The Crown's Obsession (WN)
chapter-441

Music Recommendation: Leaks and Lawsuits

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Madeline walked in the lonely corridors of the castle near the tower where she had left Beth in Raphael's care. This side of the castle was not used by anyone, which was why even the torches that were burning in here had scarce light in them. Every time she passed through a window, she tried to keep an eye on the Salvette Mortem, but now she had lost sight of it. She didn't know where it was and started to look for it.

She couldn't help but wonder who was going to die right now. Was someone else going to kill a person here because Beth was chained and there was no way she could turn rampant in the castle. She felt her heart beating loudly in her chest.

"My Queen!" greeted the guests when they met her, who were still staying in the castle. Madeline offered them a polite nod. Without spending time to chat, she excused herself and went in search of the creature of death that had entered the castle.

As she walked, her eyes fell on the nearest torch of fire that had burned brightly. It flickered, moving with the wind before it exhausted in a blink of an eye. The strangest thing was that it wasn't just one torch but every single torch in the corridor had exhausted themselves, leaving the castle entirely dark with no light.

"Why did all the torches exhaust suddenly?" asked one of the ladies who were out in the corridor.

"Someone tell the servants to light up the torches again. It is so dark in here," said another woman. Madeline could hear the light commotion from behind, but she didn't bother with it as she wanted to look for the creature of death. The next moment, she heard a scream, "AHHHHH!"

Madeline quickly made her way to the place where she heard the sound and a guard came running there with a lantern.

"I-I don't know what happened, a moment ago she was still alive," said the woman, looking down at the lady whose throat had been slit with her eyes left open and lying on the ground. It had started, thought Madeline to herself. She looked around to catch no one in sight.

"There's an intruder in the castle!" the guard notified the others by shouting. "Intruder has killed a lady! Alert!" he called to gain the attention of the other guards who stood nearby.

"Why would the person kill her?!" exclaimed the lady in shock.

"My Queen, let me escort you to the King's quarters. It's not safe out here," said the guard.

Madeline saw a shadow move behind one of the walls. Instead of listening to the guard and turning to a mouse to hide in the room, she said, "Escort the lady and the other guests to their rooms immediately. Have some one move the body in the front room of the castle. I will have a look around, and if you find Theodore, ask him to meet me."

"Yes, milady!" the guard obliged.

The commotion in the castle only increased, while Madeline tried to find the Salvatte Mortem that disappeared. Looking back and forth in the empty corridor, she heard someone's footsteps and just when she was about to follow, a person appeared in front of her.

"It is finally good to make your acquaintance, Lady Madeline," said the man, pushing the hood that he had been wearing backwards. With darkness that prevailed in the corridor, it was hard to see who it was, but the voice sounded familiar to Madeline.

"Who are you?" questioned Madeline while taking a step back from the person.

"I am an old friend of your grandparents. We have met several times in the past, but I believe your grandparents must have erased your memories," said the man. Three torches near the person lit up. He said, "But I heard you remember me."

Madeline's mouth went dry, seeing the person, "Walter."

"I knew you would not disappoint me," Walter offered her a polite smile, showing his fangs that peeked out of his lips.

"What are you doing here? I don't think you are here to have tea." Her fingers stretched, moving it wide before she turned them into fists as if she was readying herself. Walter's eyes were quick to snap to look at those movements, and she felt her heart stumble.

"Don't be afraid, little Maddie," whispered Walter, but Madeline heard his words that raised goosebumps on her skin, making her feel uncomfortable. "I can hear your heartbeat so loud as if it is my own heart. Maybe you have my heart." His words put Madeline on alert. "We have spent so much time together in the past. Don't you remember how carefully I took away those wings that were on your back that would have turned you odd in this world?"

"You mean how you burned them?" asked Madeline, and the man smiled.

"I was protecting you. This place is not safe for you. Come with me so that I can take you to the place where people will stop harming you," he offered her a kind look in his eyes. Madeline was not a vampire, therefore, it was hard to know who else was here with him. She knew Walter was part of the group of demons who were after her, and he wouldn't have come here alone by himself.

In a blink of an eye, Walter came to stand right in front of Madeline, and she quickly stumbled back for him to catch her arm. She placed her hand on his hand without holding back, burning it to have him curse at her and she walked backwards.

"Fuck!" cursed Walter whose skin had melted on Madeline's touch and he could see bones while part of his hand bled. "It is good to see that you are at the highest peak of your abilities. I can only imagine what powers will unleash once we pull that heart of yours."

His wounds started to heal, and he pulled out two gloves. "I am on a limited time to take you to your rightful place."

"I have no interest in leaving this castle," retorted Madeline, and she raised her hand to shatter the glass that covered the portraits, that was directed at Walter before she started to run to the next corridor.

Walter was quick to appear in the opposite direction of where she was heading, making her feet stop right away. "You cannot run away from me. I have been waiting for this moment. Do you think I would not have come prepared?" he chuckled and pulled out something that looked like a stone. "I guess you won't be coming with me willingly," and he dropped the stone on the ground.

The fire in the torches lit up and from the stone that fell, something started to creep out of it, like creepers that quickly moved towards Madeline. They moved in such speed, that it was quick enough to swirl around her legs and arms, stopping her from running away.

"You caught her," came another voice, and a woman walked forward with her shoes that lacked against the ground. "I knew you would be able to catch her faster than the rest of us. Now, all we need to do is get her out of here."

"Where are the others?" asked Walter to the woman.

"Killing the guards and other people for joy while feasting on human blood. She looks quite pretty. What a waste to have such a beautiful face, yet die so young," the woman clicked her tongue upon seeing Madeline.

Madeline tried to raise the heat in her hands to burn the creepers that looked brittler in appearance but were actually strong. It was hard to break herself free or to cut them.

"These are the creepers from hell, try as much as you want, but you won't be able to break free, them" said Walter. "I guess it's time to put you to sleep. Don't worry, I will wake you up."

"You wouldn't want that," whispered Madeline and the woman who looked at the dark angel said,

"Do it quick, Walter. We don't want to waste more time. Where the fuck is the moon," she cursed under her breath.

One of the creepers crawled up on the wall, letting a large flower bloom. From the middle of the flower, a needle-like stalk appeared, ready to prick Madeline. But before it could prick her neck, an icicle came to cut the stalk and the flower froze that was on the wall.