A few hours earlier.
In one of the dimly lit corridors of a black castle, a maid with reddish brown hair walked steadily with a tray in her hands, making her way towards the king's chamber. Upon reaching the doors, she knocked twice before stepping inside.
It was a spacious chamber with two enormous chandeliers hanging from the ceiling on either side, their candles burning brightly. The furniture was crafted from the finest oak and mahogany wood, adorned with intricate gold accents. And except for the sound of the fire crackling in the fireplace, the room was enveloped in silence.
The maid's red eyes fell on a man who sat on the couch with his eyes closed, resting his tilted head on one hand, while he slowly swirled a goblet of wine in his other hand. Though he just sat there leisurely, he emanated an intimidating and imposing aura from his very being.
He was dressed in a black robe, and his midnight hair looked damp with tiny droplets of water dripping from the ends. The flickering light of the candles cast a golden glow on one side of his face, making him look almost otherworldly, while the other half remained hidden in the shadows, giving him the appearance of a devil. He was both beautiful and terrifying all at once.
"I have brought evening refreshments, Your Majesty," the maid, named Amelia, informed the king in a shaky voice. Her eyes were downcast as she lowered her head and stood there with the tray in her hands, waiting for his order.
Though she was terrified of the man in front of her, she couldn't help but feel a certain kind of excitement stirring inside her heart as she attempted to steal glances at him through her lowered lashes.
The man opened his dark red eyes and took a sip of wine from the goblet. His eyes lazily moved towards the maid and the tray in her hands, which held a glass of blood and some biscuits.
Raising his hand, he beckoned to her.
The maid slowly walked to his side and placed the glass of blood on a table beside the couch before she turned around to leave.
"I didn't ask you to leave now, did I?" he questioned the maid in a lazy tone, causing her to stop in her tracks. Even though he looked calm, his voice which was as cold as an ancient glacier, sent shivers down her spine and made her knees tremble in fear.
"Where is the fun in drinking stale blood when I can indulge in the taste of fresh blood right now?" the hunger in his eyes was evident as he traced his tongue over one of his fangs.
Nervously, she gulped. And with her heart battering against her chest, she slowly approached the man seated on the couch and extended her hand towards him.
Catching hold of her hand, he brought it to his mouth and the maid blushed when his lips touched her skin. But the next moment, he sank his fangs into her wrist roughly, making her wince. Drops of blood trickled down from the spot when he sank his fangs deeper and Amelia bit her bottom lip, so as not to cry out in pain in front of the king in case it might cross him.
Minutes passed, but instead of slowing down, he sucked her blood faster, and her breathing turned shallow, making her feel light-headed. Her face twisted in pain and she shuddered at the thought of dying in the king's hands, but she didn't dare interrupt him.
Just as she was close to fainting, a knock snapped the man out of his bloodthirst, and he loosened his grip on her hand, causing it to fall to her side. He waved his hand, signalling for her to leave.
The maid steadied herself, despite feeling dizzy from the loss of blood, and turned around to leave. Her eyes then met with a pair of dark red eyes and she swiftly lowered her head in fear. She offered a deep bow to the blond-haired man who entered the chamber, before quickly scurrying away from the place.
"What brings you here?" King Maxen asked, his thumb running along the corner of his bottom lip, before he licked away the remnants of the maid's blood. His voice held a hint of annoyance, for the man had interrupted him in the midst of quenching his thirst.
"There was news that one of the noblemen of the royal court, named Jerome Warbeck, was murdered in his mansion today. His body was found drained of blood, and his heart was missing," Prince Aaron replied solemnly.
"And?" Maxen asked, raising one of his eyebrows, but there was no interest in his eyes whatsoever, "Did you come all the way here just to inform me about the gruesome death of a random man?"
Prince Aaron stared at the king. He said, "A black dahlia was found in one of his hands as if the perpetrator had purposely placed it after killing him."
"Did they now," Maxen drawled, his lips slowly curving into a crooked grin, and a sinister gleam flickered in his eyes as he gazed into the crackling fire in the hearth, "I guess I will have to go and take a look at him then."
He then turned to the blonde prince and tilted his head, "Do you want to come along, brother?"
"No, Your Majesty. I have some other matters to attend to. I will take my leave now," Prince Aaron replied, offering a small bow to the king, and then turned around to exit the room.
After the blonde vampire prince left the king's chamber, Maxen changed his clothes and made his way to his carriage.
*******
The carriage entered the gates of the Warbeck's mansion at a steady pace. Made with the finest ebony wood, it looked as dark as ink and had an incredibly fine texture with a smooth finish. The windows were covered with curtains from the inside, making it difficult for anyone outside to catch a glimpse of the person who sat inside. However, everyone knew it was the King's carriage due to its grandeur and the cold aura emanating from within.
The coachman pulled on the reins of the four horses in front of the mansion, and they came to a stop with a neighing sound. William, the coachman, then quickly jumped down from the driver's seat and went to open the door of the carriage.
