Kitanna
Chapter 108: THE MOUSE TRAP

Chapter 108: THE MOUSE TRAP

[MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: NOCTURNE IN E-FLAT MAJOR, Op. 9, No. 2" ~FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN]

.....FEW HOURS EARLIER...

Larel stood up from her kneeling position and went to stand in front of Kitanna. "The mouse wants to help Almaria escape, possibly tonight. She came to me, but I told her that I am too scared to help out," she spoke her words carefully, trying not to utter any lies to the princess.

Kitanna tilted her head, "Why? You helped with Axilla, so what’s the difference?" Her eyes pierced into Larel’s soul.

"I don’t want to betray you anymore. It was a moment I regret the most; I shouldn’t walk in that path anymore," Larel replied, pressing her lips.

"You should, one last time. You should help them escape, leave the rest to me," Kitanna suggested, and furthermore, she also wanted to know why the person had the ability to bring out negative emotions from her mind, suffocating her with unclear memories; this worried Kitanna. After standing for a while, she turned to the door, holding the knob. Larel spoke.

"You don’t want to know who the mouse is?" She had been expecting the princess to bombard her with questions about who the spy was, but she just took it like it was a normal conversation.

Kitanna grinned, turning her face to meet Larel’s, she said, "Was it not obvious? You told me already. That day at the corridor, you were not assigned to any maids, but you defended her, saying she served you. For someone who dressed with the help of the maid, your hair was still looking undone."

The princess pulled up her lips like she was about to smile then it vanished.

"Any other words, Larel? I’m tired of turning once I get to the door." Her words were filled with sarcasm. Getting a negative shake of the head from Larel, Kitanna stepped out of the room looking for Nix.

Nix walked around the palace with his grandfather, showing him the parts of the palace that were newly constructed, as it’s been long since his old man visited the place.

"As for your quarters, I have got it arranged; it will be inside the main palace so you won’t have to stress yourself when it’s time to attend the court meetings," Nix relayed to his grandfather.

Hieron nodded at the thoughtfulness of his grandson; then he remembered something. Among all the buildings Nix pointed to, he didn’t mention one to be his own quarters.

"Boy... do you not want your old man to see where you lay rest at night? Or do you have some perverted books and scrolls hidden in your room, that you don’t want your old man to see?" The elder White Lord grinned, his eyes twinkling with mischief. When his grandson did not reply, he continued to taunt the young man.

"Not like I mind, the virile runs in the blood of every Zeno. I remember in my time, I had maidens who rushed to my room every night. I know you get that too, even there is this night I can never forget, the steamy night with your grandmother. We had just finished eating when..."

Nix stopped walking, and his brows raised in a perfect arch; were they seriously having this conversation right now? The main problem was just to know where he stayed in the palace; why was the old man now diverting. Nix sighed tiredly.

"Why did you stop walking?" Lord Hieron asked, like he did not know the reason was because of his embarrassing words.

"My room is on the other side of the palace, some call it the isolated quarters." Nix replied ignoring his grandfather’s question.

Lord Hieron shaped his mouth in an O, he then pursed his lips and asked, "Why are you staying away from the main palace? Your life is always so mundane. I can’t wait for you to get married and involve yourself with people, even if it’s just your wife and children. Speaking of children, in your letter, you made mention of my great-grandchildren. Have you and the-"

"There you are!" Kitanna called out standing at the palace entrance. She waved her hands, smiling gleefully at the grandson and grandfather.

Nix turned to look at his chatty grandfather, who now had a mischievous grin plastered on his lips, making him look scary.

"Keep the marriage talk to yourself. Let’s end this discussion here; go and get some rest." He warned.

Hieron raised his brows and frowned, "Are you now ordering me, boy? You haven’t told her she belongs to you yet. You have to claim her now, Nix." The old man whispered as they watched Kitanna walk to where they were standing.

"I hope I’m not interrupting a family closure; I really need to talk to you about something." Kitanna, who now stood in front of the two, said in a soft voice, her eyes on Nix.

"No, no, you are never interrupting anything. You will soon become fami-" Hieron noticed the look Nix passed to him, and he cleared his throat. "You’ll soon become familiar with the way things work as regards to handling the throne."

