Chapter 223-A scary possibility

Chapter 223: 223-A scary possibility

Maisa moved the search to the kitchens. Since other workers hadn’t proved useful to provide the information they needed.

Zolani had insisted that the kitchen staff were likely to know more than the guards because food had to be delivered to the royal household every day. And kitchen maids were always full of juicy gossip.

She wasn’t entirely wrong. The head cook recognized all five vampires immediately and bowed. "Your Majesty. Your Highnesses."

"Do you remember preparing meals for us during the past week?" Maisa asked, she didn’t beat around the bush.

The cook nodded. "Of course, Your Majesty. The royal kitchen received specific instructions concerning your meals."

"What instructions?"

"Five portions were prepared every morning and evening. They were to be delivered to the gazebo," he explained. "Four servings were nothing unusual, but the fifth came with very specific instructions."

Maisa frowned. "Every day?"

She couldn’t remember eating anything during those seven days, let alone having meals delivered to them.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"What were the instructions for the fifth serving?" Lumi stepped forward, pressing for an answer before Maisa could get distracted by another detail.

"The meals had to contain pregnancy-inducing ingredients and nutrients suitable for an expectant mother. Even the blood was prepared differently. It had to contain all five blood types mixed together." The servant shook his head, still looking perplexed. "It was strange. Usually, an expectant vampire should only consume blood suitable for the child they’re carrying. Why would anyone mix all five blood types?"

Maisa and the others went deathly pale. They exchanged horrified glances as the pieces began falling into place. They had an idea why someone would have ordered such unusual meals, and the possibility was almost too frightening to consider.

"I mean..." The servant continued, oblivious to the sudden change in their expressions. "Even if someone used blood from vampires of all five blood types to conceive a child, it’s impossible for that child to possess all five blood types."

He paused, frowning as though he had just remembered something else. "At least, that’s what we’ve always been taught."

Maisa wanted to believe that too. Under normal circumstances, the idea would have sounded absurd. But she had witnessed too many impossible things since becoming a vampire to dismiss the possibility outright.

The blood cocoon, the identity flower, their inexplicable transformation, and the seven missing days had already challenged everything she thought she knew about their world.

She wasn’t about to rule out the possibility that whoever was responsible for their predicament had somehow accomplished what everyone believed impossible.

And if that was true, then the child they were searching for might be far more extraordinary than any of them had imagined.

"Who ate the food you took to the gazebo?" She moved on.

The cook looked confused. "I assumed Your Majesty and the queen consorts did."

"We didn’t," Addessa interrupted. "We were asleep."

The cook’s face changed. "You mean...?"

"We don’t remember eating anything," Lumi explained. "Did someone collect the meals?"

"Yes. A royal attendant came to collect them each time. I never saw the meals returned."

"Who was the attendant?" Sapphire asked.

The cook thought for a moment before answering. "I believe it was one of the attendants assigned to Her Majesty’s new royal household. A young woman with silver hair."

"Do you know her name?" Maisa’s eyes narrowed. "Can you describe her?"

The cook shook her head apologetically. "I’m afraid I don’t know her name."

Lumi looked thoughtful. "Five meals every morning and evening. That means someone was feeding us while we were supposedly asleep."

"Or someone was taking the food somewhere else," Addessa suggested.

Zolani tilted her head. "Maybe we were awake and simply don’t remember."

Nobody said another word. It was a possibility none of them wanted to consider.

---

By midday, they had questioned nearly everyone they could find. The palace staff remembered the coronation, the royal retirement, and the week-long celebration that followed. They spoke about the festivities as though they had been the most natural events in the world.

Maisa had been crowned three days before their awakening. All of them had apparently attended the festivities and played host to two banquets.

The former queens had announced their retirement. The kingdom had celebrated its new ruler and the four women had been formally recognized as her queen consorts. Yet nobody seemed to find anything strange about the fact that none of them remembered it.

"There’s something wrong with their memories," Lumi finally concluded as they gathered in a quieter corridor.

"How can you tell?" Sapphire asked.

"Because their accounts are too consistent. Everyone remembers the same events, but nobody can explain the details surrounding them. They know what happened, but when we ask who gave the orders or how certain decisions were made, their memories become vague."

Addessa folded her arms. "Could someone have compelled them?"

