Chapter 8

PIASPM Chapter 8

When Thanos and Todd carried Canto’s carcass to the inn after the latter’s earnest request to give it a proper burial, Millen’s shocked face greeted them.

Seeing his mistress looking as though she was waiting for them to arrive, Thanos gave her a confused look. Originally, he had intended to hide the corpse of the horse from the other innkeepers and only show the body to its owner. However, now that Millen had seen them, he supposed that there was nothing more for him to do but let her be concerned with it.

Millen’s appalled lavender eyes stared intently at the grotesque scene before her, “This…”

It was such a terrifying sight that she couldn’t help but turn her back on them. Despite her avoidance, it was apparent to Thanos that his mistress had been expecting their arrival with the remains. For as soon as they set foot on the inn’s grounds, Millen had hastened to them, while her brown colored hair was tucked neatly inside her hat.

The four black cats who had followed the lady started purring behind her, ‘Meow…meow…’

Thanos casted the cats with a stern look who in turn only wagged their tails at him.

The black creatures showed their disapproval for bringing the dead horse through their actions. As of that moment, they were furious with Thanos for causing distress to their mistress.

“Why… is he like that… Did he die horribly?” Millen’s voice trembled softly as she asked the question, and her eyes shook as though she was on the verge of tears.

Thanos walked towards Millen’s side, and wiped his dirt covered hands against his pants. He then  began to speak to her, “My Lady…”

Millen was visibly shocked by what she had just witnessed. Truthfully, she had known that the horse had died, and she had been the one to tell Thanos where they would find its body. Still, the manner of Canto’s death was appalling to her, and she couldn’t help but feel angry by its apparent cruelty and ignominy.

Thanos and Todd had decided to carry the horse back to the inn in order to further investigate its cause of death. However, despite their good intentions, they knew that at the end of the day, only its owner could decide what course of action they should take in order to address Canto’s death.

As Millen continued to stand by their side, Thanos couldn’t help but think that he really did not want to involve his mistress in this matter any further.

Knowing how sensitive she can be when it comes to deaths of animals, Thanos stepped closer towards her. He wanted to prevent her from involving herself in their guest’s business. However, any protective instinct he may have had over his mistress is all for naught for the Lady had already crossed the raging waters, and she and her stubbornness can no longer be repressed.

As he remained standing between Millen and the corpse, Thanos gave Todd a sideway glance and said solemnly, “Call your master and tell him he has to attend to this matter.”

Todd did not need any further instructions, he nodded his head and quickly went to tell Jade of their discovery.

It was only after Todd had left did Thanos turn to Millen and told her what he thought had happened, “My Lady, it seems that the guests have a large enemy who wants them dead.”

When she had remained silent, he continued, “Though outwardly it looks like the cause of the death are the countless arrows aimed at its body, I think it was suspicious that there was foaming around its mouth.”

Thanos proceeded to pull out a small vial from the pockets of his coat and showed it to Millen. As he held the sample in his hands, he began to reassure her, “I thought it would be useful, and so when Todd wasn’t looking, I collected some of the foam from the mouth and put it in here.”

“Give me this.” Millen snatched the small vial as quickly as a thief would.

“The guest… It will be very painful for him once he finds out. So, Thanos, please help me deal with it, and as much as possible, don’t let other people come this way.”

“How about you, My Lady?”

“I will never come here again.”

“Yes, understood.”

Thanos knew what Millen was thinking and what made her look so angry. So he decided to follow her commands without any complaints.

“I’m going to the lab.” She announced as she quickly turned on her heels and started walking back to the inn with a brisk pace. The four black cats trailed behind her as they left.

Just then a large black cat, who was at the group’s tail, paused for a moment and stared at Thanos. It glared at him reproachfully before it ran towards the others.

‘It must have insulted me.’ Thanos let out a shallow sigh as he realized that that last cat was the captain of the cats; Alex. It was the cat who had criticized him.

Thanos had a look of concern as he watched the back of his Mistress’ head disappear as she stepped back inside, ‘It seems you can’t still forget what happened.’ He absentmindedly thought to himself.

Jade who had been sleeping on the bed for a long time was suddenly jolted by the news Todd had brought him and he clenched his fist as he woke up.

After listening to his guard’s description of Canto’s state, He struggled to get out of his covers and see its corpse for himself. However, he underestimated how lightheaded he still felt and he quickly stumbled as soon as his feet touched the floorboards. His eyes flashed with annoyance as his body did not respond as he wanted it too.

