Chapter 162 - Rats

"Why do you want me to say that?" Lady Duvignes replied with a shrill voice.

"Your refusal to answer just tells me what you think."

It was impossible not to remember how, on their wedding night, Charlotte had sent a message to Magnus. If Alexa suspected it all had been a misunderstanding, Charlotte's reaction to having to express her opinion left little to guess.

"In favor of Lady Alexa, she didn't act like she was interested in any of that. In fact, on her wedding night, she looked scared and lonely. That day I felt sorry for that girl. Her eyes showed anguish, more than anything," revealed Charlotte. Alexa felt a tightness in her chest. The unexpected statement stirred her nerves, and she felt like crying.

"Hmp, of course. If she was forced to marry ..." Narses issued his opinion with obvious irony and bitterness.

"So you know. Prince Alexander, until that moment, was being monitored and showed no signs he would wake from his sleep. On the day after their wedding, there was a duel where the First Prince defeated Florian. Bureaucrats working in the castle library saw Lady Alexa. Later, I received news that the witches responsible for the massacre in the villa were about to be executed in the main square ... And they really were. But the Evil was unleashed that very day, before the eyes of everyone in Holstein."

"What happened?"

"I'm not quite sure. A great black cloud ominously gathered over the town, and crows flocked over the square. Something scary happened inside the cathedral, but few witnesses said that Lady Alexa faced a demon who came to fetch the witches ... Something like that. After that, a horrible storm fell over the city, and the newly buried bodies surfaced with the flood ... There was a fire in the castle, in the Princes' wing, but no one knew the cause ... the population had to leave downtown and gathered in the upper town, at the castle's gates. After that, they started making novenas and telling stories as if Princess Alexa was a Blessed V.i.r.g.i.n or else. Even the entire court was intrigued and couldn't understand ... Who was Princess Alexa anyway?"

"And about her? Nobody saw her after that day?"

"They say that she spent a few days in a convent. One of her chaperones said she was injured and beaten after fighting evil in the cathedral. And she was also seen at an official meeting with Prince Gutard. And then at dinner, on returning from the convent. After that, when Countess Godiva left with Duke Konrad for Würtz, Princess Alexa was never seen again. At that time, due to the fire in the royal wing, Prince Alexander was also no longer seen, although there was no news of his recovery. Just rumors telling he had been moved elsewhere. That's all I know. The Princess's chaperones are still here, but she has disappeared, and everyone imagined she was back in the convent… I remember having heard that rumor at the last Mass."

"Is that all?" Narses asked dryly. Even Lex didn't believe that was all, and she was sure Charlotte was hiding some information. But the long narrative, interrupted only by the few comments from the visitor and Lady Duvignes' husband snoring, had covered the entire time that Alexa was officially in Holstein.

"I said I didn't know much. All I know is that she's a special person and she will end up hurt, in the end. The von Wuttenfals think only of Holstein's glory. Even the Witches Hunt is nothing more than cleaning up their own shit."

"You are close enough to them to know, so I think I must believe you."

"Go now. I told you what I knew."

"And what I learned from you filled my head with more doubts… Good night, by now, madame. Repent of your sins while there is still time," with this phrase, which did not seem to be something Lex would have imagined hearing from his beloved brother, Narses left the Duvignes' quarters.

Charlotte sat down heavily on the end of the bed, and the movement made more dust fall on Lex under it. The Prince covered his mouth and nose to try not to sneeze.

"An assassin! An assassin! I would have died right beside you, while you snore!" the lady vented, upset, slapping the sleeping drunken man. This only made the Ambassador move on the bed, without waking up. Uneasy, Charlotte got up, rummaging on her things while Lex just wanted her to sleep ... But then Lex saw her putting on shoes and getting ready to leave, even though it was an improper time and with all that rain outside.

It was likely that, after being threatened by Narses, Charlotte was going to meet her master, Duke Kurt.

After making sure she left the room, Lex came out of hiding and grabbed the Prince's clothes quickly. It still upset her seeing his brother acting so strangely. In fact, the person he proved to be, made her shiver.

