Kitanna
Chapter 63: HANDS STAINED WITH BLOOD

Chapter 63: HANDS STAINED WITH BLOOD

[MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: AFTER THE RAIN ~ ECHO]

Kitanna was the first to wake up, even before the early birds. She didn’t check if Nix was awake; she was not ready to see his face. Yet.

Kitanna hurried back to the main palace, changed her dress, and appeared in the kitchen on her maid uniform. She wanted to do something to clear up her mind, so she decided to join in preparing breakfast.

Kitanna was not expecting to see anyone in the kitchen because the morning still looked dark. She just wanted to sit alone in her own company.

"Good morning, Princess Kitanna," Kitanna saw the head maid just before she could enter the kitchen.

"Good morning, Head Maid Aggie. It’s a surprise to see you in the kitchen this early morning. It reminds me of the good old days," Kitanna said, smiling politely, as both of them stepped inside the kitchen.

The head maid used to be Kitanna’s nanny until she grew up to be a younger woman; then, the woman was moved to serve the queen dowager directly. Kitanna remembered how vibrant the woman used to be, but the woman she was seeing now looked tired and stressed out.

Lady Aggie bowed gently, "The days when you wake up early for a glass of millet milk, that you love so much and the..."

"And the sugar cookies," Kitanna completed it for her, and both of them smiled, reminiscing about the good days they shared together. They were almost like mother and daughter.

"You used to be such a sweet tooth when it comes to cookies, Princess. I’m glad you grew up healthy," Aggie brushed off the gray hair that was falling on her face.

"I’m glad you are aging finely, Aggie. Mother is taking care of you," Kitanna said casually.

Lady Aggie stood stiff when she heard the word mother; she raised her neck to check if someone was behind Kitanna. Then she walked closer to where the princess was standing and held her hands gently. The woman’s hands were already weak, with green veins showing clearly on the back of her hand.

"Do you remember?" Aggie asked, looking at the girl worriedly. She wouldn’t be shocked if the princess had fragments of her memories. The girl was subjected to many herbs just to clear the memories she had with her own father. If the princess says she remembers, then it’s better to give her a trigger. Lady Aggie nodded to herself.

"Is there something I forgot? Why don’t you tell me, Aggie?" Kitanna said happily, oblivious to what the woman was talking about.

Aggie held the princess tightly, her hands visibly trembling, and this caused Kitanna to narrow her eyes as to what the woman was scared of. Kitanna turned to look around, but it was just the two of them inside the room, then what might be making the woman panic so much? Kitanna asked herself.

"You...not..." Aggie was trembling as she tried to let the words leave her lips; she couldn’t find the right words to use, and she had sworn to the queen dowager with her life to keep the secret, that was the only reason her status was elevated.

"Speak, Aggie; it’s just us here." Kitanna pressed the woman to talk, as she was beginning to get impatient.

The head maid gulped softly, beads of sweat dropping from the side of her face. Her eyes continued to dart around like someone was going to come in anytime soon.

"The king..." Aggie was not able to finish her words because the door swung open, and the palace maids started trooping inside the kitchen to get breakfast ready.

The head maid removed her hand from Kitanna’s harshly; she didn’t waste any more seconds as she hurriedly left the kitchen with her head bowed.

Kitanna turned to follow the woman, but she was not able to because more maids walked inside the kitchen, blocking the entrance. She tilted her head in worry; the woman definitely wanted to say something. And it was about something she might have forgotten while growing up. Kitanna shrugged her shoulders and joined the other maids in preparing breakfast for the royal family.

"Princess, don’t bother with it; I’ll get the junior maids to help you with it," Misam walked forward to stop Kitanna from brewing tea.

Kitanna turned to look at the face of the person that was offering her assistance.

"Oh, you! Misam, right?" Kitanna smiled when she recalled the face of the maid she saw the night before. "You should avoid calling me princess. Else you want to get punished," she moved to the side to allow Misam to heat the water meant for brewing the tea.

"Old habits die hard," Misam replied with a faint smile. She pushed the tea leaf to a side after sieving it, then she picked up the honey cup. "It seems like you were up early today." Misam asked, dropping the honey jar after adding a little to the tea. Her eyes turned to look at Kitanna, then back at the tea cup.

Kitanna, whose mind was thinking about the head maid’s attitude, turned to face Misam when she asked the question. "What makes you say so?" She asked, her eyes drilling every action of the maid.

"I heard from the maids over there; they said you were here before they arrived." Misam spoke with her eyes still on the tea cup. This caused Kitanna, who was behind her, not to see her expression.

"I was only trying to set an example. I think, but then again I shouldn’t explain myself to anyone." Kitanna noticed the woman nod her head from where she was standing.

As they were talking, Bareea stepped inside the kitchen. When she saw the princess, she cleared her throat before speaking.

"Lady Aggie asked that we bring in breakfast." Bareea reported. The other maids started filing out of the room with their tray of food.

Bareea stood at the door waiting for everyone to step out, the last was the princess who she was trying to avoid.

"Bareea, we have a lot to talk about now, don’t we?" Kitanna asked the maid.

Bareea nodded her head in agreement.

"Then let’s meet after breakfast." Kitanna carried the tea and walked past the girl; she noticed how restless the maid was, and she wanted to really know what she was doing outside late at night.

