The Crown's Obsession (WN)

The next day after the ball of the Hallow, Theodore stepped outside the castle to gather information about the girl and the man who the King had his eyes on. Wearing a polite smile on his lips, he headed into the village, and he came across some of the people he had seen last night at the castle. Even though they had worn masks on their faces, he could identify them without any trouble.

Walking towards the tailor's shop, he knocked on the door.

A young boy appeared in front of the door, "Is there any order that you need to collect?" he inquired Theodore.

Theodore offered the boy a polite smile, "I was wondering if Mr. Heathcliff is present in the shop so that I could speak to him."

"Mr. Heathcliff? He has gone to his house to have lunch. He will be back in maybe an hour or two," answered the boy. "If you want to look for the sample of materials and designs on how you would want the dress to be stitched, I am sure we can help you with it before Mr. Heathcliff arrives."

Theodore gave it a thought before asking, "Do you stitch wedding gowns?"

"We do, Sir! Like I earlier said, we have different styles and designs that might suit the bride," the boy continued to answer him.

"I think I would love to look at the designs you speak of," said Theodore before getting inside and looking at the place. "Does this place belong solely to Mr. Heathcliff?"

"Yes, it does. Mr. Heathcliff set it up a few years ago. He has the best taste when it comes to clothes and enough knowledge of what suits a man and a woman," praised the boy. "Please take a seat while I go get the designs we have or would you prefer to take a look at the stitched dresses?"

"The design book would do," stated Theodore, his eyes looking at the moderate-sized room where the other workers worked in the backroom, and he could hear the sound of the spinning wheels which were used to stitch clothes. The place looked decent, and it seemed like James Heathcliff had a decent income of living from the tailoring job that allowed him to own more than an average shop in the village's centre place. "I have heard a lot about Mr. Heathcliff's work and decided to come here. How is he like?"

"Mr. Heathcliff is an amazing person to work with," praised the boy, "He treats us all well and our wages are much better than what the other people have to offer."

Theodore learned the needed information about Mr. Heathcliff before leaving the shop with a bow as if he was going to buy a wedding gown for his fiance. After finding out the girl, Madeline Harris, he didn't head straight back to the castle.

Leaving the village of East Carswell, he travelled two towns from the tailor's village before entering the next village's local market. The place was covered in dirt, and he had chosen to wear a black cloak to cover the clothes that he wore while he left the castle. Walking inside a building filled with noise and chatter of men where alcohol was being served, he looked around to see if the person was there.

"Theodore!" shouted a man from behind him, and he turned around to catch sight of the man he was looking for. "I was expecting to see you here."

Theodore sat down at the table where the man sat, "And I was hoping to catch you here. When did you return, Kruger?"

"Two days ago," answered the man named Kruger. "I heard that the King held the ball quite early. I didn't have time to arrange clothes, else I would have been there," he smiled, showing one of his front teeth to be missing from his mouth.

"Did you find anything of importance?" questioned Theodore.

Kruger nodded his head, "You would be surprised if you come to know what I have found out. But then knowing you, you must already know about it."

"What is it?" asked Theodore, waiting for the man to spill the beans.

"Samuel has been meeting with some people who I have never seen before. I know the people with whom he is dealing with on the King's order, but these particular sets of people don't look like people who exist in the normal world," said Kruger, and at the same time, the server brought two mugs of liquor, placing it on the table.

"What do you mean they do not exist in the normal world?" Theodore narrowed his eyes.

Kruger took large gulps from the mug before the alcohol turned half, and he placed it back on the table with a dull thud. "I tried to track them down, but it is hard to do it. The maximum I could do until now is follow them around was probably two or three hours but after that, they would have disappeared."

"Maybe they are good at leaving the place quickly," stated Theodore, but the man shook his head.

Kruger seemed like he had something stuck in the back of his teeth, and he tried to remove it by making use of his tongue. "I doubt that is so. Those people whom he met, I followed them without looking away from them, but in a blink of an eye, I lost sight of them and I never found them again." He then leaned forward towards Theodore to speak in a hushed tone, "If I didn't know better, I would tell that there are different creatures apart from the humans, vampires, and the weres."

Hearing this, Theodore narrowed his eyes. He knew what Kruger was speaking about, and he wondered if Samuel was involved with the demons.

"How did they look? You should have seen the person closely, isn't it?" asked Theodore, and the man nodded his head.

"I did. I also heard the name. One of them goes by the name Greyson. He has a beard and they often meet up at night. Only rare times in the daylight," replied Kruger.