The Crown's Obsession (WN)
chapter-304

Music Recommendation: Anxiety by Kensuke Ushio

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It was the time of the morning, where in the Barnes' mansion, Catherine Barnes was not pleased with her family that they couldn't find James yet. It had been some days since Miss Layla was killed and from that day, James had gone missing. She missed him terribly. The most she had spent without meeting him was three days, but this was more than that, and her heart continued to pace back and forth in worry.

Getting herself out of the bed, she got ready. She doubted James had left the land. There was no way he would do it, especially with his shop in the village that was flourishing. He should have come to her by now, but he didn't, and this bothered her immensely. The charges that were put up against him was not small and with the name of murderer on James' head, Catherine worried if she had not calculated the outcome of her plan carefully as she had considered it to be easy. Though her father said he was using all his source in tracking down where James was, she didn't understand why James was not found yet!

Catherine had done all this by thinking that James would forever be indebted to her. And he would never think about leaving her or having a change of mind about them getting married.

But her plan had backfired. With his father, who had passed away from this world, there was no reason for him to stay here except for the sake of his shop. James Heathcliff's shop was not only guarded by her father's men but also by the official magistrate's men.

When she stepped out of her room, a maid arrived bringing her a glass of blood, bowing her head, "Good morning, Lady Catherine," greeted the maid.

"Hm," Catherine responded with uninterest, "Where is father?"

"Milady, Mr. Barnes has gone to attend some important work. He said there was a man from the foreign land who wanted to talk about work. He informed me that he would be back in the evening," answered the maid. When Catherine finished taking two sips of the blood from the glass, and placed it back on the tray with force.

"What is with this blood? It tastes like mud," Catherine's mood only turned bad, and the maid bowed her head deeper without meeting the vampiress' eyes.

"Please allow me to bring you another glass-"

"Why don't you give it from your hand?" Catherine folded both her arms across her chest. She was the princess of this mansion, and she was brought up to have everything she wanted. There was nothing she couldn't have. "I always have fresh blood. Have you forgotten that?"

The maid looked distressed, and she didn't know what to do but stare at the young vampiress with her eyes wide, "M-my blood?"

Catherine looked annoyed because of the delay. "Yes." She then looked around and then at the tray. Picking up the glass, she broke it against the wall and picked up the piece of glass in her hand, "Here. Take this."

Blood was splattered on the white wall, dripping down furiously to reach the ground. When Catherine was still holding the piece of glass in her hand, waiting for the maid to take it, her butler arrived.

"Miss Catherine, there is a letter that came early this morning for you," informed the butler to her.

"From who is it?" Catherine asked and then turned to the maid, "Are you going to take it or shall I help you myself?" she demanded.

To the people outside this mansion, Catherine Barnes was a lovely and dainty woman, her voice sweet and her behaviour always composed. As if she was someone who couldn't hurt a fly nor raise her voice. But those were only things that she wanted others to perceive about her. It was only the people who lived inside these walls of the mansion knew who the real Catherine was. She had a child-like temper and threw tantrums when her parents failed to oblige to her wishes. The vampiress always had a notion that she would marry the man with whom she would fall in love. Though she never intended the person to be a human as they were nothing but lower beings, she had not expected to fall in love with James Heathcliff.

The butler who watched the lady force the maid to hold the piece of glass, decided to interrupt so that there wouldn't be any more deaths by the hands of the young miss.

"Milady Catherine," the butler interrupted again, and Catherine turned to look at the butler with annoyance in her eyes, "The letter."

"I asked you from whom it is," Catherine snatched the letter from the butler's hand and went to read the name of the sender to notice a seal which she had never seen before. At the same time, the butler quietly had the maid to leave so that she could get back to work and live another day in this mansion.

Catherine frowned, wondering from where the letter had come from. "Do you know whose seal it is?" she questioned the butler.

The butler promptly replied, "No, milady. I have never seen this one before." Instead of standing idly, he bent and started to pick up the shards of the glass.

The lady tore the envelope, and she read,

'Lady Catherine Barnes,

We would like to inform you that, due to the unfortunate events, Mr. James Heathcliff has been taken under custody by the High House. He will be executed for the charges that are against him with respect to the Murder of Lady Layla as well as the murder of Miss Hilda. The execution will be taking place in the courtroom of the Hawthrone's castle. It will be taking place early at the noon after the trial and procedures are completed.'

Catherine's face turned pale, and she quickly looked down to see who had sent it, but there was no name. She looked back and forth at the envelope to look at the seal that had disappeared as if she had imagined it. Was James caught and going to be executed today?!

"Pull out the carriage immediately!" Catherine ordered her butler, who looked startled with the sudden order.

