The Crown's Obsession

211 Sitting with you- Part 1

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Madeline was the one who was tending Beth's hand where the blood didn't stop from bleeding. The wolf had taken a bite at Beth's hand as if it was a piece of meat that had dangled itself in front of it.

"It hurts!" Beth cried in pain, unable to handle it being touched.

"I warned you not to go near the wolf," Madeline didn't want to remind that she did warn Beth about the wolves, but Beth had tried to be brave like many other times thinking the wolves would let her pat their head without wanting to bite on her, "If we don't clean it well, it might cause an infection. And you know how the infection turns out to be."

"No!" Beth exclaimed in worry and fear, "How would I know that such beautiful wolves would want to bite me?! Why would they even let it out in the open??" she gave out an incredulous look to Madeline.

"You cannot cage everything inside. Animals need to breathe too," replied Madeline, pressing the cotton on Beth's hand and then dipping it in the water. "I will wrap this with the cloth so that the bleeding stops. Okay?" saying this, Madeline applied the medicine before wrapping the cloth around the wound which she had asked the maid to get so that it could be used to wrap Beth's palm.

Beth looked at the water that had turned red because of the traces of her blood in it, "What am I going to do now? I won't be able to use my hand well," she said, her lips pressing against each other.

"I will ask the King if he can assign you some maids. They will help you in getting ready and helping you with what you will need," Madeline answered and Beth gave her a nod.

Though outwardly, Beth had a solemn look on her face, internally she was bursting with joy. At least there was one good thing that came out from being bit by the wolf. The thought of having her own personal maids brought tranquillity in her chest. The room she had been given was grand, but Beth was still curious about how Madeline's room looked like as it wasn't located here.

Beth was eager to explore more of the castle. She could barely wait to live here, in this kind of place. She was happy until she remembered her encounter with the vampiress lady a few minutes ago.

"Who was that rude girl out there?" inquired Beth, bringing her hand close to her when Madeline was done tying and securing the ends of the cloth so that it wouldn't come loose.

Madeline, who knew who Beth was referring to, answered, "That is Lady Sophie. She is the King's relative. A close cousin."

She heard Madeline say, "Don't pay attention to her. Lady Sophie belongs to the high status…"

Of course. People who belonged to the high-status family were allowed to look down at people like her. The worst part was that the lady had only looked down at her and not at Madeline as she was going to marry the King.

"Once I am married to Markus, I would like to show her not to belittle people like me," replied Beth and Madeline smiled, "Markus is a wonderful man. You will like him."

Madeline didn't know why but it felt like she had heard the name before, but she couldn't remember where. There was another Markus who lived in the next town, but Madeline doubted her sister was speaking about him.

"You said he works for the King. Does he know you were coming to live in the castle?" asked Madeline. Because if the man worked for the King, it was possible that he would be visiting the King to attend the court meetings.

Madeline saw her sister nod her head, "Yes, I told him. He said he would meet me here. Ah, I forgot to mention earlier, he is the King's cousin," Beth smiled saying this. This only made Madeline frown in thought before realisation sank in her mind, on who her sister was seeing. The King might have many far relatives, but the only two families she had met so far closely were--the Greville's and the other was the Wilmot's while the rest had been a blur.

"What is his full name?" asked Madeline.

Beth had a broad smile on her face, and she said, "Markus Wilmot." No wonder she felt the name was familiar.

Madeline wondered if she should let Beth know that the vampiress who she had been irritated with was none other than Markus Wilmot's younger sister. It would definitely be humorous when they would find out about it. Wanting to save Beth from any more harsh words than what had already been spoken in the corridor, Madeline decided to let her sister know.

"Beth, Markus Wilmot. I have met him before," Madeline said for Beth to raise her eyebrows.

"You have? I guess it is possible, after all, you are the King's mis-I mean the person who is going to get married," Madeline knew what Beth was going to say earlier before she stopped and corrected herself.

It would be a lie if it hadn't crossed her mind several times before that the King wanted to bed her and turn her to one of his mistresses. It was because the previous King's had vampiress as their queen. None of them had ever picked a human to be the bride because of the short lifespan a human had. With the way Calhoun had treated her in the beginning, it had made Madeline come to believe that it was all he wanted from her, and this was until a few days ago.

Now...she had come to see Calhoun's rare gentleness towards her, for her.

"Yes, about that-" Madeline started when somebody knocked on the door to interrupt her words.

Getting up from the bed she was sitting on, Madeline made her way to open the door to see a maid who stood in front of the room, "Milady," the maid gave a deep bow, "The King has summoned you to the chapel."

Madeline furrowed her brows as she never knew there was a chapel in the castle. Turning to look at Beth, she said,

"I will be back soon." action

Beth nodded her head back, "That's alright. Take your time, Maddie. I might take a nap," she offered her younger sister a smile.

When Madeline left the room, the smile on Beth's face fell. She looked down at her hand and cursed the wolves. She didn't know how she would be able to move her hand without causing much pain to it. The maid who had come to call Madeline had left with her, leaving Beth all alone in the room. Not that she minded it because she loved the sight of her room. It was vast and beautiful.

Getting up from the bed, she started to move around the room. Her good hand tracing the objects in there when she heard another knock on the room,

"Milady," it was another maid, "Is there anything you need help with?"

Beth stared at the maid and then said, "I would like to drink something nice. Something to cool the heat. You can bring something to eat along with it." The maid bowed her head and went to complete the order that was given by the lady.

"I could get used to this," commented Beth to herself. Staring at the door where there was no one there. This is what she deserved, to live a life of richness with servants who would be at her disposal.

While Beth was in her room, enjoying her time to relax herself and her hand, away from the guest rooms in the tea parlour of the castle, tea of red colour was poured into the little teacups before they were served to the ladies.

Lady Rosamund was having her tea when she saw her daughter, Sophie who placed the cup on the saucer with a clattering sound, "Have you forgotten how to place the teacup or has your hands turned weak Sophie?" asked Lady Rosamund by raising her brows in question.

At her mother's sharp words, Sophie placed the teacup correctly before bringing her hands on her lap.

Lucy said, "Did you hear a scream earlier? Sounded like a female screaming in pain."

"Must be one of the prisoners in the dungeon," replied Lady Rosamund who continued to hold her teacup without putting it down, "People do foolish things."

"It wasn't from the dungeon," said Sophie, receiving looks from her cousin sister and her mother, "There is some new human in the castle. It looks like it's Madeline's friend. She's rude and foul-mouthed."

"Friend?" asked Lucy.

Lady Rosamund, whose eyes were on Sophie, asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Because I spoke to her for a minute. I don't know what the need is to bring an outsider into the castle," Sophie rolled her eyes in annoyance.