It wasn’t like he was catatonic, but his limbs still felt heavy and his steps unsteady that it was obvious to anyone that he still required some assistance to move his body.

Todd, who was preparing Jade’s robe, ran quickly to his master’s side as soon as he saw him fall down, “Bastille!”

Jade bit his lower lip as he heard Todd’s footsteps approach him. He then raised his hand to signify that he was alright. It was a gesture that came from his heart, because he didn’t want to worry him.

Jade ruffled his hair in frustration as he stared at his pitiful legs, “My thighs still hurt, so it’s hard for me to lean my weight against it.”

Todd quickly tucked his shoulders under Jade’s arm and supported his master up,“Bastille, do you really have to see it?”

The state of Canto’s body was rather unsightly, and no matter how one looks at it, it seemed rather cruel to subject a person who cherished it the torture of actually seeing it. He knows that Jade was bound to be stupefied by it, therefore, he hoped that he doesn’t see it if possible.

With his help, Jade managed to sit across the bed and opened his mouth with a heavy voice, “If you were me Todd, and you heard that your family member had died, wouldn’t you want to see him in his final moments? Won’t you also go to your family no matter how far away they are?”

With his statement, Todd couldn’t deny that his master was right.

“Even though the road was rough, or the weather was bad, and even when I met a wild beast, Canto, who was tamed by me, never ran wild. However, Canto was strange that day. All of a sudden he went on a rampage and acted like he couldn’t hear me.”

As Todd listened to Jade’s words, he could see a vein popping up on his forehead, “You seem to have some suspicions.”

“I reckon that the person who wanted you dead was determined to cause chaos in your surroundings and relied on the dangers of the forest to do the job.” Todd commented.

“So you think so too, that what happened to Canto was premeditated.”

“…Canto vomited white foam. He may have been ingested with drugs from the start.”

“I see.” Jade said as if he had guessed this too, and let out a big sigh, “I have to go and see for myself, how the defiled and mangled Canto’s body.” He added

“Alright.” After he saw how Jade tried to mask his despair at losing his beloved horse, which he considered as family, he lost the strength to deny his request any further.

Todd slowly helped Jade get ready to go out by putting his coat over his shoulders. As he was assisting his master, they suddenly heard a knock on the door.

The door then opened and revealed Thanos standing by the doorframe, “I’m here because I think you need my assistance.”

…

…

…

Millen’s face hardened as she stared at the potion in the vial that was sitting on the table. She then slowly took the potion in her hands and clenched her jaws tightly. This was because the transparent liquid in the sample container immediately turned red as soon as the liquid in her hand was mixed together.

“This is too much!” Millen angrily exclaimed and Alex, who was sitting by the window, tried to calm her down. But it was too late, she was already beyond livid!

Millen started shouting with blazing eyes, “Does it make sense to feed such a dangerous thing?”

She laid down the potion she was holding, and balled her hands together. Then, as if not knowing what to do with her anger, she banged against the top of the wooden table, “How could this be!”

Millen got up and walked towards the window, and without even a second thought slammed her fist against the glass window and shattered it. The sharp pieces fell to the ground and she slowly felt the pain from the collision, “Aww!”

Millen clenched her fist as she started to feel the effects of her unexpected reaction, however, despite what happened, her anger wasn’t quelled.

Alex gave her a look and sighed, “My Lady, that temperament of yours…”

“Hah, it’s because I’m furious!” Millen was clenching her teeth and her bottom lip seemed to be pushed out into a pout. She could feel her chest tightening, with all the anger she carried, as if it was something that happened to her.

Alex stared at her quietly and waited for her to calm down.

Realizing that her cat’s gaze was unusual, Millen calmed her seething self and asked, “If you have something to say, say it.”

“Are you going to let them know of the results?”

“That…” Millen did not answer Alex’s question. It was an unexpected problem.

“As shown in the experimental results, isn’t the drug they used, made with dark magic?”

Millen focused her lavender orbs back on her working table.

From the smell and form of the evidence Thanos had given her, she easily inferred something like this from the beginning. So, after doing a couple of experiments, she was able to confirm what the sample was.

“Those who know of this are a rare group of people, if you come forward, you know they will start to suspect your abilities someday, if not immediately.”

