Chapter 196

Carol’s POV

“What did you just say?” I asked, not sure I heard him correctly.

I felt paralyzed in my place, staring at him with such disbelief. My heart thudded violently in my chest, waiting with bated breath for him to repeat himself. I needed to know for sure what he had said so there weren’t any misunderstandings.

“Monica, the maid from the last night, fell down the stairs and broke her neck,” Bennet repeated, shattering my heart into pieces.

She was only a 17-year-old girl; how could this have happened?

Who am I kidding? I knew exactly how it happened, and my stomach tightened at the very thought of it. I knew something terrible would happen to her if she didn’t stop working for Jenna, but not this. I didn’t think Jenna would go as far as killing her.

“W…were there any witnesses?” I asked, my tone dry and void of any emotions.

“No,” he answered, shaking his head sadly. “It was late in the evening and the night guards weren’t in that area of the manor at the time. She died alone and wasn’t found until early this morning.” After a beat of silence, he added, “Jenna was devastated. They were close.”

I bit my lip, not wanting to say anything against Jenna in front of the King. No good would come from that.

“And where is Jenna and her lovely mother?” I asked, lifting my gaze and meeting his eyes.

“Jenna is resting, and Elizabeth is preparing the funeral. Monica was well-liked around the manor and most of the staff were devasted. I suggested a funeral to put her to rest. It’s such a shame… she was so young.”

“Yes, she was,” I murmured. “She should have been in school, not being a slave to the princess.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

King Bennet snapped me a look, his frown deep and his disapproval evident.

“Is there something you’d wish to say?” He asked me, his eyes narrowed.

I held his gaze for a moment before finally dropping it and shaking my head.

“No,” I told him. “There isn’t.”

“We should get going; we have a lot to discuss. Let’s get started in the back parlor,” he said, turning and walking across the foyer. I followed after him, my legs feeling numb. I was surprised I was even able to walk, considering I couldn’t feel them.

As we walked across the manor towards the back parlor, a thought popped into my head about Monica. Her mother was still in the hospital getting medical treatments which were supposedly paid for by Jenna. I doubted Jenna would continue making payments towards her dead maid’s mother.

“What’s Monica’s last name?” I asked out of the blue.

King Bennet frowned.

“Lucille,” he answered. “Monica Lucille. Why do you ask?”

“I want to send an arrangement for her funeral,” I lied. “I wanted her full name for the card; that’s all.”

He nodded thoughtfully as he continued walking.

I walked behind the King so he couldn’t see me. I pulled out my phone and brought up Oliver’s number. If anyone could pull this off, it was him.

Me: I need your help, and you can’t tell Aiden about it right now.

It didn’t take long for Oliver to reply, much to my relief.

Oliver: Depends. What’s going on?

Me: There was a 17-year-old maid named Monica Lucille, at the King’s Empire that died last night. She “fell” down the stairs. Her mother is sick and in the King’s hospital. I’m worried the royals will stop paying her medical bills.

Oliver: Why would they do that? And why do I get the feeling her falling wasn’t an accident?

Me: Because I don’t think it was. The bills were only paid if Monica did what was needed of her. Now that she’s gone, they have no leverage or reason to keep paying the bills.

Oliver: I didn’t take the King as someone cruel like that…

Me: I don’t think he knows, and I’m worried what might happen if he did find out. I don’t know if he would believe me if I told him the truth.

Oliver: You are his daughter, Carol.

Me: I don’t think that matters. I need your help to save Monica’s mom…

We reached the parlor as I sent that last text; the King motioned for me to sit on one of the couches while he sat on another.

“Is everything okay?” He asked me, watching me thoughtfully as I stared at the phone, waiting with bated breath for Oliver to reply. After a beat of silence, when I didn’t reply, he cleared his throat loudly, drawing my attention back to him. “I asked if everything was okay.”

I bit my lip and nodded curtly at him.

“Yes,” I answered. “Sorry, I’m a bit distracted.”

He nodded thoughtfully.

“You can’t be distracted today. You need to focus,” he told me.

“Yes, sir,” I answered, glancing at my phone once more.

