A couple?
Allen caught onto the key word and immediately stopped his action of closing the door, leaning against it and listening closely.
Vesemir: "Humans?"
Bob: "Yes, a human couple."
"The man I knew, his name was Hode. He was a middle-aged knight under Lord Hudson."
"He started out as a stableman for Lord Hudson, just like me, and got promoted after earning several commendations."
"But I'd never seen that woman before. Though her appearance was plain, she carried herself with elegance and poise, even more so than Miss Lesha—Lesha was Lord Hudson's daughter—she looked more like a lady from a noble family. She must have eloped from some great noble house."
At this point, Mary added, "She certainly did look like she came from a great noble family."
"That woman never left the house, so Bob, who was in charge of the stables, wasn't aware of her."
"But besides helping Lady Reyna prepare meals, I also cleaned the rooms of the masters and guests."
"Every time I finished tidying up the couple's room, the woman would thank me, but she'd do so with her head held high, looking down her nose at me, as if merely thanking me was some great favor."
"Even Lady Reyna and Miss Lesha wouldn't treat me like that…"
It was clear that, even after all these years, Mary still harbored a great deal of resentment towards that mysterious woman.
Vesemir caught on to the key point: "Eloped?"
It was evident that he wasn't too convinced by this speculation. The trope of a noblewoman eloping was something you'd only hear in bard's tales. Besides, they had mentioned that the woman was found on the battlefield.
Vesemir asked curiously, "Which battle was it that Lord Hudson was summoned to eight years ago? Who was the enemy?"
This question seemed to stump both Mary and Bob.
About a minute later, Bob replied with some uncertainty, "I'm not too sure. The King's conflicts have been quite frequent in recent years, but the enemy was either elves or Aedirn."
Vesemir didn't press on this point. It had been a long time, and for two servants, these weren't matters they were concerned with. So he continued, "But what does this couple have to do with the destruction of Lord Hudson's castle?"
"Surely the entire castle wasn't lost just because of two humans?"
A moment of silence followed, perhaps as Bob and Mary organized their thoughts.
"We suspect that the woman brought disaster upon Lord Hudson… He was such a good man, such a rare, upright noble, along with Miss Lesha and the lady…"
Mary's voice started to crack as she spoke, tears clearly forming.
Bob and Vesemir spent a while comforting her, and then Vesemir tried to steer the conversation back: "What kind of disaster did they bring?"
Bob said, "We… we don't know either. It was around ten years ago, close to the month of the equinox. At that time, Mary and I had just gotten married under the blessing of the goddess Melitele."
"It seemed like the Viscount had foreseen something. He gave us this inn as a wedding gift and arranged for us to leave the castle."
"Many other servants were similarly sent away by Lord Hudson. Then, just a few days later, the castle suddenly caught fire, and in one night, everyone inside either died or disappeared. Not a single person survived."
"When we wanted to go back to find the bodies of the Viscount and his family, to give them a proper burial, we heard rumors that the castle was haunted."
"At that time, we had little Mike, and we didn't dare to go in."
Vesemir, after hearing all this, consoled them, "You did the right thing by not going in. Even if Hudson knew, he wouldn't blame you."
"But why did it fall to you to search for the bodies? What about the rest of the Viscount's family? Or the Noble Council of Kaedwen?"
After another silence, Bob spoke in a low voice, his tone trembling as if he feared someone might overhear: "That… that's the strange part… no nobles or knights came. Only a group of robed sorcerers visited once."
"But they looked so eerie and frightening that we didn't dare ask them anything…"
Mary interjected, "Vesemir, do sorcerers really like to use fresh human hearts in their brews? And do they use the blood of infants to prolong their lives?"
"Uh… I've never heard of that, but please, continue." Vesemir said, trying to steer the conversation back on track, though there was a hint of exasperation in his tone.
Bob continued, "Oh, oh~"
"We suspect that the woman must have been the daughter of some great noble and eloped with that fool. Otherwise, how could such a great family as the Hudsons have no one come to their aid?"
"It must have been the revenge of that great noble house. They took back their daughter and, in their fury, killed Lord Hudson and his family and burned the castle down."
"The rumors of haunting must be the restless souls of Lord Hudson and his family!"
"That fool Hode must have been killed too," Mary added.
"Vesemir, you're a witcher. You should have a way to find the remains of Lord Hudson and his family, right?"
"They were all good people. We want to commission you to put their souls to rest and bury their remains in Melitele's graveyard."
After a moment's hesitation, Bob sheepishly added, "Um… how much would the commission cost…"
Vesemir cut him off, "No need. Lord Hudson was my friend as well, and I was well looked after by his family during those years."
After a brief pause, he made up his mind: "Alright… I'll make some preparations and head to the castle to investigate the situation."
Allen, who had been listening to everything, found that he had both learned a lot and yet felt as though he had learned nothing at all.
The conversation contained a wealth of information, but the couple he was most interested in was only given the husband's name. The rest of the information about the mysterious woman was all speculation and conjecture by Bob and Mary. The most crucial detail was that the couple's whereabouts were unknown.
In summary, Lord Hudson took in a couple from the battlefield. Some significant change occurred, prompting the Viscount to realize something was amiss. He arranged for Bob, Mary, and other servants to leave the castle.
In the end, a great fire broke out in the castle. Rumors of hauntings spread afterward, and no one came to recover the bodies of the Viscount's family.
This detail was indeed strange. A castle was a valuable asset for any noble, especially in a village near Ban Ard, not a war-torn border region. Moreover, the fruitful lands of the Hudson estate were just below the castle.
Lord Hudson's noble relatives should have fought over such a prize. How could they leave it abandoned for so many years?
"Unless there was someone more powerful or some force that made them too afraid to act," Allen thought.
In Kaedwen, and especially near Ban Ard, such power could only belong to male mages… No, the king's involvement seemed more likely…
A viscount is already a high-ranking title. Even with the internal conflicts among the nobility, it's unlikely that they would allow sorcerers to commit such atrocities… at least not without causing some uproar afterward…
Moreover…
"Could the red-haired elf be searching for this couple?"
....…
📢20 advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
For advance chapters: p@treon.com/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
145. A New Hunting Target.
146. The Castle Ruins.
147. Trapped.
149. You Know Viscount Hudson Too?
150. A Product Never Seen Before.