The Crown's Obsession

When James left the house of the maid who had eloped with her so-called speculated lover, it wasn't just the tailorman who had come to meet her. There was another man who had come to the village so that he could speak to the maid. It was Markus Wilmot.

After listening to his mother, Markus had not only gone to sabotage the shop that belonged to Harris' family, but he had also caught hold of one of the maids who worked in the castle, who in truth worked for the Wilmot's family in giving information on what was going on in the castle.

On reaching the house of the maid a few minutes after James left, Markus had come here so that he could give another work to the maid so that she could be of use but with the crowd present, he asked,

"What happened here?"

"Hilda, my niece is not in the house. I left her for a few hours, but when I returned she wasn't here," came a woman's voice, who was standing in front of the magistrate, "I am Hilda's aunt," she added when the man who wore expensive clothes questioned no one in particular.

The magistrate, noticing who had come here, bowed his head, "Sir Markus."

"Where did the girl disappear?" asked Markus to the magistrate when they went to the side, leaving the woman standing there in worry.

The magistrate then answered, "Sir, the woman says the girl was in the house when she left. Around seven or eight in the night. The woman went to her neighbour's house, which is the third house from here. I asked the others, and some said they saw her talking to a man, but they don't remember how he looks. Did you have some business here?" the magistrate politely asked.

Markus nodded his head, "Yes, I am here to look at one of the cases that the King has handed me," but the actual reason why he was here, was that the maid had written a letter telling him she had crucial information about the younger Harris' daughter.

He had given her a fair amount of money so that she would give timely reports about what was happening in the castle.

One of the villagers who was still idly standing around, looked at the vampire who had entered the scene, who looked like he belonged to a high aristocratic family.

"He's the one!" the village man shouted, pointing his hand towards the vampire.

Both Markus and the village magistrate turned to look at the man. The village man again said, "He's the man who was with Hilda, two evenings ago! He must have run away with her!"

Markus' eyes narrowed at this accusation. Before he could say anything, the maid's aunt caught hold of Markus' coat and started to push and pull him, "Where is Hilda?! Did you take her somewhere??"

The magistrate pulled the woman away from the noble vampire, "Mrs. Lewis, Mr. Wilmot has nothing to do with it! You!" The magistrate looked at the man who was standing idly until now, who suddenly ran away from the scene to be chased by the guards of the village, "We will try to find out where your niece is."

Markus glared at the woman, dusting the front of his coat where the woman had held and crumpled the clothing, "Inform me once you find out where she is," he said to the magistrate who gave him a bow.

He didn't want to stay in a place which was utterly useless. The maid was of no use, and Markus wondered what she wanted to say to him. His lips twisted in displeasure, he walked around the village of East Carswell as if he was there to find the culprits when in truth, he was here only to get information for his own gains.

In the same village, a carriage arrived to stop right at the front of Mr. Heathcliff's tailoring shop. The coachman knocked on the door and assistant Emilio came to see who it was before going back inside,

"Mr. Heathcliff, it's Mr. Barnes' carriage."

James didn't react but directly came out of the shop, wondering what the vampire wanted from him today. Since the time he had met Mr. Barnes, the man had been nothing but overbearing. Seeing it was the coachman who stood at the front, he heard the coachman say,

"Lady Catherine and her family expect your presence in the Barnes' mansion this instant."

"Inform the lady that I will be visiting at the time of the evening. I am in the middle of working on the King's orders," said James. In the morning, he had not spent much time here, and he had to get back to finishing the gown that was being made for Madeline.

James could only hope that Madeline was happy. With the King standing next to her, he knew he didn't stand a chance, but James had tried, maybe not much, as he knew it was not possible to reach out to her as the King often looked at him as if he couldn't wait to behead him. He hoped that the rumours were not true and this wedding gown would be a present from his side to Madeline.

"Milady said it's urgent. They want to discuss matters regarding the wedding and to bring you along with me back to the mansion," replied the coachman.

Catherine had been summoning him for little things when she could consult about it with someone in the mansion itself. Three days ago, when he refused to go and had continued with his work, it had resulted for the vampiress coming down and crying in the shop in front of people. Not want to create a scene again. James nodded his head. The sooner he would go there, the sooner he would be able to return to his work.

When James Heathcliff arrived at Barnes' mansion, the servants bowed their heads, treating him with respect as he was going to marry the only daughter of Mr. Barnes.

"Mr. Heathcliff!" came Lady Catherine's excited voice from the other end of the corridor, and she quickly walked towards him, "How was your journey?" Her red eyes stared into his with an anxious look and a smile appeared on her lips as she was happy to see him here.

James mustered a smile, "It was good, Milady. Just as usual."

It was Mr. Barnes who had forced him to marry his daughter, when Lady Catherine had given up on him. He didn't see any reason why he should behave impolitely with her. Somewhere deep down, he was angry with her that she hadn't made her father understand that he didn't want to marry her, but he had brushed it away.

Compared to James, who looked like he didn't want to be here and wanted to be somewhere else, Catherine was up in the clouds. The vampiress had a broad smile on her lips, and she came to his side.

"Your suit is here. Father wants you to try it on as there are only a few more days left for our wedding. I can hardly believe it that days are passing by so soon," said Catherine before tugging him through the hallways and then walking towards the room where his suit was placed, "Did you eat?" and she turned to look at her butler, "Niles, go set up the table in the dining room."

James shook his head, "Lady Catherine, I will need to leave early," he said, realizing the vampiress was setting up lunch to have with him.

Lady Catherine's smile fell, the colour of her eyes turning dull, "Why?"

