Chapter 256: Strangled.

The sound of a shattering glass resounded in the dimly lit room of Vetis, followed by his thunderous, enraged voice. "Useless!"

"How could every one of you be so incompetent even with the simplest task I give you?"

John, standing before him with his head lowered, said, "It was the king himself who had gone to the witch’s hideout, Master. Before we could get there, it was already too late to do anything."

"Why then did you inform me that it was the church members who were responsible for the investigation going on?" Vetis’ hand on his cane tightened its grip. "Because of you, I wasted the resources in the wrong place."

"My deepest apolo-"

"Your apology means nothing, John." Vetis cut him off and stomped his cane sharply to the ground. "The task was simple. Distract the church members from the investigation while we continue working on the bodies, but no, you all have no brain in those hard skulls of yours."

"The fault falls on Churchwoman Martha. She failed in letting us know about this. We would have known that it wasn’t the church but the king who was investigating the case." John added.

Vetis clicked his tongue, the lines on his forehead deepening more than before.

A knock came from the door, and John went to see who it was. "Churchwoman Martha," he called out, stepping to the side to let her in.

"My Lord," Martha greeted the pureblooded vampire, her bow lower than before.

"What have you come here to show your face for?" Vetis turned in her direction. "The last thing I needed to see today was your incompetent and useless self."

Martha sucked in a breath, her teeth clenching as her fists clasped behind her back. "I am to be blamed, my lord. I failed in my duties to get the right information to you. I accept any punishment from you."

"Step down as a church member. You are as good as useless being there."

"My lord!" Martha exclaimed, her eyes wide in horror. This was not the punishment she was expecting to be met with.

"Please, give me another chance to redeem myself. The turnout of the situation was not entirely my fault, my lord." Martha knelt on the floor, her head bowed low.

She continued, "The king had given the church the order to conduct the investigation. I did everything you asked me to do, and I was successful in tampering with the investigating process in the church."

"It came to me and everyone else as a shock when the report all of a sudden came today. Even Headchurch Donovan wasn’t aware of this, my lord. Please, another chance is all I ask for." Martha hastily spoke, her head pressed to the floor.

"How were you blind and stupid to not know the king will always have something up his sleeve? You should have done better!" Vetis snapped, fury burning in his gaze directed at Martha.

Martha raised her head, attempting to clarify the misunderstanding when she suddenly saw Vetis before her. His hand already wound her neck in a tight grip.

"Do you know?" Vetis growled, the veins of his hand bulging from how tight his grip on Martha’s neck was. "What your foolishness has caused me?! Just because of a single slip caused by your stupidity, I lost what I have spent months, months—" he stressed, the reality of not getting what he wanted making him more furious.

"—working on. Everything has been destroyed, and you think apologizing and giving you another chance will solve the issue? Give you another chance to use your stupidity instead of your brain?" His voice thundered in the room, shaking the wits of everyone inside and outside the room.

"I should have killed you a long time ago rather than let you waste my effort in saving you and allowing you to further disrupt my plans."

"Ple... please," Martha choked, her eyes rolled back from the grip of Vetis’ hand on her neck. She weakly tapped on his arm as she felt her lungs tighten from the lack of air.

"Master," John stepped forward even though he was afraid of meeting the same fate as Martha. He said, "I believe she will serve a better purpose for you than killing her now."

Vetis’ murderous gaze turned to John, who immediately took a step back. Slowly his grip on Martha’s neck loosened, but he didn’t let go completely; instead, he threw her across the room, and she crashed into the wall and the cupboard near her.

"Get out." Vetis commanded, not sparing them another glance.

John helped Martha to her feet while she coughed and wheezed for air. Her neck had darkened and her face was red. It was a miracle her neck didn’t snap in two.

Outside, Martha drank the water brought by John as she recollected herself, her subconsciousness still feeling the grip from earlier.

"You should stay a while before coming back. By then he would have calmed down." John suggested as he took the cup from Martha, whose gaze hardened. A vicious glint appeared in her eyes, and she stormed off, leaving John watching her.

Martha marched inside her office as soon as she arrived at the church. She greeted no one as she pulled her shawl tighter around her neck.

Just as she went in and closed the door, her hand reached for the nameplate on the table, and she smashed it on the wall, letting out a muffled scream.

To ruin her sour mood more, a knock came from the door, and Churchman Theodore opened the door.

"A rather fine display," he remarked, staring at the dent on the wall caused by the smashed nameplate now broken into pieces. "Seems you foresaw your predicament and did the needful." He added, amusement dancing in his eyes.

""What are you here for?" Martha glared at the man in front of her.

"Oh, not so hostile now, fellow church member. At least I wasn’t the one who wanted to squeeze the life out of you." Theodore back away, raising his hand in the air as though in surrender.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Martha hissed. Her mood was already sour, and this vampire was bent on worsening it.

"This?" Theodore pointed at his neck while staring at Martha’s own. She hastily tugged on her shawl that had loosened around her neck.

Theodore chuckled to himself but immediately stopped after receiving another death glare from Martha. "Headchurch Donovan seeks your presence."

"Now." Theodore added, the amused look wiping from his face.

Martha clenched her fists and took a deep breath to calm her raging nerves. Without sparing Theodore another glance, she stormed out of the room, the vampire following behind her to her annoyance.

Inside Donovan’s office, the man looked up from the parchment in his hand to the church woman. He said, "Should I directly dismiss you from here or have you detained because of what you have done, Churchwoman Martha?"

"What do you mean, Headchurch Donovan?" A skeptical, confused look crossed Martha’s features.

"This," Donovan tossed a parchment towards her on the table. "If you cannot explain the crimes written there, it leaves me no choice but to take required actions on you."

Martha took the parchment and flipped it open. She read the first half of what was written, and her nose flared up in anger. "This is not true, Headchurch Donovan."

"What is not true?" Donovan questioned back, his voice calm. "That you didn’t commit those crimes or that you refuse to acknowledge what you have done?"

"I have been framed, Headchurch Donovan. Don’t do this to me." Martha panicked. She couldn’t be dismissed from the church yet. This can’t be!

"Framed by who? By me?" Donovan stared back at the woman, his calm demeanor slowly slipping away. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

"This is not right!" Martha snapped. "I am a church member, and the office I hold is strong enough for me not to be treated like a junior member. Do you want to cause distrust in the church by doing this?"

"You know fairly well that your threats have no room to survive in this matter." Donovan scoffed. "To make it fair and transparent, I give you three days to prove that all that is written in that parchment is false. If not."

Donovan paused, his eyes staring straight into the eyes of Martha. "Not only will your time as a church member come to an end, but you will face grave punishment for bringing distrust in the church."