Mysterious Attacks

"OH," she exclaimed, surprised and embarrassed to see Arthur at the entrance. The sound of the door opening went unnoticed by her. Arthur was dressed in a black coat, black trousers, and a white shirt under it. His black hair was combed back with gel, and he wore black shoes. He was devilishly attractive and beautiful. Ceil was briefly enthralled by his charm, but she quickly recovered.

Arthur smiled when he saw her blushed face and said, "Let's go!"

"Yes, my lord" she bowed to him.

Arthur broke the silence in the carriage and said "the maids did a pretty good job", as they both continued their journey to the council.

Ceil didn't get it because she was too busy admiring the scenery outside the window.

"You're dressed to the nines. No one would suspect that you are my mansion's personal maid. I must admit that I recruited some very capable leads."

"Thank you so much, my lord". Ceil bowed humbly.

"For what purpose? I was merely praising the maid's efforts, not yours."

She was agitated and wanted to say something, but she simply turned her head to appreciate the beauty once more.

Arthur stifled his laugh and continued to remain quiet.

Soon they reached council.

The council was enormous, resembling a castle. The first room was big, with an arc over which hung a massive golden light chandelier. Ceil was admiring the interior when Arthur inquired, "Are you planning to spend the whole day here?"

"His Majesty", she apologized, and they all proceeded to the third from the right.

It was a large conference room with a seating capacity of over 100 people. Around the round table, every respectable individual was seated. Sounds of chattering could be heard. Some people were standing behind some people she thought were their masters, with their heads bowed.

Except for a few, they all looked up and lowered their heads when the lord entered. The lord sat in the front row and offered Ceil a seat next to him.

The three heads of the council emerged after a minute, and all bowed to them. They sat down, and the eldest and wisest of the three heads, Thomas, said, "Greetings to all. We've met to talk about a major problem that's brewing on the periphery of the Reinstle Empire."

"There are a few people being bitten by an animal lurking in the forest," Hagris, the man sitting to Thomas' right, who was slightly chubbier and in his 40s, said.

"They transform into monstrous monsters like wild animals after being bitten by them," Hagris added.

"The investigation is still ongoing, but two deaths have already been confirmed," said Josh, who was standing to Thomas' left.

"Have you found any clues?" someone asked from the front table. Hagris expressed his thoughts "So far, no. The investigation team is still working hard, but no significant progress has been made so far."

"Since it's not an enemy attack, as the council head said, I'm assuming it's some psycho's job," Arthur, who had been silent the whole time, said. He had a poker face all the while, but his eyes said otherwise.

Thomas sighed and expressed his dissatisfaction with the situation "The perpetrator is unknown, and the investigative team's task is to locate him or her. We must concentrate on other critical issues before then. It has to do with the food supply we received from the farms on the outskirts."

Josh went on "We can't keep getting nutritional supplements at the expense of people's lives. We need to come up with a different solution."

Everyone began to offer their solutions, and it was clear that each solution served the interests of the person offering it. The debate lasted at least four hours and covered a variety of topics.

Ceil was engaged in the heated conversation for the first hour, but after that her boredom surfaced, and she covered her yawning by hiding behind Arthur, attempting to mask her boredom by pretending to serve him water but in reality, she was just passing her time with water.

Arthur wanted to laugh out loud when he saw Ceil behaving like a sophisticated lady when she was so done with them, but he just covered his mouth with his hands to conceal his smile. Arthur spoke every now and then, but he remained silent the majority of the time.

When she heard Arthur laugh, she turned to face him, embarrassed by her behavior. She sat up straight and seemed to be paying attention to what was being said. Arthur leaned in close to her and whispered, "Bored?"

She shook her head as she stared at him with tired puppy eyes. "Then bear with it," Arthur said with a light smile.