Conquering His Cold Heart

31 Poison for Poison

Caspian flew back towards the castle at his greatest speed. If a human was to try and locate him right now then they wouldn’t even be able to see a passing blur in the sky.

“I have to catch that maid before she even thinks about getting away from my clutch,” he thought to himself as he flew past the forest and finally landed near the kitchen to check if she was brewing tea.

Even though he knew that that maid wouldn’t be that dumb to actually follow his order after already poisoning his wife’s food, he wanted to start somewhere.

When he barged inside the kitchen though, he didn’t think that he would come across what he was seeing at that moment. He saw that the servant who was wearing the uniform of a chef was convulsing on the floor and his mouth was covered in some kind of foams.

Caspian immediately went to his side and asked, “Hey, what’s wrong? Did someone poison you?”

However, Madok was not in the condition to speak. He was gagging and choking. And the veins on his temple and neck were bulging as though they would pop at any moment now. It looked like he was going to die soon.

Madok held out his hand towards the King and gave a pleading look, “Help...”

Upon seeing that man’s courage to ask help from the King, Caspian assumed that he was a witness and someone was trying to get rid of him. ‘I think he knew the real culprit behind the attempted assassination. Or at the very least, he might know who that other accomplice vampire was.’

So out of instinct, Caspian picked up that chef to bring him to the physician.

.....

Madok’s heartbeat was already slowing down. And before Caspian could even reach the main gate of the castle, Madok’s heart stopped completely.

Caspian abruptly came to a halt when he knew it was already too late. And he empathetically whispered to that dead man, “It’s a pity that you became one of the victims of their ploy.”

He looked down at the face of that chef and analyzed it. He could tell from the bloodshot eyes and purple lips that he had struggled a lot before dying.

And the thought of the possibility of Anastasia dying after going through similar struggles made his stomach churn very sourly. ‘She was about to drink that poisoned tea! Had I been even half a second late then she would have drunk it... I hope that food was not poisoned as claimed by Anna.’

Caspian carried that man to the punishment room and gently laid his body down on the cold floor. He closed that man’s eyelids and clenched his fists so tightly that he almost dug holes in his palms. He became so furious that he silently swore, ‘I will kill everyone involved after making them look just like this man... red, purple, and cold.’

Caspian then ran to Zenon’s workroom. Luckily, he was still working even though the work hours were already over.

Caspian hastily ordered him, “Zenon, one of the human maids tried to poison Anastasia. Anastasia was saying that it was the same maid who looked after her handmaid. And I suspect a vampire servant smuggled the poison inside the castle. Someone might have ordered him to do so. I want you to lead an investigation and bring all the culprits to me.”

“I will look into it, Your Majesty,” Zenon didn’t require the situation to be repeated.

Before Zenon left, Caspian added resolutely, “I have left Anna in the physician’s home at Vincent’s care. Before I go pick her up in an hour, I want all of the culprits to be captured and brought to me.”

Zenon bowed and replied confidently, “I will have them kneeling before you within an hour.” He then ran out of his workroom without wasting any time.

Caspian pondered upon the things that he needed to do while he waited. And he remembered the poisoned tea that was still in Anastasia’s room. He feared that someone would drink it or worse, someone would mistakenly feed that to Anastasia again.

“I better have it get ridden,” he mumbled to himself and ran to Anastasia’s antechamber to check if it was still there.

To his relief, the teacup was untouched from where he had left it before. He then called the maids to get rid of the poisoned tea and containers.

When two of the vampire maids arrived though, a sinister idea came to his mind. ‘Why not feed this tea to that same maid? And if there are any other human accomplices then I will feed this to them as well. If the others are vampires then a deadly nightshade will do. Poison for poison...’

He glanced at the maids and ordered them while pointing at the teacup, “Bring that teacup to the punishment room. And get rid of that teapot and that bowl. There are traces of poison in them.”

The maids were confused as to what the poisoned food was doing in the Queen’s room and where the Queen was. One of the maids even assumed that the King had killed his wife. However, none of them dared to say a word as it was not their place to. They simply did as they were ordered.

Caspian went downstairs to the punishment room before the maids did. He was itching to go and stay beside Anastasia. However, he was also itching to know the faces of the perpetrators and give them the fitting punishment.

A maid came in the punishment room and Caspian gestured her to put that teacup on the table full of torture tools. She complied while consciously avoiding looking at the dead body lying on the floor in another corner of the room.

She bowed and was about to leave the room when Caspian heard a whooshing noise and ordered her, “Wait! I have some other things that you need to do.”

Seconds later, one of the guards came in while dragging a woman with a babyface. He stopped in front of the King and bowed.

He then asked while clenching the jaw of that struggling woman and lifting her head to show to the King, “Your Majesty, is she the one who poisoned the Queen? I found her running in the woods but she refused to talk.”

A devilish smirk appeared on Caspian’s lips when he saw that familiar face. “Yes. She is the one. And don’t worry, I will make her talk.”

That guard left his hold on Olive and went to stand at the corner in case he was needed by the King.

Olive was barely able to stand on her trembling feet. For one, she was scared of the punishment she was going to get from the King, and next, her heels were already bleeding because of the friction caused while she was dragged by her hair.

Caspian glanced at the purple stain in Olive’s dress again and then asked the maid, “Check behind those stains if she is hiding any kind of container.”

Olive’s eyes widened a little with fright and her heart jumped. She was in such a hurry to run away that she didn’t even realize there was a stain on her stomacher. And she had completely forgotten about the vial.

Caspian had suspected there would be some container in her cleavage because the blob of stain looked like it spread from the inside. And the reaction from her just confirmed his theory.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the maid dragged Olive to the side and harshly put her hand in between the layers of her clothes.

Olive inhaled sharply because she felt violated, and she tried to resist that maid and stop her hand from fondling her.

But that maid gave one tight slap to Olive because she had already felt a bottle behind the chemise. She then shoved her hand in Olive’s sensitive area and pulled out a bottle without a lid.

That maid walked towards the King and presented the vial to him, “Your Majesty, this is what I found.”

Caspian narrowed his eyes at that bottle and picked it up. He smelled the bottle and his sharp nose caught a variety of smells. Two of the obvious ones were the minty smell and the smell of Olive. Apart from that, he could also smell another faint scent on that bottle with which he was familiar. But he could not quite link where he had encountered it or on whom.

Caspian then glanced back at his maid and asked her, “Gather all the newly hired human maids and servants here. And do it fast.” He suspected that there could be other human accomplices aside from Olive.

After that maid left the room, Caspian immediately went and stood in front of Olive. He showed that vial to her and he asked in an infuriated tone, “Why did you do it? Who gave you this vial? Tell me who is behind my wife’s life!”

Olive was already shaking like a leaf and when she heard Caspian’s enraged screams, tears rolled down her cheeks at once. She clutched her gowns and began crying like a baby.

She was already caught with evidence and it was pointless to plead not guilty. So instead, she apologized, “Please forgive me, Your Majesty. Please forgive me.”

Caspian snarled at that wailing maid and growled, “Your crime is unforgivable. And you are going to pay for it.”

He immediately pushed that maid down on the cold and rocky floor. And he jumped at that maid to bite her.