Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 545: Suspicion and guilt

"What are they doing to her in there?"

Multiple hallways away from the prince’s room, Ada pressed herself against the wall verging on a corner, peeking from behind it and biting at her nails.

"Please, keep quiet," another woman that sounded like Allegra but looked nothing like her responded, "My hearing isn’t as good for as long as I remain under Morgana’s spell," her eyes narrowed as her features crumpled, straining to grasp at the smallest wisp of sound escaping Cedric’s room.

"Forgive me," Ada laid her forehead against the cold wall, "I cannot get my heart to rest,"

"Well, I am afraid that what I have to say won’t give it much rest either,"

"Why? What is happening in that room? What are they doing to her?"

"What are the two of you doing here?" an older, deep but still feminine voice blared from behind the two of them.

The young women flinched and spun on their heels to meet the stranger that had her hands on her hips.

"We... We... Were...," they alternated, both attempting to justify their positions.

"Are you deaf? Haven’t you recognised my voice already? it is me, Morgana!" the older woman stifled a grunt.

"Oh Lord, have mercy! I did not recognise you!" Ada cried, pressing a hand over her heart, "You’ve changed appearance, haven’t you?"

"Well, of course," Morgana’s shoulders relaxed as the glare in her eyes withered, "After what Loriel said about the king, I’ve had it in my mind to get closer to him. I only needed the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the royal head nurse,"

Allegra bit down on her bottom lip before opening her mouth, "Where is the original? Won’t she stir up problems if anyone realised there are two of you?"

"Not a chance of that happening," Morgana shook her head, "She is currently sleeping very soundly, tucked somewhere no one will think to look,"

The witch shoved her hands into her pocket before pulling two small vials out then handing them over to the two women in front of herself.

"This one is for you Ada," her eyes tracked the vial, "I need you by my side at the infirmary. This one if for you," she then turned to Allegra, "You cannot be a high-ranking maid as that involves great responsibilities which you will null doubt have trouble accomplishing, but a well enough experienced and trusted maid will suffice. You will feel sick upon drinking this potion. It is the goal since we will be separated from each other, and you shall have to interact with the other maids. They’ll sense something is different in your behavior,"

"Understood," said Ada.

Allegra fiddled with the vial in her hand for a moment before asking, "Won’t it be suspicious for us to simply transform into someone else and just vanish?"

"From what I understand, many maids in the castle vanish for days on end before reemerging and no one questions it because they assume they were simply taken by the guards for pleasure, but speaking of suspicion," Morgana glanced beyond the corner, in the direction the two women were gawking at before her arrival, "What are the two of you doing here again?"

"We were...," Ada started.

"Worried," Allegra finished the sentence.

Morgana’s lips pulled into a thin line before her tongue clicked her palate once, "Look, I know the two of you feel responsible for what happened, but I will need you to remain focused on your part of the plan," her eyes stern, grilling the women who refused to meet her gaze.

"It truly was our fault," Allegra hung her head low as she mumbled.

"If that is what you wish to hear then fine; all of it was your fault. You’ve got us in here therefore I am going to need you to stuff your feelings deep down a box then bury it even deeper within yourselves and pull your weight!" 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

That seemed to do the trick.

Allegra took the vial and left whereas Ada stood in place, not knowing where to stare.

"You believe that was harsh of me," Morgana half asked.

In response, Ada merely shook her head, very slowly as though wishing to give a different answer.

The witch sighed, "Whatever it is you may feel about the topic, admit that the functioning and succeeding of our plan does rely upon you carrying your parts perfectly. Get it through your head that if we fail, her and Silas will be doomed to live in these conditions for the rest of their lives,"

Ada made no complaints after that and followed after Morgana. The two of them joined the group of nurses that trailed behind three doctors that were heading in the king’s chambers’ direction.

Things did not seem as easy as they wished them to be since the room crawled with servants tending to his majesty who was unconscious.

They were dismissed by the doctors, but the idle butlers remained by the walls watching over things.

"He’s lost consciousness again. When did that happen?" one of the doctors asked.

"Earlier this morning. It happened on my shift," a second one spoke.

"Did he say something specific?" the third one chimed in as he examined the king’s eyes.

"He managed to speak of aching in his chest. More precisely around the heart. A few hours later, he articulated about the numbness that hit his legs and arms. Aside from that, there was nothing worth noting as he couldn’t utter anything else,"

Even though all the nurses were instructed to always keep their heads down in the presence of the king, Ada still managed to steal a quick glance at his emaciated face...

Hollowed and boney cheeks, grayish and dull skin, there wasn’t much left for him to live.

The man appeared on the verge of capitulating altogether, but the woman was dying to get a hold of his file.

Beholding him from afar and having a few symptoms listed was simply not enough. She needed the full picture to determine whether it was an actual illness or... Something else.