The Duke's Bed Warmer

Chapter 195: Accidental Or Planned?

Next week passed in a haze of anxiousness. They both spent every day waiting for news about Holloway’s location. Neither of them could focus on anything else. Every morning they checked for letters and every evening they slept disappointed.

Finally, a week later, a message arrived from Maren. Her network had tracked Holloway. According to Maren, he was living in a small village far away from Ravenmoor.

Austin and Alina didn’t wait and immediately rode towards the village. They decided to go alone without any guards on their horses.

By noon, they reached the village. It was small but peaceful. Holloway’s cottage was at the edge of the village. They reached the cottage and jumped from their horses. The garden in front of the cottage was overgrown. Weeds covered the flowerbeds and the wooden fence was slightly broken.

A woman in her mid-thirties opened the door when they knocked. She looked tired and worried. Her eyes widened in surprise, the moment she saw Austin.

"Your... Grace?" she stammered. "I... I wasn’t expecting anyone."

"I need to speak with Mr. Holloway," Austin said.

"My father isn’t well," she replied.

"It’s urgent."

The woman then glanced at Alina, who gave her a gentle, reassuring look. After a moment, she stepped aside.

"He is by the fire," she said. "Please... be gentle with him. He keeps forgetting things these days."

They nodded and stepped inside. Austin immediately recognized Holloway sitting in an old chair near the fireplace, wrapped in a thick blanket. He looked much thinner than Austin remembered. His hands were trembling on his lap, and his watery eyes widened when he turned towards the door.

"Your Grace," he smiled. "I wondered when you would come."

Austin and Alina sat across from him quietly.

"You know why I’m here?" Austin asked.

Holloway nodded.

"You found the ledger."

"I found the record of fifteen years of payments to M.Voss. You were the one who managed the accounts this entire time, even after my father died."

Holloway shifted his gaze towards the fire.

"It was your father who started it," he said. "I only did what I was told."

"But the payments continued even after my father’s death. Who told you to keep paying?"

Halloway didn’t reply. He suddenly looked scared.

"I’m not here to punish you," Austin said. "Im here because someone used those same payments to fund a fire that nearly killed my sister. I need to know who did it."

Holloway turned to him sharply.

"Cecily’s fire?"

"Three unusual payments were made just months before it happened from the same accounts. Then everything stopped right after the fire."

Holloway shook his head.

"No. That wasn’t what the payments were for. The payments were for the women who were being placed in different households."

"Then who used the same accounts for the fire?"

"I don’t know," Holloway replied. "I don’t know anything about unusual payments you are talking about. Someone else must have used our channel. Someone who had access to the same accounts."

"Who else had the access?"

Holloway looked down at his trembling hands before answering.

"Only two people knew about the M.Voss payments. Me and..."

He stopped. The words caught in his throat.

"Who?" Austin asked growing impatient with each word.

"I can’t say the name right now," Holloway whispered. "If I say the name, my daughter..." he cried.

"Nothing will happen to your daughter. I promise you," Austin said.

"You don’t know them," Holloway said. "They are dangerous."

"But I want the names," Austin almost yelled. "Don’t you think you owe Ravenmoor this much after everything you’ve done?"

"You don’t understand but Voss isn’t just one person. It’s a position. Someone always holds it. And the person who holds it now... is closer than you think."

"Closer to what?" Austin asked.

"To you," he replied.

Austin felt a chill run through him. Alina immediately squeezed his hand.

"Give me two days," Holloway said suddenly. "At this age, I don’t care about myself. I want to send my daughter far away before I open this old Chapter again."

"Thank you," Alina replied. "But about the women?" She asked. "There was the mention of eleven women over fifteen years, including me. Who decided where each woman went?"

"The Magister," Holloway replied. "Voss decided. Your father and I only followed the instructions."

"And why was I sent to Ravenmoor specifically?"

"Because of your blood. They knew what you were an Arcasedian. They wanted an Arcasedian in the Duke of Ravenmoor’s bed. I don’t know why. As I only managed the money."

Alina felt her stomach twist. She had thought she was sold because of bad luck and circumstance. But now she was learning that someone had been moving pieces long before she ever arrived at Ravenmoor. Someone had known her heritage eveb before Austin and Dorian. Someone had chosen her specifically and sent her into Austin’s life for reasons neither of them understood. It was a frightening realization.

She glanced at Austin and saw the same realization on his face. Neither of them knew whether they had met by chance or because someone had arranged it.

Holloway then wiped his eyes with trembling hands.

"I’m sorry," he whispered. "For what I did back then. But I was just a puppet who never knew the full picture."

Austin then stood up.

"We will come back in two days. And when I return, I want the names. No more excuses or delays."

Holloway nodded.

"I’ll tell you whatever I can. But be careful, Your Grace. The person I’m going to name... they’re still inside the castle."

They rode back in silence for the first stretch. The weight of what they had just heard sat heavily between them.

"Someone inside the castle," Alina said, breaking the silence. "Someone who’s been there since your father’s time. How many people have been at Ravenmoor that long?"

Austin thought for a few seconds.

"Few kitchen staff, two stable masters, gardener. And..." He stopped.

"And who?" Alina asked.

"I don’t want to guess," Austin replied. "I need proof first."

"Holloway said the person is close to you. Doesn’t that scare you?"

"Everything about this whole situation scares me," Austin admitted. "But we can’t do anything till we have evidence and a name. If we start asking questions now, we might warn them. And if they’re the same person who started the fire in the east wing...then hey’ve already tried to kill once. I won’t give them a reason to try again."