CHAPTER SIX

"Is everyone ready? " Louis asked the knights.

Every one of them was holding a torch and their expression either showed courage and nervousness.

"Then let's go in." Matthew said as he reached for the hidden passage.

The entrance made a loud screeching noise as they opened it, from where they were, they could only see a staircase and some broken lamps.

"Edward, come with us." Theodore said to Edward as he followed the rest of them down the hatch.

"Yes, your highness..." Edward mumbled quietly to himself.

*********

They felt the air wetting thinner and thinner as they descended the staircase. The atmosphere of the place was getting gloomier until they reached the end of the staircase and soon enough, they were all standing in front of a door.

All the knights braced themselves and stood in front of their king, Theodore. Matthew slowly opened the door and went inside, the others soon following his lead.

"My god...." Matthew whispered in shock as he used his hand to cover his nose. The smell was revolting.

The room resembled a storage room with all the crates that were placed around in a hazardous manner.

The amount of dust in the room was normal considering where it was located, so was how stuffy the room was or how dark it was and many other things, but the fact that there was a woman who was hanged in the middle of the room was not normal.

"Vivian... " Louis whispered. He felt a lump forming in his throat as his eyes were fixed on her dangling body.

Theodore looked at her form briefly before turning away. Although he didn't know her, he still felt pity because of how Louis was behaving.

"Get the body down from there, immediately!" Theodore yelled at all the stunned knights, he knew he should've gotten the more experienced ones.

"Um... Y-Your highness, look." A knight said as he pointed to the inside of the crate he had opened.

"Shit." Theodore cursed under his breath.

Placed in a neat way inside the crate were a few human arms.

"How many?" Theodore asked.

"Three..." The knight replied.

"Your majesty! T-there's a head in there! " A female knight yelled from across the room.

The knights were reporting similar things every time they opened a crate. Hands, legs, heads, and different body parts from different unfortunate and unlucky people were found. Some were decayed or decaying while some were still somehow fresh.

"Did know about this?! " Theodore furiously asked Louis who was lost in his thoughts.

"No, she stopped reporting to me a few years back... " Louis answered guiltily.

"And didn't even bother to check on them." Theodore didn't even wait for him to respond as he clicked his tongue and turned away

"Matthew! Send more skilled people to handle this issue. The rest of you can go back now." Theodore said as he headed up the stairs with Edward following right behind him.

********

-The Next Day-

Surrounded by a large garden closer to the king's palace were Ariella and her father. The garden was a mixed garden with a wide variety of flowers. Such as roses, tulips, lilies, and orchids.

In the middle of the garden was a clearing and in the wide clearing, there was a round black table with two matching chairs and a white tablecloth.

Ariella and her father, Theodore were sitting on those chairs having a casual conversation.

Ariella's face looked free from any worries as she was feeling happy that her father forgave her for her outburst yesterday.

Edward and Juliet, we're busy waiting on them quietly. They'll seem to be in a much better mood that yesterday.

"Juliet." Ariella called Juliet. Juliet stopped what she was doing and looked at her.

"Yes, Princess?" She answered her call.

"May I please use the new teacup that Seth gave me?" She asked politely.

"Of course Princess, I'll go and get it right away." Juliet agreed to her request and had already started leaving until Ariella called her back.

"Wait!" Ariella called her back before turning to look at her father.

"Do you want to use one also?" Ariella asked, her feet swinging happily as she smiled brightly at him.

"Princess..." Edward paused what he was doing to look at her. His happy expression dimmed knowing the answer that Theodore would give.

"No." He gave an answer that everyone except for Ariella expected.

"Oh... Ok. " Ariella stopped swinging her legs and pouted. She turned to see Juliet who had been waiting for her.

"Sorry Juliet, you can go now." Ariella sent her off again, this time she didn't call her back.

********

"Look! Isn't it pretty dad?" Ariella's eyes were shining brightly as she showed it to him.

"Hmm..." Theodore let out a hum of agreement without even glancing at it.

"But you didn't even look at it!" Ariella pouted again and reaches out to grab a biscuit.

"You aren't supposed to eat yet until the tea is served." Juliet reminded her.

"Why not?..." Ariella whined.

" Just let her take it." Theodore said when he saw the look on her face.

Ariella's eyes lit up, she didn't waste any time as she had already shoved two in the mouth, fearing that they might change their minds.

"Thanks!" Ariella thanked him with a stuffed mouth.

"Ew..." Theodore was at this point, completely disgusted by her lack of manners.

Juliet and Edward laughed quietly at their behaviors. She poured Theodore's tea first before pouring Ariella's tea calmly.

"Thank you!" Arielle thanked her again. She picked up her cup to take a sip which was basically a large gulp.

"Hot!" She mumbled as she stuck her tongue out. Theodore raised his eyebrow in amusement at her antics.

She took another sip, this time, a small one. As usual, she sipped her tea loudly. Theodore was about to comment when a loud echoed around the area.

The teacup fell from Ariella's hands, shattering. Got tea from her cup splashing all over her dress. Her hands were around her neck as she coughed violently.

"Princess!" It was unknown who made that comment first as they had both rushed over to her. Their speed betrayed their age.

"She's probably choking! Someone get her water, quickly!" Juliet ordered the surrounding maids who were so shocked that their feet were rooted in the ground.

"I'll get some napkins..." Edward said, his voice laced with worry.

Juliet and another maid tried to calm Ariella down but it wasn't working. Instead, it got worse as she clutched her chest, her face getting redder by the second.

Theodore just sat there with a blank expression, processing what was happening. He felt guilty as he looked at her. He was about to do something when he felt his heart nearly stop from fear.

"B-blood!"