To His Hell and Back-Chapter 398: Unhelpful Demon-I
When the birds sing its morning tune and the smell of dewdrops began to hit her nose, Arabella’s stirred from her sleep. Her body was tired but there were a lot of things she had to discuss with her sister today. They have planned to walk in the street, to share their sisterly bond while discussing what Ariel had seen in the castle of sorcerers, about Morpheus and others inside it.
She had always been curious of Lastor’s comment— that most sorcerers do care for lady Circe only that Morpheus had insisted on her betrayal, but deep down they still care for her. A trust that was shared so deeply in her coven that even despite the curse they hang their believe proudly to Circe.
After thinking about her long day and how it wouldn’t start unless she began to move, Arabella sink her face to her fluffy pillow once more before blinking toward the empty spot on her bed. She rummaged with her hands, feeling how it was ice cold and confirming that Cassius didn’t return to the bed yesterday.
A part of her was sad but she understood being a king was no easy matter. She wasn’t going to be a crybaby now when it’s an urgent time. Her role was to support him and while it’s a heavy role, it was one she’s proud of.
Arabella then moved to sit up from her bed. She pulled a simple hair clip to push aside the hair framing her face and was about to walk when she heard the sound of knock from the door.
Waking towards it, she smiled, "Good morning Emma," she greeted the maid who had came but turns out it wasn’t her mute maid, instead, it was another maid with the twintails, the ones that always came to clean. But that’s odd, she thought, the girl would only come when she’s not in the room.
The maid greeted, "Blessing to your glorious morning," and upon seeing her confusion, the maid was quick to explain, "You called me, your highness, last night."
"Last night?" She muttered back, "I went to sleep early. I didn’t talk to anyone did I?" Then as she moved the door open, her green eyes caught the side of the maid whose eyes had rolled inside the room only to widen in horror. Her words came out broken as she raised her hands first, pointing to the wall behind Arabella.
The maid tried to speak, but no words came. As if a spell had stolen her voice, she could only lift a shaking hand and point—again and again—toward the wall behind Arabella.
Puzzled, Bella turned. She hadn’t bothered to notice that part of the room earlier, too intent on waking herself from sleep. Yet the sheer terror in the maid’s eyes struck her first, twisting in her gut before she even saw the cause.
And then she did.
A body.
Slumped against the wall, pale and still.
It was a man— a servant. A face Arabella had scarcely noticed in the past, glimpsed only in passing. Not because he was memorable, nor because they had ever spoken, but because he had always lingered at Cassius’s side back when Cassius was still the crown prince.
Now, his eyes were nothing but hollow sockets, dark and weeping blood. The crimson trails carved down his cheeks and dripped onto the floor, where they had already pooled thick beneath his dangling feet. His limbs were nailed to the wall like a grotesque display, a circle drawn in blood around him, the crude image of a horned bull framing his mutilated body.
Worse still, his stomach had been sliced open, emptied so that his blood could be used as ink. Across the mirror, in that same blood, a message sprawled:
’Who did this? Put the curse under my bed. So naughty.’
The handwriting was jagged, uneven, evil etched into each and every stroke. It was not writing meant to be read, but a crude warning, almost like a mockery as every letter felt carved from spite itself.
Arabella’s breath caught. "What in the world..." she whispered, the words trembling out as her gaze traced the horror.
At the servant’s feet lay a slip of paper, darkened by smears of blood. Beside it, scrawled across the floor, were the words: "bad curse"— it was pointing that the slip of paper was the bad curse it had mention, and in a glimpse, Arabella could see that it is a curse, a curse made for killing as it bears the same letter as one of the seven terrible curses Circe had warned no one to ever partake in using.
After pulling herself together, Arabella realized the killer was still running loose. She turned toward the maid, intent on ordering her to fetch someone —anyone— when the corpse shifted. The servant’s head lolled suddenly forward.
The maid who witness this shrieked. Convinced the man had risen again, she clutched her apron, her voice splitting the silence into a piercing echo that raced through the hall, "THE WITCH! IT’S THE DOING OF THE WITCH! THE LADY HAS USED HER POWER TO KILL SOMEONE! HELP— HELP!"
Cassius had just walked out seven ministers down the door when he saw the soldiers walking in a rush and him sensing something was off, quickly snapped his head to the chatter. His head snapped when he saw Karnala who had rushed to his side, a short greeting to the minister before whispering to Cassius what had happened.
Almost immediately, Cassius rushed to the stairs when one of the soldiers foolishly demanded Karnala a question in front of all the ministers present in the entrance of the castle, "Miss Karnala, Is it true that Lady Arabella killed someone using her witchery power? That she was using one of the servant as a sacrifice for her magical prowess? Witches are as volatile as the old tale aren’t they?"
Karnala’s eyes immediately turned sharp, glaring at the soldier who had questioned such question in front of the present ministers. It was just a few days ago that they were all in unrest because of the witch Alice. If now they point lady Arabella as a killer who uses her witch power.... Another bout of chaos was going to occur!
Sure enough the sharp hyenas in the rank of ministers grin. One of them began to walk away and stray from the door, "Don’t we have also to see what has happened?"
