Saving The Villainous Monster From The Male Lead-Chapter 61 - 60: Imposter

Marina left the bed chambers of her mistress after helping both the ladies clean up. It was an exhausting day. She was surprised to see Baroness Stella in that condition and suspected it was her mistress doing but she was wrong.

Neither Baroness, nor the grand duke held any grudge against her. Instead, they acted like a team coming in from a bloody battlefield of torment and noble societal bullies.

For the last few days, her mistress and the Baroness had been sharing beds. It looks like they are very comfortable with having each other by their side. Lady Eleanore has been getting a good sleep, ever since they started sleeping together. Turns out her companionship was nothing in front of Baroness.

The thought that she had lost the trust of her mistress so much that now, she doesn’t even want her in her room, made her heart ache. ’I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have listened to the grand duke. I shouldn’t have let the fear get the best of me. I shouldn’t—’

As Marina continued to recite her painful feelings in her mind, she heard the sound of a footstep. Not one or two but of at least five pairs of legs. "What’s going on?" She wondered as she turned around.

It was already midnight, and Marina was on her way back to her quarters, when these mysterious footsteps caught her attention. This is the time when the whole mansion sleeps and if they are not sleeping, they would at least avoid leaving their rooms. No one could dare leave their room as the mansion turns into a haunted house at night without any light’s seeping in from outside or inside.

Marina tightened her grip on the torch, she was carrying to see through the dark, empty halls without any lights. The footsteps had disappeared. There is no way that five people entered the hallway leading to lady Eleanore’s room and disappeared in a thin air together.

Something was strange. Marina didn’t get a good feeling about this. Without thinking twice, she started tracing her steps backwards. As she walked back down to her mistress’ room, she opened every curtain that had been closed by the Head maid before returning to her quarters.

She suspected that these people were either some nasty, young maids, curious about the stories they heard of the night mansion or some thieves, who had dared to enter the Grand Duke’s mansion. Or this could be a far worse situation. Assassins? They could be assassins.

Marina gulped at that thought. Her hand started to sweat and the metal handle of the torch, holding the candle, started to slip from her hand.

She was standing at Lady Eleanore’s door, but before she could open it, a cold gust of wind brushed by her neck, giving her a shiver. Before she could turn around and find out how the wind made its way in from the closed windows, a harsh blow landed on her head. It was probably amental vase or something and all she could feel was pain.

The torch fell out of her hand, but it never made a single sound from crashing to the floor. For it was caught by the one who had hurt her, midair. Almost instantly, Marina lost her consciousness and like her torch, she was also caught by the same person.

It was all so smooth and silent that not a single soul found out about these five imposters and Marina’s disappearance.

____

For hours, after returning from the banquet, Caelestis thought only about Eleanore. He started with how she had acted when Verbena had grabbed her arm. For a while, it looked like Eleanore was staring at something else in astonishment, something that probably isn’t visible to a naked eye. He had seen her exhausted, as if she didn’t want to do this anymore, before acting out like she despised Verbena.

What was that? What could have made her so tired and exhausted? Was it the crown prince? He ended up thinking about the incident he wished he could forget. The way he acted on the balcony was just strange. ’Why have I become so possessive about her? Is it because of the responsibility I hold or—’ Before he could come to a conclusion, his bedroom door dashed open.

Caelestis, who had just come out of the shower in his bathrobe, was surprised to see him. "You look in a hurry?" He said casually.

Victor looked like he had run through hell to get over here. He was exhausted but what he had to say was probably more important. His intense stare at his master, conveyed the gravity of the matter.

"What’s wrong?" Caelestis asked, feeling strangely worried about it.

"The poison was not in the tea." He spoke.

Caelestis frowned, remembering the maid’s words. "Then do you mean the maid lied?"

"No, the poison was in the cup but that cup never belonged to the Baroness. She was not the target." Victor’s worry was vividly visible on his face.

"Do you mean—"

"Yes. Lady Eleanore was the target." He answered without hearing the full question that was coming his way.

"Why would anyone target her?" Caelestis was utterly shocked.

Eleanore should have been the mastermind of this all, but how come she turned out to be the victim? What could be the perpetrator’s motive?

’Just what on earth is happening?’

Caelestis could no longer understand his own thoughts. As they both stared at each other, while their brains were running in circles, yet getting no answer to their respective questions. Another person barged into his room like a storm.

"We are in trouble, my lord." The butler said, in a rushing tone. "Lady Eleanore’s maid is nowhere to be found, but the curtains in the hallway of the second floor were open."

"So?" Caelestis asked, unaware of what that meant.

"It is a sign, advised to be performed by all the servants in the house. It means there is an imposter." Victor explained.

"We must hurry, My Lord. Both Lady Eleanore and Baroness Stella are on that floor in the same room." The butler raised his concern.

Caelestis frowned. "Bring my sword and you, Victor. Come along with yours." He ordered.