"Possibly. But compulsion doesn’t usually make an entire group forget the same details in exactly the same way."

"And to compel the whole Nation, it would take alot of power," Maisa looked toward the fifth castle, the one Varitraya had said had been empty for a long time.

One thought crossed her mind, the powerful white-haired vampire who made a deal with her. "The mo..mother?"

Lumi didn’t immediately respond because she didn’t catch onto what Maisa was saying. "The great mother is capable of manipulating memories. We already know that," She stated. "But she’s been long dead, Maisa. No way this is her handwork."

Maisa’s hand moved toward her stomach. If the great mother had been involved, then the missing child might have something to do with the deal they had made.

But why had she allowed them to wake without remembering anything? And why had the throne been handed to her?

Sapphire touched Maisa’s arm. "Are you alright?"

Maisa gave a small shake of her head. "No. I don’t think any of us are."

Eventually, they returned to the eastern residence. Velanora and Kheamossa were still there.

The former queens were seated together, enjoying another quiet late night as though the kingdom hadn’t just been turned upside down.

Maisa approached them with the others behind her. "We’ve been questioning the servants."

Kheamossa lifted her eyes. There was no surprise in her eyes. "Have you?"

"Yes and apparently, meals were delivered to the gazebo twice a day while we were asleep. The guards were ordered not to let anyone approach us, and everyone seems to remember the coronation, but nobody can explain what happened afterward."

Velanora calmly set down her wine glass full of rich blood. "What are you hoping to discover, Maisa?"

"The truth that you are hiding from us... from Varitreya."

Kheamossa sighed. "Dear, you are asking questions whose answers you may not be ready to hear."

Addessa let out an irritated breath. "With all due respect, we’re already dealing with a missing week, a missing child, and an unexpected coronation. I don’t think things can get much worse."

Zolani nodded. "Unless the child is missing because someone took her. That would be worse."

The room fell silent. Maisa looked directly at the former queens. "Where is our child?"

Neither woman answered. They remained nestled in each other looking calm, too calm.

"Please," Maisa continued. "If you know where the child is, tell us."

Velanora’s expression softened but she remained silent. Kheamossa merely looked at her.

Lumi stepped forward and addressed them. "Did we give birth to a child in that gazebo?"

Still, the two whitebloods said nothing. They acted unafected by the questions even though the child in question is their grandchild since its part of Varitreya too.

Sapphire shook her head in disbelief. "You’re seriously going to sit there and pretend you don’t know what we’re talking about?"

Kheamossa finally spoke. "There are things that must unfold in their own time."

Addessa scoffed. "That’s another way of saying you won’t tell us anything."

"Addessa," Velanora warned gently.

"No. I’m tired of everyone speaking in riddles."

Maisa raised a hand, stopping Addessa from continuing. Addessa’s anger exploded and nearly burst out. ’Huh!" She scoffed. "I know you did not just do that."

She glanced at Maisa who before being called queen by the Nation, didn’t have the guts to face her and now had the nerve to silence her.

Maisa ignored her and looked at the two women one last time. "We’re going to find out what happened, with or without your help."

Velanora said nothing to that determination. Kheamossa simply picked up her cup. The dismissal was unmistakable.

Maisa turned away. As they left the residence, she glanced back once. The two former queens remained seated, calm and composed.

She could tell that they knew exactly what had happened during those seven days, and they were determined not to reveal it.

Maisa’s jaw tightened. If the servants couldn’t help them, and the queens refused to speak, then they would have to search for evidence themselves.

She looked at the others. "Tomorrow, we’re going back to the gazebo. I want every inch of it examined."

Lumi nodded. "I’ll look for traces of magic."

"I’ll question the guards again," Addessa offered. "This time, I’ll try more unconventional ways to convince them to spill the truth."

"I’ll find the silver-haired attendant," Sapphire added. "Someone must know who she is."

Zolani looked at Maisa. "And I’ll help find our baby."

Maisa swallowed. Their baby, Zolani had said it so naturally that it was almost bringing her to tears.

She didn’t even know whether she had held the child, whether it had cried, or whether she had been awake when it was born.

Yet somewhere inside her, that empty feeling remained and she couldn’t shake the conviction that a piece of her was missing.

Whatever had happened during the past seven days, she would uncover it even if she had to tear apart every secret hidden within the palace.

"Wherever you are, I’ll find you!"