Chapter 35

35 A Deal with the Devil

In the punishment room, Caspian had already dismissed the human maids and servants.

The guard who had left the room to search for the vampire with crooked front teeth had brought back two vampires that matched the description. Both of them were kneeling on the floor and Caspian was leisurely sitting in a chair in front of them.

“Tsk!” Caspian rolled his eyes and mumbled, “I should have kept that woman alive. Who knew there would be two of them with crooked teeth?”

He suddenly growled at them to ask, “Either tell me which one of you tried to kill the Queen or I’ll kill you both!”

And both of those servants denied the accusation. Again.

After living in the castle for years, Elias knew very well that Caspian wouldn’t lay his hand on an innocent. Caspian had a bad reputation for being cruel but ironically, he was also the man of virtue.

Caspian was indeed cruel, but only to those who broke his absolute law. And until proven guilty, Elias knew that he was safe. So he kept on playing the innocence card.

With a swooshing sound, Zenon entered the punishment room and asked Caspian to come outside. And when they were standing far enough from the punishment room, Zenon showed the kerchief to Caspian. “I found this in the forest. The smell is still intact so she must have lost it very recently.”

Caspian’s eyes narrowed when he saw the embroidered alphabet. He took a sniff and suddenly everything became as clear as the day to him.

.....

“Beth...” he whispered in a low growl.

Zenon also agreed to Caspian, “I thought so too. But can we charge her with just this? Her father won’t allow us to bring her in for punishment that easily.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. I’m going to present solid evidence which even he cannot deny.” A devilish smirk crept on Caspian’s lips. He got a brilliant idea to get rid of both of them without dirtying his hand.

He went inside the punishment room again while carrying that kerchief in his hand. He sat on his chair and focused his attention on their faces.

He then showed that dirty kerchief to them and said with a smile, “Look what I found in the forest. A belonging of Beth.”

Elias’s eyes widened ever so slightly upon hearing Beth’s name.

And that was all that Caspian needed to know which one of them was the accomplice of Beth. In a blink, Caspian crouched down in front of Elias and whispered menacingly, “Boo!”

Poor Elias was scared just by that whisper and flinched.

Caspian cocked his head to the side and gave a creepy glare to Elias. And he asked in an intimidating tone, “Why did you do it? What did Beth promise you?”

Elias still tried to play innocent and said in a somewhat shaking voice, “I don’t know any Beth, Your Majesty.”

Caspian clicked his tongue and turned to look at another servant. And he asked him, “Do you also not know who Beth is?”

That servant bowed his head and replied, “I just know that she is the daughter of Lord Bartholomew. I don’t know her personally, Your Majesty.”

Caspian turned to glare at Elias and said, “Now that is what your answer should have been if you were not guilty. Everybody knows who Beth is.”

Caspian then waved off his hand to that innocent servant to dismiss him. He immediately ran out of that room of horror without wasting a breath.

“What’s your name?” Caspian asked in a chilling voice to which the servant replied in an undertone, “Elias.”

Caspian began circling that servant and pretended to sympathize with him, “Elias, I don’t know what Beth told you but know that she was just using you to get back at me for not marrying her. And you fell right into her trap. Pathetic!”

Elias was now hanging his head low in fear. He knew that he was already doomed. He knew that he was going to be killed by the very person he wished to kill someday.

However, to his utter disbelief, Caspian proposed a deal to him.

“Lord Bartholomew is a respected man and if he pleads for his daughter, I won’t be able to deny him. Beth will walk free while you will get brutally killed. But I want her to be punished for all the trouble that she has caused me. So why don’t you help me and I will let you walk free after a few years in prison.”

Elias’ eyes twinkled at that deal from the King. As the saying goes, everyone saves themselves first in the face of danger, Elias forgot about all the elaborate future plans that he had made with Beth and was eager to take the deal.

“I will do anything you say, Your Majesty.” Elias kept on bowing his head to the King and was unable to see the sinister smile that Caspian had on his face.

“Very well then.” Caspian briefed everything that Elias was to do. After brainwashing Elias, Caspian asked the guard to lock Elias in the dungeon that was located outside the castle.

Caspian finally heaved a sigh and sprinted outside to go to the physician’s home. But he stopped when he saw Vincent leaning on the wall not too far away from the punishment room.

“Vincent! Why are you here? I asked you to stay with Anastasia, didn’t I?” Caspian shouted at his friend with a deep frown.

Vincent narrowed his eyes at Caspian and satirically said, “So I should have been sitting in your wife’s room while she is sound asleep?”

Without any warning, Caspian instantly kicked Vincent on the leg and made him fall to the floor.

“Ouch! Thought so...” Vincent laughed while getting up and dusting off his clothes.

Caspian gave a side glare to Vincent and walked to head towards his wife’s room.

Vincent was shouting from behind and was complaining as Caspian walked away. “Hey! I don’t even get a thank you for safely bringing your wife back? Hello! Are you even listening? And if you even want to know, she was not poisoned. She is safe.”

Caspian had deduced that much when Vincent said that Anastasia was sound asleep in her room. So he kept on walking away without paying much attention to Vincent.

After reaching upstairs, Caspian went inside Anastasia’s antechamber and stood in front of her bedchamber door. He raised his hand to knock but froze midair. He kept on contemplating for a while whether or not to wake her up.

In the end, he put his hand inside the pocket and thought, ‘I think I should let her get some sleep. I can talk with her tomorrow.’

He walked outside and closed the main door behind him. Even though he was longing to see Anastasia and talk with her, he forced himself to walk away.

However, when he had not even reached halfway across the long corridor, he heard a scream coming from Anastasia’s room. It sounded as though Anastasia was terrified of something.

“Anna!” Caspian instantly ran back to Anastasia’s room with an anxious look on his face.