The Crown's Obsession (WN)
chapter-301

When the sun rose in the sky, light passed through the gaps of the curtains that were drawn over the window, Madeline started to wake up from her sleep. Her eyes tried to adjust to the sudden change from darkness to light in the room, the blurriness disappeared, and she found Calhoun who was lying next to her.

It seemed like in sleep, Calhoun had let go of her waist, giving her space just like he had done last night by offering her a choice to refuse. He slept with his back against the surface of the bed and his body facing the ceiling of the bed. Madeline started to move, ready to wake up and tiptoe out of the room so that she could get ready when her right hand touched something wet.

Her eyebrows furrowed and Madeline pushed herself up, sat on the bed, to bring her hand forward only to see her hand that was covered in blood. The shock of the sight was enough to throw her sleep out of her body, giving her body a sharp wake. She gasped when she caught sight of the blood that had drenched the white sheet of the bed, and the metallic smell of the blood hung around the bed.

Madeline's eyes were quick to turn towards Calhoun, and she noticed him staring at the ceiling, with his expression frozen. A wide hole had formed on his chest, and she gasped. Her breathing started to change with her heart beating loudly in her chest as shock sank in her body.

W-what happened here? She asked herself in panic. She looked around back and forth, and checked the windows and the doors to see them closed.

"C-Calhoun?" she called his name, but there was no response from him. The next moment, she found her hands on his chest. More blood started to come out from his body.

The room started to stifle, and her anxiety started to have her heart go into overdrive, waking her up from the nightmare she was having until now. Quickly waking up, she looked at the bedsheet to notice it was clean white and to see Calhoun was not lying there with his eyes open.

Madeline was looking around the room, and at the same time, the door opened, and she saw Calhoun standing there at the door, staring at Madeline with a frown on his face. He walked to where she sat, placing a hand on her forehead. He had gone out of the room ten minutes ago and was only returning when his ears picked up her heart, beating loudly like she was in a state of panic.

"What's the matter, Madeline?" Calhoun asked her, his eyes staring into her brown eyes that looked slightly dilated out of fear. He caught sight of her watching him, her eyes moving across his chest, and he tilted his head.

Calhoun sat on the edge of the bed, letting one leg rest down on the ground while the other that was folded on the bed.

"Where did you go?" Madeline asked, her eyes staring into his.

"I went to speak to Theodore," he answered, without bringing the smile forward that was pushing through his lips because of her words. Brushing it away for the time being, he apologised, "I am sorry that I wasn't here when you woke up. Did you have a bad dream?"

Madeline, stared at Calhoun making sure she wasn't dreaming again, finally dropped her gaze from him and gave him a nod. It was a disturbing dream, a dream that was vivid, and she could still smell the blood in the air, and the wetness in her hands because of his blood that was cold. Though Madeline had seen part of her grandfather's neck being ripped out, what she saw in her dream felt worse. She didn't know if it was because it was her own hands that had killed him in her dream, or if it was because it was Calhoun.

She felt Calhoun place his hand below her chin, raising it so that she would lift her gaze,

"Tell me about your dream," he coaxed her, wanting to know what had shaken her this early in the morning.

Madeline parted her lips, "It was just something," and this made Calhoun even more curious.

"No matter how little or stupid your dreams might be, I would like to hear every one of them," said Calhoun to her.

"Even the bad ones?"

"Even the ones that are ugly and something you cannot digest," he dropped his hand from her chin, letting her hold her gaze where her brown eyes had traces of doubt and worry in them. "You should know by now that I can handle anything. Even the worst."

Madeline took a moment for herself, gathering words to speak, "What if my grandparents are right? What if I am the person who will kill people? What will you do if I kill you one day?" she questioned him.

"Then I will die by your hands," he responded with a straight face before saying, "What exactly did you see in your dream?"

"Blood and you," said Madeline, "You were on the bed, with your heart missing in your chest, and I had blood on my hands."

"Dreams don't have to come true every time," Calhoun patted her head, "It is very rare that something ever coincides with reality. And the dream is not wrong. You do have my heart," he offered her a smile, his eyes softening as she took his pats without any complaints.

Madeline didn't know about it. Though it was true that her dreams had often been bizarre, there were still chances of something happening, or a premonition for the future. Calhoun appeared like he didn't care if he died by her hands, but she didn't want to cause any deaths by her hands or by her actions.

And even though Calhoun had a different outlook about the same thing, and he enjoyed ripping people's heads off like a farmer who cut pumpkins from the ground, Madeline didn't wish death upon anyone because every life was precious, and it had to be valued.

"I should have been by your side when you woke up," he apologized to her. Calhoun wondered if it was because of the conversation they had last night before she slept. "If you worry about the future, you will fail to see the things that are passing by."