When Oliver hadn’t replied I sighed and put my phone on the couch beside me.

“So, what are we learning today?” I asked him innocently, giving him a forced smile.

“First, I wanted to speak with you about what happened last night,” he surprised me by saying.

My heart stuttered in my chest.

“What about last night?” I asked, thinking he was talking about Moncia’s death. Was he going to blame me for her death as well? The thought made me feel sick to my stomach.

“I wanted to apologize,” he told me, leaning back in his seat. “You had just gotten here, and I know it wasn’t an easy transition. Taking you away from your mate wasn’t what I wanted to do, but I hope you know that it was necessary.”

I nodded.

“I do,” I answered.

“And about the maid, I know you aren’t a violent person. I’m not entirely sure what happened to her arm last night, but I’d like to give you the benefit of the doubt and say that you did not do what she accused you of. Jenna said she didn’t see anything specific after she was questioned. So really, it’s your word against the maids.”

“She has a name,” I said, glaring at him. “It’s Monica.”

He nodded.

“Yes, of course. I meant no disrespect,” he murmured. “I just meant to apologize for not taking your word more seriously.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek as I nodded.

“I appreciate that,” I told him.

He cleared his throat and leaned forward on the couch, his hands entwined with one another and placed casually on his lap.

“Now, it’s time you learned about your ancestry and how you came to be,” he told me. “As you know, there are three main sorcerer bloodlines. These three bloodlines are the most powerful in the world. They are broken down into three separate covens, each coven holds its own special abilities. The Amyrran coven specialized in potions, which included poisons and curses. The Sawol coven specialized in telepathy, and anything that has to do with the mind. The Wlanc coven, mine, specializes in prophecy. Most sorcerers tend only to have one major special power, a gift from the Moon Goddess, except for the Amyrran coven who all specialize in elixirs. All sorcerers have the ability to cast spells though.”

“Cast spells?” I asked, suddenly intrigued.

He nodded.

“Yes, as witches and wizards, we can cast spells and use our special abilities. My special ability is seeing someone’s past and future by looking deep into their soul. There are others in the coven who have the same ability and some only can see the past while others can only see the future. Some can see long-term past and future, while others can only see snippets of recent activities or recent future activities. Our covens are all extended children of the same bloodline.”

“And my mother was part of the Sawol coven, right?” I asked.

He nodded.

“She was the daughter of the coven leader,” he answered. “She could read minds. Though, she couldn’t read everyone’s mind.”

“Could she read yours?” I asked.

“She could if I allowed her to,” he answered. “Because I have a wolf, I was able to use my natural werewolf abilities to block her from my head. It used to drive her crazy.”

The corner of his lips tipped upward at the memory and then he sighed as he leaned back in his seat.

“The Wlanc coven were the only ones at first who consisted of mainly werewolves. Over time, that changed and now each coven is more diverse, but at the time we were the only ones who doubled as both sorcerers and werewolves. It made us incredibly powerful. I came from a long line of royals; my great great great grandfather was Alpha King because of his strength as an Alpha and as a wizard. He passed the title down to his son and so on. It was my father who changed our coven and pack name from the Wlanc Coven to the King’s Empire. He didn’t want the title to be based on the fact that we were sorcerers, but he also didn’t want to base it on the fact that we were werewolves either. He wanted a more diverse name, so he named it the King’s Empire.”

I nodded thoughtfully.

“That makes sense; I told him.

“Because we were also werewolves, and the largest pack and coven in the world, it made us indestructible. We were the most powerful coven and held the highest respect amongst both the wolf population and the sorcerers. It also put a great target on our backs.”

I raised my brows.

“A target?” I asked.

Just then, the door opened and the same Spanish maid from earlier walked into the room with a platter of tea and pastries.

“I brought some tea and snacks, Your Majesty,” she said, setting the tea down on the coffee table in front of us.

While the King was momentarily distracted, I reached for my phone and glanced at the screen. My heart stuttered when I saw Oliver texted back only a moment ago.

My breath hitched in my throat as I read his two-word response.

Oliver: All Set.