The younger Dallassenos didn't like many things she learned there, but she didn't have time to regret or lose with assumptions. 

Sneaking through the castle's unlit corridors, Lex now needed to find out where Marquise Dagmar's room was. He was sure it would be a long way from the di Borghesi, in the oldest ward of the castle. 

Her mind, however, wandered to her sense of strangeness as the Princess reflected on what she had heard. 

The Alexa that everyone saw, except the von Wuttenfal, was not her.

And there was also the fact that ... Charlotte Duvignes believed that Prince Magnus loved this Alexa that didn't exist.

The Alexa that everyone saw, except the von Wuttenfal, was not her. And there was also the fact that ... Charlotte Duvignes believed that Prince Magnus loved this Alexa that didn't exist.

But he didn't love Alexa, did he?

How could Prince Magnus love her, if he didn't even care to know all the hardsh.i.p.s she went through to rescue him? 

Yes, Alexa was tired and alone inside that body, which belonged to her husband who also didn't want her. But to get her own body back all hours of the day, she supposedly needed to go all the way and find the solution for Alexander.

It wasn't difficult to find the Marquise's room, even in the darkened halls of the castle. Alexa felt Nerissa's presence, without seeing it, and suddenly, she stopped feeling it. I knew I had arrived at the right place. It wasn't even difficult to open the door ...

Although the practice said never to enter a room whose door had been opened by a ghost, Lex clenched her fists and entered the dark room.

Everything smelled of rose powder and mold, and once again, Lex used her 'Torch' to light the pitch that surrounded her. 

The room held remnants from glorious days in the past, but it was abandoned and she could hear the sounds of rodents hiding in their nests. 'All the acc.u.mulated luxury ends up being eroded and serving as a nest for rats ...' the thought came to mind. 

Her search took longer than Alexa imagined. The overwhelming feeling she felt was because of Shades who gathered to observe activities of a living human within a forgotten place ... The favorite hiding place for lost and forgotten souls like the ones in that room.

"I'm leaving right away, I just need to ..." she mumbled, noticing as she groped, a recess in one panel next to the fireplace. Using a little force, she pushed the panel, and found a hole in the wall. With the help of her Light, she checked what was inside.

The hole wasn't deep or big, but spacious enough to hold some objects. And there were some very, very interesting things there. Small jewels and ornaments, not all specifically valuable, among other things. 

It looked like there was more than one sneaky little mouse in there. Someone used the abandoned place as a hiding place for her minor thefts in such a large castle, and had a peculiar taste for beautiful feminine objects.

A fat bag of yellow fabric caught his eye. Something fell to the floor when she pulled out the purse.

The contents of the bag were obvious even before opening. Its weight hinted a good amount of gold or silver. Much more than a servant like Nerissa could dream of. Opening the strings, Lex took one of the gold coins and saw the Duke of Burgundy's effigy ... There was a piece of moldy stained paper inside. 'Burgundian money? Does this have to do with de Wits? ' Lex still didn't understand how Nerissa got hold of such amount of money...

Opening the sheet of paper, she realized that it was a letter, and by the first lines, addressed to Prince Gutard. However, the writing was stained so Alexa couldn't read in as bad a condition as now.

She bent down to pick up the object that fell on the floor, and the object's sparkling gleam under her Light caught her attention. She had seen that object before.

It was the diamond-shaped topaz that had been the centerpiece of her wedding dress. And had been stolen at some point between boarding the ship that was going to England, and her marriage to Alexander. They had used one heart-shaped amethyst to replace it; she recollected.

With a sigh, wondering if Nerissa had stolen the jewel, and what all that meant, Lex stood up.

A ruffling sound of clothes, a subtle shadow, and Lex noticed someone behind her, obscured by darkness, too late. 

The shadow moved quickly toward the Second Prince, and Lex felt a twinge in the side.

Moisture seeped into the fabric of his clothing, and the Prince dropped the things on his hands on the floor.

Lex felt death in that room, waiting voraciously, as always.

'I've got… stabbed?'