《The Crown&#x27;s Obsession》


 Chapter 1 Excerp

    <h4>1 Excerp</h4>

    *No rape* ;

    "Your bed is cold," spoke a voice in the room that had her eyes go wide in fear. Nervously, she turned around, gulping softly to see a shadow on her bed as if someoneid down there. The man who had been lying down sat up emerging out from the shadows where he had been waiting for her.

    "What are you doing here?" she asked when his feet touched the ground and he pushed himself up to start walking towards her. His handsome features looked darker than usual because of theck of light in the room.

    "I came to meet you," he tilted his head, "Where did you go?"

    "I went out for a walk," came the quick reply that had him smile, a smile that scared her the most.

    She took a step back when he came close to her. It didn''t stop him from cornering her, and her back hit the wall behind her. He raised his hand towards her face, and she closed her eyes, scared. She shuddered when his fingers trail down from her temple and her jaw and neck. Her blonde hair was left open.

    "In the middle of the night?" she didn''t answer him knowing he could decipher her lies through her words. He stepped closer that had her turn her face away from him and his words vibrated on the skin of her neck,

    "Did you go to meet him, my sweet girl?"

    --

    Despite her uninterest, Madeleine Harris is dragged to the illustrious Hawthorne''s annual masquerade ball along with her older sister in order to find rich husbands. Madeleine gives her best effort to spend the evening unnoticed by anyone, but a silver-masked stranger returns her missing handkerchief before requesting to dance with her. After spending the rest of the evening evading his eager, and arguably aggressive, approach, she returned home only to have a betrothal letter from the King arrive at her house the next day.

    Enter his Royal Highness Calhoun Hawthrone, the narcissistic and self-obsessed despot of the entire Devon region, the silver-masked stranger, a man who never takes no for an answer because he never had to.

    Coerced into agreeing to a union with the most selfish and evil man she has ever met, will Madeleine find a way to escape his clutches and marry the tailor of her dreams before living the simple life she always desired? Or must she ept bing the wife and queen of a man who treats people as things?

    ---

    Note:The ML is eviler than what you will find in other books. He''s an alpha male. There will be a good side, but it will take time. This is a slow-burn book. ;

    1. This is a slow burn book, which is still ONGOING.

    2. Books on Webnovel are mostly longer than the physical or Amazon books. Do not pester the author toplete the book, or how to write.

    3. Chapter updates ranges 2-3 per day, depending on the author''s avability. ;

    4. Some of the facts and the use of dialogues have been bent and changed to fit into the story. So if you find a unicorn or frogs flying in the book wearing capes and sses, then remember that this is a work of fiction which doesn''t adhere to real facts.

 Chapter 2 Invitation

    <h4>2 Invitation</h4>

    Not finding her mother or her sibling inside, the girl made her way to the backyard of the house where she saw her mother and her younger sister who were hanging the wet clothes on the clothes line. The sun was bright and warm enough to dry the clothes they had washed in the river.

    "Mama! Maddie!"

    "Stop shouting, Beth. I am sure even Mrs. Parkins can hear you over the fence," said the woman who had an apron tied around her waist and her hair tied in a bun, "What''s gotten you excited?" asked her mother.

    The girl named Beth smiled at her mother and showed her the envelope in her hand, "Look what I received," there was a red seal on the envelope that had been opened, "It is an invitation to the grand ball of Hallow in the King''s castle."

    "That is not possible. Why would the King send an invitation to us?" her mother asked and then took the letter from her to notice the seal that was on the outside, "Oh well, I cannot read."

    The grand ball of Hallow took ce every year in the King''s pce and it was a ball that many wished to go but it was not for the lower people but only for the men who worked for the King and his other acquaintances who mostly hailed from the rich ss. People like the Harris'' family didn''t have the opportunity to get an invitation which was why the woman wondered if her older daughter was imagining things.

    The youngest daughter, Madeline said, "Let me take a look at that, mama," and she read what was written in it. Her eyebrows furrowed, "It is indeed an invitation from the King. We have our name in there."

    "I told you!" the older girl replied, pping her hands anding to stand next to her younger sister who was two-inch shorter than her. Beth had dark brown hair that almost looked ck and eyes that were green in color, acquiring her features from her father while the younger girl took after her mother''s pale features with blonde hair and brown eyes that had her living in her older sister''s shadow, "What do you think? Should we go to the ball?"

    Madeline who was the youngest smiled at her elder sister who was a year older to her who looked excited to go to the ball. It was obvious she had been wanting to go there like many other folks who couldn''t afford to even step into the castle and only look at it from afar. Her brown eyes shifted to look at her mother who was in deep thought.

    She could tell that her mother was calcting the cost if they were going to attend the ball. Birds flew up in the sky, chirping as they made their way towards the forest.

    Seeing the frown on her younger sister''s face, Beth said, "The King has decided to be generous enough in inviting many families to attend the ball this time instead of limiting it with minimum numbers. I was right there in the market when I heard the announcement made in front of the vige''s scaffold."

    "How kind of him," Madeline murmured under her breath. With what she had heard, the King was nowhere generous and had the reputation of a cruel tyrant. People like her or many of them who lived on this side of the vige had never seen the king but had heard only stories.

    Some good but mostly bad.

    "Are we going, mama? It is not every time we are invited by the king and get the opportunity to see the castle," Beth eagerly waited for her mother who said,

    "We will need gowns, shoes and carriage to travel which we can''t afford. Your father is working really hard and the little money we have saved is for one of you married and settled while we seek the help of whoever gets married first," Beth looked glum hearing this.

    The elder woman gave it some thought, her eyebrows knitted together. If one of her daughters were able to acquire a male''s interest who was of high status, everything would fall in the right ce. There were enough suitors who were already trying to woo her daughters. Like every mother, she had the best interest of her daughters in her heart and wanted to see her daughters married and have a good life.

    "I suppose you are right. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity but you will need to arrange the gowns, Beth. I will ask your father if he can arrange the carriage," said their mother to have Beth scream in joy.

    "Oh, mother, thank you! I will ask Mr. Heathcliff if he can rent us some clothes for that evening. Surely, he wouldn''t mind for a day," Madeline heard her sister speak excitedly where she could see her elder sister was already dreaming about it, "You wouldn''t mind if I take Maddie along with me, do you, mama?"

    "Don''t go too far!" their mother yelled when the girls stepped out of the house.

    The woman knew out of her two daughters, it was her older daughter who was interested to go and keen on finding a suitor amongst the possible crowd in the ball that was going to take ce in the castle. Maybe it was a good thing and the probability of Beth cing a man as husband was higher than Madeline as she was the stunning one out of the two girls. It would ce her daughter in a better position while it would also improve the Harris'' status and wealth.

    But no one knew what fate had in store.

 Chapter 3 Tailors door

    <h4>3 Tailor''s door</h4>

    "Sister Beth, the shop won''t close right away. We still have time for the ball," Madeline had to remind her sister as she appeared to be in a hurry.

    "Oh, hush, Maddie. You don''t know how people are going to be swarming in the shop soon to get their clothes tailored or fitted. Knowing a lot of us cannot afford, there is going to be a line when ites to renting the gowns," said Beth walking along with her sister as they made way to the vige''s esteemed tailoring shop owned by James Heathcliff, "It''s right to take you along as the man fancies you. It would be easy to get our clothes from him. Just because you aren''t interested in going to the ball and don''t enjoy those things doesn''t mean I should too, does it?" her sister let out a heartyugh.

    A smile appeared on Madeline''s lips when she said, "I never said I didn''t want to. I do wish to attend to the ball."

    "Don''t be a damp weather on a sunny day then," Beth smiled, giving a quick look to Madeline. If it weren''t for the littleugh, one would have found how Beth tried to demean her sister, which the younger girl brushed it away by thinking it was her sister''s yful words.

    Like many others from the viges and a few towns, Madeline wanted to go to the ball, but her purpose of going was differentpared to her sister. Her sister, Beth, wanted to ce herself in the highest social standing than live her life here in the vige. Madeline was slightly hesitant in going to the shop because it wasn''t just Mr. Heathcliff who fancied her. She liked the man, but neither of them had ever spoken about it. The most Madeline had done so far was smile at the man.

    Once they reached the shop, as expected, there were young girls and women, who Beth had seen receive the invitation letters from the messenger of the castle,

    "Do you think he has so many gowns to give everyone?" Madeline noticed how far the line had been formed. By the time they would go to receive it, there would be none left.

    "Of course, he doesn''t. The man barely has five to ten good ones while the rest I believe have been given away by now," Beth looked at the entrance of the shop and then the line before she pulled Madeline towards the door. She pushed her sister in the front so that Mr. HeathCliff would notice Madeline which he did in less than a few seconds.

    To Beth''s calcted expectation, Mr. Heathcliff excused himself from the customer by handing the work to his assistant so that he could talk to her sister.

    Madeline smiled when her eyes met with Mr. Heathcliff''s pale green ones, and he smiled back at her.

    "Good afternoon, Mr. Heathcliff," Madeline greeted him.

    Beth didn''t know why the man took an interest in her sister as she was better looking out of the two of them and Mr. Heathcliff was a decent looking man in this vige. Not caring about it as she had to get the gowns from him, she used her sister as a means to get it.

    "How have you been doing, Mr. Heathcliff?" Beth initiated the conversation.

    The man gave a gentleman-like smile, "Very well, mdy. The King gave out invitations today to some of the families in and around the vige. It is why we have a line of customers waiting to get their clothes," said the man.

    He turned around to make sure his assistant was taking the right measurement as it wasn''t often they had these many people waiting in a queue.

    "Are you here to buy clothes?" he inquired before his eyes fell on the younger blonde girl as if he were unable to keep his eyes off of her.

    Madeline, who felt her sister nudge her back from behind, spoke, "We received the invitation too."

    "You did?" he asked, surprised to see Madeline nod.

    "Did you get invited to the ball too, Mr. Heathcliff?" asked Beth and the man smiled at her.

    "I didn''t," heughed at the end, "I am guessing you are here for the gowns?"

    "We were hoping we could get the gowns from your shop if it is possible. We will make sure we return the gowns in the same condition," Beth politely asked the man with a smile of promise in the hope that he would agree.

    They heard Mr. Heathcliff say, "I don''t know about that. Some gowns will be given to the ones who are first in the line."

    "We don''t mind gowns that look average," it was Madeline who said this to him, "Please," and he finally gave in.

    Mr. Heathcliff opened the back door for them so that they coulde in and have a look at the gown that were kept as rented gowns without it costing too much. While her sister, Beth, was busy searching a silk gown for herself, Madeline looked in the other side to have Mr. Heathcliff assist her.

    "I am surprised you didn''t receive an invitation," said Madeline as he helped her. It was because the man stitched and delivered materials of clothes for people who lived in the pce.

    "My guess is a tailor isn''t much of an importance. I would have probably felt less bad if I didn''t know you were not going. I mean you girls," heughed and then said, "I am happy that you are going to attend it. Maybe you cane back and tell me how it was."

    "I will be sure to do that," Madeline agreed to it before her sister, Beth, called for her help in choosing the gowns.

 Chapter 4 Worry

    <h4>4 Worry</h4>

    Madeline moved forward and looked at the gowns that had been chosen and asked, "What about the red one?"pared to the other dresses, the red one stood out the most. Made of silk andce with embroidered stonework, she waited as Beth picked up the dress and turned to look at the mirror.

    "I guess it doesn''t look bad on me," Beth turned back and forth. She turned to look at Mr. Heathcliff, who had been waiting on the two girls. "How much is this one?" she asked him with her expressive green eyes.

    "That would cost a whole silver coin," Mr. Heathcliff wasn''t sure if they could afford a whole silver for a single piece of the gown as there was also Madeline who was yet to choose her gown. Even Madeline wondered if they could afford it but her sister, Beth, surprised her by saying,

    "I will take it. Maddie, why don''t you choose one for yourself?" asked Beth.

    "Mr. Heathcliff, could you excuse us for a moment," Madeline requested the man who gave her a nod and left the sisters in the backroom. The younger girl asked, "Do you have a coin of silver? We still need to get clothes for mother and father."

    "Oh, don''t worry about that. I saved some money from what I received," answered Beth who was still looking at the gown that she held in her hand, " It is not a small gathering. People from different parts of the towns and viges are going to be there. I would like to see our family dressed well. I wouldn''t rob my sister and my family from the joy of going to the castle. Is that what you think?" Beth looked sad with the thought.

    "Of course not! It is just that a coin of silver is too much for us to give for a single gown. I know you aren''t like that," said Madeline with a small frown, "If you say that you have saved enough, then it should be fine."

    "You worry for no reason," Beth ced the gown down and started to look for other gowns that were not from the same rack which she had picked for herself, "We are visiting the castle, therefore, we cannot afford to look like we came from the vige."

    "I don''t think there''s anything wrong in the vige," Madeline said, searching the gowns herself.

    "Nobody said anything is wrong with the vige," Bethughed, "Before I was on my way home, I heard Mr. Craigs that he received an invitation to the ball too. So you can tell what kind of people will be there. There are going to be eligible men, you should find one there," advised Beth to her little sister who didn''t know how life worked.

    "I think I am fine here," Madelineughed as her sister Beth had ns to marry a man from the ball.

    Madeline didn''t respond. It was rude to speak about Mr. Heathcliff when they were in his shop. He had been generous to lend them the clothes first, "I think I am much more suitable for the life here. I have you. I am sure when you get betrothed to the man you want, you will help us."

    "That I will," Beth replied with a grin, "I hear the king is very handsome and is single."

    "Aren''t there gossips about him bedding many women?" Madeline asked her sister, going back to look at the gowns.

    "They are just rumours. It isn''t like any of the vigers have ever seen him. The King doesn''t invite everyone to see him. People are jealous and will spew any nonsense," Beth said, taking the red gown she had picked for herself, "and who knows, if the King takes an interest in me, there wouldn''t be anything to worry. I guess red is the right choice," Madeline saw her sister Beth grin widely.

    "Red suits you. You will stand out once you wear it, you stand out without it too," Madeline smiled at her sister.

    "Look at you being my personal cheerer. Let''s find you a gown so that we don''t impose on the man further."

    Beth instead of looking at the gowns that were fabricated in silk, moved to the other side looking at different materials, "I think I found one," said the elder girl and pulled out a beige coloured gown.

    Compared to the striking red gown that Beth had picked for herself, she had picked a paler gown for Madeline. It wasn''t silk but made of different fabrics. Not having a chance to open and look at the dress properly because of the crowd that stood waiting outside the tailor shop, the girls quickly picked up gowns and clothes for their parents. Paying Mr. Heathcliff with silver and bronze coins, they left thanking the man.

    After the time of dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Harris had retired to their room. Mr. Harris gave a thought regarding the invitation that had been sent to them.

    Mr. Harris said, "It is said that the castle is not safe. People get lost and disappear, never to be seen again. You have heard rumours about the King. Somewhere, I don''t feel right to go and attend the Hallow there."

    "It would be rude to refuse an invitation that hase from the castle, you and I both know that. It is only a ball, what can go wrong. There will be masks covering our faces," Mrs. Harris tried to ease her husband''s worried lines that had formed on his face, "Also, the girls have reached their peak point of age, meeting other men out of this vige would do them good," she said while fluffing the pillow and getting the nket on the bed which had been washed and dried today.

    Her husband''s frown only deepened further, "You don''t n to marry them with somebody there, do you? We know nothing about the people who will be attending there. Beth is a child, still young."

    "Beth is a grown woman and knows what she wants. She would be helping our family with our current situation. There''s no harm with that," said Mrs. Harris, keeping the best interest of her family in her mind. It wasn''t that Mrs. Harris was greedy but she was only looking for the best for her family, to have a better life.

    "And what about Madeline?" asked Mr. Harris knowing how tender the girl waspared to his older daughter who was bold.

    Mrs. Harris sat next to her husband and said, "You and I both know Madeline wishes for a simple life. While Beth, you know Beth. The girl dreams about mansion, servants and jewels. If she finds a decent suitor, it might make way for Madeline too," once Beth would get engaged, there would be better prospects for Madeline, thought Mrs. Harris to herself, "Madeline is mature enough to handle herself too. Have some faith that they will be alright."

    "It is not that I don''t..."

    A parent was not supposed to show a difference in emotions when it came to their children. Mr. Harris couldn''t stop but worry about Madeline who was the opposite of Beth. She was gentle and too kind. Madeline fell paler by looks in front of her beautiful and attractive sister, but that didn''t mean she wasn''t pretty to look at.

    The girls were often seen together, and when a man passed by, it was often Beth who caught their attention. And just because he was more concerned about Madeline, it didn''t mean he loved his elder daughter any less than the younger one.

    After some thought, he finally said,

    "I will ask Mr. Miller if he can lend his carriage for the day."

 Chapter 5 Preparation to go

    <h4>5 Preparation to go</h4>

    As written in the invitation, the ball would start at eight at night. It was also added that everyone would be eating in the castle. The thought of tasting something unusual with the mouth-watering delicacies that most had only dreamt, people could hardly wait.

    The journey to the castle would take nearly an hour and none of them wanted to bete to the ball. After all, it was once in a lifetime.

    "Are you going to be alright?" asked Madeline who was pulling theces of the corset that her sister Beth wore right now. Beth held her breath and nodded her head while she held one of the bedposts.

    "Make it tighter," Beth said and Madeline pulled thece further so that Beth could have a more entuated bodice of the figure once she would put the gown that was borrowed from Mr. Heathcliff''s shop, "Okay, this looks good," the older girl went to stand in front of the mirror. Turning herself back and front to make sure it looked as she wanted and it did.

    "Will you be able to breathe?" Madeline asked at the tightness of her sister''s corset that was making her worried just by looking at it.

    "Absolutely," Beth smiled with an assuring smile, "Come, let me help you with yours," Madeline looked at her sister apprehensively.

    "I will have Mama do myces. I wouldn''t want to die out of suffocation," said Madeline whose arm was pulled by Beth.

    "Don''t be a child. If you don''t tie the corset with bodice the right, the gown is not going to sit well. I want to make sure my sister looks pretty," Beth tugged her sister toe forward and stand near the bedpost, "Hold your breath," and when Madeline did as asked by Beth as her sister pulled theces from the back.

    Madeline let go of her breath, holding the post too so that she wouldn''t be pulled back with the force that Beth used to keep theces tight together. Beth was a good sister to Madeline and personally, she didn''t mean any wrong unless there was a need forpetition. She was a good person if things went her way. She liked to be first in everything and it was something she had inherited since she was a young girl.

    Beth was the first one to get ready as she had finishedpleted doing her hair by tying most of her hair up while leaving two pieces of her hair curled in the back to rest on her shoulder. She wore the striking red dress that fit her perfectly that had a zip in the back. It was a half-sleeved gown with stone works around her chest and at the bottom of her skirt that had severalyers.

    The elder daughter of the Harris looked nothing less to a high standing woman of the society.

    "Do you need any help?" asked Beth who was yet to wear her dress.

    Beth waved her hand before asking, "Do you think it looks fine?"

    "I think it looks fantastic," Madeline chuckled to hear her sister say.

    "Are you sure you don''t need any help? You haven''t got your hair done yet either," Beth pursed her lips looking at her sister. To Madeline, her sister''s words were of concern shown towards her.

    "Yes. I will be done soon. Why don''t you see if mama and papa are ready?" Madeline asked her sister to check on their parents and Beth gave her a nod.

    "Alright," said Beth leaving Madeline in the room.

    Madeline finally wore the gown that was somewhat pale beige in colour. Unlike her sister''s dress that was made in silk, the texture of this gown was different and something she had never stumbled upon in past. It showed her shoulders with a little extra work at the top that emphasized her figure as the dress travelled down her body to touch the floor.

    The dress wasn''t eye-catching but it was simple yet beautiful in its own way. There were no stones but a lot of delicate thread work which Madeline had to remind herself to bring back the dress to Mr. Heathcliff in the same condition she had borrowed from the shop.

    She then worked on her hair by taking many pieces of her hair at the front of her hair to tie and leaving out the rest of it that stopped just above her waist. She used pins to secure her hair while pulling small pieces of her hair from the sides of her temple.

    When everyone was finally ready, they could hear many carriages passing by their house as a lot of the guests had started to head to the castle to make sure they weren''t going to miss anything today.

    "Look at both of you, you look so beautiful," Mrs. Harris, raised her hands to have both the girls hug her back. When they pulled back, Mrs. Harris asked Beth, "Why didn''t you help Madeline with her hair? It looks very simple. There should still be time to fix it up," it was because Beth''s hairstyle suited her attire and the ce they would be going while Madeline appeared to have tied her hair by letting it down by simple clips.

    "I did ask her," Beth said looking at Madeline''s hair that did look simple and she pursed her lips. She looked at the dress that her sister wore for the fifth time since Madeline had worn it, "I asked her if she needed help," this was precisely why she had asked if Madeline needed help so that they wouldn''t bete.

    "That''s alright, mama," Madeline held her mother''s hand, "Didn''t you just say we look beautiful? It should be fine," she smiled at her mother, a smile that had her mother smiling too, "Doesn''t Beth look beautiful with the red dress? It suits her well," Madeline deviated the topic where her mother gave her a knowing look before she said,

    "Beautiful as always," hearing the sound of the carriage and horses again, they looked at the road to finally see the carriage stop at the front of their house.

 Chapter 6 Grand Ball: Hallow- Part 1

    <h4>6 Grand Ball: Hallow- Part 1</h4>

    It was a reason why both Madeline, as well as Beth, appeared to be looking out of the window with eager eyes, and this included Mrs. Harris.

    Madeline, who sat next to Beth, looked outside the window with the trees that passed by one after another. The sky had turned dark two hours ago due to which it was just their carriage that had fixatednterns that gave out light outside along with other carriages that were either in front of them or behind them heading in the direction of the castle that was emitting light from thenterns.

    The young girl continued to look outside the little window until she heard her father say,

    "Were the Hamptons invited?"

    "They have been invited," it was their mother who answered to this who had been sitting prim and proper with a straight back as if trying to rehearse how to rest as she was wearing a gown herself that was made of silk, "Mrs. Hamptons kept speaking about it in every conversation with everyone she met as if the King hade to invite her personally. She wanted to let everyone know that her family was special; therefore, I made sure to tell her and some of them that the King invited us to the ball too."

    Beth and Madeline smiled at their mother''s words who had knit her brows as she said it. Their father said, "I am sure you did that, my dear."

    Beth chuckled to say, "It is the King so everyone cannot wait to show off that they have been invited to the castle."

    "That is true," said their father, "It must be the very first time that the King decided to invite people like us," people whocked when it came to both money, as well as status, had always been separated from the rich folks.

    "Do you think the King is a good man, papa?" Beth asked her father.

    "It is hard to say," muttered her father and then said, "Once we reach the castle, make sure both you girls stay together. We have seen the castle only from afar. I wouldn''t want my daughters lost and where your mother or I will need to find you girlster in worry."

    "And do not cause any trouble," their mother added to have both the young girls nod their head, "I heard the castle is vast. As big as the vige," said her mother that had her father continue with the conversation but Madeline didn''t listen to it. Instead, she turned her head to look outside at the trees.

    When the carriage passed through the big pirs, Madeline looked at the leaves and creepers that decorated the gates. Thend was vast with trees and gardens that were beautiful like one would imagine heaven to be. Like Madeline, there were some men and women who were busy looking at their surroundings.

    Madeline took her mask that was gold in colour, tying it around her face before they would reach the entrance of the castle.

    The carriage finally came to a pause and the door of the carriage was opened for Mr. and Mrs. Harris to get down first who was followed by Beth where she had to make sure she didn''t step on her dress. Two servants came forward to straighten her dress once she had stepped down before they moved to help Madeline.

    "Thank you," Madeline bowed at the maids after they had helped in fixing her dress.

    The castle was lit up with torches of fire, and right now it looked beautiful. Madeline continued to look at the castle which in truth was as big as the vige they lived in. Every person who had stepped out of the carriage and was getting down were dressed in different materials and texture of clothing that was eye-catching.

    "Please head this waydies and gentlemen," the guard stood guiding the guests who had stepped out of the carriage.

    Madeline, along with her sister, walked inside the castle that had wide doors that were carved beautifully. There were paintings on the ceilings that lit up for view because of the chandelier that held many candles in them and these hanging chandelier''s carried stones like diamonds that reflected light around them. While the elites continued to walk forward, it was the poor people who couldn''t help but look at beautiful things they were surrounded in.

    When Madeline and her parents were taking their time to look at their surroundings, Beth urged, "Let''s go to the main ballroom," she noticed how the people who belonged to the higher ss spared them one nce and showed the distaste on their lips.

    "Look at that painting. What do you think it is made of?" Mrs. Harris whispered to her husband.

    "It should be an oil painting; they still look greasy," answered Mr. Harris.

    "Really?" asked Mrs. Harris in surprise, "I would have never pegged."

    "I saw Milton having one of these. It takes a lot of time to dry. It should be very old, though. Some have excellent qualities," Mr. Harris responded to his wife''s curiosity.

    One of the couples who passed by them snickered as they heard the Harris speak and Madeline noticed this. She heard the man say, "I don''t think it''s hard to differentiate people from us," and the woman smiled with a smirk. Her eyebrows drew together with the way the eyes looked at them even though there were masks on their face.

    Madeline knew the kind of ce she and her family members hade. Though the King for the very first time had invited the vigers and people who lived in the town, she wondered what was the King''s motive in doing so.

    "Maddie!" Beth called her, "Let''s go," giving a smile, Madeline walked next to her sister, and Beth took one step forward so that she was the first one to be seen.

 Chapter 7 Grand Ball: Hallow- Part 2

    <h4>7 Grand Ball: Hallow- Part 2</h4>

    Madeline''s parents took their own time to look around the castle while she apanied her sister, who could barely wait to explore and go to the ballroom which was where the celebration of the Hallow was taking ce.

    Before they even reached the ballroom, they could hear music filling up every part of the castle.

    "This is going to be a wonderful night, isn''t it!" Beth eximed it to her sister as quietly as she could, "The music is so beautiful, yet there''s some sadness in there. The castle is magnificent."

    "Indeed it is," Madeline agreed, looking at the walls and the pirs that were part of the castle. Some people walked by, talking andughing with each other. People who knew each other. A lot of men who came to pass by looked at Beth as she stood out with the red dress and stones that caught one''s eyes in the long and wide corridor.

    "Imagine to live here, Maddie," said Beth looking around without being too obvious, "One would be like a queen."

    "There must be a lot of servants to maintain something so big like this castle," Madeline responded. She was sure with the amount they had walked and covered, and this was just little part of the castle.

    Bethughed, hearing this, "Oh, sister. Are you thinking about cleaning the castle?"

    A man who wasing in the opposite direction appeared to be of tall, wearing clothes that only the richest of the rich could afford. With half of his face covered by the mask and the other half free, one could tell this man was a handsome one with decent looking features. As he walked by them, his eyes fell on Beth, and he smiled. Beth raised her head, tipping up her chin as if she were the daughter of a Duke or a Lord.

    "He was looking at you," Madeline pointed the obvious with a whisper, "Do you think he will ask you to danceter?" it was because the girls were not familiar with the people in here.

    "Who knows," Beth replied, shrugging her shoulders, "I don''t think he is the King. I wonder how the King looks like," she murmured.

    "How do you know he is young? He might be in his fifties or more than that. He doesn''t show his face to us," Madeline stated. There were rumours of how he was old and how some said he was young.

    They started to head towards the ballroom, and Beth said, "That is because he is the King. He shows it to people who he finds to be worthy."

    Madeline and Beth did meet a person who they knew. It was Mr. Keith who had noticed Beth as he was her admirer.

    "Lady Beth, you look beautiful. So do you, Lady Madeline," praised Mr. Keith whose eyes shifted to look at Beth.

    "You don''t look bad yourself, Sir Keith," Beth gave the man a polite smile, "Did youe alone?" she asked him. Madeline heard Beth and Mr. Keith converse, and she looked around at people who had found the people they knew to speak to.

    While the guests were in the ballroom, entering one after another that still left enough space for others who were still getting to the castle, two men stood in the balcony wearing masks. One man stood near the railings of the gallery, looking at the people through the golden mask that covered his eyes,

    "We have many people who have gathered in the ballroom," the manmented, and he then turned to ask, "I thought with the minister''s words, the castle would have turned to a local market in the Pastical but it looks much better."

    "Pity. I was ready to hang him in the scaffold that is in front of the church," said the other male stood with his back and one leg against the wall. Unlike the person who had spoken, this person''s face was entirely covered by a silver mask. His ck hair wasbed back, and his head leaned against the wall with his eyes closed, "Any good meals for the night?" he asked.

    "There are some decent looking women. Finer and different."

    Hearing the reply, the man who stood against the wall, one side of his lips pulled up behind his mask, and he opened his red coloured eyes.

 Chapter 8 The girl in white

    <h4>8 The girl in white</h4>

    "Will you be making your presence known?" asked the man who took a step back, making way for him to stand in the front.

    "Let''s see," hummed the man with the full mask, "It would have been better to have people of our ss, but I guess it isn''t so bad. It isn''t every day we get to see the little people who live in their burrows. Do we now, Theo?"

    "I guess not, milord," the man named Theo who had his brown hairbed to the side replied with his head bowed, "Not everyone has the blessing to meet and see you."

    "It isn''t hard to differentiate the guests from the ones of our own. Humans," said the man looking as his eyes fell on a couple of people who appeared to be curious, "Fragile and weak, likembs when given grass. They wille and chew not knowing the butcher is going to cut its neck. Curious and foolish little things."

    "I hear Lady Sophie engaging herself with the Duke. Her parents want her to get married to the man,"mented Theo.

    "Let her be. Women like her are plenty. Trying to get under my good side which I enjoyed for a day but even ttery gets dull. One more day and her parents would find her floating in the river."

    Theodore gave a knowing smile. The man next to him was hard to please, especially with the years and time that had passed by, there were only a few things that could keep his attention, and when it did, the King seized it for himself.

    "Milord," came a maid who held a tray of wine in her hand. She had her head bowed where she didn''t dare to lift her head. The girl''s hands appeared to be shivering, and she tried to keep still.

    Theodore was the one who picked up the two sses who then waved his hand for her to leave. He wondered if the maid had been touched or if she had been warned and threatened that her hands shivering. He handed the ss and stated, "You enjoy the ball," and he received a chuckle in response.

    "What is not there to enjoy. There''s music. Food. Women and girls with gowns decked themselves waiting and willing to be taken to bed. Men, women. It is a treat for everyone," said the person, raising his ss to drink the wine through the little line of space that barely showed his lips.

    Theodore took his drink as if to toast, agreeing to the words spoken before taking a sip from the ss, "Are you nning to go down, Calhoun?" asked Theodore.

    "Go ahead. I will join in sometime."

    Theodore made a bow and left the King''s side, going to join the merriment of Hallow that was taking ce in the castle.

    In the sea of darkness that had been created by the guests who wore dark clothes and girls who mostly wore red in an attempt to catch the King''s eyes, the man noticed a girl who was in a light coloured dress. And maybe it was the dress or maybe it was the mask on her face that had slipped away from her face, the ribbons turning loose behind her head to slip down to show the girl''s face.

    His red eyes fixed on her, unmoving and taking up all the attention where the rest of the crowd appeared to have disappeared in his sight.

    She had refined features. Her eyes expressive though she wasn''t speaking to anyone, her lips unpainted with red but a pink that was subtle. Her blonde hairs cascading down her back. Her dress exposed her delicate shoulders that appeared smooth. There might have been plenty of girls who were beautiful but there was something on this girl''s, a drop of innocence more than the others.

    Before he could see her more, the girl tied her mask back in hurry to hide her face and it had one of his hand clutch the railing of the gallery. His eyes slightly narrowing for not being able to see more without the mask and one side of his lips pulled up in mirth.

    cing the ss of wine down, the man left the gallery to make his way down.

    Madeline was in the midst of the crowd with her sister, Beth, until her older sister was asked by a gentleman to dance with him. Her sister danced with the other couples to the music that was yed when she had felt her golden mask slipped down her face. She caught it in time before it would fall down on the ground where there would be no way to retrieve it with people moving back and forth and the gowns covering up the floor.

    She tied it back, her eyes looking left and right to make sure no one had seen her mask slip, and she released a sigh.

    Her parents must have been looking at the castle as she had not noticed them in the room. Her sister was enjoying her time dancing with the man, and her parents were surely having their own fun that had Madeline smile.

    She spent a few more minutes before deciding to step out of the ballroom.

    But when Madeline turned around, ready to walk forward, she saw a person not too far away walking in the opposite direction she was in. By clothes, she noticed it was a man but he wore a mask unlike anyone in the room. It was a mask that was silver colour, covering the person''s entire face except for the eyes that were red in colour.

    Madeline had started to walk forward, her eyes shifting away from the person to look at the other guests but her eyes went back to look at him, noticing him looking at her and it almost felt as if he were heading towards her.

    Just when they were about to pass by his eyes appeared to be looking elsewhere and she realized she had mistaken him that he was looking at her. Madeline let her breath out which she didn''t know she had been holding which was too soon as she took two steps away, she heard a man''s deep voice say,

    "Fairdy...I think you dropped your kerchief."

 Chapter 9 Amidst the crowd

    <h4>9 Amidst the crowd</h4>

    .

    Hearing the deep voice behind her, Madeline turned around to meet the man''s eyes that were looking at her. There was something very intimidating the way he looked at her, a darkness that lingered in those dark eyes.

    He raised his hand with the handkerchief in his hand, and Madeline''s brown eyes looked down at his hand to realize it was indeed her kerchief. She had been holding it all this while, which made her wonder how it slipped out of her hands.

    Thankful that the man had noticed it, Madeline offered the man a smile, "Thank you," and when she said those simple words of gratitude, the man who was looking at her breathed in her words that sounded sweet on his ears.

    He saw how she stepped closer to take the handkerchief which he had pulled out from her hand without her knowledge when they walked past each other. There was no ring on her finger. Half of her face was covered with the golden-rose mask, which was made of cloth. He had seen a glimpse of her face without the mask that came and went quicker than a breeze, but his eyes had captured it.

    She didn''t wear perfume like the others that were too strong and instead, she smelled like flowers. Flowers that were rare and grew in times of spring. He noticed the sliver of fear and doubt that appeared in her eyes when she took hold of the handkerchief, tugging it gently, which he didn''t let go in the first two seconds. A smile formed on his lips that widened behind his mask, which the girl couldn''t see.

    Madeline didn''t know if the person was smiling or not as his eyes appeared to be looking at her dauntingly. When he let go of the cloth, she finally took it back to her side, tucking it in her side pocket.

    "Do you care for a dance?"

    "What?" but the man took no effort to reiterate it as he knew she had heard it and her words hade only out of surprise.

    Madeline wasn''t sure about dancing not that she couldn''t, but she had nned to step out of the room for some air. Wasn''t he walking looking for someone else? Thought Madeline to herself.

    "Your partner might want to dance with you first," she said and noticed the way his head tilted to his side.

    The man raised his hand this time empty, waiting for her hand, "I don''t have a partner to dance with, will you do the honour," the girl looked hesitant as if being apprehensive of him and he chuckled, "Is there someone waiting for you?" he asked her. He had been looking at her, studying her since she had caught his eyes and the girl had no partner. Some of the men looked her way, wanting to ask her to dance with them, but they were still reciting how to ask the girl.

    This time Madeline could tell that the person behind the mask was smiling, his eyes turned slightly small, "No. I didn''te with a partner," she said to see him take a step closer to her and Madeline had to crane her neck up to look at the man, "I came with my parents and my sister," she looked in the direction her sister Beth was dancing with the man who had asked her to the dance floor.

    "Good, it shouldn''t be a problem then," she heard his deep voice echoing through her very body along with the music that they were surrounded in.

    Considering the man had returned her handkerchief, it would be rude to reject, and it wasn''t like Madeline had been asked by anyone to dance with her tonight. She didn''t know if it was because of her blonde hair that was let down, unlike other girls and women who had twisted, turned, braided their hair in different hairstyles.

    Seeing the man''s hand, Madeline finally ced her hand in his hand that appeared to look smallpared to hisrge hand. He sped her hand, taking her to the dance floor where couples were dancing, and the music out of the blue changed to a much slower and gentle one that had Madeline''s eyes turn in the direction of the musicians who had changed the tone of the music.

    Having her turn around to face him, he ced one of his hand on her waist and another that continued to hold her hand. Madeline felt the way his hand that just didn''t position on her waist by slid towards her back and pulled her close.

    In an effort to drive away from the silence as they were strangers, Madeline spoke, "What music is this?" she asked, moving along with him and following his steps. Careful so that she wouldn''t step on his shoes.

    "It''s called Improvision. Music which turns better with every century that passes by," he answered, looking at her.

    Madeline smiled at his words, "It would be hard to judge about the beauty of music going along with time in terms of centuries. I can only tell how it sounds now."

    "And how does it sound, mdy?" he hummed the question.

    "Subtly quiet," she answered.

    "Interesting," he let go of her waist so that he could push her away from him to only pull her much closer than before, "Don''t worry about stepping on my shoes. Move freely else you will appear to be stiff," he said that she looked up at him. Was it that obvious that she was worried about it.

    "Thank you for your words," Madeline responded to him. Compared to what she had felt before, he appeared to be friendlier, but she didn''t know he was only deceiving her by his words, "I don''t know who I am dancing with," she said with a polite smile.

    "Isn''t it customary to ask one''s name only after giving yours," asked the man, continuing to look at her without blinking.

    The girl appeared to look away at the basic error she had done, her cheeks turning warm, and her eyes finally moved up to look back at him, "Madeline Harris."

    "Madeline," her name rolled off his tongue, a whisper at the end and she waited to know the person who she was dancing with, but he never gave out his name,

    "You didn''t give me yours," she said, staring into his eyes to realize she wasn''t dancing with a kind of her own. She had heard whispers and stories about people with red eyes, people who lived in and around the mansion.

    The man happened to pull her at the same time, closer, to have her bend backwards for her neck to bare to his eyes. She saw the many chandeliers that were hanging up from the ceiling until the man with the silver mask came in view, bringing her back with his eyes gazing at her.

    When he pulled her up, his breath falling on her neck.

    She heard him say, "What is in a name, Madeline..."

 Chapter 10 Illusion

    <h4>10 Illusion</h4>

    "I see you''re not scared of the night creatures," Calhoun noticed how she pursed her lips at his question, wetting her lips very subtly.

    Madeline knew not to fear when one met a night creature, and they were in a ball. She doubted he would do anything to her that she had to worry about, "Is there something I have to be scared about them?" she asked him, questioning the words he spoke, and the man behind the mask smirked.

    "Many humans fear their existence. Stay far away from them while internally cursing and wishing death, isn''t that so?" he asked her.

    "I don''t think I havee across anyone to fear," she replied, feeling his hold on her waist gentle yet firm.

    He pushed her away again, ying with her with the music that was yed in the corner of the room. When Madeline twirled around, her dress spun along with her, and she ended up back in his arms, her hand locked as her back faced the front of his body, "So brave. I can tell I am the first one you have met," he whispered the words next to her ear.

    He let her go from his hold, dancing with her while the girl moved with him, "You must be working here in the castle. Have you seen the King?" she asked him.

    She felt his hand move around her waist as she turned to be caught by him again, "The King?" asked the man, "I have, why do you ask?" he asked, his eyes carrying curiosity towards her.

    Madeline shrugged her shoulders that had the man nce at her slender and delicate part of her body that looked soft and smooth. He wondered how it would feel to bite into that skin, and the thought had his hand grip on her tightly as he pulled her close once again.

    "He invited his subjects to the Grand Ball of Hallow and isn''t here. I find it��"

    "Rude?" he chuckled.

    "I was going for improper," Madeline said to look away from his daunting gaze as it never left her face.

    She looked at the people who were dancing on the floor and also others. The men and women who were standing on the sidelines talking, appeared to be curious about who the couple was��some eyes on the mysterious man and some on the woman who was with him.

    She noticed her sister Beth who was dancing with another man looking her way, curious about who Madeline was dancing with.

    "The King must have his reasons for not showing up here. We all have our problems, don''t we, Madeline?" Madeline came to realize how he wasn''t addressing her with ''Miss'' or ''Lady'', but instead, he was using her name as if they were familiar with each other, "Are you interested in seeing the King? Is that why you are inquiring about his presence, I wouldn''t judge if you wanted to."

    "I don''t," she replied to him.

    "A mere interest then," he replied with a whisper for her to listen.

    Madeline then said, "It would have been nice for him to spare a moment. Especially for those people who have travelled from a far distance.."

    "People," said the man, "Do you believe they are here for only the reason of having to see a man who they fear? There are plenty of reasons, and most of them are getting filled. Attending a grand ball, food, people to meet and enjoy."

    "It seems like you love the King to side with his actions," the words slipped out of Madeline''s lips, and she bit her tongue at how the words had rolled out which she regretted now.

    The man instead of looking at her with using look in his eyes for not kissing the ground where the King walked, heughed, "Seems like you aren''t fond of him," looking at her with intrigue.

    Madeline smiled at the man, "I haven''t met him to know if I am or not fond of him. I have nothing against him," she added, not wanting to get on the wrong side of the King if ever her words were to reach his ears.

    "Worry not, your words are safe with me," he said and finally let go of his hand that was on her waist when the song ended. It was hard to trust with the full mask on his face, thought Madeline to herself but the man had created some sense of intrigue in her which she knew she should not have, "Thank you for the dance, Madeline," he said, and she bowed.

    Taking a step back and then two, she saw the way his predator''s eyes looked at her every move and action. She turned around to leave, walking a few steps before turning around to take a look to see the man who she had danced with had disappeared like an illusion.

    Her brown eyes looked for a second more before she walked through the crowd of men and women. Madeline hugged herself and rubbed her arms as she had moved from the ballroom that was filled with people to a less crowded ce where the cold wind of the night moved quickly.

    She took a deep breath and exhaled the air through her pink lips.

    Beth was busy with a man who wore rich clothes that had her wonder if her sister had caught the King''s eyes by any chance. Not wanting to disturb her, Madeline decided to take a look at the castle while searching for her parents.

    While she searching not too far away from the ballroom, Madeline heard someone call her.

    "Lady Madeline!" and Madeline turned back to see who had called her.

    She saw a man walking towards her who wore a mask on his face like her and her eyebrows slightly drew wondering who it was and her eyebrows raised in realization,

    "Mr. Heathcliff?"

    .

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 Chapter 11 Behind the pillars

    <h4>11 Behind the pirs</h4>

    "Miss Madeline," Mr. Heathcliff gave her a bow and Madeline returned it, "You look beautiful. I knew the dress would suit you well," heplimented her, and she had to hold in the blush so that it wouldn''t reach up to her cheeks.

    "Thank you. You look well yourself," she thanked him.

    "You must be surprised to see me here. Lady Catherine asked me to apany her here," so that''s how it was, thought Madeline to herself. For a moment she had wondered if Mr. Heahtcliff had entered the castle without an invitation, "She went with a gentleman to speak over thends she bought that''s having disputes. I thought I woulde to look for you," his pale green eyes looked down at her.

    "You found me," she said, and he gave her a nod.

    "I did," he said, unable to take his eyes off of the girl who stood in front of him. Madeline felt the tiny spark of joy that ignited in her chest, and she was somewhere happy that Mr. Heathcliff took an interest in her. She shared an affinity towards the man and to hear that he came looking for her.

    "Are you enjoying your time here?" Mr. Heathcliff asked her, his eyes turning away from her when two guests were passing through the corridor, and he moved back, giving her the space to move towards the wall for people to walk.

    "I am. It is a beautiful castle," she replied to him before silence filled between them as she didn''t know what to say. The night was cold, and the light in the corridor was soft and gentle on the things around it.

    Madeline might not have been to the par of her sister when it came to beauty, but she was pretty enough to hold a man''s interest when one took heed to her. But the young daughter of Harris knew the amount ofpetition when it came to men and women; therefore, she had kept her conversation always to be polite and minimum.

    "Lady Catherine might wonder where you are if she were to find you missing," Lady Catherine was one of the women who belonged to the higher society. She dropped by the tailorman''s store often enough to see him, which made it quite evident that thedy was interested in the man.

    "That''s alright. It was important to find you," he said, and Madeline''s eyes met his who was looking at another person walking by.

    And while Madeline had stepped away from the ballroom, Calhoun had left the room shortly, unable to get her scent out of his head. Like a bee finding the flower that was the sweetest in the garden.

    On stepping out of the room, he met his friend Theodore who was with a woman. Theodore whispered something in the woman''s ears that had the woman smile and leave his side to get inside the room.

    "I did. I am looking for something."

    Theodore tilted his head to the side to ask, "Hm? You could ask the guards to find it unless you lost it."

    "A King never loses what belongs to him. He finds it himself," Calhoun''s eyes had a glint that had Theodore give him a look of curiosity. It didn''t take the man to know what the King was on about. It seemed that someone had caught his fancy, thought Theodore to himself, "Anyways, you shouldn''t keep thedy waiting unless you want to see her dance with another man."

    "I am sure she can wait," answered Theodore looking towards the doors of the ballroom and then looking back to say, "I heard Marcel is nning to attack you in the court tomorrow."

    "And how is he going to do that?" Calhoun started to walk away from the ballroom to be apanied by Theodore, "He''s already lost the favour of the church. Even if he appeals in the court, he needs a majority of votes to sway the decision. He should know better than stand against me unless it''s hisst dying wish to spend his time locked in the prison."

    With the mask that Calhoun wore, only Theodore knew who was behind it, which made the men and women in the corridor walk past them without stopping to bow. That didn''t mean the people didn''t take a second nce at him as no one else wore a silver mask that covered the entire face.

    Theodore couldn''t stop the chuckle that escaped his lips, "That might be the reason, but rumour has it that he found the body of Miss Lipton."

    "Miss Lipton," Calhoun remembered the young woman.

    She was the daughter of Duke Lipton in the East side of thend. She was a voracious girl who had been too eager when it came to the matter of his business and him. Enough to see what she was not supposed to that led to her demise.

    "Wasn''t her body buried away?" he asked.

    "It was. It would be hard to find her. Marcel must have created a body double to make it look like it was Miss Lipton," answered Theodore dutifully as he was the one who had made to sure to have her body hidden safely. It was nearly three months since that time, "What would you like to do about him?"

    Calhoun and Theodore were still walking through the corridor when Calhoun''s steps paused. He looked at the other side of the hallways, which was parallel to where he stood. If it weren''t for the flowers and other nts that partitioned the two corridors, one could easily look who was standing on the other side.

    He looked at the girl who had caught his attention, standing in front of a man who wore a mask that covered his eyes.

    "..I have something I have been meaning to ask you," Madeline furrowed her brows at his words, "I have liked you for some time now. Would you like to go out this Sunday?"

    Madeline hadn''t expected a request like this from him, not that it was bad, but she hadn''t been prepared for it.

    "I-I have to apany my sister. We are going to visit my uncle''s house."

    "That''s alright. Maybe some other day," the manughed with the quick refusal.

    Calhoun, who was on the other side, listening to their conversation where even Theodore had turned his head in the direction where the King was looking. He noticed how the girl parted her lips, her eyes looking up at the man in a way that had Calhoun''s eyes narrow subtly.

    Madeline could tell that it was an unfortunate n that had been made. If she were to know that Mr. Heathcliff was going to ask her to meet him, she would not have agreed to go with her sister. The man didn''t seem to find another date and had only said ''some other day''.

    "I should get back," said Mr. Heathcliif and Madeline agreed to it.

    She didn''t know if she was sad that their dates didn''t match or if she was happy that he had asked her. And then he did something more unexpected by taking her hand that was resting at her side, leaning forward he kissed the back of her hand and then pulled away, "I will see you tomorrow," Madeline was too stunned to speak, and she saw him leave her side to go back to Lady Catherine.

    "Find out about the girl. Also, the man" came the order.

 Chapter 12 Prisoner

    <h4>12 Prisoner</h4>

    At the same time, she realized he hade here with Lady Catherine, who was the one who had invited him here. She started to walk away from there, deciding to continue to look for her parents.

    As she walked in the castle, her shoes softly clicked on the marble floor and her dress swept on the already clean floor behind her. Her brown eyes were looking at the pirs, walls, paintings that hung on the wall and the ceiling that was built up and high. All these years, she had heard only words and stories about the King and the castle, and now that she was here, she understood the madness of wanting to be here. Only the fortunate were able to witness a night like this so magnificent.

    Madeline walked far away from the ball, and she wasn''t sure if she was looking at the castle or looking for her parents anymore as her fascination grew in watching the paintings. She didn''t realize she was going farther and farther away from the ball where the guests were and further towards the den of a predator that was watching her from afar.

    She continued to move, and as she moved, a shadow continued to walk to move along with her. Far away from the crowd now, she pulled the ribbon that was tied behind her head to let loose of the mask to fall from her face that she caught in her hand.

    When she moved forward, the fire in the torches suddenly blew out because of the strong wind that passed through the corridor in and around her, turning everything dark. She turned her head to notice the dark empty hall, and she started to walk back, unaware of the time she had spent looking at the castle and things that decorated it.

    She thought she knew the way, but the castle was big enough to have anyone lost in their first visit.

    Her eyes looked at the corridors that led to two different way, and she could only hope that she was in the right direction. Madeline had taken the wrong passage, and she continued to walk, her heart feeling slightly unsettled with the quietness that surrounded her. From a distance, she heard a wolf-like a howl, and she didn''t know if it was because there was no one here, but she felt a sliver of worry run down her spine.

    She stood unmoving to hear a deep voice speak right behind her,

    "Haven''t you wandered far into the castle?"

    When Madeline turned around, she met the person who wore the silver mask on his face who she had danced with a while ago.

    Madeline didn''t know how they ended up together now, all alone. Where did he evene from?

    "I was looking at the paintings," answered Madeline and then asked, "What are you doing here?" her brave question had the man chuckle.

    "Looking. I don''t think there''s a restriction to look," he said. He took a step forward, and she took a step back, but he didn''t stop. He continued to walk forward to have her back hit the cold wall. A small gasp escaped from her delicate lips that had the man''s lips pull up slowly. He ced one hand on the wall next to her, "I don''t think you are ready to hear that yet, Madeline." The atmosphere around them and in the castle where there were no lights turned darker, and she said,

    "I should get back," she said, finally breaking eye contact with this daunting man, but when she turned another hand came to be ced on the other side of her.

    Calhoun enjoyed the way she had been staring at the paintings, one after another so far as to she had got lost in the castle. It was the time of night, and it was a new ce. Getting lost was inevitable.

    He could tell that she was growing scared, not to forget the fact that he hadn''t pulled away the mask he was wearing. He had been watching her all night, and he could barely resist not to get close to her. One part of him wanted to take her to the darkest corners of the castle, and he wanted to have his way, but another part of him wanted to keep her safe in a ss cage.

    Madeline didn''t hide away and instead looked right into his red eyes. She was trying to hold her ground without letting a tinge of a fear show on her face when in truth, her knees would soon give away if the man continued to daunt her.

    "I wasn''t done with you, sweet. So much hurry," his words were kind and calm for her ears, but Madeline was no fool to believe that. Calhoun remembered her talking to the man and the way she smiled that had him move closer to her.

    "What do you want?" she asked him. He was a night creature and she knew not to cross one. The stories about the night creatures were never pretty and were rather gruesome.

    "If I ask, will you give it?" there was something very dangerous the way he asked her. Madeline didn''t answer, not knowing what exactly the man was looking for. He finally dropped his hands that were holding her prisoner, "Go," he said, having the fill of his amusement.

    She gulped, taking one step away testingly as if the person would pounce on her, she took another step away with her front facing him. She held the front of her dress with both her hands, quickly turning around and ran away from there before she would be caught in the web.

    Calhoun''s eyes trained on the girl who ran away to disappear behind one of the many walls of the castle.

    He finally pulled up the mask he had been wearing to reveal his handsome face who looked nothing less to the devil''s incarnation. His lips that were parted, he ran his tongue over his fang, a small chuckle escaping his wicked lips.

 Chapter 13 Watching you

    <h4>13 Watching you</h4>

    When she reached the ballroom again were more men and women had started to take part in the dance, Madeline decided to take a back seat, and she excused herself so that she could walk through the people to reach the wall and she found her sister who was dancing with another man now.

    On the other corner, her eyes fell on Mr. Heathcliff, who was dancing with Lady Catherine.

    "Madeline!" she heard her mother''s voice, and she felt a sense of relief to have her family close to her, "What are you doing standing here by yourself?" asked her mother slightly worried. Her youngest daughter looked beautiful tonight not that she didn''t before, but she had expected bachelors to swarm around her.

    "I thought to rest."

    Her mother looked at her in horror, "Rest? This is no time to rest, child. You can rest all you want going back home. Go on, enjoy the ball."

    Madeline smiled at her mother''s efforts in getting her to be noticed by men in the room. She knew her mother only meant well and was making sure her daughters got the best and didn''t have to suffer a life where they would have to work to meets ends.

    "How was your trip around the castle?" Madeline changed the context, and her mother''s eyes lit up.

    "It is beautiful. Looks like heaven everywhere but we didn''t get to all around. I mean it would take us more than a day to go, but the guards have restricted the guests from going any further than the premise here and around," her mother went on to speak about the vase and nts she saw. In that time, Madeline couldn''t help but question how easily she got further into the castle that she earlier failed to notice that there had been no one but her who was walking in the halls,

    "And then you know what we saw, there was this enormous fountain that has watering out from the mouth of the fish."

    Madeline met her father''s eyes who smiled at her, "You should take a look around," he said after noticing how Madeline had chosen to stand near the wall while Beth was on the dance floor dancing.

    "No, I think I am fine," Madeline could still feel the tension she had felt when the man in the silver mask had stepped up close in front of her. Remembering his eyes looking at her, the thought had her look away towards the people.

    The woman being a beautiful one, and many eyes followed her along with the man who had asked her for a dance. Madeline who was watching them quietly heard her mother tap on a man''s shoulder,

    "Hello I am Mrs. Harris, and this is my husband and my young daughter Madeline. Did you get to have the opportunity to talk?"

    "Mother! What are you doing?" Madeline whispered to her mother, closing her eyes and trying not to feel embarrassed for what her mother was doing. The man thankfully picked up, and he didn''t take it badly. Instead, he offered Madeline a smile.

    "Hello, I am Fergus Hane," he introduced himself.

    Madeline awkwardly smiled back at him, "Madeline Harris."

    "Would you like to dance?" he asked her politely. Tonight, given the opportunity, any man would ask her to dance with the way Madeline looked.

    "Okay," she replied, believing it would be ruder to refuse when it was her mother who had asked the man and started the conversation.

    Truthfully, she didn''t want to be here. There was Mr. Heathcliff, who was dancing with Lady Catherine with his arms around her waist, but he wasn''t the main reason. It was the man in the mask that intimidated her. As she made her way to the floor, she felt like the man looked at her, but his gaze didn''t stay on her for more than a second as he went to look at the woman in his hands.

    Madeline felt an invisible sweat break on her forehead before an inaudible sigh of relief passed through her lips.

    "I am sorry about my mother," Madeline apologized.

    "Don''t be," said the man with a polite smile, "I wouldn''t have had the chance to dance with a beautiful maiden like yourself," he ttered her and she smiled. Mr. Hane had his hand on her waist and he danced with her with the rest of the couples who were dancing.

    She noticed how the music had gone back to the one she had danced before. As the music was yed and they moved, a point came where the person who was in the silver mask was right behind Mr. Hane, facing her with the woman in his hand having her back facing Madeline. Both of them happened to be speaking to each other about something.

    "Is this your first time attending the ball here?" asked Mr. Hane.

    "Yes. Is it obvious?" she asked him.

    "No," he shook his head, swaying and moving her, "I don''t think I have ever seen you here before," as she gave her dance partner a nod, her eyes by mistake fell on the man who was dancing in front of her to realize he was looking at her with his dark red eyes.

 Chapter 14 Returning back

    <h4>14 Returning back</h4>

    Madeline tried to not look at the man and instead at the person who she was dancing with. She couldn''t help but wonder who he was, someone like a phantom who had taken her name but had not returned it with his.

    "Who is it?" she heard Mr. Hane ask her.

    Her light eyebrows drew together, "What?"

    "You are here, yet you are not at the same time. I believe you must be thinking of someone," said Mr. Hane, his expressionx, looking at the crowd around them before his eyes fell on hers, "Pardon me for my directness," he apologized quickly.

    "No, that''s alright," she pursed her lips, "I am not used to attending balls or anything close to this," she made the reason to see him smile as if he bought it.

    "I can tell that. If you don''t mind my asking, where do you live, Miss Madeline?" he asked her. Her hand was in his hand, up in the air as they took two steps front and one step back now.

    "In East Carswell. How about yourself, Mr. Hane?" she inquired.

    "I am from Holt. It isn''t far from the castle. I work here for the King," he added as it was a feather in one''s cap to be under the favour and work of the King.

    "It must be nice serving the King," shemented on seeing the man smile who took pride in his work.

    When Madeline reached close to where her sister was, dancing with the obvious handsome man as the mask that he wore barely hid his face, she heard her sister speak to her,

    "Where did you go earlier? I tried finding you in the room," said Beth and Madeline wondered if her sister even stepped out of the dance room.

    There were plenty of men who were eyeing Beth and wanted to have her dance. Beth attracted a lot of attention with the ease she moved and talked; it was elegant anddylike. Her sister was ambitious, wanting a better life for herself while Madeline didn''t mind having the same life she had now. A small house, a small family who loved her and she could love back. It was the most she could ask for herself, and her ambition didn''t even reach half of what Beth had. From a young age, Beth had grown up by aiming for a better life which was away from the vige and her family supported her in it.

    "I went for some air," Madeline answered, "Mother and father said the castle is beautiful, but they didn''t get to look all."

    "I wouldn''t want to impose on you," Madeline quickly answered before her sister would agree to Mr. Hane''s request. And as expected Madeline''s words were ignored as Beth said,

    "I am sure one walk wouldn''t matter, Maddie," Beth turned to look at Mr. Hane with augh and said, "Madeline is a vige girl who is used to cows and sheep. She hasn''t seen the castle well to know how fascinating it is. She doesn''t know what she is saying so don''t mind her. Do you know the way around the castle?" she asked Mr. Hane.

    "I do, mdy," answered Mr. Hane in a polite tone.

    "Oh, that''s great. Maybe one of the days''s in a possible future I will ask you to apany me," Beth gave the man a look and a smile. The couples had to switch positions and move away from each other.

    Madeline felt slightly awkward with the way her sister had spoken about her interests. Mr. Hane seeing the girl quiet, didn''t speak question about what Beth said right away. Not because he thought Madeline was a vige girl but because he could sense she wanted to step away from the dance floor.

    "Elder siblings can be helpful at times, isn''t it?" Mr. Hane tried to break the ice of quietness Madeline had ced around her. She met Mr. Hane''s gaze, where he was smiling, "I have a distant cousin who is older to me."

    "Beth is good but sometimes she can get..."

    "Pushy and taking attention?" asked Mr. Hane to see Madeline smile, "If you''re still willing to look at the castle, I will have the permission taken so that you can have sightsee. It is a beautiful castle."

    "Indeed, it is," she answered, thankful that the man had been understanding but she didn''t reply to his offer to look at the castle.

    When the dance was over, she was d, and she returned to her parents while Beth continued the night, showing how well she could dance. Some, looked at her with envy in their eyes while some didn''t like how a new woman hade to take ce on the dance floor.

    Though there were some men who eyed Madeline, no one took the courage of going to walk towards her and request her for a dance.

    When Beth arrived finally, leaving another couple to take the empty spot she had left, Mrs. Harris said,

    "Mr. Gavell came looking for you with other two men, Beth. He had nothing but praises for you," Madeline could tell that her mother was pleased with the number of suitors who were nning toe to visit their home to ask Beth''s hand.

    "He is charming, isn''t he, mama," Beth agreed, turning her head and looking at the crowd. She took the handkerchief in her hand and dabbed her forehead, "He said he has two houses. He''s working under the court, and he told me he travels to othernds."

    "Well, that''s good," her mother couldn''t be any happier, but Beth still didn''t look satisfied.

    Beth''s eyes searched for one person, hoping it would be a King or one of the men she had danced with would be the King in disguise, "Did you see the King, mama?" asked Beth.

    "I don''t think anyone announced about his arrival," Madeline was the one to answer. The King had created enough intrigue to have people hoping they would catch a glimpse of him.

    "A shame that we didn''t get to see him," murmured Mrs. Harris.

    Beth, who was high with excitement in the ball and having spent time with men ttering every few minutes, said, "Maybe he is scared to be here," sheughed.

    "Beth!" her mother immediately shushed her. If word was to reach about what Beth said to the King, she would be punished for speaking ill of their King.

    While some of them continued dancing in the ballroom, most had gone to eat and the people from the vige ate everything and anything as a lot of things were new which they would not be seeing unless there would be another ball which was not going to be held anytime soon.

    When the time came to leave the castle, Madeline''s eyes looked at the building that stood tall and proud before she stepped inside the carriage after her sister had gone to sit. Her eyes looked out of the small window, and she continued to watch.

    "What are you searching for outside?" It was Beth who questioned looking at her younger sister who appeared to be nervous every now and then until they had got inside the carriage.

    Madeline turned back, "Nothing."

    The carriage finally started and left the castle far behind when Beth, who had been curious about something, asked, "Who was that man who danced with you?"

    "Mr. Hane?" asked Madeline, "Mama was the one to ask him," she shook her head, remembering the time it had happened.

    "He was a good man! He was tall, polite, kind and I could tell you had a good time dancing," her mother gave her knowing look which was not true, but she didn''t have the heart to break the bubble, and she went along with it.

    "No, not Mr. Hane. The first one was it? The one with the full mask," Beth inquired, her curious green eyes looking at her sister.

    Beth was interested in knowing who it was because the man had not oncee to ask her for dance even though there were many openings for him to ask. He was one of the few men who had not danced with her. It made her hand grip the bottom of her dress that Madeline had been asked, while the same man didn''t ask her. Not to forget, her sister had gone missing for some good time from the ballroom.

    Madeline, on the other hand, didn''t know how to go about it. She could still feel the way his eyes had looked at her, studying her face when she removed the mask from her face.

    "I didn''t catch his name because of the music. He spoke very low. I didn''t get somethings he spoke to me," Madeline gave out a smallugh. She could feel Beth''s stare when she looked outside the window with a look of suspicion in her eye.

    Beth knew that was not true. When Madeline had stepped on to the dance floor, her eyes had followed her sister to see who the man was who was dancing with her. And by the looks of it, she doubted her sister was lying.

 Chapter 15 Sisterly affection

    <h4>15 Sisterly affection</h4>

    Taking the brush from the dressing table, Madeline started to brush her hair when she heard her sister Beth say,

    "Lady Catherine must really like Mr. Heathcliff, isn''t it?" Beth was still looking at the red dress that she had worn, which was sad that she would have to part from it tomorrow morning.

    Madeline, who was moving her hand, removing the knots of her hair, said, "Is it because she invited him to the ball?"

    "Of course, why else would a woman of her status ask a man who belongs to the middle ss," asked Beth tearing her gaze away from her dress and standing up from the bed to start folding it, "If I am not wrong, I heard from Mrs. Lilith that there had been many suitors who have been showing at her doorstep. She could have picked one of them, but instead, she picked Mr. Heathcliff."

    Madeline continued to brush her hair, "Mr. Heathcliff is a good looking man. He has a decent job."

    "I would agree on him being good looking, but being a tailor is barely a job, Maddie," said Beth, waving her hand, "We know he works for the King and his subjects who live in the castle but if he were that important why did the King miss to send an invitation to him?"

    "Maybe the person who was dealing with the invitation forgot to put his name?" Madeline did find it to be strange that Mr. Heathcliff didn''t receive an invitation tonight but thanks to Lady Catherine he did get to attend the ball.

    "Hmm," Beth made a disagreeing sound with her closed mouth, "Maybe he did something disagreeable. Did he dance with you?" Beth knew he didn''t because the man had undoubtedly only danced with Lady Catherine and no one else.

    Madeline shook her head, looking at her sister through the mirror, she said, "He was busy. It would have been rude to leave Lady Catherine''s side when she was the one who invited him," she mustered a small smile.

    Beth seeing the look on her sister''s face, ced the dress next to Madeline''s dress before going to stand behind her sister, "I know you like Mr. Heathcliff, and the man gives you eyes, Madeline but a man who couldn''t even ask you for a dance, do you think he shares the same feelings as you do? I am sure men and women have danced with more than one partner tonight," she ced both her hands on Madeline''s shoulders, "I don''t mean to discourage you, but the man needs to know to take the initiative. I don''t know what prevented him from asking you to dance, and you look beautiful tonight."

    "Thank you, Beth," Madeline ced one of her hands on Beth''s hand that was on her shoulders.

    At the same time, she knew what Beth meant and somewhere she agreed even though her heart wanted to ignore it. Men and women had indeed danced with more than one partner. There had also been a time where he wasn''t dancing but standing idle, giving her a smile from a distance which she had returned with a polite one.

    Madeline then changed the conversation to say, "The food was delicious, wasn''t it? They had these beautiful cakes."

    "Expect nothing less from the King''s hospitality," Beth replied, "There were so many chandeliers I think I stopped counting once we reached the ballroom. Mama kept speaking about this fountain, and now I wished I had stepped out of the room. If it weren''t for the number of men who kept asking me to dance with them," Beth shook her head that made Madeline smile.

    "That is what happens when you''re beautiful, isn''t it," to Madeline, her sister Beth was the most beautiful one in the vige. It wasn''t that Beth was only beautiful, but the way she spoke, she could charm a person by her words.

    "Oh, hush," Beth leaned down and kissed her on the side of her little sister''s head, "Only you and mama praise me."

    Madeline couldn''t stop but smile, "You are my sister."

    "And you are mine," Beth responded with a smile, squeezing Madeline''s shoulders gently to let it go finally.

    "Did you like anyone? Anyone who caught your fancy?" Madeline asked, eager to know as it was hard to please Beth. She had turned herself to see Beth taking both their dresses to ce it in the cupboard.

    Beth had a thoughtful look on her face, "Hmm, I think Mr. Danvers was interesting. He appeared to be smarter than giving me a love-struck expression. I mean the other is good that he travels, but I think it would turn out very lonely. Better to have someone who is around you."

    "Certainly."

    Madeline, who had finished brushing her hair, ced theb on the dressing table to hear her sister say, "It is a shame though that the King didn''t appear. I heard from ady that he was away from the castle; therefore, he had people from the vige invited because he wouldn''t want to mingle with us, but then another said that the King would appearter. But you know,ter never appeared."

    With their clothes changed and everything put aside that had been used, they got inside the bed getting ready to sleep. The house of Harris wasn''t big but had two rooms, one hall and one kitchen. Madeline blew the candle that was on her side of the bed and ced her head on the pillow.

    She was d that the night was done. As beautiful as the castle and other things were, she couldn''t help but think about the silver masked man she hade across.

 Chapter 16 Suitor at house

    <h4>16 Suitor at house</h4>

    Madeline was in the beige dress that she had worn for the ball, the ends of it trailing behind her. She continued to walk until she came upon a door that was slightly ajar. She pushed the door and stepped into the big room that hadrge windows with grills that were built in designs. The night outside was cloudy, hiding the stars and moon behind it and when she turned to look to her right, she saw a man stand.

    His silhouette was lonely because of theck ofpany next to him.

    "Hello?" Madeline called the man, wanting to go back home.

    As if on hearing her, the man turned around to look at her, "Wandering by yourself again?" asked the deep voice, and she recognized this voice.

    When a thunderstruck in the sky, Madeline''s eyes flew open and she looked up at the wooden ceiling of the room.

    She could feel her heart beating in her chest over the dream she just dreamt a few seconds ago. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness in the room where she could see things much more clearly now.

    Turning her head, she noticed her sister Beth was asleep. In her very own dreand which Madeline believed was less haunting than what she had experienced. It seemed that the halls of the castle hade back to her because of what happened. Those eyes that had looked at her were dark red, keeping her captive.

    Madeline had grown under the shadow of her sister which was why she was not used to the attention she had received tonight. At least not so intensely. She didn''t mind the shadow because it gave her more room to breathe.

    Like what happened in the ball today while both she and Beth were dancing, Madeline observed the already known facts about her elder sister. Beth enjoyed and basked in the limelight. She loved the attention she received, but that was how she had grown up, unlike Madeline who had received less attention. Beth liked being hovered and asked, to be given importance even when it came to her sister and Madeline didn''t mind it. She let her do what she wanted, not wanting to upset her sister.

    When the next day arrived, as expected, Beth had a visitor who hade looking for her and Mrs. Harris got the man to sit in the hall of their house and Beth was seated opposite to him. Though she was not dressed in a gown likest night, she still looked stunningpared to the pale walls and furniture that the family-owned.

    Mr. Harris had gone out to work while Mrs. Harris and Madeline were in the kitchen with the doors closed. The older woman stood next to the door listening to them.

    "Anyone will fall in love with Beth, mama. You don''t have to worry about it," said Madeline picking up a fruit from the basket and taking a bite from it.

    "That is true. If Beth gets married, it won''t be difficult when ites to your wedding. Who was that man yesterday?"

    "Mr. Hanes?" asked Madeline.

    "Yes, yes. That one. How did it gost night?" asked her mother, curious.

    "He knew how to dance," Madeline said with a thoughtful expression, "And that is all it was," her mother gave out a sigh.

    "You should put yourself out there more, Madeline. Do you know Mrs. Boyers'' daughter is still unmarried. A spinster''s life and no one wants to marry her because of you how she looks," her mother shook her head.

    "Mama, you worry for nothing. Your daughter won''t die alone."

    "Really?" came a sign of hope in Mrs. Harris eyes, who asked, "Did a gentleman ask you to dance then? Perhaps invite you for tea?"

    Madeline pursed her lips, her foot tapping softly and she said, "I was thinking about Mr. Heathcliff," she noticed her mother''s eyebrows furrowing. It wasn''t that Madeline was in love with the man, but she found him to be nice.

    "James Heathcliff?" her mother verified.

    She smiled, "Yes. James Heathcliff. He asked me to apany him in one of the following days. He is a good man." She liked the man for his simplicity, and he indeed was one of the few decent looking men in their vige.

    "Isn''t he going out with Lady Catherine? Well, he is a good looking man," her mother agreed, "I did not know you fancied him. When are you going to meet him?" asked her mother, and Madeline smiled at the thought that her mother approved of Mr. Heathcliff.

    "I am not sure about it. I refused him as Beth and I are going out to Aunt''s house-"

    "Why would you do that?" her mother asked with her eyes wide, her hand on one side of her waist.

    "Because Beth will need-"

    "Beth will be fine. She can take care of herself," said Mrs. Harris. Madeline wasn''t as expressive as her elder daughter and if she liked someone decent, Mrs. Harris didn''t see any harm in it. Beth would be getting married in a wealthy household while Madeline would be in a kind and humble home. It was also what would suit Madeline in a good way, "You can go meet him but not too far. Your father and I would want you to be happy."

    "What will I tell Beth?" asked Madeline as she had promised to go with her.

    "I will tell her that you have an errand toplete," that would be better, thought Madeline to herself. She didn''t know what Beth would say, especially when she had looked down upon Mr. Heathcliff''s profession.

 Chapter 17 The order

    <h4>17 The order</h4>

    "Good afternoon, Miss Madeline," he greeted with a smile forming on his lips.

    "Good afternoon, Mr. Heathcliff," she greeted back with a polite smile, "I came to return the dresses borrowed," she said that she had carried from her home to give it back. The man took the bag and then handed it to his assistant, "You can check for any wear and tear, but there''s none," she assured him.

    Mr. Heathcliff said, "I believe you. I don''t know if I said this, but you looked beautifulst night," he did tell her, but Madeline took hispliment.

    "It is because of your dress. They just happen to be pretty."

    "I doubt as pretty as the girl who wore and brought out its charm," Mr. Heathcliff responded to her spontaneously, and Madeline''s cheeks turned warm.

    "You are too kind with yourpliments, Mr. Heathcliff," she bowed her head in gratitude.

    She wondered how to go about in telling him that she was going to be avable as she didn''t want to appear to be too forward in front of him. But somewhere she wondered if it was Mr. Heathcliif who she wanted to settle with.

    Mr. Heathcliff noticed that she wanted to say something and asked, "Is something the matter?"

    Madeline shook her head.

    It was him who said, "You said you weren''t free on Sunday and I failed to ask you, if you could spare some time on Saturday," Madeline blinked her eyes, "I hope I am noting to be too pushy," he gave out an awkwardugh that had her smile.

    "No. I mean, yes, I can make time on Saturday," Mr. Heathcliff gave her a nod.

    "Nice. Okay, then."

    Madeline gave him a bow, and he returned it, "Have a good day, Mr. Heathcliff."

    "Have a good day, Miss Madeline."

    Far away from the viges and towns where the forests were thick with trees, the castle stood tall and proud. A ce where the lower beings were not allowed to step in and were to only look from afar, they had finally been invitedst night to attend the ball of the Hallow, a celebration which was often called as Halloween by the lower ss people.

    Even though no one had dared to break into the castle, guards stood at every end of the corridor. Servants moved to clean the floor, walls and the ballroom spotless.

    In the main room, the King sat with his back against the cushioned throne that was fixed on a raised tform. He sat leaning to his left, one elbow resting on the armrest with his hand that was supported by his index finger. A maid sat down at his throne, massaging his leg with his shoe that was ced on her thigh.

    The man then looked up at the King who was looking at him with, unsmilingly,

    "There must be many enemies of yours to spread rumours like that," said Calhoun with a leisure tone and he picked up the ss that another maid was holding in her hand, "How unfortunate that an old man is being seen as a threat, Marcel," he hummed, his eyes looking at the man with amusement in his eyes.

    Marcel''s eyes hardened by the King''s words, but he didn''t speak a word. Instead, he smiled to have the King smile back at him,

    "I am not going to perform treason. Not against your highness who is smart and intelligent-" said the man who got cut off by Calhoun, who said,

    "If you and the others understand it, we shouldn''t have a problem," said Calhoun with a smile were his lips pulled wide, as if to mock at the man who kneeled in front of him, "But then it makes me question where the rumours spark from. Don''t you question it yourself, Marcel?" he moved his finger around the edge of his ss without taking a sip from it.

    "Milord, they are trying to set me up. I will not change the order in the court counting. I have no motive to do it," the older man continued to pledge his loyalty.

    Calhoun didn''t bother to hide his thoughts, and he said, "Only time would tell of how loyal of the man you are, after all, you have been serving the King for far too long. The previous King. Without any intention, of course, I value a subject as yourself," he smiled before raising his hand to dismiss the man.

    When the man left, Theodore who hade to stand next to Calhoun, said,

    "We caught the man who was helping Marcel in selling information about the military to the nextnd. Marcel has not only been trading information to dethrone you but he''s trying to win the favour of the othernds to rece you."

    Calhoun took a sip from the ss, his voice calm, "I hope you are being hospitable with the man," and in the King''s words, it meant courting traitors in the dark dungeon who were tied and twisted, tortured to the point where they wanted to die.

    "Yes, milord," answered Theodore, "Just as you would want them to be treated. I also received information about the girl and the man you asked."

    "Tell me," ordered Calhoun, a glint of interest in his eyes over the girl he had met.

 Chapter 18 Uncontrollable thoughts

    <h4>18 Uncontroble thoughts</h4>

    He had met and touched plenty of women and girls who were much more beautiful to look at. He had bedded attractive women had and been pleased with before letting them go but this girl, there was something about her. He moved his head back, his thumb running on the corner of his bottom lip,

    "What did you find about her?" he asked Theodore who was the one who had brought the information.

    "Madeline Harris, she lives in one of the viges in the West with her parents and one elder sister who is yet to be married. Her elder sister has been receiving proposals and is fairly popr-"

    "What about the young one," Calhoun didn''t care about her sister when he was interested in Madeline.

    Theodore answered, "Not as many suitors as the elder one. She hasn''t been associated with any man. The man who was with herst night was James Heathcliff, who owns the dress shop in their vige. It is where they rented the clothes," it seemed that the vige girl had caught the King''s eyes.

    Calhoun hummed hearing this. Rented. It meant they weren''t able to afford dresses and that the girl came from a poor background which would only make things that much easy, thought Calhoun to himself with a smile, "How much does the carriage service cost, Theodore?"

    "For a family with a poor background, it would be too much as the cost of carriage is as good as the dress rented. With the waiting hours in the castle, it would put a stretch on the family," answered the man. Theodore noticed how Calhoun continued to smile, which was in no means looked kind. It was a smile which meant something evil was being schemed. He then proceeded to say, "The assistant said he heard the girl and the tailor speak about meeting."

    "Did they now," Calhoun turned his head to look at Theodore, "Send an invitation to the Harris. Tell them that they are being invited to lunch in the castle," saying this, he moved his leg from the maid''s thigh who was massaging his leg. Standing up, he said, "Don''t forget to add that if they fail to make it for lunch, they will have to face the consequences. Also, send them a carriage."

    Theodore bowed his heard, obliging the King''s words and inquired, "When would you want to have lunch with the Harris?"

    Calhoun gave it a quick thought, "Tomorrow. Why wait when things can be done right away," saying this, Calhoun walked away from the central court to go to his room.

    When he reached the doors to his room, the guards opened the doors for him and closed it once he had stepped inside his grand room.

    She had been close yesterday, and all he wanted to do was bring her to this room, but looking at the fright on her face which she tried to cover up by showing she was brave, and he had let her go.

    His mind drifted to her brown eyes and soft pink lips that had moved to reply and question him. Her frame was perfect. Her delicate shoulders and her petite waist that curved towards the bottom. His thoughts were interrupted by the maid, who arrived at his room to bring him a ss of wine.

    Calhoun''s eyes opened, and from where he sat on the edge of the bed, he saw the maid enter the room.

    "Your majesty, I have brought wine," she informed him. Calhoun raised his hand and moved his fingers in ae-hither motion. Her eyes were cast down as she walked slowly and steadily towards him.

    The maids in the mansion were pretty but not as beautiful as the girl he was looking forward to meeting. The girl had consumed his mind, and even though he could have had her, he didn''t. When the maid ced the wine to his side and was ready to leave, he pulled caught hold of her wrist to stop her from walking.

    "I didn''t ask you to leave now, did I?" said the King, noticing her blush and the eyes she gave him, he said, "Remembering what happened a few days ago?

    Calhoun stared at the girl to hear the maid speak nervously, "Milord?" It wasn''t the first time this maid had spread her legs therefore he didn''t see the point of her acting coy now. He got up from sitting on the edge of the bed, to stand tall in front of the maid. The maid looked up at him, her tongueing out to wet her lips.

    He looked at the maid with no expression on his face, waiting to finally have the maid start removing her clothes. Seeing she was taking her very own sweet time, Calhoun pushed the front of her body towards the bed, bending her down while bunching up her skirt to bare her bottom to him.

    Though the maid''s initial behaviour was reluctant, her body moving along with him wantingly. Though it was the maid who was in the room, he could feel his hands on Madeline''s waist. Her lips moving and the way she looked at him, had him pushing further into the maid.

    Calhoun didn''t want to ruin the flower he had finally found but thinking about her was driving him to an edge he had never imagined. When he was done with the maid, he waved her away even though the maid wanted to linger longer in his chamber.

    Once the maid was out, he fell on his bed with his hand over his eyes before moving it and his eyes opening, "Madeline."

    As ordered, a letter was sent out to the Harris which was received by Mrs. Harris with trembling hands because she didn''t know why they would receive a letter from the castle. As it was the time of the evening, Mr. Harris who was present in the house took hold of the letter to read,

    "Mr. and Mrs. Harris.

    We thank you for attending the Grand ball of Hallow that took ce in the castle yesterday. We would be pleased to say that the King was pleased with your daughter and would like to invite the family to the castle for lunch tomorrow."

    Beth and Madeline were standing near the bedroom door after hearing their mother shriek out of surprise because of the deal on the letter.

    Beth quickly raised her hand to cover her mouth, "Oh my God!"

    "The King has called us to join him for lunch?" asked Mrs. Harris with a shocked expression on her face. Madeline raised her eyebrows hearing this.

    Mr. Harris read the letter one more time, this time in his mind, "It seems to be so," he said reading thest line which he had skipped to read to his family that spoke about treason if not joined tomorrow.

    "Oh dear! What am I going to do?" asked Beth in shock, "I didn''t know the King noticed me! What am I going to say to Mr. Danver?" the letter was automatically misunderstood by the family that ''the daughter'' was Beth.

    "It is the King," said Madeline shrugging her shoulders, "Mr. Danver will step away hearing the King likes you," Beth hugged Madeline and the younger one hugged her back, none of them knowing what was going to happen tomorrow.

 Chapter 19 Doubting the invitation

    <h4>19 Doubting the invitation</h4>

    Beth shook her head, "The men I danced withst night had given their name, but none of it had the King''s name. I didn''t know I danced with him," her brows drew close in thought while trying to remember which out of the lot was the King.

    "Maybe he didn''t give you his actual name and gave a wrong one to hide who he was?" proposed Madeline because that appeared to be the more probable answer.

    "It could be," Mrs. Harris agreed, "Good job, Beth," she couldn''t tell how happy she was that Beth was able to gain their King''s attention where the man had gone as far as to ce a lunch to eat with them. It was a privilege to a family like theirs who had nothing to offer.

    When both Mr. and Mrs. Harris retired to their room, the man couldn''t help but go through the letter that had the King''s seal on it. The letter had mentioned about the King being pleased by his daughter, but there was no mention of which daughter he had danced with. Somewhere it worried him with the thought that the King wasn''t speaking about his older daughter, but the younger one.

    He was holding a small book in his hand, but instead of reading he was staring at it, "What do you think the King wants from us?" asked Mr. Harris to his wife who was closing the windows because the night had turned cold and they didn''t have enough logs of wood to use as they had to use it economically.

    "Beth caught his attention. He might want to know about us, and maybe if things went well, he would ask for her hand in marriage," answered Mrs. Harrising to sit on the bed, "What is it? Are you not happy about it?" his wife asked, looking at the pensive expression on his face.

    Mr. Harris sighed.

    "No, it is not that I am not happy about it, but the King didn''t mention which of our daughter''s it was. What if it is Madeline?" Mr. Harris was not supposed to have favourites, but he had a soft corner for his youngest child, knowing well how she was often shadowed under Beth''s presence. But at the same time, it was what Madeline liked.

    "Madeline barely danced with anyone, Mr. Harris. You and I saw her standing at the wall without talking to anyone," Mrs. Harris reasoned with her husband, "And even if the King is speaking about Madeline, we can always decline by saying she is going to be engaged soon."

    The man gave his wife a look, "The King is no fool. He will find the lie the moment you utter about it."

    "It isn''t a lie. Madeline mentioned about Mr. Heathcliff''s interest in her."

    "The dressmaker?" asked Mr. Harris, "Why am I hearing this now?"

    When the next day arrived, the Harris family didn''t have time to pick up dresses from the shop, therefore they wore the best clothes that they owned. With Beth who had woken up early to dress and look pretty, she had the top of her ck hair tied while the rest was left open.

    Beth hadter tied Madeline''s hair simr to how she had done hers,bing her sister''s blonde hair to finally say, "Everything done," Madeline could tell that Beth was in a perfect mood. Her sister had wanted to see the King, and now he wanted to see her and her family.

    Madeline didn''t know if it was good news that they had been invited to have lunch with the King as not everyone had the luck to share a meal at the same table as the King, as he was someone of the highest standing in theirnds. Beth was eager, so it was alright, thought Madeline to herself.

    Once they were ready, Madeline was the first one to step out of the room. Hearing her father ask for a ss of water, who was sitting in the hall, she quickly went to the kitchen to fetch a ss of water and returned to her father''s side.

    Mr. Harris noticing his younger daughter who had dressed simr to Beth, after a sip, he said, "The weather outside is windy. Your hair will be all over your face and will need to bebed again," Madeline was blossoming slowly, and Mr. Harris knew one day his youngest daughter would surpass her elder sister in terms of beauty, "Maybe tying it will avoid the need tob again."

    Madeline smiled at her father, "Yes, papa."

    The carriage from the castle had arrived to pick them, and Mrs. Harris was the one who shouted, "It is here. Come on, everyone!" she made sure her hat that seated on top of her head was tied with the satin ribbon that went to be tied under her chin. Madeline was the first one to step out of the house with her hair that was braided and tied securely.

    Her father, who saw her ce a kiss on the side of her temple. Madeline was young, and he felt the need to protect her, just so that the King wouldn''t look at her but would focus his attention on Beth who looked like a doll when she stepped out their house. Having spent enough time in the circle of the posh people in the other towns, Beth knew how to carry herself like one of the social elites.

    Mrs. Harris was quick to lock the front doors of their house, and the family stepped inside the carriage that was made of rich wood and metal that shined without a speck of rust on it.

    It had attracted and gathered attention from their neighbours and people who were walking past their house, making them wonder what the carriage that belonged to the castle was doing here.

    The carriage finally started to move, to travel to the castle.

 Chapter 20 Meeting him

    <h4>20 Meeting him</h4>

    Though she told herself to be content about what life had given her, she couldn''t help but hope that her daughters would be married into a better house condition that what they were in. She had been looking outside the little oval window of the carriage when she heard her elder daughter Beth ask Madeline, her younger daughter,

    "Why did you tie your hair?" Beth looked at her sister with a small frown.

    "It is too windy today. I was worried where my hair would be all over the ce. You know how hard it is to brush my hair again," Madeline smiled at her sister''s words, "Do I look so bad?" she asked looking at herself from the reflection of the window.

    "You look fine, Madeline. I just thought you looked better with your hair, half-open," replied Beth. Beth couldn''t stop but make sure that she was looking good and Mrs. Harris could see the eagerness in her daughter''s eyes.

    One would think of her badly if they were to know that she often pushed Beth forward for marriage, but there was a reason for it. While Beth enjoyed the luxury being a rich man''s wife, Madeline didn''t share the same interest as her. Though Mrs. Harris would love nothing but have Madeline pursue her elder sister''s footsteps, she didn''t want to force it upon her.

    Mrs. Harris had a sister who had been first in line for marriage. Her parents had given her hand to a wealthy man, but things had not gone well. In two years, her sister was found in the river as she hadmitted suicide. Unable to cope with the sudden changes of the living style. God forbid, she wouldn''t want something like that to her daughters.

    Beth was more ambitious when it came to cing herself a better man''s attention on her. She wished to live in a mansion, buy expensive items and move in the high society. She craved and dreamt for it, and her mother noticed it.

    Though the letter had not mentioned which daughter of theirs did the King fancy, Mrs. Harris had taken it was Beth as she had been dancing all night while Madeline had been the wallflower who wouldn''t have taken the initiative to look for a dance.

    "Now, girls. You know how to use your forks and knives, I presume?" asked Mrs. Harris for both the girls to nod their mother''s question.

    When they finally arrived at the castle, the Harris'' family stepped down from the carriage to stand in front of the castle''s entrance. Now that it was day, one could tell that the castle was more prominent than they had seen during the time of night which was covered in shadows.

    A servant man stood outside waiting for them, "Please follow me," the man bowed his head and started to walk inside the castle.

    Madeline, who was walking behind with her sister Beth looked at the walls that were painted white in colour. The chandeliers continued to hang up in the ceiling, this time without lit candles. There were paintings up in the ceiling which Madeline had not realized during the Grand ball.

    "How many people do you think live here," her mother whispered to her father who couldn''t stop looking at the walls and their surrounding in awe. Madeline herself was surprised that the night they were here, she had failed to capture the beauty of the mansion.

    As they continued to walk further and further inside the castle, Madeline noticed her mother, who had been speaking earlier now had turned quiet, her hand holding her father''s hand as if for courage.

    Madeline herself walked apprehensively, not knowing where exactly the servant was leading them.

    They were finally taken to double doors of carved wood, that was pushed in for them to step inside the room.

    "Please take your seat here and the King will see you soon," said the servant bowing his head and leaving the four of them alone in the room.

    The door was soon pushed forward and in came a man who was tall and fairly good looking. He had brown hair that wasbed to the side, his eyes red that had everyone look at him and they bowed.

    "I am Theodore Chauncey, the King''s close attendant," said the man with a polite smile, looking at each one of the Harris'' family, "Please sit," he offered by waving his hand towards the chairs.

    "Thank you, Mr. Chauncey," her father was the one to reply for the kindness offered to them and they moved to take their seats next to each other.

    "I hope you didn''t have any trouble on your way here," asked Mr. Chauncey and they all shook their head.

    Mr. Harris said, "Thank you for sending the carriage for us. We had a pleasant ride."

    "It''s good to hear that you had a safe trip."

    When the double door to the room opened again, Madeline who was sitting with her back facing against the door heard Mr. Chauncey say,

    "Milord," she saw the man who was with them bend and she quickly turned around along with Beth to bow her head and offer her respect to the man.

    Madeline spent a second more before she raised her head to look up at the person.

    Her eyes had started from the expensive shoe that covered his feet that moved up to the sumptuous looking clothes that was on his body before her eyes fell on the man.

    When Madeline had imagined about the King, she had thought about a man somewhere in histe forties but she should have known better.

    This person here had his pitch-ck hair wasbed back, his cheekbones defined and his lips were pale pink in colour. His shoulders were broad that wasn''t covered with a coat as she had imagined. Blood red eyes under his eyebrows that were looked as if they were slightly raised to demand attention while exuding the status that he owned.

    When her eyes met his, there was something very dangerous that lurked in his eyes and he offered a charming smile.

    The King was here.

 Chapter 21 The King

    <h4>21 The King</h4>

    He leaned back against the chair, raising his hand to say, "Sit."

    His voice deep that had Madeline internally frown as the voice sounded familiar, but then it was hard to catch with a single word the King had spoken. The Harris who were standing took their seats on the King''s words.

    Mr. Harris was the one to speak, "Thank you for inviting us for lunch, milord," he bowed his head to show respect.

    "Lunch is a small gathering. I am hoping we have good ties in the future, Mr. Harris. After all, it would be a shame not to share good rtions with the woman I would like to have next to me, who is your daughter."

    Madeline''s eyebrows now furrowed even further until she realized who she had danced in the Grand ball of the Hallow. There were only two people Madeline had danced, and it wasn''t possible that this person was Mr. Hane. It was the first person she had danced in the Ball, the man with a silver mask who had cornered her was none other than the King.

    It was barely a minute since she met the King, and she was already feeling anxious in her chest, that she wanted to go back home. He had danced with her, and he must have danced with Beth too. So it was possible the King didn''t mean her. After all, she had been away from the ballroom for many minutes. Right? No, she was having her doubts.

    "Of course, milord," Mrs. Harris bowed her head, "We were stunned. Therefore, we didn''t have time to pick suitable dresses toe here in," the way they had dressed for the ball, and the way they were dressed in had a sharp contrast.

    Calhoun noticed it. But he saw more than that. Though his eyes didn''t linger too long on the girl he was looking forward to meeting, he had picked up every single detail. Unlike her elder sister, Madeline had braided her hair to make her look like a simplistic.

    His eyes nced to look at her. From where he sat, he could sense the breathlessness from her as if she had figured out who she had danced with. Her skin looked pale, and her eyes not meeting his, she gulped, and his eyes followed the action of her throat.

    His eyes moved back to look at the parents. Inparison to Madeline, her sister was dressed, and her hair was left half-open to show the womanly appeal. He could see the eagerness in the girl''s eyes, and he cocked his head.

    "I heard that you have woodwork, Mr. Harris," he said turning to look at Mr. Harris, "How do you manage it? If I am not wrong you need manpower for it."

    Madeline who sat between her mother and Beth, looked at the man who now questioned her father''s work.

    His voice was reminding her of the time where it was just him and her in the corridor. He sat in a rxed manner with his legs crossed, his red eyes shifting to look at Madeline that had her dart eyes away from him. The King and her father spoke about his work, a question or two to her mother before it shifted back to her father.

    "I would like to offer my help in setting up a shop so that you can work in ease while also two men shall be assigned to help you in bringing the logs back from the forest," the King''s generous words made everyone happy and it included Madeline. She knew how hard it was for her father to work single-handedly, he was turning old and hecked the strength he once used to possess.

    "That is very generous of, my King," her father stood up and bowed his head to show his appreciation and the rest of the Harris bowed their head.

    "It is the least I can do," said Calhoun with a smile reaching up to his lips, "Why don''t we have lunch. I am sure you must be starving," he looked at Theodore who bowed his head.

    "Please follow me," said Theodore walking towards the door and opening it stepped outside the room. The servant man who stood outside held the door for them to pass. Mr. and Mrs. Harris were the first one to step outside the room. Followed by Beth as if she was the diligent daughter out of the two when it came to her and Madeline.

    Madeline by mistake had sat on her dress and therefore she ended upte in getting out of the room. She was following Beth, almost walking past through the door when she felt the King ce his hand on her back.

    Her body froze along with her heart leaping up in her throat, startled by his action.

    She then heard himugh and felt him move his hand away, one side of his lips pulled up as he walked past her to chat up with her sister, Beth.

 Chapter 22 Grand Table

    <h4>22 Grand Table</h4>

    From behind, she noticed the man''s frame. He was tall, his shoulders broad from behind and the shirt that he wore along with the vest fit his body well enough to show his body structure. His hair from behind was short while the front was long that had beenbed back. Even Beth who often was prideful the way she walked and talked now listened and spoke only when she was needed to.

    Her brown eyes continued to look at the man, following them to therge dining room which was not the one they had been to two days ago.

    While Madeline was behind, her footsteps careful, Beth, on the other hand, kept up a calm andposed, feminineposure around her. Smiling only when needed and her words polite but one could tell that she was confident with what she spoke.

    "Madeline and I teach the children from the vige. Basic words for them to learn," Beth said during her conversation with the King.

    "It is always good for women to upy themselves with work than idle chatter," said the King, a man who stood above all the people she had ever met.

    She had never seen a man this handsome until now. Beth did not know why she was unable to recollect her time talking to him. His deep voice could do wonders to anyone. She came to the conclusion that it was perhaps because she was asked to dance by several men and their voices happened to mix along with the music which was why she didn''t remember. With him talking to her and paying attention, Beth finally felt that God had answered her prayers to receive the attention of a man she was worthy of.

    "I love children. It is much easier to teach them," attributed Beth, subtly pushing the information that she was ready for children.

    "How about you?" Calhoun turned his head just enough to the side, letting Madeline know he was talking to her.

    Madeline who had started to look at the paintings again felt like she had been caught off-guard and she asked, "Pardon me, I wasn''t listening to the conversation," she bowed her head, her eyes scolding to chid at herck of attention.

    "Do you enjoy teaching, Madeline?" the way he called her name, even Beth noticed the difference and she pursed her lips but didn''t interject.

    Beth wanted to scold her sister for not keeping her attention here as this was not anybody to be taken lightly. The King didn''t give his attention to everyone but when he did, one was supposed to keep it. People who didn''t know to keep and respect it were often found beheaded for disrespecting the King.

    "You do?" he looked ahead of him, this time his voice much sharper.

    Madeline''s hands clenched together. Did she offend the man?

    She then said, "Our father taught us how to read and write. Though we don''te from a rich background like others, we were provided with the privilege to learn. We had a distant aunt who continued our education for a year but she passed away. Putting it away would be a waste and when the same could be used to increase the ie, Beth and I decided to help. I don''t hate children or teaching if that is what you are asking me."

    Beth was the first one to turn around with her eyes slightly wide with the way her younger sister had spoken to the man. They finally came to stand outside the dining room, Theodore leading Mr. and Mrs. Harris in when the King turned around to say,

    "Wasn''t that hard to speak now, was it?" his dark eyes stared at her, a smile on his lips before he stepped inside the dining room.

    Beth pulled Madeline''s arm for a second, stopping her sister from getting inside the room, to say, "What was that?"

    "What was what?" Madeline asked.

    A maid arrived at the door that had both the girls to step inside the dining room and take their seats.

    Mr. and Mrs. Harris were treading carefully when it came to speaking to the King as they didn''t want to do something that would be considered rude but Beth was not the same. After the King''s little attention to Beth, the older daughter of Harris had taken that the King wanted her to be his wife. She also decided that it was alright to speak to him.

    When only a ss of wine was ced in front of him with no food on his te, curious Beth asked hime, "Are you not going to eat with us, milord?"

    "I will when I want to," with those words, Calhoun had got the girl to not ask him unnecessary questions. He then snapped his fingers for the butler to start serving the family of Harris, "Feel free to request what you want to eat and drink. The table is all yours," said Calhoun, raising his ss up in the air.

    When he brought the ss of wine to his lips, his eyes went to the girl who was sitting in the right on the other end, who had let her older sister sit near him instead. The Harris'' family were swarmed by maids, asking them what they would eat. He noticed how Madeline smiled at the question of the maid and the grip on the ss he was holding tightened.

    She was finally back here.

    .

    Thank you for giving the book a read. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story of ''The Crown''s obsession'' here on w.e.b.n.o.v.e.l app

 Chapter 23 Revealing Intentions

    <h4>23 Revealing Intentions</h4>

    She slowly chewed and swallowed the food, her eyes moving towards him to see him looking at her.

    The man didn''t falter when it came to letting her know that he was looking at her. The attention was brazen to handle, his red eyes looking at her that had her heart skip out of restlessness.

    Theodore Chauncey, who appeared to be close to the King, spoke to Mrs. Harris, "You have grown both your daughters well, Mrs. Harris. It is hard to find people when ites to cutlery etiquette."

    "Thank you," her mother bowed her head, "Beth and Madeline often visited their aunt from where they picked up the habits. They just turned out to be lucky when it came to learning things like these."

    Theodore gave the woman a warm smile that had Madeline wonder how genuine the smile was. Both the King as well as this man shared red eyes and everyone in the vige knew not to trust red eyes. The night creatures were full of deceit.

    "Indeed very fortunate," Calhounmented, "It is a shame that not everyone learns or adapts to it. Do you have other rtives who live in the vige?" he inquired, taking another sip from the ss.

    "I have my sister Mary who lives not too far from our house. She lives with her husband and two sons," Mr. Harris answered.

    "Must be good to have a family member closeby," Calhoun smiled, a simple smile that looked far from it.

    Madeline saw her father nod his head, "Yes, milord. Do you have your rtives who live here?" her father asked for formality.

    "It''s just me. All alone, but once I marry your daughter we can start nning to have a family," Calhoun''s words were firm, and he continued to speak, "Mr. Harris, I heard both of them have been getting marriage alliance. Howe you didn''t get them married? Most of them get married when they are sixteen? Especially considering the financial condition of the family," he ced the ss aside that still had wine and brought both his hands forward to interlink his fingers below his chin.

    Mr. Harris smiled, "We might be poor, but I didn''t want to marry my daughters quickly. Sixteen is where girls are growing and trying to understand the world around them. It would be a shame to curb their growth. Beth wanted to get married, but we didn''t agree to it. It might be a silly thought-"

    "No, I agree with you," said the King, agreeing to her father before adding, "If you didn''t believe in it things would have gone differently," he gave an unnerving smile that had everyone not touch their food for a good two seconds.

    When their meal had finallye to an end, the King finally spoke for what he had called the Harris'' family today,

    "As mentioned in the letter, your daughter has caught my attention, and in the interest of it, I would like that she starts living here in the castle," the King''s words had Mrs. Harris almost slip the knife that was in her hand. He had a serious look on his face, "Do not worry about her living conditions. She will be treated like a queen. She will be looked after with maids and servants waiting on her. She will be tended from the tip of her hair to her toe, with jewels and fine quality of clothes on her skin."

    "R-right away?" Mr. Harris asked with evident surprise in his voice. The man knew that the King had taken an interest, but this was too sudden. They hadn''t been prepared for it.

    "I do not see why there''s any need to wait and prolong the time. Having her here, she can learn about life in the castle and the ordeal that runs. It would be just enough time before we wed," Calhoun remarked to lean back against his seat to see the look of shock on their faces.

    "Milord," Mr. Harris bowed his head, "We won''t be able to spend time with her after she gets married and lives here. Give us some time so that we can-"

    "Mr. Harris, I wasn''t asking you," Calhoun interjected.

    The palms of Madeline turned sweaty hearing this, and on the other side, Beth couldn''t be any more d toe to live in the castle.

    Calhoun then let out his final verdict, "From this time onward, Madeline will stay here in the castle."

    Beth''s eyebrows drew together in confusion. Madeline? Did she hear it wrong? The King had taken his time to talk to her, charming her and not her younger sister who looked particrly pale today inparison to her.

    Mr. Harris felt a sheen of sweat form on his forehead. It appeared that what he was worried hade to be true. The King had his eyes on his youngest daughter, Madeline, "Milord, my daughter has been promised to marry another man. I beg you to reconsider it. My older daughter is much more eligible and you might find her to be of your taste."

    "Break it off," said Calhoun, his eyes looking at the human.

 Chapter 24 Tearing away

    <h4>24 Tearing away</h4>

    "You have only given your word of promise. They haven''t married and consummated their marriage. I don''t think it should be difficult to break it," said the King, not caring if Madeline was promised to marry another man.

    Though Mr. and Mrs. Harris had decided to lie to the King, they hadn''t expected him to ask them to break their word.

    Beth was still in shock that the King had asked for her sister and not her. She was the eldest daughter; she was supposed to be given the first preference and not her sister, who was younger to her. It was her who was interested in living here while clearly, her sister was someone who wanted to live a simple life back in the vige.

    She had been the one thriving to move forward in her life. There were times when she had worked harder in teaching the children to earn an extra penny of a coin which she had used to buy the dress for the ball. She had been the one to pick up the etiquettes and have her sister learn; she didn''t understand how this could happen that the King had chosen Madeline over her.

    Both the sisters had their troubles right now.

    Calhoun stood up from his seat, and the servant who had been standing behind went quickly to pull out the chair for the King.

    "Milord," Mrs. Harris bowed her head this time, "Madeline shares affections with the man and we promised to marry her to him. They have liked each other for some time now," Madeline had told her that the man wanted to spend time with her daughter; therefore, she didn''t hold back in mentioning it to the King. The woman then raised her head in the hope that he would reconsider his demand, "It would be miserable if they-"

    "It would be more miserable if only his head ends up on the spear," his words were cold, not pleased with the way the woman had spoken about the girl sharing her affections with another man. But that was alright, in time it could be fixed.

    Calhoun looked at Madeline whose eyes had turned wide in shock and fear, "She might not like it now, but she will eventuallye to like the life that is present here. I am sure her sister Beth, can put great insights into why she should choose life here. Right, Miss Beth?" he turned his head to look at Beth, who managed to smile at him.

    Beth''s hands had turned to fist as she nodded, her nails digging into the palms of her hands.

    "Lovely," praised Calhoun, "It is not every day a person gets to share the same table with the King. You should count your stars that my eyes fell on your daughter, and I am willing to ignore your family''s poverty and take her as my woman."

    "I don''t want to stay here," Madeline vocalized her thoughts, her eyes moving back and forth in between her parents and the King.

    Mr. Harris hoped the King would listen to Madeline''s words. The man must have a soft corner for his daughter if he had taken an interest in her.

    In the meantime, Madeline gave her mother a pleading look because she didn''t want to be left here in the castle. This wasn''t a ce she belonged to. She liked Mr. Heathcliff because he wasn''t an overbearing man. He respected her wishes, and it was something that she valued. They had decided to meet each other this Saturday, which was only two days away from today. If she was going to be here, she would not be able to meet him.

    Inparison to Mr. Heathcliff, the King was forcibly tearing her away from her family and wanted to keep her here against her will.

    Her father took the courage to speak and said, "My King, we would like to spend more time with our daughter. We would like to take her home today and bring her-"

    "No," Calhoun''s words of refusal was quick. When his eyes met Madeline''s brown innocent one''s, he saw her plead at him without words, "Madeline stays here," he dered, not wanting anymore argument on it.

    To let her would mean sending her in the arms of the lover to be consoled which he would not allow. He would give her all thefort and care she needed.

    He then said, "You can stay here for ten more minutes to say your goodbyes to Madeline. It would be wise to follow my word unless you would want to lessen the number of people in your family," he gave them a polite smile to diffuse the dangerous atmosphere which instead of turning calm turned eerie. Calhoun looked at her father to say, "You will be taken back in the carriage to your home. And as promised, you will be showered with the favours of the King. Theo," the King called to leave the dining room with Theodore.

    When it was just Harri''s family in the room, Madeline could feel the blood rushing through her veins in panic, and she went around to her parents,

    "Please don''t leave me here, papa," Madeline begged her father, but the King had given his word. Madeline could see the helplessness in their eyes. Her parents appeared to be in a dilemma as they didn''t want to leave her here all alone. She was the child they had protected, "Mama, please!"

    Madeline felt as if she were caught, and there was no way out.

 Chapter 25 Stealing what is mine

    <h4>25 Stealing what is mine</h4>

    Her father was unable to go against the King as he was just a man who cut woods and sold it, with no higher authority nor connections like other men who belonged to the higher society where he could try to haggle his time enough to hide his young daughter.

    "Mama, please don''t listen to him. Please don''t leave me here," Madeline said with her eyes turning moist. Her mother shook her head sadly. Mrs. Harris had tried to pursue the King to agree to bring her home for some more days before she woulde to live here, but he had refused it right away.

    "Oh, my child," her mother raised both her hands to hold Madeline''s face, sorrow in the woman''s eyes because she knew it was not what Madeline wanted, "Be strong. We will try to appeal to him again," he didn''t listen to them now, why would he listenter?

    She shook her head, "I don''t want to stay here."

    "I know, dear," her mother hugged her, patting her back, "We will speak to your uncle and see what can be done. Do not lose hope. It''s just now, it will turn better," her mother said, pulling away to look at Madeline and kiss her forehead.

    Her father looked defeated, and she didn''t want to impose on him, knowing how helpless he was feeling.

    She then turned to her sister, Beth, who was quiet since the King had spoken about keeping her here in the castle. She moved herself to stand in front of her sister, holding both Beth''s hands in hers,

    "Beth, please tell the King that I don''t want to live here," said Madeline. She saw her father go console her mother who was troubled, and Madeline looked at Beth who was not looking at her, "He might listen to you, I-"

    Beth turned to look at her, annoyed; her eyes brows were crookedly raised. Taking Madeline''s hands off her arms, "Isn''t this what you wanted?" asked Beth and Madeline looked at her confused, "I know deep down you want to live in a castle, a ce where you will not have to work and will be dotted. What are you crying about?"

    "What?" Madeline frowned, "You know those things do not matter to me. You know I don''t wish for these things, and it is you who-"

    "Finally, the truthes out, isn''t it?" Beth used, her green eyes looking at Madeline with resentfulness, "Aren''t you happy that you have earned his favour and interest?"

    "Beth!" their mother scolded.

    Beth took a step away from Madeline, "If you weren''t interested you wouldn''t have dolled yourself up for the Hallow here. If you weren''t interested you would have refused to go, you would not have spent money on the dress," her words were hurtful to hear, "What are you crying about now?"

    "Then you should have picked a cheaper dress instead of trying to match others. Do not act innocent with me, Maddie," Beth looked in the eye of her sister, "We are sisters. When I told you that I was trying to persuade the King, you went and did something behind my back. You must have got tired standing behind me, wanting the attention which I would have understood if you didn''t take away things like this."

    Madeline couldn''t believe that her sister thought she was trying to take away what belonged to her, "I would never do something like that to you. You are my sister."

    "Why don''t you tell how you charmed the King then? He seems more than interested when he could have someone better."

    "You''re crossing the decency of not understanding that it was never my intention to catch his attention," Madeline responded not liking the way her sister was ming that it was her fault when she had done nothing.

    "Her mother supported her, "Madeline is right, Beth. She would never do anything like that. She didn''t have the intention to marry the King. Her interest lies in Mr. Heathcliff."

    A dry, emptyugh passed through Beth''s lips, "Is that so? Do you know Madeline was away from the ballroom for several minutes? Why don''t you ask her where and what she was doing during that time?" Beth had her doubts the moment she had seen her sister missing from the room. She had looked all around but Madeline was nowhere to be seen.

    But when her sister did arrive back in the room, she had noticed how flushed her face looked even though she had her mask on.

    Mr. and Mrs. Harris turned to look at their two daughters. Madeline clenched her hands which was resting on her sides. Did Beth know what happened?

    "She must have gone to look at the castle," said Mr. Harris, "Stop ming her just because the King didn''t shower you with the same attention as her. Do you know how difficult this is for your sister?"

    The door of the dining room was knocked to have everyone go silent, and Theodore entered the room, "Your carriage is waiting for you, Mr. and Mrs. Harris, and Miss Beth."

    Madeline had to swallow the distress she felt from not only having to stay here, but the sister she lived and cared for had used her of taking the King''s attention for her own.

    Beth was the first one to leave who didn''t care to say bye to her sister as she was more than upset right now. She had barely sleptst night at the thought that the King wanted to meet them because of her but who knew that her little sister had gone behind her back to snatch her happiness.

    She was in shock and anger to speak more. Something that was almost promised and was near had been taken away from her, and her sister dared to behave innocent and sad that she was supposed to stay here.

    Madeline saw her sister pass through the doors. Her mother and father looked at her, her mother saying,

    "We will write you letters, write us back," said her mother cing her hand on Madeline''s shoulder and squeezing it gently. Her father only gave her a sad nod before they made through the doors to step out of the dining room, leaving her alone in this golden cage.

 Chapter 26 Friction

    <h4>26 Friction</h4>

    She was hurt over her sister''s words. Madeline knew Beth was aiming for the King, and she never had the intention to pursue him. She was more than happy to settle down as Mr. Heathcliff''s wife if he would take her. She had handled her sister delicately all these years, letting her decide what she wanted because Madeline didn''t want it. She was more than content with her life, but with this...her sister would forever look at her to be the person who ruined her chance of living the life she dreamed about.

    "Lady Madeline," a maid arrived at the dining room, "You have been summoned to meet the King."

    Madeline turned her head sideways, "Tell him I need to go home."

    The maid looked at the girl who stood with her back, facing her. She had a distressed look as she stood at the door.

    The King was in the court had asked thedy to make her presence in front of him, but it seemed like thisdy wanted to go home. The maid left the dining room and made her way towards the court where the King was sitting leisurely, talking to the ministers. Her legs shook when his eyes fell behind her.

    "M-milord, thedy said she wanted to go home," her eyes didn''t dare to look at the man and instead she stared at the ground.

    Calhoun''s lips twitched hearing this. His eyes looked at the maid, who had her head bowed. He had told that she was going nowhere, but it seemed like she had trouble understanding it.

    "Tell her the Kingmands her to make her presence in front of him. If she disagrees she will have to sleep in my bed," said Calhoun before waving his hand off at the maid and as expected, in a matter of a few minutes, Madeline arrived with the maid.

    Her eyes red at him quietly, and if it were someone else, he would have gauged their eyes out of their face for their impudent behaviour. But this was Madeline, and he didn''t mind it. Rather he enjoyed that there was a trait of anger in her, an emotion he was finding to be amusing as he sat there looking at her walk towards where he was.

    He could sense the confused expression of the people who surrounded them in the full spacious room.

    Madeline was a simple looking girl. If someone were to walk past her, they would have ignored her right away, but he had seen her in that sweet glorious night that he had spent a few minutes with her. He knew there was more than what the surface appeared to the eye when it came to her. He had heard her speak, and saw the way her mask had glided down and shown her face that looked like dewdrops in the morning.

    "Milord," the maid bowed her head, thankful that she was done with the task and she could go back to her work than roam in front of a room full of the night creatures like the King. When the maid peeked up, she saw the King wave his hand for her to leave, his eyes staring at the girl who she had brought here.

    Calhoun didn''t speak to her, and neither did she. One pair of red eyes looking in amusement and one pair of brown eyes looking back with controlled anger. The room that had been filled with talk of words, discussing the nearest viges economy had turned quiet since the maid arrived with a girl they had never seen before.

    "Wee to Devon, Madeline Harris," he weed her, his voice loud and clear in the room.

    Madeline stared straight into his eyes from where she was to say, "When am I going back home?"

    Calhoun smiled further that unnerved her, but she tried to stand her ground.

    He gave her a thoughtful look before saying, "I haven''t thought about it yet but not any time soon. You have only arrived at Devon. I am sure you will like it," he smiled at her.

    Madeline replied to him with, "I think I have seen plenty."

    "I insist that you stay unless you want to hurt your parents. Think about your father. He''s growing old and has no helping hand. Having to cut every wood by himself and bring them alone, how difficult," said Calhoun looking at the way her eyes softened at the mention of her father, "Your stay here will guarantee he has a helping hand. A shop of his own, how unfortunate that the daughter wants to rob those things from him," he shook his head as if he were not talking about her.

    Madeline knew that he was trying to bargain her with her father''s current working condition, but help could be found if asked, "If he needs help Beth and I could help him."

    Calhoun''s smile slowly fell back, and he tilted his head to the side.

    "Do you mean to say that you will help in carrying the wood or chopping them in the forest?" the people who were in the roomughed lightly at the King''s words, "I am intrigued to see it. Have someone pick up a log of wood and axe be brought up here. Let us see the skills that you possess."

    Hearing this, her face turned pale. She had told it on a whim but who knew this person was going to make her chop wood in front of everyone?!

 Chapter 27 Axe and woods

    <h4>27 Axe and woods</h4>

    "She looks like a pitiful girl who doesn''t even know not to look at the King in his eyes and speak," a man to her right spoke, and it was then she realized what she was doing, and she quickly looked away from him. Coming from a humble household, a person like her didn''t have the right to challenge him, but it seemed like he had taken upon the challenge, to only challenge her back.

    "I believe it is her first time in the castle and meeting the King, which is why she shows such courage, not knowing how to respect," said another.

    "People from the viges don''t know things and are bumpkins who only know how to look after the house and warm the bed," other men hearing this started tough along with him.

    "You are right, Benedict. Her speech appears to be direct to the King, where is the respect?" asked the first man who had started the conversation, "My King," he turned to look at Calhoun, bowing his head low to say, "We must have more interaction with the vigers."

    Calhoun smiled, his eyes still on Madeline who noticed how she clutched the bottom of her skirt in worry and anxiety as she was in a new ce. When the wood was brought into the room, Madeline could feel the palms of her hand, turning sweaty out of nervousness.

    She had been brave, and she had bluffed, which now resulted in two logs of wood being brought into the courtroom and an axe that was carried by another servant. It was alright, said Madeline to herself. It wasn''t anythingplicated. She had done it two to three times for enjoyment; all she would need to do was exert enough pressure and strength to break the log of wood.

    One servant ced a full trunk of a tree on the floor, and on that ced the log of wood. The servant who was carrying the axe didn''t ce it down but waited along with it for Madeline to pick it up in her hand.

    Calhoun, who was listening and enjoying the words spoken in the room, said, "I would like to see how skilled a daughter of a woodsman is. Please," he said to Madeline, who turned to the King, who appeared to be smiling.

    Exhaling the air, she turned and went to the servant who was carrying the axe. Taking it, her feet gingerly moved towards the wood that was ced upright, ready to be cut into a half. A few whispers of murmurs went around the room which fell on her ears as she readied herself,

    "This will teach her not to speak back to the King again."

    Madeline could tell that most of the men in the court where nothing but lowly scum who didn''t know how to behave and were instead pointing their fingers on her that she didn''t know how to respect. But she was in no position to speak, already stuck here, she didn''t want to catch more attention than what she already had.

    Clutching her hands tightly around the handle of the axe, she raised her hand, feeling his eyes on her before she moved it down for the axe to get stuck in the side of the wood. A small sigh of relief escaped her mouth, d that she didn''t hit the air and that the de had gone through the wood.

    When her eyes met Calhoun''s, he didn''tment and only continued to look at the log of wood before saying,

    "Benedict, why don''t you try chopping the next one."

    The man named Benedict bowed his head to Calhoun before going to take the axe from Madeline with a smirk. When the wood was reced, Benedict raised his hands to strike at the wood with the axe into perfect two halves. The people around them pped for the man who was able to cut the wood without breaking a sweat.

    "Excellent! Nothing less to expect from Benedict," praised one of the men in the room.

    "He has the best aim, no wonder he handles the affairs in catching the bandits," said another.

    Benedict enjoyed the praise and then took two steps towards Madeline, "A woman should know where her ce is. Talking about cutting logs when you barely cut a full piece," he smirked, "My quarters is not so far, you can always find me," he looked at her lips, smiling at her.

    Calhoun who saw Benedict step close to Madeline and speak to her, he stood up, pping his hands that had Benedict step back with pride of him being able to cut the log of wood, "Bravo to the ones who took part in it," he then walked down, stepping down from the raised tform, "It had been a while since I used the axe myself."

    The men stepped away, giving him the way to walk when he stood to look at the pieces of broken woods thatid on the ground. Calhoun raised his hand and Benedict, who was holding the axe, gave it to him not knowing what ill omen had knocked at his door after speaking to the girl.

    "Milord, we are out of logs," said a man bowing his head. Only two logs had been brought into the court.

    "That won''t be necessary," remarked Calhoun, bringing the axe to look at it carefully he rolled the handle in his hand with a smile on his face, "Benedict," called the King and the man was quick to attention.

    "Yes, my King!" he answered ready to be rewarded until he heard Calhoun say,

    "ce one side of your face on the surface of the trunk."

    "Milord?" Benedict was surprised with the King''s request, "But..."

    Calhoun sighed, his eyes moving from the axe to look at the man, "I don''t like to be kept waiting," the smile on his face fell, and when the people in the room noticed this, their smiling faces fell in a blink of an eye. No wordsing out from anyone and silence filling up the court room.

    Benedict genuinely didn''t know what had happened in a slit minute. Was the King not happy with the way he cut the wood? He wouldn''t mind doing it all over again. Seeing the man wait, Benedict unwillingly gulped and got down on his knees.

    The man was a night creature who now slowly ced his head on the cut surface of the tree trunk. His eyes were wide, his blood rushing as the King held the axe and took his position. Everyone, including Madeline, looked at them holding their breath of what was going on.

    Calhoun then moved his hand to hit the edge of the trunk of the tree, cutting the backside hair of Benedict whoid there frozen. The yful atmosphere in the court, which was there earlier was gone.

    Benedict let an internal sigh, but it was short-lived as the glint in Calhoun''s eyes changed to something malevolent, and he raised his hand along with the axe before running it down right on the man''s neck. The head rolled down on the ground, blood spurting everywhere, leaving everyone stunned and shocked.

    Blood was sprayed on Calhoun''s clothes and face. He threw the axe which ttered on the ground, before walking back up to the tform and turned to look at the people.

    "Speak to her using such a tone once more, and you will receive the same fate. Madeline shall not be touched nor spoken to," Calhoun warned to have everyone bow at him right away, "Now if that''s clear get the head and body out of this court. He looks hideous even after death."

 Chapter 28 Luxurious room

    <h4>28 Luxurious room</h4>

    Blood continued to flow out of the body, staining the white marble floor.

    She had been upset with the way she was treated right now, a powerless girl who was looked down because of how she looked and where she hade from.

    Not a word was spoken in the room after the King had uttered the words about her. Had he killed a living breathing person for her sake? Her eyes moved away from the blood to the man who had ascended the throne. Like Madeline, his men looked shocked but had covered it immediately who couldn''t help but want to look at the girl who the King hadmanded not to see or touch but they couldn''t. Nobody wanted to be the next in line to be beheaded by the King!

    "Why did the room turn quiet?" she heard the King ask as if he had not beheaded a man a few seconds ago, "Welby," he called a man who was lean and of average height, making the man''s heart leap out in worry that the King had chosen him to be the next piece of wood to be cut. After all, Welby was the one who had started the conversation.

    "Milord?" Welby gulped softly before going to stand in front of Calhoun, who leaned back and crossed his leg.

    Calhoun red at the man, "Stop acting like a drunk duck and speak what you came here for."

    "Yes!" answered Welby, picking up the parchments in his hands, he shuffled it as quick as he could, "There''s aint that is going on about the taxation in the vige where farmers and other men who have been profiting have not paid their assigned taxes. Some went as far as to riot and chased the Shire Reeve. It has been nearly a month, but they have been trying to chase the ones who go to collect that has been causing us problem, my King."

    "Where are the guards for the vige?" asked Calhoun.

    "This vige is located in the outskirts of Lakeshire," answered the man.

    "That is a little problematic," replied Calhoun with a hum before saying, "Jeurel will assist you in collecting the tax," a man who stood far away with a stoic expression bowed his head. Calhoun turned to look at another servant who was short in stature, and used his hand in ae hither motion and whispered something before saying loudly, "Take thedy to her assigned room."

    Madeline would have gone against him if he hadn''t killed a person in front of her eyes. She was still in shock that she had temporarily lost speech. She looked at Calhoun who gave her a smile,

    Madeline, who had stepped out of the courtroom, followed the man without a word and the man didn''t try to converse with her. Only a man who had a death wish would try speaking to her.

    She stepped into the parts of the castle she had never been or seen before. She hadn''t ventured too far during the night of Hallow, and somewhere she wished she didn''t venture at all. If she hadn''t, she wouldn''t be here like this.

    "Nic," the man called a maid who was walking past the corridor carrying clothes in her hand, "Take thedy to the West Wing of the castle."

    "Which room would you like me to take her to?" asked the maid, her eyes falling on the girl who stood behind him who was looking at the walls and creepers that crept up the walls.

    "The one in the Atticus garden view. The bed chamber that falls at the right," the man informed the maid who gave another look at the girl. The Atticus garden barely had any guests in there even when the King had many guests in the castle, it was always left unavable as it came in the same quarters as the King''s chamber, "Lead the way to Lady Madeline," said the man who bowed his head and left.

    By the quick nce of the girl''s clothes, the maid could tell she was a vige girl. What was she doing here? With pitiful clothes and look on her face, she wondered if she was the King''s new conquest because in no sense did she look like ady.

    "Please follow me," said the maid, turning around and starting to walk.

    Madeline felt out of ce when she started to follow the maid. Even though the castle was huge and spacious, she felt as if this ce had already begun to suffocate her. This was a ce where her parents and her sister could not be reached. She had no family here, and she was left all alone.

    She had to keep up with the maid''s footsteps as they were quick on the floor. They took many turns before Madeline was led to the quarters where she could see a decent size of a garden and fountains of water built in the middle of the castle. There were beautiful flowers and nts that decorated the garden. The room was unlocked, and the maid pushed the doors for Madeline to step into the luxurious room that contained a bed that could fit in more than four people in it. There was a firece in the room, the logs of woods waiting to be lit and burnt. A table with chairs around and another room which was to be used for the bath as it contained a bathtub.

    "Is there anything else I would be of service to you?" asked the maid.

    Madeline gave some thought before she asked, "Do you deliver letters?"

    Taking the ink and the parchment that was avable at the desk, Madeline used it to write something before folding it and handing it to the maid who had been waiting at the door, "You can deliver it to this address," said Madeline. The maid bowed her head and left.

    "How do I get out of here?" asked Madeline to herself.

    Remembering the scene of Calhoun cutting the man''s head, made her blood freeze and her breath short. She had been a free bird which was now caged. It was ironic how she had ended up here when in truth, it was Beth who wanted to live life in the castle, with the King. She didn''t have to step outside the room as she remembered well how far the gates were that surrounded the castle.

    Walking towards the window, she stood there looking at the gardens and other scenery when she caught sight of a forest that was located at the back of the castle. From where she stood, it looked as if the forest touched the ends of the horizon like a never-ending scenery.

    She then heard the sharp sound of shoes walking that made into the room, and she turned around to see Calhoun step inside the room, walking towards her, "I was busy in the court when I received this," he said pulling up the envelope from his pocket. It was the same envelope that she had written and sent through the maid, "You are worse than the devil to keep a person as a prisoner," he said, reading the letter before throwing it on the ground.

    His lips pulled up to a smile, "You were testing to see if the letter would reach me or the assigned address. You are much smarter than I presumed you to be," and he was right. She wanted to make sure her letters wouldn''t be read and would be sent to the address she had written to. Not to the King, but it seemed that letters would not reach the people she wanted to write to.

    "You cannot keep me in here," said Madeline, her brown eyes looking at him stubbornly and furious for keeping her here.

    "Why not?" he cocked his head to the side. He closed therge distance between them by walking and standing in front of her.

    "Because I am not yours to keep! I am not a doll but a person," she gritted her teeth, and though Madeline wanted to yell and shout, she knew her limits. Especially after seeing how cruel and cold he was in the courtroom.

    Madeline saw Calhoun smile, a smugness in his eyes since he had stepped into the room. He took a step further towards her, stepping as close as to be in her breathing space, "You are mine to keep, and I will keep you as long as I want. It is our little misunderstanding, wrong foot perhaps? You wille to care and love one day, Madeline," he whispered her name.

    She had to hold her breath not to move as he was too close, and she said, "Over my dead body."

    "Why kill when there are so many things that can be done to your body. I definitely would not want it dead," Calhoun chuckled, looking into her brown eyes which now stared back at him, "Since I haveid my eyes on you, spoken and heard you speak, I cannot help but think why I feel that way. I have had plenty of women in my arms but the need to hold you," he dropped his voice, "It drives me mad. Don''t look so scared; I won''t do things you don''t like," he said, bringing up his hand to push a piece of hair behind her ear.

    Calhoun could see the fear lingering in her eyes, the fear that was carried from the court to this room. With it was the anger of him having her confined to this castle.

    "Will I ever get to see my family?" asked Madeline, "Are you going to keep me away from the things I care and love?"

    "Once I know we have made some progress I will arrange for you to meet your beloved family," replied Calhoun to take a step back away from her.

    "You must be delusional to think there will be progress. I am not an animal for your amusement," Madeline just wanted to go back home, and the thought of staying here alone was pushing her to a corner.

    "You are far from it. Should I prove it to you by taking you to my bed of what exactly I think of you," a shiver ran down her spine as he said those words. A smile appeared on his handsome face that made Madeline question if he meant it or not, "The cupboards are filled with dresses and jewellery. The maids will help you to get ready. You won''t have to lift a finger to move or do anything."

    "I am perfectly capable of doing those things myself."

    Calhoun''s eyes twinkled, "Well, at least you are willing to use it by yourself. That''s some progress!" his smile then died down on his lips to say, "In my presence, you will be treated the way I think you deserve to be treated. Don''t try your trickery here like what you just did with the letter, though I must say I was very amused. I am not very patient, but you must know that already. Have some rest. I will see you at dinner."

    She saw Calhoun leave the room, and her shoulder sank.

    She had to do something...

 Chapter 29 Troubled maids

    <h4>29 Troubled maids</h4>

    Walking towards the bath that was built like a pool inside the room with pirs and candles burning around the room, he stepped inside the bath until he waspletely immersed in the water by falling back slowly. He then got out with his body leaning back and his hands pushing his hair back that clenched the muscles on his back.

    Water dripped down from every inch of his body. The droplets of water fell from the ends of his hair to fall on his neck and, sliding on his back where his body was inked with ck markings. The marking started from the sides of his shoulders that moved down to his waist, where his body tapered into the water he was in.

    Calhoun''s features looked stronger with the touch of water on his skin and hair as it darkened his eyebrows and his eyes looked almost ck because of the less lit light in the room. He was still in there when the man who had shown thedy her way to the maid entered the room Calhoun was in.

    "Milord," the man bowed his head without looking at the King who was bathing with his back facing towards him, "I have got the dining room set in the garden-"

    "Cancel it," ordered Calhoun, his eyes staring at the long grilled windows that were opaque and dull white in colour that indicated the age of this room and castle. The short man had a look of surprise on his face but he didn''t question the King with the sudden change of venue as it was Calhoun who had ordered him to set up the table, "We will be having dinner in my room."

    "Yes, my King," the man bowed his head.

    "Did you assign the maids to tend Madeline?" asked Calhoun, moving to one side of the water fountain that was built at the sides of the pool.

    "I had Nic assign three more maids to tend to thedy b-but..." he trailed not knowing how to say it.

    "What is it?" Calhoun snapped not liking to be left hanging.

    The servant wrung his hands together, "There has been some trouble in helping thedy as she is not letting anyone touch her. She is not changing her clothes into what you have sent."

    A maid who was waiting at the side walked to the King to wipe his wet body with a towel in her hand.

    The maid made sure to dry every part of the King''s body except for his hair as she couldn''t reach her hands until there. When she was done, she brought a fresh robe for him to wear.

    In the same quarters where the King''s room was, not far away was the room where Madeline refused to wear the dress that was ced on the bed.

    "Mdy, please step into the bath so that we can dress you," one of the maids tried requesting thedy they were assigned to wash and dress but the person was stubborn enough to not move from where she sat right now.

    "The dinner is going to be in less than an hour-"

    "Tell the King that I won''t be joining him for dinner. That I have no interest to share a meal with him!" said Madeline looking at the wall, "You can go dress him."

    The maids looked at each other, thedy was being difficult and didn''t know the trouble she was causing them. Madeline was angry for Calhoun keeping here against her will. There was something very dangerous with the way he spoke to her even though he had tried to be polite. She couldn''t get her mind off with what happened in the court.

    Madeline had met Calhoun Hawthrone during the time of the Grand Ball. He had trapped her against the wall as if taunting and teasing her before letting her go which was only for a very short duration. She was no fool to believe his words of lies. Apart from the clothes that were already present in the room, he had sent a dress for her to wear and join him for dinner. He must have lost his mind if he thought she would agree, thought Madeline to herself.

    "The King won''t be pleased that we weren''t able to help," said another maid.

    She heard one of the maids whisper to another, "She''s going to put us in trouble for no reason. Can''t she be reasonable?"

    "Ssh," another shushed so that thedy wouldn''t hear it.

    "He''s going to have our heads off," the maid continued toin before looking at thedy. Had the girl not met the King and not know what he was capable of?!

    Madeline''s hand clutched the side of the bed where she had been sitting on the edge. She didn''t understand why she was ced in such apromising position. She knew to the maids she appeared to be unreasonable, but she was unable to ept the fact that she was held here against her will. At the same time, the maid who was named Nic arrived at the room to see the maids who stood in front of the King''s guest who had not even started to change her clothes.

    "Mdy," Nic bowed her head and dismissed the maids who were in the room to step outside, "The King has arranged to have dinner with you in his room and he expects you to be there. I hope you won''t cause trouble for yourself. You wouldn''t want to anger him, he has quite a temper, you wouldn''t want himing and dressing you himself."

    Giving some thought to what the maid said, Madeline finally stood up to hear the maid say, "Thank you."

    Madeline was washed and cleaned as she had never been before. Her hair was brushed and pulled to be tied, her body being adorned withyers of clothes on her body. She wasn''t used to this attention and it had turned her body rigid. The corset under her clothes had been pulled making her wince and made it difficult to breathe freely.

    When she was ready, she was lead to the King''s room which she realized wasn''t too far away from the room she was given to.

    The surface of the door was knocked by the maid who had led her there, to announce,

    "Milord, Lady Madeline is here."

    The maid pushed the door but didn''t step in, her head bowed down. Madeline could feel her nerves turning errant with every step she took inside the room. When the door closed behind her, Madeline couldn''t handle the pressure in the air and she quickly turned around ready to step out when a hand fell on the door to close it back,

    "Where do you think you''re going?"

 Chapter 30 Making me jealous?

    <h4>30 Making me jealous?</h4>

    Staring at the door, she demanded, "I want to go back to the room."

    "Is that how you speak to your King?" his words demanded with an edge in it, his hand that was on the door moved towards her.

    Madeline closed her eyes, forgetting in her anger and desperation that this man was not only the King, but he could kill anyone he wanted, and no one would ever hear of it.

    "Please, I want to go back to the room," she added her request, her eyes eyeing his hand to make sure it wasn''t going to get closer.

    She felt Calhoun step even closer and heard him take a deep intake of breath, "You know, Madeline," she heard him speak in a low voice behind her, "If you run I am going to chase you. Like it or not that is going to happen, and if you run and I catch," his words were slow and deliberate, "You won''t like the oue after it. So why don''t you join me at the table, hmm?"

    Madeline moved her head to the side to notice that if she turned around, she would be able to see his red eyes even more clearly, "Okay��" she didn''t like the position they were in.

    "So easy, yet you decide to make it difficult for yourself," chimed Calhoun making Madeline think that if it weren''t for him keeping her, she wouldn''t be making anythingplicated.

    When Madeline felt him take a step back along with his hand, she finally released her breath to turn around and see him walk towards the table. The table was set with a red cloth spread on it with a candle burning brightly at the centre, and tesid down along with fork, spoons and knife. Food was ced in a trolley next to the table.

    Calhoun pulled the chair, waiting for her to take a seat.

    "Is it normal for a King to do this?" she asked him, as she looked at him to have his eyes staring at hers.

    "What do you think?" one side of his lips pulled up to a smile, "Sit," he ordered, and she made her way to the table and sat down gingerly.

    With the tight corset, she was made to wear, Madeline wondered if she could really eat anything in here. Seeing Calhoun sit opposite to her, she red at him.

    "What would you like to eat first? There''s sizzling crabs or spicedmb which has been roasted in the fire," he said to her in a charming tone, but Madeline was in no mood to be charmed by her captive.

    "Are you going to serve tonight?" asked Madeline, a certain challenge in her eyes.

    Calhoun smiled, his eyes holding amusement, "What is the point of being a King if you cannot make use of the avable resources around you," and as if on cue, a maid stepped inside the room, bowing her head before she started to walk towards the table and served them dinner.

    And while Madeline was ogling at the room, Calhoun who sat in front of her drank her appearance. Her eyshes were long, fluttering every once in a while as they blinked before continuing to look at whatever it could find. Her lips were delicate and pink in colour, and he wondered how it would feel under his lips.

    "I didn''t get to hear from you today," said Calhoun to bring her attention back at the table where her sweet expression turned back to a guarded one.

    The maid was almost done serving, and she left the room for the time being.

    "All I heard was your sister speak about her achievements and what she does and likes. I was utterly bored with her. I would like to hear from you," he said, and it was right because it was Beth who kept talking to prove her worth, that he had done right by choosing to see her today but who knew that it wasn''t Beth who the King was interested in.

    Madeline stared at the food and then shifted her eyes back at him before standing up and bowing her head,

    "I don''t know what caught your attention and what word of mine gave you the feeling that this is going to work, but please consider when I am saying this that, this won''t work. I have no feelings for you, and I have no interest to live in this castle of yours. My dreams are small. Beth will be more suited to be your partner," she said, trying to persuade him as it wasn''t toote to turn things back.

    Calhoun stared at her with his collected eyes right now, "Your sister might want to live and be part of this social circle and society, but she doesn''t suit my taste, Maddie," he saw the way her face hardened at the short name he called her, "Beth might be a good girl but is she? I overheard the conversation that took ce at the ball that night. The way she belittled you as a vige girl, wanting to steal your partner. I am sorry, but I don''t take scrapes. I prefer things that are untouched and not defiled so that I can do the work myself."

    Hearing this, Madeline looked into his eyes and said,

    "What makes you think that I have not been defiled?" the smile on Calhoun''s lips slowly fell, his eyes piercing her.

    "You''re not a good liar, darling," responded Calhoun to her ims.

    "You do not know anything about me. You don''t know who holds my heart and who I wish to be with. I-" the table that was in front of them, was suddenly pushed away to the side to make a screeching sound.

    Calhoun had stood up, his eyes smouldering at the words she uttered.

    Before Madeline could make a dash towards the door after seeing the anger in his eyes, she was pulled by her arm and thrown on the bed. Her body bounced on the bed, and she tried to scramble her way out of there, but Calhoun was quick to climb and hover over her body. He was holding her small hands single-handedly as she struggled to get out of his grip.

    "Get off of me!" she tried to set her hands free but his grip was tight enough to keep them down.

    Calhoun smiled down at her, enjoying her continuing to re at him and having her like this, "If I were you, I would choose my words wisely before I speak, my sweet flower," his voice had dropped low, and he looked right into her eyes, "Are you trying to get me jealous? It is very effective in getting my attention. I told you, you would fall in love with me in no time."

    How in God''s name did he conclude that to fit his perception?!

    This crazy King!

 Chapter 31 Making myself comfortable

    <h4>31 Making myselffortable</h4>

    .

    Calhoun looked at her fiery brown eyes that red at him that had him smiling. Leaning forward towards her by bending down to the side of her face where she continued to struggle with gritted teeth, she felt his warm breath on her ear, "Who knew I was going to have you in my bed this soon. You need to know not to poke a lion. Just because the lion is quiet doesn''t mean it''s not going to pounce on you."

    With her under him and this close, Calhoun could smell the rose-like scent that wafted from her, and he couldn''t help but move closer.

    When he pulled back, there was a broad smile on his lips that had made Madeline worried. She knew it was a wrong approach, but it was worth knocking every door and window to find a way out of this. For a moment, a streak of fear appeared in her nerves when he had pulled her to the bed and with him hovering on top of her in thispromising position,

    "Are you going to get off of me?" she asked him. At the same time, the grip of his hands tightened around her hands.

    "I think you are forgetting something here," he said with a thoughtful look on his face before his eyes shifted to look back at her, "Where is the magical word?"

    She knew what he wanted to hear, but she was stubborn, "I don''t think I did anything wrong here."

    "Are you sure about it?" he tested, his hand about to touch the side of her cheek and she shut her eyes close. She was nervous as if she was able to feel his hand that only hovered near her but didn''t touch her. When Madeline''s stomach growled because of hunger, Calhoun ran his tongue over his sharp canine and got off of her.

    Pulling the table back to its position, he took a seat at the table.

    Madeline sat up quickly and scrambled away from the bed, making her dress right before going towards the table and taking her seat. Her cheeks had turned red.

    "Seems like you liked what we did in the bed," hemented with a small smirk on his face, he picked up the ss that was on the table to take a sip from it.

    Trying to keep herself calm as more blood rushed up to her cheeks in embarrassment, she said, "I would request you not to phrase things that might mean something else when nothing happened."

    He ced the ss on the table, "Why have you turned red then? You look as if I have whispered something unruly that I am going to do to you," grinned Calhoun.

    "Have you no shame?" she asked him, feeling the next wave of embarrassment.

    "Once you discard it, there''s no word called shame, Maddie," he then brought his hand to wave at the food in front of them, "Eat. If you skip your meal with me, you will end up starving."

    "I will have to look at you every day," muttered Madeline under her breath.

    "No, thank you."

    "That''s what I thought. Feelfortable to change your room," when he picked up his fork and knife, Madeline did the same.

    Eating crab would need breaking its outer shell before she could eat the meat inside it which would make things messy on her te. And eatingmb would mean clean eating. In reasonable condition, Madeline would have picked to eat themb as she wasn''t at home. But right now she felt like she was cornered and she was in the mood to rebel.

    She picked up the fork and knife, she moved the knife around in her hand, bringing the crab in the middle of her te, all the while feeling Calhoun''s eyes on her. Holding her knife tight, she started to beat the crab that was on the table that made loud cluttering sound. One hit after another that had the crab move all over the te as the room filled with her action.

    The servant who was outside heard the sound and opened the door to bow his head before he was dismissed immediately with a small wave of the King''s hand.

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, "What do you think you are doing?"

    "Making myselffortable," she answered, and Calhoun''s lips twitch. Who knew cornering her would bring this side of her, which he was enjoying. He found her far more entertaining than any women he had ever met until now.

    "You have a very peculiar way of making yourselffortable. I have some ways myself if you are interested," he proposed, and she quietly pushed the crab aside before cutting the softer meat that was on her te.

    The rest of the meal Madeline stayed quiet, obviously not interested in starting a conversation with this man but that didn''t stop Calhoun from not looking at her. And he could tell how self-conscious she was turning out to be because of the way his eyes looked at her. Thankfully this time, unlike this noon, he was eating the meal that was served.

    "When will I next see my family?" asked Madeline, trying to be polite so that he wouldn''t refuse her words right away.

    "Once I know you have earned my trust."

    "You''re supposed to first trust and then like the person," she tried to enlighten him but she should have known this was no ordinary person.

    He raised one eyebrow of his, "Who likes to follow the normal route, Madeline," he said raising his fork to his full lips before putting it into his mouth, that grinned at her.

 Chapter 32 Interests

    <h4>32 Interests</h4>

    "I shall return to my room now if there''s nothing else to do-"

    "Stay," Calhoun poured water on her n of going back to her room quickly, "It would be unfortunate if we didn''t share some time," weren''t they doing that just now? Asked Madeline to herself.

    "Okay," she agreed.

    "Don''t look so sullen, Madeline. Life in the castle isn''t as bad as you think it to be," Madeline had to bite her tongue thinking about the death that took ce in the courtroom but that didn''t mean Calhoun didn''t pick her bodynguage, "Did the death intimidate you?" he asked her, his eyes looking at her challengingly.

    "Isn''t death always intimidating?" she questioned him.

    "If you have seen enough death and taken many lives, death is barely something to be considered. Once your hand is dipped deep and down in blood, there''s nothing to be intimidated about," Calhoun answered her, his eyeszily watching her and his lips parted, "When you''re dealing with court and your subjects, things like these are the mostmon."

    Didn''t shee under his subjects too? Asked Madeline to herself.

    "Don''t be frightened. You are safe," seeing the sharp canine that appeared from one side didn''t feel convincing at her, "You will get used to it."

    "What if I say I don''t want to get used to it?" asked Madeline, "You need to understand that this is not how I grew up��"

    Calhoun tilted his head to the side and asked her, "You haven''t seen anyone be beheaded in the scaffold?" Madeline shook her head, "How did you miss it? If I am not wrong, every vige and town has a hearing on what crimes have beenmitted. Depending on these actions are taken."

    "I had no interest in looking at people hang or to see them beheaded. With what I have heard, the punishments are always barbaric," Madeline replied to his question, "There was a woman who had nothing to do with the brawl, but she was dragged into it, and she was set on fire."

    Before someone got killed, Madeline and Beth had always been ushered out of there by their parents though Beth used to sneak out to see how the proceedings went. She had heard people scream and cry in pain when it was their blood who stood on the scaffold, ready to be killed.

    "People are caught doing some things they are not supposed to do, and there are some who get caught."

    "You agree that innocents are killed," it was more of a question as she looked into his eyes that were staring back at her before a smile broke on his lips.

    Madeline couldn''t help but wonder to herself on how many people this man would have sent on death row or how many deaths lied in his hands. The King who had offered her a room, clothes to wear and shared dinner, the same man had killed a person this noon.

    "Thinking about Benedict? The man who was nning to invite you to his quarters," Calhoun reminded who Benedict was, "Benedict was an efficient man when it came to working in the ministry of rtions, but he wasn''t as smart as I thought him to be."

    "You killed him without a trial," stated Madeline.

    Calhoun chuckled, "People like that don''t need to be trialled, especially not when it concerns the King and his interests. You weren''t expecting me to slide it now, were you?" the smile on his face had fallen, and his red eyes looked at her, "I won''t tolerate any man talking to you in such tone or intention, or even looking at you. With today''s action, word will spread for everyone to steer clear away from you."

    He was giving her protection, but the irony was that there was no one to protect her from the Calhoun himself.

    "As of what I heard, there has been no man trying to pursue you, but if he is, you should forget about the man you were nning to get engaged," there was an underline threat in his words, "I guarantee to keep you safe with me but not another man."

    When she finally got to leave his room, bowing her head, she released a sigh of breath after reaching the room and closing the door behind her. She heard the footsteps go from the front of the door, which was of the maid who had led her back to the room.

    Madeline changed her clothes and sat next to the window. Her head was leaning against the window as she wondered how the events in one day had turned everything upside down.

    Away from the castle, in the vicinity of the vige and at the rise of the sun, a person walked on the side of the road to reach the shop that made dresses.

    An envelope was handed to the assistant that was addressed to the owner of the shop Mr. James Heathcliff.

 Chapter 33 The ire

    <h4>33 The ire</h4>

    Their daughter had not spoken a word in the carriage, and neither did they as they were worried about their younger daughter, Madeline who had been asked by the King to stay in the castle from now onwards.

    "What are we going to do?" asked Mrs. Harris in a shaky voice, the carriage rode away from the front of their humble house.

    Mr. Harris had no answer right now as the person they were dealing with wasn''t anyone but the King of theirnds, "I will try to talk to Frances and see if she can try to persuade him." But, there was doubt in his voice as he was unsure and uncertain that the King would let his dear daughter return back home.

    Mrs. Harris nodded her head, her eyebrows drawn together with wrinkles on her forehead, "Yes, that is one way to do it. You don''t think he will hurt her, will he?" she asked in the end. Madeline was differentpared to their elder daughter Beth, who would have agreed to do anything the King would ask upon, but the same couldn''t be told when it came to Madeline.

    They stepped inside their house, locking the doors from inside before walking forward into the small hall of their home, "Let us hope she is safe."

    Beth had changed her clothes, but she was yet to remove the pins she had ced in her hair.

    She came out to get a ss of water for herself. Going to the table and pouring herself a ss of water before she drank from it while overhearing what her parents were talking about.

    "Madeline is a smart girl," said her father, "I am sure no ill will fall upon her."

    "She was so unhappy when the King announced that she would have to stay there," said her mother and Beth''s hand tightened around the ss, clutching it she heard her mother continue to speak, "Maybe we should find someone else to speak to the King, if Frances is unable to get him to listen to our request. Poor Madeline, she is there all alone now."

    Beth didn''t want to hear more of it, and she went back to her room. The door, this time almost thundering the house with the way it banged close. She was more than upset that Madeline had taken her ce, she had stolen the opportunity right under her nose by telling she was not interested in the life of the castle. She should have known better.

    She started to pull the pins around her hair, going to stand in front of the mirror.

    "How could you��" asked Beth, her hands quivering in her anger for what Madeline did.

    She had asked Madeline where she was that night during the time of her absence in the ballroom, but instead of telling the truth, she had told nothing had happened. She was her older sister; therefore, she knew something had happened between her and someone, and it so happened that someone was none other than the King.

    "I will never forgive you, Madeline. The humiliation you have put me through," everything until the point of the meal at the table, everyone had been led to believe that it was her, but no...it was her sister who had stolen her ce in the King''s mind.

    When the time of morning arrived, Beth woke up to go to the kitchen and help her mother, who was quietly working. She took the vessel of water and ced it on the fire, "How are you doing, mama?" asked Beth to her mother, going to her mother and cing both her hands on her shoulders forfort.

    Her mother shook her head and sighed, "I am worried about, Madeline. I don''t even know why the King kept her against her will when we mentioned that she was engaged to Mr. Heathcliff."

    Beth, who had her lips pursed together, said, "Why did you pick Mr. Heathcliff''s name? He and Maddie barely spoke to each other. They only have exchanged greetings without having an actual conversation with each other. Bringing Mr. Heathcliff in the scene would put him in danger."

    "There''s nothing wrong in it!" her mother responded to her daughter, "They both like each other and I don''t mind them getting married. They were going to meet this Saturday but��" she shook her head.

    "Madeline told you that they were meeting?" Beth tried to confirm to receive a nod from her mother.

    "Her heart must be broken," murmured her mother before going back to do the kitchen work.

    Beth turned around and looked at the window of their kitchen. Her teeth gritted in anger which had still not evaporated. This little information only turned the ire in her more. Until now, Beth and Madeline shared everything with one other. With them being only a year apart in age, they did everything together, and if not done, they were sure to let one another know about what happened.

    Madeline was hiding things from her when she was giving out every single information without holding back. She was here in this small house, working in the morning while Madeline would be showered with the luxury of not having to move anything. The King would surely treat her with clothes, jewels, and maids that she had always dreamt about.

    Beth went back to her room. Pulling out a parchment, she ced it on the table and pulled out the quill and ink bottle to write a letter.

    ''Dear James,

    I am sending you this letter because I am unable toe to meet you right now. I have been confined to the castle against my wishes. The King wants to marry me, but the only person I want to marry is you. You are the one who holds my heart and mind, I would not like anyone to take it away. Please do not ask my family about this, as they are unable to help me either, as it would mean going against the King''s orders. I don''t know what to do, therefore, I am sending this letter to you in the hope that you understand in what circumstances I have been ced in.

    Yours,

    Madeline Harris''

    Folding the parchment she neatly ced it inside the envelope and stood up to look at the envelope in her hand. It was time to deliver it, thought Beth to herself.

 Chapter 34 Messenger

    <h4>34 Messenger</h4>

    If what her mother said was true, this would work just wonderfully. Putting the envelope in her dress, she stepped out of the room.

    "Mama, I will be stepping out of the house to go to the central market," informed Beth to her mother who was still in the kitchen. Her mother who noticed her dressed, asked,

    "Why are you going to the central market?"

    "Madeline happened to leave the gloves here that we took from the shop and forgot to return it. Seems like she was in quite some hurry when she went there," said Beth waving the red gloves in her hands, "I will be back soon," and with that, she left the house to walk to the central market where Mr. Heathcliff''s shop was situated at the front.

    Her shoes walked towards the shop, and reaching there, she made sure to give the letter to the assistant of Mr. Heathcliff so that he could hand it over to the man along with the gloves, but before she could leave, Mr. Heathcliff arrived at the doorstep.

    "Miss Beth," greeted Mr. Heathcliff, looking behind her to see if Madeline hade along with her, but it seemed like it was just the older daughter of the Harris who hade to the shop.

    "Mr. Heathcliff," Beth bowed her head, "Madeline forgot to return the gloves, so I came here to give it to you," she saw the assistant hand him the envelope which she had given, "She wished toe here, but she''s unable to do it," she added when he read who the letter was from.

    The man had a smile on his face, not knowing what the contents were about, thinking it was a love letter sent by the woman he had been trying to court but hadn''t done it for so long. Beth who saw the eagerness in his eyes and face decided to burst the bubble herself and said,

    "Madeline said to make sure that you received this letter. She was worried about you," said Beth, creating doubt in Mr. Heathcliff''s mind.

    "I am perfectly fine," the man chuckled but seeing the look on Beth''s face, he asked, "Is everything alright?"

    Beth pursed her lips, her eyes darting left and right, "You should read the letter she wrote for you��" Mr. Heathcliff''s eyebrows drew together in slight worry, and he looked at her before opening the letter she had brought, which was from her younger sister, Madeline.

    The man''s eyes quickly went to read the letter that was addressed to him, and as if once was not enough, he read the letter one more time. The smile on his lips was gone, and his eyebrows continued to frown.

    "Unfortunately, that is how it is, Mr. Heathcliff. The King refuses to let her leave the castle now, and she is imprisoned there. Unhappy for what has happened because she is in love with you and she said she wanted to have a future with you," she shook her head, her words merely a whisper only for him to hear, "But even though she is sad about it, she will get through it one day. Or maybe never," added Beth, her eyes ncing at the man who had a look of disbelief on his face.

    "I will speak to the King. He can''t keep her against her will," dered Mr. Heathcliff.

    "Don''t do it. My parents begged and pleaded and believe me when I say this, Madeline has no interest to live in the castle. But the King won''t allow it. He has threatened to kill if any of us try something-"

    "That doesn''t mean I am going to watch the woman I love and who loves me back to be taken away from me. It doesn''t mean I am going to sit here doing nothing, Miss Beth," Mr. Heathcliff clutched the envelope in his hand.

    James Heathcliff was one of the man in the vige who was a bachelor with a decent status and money. Not to forget he was a handsome man who some of the women were trying to aim for but James had fallen in love with a young woman named Madeline Harris. She was a beautiful woman, her words always polite and her demeanour simple.

    He had been wanting and waiting to court her for months, but it was only recently, did he take the courage to ask her, wanting to make sure his feelings were not one-sided.

    If Madeline had written and left him this letter for him to read, it only showed how anxious she was right now. It was clear that they both liked each other and the King was forcibly keeping her in the castle when in truth she wished to return back home.

    Beth, on the other hand, was d to see that for what she hade here had turned out just like she had expected. Giving Mr. Heathcliff enough push and knowledge that Madeline was upset and sad.

    "Please don''t do anything harsh," Beth tried to convince him as if she had note here to rile his feelings for her sister, Madeline.

    "Do not worry, Miss Beth. I will make sure no harm falls on your family. There should be a way to change the King''s mind," he said thoughtfully.

    "I can only hope for my sister to be happy were her happiness lies," replied Beth with a small smile, "I should get going before my mother worries. Thank you," she bowed her head and Mr. Heathcliff bowed his head.

    Beth who turned around walked down the streets with a nk expression before a small smile returned on her lips.

 Chapter 35 Disciplining her

    <h4>35 Disciplining her</h4>

    Madeline stared at the door whilst she sat on the bed, unwilling to move and open the door which she had locked since the time of the morning she had woken up. She was supposed to join King Calhoun for breakfast and instead of letting the maids in to get her ready, Madeline sat there with her nightclothes, dying the dreaded time to spend with him.

    The door continued to knock, "Lady Madeline, we request you to please open it. The King expects you in the next ten minutes. He''s going to very angry on us��"

    She stared hard at the door before finally getting down from the bed and walking towards the door to open. Madeline was not an insensitive woman to not know what repercussion people would face because of her. She felt like her feet and hands were bound where she was unable to do anything right now.

    Madeline said, "I have taken my bath," she didn''t want the maids touching her likest night where it had been nothing but ufortable, "What''s that?" she asked looking at the two maids who carried boxes in their hands.

    "Your clothes and jewels to wear now, mdy," answered the one in the front who went by the name Nic. The maid looked her in the eye without batting an eysh, "The King said he ordered the dresses from the far East and hopes you will like it," seeing the girl''s tantrum since yesterday, the head maid had to bite her tongue from asking the girl to stop acting like a child. She was behaving as if hell had fallen down in here when in truth she should be feeling fortunate.

    And Madeline could see the way the maid looked at her, as if she wanted to tell her something but instead, Nic chose to bow her head. A smileing up on her face that confused Madeline,

    "Let us get you ready," said the maid and the other two maids started to unpack the box they had brought along with them. Pulling out the materials one after another and the other one opening the small box that carried neckpieces. Madeline was still getting ready when the door flew open without a knock that had everyone turn around to see Calhoun arrive at the door.

    "What''s taking so long to get her ready?"

    The maids froze in their ces and the corset was only being tied with theces that slipped from their hands at the sight of the King who hade here. Madeline gulped seeing him, his body carrying a shadow on one side as his shoes clicked the floor.

    Calhoun gave a look at the head maid who quickly gave him a bow, "We were getting her ready, milord."

    "Did you think I was going to have my breakfast once the sun would set down?" he asked with an underlying tone of sarcasm in it. The maids didn''t answer and stood quietly. Not daring to look up or move an inch.

    Calhoun''s dark liquid red eyes shifted from the maids to look at the woman who he had been looking forward to seeing since she had left his roomst night. Her blonde hair was left open to cascade down her shoulders like rays of the sun. Her eyes looked brown and not dted which meant she had been awake for some time now.

    "Must have been good sleep," he tilted his head to the side, his eyes staring down at her, "Leave us." Madeline''s eyes widened at the King''s demands. She looked at the maids rmed as they started to leave the room. "Wait," he stopped them to say, "Close the doors behind you."

    Madeline could feel her legs slightly shaking beneath the petticoat that she wore. She was barely clothed with just the petticoat, shift, stockings and the corset that was left half-finished. With the maids in front of her, she had felt covered but now that they were gone, she felt as if she were naked in front of him.

    "I am capable of dressing myself," spoke Madeline, her wordsing out to be nervous when Calhoun took a step forward.

    "Nobody said you aren''t," his eyes drank in her appearance, the way her bare feet were ced next to each other and were clenching the ground. The skin on her neck raising goosebumps all around even though the room wasn''t cold. He took his steps forward and Madeline''s lower back hit the bedpost.

    Contrary to her appearance, Calhoun was dressed from head to toe and his hairbed back to not hinder his devil-like gaze and smile that she hade to know in a short span of time. But right now, he wasn''t smiling at her. His eyes continued to look at her closely that made her ufortable and he enjoyed her response. Like a feral animal ying with its prey by its paws that would draw out its ws at any time.

    "Don''t lie to me, Madeline. I will not tolerate any lies or secrets," he said to her, his body moving closer to her and she had to hold her breath to see him reach out for the dress that was on the bed, leaning back he said, "Let''s get some discipline." He then stated, "I am sure you will learn to wake up early and not waste my time next time."

    He was joking, wasn''t he? Thought Madeline to herself, her throat turning dry.

    "You cannot do that," she said, and even though she wanted to move she couldn''t. Not with her scarce clothing on her body. Right now his eyes were looking at her brown eyes and she didn''t want it wandering anywhere she didn''t want him to look at.

    "I cannot think of any good reason why I can''t. Step away from the bedpost, unless you want me to dress you with the bedpost. You brought this upon yourself," Madeline could feel her head slightly spinning because of the sudden predicament she had put herself in.

    "I am not ready for this," Madeline had brought her hand in front of her chest.

    With theck of smile on his lips, Madeline felt dread mix in her blood, "Turn around," he wasn''t budging and he wasn''t going to let her go.

    Madeline turned around, closing her eyes in concentration. It was a small white lie, "You are only trying to find reasons to get close to me."

    Calhoun had stepped behind her. Without prior notice, he pulled theces of the corset in enough force for her to fall back and crash against his chest. He whispered, "What can I do when you''re giving me reasons to get close to you."

 Chapter 36 Dressing or undressing

    <h4>36 Dressing or undressing</h4>

    He then started to pull theces behind her corset, and each pull testing her hold on the bedpost.

    "How do you know how to dress a woman?" asked Madeline, praying that his eyes were not looking at the back of her body. The upper part was covered in the corset, but the lower half was covered in the petticoat, covering her bottom and legs which was made of thin material.

    "I don''t. I have removed plenty dresses, so I am guessing it is the reverse of it," he left the detail that it wasn''t often in order that was worn, after all, who had the time to remove every single piece of cloth the women wore, "If we get it wrong, we can start from scratch to see what works."

    Madeline turned her head to the side, her eyes staring at the painting on the wall, "I thought your time was scarce."

    "My time is scarce for only things that are pointless and are of no use to me. But you, my dear, have all my time," Madeline thought this was no boon but curse that had fallen upon her. She was filled with shame that a man was dressing her all alone in a room, "Your corset is done," he said, picking up the skirt and having it spread around her front.

    "Why are you doing this?" she asked him, "I am a simple girl who wants a simple life."

    "Looks like you have a very forgetful memory, Madeline. I want you."

    "You cannot have me!" she whispered, her hands clutching at her sides.

    Calhoun smiled at her stubbornness, "You haven''t opened your heart to me."

    Madeline had turned around to look at him now, "What makes you think a girl who has been forced against her wishes will open her heart. Especially when the heart belongs to som-"

    "Shh," Calhoun had stepped forward to ce his finger on her lips, "So brave. What did I say of being careful with what you speak? If you were alone in the ballroom without dancing with a partner, then I think your heart is still here," he looked down at her trembling lips that were parted, and he couldn''t help himself but move his finger to feel the softness, "Don''t tantalize me with your words else I will take you to bed. Is that what you want?" he challenged her, and Madeline couldn''t get a word out of her lips.

    "Raise your arms while I am still patient," he offered a smile as if he hadn''t intimidated her by his words, "Good girl," he said when she did, and Madeline red into his red eyes as she held back her tongue.

    As he had said, he did dress her, and she had tied her hair herself so that he wouldn''t find more opportunities to touch her.

    "I have to meet some people, but they can wait. Let us take a tour of the castle," he raised his hand and seeing Madeline not move from where she stood, Calhoun slowly walked towards her, picking up her hand, "What a shy girl you are," and he tugged her out of the room.

    The servant man who had joined the maids to look at the King and the girl quickly followed them to speak to Calhoun, "Milord."

    Madeline noticed how the servant just spoke a word and didn''t dare to speak another word until Calhoun spared a look at the lowly servant, "Your aunt Lady Rosamund is here with her daughter Sophie and son Mark."

    "And what have you done about them? Thrown them to the sharks or into the den of wolves?" asked Calhoun, finally letting go of Madeline''s hand to button the cuff links of his sleeve.

    The servant looked at Calhoun nervously, "No, milord."

    "Then why do you look like you did. What is it? Speak," demanded Calhoun.

    "They, ah, are in the dining room, and will be joining you for breakfast."

    "Of course, it would be rude to have them seated in the carriage without inviting them in,"ughed Calhoun and Madeline didn''t know what the joke was about but looking at the face of the servant, she could tell it wasn''t a good one as he looked troubled, "Let them know that I am on my way," and the servant quickly left their side to go ahead of them.

    Calhoun didn''t say anything to her and Madeline followed him, looking at him from the corner of her eyes to see him calm andposed. His eyes looked ahead of him that was unwavering, and his polished shoes were clicking against the ground for one to know who was walking. And even though his eyes were calm, his lips told an entirely different story. There was a wicked smile on his lips, his fangs appearing in view.

    Having breakfast with him was already a lot, and now Madeline would be eating in not only in his presence but also with his rtives, and with the way he was smiling to himself, she wasn''t looking forward to any of it.

    With the dress that Calhoun had made her to wear, Madeline didn''t look like she came from a poor family where her family was struggling. Right now, she looked like the daughter of a notable man with the clothes and the jewels that covered her neck and hands. They continued to walk until they reached the doors of the dining room, that was pushed open for the King to enter and Madeline followed him, to notice three people who were already seated at the table.

    Madeline took a quick nce at Calhoun to notice the smile on his lips that had broadened even further.

 Chapter 37 At the table

    <h4>37 At the table</h4>

    The woman and her two children stood up to bow their head, waiting until the King sat down in his seat, and he waved his hand for them to sit.

    "Good morning, my King," the woman was the first one to greet him. A smile on her lips and Madeline noticed her thin eyebrows on her face.

    "Good morning, Rosamund, I wasn''t expecting you today," Calhounmented, picking up the napkin that was ced at the side to put it on hisp.

    "We were passing by the castle and thought to give you a visit. It has been a while since west saw you," the woman answered, touching her blonde hair that was twisted and tied around to the side.

    "Three days. I must be very loved to have my aunt and cousinse to meet me," smiled Calhoun, his lips pulling up as he looked at his aunt.

    "Of course, you are, my nephew," his aunt Rosamund responded.

    "Thank you," Madeline murmured when a maid came to put the napkin on herp which she hadn''t taken, busy looking at the people at the table.

    She nced at the woman and then Calhoun to notice how both of them were smiling at each other. She could only hope that no one would see her.

    "Brother Calhoun, we were actually on our way to hunt. Would you like to join us?" asked the girl who had short straight ck hair with eyes that were red, simr to the other people who sat at the table except for Madeline who was the only human.

    "Maybe some other time. My schedule is full, and I was going to take Madeline out to show the castle. I don''t think you have met her," Madeline bit her inner cheek, taking a deep breath when Calhoun turned to look at her, showering all the attention to her along with the other three.

    "I don''t think I have heard or met her before. I am Calhoun''s aunt, Rosamund Wilmot," the woman had turned her gaze to look at Madeline, her smile toned down as her eyes observed the girl who looked out of ce even though she wore clothes and jewels that were of high taste.

    Madeline''s already straight back turned stiff, and she bowed her head, "It is good to meet you, Lady Rosamund," and once she looked up, she could tell the woman was judging her with her eyes.

    "You have a guest. We didn''t know," the girl named Sophiemented, her own eyes gauging the girl like her mother.

    "That is because you decided to barge in without any prior notice," said Calhoun without holding his tongue on the matter. He raised his hand for the servants to start serving the food which was brought into the room and ced on the table.

    "You don''t mean that," Sophieughed.

    "Sent him to the scaffold. Letting go would mean other servants thinking they can get away by doing things like this," came the nonchnt words from Lady Rosamund, "These servantse from such deep poverty, they need to be taught what is right and wrong."

    Sophie, who was looking at Madeline, turned to look at her mother, "Not to forget what happened a week ago. One of the maids thought it was alright to be wearing my gown. We had to strip her to make sure she got the point."

    "That is right," Lady Rosamund chuckled, "Anyways, what does your father do, Madeline?" she asked the human who was seated in the same table as them. The Lady didn''t share a meal with the lowly humans as they were not worth her time and below them, she looked at the girl curiously.

    Madeline didn''t like the Wilmot''s, but then she didn''t like to be in Calhoun''s presence either. She had expected Calhoun to intervene and answer, but instead, he seemed least bothered with the question that was directed at her.

    Feeling the eyes of Lady Rosamund and her children on hers, Madeline parted her lips to answer, "He is a woodcutter."

    Lady Rosamund and her daughter Sophie stared at the human for a good two seconds before they broke into augh, "You have a good sense of humour, girl," Lady responded,

    "I am serious," stated Madeline, seeing the way the woman''s smile died down on her lips and she turned to look at Calhoun to ask,

    "Is it true?"

    Calhoun was cutting the meat on his te, bringing the fork towards his mouth, "If she''s being serious it must not be a lie unless it has a different meaning," and he put the food into his mouth.

    Lady Rosamund dropped the knife in her hand on the table, the metal ttering against the table, "When did the lowlybourers have the fortune toe and share a meal in this castle. Not to forget with the King."

    "Since today," Calhoun chewed his food, his appearanceposed, "Isn''t she beautiful?"

    Rosamund didn''t agree to this. Her eyes had caught the girl in the very first moment, knowing the clothes that she wore didn''t go along with the way she appeared, and she said, "I think it is good that we are here to provide youpany in the dining room. This is a ce for only deserving people. You can leave the room, Madeline," the woman gave her a bright smile, raising her hand for the girl to leave the room, "Go on."

    "I thought she was from a high family," whispered Sophie to her brother.

    "Clothes changes a person. This is why they say looks are deceiving," remarked Lady Rosamund''s son.

    "Are you ying dress-up with her, brother Calhoun?" asked the young vampires who appeared to look two years younger than Madeline.

    "Dress up is all good only outside the main rooms. It seemed like the girl tried to enchant you in three days?" asked Lady Rosamund with a tch in the end, "Let me take the responsibility as your aunt to discard hussy like these."

    Madeline didn''t like the woman, but at the same time, she was d to leave the table. She would find more peace away from this room and with that thought, she started to get up when Calhoun asked,

    "Where do you think you''re going?" Calhoun who had been busy eating moved his dark red eyes to look at Madeline. The smile on his lips had fallen down as he stared at her,

    She gritted her teeth, feeling the awkwardness around her, "She said to-"

    "I didn''t ask you to leave. Sit," he ordered.

 Chapter 38 Not interested

    <h4>38 Not interested</h4>

    Calhoun''s words were firm that had Madeline sit back in her chair. The dining room was quiet, except for the little sounds that came from the cutlery being used. Madeline didn''t know what to do but obey.

    Having already being disciplined over her actions for yesterday and this morning, she didn''t want to instigate and test his patience. Everyone knew not to cross a King because what he said was absolute and Calhoun had his own ways of trying to make her understand in what position she was in. At the same time, she didn''t like the way she was being treated by his rtives.

    It was true that her family was poor, but that didn''t give the right to the people who were sitting at the table to mock her.

    "My King, it would reflect badly if you''re having meals with someone so low," Lady Rosamund conveyed her words, "It would be-"

    "What?" Calhoun interjected her words. He was busy eating, chewing his food to swallow it down before he looked up at his aunt, a look of disapproval in his eyes, "I don''t have a problem with her being here. What''s got you so twisted? Don''t tell me you have forgotten how to behave with my guest," his tongue moved across his teeth, staring at his aunt.

    Lady Rosamund looked taken aback by his words, and she covered her face with a small smile, "Not at all. I just thought it would be rude to have a girl of no proper upbringing."

    "You don''t have to worry about that," assured Calhoun, a smile creeping upon his face.

    Before an awkward silence could settle in the room, the young vampiress Sophie took the opportunity to speak, "Apologies for that, brother Calhoun. Mama must have remembered the time when the peasant tried to poison you. They alle from the poor family, and they want to thrive, wanting to get rid of the hierarchy."

    Calhoun smiled, "Madeline is not stupid to not know about life here and the rules," and Madeline wasn''t sure if it was a response to the girl or a warning to her.

    "For how long is Lady Madeline going to stay here?" asked Lady Rosamund fixing her words, a smile still in ce on her lips but her eyes continued to judge the human at the table.

    "For a day," Madeline replied, returning a smile, "My stay was a short one."

    "Do not fret," answered Calhoun with a smirk on his lips. Madeline wasn''t direct in her approach, but she was subtle when it came to testing and pushing her luck, "Let''s make sure your stay here is a long one."

    "I wouldn''t like to impose," Madeline wanted to leave right away, to go back home where her parents were.

    It was then she felt a hand on her thigh, hitching her heart and her eyes locked itself with Calhoun''s, "I insist," his words were calm, a smile on his lips and Madeline''s hand which was on the table moved discreetly to push his hand away from herp, but his hand squeezed on her thigh that only widened her eyes, "Yes?"

    Sophie looked the way Calhoun was looking at the human, and she said to Madeline with a smile, "We should get to know each other then. I am sure brother Calhoun wouldn''t mind me giving youpany," she looked at Calhoun for approval who said,

    "Do whatever you want."

    Theodore entered the room, bending down to whisper something in Calhoun''s ears, "Tell them I will be there," he said to have Theodore nod and leave the dining room.

    "Urgent matters?" asked Lady Rosamund.

    "Someone was found dead in the town hanging upside down. The court needs my presence. Enjoy the rest of the meal," and he stood up before turning to Madeline to say, "Nic will help you tour around the castle. If you need me, I will be in court where we met yesterday."

    Lady Rosamund looked at the way Calhoun her nephew, was looking at the girl. It wasn''t like women and girls didn''t stay in the castle on the King''s words, but a lowly human who had no ss or proper background was never entertained. Calhoun himself despised the lowly peasants that made her confused on why this girl was here unless he was looking for other benefits apart from bedding her.

    Her daughter Sophie spoke, "How about I stay back here and tour the castle with Madeline? I am sure she would be able to enjoy mypany better than the maid," suggested the young girl.

    "Right. Sophie can stay back here. It''s not like you will be touching an arrow or go near the animal to hunt it," smiled Calhoun.

    "Brother Calhoun likes to tease me," responded Sophie before Calhoun left the room.

    Lady Rosamund and her son Mark were the next ones to leave, and this time, the woman had no problem in having her daughter apanying the poor girl. Sophie had been brought up with the thought of her being a Queen one day to this kingdom. To think that a weak human would try to rece her daughter''s future position, she would not allow it.

    "I thought you were against themon people mingling with us,"mented her son Mark.

    Even though people viewed her daughter as the sweet and dumb child, Sophie knew to y her cards well, "This will be just to get back in his good grace."

    Mark chuckled, "Who knew Calhoun would be entertaining a lowly woman. She looks average except for her body," and they left the castle.

    Sophie looked at Madeline through the corner of her eyes as they stepped outside the castle, walking towards the garden as Madeline had mentioned about having some fresh air,

    "I apologize on my mother''s behalf for what she said back in the dining room. Our families were brought up with a very distinguished line between higher and poor families. Is this your first time in the castle?" asked Sophie.

    "No, I was here for Hallow," answered Madeline, her eyes looking at the nearest gates and exit paths, "Thank you for apanying me out here," her words came out polite. While Sophie was trying to find out Madeline''s weakness, Madeline was looking for exits in the castle so that she could make a n to run away from here. Sitting inside the castle would be pointless, which was why she had proposed to go out.

    Madeline might havee from a low-ie family, but that didn''t mean she was naive and didn''t know where to be cautious and where to force a smile on her lips. An apple didn''t fall too far away from the tree.

    "How strange, I don''t think I noticed you. If you don''t mind, what colour was your dress?" asked Sophie, her wordsing out to be nonchnt.

    If her memory served her right, Calhoun had danced with two women until she was there in the ballroom, "Red. I wore a red dress," she answered.

    "I must have missed you then. So many of us wore a red dress that day," Sophieughed softly before saying, "Let me take you to the fountain."

    They continued to walk with Madeline''s eyes that carefully looked around. She would need it if she was going to run.

 Chapter 39 Fountain

    <h4>39 Fountain</h4>

    "It seems like brother Calhoun has taken a liking towards you,"mented the young vampiress, her head held high as she walked ying with the long beaded ne in her hand, twisting them between her fingers.

    "I wouldn''t say that," Madeline denied, hoping they could get into another subject instead of speaking about Calhoun, "The weather is warm even though Winter has arrived."

    "Indeed but then the snow is yet to arrive. You know brother Calhoun hates the poor," chuckled Sophie, bringing the King back in the conversation, "He won''t spare a look at the one who is weak and poor. Not even let him touch. I mean no offence but it is surprising that he''s talking to you," she smiled looking at Madeline and Madeline returned the smile back.

    Though this girl was referring to Calhoun as her ''brother'', it made Madeline wonder how far Sophie considered to be his sister and if it was just for show. Not to forget the way she was overstepping her lines by apologizing after throwing an insult at her.

    "I think you are wrong there, Lady Sophie," stated Madeline to have the young girl turn around to take a look at Madeline.

    "Am I?" asked the girl with a surprised look on her face.

    Madeline smiled at the girl, "If the King was truly allergic to poor people, he wouldn''t be having maids, servants waiting on him with one single word of his."

    Lady Sophie then raised her eyebrows, "You don''t expect that the higher people in the society wait on him now, do you?"

    "I don''t think I have to expect it because it''s already happening, and wasn''t it your words on how he didn''t like keeping poor people near him? Either he has the rich in waiting or your words are wrong," Madeline stated, sparing only a nce at the vampiress to see how she stared at her with her red eyes.

    "Do all the poor people have a smart mouth?" asked Lady Sophie with a soft sigh as if she was tired after taking a walk for ten minutes.

    "Some of us have better and kinder mouths than the rich, mdy that some of the higher peopleck."

    Madeline didn''t have to look at the girl to know that she was ring at her quietly. It was easy to understand that Sophie was not used to hearing someone talk back who was beneath her in status. Right now Madeline had the liberty to do that. With Calhoun''s impartiality towards her where he had made a point of having her sit with them at the table, Madeline took the opportunity to serve the girl the same dish that was given to her.

    Madeline noticed the water that fell down from the sculpted woman''s pot that was ced on her shoulder. The sculpted woman looked like she wore a very thin sheen of cloth to cover her body in a way that one could clearly see the outline and curve of her body. It wasn''t just one woman but there were four more who were sculpted in a simr fashion in different poses.

    "Brother Calhoun has good taste, doesn''t he? He''s the one who remodelled a lot of things that now makes the castle one of the best onespared to the others," praised Lady Sophie, "Come let me show the other things in the castle."

    In the courtroom, Calhoun was listening to one of the magistrate''s speak about the crops that have been getting saved and giving out the value about it.

    "Milord, the farmers have beenining about a feud that is taking ce in between the two viges. One of the viges has stopped the water flow which has caused quite some ruckus where there was a fight," said the magistrate.

    "And what were you doing when the fight took ce?" asked Calhoun, his wordsx as he stared at the magistrate who stood in front of him.

    "I tried to stop them, milord, and that is how I ended up with a ck eye," answered the magistrate.

    Calhoun hummed, looking at his nails and then at the magistrate, "Is that aint I hear?" the magistrate quickly shook his head, "There shouldn''t have been a need for you to get a ck eye if you had been looking over the condition between the two viges. Isn''t that why you were assigned as one of the magistrates? Unless you think you were appointed there to sit quietly and look pretty. You should know about the affairs of the viges that are taking ce and minimize the feud that was arising between them by supplying the water which was blocked."

    The magistrate said, "Milord, I did try to solve the feud but there is a vige man who runs the ce and doesn''t listen to any word spoken."

    "Why didn''t you bring this up before?" Calhoun paused, looking at the magistrate to receive no reply and he rolled his eyes, "Capture and bring the man here. If he refuses, kill him and have his body hanged for everyone to witness so that people know what happens when the word from the castle is not followed. But," he said, calmly looking at the magistrate, "Don''t give me reasons by directly killing him for your own pleasure before you get to speak and bring him to me. One of the men from the court will apany you."

    The man bowed his head to fall back at the sideline.

    Calhoun raised his hand, turning his head, for Theodore who was standing behind him toe forward, "Send someone to find the man before this one does."

    "Yes, milord," Theodore bowed his head, "You said you would be sending an official."

    "The magistrate is corrupt and is alive until he brings in the gains. It is easy to tell that more than the feuds between the viges, the feud is between the magistrate and the man he was talking about," Calhoun remarked to see the next mane and stand in front of him, "Where''s Madeline?" he enquired with Theodore.

    "She''s with Sophie out in the garden. Would you want me to bring her in?"

    "That won''t be necessary. A little fresh air might help the girl change her view that being stubborn," Madeline might have thought that she could get away but the girl needed to know there was no escape from him. It was only the second day, so he decided to give her some time with Sophie.

    "Pardon me, Calhoun, but is it safe to have Sophie guide her?"

    Calhoun chuckled at the concern, "Sophie might think highly of herself but she''s just another fish in the pond. And the girl knows not to screw up when ites to things that belong to me."

    .

    Do vote for the book with your power stones.

 Chapter 40 Jittering nerves

    <h4>40 Jittering nerves</h4>

    .

    Madeline looked at the exits in the garden, her eyes taking in the surrounding of the castle where they had covered only a quarter of it. The castle was built on a vast ground that stretched far enough where even her eyes could not reach. She remembered the time when she had used the carriage to travel from the castle to the outer gates that must have taken at least a decent five to ten minutes.

    She wondered if it was possible to run away from this golden cage the King had ced her in. Even if she made her way towards the gates, she had no transport to go back home as after the gates came the forest. Madeline had to weigh her options carefully. And the King would find her, wouldn''t he? All he would have to do was send his men to her home to fetch her back, yet, she wanted to get away from him.

    "You look very enchanted by the trees, Lady Madeline,"mented Sophie, who was walking slowly next to her, "Are you the only daughter to your parents?" asked the vampiress.

    "I have an elder sister. Elizabeth," replied Madeline.

    "Must be nice to have a sister, isn''t it? I always wanted a sister when I was a young girl, but I think I am content with just a brother. It would be hard to fight for affection when there are two flowers in the same stem," Sophie''s words reminded Madeline of her current rtionship with Beth on how it had turned sour in a few minutes after Calhoun had picked her and not Beth to stay in the castle.

    She wondered if Beth''s anger had cooled down by now.

    "Who is she married to?" asked Sophie as Madeline had mentioned Beth being elder to her.

    "She is yet to be engaged and married-"

    "Oh, how unfortunate," Sophie could only wonder that this sister was not pretty enough to be picked by Calhoun to have her as a guest in the castle, "She must be feeling terrible that the King didn''t pick her," and the girl smiled at the end on seeing how Madeline''s expression turned quiet.

    "Mr. Danvers is courting her right now, and they have spoken to each other," answered Madeline, trying to hold her ground with this girl who only appeared to look sweet but in truth, she liked to rub salt over people''s wounds. And it wasn''t a lie that Mr. Danvers was whom Beth was genuinely interested in, before Calhoun''s invitation arrived at their home that changed her elder sister''s mind.

    "Mr. Danvers?" Lady Sophie happened to raise her brows in question, "Isn''t he the man who works for one of the Lord''s?"

    "Yes, he''s the one," Madeline confirmed, offering the girl a smile, "He is very taken by my sister."

    "Hmm," came the uninterested response of the vampiress as she couldn''t poke anymore.

    "What about yourself, Lady Sophie? Do you have children?" Madeline''s question caught Sophie off guard.

    Lady Sophie''s eyes narrowed in question, "What?"

    Sophie wanted to retaliate at Madeline for indicating she was old and had children when she still not engaged, "I don''t have children," she corrected the human who gave her an apologetic look.

    She looked naive, and Sophie didn''t know if the girl had deliberately tried to provoke her, "I am yet to be married not because there haven''t been any suitors. I have had plenty of men who have stood outside my home to talk and have a glimpse of me." She threw the air of confidence and how high she was when it came to status and looks, "I am not going to marry anyone who is not suitable."

    "Of course," Madeline smiled, "You will find a good man of your calibre. Maybe if you asked the King, he would find you the best groom in the entirend."

    It seemed that this girl was smarter than what she had weighed in the dining room, thought Sophie to herself.

    "You are right," said Lady Sophie, "Brother Calhoun dotes on me which is why he forgives my mistakespared to my mother," smiled the girl.

    They spent some more minutes outside in the garden before heading back inside the castle. Madeline noticed how the maids and other servants bowed in the presence of Sophie who walked with her head held high as if she owned this ce.

    When they reached the court, Sophie was the first one to enter and make her way towards Calhoun who had just dismissed a man after talking to him. Madeline''s footsteps were slowerpared to Sophie who was eager to talk to the King while she fell behind. She could feel several people''s eyes in the court on her. But when her eyes moved around the room, the people in here had their head bowed and they left the room as if not wanting to be the next one to be beheaded in the courtroom by the King.

    Her eyes then met Calhoun''s eyes that had been looking at her since she had entered the room.

    "Brother Calhoun, are the wolves tied in the den?" asked Sophie who tried to get Calhoun''s attention on her, but Calhoun''s eyes didn''t move away from Madeline. She had been dolled with his own taste of clothes and jewels that he had handpicked for her.

    "How was your tour in the castle?" Calhoun asked Madeline, ignoring the question which was asked by the vampiress who felt slightly embarrassed as her words were brushed away.

    "It was good," Madeline murmured, trying to keep her words polite. Both of them stared at each other, one who kept a passive expression and the other who smiled.

    Every time he smiled, her nerves felt as if they were going to break down because of how stressful she felt around him.

 Chapter 41 Come and pa

    41 Come and pat

    "Brother Calhoun," Sophie started again as she wasn''t able to receive a reply earlier. But the girl was a stubborn one, and she would make sure the King''s attention would get back to her which it did, "Do you have the wolves tied in the kennels?"

    "They are," answered Calhoun.

    Sophie then turned to look at Madeline as it was much easier to get Calhoun''s approval by first befriending the girl and then pushing her out of the picture so that nothing would appear to be out of ce, "Do you know, Lady Madeline, that the King has four wolves in the castle? They are gorgeous to look at," she conveyed it to the human who was standing in front of them with her hands holding each other.

    "Aren''t they supposed to be rabid?" asked Madeline not wanting to appear to be a mum doll here while the vampiress decided to show off that she knew everything and anything while Madeline knew nothing.

    "Isn''t that why they are kept here?" asked Sophie, "They need to be rabid."

    "On that thought, let''s go visit the wolves," Calhoun stood up from his throne and he stepped down, to stand in front of Madeline where she appeared small in front of his height, "I am sure you will love them," he said to her, a small smile ying on his lips.

    Calhoun walked next to Madeline. Madeline didn''t slow down or increase her pace of walking as it would only make her look childish because there was already a child amongst the four who were walking towards the kennels and that wasn''t the King''s right-hand man, Theodore. It was Lady Sophie who tried to keep up with the steps and made sure she was walking on the left side of Calhoun.

    It wasn''t anything new that the King had a woman or a girl apanying him around the castle who entertained him either by words of praise or in the bed. Sophie didn''t care about the King''s endeavours, and though she was a young girl, she was ambitious, and her eyes were on the throne next to the King.

    The fact that King Calhoun had ignored her mother''s words and had insisted on keeping this girl around showed his interest in the human. Sophie tried to keep her patience as she knew things that were done in haste, never went right.

    When they reached the kennels, two guards stood on either side who bowed their heads upon seeing Calhoun step in their view.

    "Wee to the kennels or den as I like to call it," said Calhoun to Madeline who looked at the wolves that were lying on the ground. One of them had its eyes closed, and the other three looked at them with their intelligent eyes.

    "Why are they chained inside?" though they were inside the kennel, each one of them was tied by chains around their neck where the chain was connected to the wall.

    "To make sure they stay still and don''t break free from their kennel," answered Calhoun, "These are no ordinary wolves but wolves that have been bred and groomed to search and kill people on mymand."

    Madeline wondered what was the need to have wolves, when Calhoun was good at hunting and killing them himself. But she decided to keep the thought to herself. There was no telling when one of the people here would throw her in the den of the four wolves. The wolves were of different colours- ck, grey, brown and another one which was a mix of brown and ck.

    "I think having wolves as pets is the best. I even asked my mother for it, but she is wary of them,"ughed Sophie. The girl then turned to look at Theodore with whom she was familiar with, "You said you would find a pup for me."

    "Yes, mdy," answered Theodore with a small bow, "We found one during thest hunt, but the pup died quite early."

    "What a pity," sighed Sophie in disappointment.

    "We will be sure to find a better one. It would be rude to give something that is not best," Theodore smiled, pushing the ss back up on his nose that he wore to receive a look of approval on Sophie''s face.

    Sophie looked at Madeline, who looked scared about the wolves and to show her her ce.

    The vampires stepped in front of the kennel to go to touch the wolf which was sleeping. Calhoun and the others looked at the girl who was brave enough to go towards the door of the kennel. The ck wolf that had its eyes closed snapped its eyes open when Sophie''s hand almost reached its head, and it growled with its mouth pulling back to bring out its feral teeth, and Sophie quickly pulled her hand back before the wolf could take a bite at her.

    "Looks like Sophie wants to turn to a meal for the wolves today,"mented Calhoun and Sophie turned around tough to hide her nervousness.

    Theodore then said to Sophie, "The wolves listen and respond only to the King, Lady Sophie. They aren''t familiar with you."

    "How are they not familiar with me? I meet them every time I visit the castle," Lady Sophie reasoned out, "I thought the wolves were trained."

    "These are no dogs who will listen to you just because you feed them a slice of meat or two. These are the wolves that grew up with me and they listen to only my words," said Calhoun confidently, and he now stepped forward. Madeline''s heart had almost jumped when the ck wolf had opened its eyes and had snapped its teeth at the vampires.

    The wolf continued to snarl and growl at Sophie who had stepped behind Calhoun. Madeline saw how he moved close to them and sat down on his heels. He raised his hands in front of the ferocious animal that calmed down when it sniffed Calhoun''s hand. The animal turned quiet, and Calhoun rubbed behind its ears.

    Madeline noticed how the wolf turned tame and content with the ear rubs it was getting from Calhoun. He then turned around to look at Madeline.

    "Why don''t youe and give him a pat," that was nowhere a question but an order. Calhoun must have been ready to sacrifice her to the wolves, thought Madeline to herself.

    "I am not fond of wolves," she responded back to see him staring at her.

    "I wasn''t asking if you are fond of them. Come."

    Madeline felt sweat forming on her back due to the tension. With slow deliberate steps, she walked towards him and then sat down to notice the wolves were bigger in size and their teeth far worse. One bite could end up leaving a person on the bed for weeks.

    "His name is Maddox," stated Calhoun, "The loyal amongst the loyal. He leads the rest of them at Her brown eyes turned to look at Calhoun, "At night?"

    "Yes," he answered with a smile, "The wolves are let loose during the time of night to roam around the grounds of the castle. We never know which thief might enter the castle or...who might try to run away from here."

 Chapter 42 The fool- Part 1

    <h4>42 The fool- Part 1</h4>

    He had said that the wolf wouldn''t do anything to him because he had them since they were cubs, but that wasn''t the same for her.

    "Go on," Calhoun coaxed her, and she looked at the ck wolf that was looking at her with its ck eyes silently. She remembered how the wolf had snapped open its eyes like a ghost, its teeth almost taking a bite at Sophie; and she said she used to feed the wolf!

    Madeline moved as subtly as she could, her hand moving from herp towards the grilled doors of the kennel.

    Internally her heart was thudding with every inch she moved her hand closer to the wolf that was watching her. Just when she moved, her fingers passing through the gaps, the wolf opened its mouth baring its teeth that had her pull her hand away from there. The wolf continued to growl.

    Madeline who had brought her hand back to her chest closed her eyes, her heart thudding in her chest. She was sure her heart had almost jumped out of her chest. Calhoun chuckled, the sadistic King enjoying the little show.

    "You didn''t pat him," Calhoun reminded her as she hadn''tpleted the order he gave her.

    "I think he''s quite content with the pats and ear rubs you gave him," was he nning on making her lose her fingers?!

    Calhoun could hear her heart thudding in her chest, "What a pretty little heart you have. I can hear every little beat," he whispered, his words meant only for her to hear, "Now Maddox has memorized your scent."

    Was that why he had asked her to go near the wolf? Somewhere it felt daunting to think that he knew she was nning to run away from this castle. She was still in the nning, and she was d to know that there would be ferocious wolves roaming the grounds of the castle at night. Did that mean running away in the morning was more feasible? Madeline questioned herself because that made sense. Thieves never entered the mansion during the time of the morning, which made the security weak in the morningpared to the time of night.

    Seeing him stand up, she stood up too.

    When she looked at Sophie, the vampiress looked pleased that the wolf had given the same reaction to Madeline as her.

    "You shouldn''t go near the wolf, Lady Madeline. It didn''t let me close, it would have torn you to pieces and you are new to this ce," stated Sophie, trying to act empathetically towards Madeline.

    Madeline knew what Sophie meant to say. That she was a person who was new and wouldn''t stick around but then Madeline wasn''t nning to stay here.

    "T-that was the dust that went in my eye," Lady Sophie tried to save herself.

    "Whatever helps you sleep at night,dy," one side of his lips was pulled up, and he turned his attention to Madeline, "Did Sophie take you to the Pleasaunce?" he asked her.

    "Pleasaunce?" asked Madeline, unaware of what it was.

    "Seems like Sophie didn''t tour you well," Calhounmented. Sophie clutched the sides of her dress and she quickly said,

    "I asked her if she wanted to go there, but she said she didn''t want to go," the young vampiress quietly red at the back of Madeline''s head.

    If Calhoun had not apanied them to the kennels, she would have opened the doors for the wolves toe out and feast on the human. Sophie would haveter cried on how she had tried to save the girl but was not sessful with it. She was supposed to be the future queen and not a guide to a lowly human as she wouldn''t have spared a breath of hers. Right now, she gritted her teeth, because of this dull human Calhoun for the first time had indirectly called her a tour guide.

    "Pleasaunce is the open garden in the castle," Calhoun enlightened Madeline. Wasn''t the word garden not enough that they used a fancy word to make it lookplicated, asked Madeline to herself.

    "I think I must have seen it-"

    "You think a lot of things, don''t you," stated Calhoun, his eyes on her, "Trying to get away from mypany? You will end up rotting in the room."

    "And whose fault will that be?" asked Madeline.

    Calhoun''s lips twitched, his eyes calm, "I would have never thought you could speak back. Where did the shy girl go whom I met in the morning?" he took a step forward, and Madeline quickly took two steps away from him. Her eyes slightly wide, to see him smile, "There she is. I thought she got lost."

    This was like he wanted her to speak, but at the same time, she was not allowed to speak her mind out as it wouldnd her in trouble.

    "I am used to going to the forest and not gardens," Madeline said, her head turning to look at a statue that was built not too far away from where they stood.

    "Then that makes it more of a reason for you to see it. You won''t be disappointed," he promised and she looked back at him, the smile had disappeared from his face as he stared at her.

 Chapter 43 The fool- Part 2

    <h4>43 The fool- Part 2</h4>

    "The King seems to be enjoying his day," the words slipped out of Theodore''s mouth and Sophie snapped her head.

    "What?" there was a deep frown on Sophie''s forehead which she tried to remove, "Are you supporting the human too?" she demanded him.

    Theodore hadn''t meant it to be heard by Lady Sophie and he quickly corrected his words, "Not at all, mdy. What gave way to that thought?" Sophie looked at him with narrowed eyes, "King Calhoun usually likes to bully people. She seems to be the next person."

    Sophie nced at Calhoun and Madeline who were talking to each other, "Hopefully he will be done with her soon and kill her off," she pursed her lips. But this didn''t look like bullying to her and she decided to make the King wait. Walking two steps forward, she behaved as if she missed her footing and she cried out,

    "Ah! My ankle!"

    Calhoun and Madeline turned to see Theodore who was helping Sophie as it appeared that she had hurt her leg.

    "Are you alright, Lady Sophie?" asked Theodore with genuine worry.

    Sophie flinched when she tried to get up, "I think I twisted my ankle," she then looked at Calhoun as if waiting for him toe and help her stand. He had done it in the past.

    As expected, Calhoun walked towards them and he asked, "Does your ankle hurt a lot?" Sophie touched her leg and she nodded her head.

    Madeline took this opportunity and said, "We should take Lady Sophie inside the castle so that she can rest. She looks in pain."

    "I don''t think I can walk more, brother Calhoun,"ined Sophie, her face turning small and she waited for Calhoun to pick her up.

    "You''re right. Sophie needs to rest," Calhoun then turned to look at Theodore and he said, "Take Sophie inside the castle and have her rest in the guest room," hearing this Sophie looked up at Calhoun. She didn''t want Calhoun spending more time with this lowly human and her n had backfired.

    Theodore obliged to Calhoun''s words and he went to help Sophie and she said, "I think I can try walking. I wouldn''t want to impose on Theodore."

    But Calhoun was quicker than the young vampiress, "How can I let my little sister go through the pain. Theo," hemanded to have Theodore carry the vampiress and take her inside the castle.

    Though Sophie had hurt her leg and wanted Calhoun''s attention, Madeline noticed how Calhoun spared just a second of attention before Sophie was taken away from there. Madeline and Calhoun stood there as the other two left. Calhoun turned to her and asked, "Shall we?" and he started to walk so that she could follow him and she did.

    If she was looking for her freedom, she would have to y him. Maybe he was looking at the obvious things she would do, and he was warning her but she doubted he knew every little thing.

    "She seems to look up to you. Sophie," stated Madeline as they walked towards the open garden. Thankfully, the length of her dress wasn''t as long as Sophie''s where she would need to pick up the front and walk so that she wouldn''t trip and fall.

    "She is a young naive girl," Calhoun responded back that made Madeline wonder if he was being worried or he didn''t care about the young vampiress, "She listens too much to her mother without using her own head."

    "Why do you say so?" asked Madeline, her eyes moving from the flowers next to her to look at him.

    Calhoun''s own eyes looked at Madeline, to see how she was indulging herself in a conversation with him, "Because it is odd but convenient at the same time to call the King a brother as well as want to sit next to him on the throne."

    "She wants to be the queen," acknowledged Madeline which she hadn''t realized. Sophie''s words were surely hostile towards her when the young vampiress was touring her around but she wouldn''t have guessed that the girl was looking to be a queen, "But she is your sister," frowned Madeline, finding it strange that the sister wanted to marry the person whom she addressed as a brother.

    "It isn''t strange for cousins and people to get married within the close rtion to keep blood thick and clean," Calhoun continued to walk to have Madeline follow him until he stopped at a bunch of red roses. His hand reached out for one of the roses, plucking it out and in the process, the thorn had made a cut on his finger. He brought his finger to his mouth, sucking it as he looked at Madeline. When he pulled out his finger from his mouth, he opened his mouth in a way that made her blush.

    "The royal families are often strange. You will know and understand more about it as you spend your time in here, in the castle."

    He had called Sophie''s mother Rosamund as aunt and she thought they were possibly from his father''s side.

    Madeline was curious and she wanted to ask but at the same time, showing too much of interest would give out the wrong idea.

    When Calhoun stepped forward, Madeline took a step back to have him stare at her.

    .

    Author note: There will be a mass release tomorrow~

 Chapter 44 The fool- Part 3

    44 The fool- Part 3

    When he had taken a step close to her, Madeline had not meant to step away from him, but now that she did, she could see him staring at her. There was a slight trail of annoyance as he looked at her. The next time when he stepped forward, Madeline made sure to stand still where Calhoun raised his hands towards her hair, and he pushed the small stem along with the rose into her braided her.

    "You forget that I enjoy a chase, Madeline," he whispered to her as he let go of his hands from her hair.

    Madeline had to hold her breath when he had stepped close to her breathing space, letting it go only when he moved away.

    "Why didn''t you wear a red dress on the day of the Hallow?" he questioned her, "Most of the women prefer to pick red as it brings out the colour of their skin. Didn''t want to get noticed?" he raised one of his eyebrows at her as he asked the question, his eyes burning into hers as he waited for an answer from her.

    The truth was not about being noticed but that there was no red dress in the store that she could wear. The one red dress that was there in Mr. Heathcliff''s store was taken by her sister, Beth and the next decent dress was the beige dress that she had worn that looked mellowpared to the red dress that could catch anyone''s eyes. But in the end, the Hallow had a sea of red dresses that were worn by most of the women. Madeline had turned out to be the odd one out who had turned up at the castle with pale looking clothes.

    "There weren''t many dresses to be rented," she replied to his question.

    "Rent?" Calhoun tilted his head as if he didn''t know what the word meant, "Why did you wear the rented dress?" he asked her.

    Madeline knew her family was poor and he didn''t have to rub the fact over her face, "Because we didn''t have enough money to buy the dresses. You must have forgotten that my father is a woodcutter and a woodcutter doesn''t earn enough."

    "How can I forget that your father is a woodcutter," Calhounmented, his eyes taking in her expression, "The daughter of a woodcutter who can hold an axe."

    And in the end, he smirked, looking down at her, "I thought you forgot about it especially when I made a deal with your family that I will help your father in his work. Give a better life if you decide to cooperate and marry me."

    Somewhere Madeline was relieved that he was not forcing on her, not yet at least but the fear lingered in the back of her head with what if''s.

    She didn''t know the King. This was the second day she was spending her time with him, and his intentions didn''t appear to be apparent apart from how he was forceful with his demands and how he liked to get things done by his terms. This was how the King was.

    "I haven''t done anything you don''t want me to," she responded to his words and the smile on his lips broadened.

    He stepped closer to her again. His mouth going to rest next to her ear, "Are you sure about that?" he asked her. Madeline felt a chill shiver run down her spine when his breath hit her ear, and though she wanted to step back, she feltpelled to stand still and not irk him by moving away from him. "I feel like your mind has been running with thoughts I wouldn''t like, if I knew about it. I can hear your little heart beating, Maddie. A quiet one beating in fear is it?"

    Calhoun was an intimidating man. Though she wasn''t able to see his face and the wicked expression on it, she could feel fear sink into her skin. Madeline had done nothing wrong so far that would have displeased him, but his warning was making her wary, and she wished she could go back to the room, lock the door and get to sleep never to wake up again so that she would be far away from this person.

    "I didn''t do anything," Madeline held her ground.

    He pulled away, his eyes falling back on her face, "I believe you," he responded to her ims with a smile on his lips that told otherwise.

    Calhoun turned away from her and started to walk, expecting her to follow him, and she did. It seemed like they were the only ones in the open garden, and it was indeed beautiful. But what was beauty when it was imprisoned in strong hands, asked Madeline to herself.

    "Why did you not choose my sister?" Madeline questioned him, "She would be the perfect queen for you. She is smart, intelligent, beautiful who has stolen many hearts, and she would be to your par-"

    "Why does it feel like we have already gone through this before?" asked Calhoun in a nonchnt voice.

    "Because I am unable to wrap my mind on how you picked me," her footsteps stopped, wanting an answer from him, which was reasonable.

    Calhoun''s footsteps paused when he couldn''t hear Madeline''s steps behind him. If it were someone else, he would have ripped their head off for the disobedience and the attitude towards him, but for once, Calhoun was patient as this was not any person.

    He turned himself to face her.

    "Your repeated questions are going to make me think that you want to hear me sing praises of yourself on why I chose you," his red eyes were filled with mirth, "Must feel nice to receivepliments from the King," he poked her to see how she pursed her lips.

    "I am not fishing forpliments!" Madeline reverted to him.

    "Your words say otherwise," he shrugged his shoulder, "Do you want to know why I picked you?" He noticed how her innocent brown eyes that didn''t know how the world ran to look back at him.

 Chapter 45 Try and escape- Part 1

    <h4>45 Try and escape- Part 1</h4>

    He had wanted to pull and touch her without any restraint over her clothes, but she looked like an animal that was ready to sprint out of the room, but Madeline knew not to test him further. Because he would chase her and the end would not be something she was looking forward to right now, but he would change it.

    He had moulded people before to his own needs and wants. Madeline was refusing him now, but he would make her want him.

    Madeline had asked him the question, and now that he was asking if she wanted to know, she wasn''t sure if it would be something she would want to listen to.

    "It was love, Madeline," Calhoun confessed, and this was not something she had expected to hear, "The moment I saw you in the ballroom I couldn''t take my eyes off of you."

    "If you truly love me, you will let me go," Madeline tried to reason, hoping the King had a heart because if he did, he would listen to her.

    "And then do what?" asked Calhoun, his head cocking to the side.

    "If I return I am yours, if I don''t I was never meant to be next to your side-"

    "That must be high-ss bullshit I have heard in a while," Calhoun interrupted her, "You like someone you keep them. You don''t let them go, little bird," he exined to her, and Madeline could feel her heart growing anxious at the inability to not break free from his grip. She wished there was someone to advise him, to make him understand but Calhoun didn''t seem like a person who would listen to anyone but to his own words, "You will grow to love me."

    Madeline closed her eyes, trying to stop her head from spinning, "What if I don''t?" she asked him. Her brown eyes opening up to realise he stood right in front of her. She hadn''t heard his footsteps, how did he get here so fast?

    Calhoun didn''t mind her resistance, no matter how much she would resist, he would never let her go.

    "Your sister might be the most beautiful woman in your vige and around the towns, but she doesn''t interest me the way you do. I would not be having this much fun if it weren''t for you," he said it with a straight face before a grin broke through his lips.

    "The King should have enough things to amuse him," Madeline reasoned for her freedom.

    This was not love, thought Madeline to herself. Calhoun was keeping her against her will in the castle, forcing her to like him when she had told him yesterday that she had feelings for another man. They weren''t strong, but they were there for Mr. Heathcliff, and she knew he liked her back.

    That was the kind of man she wanted to be with, not this begrudging man, "You cannot make a person love you by force."

    Calhoun chuckled over her words, "Trust me when I say things can be changed. Aren''t you heartless to let your parents suffer when they can live better lives? I cannot be the only selfish one here."

    Madeline clutched her hands that were resting on either side of her skirt, "That is ying dirty. Using emotional ckmail."

    "One needs to make use of all the resources, if I didn''t know I would never be a good King now, would I?" he asked her, "Take all the time you need because we have more than an eternity to spend together." Madeline opened her mouth to speak but snapped it close. She came to realise that negotiating was not an option here because he would never agree to any of it and this led her to know that the only way to go about this was to escape from here.

    Calhoun then waved his hand forward for her to walk and Madeline gritted her teeth before starting to walk. He knew how to exploit her weakness, and she would need to be strong for that.

    "I am here now," she said, "Did you help my father?" she wanted to see how far the King kept his word.

    The question brought a smile on his face as this meant she indeed had a soft spot for her family. All one needed to know was to find a weak spot in a person, and that was enough to get things done, also make them listen.

    "Theodore has sent men to build the shop so that your father can work there. Sitting outside in the streets and walking to different towns must be hard on him," his voice was quiet and gentle on her ears, hitting the right spot in her, "It ismendable that he works for both of his daughters and his wife to have a decent life."

    At the thought of her father, Madeline felt her heart go soft. Thest she had seen her family was yesterday, but with the hours that passed in the castle, she felt like it had been years.

    "Do not worry about your family. I will make sure all their wishes are fulfilled," assured Calhoun and he then added, "Except for having you back."

 Chapter 46 Try and escape- Part 2

    <h4>46 Try and escape- Part 2</h4>

    "You said you had the wolves with you for a long time. Were they little pups?" Madeline asked with a hint of curiosity in her voice.

    Calhoun was pleased with her question that she was taking an interest in knowing more about him now. Baby steps were good with him than no progress, but he was no idiot to not listen to the words and her actions carefully, "I had them before I entered the castle here."

    "Entered?" asked Madeline, her eyebrows knitting together in question.

    "Mhmm," he responded to her without giving away too much information, "They are one of the most loyal animals, and they wouldn''t think twice to follow my words. We are here," he said when they came to stand in front ofrge walls that were made of holly.

    Madeline''s eyes moved from the left to the right, looking at the tall green holly and taking the sight of it. She had read about this, but this was the first time she hade to see and witness it.

    "Wee to Devon''s hedge maze, Madeline," Calhoun announced to her, his body turning to look at her with his hands in his pockets to see that she was fascinated by it, "I have a proposal to make," his words caught Madeline''s attention.

    "What is it?" she inquired.

    "It seems that you want to leave this castle behind and go back home. Let''s have the maze decide if you can be allowed to leave," his red eyes continued to look at her, his expression serious as he said this. Madeline could feel her heart rejoice by his words.

    "You are serious?"

    "Absolutely!" he answered her burning eyes. He caught how her stiff shoulders turned ck at his words as if she was happy and it somewhere made Calhoun happy but for different reasons, "It is also a very good exercise. The maze is a big one, and it has many paths to pick or leave. If you are sessfully able to get out of the maze''s exit point by the time of the evening, I will let you go."

    Madeline was eager to step into the maze quickly, but she had never walked in one. She had heard that the castles often had bigger hedge mazepared to the other mansions which were small and it made her doubtful if she could do it, but at the same time, Madeline was desperate. She would do anything to get out of here.

    "You mean it?" Madeline wanted to make sure he wasn''t ying with her.

    "You have my word. Get out of the maze sessfully, and I will have the carriage prepared for you to go home," Calhoun promised her, his eyes gauging her face and his tongue reached to run over his fang.

    She hadn''t entered the maze, and she hadn''te out from the other side of the maze yet, but she could see the light of hope where she would be able to leave the castle.

    "Yes," came the immediate reply.

    "But," came the pause and she should have known there would be the other side of the deal to it. Calhoun said, "If you don''t make out of the maze before the clock strikes six in the tower clock which I will ask the servant to do, then you will never bring up the topic of leaving again."

    Madeline pursed her lips, "What time is it now?" she asked, and this had him smile at her.

    "Smart girl," he pulled out the pocket watch from his vest. Flipping it open to say, "It is three minutes past one. Plenty of time to take a full walk in the maze and leave. Ready?" he asked her.

    Madeline nodded her head, "Ready."

    "Good luck. Your time starts now," he smiled, flipping the watch back from where he had removed to notice her run towards the entrance of the maze. He stared at her back, seeing her walk to look around. After a few minutes, he finally turned around to make his way towards the inside of the castle.

    Madeline who had entered the hedge maze turned her head left and right. Now that she was in, she realized how tall the holly nt was. It was taller than her that would make it difficult to jump and find out where the exit was. She had already taken left to turn and see if the King was still there or if he had left. She knew her luck was scarce and she would need to do everything she could to get away from here.

    The further she got in, the further she felt she was alone because she couldn''t hear the sounds of the birds or any other thing. It was quiet in here, and even though it was the time of day, the holly nts were tall enough to make the path look dull and dark. Madeline had tried to memorize the paths, but there were too many, so many that she had ended up losing the count. At first, she had thought it would be easy because she had read how the maze had a specific pattern that needed to be followed, but she was lost.

    Maybe if she had walked in here four to five times, it would still not be enough to memorize it. Like Calhoun had warned, this was no small maze, but it was a big one.

    Her brown eyes moved to look at her surroundings, and she could start feeling slightly ustrophobic after she had spent more than three hours of her time.

    Calhoun, who was in the courtroom attending the meetings, his one hand supporting his jaw, was listening to the minister who was speaking about the recentws that had been implemented. Theodore was then called to his side.

    "Did my aunt return to take Sophie back with her?" he asked.

    "No, milord. There have been no signs of the carriage since they left the castle in the morning."

    It looked like Aunt Rosamund was going to leave her daughter here in the castle to stay, thought Calhoun to himself, "What room did you prepare for her?"

    "The one away from your quarters. Lady Sophie protested about the room, but she''s settled in the guest room," Theodore filled him in. The right-hand man had been curious since Calhoun had returned from the garden alone, "Did you send Lady Madeline back to her room?"

    Hearing Madeline''s name, Calhoun couldn''t help butugh. He took in a deep breath and let it go, "No, she''s ying in the maze."

    "The maze?" Theodore questioned in surprise.

    "It will keep her mind upied. I have asked her to find the exit by herself without any help. If she seeds, she will be able to go home."

    Theodore''s brows knit together in confusion, "But the maze doesn''t have an exit," at least with what he knew, for years the maze had only one way to get in and out.

    Calhoun chuckled, "I know."

 Chapter 47 Lies- Part 1

    <h4>47 Lies- Part 1</h4>

    The sky was changing colour rapidly, and she felt her freedom was slipping through her fingers, but it wasn''t like the time was precisely passing. The energy and motivation that she had before entering the maze had vanished, and she was desperate to get the exit. She tried not to lose hope. Her feet continued to walk to only be met with disappointment as she reached another dead end.

    Madeline wondered how much more time she had right now. She looked up at the sky that had changed colour since she had entered the hedge maze, but there should still be time, said Madeline to herself. She doubted Calhoun would be standing outside, waiting for her. Therefore, she decided to find her way back to the entrance so that she could walk outside the maze and im to have reached the end.

    The only problem was that all the ways looked the same, and it felt like she was walking in circles inside the maze. There was no way she could climb on the holly nts as a wall, or was it possible? She asked herself.

    Desperate times called for drastic measures. With no one in the maze where she was alone by herself, Madeline decided to look at the length of the wall before cing her hands on both the sides of the wall and trying to put her feet in between the nts. It took her several tries, and she tried her best to hold on, but just when she reached half of it, the grip on the nt was lost, and Madeline fell straight down on the ground.

    The fall was harsh, taking a couple of seconds before she stood on her feet.

    "Ouch!" she cried when she tried to move her leg forward. It seemed like she had caught something while climbing up and falling down.

    Madeline found one of the creepers was stuck to her dress and when she pulled up the back of the dress, she noticed how the creeper had thorns and one of the thorns had pierced through her skin. She tried to remove it, but when she tried to touch it, it hurt so bad that she had sucked in a breath before taking the courage to remove it.

    Blood trickled down her skin but with the wound not being too big, she had left it as it was without caring about it as she had other things to do. A week ago if someone told her that she would be walking in the maze of the castle, she would have been excited hearing, but right now, she didn''t want to do anything with the castle.

    After several turns, walking back and forth, trying to find the exit, she started to leave dried leaves as a sign that she had already walked through these paths and finally she was able to reach the entrance of the maze.

    "I made it," Madeline murmured to herself.

    Since the beginning, Calhoun had no intention to free her from the castle and send her home. If she hadn''t stepped out of the maze to check, she would have never found out.

    Never had she been lied to in such a way. Now that there was no one around her, Madeline tried to make up her mind on what she was going to do. If she was not wrong, there was still time for the clock to strike six in the evening. Would that be enough time for her to run and make an escape? Not to forget the wolves were tied in the kennel.

    "What am I going to do?" asked Madeline to herself. Her eyebrows drew in concentration. If Calhoun had no intention to let her go and he was only going to y with her by raising false hopes only to crush them back, there was no reason for her to try and reason with him. The King would never change his decision.

    Taking a look behind her, Madeline started to walk away from the maze. Her feet as quick as she looked around her surroundings to make sure there was no one watching her, who would catch her and take her back to the castle. She had to act cool, said Madeline to herself.

    She crossed the gardens that surrounded the castle, moving farther and farther away while making sure no one was following her or watching her. Thankfully there was no one. She took her path behind the nts and shrubs that led towards the main gates. She remembered looking at these during the time of Hallow as she left the castle in the carriage. Hiding behind the nts, she pulled up the front of her dress so that it wouldn''t hinder her from running towards the gate which was far awaypared to the castle that looked like a five-minute walk.

    The evening wind blew across her face, rushing quickly with every step forward as she moved towards the gate. She decided not to worry about the guards now, and to worry about it once she would reach there. Her dress wasn''t the colour that could attract attention right now.

    Running away from here felt good, and she could hardly contain her happiness of stepping out.

    Madeline could only hope that no one would catch and drag her back to the castle.

 Chapter 48 Lies- Part 2

    <h4>48 Lies- Part 2</h4>

    She could feel her freedom, so close that it brought absolute tranquillity to her mind. Madeline had been forced to stay here, without her consent, where all she wanted to do was go back to her home. Live a life which she belonged to as the people here made her feel out of ce.

    After running a certain distance, Madeline paused a few feet away from the guard to notice that two guards stood at the gates. She couldn''t walk past it that easily as the guards would find a singledy walked out of these gates to be suspicious. Also, Madeline was worried that the King had announced her presence in the castle but did he? She wasn''t sure about it.

    She was wondering what to do when she heard the sound of the carriage that wasing from the castle, and she noticed the brown carriageing in view that was heading towards the gates. Madeline didn''t know whose carriage it was, but she decided to ask for help so that whoever was in there would be kind enough to drop her at the nearest town or vige that woulde first.

    Madeline walked in the opposite direction, running as quick as she could and she then stepped away from the bushes and other nts, toe on the path so that the coachman would be able to see her. She waved her hand as it got closer. The coachman did stop, not because out of kindness but because Madeline was dressed in rich clothes and rare jewels around her neck. He was a man who was biased to the rich, and he pulled the reins of the horses so that the carriage would stop.

    She bowed at him for his help when she heard the woman inside the carriage ask the coachman,

    "What is wrong, Humphrey?"

    "Madame, there''s ady out here," answered the coachman.

    "Who is it?" asked the woman, and when the woman pushed the curtain over the window to lean forward, Madeline felt her hand let go of her dress. She didn''t know if her luck was good or bad right now, as the woman was none other than King Calhoun''s aunt, Lady Rosamund. She stared at Madeline, looking at her, "Haven''t youe a little too far for a walk?" asked the woman.

    Madeline had seen the carriageing her way, and she had jumped to ask for help but who would have thought it would be thedy who had asked her to leave.

    She didn''t know how to reply to the question that was asked as she was too stunned to speak the first few seconds, "I was wondering if you could drop me on your way to the next possible vige or town."

    It wasn''t like Madeline liked the woman, or the woman took a liking towards her. Not to forget, Lady Rosamund had belittled not only her but her family, talking about their status and how she was not fit to be here. She was poor, but she didn''t have ugly hearts like the woman. Remembering it left a sour taste in her mouth but then she remembered a saying. When work had to be done, sometimes a person had to bow at a donkey.

    Trying to be polite, she replied, "You are going on your way out from here. I will need to go back to the King to ask him for a carriage," Madeline''s words were always polite, and she had never hurt anyone by her words, "I only need a ride."

    Lady Rosamund looked down at the girl who was standing outside the carriage. The woman was surprised to find her here, wondering what the human was doing far away from the castle. With her red eyes, she continued to look down at the girl, in literal words. If it were some other time, she wouldn''t have spared a look at the girl, but something was odd here. Was the girl perhaps trying to leave the castle without the King''s knowledge? Questioned Lady Rosamund to herself.

    Her daughter Sophie craned her neck to look at the girl, and she said, "Let''s give her a drop if she wants one," and her mother couldn''t agree more. The less time the girl would spend in the castle, the better it was.

    "Let the girl in," ordered Lady Rosamund and the coachman jumped down on his feet and opened the door for Madeline to step inside the carriage.

    Madeline noticed Sophie and Lady Rosamund''s son, Mark, who was sitting in the carriage. She wasn''t looking forward to riding with them, but she had no other choice. She wanted to leave as quick as she could. Maybe she could ask her father to hide her somewhere where the King would not be able to find her and would in time forget and find another girl to be caged in this castle.

    "Thank you," Madeline bowed her head in appreciation for getting a ride, but Lady Rosamund and Sophie didn''t respond to her thanks and instead looked outside the carriage. When her eyes met the man''s, Mark, he offered her a smile, his eyes looking at her.

    The carriage was pulled back when it reached the gates, Lady Rosamund waved the guards off before they bowed down to her, letting the carriage pass the main gates of the castle.

 Chapter 49 Shes not here- Part 1

    <h4>49 She''s not here- Part 1</h4>

    Sophie had nned to direct his attention to her, but it had backfired quite badly, leaving her with Theodore who was the King''s right-hand man but in her eyes, he was nothing but a servant who didn''t stand in the same status as King Calhoun. Since she hade to be of age, Sophie had made sure to y her cards right. Calhoun had bedded many women before, and she didn''t care about it because she was still learning her ways in the castle, knowing well they were nothing but women who were used and thrown away for his pleasure.

    Once she would be his queen, there would be no need for it.

    "What happened to your leg, my dear daughter?" asked Lady Rosamund in worry as she saw Sophie limp while having her hand around a maid who was a weakling. The woman turned to Calhoun, "How did this happen?" demanded the vampiress.

    "I am alright, mama. I just happened to trip and twist my ankle," Sophie assured her mother, but her mother couldn''t stop fretting over her daughter limping. She didn''t know that her daughter was faking it.

    Calhoun looked at Sophie and then turned to look at his aunt to say, "It is good that she didn''t go to the hunting with you both. She would have possibly killed herself," heughed at the end, but Lady Rosamund didn''t find it to be funny.

    "You are supposed to take better care of yourself, Sophie. You are a vampiress to trip in the air," the Lady chastised her daughter, "And my King, please take care of her," the woman wanted to demand him and have him look after her daughter, but even though she was older to him, their position right now didn''t allow her to speak rudely to Calhoun.

    "I can take care of myself, mama," Sophie said half-heartedly, waiting to hear Calhoun say he would but he didn''t. Instead, he said,

    "Sophie is no child, and I don''t think there is any need to coddle her. Surely she can take care of herself. Right?" Calhoun raised his brow to question her, and Sophie nodded her head.

    "Yes, brother Calhoun," and she bowed her head to show her respect for him.

    Lady Rosamund had to force a smile, and she said, "I have asked the servant to take the meat that we hunted so that you can enjoy it," Calhoun gave her a nod, "We should get going now. My King," the woman bowed, and she left the courtroom.

    Sophie looked unhappy that she was leaving the castle as her mother took her out of the room. She had nned to stay in the castle for the night, but her mother hade to take her along with her, back home.

