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The King of Media, Charles Augustus Milverton, had a lot of secrets that he kept away from the public. For example, that he was actually evil and manipulated the masses to feel his power which was the only thing what made him satisfied other than making people fell to sin. On top of that, he also bore another title which made his victims shiver from the fear - namely, he was the King of Blackmail - and he ruined people's lives for fun. Of course, these things were known about him already by his closest subordinates who helped him make his evil plans real - but Milverton had another secret as well that he didn't share, not even with his secretary, Ruskin who was his most trusted employee. It was not an evil secret, maybe that's what bothered Milverton so much. That aside from strawberries and the strawberry cakes which were made for him, he had one more strawberry related obsession.
That cheap strawberry flavoured candy which was sold in markets.
Milverton always kept some of the candy in his safe where no one other than him could see it, making sure that he will not become the talk of the town and messes with his pride that he is fond of something so... trivial. It was a huge addiction for him ever since his childhood. Milverton grew up in a poor family and stealing this candy from the market was his only joy, maybe the first crime he had ever committed. Eventually, he became an adult, slowly but steadily rising to power and claiming his place in society. Now he had enough wealth to buy whatever expensive and luxurious sweets the merchants sold, but Milverton didn’t need any of those. He only wanted his cheap candy, not wanting to give up on the fun of his childhood.
However, as an awe-inspiring and influential media mogul, one of the most important people of the country who kept a lot of subordinates in his manor, it was harder to get his favourite candy. But Milverton was not a person who let any of his problems to stay unsolved, so he came up with a plan on how to smuggle the candy in unnoticeably. Without letting his identity know, he sent money along with a message to one of the maids who seemed obedient enough. The woman brought him the candy in the market in one of her shopping walks and left it at the place where Milverton ordered her to do. Late at night, when he made sure that the entire house was asleep, Milverton gathered the candy and hid it well. He was managing this business successfully for years - until one day, his cover almost ended up being blown.
It was one of those nights when Milverton left his bedroom to gather the desired candy from the garden. He didn't run into any obstacle outside. It was the last thing that should end up as the house's gossip that the master of the manor sneaks out to collect strange packages. Fortunately, no one saw him, at least, no one until he came inside. He was about to disappear in his bedroom again, maybe enjoying some candy before he fell asleep to celebrate his victory, when he heard a voice behind his back.
"Mr. Milverton?"
Milverton was startled by the sudden call. He turned around and stared at the man who disturbed him. It was his secretary, Ruskin, whose bedroom was next to Milverton's and who was now looking at him with a worried look in his eyes.
"Is everything alright, Mr. Milverton?" Ruskin asked and his gaze observed his employer. Milverton hoped that he would not notice the package in his hands while he tried to come up with a believable lie about what he was doing in the corridor in the middle of the night.
"Yes, Ruskin." He answered, trying to reassure his secretary. "I merely visited the men's room." He said what first came into his mind.
He saw that Ruskin raised his eyebrows.
"You didn't come from that direction, sir." He noted and Milverton could hear that he suspected something.
"Well, I..." Milverton tried to correct himself fast, but Ruskin cut into his speech.
"Is there a hole in our security system, sir?" He asked cautiously. "What did you find?"
Before Milverton could do anything - not like he expected his secretary to touch him without permission - Ruskin reached for Milverron's hand and took the candy away from him.
"What is this? Is it poisoned?" He started to inspect it, leaving Milverton to turn red from the embarrassment. But he didn't give up on trying to protect his secret and grabbing the chance that Ruskin's attention shifted from his whereabouts to the candy, he attempted to keep the topic.
"Do you think that it is?" Milverton tried to seem innocent. "I heard some noise from outside and when I went to check it, I found it in the garden."
Ruskin became pale for the story.
"You should never go out alone, sir!" He panically cried out. "It is clear that someone is after you. The candy must be poisoned, so you need to let me handle it." Ruskin stated vehemently and Milverton could spot the determination in his eyes. "You will not sleep on your own tonight. I'll send out Harry and Gosling to search through the garden and I will spend the night in your bedroom, guarding you to make sure that no assassin gets near you."
Ruskin takes it more seriously than I ever imagined, Milverton thought with a little guilt that his lies led to a scene like this. He was lucky that he successfully avoided getting discovered, but this didn't change the fact that he needed to come up with a new plan on how to get his beloved candy. Maybe it would be better to share everything with Ruskin and trust him completely - it seemed like he would never turn against him, he added before he fell asleep while his secretary was sitting on his bedside, ready to protect him during the night.