"Where are you going, milady?" asked the butler, whose job was on line thanks to this young vampiress who had killed many people in the last three months. Mr. Barnes had specifically asked him to watch over his daughter and keep an eye.

"I need to go to the castle. James has been found, and I need to be there!"

"Let us wait for Mr. Barnes to return, milady," the butler tried to convince, but Catherine was in no mood to stay here for not even one second. Someone had finally found James, and he was going to be set to execution!

Catherine quickly started to head out of the house, getting the carriage ready and got inside it while leaving the butler to inform her parents of her absence and where she was going. On her way, she couldn't believe that James was actually going to be beheaded. When she reached the castle, the guards let her in on seeing her face as she had visited the castle in the past with her father.

She ran towards the courtroom as fast as she could. Holding the front of her dress while some strands of her hair came out loose. She then heard someone from the court say,

"But in the meantime, the verdict-"

"WAIT!" Catherine shouted, believing it was James who was getting sentenced to death. She gasped for air as she had walked and run to the courtroom. Her eyes had turned wide, and without seeing who all were in there, she exclaimed,

"Please don't execute him!"

Now that she had stepped into the room, her eyes frantically searched for James. Her red eyes moved from one person to another, but she couldn't find James in here. There were six unknown people who were seated in a semicircle, who now stared at her.

"Is there something you want to tell, Miss….?" Wesley questioned the vampiress who had interrupted Helena, the head of the High House.

"Yes!" replied Catherine immediately. Though she was not able to see James, the letter had clearly mentioned about him going to be executed today, and the verdict was about to take place when she had neared the courtroom, "Please do not execute Mr. Heathcliff! He didn't commit the murder!"

Helena looked more annoyed than anyone in the room for interrupting the proceedings.

"And you are?" inquired Helena.

Madeline saw Catherine bow her head, "I am Catherine Barnes. The accused James Heathcliff's future wife, and I can vouch for it."

Helena furrowed her eyebrows. The last she heard Markus Wilmot was with a human, where did this one come from? But the vampiress spoke about Mr. Heathcliff.

"The accused here is Markus Wilmot, Miss Barnes. Not Mr. Heathcliff," Helena cleared her throat, "Unless you are Mr. Wilmot's future wife, please stand aside," she sent a small glare towards Catherine who had a look of confusion on her face.

"But James?" whispered Catherine to herself.

Dimitri took it to say, "We are here for the trails of Mr. Wilmot, who accused the King and Mr. Heathcliff before, in the involvement of Lady Layla's murder."

"Unless you have something to speak about the case, please step aside with the rest," stated Dimitri.

And Catherine would have done it if Calhoun didn't speak out loud about her, in front of everyone, "Lady Catherine was a dear friend of Lady Layla. I am sure she has some insights on what happened," he said, with his head tilting subtly.

Catherine's mouth fell open by this revelation. Her eyes then went to meet King Calhoun's who had a look of menace in his eyes and she turned worried. He looked at her as if he knew that it was she who had killed the girl.

Every person's eyes immediately fell on Catherine, and she felt as if she was put in a tight spot. Why did the King tell she had an insight?

"Is that true, Miss Barnes?" inquired Helena.

"Lady Catherine was devastated when she found out that Mr. Heathcliff was accused of her friend's murder. As she was mourning for the loss, she wasn't able to make it to the burial or viewing of Lady Layla," Calhoun continued to speak and the young vampiress looked paler than the time she had entered the room.

With everyone's eyes on Catherine, she felt pressured. Pressured because it was true that Lady Layla was an acquaintance whom she knew closely. It was why her father had been crossed with her actions of killing the girl. It was done in a spur of the moment, and before she knew it, the girl was dead. Now, Catherine was not only worried about James, but she also feared that someone would find out that it was she who had killed Layla.

"Miss Barnes, if you may," Helena straightened her back, her hand pointing towards the centre front so that Catherine would come to stand there. The girl apprehensively took steps to where she was asked. "The interrogation has been going on concerning the King and Mr. Wilmot's involvement in the recent death. Did Miss Layla ever mention any of them or Mr. Heathcliff?"

Catherine, who had been as eager as a beaver to put James in trouble a few days ago, now realized she shouldn't have done it, "Lady Layla didn't know Mr. Heathcliff. They weren't acquainted with each other."

"Even though you were closely acquainted with him and you were going to be married to him?" questioned Helena before continuing, "What about the King and Mr. Wilmot?"

Catherine's father was well acquainted with the King as he worked for him. Her eyes wandered towards Calhoun who was standing there, staring at her, and she then said, "The King knew Lady Layla as she was the dutchess' daughter." This caused another round of murmur in the room.