    The King''s lips twitched, "Seems like little Sophie forgot that a vampiress wound heals faster that includes a twist in the ankle in a few minutes," it wasn''t that he didn''t see the act, but he used it for his enjoyment. Who was he to stop when they wanted to y clown to amuse him, "Have someone taste the meat as usual. The vampires who are in the dungeons would be a good test subject. I am sure they will be very thankful for it."

    Calhoun didn''t trust people because they didn''t give him a reason to believe them. His father was a worthless man. Therefore he didn''t see why he should trust the others who he didn''t even care about. It was customary to have the kitchen staff taste the food themselves before it was served to the King, buttely, there had been news of how different elements were being used to affect a vampire.

    "I will have it tasted," obliged Theodore, bowing his head.

    "What time is it?" asked Calhoun, standing up from his throne and stepping down to be quickly followed by Theodore.

    "It is past five," answered Theodore and after a pause, he said, "Do you think the Lady has got tired and is lost in the maze right now?" it was not usual that people were able to get out of the maze quickly, especially not on their first time. The King had his quirks which he didn''t question.

    "Who knows," Calhoun said, starting to walk out of the court and the other people who were in the court bowed their head to be dismissed by the King, "The maze was a wonderful thing to keep her mind upied. She keeps thinking a lot. After today''s little adventure, she will be able to fall asleep quickly and have a sound sleep."

    Calhoun had strange ways of taking care of the woman who he was interested in, thought Theodore to himself.

    Theodore had been working for Calhoun since from the time he had been appointed as the King of Devon. He knew the man since they were young and he had turned out to be the King''s loyal servant. When he was asked to find out about the girl, he had thought it was just for curiosity, but he had been surprised when the King had invited the human girl''s family to the castle.

    The girl was simple in appearance. The King''s debauchery with women had no bounds, but with the way Calhoun was treating her, he could tell that Calhoun was very interested in the girl like he had never before with any woman.

    Calhoun stepped out with Theodore walking behind him as they made their way to the hedge maze of the castle.

 Chapter 50 Shes not here- Part 2

    <h4>50 She''s not here- Part 2</h4>

    He had seen the way Madeline''s eyes had dted in worry when he had mentioned how his wolf, Maddox had taken in her scent. He had warned her after hearing her little heart beating in her chest. When he had asked her to step into the maze with a deal, he never had the intention to let her go. It was funny how she thought that he would agree to give her a carriage to ride back home when just a few several minutes before reaching the maze he had said that he wouldn''t.

    The girl wasn''t bright when it came to picking up on his words, but that was alright.

    When he reached the entrance of the maze, Calhoun who had a pleasant expression on his face stopped going in further.

    "What''s the matter?" asked Theodore noticing how Calhoun didn''t walk further. When Calhoun turned around, he looked angry, and his eyes had turned dark. His mood turned foul, and his jaw ticked.

    "She''s not here," Calhoun couldn''t hear her heartbeat, and he had been listening to it for a few minutes before leaving her to explore the maze, "Have the guards check the castle and the grounds," he ordered. Theodore didn''t waste any time, and he quickly left the King''s side.

    Calhoun couldn''t sense her in the maze, and he doubted anything had happened to her as the guards had been strictly instructed on who she was and not to harm her. He started to walk, trying to catch her trail of scent which was gone. This only meant she had left the maze some time ago.

    Out of the castle, Madeline felt a sense of relief sink into her chest and mind. It felt as if a big problem had been solved. Now all she would have to do was get down in her vige, speak to her parents and then think of moving to her aunt''s house. But before even the vige or the next town arrived, Lady Rosamund tapped the window of the coachman to say,

    "Stop the carriage here."

    Madeline took a peek outside the window to notice trees that stood outside the carriage.

    "Get out," said Lady Rosamund to her.

    Madeline slightly frowned looking at the woman. Her lips pursed, innocence in her eyes, "But this is not the town or a vige," if she remembered correctly, there was still a journey of twenty more minutes by the carriage.

    "Did you think the person who was the reason I was insulted would be given a ride in the carriage?" asked Lady Rosamund, the woman looked at Madeline as if she was stupid, but humans were stupid and thought they could surpass the night creatures.

    "Mother is right," said Sophie, "Didn''t you say something about us having a foul mouth? Step out of the carriage unless you want to be pushed or thrown out forcibly," said Sophie, crossing her hands and legs while looking at the human who looked pitiful. It brought joy to Sophie that the girl looked powerless.

    "Humphrey," Lady Rosamund called the coachman''s name so that he could throw this girl out.

    "I will get down," Madeline responded.

    "Quick. We have other things to do than spend time with someone like you," Lady Rosamund said, and Madeline saw herself out of the carriage. The door of the carriage was shut close, and the woman said, "Next time learn how to behave with people who are above you than showing you know everything. Hopefully, we don''t cross path again, which is unlikely knowing our status. Drive," the horses neighed before pulling the carriage to leave Madeline in the middle of nowhere, trees surrounding her which was part of the forest.

    She had hoped it wouldn''te to this, but then Madeline told herself that she had got a headstartpared to her actual n. Not only had she missed the wolves to be roaming on the grounds of the castle freely and she didn''t have to worry about the guards at the gates. Trying to see the positive side and being thankful to be getting a ride this far and out of the castle, Madeline started to walk, taking the path of the left.

    All she needed was another carriage passing by her to ask for help, but she doubted she would be getting one right now. She raised her chin, her brown eyes looking at the sky that had turned dark. The evening had passed quicker than she would have thought it would, and it was the time of night.

    The sounds of the forest surrounded her, crickets chirping and owls that she couldn''t see hooting somewhere hidden in the trees.

    When she heard a wolf howl, Madeline felt her heart jump out of her chest, turning around she made sure there was no wolf following her, and when she heard another howl, her feet moved even quicker than before.

 Chapter 51 Pausing the carriage- Part 1

    <h4>51 Pausing the carriage- Part 1</h4>

    Finally, like a ray of sunshine, horses neighed, and she prayed that it was someone who didn''t belong to the castle. Not all rays were the happy ones, and with that thought, she came to stand in the path so that the coachman would be able to see her and stop. Raising her hands, she waved them. The coachman first didn''t stop, and therefore she had to use her mouth to alert him,

    "Please stop! Please!" she cried to gain the coachman''s attention.

    The coachman did stop, looking at thedy, "Mdy what are you doing here in the middle of the forest?" asked the coachman. Whoever was sitting inside the carriage must have asked who the coachman was talking to as the coachman turned his head to say, "There''s ady who is standing here. Seems like she''s lost."

    Madeline quickly went to the window, and she saw it was a man who was inside the carriage who appeared to be in his forties.

    "I am looking to go to the vige thates after this forest. Could you please give me a ride there?" she asked him, her eyebrows drawn together.

    The man looked at her, looking at her attire and then her face, "How do we know you aren''t a witch who is trying to get into the carriage and kill us?" he asked. His question surprised her, and for a second, she blinked at him.

    "What?"

    "I said how do we know you are not some stranded woman?" he asked her. When he moved his lips, the moustache on his lips moved along with his thin mouth.

    Madeline closed her eyes. She was tired and exhausted but going back was her priority, "I was riding a carriage, but they didn''t give me a full ride. They had me step down after a few minutes," she spoke the truth, hoping he would listen to her, "Please. All I ask is for a ride," she pleaded. The man leaned forward, and he opened the door.

    "Just a ride," he said, and she gave him a look of relief.

    "Thank you so much. Thank you," she bowed her head, but the man didn''t say anything.

    Madeline felt better now that she was in the carriage. With her hands folded together on herp, she sat there quietly without a word. She could feel the man''s gaze on her, but she didn''t look at him straight. She bared the atmosphere in the carriage which was turning hostile even without any exchange of words, but the man then spoke,

    "I am Anthony Bartholomew," he introduced himself, giving his hand and Madeline had to oblige by giving her hand to him.

    "Nost name?" asked Anthony and Madeline shook her head. She didn''t want to build an acquaintance here when all she wanted was to finish her ride as soon as she could.

    "No," Madeline shook her head, "Do you know what time it is now?" she asked him curiously.

    The man pulled out his watch that was made out of gold. He said, "It is thirty-seven minutes past six,"pared to the previous questioning gaze, the man was being friendly. She had to jerk her hand away from his hold, and she offered him a small smile, "Thank you."

    Returning her hand on herp, she heard the man say, "You seem to look rich. Was it your family who kicked you out of the carriage? Families can be impudent at times," the man tried to console her.

    Madeline wondered if it was good to lie as she didn''t know this man. Not to forget he was trying to get close to her by being familiar. She said nothing but gave him a half-smile before the smile fell from her lips. With the carriage that had started, she could only hope the viges woulde in picture, and she would get down, to never see this man ever again.

    "Where do you live, Lady Madeline? I can drop you to your home instead of having you drop in the middle," offered the man, a smile upon his lips now that made him look like a sleazy man and she knew she shouldn''t be thinking about it. Still, with him continuously looking at her it was making it difficult to sit ignoring it.

    "I am here to visit a friend of mine."

    At the time of night? Now? Asked the man to himself. He could tell that she was lying else why would someone be stranded at the side of the forest at this hour of the day. He moved closer to her, sliding on the seat to sit in front of her and Madeline had to sit back with her back touching the seat.

    The man smiled at her, one tooth of his at the side was made of gold, "I offered you a ride, shouldn''t you give me something in return?" he asked her, cing his hand on her knee which she swatted away quickly.

    "What do you think you are doing?" asked Madeline. Her words were careful while keeping her eyes on him.

    "Getting favours of course," he said and the man ced his hand on her knee again, this time gripping it, "Don''t act so poise-"

    "Let go of my leg! Stop the carriage!" she shouted.

    "Now now. Be good-" and without needing to be told, the coachman pulled the reins of the horses to stop the carriage from going any further, "Why did you stop here you idiot?" asked the man, "Women shout all the time. Doesn''t mean you stop because of it. Start the carriage!" he ordered the coachman.

    "Sir, we have another carriage stopped in front of ours. They aren''t moving," the coachman answered.

    To get away from this man who was trying to get his hand on her, Madeline''s hand reached for the door, and she quickly stepped out of the carriage. The man followed her suit, and she walked only until she noticed the carriage that stood in the middle of the road. The ck carriage was parked in a way to cross the road, stopping anyone from passing through. Four ck horses stood at the front of the carriage tied to it.

    The carriage''s door flew open, and the dark-haired man with red eyes stepped out of the carriage. His entire demeanour made Madeline stagger back and her breath shuddered by the sight of him.

    Madeline had not expected him to find her. Not now at least. She thought he would be searching for her with the guards and his wolf in the prowl.

    H-he had found her.

 Chapter 52 Pausing the carriage- Part 2

    <h4>52 Pausing the carriage- Part 2</h4>

    The man who had given her a ride had not seen the man approaching them because of theck of light, but she had seen him, which was why she was quiet.

    "What do you think you are doing by blocking our ride?" the man demanded with a rude tone, "Get your damn carriage out of the path. Come on, out with it! Do you think this road is yours to block it?" Madeline heard the man continue to ramble, not knowing who was here.

    Calhoun reached her,ing to stand in front of her and he looked at her. Madeline didn''t meet his eyes as she was shocked. With Calhoun who was yet to speak to her, Madeline felt goosebumps forming on her skin which wasn''t because of the cold. The man behind her wanted to get his hands on her, and the person in front of her wanted to cage her back in the castle.

    "Come, Madeline. Sit back inside the carriage," said Anthony. She wondered why she didn''t notice before that the man had an ent.

    Calhoun''s lips twitched, and he continued to stare hard at her, "Who is the man?" his voice was low and deep. She gulped.

    "I don''t know," Madeline''s voice was small. The thought of being caught by him was ringing in her mind continuously that made thinking difficult. She felt Calhoun''s ring eyes at her, and she tried to hold her ground.

    Calhoun''s face had been shadowed with no light on it and Anthony not liking his treat of touching a young woman had been interrupted, he came forward, cing his hand on Madeline''s shoulder, "Come, dear. Let''s get you back inside." Calhoun''s eyes snapped at the man before he pulled the man''s hand towards him to twist and push him against the surface of the carriage.

    Madeline took a couple of steps away from the men as Calhoun pushed the man further into the carriage. From where she stood, she could feel the vapours of rageing off from Calhoun.

    "What are you doing?!" Anthony demanded, who was yet to figure out who he was talking to.

    "How dare you touch her," Calhoun lowly threatened the man. His eyes had turned hollow in anger, and he threw the man across the ground. The King''s eyes then snapped at Madeline, "Why is he talking to you familiarly?" he asked her, one of his eyebrows raising in question.

    Calhoun looked down at the man, his eyes smouldering, and he said, "Were you the one who tried to steal her away from me?"

    The man''s forehead was still stuck to the ground when he opened his eyes and blinked at what the King just said. Confused slightly, he raised his head with both his knees touching the ground, "What?" he raised his hands to wave them, "No no! She said she wanted a ride, and Iplied to her wishes," said Anthony quickly. His eyes moved from the King to the girl who stood behind the King and then back at the King.

    "I didn''t know her, she said she was going to her friend''s house," bbered the man when he didn''t receive any words from Calhoun.

    "Theodore," called Calhoun and the man appeared, "Take Madeline inside the carriage."

    "Mdy," Theodore bowed his head, and Madeline clenched her fist, not happy that she had to sit back in the carriage where she would be taken back to the ce she had thought she was free from.

    Calhoun wasn''t looking at her but at the man who had raised his head, fear slowly crawling towards him which could now be seen in his eyes. Madeline turned her head, and with difficult steps, she stepped inside the carriage. Her hands were shivering for the oing storm that was going to hit her life far worse than before, and she was scared about what was going to happen.

    Anthony begged, "Please forgive me for my impudence, milord!"

    Calhoun gave him a nod before saying, "Stand up." Hearing this, the man let out a sigh of relief, and he stood up, dusting his knees that came to stick to his trousers.

    "Thank you, my King. You''re the most forgiving and generous one," praised the man, trying to tter him.

    "Are you speaking about me? Doesn''t look like any of the qualities that belong to me."

    Anthony blinked again, the smile on his lips faltering when he saw the serious look on Calhoun''s face and his eyes that looked annoyed. The man gulped, and his eyes widened. He tried to step away, but when he did try, Calhoun had caught hold of his shoulder. Bringing him forward, he ced another hand of his on the top of the man''s head.

    "Forgiving is thest thing you should associate me with," he snarled. Putting force on the man''s head, he tore the man''s head off his shoulder before throwing it on the ground where the blood started to spread.

 Chapter 53 Provoking- Part 1

    <h4>53 Provoking- Part 1</h4>

    She waited for Theodore to join them inside, but when the door of the carriage was closed, she felt her heart almost slip out of her chest. Internally she was a mess, and she couldn''t think straight. By the screams that she heard from outside, it was evident that the King had finished the man off who had given her the ride. The horses started to pull the carriage, and they began to head back to the castle, the same ce she had tried to get away.

    He didn''t speak to her, not a word and Madeline wasn''t sure if it was a good or a bad thing. She was scared of what he was going to say or do. She didn''t dare to look at him nor utter a word.

    Madeline''s eyes moved to the side, trying to look from the corner of her eyes to see what he was doing. Calhoun sat with his leg cross one over the other. His eyes turned to look outside the window as if they were going back to the castle after a regr trip. She knew this was the calm before the storm.

    When the carriage stopped, the coachman opened the door for Calhoun to step down. He looked ahead of him before turning around, offering his hand for Madeline to take.

    Madeline would have told him she was fine to step out without his help, but she could feel the guilt of being caught. No matter how much she wanted to stop trembling, her hand couldn''t stop it, and she ced it in his hand for him to sp. And the grip was tight that made her flinch before he loosened his hold on her hand without letting it go as he pulled her inside the castle.

    He continued to drag her without letting go of her hand, passing through the halls and corridors before he came to his room. Pushing the doors, he locked the room to push her on his bed.

    Calhoun moved towards her like a feline, and before she could move, he had moved himself to hover above her.

    His red eyes red down at her,?"You have the nerve to give me the slip when I warned you not to run away and look where we are now," he moved his hand forward to have her lean back against the surface of the bed. Madeline supported herself with her two hands, her eyes staring back at him, "Did you think you could run away, and I wouldn''t find you?"

    "You lied to me!" said Madeline, "You never had any intention to let me go-"

    She had to stop talking when he brought his face close to hers, almost feeling his lips which were an inch away from her, "Makes me think you have not been listening to me, my sweet girl. How naive of you to think that I would let you go when I have just found you."

    Using both her hands she tried to get away from him but Calhoun caught her hands in his. He pushed them behind her back to hold them single-handedly, and it would be a lie to say that he didn''t enjoy the state she was in.

    Her eyes mellowed, and she said, "Why did you give me hope if you were only going to take it away from me? Why would you do that?!"

    "You should have known better that I wouldn''t let you go. We could have negotiated if you had returned to the castle but look what you did," he tsked at her, ming her, "Now I will need to exercise for what you just did. I told you not to run, and you just did that."

    "No," Madeline whispered, "If you hadn''t lied-"

    "What?" asked Calhoun. The man invaded her space, not caring as he looked at her. His eyes piercing her, "You should be happy that I am treating you gently."

    "This is not gentle," she gulped when his face came close to her face again, his full lips a breath away from hers.

    "This is gentle in my terms. Do you want me to show the other side," at his words, her heart started to race in her chest. His lips then moved to her cheek, "Shall I?" he asked her, his breath falling on her skin that raised goosebumps.

    Madeline had closed her eyes, feeling every little movement of his. His lips didn''t touch her skin, but that didn''t mean his breath didn''t evoke the helplessness she felt under him, "Please," Madeline pleaded.

    "You should have thought about it before deciding to step out of the castle," his nose drew in the scent of roses on her which he had smelled the first time he had her in his arms during the time of the ball, "You should have known better than run away from here. Do you know how furious I was when I didn''t find you in the maze? Provoking me when you have been warned more than two times, do you think you are worthy of asking to be released from my hold? You need to remember that you brought it upon yourself."

    "I am being patient with you. Waiting for you, yet you do things that will make me upset," his lips had moved down to her throat, every word of his reverberating against her skin, "As much as I loved the chase to having you back by my side, it is time for you to be punished so that we don''t have any repetition of what urred today."

 Chapter 54 Provoking- Part 2

    <h4>54 Provoking- Part 2</h4>

    Somewhere Calhoun knew it woulde to this but who knew she would find the opportunity to run away from the castle, moving past the guards and making halfway away from this ce. After a while, she had stopped moving to realise that there was no point in her struggling.

    Madeline could feel his breath. It tickled and tried to entice her, "So stubborn," he whispered to her.

    Calhoun''s natural ck hair which wasbed back fell on his face now��creating a shadow which she noticed when he pulled away from her face to look at her. Maybe if Madeline was not intent on defying and trying to get away from him, she would have noticed why there were rumours about him being a devil''s reincarnation when it came to looks. It was told that when a woman would cross path with the devil, she would fall on his feet because of the way he looked and the words he could spin in his web.

    His mouth parted and his jaw moved, his tongue ying with the fangs that grew and Madeline''s eyes widened.

    He moved forward, his fangs lightly scraping the surface of her neck and Madeline had to make sure she didn''t move at the fear of those fangs sinking into her skin.

    "Do you know, Madeline, since I met you anything I drink feels like low-quality blood. I have sunk my teeth so many times, but I don''t find the satisfaction at the thought of how your blood might taste on my lips. It makes my mouth water," he said those words to hear her heart beating quickly. It brought a wicked smile on his lips, "And to think you''re right here."

    "Please don''t kill me," she pleaded. Her eyes squeezed together in fear, her body running down with termors at the thought of him going to kill her.

    She had heard how the night creatures killed people with their bare hands apart with the sheer strength of their body. People like her, who were humans were brought up to know and understand that the night creatures killed people without any mercy and had no remorse over their actions. To them, they were nothing but a source of food.

    Calhoun was surprised, and if there was one thing he knew, Madeline was a silly little girl for not listening to a word he had been telling her, "Killing is thest thing I would do when there are so many other interesting things which I can do to you. It would be such a waste to kill you."

    Madeline''s eyes widened, "W-what are you doing?" she asked in shock.

    "Not doing what I want to," he stared at her face before moving away from her, "Leave," his voice turning cold.

    Madeline frowned at his words.

    It was like his mood had changed with a blink of an eye. But one word was enough from him to have her move out of the bed and make a run towards the door. Her hands tried to open the door, but the lock appeared to be different as it took her four more seconds before she was able to open it. She turned to see Calhoun, who had his back facing her. When his head moved to the side, without spending another second, she ran out of the room to go to the ce she was given in this castle.

    When she reached the room, her hands continued to shake, but the tears that had threatened to slip out of her eyes previously at the thought of him biting and sucking her blood until thest drop had dried up because of the wind.

    Neither Madeline nor her family had ever met a night creature before. Calhoun was the first vampire, and the man was too intense that it was hard not to shudder under his gaze. She had hoped to escape from the castle, especially with her luck to get a ride out of this ce. But who knew that Calhoun was adamant in catching her to bring her back to the one ce she didn''t want to be. She knew if it was another girl like her sister, Beth, she would have taken this opportunity to get close to the King but how could she when she never had any intention or feelings towards him. Instead, she shared minimal feelings with James.

    The King scared her. His dark red eyes were intimidating, the words he uttered were cunning, and he had killed people in front or around her.

    She locked the door, stepping away while being surrounded in silence until she heard the howl of the wolf that was possibly left out in the open. Going towards the bed, she climbed and pulled the pillow to hold.

    Hearing Madeline leave the room, he raised his hand to weave it through his thick locks of hair. His hair fell on one side of his face while he stared at the bed where he had held her under him.

    His feet made its way to the bath where freshwater was filled until the brim. Walking down the stairs that led into the bath, he continued to step closer into the cold water with his clothes on. Dipping into the bath, to immerse himselfpletely, he finally got out of it to cool his head.

 Chapter 55 Wounded leg- Part 1

    <h4>55 Wounded leg- Part 1</h4>

    When Madeline was under him on his bed, looking up at him defenceless with her eyes teary, all he had wanted to do was sink his fangs into her to hear her cry out his name and the thought had driven him to the edge. Her body was small against him, just a bunch of clothes separating her from his touch.

    When Calhoun had found that she was nowhere on the grounds of the castle, he was furious that Madeline could think that she could run away from him. No matter how many times she would run, he would find her and bring her back to his side. She was being stubborn because her freedom was taken away, but if he returned her freedom to her, she would take less than two seconds to leave again, and it wasn''t something he was willing to do; when in truth he wanted toy her down on the bed and have his way with her.

    Madeline continued toy down on the bed, not willing to step outside the room. When a maid arrived to knock on the door to let her know that dinner was ready, she sent the maid away telling that she had a headache and wanted to sleep. Hearing the footsteps leave, she finally got up, staring at the door with an unhappy face.

    Her freedom was right there, to her hand''s reach. If not her house, she would have gone somewhere else as she had worn the jewels that were given to her which she could sell. Somewhere she was also thankful for the carriage to stop as the man who was dead now had tried to touch her. If Calhoun had not arrived, the carriage would have never stopped, and she didn''t know if the man would be sessful in molesting her or she would have hit him enough to throw him out of the moving carriage.

    Her room was filled with silence and not a sound heard from outside. When she tried to move, she realised she had hurt herself during her time in the maze when she had tried to climb up the holly nt.

    With Calhoun who had himself told her to get out of the room, she decided that he wouldn''t be speaking to her today.

    She started to take her clothes off one after another until she stood in nothing but her petticoat. She sat back down on the bed. She raised her leg to ce it on the bed to see the dried blood that had trickled down from her calf muscle to her ankle. When her hand reached for it, she winced as the wound felt tender. Getting the towel wet, Madeline sat down ready to clean the blood when the doors of the room opened, and she thought she had locked it.

    "I am not hungry. And didn''t you ask me to leave?" asked Madeline. She had to crane her neck up when he walked forward. to stand in front of her.

    When he leaned towards her, Madeline leaned back to have him ce both of his hands on either side of her. He stared into her eyes, "You wille when I call you, where I call you. Haven''t you done enough by causing trouble today?"

    Madeline gritted her teeth, "Maybe if you hadn''t lied this would have never happened," she said, and she saw how Calhoun''s lips twitched. That malicious smileing forward.

    "Are you ming me, Maddie?" asked Calhoun, his wordsing out slow and deliberate, "If you hade straight to me, there wouldn''t have been blood on my hands today. Look what you made me do."

    "I didn''t ask you to kill him," whispered Madeline as they pushed the me on each other.

    "You didn''t, but I felt the need to do it," agreed Calhoun. His eyes moved from her eyes, taking in the attire of the flimsy cloth, "You think I don''t know he tried to touch you in that carriage of his? The way he kept trying to put his hand back on you, trying to usher you into the carriage. I didn''t know you were into men like those. Is that your secret fantasy?" he asked, and Madeline frowned.

    "I don''t have such ill thoughts," she had been desperate for help and to get a ride.

    "Nothing wrong in wanting it. I feel like wanting to touch you all the time," he grinned that had Madeline gulp, "I cannot help but think about it," this made Madeline lean back.

    He then pulled away to say, "Get dressed. We are going to have dinner."

    "I am not hungry," Madeline said and it was the truth. She had lost her appetite. All she wanted to do was crawl back into the bed and sleep.

    "If you won''t eat, I know how to feed you myself. Don''t try to test me Madeline, not today when you have tried to defy my words. Join me before I change my mind to something you won''t like," he lowly threatened her and Madeline felt trapped. This was no courtship! All he was doing was forcing her toe to his terms.

    Calhoun had meant every word, and those were not empty threats. His eyes then caught sight of the wet towel, and he remembered how she had her one leg ced on the bed when he had entered the room,

    "Did something happen to your leg?" he asked her, sitting down on the bed before she could protest, he pushed her petticoat up until her knees without any shame.

    .

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 Chapter 56 Wounded leg- Part 2

    <h4>56 Wounded leg- Part 2</h4>

    "When did you get hurt?" he asked her, his eyes moving from the wound and then looking at her. The blood had dried which was why he couldn''t smell it. Not to forget the blood of the man that had been spilt by his own hands which made him not notice it earlier in the carriage and his room, "Speak," he demanded.

    "In the maze," she muttered under her breath, "I can take care of myself."

    "I can see that. How well you take care of yourself. Jumping into a strangers carriage not knowing if you will be raped or sucked dry before being thrown to rot in the corner of the forest until someone finds you," he responded with a re in his eyes so that she wouldn''t be any more defiant than she had already disyed for the day, "Trying to climb the walls of the holly nt? What an idiot," he looked back at the wound before picking up the wet towel that was on the ground.

    "Don''t you know, you''re not supposed to touch a woman like this! It is not considered to be a gentleman''s action," Madeline felt her face turning red with her leg exposed and him holding her ankle.

    Calhoun looked up at her, "It has been only a few hours since we spent our time together, but you should know better that I am not that. Unfortunately, I was not taught to be nice."

    "I am an unmarried girl, and you cannot do this-"

    "Don''t tell me what to do and what not to do just because I am lenient with you," his sharp words had her stop talking, "Do you think I will share you with someone? If you have thoughts of being with someone else, like that man your mother mentioned then throw it out of the window. You''re stuck with me, darling."

    He had ced one hand gripping her ankle and the other that was ced on the hem of her petticoat near her knee. And when Madelin tried to move away, his grip on her ankle tightened. Bringing the towel forward, he wiped the dried blood from her ankle, his movements gentlerpared to his hold on her ankle.

    Madeline''s body had turned stiff with every touch of his hand along with the towel that was made on her skin. Unable to look at Calhoun who has his hands on her leg, she looked at one of the bedposts. She hadn''t expected him to be gentle, not with the way he spoke and demanded her attention.

    "I don''t want to bedylike!" Madeline retorted.

    "I am fine with that," answered Calhoun. Throwing the towel at the far corner of the room that would be picked up by the maid, "Anyways I like you like this. It gets too boring when every woman tries to mimic each other," her hand clenched hearing this. It was as if anything she would say, he would turn it to his benefit.

    He let go of her ankle. cing his hands on the bed, he leaned behind to take in her appearance. Things he wasn''t able to see in the morning with her back facing him, he could now see the outline of it.

    "I don''t mind you joining like this for dinner with me. It would be a treat to my mouth and eyes," hemented, and Madeline quickly got up from the bed to reach out for a dress to wear. When she turned around, she saw him looking at her brazenly.

    "Can you please not look," she asked. It was like he was hellbent in making her feel ufortable. He had a crooked smile on his face as he turned his head as he sat on the bed with his legs crossed leisurely.

    "People don''t need eyes to see, Madeline," she heard Calhoun say, the smile still ying on his lips, "Imagination is enough to see and feel things."

    Madeline had quickly slipped into her dress and she shut her eyes, praying to God hoping she would somehow one day get out of this castle and away from this crazy King. She didn''t explore her thoughts on what he said as she knew she would only turn more embarrassed and that was what he wanted.

    As she was done tying thece around her back, Calhoun finally pushed himself forward to get up from the bed, "I forgot to ask you. How do you like your room?"

    "Just like a prison."

    Hearing this Calhoun smiled, "A pretty one, isn''t it? If you don''t like this one, the offer to my room still holds."

    Madeline quickly replied, "I am fine."

    "That''s what I thought. Let''s have some food. I am starving," Calhoun started to walk towards the door, and Madeline followed him.

    This time it seemed that they were not having their dinner in his room as he led her through other corridors, taking turns every now and then. She wondered how long it would be until she woulde to memorize the path as most of them looked the same. And as the thought passed her mind, she cursed herself that she was thinking about memorizing the ce.

    Was it because deep down she knew there was no escape from Calhoun?

 Chapter 57 Pretty lips- Part 1

    <h4>57 Pretty lips- Part 1</h4>

    Having worn a loose dress now, it felt much better as it was breathable. Now that she thought about it, Madeline wondered how she had managed to run in the dress she had worn earlier. Where there was a will, there was a way, thought Madeline to herself, but only this time the way had been cut short to have her return back to the castle.

    Three hours ago, she had thought she would be seeing her family and that she would be united with them even if it was going to be for a short duration of time, but here she was sitting in the dining room with Calhoun.

    "Thinking about your little escape n?" asked Calhoun and her eyes snapped to look at him, seeing him pick up the ss that was filled with red liquid until the very brim of it, "I must say, I was surprised not to find you at the maze in the evening. I would have never guessed that you would take a run towards the gates. How did you get past the guards?" he asked, intrigued.

    He took a sip from the ss before running his tongue on his lips and sucking the remaining liquid that had settled on his full lips, "Be wise with your answer. You wouldn''t want to irk my mood, would you?" He ced the ss down on the table.

    "I got a ride."

    Calhoun stared at her, "From the castle?" he asked, wondering which coachman had dared to give her a ride to step outside the castle without his permission, "Did you charm one of the servants here to help you leave? Who was it?" The maids had started to serve the food.

    "Lady Rosamund and her family were passing by in the carriage-"

    "How kind of them,"mented Calhoun, sarcasm in his voice and after two seconds a chuckle passed through his lips, "They dropped you in the middle of the road."

    Madeline didn''t look at him but stared at the things that was on the table. He was having a ball by thinking about it andughing that the help she felt she could get was dismissed by his aunt. She was naive to believe that someone like Lady Rosamund would provide her help when the woman had shown immediate distaste and dislike towards her.

    "What a silly girl you are. How does it feel to be back in the castle than being molested by an older man?" Now that she was caught, Calhoun was going to keep throwing it in her face on what happened and how she had been unsessful. The smirk on his face made her want to run away, even more, to show him that she could do it, and she would not be caught.

    "I am not used to being alone."

    "No!" Madeline quickly protested against it.

    Calhoun tilted his head, "You said you were feeling lonely," and she clutched her hands under the table. Her nails dug into her palms.

    "That''s not what I meant," she said, meeting his eyes.

    "I thought that was what you meant and you were shy speak about it," a bright smile lit upon his face, "Don''t be shy to tell me if you feel lonely. I will make sure to make it less isted."

    She preferred solitude than hispany, "I am fine with how things are."

    Madeline didn''t want to worsen her luck if he decided to have her in his room. The two times when she was in his room, both the time had resulted in him pushing her down on the bed with him on top of her. If she were to be moved to his room, Madeline didn''t know if she would be able to protect her chastity with him in his bedroom.

    Calhoun took his fork and knife, cutting the meat and adding it with the leafy vegetable to raise his hand towards her mouth. Was he nning to feed her? Madeline''s eyes moved between the fork and his face, "Eat."

    When her delicate pink lips parted, Calhoun''s eyes were quick to pick the action. She parted it further, widening her mouth, and he pushed the food into her mouth, which was more abundant than her mouth could hold.

    "We''ll need to work on that mouth of yours,"mented Calhoun which she didn''t understand as Madeline was trying to make sure she didn''t spill the food out of her mouth. As much as she tried to hold in, the liquid dripped down from the corner of her lips and when Madeline picked up the napkin that she had ced on herp, Calhoun had leaned forward to wipe the liquid with his thumb leaving her dumbstruck with his action.

    The stroke of his thumb was sensual near her mouth before he brought the same thumb to his mouth, sucking it with his lips and licking it that turned Madeline red with embarrassment.

    She opened her mouth, but her mind was unable to make coherent words that could be put out of her lips. If it was possible, she would have pulled out the table cloth and rolled over to hide and save herself from any further Calhoun''s tant or brazen action.

    "Delicious, isn''t it?" asked Calhoun to her, while she was still chewing what he had stuffed into her mouth. When her eyes moved slowly to look at him, he said, "The meat was hunted by the family who dropped you in the middle of the forest," and one corner of his lips pulled itself up in mirth.

 Chapter 58 Pretty lips- Part 2

    <h4>58 Pretty lips- Part 2</h4>

    "I am full," Madeline said before he could start wrapping another piece of food to stuff into her mouth.

    "You sure?" he asked, his face serious, but his eyes told another story.

    Madeline didn''t want to be fed by his hand again. She could still feel his thumb that brushed near the corner of her lips before he took the same to suck into his mouth. She had heard the King to be cruel and cold-blooded, but she wondered how people had missed from the rumour that he was a presumptuous man who always did what pleased him.

    "I don''t have an appetite," she said, looking into his eyes, and he gave her a nod. It wasn''t just the size of the bite or the person who was feeding her. With him poking her with the fact that the meat was brought in by his aunt after the animal hunt, it reduced Madeline''s appetite.

    "Okay," he believed, giving her a nod and said, "Give mepany while I am eating. Having you around brightens my time," Calhoun picked up the ss, taking a sip while having his eyes on her and pulling back to lick his lips, "This is the time for you speak, sweetheart."

    Madeline was in no mood to speak, but now that he asked her, she decided to ask, "Do you never make your presence known to the public?" her brown eyes looked at him, "I don''t think any of us vigers and most of the townsfolk have ever seen you out there. You didn''t show up at the ball."

    "Did you forget that I danced with you? I am hurt that you don''t remember the lovely night you spent in my arms. Dancing of course," he added as if she would take it in another sense, one of his eyebrow-raising at her in question.

    Madeline''s lips pursed at the thought that she would grow old here. At the same thought, she wondered why he wanted to keep her here in this castle when she would grow old and wither away. He could have a vampiress of his kind who would live the same years like him.

    "That''s not what I meant."

    "What did you mean then?" he asked, wanting her to humour him.

    She parted her lips to speak, "Like, you didn''t make an appearance as the King. There was no announcement about you entering the ballroom. A lot of them were waiting to see or catch a glimpse of you."

    "What about you?" asked Calhoun. The way he looked at her, his gaze haunting without leaving her face.

    "And nothing about me?" Calhoun was persistent in knowing what she had been thinking before she met him, "If my memory serves right, you were keen to see the King. Asking me if I worked for him."

    "I was just curious at that time. You invited us but didn''t make an appearance."

    "The mortals don''t take the King with ease," said Calhoun, a chuckle escaping his lips, "I wouldn''t want to frighten my subjects. Humans can be very skittish most of the time. It was an invitation to the lion''s den, and I had no interest in others, just this one girl who appeared to be out of ce in the ballroom."

    Madeline shifted her gaze to look at the ss of water next to her. Taking it in her hand, she brought it up to take a couple of sips not realising she had been thirsty. She had run like she never had before. She helped herself with another ss of water when she heard Calhounment,

    "Do you run a lot?" he asked while the same fork he had fed her with went to his mouth where he bit into his food to pull out the fork.

    It would have been an odd question to ask if Madeline had not escaped from the castle. All her hard work and putting her respect aside, she had taken the help only to end up back here, "No."

    "Hmm," he responded, looking at her, taking another bite. If she wasn''t used to running, it was possible that she would be in painter at night. Maybe it would be a good reminder, thought Calhoun to himself.

    Calhoun took his own time to finish eating, admiring Madeline in the candlelit room that gave a soft golden glow that fell on her pale skin. Compared to this morning, she was quiet. He could tell she was unhappy with the way her n to run away had failed. He wasn''t done with her for the day though. If she was happy, he was still mad at her with the fact that she had neglected his words even after warning her.

    Before the table could be cleared, Calhoun stood up to have Madeline quickly stand on her feet. He said, "Let''s see you to your room," he would have got her to walk around the castle with him but with her running and getting hurt today, he decided to walk her to her room.

    "I will be fine."

    "I know you will, but I wouldn''t want you to make another run. And the time right now is not good. You never know which wolf will bite you and they aren''t gentle," Madeline softly gulped hearing this. She didn''t speak another word of protest and left the room with him. Madeline knew what she had done, and she didn''t need to be reminded again. But if a better opportunity ever came up to leave this ce, she would take it in a blink of an eye but then there was no opportunity. There were only the King''smands that had to be followed.

    When they reached her room, Madeline was eager to get inside her room. Bowing her head and murmuring a thanks, she went to reach for the door to hear,

    "Is that how you take your leave in the presence of a King who was kind enough to save you from the lecherous man, feed you food and see you to your room?" demanded Calhoun.

    Madeline turned around, her eyes meeting his. She had never conversed with a King before to be taught the etiquette apart from thanking him. He continued to gauge her, and he brought his hand forward with the back of his hand to her view. Was she supposed to hold it? She asked herself.

    He then said, "Kiss it as gratitude of appreciation."

 Chapter 59 Cage and shackles- Part 1

    <h4>59 Cage and shackles- Part 1</h4>

    After what she had done today, where a stranger had almost molested her, she decided it was the least she could do. At the end of the day she was still a girl who was lower than him in status. And with that thought, she took a step forward towards him. That little action alone had Calhoun''s lips twist in a smile, his eyes looking at her bend.

    He had ced his hand down enough, that she had to bend. She moved forward and when her face reached his hand she dropped a kiss on the back of his hand and quickly took a step back.

    "Where is the acknowledgement of thanks?" he asked, not happy with the iplete gesture. Madeline gritted her teeth, and she moved forward again to hear him say, "I want a clear one."

    Pressing her lips on his hand again, she said, "Thank you for saving me near the forest. If it weren''t for you, I don''t know what would have happened," she said the words just as he would want to hear from her. Giving him small answers would only end up with him having her repeat it until he got what he wanted to hear.

    Calhoun was more than pleased with the kiss, but he wasn''t satisfied with just a kiss. He saw how she didn''t meet his eyes, her throat softly gulping down the nervousness.

    Hearing nothing from him, Madeline took it that it was safe to step into the room and she turned halfway before she was pulled towards him and he pushed her against the cold wall. Her eyes widened, looking at him who was close to her. Her heart thundered in her chest.

    "I did everything you asked me to do," she whispered. Her eyes were wide with a look simr to a deer that was caught by the predator.

    "Did you?"

    The question made Madeline think quickly if there was something that she had missed in thest few seconds. He had caught both her hands in his hands, pushing it to pin against the wall when she had tried to get away.

    "It makes me wonder if you are going to try running away again. Makes me want to imprison you," his cold breath fell on her lips, making her shiver. He moved his lips close to her as if he was about to kiss her, Madeline tried to push him, but he had her just where he wanted. Her lips were parted, and she felt the invisible pressure that was turning her knees weak in anxiety of what he was going to do, "The next time you run away, don''t forget you will be the one to kiss me with those lips of yours," he said with his eyes on her.

    "I am here," she stated.

    She could feel his hand firmly holding hers, "Understood?" he asked her. Madeline saw how his eyes moved to her lips before looking back into her eyes.

    "Yes," she replied to have him step back from her finally. He let go only one hand of hers. The other hand of hers was raised to his lips, and he kissed the back of her hand while keeping his eyes on her. The dark ambience created a silhouette on his face, and when he pulled away, he said, "Let me know if you need any help in bathing or dressing you. I will be sure to provide you with assistance. Goodnight, Maddie."

    He took another step back before leaving the front of her room, and she finally rxed against the wall before making her way inside the room.

    Calhoun walked away from Madeline''s room, making way to his room to see Theodore, who was waiting outside for him. Theodore was a childhood friend of Calhoun''s, but that didn''t mean he forgot his manners in front of the King as he bowed his head in greeting.

    "I brought the papers which Duke Hornebolt was asked to submit on thend disputes that are taking ce. There are dates and name of the people who thend has been given to by the magistrate, which Duke Hornebolt ims to be in his name," informed Theodore.

    "What else?" asked Calhoun, stepping inside his room who was followed by Theodore.

    "Thend hasn''t been given out to the public, and it belongs under the King''s name," replied the man to have Calhoun turn around and ask,

    "Does Duke Hornebolt think that he''s my brother, that he decided to im thend to be of his own? People can be hrious, thinking they can slip out without bearing any consequences." He removed the coat that he wore, "Pull out the documents that have been signed and ced in the governor''s hands. Have the Dukee visit me tomorrow."

    "Yes, milord," obliged Theodore, and he then said, "There''s also something else that I found in the kitchen today."

    Calhoun raised one of his eyebrows in question, and he saw Theodore pull out a small bottle from his pocket that had white powdered substance inside it. Taking it in his hand, Calhoun ran his finger around the bottle. Pulling out the little cap, he brought it close to his nose to smell it.

    "Poison," said Calhoun.

    "I have imprisoned the servant who was carrying it," Theodore notified, and Calhoun picked the coat he had removed to wear it back again.

    "Time to go and see the fool."

 Chapter 60 Cage and shackles- Part 2

    <h4>60 Cage and shackles- Part 2</h4>

    A man now was imprisoned in the cage. The same servant who had been caught with the little bottle that was found and came to Theodore''s notice. The cage was not big but a small one that had metal rods facing inside it where he had been pushed into before being locked. The other side of the cage was rusted in time with the number of captives they had held down here, and the little thin rods forced itself into his legs, hands and face, tearing the skin that had initially left the man screaming who now didn''t dare to make a move.

    Footsteps in the distance echoed in the dungeon, shadows appearing on the wall but the imprisoned man didn''t have the energy to look at who was here. He was a human who had lost too much blood with the little rods piercing into his skin. Lanterns right now burned itself to shed light in the dungeon.

    "He seems to be in a better condition than I expected," said King Calhoun, walking towards the cage that hung with the iron chains from the ceiling. His calm red eyes took in the condition of the man.

    "It was one of the kitchen maids who caught him with the bottle. She came to inform me about it right away, and the guards brought him here," answered Theodore, "I have questioned him, but he has done nothing but deny it."

    Calhoun took a step forward so that he could look at the man''s bloody face closely. He noticed the servant man opening his eyes, looking at him before his eyes fell, "If you don''t speak who you''re working for, you will end up in the bridge of ir?like many other men and women who have caused treason to the King."

    The servant man tried to move his mouth, but one of the iron had screwed its way into his cheek that made it difficult for him to speak. Seeing this Calhoun looked at Theodore who bowed his head, stepping forward, he started to turn the screws from outside that started to pull out on either side of the man''s face that had him cry in pain. Blood coated the metal which was taken out of the servant''s face.

    "I-I didn''t d-do it. I would never betray my King, you''re the o-only man I serve," spoke the servant, gathering enough energy to talk to the King.

    "Don''t lie when you''re still being treated nicely in here," stated Calhoun from where he stood, "Who ordered you to poison me?"

    "I swear to the h-heavens. It wasn''t m-me," the man replied.

    Calhoun exhaled to say, "What is your name?"

    "O-Oswyn Hanson," answered the servant without dy to the King''s question.

    The man''s eyes widened in fear, "I don''t know how that bottle came to me-"

    "Looks like the bottle has legs of its own that it made its way to your pocket. Isn''t it?" asked Calhoun to see the man shake his head while flinching in pain, "You went so far as to add it in the food."

    "I-I didn''t do it, milord! I would never think about harming you," the servant begged him.

    "Why not?" asked Calhoun, and this had the man and Theodore''s attention. The servant looked puzzled, and Calhoun continued to say, "Why didn''t you think about killing me? It is hard to believe that everyone loves the King, who is a night creature, who hasid bodies on the ground. I am sure there have been times when my own right-hand man, Theodore has had thoughts about it," joked Calhoun.

    Theodore''s eyes moved to look at Calhoun at the words spoken but didn''t speak a word on it.

    "I was working in the kitchen like any other day yesterday. Minding my own work and when I walked into the kitchen, I felt something heavy in my pocket. It was then I found it. I didn''t do it! Please believe me, milord!" the servant man continued to plead.

    Calhoun stared at the man, looking into the man''s eyes while gauging the way his eyes were dted and his heart beating in the chest, "Theodore," called Calhoun and for a moment the servant thought that he was going to be released but instead the King said, "Have the order run through the other ministers and prepare the execution for Oswyn. The decree of punishment should be formitting treason against the King by going so far as to try poisoning the food. Make sure he is put up in the scaffold at the centre of the vige where he hails from so that people know not to create another treason against their beloved King."

    "N-no!" the man cried in desperation, "I have worked for years in the castle. Please don''t do this to me. I didn''t do it!"

    Calhoun didn''t listen to him and instead turned to look at Theodore to say, "Have him shifted to the solitary cell. You can then draw up the papers to the ministers."

    Theodore had a look of surprise at the mention of the solitary room but he obliged, "Yes, milord," he bowed his head.

    The servant man continued to shout and cry but Calhoun had already left the ce.

 Chapter 61 Cage and shackles- Part 3

    <h4>61 Cage and shackles- Part 3</h4>

    The top of the tower was built to taper at the end, and the floor held nothing but space in the walls to allow wind to pass through it. Calhoun had both of his arms ced on the narrow tform while he stood looking at thend that belonged to him.

    Hearing the footstepsing from the stairs, he didn''t care to turn to see who it was because it was only Theodore who came here at this hour.

    "I got the guards to shift the man to the solitary room," Theodore informed Calhoun to receive no reply from the King. He took a couple of steps more, going to stand next to the King to see what Calhoun was looking at. After a few seconds, Theodore asked, "Why did you ask to shift the man to the solitary room?"

    The solitary rooms were often used to ce corrupt ministers, or family of the King who was rted to him for the next punishment. The cell rooms in the dungeons were the ones that were given to the lowly mortals, the humans who were of no worth and had to be killed.

    Calhoun, who was still looking at the night scenery in front of him, smiled. His lips pulled up into a grin, "What do you think a man''sst dying wish is?"

    "To live a life of luxury?" asked Theodore as the servant was given a better room toy down and rest than continue his time hanging in the cage with screws or iron piercing into his body.

    The King shook his head, "To be granted a pardon," said Calhoun, "But that holds good only for the ones who are innocent."

    Theodore frowned, "You think he is innocent?" Then why was he not letting him go?

    "I never said he was. There is just a sliver of possibility that he is innocent and is being framed by the main culprit who is sleeping soundly in the servants quarters," Calhoun picked up a leaf that was at the corner, dried and left alone. He twirled it in his hand.

    Wondering if the King had only spoken about the execution to scare the servant. Theodore asked, "Would you want me to withhold the process with the ministers?"

    "No. Get it ready because at the moment everything is a suspicion, and it was the servant who was caught with the bottle. It will take a week or two. In the meantime, find out which servant is responsible for this," ordered Calhoun to have Theodore give him a bow.

    "I will do as you have asked."

    "Did you find out how thedy escaped?" inquired Theodore as no other person had ever been able to leave the castle the way she did. Not to forget, when they had stopped the carriage she was in, she had travelled quite some distance.

    Calhoun''s lips twisted, his eyes narrowing at nothing in particr, "Rosamund gave her a ride out of the castle. Have the guards check every passing carriage on who is there. No matter if it is the minister or any rtives of mine. I don''t care."

    If it were a minister, the man would have readily agreed to drop her to the town or vige. Madeline had been lucky and unlucky at the same time when his Aunt Rosamund had decided to give her a drop.

    He closed his eyes, the wicked smile returned to his face, thinking about the time he spent with her.

    "Have you ever been attracted to something, so much that you don''t want it out of your sight? You want to touch it. Hold it in and maybe even squeeze it," asked Calhoun, the wind continuing to breeze against his face that moved his hair to the side.

    Theodore gave it a second before he answered, "I feel like that when I look at rabbits and cats," a smile appeared on the man''s face, and Calhoun nodded his head, "It looks like my King is smitten by her."

    Calhoun moved his hand towards his head, pushing his?hair from the front to move it back, "The word doesn''t even cover it."

    He understood what Theo said when it came to the animals that one considered to be adorable. It made a person want to pet it, but there were instincts when the need to squeeze and harm them passed across the mind. Not because they wanted to harm it, but it was the emotions that evoke in one when seeing something like that.

    There were ways through which he could make her agree and turn her obedient, but Calhoun was being patient as it wasn''t the approach he wanted to take, not when it was her. At the same time, it didn''t mean he wouldn''t try them if she continued to defy him.

    Calhoun wasn''t used to being defied, and once he set his eyes on something, he took it for himself. Madeline had a long way to understand where she was, and no matter how much she would try to get away from him, he would never allow it. With an invisible chain tied around her, he would pull her back to him.

 Chapter 62 Anxious nerves- Part 1

    <h4>62 Anxious nerves- Part 1</h4>

    Unlike yesterday, Madeline took a bath and dressed without waiting for the maids to arrive at the door to wake her up. She wasn''tfortable with the maids touching her body and her womanly parts. Maybe it wasmon in the castle for the King and his guests to be waited by the maids to have them bathed and clothed but Madeline came from a poor background who was not used to it.

    When the maid knocked on the door, Madeline stepped forward and opened the door. The maid had a look of surprise on her face. She bowed her head, "Good morning, mdy."

    "Good morning," Madeline didn''t know what she was supposed to do here in the castle. At least back home she had something to work on.

    "The King asked me to inform you that he won''t be able to attend breakfast with you and to take you to the dining room to eat. He said he would be visiting you at noon. Would thedy want to have breakfast now?" asked the maid, her eyes taking in the guest who stood in front of her.

    Yesterday morning the girl had thrown tantrums that she wasn''t going to open the door. It seemed like the King had gotten her on her toes without needing to be told twice.

    "Okay. I will have my breakfast now," Madeline replied to the maid''s question who gave her another bow before leading the way. As they walked, Madeline couldn''t help but ask the maid, "Do you know where the King is?" She was curious.

    "The King had to leave the castle early this morning for work I am unaware of," answered the maid.

    "I see," thought Madeline to herself.

    She had picked up the wrong day to run away from the castle. Only if she could rewind the day and have a run today in the broad-daylight where there would have been fewer chances of her bumping with the wrong people, maybe it would have been much more sessful. But she didn''t want to take any hasty decision right now. Madeline believed that there would be better opportunities presented to her where she would be able to leave this mansion without having the King breathing on her neck likest night.

    "What''s your name?" she asked the maid.

    "Agnes, mdy," the girl was young and she wasn''t the head maid who she had met yesterday. Madeline offered the girl a smile to have a smile returned back, turning the maid to appear less stoic.

    As if sensing thedy''s mood, the maid pressed her lips before taking the liberty to talk to thedy, "They are very curious."

    Madeline turned her brown eyes to meet the maid, Agnes'' ck eyes, "Curious?"

    Did everyone hear about her yesterday''s escape? She wondered if the servants thought if she was crazy to escape from the castle. She saw the maid make sure that there was no one to hear near them, before saying,

    "The King has never allowed anyone to stay in the same quarters as him. The servants have been curious to see who it is," answered the maid before she bowed her head as if she made a mistake, "Pardon me for speaking out of line. Please don''t tell the King I said this!" There was fear in the maid''s ck eyes.

    "I won''t," Madeline assured the maid who looked worried for the slip of her words, "You don''t have to worry about it."

    "Thank you," the maid bowed her head a couple more times and Madeline wished she didn''t do it. The maid like the rest of them had been curious when the King had ordered the head maid, Nic to lead the girl to a room near to his.

    When they reached the dining room, Madeline was somewhat relieved that she was the only person in here except for Agnes. With Calhoun being busy, she didn''t have to worry about him feeding or touching her. Having him near her was not good for her health because every time he looked at her, she could feel the jitter in her nerves. But that wasn''t all.

    It was as if he didn''t have to touch but his words and the way he looked at her was enough for her to break under pressure.

    After she was done eating breakfast in peace, Madeline decided to walk in the castle instead of cooping herself in the room. When she started to walk, the maid started to follow her and Madeline said, "You don''t have to follow me, Agnes. I will find my way in the castle."

    The maid replied to this, "The King asked me to keep youpany and not let you out of sight so that you don''t run away again."

    Hearing this, Madeline''s face turned red. So the maid was following to keep an eye on her. Had Calhoun told this to everyone? "When did the King ask you to do it?" she asked him.

    "He had all the servants present in the court this morning. Telling us no one is supposed to try befriending you or helping you in things that have not been mentioned by him. Anyone who will help you will be punished."

    Madeline didn''t like being tailed by the maid. She needed some space to breathe instead of having a maid follow her wherever she went but it was impossible to get rid of the maid who was following her when the order was given directly by the King. After an hour of following, Madeline finally said,

    "I am feeling very thirsty. Could you fetch me a ss of water?" asked Madeline in a polite tone.

    Agnes was quick to nod her head as it was something thedy had requested for, "I will be back in two minutes, mdy," said the girl to leave her alone in the corridor.

    Madeline took this opportunity to move to the next corridor, her footsteps this time quicker so that she could move to the other side of the castle. It would have been a different matter if Calhoun had asked the maids to be nice to her but instead, he had ordered them to not befriend her. Was he nning to iste her from the rest of the world?

    While she was still walking and admiring the castle even though she didn''t want to live here, suddenly she felt someone close her mouth and was dragged her into the next room.

 Chapter 63 Anxious nerves- Part 2

    <h4>63 Anxious nerves- Part 2</h4>

    His hands released her and Madeline turned around with a deep frown until she saw who it was, "Mr. Heathcliff?" came the surprised voice of Madeline.

    What was he doing here?! She looked at the door to see that it had been pushed close to avoid anyone from looking in.

    "Miss Harris," Mr. Heathcliff bowed his head, and when a smile came upon his lips, Madeline smiled back at him. She was happy to see Mr. Heathcliff. The man she had admired for months, who had promised to spend time with her was standing right in front of her. Somewhere her heart ached.

    It had been less than a week since she hadst met him at his shop but spending time in the castle felt like an eternity had passed since she hadst seen him. But from the time of the Hallow, Calhoun had made sure to invade her mind and thoughts until now. And at the thought of Calhoun, Madeline gulped to ask,

    "What are you doing here?" she asked him, her eyebrows furrowing while looking at James'' handsome face. He had dressed like one of the men she had seen in the courtroom talking to Calhoun.

    "I came here for you," answered the man, taking one step forward towards her while Madeline took one step back. Mr. Heathcliff gave her a puzzled look.

    "You should not be here," she whispered in worry. If Calhoun were even to hear a whisper about James being here, James would not step out of the castle grounds in one piece, and she didn''t want that happening to this man.

    James could see Madeline was concerned for him, and he took steps forward, taking her hand in his, "You don''t have to worry about me. You don''t have to feel alone when I am here."

    Madeline appreciated his words more than anything as he felt like a ray of hope where she would be able to leave this ce, but King Calhoun was not a person to let her go that easily. The man would behead James without blinking his eyes. When her mother had mentioned about James in front of Calhoun, he had lowly threatened about James''s head that would be stuck on a spear and the image itself had made Madeline worry for James'' life.

    "You don''t understand!" Madeline replied, shaking her head, "If the King finds out you are here, he will kill you," she whispered at the end.

    James squeezed her hands together, "Are you not happy to see me here?"

    "I am more than happy to see you here, Mr. Heathcliff, but you don''t know the King. You haven''t met him!" Did James think this was a typical brawl for love and attention that the King would let him off without harming him? "How did you enter the castle?" she asked him, looking at the door that was now closed before her eyes fell on James.

    Madeline had a mixture of emotions running in her mind right now. The thought of himing here to meet her brought joy to her lonely heart. She was happy to see James here who hade to see her, but at the same time, she was scared if one of the servants would find them here in the room. Not to forget, one of the maids would be now looking for her.

    "After I read your letter, I decided toe to meet you as soon as I could," said James, before letting go of her hands, "Even though you said nothing abouting here, I felt it is what you wanted but couldn''t tell it."

    "Letter?" Madeline asked, slightly confused.

    James nodded his head, "Yes. Beth was kind enough to deliver your letter as soon as she could. If I didn''t get it, I would have never known what situation you are in. Frankly, I was a little surprised but thankful that your sister delivered it to me because there were times I felt that she was..." he paused trying to let the silence fill the sentence before saying, "Trying to gain my attention and affection but I guess I was wrong."

    While James was talking about it, the only thing Madeline could think was that she had not written any letter to him. There was no way James would have known she was here unless someone told him about it. Did Beth write a letter to him in her name?

    "Um, could you tell me what was written in there? I just seem to have forgotten about it," said Madeline with an awkward smile on her face.

    James didn''t question her request and recollected some of the contents that she had written to him,

    "You mentioned how you were being forced to stay here against your wishes and asking me not to worry about you." Madeline pondered over his words. Why did Beth write a letter to him? James said he felt that Beth was trying to gain his attention, but with what she knew, Beth didn''t think too highly about him. Not to forget, her elder sister knew the feelings she held for Mr. Heathcliff in her heart. Therefore Madeline could only conclude that Beth was only teasing and she hadn''t meant any harm in the past.

    "What''s the matter?" he asked her.

    Madeline shook her head, "Nothing."

    She looked startled when James moved closer to her, and she blushed over their closeness, "I am sorry that you had to spend these two days here. I like you Madeline, and I know you do too. Don''t be sad," he ced his hand on her shoulder forfort.

    Madeline could see the reflection of herself in his clear eyes. James had always been polite and was a gentleman when he used to talk to her or anyone in that regard.

    At the same time, she heard the sound of the carriage. She let go of her hand that was on James'' hand, and he let go of her shoulder. Her head turned, and she walked towards the windows, not realizing which part or side of the castle she had been standing in. The room both she and James were in was the room that came before the courtroom, and she suddenly turned afraid as the person who stepped out of the carriage was none other than the King himself.

    Calhoun had returned to the castle.

 Chapter 64 Beating heart- Part 1

    <h4>64 Beating heart- Part 1</h4>

    "What happened?" asked James with a slightly confused look on his face as to why she looked like she saw a ghost now. Since months, James had been trying to court the young maiden, and it was only now that they were alone. They had almost had a moment together, but Madeline had moved away from him to see what was outside the window.

    James had fallen for Madeline the first time when they had crashed against each other as she was in a hurry, carrying vegetables in her arms. She had apologized profusely before leaving.

    "You need to leave now, James," Madeline informed him to have him look at her with a frown.

    "Why? I am not leaving this castle without you," he informed her and Madeline looked at him rmed.

    "I cannot leave the castle without the King''s permission." And even if she were going to leave, she would leave alone without putting James life in trouble. But James didn''t move from where he stood. Madeline walked towards him and said, "The King has already threatened that if I leave without his consent, it will cause trouble to my family."

    She didn''t mention the part where the King had spoken about James head being on the sphere. Calhoun had threatened her, and she doubted he would cause immediate harm to her family, especially when he knew how dear they were to her. But then this was Calhoun, would he consider it? He could take advantage of her weakness.

    "I will talk to him," dered James who had not met Calhoun. Madeline didn''t wish for him to meet the King. Right now to Calhoun, James was just a mere idea in his head. She didn''t want James to fall under the King''s eyes, at least that is what Madeline wanted not knowing that Calhoun had already seen James during the time of the Hallow.

    Madeline shook her head, but James said, "He cannote in between two people who like each other. He cannot force you against your wishes. A King has to be fair with the way he deals with things. Surely he will understand my words and will let you go."

    "No!" Madeline whispered to him when she noticed footsteps on the other side of the door.

    Time was ticking and with every second Calhoun was possibly getting closer to the courtroom unless he decided to ask the servants where she was. Madeline had slipped past the maid to end up here. This was not good!

    "Don''t you want to go back home?" questioned James.

    "Of course, I do, but I cannot right now. If we do, he will-"

    Madeline knew that the longer she stayed here in this room with James, the probability of them being caught by someone was going to be more. Her eyes kept darting from James to the door in worry. She then said,

    "I wish I coulde with you now, but right now," she shook her head sadly, "Right now is not the time. I don''t mean to turn you down, but the King is not someone to be messed with, and I say this after living in this castle for a short time. I am thankful and happy to see you, but I need you to leave right now."

    James'' lips were set in a thin line at Madeline''s pleading request. She looked distressed with every second that passed by.?After a few seconds, he asked, "Has he done anything to you? You can tell me, Madeline. I will make sure he pays for it. Has he?"

    "No."

    Madeline shook her head, ignoring the times when Calhoun had brushed the side of her lips with his thumb and had bandaged her leg. She was worried that speaking about it would only make James stay here with her longer.

    James then stepped forward to hold both of her hands in his that had turned cold, "I will revisit you. With a better n." Madeline didn''t say no, nor did she say yes because her heart was torn in wanting to leave the castle right this instant and at the same time, she didn''t want to be the cause of James being hurt. Noticing her silence, James squeezed her hands, "Please feel free to tell me anything. I will take you away from here. I promise."

    He then moved towards the door.

    Before opening the door, he turned to see Madeline''s innocent face that looked anxious. He offered a smile of encouragement, and Madeline returned it, a small smileing to form on her lips which disappeared the moment he left the room. Alone in the room, Madeline felt her body turn weak, and she staggered two steps back, her eyes moist and her lips pressed together.

    Now that James left, she wondered why she didn''t take the opportunity to go with him. Was the King shameless enough to keep her here, if she openly dered that she wanted to be with another man?

    Maybe this was her chance of getting out, thought Madeline to herself.

    She quickly made her way towards the door, pulling it open, she immediately started to run in the way she had walked in earlier. Knowing the direction of where the entrance was, she took a turn to only stop when she noticed Calhoun''s right-hand man, Theodore standing in front of her.

    She felt her heart leap in her chest at the sight of the man. Her heart started to beat loudly in her chest to hear Theodore say,

    "If I were you, I wouldn''t chase after the man, Lady Madeline," he bowed his head to her in respect before lifting it to look at her, pushing the sses that he wore up to the bridge of his nose.

    She saw James who was getting farther and farther away while she stood with the vampire who was loyal to the King, "I was...."

    "I know. I won''t mention about this to the King knowing it would upset him, but if you chase after the man, I will need to inform him about it," Theodore''s words were still polite, only because the woman was dear to Calhoun, "The King has reached the courtroom and will be expecting you by his side. Shall we?"

    It wasn''t a request and she knew it. Her heart felt like it was sinking in her chest with the distance that grew between her and James who was leaving towards the entrance of the castle.

    Madeline had to tear her gaze away from James'' back before following Theodore to the courtroom. As expected, Calhoun was already sitting on his throne with his legs crossed and listening to one of the men speak about the dire situation where the humans were rioting over the death of a man.

    When she stepped into the courtroom, Calhoun''s attention was shifted from the man to look at the girl who had dressed up quite nicely today. She was a girl who stood out in his eyes. Ignoring the man, Calhoun locked eyes with Madeline whose eyes looked slightly dted and her heart was beating fast.

    "I was expecting you to greet me when I returned. Where were you?" demanded Calhoun with his dark eyes not moving away from Madeline even for a second.

    "I was in the castle," Madeline replied, willing her heart to be quiet.

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed at her words and he stood up from his throne, stepping down to stand in front of her. He could hear her heart running faster than before.

    "Why is your heart beating so loud then? Did you try to make another run?" Calhoun lightly joked yet there was the burning question if she did, as he looked at her lower her eyes on the ground. He then asked,

    "Or was it something else?"

 Chapter 65 Beating heart- Part 2

    <h4>65 Beating heart- Part 2</h4>

    Answer him! Madeline told herself, but her mind was feeling dizzy with the thought that Theodore had caught her chasing James before his intervention.

    "I was walking in the castle and thought I saw something," she responded to his question.

    Calhoun stared at her, and she could only hope that he wouldn''t find out about Jamesing here, "What did you see?" he asked her. On the King''s question, the man in the court who was earlier talking stopped talking for the courtroom to turn quiet.

    She should have known that it would be his next question to be asked, and she wondered what could be the most believable lie. She then answered, "It was a spider."

    "A spider got your heart racing?" Calhoun raised his eyebrow at her, "I wish I was the spider," and he then turned to look over his shoulder to speak to the man, "Who asked you to stop talking?" The man bowed his head and continued to talk about the matter he hade here, for the other people in the court to listen. The King turned his head to look back at Madeline.

    "When you are scared about something, doesn''t it get your heart racing?" Madeline chose her words to question him back so that he wouldn''t ask too many questions.

    Calhoun''s eyes assessed her expression before he said, "I am not sure about that. I have never been scared to have my heart racing, not that I remember." Of course, thought Madeline to herself. He wasn''t the one to get scared because he was the one to instil fear in a person, "Wasn''t the maid with you?"

    "I asked her to get a ss of water for me."

    "The spider must have found it to be a convenient time to crawl into your space," hummed Calhoun and the little gulp of Madeline had Calhoun stare at her, "Did you miss me?"

    How was she supposed to answer the truth without offending him? The look in his eyes told her how he was enjoying asking her question in front of everyone. She had to remember that this wasn''t any man but the King, who could by one word of his change the life of a person- for better or worse. Madeline wanted to leave this castle, and this man was speaking about her missing him?

    Even though the man in the courtroom was talking to other men about the death in the vige and the disputes, Calhoun''s attention was held by the human who was now looking at him with her brown eyes, "I don''t know," she answered, being vague.

    Madeline turned pale on that question, and she wasn''t sure if Theodore was going to let Calhoun know what he saw. Theodore bowed his head, "The files were ced in your study."

    She turned around to look at Theodore, who was looking at Calhoun without looking at her. She didn''t know for how long Theodore would keep it a secret because he was closer to Calhoun. It made her question why he didn''t reveal about James being in the castle. The maid who named Agnes came to lead her out of the room, and Madeline left.

    When she was out of the courtroom, Madeline felt the heavy atmosphere being lifted from her shoulders. Her knees were about to give away with the pressure and fear she had felt in there.?Her heart felt heavy at the thought that James was here, yet she couldn''t leave the mansion with him. She wouldn''t have been able to leave from here, not with the guards searching the carriages.

    "Mdy, I was looking all over for you, but you weren''t there," said the maid with a confused look as if she had got back to the wrong corridor which wasn''t the ce where she had left thedy.

    "Pardon me, I think I got sidetracked," Madeline apologised.

    "That''s alright, mdy," responded the maid before asking, "Would you want me to get you a ss of water?"

    "No, that won''t be necessary." With Calhoun in the castle, there was no point in her getting away from him because he would find her.

    Once they reached the high tower, the maid took leave from there, leaving Madeline alone and she looked at the gallery that had many more paintings than some walls of the castle. There were paintings ofndscapes, people, buildings. There were some paintings that belonged to the old viges which made her take a step forward to take a closer look at it. It seemed out of ce, yet it felt something she could connect to. The paint on it looked like it was made of oil as some parts had a shine.

    She started to move to the next painting, her feet taking slow steps until she found a canvas that was ced the other way round. She walked around and her eyes fell on the painting, and she gulped.

    It was a girl whose blonde hair was sprawled on the pillow as if she wereid on a bed, her eyes that were half-open looking to the side with her lips parted. There was only a crumpled looking sheet that covered her body until her chest that left her shoulders bare for view.

    The girl was no one but her.

    She didn''t have to know who had painted her.

    "Beautiful, isn''t she?" came Calhoun''s voice next to her, making her jump in shock as she had not expected him this soon.

    Madeline took a step back to get away from him not noticing the cans of paint that were near her leg and when she did, she tried to avoid it. Instead, she ended up knocking the canvas and lost the bnce of her footing to almost fall down. If it wasn''t for Calhoun''s arm that went around her waist to stop her falling down along with the canvas and the stand.

    The objects fell with a crash on the ground. Madeline had knocked a small can of oil on the ground before which was the reason she had missed her footing.

    Her heart started to beat faster out of the sudden course of events that took ce in seconds and she heard Calhoun say, "When you do things you are not supposed to, that is one of the times when your heart beats because the person is scared."

    Madeline didn''t know what exactly he was trying to insinuate but when she tried to get away from him that only made his hold tighter around her waist.

    One side of his lips pulled up and he said, "You keep trying to get away from me to only get back in my arms."

 Chapter 66 Paints- Part 1

    <h4>66 Paints- Part 1</h4>

    Time period: 14th-15th century (Some facts have been bent to fit into story).

    .

    Madeline''s already wide eyes stared back at Calhoun, and she pushed his chest with her hands to get away, which he didn''t. He watched her trying to get away from him, but he was having too much fun seeing her struggle. After a minute, it seemed like she finally understood that her struggle was futile against his hold.

    "You knocked the canvas, paints and oil. Do you know how much they cost?" he asked before letting her go.

    "I am sorry about the paints," she apologised, bowing her head as it wasn''t her intention to create a mess here.

    She rubbed her arms, her eyes looking down at the things she had indeed knocked. The red paint was spilt on the ground. She walked forward to pick up the canvas thatid on the ground to set it back up the way it was before, but when she tried it, the wooden stand didn''t stand still and continued to fall. She felt Calhoun step forward, who swatted her hand away from the stand and in a second, he had got the stand to sit firmly on the ground along with the canvas.

    Feeling awkward for the mess that was created, Madeline picked up the brushes that had ttered down, bringing it to be ced at the side of the stand.

    "You don''t listen, do you?" asked Calhoun, his voice deep and Madeline took a step back for him to move around the canvas.

    "I didn''t mean to knock them down," she whispered.

    "Of course, you didn''t," he gave her a look like he knew better before saying, "You got some paint sshed on the canvas. How are you going to fix it?" he asked her.

    Madeline frowned, taking a look at the canvas to see spots of red that were on her face. She didn''t understand how the canvas caught paint when it was the paint that fell first on the ground. Not able to keep quiet, she said, "The paint shouldn''t have been there."

    "Are you suggesting that I was the one who found time to sprinkle paint on the art I created?" The smile on Calhoun''s lips was long gone since the time he had let her go from his arms. She didn''t know what to say to this, her eyes taking in the paints before she said,

    "Maybe this is the way of God telling you, you shouldn''t paint things like these," she said to him, heart skipping a beat when he took a step forward towards her.

    "Things like what?" he looked at her curiously waiting to hear her answer. His eyes moved to look at her lips and then to her eyes. Madeline knew that Calhoun knew what she was speaking about but instead, he wanted to hear it from her lips, "There are so many paintings in here, Maddie. Which one are you talking about?"

    She clutched her hands and then replied to his question, "The one where you have painted me."

    Madeline didn''t know how to feel with her face painted in the canvas not by anyone but by Calhoun who was now looking at her with a smouldering gaze. It was the way he had painted her, the thought of her half-asleep with hair sprawled and only a sheet covering her body insinuated the ideas he had in his mind.

    "Tell me," he pressed for an answer from her.

    Madeline dropped her gaze from him, not looking at his art but instead at the mess she had created on the floor, "T-the one with me like that."

    "Like how?" he asked in an oblivious tone, and she knew he was enjoying looking at her squirm, "You ruined my art and I will need to redo it, but I think I have something else on my mind to punish you for spoiling my art."

    Her eyes widened at his words, and she said, "I didn''t do anything. You cannot punish me for something I didn''t mean to do."

    "You didn''t mean to step away?" he questioned her, his red eyes piercing her.

    "I thought you needed some space," blurted Madeline and Calhoun''s eyes narrowed that she was easily cing the me on him as if she had his best interest and he knew Madeline''s thoughts were far from it.

    "Really?" he asked, the word dripping with sarcasm.

    Both Madeline and Calhoun knew that he didn''t need space when he was the one to conquer one''s space without letting anyone breath without hismand, "The punishment still stands," he reminded her. Before she had the opportunity to talk about it, he said "You need to know how to be around the King. Disobeying my words by running away, not getting ready by throwing a tantrum at the head maid,ing here to stter paint."

    Madeline wondered if the head maid had reported about how naive she was for locking herself in the room until Calhoun himself had arrived. He walked towards the other side of the room, pouring a ss of water when he said,

    "I met the maid on my way here. She mentioned you weren''t there in the corridor when she went to get you a ss of water," turning, he walked back towards her and offered her the ss of water, "Drink. Thought you would be thirsty as I doubt you were busy with the spider."

    Hearing this, Madeline started to feel hot because of the tension. She didn''t know if Theodore had told Calhoun about seeing James today.?But did Calhoun know?

    Did he know that James was here? Because the way he was looking at her right now, testing her, it would be good enough to guess that Calhoun had a faint idea that something was up and he was waiting for her to break down and confess to him.

    Her hands reached out for the ss of water, murmuring a thank you so that he didn''t find another reason to have her kiss his hand for not appreciating his kindness.

    As she gulped the water, she could feel his eyes on her, and she drank the water as slow as she could, hoping he would look away, but she should have known better than this, that this was the King, Calhoun Hawthrone she was dealing with. She drank until thest drop of the water when she heard Calhoun say to her,

    "Looks like you are very thirsty after the short run," and Madeline''s face turned slightly pale, "Or are you going to say it was the spider that made you thirsty?" his eyes continued to stare at her.

    .

 Chapter 67 Paints- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 67 Paints- Part 2</h4>

    Every word that came from Calhoun''s mouth made her question and doubted if he found out about her meeting with another man who she shared a liking towards. If James was not going to show up in the castle again, it meant he was going to be safe. At least that is what she wanted to believe for now because she couldn''t stop worrying- especially with the words that were leaving Calhoun''s lips.

    He took the empty ss from her hand and asked, "More?" and she shook her head.

    "No," she answered to see him ce the ss on the table.

    "You should feel fortunate that the King takes such good care of you. Not everyone gets a ss of water to drink that is poured by the King," stated Calhoun, walking back to her, and Madeline stood where she was as if her feet were glued to the ground. Was his hand made of ss that he was speaking like that? thought Madeline to herself. She knew the value of the King who held the crown on his head, "What do you think about it?" he asked, poking at her.

    "Very fortunate, my King," she bowed her head.

    Calhoun said, "I sense zero sincerity in those words of yours," and Madeline bit the inside of her lips to stop herself frommenting something she was not supposed to, "Have you ever painted before?"

    She saw him walk towards one of the paintings, and when he looked at her over his shoulder, Madeline was quick to walk to where he was. Standing not next to him, but one step behind to look at the painting which she hadn''t found time to look at before as she had been interrupted.

    "I was never given the opportunity to paint, my King," she had seen some of the paintings in the church that she often liked to sit down and admire, looking at the different bursts of colours that were put into a single frame.

    Calhoun moved his eyes towards the girl who stood next to him, and he took a step back so that he could admire her better. Her features were dainty, her body petite but having the right amount of curves where it was needed. But it was those brown eyes that had his attention. Even during the day of the Hallow, he had seen her staring at the paintings and walking past one after another that had led her away from the crowd and to him. He could tell that she was fascinated by the art that was put up in the castle.

    She tore her gaze away from the frame that was in front of them to look at him, "Are all these done by you?"

    "Hmm," he hummed in response.

    <i></i>

    "All?" Madeline asked in doubt.

    "No, I stole them from an artist," he deadpanned at her, and she gave him an awkward smile.

    It was just surprising that Calhoun had drawn more than just thendscapes because there were viges and the people in there like the paintings that were of the local market, "They are beautiful," she praised. He stared at her as if he weren''t expecting her topliment his artistic skill.

    Madeline noticed Calhoun''s gaze on her, and she went to look at his paintings, seeing the little details while wondering how Calhoun had captured everything in a piece of canvas delicately. It was hard to believe that the King would have stepped in any ce that was crowded, which was possibly considered to be filthy by the rich men.

    She then carefully shifted her eyes to see the man who was still looking at her. When their eyes met, she heard him say,

    "I want to paint you."

    If Madeline were drinking water at the time when he said this, she would have sttered the water out of her mouth, but luckily she wasn''t, and she gulped.

    "What?" she asked, unsure if she heard him right.

    Calhoun said, "You ruined one of my paintings because of your careless legs and hands, bumping into one. It is only right you repay me with what is lost," he looked serious, his dark red eyes locking on her.

    Madeline frowned, "It was a mistake." Was he seriously expecting her toy down as in the painting to turn herself into his muse? He had already gone far enough by painting her in such a state that she couldn''t even speak to someone about it as it was already too mortifying.

    "Do you think I am someone on the street that you can bump into and say sorry, Maddie?" asked Calhoun. She sure knew he wasn''t any man but wasn''t this going too far? He then stepped closer to her, "The night I met you, I could not get you out of my head. I wanted to see you the same night, but I knew you needed to sleep and dream about me."

    Hearing this, Madeline''s eyes widened. His words were nothing but to tease her but seeing her expression, a crooked smile appeared on his lips, "You dreamt about me," he sounded happy, but only Madeline knew that she had woken up with sweat on her forehead.

    "I didn''t," she denied not wanting to feed his ego or fantasy.

    "You''re not a good liar," he tsked and then continued to say, "I didn''t want to steal you right away, so I came here and captured you in the painting. It took me quite some time to finish it and look what you did now."

    "I am here now," she whispered. Her honest, yet innocent answer made Calhoun want to drag her to his room and do things he had wanted to do to her.

    Calhoun then raised his hand towards her hair. For a moment, Madeline was worried, and she closed her eyes until she felt him pull a piece of her blonde hair in between his fingers, to feel the length and softness of it. She then opened her eyes to hear him say,

    "Yes, you are here, but that doesn''t mean I don''t want to..." he left his words hanging in the air for her to fill, a wicked grin appearing on his handsome face.

 Chapter 68 Big bad wolf- Part 1

    <h4>68 Big bad wolf- Part 1</h4>

    Hoping to shift his mind from having to paint her, she asked, "Does this painting have an origin?"

    Calhoun had ced his hands in his pockets, "It is one of the viges that belong to Wiltshire. An old vige that has not been remodelled or retouched. The oldest of the old."

    Madeline''s eyes moved back to look at the painting which mostly made use of dark colours. It looked simr to the market that was there in her vige, but this one had a peculiar feel to it as if it was mncholic. It looked like Calhoun was not just a shameless man but had talent when it came to painting.

    Calhoun had not mentioned about the spider or James anymore. Therefore, Madeline decided to rx and not to worry about it for now. She wondered how things would go if James met the King and asked to take Madeline along with him.

    "What are you thinking?"

    "Nothing," came the quick answer from Madeline''s lips.

    She saw Calhoune in her view and turn around with his back against the wall so that he could face her, "Your lies are too easy to catch, Maddie. Have you decided to add more than one punishment on your te? Who knew you would be willing to do things that I want to do to you."

    "I didn''t mean to knock the painting down," Madeline didn''t know how many times she would have to tell him to let it go, but so far her words had turned deaf to his ears.

    "How do I know that?" he asked with a straight face, "You didn''t want me to keep the painting and wanted to tarnish it."

    "You know that is not true. You are twisting the situation to your advantage-" she stopped talking when he pushed himself from the wall, "It is not fair."

    "Nothing is fair in this world," Calhoun responded. Madeline felt like a skittish kitten that was scared even if Calhoun breathed that would be enough to send her sprinting from this room. But the question was how far she would be able to run before being caught. Thest time she had done it, she was stranded in the middle of the forest, "What did I say about being careful around me? It is not just me, but you should be careful with other people in or outside the castle. Friends can turn to foes and foes to friends unless you have something to offer. Do you understand that, my sweet girl?"

    Madeline couldn''t help but ponder over the words he said to her.

    "Why do you say that?" she asked him. Her question was vague, but Calhoun didn''t have to know what she was referring to.

    Hearing the question back on the spider was enough for her to turn pale, but Madeline was too adamant about protecting James, and she didn''t break eye contact with the King as if she had not lied.

    Madeline, who had been wondering why Theodore had helped her, didn''t know that the King was a sharp and clever man while being cunning in his ways of getting things done. Theodore didn''t bother to mention it because Madeline''s racing heart had already indicated that something was up; therefore, he didn''t see any reason on why he had to involve himself unless the King asked about it.

    She didn''t know why her sister Beth would try to write a letter in her name and instigate it for James toe and meet her with the thought that the King would let her go if James asked him as if she was a flower from the garden. But James didn''t know that Madeline wasn''t any flower in the King''s castle. She was the flower Calhoun had handpicked to bring it to his castle.

    He had asked her to be careful, and she would do just that, be cautious with him, "The spider I saw in the corridor?" asked Madeline.

    "Yes, unless you know more than one spider here," came the sarcastic remark from Calhoun.

    Fooling ayperson was already hard enough, and now James life depended on how well she could lie to the King. But with the way Calhoun was looking at her, waiting for her toe out with the lie, she didn''t know how far it would work. Wasn''t lying to the King also considered to be treason? Asked Madeline to herself.

    She felt she was stuck between two walls.

    "It just surprised me. I wasn''t expecting the spider to be present in the castle," answered Madeline as she referred to James as the non-existent spider.?If Calhoun were truly good at detecting the lies, he would find at least half of what she was saying to be true.

    She saw Calhoun raise his hand to his front, checking his nails and the sharpness of it, "That is not what I heard from someone," he stated, and Madeline felt the blood drain from her face. Theodore had told him! His eyes shifted from his nails to look at her.

    She swallowed her nervousness before blurting, "I didn''t do anything. I didn''t even know he was going to show up here. He just came here to deliver-"

    "Clothes?" Calhoun''s eyes turned dark.

    The truth was no one had told him anything and he was only poking at her to see if there was truly a spider. One simple lie to bring the truth out of her lips. It seemed that his suspect was on point and he didn''t have to search far to know who this ''he'' was. When Calhoun had asked Theodore to get information about Madeline he had also found out who the man was, who had kissed her hand in the lonely corridor. It was the same man who Madeline imed to have feelings for.

    Madeline looked more than pale, fear coursing through her veins. She should have known that the King''s right-hand man was loyal to the King and would not hide anything from him. Her legs that were covered with the skirt that she wore shook nervously.

    Calhoun then stepped forward towards her, his hand reaching to catch hold of her lower face.

    "What a brave woman you are, Madeline. To lie to the King," Calhounmended her with his sarcastic words. He then let go of her face. Right now Calhoun''s eyes looked furious. Madeline''s heart was beating wildly and she could barely think after being caught,

    "What was he doing here? Came to rescue the princess from the big bad wolf?"

 Chapter 69 Big bad wolf- Part 2

    <h4>69 Big bad wolf- Part 2</h4>

    "What was he doing here?" demanded Calhoun.

    "I-I don''t know. H-he must have seen me walking here and stopped by. I d-didn''t expect to see him here. He said he came here for delivering the clothes," she exined to him because it was the truth that she didn''t expect to meet James.

    Madeline didn''t want to let Calhoun know that James hade here for her. To take her back to the vige which he had initially nned by speaking to the King but then he had decided toe back again some other day. With the way Calhoun''s dark red eyes were fixed on her, she wished she could faint because she was in a stuttering mess and she didn''t know how to deal with this man standing right in front of her now.

    Calhoun continued to re down at her, hearing her heart beat in her chest, "I warned you not to lie, but the first thing when we met today you lied to me. Did you do something you were not supposed to do?" he questioned her.

    She quickly shook her head, but Calhoun didn''t let her out of his sight and kept her where he wanted her.

    "Why lie then? A person lies only when they want to hide something," his eyes moved across her face and then travelled to look at her neck before going back to her brown eyes, "I just find it too convenient that the man appeared to talk to you when you asked the maid to get water. Was it your parents who intimated him about you being here?"

    "No, it wasn''t them," her parents had nothing to do with it.

    "Then how did hee here, searching for you? A mere tailor man has ess only to the front of the castle and not inside the heart of the castle. Are you going to deny that you both didn''t meet alone? Did he hug you?" The ball of anxiousness in her chest was growing, and she shook her head, "I need words here, my sweet girl. Did he hug you?" he repeated his question.

    "No, he didn''t," Madeline prayed, hoping he wouldn''t find anything more than what he knew. All that had happened was, James had held her hands in his, but she wasn''t going to let Calhoun know about it.

    "Did he kiss you?" demanded Calhoun.

    Her eyes widened by his question, and she answered, "He didn''t."

    And even though Madeline imed nothing happened between her and the man, Calhoun was not pleased with how she had lied. He held a look of disappointment on his face. He tilted his head, "Don''t let any man kiss or touch you," his voice was low as he decreed her.

    Madeline wanted to retaliate to tell him she wasn''t his, but his eyes looked at her warningly. Trying to fix the damage she confessed by bowing her head,

    "I apologise for it. I thought you would be angry by his presence-"

    "W-what?" Madeline took a staggering step behind, but Calhoun didn''t follow her.

    "Let''s add everything up, shall we?" this time Calhoun smiled, a wicked emotion lurking behind his eyes. He brought his hand forward and showed his thumb to say, "Disobedience in listening to the King. You ran away from the castle-"

    "You lied to me about the entrance and exit of the maze. You implied that there was a separate exit," said Madeline, defending herself because the King appeared to be happy enough to list out her mistakes without considering the lie he told her.

    "I did?" asked Calhoun with an oblivious look on his face, "I don''t think I ever told that. You should have known better than taking up the deal without verifying what you were getting into. It was foolish not to do it. Don''t me it on me," he tsked, his lips twisted. He then pulled out his index finger to say, "Interrupting the King without waiting for your turn. Rude."

    Hearing him speak, Madeline clenched her teeth together, "You cannot y fair like this by pulling out my mistakes-"

    "So you agree you have been at fault. d to know that you acknowledge them. If you didn''t I would have had to add it as the third in the list," Calhoun smiled at her and Madeline wished she could take one of the closest painting to throw it at him. He then pulled out the third finger, "Lying, treason caused towards the King," her heart sank in her chest, "Four. Youe to the gallery and cause the mishap."

    She stared back at him, "No matter what I say, you will never consider it."

    "Did you give me a reason to believe you?"

    "Neither did you," she responded.

    "Touche. How clever of you to be ying that card but don''t forget that you were the one who ran away from the castle. You could have stayed back and told me that I lied, but you chose to run away," his lips twisted when Madeline said,

    "You never had the intention to let me go and yed your lies to me it on me-"

    "Careful, Madeline," Calhoun scowled at her, "Do you know what happens to the person who stands against the King? They first get thrown in a cell which has dirt and where rats and other animals crawl. Then the person is sent to execution. Is that what you are aiming for? Just because I have favourites, doesn''t mean I won''t do it."

 Chapter 70 I see you- Part 1

    <h4>70 I see you- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline didn''t know what he had on his mind. She felt trapped by his words and actions. She told herself not to be scared and not to show fear. She had heard how the night creatures lived on the fear of the people who were beneath them. Though most of the things he had listed out had been true, but not everything was right. She had never meant to cause trouble in here by knocking things around, but the King had twisted the situation to his advantage, and maybe this was a lesson she had to learn.

    She had to be extremely careful while dealing with Calhoun as he wasn''t anyone but the King of thisnd who was clever with his words. If she wasn''t careful with her words, the man would only twist them and make her feel guilty.

    Somewhere her mind said he was right that she could have stayed near the maze and called out his bluff, but she had been upset over his lie and deceit because it only showed that he would never let her go and yes, she was foolish to believe him. To think that he would offer her, her freedom which belonged to her and not to him.

    "Does your conscience ever say anything to you?" she questioned him, a question that was bold and something no one would dare to ask the King. And Calhoun didn''t mind it, she could see it in his eyes.

    She had thought of doing things that would irk him enough to have him let her go. But if she continued to defy him, it would lead to situations like these, like the one right now.

    Calhoun stepped one step closer to her, his eyes looking down at her in a challenge where he could see the spark in her eyes, "You take the liberty to speak to me knowing I will not hurt you the way I hurt others, but that doesn''t mean I don''t have other means," his voice was low and deep as he said this, "I thought you would be a quiet one, but it is good to see you try to rebel and get away from me. The more you struggle, the more it will make me want to hold you."

    Madeline softly gulped but didn''t tear away from staring at him. She was the prey here who had to watch her footsteps. Staying still was the sanest thing to do that would not have him pull out his fangs from snapping into her neck, which he was yet to do.

    "You twist my words to your benefit. You know I am right," she whispered, her brown eyes silently ring at him.

    Calhoun smiled at her words, his lips twisting into a smile and his tongue swiping across his canines, "You might be right, but that doesn''t mean you are wrong," she gave him a confused look hearing this, "You will understand it in time but right now let''s not waste any more time."

    Even Madeline was tired of iterating the same words of hers to let her go and how it wasn''t her fault. Her efforts would only turn futile, and it made her question that if this was it. Was she supposed to give up? To ept this was her fate, and there was no escape to it?

    She then heard Calhoun say,

    "It wasn''t any painting that you ruined but something that I took a great deal of time and effort. I hope you understand the weight of your actions," Madeline did, and she heard him continued, "Taking ount of your actions since you arrived at the mansion towards the King, as punishment you will be the model, the muse for the painting I make. You will listen to the demands of how it wants to be done."

    Madeline red at him, "What do you mean muse?" She already knew what Calhoun was indicating, and she could only hope it is not what she was thinking it to be.

    "It is exactly as you heard. Don''t worry. You will not have toy down on the bed," the big bad wolf smiled at her, his eyes shining at the sudden paleness of her face.

    "Why are you doing this?" she asked him.

    "You will learn to not lie to me," came his straight forward reply.

    "And I told you, I was scared of what you would do to him," responded Madeline back, her eyes growing anxious, "How do you want me to react and tell that the man I...I have affections for hade here for work when I have seen you behead people."

    Calhoun''s eyes hardened when she spoke about her affections, "They were all done by keeping your best interest. You should be grateful that I haven''t summoned the man back here to run a trial on him and kill him with my bare hands."

    "I will hate you," Madeline''s words were quick, and Calhoun smiled.

    "Yes, you will, but whose fault would that be? Trying to provoke me is not going to end well, sweet girl. I don''t even have to use my hands but frame him and put him on the scaffold. How are you going to say it was me?"

    "You wouldn''t do it."

    "Try me," Calhoun raised his eyebrow, "I am being nice."

    "By tearing me away from my family."

    "Be d that I haven''t done anything more than that."

    Calhoun raised his hand, and she was quick to close her eyes to feel his hand on the side of her head. Her heart had started to run wildly again, which it was doing quite often in his presence. She heard him say, "One of the maids will help you in how I want you to be my muse today," his words were gentler and patient this time, but it didn''t stop her jittering nerves. Her heart shook even though he wasn''t being rude or intimidating with his words, but Madeline knew this was only to coax her.

    Calhoun then stepped back to leave the gallery of paintings with Madeline behind. In less than five minutes, the maid who had been hovering over her since morning appeared in the room.

    "Mdy," the maid named Agnes bowed her head to make her presence known.

    Madeline, who had her back facing the maid closed her eyes. Her hands clenched together before she turned around to look at the maid. There was no point in resisting when things would only get worse. After twenty minutes passed away, Madeline was asked by the maid to sit on the couch which was indirectly instructed by Calhoun. Though Calhoun had said she didn''t have toy on the bed looking as if she had been held in someone''s arms, she didn''t see how her current state was any different.

    She sat with both her legs ced on the couch and her golden blonde hair was left open. Her clothes had been discarded, leaving her only in her petticoat.

 Chapter 71 I see you- Part 2

    <h4>71 I see you- Part 2</h4>

    The couch she was sitting on was cushioned, soft, that sank down when she sat down but no matter howfortable the couch was, she was far from beingfortable where she was half-clothed. The maid didn''t ask or speak to her, she did what she was asked by the King and left Madeline alone in the room. Madeline had turned her body while covering her front with her hands by bringing them forward.

    If one day the wicked King were going to die, it would be because she would have stabbed him, but then that was only in her imagination.

    She then heard the footsteps back in the gallery, and she didn''t turn her gaze to look at Calhoun. Calhoun had merely nced at her before he went towards the wall to pick up another stand and fresh piece of canvas. Positioning the canvas, he started to bring out the paint and the palette, getting them ready.

    "How are you feeling?" she heard Calhoun ask.

    "Mortified and angry," she gritted her teeth, not hiding the difort he had ced her in.

    "That''s good. Next time you try to lie to me, remember this," Calhoun said without looking at her while he stood in one side of the corner of the room mixing the colours.

    Madeline wanted to know if Calhoun ever got punished for his actions and at the same time she had to remind herself that he was the King. The King made and broke the rules. He was the exception to the rules.

    While Calhoun was doing something with the ptes, Madeline continued to sit on the couch unmovingly like a statue. She tried to calm herself. Turning angry would only feed to the twisted mind of the vampire King. To most, her actions would appear to be irrational after all. Girls were often married to the Lords, Dukes, Kings and other men who held a closer seat to the King, therefore, it was nothing new. Women had been getting betrothed for centuries.

    Marriages were often formed to create alliances or for peace which was merely out of love. Girls even younger to her were forced into marrying the men, forced in bed, and thinking this Madeline closed her eyes. She came to realise the difference between those other girls and her was that, they were married to the men immediately while here she was only being held captive, waiting to be married. And as the thought sank in, she tried to think over things, but it didn''t stop her from seeking her freedom that she cherished.

    Calhoun left the pte near the stand and walked towards Madeline, his eyes darker than before, and she didn''t know if it was because of the light coloured shirt he wore that entuated his eyes.

    "Have you painted people before?" asked Madeline, who had been holding her breath before she had to remind herself to breath.

    "I have," he answered her, his hand reaching her ankle and he pulled it so that it stretched across the length of the couch, "Both men and women."

    "Men too?" came out Madeline''s honest question. She couldn''t picture a naked man being painted by Calhoun.

    Calhoun''s eyes met her eyes that was not looking at him, "When ites to art there''s no man or women. But if it helps, men were often drawn with the women," Madeline had only been curious about it, "Are you not ufortable sitting like that?" he questioned her, noticing how she had twisted the top of her body.

    "I am ufortable wearing just a petticoat," she muttered under her breath.

    "If it''s ufortable we can take it off to make you feel morefortable," his words had Madeline''s eyes go wide, and she snapped her head to look at him. When his hand reached close to her shoulder, Madeline was quick to say,

    "I am fine," she didn''t know why she even tried to wiggle her way out.

    She saw how Calhoun smiled. The smile was slow and gradual that made to his lips. His eyes holding mirth in them knowing he had her just where he wanted her- here with him.

    "Let me know if you find something to be ufortable. I will be sure to help it," meaning to make it worse, thought Madeline in her mind, her eyes staring at him and she felt him pull pieces of her hair and push them behind, "Okay?" he asked her, waiting for her reply.

    "Okay," she answered. This was like if she were drowning, she would have to il her arms by herself because asking for help from this person would be like being pushed deep underwater. Calhoun left her side and walked back to the canvas.

    "Rx, Madeline," she heard him say, "I will capture what you will show me, and I will take what you give me," there was promise in his words and Madeline broke her gaze away from him to look away to one of the paintings hanging on the wall. She wanted to re, but at the same time, she didn''t want to look at him.

    Calhoun who stood behind the canvas was tall enough where he didn''t have to step away from it to take a look at Madeline as his eyes could perfectly and clearly see her from where he stood. She looked delectable sitting like that. Painting came like second in nature to him and he was used to people''s naked bodies but with Madeline, it was different. It wasn''t the nakedness that alluring to his eyes but the way she looked right now, trying to cover her modesty which he had seen when he had dressed her before.

    He was used to women showing off their womanly parts, trying to lure him but they were nothing but objects to be drawn. He wondered why even though Madeline was dressed in her petticoat, she appeared to be the most beautiful girl. An art he just didn''t want to capture on his canvas but to capture her in his arms. She looked better than his imagination. Pale skin, red cheeks and pale pink lips that were parted while her eyes had been lowered, she was too perfect in his eyes.

    Madeline didn''t know how long she would have to sit here like this. As Calhoun had pointed earlier, the position she had opted to sit in started to turn one of her legs numb, and her back started to ache, but she didn''tin. Madeline had her own pride! And she wouldn''t admit defeat when it came to Calhoun.

    With the space she and Calhoun shared, she could hear the strokes of the pencil against the canvas.

    Minutes turned and added up to an hour when Madeline had lost count of the time. All the while, she could feel Calhoun''s eyes on her, and neither of them spoke. She sat there on the couch while he continued to draw her. She didn''t know when it happened as her eyes had started to turn drowsy as it felt like hours had passed when in truth only an hour had passed, her body slightly swayed and her eyes finally closed to fall asleep on the couch.

    Calhoun, who had been outlining her with the charcoal, shifted his gaze to look up from the canvas to find the girl asleep on the couch. One hand was ced below the side of her head, and the other hand had moved to ce on the surface of the couch.

    His red eyes stared at her, leaving the canvas he was working behind as he walked to where she was and he sat down to level himself to her. Madeline looked defenceless sleeping on the couch.

    "Are you trying to make me fall for you more?" he asked in a whisper that didn''t reach Madeline as she was asleep.

    Calhoun then stood up, walking back to rece the canvas with a new one. Restarting the art that was in front of his eyes that was precious, which was the girl who was sleeping on the couch.

 Chapter 72 The coat- Part 1

    <h4>72 The coat- Part 1</h4>

    Madeline was the art he could draw thousands of times and would never tire out of it. For someone who kept her guard up since the time she came to know who he was, she right now slept on the couch, defenceless and vulnerable without knowing the dangers of the castle or Calhoun.

    He took his time in drawing every line and curve as the girl continued to sleep in the quiet room. His red eyes moved between the canvas and the girl. Unable to keep his eyes off of her where for once she wasn''t ring at him, he stopped his hand from moving on the canvas. His feet padded on the ground to where she was, the piece of charcoal turning to dust because of the pressure of his fingers. ck pieces of dust fell on the ground.

    Madeline had somehow curled herself on the couch, and it made Calhoun wonder if she had not been sleeping well in the night. It could also be because of the exhausting day, and the thought itself made Calhoun angry. His jaw clenched together at the notion that the man hade here to meet her. He was no fool to believe that it was a coincidence.

    "Were you hoping to leave today with him?" he asked in a whisper, his eyes raking in her sleeping form, "You looked anxious when you met me, what did you do with him? I won''t let anyone take you away from me," said Calhoun.

    When Madeline turned around in sleep to have a much morefortable position to sleep in, the unconscious girl didn''t know she was only enticing the King further with her current state.

    Madeline had moved to sleep with her front facing the ceiling. One hand ced on her stomach and the other that rested on the surface of the couch next to her. The petticoat was not a long one, but of the length that reached just below her knee which now had raised itself to show the palece-like garters around one of her thighs. Her hand that was ced on her stomach pressed the upper part of her petticoat to show the curve and colour of her tips because of the fabric pressing against her body.

    Calhoun''s hand itched, and he clenched, his eyes turning darker than before when his eyes fell on it.

    His anger had not dissipated, not because the man hade here but because of the lie that was uttered to him. He couldn''t let it pass, and it appeared that the girl forgot the point of punishment. He was no kind King.

    "Madeline," he called her name loud enough to have her eyes snapped open from sleep.

    "I didn''t know I asked you to sleep while I was painting you," Calhoun''s words were sharp, his eyes even more intimidating as if he were upset about something, "Did I?" he demanded.

    In haste, she didn''t realise that the petticoat had moved from the top of her shoulder- covering one side until her neck and the other giving a view of her smooth shoulder. When it came to her notice, she was about to make it right, but Calhoun had got to it sooner as he took hold of one end of the petticoat from where her skin started to be seen and he pulled it back in ce.

    Madeline had tried to keep herself awake, but her eyes kept closing, and she decided to close her eyes for a few seconds, but she had fallen asleep in this man''s presence!

    "You must be very stressed. With the maning here and getting caught," Calhoun said, straightening both the sides of the petticoat even and Madeline wished he would let them go, but he didn''t, "This is why they say not to lie ande clean. I should have preferably had you with the bedsheet to paint. It would have kept you awake," he taunted.

    She moved back into the couch she was sitting in to have his hand finally retract to his side. Seeing her still drowsy where she was trying to get her out of sleep, Calhoun said,

    "Anyways, I got the painting I was looking forward to. I didn''t know you could have a sensual look on your face while sleeping, not to forget where your hands were and the legs," his words were slow and deliberate so that every word of his would sink into her mind. Calhoun''s eyes shone with an evil look in them, and Madeline could feel her heart drop in dread, "Was way better than I imagined," and he looked downwards from her neck suggestively and Madeline crossed her arms in front of her.

    Seeing him stand up and turn around to go back to the canvas, Madeline''s lips pursed. The way he spoke, and the way her petticoat had risen up her thigh, she didn''t know what he had painted.

    "C-can I see it?" she asked, curious to confirm her suspicion on what outrageous painting he had made of her.

    "No."

    No? thought Madeline to herself.

    Calhoun''s reply was quick and short that held no exnation of why she couldn''t see it when she was the person he had drawn or painted.

    She then realised she had used a polite speech with a question. Changing her words, she said, "I want to see it," and this earned her with Calhoun who turned around to meet her eyes.

    "You want to see it?" he cocked his head to the side. The way he asked her, Madeline wasn''t sure if she was to nod her head or not, "Yes?"

    Madeline tried to search through his demeanour if this was a trap or if he would allow her because the first time she had asked he had refused with a no.

    "That''s what I thought," Calhoun noticed how she was fretting to see what he had drawn with her in it. He relished the anxious look he brought out in her face. Seeing Madeline stand up, Calhoun took slow steps towards her,

    "For someone who fell asleep in front of the King, give me one reason why I shouldn''t punish you further? Falling asleep," he walked around, pausing his footsteps behind her, "... were you expecting me to hand down another punishment to you?" his words fell right next to her ears, "You know what? You can go back to your room."

    Madeline would have been relieved that he was dismissing her from his presence but she was wearing only a petticoat and the dress she had been wearing was nowhere to be seen in the room.

    Was he purposely asking her to leave the room in this state? When her eyes met Calhoun''s, she saw him grin at her.

 Chapter 73 The coat- Part 2

    <h4>73 The coat- Part 2</h4>

    "Where are my clothes?" she inquired, her eyes breaking away from him to search the room but it seemed that the dress she had been wearing had disappeared.

    "On your body," came the nonchnt answer from him. He knew what she was speaking about, but he behaved like he had no clue.

    "The dress that I was wearing earlier before you asked me to be your muse," she asked him by keeping her patience.

    "That one, they got dirty because of the paint. I had it sent to get it cleaned," he informed as if it was nothing. He yfully pushed her buttons, watching her struggle to keep her sanity. She parted her lips only to close them. Calhoun had tried to rile her emotions, and it seemed that it had worked when he had mentioned about him painting her provocatively. Exining about her body and looking at her suggestively.

    "I cannot leave the gallery like this," informed Madeline. No sane woman would step out in the open for others to see the woman in nothing but petticoat and stockings. It would give the wrong impression of her, especially when she was with the King, "People will get the wrong idea."

    "Like what?" he breathed the words and ced something in his pocket.

    "That something transpired between us."

    "Let them," came his quick reply as if he didn''t care about it. His hand reached her face, his thumb running across her bottom lip, "The only person you should care about is me and not what others think." A shiver ran down her body when he spoke to her with his thumb that gently brushed her lip and then smiled.

    His hand slipped away from her lips, and he walked towards one side of the room, pulling out the coat he had been wearing earlier that was hanging. Returning, he put the coat around her shoulders. The coat felt utterly loose and it reached just above the hem of her petticoat.

    Madeline had a look of surprise on her face when he was done putting the coat on her.

    "Better?" he asked her before lowering his voice, "Go on before the big bad wolf gobbles you up in this empty room where no one is there."

    Calhoun was angry a few hours ago, and now he was being gentle with her even though it was his fault that she wasn''t having her dress on her right now. She didn''t know how she would be able to make it to the room in this state, but she took what she got. Madeline didn''t have to be told twice and left the gallery room.

    Madeline clutched the coat that was around her tightly, making sure she was covered while her legs were covered in stockings. On her way, she met the King''s right-hand man, Theodore who wasing from the other end of the corridor.

    She continued to walk without stopping to talk to him. He had informed Calhoun about James even though he said he wouldn''t. If she knew this was going to happen, she would have...She didn''t know what she would do, but at least she wouldn''t be wearing scarce clothes. As they crossed each other, Theodore didn''t stop to talk to her and Madeline continued to walk until she reached the room. Stepping inside, she closed the doors.

    Back in the gallery, Calhoun was covering the canvas he had worked on before cleaning his hands with a wet cloth as it was covered in charcoal and paints when Theodore arrived at the door. The man bowed his head to hear the King speak,

    "Where does your loyalty lie, Theo?"

    Theodore, who had raised his head, looked at Calhoun who nced at him before throwing the wet cloth on the ground, "It lies with you, my King," the man bowed his head again.

    "Then is there a reason why you didn''t tell me that you saw the low-life in the castle?" Calhoun had raised one eyebrow of his in question. He picked up the covered canvas and ced it to face the wall.

    "I didn''t see them talking to each other, milord," answered Theodore, which was the truth. Calhoun was not someone who missed things, and if his eyes were on the girl, it meant he would find out the truth.

    "If I didn''t know you better, I would have taken that you have formed a liking towards the girl, but I know that wasn''t your intention," said Calhoun who turned around to meet Theodore''s eyes.

    The man bowed his head, "I apologise, milord. I thought you would have him killed and it would strain the rtionship that you are building with her. Also, I thought you would notice it. I didn''t mean any harm. It won''t happen again."

    "''Course you didn''t. If you did, we wouldn''t be standing here now, would we?" Calhoun''s lips twisted to a smile. He knew Theodore since they were young boys; therefore if there was someone whom he trusted, it was the man who stood in front of him.

    Calhoun didn''t want anyone coveting Madeline because to him, she was already his since the first time his eyes had fallen on her in the ballroom. He wasn''t someone who cared about little things like rumours. Even if it did spread in the castle, it would only solidify the words that were ryed to the servants and other ministers in the castle.

    "Did you have a good time?" asked Theodore as Calhoun had made sure no one would disturb his time with Madeline.

    Calhoun ran his fingers through his thick locks of ck hair, "Wonderfully torturous one." It was too hard not to touch her. He wanted to give her time to ease into the castle life, but hecked patience. All he wanted to do was take her in his arms and treat her the way he wanted to, to not let her out of his bed.

    Theodore didn''t know what that meant, but if he wasn''t sending people to fetch the man who hade to meet thedy in the castle, he took that Calhoun was in a good mood.?But he thought wrong as the next moment he heard Calhoun say,

    "Call in the tailor man. Tell him the ministers need a new pair of clothes."

 Chapter 74 Back- Part 1

    <h4>74 Back- Part 1</h4>

    Theodore had spent years with Calhoun, and he knew the man not only because he was his King but because he was his friend. The man who worked for the King had nothing but best interest in his mind when it came to the person holding the crown right now.

    "You stopped painting," said Calhoun, who was leaning his back against the table and supporting himself while looking at Theodore who was looking at one of the many paintings Calhoun had made.

    "I lost interest in it a long time ago. I don''t think I have it in me to paint anymore," answered Theodore. He walked to look at the same painting which Madeline hade to stand and stare earlier. The portrait of the crowded market that was dark and bustling with people. It was toopact with so many of things in it, and the man said, "I don''t have the talent like you, my King."

    Calhoun looked at Theodore''s frame, who was looking at the painting before he tore his gaze away and looked at him with a smile, "Maybe this is why you are the rightful person to have the crown on your head. I am not strong enough to relive the memories."

    "Those memories are what has made us be today," drawled Calhoun. He pushed himself from the table and walked to look at the painting, "Those were some memories," said the King whose lips pulled up from one corner, his eyes calmly looking at what he had created.

    "Do you ever dream of it?" asked Theodore, his lighter coloured red eyes looking at Calhoun.

    "Every time I close my eyes. You live the dream to the point where it doesn''t affect you anymore. It is just a numb feeling that eventuallyes to pass or stay."

    Calhoun and Theodore were not rted to each other, but they had met each other when they were young boys��having each other''s back in the world they lived where it was survival of the fittest. Theodore sat down on one of his knees. His head bowed to express his gratitude to the King.

    "I owe you my life. I am at your service at any point in time," expressed Theodore.

    Calhoun stared at Theodore and said, "I will be wise to use it when I seem it to be fit," and then Theodore finally stood up on his feet, "What did you find about the poison that has been circting?"

    "So far the servants appear to not know anything about it. Oswyn has not answered the questions that have been asked, but he fears for his life and his family," Theodore informed him as they made their way out of the gallery room, "He seems to be hiding something but refuses to speak about it. Especially with him in the solitary room��"

    "Yes, milord," Theodore obliged to the words that were spoken by Calhoun.

    As they continued to walk, they found his rtive walking towards them who was part of the Wilmot family. His cousin, Sophie Wilmot was here.

    "What is she doing here?" asked Calhoun with a bright smile on his face.

    "Her ankle must have gotten better?" replied Theodore looking at the vampiress who headed in their way.

    Calhoun couldn''t help but smile over the words because they both knew Sophie had not hurt her ankle, and it had been nothing but a ploy to get his attention. The two men had grown up in the worst part of thend, and it was not possible to not recognise white lies that were easy to catch on.

    Sophie had a look of upset on her face, making her way to where Calhoun was. Once she was close, she smiled at Calhoun, "Brother Calhoun," she greeted, bowing her head and lifting it.

    "Sophie," Calhoun greeted her, "I didn''t know you were visiting the castle. How is your ankle?" he asked with polite words. His eyes filled with mirth in them as he looked at her.

    Sophie gave him a warm smile, "It is much better now. Thank you for asking," she looked down to her leg and brought her foot forward, rotating her ankle to show it was all better.

    "I thought it was your left foot that had twisted itself," Calhoun stated, and Sophie looked as if she were caught before she smiled.

    "Is that so? This was the ankle, brother Calhoun," answered Sophie. Her eyes moved to his shirt, which was etched with spots of paint on them. He wore a pale white shirt with the top two buttons that were left unbuttoned to let one have a view of his smooth and hard chest.

    The vampiress would have blushed and acted coy in front of Calhoun if she hadn''t seen the lowly human wearing a coat that belonged to the King. She had reached the castle three hours ago and had been wanting to meet Calhoun, but the ministers and the servants had mentioned about him being in his room, resting, which was a lie.

    Earlier when Sophie had stepped out of her guest room and walked towards the King''s quarters where his room was located so that she could talk to him. It was then she had noticed the human walking in one of the corridors across from where she stood. She and her mother had dropped her out of the castle so that she would not return to the castle ever again, so how did shee back?!

    The human clearlycked a proper dress underneath the coat that belonged to the King. She was furious when she saw her enter a room and go behind the door to close it. Had the King bedded her? She was curious.

    "I wonder which one of our memories are bad," hummed Calhoun, a hint of sarcasm in it, "Unless you are implying that mine is bad."

    Sophieughed softly, cing her hand on Calhoun''s arm, "Stop teasing me, brother Calhoun."

    Theodore, who was with them, turned his head away, his eyes looking at the walls and pirs of the castle when he heard Calhoun say, "Am I? Theodore, do you agree with Lady Sophie''s statement?"

    The vampire pushed his sses up to the bridge of his nose, "You have an excellent memory, my King. No one canpare you to it," Theodore was the King''s most trusted and loyal man who would call the crow to be white if the King asked him to testify for him.

    "You need to eat almonds. They say it is good to retain memory," said Calhoun and Sophie wondered why she could made the error of forgetting which ankle she had shown to have hurt before.

    When they started to walk, Sophie walked right next to Calhoun''s side. Though young, she was a vampiress who was looking forward to turning to be the queen of thesends, and she had grown up with the thought of how she should behave and sway people. And maybe it would have been easy if the King wasn''t Calhoun but another man.

    She didn''t know how, but Sophie had noticed many times on how he was able to look through her or anyone, which was why she had to be careful with what she uttered to him.

    "Were you painting?" asked Sophie with an enthusiastic voice.

    Calhoun nodded to her, "I was."

    "Can I see itter? It has been a while since Ist went to the gallery. Thest I saw was you working on the stag that we hunted. My King, I have a request," said Sophie, her red eyes looking into his darker ones, "I would like to be painted too," her words were slow enough so that it wouldn''t be lost.

 Chapter 75 Back- Part 2

    <h4>75 Back- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Calhoun chuckled at her words, taking it in a literal sense, he said, "I don''t think you would need me for it, Sophie. The paints are there in the room. Just take the can and pour it on yourself."

    For the first two seconds, Sophie blinked and looked at Calhoun, waiting for him to say something more but he didn''t say anything. She nervouslyughed again, her hand around Calhoun''s arm,

    "That is so mean, brother Calhoun. You are always teasing me," said Sophie to him.

    "I cannot help but want to tease you," he smiled looking at her and she returned the smile back.

    Both Calhoun and Sophie were treating each other nicely for their means. If it was someone else who had taken the audacity to speak about her having to pour paints on herself, she would not have stopped herself from pping the person who would try to make a joke. But Calhoun was no regr person. He was the King, and if she were going to be his queen one day, she would have to keep him in her good grace.

    Not to forget, Calhoun had his own charm. Every word he uttered was mesmerising enough that she didn''t like it when he paid attention to other girls. She wondered if Calhoun had done something to the human that had her walking in such a state.

    When Calhoun''s eyes met Theodore''s, a quiet stare passing between them, Theodore took it to himself to ask, "Lady Sophie, shall I get the room prepared for you if you are staying here tonight?"

    "That wouldn''t be necessary. I already asked one of the servants to get me the room," Sophie didn''t look at Theodore as she said this, but she nced at Calhoun with a smile on her face, "But when I asked for the room, I was assigned in one of the guest rooms of the castle."

    "Isn''t that where guests stay? Unless you are asking to share my room," Calhoun raised his eyebrow, "How scandalous."

    Hearing him say those words which were what her heart and mind desired, Sophie couldn''t help but blush over it. Calhoun''s charm was not immune to anyone and at the end of the day, Sophie was just another girl who was trying to get his approval in what she did, showing him how much she respected him and did things he wanted her to do.

    "That''s not what I meant!" Sophie quickly covered it up by saying, "I am your rtive. It is just strange that I am being added in the guest rooms and not in the quarters. I didn''t get to stay there even once."

    Calhoun''s intelligent eyes looked at Sophie, the subtle smile on his lips had not left from his face, "The King''s quarters is only for the King. Did you see something you were not supposed to see, Sophie?" he asked.

    Sophie shook her head.

    "Thank you for looking after me, brother Calhoun," she thanked him before asking him, "Where is Madeline?"

    "Lady Madeline," corrected Calhoun and Sophie felt a jab in her chest, "She''s possibly in her room. Resting now. You can talk to her once shees down for dinner."

    "Resting? Is she alright?" asked Sophie in concern which was not how she truly felt.

    "She''s fine. Where is your mother? She will be upset if she sees you hanging out with men, especially when you are yet to find a suitable man and settle down. How are the suitors?" asked Calhoun, flipping the whole question to her side.

    "I don''t think there''s anyone in the suitors who are worthy of me so far. I thought perhaps I should join the court. I will maybe find someone here in court. What do you think?" asked Sophie, her words indirect as usual.

    "Suit yourself," Calhoun replied with a bright smile and a spark in his dark red eyes. Theodore, as usual, only moved his eyes without being too obvious and keeping his words and thoughts to himself.

    Back in the room, Madeline had removed the coat and started to change herself into something much more decent than what she was wearing since from thest few minutes and hours in the gallery. Until she had reached the room, she had tried to hide her face behind her blonde hair, but that had only brought more attention to her. If the word were to spread about how she was barely clothed in front of the King, her modesty would be lost.

    When women associated herself with a man who was not her husband, it was always the woman who had to take the burnt end of the situation. The people were harsh, and they called women names that were hard to digest. Here, Madeline was dealing with the King, and everyone knew how much of debauchery went down when it was the man who was of high status.

    She had pulled out the petticoat, and she was about to wear a new one when she noticed her thighs and the stockings that went past up to her knees. One of thecey garters that were used to hold the stockings that she wore was missing. Her eyebrows knitted together and she looked around the room where she had walked to see it was not here.

    Had she lost it on her way from the gallery to the room? Or had ite loose to slip and fall in the gallery without her notice?

    She finally dressed and stayed in the room until she was called by the maid to join the King in the dining room. Calhoun had created enough anxiety in her by looking at her suggestively back in the gallery and telling her that he had painted her while she had fallen asleep. When Madeline had woken up from her nap on the couch, the hem of her dress hade up and God only knew what the crazy King had painted or drawn her.

    Reaching the dining room, when Madeline took one step, she was greeted with the sight of Sophie sitting at the table with Calhoun.

    "Lady Madeline, how are you doing?" asked Sophie looking at her, "I heard you were resting in the room."

    "I am doing good," Madeline stared at Sophie. Thest time she had seen the girl was when she and her family had ordered her to get out of the carriage in the middle of the forest.

    "That is good to hear. I was worried if you made it safe as you asked to stop the carriage in the middle," Sophie was a smart girl who had subtly pushed the me on Madeline so that she wouldn''t be questioned, "Come sit here," she patted her hand enthusiastically on the chair next to her.

    Before Madeline could move, she heard Calhoun say,

    "Your seat is here," he pulled the chair next to him, his eyes on hers.

    Cautiously, she went to the seat which was further pulled by the maid and she sat down next to him. Sophie was seated right in front of her and though Madeline was looking at the food on the table, she could feel the reing from across the table.

 Chapter 76 Scraps- Part 1

    <h4>76 Scraps- Part 1</h4>

    If only the Wilmot''s had dropped her in the town or the closest vige, she would not have been here.

    On the other hand, the vampiress, Sophie, couldn''t stop thinking about how Madeline hade to stay in the castle, again. When her mother had agreed to stop the carriage and drop the human had brought immense pleasure to her heart and mind. Looking at the girl who had given a distressed look that had made herugh, and she would have still beenughing if the girl was not here in the same room. How did she manage to get back to the castle?

    Sophie couldn''t stop ring at every opportunity she found when Calhoun was not looking at her way, and she knew Madeline could sense her gaze from across the table as it appeared that she was trying to not look at her.

    But she wanted to know about Madeline. The King had taken an interest in her which hade to her notice, "How did you get back to the castle?" asked Sophie, "I was worried when you asked us to stop it in the middle of the forest, and it is such relief that you are alright. Brother Calhoun, I hope you are not upset with me," the girl asked for forgiveness and Madeline furrowed her eyebrows on what Sophie meant by her words.

    Calhoun, who had been enjoying his meal, looked up at Sophie, looking utterly oblivious of what she was speaking, "I don''t know why I would be upset with you," he smiled at the young vampires, and this had Madeline confused.

    "Lady Madeline must have wanted to visit the town first, but she changed her mind and wished to stop the carriage so that she could get down," said Sophie with a concerned look on her face.

    "Did she?" asked Calhoun with apparent fake surprise, and he looked at Madeline, "Is that so?" he asked testingly even though he had heard Madeline''s version of the story.

    Madeline wished she could throw the ss of water at the vampires, but she doubted she would be satisfied with just water being thrown. This vampiress was ying the King and Calhoun was humouring her.

    Having both Sophie as well as Calhoun''s eyes on her, Madeline took a deep breath and said, "Yes, I wanted to take a walk in the forest. Thought I could find some rabbits and serve them to you," her words were polite. Madeline had always been a respectful girl, and it wasn''t in her nature to poke and twist words.

    "Yes," came the clipped answer with a smile upon Sophie''s lips. When her red eyes met the brown one''s, the smile on her lips grew, and she then asked, "Did you find the rabbits? You should probably join us when we go hunting. Brother Calhoun never misses his mark, he''s excellent," Sophie ttered Calhoun in return, but the King didn''t heed to the words.

    "I don''t think Madeline is ready for such hunts yet," Calhoun replied before picking up a piece of meat which he ced in Madeline''s te, "Try this," and he went back to eating to leave Sophie''s mouth agape.

    Madeline didn''t react to anything and quietly ate her food along with the meat Calhoun had ced on her te. She then heard Sophie say to Calhoun, "Brother Calhoun, why are you cutting the sides of the meat and putting it in Lady Madeline''s te? If you want to put the scraps that you don''t want to eat, you can put it here," Sophie picked up a fresh te and ced it in the front.

    With Sophie, who put it like that, Madeline stopped moving her knife and fork, and she looked up to look into Sophie''s eyes that seemed somewhat pleased.

    Calhoun chuckled at Sophie''s words, "Madeline is not a night creature like us to eat the barely cooked meat. The sides of the meat is better cooked and would be easy for her to consume than eating the whole uncooked meat," was his response.

    Madeline was unhappy that she was being caged in this castle, but she didn''t possess a cold heart not to take a look at him when he uttered those words to Sophie. He was being considerate by looking over what she was eating while also making sure she wasn''t ufortable or repulsed by the food that was being served to her.

    "Thank you," she murmured. It went unheard by Sophie, and Calhoun who was looking at his cousin smiled. Not for Sophie but to hear Madeline thank him without him having to push her for the words of gratitude to be heard from her.

    "That is very considerate of you, brother Calhoun," imed Sophie, who switched sides very quickly from insulting to praising, "Lady Madeline," came her words and Madeline knew something was waiting ahead of her, "I think we should share a room so that we can talk. I never had a sister of my own and some of my cousins��"

    Now that Sophie had seen Madeline enter one of the rooms in the King''s quarters, she wanted the human out of there. When she, the cousin of the King was not allowed to upy a ce anywhere close to the King, she didn''t see it to be of any reason on why Madeline should take the privilege. The young vampiress then turned to Calhoun to ask, "What do you think, brother Calhoun, about Lady Madeline sharing room with me?"

    Calhoun had just lifted his hand to pick up the ss of wine and he didn''t stop himself from taking a sip from it when Sophie asked. After putting the ss down, he said, "It would be better if she used the same room, alone. I wouldn''t want to worry where you might suck her dry when she is fast asleep or help her escape from the castle, like thest time," there was a sweet smile on his lips.

    Sophie didn''t utter another word as it seemed like Calhoun had an inkling of what had happened.

    When they finished their meal, Madeline said, "I will be taking my leave first," but Calhoun was not having it.

    "Stay," came the order from the King.

    Madeline pursed her lips, "I think I dropped my kerchief back in the gallery," she said not wanting to say that the garter around her thigh had been lost.

    Sophie was ready to dismiss the girl but then Calhoun was quick to say, "Let us help you look for it."

 Chapter 77 Scraps- Part 2

    <h4>77 Scraps- Part 2</h4>

    Even Sophie was with Madeline on this as she wanted to get rid of the human away from Calhoun so that she could speak and spend more time with him, but with Madeline around them, the King was distracted, "If Lady Madeline is insisting on going alone, I think it should be fine. Surely, she wouldn''t be able to run away if that is what you''re worried about, brother Calhoun," her words came out sweet and polite as if she meant no harm to anyone.

    "Rubbish," said Calhoun, who had stepped in front of Madeline, "It would be rude to let ady go by herself without someone apanying her. Especially when it''s a pretty one."

    At his subtlepliment, Madeline looked into his red eyes that were staring at her. She wasn''t going to run away at this hour of the night from the castle. She was not an idiot to try it again in less than a week. If they were to going toe along with her, she couldn''t tell them that what she had lost or dropped was not a mere handkerchief, but it was acy garter.

    "I insist," Calhoun was persistent as if he knew there was a speck of lie in the words she had spoken, "Come, Sophie. Let''s apany Lady Madeline," now that Calhoun had already decided, Sophie had no other choice but to oblige, and she nodded her head.

    Madeline clutched the sides of her dress before giving them a nod, "Okay," she bowed her head to appreciate his kind gesture even though she didn''t want it. All she would have to do was find the garter first and exchange it with the handkerchief so that everything would look normal.

    And so did the three of them leave the dining room to step out and walk towards the gallery which was where Madeline assumed to find the lost item. As the night had prevailed the sky, the corridors of the castle were lit by the help of thenterns, leaving a golden glow on the walls and the floor.

    On their way, Sophie said, "If it''s a kerchief, you can make use of the other ones that are in the room, or maybe one of the servants will find it and return it to you," the vampires had a valid point there.

    "Sophie is right," agreed Calhoun to his cousin''s words, "I can call the tailor to sew and make new tailored kerchiefs to your liking. Would you like that?" he asked her.

    Madeline''s eyes turned wide when Calhoun mentioned about the tailor. She turned herself to look at Calhoun who had no smile on his face, where he was looking at the corridor in front of them. How many tailors did the King have? Maybe there was more than one person, and the person Calhoun had spoken was someone else who was not James. But then, Madeline didn''t know how petty the King could be.

    "Did I say anything wrong?" asked Calhoun to her. Though Madeline wanted to say yes, but that would only bring out more conversation than being vague about the matter.

    Sophie then said, "Brother Calhoun is always right. What is with looking for one handkerchief when you can have more than ten or twenty of them?" she then looked at Madeline by quickly taking two steps forward to say, "I think Lady Madeline sometimes forgets that this is not her vige where people have only one handkerchief with them, but this is the castle."

    "No need to be like that, Sophie. Madeline will slowly learn to ustom herself to the castle life. After all, she will be the future queen of this castle," Calhoun''s words were like a p on Sophie''s face, and for seconds she was shocked by how firm the King was in his decision, "It''s barely been a few days. She will turn to a finedy."

    Both the girls didn''t say anything, and they continued to walk towards the gallery, and it was Madeline who had started to look for the piece of fabric. Sophie was furious at the thought that Calhoun was nning to turn this lowly human who knew nothing about their world to be queen. She was the rightful person to be next to Calhoun. Sophie had grown up with the thought that she would be the one to stand next to the King. She looked quite irritated at the moment and didn''t bother to look for this human''s stupid kerchief.

    On the other hand, Calhoun didn''t help Madeline to look for the handkerchief. Instead, he stood with his hands in his pocket, looking at the girl who bit the bottom of her lip with her eyes searching on the ground.

    "Are you sure you dropped it here?" asked Calhoun to her. The man knew precisely what Madeline was searching for, and it wasn''t her handkerchief, "It must have been taken away during the time of painting."

    Madeline wondered if one of the servants had probably taken it and it would be returned tomorrow to her. She was the only walkingdy in the castle apart from Sophie now.

    Upon hearing about painting, Sophie said, "Brother Calhoun, what were you painting earlier? You said you would show it to meter."

    "I don''t think those were my words," corrected Calhoun and Sophie smiled.

    "Of course. I have wanted to look at your paintings. Especially the one you created today," responded the vampiress who was eager to see what had caused this human to walk with the King''s coat around her body.

    Madeline didn''t want anyone to look at it! God forbid for such painting toe out in the public where there would be nothing but ill rumours about her involving the King. She was not the kind of woman to present herself lewdly in front of others.

    Calhoun turned to Madeline who had turned pale, "Lady Sophie is asking to take a look at the painting," why was he asking her when he knew she didn''t want anyone seeing it! He then said, "It is still work in progress. Once it is done, I will have it ced in the courtroom for everyone to see," Madeline gave him a pleading look.

    Was he serious right now?! It was hard to tell if he was testing and teasing her, or if he was being serious.

    Sophie wanted to see it. Therefore she decided to take a look at itter. The vampiress was talking about something to Calhoun while Madeline searched and was almost going to give up when she heard,

    "You won''t get what you''re looking for, sweet girl," came the whispered words of Calhoun, who had left Sophie to admire one of his recent paintings.

    Madeline turned her head to meet his dark eyes and his lips that had pulled itself up into a wicked smile, "Why do you say that?" she asked him softly.

    "Silly thing. It is because I have it."

 Chapter 78 Souvenir- Part 1

    <h4>78 Souvenir- Part 1</h4>

    Her brown eyes nced at Sophie, who was busy looking at the paintings, and Madeline looked back into Calhoun''s eyes that were filled with amusement. Gulping down softly, she asked him, "D-do you mean y-you have it?" it was hard to keep her head straight at the thought that the piece of fabric was in his possession now.

    "It?" asked Calhoun, ready to twist her around with his words as he enjoyed seeing those pink lips stutter out words.

    Madeline pursed her lips and came to realise it was true. The King had it, and she didn''t know how it came to be with him, but the most decent thing for him to do was to return it to the person whom it belonged to. In this case, she was the owner of it.

    "Could you please return it to me?" asked Madeline, but in response, she heard Calhoun chuckle and her eyebrows furrowed.

    "How can I give it to you when what you are looking for is not that but your handkerchief," stated Calhoun to the point. He put his hands into the pockets of his trousers and continued to look at her��a small smile on his lips which was subtle as if he were enjoying it.

    It was true that Madeline had spoken about a missing kerchief but when he knew she was looking for it, it was unfair how he was making her search for something he had already picked. Calhoun leaned forward to have his lips against her ears as if he didn''t care if Sophie were to turn and witness their current closeness, "How careless of you to drop something like that in the middle of the castle. Careless people don''t get the right to keep things." His breath was warm against the shell of Madeline''s ear, and she quickly stepped away from him with her face turned red.

    She was worried where Lady Sophie had seen them, but the vampiress was in her own world, "You cannot keep things that don''t belong to you!" she whispered to him and saw his lips twist.

    "Watch me keep it," he replied back to her and Madeline''s heart sank in her chest.

    The amount of anxiousness that he made her feel, she doubted she had ever felt it to be so much if she were to consider her entire life. What was he even going to do with her garter?! He was a man and not a woman to steal it from her!

    Madeline closed her eyes, trying to calm her heart when she heard him say, "You have a very reactive heart and its good to see how much my words affect you, but then you wouldn''t want Sophie to know that it wasn''t the kerchief you were looking for but something that was on your thigh, holding the stockings snuggly."

    The wicked smile appeared on his lips when Madeline stared into Calhoun''s eyes. Madeline had not dropped the garter anywhere on the ground, but Calhoun had taken it away from her when she had turned around while she was sleeping on the couch in the afternoon. With the hem of her petticoat that had moved up to her thigh, it had left one side of her thigh to his view where the stockings rode up her leg and to show the frilly andcy innocent garter.

    "What are you going to do with it?" asked Madeline because she didn''t find any actual reason for him to keep it with him.

    "As a souvenir," was his simple reply and at the same time, Sophie had turned around to see King Calhoun and the human standing in front of each other.

    "Souvenir?" asked Sophie, who had not heard the short conversation that took ce between the two of them in the room.

    Madeline didn''t want Calhoun to speak out loud about their conversation, and she gave him a quick look and then at the Lady to say, "I was saying how I would get a souvenir for everyone here if I go back home. There are a lot of things that one might find to be nice in the vige market that people might like it here."

    Sophie rolled her eyes, "I don''t know what good would be there that people like us haven''t seen yet."

    "Maybe, if I go there tomorrow I can buy some for the King," her words came out careful, and she saw how the smile on Calhoun''s eyes faltered while his eyes continued to be fixed on her.

    Madeline knew she was not supposed to test Calhoun, but he was being difficult and doing things that were embarrassing by taking away things that didn''t belong to him! He was the one who spoke about souvenir, and she had only continued to talk about it.

    The vampiress shook her head, "I definitely don''t want any part of it. No offence but I have seen the people there and God it is so crowded and sweaty. I mean I didn''t go there obviously," sheughed by cing her hand on her chest, "I heard it from Lady Jules. She said the market looked like animals going back and forth. So, no, thank you."

    Calhoun then said, "If you want something, you just have to ask." That is what she did! Thought Madeline to herself when it came to the fabric, "I will have Theodore or someone to go get it for you."

    Madeline had never met a person like Calhoun before, which was why she could not just ignore him apart from him being the King. He did things that pushed her buttons and expected her to sit put without reacting. But the truth what Madeline didn''t know was that Calhoun pushed and tested her because he liked to see those reactions from her.

    Sophie had wasted her time on the human which she wouldn''t have done if it weren''t for Calhoun being here. Her own eyes looked around the gallery to find the handkerchief which was not here. She had to be under good light. Therefore, she asked Madeline, "Do you remember where else you might have dropped it?"

    Madeline, who now knew where the garter was, shook her head, "I will look for it in the room."

    The vampiress rolled her eyes at this, "I guess we can all stop looking then," she said turning to Calhoun and say, "We can ask the tailor to get some new ones made for her. This way, she wouldn''t have to worry about a single piece of handkerchief."

    "I have asked Theodore to call the tailor to get some of the clothes stitched. He will mention about it." Hearing Calhoun''s casual words, Madeline''s eyes turned wide in fear.

    "No!" Madeline eximed to have both of their attention. Thest thing she wanted was to have James brought back here in the castle in front of the King.

 Chapter 79 Souvenir- Part 2

    <h4>79 Souvenir- Part 2</h4>

    "I think Lady Madeline doesn''t know how to behave with our dear King. Do you even know what your refusal means?" asked Sophie who stepped forward and crossed her arms looking down at Madeline, "You must be taking the King''s words too lightly-"

    The vampiress stopped talking when Calhoun raised his hand, an indication for her to stop from speaking any more than she already did.

    It wasn''t like Madeline didn''t know what it meant by refusing the King''s help because it was considered to be rude, but it was James life here, and she couldn''t stay quiet while the King called James to the castle and did something unspeakable. She saw how Calhoun''s eyes intimidated her.

    "Can you exin why you don''t want the newly made handkerchiefs? They will be made of the finest silk," asked Calhoun even though he knew exactly why she said no. Madeline didn''t want to ask if the King was still furious about her lying about James as she had tried to protect the man she shared affections with.

    Sophie stood there with her furrowed eyebrows, waiting for Madeline to speak while Calhoun''s eyes didn''t falter away from her. Madeline said, "There is some present in the cupboards of the room which I will make use of. The handkerchief I was looking, for now, was just something I had picked for myself in the past, which was why I was looking for it. I can make use of others."

    "It is just a handkerchief," Sophie shook her head.

    Calhoun and Sophie were the first one''s to step out of the gallery. Madeline who was behind red at the head of Calhoun. When the time came to part away, Sophie was the one to leave Calhoun and the human as she was given the guest room, unlike the room which Madeline was present in the King''s quarters.

    Calhoun and Madeline walked into the quarters quietly with only the sounds of their shoes against the floor that didn''t go too far as Madeline was the first one to break the silence, "Where is it?" she asked him.

    The man paused his footsteps when she had stopped, turning to her with a questionable look, "Where is what?"

    Madeline''s lips pursed tightly as she tried to get the word out of her mouth, "My garter."

    The questionable expression on Calhoun''s face changed, and he stared at her, "Didn''t I say it was a souvenir. Something to remember by."

    "I am already here, you don''t have to steal-" Madeline stopped speaking when Calhoun took a step in front of her, "You cannot do that. It is impolite!"

    "What about the painting?" asked Madeline, "You said you already painted something, that should be a punishment to suffice. No person in the sane mind would take an unmarried girl-"

    "Earn it then."

    Madeline blinked at his words, "What?"

    "Take it from me. If you are a good girl, I will think about returning it to you until then it stays with me. Safe," Calhoun was the definition of evil in Madeline''s mind. With the time she had spent and known the man, she knew he had no intention to return it, which was very simr to the freedom that would never be granted to her.

    She stared into his red eyes for a long time, to have him stare back at her, "Lies," she whispered.

    Calhoun''s eyes softened a little, he said, "Why do you try when you know then?"

    "In the hope that one day my side of the bargain would win," she answered to him and his lips twisted.

    "Hope is good only when you are uncertain about a thing. And a King is never uncertain about what he wants," stated Calhoun. He took a step in the direction they hade walking, "Go sleep, sweet girl. Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day."

    Madeline was worried about tomorrow, "Is it true? That you have summoned James to the castle?"

    Calhoun sighed, tilting his head to the side, "Am I not supposed to ask my tailor toe to take mine and other men''s measurements?" If it was going to be just about clothes, Madeline would not have been worried like now, but she didn''t know what Calhoun had on his mind. The King had found it to be too convenient to call James tomorrow.

    "Don''t do anything to him. He hasn''t done anything and he''s a good man." She pleaded softly but her words instead of appeasing to him, it added fuel to the anger that had only simmered down in the evening.

    But Calhoun didn''t show it, instead, he smiled at her, a smile that was unnerving to Madeline, "You think very lowly of me. I am hurt."

    Madeline tore her gaze away, "Thest time something happened you cut the man''s head in front of me."

    "My bad," was his response.

    Madeline blinked at his response.

    "What did you want me to say? That I am sorry?" asked Calhoun who held little to no remorse for beheading the man, "You surely didn''t expect me to let go of the man without giving him a decent punishment, now, did you? Not when he was speaking to you in such a tone...Don''t worry, I won''t harm the poor man tomorrow."

    Madeline wasn''t so sure about Calhoun''s words. She would only know about it when James and Calhoun met each other tomorrow.

 Chapter 80 King and the tailor man- Part 1

    <h4>80 King and the tailor man- Part 1</h4>

    It was taken that she was living a life of riches, after all, the King was courting her, and it made her question how happy another girl would be if it weren''t her in the current position. Girls or women like her elder sister Beth would have been happy. Her sister had been overjoyed that the King had taken a liking towards her when the invitation had been sent out.

    But Madeline had stolen the limelight and the King''s attention from Beth, which made her think if her sister was still angry about it. Madeline had no control over what had happened, and she had tried to exin it to her sister. She missed her parents and her. To Madeline, Beth was her sister, a friend, someone who she deeply cared and loved no matter what.

    She pulled out the dress that she wore to wear the nightdress. Picking up the hairbrush that was lying on the dressing table, Madeline started to unknot her hair by running theb from one side of her head to the other side.

    She let out a shuddering breath. She was worried and anxious and nervous. Every nerve of her fibre dipped in the thought of what was going to happen tomorrow. With Calhoun who had finished painting her, she had thought that the King would let go, but she should have known better.

    The King of Devon was a petty man, and he would go to any length to make a statement.

    That night Madeline barely slept, and she kept turning in her bed now and then, trying to see what the possibility of tomorrow could be.

    When morning arrived, Madeline had a light headache in the back of her head, and she looked tired. Even with afortable bed and a quiet room, she couldn''t fall asleep worrying herself with what was going to happen to James today. When she did fall asleep for a spare few minutes, she had dreamt of Calhoun holding an axe in his hands and James who was ced on the wood of the scaffold to see Calhoun raise the axe that had woken her up.

    Rubbing her temples, Madeline pushed the covers and started to get ready. If James was going to arrive early, it was better to be in the court than having King Calhoun deal with the man before she had an opportunity to do anything.

    Calhoun''s eyes were quick to move towards the entrance of the court to see Madeline who had woken up early and had dressed, "Good morning, Madeline. I didn''t know you were eager to meet me today that you have readied yourself fasterpared to thest three days."

    Madeline didn''t have the energy to retort at him, nor did she forget her manners in front of the King. She stopped her footsteps right away and bowed her head to pay her respects and said,

    "Good morning, King Calhoun."

    She noticed how Calhoun turned towards Theodore to say something to him and dismissed the man. Theodore bowed his head at Madeline to greet her, and even though she was upset with the man for telling the King on what he saw, she returned his bow to see him walk past her.

    "It looks like I don''t have to worry about Theodore holding your interest in the castle,"mented Calhoun, his hand going to support the side of his face where his elbow rested on one of the arms of the throne. Madeline didn''t know what the King meant to hint and he continued to talk, "You red at Theodore."

    Madeline frowned to say, "No, I didn''t."

    This made Calhoun smile. His lips pulled up wide and his eyes shining with mirth, altogether the expression was somewhere scary or daunting to her.

    "You must be upset that he told me about your little meeting that took ce yesterday," said Calhoun, his words echoing in the courtroom with no one there except for the two of them, "Am I wrong?"

    No, the King was never wrong, and Madeline had the urge to say yes, but then she would only look like an insolent child. She didn''t even understand what he liked about her. Was it the face? There were many girls and women of the higher ss from his status that he could pick. Daughters of Lords or the Dukes, or a minister, he could have any of them who were more beautiful than her.

    "What time is the tailor going toe?" asked Madeline, and she noticed how the smile on Calhoun''s lips twisted in amusement.

    "Eager, aren''t we?" he asked her, "Did you wake up early so that you wouldn''t miss meeting him?"

    "I thought you were not going to summon him back to the castle," she answered to him. Calhoun stared at her, with the constant maddening smile that made Madeline want to know what was going on in his head but for a few seconds, he just continued to look at her and the nerves in her body only turned more errant.

    Calhoun let go of his face that was resting on his hand, and he leaned back against the throne, looking at her, he said, "Why are you worried? Didn''t I say he is the castle''s tailorman? I don''t know what got you nervous. Come here," hemanded.

    For a second or two, Madeline felt as if her feet were glued to the floor and she had to push herself to start walking to stand in front of him.

    "Closer," said Calhoun when there was still a reasonable distance between them. When Madeline took two steps forward, the King was still not satisfied, and he said, "More close."

    Madeline wondered if the King wanted her to sit on hisp and she wanted to re at him, but he would know that too. Cooling her expression, Madeline took one step further as her body touched the other side of the armrest of the throne where he was seated.

    Both Calhoun and Madeline stared at each other. The brown eyes staring intensely while the dark red eyes were calm and unaffected when Calhoun''s hand reached Madeline''s face to surprise her. He ran his thumb just below her eyes to murmur, "Looks like you barely sleptst night."

 Chapter 81 King and the tailor man- Part 2

    <h4>81 King and the tailor man- Part 2</h4>

    Calhoun''s fingers were cold, but it was not what made her shiver under his touch. It was because it was him who was touching her, the same man who could use the axe today, or worse his hands and she could do nothing but pray for James'' life to be spared.

    "You keep showing him so much concern that it makes me insanely jealous. What will you do if he is pushed from the stairs, Maddie?" on Calhoun''s question, Madeline''s eyes turned wide.

    "What?" she asked in a whisper.

    "Always making me repeat," he tched before iterating what he previously said, "It is just a hypothetical question. Like an if. You cannot me me if he trips over the stairs, to fall and have his head cracked open."

    Madeline looked at him pleadingly, "If you do things like that, it will only make me hate you more. Is that what you are looking for?" It was better to speak out her mind on what could happen if he wanted her to be able to see him in the eye. Hurting the people whom she cared for was supposed to be thest thing Calhoun was thinking about.

    "Tell me, what will make you to love me then," he grinned, and Madeline turned her head slightly away to look at the in walls of the court.

    "There is no rule book on how to make someone love you. If they like you, they do. If not, then no. If you n to win my heart the least you could do is not create anxiety in me," Madeline knew she was being bold, but she was taking the privilege of him liking her and using the same liberty.

    Calhoun''s fingers moved away from under her eyes and traced down to the side of her jaw before letting her go, "Now, that is where you are wrong. I like to toy things that belong to me, after all, they are mine to spoil and take care, don''t you agree?"

    Madeline pursed her lips and parted her lips to speak, but Calhoun was done talking to her.

    "Do you think a man would allow his woman to think about another man who keeps her awake the entire night leaving her restless when it is my job to do that to you and not his," Calhoun stated who uncrossed his legs and pushed himself to stand on his feet, "You are foolish to think that anyone would ever allow it, less that person being me. You worry so much about him that it might cause problems for us in the future."

    Had Calhoun not heard a word she had said or did he conveniently decide to ignore everything she said a few seconds ago?

    "What is it?" asked Madeline, her eyebrows furrowing while she took another step back when Calhoun took one more step towards her, with a smile on his face that could be used to scare people during the night of Hallow.

    "That your words are not considered...I ignore things ording to what I find to be pleasing to me. Don''t worry, some of your words have been considered��things like how you can make use of those handkerchiefs in the room. You should have told Sophie about it, maybe you would have got the garter back," Calhoun chimed at her, but Madeline knew it was not true.

    "You would have only made it worse. The garter is of no use for you, give it back to me. It is mine!" she whispered the words to him before taking two more steps back. By now they had covered some part of the courtroom and Madeline was sure they would be covering the whole room with the way Calhoun kept moving forward towards her.

    "What is yours is mine now," Calhoun stated, and she didn''t know why the King''s eyes had fallen on her that night during the time of Hallow. He was utterly vexing! "Don''t look so bummed about it. I will have the gentleman who stitches the clothes to let him know what kind of garter to make for you." And even though the incident hadn''t taken ce, Madeline could feel the embarrassment sshing across her face.

    "You wouldn''t��"

    "Watch me," came the reply and before she could take some more steps away from him, Calhoun''s long legs had caught up instead of continuing to y. Pulling her by her arm towards him, he said, "Maybe if he didn''t affect you the way he was doing now, I would have let it go. Girls and boys have their infatuation, but you keep trying to protect him. That somewhere irks me." The smile that was on his lips had fallen from his lips, and he got her close to his body.

    Madeline gulped. She hoped somebody came to interrupt or call the King but who would dare to do it when they knew that the King took a fancy when it came to chopping people''s heads?

    "Brother Calhoun!'' and there was the person she was thankful to! It was Sophie, King Calhoun''s cousin sister, "Brother Calhoun, are you in there-Oh you are here," said Sophie on seeing the King and Madeline standing close to each other.

    At first, Sophie had not seen the human and it was only Calhoun''s back that she had noticed until she came closer to see the girl who was hidden because of her small stature in front of Calhoun. Like Madeline, Sophie had woken up early, but for different reasons of wanting to meet Calhoun and spend time with him as she wasn''t able to do itst evening. In the past, Sophie often dropped by the castle to talk to Calhoun, and he had given her the attention, but clearly the attention was getting diverted since the human had shown up at the castle.

    The vampiress'' eyes fell on Madeline''s arm which was held by Calhoun. She put on a smile to ask, "What is going on in here?" even though it was apparent by the way the two people were standing in front of her.

    Madeline''s eyes fell on Sophie, and she pushed herself away from the King, "Something went in my eye. The King was kind enough to take a look at it," she said, who had somewhat started to notice that the attention Sophie was giving Calhoun was not of sisterly affection but one of a jealous girl who wanted the man for herself.

    Calhoun didn''t take her action to be rude and instead said, "I don''t think the dust went out of your eyes. Let me take another look."

 Chapter 82 King and the tailor man- Part 3

    <h4>82 King and the tailor man- Part 3</h4>

    "I think it''s gotten better. The dust must be out," Madeline didn''t want Sophie poking her eyes with her fingers and calling it to be an ident. Madeline knew she wasn''t dreaming and could feel Sophie''s dislike towards her. The vampiress smiled at Madeline, who felt as if the dust had been only a ploy by the vige girl who wanted to get close to the King.

    "It is good to see that everyone is up early," Sophie pped her hands together, "Maybe we can make some ns together and maybe go outter at noon?" she asked Madeline as she was the subject of her interest right now who had to be kept away from the King.

    Calhoun had been looking at Madeline''s eyes that didn''t meet his when he said, "I will be busy here in the court. I would rather prefer to have Madeline stay in here, and it includes you too Sophie. I wouldn''t want Aunt Rosamund toin like one of those times when you almost got attacked by the Jackal."

    Sophie blushed hearing this, as if she was embarrassed by Calhoun''s words of that particr incident, "That was just one time that happened."

    "Indeed," said Calhoun, breaking his gaze away from Madeline to look at his cousin, "Once is enough. There won''t be a second time in my presence."

    Madeline couldn''t help but wonder how exactly the family dynamics worked around the King. It was because Calhoun called Sophie''s mother as Aunt and Sophie addressed Calhoun as ''Brother Calhoun'' where there was nothing brotherly about it if one looked closely. She wondered if it wasmon for close rtives to get married to each other when it came to the night creatures. Maybe not direct brothers or sisters, but perhaps it was okay for cousins to marry each other to keep the blood clean and thick without bringing the humans into the picture as they were considered to be weaklings.

    Calhoun had returned to take his seat on the throne. After a few minutes, Theodore entered the courtroom where the three of them were present.

    "Milord, the tailorman has arrived," informed Theodore. It didn''t go unnoticed by Calhoun on how Madeline''s heart skipped a beat when Theodore mentioned about the tailor.

    The time Madeline had been dreading was here since she had found out that Calhoun had nned to get James in the castle. As she heard the footstepse from behind Theodore, her eyes darted towards Calhoun who was looking at the entrance of the courtroom. She bit the inside of her cheek so that her nervousness didn''t appear to be apparent.

    Calhoun noticed this little exchange and smiled, a smile that was pleasant but one that had scheming ideas in the back of his mind.

    Madeline was quick to lower her gaze so that they wouldn''t share anymore looks in front of the demon who was present in the room. She heard James speak,

    "Thank you for taking the time to see me. It is a privilege to be in the presence of the King," he bowed his head.

    She turned her head so that she could look at both of them and she noticed how Calhoun had his chin tipped slightly that showed the authority he held in here or thends everyone now stood on.

    The moment the tailorman had stepped foot into the courtroom, the King had put him under his intense scrutiny. His eyes looked unmoving to an onlooker, but that didn''t mean Calhoun was not gauging the man who was under keen observation. There had been several times the tailorman had arrived at the castle to take in the measurements but never had he directly dealt with the King as there were other tailors who did that.

    By looks, the man was average to look at, which made Calhoun question what Madeline saw in this man, and as he thought this, his lips twitched.

    "The honour is all ours," replied the King with a smile on his lips that didn''t turn the tailorman as wary as he was supposed to be, "I have heard so much about your work and decided it was time that I saw what use you can be for us."

    Madeline gulped at Calhoun''s words. She didn''t know if he was speaking casually or if she was reading too much between the lines right now. She would continue to worry until James left unharmed from the castle.

    "It will be of great privilege to be able to make clothes for you. If you allow me, milord," James answered with a polite tone. The man didn''t know by first hand on how the King was except for the fact that he was holding Madeline as a hostage. It was only yesterday did hee to the castle to meet her, but when he had proposed to speak to the King, Madeline had refused the idea, and she looked scared.

    The King was smiling at him with a kind smile that made James wonder if he told the King that it was him who Madeline liked, the King would let her go.

    "Theodore here needs new clothes, so does Mr. ren. They have been working very hard to keep Devon in a good state and out of danger. I thought it was only right I shower them with some presents. What do you think, Mr. Heathcliff?" asked Calhoun to James.

    James looked slightly startled that the King knew hisst name. The King was an important person and to have him know his name, he could only wonder if it was because of his tailoring skills or if it was because of the girl in the room with brown eyes.

    "You are a generous man, milord," answered James.

    The first one to be measured was Mr. ren, who hade with James inside the court, and once he was done, he was dismissed from the room. Then came Theodore''s turn, where James asked the man to raise his arms so that he could take down the measurement. During this time, Madeline''s eyes kept moving back and forth between James and Calhoun.

    Sophie, who was standing there, said, "Lady Madeline had lost her handkerchief. Maybe you can ask the tailor to get some of them done for you," she reminded, letting everyone know how thoughtful she was.

    Hearing Madeline''s name, James who was done taking the next set of measurements from Theodore turned to look at Madeline to say, "I will be sure to make them if you let me know what kind you are looking for."

    Madeline only nodded her head as she didn''t want to ignite a spark of fire in the room.

    "On that same note," started Calhoun and Madeline''s heart felt like it started to slip down from her ribcage, "Do you only work with men''s clothing or with women''s clothing too?" He inquired even though he knew the dress Madeline had worn during the ball was stitched and made by James. Madeline didn''t know why Calhoun asked this, and she looked at the King.

    James answered with a smile on his face, "I have worked on women''s clothing, milord. The dress that Miss Harris wore for the Hallow was made by me." James had made sure to let Calhoun know that he knew the woman.

    "That is good to hear. I have been thinking about getting something stitched," upon Calhoun''s words, she wondered if the King had just brushed away James'' words until he continued, "A pale peach garter that is made ofce with frills that I can give. Not to have too tight sticity so that it can be easily removed."

 Chapter 83 Doubts- Part 1

    <h4>83 Doubts- Part 1</h4>

    He was being scandalous!

    Madeline only stared at the ground, not daring to look at either James or Calhoun right now. She hade here so that the King wouldn''t kill him off without any reason, but she didn''t know he had ns of mortifying her indirectly in front of everyone in the room. It was only Calhoun who appeared calm as he was the one who had given the order and Theodore being the right-hand man of the King, barely changed his expressions from the polite demeanour as if he were unaffected by the King''s words.

    "Did you get the description?" asked Calhoun when James didn''t reply to the King''s previous words.

    Madeline softly gulped and moved her eyes from the ground to look at James who looked startled, and she didn''t me him. No man would speak about a woman''s intimate garment so atrociously, and to James, it was a first time aside from the requests he had received from the women themselves.

    "Make sure it is light peach in colour and you can make use of satin if needed," Calhoun continued to speak to James, "The girl I want to gift it to, she has soft and milky pale legs. I wouldn''t want marks on her skin unless I gave it myself to her," blood had rushed all across Madeline''s face by Calhoun''s words and by the look James had on his face, she could tell that James knew who the King was speaking about.

    James was dumbfounded with the King''s forwardness, and his mouth was left agape before closing them. Though the King had put his demands forward, there was no saying if the girl he was talking about was Madeline or if it was another woman. Though the vigers and the other town folks didn''t get the chance to see the King, many rumours surrounded him and it was hard to say which was right and false.

    To confirm, the tailorman said, "I might need to see thedy''s thigh to make sure about the sticity and the circumference that it needs to be stitched with." There was a high possibility that the King was talking about Madeline, James thought to himself.

    He noticed how King Calhoun smiled down at him, his eyes crinkling with amusement when he spoke the words.

    "And what if I say you will need to imagine a petite woman because it''s quite scandalous for you to ask to look at the girl''s thigh. Unless what you''re saying is that every time you have made garters with other articles of clothing for women, you have looked at their bodies to measure," asked Calhoun to James.

    He put up a brave smile and said, "I am a tailorman, it is only right that I take the measurement from the women so that they are satisfied with what I make for them. Everydy has different sizes, even if they don''t appear to look much different," he kept his words to be polite to the King who didn''t nod or utter a word at him.

    If it was really Madeline to whom he was getting a garter for and from what he had described, it meant the King had seen Madeline''s legs, or maybe more which he didn''t like. He frowned at that thought. Did the King do something to her? Or did he see her bare? His hands clenched together.

    "Customer satisfaction must be your number one point, isn''t it, Mr. Heathcliff,"mented Calhoun, looking down at the tailorman who appeared slightly ruffled after his previous words, "You don''t have to worry about the size. I will make sure it fits when I help the person to wear it," he smiled at James.

    Madeline snapped her eyes at Calhoun. Was he really thinking of making her wear it, and did he expect her to sit doll-like and let him do what he pleased?

    In the courtroom, apart from them, there was also the vampiress who looked utterly shocked. At first, she had thought it was for her and if it was true, Calhoun would have asked the tailor to get her measurements but somewhere along the lines, she felt the King''s gift was not for her but to the other girl in the room.

    James continued to take Theodore''s measurements, his eyes quietly darting towards Madeline who stood there in the courtroom with both her hands holding each other in front of her. A worried look on her face that made him happy, only because he felt she was worried about him. But he knew nothing would happen to him, not when there were so many people in the room.

    But James didn''t know that the King didn''t care about how many people were there in the room. He wouldn''t mind snapping his fingers to kill someone even if there were hundreds of people around them.

    Sophie took a few steps towards Calhoun, and said, "Brother Calhoun?"

    "Hm?" came the short reply as the King was looking at the tailor.

    "Who is that for?" she asked, behaving shy to not take the word ''garter'' in front of him.

    Sophie''s words were not a whisper while she asked the King, everyone in the room heard the question loud and clear to give their ears to hear what the King had to say.

    Madeline prayed that Calhoun would not embarrass her any further than what he had already done. She wouldn''t be able to live with it if he confirmed that it was her, who he wanted to help wear the garter. Her eyes moved from James to look at Calhoun, her heart thudding in her chest as she waited. In the spare second, she noticed how Calhoun''s eyes met hers before he looked back at Sophie. A wicked yet sinful smile yed on his lips.

    "Who do you think it is for?" Calhoun asked the question back to Sophie, "For you of course," and his words brought a broad smile on Sophie''s lips. The vampiress had had her doubts, but with him telling it out loud, she could only confirm her position of being closer to the Kingpared to this new human toy who was living in his quarters. Sophie blushed at his words, and James appeared to look relieved, but it was only Madeline who knew that Calhoun was ying with his words.

    Because Madeline noticed the look Calhoun gave her when Sophie turned her head away.

 Chapter 84 Doubts- Part 2

    <h4>84 Doubts- Part 2</h4>

    "Madeline," the King called her to his side, raising his hand and Madeline made her way towards him. James had finished taking Theodore''s measurements, and he was now free to look at Madeline who walked to where the King sat.

    Calhoun was not going to let James go that easily, not when he wanted to make sure to drive him away from Madeline''s life. It was evident that Madeline was holding on to the idea of James in her life when they weren''t even lovers. Because of this, she wasn''t willing to look or think of the possibility of opening her heart to him. But Calhoun didn''t mind it. He didn''t mind going round and round for her, even if it meant his ways were crooked.

    He raised his hand, simr to the way he had done two nights ago and Madeline bent forward to kiss the back of his hands gingerly before pulling away.

    "You said you met Miss Harris before?" asked Calhoun, interviewing the man to his pleasure.

    James bowed his head, "Yes, milord. We have met before."

    "Close friends, close family?" asked Calhoun and he raised his hand for Madeline to stay where she was before she could leave his side. He wanted her by his side.

    The tailorman shook his head, "No. Miss Harris used toe by the shop with her older sister for clothes."

    "Would it be safe to say then, that you share some kind of acquaintance like a rtionship with each other? Speaking to each other frequently or maybe being invited to dinner by the family if you were friends?" Calhoun continued with his questions. Madeline, who stood there didn''t know what Calhoun was trying to get to by asking these questions.

    James'' eyes looked at Madeline and then back at the King, "I didn''t have dinner with the family."

    "A pity," stated Calhoun as if he dismissed the tailorman.

    When James looked back at Madeline, he said,?"But I have known Lady Madeline for months now. We have had a very good rtionship with each other and..." Madeline shook her head, not wanting him to utter anything more than what he just spoke.

    Calhoun''s eyes moved between the two before he asked, "Lady Madeline, please let James speak," he smiled looking at her. If James were to say anything more, it would cost his head, and she didn''t want him to dere anything more in here, "Let him speak, unless you think he doesn''t have a mouth of his own."

    "I have spoken to Lady Madeline before. It was in the shop but often," answered James who didn''t heed to Madeline''s head shake to not talk about anything without knowing the dangers that were approaching his way, "I wished I could have had a dance with her but I couldn''t during the time of Hallow." Saying these words, James didn''t look at the King, but he looked at Madeline in the eye, "I was looking forward to spending time with each other so that we could know each other better. I like her, and she likes me," Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed at his words.

    "Oh my! Who would have known that the tailor would have something for Lady Madeline," Sophie chirped happily. She was in a good mood after Calhoun had told the garter was for her, and now with the tailor here, she could finally be able to shoo both the humans away from the castle and continue with her ns.

    Sophie went to Madeline''s side and said, "Do you like him too?"

    Calhoun''s red eyes shifted from James to look at Madeline, who stood there like a statue. He gave her a smile, one that was encouraging. But she knew this wasn''t for her happiness. One word and it would push James off the cliff. Madeline wanted to say yes, but she knew she would have to bear the consequences if she didn''t give an answer that would satisfy the King''s ears.

    The room heard Calhoun chuckle, and their attention shifted to look at him, "Like is verymon, Sophie, so I wouldn''t doubt that the tailorman here likes thedy. We all like a lot of things. I like the smell of blood on my hands, the screams when people defy me and are tortured for the treason they made. When someone tries to steal something that belongs to me, that is something I don''t like." He smiled at Madeline who had a look of horror on her face, "But I also like the walls, the ceilings. Sophie, don''t you like Lady Madeline too?" asked Calhoun to the vampiress who blinked at him.

    She didn''t like the human girl one bit and was only tolerating to put a show in front of Calhoun, "I like Lady Madeline," answered Sophie despite her actual feelings towards the human.

    "Right. Lady Madeline is too sweet, she likes James, but then she likes other things too,"mented Calhoun.

    If the King thought that he was going to ept anything that was said by him and was intimidated by his words, he was wrong, thought James to himself.

    "I think you mistook it, my King. Madeline is the one woman I care about and look forward to spending my life with," and just as James uttered these words, Madeline''s face turned pale as blood drained down from her face, "If you allow me, I would like to take her back with me. Her family will be worried as she''s not been home for-"

    "Her family knows she''s been living in the castle. Madeline stayed back in the castle after getting her parents approval. I am sure Madeline will enlighten you about it," Calhoun then turned to look at Madeline who looked paler than a ghost and her eyes slowly moved to look at him.

    "That is not true!" James said as he had got the letter, as well as Beth, Madeline''s elder sister, had confirmed about it, "You are keeping her against her will."

    Calhoun''s lips twisted, and heughed. Nodding his head he said, "Madeline, Mr. Tailorman is waiting for you to speak."

    Madeline''s hands had turned cold out of nervousness and a certain headiness upied her mind. Gulping softly, she then said to James, "I stayed here on my own will."

    "That is a lie!" James stepped forward to only be held back by Theodore, who had ced his hand forward to stop him from moving, "She is being made to lie. You are forcing her to stay in here. You probably scared her and her parents! Madeline!" James looked at Madeline''s face that was warped in anxiousness, "You don''t have to fear the King. Tell the truth in front of everyone," he stared into her eyes.

 Chapter 85 Doubts- Part 3

    <h4>85 Doubts- Part 3</h4>

    The truth was that she wanted to answer James'' question, but how far would her truth save James'' life? It was apparent with the way Calhoun was trying to bring up the subject that he was trying to instigate James, to do something that would be considered enough treason against him tond him in one of the King''s many prestige dungeons.

    All the eyes were on her, and the most intense was not from Calhoun but James as he wanted her to speak up. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath to say,

    "I am staying here willingly."

    James appeared hurt by her words, and he could only think that Madeline was scared in the King''s presence which was why she answered that way. Even when he had arrived yesterday in here, to meet her, she had refused toe with him.

    He said, "You don''t have to worry about anyone, Madeline. I am here. I will support you. Don''t fear anyone." But James didn''t know there was no support when it came to stand against the King of Devon.

    The smile on Calhoun''s face didn''t leave, and he said, "Mr. Tailor is right here. You are free to go. Nobody is going to stop you."

    On Calhoun''s words, Madeline stared into those dark red eyes wondering how much he meant it. For a person who had put her in the maze for his amusement and brought her back to the castle after a small escape, he had no intention to let her go since from the very beginning. Madeline found it hard to believe that he would free her.

    Sophie had taken herself to walk towards the tailorman who she considered to be a fairly handsome man, "Maybe thedy doesn''t feel that way towards you," she conjured. The vampiress had not been there when the Harris'' family had been invited and what discussion went down in the dining room of the castle between the family and the King.

    She didn''t like Madeline, and she wanted her out of the castle, but Sophie was the kind of person who enjoyed looking down at people. Even if there was a little truth that the human girl liked this man in here, then she would definitely speak and be kicked out by the King himself for two-timing the men. She wouldn''t me her as when it came to a lowly tailorman and the King; any sane person would pick the King.

    James furrowed his eyebrows, and he spoke to the vampiress, "Believe me when I say this that we do like each other. Forgive me, but who are you?" he asked politely.

    "I am the King''s...cousin," replied Sophie, "By the looks of it, I will say that she has had a change of heart and has decided to stay in here. Maybe she caught someone''s fancy?"

    Madeline slowly asked, "Why are you doing this?" She had listened to him. At least since from the time, she had been caught and brought back to the castle.

    Calhoun gave her a look of confusion and asked, "What am I doing? I was only asking him questions."

    "No, you''re trying to get him to confess," she whispered to him, and Calhoun leaned forward from his seat.

    "Such usations. I don''t see any harm in asking the questions. Maybe I should let him see the painting I made of you. Hair sprawled and your body facing me as I had painted you. Hem up your beautiful thighs that showed the length of the stockings," his words were casual, but Madeline feared, "What do you think James will think when he sees it? To have the person he likes to be disyed in front of another man, and the woman agreed to it."

    "I didn''t agree to it, I was forced and threatened!"

    Calhoun clicked his tongue, tching at her, "You try so hard to protect him, I cannot help but bring him to light where you won''t be able to do anything."

    Calhoun was the epitome of evil.

    "If I am not wrong, I don''t have to do anything. Watch," said Calhoun, shifting his gaze to look at James, who was speaking to Sophie.

    "That is not possible," disagreed James.

    Sophie looked at Calhoun who had a bored look on his face now, with his hand supporting the side of his temple, "People change their feelings, Mr��." Sophie had not bothered to register his name as she didn''t feel the need to do it, "Who knows it might be Theodore who she likes. He is a handsome man after all."

    James had hoped that Madeline would step in and clear the ims, but she stood there next to the King mum. He then remembered something and pulled out an envelope that he carried today with him.

    "Here''s the proof!" said James waving the envelope in the air, "Here it states how she is unhappy and is being forced to stay here because of the King," he didn''t know he was going to do this today, but the King and Madeline had not left him with any other choice. He was going to fight for Madeline''s freedom.

    "Who is the letter from?" asked Calhoun, his eyes narrowed at the piece of envelope.

    "It''s from Madeline," answered James confidently, "You can see there clearly that she wants to go home. And if she took the time to write the letter, it only shows how much she cares for me. Read thest lines," he said. Sophie took the envelope and started to read the letter that was inside it.

    Calhoun''s eyes shifted to Madeline with a hidden re. He had made sure that no letter would be passed in and out for Madeline, which was why he didn''t understand how the letter came to reach the man.

    Madeline''s eyes widened, and she gulped. James was digging his grave further and further into the ground by every word he spoke. When James had mentioned about the letterst morning, she had believed it was Beth as it was what he had said. That it was her sister who had brought the letter to him, but she still wasn''t sure if Beth would go so far to write a letter in her name. What if her sister had mentioned it to him and had never given him the letter?

    She wanted to retrieve the letter and confirm it.

    "Looks like a love letter from a departing person who entered the castle," stated Sophie, who read the letter, "If you love him, you should go back to him, Lady Madeline. Poor man," the vampiress shook her head.

    From behind, Madeline heard the King say, "You have the nerve to send a letter to the man. Makes me wonder if you want to see his head on the spear."

    Madeline snapped her head and said, "The letter is not mine!"

    "Then whose, is it?" asked Calhoun, raising his eyebrow wanting an answer from her.

 Chapter 86 I will take care of you- Part 1

    <h4>86 I will take care of you- Part 1</h4>

    "I would like to see the letter," said Madeline and Calhoun''s eyes narrowed even further.

    "Bring the letter to me," Calhoun demanded, his voice hard and cold that made everyone look at him warily. Sophie, who was the one holding it, walked to the King and she handed the letter to him.

    Madeline wanted to read it. She wanted to confirm that it was Beth who had written it herself before she would take Beth''s name but would it be wise to take her elder sister''s name? Asked Madeline to herself. She didn''t know in what state the King was because he was already ready to breathe fire, that Madeline had somehow sneaked the letter under his nose that reached James Heathcliff.

    She knew some contents of the letter as James had spoken about it yesterday when they had met in one of the rooms of the castle. But she didn''t know the other lines that were in there. Madeline noticed Calhoun whose eyes fell on the letter, starting to read the lines and he threw it on the ground.

    "Did you write this letter, Madeline?" asked King Calhoun, and Madeline''s hands started to sweat.

    To stop her hands from shaking, Madeline clenched both her fists together. Sophie tipped her chin looking at Madeline who was nervous. She couldn''t stop but smile, her lips twisting in amusement to see the plight in which Madeline had been ced in.

    "I didn''t," Madeline whispered, but Calhoun was not satisfied with the number of words she used.

    "I didn''t hear you. Speak louder," he ordered, and she looked down at the ground.

    "It wasn''t me...who wrote the letter," she said loud enough this time for the entire courtroom to hear. She didn''t have to look at James to know that he looked utterly shocked and taken aback by her confession.

    Calhoun''s re had not been tamed yet, and he continued to speak with the same tone, "So you''re telling that this letter, which the tailorman has brought along with him, is not written by you. Yes?"

    "Yes," Madeline''s words were firm, but it was painful. She wished she had written the letter, but at the same time, she was d she wasn''t the one to write it.

    James finally recovered from Madeline''s confession, and he said, "Why did you not deny it when I brought it up yesterday when we met?"

    Calhoun''s expression turned from anger to one which was of amusement. This was what he wanted, the actual confession, and he waited for the foolish human to utter more words on it.

    Though James had not spent enough time with Madeline in the past, he had noticed her, noticed her enough to know that she was a simple girl who was like a breath of fresh air in the meadow where the light fell. He didn''t want her to be scared,

    He was a simple man, a man whose upation and bread of living was making clothes for men and women, and it was a reputable one. Andpared to the King, who was not only handsome, the man held the crown. The absolute power who could have anything, which could either be by money or by force. But then at the same time, Lady Sophie, the vampiress, had put a doubt in his mind.

    "Why didn''t you tell me yesterday that it wasn''t you when I spoke about the letter?" James iterated his question, wanting an answer from Madeline who looked into his eyes with a pleading expression to not go any further with his questions.

    Calhoun, who stood close to her, said, "The man is asking you something. Answer him, Madeline."

    Madeline wanted to stab this person. He was pushing her into a corner, "I was in shock yesterday when I found out about it. I am sorry for causing you trouble," she apologised, hoping James would not speak further, but it didn''t stop.

    "You are scared of the King, and so am I," Calhoun smiled at James'' words, "But you don''t have to hide the truth," James'' words were also limited because he remembered how the letter spoke about not bringing up her family into it as it would cause trouble He could ask Madeline''s elder sister to testify, but he didn''t know how far things would go in their favour.

    Calhoun stood up from his throne and took a step down from the tform to stand next to Madeline,

    "I think you have received the answer you have been seeking, Mr. Heathcliff. Madeline didn''t write the letter nor is she being held in here against her will." He then put his hand around Madeline''s waist and said, "It would be wise if you stop pursuing the woman. I am sure there are plenty of other women who fancy you. Don''t go for something that belongs to the crown," came the low, threatening warning, which was clear.

    When Madeline tried to leave his side, Calhoun tightened his hold on her waist to stop her from trying to escape.

    James stood there with his eyebrows furrowed, and he looked at Madeline who didn''t utter a word of protest. It was only yesterday they had shared a moment, and now she acted as if she didn''t meet him. This only told him how much the King might have threatened her.

    The wisest thing would be to be quiet so that he wouldn''t make an enemy of the King. James bowed his head.

    Calhoun continued to re down at the man and then said, "My man will lead you out of the castle. I will be expecting that garter to be made soon," he added and noticed how James''s jaw ticked, but he couldn''t say anything.

    Good, thought Calhoun. At least he had the sense not to keep talking unless he was fond of his tongue. He had told Madeline he wouldn''t do anything to James by beheading him, but it didn''t mean he couldn''t use other means to achieve his goals. The entire time the tailorman was in the courtroom, Madeline had an anxious look on her face, and most of the time, she couldn''t keep her eyes off of the human.

    "Thank you for seeing me," James bowed his head like a true gentleman, and Madeline''s heart ached when James didn''t spare her another look. Turning around, he left the room with Theodore and another minister of the King who had been standing outside the courtroom.

 Chapter 87 I will take care of you- Part 2

    <h4>87 I will take care of you- Part 2</h4>

    Calhoun had openly dered more than once, his keen interest in this pathetic human girl who was the most disliked person in her list now, "Poor man, you should have given Lady Madeline and the man some time to speak, brother Calhoun. They seem like separated lovers."

    "Leave."

    Sophie blinked at the word, and she stared at Calhoun, "Of course, I will stop speaking about it-"

    "I said leave us," Calhoun re at Sophie''s way. The smile on his lips had fallen and he wasn''t in a good mood, not when the woman he wanted to im for himself was thinking about the well being of another man, "Don''t make me repeat myself, Sophie."

    Sophie pressed her lips against each other, wanting to speak, but she had been ordered to get out of the room. She quietly red at the human who was standing next to Calhoun, and she bowed her head. Every time something happened, Sophie had to remind herself that the only way to achieve one''s goals was to be patient. In time, everything woulde to belong to her and then she would take her revenge on the lowly beings who had dared to challenge her.

    Madeline heard the footsteps of Sophie as she left the courtroom leaving only Calhoun and her alone. She tried to push herself away from him, but Calhoun was quicker and sharper than her. He pulled her to him, both his hands holding her arms on either side.

    "You have some nerve to write a letter to him," he snarled, and Madeline didn''t dare to look at him, "I made sure that your letters would not go out of this castle."

    "I told you, it wasn''t me," she denied the ims because truthfully she had nothing to do with it.

    "Then who was it? Perhaps you speak to him telepathically that got him here yesterday?" asked Calhoun and Madeline flinched.

    The King''s words were sarcastic, and she would haveughed at the joke, but she didn''t dare to do so, "Why won''t you believe me that I didn''t do it?" This time, her eyes snapped to look at him, and she red back, "You cannot even trust me, yet you im to love me. What kind of love is this?!" she rebutted back at him.

    "The kind of love that makes you insane," was the answer that came from Calhoun''s lips and for a moment Madeline felt one string of her heart snap, "You haven''t been with the man, not even once as much as you have been with me and you prefer to pick him over me."

    "That''s because he wouldn''t imprison or force me. What did I say about love being set free?" asked Madeline, and she finally stepped back from him, "Even when you hold the sand tighter, it slips through your fingers."

    "He is not an idiot."

    "No? I was wondering who was digging his grave as he spoke. He or you?" Calhoun raised his eyebrows at her, and Madeline could not deny it. Because it was true that James had bravely spoken in front of the King as if he had his perks when in truth, all he was, was a tailorman, "You agree," chuckled Calhoun.

    Madeline frowned, "I did not say anything for me to agree."

    "Your silence said everything that I didn''t have to wait for your words," Calhoun said, his eyes taking in the girl''s expression which looked upset right now, "What else did you do yesterday with him which I am unaware of?" he asked, and Madeline''s eyes widened.

    "We just spoke!"

    "What did you speak?" came the question from Calhoun, "He said the letter was mentioned to you, but you didn''t bother to correct him? How convenient," he hummed, his dark red eyes continued to stare at her.

    She wished she could rewind her days, just so that she would never havee to the ball. If she could, she would lie to her family about feeling unwell and stay back. That way, the King would have never seen her, but the sad truth was that it was not possible now, and she was stuck here. The man gave her chills.

    "You deserve so much better, sweet girl. To be more than a tailor''s wife," stated Calhoun, walking towards her, but he didn''t stop to stand in front of her. Instead, he walked further to step behind her and then turn, "You deserved to be showered with the nicest things in this world. He couldn''t even stand his ground, but then I would have enjoyed seeing him die if he used me of something more."

    "You were threatening him��" Madeline whispered.

    "Did I?" came the thoughtful words of Calhoun, "I don''t think I told anything that would cause him any harm. If it did, the guards would have dragged him out of the courtroom. You should be thankful for it."

    "Do you know, what''s going to happen now?" asked Calhoun who leaned towards the side of her head to speak, "James is going to think that you indeed like me which is why you said a no. If he is as smart as you think he is, he will know that the garter which I ordered him to make was not for Sophie but you. For your beautiful milky thighs." The words of whispers in her ear made her shiver.

    "You are a cruel man."

    Calhoun''s lips twisted into a smile when he heard Madeline say those words, "I never said I wasn''t."

    The King''s admission only made Madeline worry more and be cautious of him. Someone who was bold enough to ept the negative quality where he didn''t care about what others thought. That was exactly the kind of person Madeline should be wary of.

    She knew since the time she had found out that Calhoun had invited James toe to take his men''s measurements, that was only a ploy so that he could instigate the man. She was mad at Calhoun for mentioning about the garter, and God only knew what James had interpreted or misinterpreted from it. Every word Calhoun had uttered regarding it had only made it appear scandalous enough that she felt embarrassed to even think about it.

    At the same time, Madeline was thankful that he hadn''t dragged James to show another scandalous time they had between him and her- to show the painting Calhoun made.

    "He looks weak. Find someone else who is worthy of you. Someone who will shower you with needed attention."

    Madeline, who couldn''t keep her tongue to herself said, "Like you?"

    This broadened the smile on Calhoun''s lips, "Well, I wasn''t going to say it but if you are admitting that I am the best person, how can I deny such opportunity?"

    Madeline knew she had to learn a lot, and no matter how much she tried to be smart in front of the King, the man would always outsmart her. He was the King after all, and she told herself never to underestimate the man who carried the crown.

    "You aren''t wrong with your choice," he had pulled himself back from her and Madeline turned her head in the direction where she could see him, "Imagine if you turn out to be the tailorman''s wife. You will see him only during his free hours as he will need to make both ends meet. I have heard how shops can be robbed or mobbed to be destroyed." There was a subtle warning in his voice, "It would be very difficult for you, lonely in the house, waiting for him."

    "I will work with him then," said Madeline and Calhoun smiled, knowing well this wasing. As quiet as the girl appeared to be, she wasn''t exactly the quiet one.

 Chapter 88 I will take care of you- Part 3

    <h4>88 I will take care of you- Part 3</h4>

    "Such a tiring job. What if things don''t work out. The man will need to find another job, and that would only bring distance between the two because of theck of time and care. But if youe to my side, Maddie," he paused so that she could take in his words, "You will never feel neglected. I will see to it that you are showered with love and care."

    "By maids doing my bidding of bathing and washing me? Making me wear clothes?" asked Madeline.

    Calhoun finally walked back so that he coulde to stand in front of her now, "Don''t be upset. If you don''t want the maids helping you, I will personally take my time to do all those things," and Madeline gulped hearing this because she knew he wasn''t joking. She would have considered it to be a joke if he hadn''t dressed her before. But having the first-hand experience of him tying her corset and making her wear clothes as if she were not capable of doing such a minuscule task. She shook her head.

    He then took her hand in his, holding it and kissing the back of her hand whilst his eyes were on her, "I won''t disappoint you."

    He wasn''t disappointing her in scaring her, thought Madeline to herself.

    "Stop thinking about negative things. Give me a chance by looking beyond the things that have happened in the past," he said to her and Madeline frowned. Her lips pursed, and it felt like the kiss on her hand had left a burn on her skin that started to inch across every part of her body.

    Due to today''s court session, Madeline hade to know the difference in where Calhoun and James stood. Unless the King wanted to let her go, which he wouldn''t, there was no way she would be able to run from here. James was as helpless as her and neither of them had any powers to do anything but toply with the King''s orders which were resolute. Calhoun had only warned this time, but if James did something more, Madeline doubted things would be this calm.

    "What if you hate me?" she surprised him with a question.

    Calhoun tilted his head at her question, "It is hard to hate someone you love."

    Madeline''s lips trembled, "Would you take a married girl as your wife?" It was a question she knew was equal to the edge of the sword. And as expected Calhoun didn''t like the idea. He pulled her by the hand he was holding before, bringing her close which she didn''t stop.

    Calhoun''s other hand made its way to her hair, patting it gently and this was enough to turn her nerves jittery, "Why do you ask that question?" he asked her back, his voice calm and cold. His eyes didn''t look angry. Maybe it would be much better if he were angry than having the passive expression on his face, "Hm?"

    "There you go. The space you need is all yours," he said to see her tense shoulder rx a little, "But��"

    There was a but, thought Madeline to herself to look into his eyes.

    "The space is only until where I give you. I wouldn''t like it if I am not able to reach out for you."

    Madeline didn''t know how to react to this. He gave her space, but at the same time, he didn''t.

    "Come join me for breakfast," he said to her before taking a slow and deliberate step backwards. A smile appeared on his lips, which was mischievous.

    He hadn''t pestered about the letter again, and Madeline decided to sway the topic elsewhere so that her family would not be put under his questioning gaze. She couldn''t guarantee herself that Calhoun would not bring up the scandalous events in front of them that happened in thest few hours and days since they hadst seen her.

    When they entered the dining room, Madeline could feel the breathing dragon who had already taken the seat next to Calhoun''s chair at the dining table. Calhoun took his seat, and so did Madeline. She took a look at Sophie, who was ring at her. Calhoun had dismissed her from the court so that he could have his time with the human, and if Sophie were a ferocious canine animal, one would have easily seen her growling and snarling at Madeline.

    When the food brought, even Theodore was asked to join the table, and Calhoun asked, "Did you send the man back?"

    "Yes, milord. He said it would take some days toplete his work before he would be able to bring the clothes here."

    "Something to keep his mind upied from saving the princess,"mented Calhoun as if Madeline wasn''t here, but Madeline didn''t react to it. The more flustered she appeared to be, the more he enjoyed, and she was slowly starting to calm down around him.

    On the other hand, Sophie was immensely displeased that Calhoun had kicked her out of the court. Not literally but the dismissive tone he had used was something that didn''t sit well with her. When breakfast was done, the vampiress quietly slipped away from them to walk towards the gallery room. Since she had arrived at the castle and seen Madeline walking in Calhoun''s coat, she couldn''t help but wonder if the King had painted the girl or if something else had taken ce.

    If she was able to walk, it meant Calhoun had not done her, but she wanted to confirm. Reaching the room, she started to look for the new canvas that was painted when her eyes fell on the painting that was covered. Biting her lip, she walked towards it, and her hand reached out when she heard footsteps behind her.

    Turning around, she noticed it wasn''t Calhoun but his right-hand man, Theodore, "You shouldn''t be here Lady Sophie," he said with a bow.

    Sophie''s lips twisted. She walked towards him and came to stop right in front of him, "Why not?"

    "Because this is the King''s personal space and he doesn''t like it when someone intrudes," Theodore answered her with polite words.

    Sophie smirked, hearing this, "You don''t have to worry about that, Theodore. When I am the person the King decides to be with, little things like these won''t matter," she took a step forward, "You know that, don''t you?"

    The man didn''t move but stayed quiet. Sophie Wilmot was not anyone but the King''s cousin. Her mother was the sister of the previous King, which made her important. It wasn''t anything new to the man to hear her intentions on being the Queen of Devon. Since the time she hade to understand about the kingdoms and thends, the power that involved that came with it, she had started to pursue the position of the Queen.

    "Yes, mdy," he obliged to her words.

    "That''s good to hear," she stated, and the sweet demeanour on her face changed, "How long will you continue to behave like Calhoun''s personal servant? You should think about yourself too. You have been helping and have been with him for so many years now. You should be rewarded by more than clothes. I will be sure to give you a higher position when the time is right," she said, cing a hand on his chest with a small confidant smile on her lips.

    "That is very kind of you to think about levelling up my position, Lady Sophie," he said as if he were grateful.

    Sophie knew the man would agree, "Now let me take a look at that painting. It is only right as I am the possible queen," she said dismissing the words Calhoun had earlier said when it came to the pitiful human.

    Before she could even take two steps, Theodore stopped her and Sophie turned her gaze to look at the man.

    "It is the King''s orders that no one is supposed to step inside this room without his permission. I cannot disobey his words."

    "I am the future Queen."

    Theodore gave her a bow, to say, "I will be at your absolute support when you are the Queen," he then offered her a polite smile, "Let me take you back."

 Chapter 89 List of adjectives- Part 1

    <h4>89 List of adjectives- Part 1</h4>

    Now sitting in the carriage, James turned back to look at the wooden wall in front of him that had no window to speak to the coachman. This carriage wasn''t his, it belonged to the King and the castle which had picked him up earlier.

    Yesterday when he met Madeline, he noticed how she had been relieved and happy to see him. But within a few minutes she had ushered him to leave her side and go back home. James had never seen or met the King before, this time being the first, he could tell that the King of Devon was an intelligent person. At the same time, he was handsome to look at and if James himself wasn''t good looking, he would have felt daunted the way the King looked.

    He wanted to help Madeline to get out of the castle. She had barely smiled today, and he had not missed the look on her face which was filled with nervousness. He had taken the measurement from the two men, and he was going to take the measurement of the King or so did he think as it was King Calhoun who had called him to the court today. But the King wasn''t looking for stitching his clothes himself but he had given the descriptions for a woman''s garter. Had the King done something to Madeline already? Had he seen her naked? And at that thought, James'' hands turned to fists.

    When he reached the vige, the coachman dropped him and instead of going to his shop or house, he made his way to Harris'' house.

    He knocked on the closed door, and when Mrs. Harris opened the door, he bowed his head. The woman looked startled by seeing him. The woman was in herte forties, and she appeared to be tired.

    "Good afternoon, Mrs. Harris. I am James Heathcliff," he introduced himself by offering a bow to thedy.

    The elderly woman returned the bow and greeted back, "Good afternoon. I know who you are," her eyebrows had drawn themselves together, "If you are here to look for Madeline, she isn''t here," informed the woman.

    "I have heard about what happened," the man tried to pay his sympathies for the recent events as their daughter had been torn away from them to stay in the castle, "But I am not here for her. Is the elder Miss Harris home? I had something to talk to her."

    Mrs. Harris continued to frown as she didn''t know what he wanted with Beth but she nodded her head and said, "She''s in the backyard. Pleasee in while I go call her."

    "What is it, mama?" asked Beth with a little irritation in her voice.

    Beth had a napkin tied around the top of her head and an apron tied around her waist. Herplexion had turned slightly pale by standing under the sun for a longer time than she was used to. Since from the time Madeline had been asked to stay in the castle, Beth had to take up Madeline''s chores and help her mother, which had turned her dull and even more bitter. Mr. Danvers was still trying to court her for marriage which she was previously interested in, but after she and her family had falsely interpreted the King''s invitation, she had lost interest in the man. And it wasn''t just him but every other man who had tried to court her.

    The life she deserved was stolen by her very own blood sister. She could have been reigning as the Queen of Devon, but here she was, working in the house by cleaning and cooking. Her hands were turning rough, and her nails had started to chip away, which she had tried to maintain for months.

    "Mr. Heathcliff is standing outside. He said he wants to see you," said her mother who gave a look of suspicion. It was because Madeline had mentioned to Mrs. Harris about how she and Mr. Heathcliff were going to meet each other. So why was he meeting her older daughter?

    Beth walked past her mother and stepped out of the house, "Mr. Heathcliff," she bowed her head to show her manners. The man bowed his head in greeting.

    Seeing the man here all dressed, she wondered if he had visited the King. Because as far as her knowledge went, the tailorman never dressed like this in the vige. The vige that they lived in was a ce that would not suit his current attire.

    "How may I help you?" asked Beth.

    James'' eyes moved to the open door to see Mrs. Harris, not in sight and he then turned to look at Beth, "I had been to the castle today," he confirmed her suspicion. Beth was pleased that this man hade to be of some use but she couldn''t find her sweet sister anywhere in sight.

    "Did you see Madeline? How is she doing?" asked Beth in concern and her face turning to worry.

    "She''s being held as a prisoner in the castle. Not in the dungeons of course, but you know," murmured James, "I believe apart from it, she''s being kept well. When ites to clothes or jewels, the King has given those probably to make her happy."

    What Beth wanted to hear was not this but James'' information, instead of soothing her soul where she wanted to hear that Madeline was sad and suffering, this was like throwing more coal into the burning fire.

    Beth had hoped to hear something that wouldpensate for the unjust feeling that she had been holding since the time she had found out about the King''s interest towards her younger sister. ording to Beth, when Madeline had found out about the King''s interest in her, she should have taken the opportunity of declining the order firmly. Instead, she had been half-hearted.?She was the older sister. She was to be given the first preference and her marriage was toe first but her sister had stolen everything from her.

    "She must be doing alright then," came Beth''s in voice as she stared at the ground. What more did a girl want? Madeline could deny she didn''t want the castle life but the truth was deep down she wanted those things too and Beth could tell it because she was her sister, "Did you speak to her?" asked Beth.

    She had hoped that James would be of some use but if he hade back without Madeline, it only meant he was unsessful in it.

 Chapter 90 List of adjectives- Part 2

    <h4>90 List of adjectives- Part 2</h4>

    "Why would she do that?" Beth asked with a frown, "She was the one who wanted the letter to be delivered to you," she acted oblivious to it.

    James shook his head, "Maybe she is scared...but the King has taken a liking towards her."

    Was that it? Asked Beth in her mind. This spineless man was not going to fight for the woman he was in love with? Beth had a look of disappointment in her eyes.

    After a few seconds, she said,

    "Madeline must be terrified right now. The King appears to be a violent man," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper, "I worry for her, Mr. Heathcliff. What if he does something to her? Something unspeakable. You know how Madeline is, she might have just wanted to protect you."

    James weighed her words.

    "Did you tell her to speak to the King?" Beth asked him, her words slow, and she turned around to make sure her mother wasn''t listening to their conversation now.

    "I spoke to the King," James replied, and Beth raised her eyebrows, "He is not willing to free her, and he ims that she is staying there out of her own will. Madeline also agreed to it."

    "What?" Beth narrowed her eyes.

    "That''s true. She denied the letter and then said that she was staying back in the castle without anyone''s force," James raised his hand to his forehead and rubbed it, "I don''t know why...but somewhere I felt that maybe it is true."

    Beth let out an emptyugh and she shook her head, "I don''t think that''s true. She might be getting threatened by the crown. She told my mama and me how much she loves you. She wished to marry you, Mr. Heathcliff and Madeline is not someone fickle."

    James sighed, "I will think about something after I reach home. Thank you for your time," he said to bow his head and left the front of the Harris'' house.

    The older daughter of Harris continued to stand outside the house, looking at the retreating figure of Mr. Heathcliff. If what the man said was true, Beth was d that she had cursed her younger sister. In front of them, she had cried big fat tears to gain pity but in truth she was happy. When she entered the house and locked the door, she heard her mother,

    "What did Mr. Heathcliff want from you?" asked her mother, "And how did he find out that Madeline is in the castle?"

    Beth continued to walk before saying, "He must have gone for some work there and met her. Said, she''s happy there and unwilling to return."

    Hearing this Mrs. Harris frowned, "Is that what he said or what you want to hear, Beth? You forget that this is your sister and not any girl. You should know her better."

    "Elizabeth!" her mother scolded her, "You know it''s untrue. Both your father and I love you and her equally. We worry because she never wanted a life like that."

    "But guess what mama, she is enjoying those things while you worry about her," said Beth, walking further into the house to be followed by her mother. She finally stopped walking and turned around, "She is happy, and it is what she wants. Isn''t that good? She will not have to work because she will be the queen. Be happy for that��" she had a look of concern on her face as she said this.

    Mrs. Harris walked towards the dining table. She pulled out the chair and sat down with one hand supporting her forehead.

    "You are not mad at her anymore?" asked Mrs. Harris as the woman knew how Beth had been excited that day only to have her dreams shattered by the few words their King had uttered.

    Beth walked forward to where her mother was and sat down on her heels. She then ced her hands on her mother''s knees to say, "I was sad initially. Angry too but I think we both know that she can have a life like that. The King even said that he would help papa with his shop and the shop is being built. It is good, isn''t it?"

    Beth had changed her entire demeanour and words, her words sweet to encourage her mother.

    "You are right," exhaled her mother.

    Beth then said, "How about I go visit her? See how she is doing?"

    Her mother''s eyes shifted to look at Beth and she said, "No," for Beth''s face to fall.

    "What? Why not?" asked the young girl. Her jaws gritted together.

    "The castle is not safe. I don''t know what will happen to you."

    Beth smiled, "Madeline is safe."

    "Madeline has the King''s protection. You don''t," and these words only made Beth more bitter, "We don''t have the protection, my child. The King is not someone to test."

    Beth had wanted so much to visit the castle right now. It was something that had been on the back of her head. She had hoped to go and pull out her charms to show that she was the better choice out of the two sisters. The Kingdom of Devon was vast, but it was often told how it was the vige she lived in had pretty girls with blonde hair and Beth was one of the most attractive brte beauty.

    "Mama, you don''t have to worry about it. The King knows how much Madeline loves us. He would never harm us," she assured her mother, but her mother continued to shake her head.

    "Let us wait for the next invitation from the castle. Until then, we cannot enter," her mother stood up and left the room, leaving the fuming young girl behind.

    Back in the castle, Madeline was walking next to Calhoun in the garden. After breakfast, Calhoun had dragged her here. The atmosphere in the morning felt warm on Madeline''s skin, and she walked without a word being spoken to him. She hoped that if she didn''t show any interest towards him or didn''t heed to his words the way he wanted, it would finally make him look for another girl.

    Didn''t the King have other duties that he now took his time to walk in the garden? Asked Madeline to herself.

    "You are quiet. Is it because you saw the tailorman?" asked Calhoun who didn''t turn to look at her but was looking ahead of him. Walking next to him, she felt short as Calhoun was a tall man.

    "Aren''t I always quiet?" Madeline asked back. She turned her gaze to look at his sharp side profile.

    "Hm. You didn''t speak much back in the courtroom, I thought you would take out your frustration now," the man taunted, his eyes then moved to catch hold of her eyes that quickly looked away.

    Madeline wasn''t stupid enough toin to the person when he was the problem, "I don''t think any of my words would have mattered or stopped you from speaking what you said back there."

    "Now now, don''t me me. If you had asked me to stop, I would have done it. I am a gentleman who listens to the woman I am affectionate with," his affections were harmful; she thought to herself. And she didn''t believe those words.

    "I doubt that," came her small voice.

    "If you keep doubting, you will never be able to see how beautiful the other things are," Calhoun''s words appeared to be speaking of more than one subject in here, "Did you like what I wanted? I thought maybe you would have your specifications when ites to what kind of garter you want to wear."

    "I never asked for it!" Madeline''s mind finally fizzled out.

    "No?" asked Calhoun thoughtfully, "But you were the one asking for it saying how you wanted it back. I thought I would get you new ones as a present."

 Chapter 91 List of adjectives- Part 3

    <h4>91 List of adjectives- Part 3</h4>

    "You did it on purpose. You wanted to create doubt in his mind. That is why you called him today, isn''t it?" questioned Madeline, stopping her feet from walking any further. Calhoun took one step before turning around.

    "Sorry, what was it again?" he asked her and Madeline ground her teeth.

    "Nothing," said Madeline to start walking again. But before she could walk past him, Calhoun caught hold of her arm.

    "I think someone needs to learn some manners on how to behave," Calhoun stared at her. He did not go of her arm and neither did Madeline try to resist. What was the point of resisting if he was only going to catch her when they were barely a few inches away from each other.

    "What you did was something I did not like," she confessed, "I thought men who were affectionate and loved the woman didn''t speak about things like that."

    "Let me tell you. You thought wrong," he responded and noticed how she frowned, "Confused?" he asked her.

    Madeline felt her arm finally free without her needing to tell him and she stared at him.

    "You," said Calhoun and Madeline turned attentive, "I was only getting rid of the unwanted people out of your life. What is the point of pinning hopes on a man when he can''t even trust you."

    "And you do?"

    A wicked smile spread out on Calhoun''s lips hearing the words that came out of Madeline''s lips, "I do. Very much do. We must be pronounced husband and wife if there was a priest in here," and Madeline blushed by his words of how elegantly he twisted things around making him look like a saint but Madeline knew he was anything but a saint.

    She turned her head away from him and tried to get her mind sorted where she would not have to look at his face.

    "Such a shy girl. I can barely wonder what would happen if I were to take you to bed," Madeline snapped her head and red at him.

    "Please stop making me ufortable. If you want to win my heart you will need to know what I am okay and not okay with," she didn''t know for how long she would be able to handle his teasing.

    Calhoun turned around and picked one of the white roses that was sitting quietly amongst the other roses next to it. Isting it from the others.

    "Madeline, I see you like this white rose. Something so pure and serene," Calhoun said to her, "I am a man who is surrounded by different wildflowers but you are the one who caught my attention because of the way you are. I will ept you the way you are but you will need to open your heart to me. Trusting and cing your feelings stubbornly with a man you barely know. Wouldn''t you say you know me better than that tailorman?"

    "Isn''t that what he is?" Calhoun tilted his head in question, "It would be a different scenario now, if he was dead. It would be dead man," he joked, which Madeline didn''t find to be funny, "Youck humour, sweet Maddie."

    "I don''t think our definition of humour is the same."

    "There''s a satire in the dark humour, sweetheart," the King chuckled before getting back to the previous question he had asked her, "Tell me. Do you know him better than me? We have spent even more time together than you have with him."

    Madeline would have agreed if she wasn''t stubborn but the King was more stubborn. It was true that she hadn''t spent much time talking to James as much as she had spoken to the King.

    "Tell me about him. Describe him with adjectives," the King''s demanding words surprised her as she thought he didn''t want to hear her praising James.

    "Is this a trick question?" She didn''t know what more trap the King had ced for her to step into so that he could catch her.

    "I don''t know. Is it?" asked Calhoun, his words yful and she gave him an apprehensive look, "Adjectives like how he was an idiot, stupid, arrogant-"

    "He is not arrogant," Madeline defended.

    "Mhmm, whatever you say but then you agree with the rest. Interesting," Calhoun''s smile was wide and his eyes shining with amusement.

    "He is a good man. Humble, kind, polite, thoughtful, handsome, a gentleman, respectful," stated Madeline.

    "And? That''s it?" asked Calhoun raising his eyebrows at her, "I thought you would have a parchment full of words for him and it looks like you are trying to use him to wiggle your way out of here."

    "No, I didn''t," Madeline frowned.

    "Alright. My turn now. What are your adjectives for me?" asked Calhoun to her, "Feel free to speak," he said with those intimidating eyes that made Madeline want to run away from him.

    Both Madeline and Calhoun stared at each other for long seconds, "Rude."

    "Just one? I was expecting some more. I know you want to say it. Tell me," he coaxed her.

    If Madeline was able to express her feelings by actions instead of words, she would have stabbed Calhoun with a blunt knife over and over again for embarrassing her, "S-shameless. Pushy. Overconfident, overbearing, impolite."

    "I am listening. What else?" he pushed her with a smile which was patient.

    "Coarse...Cheeky."

    "What about my looks? You called him handsome, now if you call me anything less he will be nothing but useless trash," he chuckled, savouring how her expressions changed one after another.

    "Good-looking?"

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed down, "What is with the questionable answer? Every word of yours will be held in the courtroom under my testimony and the ministers will see how you called the King names," he tched.

    "You were the one who said to speak freely." Her innocent words had him look away from her face to see the other trees in the garden before he looked back at her when she said, "What if I am not this white rose? You might only like the idea of me," she swallowed down the nervousness that had reducedpared to the time of the morning.

    "Is that what you worry about?" asked Calhoun.

    "I might not be the white rose that caught your eyes. I might be a red rose," and she noticed how the smile on Calhoun''s lips never died down.

    "I never miss a thing."

    He then looked down at the white rose that he had been holding. Madeline''s eyes fell on the white rose in time to notice how the white petals had started to change its colour. The petals of the rose slowly started to turn from white to red and she looked shocked. Her eyes moved back up to Calhoun, to hear him say, "I know what I chose, Madeline."

 Chapter 92 Dungeons- Part 1

    <h4>92 Dungeons- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline stared with a mixture of awe and shock at what just happened. Blinking her eyes, she stared at the red rose that had turned from white to red in less than two seconds as if the flower had been dipped into ink of red. Her eyes then snapped at Calhoun''s eyes that were as red as the rose.

    "W-what happened?" she asked him, her voice holding fascination and Calhoun smiled at her.

    She had never seen anything like this before. None of the fair that imed to show tricks had ever pulled something like this, which was why she now looked at Calhoun, "How did you do that?"

    "What do you think?" he asked her. His intelligent eyes looked into her brown eyes, "I am a vampire. I have some tricks up my sleeve," Calhoun said. So it was because he was a vampire and he was able to change the colour, but that wasn''t the only thing that Calhoun was able to do.

    "I didn''t know the night creatures possess magic with them." The ce from where Madeline came, people didn''t speak much about the night creatures. Because of what they were capable of and the terror they had gued into the lives of the humans who were wary and scared of them.

    The smile on Calhoun''s lips didn''t leave, and he looked down at the rose that he was holding in his hand, "Not everyone does. Just some of us." He said, twirling the stem of the rose, "That is why I told you I know what I want. I have never been doubtful about what I choose for myself. If you think you are not the white rose in the lot and I have not noticed it, then maybe I knew you were the red rose. I am not indecisive on what I want, and I can hold my ground pretty well, unlike the man you im to be interested."

    "What about my choice?" asked Madeline, "Shouldn''t I have the choice of what I want?"

    "It is better if your choice coincides with my interests, sweet girl," he said, and Madeline who was looking at the rose heard him say, "I wouldn''t take it any other away if you decide on something else," as he said this, the rose in his hand suddenly turned to ck ashes to fall on the ground.

    Madeline didn''t know what more Calhoun was capable of. She knew he wasn''t the King for no reason. He was a person not to y with. While they continued to stare at each other, that they were doing quite often in silence, they heard the voice of Lady Sophie that came from the other side.

    "It seems Lady Sophie wants your attention," Madeline said to Calhoun, and when she tried to move away from him, Calhoun only pulled her close to him, "What are you doing?!"

    "The only person I would like to give my attention to is you."

    "Now that is one adjective you forgot to mention. Did you notice," Calhoun whispered to her, "The adjectives you used for the tailorman were generic. Something that could be applied to any other man. But for me they were unique." They were unique because till now he was the only overbearing person she had met in her life, Madeline thought to herself. She then heard him say, "Do you think I am going to hide you like some dirty secret in front of my rtives and other people?" he asked her.

    At times, with the way he had been vague in front of Sophie, Madeline agreed that, that is what she had perceived, "I am a poor girl. Let me live a life that I deserve."

    "And I will give you the life you deserve," answered Calhoun, "You mistake me that I am like other people. I make exceptions to things that are important to me."

    Madeline pulled herself away from him and took two steps further before the vampiress had finally made her way to where they were, "There you are, Lady Madeline," chirped the girl. Both Madeline and Sophie didn''t like each other. For one because the person had kicked her out of the carriage and for the other person because she felt threatened that the crown of the queen was slipping out of her fingers.

    "Where were you?" asked Calhoun, his eyes shifting from Madeline to look at his cousin sister who walked down the path of the garden to stand next to Madeline finally. After the time of breakfast, Sophie had excused herself and slipped out of the dining room.

    Sophie''s smile was bright on her face, and Madeline wondered if all the night creatures smiled like this. A smile that was so wide that her cheeks would have hurt if she had smiled so much. And her expression looked nd in front of the two night creatures.

    "I went to take a stroll through the corridors of the castle," Sophie lied. She wanted to look at the painting Calhoun had made, but Theodore had chased her right away like she was some pesky annoying fly that was hovering over the gallery. Her hands clenched together, but she didn''t bring the expression out on her face. Like many others who were brought up in the environment of the castle, she had learned the art of deception and lies, "I returned to the dining room but heard that the King and Lady Madeline were out taking a walk. If I knew you had ns to take a walk, I would have waited. Are you enjoying the gardens, Lady Madeline?"

    Madeline didn''t know why Sophie wanted to talk to her when she knew the vampiress didn''t like her, "It is wonderful."

    "Of course, it is wonderful. There are so many rare flowers and nts that have been brought from differentnds to be nted in here. Sadly I heard that they don''t survive,"mented Lady Sophie who took two steps forward in front of the many flowers that surrounded them.

    Madeline couldn''t deny that there were many beautiful flowers of different colours, "They die because they cannot handle the change in the weather and the new environment is sometimes not suitable to them," she spoke back to Sophie''s words, "Some nts grow up to live in their existing conditions. Taking them away, forcibly to ce them in a new environment is often not advisable as they wither away."

    "Who cares about it," Sophie shrugged her shoulders, "You need to keep people to look after them. In time they get ustomed. Don''t they, brother Calhoun?" asked Sophie, unaware of what Madeline''s words actually meant and the underlying meaning of it which the King picked up on immediately.

    "Lady Madeline doesn''t know that we have a sshouse to keep the newly arrived nts," Calhoun said. He picked up another white rose from the lot, and he then gave it to Madeline to hold, "We get the nts ustomed little by little to the outside atmosphere until they finally can grow independently."

    Madeline took the flower which he had given to her, and she looked down at it. Calhoun had plucked not just the rose, but he had kept part of the stem that had thorns along with the flower. With this little gesture, she felt a pair of re that wasing from the side. It seemed like Calhoun was only putting her in the spot where Sophie could burn her with just her eyes.

    "Brother Calhoun," Sophie called his name to bring his attention to her, which he did, "Did you find out who wrote the letter in the name of Lady Madeline?" Hearing this, Madeline''s body froze as she had hoped the matter had been brushed away. This little vampiress was bringing her more problems. Madeline shifted her gaze from the rose to look at Calhoun who said,

    "It was written by the man himself."

    "Not by Lady Madeline?" asked Sophie tilting her head in question, "My apologies, Lady Madeline as I couldn''t keep the curiosity regarding what happened today." The vampiress gave an apologetic look that made Madeline frown from where she stood.

    Calhoun chuckled, "I have seen her handwriting that is why I know it isn''t hers."

    "Okay��" drawled Sophie, "The man must be very desperate. And how rude was he to imply that you were keeping Lady Madeline here by force, isn''t it? You should have punished him for being impolite to you."

    "I should," agreed the King and Madeline looked rmed by his words.

 Chapter 93 Dungeons- Part 2

    <h4>93 Dungeons- Part 2</h4>

    "How would you like to treat the people who are rude to the King?" This question was directed to Madeline by Calhoun, giving her the option to choose.

    "You are the King, milord. You know the best," she bowed her head, and Calhoun liked the obedience she showed. Instead of retorting with childish words, her words appeared calm.

    Sophie stared at the flower Calhoun had given to the human. She had been visiting here since she was a child and she remembered how Calhoun used to offer her flowers or sometimes jewellery but then it had stopped. It was like her position had been stolen and given to other women.

    Stepped closer to Madeline, she put her hand around Madeline''s arm to hold it, "Let''s take a walk in here. It is not often that brother Calhoun takes his time to walk in here." And this had Madeline take a look at Calhoun who raised his eyebrow at her as if to say ''I told you so''.

    "I didn''t know you took a liking towards Madeline," said Calhoun as they started to walk in the garden.

    "Why do you say that?" asked Sophie in an oblivious tone.

    "I heard you kicked Madeline out of the carriage."

    Sophie snapped her eyes to re at Madeline. This little dumb bitch couldn''t keep her mouth close, Sophie thought to herself, "I think Lady Madeline misinterpreted what happened because she chose to step down. Didn''t you?" Sophie tightened her hold on Madeline''s arm to make the human flinch internally.

    Madeline was not going to take this vampiress me, and she said, "My apologies beforehand, but I think I smell something very strange...when you speak," saying this she stepped away from the vampiress who looked at her with a shocked expression on her face, "It must have been?because of the meat you ate."

    Sophie''s face turned red as it was the very first time someone had ever pointed something like that to her and she looked embarrassed. She was also angry because Madeline had spoken about it out loud without being discreet about it.

    "You-" Sophie had started only to be interrupted with Calhoun''sughter.

    "Isn''t she lovely, Sophie?" asked Calhoun.

    If Calhoun weren''t here, Sophie would not have thought twice before raising her hand to p the human for calling her smelly. She gritted her teeth, and she wanted to say something but Calhoun wasughing like the lowly human hadn''t been rude to her. Sophie smiled, but the smile kept faltering on her lips because she wanted to show the human girl her ce.

    "Looks like you will need to wash your mouth more frequently, Sophie,"mented Calhoun, throwing more oil to the raging fire. The vampiress turned her head away to raise her hand to her mouth and breath the air, which appeared to be perfectly normal and fresh.

    While Calhoun was having a goodugh, one of the men who worked for the King walked down to bow his head at the King, "My King, the man is ready to be questioned for onest time. Would you like to take part in it or let the guards handle it before he is sent to the town?"

    Calhoun gave out a thoughtful look before turning to the two girls, "How about a trip to the dungeon?"

    The vampiress hearing this had her eyes lit up at the words, but Madeline didn''t know what a trip to the dungeon meant. She had heard one time when Calhoun had mentioned about it. And with the threat he lowly gave her, she doubted it was anything like the garden. They left the garden and reached the underground dungeon where the man who hade to deliver the message to the King, held antern in his hands even though the walls had torches of fire burning in them in equal intervals of distance.

    All this while, Madeline had seen only the beautiful side of the castle, not this dark path that they were walking in. Her eyes took in the walls that were made of rocks, and the ground was unclean where the girls had to lift the hem of their dresses so that it wouldn''t pick up the dirt. The ce smelled and Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed at the smell of rustic iron which was strong in the air.

    The further and deeper they got in, Madeline''s eyes fell on the cells that were built on both left and right side. Some cells were empty, but some of them weren''t, and she found people whoid against the wall. Lifeless looking people who looked almost dead because of the way they appeared.

    "It looks like people have finally started to obey the words of the King,"mented Sophie, an air of superiority in her voice and the way she walked in the front and behind the King. She turned around to meet Madeline''s eyes and said, "There used to be a lot of people in here, people who wanted to be punished."

    "What for?" asked Madeline, her eyebrows had drawn themselves together as she looked at one man who was lean and almost skeleton-like as if he was not given food.

    "Mostly thewbreakers. Also, the ones who didn''t know how to respect our King. You will find only humans here. Because humans oftenckmon sense and like to think that revolting is what they should do,"ughed Sophie.

    Madeline didn''t know the people in here, and the reasons why they were locked but they appeared to be in bad condition.

    She felt sorry for them, but she continued to walk until they came to one part of the dungeon to see cages hanging with a chain at the top. For a moment, Madeline felt as if she had stopped breathing and it wasn''t because there were people in it, but it wasn''t just alive people, but in some, there were skeletons.

    Her feet had stopped moving in shock. Her brown eyes moved around in this so-called dungeon where the King punished people. For standing against him. All these years her parents had protected her and her sister Beth from the gore that was passed down by the current as well as the previous King where people were often killed in front of people. To send out a warning so that no one would evermit a crime again and it worked, thought Madeline to herself.

    The humans were curious about the night creatures as well as the King who ruled Devon, but they had always been apprehensive about the man even though they hadn''t seen him. No one spoke about him out in the open and also if people wanted to specte they did it in whispers so that the officials would nevere to hear any of it.

    Calhoun noticed how Madeline had stopped even though he didn''t turn to look at her. It seemed like it was too much for her to take in and he finally turned around to see her stand like a statue, "Madeline?" he called her name, her name sweeter than honey on his tongue and this broke Madeline from her daze.

    Her eyes met his.

    "I have someone to introduce you to," Calhoun''s words brought worry on Madeline''s face. Someone he wanted to introduce her to? Had he truly captured James in here after they were done talking in the morning? Gulping, she started to walk towards him.

    Sophie was too eager to see the prisoner and she walked forward, taking the next corridor, "Why the worry?" Calhoun asked her, "I didn''t put James in here, but I would love to see him here one day if he continues to pursue you," he whispered to her.

    Madeline wouldn''t want James ending up here, "He won''t do anything," she gulped.

    "Are you sure?" asked Calhoun to her, "It is not every time a man finds a woman to love and stand against the King and challenge. And if I were him who loved you, I wouldn''t give up."

    She frowned. Was he telling James should pursue her? But at the same time, if James challenged Calhoun, Madeline was aware that the King would not spare the man''s life again, "Your words are sometimes confusing."

    "They are meant to be but let me break it down for you," Calhoun''s words were low only for her to hear and Madeline waited for him to speak, "If I were in the tailorman''s ce I would make sure you were back with me but then even if the man ims to be in love with you, it is sometimes not enough, is it? But then I am not him. I am madly in love with you, and I would go to the lengths of doing anything to keep you by my side."

    "That''s not love," she whispered to him.

    "There are different kinds of love. And we all have our own way to pursue it."

 Chapter 94 Dungeons- Part 3

    <h4>94 Dungeons- Part 3</h4>

    "Don''t look so scared. I did tell you I wouldn''t do something you wouldn''t want," and Madeline gave a look to him, "You don''t believe me. It seems like we need to build trust between us if we want to move forward. I will tell you what happens when a girl is often forced to get married to a man for political reasons, and here the girls are as young as you or sometimes even younger. They are dragged to the man''s bed, abused physically until they are broken and have no other way out. In the world we live, it isn''t anything new."

    "I know that," said Madeline.

    She wasn''t as naive as he thought her to be. She knew the stories she heard of the families who belonged to the high status. Though the things she heard always came out to be rumours that were never acknowledged as the girls were happy with the position they received, she knew there were truths in there that were never openly spoken or discussed. It was considered to be normal.

    Calhoun had scared her enough to make her think he would do it, but he hadn''t, "Thank you for not forcing me," she said, but if he never kept her here, there would have been nothing to be thankful about.

    He hadn''t let go of her hair as he continued to y with the length of it. He saw how her gaze turned away, the goosebumps that formed on her neck, which he noticed under the light that fell from the torched fire on the wall. He had the urge to trace it under his fingers, but Calhoun had other ns.

    There were times when one didn''t have to use physical methods, and as much as he would love to take her to his bed, he was being patient in waiting for her to open. He had noticed the change in the garden, and his words had been right that she wasn''t close to the tailorman. He wouldn''t do something to her, and even if he did, he would see that she enjoyed it.

    There were other ways to break a person''s resolve, and Calhoun knew how to do it.

    "Why are we here?" she asked him. Thest time she remembered, when someone loved a person, they brought flowers or gifts or did something sweet, but this was anything but that. It was a dungeon where the smell of death floated in the air.

    "I want to show you the life that you are going to be part of. It would be best if you find it through me than from someone else, like Sophie or any other person. I want you to know the person I am Madeline. The good things, the terrible things I am capable of, because isn''t that what epting means?" he asked her.

    "Sophie wants to be your Queen."

    "She can keep dreaming about it. It is good to dream," his lips twitched.

    She pressed her lips together. Everyone was tolerating someone here in the castle. She wondered if it ever got tiring. He had finally let go of her hair when it came to the tapering ends.

    "Shall we?" said Calhoun and Madeline nodded her head to follow him further into the dungeon.

    Both their footsteps echoed until they reached the ce where Sophie had a grin on her face as she looked at something or someone.

    When Madeline''s eyes fell on the man who was ced behind the bar, she took one step closer to see a badgered looking man who was covered with blood which was possibly his own.

    "Would you like to hear what the man did?" asked Calhoun as he slipped his hands into his pockets. The man on hearing the King''s voice stood up, but when he tried to do that, he fell on the ground. The man had been punished to the point that his legs had turned weak.

    She turned towards Calhoun to hear him say, "The man tried to poison me."

    "No! No! My King, I would never do something so cruel to you! Please believe me!" the man cried from where he was.

    "What a gutsy servant,"mented Sophie, "You should know better than try to do that. What an ungrateful mongrel," huffed the vampiress. The way the servant appeared, it wasn''t anything new to Sophie as her own family had a dungeon to torture the people and make them behave.

    "Please, I swear on my children. I had nothing to do with it. I was there in the wrong time," the man''s words pained Madeline as she sympathised with the man, "Please! I didn''t do it. I would never-" the guard who stood at the front used his metal rod to bang it against the rods of the room to get the man quiet.

    "When is the trial? We should have him hanged in front of everyone, maybe then no one would dare to do it," suggested Sophie.

    Calhoun looked down at the man, "He will be executed tomorrow in the afternoon."

    "What if he''s not the one who done it?"

    The people who stood outside the solitary room turned to look at the human girl who had spoken like she said something she shouldn''t have said.

    Madeline came from a ce where people trusted each other. At least, the ones she knew did and seeing this man swear on his children. She somewhere felt he hadn''t done it.

    "Lady Madeline, brother Calhoun said this person tried to poison him and they found evidence of it," reminded Sophie, "He should be lucky that he is even getting the extra days to live before his execution. Or are you telling us that you doubt our King''s judgement?" Everyone continued to stare at Madeline, waiting for her to answer the question.

    She shook her head, "I would never doubt the King''s judgement, but the man is swearing on his children, and people don''t do that."

    Sophie looked at Madeline as if she was dumb, "It is not necessary that everyone needs to have a clear conscience. Look at the man. It is evident he tried to poison brother Calhoun, and it is an uneptable action. When ites to money, people will stoop as low as they can to gain favours; after all, it is easy to sway them."

    Madeline didn''t like the way Sophie said it. It was like telling every servant was the first prime suspect just because they were poor. Unable to keep her tongue to herself she said,

    "Is it because it resonates with you when ites to the conscience?"

    The vampiress took sometime before her eyes narrowed at Madeline, "What do you mean? Are you saying I have no clear conscience?" red Sophie.

    "I only mentioned conscience. I never said about you not having a clear conscience," Madeline responded to Sophie, "Next time who knows, someone will frame me that I was the one who poisoned the King."

    "Who knows. I wouldn''t be surprised if you did, especially the way you appeared here out of nowhere," Sophie shrugged her shoulders nonchntly.

    "Then we can also agree that someone from the higher status or a rtive would have done it just to overthrow the King. Yes?"

    Sophie fumed. Taking one step forward, she asked, "Are you pointing at me? You should know that I am the King''s cousin sister. A close rtive, unlike an outsider who came only yesterday."

