章 35: The mysterious woman in black cloak
"What was that?" Daniel asked no one in particular as he looked behind him before shrugging.
"What was what?" Alcinder asked him.
"I don't know. I just felt like someone was glaring at me. It felt so weird. I almost felt a creep run down my spine. Look at my hair standing on my neck and hands," Daniel showed his hand to Alcinder, who rolled his eyes.
"I am sure it's one of your lovers who is displeased because you are -" Alcinder paused when he saw one girl he didn't want to meet early in the morning.
Samantha Clair.
~~~~~~~~~
After driving in silence for thirty minutes, Sebastian and the others finally reached their venue for the meeting.
With cold blazing eyes that promised nothing good, Sebastian stepped down from the car before walking to the entrance. A deafening silence immediately spread in the restaurant that was buzzing with everyone's happy chatter just a few seconds ago when they noticed the person entering.
It was Sebastian Marino, the most wicked of all the vampire princes.
It would have been an honor for the restaurant to serve him, only if they didn't know why he was here.
"Call your manager," Lucas ordered the waiter, who gazed at the prince before scurrying to the manager's cabin.
"Sir, would you like to sit and wait?" Lucas asked, and Sebastian looked at his watch, bored.
"I don't have to wait. He will be hurrying down soon," he answered, and just like he had guessed, the manager walked out with a scowl on his face.
"Where are your manners, Tin? If the prince is here, you serve them with the utmost respect by offering them a seat and asking -" The manager paused when his eyes met the prince the waiter was talking about. The fear and shock were clear in his eyes.
When the waiter said the vampire prince was here, he had never thought he would get to see Sebastian Marino. Cold sweat beads appeared on his forehead, and he cleared his throat before mustering up all his courage and putting on the best calm expression he could with the nervousness that was evident on his face.
"Prince Sebastian, we are honored to have you here. What can I get you today? Would you like a seat near -"
Rather than hearing his mundane bluffing, Sebastian looked at Lucas, who pulled out a photo from the diary he was holding.
After that Blake guy ruined his notebook by coughing blood on it, and the fire burnt it, he had to work the entire night to get the facts straight and remember everything the prince might have asked him to do in the past few days.
"Have you seen this woman before?" Lucas showed the photo to the manager, and the latter scrunched his brows.
"This woman? I don't think -"
"We know this woman stayed here for three days. So you better tell us the truth," Lucas said on behalf of Sebastian, whose gaze flickered around him as he observed everything keenly, noticing the amount of CCTV cameras in the hall.
Using CCTV in restaurants and hotels was a normalized practice these days, but it was odd how the restaurant alone had more than eight cameras. It was as if they were trying to capture every inch of the area.
Something was definitely up here.
"Will you answer yourself, or should I try some methods to get the answers out of you? It's not a big deal for me. I don't want to waste my time, but if that's how things are going to work in my favor, I won't hesitate to -"
"Of course not, sir. How can a peasant like me dare to waste your time? I will tell you everything I know, sir. Can we not talk here, at least?" The manager said, and Sebastian looked at all the civilian vampires, who looked like minding their business, but their ears were perked for the new gossip.
Sebastian nodded curtly and followed the manager to his cabin when something caught his eye. The person who came out of the room that was - Sebastian's eyes turned colder when he understood what was happening here.
"You can start speaking," Sebastian said as soon as they sat on the round table in his cabin, and the manager hummed.
"Would you like to have something to drink, sir? We have a fresh batch of O- blood too," The manager said.
His moving pupils as he tried to concentrate on anything, but Sebastian, clearly depicted how he was trying to come up with a lie and buying all the time he could before saying something.
Usually, people utter the truth about the situation just by looking at Sebastian.
So if this manager was still trying to play tricks, it only meant one thing. He had a backup of someone equal or probably more powerful than Sebastian, or the person had some information or something against him that could be used to threaten his life.
There is no way the manager would daringly try to deceive the coldest vampire prince in the nation right on his face.
"You see, they are millions of ways to commit suicide, but you chose to try to deceive me, hmm? What is it? Can't come up with a lie?" Sebastian asked, and the manager took a deep breath before he whimpered and fell on Sebastian's legs.
"Sir, please forgive me. I wasn't trying to lie to you or think of a lie. I just don't know how to tell you everything when I am in a tough spot too," the manager immediately started his drama.
It made everyone look at each other as if they didn't know what this vampire was playing at. Was he trying to use the benefit of pity by begging the prince like this?