Madeline didn't have a good feeling about this. Calhoun was standing there quietly without raising any concern for what Catherine was speaking right now. Madeline still found it hard to believe that Catherine was someone who could kill people.

Catherine then did something which Madeline had never thought about, "Miss Layla...she used to like Mr. Wilmot."

When Lady Catherine had entered, Madeline was sure she was here in search of James, but this took a sharp turn.

Was it true? Madeline asked herself on what Catherine just said.

People in the courtroom couldn't help but gawk at this little information. The High House members looked intrigued by this sudden development. So far the way things were going, it seemed like Calhoun was the one responsible for it, but now the needle had gone back to point at Markus.

Calhoun took this opportunity to compel Catherine to speak more by saying, "Lady Catherine, can you tell the people in here that a day before the body was found in the backyard of Mr. Heathcliff's house, Lady Layla had visited your house."

"Looks like we have one more person added into the line of suspects," commented the silver-haired man who sat with the rest of the High House members. His words put Catherine under an alert. She had come here to save James, but here she was now trying to save her own neck.

"Was this filed by the magistrate?" asked Dimitri to Lilith, who the previous day before coming to the castle had tried to gather information regarding the case.

"No, this was not registered," replied Lilith and Helena gave a look at her for her tardiness as not all the information had been gathered.

Catherine felt her palms turn cold. She had to do something about this quickly and get her out of this little situation that she had dug for herself. Knowing how difficult it was to frame the King for her deeds, she decided to make up a lie,

"She looked very distressed that day. Miss Layla, I mean. She wanted to speak something about Mr. Wilmot, but she didn't tell what it was and left the mansion right away."

"Mr. Wilmot, you said you have never met or spoken to Miss Layla, but Miss Barnes says otherwise," stated Dimitri.

Markus looked angry at the confusing predicament he was being put in, "I have never spoken to the deceased person! I told you already that it is the King and not me!"

Calhoun said, "I told you I had nothing to do with it. My cousin just found it easy to blame me by connecting the dots around. I mean why would I sloppily place the body in the backyard when I could do other things?"

"My King, we hope you use your words carefully," Helena frowned upon seeing Calhoun smile.

"I said I could, but I didn't. Not that I did," said the King.

With pursed lips, Helena turned back to look at Catherine, "What do you think Miss Layla wanted to say? You must have some idea if she came to you."

Catherine had made up the lie in the spur of the moment, something she was used to doing but the High House members preferred more details, which she didn't know how to spin. Instead of giving her neck, or giving James' neck, she decided to go with the obvious suspect like the rest of them, which was Markus Wilmot. And no one could go and question the dead, which made it easier to lie.

"She didn't give me any more details than that. She was agitated," said Catherine, remembering the face of the girl when she had killed her, "I don't know anything more than that. The King is completely innocent as his name never came up during our conversation."

Helena's eyes narrowed, and it didn't leave the young vampiress who was standing in front of her. She stared at each one of them, who were the suspects in the murder of the maid which Markus had brought up along with Miss Layla's murder. At first, it seemed like the compass was pointing at the King as he was the one who was related, which was why she had placed Calhoun on another trial.

But with this girl who pointed her finger at Markus Wilmot, to say that Lady Layla was upset about something with him, it raised eyebrows. Not to forget, it now did look like Markus was trying to frame the King, blaming him. It was tricky, thought the woman in her mind.

Helena then spoke, "Let us go with the majority of the vote from the High House to decide, who is guilty and who is not guilty. Even though Miss Barnes only arrived now, we will be putting her on trial."

Madeline didn't know what that meant, and she asked Lucy who stood next to her, "What does that mean?"

Lucy who had a frown on her face turned to look at Madeline, to whisper, "The majority of votes is something where each member in the seating will give their opinion on who is guilty and who is not. If the number of guilty is more," Lucy paused and then said, "That person will be set to execution."

Hearing this, Madeline didn't know how far it was good. If the members of the High House didn't like the person, it would mean they could vote a person to be guilty, and that person would end up with a beheaded head.

"Lady Catherine Barnes, you will be the first one to go through the judgement of votes," announced Dimitri. Catherine was unhappy with this sudden turn of events. She had come here to save and not to end up in trouble. Her lips pressed against each other, and unwillingly she came to stand next to Markus, without looking at him.

"Weasley," Helena addressed the High House member who sat on the far corner.

The man said, "Not guilty." The person who sat next to him continued,

"Not guilty."

"Not guilty."

"Guilty," came the words from the silver-haired man. Hearing this, Catherine's stomach dropped.