    Madeline had a soft smile on her lips, "I don''t think you are the only rtive of the King, and there are many more. First, second or more families of his holding a possibility. I don''t know why you feel I am pointing at you."

    .

 Chapter 95 Innocence- Part 1

    <h4>95 Innocence- Part 1</h4>

    Calhoun stood there in the dungeon looking at the two young girls, one vampiress and one human. His lips pulled up at what Madeline had done. It seemed like even she didn''t know what she told because her expression was innocent and her eyes looking straight into Sophie''s eyes that continued to re at her.

    "The man will be put up for execution tomorrow. It has already decided, and there is nothing more to discuss it," said Calhoun to them and Madeline turned around to meet his eyes on the decision that had been made.

    Madeline could only tell that the life in the castle was hard, and one mistake could lead to death without any trial because it directly involved the King. Her eyes then shifted to look at the man who looked terrified and scared. Even she would have been scared if she was sentenced to death which would be taking ce in less than a few hours.

    Sophie finally looked away from the human who she had to remind herself to tread carefully. She had been underestimating the human since the first time they had met each other. The human was far more capable that if she decided to stay in the castle, it would cause nothing but problems to the vampiress while also pushing the crown she had been eyeing on for so long that it would turn out of reach.

    "Brother Calhoun is not a King for no reason. If he''s decided that this is the punishment the man deserves, he should be right," chimed Sophie, her eyes looking down at the lowly mortal who she was not interested in being around.

    Madeline could think only one thing when Sophie uttered those words. Sheep. Sophie was a blind sheep who would follow others, and she doubted she used her mind. But this time, she decided to keep her opinion to herself.

    "And ying with the crown even by mistake is not eptable here," continued the vampiress, "There are rules in this castle that every servant or guests should follow. The main thing being, never to bring harm to the King. I would be very upset if something happened to brother Calhoun," she turned her head to look at Calhoun who offered her a smile.

    "My kind cousin sister, Sophie. It is good to see how much you worry about me," praised the man, and this brought a smile on Sophie''s face.

    "We should get going now," Calhoun said to thedies and then looked at the servant who was behind the bars of the cell, "I will see you tomorrow."

    As they left, Madeline heard the plea of the man, and she couldn''t help but turn to look at the servant who was calling out to the King for his forgiveness for the crime he hadn''tmitted. At the same time, Calhoun ced his hand on Madeline''s back, and her eyes met his.

    "I think it''s enough for the day. Don''t dwell on something which you have no control over," he said to her.

    "Even when the innocent are subjected to a death sentence?" she asked him, her voice quiet but with no one around them except for Sophie who was walking on Calhoun''s other side as she didn''t want to be left alone. The vampiress rolled her eyes over the human''s sympathy.

    "You need proof to call him innocent or a criminal who had caused treason. What makes you think that he didn''t do it? Do you know that the time when the poison was found, it was the same day and time when we were having dinner together," Calhoun said, his strides longer because of his long legs and Madeline tried to keep up with him simr to Sophie.

    "How fortunate you are, Lady Madeline,"mented Sophie from the other side, "If the man wasn''t caught you would be dead by now. Do you realise the severity of the situation?"

    Madeline frowned as sheprehended what Calhoun just said to her. As she didn''t belong to the world of the castle until now, it had never urred to her that she would be one of the pawns to be killed without a thought.

    "It makes a difference, doesn''t it?" she heard Calhoun question beside her.

    After a second, Madeline said, "I just don''t think anyone would blindly swear on their children. Especially not when theye from a poorer background."

    "You will be surprised to know the number of times people have lied and sworn on their families on what they did and didn''t," chuckled Calhoun at Madeline''s naive thought. She was a vige girl who all these years had lived a simple life, someone who had never been subjected to or had heard people lie with their families name, "I can swear on Sophie and tell that I wouldn''t kill someone tomorrow, but that doesn''t mean I am going to go through it now?"

    Sophie didn''t know why she had turned to be the person to be sworn on by the King. Even though she didn''t believe it, even for a vampiress she was ufortable with the thought that she was being sworn on for a lie.

    "Brother Calhoun, why did you take my name to be sworn?" asked Sophie, her lips pressed against each other after her question.

    Calhoun turned around to look at Sophie, and he answered her, "Isn''t that a good thing? I thought you would be happy about it," the vampiress gave a confused look because there was often a saying that went by that if you lied after swearing on a person, the person would die, or something terrible woulde to befall on them, "By picking your name it only shows how dear you are to me."

    To Sophie, these words were like honey to her ears, and she beamed in joy when Calhoun said how important she was to him. But only Calhoun knew how many times he had lied since from the beginning and swearing on something mattered very little to the King.

    Once they were out of the dungeon, Madeline finally felt the lightpared to the dark atmosphere they were a few moments ago. She was looking at the rose Calhoun had plucked for the second time when she heard Calhoun whisper close to her ear to say,

    "I wouldn''t want to swear on you."

 Chapter 96 Innocence- Part 2

    <h4>96 Innocence- Part 2</h4>

    Somewhere, it made Madeline question what kind of childhood Calhoun had when he was young that had turned him to be the person he was today. Now that they were out and close with no shadows to hover over them, she noticed how red his eyes were. They were almost the colour of her blood.

    "You keep looking at me like that, and I am going to think that you have fallen for me."

    Madeline quickly turned her eyes to look at the nearest tree, her cheeks slightly warm over his words. She had never met a man like Calhoun, who was so forting when it came to his words. The men she had met until now, in her vige or others, they weren''t aggressive like Calhoun.

    "So easy to be ruffled, Maddie," he teased her, "I wonder how you will react if I whispered other things in your ear. Things that can make you embarrassed," Madeline''s eyes snapped back at him with a small re.

    "We should get back to the castle, isn''t it? I feel my skin is burning," said Sophie who turned around to look at Calhoun and the human who had a look on her face as if she did something she was not supposed to do, "Lady Madeline, you look red too. We wouldn''t want your pretty skin to be burnt because of the rays of the sun."

    Madeline was impressed with the young vampiress'' skill to switch her attitude from throwing a jab to showing concern which was confusing her.

    Sophie waited for Madeline to speak before sending a re to have the human to say, "I would like to spend some more time here. I will see youter," Madeline bowed her head to Calhoun but she didn''t offer her bow to Sophie as she was not the King nor the Queen of Devon. She was only the cousin of the King who had been hostile towards her.

    Calhoun didn''t stop her and he gave her a nod. If she needed air, he would give her. The only condition was that she was not allowed to step out of the castle grounds. She could stay out and do what she wanted until it held his best interests. He saw her leave and Sophie who was standing behind walked forward toe to stand next to Calhoun. d that the human had finally left the King''s side.

    "Did you see that?" asked Sophie with a miffed voice.

    "Hm?" asked Calhoun who looked at the back of Madeline before turning his gaze on his cousin sister.

    "You should have offered her first then."

    "Why would I be the first one to do it? She is a human. Aren''t we taught not to bow at the humans?" Sophie retorted back, "Why did you bring her here? Is it true that you have your thoughts on making her the Queen?" Now that they were alone, Sophie didn''t see why she should not clear her doubts that were left in the shadows.

    "Why do you bring it up?" asked Calhoun, who gave onest look at Madeline before starting to walk back inside the castle.

    The vampiress was quick to follow him, walking beside him and not behind him only to let the other servants know who she was and what she meant to Calhoun so that they would respect her, "Brother Calhoun, you mentioned about her being the Queen and how she will learn things eventually. I am just being curious."

    "Haven''t you heard of the phrase ''Curiosity killed the cat'', Sophie?"

    "Yes. Yes, I have, but I wanted to know if you meant it or if you were only teasing her," Sophie would have stopped herself from walking to get him to stop too, but Calhoun was not any man. If Sophie decided to stop walking, Calhoun would drop her there without turning to look back or wait for her and she would only make a fool of herself.

    In the past, Calhoun humoured women to please their ears and gain favours from those connections, but this time, the person here was a human. What possibly could a human offer him? Especially when she came from a poor background with her father being a woodcutter.

    "What are you going to do by knowing it?" asked Calhoun, his words were nonchnt, "You should not stick your nose in my matters, Sophie. You know how I hate when people do it," and though his words were casual, Sophie could sense the underlying warning in his voice.

    Sophie knew how much Calhoun disliked when someone tried to go against him. Most of the times it had turned with the other person being found in the dungeon or dead, "I am sorry, I didn''t mean to cross you!" she bowed her head quickly.

    Calhoun finally stopped walking when they were in the corridor with no one around. He stared at Sophie, who was his first cousin who had her head bowed down at the moment in apology.

    "You should go back to your room and rest. I have other important matters to attend," said Calhoun without giving any attention to Sophie''s apology. He turned around and left the girl alone without another word. The vampiress had grown up watching and looking up at the King of Devon, which was why she knew when to shut up and when to speak. And as much as she took the leverage with other people about her connection to the crown, she couldn''t do the same when it came to Calhoun.

    She was left there standing alone, her hands turning to fists at the thought that Calhoun had dismissed and brushed her words.

    "If she is someone you are interested in and are nning to make her your queen, I won''t let that happen," stated Sophie to no one in particr, "I have worked hard to where I am, to be in your sight. I won''t let a lowly human like that girl try to steal my ce in this castle," she promised before going back to the guest room.

    Sophie was not in a good mood when she entered the room with a maid who followed to attend her. Going to the couch that was present in the room, she plopped herself on it and looked at the maid who was standing in the room.

    Sophie said, "I have something for you to do."

 Chapter 97 Innocence- Part 3

    <h4>97 Innocence- Part 3</h4>

    "You cannot be here," one of the guards stepped forward to stop her from entering the dungeon.

    Madeline knew getting inside would be difficult as this wasn''t a garden where she wouldn''t need permission from the King, but she was a smart girl, and she had dropped one of her jewels in here before making her way out. Hoping she would be able to return here without the vampiress hovering and throwing rude remarks at her.

    "I dropped my bracelet in here," she said, raising her bare hand, "I would like to retrieve it before I head back to the castle."

    The guard was a buff looking man. He looked almost like a giant, and she saw how he stared at her, making sure she was here for what she imed for, "Stay here mdy. I will go look for it."

    When the guard didn''t arrive after one and a half minutes, which she had been counting, she said, "He doesn''t know what it looks like. I would like to go look for it myself."

    "I cannot let you pass through without the King''s permission," said the other guardsman who was standing outside.

    "The King is busy in the court, and I don''t think he would appreciate it if anyone of us go and interrupt his work for something so silly," Madeline tipped her chin up, looking at the guard with a hard gaze and the man finally let her pass.

    Madeline walked for a few steps before she quickly ran to where the servant was being imprisoned. It seemed like the guardsman who hade to search for her bracelet was not here, and she took the opportunity to speak, "Mister?"

    The man who was on the other side of the cell had leaned himself against the wall who looked startled hearing a woman''s voice, "Please! Please help me!" came the desperate voice of the man who was covered with dried blood. Madeline had never seen anyone in such a state where his body looked like holes from where the blood had dripped out.

    She didn''t know how the castle worked, but if there was something she believed in, it was the gut feeling that had brought her back here in front of the cell. She didn''t have the power to free the man because he was under the suspicion of trying to poison the King. But Calhoun told her that the court would need proof and the proof was that the man was caught red-handed.

    She pursed her lips and then said, "Do you know who would have set you up for this?" she asked him. Her voice was much gentler than the guards or the other men who had tortured the man. The man shook his head.

    "I didn''t do it."

    It seemed like the man kept repeating the words, hoping someone would listen to him and let him free from here. The pressure and fear of death approaching the man, Madeline couldn''tprehend how scared he was.

    "I-I am the mopper who mops the floors of the castle. I have been working in the castle for twelve years," stated the man. Madeline wondered if twelve years were not enough to trust someone or if twelve years was too much to bear working under a tyrant King. She had a gut feeling but that didn''t mean she eliminated the possibilities, "I was there in the kitchen. Moping when one of the men caught hold of me and then started to search for something, pulling out a bottle from my pocket."

    "Was that the poison?" she inquired. And when she heard a plop of water sound, Madeline turned her head to see if the guard had arrived before turning back to look at the man in front of her.

    "I think so. I-I don''t know how it came to be in my pocket," the man shook his head.

    Madeline gave it some thought and then said, "Can you try remembering what happened that day? Before the guards came and brought you here," she looked at the man who looked away from her to look at the wall, his eyes frantic to remember anything that could help him get out of here.

    "I finished cleaning the halls that day and some of the rooms. I then went to the kitchen to mop there. It wasn''t the time to mop, but I thought I would get it done so that I could rest myself for a few minutes before continuing my work," said the man and he shook his head, "I should have waited, and this is what happened."

    "Anyone who would have put the bottle in your pocket?" on her question, he shook his head.

    The man''s words were not helpful at all, and it didn''t seem like he suspected anyone. She gave it some thought, and she realised maybe she couldn''t help the man after all. He was the one who carried the bottle, so it was obvious that the guards had suspected him. When the King''s officials were not able to get the answers, she wondered what made her special that she could get an answer by herself. She was just a mere human in here.

    "It was a small bottle with a bulbous end and long narrow neck. I did not feel someone slipping it," he said to her. Her eyebrows furrowed together on hearing this.

    "Mdy, you are not supposed to be here."

    A voice came from behind and Madeline snapped her head around to see Theodore, who stood there at the end. He was thest second person she didn''t want to be seen by. The first person being Calhoun.?The first guard who had gone to look for her bracelet had arrived to stand behind Theodore.

    "The dungeon is not a ce for ady to be walking in," Theodore said politely and then turned to the guard to hear the guard say,

    "I found the bracelet."

    Madeline stepped away from the cell she had been standing in, walking towards them and took the bracelet which wasn''t anything fancy but a cheap one that she had with her before she had entered the castle. The guard stood behind while the King''s trusted man saw Madeline out of the dungeon.

    Later in the court, when Calhoun and Theodore were alone discussing thend''s conflicts when Theodore took the chance to mention about the human who was found in the dungeon, "She seemed to have dropped her bracelet in there," informed Theodore, "But she was standing in front of the prisoner."

    "Did she now," Calhoun murmured, picking up the ss of wine that was ced next to him on the stand. He raised the wine to his lips before he said, "Such a fascinating creature, meddling herself with something she doesn''t know. Let her roam freely in the castle," ordered the King, not wanting to restrict Madeline''s movements and want to see what she could. His lips pulled up, and he drank the wine.

    * *

    The privilege feature EXPIRES at every end of the month. Please read the information.

 Chapter 98 Whispers on the lips- Part 1

    <h4>98 Whispers on the lips- Part 1</h4>

    After she had spoken to the man who was in the dungeon, she hade to find out something which wasn''t too obvious of a hint, but she felt maybe it could lead her to something��the bulbous bottle. Four years ago, when both she and her sister Beth, had gone to visit the fair that had been set up in the vige, she remembered her sister whose eyes had fallen on the different shapes and sizes of bottles.

    ''How much are these?'' asked her sister, who was a year older to her. Beth''s chin had been tipped up as she looked at the vendor.

    ''They cost twelve nickel coins,'' the vendor answered, not paying any heed at first to the voice but after seeing the beautiful young girls, he stopped what he was doing to pay attention to them.

    ''Twelve?'' Beth had huffed at that time, ''For a single little bottle? Don''t you think it is too much?'' she questioned to hear the manugh.

    ''You can pick the cheaper ones that are for four nickel coins. These are rare,'' he picked up the bulbous looking ss that looked like a miniature bottle, ''These are made by a person who once used to live in Yorkshire. Almost five decades old and you won''t find them being sold anywhere else.''

    Madeline who had recollected the memory wondered if there could be any duplicates that were created that looked like the original ones. After all, people liked to copy and sell them by calling it their own. But at the same time, she hadn''te across such a bottle after that. She wondered if she should ask the King to allow her to take a look at the bottle because she would know what kind it was and if it was the same, all she would have to do was check who came from Yorkshire.

    Continuing to walk, Madeline stepped deeper inside the castle. To the parts, she had never once stepped into until now- the kitchen of the castle.

    The servants who were working there turned to look at thedy before they continued to work, and the man who watched over the kitchen came forward.

    "Is there something I can help you with?" The man was bald, and he had cleaner clothes than the rest of the servants in this room. His eyebrows were raised, and red eyes stared at her.

    "Are you the head cook?" Madeline asked, and the man gave her a nod, "I was looking for the recipe you made today for breakfast. Would you mind iterating it to me?" her tone came out to be polite.

    The head cook would have questioned her on her identity if he didn''t notice the clothes and the jewels on thedy, "Which one would you like to hear?"

    The man who noticed this, offered, "Let''s step outside. It is hot in here because of the fire," and Madeline dly stepped outside the kitchen room to be followed by the cook. For a person who lived in a small home where the kitchen didn''t have enough windows to release the heat from the fire, she was used to it, but she had to get the man outside so that she could ask him questions.

    Madeline didn''t want herself to be heard or told as the person who was snooping around this ce. But then, she didn''t have any ns to stay back in the castle, and the goal to go back home was still there in the back of her mind. She just happened to feel sorry for the man who was behind bars for something he had not done, at least that is what she felt, and she asked,

    "How do you make the broth from themb? There was pepper in there, but I felt something more."

    "Lady Madeline, what are you doing here?" came Sophie''s voice. Sophie had asked the maid to keep an eye on Madeline, and after getting the information about how the human was roaming in the castle, the vampiress had made her way out of the room.

    "Lady Sophie," the head cook bowed his head at the vampiress, and the girl only smiled.

    "I thought you would be resting, which was why I didn''te to bother you earlier. If I knew you were outside, I would have avoided from boring myself," Sophie said, the smile still on her lips.

    How strange that the girl was bored with her ownpany and was here only to kill time, thought Madeline to herself.

    "What are you doing here?" asked Sophie, her eyes holding curiosity.

    Madeline returned Sophie''s smile, "I was looking for some recipe that was made by the castle''s kitchen today."

    "Hm? You don''t know how to cook?" Sophie raised her brows as if Madeline had sacrificed an animal, "I thought girls from the vige knew how to cook. What a shame that you were not able to tell after tasting it."

    Madeline knew what Sophie was trying to do. The vampiress didn''t leave even a single opportunity to look down at her and remind her where she came from, "You know it?" she asked Sophie who rolled her eyes.

    "Of course, I do. Did you think I wouldn''t know how to cook? Ie from a high standing family, we are taught to learn those simple things," answered the vampiress with an air of attitude in her voice.

    "That is good to hear," praised Madeline, "Because mostly with what we hear in the viges and towns, it is that girls and women from high social standing families only know to dress up like a doll and look pretty without knowing how even tob their hair." The smile on Sophie''s face faltered, but she couldn''t go to punish her as the human had not pointed her finger at her but had spoken about the other people which might or might not have included her.

    Sophie was going to be in a much higher position one day, and when that day appeared, she would make sure to teach this human herself.

    "Now that you know, you don''t have to carry wrong assumptions about the females who belong to the high ss," Sophie smiled like she meant no harm to Madeline when in truth she just wanted to get rid of this girl from the castle. The vampiress didn''t stop there but continued to say, "You should be careful while hovering over the kitchen though. Especially with the attempt of poisoning that took ce. You wouldn''t want the suspicion to fall on you now, would you?"

    Saying this, Sophie walked away.

 Chapter 99 Whispers on the lips- Part 2

    <h4>99 Whispers on the lips- Part 2</h4>

    Not giving much thought to her right now, Madeline''s gaze shifted back to look at the head cook. Once the man was done iterating the ingredients that were used in the broth, Madeline thanked him. Her head bowing at the man who was ready to leave but she asked,

    "I had something else to ask too," she stopped the head cook from leaving, "I am new here; therefore I don''t know where to get or whom to ask," she whispered to have the head cook frown wondering what thedy wanted to ask. Madeline then asked, "Do you know if I can get something small to put salt in?"

    "Like a container?" asked the head cook.

    Okay, maybe that was a wrong question to ask because the head cook had a look of suspicion in his eyes as he looked at her, "No," she shook her head. Her head turned around to see if anyone was around and she asked, "How long have you been working here? I mean, how long does it take to be the head cook of the castle?"

    "I have been here since from the time the King appointed me to be the cook. Since the start of his reign," answered the cook, "I used to work in Rund, and the King, who was still young used to visit the shop."

    She now knew that this man didn''te from Yorkshire, unless he decided to go to Yorkshire and bring the bottle along with him. It was tough to pinpoint the culprit who had tried to poison the King because the path wasn''t a straight one and one little information led to many different possibilities.

    Madeline had never done something like this. Finding answers on if the person was innocent or not because her life had always been simple. There were only three people who were important to her- her parents and her elder sister, Beth. That had been her life. Helping in the chores, if needed going to get house supplies with her father, carrying the log of woods, and for years that was what her life revolved around. Not this castle, not the King, and not knowing there were people in this very castle who wanted the King to be dead.

    This itself brought the question of why someone wanted their King dead? Maybe the person had been teased and tortured by Calhoun too, and they thought this was one way to take revenge? She knew the severity of the punishment when it came to attempting to kill the King.

    "That must be nice. To be shifted from Rund to the castle to work in. I think many dreams to work for the King?"

    Madeline nodded her head, "I see."

    While Madeline was thinking something, the man said, "Was there something else you wanted to ask me before I head back and continue my work?"

    "Onest question," said Madeline before asking him, "Do you know if there''s someone from Norfolk or Yorkshire? I wanted to ask if they get good wool from there."

    The man was quick to nod his head, "There''s one maid, Josian whoes from Norfolk. You can ask her."

    Madeline was looking for a person who came from theter town, "Thank you for the information," she said, ready to leave as this was all she could get from the man and before she could leave, the head cook said,

    "There''s Nic''s subordinate maid who is from Yorkshire. Maybe you can ask her."

    "Ask what?"

    Hearing the strong male''s voice, Madeline turned her head to see Calhoun walking down the corridor towards her. What was he doing here? It seemed like the King barely had any other work as he was found either teasing or torturing her since the time she had arrived. Madeline tried to think as quick as she could, to make a lie, but then she realised she had already made the lie when she was speaking to the head cook.

    "What are you doing here talking to the head cook?" asked Calhoun. His eyes were looking down and demanding an answer.

    "I-uh, I came here to ask the cook something," she answered.

    "And what is that?" his gaze shifted from Madeline to look at the cook who had his head bowed in respect and Calhoun whispered to her, "I am d that the cook is not handsome else I would have suspected for an early affair," Madeline''s eyes widened hearing this to have Calhoun chuckle at her reaction, "It was a joke, Madeline. What are you doing here though? nning to cook something delicious for me?"

    When the King''s eyes met the cook''s, the servant answered, "My King, thedy wanted to know how to make the broth which was served for breakfast this morning."

    "Such a sweet girl. Wanting to impress me, by cooking for me," smiled Calhoun looking at Madeline and the girl stared at him. How did he do that? Asked Madeline to herself. To turn and twist things by making it about him and her, "If you are eager to cook, I would like to have some of your very own favourites to be cooked. Let me see how good you are at cooking."

    Madeline blinked her eyes, and then bowed her head, "Pardon me, my King, I don''t think I am as skilled as the people in your kitchen. My food might not appease to your taste."

    "I will be the one to pass the judgment once I have eaten what you have made," Calhoun was not going to leave the opportunity of eating something which Madeline made, "I need some change of food. Pick a fine day so that we can enjoy your delicious food. You can go back to your work, Javier," the King dismissed the cook.

    In the corridor, it was only Calhoun and Madeline who stood there alone, Calhoun staring at Madeline and the girl who was looking at the wall.

    "Did you get your suspects?" on Calhoun''s question, Madeline''s eyes snapped to look at him.

    "What?"

    "You didn''t expect that it wouldn''te to my notice now, did you?" Calhoun raised a single eyebrow of his, "So what did you find so far? Any information to prove the man''s innocence?"

    Madeline had been extremely careful, but she should have known that Theodore would have brought up about him finding her in the dungeon. She shook her head to his question, "Does it mean you believe he is innocent?"

    "I told you, I need proof. A judgement cannot be passed on a person without solid proof, and so far the only proof was that the servant was found with the bottle of poison," Calhoun observed the frown on her face, and he said, "You should be careful in the castle, Maddie. Don''t trust anyone and everything that you hear. Sometimes even sight is deceiving."

 Chapter 100 Whispers on the lips- Part 3

    <h4>100 Whispers on the lips- Part 3</h4>

    "There is something I found," she whispered, and Calhoun tilted his head, waiting for her to speak, "The servant said that the bottle he was found with was having a bulbous end. When I was young, someone told that such a shape was made only in Yorkshire. It was stopped as the maker died."

    "And?" asked Calhoun.

    Madeline''s lips pursed before she said, "What if it''s from someone who is from Yorkshire?"

    "That''s a very broad usation. That won''t be anything less to what you said to Sophie a few hours ago in the dungeon," replied Calhoun with how she had told Sophie that just because a person was poor didn''t mean they were going to do something bad, "There are only a few hours left. You should give up."

    "But he is innocent," she said, which had Calhoun smiling.

    "Is he?" asked Calhoun, bringing doubt in her mind, "When your time is near death, you will say anything and everything to get yourself out of the sticky mess. Sometimes even the man who helps the drowning man ends up getting drowned because the drowning man uses the help that is given to him to push himself up the water, not caring if the helper drowns. Do you understand, my sweet love?"

    Calhoun was letting her y, giving her thinks to keep her mind busy.

    "I have something to ask you," she said to him, and Calhoun couldn''t be any happier.

    "Apart from your freedom, anything," he chimed.

    Madeline wasn''t going to ask that, but with him reminding it, she wanted to.

    "Don''t the servant''s get a trial in the court?" she asked him, her eyes looking into his mischievous dark ones.

    "No, they don''t."

    "Why not?"

    "Because there is no privilege to the servants. The ministers are the ones who handle them, to send them to the dungeon, which is where the questioning takes ce. Don''t think it is unfair, because there have been times in the past where even some of my rtives have visited in and out of the dungeon. To be guests in there," his words were calm as he spoke.

    "It seems like not many like you," shemented, her wordsing like a whisper. Hearing this, Calhounughed. A good heartyugh that made Madeline stare at him. She had tried to be careful with her words, not knowing if he would be offended, but he wasughing.

    "Why do you often try to step into my space?" asked Madeline because Calhoun had stepped even closer to her.

    "Because you always like to run away. Skittish little thing that makes me want to catch as quickly as I can," the smile on his lips had died down, and he ced both his hands on either side of her on the wall, "You smell like flowers," he said to her when his face got closer to her head, and Madeline stopped breathing which she couldn''t hold forever to let it go finally.

    Madeline had her back against the cold wall of the castle where she stood in the middle between it and Calhoun.

    She wished Calhoun would give her some space, but the man was not having any of it, "We can speak without you-" she stopped speaking when Calhoun bent forward and levelled his face to look straight into her eyes.

    "I loved the adjectives you gave me but let me give you some more to remember along with it," Calhoun''s eyes looked dark, and Madeline could see her reflection from it. He didn''t blink even once as he said, "I am very possessive when ites to what belongs to me. I don''t care what others think, I will im you in front of the whole damn world. I believe there are a few things that should be between us, isn''t it."

    "Is that why you brought up about the garter in the courtroom?" asked Madeline, her throat softly moving because of the gulp.

    A wicked smile spread on Calhoun''s lips, "Isn''t that good? The person who needed to know understood and left. Don''t you think it would be funny that the tailor will have the thoughts of me with you as he makes it?"

    "He didn''t do anything to you, for you to treat him that way."

    "Like what?" he hummed, finally blinking his eyes, "I was nice enough to have him use the carriage that belonged to me. To have him picked and dropped safely," and Madeline noticed how Calhoun stressed on the word ''safely'' like he had other ns, "I gave you my word and didn''t pull a single strand of his hair from his head." The daunting smile had settled itself on his face.

    "Even in the future?"

    His lips parted, and she noticed the fangs, "We will see about that. I have been very thirsty. You know...I usually take the blood from the maids or any otherdy who is willing, but since the time you have stepped into the castle for the second time, every time I feel thirsty I wish to sink my fangs in your neck."

    This was what Madeline was scared about. He was going to bite and kill her. Calhoun then surprised her by bringing his hand up to ce below her chin, and his lips hovered over her pale pink lips. If she moved now, it would only end up in her lips touching his.

    "Like a person in the desert who hasn''t had a sip of water to drink," his cool breath reverberated on her lips that sent down a shiver down her spine.

    "No one is stopping you from drinking another person''s blood," she replied.

    "I thought you would take it to be cheating." On his words, her eyes fell on his full lips where the smile only widened further where his tongue ran over his lips.

    The crazy King was telling it as if they were already in a rtionship with each other, when there was nothing like that for her even to consider to be cheating, "You can do whatever pleases you. I won''t question it," stated Madeline to notice how his eyes flickered when her breath fell on his lips.

    "Are you sure you won''t regret it" she heard him question her.

    "Yes."

    "What a sweet girl, saying I can do whatever pleases me," he chuckled, and Madeline''s eyes narrowed. She didn''t mean it that way!

 Chapter 101 Savouring the drops- Part 1

    <h4>101 Savouring the drops- Part 1</h4>

    He hadn''t moved his hands away from the wall, trapping her just where he wanted while not caring one bit if any of the servants would find him and her like this. And one of the maids did step out of the kitchen, and though Madeline wished to move away from him, Calhoun was having none of it. He then moved his hands closer to her, as if closing the space that she had in a way where he invaded all her space.

    "What shall I do with you now?" hummed Calhoun, "You said I could do anything I please. It is not every day that I get to hear you say something like that in my favour."

    "You know I didn''t mean it in that way��"

    "Are you sure about it? Because with what I see and hear the words which leave from your delicate lips, you want me to do things," said Calhoun, the wicked smile ying on his lips, "I confessed to you that I am thirsty and you said to do what I please. How kind of you," he whispered to her.

    Madeline who had seen Sophie leave this ce a few minutes ago now wished she would enter back to walk through the very same corridor. Hoping that would get Calhoun to give her space. The man had conveniently skipped some words and had iterated only the words that worked for him.

    "I am not ready for it!" she said when his face moved away from the front of her face and went to the side, his lips falling right next to her ear.

    "Are you saying one day you will be? Shall I look forward to it?" came the question that Calhoun spoke into the shell of her ear. His words raised goosebumps on her neck, and when Calhoun''s eyes fell on her pale skin, the smile increased to bring out the fangs in view. He could hear her heart beating in her chest, skipping beats in a rhythm which was music to his ears. The sweetest melody with every breath she took in and out. He noticed them all as he had never seen in any other woman before.

    Madeline bit her tongue. Every word she spoke, turned not in her favour. At this rate, she considered to be mum and not speak another word to him.

    But Calhoun was not having any of it. He wanted to poke her, wanting tomit mistakes so that he could use those mistakes to his own advantage. He was no saint but a person who was made out of cunningness, and he used it like no one else in the Kingdom of Devon or any othernds. Pulling away from her, he caught hold of her wrist.

    They crossed the corridors one after another, and she didn''t know where they were going. The castle was a maze itself that would take a lot of time for a person to know where one was going without having to end up back in the same spot. Some of the servants who were walking had stopped to bow their heads, letting the King pass while not looking at him.

    "Where are we going?" asked Madeline, her heart starting to thud because this was a ce which she didn''t know or hadn''t been here before.

    "You will see," came Calhoun''s words which were calm and collected, a hint of mischief in there that turned her worried. Whilst she followed the King, her head moved left and right to notice the paintings that hung on the walls and the statues that were holding vases in their hands.

    When they came to stand in front of the tworge doors, Calhoun pushed it open and stepped inside arge room. Madeline noticed how the room was arge one and at the centre sat a lonely bed which was draped with silk-like curtains around the bedposts. Her legs turned nervous by the thought of what he might do. Because one slip of line which was purely innocent, Calhoun would turn it against her.

    "Would you prefer bed or do you prefer the couch?" Calhoun''s question was enough to let one single drop of sweat slide down from Madeline''s back.

    "W-why?" she asked him.

    "Why do you think?" he asked, his head tilting to the side and the smile that was wide before appeared to be tame, but it didn''t look any less daunting. Not when they were the only ones in the room, "Pick one," he ordered, his voice sharp and demanding.

    Madeline wondered if she cried right now it would have Calhoun off her back but bringing out tears was hard in the stressful situation she was in. She wanted to re at the man. Her expressions were nothing but a mix of emotions. She didn''t know what he wanted from her.

    Calhoun''s expression changed and he raised his brow as he took a couple of steps away from her, giving the space she wanted before he would take it away from her.

    "Do you think it is right to keep your King waiting?" he asked her. Madeline''s hand clenched together, and her eyes moved to look at the bed, and then it shifted to look at the couch."I am thirsty," he added and Madeline realised why he brought her here.

    "Y-you are going to take blood from me?" she asked him. Her head felt light as if she was ready to faint and she wondered if fainting was a good option, but he would know if she faked it. Doing something stupid was equal to asking for more punishment and obliging with the absurd ideas which he had in his head.

    As much as she had heard scary stories about the night creatures who drank blood from the humans until they died, Madeline had to remind herself it was going to be okay. It was barely seven days since they first met each other.

    Seven days, which was one week and that was all that had taken to lead them up where they were now.

    When Calhoun didn''t respond to her obvious question, she grew even more nervous because of the nervousness, she blurted,

    "I said I was okay with you to drink from others. You can drink from them as much as you want and I wouldn''t mind," she closed her eyes, hoping he would listen to her plea. This felt like a nightmare. Which sane person courted a girl they liked in this fashion?! The next time she opened her eyes, Calhoun stood right in front of her. Not the same distance before she had closed her eyes.

    Madeline''s heart almost slipped from her ribcage. She wondered if it was another ability of the King to be able to move this fast without a single sound. But then that''s how all predators were. They first prowled towards their prey and then pounced on them.

    "I won''t take it as cheating if you drink from other women," she whispered, but Calhoun just stared at her.

    Calhoun then said, "Are you going to pick one or shall I pick one for you because you are torn between which one to pick right now?"

    It looked like there was no way out of this, "Take my blood after a few days. A monthter?" she asked him trying to wiggle out of this situation. Who knew maybe things would change where he would not want to drink from her at that time.

    "Do you like the bed?" he asked her, ignoring her previous words and Madeline''s eyes widened.

    "Couch."

 Chapter 102 Savouring the drops- Part 2

    <h4>102 Savouring the drops- Part 2</h4>

    It was because Madeline had never craved for a life in the castle and maybe it was because she was happy with what she had. She was the person who was happy wherever she was and somewhere between the stealing nces between her and James Heathcliff in the past, she had thought maybe it would lead to something more in the future. Everything had been in if and maybe but she was content. But here she was given a life that was more than what she had. It didn''te with just the status of the luxury in the castle with posh clothes and jewels. She wasn''t naive that there was more to the castle in here. Even the walls held secrets.

    Her feet made themselves towards the couch, but she didn''t sit. Her eyes fell on the number of cushions ced at the sides, and when her eyes shifted to her left, she noticed the firece that was burning with logs of woods in it.

    Hearing the sound of Calhoun''s shoes against the floor, she turned to see him walk to where she was, and he sat downfortably on the couch. The coat he had been wearing around his body had been discarded and that only raised bells in her head.

    She wanted to ask why he was torturing her with actions like these, but at the same time, she knew that his answer to her question would only bring words of his satisfaction. She gulped when he made eye contact.

    He then raised his hand for her to take. Her hand moved gingerly towards him, slightly shaky as she ced it on his hand to feel him sp it in hisrge hand, "Sit," he said, and Madeline could feel her head spinning even though nothing had happened. The tension she felt was enough to make her faint, and she prayed to be alive once this was done.

    She was about to take a seat, but out of nowhere, Calhoun tugged her hand to have her sit with her body facing him.

    "Are you waiting for me to jump on you, which is why you are slow? Don''t keep me waiting," he said to her, his voice deep and his eyes staring into hers was enough to make her freeze, "I would have picked bed because it is much morefortable, but you were the one to pick the couch," he brought his hand forward to ce it on the side of her face.

    Her eyes widened at his gesture towards her. It seemed like many horror stories which she had heard from the fellow vigers, Madeline would be the meal of the King. Was she supposed to be happy that her life was being offered to the King? The cruel, cruel man who had her where he wanted.

    "I didn''t want either of them," she answered, being aware of his touch on her cold skin.

    Madeline wondered if Calhoun had fallen in love before. She was curious, wondering if this was his first time and the thought made her purse her lips.

    "Today I will show you that it is not necessary to die when the night creature takes blood from the humans," Calhoun''s words were meant to ease Madeline, but she was a person who had never been bit before. "Rx," he passed the order, and she tried to listen to him.

    "Does the blood of humans vary?" she asked him wearily.

    "It does. Some are good, some aren''t," he answered her, running his hand over her hair to smoothen them down and tucking some of her hair behind her ear. Seeing Madeline part her lips and close them, he said, "What is it?" The girl looked nothing less than a skittish kitten that was ready to sprint out of the room at any moment, but Madeline knew better than to do it.

    Madeline had already spoken about it, she had told him before, but she didn''t know if he needed to be reminded again by her or if he had brushed away her words, "This is not the way how you court the person you love��"

    "Tell me how do you think a woman wants to be courted?" he humoured her, giving her nerves the time it needed to settle so that her body would not be stiff. Madeline didn''t respond to this. She didn''t want him to court her, "So stubborn," he murmured, looking at her.

    She then said, "Drinking blood is not one way to court a person."

    "Did you know drinking blood is a very intimate act in the culture of vampires? And I know we have the habit of taking blood from what we feel tastes good, but that is only until we find the right one," said Calhoun, bringing her hand which he hadn''t let go. He brought it on hisp, running his thumb over her wrist.

    The strokes on her skin were slow that held enough pressure to keep her aware of his touch on her, "You think I am cruel and pushy, don''t you?" Calhoun''s eyes were on her wrist, looking at the veins and the pale skin.

    "You didn''t give me a reason not to think any other way." The King didn''t mind her words. He instead savoured her words where she tried to contain her emotions and tried to be precise.

    "I cannot help but be me around you," he chuckled, the smile appeared only to leave when his eyes shifted back to look at her.

    The way he said those words, something struck, and she epted that he was epting who he was, without hiding it from her.

    "I am a ruthless man," he repeated, "If I don''t get things on my terms, I have the habit of taking it by force. Sometimes a little push on external factors works too but don''t worry. I will be patient with you on certain things, so you will not fear me the way I want you to."

    "But you want me to fear you," she whispered when he pulled her hand up in the air with his hand.

    "It is what you believe, but that is not how I perceive it to be, sweet girl," and saying this, his face leaned forward towards her wrist. He sank his fangs that felt like a pinprick. The pain was very faint as she saw Calhoun suck her blood out of her wrist. She had been surprised he had chosen to take blood from her hand and not from her neck as she had heard how the night creatures found it to be easier to drink. Calhoun''s lips were on her skin, his eyes closed as it felt like he was savouring the taste of every single drop of blood that fell on his tongue.

    The worry, nervousness and the fear that she had been carrying since the time she had entered this room, appeared to evaporate as it didn''t feel as scary as she had imagined it to be. Like many people in the vige, Madeline had nevere across a night creature, a vampire and Calhoun was the first one she had ever met because of the ball.

    Calhoun finally opened his eyes that fell directly at her, he used his tongue to lick where he had bit. Her face turned red at this action, and she quickly pulled her hand towards her which he let go.

    The blood had trickled down by the side of his mouth, and he used his thumb to wipe and lick it clean by running his tongue over it, "Was it as horrifying as you thought it would be?" he chuckled because of the build-up that had taken ce earlier.

 Chapter 103 Savouring the drops- Part 3

    <h4>103 Savouring the drops- Part 3</h4>

    The room they were in had the curtains draped over the windows, leaving only a few that cracked open to view the world that was outside. The candles were burning in the chandelier that was pulled up towards the ceiling and the firece where they sat let out a glow, the mes moving and crackling in the silent room.

    "You are not a meal, Madeline," stated Calhoun, "You are that desert one looks forward to eating even before the first and second course of the meal is served. And I would like to be the only person who has the privilege to do it. Be careful in the castle," he warned to gain her attention as he leaned his back against the cushions of the couch they were sitting on.

    She didn''t have to be careful if she wasn''t living in the castle, and she gave him a look as the thought crossed her mind.

    "Danger is everywhere, not just here," he rolled his eyes as if he read what passed through her mind, "It is never bad to be careful."

    Madeline wondered why he said it, and she asked, "I thought the castle was the safest ce."

    "It is, and isn''t at the same time. Did you forget about the poisoning?" he reminded her and she shook her head, "If it weren''t for me, you would have been dead by now," there was a smile on his lips, staring at her.

    "If you wouldn''t have made me stay here, we both wouldn''t be talking about it."

    "Touche! We would have lost so much time if that were so. Look at us now, sitting next to the firece," stated Calhoun, his eyes not leaving her, "I might be the viin in your book now, but I cannot wait for the time when that changes."

    "Worse than a viin?"

    Her words came quietly instead of being strong, and Calhoun chuckled. His tongue ran across his teeth to settle on one of the fangs. He then leaned forward towards her, bringing himself closer to her, "I was going to say the protagonist, but if that is what you want, we can do that too."

    Madeline pulled her hands closer to herself, "I don''t think I have ever heard a protagonist to be..."

    "Someone like me?" hepleted her words, "Who were you nning to make the hero then? The tailorman?" he mocked.

    Madeline didn''t know if it was alright to speak because Calhoun was a skilled person when it came to flipping situations and he was the King, which was why she had to be careful with her words but no matter how careful she was, she tripped in front of him.

    "I didn''t say anything."

    "But you want him to be your saviour from the big bad wolf, don''t you?" taunted Calhoun to lean back again.

    Softly gulping she said, "Would it be bad when he possesses the good qualities?"

    "They are good in my books," she confirmed, and he gave her a nod.

    "But you live in my world, and those qualities won''t help all the time," stated Calhoun, tipping his chin slightly up as he looked at her, "Let me tell you this, you might be the protagonist, and I might be the antagonist that you view me as, but those are the only main characters that are going to be there. There''s no space for side characters like the tailorman who is unwanted. An unnecessary person," he said thoughtfully.

    Madeline stared back at Calhoun, keeping eye contact. As much as she hated the fact that he had forced her to stay in the castle, she couldn''t'' deny that the words he spoke were rather intriguing.

    "In time you will find that I am not someone who wishes bad for you and I am not the viin," Calhoun said to her.

    Said the man who drank her blood, thought Madeline to herself not to forget how he liked to intimidate her. It was evident that Calhoun didn''t care about people with whom he was not interested in and maybe it was a good thing because if he felt James was a threat, she didn''t have to know what fate would await him.

    Madeline then looked at her wrist that looked normal except for the two dots because of Calhoun''s fangs. She wanted to leave this room, go back to see if she could find the actual culprit who had tried to poison the King but at the same time she had some questions for which she was curious to get answers. She told herself it wasn''t because she was interested in the King, but just because it had urred to her during her time here.

    Something made her believe that he knew the servant was not the real culprit. It was because the other prisoners who were left inside the cage who had rods pierced into their skin. And the servant she had met was put behind the cell.

    "Who do you think wants to kill you?" she asked him.

    Calhoun who had ced one hand of his on the top of the couch was tracing random lines with his fingers as he stared at her with his intelligent eyes, "There are many. The person who carries the crown is always under the possibility of being killed."

    To think about how everyone thought it was a shiny object without realizing when the head would fall that was holding it, thought Madeline to herself, "Why are you keeping the man there then? Is it because no one proved his innocence?" she asked him.

    "Why do you want to meddle into something that doesn''t concern you?" he questioned her back. Women were usually creatures who liked to keep themselves low unless they were like his cousin Sophie who was eyeing the throne.

    "Is it wrong to worry about someone when it concerns their life?"

    "Never said it is," replied Calhoun, "You im to want a simple life yet here you are trying to bring justice to the man by trying to find out who did it," he brought his hand up to his face and ran his fingers through his hair.

    Madeline didn''t know what was going on in Calhoun''s mind. He knew it, and she knew it too, but he had still continued to keep the man in the cell.

    "I would like to be excused," said Madeline, and he gave her a nod. Standing up, she bowed her head to see that smile on his lips to which she didn''t react and left the room without Calhoun, who didn''t bother to move from where he was sitting.

    After a while, Theodore entered the room looking for the King, and he bowed his head before entering the room, "How is your day going, Theo?" asked Calhoun.

    "Good so far," answered Theodore, noticing the smile that was on Calhoun''s face, "You appear to be in a good mood."

    "How''s the hunt going so far?"

    "We are looking at the maids. There''s one who has been a little more nervous than others," answered Theodore.

    "Find out who went to Yorkshire out of my kind and generous rtives," the smile on the King''s lips broadened. Calhoun had been waiting for one of them to trip, and they happened to take the bait.

    Theodore obliged, "I will do that. But why Yorkshire? We thought it was from Somerset," asked the man.

    "Do you remember the container with the bulbous end which was delivered to Duke Caxton long ago. A very strange one that was told the maker had died, and someone else tried to replicate it, but it wasn''t done because they didn''t know the technique of how to make it. It was from Yorkshire, the same ce where the current one is from," exined Calhoun, "A servant cannot do it alone and is possibly being ordered by someone wealthier."

    "What do you propose?"

    Calhoun finally stood up, meeting Theodore''s eyes and said, "Drag the maid who is involved and cough up the information on who gave her the orders before tomorrow morning."

 Chapter 104 Gossips- Part 1

    <h4>104 Gossips- Part 1</h4>

    Bringing her hand forward, she took a look at her wrist where the vampire had bit into her. She blushed by thinking how his tongue had run on her skin. She had to get some water to wash her skin! How shameful and embarrassing! If someone in the vige heard about a man sucking on a girl''s wrist, it would have turned into a full-blown scandal, and she doubted if it was any less with the people who belonged to the high status. Pulling out her handkerchief, she started to rub the area where his mouth had been that now turned red.

    "He''s nothing but a crude man acting like a cave person," Madeline muttered under her breath while fuming quietly by herself as she walked alone in the lonely corridor.

    God only knew what other things she would have to experience during her stay in the castle. It had been only a week since Calhoun had found out about her existence and Madeline hade close to the King, dancing with him and here he was already iming her wrists!

    "What is with the atrocious behaviour! Is that how a King behaves?" she took the liberty to talk to herself as it was safe with no one near her to listen to what she was saying but more importantly, Calhoun wasn''t here to listen to herint. Therefore it was much easier to speak where her words would not be twisted against her.

    Taking a right turn, Madeline continued to walk, mumbling words to stop when she noticed two maids who were cleaning the window pane speaking in a low voice to themselves.

    "...is it true?" asked one of the maids, her hand moving against the surface of the outer window.

    "Isn''t that why Lady Sophie is here?" whispered the other maid, "Lady Rosamund told it in one of the soirees, but then we have the new human in the castle. What do you think is going on?"

    "The King said not to talk to her. She must be one of his mistresses," the maids had their back facing Madeline due to which they had not noticed the presence of Madeline as they whispered like squirrels.

    "But he has never let anyone stay in his quarters. Do you think he has done her yet? Yesterday, I saw her walking with just a coat that belonged to the King."

    "How was she walking? I heard the King is quite a person in the bed." And as much as the maid had lowered her voice, thinking there was no one listening Madeline had entered right on time to hear them speak.

    Madeline''s jaws clenched together after she found out that the maids were talking about her. She was the human mistress!

    "Shh, someone will hear you," said the maid next to her before chuckling, "There''s no one here so it should be okay."

    "I heard her parents sold her off. It isn''t the first time it has happened. Only a whore gets treatment like that," the maid who was wiping the ss paused to say, "It is Lady Sophie who is going to be crowned as queen and not some human who was picked on a whim."

    Madeline ground her teeth, her eyes narrowing further and she took a step forward where her shoe clicked loud on the floor. The two maids whipped their heads around to see who was here and their eyes widened. As rude as they were speaking earlier behind her back, they now looked pale for being caught by thedy. Not once had Madeline been called with demeaning words and to hear it now, it hurt her as what the maids spoke about her was untrue.

    "Mdy!"

    The maids bowed their head, showing the respect which they obviously didn''t mean to give. A vampiress would have received better treatment as well as reverence because of the status they held. But when it came to Madeline, it was apparent by her looks when she had entered the castle with her parents for lunch that she came from a poor background.

    "Lovely day, isn''t it?" asked Madeline with a smile upon her face that left the maids questioning themselves if thedy had heard what they were speaking or if she had only arrived now as they didn''t hear her footsteps earlier.

    The maids couldn''t do anything but oblige with thedy''s opinion to nod their head, "Very beautiful day indeed, mdy," said the maid who hadbelled Madeline as a ''whore''.

    "If you want it to continue as a peaceful day, I would ask you not to speak nonsensical things that you aren''t aware of, and that has nothing to do with you. Unless you aren''t fond of yourself." The smile on Madeline''s lips was sweet and polite, but her words had delivered the point of what she meant.

    "Yes, mdy!" came the chorus reply, and they bowed their head at her.

    Madeline had no interest in staying with thepany of the maids who were bad-mouthing her, and she walked away from there. She knew this was going to happen, after all, it was bizarre that the King had decided to keep a human near him, giving her the attention when he could have any other woman who belonged to his status. People were going to speak, and she would have to digest it.

    The rest of the day passed by, in her trying to find out who had tried to poison the King. After taking some rest, Madeline continued walking in the castle when a maid appeared in front of her.

    "Mdy," bowed the maid, "Lady Sophie had requested for you toe and join her for evening tea in her room."

    Madeline was not looking forpany, "Tell Lady Sophie that I am unwell and will be going to my room to rest," the maid bowed her head again to oblige. When the news was returned to Lady Sophie, the vampiress narrowed her eyes at the maid.

    "She said what?" asked Sophie.

    "Lady Madeline said she wanted to rest as she was tired," answered the maid under the re of the vampiress.

    Sophie knew Madeline was doing perfectly alright. She had been roaming in the castle since the time of the morning. She wanted to strike a deal with the human. If the girl was not willing toe to where she was, Sophie would go to her, and with that thought, the vampiress left her room and entered the King''s quarters. When she was about to enter, she was stopped by the guards who stood there.

    "The King is not here, Lady Sophie," said one of the guards who had ced the staff to block her way.

    "I am here to speak to Lady Madeline," said Sophie looking down at the two guards who had dared to stop her.

    She didn''t like being treated like this. She deserved to be treated with the utmost respect and never to be stopped. Once she would be the queen this would never happen. The truth was if Calhoun didn''t exist, the crown would have gone to her brother Markus. She would have been closer to the crown as the King''s sister, but the current situation was not bad either.

    If her brother Markus has turned out to be the King, she wouldn''t have a full rule in the castle or on thends as she would be betrothed to another family. If she got married to Calhoun for political reasons, it would mean direct reign, everything would be hers to keep and throw.

    The guards on hearing whom she hade to meet, pulled their staffs back and Sophie made her way into the King''s beautiful and extravagant quarters, to head to the human''s room.

 Chapter 105 Gossips- Part 2

    <h4>105 Gossips- Part 2</h4>

    Sophie was looking on the other side of the corridor, trying to get a glimpse of the King''s room, when she said, "Tell thedy I am here," with an air of superiority she often carried with herself that had ingrained into her since she was young.

    "Mdy, Lady Madeline is not here," answered the maid and Sophie''s jaw clicked against each other. She knew it. The human had tantly avoided spending time with her.

    On the other side of the castle, Madeline had not been to the quarters since the time of the morning as she was still trying to find out who the servant might be who had tried to poison the King. And to think that she had the meal the same night the poison was mixed, she sighed. The evening had arrived, and the sky had slowly started to change colour. She could hear the birds chirping as they were flying back to their nests, and it made her smile. She wished she was a bird so that she could fly away.

    "There are birds in the shed," came a voice not too far away from her and Madeline who was looking up at the sky, turned to look at the man who wore clothes that suited the castle. Not knowing who the person was, she stayed quiet to hear him introduce, "I am Samuel Pemberton. I work for the King," he bowed his head.

    She bowed her head, "Madeline Harris."

    "If you enjoy the sight of birds, the King has his own collection of them in the castle. I have some of them back at my mansion too," he was of average height who had blonde hair with one ear pierced to have a silver ring.

    "I will keep that in mind," she replied. He was another vampire with red eyes, who looked at her curiously, and before he had more time to stare at the girl, Theodore arrived at the corridor to steal the man''s attention.

    "You arete with your report," informed Theodore in a voice thatcked energy and was as dull as the weather that one was bored with.

    Samuel smiled, "I was speaking to this lovelydy here about the birds," the man''s eyes shifted back to look at Madeline.

    "She''s the King''s woman," Theodore broke the news like it was nothing big, but a warning towards the man named Samuel that raised his eyebrows.

    "What kind?" chuckled Samuel and Madeline felt her mood dampen more than the time she had caught the maids gossiping about her.

    And though no words passed through Madeline''s lips, it didn''t stop her from ring at the man for the way he questioned about who she was. It seemed like people who worked in and around the castle didn''t know how to be polite.

    Samuel nodded his head and started to head to where Theodore stood, but on the way as he was walking past Madeline, the man''s eyes darted back to look at the girl who Theodore had warned to stay away but this only made the man curious. After all, she was a mere human.

    But before the men left the corridor, Theodore informed her, "Lady Madeline, the King wishes to see you," and Madeline nodded her head. She didn''t know what Calhoun wanted to do with her, but she followed them to the courtroom. Walking through the corridor, Madeline noticed how quickly the sky had started to change colour where it started to turn dark.

    When they reached the court, the man named Samuel got down on his knee and bowed his head to greet the King, "Long live the King of Devon," he said, "My apologies for returningte as I had an issue with the carriage''s wheel that took time to repair. I have brought the signed parchment from the Flemings'' house," the man stood up and pulled out a scroll from his vest.

    Calhoun was sitting on the throne with his leg ced one over the other. He took hold of the parchment, "Three days is too long to fix a carriage unless you dismantled the carriage and decided to rebuild it," he said, his red eyes staring down at Samuel.

    Samuel who had walked back to his earlier standing ce, said, "We were stuck in the middle of the forest that had no civilization-"

    "What a pity that even being a vampire one can end up helpless,"mented Calhoun to pull up the parchment and see the ck seal on it, "Looks like they haveplied sooner than thest time without any demands. Beheading the rtives turned in our favour. Everyone needs the right push to be motivated, isn''t it," he hummed, letting the parchment roll back and handed it to Theodore, "Though I must say I was waiting for you to return back nearly a week ago. The scroll needs to be handed to the next Kingdom."

    "The carriage-" Samuel began only to be interrupted by the King.

    "Yes, the broken carriage. Three days to fix it," stated Calhoun, "I wonder what you did the other days. Hopefully been a good man and not having fun there. But then I am sure you know how important the work you had been assigned with was," his lips twisted in amusement.

    Madeline, who stood in the courtroom, looked back and forth between the King and the vampire named Samuel.

    "I went for work, my King. I wouldn''t betray my wife," replied Samuel.

    "That is good to hear. I wouldn''t want to hearints from Lucy on how her dear husband is fucking another woman. Because I for sure would not be pleased if you broke her heart," said Calhoun, as one side of his lips pulled up, "Well, good job on getting it signed. I will see you tomorrow." Madeline could feel the tension in the air. She wondered who Lucy was as it appeared that the King cared about someone.

    "I won''t disappoint you, my King," said Samuel.

    Calhoun replied, "Let''s hope for both our sakes you don''t," his dark red eyes then leisurely shifted to Madeline who had been standing quietly, "What are you doing there, my sweet,e here," Madeline''s cheeks turned red on his words of endearment, and she walked towards him.

    He noticed how Samuel''s eyes fell on Madeline, staring at her with intrigue. When both the men''s eyes met, Calhoun smiled. A smile that was empty. "If that is all that was there to speak, you can take your leave," Calhoun dismissed the man, and Samuel bowed his head again.

    Once the man left, Madeline heard Calhoun said to Theodore, "Traceback on what he was doing during thest two weeks. I want every single detail about where he was, who he met, what he spoke."

    "Yes, milord," obliged Theodore.

    Calhoun sighed, "His character is questionable that makes one doubt if he has anything to do with the recent poisoning," and he chuckled at the end.

    Only Calhoun couldugh at these kinds of matters, thought Madeline to herself. With the man gone, the King''s attention fell on her.

    "How was your day? Found anything interesting?" asked Calhoun, giving her all the attention, "Theodore said you were in the dungeon. If you are interested, we can make a room for you there."

    Madeline''s eyes nced to look at the man who worked for the King before it went back to look at Calhoun. It looked like Theodore was no less than a tattle tale, and everything that fell under his gaze was reported to the King.

    "I didn''t," she frowned.

    "Tomorrow will be an exciting day. You know why?"

    When he didn''t continue, Madeline asked, "Why?"

    "Because someone is going to pay for their actions but that isn''t all. I have asked Theodore to get the scaffold ready in your vige. Are you excited?" asked Calhoun, his eyes shining with mirth and his lips pulled up in a wide smile.

 Chapter 106 Time on scaffold- Part 1

    <h4>106 Time on scaffold- Part 1</h4>

    She had fallen asleepte in the night, which had resulted in her waking upte. Right now, she stood with her hands, holding one of the bedposts tightly as her corset was being pulled with theces by the head maid.

    Madeline flinched because of the tightness, and she wondered if the maid was trying to suffocate her to death, "I need to breathe," she reminded the maid because it looked like the head maid, Nic, was trying to fit her into the corset.

    "We need to get you fit into the dress, mdy. As you will be going out with the King, it is only right that you look presentable," by choking her? Asked Madeline to herself on the head maid''s words, "Please hold in your breath."

    "The vige we are going to is my hometown. I don''t think they would think any less of me if I don''t shape well with the dress," Madeline said, her head turning to the side to find the shadow of the girl on the ground without looking right at her face.

    The head maid was a brte with brown hair. Ady who was lean with less womanly curves than what Madeline had. Her hands were thin and so were her eyebrows that were arched up, "It is not about you but about the reputation of the King. Everydy who apanies the King needs to follow protocols on how to behave and how to appear next to him. Anything less would be nothing but demeaning. It would help if you remembered that you are not a vige girl anymore." So stop acting like one, thought the maid to herself, rolling her eyes.

    "Where are you from?" asked Madeline when the maid again asked to hold in her breath.

    "I am from Beriweness," answered Nic.

    Madeline flinched when the maid pulled onest time before tying the strings of the corset. She finally turned to look at the maid who had a lighter shade of red eyespared to the King, "You are from the vige too. By your words, I thought you were from the town."

    The girls and women who the King brought to the castle to entertain himself always tended to be sweet and polite with their words. Even Lady Sophie, who was the King''s cousin, was polite when it came to speaking to her as she wasn''t a lowly servant but someone who had been promoted to the position of a head maid.

    "Don''t let the favour of power get into your head, mdy. It hurts quite a lot when you realise you don''t have the favour of the King," advised Nic, her eyes looking at the girl''s neck that was slender. It would take less than one second to snap the human''s neck or to break it by falling from the stairs.

    Madeline turned herself to look at the head maid who now picked up the skirt and helped her to wear it, "Are you speaking by experience?" she asked Nic who stared back into her brown eyes.

    The head maid smiled, a smile of pity on her lips as she said, "You can say that," she didn''t hide the fact that long ago she had the favour of the King and it took Madeline by surprise. She didn''t expect the person to admit it openly, but it was only both of them in the room and no one else to hear which was why, Nic didn''t see the point to hide it, "The King has bedded many women. Not only the girls and women of high status but even the servants in the castle. He has arge appetite, and you are just another person. So don''t think too highly of yourself. As fast as you entered this castle, you will be thrown that much quicker," saying this, the head maid smiled to step back.

    When Madeline heard this, she frowned. She didn''t have to know about the King''s debauchery. He was the King and somewhere she had figured it out, especially when the man was that shameless around her. She wasn''t here to receive the King''s favour nor was she interested in it.

    She found it to be rather interesting that Nic had mentioned about how she could easily be thrown out of the castle. Maybe that is what she has to pin on as her chance to leave the castle? Thought Madeline to herself.

    When Madeline was finally dressed, her hairbed and tied, she left the room to make way down near the halls where she was led by the maid who had been helping her. She noticed that Sophie was already there, standing and waiting for the King.

    "Lady Madeline! Good morning to you," Lady Sophie greeted and even though Madeline was not fond of the vampiress, she bowed her head.

    "Good morning, Lady Sophie. How was your sleep?" asked Madeline, her tone polite and a small smile on her face.

    Sophie smiled back like she was Madeline''s well-wisher, "I had a wonderful sleep. Also dreamt of how I was crowned as the queen and you were there congratting me," Madeline smiled hearing this.

    "What a wonderful dream. I am sure dreams like that breaks your sleep faster as they are not real," came the words from Madeline''s lips and the smile that was there on Sophie''s lips faltered.

    "How is your health? I heard you were unwellst evening and I didn''t see you at dinner. I missed you there," Sophie said, cing her hand on Madeline''s arm and Madeline couldn''t help but wonder why Sophie was this sweet early in the morning. Every time the vampiress was kind, Madeline remembered the time when she was kicked out of the carriage.

    "I feel much better now. Thank you for your concern," answered Madeline, not knowing that Sophie hade to visit her at her room when she wasn''t there.

    "That''s good to hear. It would be worrisome if something happened to you. You should be careful," Sophie''s words came out deliberately slow that had the human''s attention.

    Madeline was indeed careful with Sophie. It was because she didn''t know what the vampiress was up to and after finding out about her interest in the crown and the King, she knew that Sophie took her to be a potential threat when in truth she wasn''t.

    "Good morning,dies," came the King''s voice and the people who were in the hall bowed their head including Madeline and Sophie, "A wonderful day to see the punishment handed down to the culprit."

    At first, Madeline was not looking forward to it. But sincest night, when Calhoun had spoken about the scaffold being set up in her vige, she couldn''t help but think that maybe she would be able to reunite with her family.

    "Good morning, brother Calhoun! I hope you had a goodnight," greeted Sophie, her eyes gleaming in the excitement of having to see someone being beheaded today.

    "I did, but I think I would have a better night with the woman in my bed," saying this, Calhoun''s eyes fell on Madeline. His words openly directed to the human girl to have Madeline''s narrow her eyes.

 Chapter 107 Time on scaffold- Part 2

    <h4>107 Time on scaffold- Part 2</h4>

    Sophie was the first one to answer, "I had a good sleep myself too. Brother Calhoun, are we making use of your personal carriage or the one that is for the family? Because Lady Madeline would have to use another one if she''sing along with us too."

    "Why? Did she say she''s noting?" asked Calhoun, his eyes falling on the human girl who was quietly walking next to him with one step behind. He slowed down to match his feet with hers that left Sophie to walk two steps ahead before she realised and corrected herself as it was considered to be rude to walk in front of the King.

    Madeline wished she could walk slower than the pace she was walking right now, but if she did walk anymore slower, she would have to stop walking as this was the maximum she could do. That way she wouldn''t have to stay on the same line of sight as Calhoun. But Calhoun was smart enough to have her where he wanted her, and instead of walking at his own pace, he matched his footsteps with her.

    "I didn''t say that," said Madeline when her eyes met his red ones that stared right into her eyes as if he was peering into her soul.

    "Then that shouldn''t be an issue that Madeline rides the same carriage. But now that you mention about it," he turned his head to look at his cousin sister, "Space is definitely an issue. You can ride with Theodore."

    Sophie''s mouth opened in shock. Was Calhoun sending her with his servant and not letting her ride in the same carriage with him while choosing this poor girl to ride with him?!

    "Of course, brother Calhoun," Sophie obliged without a word ofint as she told herself to be patient. She couldn''t go mouthing her opinions as it was something Calhoun didn''t take lightly and would immediately make her stay back in the castle instead of tagging along. Theodore on the other hand who was walking behind the three of them couldn''t stop himself from closing his eyes at the plight that he would have to ride with the vampiress, knowing what was going to happen.

    Getting down the stairs, that led outside the castle where the carriage had been parked in front of the castle, the coachman pulled open the door for them to step in. Sophie had slowed down her footsteps, and she couldn''t stop but re at the human. She wanted to take her out of the picture as soon as she could, but for that, she would need an borate n. She didn''t know if Calhoun was having a fleeting attraction with the human which was why he was humouring her right now.

    "Lady Sophie," Theodore stood outside the second carriage, waiting for the vampiress and when she finally got in, the man too got inside before closing the door of the carriage.

    "Will I get to see my parents? My sister?" she asked him, her voice anxious as it had been some days since she hadst exchanged any words with her family.

    Calhoun had a calm expression on his face, but his eyes were bright as he looked at her.

    Since he had mentioned it, she had been craving to see them. Why else would he pick her vige''s scaffold? Her innocent eyes looked up at him, pleading.

    "We can speak about it in the carriage. Get in," was the only reply that came from him and Madeline''s heart sank slightly at the possibility of what was going to happen, "Go on," he said, raising his hand for her to use. Madeline didn''t refuse because she wanted something from him and for that, she would have to be obedient.

    Getting inside the carriage, Madeline took her seat, and she noticed how there was only one seat in here instead of the double seat that she had used when she came to the castle with her parents. Calhoun took the space next to her, and the door of the carriage was closed by the coachman.

    Madeline didn''t bring up the topic again. The carriage had started to move and they reached until the gates of the castle. Watching outside, she remembered the time she had runaway and the excitement and happiness she felt for leaving the castle that had ended too soon.

    She then asked him, "Why did you pick my vige to behead the man?" she had asked the same questionst night before she had gone to her room, but Calhoun had not answered her. He had done nothing but smile as if he were scheming something in his head and she couldn''t figure it out.

    "Your vige is part of Devon. I thought it would be great to have the execution there for everyone to see what happens when someone goes against the King," he responded to her question, his head rxing on his hand which he had brought up to ce at the side of the window.

    She didn''t believe that was all the reason, but that there was more to what he just said, "Is it for me, for my parents or for James to fear you?"

    "Why do you think it to be so?" came the calm reply from the King like his hand were clean. "But then it isn''t a bad idea for everyone to know. The tailorman appeared to be very brave and courageous despite you shaking your head so that he stayed quiet. Before he digs his grave, let me give him a warning. It will save your heart from breaking and his life from being dead."

    Madeline was only finding out how petty Calhoun was. James had done nothing but Calhoun was going to the length of leaving a message to any and everyone who would ever think of trying to help her in the future.

    "I gave my word to your father to have his shop and men to help. Once we are done with our merriment, we can visit. So that you know I have upheld the deal."

    Now that he mentioned about it, Madeline was curious to see the shop which Calhoun had promised to her father before her family had left her behind in the castle. Her eyes made contact with Calhoun and her lips pursed.

    "What? Did you think I wouldn''t uphold my deal?" asked Calhoun, a whisper of chuckle leaving his wicked lips.

    "Does that mean I get to see my family?" she asked to see him give it a thought.

    "Sure. You will see your family," he replied, but there was another motive behind his words.

    Giving her a little freedom to ease in before he would take her back with him. He noticed how a spark appeared in her eyes and her shoulders rxed at the thought that she was meeting them, "You didn''t sleepst night too," he noted, looking under her eyes.

    "I couldn''t." Not when she knew an innocent man was going to be put under the axe and the execution was taking ce in the vige where she had grown up.

    "You cane to my room if you find it hard to fall asleep," he stated, and Madeline turned her face away to look outside the window where the trees were passing one after another.

    "I don''t want people to get the wrong idea," she said under her breath. She had already been called a whore, and she didn''t know what else others thought about her. Maybe it didn''t matter to Calhoun, but it mattered to Madeline on what people thought about her.

    "They will get the idea with you having ck circles around your eyes thinking I am keeping you up all night. After all, we do share the same quarters," reminded Calhoun and Madeline sighed. There was no winning against him.

    "I will sleep better once I meet my family and know they are doing well," she stated, and Calhoun only smirked at her words.

 Chapter 108 Time on scaffold- Part 3

    <h4>108 Time on scaffold- Part 3</h4>

    "There are other things to look at. Stop looking at me," her words came out tired and this only brought smile on Calhoun''s lips. Unable to resist the man, Madeline finally turned her head to look at him.

    "I was looking at your dress. It fits too perfectly," heplimented her, his line of sight moving down from her neck to her bossom and then to her waist before he looked down at the flowing skirt.

    "I was made to fit into it," replied Madeline. It was hard to breathe in the dress that she wore. The head maid had tightened the corset to such and extent that she was sure she was going to faint if she didn''t change her clothes to a much freer one soon where she would be able to breathe.

    "Come here," said Calhoun, moving around to face her and Madeline gave him a look of surprise.

    "No, I am fine," she didn''t want his help.

    "Stop being stubborn," rolled Calhoun eyes, "I don''t want you passing out. If you pass out before going to visit your father''s shop don''t expect I will wait for you to return to your consciousness because I will bring you back to the castle right away," he said in a serious tone.

    Madeline stared at Calhoun whilst he waited, and she then asked, "What are you going to do?" The corset was inside the dress she wore.

    "I have experience in it," saying this, Calhoun pulled Madeline closer to him as she was taking her own sweet time questioning him with a dubious look in her eyes. cing both his hands on her lean waist, he pulled her even close before leaning forward.

    Why did it feel like he was taking advantage of the situation? Asked Madeline to herself, her heart beating in her chest at the closeness that they shared in the closed space of the carriage.

    "Is it because you have been with many women?" she asked, trying to distract herself and let him know she knew about his debauchery.

    "You are right," he admitted like it was nothing great, "Your words sound jealous," he whispered next to her ear as his head was next to hers, leaning forward as his hands moved upwards and when Madeline ced her hand on his chest, wanting to push him, his grip on her waist tightened.

    "W-what are you doing? You said you would help," her voice sounded rmed because of his hands that were above her waist right now.

    Madeline felt nervous with his arms around her and she was ready to jump out of the carriage, but Calhoun had ced one hand on her lower back so that she wouldn''t move. And the other hand moved behind her back Madeline felt his lips close to her ears, his nose near her hair.

    She didn''t know if she was going to faint because of the corset, or because of him.

    "Did I mention you smell like a flower?" he asked her. Yes, he had before, thought Madeline to herself. She wished he could help her quickly but knowing Calhoun he would take his own time.

    And it was true.

    The truth was that Calhoun didn''t need her this close, to help her with the corset. He now had his hands on her back and one hand running on her back. How could he lose an opportunity of staying close to her when it presented to him like a favourite meal ced on his te to grab and devour.

    With every trace of his fingers over her back, Madeline felt her breath hitch and then suddenly she felt the corset loosen so that she could finally able to breathe some more air into her lungs. Calhoun pulled his hand and head away to look at her.

    "Better?" he asked, and Madeline who had first doubted his ability nodded her head, speechless that he had not pulled out any strings to loosen them.

    She couldn''t stop staring at Calhoun, a faint satisfied smile ying on his lips, "How did you do that?"

    "Tricks of the fingers I guess?" he answered being vague about it and pleased to see the curiosity that continued to lurk in her eyes. Calhoun didn''t even need to touch her to loosen the strings of her corset, but he wanted to have her in his arms. His lips twisted, and he moved back to his original ce he had been sitting with his back against the seat of the carriage, "What did you do with the rose?"

    He was asking about the rose he had plucked out in the gardenst morning. "I ced it in a ss of water."

    "Interesting. I was expecting you to throw it away," he said to have her frown.

    "Why would I do that? The flower didn''t do anything to me."

    "But I have," came the quick words from Calhoun.

    Both of them knew what Madeline''s iplete words meant where she didn''t continue with it at the thought that it woulde out to be rude, and she didn''t want to test her luck with him.

    Instead of speaking about her thoughts and feelings, Madeline decided to shift the conversation, "You can keep a flower fresh by changing the water every day. It will let the flower live and keep its freshness for a longer time."

    "Once the flower starts losing its freshness, you can keep it between the pages of parchments," added Calhoun, "Something to remember as the first present which is not materialistic. Something of your kind," he hummed before looking ahead of him, his eyes shifting to look outside.

    Madeline didn''t fuel the conversation, and decided to keep her thoughts to herself. She looked forward to seeing her family, but before that she would have to witness the execution. When they finally reached her vige, which took thirty more minutes before the carriage came to a halt.

    The door of the carriage was opened by the coachman, and Calhoun was the first one to step out. And as much as she was eager to visit her vige, somewhere Madeline''s hands turned my with sweat by the thought that there were people who knew her and they would see her like this.

    Noticing Madeline hesitate, Calhoun, raised his hand forward for her,

    "Don''t be scared. I am here with you."

    His words didn''t ease her nerves. She told herself that there was nothing to fear about. She finally ced her hand in his, stepping out of the carriage to ce her foot down on the ground. She took a deep breath as her eyes moved across the crowd that had gathered today around the scaffold.

    The weather today was gloomy with the clouds that hovered up in the sky, unlike yesterday, where the sun was bright. The vigers didn''t have to wait for the King to step down as the carriage was enough to let a person know that someone significant was here.

    The vigers couldn''t stop looking at the King as they had not seen him before. Their curiosity piqued further when they saw a human who stood behind him, and to some, she looked familiar. It was because they couldn''t point out on who she was as she wore highly refined clothes and jewels on her that increased her existing beauty.

    "Bow down to the King!" said a man and everyone who had gathered near the scaffold and including the ones who were far away, bowed their head to pay respect to the King of Devon.

 Chapter 109 Please- Part 1

    <h4>109 Please- Part 1</h4>

    "We have got your seat ready, milord. Please, let me take you there so that you will be able to witness the executionfortably," said the minister who had his head bowed and didn''t raise until the King spoke,

    "Has the culprit been brought here?"

    "Yes, my King. Just as you havemanded," replied the minister whose eyes fell on Madeline who stood behind the King. The minister couldn''t hide the look of curiosity he had in his eyes which was simr to the other people who had been working for the King.

    Madeline had turned her gaze away, to look at the crowd that had gathered, and she tried to see if she found someone she knew, and she did. There were some young and older people she had conversed with in the past, but she felt as if, the same people didn''t recognize her. Did she look that different? Asked Madeline to herself.

    The friendly eyes which she was used to in the past now looked at her like she was an outsider in this vige and it was strange, "Let me lead the way," requested the minister and they followed the person. Sophie and Theodore came two minutester, and they were soon to follow the King, who now sat down on the raised tform. The chair was ced just for him to sit while the other three stood, watching what was going to happen.

    The minister who had earlier spoken to the King got on the scaffold where the axeman stood with a mask on the upper part of his face,

    "Men and women, children! We are here today to execute the person who tried to harm our King. The person brought a bottle of poison and tried to mix it with the food for our King to eat," shouted the minister and the people who stood below murmured amongst themselves, "The culprit needs to be executed! What do you think?" he asked the crowd which had formed around the scaffold.

    "Burn the person!"

    "Kill!"

    "Cut his head off!" came the angry shouts from the crowd and it wasn''t just men but also women who screamed, waiting for the culprit to be brought up on the scaffold.

    Sophie, who stood next to Madeline couldn''t stop the smile that was on her lips, "I always enjoy these. There''s nothing more satisfying than handing down justice and punishment, is it not?" Madeline''s eyes moved to Sophie before looking back at the minister who spoke,

    Obviously, the people had never seen the King before, not even during the time of Hallow when they were invited to join for the celebration in the castle. And now that they saw the King in flesh and sight, the people looked at him in awe for the presence he carried. The women could barely keep their eyes to themselves, and they appeared to be scared yet enchanted by the devil-like handsomeness that he possessed.

    Madeline then saw from the corner of her eyes where a man was pulled through the throngs of the crowd, which was filled with whispers. Her hands clenched that the servant Oswyn was being brought here to be executed for something which he hadn''t done. Tearing her eyes away, she looked at Calhoun who was looking at the people with a smile.

    With Oswyn standing on top of the scaffold, the minister said, "This man here was the one who was caught with the poison!" Hearing this was enough to have people rage. Madeline noticed, people were easily fuelled with words and her eyes nced in the direction of the shop that was located far away from where she stood. Her heart started to thud for different reasons, "But he was not the person who tried to poison the King. The actual culprit is right here. Bring her!" shouted the minister and at the same time a guard dragged a female who was brought up through the two stairs of the scaffold.

    "Who is this person?" questioned Sophie surprised, "I thought it was the man there who tried to poison brother Calhoun."

    "The man was only framed for what the girl did, Lady Sophie," Theodore filled in who stood on the other side of Sophie, "It was the girl who was caught with one more bottle of poison which she tried to slip into another maid when the servant''s rooms were being checked."

    "Why did she do that?" asked Sophie. A gunny bag had been ced over the maid''s head. Both Sophie, as well as Madeline, noticed it was the servant who had been asked to serve Madeline. "How strange that the maid decides to poison the same time Lady Madeline enters the castle," taunted Sophie, "I guess we should all be careful of each other."

    Madeline had an inkling since the head cook of the castle had spoken about how the maid who worked under Nic was from Yorkshire. when Madeline had tried to get more information, it appeared that she was a nice girl because she might have been one of the maids who didn''t look at Madeline as if she was an odd one in the castle.

    When the gunny bag was removed from maid''s head, Madeline noticed how the maid''s mouth was right now tied around with a cloth to stop her from moving her mouth to speak.

    "This is the person who tried to kill the King! Our King!" shouted the minister and the people around looked at the girl with disapproving eyes. Though the people in the vige here were mostly humans, who had not seen the King and only heard of his reign, at any day, they would always side with him as the Crown was the absolutew.

    "Kill the witch!" screamed one of the people in the crowd.

    Madeline noticed fear in the maid''s eyes. There were apparent tears that fell down from her eyes that streaked down on her cheeks. The vige guard pushed the girl on her knees, and she tried to keep herself still, but her eyes kept moving back and forth before it fell on the King. She appeared to cry more, but Calhoun''s expression didn''t change even for a fraction of second.

    The maid''s cries and muffled sounds were drowned by the crowd''s voices that didn''t reach where Madeline and the other''s were. The girl continued to cry, her eyes begging Calhoun to save her while also asking for mercy, but the King didn''t care about her.

    When the minister turned to the King, Calhoun raised his hand as if in a sign and the maid suddenly started to shake her head in fear and panic. The guardsman who had apanied her kept her still. The maid was then pushed to ce her head on the wooden piece of b-like structure. Madeline, who was shielded by sight like this by her parents in the past, now stood there, watching the maid who continued to cry.

    Her own hands trembled when the axeman raised his hand, everyone holding their breath before the sharp axe was dropped right down on the girl''s neck for the head to roll and fall away from the scaffold while leaving blood gushing out of the dead body. The crowd cheered at the death of the traitor.

    This was the second time Madeline had witnessed a person being beheaded, and this one felt sicker than the previous one.

    It was a warning for everyone to know what could happen to them if they were to go against the King. Madeline''s eyes moved away from the dead person, and as she looked at the crowd, she noticed Mr. Heathcliff, who stood behind the crowd, looking at her.

 Chapter 110 Please- Part 2

    <h4>110 Please- Part 2</h4>

    When James turned his eyes to look at the maid''s body who had been beheaded a few seconds ago, Madeline''s own eyes moved back to look at the scaffold. The surface of it looked nothing less than a blood stter where the maid''s dead body continued to stay there. The cruel punishment had turned Madeline''s stomach sick and her head heavy.

    But Calhoun was not done with the little show for the vigers. He, who was sitting stood up from the seat that was arranged for him and walked up to the scaffold to gain everyone''s attention. A lot more people had now gathered that even Beth, who had gone out to the market, came to see what was going on until her eyes fell on King Calhoun.

    "What happened today was another demonstration of what can happen to people who will go against the crown. Treason shall not be taken lightly and will not be tolerated. Brave men and women, your loyalty to the King shall not go unnoticed," Calhoun smiled looking down at the crowd whilst he enjoyed the attention, "This man has been brave enough to take the ce when we asked to catch the real culprit."

    Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed at Calhoun''s words. Surely the servant didn''t know it was a setup because he was in fear of the death approaching him yesterday. The servant man, Oswyn turned his head, a look of shock on his face.

    "This was not a setup," murmured Madeline under her breath.

    Theodore, who was standing on the other side, said, "It wasn''t, mdy, but it is only right, he is showered with gifts."

    She didn''t know why but something didn''t feel right in here. She then heard Calhoun say, "For the loyalty, he has shown towards the King, I have asked the magistrate to gift him a house and increase his position in the castle."

    The men and women around couldn''t be any happier and pped their hands before praising the King.

    When Calhoun returned to where Madeline was, he saw the look she had in her eyes, and he said, "You look surprised."

    "I thought you would be executing the man," Madeline responded.

    "Thanks to you, my men spent less time in finding the maid who was involved in the matter. I am sure the man will be very thankful," stated Calhoun before asking, "What?" when he saw Madeline quiet.

    "Lady Madeline, is it the first time for you to witness the execution? You poor thing must be shocked," Sophie ced her hand on Madeline''s shoulder infort, "A human-like you must have been shielded."

    Sophie had a look of surprise on her face, "Oh? When was that?" she asked curiously.

    Calhoun obsered how Madeline lookedposedpared to the first time he had beheaded his minister himself, "It was a weing act so that the court knew who was in the castle," he said, his lips twisted into a smile while Madeline stared back at him.

    Sophie didn''t like the way Calhoun phrased it, and it seemed like as time was passing, the King was only giving this human more attention than she deserved, "I wish I were there," Sophie smiled.

    Madeline wanted to point out that the King could have let go of the servant when he was found to be not guilty and rewarded him in the court. But Calhoun had made it a point to bring him here, showing his subjects of the generosity he bestowed on the man. It was an act that was put up for the people to think how kind their King was.

    "Are you not satisfied with the way she was executed?" asked Calhoun to Madeline, his red eyes gazing down at her.

    "I never said anything," she answered.

    "How did you like it?" he asked her. Madeline pursed her lips. What kind of strange question was that to ask if she liked the way the person died, "If you tell what you like to be done next time, maybe we can reserve it for the special someone who crosses lines and attempts for treason. What do you say, Sophie?" his eyes didn''t move away from Madeline.

    "I think it''s a good idea. But I don''t think Lady Madeline is up for it. I mean she''s such a sweet girl, she would not be able to do that," Sophie pointed subtly that Madeline was an unfit person to deliver punishment. It was like sending a rabbit for a hunt that knew nothing.

    "Just because she doesn''t know now doesn''t mean she can''t learn them," Calhoun stated, his tongue running across his teeth before turning his gaze to look at his cousin sister, "Weren''t you telling how you wanted to walk through the viges shops and see what''s in there?"

    Sophie''s eyes lit up at the question, "We will?"

    "Well if we includes you and Theodore then yes, it''s a we. Theodore will tour you around. I have something to do with Madeline," he said, ready to leave and Sophie couldn''t stop but look like a frog with her mouth wide open.

    "You won''t being? That''s alright. I don''t want to go today. I can go some other day when you are free," replied Sophie, who didn''t want to spend more minutes away from Calhoun while leaving the human with him.

    "I don''t know if we''ll being here again. I am the King. I am a busy man," said Calhoun to see the worried lines on Sophie''s forehead.

    "It can wait. We havee here now, so let us go together-"

    "Sophie," Calhoun called her name, his voice low, which had the vampiress stop talking. He had a sweet yet deadly smile on his lips, "Theodore will be with you. I have something more important to do, and it doesn''t concern you. Theodore," on the word, his right-hand man was quick toe to stand beside the vampiress.

    "Lady Sophie, shall we?"

    Sophie''s hands had turned to tight fists. She couldn''t speak back because she knew rtive or not, Calhoun wouldn''t mind putting the person who crossed him on the scaffold without a thought. She bowed her head before leaving with Theodore.

    Madeline, who saw Sophie walking next to Theodore, turned to look at Calhoun who was already looking at her, "Shall we?" She gave him a nod, but before leaving the ce, her eyes moved, searching for James in the crowd where he had earlier stood, but the man was not there. She wondered if he was mad at her, for not supporting his words in the courtroom.

    She would have thought that Calhoun didn''t know the way, but it seemed like he knew where he was going.

    They finally reached the ce where the shop was built. At the sight of her father in the shop, who was sorting the woods, she felt happy. There had been times in the past where she had wished her father would not have to sit in an open ce under the hot sun during the time of noon. She had hoped that one day she or Beth would get to help him so that he wouldn''t have to work so hard.

    Calhoun''s footsteps stopped, but Madeline continued to walk forward.

    "You can stop there."

    Hearing Calhoun''s words, Madeline turned around to look at him, "What?"

    "There are somethings that you can only see from afar but not touch," said Calhoun, turning to walk towards her.

 Chapter 111 Please- Part 3

    <h4>111 Please- Part 3</h4>

    "I will return back. I won''t escape, and you are here," she reasoned. They had finallye here, which is why she didn''t know why he was only letting her see her father from afar to only take her back to the castle.

    A smile rose on Calhoun''s lips, "My sweet girl," he said, raising his hand to touch her face but Madeline took a step away from him, "This is the reason."

    "I do not understand your reason," replied Madeline because she didn''t.

    "It is like us, sweetheart. You are with me, and I have done nothing but watched you," he exined in a calm voice.

    "That''s a lie! You have touched me!" eximed Madeline to hear Calhoun tut at her.

    "That''s a huge usation at the King. Do you think that I have touched you the way I want to touch you?" he asked, his eyes skimming to look at her face and the dress she was in. Madeline had taken a step away so that if a person were walking past them, they wouldn''t think wrongly about their rtionship, but Calhoun wanted people to know Madeline was his, even though there was still time for her to give her heart to him. He took a step forward, testing her and he could tell she wanted to take one step back.

    "I thought you- that I was going to meet my family," said Madeline, her eyes pleading at him.

    Calhoun chuckled, "You thought wrong, Madeline. How can I let you go? Consider it to be a trade. You will be allowed to go meet them when we have made some progress." On his words, Madeline looked at him with a look of betrayal in her eyes, "Sshh," he said when he noticed her eyes starting to sparkle, "I brought you here to show that I have upheld the word which I gave to your family."

    "What about me?" whispered Madeline, "I need people of my own!" her emotion changed to one where she now red at him.

    "You have me."

    Madeline closed her eyes, trying to calm herself. He was vexing her as no one else had ever done in her life. She was not someone to feel like this, but Calhoun was pushing her.

    She didn''t know what to do with Calhoun. She was so convinced by his words today in the carriage that she would get to see her family. To talk to them and hug her mother. It seemed like the King didn''t know how to love, "You im to be in love with me, but this is not the way you do it."

    "I guess you haven''t been listening to me closely. Love doesn''t have to be the same. We have our approach," reminded Calhoun, "Some are sweet, some harsh and some twisted."

    "Twisted," whispered Madeline as she opened her eyes to look into his dark red eyes.

    "So that you can scare him or embarrass me?" asked Madeline.

    A wicked smile graced on Calhoun''s lips, "I don''t think I have to scare him. There''s no point in scaring someone who is already scared. But I would love to check the progress of the garter."

    "What makes you think I am going to wear it?"

    "You will. It is just a matter of time you make another mistake." He then pushed one piece of her hair behind her ear, his finger trailing down behind the skin of her ear before letting go, "I am just waiting for it."

    "I need to see my family��" she trailed.

    "And you did that," was his response where she shook her head.

    "You know what I mean. I won''t take long and will spend only a few minutes," she pleaded with him. Her heart ached that she hade this near to only be pulled away, "I will cook for you," she said, and Calhoun stared at her.

    "I have cooks for that," he answered.

    Madeline clenched the sides of her dress and said, "You said yesterday it was different when the person you liked cooked for you"

    "I am sure those were not my exact words," Calhoun said, his eyebrow raising and waiting for her to fix the words and tell him exactly what he wanted to hear. Though this wasn''t a mistake he was waiting for her to make, it would be a lie to say he wasn''t intrigued by the idea of eating what she made for him.

    Not knowing what else to do, she bowed her head, "Please. Allow me to go and meet my parents, and I will cook the best I know for you," she then added, "I have never cooked for any man except for my father," she hoped he would listen to her request.

    "Raise your head," he ordered, and Madeline listened to him, her eyes anxiously looking up at him, "Don''t think it will be that simple," he warned her, letting her know he would be taking the privilege to have more than just the food.

    She quickly nodded her head, "Okay."

    "Come then," he finally agreed, and Madeline was quick to go to where her father''s shop was set up while Calhoun sauntered to see the happiness bounce on the girl''s face.

    Before Calhoun could twist and change anything more, Madeline ran to the shop, "Papa!" she greeted her father. In the shop, it wasn''t just her father, but there was also a man who appeared to be helping her father.

    "Madeline?" her father looked utterly surprised, and he got out of the shop, making his way to her. Madeline hugged her father, and her father hugged her back, "What are you doing here? Did the King let you go?" he asked, not noticing the King''s presence behind him.

    Madeline didn''t want her father speaking about the King when Calhoun was right behind him. She pulled away from her father to shake her head and say, "He gave me the permission to see you, mama and Beth."

    "Oh," her father nodded his head while trying to take in the sight of his daughter, who had returned. She was dressed in rich fabric of clothes and jewels around her neck, "For how long?"

    "Neen minutes," came the reply from behind and her father turned around to see Calhoun who was standing behind. Her father bowed his head. "Madeline said she missed her family. As we were in the vige, we thought of dropping by." Calhoun gave a polite smile to her father.

    Madeline wanted to correct that it was after minutes of negotiation Calhoun had agreed to let her see her family where previously he was not keen on her meeting them. With the way he said it, it appeared as if he had willingly brought her here to meet them out of his kindness, and thoughtful gesture.

    The King was cruel, cunning, and a scheming man. She didn''t know if he had stopped her initially from meeting her father so that he could take something out of it in his favour. Knowing she would agree and try to be on his good side. If his words to her father were true, that would mean that she had walked right into his trap again.

    "Where is the other man who was appointed?" asked Calhoun, as there was only one person in here.

    Mr. Harris answered, "Henry has gone to drop the woods at Mr. Swayers house." Calhoun gave him a nod.

    "Thomas, look at the shop while Mr. Harris invites us to his home," ordered Calhoun to the helper who was assigned by the King to help Mr. Harris. Calhoun had a broad smile on his lips when he turned to Mr. Harris, who bowed his head to lead them to the Harris'' house.

    Madeline heard her father say to Calhoun, "If I knew Madeline and you wereing to visit, I would have asked my family to prepare something of your taste, my King."

    "I wouldn''t like to impose on Madeline''s family," said Calhoun.

    Her father''s eyes met hers, and she smiled, not wanting him to worry about her, "How are you doing?" asked her father whose voice lowered for only Madeline to hear but the King had sharp ears.

    Madeline nodded her head. She was trying toe back but Calhoun was obviously not going to leave her here. Therefore she decided to keep her words to herself for now. Speaking to her father in the presence of Calhoun felt strange, "I am okay. How are you doing?" she asked.

    "I hope you are doing better now, Mr. Harris," interjected Calhoun, "As Thomas is helping you with the logs of wood."

    "Yes, milord. Thank you for your generosity," agreed the older man, "He has been very helpful. It must have been some important work for the King to grace our humble vige," said Mr. Harris. Now that Madeline was in the castle, he had to make sure that he didn''t offend the King so that it would not affect his daughter. Not that he would have tried to do it in the past either.

    Calhoun then answered, "Yes. I came here to witness the maid from the castle to be beheaded," and then there was silence.

 Chapter 112 Nothing goes unnoticed- Part 1

    <h4>112 Nothing goes unnoticed- Part 1</h4>

    But the Harris'' family weren''t like that which is why Madeline wished that Calhoun had not presented his words to her father that tantly. His words, instead of easing the atmosphere only made it tense and ufortable where Madeline didn''t utter another word while her father looked taken aback before nodding his head.

    "Oh," was all her father could respond to Calhoun''s words.

    Madeline truly didn''t understand how the King''s head worked. He said he loved her and wanted to court her but what kind of courting was this?! Scaring and daunting her father about what they had witnessed in the centre of the market. People were usually nice with the thought to impress, and here Calhoun was only trying to scare people and not impress them.

    "The person must have deserved it," her father said, trying to fill up the silence as they walked closer to the house. The King was walking with them, which was already a big thing for him. Not to forget, his daughter was living in the castle under the protection of the King.

    "She did," chimed Calhoun, and thankfully he didn''t borate more on it. Madeline didn''t want her father to be worried that someone had tried to poison the King during the same time she was present where there was a possibility of her having the same food which was poisoned.

    When they reached the small gate of the house, her father was the one to open by walking forward that left Calhoun and Madeline behind. She took a sneak at the King, and Calhoun was quick to turn his head to look at her. There was a smile on his lips, and she only hoped he wouldn''t say anything embarrassing about the things that had taken ce in thesest few days between them.

    "What a lovely house," Calhounplimented as he stepped his foot inside and Madeline''s father smiled, "This must have cost you a fortune," he said as his eyes looked around the humble house of the girl with whom he was in love with.

    "It was given by my maternal aunt. She had two houses. One which is in the town and the other is this one. She didn''t want to give it to a stranger, and that''s how the house came into my possession," exined Mr. Harris, looking at the King now and then.

    "Interesting," said Calhoun, and before he could step inside the house, Mrs. Harris had stepped out upon hearing the voices at the front of the house.

    Calhoun, who stepped into the house, observed the things that were around him. His eyes leisurely fell back on Madeline''s mother,

    "That won''t be necessary. We are here for a short visit and will be returning to the castle as we have finished the work that we came here for. Please sit. Thest time we met we didn''t get to acquaint ourselves enough." He gave them his charming smile, but the Harris'' family looked uneasy. Not only was he the King, but thest time they had met, he had threatened them to leave their daughter in his care. One mistake from their side would result in their daughter being harmed.

    "That is alright, milord," said Mrs. Harris, quickly pulling out the best chair that was in the room. Starting to dust it for him to be able to sit. Seeing this, Madeline walked forward to help her mother and Calhoun finally took a seat while the rest stood in front of him.

    Madeline stood with her hands folded in front of him, just like her parents. She wanted to spend time with her mother. Maybe alone but with the King who had refused to eat anything, it had only ended up with her mother staying in the hall that took away the opportunity from the young girl to follow her mother to the kitchen, so that she could speak and spend some time with her.

    She looked around the rooms in the quiet house, "Where is Beth?" inquired Madeline to her mother.

    "She had gone out to the market to fetch some vegetables. She must be returning back. Oh! There she is," her mother eximed as Madeline''s older sister stepped inside the house with a basket of vegetables in her hand.

    "My King!"

    Beth greeted the man who was sitting on the chair with his legs crossed. Beth then raised her head and shifted her eyes to look at her younger sister, who was dressed just like a doll. With clothes that were made of silk. Her sweet sister now wore jewelry around her neck that Beth had only dreamed of having. She walked towards her sister.

    When Madeline had wished toe and meet her family, she had been utterly worried about how Beth would take her current position. Madeline knew that in Beth''s eyes, she had stolen her ce and thest time when they had spoken in the castle, Beth was furious and upset. All Madeline wanted was her older sister to understand that it wasn''t her intention. On the same thought, she wanted Beth and her rtionship to be okay.

    "Madeline," greeted Beth.

    "Beth��" said Madeline to suddenly be wrapped around by Beth''s arms.

    "I am d to see you here," whispered Beth and Madeline couldn''t stop the smile on her lips. Her eyes slightly teared, and she hugged her elder sister back. She had missed her. With her sister hugging her, it only meant that they were okay and nothing had changed in between them which rxed Madeline''s shoulders, "I was worried and thought I would not see you. Thank you, my King," said Beth after she pulled away from her little sister.

    "That was no trouble at all," said Calhoun with a crooked smile on his face that stole even Beth''s breath.

    The elder daughter of Harris noticed the stark difference between the King and the background he sat in front of. He was like a dream. There was a time when women and girls, even men at times who spoke about how the King looked. Various different rumours surrounded him on how he was the devil''s reincarnation because of how he looked. Beth didn''t take in the entire rumour which she had heard. It was not only about his physical appearance but also his nature which was like a devil- cunning, evil and someone who would trick any person.

    "There''s still a good six minutes left before we leave for the castle," said Calhoun and this had Beth''s face fall. Not because she was sad that she wouldn''t be able to spend more time with her sister but because her sister was going to continue living in the castle.

    Beth smiled at this, "Will you bring her here again? We miss her," she said to Calhoun, her voice came off a little too strong which Calhoun didn''t like.

    "Why?" asked Calhoun, the smile on his face had fallen, and his dark red eyes stared at the lowly human.

    Beth''s eyes shifted from the King to look at Madeline and then back at the King because she had given the reason in the same sentence which had been tantly ignored, "Madeline might be missing home too."

    "She has the castle now which is more spacious. Theprise of the same walls and ceilings," he continued to say, "I doubt you will be staying here long too, Miss Harris as you will be getting married to stay in your husband''s house. Right?" he asked Beth.

 Chapter 113 Nothing goes unnoticed- Part 2

    <h4>113 Nothing goes unnoticed- Part 2</h4>

    Because of the King''s invitation, she had hastily written a letter to Mr. Danvers that she wouldn''t be seeing him anymore. And before she could fix it, the letter had reached the man. Neither was she able to form an alliance with the King nor with Mr. Danvers, who was the potential man to marry when the King was not in the picture. But now it was different. Beth was the elder daughter, and she believed she deserved the same attention as Madeline.

    Calhoun observed Madeline''s sister, her eyes looking at the ground where she appeared to be thinking something. He noticed how the two sisters had a stark difference when it came to looks as well as the demeanour which they didn''t share. The elder sister was a brte. Her features sharp and attractive. He could also tell that she was an outspoken girlpared to her younger sister, who had to be poked to get an answer. Compared to Beth, Madeline was gentle not only in her behaviour but also her features which could easily be overshadowed under her elder sister''s presence. But too much of anything was something Calhoun was not interested in.

    "You look slightly upset, Miss Harris," stated Calhoun and Beth''s green eyes snapped back to meet the King''s red ones.

    Beth shook her head, "No. I am not." With Calhoun''s continuous ring eyes, the family had a hard time breathing in the King''s presence, "Why do you think that? I am just going to-"

    "It wasn''t a question for you to answer," interrupted Calhoun that had Beth stop speaking because the King was not interested to hear what she had to say, "It seems like you have a hard time in following words." It was something even Madeline found it difficult but at least the girl didn''t speak out of turn.

    Mrs. Harris was the one to speak, wanting to ease the possible tension that was approaching, "Forgive me, milord. Our daughter Elizabeth is a very outspoken girl," said the older woman in the room, turning to look at her daughters and then at the King, "I hope Madeline is doing well in the castle."

    "You can ask that to Madeline," said Calhoun before his eyes met the blonde girl''s eyes, "You said you wanted to talk to your family. Go ahead. We have four minutes left," he smiled, looking at Madeline.

    When Madeline had said she wanted to spend time with her family, she had meant it in a ce where she could sit down, take her time and then speak. Not like she was under a time restriction.

    "I am doing well in the castle, mama," answered Madeline to her mother''s question. She brought up a smile on her face that only faltered.

    "Have you been eating and sleeping well?" asked her mother, and Madeline nodded her head.

    "How about you, mama?" asked the younger daughter, and the woman took a step forward to hug her daughter.

    "I am doing much better as I have seen you now."

    As Madeline pulled back, she felt her mother push a small paper into her hand on the other side where Calhoun could not see, "Do not worry about us," said her mother and Madeline slightly furrowed her brows wondering what her mother would have pushed into her hand, "Okay?" asked her mother and she nodded her head.

    "Okay."

    By feeling the paper in her hand she could tell it was a small one which made Madeline curious, yet she tried to act normal like it was nothing but a simple hug.

    "Mr. and Mrs. Harris," spoke Calhoun to gain their attention. Just by a look at them, it was evident that they were worried as the King had addressed both of them, "I was thinking about pulling down this house and reconstructing it. To something much better."

    "That would be very kind of you, milord, but we are happy with what we have here. We wouldn''t want to leech on your generosity," answered Madeline''s father.

    Calhoun gave him a nod, "There''s no hurry for it. If you ever decide to change your mind, you can let me know," said Calhoun to receive deep bows from the elderly couple and Beth.

    "How is the picking of suitors going on for your elder daughter?" asked Calhoun.

    "We are looking for a good man for Beth, Milord," answered Mr. Harris and Calhoun cocked his head to the side.

    "Hm? What happened to Mr. Danvers?" Calhoun asked and the family looked slightly surprised that the King knew about the man who hade to meet their daughter Beth. When Calhoun had asked to enquire about Madeline, Theodore had found out every avable information until the time when the family had arrived at the castle to have lunch with the King.

    Madeline looked at Beth who looked like she didn''t want to talk about it. Even her mother appeared disappointed, but the disappointment was possibily because of Beth''s action.

    Calhoun''s lips slowly started to pull up, noticing something finally interesting here.

    Mrs. Harris said, "Actually we had to drop Mr. Danvers proposal to Beth."

    "How rude of the man to meet and reject her," said Calhoun with a tsk, "Would you like me to go speak to him? I would be of your help."

    Beth was the first one to shake her head, and Calhoun smiled.

    Mrs. Harris said, "Beth was the one who rejected him. She wrote a letter to Mr. Danvers, and I doubt it is salvageable. Thank you for your kind gesture," the woman bowed her head.

    Calhoun uncrossed his leg and pushed himself up the chair he had been sitting in, "Your daughter is a beautiful girl. She will get a suitable suitor." He assured the parents, then looked at Madeline, "It is time to leave."

    Madeline didn''t have the heart to go. She was home now, and the castle was not her home. She looked at her family who offered her a smile, and Madeline smiled back. After saying her byes for the day, both Calhoun and her stepped out of the house. And just when they were out, Madeline felt Calhoun''s hand slip into her hand in which the paper her mother had given was present.

    She was rmed by him holding the same hand, which she was sure that, he knew something had been passed on to her hand, but the smile on his lips didn''t fall. She could feel her heart thumping and even though her family didn''t notice it, Calhoun had heard the very first beat of her heart that had spiked up.

    Mr. Harris was about to apany them, when Calhoun said, "You can rest, Mr. Harris. Madeline and I will be leaving," and the family bowed their head at the King.

    "I hope you have a peaceful trip back to the castle," Mr. Harris said, his heart heavy by not knowing when he would able to see his younger daughter again. Though the King did have a point when he said that the daughters in his house wouldn''t be here forever with him and his wife, he had wished it was someone his daughter was okay to marry with.

    The King was a powerful man who could make or break a person in his or any other person''s kingdom. Such was his status and power.

    At the same time, Madeline''s hand which was held by Calhoun was turning sweaty, and when he finally let go of her hand, the piece of paper which her mother had slipped into her hands was not there anymore. She panicked, noticing his hand slip into his pocket. Her eyes wide, she looked at Calhoun, and before they could leave, Calhoun said,

    "It is good that you have educated your family as a lot of them don''t consider doing it. Their aunt was it? Who taught them," hummed Calhoun before saying, "It turns out to be very handy when ites to writing letters and notes, isn''t it?" Calhoun''s eyes moved to look at Mrs. Harris as well as Beth, his smile broad and cunning on his lips.

 Chapter 114 Nothing goes unnoticed- Part 3

    <h4>114 Nothing goes unnoticed- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Thedies didn''t have to be told directly what the King meant because he had spoken those words for each and every one of them, bringing the look of guilt in their eyes. Madeline wanted to have a look at what her mother had given her, but with Calhoun who took it away from her hand before she even had the opportunity to look at it, she gave him an anxious look.

    "Yes, she has been generous to teach the girls," said Mr. Harris, who was oblivious to Calhoun''s underlying meaning of words.

    "Indeed. I am sure Madeline would love to receive letters from her family. Please feel free to write," said Calhoun, his eyes going to settle on Beth.

    Mrs. Harris was the one who had written a small note to her daughter, but Beth looked far worse than her mother or her younger sister. It was because somewhere deep down, she felt that the King was not talking about the letter her mother had mentioned that was written to Mr. Danvers. But it was about the letter she had handed to Mr. Heathcliff. Did he know? Asked Beth to herself but he couldn''t have known.

    Not wanting to get caught, Beth was quick to school the expression on her face to a calm one. The older daughter of Harris had always aimed to be part of the high society and didn''t want to stay in this vige. She had learned how to change and modify her expressions as well as her words to be pleasing to the ear.

    "Shall we?" asked Calhoun to Madeline, who slowly moved her head to a yes before leaving the house and walking out of the gates.

    The carriage had already appeared in front of the house, and Madeline confirmed her suspicion that Calhoun had indeed nned to let her see her parents, but in return, he had tricked her into making her do something for him. Upon seeing the King and thedy arrive, the coachman pulled the carriage''s door open. Madeline couldn''t help but take one more look at her family who stood outside the house, looking at her and she then got inside to be followed by Calhoun.

    Once the door of the carriage was closed and before the coachman could start the carriage, Madeline who was looking at Calhoun asked,

    "Please return it to me," she didn''t know what her mother would have written in that piece of note which was small. She had thought it had gone unnoticed by him as he was sitting on the other side, and her mother had been cautious while giving it to her.

    Calhoun, who leaned his back against the seat, asked in a calm voice, "What are you asking about?" he turned to meet her gaze and gave her a curious look.

    Madeline softly gulped, "The piece of paper that you took away from my hand when you were holding my hand earlier."

    Madeline was more than curious to know as to what her mother had written down to her, which she couldn''t tell in front of the King. With Calhoun who had mentioned the notes and letter, she knew he was speaking about the little exchange that took ce in his presence.

    "The paper which my mother gave to me," answered Madeline to have Calhoun chuckle.

    "It is better you don''t see it. Who knows what conspiracy might start. Next thing we know you would be the one who is going to poison me," came the yful words from Calhoun''s lips.

    Maybe she would if he kept taunting and keeping her prisoner like she was some kind of bird that was to be ced in a cage.

    "And therees the thought," Calhoun didn''t look pleased as it didn''t take a lot of time for him to figure out what she was thinking, "Can you guess what will happen if your mother has written something against me?"

    Her hand clenched hearing this. Madeline knew it would be considered as another form of treason, and any betrayal was never overlooked when it involved the King. It would lead to a direct punishment.

    "She would not do that," whispered Madeline. Her mother was not someone who wished anything wrong towards any person.

    "Then what was the need to write a note? Considering she was in the same room as the rest of us, it was a prewritten note," stated Calhoun, "It looks very suspicious."

    "Maybe she didn''t feelfortable to tell it in front of you, and it was only for me to hear," with the King with them, it was difficult to pour out their feelings.

    "Okay, I won''t see it," he nodded his head but then said, "I will let the court ministers decide if the note is something that is against the King or just a harmless one."

    Madeline looked rmed, "No!"

    "Why not?" asked Calhoun with an innocent expression on his face that he was far from, "You said your mother is not someone to wish ill upon, but I wonder how she feels about me. To have her precious young daughter being forcibly made to stay in the castle."

    "So you agree you are making me stay against my will."

    "And you agree that your mother might have brewed hate towards the man who is keeping her daughter with him," stated Calhoun, "Just to avoid trouble," he pulled out the piece of paper that was given to Madeline by her mother earlier, and his hand reached towards the open window.

    "No!" But Calhoun had freed the note from his fingers which was thrown outside the window. She lost the chance to know what was written in the note!

    "There. Let''s believe that the paper didn''t exist with a message in it," Calhoun said unfazed to leave Madeline speechless.

    She turned to look at the small window, which was behind them, noticing how the piece of paper flew away before getting lost. The carriage moved out of the vige, and Madeline''s speechless look on her face turned to anger that was directed at Calhoun.

    "You look beautiful when your eyes re up with anger. There''s the spark that excites me," Calhounplimented her, and the anger fizzled out right away by those words of his, "I can tell, you want to strangle me."

    "It could have been an innocent, harmless line meant for me!" something to keep her sane while she was around this insane vampire, "You could have read it. There was no need for you to throw it!"

    Calhoun''s lips twitched in amusement as he saw how Madeline looked at him like she didn''t know what to do with him, "We can go back to look for it," he suggested, but they hade far away from the vige and who knew where the small paper would have flown to.

    Madeline leaned back against the seat. Crossing her arms to look outside the window, "Are you pouting?" she heard Calhoun ask her.

    "I didn''t get enough time to speak to them," not the way she thought she would. But it was also good to know that her father had his shop.

    "I didn''t stop you from talking to them. I fulfilled my words of making you meet and spend time with them," he responded to her.

    At the same time, she felt Calhoun''s hand brush the back of her head with such gentleness that it scared her because his actions and words were a mixture which was hot and cold. He was patting her like one would with an animal. Madeline didn''t know why Calhoun was the way he was. It made it hard, and it felt like she had to keep up with him else she would only trip and fall into his trap.

    "You make it very hard to like you," she whispered.

    One side of Calhoun''s lips pulled up, "It is good to hear that you want to like me," and while Madeline had her face turned away, he pulled out the piece of paper from his pocket that he had tricked her into believing that he had thrown it out of the window.

 Chapter 115 Cliff- Part 1

    <h4>115 Cliff- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline sat with her arms crossed, staring outside the little window that was next to her. She was angry and upset, but at the same time, she was worried about what her mother would have written in the little paper that could not be told in front of the King. Something that was prepared beforehand and she wished she knew. One part of her was somewhat relieved at the fact that even Calhoun had not had the opportunity to look into the content of it.

    The ride back to the castle was quiet as Calhoun didn''t poke her further and Madeline sat with her head facing towards the window so that she didn''t have to see him, but it was hard not to. Not when they were in the small space of the carriage, riding together and she saw the reflection of his face from her side of the window.

    Madeline knew the man was handsome but never had she taken a moment to look and admire Calhoun''s features. With him trying to vex her for his amusement, she had done nothing but re at the man time and time again. In the soft shadow that fell on his face that held strong features, her brown eyes continued to look indirectly at him through the window, which was not clear but enough to see.

    He sat there with a rxed expression on his face, a look of arrogance lurking in there with confidence which not many could carry.

    Like her, he had his face turned to look at the trees that kept passing one after another as the carriage rode, making its way back to the castle. Madeline wondered what Calhoun might be thinking right now. What did the King think? Asked Madeline to herself. And as if on time, his eyes that were looking outside noticed the reflection of her brown eyes that were looking at him.

    When Calhoun''s dark red eyes reflected on his side of the window which Madeline was looking at, she realised the King had caught her staring, and she quickly turned back to look at the many trees.

    A smile rose on Calhoun''s sinful lips, and he asked, "Peeking at me when I am not looking at you. Are you shy to look at me directly?"

    On his words, Madeline didn''t turn to look at Calhoun. She hadn''t meant to stare at him for such a long time, and now that she had done, he had caught her. She turned her head towards him and said, "I am not. Why should I be shy?"

    "I don''t know. You tell me, Miss Stealing-glimpses-at-me. Look at me directly in the eye, Madeline," he stated to her, "All you have to do is ask."

    "Even my freedom?" she asked him.

    Calhoun''s lips widened into a smile, "Are we back on that? I thought you forgot about it as you didn''t bring it up."

    "You were the one who said I need to ask��"

    Madeline knew that. She was only testing her luck, wondering if the door that was closed was open so that she could leave as she didn''t have the key for it.

    "What are the other things that you cannot give?" she asked him, as her attempt for asking her to leave from the castle had been brushed away.

    Calhoun liked the question. If it was still their first day, Madeline would have stopped speaking to him but here she was asking him a question without her realisation that she was indulging in a conversation with him.

    "My life," answered Calhoun, "The kingdom, Devon."

    "People in love often say that they are willing to give up their life," replied Madeline, her brown eyes trailing to look at both his eyes and the sharp nose on his face.

    "Only foolish people would say that. You have been in the wrongpany. It is good that you have me as yourpany now, to wisen you up," Calhoun''s lips twisted further, and Madeline only stared at him, "Why would one give up life, why even ask when you n to spend the rest of your life with the person?" he questioned Madeline.

    "I don''t think anybody means it literally, but if a condition like thates up, it is obvious they would do everything to protect the person," she answered him. He tilted his chin up, his red eyes gazing down into her brown eyes.

    "I can protect you without needing to sacrifice my own life. I would like to live and spend time with you, Maddie. Are you telling you are ready to sacrifice your life for James?" he asked her, a hint of amusement in those eyes of his.

    With the question that was asked to her, she honestly hadn''t thought about it. Would she give up her life for James?

    "Your silence only means that you don''t care enough for him, as much as you think you do. You are holding on to an idea out of pure stubbornness," said Calhoun to have Madeline frown at his words.

    "You don''t know that," she replied, "Everything takes time to bloom, and if I weren''t here with you, I would have been there with-"

    "Ah ah ah," Calhoun interrupted her, "Do you really want toplete that sentence?" and though he kept a yful atmosphere around her, Madeline had to hold back her tongue from saying anything more, "Always going ahead and running your mouth without knowing if it''s going to cause any harm. One of these days, we should put that sweet mouth of yours to better use," Calhoun had raised his hand forward to ce it below her chin, and Madeline moved away.

    Madeline was in a position where Calhoun wanted things to go on his terms. Anything that didn''t work in his favour was considered to be invalid. But Madeline took a deep breath and continued what she was going to say earlier,

    "If his life can be spared, then I don''t mind taking the risk."

    Calhoun retrieved his hand back which was right in front of Madeline''s face, "A courageous and brave girl, I am sure if it was possible I would have added you into my army of men, but I prefer you here with me like this. Getting back to what you said, maybe if we remove the tailorman, there will be no need for you to risk your life, isn''t it?"

    "Are you always going to threaten me like this?"

    "Hm? I was merely stating the possibilities," said Calhoun before he knocked the front of the carriage which was behind the coachman. The coachman pulled the horses to have the carriage halt in the middle of the forest, "Let me give you a little test," he said as the coachman pulled open the carriage door.

    Madeline didn''t know what Calhoun had on his mind, and they both stepped down from the carriage.

    What did he n by stopping the carriage in the middle? Asked Madeline to herself. There was nothing but trees which were part of the forest. The coachman stood with his head bowed at them as Calhoun took hold of Madeline''s hand to walk into the forest. His hold was not harsh on her but it made it difficult for her to walk as the hem of her skirt was long, and it had started to pick up little sticks that got stuck to her dress.

    "What are we doing here?" asked Madeline to have Calhoun turn around to meet her eyes.

    "You said you would do anything to save James. I think it is only right to see how much you are willing to do it," answered Calhoun, the tone of his voice was nonchnt, and it somewhere scared her.

    "I said I would try to risk," cleared Madeline while being taken further into the forest, "I didn''t say I was going to die right now!" The King was crazy who was out of his mind.

    She heard Calhoun tsked, "Now that is not good that you are going back on your word. Does it mean you don''t have those feelings for him then? Hm?" he questioned, the smile breaking through his lips which was frightening.

 Chapter 116 Cliff- Part 2

    <h4>116 Cliff- Part 2</h4>

    "I never said it was wrong. I just want to show you what your words actually mean," he replied as they continued to walk away from the carriage and into the forest, deeper and deeper where the trees looked simr. If Madeline were to be left alone here, she was sure she would find it hard to get back towards the road again.

    When they finally reached towards an open space, which was out of the forest, Madeline caught sight of the sun, which was up and high. She noticed how there was another set of the forest below them, but that was not what got her attention. There was a cliff ahead of them, and Calhoun stopped only when they reached to stand near the edge.

    Madeline automatically took a step back from Calhoun when he let go of her hand. The scenery in front of her was breathtaking as it was covered in greenery and some parts that were colourful because of the coloured leaves in the trees. She looked at Calhoun, who was watching her. She doubted he had brought her here to admire the scenery.

    Gulping down the anxiousness in her throat, she asked, "What do you want?"

    "You." Madeline should have known that would have been the answer, and she saw the smile that radiated from his face, "You can ask silly questions, sweet girl."

    "Why did you bring me here?" she asked him another question, and the smile on his lips finally lowered down.

    Calhoun walked towards the steep of the cliff closer and closer until there was no space between his feet and the edge of the cliff.

    "When I was young, I used toe here often when I needed to sort my thoughts out," said Calhoun to her and she quietly listened to him, "This is my favourite spot. You know why?" he asked her.

    "Because it is quiet?" she asked him back.

    "Just because there''s no one here, except us doesn''t mean it is quiet," and when he moved, Madeline felt her heart jerk with the little stones that fell off the cliff. She wished he could stand away from the cliff because even though she wasn''t fond of him, she wasn''tfortable with the thought of him falling off the cliff, "When you are in a quiet ce, the noise only increases," he raised his hand to ce his finger on the side of his temple, "You hear things which you like and don''t like. But then that is not what I was going for," he chuckled.

    Calhoun took two steps forward impossibly close to the edge of the cliff, and he could hear Madeline''s heart beating loudly that made him smile.

    And somewhere it gave him joy that Madeline didn''t hold the same feelings towards him as she held for the rest of them. There was a fragile line between hate and love, and it could be changed with one snap at any point in time.

    "This is a good ce to throw things," said Calhoun and Madeline''s face turned pale, "Sometimes people don''t listen, so it''s good to throw them from here too."

    Madeline''s brown eyes widened, and she took another step back to only stop when his eyes moved to look down at her feet.

    "A-aren''t there trials and execution for that?" asked Madeline and she saw Calhoun finally leave the side of the cliff to make his way to where she stood.

    "There are some of them who don''t deserve the execution. Sometimes you wish they are just gone," came the reply from him, "It is good to hear them scream until you hear the body finally fall straight on the ground because of the gravity. The bones are broken, the other body parts smashed into the forest floor with blood where the person turns to food for the little and big animals."

    His description was on point that she had imagined the gory image he had painted in her mind. But Calhoun was not done speaking.

    "Sometimes the body doesn''tnd on the ground," and he paused letting her question his words before continuing to say, "Because of the heavy rains or the strike of the lightning, the trees break from the top to leave only the lower half with a sharp edge."

    Madeline who was unable to contain the bubbling nervousness that was growing in her body with his every word, asked him, "Are you nning to kill me like that too?"

    Calhoun sighed, "Where did you get the idea about that?" He was seriously asking her the question when he had brought her to a ce where he killed people! "I told you...I have other things I would love to do to you but killing you is not on the list right now."

    Was that a yet kind of statement? She asked herself.

    "Let''s assume what if the tailorman''s life is in grave danger. The big bad wolf wants to tear him apart so that the wolf can have a happily ever after with his red riding hood. Now you can save him only if you jump off the cliff," and Madeline waited for him to go on but that was all he had to say.

    "I am not a bird!" Madeline reminded him.

    "I know that sweetheart," replied Calhoun with a calm voice, "Don''t worry, you won''t fall. I will make sure of it, but if you want to save the man''s life, the only opportunity you have is to jump from the cliff. What are you going to do?" he asked, his red eyes looking at her with intrigue in it.

    Madeline pursed her lips as she stared into Calhoun''s red eyes. As they were no more in the castle which had shadows, she could see him much more clearly and she realised he was either the devil himself or the devil had made him.

    "What did you mean I won''t fall?" she asked him, fretting internally at the thought that she was going to be pushed down. Was this herst day? She was no bird to fly!

    "It is what it means," was his short reply and Madeline was not satisfied with it.

    She knew she was not supposed to favour James Heathcliff in front of the King, but every time she tried to resist the urge of saying anything, Calhoun would make sure to stir and anger her, trying to push her to the edge. But now he wanted to do it literally. And somewhere she did it to provoke the King but every time that had only ended up in her disadvantage, but she liked pushing his buttons which she noticed the reaction for a second before it disappeared to be reced by something sinister.

    He said he didn''t n to kill her and she didn''t know how she woulde back.

    "Go on," he said, putting both his hands in his pocket and Madeline could feel the heat of sweat forming on her forehead as well as her back now, "You have imed James to be the one for you and how unfair you feel that I took you away before the non-existent rtionship would grow. It is time for you to prove."

    "This is not how you court the woman you love," Madeline reminded him and he smiled at her words.

    "Stop favouring other men," he rolled his eyes, "You are holding on to something that does not exist, but is barely an idea. Have you ever considered the possibility that maybe there would some habits of his that you wouldn''t like about him?"

    "No one thinks about those things."

    Calhoun stared at her, "I knew you would be stubborn, but I am willing to ept it," he said with a solemn look, "We can stand here all day. The sooner you jump, the sooner we leave."

 Chapter 117 Cliff- Part 3

    <h4>117 Cliff- Part 3</h4>

    Walking towards the end of the cliff, she finally stopped to turn and look at Calhoun who didn''t appear to want to stop her from walking. With a sigh and a gulp, she moved closer to where Calhoun had been standing before. She tried not to look at the deep steep that was beneath her as her heart started to beat loudly.

    "How do you feel?" asked Calhoun, his gaze calm on her.

    "What do you think?" Madeline shot back listening her heart beating loudly in her ears. The wind breezed in such strength that she had to keep her feet glued to the ground. Both Madeline and Calhoun in someways where the same where they were not ready to back down. Calhoun had got her easily cornered, and he admired the fact that she was still staring right into his eyes.

    Calhoun then walked towards her, closing therge distance that had formed in between them, "You look scared. Are you questioning if it''s worth saving the man''s life for your own?"

    "If no one killed anyone, there wouldn''t be any need for it," she whispered, the wind pulling out the small pieces of her hair from her braid that started to sway in the direction of the wind. Even Calhoun''s inky ck hair had been ruffled where some of them moved back while some came to stand in front of his forehead.

    "You are right," he agreed before saying, "You must hate me so much now."

    "I don''t get you," she said to him, "You say you like me, but you do things that cause anxiousness in my heart."

    "Why do you defy me by speaking about the man when you know it''s going to anger me," he raises his hand to run the back of his finger over her cheek, "You know it well yet you try to provoke me. Going so far as to side with him when I am patient by not beheading him. You''re doing great so far," he praised her.

    Madeline wasn''t sure about that. Her legs were shaky, and the wind was pushing her, which made it worse to stand. She had closed her eyes when he had touched her, waiting to be pushed but when he retracted his hand back to him, she opened to look at him, "Have you ever jumped from this cliff?" she knew it was a stupid question, but she asked it.

    "I have," he surprised her by his answer, "Many times before. The first time you are scared. The second time you remember the fear and the third time you still do until the next time you find it to be nothing but exhrating."

    Madeline doubted she had even a grain of interest in jumping right down the cliff through air. His expression was calm, and with the wind that continued to blow, Madeline tried to remember his words.

    "Is it anything less now?" she asked and saw him smile. She was going to fall on the ground in a few seconds, and he was smiling?

    "Recollect my words. I will give you a minute for it," he said, and she frowned.

    She did as she was told. There was no point in questioning it when only more seconds would be lost. He said it was a test, but then he told he had done it too, was he under some test too?

    Calhoun had brought her here to let her know how she felt about James, a man she knew only from a distance and not closely. He had thrown the little note from her mother, and she had been angry about it, an anger she didn''t know how to put out. She had favoured James, and she had achieved provoking the King. And then he had made up a tale between the red riding hood and the bad wolf��

    If she went by his words, he said he would not let her fall. She didn''t know if a minute had passed because she continued to look into his deep red eyes that had texture in them because of the light that was present around them. He stood waiting for her. Madeline took a deep long breath, cing her foot where there was no surface behind her for a fraction of a second before her body started to free-fall in haste. She saw Calhoun standing up there looking at her falling.?Scared she closed her eyes and the wind moved against her.

    When she had crossed half of the distance, something swooped past to catch her. Madeline was frightened, and it took her sometime before she opened her eyes to find herself in the arms of the man who had asked her to jump off the cliff. Noticing something p behind his back, her eyes that were wide caught sight of a pair of ck wings behind his back.

    The adrenaline rush had note down from her body, and her heart continued to thump in her chest wildly. When they finally made it back on the surface of the cliff, this time away from the edge, Madeline was ced back on the ground. Her knees were too weak with fear and shock that it almost gave away if it weren''t for Calhoun''s arm that caught Madeline''s waist.

    Seeing how the wings started to close in to hide behind his back, her eyes finally moved up to stare at him, "Y-you have wings," she stuttered.

    "I did say I won''t let you fall down. I am d that you stepped back," he said, a satisfied smile came to settle on his lips.

    Madeline couldn''t believe what she just saw. This was something she had never heard about and her adrenaline rushing through her veins which was making her head dizzy due to the fall she just had.

    "H-how?" asked Madeline.

    "I happen to have them." She had not screamed, and he had seen the look in her eyes as if deep down she trusted him, not to let any harm befall on her. All she had to do was to trust, and he was pleased that she indeed had put some faith in him knowingly or unknowingly, "Communication and trust are what builds a rtionship. I will protect and keep you safe," she heard Calhoun say while his arm firmly wrapped around her waist.

    "You were the one who asked me to jump off the cliff," she said, her eyes darting behind him to see if those wings were visible but they weren''t.

    "I did tell you that it was a test," said Calhoun, his eyes took in the expression that was passing on her face.

    So the test was not about James? Asked Madeline to herself. Jumping off the cliff was not about what she said, but it was about her putting her trust in Calhoun. Now it felt as if the King said something but meant something else.

    "There are easier ways to find out and make someone trust you." His ways were dangerous. She had hoped he would jump as he had spoken about jumping off the cliff in the past.

    "That wouldn''t be fun," stated Calhoun. Madeline finally ced her hands on his chest in an intent to push him away as she felt her legs more steady than thest few minutes. But Calhoun pulled her to bring her more close to him. The wind blew strongly where they stood where she found the unruly hair at the front of his forehead moving every now and then, "I don''t trust people that easily, Madeline. Don''t break it." There was no yfulness there and his words were serious, along with his eyes that didn''t deter.

    Madeline was an average girl. At leastpared to her sister, Beth, and some other girls around her age she had always been the person who wasn''t someone who stood out in the crowd. She didn''t understand Calhoun''s interest.

    "You can have anyone you want," she said.

    The sharpness in his eyes mellowed at her words, "Then I choose you. You are the person I want."

 Chapter 118 Thirst for blood- Part 1

    <h4>118 Thirst for blood- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline didn''t know what to say as her heart was still beating loudly in her chest whilst she stared at Calhoun, who had caught her before she would have crashed right on the ground. Her brown eyes continued to look at his red eyes in such proximity that somewhere she was curious, and at the same time, she was frightened with what just happened.

    Her eyes now and then darted to look at Calhoun''s back to see if the wings were still there. She had never heard of the night creatures to have wings because if they did, wouldn''t they be flying up in the sky like birds? Asked Madeline to herself.

    "What is your answer to my question, Maddie?" asked Calhoun whose arm was still holding her snuggly against him before he loosened his hold on her. It took her some time to wrap her mind around before she was able to finally take two steps away from him, staring at the King who was different.

    "Question?" asked Madeline, who felt overwhelmed. The feelings he had for her, they were sudden and rushing, which even she could feel from his side which she was overwhelmed with.

    Calhoun didn''t get annoyed at her wanting to hear the question again because he would say it until he got the answer he wanted to hear from her, "Be mine."

    They were two simple words, but they were heavy, heavy enough to weigh on her shoulders now. Madeline wanted to say that she didn''t feel that way towards Calhoun and she would have taken James name, but she decided to bite her tongue on it. Calhoun had made a point to have her reflect on her feelings if she truly liked James or if it was just an idea which she was holding on to.

    The King''s red eyes stared at the beautiful dainty little creature that stood in front of him. Her eyes wide and as he expected, she shook her head. He heard her say,

    "Maybe you are right, but you might be wrong too."

    "What makes you think that?" asked Calhoun, his words patient while his eyes were alive and attentive, "Is it because you jumped off the cliff for his sake?"

    "The cliff was a test for your gain, and it had nothing to do with James," said Madeline to only see Calhoun''s wicked smile grace on his lips, "Isn''t it?" she asked, a whisper of doubt leaving her lips.

    "You stepped back from the cliff, falling. Did you think of the tailorman? You said people are often ready to give up their life for their beloved one. Isn''t it only right that you think about the people whom you care when you are nearing death?"

    Madeline frowned at his words, "That''s not right."

    The words Calhoun spoke were direct and weren''t sugar-coated. It was something that left an impression on Madeline, her cheeks turning red, "You don''t have to do that!" she said, "You asked me to jump off the cliff and then save me, wanting to know if I can trust you."

    "And you did great. Not many dared to jump down, and one''s who jumped didn''t make it because I didn''t care about them. Also, they deserved it," answered Calhoun. There was the unspeakable interest that was in his eyes as he continued to gaze at her.

    Madeline turned to her left side, walking towards one side of the cliff but not enough to reach the edge to say, "You stole the opportunity of something that could bloom. You cannot say that I don''t feel anything towards the man when there''s an obvious affinity that I share with him, and he feels the same way."

    "What do you propose then?" asked Calhoun, the smile lowered down from his lips.

    "Let me go."

    Hearing this Calhoun chuckled, "I have another proposition. Let''s have him killed so that I don''t have to hear the broken violin crying every time when you start speaking about freedom."

    Madeline clenched her hands together, trying not to speak something that she would regret, as who knew when Calhoun would actually push her to only pick her up in his arms again.

    "He did nothing to you."

    "I wouldn''t say that," Calhoun disagreed with Madeline, "He is stealing my time with you, and quite frankly it''s annoying. What do you think would be an easier punishment for him? Have him beheaded on the scaffold, throw him in the dungeon and have him tortured. I wouldn''t want to throw him because I wouldn''t enjoy an easy death for him. So tell me, Madeline." He started to walk towards her. Madeline quickly stepped away, keeping a safe distance between them, to hear him say, "You can run as far as you want, but I will always catch you."

    "At least I will be away from you for the spare time of it," Madeline responded back.

    "Please go ahead with it. I enjoy the chase. Especially when it involves someone as beautiful as you. I am waiting for you to do it so that we can start the game of chase which will stop right in my room on my bed," said Calhoun, his eyes flickering with something dark and Madeline gulped.

    "You said you wouldn''t do something I don''t like," she said, before stopping from walking any further and let him close the distance that she had created a few seconds ago.

    "Everythinges with terms and conditions. If you are so hell-bent on defying me, I won''t hold back in exercising some ground rules so that you won''t ever forget it," he whispered to her. As he had neared her, he didn''t stop to stand in front of her but walked past her to say, "We both have enjoyed the scenery in here. Let''s head back to the carriage."

    Madeline stood there for a few seconds, her head turned around to look at Calhoun who continued to walk towards the forest, stepping in and she sighed before following him while not getting too close to him. On their way, Madeline stared at Calhoun''s back with curious eyes. The shirt that he wore didn''t have any tear mark, and it looked perfectly crisp and fine.

    How did the wingse out? She asked herself, without realising that while she had her eyes trained on his back, Calhoun had slowed down his footsteps to let her catch up. A twisted smile adorned his lips as he heard the distance reduce between them.

    As she walked, she felt like she was releasing the stress she had been carrying so far. She didn''t know if it was because of what she had spoken to Calhoun or if it was because of her falling down from the cliff. She didn''t want to do it again. She could still feel the jerk of her heart when the foot she had moved backward had not felt the surface that had led her to fall.

    Madeline parted her lips to speak, but closed it as she was upset with what Calhoun did. Only an insane person would ask the person they loved to fall off the cliff, without informing how they would be saved. Calhoun wanted her blind trust and faith to be ced in him. She looked at his frame, staring at it from behind. His shoulders and body with every step that moved forward appeared to be proud and confident.

    "Walk beside me, Maddie. It is boring to walk alone," said Calhoun as he raised his head to look at the birds that were chirping in the trees.

    "You said you walked here before," actually jumped from the cliff, thought Madeline to herself.

    Calhoun knew what Madeline was going to say. He said, "I am used to walking alone here, but I don''t see why I should stop myself from having you next to me as mypany. Come now," he paused his footsteps and waited for her to catch up.

    And when Madeline dide to stand next to him, Calhoun walked along with her towards the carriage.

 Chapter 119 Thirst for blood- Part 2

    <h4>119 Thirst for blood- Part 2</h4>

    The maids and other servants who were working in the castle stopped by to bow their heads at them.

    "How many times did you get poisoned?" she asked him curiously.

    "A couple of times in a year or two," Calhoun who was looking ahead, shifted his eyes to look at her who had turned to look at him.

    Madeline wondered if Calhoun didn''t worry about death because he appeared to be calm about it or maybe it happened too often that he didn''t care about it right now. Noticing the look of worry that came to shadow over her face, Calhoun took great pleasure in it.

    "Why do you look troubled?" he asked her, one corner of his lips pulled up.

    "Are you not bothered that one day they might be sessful in poisoning you?" asked Madeline.

    "If I am unable to save myself I would be an unfit person to rule Devon." He appeared to be confident in his words as if no harm would evere to befall on him. Calhoun didn''t fear death, thought Madeline to herself, "It is good to see you''re worried about me."

    "I was only curious," her words were quick to disagree with what he just said.

    "Whatever you want to believe," came the dismissive tone of Calhoun, "The poison was sent by someone outside the castle who specialised in knowing about the night creatures. The maid was only helping or following the orders."

    Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed. This meant Calhoun was not safe, and in the future, he would be attacked again, but he seemed unfazed about it. When Calhoun stopped walking, Madeline stopped too.

    "Are you nning to give me your blood to drink?"

    "What?" asked Madeline at the sudden question as she hadn''t done any mistake aftering from the cliff.

    Madeline had been busy asking her questions that she didn''t realise that she had been following Calhoun like a little cat.?Calhoun leaned forward to her and said, "The doors that you see on the right is a room for me to feed on blood," and her eyes widened, "You can still choose to be the only person from whom I have to drink the blood from."

    "You can take it from someone else," Madeline quickly said, her feet taking a step back when she noticed how his coarse tongue that had licked the surface of her wrist had peeked between his lips.

    She didn''t forget the coarsens of it, and her cheeks burned red in embarrassment. He could take the blood from anyone he wanted, and she would not stop him so that he wouldn''t sink in those fangs of his into her own skin.

    "Yes," she answered, and he gave her a nod.

    "When a vampire consumes blood from the person, it is not always about having blood and many more things happen behind the closed doors," stated Calhoun, his dark eyes staring at the girl who returned his stare.

    "Why closed doors? Are you worried that someone will see it?" she asked him, and the words were only meant to be as a retort, but Calhoun used it for his advantage.

    "If you are interested, you are wee to stay and watch," his lips widened with delight when her cheeks turned further red.

    She grinded her teeth, "I have no such interest!" Was that how Calhoun viewed her to be? Asked Madeline to herself, her eyes holding a spark of fire in them.

    "Pity," replied Calhoun, his eyes continuing to look at the girl before he said, "Go have fun in the castle unless you change your mind to join in the room to watch," came his deliberate words and Madeline only red back at him. He could do whatever he wanted except touching her. Maybe it would be good for him to be with another person and maybe he would change his mind?

    But then who was she kidding. Deep down even Madeline knew it was toote for him to have a change of mind or heart.?Though Madeline didn''t want to do anything with him, she was interested in those wings that had caught hold of her attention. Therge ck wings that were made of feathers which she had never heard about.

    Noticing Calhoun raising one of his eyebrows in question of what she was still doing here, Madeline bowed her head before turning around and walked away from him.

    She didn''t turn back to take a look at Calhoun if he was still standing there, watching her or if he had stepped inside the room. Stepping into another corridor, she finally felt she could swing her arms as there was no one to notice her do it. With the day that was moving past her and the others, somewhere she was relieved after seeing her family that they were doing well.

    Two years ago when Madeline had been waiting for her father to return in the evening from his work, her father had been terriblyte and he had not arrived even after the time of the supper. This had led her sister Beth and her to go to the market to see if he was there. Later, he was found in the forest where he was carrying back the log of woods on his shoulder. Back then she had hoped that there was something she could do for him. Now that he finally had two men helping him with the woods where all he would have to do is do the dealing, a smile came up on her lips.

    But that came at the cost of her having to stay in the castle against her will, where she was forced to love the man who had turned her as a prisoner. Madeline didn''t grow up thinking she would end up here, at least not where a night creature would have taken an interest in her as the vige she lived in was one for the humans. She continued to walk when she heard the sharp clicking sound of heels on the floor.

    Raising her head, she caught sight of a beautiful red-haired woman who was apanied by a servant man. She wore a blue dress that flowed at the back of the hem on the floor. As they were walking from the opposite direction, Madeline realised this was the woman, who was going to apany the King with his meal and other favours which Madeline refused to ept or offer.

    Love, he said, thought Madeline to herself with her eyes narrowed. She knew she had told him he could do whatever he wanted, but if he really meant every word he spoke, he would have shown some self-restraint as a proof to her.

    When Madeline was walking past them, her eyes couldn''t stop looking at the woman who looked like a naturally carved statue because of her features. The woman''s eyes snapped at her, and Madeline quickly looked away as it was rude to staring at the woman continuously.

    Before Madeline could reach the end of the corridor, she couldn''t help herself from looking at the woman who she had walked past, seeing the woman''s red-hair that was let down. She frowned at the thought of the King''s debauchery. She had heard about how the night creatures survived on the blood from the humans, but Madeline was unaware of how many times a vampire had to suck a person''s blood. She wondered if the woman would be sucked dry until the veryst drop of her blood.

    Remembering the words of the maids of, how well they knew what the King liked and how he was rough, she pursed her lips thinking that the King was going to do something behind those closed doors.

    How shameful of him to ask her to join to watch it!

    Shaking her head to get rid of those thoughts, she walked away from there.

 Chapter 120 Thirst for blood- Part 3

    <h4>120 Thirst for blood- Part 3</h4>

    He was pouring into the ss again when he heard the doors of the room open and he turned around to find the woman standing at the front with a smile on her lips. He took a sip from the ss to see the woman bow her head.

    "Long live the King," she said before raising her head up to look at the King of Devon. The servant closed the door behind after the woman entered the room.

    Calhoun walked towards the couch and sat down, he leaned his back and then crossed his legs, "You arete," he said, his eyes calm and collected as they looked at the beautiful woman.

    Hearing the nonchnt words fall on her ears, the woman noticed the King sitting there with leisure, and she went to answer him,

    "My apologies for arrivingte. I didn''t mean to make you wait," and she walked forward. She leaned forward when he raised his hand up for her to hold and kiss the back of his hand, "I thought you would have started with your appetiser," she said as she had noticed a blonde girling in the direction where it looked like she was leaving.

    "She''s not the appetiser," answered Calhoun, taking another sip from the ss. To a vampire, blood was a vital source of food, they mainly depended on but to curb the hunger or thirst for it, one could use alcohol to rece it for a few hours before the blood would have to be reced back into the system to quench the thirst.

    The woman turned her head to the side as if in question. She moved towards him when Calhoun raised his hand to direct her towards the many bottles of alcohol that were ced on the table along with empty sses turned upside down.

    "No mood to have the girl or me?" she asked him.

    Calhoun only hummed, seeing the woman make her way towards the table to take one of the ss. She picked up the knife that was ced on the surface of the table, to run the knife against the surface of her hand, letting the blood dripped down to fall into the ss. She let it reach till it filled half of the ss before taking the napkin to hold it in her hand for the blood to stop.

    "Have you known any time when a vampire has ever lost the desire to have sex or have blood?" asked Calhoun and the red-haired woman who returned back to him with the ss of blood in her hand with a smile on her lips.

    She handed the ss to the King.

    Calhoun''s eyes had moved up to look at the woman who had ck eyes. There was no smile on his lips like the one he carried around the human girl who had left his side a few minutes ago after he had tried to taunt her for his amusement.

    "Sit," the Kingmanded and she did as she was told.

    Calhoun who had taken the ss of blood brought it to his lips, taking it in. But as he thought, he wasn''t satisfied with the taste of the blood because he craved for someone else''s blood. After tasting the blood from Madeline, he knew this was going to happen. The blood he took in felt nd, that had no taste in it. It didn''t excite him the way Madeline''s did. The truth was he wanted to drink every drop of her blood.

    He had never tried to control his thirst and he took things always by force. But he knew, force was not what would make Madeline willingly give herself. As much as Calhoun was entertained and amused by Madeline''s reactions he didn''t want to push her off the edge. He had told Theodore to arrange for the next possible quality of blood which was not from the maids as it wouldn''t suffice him. His thirst was growing and the need to have Madeline was something that he was trying to tame.

    "How is your mother doing, Julianne?" asked Calhoun when he had taken in another sip from the ss.

    "She''s doing well, my King," the woman named Julianne bowed her head. Most of the times she had been called to the castle, it had been to entertain the King physically and to offer her blood to him, "Are you unwell, milord?" she inquired.

    Calhoun finished the ss of blood to hand it over to the woman who took it in her hands, "Do I look unwell to you?" he questioned back, a smile upon his lips, "I wonder if I am..." he chuckled. Julianne stood up to make another ss of blood for the King, as her body had the ability to withstand the blood loss.

    Curious about the girl who had walked by, as the King had said she was not an appetizer, the woman asked, "Is she your rtive? The blonde girl."

    "She will be," Calhoun answered which the woman didn''t understand and neither did she ask to rify it.

    "Would you like me to stay back in here for more blood?" she asked to have Calhoun turn to look at her.

    "That won''t be necessary. You can leave once you are done with that ss," came the nonchnt voice of Calhoun who wasn''t in the mood to talk to her or any other person. The woman bowed her head before she stirred the ss and handed it to the King to leave the room. She found it quite unusual that the King was dismissing her right away after she had spent her time in the room for less than ten to twelve minutes.

    As she was walking through the halls, the woman was getting down from therge stairs when she caught sight of the King''s cousin and his right-hand man who were stepping out of the carriage.

    When Sophie noticed the red-haired woman, she didn''t hide the look of distaste forming on her face, "Lady Julianne Harper. I didn''t know you were going to visit. Here to offer your blood?" asked the vampiress staring at the woman.

    Julianne bowed her head to offer her greetings to both of them, "Yes, mdy."

    "How is your mother doing? She had a bad fallst time," said Sophie, her red eyes flickering to look at the human in front of her, "You should be by her side," smiled the vampiress.

    "I was asked to visit the King today, mdy else I am always there by her side," answered Julianne which was indeed true.

    "Leaving this soon, Lady Julianne?" asked Theodore who had a slight questionable look on his face. It was Calhoun who had asked him to call a woman to satisfy his thirst but it seemed like the King had dismissed her quite soon.

    The woman smiled, "Yes. I will be taking my leave. Excuse me," she bowed her head again and Theodore gave her a nod.

    Sophie didn''t stop ring at the woman, "Brother Calhoun can have other''s blood in the castle. Why is he calling her?"

    Theodore who didn''t want to be involved or fuel the vampiress, "I don''t know, mdy," came the solemn answer from him.

    The vampiress didn''t look happy and she turned around to quickly make her way up the stairs and inside the castle. There were many humans and some vampiress from whom Calhoun drank the blood and Julianne was one of the women who was the Duke''s daughter. Coming from a fragile family of humans, her mother had slipped down the stairs and broken her back, turning the woman to be bedridden.

    Though a lot of them considered as an unfortunate ident, Theodore hade to believe that Miss Wilmot had a hand in it. It was because whenever there was a possible interest from the King, the females and their family often turned to be a possible target. He had tried to find out evidence but there was none which only left it to be a hunch and if he was wrong, Calhoun was already aware of it which was why the King had showered the family with wealth aspensation.

    The carriage left and Theodore turned back to walk inside the castle after the tiring time he had spent with Lady Sophie keeping her away from the King, by keeping her busy in the market.

    Back in the room where Calhoun sat on the couch, he had his head leaned back in such a way that, he now looked at the ne ceilings of the room. He pulled out the note from his pocket which he was yet to read. Bringing it up for him to y with it between his fingers.

    Leaning back forward, he uncrossed his legs, deciding to open the note to see what was written inside it.

 Chapter 121 Kitchen work- Part 1

    <h4>121 Kitchen work- Part 1</h4>

    The fire in the firece flickered softly, leaving an orange golden-like glow in the room where Calhoun sat. When he was on thest fold, finally about to see what was in there, the door of the room knocked from outside and in came his cousin sister Sophie. Sophie bent her body along with her head to show him the utmost respect.

    Sophie noticed Calhoun, who was seated on the couch with a ss of blood in his hand. Internally she was overjoyed, realising Calhoun had not taken blood from the lowly human directly, and it had been offered to him through the ss.

    "How was your trip in the vige?" inquired Calhoun, while observing Sophie who tiptoed inside the room which she often liked to do whenever he was alone in here.

    "It was okay. I wished you were there to apany me. Theodore is quite boring who barely talks, and I didn''t feel like being there. Because of your painting, I thought it would be interesting, but I don''t think this vige was any good to see," replied Sophie, walking towards him and waiting for him to ask her to sit. But Calhoun was busy sipping the blood from the ss which he held.

    "What were you expecting? It is a simple vige," came the answer from Calhoun. He was holding the paper in his left hand and ying with it where he had to open thest fold to read what was in there.

    Sophie turned her head around, looking at the things that was present there and her eyes fell on the firece before it shifted back to look at Calhoun, "Your painting is beautiful. I thought it would be something interesting. Compared to it, beheading the maid was much more interesting."

    She then stepped towards the table of liquors, wanting to join him so that she could further her bond with him.

    Calhoun took another sip from the ss until the veryst drop of blood slid down to fall on his tongue, and he ced the empty ss aside. Sophie was a young vampiress, his cousin sister, but she was sharper than the rest of the girls of her age. The painting which he had made was indeed eye-catching because the vige he had captured was not the one that belonged to where Madeline hailed from.

    "I met Julianne on my way up here," chimed Sophie, who was standing in front of the table whose hands yed with the edge of the table, "I didn''t know you were thirsty. I would have helped if I knew."

    Sophie let go of the edge of the table, her heart skipping a beat which was not undead, to say, "Mother knows that I am here. I told her I was going to visit you."

    "Visiting is, youing to meet me and leaving after some time. It appears more like a vacation," stated Calhoun and Sophie clenched her teeth. Calhoun then said, "Go back to your home today. I am sure you wouldn''t like people speaking ill about you."

    The girl had been waiting for an opening like this for some time now, wanting to speak and strengthen their rtionship by moving it forward, by not being just cousins.

    She said, "What if that is what I want people to think?"

    Calhoun stared at the girl, a whisper of chuckle leaving his lips, "Who knew that little Sophie wanted to defile her status. If you are that interested I will be happy to help you with it," and these words alone made the vampiress happy until she heard the next words that came through Calhoun''s lips, "I know some men who might be of your taste. They will be more than happy to assist you," and the smile that was present on Sophie''s face instantly fell.

    For a few seconds, she didn''t know what to say because what she had tried to convey to him and what he understood were two different things. What the girl didn''t know was that Calhoun was not only older but also smarter than her. He knew where to ignore her words while using some of them to his advantage.

    Sophie quickly shook her head, "That wasn''t what I meant."

    "If you didn''t, you should go back to your home," said Calhoun and Sophie who wanted to sway his words, decided to bring a drink to him by her own hands by picking up the ss and pouring the alcohol in it. In the meantime, Calhoun opened the final fold of the paper to read what was written in there.

    The words had been reduced to a size to fit into the little piece of paper, and Calhoun''s eyes narrowed after looking at the words that were written in there.

    Sophie walked towards Calhoun, holding two sses in her hands. One for him and another for herself, "Brother Calhoun I made you a drink," she said, ignoring the words he previously said to her. Being a vampiress, Sophie had learned to have a thick skin. She had told herself that in the process of wanting to achieve her goal, there would be many obstacles which she would have to go through.

    Calhoun didn''t refuse the drink, but he didn''t ept it either. When Sophie, who was waiting to see where to sit, he said, "Leave the room."

    Sophie heard what Calhoun had clearly said to her, but for two seconds she stopped and stared at him, "What? Did I upset you?" she asked him with an oblivious look on her face.

    "If you are smart you will leave the room instead of deciding to ignore the mood in the room, cousin," came the low threatening words from Calhoun and the oblivious expression was erased from the vampiress face. She had always been careful and attentive with her words while it came to speaking to him, and this was the first time Calhoun was asking her to get out of the room.

    Pursing her lips for a moment, she finally parted her lips to say, "Why are you not acknowledging me? I have been nice-"

    "If I wasn''t, you would not be here," replied Calhoun. He took hold of the empty ss which he had ced earlier on his side to swipe his finger through the insides of the ss, picking up the remnants of the blood that was in there, and he put his finger in his mouth.

    "We are not even rted by blood! You know that I am-"

    "Did you turn deaf, or did you choose to ignore what I just said?" asked Calhoun, his eyes moved from the ss to look at the vampiress whose eyes had turned wide. Sophie had been caught up with her thoughts that the vampiress had failed to read the King''s mood, "It seems like you are in quite some mood today. I wonder if it is because you have overstayed in the castle," saying this, his lips stretched to a smile that looked no less to mocking.

    Sophie gritted her teeth, and her hands had turned to tight fists that turned pale because of theck of cirction of blood in her hand. She had been treading all these months carefully, trying to make sure not to overstep the lines. But with the human in here and Calhoun calling Julianne into the castle to feed blood on, it had pushed her. Not to forget how Sophie had been forced to share the carriage with the King''s right-hand man and not with the King.

    She couldn''t believe she had gone through that! She deserved to ride and stand next to the King. Trying to even her voice, she started, "Mother said that she spoke to the minister about me-"

    "One," interrupted Calhoun, and Sophie had to stop what she was saying finally. Clenching her teeth, she kept the sses on the table and was ready to leave when she heard Calhoun say, "Close the door on your way out, cousin sister," he offered her a smile and his eyes appeared bright.

    Sophie felt utterly humiliated! Almost on the verge of tears for being treated like this, she stepped out of the room and closed the door.

    With Sophie, who left Calhoun alone in the room, the smile on his face slipped down, and he stood up. He walked towards the table to pick up the ss that Sophie had poured for him, to drink the content inside it before taking hold of another one in his hand. The blood he had consumed was not enough to quench his thirst, and he took a couple of sips from the ss he held. His mood irritated as he remembered what was written in the note.

    In anger, Calhoun threw the ss right across him that touched the wall and broke into several pieces.

 Chapter 122 Kitchen work- Part 2

    <h4>122 Kitchen work- Part 2</h4>

    .

    The mes that were moving and burning the woods reflected itself in Calhoun''s eyes with the same intensity. He opened the note again which he had crumpled after reading what was in there. Going to the firece, he sat down on both his heels. He ran his finger over the writing, which was not the same as the letter that the tailorman had brought to the castle with him.

    The paper wrote,

    ''Don''t think about us. Do what is good for you if you need to leave, run.''

    Calhoun continued to stare at the words, his lips finally pulling up into a smile. Heughed, "Humans can be such coy creatures to think they can hide something that will not catch the eye of the night creature," he murmured. He then threw the paper into the firece that in less than a second caught fire. Burning itself into nothing but ck ash before it fell with the rest of the ashes that was on the surface of the firece, "It looks like I cannot let you spend time with your family, Maddie. Not when they don''t mind you running away from here. Away from me, which I won''t allow it to happen."

    On the other side of the castle, in the King''s quarters, Madeline was in her room lying on the bed and she stared at the ceiling of the bed. Her heart felt like it was more in ease after many days because she had met her family. Though that wasn''t the main reason why Calhoun and she, with the rest had stepped into the vige, she was still d to see her family that they were doing well.

    Madeline wondered what happened between Mr. Danvers and Beth. She hadn''t seen Beth write the letter to him and if Beth had sent it out, it must have been before they had set out to the castle. Somewhere she felt awful about it. The whole confusion and misunderstanding had turned her heart heavy but after seeing Beth where she appeared to understand Madeline''s condition, she finally felt relived.

    To Madeline, her family was the most important part of her life. She loved and cared for them. She didn''t want anything bad to happen. It was good to see that there was at least something positive that came out from this.

    Madeline then sat up on the bed. Remembering how it felt to fall where her heart hade up to her throat until she felt she was being lifted in the air.

    Big ck wings made of feathers. There were many rumours that she had heard from her fellow vigers about the night creatures. How cruel most of them were, drinking blood until they killed the human because of their thirst and lust for blood. But she doubted she heard about wings and Calhoun might be an exception, thought Madeline.

    During the time in the morning, Madeline had thought that after meeting her family it would suffice the thoughts for the next few days. Hoping everything woulde to return to normal, but she was wrong. After meeting her family, the need to return only increased.

    Sliding down from the bed, her bare feet padded across the room so that she could look outside the window. With no family, no friends, and maids who only appeared to gossip about her which were mostly ill, Madeline prefered to stay in the room right now. Her eyes caught sight of three servants walking from one side to another who were carrying garden shears in their hands.

    The castle was too big, and the only person who was talking to her was Calhoun, and no one else. Because Calhoun had ordered the people in the castle to not speak to her. With her head going to lean against the edge of the window, she heard a knock on the door, and she sighed before she could know who stood on the other side of the room.

    "Lady Madeline?" came the voice of the maid who was assigned to her personally by the King.

    The castle had a mix of servants where most of them were humans while some were vampires. Madeline found it to be strange that there were vampires who worked as servants because all this time, she had thought that all vampires belonged to the higher hierarchy.

    She wondered if she should act like she wasn''t here in the room because God only knew what it was all about, and she didn''t want to see Calhoun right now. She had spent half of the day staying next to him, and she felt if she stayed for any more time, her hair would soon start to turn grey. That was the effect Calhoun had on people with the amount of stress he gave to people.

    "Lady Madeline?" called the maid Agnes.

    Madeline''s head dropped slightly, sighing. She didn''t want to cause unnecessary trouble to the maid because of her, and she walked up to the door and opened it, "Yes?" upon seeing thedy in the room, Agnes bowed her head.

    "Mdy, you have been summoned to the castle''s kitchen," informed the maid. For a moment Madeline frowned, wondering who was calling her to the kitchen until she finally realised for what she was being called. It seemed like Calhoun didn''t waste a single hour or minute to seize the opportunity to tease her.

    This was about the deal she had made before meeting her parents. She had promised to cook for Calhoun, saying how she had never cooked for another man which was enough to get to see her parents but not the way she had wanted to. She was still stunned at how he had noticed the paper she was holding in her hand. When her mother had slipped it into her hand, she cautiously held it without dropping it down.

    Calhoun had slipped his hand to hold hers, without causing an issue in front of the family, while not so subtly hinting on how he knew about it. It was a warning that had got even Madeline''s attention, and for a second she had feared for what he would do. After all, only moments before meeting her family, he had ordered to behead the maid''s head.

    "Give me a minute," answered Madeline to have the young maid who was a human bow her head in acknowledgement. When Madeline was done taking off all the jewellery that she was wearing since the time of the morning, she finally left the room with the maid who followed her at first before moving from to lead the way which Madeline already knew of.

    "How was your day, mdy?" asked the maid Agnes who was slightly chirpierpared to the rest of the maids.

    "It was good," answered Madeline, who was looking around the corridors. Out of curiosity, she asked, "Where is the King?" It was because thest time she had seen him, he had a guest.

    The maid looked at thedy who was walking with her and made sure to keep one step distance so that she wouldn''t identally touch the fairdy who the King had appointed Agnes to look after, "He is in the East Wing, in the liquor room, mdy," answered the maid, slowing down her steps to ask, "Would you want me to take you to him?"

    "No!" came the rushed response from Madeline, which even the maid noticed it. Madeline cleared her throat, "No, I don''t need to see him right now. I have no questions to ask him," she added so that the maid would stop looking at her with a questionable look. The maid finally nodded her head.

    "Let me lead you to the kitchen where the head cook is waiting for you," informed the maid and Madeline wondered what Calhoun would have told the cook.

    As they walked down the quiet corridor, Madeline wondered if the East Wing of the castle was the same ce where she hadst seen him. The same ce where she had seen the red-haired woman who had walked past her. It seemed like Calhoun was busy with the woman. Madeline didn''t want to ponder more on what they were doing in there because she had a fair idea of what they might be doing.

    The King''s debauchery didn''t surprise Madeline, but her cheeks turned red when her thoughts went to pass on to the time when he had sunk his fangs into her wrist. Probably if it were another man, holding her hand would have been simple, but Calhoun turned every action of his sensual as if wanting to seduce her.

    She didn''t know why she was even thinking about what he was doing right now, and she pushed those thoughts away before entering the kitchen of the castle.

    "Mr. Jarman, Lady Madeline is here," announced the maid to the bald man who Madeline had met before with the reason of wanting to know a recipe from him.

    The bald man bowed his head and Madeline who was about to bow noticed how the other servants in the kitchen had stopped working for a moment before the head cook turned his head towards them to continue what they were doing.

    "The King said you wanted to make your food for him for tonight''s supper. Please use the kitchen and if you need something you can ask one of the maids or me for help."

 Chapter 123 Kitchen work- Part 3

    <h4>123 Kitchen work- Part 3</h4>

    After falling off from the cliff, Madeline was sure that Calhoun would forget the cooking deal and maybe if she went to him...No no, thought Madeline to herself. She didn''t want to see him in whatever state he was in now. Cooking was not a big thing to her as she was used to it. She wasn''t sure about what had to be prepared that would be consumed by the King.

    The maids didn''t bother her and continued to work along with the head cook who left Madeline to herself. The maid who had apanied her, stood with her back against the wall on standby if thedy would need assistance in cooking.

    Madeline walked around the kitchen. Taking a look at the vegetables that were brought and ced inside which were fresh. The meat made her frown as she saw blood dripping from some of it and some that looked soft and tender. She finally started to cook, bringing whatever she needed. The maids in there couldn''t help but take a sneak at what thedy was doing. Nody had ever stepped foot in the kitchen as it was considered to be beneath the high status. It made the maids curious about this human who had been staying in the castle since a few days.

    Her hands were deep in the dough, which was sticky and powdered at somece when the vampiress who had received news about what Madeline was doing decided to stop by the kitchen.

    "Lady Madeline," came Sophie''s voice that was filled with glee.

    Out of all the years Sophie knew about the castle and Calhoun, not once had ady who was involved with the King stepped in the kitchen. With the open opportunity, Sophie couldn''t help but smirk that maybe Calhoun didn''t care about this girl and was only going to turn her into a maid in good time, "What are you doing here?" asked Sophie, noticing the sticky dough that stuck on Madeline''s fingers.

    Madeline wanted to ask the same question to Sophie. She wondered how Sophie had quickly flown down here like a bird, "I am mixing the dough," she replied, her words polite and she looked at the bowl, kneading the dough.

    Sophie smiled at Madeline, "I can see that but what I meant is we have the cook and the maids to do that. Why are you doing the job unless you n to secure a job here in the kitchen? Don''t tell me that brother Calhoun asked you to cook."

    "He did," answered Madeline. She raised her hand to push the hair that hade to settle on the side of her face, "Would you like to join me?" came her sweet voice and Sophie onlyughed at it.

    Madeline continued to knead the dough as it was the first thing she wanted to prepare before cooking other things to create a wholesome meal, "I thought you knew how to cook," she said.

    "Of course, I do. We are taught everything, that is how the high families are. But that doesn''t mean we have to put our hands into it. I don''t have such bad days," Sophie sighed as if she was tired by looking at Madeline kneading the dough, "Also, I don''t think it would be right for the future queen to do simpleton work like this in the castle."

    When she turned around, the servants who were eavesdropping on their conversation while peeking at them bowed their heads at the vampiress.

    "I hope you turn to be a wise Queen," Madeline bowed her head, but Sophie''s eyes slightly narrowed. What did the lowly human mean ''turn to a wise queen''? Was she saying she was not wise enough right now? Thought Sophie to herself, "But allow me to say this," said Madeline to gain Sophie''s attention, "It is often said that no woman''s status bes less if they cook for someone. Especially when its the King, we should take great honour in it. After all, I have heard that the way to a man''s heart is through his stomach."

    Sophie was displeased hearing this. With Calhoun who had asked her to get out of the room subtly, her mood had been ruined. She had been happy when she heard that the human girl was working in the kitchen on making supper. But after hearing Madeline''s words, she was having second thoughts if she wanted to cook or not.

    "Jarman, get me the maid here," said Sophie, stepping forward to cook. Madeline internally smiled at the thought of how easily she had tricked the vampiress into cooking. The same person who had mocked her barely a few minutes ago.

    The bald head cook and the maids would have raised their eyebrows, but they knew better than to do that as she was the King''s cousin sister. A rtive who had to be treated with the utmost respect.

    And so began the cooking by the two girls. Sophie was someone who was taught by experts of the kitchen. One might have viewed her to be child-like, always hanging around in the castle, addressing the King by calling him ''Brother Calhoun'', but only the ones who knew her closely were aware that the vampiress was a persistent person.

    Madeline worked on simpler things, who was much more well versed when it came to cooking as it was part of her family chores, her side of the table was neaterpared to Sophie''s.

    Two and a half hours passed in the castle when Theodore went to visit Calhoun who hadn''t left the liquor room. Stepped forward in front of the closed door, he announced his presence to the King. He pushed the doors open to see Calhoun, who looked as if he was sleeping on the couch. He hadid his body outstretched across the couch with one hand ced over his eyes to avoid any possible light to fall on his eyes.

    Theodore wondered if Calhoun was sleeping and if he should returnter before he heard Calhoun ask,

    "What hour is it?"

    "It is five past six," answered Theodore.

    Calhoun, whose lips were parted, a sigh escaped his lips, "Finally." His hand that was positioned on his eyes moved away. He lifted his upper body, before swinging around his feet that were resting on the other side of the armrest, to ce it on the ground. He raised his hand to weave through his thick ck locks. His lips twisting and one of his eyebrows raising,

    "Has the food been prepared?" he had asked one of the servant''s to take Madeline to the kitchen so that she could prepare the food for him that she had promised.

    "Yes, milord," answered Theodore.

    Theodore, had never seen Calhoun send a woman as early as he did today, "Would you want me to arrange another person to attend you tonight?" asked the man dutifully. He stood there quietly in the presence of Calhoun, his eyes catching sight of the broken sses as it reflected the light in the room.

    "Doubt it would matter," stated Calhoun, pushing himself up and his eyes moving towards the firece.

    Before he met Madeline, Julianne was one of the women who had a potent taste of blood with along with a few other women. But the day he had walked past Madeline in the ballroom for the first time, he knew he had found a delicacy that he was not willing to share. All Calhoun wanted to do was, sink his teeth into Madeline, not just her neck but every possible space on her pale skin.

    "I guess it wouldn''t hurt to take another bite," said Calhoun as he stepped out of the room to be followed by Theodore to make their way towards the dining room.

 Chapter 124 My meal- Part 1

    <h4>124 My meal- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline stood at the side, when the food was brought forward to be ced on the dining table, where Calhoun sat at the head of the table. The dishes were of stark difference as it appeared that they were made by two people. When Calhoun''s eyes fell on the dishes, his red eyes observed what was there before looking up to see the head cook who had apanied thedies and the maids.

    "I ordered you not to cook and to let Lady Madeline take over the kitchen," said Calhoun, his eyebrow raised in question and the bald man bowed his head.

    "Milord, the kitchen staff, weren''t the ones who cook the meals today," answered the man who held his hands together in front of him.

    "Then why are there two different types of meals?" asked Calhoun, his handing to support his chin while looking at the head cook. Post noon today, Calhoun''s words were clear with instructions of how he wanted the meals to be cooked by Madeline.

    Mr. Jamer, the head cook, bowed his head again, "Lady Madeline has made some of the dishes, and some dishes have been made by Lady Sophie," and this was enough for Calhoun''s mood to turn sour.

    The King''s eyes shifted to look at his cousin sister who was overstaying in the castle. He allowed it only for certain reasons. But today he wasn''t in the mood to humour Sophie, "I thought I told you to get back home," came his curt words that made Sophie''s cheeks burn.

    "Lady Madeline wanted me to cook with her," said Sophie, trying to wiggle out of the embarrassment and putting the me on the human, as she had indeed provoked her to cook in the kitchen. At the same time, Sophie didn''t want Madeline winning Calhoun''s heart when she could do it. The human was nothing but an imbecile servant whom she wished to throw in the dungeon. After they were done cooking, Sophie had looked rather pleased as her dishes looked so much better than what Madeline had prepared for the time of supper.

    Calhoun didn''t look at Madeline and instead continued to stare at Sophie for a few seconds, "Nobody asked you to cook, cousin sister. The order was for Madeline only."

    "My apologies, brother Calhoun," Sophie bowed her head, "I didn''t think about it when Lady Madeline had asked me to cook with her. I thought she could use somepany. You can ask the head cook," saying this, she turned to look at the bald man, her red eyes trained on him who bowed his head.

    Sophie had been living in the castle in and out visiting the King, while making sure the servants knew who she was, enough to make them listen to her. She smiled when the bald man bowed and turned back to look at Calhoun as if to tell him that what she said was true.

    "Is it true?" asked Calhoun, and this time, his question was directed at Madeline, and she nodded her head.

    "Yes, milord," she answered.

    Calhoun then asked, "What did you make, Sophie?" The vampiresses eyes brightened, and she stepped forward.

    "I prepared the ones on the left side, my King," she was d that Calhoun was not shooing her away. Once he would taste the food, he would know that Sophie was not only going to be a good wife next to him, but she also had the talent when it came to cooking, "I made sure that I prepared your favourites. From the meat to the vegetables, the tenderness is just as you prefer," exined the vampiress.

    The King didn''t say anything for a minute. And then another minute passed, that had the maids who were in the dining room along with Sophie, Madeline, Theodore and the kitchen head cook wonder what was going on in the King''s mind.

    Sophie took to speak, "Brother Calhoun, the food might get cold and might not taste as good as when it is hot." Even if there was apetition between her and Madeline, Sophie would ace it any time as she knew the King longer than the human who was new to the castle. Being a close rtive, she knew what Calhoun liked and didn''t like, includong some of his habits while also knowing he couldn''t treat her the way he treated other strangers.

    "It would be a pity if that happened," agreed Calhoun, a smile appeared on his face. He then said, "I wouldn''t like to eat something that has turned out of taste because of the temperature. Theodore, offer the food which was made by Sophie to the servants. I am sure they would love to taste what she has cooked today."

    The vampiress'' eyes turned wide in shock, "Wait, we can heat it again!" She had cooked the meal for the King and not for the damned servants, "I made it for you," she said, looking at Calhoun.

    "I don''t remember asking you to prepare my meals," came the curt reply from Calhoun, "Are you not aware that the King only eats the food that is cooked from the head cook? Or have you forgotten how the castle runs?" He had a bored expression on his face.

    Sophie couldn''t believe that her food was being dismissed this quickly. She had truly put her heart in making the food especially when Madeline had mentioned about gaining a ce in a man''s heart through food.

    "Won''t you taste it?" smiled Sophie.

    "Maybe next time when the food is still hot," Calhoun replied before turning to look at Theodore who bowed his head. The head cook and the maids started to take away the food which was cooked by the vampiress, while leaving the food prepared by Madeline on the table. Sophie, who still had a look of shock on her face, stood there, unmoving, "Let us see what Madeline had prepared."

    Madeline saw how every item that was prepared by Sophie was taken off the table and out of the room. She didn''t have to look at Sophie to see that she was not only shocked, but she was seething in anger where the anger was directed towards her. After all, she was the one who had taunted and tricked her into cooking for the King which was now going to be served to the servants. Madeline came to doubt that this might be the first time where Lady Sophie was going to do something for the people whom she felt was beneath her.

    The chairs were pulled, Madeline, Sophie, and Theodore joined Calhoun at the dining table.

    "Is this what you eat?" asked Calhoun, his eyes meeting the brown-eyed girl who gave him a nod. And the food was soon served on the te.

    While Sophie''s food was undoubtedly attractive to look at, Madeline had purposely picked up dishes that would look dull. This way, Calhoun would know and understand the difference in what he wanted. Madeline was a simple girl, and she was more than content with the simple life which she had a week ago. She wanted to convey her thoughts, about how she didn''t belong here and how she was not of his taste, that it was a mere attraction and infatuation.

    Calhoun who took the food with his fork to take a bite, didn''tment. Not a singleint or praise left his lips. Everyone came to believe that he found the food to be rather palepared to what he was used to eating.

    Madeline, who was used to eating the same food continued to eat in silence, and when she sneaked a nce at Sophie, the girl was ring at the food.

    "This is not the type food one offers the King or his subjects!" came Sophie''sint, "Lady Madeline it looks like you will need to have cooking lessons which you cannot afford for," Sophie had not dared to take a bite from the food as it looked strange. The vampiress came from a high family, and she couldn''t believe that she had to eat something like this!

    Calhoun didn''t bother toment on Sophie''s words, and he continued to eat what was on his te, so did Theodore.

    "My apologies that the food is not up to your liking," Madeline took no offence, and she was happy to hear that it looked terrible, which would mean even Calhoun would view it the same way. But with the way he was eating it, she doubted that was the case. She then continued to say, "I don''t cook to impress but to fill the stomach of my family," and this had Calhoun raise his eyes to look at the human.

    Sophie pushed her chair behind and stood up, "I will be going back home, brother Calhoun." She was humiliated by the thought that her food was disregarded to be given to the servants.

    "Theodore will apany you out," came the curt words from Calhoun. This had Sophie grit her teeth.

    Sophie had hoped for Calhoun to ask her to stay because not only had he shooed her away at noon, but also he had not taken a bite from the food she had prepared. She gave him a bow but stood there for a mere second, before turning around and left the room to be followed by Theodore whilst leaving Calhoun and Madeline alone at the table.

 Chapter 125 My meal- Part 2

    <h4>125 My meal- Part 2</h4>

    "Did you like the food?" asked Madeline, her words slow and apprehensive.

    Calhoun, who was chewing the food in his mouth, stared at Madeline, swallowing the food after which his lips rose, "I loved it. I thought it was obvious with the amount I have eaten so far. Were you worried I wouldn''t be happy with what you prepared?" he asked her as Madeline appeared to be upset.

    But Madeline was upset for another reason. Not because she wanted him to like her cooking but because she had hoped he wouldn''t, "I must say, I didn''t expect you to have Sophie join in preparing the meal. Poor thing, look what you did to her," he tsked. The candles flickered that was ced on the hanging chandelier above the centre of the table.

    "She was the one who wanted to cook-"

    "When I asked you minutes ago, you said you were the one who asked her to cook along with you," stated Calhoun. He lifted his fork to pick up the meat and raised it for him to take a look, "You are a smart girl, Maddie. If you weren''t, you wouldn''t be sitting here at the table. Cooking the meat until it turns hard. Where''s the tenderness in this?"

    "I told I would prepare a meal as I used to have in the past. For my family," answered Madeline, and this widened Calhoun''s smile on his lips.

    "I wasn''t ready for that. But if you are epting me as your family, I shall not deny it. Surely I am not going to take anything less from being a lover to a husband," Calhouns'' directness turned Madeline red.

    "You think too far ahead, milord."

    Madeline had to say that the King was an opportunist, who didn''t leave a single moment pass by to turn it in his favour and liking.

    "If I didn''t, then I wouldn''t be the King now, would I," Calhoun''s words weren''t a question to her, "It is good to see that we have moved our status so quickly."

    She didn''t react to his words but only stared at him. The more she spoke, the more she ended up in trouble; therefore Madeline hade to decide that silence was a good weapon when it came to dealing with Calhoun.

    Noticing her silence, Calhoun couldn''t stop but smirk, "Not talking to me?" he asked her, a spark in his eyes that could make anyone worry.

    "It is told not to speak during the time of food," came the quick answer from Madeline, taking a full bite, she put it in her mouth to keep herself busy so that she wouldn''t have to speak to the King.

    "Such a good girl," Calhoun murmured. Madeline wasn''t seated away from him but on his right side where all he would have to do was to lean forward to smell the sweet fragrance that wafted from the girl, "Don''t think I don''t know what goes in that mind of yours."

    "I don''t know what you are talking about," she wasn''t sure what exactly he was speaking about.

    "You knew I only wanted you to cook, yet you dragged the fool into it. Wanting to create a difference in the food," said Calhoun and Madeline''s palms turned cold. Was it obvious? "The more you try to get away, the more it pulls me to you. It is not often that I get to eat something like this, so yes, it is delicious," he praised her, taking another bite from his te.

    He was right.

    She had hoped, but she should have known this person was crooked by nature and would like things one would consider not to like. But Madeline had never heard that the rich ever praised the food of the peasants. Like she had said to Sophie, the poor cooked to fill their stomach and not to impress like the rich who had minimal food on the te which was mostly for decoration.

    And as they ate, Calhoun said, "I have wanted to take an opinion from you. If there''s someone out in the public who is trying to cross me, who is against me and trying to spoil something I am working on. What do you think would be a deem worthy punishment?" He picked up the ss next to him, sipping from it.

    Madeline looked at Calhoun, wondering what his question meant and who it was for, "I don''t think I can judge what the punishment has to be, if I don''t know what the severity of mistake has been made."

    "True," agreed Calhoun, "Consider hypothetically that someone is trying to take my kingdom away from me. Like a possible rtive, who I thought wouldply that I would take care of the Kingdom. But he feels I am unfit for it. Without even waiting to see if I can rule it better than anyone else. And I love Devon."

    Madeline wondered who this rtive was that had crossed Calhoun, "Is it the person who tried to poison you?" she asked to see him smile.

    "It is a hypothetical question. What do you think should be the punishment?" his eyes crinkled at the sides as he waited for her to answer his question, "Take your time," he said, raising his ss and drinking everything that was in there. It seemed like with every hour that was passing between them, the thirst he felt only grew, and his eyes moved from her eyes to look at her neck and the little amount of shoulder that he could see.

    With Madeline next to him, all he had to do was pull her to his side and do what would please him right now.

    The thought of the little note brought back the fire in his eyes, and anger that didn''t extinguish even after the short nap he had on the couch, that led to his irritated mood. Who would have thought that Mrs. Harris was ready to sacrifice her happiness for her daughter''s sake?

    When you thought someone was good, they always happened to let you down, thought Calhoun to himself. The woman had gone as far as to writing a letter and telling Madeline could flee away from here if needed and it internally made Calhoun chuckle. If Madeline was to flee, she would be back to where Calhoun was, and he would not let her go. The question he posed in front of her was twisted in regards to what happened. The Kingdom was Madeline, and the rtive was her mother.

    Calhoun asked her, "What is it going to be?"

    "Warn the person?" asked Madeline, who was unaware of what was going on in his mind.

    "And what shall I do if that rtive doesn''t understand it?" his tongue moved to run across the front of his teeth.

    With the way Calhoun was looking at her, Madeline worried, "I don''t know. You are the King," she tossed the dice back to him. She had never thought to punish someone, and she didn''t want to be responsible for someone''s death.

    "That''s not the answer I am looking for," his eyes were slightly narrowed.

    "I don''t think my answer is what you are looking for," she replied to bring out the amused smile on his lips.

    "If you know what I am looking for, then give it to me." Madeline picked up the ss of water and took in a sip. She wasn''t sure anymore if they were speaking about the same matter, "So thirsty, let me pour you another ss of water," Calhoun said and before she could reach for the jug, he took hold of it and poured the water.

    His gaze was burning into her, and Madeline couldn''t sit still. She finished drinking the water and ced the ss back on the table. He looked at her like she was the only thing in the room and he caught every movement of hers. When his gaze finally returned to his te,

    "I finished eating," Madeline said, bowing her head to get up from the chair as quietly as she could but the chair didn''t stop to screech against the floor because of her hasty movements.

    But Madeline didn''t make it too far. Just when she was about to reach for the door, she saw Calhoun ce his hand on the door to stop her from opening it,

    "How rude to be leaving the table when the King has not finished his meal," came his words from behind her.

    "Theodore will be here to join you, you can h-" she stopped speaking when she felt Calhoun step closer to her where she could feel his breath behind her ear and she shivered.

    "He won''t be returning back to the dining room," said Calhoun, every breath of his word falling on her skin. He purposely moved close to her, "Are you really done eating?"

    "Yes," she whispered, feeling her nerves starting to jitter.

    "Sweet," replied Calhoun as another hand came to fall on another side of her, "Because it is time for my actual meal."

 Chapter 126 My meal- Part 3

    <h4>126 My meal- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Hearing Calhoun''s words, Madeline''s eyes widened, and she turned around to look straight into his red eyes that stared right back at her. The space that was present during the time she had turned was taken away from her when he leaned forward. Madeline could feel her heart beating in her ears at the closeness that they shared, alone in the room where no one woulde to interrupt them.

    When Sophie was here, Madeline could have hoped for the vampiress to barge in. But Theodore had gone to see Sophie into the carriage, and there was no way she woulde back here unless she had dropped something in here.

    Calhoun gazed into those big brown eyes. He wondered why he was supposed to stop, when he could take what he had decided to be his.

    "You can continue eating," said Madeline, "I will take my seat back."

    "Do you think I am interested in eating food at the table?" Calhoun cocked his head to the side as if he had been sitting at the table for amusement. Given, he wanted to taste the food she had made, but the void he felt for not taking another sip from her was pushing him to an edge.

    Madeline pushed her back against the wall, "You were the one who asked me to cook for you," she replied to his question, her eyes not looking away from his.

    "If I am not wrong, you were the one who proposed to cook for me. Did you forget that I am not a human but a vampire who needs blood?" he hummed.

    Softly gulping, she said, "You had your meal at noon with that woman!" She had seen the red-headed woman who had walked past in the direction she hade from- the way she was dressed, and with Calhoun who had not so subtly spoken about what was going to happen behind those closed doors.

    "Are you jealous?" asked Calhoun with such a straight face, that had Madeline blink her eyes a couple of times.

    "Why would I be jealous? You can suck anyone''s blood or do whatever you want-" Calhoun ced one of his hands on the side of her waist without a notice. Her gaze fell on his chest where he wore a shirt that had two buttons left unbuttoned for one to stare at the taut muscle behind it.

    "Yes, you were saying," came the calm voice of Calhoun. Madeline tore her gaze to look back into his eyes. Madeline realised that Calhoun was daunting when he was smiling, and there wasn''t much difference when it came to now where he had a severe look.

    Madeline''s lips were parted, but she was not able to speak with his presence this close to her. One hand blocking her way and the other that had gone to ce on her waist. Calhoun then leaned even more closer to her, her eyes catching him looking at her lips. Her lips trembled, and she didn''t know why but she was feeling breathless.

    She found him tilting his head, moving closer and Madeline felt as if her body was going tobust into ashes. Was he going to kiss her?!

    "Why do you say that?" he asked her because he wanted to bite her now!

    When Calhoun moved even closer, almost an inch away from her lips, Madeline closed her eyes. Noticing this, a wicked grin broke on Calhoun''s lips. He moved his face to the side of her head, to say, "Waiting for me to kiss?" came his teasing words.

    Madeline''s eyes flew open, her cheeks turning bright red, "I wasn''t!" she tried to move away, but the hand on her waist tightened.

    "Why did you close your eyes then? Your sweet lips were parted as if anticipating for me to take it with my lips. To suck and bite," Calhoun whispered those words next to the shell of her ear. She didn''t know why Calhoun was always descriptive when he wanted to paint an image in her mind, "You are right. I did spend time with the beautifuldy, but I am not satisfied with it. My sweet."

    "I don''t think she''s the only one who you can take blood from," she turned her face towards him, to meet his eyes again.

    "You are right. Why go for something that is far, when you are right here. Is my dessert ready?" he asked with mischief in his voice.

    "On the table?" Madeline asked, hoping he would eat the food she made instead of sinking his fangs in her skin.

    The smile on his lips was scaring her and the look in his eyes that held nothing less to a sinister look. "If you feel the table is going to be much morefortable than here, I don''t mind moving there." Madeline wondered why Calhoun was not moving, when he had agreed to go back to sit at the table to finish his meal. And then she realised what he meant.

    "I did everything you asked me to do," she stated. Thest time he had taken her blood, it was in the name of being punished.

    Madeline heard Calhoun sigh, "I am thirsty, Maddie. If I go find someone right now, I cannot guarantee that the person will be alive. But with you," he paused to let his words sink into her. Was he serious though? Or was he only ying with her? Would he kill the next person who wasn''t her, to quench the thirst for blood?

    "I will try holding back." She knew one of these days she would end up dead by being food to the King, "What happened to the trust you had this noon?" asked Calhoun.

    That went out of the window when he said he would try not killing her!

 Chapter 127 On the table- Part 1

    <h4>127 On the table- Part 1</h4>

    .

    She stared into his eyes that started to turn dark which was a few seconds ago brighter, but it was moving to almost a ck shade, and she could only stand there looking at him. Madeline noticed that Calhoun was waiting for her reply and she said,

    "No."

    Calhoun who was looking at her, his smile turned wicked, "What do you mean by no, sweet girl? No, I do trust you?" It was trulymendable the way he turned everything to his benefit.

    "No sane person will ask someone they love to jump off from the cliff," she had done almost everything he had asked her to do, but Calhoun didn''t appear to be satisfied with it. She noticed how he kept ying with his sharp fangs with his tongue. As if readying it to sink into her skin.

    A chuckle escaped from Calhoun''s lips, "I thought we had alreadye to an agreement that I was insane. Come, I need to take a bite. It will turn out far worse than a bite if you dy my meal."

    "I am not your meal! Please find someone else to take blood from," pleaded Madeline. In such a short period, Calhoun wanted her to change her feelings, when in truth she was trying hard to keep up with him and the world he lived in. It was true that they lived in the same world, but she had been shielded away from the night creatures where she had nevere across one, not this closely at least.

    The smile on Calhoun''s lips slowly fell and Madeline could feel the atmosphere in the room turning tense and heavy, "It seems like you don''t care about the person who is going to die. What a shame but at least we know we are the same that way," he stated, his eyes cold and his words sharp on her ears.

    Madeline didn''t understand why Calhoun was ming her when she was only trying to protect herself. What was wrong in having her own choice? To be forcibly pushed into a life which she didn''t want, to be torn away from her family, when her heart wanted something else.

    "Last chance," said Calhoun, his eyes trained on her and Madeline felt the air around them turning only heavier and heavier with every passing second. "If that is your decision," saying this he walked towards the call bell, his hand reached for it and pulled it down.

    Madeline''s eyes turned wide, and she stared at Calhoun who wasn''t looking at her now. Within a minute, a maid quickly entered the room who looked small and fragile, almost quivering as it was the King who had summoned her. The maid had her head bowed without a word as she stood at the door and Madeline caught Calhoun walking towards the table, but he didn''t take a seat on the chair.

    Right now, the maid had made her way to stand in front of the King, and though nothing had happened yet, Madeline could feel the guilt that was starting to spread in her mind. The way Calhoun spoke, it appeared more like he was going to suck the girl dry. She worried that for the rest of her life, she would carry the guilt of how the maid had died because of her. Before Calhoun could do anything, she said,

    "Wait!"

    Calhoun who was looking at the maid shifted his gaze to look at Madeline, "What?" he asked, his voice carrying slight annoyance in it and Madeline had to bite her cheek as she had never been on the receiving end of his cold words.

    Her lips that were pressed parted to say, "Let the maid leave."

    "Are you ready to take her ce?" Calhoun asked, tilting his head to the side. He knew exactly how to get what he wanted. Bringing the maid in was enough for Madeline to change her mind because, she was not the kind of person to let someone die. At least not on her watch and he had found the weakness when they were returning from her vige.

    Internally, Calhoun had a wide smile, but he didn''t let it appear on his face. He had already decided that he was going to have her blood tonight and no one was going to stop him. Not even Madeline herself. If he didn''t, he wouldn''t be responsible for having more than two bodies lying on the ground, lifeless.

    "What is it?" came his impatient taunting words.

    She found it to be the hardest to speak up right now. She didn''t want the maid getting hurt, but at the same time, Madeline didn''t want Calhoun taking her as a meal by drinking her blood.

    "I will do it," she replied, but Calhoun didn''t respond to it as if waiting for something more from her because she had dyed his time. She noticed how the maid who had turned her face to look at Madeline had a look of relief, wanting to thank Madeline for sparing her life and taking her position.

    It made it worse when she pondered more on it because Madeline couldn''t help, but think on how many people the King had killed for his thirst for blood. She bowed her head, "Please, allow me to be the one instead of the maid."

    "And?" asked Calhoun and just as she thought, he wanted more from her, "We could have saved time by now, but you made me wait. Do you think I will be happy with a mere offer?" he had a look on his face, making it look like he didn''t care about what Madeline said.

    Madeline didn''t know what more Calhoun wanted. No, it wasn''t that she didn''t know, but she was not going to give him what he truly wanted. Things like that could not be taken by force.

    "Are you going to keep making it worse for you, by not speaking?" Calhoun''s words made her shake her head. Without looking at the maid, he said, "Leave," the maid bowed her head to the King, and then at thedy in the dining room before escaping from the room and being thankful for living another day in the castle.

    Calhoun and Madeline were back to being alone in the dining room. He hadn''t moved from his position with his back against the table, and Madeline stood near the wall, her feet glued.

    "I am giving you my blood, isn''t that enough?" asked Madeline, her brown eyes looking at his passive expression.

    Calhoun noticed Madeline''s beating heart, that was calmer than before where it wasn''t erratic, "Nothing is ever enough," his words were truthful, and Madeline gulped.

    "One day I won''t have anything more to give," she stated to see him raise his hand in front of him, waiting for her to start walking.

    "Don''t worry about that. I would have consumed you by then," said Calhoun and Madeline wondered if it was another definition of being dead. The smile which he had been holding back finally broke through his lips because Madeline herself didn''t realise how she had spoken about a future which she was not willing to think a few days ago.

    Madeline had to force herself to move her feet, her heart slowly picked up pace as she closed the distance between them toe to stand in front of him finally.

    "Why do you like to make it difficult for you? When you could have agreed, without having to make me wait," asked Calhoun when it wasn''t even Madeline''s fault.

    "I have told you this is not the way how you woo a girl," clearly Calhoun had never fallen in love before and she happened to be the first person, thought Madeline to herself. The only fortunate oue from this situation was her father having a shop and help but the rest, it was the same.

    Calhoun pushed himself to stand straight, leaving the table, and he stepped in front of her, "And I told you I have my ways of making you fall for me."

    Before Madeline could think, she blurted the words, "I didn''t know threatening the person was a way to do it," but Calhoun wasn''t angry. The King was so twisted up in the head that things like these turned to be apliment to his ears, at least that is what Madeline thought by seeing the smile broaden on his lips.

    "What can I say, that''s me," said Calhoun. In a blink of an eye, he caught hold of her waist to pick her up and ced her right on the surface of the table.

    Madeline had not expected for him to make her sit on the table, and by the single effortless action of his, she could feel her heart beating loud again. She pushed herself back with both her hands ced on the edge of the table. She had truly hoped Calhoun would find someone to drink blood from, but something told her that he wasn''t bluffing when he said he would kill the person.

    Calhoun took one step closer to her, admiring the girl''s feature under the candlelight and she looked like the most exquisite meal he would ever have.

 Chapter 128 On the table- Part 2

    <h4>128 On the table- Part 2</h4>

    After all, Calhoun was the one who had caught her and not someyperson. It was told that nothing ever missed the King''s eye.

    "W-what are you doing?!" asked Madeline when the hand Calhoun had ced on her knee moved up. Her hand quickly shot forward to stop him from moving it any further than what he had done.

    Calhoun looked at her, to ask, "What did I do?"

    This King! Madeline tried to keep herself calm, but how could she when he was doing something so scandalous. He might have tried things like this with other women, but it didn''t mean she was going to let him try those things on her.

    "You said you were going to drink my blood," reminded Madeline so that he didn''t try anything more than what he had asked from her.

    "Eager to have me bite you?" Calhoun asked her and Madeline gritted her teeth.

    "Don''t try-" Madeline tried to warn him, but with one swift movement, her hand that was ced on top of his to stop him from venturing more had reversed its position. Calhoun caught hold of her hand, and she wondered how fast his movement was that she had not seen iting.

    A sliver of fear ran down her spine at the thought, how the King was not only capable ofpelling people by his power but that he alone was strong enough to snap a person in a second. She had seen the fear in the maid''s eyes as if she knew of the fate that was waiting for her in the hands of the King.

    "Why do you resist?" asked Calhoun, leaning forward with his hand still holding the wrist of her hand which she tried to slip out of his hold, but his hold turned firm.

    "Why do you force?" Madeline retorted back and she saw how close he was to her and the air that was present in her lungs was quickly depleting because of theck of air she was letting in.

    "Stop resisting then," replied Calhoun, his thumb moved across her wrist, and she felt her lips go dry. In an effort to bring back moisture, she slowly ran her tongue on her lips, and Calhoun''s eyes quickly fell on the little action. His eyes turned dark, "What part of the chase do you not understand?"

    "Stop trying to run away," he said to her, "Do it, and I will stop chasing you. The red riding hood with the wolf."

    "Bad wolf," Madeline added the word which he missed and she saw the fangs appear.

    "Yes, big bad wolf. A lovelybination, isn''t it?" asked Calhoun, and he finally let Madeline''s hand go from his hold to see her staring back at him. Waiting for him to pounce and the wicked teasing smile didn''t leave his lips. To Calhoun, it wasn''t just about having her by his side for the way she looked, but it was everything he hade to know, and he wanted to learn more about her.

    "I don''t think people would agree about it," she replied, her body aware of his closeness while wondering what he was going to do next. When it came to Calhoun, it was not just about to expect the unexpected, but the unexpected always turned to extremities.

    "Who cares what others think. If you are not aware, the King''s word is final. If the crow is ck and I say it is white people arepelled to agree."

    Madeline ced her hand on her knee for protection if he were to put it on her thighs again, "Isn''t that tyranny?" she asked him.

    Calhoun only continued to smile at her, his lips twisting to say, "That''s enough of talk. Are you trying to distract me? The more you make me wait, the worse my thirst will turn."

    It was already worse with him putting her on the table like she was a meal to be eaten. She wondered what else was awaiting her.

    Madeline could feel the goosebumps rise on her skin when he continued to stare at her without another word. With her knees that was stuck close and keeping Calhoun at bay from getting more close, she felt Calhoun ce both his hands on her knees, and even her hand that was there couldn''t stop him from pushing it apart. Her eyes widened, seeing how effortlessly he took another step to close distance between them. If she moved back any further, she would be sleeping on the table lika a piece of offering for him as an actual meal.

    Calhoun then put his arm around Madeline''s waist, bringing her close to him, "Calm down. With the rate your heart is beating, it might explode," he stated, and Madeline agreed to him, but it was his fault!

    She doubted that she would ever be able to stay one step ahead of Calhoun when it came to knowing what he was thinking. If Madeline thought she was one step ahead of him, she only came to realiseter that he was ten steps ahead of her.

    "Maybe if you let me go it would calm down," Madeline said, her eyes closed for a second. She tried to calm down as the anxiousness in her chest was not ready to settle down. This was not normal to her, to be in a male''s arm, especially one who was a vampire who was waiting to suck her blood.

    "Tough luck with that," was the response she received from Calhoun, and she opened her eyes to find herself gazing straight into his red eyes, "What are you scared about? It is just taking a drink from you," saying this, Calhoun took a piece of Madeline''s hair which she had braided from the back of her ear, bringing it forward. What was Madeline supposed to reply to when she knew, Calhoun knew what was there on her mind. She then felt him push the hair behind along with the other hair that hade to settle on top of her shoulder.

    He was going to bite her neck.

    And as the realisation started to sink in which she was trying to evade, her head turned lighter like she was going to faint.

    "Madeline," he called her name that brought her back from her thoughts to return to see him, "Close your eyes," he ordered, but instead ofplying, her eyes turned wider.

    "Why?" she asked, her voice shaky.

    Calhoun was enjoying her pure reactions, the sides of his lips pulling up, "Thought it would be easier if you have thoughts of dying," he joked.

    This was not aughing matter! Thought Madeline to herself.

    Noticing Madeline who had not closed her eyes, Calhoun said, "Suit yourself." His hand that was on her back pushed her towards him.

    Madeline saw how Calhoun''s eyes left hers, and it moved back to look at the side of her neck, the other hand of his was busy moving any possible lone hair. His movements were sleek, and she would have thought he would drop his hand down now, but she was so wrong about it.

    As his head tilted, Calhoun''s hand moved to weave his fingers through the back of her hair above her neck, feeling the softness of her hair so that he could angle her the way he wanted. He viewed her slender neck which looked softer under the candlelight in the room, waiting for him to bite...

    Deciding to listen to Calhoun''s previous words, she closed her eyes, weing the darkness around which she was going to fall deeper into.

    "Don''t move," came his next words for her to listen, his breath hitting her ear and Madeline''s hands clenched that were on herp. She doubted she had anywhere to go right now, not with him standing in front of her. Madeline was a nervous wreck, but she tried to stay asposed as she could.

    With her heart beating, Calhoun could tell that she was still there, listening to him and waiting, her heart hitching up asionally.

    Madeline then felt Calhoun''s hand that had weaved itself into her blonde hair, turning her to lean to the side for further ess, and when she felt his breath on her neck, the nerves in her body went haywire. She felt Calhoun was ying with her, like the big bad wolf that was pawing back and forth with its prey. Because she felt his breath move from the bottom to the top of her neck.

    She was too tempting, and Calhoun couldn''t hold back anymore. His fangs came to press on her skin, and he finally bit into her slender neck.

 Chapter 129 On the table- Part 3

    <h4>129 On the table- Part 3</h4>

    Her body turned red because it wasn''t just his fangs that had touched her neck. She could also feel his lips, and they were not exactly still as she felt him suck the skin while drinking her blood. The feeling of pinpricking pain faded away, and all she could feel was his lips that were pressed on to her skin. Her body started to heat up as it had never done before. Calhoun held her intimately in his arms and the faint thought about how things would get more difficult to escape passed by her mind.

    Every nerve in her body felt aware of him and his touch. His hands, the closeness they shared, his lips and the breath that fell on her neck as he continued to drink.

    She was under his mercy.

    While Madeline was a nervous wreck under Calhoun''s touch, he savoured every single drop that reached his tongue. She tasted even sweeter than thest time. And the more he sucked, the more he wanted to have her, his fingers curled at the need to consume her very soul. It was a taste that was addicting, and it might have been because it was Madeline and not some other woman.

    The single thought of someone trying to take away something this precious from him, which he had only found, boiled his blood. And his eyes snapped open and narrowed to look nowhere in particr. It seemed like he would have to leave a warning so that there wouldn''t be a second time for it to happen again.

    As he retracted his fangs back from her neck, Madeline finally felt relieved that he was going to let her go, but her hopes were short-lived. She felt Calhoun''s coarse tongue running on the spot where he had bitten with one single stroke, and that was enough for Madeline to push Calhoun away from her. She looked utterly mortified.

    There was something in those red eyes now that looked darker than before, and his tongue licked his lips, "It was the most wonderful meal that I have had the pleasure of having," he said. The hand that was in her hair slid down to fall back to his side, while the other hand that was behind her back felt the pettiness as he moved it around to let her go finally.

    Madeline''s eyebrows had furrowed because of his licking her which she had not expected him to do and when he took a step back as if wanting to admire her, she realised her chest was heaving gently. She could only hope this would not turn out to be a routine-

    "I think I am addicted to your blood. I will need to take a couple of sips every now and then," stated Calhoun and Madeline paled hearing this.

    "All blood tastes the same," at Madeline''s words, she saw him cock his head to the side.

    "Are you the vampire or I, here?" he questioned her.

    Calhoun stared at Madeline, his eyes as if ready to eat her up. He finally hummed for an answer, "Have a goodnight sleep, Maddie," he wished her.

    "Goodnight, milord," she finally raised her head, her footsteps slow while being wary and she pulled open the door. Once she stepped out of the room, Calhoun heard her footsteps pick up speed, and he couldn''t stop the grin that appeared on his lips.

    Madeline didn''t stop walking until she finally reached the quarters of her room. She pushed the door to step in and shut it close behind her. She took arge breath of air and leaned her back against the door.

    After her heart stopped racing, she finally took to walk towards the bath where the mirror hung on the wall. Leaning forward, she turned her head to the side, and she saw small red dots on her neck. Bending down, she washed her face, trying to get her mind sorted as it felt too messy to think anything. After sshing water a couple of times, she finally stood straight to see the water drops slide from her skin and fell down.

    Remembering Calhoun''s tongue running up her skin, she shivered and bent down again to ssh some more water on her face.

    On the other side of the castle, where the night continued to prevail in Devon, Calhoun was in a better mood than he was in the noon after finding what was written in the note by Madeline''s mother. He stood in the open tower, his eyes steady staring at the horizon. He heard the sound of footstepsing from behind him.

    "How was Sophie doing?" asked Calhoun.

    "Angry but more upset," answered Theodore, who stopped walking, "She mightin to Seniordy Wilmot about it."

    "And when did we start caring about what the little girl does?" Calhoun had kept Sophie around for his reasons, because of the so-called family connections.

    Theodore then said, "She wanted to offer me a higher position here."

    Calhoun chuckled, "What a naive girl to think she can get her way around the castle," and he then said, "Madeline''s food reminds me of something from the past."

    "It does, milord," agreed Theodore, "Did you have a good meal?"

    A content smile appeared on his lips, "The best."

    Though it was only two hours since he had taken a bite from Madeline in the dining room, he could barely wait to take another bite from her.

 Chapter 130 Hop on- Part 1

    <h4>130 Hop on- Part 1</h4>

    A man''s lips on her neck, in such an intimate position! She closed her eyes, cursing herself as well as the life she had been pushed into. Maybe for the King, it wasn''t a big thing as he was probably used to sucking the women''s neck in the whole of Devon. But it wasn''t something Madeline did- offering her neck to be sucked. She rolled on the bed to the other side. Now that morning had arrived, her thoughts were much more clearer than yesterday night. She could feel twice the embarrassment she had felt during the time of supper.

    Her hand moved up to touch her neck. The King had not killed her. Not yet, as he had given his word to her, but she didn''t believe him. The man made a deal with her about entering the maze to find the exit, where in the end, she found out there wasn''t another exit to begin with.

    In his presence, every word that left from her lips turned against her, and Madeline worried if she should stop talking. At least this way she wouldn''t be digging her grave herself and sitting inside it by his words.

    Madeline finally got up from the bed because she heard the bird singing not too far away from the window. Her feet padded across the cold floor. Pulling the strings from the side, the curtain pulled itself apart for her to see a bird that was pecking on something outside the window.

    The bird had yellow and blue wings. Small and plump that stopped pecking and chirped something to her. Madeline stared at the bird, a small smile forming on her lips.

    "Don''te too close," she whispered to the bird when it got curious and hopped on its feet to get a closer glimpse of her. Tilting it''s head every now and then, "This ce is not for you. Youe any closer, they might end up caging you too, pretty bird," she said to the bird even though the bird didn''t understand a word she said.

    When she heard footsteps in front of the closed room, someone knocked on the door, Madeline quickly shooed the bird away for it to fly before she made her way to the door. Opening it, she noticed it was the maid Agnes who had arrived at the front, her head bowing.

    "Good morning, mdy."

    "Good morning," Madeline greeted the girl. Now that she had opened the doors and wasn''t standing near the window, she realised the sun was brighter, and she opened the doorspletely for light to enter the room.

    "Did you have a good sleep, mdy?" asked Agnes. She might have been the only maid who was friendlierpared to the other maids, who had been giving her looks since the time she had arrived at the castle.

    "Let me help you to get ready. The King has stepped out of his room and will be expecting you by his side," informed the maid and Madeline sighed internally.

    she had been bathed, her hair brushed, and she wore newer clothes that were not the same as the other dresses she had worn thest six days. It made Madeline wonder if the royal members never wore the same clothes or if they repeated their clothes every one or two months. Living in the vige, Madeline didn''t have the need to have many pairs of clothes, and even if she and her sister did need them, they often got it from the rental shops or borrowing others clothes.

    Madeline''s family was poor, and thankfully they had a house which was given to her father else it would have been difficult to live in the vige with no ce to call as their own. Right now, she was in the castle, a solid roof over her head and dresses that she would have never imagined to wear in the past.

    She found it to be slightly ironic, how she didn''t want them even though they could provide herfort. Once she was ready to leave the room, in a presentable form, she followed the maid.

    Reaching the court, the maid quickly took a couple of steps away with a bow before she left Madeline in the entrance of the court. Some of the ministers had already arrived, standing in front of the King who was sitting on his throne, listening to one of them talk.

    On seeing Calhoun''s face, Madeline''s face turned red. He was yet to notice her and her feet wasn''t moving forward to enter the court as she stood at the entrance. Embarrassment coated her cheeks, turning her face flush red. She remembered his hand on her back and in her hair, before which his hands had pushed both her knees apart and she felt light headed. She needed some time to breathe before she would be able to see him. With that thought, Madeline quickly turned around and took two steps forward, when she heard,

    "Lady Madeline, good morning," greeted Calhoun.

    Madeline could feel goosebumps rise on her arms on hearing him call her name. Would it be bad if she ran now? Asked Madeline to herself. Of course, she wouldn''t go too far as he would catch up with her and she didn''t want him chasing her this early in the morning.

    Gingerly she turned around, walking forward into the courtroom which was big and painted white, the floor clean and smooth. She bowed her head.

    "Good morning, my King," she greeted him back.

    Resisting the King in private and doing it in public were two different things. Since she had met Calhoun, Madeline had been extremely cautious. Even though there were times where he taunted her, she had to be careful of what she spoke to the King.

    When she raised her head, she saw Calhoun staring at her, his eyes meeting hers which looked redder today and maybe less intimidating than what she hade to see yesterday, "Where were you going?" he asked in front of everyone, his voice deep and strong.

    Madeline quickly ran her mind on what to answer, "I thought I forgot something."

    "What did you forget?" came the next question.

    What did she forget?! Madeline asked to herself. She had forgotten she could be seen as the lowly subject of the King. If the King didn''t show his interest in her, she would be just another person in the sea of his subjects who could be easily lost.

    "I...I thought I forget to," oh dear, God, thought Madeline in her head. Seeing Calhoun right now, staring at her with his eyes intensifying it felt like her brain had stopped working to make up anything, "I thought I left the room open," she finally filled the nks.

    Both Calhoun and Madeline knew it was a lie, at least with the way Calhoun''s eyes continued to stare at her, she knew he had identified the lie, but what was she supposed to say? That she was embarrassed toe to stand in front of him?

    "The servants know better than to steal or step into the room which has been given to you. You don''t have to worry about it," said Calhoun, continuing with her lie, the smile on his lips moving up and she bowed her head again.

    "Thank you for the assurance, my King," and then she looked at the hem of her dress that was touching the floor, and she then looked up.

    Calhoun then ordered, "Come, stand by my side," and Madeline did as he asked.

    She didn''t know why he was making her stay in the court when she was not going to be of any help here. During her time in the court, she did nothing but stare everywhere around her other than at Calhoun. It was because every time she saw him, her face turned red. Twenty minutes passed before Calhoun dismissed the group of ministers to have only Theodore in the room along with Madeline.

    "Have you eaten breakfast, Madeline?" questioned Calhoun.

    "Not yet, milord," she answered, her eyes moved to look at his clothes before they finally met his eyes.

    "I have arranged for some recreational activities for you," stated Calhoun and Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed. Were they going to jump from the cliffs again? Calhoun then turned to Theodore, "Go get Robin ready."

    Theodore held a passive expression which was serene and calm, "Yes, milord," answered the man,plying to the request, "I will get them arranged," bowing his head, he took three steps back before turning around and leaving the court.

    Madeline, who was curious, asked, "What is the activity?"

    "You will find out," came the reply from Calhoun who stood up from his throne and walked towards Madeline, "Let''s have some food. I need to have some too," saying this, his eyes fell on her neck and Madeline was quick to take two steps away from him.

 Chapter 131 Hop on - Part 2

    <h4>131 Hop on - Part 2</h4>

    "Why did you step away?" he asked, taking two steps forward towards her and before she could take another step, he had already caught up to her, "You really make me enjoy the chase, and some part tells me you love it," his lips twisted and Madeline stared back at him.

    "You are wrong," her reply was quick, and he did nothing but smile further.

    "Are you sure about it? I have told you many times already that I love the chase and you only give me more reasons to chase and hunt you down."

    "I am not a prey to hunt."

    Calhoun chuckled, "You are mine to hunt. It is better you stay close to me than trying to keep away a distance because you should know it brings about an opposite effect on me contrary as to what you think it will do. Your skin looks red," he said, his eyes moving away from her brown eyes that looked guarded to trail down from her cheek to the jaw and the column of her neck before it went further to look at the top of her dress before moving back up to look into her eyes.

    Madeline''s skin only turned redder as blood rushed up, with his eyes that had trailed on her skin, "You are my prey to hunt. Just mine," his words came out to be absolute.

    The King was overbearing andpared to how things were, when they first met properly to have lunch with her family, she felt like it had only gotten worse. She was not his!

    "Say it out loud what you have on your mind," Calhoun probed for a reply, noticing how Madeline was resisting from blurting anything more. He wanted her to fall and make mistakes, mistakes just for him.

    "So that it makes things worse?" she asked him.

    The sinister smile appeared on his lips, amusement in his eyes, "When did that happen?" he asked, "I give you the freedom to speak."

    "Only in your favour," she replied to him. Anything that didn''t go well with him he liked to turn it as if she was the one at fault.

    Calhoun shook his head, "I don''t even remember when that happened. Maybe you can choose your words more carefully," she doubted that would help, "How did you sleepst night?" asked Calhoun, eagernessced in his voice.

    "I had nightmares about monsters," answered Madeline, her eyes hardened knowing what he was hinting.

    The smile never lowered down from Calhoun''s face, and he took in her expression of resistance, "You must have been scared. Want to stay in my room so that I can drive them away?" he asked her, his voice low that had the ability to seduce anyone, especially with the way he looked.

    This is what she was talking about, said Madeline to herself.

    "I think it will only make it worse," the words left Madeline''s lips where she was gritting her teeth.

    "How do you know that, when we haven''t tried sleeping on the same bed?"

    Ignoring his previous question, she bowed her head, "Milord, I have a request to make from you."

    "If it only sits well with me," came the condition and Madeline knew her request had been thrown out of the window before she could even propose it, "What is it?" he asked with a curious look in his eyes.

    Madeline raised her head to say, "Please take your meals regrly."

    Calhoun tilted his head, "And?" he knew there was more, knowing exactly what she was going to say, "Let me save your breath, sweet girl. You are the dessert I will have, and I won''t take a no for it. Do not worry; we will give some break before the blood replenishes back into your body."

    "Why?" asked Madeline, a frown came to settle on her forehead.

    "Because I get hungry? What a silly question you have asked,"ughed Calhoun, starting to make his way out of the courtroom and Madeline quickly followed, on his heel.

    "I am sure there are many other people out there, who are willing to offer you their blood to take," she tried to plead with him. She didn''t want to repeat what happened yesterday. The maid''s neck was in line, which was why she had stepped in��not wanting to think that a maid''s life was lost and the blood was on her hands.

    "Their blood doesn''t taste as good as yours," the King''s answers were simple. Madeline didn''t know how to persuade him to go suck someone else, "Why are you against it? You said yourself many are willing to offer me their blood. Doesn''t it mean it is a privilege to be of some use for the King?"

    "I can help you-"

    Calhoun stopped walking, turning to her and his eyes turned dark, "Help me in other things?" he asked. His feet moved forward and Madeline tried to create some space, "What will you do? I have a cook who cooks, servants who clean the castle, coachmen to ride the carriage and ministers who advise in the court. But all they do is bring problems, and the suggestions they give are usually useless. What can you offer me, Madeline?" he emphasized on ''you'' that felt intimidating.

    He had pulled out all the things she could be of any use, but then she said, "I can be your friend��"

    Calhoun stared hard at her. His eyes narrowed down that made Madeline feel small, "Be my lover and my wife."

    Madeline refused it right away in her mind!

    "I have better options if you feel the position of a lover is difficult. You can help me bathe." The corner of one side of his lips pulled up, to see how Madeline turned mortified at the idea, and it made him wonder if she imagined herself bathing him.

    "You have maids to do that," answered Madeline, and she didn''t even know why she was arguing with him. She was stupid, a stupid vige girl who was no match to the King''s trickery.

    "I can have them to do something else," Calhoun suggested as if it was no big deal. Madeline turned her head away to hear him say, "I will not drink your blood once in a week. We will do it once every month. What is it going to be?"

    There were two sides to the weights, one where it involved him not sucking her blood or skin, and on the other hand, she would need to bathe him. That would mean that she would be seeing him naked. After all, who bathed with their clothes on, asked Madeline to herself. She didn''t like either of the two options.

    "You offer the things you want."

    "I am not offering you," he said and Madeline looked at him perplexed, "We can discuss this over breakfast."

    Calhoun started to walk, and Madeline stood there, staring at his back for several seconds before finally moving her feet. She didn''t want to leave her stomach empty out of anger.

    Madeline didn''t bring up the conversation during the time of their breakfast, and she ate as much as she could. Wondering if she turned fat, maybe the King would lose his interest in her. Knowing how speaking directly didn''t work with him, all she could think was her options that turned out to be passive-aggressive. She didn''t know how else to deal with Calhoun.

    While taking a bite, she slowly sneaked up from her te to look at him, noticing how his hands moved with the knife and fork. She noticed Calhoun had long fingers. She shook her head to get rid of the thought that moved to the time when he had weaved his hand into the back of her hair.

    He hadplimented the food she had made, having Sophie''s food cleared from the table while giving her the priority. What went inside the King''s mind? Asked Madeline to herself. The King was undoubtedly a handsome man who exuded power. Seeing him quiet and concentrating on food, he appeared to be a little more tolerable.

    When she went to look back at him, she saw him about to take a bite from the fork.

    His lips parted to take in the food into his mouth, and two trails of the juiciness of the meat escaped from the corner of his lips when Calhoun brought his finger up. He caught them in time to put his finger into his mouth.

    Madeline''s eyes were concentrated on the lower half of his face, entranced by the action where she failed to realise that Calhoun''s eyes had fallen on her.

    "Enjoying the little show?" asked Calhoun and Madeline''s eyes snapped up to meet his eyes, "I can demonstrate it better," he said, and Madeline quickly turned her head to look at her te before Calhoun would suck on his finger again.

    For the remainder of the meal, her eyes didn''t move to look at him again.

    The dining room was big with the long table that had the capacity to seat more than two dozens of people but the time she had been here, it was mostly Calhoun who was sometimes apanied by Theodore. She wondered if he ever got bored, sitting here and eating by himself.

    Where was his family? asked Madeline to herself.

 Chapter 132 Hop on- Part 3

    <h4>132 Hop on- Part 3</h4>

    It wasn''t her intention to give out wrong ideas, and she quietly continued having her breakfast. They finally stepped out of the dining room to walk out and behind the castle to reach the stables. She heard the neighing of the horses that were tied in theirpartments.

    A man appeared to bring out a stallion which was ck, pulling its reins to stop it in front of King. The man bowed his head who was in histe forties, a small belly that stretched over the front of his shirt.

    "Good morning, my King," the stableman bowed his head, "Sir Theodore told me you wanted Robin ready for a ride."

    So this was Robin, thought Madeline to herself. When the King had mentioned the name ''Robin'', it had made Madeline wonder if this person Robin would be jumping off the cliff with them.

    "It''s been two weeks since I took him out. Today is a bright day, it should be good to spend some time outside," said Calhoun, stepping forward to go near the horse and ran his hand over the horse'' neck as if to pet it and the horse neigh in response, "Isn''t it?" Calhoun asked and turned towards Madeline.

    "Yes, it''s a bright day," she agreed. When the stableman''s eyes fell on thedy who he had not seen before, he bowed his head, and Madeline returned it. The King often brought many females as hispany, and it seemed like it was anotherdy. But this one looked sober than the others that he had seen before.

    Calhoun introduced the horse to Madeline, "This is Robin, my stallion. Have you ever rode a horse before, Madeline?" he asked her.

    "I do," and on Madeline''s response, Calhoun looked impressed.

    "Good," responded Calhoun and his words weren''t taunting. Still looking at Madeline, he ordered the stableman, "Get the finest mare we have in the stable for this fairdy, Walter."

    Madeline looked rmed. Was she going to ride one? The stableman left their side, and she looked at Calhoun. She had only hopped on the horse three or four times before which needed someone''s assistance. Maybe riding wasn''t the right word as it was more like she was walking.

    "Scared?" asked Calhoun, his eyes shined by noticing how the gears in her mind were turning.

    "No," answered Madeline. She was, but she didn''t want to show him any weakness.

    Calhoun turned to his horse, petting it to say, "It is okay if you are. You can ride with Robin and me."

    She was not going to sit with him, on the same horse. Yesterday, she had shared more than enough time with him, maybe she could take the horse far far away to make an escape? Madeline thought?to herself. She wondered if it was possible. Perhaps not today, but if she earned his trust where he would let her go by herself, she could do it...Madeline didn''t want to jump into a quick n where she didn''t know how to proceed after that.

    But before doing that, she would have to think about her family. Calhoun was capable of doing anything, and she had to keep that in mind. If he had helped her father and was going to help her sister in getting a suitor, he could also snatch them away, to turn it worse than what was there before.

    Walter, the stableman, came back pulling a brown mare, patting its neck to make it stand next to the stallion.

    "Her name is Bonnie. She is gentle," said Walter before stepping away from the horses.

    "Thank you, Walter. You can leave," Calhoun shooed the man away so that Madeline could mount on the horse with only his eyes to witness, "The horse is all yours," he stated. cing one of his feet on the stirrup, Calhoun sat on the saddle to wait for Madeline to take her seat on the brown horse.

    She stared at the brown horse, moving closer to it to raise her hand to pat its neck in the same way Calhoun had done to his horse. Madeline knew how to keep herself still once she would sit on the saddle, but in the past, she had always used someone''s help to get on.

    Her eyes moved from the saddle to the stirrups, her hand still petting the horse before finally letting it go. Madeline hoped to get her footing right and not fall. Calhoun who was looking at her, leaned to the side to ask,

    "Need help?"

    Madeline was too stubborn to ask for his help. She tried to get a good grip as she ced her foot on the stirrup, pushing herself up, but the horse was tall for her to reach. Were the horses back in the viges small? With the dress that she wore, she couldn''t go hopping on the horse as there were chances of her dress moving in an awkward position.

    She tried again but she couldn''t. If she knew this day woulde, Madeline would have learned to sit on a horse effortlessly.

    Feeling the eyes of Calhoun, she looked up to meet his eyes. He had a teasing smile on his lips when he said, "Take your own time. I am enjoying watching you."

 Chapter 133 Who said what- Part 1

    <h4>133 Who said what- Part 1</h4>

    While Madeline was stubborn to ask his help, Calhoun gave her a minute more before he got down from his horse and walked around, "Done trying?" he asked her.

    Madeline had to agree to herself that she wouldn''t be able to mount on the horse by herself as even if a day would pass by, she would still be struggling to get on the saddle. She turned her head to meet Calhoun''s eyes. He took her silence that she had finally given up and was ready to take his help.

    "Take your position," he ordered,ing to stand behind her while she ced one foot on the stirrup. She felt his hand being ced on either side of her waist, "Ready?" he asked, his wordsing to fall right next to her ear. When she nodded her head, Calhoun pushed her up high enough for her to sit on the horse.

    "Thank you," she murmured under her breath, her eyes nced once at him before looking at the mare she was sitting on.

    One side of Calhoun''s lips had been pulled up, and he walked around before getting back on his own horse, "We will be taking a walk from here into the forest. I am guessing by your word that you can handle the horse?" he asked her one time, hinting that she could stille to sit with him, on the horse.

    "I will be okay," answered Madeline, her eyes finally going to meet his and he smirked.

    "If you say so," saying this, Calhoun patted his horse for it to start to walk, its hooves clicking on the ground and Madeline moved her legs for the mare to start walking, hoping it would only walk and wouldn''t gallop. Horses were strange, thought Madeline to herself because some were gentle, and some were too wild to handle.

    "Where did you learn to sit on the horse?" She looked up from her horse to see Calhoun, who was in the front.

    "My aunt has four horses in her shed."

    Madeline''s family didn''t have horses of their own. It was something she had learned from her aunt, who lived in the town. She wouldn''t say she was fond of horse riding, but she didn''t hate it either. She had been used to doing housework which she took great pleasure��helping her mother and father in their daily duties while being a good sister who apanied her elder sister Beth everywhere.

    As the stableman, Walter had said, this mare was indeed a gentle one, as it moved without Madeline having to tap her legs many times to the sides of the horse.

    "She seems to be a lovely person,"mented Calhoun, pulling the reins of his stallion so that Madeline''s mare could catch up to him and they could ride together.

    Calhoun asked, "How about your mother? Does she know how to read and write?" It was rare for women of Madeline''s mother''s age to be qualified with a full education. Especially when one came from the vige, there were rare chances that they had the opportunity to be educated. But Calhoun wanted to confirm something more than that.

    Madeline''s lips pursed, "Yes, she does," she nodded her head. Her mother needed her sses to read the words; without it, she was not able to read anything.

    It seemed that the note was indeed written by Mrs. Harris, thought Calhoun to himself and it wasn''t good news to him. To the man, the ties of the family didn''t matter, and if something did matter, it was the girl next to him.

    "You must be feeling fortunate then. The poor don''t always have the facility to learn," he said, not being subtle about where Madeline came from, "Most of the women from the high families don''t understand the importance and often don''t bother with it without any taste for literature, or poetry."

    "What people have, they don''t appreciate it," and it was the truth, thought Madeline to herself.

    "You should start appreciating our time together more then," stated Calhoun, his eyes filling up with amusement and the smile broadened on his lips for his sharp fangs to appear for Madeline to see. When she was about to say something, he beat her to it, "Are you going to keep insisting that you don''t like me and you like a stranger, who is more unknown to you than what you know of me? You sound like a broken violin, sweetheart."

    Madeline''s eyes narrowed, and she gritted her teeth that he was calling her a broken violin, "You might find it to be broken violin, Milord because I feel you don''t understand what I am saying."

    "Are you?"

    "What?" asked Madeline with a frown on her face.

