CHAPTER 473: DESERTED PRISONER

Before the maid could run far enough, the cloaked woman’s voice cut through the corridor like a whip. "Wait." The single word carried authority, not shouted, yet sharp enough to still the air. The maid froze mid step, her polished shoes scraping against the stone floor, and turned slowly as though caught under a spell.

The cloaked woman stood several tiles away, her chin tilted high beneath the shadow of her hood, the action showing that rather than just a simple sorceress, she might have been someone who was once raised and taken care like a noble. She crossed her arms, the gesture snappy and cold as she looked down upon the maid as if inspecting a thief caught red-handed.

The maid, who is in fact Cassius in disguise, swallowed, his slender fingers twitching nervously against his apron. His every movement was deliberately timid, calculated to perfection. He fiddled with his hands, shifting his weight from foot to foot, lowering his head in false guilt.

"Your name," demanded the cloaked woman, her tone clipped, regal, and impatient.

The maid lifted her head, and her trembling voice escaped before she could steady it. "P– Poppy..."

Her, or his, green eyes shimmered with believable fear, lashes trembling, the perfect image of a servant terrified to displease. Living as a King he had seen fear most often and knows what to do to pretend that he was in so much fear that he could keel over and be swallowed by the ground.

The acting was far too easy that he didn’t even have to try, doing them naturally despite never truly feeling fear ever throughout his life.

"I don’t remember ever seeing a maid like you," the cloaked woman said slowly, suspicion glinting in her eyes. She took a step closer, the fabric of her cloak brushing the floor like the tail of a snake.

Though not too scared, Cassius inwardly cursed her sharp instincts. What a troublesome woman. But outwardly, he kept his mask, wide eyes, a trembling lip, the soft but ragged breath of panic, as though one wrong word would end her fragile life.

"I usually serve the stable, Milady," Cassius said, voice small and hesitant. "Due to the new rules, I was forced to clean the left wing because the stable is far too close to the Lord’s chamber and Lady Arabella didn’t like that."

The cloaked woman stiffened. Even through the thick fabric of her cloak, Cassius could see her fists tightening around her arms. Her knuckles paled under the pressure. The mention of Arabella’s name ignited something raw, something venomous behind her calm composure.

"Even a maid who serves the stable has to be moved... You can only see the stable from the window, the stable isn’t close at all! She just dislike him having a single woman in his life. Does she think that this jealousy of her would be able to be carried for long? She had forgotten who is it that she has had a pleasure of being with!" she muttered, her voice trembling with restrained fury. "That woman has utterly lost her mind! Who does she think she is!"

She stomped her heel hard enough that the echo cracked through the corridor.

From where he lingered unseen in the shadows, Morpheus’s faint smile deepened. Ah yes, the scent of jealousy, unmistakable. How familiar it was to him. This woman carried the same poisonous envy that once festered in his late stepmother, Morgana. How amusing it was to see history repeat itself, to see envy twist a woman’s grace into something ugly.

And though his stepmother was long gone, this cloaked woman was clearly her successor in spirit, jealous, scheming, and burning to tear another woman down.

How terribly fun, Morpheus thought. How deliciously fun.

It seems that unlike his unreliable father, Morpheus was even worse. At least his father knew how to control his women in the court so much so that even that jealous Morgana wouldn’t do anything if she sees a maid had rolled around the bed with the late king. But Morpheus perhaps either oblivious or maybe even worse, just too confident believe that to care for the women was bothersome or perhaps even something someone of his great stature shouldn’t even care.

Which was wrong, of course, throughout histories don’t they ever know that women mostly created the King?

The late King would either be replaced, killed, or removed, and that could be done by those women in the court, the very one most men think as a bother.

Cassius had seen enough of this as a Crown Prince and also know enough on where to press so his amusement could be carried on for longer.

"Actually, Milady," Cassius said softly, bowing low with an expression of nervous hesitation. His tone was humble, his words almost trembling. "I would like to ask if it’s possible that you could have this letter be read by Lord Morpheus as soon as possible."

