The Crown's Obsession (WN)

Music Recommendation: Afraid of time by Hans Zimmer

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Madeline, who had stepped back into the ballroom, started to make her way to where Calhoun was, who was swarmed around by people. When she came near, Calhoun automatically turned his gaze away from the person with whom he was talking and looked at her. This led the people to stop listening to the man who was speaking and they made way for the Queen, who came to stand next to the King.

"My Queen," greeted a woman who had highly arched eyebrows and her eyes were small, possibly because of her age, and Madeline caught sight of the red eyes in them. "We didn't have the opportunity to meet earlier." The woman took hold of Madeline's hand to kiss the back of her hand which Madeline found to be strange as she had never been placed in a high position like this in her life until now, "I am Monique Trevett. The previous King's half-sister. A relative of the King," said Monique glancing at Calhoun and then back at her.

Always being the polite one in the room, Madeline introduced herself, "Madeline Hawthrone," and Monique gave her an approving nod.

Calhoun said, "Monique has been travelling in the West lands, and she returned to Devon only two days ago. She is a dear aunt, and someone who has been working in court before I even entered the castle."

"My nephew has very kind words to offer," Monique smiled, "There were a few matters I had to attend to, and unfortunately, I even missed the celebration of Hallow. But I am glad that I am able to attend your wedding today. Excuse me while I go meet the head of the High House," and she left their side.

The other guests who had earlier flocked around Calhoun had slowly started to disperse away from them, while some continued to stay to get into the good word of the King for their future benefit.

"Is it true that the Wilmot's have been exiled out of the castle never to return?" questioned a man, curiosity laced in his voice as he asked the fellow gentleman next to him.

"The King has punished them for creating treason and for the code of misconduct in Devon. I think it was the right thing to do rather than keep rats in here who were going to kill the King," replied the man.

"You say that? I thought you were close and tight with the Wilmot's," said the first man to see the second one widen his eyes.

"O-of course not! After I heard what Lady Rosamund and Sir Markus did, I cut ties immediately!" came the quick lie from the man and Calhoun who was listening to their conversation, intervened,

"Mr. Fitzwilliam, have you heard the order that was passed down to the Wilmots who have been banned from entering the castle again?"

The man, Fitzwilliam, had always worked for the Wilmot's as Lady Rosamund was the daughter of the late King. He had worked for her in the hope that one day he would be promoted to a higher minister in the court, but what he didn't expect was Wilmot's getting caught by not only the King but also the High House.

"I did hear it, my lord," answered Fitzwilliam turning in the King's direction, "You said that they were never to return here and associate themselves ever again with the royal family." When Calhoun didn't say anything right away, the vampire could feel sweat starting to form on his forehead even though it was the time of Winter.

Calhoun then said, "One of my trusted informants said that you have been helping the Wilmot's in finding their new house, or mansion I should say which is five hours away from the castle. Here, I thought you were someone who works for the royal family. Not to mention, their titles were stripped down from them, yet you address them so highly. You must be very loyal to Wilmot's, isn't it?"

Madeline recognized this man who was under Calhoun's questioning gaze to be one of the men who was present, when she had broken the glass of the portrait.

Fitzwilliam shook his head, "My Lord, it is a small house. Barely big enough to be called a mansion. The lady only wanted a house to move in with her family as they didn't have anywhere else to go…"

"If you are smart enough, you will cut ties with them immediately, unless you want someone else to go looking for a house or maybe a hut for you next to stay in," Calhoun threw in the casual threat with a smile on his lips and Fitzwilliam gulped.

"Yes, milord!" he bowed his head.

While Calhoun was speaking with the other guests, and introducing them to his bride Madeline, she couldn't help but get distracted when they started to speak about the disputes and other things which she was yet to learn.

Madeline's brown eyes started to look at the other guests who had come to attend their wedding. She saw some of her cousins, uncles and aunts whom she had not met in a long time. Because of her kind behaviour, Madeline always had a good relationship with everyone, and there were little to no disputes, while Beth was always involved with differences with others because of her opinionated nature when it came to certain things. And even with that, Madeline couldn't help but have a look of suspicion in her eyes when her eyes met her relative's eyes.

It felt unnerving not knowing what was going to happen, and when it was going to happen. At the same time, Madeline's eyes fell on a person who stood next to the High House member Dimitri. The man was tall, who had blonde hair and pale skin. His lashes were lightly dusted, and his eyes blue in colour. There was something very unusual about this man, and she wondered if it was because of his appearance. And as she continued to stare at the man, the person's eyes shifted from Dimitri to look at her as if he had felt her gaze.

He offered her a bow and a polite smile, and Madeline gave him a nod while standing next to Calhoun.

"What are you looking at?" Madeline heard Calhoun ask her. She turned back to see the guests around them had left, and it was just him and her now.

"Who is that person with whom Dimitri is speaking to?" she asked with a small frown on her face.

"That's Michael Reeves. He once used to work in the High House before he was replaced by Weasley."

"Why did he leave the High House?" inquired Madeline. She wondered why she felt such a strong connection towards the man as if she had met him or seen him before. Somewhere in the corner of her mind, she couldn't help but question if this was the same man whom she had seen in her last dream—the angel with wings who killed a woman.

"He didn't like a few things of how the High House worked. He and Helena often had different opinions. Rumour had it that there was something going on between them in their private lives, and sometimes it reflected in the High House, during discussions."