    Madeline stared at Calhoun who was next to her, his horse moving forward and he asked, "You said you have been trying to make me understand that you have feelings for someone. But you won''t consider that you know the man barely."

    "Isn''t it because you didn''t give me the opportunity?" asked Madeline, trying to keep the conversation calm.

    The King chuckled at Madeline''s words, "You me me as if I have been keeping you here in the castle for years. If a man really loves and wants you, he will make a move immediately without dawdling like an idiot. We should perhaps ask the tailorman on what he thinks about you being painted by me in your thin underclothes? What do you think he will say?"

    "You are a vile man," she whispered, but Calhoun didn''t take it to heart. He instead smiled at thepliment.

    "Vile would be if I were to tell him how I painted you. What strokes of brush I used when I was painting your hands, neck, legs. Or how I sucked your neck," he stated, "But then I did nothing of that sort. Let''s have a quiet and peaceful day without you bringing up that tailorman, else I wouldn''t mind having him hang here," said Calhoun like it was not a big deal.

    "If you learned how to court ady this wouldn''t be an issue," she muttered under her breath, agitated. Even though Calhoun was the one who had suggested that they have a peaceful day, he was the one who threw oil to the fire.

    "Isn''t that why we are riding the horses," Calhoun turned his head to look at her, "I thought you would like some change in the air. To breath, and not by whispering to birds," at first Madeline didn''t understand what hisst words meant��whispering to birds? When realisation finally hit, her eyes widened.

    Her lips slightly trembled, "H-how do you know that?" she asked.

    He was speaking about the time when she was at the window, speaking to the bird where she had shooed it away when she had heard the door knock. Calhoun, like many other times, gave her an oblivious look. Dropping the smile, he turned serious.

    Madeline, whose heart had been quiet started to beat loudly again. She was shocked at how he knew when the door of her room was locked. Her hands turned mmy, the reins of the horse slipping through her hand, which she had to hold back.

    She then heard Calhoun say, "I did mention to you, you need to be careful with what you speak and who you speak. You live in my castle, isn''t it obvious that I am going to hear it?"

    Was he out in the garden when she was speaking to the bird? Asked Madeline to herself. It was the only possible exnation for it, "I must say you had some fascinating words to say to the bird. Would you want to know what it actually means to be caged?" the smile returned back on Calhoun''s lips- which was evil and ready to cause harm.

    She was scared with the words Calhoun had just uttered to her.

    They had only entered the forest, riding on the backs of the horses when Calhoun decided to pull the reins of the stallion to stop it from walking anymore. He turned around to dismount from his horse.

    Madeline didn''t want to stop, but she knew if she didn''t do it, Calhoun would be the one to stop the mare himself. She pulled the reins to stop the mare from moving forward. She stared at Calhoun who walked around toe to her side, and before he could help her, she had already got down from the horse. She was better at dismounting than mounting on the horse.

    Calhoun raised his hand in front of him, open-palmed towards Madeline who stood like a frozen statue because of the way he looked at her right now.?He took her hand in his and pulled her to walk with him.

    "Where are you taking me?" asked Madeline slightly worried, trying to keep up with his footsteps. What happened to his words to courting her politely without trying to scare her or be overbearing? She asked herself.

    "To show you something that might interest you," replied Calhoun.

 Chapter 134 Who said what- Part 2

    <h4>134 Who said what- Part 2</h4>

    .

    It was hard to know if Calhoun was angry.

    They had left the horses behind, walking further and further into the forest and Madeline could only hope that this wasn''t about another cliff ahead of them, "I can walk myself!" she said.

    Calhoun instead of letting her go, answered, "You were the one who said its a cage. Shouldn''t I make your wordse true, of what you said in the morning?" he taunted her.

    "When did youst listen to what I said?" came the quick retort through Madeline''s lips.

    "Like now? I am onlyplying to your thoughts," Calhoun said and Madeline felt her heart was going to jump out of her throat any moment. She didn''t know where Calhoun was taking her and what he had on his mind. She wanted t go back to the castle, back to the room. No, she wanted to go home.

    She tried to pull her hand away from him, and when Calhoun did let it go, Madeline staggered back. Her back hitting the closest tree to lean back. Both Madeline and Calhoun red at each other.

    "What is wrong with what I said? You keep me here by force, not letting me go back home. Twist and turn my words, so that you can use it on me. This is a new and unknown ce that I have never been to, and I don''t know anyone with whom I can normally speak to without having to watch every word of mine. I get looks by people as if there''s something going on, hearing words that is untrue! I am not that kind of woman! A whore," Madeline whispered thest word, stopping for a moment before she continued, "You cannot expect to get a woman''s heart by force! This is not how it works. Maybe it is how other woman liked it. I am not that kind of person. I-I never heard or been called by those words before and because of you��" she trailed.

    Tears filled up her eyes, refusing to spill out as they sparkled,?ring at Calhoun.

    She saw Calhoun''s eyes narrow down that looked furious and she was sure he was going to push her off the cliff himself this time. It didn''t take much time for Calhoun to close in the distance and stand in front of her. Madeline continued to lean against the rough bark of the tree for support so that her knees would not give away.

    "Who did you hear it from?" Calhoun''s eyes had turned dark, simr to what she had seenst night, but it was for different reasons.

    With all the things she had tried to keep a lid on, trying not to offend the King had gone in vain. In an emotional breakdown of anger, she had blurted out something which she had thought not to mention to Calhoun before.

    The tears in her eyes had slowly evaporated, but her face turned pale.

    "What?" she whispered, her voice came out lower than the one she had used during the time she had vented out at him.

    When Calhoun raised his hand towards, Madeline closed her eyes quickly out of her fear. She heard him say,

    "I want to go back to the castle. I want to rest," she said.

    "We will go back, but I need you to tell me who said that to you?" Calhoun asked her, his hand petting on the side of her head with gentle hand movements. Since the day Madeline had arrived at the castle to stay, he had given orders to the main in charge that was to be passed to the other servants on how to behave with the human girl.

    It seemed like there were some insolent beings in the castle who didn''t get the message.

    Calhoun believed that it was only him, who could do things to Madeline- if it was to make her cry or make her ufortable. But if someone else was making her ufortable, he would have to make sure it didn''t happen.

    The girl was his and no one else''s.

    Madeline who was already upset, had felt even worse, when she had overheard the maids speaking ill about her. That she was another whore of the King, who had been bedded by him. She didn''t know how things in the castle worked. Maybe it wasmon for Calhoun to take women into his quarters and the maids liked to gossip, but it didn''t sit well with her. But at the same time, she knew the consequences if she informed it to Calhoun what she had overheard and who it was.

    Trying to calm her breath, she tried to shift the conversation by asking, "Was that all you heard from my words?"

    His hand that was still petting the side of her head slowed down and her heart hitched, "I hear every word that leaves from that lips of yours. I don''t miss them, sweet girl, because everything that you say does matter. Let''s see how we can work out things but before that, I need you to tell me where you heard it."

    Unlike the teasing expression, he often used on her, Calhoun was quite gentle with her and Madeline was not used to this side of him. Given he had never physically hurt her, she didn''t know if the people she would mention would continue to exist the way they did right now.

    "Who was it?" Calhoun coaxed her for an answer, "Tell me," came his patient voice but only someone who knew the King personally, knew that there was nothing patient when it came to his actions and that it was only temporary.

    Madeline parted her lips, "I was just upset." Sure she was angry, and people gossiped all the time. It is what they did, but she didn''t expect anything ill towards them, "I am okay now."

    But Calhoun was not ready to let it go. To him, Madeline was the precious thing he had found out of luck, and she belonged to him. And if a person tried to so much as even look at her way with an intention to harm her, he would deal with it in his own ways.

    Calhoun then said, "I might let things slide when ites to you, but it doesn''t mean it holds the same when ites to others."

    Seeing that Calhoun was not going to let it go, Madeline finally said, "It was just something I heard in the castle."

    "That is obvious. Who was it?" he asked her, "If you don''t tell me it will only repeat. Is that what you want to hear?" If he let her go, there would be none of these situations arising, but there was no point bringing it up as Calhoun appeared to have made up his mind to keep her here forever, "Madeline," this time his voice was low and stern on her ears.

    She finally answered, "It was the maids."

    Upon hearing Madeline''s words, Calhoun returned back to the castle with her. His shoes on the floor made a sharp noise on the floor of the castle as he walked and Madeline followed, keeping up with him.

    "What are you going to do with them, Milord?" she asked in a hurry. She was the one who had blurted out the words, and she was the person who didn''t want Calhoun doing something bad to them.

    "To talk to them," he answered, his expression had turned from anger to a certain calmness that worried her. It was because of the way he walked. It didn''t seem like he was only going to talk. The servants who were walking in the corridor halted their steps to let the King pass with a bow to raise their heads only when the King had walked past them.

    Madeline closed her eyes, cursing herself internally for the folly she had made and she continued to walk next to the King, "Please wait!" she pleaded.

    Calhoun listened to her and stopped- as if to heed the words she had spoken to him during her little vent, something that had note to his notice.

    "Yes, Lady Madeline," he said, facing her, his voiceing out politer than ever before.

    "People speak all the time��" she trailed. Her eyes requesting him not to do something bad to the maids.

    "But they don''t speak about you in a distasteful tone," remarked Calhoun before saying, "You said you wanted to go back to your room. Go rest," he offered her a serene smile which made him look like a devil.

    She wanted to rest before he had decided to speak to the maids. Even if she went to the room, she would not get a wink of sleep now.

    When Calhoun started to walk again, Madeline was quick to follow him on her heel, and the King didn''t object her from following him. It wasn''t every day thedy took an interest in what he was doing.

    With the King back in the castle, Theodore was quick at Calhoun''s service. Calhoun ordered, "Get the servants in the courtroom."

 Chapter 135 Who said what- Part 3

    <h4>135 Who said what- Part 3</h4>

    Calhoun then turned to look at Madeline, "Was it men or women?"

    Madeline could feel her pulse rising, seeing how Theodore looked at her wondering what was going on but didn''t interfere in the short conversation, "Maids." Theodore didn''t have to hear the word from Calhoun as he quickly bowed and took his leave from them.

    It wasn''t Madeline who had done anything wrong, but because of the slip from her lips, two maids were going to be punished. All she could do is follow Calhoun to the courtroom and wait for the maids who started to assemble in less than few minutes. The maids didn''t know why they were being summoned and waited for the King to speak.

    Once everyone was in the court, Calhoun said, "It hase to my notice that there has been someone who has been not following the orders which were given down a week ago. The negligency is not only rude but disrespectful towards the King. It would be wise to step forward, considering your conscious of what you have done."

    The maids looked at each other, wondering who had done what, waiting for someone to step forward. More than a minute passed since the King had spoken and none of them appeared to step up, owning to what they did.

    "It seems like no one has a good conscious," Calhoun chuckled like an internal joke he was having with him and Madeline could feel her palms turning sweaty. It was only the King who had a smile on his lips, while the rest of them had a look of dread knowing to be wary of the King''s smile, "Lady Madeline, can you point out who it was, who dared to offend you," Calhoun said without looking at her.

    His eyes were moved across the maids, when he caught the maid. He raised his hand forward to move his fingers in ae hither motion. Before Madeline could say anything, Calhoun had found the second person who had a look of fear and guilt on her face.

    "Is there another lucky person we are waiting for?" asked Calhoun in a bright, enthusiastic voice. He finally turned towards Madeline to see her shake her head, "Wonderful," the King pped his hands together, the sound moving across the wide room until the ends of the walls.

    The two maids walked through the crowd of the other maids, making their way to the front with their head bowed as they trembled in fear. Madeline was not one of the maids, but she could feel her heart pounding in her chest as every second passed by.

    "How shall we deal with you both?" asked Calhoun, standing in front of his throne while looking at the maids who were soaked in fear. The maids were too scared to utter a single word in front of the King.

    "What did you say to thedy?" asked Calhoun, cing one step down and away from the throne. The maids gulped, "Don''t be shy. You weren''t before; you shouldn''t be shy now," came his taunting words.

    When Calhoun raised the sword that was in his hand, the maid near him was quick to fall down on the ground. Pressing her forehead against the floor, "M-my King please forgive me! I-I did not mean any disrespect!" her voice wasn''t loud as it quivered, "Mdy please forgive us. We did not mean to offend you."

    "You didn''t mean it?" asked Calhoun, tilting his head with his eyes on the maid, "I wonder how that is possible."

    The other maid who was standing as well got down on her knees, asking forgiveness while looking at Madeline. Calhoun said,

    "If there''s something I don''t like, it is when someone finds it hard to follow the instructions which are already given. Did you turn deaf when the order was given out?" asked Calhoun, "Now that you have spoken. I am curious to know what was said."

    The maid near him shook her head, "Forgive us, milord. This won''t happen again."

    "What did you tell thedy?" Calhoun repeated, the spark in his eyes dying down along with the smile as his voice hardened.

    He tapped the end of the sword on the floor that nked, and the maid said, "The h-human we thought y-you were b-bedding-" Calhoun lost his patience with the maid''s slowness, and he twirled the sword to bring it up. In one movement, the sharp metal sliced through the maid''s neck to separate her head from her body. Blood gushed out, and the maids who were present in the court didn''t dare to gasp in front of the King.

    Before the other maid could try to plead for her life, Calhoun had taken two more steps forward to swing the sword again for another head to roll. Madeline turned her head away. Her face paled along with her hands to turn cold. Her head felt dizzy, and before she knew it, she fell unconscious.

    When Madeline''s consciousness returned, she was lying on the bed. When she moved, she heard the voice in the room,

    "How are you doing?" It was Calhoun.

    Madeline turned her head away from the direction where she had heard his voicee from. How could he think she would be okay, after seeing two people get beheaded because of her? Asked Madeline in her mind.

    "You said you would talk to them," she whispered.

    "I did," he agreed, "I missed telling the part of beheading them." Of course, thought Madeline to herself.

    When she tried to sit up on the bed, pushing herself, she found Calhoun pulling up the pillow to ce it behind her back. He had a ss of juice in his hand that looked like it was from squeezed oranges, "Drink it," he said, and Madeline took it in her hand��raising it to her lips to take sips from it before bringing it down.

    "If I didn''t kill them, it would have set a bad example." Calhoun noticed her wary and quiet expression towards him, and he sighed. One hand of his fingers running through his hair. Getting up, he said, "Let me take you to the ce where we were going earlier."

    "To the cage?" she asked, to notice him roll his eyes.

    "If that is what you think, then yes. Come," he said, offering his hand for her to take. Madeline''s eyes moved to his hand, seeing how it was those same one that had been used to kill the maids, which was now outstretched out for her to take.

    It would be a lie, to tell she was not scared of him at the moment, but at the same time, she couldn''t refuse his demand as she noticed how the ck wings behind his back appeared.

    "What is it going to be?" he asked her, knowing just well how her curiosity piqued at the sight of his wings.

 Chapter 136 Not all cages are bad- Part 1

    <h4>136 Not all cages are bad- Part 1</h4>

    If he had brought it out, did that mean that they were going to fly to where ever he had nned to take her? Asked Madeline to herself.

    She gave an apprehensive look at Calhoun, "I don''t know where we are going." The way he had spoken during the time of the morning, it seemed like there was a cage or something she would not like waiting for her.

    "You will see," Calhoun said, his hand still waiting for her to take.

    After a second more, she finally ced her hand in his. When they stepped into the balcony of the room, Madeline couldn''t get her eyes off of Calhoun''s wings. They were truly big, like a bird''s wings, but this one was much better. As she had grown up, she had heard the folklore of how it was angels who possessed wings. Wings that were big and made of white feathers but here they were ck.

    Maybe it would have been ironic if Calhoun had white wings. ck wings suited the King for the personality he had, like the wings belonged to the devil who was handsome yet scheming one.

    "You were asleep for many hours," Calhoun said and Madeline finally broke her gaze away from his wings to look at him and then at the sky which had changed colours. The atmosphere didn''t feel warm anymore as the time of noon had passed like it was trying to wee the evening wind. "It worried me that you had hit your head hard," saying this, Calhoun''s hand moved to the back of her head. Rubbing it gently and Madeline felt the tenderness his touch held.

    The shock of seeing two maid''s heads roll had been something she found hard to digest. She didn''t know she would faint, but she did, and she must have fallen on the ground in the court.

    "How did I get back to the room?" asked Madeline, her eyes staring at Calhoun where his gaze moved back from her head to meet her eyes.

    "I carried you. I wouldn''t like someone else touching you in my presence," stated Calhoun, a hint of possessivenessced in his voice. Madeline noticed how his hair looked dishevelled as if Calhoun had been running his hand through his hair over and over again,pared to his regr hairstyle where his hair was usuallybed back.

    His eyes didn''t look bright and overbearing. It seemed rather mellow, making Madeline question herself if it was the change in brightness that put him under such light in her eyes now. But then looks were deceiving and so was this devil who stood next to her.

    Calhoun had not let go of Madeline''s hand. He saw how her eyes looked curiously at him like she was trying to figure out something. He enjoyed, taking pleasure that she was taking interest in him even if it was for dark reasons.

    It had got him worried when she hadn''t woken up and he had stayed by her side, in the room. Waiting for her to wake up while letting Theodore to look after the court proceedings until he would return. The King had never left court duties for a woman''s sake because no one was worth it. Women, he had bedded many, and he wasn''t ashamed of it. They were nothing but pawns. Even if they had tried to reach out for him, it had always been to im the position next to the throne.

    Everybody loved the throne, but he loved it more, enough to not want to share it with someone until Madeline came.

    "Ready to fly?" he asked her, noticing how there was a spark of interest along with hesitancy in her eyes.

    Madeline nodded her head, "Yes," she answered while not knowing exactly what she was supposed to do and Calhoun chuckled. His eyes filled up with delight, to think that something so sweet could exist. He wouldn''t have believed it before, but the more days were passing by, the more enchanted and entranced he felt towards her.

    When he turned to her, Madeline turned her body to face him, feeling his hand let go of the side of her head before he stepped forward. He then bent down to pick her up in his arms, carrying her, "Put your hands around my neck. You won''t fall," Calhoun added to see the rmed look in her eyes, letting him know that she had not thought through it before agreeing to him.

    What if she was going to fall?! Asked Madeline to herself. They wouldn''t be walking on the ground but flying, up in the air.

    Hesitatingly, she wound her hands around his neck. This was more intimate than what she had thought, and she looked ahead of her, not meeting his gaze but with him continuously staring at her, it was hard not to look.

    "What if I fall?" She was still young and wanted to live a life, "Have you done this before?" she asked Calhoun.

    "Carrying people in my arms?" asked Calhoun and Madeline could feel his strong arms below her legs and on her back, holding her.

    "Yes, carrying people," she affirmed.

    "Will you be jealous if I said I have?"

    Madeline stared into his red eyes, "Why do you think I would be jealous, milord?" she wanted to know the answer from him,

    "It is not every day a person gets the pleasure to be in the King''s arms, the person who holds the crown on his head. Especially not someone who has wings," when he said this, Madeline noticed how his wings moved for her to look at. She had the urge to touch it, wanting to see if the feathers were as soft as they looked, which was inky ck as his hair.

    "I never thought of flying. I wouldn''t be jealous. I like to keep my feet on the ground," on Madeline''s reply, Calhoun''s smile widened at the corners of his lips.

    "Come, fly with me then," he said. He stepped up on the edge of the railings and Madeline had to tighten her hold on his neck, her face scrunching in worry that she might fall, hoping Calhoun would not drop her- even if it was by mistake. Calhoun, who noticed Madeline, who had closed her eyes, said, "Open your eyes. How will you see the world that is there with your eyes closed."

    On Calhoun''s words, she opened her eyes in time to see the wings behind his back starting to p together, and in two seconds they had left the railings of the balcony of the room, soaring up in the air.

    "Does everyone know about your wings?" asked Madeline, her voice higher than usual.

    "They do," answered Calhoun, who appeared to be enjoying the flight.

    He smiled looking at Madeline, who quickly averted her gaze away from him. Taking the courage, she looked down at the castle that turned smaller and smaller as they flied higher in the sky. The castle and thend around it was indeed vast, and it made her question how she had even managed to run almost half the distance towards the gates. She had been desperate that day, and she had done what she thought was possible at that time to escape, but now she realised it was impossible.

    She was scared yet fascinated and excited to see something that no one would have ever seen except for the King��

    "Do all vampires have wings?" asked Madeline, her curiosity increasing about the night creatures and wanting to know more about them.

    "No," he answered her, "You won''t find night creatures having wings in here or anywhere around."

    The next question that popped up in her mind was why? Was it because he was the King? Was that why he had wings?

    Looking back down, she noticed that they were leaving behind the grounds of the castle and moving towards the forest which they previously had entered.

    Calhoun''s wings continued to p, keeping them up in the air and when they finally reached down towards the forest ground, he was the first one tond, and then he let her down��seeing how Madeline took two steps away from him as a reflex and his eyes narrowed, picking up that movement. He took a step towards her, closing the gap.

    Madeline felt his presence, and she gulped.

    It wasn''t that she was doing it intentionally, but every time she was this close to him, she didn''t know why she felt the need to run away from him. Maybe it was because of the first time they had met. Calhoun had cornered her when she had got lost in the castle looking at the painting.

    He took another step forward, and just when she was about to give some space, she saw Calhoun''s eyes zero down at her. His face held an irritated look, "Stop trying to get away from me."

    "Stoping so close when there''s more than enough space for you to stand!" blurted Madeline.

    Calhoun stared at her, seeing how she looked like a frightened animal and he just wanted to eat her up.

 Chapter 137 Not all cages are bad- Part 2

    <h4>137 Not all cages are bad- Part 2</h4>

    Madeline was beautiful, and she didn''t have to run away for him to chase as the girl''s very presence entranced Calhoun. He was holding back himself with a very fragile leash which if broke, it would only pounce and ravish the girl. It was possible that Madeline who wasn''t familiar with men would resist him, but Calhoun was a skilful lover in bed, and he knew how to make her give in. But at the same time, he didn''t want to use that approach. She was more than precious and not something to throw awayter but to keep with him forever.

    "Let''s keep some distance between us," suggested Madeline, her eyes warily looking at him but it would be so unlike Calhoun, if he listened to her.

    In quick footsteps, Calhoun stood right in front of her, and he had a scowl on his face, "I will not allow it. Don''t test my patience, Maddie," he said to her, the expression on his face changed to a calmer one, "You keep refusing, I will have to use other measures for you to understand."

    Madeline stared at him, not going to utter another word, and she looked at the ground.

    She then heard Calhoun say, "You might not know anyone in the castle, but you know me. You have my word that you cane to me anytime, and I will always make time for you, to sit and listen. Even now," he said, raising both his hands up.

    "How can I talk to you, about you," Madeline frowned and Calhoun''s lips twisted into a smile.

    "You can bad mouth me, in front of me," he said, not minding to hear ill words orints that she had in regards to him, but it was given. Calhoun enjoyed all those things, and Madeline sighed, "Don''t look like a lost puppy. With me here, your day will never go dull. If you are missing the routine life that you had back in the vige, I can give you my clothes and me to wash."

    Her cheeks turned red at what he said, and she said, "Where are we going?"

    "I thought you would not ask and would like to stand here and talk," stated Calhoun, a mischievous smile appeared on his lips and when he started to walk, Madeline followed him. He had not told her where they were going, a surprise that was enough to have her worried because she didn''t know what kind of surpriseid ahead of her.

    Madeline, who was walking behind Calhoun noticed how his shirt was intact again, without the wings ripping it apart, and she bit her lips, "Walk next to me, Madeline."

    She quickly moved her feet to walk fast, so that they could walk beside each other, "Can I ask you something?" when Calhoun turned to look at her, awaiting her question, she asked, "How do those- wings work, I mean how do theye out from your back?"

    "From my back," came the simple answer from Calhoun.

    Madeline shook her head, "I mean, they don''te through your shirt because they are not torn."

    "Do you want to know?" asked Calhoun, and she gave him a nod.

    "Sure?" he asked her, lowering his voice as if it was some secret.

    Madeline, who was extremely curious while fascinated with those wings of his, answered, "Yes."

    "Come to my room, and I will show you."

    She blinked at his answer. What kind of answer was that?! "You can exin it to me. I don''t need to see anything."

    "Anything?" Calhoun raised his eyebrow, his lips broadening, "My, what are you thinking about, that you think I will let you see?" his words only turned Madeline redder than before who muttered,

    "Forget it. I don''t need to know, Milord," she bowed her head, but Calhoun was not ready to let her go.

    "How rude to dismiss the King when you were the one who was curious about it. Don''t be shy, not many are brave enough to ask me directly what they want," said Calhoun, his eyes looking at her before he moved to look ahead with the smirk still stered on his face.

    Madeline was sure that people didn''t ask because they feared that their head would be the next one to roll on the floor.

    "What do you think about the offer?" asked Calhoun.

    "I refuse," came the quick answer that left Madeline''s lips to hear Calhoun sigh, one that was fake.

    "Looks like you are not brave. Scared little kitten."

    Madeline wanted to retort, but then she realised how childish it would be. She decided to be civil andposed instead of feeding coal into his already existing excitement of seeing her re-up.

    They continued to walk, to wherever Calhoun was nning to take her. The walk through the forest was a quiet one where Calhoun didn''t poke her any further or try to tease her. It made the walk bearable where Madeline felt like there was no need to lock horns with each other.

    She still hadn''t got a reply about his wings, and for now, she decided to let it go, as she didn''t want to take a trip to his bedroom. Especially now that it was evening, there was no guarantee that Calhoun would not invite her to his room at the time of night. But then would morning be any different? She asked herself.

    When they finally reached the ce, Madeline''s eyes furrowed looking at the barbed wire and fencing in front of her. Calhoun stopped walking, but Madeline took herself to walk until she was able to ce her hands on the fence. Inside the fence were little creatures of fur that hopped around. There were rabbits of white, ck, brown and a few mixed colours. A little confused, she turned around to meet Calhoun''s eyes.

    "There are many animals in this forest. The wild creatures have been killing these small ones, leaving the bodies everywhere on the ground a year ago. A request had been put to save them," Calhoun said, he walked up to her,ing to stand beside her, and said, "What are your thoughts on it?"

    Tearing her eyes away from him, Madeline looked at the rabbits- some seated and some hopping around. One came as close to where they stood, "They are protected?" she asked him. It was only right that the creatures were ced here, to save their lives from being eaten.

    "Yes," agreed Calhoun, "They are protected, inside the fencing, which is no less to the cage you spoke about."

    This caught her attention and Madeline looked at Calhoun. This is what he meant by mentioning about the cage earlier this morning.

    "Just because something looks like a cage it doesn''t mean that it is bad but it is for your ownsake, to protect you," exined Calhoun, his eyes shifted to look at the rabbit that hade close to them. He bent down, bringing his hand forward for the rabbit to move its nose, sniffing his hand before getting close and he caught hold of it, "There are a lot of bad things outside, and when one wants to protect something, they will keep it safe and sound near them. Don''t you agree?"

    Madeline looked down at the rabbit that he was holding, the big bad wolf with a rabbit. How odd, thought Madeline to herself. She had thought the worse thing when Calhoun had dragged her away from the horses, ready to see floating heads or people being tortured. It seemed that she was wrong.

    She had misjudged him on it.

    "Humans are not rabbits though," her voice was soft and gentle, "I was living fine when I was in my vige. No harm ever came upon me."

    "Can you speak with guarantee, that it would be the same in the future too?" on Calhoun''s question, Madeline furrowed her brows.

    "Why wouldn''t it be?"

    Calhoun shrugged his shoulders, his hand going to pat the head of the rabbit, "Who knows. There can always be ambush from neighbouringnds or viges or towns."

    "You are the King of Devon. I don''t think you would let any harme to befall on us," Madeline had indirectly praised him, and Calhoun chuckled, seeing how Madeline was smart and not a naive girl.

    "I would like to take better care of things that are precious to me. Haven''t you heard about it- precaution is better than cure," he then handed the rabbit forward, if she wanted to hold it, and Madeline was quick to take it.

    Holding the rabbit in her arms like she was carrying a child, her eyes softened and so did her entire demeanour, that she had been carrying in front of the King to show the vulnerable side to Calhoun who was watching her.

    Madeline looked at the rabbit that was healthy and well-fed. Her thoughts went to what Calhoun said before, but it didn''t justify him keeping her in the castle.

    "Have you ever thought that you can win me by letting me go back home," she asked him, her voice lower than before, not knowing if he would snap at her.

    "You want the King to move back and forth between the castle and your house? Do you think the King has nothing else to do?" Calhoun asked her. His hands slipped into the pockets of his trouser.

    "No��"

 Chapter 138 Not all cages are bad- Part 3

    <h4>138 Not all cages are bad- Part 3</h4>

    "What about the wild creatures eating them?" asked Madeline, her eyes ncing at the two guards who were in charge here.

    "They can defend themselves. Even if they can''t, one or two wouldn''t matter," Calhoun''s eyes twinkled. It seemed that the King was ready to sacrifice the men''s life for the rabbits. Was it noble that he thought about the rabbits? She didn''t know.

    She wished he hadn''t killed the maids today. Mistakes could be rectified by words, by a lesser punishment and not by death sentence that was put in ce right away.?She went back to looking at the rabbit, seeing how it started to struggle in her hand, and she ced it back inside the fence. The rabbit went back to the other rabbits. While Madeline stood looking at the rabbits, Calhoun had walked towards one of the guards to speak to them.

    "Good evening, milord," the man guard bowed his head before raising it, "We caught twenty more and have added them in today."

    Calhoun turned around to see Madeline who was watching him, before looking somewhere else, "That is good to hear. The tender ones have a unique taste to it. Blood much sweeter than the older ones."

    "Yes, milord," the man bowed his head again, "We have been sending the smaller ones to the castle, hoping it would suit your taste."

    "It did. Not all humans taste good and the one I want, I cannot have all of it," muttered Calhoun under his breath. There would be a sea of bodies if he was being choosy. This was one of the best ways to avoid increasing the count of bodies in Devon.

    "Would you like to taste the new breeds, milord?" the man asked, and Calhoun smiled, his lips stretching.

    "It would be better not to scare thedy today. You can send it to the castle," and when Calhoun started to walk back, the servant bowed his head. The King reached where Madeline was, his eyes trained on her, and he asked, "Ready to leave?"

    Madeline gave him a nod. The forest felt much better than staying in the castle because there were no walls.

    She couldn''t stop but ponder over his words. A small worry marring her forehead at the thought that if there would be any ambush, then her family would be unsafe. The more she thought about it, the more she realised how nowhere was safe but the castle, the castle was guarded and Calhoun was someone who looked as if, he would protect everything that mattered to him.

    "I am sorry about earlier," she apologised, receiving a questionable look from Calhoun as it was sudden.

    "Not yet," the words slipped out of Madeline''s lips, and she noticed how Calhoun''s wicked smile graced on his face.

    "I can wait for that yet of yours," Madeline wanted to tell him that he looked terrifying when he smiled like that. The smile that could frighten someone to their wits end. But then she had seen him serious, which was worse. Actually, she couldn''t decide which one was worse.

    Madeline didn''t want to apologise, but she felt the need to, "For judging you."

    "What did you think about me?" asked the devil King.

    She was walking next to him, and she didn''t look at him, her eyes roaming in front of her, "In the morning, I...I thought I would be seeing people getting tortured. I didn''t know you were protecting the rabbits," and Calhoun gave her a saint-like smile, "May, I ask, about how you found out about what I said to the bird?"

    Madeline would need to be careful next time to keep her thoughts to herself. It seemed like even the whisper leaving from her lips would be heard by the King.

    "The bird told me," came the teasing answer but Madeline didn''t believe it. It was because of the way he was smiling right now, she knew he was lying and it wasn''t the bird. She turned even more worried.

    They walked in the forest, heading towards the castle by walk without Calhoun bringing out his wings again to fly. Madeline didn''t mind the walk, as there was peace in here and she was doing something, instead of sitting in the room and staring at the walls.

    Her thoughts started to drift in a different direction, and she wondered where this forest stopped. If there was a way from here to escape�� It wasn''t about James, she cared about the man, and there was no time for their rtionship to blossom but...but she didn''t want to live in the castle. It wasn''t what she wanted. She didn''t know if she would be able to see the deaths again.

    While Madeline''s eyes were looking at the forest, it moved to the ends of where she could reach. Calhoun who was walking next to her, his eyes were on her, that was subtly noticing how her mind was trying to conjure to an escape route. It was because of her expression that looked anxious, and her eyes were moving to the horizon.

    His expression was rxed though. If Madeline was nning to escape again, he would bring her back to the castle again. It was as simple as that.

    She had turned quiet since the time she had woken up, her words and actions even more cautious than before. She would get used to it, thought Calhoun to himself. Death was somethingmon that urred in the castle, when someone found it hard to obey the order that was given by the King.

    "Has there been any other suitors for your elder sister?" Calhoun asked, indulging her in the family conversation, and her eyes snapped to look at him quickly.

    "Mr. Danvers was thest person who hade home to speak to Beth. After that, I don''t know as I have been here," she answered him, "There have been men who have courted Beth, but she hasn''t been too keen on meeting any of them."

    Madeline wished the best for her sister Beth. She wanted her happiness, and previously she had hoped for the King to take note of Beth as she was interested in stepping into the castle life and not Madeline. But the King had dismissed it.

    "I could speak to Mr. Danvers if she wants to marry the man," proposed Calhoun.

    Madeline looked at him, surprised, "You will?"

    "Sure. It would be rude, not to help my sister-inw," came the response from Calhoun and Madeline pursed her lips. When Madeline had still not given a yes to him, Calhoun was far ahead of her by calling her his wife. But Madeline didn''t know what her sister might have written in the letter, that was sent out to Mr. Danvers.

    "Maybe I will ask Beth. If she is still interested," Madeline didn''t want to hurry right away without knowing what Beth wanted. After all, she was popr in the vige as well as in the nearby towns. There might be someone in her mind, thought Madeline to herself, not knowing that the person Beth had her eyes on was none other than Calhoun, the King of Devon.

    "Thank you," said Madeline, appreciating Calhoun''s who was willing to support her family and sister without forcing upon her except for keeping her in the castle.

    That was progress, Calhoun thought to himself. Slow baby steps. He had been observing Madeline, and he knew the change in the wind was subtle, but it was moving in his favour.

    Calhoun didn''t respond, and he walked next to her, closing the distance so that there wasn''t too much of a gap between them. He wanted Madeline to get used to him. His patience was thin, and he didn''t know when his instincts would w out, to take her and his tongue ran over his fang, wanting another bite as he felt insatiable.

 Chapter 139 Terms- Part 1

    <h4>139 Terms- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Calhoun had taken a step back, letting Madeline walk ahead so that he could admire the girl which he didn''t often get to do as she was either upset or ring at him. Instead of using his wings to get back to the castle, he had decided to walk with her. Forcing her to spend time with him like this as Madeline was stubborn enough not to ask him to get back quickly by making use of his wings.

    He wanted her to make a move as he was waiting for her to open up, but that didn''t mean he would be waiting forever, because he would close the distance himself. He noticed how her blonde hair cascaded down her back to stop right above her waist. She had two braids that had been made at the sides of the back of her head.

    Madeline was busy looking at the forest since the time she had left the rabbits behind, walking in front of the King, while she tried to see for a possible escape from here. She never knew when she would need them. Her brown eyes kept moving until she finally realised that the King had fallen one step behind, who had told her to walk beside him.

    When she turned around, she noticed how the King''s eyes were on her, and she quickly turned back, looking ahead of her while her face turned red. Since how long had he been staring at her? Asked Madeline to herself.

    "Are your feet tired?" asked the King from behind.

    She was tired, but she could walk until the castle. She was used to walking long distance when she had to help her father carry the logs of woods from the forest, "I am fine," she answered.

    "Let me know if you are unable to walk, it would be a pity if something happened to your feet," Calhoun said and Madeline slowed down her footsteps for once, taking the initiative to walk next to the King.

    "I am not made of sticks to break," she answered him, and he stared at her. The colour of the sky was changing quickly from the multicolour to move towards a dark blue. A sign that the night was arriving quickly, and Madeline didn''t realise how fast the time passed.

    "No, you are not," agreed Calhoun, "You are like butter that heats up quick," Madeline blinked turning her face away, "I was only saying how soft you were, what are you thinking, Maddie, to turn red?" he asked her.

    What kind of remark was that? Asked Madeline to herself. Who referred someone as a butter?

    "You don''t like mypliment," the King continued, a hum at the end of his words.

    "I don''t think anyone has ever addressed or called someone as a butter," the King was an odd person, and she had alreadye in terms with it. Though he had killed two maids today for her sake, at the same time, he had shown another side of him that there were some things that he cared about like the rabbits.

    Was there no way she could negotiate with him for her freedom? Or was this the freedom he was talking about? Inside the castle, near him where she would be safe...He had also spoken about speaking to Mr. Danvers for her sister''s sake, and it made her look at him in a better light. At least a little.

    "You can write a letter to your sister today," said Calhoun and Madeline turned to him. Her footsteps gradually came to a stop. She was happy. Her heart soaring only until she heard him say, "You will be writing the letter in my presence, and it will be handed to Theodore so that you are assured that the letter has indeed left the castle."

    She stared into Calhoun''s eyes that looked dark because of theck of light around them, the shadows of the trees turning darker along with the sky, "Okay," she agreed. Right now, Madeline would ept anything she could, so that she could still feel she was connected to her family. So that she wouldn''t lose her sanity while feeling alone even though Calhoun was there around her. She then asked, "Can I write it today?"

    Calhoun only smiled at her, "Of course," and Madeline knew there was some hidden meaning in that smile of his.

    Once they reached the castle after walking in each other''spany, Calhoun had led Madeline to his room, opening the door for her to step in. Madeline stepped inside the room, and when she took two steps forward, she heard the door click behind her, and she had to wipe her palms against her skirt.

    Calhoun walked to the desk that was present in the room, pulling out the chair before looking at her, "Sit here," the smile on his lips had toned down.

    Padding her feet across the room, she took a seat on the chair before he had pushed the chair towards the desk, "Comfortable?" he asked.

    There was no one in the King''s bedroom except for the King and herself. Madeline wondered how many other women he had brought to this room. The candles were already lit and the firece crackled with logs that would be suffiencent enough to burn until the time of midnight.

    She didn''t turn to look at him but continued to sit like a statue.

    His hands were yet to move away from the sides of her armrest which he had used it to push the chair she was sitting on. When he finally moved them, she finally let out an internal sigh of relief. She noticed how he went to pull the drawers, picking up parchment with an ink bottle with a quill to be ced in front of her.

    "What am I allowed to write?" asked Madeline, not knowing if there would be something Calhoun would not like that would end up with another argument between them, only for her to lose.

    Calhoun pulled the next chair to ce it next to Madeline and sat down, "Things that would please me," came his words. He brought one hand of his forward to support his chin as he looked at her,

    "You can write whatever you want, but if it doesn''t sit well with me, it will join the firece," he offered her a smile, "Don''t disappoint me, Maddie," stated Calhoun. With the candle stand in front of them, she could see his red eyes flickering like the me.

    Madeline had to tell herself that the letter was for her sister Beth. So that she could have a better life, something she would like, with that thought, she decided to not argue with him and took the quill in her hand-dipping it in the ink.

    She started to write the letter under Calhoun''s supervision, who had a grin on his face, staring at her continuously while she tried to concentrate on it.

    "Why did you stop writing?" he inquired.

    Madeline pursed her lips, staring at the parchment that was in front of her, "Can you please do something else than stare at me?" her eyes shifted from the parchment to look at Calhoun. His gaze was too intense for her to handle, and she felt like he was trying to dissect her soul.

    "No."

    Her toes curled inside her shoes as she stared at him, "I cannot concentrate on writing the letter." Her hands had started to shake at the awareness that he was looking at her.

    "Try again," he said, his eyes didn''t move away from her. She went back to writing. Her words had started to turn messy. Breathing softly, Madeline looked down at what she had written.

    ''Dear Sister Beth,

    I hope this letter finds you well. The King and I shared a few words and during that time, you happened toe up. He said he would help by speaking to Mr. Danvers about you so that you could rebuild the connection you shared with him. I thought it was only right to ask you if you are still willing to consider the man for a possible alliance. Tell mama and papa that I am sending them my love. If you do, please do write back.

    Lots of love, Your sister Madeline''

    When Calhoun finally stood up from his seat, Madeline exhaled, but her relief was short-lived as Calhoun hade to stand behind her back and he leaned forward.

    "Why are you nervous?" Calhoun breathed the words next to the side of her head.

    Madeline had expected him to walk around the room instead of staring at her, but the King was someone who did what pleased him, "I think it''s because of theck of a-air," she stuttered at the end.

    For a second, Calhoun didn''t say anything, letting her sink in with the silence, "Is it because of your corset? I can help with it, if you need me to. Much better as we are in the room now," his words were low, and Madeline felt a shiver run down her spine.

    The remaining air that was in her body slipped away because of Calhoun''s words and actions, "No, it''s not the corset," she whispered. Why was she whispering?! Asked Madeline to herself, feeling too aware of Calhoun''s presence behind her.

    He allowed the smile to return to his lips, one which was cunning as he baited her in stepping into his room, with the thought of allowing her write a letter to her dear sister.

    Calhoun leaned forward, picking up the parchment whilst standing behind Madeline, his eyes taking in what was written to ce it back on the table to say, "You did well. Your sister will be very grateful to have a younger sister like you who thinks about her well being even after you have left home."

    "I haven''t left home," replied Madeline to hear Calhoun chuckle.

    "What is it then?" he asked, his words at the shell of her ear and he blew the air deliberately slow to see how she struggled to stay unaffected, "Are you going to say I kidnapped you, right in front of your parents? Carrying you on my shoulder. If that was so, it would be apletely different scenario now. Wouldn''t it?" he asked her.

 Chapter 140 Terms- Part 2

    <h4>140 Terms- Part 2</h4>

    Calhoun pulled away from her, turning her chair around in one movement without much effort. Madeline had to grip the sides of the chair because of the sudden movement, "I did, didn''t I?" Calhoun asked like he was enjoying keeping her here against her will, "The more you run, the more I want you to keep. I like to see you rebel," he said before adding, "The innocent red riding hood who didn''t realise what she was getting into, when she stepped into the wolf''s den."

    When Calhoun had invited her to write a letter, Madeline had not considered that there were other things running in Calhoun''s mind, "I came here to write the letter," she stated.

    "And you did," he agreed again to what she said.

    "I must go back to the room. To rest," she added and saw how Calhoun ced both his hands on either side of the armrests.

    "You can rest here in this room," came the short reply from Calhoun.

    Madeline didn''t know if he was only teasing her or was serious about it. Though Calhoun had told her he wouldn''t do something forceful, she found it hard to believe, especially with the way he was looking at her with those dark eyes right now. As if, one wrong move from her would lead him in pouncing and dragging her to bed.

    She gulped at that thought.

    "My King," she bowed her head from where she sat, "Allow me to go to my room, and I will return to join you for dinner," she said to him.

    But Calhoun found that offer less enticingpared to her being in his room, "My dinner is right here in front of my eyes." Madeline noticed, the wind had dishevelled his hair further when they were up in the sky.

    "I am less appealing right now. I don''t think it would be something you would like to have," said Madeline quickly, "Sweaty, salty, tired, dirty..."

    Calhoun''s eyes trailed to look at her face that looked anxious, wanting to escape from his clutch as quickly as she could, but he was having fun with her, to let her go.

    "Dirty," Calhoun repeated the word she said, and he smiled with his fangs for her to view, "Shall I bath you then? It should be really ufortable sitting there by feeling all sweaty and dirty." When Calhoun''s eyes reached for Madeline''s hand, she moved it away from him.

    Madeline didn''t know what to say to him. Being careful waspletely impossible because Calhoun was a master of words, and he knew just what to say to her, bringing out the words he wanted to hear from her. He then stepped closer to her, leaning forward in such a way that Madeline leaned her head back to keep eye contact with him. Their faces got close to each other.

    "You tricked me," she whispered.

    Madeline was rmed and she couldn''t get away from him. It reminded her of the time a honeybee hade flying to sit on her skin. The bee was hard to shoo away because if angered, there was no saying how many times it was going to bite her, and her situation with Calhoun was nothing less to it.

    "I thought I could hold back, with you as an exception but I don''t know how much longer I can do it." His hand moved away from her face, Calhoun''s lips came to whisper on her own lips.

    She would have told him to find someone else, but she had tried it before. If it hadn''t worked before, it wouldn''t now. He had blood from the woman who had visited him, "I am not used to this," her words were innocent, and it had Calhoun shift his gaze back from her lips to look into her eyes.

    "I know," answered Calhoun, "It only makes it worse but good at the same time. I need to drink your blood, Madeline," came his solemn words.

    "There will be nothing left if you keep drinking from me," her eyebrows furrowed, "Please find someone else��" and when she noticed how his eyes red, she added, "To drink blood from."

    "You have yourself to me for it," Calhoun said, his hand that had previously been ced below her chin moved to the side of her slender neck, "Your blood is too sweet, and I wish for no one ever to taste it. Only for me to know."

    Madeline felt the tingle of sensation that Calhoun''s fingertips left as he moved his hand to her shoulder. But Calhoun didn''t stop there. The index finger continued to trace the lines of the edge of her dress as he said, "You are someone I care for now. It might sound and look strange, but you should know that the night creatures are differentpared to humans who live and die."

    "I am a mortal too," she reminded him, feeling her stomach turn when his finger continued to trace down from the side of her neckline, moving towards the front, making her heart hitch.

    "I can change that," stated Calhoun, "I will change it. Live with me Madeline, and I will offer whatever your heart wants and one day even that freedom that you so much crave, the same way I crave for you."

    His fingers moved forward, moving back and forth at the front. His eyes flickered down where his hand was, noticing the swell at the top of her chest and his fangs ached, wanting to take a bite at the softness of the skin.

    It was evident that Madeline was affected by his words, actions. Calhoun knew how to seduce a woman, and when it came to Madeline he had been doing the right things, yet at the same time. He wasn''t the flowery man like an angel who would woo her the way she wanted. He was a devil in disguise, letting her know what he was capable of.

    With Calhoun''s every touch on her skin, her heart flipped and turned. Madeline might not feel the same way as he was, but it wasn''t too long before her emotions would start changing.

    Madeline gripped on the sides of her chair, not wanting Calhoun to see her shiver and break.

    She didn''t know if this was part of courting but having never been seduced before, Madeline didn''t know how to react to it. The room was warm enough, but she was shivering, and it wasn''t just fear.

    "How would you like to spend your day with me?" he asked her, for once giving her the option. His fingers then moved to the other side of the neckline before it crept up her neck, and he held the side of her face.

    "You are going to twist things once I agree to it��" it had happened before, she didn''t know why it wouldn''t happen again.

    Calhoun smiled at her, "We''ll do it your way. Just one day."

    With him standing this close, it was hard to think. Every time Calhoun invaded her breathing space, she felt like her nerves turned errant, and her body froze, "You mean it?"

    "You have my word," he promised. Deciding it was worth trying, she then said,

    "I would like to sit on the other side of the dining table during our meal. Opposite to you," the table was long, and it would create enough distance between them, "I would like to stand with the others, probably near the wall when I have been called to the court."

    Calhoun stared at her before saying, "Consider it done," and he finally pulled away from her. Leaving her skin cold.

    Madeline blinked at him, at the thought that he actually agreed to it. Would that mean one day of peace? Calhoun had turned his back as if walking and Madeline bit her lip. But why now? Asked Madeline to herself.

    Madeline stood up from her chair, her eyes nced at the letter and then at Calhoun who had opened the door. Noticing the look Madeline had on her face, Calhoun asked, "What is it?" and she shook her head, "I will have the letter sent through Theodore and see you at supper," the smile continued on his lips, and she couldn''t help but question to what happened just now.

    When she stepped out of the room, walking towards her own, she turned back to look at Calhoun''s room where the door was still left open.

    Was it because of what she said today in the forest? Was he taking ount of her feelings?

    During the time of dinner, Madeline sat at the dining table, and Calhoun waste. The food was brought to the table and she couldn''t resist but ask one of the maids,

    "Where is the King?"

    The maid bowed her head to answer, "It was told that the King has some urgent work and wouldn''t be appearing to have supper tonight."

    "Oh, okay," and Madeline bowed her own head in thanks.

    The dining room was quiet except for the sound asionally made by Madeline because of the fork and the knife touching the te. It wasn''t that it was the first time she was having her meals alone, but she found Calhoun''s reaction and words to be strange. The King of Devon was strange to begin with. One moment he was trying to seduce her, and the next moment he told she would get the space she needed even if it was just for a day.

    Maybe he had a change of heart? Thought Madeline to herself. A man who could protect those small creatures, perhaps he wasn''t that bad? But then she remembered the maids death.

    After her meal, Madeline decided to take a walk alone in the castle, but with the looks she received from the servants, or rather the way they behaved with her, she started to head towards the King''s quarters where her room was. She could feel the fear where the servants appeared not to want to do anything with her. Hoping she would not stop them as they quickly scattered at the sight of her.

    Madeline didn''t like the feeling, but she would have to deal with it. Wondering what urgent matter might havee for Calhoun to turn busy. It wasn''t like she wasining, thought Madeline to herself.

 Chapter 141 Terms- Part 3

    <h4>141 Terms- Part 3</h4>

    It was Madeline who had asked it, but since the maids kept moving back and forth from one end of the table to another, she couldn''t help but feel awkward about it. She had thought that she would feel better, where she wouldn''t have to look too closely at him or where he could touch her, but she had made it difficult for the servants. Not to forget, Calhoun was still visible to her as he sat in front of her, enjoying his meal.

    "Good morning, my King," she heard Theodore''s voice from the door, who stepped in to talk. When his eyes fell on Calhoun with thedy not around, he turned to only find her sitting on the other side.

    "Good morning, Theo," chimed Calhoun, taking in a bite and turning to look at his loyal man, "Was everything sorted out?" he asked the brown-haired man who bow his head.

    "Yes, milord. Mr. Perris has been swayed, after you made your presence. He knows not to talk," answered Theodore. The man who was close to the King decided to ask with good humour, "Do we need to change the chairs here? I can ask the chair maker to rece the old ones if needed."

    "That won''t be needed," came Calhoun''s reply, "Madeline was not happy sitting here, and she wanted to be able to see me directly than have her turn her neck. Isn''t that right, Madeline?" he smiled, looking at her.

    The King''s right-hand man turned to look, and Madeline couldn''t do anything but give a small bow to greet him which was returned instantly. She doubted she had to use words to exin to the man on what the truth was, because she believed he already knew. Theodore was the King''s close man, someone who had tattle-tale on her, and she had barely spoken to him.

    "Did you deliver the letter to the elder daughter of Harris?" asked Calhoun and Madeline''s ears turned alert hearing this.

    "Yes, milord," Theodore affirmed, "I had it delivered before returning to the castle this morning.

    Madeline was happy to hear that. She hoped things would go well, but Madeline didn''t know that the letter was not going to make Beth happy.

    The letter had been received by Mrs. Harris by one of the King''s official men when she was watering the nts in front of their house. She had been extremely pleased to hear that it was written by her younger daughter. When she went inside, Mrs. Harris called her elder daughter,

    Where was her sses? Asked Mrs. Harris to herself, searching for her sses. Beth who had been preparing breakfast, came out of the kitchen.

    "Beth! Read this, quick!"

    Beth wasn''t as excited as Mrs. Harris, but she was curious as to what might be written in the letter.

    Beth took the letter from her mother, "Let me read it," she said, unfolding the letter she started to read,

    "Dear Sister Beth. I hope this letter finds you well. The King and I shared a few words, and during that time, you happened toe up. He said he would help by speaking to Mr. Danvers about you so that you could rebuild the connection you shared with him. As you are elder to me, it would be rude and not right to get married before you."

    When Beth read this out loud, her face turned red.

    Mrs. Hariss looked taken aback. The King had mentioned taking Madeline as his wife, but she didn''t know when that was going to happen. She then heard Beth continue to read,

    "I thought it was only right to ask you if you are still willing to consider the man for a possible alliance. If no, the King said there are other bachelors who may suit your taste. I am treated well without any trouble. Tell papa, I am happy to see that he has his own shop now.?I couldn''t be any more grateful towards the King, though I am trying toe in terms with things here around me. Tell mama, not to worry about me. Things in the castle have been good. Do write me back. Lots of love, your sister Madeline," Beth concluded the letter, her teeth gritting against each other.

    "Is that all that is written in there?" asked Mrs. Harris, and Beth handed over the letter to her mother.

    "Yes. It looks like Madeline is finally acknowledging her life in the castle," Beth turned around to have a scornful look on her face, "She wants to stay there, and you were worried for nothing."

    "But is it she who wrote it?" asked her mother, "When we saw her here, she looked upset."

    "Maybe, she finally changed her mind," Beth was furious how it was hinted in the letter that though she was the older daughter here, Madeline was the first one to get a marriage proposal and who would be getting married first.

    What Beth didn''t know was that the game she had yed with the lette before, someone had made use of the same tactic.

    The first half of the letter were the words of Madeline, but it wasn''t the same letter that she had written. Calhoun changed words with her handwriting once she had left his room, for his own interest.

    Back in the castle, Calhoun thought about what he had done. A malicious smile adorned on his lips.

 Chapter 142 Unexpected crowd- Part 1

    <h4>142 Unexpected crowd- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Calhoun stared at Madeline, who was eating her breakfast, across the table directly facing him where he didn''t have to turn his eyes to the side but only to lift his head to look at her. He had agreed to her condition for the day with the thought that she would see that he was willing to allow a few things to be in her favour. The air that she so much craved was controlled, but it was there for her to breathe.

    Her blonde hair had been brushed and tied with braids again, and he liked her this way. Simple and nothing over the top. Her movements were gentle and poise, without making her presence known to be too deliberate. Calhoun knew that Madeline could feel his eyes, across from the long table where they sat. She should have known that no distance would be more for him to reach her. She was trying hard not to look up, to meet his eyes and let him know that she could sense his eyes, but the King already knew.

    "Are you happy?" he asked her, and she finally lifted her head, "Your sister will have her happy life which she''s been looking forward to."

    Madeline who couldn''t deny, nodded her head, "I am. I am thankful for your kind gesture," she bowed her head from where she sat. Convincing her was not hard at all, Calhoun thought to himself.

    After years of experience, the King knew what must be done, and how to seize her heart for himself. Madeline was unaware of the change in the letter, which he had done it for her sake. Keeping good intentions towards Madeline, so that her family would get the message to step away from her.

    With the King''s eyes on Madeline, one would think that the family would havee to its senses not to try to irk the King. He was not pleased with what Madeline''s mother had written in the note. It made him think that if she were to visit her family, her mother might one daye to openly tell her younger daughter to run away and Madeline was standing at the tip of her toes. When they were in the forest, he had noticed the gleam in her eyes, looking around the forest to see what could turn to her advantage in the future.

    If Madeline was smart, she would not try to run away. But the girl slightly fell on the scale of naivety by thinking she needed freedom just because she didn''t get the choice. Therefore, even if it was just for one day, what he was doing was giving her a choice.

    "There should be a letter by evening or maybe tomorrow," came Madeline''s voice that was like wind chimes during the time of Christmas that was celebrated. He could sense eagerness in her voice as if waiting for what more the letter would bring.

    The words were lost by the time when it reached Madeline, and she gave him a questionable look as she missed his words.

    Calhoun gave her a wide smile, "I was asking how you are doing over there."

    Madeline stared back at him, "I am doing fine," far away from him, yet reachable to his eyes. She wondered if there was any point in having herself seated far back in here.

    She was d that the maids had left after serving them.

    It was because it seemed that she had only made it difficult for them, which she wasn''t happy about. When Calhoun went back to eat, she sneaked a nce at him. Did he have a change of heartst night? Or maybe it was because of what she had vented out to him in the forest. One minute the man was trying to seduce her to her wit''s end, and the next minute, he had decided to let her go, just like that.

    The rest of the day, Calhoun had not bothered Madeline.

    She used her time in walking inside the corridors of the castle before moving to the open garden. It had turned out to be a peaceful day, but not everything was well as the young maid Agnes ,who was assigned to her didn''t meet her eyes and was quick to leave her presence.

    Madeline didn''t me her, but she did feel bad. Any and every servant would think more than ten times before talking to her. Though the King had told not to speak anything about Madeline, rumours went around the castle, passing through one ear after another by word of how Lady Madeline hadined to the King and had got the two maids in the castle beheaded.

    By the time of the evening, the letter from her sister Beth had finally reached the castle. A response that Madeline was eager to read. And it came to be delivered by Theodore.

    "Mdy," he bowed his head. Madeline was sitting out in the garden of the King''s quarters now, and she saw how his hand was outstretched, holding the letter for her, "You have received a letter from your family," said the man.

    Madeline quickly got on her feet. Taking the letter from him and bowing in greeting. She noticed the envelope had been opened.

    Theodore noticed how the human stared at the opened seal, and said, "Any letters thate to the castle are inspected before being handed over to the respective person."

    She gave him a nod. She should have known about it as thest time she had tried to send a letter, the letter had gone straight to the King, and she had only written it as a test to see if it would go reach the person she had addressed to.

    "Was it the King who read it?" she asked to confirm if it was Calhoun or Theodore. Theodore seemed like a tattle-tale person who went to tell everything to the King so she would have to be careful.

    "Your letters are read only by the King. He wouldn''t like it if someone else tried to read them," there was a hint of a smile in the man''s voice, "Have a good evening, mdy," Theodore greeted before leaving her in the garden alone.

    Madeline watched the man leave, the sky had turned dark, and it was closing in on time for supper. Sitting down, Madeline pulled out the letter and read what was written inside.

    "Dear sweet sister Maddie,

    Thank you for your kind thoughts about me. I have conveyed your thoughts to mama and papa, and they are pleased to hear that you are doing well in the castle. Coming to the matter of alliance, I would not want to disturb Mr.?Danvers as he is seeing another woman, Ms. Jenney. I have been receiving some decent proposals who had tried to woo me, since the time of the ball. Please do not worry about me.

    Love Beth.''

    The letter was concise but then so was hers and Madeline had hoped she would hear more from Beth on what was going on in their house. If there was anything new, so that she could stay in touch but it seemed that Beth had addressed only the questions that were asked in the letter.

    Taking in a deep breath, she sighed. "I miss everyone," she whispered, her eyes staring at the letter.

    "Even me?" came the voice from behind her and Madeline snapped around to see Calhoun who had appeared out of nowhere. When did he evene here? It was only five minutes ago that she had spoken to Theodore.

    "I saw you in the morning," answered Madeline, her eyes sceptically looking at him.

    "Would you say you would miss me if you didn''t see me for a week?" he asked her, his lips twitching. She looked around, seeing no one except for the two of them here.?Her heart shuddered when he walked towards her, "How has your day been? I will take it that it has been less eventful because of myck of presence."

    "It was peaceful," she said, starting to fold the letter of her sister.

    "How boring," he chimed, taking a seat where she had been sitting earlier. And he said, "Come sit."

    Madeline didn''t see any harm in it and took a seat next to him, keeping a gap which was enough for another person to sit. Calhoun couldn''t stop the smile on his face, "What a cute little thing you are," saying this, Calhoun moved closer towards her, "Have we not established a few things?"

    She changed the subject by saying, "You wouldn''t need to help my sister with Mr. Danvers."

    "Because he is seeing someone?" asked Calhoun, crossing his legs and cing both his hands behind him so that he could look at the sky, "That can be fixed. It is not hard to make someone stop seeing the person."

    "You don''t need to do that. Beth doesn''t seem interested in him," she frowned, at the thought of the King threatening Mr. Danvers, "Is it all you know? Taking things by force?"

    Calhoun, who was staring at the sky, turned his head to look at her, his expression calm now, "Why, is it bad?"

 Chapter 143 Unexpected crowd- Part 2

    <h4>143 Unexpected crowd- Part 2</h4>

    "What is right and what is wrong, it differs from one person to another," answered Calhoun, "I think you are right for me, but you think I am not. Give me a reason why you think it''s not viable?" he asked her.

    "Because you are forceful," she replied, but Calhoun was not upset by her words nor did he smile. Instead, he said,

    "What else?"

    "You kill people," this did the trick of bringing a smile on his face.

    "Are you telling me you like to be called a whore?" On Calhoun''s question, Madeline furrowed her brows.

    "Where did you get that idea from? You were the one who painted me with a chemise like petticoat-"

    "You should be d, that I didn''t ask you to strip naked," Calhoun''s straightforward words turned Madeline red, and she looked away from him, "Don''t turn your face away from me. You can blush right in front of me. I love it," he emphasized the word ''love''.

    Madeline didn''t want to imagine what would happen to her that she would have to be naked in front of him and be painted by him, "You are crude."

    "Crude would be me telling exactly what I have in my mind, like how I want to fuck you senseless in my bed and make love to you," came his clear answer and Madeline stood up from where she had been sitting. "What happened?" asked Calhoun, "I was only giving you an example."

    She raised her hand, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose because she didn''t know how to respond to the King''s words, "Y-you��" she was finding it hard toprehend her thoughts into words.

    "I am restraining myself. If I really wanted to have my way with you, we wouldn''t be here talking but doing something more productive," he chuckled, but Madeline didn''t find it funny. The peace she had been having since the time she woke up until the time she met him here now had disappeared.

    "Is that all you think about?" Madeline asked, her voice hard and she turned around to give him a stare.

    "There are other things, but you would be embarrassed. Worse than how you look now," he grinned, enjoying having her burn with embarrassment.

    Madeline didn''t want to argue with the King because even though she was right, no one in sane mind ever argue with the King when they knew the consequences they would have to face. Trying to calm her mind, she said,

    "If you need to have someone in your bed, you have dozens of women waiting to be bedded with you," she said to him, "What you said, is not-"

    To Madeline, his words were too strong, and she was not used to dealing with this kind of person. She saw how Calhoun drank her presence while standing in front of her.

    "No hurry, right now," he smiled, assuring her, but she didn''t know how long this ''now'' would stand, "Three days from now, there''s a soiree in a fairdy''s mansion. Apany me," said Calhoun.

    It wasn''t like she had anything else better to do sitting in the castle, and at the same time she couldn''t refuse him. She didn''t know if it was because the man was intimidating or because something was stopping her from saying no.

    When the day of the soiree appeared, Madeline was dressed like any other day she was presented in the castle. Fine pieces of jewellery had been ced on the bed but she wore none of it. Her blonde hair had beenbed back to be braided loosely and ced on the side of her shoulder. Her corset was tight again, and this time she was sure that the head maid, Nic was trying to suffocate and kill her through by using the corset.

    She took in a deep breath as she walked down the corridors, making her way to the front of the hall of the castle where Calhoun was waiting for her. His eyes fell on her bare neck, but he didn''tment. He took her hand in his, he kissed the back of her hand.

    "You look lovely," heplimented her as any other gentleman would.

    Madeline noted how Calhoun had dressed, but a little morex than usual. She didn''t know who Ms. Jennings was, but it made her question if it was Calhoun''s friend which was why he was at ease. But then he was always at ease, thought Madeline to herself.

    His features as always looked poised. A strong jaw and slightly raised eyebrows, full lips...Madeline''s thought started to wander in a different direction when she looked at his lips. The same lips that had, again and again,e close to her lips, to whisper words that had made her gulp, making the hair at the back of her neck raise.

    Madeline looked away flustered, staring down at the hem of her dress, to make the already proper dress right by smoothening it. Calhoun''s lips parted, running his tongue over his fang as he knew exactly where she had been looking at a few seconds ago.

    Making their way into the carriage, Madeline sat next to Calhoun, "Is Ms. Jennings a friend of yours?" she asked him. Thest thing she needed in an unknown ce was to be a blubbering mess who didn''t know anyone which was given as she didn''t belong to this part of the society.

    "She is the Lord''s first daughter. Lord Jennings is the one who owns ships and barrels that we need. Friend would be a far too broad term to use. Let''s stick to acquaintances intake and keeping rtionships," replied Calhoun.

    His inky ck hair had beenbed behind like many other times, letting one see his sculpted face. The King was a good looking man. Having bold and aggressive characteristics that went along with his sculpted face. Not many vigers had got the glimpse of their King, and if they did, there was a probability that the girls and women of the viges would pin on to see him again. When Madeline realised she had been staring at him and admiring more than necessary, she tore her gaze away from him.

    "Can I ask you something?" Madeline asked to have him turn and look at her.

    "Please," he encouraged her, "What is it?" he was intrigued that she had a question to ask. Seeing how she had asked for his permission, he could tell it was something she was trying to be thoughtful about.

    Madeline wet her dry lips, "People in the vige, like me...We never heard much about you. Nothing about your family." It had always been vague that everything had turned out to be a bizarre rumour about him. But if her memory served her right, the King had a family.

    Calhoun''s expression didn''t change much, "You are curious about my family?" he asked.

    She nodded her head, "Yes," she said. Every time she sat down at the dining table, she felt the emptiness and maybe it was because she was not used to so much space around herself. Somewhere she doubted Calhoun felt lonely.

    Calhoun had a sullen look on his face, his eyes looking distant as he said, "My parents passed away when I was a young boy. The castle was under attack a few years ago. It was one of the tragic nights that took ce in Devon. One of the Kingdoms next to us had a feud about the treaty that didn''t go well. It was unexpected but it happened," he paused, silence sinking around them and then he continued, "I was on the other side of the castle. By the time I found out, they had been beheaded." saying this, he turned his body back to face the front.

    Madeline felt sorry hearing this, "I am sorry," came her words.

    It seemed that she had misjudged him and she bit the inside of her cheek for mistaking him.

    She had never heard any details except about the death that had taken ce in the castle but no one had ever confirmed it. Even though the vigers were curious, they knew not to be too nosey about the royal family. Calhoun must have taken the throne right away after his father''s death and she didn''t know what to say.

    "It''s been some years now, since that incident happened," Calhoun offered her a smile and somewhere in the corner of her heart, she felt bad for him which she never thought she would ever feel, "We lose something or someone at times and it''s only a process."

    When they finally arrived at therge mansion, the coachman opened the door for them and Calhoun stepped down. He turned around to offer his hand for her to get down and when he noticed the sad look on her face, he said,

    "Don''t look so sad. What I said was not true," hearing this Madeline looked confused and she missed her footing to end up being caught in his arms, "Caught you," he chuckled.

 Chapter 144 Unexpected crowd- Part 3

    <h4>144 Unexpected crowd- Part 3</h4>

    She had been feeling sorry for him while he was spinning a tale of lie about his parent''s death with a solemn look on his face, "Why would you joke about your parent''s death?" Madeline asked, her brown eyes wide.

    "I thought it would be fun to see how you would react," Calhoun put his hand in his pocket to pull out two berries from there and offered to her, "Berries?"

    "No, thank you," she retorted, a look of disbelief marring her face for believing blindly what he said.

    Joking about her parent''s death would have been thest thing she would have ever done, "Smile sweetheart. We don''t want people thinking that I was trying to do something to you in the carriage now, would you?" He put the red berry into his mouth, biting into it as he grinned to see how she quickly schooled her expression, "Sweet girl," and they headed inside.

    The mansion was nothing less to look like a smaller version of a castle. There were guards who stood outside, bowing their head in greeting. One of them was quick to lead them inside the mansion from the entrance, to where the rest of the guests were present.

    "King Calhoun is here!" Announced the man as they were about to enter an open space like a room that hadwn grown on the ground. The people inside stood up to bow and greet the King of Devon.

    Madeline had taken one step behind, letting Calhoun to be the centre of attention but that didn''t stop the stares she received from the strangers in the room. Her feet felt cold and so did her hands with the sudden attention which was finally diverted when a woman came forward, bending down her head to greet the King.

    "I am very honoured to have your presence today, King Calhoun," the woman was a brte with a petite body and eyes that were light red.

    "It is my pleasure to be here, Lady Ellen," Calhoun greeted back the young vampiress with a charming smile, "Looks like many guests here today. Is your father home?" asked the King and the woman nodded her head quickly.

    "Yes, my King. He will be joining shortly," answered Lady Ellen before turning around to call the servant to offer the King, a ss of blood or wine, "Allow me to lead you to your seat," she said, not looking at the human who hade along with the King.

    While Madeline was walking one step beside the King, her eyes met a familiar pair of eyes. It was Lady Catherine who she was acquainted with, giving her a smile. Madeline would have returned the smile in time if it weren''t for the person who stood next to thedy. His ck eyes stared at her, as James eyebrows furrowed.

    It was James.

    A nervous smile appeared on her lips and she bowed at both of them. Her hands turned mmy and she held onto the front of her dress. Her heart felt anxious at the presence of two people in the same room- Calhoun and James.

    Madeline''s footsteps were shaky when she made her way near to the seating. The host of the soiree Ellen Jennyings turned to look at Madeline who had been following the King like a lost puppy. Not to forget, a human.

    "This is Madeline Harris," Calhoun introduced her to the young vampiress and Madeline returned back from her thoughts to see the woman bowed her head.

    "Thank you for having me here," Madeline said and the vampires greeted back. Just when the woman left, she quickly moved to stand in front of Calhoun, blocking his view from James.

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed at her, "What are you doing by standing there?" he asked.

    Away from the King, on the other side of the room, James Heathcliff stood next to Lady Catherine Young who had invited him to apany her here to the soiree. She had taken a fancy towards him since the moment she hadid her eyes on the tailorman. James found it hard to refuse on her face when she was being persistent. When thedy had asked him, James would have never thought that he would be meeting Madeline in here today. He wanted to go where Madeline was and talk to her but she wasn''t alone. Next to her was the demon King who had taken a seat.

    Lady Catherine noticed James looking in a certain direction and misinterpreted who he was actually watching, "That''s King Calhoun Hawthrone. I suppose that you haven''t seen him before," thedy informed him. But James had done more than see the King when he hadst met him in the court.

    "Isn''t that Madeline Harris?" thedy asked with curiosity as she had not recognized the human right away, "Were you aware that she knew the King?" she asked him in a whisper.

    "No, I wasn''t aware of it," answered James, his eyes that were ring at the King moved back to look at Madeline who had her back facing them.

    James was unhappy with the turn of events where Madeline had refused the letter that it wasn''t from her. He had thought probably she was not sure of her feelings for him. After returning back home, he had decided to cool his head off, not even going to speak to her when she had visited the vige. But seeing her here now, all he wanted to do was walk up to where she was, and talk to her.

    Last time James hadn''t got the opportunity to speak to Madeline, but now that they were here, he decided to find a way to get to speak to her away from the King''s eyes.

 Chapter 145 Tailorman with another lady? - Part 1

    <h4>145 Tailorman with anotherdy? - Part 1</h4>

    She looked at Calhoun who raised his hand, waiting for her to take it so that she coulde and sit next to him but how could she right now. She knew thest time they met was not thest because Calhoun had ordered James to make a garter which was for her. she was unprepared to have them in the same room.

    "Madeline," said Calhoun, "Are you nning to stand in front of me the entire day?" he raised his eyebrows.

    "I-I cannot move my leg," she replied, the quickest thing she could lie about, and he cocked his head to the side.

    "What happened to your leg?" Calhoun asked her, and he was ready to reach out for her leg to check when Madeline quickly moved to sit next to him. She didn''t know why she was trying to cover up something that was going to blow up today. But she couldn''t calm her nerves, "Are you alright?"

    She shook her head. She was far from being okay right now.

    Calhoun was the King, so it was apparent that there would be many eyes looking at him. People were often curious about what the King did, what he said and how he looked. His eyes were yet to fall on James. His red eyes softened, looking at her, "You can tell me."

    If Madeline''s heart wasn''t racing with worry right now, she would have noticed how Calhoun''s voice had turned gentle and so did his demeanour towards her so that she could be in ease, "I haven''t been around too many people for a long time. Never been in thepany of vampires," she whispered so that no one around would take an offence that a human was calling the night creatures to be hideously scary.

    "Is it too daunting for you?" asked Calhoun. He raised his hand to ce it on hers, but Madeline turned even more conscious of people''s eyes on hers.

    "You are touching my hand," she continued to whisper, and he chuckled.

    "I am. Be at ease," he said to her, "You don''t have to look at other people or on what they think about. Just look at me. That will be more than enough," Calhoun''s words struck deep in Madeline''s mind, and for a moment, she forgot the people around her and only concentrated on the person she was sitting with.

    "Okay."

    She broke her gaze away from him to look at herp and at the walls of the open room. It was the kind of room that looked simr to an enclosed garden where the room didn''t have a roof and was left open for one to see the sky. Beneath their feet was the soft grass that had been cut to make it even.

    Madeline saw how the woman walked up to the King and bowed her head.

    "Good day, my King," the red-haired woman bent on one of her knees to offer her greeting.

    "Lady Jullianne, what a wonderful surprise," Calhounmented, and he raised his hand for thedy to kiss the back of his hand.

    Madeline noticed that the girl was a human, or at least by her eyes but her apperance resembled one to be of the vampires because of how pale and how sharp her features despite the demeanour she carried. Thest time she had seen the woman walking in one part of the castle towards the chamber of the King, to give pleasure to him. Madeline wasn''t someone to judge, but somewhere, she didn''t like the woman.

    She didn''t understand how women could openly give away their body or blood, to please the King for their gain.

    "Miss Jenning was kind enough to invite me here. I was only going to leave," she answered the King with a smile on her face.

    Madeline turned her eyes to look at Calhoun who had a pleased expression, "Why not stay longer? I heard they had some show arranged forter this evening," said Calhoun, his red eyes looking at the woman. Most of the women and men kissed the King''s feet for the power and position he held. Trying to please him, time and time again. Either by their words or by their actions.

    "One of the servants who is looking after mother has fallen sick. She is in bed rest, and someone will need to be there to tend to her. Forgive me for spending such a short time with you," on Jullianne''s words, Madeline couldn''t help but raise her eyebrows at Calhoun.

    Short time��, thought Madeline to herself.

    "Convey my greetings to your parents," and the woman bowed again. Before leaving, the woman turned to look at Madeline and gave her a bow. Madeline waspelled to return the polite gesture, and as thedy walked away from them, Calhoun said, "I can tell why your legs are aching."

    Hearing this, Madeline turned alert, and her eyes very slowly moved to look at him. Had he noticed James in the room? The room wasn''t that big enough where James would be hidden away from the sight of the King for long. Of course, Calhoun would have noticed him. Especially considering her suspicious behaviour.

    "Why?" she asked.

    "You walked quite a lot yesterday. Your delicate feet must not be used to it," came the answer from Calhoun who had turned to look into her eyes, "The distance from the forest to the castle isn''t a short one. Walking suddenly must have caused some pain. Once we get back to the castle, let''s make sure it is properly massaged."

    Madeline shook her head, "No no, that won''t be needed. It''s just some regr pain. It doesn''t hurt too much," she said, knowing exactly what the King was having on his mind when she noticed the wicked smile on his lips. Instead of letting the maids massage her feet, Calhoun would himself pull up her skirt likest time to tend to her. Madeline was not ready for her heart to jump out of her throat again because of him.

    Calhoun was not healthy for anyone''s heart. The man could turn tables in a way that would leave a person''s mouth wide open where one would not be able toprehend on what was going on.

    "Please," came the teasing voice of his with a smile, "I was the one who made you walk, allow me to make amends," but Madeline didn''t want him to make amends by touching her!

 Chapter 146 Tailorman with another lady?- Part 2

    <h4>146 Tailorman with anotherdy?- Part 2</h4>

    "You must have met James during the time of the ball which was hosted by the King," said Lady Catherine to one of the couples who hade to greet them and was curious about the good looking man who stood next to her, "James was kind enough to apany me to the ball."

    "How kind," said the woman who was eyeing the man next to thedy, "It is good that you have a partner, Lady Catherine. Peter was out of town for work, and I didn''t have any dancing partner,"ughed thedy at the end, who was plump and who appeared to be in herte forties.

    "They must have been intimidated by you, my dear," stated the husband of the woman who ced his hand around his wife''s waist.

    "You mean they were scared of me," replied the woman tough again before she said, "So James, what do you do?"

    James was looking somewhere else when the woman questioned him. His eyes immediately looked at the woman who was waiting for him to answer even though he had introduced himself to her during the time of the ball.

    "I am a tailorman, Lady Dorothy," James smiled, his words polite and the woman for a moment looked taken aback by his profession.

    "A tailorman?" asked Lady Dorothy''s husband, Peter.

    Lady Catherine seeing the look of surprise, said, "Yes, James is a very esteemed dressmaker. He makes clothes for the King and the ministers."

    Catherine was a vampiress who was lean and had a heart shaped face that made her look delicate and pretty. She was the daughter of a Duke who lived in the town away from the vige, East Carswell. Since the time she had met James Heathcliff, she had been taken by him. His kind manners and gestures had won her heart. She had taken every opportunity that she could, to bring him into her part of the higher society, wanting him to get involved and be familiar. But even though no matter how much she tried to capture his heart, somewhere it felt that his thoughts were somewhere else.

    "It must be nice to assist the King,"mented Lady Dorothy, "I hear the pay is always good when ites to working with the King," the woman had the habit ofughing more than necessary and the people around only smiled and nodded to her words.

    "You should one day go to his shop. James is very talented. I am sure he will get the best dresses stitched for you," Lady Catherine tried to advertise the man''s work.

    James bowed his head, "Lady Catherine is too kind to praise my humble work. I do what is possible and with what I have," he said.

    "If Lady Catherine is speaking so highly about you, I think I will have to pay a visit to your shop. Isn''t that right, Peter?" asked Lady Dorothy and her husband, who looked a few more years older than her, nodded his head.

    He had wanted to refuse her since the time he had openly spoken to Madeline about his feelings for her. But Catherine had been more than persistent in trying toply with her requests. Being the man he was, he didn''t want to hurt anyone''s feelings.

    "Excuse me," he said, bowing his head and walked away from the room, as he needed some air away from the vampires and humans who belonged to the higher ss.

    Calhoun was speaking to the people who were flocked around him. Madeline, who was sitting next to him, noticed how James had left the room and she was somewhere tempted to follow the man. But at the same time, she knew this would only make things worse. Somewhere, she felt terrible. Terrible that when he had mentioned about the letter, she had failed to clear it.

    He had stood in front of the King, and made a fool of himself which was partly her fault.

    If she had refused that she had never written a letter, James would have left right away. Her hands clutched on the front of her knees. She tried to control her heart beat without catching anyone''s attention, especially the King.

    Madeline felt torn by thinking what to do and she found it to be rather difficult to sit where she was right now. Her toes curled, her stomach churning as she heard the people who surrounded Calhoun sing his praises while he smiled at them, the smile saying he knew they were kissing his feet.

    She didn''t speak and only smiled or nodded at people when the eyes moved to look at her. Some women and men gave her a narrowed look with question in their eyes?on what she was doing sitting next to the King of Devon.

    When some of them walked away after speaking to Calhoun, Lady Catherine came to stand in front of the King. Like many others, she bowed her head deep down before standing up.

    "My King," said Lady Catherine, "Is there something I can get for you?" she asked him in a polite voice.

    "That won''t be necessary. How have you been doing?" asked Calhoun. He had leaned his back against the couch with his legs crossed one over the other.

    It seemed like the King knew Lady Catherine, Madeline thought to herself. Her brown eyes moved behind thedy and then at the entrance of the door to see that James was not yet here. Madeline only hoped that Lady Catherine would quickly finish speaking to Calhoun so that Calhoun would not get to speak to James. Thest thing she wanted was Calhoun reminding James about the garter in front of everyone. Madeline was worried, and she tried to keep herself cool without bringing the nervousness on her face.

    "I have been doing well, milord," bowed thedy and Catherine''s eyes fell on the girl who sat next to the King, "How are you doing Ms Harris?"

    Madeline had met Lady Catherine twice when her sister Beth and her had visited her aunt''s house which was in the same town where Lady Catherine resided. She bowed her head, "I am doing well, mdy. I hope your knitting has been going well."

    "Oh, it has!" answered Lady Catherine. The vampiress wasn''t fond of her, maybe fond of her sister Beth, but never her. At least that is what Madeline thought, and she knew it wasn''t her overthinking that had conjured up this idea in her mind. There was an odd hostility that was presented towards her by thedy.

    "If I knew the King wasing, I would have brought you some gifts. Handmade presents like sweaters or mufflers," the vampiress added, and Calhoun had a smile, that beat everyone''s in the room, and it was wide and stretched up high.

    "I have people for that, Lady Catherine. You don''t have to work your pretty fingers,"mented Calhoun and thedy blushed.

    Madeline noted how Calhoun had turned everyone pink or red. Either bypliments or through his subtly embarrassing remarks. She knew it was not right, but she couldn''t help but find sce that she wasn''t the only one who was subjected to the King''s remarks.

    "I didn''t know you knew, Madeline," stated Calhoun, his eyes filled with curiosity as he had thought that Madeline knew none in the room.

    Lady Catherine bowed her head over his words, "I met her and her sister when we had a tea party over one of thedies'' houses. Ms. Harris was staying at her aunt''s house. I believe?" she turned to look at Madeline to confirm.

    "Yes. My father''s sister. My aunt," replied Madeline.

    "How nice!" eximed the King and Madeline didn''t know what was nice about it. She had been smiling since the time she had arrived here, her cheeks had started to ache and so did her jaw, "Have youe alone?" asked Calhoun and this question was enough to set Madeline tensed again as her eyes widened.

    "No, Milord. I havee here with apany," saying this, Lady Catherine turned around to see if the man had returned. When James finally did walk through and into the room, a bright smile appeared on the vampiress'' face, "Here he is," and the man walked towards Lady Catherine to stop to stand next to her. Lady Catherine introduced him, "This is James Heathcliff."

    James''s eyes met Calhoun''s, and he waspelled to bow his head to offer his greeting to the King, "Greetings, my King," came James'' voice who finally raised his head to meet the King''s eyes smiling at him.

    A few seconds passed by in silence, and Madeline could feel her hands turning sweaty, and she subtly wiped it against her skirt. Lady Catherine had a puzzled look at the silence. Calhoun asked,

    "Who is this?"

    Lady Catherine had already introduced James to Calhoun. The King was acting as if he were meeting James for the very first time and didn''t know who he was. What did he mean, who James was? Asked Madeline to herself. "This is a dear acquaintance of mine," blushed Lady Catherine.

    Calhoun smiled, nodding his head, "I see, so he''s the man who has captured your heart. I can tell now why you have been evading the other men who have tried to court you," he stated.

    Madeline felt a slight prick in her chest after hearing this. Her eyes moved to look at Lady Catherine, who was evidently in love with James. When the ball for the Hallow was hosted, James had not received the invitation, but he had been invited by Lady Catherine for the ball, to dance and spend time with her.

    Both James and Madeline together had never spent time together, at least not alone, that was why Madeline didn''t know what equation James held with Lady Catherine.

    "I am trying to sway Mr. Heathcliff''s heart and hoping to marry him," Lady Catherine didn''t hide her intentions towards James. When Madeline shifted her eyes to look at James, he appeared to look awkward, but he didn''t refuse anything that put a furrow between Madeline''s eyebrows.

    Calhoun, who had a broad smile on his lips,mented, "You should make sure to make himmit to you. It would be terrible if he found another interest," looking at James.

    James obviously being the kind-hearted man, couldn''t refuse Lady Catherine in front of everyone. At the same time, the King was painting him in a bad light where Madeline could easily misunderstand his rtionship with the vampiress.

 Chapter 147 Tailorman with another lady?- Part 3

    <h4>147 Tailorman with anotherdy?- Part 3</h4>

    "Is it the first time you have seen this type of table, Lady Madeline?" asked a man who happened to be sitting next to her while on the other side, Calhoun sat next to her.

    Before the time of lunch had arrived, she was almost introduced to every single person by Calhoun without giving much details and Madeline had spoken?not more than a word or two.

    "Yes," answered Madeline, her eyes looking at the marble b that turned smoothly that was on the table.

    The man gave her a nod, who continued to speak to her, "Marble bs like these were introduced two years ago. It hasn''t been introduced to everyone," the man was polite enough, to not mock her knowledge on it, but it wasn''t the same when it came to others who were seated around the table.

    "Poor people aren''t aware of the new inventions. They live in a well," thement came from across the table from a man who appeared to be wealthy by the way he looked down upon the people except the King.

    The woman next to him joined, "It is a pity that they are unaware about it but then at the same time, they cannot afford using something like this," the woman was putting a napkin on herp when she continued to say, "Considering that their houses are very small and so is space."

    "That is because there is no need to bring something home which won''t be used," James said that made the people to turn to look at him. Even Madeline turned her eyes to look at the man, "We have the habit of living with what we have. bs like these are not of any use when family members don''t mind passing the vessels from one side to another."

    Very few agreed to his words, but most of them were not pleased with the human who spoke out of line.

    "Yes, it''s fun to do that," added Lady Catherine when she noticed the number of eyes that looked at James in distaste. At the same time, the vampiress nced at Madeline as it was because of her why the conversation had started.

    "It looks like Lady Catherine had found the right man to be next to her side," stated Calhoun, for everyone to raise their eyebrows.

    Lady Catherine blushed, waving her hand, "Oh no, it is still something that I am still working on," she said to everyone who had started to give her knowing looks. James looked like he had been caught off guard.

    He didn''t like it when she smiled looking at James, at his words that were used to protect her. Calhoun didn''t know that, the emotion of jealousy could run down so deep that he wanted to rip the man''s head off but then if he was going to kill him, he would need the right reason. Not to forget, there were other ways than killing that would require less bloodshed, thought Calhoun to himself.

    James was upied with talking to Catherine, who was smiling at him sweetly. It was obvious that she was smitten by the man who politely spoke to her, but every once in a while, the man nced to look at Madeline who was seated in the opposite direction.

    Madeline couldn''t help but ponder over the words of Lady Catherine and Calhoun. It looked like James had been apanying Lady Catherine for some time now, especially the way they both spoke to each other.

    Nobody at the table cared if Madeline had taken only a bite to have her spoon turn around the bowl, except for the person who sat on her right side.

    "Is the food not to your taste?" Calhoun questioned who had leaned to her side that made Madeline snap her eyes up to look at him.

    "It''s delicious," Madeline answered, taking one bite and Calhoun''s lips twisted,

    "You look upset. Is something bothering you?" asked Calhoun. He knew why she was upset, but it was good that Madeline was pondering over the scene which was in front of her. Who knew one day Lady Catherine would be of great use.

    Madeline pursed her lips and then replied, "I am fine."

    "If you say so," he agreed and went back to eating his meal before one of the men spoke to the King about the recent news circting in the higher society.

    "I heard that they found the body of Miss Lipton, my King. Was it resolved?" asked the man. Some of the people''s eyes fell on the guest.

    Calhoun took a bite from his fork, chewing his food and swallowing before he responded, "Yes. After her father and I had a talk with his false allegation, the girl is finally resting in peace right now, just where she needs to be. It is a pity that she had to die so young."

    "Indeed, milord."

    "That''s true," came the murmur from across the table.

    Lady Jennings shifted the conversation to something much lighter, "My King, were you not in the Hallow ball which was hosted a few days ago? I don''t think any of us saw you."

    A chuckle escaped Calhoun''s lips, "I thought it would be much more entertaining without having a need to scurry the vigers who came to attend the ball for the very first time," he said, to gain thoughtful nods.

    "There were rumours about you picking a bride this year, which is why you invited so many people," came another conversation.

    "Everyone is always so curious. It was the minister who advised to having peoplee to see the castle. Hoping it would bring the subjects closer to the crown," Madeline heard Calhoun reply to the question, his presence charming people around the table. She was going to take another bite by ignoring the sight in front of her when she felt Calhoun ce his hand on her thigh under the table.

    Her heart hitched.

    She lowered her hand that she had raised almost near her mouth.

    Did he think that there was space between them? Was it by mistake? No, when it was Calhoun, there was no room for mistake! They were in a room full of people. What was he thinking?! She ced the fork down and noticed how one of the olderdies on the table looked at her, offering her a smile, and Madeline smiled back. She picked the napkin, wiping her lips with it and just as she lowered it down on herp, she pushed Calhoun''s hand away from her thigh.

    Madeline would have red at him for trying something so shameful by cing his hand on her leg under the table. But with people around where some of them were looking at her, she tried to have a passive expression on her face and went to pick up the fork.

    One of the men said, "The Hallow indeed was sessful. Devon has been prospering better than before."

    "Aye," said another person, lifting the ss towards the King.

    Bringing the fork towards her mouth, she started to eat and was about to swallow when she felt Calhoun''s hand back on her thigh, which was positioned higher than before. When she turned to look at Calhoun, he was busy concentrating on his food while his hand inched higher.

    As her gaze moved across the table, her eyes met James and a secondter, Calhoun''s hand squeezed her thigh firmly. Her face turned red and she looked away from James to look down at her te.

    She wanted to stab the hand!

    .

    Author profile for books on Instagram- ldg_books

 Chapter 148 The warning- Part 1

    <h4>148 The warning- Part 1</h4>

    Turning her head to look at him, Madeline whispered, "What are you doing?"

    Calhoun turned to look at her with a calm expression, "Eating? It would be best if you ate too, than letting your eyes roam around the table," he took a bite from the meat, his eyes staring deep into her brown ones.

    She had only made eye contact with James and Calhoun was jealous with the simple action of hers that didn''t even mean anything, "Let go," she gave him a sweet smile.

    "What?" Calhoun asked with a louder voice, and Madeline could feel heat reach her cheeks. Some people at the table turned to look at them. Madeline took a bite from her fork so that there was no food on it and then looked at his hand, "Are you thinking to stab my hand?" he asked. Saying this, his hand moved up on her thigh, and his fingers in between her legs that made her gulp. Calhoun was being utterly shameless in the public while they were sitting with everyone in the round table.

    Madeline didn''t answer his question as she had moved her hand away from the table and went straight to stab his hand with the ends of the fork. Just before the sharp ends of the fork could pierce through the back of his hand, the cutlery turned to a handful of petals in her hand.

    She blinked, looking down to see petals of red rose that had appeared in her hand out of nowhere. Where did the fork go?! He suddenly held her hand that crashed into his, "People are going to notice!" she sent a re at him, "Can''t you be normal."

    "You want normal?" asked Calhoun, his voice low and Madeline didn''t know if she pushed the wrong button, "Are you scared, if James will find out what we are doing under the table?" and Madeline tried to pull away her hand from his hold. Calhoun then let go of her hand to pick up an empty ss and hit it with the fork.

    The ss clinked and the sound made everyone turn their attention to Calhoun, "I have an announcement to make for everyone. This lovelydy you see here, Madeline Harris. She hasn''t apanied me here because I am bored but because I will be marrying her in less than a month. I have already spoken to her parents, and they have decided to give us their blessings," Madeline''s mouth fell listening to his words, "Right now the news had not been made public, and you are the first ones to hear it. Madeline thought it was only right to let everyone know about it and I agree with her words. I wouldn''t want any man looking at my future wife in a wrong way," Calhoun said, his eyes sweeping around the table, to pause when it met James'' eyes.

    Calhoun then continued, "That would mean no disrespect about where shees from. I expect every single person to show respect towards her unless you don''t love your head," said the vampire with a broad smile to show his sharp fangs. His eyes then moved at the man who hadmented about Madeline''s status, "Madeline will be your future Queen," he dered.

    Everyone suddenly stood up, chairs screeching as they bowed down to thedy, and Madeline sat there like a statue.

    Her eyes met James; they didn''t give away any expression as his face looked nk.

    When lunch was over, more people wanted to talk to Madeline and make her their acquaintance. The same people who didn''t care to give her a look and were looking down at her now wanted to know more about her. She was overwhelmed with the attention she received right now, and she tried to keep up a smile on her face, conversing with them, when in truth she didn''t want to be around these people who were trying to win her favour.

    Calhoun was talking to a man on the side, and she noticed they stepped out of the room. A minuteter, Madeline excused herself.

    "Lady Madeline."

    Madeline turned at the voice to see it was Lady Catherine. James was not with her, and the woman walked towards her. Madeline bowed her head, but Lady Catherine quickly bowed her head deeper. She observed how from being addressed as Ms. Harris, the vampiress had moved to ''Lady Madeline''.

    "Are you looking for the powder room?" asked Lady Catherine, "I was going there myself," and Madeline walked next to the young vampiress.

    "Thank you for taking me there. I was going to look for a maid or someone who could point me in the direction," confessed Madeline.

    "I am d to be of your help," Lady Catherine smiled and Madeline found it strange, how the demeanour of thedy changed since the time at the table.

    As they changed two corridors, Lady Catherine said, "I would have never guessed that the King was going to take you as his wife. I mean, I never would have guessed that you knew each other. Just between us girls, how did you meet him? How did it all start?" questioned the girl eagerly.

    "We met at the ball," answered Madeline and Lady Catherine pped both her hands.

    "How romantic! I can tell that you are a fortunate girl," chimed Lady Catherine and Madeline gave her a tight smile, "I must confess something to you. I thought you were into James because there have been times when he has brought up about you in our conversation. But this is such a relief now, to know that you are with the King," she softly giggled.

    Lady Catherine was the first one to enter the powder room and also the first to leave, leaving Madeline alone in the room. She looked at her reflection in the oval mirror that hung on the wall. She now understood Lady Catherine''s hostile behaviour towards her. It was because both of them liked James.

    Before Madeline had the opportunity to get up from the chair she was sitting on, in front of the mirror, the door to the room opened, and she turned around to see James who had stepped inside.

    "You shouldn''t be here. Please leave," said Madeline because the room was used by women and not by men. If someone were to enter the room now, it would be a big scandal. James closed the door shut and locked it for Madeline to look at him rmed.

    James was asking for a death wish, and Madeline was going to be the next, "Open the door!"

    "I will, once I finish talking to you," he said to her.

    "We can do that outside. Please," she pleaded because she could feel the stress getting to her.

    "He won''t let us have a conversation."

    "He will kill you and me if he finds us here like this," she said, staring at him.

    "Tell me, why did you refuse to ept that you wrote the letter to me. Are you scared of the King?" asked James.

    Madeline felt nervous, and she kept looking at the door and then James. Calhoun was crazy, but James was crazier to think they could have a conversation in here!

    She closed her eyes, parting her lips to say, "I didn''t write that letter."

    "What?" asked James surprised.

    "That day, I didn''t get the chance to clear about it. Please unlock the door and leave, James. Lady Catherine is a good woman. She loves you, and she will keep you happy." Madeline didn''t know what to say because Calhoun had dered in front of everyone that she was going to be his wife. And here, James was with Lady Catherine.

    James furrowed his brows, "You don''t mean it."

    "I do," she nodded her head. Madeline wanted her freedom, but that didn''t mean she would risk James'' life for it.

    "If you think there''s something between Lady Catherine and me, there''s nothing," assured James, "I-"

    The door opened, and Calhoun entered the room, even though James had earlier locked the door.

 Chapter 149 Liquid on the lips- Part 1

    <h4>149 Liquid on the lips- Part 1</h4>

    Calhoun always knew, and there was no hiding anything from him.

    For a person who turned the fork into a bunch of rose petals, she doubted if there was anything that he couldn''t do.

    "I was looking for the restroom," said Calhoun with a cold smile on his lips, "I didn''t know we had amon room." He took one step forward and Madeline instead of taking one step back like she always did, took two steps ahead and quickly made her way to where Calhoun was.

    She was scared for James on what Calhoun would do. Madeline knew what Calhoun was capable of. He was an expert when it came to beheading people. He could do it with closed eyes and still get it right. She didn''t want Calhoun killing James, even though what James did was utterly stupid. He should have waited for her to step out of the powder room. A locked room with a man and woman did not give any clean ideas in one''s mind, but would question what they were doing that needed to be hidden from the public''s eyes.

    "Nothing happened," Madeline whispered to Calhoun, her brown eyes anxiously looking up at Calhoun who was staring at James unblinkingly.

    Madeline knew that all Calhoun would have to do is twist James neck to get him killed but James didn''t deserve it as he was only being drive by his emotions right now. James and Madeline had no idea that they would be seeing each other this soon. They would have sorted out their mind if they knew it beforehand. But Calhoun didn''t know about it either, and he had yed things to his benefit like he always did.

    James stood there with his hands clenched tightly into fists while staring at the King.

    Calhoun then shifted his gaze to look into Madeline''s eyes that looked scared. He raised his hand to ce it on her face, "I know that, Maddie," one side of his lips moved up to a half-smile.

    She felt his hand that was oddly warm. Was it always warm? She wanted to take Calhoun out and away from James.

    "Milord," came James'' words and Madeline''s eyes snapped to look at James, hoping he would not speak something that he shouldn''t. Especially not when they were caught together in a locked room. James had a confused expression on his face of how Calhoun had stepped into the room when he had locked the door, "I came to the wrong room. Allow me to be excused," he bowed.

    Madeline felt her soul starting to leave her body with the tension in the room. Calhoun then moved his fingers over Madeline''s cheek, caressing it, "Don''t try to steal what is not yours. If you so much as look at her, I will have you shackled with chains in the dungeon so that I can see you tortured," her eyes widened hearing this, "This is a warning, only because sweet Madeline and I are trying to build a rtionship," he turned to Madeline and said, "Why don''t you join the others in the room."

    Madeline had a worried look.?She didn''t want to leave James here with Calhoun. Her heart started to pound in her chest, and she gave him a pleading look, "Go on," said the King to her and Madeline looked at both the men before dragging her feet out.

    When Madeline left the room, looking at James, Calhoun smiled, "Marry Catherine and leave instead of meddling with something that didn''t even belong to you in the past."

    James grounded his teeth, "You cannot force Madeline to do your bidding. She has a kind heart-"

    "I know how Madeline is. I don''t need you to tell me. Not someone who didn''t have the balls to ask her before but now is interested as she is going to be someone''s wife," Calhoun said to him, a chuckle escaping his lips, "I thought you would have understoodst time, but you haven''t, which is alright. Let me tell it out loud and clear, forget Madeline and move on, if you are looking for a peaceful life."

    James hade here intending to speak to Madeline. He had made sure to wait for the King to leave Madeline''s side so that he could clear some things with her. He didn''t know the King would open the lock which he had locked.

    "And what if I don''t?" asked James. His eyes were intently looking at the red-eyed King.

    The smile on Calhoun''s lips faltered before it disappeared from his face. He walked to where James was, pushing the man right against the wall with a loud thud. Calhoun red at James whilst his hand was around the human''s neck who struggled to get away from the hold, but Calhoun was stronger than any walking person on thend.

    "I thought you were naive, but I didn''t know you were this stupid to stand up against me, by thinking you can challenge me by your brave words," Calhoun''s hand went to squeeze the man''s throat before he let the man breathe with his hand still around James'' neck, "I am letting you off this onest time just because Madeline doesn''t want you dead. Like you said she has a kind heart, but that doesn''t mean it''s going to stop me from torturing you. You will wish you were dead than being alive," Calhoun lowly threatened, his red eyes red to narrow down at the useless mongrel, "Try something like this again, and I will make sure I turn your life to a living hell."

    Calhoun finally let go of James'' neck and took a step away from him as the human coughed for air. James had brought his hands up to his neck, running it to soothe the skin which had been tightly held,

    "Do it, and Madeline will never ept you!"

    "Hm, still talking like a useless bird," hummed Calhoun, his voice low, "Time will tell that, won''t it. Not to forget, the way you and Lady Catherine seem to be tight. I wonder what Madeline must be thinking," he tched with an unimpressed look.

    James returned with a re in his eyes, "Nothing is going on in between us."

    "Are you sure about it? No man goes along with another woman when he could use the same time to woo the girl he likes. You broke her heart. But that''s okay," Calhoun responded, "I am here to help Madeline, to heal and love. You are not needed, step away before you regret it."

 Chapter 150 Liquid on the lips- Part 2

    <h4>150 Liquid on the lips- Part 2</h4>

    She had tried to put up a smile on her face, but with Calhoun and James who were not back yet, she was scared and feared that something bloody went down between the two men or maybe with just one man. After all, James was a human while Calhoun was the vampire. She had felt the touch of Calhoun''s fingertips on her skin, stroking it gently, while his eyes looked cold that was not pleased with the situation James had put her in the locked room.

    How did he know that James was in the powder room? Did he follow him? Or was he waiting for James to make a mistake? She prayed to God that Calhoun would not harm James. The truth was that James and Madeline had not got the time to speak to each other properly, to clear what they had on their minds but if they did, that would only end up in conspiring to run away from the castle.

    She held tight to the handkerchief that she held in her hand. James had told her that there was nothing in between Lady Catherine and him, but he had spent more time with her, and everyone could tell that the vampiress was smitten by him.

    "Lady Madeline," came a voice and Madeline turned around to see Ellen Jennings who came with two sses of wine in her hands, "I brought you a ss of wine." Ellen was the vampiress who was hosting today''s lunch as well as tea party for some of the high-ss people. Thedy had been a good host, walking around to talk to every single guest and taking her turn to make sure everyone wasfortable and Madeline had admired it earlier.

    "Thank you," thanked Madeline, taking the ss in her hand. the wine inside was not gold or white or red. It was inky hue in colour, and she couldn''t help but stare at it.

    "It is made of blueberries. One of the favourites of the night creatures," Lady Ellen said noticing the human who gave an apprehensive look at the ss which she held.

    Madeline remembered how Calhoun out of the blue had pulled out red berries from his pocket when they had stepped out of the carriage.

    "I have never seen a wine of this colour before," confessed Madeline. She had taken a few sips of wine with her sister Beth by sneaking in a bottle which Mr. Herbert had given to Beth as a gift.

    Lady Ellen smiled at the human''s words, "That is because it is made by vampires and for vampires mostly. The berries are harvested in our yard. They have some good enriching properties that is good for the night creatures. You can tell that it''s something like candies," she exined, and Madeline nodded her head.

    "They make a good couple, don''t they?" Madeline turned to Ellen, who was looking at Lady Catherine and James, "Lady Catherine has always spoken about a man and how smitten she has been with him. It is good to see that they share a good rtionship. It is notmon to have a vampiress in love with a human. Congrattions on the uing wedding," Lady Ellen congratted Madeline on something she was not ready yet.

    At the dining table, all Madeline wanted was Calhoun to move his hand away from her thigh and keeping it to himself, but her refusal had led him going to announce their marriage that would be taking ce in a month''s time. One month was too close, and she felt her head-turning light even though she had not taken the wine.

    She watched how Lady Catherine gave James a confused look before her eyebrows furrowed, and then gave him a nod for what he said. Not too long, Calhoun stepped into the room, and he walked to where Madeline was, who was with Lady Ellen.

    "Thank you for looking after my girl during my absence," said Calhoun to have thedy bow her head.

    "Lady Madeline is pleasant to talk to. I will take my leave from here," thedy excused herself, and Madeline bowed her head.

    Madeline was d to see James was still alive and that his head was intact. She looked down at Calhoun''s hands that didn''t look bloody but clean. She didn''t know when he wouldmit the murder only to erase its evidenceter.

    "What? Not happy that he''s still alive?" joked Calhoun. Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed as she didn''t have a hint of what must have gone down in the powder room. It was because when she turned to look at where James was, he and Lady Catherine spoke to Lady Ellen and took their leave from the room.

    To make sure Calhoun didn''t misunderstand, she said, "Nothing happened in the powder room."

    "Okay," Calhoun gave her a calm nod.

    Was that all? Did he believe her?

    Curious, she asked, "What did you speak to James about?" her lips trembled at the possibility but at the same time, d that James was okay.

    "Something between two men," answered Calhoun, who nced at the wine she was holding, "If I were you, I wouldn''t be drinking it."

    "Why?" asked Madeline, her eyes darting to look at the blue liquid and then looking back into the dark red eyes.

    "Blueberry wines are not for little girls. You wouldn''t be able to handle it," on Calhoun''s words, Madeline being stubborn raised the ss to drink everything inside it until the veryst few drops.

    Madeline ced the ss aside on the tform and said, "Don''t look down at me because I am a human."

    "I never did," a mischievous smile adorned his lips right now, "You make it very easy for me to read you, but your stubbornness makes up for it. It would be wise to head back to the castle," he slipped his hand into hers, "Allow me to take you to the castle, mdy," said the King by treating her just as she would want.

    Before they could leave, the guests started to bow their head to the King, wishing for him to have a safe journey.

    In Madeline''s head, who was not used to the intoxication by alcohol, believed that one needed to drink more than three to four sses. She had taken full gulps into her mouth, but she had felt nothing. She rolled her eyes internally at the words of people on how they liked to behave oddly when they were drunk.

    When Lady Ellen had spoken about the wine being made explicitly for the night creatures, thedy had not borated to the fact that the wine was much more potent than what a human would have ever consumed.

 Chapter 151 Liquid on the lips- Part 3

    <h4>151 Liquid on the lips- Part 3</h4>

    Calhoun who was walking behind Madeline couldn''t stop the grin on his lips. He noticed how Madeline tried to walk straight, but somewhere after they stepped out of the castle, she had started to sway. The King was a sadist when it came to seeing the person who he loved struggle, wanting her to submit to him even if it was in the form of asking his help. He had his twisted ways and wanted her to want him.

    Not to forget, it wasn''t him who had told her to drink. Madeline had chosen to drink despite his warning.

    Even though he had left the open room to talk to Mr. Jennyings about needing his assistance on some work, his eyes and consciousness was still where Madeline was. A King never had friends, but only foes who would be waiting to strike him or steal what was precious to him, and Calhoun was not the man to leave his treasure unprotected. Out of all the people, his eyes were only concentrated on Madeline because she was the only person who mattered to him.

    His blood had boiled when he found her with that human who was trying to catch her attention. To Calhoun it would be easy to have the man dead in less than a second but he knew how Madeline would react to it. Though Madeline was still resisting him, he could see how delicate their rtionship was. She was finallying around even though it was subtle which she herself had not noticed. It was possible that even though Madeline would grow feelings for him, she would be scared and try to shut it out, and it was something Calhoun was not looking forward to.

    iming her openly in front of everyone was to show her that he was serious about her and he wouldn''t let a peste between them.

    "Do you need help?" Calhoun asked looking at Madeline who was walking while her body swayed. If she were to fall, he would be there to catch her, unlikest time where she had fallen while he was still enjoying the sight of blood in front of him.

    He raised his hand to weave his fingers through his hair.

    "What for?" came Madeline''s voice, her breath breezy.

    "You''re having trouble while walking," stated Calhoun, "I wouldn''t want another bump on your head."

    Madeline, who was walking in front of Calhoun, didn''t turn to look at him as she was trying to focus on her walking. What kind of berries were those that were making her head go round? She closed her eyes for a second and then opened after squinting.

    "I will be fine," she murmured under her breath.

    "I got you," he whispered to her, helping her get in and Madeline''s cheeks that were already flushed because of the wine turned pink. She sat down, moving to the corner end. Calhoun followed into the carriage to sit next to her. She held her hands on herp, holding them close while staring at the wood that was in front of her.

    The carriage started to move, and Madeline was quiet, her eyes once in a while moving to look at Calhoun who was strangely not looking at her. Was he giving her space to breath? Especially after what he did back in the mansion!

    "I-Is it true?" came the small voice from Madeline, which was the opposite in her mind.

    Calhoun turned his head to look at her, "What is true?" he asked.

    "Have you nned for the marriage? That it''s going to be in a month?" she asked him. Calhoun noticed how her brown eyes looked more ck, and mellow where her cheeks had been sshed with the colour of pink and red.

    He took note of her parted lips that were tinted with pink, and he had the urge to lean forward, to see how it would feel against his lips.

    "Yes," he answered, "We will be getting married someday, why wait when it can be done right away. Your family will be invited toe stay in the castle so that you feel they are near with you while they can be involved with the ceremony."

    Madeline turned her body from where she was sitting on the seat, "But I am not ready for it��I haven''t prepared myself for that."

    And Calhoun turned too, "I am not an indecisive man, sweet. I know what I want, and I won''t shy away from it. Is it too hard to digest?"

    Madeline, who was staring at him, whispered, "Yes."

    Calhoun moved closer to her, to see how she didn''t move back but continued to sit still, her eyes focussed on him, "Tell me what is hard and I will make it easy," he spoke to her gently.

    "You are mean," came the first answer from her, and he had to agree to that. But he did it only to see her different expression especially the one where she red at him. He liked it the most, but then there was the time when she faintly smiled, and he had seen her near to tears.

    "I will try to tone it down."

    "Did you hurt him?" On her question, Calhoun''s eyes hardened that she was still thinking about James, but he wanted to be patient with her.

    "No, I didn''t. Didn''t misce a single hair on top of his head," replied Calhoun, "You saw him," and it was the truth. All Calhoun had done was push James against the wall by holding his neck and letting him know how it would feel if he were to be hanged.

    On Calhoun''s words, Madeline had a look of relief on her face, and she felt her heavy heart lighten, "Thank you," she said, not realising she had moved closer to him. Madeline continued to stare into those dark red eyes which she felt like she was drowning in.

    Then she frowned, lowering her gaze to say, "My head hurts."

    Calhoun pursed his lips with a grim expression on his face, "Is this your first time?" he inquired to see her shake her head. Alcohols that were made for vampires consumption were not suitable for humans as it would hit the human system with thrice the force, "Why did you drink when I told you not to?" he asked.

    Madeline lifted her gaze to look back at him. Calhoun used the back of his hand to caress her cheek.

    "You are being nice to me. Why?" Madeline asked, a shiver running down her spine at the tenderness he had in his eyes for her. Was it the wine that was making her look at him differently? "You were being mean to me earlier."

    "I have always been nice to you. You didn''t look past through my intentions," Calhoun replied.

    Madeline furrowed her brows before saying, "You lied about your parent''s death."

    "You were sad after hearing it."

    "Does that mean it was true?" she asked because the way Calhoun had told it to her, she felt terrible for him.

    "It is far worse than what I told you. Bloodier. Gorier. Cold. I will tell you one day, but that is not today,"?Calhoun leaned forward towards her to ask, "Can you wait until then?" Madeline''s curiosity piqued and she nodded. She couldn''t help but wonder what Calhoun''s story was and somewhere she wanted to know more about him.

    Calhoun then asked, "Are you sad? Lady Catherine is a beautiful girl."

    "You should get married to her then," the instant reply from her made him chuckle.

    "It sounds like you are jealous. Catherine doesn''t hold my heart, she holds James'' heart," Calhoun said and Madeline pulled away from where she had been sitting leaning her upper body.

    "You''re enjoying this, aren''t you," she asked, peering up at him.

    "I am trying, but it''s hard not to," came his sincere reply that was hidden with sarcasm. Madeline took her hand away from the empty ce of the seat to ce it back on herp.

    Madeline felt hot, and she opened the window for air, but the dress had manyyers that made her want to pull them out of her body so that she could breath. The corset was tight and ufortable.

    Calhoun noticed the heat getting to her as she kept shifting from one position to the next, "Drink some water," he advised, picking up the water bag and passing it to her.

    Murmuring thanks, Madeline tried to turn the top, but for some reason, her hands kept slipping, and she heard Calhoun sigh.

    He took the bottle from her hand to open it for her, but that wasn''t all he did for her.

    While Madeline was waiting for the water bag to be passed back to her, she turned her face in time to see Calhoun raised it to drink the water from it. He then dropped the bag down, and his hand went around her waist, bringing her to him. Just as her lips parted to speak, his face descended to hers.

    Madeline''s eyes went wide when Calhouns'' lips touched hers, pushing the water into her mouth, for her to drink directly from his mouth without the need for a bottle.

 Chapter 152 Its too hot! - Part 1

    <h4>152 It''s too hot! - Part 1</h4>

    .

    Even in midst of her intoxicated mind, Madeline felt Calhoun''s warm lips on hers. Her eyes went wide in shock, the effect of alcohol trying to lower down and her hands tried to push him, but they were weak against him. Calhoun was like a rock who was difficult to move, and she felt him pull her even closer than before, letting the water pass through his lips into hers, and she could do nothing but gulp it down.

    Madeline moved her head to the side, trails of water dripping down the sides of her lips, "W-what are y-you doing?" came her stunned voice, but Calhoun was not done with serving her water, "I can do it m-myself!" she said, noticing how his other hand went to pick the next water bag.

    With Calhoun''s other hand around her waist, he used his teeth to open the top of the water bag, and Madeline could feel her heart beating in her chest. She tried to get away from him, her facepletely turned red with embarrassment as he had kissed her without her permission! Once he had taken sufficient gulps of water, Calhoun ced the bag of water back, using his free hand to ce it behind her head as he descended back down on her lips.

    She used both arms to push him away, seeing how his eyes were staring back at hers and out of reflex she gulped down the water, her slender throat bobbing up and down to take in the water through his lips. One mouth full of water in his lips were like three gulps in her small mouth.

    Calhoun held her waist firmly against him, feeling her beating heart against him and listening to the way they skipped their beats every now and then. Her lips were soft and sweet on his lips. Sweeter than the water he had passed to her. He had waited for a good minute before taking the bag of water from her, seeing her struggle, how her hands kept slipping away while she tried to concentrate.

    He had intended only to pass the water to her, but now that he had tasted her lips, he wanted more, and he sucked her lips. He heard the hitch in Madeline''s breath and heart. He had been holding himself back for almost two weeks now and that was the most he could. He wanted to stake a im on her.

    Madeline, on the other hand, turned into a mess. She felt a jolt run down her body when Calhoun sucked on her bottom lip. Her hands were crushed between their both bodies. He hadpletely taken her in his arms, kissing her.

    "Wait!" said Madeline when there was a little gap when he had pulled away. She could see how his eyes had darkened.

    "You might deny it, but I can hear the way your heart is beating. I can see you are scared to feel it. Don''t deny what you''re feeling now," he coaxed her with honey-like sweet words. He looked straight into her eyes before looking down at her lips.

    Calhoun leaned forward to capture her lips in his again, and Madeline''s hands that were trying to push him away with all her strength turned weaker. She tried to move away from him, but with them being in the carriage, there was nowhere to go, only to be cornered at one side of the carriage.

    Madeline, who had never been kissed before, felt like she had never been felt before. Calhoun continued to suck on her bottom lips, his teeth nipping it and she felt her fingers and toe curl at that action. One hand still on her waist, the other one which was on the back of her head, his fingers weaved through her hair to feel the softness while it moved down to settle on her neck.

    Madeline felt Calhoun run his tongue over the seam of her lips, prying it open and she didn''t know why her lips parted, letting his tongue sneak into the hot cavern of her mouth. Her breath wasboured. Calhoun was not gentle, but neither was he rough with his moves. It was a mixture where the kiss was near the danger zone that would free the wild instincts that he had tried to chain, but it had loosened, and it wanted more from her.

    "Calhoun," she whispered when his lips were hovering back on hers after pulling away, and his eyes snapped from looking at her lips to her eyes.

    "What did you say?" he asked, his eyes smouldering in heat and want.

    Even though her body was weak and maybe sloppy, Madeline could sense the darkness in his voice. His face looked serious where he had no smile carrying on him with the mischievous evil deeds that he liked to impart on people or her.

    "N-no more," she said, her chest heaving for air. She didn''t know if it was because of the alcohol or if Calhoun had the ability where he did something to her. Her mind was turning to a mess and at the same time, Calhoun looked different. They weren''t even married, to be doing something like this.

    "Repeat what you said before," there was a certain growl in his voice and it made her jump. Repeat what?? Asked Madeline in panic but before she could ask what it was, Calhoun pulled her closer, diving and indulging himself with her sweet mouth. His lips were much more demanding this time, coercing her to open up to him.

    Calhoun''s hand moved to feel her back, and he couldn''t stop to think about how it would feel to run his hand over her bareback. The thought only tipped him off, and the grip on her tightened, hearing her moan softly into the kiss which was music to his ears.

    "Tell me," he repeated, and Madeline didn''t know what he wanted her to tell. What she wanted to say was not being taken into consideration.

    "I don''t know, what you want me to tell you," she said hurriedly, her back was leaning against the side of the carriage with him over her, "We should not be doing this-" she started only to have him ce his finger on her lips to shush her.

    "You will be my wife soon. I don''t see why I should stop when you look like you are enjoying it. Feeling it," he said, staring at her.

    Madeline turned red, "No, I am not!" she denied. This was wrong; it was not right!

    "No?" he asked. The way he looked at her now as if he was going to eat her up, Madeline gulped.

    Madeline stared back at him. Seeing his handsome devil-like face in front of her, "You were the one who kissed me."

    "I agree, but it would be rude to say you didn''t like it," he whispered to her, "I can hear your heart beating. Your eyes closed with every touch of my lips on yours, your skin feels like its on fire. You like it, but you are scared to embrace it. Am I wrong?" Calhoun asked Madeline.

    "The alcohol-"

    "Come here, sweet. Let''s see how much the alcohol worked on you or if it''s your undiscovered feelings that you have been trying to curb, in the name of freedom of wanting to leave," Calhoun ran the back of his hand over her cheeks, caressing her, "I warned you not to drink it, but you drank it anyway. To spite me. Are you going to me on the liquid? How does it feel to be intoxicated? Imagine the same intoxication I feel when I see you, how hard it is to resist myself not wanting to take you away from this world."

    Madeline shuddered over his words, "D-don''t do that," she didn''t want to make the situation worse for her.

    Calhoun had a faint smile on his lips, "I won''t do that, Maddie. But at the same time, I prefer you look only at me. Your smile kept just for me to see and for no one else."

    Madeline didn''t know what to say. It wasn''t because she wanted to spite him, but it was because she was upset. She had thought it would be a peaceful day where she would not step on the wrong lines with Calhoun but not in her dreams she would have imagined that James would be attending the same soiree.

    She had felt bad. Bad that James and Lady Catherine had appeared to be close, whispering to each other and talking. Even the others knew about it. Now it seemed like it wasn''t the time that was wrong, but that, neither James nor Madeline had put an effort to make a move.

    A shiver ran down her spine when Calhoun''s fingers gently brushed her face, "Now tell me."

    Her eyes momentarily closed to open and look at Calhoun who was seated in front of her, "I will tell you if you tell me what you want me to tell you."

    Calhoun''s eyes moved on her face, towering over before they came back to settle to look at her brown eyes, "Say my name," he ordered.

    "Milord?" Madeline had not realised that in haste, she had used his name. She looked at him with wide eyes. At her word, Calhoun''s hand moved down from her waist. His eyes narrowed because of impatience.

    "Without the honorifics. Just my name."

    "Calhoun��" she whispered his name for him to hear.

 Chapter 153 Its too hot! - Part 2

    <h4>153 It''s too hot! - Part 2</h4>

    Some of the strands of his hair had fallen on his forehead, and his lips were parted as if waiting to catch hold of her lips again. Madeline''s back continued to stick to the side of the carriage wall while looking back at him. Even though she had drunk some sips of water from him, she was still thirsty.

    But Madeline was too shy to ask for more water. Asking it would only mean she was looking forward to more kisses from him. Her lips trembled, remembering his lips on hers. Moving against it...Both of them continued to stare, and as if knowing she was thirsty, Calhoun asked her,

    "More water?" the way he asked her, deep down she felt something in her soul, her body reacting in a way right now which she wouldn''t have let it react, "It''s going to be a while before we reach the castle. I don''t want you passing out," hearing this she doubted she would pass out because of water, but because of his presence alone.

    Madeline was torn as her body had only heated up because of his touch, making it worse while the water was not enough. She could do nothing but me herself for taking in the alcohol despite Calhoun''s warning, and now all she wanted was sink herself in the bathtub of water.

    "No, it''s okay," she answered stubbornly. Though the alcohol was affecting her, it didn''t mean she had lost control of herself. After a few seconds, she said, "I will take the water bag."

    In time she saw Calhoun''s face change and a sinful looking smile graced on his lips, "You will get your water through my lips. Agree?" now that he had tasted her, he wanted to have more. His eyes sparkled, waiting to hear what Madeline''s answer would be.

    He could see how she was ufortable in the clothes that she wore right now. If she would take a couple more sips, it would help her.

    "No."

    Calhoun smiled at her answer. Her resistance wasmendable, and it made the chase only that much enjoyable.

    The way Calhoun grinned at her right now, it reminded Madeline the time she had been sitting in the church, attending prayers with her family. During that time, the pastor of the church had once said how the devil was once an angel. An angel with white wings and a pure soul who waster corrupted to turn to have ck wings with a sinister smile on the face. Waiting to charm the next person so that they could invite the prey on the web like a spider.

    He let go of her waist and the other hand that was ced at the side of her bottom, pulling away his hand to move back against his seat. His hand itched, but he decided to keep his hands to himself for now.

    When the carriage stopped, Madeline was in an internal mess. The liquor had hit her body hard to its peek. Calhoun was the first one to step outside the carriage, a wicked grin ying on his lips to show one of his fangs as he knew exactly what Madeline was feeling. He had seen many humans who had drunk the liquor which was made for vampires, thinking they were better than the night creatures. Turning his head around, he saw Madeline, who was still sitting in the carriage.

    "Leave," Calhoun ordered the coachman who was holding the carriage door open, to see the servant leave the door as it was to go stand at the front of the horses.

    Madeline clenched her hands, taking a deep breath before she started to make her way towards the door by sliding across the seat. Her body felt prickly, like needles that were poking into her skin because of the heat, and was it this bright earlier? asked Madeline to herself.

    "Stop being stubborn," stated Calhoun, raising his hand and Madeline didn''t refuse. She had done enough for the day. She wanted to go to her room and probably sleep in the bathtub. That''s what she would do, thought Madeline to herself.

    "Why is it so hot?" she asked him.

    "Might be your body heating up after the kiss," came the reply from Calhoun and she stared at him, "It is the reaction to the vampire liquor. Close your eyes," he said when she stepped down from the carriage.

    Madeline had a small ache at the back of her head, her footsteps not stable enough to walk and suddenly she felt herself being picked in Calhoun''s arms, "I don''t want you dropping down," and he started to walk into the castle. As Calhoun walked up the stairs, Madeline instead of closing her eyes, looked at him.

    "People are going to see! Put me down!"

    The servants in the castle had their eyes widened at the sight of the King carrying thedy who had been living in the castle for almost less than two weeks now. A human, who most of them believed to be was one of his another conquest looked shocked before schooling their reactions to continue their work. Thest time two servants had spoken about thedy, they had ended up with their head being beheaded from their body. Not one but two servants. And no one wanted to remotely get to the King or thedy''s bad side.

    As Calhoun made his way, carrying Madeline in both his arms, Theodore, who was talking to one of the ministers noticed the King from afar like many others. There were some more, one of them being the head maid, Nic, who stared from the other side of the corridor at the sight, that was presented to all of them to see.

    When Madeline and Calhoun reached the King''s quarters, Madeline felt relieved. The heat in her body was unbearable. Both her hands were around Calhoun''s neck for support. She had been staring at the walls when her eyes slowly moved to look at Calhoun who looked serious again.

    She wondered which one was the real Calhoun Hawthrone. Was it this one? The one where he was serious and intimidating, his eyes dark where there was not a hint of emotion on his face. Or was it the one where he smiled, enjoying people''s misery, like seeing her being denied of water which he was ready to offer only through his way. Her eyes trailed from looking at his jaw that moved towards his full lips.

    She closed her eyes now. How did that even happen?! This was not how she had imagined being kissed.

    Though Calhoun had his eyes at the front, his consciousness was at the person who was in his arms.

    He was listening to her heartbeat and breathing. Hearing the hitch and the line of sight at where she was looking, he muttered under his breath.

    "Fuck it."

    Calhoun had at first decided to take Madeline to her room, but with the way she looked and the taste he just had of her, it was hard not to want more. His feet changed direction, and by the time Madeline opened her eyes, they were in the room. With her head starting to spin, she tried to catch sight of where they were, blinking her eyes as her eyes started to focus.

    Madeline realised they weren''t in her room, by the decor, this was the King''s room. It was Calhoun''s room, and she felt her heart almost slip from her chest,

    "W-what are we doing here?" she stuttered. Did he bring her here to kiss her? She looked up at him, meeting his dark hooded eyes.

    "It is very normal for a human to feel hot after drinking a vampire''s liquor. I am sure you are burning up with the way you have been squirming ufortably," replied Calhoun to her. Her eyes went back to see that Calhoun had walked past therge bed and her eyebrows furrowed.

    "W-wait-" Madeline was trying to conjure words when Calhoun continued to walk into the next room and down the stairs, for her body to be dipped in the water while still clinging on to him.

    "This should do," she heard Calhoun say while the cold water hit her body. He was right. Her body felt so much better right now. Calhoun had taken Madeline to his grand bath which was filled with a pool of water, dipping her body that had risen with the temperature because of what she had consumed.

    It felt like the fire in her body had finally calmed down, and so did her mind. She could feel Calhoun''s gaze on her, watching her intently. She was d that Calhoun had not thrown her into the water, instead walked into it, carrying her. Both of them were wet because of the water.

    Madeline continued to cling on to him, her hands holding tight around his neck.

 Chapter 154 It is too hot!- Part 3

    <h4>154 It is too hot!- Part 3</h4>

    After a few minutes, Madeline finally started to feel cold, and without looking at him, she said, "I think I am okay now." She found it hard to look at him. For heaven sake, he had kissed her on her lips. On the mouth with his tongue...in her..mouth, she gulped at the thought. A cold shiver ran down her body, raising goosebumps on her skin, "Please," she added.

    "If I drop you here, the chances of you drowning are high," he said in a serious tone.

    Madeline pursed her lips. Maybe he was right, "Will you take me back?" she asked him. Her eyes were still dted, and her speech was slowerpared to what she used.

    Calhoun wondered if Madeline knew how she looked right now. The way she pleaded with that doe-like eyes with the whisper in her words, he only felt right to have her stolen away from the world to bring her here to where he was.

    "I am feeling hot now," Calhoun said looking down at her before looking at the surface of the water that was moving back and forth.

    Madeline didn''t understand what he meant, but when he started to move further and deeper into the water bath, her eyes widened in time, for him to dip down in the water with her.

    Before, the upper part from her chest was dry. But with Calhoun who dipped both of them, she had to take a deep breath when they resurfaced from the water. Had he decided to torture her? Her hands were slipping from his neck, and she noticed how water dripped down from Calhoun''s head, trailing down on his face.

    "What are you doing?!" asked Madeline while water dripped down from her own face.

    "Getting off some heat as it is not possible in the bed," came his direct answer.

    Turning around, Calhoun finally walked back out of the water, up the stairs before putting Madeline down. Not in the water anymore, she shivered due to the cold. She saw Calhoun walk towards the tform to pick up two towels. Using one to rub his head as he strolled towards her.

    Madeline looked down at the ground and then at the water. The King had a grand bath that was filled with water until the very brim. Because of them being in there, some parts at the edges had been sshed with water outside.

    Calhoun''s hair which was previouslybed back earlier with only a few strands that hade to fall on his forehead, now had his wet hairpletely dishevelled. His red eyes stood out, staring at her as he made his way to her. Before he had picked up the towels, he had discarded the coat he had been wearing.

    "You kissed me," she said, not happy that he stole her first kiss.

    "Don''t look upset. I am not satisfied with just one. There are so many more toe," the wicked smile appeared back on his face. Her body still sluggish, she quietly took the towel from him, which he finally decided to let go, chuckling as he turned his back against her, walking while wiping his wet hair.

    Madeline stared at Calhoun''s wet shirt that was sticking to his back before she looked down at herself. Her hair stuck to her face and neck. Her clothes wet along with her. She looked like a cat which had been thrown into the water. Starting to wipe her wet hair which would take a lot of time to dry, she wondered how she was going to get out of this room to get back into her room.

    That was right. Her room, she sighed.

    She was using both her hands, drying the ends.

    "Milord!"

    Madeline jumped from where she was, hearing the maid''s voice that came from behind. It was the head maid, Nic who had entered the bath, "Get Lady Madeline''s clothes here."

    Here? "I will be okay. I will go back to the room and change," responded Madeline.

    The maid turned her eyes to look at Madeline and then at the King who didn''t appear to change his order, and she bowed her head.

    "W-why bring my clothes here? I can change my clothes there," Madeline fretted. She didn''t know she could stand anymore in the presence of Calhoun as much as she had today. She needed some space, and without waiting for him, when he had turned around, Madeline bolted out of the bathroom holding the front of her dress, her wet clothes leaving a trail of water drops on the floor.

    Calhoun turned around in time to see Madeline who had run straight to the door, and he stared at the drops of water on the ground, "Seriously, this girl."

    The cold air touched her wet clothes, making her shiver more. Making her way quickly to the room, she saw Nic who was looking through the clothes to pick out a dress of hers. Hearing the footsteps, of Madeline, the maid turned around with a furrowed expression.

    "I will be changing here. You can excuse yourself," Madeline said, catching breath. The maid bowed her head, keeping the dress back which she had picked up to ce it in the cupboard and walked out of the room.

    Madeline closed the door turning the lock, while knowing a simple lock as this would not help when it came to Calhoun. She felt herself swaying and identally hit her head against the door which she didn''t realise she had been standing close to. Touching her head, she walked in to the room to change her clothes.

 Chapter 155 Midnight snack- Part 1

    <h4>155 Midnight snack- Part 1</h4>

    The person''s shadow could be seen from the other side of the door, which stopped moving before pushing the door open. The footsteps moved to step into the room, walking towards the girl whoid on the bed with her back against the surface of the bed. Madeline''s eyes were closed, and the sound of the door had not woken her up, which only told she was in deep sleep.

    The person continued to watch the human girl, and her legs were hanging out of the bed while her blonde hair was let out loosely, cascading on the bed like the rays of the sun. Her breathing was controlled as her chest moved up and down with every intake and exhaled air through her lips. The presence of two continued to stay in the room for a few more minutes, the person staring at the girl before leaving Madeline alone with the door of the room closed again.

    On the same side of the castle, Calhoun stood outside in the balcony of his room. Once Madeline had run out of his room, he had discarded the clothes before taking a bath, in the water he had stepped in earlier holding Madeline in his arms. As water poured on his face from one of the fountains of the lion that was built in the corner, Calhoun couldn''t get rid of the thought of the way Madeline looked.

    The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to keep her near him, and near didn''t mean just in the castle because that was not enough for him. Calhoun wanted her in his bed. Like her blood, he had got the taste of her lips, and he had heard her moan. The soft cry escaping her lips when he had bit and scraped his fangs over her tender lips. He could only think how it would be to hold her in his arms, without anything between them.

    Back in the balcony, his dishevelled hair moved with the evening wind. Today had been far more exciting than what he had thought it would be.

    He heard the sound of his door that opened to his room, the footsteps approaching him and he didn''t bother to turn around to see who it was, as he knew by the weight of the sound of the footsteps on who had entered his room.

    "Good evening, my King," Theodore greeted Calhoun, "I have brought you a drink."

    "Did you bring one for yourself?" asked Calhoun, and he turned his head over his shoulder to see Theodore smile.

    "I did. I thought you would like somepany," answered the brown-haired vampire.

    Calhoun brought the ss to his lips, staring outside at the garden and the other part of the castle grounds, "News came up that they were nning to attack Devon. Wanting to take the kingdom and thends that surround it."

    "What do you have on your mind? A treaty? Another route is to attack,"mented Theodore, holding his ss for some time before taking a sip from it.

    "Treaty is good when you have enough resources that will satisfy the other party but by the way they have been behaving for the past few months, I doubt they are looking for a peace treaty. Even if we do, they will still try to worm their way. That''s how the Warrings are. It is in their nature to take as much as they can," Calhoun said before cracking the side of the neck, "Get the men prepared. We will need to attack them before they do. This will only mean morend to expand Devon."

    "Yes, milord," bowed Theodore, obliging themand.

    Calhoun had worked for his share of Devon, and even more, aftering to the castle, "It feels good, isn''t it? To see the castle from inside rather than from outside."

    "It''s been long," came the short reply from Theodore, his head nodding to an agreement, "But you always knew you would be the King."

    "I did," saying this, Calhoun ced his ss down which still had half of the liquid in it. With both his hands on the railings, he stared far away at the sky, "I was the heir to the throne. People who wanted it and opposed it, couldn''t do anything but watch, and the same people kiss the ground I walk."

    Theodore didn''tment anything further as Calhoun hummed something before turning around to say, "I need you to fix a meeting with Mr. Barnes. Call him to the castle. I need to tell him a piece of important news about his daughter, who has taken a liking, no, who has fallen in love with someone."

    "I thought you were going to help with Lady Madeline''s sister first. Did she find someone?" asked Theodore, who had an idea of what was going on as he was not only the King''s advisor but also a close friend or alliance.

    "Elizabeth Harris has refused the favour of the King. The girl thinks she''s the goddess of Devon and will have everyone around who will fall at her feet and ask for her hand in marriage," chuckled Calhoun at the thought of the human girl. He found it ironic on how two sisters could be so different in nature.

    Calhoun had taken note of Madeline''s sister since the first time they had stepped into the castle, during the time of the ball. Though by blood, they were sisters, the older girl had gone as far as to condescend her very own sister during a conversation that took ce on the dance floor. Calhoun had been dancing with Lady Keaton, and his ears were set close to the girl who was talking to the man she was dancing with.

    To get things back to a square, when they met over for lunch, Calhoun had showered the older girl with his attention. Almost making it look like he was courting Elizabeth Harris and his letter had been vague too. At the right time, he had dropped the information about how he was interested with the younger daughter of Harris and not the older one. The wicked smile continued to hone on his lips.

    "Mr. Barnes'' daughter is interested in the tailorman. The same tailorman who is a small but important obstacle," stated Calhoun and Theodore finally connected the dots.

    "Would you like me to send him a letter or want me to go see him myself, to invite him through word?" asked Theodore. To be swayed by the King''s words, there was a process. Pushing the person subtly enough to receive the desirable and favourable answer.

    "Letter should be fine. Tell him that the King has something very important to talk with him. We can leave the details, when hees to meet me."

    The sooner the tailorman would be out of the picture, the lesser reasons Madeline would find in wanting to escape because all her reasons would turn null. The tailorman''s presence in soiree had turned out to be beneficial, and so was Lady Catherine''s. Her affections towards the man were genuine and not something frivolous, which was why James was finding it hard to refuse.

    James might be a good man, someone who was trying to keep a woman''s heart without trying to break it, but this was no child''s y. The tailorman was not man enough to woo Madeline in time, which had fallen in Calhoun''s advantage. It would have been harder to part Madeline and James if they were together. At that thought, the grin on his lips broadened. Madeline...the thought of her brought satisfaction to his soul.

    "I mentioned about the parents to her today," on Calhoun''s words, Theodore, who was looking to his right at the scenery, turned his head to look at the King.

    "How did she take it?"

    Calhoun turned his eyes to meet Theodore''s eyes which was shielded with a pair of clean ss, "No details, just mention. She is getting curious. She might run away faster than before if she finds about the truth," his eyes filled with amusement.

    He could barely wait to see her reaction when he would speak about it. Her beautiful face would be filled with shock, and if she knew about it right now, she would try harder to leave the castle.

    "It would be better to hear it from you rather than from another person who might present it to her differently," said Theodore.

    "That is where the fall of trust wille into y. Trust is never given blindly. I need her to trust me, instinctively. She''s in the right direction. I would have preferred to fasten the process by getting the tailorman out of the picture, would an ident sound bad?" he cocked his head to the side, staring at Theodore.

    "I believe you have the ability, my king. To make it look more like an ident than a murder," Theodore bowed his head.

    Calhoun picked up the ss, drinking it slowly. He had the ability, but Madeline would have her suspicions at him. As much as it was easy, he wanted to use the underhand methods to get rid of the man so that Madeline could solely focus on him.

 Chapter 156 Midnight snack- Part 2

    <h4>156 Midnight snack- Part 2</h4>

    Getting down from the bed, her feet met the cold floor, and she padded her feet across the room to look outside the window which looked empty. By the looks of the stars and the ambience, she knew it waste in the night. Once she had got on the bed, she didn''t know when she fell asleep, and it was a deep and a good one. Who knew having liquor would end up in her having a good sleep which she hadn''t had in a long time.

    At the same time, Madeline started to remember the events that took ce hours ago. One image falling over another, where she remembered meeting James and his possible alliance with Lady Catherine. The carriage...Oh the carriage, she closed her eyes. Her body slid down while holding the grills of the window to sit down on the floor, on her heels.

    The feeling of Calhoun''s lips on her made her tremble and shiver that raised goosebumps on her arms at the thought that they had kissed. No, no! Madeline corrected herself. Calhoun was the one who had kissed her, and it wasn''t her who had initiated the kiss. She had felt his lips moving against her, coercing her to open herself to him, and she had��

    "Kill me," muttered Madeline to herself. With the kiss that took ce not just once but over and over with their lips touching each other and the tongue, she didn''t know how to face the King anymore!

    How did that happen?! One minute she had been feeling extremely hot and wanted Winter toe right away because of the unbearable burn she felt all over her body.

    Unconsciously her hand moved to touch her lips, tracing it and remembering the way it felt when he had kissed her. Thinking about it, she felt something in her stomach, and she put her head between her knees, "What am I going to do?"

    Standing up, she fanned her hand over her face that had turned red. She wished she could ignore it easily by saying it was nothing. But it was her kiss. On her lips. How could he steal it away from her just like that! Leaning forward, she tried to see if there was anyone outside, noticing how clear it was with no guards or wolves, Madeline decided to step out of the room. She had eaten in the afternoon, and she was hungry now.

    Picking up a coat that was hanging on the stand, Madeline wore it, tying the sides before stepping outside the room.

    As Madeline made her way, she took note of the King''s room whose doors were closed. There was no light in there, and it made her wonder if Calhoun was in there or was out for work. The vige she came from, it was told that the night creatures were the children of the devil because they indulged themselves in drinking the human''s blood and killing them for sacrificial purpose. That the vampires never slept during the time of night but only slept during the time of the morning, which was a lie.

    Did Calhoun sleep?

    She would have told that the bed was used to sleep, but with Calhoun in the picture, there were other purposes of the bed apart from resting.

    Walking away from the rooms and the corridor, she made her way down before sneaking away from there. It felt good to be out like this, thought Madeline to herself. When her eyes moved up to look at the sky, she noticed how the moon was full��the clouds blowed across the stars and moon because of the wind.

    Madeline made her way through the other part of the corridors, spending her time walking aimlessly but freely this time where she didn''t have to find the fearful expression directed towards her by the servants of the castle.

    While trying to make her way towards the kitchen, she heard something rustle behind her. When Madeline turned around, there was nothing in there. But when she turned to look forward, she felt her blood drain out of her face at the sight of therge four-legged creature that looked nothing less to a shadow.

    Out of fear, she took a step back to hear the ck wolf growl at her lowly, and she froze.

    Madeline hade out of her room to have something from the kitchen and not to turn to someone''s food instead.

    Madeline wanted to run away, but she was scared that it would only increase the chances of her being bitten by the wolf who was Calhoun''s favourite. Calhoun had told her that they were left out loose at night to roam around the grounds of the castle, but she didn''t know it also included inside the castle.

    The night was quiet and cold that the growl of the wolf frightened her. The creature was bigger than the size of a dog. The growl that started low started to increase, and Madeline was sure she was going to turn to wolf meat tonight. Or maybe she should justy down on the floor and act dead, thought Madeline to herself, maybe that way the wolf would leave her.

    "What was your name?" asked Madeline, trying to remember the wolf''s name. Calhoun had mentioned the name, and she tried not to move from where she stood, "Maddox!" she remembered, but the wolf didn''t like her calling its name. Stealthily, it moved towards her, pulling its mouth wide and she noticed how white its teeth looked because of its ck fur and the darkness around them.

    When it growled and snapped its teeth, Madeline couldn''t stand still anymore. She bolted from there by turning around and started to run. This didn''t help but only worsened as the wolf was quick to jump on its feet, following her like a devil had unleashed hell into her life. All she wanted was some peace, not to be turned to pieces instead!

    Madeline was only a human who could run only a certain distance who would be caught by the wolf before it would swipe its paws or ws on her. She turned to look at the wolf that was about to get her, she noticed it was close which was when she turned back to find Calhoun. She jumped right into his arms for protection.

    Utterly scared to her wits end, Madeline shivered out of fright, "Save me!" she whispered, her hands trembling whilst they were holding the front of his shirt awkwardly.?It wasn''t just her hands but also her legs that were shaking. It was a miracle that Madeline was not crying right now because the wolf was something to be scared of.

    She had her eyes closed hoping she was safe, after all, it was Calhoun''s pet. The silence continued to fill back where the air was not gushing through her ears, and the growls from the wolf had quietened down.

    "I was wondering who was ying out in the corridor with Maddox. It looks like you two are getting along well," said Calhoun above her, his hand moved to ce it on her small back. It would be rude not to providefort to the girl when she was openly seeking out for it.

    "He is going to eat me!" cried Madeline, her eyes continued to stay shut as she clung to his front.

    Calhoun took note of his beloved pet who now had taken his position in front of them. Sitting as its tail wagged like a well-behaved boy, "I don''t think Maddox wants to eat you. He only meant to y with you," Calhoun pacified her with his words before adding, "The only wolf who will eat you here is me."

    Madeline was too scared to take the flirtatious words of him, and she slowly pulled away, turning around to see the wolf right in front of them. When she felt it was okay to step away from Calhoun like a damsel in distress, the wolf who was sitting stood up, taking a step forward that led to Madeline quickly fall into Calhoun''s arms again.

    "Please ask him to go away," she pleaded. It was as if the wolf was waiting to scare her.

    "Why? He is a harmless thing. Look, how cute he is," replied Calhoun, but Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed.

    "He is cute?" she asked as if it was the ridiculous thing she had ever heard. That wolf was nowhere to be cute with its sharp teeth which had tried to snap at her.

    Calhoun noticed how Madeline tried to cling to him like her life depended on it. If Madeline had been listening to his words closely, she should have known that no thing or person could hurt her with him around, but he didn''t want to remind her. Not when he was enjoying her holding on to him. What a lovely creature, she was, thought Calhoun to himself.

    He had seen Madeline slip away from his quarters. Her robes sweeping through the clean white floors of the corridors, her fingers tracing the walls mindlessly. Though the other wolves often roamed outside the grounds of the castle, it was only Maddox who walked inside and outside the castle.

    His wolf exactly knew how to scare a person.

    He wasn''t the kind of man to let an opportunity slip through his fingers. He was someone who made opportunities possible. When he leaned forward, he smelt the flower-like fragrance waft from the top of her hair.

    While Calhoun was enjoying having her in his arms, Madeline was not ready to leave his side. She didn''t know why the wolf was growling and wanting to snap its teeth at her.

    "Maddox is only trying to familiarize himself with you. Why don''t we make a proper acquaintance?" Madeline heard Calhoun hum at the end. The hand that was on her lower back, moved to her waist so that he could have her turn around, "Watch," ordered Calhoun and Madeline noticed how Calhoun stepped forward. His hand reached the head to pat the wolf and give the wolf a scratch below its ear.

    "You are his master. He will listen to you," stated Madeline. Creatures who were brought up by people were always loyal and harmless towards their master.

    Calhoun then replied, his hand still giving the wolf an ear rub, "He will listen to you, once he knows you have epted me," turning around, Calhoun smiled at her, "Come here, Maddie." Madeline was not sure about going close to the wolf because the first time she had tried to pat it, the wolf had shown her its beautiful teeth.

    Seeing Calhoun wait for her, Madeline took one step towards them, and she sat down next to where Calhoun was. Under Calhoun''s touch, the wolf was indeed harmless, but the same could not be told otherwise when it came to others.

 Chapter 157 Midnight snack- Part 3

    <h4>157 Midnight snack- Part 3</h4>

    "Is it a vampire thing?" asked Madeline softly without wanting to disturb the wolf''s time with its master. She had taken glimpses of the wolves in the past to run away before they could spot her��seen bodies of the vigers that were left by the wild wolves on the forest grounds. It was something that had worried her in the past as her father had to go to the forest to collect logs of woods. Because of the trouble that was caused in the forest by the wolves, many vigers often went hunting, that had pushed the habitat of wolves away from civilization.

    But not anymore, and it was thanks to Calhoun.

    Calhoun responded to her, "It is my thing. Master of these wolves can be only be the big bad wolf," The wolf that was getting petted, growled lowly in approval at the touch of its master. "He was in bad shape when I found him. Not exactly a pup but a wolf who was growing and had been hunted."

    The wolf moved its head to rub its head against Calhoun''s hand.

    "Who hunted him?" asked Madeline.

    "It was Markus Wilmot. Sophie''s brother," he answered her question, "We were hunting the deer when the arrow went to this one. My cousin used to have a terrible aim in the past��someone who could not differentiate between a deer and a ck wolf. When we reached, Maddox had an arrow that went through the front of his leg. Usually, animals die when they have an arrow running so close to the chest. And even though he was wounded, he wanted to take a bite," Calhoun''s voice appeared to be much gentler as if he was remembering the fond memory.

    Madeline saw Calhoun raise his hand in front of her. She went to look at his hand to notice a faint bite mark and her eyes widened.

    "He bit you," she frowned.

    He retrieved his hand back, "He did, and look at him now. He''s the most loyal person you will find. Someone who won''t think twice before ripping them apart. He protects things that are important to me."

    "He almost bit me," Madeline reminded him to hear him chuckle.

    "Are you telling me, you want to be that special person, Madeline? If you will, he will swear his loyalty to you, but of course, I will be his master thenes the next." Calhoun''s question resonated in her mind. The words repeated as she stared into his red eyes. He then shifted the topic to ask, "Did you sleep well?"

    Madeline nodded her head. Realising how close they were, she stood up.

    "I came down to look for food to eat," she was hungry, and she could feel the sound that her stomach made right now.

    "You could ask the guard to send the food to your room," replied Calhoun, giving a final pat to the wolf, he stood up, his height towering her.

    Noticing Madeline''s hesitation, Calhoun said, "Servants here in the castle are not guests but to work for the King and the King''s guests. If they didn''t, there would be no point in having them in here, would it?" The wolf got up and left the corridor, "You must be hungry," his eyes moved to look at her stomach and then up at her.

    When they reached the kitchen, Madeline looked at Calhoun who was looking at something else while she cut some vegetables for herself. Something quick and easy so that she wouldn''t have to wait long to eat. Once she was done, she heard Calhoun ask,

    "Where is my share of food?" Madeline bit the inside of her cheek.

    "You can have this," she said, pushing the bowl and ready to make another one when she saw Calhoun shake his head.

    "I was joking," and he pushed the bowl back to her. Madeline sat down and started to eat the food she had made for herself. When the head cook of the castle appeared at the kitchen door, Calhoun waved him off.

    Madeline concentrated on her food, not looking at Calhoun who was idly ying with the ss of water in front of him which he had been drinking. She tried hard not to remember the time the kiss that happened, but the more she tried not to, the more she remembered.

    She didn''t know how Calhoun was sitting there calmly, drinking water as if nothing had changed. After she was done eating her midnight meal, Calhoun took her back to her room, seeing her off with a goodnight, without mentioning anything about the kiss in the carriage or the dip they had taken together in his bath.

    As the next day approached, Madeline was d that Calhoun had not teased or whispered about anything embarrassing which only made her question, if he would, every time he spoke to her. It ended up so that her thoughts were upied by him.

    In one of the many rooms of the castle, two men sat,

    "I was very surprised when one of your men came to my mansion, asking me toe to join you. I hope I haven''t caused any trouble," said Mr. Barnes, who was seated in front of the King.

    Calhoun offered the man a smile, "You have been a very resourceful man for years now, Mr. Barnes. Especially your work. I thought it was time, I give you something in return," and Mr. Barnes gave a look of surprise at the King''s words.

 Chapter 158 Setting up with another- Part 1

    <h4>158 Setting up with another- Part 1</h4>

    "Mr. Barnes, since how long have we known each other?" the King was stirring his teacup, round and round looking down at it.

    "It must be more than two decades, Sire," answered Mr. Barnes. Though the man himself was much older than the King, it was because of the power the King held, that made Mr. Barnes appear to be slightly timid. One had to be extra careful when speaking to the King. A rtive or family members words could be dismissed, but it wasn''t the same when it came to outsiders. Sometimes even the rtives were not shown mercy because the amount of betrayal that ran in the cracks of the bond never closed.

    Once Calhoun was done stirring his tea in the cup, he tapped the side of the cup with the spoon before cing it down on the saucer, "Two decades is long, isn''t it? I have known your family, Mrs Barnes and your lovely daughter Catherine. She had grown up," he paused before saying, "Your girl, I mean."

    By the mention of his daughter, Mr. Barnes wasn''t sure if he was supposed to be happy or worried about it. Happy, because the King was considering his daughter for something and with the years of experience he had in the court that even included serving the previous King, he knew this was heading in the direction of a possible prospect for his daughter. There were hundreds and thousands of girls awaiting out there in thend of Devon, but the King had thought about his daughter.

    Not every proposal was a happy one; daughters were usually used to create peace, an alliance and Mr. Barnes didn''t know what the King had on his mind. Patiently, he waited.

    "It is time you get her married. She has turned to a fine and beautiful woman, there must be a lot who are trying to get her hand in marriage," Calhoun raised his teacup to his lips, taking a slow slip and letting the older man reply.

    "There have been some, my King, but Catherine has not shown keen interest in any of them," Mr. Barnes shoulders slightly drooped at the mention of this, "We have been trying to get the best suitor."

    "Did you ask her if she likes someone?" Calhoun asked him casually. His gaze moved from the cup to look at Mr. Barnes.

    "No!" Mr. Barnes looked opposed to the very idea of his daughter, bringing a man by herself.

    "Word is that young Catherine has taken a liking towards a man. A very good man, who is handsome, talented, has fingers that can create threads of different fashion. He is a good man, and you must have heard about him at least. His name goes by something cliff...Ah, yes! James Heathcliff," said Calhoun with a subtle smile on his lips.

    "A high one at that," Calhoun''s eyes brightened, "I have heard excellent things about him. He is a kind and polite gentleman."

    Mr. Barnes'' replied, "I never thought about marrying my daughter to a mere tailorman. Forgive me again, but I will need to think about it."

    "Why?" came the pushy question from Calhoun, "If you are worried about his status, I can get it fixed. He is already working for my ministers and me by making clothes for us. And some others. That shouldn''t be a problem, and not to forget, Catherine is very infatuated with him. I met them when Ms. Jennings hosted a party in her mansion. They appeared to be happy together, might I add, very right with each other."

    The man raised his teacup, taking a sip and then another as his eyes moved to the front.

    Calhoun stared at the man. He wanted to get Catherine and James married as soon as it was possible. This way, there would be little to nothing, when it woulde to Madeline giving reasons to him, on why she didn''t want to stay in here or get married to him.

    The King then continued, "As I have known Catherine for a long time now, and though I am the King, I feel obliged to be part of it. Like a brother, I would like to be part of the asion. I have already picked a wonderful ce where she might love to get married," he smiled at the end.

    Mr. Barnes felt unnerved in the presence of Calhoun. He had heard many things about the King, things that were from close information, and he was somewhere upset that Catherine had not been able to entice the King. Like many fathers and mothers of high social status, they preferred their daughters marrying for status and money than for love. Love could be found once they married to wealthy families, such was the thinking, and it didn''t matter if their sons or daughters liked it or not.

    The old vampire had tried to make his daughter sway and bed the King, hoping it would bring good fortune to the family. It wasn''t anything new, and it had been running through generations. Even if a King was already married, he sometimes had a mistress or two who were either meant to be kept for his pleasure or to bear children to produce an heir to the throne.

    He had hoped his daughter woulde to be of use, but the King clearly had shown no interest in her. He let out a sigh of disappointment in his mind and then said,

    "I would like to talk to Catherine about it before I answer anything to you, my King," answered Mr. Barnes, bowing his head so that the King would agree to it.

    "Of course," replied Calhoun, "Once you have spoken to young Catherine, I hope the answer will be a yes to the wedding between her and the person she is in love with. She is a young girl, it would be pitiful to have her love stolen," saying this, Calhoun drank down the rest of the content in the teacup, "More tea?" he asked, his red eyes bright and the man nodded his head.

    When the time came to leave, Mr. Barnes bowed his head with polite words before stepping into the carriage he hade in.

    Madeline who had taken herself up to the tower of the castle where the wind blew with more speed because of the tower''s height, she noticed a carriage leaving. At the same time, another one entered through the gates that were situated far away from the castle.

    She wondered who it was, who hade to visit the castle today because Calhoun had appeared to be upied and he wasn''t in the court, leaving the court duties to his man, Theodore. The hair that she had tied into a braid had been slightly pulled out because of the wind. Some strands came to fly in the direction of the wind, and she didn''t bother to tuck it back behind her ear.

    After drinking the liquor yesterday in Lady Ellen Jennings soiree, Madeline decided not to try something like that again. She had met James yesterday, and he looked just the same as he did before, but he had Lady Catherine with him. Her lips pursed as she stared at the grounds of the castle. Calhoun had sent her away from the powder room, and she didn''t know what had happened between them in there. James looked unharmed, but Calhoun had other ways to intimidate a person.

    Evening drew near when she heard a voice calling her from behind,

    "Lady Madeline," she turned around to see Theodore, who had entered the tall tower of the room, "I didn''t know you would be here. The King has summoned to see you."

    Madeline didn''t know if she was ready to meet Calhoun right now. First came James, then came the kiss from Calhoun, and then came the wolf where she had ended up clinging on to Calhoun. She stared at Theodore. The man looked more normal than Calhoun, but she wondered what normal meant in thend of Devon, in the castle.

    Was Theodore hiding who he really was, unlike Calhoun, who didn''t bother to hide himself?

    "You said you wouldn''t tell him," said Madeline to Theodore, her eyebrows furrowed. He had told he wouldn''t mention it to the King, but he had told Calhoun about James and her meeting in the castle.

    Theodore took a moment at the sudden words that thedy spoke. Both of them had never spoken much to each other before, and it was only a word or two. Quickly thinking about what she might be talking about, Theodore said, "My apologies, mdy. I did not say a word about it. The King must have found out about it by himself."

    Madeline stared at the brown-haired man. He didn''t?

    She heard him speak, "I wouldn''t break my word. There was no direct harm. Therefore, I didn''t feel there was a need to mention about it," and he had answered the same to Calhoun when he was questioned on why Theodore had not informed him.

    Madeline had not moved from where she stood, "Okay��" she trailed, starting to walk and make her way out of the tower to be followed by Theodore. While walking down the spiral staircase, she asked him in a curious voice, "Do you know what happened to the King''s family?"

    "Yes, mdy. I do," came the sincere reply from Theodore.

    Though Madeline was intoxicated and her body was weak with her senses, it didn''t mean she had forgotten the conversation she and Calhoun had in the carriage. She stopped her footsteps and turned to ask him, "Can you tell me what happened?"

    Theodore stared at the human whom Calhoun had taken a liking to. Truthfully he saw nothing special in her, and he didn''t know what the King had seen that had made him keep her here in the castle. As Theodore worked for the King, he was only going along with his majesty''s orders and wishes.

    "Apologies, but it would be best if you heard about it through the King and not from me," Theodore bowed his head.

    "I did, and he said his parents died because of an attack that took ce here. The neighbouring kingdom had attacked them," Theodore pushed his sses up the bridge of his nose, "He then told it was a joke."

    The man offered her a smile, "He has a dark sense of humour. I am sure you wille to like it in time. Please," he then showed his hand towards the front of the stairs, and they started to walk down the stairs. Calhoun was a jealous man, and he wouldn''t like it if he were to know that someone else was trying to take the woman''s time apart from him.

    Madelin, who was holding the front of her dress, continued to ce her feet down the stairs one after another.

    "He is rough around the edges, but he is a good man, mdy," she heard Theodore speak from behind, and Madeline smiled, it wasn''t out of happiness.

    "Have you not met the King?" she asked him.

    As Madeline was walking ahead of Theodore, she didn''t notice the smile on the man''s lips,

    "I have, mdy. But the King does things only to protect people he cares and loves. You might find it wrong, and somewhere I do understand, being torn away from the family and to live somewhere you have never lived before, sometimes it can be daunting. And that might be the only dark side of it along with the blood, but if you try to find a good side, you will find many. You will need to look at the brighter side."

 Chapter 159 Setting up with another- Part 2

    <h4>159 Setting up with another- Part 2</h4>

    Madeline noticed, the room was big, and the furniture took less space. She had not been to this room before. There were too many rooms in the castle that she had not even covered half of it.

    "How has your day been?" Calhoun asked, who was yet to turn around.

    "It was okay," she answered, and he finally turned around, his eyes meeting hers.

    "Only okay? Perhaps you were missing me and that is why it has not been fantastic?" he asked with one eyebrow-raising at her.

    Madeline noticed the way Calhoun walked towards her, each step of his slow towards her, "How was your day?" she asked him, not wanting to give him an opportunity to tease her. Calhoun was pleased with her question because Madeline never asked him anything except for her freedom, but she had stopped speaking about it since the day they had visited the forest.

    "I missed you," replied Calhoun, picking up her hand when he came to stand in front of her. With his red eyes still on hers, he kissed the back of her hand, his lips lingering on her skin that left a burn while also sending a jolt through her body.

    His lips were not on hers and he hadn''t teased her with his words but Madeline remembered the time when those same lips were on hers. Kissing her as they moved- she took a deep breath and brought her thoughts back to the present where they were standing.

    "I can see that I have been upying your thoughts. I can see it in your eyes," a grin appeared on his lips before he let go of her hand.

    Madeline didn''tment on it, and the grin on Calhoun''s lips broadened, "Did you have something to ask me?" he had summoned her, and she could only think if there was something she would have to be wary about.

    "I wanted to ask how your delicate ankles have been doing," saying this, Calhoun''s eyes trailed down from her gaze to look at her neck which then moved to her chest and down to her waist before it fell on the hem of her dress.

    Madeline quickly answered, "It is doing great. Good as a horse."

    "Good," Calhoun had a satisfied look on his face, and when he noticed her frown, he cocked his head to the side, "Are you upset that I won''t be massaging your ankles? We can do that even if your ankles are not paining," he offered, and she shook her head, "Let''s take a walk outside in the garden. I was thinking about getting some air and which best person to walk with, at the time of the evening?"

    "How long have you been living alone in the castle?" asked Madeline.

    "Without the family or with family?" Calhoun shot another question at her.

    "Without family," she cleared. She was curious about the King''s past, especially after he had made up a story only to tear it down. It made her question if it was the truth what he had spoken or if it was far worse.

    "Nearly two decades," Calhoun answered with a smile on his lips as he was happy to see Madeline ask about him.

    "Doesn''t it feel lonely?"

    Madeline wouldn''t know, how she would have lived in this huge castle without having anyone as her own, "Do you?" she heard Calhoun ask her.

    She pursed her lips at his question whether she was feeling lonely, "Would it matter if I said I am feeling lonely?" she asked him.

    "Initially, everyone feels lonely, because of the new people and new ce. You feel foreign at first, but then you start getting familiar," he answered her, "I don''t think I have ever felt lonely. Never felt there was a need to feel such an emotion. I have been a self-sufficient person, Madeline. I grew up that way."

    Was he speaking about it after his parents passed away?

    Calhoun''s eyes moved to the corner to take a look at Madeline who appeared to be in a deep thought. Yesterday, he had asked her to be patient as she was drunk, but she appeared to be back to normal, "You know��" he drawled, catching her attention before saying, "I have a liquor room. If you ever feel the need to drink, we can always make a trip there."

    "I don''t want to drink the wine," replied Madeline, her hands twisting the long beaded chain that went past her chest.

    "Aww, I am going to miss the sloppy person," he teased her, "What a shame. I thought we could drink and pour out our hearts to each other." Madeline didn''t know how to revert from what happened, but her gut said to let it rest without bringing it up in front of him. She felt Calhoun''s eyes on her, but she didn''t turn to meet his gaze. The blood started to rush up through her neck, making way up to her face because of the unbroken gaze from the person beside her.

    When Madeline didn''t turn to look at him, he couldn''t help but decided to trick the girl.

    With a small snap of his fingers, something appeared near Madeline''s feet to make her trip, and Calhoun caught her in his arm. He doubted he would be able to keep his hands to himself anymore because it felt like a clock was ticking toe to its end, which was near. Madeline looked more beautiful under the moonlight.

    "Thank you," Madeline murmured, her eyebrows furrowing and she turned around to see what she had missed, but there was nothing.

    "Tripping on air," chuckled Calhoun and once Madeline stood straight, he moved his hand gingerly away from her waist, "I am delighted tonight."

    "Why?" came Madeline''s careful words.

    Calhoun cocked his head to the side, "Are you saying I shouldn''t?"

    "No! That''s not what I meant," replied Madeline, she came to doubt if there was anything good to other people when the King was happy. It was something to worry about.

    She heard him hum and then speak, "Someone I know, will be getting married. A love marriage with the approval of parents. Don''t you think it''s fantastic news??Parents rarely approve of such things."

    Madeline nodded her head, having no clue of who Calhoun was talking about, "It is good news," she agreed, "Not everyone''s love is epted." Madeline and Calhoun had started to walk again in the garden of the castle.

    "Who are you speaking about?" asked Calhoun with a hint of curiosity.

    "There was a girl who fell in love with a boy, but she was married to another person who hailed from a town. I remember seeing her cry."

    "Did you cry at the thought of you being torn away from your infatuation?" she hadn''t expected him to ask her this question. It made her ponder, and she only gave him a stare. She did cry, but it was mostly at the thought of her being forced into something she was not ready for, "Shall I take your silence to be a no?" asked Calhoun, wanting a clear answer.

    "I think my condition was differentpared to the girl from my vige. They both were in love, and I was one of the few people who knew about it," and she looked away from him, "Yes, it''s an infatuation, a beginning path," she said talking about her.

    "Thought I would never get to hear that," chuckled Calhoun, and Madeline wished she could stab this vampire as she sensed the words that felt like he was mocking at her.

    "How did you turn the fork into petals?" more than curious, Madeline was fascinated that something like that was possible. The vige used to have an annual fair that took ce close to the market, and the towns held them too. She had witnessed people trying to do magic which was nothing but tricks, but nothing came close to what Calhoun had shown her until now.

    She noticed how Calhoun moved away from her, picking the rose that was yet to bloom.

    "What do you really want to know?" he asked, going back to her.

    Madeline responded, "The truth. Only the truth."

    "You won''t be able to digest some things," replied Calhoun, "You are like this rose, soft and unopened, who doesn''t know the ugliness of this world."

    "Why did you bring me here, then? If you think it is ugly?" she demanded without raising her voice.

    Calhoun''s smile broadened as he looked down at the bud of the rose that was yet to bloom, "Because I was attracted to you and I was intrigued. Will you disagree that you weren''t intrigued by me the day you met me at the ball?"

    "I was intrigued for a different reason than yours."

    "But you were," he said, and her eyes went down to look at Calhoun''s hand that was ying with the rose, which slowly started to bloom in his hand. He moved his hand towards her hair and pushed it in, "I thought you would be my salvation."

 Chapter 160 Setting up with another- Part 3

    <h4>160 Setting up with another- Part 3</h4>

    For once, a smile came to appear on her lips in front of Calhoun, "I think you are more than capable," she shook her head, "You are someone who doesn''t need to be saved because you are capable of doing it yourself."

    Calhoun had not let go of her hair where he had pushed the rose, "It is not about me being able to save myself, you and me both know I am capable of doing that but there are other things. You know, things are not always about physical strength." Madeline slowly understood what he meant. What was one supposed to do when a man like Calhoun said she was the person who could keep his sanity. The King had a dark nature and she wondered if he wasn''t like this before and maybe he was turned like this for a reason.

    Softly, she asked, "Why do you do that?" Madeline didn''t need to be told that Calhoun was someone who would walk the path like every other man, or maybe she had less knowledge when it came to people outside the vige.

    Calhoun tched, like there was nothing he could do with a sigh, "I can''t help it. I was built that way. My hands are too deep to pull away right now."

    "It is never toote."

    Their conversation was vague and Madeline tried not to step into his territories which she was not allowed to step on. She felt Calhoun take one step closer to her, closing the distance that was there a second ago.

    He didn''t speak another word, and moved his hand away from her hair. The back of his fingers traced her skin from the top of her shoulder, down her arm that left when it reached her wrist.

    Calhoun was yet to lean his face, and Madeline could feel the unevenness in her breath at the thought that he was going to kiss her, "You are right. It is never toote," she didn''t know what he meant by that. Calhoun''s words were often vague, which made her question on what he meant by it.?When she thought he was going to kiss her because of his parted lips, Calhoun pulled away from her.

    Calhoun took in her expression that was filled with anxiousness and anticipation, "Let''s get you back inside."

    "You didn''t answer my earlier question."

    "Which one was that?" asked Calhoun, stepping away from her.

    "The magic��"

    "It is part of being a vampire. A special one," he grinned, "Come on, little one." Calhoun had started to walk, and Madeline followed him quickly when she heard the howl of a wolf from far away.

    Far away from where the castle was situated, in the Barnes residence, Mr. Barnes broke the news first to his wife, on why the King had summoned him to the castle to speak. Mr. Barnes was not keen on getting his only daughter married to a mere human whose upation was cutting fabrics and making clothes.

    "I told you to stop her from going around too much," whispered Mr. Barnes, "She could have used the same time in getting the King''s attention instead of wasting her time on someone who is beneath us. Look at what has happened now!" he sighed in frustration.

    "Let me bring Catherine here so that we can get it settled," said Mrs. Barnes, leaving her husband in the room who was standing in front of the firece.

    When Mrs. Barnes returned with their daughter Catherine, the young vampiress had a perplexed expression on her face as she didn''t know why she was called to her parent''s room. Catherine was about to sleep when her mother came to call her; her eyes darting between her mother and father.

    "Catherine," her father spoke to her in a stern voice that caused her to worry, "I havee to hear that you have been spending more time than needed with the man named James Heathcliff. That you have openly shown interest to him."

    Catherine opened her mouth and then closed, not knowing what happened, "I love him, papa," confessed the vampiress.

    "Have you forgotten, what is the status between him and us?" her father questioned her. By his voice, Catherine could feel that her father was not pleased with her choice.

    "He is a good man, papa. He has his shop, and he has a great talent which can reach heights if given more opportunity."

    "If he needs opportunity, I can help him. There is no need for marriage," came the curt statement, and Catherine quickly moved towards her father. She could feel her heart break at the thought that she would not be able to stay next to James.

    "Papa, please. He has all those qualities that I have admired. I love him dearly, and I cannot imagine a life without him. He is a human, but I will turn him," Catherine pleaded to her father, "He is a good man, and he will keep me happy. You can meet him and find out more from him. Please," she turned around to look at her mother, who was quietly listening to them, "Mama, please. You have met James."

    Her mother looked at her father, who had folded both his hands behind his back, still staring at the fire. Minutes passed by in silence, and Catherine waited to finally hear her father say, "Invite the man home. I would like to see him for myself," stated Mr. Barnes.

    "Yes! Yes, I will!" replied Catherine with excitement, "Thank you, papa!" and the girl left the room with the thought of how she could barely wait for her father to meet James.

 Chapter 161 Setting up with another- Part 4

    <h4>161 Setting up with another- Part 4</h4>

    Catherine had been in love with James for more than a year now. The first time she had met him, it was the time when she had gone to visit his shop with her mother and aunt to get new gowns stitched for her. At first nce, James appeared like any other man, but he was polite, a gentleman who heeded to what she was looking for; suggesting the right colour and fabric that would look good on her. It had taken her two more visits to be enamoured by the man. And he was also a handsome man,pared to the usual humans who were not eye-catching, and many women eyed him. This made Catherine Barnes want James even more.

    Vampires and humans never got along. One because of the status and two because of the kind they were, as to vampires, humans were a food source.

    The coachman had stopped the carriage not too far away from Heathcliff''s shop. It was only a few distances between the carriage and the shop. Catherine made her way towards the entrance of the shop. The servant man who had apanied her went ahead to knock on the side door that caught the attention of one of the men who worked for James Heathcliff.

    "Lady Catherine," the man greeted upon seeing the lovely vampiress who often visited the shop, "Your dress is going to take a week more to be prepared," he informed. Thedy shook her head.

    "I am looking for Mr. Heathcliff. Is he here?" inquired Catherine, her eyes looking behind the man to catch sight of James. James would most of the times be here by this time, greeting her but not today.

    "Mr. Heathcliff told he was sick and would be taking the day off, mdy," answered the assistant of the shop. Not well? Catherine frowned hearing this. How did she not know about it?

    "Thank you for the information," replied Catherine and took two steps away from the entrance. The assistant went back to continue his work along with the others in the shop while Catherine wondered what to do. She then turned to her servant to say, "We will be going to Mr. Heathcliff''s home," she had to make sure James was alright, and nothing had happened to him, "I need you to buy a basket full of fruits."

    Even though the distance was a short one as they were in the vige, Catherine took herself to the carriage, riding in it for a minute before it came to a stop. After getting down from the carriage, she looked at the small house that stood midst the other houses. Not many carriages came to pass through this road. The neighbours who were outside their houses couldn''t help but stare at thedy who had stepped down from the carriage.

    Using her handkerchief, she tied it around her hand before pushing the rusted gate of Heathcliff''s house that creaked. She would need to let James know that the gate was creaking. Stepping towards the front of the house, she finally knocked on the door. It took less than a minute before an older man opened the door for her.

    "Yes?" asked the man who appeared to be in his sixties. He wore a baggy shirt, his back hunched and his eyebrows had drawn in together.

    Catherine had spent more than enough time with James, asking him to apany her everywhere and anywhere possible, pushing him to a corner with her efforts, but she had never been to his house even once. She looked down at the man who opened the door.

    "I would like to see Mr. James Heathcliff," Catherine said, her eyes moved away from the man to notice the windows which looked as old as the gates. She didn''t understand why James was living in this broken house when he could afford a better ce. He was a talented man who used to earn more than enough by stitching and making clothes for men and women.

    The man answered, "James is not well, mdy. May I ask who you are?"

    "I am Catherine Barnes," the vampiress announced proudly.

    "Miss Barnes," the man nodded his head as if acknowledging her presence, "I have heard James speak about you," hearing this, Catherine''s gaze turned to look at the man. Her eyes sparkled hearing this man say that James had spoken about her, "Pleasee inside," offered the man, stepping back to give her space to get in.

    Catherine stepped inside the small house. Somewhere it felt congested, but she didn''t speak anything about it. She stared at the walls and the furniture.

    "Please take a seat. Is there something you would like to drink?" asked the man, and Catherine shook her head. She had note here to drink and eat but to speak to James. After hearing James was unwell, she decided to go directly to his house to meet him. Catherine took a seat on the in wooden chair.

    "No, that won''t be needed," responded Catherine before asking the man, "Who are you?" it didn''t seem like there were any women in the house.

    "Pardon me for not introducing myself. I am Javier Heathcliff, James'' father," he bowed his head, and Catherine quickly stood. She bowed her head. She had guessed the man was a servant. If she knew he was James'' father, she would have been much politer.

    "Senior Mr. Heathcliff," Catherine bowed her head in a much proper greeting, "It is a pleasure to be meeting you," the man looked perplexed before smiling at the young vampiress. Catherine stood there awkwardly, her hands holding the basket of fruits, she ced it on the table, "Was there something urgent that you wanted to speak to James about?" asked the man.

    Catherine had meant to speak to James, but with him being sick, she decided to talk to his father, "My father wishes to meet James. I spoke to him about how wonderfully kind your son is and that I want to take our rtionship one step further," hearing this Senior Mr. Heathcliff''s eyebrows furrowed, "He is-He is looking for the possibility of us both getting married," shepleted her words with a bashful look.

    The older man was taken aback and utterly surprised by the girl''s words. He would have taken it as a joke, but thedy appeared to be serious while blushing over what she just said. Senior Mr. Heathcliff was still processing when James appeared out of his room. Because of the fever, his brown hair looked messy, and his eyes looked tired and dull.

    "James!" Catherine cried his name, and she quickly made her way towards him which took less than two seconds, "How are you? You should be resting in the bed."

    James had been resting in the bed, but when he heard voicese from the small hall of his house. He was drifting off to sleep when he heard the words Catherine had uttered that had his eyes snap open,

    "Father," said James, "I would like to speak to Miss Barnes alone," he said without addressing her as ''Lady Catherine'' that brought distance between them. Even Catherine noticed this, but she took that it was the effect of the fever that was making him address her in such a way. When the older man left to go to the backyard, Catherine asked,

    "How did you fall sick? Did you eat? I can ask my cook toe here and make something for you-"

    "No," came James'' response. His head felt hot, and he wanted to rest, but there was something he wanted to clear on what he overheard, "Could you repeat what you just said to my father?"

    Catherine''s face turned pink, and she looked away from his gaze. She had fallen in love but to directly speak about marriage, she was shy about it, "That��" she trailed wondering how to put it in front of him, "My father and I spokest night about my marriage to you. I have tried to convince him, and he would like to meet you so that he can get to know you."

    James stared at Catherine as if he didn''t understand what the vampiress was speaking about. Marriage to him? Convince her father?

    The girl noticing the nk expression wondered if James needed to rest, "I cane back to meet you once you are well. You c-"

    James raised his hand for her to stop speaking, "Miss Barnes, I don''t know why your father is speaking about your marriage with me and what gave the idea to you because I have no intention to marry you."

    "What?" Catherine''s face suddenly fell, and she stared at what James just said.

    Catherine was more than shocked, and her eyes went wide, "No intention to marry? I thought you liked me. Don''t you?" the girl questioned, stepping closer to James, but then he stepped away from her. Her heart broke over this action of James, and she said, "You have beenplying to my words, every single time--ing with me to attend the soirees, the ball and other parties that have been taking ce. Are you joking with me?" she asked, her smile faltering to notice James looked serious.

 Chapter 162 Setting up with another- Part 5

    <h4>162 Setting up with another- Part 5</h4>

    "Why are you calling me ''Miss Barnes?" she asked sadly, "Why are you doing this? Stop joking-"

    "I am not joking," came the curt reply from James, "I never held such feelings towards you, nor did I have any intention when I apanied you. I did it out of politeness and nothing more to it. Please do not search for more meaning in my actions when ites to you."

    Catherine shook her head, "No," she whispered, and her words turned louder than a whisper, "No, you can''t do that. Every time the matter was remotely brought up in public, you haven''t refused it. Why didn''t you refuse it?"

    "Because I didn''t want to create embarrassment for you. It is not right to publicly reject ady. A man''s value is not easily broken, but a women''s is. I was only protecting you from it," his lips pursed, not wanting to say anything rude to her whilst trying to get his point across to thedy, "I do not share romantic feelings with you, mdy."

    The vampiress found it hard to digest, and she stared at James, "I love you, James. I love you, and I am baring my heart to you. You do not have to live in this ce. Your father will be taken better care of, we can live happily, just like now-"

    James turned away. The headache from his fever was returning twice in pain, "Miss Barnes. I have apanied you because you are a lovely woman. It was never in the intention of wanting to impress you. There has been a person whom I have liked for a very long time��"

    The sadness in Catherine''s eyes was reced with sudden anger, "Who is it?" she asked him.

    To people around, Catherine was an innocent vampiress who appeared to be harmless and gullible to the world she lived in. It was something that had made James oblige to her words.

    But Catherine was far from being called gullible. She used her innocent face to get what she wanted, pushing people for her own purpose while acting oblivious. It was how she had trapped James in her world, trying to bring him where she was. But there was someone who was in his heart and her hands clenched in anger.

    Bringing tears in her eyes, she walked around to stand in front of James as he had turned away from her. Repeating her question, she asked, "Who is that girl who has your heart when I was the one who had been standing next to you."

    "Is it that Madeline?" asked Catherine, not holding back her question.

    "No, it''s not her," answered James with a simple lie. He didn''t want any harm to befall on Madeline. The King had announced about his marriage to her. James would have to do something as the person he was up against, was no vige man but a person who held the crown. The highest position in Devon.

    Catherine wanted to know who this person was, who wasing between her and James. Gritting her teeth while trying to calm herself, with her chin tilted upwards to look at the man, she said,

    "Okay, if you don''t want to marry me, I do not want to force you," Catherine said lowering her gaze from him, her eyes moist, "You should go and marry the girl then, that would stop from getting my hopes up."

    James felt terrible that he was breaking Catherine''s heart, but he didn''t want to lie any more by keeping quiet, "You deserve a better man, Miss Barnes. A man with better value who will suit you," The girl did nothing but nod her head.

    "Yes," came her small voice, "What is keeping you waiting? Is the girl someone I know? Something I can help you with?" asked Catherine with an ulterior motive. She was waiting at the top of her toes to get the name. Whoever the girl was, she would be pushed aside so that Catherine would take to love James and he would love her back.

    "Thank you, but I would like to do that myself," James offered her a smile, "I should rest now," he said, and Catherine gave him another nod.

    "Do take care of yourself," she bowed her head and left his house.

    When Catherine entered her mansion, she walked to where her parents were and broke into fits of tears, "Mama!"

    "What happened, Catherine?!" asked Mrs. Barnes in worry, while Catherine continued to cry, "Tell, mama," coaxed the older vampiress, wondering what made her child cry.

    Catherine gave out bits and pieces of information regarding what James said, that would make her appear like the saddest soul.

    By the time Mr. Barnes returned home, Mrs. Barnes had conveyed the news to her husband, "Isn''t it good that he has refused?" she asked.

    "How dare that the lowly man break''s my daughter''s heart," raged Mr. Barnes, "He should be grateful that we even thought of taking him into this mansion. It is also the King''s orders that we are ready to marry Catherine to that man. I will see to it that he marries her. If he tried to marry any other woman, she will be killed."

 Chapter 163 The girl who is cared- Part 1

    <h4>163 The girl who is cared- Part 1</h4>

    Life in the castle was easy, and Madeline was trying to get used to it. Trying to let reality sink in her mind while still trying to tiptoe around Calhoun as his gaze was always on her when they were in the same room. She didn''t understand the way Calhoun loved her, because it felt like he was obsessed with her. Even if she went to hide in some corner of the castle, a maid or the King''s right-hand man would be there to retrieve her, telling how the King was summoning her.

    Sophie had not returned to the castle since the day Calhoun had dismissed her food that was given to the servants. Madeline didn''t need to know how Sophie must have felt. It was strange that a close rtive of Calhoun was trying to get married to him, which could be for love towards the King or his position. Shaking her head, Madeline continued to walk in the grounds of the castle. Away from the eyes of the maids and the ministers, and possibly the King.

    That is what Madeline thought, not knowing the dark red eyes of the King was watching her from the castle.

    "There have been letters from the Warring''s. We found them from one of the men who has been working in the castle," informed a minister.

    Calhoun who was standing at the tall window that started from the ground to reach the ceiling, "Oh, he got caught," came the dull reply from the King.

    The minister raised his eyebrows, turning to look at Theodore who only pushed his sses without looking at the minister but at the King, "You knew about it, milord?" asked the man baffled.

    "I did," replied Calhoun whose ears were in the room but eyes focussed on Madeline who bent down to pick a stick, "I wanted to see how smart my men were. I am sure the spy sent the letters back just the way I wanted it to be," saying this, he stretched his hand to the side as if he was waiting and the minister quickly walked towards the King, cing the bunch of letters that were retrieved from the spy and stepped back.

    Calhoun moved his eyes from Madeline to look at the letters which were written in old parchments, "Looks like he loves the Warrings," he murmured before opening thetest one, "This one looks new."

    "That is the one he was about to send," answered the minister, folding both his hands in front of him with his head slightly bowed. Calhoun started to read the contents inside it, one after another while ncing to look at the girl who was outside the castle.

    "What would you like it to be written, milord?" asked the minister, awaiting for the King. Calhoun walked forward and ced his hand on the minister who flinched at the thought of, if the King was going to crush his shoulder because he had seen him do it once before in the past.

    "Tell them that the spy has been caught while they couldn''t find the spy we sent to their kingdom," said Calhoun, smiling and starting to walk further.

    The minister furrowed his eyebrows in question, to say, "B-but, milord, we haven''t sent any spy for thest four months." Calhoun turned his head over his shoulder,

    "We know that. They don''t. The easiest way to break the system and people, is to instil doubt when ites to the trust that they have with each other. The humans are pathetic little creatures," Calhoun paused walking and then said, "Except a few handful ones. Send the letter. The sooner, the better for us."

    Outside the castle, Madeline looked at the stick that she had picked for no actual reason. She was bored sitting inside the castle and decided to take a look outside, which was safe because the wolves were back in their kennels as it was the time of noon, thought Madeline to herself.

    "Oh, no, they are not," said Madeline to herself. She jinxed it!

    She noticed wolves running in the ground, and she looked around to see the guards were nowhere to be seen. Why were they left out in the open when they were supposed to be tied? Madeline turned around, ready to run because that was the best option. Maybe having Calhoun near her would be the best option. But he wasn''t here.

    Before Madeline had the opportunity to start running, the wolves caught up with her, and they growled, showing their teeth at her.

    At the same time, the ck wolf, Maddox appeared. Strangely, it came to stand in front of her while facing the rest of the pack, growling back for the others to leave. Madeline stood there like a statue, staring at the wolf that turned around to look at her. Madeline wondered if it was safe to pat its head and tell it was a good boy like how Calhoun had done before but when her hand moved, Maddox growled at her like the rest of the wolves and then left.

    "That was strange," murmured Madeline and made her way back inside the castle so that she would not have to face the wolves again.

    She was walking when she noticed Calhoun in the middle of one of the many corridors of the castle and he was not alone. There was a young girl who had her arms around him, hugging him and he let her. Madeline frowned at the sight in front of her. The girl was a brte with a lean figure, like many other women she had met.

    Madeline noticed how the girl pulled away but still had her hands around Calhoun, a smile on her lips as if she was happy to see him. Even Calhoun enjoyed the girl''spany, and Madeline wondered if she should slip away as if she had not seen anything. But it was toote, as the girl''s eyes fell on Madeline and those eyes were red. Another vampiress, thought Madeline to herself.

    "Are you done ying with the sticks?" asked Calhoun and Madeline walked towards them��not even bothering to question how he knew what she was doing.

    Her eyes fell back to look at Calhoun and the girl, catching sight of his hand that was around her waist now.

    Madeline didn''t want to notice what Calhoun did, but she didn''t know why her eyes were going to look at the way Calhoun was with this girl. She wondered if this girl was here to pleasure the King in his bed or was here to offer her blood. She did look pretty, thought Madeline to herself.

    When both the girls eyes met with each other, they both bowed at each other. The vampiress introduced herself, "I am Lucy Greville," Madeline remembered her name hade up during her time in the court. She was the person Calhoun was protective about. Maybe she was someone special to Calhoun.

    Was she Calhoun''s first love? Asked Madeline to herself and her eyes shifted back to look at Calhoun.

 Chapter 164 The girl who is cared- Part 2

    <h4>164 The girl who is cared- Part 2</h4>

    She quickly bowed her head and said, "I am Madeline Harris," Madeline introduced herself to the girl who gave her a nod.

    "I have heard about you. It is good to finally meet you," the girl named Lucy stepped forward and hugged Madeline which took her by surprise.

    When her wide eyes moved to look at Calhoun, she noticed how Calhoun''s eyes were much calmer than it usually used to be. Was this the effect of first love? She didn''t know how to feel about it. Somewhere Madeline felt sad about it, that he loved someone before her and the girl was already married. She had seen Lucy''s husband in the court and heard Calhoun subtly warn the man. By Calhoun''s words, Madeline couldn''t help but think that maybe Lucy''s husband was cheating on her and Calhoun was being protective about the girl.

    This was truly an awkward situation for her, thought Madeline to herself. Someone liked someone, and the chain of like or love continued. Did Lucy get married before Calhoun had a chance with her?

    But then...Calhoun told her that he loved her...

    Lucy finally pulled away from her sudden hug, and Madeline put up a polite smile, "It is good to meet you too," said Madeline. From where they stood, they could hear the wolves barking and howling.

    "Oh, are they left out open right now? It feels like it''s been so long since I wasst here,"mented Lucy, "Can we go and have look, Calhoun?" asked Lucy.

    Just name? No King or milord? Questioned Madeline to herself. They must have been very close when they were young.

    "Do you want to meet them?" asked Calhoun to Lucy. The girl nodded her head, her demeanour sweet for a vampiress.

    "We can?" asked Lucy, and Madeline felt like she was interrupting the space between Calhoun and Lucy.

    "Sure. Before the guards have them sent into the kennel you can go and meet them," answered Calhoun. They walked out of the castle to make their way to where Madeline was all this time, "How are things at home?" questioned Calhoun. Madeline tried to detect if there was some longing in his voice, wanting to find if Calhoun missed Lucy.

    "It has been good. You sent Samuel on work, it was a little lonely, but he''s back," smiled Lucy, the girl smiled a lot, thought Madeline to herself. Even Sophie was not this excited to meet the wolves when they had gone to meet Calhoun''s pets.

    "Is he treating you well?" asked Calhoun and Madeline''s eyes slowly moved to look at Calhoun who had nonchnt look on his face.

    Madeline walked beside Lucy as the vampiress was in the middle while Calhoun walked on the other side. How odd, thought Madeline to herself. Brushing those thoughts away, she came to stand next to them when the wolves quickly surrounded Calhoun. One wolf which was brown in colour hovered around Lucy''s legs, and the vampiress sat down without any care to pat the wolf''s head.

    "Sir Howard, how have you been?" asked Lucy to the wolf. She might have been the only person who shared a friendly rtionship between the wolves apart from Calhoun, noticed Madeline. Lucy continued to talk with the wolf while the wolf acted nothing less to a cat that moved around the vampiress, and it appeared to be pleased to get head pats from her.

    Somewhere along those lines, Madeline couldn''t help but admire Lucy Greville that she could pet a wolf. As if sensing Madeline''s gaze, the vampiress turned around to look at the human,

    "Won''t youe and pet?"

    This was a hard question for Madeline. She felt that if she were to go pet right now, one of the wolves would chomp on her hand like a dangling piece of meat.

    "Madeline is still in the process of getting acquainted, Lucy," stated Calhoun who left the wolves and walked to where Madeline was, "You have been very quiet," he said to Madeline in a lower tone.

    Madeline looked into Calhoun''s eyes, gone was the mellowness that had appeared tame before, which was now reced with a glint of wickedness as he asked her, "I have been listening," replied Madeline. She had been doing it very keenly.

    "Does my voice sound enchanting to your ears?" Calhoun teased her. She looked down at Lucy who was talking to the wolf, and her eyes darted back to Calhoun.

    "Just like the devil''s," she answered to see him smile.

    "I love that you feel that way about me," said Calhoun, "It is said that the devil has a mesmerizing voice." Then it must be true; she thought to herself. Lucy was finally done ying with the wolves, and she stood up and Calhoun went to talk to her. It had Madeline wonder for how long Calhoun and Lucy knew each other, and for how long he must have been in love with her.

    The trio headed back to the castle and went straight to the dining room to have lunch together. The King sat at the head of the table while both thedies took their seats on either side next to him.

    "How are you finding the castle, Lady Madeline?" asked Lucy, her voice kind.

    "It has been very hospitable," answered Madeline and Lucy nodded her head.

    "I see," what a strange reply thought the vampiress but she smiled at Madeline, "I hope the King is looking after you. Not that I doubt he would not take care of you," she added, her eyes moving between Calhoun and Madeline.

    "Madeline is not shy when ites to expressing herself if something is not right," stated Calhoun, "You will be pleased to hear that she cooks delicious food," Calhoun praised.

    "That must be nice, one day I would love to eat something that you have made," came the eager voice of Lucy.

    "It would be my pleasure to cook for you and the King," Madeline bowed her head. Politeness and subtly was the key, said Madeline to herself.

    Lucy took one bite of food from her te before saying, "I never got to learn how to cook. As a vampiress, I got to drink blood directly from people," her words were direct, and she raised her hand to chuckle, "Pardon me, if it shocked you. If nana was here next to me, she would have scolded me for speaking like this." Madeline smiled before going back to eat.

    "Did you go to visit her?" Calhoun asked casually.

    "I will be doing it once I take my leave from here. I have asked the coachman to take me to the cemetery," answered Lucy, the excitement in her voice lowered that came to be normal, "It would be rude not to go see her."

    Calhoun hummed, "Indeed. What do you do going there? Ask her for her forgiveness because mama killed her?" Madeline didn''t raise her eyes too high, but she did notice how Lucy held on to her fork and knife tightly, "Don''t worry, it''s good to see you do that. You visit them while I don''t."

    "Would you want me to speak on behalf of you?" asked Lucy, her head turned to look at Calhoun.

    Calhoun exhaled air, "Anything that pleases you. Would you do that to your mama and papa too?" he put the fork into his mouth, to pull the food with his teeth. Madeline didn''t know what exactly was going on because the room turned tense but still breathable.

    "Okay..." replied Lucy and they continued to eat.

    Lucy hadter excused herself to visit the powder room in the castle, leaving Calhoun and Madeline behind.

    "You have been quiet since Lucy arrived, feeling neglected?" asked Calhoun.

    "Why would I feel that, you can spend as much time as you want with any girl," Madeline responded without looking at him, whilst they waited for Lucy to return. Calhoun chuckled at her words,

    "You shouldn''t be telling that to someone who imed your first kiss and will be stealing your other firsts as well. I can sense your jealously," he said before adding, "Lucy is my half-sister."

 Chapter 165 The weather is changing- Part 1

    <h4>165 The weather is changing- Part 1</h4>

    .

    At the words of Calhoun, Madeline blinked her eyes at him. Half-sister? Calhoun had a rtive? A sister, thought Madeline to herself as she wrapped her mind over the actions of the vampiress and the vampire. Rewinding what happened, one action after another, she now realised the mistake she had made when it came to Calhoun and Lucy.

    All this while, Madeline had thought that Lucy was Calhoun''s first love which was why he was being sweet to her, caring for her. It was the reason why the King was kind towards his blood. Half-blood, corrected Madeline in her mind.

    "Who knew, I would be seeing the little green in your eyes today. It was a wonderful sight,"mented Calhoun. He had a smug look on his face. Madeline moved away from him instantly when she noticed how close they were standing.

    "What green?" Madeline asked even though she knew what he was speaking about.

    "Feigning ignorance," Calhoun tched, " I must not have told you and waited to see you fume at your feeling lonely, sweet girl," he said from where he stood but his eyes raking in her appearance.

    "I was not feeling lonely," Madeline denied right away, her cheeks turning slightly red at the usation and questioned herself, if that was how he had viewed her actions.

    She was quiet, but that was because she was trying to figure out what was going on between them. She had felt bad that Calhoun''s first love had been rejected before there was a chance, with the way he was treating Lucy. But look at the irony, thought Madeline to herself. Madeline was Calhoun''s first love ording to the King, and she was stopping him from advancing.

    Lucy had still note out from the powder room as it was only two minutes since she left. Hence, Calhoun took his opportunity to step close to the girl, "Are you sure about that?" he asked her, "The flower I know was wilting because it felt neglected but don''t worry, I was only teasing you."

    Madeline moved towards one of the pirs before her back hit against the wall of the pir and Calhoun advanced, "Lady Lucy will be here!" she said, but Calhoun didn''t heed to her words, he put both his hands around her, to cage her.

    "Lucy won''t mind, but does that mean it is okay if Lucy was not here?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. Calhoun stared into Madeline''s eyes, gauging it on her reactions and they were much better. More than he had expected. He could tell that his presence affected her and she could deny it right now, but she wouldn''t be able to do it for a long time, one or the other day she would submit to his teasing and that day was not too far.

    "I never said that," whispered Madeline, her breath turning shallow because it seemed like the air around her often escaped in Calhoun''s presence.

    "Everything alright?" asked Lucy, making her way towards them.

    "Hm, something went in Madeline''s eye. I was helping her with it," stated Calhoun. Madeline was quick to nod her head. How was Lady Lucy, King Calhoun''s half-sister? She was sweet, angel-like with her speech without hurting anyone and smiling but then Calhoun smiled too. Only that Calhoun''s smile was one of the devils and nothing close to an angel.

    "Did it go?" asked Lady Lucy, her tone oblivious like she didn''t suspect anything embarrassing taking ce outside the corridor of the castle.

    Madeline smiled, "I think it''s gone," she couldn''t stop looking at the Lady andparing her with the King. She was more than curious to know more about Calhoun now. Madeline had never heard about Calhoun''s sister. Her name hade up in the court only because her husband had made his presence in front of the King.

    She remembered the look Lucy''s husband, Samuel Greville had given her the first time they had met. The man hadn''t been polite enough to keep his eyes to himself. Calhoun liked to remind people their ces and what belonged to him so that he could behead peopleter, in the name that the warning had already been given, and the person had failed to follow it.

    "That''s good. If it hasn''t, I can take a look," offered Lady Lucy. How sweet was the vampiress, thought Madeline to herself. She felt slightly embarrassed at the thought that she had assumed wrong things about thedy and the King. Thankfully Calhoun had cleared it, before Madeline would ask something that would not add up the situation.

    The three of them spent the noon together in one of the manyrge rooms when Theodore made his presence known in the room, "My King, the minister from Hancock is here to see you. He said his visit is short."

    Calhoun, who was sitting, stood up and went out by excusing himself. Theodore was still standing in the room, and he bowed at Madeline and then at Lady Lucy. Madeline returned the bow, but she noticed how Lady Lucy didn''t return it. She stared at the man, her eyes hard on Theodore. At first, Madeline thought that the vampiress was thinking something which was why she didn''t react, but Lady Lucy was staring straight into Theodore, and he smiled,

    "Good afternoon, mdy. How have you been doing?" asked Theodore.

    Lady Lucy appeared almost doll-like right now, "I am doing fine. You must be busy, being the King''s left-hand man and advisor can be a lot of work," came the cold voice that took Madeline by surprise. Was it a taunt in there? Asked Madeline to herself. Lady Lucy''s entire demeanour appeared to change one that was unfriendly. Did she dislike Theodore? More than dislike, it appeared to be of hate.

    Theodore didn''t seem offended by the cold tone. As if he was used to it, he offered thedy a polite smile, "Yes, it is. I hope you are doing well back in your mansion. The King worries about you."

    Lady Lucy finally smiled, "I am doing fine."

    Theodore offered another bow and left the room leaving the two girls sitting in there. Madeline didn''t know what to take, with what happened but she didn''t want to assume any more than what she had tried about Lucy Greville.

    "I am sorry about that," came the sweet voice of the vampiress, "Do you want more tea?" asked Lady Lucy.

    "Let me get that," Madeline reached for the kettle to remove the awkward silence where the air had turned cold.

    "That is fine," Lucy swatted Madeline''s hand gently without using too much force. The vampiress'' demeanour changed back to a gentle onepared to the ice princess earlier, "I might be the King''s sister, but that doesn''t mean I don''t know my way around the teapots. Not that you told it to me," added Lucy with a smile, "People tend to believe that growing up in the castle, I wouldn''t know anything."

    Madeline ced her hands on herp, listening to Lady Lucy, who was a goodpany. After many days, she felt that there was someone who held the same frequency as her. Someone who was tolerable and not overbearing or pompous.

    "If you are getting married to someone in the castle, there is no need, but if you are marrying out of it, it bes a necessity," Lady Lucy picked up the kettle with both her hands and poured the tea into the small teacups, "Not that I need to, we have plenty of servants. Before getting married, I liked to cook."

    "Did they allow it?" asked Madeline. She had seen how Sophie had not bothered to cook until she had taunted and the royals'' cooking was unheard of.

    Lady Lucy shook her head, "My mother used to be angry when she found out, not because I was cooking in there, but I often had the habit of spending more time with the servants than with the guests who came to the castle."

    Madeline couldn''t help but smile at Lady Lucy''s words, "That sounds nice."

    "How about yourself, Lady Madeline?" Lady Lucy handed over the saucer with the teacup to Madeline, "How have things been in here in the castle? I hope brother Calhoun is not giving you too much trouble."

    If it were someone else, Madeline would have started herints, but the girl in front of her was close to Calhoun, his half-sister. She was also a kind person where she didn''t want toin unnecessarily, "I have been trying to cope with things here. I miss my family," replied Madeline.

    "I am sorry to hear that. I know the King can sometimes be...overbearing?" asked Lady Lucy not finding the right word, "But he is a good person."

    Madeline didn''t know why it was hard to consider it. It was probably because of how Calhoun behaved with her, being wicked with her while trying to get under her skin. When she didn''t reply to it, Lady Lucy said,

    "We all get married to some ce, and then we try to adapt to it. It is the story of most of the daughters of our era, don''t you agree?" she took the teacup with her slender hands and took a sip, "We all go through it. It is either that or this. I know its not my ce say this, but you aren''t in a bad ce. The King is surely difficult, but if he has fallen in love with you, he will love you until the very end."

    Madeline stared at her teacup, looking at the pale light brown liquid that had small fresh flowers that were ced for fragrance before the tea was poured, "I would like to believe that one day," tearing her eyes away from the teacup, her eyes made its way to look at Lady Lucy who was watching her, "I wish he could let me spend more time with my family. It was too sudden for me to grasp anything, and I didn''t get a chance to do things that I wanted to do."

    Since the day Calhoun had announced about their marriage, Madeline was trying toe to terms of the situation, realizing there was no way out and she would have to go through it. If she had the chance, she would break away free, and Calhoun knew that which was why he was not letting her go.

    During the first week in the castle, which was days ago from now, she had noticed the gazes of the maids and the servants even though they didn''t talk to her. It was as if they were questioning her, on why she was refusing the King when she could have everything. But was that all that people thought about? If it was not Calhoun but some other man, who was old and fat, would the servants still look at her like that or in pity?

    Though she would have to agree to herself that things were different nowpared to how they were before with each other, not to forget the kiss that had taken ce.

 Chapter 166 The weather is changing- Part 2

    <h4>166 The weather is changing- Part 2</h4>

    The need to ept was what Madeline was working on now. She heard Lady Lucy speak so fondly of the King; it was hard to match the qualities. But then Lady Lucy was too kind. Madeline had a feeling that if someone brought a giant spider in front of the vampiress, thedy would sit down to pat it and say how good it was.

    Though she didn''t forget the icy demeanour of Lady Lucy in the presence of Theodore.

    "After the ball, the King wrote me a letter. It is not often that he writes a letter. I didn''t get the opportunity to attend the ball for Hallow. He mentioned how he had found the girl he was looking for," Lady Lucy informed, in such a way as if two girls gossiping about others which weren''t ill but in good mind. Madeline''s face turned red by hearing this, and Lady Lucy only smiled, "Since then, I have been very eager to meet you. You are very beautiful, Lady Madeline. My apologies for my excitement when I met you."

    "That''s alright," replied Madeline. Lady Lucy was pleasant to speak to, and Madeline was more than happy to have herpany, "Pardon me, but I thought all this while all the vampiress are very uptight."

    Lady Lucy chuckled hearing this, "I share the same sentiments. I would me the upbringing. I guess as I grew up in the castle where my parents were busy with work and parties, I just happened to grow away from them."

    Madeline remembered that Lady Lucy and Calhoun''s parents were dead. But then they were half-siblings and each of them had one different parent. She wondered how their parents were. The way Calhoun acted, it was hard to say that they were kind, she didn''t know why, but it was a strong feeling that they weren''t like Lady Lucy.

    "It is why I am familiar with the King''s wolves. I have spent more time around the average things," so that was the reason, thought Madeline to herself and she nodded her head, "If you ever feel bored here in the closed walls of the castle, you should go meet them."

    "I don''t think they like me much," answered Madeline, sipping her tea and then putting it back on the saucer to hear Lady Lucy say,

    "It is just in the beginning," the vampiress waved her hand like they were harmless creatures, "Once they know who you are and that you mean no harm towards the King, they are really friendly. The wolves are friendly only to Calhoun and me," she said thoughtfully.

    Years had passed since Lucy was married, and it made Madeline question next if Lucy had any children. She wouldn''t be surprised if she did, "Who is there in your family?" asked Lady Lucy.

    "My parents and my older sister, Elizabeth. They live in East Carswell," replied Madeline and Lucy nodded, acknowledging it before asking,

    "Is your sister married?"

    "No, she is looking at the suitors. She will get married after that," Madeline wished that Beth would allow the King to look for someone for her, but she had refused it. And as polite as the letter was, it only made Madeline worry that she was possibly angry at her. Was Beth still upset about Calhoun not picking her?

    Lucy had a look of curiosity on her face, "She must be very popr if she''s the one who is deciding whom she is going to marry. Very lucky," said thedy and Madeline agree. Beth could pick the man she wanted from the people who were trying to court her.

    While Madeline was pondering over it, the vampiress couldn''t stop and wonder on why Calhoun had picked the younger sister. If the older sister was beautiful too, especially considering the way Madeline said, it seemed that she was fairly a popr maiden.

    When the time of noon started to pass, Lucy didn''t stay for another tea, and she excused herself from the human''s presence to go and meet Calhoun who was in the study, working through the papers that he had received from Hancock.

    Lucy knocked on the door and entered the room. Calhoun raised his head to look at her.

    "Leaving?" questioned Calhoun. He dropped the papers down and got up from the chair.

    Lucy nodded her head, "I thought to see you again before I left," when they reached halfway together, Lucy hugged Calhoun. He patted on her back before she pulled away from him, "It was good to see you. Feels like it has been more than months."

    "The gates and doors of the castle are always open for you, I don''t remember forbidding you from entering it," said Calhoun, his lips adorning a smile and Lucy smiled back.

    "Yes, I know that. Thank you for giving Samuel duties in the city," she thanked him. Thest two months she had barely seen her husband who had been out on work, while she was alone in the mansion, "I was going to write a letter to you, but you wrote one first."

    "Thought you would start crying if you didn''t see your husband soon, and I think stationed work in the city is much more viable to Samuel than sending him far away to another kingdom. It is easier for both of us," Lucy didn''t understand what he meant, and her eyes blinked on what it meant, "Don''t stay toote out in the cemetery. There have been reports of robbery and other things that would not be considered morally well."

    "I will keep that in mind," she said and noticed how Calhoun stepped away from her, "I wanted to speak about something."

    Calhoun raised his eyebrows at Lucy, "What is it?"

    Lucy pursed her lips and then said, "It is about the girl. Madeline," hearing Madeline''s words, Calhoun''s interest piqued. Both Madeline and Lucy had spent time together today, and Calhoun had left them alone while attending the court and people, "Have you nned to visit her parents with her?"

    "Not anytime soon, why?" asked Calhoun. His eyes were calm as they waited for his half-sister to speak.

    "I think she needs people of her own. She''se into a world that is unknown to her; you need to help her ease with it. Everyone needs family, Calhoun," stated Lucy, her eyebrows drawing together as she looked at him.

    Calhounughed, "Are you talking about yourself, Lucy?"

    "Mine and her situation is different, but if you want to win her heart, you need to win the people whom she cares for," said Lucy.

    "And what if I said that her mother didn''t mind Madeline running away from the castle, even if it meant them getting killed?" Calhoun asked, he turned around, walking towards the desk and turning back again to face her while leaning his back against the wooden desk.

    "No one would do that," Lucy shook her head.

    "Trust me, it did. You know how families are," said Calhoun, "First it''s care thenes poison in mind. With her here, there will be no need to associate with the life she once had. She is doing well so far. She will be fine. Madeline is a strong girl, and she will grow stronger.

    Lucy sighed.

    She knew Calhoun, and once he made up his mind, there was no turning back, "I hope it goes well. She is a lovely person."

    "Don''t worry. She has me. Travel back home safe, Lucy." Lucy bowed her head and then left him in the room.

    Before she could reach the stairs, she saw Theodore, who wasing from the opposite direction. By noticing her, out of respect to who she was, the man stopped walking and bowed his head. Lucy would have walked away, but the hate she had for this man for what he had done, she would never forgive him.

    "Have a good day, mdy," offered Theodore.

    "I wonder how you sleep soundly at night," Lucy''s words were even as she spoke to him.

    She didn''t stay another second and walked away from there. The vampiress stepped into the carriage which pulled away from the castle. When the carriage stopped near the cemetery, Lucy Greville entered the graveyard that was deserted and lonely where her parents and others were buried.

    Her steps turned slower as she reached their graves. The tombstones had lost their colour to turn dark and dull because of the weather that came to wash on them over the years.

    Lucy ced the bouquet of flowers on her parent''s graves. Standing there for a few more minutes thinking about how the years hade to pass and change. Bringing her hand forward to ce it on one of the graves, she whispered,

    "I am so sorry."

    Compared to the time of noon, the weather had changed from being pleasant to one where it started to drizzle. One drop after another and soon it started to pour down in Devon.

 Chapter 167 The weather is changing- Part 3

    <h4>167 The weather is changing- Part 3</h4>

    Bringing her hand forward, her fingertips touched the surface of the window to clear the ss that had fogged itself. Once she cleared the surface, she could again see the clouds and the grounds of the castle but not as clear as she did in the beginning. The surrounding right now was quiet under the sound of the rains that nulled everything else to bring in different kind of silence.

    Madeline had been standing in the high tower after Lady Lucy left the castle. She was spending her time alone by herself with no one around her.

    Moving closer to the ss, she leaned towards the window like a child. Madeline ced both her hands on the ss and continued to stare when the ss suddenly disappeared beneath the surface of her palms. Her heart slipped from her chest as she felt herself falling out of the window, feeling drops of water falling on her and she tried to stop herself from falling, but there was nothing to hold on to.

    "AHHH!"

    Before Madeline knew it, she was already falling with her feet that twisted, to see the emptiness that she had fallen through that had caused her downfall. The rain and the force pulled her downwards because of gravity. She didn''t know what just happened except that she was going to crash straight on the ground.

    In time, something swooped through with ck wings that carried her just before her body would hit the ground like a broken watermelon.

    "What is wrong with you?!" came the growl from Calhoun when he ced her back on the ground, "Were you trying to kill yourself?!" he demanded in anger.

    Madeline shook and shivered under his voice. She closed her eyes, flinching when she said, "I don''t know what happened! Why are you yelling at me!"

    Hearing not another word except for sound of the rain, Madeline opened her eyes to find Calhoun standing in front of her, his eyes ring at her. She moved her hands to hug herself. The rain was ice cold. Madeline was drenched in the rain, and so was Calhoun who was yet to put his wings away as they were in disy.

    "I don''t know what happened��" she whispered, her heart continued to thud in her chest over the slip that took ce.

    Calhoun ran his hand through his wet hair, a tired sigh passing through his lips. He had been on the other side of the castle, looking at the rain like her, but when he saw her falling from the high tower��he gritted his teeth. If he weren''t there to catch her, she would have fallen t on the ground.

    "I don''t want you catching a cold. Let me take you to your room," he said, his ck wings ruffling as if to shake the water out before they disappeared behind him.

    Madeline moved away from the windows and walked towards the side of the walls so that even by mistake, she wouldn''t fall as they walked from there.

    In Calhoun''s eyes, it looked nothing less to her trying to jump down from the tower to kill herself and his eyes narrowed as he walked with her. If Madeline had such thoughts about killing herself, Calhoun would not let her. Now that he saved her, her life belonged to him. She belonged to him.

    Madeline reached the room with shaky legs because of the memory of the fall that kept repeating over and over again in her mind.

    "I will have the maids sent here. Don''t leave the room," ordered Calhoun. Her words didn''t add up right now and he didn''t want her falling again. Especially with the heavy rain pouring it would be hard to hear anyone screaming.

    She only nodded her head.

    Upon the King''s orders, two maids had been sent to Madeline''s room to tend to her. In the hot bath, she felt less cold. The maids helped her wash as much as they could before she stopped them so that they wouldn''t touch things she didn''t want to as she was notfortable with it.

    She didn''t stay in the bath too long and stepped out, to be helped by the maids again who dressed her and dried her hair by wiping it gently before Madeline dismissed them from the room.

    One second she was there leaning against the window, and the next second, the ss was gone, and she was falling. Madeline tried toprehend what had taken ce but she didn''t know what happened.

    Calhoun left the front of the room, making his way back to the tower where Madeline was standing earlier. While checking, he noticed all the sses were intact and none of it was broken. His eyes continued to search when his shoe made a ssh like a sound because of the water that was present on the ground. His eyebrows furrowed. The water had got in even though the window was closed and there was no proof of water that hade from the stairs.

    Out of mere curiosity, he ced his hand on the window and his eyes narrowed, feeling the scorching heat under his palm. When he turned his palm around to look at it, he noticed how the skin on his hand had burns before it healed itself in a few seconds.

    Something was not right here, thought Calhoun to himself.

 Chapter 168 Trying the gown- Part 1

    <h4>168 Trying the gown- Part 1</h4>

    Deciding to get some sleep, she pushed her body down, pulling the covers up to her chest and cing her head on the pillow. But she didn''t fall asleep right away. It took sometime for her eyes to turn heavy and she finally closed her eyes.

    In her dream, Madeline was walking up the stairs of the high tower, antern in her hand and her legs bare with no shoes. The torches of fire had been exhausted, leaving the path dark with little light that came from outside with only the light of thentern she carried with her.

    Madeline continued to walk up, passing by the tall ss made window through which she had fallen before. Even though her mind alerting her to stay away from it, she continued to walk up the stairs until she reached the tallest part of the tower. It was an open space with no covered windows that let wind to pass through. She had been here before, Madeline thought to herself. Walking towards one of the sides to take a look at the surroundings of the castle, she ced thentern down on the ground which was still burning brightly, and she leaned forward to look down.

    Though it was the time of night and she couldn''t see things clearly, it still looked beautiful and made her question why she was trying to leave a ce as good as this, where there wasfort, roof and food one would need.

    While Madeline was looking down from the highest tower of the castle, she didn''t notice the flickering me of thentern that started to dim. She spent some time there, but when her eyes blinked, the next moment, she was not standing in the same ce as she was before.

    Was this a dream? Madeline started to panic as she was standing on the edge of the cemented tall window that had no ss. How did she get on here?!

    Her legs started to shake. The edge of the window was cemented that was not thick but narrow. High, which was why she had been leaning forward earlier but why was she standing up here?!

    She could feel the wind trying to sway her movements. The weather felt wet and cold.

    "Madeline?" spoke a voice behind her. She was scared to turn, "Get down from the edge," Calhoun said to her.

    His words were gentle, somewhere warm yet cold, "I have had a strange dream," she whispered, "No��"

    Very carefully, her legs still shaking, she turned around, wobbling.

    "Calhoun," she said his name, seeing how he stood not too far away from her. He was in his nightclothes, "I don''t know how I came up here."

    Madeline shook her head, not knowing that she was not dreaming anymore. The dream she thought she was dreaming was taking ce in reality. Calhoun''s eyes hardened, "Do you want to kill yourself?" he questioned her.

    "I won''t fall," stated Madeline.

    Calhoun had gone to check on Madeline when he noticed the door of her room left wide open. No one was allowed to enter her room except him. The orders were absolute, and the servants knew not to cross the line. Upon checking, he was greeted with an empty bed, and he found her right in time. Standing on the edge as if she was going to dive.

    "I feel like you are lying to me," said the girl who had just woken up from her sleep state, and he raised his eyebrow at her.

    "I don''t think I have lied to you," which was a lie in itself because Calhoun knew it was not true. The lie came much more fluently on his tongue than the truth did.

    "I want to see my family," Madeline''s words were firm, yet there was a sliver of pleading in there. Nobody could demand the King, instead it was the King who demanded it.

    "Do you think you will be able to go and meet them by jumping off the rails?" asked Calhoun, his words filled with sarcasm, "I had no idea that one would travel that way."

    Madeline frowned, "I didn''t mean to jump. I think...I was sleepwalking��" that was the only conclusion she coulde up with.

    "It gives me more reasons to have you shifted to my room," Calhoun''s words made Madeline worried, "There are only a few days left before we get married. Surely, you don''t think that I will allow my wife sleep in another room while leaving my bed cold." She gulped hearing this. Now that she was much more awake with her surrounding, she could feel the anxiousness slithering through her veins.

    "You said you wouldn''t do something I won''t like," came her low voice. That was the only hope she had. This big bad wolf had nned to gobble her up while she was still trying to see what to do.

    Calhoun who had a passive looking expression until then finally smiled at her, a smile that stretched broad and wide, "You have my word, beautiful girl. I don''t think anything we have done together so far was not to your liking." He reminded her of the kiss that had taken ce in the carriage, and though it was midnight, Calhoun noticed how her cheeks turned red.

    Madeline''s lips parted, but no word came through her lips.

    "Do you disagree?"

    "How can you expect a woman to reply to such things!" she looked away from him.

    "That means you agree. Come here, my love, I will show you many more things that the world and I have to offer," he moved slowly towards her.

    Madeline stared at his hand and then at his face, "You will invite them here?"

    "I did say, I would now. Didn''t I?" Yes, he did, thought Madeline to herself.

    Instead of waiting for her to take his hand, he used both his hand to hold her waist firmly and ced her back on the ground,

    "I would like to be excused to go back to my room."

    Calhoun hummed in response and saw her quickly leave from there. He wondered if it was the stress that had made her sleepwalk in her sleep, but her eyes were wide open, and she was looking at things around her.

    Calhoun didn''t leave the high tower and continued to stand in there, looking at thendscape when Theodore appeared from behind, "I thought I heard some sounding from here," said Theodore.

    "She''s like a child, a small baby chick or is it the kitten?" asked Calhoun, picking up the right description for Madeline, "Trying to act strong while still being cute. How was your day?" asked Calhoun, his head turned to the side to see Theodore make his way to where he stood.

    "It went, as usual, milord," answered Theodore and Calhoun nodded his head.

    "I thought it would be different after seeing Lucy. She still hasn''t forgiven you," a chuckle escaped Calhoun''s lips. He pulled out a box of cigars, picking one and offering to Theodore, who shook his head.

    "I am fine, milord," and Calhoun pped the box back to ce it at the edge of the open window. Lighting it, he took a puff from it before blowing the thick smoke in the wind, "I don''t think she will ever forgive me."

    Calhoun pulled the cigar away from his lips to say, "Understandable, isn''t it. It is what happens when you aren''t careful with your words. You broke her heart." Theodore continued to remain passive while the King enjoyed rubbing salt on the wound that was healing, "But I don''t me you. We didn''t have the powers then, and what happenedter, it was toote. Actually, it isn''t toote," said Calhoun, turning his head to look at Theodore, "Samuel had been fucking women during the time he had been sent for the job toplete. The report says that he tells Lucy that the work has been extended for more days so that he can spend more time away from home."

    Theodore continued to stay quiet. Not because he had nothing to say, but it wasn''t his ce to say anything. Lady Lucy was married to a man, a man of high position and status.

    "By the way, have you heard about a phenomenon where objects disappear? Not the kind where I kill people and make them disappear but actual disappearance," Calhounughed at the end. He remembered the burn that he felt under the touch of the ss. Though whatever it was, the effect didn''t stay long as the next time he had checked, the ss reacted as any other ordinary ss would.

    "I don''t think so, milord. I need to check about it," Theodore responded to Calhoun''s question, "Was it what happened today?" Though Theodore was not there during the time of the incident, rumours spread fast in the castle, and the word went out that thedy was not happy and she had tried tomit suicide.

    "Yes, something very strange that I haven''t seen before," answered Calhoun.

    When the next day arrived, Madeline slept until the time of noon, and when she woke up, there were two guards stood outside her room. Two maids were standing at the corner of the room without a word since the time of the morning, waiting for her to wake up.

    Madeline''s head felt heavy. She got up and sat on the bed, her hand reached her head. The events that had urredst night was blurry, but she came to realise she did something she was not supposed to do. While she was trying to get her head straight, one of the maids came to stand next to the bed, and the other went out of the room.

    "Are you alright, mdy?" asked the maid and Madeline nodded her head.

    "I am fine. What time, is it?" Madeline asked the maid.

    The maid wasn''t sure as she was in the room and said, "It must be the time of noon, mdy. The sun has moved up in the sky."

    "I will get ready by myself," Madeline said to the maid, but the maid didn''t move and continued to stand next to the bedside.

    "My apologies, mdy, but it is the King''s orders that we dress you up and look after you," replied the maid.

    Madeline sighed, "I am perfectly capable of doing that. I am not a child, nor am I sick. I will speak to the King if he questions about it," she said to the maid, forcing her to leave, and the maid unwillingly stepped out of the room.

    Yesterday was strange andst night was even stranger. Once she got ready and stepped out of her room, she made her way to the court to see if Calhoun was there, but he wasn''t. Was the session in the court adjourned? When she found a servant who was trying to walk past her quickly, she stopped him,

    "Wait! Do you know where the King is?" she questioned.

    "M-mdy, the King, h-he is near the gallery room thates to the r-right," the servant stuttered as if he were scared to talk to her.

    "Thank you," she thanked him, and the servant quickly bolted away from the corridor.

    Speaking to Lady Madeline was nothing less to walking on a room full of needles that were ced upright. Now that the servants knew who thedy was, they were extremely careful and prayed that they were not assigned to her. Simr to how they prayed not to be assigned to the King, yet they wanted to earn his favour. After all, he was the King.

    When she made her way towards the gallery room, she met a maid who led her exactly to where the King was.

    "What else do you have? I like this one better than the rest," she heard Calhoun speak to someone.

    On stepping into the room, Madeline took note of the sea of white gowns that were disyed on the ground. A man sat down on the floor while Calhoun sat on the chair. Her eyebrows furrowed at the sight of it. Theodore stood along with the four maids in the same room. Hearing Madeline''s footsteps, Calhoun said,

    "Good morning, my sleeping beauty. Did you sleep well?" questioned Calhoun, "If you were going to sleep some more, I would have decided to wake you up with a kiss."

    Madeline bowed her head in greeting. No matter how their rtionship was, she was not supposed to forget that he was the King, "Good morning, King Calhoun." Calhoun didn''t take note of the ce and time of where they were, getting used to it was going to take time, "What is with the white gowns?" she asked him, somewhere in the back of her head she could hear bells ring.

