Chapter 365 - 365 Metallic Smell

365 Metallic Smell

“Wouldn’t it be better to leave this task to the soldiers?” one of the maids asked Percy when he ordered them to protect the Queen.

It was not that Percy didn’t have this idea. However, at the moment, that wasn’t possible. “I don’t have the authority to mobilize the soldiers as per my wish. And those who have the authority aren’t here in the castle. Besides, the Queen also needs tending to. She’s… covered in blood and her clothes need changing.”

The maids exchanged worried glances with each other and another maid asked, “Then why didn’t you order the Queen’s handmaids? You know we will be affected by the blood.”

Percy was now already feeling restless from all the questioning. However, he still answered the maids instead of shutting them down and making them feel uncomfortable.

“One of the Queen’s handmaids has been injured and the other is taking care of her. Besides, I need someone like you all – those who can care for the Queen as well as take on anyone if they try to harm the Queen.”

Percy turned his back on the maids with the intention of walking away to complete the other orders given by Vincent. And as he walked away, he said, “And you don’t need to be worried about the blood. It doesn’t belong to any human.”

The maids widened their eyes in shock when they heard that. They wanted to ask who it belonged to, but Percy was now nowhere to be seen.

One of the maids sighed and said to the other three, “Well, let’s hurry then. Our Queen needs our protection.”

The other maids also quickly recovered from the shock and agreed. And all four of them sprinted down the gallery to head toward the Queen’s chambers.

.....

Upon arriving there, they all were welcomed by the overwhelming scent of the Queen.

One of the maids stopped right at the door and pinched her nose with her fingers. And she said to the others in a nasal voice, “I thought I had gotten used to the human smell by now, but it doesn’t seem like I am good at controlling my urges when faced with this overwhelmingly inviting smell. I will–”

Before she could finish her sentences, her fangs protruded on their own. She immediately covered her whole mouth and nose with her palm and stuttered, “I will s-stand guard a little further away from here. You all take care of the Queen’s needs.”

With that, she ran from there as fast as she could.

The three of the other maids sighed and another one also volunteered to stand guard. She pointed at the opposite side of the corridor that the first maids had taken and said, “I will guard this side then. Why don’t you two go inside?”

The remaining two maids agreed to take care of the Queen and finally went inside the chambers.

When one of them slowly pulled the blanket that was covering the Queen, both of the maids inhaled sharply upon seeing the splatters of blood on the white cloak of the Queen.

They both guessed what might have happened by the look of the blood splatters.

“Lydia, will you take out a nightgown for the Queen? I will help her out of the gown,” the maid who was still grabbing one corner of the blanket, Felice, asked the other one.

“Sure.”

Felice, on the other hand, went to the bathroom to fetch some water and a towel to clean the blood from the Queen’s body before changing her into clean clothes.

Since they were vampires, they were pretty quick in completing their tasks. And they finally covered the Queen with the blanket, just like how they found her when they arrived there.

Just when Lydia and Felice turned around to go to the antechamber to take a seat, both of their senses were drawn by the metallic smell.

Lydia was instantly hypnotized by that smell and turned her head to look at the Queen.

Felice was quick enough to grab Lydia by her wrist and warn her, “Don’t you dare take a step towards the Queen.”

Lydia gulped and moistened her lips with a swipe of her tongue. She looked back at Felice and gave a nervous smile. She gulped again and mumbled, “Umm… I wasn’t going to. I just…”

“Yeah, I can smell it as well,” Felice said while stiffly looking at the table ahead of her.

Lydia took a deep breath through her mouth and it finally looked like she was out of her trance. She cleared her throat and asked, “There wasn’t a single wound on Her Majesty’s body, was there?”

“There were none,” Felice confirmed while slightly giving a nod.

Since both of them were facing their back on the Queen, they couldn’t see if the Queen was awake and did something to herself.

Lydia slowly leaned towards Felice and asked in a whisper, “The Queen is still unconscious, right?”

Felice heaved a deep sigh before slowly looking over her shoulder. She found the Queen in the same state as she had left. “She isn’t awake,” she mumbled.

“Then… what’s going on?” Lydia sounded worried now.

Felice furrowed her brows and shrugged. “Umm… I would have checked but… I don’t want to take any risk.”

Lydia also didn’t dare to go anywhere near the Queen.

Felice then quickly dragged Lydia towards the main door while saying, “Why don’t we leave it to the doctors to find out? Mr. Percy said that Lord Vincent went to bring a doctor. The doctor should be on the way.”

As soon as both of them stepped out of the main door, they pulled the door close so that the smell wouldn’t spread, inviting more trouble for them than they already were facing. They had to suppress their primal urge and also had to stand guard at the door while doing so.

Lydia and Felice waited restlessly for the doctor to arrive so that they could leave from there. After waiting for what felt like an eternity, they finally heard someone rushing towards them.

They were relieved to see that it was Vincent.

“Greetings, Milord,” both of them greeted the Lord in unison.

Vincent was carrying a doctor over his shoulder. He put the doctor down on his feet and ordered the maids, “Open the door.”

The maids, however, looked at each other and then again at Vincent.

And Felice warned the Lord, “I must warn you before you go inside, Milord. The Queen is bleeding.”