Chapter 60 - Source Of Aura
Queen Lillian was clueless as to whether or not the Demoness that she had summoned had killed that evil spirit or not. She wanted to be sure about that but she could not dare to summon Lilith again to confirm it.
Lilith had clearly mentioned that she would kill Lillian if she tried to summon her again. And she also knew that her magic was not enough to bind the Demoness inside the magic circle.
So now, all she could do was hope that the Demoness had finished the spirit. Judging by the way the Demoness was talking about that spirit haunting her as well, not just for a decade but for tens of thousands of years, she wanted to believe that now one of her many problems was over.
Now, she wanted to focus on strengthening her black magic so that she would be powerful enough to bind even the most powerful Demons in her magic circle. There was no use of being able to summon them if one was unable to control them.
She wanted to practice her black magic spells as well as summoning spells on real people. And there was no better place for her to practice than in the dungeons. They were all criminals and nobody would be too upset with criminals dying. At least that was what she believed.
And after everyone, including the maids and servants of the palace, had finished their tasks for the night and were deep in their sleep, Lillian sneaked out of her chamber.
In order to go to the dungeons one had to pass through the gate that was right behind the King's Court. And when Lillian reached beside the King's Court, she felt something. She was able to sense the aura of the 'spirit' that had been tormenting her. However, the aura was extremely faint.
If it was any other time, then probably Lillian would have not noticed. But it was night time and all the other people's aura was not interfering with the distinct aura that she would never be able to forget.
She contemplated for some time whether or not to go towards the direction from where the aura was coming from. But she was too curious to know.
Lillian tapped her long fingernails on her fist and then thought to herself, "What if I am sensing a very weak aura because the Demoness successfully killed that spirit? Or at least she must have hurt it very badly and left it around here somewhere."
Then a wide smile appeared on her face. She thought that her plan had actually worked. Now all she needed to do was to confirm it. She had already cast an invisibility spell on her and now she was inching closer to the place from where the aura was being emitted.
And following the trail, she was now standing outside of Adeline's private chamber. She furrowed her brows and thought, "Why would the Demoness drop that spirit here?" She paused for a while and then shrugged her shoulders, "Why does it matter? The only thing that matters is that it is dead or it is weak enough so that I can finish it off."
After thinking that, Lillian walked like a cat and then went inside the Princess's quarter. With her invisibility spell on, she was able to move freely without being detected.
And the closer she was to the aura, the more cautious she was becoming. She did not want to underestimate that spirit. Considering how old the spirit was, she knew where its powers came from. So she was not going to take any chances.
However, the closer she got, the lines on her forehead started seem deeper and deeper. Because that aura was coming from Adeline's room. "Out of the entire places in the Palace, why is that aura coming from that particular room?"
She quietly unlocked the door to Adeline's chamber and then entered inside the room. She was currently in the outer chamber where the meetings would be held. And cautiously, she entered inside the private chamber of Adeline, making sure not to wake Adeline up in the process.
But when she entered the room, her eyes were wide open at the scene. She could see bloody and torn up black clothes on the floor. And the bed sheet was covered in blood. And to add more, Adeline was nowhere to be seen.
Lillian froze for a moment because she did not know what to make out of the situation. Her mind was unable to comprehend what she was seeing. And she was also worried that she might get surprise attack from the spirit so she was not moving at all. All of her senses were alert for any incoming attacks.
"What is the meaning of all this?" Lillian's heart beat was escalating at a great rate. If there was anyone nearby, she was sure that they could find her by hearing her heart beat alone. But thankfully, no one was around, or so it seemed.
She closed her eyes and then took deep breaths in and exhaled slowly to calm her nerves. Then she started to put her mind to work.
"It looks like that cloth on the floor was the source of that same aura that had been haunting me for so long. It means it must belong to that spirit." Then she opened her eyes and stepped closer to the cloth to take a good look at it.
"But spirits are mostly intangible. They should not be leaving behind any clothing items like this. And judging by these clothes, it must have a similar body structure like that of a human. That means… I was never haunted by a dark spirit! It must be a mystical being, and a powerful and old one at that."
Lillian then moved towards the bed to examine the blood. She tried to touch it but the blood had already dried up on the bed sheet and she could not quite tell whether the blood was from Adeline or the mystical being.
Then she came up with her own theory. "Why would the mystical being's blood be on the bed? It must be of Adeline's." A sinister smile took over her face as she thought this.
"Judging by the condition of the cloth, that being must have been severely hurt by the Demoness. And then maybe that being ended up in Adeline's room somehow. Unlucky girl! It must have wanted to replenish the lost power and must have feasted on the food sleeping right here on this bed."
Lillian wanted to laugh but suppressed it and just grinned widely. "I had never been able to kill that filthy lovechild no matter what I did. But it appears that she was destined to be food for some mad mystical being."
"I can always summon another Demon to take care of that evil spirit… mystical being or whatever. But I have to thank it for eating away my eyesore. Perfect! I have to go and celebrate the death of the lovechild." Lillian delightedly turned around.
But before walking out of the room, she wanted to check everywhere for any sign of Adeline or that mystical being. She looked around for more evidences of struggle or pieces of Adeline's body. She even went to the bath house and other rooms to see if there any sign of the Princess.
After looking around everywhere, she concluded, "She must have been finished off on her bed. Or maybe that thing took her with it. Whatever it may be, I am sure that she is already dead by now."
And then she walked out of the room after making sure that the evidence of murder was intact.
Lillian was so happy that she forgot that she had originally heading for the dungeon and she now was heading towards her own quarter.
While returning back to her quarter, she could not contain her happiness and was chuckling once in a while and hopping. There was a guard nearby who was on his night duty. It was safe to say that because of the chuckle, half of his soul left his body and he was too scared to even check what had made the noise.
After reaching to her personal chamber, Lillian poured herself a glass of alcohol and sat down on her elaborate bed. She could not describe how happy she was right now. She was feeling as if she had finally won against her husband who had never cared about her or her sons.
She took a sip of alcohol from her glass and smiled mirthlessly. "Dragomir, I finally won against you. I did not even have to kill your dear daughter. She was taken care of by another being. This is what happens when you make Lillian miserable. Now look at you… you are the one who is miserable."
Then she emptied her glass and then started to dance around the room like a mad witch. She would cackle once in a while sending chills down the spines of the maids and servants of her quarter.
Ida, Lillian's personal maid, was startled from her sleep by the sinister cackle. And she had a worried look on her face, "Whenever she laughs like this, something bad happens. We hear some bad news the day after. I wonder what she did this time."
Although most of the maids and servants of Lillian had some idea about the evil things that Lillian did, they never dared to speak a word against her.. They feared that they would end up being the bad news and kept their mouth shut.