Kitanna nodded her head, even though she didn’t understand what that had to do with their family closure.

"Lord Hieron was on his way to get some sleep; the journey really stressed him." Nix remarked, trying to get the man out of his skin before he allowed unnecessary words to slip from his mouth.

Hieron shook his head, "Mm no no, the sleep can wait. The princess has more pressing matters. Let’s hear her out first."

Nix looked at his grandfather in wonderment; the man always involved himself in matters that shouldn’t concern him.

Kitanna, as if noticing the look on Nix’s face, was the one to speak, "It’s no problem. Elder White Lord, you need to hear it too; it’s concerning the prisoners. Someone wants to help them escape this night."

Nix cocked his head to the side and furrowed his brows.

Kitanna nodded her head like she knew who Nix was thinking about, "Yes, it’s their spy. The mouse is finally making a move. Let’s get her today."

"But I thought you wanted to hold out until you get your memory about what she did to you?" Nix asked worriedly. The princess had already told him who the mouse was, but she wanted to know why she felt like she had seen the mouse before. And remember exactly what was done to her.

Kitanna hummed for a moment, "We can still do that when we catch her. Maybe torture will suffice." She responded.

Hieron just paid attention to what was being said; he knew that things were going wrong in the palace but he didn’t know how far it had gone.

"Let’s catch her tonight then. I will get everything ready; just leave it to me. She might make her moves on you to keep you unstable, play along." Nix instructed the princess.

"I guess we are setting a perfect mouse trap," Hieron said, looking excited about everything.

"I will escort you to your room," Nix said to his grandfather with a serious look on his face. The smile on the old man’s face fell almost immediately.

Kitanna smiled; she loved seeing the family bicker. With just the look on their faces, anyone can tell that they really care for each other. Nix and Hieron. They were all they had.

. . .

When evening arrived, the mouse added a potion to Kitanna’s food and told Larel about it.

"What you added, what does it do?" Larel asked, trying to make her tone less suspicious.

Misam took her time and said, "She will be seeing things, especially people that are dead, maybe her father."

"Get the carriage ready when she starts having the episode. The guards will rush to her side. I added excess of it; if her system is weak, she might even run cuckoo." The mouse sneered.

Larel nodded her head, like she was immersed in the plan. Then she went back to tell Kitanna what exactly she was supposed to do as to the function of the herb added to her food.

Kitanna, being a crazy drama princess, made sure the palace was alerted that she was now being unstable. Nix reduced the guards at prison, and he let them know what would happen in advance; all they needed to do was play along but not eat anything that would be given to them. He didn’t want to endanger the lives of the guards.

Now in the present....

Misam gritted her teeth; she was played by this little princess. She tried to move back, but the guards started closing up on her.

"You know Misam, I should have really known it was you, from that very night. But I guess I was just too occupied. You hid very well all this while." Kitanna nodded her head in approval.

"You will never get anything out of me!" Misam blared, showing her true colors.

Kitanna held her chest as if feeling scared, "We will see about that. Won’t we? But I’m really interested to know how you killed Lady Aggie and flawlessly got away with it. I mean, you had no bloodstain on you. And what’s with this face; you really look different, but it suits your two-faced personality."

Misam tried to look around for an escape; then she sighted, Larel, who was also present. "You!! It was you? You betrayed us." She clenched her teeth in frustration.

"Guards, lock her up; we start our interrogation tomorrow." Nix ordered, the two guards who had pretended to be seduced earlier by Misam dragged her to the prison.

"I will deal with you!! You will never get back your memories!" Misam cried out as she was dragged inside the prison she had left. She couldn’t believe that her cover was now blown; she had been so flawless with all her plans. Living a normal life of a maid where no one would be able to suspect her, she felt invisible and powerful because she could trigger the princess’s pains, and nobody would suspect her. Now she was being dragged into the same prison which she entered as a free soul.

Back inside the prison, Almaria stood up when she heard noises coming from the entrance; her eyes widened in shock when she saw Misam being dragged in.

"Big sister, we are dead!" Almaria cried out.

Deonisia, who was meditating, opened her eyes to glare at Almaria before she followed the trail of the woman’s eyes. There she saw Misam being dragged in. It was indeed a trap, and they had fallen for it.