Myra and the Arcadian Lord

21. Mannequin - part 1

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Amyra widened her eyes when she saw the library, as the sight literally took her breath away. It was very large and stacked with books she could never have imagined any house could ever contain. Thousands of volumes were shelved neatly on all sides of the two-storied walls.

A big couch and a comfy chair was placed in the middle of the room in front of the fireplace, along with a small coffee table.

"There are all kinds of genres in here, My lady. You can select anything that might interest you" stated the Butler.

Myra just nodded, not finding any words to say.

"Do you have any preference in mind?", asked Alvin a moment later.

Myra thought for a second before saying, "umm.. History?"

The butler nodded and led her towards a wall in the far right corner of the room. "This entire shelf contains books on history, Lady Myra".

Myra went near and pulled out a thick book with blue leather binding. The title was written boldly in gold letters:

* * * * * * *
PAUL MACAULAY
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HISTORY OF ARCARDIA
VOLUME 1
* * * * * * *

The book looked old, and showed signs of wear. The pages were still intact, but had turned yellowish over the years and it gave out a faint earthly smell.

She skimmed through the pages, contemplating whether to read it or to pick another book.

The butler who was standing next to her, said "Lady Myra, feel free to choose books from any of the shelves. But please do refrain yourself from going to the second floor. That floor contains certain confidential books and it is restricted to everyone except for the Lord".

Myra nodded understandingly. Then Alvin, bowed at her. "If there is anything else you want, then call me. I'll come right away". That said, he left the library.

Sitting on a comfy chair, she started reading the book.
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The ministry is an organisation that is founded to ensure stability in all the five lands. Even though each land is represented by a Lord, the ministry takes the responsibility of keeping the law and order in check on the all the five lands, i.e., Arcardia, Wendyln, Stonefort, Northwick and Zantra valley. The ministry aims to maintain peace and helps in smooth administration by providing necessary guidances to the lords.

The main headquarters of the ministry was located in Arcardia and the rest of the four lands had their respective branch offices.

Theodore was sitting in the head minister Rupert's office.

Rupert Malphus was the fifth head minister working for the Ministry. He was a strict and disciplined semi-trueborn demon. His father was trueborn while his mother was a falseborn demon, making him a mixed breed.

He was a short man, with pepper colored hair that was neatly combed back and had pale yellow eyes. His complexion was somewhat wheatish.

"So, What do we do about the listed members?" asked Rupert, removing his eye glasses and placing it on the table. He then leaned forward with his fingers interlocked and stared intently at the Lord, who was sitting on the other side of the table making a paper rocket with a sheet of document.

Theo, looked up momentarily and then looked down continuing to fold the paper in a triangular pattern. "Nothing"

Rupert frowned hearing Theodore's reply. The Arcardian Lord was a very twisted person, no one ever could understand what was going on in the Lord's mind. Well..atleast he couldn't.

Theodore saw the expression on the Head minister's face and smiled arrogantly. "Rupert, we'll do nothing for now".

"I don't understand" said the confused head minister.

"We'll set a trap and wait for them to fall into it" replied the Lord, observing his handmade rocket. He then raised his hand up slightly and threw it. His Paper rocket flew quiet a distance before it hit a wall and fell down.

"Would you care to eloborate?".

There were six names listed in that piece of paper, the begger spy had given. All the six people noted were the members of the ministry, who were suspected of having secretly sided with the dark witches, helping them in their plan to mass infect the demons.

Theodore leaned back on the chair comfortably and crossed his legs, "We know who they are and what their plan is. For now, pretend as if nothing is wrong", he stated with seriousness. "Assign a secret team, to keep an eye on these six members. We need to have a solid evidence before we make a move. Confirm if the information we have is correct first".

Rupert nodded, and the lord continued. "If our suspicion is true, then the witches are waiting for a chance to strike when there is a social gathering. As they are aiming to mass infect".

The head minister slowly nodded his head, understanding what the Lord was trying to imply. "Snowflakes ball would be a perfect opportunity for them to attack"

"Bingo", Theodore said gleefully standing up from his chair. Rupert narrowed his eyes at the Lord. It literally freaked him out everytime he saw Theodore smile. Though his facial expression looked normal on the outlook, the head minister could see a glint on menace in the Lord's golden eyes, each time he smiled like that.

"There will be Hundreds of people gathered that night. Everyone will be busy enjoying the party and no one will ever notice if some random person slips incantia into the food", said Theodore cooly.

Rupert nodded his head, "Why don't we just arrest these six people and try to interrogate them? Won't that be easier?"

The lord, who was about to leave stopped himself and let out a tired sigh, shaking his head. "Foolish Suggestion!".

"Our agenda is not to stop the mass infection, Malphus. We need to find out who is the mastermind behind all these planning" informed Theodore. "If any one of those six members are arrested, the witches will get alerted and will try to get away, only to come up with an even more terrible ploy".

"Besides, we don't know for sure if there are more such rats among us who are betraying the Ministry" said Lord Theodore, "Our one wrong move will cost many innocent lives, Malphus. We don't want that now, do we?".

"You're right", agreed the head minister. "Leave the rest to me, I'll take care of it".

Theodore nodded, "Until later!". That said he strode out of the Head minister's office.
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When the lord returned back home, the butler greeted him and helped him take off his coat.

"Alvin, what is my little guest doing?"

The butler slightly bowed, saying  "Lady Myra, has been reading in the library for past two hours. Milord".

Theodore nodded and headed towards the library, to check what his guest has been upto. When he entered inside, he found Myra fast asleep on the sofa holding a book in her hands. He shook his head and took the book from her and laid it on the coffee table.

Theo then kneeled next to the sofa and looked at her closely. He gently ran his fingers on her cheeks, marveling at how soft and fair her skin was. She looked soo innocently cute at the moment, and that managed put a genuine smile on the Lord's face for the first time in a while.

With a tired sigh, Lord Theodore stood up and scooped her up in his arms. He deftly carried her to the door, taking long strides down the hallway, before climbing up the stairs. Reaching her room, he carefully laid her on the bed and covered her with a duvet, before leaving the chamber quietly.