Inside the dining room, the royal family was yet to arrive at the table. This gave the maids time to set up and arrange the table until everyone joined the table.

Almaria twitched her lips when she noticed Kitanna was the one to serve tea. She knew pretty well that Kitanna was clumsy when it came to handling hot liquids; the end of her lips tugged.

"Kitanna, add more sugar to my tea and make the water hotter." Almaria requested with her eyes on her food.

Kitanna bowed to the instructions; she was on her way to serve the tea when the door opened, and Nix stepped inside. She tightened her grip on the kettle and walked to stand beside Almaria.

"Nix! I heard from the physicians that your survival would only be a miracle. It’s good to see you back with us," Khelan, who was the first to notice Nix, spoke with a small smile.

Lady Deonisia turned when she heard the king call Nix. She was not expecting him to recuperate that easily.

The poison that he was hit with had no antidote available in Morado. This caused her to narrow her eyes in suspicion.

Kitanna began to pour the tea, trying her best not to spill any content, but it was even more difficult now that Nix was present in the room.

Nix bowed and moved to sit on his chair; his own food was served immediately.

The peaceful breakfast didn’t last long when a loud shriek was heard from the other side of the room.

"What was that!" Almaria questioned with so much annoyance. "Who dares to disrupt the royal family during breakfast?" she didn’t finish her last words when the head eunuch rushed inside the dining room.

Felipe’s face looked white, all blood drained from his face like he had seen a ghost; he couldn’t say whatever it is he saw very well. All he did was point at a particular direction.

Nix was the first to stand up; the other members of the royal family followed him behind, including Kitanna. They all walked behind Felipe, who was now leading the way.

At the kitchen, several maids stood staring at something. When they noticed the presence of the king, they bowed and moved to a side.

Inside the kitchen were four maids, but one was lying lifeless on the kitchen slab with the cheese knife thrust deep inside her chest.

Kitanna dropped on the ground when she noticed who it was that was now lying lifeless on the kitchen slab. It was none other than Lady Aggie. The woman she saw not quite long ago. She moved up her eyes to look at the key suspects.

Misam was standing closer to the body, but her body was clean without any stain of blood.

Bareea was standing a little bit far from the body with her dress drenched with blood.

But that wasn’t the problem; the problem was Axilla. Her hands were soaked with blood, including her face. It looked like she had been struggling with the head maid.

Axilla, who was trembling, turned when she noticed the princess; she shook her head. "I didn’t do it. I-" she couldn’t complete her statement because Almaria gave out an order.

"Guards! Seize her!" The queen dowager ordered.

Larel was not having it; she would not watch a young girl who could barely kill an ant being locked up.

"Queen dowager, why just her? We have three persons in the kitchen. This girl is just young," Larel interfered.

"Don’t let her young face fool you; her hands are clearly stained with blood. Should we also check if it is that of Lady Aggie or from the oxblood soup?" Almaria asked, her voice turning hard with every word.

Kitanna was too stunned to speak; she had decided to come back after serving breakfast to ask Lady Aggie what was too hard for her to speak when they were alone. Only to see her lying lifeless.

Only if they didn’t cross paths, only if she didn’t talk to the woman this morning. Just maybe she would have been alive. Kitanna felt the tears drop from her eyes.

"To be fair, we should investigate all three maids," Lady Deonisia advocated. She gave a slight nod to Almaria who in turn agreed to her suggestion.

The guards moved in and dragged the shocked-looking Axilla, who was still trembling. She was not sure of what exactly was going on. Her eyes looked lost.

Bareea and Misam followed the guards without being forced out; they left the kitchen with the head maid still on the slab.

"Get a clean sheet and wrap her body; we should give her a proper burial. She was one of our best," Almaria said before turning to leave the room.

Lady Deonisia and Khelan left the place too, leaving behind Larel, who was trying to console Kitanna. And Nix, who was checking the crime scene.

Kitanna finally found her feet; she walked to where the body was, her eyes stared blankly into space.

"Aggie, who did this to you? Tell me," Kitanna whimpered, touching the woman tenderly.

This woman made her lonely days in the palace a little lively. Before she was promoted to the Chief maid. The motherly care Kitanna lacked from Almaria, she got it from Aggie.

Nix motioned for Larel to hold Kitanna when the guards stepped in to carry the woman’s body.

Kitanna didn’t protest; she stood there with tears flowing from her eyes. That was when her eyes noticed the knife that was used on Lady Aggie. She dried her tears with the back of her hand.

Nix noticed the change of expression on Kitanna’s face; he waited for the guards to step outside, and Larel joined them to give Kitanna some privacy. Before he walked closer to where the princess was stood.

"Did you notice something?" Nix asked in a low voice, his eyes gauging Kitanna’s every expression.

"I don’t know, Nix, but I think this is some kind of warning. That knife, I used it this morning when I was cutting out cheese, when I used it, there was no inscription, but now there’s something written on it." Kitanna said her mind trying to recollect if she had missed anything between the time of meeting Lady Aggie and the time for breakfast.

"And Nix, find out. There’s something connected to the three maids; I saw them yesterday on my way to your quarters. I’m not saying Axilla did anything, but everyone saw that her hands were the ones stained with blood." Kitanna said in a calm voice.