Chapter 61: Guilty heart- Part 1

The council officials from the nearest point in the Bonelake visited the Meyers mansion to look at the dead body of the woman and inquire on what had happened. Lettice was the sole witness of the horrific incident that took place but being in the state of shock, she didn’t speak much except for a sentence or two. Mr. Meyers took his wife back to their room so that she could rest and not be bothered by the questions of the officials.

Lord Nicholas had made arrangements for both Heidi and Venetia to leave in separate carriages so that they could reach the Rune and Lawson’s mansion with the guards but Heidi had been too adamant to stay as Lettice was a friend of hers. And even though the lord agreed to it, Warren was reluctant to let her stay where a person had died. In the end, Warren nodded his head, sending his mother away and asking Heidi to stay outside in the drawing room so that she wouldn’t have to continue looking at the disfigured body. It was true that there was no point of her staying back here but she didn’t feel it was right to leave like it didn’t concern her.

Heidi sat in the drawing room, her hands holding each other tightly. The image brought chills over her body. Not even her nightmares in her dreams seemed so gory as what she had just seen back there.

At first she thought it was Lettice due to the size and the texture of her hair which looked similar to her but Heidi had sighed internally after seeing her friend in Mr. Meyers arms. The woman was a mess as she shivered, eyes having no more tears to shed while her husband ran his hand over her head to calm her. As reserved and quiet his wife was, Rhys didn’t seem to be the kind to hold back in showing his affections where it concerned his wife. All the time they were there, he had given his utmost attention to her, making sure she was alright as she had injured her arm while trying to fight the attacker off her before the guards showed up leading the attacker to disappear from the scene.

After spending half an hour in the drawing room, she heard voices approaching from where she sat and she stood up quickly to see the Lord talking to one of the council member and the other who was still asking questions to Mr. Meyers.

“This is too sudden and a surprise that something like this has happened. I don’t understand is why someone would attack a maid in broad daylight. We cannot say anything until the body inspection takes place,” an older man with the glasses on his nose spoke, his handlebar mustache was trimmed neatly with a beard that covered his chin.

“How long will it take?” Lord Nicholas asked.

“Three to four weeks.”

“Isn’t that slow? Why not recruit the white witches. After all they are doing a terrific job in performing their duties as priests,” hearing the lord’s suggestion the man exhaled, “You should give them a chance Lionel.”

“I don’t mind but there are people on the council who aren’t welcoming as they seem. It might cause an unnecessary feud between the members which Reuben doesn’t want right now. With the massacres increasing thanks to the black witches, it is going to take longer than we think before the society accepts the white witches.”

Heidi had heard about witches in general when she was at Woville but it was only after she had begun her studies at the Rune mansion did she realize that there was more than one kind of witch. First, were the black witches which every human feared. They were known to be notorious, having immoral values and were considered to be the absolute outlaws in all the four empires. Recently the witches had begun killing townsmen and villagers without mercy and the council were still trying to catch hold of them. Second was the white witch. Years ago, it was said that the white witches worked with the black witches and their deeds, this passed down a false rumor for years when the white witches were the kind who did part take in harming a human. But the the people had grown to hate both the kind. In one of the books, she had found in Lord Nicholas’ library speculation were made of how a third kind of witch existed, naming it as a dark witch but there was no proof or information on it which it ended up being only a theory.

“That is sad to hear,” tsked Nicholas softly.

“Indeed,” the man named Lionel replied, “I hope it is alright if I take the body along with me.”

“I don’t think we have any use for it,” Lord Nicholas smiled to see the man look at him with a serious look. He seemed to be the serious one out of the two council officers who had come to visit, “Stopping outside, at the entrance, the man then turned to speak to Rhys, “I will have Kellen stay back here so that he can question the servants if you don’t mind.”

“Please do,” Rhys replied with a dire look, “It would be better if we got it sorted out as quick as possible.”

“Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Meyers. I will send you a letter if we find anything on it,” the old council man shook his hands with everyone and took his leave after having the body placed in the carriage he was travelling.

After Rhys ordered his butler to help the council man named Kellen who had stayed back to interrogate the servants, he came back to the hall where everyone stood including Heidi.

“It doesn’t seem like it was a thief,” Warren spoke about the murder that took place.

“It isn’t,” Rhys agreed swiftly, “Even though the person stole the diamond necklace, no one would smash a woman’s face up to that point with a motive. Lettice said she only made the maid wear her clothes and jewellery because the maid was about to get married. The man must have sneaked into the room when she had gone out for a moment but he hadn’t anticipated her to return quickly to see him disfiguring her face.”

“Do you have any idea on who might be behind it? There must be a motive,” Warren stated looking at Rhys who sighed, to speak,

“Is there anyone who might not be without a motive. I don’t even know whom to point at. I have asked Kellen to go to Lettice’s town to inquire if they find anything.”

“Do you think it is the boy?” Heidi who was listening to them while standing at the side quietly wondered who Lord Nicholas was talking about.

“No, I don’t think it could be the spineless boy. He knows well that I will torture him with or without Lettice’s knowledge,” this made Lord Nicholas smirk at Rhys words, “But it is a good place to start.”

“How is your wife?” Lord Nicholas asked as they began to walk outside the mansion, down the stairs.

“She’s resting. It is her first time, seeing something like this,” Rhys replied, “For vampires, blood is a common sight but as humans aren’t used to it, they find the sight hard to digest when it involves too much of blood and gore. But she’ll be fine,” he nodded thinking about it.

“Humans do lack the ability to withstand it,” the lord murmured, glancing at Heidi for a fleeting moment before bringing back his gaze at the carriage which was drawing towards them, in front of the mansion.

“Ms. Curtis,” the owner of the mansion turned to talk to her, “I am glad that my wife has put her faith in you as her friend. I believe it is only the difficult times that prove a person’s worth,” he raised his hand, his intelligent eyes capturing every movement she made.

“I am glad that she’s safe,” Heidi shook his cold hands, a small smile on her lips. Compared to Mr. Meyers and Warren, Lord Nicholas’ hands were surprisingly warm.