The Crown's Obsession

"You came here only for a visit, so it shouldn't be hard to lead your life back to a normal one. Leave this one here with us," her grandfather ordered her father, "Having someone who might go on a killing spree. Don't worry. We won't kill her. We will make sure that we fix her."

Madeline's father looked at his parents, anxiously, "Is it possible? You will spare her?"

"If she doesn't turn aggressive again, yes," informed her grandfather.

"I should have known that there was something wrong with her," said her grandmother shaking her head, "I thought it was just a simple ability when she broke the glasses in her hand, but she is not like us. Who knew she would try to kill someone. I can feel the evilness from here!" The woman's eyebrows contoured in distaste, and she turned her face away from the child to look at her husband, "We have to do something quickly."

Her grandfather nodded his head. He looked as if he was in deep thought as he stared at the small girl in front of him.

"Leave this place immediately," said her grandfather and her father looked startled, "Leave this place and go live in another village. Somewhere far from here and leave her here, with us."

"What are you going to do with her?" asked her father in a worried tone.

"I will tell you about it later, but in the meantime, go pack your bags with your wife. If someone asks, we will tell them that you left to live in another village. It is a good thing that you don't have another child, it would have caused us another headache. You can make it look like you're starting afresh." Her grandfather then said, "Go. Leave right now, and I will try to hide the evidence of death this girl has brought on this holy land."

Her father gave a reluctant look but didn't question his father's judgement. Sparing a look at the small girl, he stepped out of the room, and Madeline's grandmother went to lock the door from inside.

"What are we going to do?!" whispered her grandmother when she went to stand next to her husband.

Madeline saw the small girl staring at the old couple until her grandfather went to place his hand on the girl's head for the girl to fall unconscious.

"If the High House comes to know about this, the entire village will go down. I would have never guessed that we were going to have a bad seed in the family." Her grandfather's words hurt Madeline, who was listening to them closely.

"Why not kill it off right away. It would help in ridding off the evilness that is haunting in this land," whispered her grandmother.

"You know we cannot kill her. The last time a person like this was killed, a whole lot of people died. It will bring more bad luck and misfortune upon us for who she is. Let me see what I can do," said her grandfather, who carried the little girl in his arms, leaving Madeline who stood there with a shocked expression on her face.

This was a dream, right? Madeline questioned herself. She hoped it was just a dream and what she was witnessing was not real.

When Madeline stepped out of the room, she caught sight of her father, who was trying to get her mother's attention who was still sitting at the small dining table while staring into nothingness.

"Get up. We need to leave quickly. Come on," said her father, "Up...wake up, Madeline?" The voice slowly changed.

Madeline's eyes flew open, and she gasped for air when her eyes fell on the ceiling of the roon. She could feel her heart racing in her chest, a small sheen of sweat covering her forehead that left the small strands of hair to stick on it. The room was bright now.

"Did you wake up?" It was Beth who was calling her, "You slept a lot today. It must be because you were awake for such a long time. When you were sleeping, I even got ready. Come on, get up now. We need to head to the dining room."

Madeline pushed herself up and looked at Beth, who pulled the blanket and went to the closet to pull out the clothes for her to wear. "The King must adore you. He has stacked so many dresses for you. I doubt there's any need for you to repeat the dresses," came Beth's voice who pulled out a dress and then placed it on the bed.

"What time is it?" asked Madeline, her voice sounding distant and heavy because of the dream she had been dreaming so far.

"It was close to eight when I reached my room and got myself changed. I knew you would need someone to help you to wake up," Beth's smile was wide, unlike Madeline, who was staring continuously.

Madeline wasn't feeling good right now, and she felt sick. She felt lost, and she questioned the parts of her dream that she still remembered and some that started to disperse as time continued to pass by.

"Are you alright?" asked Beth, noticing Madeline didn't get out of the bed and was quiet, "I can tell them you are sick so that you can get some rest,'' offered her elder sister. But was Beth older to her? Beth was a year older to her, but in her dream, there was no mention of the first child.

"I am okay," Madeline tried to put up a smile on her face.

Getting out of the bed, Madeline walked towards the sink, splashing water over her face to wake herself up. The thoughts of what she saw and heard continued to linger in her mind. Raising her head, she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She had the same features of blonde hair and brown eyes as the small girl.

"What did you hear yesterday in your room, Beth?" Madeline questioned her sister, who was looking at the dresses in the closet.

"Hm?" Beth turned her head, "I don't know. It was some creaking sound that scared me. I tried to ignore it, but it kept making noise, and I came here. It must be because of the branches hitting the window," Beth said it out loud and then said, "I will take a look outside later, just to make sure nothing is going to bother me tonight," she smiled, "I should probably ask Markus to come with me and take a look. Men sometimes love it, to play the knight. It makes them feel good."

Madeline offered Beth a smile and walked behind the wooden room divider where the bathtub was placed. Taking off her clothes, she got into the tub while hearing Beth speak,

"I actually made a trip to his room before coming here, but when I knocked on the door, he didn't answer it. I doubt he's still sleeping. I would have entered the room, but then it would be rude to do so."

"He must be busy," Madeline humoured her sister so that Beth wouldn't feel bad that she wasn't conversing back, "As he's the King's cousin, he might have been offered more work."

"If that is true, it's a pity as we might not be able to spend much time together. But I was sure Markus would be present in his room because he didn't mention having any work today. At least not until later this afternoon." Beth pulled out a dress that she liked from the closet and then asked, "Do you think I can borrow your clothes from here?"

"Please feel free to wear them. You are my sister," murmured Madeline. While Beth was intrigued with the different types of dresses which made her excited, Madeline pressed her lips before parting them to ask, "Beth, do you know when father and mother were born? I mean the dates."

"Their birth year, you mean?" asked Beth, her eyes still on the clothes and she pulled one which she liked.

"Yes," answered Madeline. She used the water in the tub to pour it on her skin slowly.

"It is the same century we were born in," laughed Beth, "Somewhere thirty to forty years back."

Madeline wanted to ask more with Beth, but she didn't know much. And considering how Beth didn't remember Madeline's childhood and only her own, was it possible that...she and Beth didn't grow up together at the beginning of their childhood?

It didn't look like either of them were adopted. But if what happened in Madeline's dream was true, it was possible that she was older to Beth, and she didn't have an answer by how many years.

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Next chapter will be updated in less than 2-3 hours~