James noticed how the tone in her voice changed from pleasant to distant. Recently, he came to realize there was something very odd about the lady. James didn't know if he was overthinking about every little thing, but it was hard to shake the feeling off of him.

"I need to go and check on father. He has not been doing so well. I did mention it to you," James had met Catherine three days ago, but the girl was too smitten with him that she wanted to spend more time with him.

Catherine wanted to steal every single second that James had. If it were in her power, she would have him close his shop so that she could have all his time for herself. The vampiress was not unaware that her father had threatened James, after all, it was because of her tantrum her father had taken the step to meet James personally. Wasn't his father sick three days ago? Catherine asked herself. Was James making up reasons so that he could leave?

"Let me have the doctor sent to your home so that he can take a look at your father," offered Catherine to James.

But James was quick to refuse her help, "No, that is alright. I need to make sure he's eating and resting well."

Catherine didn't know what else was there to do for an old man apart from lying on the bed.

"Father knows good doctors in the village. I am sure he will look after your father well." She saw James shake his head. The vampiress then muttered, "I didn't have my food from morning, thinking I would eat with you," and then she put a smile on her face, "But it's alright. You can try the wedding clothes and then go home." There was sadness in her voice as she said this.

James had grown up with too much of goodness in him, but sometimes too much was not good and was instead harmful. Hearing Catherine's words, he felt bad and said,

"I think I can eat quickly and then leave."

"Are you sure?" asked Lady Catherine, her eyes looking at him like a deer would when she was far from it.

James gave her a nod, "I will try the clothes and in the meantime, the butler can set up the table," this would save time while also keeping the heart of the lady.

Lady Catherine turned to her butler who bowed and left.

James, who was an expert in clothes, didn't have to know that Mr. Barnes had got him the best clothes from another town even though James could afford it himself. Once he was done wearing the wedding clothes, he changed back.

"How is it?" asked Lady Catherine standing up from the couch where she had taken a seat while waiting for him to try on his wedding clothes.

"It fits well, milady," replied James, folding the clothes to place it on the table.

"Father said that he has found a house for us so that we can live together. Your father can live there too. It is in the Northshire-"

"No," said James and Catherine raised her eyebrows.

"You don't want your father to live with us?" asked Catherine.

James shook his head, "I don't plan to leave the house that I live in. It is also close to my shop and where I grew up. I want to continue to live there in East Carswell."

"Mr. Heathcliff, it is not only you but also I, who will be leaving the house. Don't you think we should move to a better pla-"

"Lady Catherine," said James, "I won't be moving to a different house, no matter how big it is. If you do not want to live with me, there's still time to refuse the marriage," he wished and hoped that something would deter her from proceeding with the marriage. This way, Mr. Barnes could back away from him, and the blame would go on his daughter.

But Catherine was not some naive girl who did not know what James was trying to do. She offered the man a smile, "There's still time for it. Let us go and have lunch."

An extravagant lunch had been prepared and placed on the table for both James and Catherine, "Mr. and Mrs. Barnes are not at home?" inquired James.

"Mama and papa have gone to visit Uncle Roland. They will be coming back at night," answered Lady Catherine, "Why don't you try this, I know it's your favourite," she said, passing a dish to him.

Catherine ate her food while sneaking glances towards James. She was in love with the man for a long time, and she was ecstatic that soon they would be married.

"I asked my father to invite the King to our wedding," started Catherine to dismiss the silence around them. James raised his eyes to meet her gaze, "The King has always treated my family really well. Also, I thought you would like to have Lady Madeline attend as both of you know each other."

Outwardly, James smiled, but the news that Catherine was giving him was nothing less than salt being rubbed over his wound, which he was trying to heal.

Catherine then continued to say, "Considering father is a Duke, I think it is good to have the King's support. The King has always been very kind to our family. Father was against my marriage with a human. But it was because of the King that he agreed to it. I mean he also showed his very own example where he's marrying Lady Madeline."

James' eyebrows furrowed, "Wait. The King spoke to your father?"

"The King must be knowing how much I love you, and he knows you will keep me happy," said Catherine with a bright smile, not knowing what she revealed to James right now.

When Mr. Barnes had threatened him, James had mistaken it to be the father's love for his daughter and how James had broken her heart, even though he had never expressed such feelings towards Catherine.

It was because of the King that had Mr. Barnes had put James in such a situation!

James gritted his teeth as he thought about it.

After finishing lunch with Lady Catherine, James made his way back home. He unlocked the front door of his house. Stepping inside, he spoke to his father who was resting in the room,

"Father, you didn't have your food. It's turned cold now."

It seemed like his father had not touched the food that he had prepared for him. Taking his coat off of him, James went to his father who had his back faced towards him. James wondered if he should let his father rest before waking him up to eat. But seeing he had not eaten since the time of the morning, he placed his hand on his father's forehead to check his temperature.

It was cold.

Frowning, he called his old man, "Father?" and when he turned him around, James noticed his father wasn't breathing anymore.

Even though his father was not breathing, James shook his body as if waiting to wake him up from his sleep but nothing happened. James' father's body had turned cold because the old man had passed two hours ago during his absence.

"Father?" James whispered.

Only if he was here, maybe he could have helped his father. He wanted to come home to check on his father but he had been withheld back. Only if he had come straight home, refusing to go to the Barnes mansion he could have done something, thought James to himself.

The only family he had, he lost that person.

James let his father rest on his back while pulling up the sheet. He would have been here, tending to his father. As time passed, the grief turned to anger that was directed towards the King.