"Your begging isn't going to help you. Just state the truth, and I might still let you live. However, if you waste more of my time, I can assure you that I will kill -"
"Please save me. I will tell you everything, but please save me, sir. Someone from the royal Kingdom has warned me if I spill the beans to anyone, they will annihilate my entire generation. You are also from the royal family, sir. Who am I supposed to believe and bow down to?" The manager asked, and Sebastian looked at Lucas, whose brows were raised in surprise.
So the royal Kingdom also noticed this woman here? Or was it that they knew all about this woman and were trying to protect her information? Why would the royal Kingdom go to the extent of threatening this man? What exactly was this woman doing in the kingdom? Many questions arose one after the other.
Sebastian thought luck was on their side when he noticed the shop in front of the incident where that rogue vampire was captured had a camera.
They got a vague image of the woman even though her face was slightly blurred and hidden.
When they asked around, a man finally gave them the information after taking a few gold coins. He said he saw the woman coming in and out of this restaurant hotel.
"What exactly did they say? What do you know about this woman? You tell us the truth. I assure you the information won't be leaked. No one will know what we talked about here," Sebastian affirmed the manager, and the latter looked at the Prince before nodding.
It's not like he has a choice in the matter. If the manager didn't tell the prince what he was there for, he would die. If he tells him a cooked-up lie, he dies. He will die in both cases, so telling the truth was better, right?
"Sit straight and tell me everything from the beginning," Sebastian ordered when he saw the manager still rubbing his nose on his feet, annoying him a little.
"The first thing I would like to add about this photo is that this person here is not a woman. It's a man," The manager said, and Lucas immediately narrowed his brows at the man.
"Are you kidding us? From what angle does this person look like a man? Look, if you are -" Lucas paused when he studied the picture.
Now that he looked at the picture, he wasn't sure it was a woman either. They just assumed that the person was a woman because of the long black cloak that almost looked like a maxi dress. The long nails on the wand-like thing and some long hair in front of the hood were what made them think like that.
These things can be seen in some men who are fond of them too.
"Continue," Sebastian ordered.
"This man appeared in our hotel six days ago. He had been mysterious from the beginning,"
"Mysterious?" Sebastian wanted him to elaborate on it.
"Yes, sir. The way he talked rudely and hissed after every sentence as if he was some kind of python, irked everyone. We also suspected he was a molester because he tried to grope our receptionist, but then he said he was just looking at the watch behind her and tried to side her," The manager explained.
"He used to leave the hotel early in the morning and come late at night. On the day the rogue vampire who infiltrated the kingdom was caught by the royals, he left in a hurry. He threw a huge sum of money on the counter when checking out and left just like that," the manager paused when Sebastian leaned further into his chair with a smirk.
"How do you know a rogue vampire was caught? As far as I know, the civilians were told the vampire was a traitor to the royal Kingdom and was running away. Apart from the royal guards who caught him, no one knows about this information," Sebastian narrowed his eyes at the manager, who immediately widened his eyes and wiped his forehead, his nervousness reeking out of his body now,
Sebastian knew exactly what was happening here and couldn't help but scoff. He stood from his place without wasting a second, surprising the manager, who looked at him, unsure of what the prince wanted.
"The number of cameras in the entire hallways, restaurant, and this cabin doesn't make sense either. It's almost as if you knew what was happening around you and were collecting evidence to give to someone," Sebastian's eyes became hooded and dark, and the manager squirmed under his gaze.
It was the infamous gaze of the devil, the gaze which promised nothing good to anyone.
"Probably, the king? So whatever we are talking about will be sent to the king too. Did you think I wouldn't notice this mini camera in your pen?" Sebastian asked, and Lucas smirked.
They had noticed the camera the first thing the manager walked to them. Garry was the first one to voice it through the mind link, and Sebastian had asked them to pretend to be normal. He wanted to see if this manager could be trusted or not.
However, seeing how he is still trying to protect the person, Sebastian knew it was futile.
"Or was it the person who gave you enough money to shut your mouth, and you are using the royal Kingdom as leverage because you know we people don't get along?" Sebastian asked, and seeing the manager almost trembling by the end of his sentence, he knew what exactly was the matter.
"Lucas, let's take these smarty pants to our base and ask him about things properly. Let's serve him properly," Sebastian smiled before walking out, evening his coat, and everyone bowed to him, making him scoff inside the mask.
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