilmot, who was the former princess of the Hawthrone, didn't argue but only continued to glare at her nephew. Without causing chaos, she didn't follow the guards but stepped out of the room, to walk in the direction towards the dungeon as she was no prisoner.

Calhoun looked at Rosamund's back, and he heard Dimitri who stood next to him, say,

"Though we'll be holding the family for possible treason, they will still undergo trial as they belong to the royal family."

"Two days?" inquired Calhoun because that was the amount of time that was taken by the High House not just by the current four members but also others, before passing the judgement to see if the person was guilty or not.

Dimitri nodded his head, "Yes, my King. But that also means that you will have to answer some of the questions. Just because the previous King and Queen's case was closed, where the blame fell on the minister, it doesn't mean I have let you off the hook."

With what Madeline had witnessed today, she could tell that Dimitri was a person who was level headed and he appeared to be fair in his decision. But at the same time, when people like Calhoun were put in the same space, she wondered how Calhoun balanced it as Dimitri didn't appear to be a person who let things rest until justice was served.

"Please feel free to ask questions about anything. I will be right here," Calhoun replied to Dimitri's words.

Calhoun and Dimitri stared at each other. The Senior man had his suspicion on Calhoun and Madeline was aware that it was Calhoun who had killed the King and the Queen.

For several minutes, they stood outside the room, and Madeline heard the commotion taking place not too far away from where she stood with the two men. It was Sophie's voice, and she was shouting. Madeline felt a chill run down her spine. She couldn't help but look in the direction of the open corridors. She wondered how far Markus would be able to run away from the people.

"My Lord."

It was Theodore who had returned with his head bowed, "Mr. Wilmot is nowhere to be found in the grounds."

"Did you search everywhere? He shouldn't have gone too far," Dimitri furrowed his eyebrows.

Theodore nodded his head, but the High House member was not satisfied until his very own people returned after some time with empty hands to let them know that Markus Wilmot had escaped.

"The guards here are sloppy! They couldn't catch one vampire?" Lilith had an incredulous look on her face.

"I will need to have a word with them," Calhoun stated to only receive a look from Dimitri.

Calhoun had placed fewer guards since this morning, almost predicting the situation that would take place in the future. He wanted Markus to flee so that it would only make it easy to get rid of the Wilmot's. Markus' head would turn precious to hunt as he had gone against the word of not only the King but also of the High House.

Like a patient person all these years, Calhoun had laid the mousetrap for the Wilmot's and so did the Wilmot's family. Having treaded carefully over the years, one of them was waiting for the other to fall into the trap. Maybe his cousins and his aunt would have been safe if they hadn't been in a hurry to get him to be noticed by the High House. Maybe Markus would still have a chance if he used his head calmly by speaking to the High House, but instead, he had chosen to escape like a criminal.

But Calhoun didn't judge him. Markus would have never guessed that the letter would come to be in his possession.

Hearing the commotion taking place in the castle, some of them woke up. The first one was Lucy, then came Raphael and the Harris family.

"What's going on, brother Calhoun?" inquired Lucy seeing the sullen look on Calhoun and Madeline's face. She didn't bother to look at Theodore who often had a wall like expression when it came to her.

"Markus ran away from the castle," Calhoun answered her question.

"What?" came the question simultaneously from Lucy and Beth.

Dimitri said, "Markus has tried to form treason with his family. Anyone associated with this incident will be put under trial." His words instantly straightened Beth's back.

"W-what happened?" Beth asked as the information was still sinking in her.

"The trial will take place here in the presence of other court members. We will return at that time. In the meantime, an official search warrant will be sent out to capture Mr. Wilmot," Dimitri informed and turned around with the other three High House members to leave the castle.

Once they left, the others were filled in with what took place, and the words exchanged. Lucy looked worried, and she said,

"Would brother Markus do something like that? I never knew he was scheming something against you...And to speak ill about Lady Madeline," her voice was sad, "But will Aunt Rosamund and Sophie be convicted for it?"

Calhoun answered, "I won't let anything happen to them if they aren't involved in it. The High House will be the one to decide it. If only Markus hadn't run away from here and if we could have sat down and spoken. This whole thing could have been avoided." He turned to Madeline's parents and said, "My apologies, Mr. and Mrs. Harris, but we will need to pause on the wedding plans between Elizabeth and Markus."

Beth's mouth fell agape. She couldn't believe this was happening to her. It was only today that she and Markus were speaking about their future, and now that was being taken away from her.

"W-where did he go?" asked Beth.

"We don't know. We hope he can come back so that we can have a calm discussion but seeing what happened..." Calhoun turned to look at the village man who lay dead in the room, he said, "It doesn't look like Markus wants to talk."

It was evident that everyone were in shock and didn't know what to say right now. "Madeline," she heard Calhoun call her, "Why don't you take mother and father back to their rooms?" She quickly nodded her head, leading her family back to their guest rooms.

"Do you think I can go and visit Aunt Rosamund and Sophie tomorrow morning?" asked Lucy.

"Yes," Calhoun nodded his head, and Lucy finally went back to her room.

"Get this cleaned up," ordered Calhoun to the servant as he passed a look at the village man's body. Apart from the man who had spoken in favour to the King, the other village men were taken to spend the night in the dungeon.

Once everyone had gone back to their rooms Calhoun, Theodore and Raphael made their way out of the castle. Going around and behind the castle, which led to the forest. Calhoun stopped walking with the rest of them when they reached a certain place.

"I would have never guessed him to be the impulsive kind," commented Raphael.

"Good job in getting to him sooner than the people of the High House, Theo," said Calhoun, taking a step forward to get a closer look at his cousin who was unconsciously hanging from the tree by his leg while his hands were tied.