"Not guilty."

"Not guilty," said the last person sitting on the right side. Even Helena didn't find the girl to be guilty, but she had still put Catherine under trial for a fair judgement.

Lucy whispered to Madeline, "Lady Catherine has been spared."

"Miss Barnes, you can join the others," informed Dimitri and Catherine was more than happy to do that, "We will next have Markus Wilmot. Starting from the left."

Madeline looked at the person named Weasley, who took more time to decide compared to Lady Catherine to be guilty or not quilty. Murmuring went around the room, and with one word of Weasley, the courtroom fell silent again.

"Guilty."

The next person was Lilith, and she said, "Not Guilty."

"Not guilty."

"Guilty."

That was two people on each side, thought Madeline to herself. Her eyes fell on Helena, who stared at Markus. In those spare seconds, Madeline turned her gaze towards Lady Rosamund who had mentioned not knowing about what Markus was doing, and even though her words were diplomatic, worry hung over the older vampiress' face.

"Guilty," said Helena and even Markus who was holding his brave, prideful face until now, turned pale.

"Guilty," Dimitri was the last one, and Markus staggered back from where he stood.

"I wasn't the one to kill any of them!" Markus didn't give up, staring at the members of the High House with his eyes turning wider than usual. "This is not justice! You cannot execute me just because of this girl's lie!" Even the little hope of him having an escape from this situation slipped through his fingers because of Lady Catherine who entered a few minutes ago.

"The letter is enough to show the lies you have created with the maid by bribing her and trying to defame an innocent woman. You mentioned about the werewolf that the King kept in the dungeon but upon verification, nothing was found. Taking into consideration of what you said, and each members judgment, Markus Wilmot you are found to be guilty by the High House," Helena responded to Markus, who looked at her disbelief.

All these years Markus had planned carefully, and today because of one mistake and Calhoun being one step ahead of him, it had thrown him to this situation. The throne had been stolen and he was now being charged for actions he wasn't responsible for. Anger consumed his thoughts, and he turned to look at Lady Catherine before jumping right at her.

Markus caught hold of Catherine's neck, ready to tear it apart for the lies she spoke, "How dare you lie?! Tell them the truth! You are only saving the King!" he shouted, losing his temper.

"Mr. Wilmot, let the lady go!" Helena ordered, but Markus was not ready to free Catherine's neck until she would tell the truth. Seeing Markus' unwillingness with the commotion that was taking place, Helena looked at one of her men, "Weasely."

Just one word and Weasely had left from where he was standing to pull Markus away from Catherine. Both of Markus' arms were twisted, and he screamed in pain just by the mere touch of the High House member. With the verdict presented by the High House, Markus couldn't do anything but oblige. Weasley appeared to have some sort of hidden ability in him, which was inducing pain.

Everyone looked at the scene shocked.

"Take him to the dungeon," ordered Helena, displeased by Markus' behaviour. Catherine had a look of shock on her face, and she held her neck with both her hands.

With Markus who was taken away from the courtroom by force, people's eyes fell on the Catherine who broke down in confused tears. But the people's attention on her was short-lived as Dimitri cleared his throat for the final trial of the day. It was King Calhoun Hawthrone's turn now, and everyone couldn't help but wait in anticipation to hear what the High House members were going to say.

Calhoun didn't have to be told to come to stand in the front as he was already there.

"We will now be going through the proceedings of the King's trial if he was involved," announced Dimitri. One would have guessed that with Markus guilty and charged, Calhoun was free to go, but the High House members had other plans on their mind.

This made Madeline worry if they somewhere suspected the King for today's issue or the one in the past. Markus was charged for the unethical behaviour of conjuring lies through with the maid and also disappearing her.

Would Calhoun be held guilty? Especially with the way Dimitri told last night that they had their eyes were on him, anything could happen.

"Guilty," Lilith was the first one to start. Madeline also realized that the members were calling out their opinion randomly similar to Markus' trial.

"Not Guilty," said Weasley.

"Guilty," Dimitri stated.

"Guilty," came the next opinion from the woman named Daphne. Madeline was sure that Daphne would have picked in favour of the King, but she was wrong. Four people and so far there were three against one. Her eyes moved to the next two people who were yet to give out their decision against the King. Madeline could tell by the look in Helena's eyes that she didn't believe Calhoun.

The woman looked wiser than the rest of the members, but with the previously past case which was reopened regarding the previous King and Queen's murder, was there a possibility for them to evict the King?

"Not guilty," said the silver-haired man.

The last decision was saved for Helena, who stared at Calhoun unblinkingly with her keen red eyes.

Helen then finally parted her lips to say, "...