The Baroness Misbehaves
Chapter 179: A Visit From Elijah (1)

Chapter 179: A Visit From Elijah (1)

Just as he promised, Richard showed up at the grand palace in the late afternoon, his expression contorted into a disgruntled look. The journey to the palace had been quite unpleasant for him since he had to deal with the rumors concerning his son becoming a vampire, and a lot of other weird, random questions were thrown at him on his way here - questions like if he knew about Cas’s predicament and chose to hide it?

Or if anyone else in his family was also a creature of the night.

"Those gullible fools!" He muttered in a disapproving tone.

Unfortunately, it was impossible to shut the crowd since the information wasn’t one he understood. Cassian’s strength when he dealt with the Fiend at the prison came as a shock to him, but after digging into what Cas had been through over his childhood years, he discovered that his son had sneaked off from his yearly didactic training to join the military.

He wasn’t surprised, Cassian had committed far more mischief during his childhood. All those times they assumed Cassian was being morally educated, the rascal actually snuck off to join the military. Truth be told, he never gave Cassian’s life that much importance as he did with Abbot and Oliver, and that led to his cluelessness on his own son’s secret behavior.

All this time, he pictured Cas as a good-for-nothing, unaware of the achievements he’s secretly made while working with His Majesty and the CBI.

A guard escorted him down the long spacious hallway, and after five minutes of walking, they made it to a red door with intricate carvings. Richard’s expression remained grim as he knocked, and only when he heard the familiar voice that told him to enter did he finally twist the doorknob and opened the door.

Stepping in, Alaric had his back facing Richard while his gaze was fixed on the wide glass window. He stared at the world outside with a calculative gaze, his countenance giving off an eerie atmosphere even when Richard failed to make out the expression on his face.

He held a glass of red wine, holding the stem in between his fingers, and only after he heard the door shut behind him did he look over his shoulder to steal a glimpse of who had entered, and as expected, it was the guest that had him waiting.

"Duke Richard, what brings you to my humble abode?" Turning around with a thin smile on his lips, he asked Richard who looked the least excited to meet Alaric, but he held back his irritation and politely offered a bow.

"Greetings, your Majesty." He greeted him before raising his head up, "I do not wish to bother you at such times when you’re more occupied with political affairs, but there’s been rumors going about the East quarters and it relates to my son. My wife and family are immensely worried, so I’m here to confirm if the rumors are indeed true."

"Oooh." Alaric’s brows instinctively rose, like someone who just got reminded of something, and then he set his glass of wine on the table before turning his attention to Richard.

"That makes more sense as to why you’re here, but since it concerns your son, I won’t take this as offensive and try to answer personally." His demeanor retained their stoic expression as he folded his hand behind his back, and his eyes fixed themselves on Richard.

"Yes." He answered, "half of the rumor is true, but the rest half, there’s no evidence to justify it, so I cannot really say." He flicked his wrist, "but the truth I know is that your son is no longer human, he’s a creature of the night, the same creature you spoke about to me when I showed you the Fiend." He reminded Richard, "as unbelievable as it may sound, I can firmly justify it cause I saw his transformation myself."

"But..... how is that possible?!" Richard, whose face had paled at the news, proceeded to ask how his son no longer became human. As far as he knows, everyone in his family are humans, so how did Cassian become an exception??

"Duke Richard." Alaric uttered, snapping Richard back to reality. "Not everything can be told in one day. Believe it or not, your son is no longer human, and for the safety of my people, I’ve kept him under tight security, and no one shall see him until decisions are made on what we can do with him. If he proves to be dangerous, then I am left with no other options but to get rid of him."

"But..."

"Although I am surprised." Alaric caught him off with an inquisitive tone, "you have served me and my father for many years, but you failed to notice your own son who served by me as you did with my father. Hmm.... should I call this an improvement that you chose to ask of him today? Or are you afraid I shall give him the death sentence and it would be too late for you to rectify your own wrongs?"

"I beg your pardon?" Richard looked taken aback, but Alaric had no intention of repeating himself as he turned around, taking unhurried stride’s to the window and staring at the calm view from up ahead, but deep down, he knew what occurred in Carmarthen presently was the complete opposite.

"My decision shall be made tomorrow morning in court, and what happens after that will determine if your son visits the execution chamber, or...." He intentionally paused, "do pray I have a change of heart by tomorrow morning."

After uttering this subtle statement, he turned to look at Richard who had already grasped the meaning of his word. "Our conversation ends here, my lovely wife must be waiting for me and we have to be somewhere this afternoon. Whatever you wish to say to me shall be held until tomorrow."

He smiled, "If you want, I can have the servants entertain you before you leave, but in case you’re not interested in the hospitality, I’ll have to offer my goodbyes till tomorrow." Saying this, Alaric reached for his wine-filled glass and walked past Richard, heading out of the guest room and leaving Richard to himself.

In the private cell, Cassian examined his abdomen by himself, and thanks to the treatment plus his special abilities, his wound was healing incredibly fast, and by tonight, he should recover to some extent to make the journey back to the lower East quarters.

"You surprise me everyday." Came a sudden dark familiar voice that echoed right into Cassian’s ears.

Alarmed, he snapped his head to the gate of the cell to see a figure making his way towards it, dragging behind him two dead bodyguards, and from the familiar blackish outfit, Cassian didn’t need anymore signs to know he just received a visit from Elijah.

Standing before his cell, Elijah let go off the bodyguards he had mercilessly killed. Cassian’s gaze followed the dead body, and the scent of their blood invaded his nostril, making his mouth water.

"What are you doing here?" Fighting the urge to taste any other blood, Cassian locked gaze with Elijah who took off the hoodie of his cloak, revealing a strikingly handsome face that made Cassian believe he was looking at Elian, but he knew the truth now.

Elijah was Elian’s identical twin, two different people.

"I want us to talk." Uttered Elijah whose lips were smeared with red blood, and his fangs receded. "Just us."

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