Aliona sprang out of bed while covered in sweat. She touched the side where her husband was supposed to be lying and it was cold, he must had been out of bed hours ago. She shivered as she remembered the nightmare she had. Searching her body quickly to check for any skin blemishes or disfigurement as she had dreamt.
"My lady" Vivian greeted her mistress with a mixture of joy and concern.
Glad to see her, Aliona smiled as she took her hands in hers, "I'm so glad you're all right Vivian." She let go of her and turned away with a guilty look as she remembered Vivian's previous warning.
Aliona caught her worried face, "is everything all right?"
"Erm.." Vivian looked at Aliona's cloth as if she could see through her dress for what could confirm the rumour, even though she hoped to find nothing of such.
"Speak!" Ali instructed
"I caught two of the servants whispering about you having a dealing with a tainted witch"
Aliona suddenly whirled around to face her and she quickly told her mistress how she and Herbert stopped its spread and discouraged the other servants from believing such lies.
Glad that there were still some of their workers who believed her, Vivian vowed to clear her mistress's name as quickly as she could and ensure the people behind it be punished.
Aliona had always seen Vivian as the sister she never had, wanting to erase the concerned look on her face, she took off her clothes for her to see that there was nothing to show that she had dabbled in dark magic.
Satisfied, Vivian quickly covered her mistress with a warm blanket and helped her get ready for the day.
"We need to hurry up." Remembering how important today was, "do you know where Nickolai is?"
"He's in his study"
Dressed and anxious about what was to come, Aliona made her way to the study where Nickolai was already getting ready so they can head out.
He looked at her, with a narrowed eye, "Vivian did a poor job at concealing the fact that you wept during the larger part of the night."
"I specifically told her to do nothing about it. I want to make Josephine and your brother believe things are going according to their plan"
Nickolai nodded in approval, "fair enough. Let's head out, shall we?" Clasping her hand in his, they walked out, ignoring the worried glances of some of their maid. He was aware of the rumour, even though majority of them had so much faith in them that they found it hard to believe while the others were curious, he decided to show them the culprit, instead of explaining.
He was sure that by the time everything comes out in the open, they won't need to explain anything to anybody. With that in mind, they stepped into the carriage, heading to the Upper House.
*********
Nickolai watched everyone settled down, waiting for the event to unfold. He looked at the vacant seat of the leader which will be occupied soon. His eyes fell on his brother and sister-in-law who just made an entrance. Murmur filled the air, he knew the cause of the murmur was the rumour circulating. He saw the smirk on his brother's lips as he whispered something to one of the representatives from the human kingdom.
Lord Witcharoft stood and everywhere was silence, "I'm sure you all know how important today is. We're here to officially appoint the new leader of the Upper House who will take the baton of leadership from me. It was an honour to have served the house and the kingdom for this long and I am sure Lord Orsini will not disappoint us in rowing the kingdom to greatness"
The silence gave way to murmur, majority of the people needed Nicholas to give an explanation to the rumour, before they could be silenced, Lord Lakefield rose.
"I know the house as always been particular about choosing an upright leader. To ensure we maintain an unbiased judgement, we need to ensure we choose the right person. I know the Vampires are the next in line but if the person is guilty of one of the greatest offence in history, don't you think we need to rethink our decision?"
Lady Weinroff, one of the representatives from the wolves who is known to be quite strict, spoke up "what are you talking about? Don't tell me you believe those baseless rumour being passed around by fools"
If there's one who could see right through Richard, aside from his brother, it would be Lady Weinroff. She had been one of the oldest members of the house who had always been strict and don't condone nonsense. Her intimidating voice makes people regard her as being a dictator, contrary to her small figure. She is the current female alpha of one of the packs in the kingdom.
Determined not to be cowered into silence, Lord Lakefield continue, "if it's as baseless as it seems, then there's no reason why Lord Orsini can't provide an explanation why the rumour stated, it must have stemmed from somewhere"
All eyes turned to Nickolai but before he could speak, Lady Weinroff spoke again, letting her disdain for gossip show, "are you telling me that you enjoy listening to rumour? Could you tell us exactly what the rumour is instead of beating around the bush?"
With all eyes on Lord Lakefield, something that rarely happen and wanting to milk the situation, he cleared his throat and adjusted his clothes, earning a scoff from Lady Weinroff and a smirk from Nickolai.
