The Crown's Obsession (WN)
chapter-337

When Calhoun saw James for the very first time, James appeared to be this overly gentleman type of man, smiling sweetly at his woman and trying to win her over. Due to the strange turn of events, James was bitten by a werewolf. The man whom he wanted to get rid of before, Calhoun was now trying to keep an eye on him. He rolled his eyes at this. If it weren't for Madeline, James would have been living in the coffin by now.

Calhoun said, "Madeline said that James was in the process of turning himself back to his human form. If it is true, he must have gone back to his shop and house."

"I will make sure to bring him here from his house," Theodore finished his drink, placing the glass down, bowing his head. When he was ready to leave he heard Calhoun say,

"He might be in his werewolf form, so make sure you don't get bitten by him. Even though we are demons as well as vampires, the bite will still have side effects."

Theodore quickly left the castle, making his way to the village of East Carswell riding in the carriage. He had the coachman pull the carriage on the entrance of the village so that the sound of the wheels and the horses wouldn't alert any person, who would be up at this hour of the night.

Stepping down from the carriage and already knowing where came what, Theodore didn't waste his time when it came to going to the shop which was closed and dark inside. It seemed like no one was working overtime, thought Theodore to himself. With no one around to see his crimes, he pulled a pin from his pocket and opened the lock of the shop's door, which opened with a sound of a click. After having a look inside the shop, he locked the shop again and headed straight to Mr. Heatcliff's house.

When Theodore reached the house, he didn't have to step foot inside the house to see the dead person as he smelt the blood wafting in the air that came from the house. Was it another murder that was committed by Lady Catherine, who had decided to place the body inside this time rather than leaving it in the backyard? Without touching the front door, Theodore walked around the house to notice a big opening in the back door that was broken possibly by a forceful exit, because the wooden pieces had fallen outside the house and not inside.

Getting inside and finding the dead people in there, Theodore's eyebrows rose. And he immediately returned to the castle to report to Calhoun on what he saw.

Calhoun stared at Theodore while he was informed about the scene in Heathcliff's house.

"James would be held responsible as this is the second time a body will be retrieved from his house. And this time being the bodies. Might as well turn his house as a graveyard," commented Calhoun with a sardonic voice, "I would love to offer him my help, but he keeps digging his grave deeper and deeper."

"Lady Catherine didn't die because of the werewolf but because of the arrow. By tomorrow morning, the news will spread across the land," said Theodore.

"Did you find whose men those were?" questioned Calhoun and Theodore shook his head.

"They must have been hired," came the quick reply.

Calhoun tched, "If they have access to silver, they must be sent by a wealthy family." His eyes narrowed in thought on what Catherine was doing in the house along with the vampires who were found dead with her. Was it possible that Mr. Barnes had sent his men to get rid of James and Catherine had by chance visited James to end up dead somehow?

"Mr. Barnes won't be happy tomorrow," said Theodore.

"I guess we'll be having another visit from the High House. Not to mention with James' disappearance, it will only draw that much attention to him." Calhoun dismissed Theodore from the room.

Calhoun sat with one leg on the window sill while the other rested on the floor of the room. James didn't have access to arrows of silver ends. The man didn't have a decent bone in his body to kill in his human form. His outbreak from his house was in his werewolf form, and he hadn't killed the vampiress.

For now, James would be in clear because no one knew he was able to turn to a werewolf, but if the High House would come to hear it, they would hunt him down. Not to forget, the bodies now laid in his house.

Madeline's grandparents feared the High House, and with the recent information from the ghost lady, Calhoun discerned he had some things to discuss with Helena.

The next day as expected, Madeline's aunt arrived at the castle with smiles on her face and a hug to offer.

"It is so good to see you girls!" hugged the woman who had short blonde hair, "How are you doing, Beth?" she asked and received a smile from Beth, a smile that didn't reach up to her eyes. The young girl had been in shock and had barely uttered any words.

Beth had never been slapped on her face until now. Not by her grandparents, nor her parents or anyone else. Receiving one from Madeline was like her sister showing her her place in this castle. Markus was dead, and the Wilmot's were gone. Her life had returned to the way it was before she had met Markus.

After the exchange of words with Madeline, Beth feared that the King would not spare her. According to Madeline, the King knew about her trying to poison him, and if she even breathed too hard, she would receive a death sentence just like his cousin. She had been so consumed with the thought of standing next to the crown that she hadn't realised she was walking towards the path of her execution.

The thought shook her. She didn't want to die!

To make it worse, every time her parents looked at her they had a look of disappointment and Beth felt ashamed, making her feel inferior. It was like no one wanted to speak to her; nobody cared about her anymore. It made Beth feel hopeless.

"And you, Madeline," said their Aunt Mary, her arms wide open for Madeline to step forward and hug, "I couldn't believe when I heard that you were going to get married."

Madeline hugged her aunt, "It is good to see you here, finally, Aunt Mary," she greeted.

"Now only if your grandparents were to arrive here in the castle to spend time with us," said her aunt and the smile on Madeline and her parent's face froze.

Before anyone could reply, Calhoun stepped out in the corridor and said, "The invitation has been already sent to Madeline's grandparents, and we have been waiting for them."

Mary stared at the King, who made his way to where the family was standing. A prideful vampire, thought the woman. Putting up a smile, she bowed her head.

The King said, "I was hoping you would know what's taking them so long to make it here, unless they got eaten by werewolves."

The smile on the woman's face fell right away, and Madeline wished Calhoun didn't mention about what happened with his subtleness.

"My Lord?" asked Aunt Mary.

Calhoun slightly tilted his head as if not understanding her question and a smile broke on his lips, "I was referring to the story of the red riding hood. You know, werewolf eats…"

Grandmother, Madeline filled the sentence in her mind because that's what happened.