    Calhoun smiled at her like a saint, "These? I thought I would take a look before running the best one through you. We will need a wedding gown for you, wouldn''t we?"

 Chapter 169 Trying the gown- Part 2

    <h4>169 Trying the gown- Part 2</h4>

    "Get Lady Madeline a ss of water or fresh juice to drink," ordered Calhoun as if he knew exactly what she was feeling right now.

    "I thought the groom is not supposed to look at the gown. It is considered as bad luck," Madeline stated, not knowing if he was aware of it or not. Maybe this was a sign that the rtionship was going to doom? She asked herself.

    "Is that so? Maybe with the humans, but not in the world of the vampires. Come take a look at it," said Calhoun, the smile on his face turning to a wicked one like he was enjoying seeing her turn nervous. Calhoun didn''t know why, but he enjoyed the plight of Madeline. There was some joy that he basked in, that he could do whatever he wants because she was his while not anyone else''.

    After what happenedst night, he had got the guards assigned to her room so that she wouldn''t go sleepwalking.

    Madeline could feel Calhoun''s eyes that were burning into her as she looked at the gowns that were spread out on the ground on the clean carpet, "Which one do you like?" asked Calhoun. She was still trying to wrap her head around as there was a sea of gowns ced on the ground and she was supposed to choose the one she liked. To pick a wedding gown for a marriage, she was not ready for��

    Calhoun then said, "It seems like Lady Madeline didn''t like any of the gowns, Barnby. Such tasteless looking gowns that not even one could catch the eye of thedy," he etched, and the man who had brought the gowns bowed his head.

    "I didn''t say that!" said Madeline, not liking that Calhoun was looking down at the dressmaker.

    "But you are unable to choose even one from the lot of it. Unless you have something specific on your mind?" asked Calhoun, leaning forward in his chair, he used his hand to support his chin, "Perhaps you want to get your wedding gown stitched by James Heathcliff?"

    Madeline gritted her teeth over Calhoun''s suggestion.

    The dressmaker, Barnby, said, "Mr. Heathcliff? He doesn''t have good dresses, milord. It might suit the ce he lives in, but he doesn''t know how to make a dress for a royal." The dressmaker had got the offer to showcase his gowns to the King, and he had brought as many as he could that would suit the King and thedy''s taste with whom he was going to get married to.

    Barnby wanted to get the deal because this was no small house but the castle. If he was going to make a dress for the future queen, it would also mean he would get to make more dresses for her in the future while also he would be automatically invited to the wedding.

    "Pardon me, mdy," Barnby bowed his head in an apology that he didn''t mean, "But it is the truth. There was a rumour about him, how he makes clothes that are made of cotton and not all silk. They are always mixed. My King," the dressmaker turned to look at Calhoun, "You should one day ask the magistrate to raid his shop."

    "Are you feeling threatened by Mr. Heathcliff''s work, Sir?" asked Madeline with a frown.

    "Of course not, mdy. He doesn''t give me a reason to feel threatened about his work. His work cannot bepared to my work,"ughed Barnby, "Why are you supporting his work? There was also another rumour that he made clothes for the woman who was always seen with hi-"

    "Are you not fond of your tongue, Barnby?"

    The question was not from Madeline but from Calhoun who was listening, to the exchange of words between the two of them in the room. Calhoun was not happy that Madeline was busy protecting James'' work, but at the same time, he enjoyed seeing her speak to the dressmaker without holding back, with what she thought was right.

    What a pure thing, thought Calhoun to himself, it made him want to ink it in red.

    "Milord?" the volume that Barnby was using turned small like a squeak of mice.

    "I asked if you are not fond of your tongue. When did you turn deaf?" asked Calhoun, his eyes moved from Madeline to look at the dressmaker, "Don''t forget you are speaking to the future queen. Soon to be my wife."

    The dressmaker quickly dived forward, pressing his forehead on the carpeted floor, "Pardon this lowly man if he has offended the future queen and the King." Madeline was startled by the sudden change in the dressmaker''s behaviour. The King was the one to be med for it. Barnby had indirectly indicated that it might have been Madeline, who was the one hanging on James'' arm, and she was possibly the muse.

    Madeline''s eyes shifted to Calhoun who grinned at her, "Do you like anything in here?" he asked her. She noticed how Barnby looked at her, giving a pleading look.

    "Let me go through them," she answered, swallowing the nervous thought that this was no regr dress but something she would be wearing when she would be getting married to Calhoun.

    Calhoun hummed for an answer, rubbing his chin, he said, "Barnby you take the dresses back with you. Thedy didn''t find anything interesting in here, and I wouldn''t like to settle with anything less which she is not satisfied with," he dismissed the dressmaker. He raised his eyes towards the maids who quickly started to help the dressmaker to fold and pack the gowns.

    The King pushed himself from the chair he was sitting in to walk to where Madeline was.

    "I didn''t say they are not good," Madeline slowly said to Calhoun, her head turning to look at the sad expression on the dressmaker''s face.

    "You were speaking so passionately about James Heathcliff, thought we should give him a try. I mean who better than him to make your wedding dress?" asked Calhoun, his eyes shining in delight, "And," he said as if he was not finished talking, "I would like to give you the best of everything. From the dress you wear, to ce you are in, to what you eat and drink. Company and the man you deserved to be with."

    Madeline was not someone who liked robbing someone''s happiness. It could be the other way around, but she was thest person to do so.

    "Please don''t send him away with empty hands," she pleaded.

    "Some people are born with poverty; some are born rich. And some, they make their way up by persistence," answered Calhoun to her, "If I am going to give the man something, he will believe and expect the same from the next person who will only disappoint him."

    Madeline asked, "So you will disappoint him now?"

    Calhoun shrugged his shoulders, "Better now thanter. Don''t you agree."

    Somewhere Calhoun had a point. Madeline saw the dressmaker leave the room upset, that she or the King had not picked a dress from the set of gowns he had bought to show them.

    "Theo," called Calhoun and Theodore came to stand in front of the King, "What happened to the cards that need to be distributed?"

    "Cards?" asked Madeline, her eyes darting back and forth.

    "The invitation for the royal wedding will be sent to people in the towns, viges and some of the people across Devon to attend it," answered Calhoun. Theodore replied,

    "I checked with the minister who is assigned to it. He said he would be showing it to you by this evening."

    Calhoun held a pleased expression, "Wonderful. Now when shall we goto?visit the talented tailor?" asked the King, the malicious look passing through his face and Madeline couldn''t help but worry about it.

    Three days passed, and the royal carriage made its way towards the East Carswell vige, which was Madeline''s home as well as the ce where Mr. Heathcliff''s shop was located. Madeline could feel her heart beating in her ear because she didn''t know how things would proceed once they would step into the shop.

    "Nervous?" asked Calhoun to her.

    "Are we going to visit my family?" Madeline changed the question.

    "We will see about that. Depending on if my mood is good once we are done with finding a good dress for you," replied Calhoun and he started to hum something. Was he saying he was not in a good mood right now? In Madeline''s eyes, Calhoun appeared to be happy. If the smiling person was not happy, what level of happiness would mean that he was in a good mood then?

    "I have been working on the letter to send to your family so that they cane to stay over in the castle. But for some strange reason, I haven''t been able to find time toplete it,"mented Calhoun thoughtfully to himself. Was the King writing a letter or a book? Asked Madeline to herself.

    "You can instead call them directly as we are heading to the vige. They might like it better than a letter," said Madeline.

    Calhoun nodded his head, "Sure. Anything for you," he offered her a smile.

    He remembered how Lucy had mentioned about winning the people around her, which would make her ept him faster.

 Chapter 170 Trying the gown- Part 3

    <h4>170 Trying the gown- Part 3</h4>

    She did defend James'' work, but that was all it was with no other meaning, which is why she didn''t know why Calhoun had decided that he would get her wedding gown from James'' shop. If she was not wrong, Calhoun must have already spoken to James, threatened would be the right word even though she didn''t know what the exact words were, she could somewhere imagine it. She didn''t understand why Calhoun wanted to go and visit James.

    "I thought you didn''t want us to be together," said Madeline, her voice curious.

    Calhoun rolled his eyes, "I don''t care if you are sitting next to him or talking to him, until and unless he''s not looking at you longingly. Until then it should be fine. I am a fairly understanding person," he smirked, looking at her, and Madeline smiled with a fake smile.

    "Yes, you are, milord," she replied.

    "I am so d that you understand me," came the next words of Calhoun that were filled with nothing but amusement.

    Calhoun had picked on the idea about making everyone know about them as he didn''t find any better way to make it clear that Madeline was going to marry him and no one else. Not to forget, James would be getting married to Catherine Barnes. His mood ted at the thought of it.

    The ride of the carriage came to an end when it stopped near James'' shop. At the sight of the fancy carriage, the people who were walking by couldn''t help but ogle at it. It wasn''t every other day a carriage as fancy as this one came to be witnessed in the vige. The coachman jumped down from his seat, going to the door and opening for the King to step down. Some of them who had seen who the King was before, quickly bowed their head, offering their greetings.

    Madeline was the next one to step down, and the people turned to each other to start to whisper over the words they had heard from the castle that drifted to the vige.

    "Isn''t she Harris'' younger daughter?" asked an elderly woman who had tied a napkin at the top of her head.

    Another woman who stood next to her had a look of astonishment, "I thought I saw her somewhere before! Is she the one who has been betrothed to the King?" Calhoun and Madeline had made their way into the shop whilst the gossipers continued to gossip.

    "How odd, when I heard the rumours, I was sure it was of their kind. Why do you think he picked a human?" asked the first woman who had spoken.

    The women turned around, continuing to talk, "Maybe that is why she''s not getting married, and it is not about the suitor not being enough. She must becking in something, else why would the King leave the prettiest one out of the two?" asked the one who had the napkin tied around her head. "I heard that even a man who went by Mr. Danvers rejected the proposal. It must be something serious. Let me ask Martha and see what she knows," she whispered so that no guard would hear what they were speaking about.

    "How will Martha know about it?" asked the woman.

    "Martha said that her husband has been buying the logs of wood from Mr. Harris''. We all must know that the King is quite a gracious person who has provided the family with a shop and men. Soon you will see their house getting renovated. You must talk more with them," urged thedy, knowing what kind of favours one could take from the rich in the name of being friends or acquaintances.

    The vigers were not short on gossip. Both men and women equally contributed to the gossips and rumours that went around only to travel to the ces, that was if one was popr.

    When Madeline stepped into the shop, the assistant named Greg was quick to recognize her, and he bowed his head, "Miss Harris, it is lovely to see you again! Are you here to see Mr. Heathcliff?" asked the young boy who hadn''t taken note of the King''s presence, until he finally stepped forward.

    Madeline wished Greg had not put his words in such way in front of Calhoun. The boy had meant it only in merriment and Calhoun would use his merriment in beheading people, "Good day, Greg," she bowed her head while seeing how Greg finally noticed Calhoun''s presence. A look of shock falling on his face,

    "My King!" Greg gave a deep bow after realizing who was here.

    Greg''s voice had turned high pitch, that alerted the other assistants who worked in the shop, and they quickly arrived at the front and greeted the King. The boy pulled the best stool they had, dusting and wiping it with a cloth if the King decided to sit.

    Calhoun scrutinized the shop, which was big for a vige-like East Carswell. It was of modern size and space. His red eyes looked at every person in the room, four assistants, not bad, thought Calhoun to himself, "Where is the owner of the shop?" asked Calhoun.

    Greg answered, "Mr. Heathcliff went out to g-" the bell at the door rang, "He is here."

    Madeline turned around to see James making his way inside the shop, who caught sight of her in his shop with the King. Calhoun had a bright smile on his lips, that made Greg the assistant wonder whether the King was fond of Mr. Heathcliff since they worked in the making of the clothes for royals. But then what was Miss Harris doing with the King?

    Was she here to show where the shop was located?

 Chapter 171 A dark place- Part 1

    <h4>171 A dark ce- Part 1</h4>

    "Wee my King, to my humble shop," said James, "Mdy," he finally greeted Madeline who gave him a nod with a small smile. Thest time she had been looking at James, it had warranted with Calhoun''s hand moving up on her thigh. She was learning, Madeline was a fast learnerpared to the other girls whom she knew, and she prided herself on it. She hoped it was true.

    "Good day to you Mr. Heathcliff," no tailorman? Asked Madeline to herself. Was Calhoun nice because James was polite? Also, it would be rude to look down at James when they were not in the castle but in James'' shop.

    Calhoun had a big smile on his face and said, "I am here on Lady Madeline''s word that you make excellent clothespared to the others in the towns," upon the King''s words, James turned to meet Madeline''s eyes, "And I have to agree on her word. You do have beautiful clothes, indeed. The one that she wore during the night of the Hallow in the castle. Beautiful creamy white that was smooth to touch."

    "Thank you for your praise, milord," James bowed his head, and his assistants bowed their heads too, "It was made of cotton silk which was mixed with linen. We were hoping to make something-"

    "Mr. Heathcliff, I was speaking about Lady Madeline''s skin," chuckled Calhoun and this had everyone''s eyes widen, but James was not exactly pleased hearing this. James'' lips pursed, "I meant the cut around the shoulders was extravagant, showcasing her slender shoulders."

    Madeline didn''t know what part of it was more mortifying with what Calhoun just said. This was no closed court but a shop that was outside the castle. Before Calhoun could say anything, she said, "We were looking for gowns for me."

    "Wedding gown," added the King just to make sure the others didn''t miss.

    "Miss Harris, are you getting married?" asked one of the assistants, astonished.

    "I would have never thought that it was going to be Lady Madeline first, before her sister," came another assistant''s words who was a young woman.

    Madeline could feel James staring at her, and all she wanted to do right now was run away from this shop. Even if it meant, going back to the castle with Calhoun willingly. She made sure not to look at him and kept her eyes on the shop''s assistance who questioned her.

    And when they realised it was in the castle, they looked at Madeline and then at the King. Miss Harris was getting married to the King?!

    "Congrattions, milord! Mdy!" the female assistant looked more excited than anyone and Madeline put up a smile, "It is good to hear that there''s going to be a wedding."

    Calhoun chuckled, "I am sure you will have the opportunity to attend more than just ours," his eyes moved to look at James.

    James'' hands clenched at his sides at the helplessness he felt right now. If Calhoun was not a King, but a normal person, a human, James would have plummeted his fists into the man''s face. But he knew better than to do that.

    If James even went to try it, he would not only be beaten, but there will be much worse things that would await him. Taking a deep breath, he kept his tone polite, "We will need to take thedy''s measurements unless you would like to take a look at the wedding gowns that we already have here."

    "Please," said Calhoun, walking towards the stool which was ced by Greg, he sat down. Madeline''s body was measured by the young woman who worked for James. Starting from the hands, asking how they would like to it when it came to the designs, "Something that could match Lady Madeline''s beauty and also simple enough to remove," the King had no filter and Madeline tried not to react so that they could be done with it quickly and leave the shop.

    James, on the other hand, was trying to control his anger.

    In the meantime, Calhoun sat there with his legs crossed one over another. Staring at Madeline as if she was his world. His eyes then slowly moved at James, his lips moving up with a sinister''s smile. Calhoun had asked Mr. Barnes to speak to James, and he was hoping Mr. Barnes had done the job. Mr. Barnes'' daughter, Catherine, was in love with James. As it was the King''s order, Mr. Barnes could not refuse it. And if James refused, it wouldn''t be Calhoun''s problem at all. Mr. Barnes'' ego would be hurt, and he would make sure to get James married to his daughter. Either way, it was a win-win situation, and all he had to do was sit back and smile.

    "Madeline and I will be returning here to check the gown. Thank you for your assistance," Calhoun said, once they were done, he shook James'' hand in his, not so gently.

    "It was my pleasure," answered James, his eyes finally moved to look at Madeline who didn''t look at him. When the couple eventually left the shop, Greg, the assistant moved to stand next to James,

    "Miss Harris is lucky, isn''t she, Mr. Heathcliff?" asked the boy, "It is not everyday one gets married to the King."

    The female assistant who hade out to peek at the handsome Kingmented, "Miss Harris is so pretty, I wouldn''t be surprised even if the Gods came for her," Gregughed along with her, but Mr. Heathcliff was in no mood to join their little chatter. To make a wedding dress for someone who he loved, his teeth gritted at the thought. The King was going to marry her, and there was nothing he could do.

    Madeline walked beside Calhoun. As it was only about measurements, their visit to the shop was a short one, and she was d for it. The men and women of the vige couldn''t stop looking at the King and thedy next to him. Whispering, words of gossip that had already started to spread in the vige the moment they had seen the couple step down from the carriage.

    "Rx, Maddie. I feel a duck is walking next to me,"mented Calhoun when he noticed her stiff shoulders.

    "Do you me me for that?" she asked because she was not used many people staring at her.

    "I have a feeling that when we grow old, we will still be that bickering couple," whistled Calhoun and Madeline turned to look at Calhoun,

    "Can we go and visit my family now?" She had made sure not to upset him, and he appeared to be in a good mood.

    "Soon," he answered, and she frowned.

    "Soon?" she repeated his words.

    Calhoun nodded his head and got into the carriage before her and offered his hand for her, "I have somece to visit before that. Apany me, sweet girl. After that I promise to visit your family with you today. How about that?" he asked her.

    It wasn''t like Madeline had another option apart from agreeing to him.

    Now that they were away from the crowd, she felt much more rxed when she was seated in the carriage.

    Calhoun''s hand out of habit went to touch Madeline''s head, smoothening it with the back of his hand. Unlike before, Madeline didn''t move away from Calhoun''s touch. With the amount of time she hade to spend with Calhoun, she was more aware of his presence around.?Even without touching physically, Calhoun had the ability to touch her with his gaze.

    "Where are we going?" she asked him. She doubted it was a soiree as she hade to take note of the change of his hairstyle when it came to attending one or when he was in the castle. They were always different.

    "There''s a man named Raphael Sparrow," Calhoun gave a reassuring grin, and Madeline nodded her head. Not knowing exactly who the man was.

    Madeline''s eyes that were on Calhoun slowly wandered away to look outside the window of the carriage.

    There had been a question that Madeline had for her sister as she was the one who shared the room with her all these years. She wanted to ask Beth if she had sleepwalked before because she didn''t remember sleepwalking in the past. Maybe she didn''t know, or it was the first time she had done something like that. Her heart raced when she remembered how she had found herself standing on the edge, feeling the air. She could tell that she was scared of heights or go near the windows after the incident had taken ce.

    "Thinking about it again," Calhoun asked her, who had not mentioned what had taken ce four days ago. It seemed that Madeline needed time and Calhoun had given it to her.

    He had asked Theodore to find the person who could help them give more insight on what had happened. Calhoun doubted that it was someone''s doing because a ss didn''t appear and disappear by itself. Not to forget the burn it had left on his hand when he had touched the surface of the window. But the person, Raphael, had been out of town since thest two weeks and had arrived only yesterday.

    Therefore, all Calhoun could do was keep a close eye on Madeline to make sure nothing happened to her.

    Madeline turned her head to look at him. She met his dark red eyes that had a look of curiosity in there.

    "It is not every day one falls from the window," she said while having a aloof expression on her face.

    He continued to pat the back of her hair, "You are right. Not everyone has such luck and hobby to do courageous things like that," stated Calhoun. He could see the fear in her eyes. She was scared of the unexinable incident that had happened with her, "Don''t worry, you can do that because I will be there. You know," he leaned forward as if he was going to tell her a secret, he said it in a whisper, "Because I have wings."

    Madeline could tell that this was Calhoun''s way of cheering her up.

    Just so that she would not think she had gone mad, she had not discussed what happened since that night. Wanting some time to think. She noticed how Calhoun looked at her, his eyes filled with intrigue.

    He then said, "At the ce where we are going now, do not mention about the wings," Calhoun''s words made her question on why.

    "But everyone knows about it," replied Madeline.

    "Some are unaware of it. We don''t want to scare them."

    Out of her own curiosity, she decided to ask, "Who is Raphael Sparrow?"

    Calhoun''s eyes slightly narrowed in thought, before he said, "He is a card reader. The one who reads cards," and he smiled at her expression. Madeline knew who card readers were, the one who were present in the fairs. They were nothing but a sham who told things one wanted to hear.

    Did Calhoun believe in such a thing? Or was there something more to it?

 Chapter 172 A dark place- Part 2

    <h4>172 A dark ce- Part 2</h4>

    When the carriage finally came to a halt, they stepped down from the carriage. Madeline saw a building that looked old. A board hanging at the front of it that read ''Sanguis Patum''. Her brown eyes looked at the doors and the windows of the building, and the name was something she didn''t understand.

    She noticed a woman and a man stepped out of the oak doors. The woman looked posh with red eyes, and a smile on her lips while talking to the man who was holding her. The man was human.

    "What kind of a ce is this?" asked Madeline because she didn''t know why she had a bad feeling about this building. The woman was looking in such a way as if he was a prey who was going to be sucked dry by her.

    "A ce for people like me and for some of the elite humans," answered Calhoun, "Come, sweet. Stay close to me." They walked towards the doors which were guarded by two men who stood like statues who greeted the King.

    As they stepped inside the building, the doors were pushed for the King to step in. Madeline did as Calhoun had advised her to do, to stick close to him. She noticed a desk at the right, and the man who stood behind it, bowed his head.

    "Milord," greeted the man.

    "Is Raphael here?" asked Calhoun.

    "Yes, milord. Mr. Sparrow is in his chambers. Would you like to see him?" asked the desk man, his curious red eyes shifted to look at Madeline who stood next to the King, who was now busy looking around the ce.

    "She''s with me," the words came from Calhoun and the man quickly bowed his head.

    Madeline, who was staring at the walls made of dark wood, couldn''t help but question at the quietness of the building. There was some eeriness present in here. Not too far away from where they stood, she could hear noiseing from the other side of the door which was not the way they had stepped in the building but the opposite side.

    The man who was standing at the desk gave a look at thedy with a curious look in his eyes. Without questioning, he moved away from the desk and led them through the door. As expected, when she and Calhoun stepped in the next room, she noticed there were people. A lot of people, where some were seated at the round tables while some stood near the bar counter. Men and women there were mostly vampires which Madeline noted because of their red eyes.

    Each and every person stopped what they were doing when they noticed who had entered the room, leaving the room suddenly quiet. They stood up from their chairs to give the King a deep bow. Calhoun didn''t bother to greet anyone, and he continued to walk.

    The vampires in here could have anyone they wanted except Madeline. And the rule didn''t apply only in ''Sanguis Patum'' but outside in Devon and other kingdoms.

    Madeline for the first time weed Calhoun''s hand.

    She didn''t know anyone here, and if there was someone she did know, it was the King himself. It was better to stick to him. She caught sight of a woman who had a man in her arms, and the man had his head leaned back, almost lifeless. If the man had not bothered to bow the King, it only meant one thing. He was either dead or in the process of being dead.

    They walked through another set of doors, and the people in the room resumed to continue what they were doing.

    "Please wait here," the man who had aapined them said before going inside the room.

    Madeline turned to look at Calhoun and said, "I didn''t know there were ces where the King had to wait."

    Calhoun was running his tongue over his teeth smiling when he heard Madeline''s words, "Sometimes, with some people. Yes." This made Madeline ponder, who was Raphael Sparrow. Was he an important man? "How are you doing so far?" he asked, his red eyes had turned even darker than before, and Madeline wondered if it was because of theck of light that was present here.

    "It seems very dark in here. A vampires cave��" she trailed, her voice low so that by mistake no one would hear it.

    "You are not wrong about that. Do you know what does ''Sanguis Patum'' mean?" he asked.

    Madeline shook her head. It sounded like a made-up word from vampires, "What is it?"

    "It means ''Blood Sin''."

    Blood Sin, Madeline repeated the words in her mind, "It''s interesting," shemented. Considering that a man was almost dead back in the room they had just walked by. It suited the ce.

    "It''s Latin," said Calhoun.

    Madeline gave him a nod. She hadn''t got the opportunity to learn manynguages. When her Aunt Merlin offered to teach her and her sister, Beth, they had jumped at the chance because not every girl had the luck to learn, especially not vige girls.

    "I never knew you were the kind of person who believed in tricks of cards," she said, something that she was still trying to understand.

    "Why do you think that?" Calhoun asked her, with delight in his eyes, "There are a lot of other things I believe in. Are you interested to hear it?" when his lips twisted into the wicked smile Madeline shook her head.

    She had a feeling that it would be something embarrassing and she didn''t want to hear it right now. The man finally returned back from behind the closed doors. And with him, another man stepped out, who had blonde hair who bowed his head at the King with a smile before leaving the ce.

    "Mr. Sparrow is ready to see you, milord," informed the desk man, opening the doors for them to step in.

    Calhoun walked in, and Madeline was quick to follow before the door behind them closed. Torches of fire burned on the walls. Madeline saw that the table was clean where a man stood behind it.

    "King Calhoun, it is a surprise to see you here," said the man who Madeline pegged to be Raphael Sparrow. The man was probably two inches shorter than Calhoun. He looked a little older to Calhoun. His hair was ck which wasbed backward that reached up to the level of his shoulder because of the length. The clothes that he wore looked old that was tied with a rope around his waist.

    Raphael bowed his head, and Calhoun said, "I thought I would pay a visit to you as it has been quite some time."

    "Indeed, it has been quite some time," answered Raphael. The man didn''t have red eyes; instead, he had ck ones. Madeline had grown to notice the eyes of the people, to see who she was talking to if it was a vampire or a human, "And who is this lovelydy you have in here?"

    Madeline observed the way Raphael smiled as if she was a piece of meat and it got her worried, moving unconsciously towards Calhoun.

    "This lovelydy is going to be your sister-inw," answered Calhoun and Raphael snapped his eyes to look at Calhoun with surprise.

    "Oh," was all that came from Raphael, "What a pity," he came around his table to take a better look at her, "Raphael Sparrow," he introduced himself, stretching his hand towards Madeline.

    Instead of Madeline going to take his hand, Calhoun moved his hand to hold Raphael''s hand. Shaking it enough for Madeline to hear a crack.

    "Madeline," she greeted back, bowing her head.

 Chapter 173 A dark place- Part 3

    <h4>173 A dark ce- Part 3</h4>

    Madeline noticed the table wasn''t clear and clean as she had noticed earlier. There were some engraved markings on the wooden table��designs which she didn''t understand. There were lines and circles around, inside which the words were written. While her eyes curiously were looking at the table, the man in front of her noticed Madeline looking at the table.

    "I want you to take a reading of her," ordered Calhoun, his back leaning against the chair and Madeline''s eyes stopped roaming around on the table to look up at the two men. Were they here for her? When Calhoun had told her that he had work, she had guessed it was for his sake.

    Raphael looked surprised as Calhoun had never brought ady in here to take a reading. Mr. Sparrow looked like a madman because of his dull face and droopy eyes. Because of his appearance, most of the people outside this building look at him like he was a drunk man.

    Calhoun took women from here, but he had never brought one from outside. It made Raphael continue to look at the human girl curiously.

    "It doesn''t look like thedy believes in it,"mented Raphael. How did he know that? Asked Madeline to herself. Was it so easy to read her expressions? "But that is alright. It doesn''t matter if one believes it or not. Are you ready for me to read to you?"

    Madeline didn''t know what that exactly meant, but ording to the fair in the vige, one used to tell about the fortune and future, answering questions that were asked to fill their pockets with coins.

    She heard Calhoun say, "Raphael is an expert when ites to reading. You can ask the questions you have been having in your mind. You don''t have to speak it loud."

    Though she was a simple vige girl, Madeline had always kept her feet on the ground without building castles up in the sky with empty clouds. She didn''t believe in things like these, but with Calhoun who was telling her she could question, it somewhere made her put her faith with him, that she would get the answers.

    "Okay," she replied to Raphael''s question. The man pulled out a pack of cards, shuffling it in his hands.

    Raphael ced the cards on the table in a curved line before looking up at her, "Please pick three cards from the lot," he said, his eyes focussed on her hand when Madeline randomly pulled out the three cards one after another and he cleared the other cards to ce them aside, "This is always the fun part."

    Raphael had a grim look on his face, and he turned the second card that had a flower, a tulip to be specific. When he went to the third card, Madeline pursed her lips to see there was a tombstone.

    "Am I going to die?" asked Madeline on seeing the tombstone, her eyes lifted to look at the man who was dealing with the cards.

    "The cards don''t mean exactly what you think they are, mdy," replied Raphael, "You have a strange order in here. First is the representation of death; people usually have it in the opposite order."

    "What does that mean?" Madeline had an unsettling feeling in her chest.

    "You had a near-death experience," said Raphael, his eyes looked her curiously.

    Calhoun was the one to say, "We were hoping you could answer that."

    Raphael''s eyes shifted to look at Calhoun before going back to look at the girl, "If the incident has taken ce already, it won''t happen again."

    "She was found standing at the edge of the tower window. Sleepwalking,"mented Calhoun and Raphael''s eyebrows went up.

    "It is possible that you are trying to get to something, that you have not found out yet?" Raphael asked her, "The dreams that we see need not always be bizarre of the day but it sometimes tries to reach out for the window that is shut. Do you know that vampires don''t dream, if they do, it is considered to be something very important, unlike humans."

    Madeline remembered the night of the ball when she was sleeping. She had woken up covered in sweat as the dream was about Calhoun finding her back in the castle. It was a nightmare that day. When her eyes slowly drifted to look at Calhoun, he didn''t hide the chuckle, "Selective dreams, Maddie," he said to her.

    She then asked Raphael, "What do you think it meant in my case?"

    "You are trying to go back to what belongs to you. More precisely to say something that once was part of you," Raphael started to exin, "When our body goes to sleep, it goes to a state where the soul is at ease, making it easier for it to move. I am no God, mdy and only a card reader. The second card speaks of a love which is the representation of the flower, but then it also speaks about mortality. eptance of who you are and the tombstone is your association with death," saying this, Raphael''s eyes went to fall on Calhoun.

    Madeline''s own eyes followed the sight of the man that was on the King.

    "It means you either kill or get killed," said Raphael.

    That was not helpful at all, thought Madeline to herself. Her head was even more muddled than it was before stepping into this room.

    "You''re confusing her, Raphael," came the calm voice of Calhoun and Raphael who had a serious look on his face quickly put up a smile.

    "Lady Madeline, if I may speak further," asked Raphael to have Madeline nod her head. She wanted to hear something that would make sense to her, "I will not tell you what you want to hear, because I don''t hold such information, but I can tell you that there''s something that is trying to reach out for you. There are wide possibilities of what it might be. This phase that you have right now is the one where it is pleasant, after whiches the destruction. It is your choice what you will pick��"

    "Pick what?" asked Madeline, her eyebrows furrowing further, and she leaned forward from her seat, waiting for him to continue for his words.

    Raphael said, "I don''t know about that. Only time will tell you," Madeline felt her shoulder droop slightly, "We can have another reading after two or three monthster to see if there''s any change in thebination of the cards."

    Madeline nodded her head, "Thank you," she thanked the man.

    Calhoun who was quietly listening to them, stared at the cards that were on the table. He heard Raphael ask him, "Would the King like to have a reading?"

    "No thanks," replied Calhoun, a smirk falling on his lips. Calhoun had got his reading only once from Raphael, and he never got it again. Calhoun believed, that sometimes the suspense was better than knowing everything.

    He could see that Raphael''s hands were itching to shuffle the cards so that Calhoun would touch the cards. Seeing they were done here, he stood up, and the others stood after the King. Calhoun said to Madeline, "I will be out there in a minute."

    Madeline bowed at Raphael and took her leave from the room as it seemed that Calhoun wanted to speak alone with Raphael. When the door closed, Madeline stood between the two rooms- one with the room full of people while the other where Calhoun was.

    With Madeline who left the room, Calhoun stared at Raphael, "If you will be kind enough to cut down the bullshit and tell exactly what was with the card reading," he smiled at the card reader.

    The smile on Raphael''s face rose up, "I told her what she needed to hear. It seems like you have taken a liking towards her. nning to take her as your wife?" Calhoun stared at Raphael, not wanting him to deter from the main subject, "She is not like us. I am not sure about thebination."

    "Exin," said Calhoun, his red eyes on Raphael.

    "She appears to be theplete opposite of us. And when I say opposite, it means a direct opposite," Calhoun raised his brow, understanding what Raphael was speaking about, "You might need to look at the lineage. Might find some answers there."

    After a few seconds, Calhoun said, "Thank you for your time, Raphael. And for the lead."

    "Anytime," Raphael bowed his head.

    Once Calhoun made his way out of the doors, the card reader picked thest card, adding the three cards back to the deck. Shuffling them in his hand, he spread them on the table. His index and middle finger walked across the cards before picking one of them. The first and only card Calhoun had picked years ago, which had hands that were covered in blood. The destructor.

    "I wonder...did the card change but I have a feeling that it hasn''t," murmured Raphael looking at the card.

    Madeline watched Calhoun smile at her, his eyes looking at her in fascination. The intensity in his eyes didn''t reduce when it came to looking at her, which she was still getting used to.

 Chapter 174 A dark place- Part 4

    <h4>174 A dark ce- Part 4</h4>

    As they walked back into the room that they had passed through before to talk to Raphael, the eyes around the room discreetly looked at them without being too obvious. It wasn''t the first time for Madeline to be in a room which had more vampires than humans, but the atmosphere in here was much darker, that made her feel that she wasn''t in the same world.

    It wasn''t just the people or their behaviour but even the ambience. There were no windows. It was strange. She was sure she had seen the windows on the walls from outside, but there were no windows in here.

    Unable to resist herself not looking at the people, her eyes came to meet a man who was drinking blood from a woman whilst he looked at her. Before they stepped out of the building, Calhoun pulled out a coin and threw it towards the man who was standing behind the desk for the man to catch it,

    "Thank you for your visit, milord."

    Stepping out of the building, Madeline felt the air was lighterpared to the density inside. Greeted by the sunlight, Madeline''s eyes momentarily flinched.

    The coachman on seeing the King and thedy step outside the building brought the carriage to the front where they were. Once they were in the carriage, Madeline pondered over the words of the card reader.

    "How do you know, Mr. Sparrow?" she asked Calhoun.

    "Coincidently we bumped into each other in the past. He was in one of the Duke''s houses, giving a reading," he replied to her question. Calhoun''s eyes were back on Madeline, weighing what Raphael had told him before he left the room.

    He wondered if that was the reason why he strongly felt attracted towards Madeline, a subtle smile came on his lips but he knew that wasn''t the whole reason. Madeline was not aware. Some readings were misinterpreted, which was why he would have to find out if the readings were indeed true.

    The truth was, Madeline had not expected Calhoun to believe her when she had told him about the disappearing ss. She remembered how she had fallen. She had looked at the space with no ss, and there was no one.

    "Thank you," she said, looking him.

    "And what are we thankful about?" he asked, tilting his head.

    Madeline was sure if she would have told the same to someone else, they wouldbel her crazy. A mad girl who was bbering nonsense. But she was grateful that Calhoun had not questioned her after he had rescued her not once but twice in a day. She had not stepped anywhere close to the tower since then.

    "For trying to help me to get answers," and not thinking I am crazy, she added the words in her mind without telling it through her lips.

    "Why did you refuse to have your reading?" she asked him, her eyes darting away from his gaze. To keep herself busy, she smoothened the front of her skirt on herp.

    "I took my reading years ago, by mistake," he said, noticing her dainty hands, "Still nervous around me," he smiled and she turned to look at him.

    "Mistake?"

    Calhoun said, "Raphael dropped his cards at the table when he was going to leave. One card fell at my feet and out of politeness I picked it up to hand it over to him."

    "Are those kinds of readings counted?" the card reader had shuffled the cards before cing all the cards on the table for her to pick without looking at what was behind it.

    "It does. At least to Raphael who looked at the card and went wide-eyed. It was very satisfying seeing the shocked expression, on his face" said Calhoun. Madeline who was curious continued to ask,

    "What did you get?"

    Her brown eyes looked at him, anxious for an answer. If he had a simr vague reading as she did and if he had done something about it, "How about we trade something? A kiss on the lips for an answer of what card I picked?"

    "No," her reply came to be breezy.

    "It is a very good card. I was told not many get a card like that, and here it picked me," Calhoun coaxed her, "It is worth it."

    Madeline was definitely curious because he had not picked the card at the intention of wanting to know what it would mean to him. But that didn''t mean she would trade her lips shamelessly with him.

    "A shame,"mented Calhoun, running his tongue over the top of his lips. The carriage rode back to the vige of East Carswell, and Calhoun kept his word of having Madeline meet her family in his presence.

    Last time Madeline''s mother had sneaked in a note to Madeline. Having been caught red-handed, Calhoun could only hope that the older woman wouldn''t pull a stunt like that again. He was merciful only because it was Madeline''s mother, but if someone dared toe in between him and her, he wouldn''t mind pushing them away from Madeline.

    He had gone as far as to change the letter Madeline had written, just to put his point across that Madeline was trying to get used to the mansion which was not a lie, considering how she was finally easing.

    When the door of the Harris'' family was knocked on, Mrs. Harris was the one who had opened the door, and she saw her daughter who stood at the door.

    "Mama," Madeline greeted her mother and Mrs. Harris, seeing no one around her quickly moved forward to hug her daughter.

    "Madeline!" eximed the older woman, squeezing her younger daughter as she was happy to see her here. The evil King was nowhere to be seen, and there was no sight of the carriage. She asked, "Did he finally let you go? Did y-"

    "Mother-inw, you have grown some good potatoes," came a voice from the side as Calhoun finally stepped into Mrs. Harris'' view.

 Chapter 175 Visiting in laws- Part 1

    <h4>175 Visiting inws- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Mrs. Harris was filled with joy when she had saw her daughter, Madeline standing at the door. Especially with the King not around her daughter, she had thought that either her daughter had run away from the castle or the King had finally let her return home. It had been more than two decades since she was married to Mr. Harris, having two beautiful daughters, that she often found herself imagining to marry them to a wealthy family.

    And it seemed like part of her dream hade true, the same which she now found to be dreadful. Mrs. Harris knew both her daughters; after all, she was their mother. Someone who had helped them while growing up while giving them her love and care like any other mother would. When they recieved the invitation from the King to have lunch, like others in her family, she was delighted.

    Both her and Mr.?Harris had been alright only until the point before the King had ordered Madeline to stay in the castle while the rest could leave. Right now, the older woman wouldn''t even let Beth to marry someone so forceful.

    But her happiness was short-lived as the King came to stand in front of her and she bit her tongue.

    "Do you sell these?" asked the King as if he hadn''t heard her ask Madeline if she was back home for good.

    "No, my King," Mrs. Harris mustered a smile instead of the frightened expression.

    "Please call me, son. It would be odd for my future wife''s mother to address me formally," Calhoun smiled, knowing exactly what effect his words had on thedy. Out of purpose, he had stepped away from the door, letting Madeline stand there alone, and Mrs. Harris walked straight into the trap he had left.

    Madeline''s mother looked queasy and his eyes shined in mischief. She bowed her head, "Forgive me, milord. I wouldn''t want to cause any disrespect towards the King even if the King is going to marry my younger daughter Madeline."

    Madeline turned around to look at Calhoun who had picked up a potato, "We have many more vegetables in the backyard. Mama has always grown them. Sometimes she gives them to our neighbours or other people in the vige."

    "What a wonderful mother-inw I have. Any praises to her would be less,"plimented Calhoun. His words were coated with sugar to please thedy and Madeline.

    "Pleasee in," her mother invited both of them in, and Madeline waited for Calhoun to first step inside, noticing how her neighbours were trying to catch the sight of the King, "Please take a seat," her mother offered.

    Madeline was happy to see her mother again. She was grateful that Calhoun had agreed to take her to see her family without expecting any favour from her.

    "Is there something you would like to drink?" asked Mrs. Harris with her hands folded in the front.

    Mrs. Harris'' hands turned sweaty by hearing the King speak about blood. B-blood? Madeline quickly turned to look at Calhoun, where she was finally getting to know his ways, "The King loves tea, mama," she answered, and Calhoun''s eyes shifted to look at Madeline before it went back to look at Mrs. Harris.

    "Yes, tea would be wonderful," he chimed. The woman nodded her head and went inside the kitchen, "Why don''t you go and help your mother, Maddie."

    Madeline was not sure why Calhoun was being sweet, letting her talk with her mother without him in the same room. She followed her mother, seeing how her mother picked up the utensil to boil the water under the fire. Going to the old, creaking cupboard, Madeline pulled out the box where the tea powder was usually stored in, and she brought it forward.

    "Do you work in the castle?" asked her mother being curious, even though somewhere she knew the answer, she still wanted to know.

    Madeline shook her head, "No, mama," and Mrs. Harris nodded her head.

    "Did youe here on some business?" asked her mother, doubting why the King was letting her talk to her daughter much more freely, especially after what she wrote in the note. Something didn''t feel right. She might have been a human, but she was old enough to know that nothing came easily, especially not when one was dealing with a vampire.

    Hearing her mother''s question, Madeline didn''t know how to break the news, "We went to visit Mr. Heathcliff''s shop, for some gowns," said Madeline, not able to bring herself to use ''wedding gown'' as it sounded strange in her mind. In the back of her mind, she knew that Calhoun was listening to their conversation even though they were in a different room.

    "Milord," Madeline heard Beth''s voice, and she came inside the kitchen to see Madeline, "I thought I heard voices. What brings you here?" Beth''s tone was unweing while she smiled at her younger sister.

    "Beth," said Madeline, a smile instantly rising up on her lips, "We came to see gowns."

    "Must be nice, isn''t it. To live the life of riches," stated Beth when she came close to stand next to Madeline.

    Madeline didn''t know what to say to it. When the tea was prepared, Beth took hold of the tray so that she would be the one to offer the King tea, "Allow me," said Beth. At the same time, Madeline ced her hand on her mother''s hand. Squeezing it, she smiled that she was doing good.

    Mrs. Harris saw her younger daughter smile, and she wondered if what was written in the letter were Madeline''s true feelings. That she was genuinely trying to adjust to the life that she had in the castle. If it was, Mrs. Harris would not ask her daughter to change the path. All she wanted was her daughters being happy. It was all that mattered to her.

    The woman had never expected or dreamed of her daughters getting married to someone like the King, but with the way things were heading, she doubted if there was anything that could be done. Mrs. Harris was wise with her age. She knew that for what she had done before, it would have warranted death, but she had been spared because she was Madeline''s mother. She didn''t like the King, but if Madeline was well kept in the castle and happy, like her daughter, she would try to ept it too. Not to forget that her husband now had help. How could one refuse when it was this generous?

    Madeline saw her mother was thinking about something, and she asked, "Is everything alright?"

    "Yes, my child," her mother replied, leaning forward to kiss her forehead, "Your father left an hour ago for work. He said he is going to visit the forest with the men."

    "I see. That''s alright. I wille to see him again," hopefully, added Madeline to herself.

    Mrs. Harris then realised something, and she tried to ask as softly as she could, "Did you meet...him?" It took a second for Madeline to understand who her mother was talking about, and she quickly nodded.

    "Yes, we did. He seems to be doing well," answered Madeline. It was James. It was best to keep her answers short and not get too deep on the topic.

    Next to the kitchen where the hall was situated, Calhoun had taken the tea from Beth who stood next to him with the tray in her hands. He stared at the tea, without taking a sip. Noticing this,?Beth asked,

    "Is something wrong, milord?" Beth''s voice came sweeter and more pleasing.

    Calhoun raised his eyes to ask her, "What is added in this?"

    Beth smiled, happy to enlighten the King. It seemed like he didn''t know how the tea was made of, "It has milk, sugar, tea powder and a little water."

    "Are you sure?" asked the King, his red eyes looking at her.

    Beth didn''t know what else was added, "I think that is all that''s there, my King."

    "I thought there might be a pinch of poison in here," the King said it with a straight face that had Beth''s smile fall instantly.

    "P-poison," Beth stuttered, and the Kingughed.

    "I was joking," and he took a sip from the teacup. Madeline and her mother who heard the King and Beth''s little conversation came out of the room immediately at the mention of the word ''poison'', "My apologies. You can never be too sure about it."

    Madeline closed her eyes at the little joke that had got Beth worried as she looked pale.

    While Calhoun took slow sips from the teacup, Mrs. Harris looked at him, wanting to make amends to the words that had escaped through her lips when she had seen Madeline at the door.

    "Thank you for looking after my daughter," Mrs. Harris bowed her head. The King was forceful, but Madeline was dressed in silk and jewels. She didn''t look like she was being starved or had turned to a mistress in the bed. Considering all those, she hoped the King would not do anything bad to her daughter. Mrs. Harris didn''t mind taking the blow, as she didn''t want her family to be on the receiving end of the King''s wrath.

    Calhoun ced the teacup on the side table, making a clinking noise, "It is my duty to look after her. I was expecting to meet Mr. Harris here, in the house. I was hoping to have him present, but it must be something urgent if he has gone to the forest," by his words, Madeline was affirmed that Calhoun was listening to the words she and her mother had spoken in the kitchen.

    "I can tell Beth to go and fetch him, milord," offered Mrs. Harris, but Calhoun raised his hand.

    "I wouldn''t want to disturb him," remarked Calhoun, his eyes looking at the things in the hall before saying, "In the next twenty-six days, Madeline and I will be marrying in the castle. As you are her family, Madeline wants everyone to be present in the castle with her during the time of the wedding. You cane and stay there for a while," he informed them.

    Mrs. Harris bowed her head, and Beth''s eyes popped wide and followed her mother. Beth couldn''t believe that Madeline was going to marry before her when Beth was the one who was older than her. Sure, she had answered the letter as if she didn''t mind, but she had expected Madeline to wait or at least put some effort.

    Calhoun''s eyes fell on Beth, and a broad smile stretched on his lips, "Miss Elizabeth," and this had Beth''s attention, "You look upset."

    Beth smiled nervously, "U-upset? No, not at all! I am happy for Madeline," somewhere Beth cursed herself for not beingposed.

    She wanted to be the one to marry the King. A marriage with the royal family was what she dreamed, no that was not true. She had thought of marrying Dukes or the Lords, never considering the King because of the status. Now that her sister Madeline was getting married to him, she wanted to shout and cry but she couldn''t. Was there no way to gain his favour? She had often heard many stories of how the intelligence of words could sway a King. History had spoken about the King''s debauchery and how mistresses turned to queens. But Beth was no mistress.

    "I am delighted to hear that, Miss Elizabeth. In times like this, sisters rarely show support to one another. I once heard that a sister was so jealous that she killed her very blood," Calhoun chuckled like it was nothing but the family continued to stare at the King, listening to his words where Beth was the one who was most affected.

    Beth said, "There''s nothing I wouldn''t do to see my sister happy. She is amb. Innocent and gentle in nature," and the older sister offered an encouraging smile to her younger sister, "I cannot wait to be part of the wedding."

    "That''s lovely. Madeline shared the letter you wrote back to her, are you sure you don''t want to get a suitor for yourself through my rmendation?" asked Calhoun.

    As a vampire King, Calhoun was calctive, and he had seen many girls like Elizabeth Harris. The girls were beautiful and pleasing to the eyes. Words that were refined to suit the person they spoke to, which were smart but as much as they looked pretty, they were the females who were scheming enough to climb the socialdder. Not that he had anything against the scheming personality, but he preferred it was him in the end who was a better schemer in the room.

    Beth wanted a suitor, and she wasn''t nning to be a spinster for the rest of her life. She put a polite smile on her face, "If there''s someone in your eyes that you feel is worthy, I would dly meet the person, my King," she said with a bow.

    "Maybe you can find someone in the castle when youe to stay for the wedding," Calhoun said before standing up, "Isn''t that right, Madeline?" he asked the brown-eyed girl.

    Madeline nodded her head, "It would be nice to have everyone in the castle."

    "We should get going. Please convey my regards to Mr. Harris. Untilter then," said Calhoun to have the women bow their head. Madeline hugged her mother and then her sister. Before she could follow Calhoun, Madeline asked Beth,

    "I have a question to ask you."

    "What is it?" asked Beth curiously.

    "Have I ever sleepwalked?" At Madeline''s question, Beth looked surprised as she was not expecting it, "Have I?"

    "Not that I could remember. Why?" asked Beth at the strange question.

    If Madeline had a lot of time in her hand, she would have stayed back to exin to Beth on what happened. But deep down in her heart, she felt that her sister would look at her strangely. They were sisters who had epted most of the things about each other. But since the time the King had chosen her to marry, she could feel the invisible wall between them, not realising it was not the King but her sister Beth who had created the wall out of envy.

    Madeline shook her head, "It was somthing that came in my mind," offering a smile, she finally left her house to follow Calhoun who was waiting for her outside the gate.

    On their way back, Madeline stared outside the carriage window deep in thought. It was possible that she had sleepwalked out of stress, and maybe it was a one-time thing that had not happened before, and she hoped it wouldn''t ur in the future.

    Madeline was content with the way their trip hade to an end peacefully. There was no need to fear that someone would be beheaded. She questioned if it was her or him who had changed, or if it was both.

    Calhoun noticed how Madeline stared outside, without actually looking at the trees but thinking. She was thinking about the card reader''s words which had been softened when she met her family.

    "I didn''t know you have a brother," blurted Madeline turning to look at him.

    "Brother?" asked Calhoun, cocking his head on who she was calling his brother.

    Madeline stared at Calhoun, "The one we met today. Mr. Sparrow." They had differentst names, but she had pegged that they were close cousins.

    Calhoun rolled his eyes, "The closest blood sibling I have is Lucy. Raphael is not my brother."

    No? Asked Madeline confused, "You said ''sister-inw''."

    Heughed, hearing her words, "So that he wouldn''t get a wrong impression about you with me."

    "Is it because you have bedded many?" Realising how it sounded, she said, "My apologies. Please forget that."

    Calhoun shook his head, "I am very much interested in talking about it. To answer your question, yes, it is because of it."

    Seeing how she went back to looking outside the window, the smile on his lips fell. He wondered what the opposite of the vampires was. Dark creatures that took blood and were brutal. The humans were weak and fragile, easily breakable. There were only a few who had shown strength, but their heads only ended up on the spears.

    Madeline''s family looked normal, but then even she looked normal. Having the family in the castle, it would be easier to confirm and see if something simr would take ce even with the other daughter of Harris. It was apparent that Madeline was the child of Harris.

    "Feeling better?" asked Calhoun.

    "Yes, thank you for today," she thanked him. Calhoun was pleased to see Madeline ept his help.

    The royal carriage had left the vige of East Carswell, riding through the streets that passed by the tailor''s shop where a man felt troubled when it came to his feelings. His thoughts went back to the time when the King and Madeline had visited the shop an hour ago, to give measurements of Madeline''s body so that the wedding dress could be made for her.

    He stood in the room where many gowns were ced in the racks. His hand held the dress that was of beige colour. His fingers ran to feel the fabric. It was the same gown that was worn by Madeline at the time of Hallow. Though the red dress that her sister, Elizabeth, had picked up was a beautiful one, he had personally made the beige dress with Madeline on his mind.

    It was made for her. Therefore undoubtedly, it would look good on her.

    "Mr. Heathcliff?" the door of the room was knocked by Greg as James had closed the door.

    "What is it, Greg?" asked James, cing the gown back in the rack carefully before going to the door and pulling it open.

    "There is a man who is looking for you at the front of the shop. In the carriage," Greg informed him.

    James frowned, "Who is it?"

    Greg shrugged his shoulders, "No idea."

    "Okay," said James, walking out of the shop, he pushed the door and the bell tinkled that was attached to the door. He stepped out to see there was indeed a carriage parked outside. He walked towards the carriage to see the coachman, who stood next to the door.

    Walking towards the carriage, he saw a man who had ck and white hair on his head, wearing clothes that didn''t belong to a ce like this vige. A stern expression on his face who turned his head and James caught sight of the red eyes of the vampire. Out of politeness, James bowed his head,

    "Take a seat Mr. Heathcliff," said the man, his words came out more as an order than an offer.

    James wondered if it was a new customer, and he stepped inside the carriage. Once he took his seat, the door of the carriage was closed, and he looked at the man wearily, "Don''t be rmed, Mr. Heathcliff. I am here to talk. I am Issac Barnes. Father of Catherine Barnes."

 Chapter 176 Visiting in laws- Part 2

    <h4>176 Visiting inws- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Mr. Barnes stared at the young man who his daughter had feelings for. He observed the man who was young and handsome. But he was a human. Though he was against the idea of his daughter marrying a human, he had agreed because the word came from the King.

    But how dare he try to refuse his daughter''s hand?! Mr. Barnes had seethed in anger; his pride hurt because of this lowly human. Yet, he sat there with a stoic expression, without offering a smile to James.

    James waited for Mr. Barnes to speak, who already knew why Mr. Barnes was here, "It hase to my notice that you and Catherine have been spending a lot of time together. Word has also reached that my daughter is in love with you, and it is why I have nned to ept you as my son-inw once you get married to Catherine."

    James bowed his head, "My apologies, but I have already conveyed my answer about it to Miss Barnes." It was wise not to use her name to make it look like Catherine was not close to him. And he had done the same when she hade to visit him.

    "I heard it," replied Mr. Barnes before saying, "I would prefer that you reconsider your answer."

    "I am sorry but-"

    "I did not ask for reasons, Mr. Heathcliff," interrupted Mr. Barnes, "If you have spent time with my daughter, I believe it was in the intention to marry her because you liked her. Or are you telling me that you want to defame her?" the older man''s eyes narrowed looking at James.

    Somewhere in the back of James mind, he knew something like this was going to happen, but he had been very clear in his intentions when it came to Lady Catherine. It was true that he had apanied her, but he had made sure to mention about Madeline in their conversations, to let thedy know that his interestid somewhere else and not her.

    "Pardon me, Mr. Barnes. As spoken to Miss Barnes before, I was with her only as a friend and not with an intention to marry her. It would be only right for you to find another man-Argh!" James struggled when Mr. Barnes caught hold of his neck, squeezing it.

    "Listen to me, you filthy little thing," threatened Mr. Barnes, "Do you think you can y around with my daughter''s heart? You will marry Catherine, do you hear me?" the vampire squeezed James neck further while the human tried to get Mr. Barnes hand off of his neck.

    "L-let g-" James tried to speak.

    Mr. Barnes red at James before letting go of his neck to have James gasp for air, "Do you think it is every day that people like you get to sit in my carriage? To get married into a house like mine. I heard you live with your father. He must be an old man. You would be sad if something happened to him, wouldn''t you? I will give you a day more to think about it."

    To think that he was getting threatened to marry someone he was not interested in, James red at the man.

    The coachman pulled the door open for James to get down, and he did.

    When Mr. Barnes returned to his mansion, he went to where his daughter was who had been in anguish since the time she had visited James Heathcliff. She had not eaten, nor did she drink blood that was served to her. She had stopped going out of the mansion and stayed inside her closed room. She was not speaking to anyone because of her broken heart.

    "Catherine," Mr. Barnes called his daughter, walking to where she was seated to say, "How is my daughter doing?"

    "I am okay, papa," answered Catherine, mustering up a smile on her face.

    Mr. Barnes then said, "I heard from your mother that you haven''t been eating well," not receiving a response to this, he said, "You don''t have to be sad about what happened. I spoke to James on my way back home."

    Catherine''s eyes slowly moved from the ground to look at her father, "What did you speak?"

    "He said he needs two days to reconsider the proposal. Do not worry, dear. Your father will not disappoint you," assured her father, "I am sure he will understand ande to know how fortunate and lucky he is, to be marrying a girl like you."

    Catherine frowned, "But he doesn''t want to marry me," came her upset words.

    "He wille around," he patted her back, "I will see you at dinner," and he left the room.

    Catherine saw her father leave the room, closing the door behind him. She finally smiled. A smallugh escaping her lips, "I know papa would not disappoint me," she said to herself. Every person needed a right approach, simr to how she had approached James time after time, to get him to apany her while making it look like she had no one else to go out with.

    Getting up, she walked towards the door and locked the room. Walking around to the other side of the bed, she bent down to pull the maid she had hidden before so that no one would notice. She had dismissed anyone who had tried to enter the room. Bending down, she ced her hand on the maid''s neck,

    "Looks like there''s no more blood to drink," she sighed to stand up, "I am sorry, Magda. I was too hungry, but I couldn''t go and eat in the kitchen or dining room. If I didn''t, it would have been hard to get father to speak to James. I love him too much. I hope you understand." Catherine was unaware that it was not some stranger from the soiree but the King who had spoken about her feelings for James with her father.

    When night arrived, and everyone was fast asleep, Catherine paid one of the servants who worked in her mansion to keep the matter quiet of what she did with one of the maids. Asking the servant to dig the body somewhere in the forest without anyone''s knowledge.

    .

    If it still doesn''t work, please drop a mail to [emailprotected]</a> or let me know inments. THANK YOU!

 Chapter 177 The news- Part 1

    <h4>177 The news- Part 1</h4>

    "No, I am fine, thank you for asking," replied Madeline, her eyes looked at the blue liquid which had left some memories of the ride in the carriage with Calhoun. It was best not to drink anything that was not supervised by Calhoun, but he wasn''t here in this room.

    Madeline wondered where he was.

    "You don''t speak much do you, mdy?" asked Lady Euphemia, "If you are going to take the Queen''s position, you should start mingling more so that you would be able to form rtionship else people are going to think that you are a mum doll," Madeline detected the envy in her voice.

    "I believe everyone is familiar with the fact that it is not the queen who goes to people but the people whoe to her," said Madeline, a constant smile on her lips that had started to ache her cheeks now.

    The women who stood aroundughed. If Madeline was not promised to be the King''s wife, people would have looked down upon her.

    "Lady Madeline is a humble woman," came a familiar voice and Madeline turned to see it was Lady Catherine. The young vampiress made her way to stand next to Madeline, and she locked her hand around the human''s arm as if she had known Madeline for years.

    "Lady Catherine, you speak of Lady Madeline as if you know her for months now. Has the King perhaps been hiding her and letting only some of his close acquaintances know about her existence?" asked anotherdy who was a human.

    The vampires smiled, "Lady Madeline''s aunt lives in the same town that I live. It is how we are acquainted with each other." Madeline noticed how Lady Catherine, who had been giving her the cold shoulder all these days had suddenly turned friendly towards her. Specifically, after the soiree, they hadst met each other, "She has a very good heart. It is why the King chose her to be his wife. Any praises to her would be less."

    "You should be careful about what you say, Lady Catherine. Thest time I heard, your mother was keen to get you married to the King," said Lady Euphemia, trying to dig and brew some drama.

    Catherine threw her head back, letting out a heartyugh, "Oh, Lady Euphemia, don''t worry about that. Actually, I have some news to share with you lovelydies," the women keenly waited for her to speak, "I will be getting married soon."

    "Oh my..! Who is the lucky man?"

    "Have you picked the day?" asked anotherdy.

    Madeline turned to look at Catherine, a question on her face, but in the back of her mind, she knew the answer. "It is James Heathcliff, the man you saw me with. All of us are very excited about it," saying this Lady Catherine turned to meet Madeline''s eyes who offered her a smile,

    "Congrattions Lady Catherine," said Madeline.

    A part of the reason why she was trying toe to terms with the current life was because of what happened the day she had fallen from the high tower. She didn''t have an answer for it until now, but Calhoun saved her, and it meant something to her.

    If James and Catherine were going to marry, it also meant that they liked each other enough to go ahead with it, thought Madeline to herself. It had been awkward that day when she had entered James'' shop.

    She felt her heart was slowly settling down and it didn''t hurt as much as she thought it would.

    Madeline spoke to the women there for some more time before excusing herself out of the room. Walking to the balcony, she ced her hands on the railings and sighed.

    "Bored?"

    Madeline turned around to catch Calhoun who stood behind her.

    "How long do we need to stay here?" asked Madeline.

    "We can leave right now," answered Calhoun. He walked towards her, standing next to her.

    It had been not even five seconds since she hade to stand here and Calhoun hade to meet her. It made her question if Calhoun always had his eyes on her, but then he wasn''t even in the same room she was sitting in.

    "Something bothering you?" asked Calhoun, noticing how her eyebrows had drawn together. Madeline shook her head. She didn''t want to bring up James'' name, not when he was going to get married to Lady Catherine.

    Did Calhoun know about this? That Catherine and James were going to get married?

    Madeline, who was staring at Calhoun, looked away from him. It had been four days since they had visited her family, but her family were yet to visit the castle. The gown would take more than two weeks; therefore, there would be no need to visit the shop anytime soon. There was a possibility that James would be asked toe to the castle with the dress.

    While Madeline was looking ahead, Calhoun came to walk behind her. cing both his hands on either side of her on the railings that had her rmed, "W-what are you doing?" There were people, and this was someone else''s mansion!

    "I thought it had been quite some time since I had you in my arms," came Calhoun''s words next to her ears, "Madeline," he hummed her name.

    Madeline unable to resist, turned around to meet him face to face. Sure they were going to get married, but he didn''t have to disy it out in the open, not that she was ready for it in private either, thought Madeline to herself.

    She stared at his red eyes, seeing how they were turning dark, and realised what was going on, "How long has it been since youst consumed blood?" she asked him.

    "Three minutes ago. It was low-quality blood," he replied while stepping closer to her. Somewhere from the corner of her eyes, Madeline noticed some of the guests who were watching at her and Calhoun in the balcony, "I need to drink from you," he stated before stepping close, his head leaning towards her neck and sniffing her neck.

    Madeline had stepped out for some fresh air, and not for Calhoun to drink her blood. Since the time in the castle''s dining room, Calhoun had not taken her blood, and she was thankful about it, but this was not a ce to be drinking her blood.

    Noticing Madeline''s hesitation, Calhoun said, "We can go to one of the rooms. I doubt Mr. Reeves would mind it."

    "You are the King, why would he," Madeline whispered, her eyes stared at the coat that he wore.

    "Isn''t that great," chimed Calhoun, "You smell exquisite."

    "I smell the same as usual," she quickly said, cing her hands on his chest and pushed him to keep a distance. Calhoun had never behaved this way openly with her in public before; therefore, she didn''t know what had him behaving like this now.

    Calhoun moved his hands from the railings to ce it on her waist.

    Her face turned red, and she tried not to look at the curious eyes that were watching them from behind, "Calhoun��" she called his name to have his eyes snap to look at her. Slowly she was learning, knowing what caught his attention, "There are a lot of people."

    "You said that already," stated Calhoun, there was no smile on his lips and it had made her tense. His hand moved up to tuck her hair back before it trailed to caress her neck, "If anyone has a problem, that is not my problem," he said. Madeline wanted to bang her head. It might not have affected him, but it would to her, "One bite shouldn''t matter."

    "No!"

    Her no sounded like a yes to Calhoun''s ears as he pressed her to him, "No? No, one bite doesn''t matter?" Madeline shook her head.

    "You can take my blood once we reach the castle," she whispered, not wanting to cause a scene in front of the people. This was going to turn to another gossip and Madeline could only hope she wouldn''te to hear about it.

    Calhoun stared at her, "On the bed?"

    "On the couch."

    The grin was back on his face, "I can barely wait," he said, running his tongue over his teeth, "Let''s not waste the precious time here." Taking her hand in his, he tugged her to walk with him. Calhoun didn''t bother to say to anyone that they were going to leave.

    Somewhere Madeline was worried that the guests heard what they spoke.?She didn''t look at the people and continued to walk with Calhoun, who took her out of the mansion, in the carriage, to head to the castle.

 Chapter 178 The news- Part 2

    <h4>178 The news- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Madeline''s face had turned red with embarrassment by thinking how she was going to face the same people next time when they were going to meet. Calhoun had in no way been discreet about what he wanted. His actions and words spoke volumes as if he was iming her in front of everyone, on how much he wanted her.

    The King was shameless, and he didn''t hold back on what he wanted.

    On their way back in the carriage, Calhoun had not touched her, but that didn''t mean Madeline had not sat with her defences up as if he would attack her. Once they reached the castle, Calhoun stepped out, walking up the stairs and Madeline dragged her feet. She was worried that he was going to pounce on her. He did say he wanted to bite her. Her nerves were going haywire, and her nails dug into her palms.

    Madeline wondered what would happen if she detoured to go somewhere else and hide until Calhoun''s thirst for blood would die down. But she doubted it would end well.

    "Looks like your legs have turned weak," said Calhoun when Madeline had fallen back, "Need me to help you with it?" he asked her.?She gritted her teeth, walking a little faster to close the gap.

    Which prey ever eagerly went to present itself in front of its predator?

    Asked Madeline to herself. He was alright in the morning, their conversation much more normal, which had not hinted anything about him wanting to drink blood from her nor touch her. What happened suddenly? Wait...did he drink the wine made for vampires? But then he had drunk it before too, and she was the only wobbly person.

    The servants quickly bowed their head, moved back towards the wall to give more space without hindering the King''s path. She noticed that they were not heading to the ce where Calhoun had taken her blood the first time. This was the ce where he had taken blood from the woman Julianne.

    When they entered the room the doors were already open as the maids were cleaning. Calhoun ordered, "Out."

    Within a second, the maids quickly stepped out from the room asmanded by the King, closing the door behind them like an unspoken order, they left Calhoun and Madeline alone in the room.

    Calhoun turned around to look at her, "One of these days you should pick the bed. It is much morefortable than the couch."

    Madeline didn''t believe things would go well if she were to pick the bed. Having him take her blood on bed sounded too erotic in her mind. She shook her head to get rid of the thoughts.

    Calhoun took his coat off, throwing it to the side before he sat in the middle of the couch. Madeline''s eyes moved to look at the space on the couch. Any side she would pick to sit, it would be the same distance but then was there a point in her keeping a distance between them when he was going to drink blood from her.

    "Come here, Madeline," he coaxed her, an order which was unlike the one he had given the maids a minute ago. As sweet as his words were, Madeline knew they were only used to ease her tension. The intention of Calhoun was only to lure her in, "Take off your shoes," he said, and Madeline didn''t know why he was asking her to remove her shoes.

    "Why?" she asked him.

    Calhoun tilted his head, his eyes raking over the girl standing in front of him, "I like my couches clean. Is that a good enough reason?"

    It wasn''t, but sheplied. Pulling her shoe one after another, she ced it in the corner, her movements slow so that it would prolong the time. Not able to push any more time, she finally made her way towards the couch.

    Madeline saw Calhoun raise his hand for her to take, and she moved her hand to ce it in his. In one single swift movement, Calhoun pulled her to him. This had her fall and straddle him ufortably with the number ofyers her dress had.

    "Looks like we will need to reduce theyers," murmured Calhoun, one hand of his moved across her waist, before it pulled out the first twoyers to drop it on the ground.

    "Wait! Wait!" Why was he undressing her?! Madeline''s eyes turned wide-eyed.

    "I have waited enough," said Calhoun. With the fabric out of the way, he asked her, "I would prefer you in your chemise of petticoat, but then you haven''t given me any openingtely that I could get your extra clothes out," he said in an unashamed tone that turned Madeline''s cheeks red.

    "Is that all you think about," she red, her eyes moving to look at the skirts that had been discarded. How did he remove them so easily?? Her attention was brought back to Calhoun, who was in front of her.

    Calhoun chuckled, "I think about what I can do once I have your clothes disappeared from my sight."

    There was a teasing smile that adorned his lips, as he touched her waist. Things were getting better between them, so much better and Calhoun was pleased to see how Madeline reacted to his touch. The first time, there had been nothing but fear, but since the time that incident that took ce, it seemed that unconsciously she had started to open her heart and he was seizing every opportunity.

    Madeline caught sight of his sharp fangs. She realized it wasn''t just the fangs that scared her, but it was Calhoun''s lips, hands and words that whispered to her. In the room alone with him, Madeline could hear her heart flipping in her chest.

    "You cannot undress me," she said when his hands moved to her back testingly.

    "Why not?" he asked, his eyes on her waist, "Put your legs on either side, sweet girl," he instructed her.

    Calhoun was pushy, and Madeline hade to taste it over and over again since the very moment he hadid his eyes on her. It had started with a dance in the Hallow, to end up here on the couch where he looked like he wanted to devour her. She waspliant with his orders only because she knew there was no way out. The more she tried to run and push away from him, his hold on her tightened.

    She was not a child, but she listened to him. With noyers of skirt, it made it easier to sit, and it looked like she was straddling him.

    Madeline didn''t know what was going on in Calhoun''s mind. They weren''t married yet for him to take her clothes off without notice. If she reminded him, she felt he would prepone the wedding which Madeline was not ready for. She decided to close her mouth shut, and Calhoun noticed this. She wondered if there was anything he didn''t catch.

    Calhoun was not a fair King, he was the King who yed dirty, and she was yet to learn the things he indulged in apart from her.

    She heard him say, "Tell me what''s on your mind."

    "That you''re going to drink my blood," she answered, and Calhoun''s gaze moved to meet her eyes. The room was bright when they had entered because the doors let the light in, but with it closed, and the windows draped over by curtains, the light had reduced in the room.

    "You haven''t perfected your lie," he said, "Let''s try again, shall we?" saying this his hand moved towards her bottom before pushing her to sit closer to him. Calhoun moved forward, making more room for her legs.

    Madeline didn''t want Calhoun to know everything she thought. His eyes were always eager to catch each and everything about her, "Why don''t you guess it yourself."

    Calhoun didn''t reply to this, and this had her wondering if he was trying to guess.

    "I don''t need to guess. Giving me such an opening. Have you been waiting for me to bite?" asked Calhoun to her, "I can smell fear. But I also smell the tinge of eagerness in there that isced with nervousness," Madeline shivered when his nose moved across the side of her neck.

    "You want to bite a scared person. How can you enjoy drinking blood from a scared person?" Madeline asked with her eyes closed.

    Calhounughed next to her ear, "You want to know how? Let me tell you a secret, sweet stuff," he said, "The emotions heighten the taste of the blood. Most of the night creatures like to take blood from the people who belong to high status because of what they consume. The emotion of fear is the second most tasteful a blood can be. The first being sex, but it can also include when a person is aroused. If you taste like heaven right now, I wonder how you will tasteter."

    "You cannot speak to a woman like that."

    He pulled away from the side of her face, "Right, but I can speak to my future wife, can''t I?" Calhoun''s hand moved up to feel her back, "Need any help with the corset."

    Madeline red at Calhoun. She said, "It is loose enough."

    "Maybe we should tie it then," he suggested to her, "Shall we see how your blood tastes when you are aroused?" His words were yful, but the look he gave her told a different story.

 Chapter 179 The news- Part 3

    <h4>179 The news- Part 3</h4>

    The sudden shift in position had made her heart race. Calhoun stared into her eyes before it trailed down to look at her lips, "Don''t be scared. Think it to be a treat in front of your eyes. If you haven''t tasted it, how will you know if it''s good or bad," his words were coated with honey.

    Madeline was trying to keep up with Calhoun''s fast-paced emotions but did he forget she was a human?

    "You are not food," responded Madeline.

    Calhoun leaned forward, not giving any space between them. His forehead touched hers.

    "No. But you are," he whispered to her.

    "You were only supposed to take my blood," she reminded him, feeling his weight slightly on hers. She was lying in an awkward position that she had never been before.

    "Just adding some more vour to it," he grinned. Madeline felt Calhoun''s hand move up from the side of her thigh to her hips. Her hands shot forward, but he caught both of her hands and held it on top of her head.

    The fire in her eyes didn''t disappear, but at the same time, she could feel his hand moving to ce it on her bottom. Calhoun knew what a feisty thing she was. He had continuously been eating up her space so that she could get used to it. The fabric had moved up when he had ced her back on the couch, and he pushed it further when he caressed her leg.

    Madeline''s heart hitched when she felt him touch her bottom, and she stared at the devil''s face. The devil hadid a trap, and like it was nothing new, she had walked into it,plying to his words, because there was no telling what would happen if she refused him. He had ways of making her listen to him. One which was covered in sugary words, and another which she had seen only glimpses of.

    Calhoun was taking full advantage of the situation. When he squeezed her bottom, Madeline was sure she would faint due to embarrassment. A shuddering breath escaped her lips. His hands were firm on her bottom and his gaze unwavering. Leaning forward, his lips came near her neck. She waited for the bite, but it didn''te. Instead, Calhoun pressed his lips on her neck. Without biting with his fangs, he sucked on her tender skin.

    Madeline who was expecting pain, felt differently. The movement of his lips and his hand started to stir her, and an unexpected sigh escaped her lips.

    When he bit into her skin, without sinking his fangs, Madeline cried at the nip, and this only urged Calhoun on. The movement of his lips and teeth were harsh on her whilst his hand continued to squeeze her bottom to feel the softness. He could smell the fragrance around her turning rich and his eyes darkened than before. His lips smiled against her neck before he widened his mouth to sink his fangs, letting the blood seep into his mouth.

    He pulled away from her when he was done drinking her blood, enough to keep her conscious and aware of her surroundings. Her face was flushed, her lips parted. His hands released her only to have one of his fingers to run down from the column on her neck, and just when it reached the surface of her chest, Madeline''s eyes flew open that were closed earlier.

    Before she had the opportunity to swat his hand away, Calhoun moved away from her--leaving her alone on the couch. She watched him walk towards the table that had bottles of wine ced on it.

    When he was pouring wine into the ss for himself, Madeline sat up and pushed her dress, making it proper. He then came back to sit next to her.

    "You drink a lot,"mented Madeline.

    "Vampires don''t get drunk that easily. It helps in curbing my urge to drain blood from your body to drink," he answered, and her shoulders suddenly turned stiff, "Rx. If I wanted to do it, I would have done it during the time of Hallow."

    How considerate��

    "Why don''t you take blood from others then?"

    "Others taste like trash. Some are bearable, but it is good that we have the rabbits," came the casual words from Calhoun.

    Madeline looked startled, "You said they were there to protect them from the wild animals."

    "Indeed. Animals who lived in the forest," replied Calhoun, "I never said they were not my food."

    "...why are you telling me?" she asked him.

    "I would rather have you hear it from me than from someone else."

    Madeline stared at Calhoun who wasn''t facing her, instead looking at the firece. Somewhere she was d that he wasn''t lying to her and was telling her the truth.

    "Lady Lucy''s husband...is he cheating on her?" asked Madeline.

    "Yes. For some time now. She doesn''t know about it," replied Calhoun, his chin tilting up to look at the ceiling and then sigh, "It was a marriage done in haste and for benefit. Maybe if some more time would have passed, Lucy would have a happier marriage."

    Madeline had met Lucy only once, but it was enough to know that she was a good-hearted person. She felt terrible at the thought that Lucy''s husband was cheating on her.

    Calhoun then said, "I should have killed them sooner. The previous King and the Queen."

 Chapter 180 Stemmed emotions- Part 1

    <h4>180 Stemmed emotions- Part 1</h4>

    "W-were you serious?" asked Madeline, her eyebrows drawn together and her hand unconsciously touched the side of her neck where Calhoun had bitten her.

    "What do you think?" he asked her back. His gaze moved from the front to turn to look at her. His face serious, the shadow falling on the left side of his face that made the atmosphere around her that much serious.

    Madeline, like the rest of the people in the vige, had heard many stories. By what she had heard, thest King and Queen had been killed because of some tragedy that had taken ce due to the attack made by the neighbouring kingdom. Calhoun was dropping the information out of the blue and her head started to reel.

    "Why?" her question came out as a whisper in the room when it was just Calhoun and her.

    A dangerous grin broke through his lips, and he said, "Because I always wanted to kill them."

    She didn''t know what to make out of it. Madeline had tried to figure out, the rtionship of Calhoun through Lucy to realise, that out of the previous King and the Queen, one of them was Calhoun''s parent. But she didn''t know who it was. When Madeline had entered the castle, her thoughts were filled with nothing but wanting to escape from the castle, from here, from the King so that she could go and continue the life she belonged to.

    They hadn''t spent many days together, but staying around Calhoun had made her curious enough to want to know what Calhoun''s story was. Why he was the way he was right now, or if it was his inherent nature��cruel yet sometimes gentle with her.

    She waited for him to speak. She watched Calhoun staring back at her, the smile faltering on his lips to take the form of the seriousness he previously held on his face.

    "Why did you kill them?" she asked, unable to keep her burning curiosity to herself. Calhoun was taking his own time in gauging her expression.

    Calhoun looked as if he gave some thought over it, and he said, "When the stem of hate is strong, it is hard not to want to get rid of those people you despise."

    Madeline was someone who loved her parents dearly. It was hard for her to rte to Calhoun''s hate towards the King and Queen. But his story was different, "Didn''t people know about it?"

    "What happened to your mother?" she asked. The previous King''s who had ascended the throne so far, had never made an appearance openly to the people, who belonged to the lower status like her and her family.

    "She killed herself," Calhoun smiled, and Madeline didn''t know what to say or how to react to it, "It was a long time ago. When my father was the King, he married Lucy''s mother, who was incapable of giving birth to a child for a long time. You know how impatient people get after a couple of tries. At the same time, my mother was taken in as a mistress of the King. But she was kicked out of the castle by the King''s grandmother."

    Madeline''s lips pursed at the thought of it. She had heard about this. Many stories often came to be heard about the castle and court life, not just about the King or the Queen. Of how men took mistresses in the name of wanting to have an offspring. The girls were often too young who could barely be able to bear a child that would often lead to a stillborn or miscarriage.

    "Why did she get kicked out of the castle?" asked Madeline, "Didn''t she have the King''s protection?" That was the least one would expect from the King, but many didn''t take responsibility for their debauchery.

    Calhounughed in dry humour at Madeline''s innocent question,

    "Mistresses don''t get protection, not when the Queen is present. People don''t wee the thought of the mistresses in the castle even though it is allowed," he answered her, "The King didn''t bother with it. People get bored easily. No matter how wonderful a person is, one day you wille to see the thing or person to be something ordinary. Then seek for a fresh one, something that will excite and tingle your thoughts. The King was involved in getting my mother thrown out of the castle because he was bored, and my mother was forced to leave; not knowing that she was pregnant."

    "The royal family were unaware of the growing child in her stomach, and when the time came, she gave birth to me in a vige. She lived for a few years before killing herself out of heartbreak. She had tried to speak to the King, and I can only tell how much of a fool she was," tched Calhoun. Madeline didn''t know how Calhoun was speaking so calmly about his mother because her own heart ached for the way his mother was mistreated, "I grew up, away from the castle for some more years. In the meantime, sweet mother Queen was unable to give a male child to the King. It must have been my mother''s curse. Because no matter how many other women he beded, all their children died before they could be born," Calhoun smiled, his eyes twinkling maliciously.

    "But you turned to a King," said Madeline for him to nod.

    Madeline would have never guessed that something like this had happened to Calhoun''s mother. The stories of the debauchery that ran in the castle was heard outside the walls. There were only a few stories that ever came to be heard of the women who were the King''s mistresses.

    The sad part was that many young girls agreed to it. Indulging themselves with men who were already married, in the hope to rece the wife and to take the ce of the new position. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn''t.

    "That is because the King couldn''t have an offspring. When the previous Queen finally gave birth to a baby, to the Crown''s disappointment, the baby turned to be a girl."

    "Lady Lucy," murmured Madeline.

    "Yes, Lucy. After some time, he decided to bring me back into the castle. I was his only heir," Calhoun''s lips twisted, his tongue going to y with his teeth, feeling the sharpness, "The King and the Queen, along with my lovely grandmother, they decided to mould me into what they would want as a puppet."

    When Calhoun paused, she asked him, "How old were you when you entered the castle?"

    "Probably eighteen or neen? It is hard to keep count of the years when you are a vampire. Age turns to be insignificant but not time," stated Calhoun. Madeline didn''t understand what he meant by that.

    She didn''t know how age worked when it came to the vampires. It was because the mortality of humans was less while for vampires; it was more.

    Before Calhoun could go on, Madeline had started to question, in her mind of what might have happened for him to kill the King and Queen. It also made her question how he was still here, as the King, because killing the royals was nothing less to treason. It was the highest treason one couldmit, so how did Calhoun get away with it?

    Calhoun turned back his eyes to look at the ming fire, and she heard him speak,

    "The first few years, I listened, and I watched. Then I learned," he paused for a second before continuing, "Lucy was still a young and small girl. Growing up, therefore she didn''t hear much of what happened, but she did get some idea. When you are in the castle and around high profile people, you don''t speak about the mistresses. At least not the old one''s who are useless."

    Carefully, she asked, "Did your father ever bring up your mother with you?"

    It would be strange not to, thought Madeline to herself.

    "No. He didn''t care about it," came the calm answer from Calhoun.

    The woman died, killed herself, and the previous King didn''t even care...Madeline didn''t know how much she was allowed to question to know more about Calhoun because it was something personal.

    "And after some years of careful nning, I first killed my dear grandmother. I wanted to keep her for some time, but at the same time, I could not stand the sight of her. You should have seen her," Calhounughed, twirling the ss of wine that was in his hand before he took another sip from it, "I put a rusted rod right through her mouth."

 Chapter 181 Stemmed emotions- Part 2

    <h4>181 Stemmed emotions- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Her skin that had tingled earlier had turned cold now. Madeline''s hand turned to loose fists on herp, her eyes unable to look away from Calhoun. His words, instilled worry and fear in her body, the image vivid in her mind even though she didn''t know how Calhoun''s grandmother looked.

    Madeline had no idea what Calhoun had gone through until now, while his time in the castle and beforeing to the castle. It was the look in his eyes right now that scared her. A certain emotion of madness that passed at rare times. She could tell by the look on his face and words that he was satisfied killing thedy. Madeline wondered what else his grandmother had done for him to kill her like that.

    To have one''s mother to be used and thrown awayter, she didn''t know how much pain Calhoun would have felt.

    "After she was gone, it was the King and the Queen''s turn."

    "Does Lady Lucy know about it?" asked Madeline. She remembered how the vampiress had mentioned that she would be visiting a person called ''nana'' and her parents. Lucy had gone as far as to tell that she would pray on behalf of Calhoun.

    "Not all the details. She''s innocent, and I would rather have her not know every little detail that happened," replied Calhoun.

    Madeline nodded her head. It was only right not to let Lady Lucy know, even though Madeline didn''t know the details of what exactly might have happened in this castle in the past. She was stunned to speak or ask him any question. The information was not just heavy, but it was dark.

    "Would you like to meet her?" asked Calhoun, his voice calm and somewhere back to the way it usually was. He stood up, cing the ss down on the side table and then looked at Madeline.

    "Her?" she wasn''t sure if she wanted to meet this person, not when she heard what had happened to the Hawthrone''s family.

    Calhoun gave his hand for her to take, "You must have already seen her, but it should be alright to make a formal introduction," he smiled at her openly, and Madeline''s heart flipped.

    Standing up, she said, "I need to wear the skirt back." This might be Calhoun''s castle and his world, but she wasn''t ready to step out half-dressed in front of people. She saw Calhoun move to where her skirt had been dropped. The King did something she would never have expected and saw him bent down to pick up the skirt that he had removed earlier.

    "Don''t look startled," said Calhoun, noticing the look on her face, "Raise your hand," he ordered and he put the skirt back on her, tying it by the side before pushing thece inside to hide it.

    "You are well versed when ites to a woman''s clothes," shemented, her eyes meeting his and he smiled.

    Opening the door which was closed, Madeline was greeted with light. She followed Calhoun, keeping her feet on his own pace, which was easier as Calhoun walked slowly so that it wouldn''t have the girl to stumble while walking with him.

    Madeline was still trying to absorb the story Calhoun had said to her. The first time she had asked, he had told how they had tragically died, which in the end turned to be a lie but right now. This story, she was worried.

    ''There are other things��''

    She was more than curious, but at the same time, she wasn''t sure if she was ready to hear it. A story could go anyways, and this being Calhoun, she decided not to ask and wait.

    As they passed through the servants, it was easy to tell that they were instilled with fear over and over again, making them to obey the King''s words. Wait, Calhoun had told her that he and Theodore knew each other for years. That only meant that Theodore was with Calhoun before he entered the castle.

    When they reached the dungeon, she was weed with the smell of rusted iron and blood, the pungent smell in the air didn''t leave the dungeon. The ground was made of mud and the walls made of uneven rocks. She had entered this ce before, yet she felt ufortable to step inside in here.

    There were passages that led to cell rooms where prisoners were held. Calhoun had let go of her hand that allowed her to hold the front of her dress. The ground wasn''t clean. Madeline continued to follow him until they finally came to a much more narrowed path that led to a solitary room. She wasn''t eager, but Calhoun was.

    He took a key from his pocket to open the lock, pushing the door to step inside.

    As she stepped into the room after him, the image that Calhoun had given her was the same as what she saw in front of her right now. Except that there was no flesh but only a skeleton body. The rod passed through the person''s mouth and came from behind the head, where the other end was stuck to the wall.

    Madeline''s body turned stiff. The older woman''s skeletonid cold in dust and time.

    "W-why did you not bury her?" whispered Madeline. Her eyes tore away from the skeleton to look at Calhoun.

    "The sight brings me sce. I sometimes regret that her death was handed out too soon," replied Calhoun, his eyes smoothly moving to look back at Madeline, "She was the woman who broke my mother down, who drove her to her death. I wanted to make sure it was a memorable one," he offered her a smile, "You should have seen the look on her face. Her own son was the one to sentence her to imprisonment."

    Madeline took a step forward to take a closer look at the skeleton, "What did she do?"

    "She stood against me. A few years ago, the hunger for the power and the taste of the crown was maddening."

    Madeline and Calhoun left the dungeon. She thought that the vampires were strong. They were only strong when it came to the humans, but it seemed like it wasn''t so when it came to their own kind.

    Madeline now stood in the balcony of her room.

    People often craved for a life of royalty, wanting to have favours from the King and the Queen without knowing what oue it would bring. She hadn''t asked him too many questions as today didn''t seem to be the right day.

    It was told that everyone had their own way to handle grief. An unbearable pain which could tear a person. Either it broke the person, or it made the person what they were. In this case, Calhoun''s mother had broken down, but Calhoun had turned to be the person he was, and there was more to him than met the eye. She remembered one of the paintings that hung on the wall. The one which was of a messy, crowded marketce, she wondered if it was the ce before he came to live in the castle.

    Her feet firmly stood on the ground, her hands tightly holding the railings so that she would not fall-- not that it was high that would lead to her death, but it would leave small injuries on her.

    Madeline felt sorry for Calhoun''s mother because it seemed unfair that she was kicked out of the castle when the King was bored with her, before using another younger woman while still having a wife, a Queen. At the same thought, she wondered if Calhoun had painted his mother. She left the room, walking to the corridor where the royal portraits were hanging on the walls.

    Her feet halted right in front of the manyrge portraits. She had walked and seen the portraits before but the way she looked at them, right now, it was different. The previous King and the Queen together with the grandmother who looked proud with her chin tilted up. There were Lady Lucy, Calhoun and some unknown people Madeline didn''t know of. In the family portraits everyone looked happy, but it was hard to know what was behind those expressions.

    The weather had turned dark like the story of the castle, water droplets starting to fall from the sky that picked up the pace for rain to start pouring.

    Far away from the castle, a person walked in the rain. The ck shoes picked up water from the surface of the ground as the person moved forward on the muddy ground.?Carrying a rose with a long stem which was red, in hand, swaying back and forth as the person made his way through many graves.

    Coming to a stop on a specific grave with an engraved name that read ''Constance Leigh''.

    His clothes were drenched in rain and the water that had wet his hair stuck on his forehead and some at the sides, water dripping down his face. Calhoun raised his hand to ce the single-stemmed red rose on the top of the closed grave.

    When the rose touched the surface of the lid of the grave, the appearance of the rose changed to a ck rose that looked crumpled.

 Chapter 182 Stemmed emotions- Part 3

    <h4>182 Stemmed emotions- Part 3</h4>

    The servant man made sure that the umbre covered the youngdy, who was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wilmot. He followed her until the entrance of the mansion where she was safe from the rain.

    Sophie was angry, and her footsteps told it all the way she walked clicking on the floor. Her dress had picked up dirt and mud, but she had other important things. Her teeth gritting against each other. She made her way where her parents and her brother sat in a room.

    "Wee, sister," her brother Markus greeted her, "How was your day out in the rain," his eyes fell at the bottom hem of her dress which was wet.

    Unable to contain her anger, Sophie said, "Did you hear about Calhoun?!" her voice came high pitched in the room. Her parents were ying a game of cards with her brother. They stopped to look at their younger daughter, wondering what had got her angry.

    "Hear what about Calhoun?" asked her mother. One hand of his holding three cards while the other hand held a small pipe where he was smoking at the corner of his lips.

    "He is getting married! He is getting married to that human who has been living in the castle!" Sophie shrieked. She looked devastated and angry. How could this happen?!

    Her motherughed, "That is not possible, Sophie. The Hawthrone''s have never married a human. It must be false news. Come sit with us. You must be tired after your trip."

    "NO!" the young vampiress screamed so loudly that the other three family members squinted their eyes.

    Sophie had been to visit an acquaintance, wanting to spend time as she was bored in the mansion. There she found out about the King who had announced his wedding to the lowly human.

    "I told you things were serious this time! Calhoun had dismissed the food from the table that I made while leaving hers in the dining room. My food was given to the servants!" shouted Sophie, her eyes livid.

    Tears brimmed in Sophie''s eyes. All the effort she had put until now, every step she had taken to be careful and calctive, everything was going to be washed away because of that human bitch! It was her throne! Her ce to be the queen and some stranger from a vige was recing her!

    Sophie''s family knew how the young vampiress exaggerated a few things, so her mother said, "Calhoun has the habit of making a joke, dear. You shouldn''t be worried about this. Your father and I would never let any girl to steal your rightful ce."

    "Calhoun is going to marry that girl in less than four weeks of time, and I will be here, standing alone, watching at the sides that a mere human is going to snatch what is mine! I will go and talk to him right now!" said Sophie, ready to leave, she turned around to be stopped by her mother.

    "Hold your feet, Sophie," said her mother, "What do you think is going to happen once you go and demand your position in there?"

    Lady Rosamund ced her cards down on the table, getting up, she walked towards her daughter who looked distressed by the news, "My dear, things like these need careful nning. If you go now, it will only irk Calhoun. How about we go and congratte the couple tomorrow."

    "What?!" Sophie couldn''t believe that her mother was proposing to celebrate the news.

    Her mother sighed, "Just because we are going to congratte them, it doesn''t mean we are going to go ahead with it. It is to see the delicate rtionship between them. If I am not wrong, didn''t the girl try to get out of the castle? I am sure she will be more than willing to oblige to the help that I have to offer her. Within a week, she will be gone, and the King to save his face will need to pick a bride," the older woman ced both her hands on Sophie''s shoulders, "You still have a lot to learn, but that''s alright. Until I am here, I will help you," smiled Lady Rosamund.

    Sophie stared into her mother''s eyes, "Will that work? What if it doesn''t work?"

    "If what you said is true, and that there are four weeks, it is more than enough to get rid of a person. Either through their own will or ours. You must be tired now, go get your clothes changed," Lady Rosamund smiled at her daughter and after a couple of seconds, Sophie nodded head.

    Once Sophie left the room, Lady Rosamund turned around to meet her husband''s eyes who was sitting quietly until then.

    "I thought you said, the girl was a human who wasn''t much to look at," said Mr. Wilmot.

    "Indeed, she was. I don''t know what charm she ced on Calhoun that he is eager to marry her," answered Lady Rosamund. She had thought that it was someone the King was going to bed and throw because that was what happened till now, but what changed this time?

    After some thought, Mr. Wilmot said, "Markus, find about the girl''s family. We might need some information about them."

    "Yes, father," Markus bowed his head.

 Chapter 183 A second episode- Part 1

    <h4>183 A second episode- Part 1</h4>

    A King''s debauchery was always overlooked, in the name of wanting to have an offspring, an heir to his throne, and it was strange how Calhoun turned out to be thest standing person. Turning around, she looked back at the paintings of the Hawthrone family. There was Sophie, her mother and brother whom she had met. There was no portrait of Calhoun''s mother, not that Madeline knew how she looked, but she couldn''t see any woman who resembled him in the portraits that hung on the wall. The paintings were encased in a ss so that no dust or water, or air would dull the colours on the portraits.

    Madeline was watching the portraits when she noticed a person''s reflection from the ss. She quickly turned to see that there was no one there. She was sure she had seen one of the maids, because of the clothes that were worn but she didn''t know who had been standing there, watching her.

    When she took a step forward, the thunder and lightning struck from the sky, making her pause walking further. Was someone spying on her? Asked Madeline to herself. She knew that many of the servants were curious about who she was, what she did as she was the girl to be wed to the King.

    She turned back to look at the portraits, to find there was no reflection of the maid she had seen.

    Madeline frowned.

    There was a person in the portrait she had not taken note of earlier. It was a woman, dark-haired, her clothes light in colour. Just when Madeline touched the surface of the ss, the ss broke into a million pieces under her touch.

    She gasped, taking a couple of steps away from the portrait as she hadn''t used too much force when she touched the encased ss to shatter.

    Madeline who had been standing in the corridor moved away from the portraits, her feet stepped into the open where the water from the sky fell on her, one drop after another. The ss shattered loud enough that got the servants who were walking nearby along with two ministers who were with Theodore to step close. They came to see what happened, noticing the shards of sses that now was on the floor.

    The people came near, seeing it was from the portraits and then they noticed the human girl, Lady Madeline, who stood out in the rain, her expression filled with shock.

    As the King was not here, the maids and the servants couldn''t stop themselves from questioning what happened here.

    The other maid who stood next to her nudged the maid''s side who questioned before, "Look at her hands."

    "Oh my God��!" came the whisper from the maid, "Why would she do it?"

    Theodore stepped forward with the ministers who closely followed him, "Who broke the ss of the royal portrait?" demanded Theodore, his eyebrows furrowed together. Seeing the maids who were looking outside, he turned his head to notice Lady Madeline standing outside, too stunned to speak and only stared at the portrait. His eyes then fell on thedy''s hand, which was now dripping down with blood.

    "I heard that she had tried to kill herself, maybe she''s trying to rebel against the King?" the maid coughed when Theodore turned his eyes at her, and she bowed her head.

    "Get this cleaned," Theodore ordered to the maids who bowed their head again and turned away to walk towards the other end so that they could get the mop and other things to collect the ss pieces.

    The two ministers were waiting for the King to return when they heard the ss break over the sound of the rain. They looked at the girl curiously who stood outside with her hands covered in blood. Having overheard the maid''s words, the ministers were curious if the girl was still rebelling on not staying here.

    "You should be grateful, mdy," said one of the ministers, taking the liberty to speak in the absence of the Crown. Madeline''s trance state broke, and her eyes moved to notice people standing in the corridor, "The King has been very kind to you. Bringing a weak human, you should be grateful to his majesty than throw unneeded tantrums. Many girls and women pray, hoping his majesty will spare a nce."

    "If Mr. Fitzwilliam would be kind enough to take himself along with Mr. Heckles to the courtroom now?" asked Theodore politely.

    Mr. Fitzwilliam watched the girl who looked nowhere suitable to be Queen. She might have been pretty, but it was useful only in bed and showcase as a beautiful wife in front of others. The King could have anyone, someone better than this girl. He had also proposed the neighbouring King''s daughter to the King, that was fruitful when it came to building rtionships.

    "You should propose to the King to keep her locked in the room. This would avoid her trying to create a scene. We are only lucky that she hasn''t done anything like this in front of others to spoil the King''s reputation," Mr. Fitzwilliam continued to speak even though Theodore had suggested for the men to go to the court. The man was a vampire who disliked humans, they were not up to his status and their poverty made his skin crawl.

    "Why don''t we go to the courtroom, Fitzwilliam. I am sure Theodore needs to take thedy back to her room," said Mr. Heckles, who didn''t want to take part inmenting anything. The day when thedy had first stepped into the court, Mr. Heckles was right there when the King beheaded one of the ministers named Benedict for condescending her.

    When the two ministers finally left, Theodore looked back at the girl who was getting drenched in the rain. It didn''t look like she was going toe inside anytime soon, "Lady Madeline?" he called, catching her attention, "Please step back inside."

    Madeline finally stepped back in. The corridor here was built in a fashion where one side had the walls, while the other side had pirs where one could step out in the open space.

    Theodore noticed how the palms of her hand were red.

    "I thought I heard somemotion in here," came a voice behind Madeline and her head snapped around to see Calhoun making his way towards her. His eyes took note of Madeline, who was drenched in the rain.

    Madeline felt somewhat relieved to see Calhoun. One person who didn''t look down at her as if she was trying to draw attention to her. She was still slightly worried at the sight of what he had done to his grandmother. Madeline had to tell herself that he had done it for a reason so that she wouldn''t be scared. Calhoun had his reasoning when he had killed the people who had wronged him and his mother. Madeline didn''t know if he was like this from the very beginning or if he had turned to something he wasn''t before. Without knowing the entire story, it was still intimidating to her.

    Her heart ached for the injustice that had happened to his mother, but at the same time, she was scared.

    When Calhoun heard something clutter near his feet, he caught sight of the ss pieces that were on the ground, his eyes turned to look at Madeline''s hand from where the smell of blood was wafting in the air.

    "Were you mad at what happened and decided to break it?" asked Calhoun in a teasing tone, his eyes meeting Madeline''s eyes, "You can leave, Theo. I will take it from here." Theodore didn''t have to be told twice, and he bowed before leaving them.

    Calhoun took both of her hands in his, looking at the red lines that appeared on her palms, "We should get it wrapped," he said, not questioning what happened and at that instant, Madeline felt tears form in her eyes. His head cocked to the side when he noticed her eyes,

    "I left only for two hours. I didn''t know you would miss me so much that it would make you cry."

    Hearing Calhoun''s words, Madeline blinked back the tears quickly because that was not the reason for her to cry and Calhoun was only teasing her. She didn''t know what exactly was going on with her, she felt even more lost than usual. She caught sight of his clothes that were far worse than hers drenched in the rain.

    "You''re wet," came the innocent words from Madeline and Calhoun''s lips twitched.

    "So are you," not the way he wanted but with her clothes sticking on to her skin, he could see the outline of her body. An emotion of annoyance passed in his mind that someone else had seen her like this when she was only for his sight, "Let''s get this bandaged."

    They started to leave when he heard Madeline yelp in pain.

    Madeline had forgotten that she had walked bare feet from her room, forgetting her shoes as she wanted to take a look at the portraits. With the ss pieces scattered on the white floor, it seemed that she had stepped right on a sharp piece. She pulled up the front of her dress, that absorbed the blood that was on her palms to find the ss piece stuck in the sole of her foot.

    Madeline had never stepped on a piece of ss before, and it felt like her soul was being torn as she hopped to be caught by Calhoun who looked annoyed now, "Why are you not wearing your shoes?"

    "I didn''t know I woulde to wander this far and step on the ss piece," came the small voice of Madeline who was in pain. Calhoun could smell fresh blood wafting up to his nose, and it took all his strength not to take a bite to drink her blood. He closed his eyes. His teeth gritted, trying to put his self-control on a tighter leash which was close to slipping away from him.

    Madeline who was in pain heard Calhoun take a deep breath. Was he angry because she broke the ss and didn''t wear shoes?

    "I am sorry," she apologized. Calhoun''s closed eyes opened for her to see how dark they looked, almost ck.

    "What are you apologizing for?" he asked her, bending down, he picked her in his arms and carried her back to her room.

    cing her down on the bed, he got on his knee, and he ced the heel of her foot on hisp.

    Madeline wondered where Calhoun had left after speaking to her. She had not seen the carriage leave from the castle, which meant he had gone by foot before she remembered he didn''t need to walk when he could fly.

    "You didn''t step too hard on the ss, so it hasn''t gone too deep," she heard Calhoun say as he raised her feet in front of his face. When he tried to pull out the ss piece, Madeline flinched in pain, taking her feet back which he didn''t allow.

    "Stop! I will take it out myself!" she gasped in fear of the pain toe as she felt at the sole of her foot.

    "If you stop moving I will take it out within a second," stated Calhoun whose eyes narrowed at her. Seeing her struggle, Calhoun said, "Alright. Let me push the shard of ss back to how it was earlier," hearing this, Madeline''s heart slipped from her chest.

    "W-why would you do that?!" Madeline asked when his thumb touched the surface of the ss that was sticking out.

    They stared at each other with intensity when Calhoun''s expression turned devious, and he said,

    "I like to see you cry."

 Chapter 184 A second episode- Part 2

    <h4>184 A second episode- Part 2</h4>

    She felt her heart and mind being twisted in the palms of Calhoun''s hand which she had no control of. The man was twisted, more than words could describe. She had felt sorry for Calhoun, but his words sometimes frightened her. He was exactly what he had called himself��the big bad wolf who would eat up any and everything.

    "Were you like this always?" asked Madeline to hear Calhoun chuckle.

    He looked her in her eyes, "Did you figure it out?" Was that a yes? "Sit still, unless you want the whole ss piece stuck in your sole," he smiled, his eyes twinkling before looking back down to look at her feet.

    Madeline wanted to take out the ss piece from her feet at her own pace. She knew it was going to hurt when the ss piece would be pulled out from her sole for more blood to drip down, "So much of waste, when I could drink it," said Calhoun, his fingers holding the ss and when he pulled it, she shut her eyes because of the pain that she felt in her body. Her hands gripped both sides of the bed covers, crumpling and not letting it go.

    Her eyes flew up when she felt something warm and soft touch her bare sole, noticing Calhoun''s lips that was on the wound. Her face turned flush, when he licked her feet, "Let it go! I-it''s dirty!" she had walked through the corridors and had stepped outside near the nts.

    Calhoun ignored her words and continued to drink the blood instead of wasting it and letting it fall on the floor of the room.

    He had done other embarrassing things with her like cing his hand on her thigh under the table, squeezing her bottom, kissing her, but this was on a whole different level, and Madeline wished he would not drink any more from where the blood that spilt out. Calhoun opened those eyes of his to look straight at her.

    His tongue out, moved to lick the wound. Her heart quivered at that action.

    "Do you think I care?" he asked her, his voice deeper than usual and Madeline could feel the sexual desire in those words of his. His tongue ran along over his lips, moving to the corner of his lips to lick the blood clean.

    No, he didn''t��

    Madeline could feel the wound on her feet didn''t hurt as much as she thought it would. She left her feet on his thigh without moving it. Calhoun pulled out his handkerchief to tie it around her feet.

    "Where did you go?" she asked, her wordsing out slow.

    Calhounzily looked up at her, "Out. Did you want toe along?" and Madeline shook her head. Now that she had been bandaged, he asked,?"What happened out near the portraits?"

    "Always going and breaking sses. Show me your hands," he said before starting to clean them and Madeline didn''t struggle, letting him aid her, "What were you thinking when you were standing there?" Calhoun gave her a look, "Feeling sorry for me?" one side of his lips pulled up.

    The wounds on her palms had considerably reduced as if there was something in Calhoun''s touch, reducing the wound that was earlier dripping down blood.

    "Do you ever dwell about the past?" Madeline asked him.

    "Always," he replied, his fingers now yed with hers. Pulling and squeezing, not letting it escape from him, "It is the good and bad that keep us alive, but the most painful ones that shape and give you purpose."

    "Does it hurt?" she asked him, searching Calhoun''s eyes to see if he bore other emotions apart from his cruel intentions towards the people around him for his own goals.

    Calhoun leaned towards her, "A lot," he said with a sullen voice, "Barely breathable. You can hear the distant crying and then the screams, but it''s not mine."

    Abroad smile appeared on his lips. He was speaking about the people whom he had tortured.

    A cold chill ran down Madeline''s spine.

    He noticed how she pursed her lips, wanting to ask more questions but not asking because of not getting the answer she wanted to hear, "Go change your clothes. Not that I would mind you falling sick, it would be much easier to shift you to my room so that I can take care of you."

    Madeline stood up from the bed, using her heel to walk as she made her way to the cupboard, "Don''t you have to change your clothes?" she asked. Was he expecting her to strip in front of him?

    "I want to see you change your clothes," Calhoun answered shamelessly.

    Madeline hoped he was joking and when she saw him stand up, she felt he was going to leave. But instead of leaving, he walked to stand where she was.

    She hopped to get away from him, and Calhoun didn''t stop her. She already had her clothes in her hand, and Calhoun pushed the door of the cupboard she had pulled open.

    "I am not your wife yet," she reminded him.

    Calhoun didn''t stop advancing towards her, his eyes fixed on her, "I didn''t say I was going to take you to bed."

    "It''s the same," if he was going to think that she was going to strip in front of him, Madeline was going to continue wearing the same wet dress she had on her until he would leave.

    "So heartless," he whispered. His hand reached to catch hold of her chin, "You know if I want I can take it from you, right?"

    Madeline could feel the soft brush of his finger over her skin, "Are you trying to scare me?"

    "Never," he smiled at her, "I was only reminding you."

    He had touched and kissed her, and she knew she would end up on his bed one day in the future, but she wanted time. Calhoun was sweet with her only when he wanted something. She had seen the way he looked at her when she didn''t submit to his demands. It was the dark danger that was lurking at the sidelines.

    His words sometimes made her feel he didn''t have experience when it came to court a woman, but Madeline knew Calhoun was no child when it came to the art of seduction. Calhoun was undeniably handsome, and he knew it. The smile he always carried on his lips as if he was up to no good, his eyes mixed with a certain wildness that looked untamed yet controlled.

    She shivered on the next stroke of his touch.

    He was being pushier than his usual self. Stepping closer to her, his hand tucked the piece of her hair behind her ear. But Calhoun didn''t retrieve his hand back to his side.

    His fingers went to slide over the back of her head, weaving them through her blonde hair and gently pulled her head behind.

    Calhoun could hear Madeline''sboured breathing. Her heart that was calm, hitched when he tugged her hair. It seemed like she had a thing when it came to breaking sses but Calhoun was not made of ss, he was the molten iron.

    This is what he meant when he said he would take from her, thought Madeline to herself when Calhoun leaned forward towards her face. Having already been ustomed to his touches where it had been only a few hours since he had bit and sucked her neck, she could feel her skin starting to tingle as she remembered it.

    Her throat bobbed up and down when she noticed him looking at her lips.

    Madeline''s own eyes were on Calhoun''s lips that neared hers and she heard him say, "Part your lips for me, sweet."

    .

 Chapter 185 A second episode- Part 3

    <h4>185 A second episode- Part 3</h4>

    Madeline couldn''t take a step back away from him, not when she could only hop. The way he looked at her, it made it difficult for her to move even an inch. She stood there only to feel his other hand sneak onto her waist, caressing it before settling on her back.

    He pulled her towards him and her lips parted unconsciously at hismand.

    Soft breath escaped through her pink lips that trembled when Calhoun moved closer before parting his own lips. Madeline saw the tongue that had licked her sole earlier peek out from his mouth to only to slip into her mouth. She knew her resistance was futile and her hands clutched on to the front of his wet shirt.

    Calhoun''s lips moved against her lips, his teeth aggressive as he nipped and bit it. Madeline''s face turned red. The movements that started slow turned rough, making her flinch in pain. Calhoun was dominant when it came to holding her in his arms.

    To Calhoun, Madeline was the sweetest thing he had ever tasted. If it was possible, he wanted to consume her very soul. To take her away from the world and keep her safe where no one would know or see her except him. When his lips turned aggressive at the thoughts of wanting to have her, Madeline''s hands moved to push him as he was not only stealing her breath but her virtue that she wanted to save until marriage.

    Her struggle to push him only enticed Calhoun and he caught hold of both her hands together while not letting her break away from the kiss-- pushing her against the wall so that she would not escape from him.

    Madeline didn''t know why she turned docile under his words. Was it because of the past that he revealed or was it because she was not trying to run away anymore and was trying to ept things how they were. Because deep down she knew there was no escape from Calhoun''s clutches. He got what he wanted, and refusing only meant more trouble for her. At the same time, she could feel his mouth on hers, making her feet press against the cold floor at what she felt. Madeline was no exception when it came to Calhoun''s actions, her heartbeat increased, and she unknowingly opening-up to him through mind and body.

    His hands-on hers that were holding tight pushed her against the wall. The other hand, which was in her hair slid down toe to settle right above her waist. Calhoun coaxed her own lips to move, his teeth nipping now and then on her bottom lip that was turning it tender.

    She came to realise his eyes were not closed but open.

    Calhoun stared right into her eyes that made it only that much embarrassing for her. He didn''t look away, his own expression was serious without a hint of yfulness in there, trying to steal everything she had.

    When Calhoun pulled away from her, Madeline had turned to an internal mess. She had done what he had asked, but this was more than what he had offered to take, or at least what she thought it to be. She stared back at him, her breathingboured as her chest heaved. Madeline saw Calhoun run his tongue over his lips. As he moved closer, she said,

    "I-I, t-that is enough," came the stuttering words from her.

    "You have tasted your fill, I am not done yet," he replied, his eyes going back to look at her lips that continued to tremble softly, "You taste so sweet."

    Madeline felt like she had turned to some sort of delicacy with the way Calhoun looked at her and by his words, "You''re doing well, sweet. But I would like you to move your tongue with mine. Rub it," he instructed her, to see her face light up in fire because of how red it turned.

    It was apparent that for a girl like her, who wasn''t with a man before, she wouldn''t know how to go around things like this, but that was not an issue to Calhoun. He would teach her what he wanted her to learn, make sure she knew everything that would be understood and performed only in his presence.

    "R-r��" Madeline was not brave enough to repeat the words, and her eyes darted away from his.

    "Follow my lead," stated Calhoun as he was far from being satisfied.

    He wanted more of her, his hands pulled her body and he tugged her head further down so that he could kiss her just as he wanted. His leg had made its way between her legs. When Madeline felt him press his leg between hers, a pool of heat started to form there, and she shuddered, feeling her knees weaker than before.

    W-what was that feeling?!

    With her head pulled back, his lips pressed back into hers. The kiss was fierce and consuming. His lips and hands were not gentle on hers. Stealing kisses that were fervent along with her breath.

    Calhoun knew Madeline was turning weak to his advances.

    He had seen her vulnerable side today, and he had taken it, twisting and turning it to fill in his own needs. The days they had spent together, thest second thing that was needed was to announce James and Catherine''s wedding. Madeline was slowlying around, and he couldn''t be any more delighted than what he was feeling right now. But Calhoun''s patience was running thin.

    Watching her in wet clothes in the corridor had wanted him only to drag her to the closest room and take her in his arms to have her scream his name in passion.

    But he had to remind himself that this was not anyone but Madeline. She had done great progresspared to before. Any possible thoughts of her about being with the tailorman had been washed out of her mind like the rain that was pouring down from the heavens. Thest thing needed was for James to get married. Once that was done, there would be nothing that would stop her from giving herself entirely to him.

    Calhoun had put James in a tight spot where he couldn''t say a no. Mr. Barnes loved his daughter, and like any loving vampire parent, he had pride.

    James could not refuse because Mr. Barnes would not allow it. Calhoun had gone as far as to suggest and put pressure into the older man to get them married quickly. That way, by the time his and Madeline''s wedding day approached, she would be more epting. Everything would fall in the right ce.

    His sweet girl listened to him, and she tried to move her tongue just as he had asked her to do. Letting go of her hands, his left hand moved to caress the side of her face, sliding slowly into her hairs and his other hand went to squeeze her breast to have her moan whilst he used his leg to press it between her legs.

    He could feel her pulse racing, her breath hitching, and he bit harder into her bottom lip to hear her moan higher into the kiss.

    Madeline had never tried something like this, and it felt strange. The texture and taste of Calhoun''s tongue in her mouth was stirring something deep in the pits of her stomach; the emotion almost scaring her. She didn''t know what was happening but the kiss, his leg and hand had her entire body quaking like it was going tobust into nothingness if Calhoun was not holding her now.

    Kissing her like this and touching her, it was too intimate.

    When he pulled away from her lips, his tongue still peeking out of his mouth with a string of saliva that broke away, Madeline blushed at the erotic sight in front of her. He ran his tongue like he had tasted something delicious just now, and she lowered her eyes.

    "That wasn''t hard, was it?" Calhoun asked, his hand caressing her waist as he looked at her and Madeline looked back at him.

    She felt her lips continue to reverberate from the kiss that they had shared...shared. That was right, thought Madeline to herself because she had parted her lips willingly on hismand. Or was it because she didn''t want him to try another unknown approach with her, to get her to do what he wanted?

    Calhoun finally took one step back, not stay away from her but to look at what he had done to the girl. Her brown eyes were slightly dted, her breathing in short breaths and the cry of moans he had heard when he had nipped her lips only made him imagine if this was how she would cry when she would be under him. His pant tightened at the thought of it. Vampires had a high sexual drivepared to humans, but when it came to Madeline, Calhoun felt like it moved ten-fold higher.

    Now that Calhoun had moved away from her, Madeline felt the coldness return back to her. They had kissed in the past when Calhoun had passed on water through his lips, but this was the first time she could properly grasp on what was happening.

    When her eyes met his eyes, a smile started to creep up on his lips as if he was thinking about something and smiling, "Let me know if you need me, I will be in my room," said Calhoun.

    Madeline, who wasck at words, nodded her head, "Okay."

    Calhoun''s mouth twisted into a smile, giving her a look before he finally made his way out of the room and Madeline saw him close the door behind him. With her alone, her head moved back to touch the wall, and she closed her eyes, her knees feeling weak before they finally gave away and she slid down to sit on the floor.

    So much happened today, thought Madeline to herself.

    A sigh escaped her lips.

 Chapter 186 The prince harming- Part 1

    <h4>186 The prince harming- Part 1</h4>

    "Good afternoon, Beth. How are you doing? It feels like I haven''t seen you for a few days."

    Beth turned around to see it was Mrs. Winkle who lived two houses away from her own house. She bowed her head in greeting, "Good afternoon Mrs. Winkle. I have been doing well, how about yourself?" she asked. The shopkeeper at the same time came with the ball of wools she had asked for.

    "You know me. Never been better," replied Mrs. Winkle and saw how the older daughter of Harris took the ball of wool in her hand and inspecting it, "By the way, I heard about your sister''s marriage to the King. Is it true?" asked thedy, her eyes looking at Beth who raised the wool to indicate to the shopkeeper that she would be taking it, "It must be really hard, isn''t it?"

    Beth turned her head to meet Mrs. Winkle''s gaze, "No, the King is taking care of everything," she offered the older woman a smile. Beth had not stepped out of the house much because of the rumours of her sister getting married to the King that had started to circte in the vige. She noticed the looks she received from the vigers.

    Mrs. Winkles nodded her head, "Of course, the King will look after it, but I meant how you are doing," saying this, the woman moved closer to Beth and ced aforting arm on the young girl, "It must be truly hard on you. I mean your younger sister marrying before you," the woman shook her head in pity. Beth felt the prick but she tried to put a smile on her face.

    "I told them I am okay with Madeline marrying first," said Beth, trying to show that she was a better person here, letting her younger sister marry first while she was still unwed.

    The older woman nodded again, "You will need to, considering Mr. Danvers chose not to go ahead with you. I hope God gives you strength," the words spoken were notforting. It felt like the woman was rubbing salt over her open wound.

    In the past, Beth would have never imagined that she would have to go through a humiliation like this and her hands clenched, trying to control her anger. When her family had gone to the ball of Hallow, it was Beth who was looking for a suitor and by custom, the King should have picked her. Madeline had no interest, worse, she had her interest in the tailorman. But the King chose her, and the tailorman was a coward to give up on her sister.

    "It wasn''t Mr. Danvers but I who rejected him," answered Beth, which was indeed true but Mrs. Winkles and some other women around them tried to hide their giggles.

    Beth had rejected Mr. Danvers so that she could focus herself on the King. But rumour now spread that it was Mr. Danvers who had rejected her. To make things worse, the appeal that she held before had been lost in the eyes of her admirers. Men spoke less to her and didn''t try to court her, even if they did speak to her, it was all about Madeline this and that, and how they could get favours from her sister. She was nowhere in the conversation.

    She found it hard toe in terms that her poprity was plummeting so fast; while Madeline who was betrothed to the King was rising up in the conversation.

    When Elizabeth had turned twelve years old, she had started to receive attention from everyone because of the contrasting colour of her ck hair and green eyes. She loved every bit of the attention. The attention that she received had been taken away from her, by her very own sister. The shame she felt, the embarrassment was all because of Madeline. Beth''s hate only grew that much more.

    When her eyes moved around, she noticed how the women whispered to each other and the men only bowed to her from afar before leaving from there without speaking to her.

    "Do you think she is going to end up as a spinster?" she heard one of thedy''s question to another, without looking at her but Beth knew they were speaking about her.

    "Considering her age, she might be walking that path," said anotherdy.

    Beth felt internally humiliated. She had turned to be part of the bad side of gossip and the news was only manipted and tweaked to the point where it was outrageous and not true! As she walked back home, she couldn''t help but question herself if what the women said in the market was true. Was she going to die alone? She had always wanted best for herself, and she believed she would get it but what if her own sister stole what was rightfully supposed to be hers?

    After meeting the King, the jealousy in her mind only grew that much more towards Madeline. The King was wealthy, handsome and everything Beth had always wanted. But stolen, came the thought in her mind.

    Beth continued to walk on her way home when she noticed five men who were destroying the shop that her father owned. The shop was made out of wood, big enough to keep the collected logs of wood in there while having space to sit inside. She ran quickly towards it,

    "Papa!" Beth shouted for her father who stood at the side of the shop with a look of shock on his face who was held back by another man, "What''s going on?! What are you doing!"

    "Beth!" her father called, and Beth quickly pushed the man who was holding her father back, "I don''t know what happened but they suddenly pulled me out and started to destroy it. They said it was the King''s order."

    "What?" Beth frowned. She could feel an ache in her chest as the dream of having a shop for her family was being ruined right in front of her, "He wouldn''t do that," she said to her father, after all, it was him who had provided it to the family

    Her father shook her head, "The minister is not here to stop them," he looked at the shop being torn down until it turned to be part of the woods that was on the ground, "I don''t know where the men went who were helping in the shop," he pursed his lips after saying this.

    Beth, trying to be brave, stepped forward to ask, "Why are you sabotaging, where is the King''s orders?" on her question the buff man who had a scar across his neck red at her.

    "It was the King''s orders to pull it down."

    "I demand to see the order that has the seal on it. You cannote-" the man stepped forward to catch hold of Beths'' face, squeezing it.

    "Are you trying to stand against the King?"

    Mr. Harris'' eyes widened and he tried to pull the man''s hand away from his daughter''s face, "Please forgive my daughter, she meant no harm. Please!" and the man pushed Beth away.

    "If the King hears about the interruption, he wouldn''t like it," red the man.

    "The King would not do that, he was the one who g-" Beth''s words were cut when the man took another step.

    "Is that how you treat ady?" said a voice behind them and Beth along with others turned to see a man who was dressed in expensive attire, "You should be ashamed of yourself." It didn''t take much time for Beth to realise that this man was not from the same vige as her. He was a vampire and one who appeared to belong to a wealthy family.

    The man walked to where they were and then asked, "What is going on with themotion?"

    Mr. Harris was the one who answered, "These men came out of nowhere and started to pull down the shop. They said it is the King''s order but he never said he would be taking it back." When his younger daughter Madeline had arrived home with the King, his wife had told him that her daughter was trying toe in terms with the marriage that was going to take ce. Therefore, he didn''t understand why the King would do something like this.

    "Allow me to speak, Sir," offered the stranger, who then turned to speak to the men, "Do you have an order from the King?"

    The one who had threatened Beth pulled out a scroll of parchment from his coat and handed it to the man. Beth came near and tried to take a look at what was written in it. After the vampire was done reading, he gave the scroll back and turned to speak to Mr. Harris.

    "The seal on the paper looks like it is from the King. I can confirm it because I have received and seen seals like this," said the stranger and Mr. Harris'' heart sunk in his chest, "Did you perhaps do something that the King didn''t like?"

    Mr. Harris shook his head, "No."

    Why would the King try doing something so cruel when their daughter was going to get married to him? Asked Mr. Harris to himself. His shoulder slumped down.

    "I wouldn''t be too surprised by his actions, he''s done this before when people have stood against him. Probably something from the past?" asked the stranger. The vampire''s eyes fell on Elizabeth, the brte who had green eyes and he offered her a smile, "I apologize for what happened here today. Pardon my rudeness."

    The stranger bowed his head before raising his head, "I am Markus Wilmot."

    "Emmett Harris," Mr. Harris introduced himself, "This is my daughter Elizabeth," and Beth bowed her head.

 Chapter 187 The prince harming- Part 2

    <h4>187 The prince harming- Part 2</h4>

    She couldn''t believe that the King, would do something like this. Did Madeline do something to offend the King which was why they were being punished here? If it was true, her hands clenched together in more anger.

    "What are we going to do, papa?" asked Beth, her eyebrows furrowed at the thought that her father would have to continue working alone in the heat and rain without a shelter to keep the logs of wood. Even the men who had been appointed by the King were nowhere to be seen, "We should probably write a letter to the King, to check what happened," she proposed.

    Her father''s shoulders were slumped, and he looked dejected. He wasn''t sad because the King had taken the shop and the men back who were helping him. He never had it before, but with Madeline in the castle, he didn''t know if she was being treated well. Now that his younger daughter was getting married to the King, did he decide it was worthless to help him and his family?

    "Mdy, if I may," said the vampire who had intervened the men from harming his daughter Beth when she had demanded to see the seal, "By my experience, the King has never taken too kindly when his actions were questioned by someone. It would be better to know by yourself, why it happened so that you could gain his favour again."

    "But he cannot go destroying things when he was the one who promised and gave it to us," replied Beth. It looked like the King was indeed a very cruel and ruthless man.

    Markus looked at Harris'' elder daughter who appeared to be outspokenpared to the other women he knew. She had a fierce look in her eyes, and he realised that she was more attractivepared to the girl who the King had chosen for himself. But when Markus Wilmot was staring at Beth, he wasn''t admiring her beauty but out of displeasure because she was not being the obedient vige girl and not going along with his word.

    After his father had asked him to find out more about the girl''s family, he had decided to act on it. He wasn''t going to throw away the lineage, which led to power of the throne. When Calhoun didn''t exist to the King and to the castle, the crown was going toe to him, but it had slipped right through his fingers. Killing the King was not easy, and the next option was, for his sister to marry the King, to be the rightful Queen. But nothing was going ording to the Wilmot''s n as the King had picked up a nobody from the streets to be his wife.

    This caught Mr. Harris'' attention, "Why is beheading rted to my daughter?" Was his daughter not safe there? Had someone told something to the King?

    Markus smiled at the old man, "They said something which didn''t sit well with him. I say this because I am also the King''s cousin. It is not my ce to be saying this, but...maybe you should check with your family, if something was done to cause his mood to be upset?"

    Beth pursed her lips at the stranger''s words. Was it due to the letter? She couldn''t be sure.

    "Please do not be sad. I will ask my men to fix this up. Or maybe set up your shop in a better ce?" saying this Markus called one of his men who stood far away from where they were.

    "No, no. That won''t be necessary," said Mr. Harris as he didn''t like to be indebted by others.

    "I insist," Markus responded with a charming smile, "I wouldn''t like it if a good man like yourself would be out in the sun without a roof over your head. Also, I am helping you to gain your favour."

    Mr. Harris gave him a questioning look, "I do not understand."

    Markus bowed his head and then said, "Forgive me if I am too forward, but I am taken by your older daughter Elizabeth. I was hoping we could get to know each other better that would lead to a possible marriage in the near future."

    Beth was taken aback by this revtion.

    She wasn''t shocked, but she was surprised. After all, men had always flocked around her in the past. But she was astonished that a man who was the King''s cousin was asking for her hand in marriage. She took another closer look at him, his features sharp and poised. The smile on his lips gentle and kind.

    Beth didn''t feign to be shy, but it didn''t mean she was not interested in forming an alliance. It wasn''t every day a woman got asked by the King''s rtive for hand in marriage. And Beth had been trying to think, how to get back at her sister, for the humiliation she had caused her since the time word had spread out about her marriage to the King.

    "Ah, that is very kind of you, Sir," replied Mr. Harris who was at loss of words because it had only been a couple of minutes since the shop that he newly owned had been pulled down. He turned to look at Beth, who didn''t say a word before she put a smile on her face.

    "Miss Elizabeth, would you like to spend some time with me for a cup of tea? So that we can get to know more about each other?" Markus directly asked her.

    On turning Mr. Danvers away, Beth had heard enough from everyone. She was no idiot to repeat it all over again. This was an excellent opportunity to get closer to the crown than just being the sister of the Queen. That was if Madeline would turn to be a Queen. Beth still had her eyes on the highest prize, and she wasn''t going to let it go. History had heard and seen things where one could divert the fate of another. If Beth could do it, she would be the one standing next to the King-- using this man in front of her didn''t seem like a bad idea, thought Beth to herself.

    She gave him a polite nod, "If my parents agree to it." Beth was not going to show this man that she was an excited puppy. She was going to make sure that this man would listen to every word of her so that she could use him.

    Markus then turned to her father who nodded his head, "If Beth has no problem, it should be alright. But we are going to visit the castle this weekend. For the preparation of my younger daughter''s wedding."

    "Of course, Sir. As I said, I am the King''s cousin and also one of the ministers there. I will meet all of you there again. Do not worry about the shop. I will get it fixed," he offered the old man a polite smile. Then he turned to thedy, taking her hand in his, Markus kissed the back of her hand while his eyes on hers, "Have a good day, mdy."

    Beth felt superior now, "You too, Sir." She didn''t forget to smile at him, an enchanting smile on her lips that had worked wonders in the past.

    Earlier she had been worrying simply for nothing when the women in the market gossiped about her. Beth was still the most beautiful girl in here, and it was just that fate had been unlucky that day during the time of Hallow.

    This vampire was nothing less to a prince charming, thought Beth to herself.

    But what Beth didn''t know was that Markus Wilmot didn''te here to woo her for marriage. He was no prince charming, he had entered in the life of the Harris only to harm them for his gain.

    "I am sure Mr. Wilmot will help us fix the shop back. Come, papa," said Beth to walk back home with her father.

 Chapter 188 A way out? - Part 1

    <h4>188 A way out? - Part 1</h4>

    "It''s been going well," replied Madeline, "He has been taking care of everything."

    "Expected," Lucy nodded her head, "I remember the time when I got married. My mother was making sure I lost more weight than I was before. It almost made me look like a corpse, not that I minded,"ughed the vampiress, "What about your parents? Has brother Calhoun not invited them?"

    "He has, I think they were still packing," she smiled at Lucy before looking ahead. She didn''t know why her parents had not arrived at the castle yet. When she and Calhoun had visited, Madeline was sure that her family would visit the castle the very next day. But it had been some days now. What was keeping them away? Asked Madeline to herself.

    Lucy noticed the expression on Madeline''s face.

    Most of the people would have jumped out of glee and happiness when they heard that someone from their house was getting married to the royal family. But knowing the way Madeline had ended up in the castle, she wondered if her family were still unhappy and ufortable with the thought that their daughter was getting married to the King. Calhoun was not like other ordinary people, but Lucy believed that he was the right person to ascend the throne.

    He had his perks, but he was a good man in Lucy''s eyes. She knew that he loved Madeline enough to fix their marriage right away, without waiting to dy their time together.

    "I am sure they will be here soon," Lucy said to Madeline, to see the girl nod her head. After a few seconds, she said, "Initially, I wasn''t happy to get married. I had different ns because of my other interest."

    Madeline had heard a part of it from Calhoun when he had told her about the deceased family members, but she wasn''t someone who wanted to pry orment on others lives.

    "You are going to be my family now. Actually, you already are, and you will eventually find out things that has transpired in the castle," said Lucy, her hand rising to tuck the piece of hair behind her ear that hade out to fall on the side of her face because of the wind.

    "I heard what happened to the King and the Queen," Madeline didn''t know how thedy''s rtionship was when it came to her parents. Calhoun might have not been in good terms with them, but that didn''t mean Lucy would have hated her parents. It was because Lady Lucy didn''t appear to be the person who would hate someone out of whim.

    Lady Lucy smiled at Madeline''s words, "I see, brother Calhoun has already mentioned about it to you. That''s good," she nodded her head.

    The vampiress looked ahead of her, her red eyes now wavering as they continued to walk, just the two of them without the maids or servants carrying an umbre over their head, "I didn''t understand when it happened. Like many, I was left in shock. But it happened a long time ago. With time, the memories start to dull down, and the pain turns bearable."

    Madeline pursed her lips, notmenting on what Lucy said. Thedy didn''t know Calhoun had a hand in her parents death. Lady Lucy was sweet, and for a vampiress, she seemed kinder than any person she had met.

    "Any way, what I was saying was that I was not happy with the marriage. I married out of anger and even by force," Lady Lucy had a sullen look on her face, as if remembering what had happened years ago, "Not many are aware of it. But I used to like someone here. I think you already figured it out who it is," hearing this, Madeline gave thedy a nod.

    Lady Lucy was the first person out here in the castle with whom she feltfortable to talk to. Someone she came to believe that there were good vampires where she could share things apart from Calhoun.

    "I try to control my emotions, but I get angry when I see Theodore," saying this sheughed, trying to hide her past emotions.

    "Do you regret marrying someone else?" asked Madeline. She had heard from Calhoun that Lady Lucy''s husband was cheating on her which thedy was unaware of, "My apologies for asking something so personal," Madeline quickly corrected, bowing her head when she realised it was something she was not supposed to ask.

    "No, don''t be. We are going to be sisters," saying this Lady Lucy ced her hand on Madeline''s arm, "It has been a while since I felt at home. Thest person I could freely talk to and who could speak back to me was my caretaker. I used to call her ''Nana'' but she is no more. I don''t know if I do or don''t. When my mother found out about my growing interest towards Theodore, immediately my marriage was fixed, and he was told not to have anything to do with me. I am married to Samuel, who loves me, so I wouldn''t say I am sad."

    Madeline smiled back at Lady Lucy.

    Both the girls continued to walk on the grounds of the castle, their footsteps slow, speaking about other things which didn''t involve the family. When a carriage entered the castle grounds, moving towards the castle, Lucy said,

    "I think I know to whom that carriage belongs to," Madeline turned her head to catch sight of the moving carriage, "It is the Wilmot''s carriage. Let''s go meet them," came the enthusiastic voice of Lucy.?Heading back inside the castle, Madeline noticed it was Lady Rosamund and Lady Sophie who had arrived in the carriage, making their way through the corridor.

    "Lucy, my darling!" eximed Lady Rosamund who walked to the front to take Lucy in her arms, "I wasn''t expecting to see you here. How have you been?" asked the older vampiress.

    "I have been doing well, Lady Rosamund. I wrote a letter to you, didn''t you get it?" asked Lucy and Lady Rosamund blinked for a second.

    "I don''t think I received it. Else you know I would have replied to you right away." Though Lucy didn''t see it, Madeline who stood in the corners saw how Rosamund was lying through her teeth while acting as if Lucy was dear to her heart.

    Since the very first time Madeline had met Lady Rosamund, both thedies had grown a distaste towards each other. Madeline didn''t forget how Rosamund had asked her to get out of the carriage, without showing a bit of sympathy while she was being dropped in the middle of nowhere with no other ride.

    When Lady Rosamund turned to meet Madeline''s eyes, to her surprise, the woman stepped forward to put her hands around her for a hug before pulling away,

    "Congrattions Lady Madeline," Lady Rosamund congratted her and Madeline took more than a second to question herself on what was happening, "We just heard about the marriage that is going to take ce and thought that we should personallye and congratte the future queen. I cannot believe that I finally am going to have another daughter."

    Madeline''s already raised eyebrows looked at thedy before putting up a smile, "Thank you, mdy."

    "Sophie, where are the flowers," Lady Rosamund turned to her daughter who stood there stiffly. Soon Madeline''s hand was holding gathered flowers, "Sophie made these for you. She was saying how wonderful her time was with you, when shest visited here."

    Sophie bowed her head, and Madeline greeted the young vampiress back. Now that the King had announced about his marriage with her, it seemed that people had suddenly changed their behaviour and views about her.

    "That is very sweet of sister Sophie," Lady Lucy was oblivious to the politics that went in and outside the castle, like an innocentmb who believed and trusted people around her.

    "Are you here by yourself, Lucy?" asked Lady Rosamund.

    Lucy replied, "I came here with Samuel. He''s been talking to brother Calhoun in the courtroom."

    "I see," nodded Lady Rosamund before her interest went to fall back on Madeline, "I thought you would need some help with our customs, as there are no elders in the castle, you will need some help, who better than the aunt, right?" smiled Lady Rosamund.

    Vampires had different customs? Asked Madeline to herself.

    "I forgot that we have different customs. It is good that you are here, Lady Rosamund," said Lucy. Madeline was notfortable in Lady Rosamund''s presence, but she didn''t show it. If they were going to end up being family, the least Madeline could do was ignore things that had urred in the past as it would only turn awkward when they would meet each other face to face.

    Thedies started to walk further inside, making their way to the Seating room when Lucy excused herself to go to the powder room and Sophie decided to tag along with her, leaving the room for Lady Rosamund and Madeline.

    Madeline wondered if she should go to the powder room too. Not because she wanted to make herself pretty but just so that she wouldn''t have to share the room alone with Lady Rosamund who had been smiling at her sweetly.

    Lady Rosamund raised her hand for the maid who was in the room toe forward, "Bring us something to drink. Preferably wine for me and��" she left the words hanging for Madeline toplete.

    "Water," said Madeline and the maid was dismissed by the hand wave of Lady Rosamund.

    "Close the door," ordered Lady Rosamund and the maid obliged, "The maids can get nosey sometimes. Don''t you think, Lady Madeline? I heard about what the maidsmented about you. I am so sorry you had to hear that," and thedy who was sitting next to Madeline, ced her hand on top of her hand.

    Word did travel fast, thought Madeline to herself, "Thank you for your kind words. It is something that has been dealt with."

    "You are right," agreed Lady Rosamund, "You know, Lady Madeline, you don''t have to hear such vulgar things. Because after what I heard happened to you, I feel bad for you."

    "I am sorry?" Madeline looked at the older vampiress in surprise.

    Lady Rosamund offered Madeline a kind smile, "You don''t have to go through this marriage if you don''t want to. I can help you with that. It is never toote."

 Chapter 189 A way out?- Part 2

    <h4>189 A way out?- Part 2</h4>

    And Lady Rosamund wasn''t lying right now. If the vampiress knew that her nephew was not ying around for his entertainment and was serious about this human, Lady Rosamund would have made sure to have the girl sent far away from not only the King but also from Devon.

    She stared at the girl who looked startled, waiting for the girl''s response.

    Madeline pursed her lips, "What has happened, it is in the past. You do not have to apologise for it," she said to the olderdy.

    The offer was very tempting, and Madeline wanted to take up the offer. But she also knew the consequences if she did. Madeline didn''t love Calhoun and the way Calhoun loved her, she felt it to be foreceful at times, demanding and somewhere toxic like a poison that was slowly spreading in her mind and body.

    She didn''t understand why Lady Rosamund was offering something like this to her, "Thank you for your help, but I will have to refuse it."

    Lady Rosamund''s eyebrows raised in question, "Are you scared, dear? On what the King might do if he finds out about it? But you need to remember, a man who killed his own mother, you never know what will happen to the next woman. Possibily his wife when she''s only a human."

    Madeline frowned hearing this. Did his aunt know he had killed his father and stepmother? Being family, maybe they did, and no one could point out the murder that took ce.

    "The Queen, he didn''t-"

    She was interrupted when Lady Rosamundughed, "Who is speaking about the Queen? I was speaking about his birth mother," she whispered, "Can you imagine killing your own mother?" she shook her head.

    "He didn''t kill his mother," stated Madeline, because Calhoun had told her that his mother had killed herself.

    "Is that what he told you?" there was a smug smirk yet a look of pity on her face that Lady Rosamund passed on to Madeline, "Maybe that is what he wants you to believe. I just thought you should know before knowing fully well what you are getting into. Like many other dark secrets of the castle, this one is part of it."

    Madeline stared at Lady Rosamund, wondering if she was lying or had already been lied to.

    To know the truth, she would have to ask Calhoun because what she heard was different. Calhoun wouldn''t lie about something like that, thought Madeline to herself.

    "I am part of the King''s family," smiled Lady Rosamund, "This is going to be just between us. Especially considering how desperate you were in escaping on the day Ist came here to visit you," the woman then squeezed Madeline''s hand again, "I know how it feels to be confined after being brought to a new ce. Men, they don''t understand the pain which we women go through. I am offering you a choice for your happiness which I never give to anyone, not even to my very own daughter."

    Madeline didn''t understand what Lady Rosamund meant by the words she just uttered. She was a simple girl from a simple family. Having simple dreams.

    "You don''t have to give me your decision right away. There are plenty of days left for that," smiled Lady Rosamund, "You cane to receive my help even thest day before the wedding, and I will help you. Make sure to think about it."

    Wasn''t thedy scared or worried that she would go and tell it to Calhoun? On seeing Madeline''s curious eyes, Lady Rosamund said,

    "I hope our conversation will be kept private. You never know when you might need my help. Also, if something happens to me, your parents might not be safe." The woman smiled, patting Madeline''s hand before letting it go.

    Madeline stared at Lady Rosamund, who leaned back against the chair, smiling softly.

    She finally broke her gaze away from thedy. Rosamund Wilmot was a close rtive of the King, yet thedy was offering to help her. Nobody helped others out of kindness, because it was very rare. Given that Sophie was always hovering over the King, Madeline wondered if Lady Rosamund nned to marry her daughter to the King once she would be out of the picture.

    Frankly, she didn''t know what to think about the offer, and she would need time to ponder. She was also sure if Calhoun came to know about it, Lady Rosamund would be punished. She had seen the grandmother who had lost her life by getting punished. All Calhoun had told her was that the older vampiress had stood against him.

    She had given up on the word called freedom after witnessing and seeing how things went around in here. Not to forget, she felt lost because of what was going on within herself. Since the fall that had taken ce, she felt somehow that she was abnormal, and it made her scared, turning herself away to a quieter ce in the castle. Away from people.

    The fourdies spent their time in the Seating room, talking to each other while Madeline only listened to them. Her mind continued to weigh on the words that Lady Rosamund had said to her.

    Having been touched and kissed by the King, Madeline wasn''t sure if she could give herself to anyone else except to Calhoun.

    "Lady Madeline?" called Lucy, a look of wonderment on her face as Madeline had not answered when she had first called her name.

    "My apologies," Madeline bowed her head.

    Lucy smiled heartily, "I was asking if you ever tried hunting before?"

    Madeline shook her head, "No. I have never hunted before." Coming from the vige, the maximum she had done was finding wild vegetables in the forest so that her family and some of her neighbours could eat.

    "Humans rarely hunt, Lucy," stated Lady Rosamund, "They don''t hunt for blood like us. There are only a handful of them, but they don''t hunt regrly." The woman then turned her gaze towards Madeline, "We were nning to go on hunting tomorrow. Of course, not just us women but also with the men. It will be a good extracurricr activity to get some fresh air outside the castle."

    "You don''t have to if you are ufortable with it," added Lady Lucy out of concern as Madeline was a human and someone who was going to be her family. Lucy was one of thepassionate vampiress who was thoughtful about what other people would think. Having grown up inside the walls of the castle, she was a princess who was loved and respected by everyone. Since she was the previous King''s daughter, no one ever spoke to her rudely, nor did she know people who could harm her.

    Madeline nodded her head, "I would like to take part in it," she offered Lady Lucy a warm smile, and this brightened the smile on Lucy''s face even more. As Madeline was soon going to be the queen, everyone was treating her well, and there was not a pinch of taunt in any words that were spoken to her.

    "That''s good. I will have Theodore prepare the horses so that we all have one to ride for tomorrow," answered Lady Rosamund, "I heard the weather tomorrow is going to be excellent. Bright and sunny."

    When Calhoun and Samuel arrived at the room, the women who were sitting stood up to bow their heads in greeting towards the King, "I was wondering when you would be visiting, Aunt Rosamund," he walked forward saying this. Lady Rosamund raised and opened her arms to hug the bastard, who was her nephew��patting his back once before pulling away.

    "I didn''t know I was being missed,"ughed Lady Rosamund, "If you had sent out a letter to me, I would havee here quicker."

    Calhoun smiled at thedy, "You know how work can get busy," he chimed, his eyes sparkling before he said, "The invitations for our wedding have been made. You can take a look at it if you are interested."

    "I would love to take a look at it! It has been a while since we have had a wedding in this castle. I believe we have it in the castle?" asked Lady Rosamund, her voice turning out to be excited.

    Madeline stared at thedy. Just a while ago, she had offered to help her to run away from the caslte and here she was being excited by the King''s words. When Madeline felt Calhoun''s gaze on hers, she shifted her eyes to look at him. He raised his hand, outstretching it for her to take it in front of everyone.

    Calhoun enjoyed showing his affections to her in public, and he never shied away from doing it.

    Walking towards him, Madeline ced her hand in his for him to grasp around, "Madeline has thought about having a simple wedding. Therefore, the marriage will not be taking ce here but in church."

    Lady Rosamund and the others looked surprised, "That''s absurd. It is like breaking away from our tradition," said his aunt.

    Madeline stared at Calhoun because she had never said anything like that to him before. The way he had put it, he had made it look like she had asked him not to hold the marriage here but in church.

    "There can be some exception to the tradition, Aunt Rosamund," replied Calhoun.

    "We vampires have been following our tradition until now. But let this year and my rule mark the change. That the vampire King has taken a human to be his bride. I will be changing the customs on time."

    Even Lady Lucy and Lady Sophie were taken aback by hearing the venue of the wedding as a vampire never got married in church. The vampires had their own altar that was used for centuries, and no one had ever dared to change the tradition.

    "It doesn''t sound so bad," said Lucy''s husband Samuel who hade into the room with Calhoun, "King Calhoun will be setting a new example for theing generation. It would also reduce the friction between humans and vampires, making it more appealing to the other Kingdoms."

    Lady Rosamund wanted to oppose and argue about it, but this was no time to raise a discussion that could lead to a possible argument. She was hoping that Madeline would ept her offer, which would only make things easier. To send the girl far away from here to the ce where the King would not be able to find her.

    "If that is your intention, then we shall ept it wholeheartedly," said Lady Rosamund, bowing her head and the others bowed their head in eptance.

    As thedies had nned for a hunt next morning, the rtives who had visited decided to stay back in the castle. Before supper arrived, Madeline was with Lady Lucy being introduced to her husband Samuel, whom she had already met a few days ago. She didn''t like the man from the moment she had heard about him cheating on his wife. But to think that he was cheating on a sweet girl like Lucy, Madeline felt even worse about it.

    "Samuel has been wonderful since the time of marriage," Lucy said, holding her husband''s arm, "He has been very patient with me. I don''t think I would ever ask for anything more."

    "My wife always praises me, isn''t she lovely,"ughed Samuel.

    Madeline put up a smile on her face withoutmenting on their rtionship. She wondered if others knew what Samuel Gerville did outside his mansion while Lucy was unaware of it. Sometimes being innocent and sheltered had its own drawbacks, thought Madeline to herself.

    "Who else will I praise if not my husband?" asked Lucy, and Samuel leaned towards her, kissing the side of her head.

    "You are right," he answered her. For an outsider and in Lucy''s view, Samuel was the perfect husband, one would wish and dream for. Though it wasn''t Lucy''s first choice, considering Theodore, who was in the picture before her marriage to Mr. Gerville, she was still trying to be happy with it.

    And watching this, Madeline wondered how her married life would be. Definitely not like the Gerville''s because of how Calhoun''s nature was. There were times when she caught Calhoun looking at her, when she thought he wasn''t looking and the man didn''t turn his gaze away from her. He made sure to let her know that he was looking at her, and it sent down a shiver down her body. He looked at her with the very same look when he had kissed her.

    Less than three weeks remaining for the wedding, thought Madeline to herself. It felt like days were slipping through her fingers, and she couldn''t do anything about it.

    "What is brother Calhoun doing?" asked Lady Lucy to her husband.

    "I don''t know. The King and Lady Rosamund were discussing something," answered Samuel, his wordsing out to be patient. If one didn''t know about him, they would think that Samuel was a doting husband.

    "I wonder if they have any more ns for tomorrow. Please excuse me. I will be back soon," Lucy said to leave Samuel and Madeline standing in the corridor.

    Madeline didn''t see the need to stay here. Therefore, she was about to leave with a bow when Samuel said,

    "Lady Madeline, I didn''t get to speak to you fully earlier," he stopped her, a kind smile on his lips. They had been standing in the corridor for the past twenty minutes with Lucy. What did he mean, he didn''t get to speak fully?

    "Is there something you wanted to ask me?" asked Madeline to the man who stood in front of her. She looked around the corridor to see that they were on the other side of the castle, and there were not many servants in there.

    "I have been hearing different versions of stories from everyone on how you and the King met each other. I was hoping to get to hear the story directly from you to know which one is true," Samuel asked her with a smile.

    Madeline looked at him cautiously, "We met at the ball of Hallow," she answered him.

    "How did it happen?" asked Samuel, his tone still curious, "Though we know the King personally, not everyone got to know who the King was on that night."

    She didn''t know it either. It wasn''t her who had spotted the King but the King who had spotted her. Maybe the right word here was ''being caught''. Many were curious about it. Some got the answer, some didn''t. Some answers that were given out by Calhoun was always twisted and turned, that had led to different versions of how they had met.

    Madeline, this time offered the man a smile, "Let''s call it fate." Being vague with her answers was the best way to deal with such curious questions. Though in the past Madeline wanted to tell how the King had cornered her that night. Even though she was a vige girl, Madeline was still a prideful person to not make scenes.

    "What an interesting fate," hummed the man, not letting the conversation drop. He said, "There are so many girls and women who have been trying to catch the attention of the King, but you did it in a day. I hope you can be a great queen, mdy," saying this, he bowed down and took Madeline''s hand to kiss on the back of her hand.

    Taking her hand back quickly, she stared at Samuel Gerville, who turned around to walk away from her. Madeline didn''t know how the conversations in the castle moved and the motives behind it. She reminded herself to be careful.

    Madeline looked down at her hand before she wiped it against her dress.

    When she turned around, to head in another direction, where the King''s quarters was, she came to see Agnes, the maid who was cleaning the floor. Madeline walked towards her, wanting to greet her.

    She stopped when she noticed the startled look on the maid''s face. Agnes bowed her head from afar before looking up.

    There was no smile on the girl''s face, but only fear lurked in the maid''s eyes.

    This reminded Madeline of the change in her status. This was how people would look at her, fear in their eyes while talking to her.

 Chapter 190 A way out?- Part 3

    <h4>190 A way out?- Part 3</h4>

    It wasn''t that Madeline was fond of the Wilmot''s, but she didn''t forget Lady Rosamund''s subtle threat during their conversation. The vampiress spoke as if she didn''t care about dying, but if she did die, Madeline''s family would not be spared. It was funny how Lady Rosamund was trying to scare her while she was alright recing Madeline with her daughter, Sophie.

    Feeling the intense gaze from her right, she slowly moved her eyes to find Calhoun who was staring at her. He didn''t say anything but continued to stare at her, chewing his food and Madeline returned back to having her food.

    "Where is Markus?" asked Samuel to Lady Rosamund, "It has been quite some time since Ist saw him here."

    Lady Rosamund smiled at the mention of her son''s name, "He has been busy working on thend which the King generously gave it to him. The mansion is still in progress."

    "You should find a girl for him," suggested Calhoun, "But then we have Sophie here. Has she decided to live the life of a spinster?"

    Hearing this, Sophie turned red, half with embarrassment and half with anger.

    Sophie came to the castle only on her mother''s word that her mother would help in setting things right. But so far, she was nothing but a person who had been swept off to a corner, like a speck of dust that was useless and unwanted. To make things worse, the King was making jokes and teasing her. She would haveughed it off, but Sophie was in a foul mood.

    "It seems like Sophie is upset after what had happenedst time when she visited the castle," said Calhoun.

    "Upset?" asked Lucy, looking at both of them.

    Without allowing Sophie to talk, Calhoun said, "Sophie was kind enough to prepare food for the servants. Unfortunately, she didn''t know it would fall short in quantity. I was thinking, maybe I should have her prepare the meal for the wedding. What do you say, Madeline?"

    Madeline was quietly eating when all the attention at the table fell on her. She saw how Calhoun smiled at her with mischief in his eyes.

    Calhoun had noticed how Madeline kept getting lost in her own world while sitting next to him to eat with others.

    He didn''t like it.

    He wanted all her attention.

    He wanted to know what she was thinking right now, to not be present mentally in his presence; he wasn''t going to let her off that easily.

    Madeline could tell that Calhoun wanted to involve her in the conversation that was taking ce at the table, but there were other ways of doing it.

    Calhoun hummed at this, "By chance, are you saying it because the taste of Sophie''s food is not on par to your pte?"

    Madeline''s eyes widened. Why was Calhoun creating a spark of fire at the table? She hadn''t tasted Sophie''s food because Calhoun had dismissed it right away before it could be even served.

    "No," she shook her head, "Lady Sophie is family. I would like her to be present with us and not in the kitchen," it was the most she coulde up with. Lady Rosamund whose eyes had narrowed quietly looked at Madeline who offered a smile to everyone at the table.

    "What a kind queen we are all going to have," announced Calhoun, raising his ss up to toast and the others did the same, "To the future Queen."

    "To the future Queen," came the chorus voice at the table. When Madeline''s eyes met Calhoun''s eyes again, she saw the crooked smile on his lips, as if enjoying something internally.

    Later that night, walking back to her room alone, Madeline twiddled her fingers. She doubted Lady Lucy would be able to give her an insight into what happened. The vampiress didn''t know her husband was cheating on her, nor did she know Calhoun was the one who had killed her parents.

    Before she reached the door to her room, she noticed Calhoun was already there with his back leaning against the wall outside the room. One leg was on the ground while the other foot was taking the support of the wall.

    "Where were you?" he asked, his red eyes taking in her presence.

    "Lady Lucy was exining me what I might need for the wedding. Was there something you needed?" asked Madeline. It wasn''t often that Calhoun came to wait next to her room.

    Calhoun looked at her, his eyes fixed on her before he pushed himself to let the foot that was on the wall rest back on the ground, "I wanted to see you, is that reason good enough?"?He walked towards her.

    Madeline closed her eyes when he raised his hand to caress her cheek, "I heard about your interest in hunting. Tomorrow morning ride with me," Calhoun said, his eyes looking down at her lips and then back up to her eyes.

    She didn''t know how vampires hunting took ce; therefore, she decided to go along with Calhoun, "Okay."

    Calhoun was extremely pleased by herpliant nature, "It seemed like something was running on your mind back in the dining room, something that''s bothering you?" he asked, keeping his demeanour calm without showing curiosity in his voice or face.

    Madeline felt the question rise in her throat, moving towards the tip of her tongue. And just when she parted her lips to ask, Calhoun leaned forward to steal a kiss from her.

    * *

    While waiting for this book''s updates, you can check on other books of mine here on the app:

    Young Master Damien''s pet

    Belle Adam''s Butler

    Bambi and the Duke

    Valerian Empire

    Heidi and the Lord

 Chapter 191 Hunting- Part 1

    <h4>191 Hunting- Part 1</h4>

    When Calhoun pulled away from kissing her, Madeline''s clouded eyes came to meet his where he stared at her,

    "You are mine, right?" it wasn''t a question, but the words of confirmation and Madeline''s lips moved to reply,

    "I am my own person," the grip of his hands tightened on her face and Calhoun''s eyes looked at her fiercely. He wanted to hear she was his and no one else'', not even her own. His fingertips moved to the side of her face, feeling her skin heat up at his touch and the rate of her heart beat increased.

    "Are you sure about that?" he asked. His hand moved towards her neck and then slowly down her chest. Madeline''s breath hitched when Calhoun''s hand didn''t move away but continued to trace down to her chest as if brushing the edge with the back of his fingers where her tips were, "Why do you make it difficult for yourself?" he whispered on her lips.

    Madeline stared back into his red eyes, not backing away from the intimidating gaze that was dark because of the time in the night, "What do you want me to say?" she asked him.

    "Tell me that you are mine," a smile stretched on his lips, wickedness coating it and Calhoun then moved to pat her head, "It isn''t that hard."

    Calhoun was a smart man who knew exactly what he wanted. Without waiting for the time, he made sure the time turned in his favour. A King who was handsome, smart and pushy but Madeline hadn''t given him her heart. Feelings were to be earned and not forced. It wasn''t that Madeline was not aware of his tricks. She often found out about it when time had passed, and she had fallen into his traps.

    He had tried seducing her, his words and touch was nothing less when it came to intoxicate her like the liquor she had drank in one of the soirees.

    The worst part was that Madeline remembered every second she had spent with him. The movements of his hands and his lips on her, somewhere it bothered her and her legs squeezed themselves at the thought of it.

    "You might have got me to ept the marriage, milord, but the feelings are something that will take time," she answered truthfully.

    It was only a matter of time that the intoxicating poison of Calhoun would spread in her body and mind until she would have nothing but him to belong to, to depend on. He leaned towards her shoulder, bending down while one of his hands that was on her shoulder pushed the fabric of her dress so that he could kiss her. Madeline''s body froze for a second, breath escaping from her lips. His nose moved up to the column of her neck.

    "I cannot help but wonder why you smell this sweet to me," Calhoun said this in the shell of her ear. Madeline closed her eyes, feeling his soft breath on her ear and the cold air hitting the skin on her shoulder which he had exposed for him to take. Taking a whiff from her, Calhoun finally pulled away from her.

    Madeline went to pull the sleeve off her shoulder back to the position when Calhoun caught her wrist in his hand,?"Was there something you wanted to say?" his calctive eyes looked at her.

    The current situation only made her aware of how powerless she would be if Calhoun were to decide that he wanted to see more of her. Touch her more, and Madeline would not be in the position to refuse it. But he wasn''t doing it so. Instead, the man was moving slow and steadily, subtly getting her used to things while heading towards the goal of what he wanted.

    "I am feeling cold," she said, and she wasn''t lying. Goosebumps started to raise on her skin because of the night wind. Calhoun''s eyes moved to look at her slender shoulder, which was exposed to his eyes.

    "Shall I warm you up?" he suggested, his words were more than suggestive that didn''t hold back in what he wanted from her, "Let me bite you."

    "You took blood from me a few days ago," she reminded him. At this rate, she would have no more blood and would die in his hands.

    "Do you know how many hours and minutes and seconds are present in those few days?" asked Calhoun. He smiled when Madeline tried to get her hand out of his grip, but he didn''t let it go. He enjoyed seeing her struggle; maybe that is what kept him excited, the chase. Madeline had not made another run until now, not since the time when he had asked her to step into the maze. Like a predator, he was waiting for her to make a run.

    "I don''t have unlimited blood like the water in the sea," said Madeline to hear him chuckle. His chest reverberated with theugh as he looked at her before the smile died down from his face.

    "We won''t know until we try to find out." Pushing her hand down and out of the way, Calhoun''s lips made its way to her shoulder. Kissing the top again and he heard the sharp intake of breath when he bit her yfully without drawing any blood out, "Are you going to say you don''t feel anything?" as his leg moved to press closer to her, Madeline quickly said,

    "S-stop!"

    "Why? Are you scared?"

    Yes, she was scared! Madeline yelled in her mind without telling it out vocally to Calhoun. The feeling that returned from that day somewhere made her queasy, and she felt somewhere frustrated with it.

    "Please keep it for the wedding night," she whispered.

    Calhoun''s lips twisted into a viinous smile, "What do you think I was going to do right now?" he asked, one of his eyebrows raised in question, "Hm?"

    Was he expecting her to exin what he was doing? She quietly red at him before schooling down her expression. Her re only spurred his desire to torture her more. What kind of man did she get stuck with? Asked Madeline to herself. There were only a few moments where he had been gentle with her, but the other times, he took the payment of him being kind to her in worse ways which she wasn''t able to repay back to him.

    "You have got me intrigued, Maddie," chimed Calhoun, "We are not having sex. So what else are you speaking about?"

    Madeline let her body rx, "I want to sleep," she said to him.

    "All in good time when you tell what you meant. I wouldn''t want to leave things hanging in between when we have unresolved work between us," Calhoun cocked his head to the side, his smile still there with his teeth visible, "Tell me quickly. I have other things to do."

    Her eyes darted away from him. She didn''t know what she felt, it was an unexinable feeling, and she had experienced it thest time he had kissed her. The feeling scared her, and it made her toes curl just by the thought of it, the pit of her stomach feeling like it hadn''t before.

    "I...I don''t," she answered. It was the best answer when one didn''t want to address a topic, "I don''t know."

    "You don''t know?" he asked her as if he was confirming her words, "Is it because you are not able to describe it or you have forgotten it?"

    Would there ever be a day of peace in the future where Calhoun was not going invading her space to tease and torture her? Calhoun was the opposite of what she had hoped and tried to see in a man. Before she met and knew the existence of Calhoun Hawthrone, Madeline wished for a decent, a good and humble man. But the King was shameless when it came to his questions and demands, being forceful. She felt bad for what happened to him in the past, and somewhere she tried to understand that it was the reason why he was the way he was right now. But at the same time, it didn''t justify his actions towards her. Her emotions were all over the ce.

    She wanted to help the King to see a different path filled with light than the darkness he enjoyed. Instead, what was happening was that she was being drawn into the world of darkness from light.

    "Can I ask you something instead?" asked Madeline and Calhoun looked at her curiously.

    "Ask."

    Coming back to something that was weighing in her mind, Madeline asked, "Until now, what you told me so far...Has there been something you have hidden or lied to me?"

    She tried to find something or anything on his face. Even if it was a subtle change, but there was none. His eyes continued to look back at her, "No," came his answer, "I have told you the truth, haven''t I?" his words came much softer to fall on her ears, "Why did you get that question?"

    Madeline shook her head, "It was just something I had on my mind." She was mastering how to keep her heart still, without letting Calhoun pick on the possible fluctuation. She didn''t know the dynamics between him and his other family members properly, knowing Calhoun didn''t have a family and maybe the only family he considered was Lady Lucy.

    She noticed how Calhoun gauged her expression and then asked, "Do you not believe me?"

    "I never said that I didn''t," she frowned. Calhoun had joked and lied, but he had been truthful about itter, regarding the rabbits in the forest and about his parent''s death, "I didn''t say you lied to me."

    He pulled away from her, letting her hand go and put the sleeve back in ce. Was Calhoun upset? Asked Madeline to herself. She hadn''t meant to upset him.

    Calhoun then said, "You should go get some sleep," he offered her a smile, waiting to see her get inside her room.

    Madeline bowed her head and then slowly made her way towards the room and before she could get inside, she heard him say,

    "You will always be on my side, right?"

    Hearing those words, Madeline turned around to meet his eyes. Calhoun stood with his hands in his pocket with a nk expression on his face. She nodded her head, and a small smile appeared on his face before he finally left the front of her room.

    Calhoun started to walk away from the corridor where Madeline''s room was located. His footsteps slowed down, and the expression on his face changed. The smile that was there before was wiped out, and his red eyes looked ahead of him intensely. When he reached the courtroom, he noticed Theodore, who was helping the minister to carry the parchments that had been stacked and tied.

    Theodore noticed Calhoun walk towards the throne, and he bowed his head.

    "Have Heckles handle the duties in here tomorrow morning," said Calhoun to Theodore, "You cane with us to hunt."

    Theodore pushed the old sses that kept sliding down his nose which he hadn''t bothered to fix, "I thought it was only the Wilmots, Gerville and you with thedy."

    "I will need more ears than just mine for tomorrow," this caught Theodore''s attention, "Madeline asked an interesting question today. It makes me wonder who ced doubt in her mind that made her question today."

    "I will ask the stableman to get an extra horse readied for tomorrow," obliged Theodore before he asked, "Was it something bad?"

    Calhoun''s eyes had narrowed, "It would be bad if Madeline found out."

 Chapter 192 Hunting- Part 2

    <h4>192 Hunting- Part 2</h4>

    The maids helped her in getting ready. Tying her golden blonde hair with small braids at the side which waster tied together to form a bigger braid which now rested on her shoulder.

    Madeline stepped out of the room and towards the outside where most of them were standing next to the horses. As she walked down the stairs, Sophie whispered,

    "What is she wearing?!" asked the young vampiress to her mother as it didn''t look like regr clothes she normally wore.

    Calhoun, who overheard the little whisper, answered, "Those, my dear, are hunting clothes. Thest time when my personalized tailor arrived, I asked him to stitch a prototype that a woman could wear during hunting and also other activities."

    "How thoughtful of you, brother Calhoun," Sophie praised with a smile before it was reced with a re towards Madeline. Lady Rosamund noticed her daughter''s eyes, and she nudged her daughter by widening her eyes as a warning to not say anything more. Sophie was miffed with the attention that the human was receiving, but this was not the time to sulk, thought Lady Rosamund to herself.

    When the matter concerned the throne, nobody stopped working their ways on trying to get hold of it. Not even when the throne was taken by someone. The pursuit of getting the throne never stopped. Even when her son, Markus, was not crowned to be the King, Rosamund had not given up hope on the chance of taking the rule of this kingdom. She had made sure to raise her daughter to be a suitable queen, keeping her in the castle enough for the servants and ministers to suggest, for the King to take as a wife.

    "You look lovely today, Lady Madeline," Lady Rosamund praised the human who stepped down the stairs. The girl offered a bow and a smile which the older vampiress returned.

    "She looks like a doll!" Lady Lucy, who stood next to them, went to meet Madeline, "I must say, the King has a good eye."

    Madeline''s cheeks turned pink by thepliments she received. She didn''t know if it was the hairstyle or the dress that she wore that was garnering her withpliments this early in the morning.

    Calhoun mounted on his stallion. As others started to mount on the horses they were riding today, Samuel who looked at the number of horses, said,

    "It seems like we are short of one horse," and the vampire''s eyes fell on Theodore who hade to join them unexpectedly as he was not invited before.

    "Madeline will be riding with me," replied Calhoun looking at her. He offered Madeline his hand. Madeline didn''t hesitate in cing her hand in his to have him pull and help her sit in front of him.

    Lucy smiled, looking at the couple, her eyes when met Theodore''s who was looking at her, the smile on her face faltered. When he went to bow, Lucy turned her head to look away from him.

    "Comfortable?" Calhoun asked Madeline, who gave him a nod. Madeline noticed that they were the only one''s who was riding together while the rest had their own horses. She saw Calhoun pick up the reins of his stallion with both his hands on either side of her and moved his leg to have the horse start to move.

    She was surrounded by the sound of hooves on the ground as the horses started to move, "Hold tight," and Madeline held on tightly as she could when the horse began to gallop through the path from the castle to the gates before they reached the forest.

    Calhoun''s stallion moved faster than others which gave them some time alone where the others were still far behind them. The air rushed through Madeline''s face, with her hair tied, there was nothing to block or hinder her view. Every time she made her way through the forest, it reminded her of the time when she had tried to escape. The failed attempt, said Madeline in her mind.

    The horse continued to gallop, and Madeline enjoyed it even though she was worried about falling off the horse. The only assurance was Calhoun''s hands on either side of her, which she believed would keep her safe from falling. He finally pulled the reins of the horse to slow down.

    "This feels nice, isn''t it," murmured Calhoun who ced his chin on her shoulder, "Do you want to try holding the reins?" he asked.

    "He''s your horse," replied Madeline and Calhoun smiled.

    "What''s mine is yours."

    When she had met Calhoun''s stallion for the first time, she had seen how he adored it. People were often possessive of things, and she was aware of how people like Calhoun didn''t like to share. She wondered if it was a form of trust that Calhoun was offering her to ride his horse, not to forget he was willing for her to take charge. Madeline came to notice how Calhoun had different shades to him.

    There were some bad, but then there were some good too.?But the scale of bad was m-

    "Ouch!" Madeline winced when Calhoun bit the side of her ear.

 Chapter 193 Hunting- Part 3

    <h4>193 Hunting- Part 3</h4>

    "Why would you do that?!" she asked when he finally let go of her ear.

    She turned around her head to look at Calhoun, who stared back at her with mischief in his eyes, "Don''t let your mind wander around when I am here with you. I need your attention on me."

    Madeline exhaled air out of her lips, "I was thinking only for a second."

    "About the time you escaped?" came the quick question from him. She gulped, hearing him reveal her thoughts out. Calhoun was too in tune with her surroundings and emotions that she felt worried. It was like he knew everything about her, from the tip of her hair to her toe, "Rx. You act as if you have ns of running away from here and I just caught you," he grinned when the look of ufortableness passed through her face.

    That would be something, thought Madeline to herself. Was that why he had offered her to ride with him and not have her own horse when she knew how to handle horses except for mounting the horse which she needed help for.

    With her head still turned, she watched Calhoun''s expression turn to a smirk that she finally was figuring it out.

    Madeline didn''t have such a thought, at least not today. When Lady Lucy and the others had proposed the idea to go on hunting, Madeline had agreed only with the thought that it would be different. Somewhere out of the castle and Lady Lucy was a goodpany. She didn''t have the heart to refuse the offer of Calhoun''s half-sister.

    "You look upset," stated Calhoun when he noticed the glum look on her face. Madeline turned her head back to look at her front.

    She was trying, wasn''t she? Did he have to imply that she was upset because she was not able to escape now? But now that Calhoun put a thought in her mind, she wondered how feasible it would be to run away with the horse. To have a transport that would help her to leave the forest. But then, Madeline also doubted if she would be able to get too far. Calhoun was not an amateur when it came to riding horses, and it would barely take a few minutes for him to catch up before dragging her back to the castle.

    Madeline didn''t want to cause or create a scene in front of people.

    Her hand raised itself to rub the ear, which felt tender under her touch. With his hands still holding the reins for her to take, Madeline finally decided to hold it. But the moment she held the reins, Calhoun let it go and he moved both his heels against the horse''s side to have the horse start to gallop.

    "Hold on the reins," directed Calhoun who was amused and entertained at the same time, "Tighter," he said moving closer to her and instructing the word in the shell of her ear. At the same time, Calhoun decided to ce both his hands on the sides of her waist.

    Instead of concentrating on the reins, Madeline''s attention went back to Calhoun''s hands that held her waist, "Concentrate," he said in a calm voice. Madeline was sure that they both were going to fall off the horse at any moment. Trying to ignore him, she steadied her hands. Twisting the reins to wrap it around her hands, "That''s right," came the praise from him, and he ced his chin on her shoulder. His eyes moved to take in her expression.

    Madeline was d that the ck stallion stopped galloping and she tried to figure out what had made it gallop suddenly as if they had a lion chasing behind them. Her heart turned back to a steady rhythm and felt Calhoun''s weight on her shoulder.

    "You don''t have to freak out just because you are not sure," Calhoun said next to her head. The horse started to trot inside the forest, it''s hooves clip-clopping against the ground, "If you don''t know what to do, you grasp the first thing you see. The only worst thing would be you not doing anything about it."

    Not sure what Calhoun was talking about, Madeline''s hand tightly gripped on the reins that she held and asked him, "Are we still speaking about riding a horse?"

    "I am sure that is what I was speaking about. What did you think I was speaking?" a whisper of a chuckle escaped his lips and Calhoun pulled away from her, "Your wedding dress would be arriving tomorrow to the castle."

    "So soon?" Madeline asked slightly surprised because wedding gowns often took a lot of time.

    Calhoun gauged on her answer, "The full dress hasn''t been stitched yet, but they have prepared the insides of it. Mr. Heathcliff said that they had to make sure the measurements were right so that they wouldn''t need to do too much adjustments once the dress has been finished."

    "Okay��"

    Even if part of her wedding dress was made, that would mean the main tailor would be arriving to check the fittings right? Asked Madeline to herself. Would that mean she would be meeting James tomorrow?

    A certain anxious feeling started to build in her chest, but she tried not to let it appear on her face. She had to behave normal. James was going to get married to Lady Catherine Barnes. She was the daughter of a reputed Duke. Madeline could only tell that it was possibly a suitable match for him. Somewhere there was an ache in her heart. Not seeing him had made it easier, but the thought of having to meet him tomorrow brought an uneasiness in her chest.

    "You okay?" asked Calhoun, his words testing her and Madeline nodded her head.

    "I was thinking when my family would be here," Madeline deviated the subject subtly away from her wedding gown and the unspoken tailorman. Were her parents caught up with something that was holding them back from visiting the castle?

    "I sent out a letter to your father through one of my men," answered Calhoun, "You don''t have to worry about that. I know how much your family matters to you."

    "Thank you," she murmured her thanks for his thoughtfulness.

    When the others caught with them after a few minutes, Lucy appeared to be in a bad mood and next to her was Theodore. They were behind while Lady Rosamund, Samuel and Sophie were riding at the front. Even Calhoun noticed how his half-sibling looked like she wanted to leave the party to which she had just arrived, but she didn''t say anything, and neither did Calhoun go to question.

    Though Lucy was rted by blood and Theodore was someone who he knew for a very long time before he even entered the castle, he didn''t bother to get in between them on what was going on. They were both adults, and he was sure they knew how to sort out things if something was going on.

    "The King''s stallion is truly impressive," praised Samuel eyeing the ck horse and then at the couple who sat on the horse, "We thought we lost you."

    "I have had him for years," Calhoun moved forward, the front of his body pressing Madeline''s back so that he could reach out to pat the side of the horse, "It is how you love and take care of the things around you. If you show them enough love and care, they will be the most loyal beings."

    "The King is right," agreed Lady Rosamund, "My father once had this horse who he had for years. It was a pity that the horse''s eyes were shot with arrows." The story that appeared to be a good one turned bad quickly, thought Madeline to herself.

    "Who shot him?" asked Sophie, who appeared to not know about the story.

    "Your grandfather was the one who shot it," chuckled Lady Rosamund with a calm voice, "It had turned to a useless thing. There was no point in watching the horse writhe in old age. Anyways, what are we going to hunt today?" asked thedy with a broad smile, excitement evident on her face.

    Considering everyone was a vampire in here Madeline noticed how everyone looked excited with the idea to hunt the animal, which would be turning to a feast of meat for dinner tonight.

    Lady Rosamund and Samuel had spears hauled on their saddle''s of the horses while Lady Lucy and Sophie carried the bows.

    Madeline looked around the horse, wondering what Calhoun had brought along with him because there were no spheres or arrows that stuck out of the saddlebags.

    "I believe you haven''t hunted before," stated Calhoun, his hand leaving her sides to reach out to get something from his back. Madeline noticed he had a different kind of bow and arrow. It was entirely made of metal that gave a feeling that it was heavier than the average bow.

    "No, I haven''t," answered Madeline and she didn''t hear anyment from Calhoun on it. Humans didn''t go hunting as the vampires did, "When did you learn to hunt?" she asked him, her voice low just for him to hear.

    "Probably a few days before I learned to hunt people," his answer was blunt, a smile that came up quickly on his face when he watched the nk expression on Madeline''s face.

    Was it a joke? Asked Madeline to herself. No, it didn''t appear to be a joke. This had her give him a curious look, wanting to know his time before and in the castle.

    "What animal would you like to eat today?" he asked her, as a cook would.

    "Anything you and the others would like to eat, milord," her back suddenly straightened when he squeezed the side of her waist.

    "I would like to hunt you down and eat. I am sure you are the tastiest one I could ever taste," said Calhoun, not losing an opportunity to let his intentions known by her.

    Madeline smiled back at Calhoun, "Would you like me to get down and run?"

    Calhoun smirked at the effort of her sarcasm. What a cute little thing she was, "Hmm, there are many people in here. It will only end up in them taking a part in hunting you. Maybe we can change the location. Like my bedroom."

    The King had jokes, thought Madeline to herself.

    She turned back to look at others who were speaking about the possible animal they would find in the forest today. When Calhoun was getting his arrow from his back, Madeline felt someone''s eyes on her from her left where Sophie and Samuel were, but neither of them were looking at her. Why did it feel like someone was looking at her?

 Chapter 194 Hunting- Part 4

    <h4>194 Hunting- Part 4</h4>

    How shameful, thought Sophie to herself.

    If Calhoun wasn''t here, Sophie would have pushed Madeline herself into one of the mouths of a wild animal so that there would be nothing left of her. She had no qualities of a queen. Like a disabled person, she was sitting with the King because it was obvious that she didn''t know how to ride a horse.

    She continued to re at her front when she heard Lady Lucy speak to her,

    "Lady Sophie,e ride along with me. Lady Madeline is with brother Calhoun," smiled Lady Lucy unknowingly throwing more salt in Sophie''s wound. Sophie put up a smile and got her horse to trot next to the vampiress who was only three years older to her.

    "I would love to. I heard someone say that there has been quite some nuisance when it came to the bears and stags in there. If we are lucky we''ll be able to catch them today," said Sophie while trying to ignore the King and the human who were behind them.

    "You are right, Lady Sophie," came Theodore''s voice, "There have been recent sightings of the stags. But I doubt we will be able to hunt them. Many early hunters took part in hunting them down so that they could get the stags heads."

    "It would be sad if it is true. I was hoping to get a fresh stag''s head with antlers to put in my room. The one I have right now is old and looks like it was pulled out from dust," answered Sophie.

    "There must be at least one stag left," Lucy said to Sophie, assuring her cousin without looking at Theodore.

    The others who were there were trying to keep their horses moving without leaving the grounds and making circles around them, "Why to go for a stag when we can hunt something new?" asked Samuel, Lucy''s husband who tipped his chin up, "Word is that there is another animal that has showed up in the forest. Somewhere deep inside the forest which is difficult to be caught."

    "Where did you hear about it?" asked Lady Rosamund, intrigue in her voice.

    "I heard some of the men in the town speak about it. If there''s a possibility why not hunt it?" asked Samuel, a smirk on his lips.

    Calhoun looked pleased with this information and said, "We should go and?find this new thing then."

    "But I want to hunt the stag," frowned Sophie. She hade here to get the human away from the King but Madeline was sitting with Calhoun. At least she wanted the head of the stag.

    "Going to hunt the same old thing?" asked Samuel. Madeline noticed the way Samuel''s voice changed when he said these words that were directed to Lucy. Somewhere annoyanceid underneath his words and she frowned.

    If Madeline was on her very own horse, she would have apanied the two girls but Calhoun had shown his interest to go along with Lady Rosamund and Samuel. Calhoun looked at others, hearing their opinions on what they wanted to do and then he said,

    "Theodore, apany Lucy and Sophie in their hunt."

    Madeline''s eyes were quick to move to look at Lucy who didn''t look pleased but she bowed her head at the order anyways. When her eyes went to see Samuel, the man didn''t bother, and this made Madeline question if things were well inside the walls of the Gerville''s mansion as Lucy had said.

    Theodore, being Calhoun''s trusted man, went along with the two young vampiress as ordered by the King. Madeline turned her head again to look at Calhoun to find a saint-like smile on his lips.

    Before Madeline could ask anything to Calhoun, Lady Rosamund and Samuel had started to trot their horses and Calhoun asked her,

    "Do you think you will be able to handle Robin?" he was speaking about his stallion.

    "I can do that," she answered his question.

    "Sweet," he smiled and then said, "Let''s not follow the crowd and make the way of our own." Madeline who already knew how to ride a horse, pulled the reins, moving her legs on the horse to get it to trot faster.

    Madeline had never stepped inside this forest, therefore she didn''t know the route where they were going but seeing Calhoun not question or stop her, she felt that she was going in the right direction.

    The forest was thick with lush looking trees that was abundant in its greenery. She could hear birds chirping around the forest, leaves rustling because of the gentle breeze and somewhere far away, she could hear water flowing down. It was a calm and serene scenery that was in front of her, making her rx.

    "You asked me a questionst night," Calhoun looked at the trees, his eyes sharp and searching for this mysterious animal Samuel had mentioned, "What was that about?" he asked her.

    Madeline only moved her eyes to the corner feeling Calhoun''s presence behind her, "I was just curious...because you lied about the rabbits."

    Calhoun hummed hearing this. Madeline remembered how he had asked her if she would be by his side, meaning to believe him always no matter what. She was curious to know about his mother''s death. By what Lady Rosamund said, Calhoun had killed his mother.

    "And?" asked Calhoun and Madeline turned back to meet his eyes.

    "That was all, milord," said Madeline, her voice sounding much lighter as if she was breathing and basking in the soft sunlight. How would she know which one was a lie or truth? Madeline wanted to know more about his mother, wondering how their rtionship was.

    By the portraits that were painted, she found the previous King who had a look of frown on his face and he was decent to look at. But the way Calhoun looked, she would have to guess that his mother was a beautiful woman. Someone who had caught the King''s eyes and had been pulled into the castle life. But wouldn''t his mother have rtives?

    She was looking around when Calhoun decided to put his hands around her, positioning the bow close enough for her to see it. Her gaze went to move in the direction where he was aiming and she found a deer that was eating the grass. She pulled the reins of the horse to stop trotting.

    Calhoun released the arrow, Madeline felt her hand clench and her heartbeat increased at the sound of the arrow that swooshed to pass-through in the air. When the arrow moved over the head of the young deer, she felt a sigh of relief.

 Chapter 195 Word is out- Part 1

    <h4>195 Word is out- Part 1</h4>

    Feeling Calhoun move his hand, Madeline felt her body go still along with her breathing as she watched him draw the arrow. She was sure Calhoun was going to kill the fawn this time, but the arrow moved through the trees to get stuck in the bark of the tree.

    "Looks like today''s aim is not good," she heard him mutter and her eyebrows drew together. Was there finally something Calhoun was not good at? She had heard of how Sophie''s brother was bad at aiming, but she doubted the King was bad when it came to his aims.

    When he pulled the third arrow, Madeline heard Calhoun ask her in a low tone, "Where do you want me to aim? Neck? Its beating heart?" It seemed like thest two times he was only ying with her.

    They had spent more than a few minutes staring at the fawn and aiming at it from a distance while making sure not to let it off from their sight. Madeline who had been looking at the fawn felt terrible that it was going to die, "What if I said nowhere?" Hearing this, Calhoun, who was behind her, smiled.

    "I thought you came here to hunt. What happened? Change of heart?" Calhoun asked, who didn''t lower the bow or the arrow.

    Indeed, she hade here to hunt but looking at the fawn closer now. She noticed it was a young one that might have only learned to walk recently. She didn''t want to see it dead, "I thought I did, but��" her voice trailed, and she watched his hands lower down. With his hands moving away from her on either side, she saw Calhoun jump down from the horse.

    Madeline looked confused as to why he had dismounted from the horse. He walked to the right side of the horse and raised both his hands. She bit her lip before turning around for him to help her get down from the horse.

    "Why did we get down?" she asked him curiously. Calhoun moved the bow up with his hand to ce it on his shoulder.

    "So that we can go and take a closer look at the animal and save it for some other day," answered Calhoun who started to walk forward. Madeline blinked before she quickly followed him, walking next to him carefully so as to not surprise the animal in front of them.

    "The bow is for other animals?" she asked him carefully. Calhoun turned his head with a devious smile on his lips and he gave her nod.

    They continued to walk, their footsteps slowed down when they came to stand close to the fawn. Calhoun didn''t move, but Madeline walked forward, her heart beating loudly as she tried to inch herself closer. One step after another, but before her hand could reach out to touch the fawn. The fawn looked up startled and ready to bolt.

    Calhoun, who stood from a little distance away, watched both the fawn and Madeline. Young fawns were often skittish, and this one looked as if it was about to bolt. But something odd happened, the fawn didn''t run away. With Madeline''s hand that was outstretched, the fawn looked up at her hand.

    She got closer to it, to finally touch its head. Calhoun had heard the fawn''s heartbeat spike up a few seconds ago because of surprise that now suddenly turned calm. Madeline bent down, using both her hands, she gently ran her hands across its head, and then he saw something he hadn''t got to see before.

    A radiant smile spread across her lips, staring at the fawn as she continued to pet it. Unlike the girl, Calhoun was interested in looking at her. The first and the second time when they had met each other, she had looked anxious. He had also noticed her after she had stepped down from the dance floor. She looked restive, and he epted the fact that it was partly his fault, but he couldn''t help himself but tease her.

    Her very presence entranced him, and he continued to stare at her as everything else dissolved to nothingness.

    Madeline felt happy petting the animal, and after a few seconds, she looked up to see Calhoun who had a faint smile on his face, "Enjoying yourself there, are we?" he asked her. While touching the fawn''s head, she had forgotten where they were and saw Calhoun making his way to where she was.

    "Do you want to touch it?" she asked him.

    Calhoun''s eyes slightly narrowed, but his hands reached down to pat the head of the small animal that they were going to hunt a few minutes ago.

    Madeline watched Calhoun''s gentle hand movements, just like when he touched his favourite wolf, Maddox. Her cheeks turned pink, blood rushing up to her face when she took note of his fingers and howrge his hands were whenpared to hers.

    She remembered the conversation they had when they were on the horse. Thest few days, Calhoun used to call James ''tailorman'', but today he addressed him as ''Mr. Heathcliff''.

    Continuing to look back at Calhoun again who was patting the fawn''s head, Madeline''s lips pursed together. For a man who could stop himself from hunting down the animal in front of him, Madeline came to believe that Lady Rosamund was only trying to feed her with lies. Lies that were baseless.

    After a while, even the fawn rubbed its head against Calhoun''s hand, and this had her lips twitch. It seemed like the big bad wolf was liked by the baby deer.

    When he finally let go of the fawn, the animal walked away from them, leaving them both standing there alone.

    "Let''s go find that animal that Samuel was talking about," suggested Calhoun and Madeline nodded her head. The clothes that she wore made it easier to walk and she liked it.

    Infortable silence, they continued to stroll through the woods. At a far distance, they could hear the galloping of the horses, and it seemed like the other vampires were actively taking part in the hunting, unlike them who were walking.

    Madeline followed Calhoun, walking towards a small stream of water that was passing through the path. She wondered if it was the right time to ask. Just when she was about to turn to ask him, Madeline heard a faint whistling sound of the wind approaching them.

    Suddenly Calhoun pushed her behind him while one of his hand caught hold of an arrow which had aimed at her.

 Chapter 196 Word is out- Part 2

    <h4>196 Word is out- Part 2</h4>

    Madeline turned instantly worried, "Y-your hand!" he was getting hurt, and she heard the sizzling sound of the heat. She saw him break the arrow into two pieces before throwing them on the ground.

    He stared in the direction from where the arrow hade towards them or her.

    If Calhoun had not been quick enough, the arrow would have hit her for sure, "Are you alright?" he asked her, his eyes moving across her face and her body.

    Madeline nodded her head, her eyes falling back to look at his fingers that looked still raw and red. From where did the arrow evene from? Asked Madeline to herself. Her eyes shifted to look in the direction again. The only people in the group that had arrows were Lady Sophie, Lady Lucy and Theodore, who had gone to apany thedies.

    "Let''s get back on the horse," Calhoun proposed to her, his hand catching hold of hers while his eyes moved left and right, looking for even the slighted movement that was taking ce in the forest. He should have known, bringing her out in the open was not safe.

    "But your hand," said Madeline because she had seen the skin burn and the vapoursing off it. She stopped him from walking further, and Calhoun looked more than annoyed right now.

    "I won''t die with the little burn on my hand," he stated.

    Madeline didn''t know how the vampire''s body worked. Unaware of his ability to heal himself in a matter of a minute or two, she pulled out the handkerchief she had brought along with her. Calhoun watched her, taking his hand to tie it with the handkerchief. When she was finally done, she let his hand go.

    Walking back to the horse, Calhoun helped her to sit before he got on the horse himself.

    Calhoun took hold of the reins of the horse, and with one kick of the heel, the stallion started to gallop. It didn''t look like they were going back to the castle as the horse started to move further into the forest. He didn''t stop when they came to pass by Samuel and Lady Rosamund.

    Seeing the speed, they were moving in, Lady Rosamund pulled the reins of the horse to have it follow the King. Once they reached where Lady Sophie and the others were, Calhoun jumped down from the horse to walk to where they were.

    Before Madeline could get down from the horse, Calhoun had already made his way towards Sophie and Lucy who had dismounted from the horses, holding the bows and arrows in their hands. Madeline turned herself to the side, getting down on the ground. Lady Rosamund and Samuel had reached there too.

    Everyone looked rmed, "My King!" Lady Rosamund eximed out in rm, running quickly to the ce where Calhoun had pushed Sophie against the tree.

    "B-brother C-Calhoun," Sophie stuttered.

    "What''s going on?! What happened?!" questioned Lady Rosamund, "Whatever it is, let us talk about it calmly."

    Even Madeline walked forward, her heartbeat increased by Calhoun''s anger that broke right through him, that was now directed at Sophie. The young vampiress struggled to get her neck free, but Calhoun held her in such a way where his nails dug into her neck.

    "Were you the one who shot the arrow now?" Calhoun''s hand pushed the girl into the tree. Dry leaves that were loosely hanging on the branches of the trees shook themselves to fall from the top on the ground.

    "I-I, we were only hunting the s-stag," Sophie struggled to speak because Calhoun''s hand on her neck was not gentle but tight.

    "Brother Calhoun, I don''t think that Sophie mea-" Lucy had stepped in, trying to defend but one re from Calhoun had resulted in stopping her from speaking any more than she already had.

    Calhoun stepped closer, "If I wasn''t with her, you would have turned dead today. I don''t care if it was by mistake, but I would rather have you to stay aware of where the Queen walks and is present. Do you understand that?" his voice dropped low to a threat, "I will rip every single part of your body. Limb to limb," and he pushed the girl away from his sight.

    Lady Rosamund quickly went near her daughter. The older vampiress took a look at her daughter''s neck that was now marked with imprints of nail marks, "Milord, Sophie would never try to harm her. They were standing at this distance; it was a mistake," Lady Rosamund tried to fix the mistake that might or might not have been caused by her daughter.

    Calhoun turned around, his eyes sharply looking at Lady Rosamund, "I don''t fucking care if it was done by mistake. I don''t think you would call it a mistake if I tried to snap her head off right now," the smile that was usually present had now turned to a scowl, his eyes seething in anger, "She is lucky that nothing happened to Madeline. Count your stars to be lucky enough that you are alive," he said, his words directed to Sophie.

    Lady Sophie looked shaken as she had only been aiming around to hunt the stag, which she thought she had noticed.

    "I apologise, my King," Lady Rosamund bowed her head, and Sophie was pushed to the side for her mother to catch her, "Please forgive Sophie this time. She would never cause any harm to you or to the future queen."

    Calhoun didn''t bother to wait and instead said, "The hunting session has been dismissed. Madeline and I will be heading back to the castle," and he started to walk away from them.

    Madeline didn''t stay long there.

    Before leaving she passed a look at Sophie, who appeared to be in shock. By Sophie''s movements and behaviour, Madeline doubted it was her who had drawn the arrow to shoot it at her. Her eyes met Lady Lucy''s, who looked troubled just like her. Bowing and turning around, she made her way to where Calhoun was, who had got on the horse. With one pull, Madeline sat in front of Calhoun on the stallion.

    On their way back to the castle, the horse didn''t stop for once but continued to gallop on the ground, it''s hooves making sound and the wind breezing against them. Even though Madeline had done nothing, she could feel Calhoun''s anger that was steaming behind her. Reaching the castle, the horse was given to the servant to take it back to the horse shed while they made their way up the stairs of the castle.

    Madeline who was following Calhoun saw him take long strides, making his way towards his room and her footsteps stopped.

    He was angry that something could have happened to her. Madeline clenched her hands together on her sides. She stayed outside without going to her room for some time before her feet continued to walk. Standing in front of the door where two servants stood on either side of the door, one of them pushed it open for her to step in.

    This wasn''t her room but the King''s. People didn''t often get to step in here, but with the word out about her marriage to him that was going to take ce in a few days, the servants in the castle were quick to learn on how to treat her right.

    Madeline took a step into his room and then another. The room was dark because of the curtain that had been pulled over the windows. But with the movements of the curtains, it looked like the windows were left open. The door behind her closed and Madeline turned to look at the closed room.

    The next time she turned around, Calhoun stood right in front of her.

    Calhoun said, "The one time when I give you time for yourself, youe to me."

 Chapter 197 Word is out- Part 3

    <h4>197 Word is out- Part 3</h4>

    .

    When the arrow hade towards Madeline, Calhoun had turned furious by the thought that someone wanted to harm her. Now that word had spread about his wedding with her, there would be many who would like to befriend and poison her mind, wanting to harm her physically. But he hadn''t expected it to happen this fast.

    "You left abruptly," Madeline replied to what he said.

    With her eyes adjusted to the light in the room, Madeline heard the dripping sound of water on the floor. Her eyes moved to look down to realise his cks were wet. Did he get into the water with his clothes on?

    "Was there something you needed?" asked Calhoun. For the very first time, he wasn''t teasing her and was directly asking her the question. Seeing Madeline''s hesitation, he said, "You don''t have to worry about getting killed. I won''t let anything happen to you."

    Madeline knew that. His reflex had been so fast that she didn''t even know what happened until she saw him holding the arrow. She herself didn''t understand why she hade here without having an actual reason.

    "I don''t think she did it," Madeline said to him.

    "She didn''t," he answered, his body turning around and he sauntered away from her. She followed him with her eyebrows drawn together in a frown.

    He knew Sophie didn''t do it? "Why did you hurt her then?" Madeline questioned him not knowing what Calhoun was thinking by taking his anger on an innocent person.

    Calhoun entered the bathroom and Madeline continued to follow him, "It is because someone who is acquainted with her was the one who shot the arrow. I wouldn''t say I am a hundred percent sure but I am sure it is someone whom both she and I know. To look for enemies, one doesn''t have to look too far because they are often found standing close by."

    "Are you speaking about the Wilmots?"

    On Madeline''s question, Calhoun smiled, "Yes. But it doesn''t have to be concentrated only on them. My father had other rtives, and so did Lucy''s mother. It is only obvious that they would like to rule and take the throne for themselves. The easiest way would be to not let an heir be produced which thereby makes the woman who stands next to me as an appropriate target."

    She watched him step down the stairs that led to the pool of water. He turned around to say, "Take off your shoes. Take a seat," jerking his head to a spot where one of the statues of the lions was built at the corner of the bath.

    "I cane backter to talk," she offered. If Calhoun was going to take a bath now, Madeline decided that it was wise for her to step out and give him time, without disturbing him.

    "Sit," his words were firm, and he turned away with his back against her, and she saw him step down further where his body immersed itself in water.

    She saw Calhoun dip into the water, immersing himself. The floor beneath the bath was painted ck. Madeline saw the blurry image of him below the water. When he got his upper body out of the water, she couldn''t look away from him.

    Like in a daze, she saw Calhoun use both his hands to push back his wet hair. Moving in the water, he made his way to where she sat. Water dripped down from the top of his head. While she sat with her legs folded, water spilt out to reach where she was as the water was filled until the brim, but Madeline didn''t move away. She stared back at Calhoun, who was looking at her.

    "Doesn''t your hand need to be tended?" asked Madeline to him. It was because it looked like someone had dipped the ends of the arrow in poison.

    A sinful smile spread on his lips, "Did youe here to treat my wound?" Without her asking him, Calhoun brought his hand forward and ced his elbow on the surface of the ground she sat on with his hand up that was wrapped with her handkerchief that was now wet.

    Madeline''s eyes moved from his red eyes to his hand. As if he had given his permission for her to see, she moved her hands, unwrap the handkerchief to be greeted with nothing but smooth fingertips. Gone was the wound that she had seen and she lifted her gaze to meet his eyes.

    "I-it got healed," she said, astonishment in her voice.

    Calhoun chuckled, "I told you I won''t die. Even if people want to kill me, they can''t do that."

    "And the poison?" asked Madeline.

    "They don''t know," his lips twisted in amusement, "Let the people do what they want, and I will do what I want without their knowledge."

    Calhoun appeared much calmer than the time they had spent in the forest after the arrow was shot. When she had entered his room, the lower part of his cks were wet that meant he had already stepped in the water but on her presence in his room, he had stepped out of it.

    Now that she was going to be a queen, that only meant she would be facing many more arrows in her way and poison that would be made just for her to consume.

    "The wings...were they from your mother?" Madeline asked him. On her question, Calhoun stared at her with a curious look in his eyes.

    "Something like that," he said, retrieving his hand from the ground and taking a step back. His tongue yed with the edge and tip of his teeth before he asked,

    "What are you doing here, Madeline? Are you feeling lonely anding here for myfort...or yours?"

 Chapter 198 What you wish for- Part 1

    <h4>198 What you wish for- Part 1</h4>

    She hade here because she didn''t want to go to her room. After what happened back in the forest with Calhoun''s skin burnt, somewhere she was worried she would be attacked, and the only ce she knew she would be safe was where Calhoun was. Somewhere amidst the shock and worry, Madeline looked at Calhoun in awe.

    Today might have been one of those days where things between them were filled with peace. Calhoun had listened to her, sparing the fawn''s life on just one word of hers and he had protected her. Given that if she was not going to be a queen, she would have never have gone through such circumstances. But now that she was in it, there was no going back. The more Madeline thought about it, the more she came to realise that her fate and destiny had changed since the moment she had seen Calhoun making his way past the crowd, walking towards her to only pass and then hand her the handkerchief.

    "I want to know more��" her soft voice trailed.

    Calhoun had stepped away from her by two steps, looking at Madeline who sat in front of him, above the bath to look at him. His eyes continued to look at her, and he asked,

    "And what is it that you want to know?" Calhoun''s hands moved at the surface of the water, ying with both his hands.

    Madeline looked down at her hands that she had ced on herp, "About you." It took a lot of courage to speak directly to Calhoun.

    If Madeline was doing this, she would need to know about him, from him without any trickery of his or mischief in his words.

    Madeline did feel bad about some things that had happened, but she also came to ept those things so that it would hurt less so that everyone could move on with their lives in peace. It was the most sensible thing to do. And for that, she would need to know more about the man who she was going to marry in a matter of a few days.

    "What is it that you want to know?" questioned Calhoun, his eyes gauging the expression on her face, and he tilted his head to the side.

    "Everything," answered Madeline. She raised her head and her eyes looking back at Calhoun, "What happened here in the castle...What happened before you entered the castle. About your mother."

    Calhoun''s hands didn''t stop moving back and forth as if he was trying to move forward, but his feet continued to stay still under the water. Most of the droplets of water on his body slid down as he stood there.

    "After my dearest grandmother along with the other family members got my mother kicked out from the castle, my mother went to Oakley, and it is where I was born," Calhoun started to answer the burning question, "You won''t find the vige now. It was a small vige that went down under riot and destruction. There was fire everywhere. After some years, I found out that it was my grandmother who ordered the fire and riot. Hoping to kill the bastard heir so that my father would note to know about my existence and take my mother and me back."

    Madeline remembered Calhoun had previously told her that his father didn''t care when his mother was kicked out of the castle. The existence of heirs for the throne seemed to be very important to the royal families, especially the King.

    Calhoun then continued, "My mother moved to another vige with me. Somewhere were we wouldn''t be found out. I believe it was the time when my father had only married Mary Sinir. He was too upied with his wife who was the Queen, to be bothered with a woman who he had slept with in the past."

    She didn''t have to meet the previous King to know that she would have not liked him. Kings were usually used to the lifestyle where it was filled with luxury. Things held little to no value as there was nothing to lose because it could be easily be reced. Madeline stared at Calhoun, wondering if after she turned to a queen and his wife, would he ever think of recing her?

    "I won''t."

    "What?" whispered Madeline, not realising that her expressions were readable to Calhoun''s eyes.

    Calhoun stared into Madeline''s eyes, "I might be cruel, crude and everything vile, but I am not like my father who doesn''t know how to take responsibility."

    Madeline''s lips pressed against each other, and she said, "That''s like telling you have never bedded a woman before." At her words, Calhoun chuckled.

    "That''s right. I have bedded many women. Maybe more than my father could ever have, but I made sure not to impregnate ady. You see, Maddie, I didn''t want children from them, but I look forward to having many with you," he offered his infamous smile to her, "Even if you don''t produce an heir, I will continue to have you by my side."

    Children with Calhoun, thought Madeline to herself. They would be pretty, she agreed to herself.

    "When did you meet Theodore?" came the next question from Madeline.

    Calhoun looked at the lion statue that was on the side as if in thought and said, "He was getting beaten up by a bunch of people in the alley. Must have been when I was around the age of twelve or thirteen."

    "Why was he getting beaten?" asked Madeline, her eyebrows drawing together in curiosity.

    Calhoun sighed, his lips twisting as he thought about it, "He slept with one of the minster''s daughter and was caught red-handed."

    "At such young age?" this time Madeline raised her brows. Twelve or thirteen was a young age.

    "It isn''t too young when you count it ording to a vampires time. We hit maturity or puberty at that point. Raging hormones, the increase in thirst for blood- to drink and kill," exined Calhoun to her. He watched the different burst of emotions on Madeline''s face, moving from surprise to a thoughtful one as she tried to grasp his words.

    "W-what about you?"

    "What about me?" he asked her, behaving oblivion to her question. And he chuckled, "I didn''t learn the art of seduction back then. My mother''s health was deteriorating when I was of that age. She needed tending and being taken care of."

    "I didn''t know vampires could fall sick," said Madeline, as she had never heard of such things, were the night creatures falling sick. Before she came to meet Calhoun, she heard a lot about vampires, but she hadn''t got to speak to them as closely as she did with him. All this while, she believed that the existence of a vampire was forever as they lived an immortal life.

    Calhoun''s lips set itself in a thin straight line in thought, "Her condition and situation was different."

    "How?"

    Madeline took the liberty to ask him questions because she wanted answers. Even though she believed what Lady Rosamund had told her was a lie, she still wanted to rify it with him, without wanting to have a doubt in her mind.

    "When the vampires came into existence, along with them there were different creatures who stepped on the human grounds. As you have guessed previously, I acquired the wings from my mother. She didn''t have them though," upon receiving a questionable look from Madeline, Calhoun said, "Have you heard about generation skip?"

    She shook her head at this.

    "A generation skip is usually spoken in terms of having features or abilities that you receive from your ancestors not from the parents," he exined to her before his eyes fell on her crossed legs, "Put your feet down here, sweet."

    Startled by the sudden change in conversation, Madeline stared at him, "But I am wearing clothes."

    "You are free to take them off if you want to or you can dip them just like that. Like me," said Calhoun to her, pausing his exnation on the abilities and waiting for her to do as she was told.

 Chapter 199 What you wish for- Part 2

    <h4>199 What you wish for- Part 2</h4>

    Calhoun was pleased and satisfied with Madeline''spliance. He didn''t need her words to know that she was slowly epting him. Her actions spoke louder than anything and Calhoun didn''t miss any of it.

    He continued with what he was speaking, "It doesn''t hold just for the night creatures but also others. Sometimes visible to the naked eye while sometimes you get it through internal physical features. My mother''s father has wings like mine."

    "Has?" asked Madeline. Did that mean he was still alive?

    "Did you think I didn''t have any close rtives? That Lucy was the only one and then the Wilmots?"ughed Calhoun looking at the startled look on her face.

    "Why isn''t he living here with you then?" It was a normalcy to have family members live together. At least that is what Madeline liked to believe.

    Calhoun who had kept some distance between them so that he could have a better look at her, now stepped forward. One-step and then the next.

    "I haven''t met him until now. My mother told he was hibernating, somewhere alone in the cold caves of the coffin rooms," replied Calhoun. He stepped even more closer, his head tilted up to look at her, "I don''t know where he is."

    "Have you never thought about looking for him?"

    Calhoun shook his head, "No."

    When he didn''t say anything, Madeline wondered why not, "You said...she killed herself."

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed at her words. There were the words he had been waiting for her to tell. Having lived in the vige and having met people from the bottom to end up at the top, Calhoun had the ability to make use of his gut feeling.

    "What did you hear?" Calhoun asked her directly.

    Madeline felt her heart flip at his question where he didn''t bother to beat around the bush. As if he already knew what she wanted to ask, "D-did you kill your mother?" she held her breath waiting for him to answer and heard,

    "Yes."

    Though her hands were not dipped in the water, she felt it turn colder than her feet, "Why?" her question came out in a whisper, "Why did you lie to me."

    "I don''t think you would take it kindly if I said I killed her myself," came the unfiltered words from him and she gulped, "Do you want to go back to your room?"

    Calhoun wondered which one of his rtives was the one who mentioned about his mother with Madeline.

    "My mother''s health was deteriorating, andter it only turned worse in time. There was too much pain. She tried meeting my father, but she wasn''t the same person by appearance, and it had been years since she had visited the castle, for people to remember her. It is usually the Queen who is remembered and not the mistresses that the King had. Unless the mistress kills the Queen or reces her position by some means," Calhoun broke his gaze from her to look behind her with a distant look on his face.

    "I don''t know what happened to her exactly, but it seems like someone fed her with something. During herst days and hours of her death, she looked nothing less to a corpse. Just bones as she stopped eating or drinking," and Calhoun''s gaze returned to fall on Madeline, "Sometimes quick death is easier than seeing them suffer. In the future, as days pass by, you will need to know that there''s something more than just court duties or the annoying pests who hover around the castle."

    Madeline was left speechless, and her hands that were on top of her knees caught hold of the dress. She wondered if it was because of the pain, that had Calhoun''s mother''s health start to deteriorate.

    "In those terms, yes, I killed her," concluded Calhoun. Though he stared at her right now, Madeline could not keep up with his gaze, and she looked at the water.

    "D-do you have any portrait of her painted in the gallery?" inquired Madeline as the walls didn''t hold any reference to Calhoun''s mother. She searched for possible portraits disyed on the walls of the castle, but she had found none.

    "Hm," he nodded his head, "There are a few of them."

    Madeline''s eyes brightened at his words, curious to see his mother.

    At the same time, she frowned at the thought that the royal family had not bothered toe to see the woman, but they had made sure to keep tabs on what she and her son were doing. She wondered if that was how life in the castle was, where once you stepped in here, it was hard to get away from it.

    "What else did you receive in this generation skip ability?" she asked him.

    He said, "Some of the rare abilities. The ce from where my mother came, it is differentpared to what you will find here, or you have found so far. Somewhere far and behind the secluded mountains. You can see that my eyes are darker than the rest. Some of us are different."

    Madeline noticed how his words were subtle, but he was telling the truth, "Is there something else you have tried to hide?" she asked him, "You cannot lie to me."

    "What a demanding wife I am going to have," Calhoun teased her, "I will try not to." It wasn''t a promise, but it was something, and Madeline was willing to take it for now.

    Calhoun himself realised something about Madeline. A generation skip. It was possible that her parents knew nothing about it neither did her elder sister, Elizabeth. The only person who would have received the curse or gift was Madeline.

    "Are your grandparents still alive?" asked Calhoun and Madeline frowned.

    "They are not dead," not yet at least. Madeline loved them and didn''t want anything bad happen to them.

    He nodded his head and said, "I will have Theodore send out some extra invitation cards so that your parents can make use of it. For the people whom they want to invite."

    With the pace everything was going around her, Madeline thought that Calhoun was taking charge of what to be done and what not to be done��not involving her family with anything rted to their wedding that was going to take ce soon. But hearing this from him, Madeline gave him a nod.

    "Thank you," she thanked him and noticed he got closer to her.

    "Do you have any wishes?" asked Calhoun. Madeline didn''t know if it was due to the water around them, but his eyes looked much more alive and red.

    "Wishes?" she repeated back his words.

    "Yes, wishes," his voice lowered down, like a whisper of a secret which he would make ite true if she were to tell him right now.

    Calhoun asked her because he remembered when Lucy was getting married, her mother didn''t ask her but went ahead with the preparation. Of course, Lucy never told him. He had found out about it through Theodore, who had stepped down and hid his feelings for the princess. Back then, Calhoun had not bothered himself with little details like that because there were other important things he was focused on.

    Madeline wondered what she wished to do at her wedding. Like many other young girls, she had wanted to find someone who loved her, and she would love back. It didn''t matter to her if she wore a cheap wedding dress that wasn''t made of silk.

    "Don''t kill anyone on that day or before it," Madeline said, and Calhoun nodded. He had expected her to say something rted to her clothes or wanting to have jewels or the ce where she dreamt of having her wedding.

    "I didn''t think if I will be killing someone, but interesting that you wish for something so odd. Let''s hope no one does something stupid."

 Chapter 200 What you wish for- Part 3

    <h4>200 What you wish for- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Calhoun didn''t ask her further on what her other wishes were. He then said, "Would you like to get down in the water?"

    Madeline looked flustered by his question. It was a simple one, but she doubted things would be as simple as his question when she would step in the bath. Calhoun didn''t break his gaze from her and put his hands on her waist, helping her get down as it wasfortable with her legs already in the water.

    Madeline felt the water was less cold when Calhoun got her into the bath. With Calhoun who was a tall man, Madeline had not realised the depth of the water in here, but now that she stood on her feet on the surface of the bottom of the bath, she felt the water reach up to her neck. She tilted her head up, looking at him. She didn''t have any ns of getting in the water, but Calhoun did what he wanted.

    By nature and character that Madeline possessed, she tried not to resist what was happening.

    Calhoun questioned her, "How''s the water?"

    "It''s cold but bearable," she answered. The bath was built in a slope that turned deeper as one moved from the direction of the stairs.

    "How are you doing?" he continued to ask.

    Madeline stared into Calhoun''s red eyes that looked calm and collected like most of the times. Even though it was strange to be in here with him right now, in a bath with their clothes still on them, Madeline didn''t stress out like she used to do it in the past. The odd thing was that they were having a calmer conversation as the time passed between them. It made her feel that she wasn''t losing her mind and was not alone in the castle.

    Not knowing what to answer, she asked him instead, "Do you often get into the bath? With your clothes on?"

    Calhoun looked at her with great interest and intrigue. Since the time she had stepped into the bath, he had been closely listening to the rise and fall of her heartbeat. He didn''t detect the nervousness in there, "Very often," he replied to her, "I like the water in here. I don''t think you would be standing here with me if I had removed my clothes," he added.

    Madeline''s cheeks turned red at his words. Even with his clothes on his body, she could see the ridges and curves, the nes on his chest. She tried to keep her eyes on him without lowering it down, "Do you know how to swim, Madeline?"

    She gave him a nod, "I do."

    Calhoun looked content with her answer. Though she came from the vige, she knew things most of the girls wouldn''t know, and he took pride in it, "That''s good to know," he then stepped forward towards her which had Madeline tilt her head further.

    Madeline didn''t know why Calhoun had got her in the water, and she continued to stare at him keeping her head up to look at him while also not wanting to have the wavering water get into her ears or eyes.

    To have no one to support or be there, Madeline now understood that Calhoun and Theodore''s bond was much stronger and more profound than a King and the right-hand man of the King. They were friends who probably had each other''s back. She remembered how Theodore had once spoken in favour of Calhoun, to ept things as Calhoun was not a bad man.

    Madeline couldn''t believe that she was feeling bad for this big bad wolf who had kept her here. When he leaned his head towards her, Madeline felt her heart flip at the closeness that they shared again. Unconsciously, her tongue went to wet her lips. Calhoun moved more closer where their lips were separated two inches away from each other.

    "I will be taking a shower now, Maddie," whispered Calhoun, "You are wee to stay and watch if you want."

    Her eyes widened by his words and her cheeks burned further. She swallowed down the nervousness. She wondered why she had thought that he was going to kiss her. When he pulled his head back, she looked at the expanse of his chest which was covered with the wet shirt that he wore, sticking on to his skin.

    "I will leave," Madeline said, bowing her head a little.

    He moved farther away from her, Madeline looked at him before she started moving towards the stairs of the bath. By the time she reached the start of the stairs, water slid back from her drenched clothes.

    "Take the towel that is there," she heard Calhoun say and Madeline''s wet feet padded across the bath room to get hold of the white towel that had been folded and ced on the stand.

    She heard the sshes of water, and she turned her head to see Calhoun had got the fountain of the lion to pour water out of its mouth. Calhoun had taken his shirt off and she saw his bare skin that was inked with ck markings on his back. She had not seen them before and wondered how she had missed them. Did she forget? Maybe she hadn''t been paying attention earlier, and it was only now that she was looking at Calhoun.

    The ck ink-like markings on his back was beautiful and fascinating to look at, making her wonder what it was. She had seen a few men having it in the vige, but she had never questioned it before. Markings on the skin had never been epted because most of the humans believed it was hical.

    Even with the markings that stood out on his pale skin, Madeline noticed Calhoun''s body from behind. Broad shoulders started to taper down and into the water. When her eyes moved to the ce where his shirt had been thrown, Madeline saw even his cks had been discarded. She quickly looked away from the clothes and the man in the bath.

    "I will be taking my leave," she informed, bowing her head once again she left the ce. This was the second time she was leaving Calhoun''s room with her clothes wholly drenched in the water.

    Reaching her room, Madeline was about to step in when she heard a voice from behind,

    "Lady Madeline," the voice was crisp and sharp, firm and old that came from Lady Rosamund. The woman took note of Madeline''s drenched self, "Are you doing alright?" she asked with concern.

    Madeline had hoped no one would catch sight of her like this, but Lady Rosamund seemed like she was waiting for her to arrive at her room, "I am fine, Lady Rosamund. How is Lady Sophie doing?"

    An upsetting look crossed Lady Rosamund''s expression, "She''s not doing well. You saw what happened," the vampiress shook her head, "Calhoun and Sophie have known each other for such long time now. After all, we are family. He should know that little Sophie would never do anything like that. I mean only an idiot would so tantly shoot an arrow at you when the King is standing right next to you. They were standing so far away from you."

    Somewhere even Madeline felt bad that Calhoun had shown his anger out on Sophie, when she was not the person who was responsible for the arrow that was shot at her.

    Madeline had seen the fear and shock in Sophie''s eyes that she had never seen before. She had never seen Calhoun this angry. When his hand had left Sophie''s neck, it had left nail marks on the young vampiress which only told that he wasn''t ying around and was serious about Madeline.

    Madeline bowed her head, "I am sorry that something like that happened."

    They didn''t know who the real culprit was, but Calhoun told her that it was someone who was acquainted with Sophie. With just them in the forest, she wondered who had shot the arrow and if it was someone else who had not joined the hunting this morning.

 Chapter 201 What you wish for- Part 4

    <h4>201 What you wish for- Part 4</h4>

    "You must have been very shaken yourself," said Lady Rosamund with an apologetic look on her face, "Once anyone enters the castle, they are never safe. Everyone''s life hangs by the strength of a thread. There have been many times when Sophie had ended up in trouble, but we have been lucky to save her."

    Madeline had figured it out today. She hadn''t expected before the hunting that someone would try to hunt her. Unexpected things kept happening, and she knew it was only the beginning.

    "Is she resting now?" asked Madeline as it was rude to not ask about Lady Sophie''s health. If Sophie had the same or half the abilities like Calhoun when it came to healing, the marks would disappear by this time tomorrow. But considering Calhoun''s different lineage, Madeline doubted that Sophie would heal as quickly as Calhoun did.

    "Yes, I just put her to bed beforeing here. Lucy is with her right now," replied Lady Rosamund to turn behind when a maid walked towards them. The vampiress waved her hand at the maid for her to leave. Turning back to look at Madeline again, the woman offered her a smile before cing her hand on Madeline''s arm as if tofort her, "Did you see what I meant, dear. The King did not spare his mother, and he won''t spare his cousin sister, who had nothing to do with it. I am sure you understand now why I am offering you help. I know girls like you. Simple, with an ambition to get married to a rich family maybe, but this is not for you. You deserve something better, dear."

    Lady Rosamund had a look of concern on her face as if she cared for Madeline''s life. The woman continued to say, "We don''t know who shot the arrow. You were lucky that the King was there, but you cannot say that he is going to be there the next time when something like this happens. I wish nothing but a good lif-"

    Madeline ced her hand on Lady Rosamund''s hand that had the woman stop speaking.

    The older vampiress saw Madeline smile back, she was d to see that the human agreed to her words. At least that is what it seemed like until Madeline parted her lips to speak,

    "Thank you for your kind concern, Lady Rosamund. I am happy that you are looking out for me," said Madeline. Lady Rosamund nodded her head in agreement. But then Madeline pushed the older vampiress'' hand away from her arm, that had the smile on thedy''s face falter, "I know what the castle life is. That being part of the royal family is not going to be easy, but I have decided to go with it."

    What? Lady Rosamund asked in her mind. Her eyes narrowed while she tried not to bring any vile expression on her face, "Do you know what you are saying, Lady Madeline?" she questioned.

    Madeline nodded her head.

    Bowing her head, she left the woman who looked taken aback while Madeline walked inside the room. She closed and locked the room. Her heart thumped in her chest once she heard thedy left the front of her room.

    Letting a sigh escape from her lips, she walked further inside the room. She took a bath before changing her clothes to a dry one.

    On the other side of the castle which was not near the King''s quarters, where the guest''s rooms were located in one of the rooms, Sophieid on the bed with eyes that was swollen because of the tears. The young vampiress had broken down after Calhoun and Madeline left the forest.

    "H-how could h-he do th-that," Sophie asked Lucy who sat next to her, holding her hand forfort.

    "Brother Calhoun didn''t mean it. He just got angry on the spur of the moment. You shouldn''t take it to heart, Sophie," Lucy patted Sophie''s hand, who now looked distressed. She would have gone to her own room, but it didn''t feel right to leave her cousin sister like this alone. Where was aunt Rosamund? Lucy asked herself.

    They were hunting the stags with their arrows when Calhoun hade there and caught Sophie''s neck, pushing her against the tree.

    Sophie shook her head, "N-no. H-he never gets angry at me no matter what I d-do," the girl cried and sniffed, "It''s all because of that human!"

    "Lady Madeline didn''t do anything, Sophie. You shouldn''t me her," said Lucy, but Sophie refused to listen to her.

    Sophie who had been lying on the bed sat up with her back leaned against the headboard,

    "You saw me. I didn''t shoot the arrow in that direction. If I wasn''t there today and if it was only you, he would have done the same to you," she tried to spark a fire in Lucy''s mind, "She is a stranger. Why is he protecting her without thinking about us? The next time you know, he will have me beheaded," and again broke into tears.

    Lucy awkwardly smiled, "Don''t say that, Sophie. He would never do that. I will make sure that nothing ever happens to you-"

    "Am I not good enough?" Sophie suddenly asked to catch Lucy off guard.

    "Who told that to you? You are beautiful the way you are," Lucy tried to console her cousin sister. It was another thing that in Lucy''s eyes everyone were good, everyone was beautiful and she didn''t doubt the people she loved and cared for, "Don''t think otherwise. Why would you think something like that?"

    Sophie''s eyes fell on the sheets of covers that had been put over her lower body which now came to fall on herp, "If I was, brother Calhoun would have paid more attention to me. He would have never caught my neck like he was about to kill me. He looked at me with hatred in his eyes."

    Lucy moved closer, opening her arms for Sophie to cry on her shoulder. To the close family members, most of them knew who was trying to gain the King''s attention and favour, to be the queen. And Sophie wanted to take that position.

    "I am sure he cares for you, but just that the care he feels towards you and Lady Madeline is different. You are his sister," said Lucy carefully patting Sophie''s back, "Don''t cry now. Brother Calhoun doesn''t hate you."

    Sophie, who sounded like she was crying, stopped, her eyes red in anger as she stared at the white wall of the room. The King had never treated her so harshly. No matter what she had done, he had tolerated her. This time she had done nothing, but it had warranted in her getting a death threat. It was all because of that human. If she didn''t exist, Sophie would never have to see this day.

    Not only had she been threatened, but she had been shamed. All because of that bitch, thought Sophie to herself.

    Lucy consoled Sophie, putting her in bed and then left the room to go to her own room. Stepping inside, she noticed her husband, Samuel, who was drinking blood from a maid''s hand who stood in front of him.

    She felt a sliver of pain on the sight but didn''tment on the scene that was in front of her. It wasn''t unusual for vampires to feed on humans who mostly came in the forms of maids and servants who were freely avable.

    "How is Sophie doing right now?" asked Samuel once he was done drinking blood and licking his lips and the maid left the room.

    "She''s resting now. She should be alright with some rest," replied Lucy. She walked to where Samuel had been sitting. When she got close, Samuel stood up and said,

    "I will be going to court now. Make sure you rest too," and he left, leaving her alone in the room like many other times since the time they had been married.

 Chapter 202 Preparation for wedding- Part 1

    <h4>202 Preparation for wedding- Part 1</h4>

    She wondered how many years it had been passed since Samuel and she had sat down properly and spoken to each other. Things had been different andplicated a few years ago. She questioned if it was because she was young and so in love, that she hadn''t realised the reality that wasing her way. Lucy removed her shoes that she was wearing to change it to something morefortable.

    Not wanting to stay alone in the room, she decided to walk through the corridors of the castle, which once used to be her home. Lucy was born here. She had spent years before she moved out after her marriage to Duke Samuel, whose father was a minister back then, helping her father.

    Her mind travelled to the past when brother Calhoun and Theodore had entered the castle.

    "Lady Lucy!" she heard in a distant voice in her memory as she walked alone in the corridor were not many came to venture, "Lady Lucy! Please wear your shoes!"

    Lucy turned around in her memory, to look at the maid who was assigned to her by her parents, "The floor is clean. It is alright. I am inside the castle," she replied to the maid.

    "It is not about the floor being clean, mdy. The Queen, will not be happy if she were to see you without shoes," the maid fretted, her hands carrying the shoes while tailing behind the princess, who padded her feet forward.

    "Mother is not here," said Lucy, catching the front of her dress so that she wouldn''t step on it, "I heard she had a meeting to attend to along with father. I wonder what it was. They could have taken me too." As she had turned to a youngdy, her parents didn''t involve her with everything as she was a person who was one day going to be betrothed to another family. They found it to be unnecessary and preferred for her to concentrate on turning herself even prettier.

