A Game Of Chess With A Vampire
Chapter 138: What The Fuck Do You Mean?

Chapter 138: What The Fuck Do You Mean?

Avelina groaned. "I am very scared, Draven."

"I know. And you should be, but being afraid will not do anything or solve it. That is why you have to try and survive instead of being scared," Draven said to her.

Avelina lifted her head and glanced at him. "Well, I guess—"

"Young master." Santino’s voice reverberated. "You are needed in the meeting room."

Avelina looked at Draven, a bit perplexed. "Is something wrong?"

Draven shrugged, clueless.

"I don’t know."

He stood up to his feet and grabbed Avelina’s hand. "Come, let’s go."

Avelina nodded and exited the room with him.

They settled down in the meeting hall with the others. Draven glanced around. His nose twitched as he could catch a familiar scent approaching the hall.

The door of the hall opened, and a man, Mr. Bennet stepped in. Following behind him was Aedion.

Old Master Lenort and everyone gazed at the door, hoping to see the culprit walk in after them, but as the door shut, they realized that there was no one...

Valentine, who was seated amongst them, beside Lestat, lowered his head trying to resist the urge to burst into laughter.

Old Master Lenort frowned.

"What is the meaning of this, Mr. Bennet? Where is the culprit?"

Mr. Bennet took a deep breath and looked at them. "I would like to apologize first, your majesty. Not just to you, but to everyone who had their hopes in me."

"What the fuck do you mean by that? Why are you apologizing?" Ryan was starting to get agitated.

Mr. Bennet glanced at Aedion before beginning to explain. "I tried my best, and yes, I was indeed very close to catching the real mastermind behind it all." He peeked at Draven. "But, unfortunately for me, the culprit that we had in hand disappeared into thin air. I have searched the entire town, he is nowhere to be found."

"I will not say that he left the town because it is pretty much not possible. If I were to assume he did, I believe that his majesty would have gotten notice of that. My only conclusion is that the culprit probably unalived himself, and thus he could not be found anywhere."

"It could also be possible that he is being hidden by someone, although that sounds very much impossible to pull off."

"To be more specific, if he were hidden, I would have found him. I am clueless at this point, and, to be honest, I am frustrated. I don’t desire to carry on with this case any longer. It would be great if you could find someone else to give it a try because I am stuck at this point and I have thought of different ways, but I could not figure anything out."

From the look on Mr. Bennet’s face, one could really tell that he was indeed maddened. Not just him, but even his assistant, Aedion, looked exasperated. They had not only moved from one place to another, but they had searched the entire town in desperation to find the culprit.

Old Master Lenort’s eyes twitched in annoyance. He furiously slammed his hand on the table and stood up while staring daggers at Mr. Bennet.

"You came all the way here to tell us this bullshit?" he questioned in disbelief. "Bennet, do you understand that we had so much trust in you? We were all looking forward to solving this case and putting it behind us. Pour l’amour de dieu!"

He rubbed his temple, holding himself back from overreacting. "Why did you not tell us you would not be able to solve this case? Why did you—"

"My apologies, your majesty. I just did not see this coming. It sounded quite easy until I took on the case. Very bizarre, if I must say." Mr. Bennet smiled. "I shall take my leave now.

He turned around and exited the room, leaving everyone dumbfounded. Ryan and Lestat were speechless, while Lumian was processing what had just happened.

Valentine was surprised.

To think this man was the type who knew when to back down from a case, quite surprising... He smirked.

Draven, on the other hand, stood up from his chair. He grabbed Avelina’s hand in an attempt to leave, but Ryan stepped in front of him, stopping him.

Draven looked at him in silence.

Ryan was breathing heavily, infuriated. "I know it was you! I know it was—"

"Can you get out of my way?" Draven asked. His tone did not sound displeased or irritated. It was rather calm and deep.

Ryan flickered his eyes. "You bastard! Just wait! I will find a way to expose—"

Draven walked past him while pulling Avelina along with him. He opened the door and left, leaving Ryan standing like a statue and twitching in rage.

He proceeded to return to his quarter, but someone approached him, stopping him.

"Your Highness." The person was Mr. Bennet.

Draven turned and glanced at him. "What?"

"Can I speak to you for a few minutes?" Mr. Bennet inquired. "Please, it will not take a while."

Draven stared at him. He pondered for a few seconds before looking at Avelina. "Can you return to the room alone? I will not take much time."

Avelina nodded at him. She turned around and began to walk away.

Draven watched her until her figure was out of sight, then diverted his gaze at Mr. Bennet.

"Please follow me, let’s go to a more private area," Mr. Bennet suggested and began to proceed off

Draven followed behind him. They halted, finally arriving at a more secluded area.

Mr. Bennet stood face-to-face with Draven, who had his hands stuffed into the pocket of his pants.

"What is it?" Draven questioned.

Mr. Bennet smiled. "It is nothing much, actually. As you can see, I have given up on the case."

"The reason I asked for your time is that I want to inquire about something before I take my leave."

"Go ahead," Draven permitted.

"We both know that you are the culprit, but that is not the point here. The point is how I was so close to exposing you, and as though it were magic, everything was flipped upside down. I felt like I never even began." Mr. Bennet’s tone was filled with frustration.

"I have thought and thought about it, but I cannot find an explanation, nor understand. Do you mind explaining to me how you actually pulled this off?" he asked.