“In other words, in order to talk about this case, I’ll have to talk about magic, and if I do, there is a high probability that they will find out that I’m a wizard.”

“Miss, you must never do that.”

“Alright.” Millen sat down on a chair that was positioned in front of the window. She put her arms on the window sill and cradled her chin in her hands while she looked out of the window.

As she continued gazing at the greenery and the gardens, she continued speaking, “…Regardless, it’s so sad to think of that dead horse.”

Millen’s eyes were once again filled with anger and sadness.

Noticing that the lady had a different meaning to her words, Alex apprehensively asked, “Are you thinking of Gen?”

Millen didn’t deny it.

She had been thinking about the dead cat, Gen, since the first time she heard the story of their newest guests.

Gen was a cat who was very affectionate with her and had followed her very well. So without realizing it, she became quite attached to it.

“That man must be as sad as I was.” She whispered absentmindedly.

From her window she slowly made out three figures; the men were heading towards the location of Canto’s remains. Thanos and Todd were walking slowly, and they supported the injured guest, she now knows as Bastille, as they made their way in the gardens.

Millen couldn’t help but look at his golden hair as it fluttered against the wind. Even in this situation, his hair was very beautiful. It looked like golden threads against the sunlight. Millen gave out a sympathetic sigh, “Losing a loved one is… “

Just then a wind blew up to the third floor, and her lavender-colored hair swayed gently in greeting.

‘I want to comfort you…’ Millen thought as she continued to fixate on Bastille’s back.

…

…

…

As Todd entered the dining room, he approached Millen, who was sitting at the table, and politely thanked her, “Thanks to the lady’s consideration, we had a solemn funeral.”

As Millen prepared to dismiss his thanks, Todd quickly added, “…You’ve been a huge help, so thank you very much, miss.”

Todd addressed the maiden respectfully, as the staff of the inn busied themselves.

“I only did it because I couldn’t ignore what happened.” Millen reasoned. After she heard that they could not return with the carcass of their guest’s horse, she gave them a sunny patch of land in the garden where they could bury it.

Truthfully, she told them to bury Canto next to Gen’s grave.

“Since I told you to bury it here, it would be difficult for you to come back and visit it… Are you okay with that?”

“It’s alright. Espin Forest is rough, but when the weather is nice, I think we can come and pay our respects.” Todd still firmly believed that his master would certainly want to come back again. Because of that, he secretly avoided looking into Millen’s eyes, lest the mistress of the inn would find it disrespectful for them to come to her grounds whenever they wanted to.

‘I’m sorry, but that’s not going to happen…’ Millen thought as she casted her eyes at the back door of the kitchen, where four black cats, including Alex, sat and huddled together. They quietly watched their exchange from the sidelines.

‘Even if you want to come, you can never come back again.’

When the people who stayed at their inn leave, they never return.

Most importantly, they will never find them and the inn again. This was due to the abilities the cats possessed. Furthermore, they have also recently started to make enchantments around the inn to keep other animals out of sight.

‘Though, I didn’t want to frighten them, I also contributed to exaggerating the rumors that surrounded the Espin Forest and helped spread its notoriety. I made it like that, because I didn’t want to see people come back here again. And just like our guests before, you too, would be like that.’ This Millen thought as she remained silent.

Nevertheless, the fact that the dead horse was buried next to precious Gen also meant that she would take care of him with the same amount of affection she treated her cat’s grave.

Afterall, it was in Millen’s best interest, for guests to never see her again.

“Excuse me, but I have a favor to ask of you.” Todd said with a slightly curious expression on his face. His expression and tone were less rigid than when she first saw him.

Millen found Todd’s change quite pleasant and answered, “What is it?”

Millen looked at his innocent look and the slight smile on his face, that revealed to her that he hesitated. Perhaps, he was going to ask something that was rather improper, she thought.

“What kind of request is it that this person asks with an unreadable expression on his face?” Linda, who just came into the dining hall to pour hot tea for Millen, looked at Todd strangely as she murmured.

Seeing this, Millen gave her nanny a reproachful look and poked a finger to her side, as if telling her to stop. Millen was curious, because Todd seemed like he genuinely wanted her to help him.

It was a rather rare sight to see; men genuinely asking her for help.

“Tell me, what is it?”

When Millen smiled and gave him encouragement to speak, Todd ended up bringing an unexpected story.

-To Be Continued