"How pitiful of you dearest Duchess. Weakened by the sight of blood, repulsed by the odour of rotten bodies, adulterated by their open hearts, the Duchess is nothing but fragile. But woe is me. The Duchess is among those whose guilt is fleeting."
Despite the neutrality of emotions behind the voice, Sorsiana was sentient enough that her being was under mockery. She wanted to refute, to save herself from the castigation. However she might want to do that, fear had overtaken her reason.
Instead, her mind was crowded with excuses as to why she was afraid.
Meanwhile, the Duke and Horen continued on their way without noticing what had happened to the Duchess. They soon arrived at an arm's reach from the maid. But as they took another step, the maid just disappeared, like a ghost in the drift. Simultaneously, they blinked and rubbed their eyes, believing that it was a mere work of illusion.
It might have been the answer. Might also be not.
Much to their annoyance, not a piece of the maid's shadow was seen. The Duke growled in frustration as he combed his hair with his fingers. Horen, however, started to put the gears in his head to work.
The young heir recognized that they had been perfunctory in dealing with the mess, for the reason that they were caught off guard. It's applaudable that some of the guards took it upon themselves to survey the perimeter of the estate ahead of the masters' orders. Horen was more than thankful that their guards had a mind of their own.
For a good, short while, something had been bothering Horen to a great, undesirable extent. Shortly thereafter, he got his answer.
Horen happened to look on the ground, yet it was empty. He was sure that he felt his shoes turning wet as he stepped on a puddle of blood. But why was the marble floor back to its polished state? Surely, not a servant would have disturbed him in his reverie.
Noticing that his mother wasn't beside him, Horen turned towards his back.
Yet again, he was welcomed with another surprise.
The entire Banquet Hall was devoid of a single drop of blood. There wasn't even a strand of stain on the exceptional purity of the marble floor. The sole attraction was the Duchess, whose eyes were widened as if she had seen the ghost of Hevelia von Bismarck.
Well, that wasn't far from the truth.
Horen immediately approached his mother and tapped her shoulder. Sorsiana jumped in surprise as she met the eyes of her son.
"What-- what happened? What are you doing here?" The Duchess asked, breathless and rushed.
"Mother, first, I'd like to ask if there's something wrong. You seem a tad restless."
"Oh, no, no, I'm fine. Mayhaps I'm getting older. I thought I was hearing things."
Without a doubt, Sorsiana was lying and Horen knew of it. Still, he didn't bother to force the truth out of his mother's mouth.
"If you say so, mother. However, if you feel the need to rest, please tell me."
"Alright, that's duly noted, my so--"
"Troy! Ophelia!" The Duke screamed with all his might, gaining the Duchess and Horen's attention.
They quickly followed the Duke's line of sight. And never in the Duchess life was she so distraught at a sight.
Once her gaze fell on her nightmares, the Duchess ran towards the centre of the hall. Beside the lifeless bodies of her children did she kneel, shoulders quivering and breath hitching.
"Wha-- what is… what is this? Ophelia?" Sorsiana then lifted her daughter's head and put it on her lap, "Ophelia, my dear? Why are you lying on the floor? It's cold. I'll take you to your room, hmm? Wake up now."
Sorsiana's eyes were full of hope. Uncannily enough, it was out of her delusion.
Horen soon arrived by his mother and siblings' side, the Duke shortly behind him. He could hear the desperation in his mother's voice. However, he felt that it was not his place to send his mother to a despair deeper than death.
'Mother, they won't wake up. Their blood, it's soaking your gown.'
Similar to what happened to his guard, Troy's heart was barbarically taken out. The hole in his chest was gaping, hastily coating the floor with blood again. On the other hand, Ophelia's death wasn't simply brutal, it was beyond inhumane.
Horen couldn't keep his eyes on his sister's body. It was like a beast sunk its fangs on her body, flailed her body about, slammed her on a spiked ground, and repeated the process hundreds of times. Horen choked on his tears to get a grip on himself.
'Someone is playing a trick on us. I'm assured now that we're dealing with a sorcerer, possibly one that has a Rahichna.'
While he was contemplating, Horen cast a glance at the double doors and the windows.
'As expected, all of our possible exits have been barricaded. I can sense that there are sheets of Manna enveloping the surroundings. We might have to brace ourselves for the fight of our lives.'
The young man drew a breath exhaustingly. For the second time in the ordeal, he found the answers to all his curiosities.
'They used magic to block the sound, conceal their trails, and delay our response. We were inside the Dining Hall for an hour before the bloodied maid made an appearance. It's safe to say that the massacre happened much, much earlier than that. They made it difficult for us to investigate since nothing outside of the Banquet hall was virtually unchanged.'
At that instant, the most bothersome of thoughts came into Horen's mind. He didn't want to accept it, yet it was the only reasonable justification for everything that had been transpiring.
'There's a traitor inside the Dukedom. For a stranger to be able to enter, someone has to open our Manna infused gates from the inside. After all, if no one deactivates the defence mechanism of our gates, any invader would be dead before they can take a single step inside. Who is brave en--'
Interrupting his contemplation was the wooden box in his grip. It began to tremble ever so slightly, making him drop it to the ground. The impact resounded louder than the mutterings and cries of the Duchess.
Though soon, a voice unfamiliar to Horen intimated not only his hearing but all of his senses. He felt his heart begin to beat a foreboding melody.
"Box, box, it's a treasure! I found a treasure! My one and only. Something that I can call mine. That box is mine."
It was gut-wrenchingly…
… Sinister.