One Killed In The Ball

The dance ended and the man bowed down to the lady while Agnes followed his lead and flung her arm out courteously for the man to kiss the back of her hand.

'Finally this is over.'

Agnes muttered to herself with a relief while the gaze of the mysterious man was still fixated on her face, he could see the shrieking anxious expression on her beautiful face.

Whereas Margaret was still dancing with the person who apparently seemed a rich count, since the handmade loafers and the signet ring he had on his finger were the biggest sign of his wealth. 

'Margaret, O' girl what are you even doing?'

Agnes thought to herself with a bitter taste in her mouth upon seeing that the count had been taking her out of the palace and she had a wide smile on her face.

Well, anybody could predict what would happen ahead since that was the reason for going to the ball. 

'Come on girl, you can't simply believe anybody in the ball blindly like that.'

The lady curled her fingers into fist and wanted to knock some sense into her friend but that was definitely not a place where one could act rashly.

That would be a brave move to ruin the ball of King Cyrus Saikaro! 

And the consequences for the insolent behaviour would be severe for sure.

Meanwhile the man in front of her who just had a dance with Agnes grew closer to her silhouette while she was zoned out completely to realize anything. 

With the unique scent of hers intoxicating his senses the count could not restrain himself and instinctively his canines grew bigger into fangs. 

'Just a small bite would not hurt, right?'

He knew that vampires were not allowed to drink blood from humans and it was a law created by king Cyrus Saikaro to provide the protection to the humans at minimum. 

'Damn, she is inciting my senses and surprisingly I'm unable to restrain myself.'

The man muttered to himself and concluded that something was definitely different about her but still the answer was a mystery. 

'If Margaret goes away then how am I supposed to go home?'

Agnes was still in her thoughts that she did not realize anything odd around her and was totally unaware of the man's advancements. 

His eyes turned blood red and was about to bite her exposed neck in a jiffy with his super speed but a loud thud sound resonated in the hall.

Specks of dust rose in the hall and everyone gasped immediately not acknowledging what had happened since there was just a trail of dust, which led their confused eyes towards the wall which had a huge spot and bricks were broken.

Agnes became terrified and covered her mouth with both hands with terror in her eyes, the lady's lips were troubling and she could not move her eyes away from the man who was literally stuck into that hole.

"Lord Hawthorne!"

A butler immediately dashed towards him with a guilty expression because he failed to protect his master. The man who was just dancing with Agnes was now stuck in the spot and groaned while wincing in pain as he tried to get out of the hole.

Agnes trembled and if she hadn't been wearing a long dress to cover her limbs anyone would have seen her frightful situation. 

"How dare you attempt such a bold act rashly!"

A loud magnetic voice resonated in the enormous hall which was earlier filled with gasps and now every single head turned towards the source of the voice.

Every single person knew that Curtis was appointed to speak on the behalf of the king and apparently he was the one to utter the words which felt like a death sentence to Lord Hawthorne. 

Every soul present in the hall standing in every square corner held their breaths and immediately bowed with their one knee on the floor, while women presented greetings and respect by bowing with extremely low heads. 

Agnes lifted her eyes sneakily and daringly only to see the mighty king for the first time who was known to be pleasing to every human eye. 

'Is...is he?'

Agnes gulped down her fears after all anyone would have reacted the same way after watching the scenario. Lord Hawthorne was barely able to gather energy to stand up on his wobbly legs and with the help of his butler.

No matter how much powerful count he was no one in the hall had more strength than Curtis. Yes, he was the one to throw that powerful blow of air aimed at the insolent count. 

And it made the strength of King Cyrus unimaginable since the question was obvious if his personally taught and trained confidant was powerful then the king himself must be mighty in terms of grasp over his abilities.

The whole hall grew silent for a moment that only Agnes dared to have a sneak peak since the curiosity killed the cat. All she could see was a sturdy and stern looking man in the front of the staircase with his torso exposed and the muscles were worth drooling.

Curtis had red iris which were slightly darker than the rest of the vampires and definitely that was the sign for others to respect his decisions. Of course, he was the personal messenger of the noble vampire Lord Cyrus Saikaro and even royal bloods were obliged to obey him since the king was behind him.

"How bold of you to attempt to breach the treaty with humans,"

Curtis glided down the golden staircase which rested in the middle of the hall, while his sleek black hair tied in a long ponytail with a golden hairpin moved gracefully. 

Dressed in black robe with silver dragons imprinted on the shoulders he looked imposing and the intent stare caused an extremely dangerous aura. Everyone gave him way and scattered into two groups gasping about the pitiful fate of Lord Hawthorne. 

"And that too under the roof of King Saikaro's roof!"

His voice echoed in the hall along with a noise of sharp breaths while the guilty count was unable to concentrate on anything. 

His head was still spinning as he stood there with his butler, although he could see a double image of Curtis and could hear his words.

"I believe you assumed that the noble lord would not take any notice. Tsk, how ignorant of you!"

He mocked him and halted in the middle of the decorated hall which turned into an altar, while Agnes clutched her dress with the pressure coming from Curtis who was standing right in front of her facing Lord Hawthorne. 

Whereas King Cyrus was absent from the scenario!

"N- no please, forgive me."

Lord Hawthorne immediately knelt in front of Curtis not bothering to care about his reputation and honour and pleaded for mercy.

His voice stuttered and he began to slap himself hard with consistent sobbing and begging for mercy.

"I...I got swayed, my lord. Please….I beg you, spare my life."

Curtis did not respond or even flinched at his act instead he reached for his hairpin and took it out letting the long hair loose, with an effortless flung of arm the long needle pierced his forehead from the middle. 

Agnes gasped loudly seeing blood oozing from his forehead as his lifeless body fell and decomposed into a black smoke leaving the golden hairpin. Curtis walked up to it and picked the pin which was a gift from king Cyrus and licked off the blood with his piercing gaze overlooking Agnes!