"Lord and Lady Orsini in the hope of bearing a child are rumoured to be in business with a tainted witch"
A loud murmur overcame the room, hitting the table with the gavel, Lord Witcharoft called for silence before speaking, "Lord Orsini, is the rumour true?"
"No, it's not" speaking while looking directly at his brother who gave him a half smile.
Running out of patience, Lady Weinroff spoke, "good, now we can continue"
"No! We need Lord Nickolai to prove that he and his wife hasn't been consulting a tainted witch" Lakefield stood, determined to see to the end of the matter.
"Are you against having a vampire as the leader or you're just against Nickolai?" Being straightforward has always been her forte so, Lady Weinroff asked.
"None, besides, Lord Nickolai is not the only member from the Orsini family that can become a leader"
"I know no other" Weinroff scoffed, earning a glare from two pairs of eyes who had been enjoying how the whole thing was going.
Eric Manchester stood facing Lord Lakefield as he addressed him, "if Nickolai is able to prove the rumour to be wrong, will you take the responsibility of the outcome?"
Lakefield's eyes quickly darted to Richard who was sure there was no way his brother could escape this, he had tied lose ends and didn't leave a loop hole, he nodded subtly and Lakefield agreed.
"I will"
Happy that he had placed Lakefield where he wanted him, Nickolai signalled to Henry to bring in the woman. Enjoying the wild look on Richard and Josephine's eyes at seeing the foolish woman they had instructed thought their men had silenced.
"Who is this?"
"This is the lady who confessed to being told to convince Lady Aliona that an untainted witch gave her the solution she used to get pregnant, which lured my wife to the Argonark Woods"
The woman nodded as she was asked if it was true. "And who was the person who instructed you to do that?" Lady Weinroff asked.
She pointed and everyone gasped as they all stared at Lady Josephine. Seeing the accusing look on everyone's faces, she sprang to her feet, "she's lying. I have never met her before in my life"
Lord Lakefield spoke again, "what if Lord Nickolai force her to say this?"
"Well, Lord Nickolai, what do you have to say about it?" Lady Weinroff asked.
"I have another witness"
Bringing in the innkeeper he had told his men to protect, "and who is this again?"
"The innkeeper who rented a place for Richard and the Demon King to discuss how they plan on tarnishing my image to make me unfit to be the new leader. He heard Richard telling Damien how Lady Aliona would be lured to the Argonark to meet with a tainted witch"
Noise filled the air, "do you realise what you're implying " Witcharoft asked Nickolai.
Everyone knew it was not a good idea for a potential member of the Upper House to be associated with the Demon king, since he already made it clear they were enemy. Nickolai nodded while Richard shouted, "it's a lie. I have no business with the Demon king whatsoever. My brother is just trying to cover his misdeed by implicating me. Just as he has always done since childhood"
Lady Weinroff smoothened her forehead, "this is looking more like an internal family feud. I'm still trying to figure out what Lord Lakefield stands to gain"
"What do you mean? Are you implying that I deliberately instigated this for my personal gain?" Feeling insulted, Lakefield approached Lady Weinroff who proudly showed off her claws, he swallowed as he backed away.
Lord Witcharoft asked the innkeeper, "can you describe the other man you saw that night" after giving a description that best fitted the demon king, he asked again. "considering the strong resemblance between them," pointing at Nickolai and Richard, "how did you know the one in discussion with the man you described?"
Anticipation filled the air as everyone waited. The innkeeper thought back to that day, remembering the tiny detail that made him identify Lord Richard, "I'm sorry I don't know their names but I'm sure the one I rented the room to has a mark on his left eyebrow"
Noise and shouts filled the room once again, as it was confirmed that there was a scar on the left eyebrow of Lord Richard. Richard shot a deadly glare at the innkeeper, if it was another circumstance, the innkeeper was sure to be six feet under by now.
"Are we going to get this over with or not?" Lady Weinroff stood as she faced other members, "I think I know where this is going but to be fair" facing Richard who was still fuming from being accused, "do you have a proof to show that you were accused wrongly and that Lady Aliona consulted a tainted witch on her own accord?"
"Yes, I do"
Everyone turned as the door opened and Mimulke entered.