The Crown's Obsession (WN)

Music Recommendation: The soul of the Piano by Dmitry Myachin

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Madeline sat on the bed, her legs softly swinging as she waited for Calhoun to return. It had been more than three hours since they had finished their supper and an hour since she had returned to the room after leaving Beth in Raphael's care who had offered to stay back and looked after Beth. Somewhere, it worried her that the creature, Salavete Mortem, would return for Beth.

She was careful when it came to making use of her abilities. With Calhoun not here in the castle now, Madeline believed it was better to refrain her dark angel abilities unless a dire situation arrived where she would need to make use of it. Stopping her legs from swinging, she brought her hand up to take a look at it. Standing up, she walked to the cupboard and pulled the black book which she had hidden beneath the clothes, so that even by mistake, someone would not come to find it.

Madeline heard a loud sound from the patio that was attached to the room. Her head snapped around to see a figure appear in the dark, on the patio, which she saw through the drawn curtain.

Did Calhoun return? Asked Madeline to herself. Closing the cupboard, she walked to the doors of the patio and pulled it open to be greeted by nothing but cold air, where snow continued to fall from the sky.

Her eyes carefully observed her surroundings, but the figure that she saw, it was not there anymore. She bit the inside of her cheek. At the same time, she heard something creak from inside the room. Madeline, who was standing next to the window, saw a figure appear inside the room, and she gulped. The figure looked like it started to morph into a person, creating a silhouette, and Madeline felt her heart start to race. She took one step backwards and then another to stand in front of the open door, and she saw the creature that had been on her mind. The Salavete Mortem was here, but this time it held an axe in its hand, dragging it behind it and the creature stepped out of the room through the front door.

Before she could react to it, another thud appeared on the patio, and this time she saw it was Calhoun.

Madeline's eyes went wide on seeing Calhoun's face and clothes smeared with blood.

"W-what happened?!" she asked alarmed. She came to Calhoun's side, putting his hand around her shoulder so that she could support him. Though he wasn't as tired as he looked, he savoured the care that Madeline offered him and seeing her worry for him, something that was new to him, he internally took delight from her actions. "Raphael said you went to Cossington. Was it the High House?" Madeline had never seen him in such a state before.

There were holes in his clothes, and it appeared like Calhoun had dipped in a pool of blood before coming here.

She helped him to walk near the table, pulling the chair for him to sit and Calhoun sat down with his back leaning against the chair.

"What happened, Calhoun?" asked Madeline with her eyebrows knitted together.

"I went to check where Lilith left Weasley." Calhoun raised his hands to remove the coat that he had been wearing, and Madeline was quick to come to his side, helping him out of it.

"Is he dead?" Madeline had been shocked when Lilith had appeared at the church, all by herself, leaving Weasley behind.

Calhoun nodded his head before twisting his lips in displeasure. He felt the slight ache in his muscles as they were still under healing.

"Who did this to you?" she asked him. Madeline was curious to know what had transpired outside the castle that had left him in such a bloody state.

"Demons," responded Calhoun, his eyes meeting hers. Madeline started unbuttoning his shirt. "There are some demons out there who are waiting to see the High House fall. They weren't waiting for me, but I just happened to be their first visitor."

"I don't understand. You went to look for Weasley but ended up meeting other demons on your way?" Madeline caught sight of the round dents on Calhoun's body once she was done unbuttoning his shirt. She saw the wounds on his chest covered with dark and dried blood on his skin. "You're hurt," she whispered, her eyes slowly went up to meet his eyes.

"I'm doing better. The demons were trying to see if they could create holes in me," saying that Calhoun pulled his shirt to the side to expose a deep gash on his right abdomen. "It's healing."

A shuddered breath escaped Madeline's lips, "Should I go get the-"

"I am fine, sweetheart," Calhoun assured Madeline with a bright smile on his lips. "It's just a few wounds that are taking time to heal." He raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to reply as she continued to stare at the wound. "I went to look for Weasley, but the man was faking his death and waiting for Helena or Dimitri. Something to do with wanting to be the head of the High House, while at the same time wanting to dissolve the entire High House that would probably lead up to the demons' crimes to be unknown and hidden."

"He was alive?" on Madeline's question, Calhoun gave her a nod.

"Yes, he was alive until the time I killed him. He also had an eye on the supposed existence of the dark angel," and Madeline's hands froze midway in the air. "Your existence seems to be more valuable than any other person, where people are trying to seek you out for sacrifice."

"I never thought one day I would turn out to be popular," responded Madeline to hear Calhoun chuckle.

"If they want you, they will have to go through me first, and if they do go through me, I know you will turn them to nothingness," Calhoun's words were confident.