    The maid continued to follow the princess, crossing corridors when they met the King''s illegitimate son and his acquaintance. The maid was the first one to bow, and Lucy bowed next to have the two men bow in return.

    "Good afternoon, brother Calhoun," Lucy greeted the person who hade to live in the castle.

    "Morning," came the uninterested voice from the young man with dark red eyes. Darker than the others who lived in the castle.

    Lucy smiled, not minding his short reply, "Are you not going to attend the meeting in the court today?" she asked him.

    Lucy smiled again, "I wanted to feel the heat. Today it''s warmer than thest few days. Did you know that?" she asked him.

    "You can keep your legs in the fire if you''re looking for heat," he suggested that had everyone''s eyes widen around them. The man behind Calhoun cleared his throat. "Wear your shoes," Calhoun said before walking away from there.

    She saw Calhoun leave, but the man who always tagged along with Calhoun, who was walking behind him stayed back to look at her feet. His name was Theodore. He looked up to meet her eyes, through his sses and said,

    "You have beautiful feet, princess. You should wear your shoes if you want to keep them the way they are," after saying this, he bowed his head with a smile and followed Calhoun.

    Lucy''s cheeks turned pink, and she looked at his back. She then waved her hands to her maids who stood behind her,

    "I think I have taken enough of strides with my bare leg. I should wear my shoes now." The man was kinder than the rest of the people whom she had met in the castle. His words made her believe and listen to him.

    Getting back to the present, Lucy smiled at the distant memory of it. So much time had passed, and some of the memories still brought a smile while some brought pain. Things had only begun at that time. But her feelings had been brushed away, leaving her heartbroken.

    "Lady Lucy," the maid who was walking by, greeted her. Her mother got what she wanted, pushing her to marry the Duke''s son so that it would strengthen the ally''s of the kingdom. The vampiress continued to walk in the castle. It seemed like after the event that took ce in the forest, everyone had retired to their rooms to rest.

    Samuel had told her that he was going to the court, which meant even others would be there. And by others she meant Theodore. She was angry at him, and she despised the man. She didn''t know why Calhoun had sent Theodore with her and Sophie when he was aware of their dynamics. Sometimes it was easier to hate than continue to suffer in pain in the name of love, Lucy thought to herself.

    She was walking in another corridor when she noticed thest person she wanted to seeing from the other direction. Not looking at him, she continued to walk while feeling Theodore''s gaze on her. When they were about to pass each other, Theodore bowed his head.

    "Good afternoon, mdy."

    "Hm," she responded. She had walked freely because she thought he was upied in the court. Why did he have to walk in this corridor out of all of them in the castle.

    "I didn''t get to speak to you during yourst visit," said Theodore, "How are you doing, mdy? The Duke seems to dote on you," that was because it was what Samuel wanted and make people to believe and Lucy went along with it. Being the former King''s daughter, she might have been naive, but she was still a prideful vampiress.

    "I am doing very good," she answered. Thest time, it was only her who had spoken to him before getting into her carriage, "Yes, that is to be expected. He is my husband. Who else will dote on me?" she asked, raising her brow to see Theodore offer her a smile.

    When he smiled, Lucy didn''t like it. She felt irritated and annoyed. She remembered the old times before her marriage was announced in the castle, "What are you doing by roaming here, instead of being in the court?" she demanded from him.

    "Court?" asked Theodore.

    "Yes," she nodded her head, "Isn''t there a meeting in there for you to join?"

    Theodore smiled again, "As far as I am aware, there''s no meeting going on in the court right now," he then bowed his head to walk past her. Lucy furrowed her brows. Why did Samuel tell he was going to attend the meeting when there wasn''t one? She stood there in the corridor alone. Where did Samuel go if it wasn''t for court?

    Not wanting to venture any more than she already had, Lucy went back to her room to spend the rest of the day by herself, alone in there.

    Far away from the castle, where the vige of East Carswell was situated the Harris'' family were having their shop rebuilt again. By their knowledge, they believed it was the King of Devon who had torn it down. Right now the man named Markus Wilmot was helping them to rebuild it.

    Mrs. Harris, who was in the house, spoke to her husband, "Why would the King do something like that? It is hard to believe that he would do it. He is marrying our daughter."

    The older man sighed. He walked with his coat in his hand, to hang it on the stand, "I don''t understand myself. I haven''t seen both the men since the shop was broken down." He had the same doubt as his wife. The King had been generous enough to provide them with a shop, a gift for marrying his daughter Madeline but only to take it away before marriage.

    "We should probably ask Madeline when we meet her. She might know what happened," Mrs. Harris suggested to her husband.

    Mr. Harris waved his hand, "No, don''t. We don''t know what upset the King. The young Wilmot boy said it might be something that happened in the past. Did Madeline say something about it to you?" he asked his wife.

    Mrs. Harris wondered if the King was still upset about what she had written in the note to Madeline. When he had arrived with her daughter here in the house, she had thought that he had forgiven her, but she should have known that he was not happy with it. Maybe it was best not to bring it up, the woman thought to herself.

    Then they heard the sound of the gate. Mrs. Harris walked towards the front door and saw her daughter Beth with the person who had helped them in rebuilding the shop and had taken a liking towards Beth. Beth bowed her head, and the man did the same. His eyes fell on Mrs. Harrish, offering a bow to her and Mrs. Harris bowed.

    "Mr. Wilmot wanted to make sure I returned home safe. Isn''t he kind, mama?" asked Beth when she reached the door. Beth turned around to see Mr. Wilmot get on his carriage and leave.

    "Indeed," answered her mother. It wasn''t everyday people came out of the way to help someone. Especially when her family had nothing to offer in return, and it made Mrs. Harris frown. Their elder daughter Elizabeth was a beautiful girl, and many men came to ask for her hand in marriage, but Mr. Wilmot appeared to be too good to be true.

    Beth leaned forward and kissed her mother''s cheek before getting inside.

    Mrs. Harris had heard from Beth, on how the man had proposed for a possible marriage between her. Ill rumours about Beth had started to circte since the King had announced his marriage to Madeline. Like Madeline, Mrs. Harris hade to ept her younger daughter''s marriage as it looked inevitable to avoid the situation. But being the mother of two daughters, she had to make sure that both the girls were well settled.

    When Mrs. Harris was about to close the door as there was no more person toe in, she heard the sound of the gate again.

    Peeking out, she saw it was a man with sses who made his way inside who carried a stack of envelopes in his hands. He bowed his head deep down, and Mrs. Harris did the same.

    "Mrs. Harris. The King, has sent me here to deliver the invitations. Where shall I keep it?" asked the man.

    "I will take it," Mrs. Harris offered to take hold of the many invitations that were stacked together, "So many?" she asked. In the vige, people usually used word of mouth to announce and pass on the invitation.

    "The King said it is for your use. You can send it out to your rtives, friends and people you would like to invite to the wedding," on hearing the man''s word, Mrs. Harris'' eyebrows shot up. Was the King okay in inviting their rtives? With the way things had gone down, she was sure that they would be the only ones attending the wedding, "The King has also asked you to make your presence in the castle as soon as you can."

    Mrs. Harris nodded her head, "We''ll be arriving there in two days. Something just came up."

    The man stared at Lady Madeline''s mother, waiting for her to borate, but she didn''t. He offered thedy another smile before bowing his head, "Have a good day, mdy."

    "You too, Sir," replied Mrs. Harris, who continued to stand at the front door for a while before turning back to head inside the house.

    .

 Chapter 203 Preparation for wedding- Part 2

    <h4>203 Preparation for wedding- Part 2</h4>

    "I will be there in a moment," answered Madeline. The maid bowed her head and left.

    Madeline had met Calhoun and the others in the morning during the time of breakfast in the dining room. She had thought the day had started peacefully until Calhoun mentioned about her wedding dress. She had been so wrapped around with other things, she had forgotten that Calhoun had spoken about her inner dress that was part of her wedding dress that was going to be seen today if it would fit her right.

    She left her room, walking through the corridors and making her way to the seating room where Calhoun was present along with Lucy, Lady Rosamund and Sophie. Before entering the room, Madeline stopped for a moment, wiping her sweaty hands against the skirt of her dress. The door of the room was pushed open by the servant who stood outside the room, making way for her to step inside.

    "How manyyers are there in the wedding gown?" Madeline heard Lady Sophie ask, who had turned to look at her mother.

    "I am guessing the humans have lesseryerspared to the vampire''s wedding gown," replied Lady Rosamund. Her eyebrows lifted while she looked down at the dress that was hung in front of them without letting it touch the ground. The older vampires sat with her legs crossed on the couch.

    "I think it looks great,"mented Lucy, who had taken the liberty to look at the inner dress of the wedding gown, "It doesn''t look heavy."

    Madeline''s eyes fell on James, who stood next to the dress along with the female assistant. Her eyes didn''t linger long because the moment she had stepped into the room, Calhoun''s eyes had shifted to look at her. Her eyes met his red eyes.

    "Mr. Heathcliff is a well-known tailorman in his vige and around the towns," Calhounplimented James without throwing an insult. He didn''t feel the need to taunt or insult at the moment as everything had fallen ording to his n, "It is why young Catherine has taken such keen interest in him."

    Lady Rosamund''s already raised brows moved further up, "So you are the man who has been the talk in the soiree," she said, the vampiress scrutinized him up and down. Rosamund had heard about Catherine Barne''s wedding that was taking ce with a human, but she would have never guessed that it was the same man who the human girl in the room liked. But then Madeline agreed to wed her nephew.

    Like any other person, when it came to money and power, a person''s opinion could be changed, Rosamund thought to herself.

    Lady Lucy being the romantic person, eximed, "How romantic!" she was unaware about Madeline''s previous interest with the tailorman, "I am happy for both of you," she said to James and the man mustered a smile and a bow.

    Madeline looked at James when Lucy wished and congratted James about his uing wedding. Feeling her gaze, James looked at Madeline. If it was a few days ago, Madeline would have felt worse at the thought of it, but with her eptance, it made things much better than she had thought it would, but the slight awkwardness was still there. She knew in time, things like this would turn to past memories, and matters like these would turn to little to nothing.

    She gathered a smile on her face, offering it to James who didn''t react to her but he did bow his head over Lady Lucy''s words, "Thank you, mdy," he then said, "My assistant will help you with the dress, you can try it on. Tell us if you''refortable in it or if there needs to be any change to make," James said to Madeline, his words calm and keeping it professional.

    Madeline being the future queen, she didn''t have to move from where she stood. The assistant brought the inner dress that was stitched specially for her. There was a hard woodenpartment fold that was ced at the side so that one could change clothes.

    She walked behind the woodenpartment of the room that hid her from other people in the room. It wasn''t strange to change clothes this way because, during the time in a tailor''s shop, one had to change clothes to make sure the fittings were right. She started to change the clothes that she wore to get into the inner dress that was made for her.

    As expected, the inner dress was made out of expensive threads and fabric. There were details on it which she wouldn''t have noticed if she was standing with others in the room.

    "How do you feel, mdy?" asked the assistant with a smile. The assistant looked at the fitting, having Madeline turn around.

    While the female assitant was looking at the fitting, Madeline heard Lady Rosamund question, "How long will it take for the wedding gown to be made?"

    "We have already started the work since the King and thedy came to ce the order in the shop. My assistants and I have been working on it. It should be done in a week or two," answered James.

    "Hmph. That''s some fast work," Lady Rosamund replied to James words, "I remember one of thedy''s daughters who had to get married, and the gown never came on time. Of course, the tailor lost his hands for his inability, and the bride had to wear her mother''s wedding gown. Hopefully, you won''t dy finishing the gown because of your possible interest," the underlying tone of Lady Rosamund told it all.

    James looked startled, but heposed himself, "It will be done before my marriage with Lady Catherine takes ce, mdy. I will have the dress delivered in time," he gave his word.

    "Hm," Lady Rosamund responded without another word.

    James, who hade here to the castle, didn''t know how to face Madeline because of his past feelings. He wanted to see Madeline, wishing to speak to her, but with the King in the room and around her, it made it impossible for him to even look at her. It was because the King was watching both of them like a hawk, ready to prey with his one wrong step.

    He was shocked when the King and Madeline had entered his shop to ce the order for a wedding gown for Madeline. But the worse thing that had taken ce was his meeting with Mr. Barnes. His threat had not been empty. James had only apanied Lady Catherine so that she didn''t feel lonely, without knowing that the vampiress was only pretending to be lonely to get his attention andpany.

    He had taken a day to rethink about what Mr. Barnes said. Then came the second day where he was still trying to think about what to do. It was hard for him to go through with something that he never thought he would. He loved Madeline and not Lady Catherine.

    On the second day, before the night had approached, Mr. Barnes had reappeared with a man to his house.

    "What have you thought about it, Mr. Heathcliff?" asked Mr. Barnes.

    James had not expected that Mr. Barnes would impose his daughter''s marriage on him. Truth to be told, he thought that Mr. Barnes would get Lady Catherine married to a rich man. James knew he came from a poor and humble background; therefore, he didn''t dream of big things in his life.

    "My answer still stand the same, Mr. Barnes," answered James to the vampire who was sitting in the living room of his house. Mr. Barnes stood up.

    "I don''t think you understood what I said thest time when we met," the vampire turned to look at the man whom he had brought along, "Dalton, please help senior Mr. Heathcliff," upon his word, the man moved to stand behind James'' father.

    At first, James didn''t understand what the man named Dalton was going to do, but when he ced his hand on his father''s shoulder who was sitting on a chair, James eximed, "Wait!"

    Mr. Barnes had a dull look on his face, "One movement and I can make sure that your father won''t be in the condition to walk. Is that what you want? You underestimated me, thinking I wouldn''t do anything to you."

    "What you are doing is wrong," James tried to convince the man, but he didn''t seem to be interested.

    "You think you could go around and leave my daughter? Maybe I should ask Dalton to help you out. Dalton," and the man appeared in front of James, holding his throat in his hand while pushing his body upwards against the wall.

    Senior Mr. Heathcliff had a look of panic on his face when he saw his son was not able to breathe. He said, "Please, Sir! He will do as you have asked!" said the old man,ing to his son''s side.

    Mr. Barnes looked pleased by the words, "I will take it that the marriage is mutual between both of us. The date and other things will be informed to you," and they left the house.

    James coughed,?"Father, why would you-" he tried to speak but the old man raised his hand.

    "Do not behave like a fool. You are getting a marriage proposal that is good. The girl was decent to look at. It would be best if you got married, James, than dy the time," his father shook his head and left to go to his room.

    James mind and eyes returned back to the present where he stood in the room with the royal family now.?He wanted to fight it back, but was it worth fighting if the girl whom he initially wanted to get married was getting married to another man? The doubt that was there in Madeline''s eyes before had disappeared, and she appeared to be more in sync with the life of the castle.

    Though he was being forced to marry Catherine, James was still in love with Madeline as she was the first person he had fallen in love with.

    *

    While waiting for this book to be updated, do go check other books of the author: Young Master Damien''s pet, Valerian Empire, Heidi and the Lord, Bambi and the Duke, Belle Adams'' Butler.

    The books are mostly Romance-Fantasy based. Thank you for supporting the book!

 Chapter 204 Preparation for wedding- Part 3

    <h4>204 Preparation for wedding- Part 3</h4>

    Calhoun witnessed everything as he sat on the plush couch, watching both James and Madeline, his eyes cool and collected,

    "How did it go?" he asked Madeline.

    Madeline nodded her head, "It went well." The inner dress that was stitched was soft and smooth, something that stuck snug on her body. Madeline had always known that James was an excellent dressmaker. He was a talented yet humble man. However, she wouldn''t deny that it was strange to be wearing a wedding gown that was in the making, by him.

    Calhoun moved his hand from the side as if nonverbally asking her to sit next to him.

    She noticed how his eyes tested her now. Madeline might have been naive before as she didn''t know much about Calhoun the first time they had met each other or after that. But now she knew the way he looked at her. Just a few days ago he had caught her and James in the powder room which could have turned scandalous if someone else had seen them.

    Madeline walked forward, taking a seat next to him on the couch before cing both her hands on herp.

    "If you don''t like it we can get it remade. I am sure Mr. Heathcliff wouldn''t mind it. Will you, Mr. Heathcliff?" asked Calhoun, his eyes shifting from Madeline to look at James.

    "No, it''s fine. I like it," she assured Calhoun. It had been a while Calhoun had pulled any tricks from under his sleeve and she wished he wouldn''t.

    Calhoun''s hand moved up towards his face rubbed the bottom of his chin as if in thought, "I guess we will be looking forward to the wedding gown," he gave James as well as the female assistant a smile.

    Lucy, who was considerate, asked, "What about your wedding, Mr. Heathcliff? If you need some help, do not hesitate to ask. We wouldn''t want anything toe in between your wedding time. Isn''t that right, brother Calhoun?"

    The smile on Calhoun''s face only broadened, "You are absolutely right, Lucy. We wouldn''t want anything like that to happen. If you need more people in helping you with the gown and someone to look after your own wedding preparations, I will send my men to you," offered the King.

    It would be easier to keep an eye on the tailorman, Calhoun thought to himself. Until the time James was not wholly out of the map, it was better to keep a watch.

    James tried hard not to show the emotions that he felt on his face when the King offered his help. Madeline might have fallen to his trap, but that didn''t mean James didn''t feel or was unaware of the salt that was rubbed on the wound by the King.

    Lady Rosamund who saw that the tailorman and the assistant were of no use anymore in the room was ready to dismiss them when Calhoun said,

    "Mr. Heathcliff, I think you forgot to make something that I asked you to do the first time when we met in court."

    Madeline''s eyes snapped to look at Calhoun. She had hoped he had joked the first time and the time when they visited James'' shop, Calhoun had not brought it up. She thought he had forgotten about it, but she was wrong. With many others in the room right now, she only hoped Calhoun would not openly say the actual word of the dress piece.

    On the other hand, Sophie, who had been quiet since yesterday, her mood brightened up as she remembered what it was. It was because she was there when Calhoun had asked this tailorman to stitch the garter by using her as a reference. But as the memory started to sink with the present, Sophie''s hand clutched on the edge of her mother''s chair, where she stood behind. The garter was not for her but for the human girl.

    Madeline''s hands pressed itself on herp, and she hoped Calhoun would not use the word in front of everyone. Last time it had been subtle.

    James stared back at the King who had reminded him of the garter that he had ordered with a specific set of specifications, "I have got it made, milord," he answered, and Calhoun looked impressed.

    "Where is it?" Calhoun asked, his eyes curiously looking at the boxes that James had brought into the room.

    Madeline''s gaze shifted from Calhoun to James, "It is in the lower box," and she gulped. Lady Rosamund and Lady Lucy turned curious as to what Calhoun might have asked from the tailorman before.

    Calhoun only smiled before he said, "I guess that is all for today. We will be looking forward to the wedding gown, Mr. Heathcliff." James pursed his lips and then bowed his head along with his assistant. He did the same with others, his eyes moving to look at thedies and his eyes lingered longer than a second on Madeline before he left the room.

    "Well," drawled Lady Rosamund to stand up from her chair, "I will be going back to my room. Sophie dear, why don''t youe with me," said the vampiress for her daughter to apany her to go out of the room.

    Lady Lucy didn''t see the point to stay in the room either; therefore, she excused herself to leave Calhoun and Madeline alone in the room.

    With everyone gone, Madeline felt she could rx. She didn''t care much about the box that continued toy down on the ground. Calhoun had not tried to tease or torture her in front of others like in the past, and she felt relieved.

 Chapter 205 Spark of fire

    <h4>205 Spark of fire</h4>

    "Mr. Heathcliff!"

    He turned around to see it was one of thedies who had been in the room earlier with the King, Madeline and others. He wondered if he left something behind or if there was something more that needed to be stitched.

    The girl was petite, and she walked down the stairs, a smile upon her lips which he could tell that it was not something that came out of kindness, "We forgot to give you this," she gave an envelope to him.

    James wondered what it was. He looked down at the writing and design on the envelope that had the King''s and Miss Harris'' name on it. It was their wedding invitation, "I thought you should get one just in case if you haven''t received one yet," said thedy with a smile on her face.

    He bowed his head and saw thedy leave. He would have been delighted in the past if he received the invitation from the King. Getting the marriage invitation of the person whom he loved who was getting married to someone else, he didn''t know what to make of it anymore. Not to forget, he was also making Madeline''s wedding dress.

    James couldn''t help but think about the words that Lady Rosamund said to him. He wished the King would not marry Madeline. James wished Mr. Barnes wasn''t threatening his father or him so that he would get married to Lady Catherine. He had apanied Lady Catherine on the night of Hallow solely so that he could see Madeline and James was d he had done it that day. But right now he wished he hadn''t gone with Lady Catherine at all. If things were different, maybe it would have been him and Madeline getting married. But it looked like the time for it had passed, and there was nothing he could do about it right now.

    "The King and his family think very highly of you, isn''t it, Mr. Heathcliff?" asked his female assistant Lina. The girl took a peek at the writing on the envelope that was in his hand.

    James doubted that was it. After getting inside the carriage, both of them left the castle.

    The young vampiress who had handed over the wedding invitation to the tailorman returned inside the castle and went to her mother who waited for her.

    "Why did you ask me to give it to him?" Lady Sophie asked her mother, "It is not like he wouldn''t be invitedter on."

    Lady Rosamund smiled at her daughter, who still had a lot to learn, "If he received itter, the spark of fire would have extinguished by then. Right now we only added more spark to see if it will work."

    Sophie frowned, turning to look in the direction where the carriage left, "It didn''t look like anything was going on. Didn''t you hear him, mother? He is getting married to Lady Catherine."

    Obviously, the previous King didn''t have another son with whom Rosamund could get her daughter married to. The closest possibility was associating with the next person to keep the ties close and strong, which was Madeline''s sister with whom Markus was currently trying to woo.

    "What are we going to do, mother?" asked Sophie, sadness filled in her voice. All these years, she grew up thinking she would be the queen, only now be told that she wasn''t going to be the one. She felt lost, her purpose stolen, "Calhoun is going to get married to her."

    Lady Rosamund sighed, stopping her footsteps to turn to her daughter, "If that is the worst case that is going to happen, your brother still has a chance. We just need to associate him with marriage and then think about the next step."

    Sophie frowned, "Markus? What about me, then?"

    Her mother ced a hand on her arm, "You will be the King''s cousin, Sophie. Right now, your chances of being a queen is less. If the tailorman and Madeline consummate with each other, that may break the faith and trust Calhoun has towards the human. Leave it to your brother and me. We will see what we can do, okay?"

    "No," Sophie whispered, her eyebrows furrowing deeper, "No! You cannot do that to me!" When her voice went higher, Rosamund''s grip on her daughter''s arm tightened.

    "Keep your voice down," Rosamund''s eyes red before narrowing down at her, "Your chances of luck are lesser than what Markus has right now. Just listen to us. If everything goes well, who knows how things will turn out to be in your favour?"

    Sophie couldn''t believe that her mother was giving up on her being queen. That was the only possibility her mother could think right now. Rage continued to fill in her veins and in her thoughts against the person who was responsible for this.

    "I am supposed to be the queen," stated Sophie, "I will do something about it," and she started to walk in the direction from where they hade walking.

    "Sophie," Lady Rosamund called her daughter, who didn''t turn but continued to walk.

    Lady Rosamund didn''t stop her daughter. She turned to one of her trusted servants who was working here in the castle who stood not far from where she was. On one indication from Rosamund, the maid bowed and started to follow Sophie. Thest thing the older vampiress wanted was her daughter spoiling something that she had nned. It wasn''t that she didn''t understand how Sophie felt.

    When Rosamund was married to her husband, she had promised the word of being a queen eventually. Since that time, she was still waiting for that day. It didn''t matter to her how and in what form she woulde to possess the power. It didn''t matter if the power came to her through her husband, daughter or her son.

    Turning away, Rosamund left the corridor without noticing there was someone who had been standing not too far away from the passage she and her daughter were standing earlier.

 Chapter 206 Help you wear- Part 1

    <h4>206 Help you wear- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline and Calhoun sat in the room. He looked at her while she stared at the ground, feeling his gaze on her. When she finally decided to meet his eye, she saw him offer her a smile.

    "Are you going to pick up the box?" he asked her. She opened her mouth only to close it. Nodding her head, she stood up and went to fetch the small box that was on the ground. Madeline couldn''t believe that Calhoun had asked James to make a garter for her and James had done it.

    With the box in her hand, Madeline was ready to go to her room when she heard Calhoun question her, "Where are you going?"

    Madeline turned around to see Calhoun stand up from the couch, "To my room. I will try it there," she answered to him. Calhoun walked towards her, taking the box from her hand and said,

    "How will I know if it fits you or not. I need to see how it looks," Calhoun''s red eyes moved up to look into her brown eyes, his words direct and straightforward. Her cheeks tinted pink, and she wanted to break away the gaze from him, but she couldn''t.

    Believing it was good to be frank, and straight forward like him, Madeline tried to put her thoughts in a sentence, "Milord-"

    "Calhoun," he corrected her, his eyes calmly looking at her, "I noticed that you switch back and forth between my name and addressing me ''milord''. I prefer you call me by my name. I am sure you are already aware of it." A faint smile formed on her lips.

    Madeline doubted if she would evere to meet someone like Calhoun in her life. Someone who knew what he wanted and chased it unashamedly, "Calhoun," his name came as a whisper.

    Hearing this, Calhoun took a step closer, "Are you trying to seduce me, Maddie?" he asked, raising one of his brows to see her shake her head, "Why are you whispering my name?" he whispered to tease her.

    When Calhoun spoke to her like that, Madeline felt like he was back to his teasing self. It made it difficult for her to keep a straight head in front of him, and he noticed it. Gulping quickly, Madeline started to speak before Calhoun would begin to spin her head,

    "Calhoun, we need some boundaries," she said to him. Calhoun tilted his head to the side.

    "What for?"

    "I-You, you cannot see me until marriage," she said, meeting his eyes anxiously, "You cannot tease me."

    Calhoun continued to have an oblivious look on him, "I don''t know what you are speaking about. I don''t think I have seen you. Rather I must say you were seeing me yesterday."

    "What?" she blinked at him.

    Madeline''s eyes fell on the piece of clothing that Calhoun held in hisrge hand, his long fingers running through the material. It was just like the way he had ordered it to be made. Made of astel pale pink made of satin with white frills around it with a design that looked delicate.

    "I am impressed,"mented Calhoun, "I cannot wait to see you in the wedding gown. Let''s hope ites to the castle quickly. Go and sit on the couch," he coaxed her. The smile on his lips died down as he continued to look at the garter.

    Madeline ran her tongue over her bottom lip. Her mouth suddenly felt dry along with her lips. They were in the seating room, a ce where people kept walking back and forth in front of the door, which was now open.

    "Here?" she asked him. Calhoun raised his gaze to look at her, and he nodded his head with a hum. Madeline wasn''t sure about this ce. The gallery was located in the corner where not many came to pass by, and she had agreed to be his muse. Knowing Calhoun, her eyes darted to look at the door.

    Before she knew it, the door closed by itself without anyone going to push or pull it. Her eyes widened, and she turned back to look at Calhoun with a surprised look on her face.

    "It should be alright now," said Calhoun, waiting for her to take a seat on the plush couch.

    Madeline made her way back to the couch and sat down. Both her feet closely touched each other. She realised her words of trying to be straight forward had in the end, ended up with her sitting on the couch now.

    As if feeling her gaze on him, Calhoun said, "We are ying with boundaries, Maddie.

    You looked like a scared little kitten, cing walls of boundaries. Of course, it didn''t work well."

    "No man ever kisses or touches a woman before marriage," she said to him, her words were soft. Calhoun took note of how Madeline''s thoughts were turning much more calmer without being in haste like before.

    He knelt on the ground on one knee in front of her, "That would be very incorrect now, my dear. There are many who indulge themselves in adultery which is not spoken out loud in public, but it happens in secrecy," Calhoun looked up at Madeline who stared back with her whole attention on him, "People do things and hide it. I do things and ept it," he gave her a charming smile.

    He did have a point there, thought Madeline to herself.

    "I also know you are not used to it. Therefore, I have been...slow?" he asked, testing the word, "Would you rather have a man who pounces on you on the day of your wedding night like an animal? Without paying heed if you are ready or not on that day?" he questioned her, "If you go and ask some of the married women, be it lower or higher ss, you will find stories in there."

    Madeline pursed her lips. She knew what Calhoun was speaking about.

    "Were we speaking about the same boundaries?" Calhoun asked her. By his words, Madeline wondered if that is what he was doing��trying to ease her without pouncing on her. Was the big bad wolf patient without eating her up? It did seem so, "Don''t be shy, Madeline. You will be my wife and I, your husband. You don''t have to hold back or feel embarrassed about anything."

    "I am not used to it," she replied to him. His presence was affecting her and she didn''t know how to put it in words.

    "We''ll take it slow. One step at a time," he assured her, "Leave it to me," he grinned, and Madeline wondered why he wasn''t this nice in the beginning. Which one was the real Calhoun Hawthrone? Was it all of them, the different colours of the King, "May I?" asked Calhoun, his hand moved to the bottom hem of her dress.

    Calhoun was right that they were going to marry each other in a span of a few days. It would have been a different matter if it was a man who was only using her to jilt her on the day of the wedding. She stared back into Calhoun''s eyes that were liquid red to look at her.

    Madeline finally nodded her head. She ced her hands on either side of where she sat now. She observed Calhoun fold the hem of her dress from the bottom, rolling it neatly until he reached her thigh. It took all her strength not to bolt away from the room. Madeline felt her head-turning dizzy, and she quickly blinked her eyes to keep herself in the room.

    "We''ll need to change all of them. I prefer the new one," she heard Calhoun murmur. With the permission already given, Calhoun pulled the already worn garter that waspletely white from her thigh to slide it down her leg.

    All the while, Madeline felt her heart beating loudly in her chest.

    Calhoun didn''t look at her or leave another remark about her face that had turned red. Instead, at first, he took hold of the new garter to check the sticity and then helped it up her ankle to her knee before pushing it up her thigh that fit her thigh snugly.

    With Calhoun still in front of her, Madeline wondered if the King would ever do something like this, sit in this position in front of anyone else. Would a man go down to sit on his knee, on the ground?

    Madeline didn''t know in the past few days how many other subtle things she had not noticed because of Calhoun''s pushy and domineering behaviour. Now she not only noticed it but also felt it, and she was left speechless.

    She looked down at her exposed thigh. It was a pretty looking garter that made one think of wanting to touch it. She had never worn such pretty things. She and her sister used to wear items of clothing that her family could afford.

    "Is it too tight?" she heard Calhoun ask her.

    Madeline shook her head, "No. It''sfortable."

 Chapter 207 Help you wear- Part 2

    <h4>207 Help you wear- Part 2</h4>

    "You can sit on the couch," suggested Madeline. Even though Calhoun was going to be her husband, it was still strange to have him sitting on the ground. He was not an ordinary man but the King of Devon.

    "This ce is much better," replied Calhoun while staring back at her. He doubted he would be able to keep his hands to himself if he were to sit next to her on the couch now. Madeline looked far more radiant than the rays of the sun that had fallen on the grounds of the castle today. Her pale skin had a tint of pinkness on them, her heart calm and quiet, beating a rhythm like a little bird.

    The girl had little confidence when it came to her looks, making her appear more humble and humane. But then she was a human, thought Calhoun to himself. He could tell that because of her sister, Madeline had preferred to stay in the shadow, but things were changing. Madeline was far more beautiful and someone he treasured. As much as he wanted to act on his instincts, he told himself to wait a little longer because she was worth it.

    It took all his strength not to bite into her smooth milky pale thigh that was wrapped with the fancy-looking garter.

    "There will be another tailorman who will be visiting the castle today," he informed her.

    Madeline had a look of surprise on her face, "Another one?" They were already getting the wedding dress made from James'' shop.

    "Wouldn''t your family need new clothes to wear at our wedding?" asked Calhoun. He pulled the ends of her skirt to keep it straight, "I wouldn''t want them to feel pressured on whom you are marrying. That''s alright, right?"

    Madeline bowed her head, "Thank you for thinking about them." With her passive rebellious attitude since the time she had entered the castle, she had forgotten to consider that her family would need to dress and look proper in front of the subjects. She was thankful that Calhoun had thought about it and had gone as far as to arrange a tailor for them.

    "You don''t need to. I wouldn''t like you to have frowns and worry lines on your forehead. I am doing it for my own selfish reasons," Calhoun said before cracking a smile.

    Even if it were for his own selfish reasons, he had still considered it, and she saw a ray of light pass through the clouds that she had been seeing all this time.

    "What about your clothes?" Madeline inquired.

    "The measurements have already been taken, and it is in the making," he replied to her, "My rtives will be here in the castle. Possibly staying here until the wedding, keep an eye around you and your ears open."

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, almost flinching in thought, he said, "As much as asions are fun, there''s always a possibility of something bad to happen. And you are going to be the Queen, I would like to think that nothing bad will happen," and he stood up from the ce from where he was.

    Madeline didn''t forget what happened yesterday in the forest at this hour. The arrow had been caught, but there was no guarantee if she would be lucky the next time. She felt Calhoun ce his hand on her cheek.

    "Stay with me. I will take care of everything else." She felt a shiver run down her spine when his hand turned back for his fingers to run across her skin. Someone knocked on the closed door. Madeline saw the garters Calhoun had pulled down from her leg turned to catch fire before evaporating in thin air without a smoke. She looked around with widened eyes.

    The knock on the door took ce only twice and stopped. Calhoun left Madeline''s side and walked towards the door, opening the door to see it was Theodore. The man bowed his head and informed,

    "Milord, Lady Madeline''s family, have arrived."

    Hearing this, Madeline stood up from the couch. Happiness started to bubble up in her chest. She had been anticipating them for some days now, and Madeline couldn''t wait to meet them.

    She walked and came to stand next to Calhoun. He turned to look at her, "I believe you want to meet them. Let''s go greet them," he said. He headed out of the room with her while having Theodore who followed them behind.

    When Madeline saw her parents with her sister Elizabeth, she walked faster than before, and she hugged her mother first who hugged her back. She had been worried why they had not visited the castle yet, but now that they were here, she was happy. A smile spread across her face.

    "Mr. Harris," Calhoun greeted Madeline''s father whose back slightly straightened at the greeting. The King directly offered his hand to the man to shake hands. Mr. Harris was surprised, and apprehensively he took the King''s hand to have a firm shake.

    Mr. Harris was surprised by the King''s behaviour, but he didn''t say anything. The King had gone as far as to take back the shop he had given them, and now he was shaking his hand in front of his daughter.

    "d to see that all of you are here. Madeline was worried and waiting for you," said the King. Mr. Harris turned to his daughter, offering her a smile and she returned it back, "Take the belongings to the guest rooms," Calhoun ordered the servants who hade to pick up the little luggage that the family had brought with them.

    "We were caught up with the shop-" Beth started, but her mother ced her hand on Beth''s back as if to stop talking.

    Calhoun''s eyes moved to look at Beth in question, "The shop?" he asked.

    Mrs. Harris smiled, "We had a few things to sort out, and it took time. We made sure to send out the invitations that were given to us." The King continued to stare at the family for a few seconds before saying,

    "Madeline, why don''t you help your family settle in the guest rooms," Calhoun suggested, and Madeline nodded her head. The family bowed and walked away from there.

    Calhoun continued to look at them before he said, "Check what is going on in the shop," to Theodore.?Something felt odd, not that things were smooth between him and Madeline''s family as the first time they had officially met he had scared them.

    Theodore bowed his head and left the castle right away. It took less than an hour when Theodore returned to report to Calhoun with his lips set in a thin line, "What is it?" asked Calhoun.

    "It looks like they are rebuilding the shop which was given by you. The men you sent are nowhere to be found," reported Theodore, "There''s also something I overheard."

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, "I am listening..."

 Chapter 208 Meeting the families- Part 1

    <h4>208 Meeting the families- Part 1</h4>

    This time, Madeline''s mother walked forward to give a better hug, holding her daughter close in her arms for long seconds, "Are you doing alright, Maddie?" asked her mother with worry and concern in her voice.

    Earlier when they were out in the corridor, the hug had been short and almost fleeting. Right now, Madeline ced her chin on her mother''s shoulder, a smile on her lips, "I am doing okay, mama. What took you so long?" she asked, pulling away.

    Mrs. Harris wanted to speak about it, but she didn''t know how to put it. When the shop had been destroyed, the older woman thought that it was better not to bring up the matter. The King had not shown any kind of rude emotion when they met a few minutes ago, but it was because he was a vampire.

    Her mother pursed her lips, "Something happened to the shop. We were busy getting it fixed."

    Madeline frowned, "What happened?" she asked, her eyes darting to look at her father who held a passive expression on his face. She waited for her mother to speak.

    "We don''t know what happened, but a few days ago when your father was working in the afternoon, some men came and started to demolish the shop saying it was the order from the royal court," said her mother, a look of nervousness passed before she said, "Don''t ask the King anything!"

    Madeline had a look of confusion on her face, "He wouldn''t do that," she shook her head, defending the King. Calhoun could be rude and everything else to torture her, but he would never do that.

    Her mother held her hands, "Your father saw the seal on the parchment. It seems it was from the King. It is better if we don''t mention anything about it."

    "But it would make it clear, whether he sent out people to take back the shop that he offered," Madeline said as it didn''t make sense why Calhoun would want to destroy the shop when he would gain nothing from it.

    "He must be angry for what I did thest time," whispered her mother. Madeline didn''t remember what her mother was speaking about, "The note."

    Mr. Harris, who didn''t know what had happened that day nor the riddled words of the King, sighed, "What has happened, is in the past. You don''t have to worry about it. There''s a young gentleman who is helping us in rebuilding the shop."

    Madeline didn''t know what to say as she was more than surprised to hear this news.

    Now that the topic about the note hade up and Calhoun wasn''t here in the room nor was any other vampire, Madeline took the opportunity to ask,

    Her mother looked distressed, just thinking about it, "I wrote, if you ever wanted to run away, you are free to do it without worrying about what might happen to us."

    "Mama," Madeline was far more grateful that her mother put her happiness before hers, but how could Madeline ever do something like that to her family, "There''s no more need for it. And the King didn''t read it. I didn''t see nor did I read it, neither did he. He threw it away."

    Mrs. Harris looked at her daughter, "He did," the older woman was sure because she knew the way he looked at her, the underlying meaning behind his words, they were subtle, but the warning was there, "It doesn''t matter anymore. You are getting married, and we are here to be with you."

    Saying this, the woman squeezed her daughter''s hands. She looked at her daughter, searching for any fear or something her daughter would want to tell her, but Mrs. Harris found nothing there. Madeline appeared to be calm, healthy, and she was doing well here.

    Madeline then heard her mother ask, "You are happy, right?" She nodded her head, bringing a smile on her lips and her mother returned the smile.

    "I told you this is what Madeline wanted," came the voice of Beth and Madeline turned to see her sister walk into the room, through the door.

    Madeline stepped towards her elder sister, and Elizabeth put her arms around her when she came near, "I know you better than anyone. I am your sister after all," and Beth pulled away to look at her younger sister who was doing far better than Beth had ever done until now. She smiled, looking at her, "How are you feeling? Excited about your marriage to the King?" asked Beth.

    To Madeline, Beth was not just her sister but also a friend. Someone with whom she shared things and maybe it was only one time, she had hidden something from her sister.

    "I am nervous," Madeline couldn''t tell how happy she was to have her family here, in the castle.

    "That''s okay. It happens to every person," replied Beth and then asked, "Where is your room? Come let''s take a stroll in the castle. We have so much to talk about," her sister suggested.

    Madeline turned to her parents, who were in the room. Her mother smiled, "Both of you go ahead. Your father and I will be here." She felt her hand being tugged by Beth. Before they could leave the room, Madeline said,

    "You can ask the maids if you need anything."

    Both the sisters stepped out and away from the guest quarters. Beth, who had dreamt of living in a castle-like this stared at the walls, the floors and the ceilings that was painted. Her green eyes were bright as they took in the view that the castle had to offer. Beth could hardly believe that she was not just looking at the castle, but she would be living here for a few days until Madeline''s wedding.

    Just a few days, thought Beth to herself. She wanted more, though.

    As Beth''s eyes continued to take in everything that was in front of her, Madeline noticed how her sister''s eyes fell on the maze that was located next to the garden. Seeing her sister''s fascination, Madeline started to exin,

    "That''s the hedge maze. It has only one entrance and many paths-" but Beth cut in.

    "I know what a maze is. Just because I don''t live in the castle doesn''t mean I don''t know anything about it," Beth''s words were severe.

    "I didn''t mean to offend-"

    Bethughed, "I was joking. You get so serious." With the way Beth was looking at it, Madeline thought to exin it. Seeing Beth smile, Madeline returned the smile.

    "There are some interesting flowers on that side," Madeline offered, and Beth nodded her head.

    When Madeline turned her gaze away to look at the front, the smile that was there on the older sister''s lips fell.

 Chapter 209 Meeting the families- Part 2

    <h4>209 Meeting the families- Part 2</h4>

    "How have things been going in here? With the King," added Beth, her voice came out to be nonchnt while her eyes nced at Madeline before taking in the beauty of the castle.

    "It''s been going fine," replied Madeline.

    Beth nodded her head, "Good to hear that. Who knows what might have happened if you refused the King more than what you have done right now."

    Madeline who had heard from her parents on what happened, she asked, "Are you speaking about the shop? The King didn''t send any order out to pull it down." Beth chuckled hearing Madeline defend the King, "I would have known if something like that happened."

    She believed it was best to ask Calhoun herself about it, to clear it up and if he did it, why would he do it, "Has the King bedded you?" asked Beth, being nosey. Hearing this, Madeline''s face turned red.

    "W-what, no. The King hasn''t," Madeline shook her head.

    Beth looked at her sister, who had turned red with embarrassment. It didn''t seem like the King had not touched Madeline. She didn''t believe Madeline. Maybe Madeline didn''t know about it, but Beth, who had always been looking forward to living a luxurious life, had heard about the King. The tales of the King''s debauchery had no end. With the way women were willing to offer themselves to him, it had made her curious and eager to see him during the Hallow.

    Madeline, on the other hand, was embarrassed that her sister had asked her about the King and her directly. There were things she shared with Beth, but there were some things that needed some boundaries, Madeline thought to herself.

    "It''s okay if you have done it. I wouldn''t judge you," Beth assured her sister, wanting to get more information. Though there was a smile on Beth''s face, she envied her sister''s position. Madeline had everything she had ever wished for. Richness, status, a handsome man by her side who was none other than the King. It made her hand clutch on her sides.

    Madelineughed. Waving her hand, she said, "No, nothing has happened. The King has been respectful and had agreed to wait until the day of marriage."

    "The King must be a true gentleman," remarked Beth.

    It wasn''t precisely correct, thought Madeline to herself. She didn''t want to mention Calhoun''s seduction and tease that was nothing less than hot iron. Just an hour ago, he had pulled up her skirt to help her wear the garters. She felt her toes curl and her mind that started to muddle when she thought about his touch and words.

    "He is," Madeline smiled, continuing to walk in the garden where they were surrounded by flowers, "How about yourself? Did anyone catch your fancy?" she asked Beth.

    "What is his name? What does he do?" questioned Madeline.

    "He works for the King," came the prideful answer from Beth. She wouldn''t marry some lowly man from the vige. Not when her sister was marrying the King, "You will be meeting him soon. He is a very good man. He has been helping our father with the shop."

    "Oh," Madeline responded, "He must be a kind man to go out of his way to help us."

    Beth nodded her head, "He said he was finding an opportunity to talk to me, and he was more than willing to help our family. Tall, good looking man. Polite. Rich," she listed the characteristics, "You know my tastes in men."

    In response, Madeline offered her sister a smile. She knew what Beth liked in men. First came the money, then came the looks. It was what she looked for. She didn''t want to question Beth''s choice or judge her. She was d that her older sister had found someone she liked. Beth did mention the person had helped their father, so he must be a good man.

    "Come let''s go to your room," Beth tugged Madeline''s arm in eagerness. Though Beth said that a man had caught her eye, it didn''t mean she had stopped dreaming about living in the castle. But before Madeline could respond, both the sisters heard barks, "What is that? Dogs?" asked Beth, unaware of what it was.

    Madeline turned slightly worried, "Let''s head back inside now," she urged Beth.

    But Beth stood her ground, her head turning in the direction where she heard the barksing from, "Don''t tell me you are scared of dogs,"ughed Beth.

    "They are not dogs," Madeline corrected quickly, hoping that the wolves wouldn''te sniffing to the ce where they stood, "They are the King''s pets. Wolves."

    "That should be fine then. If they are King''s pets, they will not harm us," Beth acted brave and not scared when the wolves appeared at the corner of the garden, "Look, they are just nothing but furry animals."

    This time it was Madeline who ced her hand on Beth''s arm, "Beth, please." But Beth didn''t want to do what her younger sister was asking her to do. It wasn''t Madeline but her who was older here. Though it was notpletely visible, Beth could see the way Madeline moved and spoke on how she had moved forward while leaving Beth behind when it came to their status.

    "Stop being so afraid about everything," Beth said rolling her eyes at Madeline.

    Madeline looked at the four wolves who stood in front of them. Her eyes darted between Beth and the wolves, contemting if she should head back inside the castle as Beth was stubbornly refusing to get back with her. The King''s wolves were tamed only by his hands and not by others.

    Madeline would have left Beth here, but she was her sister.

    While Madeline stood with Beth in the garden, inside the first floor of the castle, Calhoun stood with Theodore watching them. He was in a bad mood. His handsome face appeared to be serious, and he had no smile on his lips. His eyes had narrowed down by the information which he had heard from Theodore.

    "My King, the wolves have not been fed. We should ask the youngdies to get back inside," informed Theodore after they had finished talking about other matters.

    Calhoun''s eyes didn''t move away from the scene that was in front of them. Standing in one of the many balconies of the castle, his eyes focused on Madeline who was with her sister out in the garden.

    Though they stood far away from the girls, where the girls would not be able to see them, Calhoun picked up bits and pieces of the conversation they had between them.

    "It has been quite a long time since the wolves have been fed with the actual living flesh," he said. Theodore moved his eyes slowly towards the King and then at the humans who were in the garden.

    For a second, Theodore thought Calhoun was speaking about Lady Madeline turning to be the wolves food, but he realised it wasn''t her, but her sister. "Lady Madeline values her family, milord. It would be upset her if something happened to one of them."

    Calhoun''s hands gripped on the ck railings, "Yes, Madeline loves her family. But a little fear should set people straight. Isn''t that, what we do here," he hummed and continued to look at the girls who were facing the wolves.

    He had not only grown up in the castle, but he had spent his initial years in the viges and towns which were filled with dirt and mud. Times were hard in the past, but it didn''t matter to Calhoun because he knew what he wanted and who he would kill with his own hands.

    Maybe Madeline didn''t notice it, but Calhoun did. Until he was with her, which would be forever, he wouldn''t let any harm befall on her. Be it physical harm or verbal words, like how her sister Elizabeth had spoken to her.

    "Beth," Madeline called her sister who still had no idea what the wolves were capable of. Beth had not seen the jaws of the wolves. She pulled her sister''s arm, but Beth got irritated on how Madeline was being a coward.

    "When are you going to grow up and stop being so meek?" snapped Beth for Madeline to frown.

    "These wolves are feral. One bite is going to be fatal. If you want to pet the wolves, I can ask the King or someone to arrange it so that-"

    Beth scoffed, pulling her hand away from Madeline. "You don''t have to rub it on my face that you are going to be the Queen," stated Beth who didn''t like the way Madeline spoke to her right now. Being the elder sister, it was Beth whomanded and Madeline who followed her.

    Madeline felt hurt thinking that Beth thought she was trying to show off her position. The little remarks had got the attention of the wolves, and they moved towards them. Beth turned around and had a smug look on her face.

    "Why do we need to bother others when the wolves are being so nice?" Beth asked to only hear growlsing from the wolves.

    Frowning, Beth was ready to pat when she heard Madeline warn her, "Don''t go near them!" But Beth only rolled her eyes over how Madeline was behaving as if she was helpless and needed to be saved. Her hand moved closer to the ck wolf that looked gorgeous.

    The wolf continued to stare at Beth''s hand that reached out for its head, in time to open its mouth and take a bite at her hand.

 Chapter 210 Meeting the families- Part 3

    <h4>210 Meeting the families- Part 3</h4>

    "AHHHHHH!!!!" Beth screamed at the top of her lungs in pain.

    "Beth!" eximed Madeline, going towards where her sister and Maddox was. She wanted to help, but she didn''t know what to do. She knew this might happen because thest few times when she had met the ck wolf, it had alwayse at her with growls and showing its sharp teeth that made it look ferocious.

    Beth cried in pain, "Get away from me you, mutt!" she cursed the wolf, but Maddox didn''t take her anger well and showed its own anger by not letting her hand go, "It hurts!"

    Of course, it would! Thought Madeline in panic. Maybe she should go and get Calhoun because he was the only one who could tame this wolf here. While Madeline was panicking with her sister''s hand stuck in the ck wolf''s mouth, someone else far away in the balcony chuckled.

    Chuckles broke through Calhoun''s lips as he saw what Maddox had done. Leave it to his wolf to treat people right. With Elizabeth being stubborn, it was apparent that this was going to happen. He was only waiting when the girl would push one of his wolves to receive a bite.

    Theodore didn''tment but stood behind Calhoun to look at the scene that yed out, and at the King who wasughing now. He was enjoying it very much.

    "Won''t the wolves hurt thedy?" asked Theodore with curiosity.

    "Who? Madeline?" asked Calhoun who had a wide-open smile on his face, "Maddox and the rest know what is mine and what is not. He would never hurt her. The rest I don''t care, and neither do they."

    "She might die out of blood loss," informed Theodore and Calhoun finally stoppedughing, but the smile on his face was still present.

    His hands continued to grip the rails, "Would be a pity if she died before the wedding." Saying this, Calhoun jumped down from the balcony to get on the ground like a feline. He then made his way to where Madeline was.

    "Let go of my hand!" Beth cried without moving from where she stood. It felt like her hand and fingers were being torn away from her arm.

    Madeline felt stressed by seeing Beth in pain. She moved closer to Beth and Maddox, her hand apprehensively moving towards the wolf''s head.

    Having already snapped closely with its teeth before at her, Madeline didn''t know if she would be bitten too. The other wolves had left as if the drama was over, leaving Maddox to take care of the rest. Her hand shook out of nervousness, but when she finally made it to touch the top of the ck wolf''s head, the growl stopped, and Maddox''s gaze shifted to look at Madeline now.

    The wolf let go of Beth''s hand, licking its tongue across its teeth and mouth that had Beth''s blood.

    Madeline''s eyebrows drew in together, and she tried to get Maddox''s attention back. She tried to mimic the way Calhoun petted the wolf. Rubbing and scratching the back of its ears as she tried to calm it, to stop it from biting her sister, who was still crying in pain. The wolf kept its attention on her, its eyes slowly closing as she continued to give it ear rubs.

    She had been worried earlier, but it looked calm under her touch��lowly growling at the back of its throat as if in approval.

    "Lady Elizabeth, are you alright?" Madeline and her sister turned around at the King''s voice to see him walk towards them, "That looks too deep."

    Bethined, "It is this stupid wolf here! It came at me!" Madeline frowned at the little lie her sister said to the King.

    "You poor little thing," said Calhoun with pity in his eyes as he moved closer to take a look at Beth''s hand that was bleeding. The girl had pulled out a handkerchief, trying to stop the blood but the small handkerchief was not enough, "That must really hurt. Bad Maddox," he said, turning to look at his wolf who tilted its head.

    Madeline let go of Maddox''s head, feeling the wolf sniff her hand with its snout. Calhoun noticed this little exchange of trust.

    "Are you alright?" he asked Madeline, who nodded at him.

    Beth''s eyebrows shot up. She was the one who was bit, yet the King was checking with her sister! "I am losing too much blood," sheined to bring back the attention of both of them to her.

    "We should go tend to it," proposed Madeline.

    "How could that mutt do something like that to me? I wasn''t doing anything to it," Beth spoke in pain.

    Calhoun heard the girl call his wolf mutt and he said, "You should be careful about where you ce your hand, mdy. If you ce it in unfamiliar territories, it might end up with far worse than a bite. Wolves don''t get kindly to insults," he said with a kind smile on his lips.

    Madeline looked at Calhoun, and something told her that he knew what had transpired here. He always knew.

    Beth gave out a troubled look and then nodded. She didn''t have the time or energy to speak about the stupid wolf when her hand was bleeding, and she was in pain, "Maddie, pleasee with me," said the sister and Madeline readily nodded her head. Both the girls bowed their head at the King and left to get back inside the castle.

    When the girls left the garden, Calhoun looked at his wolf who looked back at him unblinkingly. He outstretched his hand forward for the wolf to move and walk to where he was, "What a good boy you are," Calhoun praised the ck wolf as he rubbed its ears, "You never fail to entertain me," he chuckled.

    Maddox had turned tame under Madeline''s touch. Calhoun could tell it was because the wolf could sense the change of her emotions towards him. As Madeline was opening her heart to him, Maddox was slowlying to ept her.

    "Come, boy! Let me treat you with something nice," Calhoun started to walk to be followed by the wolf.

    Beth continued to cry in pain; tears streaked down her face because this was not a wound caused by a simple fall or scrape. By the looks of the animals, they looked tamed. Which sane person left wild wolves who could bite others out in the garden?!

    They were still walking, making their way to the room when another youngdy who was dressed in expensive clothes came to stop on their way,

    "What happened to her hand, Lady Madeline?" asked the youngdy with her red eyes, "There''s so much blood falling on the floor, you should take her out to get it fixed. It is only going to attract the vampires in here."

    Beth didn''t know who this vampiress was. Thedy looked at Beth''s hand with a frown and disgust in her eyes. This had her own eyes narrow at the girl who stood in front of them.

    "The wolves were left out in the open. One of them bit her hand, Lady Sophie," exined Madeline.

    Looking at Beth''s clothes, Lady Sophie said, "What did you do to get the wolf''s attention? If you are not from a royal family, of course, you will get bit. The wolf knows who belongs to the lower family."

    Beth fumed at these words. She was already in pain, and this vampiress dared to speak about her like this with her, "If the wolf has the ability to smell shallow people, I think we know who will get bitten first," smiled Beth even in pain. This irked Sophie.

    Both the girls quietly red at each other.

    Madeline bowed her head, "We''ll be going to tend her hand."

    Beth didn''t bow her head at the vampiress because she didn''t feel like it, and neither did Sophie feel there was a need to bow to a lowly peasant.

 Chapter 211 Sitting with you- Part 1

    <h4>211 Sitting with you- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline was the one who was tending Beth''s hand where the blood didn''t stop from bleeding. The wolf had taken a bite at Beth''s hand as if it was a piece of meat that had dangled itself in front of it.

    "It hurts!" Beth cried in pain, unable to handle it being touched.

    "I warned you not to go near the wolf," Madeline didn''t want to remind that she did warn Beth about the wolves, but Beth had tried to be brave like many other times thinking the wolves would let her pat their head without wanting to bite on her, "If we don''t clean it well, it might cause an infection. And you know how the infection turns out to be."

    "No!" Beth eximed in worry and fear, "How would I know that such beautiful wolves would want to bite me?! Why would they even let it out in the open??" she gave out an incredulous look to Madeline.

    "You cannot cage everything inside. Animals need to breathe too," replied Madeline, pressing the cotton on Beth''s hand and then dipping it in the water. "I will wrap this with the cloth so that the bleeding stops. Okay?" saying this, Madeline applied the medicine before wrapping the cloth around the wound which she had asked the maid to get so that it could be used to wrap Beth''s palm.

    Beth looked at the water that had turned red because of the traces of her blood in it, "What am I going to do now? I won''t be able to use my hand well," she said, her lips pressing against each other.

    "I will ask the King if he can assign you some maids. They will help you in getting ready and helping you with what you will need," Madeline answered and Beth gave her a nod.

    Though outwardly, Beth had a solemn look on her face, internally she was bursting with joy. At least there was one good thing that came out from being bit by the wolf. The thought of having her own personal maids brought tranquillity in her chest. The room she had been given was grand, but Beth was still curious about how Madeline''s room looked like as it wasn''t located here.

    Beth was eager to explore more of the castle. She could barely wait to live here, in this kind of ce. She was happy until she remembered her encounter with the vampiressdy a few minutes ago.

    "Who was that rude girl out there?" inquired Beth, bringing her hand close to her when Madeline was done tying and securing the ends of the cloth so that it wouldn''te loose.

    Madeline, who knew who Beth was referring to, answered, "That is Lady Sophie. She is the King''s rtive. A close cousin."

    She heard Madeline say, "Don''t pay attention to her. Lady Sophie belongs to the high status��"

    Of course. People who belonged to the high-status family were allowed to look down at people like her. The worst part was that thedy had only looked down at her and not at Madeline as she was going to marry the King.

    "Once I am married to Markus, I would like to show her not to belittle people like me," replied Beth and Madeline smiled, "Markus is a wonderful man. You will like him."

    Madeline didn''t know why but it felt like she had heard the name before, but she couldn''t remember where. There was another Markus who lived in the next town, but Madeline doubted her sister was speaking about him.

    "You said he works for the King. Does he know you wereing to live in the castle?" asked Madeline. Because if the man worked for the King, it was possible that he would be visiting the King to attend the court meetings.

    Madeline saw her sister nod her head, "Yes, I told him. He said he would meet me here. Ah, I forgot to mention earlier, he is the King''s cousin," Beth smiled saying this. This only made Madeline frown in thought before realisation sank in her mind, on who her sister was seeing. The King might have many far rtives, but the only two families she had met so far closely were--the Greville''s and the other was the Wilmot''s while the rest had been a blur.

    "What is his full name?" asked Madeline.

    Beth had a broad smile on her face, and she said, "Markus Wilmot." No wonder she felt the name was familiar.

    Madeline wondered if she should let Beth know that the vampiress who she had been irritated with was none other than Markus Wilmot''s younger sister. It would definitely be humorous when they would find out about it. Wanting to save Beth from any more harsh words than what had already been spoken in the corridor, Madeline decided to let her sister know.

    "Beth, Markus Wilmot. I have met him before," Madeline said for Beth to raise her eyebrows.

    "You have? I guess it is possible, after all, you are the King''s mis-I mean the person who is going to get married," Madeline knew what Beth was going to say earlier before she stopped and corrected herself.

    It would be a lie if it hadn''t crossed her mind several times before that the King wanted to bed her and turn her to one of his mistresses. It was because the previous King''s had vampiress as their queen. None of them had ever picked a human to be the bride because of the short lifespan a human had. With the way Calhoun had treated her in the beginning, it had made Madelinee to believe that it was all he wanted from her, and this was until a few days ago.

    Now...she hade to see Calhoun''s rare gentleness towards her, for her.

    "Yes, about that-" Madeline started when somebody knocked on the door to interrupt her words.

    Getting up from the bed she was sitting on, Madeline made her way to open the door to see a maid who stood in front of the room, "Mdy," the maid gave a deep bow, "The King has summoned you to the chapel."

    Madeline furrowed her brows as she never knew there was a chapel in the castle. Turning to look at Beth, she said,

    "I will be back soon."

    Beth nodded her head back, "That''s alright. Take your time, Maddie. I might take a nap," she offered her younger sister a smile.

    When Madeline left the room, the smile on Beth''s face fell. She looked down at her hand and cursed the wolves. She didn''t know how she would be able to move her hand without causing much pain to it. The maid who hade to call Madeline had left with her, leaving Beth all alone in the room. Not that she minded it because she loved the sight of her room. It was vast and beautiful.

    Getting up from the bed, she started to move around the room. Her good hand tracing the objects in there when she heard another knock on the room,

    "Mdy," it was another maid, "Is there anything you need help with?"

    Beth stared at the maid and then said, "I would like to drink something nice. Something to cool the heat. You can bring something to eat along with it." The maid bowed her head and went toplete the order that was given by thedy.

    "I could get used to this,"mented Beth to herself. Staring at the door where there was no one there. This is what she deserved, to live a life of richness with servants who would be at her disposal.

    While Beth was in her room, enjoying her time to rx herself and her hand, away from the guest rooms in the tea parlour of the castle, tea of red colour was poured into the little teacups before they were served to thedies.

    Lady Rosamund was having her tea when she saw her daughter, Sophie who ced the cup on the saucer with a ttering sound, "Have you forgotten how to ce the teacup or has your hands turned weak Sophie?" asked Lady Rosamund by raising her brows in question.

    At her mother''s sharp words, Sophie ced the teacup correctly before bringing her hands on herp.

    Lucy said, "Did you hear a scream earlier? Sounded like a female screaming in pain."

    "Must be one of the prisoners in the dungeon," replied Lady Rosamund who continued to hold her teacup without putting it down, "People do foolish things."

    "It wasn''t from the dungeon," said Sophie, receiving looks from her cousin sister and her mother, "There is some new human in the castle. It looks like it''s Madeline''s friend. She''s rude and foul-mouthed."

    "Friend?" asked Lucy.

    Lady Rosamund, whose eyes were on Sophie, asked, "Why do you say that?"

    "Because I spoke to her for a minute. I don''t know what the need is to bring an outsider into the castle," Sophie rolled her eyes in annoyance.

 Chapter 212 Sitting with you- Part 2

    <h4>212 Sitting with you- Part 2</h4>

    "Are you sure she is Lady Madeline''s friend?" asked Lucy as she had heard from Madeline on how she was anticipating her family''s visit to the castle for the wedding.

    Sophie nodded her head, "Yes, I am sure. They look nothing like sisters. ck hair, green eyes." They looked far apart to be called sisters, thought Sophie to herself which was why she concluded it was the human girl''s friend, "She was the one who screamed. One of the wolves must have bitten her. Which idiot leaves blood trails all over the corridor?" she shook her head at the idiocy.

    "You cannot expect anything less from the humans,"mented Lady Rosamund, "They have the habit of not thinking about the consequences. Leaving the scent of an open wound will only result in her death because of one of the vampires feeding on her."

    Sophie didn''t mind it. She didn''t like the little encounter that she had a few minutes ago beforeing here to join her mother and cousin to have tea.

    "A wolf''s bite is considered to be fatal, be it, vampire or human," Lucy said, hoping whoever it was, was okay now. Too much blood loss could only lead to death. She then said, "Isn''t it going to be exciting to have the families meet each other."

    "Yes, it is something to look forward to," replied Lady Rosamund, "I wonder how the wedding is going to proceed. Mingling the royal family with the people in the vige," she gave out a tired sigh.

    Lady Rosamund wanted Madeline out of the frame, but if she did anything right now, Calhoun would know it was because of her and her family''s involvement. She had to be careful right now. The first option of having Madeline leave the castle grounds had failed because the human didn''t want to leave. It seemed like she hade to understand and had a taste of power.

    "It would have been good if your mother and father were alive," said Lady Rosamund to Lucy, "They would have helped in arranging the marriage in a better way, isn''t it. Their demise has been a really sad incident."

    Lucy didn''t react or reply to it. "Your father was such a good man. He must have known that something bad was going to happen to him, and he made sure that you were well settled before that."

    "Hm, six months before the incident," Lucy''s words were soft.

    Lady Rosamund sighed again, "Only if they were here. I still don''t get how someone from the court killed them. Are you sure you saw who it was who killed them?" asked the older vampiress.

    As much as she had despised her mother for pushing her to get married to Samuel, her mother and her father were still her parents. Parents whom she loved. The death of the King and the Queen was not small but a huge loss. It was good that Calhoun was there to take the crown right away, thus saving Devon.

    The minister had been dragged away. Tortured and his tongue pulled out to be cut with a hot searing iron knife. While she was still mourning over her parent''s loss, she had attended the execution of the minister who had killed them.

    "Pardon me, Lucy, for bringing up such a sad event," Lady Rosamund ced her hand on Lucy''s hand.

    The princess said, "It has been years now. And the culprit was punished," a small smile came on Lucy''s lips.

    Lady Rosamund nodded her head in agreement, "You are right. Have you got your gowns ready for Calhoun''s wedding? I heard the maid say that the King has arranged for his personal tailorman to visit the castle."

    "I have some new gowns. I will be wearing them," Lucy replied, and everyone continued to have their tea that was mixed with blood.

    The older vampiress stared at Lucy. The girl didn''t know anything, and no matter how many times, Rosamund had tried to get an answer from Lucy, the reply was always the same. Rosamund knew this was not the ministers doing, and there was something more. She hoped there was something more so that she could pull out the dirt and show it to the people of Devon.

    Lady Rosamund had been working on it, trying to figure out behind the scenes as there were some things that didn''t add up. She knew Calhoun had a hand in it, but she didn''t know in what way. There was no way, the King''s illegitimate son who came out of nowhere one day could be the King.

    "When are Uncle and Markus visiting the castle?" inquired Lucy.

    "Father has been busy with his work. Markus should be here soon, isn''t it?" Sophie asked, leaning forward, she picked up the cookie that was ced on the tray.

    "I received his letter where he said he would be here by tomorrow," replied Lady Rosamund with a smile on her lips.

    Away from the tearooms and the guest rooms, away from the court and the King''s quarters, Madeline followed the maid who led her to the castle''s chapel that she didn''t know existed here until it was mentioned earlier to her. She saw the dull walls on either side of her, torches lit with fire burning at regr intervals of distance. The maid then stopped walking,

    "The King awaits for you inside, mdy," said the maid, bowing her head.

    Madeline continued to walk for a few more distance before she stepped into the chapel that had long built windows on the left where light from outside seemed to pass through them. The ss that covered the window had a tint of blue in them, turning the floor blue where the light fell. On the right, several candles were lit at the bottom and the top, this left abination of an orange glow along with the blue light inside the chapel.

    She had been so enraptured by the colours in the room that it took her a second more before her ears picked up the music that was ying in the chapel.

    The so-called chapel here didn''t look like the ones that belonged to the church where she had visited in the past to pray in the vige. But it still resembled like one with the ceilings that were built up and high, darkness covering it as the light didn''t reach it. Both the walls on either side of her tapered towards each other to enclose the room.

    There were barely sixteen to twenty seats at the front, light falling enough for one to see the paints that covered the nearby walls. The floor beneath her shoes was smooth and clean. The sound of her shoes could not be heard over the sound of the music that was yed at the corner of the room where the pipe organ piano was built.

    Madeline saw Calhoun sit in front of therge instrument with his back facing her as he yed with the keys there. There was no one else here except them.

    And even though the music was loud, Calhoun who was ying the instrument, stopped it abruptly when Madeline''s shoes stopped clicking on the marble floor. Madeline wanted to hear him ying more because of the beautiful notes that filled this side of the room. The music contained itself in here, making the notes appear as if they echoed for a second more that vibrated in the room.

    Madeline then spoke, "You wanted to see me?" Calhoun finally turned himself to look at her, his legs moving around the bench so that his entire body was facing her now.

    "Do you know how to y the piano?" he questioned her. Madeline shook her head. Calhoun moved to the side of the bench he sat on, "Take a seat," and he turned again towards the instrument.

    Madeline walked towards the bench. Sitting down, she saw him running his fingers over the white and ck keys but not pressing it, "How is your sister doing?" he asked her.

    "She is okay," with the bite and loss of blood, Madeline thought Beth was going to faint, but she was doing fine, "She is resting in the room."

    Calhoun pressed the keys now, the music was light and softer on the ears now, unlike the louder one that he had yed a moment ago, "Have your parents settled in?"

    "Yes. They are in their rooms. Thank you for having them," answered Madeline. Her eyes fell on hisrge hands and long fingers that moved elegantly across the keys. She wished to learn how to y the instrument in the past, but there had been no opportunity to learn. She listened to the notes, her eyes trailing from Calhoun''s fingers to move up to his face.

    Madeline''s brown eyes didn''t stay too long to linger on his face as she felt her heart skip a beat, and she looked back at his hands.

    Calhoun then said, "I wanted to speak to you about your father''s shop."

 Chapter 213 Sitting with you- Part 3

    <h4>213 Sitting with you- Part 3</h4>

    "I heard what happened to your father''s shop," said Calhoun while Madeline did nothing but listen without question, "Someone sabotaged the shop in my name," his fingers didn''t stop moving.

    So it was not him, but someone else, thought Madeline to herself. She was right to think that it wasn''t Calhoun because it didn''t make sense. Calhoun was petty, but she doubted he would be petty enough to take away the shop which he had given to her family.

    "Did your parents mention anything about it?" asked Calhoun to her.

    Madeline nodded her head, "While they were getting settled in the room, my mother mentioned it. She said some men came and started to demolish it. They had a parchment with your seal on it."

    "It could be a fake seal," said Calhoun. When his fingers stopped at a particr set of keys, pushing them, it created a blur sound of echo at where they were, "I had no part to y in it."

    Madeline saw Calhoun turn to look at her, "I told my parents that it wasn''t you." Calhoun was touched by Madeline''s words, that she had defended him in his absence, "My family, we always wanted to have our own shop, our ce but we couldn''t afford it in the past. The continuous heat can be harsh, and we wanted father to have a better ce with a roof to keep the logs of more woods. He didn''t always let us help him. Saying it wasn''t what a girl of our age should be doing."

    "But you helped him," he stated and a faint smile formed on Madeline''s lips before sadness appeared on her face.

    She didn''t know what her family went through during the time when the shop was being torn down in front of them. Madeline wasn''t there with them but here in the castle. She wasn''t able to provide the emotional support her family needed during that time. But she was d that Markus Wilmot had readily extended his hands to help her family. Was it because he liked Beth? Madeline couldn''t think of a better reason other than it. In the past, there had been many men who came to offer her family things, even to Madeline herself just to get into the good graces of her older sister Elizabeth.

    Her sister Beth was so beautiful, and her charms never went unnoticed by men and women who often loved to have a chat with her. People often asked about her in the vige as she was one of the most popr maidens in the vicinity of the vige. It is why Madeline concluded that it was the reason.

    Madeline then said, "Beth told me that they have been getting help from Markus."

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, and he asked her, "Markus Wilmot?" He saw her nod her head.

    "How kind of him indeed,"mented Calhoun in thought, "He must have appeared like an angel in front of your family," Madeline missed the sarcasm in Calhoun''s words.

    When Theodore had brought the news to him a while ago, about Harris'' shop being rebuilt, it had caught his attention that it was someone''s doing. The men he had given to her father to work with had disappeared in thin air without any prior notice. Now that Madeline mentioned about Markus, it didn''t take Calhoun more than two seconds to figure out who had tried to cause harm to the Harris'' family.

    But why was Markus creating problems and trying to associate himself with Madeline''s sister, Beth.

    Coincidences like these were something Calhoun didn''t believe in. Though he did believe that what Beth heard was bullshit, and she had passed the same to Madeline.

    Sure the girl was beautiful to look at, but the same could not be told when it came to her inner self. If one was clever enough to take note, they would see that the older daughter of the Harris valued materialistic things. And though it was not necessarily a bad quality, it was still not pretty to look at when a woman showed it in her eyes.

    "I didn''t know Markus had taken an interest in your sister. I should ask my aunt about it. I am sure our wedding will bring more light to a possible rtionship," Calhoun said in a nonchnt voice and Madeline nodded her head but not enthusiastically, "What''s the matter?" he asked her.

    Madeline traced her fingers over the keys that were in front of her, without pressing on them, "When did you hear about this news?"

    "Sometime before your sister got bit by Maddox. I had my doubts and had Theodore check what happened to the shop. Some of the vigers witnessed the shop being torn down," he replied to her question, "It would have been easier to deal with if your parents confronted it with me."

    Madeline didn''tment on it because she knew her parents were scared in the presence of the King. They didn''t take the person to be kind who had taken their daughter away from them and been ced in the castle.

    "That is alright. I will speak to them about it. I wouldn''t want your parents to think that the man you are marrying is out to get them," said Calhoun to move his hand to ce on hers. This pressed the keys that were underneath her hand. Madeline looked up at him, her eyes meeting his red ones in the golden glow of the chapel, "I will have more men positioned there, to keep an eye so that no harm befalls on them."

    Madeline gave him a nod, "Thank you for taking care of it," she thanked him. She had her own doubts, but she didn''t want to jump into conclusion, "Who do you think used your name?"

    "A person who wishes death," answered Calhoun with a straight face that Madeline could only agree to it.

    Calhoun already knew, but he wanted to figure out why and what benefits his cousin would get by doing so. If Markus thought that he would get Madeline out of the picture by making her and her family hating him, that would not happen. He wouldn''t allow it.

    After so many days, Madeline had willingly opened her heart to him, epting him and ready to step forward. If someone tried to change her mind, Calhoun was not going to take it lightly by brushing it away. He would burn them until there was nothing left of them.

    Anyone who woulde between him and Madeline, he would kill them regardless of them being a stranger or a family member.

    "It won''t happen again," Calhoun gave his word to her. Madeline knew associating with the King or the royal family, things like these were bound to happen, but she wished she could protect her family better.

    When Calhoun promised those words, Madeline believed it. If there was someone who she believed would help her in keeping her family safe, it was him. After all, he was the King and not any faceless person in thend of Devon or in any othernd.

    Calhoun let go of her hand and ced it on the side of her face, looking at her, "Are you happy that your family is here?" he asked her. His eyes traced every inch of her face.

    "Yes," answered Madeline, feeling his cold hand on her skin that made her shiver. With them away from people and alone in a closed room, Madeline couldn''t keep up with his gaze, and her eyes darted to look everywhere but him, "Thank you for having them here."

    Calhoun held her face, feeling the softness of her skin as well as her demeanour. He had never met anyone like her, yet for some strange reason, he felt like he knew her. Like he had met her in a memory that was faint. Madeline didn''t flinch at Calhoun''s touch as she was getting used to it. With him always trying to get closer, invading her space consistently, Madeline was getting used to it, but at the same time, she was not used to the strange feelings that brewed in her chest.

    Those feelings stirred within her every time he touched her, looked at her with those unblinking eyes of his. The feelings that had started as fear, had turned to nervousness before moving to the anxiousness of something she couldn''t put it in words but only feel the wave wash through her body.

    She felt his thumb caress her skin, the hand sliding down to her neck before gliding down her shoulder. When he dropped his hand, Madeline felt like someone stole something from her. A sliver of emotion passed through her eyes that had Calhoun pleased. He put his one leg on the other side of the bench, facing her this time.

    Madeline stared at him, her eyes curiously looking at him in wonderment of what he was doing. It was strange to see a King sitting with his legs on either side of the bench, but Calhoun was odd since the very beginning of the time she had met him in the ballroom.

 Chapter 214 Sitting with you- Part 4

    <h4>214 Sitting with you- Part 4</h4>

    Madeline continued to stare at Calhoun, his face holding a shadow because of theck of lighting through the windows where they sat in the chapel. She wondered what he was thinking right now.

    When he moved closer to her, her heart skipped a beat at the action, her brown eyes slightly wide, "I didn''t know the castle had a chapel."

    "Are you surprised?" he asked her, getting even closer and Madeline who had tried to change the subject failed to think of a reply because of Calhoun''s closeness. She noticed how his lips parted, his tongue peeking out to run it over the front of his teeth, "Hm?"

    Madeline''s eyes snapped up to look back into his red eyes, "I-I thought vampires-That they don''t believe in church. In God."

    "Most of them don''t. Hardly a few. When I became King, I ordered for the chapel to be built. Simr to what the humans hold but in a different fashion. As per my liking," he replied to her question, "I liked the look of the difort on the face of the people that took ce after it was built." Calhoun took joy and thrill in making a person ufortable and deriving pleasure from a person''s fear.

    With Calhoun who was facing her, Madeline who had only turned her neck to look at him while still having her body faced towards the pipe organ of the piano, moved around topletely face him.

    "Do you know what you did right now?" Calhoun asked her. Madeline gave a quizzical expression, wondering what she did, "It''s called adjusting," the smile on his lips broadened. Madeline would have never thought that something like this could make Calhoun smile, but then the man was always smiling. Most of the time, it was a smile that looked like he was readying himself in glee to kill someone. But right now, it didn''t look like that.

    "I didn''t get to see your mother''s portraits," she reminded him.

    "I will show it to youter. The portrait won''t run away from the castle," he responded to her, "I know, I told I will wait, but I hope you remember it is only for the specific things," saying this, Calhoun leaned forward, putting his arm around her waist, he pulled her towards him. With smooth surface of the bench, Madeline gilded easily towards him.

    Calhoun had decided to push and pull her to him, but it was hard to resist a treat which was right in front of him. There was no one around to find and even if they did, it wouldn''t matter.

    Madeline heard a loud sound that came from the other side of the room. Her eyes looked at the door she had walked through, which was now closed. Did Calhoun close the door? The power and his ability, Madeline didn''t know what to think about it.

    Calhoun''s hand had not let go of Madeline''s waist, "Locked it too. I wouldn''t like anyone interrupting my time with you," he said to her.

    Slightly rmed, she looked like she was about to slip out of his arm, but Calhoun held her in ce, to stop her from moving away from him. It took less than two seconds for blood to rush up from Madeline''s pale neck that travelled up to her face. One hand of hers was near his shoulder while the other was ced on his chest. Calhoun only moved his hand around her waist like a snake would curl itself around its prey.

    When he leaned forward, Madeline thought he was going to kiss her, but the kiss never came as he only moved closer to the side of her head, his lips next to her ear, "Feels like it''s been years since Ist drank from you." She felt his breath hit her ear.

    She had seen him drink blood in the morning during the time of breakfast, but it seemed like Calhoun was still hungry.

    "Have you ever gone without having blood?" she asked him, feeling him pull away his face, just enough so that she could look back into his eyes.

    "A couple of times," he answered before adding, "But it never went well though. The thirst vampires feel over the thought of blood is different. Imagine a human who hasn''t eaten for a week." A vampire could drink blood from animals and humans. Animals were only recements for human blood. And humans didn''t willingly give away their blood to vampires, nor did the vampires take it too kindly, which often resulted in people going missing.

    It was hard to imagine that the King of Devon could have missed his meals. But aware of his past, Madeline thought it was possible. He had told her that he wasn''t born with privilege of castles before. Calhoun once used to belong to a ce, simr to which she belonged to. The lower ss was not appreciated even by some of the people who were part of that ce.

    It was one thing to look at him as the King and another as the man who worked his way up to where he was today. Madeline wondered why it was more daunting to think about thetterpared to the first one.

    With his other free hand, Calhoun ced it on her neck. He could feel her pulse, her beating heart that asionally hitched up before going back to being normal.

    Was he going to drink blood from her neck? Madeline asked herself. His eyes fell on her slender neck, "Did you know some of us, believe that drinking blood from the neck emphasizes the intimacy between the taker and the giver."

    His fingers brushed against her skin, making her shiver in this cold room.

    Madeline couldn''t deny the fact that Calhoun was not only the King of Devon, but he was also master of seduction. He touched her like a delicate being, but Madeline somewhere knew what those hands could do. It was the look in his eyes that told her everything.

    "Have you drank blood from necks in the past?" Madeline asked Calhoun, wondering if he considered it to be an intimate action or if he had many women in the past with whom he had been intimate with.

    Calhoun''s lips twitched by hearing her question, "Yes, I have," he replied to her. He wanted her more anxious, pushing her close to the edge so that he would be the one to catch hold of her, "Only because I don''t think that necks are the first intimate part in the body when ites to consuming blood. The word intimatees when it is something that is not known to others, and just the two of them," his finger moved around her cor.

    The dress that Madeline wore today, it was a high cor one. One, that was most often worn by the women who belonged to high status. There was a ckce tied around the cor, buttons that went down from the front. The sleeves were long that reached until her wrists.

    Madeline wondered if it was alright to question and ask more about it. But even she knew, too much curiosity was never good.

    Calhoun noticed the lingering curiosity in Madeline''s eyes that she now tried to hold back, "I would like to bite where I think it to be intimate," he said, giving her just enough taste so that she would bite in. Her eyes slightly dted at his words, the smile on his lips broadened before it slowly fell. He wanted to have Madeline in every possible form and just because they weren''t married, he didn''t see why he should stop himself from tasting, not in the ways she thought it was not supposed to be crossed.

    He leaned forward towards her neck, his teeth catching hold of the thin ckce that was tied around her neck��slowly pulling it free before dropping thece down.

    Calhoun''s fingers tiptoed to the front of her neck, to ce it on the top of the button and a shuddered breath escaped from Madeline''s lips.

 Chapter 215 Blaring keys and sighs- Part 1

    <h4>215 ring keys and sighs- Part 1</h4>

    She didn''t understand why she didn''t resist him��not pushing him away but her eyes anxiously looking at Calhoun. Not that it would work if she tried. Calhoun always got his way around her, and resistance towards him was futile. Her senses were sharp, that tried to take in every single move he made on her. She could feel the pressure of his two fingers that fell on her skin as he made his way towards the button. As if ying and testing her to see if she would stop him but Madeline didn''t.

    With the kiss and his touch, Calhoun had enticed and intrigued her, making her want things that she had never wanted. But just because she felt them, it didn''t mean she would openly speak or ask about it. Things like that were not only shameful but also embarrassing to think! Calhoun observed how Madeline tried to withhold the urge to push him away.

    "This is a stunning dress that you have worn," Calhounplimented Madeline, his finger still ying with the button before pulling it open without being too obvious. With Madeline''s concentration on Calhoun''s words and faintly on his fingers, she tried to process what he just said as her mind was getting muddled and dizzy at the same time.

    "Agnes, got them yesterday," Madeline''s words came out as a whisper. There was no need to say it out loud as Calhoun was just a few inches away from her.

    "It looks pretty on you. Just like I had imagined it to be," he gave out a boyish smile that only looked harmless by appearance.

    His skilful fingers moved to the next button. It was Calhoun who had asked the tailor to design Madeline''s clothes, wanting it to stand outpared to the rest of the people in and around Devon. He had got the dresses stitched not only with high-quality fabric which were attractive to look at but also easy to discard when needed. With one arm still around Madeline''s waist, he leaned forward to take a deep breath of her scent, and she smelled heavenly. He didn''t know if he would ever get to go to heaven, but this was what he believed heaven was like.

    In the meantime, Madeline felt the air touch her skin. She was more than nervous now. Wanting to back away as she believed she would faint anytime soon, she turned her face away to say,

    "I-I think we should stop here," she said hurriedly, her eyes moved back to look at him.

    "Why?" asked Calhoun, his expression returning back to a calmer one as he stared at her.

    What did he mean why?! Asked Madeline to herself, "I am not ready."

    Madeline opened her lips, but she was nervous. These emotions that she felt right now, it scared her, "I might pass out," she said, and Calhoun tilted his head to the side.

    "Don''t faint," he said to her, "I will need to bite you to wake you up," a small grin spread on his lips.

    "Don''t do that," Madeline quickly said in worry.

    Calhoun didn''t smell fear from her. Madeline was feeling aroused by his words and actions; he knew that. Calhoun knew where and what to speak, to have her emotions turn into a hurricane. His red eyes took in her facial expressions.

    "Do not be scared, my sweet girl," Calhoun coaxed her. Letting go of his hand from the third button, he brought it up to her face, brushing the back of his fingers on her cheek, "What you feel is the most natural and purest form of emotion that most of us go through. I told you before. I won''t do something that you won''t like but do things that both of us will like. Allow me to make you feel things," and it would be just him who would touch her.

    Madeline was the most precious thing he had everid his eyes on. The leash around his inner self had slipped out of his fingers and the thirst to have her blood, and the desire to have her was higher than ever before. Until he met her, Calhoun didn''t know if it was possible to have such strong emotions towards someone, that one day he woulde to possess those feelings for someone.

    "I would love to have blood from your neck but," he said, pausing for a second as his hand left the side of her face to go back to y with those buttons that were free at the top, "I would like to have you the way I want to. You will be my wife, and I see no reason to stop from taking what belongs to me. We can get married here," he proposed, to Madeline''s surprise.

    Here?

    "But there''s no God in here," she said, looking at him, her words innocent.

    "Good to know that you are willing to marry me right now," said Calhoun, and he stood up, making her stand along with him. This had Madeline to look at him startled. Was he nning to marry her right now?

    She looked left and right, "Calhoun?" she asked as he stepped to the side of the piano. Calhoun smiled at her. What did that smile mean? Were they getting married here?

    "Rx, sweet," said Calhoun, closing the gap between them, "So much anxiousness. Your heart will jump out like a fish."

    "Can you me me for that?" she questioned him, and Calhoun chuckled.

    "No. Allow me to fix that." Saying this Calhoun pushed the bench that creaked, moving away from them. He picked her up to make her to sit on keys of the instrument, leading for the pipe organ to create a ring sound, "What are you scared about?" this time his smile fell down from his lips.

    Madeline wondered on Calhoun''s question. She knew Calhoun would not do anything bad to her, and he had given his word that he wouldn''t do anything she wasn''t going to like. That this feeling she felt would go away.

    "I don''t know��" she whispered, breaking eye contact from his gaze to look at the shirt he wore. Two buttons of his shirt at the top had been left unbuttoned, letting his firm muscles on his chest peek through his shirt.

    She had epted to marry Calhoun, but there was certain darkness about him that made her wary yet curious about him.

    "You don''t know," he hummed to her response. Pushing her legs apart to make space, he stepped forward. Calhoun brought his hand forward to hold Madeline''s chin, "Then let us not worry about it until you figure out what it is."

    Calhoun ran his thumb over her lips. Lips that were soft and supple, just enough to make him want to bite on it but he wasn''t going to give her what she wanted. His ear picked the skip in her heartbeat as he continued to run his thumb on her lower bottom that parted itself, a sigh escaping her lips.

    What Madeline said and felt were two different things. It seemed like she was still trying to resist what she was feeling. Calhoun wanted to free her thoughts, wanting her to reveal them in front of him. To no one else but him. It thrilled him to see her body reacting to a simple touch like this. With the room that was long and empty, he had locked the room because he didn''t want anyone bothering his time with Madeline.

    Calhoun didn''t care if the castle or thend of Devon was on fire.

    Seeing Madeline who stopped adjusting herself on the piano because of her hands that kept pressing on the keys to create a different music, Calhoun finally let go of her chin. Leaning forward, he kissed her neck. Calhoun unbuttoned the next set of buttons that were at the top.

    Madeline gripped on the keys when his lips made contact with her neck. The kisses were ced carefully one after another. Her legs that were dangling on either side of Calhoun moved back by the feeling that was produced with every kiss of his.

    "I want to treasure you," she heard Calhoun say to her. One of his hands made its way to the back of her hair, tugging it that had her head thrown back and her back arched.

    Madeline flinched when he nipped her neck, enough to erupt pain without drawing out blood. In less than a few minutes, her breath turned shakey as if she had finished running. Her chest heaved for air, her breath shuddering as Calhoun''s lips moved down to the hollow base of her neck.

    Unable to sit still, Madeline''s movements only caused the keys to bring out more sounds.

    Calhoun didn''t mind it. He wanted to have her in a better ce where he could have her the way he wanted. With the buttons that were left open at the front, Calhoun''s lips traced down from her neck to her chest that was partly essible as he had not pushed the dress away, whilst he heard the sigh continue to escape from Madeline''s sweet lips.

 Chapter 216 Blaring keys and sighs- Part 2

    <h4>216 ring keys and sighs- Part 2</h4>

    More shuddering sighs escaped from her lips as his lips went lower. When she wanted to pull away, Calhoun''s hand made its way on her back, keeping her still, "You''re going to hurt your back if you push against the edge behind," Calhoun said to her as the back had a sharp edge. He didn''t want her to get hurt, but at the same time, he didn''t want her pulling away from his hold.

    Calhoun knew it was something normal people would not approve of, the way he worked and the way he now loved the girl. But he couldn''t help it. He wanted Madeline for himself, for her to need him, and he was more than delighted that she was slowly reaching out to him.

    "It tickles," whispered Madeline, and Calhoun smiled at her words.

    "Bear with it," said Calhoun. Pulling her back towards him and letting go of the hair, he brought her forward, "So far alright?" he asked, seeing her cheeks that had turned red. Madeline didn''t respond as she was more than shy. With his lips that had touched her chest, she didn''t have to look down to know that Calhoun had skillfully unbuttoned the front of her dress.

    Madeline and Calhoun stared into the eyes of each other. She was out of breath, and Calhoun had barely touched her.

    Carefully, he used both his hands to push the dress from the top around her neck and then shoulders, making space for him. In that time, he didn''t break his gaze from her. She looked nervous. But the way she looked right now, pink cheeks, her lips parted and her eyes in a daze, Calhoun continued to push the fabric down further away from her body allowing him to see those bare shoulders and the top part of her bosom.

    The way Calhoun looked at her openly with desire without being shy about it, everything was new to her. If she went by the first impression, Madeline was sure that Calhoun would pounce on her. But the big bad wolf was being gentle with her. It was something to think about.

    Somewhere, Madeline had been worried when Calhoun had mentioned that it wasn''t the neck but another part that he found to be intimate. For a fleeting moment in her mind, she didn''t know why she thought it would be somewhere near the top of her legs. Her cheeks turned redder at the thought of it.

    As if sensing her emotions, Calhoun asked, "What are you thinking?" he didn''t want her to be ufortable in his presence, nor by thinking about him.

    "Ah!"

    Hearing her own voice in the quiet room except for herboured breath and the few keynotes, she felt like she was going to die in embarrassment. But Calhoun didn''t give Madeline too?much time to ponder as he kissed the top of her breast again before opening his mouth to sink his fangs in there.

    Having never been bitten there before nor touched the way Calhoun had ced his mouth now, sucking the skin to draw blood out, Madeline''s toes continued to curl. Calhoun was right. This was way more intimate than a person biting the neck. When he sucked the skin, her back arched and his hand quickly moved behind to keep her close. The other hand of Calhoun moved from the side of her thigh to push her bottom closer towards him.

    Somewhere at the back of her mind, Madeline was worried that the dress would slip and the tips of her breasts would be seen but the thought was clouded with the sensation she felt by Calhoun''s ministrations.

    With her body almost sitting on the edge of the piano, she trembled when he pulled his mouth to only to get another bite on the tender skin.

    Madeline''s blood was sweeter than what he had tasted from her before. The more he drank blood from her, the more intoxicatingly sweet it got for him to hold back from having her. If they were married, he would have taken Madeline back to the room to get rid of her clothes before taking her in his arms. But the girl was dreaming about something more purer while he was waiting to turn the sheets crumpled and hear her cry out his name.

    He could feel her legs try to close in, to release or suffice the ball of need that had formed in her but he with him standing in between her legs, it restricted any possible friction to soothe the burning heat, and her body was quaking in his arms. He sucked harder on her skin, but this time reducing the intake of blood from her. Calhoun wanted her conscious, wanting to see those beautiful brown eyes of hers.

    When Calhoun retraced his fangs back, he licked the top of her bosom. Madeline shivered at the texture of his tongue that ran up more than where he had bitten her.

    Even with the number of candles that were lit on the sides and some parts of the front, the chapel of the castle was cold. And with Calhoun''s hands and tongue on Madeline, it only made her shiver.

    With her face contoured in emotions, Calhoun pulled back to run his fingertips on her bare skin. Her chest softly moved up and down, her eyes partly closed with her lips partially open to breathe in and out.

    As her eyes started to focus again, Madeline looked at Calhoun who was already looking at her. She watched him run his tongue over his lips and teeth, getting the possible blood that might have spilt while he drank her blood. Though Calhoun looked satisfied, Madeline felt her nerves were in a mess. Her body felt like it had elevated to another ce, left hanging in the middle by Calhoun withoutpleting whatever was to be given to her.

    But Calhoun had a serene look on his face as if he didn''t do anything. It only made Madeline question, if unknowingly, she wanted more...

    Calhoun noticed how she continued to struggle to stay still, her eyes trying to focus and her body aroused. His sweet little flower was blooming for him, turning sweeter and sweeter by the day but he wasn''t going to pluck it just like that. He was satisfied seeing her like this, her eyes needy yet her lips not speaking a word about it. He hadn''t moved away from her, and it only made things that much harder for her.

    "Do you want me to help you?" Calhoun offered her after noticing the look on her face.

    Madeline gulped the emotions that she felt between her legs and her beating heart, "No," came her whispered answer.

    Calhoun ce his hands on both sides of her, to create another ring sound from the instrument and the sounding from the pipes that was attached to the wall, "Why not?" he asked before saying, "If that is what you want." He offered her a sweet smile.

    Madeline saw him raise both his hands up, to pull the dress up that he had pushed down earlier. Just enough for him to look at the mounds, to stop it before her tips were seen. He started to button from the bottom up to the top. His eyes moved on the ground, before spotting the ckce, he picked it up.

    She had taken the opportunity to close her legs, her feet drawing back as her thighs closed and pressed against each other. But that didn''t reduce the feeling. Instead, it only felt like she had made it worse, and her emotions were set aze.

    She looked at thece in Calhoun''s hand, dusting it before putting it around her neck, to slowly tie it the way it had been there before he had pulled it out.

    Madeline looked at Calhoun, whose eyes were set on tying thece and positioning it.

    When he stepped back, Madeline finally ced her feet back on the ground. Walking towards the door, Madeline was about to open it, when Calhoun ced his hand on the door. She heard him say,

    "It would be much easier for you if you ask, but that''s alright," for a moment she didn''t understand what he was speaking about, "You know where to find me," he said and helped her to open the door which he had locked.

    Her footsteps slowed down in thought. As his words sank in her mind, her cheeks turned red again.

    Calhoun was inviting her to his room...

    She saw Calhoun walk forward before turning around as if he was waiting for her. The wicked smile had graced back on his lips.

 Chapter 217 Clash of sisters- Part 1

    <h4>217 sh of sisters- Part 1</h4>

    As Calhoun continued to smile, his eyes were curious to see what she would reply, Madeline said, "I will do something about it."

    "How is that?" came the instant question from him.

    Madeline didn''t know how and what she would do, but surely there would be a way where she wouldn''t need to ask his help. At least not in this matter, "I will ask my sister," replied Madeline to hear Calhoun chuckle, "What?" she asked him.

    Calhoun turned around to face her, "I wonder what a girl can advise when she has not been with a man and not touched. I have better advice." Madeline could feel Calhoun trying to coax her by igniting the fire through his words and gaze on her.

    "I don''t think it will be helpful if I asked you," answered Madeline. As they were no more inside the chapel but standing outside, she noticed his eyes that were clear. She wondered why the shade of his eyes kept changing. Sometimes they were dark, sometimes light.

    Calhoun moved to stand in front of her. She had to crane her neck to look up at him. His hand was quick to catch hold of thece that he had tied before, "I believed I showed my skills well. If you aren''t familiar yet, we can go back in there again to refresh your memory. Of how you sighed and moaned as my lips traced your skin."

    Madeline''s eyes widened at his words and quickly turned around, making sure no one heard what Calhoun just said to her, "You cannot go talking like that out loud. And just because one is untouched doesn''t mean they don''t know."

    Calhoun raised one of his brows, "I am intrigued by this conversation. Tell me what you know, and I will see if its right or wrong."

    "I would not utter such things," Madeline whispered, her lips pursing as she looked back at him. No person would tell things like that in the open.

    "Not replying is only going to make me think that you do not know anything about it," and Calhoun took one step forward to have Madeline take one back before he cornered her against the wall, "Tell me."

    Before Calhoun could make her speak about things that an unmarried girl was not supposed to utter, she decided to agree with him, "You are right, milord. I do not know anything about it."

    Madeline let out an involuntary shuddering sigh escaping through her lips, "D-don''t do t-that," she blurted, her body turning weak at the pleasure that heightened in her body.

    The expression that Madeline held right now on her face fascinated Calhoun. A mixture of need and want, arousal wafting in the air as she felt, something like that which she had never before. All these new sensations were catching Madeline off guard one after another. Calhoun had not slowed down with his attacks.

    "Were you telling me that you know how to please yourself?" Calhoun asked Madeline while gauging the expression on her face.

    He made sure to press his knee just enough for her heart to skip the beat. She was shy and scared, but curious at the same time. It was hard to let her go without teasing after seeing her aroused to the point of frustration. At the same time, Calhoun wanted to help her with it. To be the only person to handle and hold her heart, mind and body.

    Madeline felt tingling sensations in the past, but she didn''t know what to do about it. Not that there was any need to do anything as her feelings and emotions had never hit to such high emotions before. Emotions like these had never surfaced until she met Calhoun. She didn''t feel like that with anyone. With Calhoun, the colours of her emotions were not white and ck. They were a burst of different colours she wasing to experience.

    "Haa....! P-please," Madeline said when she felt the knee massage between her legs. Instead of making things better, it only aroused her more, and her eyes started to roll back, "I can do that myself, you don''t have to do that!" she said hurriedly. Her face turned red with embarrassment and her eyes anxiously looking at him. She saw Calhoun''s tongue peek from the corner of his mouth, running through the sides as if he was thinking about something.

    When Calhoun pulled his leg away from her, Madeline felt her body ache with need but she said nothing. He took his hand away. Madeline who stood against the wall, leaned forward to correct the front of her skirt where an evident crumple had been left because of Calhoun.

    They then heard footstepsing from the other side of the corridor.

    When she saw two maids who were walking in the corridor, bowing their head to the King and her. Madeline was d that Calhoun had pulled away from her without letting the maids see what they were doing. Did he hear theming, which was why he stepped back now, giving her time to breath? Asked Madeline to herself.

    She wanted to stab Calhoun!

    This was not help!

    This was like pouring oil to the existing fire and making her condition worse than before. He had only stirred the pot further, leaving Madeline''s cheeks pink. Her eyes looked at the walls and the ground where they stood.

    "Thedies might be looking for you,e, let me see you until there," Calhoun offered her, his expressionpletely calm and collected while she looked like a ruffled bird. In response, Madeline nodded her head.

    Thankfully by the time Madeline reached the front of the tearoom, she looked less flushed. She hadposed herself by thinking about other things that could rid the thoughts from her mind, "Lady Madeline, it is so good to see you join us," greeted Lady Lucy.

    Madeline was about to look at Calhoun, but the man had disappeared like a phantom. She turned around, searching for him as he was there with her a moment ago.

    "Everything alright?" asked Lady Lucy. The vampiress was curious about what Madeline was searching for, as she looked left and right.

    "The King��" Madeline whispered before shaking her head with a smile.

    Lady Lucy smiled and ced her hand on Madeline''s hand to bring her inside, "Missing brother Calhoun, are you?" the half-sister of the King teased her in front of the other twodies who were sitting there and having tea. Lady Rosamund and Sophie gave her a smile without getting up from their seats. Madeline bowed before she took her to sit next to Lady Lucy, "How many days are there for the wedding? Twenty days more?" Lucy asked.

    "Neen days," replied Madeline and Lucy nodded her head.

    "Days are passing by so quickly, isn''t it?" Lucy responded, leaning forward she was about to make tea when Madeline ced her hand on the young vampiress wrist.

    "Please let me do it," said Madeline. Thest time they had tea, it was Lucy who had prepared tea for both of them.

    Lucy shook her head, "How can I let the future queen serve tea to others."

    Madeline doubted she had ever met someone as sweet as Lucy Greville before. Even the girls in the vige weren''t as humble as her. It was hard to imagine that this person was not only a vampiress but also a former princess before she was married to the Duke, who was a scum.

    "It would be my pleasure to serve you tea. We are going to be sisters, I would like it if you addressed me as a sister rather than a queen," Madeline''s words touched Lucy, and she beamed.

    "I am so d that brother Calhoun chose you to be his wife," praised Lucy who was a kind-hearted person and wanted nothing, but the best for her family, "It is truly wonderful to have you in the castle, Lady Madeline. Isn''t that true, Aunt Rosamund?"

    Lady Rosamund, who had been witnessing Lucy''s fondness towards the human girl, ce her teacup down on the table to smile, "Yes, you are right. We are indeed lucky to have a future queen like her." Though Lucy didn''t know about her aunt''s schemes, that didn''t mean the older vampiress hadn''t exposed or shown her interest in the throne in front of Madeline. Both Madeline, as well as Rosamund, kept up a facade of niceness on their face.

    Madeline couldn''t believe that Lady Rosamund''s son, Markus Wilmot, had shown a liking towards her sister Beth. She hadn''t gotten the opportunity to know Markus, unlike, his mother and sister. Even during the time of the carriage ride where she was asked to step down, Markus had not spoken a word. Was he differentpared to his mother and sister? It was because Madeline hade to understand that Lady Rosamund had her eye on the throne. Maybe Markus liked a simple life with a simple girl? Madeline thought to herself.

    "It is good to have a Queen who is kind and humble," stated Lady Rosamund while Madeline had started to make tea, "But I am hoping that you and my nephew have discussed regarding the future. I am sure it would be hard to have you continue to live as a human. Considering how fragile a human''s life is,pared to a vampire," as the woman said this, the saucer slightly ttered in Madeline''s hand.

    "It is only right that you turn into one of us. There have been cases out of the court where humans turned to have a far worse condition simr to that of the mistresses. Locked in a dark room because of their withering appearance," said Rosamund in acklustre tone.

    .

    Note: Had to go out today so didn''t find time to write, will try to post next one after a few hours (but no promises)

 Chapter 218 Clash of sisters- Part 2

    <h4>218 sh of sisters- Part 2</h4>

    The King of Devon was a vampire, and the castle though filled with humans and vampires, there were some vampires who could feed on humans, sucking their blood.

    Madeline wasn''t sure she wanted to turn herself into a vampire because she never wished to turn into one.

    Seeing the silence fill in the room, Lady Lucy was the one who spoke, "There are still days to think about it. Lady Madeline would be ready after that. It isn''t like she''s getting old right away," the half-sister of the King smiled.

    Lady Rosamund was pleased to see Madeline''s expression of shock on her face, "You are right, Lucy. No need to worry about it now. It is just something to think about," the older vampiress smiled, bringing the teacup to her lips to take a sip.

    "If brother Calhoun has decided to marry you, I don''t think he will turn you to a mistress," Lucy assured Madeline, but that wasn''t what Madeline was worried about. Somewhere deep down, she wanted to continue living the way she was, without having to change herself. She didn''t want to turn to a vampire, no matter what benefits it had because with advantages came cons.

    "It was just a possible situation, Lucy dear," Lady Rosamund stated, "Things like that have happened in the past. Now that Madeline is going to be a family, we should look out for each other. It would be best to prepare her mind."

    Sophie, who was sitting quietly, finally spoke, "Maybe we should ask brother Calhoun, I am sure he would love to have the queen turn to a vampire and who can save herself. At least that would stop the mes to fall on others." The young vampiress was still angry and hurt over what happened in the forest when Madeline was attacked. It wasn''t her fault, but the King had threatened her.

    Madeline was not naive to not to pick at the taunting words, and she bowed her head at Sophie.

    "I am sorry for what happened, Lady Sophie. I hope your neck is feeling better," said Madeline, offering her sympathy.

    Sophie was about to remark back in spite when Lady Rosamund interrupted her to say, "It wasn''t your fault, Madeline. You shouldn''t apologize to Sophie." The words from her mother struck deep in Sophie, who had a look of shock on her face. Was her mother siding with the human? "There are so many people who would like to have the crown. You being the easiest target, your life will continue to be in danger. It is only the beginning."

    The threedies'' attentionpletely fell on Madeline. Sophie''s eyes widened, and Lady Rosamund''s eyes narrowed down at the human''s words, "What do you mean, Lady Madeline?" questioned Lady Rosamund, not liking Madeline''s tone.

    "I don''t think anyone has to worry about anything, when the rtives are not eyeing on the crown. It is because I heard the closest enemies are always found near to the crown, but it is good that it isn''t the case here," answered Madeline, and she smiled in the end.

    "Lady Madeline is right," Lucy agreed, "We have such good people in the family, it is only the outsiders. Brother Calhoun would never let anything bad happen to you or to any one of us. Not unless someone does something bad."

    Lady Rosamund, unable to hold her tongue, said, "I wonder about that sometimes. Your father was such a good King. Look what happened to him and your mother," the woman clicked her tongue, "There was so much security, yet the minister got the ess to murder them. Who would give such insights to him?"

    Madeline''s eyes quickly darted to look at Lady Lucy whose smile fell from her face. Calhoun had told her that he was the one who had killed the previous King and the Queen, but Lady Lucy didn''t know about it. She was left in the dark on who the actual killer was.

    "The minister had acquired it himself. He was helping the Warrings," answered Lucy, "Minister Merden had called father out in the undercrofts. It seems that he only had the intention to kill father, but mother hade out, looking for father and she��" the vampiress'' voice trailed to a whisper. It was evident that Lady Lucy felt pain at the loss of her parents.

    Madeline wondered what would happen if Lucy came to know the truth. That the King whom she adored killed her parents. That the half-brother whom she called as her own was the one to steal the people she loved and cause pain in her life.

    "I wonder why the Warrings even got the minister to do something like that, when it was them who offered the treaty of peace for the next two years," Lady Rosamund continued, "It is strange that they killed the King when it would not benefit them."

    This left Lady Lucy in some thought as she sat there in silence.

    The topic had moved from one corner to another, leaving Madeline to ponder on how far Lady Rosamund would try to go, to share the throne through her daughter.

    At the same time, Madeline had to be careful with her tongue. With her sister Beth, who was now dreaming of being with Lady Rosamund''s son, Markus Wilmot, she wondered how things would go down from here. Did thedy know about her son''s interest? Asked Madeline to herself.

    She remembered the first time they met, where the older vampiress had shown a strong disinterest and disregard towards Madeline as she came from the vige.

    Would she ept Beth to be her daughter-inw? Only time would tell how the events would roll out in the next few hours.

    After spending some more time in the tearoom, thedies finally left, and Madeline went to check on her family. Wanting to make sure they were alright, she asked the maids who were assigned to her, to help her family if they needed anything.

    Finally, during the time of supper, everyone arrived to take a seat at the table in the dining room. The first ones toe were the Harris'' family and then it was the Wilmot''s.

    "Sophie told me that we had guests," said Lady Rosamund looking at the humans who were sitting on the other side of the table from her. Calhoun who sat at the head of the table, replied,

    "I asked the Harris'' family toe and stay in the castle so that they can actively take part in the wedding preparations. Meet Madeline''s family, Mr. and Mrs. Harris, and their elder daughter Elizabeth."

    "How nice to see you all here," Lady Rosamund put up a weing smile on her face, "I was hoping to meet the family. I am Rosamund Wilmot, and this is my daughter Sophie."

    "This here is my half-sister. Lucy Greville," Calhoun introduced her to everyone.

    Mr. and Mrs. Harris smiled at the vampire family. They felt like they had heard thest name before. It sounded too familiar and Mrs. Harris, couldn''t help but ask,

    "Are you by chance rted to Markus Wilmot?"

    Lady Rosamund had a look of surprise on her face, "Yes. He is my son. Do you know him?" the older vampiress asked with an oblivious look on her face as if she didn''t know her son had spoken to this lowly family.

    Beth had a look of shock on her face, and Sophie''s expression wasn''t too far away from it, staring at each other in realization.

    The older daughter of Harris was in pain, and she had been feeling sick since the time the mutt had bitten her hand. The pain was unbearable, that had moved from her wrist to her arm. At first, she had decided not to step out of the room as it was morefortable than the bed back in their house that had turned hard by overusing it.

    Since it was the first day in the castle, she didn''t want to miss supper. Now that she was here in the castle, she wanted to make full use of this opportunity, to show how beautiful and smart she was. That she was the better choice. In pain, she had made her way to the dining room only toe face to face in front of the vampiress who had belittled her.

    To make it worse, during the introduction, she found out that the proud vampiress was not only the King''s cousin, that she was Markus Wilmot''s blood sister.

    If she wanted Markus to continue pursuing her, Beth couldn''t get on the wrong side of his family. Sophie continued to re while Beth tried to school down her expression of shock and finally offered the vampiress a sweet smile like she was the kindest and sweetest person in this room.

 Chapter 219 Clash of sisters- Part 3

    <h4>219 sh of sisters- Part 3</h4>

    He smiled along with his wife, not wanting to cause any trouble for their daughter Beth.

    "Yes, we have met already," answered Mr. Harris without bringing up the time and situation of how they met. With the King here, Mr. Harris believed it was better to avoid the topic. The King had set his eyes on his younger daughter Madeline, and he was about to marry her soon. Mr. Harris wanted both of his daughters to be happy, and not wanting the other family''s rage to befall on his daughters.

    "How wonderful. I wonder why I didn''t hear about it," remarked Lady Rosamund, "It is good to know and make connections with the people who the King knows. It has been a while since most of the family members have sat together at the table. Doesn''t it feel nice, milord," Rosamund asked Calhoun.

    Calhoun who was looking and listening to the two families converse, smiled at his aunt''s question,

    "Very much so. Thest time when these many rted family members sat down here at the table was, when the King and the Queen died," he offered his aunt a smile who awkwardly returned it, "It is good to have people at the dining table," he paused for a second before saying, "Still, I believe it is also good to have one or two, people whom you can trust, right?" he chimed in question.

    "Yes, but it gets lonely. Doesn''t it," replied Lady Rosamund, "Even a small house is much better than the bigger one and living alone in it."

    "Hm," Calhoun responded to say, "We all shall take it that uncle and you will move to a small house once Markus and Sophie get married else that would be like going back to the words you spoke now."

    "My nephew likes to joke at the table," said Lady Rosamund to Mr. and Mrs. Harris who sat in front of her.

    Calhoun didn''t ignore it and said, "That is what my aunt likes to think," and he raised his ss of wine to take a drink from it.

    Whilst they were having their supper which was extravagant in Harris'' eyes as they were not used to having so many varieties and delicacies to eat, Beth couldn''t help but take a piece of everything that she could taste with her right hand.

    "What happened to your hand, Elizabeth?" asked Lady Rosamund after noticing how the human girl was making use of just one hand instead of two. Unable to hold and cut the meat with only one hand, Beth was struggling when it came to the cutting the food.

    Beth smiled, "It was nothing, just a small wound," she replied to Lady Rosamund.

    She could hardly believe that she was meeting Markus'' family.

    With Sophie, who had already informed about the human being bit by the wolf, Lady Rosamund responded, "A small wound and such a big kerchief to be wrapped?"

    "That''s what happens when you step out of line," murmured Sophie under her breath, who was seated diagonally from Beth.

    Beth gave out a smallugh, she didn''t want to admit in front of everyone that she had got bit by a wolf, "There was too much of blood-"

    "I am surprised, Miss Elizabeth," came the voice of the King from the head of the table. Beth turned and leaned forward with a questionable look on her face.

    "Milord?" asked Beth. Her skin tingled when she looked at the King''s handsome face this close. The truth was both of them were sitting on far ends, but to Beth, it wasn''t every day she got to see the King and not everyone were lucky to be in his presence.

    Calhoun took his time to sip the wine he had raised, making the girl wait along with others who were listening in on the conversation that was taking ce at the table.

    He said, "What did you do to get bitten by the wolf? My wolves don''t indulge themselves in something that doesn''t interest them unless they find a person to be a threat."

    Beth''s face turned red with embarrassment, "I was just standing there, milord," she answered, her eyebrows furrowed before looking at her food. She then heard Calhoun ask,

    "Are you sure about that?"

    Calhoun had not toyed and teased Madeline today. But that didn''t mean he would spare others?who were at the table. Making people ufortable was his forte, and it delighted his eyes to see them squirm.

    Madeline wanted to warn Beth not to lie and make up reasons with Calhoun as it would be nothing less, to her sister digging the ground for herself.

    Beth gave out another surprised expression on her face. The King was there with her when her hand was bleeding, why was he asking her again? She nodded her head, "I wouldn''t harm animals, milord. I love animals, especially the wolves you have in here, they are gorgeous. I didn''t know what happened," she feigned innocence.

    Calhoun continued to stare at Beth as he chewed the food slowly and a knowing smile appeared on his face.

    "The wolves must have sniffed the bad odour and character," said Sophie who looked at Beth with raised eyebrows, "Wolves are allergic to the lowly cu-" Sophie stopped when her mother''s nails dug into her hand under the table.

    "Everyone appears to be in a good mood today," Lady Rosamundughed while her nails continued to dig into Sophie''s hand so that her daughter would not cause any damage, "Did you get the wound cleaned? Sometimes it can cause infection. A wolf''s bite can be fatal," she told Beth.

    Beth bowed her head, "Madeline helped me with it."

    "That''s good to hear," Lady Rosamund replied and finally let go of her daughter''s hand to pick up the food near her, "It must be tough eating with just one hand."

    "I am managing it. My sister had the maids help me in the room," answered Beth to have Lady Rosamund give her curt nod.

    When Lady Rosamund went back to eat her food, Beth''s eyes fell on Sophie, her eyes narrowing at the vampiress. The impudent girl had gone to badmouth her in front of everyone. Beth was only d that Lady Rosamund was being nice to her.

    Madeline felt the tension at the table that came from her sister Beth and Sophie, who were sitting near each other. She was d that she was sitting next to Calhoun and not on the other side to witness and be asked by her sister on why she failed to inform Beth about Sophie being Markus'' sister.

    When her eyes looked at Calhoun, who was looking at his aunt and his sister, his gaze shifted to look at Madeline. She wondered if Calhoun was thinking about what she had told him earlier in the chapel.

    Calhoun who was eating his food while looking at her, raised his hand with the fork and meat in it, "Try it," he said loud enough for everyone to hear at the table.

    Madeline''s eyes widened, and she felt the table go quiet.

    Not wanting to prolong people watching her, she leaned forward to take a bite of the meat and to chew it. Her cheeks turned pink without looking at anyone else before going back to eat.

    Calhoun was not done feeding her, he cut another piece of meat, adding pepper on it before bringing it back in front of Madeline''s mouth. Madeline wanted to remind him that she had hands and had ess to pepper but with many people in the dining room, being rude to the King would onlynd her in trouble while also dragging the time unnecessarily.

    It was only the King who was forward while the rest looked at the action with an incredulous and shocked look on their face.

    Sophie''s mood turned worse as she witnessed the scene in front of her. She had somehow tried to hide her displeasure about Madeline''s marriage with Calhoun. From worse it turned to a foul one after she found out who her brother was pursuing and now this. She gripped on the knife that she held in her hand.

    The crown was slipping through her fingers which she thought she had held on was something hard for Sophie to digest. She saw how Calhoun raised his hand for the human and looked at her with care in his eyes. Even though they were close cousins, getting noticed by the King was hard.

    Sophie seethed in jealousy and anger. But she wasn''t the only one at the table whose thoughts were warped in envy. Beth until then, who had a smile on her lips after Lady Rosamund spoke to her thoughtfully, her smile fell, noticing how the King looked at Madeline. Unashamedly, the King was feeding her from his te.

    Mr. and Mrs. Harris turned back to eat their food, and so did Lucy with a small smile, not wanting to interrupt the couple.

    Madeline who leaned forward to take a bite felt the fork being slightly pulled back yfully by Calhoun. From the fork, her eyes looked up to meet his eyes that stared at her.

    He didn''t let her take the bite; instead, he took the meat to swipe it across her bottom lips before putting in between her lips and letting her eat. Madeline ran her tongue over her lips, and a wicked smile appeared on his lips with a glint of amusement in his eyes.

    Sophie, who was watching the scene gripped the cutlery even tighter in her hands.

    Imagining the food was the human on her te, she moved her hand with the fork straight at the crab while her eyes were still on Madeline.

    The force she used was so much that it not only shook the te which was in front of her, but it also toppled the crab from her te to go flying and fall on the person''s face sitting one seat diagonal in front of her.

 Chapter 220 Supper in the castle- Part 1

    <h4>220 Supper in the castle- Part 1</h4>

    It took a second more, following everyone''s line of gaze, when she noticed Beth''s face that was sttered with the crab and its seasoning. The crab had gone to slide and fall down on Beth''s chest. Madeline''s eyes widened over the sight, wondering how the crab got there. Did Sophie throw the crab on her sister''s face?

    Beth looked agitated but she tried not to show her rage now. She red at Sophie.

    "Oh my! Are you alright, dear?" asked Lady Rosamund to Beth. Mrs. Harris, who was sitting next to Beth, took hold of the crab to drop it on another te and cleaned the mess on her face.

    Beth wanted to shout at Sophie, instead she put up a quick smile on her face, "I am alright," her eyes then turned to look at Sophie, "Lady Sophie, why would you throw the crab at me?" Beth had been busy staring at the King and her sister who was being fed when the crab came flying to smack on her face. She knew Sophie and her had started on the wrong foot but wasn''t this vampiress being petty?

    "I apologise, Lady Elizabeth," Sophie''s words contained little to no remorse towards what took ce. She instead wanted tough in the face of the girl. But with everyone watching them, especially Calhoun and her mother, she put up an innocent face, "I didn''t know the crab would fly. Please use this," said Sophie, offering her napkin across the table.

    Beth didn''t take it. To be smacked with food in front of everyone, was humiliating! "Crabs don''t fly, they are made to fly by throwing, mdy," Beth responded back who noticed how Sophie looked at her unapologetically.

    "Are you telling I did it on purpose?" Sophie asked with a scoff, "I have other better things to do than to be involved with the likes of you."

    Lady Rosamund tried to get her daughter to be quiet but Sophie didn''t heed to her warning. It was clear that there was some mutual dislike going on in between Sophie and Beth.

    "I don''t know. Am I?" asked Beth in a whisper.

    Calhoun who could see everything clearly from where he sat, had a wicked smile on his lips. He enjoyed things like this, "Aunt Rosamund, it looks like little Sophie needs to be educated well with what can fly and what cannot," taunted Calhoun with a teasing smile.

    Sophie''s face turned red over Calhoun''s words. But Calhoun was not done speaking. His eyes turned to Beth, "Lady Elizabeth, I am sure you can forgive our dear Sophie''s action," he smiled looking at the elder daughter of Harris. His eyes held something very dangerous that said he wouldn''t tolerate if his words were defied.

    This had left Sophie embarrassed. She quietly red at Elizabeth, over how the human made it to look as if it was Sophie''s fault now. This little bitch! She couldn''t believe Markus was trying to woo this girl!

    "Milord," a servant appered at the door of the dining room, "Sir Markus is here," announced the servant.

    "Ask him to join us in the dining room," Calhoun waved his hand to the servant, "How odd that Markus is being shy toe and have dinner with us," hemented noticing Lady Rosamund furrow her brows after the servant''s announcement. The truth was that Calhoun had ordered the servants to stop Markus or anyone else from directly getting an ess to the inside of the castle.

    When Markus Wilmot arrived, he stepped inside the room and bowed to show his respect and love to the King which was nothing but a farce.

    "Long live the King," Markus said.

    "Undoubtedly, that I will,"mented Calhoun at Markus'' words, "Take a seat, Markus."

    The vampire looked around the table, noticing there were people at the dining table that included his family and the Harris'' family.

    Beth was more than happy to see Markus Wilmot who had made his presence in this room. When his eyes met her and her parents'' he bowed his head, offering them a smile before walking to the empty seat that was next to his sister Sophie and sat down.

    "I was expecting to see you with your mother and sister. What took you so long?" questioned Calhoun to his cousin brother who turned to look at Calhoun.

    Markus replied, "I had to go to the town because mother wanted to check if the tailorman had got her dress stitched," he gave a solemn look.

    "And here I thought you went to work with Uncle to get thend levelled for the mansion as said by your mother," said Calhoun, putting his fork into his mouth while looking at Markus.

    The vampire smiled, "I went for it too,milord," Markus replied before looking at his mother who stared back at him.

    Calhoun had only started with his amusement at the dining table. He remarked, "Interesting that clothes are the first thing that''s at the top of your head and not thend that you have been working on," he turned to look at his aunt Rosamund, "What a doting son you have raised."

    Lady Rosamund had said something while Markus had told another. The older vampiress was d that her son was sensible enough in salvaging a situation. On the King''s words, she offered a warm smile, "Markus knows how much I like getting the gowns stitched and don''t like repeating them too many times. He knows his priorities."

    "Mother''s wishese first and then the rest," agreed Markus like the good son he was.

    Calhoun nodded his head, "Having priorities are good. But it''s also wise to keep the priorities within one''s boundary so that it doesn''t sh with others. No?" Calhoun smiled looking at everyone, without hovering too long on a person. It made the people there think and question what the King was actually speaking about. His words were vague, making them question if it was somewhere pointing to them.

    Madeline, who sat close to Calhoun, noticed the King smile as if he meant no harm to anyone.

    "The King is right," said Lady Rosamund, raising her ss up as if in toast and everyone at the table raised their sses, "We are all privileged to have a King like you, milord."

    Calhoun continued to smile, the smile broadened on his face, "Let''s continue to eat and make sure to see that no one tests if crabs can fly or not. Yes?" he said, his eyes falling on Sophie whose cheeks turned red.

    By the time Markus had entered the dining room, Beth had cleaned herself and her dress from all the crab meat on her. Markus had a quizzical look on his face.

    Though Calhoun had asked everyone to continue eating, his eyes were still on his cousins. He twirled the tip of his fork on the te without making any noise. His eyes narrowed in thought. Madeline had mentioned how Markus was helping her parents in rebuilding the shop.

    Since when did Markus turn to be such a benevolent man?

    "Mr. Harris," Calhoun addressed Madeline''s father for the old man to quickly look at the King who had called him, "How is the shop flourishing?" he asked.

    Madeline''s eyes and body turned alert when Calhoun questioned her father. It seemed like Calhoun was going to speak about the shop that was torn down. Even though he knew what happened, he was testing her father. She knew her parents had decided not to bring the matter in front of the King. ording to them, it was the King who had ordered to tear and destroy the shop that was given as a gift earlier to them.

    Her father who was sitting on her right pursed his lips. The man didn''t know why the King was asking about the shop, was he being sarcastic and trying to taunt and rub salt over their wounds, Mr. Harris asked himself. He was about to reply to it?when the King said,

    "I heard something happened to the shop," said Calhoun, his red eyes looking at Mr. Harris.

    Both Mr. and Mrs. Harris turned tense. The King was surely strange to ask about something he was responsible for, thought the elderly couple in their mind.

    Mr. Harris apprehensively replied, "A few days ago, someone came and demolished the shop telling it was an order that was passed by the King." With the King who was asking directly, Mr. Harris believed it was better to tell what happened to the King.

    Lady Rosamund, stopped moving her fork and knife and eximed, "The King would never order something like that!" She spoke as if she had no clue with the matter and wanted to know what happened.

    Calhoun raised his brow while he continued to look at Mr. Harris, "And you didn''t care to inform me about it?" Everyone at the table who were eating or drinking had stopped to look at the King.

    Even though the night was cold, Mrs. Harris felt a sweat break through her forehead at the question that the King asked.

    "Did you think it was done by me?" questioned Calhoun, his voice turning cold that only made the others nervous at the table.

    "Milord, there was the seal of the royal court-" Beth started to only be interrupted by Calhoun,

    "I am speaking with your father, Miss Elizabeth. I don''t remember questioning you. Did I?" he tilted his head, his voice cold and Beth''s face turned far redder than the time when the crab had smacked her face.

    "My apologies, milord," she whispered like a mouse and bowed her head.

    Calhoun stared at the girl, his eyes narrowed until a smile cracked on his lips, "I was only joking. What royal court?" he asked in interest.

    Beth looked stressed because of the King''s words. She had left her room in the hope to make good impression on others, but since she had taken a seat at this dining table, it felt like she had stepped on bad luck that was stuck with her.

 Chapter 221 Supper in the castle- Part 2

    <h4>221 Supper in the castle- Part 2</h4>

    Hearing this, Madeline felt her heart sink. She turned to look at her father in worry that they had to witness something like that.

    Calhoun asked again, "And how did you know that the order was from the royal court?"

    Beth said, "When the shop was being broken down, Mr. Wilmot was passing by. He confirmed it." She had already seen the seal when the invitation has been sent to their house.

    "How fortunate," Calhoun chimed, the two words dripped in sarcasm but the Wilmot''s didn''t change their expressions. They knew the humans were stupid enough to go bbering about it in the future.

    With Markus'' name that came up in the conversation, the vampire turned to the King, "My King, I was there when the unfortunate incident took ce. Ms. Harris is right. The parchment held the seal of the court."

    Calhoun dropped his forks and knives on the surface of the table. Bringing both of his elbows to ce on the table and interlocked his fingers together, he ced his chin on top of them, "Did you know that they were rted to Madeline? That they were Madeline''s family?" asked Calhoun to Markus.

    "No, milord," answered Markus, "I didn''t know they were rted to her at fir-"

    "But you knew about itter," stated Calhoun, his eyes calmly looking at his cousin who held a serious look on his face.

    Compared to his previous response which was quick, Markus took a second to answer, "Yes, milord."

    "How strange that neither Harris nor you reported it to me," Calhoun said, his eyes shifting to look at Harris'' family.

    Madeline wanted to speak, to tell Calhoun that her parents were only worried that they had done something bad and the King was reprimanding them for it. She hadn''t expected Calhoun to bring the conversation at the table today, to clear it. This would allow and let her parents know that it wasn''t him who had asked to destroy the shop.

    When she turned to look at her parents, she noticed the slight shock on their face. It seemed like, they were now realising it wasn''t Calhoun who had ordered it.

    "Pardon me, milord," Markus apologised, bowing his head, "I didn''t want to raise questions on your decision or orders."

    "What good subjects I have,"mented Calhoun, without looking away from Markus. He then looked at Madeline''s parents, "It seems like someone fooled you and got the shop torn down. The next time if something like this happens, I would like you to send a letter immediately to me or contact the minister of the vige. I am sure he will respond to you unless he''s been bribed and doesn''t care about his dear life," he smiled saying this.

    Calhoun gave him a nod.

    Madeline felt relieved that her parents didn''t have to be worry about the King harming them. When her eyes met his, a faint smile appeared on her lips and Calhoun tipped his chin returning the smile before continuing his meal.

    Right now in Madeline''s eyes, Calhoun shared the attributes of a bad wolf but there were also some admirable qualities.

    Madeline was not in love with Calhoun but she was allowing herself to acknowledge and ept the King. It was the wisest thing to do if she was going to be stuck with him. Calhoun had stirred physical feelings in her and even though she tried to ignore it, the heat that she felt was something that returned, everytime her mind went to what happened at the chapel of the castle which she doubted was a holy ce because Calhoun had done unholy things with her there. Bringing her legs closer she squeezed her thighs together.

    Quickly, she took a bite of food and started to eat. Chewing it so that her thoughts wouldn''t dwell on it.

    On the other side of the table, Beth who was eating raised her eyes to look at Markus who was eating too. When their eyes met, the man smiled and his eyes fell on her hand,

    "What happened to your hand, Lady Elizabeth?" he inquired with a small frown of concern.

    Beth noticed how Markus'' sister coughed when he asked the question. Now she wished that she should have listened to her sister Madeline, to not to go near the wolves and stay away from them. Instead of receiving sympathy, she was getting the wrong attention.

    "It was nothing," Beth decided to brush it as if it was nothing.

    Just because Markus was wooing her, it didn''t mean she could take things lightly from here. Who knew that Markus was rted to the King. Beth didn''t like his sister Sophie and she would have to do something about it. Maybe getting her married quickly would help, so that they wouldn''t have to live under the same roof. She gave Markus a sweet smile, tucking her ck strands of hair behind her ear before picking up the fork to eat.

    When Calhoun was done eating, he said, "I have ordered the tailorman toe tomorrow, instead of today so that you can take some more time to settle in," he looked at Harris'' family who bowed their head and whispered thank you, "If you need anything ask the servants and they will bring it to you."

    He then stood up, giving a look at Madeline who was looking at him. Without another word, he stepped out of the dining room.

    Lady Lucy who had been quiet, said to Madeline''s family, "I am sorry to hear what happened to your shop. Brother Calhoun has many enemies and word must have spread that you are the future Queen''s family."

    Mrs. Harris offered the vampiress a smile. All this time, they had thought it was the King who had tried to destroy the shop but it wasn''t so. She looked at the family vampires in front of her. Lady Rosamund and Lady Sophie were the first ones to leave, who were then followed by Lady Lucy.

    Madeline who was still sitting at the table with her family noticed how Markus and Beth looked at each other, stealing nces and smiling at each other. It made her question again if Markus was seriously pursuing Beth. Lady Rosamund had been polite to her sister, was it because Markus took interest in Beth?

    In one of the many rooms of the castle, Calhoun sat in front of the firece after leaving the dining room.

    He looked at the burning fire, getting up from the chair, he walked towards the firece and sat down to push the logs of the woods to hear them crackle.

    "Did the dinner go as you expected, milord?" asked Theodore who stood next to the table of liquors, pouring alcohol into the sses.

    "Barely amusing," replied Calhoun with his eyes still on the woods, "I need you to keep a closer eye on Madeline and the others. Report on every single person on who does what. Where they go. Something seems to be brewing. "

    "Consider it to be done, my King," came the solemn answer from Theodore. The man walked to where Calhoun was to hand the drink, "Did Lady Madeline''s family say anything."

    Calhoun cocked his head to the side after taking the drink and looked back at the firece. It seemed like the older daughter of the Harris'' was a bbermouth, not knowing when to stop talking, "My dear Aunt is up to something. She''s set up Markus this time in the race for the throne."

    "Would you want me to do something about it?" asked Theodore.

    "That won''t be needed. He''s following the trail of the mousetrap, he will expose himself and it will be easier to remove him then," replied Calhoun. He stood up straight and took a sip.

    Calhoun was not unaware of his rtives interests when it involved the throne. Everyone were thirsty for the power, that the position held. But Calhoun''s thirst was higher than others and he had taken it. Since the time he had be the King, he knew how displeased the others were that they had missed the opportunity to have the throne for themselves.

    All these years, he had been ying with them, letting the opportunity dangle in front of them to only pull it back. But he didn''t like that they were involving Madeline''s parents in it.

    Finishing his ss, Calhoun said, "I would like to kill a couple of them in good time but for good reasons," he said raising his brows, "Of course, the good reasons would be portrayed to my dear girl even though if they are actually bad." He didn''t want her running to the hills, not that she had an option to do it.

    Thinking about Madeline, Calhoun couldn''t stop the thoughts of wanting to have her close where he could see her. He was trying to be patient but he doubted it was going to stay that way until the time of their wedding. There were neen more days left for their wedding.

    Calhoun didn''t give a fuck about other ns. But if they tried to disrupt his ns, he would make sure to serve them in a way where they would wish for death.

    He was letting her to get ustomed to him, taking her space and filling her thoughts with him. Calhoun wanted her to know how it felt like, when something was denied and made to have waited to the brink. To torture her.

    Leaving Theodore behind, Calhoun left the room. Making his way to his quarters, when he heard voicese from the other side of the corridor, where not many came to wander. The corridor was dark and quiet but Calhoun had a very good ear. His footsteps slowed down when he heard,

    "Stop getting into things that don''t concern you, sister!" warned Markus'' to Sophie who now stood in front of him with her hands clutched to her sides, "Why don''t you go y with your dolls and leave everything to the adults?"

    "I am not six, Mark. I saw how you were looking at her. Are you seriously nning to marry her?!" Sophie raised her voice.

    Before Markus could get Sophie to close her mouth, Calhoun asked,

    "Who is marrying whom?" and both the Wilmot''s siblings snapped their head in the direction where Calhoun''s voice came from.

 Chapter 222 In the night- Part 1

    <h4>222 In the night- Part 1</h4>

    When Calhoun stepped forward from the shadows that had engulfed him, Markus cursed Sophie''s big mouth in his mind. She had the habit of intruding on things that didn''t involve her directly. His mother had put him to work while leaving Sophie in the dark. He wondered how much of the conversation Calhoun had heard as the King stepped forward to where they were.

    "Markus, my favourite cousin," remarked Calhoun with a bright smile, his lips pulling up, "I didn''t know you were wooing the girl."

    Markus smiled at Calhoun''s words. Elizabeth Harris would have told about him to Lady Madeline, which was possible that it had reached Calhoun''s ear, "My King," he bowed his head. Sophie quickly followed her brother''s suit, "Sophie just found out about my interest in Miss Harris."

    "You should be more specific with your words, Markus," stated Calhoun, "There are two Miss Harris," Calhoun ced his hand on Markus'' shoulder, "You wouldn''t want me to get the wrong idea, about you wanting to woo the girl who belongs to me. Do you?" If anyone from afar saw the King now, one would think that he was merely speaking to his cousins, catching up with each other as he smiled.

    "Miss Elizabeth Harris," Markus corrected, and Calhoun nodded his head.

    "It is such a small world, isn''t it?" said Calhoun, "I am marrying Madeline, you are wooing her sister. Now only if Mr. and Mrs. Harris had a son," saying this, he turned to look at Sophie, who gritted her teeth.

    Sophie bowed her head, "Forgive me beforehand, brother Calhoun, but I would rather prefer to marry a vampire than a human."

    Calhoun said, "That''s understandable. Given how you grew up, it would be hard for you to live with humans. But I must say, Sophie. I enjoyed the little scene when you threw the crab." Sophie quickly turned embarrassed.

    "It wasn''t my intention to do it!" Sophie eximed, her eyes anxiously looking at Calhoun.

    "Hm," Calhoun responded, still smiling as he looked at her.

    The King was only teasing his cousin sister, who was easily flustered right now. His eyes slowly went to take a look at her hand. There were nail marks on her forearm which was visible as the sleeves of her dress stopped before it reached her elbows. It seemed that his aunt had pierced Sophie''s arm when she had spoken to Elizabeth Harris.

    Calhoun knew that Markus and Sophie were not stupid enough to scheme something out in the open. That it was only Sophie was having a problem with Markus'' interest in Madeline''s elder sister. He had already heard from Theodore about Markus'' visits to the vige of East Carswell and was spotted spending more time with Elizabeth.

    "What is your mother''s opinion about it?" Calhoun turned to ask Markus, "I am sure, with the way she took an interest in a lowly human girl, she has already epted her as the Wilmot''s daughter-inw?" he raised his eyebrows.

    Markus was not present in the dining room when his mother had inquired about Elizabeth. Therefore he didn''t know how much his mother had spoken to Elizabeth and about what. The vampire answered, "Yes, milord. It is just Sophie, who is having a hard time epting it."

    Sophie smiled at her brother. Then she bowed her head at both of them to say, "Please excuse me. I want to go to sleep in my room." She would talk to Markus tomorrow. With the King here, she didn''t want to question or speak about that human whom he nned to marry.

    Calhoun nodded his head in approval, and the vampiress left.

    With just the King and his cousin in the empty and dark corridor, Calhoun didn''t let go of Markus'' shoulder.

    "Markus. How long have we known each other?" questioned Calhoun.

    Markus didn''t know why Calhoun suddenly asked this question, but he answered, "It has been more than a decade."

    "A decade has many years and months, doesn''t it?" Calhoun''s words were not a question as he continued to speak, "Then it should be guaranteed that as cousins where we have spent decent hours, I know that you hate humans. Right?"

    Markus stared at Calhoun. A small smile appeared on his face. He said, "I don''t think I ever mentioned hating the humans."

    "I sometimes feel like, I have people around me, who are suffering from memory loss. But that''s alright," said Calhoun, "Come let''s take a walk," he suggested without letting go of Markus'' shoulder.

    Markus cursed his sister for creating a scene out in the open when they were still in the castle. After seeing Beth off from the dining room, Sophie had followed him, persistently asking him questions that had led to them ending up in the ce where they were standing earlier to be caught by Calhoun. His sister was a dimwit who didn''t know where and what to talk.

    Calhoun continued, "Let me help you remember it. You burned the entire house of a servant with his family because you believed he had disrespected you."

    Markus'' eyes slightly widened at the King''s words. The matter had been closed and brushed away, without anyone knowing about it. Even his father didn''t know about it. How did Calhoun know then? "I am sorry, milord-"

    "You don''t have to be shy, Mark," came the calm and collected voice of Calhoun, "All of us have done something. You don''t have to feel ashamed," turning his eyes on his cousin, Calhoun smiled.

    That was something he would like to agree, Markus thought to himself. But even though he and his family members knew Calhoun was involved in someone''s death, the man had never been pointed at because of theck of evidence against him.

    Seeing Markus not being able to deny, yet not confirming it, Calhoun continued to say, "I know how much hate you have towards the humans. Most of the vampires feel that way."

    "Don''t you feel the same, my King?" asked Markus, "Maybe Lady Madeline''s family is an exception."

    Calhoun chuckled, "I wonder about it. But I would like to say no. You forget that I wasn''t brought up in the castle, but outside where the days are dire," Calhoun slowly stopped walking to have Markus stop too. His grip tightened on Markus'' shoulder, making his cousin flinch slightly, "I am hoping that you are not stupid and will pull out some stunt that I might not like. It was only some time ago where someone shot an arrow at Madeline. I will pray that you aren''t involved in it for your own sake."

    The threat was not subtle. Calhoun was making Markus know that his eyes were on him. One mistake, that is all he was waiting for.

    Apart from the Kings who ruled thends, there was a higher ce that was controlled by some of the older people which was collectively called the High House. The people there made sure not to let the Kings and the others misuse their powers and status. Yet, at the same time, it was funny how there were spies and wars. They hadws spread across thends, eyes watching people. And if Calhoun was not wrong, he was one of the person who had fallen under the eyes of the High House.

    If Calhoun wanted to eliminate people who were rted to the royal family, he would need a solid proof and involvement about them. Right now, his focus was more on Madeline while hezily sat back to see others step on his spider web.

    Markus nodded his head, "I will never do anything to hurt, Miss Elizabeth," he assured the King. Calhoun gripped his hand tighter again. Markus tried not to react, to show he was weakpared to the King.

    "d to hear those words. Also, I have some important work for you. It seems like someone used the sealed parchments from the castle, using it to harm the Harris'' family. Find out who was involved in it. Also, find the men who are now missing, who were previously assigned to work in Mr. Harris in his shop," Calhoun titled his head to the side, waiting for Markus to speak.

    "Yes, milord. I will do that," Markus replied, and finally, Calhoun let go of his shoulder.

    Calhoun patted Markus'' back and said, "Make sure to bring the culprits to me. I would make sure the person''s family suffers. Have a goodnight, then."

    "Yes, milord," Markus bowed his head, "Please have a goodnight."

    "What makes you think I will have a bad night?" asked Calhoun. Markus let out a smallugh.

    "It is an expression, milord," Markus didn''t know why he ended up here, alone with Calhoun. At least when there were other''s, Markus was less targeted with Calhoun''s words. Markus didn''t know how Calhoun even ended up to be part of the castle in the past. Many rumours were involved with the King of Devon.

    Calhoun looked at him with an intense gaze before saying, "Remember to lock the doors of your room," and he left.

    Markus stood in the corridor who had a frown on his face, wondering what Calhoun meant.

    In the King''s quarters, Madeline stood in her room''s balcony, staring at the sky. She wanted to spend more time with her family; maybe share the room with her sister Beth so that they could speak like the old times. But somewhere, Madeline felt that Beth wanted to spend her time alone in the room.

    Madeline was not blind, to not to see how the castle and the things around made Beth extremely happy. It was understandable, considering how Beth had always wished for this kind of life. Standing alone now, Madeline exhaled the air through her lips.

    A sudden gust of cold wind blew, she shivered. Madeline was about to get back inside. She caught something from the corner of her eyes move near the statue. When Madeline turned her eyes, there was nothing there. She stared at it for a few more seconds, and when she saw nothing, Madeline turned around to step back inside the room.

    Feeling slightly anxious, she locked the door to the balcony. Madeline took a couple of steps away from the door while staring at the closed door now.

    When her back hit something hard, Madeline turned around to see Calhoun who stood in front of her.

    "Calhoun?"

    How did he get inside? Madeline asked before she remembered he had the ability to lock and unlock the doors without actually having to touch it.

    Noticing Madeline''s eyes that looked uneasy, Calhoun''s eyes darted to look behind her at the door.

 Chapter 223 In the night- Part 2

    <h4>223 In the night- Part 2</h4>

    Madeline shook her head, "I just closed the doors." Calhoun loved her, but that didn''t mean he entirely believed what she said because of her heart that was beating slightly more than the usual speed. When it was her, Calhoun was more in tune with what was going on.

    "Saw something outside?" he asked her before stepping away and walking past her. Opening the doors, Calhoun stepped outside, in the balcony and Madeline followed him. Her eyes moved around to see nothing out there. Her gaze finally came to settle on Calhoun''s handsome face, "What''s got you scared?" Calhoun''s words were often straightforward, taking no time in confronting about things as if no situation could daunt him.

    Madeline''s lips that were pressed, she said, "It must be my imagination."

    Calhoun took his time to sweep the grounds of the castle with his eyes before his gaze went to settle on Madeline''s face, "Why aren''t you sleeping?" he asked her.

    "It''s too early to go to bed," she answered to ask the question back to him, "Why aren''t you in your room?"

    A smile cracked upon his lips, "I don''t sleep much, Maddie, and these days it has increasingly be hard to sleep," he said looking into her eyes that looked darker because of the low light around them.

    Madeline didn''t want to behave coy and question why it was so because she knew the answer woulde to be rted to her. She then said,

    "Thank you for speaking with my family at the dining table. About the shop." With Calhoun who had cleared his name from the possible thoughts that her parents had misunderstood, this would put them at ease without them having to fear the King nor worry for her in the future.

    "It is one thing if I am involved and apletely different matter when I have no hand in it," replied Calhoun. He turned around to lean his back against the railings of the balcony whilst looking at her.

    Madeline couldn''t hold her gaze longer, with Calhoun here. She stepped forward, cing her hands on the railings. She looked ahead to only feel Calhoun''s unwavering gaze on her. It was easier to look at him, challenge him before but after what took ce post noon today, Madeline felt hot and bothered by it.

    "Do your parents know about Markus and your sister Elizabeth?" Calhoun''s question brought her gaze back at him.

    She nodded her head, "Yes. I was surprised when she told me about it. Beth seems very happy and pleased by the idea of Mr. Wilmot wooing her. Did he speak to you about it?"

    "Something like that," answered Calhoun, his eyes tracing her face.

    Madeline''s eyebrows then furrowed. Lady Rosamund had been too uptight in her presence but not with Beth. She wondered why.

    "What did Beth say about my dear cousin Markus?" asked Calhoun, his eyes curiously looking at her.

    "And what do you think about it?"

    Madeline turned herself to face him, "It is not I who is getting married to him but Beth, who has the n to marry. She can be very stubborn with her thoughts and decision."

    "But she is not a bad person, is she?" Calhoun''s question was something that made Madeline wonder why he was asking her questions like these. She looked back into his deep liquid red eyes.

    "Did Beth offend you, my King?" Madeline''s question narrowed Calhoun''s eyes a little before it went back to normal, "Is it about her interrupting at the table?"

    Calhoun sighed, "I don''t care about such small things. I am merely interested to understand your dynamics with your sister. It feels unfair that I give you a part of my past, speak about my mother, but you don''t share anything of yours."

    So this is what it was, Madeline thought to herself. This was Calhoun''s way to know more about her.

    "She is my sister," replied Madeline, like it was the most obvious thing to know. "The closest person with whom I could share my thoughts and feelings with."

    "What changed?" Calhoun asked her, "You said could."

    Madeline looked away from him to look back at the grounds of the castle, "Time. We were very close when we were little, but we grew up to be different persons," she said thoughtfully, gazing from the grounds to the stars that had spread around in the night sky, "I think it''s very normal."

    "Tell me more," Calhoun coaxed her with interest.

    "Beth has been someone who has always stood next to me. I was the quieter girl out of the two while she was more outspoken. Bold with her words, who at times challenged men. I think that is why the men were attracted to Beth. There aren''t many women who question and demand things from the males," Madeline smiled at some of the thoughts.

    Calhoun leaned his back behind, "You must have been an adorable little girl."

    Madeline tilted her head this time, "Do you like children?" and she saw Calhoun shake his head.

    "I don''t like them. The most annoying thing that you will find on anynds, but I can make an exception with you," Calhoun''s lips twisted before he said, "Long ago, I met a girl. Maybe we can include her to be tolerable," he hummed, "Of course, my disinterest in children only implies to the ones who is not ours."

    He then asked, "You have never been jealous of your sister?"

    To this, Madeline shook her head, "I don''t think so. At least that is what I believe. She is elder to me, and I respect her."

    Hearing her words, Calhoun said, "You do know respect doesn''t oftene with love. Sometimes, ites out of fear and maniption."

    "Are you telling that my sister manipted me?" asked Madeline.

    "I only gave you the options, and you picked the one which you felt was the close one," Calhoun chuckled, "I am just curious, Madeline. You have a very forgiving nature, and it is nice, but I don''t oversee things. Not when it concerns something in my interests. I heard the yelling."

    Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed in question of what Calhoun was talking about. He continued without waiting for her to question him,

    "The day I informed your parents about you staying here, I didn''t leave the premise. I was outside, listening to your sister shout and me you. On how you took away her opportunity while using your way to get ahead of her. Did I hear it wrong?" Calhoun asked.

    By Calhoun''s behaviour up until now towards her family, Madeline would have never believed that the King had stepped out of the dining room that day, only to stand out and listen to the conversation, she and her family had. She and her family thought that the King had left the room since he had other important work to do.

    Madeline had forgiven the words; her sister had spoken to her that day.

    "She doesn''t hold any ill feelings about that day."

    "She shouldn''t," stated Calhoun, "It wasn''t you who had bad-mouthed her but the other way around. Stay wary about your sister''s actions. Sometimes even the closest siblings turn to enemies, when ites to money and power, also love. These three things are far worse intoxicating than the liquor you will find in the oldest cers."

    "What about you being wary about your rtives?" asked Madeline. She saw how the calm smile turned to a wicked one.

    "Them? I always have my eyes on them, even when I have my eyes closed. I don''t trust people, Madeline," said Calhoun to her, "You''re going to catch a cold. Come." Taking her back inside the room and locking the doors for her.

    Madeline had never spoken to anyone about her inner feelings of how she felt until now. Not to her parents, nor her sister or someone in her vige.

    When Calhoun was about to leave, Madeline said,

    "There have been times when I felt bad. Not jealous, though."

    "I know," answered Calhoun.

 Chapter 224 In the night- Part 3

    <h4>224 In the night- Part 3</h4>

    He knew how families worked, and he knew how Madeline was. But it was hard not to agree that Madeline had never felt hurt over her elder sister''s words in the past. Madeline''s sister, Elizabeth, was not like her. She possessed the qualities that were opposite to Madeline. Calhoun was aware that Madeline had never nned or eyed the crown before; it was why he found it to be more of a reason to have her next to his side.

    The truth was when Calhoun was a child, he was trying to survive. Calhoun didn''t have ns to have the crown until his mother''s health started to deteriorate. The thirst for power had surged so high that he had begun to scheme and eliminate people who stood in his way.

    He was about to leave when Madeline had spoken those words. Turning around, he walked back to where Madeline was, by closing the distance between them with a few steps.

    Madeline stared at Calhoun. His eyes continued to look at her intensely, and he said,

    "It might sound strange and rude, that you might feel that I am trying to separate you from your family or your sister. I only want to give you a word of caution," Calhoun leaned forward and kissed her cheek, "It is alright if you don''t want to heed to it." It was because he would have his eyes wide open to keep a watch over her. No one ever left their treasure out in the open, unprotected.

    Madeline felt the tingle on her cheeks where Calhoun''s lips came in contact with her skin, pressing his full lips on hers before pulling away, to look at her, as he withdrew himself back.

    She wondered why Calhoun was warning her suddenly about her sister Beth. Being the closest person who had spent most of her time around Beth, Madeline knew her the best. She had seen both the best and the worst qualities.

    "Is this because of her interest with Mr. Wilmot and his interest in her?" asked Madeline to Calhoun. The most offendable thing, Beth had done was speak a lot and interrupt the conversation between her father and Calhoun at the table, which Calhoun hadter dismissed telling he was only joking.

    The first time when Madeline and her family had met Calhoun, she would have never guessed that Calhoun woulde to dislike Beth with only a few meetings.

    The only reason she could think about was the Wilmot family with whom Beth was associating herself with. With Lady Rosamund who had been sweet to her sister, Madeline wondered if she should warn about the Wilmots. But what if Markus liked her sister?

    Madeline frowned, hearing this, "Markus orchestrated the destruction of the shop?"

    "There''s no confirmation about it, but I have my doubts," replied Calhoun. Madeline had her suspicions, but she didn''t have anyone to discuss it when she had heard it from her mother except for Calhoun where their discussion had turned to something else.

    "I should probably warn my sister to stay away from the man," Madeline proposed. But she saw Calhoun shake his head.

    "Sit with me, Madeline," he said, catching hold of her hand, he tugged her towards the bed before taking a seat at the edge of the bed, "Do you think your sister will listen to you? She didn''t listen to you when you warned her about Maddox and the others. What makes you think she will stop talking or avoiding Markus?"

    She was right. Calhoun was listening to her and Beth speak before Beth had been bitten by Maddox.

    "I know she can be unreasonable at times but isn''t it my responsibility, to warn her if something bad is going to happen? Beth," Madeline paused for a moment before saying, "Beth seems to really like Mr. Wilmot."

    "Doesn''t it give more reason that she won''t listen to you? I don''t mind if you want to give it a try, but if my guess is right, she will only turn against you," Calhoun remarked before letting his feet to rest on the space of the wood that raised his legs slightly up.

    Madeline didn''t want that. Remembering Calhoun''s earlier words, she asked, "Was Senior Mr. Wilmot, your father''s brother?" Wait but they had differentst names, thought Madeline.

    "That''s the trick question for the public. A lot of them think Markus'' father was my father''s brother. It is what most of us have got used to saying. I was wondering when you would figure it out," said Calhoun because some time ago, he had spoken about them being brothers.

    "Lady Rosamund is your father''s sister," Madeline uttered in disbelief. Calhoun smiled at this. No wonder the woman was hellbent in having her to leave the King''s side so that she could turn Sophie as the Queen. "Did they find out about you killing your father?"

    "Rosamund knows, but she has no evidence for what I did. I have Lucy as my alibi," replied Calhoun.

    Madeline didn''t understand the chase for the throne. Didn''t being the King and the Queen have more responsibility? Compared to that, an ordinary viger''s life was so simple, Madeline thought to herself.

    She turned to look at Calhoun, wondering how he would have lived the rest of the years till now, after killing the previous King and Queen. Madeline didn''t know if it was right or wrong, but she wanted to warn Beth. After all, Beth was her sister and Madeline had the responsibility to drop a word of caution without being too obvious about it.

    "You still haven''t shown me your mother''s portrait," Madeline reminded him.

    Calhoun dropped his feet on the ground before standing up, "Let me introduce you to her then." The choice of his words was strange, but she got up from the bed and followed him, leaving the room empty with candles still burning in there.

    Instead of taking her to the gallery room, Calhoun took her out of the castle, riding on the horse. Madeline didn''t question him and she remained quiet, waiting to see where he was taking her at this hour of the night.

    When Calhoun pulled the reins of the horse to stop after both he and Madeline hade far away from the castle, he was the first one to get down. He then helped Madeline in dismounting the horse.

    The time was almost reaching midnight. Madeline for a moment didn''t know where they were. They were surrounded by nothing but trees that were tall and dark. There was no grass on the ground. Apart from the chirping of the crickets, an asional hooting from owls who were hidden behind the many branches of the trees, no other sound came to fall on her ears.

    "Hold my hand," Calhoun said to her, outstretching his hand in front of her, "So that I know you won''t get lost in the forest."

    Madeline ced her hand on his for him to ensp it before starting to walk beside him.

    Walking some distance, Madeline noticed a grilledpound that had dry and fresh creepers tangled around it. The gates were left open as they passed through that had been left unlocked. As they entered, she noticed, there were many graves present in there.

    Calhoun and Madeline continued to walk until the King finally stopped in front of an old cemented coffin. Her heart squeezed at the thought that Calhoun had brought her here to literally introduce her to his mother.

    Calhoun turned around to meet Madeline''s eyes, "This is my mother here," he introduced, his words calm and collected as he said it.

    Madeline had asked to see his mother''s portrait, but Calhoun had a whole different idea of making her meet his mother.

    "My father didn''t care enough toe to see my mother when she died. Without bothering about the woman whom he had bedded in the past. This is an exclusive grave, I got rid of the previous owner who resided in here before I ced my mother," exined Calhoun to her.

    The graveyard was not like the ones in her vige where the coffin was buried, but this cemetery was different, noted Madeline to herself. The graves here were built outside, with no mud over them but dust and dirt with dried up leaves that must havee to settle because of the wind.

    "You didn''t have money to buy a ce to bury her?" asked Madeline as Calhoun was not born in the castle, even though he was part of the royal family.

    Calhoun who had a severe look until now, a broad smile appeared on his face, "Money was not an issue. It was my father''s beloved father, who was resting here earlier. I thought he wouldn''t mind offering his resting ce."

    Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed a little, "Where is he now?"

    She saw Calhoun give her a thoughtful look before shrugging his shoulders, "I ced him somewhere here, but I don''t remember anymore."

 Chapter 225 In the night- Part 4

    <h4>225 In the night- Part 4</h4>

    "He wasn''t worthy to have this cemented grave," stated Calhoun and he waved his hand as if she shouldn''t worry about it. During the time of dinner and in her room, Calhoun appeared like any other ordinary person. Speaking to her so that she was aware of things that were going to take ce in the castle. Earlier he spoke to her without teasing or taunting, but now it felt like his attitude had turned to its usual self.

    "Did you meet him?" Madeline asked. She knew Calhoun had met his father''s mother who now resided in the cold cell of the dungeon with a rod that continued to stick into her mouth.

    "No, but I heard my mother did. She said he was a very giving man. Someone much better than my father," Calhoun stepped closer to the cemented grave and started to dust the dirt that was on top of it.

    Madeline listened to Calhoun speak. She started removing the leaves that were on the top of the lid of the coffin, "If he was a good man, why did you take him out of his resting ce?" and she saw Calhoun roll his eyes.

    "I was being sarcastic, Maddie," Calhoun responded, "He was a fucking bastard who did uncouth things. Going so far as even to touch my mother when she was the King''s mistress."

    Her lips pursed, pressing it against each other, "How did he die?" asked Madeline.

    Calhoun took note of how Madeline was helping him. His sweet girl, Calhoun thought to himself. "He got poisoned. I do wonder who poisoned him, such easy death," he shook his head in disappointment.

    "Have you always been like this?" Madeline questioned, wanting to know about him.

    "This charming?" Calhoun cocked his head to the side. A smile broke through his lips as the grin widened.

    "Violent," said Madeline.

    Calhoun gave it a second before nodding his head,

    "Yes. I was born this way. I enjoy blood on my hands. Torturing people makes me excited."

    "It makes me worried," Madeline broke her gaze away from Calhoun to look down at the lid.

    "Why is that so?" Calhoun asked curiously, his eyes on Madeline who was looking at the top of the grave before she looked back at him, "I won''t hurt people unnecessarily," he said with a solemn look to receive a stare from Madeline. Heughed, "You are right. I would surely hunt people down for my own pleasure and entertainment. But that is because they would have gone against me. I am a fairly reasonable man."

    Madeline, who was done cleaning, searched for the name. When she found it, Madeline bent down to run her fingers over the name.

    "Constance Leigh," Calhoun said, "That was her name. Constance Leigh."

    "Her name is engraved in here," she said to Calhoun.

    In the dark, quiet night, Madeline found it to be daunting, to meet a dead body that belonged to Calhoun''s mother. Calhoun had pushed the lid enough for her to see the person who was resting in there.

    As she took slow steps one after another, she remembered the time when the caretaker of the graveyard near her vige had pulled out a couple of old bodies from the ground to move them somewhere else so that there was more space avable in the vige cemetery. The old dead bodies were left with nothing but bones.

    Madeline reached where Calhoun stood, her eyes fixed on Calhoun who was looking at her. The smile on his lips had fallen. His eyes were calm yet there was a certain mncholy, which wasn''t too evident.

    "Don''t be scared to look," he said, noticing her reluctance in moving her gaze away from him.

    This wasn''t anyone but Calhoun''s mother. It would be rude not to look. Her brown eyes slowly moved to fall on the person whoid in there. Her eyes widened before a frown appeared on her face and she looked back at Calhoun, who now was looking at his mother.

    His mother��

    "She is beautiful��" said Madeline looking at the person who had not decayed one bit. How was that possible? Madeline asked herself. It looked like she had only been ced in the coffin a few hours ago. The woman''s skin was slightly blemished, but she continued to look beautiful, "H-how has she n-not..."

    "How has she not decayed?" Calhounpleted her sentence, and Madeline nodded her head.

    Madeline knew his mother died years ago before he came to live in the castle. Most of the bodies often started to smell and decay until they turned to nothing but bones. But the woman here looked like she was sleeping for years.

    "It is the attribute of the cemented grave. My great grandfather got it built through the help of the priests. It is why I moved her here," answered Calhoun.

    "No one ever found out about it?" she asked looking at his mother. Madeline was right. Calhoun did acquire his looks from his mother and not from his father.

    She heard Calhoun say, "No one has the time to visit the dead."

    Before closing the lid, Calhoun pulled out a stemmed rose from his coat, cing it in the woman''s hands that were holding each other. Once Calhoun took his hand back from there, Madeline noticed how the red rose turned to ck.

    "Shall we leave?" Calhoun asked Madeline, who was staring at the rose and then his mother.

    On their way back, Madeline couldn''t stop but think howplex Calhoun was. For a person who was as twisted as him, she wondered what he had gone through. Like a rose''s petal falling one after another, Madeline was learning more about him. She was grateful that he was being open without hiding anything from her.

    Calhoun saw her to her room, both of them standing outside without a word. Madeline wondered what he was thinking right now, "Get some sleep," he said to her.

    Madeline nodded and then bowed her head, "Thank you for today. For letting me meet your mother." She could tell that Calhoun didn''t take everyone to meet his mother. For the royal family except for Calhoun, his mother was a non-existent person as she was never the queen.

    "Who will I introduce her to, if not you," remarked Calhoun, a smile cracking on his lips.

    Calhoun observed how Madeline''s eyes lowered. Not to look away from him but out of overwhelming emotions, she felt because of him and her spending time together. He doubted anyone had ever showered her with affection and attention as he had given her. Though the tailorman imed he loved Madeline, he never came as close as to her breathing space.

    "Goodnight, Calhoun," Madeline wished him, and before she could leave, he caught her hand, stopping her from getting inside.

    When Madeline turned around, Calhoun leaned forward, and he stole a kiss from her lips, "Think of me, sweet Madeline. Goodnight," he whispered to let her go finally. He had teased her enough for the day; he wanted every fibre in her body and mind to think of him.

    Watching her step inside the room and close the door, Calhoun looked left and right before making his way towards his room. It was good to see his mother after a decade. Thest time he had opened the lid, it was when he had killed his father and his wife.

    Recollecting that particr day, he could only relish on the feeling of how satisfying it had been.

    His thoughts went to the day,

    "W-what, are you doing, Calhoun?" asked his father in shock with his eyes wide, "Free me right this instant! It is my order!"

    "Order? A King who cannot shield his own back, he''s not worth being a King. How does it feel to be powerless?" asked Calhoun to the King. His father couldn''t move an inch except to talk. Calhoun ced his hand on his father''s chest.

    His father was nervous, "What do you want?! I will give you anything. I will make you the King right this instant!"

    Calhoun tapped his fingers on his father''s chest, "That I will be when you die. Do not worry, father. I will make sure you die heroically unlike the kind of worthless person you truly are," and he pushed his fingers through his father''s chest, digging it in.

    "I have taken care of you! You are my son. I love you! Stop this, Calhoun!" his father pleaded, and Calhoun smiled in satisfaction.

    "I don''t care," came the hollow words from Calhoun''s lips. When he heard the sound of footsteps, he said, "Don''t feel sad. I will send your beloved wife to give youpany."

    Calhoun''s hand had been dipped in blood until his elbow. It was because he had not stopped by just pulling out his father''s heart, but he had pushed his hand through the back of his father before dropping the heart on the ground.

    Reaching his room now, Calhoun pushed the doors to step inside.

    Pitiful thing, Calhoun thought to himself. The King had opened his arms to wee him into the castle, not knowing he had greeted death.

 Chapter 226 Cloverleaf- Part 1

    <h4>226 Cloverleaf- Part 1</h4>

    The day had been far more eventful than what he had expected it to be. Not only he had taken blood from Madeline, but he had taken her to meet his mother.

    It has been years since he hadst seen his mother''s face. Even though where she was resting now was close by, Calhoun had not gone to open the lid of the cemented grave where his motherid dead and cold. Her body had been preserved in the coffin, but the pain he felt of what took ce in the night when he had killed her, still lingered in the back of his mind.

    She looked the same as the day when she had died. Or maybe in a much better condition, where she was not wheezing and spouting blood from her mouth. On the day of her death, his mother had turned to almost like a corpse. Her cheeks had turned hollow and her eyes had dark circles, making her look older and tired.

    The firece was burning in low me, and the candles that were ced on the stand continued to melt in time while Calhoun continued to stare into space. His red eyes were vacant, and the smile that he often adorned on his lips had disappeared. After a while, when Calhoun closed his eyes, his thoughts drifted into the dream, to relive the memories of the past.

    Unlike the current weather, it was a rainy day in thend of Devon. Rain poured down from the sky while sshes of water could be heard as men ran on the ground.

    "Where is he?!" asked a man who stopped running, looking to his left and right, searching for the person. The man wore clothes that were entirely ck. There were badges on his chest to indicate that he was bestowed by the royal court for hismendable works. "He should be somewhere close by! Make sure to drag and bring him to me!"

    "Sir!" came the collective voices from the other six men who had apanied the man who ordered them.

    "Everyone split up!" came the next order and the men dispersed from there.

    At the corner of one of the houses, a young man stood, holding his stomach, which was bleeding. He huffed for air. His clothes and body were drenched because of the rain, washing away the traces of blood that had dripped down from cuts from his head and mouth. Calhoun took a deep breath before opening the coat to take a look at the side of his stomach which was bleeding even now.

    Calhoun hadn''t expected something like this to happen. He gritted his teeth. The wound that was on his stomach was one where one of the men had gone as far as to stake him with a hot iron rod.

    The rain again continued to pour, and Calhoun didn''t stay there. He escaped from there so that he wouldn''t be caught by the men who were sent by someone who he knew. The rain had almost stopped, leaving drizzle in the air by the time he had made his way into another vige.

    He was on his way to the castle earlier when he was chased by seven men who had caught him off guard. Off guard, because he knew them. He had met and spoken with them in the past. Initially, there were ten people, and after fighting, the count had fallen to seven.

    When he stepped into an empty alley between the houses, Calhoun finally stopped walking. His legs gave out, and he eventually took himself to sit on the muddy ground. Calhoun noticed how blood dripped down from his leg that was wounded. His head leaned back against the wall, and he closed his eyes, taking a breather and away from the royal court. He knew the men were possibly still looking for him.

    He was sitting there, concentrating on his wounds to heal when he heard a small sound that approached his way. At first, Calhoun guessed it to be a cat or a rat that was searching for food behind the houses. It was because the sound was light on the ground and the sound of water sshing was not heard.

    The sound stopped right in front of him. Calhoun opened his eyes out of annoyance to see who hade to bother him. His eyes fell on a small girl who stood to his side, staring at him. It was a little girl who wore clothes that weren''t expensive but one that was worn by the vigers. The dress that she wore wasrge for her small size, as her hands almost disappeared because of the long sleeves.

    She continued to stare at him curiously, without walking past and minding her work.

    "Haven''t you heard not to speak to strangers and to run away from them?" Calhoun asked the girl. Instead of answering, she blinked her eyes once. Humans were creatures who were curious, willing to sacrifice themselves as food for the vampires.

    His hand reached up to touch the wound, running his tongue over the sore and metallic taste at the corner of his lips, Calhoun looked at her. By her awkward stance and one hand in front of her chest, he could tell that the little girl was wary about her surroundings, but not enough to run away from him. Calhoun was hungry, and he needed blood. He had lost blood from his body.

    Calhoun could feel his fangs ache because he wanted blood right now. It didn''t matter to him if it was an adult or a child.

    He raised his hand forward, "Come here," but his words only created an opposite effect. The girl took a step back, and Calhoun''s eyes narrowed. Maybe he was harsher. Trying it again, he said, "Come here, little girl. Let me see what you have in that hand of yours," his words were sweeter and kinder than before.

    He could hear her little heart beating in her chest. It sounded wonderful because he knew she would taste good. Children were young and pure; they were nothing less than a delicious meal. There were some rotten apples, but most of them were always delicious. Thinking about it, it only made Calhoun more thirsty. He didn''t have the time to go back to the castle.

    Calhoun''s red eyes stared at the girl''s face and then at her hand when she looked down at her hand. They were loosely clenched, and when she brought it forward, letting it open, he saw it was a four-clover leaf.

    "Hah," Calhoun responded, looking at the leaf and then up at the girl, "Do you believe in that thing?" he asked her. He doubted if the little girl understood in the depth of what luck meant.

    The little girl slowly nodded her head.

    "How lucky are you to be meeting someone who is at the peak of hunger," murmured Calhoun looking at the girl who didn''t quite catch what he said. "Why don''t I take a look at the leaf? It seems like it''s not working well for you. I will return it to you," he added in the end. The children of vampires were often smart, while the human children were naive and easy to trick.

    Calhoun could hear her heart pumping blood, he wanted to catch hold of her, draining her blood into his mouth until the veryst drop. His thirst for blood was increasing, and she was the only possible meal right now where he wouldn''t be being caught and being too obvious about his kill.

    Just like he thought, the girl took five small steps towards him, holding the cloverleaf for him to take.

    Calhoun could feel his fangs tingle now. With his mouth closed, his tongue went to run over the tips of his fangs as if polishing it, so that he could bite. His eyes turned redder.

    He was waiting for her to get closer so that the taste of her blood would not change out of panic and struggle. Calhoun then inspected the cloverleaf.

    "Humans can be so silly at times, believing in things like these,"mented Calhoun to the little girl. The leaf she had plucked out was fresh, and it looked tender. Such a pity that the luck would not favour the girl today.

    He yed with the cloverleaf by twirling it. Before he could pull her towards him to take a bite into her neck, the girl surprised him. She moved closer and ced her hand with her handkerchief on his mouth. Calhoun raised his eyebrows at this,

    "What do you think you are doing?" Calhoun asked over the handkerchief, his eyes narrowing to look at her. The girl still carried a cautious look, but she had been brave enough to put her handkerchief on his mouth.

    This was the first time a meal of his was offering to clean his mouth before he could drink blood, but he doubted that was the case in here. Her brown eyes looked at his red eyes, a little more than mesmerized by the rare colour which the little girl was not used to seeing.

    "Hurt," she spoke with her small voice for the very first time.

 Chapter 227 Cloverleaf- Part 2

    <h4>227 Cloverleaf- Part 2</h4>

    "What are you doing here alone by yourself? Where are your parents?" he asked the girl who was looking straight into his eyes. On his question, the girl turned her head in the direction from where she had walked through before looking back at him.

    With the girl standing this close to him, Calhoun could smell the fresh blood running through her delicate veins. His fangs appeared in full form, and the girl looked at his fangs curiously. Calhoun doubted with her naivety, even if she carried hundreds of clover-leaf with her, she would end up as someone''s meal.

    As if the little girl was not done, she dabbed the handkerchief on his face, and Calhoun''s eyes only continued to narrow down as to what she was trying to do, by being unbothered and standing this close, next to him.

    "You know I am starving," said Calhoun. With her naivety, he was prolonging the moment to take a bite and suck her blood out. With the parents who weren''t with her, he doubted they would find her today if he were to throw her body somewhere in the forest.

    On hearing his words, the girl turned worried. So she wasn''tpletely unaware, thought Calhoun to himself. At least she had a little sense when it came to bei-

    "I have no food," she replied to him.

    A chuckle escaped Calhoun''s lips. The smile on his lips broadened so wide that the girl gave out a confused expression on her face.

    "Why will I ask my food to bring me food? It makes no sense, stupid little girl," Calhoun brought his hand up and flicked the girl''s forehead before pushing her forehead with his index finger so that she would keep a distance by taking a step back away from him, "You are funny," he said to her.

    Calhoun''s first sentence was nothing less than a puzzle to the girl, making her wonder what food was bringing food. After staring at the little girl for some more time, he said,

    "I will do something that I usually don''t do. Here," Calhoun handed the clover-leaf back to the little girl.

    The little girl let go of her hand, where she had been holding her handkerchief that dropped down on the man''sp as she made use of both her hands to take the leaf��holding it protectively before her eyes raised to look at him.

    "Go back to your parents. I cannot promise that I will spare you if I meet you next time," he said to her. The girl heard his words clearly but not understanding the depth of it.

    Calhoun stood up from where he had been sitting. The wound on his stomach had healed itself by now. There were only a streak of lines left on the side of his lips and jaw.

    "I will spare your life today and take this in return," he said, putting it in his pocket. He doubted the little girl''s parents would be pleased if they found blood on her handkerchief, "Go back to your parents," he ordered. Turning around, he made his way to the end of the alley and he heard the voices of the adults. Calhoun had already left the ce when the girl''s mother came looking for her.

    He left the vige which he had entered, going back to hunt the men who tried to kill him some time ago. It took some time, but he killed all of them. Earlier that day he had been unprepared, but with his body in a better condition now, it wasn''t hard to tear their limbs and head off their body.

    After reaching the castle, Calhoun had changed his clothes, burning them in the firece before making his way to the court where his father and the Queen were present.

    "Calhoun, I was wondering where you went," his father remarked after seeing him enter the big room. Calhoun bowed his head. As he raised his head, he noticed the older woman who sat not too far away from the King and the Queen. The woman''s hair had turned grey. Her skin wrinkled, yet the gaze of hers was still fierce as she looked at Calhoun with her intense eyes.

    Calhoun replied, "You asked me yesterday to go and meet Mr. Sporttle. I didn''t want to waste the time and got it done." His father nodded his head.

    "It''s been only a few months, and my son looks like he''s going to be a fine King in the future. I would expect nothing less from the boy in whose body my blood runs," Calhoun''s father praised him, but the same didn''t sit well with the King''s wife or his mother that an illegitimate child of the King was going to take over the throne in the future.

    "Let''s not make any hasty decisions here, Laurence," spoke the King''s mother. Her eyes that were on Calhoun shifted to look at her son, "Didn''t you say, you were going to see his full potential before deciding, whether he should take the throne or if it is going to be Markus? It is not like the world is ending that we need to decide it right now."

    The King agreed to his mother, "Calhoun has been doing fairly well though. Much better than Markus."

    "I wonder how the public will take it once they find out who you want to appoint. To have the bastard on the throne," said the King''s mother. The old vampiress then sighed, getting up to only hearmotione from the entrance of the court. Men entered the room, carrying bags before bowing their heads.

    "What have you brought in here?" asked the King. When everyone sniffed the air, their faces scrunched in the foul smell.

    "My King, Sir Hendrick and his men were found dead," answered one of the men.

    The King frowned, a displeased look appearing on his face, "Show me!" One of the men unloaded the gunny bag for the head to roll over on the floor. It was the man''s head who was in charge of the men who were hunting Calhoun earlier that day. "Who dares to do something like this?!" the King asked in anger.

    "We don''t know, milord," the men bowed their heads, "We were tipped to go to the forest and found the bodies scattered over there."

    While the King was speaking and showing his anger, Calhoun felt eyes on him, and he didn''t have to know from whom it was. After two seconds, his eyes slowly moved to meet the eyes of his beloved grandmother, who was staring at him.

    "Calhoun," the King called him, "The loss of Hendrick is heavy on us. He was the one who was helping in the trades between the cities and thends. I want you to find who did this to him! I am sure he would be pleased if you bought his soul peace by finding the person who did this to him. Especially knowing how close you both were."

    "Yes, my King," Calhoun obliged with a bow, "I won''t let his death go in vain. Thest time I heard?from him, he was speaking about Brougham. I will make sure to get to the bottom of it. You can always count on me."

    His father nodded, turning to the men and ordering them to take the bodies away and bury them. The King and the Queen were the first one to leave the courtroom as the stench of foul blood was filling the ce.

    Calhoun''s eyes met the old vampiress'' eyes. People in the court started to leave and so did the older woman who started to walk, almost walking past him when she stopped next to him, to say, "You smell of blood, boy. You should be more careful."

    "Thank you for the advice, grandmother." She looked at him with distaste, and Calhoun offered her a smile, "I hope you can watch your back."

    The woman''s eyes red, "How dare you try to threaten me. Did you forget what I did to your mother?"

    "Never could," Calhoun continued to smile, "I was only asking you to be careful because you''re an old woman. Bones at your age often turn weak. You take things too personally, grandmother."

    "You think you are so smart because you killed my men?" asked the older vampiress in a whisper, "I will bring you down on your knees. You filthy child."

    Calhoun tsked, "I don''t think your son would like to hear, that the filth was passed from him." The vampiress quietly red at him before seeing her way out of the court.

    Theodore walked inside the court after he took care of the bodies to be thrown in the forest while Calhoun spent his time in Mr. Sporttle''s mansion to create proof that he was busy with other work and he wasn''t involved in the killings that just happened today.

    "What are you going to do with her?" asked Theodore, "She''s not going to stop, until you leave and stay away from the castle."

    Calhoun put his hand in his pocket as he said, "Take away the support that she has from the King."

    He pulled out the handkerchief that he had put in his pocket earlier in his room before burning the other clothes. His eyes fell on the small folded white cloth that had red spots of his blood. He needed blood to drink. When he went to unfold it, something fell on the ground from it.

    His eyes fell on the dainty looking chain and pendant. Bending down, he picked it up in his hand.

    "Whose is that?" Theodore asked, curious.

    "My food''s," replied Calhoun.

 Chapter 228 Findings- Part 1

    <h4>228 Findings- Part 1</h4>

    Hearing the coughing that didn''t stop, James quickly made his way to the room where his father was sleeping. His father''s body had curled itself in bed.

    "Father?" James called, before going to the nightstand at the bed. He poured a ss of water and then went to give it to his father whilst helping the older man with another hand of his so that his father would sit upright on the bed.

    He noticed how his father''s hand shook. For a moment, he thought it was because of the cold night, but it wasn''t so. When James went to check the temperature of his father, the man was burning with temperature.

    "You have a fever, father," said James.

    "I am fine," his father waved his hand, but his hand shivered.

    James had heard his father coughing earlier that day, but he had thought it was something that would pass. Hearing him cough again now, he helped his father toy back in the bed,

    "Let me go and bring the logs of wood in here. God!" he sighed, reprimanding himself for not giving more attention to his father earlier that day.

    James left the room after he had put the nket to cover his father''s body so that no cold air woulde to reach him and make it worse. Walking to the back of his house, James looked for the log of woods, but there was only one log left in there. It seemed like they were out of logs. The log of woods used indoors were different that didn''t give out too much smoke, something that Mr. Harris was good at finding and selling it out to the vigers.

    Taking thest log of wood back inside the house, he went to pick the other pieces of woods which were still there in the hall. It didn''t matter if it was going to exhaust in the next half an hour, but it would at least keep his old man warm. cing them in the firece of the room where his father slept, James waited on him. Making sure if his father needed something, he would be right here.

    James sat on the wooden chair, his mouth opening for a yawn as he didn''t get any sleep. When morning arrived, he checked on his father again before heading to the kitchen, preparing breakfast for both of them. After that, James made his way outside the house, wanting to see if Mr. Harris had opened his shop so that he could get some wood. If not there, he would have to go to the forest and cut them himself, before bringing them back to the house.

    With hands in his pockets, James looked around before stepping closer to the shop.

    "Good morning, Mr. Heathcliff," a man who was walking by, whom James recognized it to be Mr. Fisher, bowed at him.

    James returned the bow, "Good morning to you Mr. Fisher. Do you know what happened to the shop?" he asked the man. With the wedding gown that had to be prepared and with his own marriage with Catherine which was approaching in less than ten days, he had been quite busy and hadn''t been able to take a look at this side of the vige.

    When James had heard about the King''s generous offer to the Harris'' family, it only made him understand and realize how poor he waspared to the King of Devon. Since James had taken a liking towards Madeline Harris, he always wanted to help Mr. Harris, but that day never came. James was not even a fraction of what the King was. And it was something that made him stop worrying, about how things had rolled out since thest few weeks.

    Mr. Fisher looked at the shop and gave out a tired sigh. The man''s face carried a look of pity, "I heard the King ordered to take it down."

    James frowned, hearing this, "Why would he do that? Was there any known reason for such an action?" If the King didn''t have any intention for the Harris'' family to own the shop, he should have never given it.

    "Have you not heard about it?" asked Mr. Fisher to him.

    "Heard what?"

    Mr. Fisher looked back and forth, and then said, "There has been news that has been circting here. It seems a few days ago, young Miss Harris tried to kill herself in the castle."

    James'' eyes narrowed now, "What?!" That wasn''t possible. He had seen her only some days ago, and she was doing fine. It was when he had gone to the castle to check the measurements of the inner dress of her wedding gown.

    Mr. Fisher nodded his head, "My wife heard it from a woman, who happened to hear it from the maid''s family who works in the castle. The King must have hushed the news so that it doesn''t reach the public."

    "Strange rumours often spread out like wildfire. People add something or anything to it," replied James. He found it hard to believe that Madeline would take such a drastic step.

    When he saw her in the castle, she looked fine. Madeline looked like she was eating and sleeping well. He knew the King was obsessively in love with her, and it was something he could understand. James had decided it was not right to have feelings on one girl while he was marrying another. Madeline was going to marry the King, and his marriage had been fixed with Lady Catherine. It was a forced and threatened marriage where he could not refuse, and the wedding cards had already been sent out.

    "I know it is something harsh to hear, but we need to know that, that is how the vampires are. Disgusting creatures who suck blood and throw bodies," whispered Mr. Fisher so that anyone walking past them, who was eavesdropping at them would not hear it, "I have heard so many rumours about the King. The stories that the maids share with people are frightening! The blood, the gore, the bodies that are either dumped in the forest or thrown in the river, only be found after several days or weeks. Sometimes not even that. Poor girl. To be caught by the tyrant," he shook his head before saying, "Wait, you have met the King, how is he?"

    James didn''t know how to respond to this.

    "He, uh, he looked just like a King would. He was here in the vige too, you must have missed seeing him," answered James, his wordsing out to be diplomatic, "Could you tell me the name of the maid? Where I could find her."

    "I will ask my wife for the address, but I doubt the maid would reveal it. The rule in the castle is not to let a secret out. If the King found out that she spoke about what happened," Mr. Fisher stopped before continuing, "I doubt he would be happy. Well, anyways. It was good talking to you, Mr. Heathcliff."

    "It''s been a pleasure," answered James. He saw the man leave on his way to work who wore a hat and coat to take the local carriage that would travel to the nearby towns.

    James didn''t know what to think about Madeline killing herself. Was she only putting up a show in front of everyone that she was alright? There had been a few instances that he came to believe that she wanted to spend her life in the castle, that she had a change of heart. James didn''t hold a grudge on her. Madeline Harris was the first person he had loved, and he would pray for her happiness if that is what she wanted. But if that was not the case, he would like to protect her.

    He would wait for Mr. Fisher''s wife to give out the information about the maid, so that he could go and speak. To clear things.

    James only hoped that it wasn''t true. That Madeline was not depressed in her life and she didn''t attempt to kill herself. He also doubted that the Harris'' family knew about it.

    Leaving the ce, he then made his way to the forest, carrying his axe. James finally returned with a couple of logs of woods back home, so that it could keep the house as well as his old father warm.

    "How are you feeling now, father?" asked James after his father had woken up and had eaten his breakfast, "Would you want me to go get the doctor?" he ced his hand again on his father''s forehead to check if it was still warm. The temperature had reduced, and James hoped his father would feel better.

    "You worry for nothing, son. The windows were open, and I didn''t close them soon. The cold air must have passed through it," replied his father, "Do not worry about me. I will be fine with some more sleep," assured the old man but James continued to stare at his father.

    When his father was married to his mother, his mother suffered from continuous miscarriages, turning her body weak. It was only after years that James born to his parents. His mother had passed away, and the only person he had as a family was his father.

    In the beginning, when James met Lady Catherine, he didn''t know who she really was. That she was the daughter of the Duke. The Duke in theirnd was a well-known and a powerful man, but James had never bothered to know about it. He still couldn''t believe that he was going to marry Lady Catherine but the worse was, Mr. Barnes was going to be his father-inw. The man who threatened both him and his father.

    At the time of evening, James was in the shop, when Mr. Fisher visited him, "Mr. Heathcliff. Here is the address."

    James was more than happy to receive the information about the maid so quickly, and he bowed his head in gratitude, "Thank you, Mr. Fisher."

    Mr. Fisher noticed how worried Mr. Heathcliff looked, when he heard the news. His eyes looked at the tailorman before nodding his head, "Be sure the word doesn''t spread about it. I doubt the King would be pleased to know, that the rumour has spread about young Miss Harris," and the man left.

    While James stood there with the note of address in his hand, one of his assistants named Emilio stood near the door, listening to their conversation.

    James ced the note in his pocket. Turning around he pushed the door to the room where his assistants were working.

    "Mr. Heathcliff," Emilio addressed James, "I was wondering if I could leave early from work today. I will be here soon tomorrow in the morning." James looked around the room at the dress that was being made, and he finally nodded.

    "Make sure you are notte tomorrow. We need to deliver the dress soon," James gave a stern look, and Emilio nodded his head with a smile.

    "Thank you, Mr. Heathcliff!"

    Emilio packed his things and quickly went to get a ride from one of the many carriages that was stationed near the tower bell in the vige, "Where do you want to go?" asked the carriage man.

    "To the King''s castle."

 Chapter 229 Findings- Part 2

    <h4>229 Findings- Part 2</h4>

    He wanted to go right away and meet the maid, but at the same time, he wanted to make sure his father was doing alright as he was sick in the morning. James had to remind himself that there was still time, and there was no need to go looking for the maid who worked in the castle. He didn''t even know if the maid would be there in her house, or if she had gone back to work at the castle.

    James walked towards therge window of his shop, unlocking it, he pushed it open to get some air. He could wait for tomorrow, he said to himself.

    Afterwards, when James was getting his shop closed for the day, locking every door and window before heading out of it with his assistants, the carriage that left from the vige of East Carswell had reached the castle of the King of Devon, Calhoun Hawthrone.

    The man named Emilio gave the coin for the ride and said, "I will need a ride back to East Carswellter."

    "If you have the coin to pay, I am here," said the carriage man in his gruff voice. He took the carriage to park it at the side while his eyes took in the castle that he had only see from outside but never inside.

    Emilio didn''t wait but walked forward to be stopped by the guard, "I am here to see the King," stated Emilio. The guard sized the man up and down, who had stepped out of the carriage as he had never seen this man here before.

    "Wait here," ordered the guard and then went up the stairs, disappearing at the top. Like the carriage man, it was the first time for Emilio to be here. He could not help but look around the ce from where he stood. He was excited to be here but more than that he was excited at the reward he was going to get from the King.

    After minutes passed, the guard returned to lead him inside the castle. The guard took him to one of the rooms, and asked him to wait there. Emilio didn''t have his pocket watch with him to know how many minutes had passed, not that he minded as he was in the castle. It was every person''s dream to step in the castle and look at the beauty that it held, from the walls to the items that were used to decorate it. Candles were lit in the room as the evening had passed to wee the night.

    Emilio was fascinated by the vase that was near him that he went to touch it when he heard a deep voice in the room,

    "Mr. Canon." The tailorman''s assistant whipped his head around to look at the King, who stood tall and proud, but that wasn''t what caught his attention. It was those red eyes that looked at him intensely.

    The human quickly bowed his head to show respect to the King before going down on his knees to emphasize his emotion, "Hail to the King!" greeted Emilio.

    Emilio''s eyes widened, and he bowed his head again, "Forgive me, milord for disturbing you at this hour of the day."

    "Speak," Calhoun demanded as he was in no mood to beat around the bush right now.

    Calhoun noticed how the human''s heartbeat had increased out of fear, something he very much enjoyed to do. Humans were such delicate beings that they were simr to birds. There was a time when a man had died because of his rapid and growing heart rate after meeting him. His lips twisted at the memory of it.

    "Milord," Emilio began to say, "I am here with the news about Mr. Heathcliff. A man today appeared at the shop, he gave Mr. Heathcliff a parchment."

    "And what did that parchment contain?" Calhoun asked, intrigue in his voice.

    Calhoun hoped it was something good. Since the time he had spoken to Mr. Barnes about Catherine''s marriage to the tailorman, Calhoun had gotten Theodore to have a mole present in the shop.

    It was so that Calhoun could get information about James Heathcliff, to make sure he wouldn''t do anything stupid.

    Emilio looked up at the King who looked more dangerous up close, than the time, when the King had made an appearance during one of the executions that took ce in the vige of East Carswell. "Milord. The man who visited the shop said, it was the address of a maid who worked in the castle. Mr. Heathcliff had asked information about her."

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed hearing this, "I am guessing that Mr. Heathcliff is not eyeing another girl while he is going to get married to Miss Barnes."

    The human shook his head quickly, "No, my King. It seemed like Mr. Heathcliff wanted to meet her. The man who visited the shop also said something before leaving," Emilio saw the King raise one of his eyebrows in question and he continued, "He said something about not to let anyone know about the rumour of a girl. The rest was spoken in whispers."

    Calhoun didn''t look pleased. The human had heard part of the conversation, and it seemed like James Heathcliff was up to something, that he believed was rted to Madeline. This made him question if he should just kill James so that it would save his time and let everyone move forward with their lives.

    "Anything else you heard, Mr. Canon?" Calhoun asked Emilio, "I am curious about what you heard but its too vague. How is the wedding gowning along?"

    "We are working on it, milord. It should be done in a few days," the human answered. Calhoun moved two of his fingers for the person to stand up. As if remembering something, Emilio said, "There has been a rumour that has been going around for a few days. People have been whispering about Miss Harris trying to kill herself."

    "Hm?" came the response from Calhoun. Emilio was about to repeat, but Calhoun raised his hand, not wanting to hear the human speak anymore. He heard it clearly the first time, but his question was why the rumour was going around.

    His eyes narrowed in realization.

    Pulling a gold coin from his pocket, Calhoun said, "Good to know that it wasn''t all useless," and he threw the coin towards Emilio for the human to catch it, "You can leave now."

    He saw the human bow his head again before making his way towards the door and out of the room. The human was talking about the time when Madeline had fallen from the tower when the ss had disappeared on her touch.

    Calhoun''s calm face turned grim, his eyes fierce when he wondered which servant of his had dared to speak about the incident outside the walls of the castle without permission.

    "Theodore," Calhoun shouted the name, loud and clear. In less than ten seconds, Theodore made his way inside the room. "Find out which maid has gone to visit her home in or around East Carswell."

 Chapter 230 Findings- Part 3

    <h4>230 Findings- Part 3</h4>

    "He said you both would be getting married in the church. Is it true?" inquired her mother with her. Madeline nodded her head.

    "He did mention it to me," replied Madeline. The first time when Calhoun had spoken about it, she thought he was joking because vampires and church didn''t go together. The vampires usually never stepped in the holy ce of the church, and many humans came to believe that it was because vampires are different, "He said he wanted to have it in the church as he thought it was something I would want."

    Madeline noticed how her mother frowned after hearing this, "He''s doing it for your sake," hummed her mother in thought before asking, "Will the vampires be fine? I thought the vampires were allergic to ces like the church."

    "It should be fine if he''s decided to marry me there. He also said it would be much morefortable for our rtives and us to attend the wedding," replied Madeline.

    Mrs. Harris looked at her younger daughter. Madeline looked calm and collected, instead of looking like a tearing mess when theyst left her alone in the castle on the King''s orders. It was good to see that the King was looking after her and he wasn''t mistreating Madeline. Yesterday during the time of dinner, the atmosphere had turned awkward and tense.

    "Mama, I need to talk to you about something," Madeline said, and her mother nodded her head, waiting for her to go ahead to speak, "Do you think you can keep an eye on Beth and Mr. Wilmot for some time?"

    "An eye?" asked her mother.

    "The Wilmot''s family, they are not exactly nice even though they might try to look like one," Madeline didn''t want to drop the information like this, but she didn''t know how to bring it up with Beth. She had tried to find an opening with Beth earlier today, but every time she tried to bring up the topic, Beth had only deviated it with her thoughts and ns of a wedding. Beth looked like she was too smitten by the vampire, Markus Wilmot.

    "Is this about what happened yesterday at dinner?" asked her mother with a questionable look on her face, "Lady Sophie''s hand slipped during dinner. It was an unfortunate incident. You shouldn''t think too deep on it."

    "No, it''s not that," Madeline looked at the quiet corridor, "It''s not about Lady Sophie."

    Mrs. Harris ced her hand on Madeline''s hand that was resting on herp, "Have they hurt you? It would be best if you told the King. He will make sure nothing happens to you."

    Madeline was surprised by her mother''s words. It was only a few days ago that her mother had encouraged her to run away from the castle. But now she was willing to ept the King as Madeline''s future husband.

    Her mother''s face turned grim in thought, "Why would he do that? Do you think he did it to gain Beth''s attention?"

    That is not what Madeline was speaking about, but her mother had deviated from what Madeline meant and said, "I know vampires can be, the way we think they are. They are, after all, different from the the...humans. The young vampiress Sophie seemed not to like your sister, but her mother, Lady Rosamund, loved Beth''spany. This noon, she invited your sister and me to join her for tea."

    Madeline smiled at her mother''s eagerness. Though the royal family consisted of vampires, they were still creatures who one was supposed to be wary of. The reason her elder sister had grown the way she had, was because of her mother, and Madeline doubted that her mother realized it.

    Her parents had a good marriage life. A simple and stable one, but her mother often had dreamed of having a better life. It was something that was passed on to Beth.

    "Even if Markus'' sister doesn''t like Beth, it shouldn''t be much of a problem. Lady Rosamund said that they are searching for a good suitor for her daughter Sophie. This would mean Beth and Sophie won''t be living under the same roof. But then sister-inws sort out their differences in time," her mother nodded her head and continued to speak, "I was worried when the King announced his marriage to you, and Beth was being left behind. There have been many rumours that have been surrounding her."

    Madeline furrowed her eyebrows, "Like what?"

    Her mother pursed her lips and then said, "They are ill rumours. Of how she is an unsuitable girl to get married to and how many of them are rejecting her. That she is rude and whatnot." The woman shook her head in worry, "I have been making sure to keep her busy in the house, but it has been hard. I don''t know if she''s heard about it."

    "People have no right to speak about her like that," Madeline was not happy hearing it.

    When her marriage was announced, somewhere in the back of her mind, Madeline knew a situation like this would arise. It was customary to get the daughters of the house married in line. When one was skipped, the question arose on why she was not married, and people would start talking behind their backs.

    Madeline was hoping her mother would listen to what she had heard from Calhoun, but at the same time, she doubted her mother would stay quiet about it. Madeline had taken over her father''s genes when it came to keeping things to herself.

    "I am just worried Markus will break her heart," Madeline said in the best way she could, "Vampires usually don''t do things out of seriousness. They have motives. We all know how the night creatures don''t take the humans as a bride but only as a sacrifice."

    "The King has proven our thoughts to be wrong. Markus has not shown any signs as such," her mother said squeezing Madeline''s hand, "But if it makes you feel better, I will keep an eye on him for any signs. Initially, I did think about it, that it was indeed strange, but both the man and his mother appear to enjoy Beth''spany. If we questioned every little thing, it would be hard to lead our lives."

    "But questioning avoids possible misery," stated Madeline. Beth was hard to convince, and somewhere, after what happened in the garden yesterday, Madeline doubted her sister would listen to her. Beth liked to lead the way and didn''t like taking orders from others. Before more words were shared, Elizabeth arrived in the corridor.

    "Good that you haven''t gone to sleep yet!" came the cheerful voice of Beth, who carried a small box in her hand, "I wanted to show you something!"

    Madeline wondered what was inside the velvet box. She saw Beth open it carefully to make sure it wouldn''t break. When the light hit what was inside it, both Madeline and her mother saw it sparkle. They were a pair of diamond earrings.

    "Where did you get that from, Beth? Did you steal it?" Was the first question that came out of Mrs. Harris'' mouth. It was because there had been a few instances when Beth was a young girl, where she had ''borrowed'' things from others, and it was Mrs. Harris who went back to return these borrowed items from others.

    Beth turned embarrassed at her mother''s words, "Why would I do something so shameful! This is a present given by Lady Rosamund."

    The earrings sparkled brightly, light-reflecting back on Mrs. Harris'' face, who looked too stunned to speak, "This is too much for a gift, Beth. Return it," said their mother as their family could not afford it.

    Beth nodded her head, "I know. I was shocked myself when Lady Rosamund presented these as a gift. She also said that it was an apology for what took ce in the dining room because of Lady Sophie. Don''t you think she''s generous?" Beth asked.

    "I don''t know what to say," Mrs. Harris was speechless by the sight of the expensive jewel. Even if her husband worked for years, they wouldn''t be able to afford something close to this.

    Madeline looked at the studded earrings, looked up at Beth, who had a broad smile on her face. Beth, meeting her younger sister''s eyes, said, "What do you think, Maddie? I told you Markus was trying hard to woo me for marriage. He''s not hidden his intentions about me from his mother, which only tells how serious he is when ites to taking me as his wife. We will be more than sisters!" came Beth''s excited voice.

    Like her mother, Madeline offered her sister a smile.

    Madeline then said, "If it''s a gift for weing you, I think it is very kind of her. But if the reason is to apologize for what happened, I think it should be Lady Sophie who should be apologizing to you and not Lady Rosamund. By words."

    If a person wanted to apologize genuinely, why not do it through words, asked Madeline to herself.

    But unlike Madeline, Beth didn''t think like that, and she had a look of displeasure on her face.

    "Are you unhappy with the possible marriage that is going to happen with Markus?" Beth directly questioned Madeline.

    Madeline wondered if Beth could sense her feelings towards Markus and their rtionship.

    Calhoun had warned Madeline about his rtives and their intentions. She already knew about those things because Lady Rosamund had not treated her the same way she was treating Beth now by using polite words and giving gifts.

    She tried to put it in the best way she could in front of Beth, "Both of you should take it a little slow, to get to know each other. Let mother spend time with Lady Rosamund so that they are more well acquainted with each other. I mean its a marriage between two families-"

    "I don''t see the King waiting to know mother or father or me. He''s getting married to you like in what? Since the time you both met for eight or seven weeks?" questioned Beth.

    "This is not about the King we are speaking of. Our situations are different. You have a choice from the beginning," Madeline knew this was a delicate matter, and she couldn''t tell things openly to her sister. She doubted if she could speak about it to her mother too. Beth''s eyes had stars and dreams, which was now being granted by Lady Rosamund, "I am only asking you to take it slow."

    Beth scoffed, "You speak as if you are still a victim in what is happening."

    "I never said I was. I have epted to take the King as my husband out of my own choice," Madeline retaliated back, "I am telling it for your own sake."

    Beth turned to look at her mother and said, "It looks like our dear little Madeline has all grown up. Behaving like she knows everything in the world and has turned wise."

    Madeline frowned at her sister''s words, "I think you forgot that I warned you about the wolves, but you went ahead to touch them anyways. If you take that, yes, I am wise," she owned up to the words that Beth just uttered.

    "You told me that the wolves came out of nowhere and bit you!" Mrs. Harris whispered to Beth, with a questionable look on her face.

    "The wolves are stupid little mutts who are left out in the wild, mama!" Beth replied to her mother and then raised her hand that was still dressed with white bandages. She then turned to look at Madeline, her eyes narrowed, "Looks like you are finally shedding that delicate nature of yours to show your true self. And all because you are now going to be a queen."

    "Yes, I am going to be the queen," affirmed Madeline, "But I am saying it not to show my status, but because you''re my sister." She had heard enough from Beth about how she was using her current status, when in truth, all Madeline was trying to do was to protect Beth. Beth was beautiful, smart, and Madeline didn''t doubt it. Madeline was only giving a word of caution, to see how things would turn out with Markus in time rather than jumping on the ship to set it to sail.

    Beth quietly red at Madeline. It was because Madeline had never spoken to her in such a tone. And her sister was talking to her like this only because she was going to turn to be a queen. This made Beth only wonder what would happen if Madeline never turned to a queen. What if the crown was taken away from her before she even had the opportunity?

    "I would prefer to get married to the man early than dy my time, to only be called as the girl who couldn''t marry or find a suitor before her younger sister," Beth replied. She then closed the box that was open until now, "I like Markus a lot. Not to forget, he is the King''s cousin. I thought you would be happy Madeline," said Beth. And before Madeline could say anything, Beth had turned around and left the ce to walk back to her room.

    Madeline sighed. She had been as subtle as she could, but Beth had turned defensive.

    Her mother ced a hand on her shoulder, "It isn''t like she''s getting married to the man tomorrow. Things like these take time. And there are plenty of days for Beth to know and mingle with his family."

    Madeline nodded her head.

    "I didn''t mean to show my status to her," she said to her mother.

    "I know, dear. I know you didn''t mean it. Beth will be fine by the time of the morning," and both of them stood up. Madeline hugged her mother, who hugged her back before letting go, "I will see you in the morning. Okay?"

    "Yes, mama."

    Madeline saw her mother get back inside the guest room that was allotted to them by the King. It was as fancy as other rooms in this side of the corridor while away from the Wilmot''s rooms. This was the second day for her family to be spending their time in the castle, and there were eighteen more days left for the wedding to take ce.

    She didn''t pay too much attention to her sister''s words because Beth often got angry, but it always went back to normal after some time. Madeline believed it was healthy to fight and bring the words out than keep it within oneself.

    Walking away from the corridor, Madeline made her way through the other halls. As the feeling sank in her mind of her going to be a queen, it felt surreal. She was going to her room when she caught sight of Calhoun, who was talking to Theodore, his face looking severe. Whatever it was, it seemed like it was something of a severe matter. Her footsteps turned slow as she stared at him. Calhoun''s red eyes didn''t stay on Theodore for long as they snapped to look at her.

    Madeline saw Calhoun walk past Theodore, making his way to where she was.

    "Is everything alright?" she asked, looking into his eyes.

    Calhoun''s eyes were calm as he returned her gaze, "Yes, everything is perfectly alright. Why do you ask?" he asked her in a curious tone.

    Madeline wondered if she should point out that he wasn''t smiling like he often did, "Just like that," and she heard him hum in response.

    "Did your parents go to sleep?" Calhoun asked, receiving a nod from her, "Your father is very passionate about cutting woods."

    Madeline smiled, "Is that what you both spoke about?" She had heard Calhoun had invited her father for a drink in one of the many rooms of the castle. She had been slightly anxious when she heard it from her mother.

    "We spoke about other things. Though I felt there were some things he was hiding," murmured Calhoun that caught Madeline''s attention.

    "About what?" she asked, and Calhoun noticed how brown her eyes were.

    "I was trying to know how your childhood was," and finally, a slow smirk appeared on his face, "I doubt you remember about your childhood. Therefore, I decided to ask him. I would like to know more about you, sweet stuff."

    It would be a lie to say that Madeline had not been worried about Calhoun scaring her father. He aced in those things, and she was a little weary until she saw her father again, who appeared to be in a decently good mood.

    Who would have thought that the tyrant King wanted to know little things about her. Something she didn''t remember. But now that she had learned more about him, things others weren''t aware of, Madeline could see him wanting to know more about her.

    "What did you find out?" Madeline asked Calhoun.

    Calhoun stepped forward, running his fingers over the side of her hairline to smoothen the errant strands of her hair, "That you were an adorable little girl. A quiet one." His hand then dropped down to his side, "Did you have a good day?" he asked.

    "It was alright. Did your day go well?" Madeline asked him something she wouldn''t have questioned a month ago.

    "I missed spending my time with you, but then I know you want to spend your time with your family. I will have you wholly to myself soon." His eyes focused on her face. It was good to see her standing here in front of him, without escaping from his sight. "I would love to spend more time with you, but I have somewhere to go."

    "Work at this hour?"

    Calhoun cracked a grin, "Yes, a King always has his hands full with work. It is something urgent. Let me walk you to your room," he offered.

    "I will go myself. You will be able to finish the work sooner," Madeline said looking at him. Calhoun leaned forward as if going to kiss her on her cheek, but instead, his lips brushed her ear only to bite the side of her ear lobe, making her flinch. He then licked it.

    "If you are awake, I wille to see youter," Calhoun whispered, feeling her heart skip a beat, and he smiled before pulling away from her.

    Madeline didn''t respond to his words, but she didn''t evade it either. Calhoun saw her walk until she disappeared behind the end of the corridor. The smile on his lips finally dropped as he made his way to meet Theodore.

    "The carriage is ready," informed Theodore.

 Chapter 231 Findings- Part 4

    <h4>231 Findings- Part 4</h4>

    The night waste, and Calhoun had chosen to act upon it right away rather than dy the matter, which could only create a further problem in the future. The ck coat which he wore reached below his knees, and he wore a hat that cast a shadow on his face. Reaching the house, the door clicked to open for him, and Calhoun stepped inside the ce. He saw the maid who worked for the castle humming something under her breath as shebed her hair in front of the mirror.

    Calhoun walked quietly and took a seat on the chair, waiting for the girl to be done as it was rude to interrupt ady when she wasbing her hair.

    Finally, when the maid felt a presence, she turned around, her eyes widened on seeing the King sitting in her house.

    "My King!" eximed the maid.

    Calhoun stared at the maid, who bowed her head. There was evident fear in her eyes as the King never visited his servant''s house unless there was a pressing matter.

    The maid had never spoken to the King directly, but that didn''t mean she had not spoken about him outside the castle. Some women and men of the high society enjoyed gossip, especially the stories that concerned of the people who belonged to the high-status family. Servants were often paid generously when the stories were amusing or something that interested the gossip taker.

    "W-would you like to drink something, milord?" the maid asked, trying to keep her voice even, but it broke in the end.

    Calhoun crossed his legs, cing one over the other while leaning back and cing one hand on the armrest, "Do you think I am here to drink something from your home?" Calhoun asked and the maid shook her head, "Then why do you ask?"

    The maid opened her mouth only to close it. Everyone knew not to answer the King when the tone was challenging.

    The King didn''t say another word but stared at the maid who looked scrawny, "How long have you been working in the castle, that you have forgotten the rules that the servants have been asked to follow?"

    "N-nearly t-three years, milord," the maid stuttered.

    "And in these three years, how many times have you revealed things that have taken ce inside the castle?" Calhoun asked before standing up and looking at the house, "You have a fairly good house. Was it brought by the money you received from others after your storytelling?" his fingers ran over the walls, and his eyes then shifted to look at the maid.

    The maid''s eyes turned wide, "I-I don''t know wh-what you''re telling," she shook her head.

    Calhoun''s tongue clicked. In one quick movement, he caught hold of the girl''s neck.

    "P-please, milord!" the maid tried to say as she could feel the air reducing in her body.

    "I thought after beheading people in the castle, in front of everyone, people would rectify their ways, but it seems like people truly have no brain as they speak and break the rules," said Calhoun, his wordsing out dull as he released the girl for two seconds to breath before tightening the grip around the human''s neck again.

    "You know, I would have let it slide but making up things that you have not seen," Calhoun shook his head, "I have finally got her to open up to me, and her parents are epting the fact, but here you are, a little rat trying to disrupt something that is so beautiful. Do you think I would be pleased?" he asked her, but the maid could not answer as Calhoun''s fingers didn''t release her neck to speak,

    "So tell me now, how would you like to die?"

    The maid was utterly frightened by the King''s words. When Calhoun let go of her neck, the girl scurried away from him, keeping a distance while looking towards the door to run. She knew not to scream.

    "Please forgive me, milord! I never meant any harm. It was what I heard in the castle!" she bowed her head, hoping the King would forgive her, but even she knew the King never forgave anyone. Even if he did in the past, those people often died in strange circumstances. But with her life on the line, she continued to beg, "I will never utter a word again."

    Calhoun nodded his head as he stepped closer to her, "I know you won''t. If you aren''t alive, nothing will evere out of those lips," a malicious smile appeared on his lips.

    The maid wanted to live! Trying to think about what could save her life, she suddenly said, "If you asked the Queen, she would ask to spare my life. Please, my King!"

    If the maid had not feared for her life, she would have never let a word of whisper out of her mouth. There would have been no telling when she would repeat it, and Calhoun didn''t want any other rumours being spread.

    Calhoun chuckled at the naive words of the maid, "If you have lived in the castle for three years, you should know things like that don''t work on me," he tsked before snapping the maid''s head with both his hands for her body to fall ck on the ground.

    Walking back to the carriage, he ordered the coachman, "Bury her somewhere far away from here. And not like Lipton''s daughter."

    "Yes, milord," the coachman bowed his head.

    Calhoun didn''t get inside to sit in the carriage, but he continued to walk away from it, taking a stroll in the night.

 Chapter 232 Awake in the bed- Part 1

    <h4>232 Awake in the bed- Part 1</h4>

    Sure, he had promised Madeline about not killing people, but the promise was only for the day before, after and on the wedding day.

    As much as his ears picked on rumours that he didn''t care about, he didn''t like people specting rumours about Madeline''s mindset and turning her family or her against him. Calhoun had been careful enough toy his web out, and Madeline had stepped far into it. Almost at the centre, ready to live with him in the castle.

    Calhoun killed people, but at the same time, he made sure no one would be able to point the finger at him. The servants in the castle were trained not to utter words that didn''t concern them. Even if he did kill people, there was always a solid reason or a reason was cooked up in favour of the King. Treason to the King or the King''s family was something that was not tolerated.

    The air in the vige was cold, and Calhoun''s lust for blood increased. He looked for prey to feed on, to suck and drink the blood out of the person until thest drop. He wondered who would be the lucky person. Calhoun was in no mood to drink the blood from a ss at the moment.

    The truth was that he wanted to drink the blood from the petite girl who had pale yet milky skin. Thinking about it made his fangs ache in need. When a person found something close to paradise, it was hard to let it go. One sip was never enough and sometimes, not even many gulps. His shoes didn''t make any noise on the ground, and Calhoun yed with his fangs by running his tongue over it. The fang was sharp enough to cut the surface of the tongue, and he tasted the metallic blood.

    His eyes searched in the dark, finding the next possible person who could turn to his prey. With most of thenterns that were burning since the time of the evening, they had exhausted themselves because of theck of oil in them, making it easier for him to move freely.

    He was eager to go back to the castle. To visit Madeline to whom he had said he would return to see her if she was awake. The expression on her face told him that she would be waiting for him. It had taken many days to create a spark of fire, and Calhoun had done nothing but fan it in Madeline.

    Standing anywhere close to Madeline right now, would only make him do worse things to her, things she would be scared and would break her. It was why he was looking for a person in the night. Somewhere in one of the houses, Calhoun then heard an argument taking ce. A woman screamed in pain and Calhoun made his way towards the house.

    "You worthless piece of woman! Did you think I would not find out!" the man yelled at the top of his voice, just enough not to let his voice out of the house. But Calhoun was a vampire. He heard most of the things even though he wasn''t around.

    Calhoun walked away from the door, moving near the window to take a look at the woman who was on the ground, with her hand on her cheek. There were tears in the woman''s eyes.

    "You promised you wouldn''t spend any more money on gambling! Every morning there are debt collectors at the front of the house!" the woman said in tears, "I cannot live like this!"

    Calhoun identified the man to be the husband who red at his wife, "Why don''t you leave right now then?!" he pulled the woman up to stand and pushed her out of the house, "It is my money! I will do what I want!"

    "Why did you even marry me? You cannot throw me out. I am your wife!" the woman said in distress. When she went to speak again, the man pped and kicked her stomach, making her fall down on the ground and hurl in pain.

    By watching this, Calhoun''s eyes narrowed. He hade across such events before. He had seen his very own mother being mistreated. Not by his father, but the men who came to use her, which was why how made money. His memory was distant, but it was still there.

    Things in the past had been dire for both Calhoun and his mother. He was a young boy when he started to take note of things. Rumours always spread very fast, worse than a wildfire, burning a person''s image to charr it for the next few years until people forgot about it.

    Nobody knew how and who spread the news about his mother being the King''s mistress, but Calhoun could only guess that it was his paternal grandmother''s doing. When something belonged to the King, it was possible for the King to lose interest in it, but it didn''t mean the interest was lost outside the castle. Everybody wanted to know about the person or the thing. To have it and wonder what made it important to the King before he discarded it.

    In Calhoun''s memory, he and his mother shared good times. It wasn''t long, but it was enough for him to keep him going. To turn to the person he was, with the things that had gone down with him. He wasn''t angry with his mother. He doubted he ever would be. She was with the wrong man.

    It was only after years did Calhoun bring peace to her by killing the man who used and threw her.

    "How dare you try to stop me!" the man shouted, to kick the woman again and spitting on her. In anger, the man left the house, leaving the woman behind crying in pain who didn''t move from her position.

    This brought in other memories in Calhoun''s mind. He followed the man who stomped like a little child as he headed close to the forest. It was funny how some men thought it was alright to show their pride and manliness where it was not needed. The woman wasn''t shocked when the man had kicked her, and it only told that this person whom he was following now in the dark, was not worth living. Calhoun said to himself that it was a way to stop the misery of the woman and clean hisnd by getting rid of such people.

    The vige man turned around when he heard the sound of footsteps, but there was no one there. As he continued to walk, he again heard the crunching of the dried leaves that made him walk faster to get rid of the person whoever was following him. He turned back and then looked around for someone to catch hold of his neck and push him against the tree.

    "W-who are you?!" asked the vige man in panic.

    With the shadow that was cast on Calhoun''s face because of the hat and the darkness of night, Calhoun chuckled, "It might be the devil who hase here to suck your soul out of your body and send it to hell."

    "S-stop joking!" the man fretted to get away from the stalker, "I will alert everyone in the vige."

    "Go ahead," Calhoun replied with a calm voice, "I would like to hear you scream with no tongue in your mouth." He loosely held the person, but the man was not strong enough. After all, he was a human while Calhoun was a vampire.

    The man''s eyes darted towards the vige and then back at this crazy man who hade to attack him out of the blue, "Let go of me! I don''t even know who you are!" eximed the man, his fingers continuing to struggle to pull Calhoun''s fingers that didn''t budge.

    Calhounughed, "I am here to collect my money that you borrowed. Where is it?" he decided to y with the man.

    "I don''t know! I gave it to my wife. Ask her!" said the man rmed, but both of them knew it was not true.

    "Your family must be truly disappointed with you because of how useless you are. ming your wife when you have gambled your money away," Calhoun tsked while shaking his head in disapproval, "You know my father was useless too. Do you know what I did to him?"

    "HELP! SOMEONE HE-" the man shouted as loud as he could, but his words were cut short in screams as Calhoun dived in to sink his fangs in the man''s neck. With Calhoun who was already hungry, it took less than two minutes to drain out all the blood from the man, and the man turned dead.

    Calhoun looked down at the man. Picking the man''s leg, Calhoun dragged him further into the forest. On his way, Calhoun licked his lips clean with his tongue for any traces of blood on his mouth.

    He didn''t take the body too far. If the humans were going to be scared of vampires, that was fine by Calhoun. Humans and vampires were asked to live and share the samend under the words and rules of the High house. In Calhoun''s book, fear was not meant to be forgotten.

    He wiped his mouth with his sleeve before ck wings emerging out from his back.

    Back in the castle, Madelineid in her bed with her eyes open. She had tried to sleep, but for some reason, she was unable to do it. She wondered how much time passed since she got into the bed, and also since Calhoun left the castle toplete whatever work hade to his notice.

    Turning around, she pulled the nket closer to herself. Calhoun had told her, he woulde to visit her if she was awake. Would he?

 Chapter 233 Awake in the bed- Part 2

    <h4>233 Awake in the bed- Part 2</h4>

    She pondered what to do about Beth. Madeline doubted that Beth would evere to listen to her words. She knew that, Beth believed she knew everything and she didn''t need anyone''s help as she was smart, but this was not the time to act like that. The people who were rted to the royal family, everyone appeared to be hungry for power that could be achieved by getting either the favour of the King or by killing the King. Thetter was an impossible task to do. It was because Madeline had seen how quick Calhoun''s reflex was when the arrow had been shot at her in the forest.

    All Madeline wanted to do was keep her family safe, away from any possible harm. She would have ignored Calhoun''s words if Rosamund never tried to encourage her from running away from the castle.

    It was apparent that Lady Rosamund wanted the throne, but Calhoun would not give it to her. In the past, when Madeline had questioned about his possible marriage to Sophie, Calhoun had once said that Sophie was not rted to him. She had taken his words in a literal sense, but now she came to realize that he meant it as a phrase because he didn''t like them. He didn''t consider them to be a family.

    And Madeline didn''t me him.

    His father, who was the previous King of Devon, along with his grandmother, had mistreated Calhoun''s mother. She knew there was more story in there and Calhoun had only given her enough to bite and swallow. Remembering the woman whoid in the cemented gravestone, Madeline wondered why the King would even let her go. She was much prettier than Lady Lucy''s mother, and by what she heard from Calhoun, she appeared to be a gooddy.

    When Madeline was deep in her thought, she felt someone''s hand on her head, and she turned around with a startled look on her face to see Calhoun who had already seated himself next to her with his long legs outstretched on the bed.

    Madeline''s eyes went wide on seeing him here. She had not heard a sound in the room nor the dip in the bed. Was she so immersed in thought that she had not noticed his presence, or was it Calhoun''s another skill?

    "I thought you would be asleep," Calhoun said, whose hand gently smoothened the hair on her head.

    Madeline pushed herself up, one sleeve of her nightdress falling off her shoulder and Calhoun''s eyes took note of it. Gingerly, Calhoun moved his hand to pick up the sleeve and cover her shoulder. On the way, his fingertip caressed her skin. She quickly evened the sleeves as one of them had moved towards her neck.

    "Did you finish your work?" asked Madeline.

    Calhoun gave her a nod, "I did. Why didn''t you sleep?" he repeated his question.

    "I wasn''t able to sleep," whispered Madeline, not wanting to admit that his words were lingering in her mind. His hair looked ruffledpared to the time she had seen him in the hallways. Like the wind had blown back and forth to dishevel his pitch-ck hair.

    "Why not?" questioned Calhoun. He leaned forward for her heart to skip a beat when he came close to her. But Calhoun was only moving past her side to get down from the bed and grab the ss of water that was ced on the nightstand.

    Madeline shook her head. She didn''t know if it was normal to feel this flustered in someone''s presence.

    With Calhoun in the room, she got out of the bed, to walk towards the candles to light them up. Lightning the five candles in the candle stand, she brought it to be ced next to the nightstand.

    Calhoun poured himself another ss of water, and he continued to drink it while his eyes followed her around.

    "What work was it?" Madeline tried to make conversation with him so that she wouldn''t be intimidated of his presence in the room, where she was alone.

    "You are getting good at skipping the answers to my questions," replied Calhoun and Madeline went back to sit on the bed, "I had to see two people off. They were going to anothernd."

    Madeline wondered if the people were of great importance that the King had personally gone to send them off, "They must be feeling very privileged."

    A broad smile broke through Calhoun''s lips, "Yes, they were very pleased with my presence," and the room fell silent again. Madeline heard Calhoun ce the ss on the nightstand and he removed his shoes, getting back on the bed, to sit with her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, bells rang when he was removing his shoes as if he was going to sleep here tonight.

    It was true that they were making progress, but she doubted she would be able to sleep next to Calhoun. It wasn''t him but her. Or maybe it was because of the way he looked at her and the words he used to coax her. Her feelings were changing towards him, and Madeline was turning more aware of his presence, including the effects he had on her.

    "Are you not going to sleep?" she asked him.

    Calhoun, who stared at her, asked, "Are you offering me to join you in the bed or chasing me away from the room?"

    "I don''t think I can do the second one," Madeline replied, and his smile only grew.

    "You are right," Calhoun said leaning towards her, "You have been waiting for me to return, haven''t you," he asked her. Madeline''s lips parted, but no words came out of her lips. She wanted to deny, but her heart was racing, and she knew Calhoun picked on it.

    "What have you done to me," she whispered, her hands clutching her nightdress near her knees. Every time she had calmed herself, Calhoun did something to stir up her emotions.

    Calhoun tilted his head, "What did I do? I didn''t even touch you...now." But he had before leaving the castle, biting her ear and licking it in the middle of the corridor where one could witness it if they were in the same hall. The smile on his face didn''t leave.

    His hand shot up to rub the side of her ear where he had bitten, "Does it hurt?" Madeline shook her head.

    "No," she answered.

    Calhoun moved closer to her, his eyes fell on her lips and then moving back to her eyes, "Now?" he asked, pressing the lobe.

    Madeline''s breath was turning shallow, her body heating up, and her innocent mind quickly prayed to God to stop the wave of emotions she was feeling right now, "D-don''t."

    "Don''t what?" came Calhoun''s deep voice. Her hands which was holding her dress moved to the surface of the bed.

    She gulped the ball of nervousness that had moved up her throat, trying to push it down while trying to keep her head clear which was hard to do right now. She then heard him say, "What do you have on your mind that you don''t want me to do? Tell me, and I will see what I can do about it."

    Just those words were enough for Madeline''s eyes to half close, and her body turned hot, "I don''t want you d-doing t-that."

    "And what is ''that''," asked Calhoun with a gentle yet persistent voice. Calhoun was ying the game of push and pull with Madeline, but there was a limit for it too because it wasn''t just her but also him who was being tortured, "If you won''t tell me, how will I know about it," said the sly King.

    His hand was still on her ear, rubbing it and she flinched when his fingernails nipped on the lobe, "What you are doing right now and what you did at the chapel."

