权力的游戏 在线

The guard bowed to the guest in panic and stuttered, “I d-don’t think anyone has moved him from t-the place where he was l-l-l-last found.”

“And where might that be?” Regulus’ voice sounded as calm as the sea even when he looked like he was in a hurry to see the dead body of his brother.

The guard kept on bowing his head when he answered, “In the dungeon, Milord.”

Regulus instantly headed towards the dungeon at a speed that was faster than the wind. He briefly paused when he reached the broken-down door of the dungeon. He narrowed his eyes at the damaged steel door and then ran down the stairs.

A man in his late fifties immediately stood in front of Regulus and gave a low bow. “We were waiting for your arrival, Milord,” his voice sounded heavy, almost as if it was taking a great deal of effort for him to control himself from breaking down right then.

“Mr. Jake Greyson, I presume,” Regulus asked while slightly raising his brows.

That man raised his head a bit and then replied, “Yes, Milord. I was the one who sent that letter to you.” He then slightly stepped to the side revealing the gruesome murder scene to the newly arrived guest.

Regulus looked at the dead body of Romulus. There was no change in his expression whatsoever. He looked at the body from the head to the toes. He saw how the body was covered in wounds, around the neck and the chest.

.....

Though he didn’t show how he felt on the outside, he felt a prick in his heart when he saw the hole in his brother’s chest.

He slowly walked towards the unmoving body without shifting his gaze from it. He stopped right in front of the heart that was lying beside the body and then finally asked, “So, nobody saw who the culprit was? Is that why you were asking me to carry out the investigation?”

Jake faced the young lord and then replied, “Yes, Milord. I wasn’t here at the time of the incident. But after talking with some of the men, I found out that they heard loud screams coming from the dungeon and they tried to pry the door open. However, by the time they opened the door and ran inside, everyone who was here with our alpha was already dead.”

Regulus looked at the Slayer and asked while narrowing his eyes at him, “Are you sure they weren’t fighting among themselves? I mean… if I was Slayer then I would have probably slayed my brother a long time ago.”

“Er…” Jake knitted his brows and breathed uncomfortably. He then pointed towards the far end of the dungeon and said, “Our men said that they heard a loud crashing noise as they ran down the stairs. The assassin probably escaped by breaking the wall over there.”

One of the servants who was listening to the conversation ran towards the huge hole in the wall while carrying a lantern.

“Hmm…” Regulus hummed when he noticed the hole that was big enough for a man to jump through.

He walked towards that hole and then slowly leaned forward to see outside. He narrowed his eyes and tried to find the spot where the assassin had landed. However, he looked a little disappointed when he didn’t see any footprints over there.

‘Is my eyesight getting bad or are there really no footprints outside?’ Regulus thought to himself and heaved a deep sigh. “I guess I will have to look around in the morning again,” he mumbled and then turned on his heels to finally look around the room.

He carefully examined each and every lifeless body and tried to guess how their lives were ended. He noticed how three of the bodies were missing their hearts.

‘Did the culprit eat their hearts or something?’ Regulus turned his head to look at his brother. A slight hint of disgust lingered over his face. ‘If that’s the case then I bet the culprit was trying to get revenge on my brother. I mean… he did gobble up many… hearts and all…’

He narrowed his eyes at his brother’s lifeless body and sighed. ‘If only you hadn’t been greedy, maybe you would be alive today.’

He then looked away from his brother and said while walking away, “I would like to rest for the night. Send a search party to look around the vicinity of the manor for any unidentified footprints or any clue that might lead us to the killer.”

Jake walked behind the young lord and gave an update to him, “I have already sent out several search parties for that purpose. But we haven’t found any clue until now. I will immediately inform you if we do find something.”

“Sure.” Regulus slowly climbed the stairs and asked, “Show me to my room. I ran so fast that my calves hurt like hell.”

Although Jake didn’t like how Regulus wasn’t taking his own brother’s assassination seriously, he couldn’t force Regulus into taking the lead in the investigation as soon as he arrived.

‘I just hope that the killer won’t run away from the Kingdom by tomorrow morning,’ Jake thought to himself and then walked ahead of the young lord to show him to his room.

He opened the door of one of the largest guest rooms in the manor and then said, “I had asked the servants to prepare this room for you. I hope you will get a good night’s rest.”

Regulus looked inside the room and casually mumbled, “I don’t think I can sleep well because this isn’t my own room.” He walked inside the room and then said after sitting down on the bed, “But this will have to do for tonight.”

“Umm…” Jake looked a little confused after hearing what Regulus said. “Aren’t you going to stay here with us? I thought you would help us to find and punish our alpha’s murderer. Also, we all were hoping that you would like to step up as the alpha since you are the first pack member who has the claim to that position.”

“Oh, of course.” Regulus gave a smile to Jake and said innocently, “I will do everything that you expect of me. I was just saying that my brother’s bedchamber would be more comfortable for me since it is the best chamber of this manor.”

“Oh!” Jake held his breath and kept on looking at Regulus with a dumbfounded look on his face.

He didn’t like Regulus’ carefree nature at all. And he didn’t like how Regulus’ priority was sleeping in a comfortable room rather than capturing Romulus’ assassin.

‘I have a very bad feeling about him being the alpha,’ Jake thought to himself as he watched Regulus getting comfortable on the bed. ‘I think I should discuss with the others and start looking for someone else who might be a better fit for the role.’