Chapter 63 Chapter Six-three
BACK IN THE MANSION.
~Ellie~
A cold sweat washed over me, dampening my skin as beads of perspiration gathered on my brow. My lips trembled uncontrollably, refusing to form a single word. What lay before my eyes was too horrific,.far beyond anything I had ever witnessed in my life.
A maid lay sprawled on the floor, utterly lifeless. Her neck was bent at an unnatural angle, snapped backward, while blood seeped from her mouth, nose, and ears. The marble floor beneath her was soaked in crimson, the stain spreading like a grim reminder of what had just occurred.
My gaze drifted to Claus. His jaw was clenched so tightly it looked painful, his nostrils flaring with each sharp breath. His fists were curled rigidly at his sides as his eyes swept over the wailing crowd. Terror hung thick in the air; I knew I wasn’t the only one shaking. This was the first time any of us had been confronted with something so brutally horrifying.
Then Claus’s eyes found me.
“Ellie…”
In that moment, a storm of questions flooded my mind; questions tangled with fear, dread tightening its grip around my heart.
“Claus… what’s happening?” I whispered.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. When my eyes met his, I didn’t need words to understand—he was just as lost and shaken as I was.
Suddenly, the head guard burst into the hallway, shoving past the gathered crowd until he stopped before Claus, chest heaving from exertion.
“Thomas, what am I looking at?” Claus demanded through clenched teeth.
The fury simmering beneath his calm was unmistakable, yet he restrained himself. The crowd was already frightened, teetering on the edge of panic; raising his voice would only worsen it.
“Alpha, I don’t know,” Thomas replied breathlessly. “A maid discovered the body here and raised the alarm. My men and I searched the entire mansion and the city for the culprit, but we found nothing.”
Claus gave a slow nod and stepped forward to where the body lay. As he crouched beside it, a collective gasp rippled through the crowd.
“Claus, stay away from it,” I called out urgently.
He turned to me slowly and gave a small nod. The look in his eyes told me he understood and was fine with my warning.
“Judging by the wounds, this kind of death is rare—highly unusual,” Thomas said grimly. “Her head wasn’t severed by a sword. It was torn off with immense, brutal force.”
Claus gently adjusted the twisted head, placing it back in its rightful position.
Dried tear tracks stained the girl’s lifeless face. I couldn’t begin to imagine the agony of her final moments—the fear, the terror that must have consumed her as she died.
“This is horrific,” one of the maids cried. “Who could do something so cruel to her?”
“She was such a kind soul,” another wailed through sobs. “Who could she have offended to deserve this?”
The maids clung to one another, weeping and offering what little comfort they could. They had lost one of their own, and the pain of it weighed heavily on them all.
I knew the girl well. Her name was Mary. She was gentle, warm-hearted, and full of life and promise. Knowing her future had been stolen so brutally made my chest ache.
“Summon all councilmen and elders to the courtroom immediately,” Claus ordered, his voice tight with restrained fury.
“Yes, Alpha,” Thomas replied before hurrying off to carry out the command.
Claus straightened slowly. His hands and shirt were smeared with blood, but he didn’t seem to notice—or care. His boots echoed heavily against the marble floor as he made his way toward the courtroom.
“Take her body to the morgue,” I instructed the guards before following closely behind him.
The crowd gradually dispersed. Some returned to their duties, while others—faces heavy with sorrow—followed the body in silence.
Before long, the courtroom filled with councilmen, elders, scholars, and commanders of the army divisions. The air buzzed with murmurs and heated arguments from every corner.
Claus sat on the throne at the far end of the hall. Since I entered, he hadn’t spoken a word. His elbows rested on his knees, his face buried in his palms. The weight of everything that had happened was pressing down on him—far too much for any one man to bear.
Claus struck his staff against the floor. The sharp crack echoed through the hall, instantly drawing the crowd’s attention. Every gaze turned toward him.
“One house, please, gentlemen,” Claus commanded wearily.
Silence fell so abruptly that it felt as though even a pin dropping would shatter it.
Claus cleared his throat and began, “You all witnessed what happened to that young maiden…” His words trailed off as murmurs rippled through the crowd, faces contorting in horror.
“My voice trembles even as I speak,” an elderly man stepped forward, leaning heavily on his cane. His frail frame and silvered hair spoke of long years lived. “In all my lifetime, I have never seen such a thing. I have lived close to a hundred years, yet this remains a terrible mystery to me.”
“I know, Elder Lukeman,” Claus replied with a solemn nod. “It is strange to every one of us.” His expression hardened. “We have no idea what befell that young lady—and worse still, we have a killer among us.”
A wave of shock swept through the hall, shattering the silence into chaos.
“What do you mean, a killer is among us?” a man yelled from the crowd.
“Who among us could commit such evil?”
“This is madness! Bring the killer out and let him be executed at once!”
“Gentlemen, gentlemen—one house,” Claus thundered, striking his staff against the floor again. He waited until the uproar died down before continuing. “You all know the security of this mansion is tight. Only an insider—or someone aided by one—could carry out such an attack without alerting the guards.”
The crowd nodded, some cheering in agreement.
“So how do we find this culprit?” someone called out.
“Yes, we demand answers. The sooner the killer is found, the safer we’ll all be.”
Claus rose from his throne and walked to the center of the gathering. “This is where I need your full support,” he said firmly. “We must protect our loved ones—our wives, daughters, sons, brothers, and sisters. We must stand together and bring this culprit to justice. But first, security will be tightened. Guards will patrol every corner of the city, day and night.”
Cheers erupted across the hall at Claus’s proclamation.
Seizing the moment of distraction, I slipped quietly out of the courtroom and made my way to my chamber. From there, I descended into the basement and rewrote the letter in Jewish—the one I hadn’t finished before, when Claus nearly caught me.
I took the original letter and set it ablaze.
I stood there, watching as it burned to ashes.