The Crown's Obsession

James and his assistant continued to walk out of the castle, making their way towards the carriage that had been arranged for them. Someone called them from the top of the stairs,

"Mr. Heathcliff!"

He turned around to see it was one of the ladies who had been in the room earlier with the King, Madeline and others. He wondered if he left something behind or if there was something more that needed to be stitched.

The girl was petite, and she walked down the stairs, a smile upon her lips which he could tell that it was not something that came out of kindness, "We forgot to give you this," she gave an envelope to him.

James wondered what it was. He looked down at the writing and design on the envelope that had the King's and Miss Harris' name on it. It was their wedding invitation, "I thought you should get one just in case if you haven't received one yet," said the lady with a smile on her face.

He bowed his head and saw the lady leave. He would have been delighted in the past if he received the invitation from the King. Getting the marriage invitation of the person whom he loved who was getting married to someone else, he didn't know what to make of it anymore. Not to forget, he was also making Madeline's wedding dress.

James couldn't help but think about the words that Lady Rosamund said to him. He wished the King would not marry Madeline. James wished Mr. Barnes wasn't threatening his father or him so that he would get married to Lady Catherine. He had accompanied Lady Catherine on the night of Hallow solely so that he could see Madeline and James was glad he had done it that day. But right now he wished he hadn't gone with Lady Catherine at all. If things were different, maybe it would have been him and Madeline getting married. But it looked like the time for it had passed, and there was nothing he could do about it right now.

"The King and his family think very highly of you, isn't it, Mr. Heathcliff?" asked his female assistant Lina. The girl took a peek at the writing on the envelope that was in his hand.

James doubted that was it. After getting inside the carriage, both of them left the castle.

The young vampiress who had handed over the wedding invitation to the tailorman returned inside the castle and went to her mother who waited for her.

"Why did you ask me to give it to him?" Lady Sophie asked her mother, "It is not like he wouldn't be invited later on."

Lady Rosamund smiled at her daughter, who still had a lot to learn, "If he received it later, the spark of fire would have extinguished by then. Right now we only added more spark to see if it will work."

Sophie frowned, turning to look in the direction where the carriage left, "It didn't look like anything was going on. Didn't you hear him, mother? He is getting married to Lady Catherine."

"Which is why we need to act fast," replied Lady Rosamund. Both she and her daughter started to walk. Sadly her daughter had not been swift enough to capture the King's attention. Which is why her son and she were working on pushing things in their favour.

Obviously, the previous King didn't have another son with whom Rosamund could get her daughter married to. The closest possibility was associating with the next person to keep the ties close and strong, which was Madeline's sister with whom Markus was currently trying to woo.

"What are we going to do, mother?" asked Sophie, sadness filled in her voice. All these years, she grew up thinking she would be the queen, only now be told that she wasn't going to be the one. She felt lost, her purpose stolen, "Calhoun is going to get married to her."

Lady Rosamund sighed, stopping her footsteps to turn to her daughter, "If that is the worst case that is going to happen, your brother still has a chance. We just need to associate him with marriage and then think about the next step."

Sophie frowned, "Markus? What about me, then?"

Her mother placed a hand on her arm, "You will be the King's cousin, Sophie. Right now, your chances of being a queen is less. If the tailorman and Madeline consummate with each other, that may break the faith and trust Calhoun has towards the human. Leave it to your brother and me. We will see what we can do, okay?"

"No," Sophie whispered, her eyebrows furrowing deeper, "No! You cannot do that to me!" When her voice went higher, Rosamund's grip on her daughter's arm tightened.

"Keep your voice down," Rosamund's eyes flared before narrowing down at her, "Your chances of luck are lesser than what Markus has right now. Just listen to us. If everything goes well, who knows how things will turn out to be in your favour?"

Sophie couldn't believe that her mother was giving up on her being queen. That was the only possibility her mother could think right now. Rage continued to fill in her veins and in her thoughts against the person who was responsible for this.

"I am supposed to be the queen," stated Sophie, "I will do something about it," and she started to walk in the direction from where they had come walking.

"Sophie," Lady Rosamund called her daughter, who didn't turn but continued to walk.

Lady Rosamund didn't stop her daughter. She turned to one of her trusted servants who was working here in the castle who stood not far from where she was. On one indication from Rosamund, the maid bowed and started to follow Sophie. The last thing the older vampiress wanted was her daughter spoiling something that she had planned. It wasn't that she didn't understand how Sophie felt.

When Rosamund was married to her husband, she had promised the word of being a queen eventually. Since that time, she was still waiting for that day. It didn't matter to her how and in what form she would come to possess the power. It didn't matter if the power came to her through her husband, daughter or her son.

Turning away, Rosamund left the corridor without noticing there was someone who had been standing not too far away from the passage she and her daughter were standing earlier.