Maxen stepped down from the carriage, his polished black boots clicking against the cobblestone path. He adjusted the cuffs of his black tailcoat, the intricate gold embroidery catching the light. The tails of his coat swayed gently in the wind as he surveyed the chaos around him with his sharp eyes.
His eyes darted left and right as he looked at the surroundings of the mansion nonchalantly. Some people were rushing through the doors hastily and some were scattered in the lawn area as if they were searching for any evidence of the intruder who murdered the owner of the mansion. The whole place was in disarray.
When the butler of the mansion, who was ordering the servants in the garden to search for the trails of the perpetrator, saw the king stepping out of the carriage, his dull red eyes circled wider and he made his way towards the king in haste.
"Your Majesty," he greeted the king before offering a deep bow. "I humbly apologize for not having made the necessary preparations for your arrival. Had I known that you were coming to inspect the murder of Master Warbeck, I would have made the arrangements beforehand."
Maxen hummed in response, before leisurely sauntering into the mansion as if he were taking a casual stroll in a garden. However, the butler walking beside him was visibly trembling and sweating buckets. He had heard about the king's infamous temper and the rumours of him executing anyone who so much as displeased him, without even batting an eyelid.
The butler's heart lurched in his chest when the king's eyes briefly fell on him and he almost lost his footing.
"How long has it been since he died?" Maxen inquired the butler, who looked like a cat on hot bricks.
"I-It has been two hours, Your Majesty. The members from the Sanctum were yet to arrive to inspect the place and take Master's body for further investigation", the butler's downcast eyes held sorrow and grief.
His master was a good nobleman and also a member of the royal court since the days of the late king, Edward Regan. He did not have any successors or a family as he stayed single all his life, because of the untimely death of the woman whom he loved dearly. He was also a pureblooded vampire who cannot be killed that easily without putting up a fight, but there was no sign of resistance inside the room. The butler was unable to figure out how the perpetrator even got inside the mansion without anyone seeing them.
They soon reached the bedroom of Mr. Warbeck. Once they stepped inside the room, Maxen eye's fell on the corpse of the man on the floor and he went to squat down beside the dead man. It was indeed a ghastly sight as the body looked dry and shrivelled with the man's blood drained out from his body without leaving a single drop. Anyone who heard about the man's blood being drained from his body would think that he was killed by a vampire, but it seemed like it was not the work of a vampire. There were no signs of a vampire's bite or puncture wounds on his body except for the hole in his chest. The expression on his face seemed as if he saw something terrifying before his last moments with his eyes and mouth wide open.
There was a huge hole in his chest area as if someone pierced his chest with a hand before ripping his heart out. But it was neither the hand of a vampire nor a werewolf. Maxen's gaze slowly trailed down towards the black flower that was placed in the right hand of the dead man. He stretched his hand forward to take the flower.
The butler felt anxious, watching the king pick up the flower from the deceased's hand. No one was supposed to move or touch anything at the crime scene before the official investigators sent by the Sanctum arrived. Even if they were the kings of the four lands, they were obliged to adhere to the rules established by the Sanctum.
But he would not dare to question or suggest to the man in front of him not to mess up the evidence. He doubted that his dead body would ever be found by anyone in this lifetime, if he questioned King Maxen. So he stood there with his eyes downcast.
Maxen held the stem of the flower and slowly twirled it around. He brought the flower to his nose and took a whiff before returning it to its original place.
He stood up and scanned the bedroom, before walking to one of the windows. His eyes slightly narrowed when he caught a whiff of something strange in the air. He looked down the window but could not find any traces of someone intruding. It was as if the perpetrator appeared out of thin air.
Just as he was about to turn around, his eyes caught a black feather on the corner of the windowsill. Seeing that it was a raven feather, Maxen raised his head to look at the sky.
"Who was the first person to find the body?" he questioned the butler, his eyes still staring out of the window.
Something akin to darkness loomed inside his dark red orbs, making them appear even darker.
"It was I, Your Majesty. Master Warbeck ordered the servants to prepare dinner before he went to take a bath. After a while, I heard a noise coming from the master's bedroom, as if he were talking to someone, followed by a thud. I tried to open the doors, but they were locked from the inside. It took us a few minutes to use the spare keys to open the doors. But it was already too late," the butler explained, his voice laced with sadness and the corners of his eyes turning slightly red as he recalled the situation.
After casting a final glance around the room, Maxen left the mansion and stepped into his awaiting carriage. Settling into the comfortable seat, he leaned back and closed his eyes, lost in deep thoughts.
The four horses pulled the carriage out of the mansion's gate in a steady rhythmic trot before they sped up and galloped into the night.
Halfway through the ride, Maxen's eyes snapped open when his ears caught the distant sound of three pairs of footsteps, one of which was hurried and erratic, as if the person were being pursued by someone.
Narrowing his eyes, he ordered the coachman, "Stop the carriage"