Before the ceremony had actually begun, Bryce had gone around asking all the leaders for a drop of their blood. This included Quinn, who was still locked underground as well. Although Bryce wasn't the one that had directly gone down to see him, as it wasn't the time for them to meet just yet, he thought.
The flask with all the leader's blood was made in preparation for him to unlock the Absolute Blood Control book and obtain its powers. Now that he was King, of course, all the leaders had complied.
Something only the King should have been able to do. Looking at the vault, he was enraged with every cell in his body. Just how was the King's vault opened before him?
"Whoever did this, come forward immediately!" Bryce shouted, stomping his cane so hard into the ground, the outer wood casing that had never broken before, despite how angry he was, finally smashed to pieces. Revealing his sword under the case.
Bryce's anger was just met with silence from the other leaders.
Bryce had half expected the book to be missing, as he thought that maybe Dwight still had the book on him when he was murdered. It would also make sense as to why Dwight was a target. Other than him snooping around too much, however, what he didn't expect was for the blood armour to be missing as well.
Bryce knew the blood armour was to always be kept in the vault, and only when requested would it be worn and taken out. So the blood armour was placed back in the vault after the King's passing ceremony.
Seeing that it was no longer in there meant one thing, that the vault itself had been opened.
'thinking about this, it means there should be a supply of blood containing all our blood that only Dwight knew the location of. If Dwight was here, or if it was possible to raise him from the dead, I would. There are many questions I would like to ask you..' Bryce thought, but thinking about that, he thought there may be one other person who was in the loop with everything that was happening.
The only other person that was locked away.
"Kyle, Prima, this will be your first task. Make sure you question every single one of the Royal Guards. Between the old King's eternal slumber and now, I want to know everyone who entered and left this castle and at what time.
"We will find and punish whoever did this, and it won't be light. For the other leaders, I suggest you do the same. Once you have had the time to question those in your family, we shall have another meeting at the council table. I know the council table has not had all its seats filled yet, but we must discuss the matter about the tenth leader as well. Does everyone understand?"
They nodded rather than responded, which just angered Bryce again, to the point he slammed his foot on the ground, choking up pieces of the flooring everywhere.
"Yes, your majesty!" They all replied and were off.
Leaving the room, Muka and Jin were shaking their heads, already thinking whether what they had done was the right choice. Bryce was taking the role of the King, just a bit too well.
———
Underneath the King's castle, it hadn't been long since Quinn had his last visitor, and once again, it was for someone to take his blood. Only this time, they were wearing the royal uniform.
Vincent explained what the most likely case for it was, which meant that either a King or Queen had been selected. Asking the Royal guard achieved no results though, and Quinn was just left in there on his own for a while.
'What am I meant to do?' Quinn thought. What was worrying him most was not having contact with the outside world, and every so often, when Quinn would be visited, they would supply him with more of those strange needles, not allowing him to regain any of his MC points.
However, he did have one trick up his sleeve, but he could only use it when he left this room.
After several hours, the door opened again and this time, entering the room was someone Quinn hadn't expected. Usually, his footsteps would be followed by a clacking noise of his cane, but it was broken.
"You're not going to try to fight me while I'm down here, are you? Maybe you should let me down, and we can have a round." Quinn said nervously, bracing himself for Bryce to hit him.
Bryce stopped just in front of Quinn, and looked at him tied up against the wall.
"You should address me differently now. If you could, I would ask you to bow." Bryce stated, and it was the answer Quinn was looking for.
Muka and Jin had followed through with his plan, and now Bryce had been made King.
"I found out that Jin and Muka came to visit you not too long before the vote. I'm guessing that you maybe had something to do with me being elected King. Let's not pretend, me and you don't get along.
"We don't like each other, so the only reason you would ask them to vote for me, is because you trust the other side less. You see, there has been a problem, the Absolute Control Blood book, along with the blood armour has been stolen.
"It's quite clear who they will place the blame on, especially as one has the ability to hide things from others in their shadow. I don't suspect you Quinn, which is why I'm asking you to tell me everything you found out between you and Dwight."
Quinn thought about it for a while. Who would have thought that the two of them would be placed in a situation like this?
"What will you do for me? Will you set me free? You said it yourself; you know I am not behind this." Quinn asked.
"And abuse my power and position right as I get the seat, don't be an idiot. The other leaders wouldn't allow it. A king needs to also prove his worth to the people that follow him. What is the point of a king with no people? With you tied down here, there is nothing you can do, you can keep that information to yourself, and it will be useless as you get accused of killing Dwight and stealing the items, or you can tell me, and with my current position, I can look into things."
"Will you protect the tenth castle?" Quinn asked.
But Bryce didn't say anything, which was only angering Quinn more. He never wanted this person to be King. If it was someone else, they would have wanted this information so badly that they would be willing to compromise or make a deal, but Quinn could tell Bryce wasn't going to agree to anything.
Quinn could either tell him or not.
"Fine," Quinn said, and he started to explain everything he had found out about Cindy and Jill so far. Listening to the story, Bryce seemed to be calm, and the two behind everything didn't seem to come as a surprise to him either.
When Quinn was finished, Bryce simply started to walk off back out of the door.
"Wait, Bryce! I helped you become King, I didn't harm you when I could have, and now I've also told you who might be behind everything. You owe me at least one thing. So protect the tenth people. You said it yourself, your King now, so they're your people as well!" Quinn shouted.
But no words were spoken, and Bryce just left the room.
Soon after, he went to the council room, where all the leaders were waiting patiently. They had gathered at the request of the King. After asking details from the royal guard, Bryce had found out nothing, which was why he had decided to go to Quinn.
But it looked like the other leaders didn't know anything anyway, or at least they 'claimed' to not know anything.
"If there is no new information on the book and armour, we shall move onto the next subject of the tenth leader, Quinn Talen." Bryce started. "Does anyone have an opinion or any new evidence on this matter?"
A single person had raised their hand, Cindy.
"As you guys know, I learnt from Cia that they have a blood fairy in their possession. Which was why everyone was put on high alert. Anyone who keeps those things are only doing so with an intention to harm the vampires. We found out his equipment has the same blood that was found in Dwight, so I don't understand what we are waiting for?"
"Because it doesn't confirm that Quinn was the one that killed Dwight, nor does it confirm he has a blood fairy, just because he has blood fairy equipment," Muka Stated. "Although I do admit, he is our prime suspect."
"Well, why don't we confirm he has the blood fairy. It had to have been a large amount, and we might find more evidence at the castle." Said Jill. "If he has the blood fairy, then who knows what else he is hiding, maybe the blood book and more. He constantly met up with Dwight, so there are ways he could have gotten blood."
Most of the room was clearly pinning all the blame on the tenth family, and Bryce could see that. It was going to be hard to sway anyone's decision.
"Very well, I agree. Someone needs to go to the tenth castle and confirm they have a blood fairy there." Bryce said. "However, entering the tenth castle could be difficult with the leader's followers. So why don't you Jill, head over to the castle? If you want to stay alive, I suggest you bring an army with you. I doubt the tenth will just hand him over to you. The tenth family is weak, so prove your worth." Bryce said.
*****