"What if there's no future?" asked Madeline, her eyes intently looking at him. Until now, she didn't know she possessed the quality when it came to killing someone, but if she did, it was possible that she could kill Calhoun one day. They were opposites, an angel and a demon which was good to say that she could turn to his equal.

Calhoun's lips finally twisted into a smile, "Once upon a time, you believed there was no future to us. That we didn't match, sometimes all you need to do is to believe that everything will be okay. That is how I sleep soundly at night even after I behead a good number of people."

"Must be nice to have a peaceful sleep," Madeline commented, and the grin on Calhoun's lips broadened, allowing her to see his sharp fangs.

"A man needs his sleep," he joked. Calhoun leaned towards her face, pausing for a second so that Madeline could take in every second of his action and he tilted his head to the side to kiss her on her cheek. "Good morning. You should get ready now."

When Madeline left his room, Calhoun stared at the open door before his eyes fell on the bed that looked unkempt, unlike all this time as he barely slept in it. After returning to the room from the dungeon, Calhoun had stayed in bed, not sleeping but watching over Madeline who slept soundly with her face turned towards his side.

Breakfast in the dining room was extremely quiet because of the absence of the Wilmot's at the table. Though Beth and her parents had questions on their mind, they didn't dare to question the King about it. When Lucy didn't arrive at the table, Calhoun passed a silent look at Theodore, who bowed his head and left the room.

Madeline took note of this little action, and she looked at Calhoun, who offered her a smile as if nothing was wrong.

"The room is quieter than usual, isn't it?" Calhoun chimed in the awkward silence of the room, "Feels like people died already."

A clatter was heard at the table as Beth had unintentionally dropped her knife right on her plate upon the King's words. Beth quickly apologized for the disturbance she had caused, bowing her head. She appeared like she didn't get a wink of sleep last night and had stayed up worried. She had started to build a castle with Markus in it, but that was pulled away from her.

"Would you like some butter, Lady Elizabeth?" asked the homeless-looking man, who had picked to sit right in front of her. She didn't even know what the man was doing in here.

She shook her head and turned back to look at her food.

Even though Beth was worried about where Markus was and how he was doing right now, her thoughts were being distracted because of the man who was sitting and staring at her. The man was rude to keep staring at her, and maybe she would question him if he wanted something, but the atmosphere around the table wasn't right.

When breakfast was done, Beth pulled Madeline away from the rest, going to another corridor and she asked,

"Did they find Markus?" Beth had a look of anxiousness on her face which was marred with worry.

Madeline knew her sister was going to ask her questions about the vampire, and even though Madeline knew Calhoun had found Markus, she shook her head.

"No, they are still trying to find him," answered Madeline to her sister. Lying was not what she had planned to do, but she wanted to be the responsible sister. Markus Wilmot was only using Beth for his own benefit.

"Do something about it, Maddie. Help Markus," blurted Beth before Madeline could say something, "The King will listen to your words. Ask him to spare Markus' life!" Beth had given a lot of thoughts, and she knew Markus was going to be executed if he would be found guilty.

Madeline pursed her lips, "Mr. Wilmot won't be in trouble if he hasn't done anything and has only escaped from the castle in the spur of the moment." She placed her hand on Beth's arm, "He will be fine if he hasn't done anything. I am sure everything will be alright."

She noticed how Beth looked conflicted by her words like she wanted to comment something about it, but she tried to hold it in. "But if something happens, you will stop him, right? You promise me?" Beth pressed for an answer.

Seeing Madeline's hesitance, Beth's eyebrows furrowed as she came to realize that Madeline was not going to do anything like that and would instead follow the King's words. To save Madeline, Raphael arrived at the corridor.

"Lady Madeline and Lady Elizabeth. Greetings to you both," Raphael bowed his head.

Though Madeline bowed her head, Beth looked annoyed by Raphael's presence.

"I was wondering if you ladies would like to play cards?"

"I don't think this is the time to play cards. We have something important to discuss," replied Beth. Raphael noticed Beth's eyes that were green and had more colour to it where her black hair accentuated her features.

"Allow me to help then," said Raphael, ready to take part in it with a polite smile on his face.

Beth gritted her teeth, "I will talk to you later, Maddie. Let me see if Lady Rosamund is doing alright," and she sent a small glare to Raphael, turning on her heel and walking away from them.

"Your sister doesn't look like she likes me much, does she?" Raphael asked, seeing Elizabeth disappear from the corridor.

Madeline was worried about what Beth would do. She only hoped that her sister wouldn't do anything stupid that would push Calhoun to add her sister in the same scale as the Wilmot's family.