The Crown's Obsession (WN)

If Sophie had the power to burn her through her eyes, Madeline would have turned to a pile of ash by now. The vampiress glared at her, but Madeline had a point when she said that she hadn't picked up her name and she had merely spoken about relatives in generalized terms. What Madeline was trying to insinuate was that if Sophie was not involved in it, she shouldn't feel guilty about it.

Calhoun stood there in the dungeon looking at the two young girls, one vampiress and one human. His lips pulled up at what Madeline had done. It seemed like even she didn't know what she told because her expression was innocent and her eyes looking straight into Sophie's eyes that continued to glare at her.

"The man will be put up for execution tomorrow. It has already decided, and there is nothing more to discuss it," said Calhoun to them and Madeline turned around to meet his eyes on the decision that had been made.

Madeline could only tell that the life in the castle was hard, and one mistake could lead to death without any trial because it directly involved the King. Her eyes then shifted to look at the man who looked terrified and scared. Even she would have been scared if she was sentenced to death which would be taking place in less than a few hours.

Sophie finally looked away from the human who she had to remind herself to tread carefully. She had been underestimating the human since the first time they had met each other. The human was far more capable that if she decided to stay in the castle, it would cause nothing but problems to the vampiress while also pushing the crown she had been eyeing on for so long that it would turn out of reach.

"Brother Calhoun is not a King for no reason. If he's decided that this is the punishment the man deserves, he should be right," chimed Sophie, her eyes looking down at the lowly mortal who she was not interested in being around.

Madeline could think only one thing when Sophie uttered those words. Sheep. Sophie was a blind sheep who would follow others, and she doubted she used her mind. But this time, she decided to keep her opinion to herself.

"And playing with the crown even by mistake is not acceptable here," continued the vampiress, "There are rules in this castle that every servant or guests should follow. The main thing being, never to bring harm to the King. I would be very upset if something happened to brother Calhoun," she turned her head to look at Calhoun who offered her a smile.

"My kind cousin sister, Sophie. It is good to see how much you worry about me," praised the man, and this brought a smile on Sophie's face.

"It is my duty to serve you, my King. I will do everything to protect and stand by your side," and saying this, Sophie stepped in front of Calhoun and leaned forward in time for Calhoun to raise his hand. Sophie kissed the back of his hand to show her appreciation before standing up straight, "You can always count on me," she promised, and Madeline noticed the gleam in Sophie's eyes and the ambition the vampiress held for herself.

"We should get going now," Calhoun said to the ladies and then looked at the servant who was behind the bars of the cell, "I will see you tomorrow."

As they left, Madeline heard the plea of the man, and she couldn't help but turn to look at the servant who was calling out to the King for his forgiveness for the crime he hadn't committed. At the same time, Calhoun placed his hand on Madeline's back, and her eyes met his.

"I think it's enough for the day. Don't dwell on something which you have no control over," he said to her.

"Even when the innocent are subjected to a death sentence?" she asked him, her voice quiet but with no one around them except for Sophie who was walking on Calhoun's other side as she didn't want to be left alone. The vampiress rolled her eyes over the human's sympathy.

"You need proof to call him innocent or a criminal who had caused treason. What makes you think that he didn't do it? Do you know that the time when the poison was found, it was the same day and time when we were having dinner together," Calhoun said, his strides longer because of his long legs and Madeline tried to keep up with him similar to Sophie.

"How fortunate you are, Lady Madeline," commented Sophie from the other side, "If the man wasn't caught you would be dead by now. Do you realise the severity of the situation?"

Madeline frowned as she comprehended what Calhoun just said to her. As she didn't belong to the world of the castle until now, it had never occurred to her that she would be one of the pawns to be killed without a thought.

"It makes a difference, doesn't it?" she heard Calhoun question beside her.

After a second, Madeline said, "I just don't think anyone would blindly swear on their children. Especially not when they come from a poorer background."

"You will be surprised to know the number of times people have lied and sworn on their families on what they did and didn't," chuckled Calhoun at Madeline's naive thought. She was a village girl who all these years had lived a simple life, someone who had never been subjected to or had heard people lie with their families name, "I can swear on Sophie and tell that I wouldn't kill someone tomorrow, but that doesn't mean I am going to go through it now?"

Sophie didn't know why she had turned to be the person to be sworn on by the King. Even though she didn't believe it, even for a vampiress she was uncomfortable with the thought that she was being sworn on for a lie.

"Brother Calhoun, why did you take my name to be sworn?" asked Sophie, her lips pressed against each other after her question.

Calhoun turned around to look at Sophie, and he answered her, "Isn't that a good thing? I thought you would be happy about it," the vampiress gave a confused look because there was often a saying that went by that if you lied after swearing on a person, the person would die, or something terrible would come to befall on them, "By picking your name it only shows how dear you are to me."

To Sophie, these words were like honey to her ears, and she beamed in joy when Calhoun said how important she was to him. But only Calhoun knew how many times he had lied since from the beginning and swearing on something mattered very little to the King.

Once they were out of the dungeon, Madeline finally felt the light compared to the dark atmosphere they were a few moments ago. She was looking at the rose Calhoun had plucked for the second time when she heard Calhoun whisper close to her ear to say,

"I wouldn't want to swear on you."