    Calhoun leaned forward to take a whiff of her scent. It was sweet and innocent, a flower that was untouched which was now blooming beautifully. A scent that was turning rich that made him want to tear the flower so that he could hold it.

    His fingertips trailed the side of her ear and then went down her neck before moving past to brush the top of her chest, "I bit you. Sucked the tender part of your swell, soft. Is that what you are saying? I finished taking blood for the hour. Even though I would love to have another sip from you."

    Madeline''s face instantly turned red with his words and at the action of his hand on her chest. Her hands pressed against the bed.

    She was speaking about what he did after they came out of the chapel, and she knew that Calhoun knew what she was speaking about, but he wanted to hear those things from her mouth. The problem here was Madeline had bravely told him that she knew what to do...to relieve the tension that her body carried, but she didn''t. With her sister busy with Markus Wilmot and the others engaged with the other rtives of Calhoun, Madeline had no one to ask.

    And it was shameful to ask something regarding to this with others!

    But at the same time, she was going to be his wife soon. To be the King''s wife, Calhoun''s wife and at that thought, her face turned red again.

    As if sensing her emotions, Calhoun said, "You shouldn''t be ashamed of what your body feels and needs." Moving closer, he pressed his lips right behind her ear, "Madeline," he called her name sensually.

    "It''s your fault," sheined.

    "I know. Let me take responsibility for it," Calhoun said sweetly, drawing her to his wolf''s den, "You don''t have to feel the way you are feeling. All you need to do is, ask."

    After a lot of resolute, Madeline said, "I-I think I am f-fine."

    Calhoun admired Madeline''s strength not to give in, but that was only because she didn''t know how it felt when the sexual tension was released. Of course, he wouldn''t make love to her today, but there were other ways to help her, thought Calhoun.

    "I was wondering," Calhoun said to gain Madeline''s attention, "Are your grandparents going to attend the wedding?"

    "I guess they will. Why?" Madeline asked.

    She then heard him say, "I was thinking about visiting them with you. Tomorrow."

 Chapter 234 Empty Graves- Part 1

    <h4>234 Empty Graves- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Calhoun didn''t stay long in Madeline''s room, instead, he left to go to his room. In the King''s quarters, there was no one but just him and her. They weren''t married yet and meeting like this in the middle of the night, where Calhoun came to her room to visit and see her, Madeline felt it to be nothing less to lovers, who were making time to see each other.

    Madeline closed and locked the room, turning around to go back to her bed. Going back to the ss which was used by Calhoun, she poured water into it before taking a couple of gulps to soothe her dry throat. With him not in the same room as her, it was easier to keep her head straight without thinking about embarrassing things.

    She wondered why Calhoun decided to meet her grandparents. It was very abrupt. Earlier that night, he had mentioned about him speaking to her father about her childhood. He was wanted to learn more about how she was when she was a small girl. Somewhere it was sweet of him to be going to the length of going to meet her grandparents, but the question arose if her grandparents would be pleased hearing her marriage to a vampire.

    Her mother told her that she sent out the invitations to her aunts and uncles. Also cousins, but didn''t mention about her paternal grandparents. It was possible that her parents hadn''t sent the invitation to them, because of their displeasure at the thought of vampires'' existence. They had kept her and her sister Beth away from the circle of vampires, and they preferred their grandchildren to grow up to stay away from the night creatures, but that had now failed.

    When morning arrived, Calhoun brought it up at the dining table, "Is there something you would like to ask or bring from your parent''s house, Mr. Harris?" asked Calhoun in a calm tone.

    Mr. and Mrs. Harris had a look of puzzlement on their face.

    "My King?" asked Mr. Harris, wanting to know why the King was asking him if he needed something from his parents.

    Madeline ced her hand on her mother''s hand, getting her attention before she said, "The King has decided to give a visit to grandma and grandpa today."

    "Now?" her mother''s eyebrows raised and Madeline nodded her head.

    Calhoun then spoke, "There are other rtives of mine, who will be joining us soon for the wedding. I thought it would be better to have your parents attend the wedding. Of course, I know you have invited them," he smiled looking at the couple who returned the smile with lesser confidence, "As Madeline is going to be my wife soon, I would like to get to know more about your family members."

    Mr. Harris'' mouth went dry, and he said, "They will be attending the wedding, my King. You don''t have to take the trouble to go to see them."

    Madeline who was sitting in between her parents today noticed how her parents wanted to ask the King not to visit the family. They knew Madeline''s paternal grandparents wouldn''t be excited about their granddaughter getting married to a night creature. Shifting her eyes to look at Calhoun, she could tell that Calhoun sensed her parent''s distress, but he was going to visit them anyway.

    Mrs. Harris looked at her husband; her eyebrows drew together in tension.

    "Any souvenirs you would like to get from there?" Calhoun chimed with a smile, and Madeline''s parents shook their head.

    On the other side of the table, Markus asked Beth, "How did you sleep at night, Lady Elizabeth?"

    Beth gave a charming smile of hers before she answered, "I had a very sound sleep. The best one. I hope you slept well, Sir Markus."

    "Knowing you were nearby in one of the rooms, I must say it was a little hard," Markus teased her in a small whisper.

    Mr. and Mrs. Harris were lucky not to hear it because of their human ears along with Madeline, but that didn''t mean the other didn''t listen to it at the table. Beth blushed, her cheeks turning red.

    But Sophie Wilmot was disgusted by the small talk between her brother and the human girl. She scoffed, "You speak as if both of you can''t wait to get in the bed," she muttered under her breath. Another sentence that went unheard by Beth''s family but Beth, who was sitting in the front, quietly red with a smile.

    Beth didn''t bother herself too much with what Sophie said. It was true that she had the best sleep that she ever had until now. And the reason wasn''t because of the soft bed and good room but the diamond earrings that were gifted to her by Markus'' mother, Lady Rosamund.

    "Why don''t you take the butter, Lady Sophie," Beth offered her future sister-inw with a broad smile on her face, "Some have unsteady hands. This is easier to handle where it won''t slip out of your hand."

    Beth didn''t see why she should not retort back yfully. It was apparent that Lady Rosamund was choosing her over Sophie as she didn''tment and continued to have her breakfast.

    Sophie smiled back at Beth. The vampiress was fumingly mad because her family was not supporting her. This little leach was leaching on to her brother, but that didn''t mean she was going to sit back and watch it y in front of her.

    "Well, thank you," came Sophie''s polite words as she went to grab the butter that was offered by Beth. While taking it, Sophie''s fingernails scratched the sides of Beth''s fingers to leave a burn. Beth gritted her teeth when she felt the scrape of nails on her skin, "It was rude of me for not apologizing. I mean not everyone has their destiny to be smacked by a crab on their face," she let a small innocent giggle.

    Beth ran her thumb over the back of her fingers. If there was no one in the room, she would have thrown the entire porridge of meat on Sophie''s head by now.

    After speaking to her mother and sister, Beth had pondered over Madeline''s words and felt her sister was right. Sophie should have apologized to her, but that didn''t mean Beth was not happy to receive the gift from Lady Rosamund.

    Beth only smiled at Sophie and then asked Markus, "How is the working along at the shop?"

    "Shop?" asked Markus before it dawned on what the elder daughter of the Harris was speaking of. He turned his head to look at Calhoun whose eyes were on his food, but Markus knew better than that the King was having his ears around the table while behaving as if he was not interested. To prove the point, the King''s eyes raised to look at Markus.

    Calhoun said, "The shop is not Markus'' nor was he the one to give it to your father. He won''t be working on fixing it."

    Beth observed how the Kingmanded from where he sat. She would have been happy if she was going to be his Queen, but she was far from it. It was why Beth decided to sail beside Markus. She didn''t like the way Madeline''s future husband was taking away the help that Markus was providing to her family.

    "My King, if I may speak," said Beth, asking for permission because two days ago when she went to speak, the King had red at her with evident distaste in his mouth before calling it a joke.

    "Go ahead," Calhoun answered in a dull tone as if he wanted her to finish her words quickly and not waste his time.

    Getting the cue, Beth began, "My lord, it was Mr. Wilmot who was fixing the shop. Isn''t it right to let him finish it so that we can thank him fully?"

    "The shop doesn''t involve anything to do with Markus unless Markus feels so bad for sabotaging the shop with his means?" Calhoun raised his eyebrows questioningly.

    "Isn''t it a bit hasty to be ming Markus?" asked Lady Rosamund.

    Madeline, who was seated near them, watched how there was a look of displeasure on the older vampiress face. But then she heard Calhoun speak, "I was merely weighing Miss Harris'' words. Who spoke about me?" His blood-red eyes shifted to look at Markus, "It looks like the family is quick to defend always."

    His aunt''s eyes didn''t leave him, and Calhoun only smiled, "Well, any way, Markus has other work to do than help with the shop. I believe my cousin has not left the job in the court and decided to take up the work of carpentry now, has he?"

    For a second, Lady Rosamund was gobsmacked by Calhoun''s words, "It is good to see that my nephew, who is our King, now thinks so much about his cousin brother." She didn''t want to create any drift in the rtionship that had been maintained between the King and the Wilmot family. "Markus has other work to do than fixing a shop which can be handled by someone else."

    Sophie couldn''t stop but hop on board with it, "We can always count on brother Calhoun. At least not like some others, the King knows that Markus'' position is and not to fix things in the vige. She brought the ss near her lips and took a sip, her eyes making contact with Beth, who stared at her.

    Mrs. Harris, listening to the conversation taking ce at the table, turned to speak to the Wilmot''s family, "Thank you for helping us, Mr. Wilmot. Beth was not spea-"

    Markus bowed his head in response to her words, "I know, Mrs. Harris."

    "As the matter doesn''t concern Markus but me, I have already asked Theodore to send people to rebuild it in a better condition. Also, a word has been sent to the magistrate who works in the vige. If he cannot help you to protect the shop the next time, which is less probable to happen, I have told him he wouldn''t have his head sitting on top of his body but somewhere on the ground," Calhoun said casually.

    Continuing to have her breakfast, Madeline looked at the doors of the room, waiting to see if Lady Lucy would arrive with her husband. But neither of them appeared. She hoped everything was alright.

    When they were away from the others, Madeline said to Calhoun, "It''s going to take hours if we are going to my grandparent''s house."

    "They don''t live near East Carswell?" questioned Calhoun.

    Madeline shook her head.

    "That''s okay. We won''t be taking the carriage."

 Chapter 235 Empty Graves- Part 2

    <h4>235 Empty Graves- Part 2</h4>

    His hand felt warm on her skin as he tugged her hand.

    Madeline watched the side of Calhoun''s face where he held a serious yet calm expression. She wondered if family was important to Calhoun, which was why he was making an effort to meet her grandparents. But he mentioned only about her paternal grandparents and not her maternal grandparents. Did it have something to do with the conversation that Calhoun had with her father? Asked Madeline to herself as she followed him.

    Was it because Calhoun never had the perfect family as he grew up? His father was someone who could have given him anything, but the person had failed to provide Calhoun with deserving family life and love that a father should provide. With no roof on his head, where his mother had to struggle out in the society, Madeline could tell things were hard on Calhoun. Back in the vige, she had seen how children who didn''t have father were treated. Life must have been harsh for Calhoun before.

    Madeline heard Calhoun ask, "When did youst visit them?"

    "I think it was five months ago. It was Aunt Mary''s birthday that gave the opportunity to have a get together with the family," replied Madeline, "Was my childhood all you spoke with my father?"

    Calhoun grinned hearing this. Madeline was smart, and he knew it. The girl had hidden in the shadow for too long, letting her sister shine in front of people not knowing the kind of power she held.

    "Isn''t that what I said?" Calhoun turned to meet her eyes, "I am just eager to meet your family."

    He finally let go of her hand, when they reached tworge doors in front of them. The doors were pulled open for both of them to step out in the open. Madeline looked around and realise this was the backside of the castle. The sky was clear today, the sun shining bright on thend of Devon.

    "You said my father said something that was unclear. Is that why we are visiting them?" asked Madeline. Calhoun who was looking ahead of him turned to her,

    "So many questions. Let me ask you a question now," he said to her, "How would you like to fly? With your hands around me or my hands around you?"

    Madeline''s eyes had been darting towards his back since the time he had mentioned that they were not going to make use of the carriage. And like magic, the ck-feathered wings appeared behind his back, spreading and stretching itself for Madeline to look in awe. It was fascinating to see that a vampire could have wings. Without another word, Calhoun bent down and picked her up in his arms.

    "Hold tight," informed Calhoun and Madeline listened to him, locking her hands to see the broad smile on his lips that had not disappeared. When his ck wings moved, her brown eyes were quick to catch the movement. They moved back at first, and the next second when it went to p, both Calhoun and Madeline shot up towards the sky.

    Air came gushing through, and Madeline closed her eyes. The hair she had tied into a braid neatly before had now turned to a mess. The smaller strands of her hair were pulled out because of the wind which was now flying in front of her face.

    Calhoun stopped moving upwards, and Madeline finally felt the wind slow down around them. Hearing his wings p, she finally opened her eyes to see they were up high, where things below them looked small from where they were now.

    Her hands around Calhoun''s neck tightened while her eyes looked to the side, staring at thend where she could see the forest and the castle, some viges that peeked from behind a lot of trees.

    "How are you feeling?" asked Calhoun.

    Madeline looked back at him, "I am feeling good." The first time when she flew with him she was scared, but right now, she was excited to be up in the sky, away from everything, in the clouds.

    "Lead the way, mdy," said Calhoun in between the time when his ck wings continued to p without stopping that kept them up in the air.

    Once Madeline started to direct Calhoun where to go, they left the castle to fly towards the vige where her grandparents lived. Madeline found this to be more enjoyable than going in the carriage where all she could see was trees that moved one after another.

    "Are you not worried that someone might see you up here?" Madeline asked him.

    "They will think it''s another bird. Not many look up at the sky to admire it," replied Calhoun to her, "Did you ever find a big bird up in the sky?" he asked her.

    "I didn''t pay heed to it. If I knew there was someone who had wings, I would have looked closer," Madeline answered to see Calhoun smile, "You didn''t meet your grandfather, but you want to meet mine."

    Calhoun''s eyes moved to look down at her, "I don''t mind taking you where my grandfather resides. I never heard from him. Even when my mother died, he never came to visit her grave."

    "Maybe he never knew about it," Madeline gave out the possible scenario.

    "Maybe," hummed Calhoun but Madeline took his response to mean that he didn''t want to talk about it. His eyes moved to look at her, and he said, "Honestly, I never bothered to contact him, and neither did he. The only person who mattered to me was my mother, and now it''s you. Sometimes maybe Lucy and Theodore. And Maddox," he listed the names, making her smile, "If he doesn''t show up at the wedding, which I doubt he will, I will take you there. Okay?"

    When they finally reached the vige where Madeline''s paternal grandparents lived, Calhounnded on the ground without the vigers noticing them. His wings disappeared in an instant, and Madeline let go of his neck.

    "How is your rtionship with them?" Calhoun asked her as they made their way towards Madeline''s grandparent''s house.

    "They are sweet and kind. My parents would often leave us here in their care, both Beth and me," replied Madeline. Upon seeing someone she knew, she bowed her head, and the woman bowed back before looking at Calhoun.

    The woman couldn''t stop but stare at Calhoun while he didn''t bother to pay any attention to her and continued to walk next to Madeline. Madeline who noticed this could tell that the woman didn''t know he was the King. Calhoun was a handsome man, and he had the ability to catch a person''s eye.

    "Here it is," said Madeline when they reached her grandparent''s house that had apound covered in vines. Pushing the gate, she stepped inside to be followed by Calhoun until her feet stopped in front of the door. Raising her hand, she knocked it.

    The door was opened by an old woman, where the frown on her face that she had carried just before opening the door turned one to a smile when her eyes fell on her granddaughter, "Madeline!"

    "Grandma," Madeline greeted the woman who put her hands around her to pat her back. At the same time, an older man appeared at the door. Madeline''s grandfather was ready to wee her with a smile but when he noticed the presence behind his granddaughter, his eyes narrowed along with his wife.

    "I am sorry toe without any prior notice," Madeline slowly said. She looked back and forth at her grandparents and Calhoun, who stared at each other.

    "Who do you have here, Madeline, dear?" asked her grandfather, "You should know not to speak to a vampire. Lest bring one home."

    Madeline was ready to introduce him, but Calhoun took this opportunity to say, "I am Calhoun Hawthrone. Madeline''s soon-to-be husband," he offered the man a bright smile.

 Chapter 236 Empty Graves- Part 3

    <h4>236 Empty Graves- Part 3</h4>

    .

    While Calhoun introduced himself to her grandparents, Madeline held her breath as she stared at her grandparents, who red at Calhoun but not too obviously. Madeline, who knew about her grandparent''s distaste towards vampires, wished she could cushion about him being a vampire so that it wouldn''t be as impactful as Calhoun had dropped the information to them.

    "Excuse me?" her grandmother asked Calhoun as if she didn''t hear what the vampire said.

    Everyone knew the older woman heard it loud and clear, but she was still asking out of shock. Calhoun took note of why Madeline''s parents had been sharing looks when he mentioned going to visit Mr. Harris'' parent''s. It was because the older folks didn''t like night creatures.

    Calhoun said, "Madeline and I are getting married in less than three weeks. We are here to take your blessings and also invite you," his words were polite and charming, his eyes looking at her grandparents whose eyes only narrowed at his words.

    "Do your parents know about it?" asked Madeline''s grandfather to Madeline, and she nodded her head.

    "Yes, grandpa. They are in the castle right now," she answered.

    "Castle?" her grandmother raised her eyebrows in question. It had only been five minutes since Madeline had knocked on the door, but her grandparents had not invited them in because of the night creature who had apanied her here to the house.

    Madeline licked her lips, and replied to her grandmother''s curious gaze, "This is Calhoun Hawthrone. The King of Devon," she introduced him properly. Her grandparents didn''t look one bit pleased. Somewhere, Madeline noticed how her grandfather''s eyes narrowed before the intense gaze reduced.

    Both her grandparents bowed their head, "Pleasee in," her grandfather invited them into the house.

    Calhoun smiled, looking at Madeline''s grandparents who didn''t want to let him in, but they invited him anyway out of politeness. He was the King, and it was rude to refuse and be rude to him. It would cost one''s head to go against him. Madeline, on the other hand, had noticed the sudden change in her grandfather''s demeanour which she didn''t question. Stepping inside the house after her grandfather and Calhoun, she stepped in with her grandmother.

    Her grandmother said,

    "Isn''t it too early to be getting married? We didn''t hear a word about it," her grandmother ced her hand on Madeline''s back before letting it go, to close the door.

    "It was decided a few weeks ago," Calhoun interjected even though the question was directed towards Madeline.

    Madeline''s grandmother was not impressed with the fact that the blood-sucking creature was answering her question, "Still a few weeks is a little early, isn''t it?" asked the woman, "I am hoping it is a marriage that both of you have agreed upon?"

    Madeline didn''tment on this. The beginning part of it was not the true story, but Madeline loved her grandparents, and she didn''t want them sleeping in their graves anytime soon because of Calhoun.

    Stepping inside the living room, chairs were pulled to sit. Madeline looked towards Calhoun, who looked back at her with a grin on his face. Madeline knew Calhoun was not someone, not to notice the hostile attitude that came from her grandparents.

    "Is there something you would like to drink? Wat-" her grandmother began only to be interrupted by Calhoun''s choice.

    "Blood."

    They had stepped inside the house barely for two minutes, and Calhoun was already pushing their buttons. Her grandfather''s eyes hardened and narrowed. Before another word could be spoken, Madeline said, "Water is fine, grandma. Let mee and help you with it," she offered, getting up from her chair and apanying her grandmother to the kitchen.

    Calhoun''s eyes moved around in the living room, observing the things that were neatly ced before his eyes fell on Madeline''s grandfather, who was in front of him. When Calhoun had mentioned about going to meet Madeline''s paternal grandparents, it wasn''t because he wanted to receive their blessings. He would look after Madeline fine without anyone''s blessings. If it weren''t for her fatherst night, who looked as if he was evading Madeline''s childhood by trying to steer the conversation, Calhoun would not have bothered toe here.

    "How did you arrive here?" asked the old man, "I did not see your carriage, milord."

    "We used the local carriage," replied Calhoun, which was a tant lie. Calhoun saw how the older man had a look of suspicion. For an old couple who were the grandparents of Madeline, they sure had their guard up, thought Calhoun to himself, "Did you not receive the invitation yet?" he asked the old man.

    "No. My son must have sent it outte," answered Madeline''s grandfather.

    Calhoun nodded his head, "How strange. I thought the invitations were sent out four weeks ago. But no worries. It is good that Madeline and I decided to visit you and her grandmother."

    Madeline''s grandfather stared at the vampire who was sitting under his roof. Since the time he had built this house, not once he had a vampire in here, and this was the first time. How did his son and his daughter-inw decide to give away his granddaughter to a vampire? the man questioned in his mind. King''s usually took away things by force. Therefore he doubted the current case was anything far from it.

    "We are hoping you can attend our wedding," Calhoun said, staring at Madeline''s grandfather.

    "How could we miss our granddaughter''s wedding. Though I must say I am surprised that she''s marrying a vampire," said Senior Mr. Harris.

    "Is that a problem?" Calhoun cocked his head in question.

    Senior Mr. Harris smiled at Calhoun''s question, "Will you drop the idea of getting married to her if I were to say it is a problem?" Calhoun chuckled. For an older man, he sure had an early death wish, thought Calhoun to himself.

    "What do you think, Mr. Harris? Your granddaughter is too lovely to not marry her. The wedding will be taking ce in the chapel of the castle."

    Senior Mr. Harris narrowed his eyes again, hearing a vampire''s ce had a chapel. At the same time, both the older woman and Madeline arrived out of the kitchen with a ss of water in their hand. Madeline drank from the ss of water she had, and Madeline''s grandmother handed the ss to Calhoun.

    But Calhoun didn''t bother to take a sip from it.

    When it came to trusting, in Calhoun''s world, it didn''t exist. He preferred not to drink the ss of water which was crystal clear. In the past, there had been events where people had tried to mix things in what he ate or drank. It was another matter that it was stupid of them to think it would affect him, but Calhoun preferred to be cautious. He noticed how the older woman''s eyes darted between him and his hands that didn''t make a move to bring the ss up and drink the water.

    "How is Beth doing?" asked Madeline''s grandmother.

    "She''s doing good," Madeline replied quickly so that Calhoun wouldn''t drop another information about Beth being swayed by Markus Wilmot, who was another vampire. She wanted to ease her grandparents without them going into too much shock.

    "We were worried that both of you didn''te to visit us. Your parents haven''t written back to us either," said the old man, his eyes going back to normal when he spoke to his granddaughter.

    "Your grandfather is right," said Madeline''s grandmother, "We were thinking of visiting in a month, but I guess there''s a change of ns now. What happened to your hair?" asked the old woman, whose hand reached to smoothen and push Madeline''s hair that looked errant as if she didn''tb it.

    Madeline tried to make it proper when she heard Calhoun say, "We just came from the forest and behind the trees," his words were suggestive, that the old couple caught on, who couldn''t help but re at the vampire''s words. Madeline''s eyes moved quickly to meet Calhoun''s eyes, her cheeks turning slightly red over his words.

    "What the King means is, we walked through the forest," Madeline tried to clear the doubt from her grandparents'' mind which Calhoun had put.

    She had failed to take note of her messy hair that was caused by the wind.

    Her grandmother decided to ask, "How is the preparation for the weddinging along?"

    "The wedding gown is in the process of being made, and the ce has already been picked," replied Madeline.

    "It seems it is being hosted in the chapel," said her grandfather to his wife. The woman only nodded withoutmenting on it even though she looked like she wanted to say something about it.

    Madeline was close to her paternal grandparents more than her mother''s side. She and her sister had spent most of their time here. "You will be able to make it to the wedding?" she asked her grandmother.

    Before her grandmother could answer her, the ss that Madeline was holding in her hand shattered into many pieces and fell on the ground, leaving cuts on her hand.

    Calhoun''s eyebrows furrowed as it was the third time something like this was happening. When his eyes shifted to look at the elderly couple, there was a look of shock on their face.

 Chapter 237 Empty Graves- Part 4

    <h4>237 Empty Graves- Part 4</h4>

    When Senior Mr. and Mrs. Harris recovered from the small shock, Senior Mr. Harris said, "Martha, take Madeline inside and clean her wounds."

    Madeline''s grandmother said, "You must have pressed the ss too tight, dear. Come with me," she urged her granddaughter. Madeline gave Calhoun a look for him to nod, "Careful with your footsteps," and Madeline followed her grandmother inside.

    Madeline knew she hadn''t held the ss hard enough for it to break, but she didn''t go to refuse her grandmother''s words. She was made to sit on the bed, and her grandmother came with a box. Opening it, she pulled out cotton before removing the handkerchief which Calhoun had wrapped around her hand.

    Madeline flinched when the cotton touched the cuts on her hand, "Bear with it, dearie," she heard her grandmother say to her as she continued to dab the cotton on her skin, "Do you always break ss like this?" she asked looking up to meet Madeline''s eyes.

    "Just sometimes," answered Madeline, "I will help you to clean with the ss pieces on the floor." It was her fault that the ss had broken and there were shards lying on the floor of the living room.

    "Don''t worry about that," replied the old woman. Madeline didn''t want her old grandparents bending and picking up things at their age. In the past, her parents had many times asked her grandparents toe to live with them, in the vige of East Carswell. Even her aunt had asked her parents to leave this ce and live with her, but Madeline''s grandparents were stubborn.

    Her grandparents wanted to live here, in this vige. And her parents had let them be. Also, another reason being, there were no vampires in this vige, unlike the viges and towns that were near to the castle where the King of Devon lived.

    "There, all better," her grandmother smiled when she was done tending to Madeline''s hand, "It looks like you have some scratches. Is Elizabeth clumsy too?"

    "No, it''s just me. Thank you for this, grandma," Madeline thanked, and her grandmother ced her hand on Madeline''s cheek to find it to be cold.

    "You don''t have to thank me. It''s my duty to take care of my granddaughter," her grandmother smiled before dropping her hand back to her side. Madeline then heard her grandmother lowered her voice and asked, "How did you two meet?"

    "The King?" asked Madeline, "Um, it was at the ball. We met there."

    "Hm," came the short response from her grandmother, "Try to break off from the marriage."

    "What?"

    Madeline knew something like this would happen. But her grandparents were sure wishing for harm to ur on them by thinking they could go against the King, "Why?" she asked her grandmother.

    Her grandmother frowned, "What do you mean why? People like us don''t mix with the night creatures. We have never given our children to vampires. What happened to that man you liked. That tailorman."

    This time, Madeline''s eyes widened. How did she know about James? Her parents were unaware about her past feelings of how she felt, and she never mentioned about James to her grandparents. Blinking, Madeline answered, "He''s getting married to another person."

    "Well, get him back! Don''t you love him?" asked her grandmother. Madeline couldn''t help but chuckle over her grandmother''s words, but the elderly woman didn''t find it to be funny. Seeing her grandmother''s serious expression, Madeline cleared her throat.

    "I don''t," replied Madeline, and her grandmother looked upset.

    "You love him?!" questioned her grandmother, referring to Calhoun and Madeline shook her head.

    "Mr. Heathcliff is getting married to Lady Catherine. Their wedding is in less than ten days," Madeline didn''t know how to put it, but her thoughts had stopped to linger towards James and had instead started to reside with the thoughts of the King. It took her some time, but she had decided to go with the marriage, "It''s okay, grandma."

    But grandma Harris was not excited to hear it. She noticed how her granddaughter was defending the vampire.

    Madeline wondered what her grandmother was thinking. After a while, her grandmother sighed and said, "Okay. If that is what you want." She patted Madeline''s back, "We wille before your wedding day."

    "Yes, grandma," Madeline smiled and was d that her grandmother wouldn''t upset Calhoun. This way, everyone could continue to keep their heads between their shoulders, intact. Though her grandmother told that this was a room where Calhoun wouldn''t be able to hear, she wondered how far it was true.

    When they returned, Madeline heard her grandfather speaking to Calhoun, "You don''t think you would mind us bringing some more rtives of ours, do you?"

    "Madeline''s family is always wee," Calhoun chimed in, and his eyes snapped quickly on seeing Madeline return to the living room.

    "Does your hand hurt, dear?" asked Madeline''s grandfather.

    "I am sure you must have broken a ton of them this year. When Madeline was small, we had to keep the sses away from her because she kept breaking them-" her grandmother started only to stop when her husband subtly shook his head, "You should be careful with them, dearie."

    "I will," said Madeline.

    Calhoun picked the pause in the older woman''s words as if it wasn''t a surprise that she was breaking sses right now. Senior Mr. and Mrs. Harris didn''t know that Calhoun was aware of Madeline''s little slip-ups with the sses. Like he guessed, there was something going on that was being hidden in the family, which Madeline was not aware about.

    The way the couple behaved, there was something very odd about it. He had met many humans, humans who belonged below the poverty line as well as who belonged to the high status but these people, they looked at him differently. And the look in their eyes said it was not a good one.

    "How are you going back? The local carriage leaves in the next two hours," stated Senior Mr. Harris, "You can stay here for the night and can leave tomorrow morning," he proposed, "I must say... it''s strange to see the King travel in the local carriage when he could make use of his royal carriage."

    "I rented the whole carriage," Calhoun replied with a polite smile on his face, "We would love to stay, but I need to drink blood which I doubt you get here freely?"

    Senior Mr. Harris'' eyes turned to re, and he said, "No, we don''t. Vampires don''t enter the vige," which was why it was strange that people had let this vampire walk freely up to the house with his granddaughter.

    Noticing the atmosphere turn tense, Madeline said, "Thank you, grandpa, but I think we should leave. I thought of visiting Jeannine before we leave. It has been some time." Jeannine was Madeline''s friend, who had passed away a few years ago after being attacked by a vampire.

    Hearing this, Madeline''s grandmother said, "You will need to go to the second cemetery that is in the West side of the vige."

    When it came to the time to leave, her grandmother hugged her and said, "I wish you could have stayed longer, but I know you have a lot of things to do. We''ll be there soon," and she patted Madeline''s back. Pulling away, Senior Mrs. Harris looked at Calhoun, "You didn''t drink anything." It was because Calhoun had held the ss in his hand for the entire time, but he didn''t take a sip from it.

    The polite smile that was on Calhoun''s lips broadened, "You never know who will put what in the liquid," Madeline''s grandfather''s eyes twitched at this, "It was good meeting you Senior Mr. and Mrs. Harris. We''ll be delighted to have you at our wedding."

    Once they saw the vampire and their granddaughter leave after exchanging pleasantries, the woman asked,

    "He appears to be differentpared to the rest of them. Do you think he knows?"

    The old man who saw the retreating figures of the couple said, "I doubt it. Vampires are creatures who are cautious, but he does appear to be different than the others."

    "She''s breaking the ss," reminded the woman and her husband who had a nk look on his face said,

    "We''ll need to put her to rest."

 Chapter 238 The lies- Part 1

    <h4>238 The lies- Part 1</h4>

    "Is your hand alright?" asked Calhoun to her, and Madeline nodded her head.

    "Grandma helped me to wrap it around," Madeline said to him. She looked at him, waiting for him to say something about what happened back in the house as he had not questioned about it in front of her grandparents. "Why do you think I keep breaking the sses in my hands?" she asked him.

    Calhoun''s eyes moved to the corner, looking at her and then shifting to look at the vigers who were giving him unweing looks. The vige didn''t have a single vampire, and by the words of Madeline''s grandfather, it seemed more like he was questioning how Calhoun passed through the entrace of the vige without any trouble.

    "Because it seems like this is not the first time you have broken sses. Did you ask your family about it?" Calhoun questioned her.

    "I asked Beth whether I sleepwalked in the past, but she said she didn''t have any recollection of it. I didn''t bring up the matter of sses breaking in my hands," she replied to Calhoun.

    "It would be better if you didn''t bring it up in front of her. No offence, but your sister looks like someone who will tattle tale about the matter if something falls in her disadvantage." Calhoun didn''t bother to beat around the bush, and his words were direct when it came to the matter of her sister. If Madeline were to go back in time, she would have never guessed that this was how Calhoun felt about her sister Beth. Calhoun had treated her sister extremely well, ignoring Madeline until the point when the time of lunch arrived, which had left her family at ease that it wasn''t Madeline but Elizabeth who had caught the King''s attention.

    "I don''t remember seeing her sleepwalking or breaking sses," she murmured to herself. It was because with the way her grandparents had the look of curiosity when they had enquired, if Beth broke sses too, it had caught Madeline''s attention.

    Was there something going on that she was unaware of?

    Madeline then asked, "Why did you feel my father was hiding something about my childhood?" At the same time, she noticed how some of the vigers she knew, stared at her and Calhoun.

    When she bowed her head in greeting, the people returned it, but they didn''t stop staring. She wondered if it was a bad idea to go and visit her friend now, especially at the time where everyone was out in the open, who despised the existence of vampires.

    "He wasn''t willing to speak about where your family was living in the first few years when you and your sister were small."

    "Even Beth?" Madeline frowned hearing this. Was there something they were truly hiding? But until now, there had been nothing that had made Madeline question about her parents or her grandparent''s actions towards her or her sister.

    "Hm," Calhoun affirmed, "Your father doesn''t speak freely about his parents, but there was no bump when it came to talking about your mother''s family. But I am guessing here that you are more attached to your paternal grandparents than your maternal grandparents as you have spent more time here with them?"

    "Yes," answered Madeline, "My sister and I spent most of our time here. Wouldn''t it be easier to ask my grandparents why I keep breaking sses?"

    Calhoun shook his head, "In no part of the world, breaking of ss is considered to be a good fortune. Instead, many believe that breaking sses is an indication of an ill omen that is lurking in the shadows and waiting for bad things to happen." Looking at Madeline''s worried face, he said, "You don''t have to think too much about it."

    "But you just said it''s an indication of something bad that is going to happen," Madeline had never thought she would be associated with an ill omen until now.

    "How has your life been going on until now, Madeline?" questioned Calhoun.

    "Fine."

    "Then you shouldn''t worry about the future as it will continue to go in the same way," unless someone was going to do something, added Calhoun in his mind, "Where is this cemetery? Who is this friend of yours?" he changed the subject seamlessly and Madeline''s lips pursed.

    "Jennine used to be my friend. She was Beth''s friend, but Jennine and I shared simr interests when we were little, and we turned to be very good friends," exined Madeline.

    "Sounds like Beth was pushed away from her dear friend to be reced by you," said Calhoun and Madeline didn''tment on it because she was small. It wasn''t done out of purpose, but somewhere Beth had drifted away from Jennine and Madeline had turned out to be her friend, "I am just joking."

    Madeline shook her head, "No, you are right," she sighed.

    "Beth had other friends. I wonder if that is why she didn''t notice Jennine and I getting closer. Both of us used toe over here, to stay with our grandparents, during the time of Winter. Frankly, I don''t remember everything but during that Winter, we were all ying and the next moment, Jennine was on the ground. I don''t think any of us know what happened. Blood oozed out, turning the white ice to red. I must have cked out from shock."

    Calhoun ced his hand on her back, "Children''s have a hard time coping to situations like death."

    "I guess," murmured Madeline under her breath, "My memories are very faint. I remember my grandparents telling my parents that it was a vampire who had attacked and killed her."

    Madeline was a small girl, but there were some pieces of memories of that night when the murder had taken ce. Blood near her. Somewhere, she remembered her grandfather looking at her in shock before taking her away from the scene of the murder.

    "Sorry to hear that," said Calhoun, "I can vouch that it wasn''t me who killed the girl."

    Madeline''s eyes met his, a faint smile appearing on her lips, "Have you killed too many people that you don''t remember?" she asked him.

    "How rare of you to joke about my kills," Calhoun''s lips twitched into a smile as if he was amused, "To answer to your question, I have. It was hard to find food, especially one that was fresh when I used to live in the streets."

    "What about your mother?" asked Madeline.

    "Sometimes we didn''t have money to pay for anything. We had to live in different ces. Men don''t like extra luggage thates with the woman they are bedding," Calhoun''s words might havee to sound as if he was not bothered by it, but his wordscked any emotions as he said those things. Madeline didn''t know how tofort someone in situations like these. The more she learned about his past, it only turned that much sadder and maybe at times ufortable.

    Calhoun appeared to look unfazed when it came to recollecting those memories.

    "Pardon me for questioning," she apologized and saw Calhoun shake his head.

    "Don''t be. What''s happened is past, and it cannot be changed," stated Calhoun like he didn''t care.He offered her a smile, "There are some things in this world that are out of our control. Sometimes you need to go with the wind than struggle and get lost."

    "Is that what you did?" asked Madeline, her eyes holding a look of curiosity in them.

    Calhoun smirked at her question, "No. I went against the wind and took things I believed that deserved my attention and time."

    How strange, Madeline thought to herself. Calhoun said one thing and preached something else.

    "I did go with the wind, but once you know what you want, you either fight your way through or continue to be pushed by the world," said Calhoun. Upon reaching the cemetery, both of them were greeted by the sight of the cemented graves at somece, and some that were lowered down to the ground to be buried where the cross or tombstone was ced with the name being engraved on it, who rested in their respective graves.

    Madeline wondered why Jennine''s parents shifted the grave from one cemetery to another one. Thest time she hade to visit her it was some years ago. Not knowing where Jennine rested now, both of them split up to look for the name in the opposite direction so that it would save time.

    As she looked around, Madeline saw there were names that she had never heard of before. While searching, Madeline came to look at a cemented grave that was empty, but the lid was left open as if a new body was going to upy it, or someone was being shifted.

    After five steps, Madeline said, "I found it," to Calhoun who was on the other side of the cemetery. Her friend Jennine was a small girl, who had missed growing up and living the way she and Beth were living their lives as she had died at an early age. Sitting down on her heels, Madeline prayed for her friend''s soul to rest.

    She wondered why the vampire didn''t attack her, but killed her friend.

 Chapter 239 The lies- Part 2

    <h4>239 The lies- Part 2</h4>

    "Thank you," Madeline took the yellow flower to ce it on the grave. Unlike the rose that had turned from red to ck when she had seen Calhoun put it in his mother''s hand, the yellow flower continued to hold its colour.

    Getting up, she saw there was no one else except them in the cemetery, "This appears to be the oldest cemetery. Why would the girl''s parents shift her here?" Calhoun''s words were less of a question as he looked at the graves that surrounded them.

    "Probably because they wanted to make space?" proposed Madeline, but she saw Calhoun shake his head.

    "Unless your friend''s family are residing in here, it is usually the old bodies that are moved and never the new ones," stated Calhoun.

    Madeline didn''t know how true Calhoun''s words were because she didn''t find it to be odd. It wasn''t the first time for bodies to be moved as it had urred in the past too. Without heeding too much on the matter, she said,

    "What are we going to do now?" her eyes looked slightly anxious as they met his.

    Calhoun, who took note of her expression, said, "We can go back to the castle or," he paused, "We can make ite true on what I said to your grandparents about us in the forest and behind one of the trees."

    From the serious topic, Calhoun had changed it to another one and Madeline didn''t find it amusing. He had gone as far as to indicate to her grandparents that she and Calhoun were doing something one was not supposed to do.

    He then asked, "What''s the matter?"

    "Vigers here won''t care if you are the King or not. They differentiate between humans and vampires," Madeline had noticed the cold gaze that Calhoun had received from the vigers, but he appeared to be unaffected by it.

    "So I have noticed. Your grandparents were very hospitable. Offering me water, though I was hoping they would give me blood. What?" asked Calhoun with a smile on his face, "I am sure they know what is my choice and preference when ites to what I want to drink."

    Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed now, "You were rude to insinuate that grandmother mixed something in the water. I was right there when she poured the water in the ss." Madeline agreed that getting her grandparents to get along with Calhoun was difficult, but Calhoun had done nothing but poked them.

    Madeline blinked at him. Her grandmother was not lying when she said the vampire would not be able to hear a word they were speaking. It also answered why her grandparents were not threatened by Calhoun.

    Calhoun gave her a questioning look. His eyes had slightly narrowed, enough to let her know that he knew something was up, and he wished to know the truth.

    Her grandmother might have taken her to a room where a vampire could not hear what was spoken in there. But her grandmother had forgotten that Calhoun was someone whose ears were always listening to things around him. Especially, with them being under the same roof of the small house, it was apparent to suspect that she and her grandmother had not exchanged a single word.

    "She was asking about our wedding day," replied Madeline, "She was wondering what happened to James."

    Calhoun''s eyes that had slightly narrowed looked more apparent at the mention of the tailorman''s name. He had hoped to get rid of James for good, but it looked like his name kept appearing and Calhoun was not pleased with it. He didn''t like the fact that even her grandmother knew about that man.

    "What did you say?" asked Calhoun, they started to leave from where they had been standing and walked away from Jennine''s grave.

    "I told her that he''s getting married to Lady Catherine," Madeline''s short reply only intrigued Calhoun more. For a person like Calhoun who was possessive, he didn''t like another man''s name on Madeline''s lips. If he could, he would erase the very memory of James from Madeline''s mind.

    "What else?" Calhoun dug, not stopping there and Madeline wondered what she should do. She was getting married to him and she loved her grandparents, but she wanted her rtives alive. "How does she know about him? Did you express your feelings with her?"

    Madeline shook her head, "I was surprised that she knew about him," and it was the truth. She couldn''t help but think about how brave her grandfather had been to talk to Calhoun, mentioning about stopping the marriage between her and Calhoun.

    "I got a word from Mr. Barnes yesterday. Lady Catherine''s father," started Calhoun to gain Madeline''s full attention, "He has decided to prepone the wedding a day earlier."

    "I see," murmured Madeline, her words turning even shorter than before.

    "I have asked the tailorman to stitch a new dress for the asion. Catherine was too eager to invite us, saying she would like us to be present," said Calhoun, his words testing Madeline''s expression that didn''t change.

    This is what he wanted from her.

    Indifference in her heart and mind when it came to another man. But the man was snooping around where his nose didn''t belong. Hopefully, after what Calhoun didst night, James would know not to do something stupid.

    "This seems like a neat ce," he said to her, his wingsing out to stretch themselves and Madeline quickly looked around to make sure there was no one to witness his wings.

    "You didn''t make sure," Madeline said to him. The vigers were already against vampires; if they were to find him with wings that he was another creature, a possible higher creature, she didn''t know what would happen to them.

    Calhoun smiled at her words. Stepping closer to her, "I like to see you worried. Especially when you worry about me. It makes me extremely happy," he confessed. Madeline''s eyebrows had drawn together, staring back at him. Calhoun desired her more than anything he ever had in this world. Even in the world of chaos, he would like to choose no one but her.

    "I would like to see you alive," replied Madeline.

    "Don''t worry I won''t die," Calhoun responded to look into her eyes that looked lighter under the bright sun, "It would be such a waste to die when I have only found you. I have a lot of ns," he grinned, his fangsing into Madeline''s view, "Ready?" he asked her.

    Calhoun bent to pick Madeline up with both his arms, carrying her, "Time to leave." Right after a second, both of them disappeared from the lonely cemetery, leaving dust that rose in the air because of therge wings that pped before shooting up the sky.

    Back in the vige of East Carswell, James held the piece of parchment in his hand as he walked towards the house that had the same address as the one he had been given by Mr. Fisher. In the morning, after visiting his shop to make sure the workers had arrived, he had picked up his coat ande in search of the maid. James was counting the number on the houses when he noticed there were people who surrounded the front of a house. On a closer look, he realized it was the same house that he was looking for.

    Pushing through the little crowd, he came to see the door was left open. James turned to his left to ask the man,

    "What happened here?"

    The vige man turned around, "The girl who lives here has gone missing. One of her aunts arrived in the morning to see her gone."

    "Maybe she returned to the castle for work?" asked James.

    "No, it seems she had a holiday today and tomorrow. She wouldn''t be returning to the castle until the weekend," answered the man, "Her aunt called the magistrate to get it checked," the man then leaned to the side to whisper, "She must have run away from the house. A few days ago, I saw her with a man in the evening. Someone who is of good ss."

    Hearing this, James'' lips set itself in a thin line. He hade here in the hope to find the truth if the rumour was true or not, but it seemed like the maid had decided to run away with a man, that was if what this vige man was saying was true.

    Folding the paper that was still in his hand, he put it back in the pocket of his cks. After giving another look at the woman who was talking to the magistrate of the vige, James finally turned around to go back to his shop.

 Chapter 240 The lies- Part 3

    <h4>240 The lies- Part 3</h4>

    After listening to his mother, Markus had not only gone to sabotage the shop that belonged to Harris'' family, but he had also caught hold of one of the maids who worked in the castle, who in truth worked for the Wilmot''s family in giving information on what was going on in the castle.

    On reaching the house of the maid a few minutes after James left, Markus hade here so that he could give another work to the maid so that she could be of use but with the crowd present, he asked,

    "What happened here?"

    "Hilda, my niece is not in the house. I left her for a few hours, but when I returned she wasn''t here," came a woman''s voice, who was standing in front of the magistrate, "I am Hilda''s aunt," she added when the man who wore expensive clothes questioned no one in particr.

    The magistrate, noticing who hade here, bowed his head, "Sir Markus."

    "Where did the girl disappear?" asked Markus to the magistrate when they went to the side, leaving the woman standing there in worry.

    The magistrate then answered, "Sir, the woman says the girl was in the house when she left. Around seven or eight in the night. The woman went to her neighbour''s house, which is the third house from here. I asked the others, and some said they saw her talking to a man, but they don''t remember how he looks. Did you have some business here?" the magistrate politely asked.

    Markus nodded his head, "Yes, I am here to look at one of the cases that the King has handed me," but the actual reason why he was here, was that the maid had written a letter telling him she had crucial information about the younger Harris'' daughter.

    He had given her a fair amount of money so that she would give timely reports about what was happening in the castle.

    One of the vigers who was still idly standing around, looked at the vampire who had entered the scene, who looked like he belonged to a high aristocratic family.

    "He''s the one!" the vige man shouted, pointing his hand towards the vampire.

    Both Markus and the vige magistrate turned to look at the man. The vige man again said, "He''s the man who was with Hilda, two evenings ago! He must have run away with her!"

    Markus'' eyes narrowed at this usation. Before he could say anything, the maid''s aunt caught hold of Markus'' coat and started to push and pull him, "Where is Hilda?! Did you take her somewhere??"

    Markus red at the woman, dusting the front of his coat where the woman had held and crumpled the clothing, "Inform me once you find out where she is," he said to the magistrate who gave him a bow.

    He didn''t want to stay in a ce which was utterly useless. The maid was of no use, and Markus wondered what she wanted to say to him. His lips twisted in displeasure, he walked around the vige of East Carswell as if he was there to find the culprits when in truth, he was here only to get information for his own gains.

    In the same vige, a carriage arrived to stop right at the front of Mr. Heathcliff''s tailoring shop. The coachman knocked on the door and assistant Emilio came to see who it was before going back inside,

    "Mr. Heathcliff, it''s Mr. Barnes'' carriage."

    James didn''t react but directly came out of the shop, wondering what the vampire wanted from him today. Since the time he had met Mr. Barnes, the man had been nothing but overbearing. Seeing it was the coachman who stood at the front, he heard the coachman say,

    "Lady Catherine and her family expect your presence in the Barnes'' mansion this instant."

    "Inform thedy that I will be visiting at the time of the evening. I am in the middle of working on the King''s orders," said James. In the morning, he had not spent much time here, and he had to get back to finishing the gown that was being made for Madeline.

    James could only hope that Madeline was happy. With the King standing next to her, he knew he didn''t stand a chance, but James had tried, maybe not much, as he knew it was not possible to reach out to her as the King often looked at him as if he couldn''t wait to behead him. He hoped that the rumours were not true and this wedding gown would be a present from his side to Madeline.

    "Mdy said it''s urgent. They want to discuss matters regarding the wedding and to bring you along with me back to the mansion," replied the coachman.

    Catherine had been summoning him for little things when she could consult about it with someone in the mansion itself. Three days ago, when he refused to go and had continued with his work, it had resulted for the vampiressing down and crying in the shop in front of people. Not want to create a scene again. James nodded his head. The sooner he would go there, the sooner he would be able to return to his work.

    When James Heathcliff arrived at Barnes'' mansion, the servants bowed their heads, treating him with respect as he was going to marry the only daughter of Mr. Barnes.

    "Mr. Heathcliff!" came Lady Catherine''s excited voice from the other end of the corridor, and she quickly walked towards him, "How was your journey?" Her red eyes stared into his with an anxious look and a smile appeared on her lips as she was happy to see him here.

    James mustered a smile, "It was good, Mdy. Just as usual."

    It was Mr. Barnes who had forced him to marry his daughter, when Lady Catherine had given up on him. He didn''t see any reason why he should behave impolitely with her. Somewhere deep down, he was angry with her that she hadn''t made her father understand that he didn''t want to marry her, but he had brushed it away.

    Compared to James, who looked like he didn''t want to be here and wanted to be somewhere else, Catherine was up in the clouds. The vampiress had a broad smile on her lips, and she came to his side.

    "Your suit is here. Father wants you to try it on as there are only a few more days left for our wedding. I can hardly believe it that days are passing by so soon," said Catherine before tugging him through the hallways and then walking towards the room where his suit was ced, "Did you eat?" and she turned to look at her butler, "Niles, go set up the table in the dining room."

    James shook his head, "Lady Catherine, I will need to leave early," he said, realizing the vampiress was setting up lunch to have with him.

    Lady Catherine''s smile fell, the colour of her eyes turning dull, "Why?"

    James noticed how the tone in her voice changed from pleasant to distant. Recently, he came to realize there was something very odd about thedy. James didn''t know if he was overthinking about every little thing, but it was hard to shake the feeling off of him.

    "I need to go and check on father. He has not been doing so well. I did mention it to you," James had met Catherine three days ago, but the girl was too smitten with him that she wanted to spend more time with him.

    Catherine wanted to steal every single second that James had. If it were in her power, she would have him close his shop so that she could have all his time for herself. The vampiress was not unaware that her father had threatened James, after all, it was because of her tantrum her father had taken the step to meet James personally. Wasn''t his father sick three days ago? Catherine asked herself. Was James making up reasons so that he could leave?

    "Let me have the doctor sent to your home so that he can take a look at your father," offered Catherine to James.

    But James was quick to refuse her help, "No, that is alright. I need to make sure he''s eating and resting well."

    Catherine didn''t know what else was there to do for an old man apart from lying on the bed.

    "Father knows good doctors in the vige. I am sure he will look after your father well." She saw James shake his head. The vampiress then muttered, "I didn''t have my food from morning, thinking I would eat with you," and then she put a smile on her face, "But it''s alright. You can try the wedding clothes and then go home." There was sadness in her voice as she said this.

    James had grown up with too much of goodness in him, but sometimes too much was not good and was instead harmful. Hearing Catherine''s words, he felt bad and said,

    "I think I can eat quickly and then leave."

    "Are you sure?" asked Lady Catherine, her eyes looking at him like a deer would when she was far from it.

    James gave her a nod, "I will try the clothes and in the meantime, the butler can set up the table," this would save time while also keeping the heart of thedy.

    Lady Catherine turned to her butler who bowed and left.

    James, who was an expert in clothes, didn''t have to know that Mr. Barnes had got him the best clothes from another town even though James could afford it himself. Once he was done wearing the wedding clothes, he changed back.

    "How is it?" asked Lady Catherine standing up from the couch where she had taken a seat while waiting for him to try on his wedding clothes.

    "It fits well, mdy," replied James, folding the clothes to ce it on the table.

    "Father said that he has found a house for us so that we can live together. Your father can live there too. It is in the Northshire-"

    "No," said James and Catherine raised her eyebrows.

    "You don''t want your father to live with us?" asked Catherine.

    James shook his head, "I don''t n to leave the house that I live in. It is also close to my shop and where I grew up. I want to continue to live there in East Carswell."

    "Mr. Heathcliff, it is not only you but also I, who will be leaving the house. Don''t you think we should move to a better -"

    "Lady Catherine," said James, "I won''t be moving to a different house, no matter how big it is. If you do not want to live with me, there''s still time to refuse the marriage," he wished and hoped that something would deter her from proceeding with the marriage. This way, Mr. Barnes could back away from him, and the me would go on his daughter.

    But Catherine was not some naive girl who did not know what James was trying to do. She offered the man a smile, "There''s still time for it. Let us go and have lunch."

    An extravagant lunch had been prepared and ced on the table for both James and Catherine, "Mr. and Mrs. Barnes are not at home?" inquired James.

    "Mama and papa have gone to visit Uncle Rnd. They will being back at night," answered Lady Catherine, "Why don''t you try this, I know it''s your favourite," she said, passing a dish to him.

    Catherine ate her food while sneaking nces towards James. She was in love with the man for a long time, and she was ecstatic that soon they would be married.

    "I asked my father to invite the King to our wedding," started Catherine to dismiss the silence around them. James raised his eyes to meet her gaze, "The King has always treated my family really well. Also, I thought you would like to have Lady Madeline attend as both of you know each other."

    Outwardly, James smiled, but the news that Catherine was giving him was nothing less than salt being rubbed over his wound, which he was trying to heal.

    Catherine then continued to say, "Considering father is a Duke, I think it is good to have the King''s support. The King has always been very kind to our family. Father was against my marriage with a human. But it was because of the King that he agreed to it. I mean he also showed his very own example where he''s marrying Lady Madeline."

    James'' eyebrows furrowed, "Wait. The King spoke to your father?"

    "The King must be knowing how much I love you, and he knows you will keep me happy," said Catherine with a bright smile, not knowing what she revealed to James right now.

    When Mr. Barnes had threatened him, James had mistaken it to be the father''s love for his daughter and how James had broken her heart, even though he had never expressed such feelings towards Catherine.

    It was because of the King that had Mr. Barnes had put James in such a situation!

    James gritted his teeth as he thought about it.

    After finishing lunch with Lady Catherine, James made his way back home. He unlocked the front door of his house. Stepping inside, he spoke to his father who was resting in the room,

    "Father, you didn''t have your food. It''s turned cold now."

    It seemed like his father had not touched the food that he had prepared for him. Taking his coat off of him, James went to his father who had his back faced towards him. James wondered if he should let his father rest before waking him up to eat. But seeing he had not eaten since the time of the morning, he ced his hand on his father''s forehead to check his temperature.

    It was cold.

    Frowning, he called his old man, "Father?" and when he turned him around, James noticed his father wasn''t breathing anymore.

    Even though his father was not breathing, James shook his body as if waiting to wake him up from his sleep but nothing happened. James'' father''s body had turned cold because the old man had passed two hours ago during his absence.

    "Father?" James whispered.

    Only if he was here, maybe he could have helped his father. He wanted toe home to check on his father but he had been withheld back.?Only if he hade straight home, refusing to go to the Barnes mansion he could have done something, thought James to himself.

    The only family he had, he lost that person.

    James let his father rest on his back while pulling up the sheet. He would have been here, tending to his father. As time passed, the grief turned to anger that was directed towards the King.

 Chapter 241 Escape- Part 1

    <h4>241 Escape- Part 1</h4>

    Madeline saw her mother talking to her sister Beth in the corridor with a frown on her face until her mother noticed her and Calhoun''s presence.

    "How was your visit?" asked her mother, "Are they doing well?"

    Madeline nodded her head, "Yes, they are doing well. I met both of them. We informed them about the wedding."

    "It seems they didn''t receive the wedding invitation, mother," said Calhoun to Madeline''s mother, "Did the invitation fall short?" he inquired with his head tilting to his side.

    After visiting her grandparent''s ce, it didn''t take too much time to understand that her parents had not sent the invitation to her paternal grandparents, knowing they would be disgusted with the idea of their granddaughter marrying a blood-sucking creature.

    Mrs. Harris stared at Calhoun, who had asked her a question. If they had visited, the King must already know that she and her husband didn''t invite Madeline''s grandparents.

    "We thought it would be best not to send...Considering they might oppose the marriage with you, my King," Mrs. Harris bowed her head, putting it in a way as if she was making sure that the King would marry Madeline.

    Calhoun said, "You don''t have to worry about such trivial matters, mother," he stressed on the word ''mother'' which Mrs. Harris was still not used to. Every time when the King addressed her as a mother, it made Mrs. Harris think that the man was being sarcastic and was taunting about something that she should be careful about. "You weren''t ready to ept our marriage at first, but you havee around now," he smiled at the older woman, who didn''t return the smile.

    Mrs. Harris had agreed only because Madeline told her that she was trying to ept her fate the way it was. It was possible that her daughter had either tried to fight or maybe she had given up because of the way the King was.

    Madeline noticing her mother and Calhoun staring at each other decided to interrupt, "Grandpa said that they would be visiting the castle before the time of the wedding."

    Her mother then frowned, "Usually the journey takes up long hours. You returned quickly."

    Madeline saw Calhoun''s retreating figure and at the same time she heard her mother question, "What did they say?" With the King who left, Mrs. Harris didn''t see the point to hide her questions from her daughter.

    "They are not happy about it. Grandmother said I should break the marriage off before it takes ce," replied Madeline in a whisper so that her words would not be heard by someone else, "Grandpa asked Calhoun if he will break it off."

    "Do they know who you are marrying to?" asked Beth with a huff, "They should be grateful that the King chose our family. You. People really don''t know to appreciate things these days," she shook her head.

    Mrs. Harris ignored Beth''s words and asked, "Are they alright?"

    "Yes, they are fine. The King didn''t harm them," replied Madeline to her mother. Madeline doubted Calhoun would harm her family when he knew how much she treasured them. Her mother nodded her head understandingly.

    "Let me go and see your father," and with that her mother took her leave, leaving only Madeline and Beth standing now.

    Before Beth could leave, Madeline said to her sister, "They shifted Jennine''s casket to another cemetery. Did you know that?"

    On hearing the deceased girl''s name Beth shook her head with a frown, "I didn''t hear about it. People get shifted all the time, especially coffins that are old," pausing for a moment, Beth looked at Madeline''s face before asking, "Do you have any nightmares?"

    Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed, "Nightmares?"

    "You used to have many when you were young, and some four or five years ago," answered Beth, "You used to see this vampire in your dream, the vampire who tore and killed Jennine. You must have forgotten because of the amount of time that has passed since it happened."

    "There was a vampire?" questioned Madeline to her sister. Every time when she tried to remember, Madeline couldn''t recollect anything. All she saw was her friend''s body, and she had med it on her young mind that couldn''t grasp fully on what had happened.

    Beth frowned, looking at her younger sister, "Who did you think killed Jennine? It was a vampire who killed her. I was there when it happened."

    Madeline wondered why she didn''t remember it. Speaking about the dead person had almost turned to be a forbidden thing, which was why the matter had nevere to light.

    "You fell unconscious after seeing the gore. What a delicate thing you were then. Let''s not discuss the sad things. Did grandpa stand against the King?" Beth asked in interest.

    "He did, and the King said he would still go ahead with the marriage," Madeline answered that made Bethugh.

    "I would have loved to witness the scene," Beth said in between herugh, "But seriously I don''t get why they would oppose your marriage to the King. Did you tell them about me?"

    Madeline replied, "No, I didn''t."

    "That''s good," Beth was happy that Madeline had not mentioned about her being wooed by Markus Wilmot, who was a vampire and the King''s cousin. "Anyways, Markus said he is taking me to hunt today. Have a good time in the castle."

    "Wait, sister!" Madeline called Beth, following her quickly, "Beth!"

    Beth, who had walked only a few steps, turned around to find her sister walking towards her in a hurry, "What happened?"

    Madeline halted her footsteps when she came to stand in front of Beth, "There is something I wanted to ask you." Her sister''s eyes narrowed in suspicion, and then her eyebrows raised in question. Madeline looked around to make sure they were alone. When a maid came to pass by, she only stared at the maid, waiting for her to leave the corridor.

    "Are you going to tell me?" asked Beth. With Madelineing to ask Beth for something, Beth''s chin rose along with her nose.

    Madeline pressed her lips together, her cheeks turning pink as she tried to conjure the right words. This was something she believed she could only ask her sister as she was the closest person to her. Someone who knew of her secrets, maybe not big ones, but Beth knew Madeline and vice versa, sharing the sisterly bond; even with the underlying rivalry the older daughter of Harris felt.

    "I have been w-wondering, how a person tries to feel," Madeline blurted the words that made no sense to Beth.

    "What?" asked Beth in a deep frown, "Do you like the King?" Beth wondered if Madeline, who had been opposing the King earlier, was falling in love which looked like an inevitable thing considering how the man looked and who he was.

    "N-no, that''s not what I meant," Madeline shook her head. She could feel goosebumps forming on her skin at the thought of what she wanted to convey, that was noting right, "I mean when you feel something in your body. How do you like-do it?"

    Beth looked utterly lost. She wasn''t even sure if what Madeline was telling was what her sister wanted her to know,

    "How about after Ie back from hunting, you can tell me about it?" asked Beth when she noticed Markus who appeared on the opposite side of the corridor. Madeline, who caught the vampire''s presence, gave her sister a nod.

    "Okay. Be careful during the hunt," said Madeline to Beth who waved at her. Beth appeared to be in a joyful mood. It wasn''t hard to understand why, because Beth always wanted to have a life like this.

    Madeline wondered if she should stop being worried for her sister''s life and where her interestid. Her sister was a stubborn person, and the more she would try to stop her, the worse it would affect the sisterly affection they held between each other.

    Madeline let out a sigh. She hadn''t moved from the spot where she had been standing. It wasn''t that it was urgent, but Madeline would have loved to have some knowledge which she had imed in front of Calhoun that she knew about.

    Turning around, she started to walk, searching for her parents in the castle. When she was about to cross paths with Lady Lucy,

    "Lady Madeline," Lady Lucy greeted her with a bow and Madeline returned it, "I thought you were going toe back during midnight or night. Brother Calhoun''s wings must be quick."

    Madeline smiled at Lady Lucy''s words, "Yes, it''s faster than the carriage. Has your day been going well, Lady Lucy?"

    The vampiress gave a thoughtful look before giving her a nod, "I think I have. I was apanying my cousin Lady Sophie and aunt before showing your mother the garden of the castle. I thought she could use some fresh air and enjoy the flowers," said Lady Lucy.

    Madeline offered the vampiress another bow, "Thank you for keeping my familypany."

    "You don''t have to thank me. We are going to be family, remember, and you are going to be my sister," upon hearing Lady Lucy''s kind words, Madeline couldn''t believe that there could be someone so nice as her in the society of vampires. Lucy had a kind heart, and it made Madeline question if it was because she had been sheltered by the previous King and Queen. Such a kind person had ended up with a man who didn''t spend much time with her, but outside and away from her, "Let''s take a walk, shall we?" proposed Lady Lucy and Madeline readily agreed to it.

    "I hope your visit to your grandparent''s house was peaceful?" asked Lady Lucy.

    "Yes, it was," Madeline responded before remembering the time of breakfast, "You didn''te to have breakfast in the morning. Were you unwell?" She noticed the smile on Lucy''s lips falter for two seconds before the vampiress fixed it.

    "I was feeling slightly unwell. I didn''t sleep much, it must be because of that," lied Lady Lucy and Madeline didn''t question her further on it.

    Calhoun had said that vampires and vampiress didn''t need much sleep. They were born with a trait where their body could function with little sleep, but if what Lady Lucy was saying was true, then it might be something that was bothering her.

    But Madeline decided to let Lucy know, "If you ever need someone to talk to, I will be here to listen."

    "You''re kind, Lady Madeline. I will keep that in mind," Lady Lucy offered her a bright smile again, "I am delighted that brother Calhoun chose you. Contrasting characteristics always settle in well together."

    If Madeline was the light, Calhoun was the darkness. They were two different people. She wanted to save people, to keep them safe and happy while Calhoun enjoyed killing people.

    Madeline wondered if Lady Lucy had any feelings towards Theodore. It was hard to question because she had noticed how she avoided him like he was an oing gue every time when he was near her. Her husband, Samuel Greville, on the other hand, didn''t stay too long near her. She wondered why the previous King and Queen got her married to someone who barely stood by her side.

    Did Lady Lucy''s parents know about her interest in Theodore? Though Madeline wanted to learn more about it, it was rude to intrude into someone''s life.

    Both the girls stepped out of the castle and headed towards the garden. With the time of the evening approaching, the sunlight wasn''t as harsh, and it made the atmosphere much more pleasant. Madeline and Lucy went to take a seat on one of the benches in the garden.

    "I am so d that you have epted to marry the King, Lady Madeline," came the sudden words from Lady Lucy. This had Madeline turn towards her who was looking at the sky that was turning multicoloured, "I know how hard it gets when you are pushed into something you do not expect. The King can be a brute at times, but he isn''t all bad."

    Madeline wondered if Lucy would continue to support Calhoun if the vampiress were to know, he was the cause of her parent''s death.

    "I am also excited to have a kind sister like you," Lucy ced a hand on Madeline''s hand that was resting on herp. She stopped looking at the sky and turned to smile at Madeline before retreating her hand away from Madeline, "When you are part of the royal family, it is very hard to have someone, to be called as close," she then looked away, her eyes looking distant, "Sometimes the people you believe you can count on turn their back against you."

    Unable to resist, Madeline asked, "Are you speaking about Theodore?"

    Lucy nced at Madeline before turning back to look at the bushes in front of her. The vampiress nodded, "I guess I am."

    Lucy then continued, "I was too young back then. Inexperienced than what I am now," a smallugh escaped from her lips, but it wasn''t out of joy, "I hate thinking about the past. I was married away too quickly, and soon then I lost my parents. Everything happened so fast." The vampiress spoke to Madeline, opening her mind and heart because somewhere, she felt Madeline was like her.

    Madeline didn''t interrupt what Lucy wanted to say, and she continued to listen to her,

    "I hate him for dangling me, making me feel things where he had no intention to persure until the end. To stay," Lucy''s voice appeared empty and hollow with no emotions in them.

    "Does your...husband know about it?" asked Madeline and Lucy nodded her head.

    "Secrets thate from the royal family at times don''t stay hidden. Most do but some spill out. Samuel was not happy about it," Lucy replied. The vampiress then ced both her hands behind her to lean back, "I don''t think any of us can forgive each other. Me with Theo, Samuel with me. We are just bound to do things now."

    "The King never spoke anything on it?" asked Madeline out of curiosity.

    Lucy''s smile widened before turning small,

    "Brother Calhoun doesn''t get involved in things that don''t concern him. It was something between Theodore and me. And Theodore never felt that way. I had hoped or believed that he did, but he didn''t. When you are the daughter of the King and the Queen, you only turn to a pawn of trade." Her eyes looked more distant before returning her gaze back the way they were before.

 Chapter 242 Escape- Part 2

    <h4>242 Escape- Part 2</h4>

    If Samuel was indeed cheating on Lady Lucy where he was not giving any love or care to her, wasn''t it better for her to return to the castle where her family was? Madeline asked herself. But then, they lived in a society where people would look unkindly at the woman and not at the man.

    "Hm," Lady Lucy hummed in response.

    "Anyways, when are your grandparents visiting the castle? They must be very excited to see their granddaughter marrying."

    "Very excited," Madeline replied, and Lucyughed.

    "I heard from your mother earlier that she was worried because your grandparents are not epting when ites to us vampires," said Lucy, "Once they meet me, I am sure they will have a different opinion about the night creatures. It is what everyone says."

    Madeline smiled, "I could agree on that."

    She didn''t know if things will go smoothly with her grandparents in the castle. She wondered if that is why she hade to be wary of the vampires, from her grandparents, but Beth wasn''t like that. Her older sister was much more epting when the matter involved a higher status.

    Madeline and Lucy spent some more time together, out in the garden. It was not as quiet as the insides of the castle that was covered with walls and pirs. Madeline heard the chirping of birds that flew in the sky, who were going back to their nests as the time of night wasn''t too far.

    When the time to head back inside the castle came, Lady Lucy said, "If cousin Markus and your sister Elizabeth have had a sessful hunt, it will be a feast tonight. Your first hunting must have been scary for you," remembered Lady Lucy.

    "The King was there to catch the arrow, so it felt less daunting," admitted Madeline.

    "Brother Calhoun''s reflexes are amazing and on point," agreed Lucy, "I still remembered the time when there was some sort of demonstration going on when brother Calhoun was new in the castle. Our grandmother had tested his skills by having dozens of arrows shot at him. Grandmother was angry with father, for epting Calhoun as the possible heir who wasn''t from two royal families."

    Madeline doubted their grandmother only wanted to test Calhoun''s skills. She wondered what their grandmother had done to receive such death apart from mistreating Calhoun''s mother.

    It only shed that much light on what Calhoun might have been through, not just when he was living with his mother or out on the streets but also when he was in the castle. People were less epting when it was someone who wasn''t from the royal family, especially when it was an illegitimate son who was born from a mistress.

    "This only made father proud when brother Calhoun demonstrated his skills," said Lady Lucy, bringing Madeline back from her thoughts to the present.

    "She was too strict. Don''t do this, don''t do that. She wasn''t happy with her life," came the thoughtful answer from the vampiress, "I mean, I think even mother had a hard time pleasing her. She might be the least favourite and then grandfather. Only because I never got to meet him," Lady Lucyughed.

    "I think we share simr grandparents when ites to strictness," Madeline replied, and Lady Lucy beamed that she had someone simr to talk about. Though there was Calhoun and Sophie along with the others, it never felt right to share things like this. Maybe because bad-mouthing one''s own family was considered to be disgraceful, but it was only Lucy who thought so while the rest continued to y tricks.

    Before they could step inside the castle, Madeline''s footsteps halted, "Lady Lucy, if I were to ask of you something, will you keep it to yourself?" Madeline doubted that she would be able to get to speak to Beth freely, especially when she was mostly with either Markus or Lady Rosamund.

    Lucy readily nodded her head, "Anything."

    Madeline''s eyes darted left and right, making sure no one was there. She then finally whispered to Lucy, "I wanted to know how��" Lady Lucy patiently heard it before a smile broadened on her lips, and she answered back to Madeline''s questions. Madeline was thankful that Lady Lucy had not looked at her as if she had grown another head. Lucy had picked on what she was saying quickly before offering her advice.

    When they stepped inside, Calhoun appeared from the other side, walking in their direction, "You don''t mind me stealing Madeline from your side, do you, Lucy?"

    Lucy bowed her head, a faint smile on her lips, "I will go and see what Sophie is up to."

    "Please," said Calhoun to see his half-sister walk away in search of their cousin.

    Madeline saw Lucy leave, and her eyes shifted at Calhoun to meet his blood-red eyes, "Was there something you needed from me?" she asked him.

    "If I were to ask you, would you give it to me? Your grandparents were too nice to offer water. Will you repay the kindness on behalf of them?" asked Calhoun. He took one step closer to her and Madeline gulped.

    "I can bring you a ss of blood from the kitchen," Madeline offered him. Technically, Calhoun had missed a ss of blood from her grandparents.

    "I want you," came his reply and Madeline took a quick look to notice two maids who had entered the corridor to immediately turn around and leave on seeing her and the King.

    Madeline cleared her throat, "I don''t think my grandparents were offering me as cookies to you." She didn''t want Calhoun to think that he could get his way every time by cornering her by his words and actions.

    Calhoun''s lips twitched, "You are a tasty cookie," Madeline noticed Calhoun run his tongue over his teeth, "Soft, and sweet, tantalizing. Let''s me it on your grandparents for not giving me blood." She gulped.

    "You had enough time to drink blood in here. In the court," said Madeline. The way Calhoun was looking at her right now, it felt like he was barely able to hold his thirst, "I can ask someone to bring you a ss of blood," she offered, ready to walk to the kitchen but Calhoun ced one of his hands on the wall of the pir to stop her.

    Madeline hoped Calhoun was only teasing her and not being serious about it. She wanted him to control his thirst, and it wasn''t like there was no blood in the castle. Calhoun was stubborn in wanting to drink blood from her. He was smart, but Madeline didn''t want him thinking he could trick her into giving herself whenever he wanted.

    She turned to her left side and then said, "Mother."

    This caught Calhoun''s attention, and he turned in the direction she looked at, but there was no one. Madeline took this opportunity to step away from him and escape from the corridor before he would sink his fangs into her skin.

    Hearing the sound of a pair of shoes running, Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, and he looked at her back. The nerve of the girl, thought Calhoun to himself.

    His eyes turned dark, and his fang bit the inside of his skin to taste blood. He didn''t like being denied. If Madeline was looking for a chase, Calhoun would give her one that was sinfully pleasing yet punishing.

 Chapter 243 Escape- Part 3

    <h4>243 Escape- Part 3</h4>

    Madeline wanted to save her remaining innocense that was there before the King would get his way with her. The problem here was that Calhoun always found some way to bargain and twist her words, leaving her speechless as she didn''t know how to deal with him. She wished she was smarter than him, and this was hopefully her being intelligent.

    She had tricked him by making him believe her mother was right there, diverting his concentration from her before she bolted out and away from Calhoun''s side.

    Her footsteps were fast, and Madeline tried to ease herself by thinking that Calhoun was nowhere around.

    Just when she thought she had got rid of Calhoun''s presence around her, Madeline saw him standing on the other side of the corridor. He was fixing one of his buttons on his sleeve. Calhoun was not looking at her and Madeline wondered if he didn''t notice her. But she was wrong.

    When Madeline sneakily tried to leave the corridor by taking two steps behind, Calhoun''s eyes were quick to look at her.

    He caught her. Calhoun''s eyes looked dark yet alive. There was no smile on his lips as he let go of the sleeve to take a step forward. Madeline knew that she wouldn''t be able to stall him forever, but at the same time, she didn''t want him to take her granted where he could do anything he wanted. True that he was the King, but if she was indeed going to take up the position next to him, she would have to fight back with simr tricks.

    "You forget this is my castle, Madeline," Calhoun said as he took a few more steps forward and Madeline took some behind, "Tricking the King," he tched, "Did you think you could get away with it?"

    "I was hoping to," answered Madeline. Her brown eyes were fixed on Calhoun, watching him saunter towards her. Madeline''s eyes were quick to look around, finding the next passage, but the question was, how far would she be able to make it before Calhoun would catch her.

    "What a naive little thing you are. Amusing too," said Calhoun.

    Madeline felt nervousness creep into her body as every second passed, "If I have amused you, give me permission to take my leave, milord," replied Madeline.

    Calhoun chuckled, "We could have done it quickly yet you decided to make me run after you. Do you think you are allowed to run away from me, sweet girl? I will find you, and once you are in my arms, let''s hope that you will still be conscious."

    She gulped hearing this.

    "You are only going to make it worse by dying my meal," Calhoun''s footsteps were rxed, unlike Madeline, whose legs were shaking beneath her dress.

    "I offered you to get a ss of blood for you from the kitchen," Madeline retorted back, and Calhoun ran his tongue over his teeth.

    "Why would I take blood from a ss where the blood has turned cold when I can get something so warm and sweet that is right in front of me?" Calhoun turned his head to the side, his words more of a statement than a question.

    "Because sometimes it''s alright to drink blood from ss?" Madeline asked before she said, "You had my blood two days ago." Calhoun didn''t go to respond to her question, and he continued to walk towards her.

    Seeing this, Madeline did the best she could do as she was worried to stand next to Calhoun. She quickly ran to the next corridor. In time, she met her sister Beth who was walking with Markus Wilmot next to her side.

    Markus bowed his head, and Madeline did the same. Beth noticed how her younger sister appeared to be out of breath, "Are you going somewhere?" asked Beth, raising her eyebrows.

    "I wasing to greet you," Madeline smiled while trying not to turn so that she would find Calhoun right on her tail. Beth returned Madeline''s smile. After going to hunt with Markus, Beth was in a much better mood, and it seemed like her younger sister wanted her again. It made the elder girl happy, "How was your first hunt?" asked Madeline.

    "It was amazing!" eximed Beth, "Mr. Wilmot was kind enough to teach me how to use the crossbows. We even hunted a deer, so expect some delicious meat for supper."

    "Oh, that''s nice," Madeline nodded her head, and then she heard the sharp footsteps on the floor, making her head turn to see Calhoun, who made his way towards them. Madeline quickly moved to stand next to Beth.

    Beth and Markus bowed at the King, and Markus said, "I heard from my sister Sophie that your first hunt didn''t go well. I hope your next time will be more enjoyable."

    Beth, hearing this said, "Madeline is a deer herself, I wouldn''t be surprised if she didn''t touch the arrow. Not everyone takes interest when ites to hunting."

    "You are right, Lady Elizabeth. Madeline is too kind to hurt anything," said Calhoun looking at Madeline. His eyes then shifting to look at Beth, "Not everyone has the ability and heart to kill."

    Though the words were casually said, it did set a distinction between the two sisters who stood next to each other. Beth brushed it away and asked the King, "Milord, what is your favourite animal to hunt?"

    "My favourite?" asked Calhoun, "Something too pure and innocent. Having soft skin which I can grab."

    Madeline''s face instantly turned red, and she tried to regte her breathing, hearing Calhoun''s words. She didn''t know if she should be d that he didn''t go in detail in front of her sister and his cousin.

    "There are so many animals like that," stated Markus.

    "Yes," replied Calhoun before asking his cousin, "Did you go to the vige of East Carswell today?"

    Hearing this, the two girls turned to pay more attention to the King''s words as they were from East Carswell. Markus on the other hand, his hand turned slightly cold. "To the vige?" asked Markus, "You asked me to check and find who might have tried to destroy the shop that belongs to Mr. Harris."

    "It is what I was inquiring about," said Calhoun before cocking his head to the side, "Was there something else in the vige?" His red eyes stared at Markus Wilmot as if he was dissecting his cousin merely through his eyes.

    Madeline silently heard the conversation take ce between Calhoun and Markus. ording to her and Calhoun''s suspicion, Markus'' family was behind the sabotage that took ce, but Madeline didn''t understand why Calhoun had put Markus in charge of it. It was like asking the thief to get answers on why the things were stolen.

    "No, my King. Apart from it, I would have gone to the vige to meet Lady Elizabeth, but she''s not there. I went looking for the culprit, but I haven''t found anything so far," answered Markus with a solemn look.

    "What a shame. Even the minister would find the answers to it sooner,"mented Calhoun. Markus grit his teeth over his cousin''s words, "It looks like you are getting a little out of shape when ites to it. I will have people reassigned to positions of work so you can regain the experience."

    The words weren''t lost between the girls who stood there next to them.

    Beth''s green eyes moved to look between the King and Mr. Wilmot right now. It seemed like Markus wasn''t as capable as Beth had thought him to be. Maybe it was because he was standing in front of the King, which was why anything inparison to this powerful man turned pale in appearance.

    The elder daughter of Harris had been satisfied after being showered with attention from Markus. Beth was someone who aimed for things that was the best. And right now, the King was the bestpared to Markus. Calhoun Hawthrone was not a King for no reason. The man was smart, and he was handsome to look at.

    Between the time of entering this castle and now, she had decided to go along with Markus as the King seemed to be disinterested by her presence. It wasn''t that she hadn''t tried to entice the man, but it had only ended up with her pride being hurt.

    Beth, therefore, decided to stick with Markus, not to forget those beautiful jewels she had received from his mother, Lady Rosamund. The only problem here was his sister.

    "Of course, my King," Markus bowed his head, "I would be more than happy to serve you and the kingdom of Devon."

    "What good subjects I have," Calhoun praised, "I must have done something good in the past." And Calhoun was right. The good things he had done in the past was getting rid of people who he didn''t want living in the castle or anywhere who coulde to be a threat to him.

    When everyone fell silent, Calhoun''s gaze shifted to look at Madeline, she was quick to catch on to. Before Calhoun could utter a word, Madeline said,

    "Beth and I will be excusing ourselves," she didn''t miss the way Calhoun''s eyes narrowed at her right now, but she tried to ignore it. She wanted some time to think than being attacked by him out in the corridor where anyone coulde to step in and see what was happening.

    Markus nodded his head, "I will see you at the time of supper, mdies." Calhoun didn''t speak but continued to re at Madeline who refused to meet his eyes. Madeline pulled Beth''s arm and walked away from there. For now, she was safe.

    When the sisters walked far away from the corridor where the King and Mr. Wilmot stood, Beth asked, "Where are we hurrying to?" It was because Madeline had been pulling her as they walked. It reminded Beth of the time when Madeline was small, clung around her, "Didn''t you say you wanted to ask me something earlier today?"

    Madeline stopped, turning around to look at the end of the corridor where they had walked through a few seconds ago. She then looked back at her sister Beth, "It was nothing important," She shook her head with a smile, and then held Beth''s arm, "I wanted you to know that I want you to stay happy. I apologize forst night."

    Beth stared at Madeline, "Is this you telling you don''t have a problem with my decision?" Madeline quickly nodded her head. The elder sister finally smiled, "Okay. I take your apology. You jump into conclusion so fast," her sister rolled her eyes.

    Madeline didn''t want Beth to think, she was against her and Markus. She was against it, but it was better to keep a closer watch by staying close to her sister and making her think she was epting Beth''s possible marriage with Markus. She didn''t know what was going on in Wilmot''s mind and therefore she wanted to make amends. There was a particr approach on how to go around things, and Madeline was working on it.

    "I will try to be more mindful with my words," Madeline promised Beth.

    "Now let me tell you how the hunting went. Markus is charming," Beth started to speak about the time she had spent with Markus in the forest.

    While Beth was telling the events that took ce, Madeline couldn''t help but let her eyes dart to the corners of the corridors, to see if Calhoun appeared. Seeing him not there, she wondered if he had finally dropped chasing her, or was he waiting for the right time?

    *

    THIS IS AN ONGOING BOOK.

 Chapter 244 Wolf in the bed- Part 1

    <h4>244 Wolf in the bed- Part 1</h4>

    And even though Calhoun had not touched her, Madeline couldn''t stop her thoughts that were running in her mind.

    "Lady Madeline, you changed your seat," said Lady Lucy loud enough for everyone to hear it, who were at the table. Madeline was holding the cutlery in her hand when Lady Lucy spoke. She wished the kind vampiress wouldn''t have mentioned it loud because everyone could see her sitting not next to the King but between her mother and her sister Beth.

    All the vampires, including Calhoun''s eyes, fell on Madeline.

    "I wanted to spend some time with Beth. It feels too long since west sat next to each other at the table," replied Madeline with a polite smile on her face.

    "It must be nice to have a sister, isn''t it," chimed Lady Lucy, who was the only child for her parents until Calhoun came to live in the castle.

    Beth replied to this, "Indeed it is. Madeline is a dear sister," the elder daughter of Harris wanted to show everyone at the table that she was the best sister. "Madeline and I share so many things. From clothes to shoes, even we have almost the same shoe size." Hearing this, Lady Lucy nodded her head.

    "I am d I don''t have a sister," came the statement from Sophie. Since this week, where she had visited the castle with her mother, her days had turned dull, and she had turned bitter, "I don''t think I could live with one, especially with all the jealousy."

    Sophie had been trying to think of a n to put herself back in getting the crown and position. Her mother was paying more attention to this human girl who was nning to marry her brother Markus, and on the other side, the King was going to get married to Madeline.

    "Madeline and I are never jealous about each other," said Beth, her eyes narrowing at Sophie, "I am guessing you would feel like that, the jealousy," she muttered thest words.

    Unfortunately, there were no crabs on Sophie''s te that she could throw it at both the Harris'' sisters.

    Sophie didn''t understand how things changed in a matter of a few days. One day she was close to the King, someone who was always around Calhoun and the next thing she knew, she was sitting on the other side of the table, away from the King as if she was some stranger.

    Sophie''s red eyes coyly fell on the blonde girl whose eyes were on the te. Clutching the knife in her hand, Sophie wondered if it was right to target Madeline. It needn''t be poison as there were other ways to break a fragile human, thought Sophie to herself.

    It wasn''t her who had shot the arrow at Madeline, but Calhoun had gone as far as to humiliate her in front of everyone. She didn''t see the reason why she should stop herself from turning the table around.

    On the other side, Beth, who sat diagonal to Sophie, could feel the reing from the opposite side of the table before it was dropped. While ying with a lone pea, she wondered what would happen if she directed it to Sophie''s face. Beth still held a grudge against Sophie for the flying crab.

    Madeline who sat next to Beth could feel someone staring at her. She didn''t have to turn and look, to see that it was from Calhoun. She had taken a seat far away from him, and she was somewhere thankful that he hadn''t made her change and return to the chair she had been using all these days. Opening her mouth to eat now felt like the most difficult task to do, especially with Calhoun''s eyes that was watching every movement of hers.

    The people at the table spoke to each other, and when the meal was done, Madeline knew she couldn''t stall anymore. She had followed Beth to Beth''s room in the name of providingpany.

    "You have been acting strange today, Maddie," noted Beth who had changed herself to her nightgown.

    Madeline, who had been staring at the wall, turned to ask, "Why do you say that?"

    "Thest time you stayed beside me at almost every opportunity, it was when you broke the vase that was at Aunt Mary''s house,"ughed Beth, "Is there something you want to talk about?" Beth looked at her sister. Madeline shook her head.

    "Not at all. Everything is fine," smiled Madeline, and asked yfully, "Am I not allowed to spend time with my sister?"

    Beth rolled her eyes, "I never said not to."

    The time they shared right now, it felt like they were back in time where both the sisters were close without any apparent appearance of envy or insecurity. Madeline missed her sister Beth, but at the same time, the words that Calhoun had shared with her resonated in her mind. Would her sister do something to hurt her? It was an answer Madeline didn''t want to venture in.

    "I have an extra pair of night dresses. You can wear it if you want to sleep in here?" Beth offered, making her way from the dressing table toe to sit on the bed.

    "No, that''s okay. I thought it would be nice to spend some time with you," said Madeline. She doubted it would be wise to hide in her sister''s room because she couldn''t hide here forever. After spending almost two hours, Madeline finally wished Beth goodnight and started to head back to the quarters where her room was. The corridors were empty, and mes flickered from the torches that were on the walls as she made her way.

    Reaching her room, Madeline couldn''t help but turn to look towards Calhoun''s room and she noticed the lighting through the window. It seemed like she had been worried for no reason, thought Madeline to herself before turning back and stepping inside her room.

    Some candles were already burning in the room and Madeline closed the door. Her hands locking it when she heard,

    "Make sure to lock the door properly."

    Hearing Calhoun''s voice, Madeline jumped out of her skin, and she snapped around to see him standing on the left side of where the candles were burning. He stood there with his hand ying with the me. Calhoun finally dropped his hand, and he looked at her,

    "Did you think you could escape from the paws of a wolf?"

 Chapter 245 Wolf in the bed- Part 2

    <h4>245 Wolf in the bed- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Somewhere in the back of her mind, Madeline knew this was going to happen. Calhoun was going to catch her, and she would have to bear the consequences for running away from him for thest few hours, where she had been stalling him with every opportunity she got.

    Madeline could feel the tension rise in the room as she looked at Calhoun, who was watching her with his unwavering gaze. A small gulp escaped moving down her throat. Calhoun imed that he was denied from being offered blood, but he had plenty of opportunities to do that here in the castle. One word from him and the servants would willingly offer their blood to him. But like him, Madeline was stubborn.

    "I thought you were in your room," said Madeline, taking a step back and she tried to reach for the lock so that she could open the door. While she was trying to open the door, Calhoun left the side of the candles and started to make his way towards her. His footsteps were nothing less to a predator that had caught his prey.

    "Because of the burning lights in the room?" questioned Calhoun to her, his voice calm yet there was something underneath that felt as if he was controlling the tone of his voice. When Madeline sessfully opened the lock, a sense of joy filled in her chest, which was short-lived.

    The lock that were opened moved back to its ce again, and another lock that was above the door which was not locked before locked itself, securing the door further.

    "It seems like you enjoy the chase as much as I do, sweet Madeline," said Calhoun when he came to stand right in front of her, "You not only denied me but you went as far as to trick and dy what is rightfully mine. Taunting the wolf is never a good idea." He ced both his hands on either side of the door where she stood, keeping her in ce.

    Madeline felt a shiver run down her spine when Calhoun leaned forward and blew warm air at the side of her neck.

    "I would have let it go, but I heard something today." On Calhoun''s words, Madeline turned her head so that she could look at Calhoun, who stared back into her eyes.

    "What?" she asked, unsure of what he heard.

    Calhoun didn''t answer her question. He instead continued to stare into her eyes that looked dark because of theck of light as he blocked the lighting from the candles. "Now tell me, what shall I do so that you are well aware of what happens when you deny me."

    "You cannot always do things as you want," whispered Madeline quickly, "You told me before that you would drink my blood only once in a month. What about respecting my wishes?" she asked him.

    Madeline''s eyes turned wide, and she felt her heart drop in her chest. No way he was listening to her and Lady Lucy! Her cheeks turned bright red, which was hidden because of the darkness in the room.

    "I-I was just asking for knowledge," Madeline stuttered. Was Calhoun always listening to what she was speaking? This was far worse embarrassing than any other time she had felt, "And it''s rude to be eavesdropping when twodies are speaking alone."

    She saw Calhoun''s lips twitch at her words before the broad smile appeared on his face, "I was walking past the corridor when I heard the whispering. It is hard not to listen closely when people are whispering."

    Madeline couldn''t keep her gaze on Calhoun for too long as it only made her more embarrassed, "You tricked me," she said to him.

    "I thought it was you who did it to me. I must say, I was surprised that you pulled something so silly with me," Calhoun''s nose touched the side of her earlobe before his teeth caught the upper lobe of her ear. He nibbled on it, enticing Madeline as she closed her eyes, flinching when he bit into it. "Don''t deny what you feel. I can see the need and arousal in your eyes. Don''t fight it, sweet thing, it might make the anticipation much higher but it will burn you out. I am just respectful of what you need. Why is it so bad?" he asked her in a whisper.

    If it were possible, Madeline would have turned one with the door as her back was pressed against it, "You are turning it to your favour," she replied.

    "How is it in my favour when I am asking nothing but only want to give you?" Calhoun questioned her.

    "You want my blood."

    Calhoun chuckled, "You innocent little thing. There are other things than blood. Asking for advice from my sister, when I can tell and help you in a much better way, why do you want to go roundabout with it? Do you not trust me?" he asked her.

    Madeline''s lips pressed against each other. It was not about trust, Madeline said to herself.

    Calhoun was enticing her with different feelings. Feelings she didn''t believe she was capable to feel and the ones which she didn''t know it existed within her.

    "Are you scared I will hurt you?" he asked her, his words gentle on her ears.

    "You know it''s not that," Madeline could feel her mind and her heart turning fuzzy with him being this close to her. When she had asked Lady Lucy''s advice, she had made sure to look around, to see that no one was listening to them but who knew that Calhoun was around the corner.

    "Then what is it?" Calhoun''s voice continued to stay calm, but his eyes told otherwise. Even with the minimal lighting in the room, she could see something lurking behind those eyes. It was the big bad wolf who was in there, "You are going to be my wife. I am not my father to leave or throw you away. I know I said I will hold myself back, but it''s hard, Madeline when you are in front of me."

    "How about if we stay in different ces? I with my family, back home until the wedding," that was one way to keep things the way usual marriage took ce. But it seemed like Calhoun disliked the idea as Madeline heard a bang against the door next to her.

    "Don''t stretch it," there was something unnerving the way Calhoun said it.

    And though she was supposed to be entirely scared with the way he said those words, it only stirred something inside her. Madeline lowered her gaze. She could feel her thoughts corrupting in thepany of the bad wolf. This was so unlike her, thought Madeline to herself.

    "To the question that you asked Lucy, there are variations. People like different things," stated Calhoun, "It is always best to explore it with the partner on what you like." His words were sensual, and Madeline could feel her eyes rolling back, wanting to close it as her breath turned short.

    "I-I didn''t know that," replied Madeline, not meeting his gaze yet. Every word that left his lips felt like they were sinful and inviting. She could only be thankful that she had not spoken on whys and hows with Lady Lucy.

    Oh, dear lord! Madeline cried in her mind.

    "Of course, you wouldn''t. This will be your punishment," Calhoun said. Madeline''s eyes instantly snapped up to look at him. Her eyes grew even wider than before. "For teasing me, by running away from me, making me to wait. Not to forget, I haven''t missed the point where you went as far as to switch seats in the dining room. You sure have grown to be courageous."

    Gulping down the ball of nervousness, Madeline answered, "I thought that was how a queen should be. To stand her ground."

    "How convenient," came the sarcastic remark from Calhoun''s mouth.

    Madeline was trying to learn from Calhoun. If he could y with words, she would need to know them too, but it wasn''t affecting him the way it affected her. She was weakerpared to Calhoun. By words, strength and his ability to seduce was nothing less than a poison spreading in the body, leaving a person unable to think anything.

    "I was worried that you would do something in the dining room," she confessed.

    "Do what?" Calhoun was interested in what Madeline had on her mind. He would be more than pleased to demonstrate it to her. His hand left the surface of the door, and it went to settle on the side of her waist.

    Her toes involuntarily curled when his hand touched her waist. Her legs squeezed and Madeline prayed for herself that she would survive today, but with the way Calhoun was looking at her, survival didn''t look like it existed anywhere close.

    "T-that, you would ce your hand on my leg," she whispered. She had taken precautionary measures to sit at the table before Calhoun would show up. If he were to make her father stand and switch the seats, somewhere, it would be rude to treat his inws in such manner.

    Calhoun stared at her intensely, "You are right. I would have done something more than just ce my hand on your thigh."

    The thought itself had Madeline blink her eyes quickly. Her lips trembled as she thought of the possibilities.

    "Why would you do something like that when my family is around?" she asked, her eyes looking back at him.

    "I like to see you embarrassed and squirm. I wouldn''t do it with the knowledge of anyone, it would be just something between us," one side of his lips pulled up. He ran his tongue slightly towards his lips, and Madeline noticed his full lips.

    "I am feeling dizzy," Madeline said, her breathing was shallow and her eyes were closing in on her.

    Calhoun couldn''t be more pleased to hear this, "That''s what the peak of arousal feels like. Imagine being pushed further and further towards the edge," his words were nothing less to a devil who was drawing her to him; here it was more like the den of the wolf with promising words, "It seems like you are quite the masochist to torture yourself."

    "I wouldn''t be feeling it this way, if it weren''t for you," she blurted through gritted teeth before realizing what she did.

    "What a beautiful confession," Calhoun stated, his own eyes turning alive, "I haven''t delivered the punishment yet for what you did earlier this evening."

    *

    THIS IS AN ONGOING BOOK.

 Chapter 246 Wolf in the bed- Part 3

    <h4>246 Wolf in the bed- Part 3</h4>

    It seemed like it was not just her blood anymore that Calhoun wanted to take from her.

    "Come with me, sweet," said Calhoun to her, coaxing her by walking towards the bed. She had dug her grave too deep today that it didn''t look like she would be able to get away from it. At the same time, Madeline felt her skin turning alive. Even the smallest wind that passed through the window made her stomach turn.

    "W-what are you going to do?" asked Madeline, her feet moving slow and steady so that she wouldn''t fall as she felt her knees turn weak.

    "To answer the question that you asked Lucy, in a much more practical and demonstrative way," came Calhoun''s direct words.

    Madeline''s mouth turned dry, and for a moment, she stopped walking. The feelings that she was feeling in her body had only turned worse. Calhoun had a way with his words, and he knew the effect it had on her, which was why he made use of it.

    Calhoun''s very presence in the room was daunting yet alluring. She saw him stretch his hand for her to take. Gulping, she slowly ced her hand in his that was lightly shaking. The little contact gave out a small relief but the thought of Calhoun ''helping'' her, she couldn''t break her eyes away from him.

    Calhoun tugged her hand for her to quickly walk towards him, "How shall we go with it, my Queen?" he asked her, "Would you like to try what your new friend Lucy has said or would you want me to help you with it?"

    "This is embarrassing!" Madeline turned anxious.

    "And who do we have here to me today?" he turned his head to the side in question, staring at her intensely. Madeline was lucky right now that he hadn''t dragged her to the bed and pinned her down for the stunts she had pulled this evening. "You have nothing to be self-conscious about. Instead of waiting, we are going to do it bit by bit so that you don''t faint during the night of our wedding. I do not look forward to you fainting in my arms," he said, his eyes narrowing at her.

    Madeline could agree on that. The chances of her fainting would be high. But she was still nervous! What was she supposed to do?! What Lady Lucy had said was embarrassing enough. Madeline was only thankful that the vampiress had been kind enough to advise her and notugh at her question on how to relieve the tension that she had been feeling that was tormenting her sexually.

    Seeing him wait for an answer, Madeline opened her lips only to close them. "Neither?" she tried her luck for him to roll his eyes at her.

    Her heart started to beat loudly again, and she saw Calhoun bend down to unbuckle both her shoes. There was something about the scene in front her that was more endearing than anything she had seen from Calhoun before. Like he was taking care of her.

    Once both her shoes dropped on the ground, she saw Calhoun take off his boots before putting his hands on the surface of the bed to climb with her. Madeline sat there with bated breath. She was too nervous to move even an inch from where she was seated. His face was right in front of her, looking at her as if he was staring into her soul.

    Calhoun then pulled away from her, taking the side to seat himself, and he said, "Don''t forget I offered to help, and it was you who didn''t pick the options." Well, she had tried to refuse both the things but Calhoun was not pleased with her answer, thought Madeline to herself, "Let me see you put the advice in action that was given to you."

    Madeline''s face instantly heated up.

    Calhoun took afortable position to sit so that he could watch her. Madeline wondered if she would faint today instead of the wedding night, "The King doesn''t like to wait."

    Then he could leave and go to his room! Madeline bit her tongue. Calhoun was a stubborn man, and she knew he wasn''t going to leave the room until he got what he wanted.

    "I-I don''t know what to do," said Madeline to see him twist his lips.

    "Go with the flow," Calhoun shrugged his shoulders, "Don''t mind my presence." Madeline could tell Calhoun was enjoying her current predicament.

    Calhoun tried to keep his hands still and to himself, anticipating what and how Madeline would try to relieve herself. She had asked Lucy in such a earnest tone, Calhoun was not willing to let go of this chance. His red eyes barely left Madeline.

    "Lean against the headboard and the pillows," Calhoun directed her as she appeared lost. He was more than happy to show her the way. Madeline did as he suggested. She took herself to lean against the pillow where both of them could see each other.

    Seconds felt like hours under the gaze of Calhoun. Madeline had to remind herself that it was alright because they were going to get married. And there were only a few days left for it. It was an inevitable thing, them sharing a bed. Right now, Calhoun was giving her the time to getfortable around him, taking one step at a time.

    With her face and neck flushed red, she moved her hands from the sides to move between her legs. For some odd reason, the mes in the room that were earlier dim turned bigger, brightening the room. Calhoun didn''t react as his face lookedposed, but his eyes had darkened. Madeline had never tried to please herself before because she never had the need to do it in the past. But Calhoun had been ying the game of cat and mouse, pawing her with his ws and heightening the feelings in her with every opportunity he got.

    At first, she didn''t feel anything, but she remembered the time outside the chapel, of how Calhoun''s knee had moved to press between her legs. She pressed her hands between her legs, moving it back and forth. Instead of feeling relieved, Madeline only felt far more aroused with Calhoun who was watching her. Her cheeks had turned warm because of the heat, and her breath shallow. The more she pressed her hand over her clothes, her legs slightly raised from the bed, her delicate toes supporting the weight and emotions.

    Even though it was awkward, it felt good. Like a skin that needed to be scratched to feel the relief, but this was much better than that.

    Seeing Madeline trying to please herself, Calhoun''s eyes darkened even more. He could feel his cks tighten as his manhood harden at the sight of Madeline shedding her shyness in front of him.

    Calhoun had been with many women in the past, but no one had enticed and enraptured him the way Madeline did. Her eyes that were wide had turned small, her lips parted, and her back arched as she continued to rub her hand between her legs. He could hear her little heart beating loud in her chest.

    He gritted his teeth. Calhoun saw the beautiful girl in front of him trying to reach her peak of pleasure. But before she could, his hand moved to encircle around her ankle. He said,

    "Stop."

    "What?" Madeline who had been apprehensive earlier looked confused now on why he was stopping her. She had felt the desire build in her body, as if it was elevating until Calhoun stopped her.

    Calhoun wanted to tease her. As much as pleasing it was to see her like this, it appeared as if he was punishing himself through her. He noticed the turmoil on Madeline''s face. Her eyes were anxious.

    "You have done well, but it will feel better underneath the clothes," came Calhoun''s deep voice as his thumb ran across her skin near her ankle, "Let me take care of that."

    .

 Chapter 247 Wolf in the bed- Part 4

    <h4>247 Wolf in the bed- Part 4</h4>

    .

    Madeline, who was in an aroused state, stared at Calhoun over the words he just said. She quickly shook her head, "W-what?" She had heard his words clearly, but with her body which was on its own high, Calhoun had stopped her midway, she felt lost. Her cheeks burned more because of the blood rushing up to her face,

    "Y-you don''t have to do t-that."

    His hand was still around her ankle, the little touch had turned her thoughts go in a different direction, somewhere making her ache in need.

    Calhoun stared into Madeline''s eyes, "Is that what you truly desire?" he asked her, "What does your body say?"

    Madeline''s lips had turned dry. Her body wanted to finish what Calhoun had started, by making her do awkward things in front of him, but he had also stopped her. Why did he make her do something if he was not letting her finish it?! Asked Madeline to herself. Worse, Calhoun offered to help her.

    "Are you not going to answer, Madeline?" asked Calhoun, his fingers tracing up her ankle and then underneath the dress. Madeline wanted to pull away from him, but she knew she would have to bear far worse consequences than what was happening right now.

    "We shouldn''t be doing this," her words came out in a whisper. A shiver ran down her spine by feeling Calhoun caress her, which was nothing less to a whisper on her skin that was promising to offer sinful pleasure.

    "What are we doing?" asked Calhoun, his words coy and when Madeline was about to use her hand to stop his hand, it was caught in his other hand. "Always so quick. It seems like you forgot what you did this evening. What were you thinking by running and making me chase you?" Though Calhoun had caught hold of her hand, he also let it go once the spike in her heart was trying to get back to its normal state.

    Madeline was asking the same question Calhoun asked her. What was she thinking running away from him?

    "Things like these��" Madeline''s voice trailed when Calhoun''s hand made its way towards her knees.

    Madeline had stopped talking because Calhoun''s touch on her skin was not repulsing, but it was sensual and sweet, making her want to squeeze her thighs together. She tried not to stretch her ankles and toes, as she saw him look at her with an expressionless look on his face.

    His fingers had moved to touch the garter, and she felt him y with it, "Calhoun," she whispered his name that came out breathy.

    "Yes?" he asked, being attentive to her, "Which one are you wearing?" asked the shameless King.

    Madeline couldn''t keep her gaze on him anymore, and she looked to her side at the surface of the bed, "The new one," she replied to him.

    As if to test its sticity, Calhoun slipped one of his fingers beneath the garter, and pulled it upward before running it from left to right. With Madeline''s dress that had been moved up her thighs for Calhoun''s viewing, she quietly sat as he let her getfortable with her legs being naked in front of him. But that wasn''t what he wanted today.

    Since he had Madeline staying in the castle, he had been holding himself back from pouncing on her. If it were someone else, he would have torn the clothes by now. But this was Madeline, and Calhoun was taking his time for her to give her heart to him willingly. But Calhoun had a limit, and he couldn''t go on without having something from her.

    Madeline noticed how Calhoun appeared to be ying with the garter, his eyes on it before he let go of the garter for it to snap on her skin, making her flinch.

    "The idea might appear to be frightening, but it is far from it," said Calhoun.

    "It sounds like the devil''s words," Madeline responded to see him grin.

    "Maybe," he replied to her, "Why to have water in drops, when you can take a whole gulp of it? You have done well so far, Madeline." Calhoun had pegged that she would need a lot of coaxing before she would submit to his words on showing him one of Lucy''s suggestions. But it looked like he had teased her enough to make her want to have a release.

    Madeline trying to be smart said, "Then it should be enough for the night. No?"

    "No," answered Calhoun, "What you did was only stir and arouse yourself more. I would feel terrible if you went to sleep in such a state."

    Madeline gave him a look. Calhoun was speaking as if he was doing a favour to her when in truth, he was only continuing to tease her more. When Calhoun went to push her dress further, Madeline''s hands were quick to ce on herp so that they wouldn''t move up.

    "Why are you pushing it so high?!" she asked with her eyes wide.

    Calhoun stared back at the shy girl, "It will be ufortable for you to have the dress pushed and crumpled around your waist. Raise your hands. I guess just pushing them up won''t be helpful."

    Madeline''s lips pursed and her hands had formed to loose fists, as she felt she was drowning in his eyes. It wasn''t the first time she had removed her dress. Instead of prolonging the time, Madeline nervously raised her hand to let Calhoun help her out of the dress that she was wearing, leaving her in chemise like petticoat.

    "How do you feel?" asked Calhoun, wanting to make sure she was alright.

    "Cold," answered Madeline.

    Calhoun turned his head to look at the firece, and when he snapped his fingers, the fire suddenly burned brighter than ever before, and he turned his gaze back at her, "It should be warm in some time."

    Madeline didn''t know what to say. So far, Calhoun had appeared to be one of the strongest vampires she could ever imagine was alive. His abilities were far beyond anything that she had ever heard.

    "Pull the pillow down and ce your head on it," he advised, and Madeline turned around to push the pillow that was resting against the headboard down on the bed.

    She could feel her heartbeat getting louder and faster with every second that passed. The room did turn warm, but Madeline didn''t know if it was because of the firece or because her body was heating up at Calhoun''s gaze on her. She did as he told.

    When Lady Lucy had spoken about doing it underneath her dress, Madeline was too scared to do it and doing things over her clothes felt much easier under Calhoun''s intense eyes. He watched every single movement of hers, his eyes not leaving her even for a moment.

    Madeline then felt Calhoun trace his fingers up, bunching the petticoat she had been wearing to push it up towards her waist. The petticoat was thin in texturepared to the manyyers of dress that was removed two minutes ago. She turned her head to the side, her eyes staring at the walls.

    "Look at me, Madeline," came Calhoun''s demanding words.

    As shy as she was at this moment, it took a lot of courage for her to turn and make eye contact with Calhoun who was already looking at her, "You are beautiful, there''s nothing to be embarrassed about. Not when you are going to be my wife."

    Even though Calhoun hadn''t done anything yet to her, Madeline could feel her breath turning shallow. There were mixed emotions swirling in her mind, but her body felt like it wanted to be touched, fire zing not just in the firece but also on her skin that felt hot and bothered. It didn''t help that Calhoun looked at her as if she was something exquisite and wanted to steal her away. She could feel his desire from where he sat next to her legs.

    Maybe somewhere it was good, thought Madeline to herself, doing things little by little because she was already ready to faint.

    "Raise your hips, sweet," Calhoun''s words were sweet as if he would not hurt her. Doing as he asked, she felt him fold the petticoat so that it wouldn''t hurt her skin because of the unevenness.

    Madeline brought both her hands to ce it below her chest, her fingers holding each other, "Have you done this with others too?" came her small voice.

    "You mean other women and girls?" asked Calhoun, wondering if she was feeling insecure or jealous about the women he had slept with. Madeline gave a small nod.

    "I have touched them but not the way I am touching you now. Are you jealous?" he asked her directly, and Madeline shook her head. "Good. You shouldn''t be. What you should worry is the present and the future. Not the things that have happened in the past," saying this, he pushed her legs apart. Calhoun noticed how petite Madeline''s body was. He wanted to run his hands over her pale smooth legs, but at the same time, he didn''t want to scare her.

    When his eyes fell on the white garment, Calhoun wondered how long he would be able to hold back from not tearing it. His teeth gritted against each other, and his eyes turned only darker in wanting to have her. Calhoun had waited for so long. He believed he deserved to get a part of the reward from her.

    Madeline''s breath hitched when Calhoun brushed the back of his hand between her thighs and on her sex which was covered with one lone piece of garment. When his hand brushed in between her legs again, Madeline could feel the arousal raise ten times higher than what she had felt when she was running her hand over her clothes and between her legs.

    "With the amount ofyers in the dress, you will feel it less," she heard Calhoun say as he continued to let her get ustomed to his touch. Still, at the same time, it was nothing less to torture, "If you are doing it with someone you have an affinity with, the emotions you feel will only turn that much better and pleasing. Satisfying," he said, brushing his hand ever so slowly so that Madeline could feel his touch in every single nerve of her body.

    "It was the first time for me," Madeline said between her intake of breath.

    Calhoun hummed in satisfaction when he pressed his hand more to see her back arch. Madeline was a virgin who was new to these sensations. Her body was readily responding not only to his touch, but her heart skipped a beat every time he said anything to her.

    He then used his two fingers in the middle, running it from the top to the bottom to feel her sex that was covered behind the undergarment that she wore making her toes curl and her head turn to look at the ceiling of the bed.

    Madeline moved her hands to ce it on either side of the bed.

    She would have never known that a feeling like this existed in the world if it wasn''t for Calhoun who was doing nothing but brush his hand and press his fingers on her sex.

    It was hard for Madeline not to react with the way his fingers were teasing her. Moving up and down, putting enough pressure that was leaving her panting for air and shamefully for more which she would not tell openly but Calhoun was good at reading her body, and he gave her more.

    *

    THIS IS AN ONGOING BOOK.

 Chapter 248 Wolf in the bed- Part 5

    <h4>248 Wolf in the bed- Part 5</h4>

    Calhoun''s eyes picked on the small wet patch that had formed on her white garment. He moved his hand away from her, to only y at the ends of the garment before slipping his hand inside to let his fingerse directly in contact with her wet core.

    Madeline gasped at the feeling of Calhoun touching her. Her hands twisted into the sheets of the bed, and her eyes flew open. Her eyes moved up to see Calhoun who was already watching her expressions and moans escaping her lips.

    Her lips parted further when he testingly ran his finger over the wet folds before moving his finger in circles. Another moan left her delicate lips, her toes pressing and pushing back with emotions that were erupting through her body.

    Calhoun saw Madeline''s legs quake as he continued to take it slow and steady, stopping when she felt her senses heightening to only to bring her back by denying her what she wanted. He flicked the nub to hear a soft cry erupt through her lips. It resulted in Madeline arching her back along with her neck stretched and her head thrown back.

    "You are wet," said Calhoun when his finger swirled around her entrance.

    Madeline, who was lost in the sensation, returned to the room, her cheeks burning and her eyes slightly dted, "More?" she heard him ask her.

    One part of her wanted him to stop while the other wanted him to continue. It was a guilty pleasure that she was feeling right now; that was what Calhoun was to Madeline, a guilty pleasure. Things like these were supposed to be kept for the wedding night. But nothing had gone as she had expected. The desire in Calhoun''s eyes, the way he looked at her, ready to eat her up, Madeline found it hard to refuse. Doing something so sinful yet when it was pleasurable, it was hard to say no to, but Madeline didn''t say yes either.

    Seeing Madeline not answer his question, he started to pull his hand away from her undergarment when a small sound of protest came from her. Her eyes anxiously looked up at him as he stared into her brown eyes that were hooded in want.

    Calhoun ran his finger over the band, "I won''t know if you don''t tell me. I will stretch my hands to you," but if she didn''t take it, Calhoun would carry her without a thought, "What is it going to be?" he asked, stopping the movement of his hand so that she would decide. This way, he was letting her think that she had a choice, but Calhoun knew better, that she didn''t. He was a maniptive man, but it wasn''t out of bad intention here. Madeline was shy, and he was giving her the push she would need.

    "Why do you ask if you know it?!" Madeline questioned him, her voice weak from the pleasure she had felt.

    He was really torturing her like this. When her legs moved close to each other, Calhoun ced his hand on her legs to stop her from pressing her legs,

    "Please," Madeline pleaded.

    "Please what?" came the calm words from Calhoun, "Imagine you making me feel like this," he said, pulling the the top of the garment he had been ying with to let it go and it snapped on her skin, "The slow torture where I have to hold myself back."

    "I didn''t ask you to hold back," Madeline blurted to see Calhoun narrow his eyes.

    "Careful, with what you speak, darling. If I wasn''t holding back now, both of us would be naked, and you would be screaming my name," warned Calhoun and Madeline felt her mouth go dry.

    Noticing how Madeline had not moved and was willing to take his help to get the relief, Calhoun slipped his hand back inside the garment. Madeline blushed profusely as both of them stared at each other. The whole time, he didn''t remove the intimate garment and let it stay as his fingers continued to work on her.

    Having Calhoun look at her, it only turned Madeline wetter.

    "It might be a little ufortable at the start," said Calhoun to her before pushing one finger into her core.

    "Ah!" Madeline cried, her eyebrows slightly furrowing. It did feel ufortable, and she tried to breathe.

    She felt Calhoun give her a few seconds before pushing his finger inch by inch. When her breathing felt better, Calhoun finally pulled his finger out to push it back in. The room had filled with Madeline''s cry and moans that was apanied by the soft crackling sound from the firece.

    The feeling of ufortableness was reced with arousal every time when Calhoun pulled his finger almost out to only to push it back in rhythm. Watching Madeline''s face warp in desire and passion, her eyes rolling behind her head, it was a sight that aroused Calhoun, and his eyes only turned more intense. The next time he pushed his finger, a louder moan came to pass through Madeline''s lips.

    Madeline had pulled her feet close to her, her body arching and her hips unconsciously lifting as she felt something starting to build in between her legs. Her body felt out of control, and her mind had drifted to another space as Calhoun continued fingering her.

    Her body had started to convulse. Like a piano that hit high notes, Madeline could feel the heat that had pooled between her legs rise. As if trying to search for an anchor, Madeline''s eyes went to meet Calhoun.

    "Let go, sweet girl," his words were firm, and one flick was enough to have Madeline''s body shudder as she came apart in his hand.

    Madeline felt as if she had walked up many stairs as she tried to catch some breath. What she felt right now...it felt nothing less than jumping from the cliff because of the rush of feelings but at the same time the overwhelming pleasure she felt, she could not deny it.

    The entire time, Calhoun''s gaze had not left her.

    She saw him pull his hand out to bring it up towards his mouth before he sucked on the finger which he had made use of to please her.

    *

    THIS IS AN ONGOING BOOK.

 Chapter 249 Meddler- Part 1

    <h4>249 Meddler- Part 1</h4>

    The man in front of her reeked of sexual power, every touch and word of his able to elicit moans out of her mouth. Madeline was embarrassed with the way her cries of sigh and moans had escaped her mouth. Her body had quaked under his touch, unable to control what she was feeling until she felt the release she had been itching for before but had been shy to do anything about it properly or ask him.

    Her toes curled, trying to hide them even though her lower part was yet to be covered with her dress as Calhoun had earlier bunched them up for easy ess.

    "How was it?" asked Calhoun, his voice thick in desire. Calhoun had not moved away from sitting between her legs and instead of letting her legs close, he ced his hand on either side of her, moving like a feline until he was on top of her.

    Her heart had madly started to beat, and her eyes were barely able to focus on him. It had been only a few seconds since he had fingered her, touching her in the most private part of her body without making her feel awkward or strange about it. With his body so close to her, his face in front of her, Madeline couldn''t think straight. The sexual tension only increased, and she could feel the heat starting to pool back in between her legs.

    Madeline was embarrassed with the fact that her body was behaving needy, wanting attention, and she tried to distract herself by looking at Calhoun''s dishevelled hair that looked soft. What she felt today was something intimate, but she didn''t want to be a wanton girl.

    Supporting himself with one hand as he left another to hold Madeline''s chin, he asked, "Speak, Maddie."

    Calhoun knew how to please a woman, and he knew he had aroused Madeline to push her off the cliff, sending her flying in her mind, but he wanted to hear it from her. To know that she enjoyed it, even though her expression had already said it all.

    His teeth gritted against each other when he remembered her crying out when his finger moved in her and her back arched beautifully like she was unable to hold it in any longer. His manhood hardened and Calhoun needed a release.

    Madeline pressed her lips before opening it, "It was nice," came her small, shy voice.

    Madeline''s lips quivered, "I-I say anything you will take it to your advantage," a shudder passed through her lips.

    "A man often wants to hear and know that he has pleased his woman more than the expected expectations," said Calhoun, his own eyes darkening again, seeing Madeline''s head trying to move back at his touch.

    "Why?" she asked him.

    She couldn''t believe they were doing something so sinful before their marriage. If something like this were to happen in the vige, the female was often shamed and tied in the middle of the market where people would throw rotten fruits and vegetables at the person, for the shame they brought after indulging themselves in adultery.

    And here, Calhoun had seen and touched her, not just felt her intimate part but had fingered her. Thinking that her cheeks burned brightly. Madeline doubted she would be able to sleep tonight.

    Calhoun said, "It boosts a man''s ego." Seeing Madeline''s expression, he chuckled, "It makes us feel good. Powerful even, that we can do something to send you beyond and into heaven. To give a taste, which we are capable of. Doesn''t hold just for men though."

    He let go of her chin to push the strands of her hair that hade to stick on her face, "Women feel that way too. When they are praised for being able to push their man to an edge. To be able to please."

    Really? Questioned Madeline''s innocent mind. Madeline knew the male and female had different anatomy, but she had never heard of women holding the same power as the men. It was because the society they lived in, it was the man who was considered to be in charge, to be able to provide the woman with everything while the woman fell on the lower side.

    Did Calhoun mean, she was able to make him feel in a simr way as she felt now?

    "I didn''t know it was possible," she expressed her thoughts more openly than before. With Calhoun seeing some parts of Madeline''s embarrassing moments, that were embarrassing for her, somewhere it made it easier for her to open her thoughts to him.

    "Of course, you didn''t. Normally people don''t agree to it, the men I mean because they feel less and like to be in charge," answered Calhoun.

    Madeline gave it a second before she asked, "But you agree to it."

    Calhoun''s lips twitched before they broadened, "Just because you ept that you enjoy and are pleased by it, it doesn''t mean it makes a person less. It is just some men who have a bigger ego."

    Madeline''s thoughts went back to a few hours ago when she and Lady Lucy had left the garden and were heading to step inside the castle. The vampiress had spoken about men feeling aroused, but most of it had bounced over Madeline''s head. She wondered if Calhoun was aroused. With Calhoun who appeared to be an expert, maybe he was treating himself. After all, she had not seen any women or girls entertaining him recently.

    Would it be rude not to ask him if he was okay? Asked Madeline to herself but then it was Calhoun who had pounced on her in the bed. Right now, he was only pawing and ying with her with his ws.

    Her head slightly turned to her left side, which was the side where the light fell from the firece that was burning.

    This left her neck bare for Calhoun''s view. Unable to resist by the sight of the soft skin, Calhoun leaned forward and ran his wet tongue from the base of her neck to the spot behind her ear, making her shiver.

    "I thought the punishment was over," Madeline whispered, her hands moving to ce on his chest.

    "How is it your punishment when it is you who enjoyed the release while I am here holding myself back? It''s the longest I have ever held myself back," Calhoun''s words fell on her neck, "I think I deserve some good treats and my dessert now for being patient."

    Catching hold of her hands, he pushed it back against the surface of the bed. Madeline had turned her head to meet Calhoun''s eyes. He didn''t wait for her as he dived to capture her lips with his. Using his teeth to catch hold of her lower lip before letting it go with a tinge of pain, making her flinch.

    There was no word of protest that came from Madeline''s lips. His eyes still on hers; he went back to kiss her lips that were supple. Slipping his tongue into her warm mouth was nothing less to a bee going to take the nectar from the sweetest flower.

    Madeline didn''t know if it was because of the earlier intimacy they had shared, but the kiss felt more passionate than thest time Calhoun had kissed her. Or maybe it was the bed, she thought to herself. His tongue rubbed against her tongue, pushing and taunting her. Noticing how her mind was drifting somewhere, Calhoun bit into her lip bringing a soft cry from her mouth which he very much enjoyed listening to.

    "Why are you biting me!" asked Madeline as her lip felt sore.

    "Because you are delicious. What do you expect?" asked Calhoun as if it were her fault, "Come here, let me heal it," he said, noticing a drop of bloode to settle on that soft lip of hers.

    Madeline doubted she would survive with Calhoun. His tongue peeked out before licking her to send a jolt through her body again.

    She felt Calhoun''s coarse tongue brushing against her lips. She wondered how Calhoun would like it if she was bit like that and her teeth almost went to bite his lips but Calhoun pulled away and stared at her,

    "Who knew you would be a feisty thing in bed," murmured Calhoun with a grin on his face.

    He didn''t let go of her hands which made it difficult for Madeline to move. When he pushed his hands along with hers to move it above her head, Calhoun leaned forward to kiss her lips again. Moving it against her lips, and he noticed the subtle movements of her lips, listening to her heart beating in her chest and the scent of her blood turning rich only to make his fangs ache.

    Not waiting for another second, Calhoun went for her neck to sink his teeth and drank blood from Madeline. Somewhere in between him drinking from her and retracting his fangs back, he had let go of her hands to settle his hands on her waist. When he was done, Calhoun''s lips went next to her ear,

    "Madeline," he whispered her name and Madeline who had closed her eyes, opened them, "I haven''t tasted something so sweet ever before. Every drop is heaven. But it''s not because of that, that I enjoy...It''s because it''s you, yourpany and your presence." Madeline could not see Calhoun''s expression right now, and she concentrated on his voice. "There are days the wolf wants to snatch out of its aggressive nature. Something simr to how one feels when you see cute things. You want to hold them close, sometimes too close until they remain with just you, to not see anything else."

    "Ah!" Madeline cried when Calhoun bit her ear, which he enjoyed doing the most.

    Calhoun pulled away from her ear to stare into Madeline''s brown eyes, "I try not to let those emotions out," he said, bringing his hand towards her face and running his index finger over her cheek and then down her neck, which went further down between the valley of her breasts before it settled on her stomach.

 Chapter 250 Meddler- Part 2

    <h4>250 Meddler- Part 2</h4>

    "Cal-" Madeline started only to be hushed by him.

    "Ssh," he looked at her, "This is what you do to me," one of his hands that was ced on her bottom, pulling her closer so that she could feel him. Madeline looked like she was out of breath. Her lips had parted in a silent plea which she wasn''t sure what it was asking for.

    His lower body moved, and at the same time, his lips hovered over her lips, but when she came closer, he only pulled away, turning her anxious. Madeline had felt Calhoun''s finger that had been gentle and patient. But what she felt right now, the desire shot through from the core between her legs, spreading across every part of her body.

    Her hands turned weak along with her body. As much as Madeline knew it was bad, so bad to be doing something like this, she couldn''t help but give in to it.

    Calhoun could see his effect on Madeline, who was in his arms. He couldn''t go on teasing and torturing because he needed more of her. He had thought to take little of her, to eat her one bite at a time, but it was hard not to eat when the dessert was this delectable. Silent sighs came from her lips and Calhoun continued to make her feel his manhood that pressed against her.

    He didn''t let her feel the satisfaction though. Just enough for him this time, Calhoun finally helped her sit back on the bed before he pulled himself to stand on the ground.

    Calhoun doubted it was a good idea to spend more time here. If he didn''t leave, things would escte until the point where he would have her with the bed creaking if he took more minutes to stay around her. His eyes subtly narrowed hearing the sound that came from out of the room, while his eyes were still on her.

    Madeline pushed her petticoat down to cover her legs, her heart beating loud enough for both of them to hear it.

    "Get to sleep, Madeline. Unless your body still wants release which I will dly assist you with," said Calhoun, running his tongue over his lips.

    "Goodnight," she said, pulling the nket as if she could barely wait to fall asleep when in truth it was because she was embarrassed.

    "Goodnight," Calhoun wished her, to turn around and leave the room before closing it.

    A smile appeared on Calhoun''s lips when he heard the light footsteps that came from behind him. It seemed like someone was interested in ying hide and seek with him.

    Calhoun loved hide and seek. Because every time people tried to creep up on him, they always ended up dead by his hands. It seemed like today was a lucky day. It reminded him of the time when he had received the cloverleaf from the little girl. He wondered if the little girl still existed because, after that one time in the back of the alley, he had never met her again.

    The person who was following Calhoun kept a considerable distance between them. The torches were running on low me, and both the people continued to walk until the King suddenly disappeared when he took a right turn.

    As the person reached the end of the corridor, the intruder''s eyes moved left and right, searching, wondering where the King disappeared.

    "Looking for something?" asked Calhoun, who stood behind the person, who suddenly turned around.

    Before another word could be exchanged, Calhoun raised his hand to punch the intruder who had stepped inside his quarters. Because of the force Calhoun used in his hand, the intruder didn''t fall straight but banged the head on the nearest wall before falling t on the ground.

    Calhoun stared at the person, and in time one of the guards appeared in the corridor with his eyes wide, "I didn''t know I keep guards to make the castle look pretty," he said, "Take this one to the dungeon."

    He turned to look in the direction where Madeline''s room was before making his way to the dungeon to see the intruder to be tied. It had been quite some time since he had intruders in the castle and they were always amusing, thinking they could sneak upon him. Stupid little things, thought Calhoun to himself.

    Looking at the guards shackling the unconscious person, Calhoun stared for a second more before going to visit his rtive who was in the opposite room.

    Opening the door with the key he carried, he saw the skeleton that was standing only because of the rod that went through its mouth where one of its ends was stuck to the wall.

    "How are you doing, grandma?" asked Calhoun, "I did tell that I would take good care of you. I thought you would love somepany, and I have added a special guest. If it makes you feel better, some of your grandchildren will be making use of the next rooms soon. It seems like they got the genes from you for being arrogant and stupid," Calhoun clicked his tongue.

    "You were right," said Calhoun as he leaned against the side of the door, "We are different. Mother now rests peacefully, while here you are carrying dust on those old bones of yours."

    Hearing the sound of the shackles stop, Calhoun pulled the door close before turning back to walk towards the room of his new guest.

    "Leave," ordered Calhoun to the guards when he noticed the person''s appearance change slightly.

    "I will kill you!" The man growled at Calhoun, his eyes turning golden yellow, trying to escape from the iron chains that were now tied around his legs and hands.

    Calhoun quietly stood there, staring at the human who was none other than James. James had stubble around his jaws, his eyes looking tired. But from his usual appearance, his eyes had changed to a different colour.

    He had met foolish people before, but James raised the bar too high.

    "What a pity, I am in no mood to die, though," he replied to James, "I should have known something is up with you, especially with you trying to be courageous. If you told, you wanted to meet me, all you had to do was ask. You didn''t have to be shy about it."

    James red at Calhoun, "I know you were the one who pushed Mr. Barnes to get his daughter married to me! If it weren''t for you, he wouldn''t have threatened me to marry Catherine and I wouldn''t have lost my father by not staying next to him!"

    "Sorry for your loss. But it must be truly convenient to me a person just because things don''t go your way or happen, isn''t it," stated Calhoun calmly, his red eyes staring down at James who looked furious.

    Calhoun then asked, "Tea?"

    .

 Chapter 251 Meddler- Part 3

    <h4>251 Meddler- Part 3</h4>

    "Sir, the cost for the work is twenty-four coins," came the voice of the caretaker, who was the person to look after the cemetery. James turned, putting his hand in his pocket to give the money to another man who had helped him in putting his father in the casket and burying him in here.

    James'' eyes looked bleak as they stared at nothing in particr. The caretaker left with the other man, who hade to take his money, leaving James alone in that part of the cemetery as there were no other visitors. Fresh flowers had been ced on top of the grave. When his mother had passed away, it had been difficult, but he had his father with him, who had also left him alone in this world.

    The sorrow he felt in his chest, turned to hatred because it was always easier to deal with emotions like pain by recing it with anger and hate. Giving reasons like his father would have still be alive if he were there to take care of him. Since the time he had found his father dead, James tried to find reasons and solutions of if''s that was of no use as his father was long gone and dead, and his father was not going to return.

    If he had not gone to visit Lady Catherine''s mansion, if he was not forced to marry her, this would have never been the case. At least he would have been next to his father''s side, to hear his old man''sst wishes. As hours passed, James came to despise the Barnes'' family, and on the other side he despised the King of Devon who had disrupted his life by his mere presence.

    James had epted defeat when it came to the love he felt for the girl, Madeline Harris, but the King had yed dirty. The vampire had made sure to corner him to the point where he would have nowhere to go. It was because of his meddling that things had turned this way. James had never meant ill or any harm towards anyone. He was a man who his mother would be proud of, but it seemed like goodness brought nothing but bad luck to him. The King had snatched the girl whom he loved, wasn''t the King happy? That he was now involving himself in matters that didn''t concern him?

    Blood started to boil under his skin as more minutes passed. The sky finally turned dark. James didn''t know how long he sat in front of his father''s grave. He stood up when he heard a loud howling from the forest which was behind the cemetery he stood in.

    James took note of how the night had arrived quickly, and the crickets had started to chirp behind the bushes. Hearing another loud howl that followed with the previous one, he decided to leave the cemetery so that he would meet the King.

    Before James could do anything, the wolf at the front jumped towards him, biting his leg and making him cry out loud in pain as its teeth sunk into his flesh. Hearing him scream, the cemetery caretaker quickly made his way there with the torch of fire in his hand. The wolves growled again, but they didn''t stay near James as they promptly fled back to the forest.

    In pain, James fell on the ground, holding his leg.

    "Are you alright, Mr. Heathcliff??" the caretaker came running, swishing his hand that had the torch of fire left and right up in the air.

    "Argh!" James had never been hurt this bad before, and it almost felt like he was dying. He felt his body turn hot, making his skin feel as if it was on fire, and his vision had turned pitch ck. Pain shot up through his body, making him writhe on the ground.

    Seeing James on the ground, the caretaker offered, "Let me go find something to aid you!" and he quickly left after noticing the blood on James'' pants.

    James huffed for air, his entire face contoured in pain as he continued to cry. Blood was gushing out because of therge bite the wolf had taken, James tried hard to breathe.

    The caretaker arrived with a box of first-aid, "I forgot to light the torches around the house. Recently, there have been growls and howlsing from the forest. Here, let me help you to sit up," said the caretaker, lending James a hand so that he would get up from the ground. "There''s too much blood! I will wrap your leg with cloth so that you don''t lose more blood. This will help you stop the bleeding until you go and see the doctor."

    The cemetery caretaker helped James to walk and get inside his house, which was close by. The man started to help James in cleaning the wound.

    "Why don''t youin to the magistrate about the wolves?" asked James, his eyebrows furrowed deeply in pain.

    "We did. Some even went in search of the wolves, but the men and boys never returned. We don''t know where they went," replied the caretaker as he tended James'' calf muscle that had been injured. The caretaker didn''t let people visit the graves after evening, but it was hard to shoo people away who had lost their dear ones and were trying to spend their time in front of the tombs, "Let me get you a pair of pants to wear."

    "No, that won''t be necessary," James stood up. He had somewhere to go right away.

    "Please, Mr. Heathcliff. It would be dangerous to be walking with the smell of blood that might attract those animals as well as the vampires who are looking for blood," the caretaker spoke in a whispered voice as if someone would hear his words even though they were the only ones in the small house.

    James borrowed the pants, and when he was about to wear them, he realised the pain suddenly felt negligible.

    His hand reached out to ce it on the wound and then press it. As if in curiosity, he pulled out the bandages that the caretaker had put around his leg, and he noticed the wound was healing. The injury wasn''t as wide as before. Suddenly his body went through another pain, and James'' eyes changed its colour without his knowledge. The anger that had been lurking in him came out in full force, and his hand went to smash thentern that was in the small room.

    The caretaker waited for James to step out of the room. Hearing a crash, the man knocked on the door and stepped inside the room to notice the ce to be empty. Where did Mr. Heathcliff go?

    When the man turned around, he was pushed against the wall with his neck being caught by James.

    "M-Mr. Heathcliff!" the caretaker gasped for air.

    As ifing back to his senses, James suddenly let go of the caretaker who coughed while holding his neck.

    James'' face held the expression of shock, and he quickly stumbled back with terror in his eyes. Before he knew it, he had bolted out of the house, running away quickly and catching the carriage to visit the vampire who had turned his life into hell. On the way, James picked up a stake for his use.

    For some odd reason, his vision had turned better, and he was able to pick on things around him much more clearly. Slipping into the castle ground, he looked around for the King by taking the back route. When he saw him walking in the corridor, James'' blood boiled even higher, and he wanted to kill the vampire. With a stake in his hand, James followed the vampire to only be struck on the head and end up in the dungeon.

    "Tea?" asked the vampire and James growled in anger.

    "I will kill you! Let me out of this!" shouted James, trying to pull his hands and legs off the iron shackles that were drilled and attached to the walls of the room.

    Calhoun stood in front of James with a calm expression on his face, "Madeline will be very disappointed if she saw you in such a state. You are supposed to be the polite person Mr. Heathcliff and not angry young man Mr. Heathcliff." Calhoun wondered what was wrong with James as until now, he had appeared to be nothing more than a human, "You appear to be in bad shape."

    This earned him more growls from James. The way the tailorman was behaving now, Calhoun doubted that James was a human anymore. By the look of his eyes that were gold and yellow, Calhoun''s lips twisted in distaste.

    "Did you get bitten by something you were not supposed to?" hummed Calhoun to receive a re from James.

    "It''s because of you, my life has turned to be miserable! Why don''t you tell Madeline about what you did?" demanded James.

    Hearing Madeline''s namee from James'' mouth, Calhoun was not pleased, "And what is that?"

    "Of how you were the one to push Mr. Barnes to fix the marriage between his daughter and me. I have been silent all this time, but you have crossed the limits!" James spat. No matter how much he tried to get away from the shackles so that he could get to the King, he was unable to free himself.

    "Miserable?" asked Calhoun, "I believe your father died out of old age and not because someone killed him now, is it? Humans have fragile lives Mr. Heathcliff. You should have known that already when your mother passed away. And about your marriage with Catherine, I believe you brought it upon yourself."

    "Bullshit!" came the angry word from James'' mouth, his eyes ring bright yellow and Calhoun looked at the man withck of interest.

 Chapter 252 Meddler- Part 4

    <h4>252 Meddler- Part 4</h4>

    .

    Calhoun''s lips broadened into a smile at seeing the state in which James was in right now.

    The first time he had noticed this useless human was when James was found standing behind the pirs and talking to Madeline during the time of the Hallow. It wasn''t like Calhoun didn''t know who the big spider was who Madeline had mentioned in the beginning and he would have happily torn the tailorman''s head before cing it on a spear.

    But Calhoun was aware that this would only bring in hate in Madeline''s heart towards him. The beginning had been difficult, and he had decided to keep his ws to himself, waiting for the right opportunity so that he could get rid of this person who didn''t have an actual backbone.

    "It is quite riching from you. Hearing youin like a little child,"mented Calhoun. He pulled the chair that was in the corner and sat on it, "Where did your voice go when Catherine was subtly speaking about building a home and family with you? Or are you going to im that you are one of those men who don''t know how to pick on details? I wouldn''t be surprised if you said yes. No wonder Madeline is not by your side."

    "You bastard! You forced her to stay in the castle! She sent me the letter because she needed help! She didn''t want to stay here. Madeline isn''t someone like that. She deserves a quieter life," James gritted his teeth, "She liked me, and you know that!"

    Calhoun sighed. Crossing his legs one over the other, he said, "I think you are missing the main point here, Mr. Heathcliff. Madeline is marrying me out of her own free will. You had your time, and you missed it. If you had put half of your time and attention on Madeline than going around with Catherine, maybe the story would have been different. But let me tell you this, you are her past, and you chose Catherine."

    "I do not love Lady Catherine!"

    Calhoun tilted his head to the side, "Then you should have refused. Why didn''t you refuse," he raised both his hands in question.

    "Because Mr. Barnes threatened to kill my father when I refused the proposal!" James pulled his hands forward in an effort to remove the shackles, "I was having my chance! Madeline wanted to stay by my side! You maniptive bast-"

    "Are you sure about it? Because thest time I checked, it wasn''t Madeline who wrote the letter to you, but it was her sister Elizabeth," Calhoun clicked his tongue, "You should get your information right before deciding to point your finger which might break. Madeline doesn''t want you."

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed at James,

    "Haven''t you heard everything is fair in love and war? At least unlike you, I wasn''t apanying another woman while mentally iming I like someone else. Madeline deserves a man who is not afraid and has an actual backbone. My apologies for the misunderstanding, but can you me me? Catherine announced about her liking you, and you didn''t utter a word of rejection on it. I am not afraid to say no and go after what I want, Mr. Heathcliff."

    "And if it might put you to ease," Calhoun continued, "Though she''s still walking on the path to discovering her feelings, Madeline is in the process of falling in love with me. Much stronger than you coulde to scrape the surface of her feelings."

    James'' face contoured in dislike and hate, "It is because you are manipting her. She nearly killed herself an-" He couldn''t speak more as Calhoun had left his chair toe and stand right in front of James, holding his neck.

    "I am usually not this nice, Mr. Heathcliff. I am keeping you alive because of her, but that doesn''t mean I wouldn''t want to get you out of our lives so that you will stay far away from Madeline," Calhoun smiled at James while his fingers dug into the human''s neck, "It seems like you have been bit," and Calhoun''s smile increased further.

    This exined the colour of his eyes. Though it wasn''t obvious, Calhoun could still smell the faint scent of blood.

    "I hope she finds out about who you are and what you are capable of doing. All the ugly truth," James gritted his teeth, moving his head away when Calhoun let go of James'' neck.

    The smile on Calhoun''s face remained intact, "I cannot wait for that day. I would have said give up and leave, but it seems like the words are not getting into your thick skull. I hope you enjoy your stay here. It is very cosy," and Calhoun left James behind who continued to tug and pull on the chains.

    As Calhoun left the dungeon, he met Theodore, who was standing outside the castle, "We have a guest?" asked Theodore, who followed Calhoun''s footsteps as the King made his way inside.

    "Yes, more like an annoying insect." Calhoun wondered how James had even got inside the castle and passed through the guards, "James has been bit by a werewolf."

    "How is that possible?" Theodore questioned in surprise.

    "By teeth," came the dull answer from Calhoun, "He must have got bit somewhere on his way today. His eyes are changing colours. Make sure no one goes to the dungeon. Especially Madeline or her family members. I wouldn''t want his presence disrupting the marriage which is going to take ce soon. I doubt sending him to Barnes'' in his current state is feasible." If James was converting to a werewolf, things would turn ugly if he was let loose out in the open. It was better to keep an eye on him while also keeping it away from Madeline.

    "Noted, my King," Theodore bowed his head dutifully and they continued to walk.

    Calhoun walked towards his quarters, while Theodore decided to make a few rounds in the castle.

    On the way, Theodore caught sight of someone''s shadow moving in the corridors. On a closer inspection, he noticed it was the King''s half-sister, Lucy Gerville. She had a worried look on her face as she walked. The night was gettingte, and the ce where the vampiress was heading, it wasn''t where her room was located. Curious, he decided to take a look at what she was up to.

    When he was about to catch up with her, Theodore noticed Lucy wasn''t walking aimlessly but she was following her husband. Samuel was at the far front, walking with a maid. It was no mystery what Samuel was nning to do as they slipped into one of the many empty rooms of the castle where people would not catch them.

    He wondered if today was going to be the day Lucy would find out about her husband''s affairs. But Theodore knew Lucy, once she would find out about it, it would break her.

    Theodore questioned if he should leave her alone, after all, it wasn''t his business what the couple did. Or was it?

 Chapter 253 Feelings of the past- Part 1

    <h4>253 Feelings of the past- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Lucy Gerville was in her room, standing next to the window and staring outside at the castle when she found her husband walking past one of the halls in the West wing of the castle. She looked at the clock and noticed it waste. Where was he going??Lucy asked herself. The vampiress had never questioned her husband on what he did, where he went. She was a woman who didn''t doubt her husband''s motives, but since some time, Samuel had been growing distant.

    It wasn''t that he had not touched her as it was only two weeks ago since he had touched her in the bed, but his affections didn''te out as freely as she had expected. There were boundaries.

    He barely stayed around her and always giving reasons of work as if he couldn''t stand her, and somewhere it hurt Lucy. Her hand that was clutching the window sill, she let it go and then stepped out of her room. A room which belonged to her since she was born.

    Lucy made her way through the corridors, heading in the direction where she had seen Samuel before. When she finally did catch up, her eyebrows furrowed. She heard whisperings at the other end. Without making her presence known, Lucy heard whisperings,

    "Did anyone see you?" she heard Samuel ask someone. It seemed like Samuel was not alone, and he hadpany. She wondered who it could be. Whoever it was, it seemed like they didn''t use verbalnguage as Samuel went ahead to say, "Good. Follow me."

    Lucy didn''t know which side Samuel was going to walk. She hurriedly tried to hide behind the wall without making any noise. The footsteps on the marble floor grew louder until Samuel walked past her along with another person before the footsteps started to die down. When Lucy finally craned her neck, she caught sight of a girl who was in her maid''s attire. What work did he have with a maid at this hour of the night? Unable to keep her curiosity, she followed both of them while keeping distance.

    The three of them continued to walk where people didn''t oftene to venture. It was the remote side of the castle. What Lucy didn''t realize was that there was a fourth person who had started to follow the trail of curiosity on what was going on.

    Theodore had been following Lucy to find her following her husband, Samuel Gerville, who was with a maid. When Samuel disappeared inside the room on the left, Theodore stopped walking, his eyes focused on Lucy''s back who appeared to be contemting on if she should or shouldn''t see what her husband was up to.

    There had been many times in the past where Theodore was aware about Samuel''s special trips and extended work time in other towns and viges. He would have mentioned it to Lucy if she had not so fondly spoken about her new husband in the past. It was the time when it hadn''t been even a year since she had got married.

    And it had made Theodore wonder if he should let her know that Samuel was tucking her and making sure she slept only so that he could continue doing things behind her back. Samuel Gerville. Theodore was not fond of the man for more than one reason but keeping his best interests, especially with Calhoun in the mind, he had not gone to meddle in things that didn''t concern him.

    ''He''s not like you. Someone to give me false hopes. At least he married me,'' Theodore remembered Lucy''s words that were sharp.

    She despised him, and Theodore was well aware of it. Dear Lucy...thought Theodore to himself. He would have stopped her from following, but he was in no mood for it. Samuel had been trying to cause damage to the King''s reputation, and Theodore wouldn''t let it happen. Calhoun had been tolerating Samuel only for Lucy''s sake. The girl was like a leaf that moved with the direction of the wind. It was how she grew up.

    Lucy, who was standing a few distance away from the door of the room, her hands clutched on the sides of her skirt. She wondered if she was ready to confront what her husband was up to. Most of the time, Lucy had tried to look over the matters. She wasn''t a child to not to know what her husband was doing with the maid.

    She could still go back to her room, think as if it was nothing unfaithful, to believe that her husband was a good man who loved her. But even Lucy knew that it was far from the truth. Standing there for six whole minutes, she finally moved her feet forward. Her footsteps were soft, and she finally reached the door, to push it slowly open.

    Lucy''s red eyes grew wide when she caught her husband, who was sitting on the edge of the table. Half of his pants hade down while the maid sat down on the ground in front of him. The maid''s head bobbed up and down while her husband, whom she had put faith on had his head thrown back whilst his eyes were closed.

    Her hands and legs shook at the sight in front of her. Lucy didn''t know when Samuel hadst spoken lovingly with her, the way he had shown he would before their wedding took ce. It hurt her, and though she wanted to look away from the scene, she couldn''t. The betrayal felt nothing less to the time when her parents had died.

    Lucy continued to look at Samuel, whose face was filled with pleasure as the maid continued to please him. Samuel caught hold of the maid''s head, pushing her mouth towards him so that she would take all of him.

    "Ah��!" he sighed, and Lucy felt a tear slip out of her right eye. Her lips trembled, and she could barely think. Before she could witness more of it, a hand came to cover her eyes. Lucy was in shock, and her hand let go of the door. The door was then quietly closed as she was pulled away by someone from the scene to leave the corridor and go to the next one.

    Lucy was heartbroken, and when the hand that was on her eyes was pulled away, she saw it was Theodore. Taking her hand back to her side, she stared at Theodore. Even though it wasn''t her who had crossed limits, she felt ashamed as Samuel was her husband. To make things worse, the act was not caught just by her but also this person. When she blinked, two more tears slid down on her cheek.

    "Do you need water?" Theodore offered the vampiress who was still processing what she saw.

    Lucy shook her head, "No, I am fine," she lied. A lie that was easy to catch.

    "Let''s go to the kitchen and get you some water," Theodore suggested as if he had not heard the word no from her mouth. Lucy stared at Theodore. His habit of doing what he wanted to do had not been fixed, noticed Lucy to herself. In the past, Theodore often asked her questions, and when she answered it, he continued to do what he felt was right despite her answers.

    Lucy''s head was too muddled up, and she didn''t bother to refuse. She was tired and sad. Getting a ss of water from the dining room instead of the kitchen, Lucy continued to gulp it down. She wondered when Theodore would bring the topic of what they saw, but even after two minutes passed, he didn''t question her.

    Did he perhaps know about it? About her husband''s infidelity? Because when her eyes went to meet Theodore''s, there was no change in his expression. He looked like a wall. Just like in the past where his feelings and emotions were indifferent to things around him.

    If Theodore had note to pull her from standing at the door, she didn''t know for how long she would have been standing there, watching her husband and the maid. With them still there, she knew what would happen next. It felt like a stake piercing through her chest. It seemed like people kept disappointing her, and she tried to forgive them, but it brought no good as they never changed. Her husband Samuel, Theodore, her parents...they had all disappointed her at some point of time, and she had tried to forgive their actions but she couldn''t.

    Feeling Theodore''s eyes, Lucy asked,

    "What were you doing there?" her voice cracked at the end as she wanted to cry, but at the same time, she tried to hold back her tears.

    "I was making my rounds in the castle. The King wanted me to keep an eye," he answered her question, "More water?"

    "Okay," she agreed, giving the ss back to him, and Theodore poured her another ss of water.

    Theodore observed how she put up an invisible wall between them. Her voice sounded distant, and he didn''t me her. He could have stopped her before she pushed the door, but Theodore had stood there, watching her face fall and the emotion of shock consumed her face. Like she had seen a person get killed.

    "Thank you," Lucy thanked him, finishing half ss, she ced it on the table, "I will be returning back to my room."

    "Yes, mdy," Theodore bowed his head. Lucy was in pain, and she was angry. Not just on Samuel but also on Theodore. Lucy, who was walking towards the door, turned around to face Theodore.

    "You knew it, didn''t you? You knew it, and you didn''t care enough to tell me about it," came the angry words from Lucy that were directed to Theodore. More than Samuel, she was mad at Theodore, and she wondered why it was so.

    Theodore looked back at her, "It wasn''t my ce to tell you. I doubt you would have believed me if I had told you about it."

    Lucy''s eyebrows furrowed, "What reasoning is that?" she questioned, "How long has this been going on? Answer me!" her eyes started to fill in with more tears.

    "For some time."

    "How much?" Lucy demanded, and Theodore wondered why she was trying to find more details about it as it would only hurt her. Before she was Samuel Gerville''s wife, Lucy was the daughter of thete King of Devon. She was the princess.

    "A few years," answered Theodore to see Lucy close her eyes and the tears that she had been trying to hold back spilt on her cheeks.

 Chapter 254 Feelings of the past- Part 2

    <h4>254 Feelings of the past- Part 2</h4>

    "You were the one who picked the person out of the two people which your parents showed. It was your choice, mdy," Theodore''s words were calm.

    Lucy shook her head.

    "No," whispered Lucy with pain in her eyes, "My choice was none of them. The person I wanted to marry didn''t have the courage to return my feelings and to tell me that he loved me. My choice appears to be of failure." Lucy was speaking about Theodore and not about Samuel anymore. All these years since she was married to Samuel, she had harboured nothing but hate towards Theodore. Because it was easier to let go of things when you despised it with every living part of yourself.

    Lucy had put all her feelings in a container and closed the lid that she had for the man who stood in front of her. In anger, she had never tried to confront things with him. With every opportunity, she had avoided him.

    "I told you, mdy. It wasn''t my ce. You have appeared to be too fond of your husband. Telling anything directly would be me stepping out of line," Theodore responded. There had been a time where he had sent her to follow her husband so that she would find out, but the princess was distracted by other things which was why she never came to find the truth about Samuel. Not to forget, the previous King and the Queen kept a close eye on him and Calhoun as they both imposed a threat to the throne.

    The circumstances back then were hard, before the person he was getting attached to, Calhoun was Theodore''s main priority.

    This wasn''t what Lucy wanted to hear.

    Why didn''t you ever profess your love for me, asked Lucy in her mind, without bringing the words out for him to hear. She had a feeling if she were to ask Theodore would only brush it away, simr to what he had done in the past.

    She shook her head, ready to leave when the door to the dining room opened. It was Lady Rosamund who raised her eyebrows at both Lucy and Theodore.

    "My my. What do we have here?" asked Lady Rosamund, "I hope it''s not rekindling memories in the middle of the night?"

    Lucy bit the inside of her cheek. She hadn''t expected her Aunt Rosamund to be awake and out, not toe here at least. Her aunt''s eyes looked at her and then shifted on Theodore who bowed his head.

    "We came here to drink water," Lucy answered Aunt''s Rosamund''s question. She could feel the underlying meaning in her aunt''s words.

    "Funny that none of us have water in our rooms and we are all here at the same time, isn''t it?" asked Lady Rosamund,ing towards the table and looking at Theodore, "Are you going to pour me a ss of water or not?" asked the older vampiress.

    But somewhere, Rosamund found out about Lucy''s growing feelings towards him. He doubted Lucy spoke about him to thedy, but someone did go and put a word about the matter to thete Queen. Though he never had the confirmation, he had his suspicion on her.

    Noticing Lady Rosamund, who had raised her brows while waiting for him to pour her a ss of water from the jug, Theodore bowed his head,

    "I am a minister here, mdy and only Calhoun''s servant to serve. I will have the maids refill water in the jugs of your room," offering thedy a smile who looked as if she had been pped straight at her face, Theodore looked at Lucy for the briefest moment before taking his leave from the dining room.

    Lucy, who had drank water, decided to leave the room too as she had nothing more to do here. But her aunt stopped her,

    "Lucy dear."

    Turning around, Lucy asked, "Yes, Aunt Rosamund?"

    "I hope you aren''t doing something that you shouldn''t be doing," Lady Rosamund advised her niece, "Associating yourself with a man who is not only beneath you but also someone who once you shared rumours with. It wouldn''t look nice as you are not only the princess but also married to Samuel."

    Lucy opened her mouth, to reply on her aunt''s words, but instead of speaking about what she saw, she decided to keep quiet. After all, her martial matters had nothing to do with her aunt or anyone else. The shock had not left her body yet. She needed time to process and think about it, on what she saw and what she was going to do.

    She offered her aunt a smile, "We just happened to appear at the same time. You worry unnecessarily, Aunt Rosamund. I will be going to my room."

    When Lucy stepped out of the room, the smile on Lucy''s face fell at the thought of how her room was empty, and she would be sharing the bed with her husband who was having an affair with the maid right at this moment.

    "Goodnight, dear," Lady Rosamund wished her niece.

    In one of the guests'' rooms, Sophie was pacing back and forth in the room. Wringing her hands together, she tried to think about what she could do. The n to marry Calhoun had slipped out of her hands, and she was trying to get back. The question was what to do.

    Sophie wondered if she should get the poison from the market, through the merchants. There were some people whom she knew who could get it for her. But the question was on who to use as bait. Madeline''s sister would be perfect, but by the looks so far, Elizabeth and her younger sister appeared to be close. If only she could find one pinch of dislike, she could make use of it and frame Elizabeth.

    But Sophie also wanted to poison Elizabeth along with Madeline. The girl got on her nerves! Far worse than Madeline!

    Considering how her brother Markus had betrayed her and was not doing anything, she wondered if she should set her brother up for the poisoning.

    Who else was there? Sophie questioned in her mind. And suddenly someone knocked on the door of her room. The young vampiress'' eyebrows furrowed, wondering who hade to visit her at this hour.

    Walking towards the door, Sophie opened only to frown, "What do you want, Markus?"

    Markus quickly allowed himself into the room while making sure no one saw him, and he closed the door.?"I need a favour from you. Right now," spoke her brother.

    Sophie red at her brother and then asked,

    "What is it?"

 Chapter 255 Awake- Part 1

    <h4>255 Awake- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Sophie red at her brother after he said what he wanted her to do, "You must have lost your mind, brother, if you think I would listen to something so childish. And I am sure you are more than capable of doing something like that."

    Markus stared at his sister, knowing how upset she had been since the time Elizabeth Harris had been announced to be the one, who he would be getting married to. But if there was someone whom he could trust here in the castle apart from his mother who was possibly sleeping now, then it was his sister, Sophie.

    "Why don''t you go and ask that human of yours. If I am not wrong, she will help you out in that matter," said Sophie and turned around to walk away from Markus, "If that is all you came here for, you can leave. I am tired."

    "It is not for my benefit, Sophie. It is for both of us. Our family," Markus tried to sway his sister''s mind, "Elizabeth wouldn''t be able to do this, and I believe you can do it. It is just for ten minutes."

    Sophie snapped around, the vampiress looked as if she was fuming, "Both? You are the one who wants to use the elder girl for your advantage, not to forget mother''s partiality. How is that in my benefit? And why do you even want me to go and speak to the guards at the dungeon?" demanded Sophie.

    Markus had out of bizarre reasons asked her toe along with him and distract the guards so that he could step inside the dungeon. "I told you it''s for your benefit. I overheard Calhoun order Theodore to keep people away from the dungeon. That only means he''s hiding something or someone in there." Markus then walked towards where Sophie stood, and ced his hands on her shoulders, "If we find out what is being hidden in there or who is there, maybe we can do something about it."

    Hearing this, Sophie looked at her brother with intrigue.

    "The dungeon has always been kept away from everyone. No one is allowed to step inside there," Sophie reminded Markus. It was because when she was young, Sophie had gone halfway into the dungeon to be pulled and escorted back into the castle. She had many times tried to get inside the dungeon in the past, but it wasn''t possible, and the only time she was able to take a look was in the presence of Calhoun. It wasn''t like she was interested to see the peasants and their scummy face, thought Sophie to herself. She had then stopped bothering to take a look at the dungeon as she had better things to do than associate herself with criminals.

    "It is just this one time, Sophie. All you need to do is keep the guards distracted," Markus continued to persuade his sister.

    "Will you leave that little bitch?" Sophie folded her hands across her chest when she asked the question.

    Markus'' eyes narrowed, "You know she''s an essential key to our n. Elizabeth is Madeline''s sister. Not to forget, her beloved sister."

    "Mother will be upset if any one of us try to disrupt her n," Markus warned Sophie. His sister''s pettiness often had caused them trouble which needed to be fixedter.

    "Alright. How about I ask the favourter?" Sophie smiled to have Markus nod with agreement.

    And with that, the siblings went to the dungeon where Sophie tried to distract the dungeon guards with her words, keeping them busy to let Markus slip inside the dungeon. With her being the King''s cousin, the guards were much more lenient when it came to conversing with thedy.

    Markus quickly walked and slipped inside the dungeon. Most of the rooms were locked, some open with the criminals who had gone against the King who had been tied with chains around their necks, legs and hands so that they wouldn''t escape.

    When his ears picked on a growl, Markus quickly walked in the direction where he heard the animal-like sound. Did Calhoun get a wolf? Questioned Markus to himself. He reached the room which was locked. He tried pushing the door back and forth, but it never opened. Peeking in the thin gap of the door where he flinched his eyes to take a better look, he found there was indeed an animal inside which had fur on it, but oddly this one was bigger.

    He wanted to take a better look, but the thin gap restricted him from taking a better look. When he pushed the door again, the little action caught the animal''s attention, and a series of growls were hearding from the room.

    On the outside of the dungeon, Sophie stood talking to the guards,

    "How many of them are often tied in here?" she questioned one of two guards.

    "We have two or three of them in a week, mydy," answered the guardsman who had a big belly and moustache.

    "I thought people would know not to go against the King. The poor people sure don''t know what to do and what not to do," Sophie gave them a pleasant smile. Noticing her brother Markus who had not stepped out of the dungeon yet, she continued to speak, "I will ask brother Calhoun if he can tell the maids to serve you something. It must be hard to guard here."

    "Not at all, mydy. It is why we are here," the guard bowed his head.

    "You know I made some excellent food thest time when I was in the castle. You must have eaten it," came the prideful voice of Sophie. Even though it was never her intention to cook for the lowly servants, Calhoun had dismissed her food only to be served to the servants. She wondered what was taking her brother, Markus this long. Here she was wasting her time with the guards who she had no interest with.

    "Thank you for preparing such a delicious meal, Lady Sophie," the guards thanked her and Sophie lifted her nose in the air.

    She was the best cook, yet Calhoun had picked that human''s food over her food. More than Elizabeth, Sophie had to do something about Madeline because she was the reason why her mother was entertaining Elizabeth even if it was for their gain. Sophie knew well that if she were to ask for poison from her brother, he would let her mother know, and she would never be able to poison the girl.

    But her goal wasn''t just poisoning. She wanted to make sure Madeline was out of their lives so that she would be the one who Calhoun would turn to. It was considered to be ideal for a vampire to marry another vampire. Sophie didn''t even understand why a vampire was getting married to a human. Maybe she should drop a letter to the High House. If they were to find some issues going on, it would be easy to get rid of the humans.

    And as Sophie continued to think while the guards spoke to her, someone arrived from the back. The guards were quick to bow their heads, and Sophie''s head snapped around to see it was Calhoun''s trusted servant, Theodore who had arrived at the front of the dungeon.

    "Lady Sophie," Theodore offered her a bow and Sophie pursed her lips.

    This was not good, thought Sophie to herself, "Theodore," Sophie greeted the vampire back, "What are you doing here?" she asked him.

    Theodore replied, "I was here making my rounds. What are you doing here at this hour of the night when you are supposed to be sleeping? I mean to catch your beauty sleep."

    Sophie''s lips twisted into a frown. Markus was still inside the dungeon doing who knows what. Was he building a new room for himself to stay there? She asked herself. If Markus was caught, she was not going to help him out of it.

    "I have been unable to fall asleep," answered Sophie, "I thought...to take some fresh air."

    Theodore gave her a nod, "It must be very polluted near the guest''s room."

    Sophie''s eyes narrowed at Theodore''s words, "The guards were praising the food that I made. Now only if the King ate what I prepared. You should put in a word, Theodore."

    "Absolutely, mydy," Theodore obliged, "You should perhaps get back to your room as the dungeon is not a safe ce for ady."

    Sophie let out a girlyugh, "Don''t be silly, Theodore. I am just talking to the guardsmen. I will leave in some time. You should instead go and take some rest. I know how much brother Calhoun makes you work."

    Theodore and Sophie both smiled at each other. Sophie knew she would have to send this man away if Markus was getting out of the dungeon today. As angry as she was with her family for ditching her and changing their ns to get their hands on the throne, they were still her family.

    On the other hand, Theodore knew Sophie hade here, snooping around.

    He would havee here earlier if he weren''t caught up with Lucy, who looked as if she had broken her heart all over again. Calhoun had given him the order to make sure no one entered this ce or knew about their prisoner who had been caught tonight.

    When Theodore began to walk towards the entrance of the dungeon, Sophie felt her hands turn mmy.

    "Let mee with you," offered Sophie to see Theodore offer her a smile in return.

    "I am not going to meet the prisoners, Lady Sophie," Theodore cleared her thoughts, and she felt a sense of relief but then why did he step forward? Her eyes widened when Theodore pulled the gates together and locked it from outside, "This will let the guards rest much more easily. Would you want me to walk you back to your room? Please," he pressed, pushing his sses up the bridge of his nose, waiting for her.

    Sophie''s eyes darted towards the locked gates and then at Theodore. The dungeon was not to be entered without permission and with Markus who was in there, she doubted it was a good idea to let Theodore know that someone was still in there without permission.

    "Okay," Sophie put on a smile on her face.

    "Lovely," Theodore said to walk her away from the dungeon before they made their way towards the castle.

    The guards decided to take a seat on either side of the entrance of the dungeon. When Markus was done peeping and peeking at the animal which was shackled in chains through the small slit, he made his way back to the front of the gates only to notice them closed.

    Markus'' eyes widened at sight. Moving his eyes left and right, he saw his sister was missing, and the guards were not here.

    Markus gritted his teeth in anger. He was furious to be locked in here!

    When Markus heard a sound from the front as if the guards were returning, he quickly went back inside the deeper part of the dungeon so that they wouldn''t see him. It looked like he would have to wait for the gates to be opened.

    How the fuck was he supposed to get out of the dungeon!

 Chapter 256 Awake- Part 2

    <h4>256 Awake- Part 2</h4>

    The forest was quiet where even the owls and the crickets didn''t chirp loud enough for them to hear.

    "How long is it going to take? We can throw her here, and no one will know about it," said the girl who was following the man who was pulling the dead body''s hand which had turned out not only heavy but had started to smell.

    "Far enough so that no one will find her," said the man, "Niles, there''s a river not too far away from here. Push her over the bridge. The body will float to the next vige, and it won''t be our problem anymore." Niles, who was the family butler, bowed his head and continued to drag the body across the ground of the forest. The dead person''s body caught dirt on its back.

    "But papa, why not bury her?" asked the girl to receive a re from her father, "I was only asking��" her voice trailed to a whisper which was heard clearly by the butler and her father.

    "Do you know what you have done?!" her father demanded, anger evident in his voice, "This is the second person you have killed. Have we not taught you better, Catherine?!" his eyes red, and his daughter looked down at the ground. "Niles was in the mansion, and you could have asked blood from him. Servants are one thing, but you killed the Dutchess daughter! Thest time you killed someone and it took a lot of time to hide it! Do you know how scandalous it would turn that you are killing people who are of high social standing!!"

    Catherine didn''t look up to meet her father''s eyes. She was slightly ashamed, but she couldn''t help it. Miss La had iting. The words the human had spoken had angered her.

    It wasn''t that Catherine wanted to kill Miss La, who was the young daughter of the duchess who hade to the Barnes'' mansion.

    ''I heard you are getting married! Is that true?'' asked Miss La. The girl had red bushy hair that was tamed down by many pins pushed in to keep it in ce.

    ''Yes, you must have seen him. James Heathcliff?'' Catherine reminded Miss La, who raised her eyebrows before questioning.

    ''You mean the tailorman?'' Miss La looked as if she was confused, ''I thought he liked someone else. What was her name?'' she tried to remember and then said, ''Ah some Harris'' girl.''

    Catherine hadughed it off, ''You must have heard it wrong.''

    ''No, no. I remember James telling me that he liked her a lot. And he wanted to marry her,'' Miss La then gave Catherine a look, ''Is he marrying you out of his own will?''

    The vampiress'' eyes narrowed.

    Hearing Miss La tell James wanted to marry Madeline, it boiled her blood, ''What do you mean?'' Miss La was a person who belonged to the higher ss, but her family used to get along with the lower families. And James was a highly esteemed tailorman who was good looking. There were only a few who didn''t know about him.

    Miss La smiled, ''I know you, Lady Catherine. You are a good person, but stubborn. I think James likes her.''

    Catherine continued tough, ''The girl is marrying the King, Miss La.''

    ''A pity that they cannot marry each other. So strange, isn''t it?'' When the human girl ced the teacup on the table, Catherine had attacked the human by draining every single drop of blood from her body. Before she knew it, the damage was already done.

    "James is in love with that human girl. Madeline Harris!" Catherine burst out.

    Mr. Barnes stared at his daughter, "I don''t think you understand the severity of the situation."

    "People die every day, papa. Vampires drink blood-"

    "Catherina, you killed people! You are going to get married. Do you think people will look kindly at you? The bodies belonging to the high social standing people are not only hard to hide, but the High House notices it!" Mr. Barnes didn''t know what to do with his daughter for being so reckless. "Do you think the dutchess is not going to search for her missing daughter?!"

    Catherine looked down at Miss La''s body, where the human''s eyes were still open. The colour of her skin had changed its colour. If the human had not taunted her, she wouldn''t have done anything.

    "Why don''t you frame her?" asked Catherine suddenly, and her father looked at her, confused.

    "Frame whom? The girl who is getting married to the King?" Mr. Barnes had an incredulous look as he gaped at his daughter, "Do you want both of us killed?"

    Catherine parted her lips again to say, "How about burying the body in James house?"

    "I do not understand why you are trying to bury the body close to where the family of the body lives, Catherina," Mr. Barnes shook his head.

    "James is being reluctant about the wedding. Why not frame him and then we ask the King''s help. This way, James will forever be indebted to us," Catherine proposed to her father. "James'' father hasn''t been doing well in health." If senior Mr. Heathcliff died, they would have no leverage against James anymore.

    Mr. Barnes held his hand for their butler to stop pulling the body. It was true what his daughter was telling, but the old vampire questioned if it was worth the trouble. Mr. Barnes never wanted his daughter to marry someone so low, a human.

    What if he did frame James and the man was executed? That way, his daughter would let go of the human instead of clinging on to him.

    If it weren''t for the King, Mr. Barnes would have never agreed to this, "Niles, get the body back in the carriage. We''ll dispose it off in the vige."

    "Yes, Sir," the butler bowed his head.

    Catherine was happy, hearing her father listen to her. This way, James would never be able to give her any reasons, and he would have to marry her. It would be just for a few days and then her father would help James in uplifting the false offence.

    Back in the castle, Madeline was unable to fall asleep. Instead of staying in bed, she went to stand near the window. She had not been able to get her thoughts straight as they were all over the ce since Calhoun had left the room after pleasuring her.

    Her body continued to hum as it remembered the little details of what transpired on the bed. Her cheeks felt warm, and her eyes lowered to look outside and down on the ground of the castle. With one hand ced on the window, she leaned forward and she saw Calhoun''s wolves running around thend.

    Madeline heard a creak and her ears were quick to pick on it as she was the only person in her room. Her eyes fell on the firece, but the sound didn''te from there. When another creak was heard, Madeline''s eyes fell on her hand that was on the ss that belonged to the window.

    Her eyebrows furrowed, and when she slowly pulled her hand away, she noticed the ss had cracked itself.

    She didn''t know why this was happening. It made her wary at times to touch anything that was made of ss. Madeline, instead of being afraid, stepped forward to notice how the little cracks had formed under her touch. She raised her hand again, her hand hovering over the cracks.

    Madeline ced one finger back on the ss to notice how the cracks continued to move towards the edges, and she quickly pulled her hand away from it.

 Chapter 257 Awake- Part 3

    <h4>257 Awake- Part 3</h4>

    "What''s happening?" Madeline questioned.

    Calhoun had told her that her father was hiding something, something that her paternal grandparents were aware of, and it made her question what was being hidden. The way her grandparents spoke, it was as if Madeline was a clumsy girl, but she wasn''t.

    After a first few times, Madeline came to understand and believe that she wasn''t like her sister Beth, that she was different. After all, who went breaking sses at the slightest touch.

    All these years, she was normal. She had felt normal like any other person, but what was happening, it was far from being called normal, and humans didn''t have such powers or curse did they? Madeline had heard of how some of the humans, who possessed unusual powers were oftenbelled as witches. And witches were never weed in their houses or the viges because of the amount of bad luck one brought with them.

    Madeline wondered if she should get a second reading from Calhoun''s acquaintance. The man named Raphael appeared to be nothing short of knowledge when it came to a person''s past and future which were twisted in riddles.

    She wondered if the ss would break if she would put more pressure on it. Her body felt cold, goosebumps rising on her skin as she raised her hand for the third time towards the window. Madeline took a deep breath. If she ced it for more than two seconds, it would break, and there would be pieces of sses on the floor, she thought to herself.

    But when she ced her hand on the window, the cracks instead of continuing to create more damage, it started to mend.

    Madeline''s curious eyes followed the cracked lines that started to disappear behind her palm. The windowpane which was about to break, it looked crystal clear. She had a look of surprise on her face and to test if she was dreaming, she knocked on the ss, and nothing happened. Calhoun had mentioned to her that breaking ss was considered to be a sign of an ill omen, but she had fixed it back. Was it possible to consider it to be good luck?

    Examining one more time, Madeline went to knock on it with her knuckles when someone knocked on her door.

    Madeline''s eyes snapped at the door. Was it Calhoun? She asked herself. It waste for him to be visiting her, but Calhoun always appeared during odd hours. She doubted it was him because the man would not bother knocking or bother himself with locks. Her hand reached towards the lock of the door, hovering over when she heard another knock.

    "Maddie? Are you awake?"

    "Do you think I can sleep here tonight?" asked Beth who looked worried.

    "Yes, of course," Madeline pushed the door wide open, and she looked at the guard to say, "Thank you." The guard gave a deep bow before leaving. Beth looked as if she was in shock and Madeline went to stand in front of her and ask, "Beth, are you alright?"

    Beth looked disturbed, and she nodded her head, "I just overheard some kind of noises in the room I was sleeping in. I thought ofing here to sleep."

    Madeline gave her sister a nod, "The bed is big enough. You can take the left. No, I mean the right," she corrected herself. Beth didn''t seem to mind it, and she moved around the right side of the bed to get inside the sheets.

    She wondered what had gotten Beth worried. Surely, it was nothing big but only the rustling sound of the leaves and the forest that wasn''t too far away from the castle. Madeline didn''t want Beth taking the side where she and Calhoun were on the bed before.

    Getting inside the sheets herself, Madelineid her back on the surface of the bed that had turned cold as she had not upied it before Beth had arrived at her door. The candles were still burning enough to let one see the room but not too much to hinder one''s sleep.

    "I was worried you would be asleep,"mented Beth, who was on her right, "I mean you left my room some time ago."

    Madeline''s eyes moved to the corner, looking at her sister, and then looked back up at the ceiling, "I was finding it hard to sleep," and it was the truth.

    "Is it because you went to meet grandma and grandpa?" Beth asked her voice barely curious who was looking at the decor of the room.

    Madeline had already questioned Beth, and she had not received an answer she was looking for. "Hm," she responded to her sister, "I was wondering about Jennine''s death."

    "What about it? A vampire came and killed her," Beth replied. She then turned to sleep on her side so that she could look at Madeline and Madeline did the same.

    "You said you saw the vampire?" inquired Madeline again and Beth nodded her head.

    "I told you that it was a vampire. What were you expecting?" asked Beth, her eyebrows furrowing, "What''s the matter, Maddie?"

    "Nothing," whispered Madeline. After a minute of silence passed, she said, "I sometimes worry. About things that I have never seen or felt. I feel like there''s something missing." Whenever Madeline tried to remember what happened when they were small, a lot of it was a blur.

    But there were some parts of her memories, when she was small, that she still remembered. One of it was, seeing the blood on her hands and the blood didn''t belong to her but of the person who was lying on the cold, snow-covered ground. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Madeline felt the things that her grandparents and her family were trying to cover up, everythinging to point right at her.

    Beth said she saw the vampire with her eyes, and being a year older to her, Madeline wanted to believe that she had nothing to do with her friend''s death. That she would never do something so murderous.

    Her elder sister ced her hand on her arm, "You simply worry about nothing, Madeline. Things are just fine. Sometimes our minds like to conjure things, and when you are small, you always end up with bizarre memories. I have had them too."

    "You did?" Madeline felt a sense of relief flooding her mind. To think that Beth was experiencing something close to what she was feeling, Madeline felt less stressed.

    "Yes. I remember when we were small. Children used to not y with me. I would often dream of them not talking to me, where I was being ignored," Beth confessed to Madeline, who couldn''t believe it. Beth was the popr child in the vige where everyone wanted to be her friend, wanted to know her. Hearing this Madeline realised, Beth and her fears were two separate things.

    "But everything turned wellter, didn''t it?" Madeline question, cing her hand on the pillow and letting her head rest on it.

    Beth stared at Madeline, and a broad smile appeared on her lips, "Yes, it did. For some time," she murmured thest words which Madeline didn''t catch.

    "What else do you remember about our childhood?" Madeline wanted to know everything, wanting to refresh her memory through Beth''s help. She hoped she would get something out of it. Though the ss didn''t break today and went back to looking normal, it didn''t mean she was not worried about the future.

    She wanted to believe that mending the crack of the ss was a sign of good luck, but something told her otherwise. That an ominous event or presence was lurking right around the corner, waiting for her.

    Beth said, "Hmm, I think we used to visit our grandparents'' ce a lot. There was a boy, who used toe to y but then I don''t know what happened to him. It was funny how we used to y house. I remember once we went to this cemetery, but grandma was quick to chase us away from there. Telling it wasn''t a ce for children to y."

    "But we have been to some of the graveyards," Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed, "I mean, I remember once one of our aunts asked us to go fetch the handkerchief that she dropped in there."

    "Oh, that didn''t go well. Grandpa was very angry. It''s not like there were ghosts in there who would abduct us," Bethughed at the memory, "Sometimes I feel our grandparents were a little too over-protective of us."

    "Don''t you think it is strange," questioned Madeline, trying to dig more from Beth.

    "They have always been like that, Maddie. Are you meeting them for the first time?" asked Beth who tried to get in a much morefortable position, "I mean, the whole vige is strange. They don''t allow vampires, not a single one. But I think it''s because of Jennine''s death."

    Madeline doubted it was because of their friend''s death. There was some secrecy going on which both she and her sister weren''t aware of, "Beth."

    "Hm?" Beth responded back.

    "Do you remember from which cemetery we were chased away from?" asked Madeline.

    "I don''t...remember, Maddie," Beth replied with her sleepy voice, "Why do you... want to...know about...cemetery?"

    "I was curious," Madeline whispered when she noticed how Beth was drifting off to sleep. She decided not to disturb her sister''s sleep and turned her back against the surface of the bed, staring into the dark ceiling. Somewhere between their talks, the candles had dimmed, and so did the me in the firece.

    Madeline was curious to know about their childhood, maybe more about her. There had been moments in the past where Beth spoke about her childhood, but when it came to Madeline''s childhood, Beth didn''t have much recollection about it. It was strange, Madeline thought to herself. Someone from outside would have told it was because Beth was too involved in herself for not taking note of her sister.

    Beth being older to Madeline by a year, she should have remembered at least one figment about her, but there was nothing.

 Chapter 258 Coffin boxes- Part 1

    <h4>258 Coffin boxes- Part 1</h4>

    Giving it some more thought, Madeline questioned why the coffin of Jennine had been moved to another cemetery. Was there something about thest graveyard that wasn''t right? Her eyes had started to turn heavy, and with thest spark of fire that extinguished in the firece, it left the room dark, taking Madeline deep into her dreams.

    When Madeline opened her eyes, she found herself standing in the middle of nowhere. She turned her head around, wondering where she was while her eyes took in the darkness that surrounded her right now. She knew she was in a dream, but it felt far too real. She could feel the cold bite of air on her skin.

    The next moment she turned behind, she caught sight of antern that was on the ground, emitting light from it. She tried to see if someone was there, but it looked like she was the only one.

    Hearing a loud hoot in one of the trees, Madeline''s eyes were quick to find the owl sitting on the branch and looking at her unblinkingly.

    Noticing a post that was too far away from where she stood, Madeline walked towards thentern. Picking it, she walked to the post to realize she was near the vige where her grandparents lived. What was she doing here?

    It felt uncanny that out of all ces, her dream would bring her here. The heat that wasing from thentern felt warm, making her think about how real the dream felt. When Madeline started to walk, thentern that was carried in the forest looked nothing less to a ball of light that was travelling towards the vige.

    Reaching the vige, Madeline noticed how thenterns outside the houses had been long blown away, leaving the house''s dark. But there was something eerie about the atmosphere which made her want to wake up from the dream which she was dreaming.

    "Stay quiet and don''t utter a word."

    Hearing the voice of a person, Madeline''s eyes were quick to search the source of the voice, but she saw no one.

    "Quick, so that no one sees!" Madeline recognized the voice to be of her grandfather''s. Where was he?! Then she saw shadows moving from the corner of her eyes, and she quickly turned to walk and follow the shadows. When she caught up, she noticed her grandfather walking along with her grandmother and her parents. Apart from them, there was a man whom Madeline didn''t recognize.

    ''Carnival''s local cemetery'' read the board.

    Was her dream trying to conjure more things because of the answers she sought right now?

    "What are we going to say to the others? There have been questions," she heard her mother''s worried voice that came out as a whisper.

    "Father, some of them are having doubts. Today was too close," added her father.

    The little group continued to walk until they reached a particr grave. "People will not know. Open the coffin," ordered her grandfather.

    Her grandmother stood next to her mother, who kept wringing her hands together as if the weather was too cold, "I told you we should do it quickly. That something was going on. Bu-"

    "That''s enough," her grandfather hushed her grandmother, "Nobody knows anything. What they know is what we will make them believe. And there''s nothing wrong. We are only protecting them and us. If you are worried about the High House, I will take care of it. So that there will be no doubt."

    Madeline who was standing far away from them, leaned in closer to hear every word that was being exchanged by her family members. They kept speaking in circles that she didn''t understand. And whose coffin was being opened?

    By the time Madeline raised her hand, that was holding thentern, the light in it disappeared and so did thentern making it look like all this while, she had imagined its presence. With no light, she wasn''t able to see who the gravestone belonged to. Walking to the side, she saw her father open the lid of the person''s coffin.

    "People might know,"mented her father.

    "What are we going to do?" asked her mother, anxiousness filled in her voice.

    "What happened a week ago is not good. I have already made arrangements so that no fingerse to point at our family. The magistrate has been snooping around the house back and forth. Once we use the other coffin, there won''t be anything to worry."

    At first, it was nothing but dark around her. But then Madeline''s father raised thentern in his hand for light to fall on the person who was residing inside the coffin. Madeline''s hand instantly moved to cover her mouth.

    It was her friend, Jennine''s body that was rotting inside. Why was her family opening the coffin to take a look at the small girl''s body? Madeline asked herself. Beth had told her that a vampire had killed her friend, but here it looked like her family was trying to cover up things. As this was a dream, she wondered if her mind was feeding lies as they were fabricating situations from her worried mind.

    Madeline, was shocked to see the girl''s face that was in the process of dposing. She took a step back to trip and fall on the ground, which was next to another grave. Though her body was not hurt because of the little fall, Madeline had a deep frown on her face until light fell on the name on the grave that was next to her, that read,

    ''Madeline Harris''

 Chapter 259 Coffin boxes- Part 2

    <h4>259 Coffin boxes- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Madeline''s eyes grew wide in shock, staring at the tombstone which had her name engraved on it. Scared, she quickly moved away from it whilst her eyes continued to stare at the name. Why was there a grave in her name? Was she looking at the future? Or was it in the past? She continued to question herself until she heard her grandfather say,

    "We can''t let others know. If someonees and takes a look at the body, they will try to dig more information about what happened."

    "But that they will!" her grandmother responded in an agitated tone, "Why can''t we just bury her?"

    "You cannot kill her!" Her mother stepped forward, "She might not mean anything to you, but she is our daughter!"

    Madeline didn''t understand what was going on around her as her head felt like it was spinning. Even though it was a dream which she was dreaming right now, she could feel every emotion. The words spoken by them were heard by her.

    Her mother was not speaking about Beth was she? Because that would leave only her to the ''daughter'' that her mother referred to. Unless she was not their daughter, somewhere in the back of her mind, she had always wondered why she had blonde hair when her parents and Beth were blessed with dark ck or brown hair. She had somewhere told herself that she had acquired the physical features from her grandmother. But did she?

    Her legs and hands shook when she tried to get up and stand on her feet. The temperature around the graveyard only turned colder, making her shiver.

    "What do you propose then? The vigers will know something is wrong with her," her grandmother retorted back to her mother, "We have been living here quietly, and you came here along with that thing to disrupt it."

    "If it weren''t for your blood, this wouldn''t have even happened!" cried her mother.

    Madeline wished she could ask them questions. But when she had fallen, making a loud noise, no one had even blinked or turned to look at her. Looking away from her family, she moved towards the gravestone that had her name, which was next to the grave where Jennine was resting.

    Why would they build a tombstone for her? She was alive, and she didn''t remember her parents ever told she was too sick.

    Nobody ever built a grave before the person was dead. It was considered a bad omen. People often made a coffin only to invite death quicker to a person. It was a belief that the coffin enclosed the soul of a person, continuing to keep it dead and to let the soul to rest.

    Her grandparents and her parents weren''t aware of her presence, and Madeline decided to take a look inside the coffin. Giving a nce at her family, Madeline ced her hands on the top of the lid before she pushed it open to only see the coffin was empty.

    "She''s sleeping in the house. We locked the room," Madeline''s father answered, his lips pursing in the end.

    "Unattended?" her grandfather looked unimpressed, "We cannot let her out in the open. She is harmful."

    "She''s a child-" her mother began only to hear an unapproving grunte from her grandfather.

    Her grandfather said, "The only way to get out of this is by killing her. I would have killed her if she wasn''t my granddaughter, but that doesn''t mean we are going to let her out. If we let her free, we don''t know what will happen. There will be more people ending up dead."

    "What do you propose then? Since what happened, we have locked her in the room," said her father in worry and in slight distress.

    "I will look after this one," offered the stranger who had apanied her family to the graveyard, "You can take care of the one in the house. If I am not wrong, the High House is already on their way."

    Her family agreed and left the small girl as she was who continued to reside in the coffin that was opened earlier. Madeline quickly moved forward to take a look at Jennine and noticed there was no bite mark on the little girl. Instead, there was a wound near her stomach.

    Madeline watched the man who had stayed back, pulling out her friend Jennine''s body up and opening his mouth, he took a bite into the small girl''s neck. Seeing this, her face contoured in disgust because the man was a vampire who went to take a bite at a dead person. Not staying there any longer, she quickly followed her grandparents and her parents.

    When they reached the house, a house, which she didn''t recognize, Madeline heard her grandfather say,

    "This is something you cannot speak about. We are lucky that I caught sight of it before someone else did. It is something none of you are supposed to whisper or think of," the man then raised his hand as if indicating to open the door of the locked room that they stood in front of.

    "It would bring nothing but death upon us. I wonder if we should kill her," her grandmother proposed. Her father went to open the room which was not closed just by the handle but also had been locked with a lock and key.

    As the door was pushed open, the family members looked as if they were apprehensive of stepping inside the room. As if somewhere, they were scared of the person who was in there.

    Madeline who stood behind them could feel the tension even though she didn''t belong to this time frame.

    "Oh dear, I cannot look at her!" her mother shook her head and ran out of the room before even taking three steps inside. Madeline saw her mother take a seat on the chair, her hand covering her face as she cried, "How did this happen?!"

    "In every century, you have some bad seed," murmured her grandfather, and the three of them took themselves to get inside the room.

    Madeline followed them to notice a small girl that stood with her back against them. Her heart sank in her chest when she saw the little girl turn around. Blonde hair, brown eyes, she didn''t have to question to find out who it was. But the small girl had her hands covered in red, which was undoubtedly the blood of the girl named Jennine. The little girl''s hand was tied in ropes so that she wouldn''te to harm anyone. A gasp escaped her lips, and she shook her head.

    No...that was her.

    She had killed a small girl, thought Madeline to herself.

 Chapter 260 Coffin boxes- Part 3

    <h4>260 Coffin boxes- Part 3</h4>

    Madeline''s father looked at his parents, anxiously, "Is it possible? You will spare her?"

    "If she doesn''t turn aggressive again, yes," informed her grandfather.

    "I should have known that there was something wrong with her," said her grandmother shaking her head, "I thought it was just a simple ability when she broke the sses in her hand, but she is not like us. Who knew she would try to kill someone. I can feel the evilness from here!" The woman''s eyebrows contoured in distaste, and she turned her face away from the child to look at her husband, "We have to do something quickly."

    Her grandfather nodded his head. He looked as if he was in deep thought as he stared at the small girl in front of him.

    "Leave this ce immediately," said her grandfather and her father looked startled, "Leave this ce and go live in another vige. Somewhere far from here and leave her here, with us."

    "What are you going to do with her?" asked her father in a worried tone.

    "I will tell you about itter, but in the meantime, go pack your bags with your wife. If someone asks, we will tell them that you left to live in another vige. It is a good thing that you don''t have another child, it would have caused us another headache. You can make it look like you''re starting afresh." Her grandfather then said, "Go. Leave right now, and I will try to hide the evidence of death this girl has brought on this holynd."

    Her father gave a reluctant look but didn''t question his father''s judgement. Sparing a look at the small girl, he stepped out of the room, and Madeline''s grandmother went to lock the door from inside.

    "What are we going to do?!" whispered her grandmother when she went to stand next to her husband.

    Madeline saw the small girl staring at the old couple until her grandfather went to ce his hand on the girl''s head for the girl to fall unconscious.

    "If the High Housees to know about this, the entire vige will go down. I would have never guessed that we were going to have a bad seed in the family." Her grandfather''s words hurt Madeline, who was listening to them closely.

    "Why not kill it off right away. It would help in ridding off the evilness that is haunting in thisnd," whispered her grandmother.

    "You know we cannot kill her. Thest time a person like this was killed, a whole lot of people died. It will bring more bad luck and misfortune upon us for who she is. Let me see what I can do," said her grandfather, who carried the little girl in his arms, leaving Madeline who stood there with a shocked expression on her face.

    When Madeline stepped out of the room, she caught sight of her father, who was trying to get her mother''s attention who was still sitting at the small dining table while staring into nothingness.

    "Get up. We need to leave quickly. Come on," said her father, "Up...wake up, Madeline?" The voice slowly changed.

    Madeline''s eyes flew open, and she gasped for air when her eyes fell on the ceiling of the roon. She could feel her heart racing in her chest, a small sheen of sweat covering her forehead that left the small strands of hair to stick on it. The room was bright now.

    "Did you wake up?" It was Beth who was calling her, "You slept a lot today. It must be because you were awake for such a long time. When you were sleeping, I even got ready. Come on, get up now. We need to head to the dining room."

    Madeline pushed herself up and looked at Beth, who pulled the nket and went to the closet to pull out the clothes for her to wear. "The King must adore you. He has stacked so many dresses for you. I doubt there''s any need for you to repeat the dresses," came Beth''s voice who pulled out a dress and then ced it on the bed.

    "What time is it?" asked Madeline, her voice sounding distant and heavy because of the dream she had been dreaming so far.

    "It was close to eight when I reached my room and got myself changed. I knew you would need someone to help you to wake up," Beth''s smile was wide, unlike Madeline, who was staring continuously.

    Madeline wasn''t feeling good right now, and she felt sick. She felt lost, and she questioned the parts of her dream that she still remembered and some that started to disperse as time continued to pass by.

    "Are you alright?" asked Beth, noticing Madeline didn''t get out of the bed and was quiet, "I can tell them you are sick so that you can get some rest,'''' offered her elder sister. But was Beth older to her? Beth was a year older to her, but in her dream, there was no mention of the first child.

    "I am okay," Madeline tried to put up a smile on her face.

    Getting out of the bed, Madeline walked towards the sink, sshing water over her face to wake herself up. The thoughts of what she saw and heard continued to linger in her mind. Raising her head, she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She had the same features of blonde hair and brown eyes as the small girl.

    "What did you hear yesterday in your room, Beth?" Madeline questioned her sister, who was looking at the dresses in the closet.

    "Hm?" Beth turned her head, "I don''t know. It was some creaking sound that scared me. I tried to ignore it, but it kept making noise, and I came here. It must be because of the branches hitting the window," Beth said it out loud and then said, "I will take a look outsideter, just to make sure nothing is going to bother me tonight," she smiled, "I should probably ask Markus toe with me and take a look. Men sometimes love it, to y the knight. It makes them feel good."

    Madeline offered Beth a smile and walked behind the wooden room divider where the bathtub was ced. Taking off her clothes, she got into the tub while hearing Beth speak,

    "I actually made a trip to his room beforeing here, but when I knocked on the door, he didn''t answer it. I doubt he''s still sleeping. I would have entered the room, but then it would be rude to do so."

    "He must be busy," Madeline humoured her sister so that Beth wouldn''t feel bad that she wasn''t conversing back, "As he''s the King''s cousin, he might have been offered more work."

    "If that is true, it''s a pity as we might not be able to spend much time together. But I was sure Markus would be present in his room because he didn''t mention having any work today. At least not untilter this afternoon." Beth pulled out a dress that she liked from the closet and then asked, "Do you think I can borrow your clothes from here?"

    "Please feel free to wear them. You are my sister," murmured Madeline. While Beth was intrigued with the different types of dresses which made her excited, Madeline pressed her lips before parting them to ask, "Beth, do you know when father and mother were born? I mean the dates."

    "Their birth year, you mean?" asked Beth, her eyes still on the clothes and she pulled one which she liked.

    "Yes," answered Madeline. She used the water in the tub to pour it on her skin slowly.

    "It is the same century we were born in,"ughed Beth, "Somewhere thirty to forty years back."

    Madeline wanted to ask more with Beth, but she didn''t know much. And considering how Beth didn''t remember Madeline''s childhood and only her own, was it possible that...she and Beth didn''t grow up together at the beginning of their childhood?

    It didn''t look like either of them were adopted. But if what happened in Madeline''s dream was true, it was possible that she was older to Beth, and she didn''t have an answer by how many years.

    .

 Chapter 261 Trap- Part 1

    <h4>261 Trap- Part 1</h4>

    "Looks like everyone iste to have breakfast, isn''t it?"mented Samuel, who sat next to Lucy who was unusually quiet today. "You should have slept more too, Lucy," said the man to ce a hand over her back and Lucy''s face hardened.

    The entire night, Lucy had been upset and heartbroken after finding her husband with a maid. She had not confronted him because she was in shock. When Samuel had returned to the room, Lucy had her back facing him where she had not fallen asleep. When morning arrived, she had got ready quickly and left to join her aunt without wanting to spend a second in the room with him.

    Lucy was not the kind of person who threw tantrums or created scenes in public. She was taught to keep aposed expression, making it look like things didn''t faze her, but it was hard to do it. Her parents had married her to Samuel, and she had epted it without a thought by thinking she would get the love she deserved. But now she came to realize the sham of marriage she had with Samuel.

    She didn''t want to look or talk to him. And out of all the days, Samuel had decided to join the table today.

    "Lucy has always slept less, Samuel. Unless you are saying she''s not pretty, and the sleep might help?" questioned Calhoun, taking a quick dig at his brother-inw. Samuelughed, and Calhoun returned it with a smile.

    "My apologies if my words came out to be like that. I have a beautiful wife," and Samuel was ready to lean and kiss his wife''s cheek when Lucy picked up a loaf of bread to put it between him and her so that he wouldn''t kiss her,

    "The bread is soft, you should try it," offered Lucy and Samuel smiled as if he was a good man. Lucy wondered how he could smile at her without having a pinch of guilt in his heart. How many years they had spent together and how many times she had been lied to on her face.

    Samuel, who was used to fooling Lucy, didn''t notice any change in her behaviour and his hand went to reach for the bread. The vampiress then ced the loaf of bread back on the te and continued to have her meal. She didn''t want to be touched by Samuel. If she confronted him, would Samuel ept his faults? Lucy asked herself.

    When Lucy''s eyes raised, looking around the table, she found Theodore looking at her. There was a faint smile on his lips before he went back to eat his food. What was he smiling about? Lucy''s eyebrows furrowed.

    In the meantime, Calhoun''s eyes fell on Madeline who sat right next to him. She appeared to be in a daze, lost in her own thoughts, which made him wonder what was upying her thoughts.

    Mrs. Harris was worried that Beth had gone somewhere with Markus as both her daughter as well as the vampire was missing.

    "I was with Madeline in her room, mama," Beth replied, "I slept in her roomst night."

    Hearing this, Calhoun asked, "Is something wrong with your room, Miss Harris?"

    Beth was quick to turn to the King who had asked her, "My lord," she bowed her head and then said, "There was some disturbance in my roomst night. Something outside that was knocking on the window. I was worried, and I decided to spend the night with Madeline."

    Calhoun stared at Beth without a word which made it look like he was suspicious that she was lying.

    "I will make sure to see that there''s nothing there," Beth added.

    "You can ask Markus toe with you," Calhoun suggested as if he waspletely alright with them being together. He gave Beth a charming smile and asked, "But where is Markus, I haven''t seen him sincest night."

    Lady Rosamund was the one to answer, "I wish I knew it. He usually informs me, but it appears that he''s gone out."

    "What a diligent cousin I have. He must be working hard to find out who tried to sabotage his future father-inw''s shop, isn''t it," Calhoun smiled with delight in his eyes. He didn''t miss the look on his aunt''s face but his cousin, Sophie, had been quiet. So quiet that, she had not remarked on Elizabeth. Theodore had informed him about Sophie hovering in front of the dungeon. As if that wasn''t suspicious enough, she was making small talks with the guards, which wasn''t normal.

    Picking up the ss, he slowly drank the water, the smile spreading further on his lips. It was funny how Sophie was near the dungeon, on the same night, James Heathcliff had decided to turn to a guest there. Sophie tried to behave normal, but by herplexion, it looked like she didn''t sleep well.

    Was it possible that Markus was inside the dungeon? Putting the ss down, he yed with the rim of the ss.

    Calhoun then called, "Theodore," and the man turned to the King, "There are too many old skeletons lying in the dungeon. Get them cleaned out from there." From the corner of his eyes, he noticed how his words caught Sophie''s attention, "You know what, I need toe and check the skeletons too. Who knows which dear one''s we need to preserve."

    "Yes, my lord," Theodore bowed his head.

    Markus had been snooping more than necessary. Time hade to push him into the grave which his cousin so diligently had been digging for himself, thought Calhoun to himself.

    Markus would soon turn to another antique collection in the dungeon just like their beloved grandmother.

 Chapter 262 Trap- Part 2

    <h4>262 Trap- Part 2</h4>

    .

    When Calhoun mentioned visiting to the dungeon at this hour of the morning, Sophie''s attention turned to the King, and she tried to get her mother''s attention who was having her breakfast. Sophie would have not cared if it was someone else, but this was her blood sibling. She had tried to inform her mother in the morning, but her mother had been busy with the other ministers of the castle.

    With the key that was with Theodore, Sophie was sure that Markus was still locked in the dungeon. But then, it wasn''t like it was her problem that he had decided to take a visit.

    Her hand slowly crept under the table to tap on her mother''sp so that she could get her attention. Her mother turned to look at Sophie with an unimpressive look. Sophie would have told it to her mother, but she felt the King''s eyes on them.

    "I have something to talk to you about. It''s urgent," Sophie said, keeping her words minimum.

    "What is it about?" asked her mother, "Finish your breakfast, and I will listen to you."

    Sophie gritted her teeth. If they were to wait until thepletion of the meal and if Calhoun went down to the dungeon, they would find Markus there.

    "But mother," Sophie began only to be interrupted by the lowly human she despised on this table.

    "It is considered to be rude to leave the table half-way when you are still having your food," Beth''s annoying voice fell on Sophie''s ears. Sophie gave a sharp re at her.

    "I don''t think you know what I want to speak to my mother about. Please continue enjoying the food, Miss Harris. I doubt you get to eat so many things-"

    "Sophie," Lady Rosamund warned her daughter, who had been waiting to w Elizabeth. The older vampiress thought that she had brought up her daughter well, to know what to speak where and how to control her emotions, but Sophie had learned none of it.

    Sophie noticed Beth smiling behind the ss of water, and the vampiress gritted her teeth. Her mother had raised her voice in front of everyone at the table. Sophie doubted her mother would appreciate it if she found Markus was locked in the dungeon.

    "It''ll take just a moment," Sophie used the politest tone, a sweet smile on her lips.

    Lady Rosamund sighed. Dropping the napkin on the table which she had ced on herp earlier, she bowed her head at Calhoun before getting up and following her daughter.

    When both the mother and daughter left the room, Samuel was the one to speak,

    "Sophie has always been slightly against humans as she grew up in a household full of vampires. Humans have done nothing, but serve in our families."

    Mr. and Mrs. Harris gave a small nod. They came from the vige and weren''t too connected with the vampires except for the rare times in the past.

    "Of course, mydy," Samuel offered the girl a bow who returned it. "Wonder what Sophie has done to get into trouble this time to take her mother out of the room to speak."

    Calhoun was still ying with the rim of his ss before letting it go. As much as his attention was on his rtives, his thoughts were still on Madeline who wore an aloof demeanour. Wanting to test, his hand moved under the table, and he held her hand that was on herp. The little contact startled her out of her thoughts.

    Madeline had been quiet since she had woken up, answering only to the questions that were asked to her while continuing to eat her breakfast. Even though her family was right here with her, for the very first time, she felt alone. She didn''t know what to think. She wanted to brush the dream away like it was nothing, but there were too many simrities and truth in there, coinciding with the current situation of her life.

    When she arrived at the dining room, Madeline saw her parents offer her a warm smile, but she doubted it. She desperately wanted answers to her questions that were brewing in her mind. She tried to look back at the memories and time spent with her parents that seemed perfectly normal. Was her mind ying tricks on her? But then why was she breaking sses? Last night the ss that she fixed was not a dream, and it was real.

    She had been so caught up in her thoughts that she missed some of the exchange of words that took ce at the table. It was only when Calhoun''s hand held hers did she snap out of her thoughts to return to the room where she was sitting.

    Madeline felt Calhoun''s hand under the table. Before anyone could see it, she tried to pull away and ce it on the table, but Calhoun didn''t let go of it.

    Her heart slowly started to beat faster, and she looked around at the people to make sure no one had noticed it. Bringing her eyes back to meet Calhoun''s eyes that were looking at her curiously, she gave a pleading look to him, but this only had him squeeze her hand tighter. His hand felt warm on hers.

    Her heart felt heavy and Calhoun noticed there was something that was bothering Madeline right now.

    When everyone were busy finishing their breakfast, Sophie informed her mother about what happenedst night by going far away from the dining room so that the King or no other vampire would be able to eavesdrop on their conversation.

    "And you are telling me this now?" Lady Rosamund''s eyes red up in anger after hearing what Sophie said.

    "I wanted to tell you this yesterday, but Theodore was the one who saw me to my room. He didn''t leave the corridor and kept on guarding it for almost all the hours that I couldn''te and meet you," Sophie bit her lip, "I think Markus is still there in the dungeon."

    "Of course that little swine of a servant would know you were up to no good. Not to mention Markus is missing right now. How hard it is for both of you to follow my words?!" Lady Rosamund asked with an incredulous look on her face. She felt as if she had given birth to two children who didn''t know how to y their cards. "At this rate forget about the throne, both of you will end up outside the castle or worse in the cells. Now go stall Calhoun. I will go see what I can do in the meantime."

    One of the servants arrived at the door of the dining room. Bowing his head, he said, "My King, the tailorman is here to see you. He says it is extremely important."

    Calhoun''s eyebrows raised in question. The tailorman he was interested in was locked in the dungeon. Who was his servant speaking about?

    "It is tailorman Barnby," the servant added and Calhoun gave him a nod.

    "Have him wait in the parlour," Calhoun ordered. The servant bowed and left the door.

    "Are we getting more dresses stitched?" Lucy asked Calhoun, "It would be good to have the wedding dresses tried before the wedding."

    "Yes," Calhoun nodded his head.

    James was the one who was working on the wedding dress. Though his assistants were working on the dress, they would probably need guidance from James. His lips twisted in distaste. If Calhoun was right, whatever had bitten James was not simple wolves, but they were werewolves. The type of creatures he wasn''t fond of, but then he didn''t like humans nor vampires either. There were only a few agreeable ones.

    Werewolves were feral creatures, who lost their minds when they turned, having no recollection of what they did during the time of their transformed state, destroying anything and everything. The one were the Warring''s ruled, thend that consisted of a few werewolves and humans while Devon was popted with vampires and humans.

    The wedding gown would need to be finished as Calhoun was in no mood to postpone his and Madeline''s wedding. The same could not be said for James and Catherine Barnes'' wedding. He wondered what would happen when Mr. Barnes would find out that his future son-inw was turning into a furry animal.

    When Calhoun saw Madeline had finished her breakfast, he said, "Apany me, Madeline," he let go of her hand and got up from the chair. Madeline quietly followed him. Sophie missed Calhoun just by two-minutes. By the time she arrived in the dining room, Calhoun was missing and her eyebrows furrowed in worry.

    Lucy, on the other hand, didn''t want to stay at the table or near her husband. She stood up, and Samuel stood up along with her.

    Samuel said to her, "I will bete while returning at night. I have work in the outer district." Lucy didn''t nod her head, nor did she respond. The pain and anger was still there.

    "Where did brother Calhoun go?" asked Sophie to Lucy and Samuel.

    "Some tailorman wanted to meet the King," Samuel answered and before Sophie could leave in search of the King, Lucy who was in a bad mood said,

    "Brother Calhoun has taken Lady Madeline along with him. You should give them space, Sophie. They would like to spend some time alone than being hovered." Lucy had never used such a sharp tone before, and she walked out of the room.

 Chapter 263 Trap- Part 3

    <h4>263 Trap- Part 3</h4>

    "Don''t mind her, Lady Sophie. Lucy didn''t sleep enough," Samuel patted the vampiress back.

    Near the hall, the tailorman named Barnby paced back and forth while waiting for the King. When he saw the King, and the future Queen who was walking beside him, Barnby gave a deep bow. But because of his age, the back muscle caught,

    "My King and Queen!" It took a while for him to stand back up straight again.

    Madeline noticed it was the same tailorman who Calhoun had called to the castle before to show the wedding gowns. "What brings you here, Barnby?" she heard Calhoun ask the short man.

    Barnby held both his hands together. The tailorman looked like he wanted to smile, but he was trying to keep it down.

    "My King, I just came by visiting the vige of East Carswell and heard this big news," said Barnby, "I don''t think the wedding gown will bepleted because of what I heard."

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed at the man''s words, "And what did you hear?"

    "It seems they found a body buried behind Heathcliff''s house. Someone found a hand sticking up in the ground this morning. They said Heathcliff killed the girl who was identified to be one of the dutchess'' daughter," informed Barnby.

    Madeline who heard this information frowned. Did they find a body in James'' backyard?

    Calhoun was surprised by this news, "Are you sure about this news?" he questioned Barnby, who nodded his head vigorously.

    "Yes, my lord. The body was found in the backyard where the vegetables are being grown. I thought I shoulde here and let you know quickly," Barnby wanted to make sure to get the deal of making the Queen''s gown. When he had heard Heathcliff involved in the murder, he was overjoyed hearing it.

    Madeline doubted James could kill someone. Though they had never spent time together, she knew James was a good man who would never hurt someone. After hearing Barnby speak, she turned to look at Calhoun who looked back at her.

    "It seems like our tailorman is going to dy in delivering the wedding gown," said Calhoun to her.

    "He wouldn''t do something like that," Madeline knew Calhoun didn''t like James, and he wouldn''t like her taking a stand for another man.

    Calhoun''s eyes brightened by Madeline''s words, "We don''t know that now, darling. We will have to go and take a look and speak to the magistrate. Also, speak to the Barnes family to see if they know anything about it."

    Madeline looked at Calhoun, who looked amused by the news. But she didn''t know that Calhoun was amused for another reason and not because James wasbelled as the murderer.

    Barnby was too excited and unable to stand still, he cleared his throat, "M-My King," he began to only be cut off.

    "Thank you for informing me, Barnby. We can now help the tailorman in clearing his name quickly as we wouldn''t want a dy in the making of the wedding gown," Calhoun offered Barnby a broad smile, "Now if you will, you can leave. We have other things to do."

    Calhoun ced his hand on Madeline''s back and led her back. It was an opportune time to show Madeline that he was willing to look into James matter and clear the tailorman''s name in the murder. But the problem was that James was in his dungeon, who was probably growling and not ready to speak to anyone.

    He was very much interested in finding out who was framing James and he decided to take a look into it. Calhoun could feel Madeline looking at him.

    "Will you take a look into the matter?" came her small yet careful voice.

    Calhoun halted his footsteps and looked into her brown eyes, "Yes, I will be going to the vige. What has been upying your mind?" he asked, bringing his hand up to caress her cheek with the back of his fingers.

    "I had a bad dream," she answered.

    His eyes curiously looking at her. "Tell me about it," Calhoun responded to her.

    "Once you return back?" asked Madeline.

    It wasn''t like she could share what she saw with her parents as it seemed like they were the ones hiding about it. The only person she could share was Calhoun, who was aware of her troubles when it came to her fingers and the sses. At the same time, Madeline wanted James not to bear the weight of the name as a murderer. She believed he was innocent.

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, but he decided it could wait, "Alright," he smiled. What he needed was Madeline to trust himpletely.

    Away from the castle and at the dungeon, Rosamund pulled out the key she carried every time she entered the castle. A key which she had stolen from her father''s room, something no one was aware of.

    "Lady Sophie lost her ring somewhere herest night, I need you to look for it," said the vampiress, her eyebrows had moved up, and she appeared to be in no mood to talk. "It must be somewhere between here and the castle. I don''t even know what she was doing here in the middle of the night. What are you waiting for? Go on!"

    The guards were quick to go from there to find the ring. Once they were away, Lady Rosamund, saw her son walking towards the closed gates and she pulled out the key to open the lock quickly and let her son out.

    Markus looked ashamed when his mother red at him for being stuck in the dungeon for the whole night.

    The vampiress caught hold of her son''s hand and pulled him away from the dungeon,

    "Tell me you have found something worthwhile in there, Markus, and you didn''t go there to sleep," came Lady Rosamund''s sharp voice.

    "I have good news, mother. Calhoun has locked the man who younger Miss Harris used to like. But that isn''t all," Markus spoke in promising words. Lady Rosamund''s eyes narrowed, "Last night, I thought it was only a feral animal that was tied in one of the dungeon''s, but I realised Calhoun has ced the tailorman along with the animal in there to torture him."

    "Are you sure it was him? I thought he was going to marry that Barnes'' girl," Lady Rosamund asked her son.

    "I made sure to look at him. His clothes are tattered. Seems like he was beaten," Markus informed his mother, hoping this news would be worthwhile to her.

    Lady Rosamund took two steps away from him, thinking about the situation and then she said,

    "Put in a word about it to the girl. I am sure she would love to meet him here, and also this will damage the budding rtionship between her and Calhoun. Even if things don''t work out now, it is going to be helpful in the future to separate them," said Lady Rosamund turning to look at her son, "And next time, inform me about things before you do anything unless you want your head floating in the river."

    "Yes, mother," Markus bowed his head.

    "And take a shower. You reek of the dungeon,"mented Lady Rosamund before they made their way inside the castle.

    When Markus had been locked, he had tried to take a better look around the cells that were open as he didn''t know how long he would be stuck. He had hoped his sister would return, but with the gates locked, there was no way he would be able to get out.

    In that time, he had found many locked rooms. And while walking around with his hands in his pockets, Markus didn''t realise that when he had pulled his handkerchief from his pocket, a letter slipped out of his pocket to fall on the ground without his notice.

    It was a letter that was written by the maid who once used to work in the castle until Calhoun had killed her, for spreading the rumour about Madeline.

 Chapter 264 Lurking- Part 1

    <h4>264 Lurking- Part 1</h4>

    "Who would have imagined that a man such as Mr. Heathcliff would kill a person," said a viger who was standing near the house like many others, who had a look of curiosity on their faces.

    "I heard he lost his father yesterday," said another man who stood next to the first one who hadmented earlier, "He must have gone mad in pain. It is possible to lose mental stability when something so tragic happens. Losing your family member is never easy, tch," he shook his head.

    The first one shook his head to say, "Why would he kill the duchess'' daughter? I heard he was going to get married to Mr. Barnes, daughter. Do you think the one who was found dead wanted to get married to him and tried to stop the marriage?"

    "Whatever it is, he was foolish to bury the body in his backyard. And with the hand sticking up," the other man took a deep breath, "The dutches is not going to be happy that he killed her daughter."

    The vigers continued to crowd around Heathcliff''s residence. They were talking about what happened and what was thetest news they heard about the murder. Since the body was found, James Heathcliff had not shown up at his house, nor did he show up at his shop, which was near the market of EastCarswell. Theories had started to fuel one after another.

    Many other officials arrived at the scene. The magistrate forehead was in a deep furrow as it seemed like this month was very hard for him with people missing and getting murdered here. This was not good for his job. He would need to put the me on someone to prove that it wasn''t his fault, which was true because he never asked the human to kill and bury the body. Which idiot even did that?

    "What happened to my daughter?! Where is the man!" the Duchess of Greenway questioned the vige magistrate who was standing in front of her.

    "My Lady. The men are currently trying to find the man whom this house belongs to," the magistrate was trying to keep things down, but with every other person swarming like flies around the house, it was hard not to let the word spread out about what happened.

    The Dutchess had arrived ten minutes ago and was questioning the magistrate after seeing her daughter.

    "What do you mean you don''t know?" questioned the duchess, her red eyes ring up in rage and holding unshed tears, "My daughter La was found dead three hours ago and you have no idea where the culprit is?" she demanded from the magistrate.

    "How can you ask me to be patient? Do you know in what condition my daughter was found?!" The Duchess questioned and then walked near her daughter''s body, which wasn''t in one piece. "Her head has been torn from her body. Her body was disposed into the mud like she was some piece of garbage! And you ask me to be patient?!"

    The magistrate turned to look at the girl who was dug out of the ground this morning. Her body had turned brown because of the wet mud. When one of the neighbours who was walking by noticed a hand sticking out, the vige woman had been confused before screaming her lungs out to gather other people who were nearby.

    At first, when the body was pulled out, it was noticed that the head was missing from the body. After some more digging in the same backyard, the decapitated head was found in the corner, which was hidden better than the other half of the body.

    "What happened here?" came a deep voice from behind the magistrate. The magistrate''s frown deepened at the question, he turned around to see it was the King who had arrived at the scene. The people quickly bowed their heads one after another, some even moved away to keep a distance from the vampire while some stood there in curiosity.

    "It looks like you are not happy to see me, Charmire," the Kingmented on seeing the vige magistrate who bowed another time, this time deeper than the previous one.

    "My Lord! Why would you think that? Your presence brings light and strength to us all. You are our dear King, yo-"

    "That''s enough with boot licking," Calhoun walked past the magistrate whose face turned red.

    "Milord!" The Duchess sobbeding forward, "Look at what they did to my daughter!" the woman''s shoulders shook as she cried, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth, "They said they are not able to find the man. He must have fled after killing my dear La."

    "I am sorry for your loss, Duchess. Let me see what help I can provide," he assured the woman who vigorously nodded her head. Believing the King would help her to find justice as he was here now.

    Calhoun patted the duchess'' back, and walked forward, to take a look at the girl who was murdered. He observed the girl who wasid on the ground with her head ced at the top of her body. The vigers couldn''t help but stand there.

    "What do you think is going to happen?" asked the first viger who had earlier spoken, "The King is here. He never shows up here."

    "Maybe he knows the Duchess," responded another one, "It is rare to see him getting involved in cases."

    When thest word left the viger''s mouth, the King automatically turned his head to look in the direction where they stood. This had both the men straighten their back, their body turning stiff because of the King''s intense gaze.

    "Hello, gentlemen," the King greeted the vigers, his voice unfriendly, "Are you helping the magistrate in finding the culprit?"

    One of the men who stood there made some noise at the back of his mouth as if wanting to speak, but was unable to bring out the words in front of the King. The King stood far away from where they were standing, which had the vigers confused as to how he was able to hear them speak.

    "If you have nothing better to do here, go on with your day. I don''t think anyone of you would like to be a suspect for standing here for so long now, would you?" Calhoun asked the two men whom he had heard talking. His eyes fell on the others, and within a second, the vigers immediately dispersed away from the scene, going to a ce where they could discuss about the murder.

    Calhoun turned back to look at the magistrate, "You cannot even keep the situation low?" he questioned when the Duchess was taken away from the scene as she was in grief.

    Charmire, the magistrate cleared his throat and then opened his mouth to speak.

    "When was the body found?" inquired Calhoun.

    "Three hours ago, my King. It was reported by Mr. Heathcliff''s neighbour," Charmire turned his head in the direction of the house to let the King know. "Mr. Heathcliff is not here, milord. I have sent out the officials, but he is nowhere to be found."

    "What about Mr. Barnes'' house?" Calhoun asked, even though he already knew James was not there, but in the dungeon.

    Charmire quickly nodded his head. The thin moustache on his face moved feebly, "He wasn''t there either. I checked with his assistant, but no one has seen him sincest morning. It looks like it has been nearly a day since the girl died. Both her head and body were retrieved from the backyard."

    "And Mr. Heathcliff decided to dispose the body recklessly without bothering to cover it?" Calhoun raised one of his eyebrows and Charmire nodded his head.

    "It is what we found out."

    Calhoun knew what kind of job Charmire did here. He barely did anything, but Calhoun had continued to keep him positioned in this post for his purpose. It was times like these that the magistrate came to be useful, not because he was helpful but because he wasn''t.

    It was only Theodore and him who knew James was in the dungeon, while the rest in the vige thought that the tailorman had run away from here aftermitting the murder.

    "Greetings to the King," another viger arrived, who was dressed more decentlypared to the other vigers, "I have something that I would like to share." Seeing the King give a small nod to go on, the man said, "Three or four days ago, Mr. Heathcliff had asked me for a maid''s address."

    Calhoun''s eyes were quick to narrow as he found out who had led the path for James.

    "What does it have to do with this?" questioned Charmire.

    The man looked apprehensive. A small gulp followed down his throat, "The maid had disappeared the very next day. My wife told me that there was no man who the maid wanted to elope with and something must have happened to her."

    Of course, Calhoun was already well aware of it. It was because he had killed the maid himself.

 Chapter 265 Lurking- Part 2

    <h4>265 Lurking- Part 2</h4>

    Poor James, thought Calhoun to himself. Nor would he have tried to chase or court Madeline, nor would he have been in such a mess now.

    The reason why he hade down to East Carswell wasn''t just to impress Madeline and show her he was exactly the person she was looking for. He was curious to see who had framed James Heathcliff because coincidence was something he didn''t believe in. Not when it came to matters like these.

    "And why was Mr. Heathcliff interested in meeting the maid?" Calhoun pressed, "Mr��"

    "Fisher," the man answered warily. Mr. Fisher knew he would be questioned by the King, but he didn''t want a murderer moving around freely, "My apologies for my earlier actions," and he bowed his head.

    "Let''s hope that you don''t repeat it," Calhoun murmured, his red eyes ring down at the human, "I must say, people, appear to be far worse idle than they look." Charmire who didn''t know what the King was speaking about, his head moved back and forth between the two men.

    "Yes, my lord," Mr. Fisher bowed his head again and said, "They said they haven''t found the girl. I think something simr like this must have happened to her too."

    Calhoun found it to beughable that people were so quick to jump into conclusion even though they knew each other for years, "And you think he killed her. Has anyone ever seen Heathcliff talking to the dutchess? Any mention about her of why he would try to kill her?" Saying this, he walked towards the body and bent down to take a closer look. Charmire was right. It had been less than a day since the girl was murdered.

    "Did you know the man lost his father?" Calhoun questioned both of the men. Hearing no responseing from either of them, he conjured that James had buried his father by himself, without informing anyone, "He lost his fatherst morning. I don''t think he would be interested in fancying a woman. Bring the caretakers of the cemeteries'' who are in and around the vige. Find out where James has been."

    "Yes, milord!" Charmire quickly left, and Mr. Fisher went on his way after giving a bow.

    Calhoun''s eyes trailed on the dead body. He faintly remembered meeting this girl, the Duchess'' daughter La. He doubted James had done it because if James was already in the process of transforming into a werewolf, tearing a neck wouldn''t be as neat as it looked right now. It would have also left scratch marks on the body. If the question arose if hemitted the murder before he was bitten by a werewolf, that was impossible. James was a human, not a vampire nor a werewolf before.

    After a while, the magistrate arrived with a man next to him, "My lord, this man said he saw Jamesst night."

    The caretaker of the cemetery bowed his head to the King. With hands folded, he replied, "I helped him with his father. He was very heartbroken when he came to the cemetery in the afternoon." Calhoun, who heard this, sent Charmire on another errand.

    "What time did he bury his father?" questioned Calhoun.

    "I had one of the graves ready and open for use, it must have been around three in the afternoon when we helped his father to rest in peace, milord. I don''t think the man would have killed the person here," informed the caretaker.

    Calhoun pushed himself up to stand, "Are you close with Mr. Heathcliff that you are supporting him?"

    The caretaker quickly shook his head, waving his hands in front of him, "No, my King! It is not what I meant. I just feel he is innocent," the old man looked worried that he had offended the King in some way.

    "Do you remember until what hour he was at the cemetery?" Calhoun wanted to ask something, which was why he had sent Charmire on an errand, "Where did he possibly go after that."

    "Ah, he didn''t leave his father''s grave until the time of night. He was there for a long time until some wolves came and bit him," and there it was, thought Calhoun to himself. So it hadn''t been long since James had been bit, and it was out of ident.

    "Wolves are often feral, and their bites can be painful," Calhounmented to have the caretaker nod his head in agreement.

    "You are right, my King. I tried to help him and offered him aid. But he didn''t stay long. He just left. He didn''t say where," the caretaker replied.

    "You can leave," Calhoun dismissed the man. After speaking to some more people to understand what transpired yesterday and what the other people had to say about thest time they had spoken to James, he heard from the assistants of the shop that the Barnes family had sent a carriage to the shop yesterday.

    The Duchess was back after some time, taking her beloved daughter to put her to rest in the graveyard. As this was no ordinary person''s death, a word had been sent to the higher House so that they knew what was happening. Calhoun didn''t care about it, because the death had nothing to do with him.

    Why leave in James'' backyard when it could be disposed of anywhere else, questioned Calhoun in his mind.

    During the time of burial, Mr. Barnes arrived in the carriage, "My lord," the older vampire greeted, "The man said you wanted to meet me. You could have called me to the castle, instead ofing here."

