RoleplayNovel Chapter 267
Chapter 267
She knew her brother Henry very well. While he was an arrogant bastard who loved to brag about his status, she also knew he wasn't the type of person to chase after unnecessary risks.
He liked winning, but he liked being alive to enjoy the win even more. He was cautious in his own selfish way.
Even if the McClain family had managed to gather their strength and reclaim the land he had taken, they shouldn't have been able to kill him off just like that. Henry was always surrounded by guards, and he wasn't a weakling himself.
The most confusing part to her was the way it happened.
The fact that they supposedly killed him and then went through the trouble of sending his head back as a message was something that left her deeply disturbed.
It was too bold and aggressive, not in the way she expected the McClain's to react.
It wasn't as if they were fighting to the death or had a lifelong feud.
In a battle of resources, such a thing was usually avoided at all costs.
It didn't fit the usual back-and-forth games the two families played. It felt like something else entirely was pulling the strings.
'Could she be behind it...' Esmeralda's eyes shifted slightly, glancing briefly at her older sister, Victoria.
A cold light flashed through Esmeralda's eyes for a split second.
For a girl who technically knew nothing about the secret dealings of the border, one had to admit that Esmeralda's intuition was quite sharp.
She had always been suspicious of her sister, and in this moment of crisis, her mind naturally went to the person she disliked the most.
There were several reasons why her thoughts drifted in that direction.
For one, she knew the politics of the house better than anyone.
If Henry were to fail in his endeavors, or better yet, if he were removed from the picture entirely, there would be no one left with enough standing to challenge Victoria for the seat of the heir to the household.
It was the perfect outcome for someone looking to climb the ladder of power without having to wait for years.
Furthermore, her deep-seated hatred for Victoria had pushed her thoughts toward her sister to an unfavorable level.
She wanted Victoria to be the villain.
She wanted there to be a reason to point a finger at her and scream "traitor."
Nevertheless, as she stood there in the noisy dining hall, she couldn't quite grasp how it would be possible for her sister to pull off such a massive feat.
Victoria had been right here, under everyone's noses. How could she have organized an assassination at the border?
' Does she perhaps have secret forces hidden within the family's army?' Esmeralda wondered.
She turned the idea over in her head but quickly shook it off.
She knew her sister's life fairly well.
Victoria was skilled just like her and clever with her words, but she didn't seem overly ambitious in that specific way.
To Esmeralda, it usually seemed like Victoria believed there was no use fighting over the family's forces or playing complicated games.
After all, it would only be a matter of time before she naturally claimed her place as heir because of her talent. Why risk a messy assassination when you were already the favorite?
' Although, it wouldn't be impossible for her to convert one of his closest aids and have them harm him behind his back,'
Esmeralda thought, her mind coming up with darker and darker theories.
But even as she considered that, she hit a wall.
For someone to pull off a betrayal like that, they would have to get past Sir Godfrey.
Godfrey was the man assigned as Henry's shadow for this mission, a man whose loyalty and skill were legendary within the viscounty.
Knowing how skilled that man was and how protective he was of Henry, Esmeralda found her thoughts reaching another dead end.
No matter how hard she tried to come up with a possible answer or a secret plot, she couldn't quite pin Victoria as the person behind her brother's death. The math just didn't add up.
"Because of a mere mine, those bastards think they can harm my household?!" The Viscount's booming voice suddenly snapped Esmeralda out of her deep thoughts.
She looked up to see her father standing tall, his chest heaving with fury. The grief was still there, but it was being rapidly replaced by a need for vengeance that was going to burn everything in its path.
"I will not allow it!" the Viscount shouted, his voice echoing off the high ceiling of the hall.
"Reginald!"
He called his knight captain to his side. A tall, sturdy man in polished armor stepped forward from the shadows near the door, his face grim.
"Yes, your lordship?" Reginald offered a sharp, disciplined salute. His hand stayed on the hilt of his sword, ready for the order he knew was coming.
"Have everyone prepare! Every soldier, every knight, every man who can hold a spear!" The Viscount, completely overwhelmed by the grief and rage at his son's death, didn't hesitate for a single second to sound the drums of war.
"Since those bastard McClains want a fight to the death, that is exactly what they shall get! We march to tear their walls down!"
"As you command, my lord. Consider it done," Reginald said with a firm nod before turning on his heel and exiting the room.
You could hear his heavy boots echoing down the hallway as he went to spread the word to the barracks.
Even after the captain left, the tension in the dining hall remained as thick as smoke.
The Viscountess was still crying softly, and the Viscount was staring at the table as if he could see the McClain estate burning in the wood grain.
Charles and Victoria remained still, their faces masked with that same cold anger.
Out of everyone present in that room, only Esmeralda still felt that something ominous was afoot.
Her gut was screaming at her that they were missing a piece of the puzzle, that Henry's death wasn't just a simple act of war.
And yet, no matter how much she looked around at her family, she had no way of knowing what it was exactly.
She felt like she was standing on the edge of a cliff in the dark, waiting for a wind to push her over.