The Crown's Obsession (WN)
chapter-351

The sound of the gunshot echoed in the surrounding empty houses where Madeline stood in. Looking down at the demon with her eyes that were slightly wide, she caught sight of the hole that had formed on the back of his head.

"We need to put him in a coffin," suggested Calhoun and Madeline who was still in shock with the sudden attack that took place. She followed Calhoun, who dragged the demon's body to the forest.

She looked down at the dead demon. She had never heard about a demon being buried in the coffin. She wondered if it was the same like vampires who died, and was left to rest in the coffin box. Madeline, who was walking behind them, curiously eyed the demon before asking,

"Why did you kill his wife?"

Calhoun knew this question was going to come up since Holden had mentioned about his wife's death a few minutes ago, "She killed people. So I killed her," was his simple answer.

"Why did she kill people?" asked Madeline, "Did you know there are other demons in here?"

"Not many," answered Calhoun, "Theodore might be the first one I met and befriended. A lot of them stay disguised, blending with the humans so that no one will ever come to suspect and they can continue to live their lives. I found killing humans, some of my potential blood givers. Using them as a sacrifice. Demons like to play innocent here."

Madeline's eyes moved around them as they walked past one tree after another, heading towards the inner heart of the jungle. In the past, it must have been convenient to have a nearby graveyard, thought Madeline to herself.

"What did you mean by sacrifice?"

"In the realm of demons, the more you kill, the higher position you achieve in the underworld," explained Calhoun, "People enjoy doing bad things, to achieve higher power. At least that is what I heard. Theodore also came up with the theory that it was because of the past deeds that I have my wings. But we know it's not true."

Madeline questioned in her mind if his grandfather, who was now awake, would come to find out that his daughter was dead and also find out that he had a grandson. Looking at Calhoun, she couldn't believe she was following him to the graveyard to bury a demon. Her eyes kept darting left and right. While Calhoun was dragging the demon's leg, on the way, the demon's head clunked with a stone on the ground, and she noticed the demon groan.

Her eyes widened, and she said, "He's alive!"

"That's what he said, darling. I cannot kill him," said Calhoun before going to explain, "He's a level three demon, and we will need more than holy water and silver bullets to send him back underground."

"Keeping him in the coffin will be enough?" It was because she wasn't able to stay in the coffin forever.

"Yes. A little trick of spell and he will happily continue to sleep in the coffin." After pushing the demon into one of the cemented graves along with another old body as company, Calhoun pushed the lid while murmuring something under his breath, "There. All better. It's time to return," said Calhoun, his wings spreading wide open to show the pitch-black feathers that were attached to it, and the two of them returned to the castle.

At one part of the borders of the land of Devon, stood a tower with walls surrounding it. It was the place of the High House, where people worked in the name of providing justice and help to the public. But in truth, it was used only for their benefits so that they could hold most of the control and power on the lands of the humans, vampires, and some of the werewolves. But there were also other creatures like the fallen angels and demons existed in this very earthly realm.

A carriage entered the large gates of the High House, moving towards the entrance before it stopped and a lean man stepped out of the carriage. He made his way through the entrance and the dark walls that stood on either side where he walked, which was lit by torches of fire. His eyes were black in colour and his hair brown.

He continued to walk until he reached the large double doors, pushing them open to see the members of High House sitting with Helena who sat at the centre as she was the head of this place.

"You seem to have returned here sooner than we expected. Did you finish the job that was given, Luther?" asked Lilith, who stood next to Dimitri, holding a set of parchments in her hands.

The man named Luther, bowed his head, offering his greetings before he stood up, "Lady Helena, I have some important news to share. There has been one more murder, actually three murders in the house that was part of the latest closed case."

The blonde woman who sat at the tallest seating chair in this vast room had a look of displeasure on her face. Something she often wore when she was in this room because of the news and information that was delivered to her.

Helena inquired, "Which one are you speaking about, Luther?"

"Madame, it is the body that was found in Mr. Heatcliff's residence in the village of East Carswell," answered Luther, "The case that involved the King."

"You mean the King's cousin," corrected the silver-haired man who was seated on Helena's left side.

Luther's eyes fell on the person who corrected him.. "The King's cousin was found to be guilty, but the King had also gone through the trial. We cannot forget that," smiled the man, and the silver-haired man returned the smile.

Just when Luther turned to look at Helena, the silver-haired man spoke again, "Is the King involved in the current case?"

"He might be, which is why I am here," Luther replied before looking back at Helena, "The bodies that were retrieved from there belonged to the daughter of Issac Barnes, Lady Catherine and there were two other men who were found dead along with her. The bodies were found inside the house. Lady Catherine was the one who spoke in favour of the King."

Lady Helena was barely amused, "And you believe that it is enough to judge that the King of Devon is guilty? You need to remember that just because we are called the High House, it still doesn't mean you can call the King to be guilty without any solid evidence. Following just upon instinct and listening to words from others is foolish enough to earn you an execution." She stared at the man in front of her through her monocle.

"But isn't that why the High House came into existence to provide a fair judgement?" questioned Lilith.

"I think it would be best for people to not speak about fairness when they let their emotions cloud their judgement," Helena didn't have to look at Lilith to let the demoness know that her words were for Lilith. Weasley, who stood on the other side smiled, clearing his throat when Lilith looked at him.

"What more information did you find there? What happened to the man whom the house belongs to?" questioned Helena.

"James Heathcliff? There has been no information about the man. He has been missing since he had been accused," answered Luther and Helena frowned.

"Find him," ordered the woman.