A few nights ago, when Samuel had spat blood out of his mouth, the very same night without anyone's notice, he had left the mansion to meet one of the men who worked with him and the demon named Greyson.
"What are you doing here?" asked a man, who opened the door after Samuel had knocked on it. "You aren't supposed to be here," stated the man.
"I have something urgent to discuss, Walter," said Samuel, stepping inside the dark house.
"What is it?" asked Walter, who had sharp facial features.
Samuel said, "I need you to find a physician whom I can use help from. I have been spitting traces of blood since the last two hours." He looked at Walter with a severe expression.
"Why not use your family doctor for that? I am sure the King would be more than pleased to offer his help to you," said Walter as if it would be the most obvious thing to do. "There are plenty of doctors to help the Duke."
Samuel had a hard look on his face, "It isn't that I don't know where to find the physicians, but-" he started to cough again, and he looked around for the basin. Walking towards it, he was followed by Walter before he spat the blood out that was not red but black. "Do you f.u.c.k.i.n.g see this? I need an expert who deals with us demon-vampires."
The man named Walter had a frown on his face now, and he stared at the black blood that was in the basin.
Samuel was right, Walter had never seen anyone spit black blood, and it happened only with the demons who originated from Hell.
"You must have come in contact with someone special in the last few hours. The body doesn't react without a catalyst," stated Walter while looking back at Samuel, who continued to cough out blood.
"I haven't met any new people. I have been meeting the same people for the last few days. There's no way I should be spitting my blood out that looks like it is decaying!" there was a hint of frustration in Samuel's eyes as he said this.
Walter gave it a thought on why Samuel was spitting black blood. "A couple of years ago, I knew a woman who puked blood. But I don't think it was black and was quite red in colour. A woman who fell extremely sick and she couldn't eat anything. She eventually died."
Samuel washed his mouth with the water, spitting the blood's remnants, and he stood straight, facing Walter. "I know something went wrong and I came here looking for a solution, not for you to tell me I might die."
Walter replied, "The solution can be only found if you are able to find out why you are even coughing blood. Someone must have given you something. Maybe it was the food that you ate or the drink you had. People don't fall sick just like that. There must be a reason for it. Find out the reason and I will then tell you what to do next."
Samuel glared at Walter. This person was as useless as any other people he had met in the group, and he went back home without asking any more questions.
It didn't matter if he didn't find out from Walter who was supposed to be good at the information. Samuel decided he would find it himself. He started to draw out if it was Lucy or the maids who had tried to harm him by giving him something during breakfast or dinner. Different poisons had different effects on a person's body and who took it.
When he struck those options out, he could only guess something was transferred through someone. He had been perfectly alright, and it was only after he had hugged Lucy did he feel the pain. Did it mean Lucy was something he wasn't aware of? All this while, he had kept a close watch on her, which was why he doubted Lucy was anything special.
Lucy had stepped out of the mansion, meeting people in the castle, and she had also been to the cemetery. He wondered if she had picked something from the graves. His eyes narrowed at that thought, but that was not possible either. She had been there several times in the past, and nothing like this had ever happened before. What was new then? Questioned Samuel to himself before realization hit him.
It was the girl who had started to live in the Hawthrone castle. He wondered if it was her who had transferred something to Lucy before his wife returned home.
Madeline Harris seemed like any other normal person, and there was nothing special about her apart from her physique and looks.
He wouldn't know until he would test her himself if she were something people around her were unaware of.
Now in the forest with the rest of the party, Samuel trotted forward with his horse next to Lady Rosamund.
When his wife had suggested that they were going to hunt animals for dinner, Samuel knew he could count on his naive wife, but he had hoped he would get to speak to Madeline. Instead, she was riding with Calhoun, and Samuel's jaw ticked.
"Are you already giving up on the idea of hunting the animal, Samuel?" asked Rosamund with a smug smile on her lips.
Samuel chuckled, "I would never let the animal slip from my hand, Lady Rosamund. You will see that I will catch the animal and you all will be struck in awe."
Rosamund laughed at his words, "I would like to see that happen. If you aren't aware of it yet, I am an excellent huntswoman. Much better than my own son and daughter. My mother, your father-in-law and I used to often come to the forest to hunt down the animals."
"You are an excellent hunter, I will have to agree on that one, Lady Rosamund," chuckled Samuel. He looked behind him where Calhoun and Madeline were on the horse that trotted leisurely.