In the morning, when the sun rose, Mr. Briggs continued to drive the carriage, bringing it to a halt when they finally arrived in front of the Council building in Darthmore. Outstepped Vincent and Eve, and Patton, who was walking by, greeted them.
"Mr. and Mrs. Moriarty! How wonderful to see you both here! I heard that James Sullivan had--haaa," Patton stuttered on seeing the other person step down from the carriage.
The person who had accompanied Vincent and Eve was none other than Noah Sullivan, and the councilman looked at him with his mouth agape.
A scheming grin appeared on Vincent's lips, and he asked the councilman, "What is the matter, Mr. Garth?"
Patton's lips moved but no sound came as he stared at Noah. He then finally said, "T--that, behind you!"
"My carriage?" Vincent hid his amusement while he enjoyed the plight of the man. "I know it needs to be polished and fixed. The wheels are a little creaky but Mr. Briggs will be taking care of it. Won't you, Mr. Briggs?"
Mr. Briggs bowed his head and climbed the driver's seat to park the carriage away until it was time to return to the mansion.
In the meantime, Vincent and the others walked towards where Patton stood, who was at the entrance. The poor councilman couldn't help but rub both of his eyes, and the deceased Noah Sullivan's soul followed the couple. Patton asked Vincent with a whisper and a look of suspicion,
"Sire, can you see the ghost too?"
Patton shrieked when Noah got closer to him and placed his hand on his shoulder.
"I need you to take this to the clerk and have it stamped. It needs to be right away," Noah said to Patton.
"Be quick, Patton, and make sure you do it right. Not like how you fixed the pipe in someone else's grave," Vincent's eyes slightly narrowed at a confused Patton, who was losing his mind as he questioned if he was dreaming in his bed. If he was, this was a good time to wake up. "Now," the pureblooded vampire glared, and Patton quickly bowed and ran from there.
Eve could tell that Patton was in shock, and so were some of the councilmen, who stared at Noah. She heard Vincent say as he looked at Patton's back, "I told you it was going to be fun today."
"I pity the people who work for and with you," Eve murmured but only received a wider grin from Vincent.
"Don't say that, my love. But that's fine," Vincent leaned closer to Eve's lips and said, "I will have you work below and above me."
The three of them then went to the Head Council's chamber, and Clayton held his serious look. On seeing Eve first, he said,
"I hope you weren't harmed, Lady Genevieve. It is good to have you back, and... Noah," he stared at the Duke of Woodlock, who was supposed to be in his grave. "I wasn't expecting you to see you. Nonetheless glad to see you alive, could you explain what happened..." He looked at the three of them, who stood before his desk.
Soon Noah explained about his side of the story, and Vincent and Eve explained about the vial as well as the fight that took place with James. Clayton, who heard the entire story, held a grim look and he said,
"I think it would be best to leave out some of the details as it might cause unnecessary probe. I will handle the inner council as well as the newsletter that will be getting published tomorrow. It would be better to have it printed before rumours spread which we cannot handle."
Vincent said to the Head Council, "About Noah's resurrection, you can tell that James was involved with witches and he created a potion by killing many lives and what not. Dead men tells no tales," he smiled, showing his fangs.
"There is something I would like to say before it, Head Council Clayton," Noah informed the small-looking vampire.
"Go on, Duke Noah," Clayton raised his hand for him to go ahead.
Noah had always been a man who abided by the law, and his image had been nothing but clean. Not to mention, the werewolf had always been helpful and kind to the people around him. As grateful as he was towards Vincent and Eve for bringing him back to life, there was also a downside.
It was that his family name had been tarnished because of his uncle and mother, but there was someone who wasn't responsible for it. He said,
"My father has been innocent throughout what has happened. He was never involved in James's plans or my mother's. I would appreciate it, if you could let him free and pardon whatever names that have been printed about him since these last two days."
Clayton nodded, "That I intend to do. As you are alive and we have evidence of what happened, your father will be let out of the dungeon, Duke Noah."
"Thank you," Noah offered a bow to the Head Council and then said, "Permission to go see them in there."
The Head Council pulled out a seal and handed it to him. With another bow, Noah stepped out of the chambers, made his way through the corridors, and moved to the other building. When he finally reached the Council's dungeon, he felt his feet stop for a moment as he tried to think what to ask. But he doubted he would be ready for it. Noah entered the place by handing the seal to the front guard, whose eyes almost fell from his face.
Jeffry and Hilda Sullivan were placed in one cell, but they hadn't been harmed since no hard evidence had been brought forward. They heard footsteps approach them, and Noah finally appeared before their cell.
"N--Noah? Is that you, Noah?!" Lady Hilda couldn't believe her eyes, and a smile spread on her lips.
"Noah!" Jeffry Sullivan quickly moved to the front along with his wife. "How is it possible? I thought we buried you, but you are here."
But as quickly as the smile had appeared on his mother's lips, Noah noticed how it started to slip with every second between them in silence.
"How are you here, Noah?" Lady Hilda asked him carefully. "We missed you so much, you don't know how much we were in despair. But now that you are here, everything is going to be alright."
Lady Hilda hoped Noah wouldn't mention about what he had heard from James. But Noah was always good with secrets, and she believed if not for her sake, her son would do it for Jeffry's sake by not bringing the truth.
"Where is James, Noah?" Noah heard his father ask him. "Something is wrong with the Council. I have been trying to explain that we had nothing to do with it, but they refused to reason."
Noah replied, "James is dead, father. He kidnapped Vincent Moriarty's wife Genevieve. Who is also a friend of mine."
"Why would he ever do something so absurd?" Jeffry's eyebrows furrowed in question, and he turned to look at his wife, who had gone quiet. She then said,
"It does sound abs--"
"That should be enough with the castle of lies, mother," Noah interrupted her.
Lady Hilda titled her head, trying to keep a calm face but she was failing at it.
"What lies?" Jeffry asked, his eyes shifting between his son to wife.
"I think you are mistaken, Noah. Whatever you heard, it is just--" Lady Hilda began only to be interrupted, and she had never been interrupted so bluntly.
"Did you know how much I looked up to you, mother? All this time, I loved and wanted to protect you. Our family, but only to know that it was just lies. You didn't betray just me, but father here."
The colour from Lady Hilda's face drained and she shook her head, "You don't understand. It isn't so simple as you make it to be. Let us talk about it calmly."
"We are talking calmly, mother," Noah pointed out to her. He said, "I have done everything our family asked me to do. I have placed a stone on my heart, just to maintain the peace, and what did you do?" Lady Hilda shook her head, not wanting to reveal it before Jeffry. With James gone and her son knowing the truth, she only had Jeffry to protect her. "That you slept with your husband's brother, and brought me to this world."
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