When they reached the main hall that was right next to the stairs, Eve's eyes fell on Marceline's coachman, who looked like he was at the end of his wits. His eyes were wide in worry, and he shivered, while he looked back and forth.
The housekeeper informed, "This man here is saying that there's a werewolf roaming the grounds of the Moriarty estate. I have sent the servants to scout the place. It has been many years since we last sighted a werewolf on these grounds. If there is a rogue werewolf, it must have followed you on your way here to the mansion."
Marceline's coachman quickly bowed before he explained in haste, "Master Vincent, there's a werewolf and I saw it with my own eyes. It was right near the carriage, please believe me!"
"Carla has already sent the servants to take a look around to be sure. You should comfortably sleep in your room, as there's no need for you to worry about the werewolf entering your room and tearing you apart into little pieces, with blood splattered on the wall as it drips down. That's not going to happen," Vincent smiled at Adam, whose imagination ran wild.
"S--sire?" Adam asked in horror. One would think that after working for Marceline Moriarty, he could withstand the strongest winds and be less scared of anything, but it seemed the opposite, Eve thought to herself. He said, "The werewolf looked ferocious and looking for blood."
Even though Adam wasn't a human, but a vampire, he was worried about the presence of a rogue werewolf because the werewolf's saliva and the bite were injurious to a vampire and had the chances of killing him. The world was divided into two categories-- brain and brawn. While the vampires were intelligent and cunning, the werewolves held a physical strength that, on average, overpowered any regular vampire. There were only a few gifted exceptions to it and a few who had neither brains nor brawn.
Vincent rolled his eyes and asked Eve, "Do you want to take a look outside?"
Eve nodded, "I don't mind."
But the housekeeper's eyes were deeply furrowed. Carla didn't understand why the young master had to go too when the servants were already scouting through, and she couldn't have him look for the werewolf by himself and said, "Let me come along too, Master Vincent."
The four of them stepped out of the mansion with a lantern each in their hands as it gently swung because of the wind. Adam took them to the shed where he had encountered the rogue werewolf.
In the meantime, Timotei had sneaked his small body inside the huge mansion and asked himself, "Where is everyone?" He sniffed the air, trying to pick up Vincent and Eve's scent, but the only scent he could pick was of Eve in the air. "It's good that she's a fish, easier to follow the scent."
No one was around to witness the cat sneak in and make its way through the corridors. Its paws continued to push as it walked. He murmured to himself, "It feels just like many years ago, the perfect atmosphere to relax in than in bright lights. Mm, brings back memories. This is how a mansion should be built!"
As Timotei walked in the corridors, he came across the family portraits that were placed according to the generations that had existed. He saw the family portrait of the current Viscount and his family. He then walked further and further, before he came to stand in front of the oldest family portrait and said,
"I should get my portrait done too. The great me, who will one day conquer this whole world and eradicate the existence of the rats. Maybe get two portraits, one in my cat self, one and after Eve turns me into a vampire," he softly cackled in excitement before clearing his throat and walking through the old corridors of the mansion.
A few minutes later, Timotei reached the underground and came to stand in front of the dark double door of the chamber. Feeling Eve's scent heavily residing behind these doors, he pushed the door with ease and stepped inside it.
"Eve? Vincent?" Timotei called their names but didn't find them, while his eyes swept through the place.
When the black cat's head moved from right to left, his eyes finally focused on three tables, where on top of each of the tables were three separate wooden coffins. The black cat gasped, "Did someone kill them and put them in a coffin? That was too quick. I will rescue you both!"
The black cat climbed onto the table with the help of one of the table's legs, and he came to stand on the glass case that covered the top of the coffin. He walked towards the head position of the coffin, and looked inside before blinking, "Who is this?"
Being lazy, Timotei then jumped on the second coffin, looking for Eve and Vincent but not finding them in it either, he finally readied his body and jumped onto the last coffin, he was yet to take a look at. But when he jumped on the third coffin, it caused an imbalance with the table, and the table's two legs broke.
It took less than two seconds for the table's surface to slide down, and the coffin lost its surface, which ended up crashing on the ground, and the impact caused the protective glass case shattered into pieces.
On the other hand, the black cat had successfully jumped away from the table, just before the table broke down. On noticing the little mishap that was caused, Timotei exclaimed, "Oops."
Bringing his head closer to the sleeping person, Timotei stared at the person inside the coffin. He then laughed, "Ahahaha, everything is just fine. There's nothing to worry about." His voice then turned serious, and he said, "What cheap table have they been using? It isn't my fault that it broke. If they used a good table, it wouldn't have crashed. Anyways," he dusted the fur on his chest and asked himself, "Where was I?"
The black cat, not bothering to clean the mess it made, turned around and stepped out of the chamber.
Outside the vast building, Vincent and the others stepped near the shed.
"There's nothing here," Carla remarked dully, and her dull eyes shifted to look at the servant.
The other servants quickly appeared to come and report, "We didn't find anything suspicious. There's no sight of a rogue werewolf and the doors and gates have been locked."
The housekeeper informed Vincent, "Master Vincent, you and Lady Genevieve should have some rest as there's nothing to worry about here. You two had a long journey."
Vincent gave a slight nod and said, "Go ahead. We'll get inside after a few minutes."
The housekeeper and the servants stepped back inside the mansion, while Eve turned and looked around the snow that now rested on the bushes. She then heard Vincent remark,
"I think I know about the werewolf."
Eve turned back to look at him and asked, "You do?" Noticing him staring at the snowy ground, she brought her lantern closer, and light fell on the faint paw print. "Timotei..."
* * *
Author's Note: There will be no update from 8th March to 16th March as I am travelling to Hong Kong for Webnovel event. Updates will resume to normal after 17th March. Thank you for your patience.