The cloaked woman’s attention flicked down to the envelope in his hand, something she hadn’t seen earlier but now finally noticed. The parchment was crisp but slightly yellowed, sealed with a simple wax crest. She eyed it with disdain, questioning if this was the reason why the maid had ran and was annoyed as the excuse for her bumping towards her shoulder was just a letter.

And to Lord Morpheus?

This maid must also think that she’s someone so great she could easily slip into Morpheus’s room while his physical body was in a deep sleep.

"Do you think I’m also a maid?" she said sharply, her irritation evident in the way her fingers tightened around her cloak. "Lord Morpheus, for the time being, wouldn’t be able to see any of us females because of that stuck-up, jealous lady. Therefore, you should have that letter sent to the Lord by a man."

Cassius almost broke character then. Stuck-up? Jealous? Lady Arabella?

He nearly laughed, biting the inside of his cheek to stop himself. For a woman of supposed refinement to speak of Arabella so crudely— it was refreshing in its stupidity. Was she possibly talking about herself?

Arrogant, jealous, and a coward all in one. Clearly this cloaked woman wants Morpheus but didn’t have the courage to tell the truth and instead felt jealous for Arabella.

But outwardly, he kept the act. His lashes fluttered, and he gave a nervous bow. "But it is urgent, Milady!" Cassius said quickly, feigning desperate sincerity. "It is about Lady Arabella’s faithfulness toward the Lord. An evidence of the truth!"

The cloaked woman froze mid turn, her expression finally took interest, "Faithfulness?" she repeated, her tone shifting instantly.

At first, she had been ready to brush the maid off, too bored, and too impatient, to even hear her out, especially when the maid seemed too lazy to even pass the envelope to someone else that’s not her. Her annoyance was once thick in the air but now her shoulders straightened, and though she tried to mask it, Cassius could feel her sudden interest prickling beneath her calm exterior. Her gloved fingers twitched as curiosity sparked in her gaze.

Arabella’s faithfulness. A rumor, a hint of scandal, no no, evidence!— the kind of poison she craved, the very one she had been waiting for, a great opportunity.

She knows for sure that no matter what happened, Morpheus would not leave Arabella but this could at least embarrass the arrogant woman who seemed to want to control Morpheus, someone she couldn’t possibly handle so easily.

Her composure cracked, and Cassius caught the flicker of eagerness in her voice when she said, "Then give it to me."

"You shouldn’t open it," the maid warned quickly, stepping back half a pace. Her tone was small but pleading, as if protecting some fragile truth but inwardly she was only fueling her into reading it. "They say no one else should read the letter other than the Lord..."

Annoyed by the very idea of being told no by a mere servant, the cloaked woman’s temper snapped. She raised her hand and snatched the envelope from Cassius’s grasp, so roughly that it had cut the maid’s fingers, or so it appears as Cassius let out a faint yelp before pulling her hands towards his chest.

"Now you go," she ordered coldly.

"But..."

"Go! Didn’t you hear me the first time?"

Her voice was grim now, echoing through the stone hallway, showing that if the maid linger, she wouldn’t see mercy, ever. Cassius didn’t argue, he merely bowed deeply, the perfect image of submission, before turning on his heel and running away quickly from the place, like a person who had just seen fire.

Yet beneath his lowered lashes, a sly smile curved on his lips.

Let the woman open it. Let her curiosity destroy her.

How delightfully predictable humans were when their jealousy was fed the right bait.

Meanwhile, the cloaked woman opened the envelope, unable to hold herself back a second longer.

Her eyes scanned over the envelope and suddenly something seemed to had glowed from the letters but she had failed to notice it as her eagerness took her over.

"Hah... so she is writing a letter to one of the men from the stable? So that’s why she had chased that maid... not jealous for the Lord but for the stable man?" The cloaked woman grin grimly when the letter she saw was in truth nothing but an empty letter.