The Two Dukes

The room was a simple one with a table and two chairs on it. The windows behind Casimir had been covered with black curtains and the only thing illuminating the room were the candles on the wall. It was not as bright as the outside, but it was enough for her to see Casimir's serious expression.

"There's no reason for me to feel anxious since I haven't done anything wrong."

Casimir nodded. "Or you did it and you were confident that you would be able to get away with it."

"I did not harm anyone."

"The others said Susinda seemed to dislike you. In fact, some described a confrontation where she demanded an apology."

"They were telling the truth."

"I expected you to lie."

"Is there a reason for me to lie?" Eve blurted out. "I did not harm anyone."

Casimir snorted. Then he leaned towards her. "It will be up to me to determine your innocence or guilt."

"You are wasting your time. While you are here talking to me, the one who did it is out there."

Casimir leaned back. "Tell me what happened last night."

As Eve gazed into his eyes, she felt a subtle discomfort that gradually grew into a piercing pain. She sensed that he was attempting to ensnare her! However, her soul quickly fought back. To avoid complications, she made the decision to let down her guard.

"She asked me to apologize," Eve said in a monotonous voice. "I refuse to."

"What happened?"

"Miss Susinda asked me to visit her study after having dinner and… I did."

"Did you hurt her?"

"I did not."

"What did you do when you arrived inside her study?"

"She asked me to apologize. Again, I refused. She told me to watch my step and be more careful in the future. Then she let me leave."

"That's it?" Casimir frowned.

"Yes."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes," Eve had seen Lucius ensnare someone in the past and the victim acted like a puppet.

"Did she say anything else?"

"No," Eve said.

"Anything about serving other vampires?"

"No." Now, that was unexpected.

"Good." Casimir suddenly broke eye contact and the pressure vanished.

"I—" Eve immediately paled. She covered her mouth as if she was trying to stop herself from vomiting.

"How frail."

"You— what did you do?"

"There is no need to be concerned about it."

Eve frowned.

"You may leave now."

Eve rose from her seat and left the room without saying another word. Once she left, the expression on her face changed. Her eyes turned colder, sharper.

She quickly made her way into the room where the others were waiting.

When she walked in, she immediately sensed the palpable tension inside the room.

She ignored it as she sat down on her bed. Then her gaze landed on her things. Each bed had its own storage where they were allowed to store anything that they deemed important.

This was also where they store their nightgowns and undergarments.

She used sorcery as a detection tool in case someone would open her storage and just now, she immediately sensed that something was amiss.

She wasted no time as she used magic to examine the contents and just as she expected. She found something.

It was a piece of paper.

Sadly, she lacked the ability to discern its contents as her magic could only do simple tasks that did not require too much control. Reading the contents of a paper that was kept at the bottom of her storage was not one of them. She gritted her teeth and opened her storage.

She took a new nightgown and undergarments and placed them on top of the bed.

To the others, she was merely preparing her things for the night. The true nature of her actions was known to Eve alone.

As if on cue, the door burst open. Knights wearing black armor walked in along with Sinas.

"Stand with your back to the wall," Sinas instructed, his tone as harsh as his physique.

"What is happening!?" one of the women asked as the others had a panicked look on their faces.

"We are going to search your things," Sinas said. "These female knights are going to search your clothing."

With that, he turned around and stood by the door as he told the knights to start searching their storage.

Eve frowned as she observed the suspicious timing of the search and the presence of something hidden in her storage.

Was she just overthinking things? Or... was someone trying to frame her for a sin she did not commit?

"We found nothing," the knight reported after a thorough search that involved throwing all the contents of their storage on the floor. Since the knights were vampires, searching through everything only took them a few minutes.

One of Sinas's eyebrows shot up.

"Very well…" Sinas said. He then looked at the women who had a mixture of emotions in their faces. "This will be the end of it. You shall not talk about this again. Do you understand?"

Seeing the women nod, Silas continued.

"Expect a few maids to come and prepare you for tonight's events. The mansion will be graced by the presence of high-ranking vampires in a few hours." Sinas said before leaving with the knights.

When Eve heard the word high ranking, she immediately thought of Lucius.

Would it be possible that he would come too?

The thought of it, made her heart race. Her palms started sweating.

Was it really possible that she would see that traitor again?

She gnashed her teeth as she lowered her head.

After a few minutes, she lifted her gaze, the anger in her eyes was nowhere to be found. Without saying another word, she started fixing her clothes, arranging them back in her small storage.

Just as Silas mentioned, maids arrived to assist them with the event tonight. As there were fewer than thirty women remaining, each of them was now given two to three maids to make the preparation even faster.

"So, everyone is ready?" Ophelia walked in with a beautiful smile on her face. She was wearing a long red dress that accentuated her curves. She glanced at the women and for a moment, her eyes stopped at Eve. "Good." She beamed with joy, as though she hadn't lost someone she knew just a few hours ago.

"The two Dukes will join tonight's festivities,' Ophelia continued. "Even the eccentric Duke Lucius has decided to come!"

A feeling of dread washed over Eve at the mention of Lucius's attendance.

She balled her hands into tight fists, her nails dug into her palms.

She would finally see him again!