A New Girl
Elara had seen the girl among the staff. She was only wearing a thin nightgown with nothing beneath it. She had a seductive smile on her face but when her eyes fell on tied Elara, they went cold instantly.
"You have brought another girl." her voice had a hint of disappointment.
"You did not come on time so I thought you changed your mind." Cedric shrugged as he stood up from the bed and walked to the girl. But when he tried to hug her, she took a step back. Her eyes still staring at Elara as if she would kill Elara by her gaze.
"I have not taken her yet. If you want, I can chase her away." The girl raised her head with a new hope and smiled, making Cedric sigh.
"Go and throw her out. I am sure you will enjoy doing it more than me." The girl did not need any more encouragement. She ran to Elara and freed her from the bondage.
"I saw you when you were scolding Patrick." she looked at Elara with disdain, "who would have thought a person can be such a good actor." She freed her legs too. "But his grace had chosen me for now. You can try your luck next time." she pointed at the door when Elara sat on the bed. She rubbed her injured wrists and took a deep breath.
Her eyes found his smiling ones as she swallowed a curse.
"I hope you never lose favor or his grace." and he would not come to find me again.' the woman gave a smug look to Elara as she nodded.
Making sure that she did not feel dizzy, Elara stood up and left the room. The door was closed instantly and she heard the sound of moaning and rustling of clothes and shook her head.
She was going to stay away from this room, several feet away. She was glad that her room was on the same floor. So she did not meet many gossiping servants as she walked into her room and laid on the bed.
"If they think it would be enough to scare me and chase me away, they could not be wrong anymore." she mumbled as she closed her eyes.
She failed to notice a dark shadow looming on her window and slowly retreated when she succumbed to sleep.
….
In the duke's chamber,
"Your grace, I have interrogated more servants today. Though most of them look depraved and useless. None of them know about the kidnapping of the lord. Most of them were busy bragging about how much they have stolen from the palace recently or how they had an affair with a particular maid.
Are you sure you want to leave them be? It would leave a bad impression on the upbringing of the lord." she sighed, as she looked at her own clothes.
It was nothing more than being naked in front of the duke.
"I still did not understand why you chose this method rather than confining all the suspects and following the army rules." Cedric was leaning on the sofa with his feet resting on the table.
He took a deep puff of cigarette and exhaled the smoke. The window of the room opened and a man covered in dark clothing entered the room.
Cedric finally opened his eyes and looked at the man. The man shook his head slightly and bowed, making Cedric raise a brow and then laughing. His laughter was so ominous that the girl flinched and the man in dark clothes took a step back unconsciously.
"You should not worry about Killian. He is a strong child. Make sure to have some marks on your skin when you leave the room." he stood up and the girl bowed her head.
He walked to the window and stared at the darkness of the night. He pulled a scone on the wall and the left side of the wall opened. It led him to a dark corridor.
Only the family of the duke and their close aides knew about these secret routes. It had connections with every existing room in the palace and it could lead you anywhere in the capital city. But it also had an underground area for hiding.
Cedric reached for that area followed by the maid and the man in dark clothes. There was a small room that could be used to hide in case of siege. But it was turned into a torture room.
A man was tied there. He had his nails missing and most of his skin was cut and flesh could be seen from his hands and legs.
"Good evening, Edgar. You did not have your meal again." Cedric asked in a complaining voice when the man opened his eyes and glared at Cedric.
The food was placed just a few inches away but his hands and legs were tied and he could not move even an inch. No one feeds him. They only put the food to torment him.
"Still angry, I see!" Cedric shook his head as his hands were clasped behind him. "Carol, help the young man in feeling better. After all, we still need to talk."
The woman smiled and curtsied, holding her flimsy gown. She sat down and picked up the blade. Slowly, she started peeling the skin of his arms where she had left last time.
"Sir Edgar, I hope I am doing better. I have done a lot of practice on you so far. Do you think my skills have improved?" she showed a sweet grin to the howling and screaming man who was shaking with anger and pain.
"Stop it! I have already told you everything I know. Just stop it or I would die of excess blood loss.'' He screamed and struggled hard but bindings did not let him move enough.
"Not everything Edgar, you were serving the duchess when she died. Think again, I am sure you have more clues rather than telling me it was my fiance who did it."