I've been reincarnated into another world as a witch

Chapter 66: Claud

The woman rose from the floor beside him. "The chosen woman is obviously very skilled but still lacking in wisdom." She said.

"Noted." Riley said as she walked through the door, her arms crossed over her chest.

Claud and the woman stiffened. They stared aghast at Riley standing in the doorway. Both of them were highly trained in stealth and excelled above all others who were raised by Erithien, and yet they had not even heard Lady Riley walking towards the room...

She glanced down at Mellie on the floor, the familiar red dress she was wearing and the picnic basket Cora had told her about. She scanned the room and the entire mansion with her mapping skill.

Riley was perplexed to see two young girls hiding behind the door show up on her radar. She would ignore that for now, but she would definitely get back to that.

Besides the two intruders who were standing across the room from her, another man hiding outside was showing up on her radar. She snapped her fingers and a small bolt of lighting shot out of her hands, zapped out the window, and electrocuted the man hiding in the garden until he collapsed.

Beads of sweat formed on Claud's brow at the display of such powerful magic which Riley had pulled off with such little effort.  The woman beside Claud paled as she realised the stark difference between her and the holy Lady's power levels. If Riley were to attack, she doubted that there was anything she could do to protect Claud against her.

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"Forgive my lack of wisdom." I said as I stared down the woman. "But I'm going to need an explanation for what's going on here." I motioned towards Mellie lying on the floor.

The man's shocked face calmed a little. After a moment his lips curved up into a bright smile and a he laughed heartily.

"Our deepest apologies for this awkward introduction, holy Lady." He bent low and bowed to me in a way befitting of royalty.

"My name is Claudius Erith, the prince of Erithien and first commander of the Royal Assasins." He said proudly.

A prince...?

Judging by those gorgeous eyes and auburn hair he did look like royalty. But what exactly was the prince of Erithien doing in my house with my maid unconscious at his feet.

My eyes caught on Mellie's red velvet dress. It looked exactly like the one I had tried on a few weeks ago but was too small for me, I'm sure Agnes had it sent back to get the correct size for me. I didn't want to believe she had taken it for herself.

"This is my second in command and my most trusted attendant, Lieutenant Valda."

I scanned over the woman who was covered in black garb from head to toe. Only a narrow opening revealed her blue eyes that stared at me with equal parts fear and aggression.

Claudius dragged his hand through his hair still smiling. Although I had no idea why he was so pleased.

"I apologise again for this unfortunate introduction, but I had no other way to approach you. Your holiness." He said.

I squinted at him, trying to make out whether he was being sincere or not because I was sure there were a few other ways to get an audience with me, such as knocking on the front door...

"If all you wanted to do was approach me, why exactly did my lady's maid end up unconscious at your feet. And what type of meeting were you imagining when you invaded my home with your comrades." I lifted up my fingers ready to zap them like flies.

"Please calm your anger, Holy Lady!" Lieutenant Valda prostrated herself on the floor in front of me. "Prince Claudius only had the best of intentions when carrying out his plan to meet you."

I glared down at her, unmoved by her display. "The best of intentions?"

This week had not been a great one for me. I was losing my patience.

"By approaching your lady's maid and having her sneak his highness into your castle, prince Claudius managed to expose one of your maids as disloyal." She said desperately.
"Prince Claudius only wanted to make your Ladyship aware of the snakes slithering underneath your roof."

I glanced between Mellie, the open window, the picnic basket, the prince of Erithien and his lieutenant. There was no way they could have gotten inside if Mellie had not invited them in. Mellie was among my original staff so I chose to trust her with access to my mansion and the power to bring those into the castle if she saw fit.

Even if she didn't not understand the full extent of the problems going on in the kingdom, everyone knows that it is dangerous. And as my staff she should have known that sneaking people into my mansion was directly putting me and everyone else here in danger.

I knew Mellie wasn't the brightest or the most hardworking but I thought she was earnest. I thought she had my best interests at heart. I never imagined she could do anything like this...