The Baroness Misbehaves
Chapter 238: Another Presence (1)

Chapter 238: Another Presence (1)

When the evening sky began to darken, Cas and Orson waited outside with Monica, all dressed to leave the house for the choosing event, and it didn’t take too long before Madeline joined them, equally dressed in a purple gown, and as always, she looked no different from her people, even prettier.

"Shall we leave?"

"What about Inna?" With his brows narrowing downward, Cassian asked about his sister, but Madeline cleared her throat and fixed her frantic gaze on Monica.

"Inna might come later as she’s still getting ready, I was hoping you could come back in the next ten minutes to pick her up if it isn’t too much trouble." Madeline requested from Monica, and a long pause was what Madeline received.

"We can wait for her." Cassian suggested, not willing to leave his sister all by herself, but Madeline shook her head at the idea.

"The choosing event is starting soon and Osvaldo must be expecting us already, Monica will come back to get Inna when she’s done, and you know Inna, she takes her time when it comes to this type of thing. But we can’t waste time any longer." Madeline persuaded Cassian in a good tone, and Orson joined in.

"I agree with Maddie on this one. Let the girl grow up," Orson tsked, "she can take care of herself. Come on."

"We really can’t waste anymore time delaying, I’ll be back to pick her up like Madeline suggested." Monica assured Cassian who acted a bit hesitant, but after some deep thinking, he agreed.

"Have you told her we’re leaving already?"

"She suggested it, she’ll probably know once we stop talking." Madeline joked, but it was also true because Inna was waiting in the living room, hoping to no longer hear their voices before stepping out.

When Monica opened the portal with her sister’s Medallion, Orson jerked behind Cassian, his eyes widened in awe at the sight of a swirling loophole. The light reflection danced in his eyes, and his jaw almost dropped.

"Please tell me it’s real." He looked at Monica with an expectant gaze, and she nodded her head with great enthusiasm. This was one of the things she found enjoyable, shocking the clueless ones with the magic of Whitebridge.

"I’ve heard about these things, if one enters it takes them to a different dimension. You mean if I step inside, I’ll show up at the ceremony?"

"How about we give you the honors by going in first?"

"I don’t need the honors I’m definitely going in." Fixing his collars, Madeline and Cassian watched with wide eyes as Orson went through the portal, unshaken but very much excited.

"How did he not get scared?" Madeline asked in a hushed tone, and Cassian shook his head.

"It’s Orson, he’ll get thrilled by anything, but portals can be messed with, what if something wrong happened and he’s taken somewhere else."

"Shall we?"

Monica’s voice alerted them on their turn to step inside the portal. Cas and Madeline went in together, and Monica followed the portal closed up.

Inna watched from the window in the living room, and when she saw the magic loophole close up, she hurried to the door and opened it. As expected, they had left, and a slow smile graced her lips as she continued to peek outside.

"What are you staring at?"

Alarmed by the voice that jolted her to reality, out of mere defensive instinct, Inna swiftly turned to punch Elian in the face, but just like her, he was fast to react as he caught her small fist in his grasp. The surprise in both their eyes shifted to her fist that had been caught, then back to each other’s gaze.

"Was that intentional?"

"Of course not." She released her fist from his grasp. "That’s what you get for trying to scare the wits out of me. Unfortunately, you had been lucky enough to catch it before I ruined your face at the last minute."

"The way you take pride in doing something so wicked."

"I’ve had my days." As she answered, her gaze secretly swept Elian to see he was all dressed up. She smiled in a way that emphasized the word, ’Just in time.’

"So..." stepping out of the house, Inna made her way down the porch before turning around to look at Elian whose green eyes subtly followed her.

"How are we going to get to the event ceremony?"

"You like horses?"

"Mhmmn." She nodded, "I was basically spoiled to a limit, both my parents didn’t let me keep a horse. I got a Cello instead during my birthday to make up for it, but why do you ask?"

"Well I.." just when he was about to reveal it, Cassian and Orson’s little show played in his head, and a feeling of slight embarrassment with equal annoyance displayed in his visage, but he was quick enough to shake the thought from his mind and said.

"The people of Whitebridge are fond of horses, you saw for yourself when we stepped in. A lot of them were moving on a horse’s back and I thought why not ride one to the event instead? That is if you’re okay with it."

"You got us a horse?!" She exclaimed, but it only lasted for a minute before her eyes narrowed into a suspicious slit. "How did you find a horse at such a time?"

"I noticed one on our way here, Osvaldo made us walk all the way to this place as punishment for defying him, and my eyes noticed a lot of things on the way."

"You really got a horse? Where is it?!" With brightened eyes, Inna quickly moved to the back of the house to check as though she already knew she would find the majestic white horse waiting there.

Elian released a breath he never knew he had been holding, feeling surprisingly relieved that she was into horses. For a lady who knew how to shoot without being taught, Elian couldn’t expect less.

With his lips curved to the side in a faint charming smile, he brushed his red hair back and followed Inna who was already giving the horse a name.

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As Monica led the three of them through the hallway, Madeline took notice of how the whole place had been refined. It was already a beauty to begin with, but seeing the wonderful candles lit and hanging on a chandelier that dropped slightly from the ceiling felt ethereal to look at.

"This was one of the reasons Osvaldo and I couldn’t come to help you with training. The choosing ceremony was a lot more hectic than we expected it to be, and then, last night’s chaos." She stole a glance at Orson who looked away, already well aware of what the strange lady was pointing at with her words.

A few guests passed them by, and Monica stopped to greet them in their language, equally offering a bow. The guests responded heartily before looking at Madeline and the rest with a smile, then walked away.

"Not everyone knows how to speak fluent English here." Monica told them as they continued to walk, "Whitebridge has its own language, and they prefer to speak that way rather than using foreign languages."

"I like the tone of your language, I hope you won’t mind giving me lessons in the future." Madeline requested from Monica who nodded her head in delight.

"Once Whitebridge is restored, I’ll take you to all the best places we have here. For now, moving about can be dangerous since there are Fiends hiding all over, waiting for that one victim they can use as a vessel. No one’s allowed to get too close outside Whitebridge and...argh!!"

"Monica?"

Her sudden panicked yelp interrupted her phrase. Once again, she clutched to her arm with her eyes squeezed shut, battling the pain that was trying to course through her system. When Madeline studied the arm she had gripped tight, tiny threads of black vein appeared, but disappeared before Madeline could do anything about it.

"The hell...!!" Orson’s shocked exclamation came out in a whisper, equally witnessing what just happened. "She’s..."

"The spell Osvaldo casted, is it wearing off already?" Cassian asked Monica who seemed alright as the threads of vein were no longer in sight, and she nodded her head, releasing a disappointed sigh.

"I don’t want to go through that pain again, so don’t tell Osvaldo, please. I believe you and Maddie can find the cure that will get rid of it for good. In the meantime, I’ll do the best I can to hold it off, I’m capable, but don’t tell Osvaldo, he’ll do that spell, and it’s torturing." She looked at the three of them pleadingly.

At that moment, Cassian’s eyes snapped to the corners of the hallway, sensing an even stronger darkness following them. He couldn’t see it, but it felt like someone or something very sinister was watching them.

But where??

"Let’s find somewhere more private where we can talk."

"But the ceremony..."

"Now." The urgency in his voice as he whispered to the three of them made Monica nod without further arguments.

"Don’t make it obvious, just pretend, keep the conversation going and lead us somewhere private."