First duty

Ch-94

Zaros was waiting in Maximus's study impatiently. He was called to the study after his sister's first duty as a queen. He heard the news from his people. A couple has been separated because of third person plots. When her plots were revealed, she tried to kill Lenora for laying them bare, but suddenly she attempted suicide. This thing will not be easy for them now. On the very first duty and the first day, a person was dead. This could bring a bad name to Lenora. He can't let anyone wrong his sister. 

Soon, Lenora, Maximus, Eudora, and Serene entered the room. 

"Are you okay?" Zaros asked the moment Lenora stepped in. 

"I am," Lenora said with a stoic face as she moved away from him. He knew he had been an ass for her. It would take time for her to accept him. 

Everyone took their seats. "Do you suspect anyone about the court scene today?" Eudora asked, getting straight to the point. 

"She was killed by one of the ministers," Lenora says. Her words shocked everyone.

But there was only one question in their heads. That was...How?

Everyone was far from her. But how could they kill her?

"How?" Maximus wondered. 

"I found this on her," she said as she forwarded the ring to him. 

Maximus looked at the ring in her hands and raised his brow. "Wasn't this similar to the one used on you and your brother?" Maximus said. 

"What is used on her and her brother?" Eudora asked as she entered the study, along with Serene in tow.

Since Lenora decided to tell them what was happening to them, it's high time for her to stop hiding things. 

"Look at this," Lenora said, handing the ring to her. Suddenly, Eudora felt burning and dropped the ring onto the ground. The ring turned blackish blue before it turned into ashes. 

Eudora's hand turned red due to the burn. Since she was a vampire, her healing abilities were good. Her burned skin started healing, but much to her horror, it was not healed completely. It left a scar on her palm. 

"Black Magic," Eudora uttered. 

"Where did you get this?" Serene asked. 

Maximus explained the situation to them. They knew it wasn't what it seemed to be. 

"The woman who died is not a werewolf." Eudora laid her doubt. 

"Yes, She is a vampire. Not only that… even before the pact between Werewolves and Vampires, some guests appeared in the hotel from the vampire race," Lenora said. 

"This is…" Serene and Eudora shared a look. 

"Actually, I have to say something more," Lenora started. Just as she was about to open her mouth, she heard a ruffling noise. Nobody heard but her. 

"Come in!" She ordered loudly, surprising everyone. They looked at the door in front of them. It was Zaros and Adira. 

"What are you both doing here?" Lenora asked them. 

Adira smiled sheepishly. 

"We are about to congratulate you on your first duties… but then we heard you talking about something," Zaros said righteously. 

Lenora was silent and looked at her husband for a while. 

"Tell him too," Maximus told her. 

"She is his sister too. He deserves to know the truth." Maximus added. Lenora stared at him before she looked at the people in front of her. 

"I can't do it," she said.

"You have to," he said. 

"Say something, you all! What is it about?" Zaros said. 

"Are you pregnant?" Serene asked with a cheerful tone. 

Lenora looked at them with a dumbfounded gaze before turning towards her mother, Eudora. 

"No. She is not. What is it about?" Eudora asked sternly. 

"It's about Sister Victoria," Lenora started. 

Everyone turned silent upon hearing it. Serene knew the history between Maximus and Victoria. She looked at him for a second but he was calm as water. 

Serene realized that Lenora knew about this and they were fine with it. Since that's the case, she has nothing to worry about. 

"What about her?" Zaros turned serious upon hearing his sister mention their big sister. Adira looked at them curiously. She has been hearing this name for a while but this was the first time she heard it. She wanted to know more about their big sister, which caused so many rifts between the siblings. 

Zaros was stunned that he had no words to say something. All these three years, he has punished his innocent sister for something that she was never guilty of. He was dying to know what had happened to her and why Lenora was dragged into it, if that was the case. 

He looked at Lenora with sad eyes. How could he have done that? 

He was sorry for what he did. It's just that it doesn't matter how apologetic he was or how repentant he is right now. All that matters right now is… how he could fix the things he did wrong. 

"She is murdered…" Lenora started as she looked at the people in front of her. 

The ones who never got hurt in the whole fiasco were Adira and Serene. But since they were all going to the vampire kingdom, one way or another, they would be hurt. 

She can't keep everyone safe. Yeah… she knew everyone wanted to protect their loved ones on their own. But it's just that… it's impossible. You are a single person who can stay in one place at a time. You cannot appear in all places where everyone is there to protect. 

Maybe people were hypocritical when they said they wanted to protect all their loved ones. This is true when you are either rich or have superpowers. Unless one cannot make such promises, it's harmful to both parties. The best way to protect your loved one is to let them know the dangers surrounding them and let them do their basic thing of protecting themselves instead of taking the whole blame on yourself and drowning yourself in pity if you fail. And if you succeed in protecting them, they always feel that they need to be in your gratitude and at your feet, doing all the services to pay off the debt for you saving them. Either way, it's a toxic cycle. 

Lenora was not one of these hypocritical types. Everyone in this room was individually very strong. She will not be arrogant by promising herself that she will protect everyone. If she let them know what exactly happened, they would know who the enemy was. That way, they can protect themselves and try to protect others too. Instead of keeping them in the dark and creating misunderstandings, this was better. And they already had enough misunderstandings until today! She can't or doesn't want to have any more of them. She was tired already. 

Lenora looked at them with a complicated expression on her face. She opened her mouth and told everything that happened while not talking about the history between Maximus and Victoria. 

She could see the expressions on the faces of Eudora, and Zaros was turning harder and more vicious with every passing second. How could they not?