The Crown's Obsession

Lucy felt her eyes slowly start to turn bright as they adjusted to the change in light of the corridor where she laid right now. It was as if until a few minutes she had been underwater, and she had only surfaced back up to take a large gasp of air.

"Lucy?" she heard someone's voice.

The pain that had disappeared from her body came back in twice the fold, and she felt the wetness around her while the air around was heavily filled with blood and death. As seconds passed by, the blood loss and the pain suddenly engulfed her body and unable to handle it, she screamed in pain. Her scream echoed through the corridors before it quietened, and she fell unconscious.

Theodore stared at Lucy, unable to believe that she had come back to life when it was only moments ago her body had turned cold like the snow, and her heart had stopped beating.

He turned to Paschar, who had joined them in the corridor earlier, "What happened?"

"I speeded the process of healing. You should take her back to the room and let her rest," replied Paschar.

Theodore couldn't believe his eyes, and his heart felt like it had returned to him. Lucy was back, and she was breathing. He doubted there was anything more he ever wanted but to see her breathe again.

He carefully leaned forward before picking her fragile body up in his arms so that he wouldn't cause her more pain.

Calhoun, who was talking to Paschar, questioned, "Does this mean the Salvette Mortem will return for Lucy again?"

"Unless she is dead, she should be fine. I don't even know how Madeline did it," answered Paschar.

Calhoun turned to Theodore and nodded his head without a moment's hesitation for Theodore to take Lucy from here while he would handle the rest of the things by himself.

Theodore carried her through the corridors, away from the chaos that had taken place some time ago. On his way, he looked at Lucy, who had her eyes closed and every few seconds, he made sure she was still breathing. He didn't want to lose her again. The pain and the grief, he wasn't willing to go through it.

He took her to the room and carefully placed her on the bed.

A maid who had seen Theodore carrying Lucy quickly made her way to the front of the room and asked in panic,

"Advisor Theodore, is Lady Lucy alright?!"

Theodore looked down at the young vampiress and said, "Yes, she will be alright. Get me a bowl of warm water. Actually, three of them with some clean towels and clothes."

"Would you like me to send the maids to help?" the maid nervously asked as there was too much blood on Lucy's front side of the dress.

"That won't be needed. I will be fine in taking care of her by myself," hearing this, the maid's eyes widened, but she didn't question or comment on it. "Also tell the servants to clean the castle."

"Yes, Advisor Theodore!" the maid quickly ran away from there.

Within a few minutes, bowls of warm water were brought into the room with clean towels by the maids. The maids left to clean the castle, where the dead bodies were scattered around with blood splashed on the floor along with broken walls.

Theodore locked the doors and the windows of the room so that no one would come to disturb or intrude. He removed the blood-soaked clothes from her body and dipped the cloth in the warm bowl before cleaning her wounds that she had received from Samuel. He wrapped a bandage around the wounds. Thinking about the demon boiled his blood. Though the angel had tried to heal Lucy's wounds, it was still in the healing process, and he knew Lucy would be in pain once she would wake up.

He made sure to remove the trace and smell of the blood from her body before putting fresh clothes on her.

He used a lighter sheet before using it to cover Lucy's lower body while also making sure the sheet wouldn't come to press on her wound.

Looking up at her sleeping face now, he unconsciously brought his hand up to touch the place below the bruise on her forehead and the side of her cheek.

"I am so sorry," whispered Theodore to her.

It wasn't that Theodore had not protected her, he had done his best, but in the end, it was just not enough.

Theodore had never fallen in love before Lucy or after her. In the past, she had been the princess whom he couldn't keep next to him because of who they were, but now it was different, and he had decided to fight for her. He lightly caressed the bruise that had formed on her cheek.

From where he sat, he heard Calhoun, Paschar and Raphael leave the castle. A few minutes later, the door was knocked, and Theodore went to get it, opening it to find Lady Monique standing there.

Theodore's eyes slightly widened on looking at Lady Monique's right hand that looked shortened, and she had bandaged it, but blood spots had appeared at the end. He wondered if she lost it to one of the intruders. With the amount of chaos that had surrounded the castle, he must have failed to see it earlier when he had met her, he thought in his mind.

The woman had a deep frown on her face as she entered the room to see her dear niece on the bed.

"Oh, poor Lucy!" whispered Lady Monique, going to the bedside and taking a seat next to Lucy. "Did you bandage her?" asked the woman to Theodore.

"I did," answered Theodore without a word of hesitation.

"I see," responded Lady Monique. "Where is Calhoun and the others?" she inquired.

"Lady Madeline and Lady Elizabeth have been abducted from the castle. He went to bring them back," informed Theodore, and the woman nodded before a sigh escaped her lips.

So much had happened in the span of a few hours, thought Lady Monique to herself. Her eyes fixed on her niece before she turned to look at Theodore and said, "I will be here with her. You should go clean yourself up." Seeing Theodore's hesitance, she narrowed her eyes. "You look like you haven't taken a bath in the last four days."

Seeing Theodore finally leave, she muttered under her breath, "Children these days."