The Crown's Obsession

~Doing better than yesterday XOXO~

Music Recommendation: The Burnt Orange Heresy Theme by Craig Armstrong

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Vladimir stepped inside the old mansion that had a typical scent lingering in the air. It was hard to point out what precisely the smell was, but he could tell from where it was coming from. Without a hint of his expression changing on his face, the vampire made his way to the room where the maid took him to and asked him to sit on the old couch. Some sides of the couch had torn, but it was still kept clean.

The room looked dull with paint that had come off, and so did the wallpaper on one side of the wall leaving patches on it. The windows were closed, and the curtains were drawn to cover it so that no one would come to peep and see what was inside the room.

Rosamund Wilmot.

The woman would not have been in his list if Madeline had not mentioned the vampiress when they were in his castle. Hearing the footsteps approaching towards the room, Vladimir did not attempt to stand, and instead, he continued to sit on the couch with one leg over the other as he stared at the scarce objects in the room.

When the vampiress and the maid arrived at the door, the maid stood behind without entering the room, and Rosamund stepped inside to look at the stranger whom she had never met until now. Vladimir finally stood up, and Rosamund said,

"My maid said that you wanted to meet and talk to me. I don't think we have met before to hold any conversation."

"No, we haven't met before, but I was hoping to acquaint myself with you," Vladimir stared at the vampiress who held a similar pride like her mother.

It had been a few weeks since her son had died, and in those few weeks, things had changed upside down. She and her family were thrown out of their mansion, unable to take a single object from there. The job that Rosamund's husband had was taken away from him, and the house they thought they could afford was only a percentage of what they once used to own, they couldn't buy it either.

Rosamund's red eyes narrowed, "Are you from the royal court?" she asked.

She was not scared about the officials snatching her wealth away, because she had arranged things in such a manner that the King would not be able to cause any harm to her wealth. Rosamund had stayed low-profile until she believed no one would hound her. No one could prove that the wealth belonged to her family. It was only the days after being banished from the castle did things turn extremely difficult, where people had jeered and commented at her family—throwing stones or rotten vegetables at them when they were still struggling.

"No, I am not," replied Vladimir. "I am not here from the royal court, but for my gain."

"I have nothing to offer you. It would be best if you leave right this instant," said Rosamund on her guard.

Vladimir chuckled, "So scared of being found out by someone," he murmured to himself. "Why don't we take a seat because I have some questions for you."

Rosamund took a look at the man and his clothes that were slightly unusual in the land of Devon.

With an apprehensive look on her face, the vampiress took a seat on the chair, while Vladimir took his seat back at the couch again.

"Who are you?" questioned Rosamund because she didn't know if she could trust this man with anything. There was a glint in his eyes that looked familiar, but she couldn't point out where she had seen it before.

"I go by the name Vladimir, and I live in the castle that comes near Belmount," replied Vladimir with a smile. "Won't you offer me tea?" his eyes then shifted to look at the maid who hadn't moved from the entrance of the room.

"We are out of milk," responded Rosamund, being on her toes with this stranger.

Vladimir smiled, "I was thinking about blood tea. Just pure blood will do too, the girl looks quite fresh," he took a deep breath, looking at the maid who was a human.

Rosamund's eyes narrowed, and she turned to her maid, waving her hand, and the maid left to the kitchen. "What questions did you have for me?" asked Rosamund.

Vladimir was still looking around the room with eyes curious, and the woman heard him ask her, "Where is your family? It must have been a while since I saw Lady Sophie, your husband and your son...Markus." Vladimir's eyes went back to meet Rosamund's eyes that hardened.

"We don't have money, and my husband doesn't have a job. He has been looking for one so that he can support the family," she answered, her eyes gauging the man who was sitting in front of her.

"I suppose if you cut down the costs in hiring the maids and instead of living in a mansion, live in the village. You will get to save more money, isn't it?" murmured Vladimir. Rosamund didn't know who this impudent man was, who had come to her house and was running his mouth on what she should and shouldn't do.

Though her maid had gone to prepare tea, the vampiress had also signalled to get the men from villages to come here if this man was going to pull a trick on her. Since her family had been cut off from the royal family, people were always ready to pounce and take advantage of her family. Men had tried to assault Sophie physically and mentally before moving into this house, but Sophie had saved herself. Sophie had come back crying more than three to four times when she stepped out, that she now refused to leave the mansion.

"Is this why you came to talk to me?" Rosamund was ready to stand up when Vladimir waved his hand for her to sit back down.

"I came here wanting to know about the Hawthrone family. I have been greatly interested in their history and would love to hear more about it," Vladimir, who had been leaning his back now came forward to place his hands on his knees, showing his interest in the matter.

"There's nothing fascinating about it," Rosamund didn't want to do anything with the Hawthrone's right now. Even though it was once her family name, it wasn't anymore.

Vladimir stared at Rosamund, "That would be hard to agree on. I have been eagerly waiting to hear it from you."

"As I said, there's nothing to hear about it. My parents', brother, his wife, and my son, they are all dead," Rosamund glared as she said this.

"How unfortunate. How did they die?" Vladimir taunted the vampiress. "Is it true that the present King, Calhoun Hawthrone killed them?" there was a spark of pride in his eyes and his tone was calm.

Rosamund had enough, and she stood up. This was something she didn't like talking about, and she raised her hand pointing towards the door, "Leave this place right now, and do not show your face to me."

Vladimir didn't bother to get up and instead he stared at the vampiress who was a spitting mirror personality of her mother. "Your mother must have forgotten to teach you manners. Sit," ordered Vladimir and by his one word, Rosamund felt someone push her to sit down on the chair.

Startled by this, Rosamund tried to get up, but every time she tried to move, the chair also moved along with her. "What are you doing?!" she asked alarmed, noticing something strange about this man.

"I was politely talking to you before you decided you wanted me out of this house because your consciousness is coming to attack you, making you feel uncomfortable," remarked Vladimir.

"Rubbish!" Rosamund exclaimed while trying to get up. "Let me free right this instance, unless you want me to call the guards and forcibly throw you out from here!"

Vladimir let out a sigh pass through his lips. "Guards? I don't know which guards you are speaking about because the last time I checked, you have no one. And even to pay for the one's from the villages, you need money for it that I have taken care of. I heard that you were too intent on sitting on the throne so that you could rule the land. So what's the story? Princess fell into poverty because of her greed."

Rosamund was not pleased with Vladimir's words, and she was going to say something when Vladimir suddenly appeared in front of her in a blink of an eye. His fingers and his hand moved nothing less to a snake, circling the vampiress's neck.

"People think vampires are stronger creatures, and it might be true because they are stronger compared to humans, but what if there was a creature higher than the vampires? Do you think it would be easy to snap the neck with just one movement?" asked Vladimir, seeing fear start to creep into the woman's mind. "I thought it was your mother who was pulling strings, but now that I see you, it wasn't just her but also you. Power makes you do unimaginable things, doesn't it?"

"What do you want from me?" asked Rosamund because it didn't look like the man had come here for a mere chit-chat.

"Truth is I want your soul, but I will take it later," Vladimir's tone was casual. "Do you remember Constance?"

How could she forget, thought Rosamund to herself. It was that human's son that had put her in such a state.