A chill shot up Judith's spine at the sound of the scream. Frenzied footsteps echoed outside her room and window. Reacting quickly, she hurried to the window to catch a glimpse of the unfolding events.
When she peered out the window, she saw several people running in a particular direction, towards the front of the manor to be precise, and what followed were gasps and murmurs.
Judith had fixated on what they were saying and a gasp had escaped her upon hearing 'The prince is dead' whispered amongst the crowd.
She staggered away from the window as she became lost in her thoughts.
Judith's head began to play on loop 'The god is coming ' or rather 'He's already here' she thought, as her fear began to settle deep into her bones.
Just as Judith felt her heart skipping several hundred beats, a sudden slam at the door jolted her.
Turning towards the door, Judith's fear eased upon recognizing the maid from earlier. However, her fear began to creep back in when she noted the maid's grim expression.
"Come with me, now." The maid had said with a great urgency in her voice.
Judith at first felt her feet planted onto the floor, but had realized herself a second later and threw herself forward with the same urgency in the maid's voice.
Once she took the maid's side, the maid at once walked away and said "Follow" as she continued to walk, words Judith had adhered to.
Matching the maid's pace, Judith shadowed her as they pressed forward.
Judith ever since she saw the maid burst through the door, had been thinking of asking if the prince was truly dead, but couldn't find the proper way to utter these words.
Yet she forced her lips to work. Just then, the maid had interrupted Judith and said "The prince is dead" just as Judith was about to speak.
Judith went numb for a moment, due to the fact that her suspicions were confirmed, the god was here and he made his presence known by killing the prince.
"As a direct result of the prince's death," the maid had said, pulling Judith out of her head. "Everyone of us uncounted for will be a suspect and." The maid had said this with a tone that left Judith more afraid than she already was.
First she had a literal god to deal with, and now she had to worry about the horrible procedures that would follow the prince's death.
'It couldn't get any better.' Judith had thought to herself, as she turned her gaze to the ground so the only view she had was that of her walking feet.
Sensing Judith's fallen demeanor, the maid decided to bring to light not so bad news for Judith.
"But don't be too disheartened, you and I are innocent, we were nowhere near the prince when he fell."
Judith had raised a brow upon hearing the word 'Fell' and at once an image of him falling off the manor had hit her head. Which confused her more than anything.
This was because people in this world were basically super human once they were either Tethered or had cultivated, and since the prince had fallen into the latter category, a simple fall wouldn't be enough to do him in.
So Judith began to wonder, why this god would kill the prince and frame it as a stupid fall.
She was not allowed to finish her thought process before the maid had spoken once more.
"Also, captain Qiao will vouch for us, he's a good man."
Judith's heart suddenly jolted when she heard the name of the captain, who she had completely forgotten about.
'It got better.' Judith thought with a more fallen demeanor than before.
The maid had noticed Judith's change in demeanor yet again, but felt she couldn't do anything to remedy this, so she let it go.
They don't walk for much longer before they arrived at the hall which was a hub for the exit of the house, the stairs leading to the higher level of the manor and several doors that led to different sections of the manor.
In this hall, was a crowd of maids which stood in a corner, whilst a crowd of Tethereds stood in the middle of the hall. They were surrounding the prince, each of them using what Judith could tell was healing Alkalis.
"Let's go." The maid whispered to Judith, who was completely fixated on the prince.
It hadn't dawned on Judith, or at least not immediately, but the fact that this prince was dead, meant that the story ofher novel would be drastically altered. In such a way Judith wouldn't be able to predict what would happen next, and if that was the case, then she was as good as dead.
The maid pulled on Judith, who followed like a zombie.
The gravity of this prince's death seemed to weigh on her more and more as the seconds went by.
The maid and Judith had made their way to the other maids, who all stood watching the Tethereds do their best to revive the prince.
Within the same second, the enormous doors leading out of the manor had burst open, so Qui Lin and captain Qiao could be seen making their way towards the prince.
Once everyone had seen Qui Lin, the Tethereds healing the prince had got up and cleared a walking path for Qui Lin to get closer to the prince.
Upon seeing the prince, Qui Lin froze for a heartbeat. She got closer to the prince, took a knee and then placed a hand on the prince's neck.
When a slight gasp had escaped Qui Lin, she went pale, before rising with an aura that resounded throughout the entire hall so everyone felt a sudden fear.
Qui Lin turned to captain Qiao, who stood at the threshold of the manor doors, more dazed than Judith had expected.
"Who is responsible for this?" Qui Lin had asked with a calm in her voice that held deep pain and anger which carried a might that ate into every person present.
Judith felt herself becoming more and more anxious as she watched every single thing unraveling before her.
Was this really how her life in this fantasy world would play out?