The bustle in the castle grounds came to an end as the kitchen staff gathered before the king. The atmosphere had turned dense as the trunk of a tree.
Few minutes ago, the king summoned all the kitchen staff that was present on the day of Mirabelle's unfortunate incident. Helena could feel her heart thumping against her ribcage rapidly. Even as much as she tried to mask her emotion, the fast beating of her heart was heard clearly by the vampires in the room.
"One of you here poisoned my guest. Now it will be better for you if you confess rather than have me find the culprit myself" Sebastian said crossing his long legs while resting his head on his knuckles, looking completely unfazed but amused and ready to entertain himself. He already knew who the culprit was but decided to act oblivious.
His silver eyes shrouded unimaginable secrets and no one dared look up to his face as the questioning or what they felt was more like an interrogation began.
"Milord I apologise for my incompetence. I should have known better to observe every little detail of the meals cooked before it gets served. Pardon me milord" The head chef, Maria said.
"You'd be punished for that" the king said and Maria began to sob as she imagined what horrible thing she'd have to face because of the fool that dared poison the king's guest.
She wondered what was so special about this guest that the king himself was investigating the matter. The king has never taken any guest important as he had taken the Gardner's daughter. But Maria knew better than to allow her questions slip out of her mouth. Instead, she wondered what punishment she'd receive.
She inwardly swore to rip the culprit to shreds when the person is eventually caught.
Sebastian turned to Benjamin and the tray of cookies left from what Mirabelle ate was brought before everyone. The king and Benjamin had their suspicions and were about to put the suspicions to a test.
A cookie was given to all six of them that stood before the king. Among them was a vampiress who also served meals on that day Mirabelle's incident occurred. Helena, Esther, the head chef Maria, the vampiress and the other two servants.
A confused look adorned their faces as they wondered why they were given a cookie each. The leftovers of the cookies Mirabelle ate was taken by Benjamin the night the incident happened. After the king left Mirabelle to continue in her deep sleep, Benjamin swiftly entered the room and collected the evidence he needed before the girl's father came in to rest.
"Eat it" Sebastian ordered. They glanced at each other, utterly confused but obeyed anyway.
They all ate it and seemed completely fine except the vampiress who suddenly began to twitch in a strange manner. With a hand on her chest, she groaned in pain and then her skin color changed from it's usual pale color to pitch black and right before everyone's eyes, she slowly froze in time before crumbling to ashes.
The servants looked upon the ashes, cloaked with fear and confusion. What the hell just happened?. They inwardly asked themselves.
Sebastian's expression turned unreadable as he kept his eyes on the ashes of the deceased vampiress. Vampires could live for hundreds and even thousands of years but the only thing that could turn a strong vampire to this lifeless ash on the ground, was the "The witches brew".
It was a mixture of substances that could kill a regular, weak vampire but for a powerful vamp, it could only weaken them. So a spell was used to bind these substances, making it powerful enough to kill a strong vampire.
The vampiress servant wasn't a strong vamp, she was just a regular vampire thus the reason she got completely obliterated and turned to ash. Never to walk the earth again.
Sebastian and Benjamin suspected that the grey substance Benjamin found was the "Witches brew" and it was used in the cookies too.
Helena's feet and fingers grew cold as she looked at the ashes on the floor once again. She didn't know the content or the effect of the grey substance given to her by her uncle. All she did was follow his orders. Since her work as part of the kitchen staff, she had been putting the grey substance in small quantities in the king's food.
The spell made it unnoticeable in the meals. You can't smell it or suspect a thing.
She knew it was meant to harm the king but she had never seen the king show any sign of weakness to prove that the poison affected him. As she began to recall the events that happened the day before, she realized she mixed up the snacks meant for the king with the one meant for his guests.
The wave of realization hit her and she bit her lip so hard it almost began to bleed.
Her intention wasn't to poison Mirabelle!.
"You there" Sebastian called out and the five of the servants wondered who the king was referring to.
"The new one" he specified and they all knew he was referring to Helena.
"Milord" she trembled in response.
"Why are you trembling like you've seen a ghost?".
"Milord?" She was confused and in fear.
"Your behavior makes you look guilty" Sebastian said with a stern expression.
The words echoed in Helena's mind and she quickly tried to summoned courage to speak. She knew she was in big trouble and now, had to face the consequences.