    Calhoun smiled at Mr. Barnes'' words, "I felt the need to stretch my hands and legs. It has been a while. I summoned you here because this is about your future son-inw. I heard that Charmire sent his men to inquire if James was in your mansion."

    Mr. Barnes quickly nodded his head, "Yes, we were surprised when we heard that they were searching for Heathcliff."

    Calhoun''s lips twisted, "Yes, indeed. Didn''t you try to find him?" It was ironic how Mr. Barnes had not bothered to search the man who was going to marry his daughter in seven days.

    "I sent out my men to search, but they have no idea where he is. I really thought he was a naive man. Who would have killed the Duchess'' daughter," Mr. Barnes tsked and exhaled air out of his lips.

    "That''s right. I wonder why he would do that. Catherine must be heartbroken," Calhounmented, knowing the affection the young vampiress had towards James.

    "Yes, she''s in the house and very upset," on Mr. Barnes words, Calhoun hummed in response, "Did they find out why he did it? I never knew he knew the girl. I mean he is a human," the older vampire tried to y it off as if he knew nothing that had transpired yesterday.

    "We will need to find out about it. I have entrusted the work to Charmire," Calhoun gave a look at the magistrate who bowed his head. Mr. Barnes was least bothered if the magistrate was going to work on it or not. James Heathcliff had been framed, and it was only time for the human to be executed, and his daughter would finally let go of the human.

    It was easy to cover up the deaths of people who didn''t matter to the people who belonged to the higher status. But hushing deaths like this, it was difficult to do and the High House always kept an eye on such important matters. They were the people who madews with rules that were unorthodox.

    "I heard Miss La was acquainted with Catherine," Calhoun started to have Mr. Barnes turn to look at him.

    "What do you mean to imply, my King?" Mr. Barnes'' defensive tone was picked by Calhoun.

    "Hm? I thought Catherine would be here to see her friend rest in the coffin. It''s not like it is Mr. Heathcliff who died," Calhoun offered Mr. Barnes a faint smile, "By the way, Mr. Barnes...What are your thoughts on furry animals?"

 Chapter 266 Lurking- Part 3

    <h4>266 Lurking- Part 3</h4>

    Lady Lucy was in her room, resting as the young vampiress had told she had a headache. Madeline wondered if Lucy was alright. She had missed her breakfast before, and today, she stuck to her room.

    "What did the tailorman want, Madeline?" asked her mother.

    Madeline, who was in her thoughts, looked up to meet her mother''s as well as Beth''s curious eyes. She didn''t know if she should tell it or not, as no one knew if James had really done it.

    "It seems they found a person''s body in our vige, which was buried in Mr. Heathcliff''s backyard," Madeline said softly to receive gasps from the two women.

    "How did that happen??" her mother looked quite taken aback by this news.

    Madeline then said, "I think they are still trying to figure out what happened."

    "Who knew Mr. Heathcliff would do something like that," Beth was quick to jump into conclusion, "This is why you should be careful about people who are quiet and behave as gentleman-like."

    Madeline frowned upon hearing this, "I don''t think Mr. Heathcliff would kill anyone. Just because the body was found in his backyard, doesn''t make him a murderer."

    Bethughed at this, "You should be careful of what you say, Madeline. Speaking out your mind so openly. If you are going to turn to a Queen, you should know how to behave like one, but you were never prepared to be one. What did the King say to it?"

    "He told he would look into it, and Beth, nobody ever wakes up to be a Queen. Things like those are picked on the way," Madeline reacted to Beth''s words which was a jab to tell how unfit she was, "Even if I don''t know things, whatever the Queen says goes. We should not worry about things like that."

    Madeline noticed how Beth''s eyes narrowed over her words. They were sisters who had spent most of their time next to each other, but they were different. Madeline knew from the beginning that she and Beth were always different. She had been hearing taunting words like this from her sister for all these years, but she was not going to let Beth look down upon her anymore. She loved Beth, but that didn''t mean she would stand Beth speaking to her in such tone.

    "You don''t have to feel so offended. I was merely telling it-"

    "And so was I," Madeline offered Beth a smile, "The King said he would look into the matter to see what is going on."

    Mrs. Harris, who was sitting with them, listening to the exchange of words between the two girls, said,

    "Both of you," she warned while looking at the door to make sure no one was there or walking by to hear. The woman then looked at Madeline,

    "Beth is right, Madeline. It would help if you were careful with whom you side with. The King might appear tolerable now, but that doesn''t mean you can favour another man."

    Madeline stared at Beth and her mother, "I don''t think there''s anything wrong in expressing my thoughts that a man is not guilty," she pursed her lips and then said, "And I think the King knows how I feel about things right now. It shouldn''t be a problem."

    Mrs. Harris nodded her head, a sigh escaping her lips, "That''s good to hear. But who do you think would have killed the person?"

    Madeline didn''t have an answer to it. She hoped Calhoun would be able to find something out. At the same time, she wondered if Calhoun found James to be bearable now as James was not someone who held her interest anymore. She felt bad for James. Beth left the room soon, leaving her mother and her alone.

    "Don''t take Beth''s words to your heart, Maddie," her mother ced her hand on hers, squeezing it encouragingly before letting it go, "She must be upset that she wasn''t the one who was chosen to be the Queen."

    "Can I ask you something, Mama?"

    "Yes, anything, my child," responded her mother, who looked at her curiously as to what she wanted to ask.

    "Yesterday when Beth and I were talking, in the room, she mentioned a boy with whom we used to y when we were at grandpa and grandma''s house. Do you remember who it was?"

    Mrs. Harris'' eyes turned wide, and she took a second topose herself, "Which boy is that?"

    Madeline went to exin, "It was when we were small. Beth said a boy used to y with us. Is he still in the vige?"

    "W-who knows if he''s still there. It would help if you asked your grandparents about it. We used to send you both there to spend some days," her motherughed.

    "We used to spend a lot of time with them, isn''t it?" came Madeline''s fond voice, "Howe you and father didn''t stay there with us? I think as much as I remember, it was just Beth and me."

    On her question, Madeline saw how her mother grew ufortable in her seat, and the expression on her face turned worried. In the past, neither Beth nor she had questioned things rted to them staying there.

    "You both were very fond of your grandpa and grandma. What silly questions you ask," replied her mother, picking up the kettle to keep herself busy, and she poured herself tea in the teacup.

    "I guess you are right," Madeline went along with her mother, "I mean, I don''t remember spending much time with our maternal grandparents. But we must have spent time with them when we were really small, isn''t it?" Madeline doubted she would get a direct answer if she asked her mother. Therefore, she tried to poke in other directions to find the answers she was looking for.

    Her mother gave her a small nod, not meeting her eyes, and Madeline felt her hands turn cold. With her mother dodging her questions, she felt like the dream she had dreamt was true. She bit the inside of her cheek.

    Mrs. Harris then changed the subject, "What is going to happen to the wedding gown? I thought James was going to finish it."

    "Calhoun will get it sorted," Madeline offered her mother a smile.

    "Madeline," her mother said, "I know you are new to all this, but you need to know how to deal with people. You need to be wise while choosing your words with men. They can be immature at times, brash if you choose something that doesn''t involve them in it. Do you understand what I am saying?"

    Madeline''s thoughts were everywhere about everything, and she nodded, "Yes, mother."

    "That''s good," her mother responded, "Here, take this one," she offered the teacup.

    "You have it, mother. I don''t think I have an appetite for tea now," replied Madeline and she then leaned forward to kiss her mother''s cheek, "I will go check on Lady Lucy if she needs anything. Will you be alright here by yourself?"

    "I will have your fathere and join me. Go on," Mrs. Harris saw her younger daughter get up and leave the room. The woman''s smile fell from her face and she stared at the gap of the door. When a maid entered the room, Mrs. Harris asked the maid to tell her husband to join her in the parlour room.

    "Where is Beth and Madeline?" questioned Mr. Harris, who arrived at the room.

    "They went to take a walk and visit the other guests," Mrs. Harris replied, stirring the tea with the small spoon. When her husband took a seat, she said, "She was asking me questions."

    "Who?" Mr. Harris furrowed his brows.

    "Madeline. She was asking me about the boy. She and Beth were speaking about itst night," Mrs. Harris said in a worried tone, "She has never asked such questions before. Do you think it is because she visited the vige?"

    "She has visited before too. I don''t think there''s anything to worry about," Mr. Harris assured his wife, "Whatever it was, we have already dealt with it."

    "I hope so," murmured the woman, "I don''t think your parents will help this time��"

    Away from the parlour room, Madeline who had left her mother didn''t go to meet Lady Lucy, but instead went to take a walk in the open garden.

    She sat under the warm sun, feeling the heat on her skin which felt pleasantpared to the cold atmosphere inside the castle thatcked light or warmth. Madeline felt there were too many things going on, keeping her mind upied. She hoped justice would be provided to James.

    Madeline had a lot of questions about her childhood, but doubted she would get an answer right now for it. Her hands were careful when they touched the surface of the sses. It had been a few hours since Calhoun had left the castle, and she wondered what time he would return.

    With her parents hiding and lying to her and her sister, who was passive-aggressive with her words, Madeline didn''t know how to feel about it. A few days ago, she had been eager to meet them, to have them here so that she would not feel lonely, but why was it that the loneliness didn''t go away? There were doubts and questions on her minds, and it made her feel wary. Wary of the people whom she once trusted. Instead, she felt like she could trust Calhoun.

    "Lady Madeline."

    Madeline''s eyes that had somewhere closed itself opened to see a man standing in front of her. Because of the bright sunlight at the front, it took a while for her eyes to adjust to see the silhouette of the man. It was Markus Wilmot. She offered him a bow from where she sat.

    "Do you mind?" asked Markus, looking at the space on the bench next to her. The bench was long enough to amodate two people. When she gave him a nod, the vampire took himself to sit while keeping a gap between them.

    "Lovely weather, isn''t it? I was looking for Lady Elizabeth, and I thought she would be here with you."

    "She must be looking for you too," Madeline responded. If Markus was looking for Beth, he should have gone searching instead of taking a seat in the very same bench, thought Madeline in her mind. But as he had taken a seat, she believed that he had something to speak about.

    Silence fell between them for a few seconds. Instead of letting Markus talk, Madeline asked,

    "What are your intentions with my sister?"

    Markus was taken aback with the direct question. A smile appeared on his face, "I intend to marry her, mdy."

    "There are many other girls of better status and maybe looks in your own kind. I find it slightly odd that your mother epted my sister so readily," Madeline stated, not forgetting of the time how Lady Rosamund had insulted. Madeline was sure if she asked him just about looks, he wouldpare himself to Calhoun and get away with the question.

    "It must be because I am her son. She finds it very hard to refuse my wishes," Markus answered with a polite smile on his face, "My apologies for the way my family treated you in the past but it is only because they weren''t aware you were going to be the Queen."

    That was right. Once Madeline was announced to be the future Queen, the way people looked and treated her had changed, thought Madeline to herself.

    "My mother said we would be choosing the dates for our marriage once you and my cousin are married. How do you feel? To be part of the royal family? With your sister getting married to the same family, you must be excited."

    "It feels wonderful," Madeline replied before looking ahead of her, "Will Lady Rosamund and Sophie be returning to the castle tonight?"

    "Yes. Mother said they would be here by dinner," answered Markus. He saw the human girl from the corner of his eyes, noticing how she was looking at the front. Though the older Harris'' daughter had strong features that were attractive, there was something very delicate about this girl. The girl who the King had chosen for himself.

    When his mother, father and he were discussing what to do, the idea to defile the human hade up before it was brushed away. His cousin, Calhoun, didn''t appear like he would throw the girl away even if something like that happened. They had to break the marriage while also trying to frame the King.

    The main reason his mother had left the castle to go back to the mansion wasn''t because his father was alone. But it was so that she could send a letter to the High House, that the King was taming a werewolf who was killing people. It would take a couple of days for the people of High House to arrive here. And it was enough to kill people and put the me on the King.

    Unlike humans and vampires, werewolves were not considered to be in the same category. Instead, they were lower than humans. Creatures who were feral and turned every time the moonlight touched the ground. Thend ruled by the Warring was the ce where the werewolves originally originated, people often thought that it was thend of humans and werewolves. The werewolves were often used to hunt preys and enemies.

    Markus then said, "Were you able to sleep well? Both you and Lady Elizabeth."

    Madeline wondered why Markus was asking this, "Yes. Why do you ask?"

    He shook his head, "I could hear a man screaming from the dungeon. I think it makes it easier when you have a human hearing," saying this, he stood up, "I should get going."

    While Madeline and Markus were talking to each other, Beth, who was walking by caught sight of them sitting in the garden. Her eyes hardened to see her sister spending time with Markus. Markus looked like he couldn''t keep his eyes off her little sister. The man offered Madeline a sweet smile, and Beth''s blood only boiled under her skin. Gritting her teeth, she waited for Markus to leave the garden before making her way to where Madeline was.

    "What are you trying to do?!" Came Beth''s furious question.

    Madeline was making her dress proper when she saw Beth walking around the garden toe and stand in front of her,

    "What?" she asked, confused. Why did Beth look upset seeing her smoothen her dress?

    "Don''t act coy, Madeline. I saw Markus sitting and talking to you," Beth''s green eyes were bright, and she looked at Madeline intensely.

    "He came looking for you and decided to sit with you?"

    Madeline wasn''t sure what had upset Beth.

    Beth huffed. This was something she had always been worried about. Her younger sister, taking more attention to herself. It had happened in the past. Therefore, she had been keeping a keen eye to prevent it from happening.

    "What?" Madeline questioned, not knowing what had got her sister so upset.

    Beth said, "You are always doing this to me. If Markus was looking for me, he would have continued to look. Not sit next to you and talk. I saw the look he gave you."

    Madeline raised her eyebrows, "Can you hear what you are saying? It was a simple talk, and he left. We were speaking about your wedding." She couldn''t believe Beth was using her of something so silly, "If he is looking at me, you should be questioning him and not me."

    "So you do agree that something is going on," Beth ced her hand on her waist, "I cannot believe this."

    Madeline took a deep breath, looking away before she looked back at Beth, "No, I cannot believe this. I said ''if''. He is your possible finance, and I am your sister."

    "Yes, the sister who steals everything from me!" Beth gritted her teeth. "Is the King not enough that you are attracting the one man who decided to show interest in me?"

    "I stole nothing from you, Beth. You are imagining things." After spending time yesterday, Madeline thought everything was normal, but it wasn''t.

    "Am I?" asked Beth, "Why didn''t you refuse when it came to going to the ball? Somewhere deep down, you wanted to catch someone''s fancy. You act like you don''t want it, but the truth is you do. Every time I liked something, it is given to you. You even took Jennine. She was my friend. Even this ce could have been mine."

    Madeline frowned, "You cannot me me just because things didn''t go in your favour. I came to the ball to apany you because you wanted me to be there. I have no hold over who is going to be friends with us or Jennine in the past. Markus and I barely spoke a few words, and it is a big usation to be iming that I want Mr. Wilmot. How could you even think like that? I have no interest in him, and maybe if you stopped being so insecure about everything, you would feel less worried and actuallye to see how things are."

    Beth didn''t hide the hate she felt for Madeline right now. Madeline thought that her sister had forgiven and forgotten what happened the day Calhoun had told her to live in the castle.

    "And what did I steal from you? I have always followed you, stayed in your shadow and never questioned your actions. I have put you before me."

    Beth rolled her eyes, "I never asked you to follow me."

    "I won''t," Madeline turned around and started to walk.

    "Where are you going?! I am not done with talking to you," Beth shouted.

    Madeline paused her footsteps and turned her head over her shoulder, "Making my path. You can go and dip your head in cold water to gather your scattered thoughts."

    With this, Madeline walked away. She had too much on her te right now, instead of deaingl with her sister''s tantrums which were baseless.

    She had always overlooked and forgiven Beth time in time again, but the truth was that Beth was selfish enough to impose her insecurities upon her. She didn''t want to deal with her sister right now, and would instead wait for Beth toe around and ept her faults. It was time for Beth to stop ming her.

    The day continued to pass, and Madeline tried to keep herself away from Markus as well as her sister. Walking on the castle grounds now where the sun was slowly setting down, her footsteps stopped when she saw the dungeon. She remembered Markus mentioning a man screaming there. It must be someone new, who Calhoun had imprisoned for breaking thew or someone who had crossed him, thought Madeline to herself.

    Not realizing her feet moved toe and stand at the back of the dungeon.

    One second it was quiet, and the next second she heard a man''s voice which felt like he was being tortured, "AH! Stop this!" shouted the prisoner. The voice felt familiar, but she couldn''t point who it belonged to.

    The sudden scream startled her, and she took a step back, her back hitting something. Quickly turning around, Madeline saw it was Theodore.

    "It is a new prisoner that we have in here. He tried to break into the castlest night," informed Theodore, giving her enough to keep her interest. He stretched his hand in the direction of the castle so that he could escort her back.

    Madeline could still hear the painful groans of the prisoner, but there was something else. It felt less human, sounding more like an animal''s growl. ncing at the backside of the dungeon''s wall, Madeline walked back with Theodore, feeling a little suspicious as Theodore had arrived there out of nowhere.

 Chapter 267 Tip toes- Part 1

    <h4>267 Tip toes- Part 1</h4>

    Madeline didn''t want to be afraid. She didn''t know what or who she was. She was scared to confirm if she was really the daughter of her parents. Right now, she had mixed emotions. She wanted the dream to be true, and at the same time, she didn''t want it to be true. If it was true, she could confirm that she belonged to the Harris'' family, but that also meant she had killed the girl.

    There was something that was bothering her. Her dream and the reality, they were not aligned together. The casket her family had opened was of the girl named Jennine, and at the same time, the girl Beth witnessed to be murdered was Jennine too. Though it wasn''t umon to have the same names in thend they lived, Madeline found it to be uncanny that both the girls named Jennine had died when she was around.

    Madeline was still thinking, when she felt a sudden pain from the back of her body.

    "Ah!" a cry escaped her lips which went unheard by people as there was no one around her.

    Madeline gripped the surface of the tform with both her hands that was in front of her to support herself, but the pain suddenly increased. It felt like the bones on her back were twisting and being pulled, bringing tears in her eyes. And the next second the pain disappeared, leaving her huffing for air. Her chest heaved back and forth, and she closed her eyes to gather herself.

    She didn''t know what was happening to her. She felt lost and the people who had possible answers, she doubted they would willingly give it to her.

    Worried, she quickly left the high tower, and her feet made its way to her room. She locked the room before going to stand in front of the mirror that was near the bathtub.

    Madeline then unbuttoned her dress so that she could take a look at her back. Turning around for her back to face the mirror, she turned her face to see the discolouration on her skin which wasn''t there thest time she had checked. On her pale skin, there were patches of the blue-green bruises.

    "Oh God," the shuddered words escaped from her lips.

    How did one find answers when the answers were not being given? Asked Madeline to herself.

    While she started to button back her dress, Madeline remembered the scream of the man who was imprisoned in the dungeon. The scream kept repeating over and over in her mind, making her head hurt. She sshed cold water on her face, hoping to bring her back to reality, but it felt like everything was piling up one after another.

    "Madeline."

    ''AHHH! Stop it!!''

    The words were short, but she remembered it. It was because there had been times in the past where she had let the voice y over and over again because it brought her happiness. Her head snapped around, and she said,

    "Why does it sound like James?"

    It didn''t make any sense why James would be there, and she wasn''t sure that it was James. It was possible that the prisoner was someone who shared the same voice, but what if it was James? Madeline didn''t know if she was going paranoid and losing herself with the number of things she was thinking right now.

    She bit her lip, the frown on her forehead deepening.

    James was possibly on the run, and the girl''s body was found today. Theodore said someone had tried to trespass and break into the castle. It didn''t sound like James would do something like that, reasoned Madeline with herself. It was probably not James. Calhoun had gone to check on the murder that took ce, where James had beenbelled as the murderer. She hoped she would be able to get some insight on it from Calhoun.

    She nodded to herself. She would wait for Calhoun to return to the castle so that she would ask him herself.

    When the time of supper arrived, Lady Rosamund had returned along with Sophie after their visit to their mansion. But Calhoun was yet to return. It made Madeline question why he wasn''t here yet.

    "Has brother Calhoun not returned yet?" Lucy asked Madeline, who hade to join them for supper. Her husband was missing at the table again.

    Theodore was the one to answer, "The King told he might not be able to join with everyone for supper. He has gone to the vige and told from there he would be going to the town to speak to some of the ministers there."

    Lucy was displeased that Theodore had replied to her question. Nheless, she turned her head and continued to eat. The table was unusually quiet as everyone had some issues going on in their head. Madeline and Beth were not on speaking terms. Beth only chose to smile at Markus'' words. Mr. and Mrs. Harris were caught up with the questions Madeline had asked before while Sophie red at the humans at the table.

    "Where is Samuel, Lucy?" asked Lady Rosamund, "I barely see him, and I wonder if that is why things have been going awry."

    Lucy''s face hardened at the words, but she chose not to speak on it.

    "What went awry?" asked Sophie, showing interest in the possible gossip. She would have been more interested to hear the Harris'' girls death but seeing how impossible it was, she decided to find another subject to dwell.

    "Just the usual stories in the family and society," Lady Rosamund hummed, "Mrs. Harris, I was wondering if we could get your approval with Mr. Harris for Elizabeth''s wedding with my son Markus. We were thinking about selecting dates after three weeks from the King''s wedding. What do you think?"

    Sophie, who had only taken a sip of water, started to cough as the water had gone in the wrong pipe.

    Madeline was d to see that it wasn''t just her, but even Sophie had an issue with Elizabeth marrying her brother, which was for different reasons. Today when she was spending her time in the garden with Markus, she had felt his eyes on her. Staring at her, that made her feel ufortable.

    She didn''t like Markus for more than one reason. Beth was not aware of his true intentions, and even if she tried to speak to her, Beth would not listen.

    Madeline''s mother and father looked surprised, not knowing what else to say but be happy for their daughter, they gave a nod of approval.

    "But we will need to prepare things from our side. It would take time to get the cards made and the clothes," said their mother slightly worried.

    Lady Rosamund smiled at this, "Please don''t worry about things like those. I know you don''t have any money with you,"ughed the older vampiress. Even Beth, who was eating, her hand stopped at thement. "I am aware that my nephew is covering the expenses. But considering your family status, I wouldn''t want to burden Elizabeth''s family in terms of money."

    "I can ask the King to help," said Madeline after what the older vampiress spoke. Lady Rosamund raised her eyebrow as she turned to look at the insolent human. If Madeline was not going to marry Calhoun, Rosamund would have made sure to show Madeline''s ce, but instead, the woman smiled.

    "And how do you intend to do that, dear? The King is Markus'' cousin," Lady Rosamund reminded Madeline, her eyes twinkling.

    "Yes, that''s true, Lady Rosamund. You said Markus and Beth would get married three weeks after my marriage to Calhoun, by then I will be Calhoun''s wife," stated Madeline to the vampiress, "And we all know the position of the wifees first and thenes the rest."

 Chapter 268 Tip toes- Part 2

    <h4>268 Tip toes- Part 2</h4>

    .

    On hearing Madeline''s words, the room fell silent. No one had expected the human girl to speak the way she did. Lady Rosamund stared at the lowly creature, her red eyes bright and slightly wide.

    "As the wife of the King, and as the Queen, I believe it would give me the privilege to conduct the marriage without the need to borrow money or let my family be indebted," said Madeline, her eyes looking straight at Lady Rosamund. Madeline was not pleased with Beth marrying Markus, but at the same time, she wouldn''t let the Wilmot''s look down at her family. They were humans, but they were respectable humans who didn''t hurt and put down people.

    Beth was still angry at what transpired in the garden, and she wanted to refuse Madeline''s offer as she didn''t want her younger sister to unt her position in front of everyone. But before Beth could speak up, Lucy said,

    "That is wonderful. I think it is a great idea, that Lady Madeline wants to have her sister''s wedding to be grand," Lucy smiled, looking at Aunt Rosamund, who slowly smiled as she stared at Madeline.

    Lucy had felt the friction taking ce between the people at the table, and she had tried to ignore it. She was surprised when Madeline offered her help and made sure to let her aunt know that her family would not be poor forever. With Calhoun not here, she wanted to make sure to diffuse the situation.

    "Indeed, what a good sister you have, Elizabeth," remarked Lady Rosamund.

    Madeline offered Lady Rosamund a polite smile before continuing her meal.

    Lady Rosamund wanted to push her hand through Madeline''s chest and pull out her heart right now. This dining room where everyone was sitting, it was the ce she grew up in. She was the princess of this castle before she was married off. This was her home, and this mere human girl had the audacity to speak back to her. To use such tone, Rosamund never forgot people who insulted her. She always served it back to the person with three times more effect.

    The girl was new, and she had no clue about the royal vampire family. Someone lower than her was trying to correct her, thought Lady Rosamund in her mind. Somewhere in between having the meal, Rosamund turned to Markus as if indicating something.

    Madeline was with Lady Lucy after finishing their meals, talking about the time back in the vige, where she was telling one of the stories when Markus appeared from the other side of the corridor,

    "I hope I am not disturbing," said Markus.

    "Of course, not. Feel free to join us, cousin," Lucy''s words were polite, "Lady Madeline was telling me about the time when a man spilt the bag of rice during the time of snow."

    "Must be interesting," Markusmented, looking at Lucy before his eyes fell on Madeline. Madeline offered the vampire a small smile.

    "Where is Beth?" Madeline asked Markus.

    "I dropped her to her room. She appears to be upset about something," Markus stated in a thoughtful tone.

    "Hm? Did you do something?" came Lucy''s question.

    "Nothing at all. I decided to give her some space," Markus smiled and then said, "We should all go hunting tomorrow. Both Lucy and I missed hunting."

    Madeline tilted her head, "Wasn''t it just some time ago that you took Beth on hunting?"

    "I meant everyone. I didn''t get the opportunity to hunt with the future Queen," Markus responded with a polite smile.

    "Pardon me, but Ick interest in hunting animals just for fun," Madeline replied, returning the polite smile, "But you should all go. I am sure with everyone there, it will be a wonderful time to spend. Beth was telling me how much she enjoyed it."

    "What do you like, mydy? It would be easier to know what pleases you so that it can be arranged in the future to gain your favour," Madeline heard Markus joke casually, but there was something underneath his tone which Lucy didn''t take note of.

    She didn''t understand why he was suddenly being interested and hovering around her. Lucy looked intrigued by the question. Therefore, Madeline answered,

    "I like people who are down to earth. People who don''t cover themselves up with lies."

    It was not the answer both the vampire as well as the vampiress were expecting, but it was a subtle indication for Markus from Madeline. The smile that was on Markus'' face faltered.

    "Then you are in goodpany, mydy. Our family has always been together and loved each other." On Markus'' words, Lucy didn''tment, and Madeline wondered if Beth saw Markus for who he was. The man was cunningly nice to her sister, and Beth believed he wanted her for herself. But at the same time, Beth wanted to marry Markus because of the family he came from. "Especially when you are living in the castle, no harm can befall on you. The King makes sure to have people guard, and if someone breaks in, they are taken to the dungeon. For example, yesterday someone broke in here and was taken to the dungeon right away for questioning."

    "There was an attack yesterday?" Lucy frowned.

    "Yes," Markus nodded his head, "The King has kept it quiet so that no one worries about it."

    This caught Madeline''s attention, and she asked, "Do you know who broke in?"

    Markus shifted his gaze from Lucy to Madeline, "Yes, I heard the person was from East Carswell. Though, I didn''t go and visit the prisoner. It is a waste of time to go and look at them." He looked at the human''s delicate features which he had overlooked before. Had she always been this pretty? "I heard it was someone the King knew, but I don''t know the name."

    Madeline felt her stomach churn hearing it was someone from her vige. This only made her suspicious stronger that the voice belonged to James. But if it really was him, why would he be locked up in the dungeon? Somewhere it didn''t make sense, but Madeline wanted to go and confirm it by herself.

    "I don''t know why people even try to break into the castle,"mented Lucy shaking her head, "They are not only going to be caught, but they will be killed. Brother Calhoun doesn''t like people snooping around."

    "That is true, Lucy. Also," Markus looked around before lowering his voice, "It looks like it is someone special, the prisoner I mean. Else he would be given a quick death." Something in Markus'' tone told her that the vampire knew who was in there and he was only being secretive about it.

    Returning back to the room, Madeline wondered what to do.

    She was curious. Theodore suddenly arriving next to her near the dungeon and Markus dropping hints, she questioned if Calhoun was hiding something from her that she was not supposed to know. When more time passed, Madeline decided to take a look in the dungeon. Instead of her sitting in the room and doing nothing but worry, she could rify her doubts.

    It wasn''t that Madeline was doubting Calhoun. If he was here, she would have asked him by now but he wasn''t back. She only wanted to take a look. Just one look to see who the prisoner was.

    Walking to every corner of her room, Madeline blew the candles that had been lit. She made sure to darken the room before going to her bed and putting the pillow to the far side of the bed. If someone were to step into the room, they would see the pillows on the bed and think she was sleeping because of the low light from the firece.

    She would be back soon, told Madeline to herself. It was just a few minutes. With that thought, Madeline stepped out of the room. Closing the door behind her and on her way, she looked at Calhoun''s room to murmured to herself,

    "Be back before he does."

    Taking a deep breath, Madeline quietly made her way out of the King''s quarters, taking the route through the garden.

 Chapter 269 Tip toes- Part 3

    <h4>269 Tip toes- Part 3</h4>

    The path she had picked now was not a ce for a female as she was wearing a dress that could quickly get stuck in the sharp thorns of the bushes. Madeline walked on the muddy ground that wasn''t smooth but had sharp stones that would have been bothersome if she had walked barefoot.

    The castle was well guarded by the guards, and each of them had their timing, and one had to be careful. She could have gone through the doors of the castle, passing by the guards. But they would have informed the same to Calhoun. Somewhere as time passed, Madeline wondered if Calhoun was hiding James from her.

    When she came near the dungeon, Madeline noticed the two guards who stood at the front. How was she going to get past them? She asked herself before taking herself to go behind the dungeon where she had earlier been this evening.

    It wasn''t necessary to go inside the dungeon if she was able to take a glimpse from here. But the window of the dungeon was built high and near the ceiling. Even a stool or a tform would not be sufficient for her to take a peek.

    Wondering what to do as time was quickly ticking by, Madeline went back near the front and leaned forward, taking a look at the guards before her back touched the wall as she hid behind it. It shouldn''t be too hard, thought Madeline to herself. She picked up a stone from the ground, clutching it, she threw it at the bushes that were at the front, making the bush rustle.

    "What was that?" asked one of the guards, looking in the direction where Madeline had thrown the stone.

    "Must be some squirrel," answered another.

    "Let me go check," and the first guard left the front of the dungeon. Madeline searched for another stone and then threw it in another direction when it was just one guard. This caught the man''s attention, and he looked left and right.

    Madeline threw one more stone, which went to fall far away from the dungeon which was enough to distract and keep the guards busy. Seeing the guards leave, she quickly caught the front of her dress, and she stepped inside the dungeon. The dungeon was sometimes left open and sometimes closed. She was d that it was open now.

    As she walked through the passage of the dungeon, Madeline was greeted with the smell of rusted iron and a slightly foul smell that was possiblying from the bodies that were chained in here. Torches burnt on the dark walls that looked somewhat wet in appearance. She picked one of the torches on her way as there wasn''t enough light in here.

    The dungeon was quiet without a single noise, leaving some sort of eeriness in the atmosphere. As she passed through the cell rooms which were enclosed with rusted iron bars, she caught sight of skeletons. There were too many skeletons, and it seemed like Theodore was yet toplete the work which was given by Calhoun this morning.

    When Madeline finally reached the ce for what she came looking for, she came to stand in front of an old wooden door which had a brownish-green appearance. There was a small gap on the door, and she tried to peep inside the room to see what was in there, but all she saw was ground. Holding the handle of the door, she tried to push it, but the door didn''t open. Of course, thought Madeline to herself, the door to this room was locked.

    Madeline wondered what to do.

    She had no key to this door, and she couldn''t see what was on the other side of the room. Her heart had not stopped beating loudly in her ears since she had left her own room. This was not something she was supposed to be indulging herself in, but her curiosity got the best out of her.

    cing her hands on the door, she moved closer, "James?" she called the name, "Mr. Heathcliff? Are you in there?" she asked, keeping her ear on the door as if it would help her hear better.

    But there was no response to her words. All she received was silence.

    Pulling her head back along with her body, she stepped away from the door.

    She wondered if the room was empty. Maybe it was not James, and it was someone else. And even if it was James, she should not worry, right? But what if he was imprisoned because of her?

    The first time Madeline met James, she thought he was a calm and sensible man. At least that is what she thought until hers and Calhoun''s path crossed each other. James had turned impulsive and reckless. It was something she had witnessed by first hand when he had locked himself and her in the powder room.

    Madeline was about to look for another room, before leaving the dungeon when she heard some sounde from the room.

    The next moment, she heard scratching soundsing from the other side of the door, and it had her frown.

    "Madeline��" came the voice and her eyes widened.

    "Mr. Heathcliff?!" It was him! And Madeline looked around searching for something that could be used to open the door, "Are you alright?" she asked him, but she didn''t get an answer to her question. She wondered what happened to him. Was he earlier being tortured by the guards when she was standing behind the dungeon?

    Realizing the hair pin in her hair, she pulled it out. Twisting it before pushing it into the lock. It wasn''t the first time Madeline had tried to pick a lock. There weren''t many things to do in the vige to pass time and she had learned to pick locks out of boredom. Hearing a click sound in the lock, Madeline pushed the door open to see James who was on the ground.

    Her eyebrows drew in together at the sight of James'' condition. His clothes looked as if it had been torn because of their tattered condition. His hands and legs were chained to the walls so that he wouldn''t be able to reach the door of the room.

    "Mr. Heathcliff!" Madeline went towards him, sitting down to look at James, "What happened to you? How did you end up here?" questions came one after another. He looked tired and worn out, looking as if his age had increased.

    James huffed for air, "You are here," he whispered.

    Madeline didn''t know how to feel, "They said you killed someone. They found a body in your backyard." James didn''t seem to understand what she was saying, and he just stared at her, "Mr. Heathcliff?"

    James surprised her by saying, "Save me. I think I am going to die."

    Was Calhoun going to kill him? When Theodore and Markus had mentioned about someone trespassing into the castle, did they mean that person to be James?

    "Let me speak to the King. I will ask him to spare your life," Madeline assured James. This was not a condition in which James was supposed to be in. Was it because of her that James was suffering? James shook his head, "He will listen to me if I speak to him." Calhoun was the King, and if she could speak to him, maybe there could be some ground of understanding between the two men where there was no need for any torture.

    "You don''t understand," James spoke the few words with great difficulty.

    James was happy after seeing the girl whom he loved was right in front of him. Amid the chaos, he was d to see her, and he moved his shackled hand to ce it on her face.

 Chapter 270 Tip toes- Part 4

    <h4>270 Tip toes- Part 4</h4>

    .

    Madeline was startled by this sudden contact, and she was about to move away when she heard some gurgling sounding from the man. Not knowing what was going on, she quickly moved away, stumbling behind towards the wall. She heard James say something that she quite didn''t catch.

    She felt her blood turn cold, noticing something was wrong with James. His skin started to shed and it looked nothing less to sunburns. He appeared to be in pain as his body hurled on the floor. He was growling, a growl which was simr to a feral growl.

    The next time when James and her eyes met, his eyes had changed its colour to gold and yellow. Something was happening to his body and Madeline didn''t know what because James''s appearance had started to change.

    At the same time, Madeline heard voicesing from the other side of the dungeon from where she had entered.

    Madeline''s eyes turned wide, watching James slowly start to transform from a human to look like an oversized wolf. But this was not how wolves normally looked, not at least how Madox looked. Before she could spend more time thinking and trying to wrap her head around on what was happening, she saw the creature move. She quickly stepped out of the room before it could catch hold of her.

    Looking back and forth, she quickly closed the door, her hands shaking as she locked the room. Madeline then ran to find another room to hide in. The footsteps of the guards got louder, and they walked past the room she was in.

    Madeline ced her hand on her chest, wanting it to stop beating so loudly. It felt like at any moment it would jump out of her throat.

    "Did you hear that sound?" asked one of the guards who hade to check the inside of the dungeon after hearing the loud growls.

    "I will check here. You go there," ordered another guard.

    What did she just see?! What was happening to James? So many questions were running in her mind, and she could barely keep her head straight. While she hid there, Madeline took note of a?folded parchment which was on the ground near her. Bending down, she picked it up and opened the letter to read what was inside it.

    ''Sir Wilmot,

    I have spread the word to thedy and others. The rumour has already leaked about the girl trying tomit suicide, and people are questioning the King''s action and behaviour. I have heard that someone has even gone to put in a word to Lady Petronelle. This will bring in more light on the King''s rule. I still have a day more before I will be going back to the castle. I will find you more information. Your servant.''

    Wilmot?

    Making her way out, Madeline didn''t dawdle around the dungeon, and her feet traced back in the way she hade here. Madeline''s eyebrows deepened by thinking what was going on with James. For a moment, she didn''t know if she had fallen asleep, and if she was sleepwalking in her dream. James was a human. She knew the man.

    What happened to him?!

    Turning around in the direction she hade, she looked at the dungeon which she could still see from where she was. She ced her hand on her forehead and huffed for air before running her hand through her hair.

    Madeline could feel her heart beating loudly, and she took ten seconds to breath in and out, calming herself before she reached the King''s quarters. Removing her shoes and holding it in her hands, she padded on the marble floor.

    On her way, she took a glimpse at Calhoun''s room to see the lights were not lit. It seemed that he had not returned yet. She had taken as little time as possible during her visit to the dungeon.

    Entering her room, Madeline turned and closed the doors.

    Madeline tried to adjust her eyes to the lighting as the candles had been blown out. The little light continued toe from the firece, and she started to move towards the dressing table when she heard,

    "Your bed is cold," spoke a voice in the room that had her eyes go wide in fear. Nervously, she turned around, gulping softly to see a shadow on her bed as if someoneid down there. The man who had been lying down sat up emerging out from the shadows where he had been waiting for her.

    Calhoun was here.

    Madeline felt a nervous chill run down the back of her spine, seeing the shadow move. It was from the same ce where she had ced pillows earlier.

    "What are you doing here?" she asked, trying to even her voice when Calhoun''s feet touched the ground and he pushed himself up to start walking towards her. His handsome features looked darker than usual because of theck of light in the room.

    "I came to meet you," Calhoun tilted his head, "Where did you go?"

    "I went out for a walk," came the quick reply that had him smile, a smile that scared Madeline.

    Madeline took a step back when he came close to her. But that didn''t stop him from cornering her, and her back hit the wall behind her. She told herself not to be scared. She hadn''t done anything wrong by going to the dungeon. Would he consider her taking a stroll in the night as a lie?

    Calhoun raised his hand towards her face, and she closed her eyes, scared. She shuddered when his fingers trail down from her temple and her jaw and neck. Her blonde hair had been let down because of the pin she had used to pick on the lock.

    "In the middle of the night?" Calhoun''s voicecked surprise, and this made Madeline worry that he knew.

 Chapter 271 Tip toes- Part 5

    <h4>271 Tip toes- Part 5</h4>

    "Did you go to meet him...my sweet girl?"

    He knew.

    Calhoun''s hand moved to pet her head, waiting for her reply. When he didn''t receive one, the same hand that had been weaving through her hair, gently tugged her hair from behind, "Are you not going to speak?"

    "I-I didn''t know if h-he was there," Madeline blurted when she felt Calhoun''s bite of jealousy through his hand. Seeing him look at her like this, she felt her mouth turn dry, and she gulped.

    "But you had a doubt. Did he call for you?" While one hand of his was on her hair, another snaked around her waist, pulling her towards him. "I thought you finally forgot about him and started to ept me. Why did you go to him?" Every word that came from Calhoun''s lips was filled with jealousy and his hold around her body alerted Madeline when it tightened,

    "Am I never going to have your heart?" his eyes red down at her.

    "I heard his voice when I was walking by. I just wanted to see," Madeline had never been on the receiving end of Calhoun''s ire, "I didn''t mean to upset you," she whispered.

    Calhoun leaned forward, taking a sniff, and he gritted his teeth with his eyes ring like mes that would burn anything, "Did he touch you?"

    It was not intentional! She was even about to move when it happened! Madeline screamed it in her head, knowing her reasoning would not be epted by Calhoun. "I can exin what happened there, Cal-" Her words were cut short as Calhoun tugged her hair down to have her head pulled back.

    Calhoun covered her lips with his. His lips moved roughly against hers, biting and sucking it every now and then. His hand let go of her hair, and both his hands came to settle on the sides of her neck, holding her face as his thumb lifting her chin.

    "I won''t give you to him," growled Calhoun between the kiss, biting into her lip and making her wince as the bite was not gentle, "You are mine."

    Madeline wanted to exin to him that nothing happened, but it looked like he didn''t want to hear anything about it.

    Calhoun''s hands that were on the sides of her neck moved towards her shoulders and then down towards her waist. But before reaching there, his hands stopped midway, and he used his fingers to brush her breasts, eliciting muffled moans from her covered lips as he

    continued to kiss her. His tongue pushed and rubbed her tongue, his teeth nipping her lips.

    Madeline couldn''t fight it. Not because Calhoun was stronger than her, but because of his jealousy and his behaviour where he slipped out of control, it did something to her.

    "Did you know James is-" As it wasn''t the answer Calhoun wanted to hear from Madeline, he cut in her words, interrupting her,

    "Looks like you haven''t understood my question, Maddie," Calhoun asked through his gritted teeth. This is what love did. Intoxicating a person like there was nothing better than it. Calhoun was not willing to give her heart to anyone, "You''re going to meet him again?" he pushed his leg between her legs, pressing it.

    "Let me exin!" Madeline didn''t do anything. Huffing for air with the sensation which she tried to resist, it only urged Calhoun to punish her more.

    "Okay, let''s do this," Calhoun said, "You said you went to walk."

    "I did! I didn''t say I didn''t visit the dungeon!" Madeline spoke quickly, "I told you I would exin. Let me step away. I cannot talk like this." With all the things that were going on, Madeline didn''t know if it was because of her age, but her body was too swift to obey Calhoun''s words and actions.

    "No," Calhoun refused, "Tell me why you reek of him. Why see him? Do you still like him?"

    Madeline shook her head.

    How did Calhoun expect her to answer when he was trying to rile her body? This was not fair! The fire in the firece burned brighter, and the candles that she had blown, started to light up, turning the room bright once again. Meeting his eyes, Madeline noticed something dark and dangerous lurking in his eyes.

    "I want words, Madeline," Calhoun demanded from her.

    "No, I don''t," she replied, a small moan escaping from her lips when he rubbed her sensitive part, "I don''t like him like that. I don''t see him that way, Calhoun. I only went there because I was curious. H-he ced his hand on my chee-AHH!" Madeline had ced her hands on Calhoun''s thigh, her body feeling weak with desire, "You cannot do this to get answers from me," she red back at Calhoun.

    "I will see what punishment gets the best results," he replied, and one of his hands tipped her chin up. His finger slowly ran across her lips. Feeling her words were sincere, Calhoun finally let go of Madeline and stepped away from her.

    "What has James turned into?" asked Madeline, "Did you do something to him?"

    "The thing I would love to do is kill him off right now for touching you. No, I didn''t," said Calhoun turning away from her, "For some odd reason he has turned to a werewolf. A feral creature that will kill anything. He came looking for me, and we found him to be in the shape he is in right now."

    Madeline continued to press her body against the wall, and she asked, "Why?"

    "To kill me."

 Chapter 272 With you- Part 1

    <h4>272 With you- Part 1</h4>

    "How does one turn to a werewolf?" Madeline asked Calhoun. He turned around to meet her eyes, not replying to her question immediately.

    "He got bitten," Calhoun moved from his ce, and walked towards the sink. Pulling out his handkerchief, he soaked it in water, "Change your clothes," he ordered. With Madeline smelling like the dungeon and reeking like a werewolf, it irritated him. It annoyed him that James had dared to touch what was his. The only reason he wasn''t on his way to the dungeon to break the man''s limbs was that he wanted to hear what Madeline wanted to say.

    His anger had not simmered down, and it was still at the top of the roof.

    Madeline was surprised as to why Calhoun was asking her to change her clothes when she had already changed thrice today, and this was her fourth dress, "Why?" she questioned him.

    When Calhoun turned to face her, his eyes and the expression on his face had hardened. "Would you prefer I unbutton it for you or will you do it yourself?" His words didn''t leave room for discussion, and Madeline sighed. It was just changing clothes, thought Madeline to herself, and she took herself to walk towards the closet and pull out the dress.

    Calhoun had turned back again towards the sink and Madeline decided to change her clothes where she stood right now rather than going behind the room divider where Calhoun stood. Keeping the door of the closet open, half of her body was covered. But the closet wasn''t enough to hide her as Calhoun didn''t stay where he was and he came towards her.

    Madeline was still unbuttoning her dress when Calhoun stepped in front of her. His expression hadn''t changed much, and he still had a slight look of disappointment in his eyes as she had gone to meet James Heathcliff in the dungeon.

    To her surprise, Calhoun raised his hand that held the handkerchief, and he used it on her face to wipe her skin to remove the trace of James.

    "I can go and wash my face," she protested, but this only resulted in Calhoun wiping her lips so that she would stop talking.

    While Calhoun''s hand worked on her face by wiping her skin at the possible ces James had touched her, so that he could get rid of the man''s scent that was irking him, his eyes were set on Madeline''s brown eyes.

    "But James was never a werewolf. Was he?" Madeline asked with a deep frown on her face. James and his father had shown no such signs, and the family had been normal.

    Calhoun''s eyes trailed down to see the front buttons of Madeline''s dress to be open. Her smooth pale skin letting his eyes to devour it, "He was bitten yesterday. He is a recently turned werewolf. The cemetery caretaker told me that a bunch of werewolves arrived out of nowhere and one of them bit him."

    "Are you going to kill him?" Madeline didn''t know what was going on in Calhoun''s mind, not realizing that the more curious she was about another man, the more jealous Calhoun turned out to be.

    The handkerchief that was on her cheek where Calhoun had been wiping her skin, it trailed down to her neck and then between the valley of her breasts. She shivered feeling the wet and cold cloth.

    "Let me be kind enough to tell you that I don''t like the tailorman. Every time you speak about him, it makes me want to torture him," Calhoun''s eyes red.

    Madeline softly gulped, "How will I know if you won''t tell me," thest two words turned to whisper when he slid the handkerchief further down that took time to slip past her breasts.

    "If I wanted to kill him, I would have done it to him a long time ago, Madeline. You should know that, tch," Calhoun could see her shiver, subtle goosebumps forming on her skin under the glow of the candlelights in the room, "I am keeping him alive, but he came here in the intention to kill me. What do you expect me to do, my sweet girl?"

    "Did you ask him why?" she asked, her mind and body trying to concentrate on his words but they were drifting back to his touch.

    "Why? I think we both know the answer to it now, don''t we?" Calhoun tilted his head to the side and then pulled the handkerchief to drop it on the floor. "There''s this sweet girl who everyone wants. James wants her too, but I have no ns to give her to anyone. She''s mine. Mine to love, to care, to touch and to breathe," he said to her.

    Staring into Calhoun''s eyes felt like she was drowning in them, "But he''s marrying Catherine."

    "I know, darling. The man appears to be quite an indecisive one," Calhoun shook his head, "Though I doubt there will be a wedding."

    "Because he''s a werewolf," Madeline whispered to hear Calhoun hum.

    Without warning, Calhoun pulled her towards him. Leaning down, his lips went straight to the side of her breasts near the valley, and he bit into her skin. Madeline''s skin was soft and tender. This part of her was covered in her fragrance.

    "Calhoun!" Madeline''s hand went on his shoulders, her nails digging in there while he sucked her skin. Calhoun had not bitten her with his fangs, but the movement of his teeth and lips were enough to stir her, "We need to talk," came her shuddered words.

    Calhoun wanted to wait, but his control was slipping through his fingers like sand being held in a tight grip. He had been holding himself back over and over again, but he didn''t know for how long he would be able to keep up with it.

    Madeline had too many questions and things to discuss, but Calhoun was always ready to catch and hold her in his arms. Her knees felt weak, and she didn''t know for how long she would be able to stand. His tongue trailed where he had been sucking on her breast before blowing air that felt colder than the wet handkerchief he had used on her.

    Who knew that jealousy could turn to something like this, thought Madeline to herself. The pleasure felt sinful and torturously sweet on her body.

    Calhoun had not let go of her, and he went back to sucking the skin on her breast, which was not exposedpletely as only the middle buttons at the front of her dress had been opened. He brought in feelings she had never felt before. Each experience she felt was given by Calhoun, who was her first and possibly thest with the way he was possessive about her. When he sucked harder, it brought out a moan. Madeline was sure that it was going to leave a bruise on her chest.

    "Something happened to my back," she quickly said, and this was enough to catch Calhoun''s attention.

    His head moved near-up from the valley of her breasts, up her neck and to hover in front of her face, "What happened?" he questioned.

    "There are bruises on my back," Madeline was still trying to catch her breath, and her breath fell on Calhoun''s lips, and he resisted from kissing her. His eyes suddenly narrowed.

    "Was it the werewolf? What did he do?" Calhoun asked before saying, "I need to see it," and he quickly turned her around.

    "No! It wasn''t James. Wait, let me wear another dress!" came Madeline''s startled voice, but Calhouncked patience when it came to knowing what was going on with her and in his absence.

    "That won''t be necessary," and Calhoun ran his finger that had a sharp nail on the back of her dress. In an instant, the fabric tore, and the sleeves fell off her shoulders. Madeline''s eyes turned wide, and she used both her hands to stop the dress from falling in the front as if Calhoun had not sucked her breast a few seconds ago.

    Calhoun brought the candles closer to her back, taking note of the bruises that were on her skin, "When did this happen?" he demanded.

    "It was somewhere in the noon I think when I was in the high tower of the castle," answered Madeline. Her hair had been pushed to one side over her shoulder by Calhoun so that he could have a better look. Then she felt Calhoun''s finger touch her bareback, possibly tracing the discoloured skin, "I felt pain, and I came back to the room, to see what happened when I noticed it in the mirror."

    "Does it hurt?" Calhoun asked, pressing the skin, and she shook her head.

    "No."

 Chapter 273 With you- Part 2

    <h4>273 With you- Part 2</h4>

    Calhoun''s hand had not left her back, and his fingers continued to trace every inch and corner of her back, looking at the bruises that had formed.

    "Let me go and get something for it," he offered, and Madeline was quick to refuse.

    "It will go away in a few days. I get bruises sometimes. It goes by itself," she said to him.

    Calhoun didn''t listen to her, and instead, he took her to the bed.

    "Lay down on the bed. You have been tending it by yourself, but I am here now," he said, walking away somewhere in the room while Madeline decided to listen to him. As she looked back at the way things were, it had changed. She would have never guessed that Calhoun could be this gentle and caring. Maybe he was always like this, but at the same time, it didn''t mean he had changed in his overbearing manner. There were now things that she could only share with him, trust to share without being lied to too much.

    "Did you ever have bruises like this before?" she heard Calhoun ask her from across the room.

    "I don''t remember if it happened before. I would have remembered," Madeline replied to his question whileying down on the bed with her head on the pillow, "What do you think is wrong with me?" she asked.

    With every day that was going by, she felt less and less normal. It made her feel alone.

    "Nothing," Calhoun responded to her, who had arrived at the side of the bed. He sat down, "Nothing is wrong with you. Maybe you are just trying to be you."

    "It is hard," she whispered with a tinge of sadness in her voice, "Toe to realize that you are not you but someone else."

    Madeline was a sheltered girl. Maybe more sheltered than her sister, Elizabeth was the one who was outgoing while she had stayed back in the shadows. She was used to having her family supporting her, loving her and being there but now...she didn''t know if she could rely on them anymore.

    Some part of her was scared, scared about the future that was approaching in her direction.

    "You can change to whatever you want, Maddie. If you want to stay the way you are, no one would question you," said Calhoun behind her.

    "Is it that simple?"

    "No," came Calhoun''s straight answer, "Nothing is simple in life. But somewhere along the line you will learn to ignore and pick things that only matter. What is it that worries you?" he asked her.

    "Everything." It felt like every day was bringing a new problem, and there was no solution. One thing over another, toppling like binds of parchments on the desk.

    He had never seen a condition like this before which was why he had no answer to what was happening with Madeline. "If you go through it one by one, it will not only help solve things but also ease your mind."

    "Is that what you are doing now?" she asked him.

    "It is what I have always done. However, there have been times when I have sticked my hand in different situations, but I have always pulled through it. Don''t worry about yourself, I have your back," said Calhoun and Madeline couldn''t help but turn her head around to look at him.

    She didn''t know if she should feel bad or sad, or maybe happy that there was still one person who she could rely on. When did her life turn upside down? Madeline asked herself. Turning her head back, she let her chin rest on the pillow so that she could stare at the headboard while Calhoun''s hand moved across her back.

    "How did you get into the dungeon?" asked Calhoun in a curious tone. The guards near the castle and the gates were much more diligent when it came to work. It seemed like he would need to rece the entire staff.

    "I threw stones. At the bushes," Madeline replied to him, sincerely. She doubted she would be able to do it one more time. Therefore, she didn''t see a point to hide what she did.

    "All you could have done was ask the guards," Calhoun stated casually.

    "They would let me in?" She was surprised hearing this. Would it have worked?

    Calhoun said, "They would bring you to Theodore or me." So it wouldn''t. She shook her head. Somewhere between Calhoun rubbing her back, Madeline realized he hadn''t stopped, and continued doing it. When his hands slipped to the corners of her dress, moving near her waist, Madeline''s hands turned to fist, and she lowered her eyes from the headboard.

    Madeline wanted to ask about James, but she didn''t want to upset Calhoun again. But with him here, she didn''t see why she should not ask.

    "He lost his father."

    "Who?" Madeline asked, wondering who Calhoun was speaking about.

    "James. I heard from the caretaker who helped him to bury his father yesterday. It was a natural death," hearing this news from Calhoun, Madeline didn''t know what to say. "He med me. That I was the reason why his father died and how he is being forced to marry Catherine."

    Why was James putting the me on Calhoun?

    Wasn''t it him, who had agreed to marry Lady Catherine?

    "Is it okay for me to speak to him tomorrow?" Madeline asked, wanting to meet James when he was back to his human form. With the presence of the sun, James would not turn to a werewolf, and it would be safe to talk.

    "What do you want to speak to him about?" She could sense the apprehensive tone in Calhoun''s words. Even the pressure of his fingers increased before it turned gentle. He moved his hand from below the nape of her neck to run straight down until her lower back.

    The first time when she had entered the room where James was tied, she had questioned why Calhoun had gone so far as to tie James'' hands and legs with shackles that was connected to the walls. Now she understood it was because James was a werewolf.

    "He lost his father...I would like to��" Madeline didn''t know how to continue her words with Calhoun''s fingers that pressed her skin.

    "I will be paying him a visit tomorrow. You can apany me there," Calhoun didn''t want to leave both of them alone. It was a mystery how Madeline had even opened the lock to James'' room in the dungeon.

    Madeline felt bad for James. He had lost his mother long ago, and now he lost his father. She remembered James telling her he was going to die. If Calhoun was not going to kill him, was it because he was a werewolf and the transformation would kill him? It was possible, thought Madeline to herself.

    "Did you find what happened in the vige? Who killed the person?" Madeline inquired.

    "Yes, I did. But I am still trying to get some more proof," replied Calhoun, "James'' name will be cleared." To Calhoun, James was an obstacle that had been hard to remove because Madeline had been too stuck with the idea that James was the man for her. But the game had changed. James might not die due to execution because of the murder, but he couldn''t guarantee James would be alive because of the werewolf blood coursing through his veins that could affect his life.

    "I see," murmured Madeline.

    "You said you wanted to say something to me," Calhoun recollected, and Madeline pursed her lips.

    "Do you remember the girl we went to meet? My friend Jennine," Madeline asked him.

    "What about her?"

    "I think something bad happened to her. I don''t think it was a vampire who killed her." When Madeline uttered those words, Calhoun''s hand stopped and rested on her skin, making her feel his touch as he ced both his palms, "I dreamt of something this morning. I don''t know if it was just my mind that made up the story or if it is true."

    Calhoun questioned, "What makes you feel it is real?"

    "I don''t know...Some things were disturbing," Madeline found it hard to speak because her memory of her dream wasn''t as fresh as it was when she woke up. There were parts of it which she remembered, like figments that she was holding tight on to so that they wouldn''t disappear. "My family was there, back in the vige where my grandparents live. Do you know...my parents don''t visit the vige often. It is usually Beth and me who go there. Not that my parents have a bad rtionship with my paternal grandparents."

    "So I have gathered. Did you find out why they don''t visit the vige anymore?" Calhoun inquired.

    "I don''t think my parents will answer my questions."

    "I have a better way to get answers, of course not the method I use on you but the one I use on others. It is very effective." Hearing this, Madeline immediately turned and got up, her hands holding the front of her dress.

    "You said you wouldn''t harm my parents. You promised," she looked at him anxiously.

    Calhoun smiled. His hand moved to push the piece of her hair behind her ear, tucking it to say, "Which is why we still have no answers to it." Torture would be the easiest way to get answers, but Calhoun was well aware of how much Madeline loved and cared for her family.

    "What if I say that there might be a possibility that I have killed someone in the past?" Madeline questioned him, keeping her eyes on him.

    "Then I would say it is a wonderful news," one side of his lips pulled up, and he leaned over to drop a kiss on her bare shoulder. He then said,

    "I have had a fair share of kills which you are already aware of. Who am I to judge you over it? I would still look at you the same way I am looking at you right now."

 Chapter 274 Black sheep- Part 1

    <h4>274 ck sheep- Part 1</h4>

    She didn''t know what hour of the night it was and if they were in the hour of midnight.

    "Tell me about your dream," Calhoun coaxed her, his fingers trailed on her back where the bruises had formed. He had taken the liberty to move his hands where the bruises were not formed, touching and tracing her soft skin

    In the morning after breakfast, Calhoun had asked her about it, but she had told him that she would tell to him once he returned to the castle.

    "I was in the vige. The one where my grandparents live right now. I visited one of the graveyards that are present in there," started Madeline, cing one side of her cheek on the surface of the pillow while looking at the firece, "I don''t know if it happened in the past. I am unsure, but��" she paused for a moment before continuing, "I saw a grave there which had my name on it."

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, and he asked, "Did you see what was in there?" He got up from the bed and picked out the dress which she had earlier taken from the closet.

    "It was empty. I thought I wouldn''t be able to open the coffin lid, but I did, and there was nothing in there. I don''t know if it was real or not," she replied. Thinking about the grave that was awaiting her, Madeline didn''t know how to feel about it. Her loving family had a grave prepared in her name, ready to make use of it. "There was another coffin next to mine, one that belonged to a girl. And the way they spoke, it made it feel like I was responsible for her death."

    Calhoun was more than intrigued by Madeline''s words. A dream was the depiction of what one worried and felt about. Figment of imagination mixing with reality to bring in dreams that weighed on one''s mind. But this was a strange one.

    "Have you ever been to that grave before?" inquired Calhoun, walking back to her holding the dress in his hand.

    "I think when I was small, Beth and I entered it. It must be several years ago."

    Hearing Calhoun return near the bed, Madeline sat up again while having her hand hold the front of her dress. He had torn the back of her dress effortlessly, and she had earlier opened some of the buttons in the front, leaving most of her skin exposed on her upper body.

    Calhoun then said, "Stand on the ground, sweet girl."

    "Okay," he took a step away, giving her space to stand in front of him. Calhoun didn''t see the point of it because he would still be able to see her. But if it was going to make her less shy, then so be it.

    Madeline waited for Calhoun to close his eyes and she wondered how he would help her to wear the dress. She was capable of wearing it herself.

    Calhoun bent down near the hem of her dress, bunching it, he said, "Raise your hands." He pushed the dress she was wearing upwards with his eyes closed. Madeline did what he asked, and the dress quickly came off because of theck of resistance. Having her this close and in this vulnerable state, all he wanted was to keep skin contact with her. He had been counting the days to the wedding while trying to keep his enemies at bay, "Continue with your dream."

    Madeline didn''t know how well she would be able to concentrate on what she was supposed to say because right now, she stood there wearing only her undergarment. Her eyes didn''t leave Calhoun''s face, making sure he had his eyes closed. Her hands had moved to cover her breasts.

    "In the dream, my grandfather said to my father to move out and away from the vige. To start a fresh life and I didn''t see Beth." There was a sliver of nervousness in Madeline''s voice as she spoke.

    Deciding to wear the dress herself, she turned, and her hand went to reach out for the dress which Calhoun had ced earlier on the bed. But Calhoun''s hand was the one to shoot from behind and grab it before her.

    Her eyes snapped to look at Calhoun, who had opened his eyes. Madeline''s face turned bright red, and she quickly tried to grab something to cover her body with her back facing him. But at the same time, Calhoun''s hands moved on either side of her body to pull and hold her in his arms.

    "Y-you lied!" Madelineined, "Let me go."

    "If I do now, I will see more than what you want me to. Consider it me keeping you safe," Calhoun whispered the words next to her ear. Madeline didn''t know how it was safe! He never missed an opportunity to touch her and having her in his arms. She couldn''t move her hands because she was covering her chest while Calhoun''s hands were still around her. "My apologies, sweet. It is hard to keep my head straight when I haven''t had you. Stay like this for some time. I promise not to look more than what I have now."

    Madeline turned her face to take a look at him and noticed he had indeed closed his eyes.

    "Would you like to go and visit your grandparents tonight?" he asked her.

    Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. She wasn''t sure she would be able to look at them without having doubt that they would do something to her, that they were hiding something.

    "No," Madeline replied.

    "How about the infamous grave from your dream?" Calhoun''s hands tightened around her waist, but the hold didn''t hurt her. He ced his chin on her bare shoulder.

    "Okay," replied Madeline, her face still holding embarrassment. Before she could ask him to release her, Calhoun said,

    "I will let you wear your dress," and he pressed his lips on her neck before letting her go.

    Madeline didn''t wait for a second, and she started to wear the dress which she took from Calhoun. Buttoning her dress and making it proper, she finally felt relieved that she was covered. She closed her eyes at the thought that Calhoun had seen her from behind. Though he had caught and seen most of her, he had notmented on what he saw, and she was d.

    Turning around in her pale beige looking dress that wasn''t heavy without having too manyyers, she stood in front of Calhoun who looked straight into her eyes. Madeline waited for him toment on something, but thement never came. The way he looked at her, it wasn''t as daunting as the first time her eyes had met his eyes.

    She would have never thought that the silver masked man who was walking past her would be this kind of person. Madeline had never aspired for things that were out of her reach because it looked impractical. She had never imagined having someone as handsome as Calhoun standing next to her.

    "We can go tomorrow morning if you want," Calhoun offered as it waste. He didn''t want her staying up without having the needed sleep. The bruises were fresh, which was why the colour wasn''t dark yet. But if it had formed, it meant it had hurt Madeline when she received it.

    "Now is fine. Someone might let them know we were there if we go in the morning," Madeline knew Calhoun didn''t fear anyone. But at the same time, she didn''t know what she was or what her grandparents were.

    Madeline watched Calhoun saunter his way to the stand in the room and pick up a coat. Helping her into it, he asked,

    "What did you mean when you said you didn''t see your sister? Did something happen to her?"

    "I don''t think she was born at that time." Hearing Madeline''s words, Calhoun raised one of his eyebrows.

    "I thought the tales of the royal families were interesting, butpared to them, yours is turning to be the most intriguing one," stated Calhoun. Hearing the words ''Royal Families'', she remembered something, and she quickly picked the dress from the ground and started to look for the pockets before pulling the folded parchment out of it. "What is that?" he asked curiously.

    Madeline stretched her hand towards him, "It is from your cousin."

    "And which one is that? I didn''t know you were close to them," joked Calhoun to take the parchment from her hand to read what was in there.

    Madeline watched the expression on Calhoun''s face that didn''t change until he finished reading it. A smile spread across his lips,

    "Where did you find this?" he questioned, his eyes looking at her with an amused expression.

    "In the dungeon, when I went to see James," replied Madeline. Calhoun went through the letter one more time, "The girl that is mentioned in there. Is that me?"

    Calhoun gave her a nod, "Yes. A rumour was spilt from the castle into the towns and viges. Of how I am torturing and keeping you like an animal. Of how I am abusing the power that has driven your sanity to kill yourself. This is a very useful parchment."

    He wondered how Markus had been reckless enough to leave the parchment back in the dungeon. There was a saying in the vige from where he came from beforeing to stay in the castle: When a person''s luck ran out, that person did foolish things only to bring more trouble to his life. It was a sign. Calhoun had alreadyid traps, and if the Wilmot''s were trying to frame him, he would flip the me back to them. He folded the parchment and put it in his pocket.

    Just like he thought, Markus was snooping along with the others where their noses didn''t belong.

    "They are using me to bring you down," Madeline stated in realization, "What will happen if Beth marries him?"

    "I think you already know the answer to it."

    A sigh escaped her lips. She didn''t want Beth to be brainwashed by the sight of the money.

 Chapter 275 Black sheep- Part 2

    <h4>275 ck sheep- Part 2</h4>

    Madeline hoped her sister would change her attitude. Thest thing she needed was Beth listening to what Markus would say.

    "Come with me, darling," Calhoun gave his hand, and Madeline ced her hand in his, following him outside. His ck feathered wings didn''t waste time in spreading themselves out.

    This was maybe the fourth or fifth time Madeline was seeing Calhoun''s ck wings, and she continued to stay entranced by its appearance. The night was much calmer and quieter as they travelled from the castle to where her grandparents lived. It was the fastest transport, and maybe one of her favourites thought Madeline to herself.

    Reaching the vige, Calhoun let Madeline down on the ground for her to stand while retreating his wings back like they were never there. From where they stood in the forest, the vige looked deserted, and nonterns were burning outside the houses.

    "How many graveyards are there here?" Calhoun questioned, his red eyes moving to look in the dark, making sure no one was around, and it was just them.

    "I think three of them, but there''s one more which has been closed for years. I don''t remember when it wasst opened," replied Madeline, listening to the crickets chirp in the bushes and trees.

    "Lead the way to the cemetery that is closed," said Calhoun, cing his hand on Madeline''s back before they started to walk out of the forest. The night right now felt nothing less to the dream she had dreamt about. It felt like it was only yesterday that she was here, following to find her family.

    Her memory over the old cemetery was very faint, but there were figments in her mind that she still remembered. After Beth mentioned their time where they had stepped in the cemetery, it felt like some parts of her memory hade alive, which had been forgotten.

    Reaching the front of the old graveyard, Madeline looked up to see the arch that connected the two pirs of the gates to hold the name of the graveyard. Carnival''s local cemetery.

    "This is the one," Madeline let Calhoun know. She felt her feet turn cold, her body not ready to step inside at the possibility of what she might see.

    Noticing Madeline''s hesitation, Calhoun walked forward and touched the lock that was tied around the gates with chains. Normal graveyards were often left unattended and open, but this one seemed unique, thought Calhoun in his mind. Seeing how the lock didn''t open upon his touch or sight, he turned back to Madeline.

    "Do you believe in ghosts, Calhoun?" asked Madeline in a whisper.

    "If there''s death, then there''s a ghost," he answered unfazed by the sound that wasing from the graveyard.

    Madeline had hoped that Calhoun would say no, but he said he believed in them. "A ghost doesn''t have to be about a dead personing to haunt. A ghost is a memory that haunts a person, that lives within people and objects. Come," he said.

    In her dream, this ce was less eerie, unlike how it felt right now. With the gates locked, Calhoun pushed Madeline to climb up the gates, and she got down on the other side before Calhoun joined her too, his jump smoother than hers. Madeline didn''t remember where the little girl or her grave was present. Therefore, both she and Calhoun went in search of it. The fog on the ground continued to stay while they parted ways to find the grave.

    The sound that came from the cemetery continued to stay eerie. Some of the tombstones looked broken, and some continued to stay strong. The odd thing was that even though this ce was closed and no one came here, there were some graves that looked new and unbroken. She wondered why it was so.

    Madeline wondered where it was. Stopping her feet, she made a turn from where she stood, trying to recollect what she saw in her dream. After some time, she started to head in a certain direction before stopping in front of a grave that had nts and dried creepers covering the grave from top to bottom.

    Calhoun followed Madeline and noticed how she stood right in front of a grave, staring at it. Coming to stand next to her, he found the grave to be hidden because of the dried nts. He ced one hand in front of her, pushing her behind so that she would take a step away from it. Bringing his other hand up to his side, he snapped his fingers. In an instant, the dried leaves and creepers caught fire. All the nts that were around the grave burned to add smoke to the already present fog.

    Within a minute, the grave was cleared, and Madeline took a deep breath as her eyes went to read the name on it.

    "Looks like your family likes to n beforehand," Calhounmented, his words sarcastic and he went to the upper side of the coffin. Pushing the lid aside, he noticed it was empty. Madeline continued to stare at the name, as reality slowly started to sink in her mind.

    She came to realize that what she dreamt was indeed true.

    Calhoun then bent down, sticking his head inside the coffin for a few seconds before pulling away, "Looks like you have slept here."

    "What do you mean?" questioned Madeline.

    "The inside of the coffin has a faint scent of you," responded Calhoun, who next put his hand inside the coffin to touch the surface of the cemented coffin, "When dead bodies are buried, they leave a foul smell. And these coffins that are built in here, they have the ability to enclose and keep the smell of the dead inside them even if many yearse to pass by. You said your parents left the vige?"

    Madeline nodded her head, "It is what I heard grandpa say to father. To leave and start afresh."

    Calhoun gave some thought over what Madeline said before his eyes fell on her. Her eyebrows had drawn together, and she had a look of worry maring her face. Madeline was not a vampire to be residing in the coffin. He heard her speak,

    "I killed the girl who rests in this one," she said walking to the next coffin. "I was small, but I had blood on my hands. I saw the blood, and it belonged to someone. I am not sure if it is her or someone else. I don''t know how many times I have killed people."

    Calhoun left the coffin to stand near her, "You might have lost control. If your family thought you were bad, they would have killed you."

    Madeline shook her head, "I heard them propose to kill me. The only reason they didn''t kill me was to not to attract any attention," her voice broke in the end, "Also...I think they were scared that I would do something."

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, hearing this. The grandparent''s he had met were willing to kill her? By Madeline''s words, it appeared that she was destructive, but he needed to know why she would have killed someone for no reason. Every action had a motive, a reason.

    By the scent that came from inside the coffin, it was apparent that Madeline had rested in the coffin for at least a minimum of one year in the past.

    "And," she continued, "I think they know because of the ss breaking in front of them."

    "I believe something like this has happened in the past?" Madeline nodded to Calhoun''s question. "That doesn''t look like good news. I would like to have some water. Come, let''s go and quench our thirst in your grandparent''s house."

 Chapter 276 Black sheep- Part 3

    <h4>276 ck sheep- Part 3</h4>

    .

    "I don''t think it''s a good idea," Madeline responded to Calhoun''s suggestion on going to visit her grandparents at this hour of the night. They had appeared to be far from wanting a vampire in the vige, much less in their house. They wouldn''t take it too kindly, and Madeline was worried for herself also because she didn''t know what she was or what they were.

    "Nothing will happen. I won''t let them put you in the coffin box again," Calhoun promised her.

    The thought itself terrified her. In her dream, her grandfather said he would be taking care of the situation and her, sleeping in the coffin was thest thing that had crossed her mind. A shiver ran down her spine by thinking she once slept in here.

    Madeline could only decipher that maybe this was why her sister Beth didn''t remember about their childhood together. How long had she slept in the coffin, locked and alone, leaving her with the dead? She gulped.

    "I am confused, Calhoun. Beth told me that a vampire killed our friend. The one west visited when we were here, and the girl in my dream was the same girl," she said to Calhoun.

    Madeline knelt in front of the grave which didn''t belong to her but the person''s grave which her family had opened in her dream. Pulling out her handkerchief, she wiped the mud which was on the name. The name on the grave read ''In loving memory of Anne Jane. Beloved daughter and sister''.

    "Her name is not Jennine. Do you think it is possible for two people to share the same face?" questioned Madeline to Calhoun who stood behind her.

    "Possible. Most of the people have the same build with minor changes. To have the same features of those who exist or who have passed away. The probability is higher if it is in the same family," Calhoun answered her, "Your grandparents have the answers. It would only make it easy to go and ask them instead of spending our time in here."

    Madeline turned her head from where she was sitting, "But they hate vampires. And maybe me too. I am the ck sheep in the family, possibly in their kind," she sighed. Thinking about going back to the coffin increased her anxiousness, and she shuddered. How could they put her there?

    Getting up, Madeline decided to walk with Calhoun to her grandparent''s house. When they reached the house, Madeline wondered how her grandparents would react to them, who were standing in front of their porch in the middle of the night. As much as her grandparents looked like they wanted to get rid of her in her dream, in reality, they had always been kind to her. She bit her bottom lip to see Calhoun raise his hand and knock on the door.

    On the third knock, where the door didn''t open, both Madeline and Calhoun shared looks with each other.

    "Rubbish. Older people sleep even less than a vampire. Either they don''t want to invite us in or," Calhoun paused, cing his hand on the knob of the door and turning it around to open the lock. Madeline''s eyes widened. "Have I mentioned before how much I enjoy stepping into houses and rooms."

    "You mean breaking into the house like a thief?" Madeline raised her eyebrows to receive a chuckle from Calhoun.

    "What a crude way to put it. We are only making sure your grandparents are doing alright. I am sure you wouldn''t like any ill harm to befall upon them now, would you?" Calhoun whispered to Madeline while making their way inside the quiet and dark house. The firece looked like it had exhausted itself, and Madeline wondered if her grandparents were fast asleep.

    If there was something she believed in right now, it was that Calhoun didn''t want her dead or in the coffin and she was well aware where he wanted her.

    Going to the kitchen and looking around, Madeline returned to meet Calhoun who was sitting in front of the firece which was cold, "They aren''t here," she whispered. The house felt deserted because her grandparents weren''t there.

    "I am aware of that. It looks like the woods in here haven''t been lit for almost two days now," stated Calhoun who held the dusty ashes to let them fall from his hand which for a second turned red before joining back with the rest of the ashes. "I wonder if they decided toe to visit the castle. But then both you and I are aware that it doesn''t take two days to travel. Unless now they were eaten by a werewolf or decided to take a detour."

    "A possible detour," murmured Madeline. Turning away, she looked at the objects in the living room. She doubted her grandparents were dead. Only if she knew what they were, she would know what she was. Wondering if she could find something in the house, she started to go through various things by pulling out drawers and cupboards.

    When Madeline came to stand in the room which was locked in her dream, she couldn''t make herself move from there. The scene repeated in front of her eyes where her father left the house, and her grandmother locked the door.

    Calhoun touched her arm, bringing her back to the present and to the darkness of the room, "Do you think you will be able to recollect anything of the time before you were put in the coffin?"

    Madeline had tried it yesterday, but she couldn''t recollect any of her memories. Lately, after the suspicious behaviour of her parents, she came to wonder if her family had suppressed her memories and thoughts.

    "I think there''s a way to remember it," Madeline proposed to have Calhoun tilt his head.

    "I am listening," Calhoun''s eyes didn''t look away from Madeline.

    "Long time ago, during one of Beth and my stay here with my grandparents, my grandmother used to tell us a few things. Beth called it to be a madwoman''s words."

    "Your sister doesn''t like them?" questioned Calhoun. He gave her a look before going to take a look at the tes that had been ced out as if to decorate the upper side of the firece.

    "I think it is because my grandparents showered more attention on me than her. I thought it was because I was more polite," she gave him an awkward smile, "But now that I think about it, it must be because of what I am. Grandmother used to say these strangest things. Sometimes they were things that was nothing less than a night of Hallow. She spoke about fairies and witches. udron."

    Madeline remembered Beth''s words about how she was stealing things away from her.

    She also questioned if Beth knew what she was. It had turned out so hard to trust anybody now. Coming back to the present, she said, "One of the things grandma said was to walk over the memory if you felt you lost something and you were looking for it. Do you think if I go back in the coffin, I would remember things?"

    "Would you be able to handle it?" questioned Calhoun.

    It wasn''t that he hadn''t thought about it, but not having any light of who she was, he didn''t know what kind of reaction the coffin would produce. Her grandparents had gone far enough to ce her in there, and it was possible that Madeline''s very soul was vtile.

    "I think it''s an easier way to get an answer from than torturing and threatening people," she replied, giving Calhoun a look because she knew it was possible that he would do anything to get to the bottom of it. Even if they did something to her, her grandparents and her parents were still her family.

    "Alright. Let''s see if you get an answer. If you don''t, we take my way. Deal?" Calhoun asked her.

    Madeline pursed her lips. Not that she wasn''t scared, but it was still worth giving it a shot. Looking at the house one more time, they stepped out and went back to the graveyard where her grave waited for her.

    Calhoun pushed the lid of the cemented grave so that Madeline would be able to get inside there andy down. She had never thought to lie in a coffin, not at least before the time of her death, and it felt strange. Taking a deep breath, she removed her shoes and got inside it. Adjusting herself andying down where the open coffin was able to amodate her.

    Madeline heard Calhoun say, "I will give you ten minutes, but that is all. We don''t know what''s happening with you, as you still appear to be a human. Theck of air might suffocate and kill you. Ten minutes, Madeline," he warned her, and she gave him a nod.

    She didn''t know if she would be able tost more than two minutes in there. She was nervous, and her palms felt mmy, "I am ready," she said, and Calhoun gave a look before pushing the lid back to its ce.

    The light reduced as the lid was pushed back until Madeline could not see anything. Surrounded by darkness, she could hear her breathing, and the closed space made her anxious.

    Calhoun pulled out the pocket watch from his vest, looking at the time and waiting for Madeline to find out what she could.

 Chapter 277 Black sheep- Part 4

    <h4>277 ck sheep- Part 4</h4>

    Her ability of sight had been taken away, and she was all alone in here. cing her hand on the ceiling of the coffin she was in, Madeline huffed for air to breathe when she heard voices in her head that were mixed along with screams that belonged to a small girl.

    Madeline didn''t know what happened next as she felt fog filling up in the coffin where she was lying down. The darkness had started to disappear, which was why she was able to see the fog. One moment she was in the coffin and the next, she stood back in her grandparent''s house.

    Looking back and forth, she saw her grandfather standing next to her, holding her wrist, "Did they leave?" he asked her grandmother, who just entered the room.

    "Yes, they left. I gave them a gold coin and told them to meet Mary. Thest time she was here, she said she has a house to spare. They can use the same house, and we''ll know about their whereabouts," answered her grandmother.

    For a while, Madeline thought her grandfather was holding her hand, but when she took a step away did she realise, he was holding the little girl''s hand and not hers. Taking a few more steps away from them, she saw her younger self.

    "What are we going to do, Eugene?" asked her grandmother, "We cannot keep something so vile in here. It will only attract unnecessary troubles for us."

    "I tried to put her to sleep so that we could ask someone else''s help, but she woke up." The man looked tired as he took the little girl to the bed and made her sit down. The couple moved away from the child, going to the corner whilst looking at the child.

    Madeline noticed the way the couple treated the small girl who had a nk look on her face. Her hands weren''t cleaned, and the blood was still there on her little hands.

    "Who would have thought that we would end up with such bad luck. The High House, the vampires, or the other people aren''t aware of this thing we have in here, Eugene. It would be better to get rid of it," said her grandmother.

    Madeline could hardly believe that this was the same woman who had been doting her all these years along with her sister Beth. She could sense the hatred and displeasure in the atmosphereing from the room. Knowing this was not a dream anymore, but she was looking at things with her eyes open, it hurt knowing this was real.

    "Then this is not the time to wait," came the hushed whisper from her grandmother, "Let''s do this quickly. We have the grave ready. With her parents gone, we can just make a lie."

    Madeline''s eyes widened hearing this, and she snapped to look at her grandparents, who had decided that killing her was the right thing to do. Gone was thepassionate look in their eyes as they looked determined to kill her. Her eyes moved back and forth between them and at her little self who was sitting on the bed, not knowing what was about toe. She tried understanding them by step into their shoes, seeing how they were looking at her younger self as she had killed a girl of her own age.

    She could tell that they looked at her as if she was a monster. But Madeline was very much alive, and she was breathing.

    "Get me the knife. Let''s make it quick and dispose the body before people start to wake up," her grandfather ordered, and her grandmother quicklyplied by bringing not any knife but a butcher''s knife.

    Watching them without batting hershes, Madeline saw her grandfather take hold of the knife and walk towards the little girl who had not moved. They didn''t offer a word of goodbye as her grandfather brought the knife towards the girl''s neck, but before he could slit the girl''s throat, the little girl caught hold of his hand.

    "AHHH!" her grandfather screamed that made Madeline frown and walk to where they were.

    "What happened?!" her grandmother asked distressed,ing to stand right behind her husband, "Your hand! It''s bleeding! Give me the knife, let me do it."

    But before they could bring harm to the small girl, she raised both her hands that sent the couple flying across the room to hit against the wall. Her grandfather coughed blood, "She''s too powerful to kill. She will kill us, Gemma, don''t go near her!" warned her grandfather.

    "Madeline, our dear child," her grandfather coaxed, "We are not here to harm you. We only want to protect you," he spoke to the little girl who stood up and had gone to the corner of the room, "Come here to grandpa." But Madeline''s small self didn''t listen to him.

    When her grandfather went near her again, the little girl used her hands again, and he coughed more blood on the ground.

    "What are we going to do?!" her grandmother panicked, "At this rate, we will end up dead in her hands. How do we stop her?"

    "Most of them who turned out like this were forced to sleep because of the inability to kill them." He then dropped the knife down on the ground, while keeping his eyes on his granddaughter. "Madeline, look at this. I dropped the knife. No one is going to harm you. No one."

    Her grandparents moved near her younger self, moving one step at a time, before hugging the girl. It was evident that the little girl had sensed the threat, and she wed her grandfather, wanting to escape, but he didn''t let go of her.

    The man whispered something incoherent in the girl''s ears, and it took a while before she finally fell asleep, "She won''t be asleep for long. Quick!"

    And the couple left the house in the middle of the night, making their way to the ''Carnival''s Local Cemetery.'' Madeline followed them in the dark and saw them push the coffin lid without touching it. cing the little girl inside it, both her grandparents started to close the coffin lid. But as they had expected, the girl had woken up.

    "Grandpa?! Grandma?!!!" the little girls'' voice echoed through the gap of the lid which hadn''t closed the cemented coffin entirely, "Help!!!" The little girl cried, but her grandparents turned a deaf ear over it.

    "People are going to question us. What if someone opens it?" asked her grandmother, standing beside her husband where both of them stared at the cemented coffin from where screams continued to erupt.

    Her grandfather had a severe expression on his face. "I will do something to get this ce closed so that no one enters in here. Or maybe cover this grave so that no one finds out about it."

    Her grandmother nodded, exhaling air out of her mouth.

    "Rest in peace, Madeline. With all that screaming, she will be tired soon, and slowly die," stated her grandmother withck of emotion in her voice.

    One minute Madeline was standing next to the coffin, and the next minute she was inside it. Even though it was supposed to be dark, she was still able to see the insides of the coffin.

    She noticed the little scratches on the ceiling of the coffin. Her fingertips trailed on it, bringing out memories of the screams that continued to ring in her head. Loneliness and pain consumed her. With darkness surrounding her once again, Madeline felt the air in the coffin deplete, and she screamed. Her hands banged the ceiling and it was immediately pushed open.

    Calhoun pulled Madeline out of the coffin, bringing her down when he heard her hands banging on the wall of the coffin. The poor thing was shivering like a kitten, and he continued to hold her, gently rocking her.

    "Sshh," Calhoun hushed her as she clung to him, "There''s no one to hurt you," he whispered, running his hand over the back of her head to calm her racing heart.

    "It''s okay," he said to her, "I won''t let anyone put you back in there."

    Madeline held on to Calhoun as she felt the darkness continue to linger in her heart. She parted her lips to speak, "They put me there in the intention to kill me so that I would nevere back," and she continued, "I couldn''t find the answer of what I am."

    "That''s alright. Even a piece of information to the past is useful," Calhoun brushed her hair with his hand, "You are more aware of the people around you. That counts for something."

    "I hurt them too," whispered Madeline, pulling away from his embrace to meet his eyes.

    "They must have deserved it," he replied, and without letting her out of his arms, he stood up with his wings spreading out.

    Calhoun had agreed to go through her approach of finding the truth, but she appeared to be rattled. It was time he used his own methods, even if it meant that Madeline wouldn''t like it.

 Chapter 278 An old tale- Part 1

    <h4>278 An old tale- Part 1</h4>

    .

    When morning arrived, Madeline woke up by the sound of the birds chirping outside the window of her room. Her head felt slightly heavy because of theck of sleep she had.

    "Sleep some more," she heard Calhoun''s voice beside her, and she turned her head to see him lying on one side of his body, watching her.

    The previous night, after both of them, had visited the Carnival''s vige and the cemetery, they had returned to the castle. Madeline couldn''t remember when they reached the room or when she fell asleep on the bed. Thest thing she witnessed and experienced had left her mind shaken.

    Madeline felt Calhoun ce his hand on her cheek, caressing it, "Close your eyes, Madeline," he whispered the words to her, and like magic, her eyes turned heavy to shut close again.

    Calhoun watched her drift to sleep, her body lulling and sinking into the mattress beneath her, while heid next to her. Since the time they had returned, he hadn''t left the room. His eyes slowly trailed down to their interlocked fingers and he didn''t move it, not wanting to wake her up. Madeline had not noticed that she was holding his hand as if not wanting him to leave her alone.

    When he had heard her screaming in the coffin, he had pushed the lid as fast he could. But her scream somewhere still haunted at the back of his mind. The thought about her being in trouble kept Calhoun alert.

    He wanted to go and confront her parents, to get answers from them even if it meant torturing them right now.

    It didn''t matter to him if she killed people, he had done it too, and it thrilled him knowing there was something within her. Whatever she was, the old couple were scared and worried about her��worried that she would kill someone else again.

    After a few minutes, her hold on him turned loose, and Calhoun got out of the bed. Pulling the nket to cover her, he tucked her carefully before leaning forward and kissing the side of her head without waking her up.

    Hearing footsteps outside the room, Calhoun went to the door and opened it to find Elizabeth Harris standing outside the door.

    "Madel-Oh!" Beth quickly bowed her head and greeted the King, "Good morning, my King." Her eyes slightly widened at the fact that Calhoun hade out of her sister''s room with messy hair and his shirt hanging loose as the strings on the front of his shirt had not been tied, allowing one to see the taut muscles.

    "Morning to you, Miss Elizabeth," he greeted the human before pulling the doors that belonged to Madeline''s room, "What brings you here this early in the morning?" he questioned.

    Calhoun, who was staring at Beth with his red eyes, said, "I never left the room toe here early." He offered the girl a smile of his own and didn''t stop there, "Madeline had a very busy night, until the time of past midnight. Let her sleep."

    The King''s words insinuated another meaning and Beth blushed at his words. For a few seconds, she couldn''t meet his eyes, but at the same time, Beth couldn''t believe that her innocent sister was drawing the King with methods like these.

    "Of course, my Lord!" she obliged to his words while wondering if she should leave right now.

    Calhoun asked, "Where are your parents, Miss Harris?"

    Beth raised her brows slightly, "I saw them in the parlour room. They must be having early tea."

    "Would you be kind enough to apany me there?" came the sugar-coated words from the King, and it brightened Beth''s mood. The King knew the way to the parlour, after all, this was his castle, but he was asking for herpany.

    "I would dly," she obliged, bowing her head one more time with a smile, she started to walk with Calhoun next to her.

    Beth had taken extra care to look and make herself pretty. Having enough sleep and then wearing the dress which she had taken from her sister''s closet. Her hair was prettily done, and she dabbed rose water on her neck, to make her smell good. Did the King perhaps take note of her improvised version? Beth asked herself. She possessed the ability to adapt to any ce.

    "Miss Harris, the dress you are wearing��" Calhoun paused for a second, "Is it Madeline''s dress?"

    Beth had not expected such a direct question, "Um, yes, milord."

    "Hm," was his only response. Considering the number of dresses that were stacked in the closet of Madeline''s room, Beth had thought no one would notice it. "If you want to have new clothes, I can tell the tailor to get your measurements than you wearing clothes that belong to Madeline. I touched her in one of the rooms when she was wearing this dress."

    The girl''s eyes turned wide, and she didn''t dare to look at Calhoun. This dress? Was that why he remembered? Suddenly Beth started to feel ufortable.

    "Else I will drop a word to Markus. I am sure he would love to dress you up. Especially taking in how much he is smitten by your presence. Hm?" Calhoun turned to look at Beth, and the girl couldn''t refuse to meet his gaze, giving him an awkward smile while the King gave a broad smile.

    Was the King displeased that she had borrowed Madeline''s clothes and was indirectly telling her to change? But her sister had so many of them, and Beth didn''t think it would matter. Right now, all she wanted to do was go back to her room and change her dress.

    Beth was ready to leave when she heard the King indulge her with another question, "You should take care of your hand, Miss Harris." She noticed how he didn''t address her as ''Lady Elizabeth'' right now as if she didn''t belong here in the castle but in the vige.

    "It is healing quickly now. And Madeline is more important than the little wound,"ughed Beth, "Back when Madeline was home, I used to be the one tob and tie her hair. Even dress her up as we don''t have maids," and it was true. To think that there was a time when Beth liked Madeline but didn''t now as much as before, she could only me Madeline for that.

    "What a wonderful sisterhood you both share,"plimented Calhoun and Beth took thepliment, "My wolf must have yfully bitten you without meaning any ill."

    Beth found it hard to ept when she remembered the pain of her muscle being pulled and pushed in her hand. "They are lovely wolves," they were the worst, thought Beth in her mind.

    "Indeed, they are. If they were not yful, they would have torn a person''s wrist off the person''s hand. That is if they find the person to be disrespecting the people who the wolves care," Calhoun chimed with the smile that didn''t fall from his lips. "As you are going to be my sister-inw, I would be sad if something like that happens to you. How would you write letters to your sister or others? I must say, you have beautiful handwriting," he added.

    Beth had not expected the conversation to steer in this direction. She felt nervous about where the King was getting at, "Madeline and I learned to write at our aunt Mary''s house. She was the one to educate us."

    "So I have heard. Is this aunt of yours going to attend the wedding?" questioned Calhoun.

    "Yes, I heard mother speak about it. Aunt Mary has been invited," she quickly answered the King.

    Calhoun gave her a small nod and then said, "I would like you to write another letter and invite her toe to join your family. It would be a shame to miss family members during this good time. I miss my family members. Only if they were alive, but then I tell myself they are always in here," he ced his hand on his heart.

    Both of them had stepped out of the King''s quarters, and Calhoun halted his footsteps. Beth stopped walking too, and she heard the King say,

    "You can go write the letter and give it to Theodore, who will send it out."

    "I think Aunt Mary would pack her trunks sooner if she received it from Madeline," Beth joked. She was toozy to write a letter right now when she could use the same time in looking for Markus and try to wrap him around her finger.

    "Does your aunt favour Madeline more than you?" Calhoun gave a look of pity to her, "I believe your words can be convincing just the way you wrote the letter and handed it to Mr. Heathcliff. I will leave it in your capable hands," saying this, he went on his way to hear Beth''s heart rate increase out of fear.

    Beth''s face turned pale over Calhoun''s words as she stared at his back walking away from her.

 Chapter 279 An old tale- Part 2

    <h4>279 An old tale- Part 2</h4>

    On his arrival in the room, everyone stood up to bow, "Good morning to the King," Lady Rosamund greeted.

    "Morning. It is good to see everyone up and early today," he offered everyone a smile that turned the humans nervous as they were not used to seeing a person smile like the way the King did.

    Lady Rosamund replied to this, "Markus arranged a hunting session for everyone''s amusement today. It took a lot of time to make Mr. and Mrs. Harris agree to join us as they are new to it."

    Calhoun''s gaze shifted to his inws, and they bowed their heads, "Lady Rosamund said it would be more recreational than sitting in the castle," said Mr. Harris.

    "Yes, it is one form of recreation for us. Have you ever gone on hunting before, Mr. Harris?" questioned Calhoun.

    "No, my Lord. My wife and my family members never have," answered the human.

    "Not even your parents?" Calhoun continued to inquire. Though the man''s heart didn''t skip or change its beat, Calhoun saw Mr. Harris'' eyes subtly widened before the man offered a smile and shook his head. "What a shame. I am sure you will enjoy your time. Hopefully, we don''t have arrows flying likest time." His eyes then went to meet Sophie, who didn''t utter a word.

    Both Mr. and Mrs. Harris appeared worried over Calhoun''s words. Not hunting but about Mr. Harris'' parents interest in hunting. They brushed it away, thinking it was nothing of grave importance and the King was only asking to elicit a response out of them.

    "Do not worry, I will be with Sophie this time to make sure nothing like that happens," Lady Rosamund assured, and Calhoun gave them a nod.

    "I hope everyone enjoys it and bring me back some good meat."

    "Will you not be joining us?" Lady Rosamund raised her eyebrow.

    "Madeline and I will be here in the castle. There are some dresses that need to be stitched for her and I wouldn''t like to dy it," Calhoun offered them a charming smile. Calhoun would have apanied them, but with the grandparents who might be on their way, Calhoun wanted to have a word with them while Madeline''s parents could breathe some fresh air. He would have cared enough to join them, but with them hiding Madeline''s past and what was going on, he believed they deserved a little bit of time with his aunt.

    When the time arrived, the Wilmot''s and the Harris'' family left for hunting while Madeline, Calhoun, and Lucy stayed back. The vampiress had not joined them because shecked the mood and zeal for it.

    Calhoun, who sat next to Madeline on the couch, said, "She caught her husband cheating on her. With the maid." Madeline instantly frowned.

    "Why not send him away from here?" The man didn''t deserve Lucy, "The maid knows they are married."

    "Hm, she did. It is why her body will be left to rot in the dungeon for indulging with someone she was not supposed to," Calhoun answered with not a drop of emotion in his voice, "It is Lucy''s decision. If she wants to stay with him or not. Since the time she was small, she never got a chance to choose and do things ording to her wishes. She''s still trying to wrap her mind ande in terms with the shock."

    "When did this happen?" Madeline asked in a whisper.

    "Since the time she went quiet. The day before she skipped breakfast with everyone," Calhoun took a sip from the crystal ss he held in his hand, "The man is a swine, but I have left it to Lucy on what she wants to do."

    Madeline wondered how it felt, to see the man around who you believed, only to break the heart and trust. People often let others down when it came to the minimum expectations, thought Madeline to herself, just like her grandparents and her family.

    "What about Theodore?" asked Madeline, and this had Calhoun turn his head to look at her.

    "What about him?" Calhoun asked as if he had no idea what Madeline meant before a smile cracked on his lips, "Who knows what''s going on. Lucy is still upset with him, and I think she has the right to be."

    "You don''t think Theodore is right for her?"

    "It is hard to say who is right or wrong for someone, sweet," he turned towards her, bringing one leg up to rest on the couch while the other stayed on the ground. "When Theodore and I entered the castle, people didn''t take our presence too kindly. I was someone important but not at the same time. Theodore was a nobody. Lucy might be the only one apart from my father, who weed us in here. If Lucy and I shared the rtion we now have, maybe I would not have let Theodore mingle with her. But we both came here for our own benefit."

    Calhoun continued, "We never know who is right and who is wrong. Once upon a time, you couldn''t bear my presence around you. Your family believed that I was not suitable but as things changed, so did the thoughts. Don''t you agree?"

    He did have a point, thought Madeline to herself.

    "Everything changes with circumstances," said Calhoun, "I can tell by the look in your eyes."

    Madeline stared back into his red eyes and asked, "And what look is that?"

    A smile broke on his lips, "I would like to hear that from you." Calhoun was waiting for her to utter those words of confirmation that she solely belonged to him, and it was he who held her heart. He took another sip from his ss whilst his eyes didn''t break away from her. Giving her something to think and bite into, he said, "I can hear your heart race when we are alone as if you remember the things we did on the bed and behind the closed doors. I can see the hint of blush even in the darkness as your cheeks turn warm under my slightest touch and words. I can hear the hitch in your heart. The trust you are building with me, and it makes me extremely pleased."

    Madeline parted her lips, her lips trembling over the words that filled her ears before she said, "I have no one to trust and believe. As much as I love my parents, I am still hurt that they tried to hide and left me behind."

    "I can tell," replied Calhoun, "I asked your sister to drop a letter to your dear Aunt Mary. I thought it would be a good family reunion."

    "She''s innocent," Madeline voiced her opinion.

    "I will decide that when I am done interrogating," Calhoun responded, his hand gently swirling thest two sips of the wine in the ss. He wanted answers, but at the same time he didn''t want to rush things. It was possible that Madeline''s parents only knew what she did and not what happened. For now, he was going to keep Madeline close to him so that there wouldn''t be an opportunity for anyone to hurt her.

    At the same time, he wanted to make sure nothing bad would happen by her hands. If Madeline was truly destructive, he would need to prevent it.

    Calhoun liked spending time with Madeline. He loved every second of it, and it felt nice to have both his and her family out of the castle while they could spend time with each other like this. Thanks to her family who had been lying to her and also her grandparents, who tried to kill her, it had brought Madeline closer to him. She trusted him, and Calhoun basked in it.

    "I want to show you something," she said to him, her hand reaching for his ss and he handed it to her. Curious as to what she wanted to show him.

    Madeline took a deep breath, and when she exhaled, the ss started to form cracks within itself, spreading around and ready to break into pieces. But suddenly the lines disappeared, leaving the crystal as it was before she touched it.

    "What an interesting ability you have in there. And here I was worried that I would have to rece all the sses and tes to make sure you wouldn''t hurt yourself,"mented Calhoun, "Do you remember the card reader?" he asked.

    Madeline nodded her head, "Raphael." The man she thought to be Calhoun''s brother but only to find out it was just by words.

    "Yes him. He told me something interesting that day. That you were the opposite of what we are. Or I would like to think of what I am as you are paired with me," stated Calhoun taking the ss from her hand and cing it on the side table, "Do you know the answer to it?"

    "A witch?" asked Madeline. Though witches were not well known and she had never met one, she had heard rumours about them, "A werewolf?"

    "It would be a problem if you are a werewolf, but you aren''t one," replied Calhoun, "You said your grandmother told stories about fairies and witches, and I think she wasn''t too far away from the line of truth. Do you know how vampires came into existence?"

    Madeline shook her head.

    "My mother once told me this story. A story about demons who came from under the ground and turned to vampires to sustain their lives. The humans already existed on thend but there was another set of creatures who fell from the sky." While lying next to Madeline, Calhoun had spent his time thinking about the possibilities when he remembered this story. "Not fairies but some angels who were cursed to lead lives like the humans."

    Madeline frowned, "Angels are supposed to be in heavens. It cannot be true."

    Calhoun let his head be supported by his hand, "Your back says another story. The way your bruises are formed, it looks like arched curves. I found it rather strange the way the bruises were spread. Of course, this can be confirmed only through your grandparents."

    Calhoun then turned to look at the door, staring at it and Madeline followed his line of sight when they heard a knock on the door.

    "My King, there are guests awaiting you in the front room of the entrance," came the servant''s voice.

    "Who is it?" questioned Calhoun.

    "They said they are Lady Madeline''s rtives."

    Calhoun stood up and turned to Madeline who stared back at him, "The culprits are here who put you in the coffin," he said, and for the first time, Madeline felt nervous to meet her grandparents.

    Leaving the room, they made their way to where Madeline''s grandparents were. Before they could enter the room, Calhoun''s hand slipped into Madeline''s hand, holding it. It made her wonder if he could hear her beating heart that was ready to explode.

    When Madeline entered the room, it wasn''t Calhoun but her who squeezed his hand on seeing her grandparents sitting in the room. The memories of what she saw came rushing back to her. Noticing the door open, her grandparents'' attention fell on them, and they stood.

    "Madeline," her grandmother greeted, and Madeline tried to muster a smile. Both her grandparents looked at the King before their eyes fell on their granddaughter''s hand that was being held by the vampire.

 Chapter 280 Consequences- Part 1

    <h4>280 Consequences- Part 1</h4>

    "Is there a reason why you are keeping our granddaughter away from us, my Lord," Madeline''s grandfather questioned Calhoun, who was not pleased with the little action that took ce in front of them.

    "There''s more than one, but I don''t think I have to exin it when you are already aware of it," Calhoun offered them a smile, "You should be careful of what you speak."

    "We don''t know what you are speaking about. You should already know we are not someone who wee vampires with open arms. King or not, we can still take our granddaughter away from you," said Madeline''s grandfather.

    "And I am guessing that you would be achieving it by putting her in the coffin? Or is it me?" Calhoun retorted back.

    Noticing how her grandparents looked startled and taken aback that the King knew. Madeline didn''t forget the way her grandfather held the knife against her throat, ready to slit it. When she and Calhoun were making their way down here, she hadn''t guessed that Calhoun would be diving right at the start to get to the bottom of the situation without waiting for an opportunity.

    "I don''t know what you are speaking about," her grandmother tilted her head to the side and raised her eyebrows. She then shifted her gaze to look at Madeline, "Do you know what he is saying?" Her grandmother then turned to Calhoun, "If this is one of your ploys to tear away our granddaughter from our family, you are sorely mistaken that we will allow it."

    "That''s right. We have already heard about what you did to her. Forcing her to stay away from her family and us. It doesn''t look good on the King''s part," stated her grandfather who raised his hand as if quietly asking Calhoun to release Madeline''s hand so that she could greet them, "We thought this was the time to spend time with the family."

    Calhoun''s smile broadened on his lips, "I would very much like to think so, but I doubt that is why you are here."

    "Why do y-" her grandmother started only to be interrupted by Madeline.

    "Why did you do that?" she asked her grandparents.

    Now that she was aware of what took ce years ago, she wanted to know what exactly was going on and what they were hiding from her. Her grandparents looked more shocked, their eyes narrowing down as her grandmother asked,

    "What are you talking about, dearie?" her grandmother''s voice was sweet and kind, the one she was used to and not the one which she had witnessedst night.

    Calhoun finally released her hand which was around his, giving her the space she needed.

    "It''s rubbish! I don''t know what has gotten to you and what you are saying now. Do you hear yourself speak?" her grandmotherughed.

    Calhoun rolled his eyes at the woman, "Why don''t we all sit down unless you have the n to stand the entire time?" he proposed and without waiting for anyone, Calhoun took a seat on the plush couch who was followed by the others.

    "Has this vampire brainwashed you? This is why we don''t allow the filthy vampires to mix with our family and people-"

    "That''s enough, grandma," Madeline''s voice came out to be distant, "I saw what you did to me. I saw what grandpa did to me. Why did you put me in the coffin?" She repeated her question, "Do mama and papa know what you did?"

    Before her grandmother could utter another word, her grandfather raised his hand, "Gemma."

    "It must be very convenient to push the me on vampires for the deeds and actions which are ountable for. Are you feeling ashamed that the truth is finally out?" Calhoun questioned without filtering his words which he didn''t see the need to do as hecked any empathy for the family who had left Madeline in the coffin.

    The only reason he hadn''t dragged them to the dungeon was because he wanted to hear what they knew about Madeline.

    "We did it because we had to. We were only protecting our families," the truth came out from her grandfather''s mouth and Madeline who had taken a seat next to Calhoun felt her hands hold each other tightly.

    Now that she had the confirmation of what had happened, she didn''t know how to react to it. Her grandfather didn''t appear to be guilty for what he did. There was not a hint of regret in his voice, and it broke Madeline''s heart.

    "Are you descendant of the angels?" Calhoun hit straight at the nail making her grandmother looked extremely ufortable.

    "Yes, we are. It seems like you know about our existence. If you do, then you should also know that Madeline cannot stay here," said her grandfather, "Our apologies but you cannot marry her as she needs to return to the coffin."

    "Tough luck with that," Calhounmented, "Why? Because she killed a girl?"

    Senior Mr. and Mrs. Harris'' face hardened by Calhoun''s words, "You don''t understand what she is capable of. It will benefit all of us if she dies because her body is turning back to its previous form and soon there will be nothing but blood."

    A shuddered breath escaped from Madeline''s lips. She was d that she was sitting and not standing right now, "Why would you do that. I am like all of you," said Madeline to her grandfather, "I am your granddaughter."

    "That''s why I took the responsibility to put you in your grave. I would prefer you in the coffin than go rampant and destroy everything which will cause our kind''s destruction," the tone her grandfather used had changed and so did the look in his eyes. He looked at her simr to how he did when he looked at vampires. Her grandfather then said, "Many years ago, our ancestors fell from the sky, losing many of their abilities and only a few were able to retain it.?Because of one angel''s fault, they were punished. We have been living like the humans, but some go bad, just like the one who caused disruption, turning to the dark side."

    "What does that have anything to do with me?" Madeline asked, "I was a child when you put me in the coffin to sleep."

    "Sleep?" her grandfather turned his gaze away, "We hoped it would put you to rest for good. Because it worked for other''s, but we didn''t expect you to wake up."

    Calhoun murmured, "Wake up?"

    "Our methods might be harsh, but we did what we thought was right. You killed not one but an entire family," her grandfather gritted his teeth as he said this, "Do you know what you are capable of? You are just like a walking destructive weapon."

    "There must have been a reason why that happened," Madeline tried to reason, her eyebrows furrowing. She refused to believe that she had hurt someone. "I saw what you did to the girl. Jennine. How can she die twice? I saw it in my eyes and Beth remembers it too-"

    "Beth knows nothing about it," her grandmother cut in, "And we would prefer that you don''t taint her with the darkness that resides in your heart." All these years, Madeline believed that she was a dotted granddaughter, but the truth finally came out that it was because she held vtile abilities.

    Her grandmother continued, "We wanted to kill you for what you did. Once an angel turns to the dark side, they never returns to their normal self. It is an irreversible process."

    "Madeline was small that time. How can someone so small turn to the dark side?" Calhoun was trying to understand and get answers from the old couple because they were the ones who held the key of answers and not Madeline''s parents.

    Even Madeline was curious to know about it. For someone who was scared of lizards and spiders, it was hard for her to believe that she had killed people before.

    Her grandfather then started, "When an angel falls and turns to a human, there''s a possibility for their heart to change and let darkness enter them. The vige we live in, there are a few of them, the angels. We do not associate with the vampires and other creatures who have their hands and mouth covered in blood."

    "I must say that being an angel doesn''t look good. It makes you angels look like a weakling," Calhounmented without holding back, and Madeline''s grandparents red at him.

    "How dare you talk in such tone!" Madeline saw her grandfather stand up from his seat, raising his hand, he directed it to where Calhoun was. But the King raised his fingers and waved it to the side. Whatever her grandfather had tried to use on Calhoun, to attack him was directed to the wall. A loud sound was heard, and the wall cracked.

    "You should be careful while using those hands of yours. In this old age, it is easy to break your bones," Calhoun''s eyes brightened while the older couple looked at him in shock at how he deflected the attack.

    "Y-you are not a vampire!" eximed the older man, the hate brewing further in his eyes, "You are a demon."

    "No offence, but we all are demons in this room: some who killed, some who want to kill. So tell me what happened to Madeline that she caught the darkness," hummed Calhoun, "As angels, I would think that you have the ability to heal people. Ah, I forgot. You are the fallen one."

    "We don''t know what happened to her! Everything was alright, but one day she went missing for a few hours," Madeline''s grandfather answered, "Me, my wife, and my son and his wife went looking for her only to find her standing in front of the dead bodies. We couldn''t hide the death that took ce, therefore we took the little girl to another grave to create an alibi, to make it look like vampires attacked them."

    "Why?" Calhoun asked, still not understanding the motive, "To save your own ass?" He was pouring oil to the fire, and Madeline''s grandparents continued to re at the vampire who was impudently rude.

    Madeline was in shock that her grandparents possessed some abilities. She now understood how her grandmother was able to keep the room soundproof. An angel''s whispered spell.

    "I chose to protect the others while sacrificing my granddaughter before your so-called High Housees to know about us. They have been tailing for generations, trying to find out more about our kind and use it for their own knowledge."

    "How did Ie out of the grave?" Madeline asked her grandparents, her eyebrows furrowing. Thest thing she remembered was being suffocated in the coffin and not being helped to get out of it. How long was she in there?"

    Her grandfather pursed his lips, "We hoped you wouldn''t return. At least that is the notion we had when we ced you in there. We don''t know how you came to turn to a dark angel. Because we have been protecting you since you were a baby. When Elizabeth was born, we had to take extra precaution to check and make sure that she hadn''t turned to a dark angel. Your parents even thought to return to live in the vige, telling Elizabeth was their only child. It was during the same time you decided to show up, covered in dirt that was umted over the years."

    "How old was Beth then?" Madeline asked, holding her breath.

 Chapter 281 Consequences- Part 2

    <h4>281 Consequences- Part 2</h4>

    Ten years and six...She was in the coffin for sixteen years, and nobody came to see her? Unable to look at them, Madeline looked down at the table that was in the middle.

    "You could have searched for other ways," she whispered.

    "There was no other way, Madeline," said her grandfather, "When your parents visited Carnival''s vige again, thest thing we expected was you showing up at the doorstep. Do you know how much trouble that had caused us. And you woke up yourself, probably opening it yourself."

    "You are ming me for something I had no control of," Madeline raised her head to meet their gaze.

    Her grandfather shook his head.

    "I don''t think everything was peach after that," said Calhoun, gaining the old couple''s attention.

    "No, we had to make up reasons. The worst thing was, during the same time, one of the members of the High House had visited the vige. Of course, we took precautions making sure she wouldn''t kill," answered her grandfather. "But after two years it happened again. Breaking sses, screaming or finding herself in odd ces. We thought maybe staying in the coffin for sixteen years had taken away whatever darkness was in her, but we should have known better. Madeline killed another girl, and this time, it was in front of her sister Elizabeth."

    Madeline sat on the couch ufortably with the way her grandparents looked at her right now and the things they had hidden for years. They looked at her like she was not supposed to exist.

    "Beth said she saw a vampire kill the girl. The girl who shared the same name. Jennine our friend," stated Madeline.

    "We didn''t want Beth to follow your path, so we decided to tamper her memory. It took more than a week to get her to believe that it was a vampire," her grandmother looked like she was tired, with her lips set in a thin line and her eyebrows raised.

    They tried to meddle with Beth''s mind?

    "But that is not all you did. Is it?" Came Calhoun''s voice who was staring at the couple in front of them intensely.

    When her grandparents didn''t respond, Madeline turned anxious. She wasn''t sure if she was ready to hear it, "Did you put me back in the coffin?" Madeline questioned.

    "We did," replied her grandfather, "But we did something else along with it."

    Madeline asked, "What?" The silence in the room felt dreadful.

    "The fallen angels lost most of their powers, and it was just a few basic ones that they possess. But in Madeline''s case, the second time she attacked that girl, she sprouted wings," exined her grandpa, "The wings that were white, were drenched in blood. An angel is not supposed to harm anyone."

    Calhoun was more than interested in seeing the story being unfolded and the way Madeline was asking questions which he needed answers for.

    "We did it for our own protection. To keep your parents safe," replied her grandfather to stand up from his seat, walking towards one of the windows which was kept open for venttion. "We couldn''t keep you like that, with the wings which were soaked with blood. We knew you were going to cause more death, deaths of innocent people. So we sent you to this man named Walter Penhallick. He has been around for some time, dealing with the rare cases of the apples that turn bad."

    "You need to stop saying that if you want you and your wife to continue to stay in one piece," warned Calhoun, not liking the way Madeline''s grandfather was speaking about her like she was the bad one. She was a child, and children knew nothing. "Who knows, she got your genes, maybe the tree was rotten from the very start, and you need to stop ming the apple."

    Senior Mr. Harris'' eyes red in anger, gritting his teeth.

    "What happened with Walter?" Madeline continued to ask her questions.

    "We left you with him to see what could be done. Asking for his help, and he came up with a solution to it. To get rid of your wings that had sprouted." When the old man said this, his back faced them, "He burned the wings."

    Madeline didn''t know what happened next because the information was too much to take in and she was still processing it when Calhoun disappeared from her side of the couch and appeared behind her grandfather.

    In less than a second, when Senior Mr. Harris turned, Calhoun''s hand went straight at the older man''s neck.

    "Calhoun!" Madeline eximed, quickly standing up and went to where they were, and so did her grandmother.

    "Let him go right now!" demanded her grandmother.

    "You have quite some nerve to show up in front of Madeline and behave as if nothing has happened for all these years. Here I have been thinking all these years that the angels are a symbol of purity, but then I see you and see the disgusting fallen angels��correction descendants of fallen angels. As I said, the tree itself is soiled, and you me it on the lone apple," Calhoun red into the man''s eyes.

    "Do you know who I am?" questioned Calhoun, his eyes darkening as they red at Madeline''s grandfather.

    The old man struggled to get away from the vampire''s hold, "You might be a vampire and a demon, but that doesn''t mean you can save her. This is how she will be saved, so we took her wings away from her before putting her back in the coffin. And then after a month, we get a letter from my son that Madeline has returned home. They shielded her from any and everything, from the possible ugliness of this world so that it would not trigger her inherent nature."

    "Calhoun, please," Madeline ced her hands on Calhoun''s hand that continued to choke her grandfather. She wanted more answers from them to know what else she was supposed to be aware of. With the way things looked, Calhoun was going to kill her grandfather.

    "Do you know what it means to destroy one''s wings, Madeline?" Calhoun asked her, wanting to enlighten her. "It tears a piece of your soul from you. It''s the most painful thing, and to burn it..."

    There weren''t many who he came across who had wings, but there was one person--a demon-like vampire, of his kind. He didn''t know how it felt, to have the wings burnt, but he had seen the vampire''s wings being torn out like a bird, blood bleeding out from his back and the vampire''s screams echoed in the back of Calhoun''s mind.

    Her grandparents didn''t care about her. It was right to say that, all they cared about was keeping their families safe, while willingly ready to give up the child who knew nothing about the world. Madeline was small at that time, someone who knew nothing of what she had done.

    "Let him go, or I will put her to sleep this very instant," Madeline heard her grandmother''s voice before noticing she stood behind with her hand raised.

    "Could you be kind enough to borate what you mean when you say sleep in this context?" asked Calhoun, using more force on her grandfather''s neck.

    Out of nowhere, her grandmother pulled out a knife and tried to stab her. Madeline used her hand to stop her grandmother. Madeline was in shock because she had not expected her grandmother to try stabbing her. The expression that had always been kind changed to a vile one. Upon Madeline''s hand''s touch, her grandmother started to stter blood from her mouth.

    "Kill her right now, Gemma!" shouted the old man, leaving burns on Calhoun''s hand as he tried to get rid of the vampire''s hands around his neck.

    This was enough cue for Calhoun to dig his fingernails into the sides of the older man''s neck. Pushing his fingers to catch hold of the bone which was part of the spine. Pulling it out with the front portion of his neck that left the blood sttering out. Raising his free hand, he threw the woman right at the wall who fell on the ground.

    When Madeline turned to see her grandfather, her mouth was left agape, and she staggered back with her handsing up to cover her mouth.

    "I-Is he..."

    Calhoun''s hand released the man, pushing him to the side, and Madeline saw her grandfather fall straight down on the ground with his eyes open. She then looked in her grandmother''s direction,

    "She''s alive," said Calhoun, wiping the spots of blood that fell on his face.

    H-how did this happen...Madeline felt her eyes well up, a small sob escaping from her lips. Her grandfather was dead.

    "I am sorry that the day didn''t go as we expected. But you need to know, any harm that mighte towards you, I will not bat my eyes at it. The first time, they put you in the coffin. The second time, they not only put you in the coffin but also burned the wings which you once possessed. It is either you or them, Madeline. And to me, it is always you," said Calhoun.

    He saw a drop of tear escape from one of her eyes that fell and rolled down her cheek.

    The door to the room opened, and Theodore appeared, "Take both of them to the dungeon. Separate ones," ordered Calhoun. Like many times in the past, Theodore didn''t question what happened and got the guards to fetch the elderly couple, one who was dead and one still alive.

    Madeline didn''t question if Theodore had gone hunting or if he had returned early to the castle. Her mind had gone nk. Her back hit the wall, and she leaned against it, feeling cold.

    She wanted to argue with Calhoun, but she wasn''t deaf. She heard her grandfather order her grandmother to kill her, and they were ready to do it without a hint of remorse in their hearts.

    "Do you want to spend some time alone by yourself?" Calhoun asked, seeing how Madeline was in a state of shock. She nodded her head.

    "I would like to be alone," she didn''t wait for him and walked out of the room to make way to her room. Stepping inside the room, she closed it. Her forehead touched the surface of the door as more tears welled up in her eyes.

    Taking a sharp breath, a hup escaped her lips before more tears spilled down hershes to fall on the ground before she started to cry.

 Chapter 282 Consequences- Part 3

    <h4>282 Consequences- Part 3</h4>

    .

    She stood in front of the door for several minutes, crying and the tears never stopped. With her forehead leaning on the door, she finally pushed herself back. Standing straight, she turned to go to her bed.

    Madeline felt her mind had turned numb as she stared at nothing in particr. It was one thing to be lying to her, and it was another to try to kill her. Was she a bad person? Did she take the lives of the innocents? But that wasn''t all. Her grandfather was dead and would not be returning back. What was she going to say to her family?

    Amid all the things that were going on, when she and Calhoun had gone to visit her grandparents, thest thing she had expected for them was to look at her in disgust, wanting to get rid of her. Climbing up on the bed, sheid down, recollecting the words exchanged between her grandparents, her and Calhoun.

    She had spent sixteen years in the coffin, and her parents never came to visit her? Or did they visit her grave only with the thought that she was dead? The drops of tears continued to slide down one after another, falling on the surface of the bed which absorbed the water and made it wet.

    Madeline didn''t know how much time had passed, her eyes slowly lulled to sleep.

    The next time she woke up, Madeline found herself to be standing in the graveyard. She didn''t want to be here. Thest time Madeline had dreamt, she had gone through the pain of finding the hard truth about what her family had done. She tried to wake herself up, but she couldn''t. Instead, she came to stand in front of a coffin with its lid open, and she saw the person whoid in there was her grandfather.

    With Calhoun who had torn the front portion of her grandfather''s neck, she could see the bones peeking out, and it made her eyebrows furrow.

    Her grandfather suddenly opened his eyes to look at her, making her gasp. "You will die soon, Madeline," he said to her. She took two steps away from the coffin, but that didn''t stop him from getting up and looking at her, "It is because of you that I am dead. You have seen many deaths. Soon you will kill others and will also want to die."

    Madeline told herself this was a dream, and it was just her imagination. Dead people didn''te back. But until now she wasn''t aware of the angels and demons existence.

    "You cannot use me," she whispered to her grandfather, "I didn''t do anything."

    Her grandfather''s neck fell weakly on the right side of his shoulder. "I saw what you did, Madeline. You might want to forget, but this is what happened. You went to the house and killed the family members. Cruel and heartless. Wait until the timees where you will bring nothing but bad luck. Crops will wither, the sky will turn dark."

    "Why me?" asked Madeline, "Beth is a human while I am an angel. Why are we different."

    "Because you were the rotten apple," whispered her grandfather. It broke her heart, thinking that the people she thought cared for her all this while had only despised her existence because they couldn''t kill her.

    Suddenly the scene in front of her changed like a drop of ink that diffused itself in the water. She woke from her dream. Her head felt slightly heavy, and she pushed herself from the bed to notice the room had turned dark. Night had approached. Quickly pushing her hair behind to make it look less messy, she headed out of the room.

    Her grandparents had arrived at the castle during the time of morning. Had she been sleeping since then and nobody hade to wake her up?

    "What hour of the time is it?" Madeline asked the maid who was walking by.

    "It is six in the evening, mdy," the maid bowed her head while answering Madeline. She hadn''t expected to sleep for such a long time.

    "Do you know where the King is?" inquired Madeline, but before the maid could answer her, her mother appeared in the same corridor.

    "There you are, Madeline!" her mother walked towards her and Madeline''s body froze. It felt different being around with any of her family members now, for the things they did. She didn''t know if she had the right to be angry at them or not. In the end, she did grow up around them. "The King said you weren''t feeling well and we should let you rest in room. How are you feeling now?"

    Madeline couldn''t help but try to interpret what the question actually meant.

    Her brown eyes stared at her mother''s ck eyes before giving a nod, "I''m a little tired." By the way, her mother was looking at her she could tell her very own mother was trying to decipher her answer. Wanting to test, Madeline said,

    "I was holding a ss earlier in my hand, and it shattered, mama. I must have held it too tightly." She noticed how her mother''s eyes turned wide.

    "B-break the ss?" her mother stuttered, and gulping the obvious ball of nervousness. "It must be because of the pressure of your hand. Go take some rest if you want. I will let others know. It''s a good thing that your grandparents are attending the wedding. I mean if you fall sick, your grandfather will take care of you."

    So that I could be put in the coffin, thought Madeline to herself. But her grandfather wasn''t alive anymore, and her grandmother was in the dungeon right now. Her parents had always treated her kindly. But so did her grandparents until they showed their true colours. It was turning hard for Madeline when it came to cing her trust in people.

    Madeline put on a smile on her face, "Yes, you are right. Did you see where the King is?"

    "I have no clue dear. The King is never in one ce. Did you have something to speak to him about?" asked her mother.

    "It''s just about the dress that was supposed to be stitched."

    "Oh, yes! Did they hear anything about Mr. Heathcliff? Poor man," her mother shook her head.

    Madeline pursed her lips and then said, "I heard Senior Mr. Heathcliff passed away."

    "Oh no!" eximed her mother.

    "Calhoun is looking into the matter right now. I will ask him about it and let you know," she said. After pausing for a second, Madeline asked, "Mama, can I ask you something?"

    Her mother looked startled, "Anything dear. What is it?"

    Madeline wasn''t sure how to phrase it as she said, "If I were to ask you something, would you tell me the truth?" Her brown eyes stared at her mother, noticing how her mother was quick to oblige by nodding her head.

    "You know I would never lie to you. Is there something you wanted to ask?" Her mother took her to the side of the pir so that they weren''t standing in the middle of the corridor even though there was no one to disturb them.

    "Do you love Beth and me equally?" questioned Madeline.

    She had never asked something like this before because it was an absurd question, but she wanted to know the truth now. Beth was a human unlike her. Her grandparents had imed that she was a killler who was bound to cause destruction.

    Her mother, for a moment, looked nk beforeughing, "What kind of silly question is that? Of course, I love you both equally. A mother never has favourites, it is tough to pick favourites. You both have different nature, but I love you both." Her mother then stepped closer to Madeline, cing her hand on her cheek.

    Madeline remembered her mother sitting on the chair and crying out of shock. Her mother had cried for her, at least that was what she hoped it to be. She didn''t want to be negative, but with her grandmother, who jumped to kill her with a knife, it was hard to not watch over her back.

    Despite all those thoughts that were hovering like dark clouds in her mind, Madeline ced her hand on her mother''s hand that was on her cheek. "Thank you, mama," she whispered. She wanted to believe so that she could keep her sanity, to not to think about how others wanted her dead and back in the coffin.

    "Come here, my child," her mother opened her arms, and Madeline hugged her mother. Letting her chin rest on her mother''s shoulder while putting her hands around her.

    "You ask some strange questions, Maddie. Is it because of the wedding?" she heard her mother ask.

    "It must be," Madeline said with ack of emotion in her voice.

    "Don''t worry. Everything will settle down in time. It is normal to feel stressed in this period of time."

    While Madeline continued to hug her mother, who was still speaking to her, she saw Calhoun step into the corridor. The one person she could look at without doubting. He made his way slowly towards where they stood, and Madeline couldn''t believe how things had turned. There was a time when she didn''t want to see Calhoun, to stay away from him but after epting him by her side, it made the current situation bearable.

    He watched her unblinkingly. Keeping his eyes always on her.

    Hearing the clicking sound of the shoes against the floor, her mother pulled away, turning to see the King make his way,

    "Milord," her mother was the first one to greet him, and Madeline followed next, bowing her head while not breaking her gaze away from him.

    "Hope I am not interrupting the mother-daughter time," Calhoun put a charming smile on his face, and Madeline wondered how he did it. To have a nonchnt expression on one''s face for people to see, regardless of how he felt within.

    "We were just talking about the wedding. I was asking about the wedding dress," said her mother with a small smile that quite didn''t reach up to her eyes.

    "I have told one of my men to check with the assistants regarding the wedding gown. They should bring it by day after tomorrow," responded Calhoun, and her mother quickly nodded.

    "That''s good to hear," her mother stood there for a few more seconds in silence. Calhoun had decided to look at her mother who looked unnerved by his gaze. "Well, I will leave you both and see what Madeline''s father is up to."

    Calhoun continued to smile, watching the woman leave and the smile fell a little from his face. "Did you sleep enough?" he asked Madeline.

    "I fell asleep," she replied, to feel Calhoun''s finger run under her eyes.

    "But you didn''t have good dreams," he noted.

    Madeline asked, "When did everyone return to the castle?"

    "Two hours after you left the room. Nobody knows your grandparents were here and let''s keep it that way. Your parents might be harmless because of theck of ability they hold, but I wouldn''t be too sure when ites to the people they are acquainted with. Not to forget, I asked your sister to send an invitation to your aunt," Calhoun let her know so that she was informed about what was going on.

    "Do you think my aunt is involved in it?" asked Madeline worried.

    "It is better to be cautious, isn''t it? Because you mentioned spending your time with your aunt, and I believe both you girls were sent only after you reached an age of understanding," said Calhoun. "It would have caused too much suspicion if both of you spent your time only with your grandparents."

 Chapter 283 Consequences- Part 4

    <h4>283 Consequences- Part 4</h4>

    "How could they tamper Beth''s memory," Madeline whispered, her eyebrows furrowing, "What if they did the same with me?"

    "Not possible," remarked Calhoun, "If I am not wrong, it is hard to y with an angel''s memory. You are a heavenly being," he chuckled.

    "Earlier you said you were a demon," Madeline had called Calhoun a devil several times in the past in her mind, but she had never thought that he would really turn out to be one.

    Calhoun''s eyes moved behind her, watching the empty corners, "What can I say, it is my grandfather''s gift to me. Something that I discovered before my mother''s death. Angel''s receives their wings sooner than a demon does."

    "Why do you think the bruises are showing up on my back if my wings have been burnt?" It was when she asked the question did she realize how much she missed the opportunity to have something that she didn''t remember seeing.

    "Isn''t that obvious, silly," Calhoun moved his hand around her back and led her away from there. "Not everyone has the ability to regrow them back. Maybe for a normal angel and for a demon, it wouldn''t work, but ording to your grandparents," he paused for a second, "You are a dark angel and that itself gives an opportunity for a change in the body structure."

    He then continued, "Your grandparents wouldn''t have nned toe here and try to kill you again, if they thought you weren''t going to turn back to who you are. The bruises are an indication of what you once had, where it is trying to regrow. Though I don''t think they are big like the demon''s have, the size of wings varies when ites to each demon. The bigger the wings, the powerful the demon."

    Madeline remembered it was from Calhoun''s maternal grandfather, who was a vampire resting in the coffin from where Calhoun received his wings. Considering how the Wilmot''s and the Hawthrone''s family consisted of normal vampires, the genes that Calhoun possessed came from his grandfather. He was a demon.

    "How do you exactly differentiate between vampires and demons?" asked Madeline.

    "Just like how you differentiate between humans and angels: wings and no wings. Abilities and no abilities," came Calhoun''s answer. "Let me show you something," and he led her through the corridors.

    "What is this?"

    Calhoun ced it on the table. The parchments looked old. The sides of it had curled.

    "This is something I retrieved from my mother''s belongings. People have the habit of snooping around a lot, wanting to know what the King does. Therefore, I ced it here in in sight."

    Opening the book, he said, "My mother was an artist. At least that is what she did back in the vige. Though most demons turn to vampires, not all vampires are demons. Like angels, the term of demons has been lost, and they have turned to nothing less to mythical creatures," exined Calhoun, "Things that are rare always hold a certain intrigue. My mother drew some things in here."

    Madeline looked at the drawings of demons who had horns, and some who had wings. "As you see in here, there are different sizes of wings. The one I mentioned earlier, of someone whose wings were torn, he had smaller ones."

    "What do I do from here?" asked Madeline, wanting guidance from him.

    "I have asked Raphael to visit the castle. If he''s still in town, he will drop by for another reading or tea," replied Calhoun.

    "One day my parents and the others wille to know on what happened with my grandparents. On how grandpa died," Madeline said, in a tone of worry.

    "Then they should also know that you were only protecting yourself. Your grandmother has been ced one cell away from mine. I thought it would be good to keep distance between both of them," informed Calhoun, "She will die. You know that right?" he reminded her.

    Calhoun might have been soft when it came to Madeline, but it was only because he wanted to win her over, win her heart and take it for himself. At the same time, it didn''t mean he would treat the others in the same way. Anyone who would think about harming him and her, he wouldy down the trap for them. One was alreadyid and set in motion. The question was, which one was going to take the first dive.

    Madeline didn''t respond to his words. Her grandfather had only ordered, and he was dead. But her grandmother was the one who had tried to kill her. She wondered how bad her luck was, or maybe it was good. When she and Calhoun had gone to visit her grandparents, it was before they left the house did she break the ss in front of them.

    Would her grandparents have tried to kill her off if she had stayed there longer?

    "They didn''t do anything to me thinking I got better," Madeline murmured under her breath.

    "Nothing is wrong with you to get better. You are who you are," stated Calhoun. "They must have thought that you turned dormant as it must be a decade since theyst saw any sign."

    "Do you think Raphael knows the difference between the dark and normal angel?" she asked him.

    "We don''t have to wait for him for that. Your grandmother is still there, cursing us," one side of Calhoun''s lips pulled up, "I would have never guessed your grandparents would turn out that way."

    She didn''t know it either, thought Madeline to herself. It was like her life had turned upside down.

    Madeline doubted her grandmother would speak to them willingly. Calhoun had killed her grandfather, and��

    There were too many things going on around her. Madeline pulled the book closer and turned the parchments herself, to see the illustrations of creatures.

    "It is a wonder how nobody caught her with it,"mented Calhoun, "Things like these, doing something different in this world, is always frowned upon. But I think people were too focussed on her being the King''s mistress and my father was too full of himself to notice it."

    Madeline returned the book back to Calhoun.

    "Who are the High House exactly?" questioned Madeline. She had never heard about them, and they were as good as non-existent until this point, "Grandfather was worried that the angel''s existence would be put under threat if they found out."

    "I believe he meant along the lines that they might feel all angels turn to dark angels. The destructive one''s" corrected Calhoun. "The High House was formed by the approval''s of the Kings, wanting their responsibilities to be lessened and create a better decorum in thesends where we live in. But as time passed, the High House started to exert more power, moving higher in position than the Kings."

    "How often do they visit the castle or the Kingdoms?" Madeline asked curiously, her eyebrows drawn together.

    "Once in every six months. They will be visiting early this time, before our wedding," replied Calhoun while he went to ce the parchments back in the cupboard.

    "To attend the wedding?"

    "No, to meet me. My dear cousin has sent out a message for them toe and see what I am doing with the hostage situation. Not to forget his snooping in the dungeon."

    Madeline turned more worried by this, "What do we do?"

    Calhoun couldn''t help but smile that Madeline used the term ''we'' right now. "There''s nothing to worry. I have got it under control."

    Only time would tell, "What if I end up killing someone?" Madeline didn''t know how it happened, but when her grandmother hade to kill her, her mere touch had led her grandmother to spew blood from her mouth.

    She saw Calhoun offer her a smile, "If you kill someone, I will help you to hide the body." He then walked to where she was,ing to stand in front of her, "I am here now."

    "Thank you, Calhoun," she thanked him.

    The smile on his lips broadened, "Anytime."

 Chapter 284 The Antidote- Part 1

    <h4>284 The Antidote- Part 1</h4>

    Even though her grandparents had tried to kill her in the past and this morning, there was a part of her that was sad. Unlike what her grandparents presumed her to be, Madeline could feel pain. The uncertainty about who she was going to turn to be didn''t disappear, and it weighed on her mind.

    "You should stop thinking about it."

    Madeline turned to look at Calhoun who was walking beside her, not a step forward nor behind, just at the right pace to keep up with her. "He was my grandfather," she whispered.

    "Someone who ordered his wife to kill you right away," stated Calhoun, whose eyes met Madeline''s as they walked down the corridor. "The more you worry, the more it''s going to wear you down. It will make people question your actions, and the decisions that you want to make will be hindered."

    Calhoun knew in what state of mind Madeline was in right now. He didn''t know if she killed someone out of vengeance or self-defence, but it didn''t matter to him. In his eyes, she was that girl who was delicate whom he had first met at the time of Hallow. It was strange how he was attracted to her who was not a human but an angel, someone who her very own family was scared of.

    Madeline was about to question if Calhoun had killed someone who he was close with, before she remembered he had killed his mother. As they continued to walk next to each other, she heard a howling from the other side of the castle grounds.

    Pursing her lips, she asked,

    "Is he forever going to stay like that?"

    "Pitying the tailorman," hummed Calhoun and Madeline bit her lip. "It''s only during the time when the light of the moon falls on the ground," saying this, he halted his footsteps for a second before moving to the side of the corridor, looking up at the sky where the moon was, followed by Madeline.

    "It''s going to be difficult. Is there no cure for it?" The sight of werewolf had scared Madeline, and she had stepped out of the room before James could w her. "How strange," she murmured.

    "Hm?" Calhoun gave her a questioning look.

    Madeline wondered if she should say it out loud as it was something unimportant, but now that the words had already left her mouth and with the way, Calhoun looked at her curiously, she cleared her throat,

    "You cannot be the big bad wolf anymore."

    Calhoun stared at her for two seconds, "That one is a useless wolf in the dungeon. Regardless of me being a vampire, I will still be that. Unless��"

    "Unless?" Madeline prompted.

    When Calhoun and Madeline entered the dining room, their family were settling at the table, taking their seats, and Madeline and Calhoun joined them.

    "You missed a wonderful hunt today, Lady Madeline," Markus was the one to speak to her, "Isn''t that right, Elizabeth?"

    Her sister Beth would not have bothered to answer her if it weren''t for Markus striking a conversation and pulling her into it.

    "Yes, it was one of the hunts I enjoyed the most. The first one being our first hunt together," Beth smiled before going to ce the napkin on herp.

    "It is a pity that the future Queen doesn''t share the same interest as brother Calhoun,"mented Sophie, who had decided to sit in Lucy''s seat as Lucy had arrivedte at the table with her husband, Samuel.

    "I don''t think there''s anypulsion for a Queen to enjoy hunting," Madeline replied to the vampiress who sat right opposite to her at the table.

    Sophie smiled, "Of course, not. There are other things that the Queen can do. Pardon me, but knowing where youe from and hearing Lady Elizabeth''s hobbies, I don''t think it would suit you and maybe you should try to fit in."

    "I think I am fine the way I am," Madeline remarked in a polite tone, "I think after the arrow that was shot at me, it would be best to be careful."

    "A Queen should know how to protect herself than hide-" Sophie''s were interrupted by Calhoun,

    "Are you in a different mood today, Sophie," he asked to have Sophie''s attention move to Calhoun.

    Sophie gave him an innocent smile, "Mood? Lady Madeline is going to be my sister-inw. Wouldn''t it be nice to sharemon interests?" Calhoun''s eyes narrowed at his cousin''s words.

    "That is very sweet of you, Lady Sophie," said Madeline, "To think of spending time together with each other and strengthening our bonds. I enjoy gardening. Pulling out the nts and nting them in a better ce. I am sure you will like it," she suggested.

    "I think it''s settled then," Calhoun who was holding the ss, toasted it towards his cousin.

    "That''s not even a hobby," Sophie scoffed.

    Beth didn''t want to lose this opportunity, and agreed, "Yes, Lady Sophie should try it. It is something Madeline and I used to do."

    Sophie sent a silent re at Beth for trying to dig her grave deeper. Thest thing she wanted was to get her hands dirty with mud and worms. Just thinking about it made her skin crawl. "If you are good at what you do, I think you should take extra lessons when ites to horse riding. We don''t want you falling in the mud."

    Madeline sensed the heated gaze both Sophie and Beth shared with each other. Somewhere she was d knowing that Sophie was not happy with the idea of Beth being her sister-inw, but then Sophie was not happy about her being Calhoun''s wife either. Madeline didn''t like Markus, not after yesterday at least. There was something very ufortable when he looked at her like he was trying to instigate something.

    She still felt sorry for Beth''s memories that were meddled with, not knowing what else her grandparents had done to change her sister.

    "Why are you sitting there today, Sophie?" asked Markus, slightly annoyed by the fact that his sister was back to pushing Elizabeth''s nerves.

    "I wasn''t sure if Lucy was joining us for supper. She has been feeling unwelltely," Sophie replied. She turned to her cousin sister and asked, "Are you feeling better?"

    Madeline''s eyes fell on Lucy, who offered Sophie a kind smile. Her eyes then fell on the cheating husband who was behaving like he did nothing wrong. She didn''t understand how Lucy was able to sit next to him, sharing the same room. Asking about the matter would be intrusive, and she hoped Lucy was alright.

    "My King," Lady Rosamund interjected the childish retorts that were going around at the table. "I was wondering if you will be inviting the neighbouring King''s for the wedding. Also, some of our rtives who would love to wish well to both you and Lady Madeline." The maids had started to bring in the food and ce it on the table.

    "Did they write to you about it?" questioned Calhoun in a casual tone.

    "Oh, no! It has been quite some time since Ist spoke to them," chuckled Lady Rosamund.

    Calhoun then said, "That is a pity," his gaze went to meet Theodore''s who sat on the far end of the table, on the right, "Are there any more spare invitations left?"

    "No, milord. The ones we sent two days ago were thest one''s," Theodore answered promptly.

    "With the card maker who has closed his shop to go to his vige, I guess they can visit some other time or when word reaches them." It was evident in Calhoun''s tone that he was hardly bothered when it came to inviting his rtives, and maybe if the Wilmot''s didn''t live this near, he would not have bothered to invite them either.

    Madeline wondered which other rtives she would be meeting during the time of the wedding who were rted to Calhoun. Though he said his maternal grandfather lived somewhere in the mountains, she questioned if he had ever attempted to meet him. She wondered what kind of person his grandfather was.

    Since how many years was Calhoun''s grandfather hibernating? And whether he hade looking for his daughter? Or maybe his grandson?

    During the time of night it wasn''t easy to sleep. Madeline tossed and turned in her bed thinking over what happened. She had lost a family member, and she couldn''t share the grief over what took ce with her family. Raising her hand in front of her, Madeline stared at her palm. She had hurt her grandmother, and it worried her.

    Pulling her nket closer, she wondered what awaited ahead of her in the future which she was still not aware about. Silently she prayed for the family she had possibly hurt in the past, hoping they would forgive her for her actions.

    The next morning, Calhoun took Madeline to the dungeon, where her grandmother and James were staying right now. It was hard to get rid of the memory when her grandmother''s expression changed when the old woman was about to stab her.

    "The dungeons are safe, and so are the cell rooms," Calhoun let Madeline know after noticing the distressed look on her face. "After the old Queen, and my father and step-mother died, I got a lot of things altered in the dungeon. Anticipating the possible guests I would have. Though I doubt your grandmother possesses any abilities, it would safer to keep her in here for the next few hours."

    Few hours, thought Madeline to herself.

    Making their way through the passage, Calhoun took out the key from his pocket. When they came to stand in front of a locked room. Madeline asked,

    "What about him?"

    As they were standing at the front of the door, Madeline''s words were short. Calhoun didn''t need her to borate that it was her grandfather whom she was speaking about, and he responded,

    "I got him moved to the forest. Do you want to visit?"

    "Maybeter."

    Calhoun opened the lock, pushing the wooden door and stepped inside with her. Madeline saw her grandmother sitting on the ground and staring at the wall. Her lips parted to speak, but she was unable to bring herself to speak.

    "How are you doing, Gemma?" asked Calhoun, dropping the honorifics with Madeline''s grandmother.

    When Madeline''s grandmother turned her head, the old woman red at Calhoun and Madeline, having a scornful look on her face.

    "You killed my husband, and are asking me how I am doing?"

    Calhoun gave a slow nod, "You didn''t expect me to let you kill Madeline, did you?"

    "What if I said, not only will she cause our death but she will also kill you?" questioned Madeline''s grandmother, sending a re at Madeline as if she couldn''t stand her presence.

    Calhoun said, "Have you met your granddaughter or is it the first time you are meeting her now?" he asked the older woman in a sarcastic tone.

    Madeline saw her grandmotherugh, "You don''t know what dark angels are capable of, are you? What we were doing was protecting our kind and our family. Her existence is worse than a demon. Someone of our own kin turning rotten to the very core who wille to kill anything and everything in front of her."

    "She," continued her grandmother, looking at her and it took everything in Madeline to not let the hurt to be seen on her face. "Dark angels are not like us. We were only protecting, but she is nothing but bad luck. A doom."

    "I think the term you are using here is a demon?" Calhoun raised his brows to see the older woman shake her head.

    "What is the difference between the two? Apart from being light and dark?" Madeline finally asked, "You could have helped me instead of trying to kill me."

    "Dark Angels are beyond any help. It is like asking someone to turn an adult into a baby, which is possible only by dying and then reborning again. How dare you stand in front of me after what you did to your very own grandfather?" her grandmother didn''t stop ring at her.

    Madeline wasn''t the one who had killed him, and it was Calhoun. But he had done it for her sake. Taking a deep breath, shemented,

    "You paused the process of me killing people by stopping my time. You could have done it again."

    "You are not a child anymore. It is difficult to control a grown dark angelpared to when they are small," her grandmother responded. And she then turned to look at Calhoun, "Kill her now, and save yourself and the people you care about. Else you will burn down with her."

    "Sadly I have nothing to protect but her. I think I am fine," Calhoun answered, smiling as his fangs appeared.

    "What if I do not cause any destruction? What if your notion is wrong?" asked Madeline.

    Her grandmother stared at Madeline before saying, "I won''t be there at that time. But you will, Madeline. Maybe he is right," agreed her grandmother. "Maybe it is the root. Because you''re the descendant of that first fallen angel. No one in our family ever turned to the dark side, which is why we thought we had a clean family. You see...angels have wings, fallen angels don''t have wings. Some of the fallen angels never wanted to turn the way they were, but they were tricked. A dark angel, he or she receives the wings from the first fallen angel."

    Was her grandmother saying that her great... and God only knew how many generations, that the first fallen angel was rted to her?

    "Where is that first fallen angel?" inquired Madeline.

    "Nobody knows. Thest I heard, he associated himself with the dark beings." Her grandmother gave a look at Calhoun. "Some say he''s living amongst the humans. The unwilling angels who were kicked out of heavens were granted with one redemption. To kill every dark angel."

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, "Let me guess. An entry back to heaven if you showed your loyalty."

    "You are not sure if the dark angels will actually cause destruction," whispered Madeline. "Just because they show the traits of the first fallen angels you believe that the dark angels are bound to harm people."

    "Every dark angel is bound to cause harm. It is an inevitable truth, Madeline," replied her grandmother, "And there''s no redemption for your kind."

    "I will make one for myself then," said Madeline.

    After a moment of silence in the room, Madeline and the rest heard a man groaning in pain. The groans echoing louder in the rooms which were near to them, "Well, this was lovely,"mented Calhoun. "We have another guest to greet. By any chance would you know any antidote for a werewolf?"

    The older woman only red at the vampire''s audacity and Calhoun chuckled, "We''ll see youter."

    "I thought you were going to kill me," Madeline''s grandmother instigated.

    "Hm, I thought to keep you around for a little while longer." Calhoun wanted to kill the woman but at the same time, he felt she was hiding something.

    "In the meantime, please enjoy my grandmother''spany. She is a little shy, so she might not talk."

    .

    NOTE: I will be busy from today to this Friday. Please expect 1 or no update. Thank you for patience~

 Chapter 285 The Antidote- Part 2

    <h4>285 The Antidote- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Madeline gingerly stepped out of the cell room, and Calhoun locked. The door was notpletely closed, and it had a little space of gap that allowed a person to peek into the room. And right now she could see her grandmother who was ring at her as if cursing in her mind and Madeline stepped away from the door.

    "She will hate me forever," whispered Madeline as the walls of the dungeons had the ability to echo, making the voice loud enough for the prisoners to listen.

    Calhoun, who was walking next to her as they made their way towards James'' room, said, "Is it worth worrying about a person who is trying to kill you and baselessly assumes that you are the apple to turn to a damned?"

    Madeline couldn''t help herself but slightly be hurt that her grandmother despised her. And maybe in her grandmother''s ce, she was right, but looking in Calhoun''s perspective, her grandparents were wrong.

    "She is my grandmother, and he was my grandfather. It is hard to feel indifferent towards them suddenly," that was not who she was, thought Madeline to herself.

    "You better turn to one then, sweet," came the quick reply from Calhoun, "This world is filled with different kinds of maniption and lies. You will find it to be surprising that it usuallyes from the ones whom you believe to be close or are." His eyes met her brown one''s, gazing into the depth of her soul and Madeline couldn''t help but ask,

    "Will you do that too? To me?" the tone in her voice was innocent, and Calhoun couldn''t help but feel how endearing it sounded to his ears.

    The way Madeline questioned it was nothing less to a small girl who was trying to cling on to the closest person she knew, looking for shelter to hide and to be protected in. To believe that, that one person would have her back.

    "I have been doing that for a while, have you not noticed it?" Calhoun''s words were profound as he continued to look at her.

    Madeline somewhere knew this was going to be his answer. If he had instead told her that he wasn''t going to do it, that would have been a lie. But instead, he didn''t lie about his actions.

    "I won''t betray you like the ones who have been calling you as their own, Madeline."

    "I know that," Madeline replied to his words. Right now, the only person she could lean on was Calhoun. Despite his harsh behaviour towards her in the beginning of them spending time together, his actions had turned much gentler, or at least it had in her eyes.

    After staring for a few more seconds, Calhoun headed towards the door behind which the tailorman was shackled. The lock opened with one click, and he pushed the door open.

    James'' shirt'' condition had turned worse than she had seen it inst night. It looked fragile on his body as if waiting to fall. Even his cks had turned tattered at the ends,ing to fall short and below his knees.

    Though things didn''t go as expected for James or Madeline, she still shared a soft spot towards the man who was restrained in chains. James had not done anything to her, and the only thing he had done was to have feelings for her.

    "What are you doing here?" James growled, looking at Calhoun who stood in front of him in a better condition.

    "Madeline wanted to meet you. I thought it would be best if she met in my presence so that you don''t use your ws to hurt her," replied Calhoun, his red eyes burning bright. "If you aren''t aware, it is better not to stay around a werewolf. Werewolves ws and teeth are quite infectious. Thest thing I need is my love turning to a werewolf."

    Hearing Calhoun address Madeline as his love, James'' anger doubled. The tailorman not only red but also bared his human-like teeth.

    "How dare you stand next to her?! She doesn''t know who you are," growled James.

    "She knows every bit of me by now, Mr. Heathcliff. You should be careful with what you speak to the King," tsked Calhoun, "Not only are you speaking ill about the King, but you are a creature now whom many of us don''t ept."

    "And who do you think is to be med for my misery?!" questioned James.

    Madeline noticed how James, who once used to be a calm and patient man, had now turned to be a person who lost his temper quickly. Was it because of the werewolf venom or blood which was running in his body right now? She doubted things would be the same as it was before. She and James were both two different people now. Correctly saying, two different creatures, thought Madeline to herself.

    "Again with the ming game," Calhoun shook his head in disapproval.

    "Weren''t you the one who sent Mr. Barnes to get me married to Lady Catherine?!" questioned James, his eyes ring up and then he turned to look at Madeline, "Ask him about it. He was the one who sent the man and to threaten me."

    Madeline this time frowned and looked at Calhoun. But before she could ask or tell something, Calhoun said,

    "I did talk to him about your wedding to Catherine, but I never forced him. I don''t know what he did, but it was not on mymand. You should be grateful that you are not being executed right this moment for ming me for your father''s death and your current condition. Where was the exnation, when young Catherine spoke about her feelings with you in front of everyone? Weren''t you the one who didn''t deny or refuse her words?"

    "I couldn''t refuse her on her face, not knowing how she would feel if I did in front of everyone. That doesn''t mean I love her. I love Madeline," James confessed.

    Madeline felt her hands turn cold. To think and to hear, were two different things. Since one month and maybe a few days more to it from the time of Hallow, the three of them had been running around in circles. She, Calhoun and James. And then entered Lady Catherine.

    When James confessed those words to her, Madeline could sense Calhoun''s eyes on her, gauging her expression, and she slowly turned to look at him. The yfulness in them had disappeared, and he was waiting for her to react.

    "I have always loved you, Madeline," James continued as if wanting to be killed by the King. The man didn''t think. Without using his brains, he followed his heart, "It might have looked like I was in love with Lady Catherine, but I never had an intention to marry her. The only reason I came to the ball that night was to meet you. To see you."

    He had turned to a hideous creature. He might as well express his feelings for her now, thought James to himself.

    Madeline felt an invisible force weighing on her shoulders. She then parted her lips, giving it a second before saying,

    "Thank you for your feelings, Mr. Heathcliff, but I cannot return your feelings."

    James stared at Madeline, his face slightly cracking, and so did his heart. Madeline somewhere felt guilty about it, and she didn''t know how long she would carry the pain for breaking someone''s heart. But this was the wisest thing to do.

    When she had heard about his marriage to Lady Catherine, she had started to move on and let go of her feelings for him. A part of her would continue to care for him, having the soft corner, but that didn''t mean she loved him. Madeline had moved on, starting to open up to Calhoun and epting him.

    It was a long process, but she was here now.

    "I think it is toote right now and both of us are way different than what we are and what we want, Mr. Heathcliff. I am very thankful for your words but��" Madeline bowed her head at James, who only stared at her.

    While James was heartbroken by Madeline''s words and Madeline was trying to be strong, on the other side, Madeline''s words were nothing less than music to Calhoun''s ears.

    Somewhere in the back of James mind, he knew this was going to happen. Though he didn''t understand what Madeline actually meant, because she had not mentioned just him, but she had also included herself to be different, he could only re at the King who stood in the room.

    "It is not Calhoun''s fault," Madeline defended Calhoun, when James'' eyes fell on the vampire before his eyes shifted back to hers.?"I have my own reasons right now."

    James doubted how far it was true, because the way the King was smiling standing two steps behind Madeline, James couldn''t help but want to hurt and harm the vampire.

    "May I know what the reasons are?" asked James, his voiceing out to be agitated because of the wolf''s blood coursing through his veins.

    "I cannot answer them right now as I am looking for them myself, and Calhoun is helping me with it," answered Madeline.

 Chapter 286 The Antidote- Part 3

    <h4>286 The Antidote- Part 3</h4>

    Without waiting for a response from James'' Madeline turned around to ask Calhoun, "Is there any cure for a person who has turned to a werewolf?"

    Calhoun shook his head, "So far, none. Though there have been rumours about it, no one has ever turned back to a human after turning to a werewolf."

    "The rumour must have sparked from somewhere, isn''t it?" asked Madeline. After seeing what James turned out to be and taking in his current situation, she didn''t want him continuing to suffer. "What about Lady Catherine''s marriage to him?"

    "They do not hold any leverage with me anymore."

    Madeline heard James speak behind her, and she turned around to see James who pulled up the sleeve of his shirt which was frailly resting on his shoulder. "Mr. Barnes had threatened my father and me, that they would kill us, but now with my father gone, they cannot force me into it."

    Madeline gave Calhoun a pleading look, wanting him to help James. Calhoun, on the other hand, wasn''t sure if he wanted to help the werewolf. Calhoun was more than happy to brush this case of James Heathcliff off his hands, but this was also an excellent opportunity to bring and seal the deal with Madeline. He didn''t want to miss such a golden opportunity.

    "Do you know who might be wanting to frame you for the murder that took ce? And maybe why?" questioned Calhoun to James, wanting his perspective, even though he had already found some of the trailed pieces of evidence.

    James answered, "I don''t know. I didn''t have a brawl with anyone and the vigers in East Carswell, they have always been peaceful."

    "Sure, but nobody decides to leave a body behind in your backyard, thinking it to be for decorative purpose," Calhoun''s words were sharp, and James only red. Just because Madeline had made peace with the King, it didn''t mean James liked the vampire. He continued to despise the man but knowing nothing could be done right now, he decided to behave civilly.

    "The body was not found in one piece, but it was torn. Forcibly. The head was pulled away from the body, not beheading," Calhoun said, his gaze falling on Madeline, "Do you want to know who it was?"

    James shook his head, "If it was someone who tore the body, it must be a vampire''s work."

    "Yes, that''s right," Calhoun agreed, and then said, "Mr. Barnes who hade to the cremation of the dead girl said he didn''t know where you are. He hoped that I would help you out from the sticky situation which you were put in."

    "Lady Catherine''s family must be looking for Mr. Heathcliff right now," replied Madeline and she saw Calhoun nod his head.

    "Yes, considering Mr. Heathcliff didn''t go to his inws asking help to protect him, I would say yes. They are looking for him," stated Calhoun. "I found some fascinating trails from the Barnes'' family. Young Catherine has been killing people in her mansion."

    Madeline and James furrowed their eyebrows.

    "Y-you mean she''s the one?" asked Madeline.

    "That''s not possible!" James defended Catherine Barnes. The vampiress was pushy, but she was a person who would never hurt a fly, "You must be mistaken."

    Calhoun chuckled at James'' naivety. He wondered if turning to a werewolf had turned the tailorman''s mind more dumb than before.

    "I have no obvious proof, of course, because I heard it from someone, but it is very much possible. Your future wife to be is trying to do something and who knows what is running in her head. There have been no leads so far, and you are the only suspect. Not to forget with your current transformation...You will be directly sent to execution."

    "I didn''t do it!" James defended himself, "I was with my father the whole time. At the graveyard."

    Calhoun said, "I believe you. Only because Madeline believes that you are incapable of killing people."

    Madeline looked up at Calhoun, her heart turning warm over his words. To Madeline, Calhoun was willing to respect her words and thoughts right now, it meant a lot to her. The King then continued to speak,

    "I don''t think Mr. Barnes would be happy if he heard about his future son-inw turning to a werewolf. But if we informed the Barnes, it is possible that Mr. Barnes'' will get rid of you by informing the authorities himself."

    "What do we do then?" asked Madeline with a worried look, bringing a broad smile on Calhoun''s lips.

    "Leave it to me, sweetheart," he said to Madeline. He then said to James, "We don''t know if the cure exists. But if it is true, I will get one for you," and it was only because having James as a werewolf was troublesome. Calhoun wanted James far and away from Madeline, "But for that, you will have to do what I tell you. Do you agree?"

    James stared at Calhoun, "Is this your way of getting rid of me? What if you set me up to be executed?" he questioned the vampire.

    "Isn''t that why Madeline is here," Calhoun smiled down at James. "Me hurting you would be nothing less than breaking her trust. This way, we have an assured deal. Now that Madeline has also confessed how she feels, I am hoping that you wouldn''t be foolish enough to chase her any more. It is a very unattractive quality."

    "Is that what you did?" asked James, challenging the King but Calhoun was in a pleasant mood to take any offence.

    "Every rule has an exception, and I am the exception," responded Calhoun.

    Madeline stared at both Calhoun and James, her eyes moving back and forth until Calhoun said, "I will have my mene and unshackle you. But you will be shackled back during the time of night. It is just for precautionary measures until we find the rumoured antidote."

    When Madeline and Calhoun stepped out of the cell room and then from the dungeon, she asked him,

    "How are we going to find the antidote?"

    "We shall look for it from where the rumour was stemmed. Not to forget, you are not human anymore. You must have more abilities apart from cracking sses and picking up locks. Does your sister know how to pick locks too?"

    "Not as good as me," answered Madeline. As they were out in the open, she could smell the fresh air, "You said the people of the High House are on their way. What if they put James up for execution and frame you for it?"

    "The High House people will take three more days before they arrive. Three days is a lot of time," Calhoun looked confident, and somewhere Madeline believed James would be able to return to his everyday life. At least she hoped she would.

    Far away from the castle, and in the Barnes'' mansion, the young vampiress paced back and forth in her room.

    When she heard her father enter the room, Catherine stopped walking and asked, "Did you find him?"

    "No, there''s no trace of him," answered Mr. Barnes'', internally smiling and happy that he had somehow got rid of the lowly human.

    "Where do you think he is?! He shouldn''t have gone too far away from here!" Catherine cried as she turned hysterical by the disappearance of James Heathcliff, not knowing where he was. Did her n backfire? Catherine had been expecting James toe to her for help, but instead, the man had disappeared.

    "We don''t know, Catherina. He must have left thisnd," stated her father.

    "No!"

    Mr. Barnes had sent his own men to find James, but he was nowhere to be found. If the tailorman would not return to Devon, Mr. Barnes would throw a party next month. There would be no pressure from the King, nor would his daughter be hung up on the human.

    "There there, my dear," Mr. Barnes hugged his daughter, patting her back and he smiled internally. Good riddance thought the vampire in his mind.

    Catherine, who couldn''t see the change in her father''s expression frowned, wondering what she could do to fix the situation. She had found out that James'' father had passed away, which gave him a reason to leave this ce unless his shop meant something to him.

    Next day in the Hawthrone''s castle, a man who wore ck robes with a rope tied around his waist stepped down from the carriage, looking up at the walls and pirs of the castle,

    "You don''t have to carry that one," said the man with a small polite smile on his face to the servant who hade to pick his trunk. "I carry my things myself. You can let the King know that Mr. Sparrow is here."

    Instead of stepping inside the castle, the man chose to walk in the garden. ying with a card in his hand, he twirled and twisted it around. It had a picture of the fool with a hat on the character''s head.?He was idly ying with it when he heard the slightest sound behind him.

    Without a thought, the man threw the card behind him. The man turned around to see Calhoun, who had caught hold of the card with his two fingers, near his face.

 Chapter 287 Troublesome hearts- Part 1

    <h4>287 Troublesome hearts- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Raphael offered a smile to Calhoun, his droopy eyes staring at the King before his eyes fell on the hand that had caught hold of the card of the fool.

    "My King," Raphael bowed his head.

    "Throwing the card at me so that I catch hold of it," Calhoun said, who brought his hand in front of him to look at the card that was thrown at him. But when his eyes fell on the surface of the card, there was nothing in there. It was a nk card. He threw the card back at Raphael with double the intensity and the card reader caught it. In the process, the side of the card which was sharp left a cut on Raphael''s thumb.

    If Calhoun didn''t know Raphael, he would have had him executed, for being nosy and interested in his readings. But Raphael was not any acquaintance. He was a friend who was very simr to him as they had demon blood.

    "I was only checking your precision, my King," Raphael smiled, while bowing his head. Calhoun shook his head, "I received your letter and decided toe here quickly with my trunk." He had been called here only to give a reading, but Raphael had decided to stay here till the wedding because he had a feeling he had to be here.

    "There are plenty of rooms in the castle. It shouldn''t be too hard to amodate you in one of the guest rooms," said Calhoun. "What are the nk cards for?" he inquired.

    Calhoun preferred not to know about what his future consisted of as he believed that when a person heard about it, they came to believe even if it meant it wasn''t true��making it to be the truth and destiny of the person. Calhoun was a person who decided his and others fate. It was who he was.

    Raphael on hearing this walked towards Calhoun. His eyes fell on the card of the fool he had thrown at the King to receive a nk card.

    Though people didn''t like to receive the card of the fool, what people didn''t know was that the card of the fool was what determined the character of the person��showing traits and information. With the number of years, Raphael had lived, he had seen more than seventy-four different types in the fool''s appearance or expressions. Therefore, it came as a surprise that the fool had disappeared entirely from the card, and he tilted his head.

    "I have no idea," murmured Raphael, "You appear to be the first few who always encourages me to have more knowledge about my own cards," smiled the man. Getting into the serious discussion, he asked, "Why did you ask for a second reading for thedy?"

    Calhoun stared at the walls and pirs of the castle from where they stood in the garden. Without looking at Raphael, he said,

    "Madeline is an angel."

    The smile on Raphael''s face fell, "That''s not possible. Creatures like those don''t exist."

    Calhoun was in no mood to joke, not at least when it concerned Madeline''s well being and life. He looked at Raphael, "Apart from her, there''s one angel imprisoned in the dungeon while one more rots in the forest."

    "You don''t mind if I pay a visit to the one in the dungeon, do you?" asked Raphael, his droopy eyes for once looked like it was filled with interest.

    When both of them reached the dungeon, Calhoun opened the lock and pushed the door open where Madeline''s grandmother was held captive.

    Madeline''s grandmother red at Calhoun and the new man who hade to look at her. Raphael, on the other hand, looked at the older woman with keen interest. He said,

    "It doesn''t look like she''s one. She looks very human-like,"mented Raphael.

    "It would have been better if she was a human, but she isn''t," stated Calhoun. The woman looked as if she was waiting for an opportunity to strike at Calhoun for killing her husband. "She is Madeline''s grandmother."

    Raphael''s eyebrows raised, his lips forming into an O shape.

    "That''s very interesting," hummed Raphael, "I never knew they existed. Why is she in here?"

    "Just so that she will not try to kill Madeline," came the casual words from Calhoun. He wanted to ask the woman questions, and he didn''t mind torturing her. The woman looked stubborn, and she hadn''t spoken a word since his and Madeline''sst visit.

    Once they stepped out of the dungeon, Calhoun continued to say, "Apparently, there is more to the story of angels when they fell. There is a possibility that the first fallen angel bedded a human, who gave birth to children. And thest descendant happens to be Madeline."

    "What is this? A war between the first fallen angel and the rest of them?" asked Raphael, intrigue in his voice.

    "Possibly," Calhoun replied before continuing to speak as they made their way towards the castle. "Madeline is not a normal angel, but a dark angel, thest descendant of the first fallen one. If there is more than one angel in the vicinity, it is possible that soon they wille for her. But I would like to kill them before they even smell her presence."

    "Fair enough," Raphael agreed, nodding his head, "What do you want me to do?"

    "I have Theodore for keeping an eye in the viges and towns now, but I will need another pair in the castle. Also, if possible, amuse others and keep a low profile about yourself while guiding Madeline by your words," stated Calhoun, "There are two more weeks left before the wedding, and the High House has decided to pay a visit to the castle."

    "I didn''t know you were close to them," Raphael gave a questioning look.

    For the people they were, demons in the disguise of humans and vampires, the demons had often stayed and strayed away from the High House. And it seemed like even fallen angels were doing the same.

    "Markus and Rosamund have been trying to throw me into a pickle."

    Raphael chuckled, "I see they are still being persistent and don''t know when to stop. I will keep an eye on them."

    Calhoun hummed, and as they entered the castle, they caught sight of Beth who was walking with Markus in the corridor.

    "Who is that beautiful girl?" asked Raphael, his eyes taking in the appearance of the green-eyed brte girl.

    Markus and Beth reached where Calhoun and the stranger was, who looked nothing less to a beggar in Beth''s eyes.

    "Going out?" Calhoun questioned, and Markus gave out a charming smile.

    "Yes, my King," answered Markus, "Lady Elizabeth wanted to buy shoes for the wedding, and I thought to take her out to the town today." Markus then turned to look at the man whom he had never seen before. By the man''s appearance, it looked like he was someone who had been picked from a local street.

    Raphael noticed their gazes, and he bowed his head in greeting, "I am Raphael Sparrow. An old acquaintance of the King."

    Markus didn''t hold a surprised look on his face. He was aware that before Calhoun had turned to be the King or had entered the castle, Calhoun once used to live in the dirty market area. People who lived there looked simr to this shabby man.

    Not bringing his distaste on his lips, Markus introduced himself, "Markus Wilmot. I am the King''s cousin, and this here is my fiance, Elizabeth Harris." Beth could only bask and beam in the glory that she was the fiance of a man who was the King''s cousin. Though the man named Raphael Sparrow whom she was being introduced to looked like a worthless man, Beth bowed her head in greeting.

    "Has there been any word about what happened in East Carswell?" questioned Calhoun to Markus.

    Markus replied, "Yes, my King. It seems they found the trails of the guards whom you had assigned at the shop. Clothes of the guards have been retrieved from the forest, but we are yet to find the bodies."

    "What a pity," murmured Calhoun, his eyes staring into his cousin''s lighter coloured eyes, "It must be someone who doesn''t know how to cover the trails of their actions. What do you think, Markus?"

    Markus looked slightly startled at the question, "My King?"

    "I was asking if the culprit would be caught in time. I would love to see the person''s head hanging at the front of the castle. Wouldn''t that be wonderful?" questioned Calhoun, a broad smile forming on his lips.

    While Calhoun was busy speaking to Markus, Raphael couldn''t keep his eyes away from the girl who stood in front of him. Even though thedy was introduced as Markus'' fiance, Raphael couldn''t help but look at the girl. After all, he belonged to the kind of creatures who had no morals.

    Raphael still had the card of the fool in his hand, and testingly, he dropped the card near the girl and far away from him. Beth, who was good in portraying herself to be the kind and benevolent girl, bent down quickly and picked the card to hand it to the man, who offered her a smile.

    "We shall be going. Lady Elizabeth," Markus called her name, and Beth let go of the card as the man had taken hold of it. Bowing their heads, they left from there.

    "She is a troublesome girl," Calhounmented noticing the interest in Raphael''s eyes and then said, "I will see youter."

    Raphael nodded. He then looked down at the card of the fool to notice the fool carrying branches with thorns in them and stepping towards the cliff. He couldn''t help but chuckle,

    "Looks like a damsel."

    When Beth and Markus reached the town, Beth''s joy knew no bounds. They entered a shop which she had only seen from afar in the past. The feeling was nothing less to a princess as assistants hovered around her holding shoes in their hands. She only had two pairs of shoes which she made sure not to walk on the muddy patches so that she could keep them in good condition.

    To be offered so many different shoes, it was a treat to her eyes. Beth looked at Markus who offered her a kind smile.

    "If you don''t like the one''s in here, there''s another shop that Sophie visits. We can go and take a look there," said Markus to her.

    Beth wondered if this was what heaven felt like. Somewhere it felt her wishes and dreams were finallying to be true and fruitful. Her prayers for a husband who would dote on her had been answered.?Given Markus was not her husband and only fiance, she still enjoyed the title of being rted to a powerful man like him.

    "I will see that one," Beth pointed at the shoe that was gold in colour. The shop assistants were used to assisting the vampire and other elite families.

    "Is this all that you have? Get the most expensive shoes for the beautifuldy," Markus'' words brought a certain blush on Beth''s face. But at the same time, she couldn''t help but look down at the assistants who had given her looks in the beginning when she entered the shoe shop.

    To Markus, Beth was not the first girl who had eyed him or tried tond him as their husband. While pampering the girl, he had also tried to find out about her and her sister, Madeline''s dynamics. The good news was there was a rift.

    After buying the shoes, they headed back to the castle in the carriage, when Markus decided to bring up the conversation,

    "Knowing how Sophie is, you should bring your sister here. You might enjoy shopping for clothes and jewellery," stated Markus, a kind smile still on his lips.

    "You are too kind, Markus," Beth replied to his generosity. Madeline already had the King to dote on her, she didn''t see why there was a need to shower Madeline with such things. "Thank you for buying the shoes for me," she smiled.

    Markus shook his head. He took hold of Beth''s hand that was on herp. Picking it up, he kissed the back of her hand,

    "Anything for you, Elizabeth." He saw the human blush one more time. Though the elder daughter of Harris was beautiful and had caught his eye instantly,tely it was the younger one where his thoughts were drifting to, "You are my fiance, it is the least I can do. Once you be my wife, you will be showered with much more luxury," he promised her.

    "Did things get better between you and Lady Madeline?" asked Markus. Even a little bit of spark is enough to set the entire forest ame. To Markus, Elizabeth was nothing less to a pawn, and even though he was starting to notice the younger Harris girl, it didn''t mean he forgot what his aim was. What he wanted was the throne.

    Beth gave a tight smile, "Not yet. It is amon thing between siblings."

    "She must have really hurt you. Especially someone as kind as you," Markus praised her indirectly.

    "Sophie can be insensitive, but she mentioned how the King didn''t choose you when you are the most beautiful, most thoughtful and wisest of the two sisters. I mean, it is usually the elder one who is sent to get married first. Pardon me, but sometimes, I feel it was unfair that you weren''t the one but Lady Madeline. Didn''t she say anything?" Markus gave a pitiful look before adding, "I must be lucky to have you by my side. But I do understand how it feels when you don''t get chosen."

    Leaving a question of doubt in Beth''s mind, he waited to hear Beth ask,

    "Chosen?"

    "Yes," Markus put up a solemn look on his face, "My parents have always aspired to see me ascend the throne considering Calhoun was the illegitimate son of the previous King. Can you imagine how it would have been? If I were to be the King and you my Queen?" Markus turned to look straight into Beth''s green eyes.

    To be the Queen? Thought Beth to herself. The greed that was lurking in her reignited, "Why didn''t they fight for it? That seems unfair," she responded back to his words.

    "Yes, sadly it is. The previous King had already decided, and we couldn''t do anything. It does feel unfair, and I know you understand how I feel. When what rightfully belongs to you is snatched away, without a chance," Markus carefully tried to weave the trap around Beth. Knowing how much she was smitten by him, he used it to his own advantage, "Only if things would be different."

    Beth couldn''t help but dwell on the thought of ''what if''s?'' in her mind. Since they were children, Madeline had always shone better than her, and Beth worked hard to be the better one. More presentable in appearance and in character that was appealing to others. It was also something her grandparents thrived on. When the King''s invitation arrived, she was sure she had reached her goal, but it had shattered. Madeline only showed that she was better than her again. Beth wanted to be the Queen, and she liked Markus morepared to the blunt King.

    Somewhere also the possibility of the King executing her had crossed her mind as he was now aware of the letter she had written to James in Madeline''s name.

    "Would you like to be the Queen, Elizabeth?" questioned Markus in full seriousness.

    Beth couldn''t help, but smile. But seeing the serious expression on his face, she said, "Anyone would love to be the Queen."

    "What if I said I can make you the Queen?"

    The carriage entered the castle ground through the wide opened gates while Beth stared at Markus, "That is not possible." Her sister was marrying the King, and she was marrying Markus. Beth had a frown on her face when she heard Markus say,

    "Don''t worry about the possibilities. My question is if you want to be the Queen or not."

    Pursing her lips, Beth answered, "Yes. Yes, I would love to be the Queen."

    Markus tested the waters, "I will help you with that, but you will need to follow my words closely. Okay?"

    Beth knew the underlying meaning of Markus'' words, but the offer was too tempting, and she gave him a nod. Markus couldn''t help but smile to himself.

 Chapter 288 Troublesome hearts- Part 2

    <h4>288 Troublesome hearts- Part 2</h4>

    "Sophie, dear. You need to be careful with the teacup,"ughed Lady Rosamund, giving a look at Sophie, who had been mostly quiet nowadays.

    Madeline felt a pair of eyes on her, and she could tell it was her mother who was staring at her. When her eyes slowly moved, she saw the look of worry change to a smile on her mother''s face.

    "How are you doing now, Lady Lucy? Are you feeling better?" asked her mother to the vampiress who offered a kind smile.

    "Yes, Mrs. Harris. Much better. I am not used to travelling and spending my time away from home," came the polite words of Lucy. Since the time she had caught her husband having an affair with the maid, Lucy was trying to spend less time with Samuel. Life felt unkind, and the pain was heavily weighing on her heart. She had tried to find the maid in the castle, wanting to talk and question but the maid had disappeared.

    "You should travel with Samuel, Lucy dear," stated Lady Rosamund, "Calhoun sends your husband away for work. You should ask him to take you with him. You will even get to see the world."

    Lucy wished they would stop speaking about her marital rtionship and her time with Samuel. "I think it would be unsafe to travel with him, considering the enemies. Also, I wouldn''t want to trouble him."

    "What a sweet girl you are,"mented Lady Rosamund, picking up her teacup and taking a sip from it.

    "Your husband is very lucky, Lady Lucy. To have a wife like you," praised Madeline''s mother.

    Madeline who was listening in on their conversation could see the ufortable look on Lucy''s face, "Lady Lucy is down to earth despite her being the princess of Devon," said Madeline, "She even promised me to teach the game of checks and cross-board."

    "It is the least I can do," smiled Lucy, "After Sophie''s words, I thought it would be good to spend time together as we are soon going to be sisters-inw." She looked relieved that the conversation had been diverted.

    But Lady Rosamund was not done with their previous conversation, she then said, "That is how Lucy has been. Though I must say, you should be careful with Theodore," and she then turned to Mrs. Harris to say, "I saw him follow our dear Lucy in the middle of the night. He is quite a leech-" and before more words could be uttered, the teacup that was raised near her face suddenly shattered.

    Thedies at the table gasped, "Are you alright, Lady Rosamund?" asked Mrs. Harris as the pieces of the teacup had hit her face to leave angry lines on the older vampiress'' face.

    "Let mee with you, mother," said Sophie, getting up from her chair and quickly following her mother.

    "The teacups must be truly delicate to break so easily," said Lucy in a worried tone. She then looked at Mrs. Harris and Madeline to make sure they were alright. "Let me call the maid. Let us move to another room," suggested the vampiress.

    As they were leaving, Madeline met her mother''s eyes, who stared at her with a worried look.

    Madeline knew the reason the teacup broke wasn''t because of Lady Rosamund, but it was because of her. Seeing Lady Lucy''s distress with the topic of conversation, Madeline had quietly red towards Lady Rosamund. But who knew it would end up breaking the teacup without her needing to touch it.

    "Are you alright, mama?" asked Madeline to her mother, her eyes looking innocent.

    Her mother stared at her before saying, "Yes."

    Madeline could tell that her mother was worried, and maybe even tense. Her powers of being a dark angel were returning, and Madeline only prayed that she would not kill anyone. She didn''t want somebody''s blood on her hands.

    Madeline didn''t tag along with Lucy and her mother, but when she was walking in the open corridor, looking for Calhoun, she noticed a familiar man who was sitting on his heels and talking to one of Calhoun''s wolves. Hearing her footsteps, the man turned around.

    "It is good to see you, Lady Madeline," Raphael bowed his head in greetings.

    Madeline did the same, "Mr. Sparrow."

    "How are you doing? I heard something very interesting from Calhoun," mentioned Raphael, patting the wolf''s head and standing up.

    Madeline wondered if it was safe to say anything in here out in the open, "Are you aware of my kind?"

    "I have only heard about them as mythical creatures. But if the King and I exist, I guess I shouldn''t question about you," hiszy eyes looked at her. Raphael was a demon like Calhoun, the only difference was he wasn''t a vampire which was why his eyes were ck.

    "I think I finally understand what the previous readings meant," said Madeline to him, "The skull, the tulip and the tombstone. I have killed, and I will kill again. I have been in the tombstone, and I wish none of it repeats again."

    "You are searching for answers to stop it," Raphael''s eyes softened further.

    She gave him a nod. "Yes," responded Madeline, and then she asked after a pause, "I was wondering...If it is possible to find what I have lost during my childhood. My memories. It is important that I find them, and also my sister''s."

    "Lady Elizabeth?" Raphael tilted his head.

    "Her memories have been tampered. I think I will find a piece of what I am looking for through her. Do you think it is possible? To bring it back." She looked at him anxiously for an answer with hope in her eyes,

    Raphael answered, "That''s possible, but memories can be tricky, Lady Madeline. There is a possibility ofpse that can either bring it back or tamper it further."

 Chapter 289 Troublesome hearts- Part 3

    <h4>289 Troublesome hearts- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Madeline didn''t want to tamper Beth''s memories. Further, all she wanted was to take a look at what Beth had seen before her memory was reced. She wondered if there would be consequences, but this was one of the easiest ways to find out what happened that day when their friend had died. If her memory served her right, her grandparents weren''t there, and it was just three small children.

    "How do you achieve it?" questioned Madeline, her voice falling.

    "I will need to put her in a sleep state. It will be tough to ess her memories when she''s awake. The mind needs to rx," replied Raphael. He then pulled out a card from his pocket, "Do you mind holding this for me, Lady Madeline."

    Madeline didn''t take it immediately, and she stared at the card before her sight shifted to the card reader, "Why?"

    A faint smile appeared on Raphael''s lips. Though the girl looked naive, she was smart to question before touching the card, "People have a misconception when ites to demons and angels. Though we are considered to be mythical, people still like to believe that the world is segregated with ck and white. Good and evil. That the demons have powers to destroy while the angels are the ones to bless you."

    Raphael continued, "Demons and angels are blessed with abilities. There is good and bad on both sides. I am sure you have experienced it first hand. I just happened to be a person who has the ability of insight. I can look at people through the cards that I carry, that hold a part of me in each of them. The card here," he said, "It is a card of the Fool. A special one which will take the appearance of a person''s nearby destiny of who they have be and what awaits in their future."

    "Aren''t all the cards like that? That tells something about the past, present or future," and she took the card that was offered to her��holding it firmly to take a look at what was there.

    "Consider this to be a card that will give direct answers, mdy. What do you see?" Raphael inquired, his eyes curiously looking at Madeline, and he didn''t peek at the card.

    For a moment, the card was nothing but nk. She was going to tell him that it was empty when she saw the surface of the card shimmer from left to right.

    Staring closer at the card, Madeline noticed intricate lines forming on the surface of the card, moving haphazardly until she?saw what had formed itself in there, "It is a person in the boat. Stormy night," said Madeline to Raphael, "Is it bad news?" she asked him.

    Madeline wondered how she was supposed to perceive it. Though it looked like Raphael was trying to encourage her, somewhere she felt as if he was hiding a part of truth so that his words wouldn''t disturb the progress of the path she was supposed to walk in.

    "Did you take readings of the King?" inquired Madeline.

    "He doesn''t indulge himself in things like reading from the cards. Calhoun has never picked a card out of his own free will," revealed Raphael. This was something that was not to be mentioned to anyone. But seeing Madeline was going to be Calhoun''s wife in the future, he decided to drop in a few information.

    "What do you mean free will?" Madeline furrowed her brows.

    Raphael put the card back in his pocket, "I have always given him cards to pick. Unknowingly," he added, and Madeline nodded her head. "He has touched only two cards so far."

    "What reading did he get?" Madeline asked curiously, she keenly waited for Raphael to reveal more about Calhoun. Though Calhoun was transparent when it came to his feelings for her and his family in the castle, Madeline felt that there was still more to who Calhoun was.

    "Will you keep it a secret?" This time it was Raphael who whispered. She was quick to nod her head. "The King''s card today turned out to be a nk one. I havee to believe that he is a powerful man, not just figuratively but by who he really is. Not all demons have wings like him. They are more bat-like. Do you know who has feathered wings?"

    "Angels," she murmured to see Raphael smile. Madeline looked at him confused, "But he isn''t an angel. Do you know about his grandfather?"

    Madeline had only heard from Calhoun about his grandfather, who was still resting in the coffin. But what she didn''t understand was when did Calhoun''s mother leave her father''s side and why. Why live a life as a human would? If there were some people who knew about Calhoun, that was possibly Theodore and Raphael as they seemed closer to him than anyone else.

    Raphael could see the burning question in thedy''s eyes. Then he said, "I only know that he is still alive, but I have never got to meet him. Not even the King himself has met him."

    "What do you know about him?" she continued to inquire.

    "If Calhoun is powerful, I can tell you that his grandfather is more powerful because that is where Calhoun received his abilities from. But we don''t know what kind of wings he has. If they are bat-like that belongs to demons or if they are feathered wings," Raphael answered her question. Madeline pursed her lips. All this while, she knew nothing about demons and angels, that she was one of them and was also living with some of them.

    "Do you know how to identify who are demons and angels?"

    Raphael shook his head to this, "Unfortunately no. The most I can do is read people through my cards, Lady Madeline. I doubt any of us demons have the ability to identify the demons and angels," pausing for two seconds, Raphael then asked, "I met your rtive who has been locked in the dungeon. Did she ever mention anything about it? I think you will get your answers from your own family if you are looking for one."

    Madeline wasn''t sure how much her unwilling grandmother would reply to her. She knew her grandmother had the answers, but her grandmother didn''t appear to be in amunicating mood. The next was her sister and Madeline herself.

    "I will see what I can do."

    Raphael offered her a polite smile, "Yes, please. I will take your reading tonight. I am sure Calhoun would like to be present when it''s happening." Madeline and Raphael had started to walk down the corridor, heading towards the courtroom where Calhoun was supposed to be. "By the way, I have something to ask. Your sister. Is she the brte one with green eyes?"

    Madeline''s eyebrows slightly furrowed and she gave him a nod, "Yes, that''s my sister. Why? Have you met her before?"

    "Just today. She has an interesting personality, quite different to you," chimed Raphael, and Madeline wondered in which aspect of her sister he was speaking about.

    She couldn''t help but wonder what Raphael meant. Feeling her gaze, Raphael stopped walking, and so did Madeline. "Your sister, how do you see her, mdy."

    It was one of the oddest questions Madeline had ever received or asked until now, "She is my sister." As much as there was a rift between her and Beth, there was still a soft corner in Madeline''s heart where she would forgive her sister. They grew up together, sharing each other''s thoughts.

    "I am aware of it. But how do you feel about your sister?" questioned Raphael, he looked left and right. Madeline did the same, making sure no one was there to listen in on their conversation.

    Pursing her lips while staring into the ck eyes of the man, she said, "She mighte off to be materialistic, but somewhere deep down, she has a good heart. Someone who gets persuaded easily. When we were young, she would often protect me from the people who liked to bully me."

    "Why did that happen?" he tilted his head, curiously looking at her.

    Madeline shrugged her shoulders, "I just remember there were some men, adults who liked to��" this was some part of her memory which she had herself forcibly tried to forget, "Beth was always there to make sure I was alright. She likes to lead."

    "You should know that just because someone likes to lead, they don''t often turn to leaders."

    "Are you speaking about her not being the Queen?" Madeline frowned.

    "No, not about it. Some are destined to lead, even though they don''t show the inherent trait. But that is not what we are speaking about. What happened to those men? Are they still there?" on Raphael''s question, Madeline gave it some thought and slowly nodded her head.

    "I guess they are there. I don''t think Beth or I remember any of them now. It was long ago." She didn''t even want to remember it by mistake.

    "I see," Raphael answered before saying, "I wanted to drop a word of caution to your sister. The path she has chosen will lead to her death."

    Madeline felt her stomach fall over Raphael''s words. She had lost her grandfather, and her grandmother would die soon because of the woman''s intention to kill her. Thest thing Madeline needed was more death.

    "Can you borate more about it?" she asked in a whisper.

    "She is a beautiful girl, and I couldn''t resist not wanting to see what she would get when touching the card of the Fool. With what I saw, she is walking towards her death. Though I don''t think it is out of willingness. Some readings are easy to predict, Lady Madeline."

    Madeline pressed her lips before she asked, "How can I prevent it?"

    "Keep her upied, and away from people who you think will harm her. But somewhere it makes me worried," Raphael let his thoughts known to Madeline, "I found out that she is going to get married to Markus Wilmot. If you take that into consideration, it would be better if you keep her away from yourself. I am sure you are already aware of the Wilmot''s intentions."

    She didn''t know how to feel about it.

    Madeline didn''t want any harm to befall on her sister, but would Beth try to do something? To help the Wilmot''s.

    "I also have another suggestion. If I may?" and Madeline quickly nodded her head for Raphael to continue to speak, "How about I try to divert her myself. It would be a pity to see someone like her, especially when it is your sister to be stepping towards her death."

    Madeline didn''t know what Raphael meant, but if it was going to keep her sister Beth away from trouble, then it didn''t sound too bad, "Okay."

    "This way, it will be easier to get her readings, too, when ites to essing her memories."

    Madeline and Raphael were still speaking when Lady Rosamund arrived from the other corner of the corridor, making her way in their direction.

    Lady Rosamund looked as if she was in a foul mood. The closer she walked towards them, the more prominent did the red lines appear on her face. As Madeline was no more an average human, Lady Rosamund bowed her head, but the same was not offered to the man.

    "What are you doing here, Lady Madeline?" asked Lady Rosamund.

    "I was speaking to Mr. Sparrow. He is the King''s acquaintance," Madeline introduced Raphael who bowed at thedy. Lady Rosamund only gauged at the man from top to bottom before her eyes shifted back at Madeline.

    "I was going to meet the King," smiled Lady Rosamund.

    Madeline and Raphael apanied the vampiress to the court as they were also heading in that direction. When they reached the vast room which had white walls and white marble floor, Madeline saw Calhoun who was seated on his throne.

    On seeing Madeline, Calhoun stretched his hand towards her, and she quietly made her way to his side.

    "What happened to your face, Aunt Rosamund?" Calhoun had a look of curiosity in his eyes as he noticed the red lines that had formed on the vampiress'' face.

    Lady Rosamund''s face hardened, "The teacup broke in my hand. It must have been a delicate one."

    Calhoun heard Madeline''s heart skip a beat, but he didn''t turn to look at her.

    "I guess things in the castle have turned old and needs to be reced with something that is much sturdier, isn''t it," he offered her a smile, "You should have asked the maid to tend to your skin."

    "They will heal in good time. I am here to ask you about Lady Madeline''s wedding gown. Only fourteen days left and there has been no word about the gown to see if it will fit," came the sharp words from Lady Rosamund.

    "Emilio, Mr. Heathcliff''s assistant, will be bringing the gown tomorrow so that Madeline can wear it and see. Shoes and other things have already been ordered to be brought tomorrow," Calhoun let his beloved aunt know about it, a smile stered on his face.

    "What a lovely and kind aunt I have. Taking care of our wedding, sweet Madeline," Calhoun praised his aunt. Lady Rosamund bowed her head at thepliment.

    "I heard something about the tailorman. That he killed someone��" said Lady Rosamund and Calhoun stared at her with the smile still intact on his face.

    "Yes, he is under investigation," Calhoun was already aware that the Wilmot''s knew about James Heathcliff being imprisoned in the dungeon.

    At the same time, they heard the sound of quick footsteps from outside, and in came a servant huffing for air and he bowed his head,

    "My Lord! The people from the High House are here!"

 Chapter 290 High House- Part 1

    <h4>290 High House- Part 1</h4>

    "Bring them in here. Also, bring Lucy and the others in here. We wouldn''t want others to miss meeting them."

    Madeline had heard the hype about the High House, but this would be the first time she was going to meet them. She couldn''t help but wonder what kind of people belonged to the High House. Though she knew it was the Wilmot''s who had tipped the High House people toe here, she could tell that by the look on Lady Rosamund''s face, she didn''t want to be on their wrong side.

    The servant quickly left to bring the other family members to the courtroom while another servant went to lead the members of the High House to this room. Madeline turned to look at Calhoun, and he stood up, toe and stand next to her.

    "What a surprise that they are here!" eximed Lady Rosamund.

    "A very shocking one," Calhoun replied where his aunt missed his sarcastic remark.

    Madeline couldn''t help but be worried about what was going to happen. She felt Calhoun''s hand on her back before he let it go.

    The sharp sound of the shoes could be heard heading in the direction of the courtroom, that got louder and louder until the members of the High House finally showed up to enter the room. There were four people who wore cloaks: two men and two women.

    "King Calhoun," one of the female stepped forward, and Calhoun did the same so that they could shake each other''s hands.

    "Lillith," Calhoun greeted with his charming smile, "I didn''t know you were visiting the castle today. I would have got the rooms and food prepared so that you were well served." The woman was a brte with ck eyes.

    Madeline took note of how the woman looked mature and probably a few years older than her. The servants came to help in remove the cloaks that the guests wore. At the same time, Madeline caught sight of the hourss shape of the woman named Lilith.

    "I thought I would give you a surprise," Lilith smiled, her eyes not breaking eye contact with Calhoun''s.

    "You or everyone?" questioned Calhoun, his mind sharp as always. Lilith smiled.

    One of the men, walked forward to shake his hand, "Dimitri," Calhoun greeted the man.

    "We heard about the King getting married and thought toe and wish the couple,"pared to the other three members with whom he hade with, the man named Dimitri appeared older and had a tone of seriousness on his face.?He had peppered white and ck hair, while the other man appeared to be in histe twenties.

    "How kind and thoughtful of all of you toe to visit," replied Calhoun, and then he looked at the servant who was standing near the entrance of the courtroom, "Have the dining room prepared for our guests."

    "Congrattions, my lord," the second man who belonged to the High House bowed his head and so did the woman who had blonde hair.

    "Thank you, Wesley and Daphne."

    Madeline stood three steps away from them, and she heard the High House people congratte Calhoun. So far, the members of the council had their attention only on the King, not even sparing a look at Lady Rosamund, who was Calhoun''s blood-rted aunt.

    After a while, Madeline felt a pair of eyes on her which were intensely looking at her. The gaze was from Lilith.

    "Is she the girl?" the woman exuded confidence through her words, not caring how she addressed Madeline in front of the King.

    When Lilith walked around and came to stand in front of Madeline, her heels clicked sharply on the white floor, she stared at Madeline. Slowly sizing her up and down. Madeline felt ufortable, but without bringing it forward, she bowed her head. "What''s your name?"

    "Madeline Harris," Madeline introduced herself.

    "What an old name for a young girl. Reminds me of my grandmother,"mented Lilith with a small huff.

    Madeline could tell that she and this member of the High House was not going to get along. Though Madeline had not uttered a sentence so far, the woman had gone as far as to throw an insult in the first one minute of their greeting.

    "Was your grandmother also beautiful like her?" Calhoun questioned, and it brought everyone''s eyes on him. The other woman of High House, Daphne, smiled at the King''s retort.

    Lilith had a serious face as she turned to look at Calhoun and she answered, "Much better. It is where I acquired my looks from."

    Calhoun chuckled, not taking any offence and Madeline decided to do the same. She wondered for how long the four people would be staying in the castle.

    The two men didn''t bother to indulge themselves to know about Madeline and continued to speak to Calhoun. Dimitri, who was the senior-most of them all, said,

    "My King, I believe you already know why we are here."

    "I do?" asked Calhoun with an oblivious look on his face, "Please enlighten me because I don''t. Unless someone has invited you people here? Right, Aunt Rosamund?" he asked the vampiress who had been standing there quietly withouting to talk to the members of the High House.

    Lady Rosamund had her expressions schooled, responded with a smile, "Lady Lilith mentioned she wanted to surprise you. I don''t think anyone invited them to the castle."

    "We have received anonymous letters about what you have been doing," Dimitri said it to Calhoun. The man was a vampire.

    "And what is that?" Calhoun''s tone was pleasant.

    Dimitri turned to look at Madeline, "Mydy, are you getting married to the King with your own consent?"

    "From when did the King getting married to a woman ever been questioned, or be it any other man?" Raphael raised the question to receive a re from Dimitri.

    "And since when did strangerse to interfere when the members of the High House questions?" Lilith was the one to speak back to Raphael, "It would be best if you don''t interfere unless there''s something to hide. Yes?"

    Raphael smiled and bowed his head. Madeline felt the questioning gaze being sent towards her from Lilith.

    "As much as it is not our business on who the King marries, we need to make sure that the people are well protected and feel safe. Of course, most of the times it neveres to our notice, but there have been too many allegations towards the King of Devon, which is why we are here. You don''t have to be scared, Miss Harris. Feel free to speak on what happened," said Dimitri.

    Madeline met Calhoun''s eyes that looked at her calmly.

    They heard a couple more footsteps approach from outside the courtroom before Lucy, the Wilmot''s siblings, and Madeline''s family appeared at the entrance of the room.

    "We would have asked the servants who work here, but we are very well aware that they are very loyal to the King," stated Dimitri, "Has the King tortured you for the marriage with him or are you doing it willingly?"

    Wetting her lips, Madeline answered, "I am doing it on my own free will."

    "Is it only now that you are willing to marry him or were you against marrying him before?" This time it was Lilith who questioned her. To Madeline, it seemed like the woman wanted to hear something against Calhoun. Not because Lilith wanted to look down at the King, but something told Madeline it was because the woman wanted the wedding to stop.

    Madeline said, "As Ie from a very humble family, it took me some time to realise that the King was serious in his intentions towards me. That he wanted to make me his wife. To conclude, yes, I want to marry him."

    Even though Dimitri nodded his head, Lilith was not pleased with the answer, and she said, "Prove it. Prove it that you are doing it out of your own consent. The letters we received were not one, but many. The people who sent the letters, heard rumours about how you wanted to kill yourself. Or more like it was an unsessful attempt when it came to killing yourself because you couldn''t bear the thought about marrying him."

    Madeline didn''t know how the rumour stemmed when in truth, everything that happened that day was by mistake.

    Mr. and Mrs. Harris had a look of shock on their faces on hearing that Madeline wanted to end her life. Being Madeline''s parents, they were aware of their daughter''s feelings before she epted to marry the King.

    "Do you know about it, Mr. and Mrs. Harris?" Lilith interrogated her parents.

    Both of them shook their heads, "We didn''t hear anything like that."

    "It is possible because your daughter, Madeline, was held here in the castle, which is why you never heard the news?" questioned Lilith again.

    "Lilith," Dimitri called for her attention, "Lady Madeline has no objections so it shouldn''t be a problem."

    "But we aren''t sure about it," smiled Lilith, "People say anything and everything when they are under fear."

    Is that what thisdy was doing right now? Asked Madeline to herself. Even though the older man of the High House wanted to move to the next issue, this woman was not letting it go. It made Madeline wonder what Lilith feared about.

    "I agree about my consent in front of everyone. Isn''t that enough?" asked Madeline to hear Lilith chuckle.

    "No, it isn''t. At least not for me. No offence, but the King is known to be a charming man and not to forget his reputation. He would have bedded you by now, and you would have agreed to it if you are willing to marry him. A woman likes to secure a man like him quickly by bedding him-"

    Madeline interrupted thedy, "Women like that must be truly insecure to think that the way to a man''s heart is through sharing bed."

    The words that left her mouth left many of them speechless, and Lilith didn''t bring out displeasure on her face, "Unfortunately, that''s how some of them think," Lilith''s voice lowered down.

    Calhoun, who stood there listening to the little exchange of words couldn''t be anymore happier with Madeline''s choice of words. One corner of his lips had pulled up to a cocky smile.

    Madeline wondered if the members of the High House held power more than just the word of status or if they carried abilities, that were not fully known to people. Lilith had ck eyes, and she appeared to be human, but was she? Was she a demon like Raphael?

    Her eyes nced around the room, feeling several eyes on her and Lilith. The woman tipped her chin up with questioning eyes towards her. Beth was staring at what was happening while Markus, who stood next to her, he had a faint smile on his face. The Wilmot''s were trying not just to diffuse the wedding, but they were trying to pull Calhoun down.

    After two more seconds, Madeline walked up to where Calhoun stood, and every person in the room witnessed what happened next.

    Madeline ced her hands on Calhoun''s chest, and she stood on her toes as she craned her neck up. Calhoun met her halfway, his lips pressing the bold girl''s lips. He could hear her heart beating in her chest rapidly.

    It was a fleeting kiss, but enough to let the High House members know how she felt.

    It took everything in Madeline to not be embarrassed for doing something like this in front of strangers and her family. Turning around, she looked at Lilith.

    "Is this enough proof?" asked Madeline to see the woman stare at her with her mouth slightly left ajar.

    Calhoun softly chuckled, and everyone''s attention fell on him. He asked Dimitri, "What are these other usations that you heard about me? Maybe we can speak about it after supper?" he proposed.

    "Yes, that sounds better. We wouldn''t want to interrupt everyone''s meal," replied Dimitri.

    When everyone started to leave the courtroom, Madeline felt her knees go weak over her action, and she felt Calhoun ce his hand on her back to support her.

 Chapter 291 High House- Part 2

    <h4>291 High House- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Madeline couldn''t herself believe that she had done something so bold and out of character in front of everyone. Her cheeks burned once everyone left the courtroom and her knees had turned weak to walk. Calhoun had supported her with his hand resting on her back so that she wouldn''t stagger behind.

    She turned her head, making eye contact with Calhoun who looked down at her with a satisfied and extremely pleased look on his face.

    "You did well today, love," he whispered those words only for her to hear. As courageous she had turned in that spare moments when the High House woman had questioned and demanded proof, she could feel her heart thudding in her chest, her eardrums ringing. It took five more seconds to calm her heart as she stared into Calhoun''s eyes.

    When she had pressed her lips on Calhoun''s lips, he hadn''t kissed her back the way he usually did.?And Madeline was thankful as it helped her not to lose her mind.

    They walked towards the dining room. The guests at the front, in the middle were her family and Calhoun''s rtives while she and Calhoun walked keeping a few distances away from others at the back. Madeline couldn''t help but wonder what was going to happen at the dining table. Though the man named Dimitri said they would continue to discuss other matterster, she had a feeling that it was not going to be a peaceful supper.

    Reaching the dining room, everyone were led to take a seat by the servants, and Madeline took her usual seat, which was right next to the King. It was good to see that just because the guests they had were from High House, they were not made to sit close to the King. Instead, they sat on the farther side from where the King and Madeline sat.

    "How is your work with the Warrings going on, Weasley?" Calhoun initiated the conversation to a lighter subject which in truth wasn''t, considering how the previous King of the Devon didn''t hold a good rtionship with the Warrings'' and vice versa.

    Weasley was letting the maid spread the napkin for him when he heard the King''s question, "We have been trying to control the werewolves, My King."

    "I heard from my men that there had been some recent sightings of werewolves in the outskirts of the viges and some in the forest," said Calhoun, "For thest one year, we haven''t had any of them, but suddenly there has been an increase in their number. An increase, due to the probability of mutation change of one single werewolf."

    Dimitri, who heard this, asked, "Werewolves in Devon? When was thest you heard about them?"

    "Less than a week ago," came the casual reply from Calhoun, "It would be quite troublesome if the Warring''s don''t take precautions of what they do now and in the future. Have there been any more rules that were broken by them? Considering how important the rules set by the High House is."

    "I spoke to King Warrings, and he showed us his castle. So far we haven''t found any suspicious activity," it was Lilith who spoke and she continued, "I should perhaps stay here in Devon for some more time, to make sure to tackle the situation of werewolves. I doubt any vampires would want them multiplying," the smile she offered insinuated a secretive meaning.

    Calhoun didn''t return the smile, instead, he picked up the ss of red wine that was ced next to him, "Here I thought the High House would tackle it beforehand. There wasn''t supposed to be any slip-ups, Lilith. I think I will have Daphne on mynds as you are getting a little out of touch. You should, perhaps take a vacation."

    The people who were trying to eat from their te or taking a drink from their sses paused their movements awkwardly in midair for the words that were said to the member of the High House.

    Lilith was a smart woman, who had been working in the High House for quite some time, and she didn''t throw a fit. She said,

    "You should know that the werewolves, though once created and changed by the Warring''s years ago in their very own castle, there were some werewolves who escaped from that tower. Though most of them were caught, there are some who went into hiding and some who turned feral without any point of return."

    Unable to resist, Madeline asked, "What do you mean by no point of return?"

    It was apparent by the look on Lilith''s face that she didn''t like Madeline''s question, but she still answered it, "Werewolves have a time period when ites to change. When a human is bitten, they turn to werewolves, like an infection being spread. And when a werewolf bites a vampire, it is equal to poison that can lead to the vampire''s death. Some werewolves switch between their human and werewolf form. At the same time, there are others who reach that saturation point by turningpletely to a werewolf without any trace of them being a human in the past."

    "Why not find out an antidote?" questioned Madeline.

    Lilith''s lips twisted in displeasure, "Do you think we are some doctors to make it for the mistakes done by someone?"

    "I think what Lillith here means is," Dimitri cut in, giving a look at Lilith who subtly bowed her head and lowered her eyes on her te, "There is no cure for werewolves. The High House have tried it, but we haven''t found a cure for it yet. All the project that was started turned to be a failure."

    Madeline gave the man a nod.

    On the other side, Markus and Lady Rosamund couldn''t help but wonder why Calhoun brought up about werewolves with the High House members when there was a werewolf right in his dungeon. Lady Rosamund sipped wine from her ss, her eyes sweeping across the people who sat at the table before it fell on her son who sat on the opposite side. She raised her eyebrows, and he then turned to look at the senior person of the High House.

    "Sir Dimitri, will you be staying here for the wedding of our King and the future Queen?" asked Markus.

    "We didn''t have any ns to stay for the wedding. As Lilith said, we came here only to have some words. We don''t know if the wedding will take ce on the assigned day because of the charges against the King," replied Dimitri. The air in the dining room turned cold and heavy. "But we hope it is not true and is nothing but false information."

    Calhoun raised his hand forward as if to cheer before taking a sip from his ss.

    As supper proceeded, Madeline could feel eyes on her, but every time she lifted her gaze, there was no one looking at her, but the gaze fell back again at her. It was unnerving to have a meal with people who were strangers, less when they were people who many believed were the one''s who carried power.

    After everyone finished a quiet and civil meal, Mr. and Mrs. Harris were escorted back to their rooms by Lucy. The King was busy with the High House people and Markus, Lady Rosamund and Madeline stayed behind while the rest left. Thedore stood outside the room.

    "Getting back to work, what are the other allegations that have been directed at me?" questioned Calhoun while standing next to Madeline.

    "Don''t you think thedy should leave too?" asked Weasley, his eyes falling on the human who looked fragile, "I don''t think she would like to hear it."

    "Madeline stays," Calhoun''s words were firm. Weasley nodded his head without going to argue further on it.

    Dimitri opened the file which he took from Daphne, to read it. The sky had turned dark, and candles that were lit continued to burn in the dining room. The food and other containers had been already cleared from the table.

    "King Calhoun," began Dimitri, "There has been word that you have been holding a werewolf in your castle dungeon for your benefit. Making use of the werewolf to kill. You have been used of killing Miss Lipton four months ago, along with the recent murder that took ce in the vige of East Carswell of Lady La. Also, it was told that you have killed maids and thrown them in the forest."

    Madeline felt her hands go cold and she stared at the Senior High House man who was speaking to Calhoun, "The usations are not one but too many which is why we are here to inquire. For a King, you havemitted too many murders."

    "That''s like telling a vampire drinking blood from humans is wrong," murmured Madeline but Lilith who heard this, red at Madeline for speaking out of line. The human might be someone who Calhoun chose, but that didn''t mean she was above her status.

    "Are you agreeing that the King hasmitted the murders?" Lilith questioned the human.

    "Just because a bunch of people sent you the letters, that doesn''t prove that I was the one who killed them," Calhoun replied, barely fazed by the usations that were iterated to him, "Jealousy and hate makes people do a lot of things."

    Dimitri said, "It would not have been considered if everything came at a time, but the information has been sent to us from thest three months, and the murder that took ce is not of any ordinary person, but the duchess''s daughter. That ces you in a bigger problem. Maids are something that you can get off the hook from, Calhoun Hawthrone. You have been ying tricks for long but not this time. It also includes the past usation to what happened to the previous King and Queen."

    "What about the previous King and Queen?" questioned Lady Rosamund with a deep frown on her face. The vampiress then looked at Calhoun.

    Calhounughed loudly at their words, taking everyone by surprise and one side of his lips continued to be pulled up.

    "I must say, it feels like everyone is trying to frame me for the murder I had no hand in. Miss Lipton''s case was already solved and closed. I wasn''t even anywhere near Miss Lipton when she died, and my alibi was given by Lady Julianne and Mr. Humphrey, who was with me that week. Anding to my parent''s murder, you should ask Lady Lucy and the Wilmot''s as they were the first one to reach the scene," said Calhoun, his red eyes staring back at Dimitri.

    Lady Rosamund raised her eyebrows, "You are not emphasizing that I was the one to kill my brother and sister-inw, do you, my King?"

    Calhoun smiled at his aunt''s words, "I am using it as an example of how easy it is to fabricate against one another." He then turned to look at Dimitri, "If it helps, I already found who the culprit is, the one who killed the duchess'' daughter."

    This raised people''s eyebrows in the room.

    "Who is it?" questioned Dimitri with a frown.

    Weasley was the one who questioned next, "Why wasn''t the matter resolved if you already know who is the murderer?"

    "It would be nothing less to what we have here right now. Strangely, people jump into conclusion that the helper is the culprit. I decided to wait to collect facts. Theodore," Calhoun called Theodore, who was standing outside the room. He entered the room with a bow, "Get the men here."

    "Yes, milord," Theodore bowed his head and left the room.

    "I would like to know what sparked the closed murder case. Wasn''t the minister held guilty?" Calhoun inquired.

    Dimitri pursed his lips, sharing looks with the other three High House members before his eyes fell on one of the Wilmot''s, "Sir Markus Wilmot wanted to reopen the murder case which took ce here in the castle."

    Calhoun turned his gaze on his cousin, "Did he now," he hummed with a faint smile, "And was he the one to send the anonymous letters to you?"

 Chapter 292 High House- Part 3

    <h4>292 High House- Part 3</h4>

    "That''s not required," said Lilith, picking one of the letters which Daphne had been holding to hand it over to Calhoun. "We already are aware that it is Markus Wilmot who wrote it to us as he had written his name in the letter. We are here because of the strong allegations, and it might be where your highness will need to pause your wedding until this matter is resolved. Unless you can prove that you had nothing to do with it."

    Calhoun''s eyes didn''t leave his cousin, and it only turned Markus aware of Calhoun''s overbearing presence. "Pray tell me, what have I done, cousin, that you decided to put the false allegation on me?" The King tilted his head.

    The Wilmot''s were trying to frame Calhoun for a very long time before he even turned to be a King. Rosamund was close to her mother, and when her brother''s wife, the then Queen couldn''t bore a son, the promise to the throne was given to her, that it was her son, Markus, who would be ascending the throne. But before the chance could be presented, like a carpet being pulled underneath one''s feet, Rosamund''s chance was taken away from her.

    After her daughter, Sophie, who was a naive child, turned unsessful in her attempt to sway the King, she hadid the next traps for Calhoun. But what she didn''t know was that the High House would go so far as to expose her son''s involvement in sending the letter. Not that it mattered.

    Markus answered Calhoun''s question, "Forgive me, my King," he bowed his head, "When you assigned me on the task to check who demolished the Harris'' shop, I was trying to find the culprit when everyone who witnessed it said it was done by you, by the King. And with the recent death of the girl...your ring was found near the body."

    Weasley said to Calhoun, "The ring is an heirloom that was gifted by your father." He pulled out something from his pocket and then ced it on the table. It was the ring that was sent by Markus along with the letter where he mentioned about the King''s deeds, "Isn''t this the same ring which was given to you before your father''s death, my lord?"

    "Are you speaking about this one?" asked Calhoun, raising his hand to show another identical ring which was on his finger.

    "That''s a fake one!" Lady Rosamund was quick to say, and Calhoun pulled out the ring.

    "I am sure, dear Lilith can identify which is the real stone and which is fake?" he handed it to Lilith. "It is quite obvious that the ring is not mine. There was only one ring, and I don''t know who would have the knowledge of creating an identical replica of it. Unless one has seen the ring many times. I don''t like to wear it often but like to carry it in my pocket."

    But her expression had turned sour when she realized that the ne was picked up in a local market made out of cheap metal and stones. This had taken ce during the second year of his reign in Devon.

    After observing it, she said, "The King is right. The one which was found in the vige is made out of cheap stone." She handed the ring back to the King.

    Lady Rosamund used, "You killed my brother, didn''t you? To kill your own father.."

    "Now now, let''s not take hasty steps," Calhoun tutted his aunt, "Markus, was the ring all that you have as proof?"

    "There have been witnesses who saw you in the action. Someone saw you leaving the maid''s house and also near the dead body of the duchesses'' daughter," informed Markus without batting his eyes. "I can go fetch the witness. If you will allow me," he asked the High House''s permission.

    "Weasely, you can go with Mr. Wilmot," Dimitri ordered.

    Madeline stood there, watching the scene unravel along with the hate and deception towards one another in the same family.

    For thirty minutes, everyone stayed in the room waiting for the witnesses to be brought, until Lilith said, "In the meantime, let us take a look at the dungeon if you don''t mind. We wouldn''t like to waste our time."

    Calhoun stretched his hand forward, "After you, mdy."

    Lady Rosamund was waiting for this since the time the High House people had arrived. Calhoun had boasted without a care about the werewolves, ming the Warrings, when in truth, he was holding one in the dungeon. As everyone made their way to the dungeon, the doors of the cell rooms were opened, allowing the High House people to take a look at every one of them.

    Madeline couldn''t help but nce at Calhoun now and then as they walked in the passage of the dungeon. Was he going to show James who was locked up in there? Not to forget her grandmother was there too. Her grandparents had seemed paranoid about the High House. If they were to find her grandmother there, her parents would know about it through the Wilmot''s, and that was not good.

    Calhoun held an inexpressive face, and she wondered what was going to happen. As they passed through every cell room after taking a look, they came to the one where James was locked. Madeline held her breath when the door was opened.

    The room was empty.

    Like the High House members who were waiting to see something inside, Madeline frowned when she caught sight of a neat and clean room. Where was James? Madeline turned to Calhoun who continued to have a rxed expression on his face.

    "How many more rooms are in here?" asked Daphne as it looked like they had covered most parts of the dungeon and so far, they found only some vampires or humans who were imprisoned.

    "There are two more rooms, one which is an old one that has a skeleton residing in there. And the other is an empty room," responded Calhoun. The guard who had apanied them, opened the locks to find no werewolf in there too.

    "Is the moon out?" inquired Dimitri and Madeline who stood near the window, looked up at the sky to see the moon present there.

    "We have kennels for the wolves if you are willing to take a look in there," Calhoun''s confident suggestion had Dimitri press his lips.

    "No. We can head back inside the castle and wait for the witnesses to arrive," suggested Dimitri before starting to take his leave along with others from there.

    Lady Rosamund was taken aback because Markus had clearly stated that there was a werewolf along with James Heathcliff. Where did they go?! The High House hade for a surprise visit, and there was no way Calhoun had the time to hide the werewolf. Not to mention, clean the cell room as if no one was put in the cell room.

    Getting back inside the castle, Calhoun said, "Since when did the High Housee to believe baseless rumours that have no actual evidence in it? And Aunt Rosamund, you should know that I would do nothing wrong. Isn''t that what you have always told me?" he asked the vampiress who continued to be stunned because of the revtion in the dungeon had flopped her n.

    Rosamund retorted back with, "If Markus has found you to be doing something guilty, I have raised him right. To stand to what is right," she tipped her chin up.

    "I hope you can stick to your words until the end. It looks like the carriages are back," stated Calhoun.

    Madeline heard footsteps approach the room where everyone was. The doors opened and in came Markus and Theodore along with five men. She identified four men as they belonged to the same vige she came from.

    Dimitri, who had taken a seat with the rest of them in the room, spoke, "This is how the proceeding is going to take ce. Even though this trial is going to be a small one, if we find the convict, they will be taken to the High House for the next trial depending on the proofs and evidence from the witnesses."

    "Who would like to go first?" Dimitri asked, looking at Calhoun and Markus.

    .

 Chapter 293 The loving family- Part 1

    <h4>293 The loving family- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Dimitri looked at Calhoun and Markus, waiting for one of them to start and Markus was the first to take a step forward, "Sir Dimitri, I would like to start first," and he came to stand forward, in the middle of the room.

    Madeline couldn''t help but shift her eyes to look at Calhoun, her heart beating in her chest, not knowing what was going to happen. She wasn''t unaware that Calhoun had killed a fair number of people, she had seen him kill people in front of her, but she never knew what happened to those bodies after that. She had no idea who Miss Lipton was and if Calhoun had killed the person, but she was sure he had nothing to do with the person, who was found dead in James'' backyard.

    "Do you think the King has killed one or both of them, Lady Madeline?" questioned Dimitri, who was sitting on the left side and near to Calhoun on another couch while she sat on Calhoun''s right.

    She looked slightly taken aback by the question, and her eyebrows furrowed, "Why do you think so?" asked Madeline.

    "It is because of your heart. It has been beating quite a lot. In a faster pace than an average human''s heart does," stated Dimitri, his red eyes fixed on her. Madeline didn''t know how to respond to this. From the time the High House members had arrived, she had forgotten that these people were not ordinary people.

    Madeline didn''t know what they truly were. By appearance, they looked like humans and vampires, but she knew better than to judge a person by just their appearance. The world that she knew, was no more simple as there were more creatures than she knew in the past. Demons, angels and werewolves.

    "Madeline is worried about me. It shoulde to be obvious by now that how much she cares for me," Calhoun was the one to respond, the one corner of his lips that had pulled up had not fallen. His hand reached for hers that was ced on the surface of the couch, holding it.

    Lilith rolled her eyes, and she then turned to look at Markus to say, "If you will proceed with your witness."

    Markus bowed his head, and he called one of the men toe forward, whom Madeline didn''t recognize.

    "I would like to begin by saying that the King and I share no hard feelings, but it is only what I saw and heard, that I thought I should inform and bring it to your notice," the tone that Markus used was the most polite one which Madeline believed could not get any better than that. His posture was humble, "To start with, my fiance is Elizabeth Harris, Lady Madeline Harris'' sister, and I would not want any harme to fall on any of my family members."

    Which cousin or rtive went directly to the High House without consulting the matter with the King?

    "Tell us what happened and where your witness turns to evidence, Sir Markus," Dimitri questioned Markus.

    "Yes," Markus obliged, "The King wanted me to go and find who sabotaged the shop that belongs to the Harris'' family. As small as the matter appears, it concerns our future Queen''s family, and I took it as an important task. It was at the same time that I came to notice and hear things."

    "And what is that?" Lilith was intrigued to hear what Markus had to say when it came to the King. There weren''t many who stood against a King because of the power he held.

    Calhoun didn''t flinch nor bat his eysh when Markus continued to speak,

    "The King himself orchestrated the destruction of the shop, and he then acted like he knew nothing about it. Though I am not sure how far it is true, Lady Madeline and the King''s rtionship didn''t start smooth, and the maid who spoke about it was killed by the King," Markus'' eyes didn''t even for once nce at Calhoun but stayed on the members of the High House. "This man here, is Mr. Fisher. The maid had mentioned the matter to his wife that went around in circles. The same day when the maid went missing, Mr. Heathcliff wanted to enquire about Lady Madeline with the maid."

    "Is this the same man who was framed for Miss La''s murder?" asked Daphne, raising her eyebrows.

    "Yes, mdy. But after further research, I found out that Mr. Heathcliff was at Lady Catherine Barne''s house andter he bid his father goodbye, as Senior Mr. Heathcliff passed away on the same day," exined Markus.

    "And how does the Kinge to fit in the picture?" Dimitri interrogated.

    "Mr. Heathcliff was once Madeline''s acquaintance. They were in love with each other," confessed Markus. The members of the High House turned their gaze at Madeline, and Dimtri asked,

    "Is that true, Lady Madeline?"

    Madeline felt a little ufortable, "I think like would be much suitable," she corrected, knowing where Markus was steering the conversation, "We liked each other for some time."

    "And what happened after that?" asked Lilith, her eyes burning brightly at Madeline, "Did you decide to ditch the poor man when a better and wealthy man appeared in front of you?"

    "May I point that the member of the High House is questioning something that barely rtes to the current issue," Calhoun reminded Lilith, "I don''t think it shoulde to be a surprise that Madeline agreed to marry me. Didn''t you ditch poor Mr. Leveson because you wanted to spend the hour with me?" he threw the question back at the woman whose eyes red up.

    "Getting back to the discussion. Sir Markus, please get to the point instead of deviating from it," came the stern voice from Dimitri, "Mr. Fisher, what do you have to say?" He questioned the human.

    The human looked tired, possibly because of a busy day, and he looked at the people in the room with an apprehensive look. Mr. Fisher bowed his head, and gulped. It would have been easy if the information was for someone else, but the man didn''t know that he would have to speak something that was set to trap the King.

    Calhoun spoke to the man, "Feel free to speak, Mr. Fisher. And make sure you speak only the truth. Any conspiracy against the King and lies to the members of the High House will be considered nothing less to treason." His words did nothing when it came to easing the man''s tension, and Mr. Fisher looked scared.

    "I-I, my wife heard from the maid that young Miss Harris tried to kill herself by jumping from the high tower, and the King was the one who saved her. That the youngdy was being tortured and being kept against her and her parents will," said Mr. Fisher, his eyes shifting back and forth between Madeline, the King and at the older looking man with peppered hair. "Mr. Heathcliff wanted to speak to the maid, I think, to know what happened and if thedy was alright. I am not sure if he did, but the maid was found missing the very next day I handed the maid''s address to Mr. Heathcliff."

    Markus cleared his throat, "I would like to mention that it is possible that the King was not happy with their rtionship and how Mr. Heathcliff held thedy''s heart. Maybe the King framed the innocent man?"

    For the things that were passed on and for what happened in the past, Lilith said, "Do you mean to say that King Calhoun was jealous enough that he decided to frame the man for the murder that was caused by the King himself? So that Mr. Heathcliff would not hinder his rtionship with thedy?"

    "Yes, you will know about it when you meet Mr. Heathcliff in the dungeon," Markus assured them.

    Dimitri leaned back against the couch, and Weasley rubbed his chin.

    Lady Rosamund said to Markus, "There''s no one in the dungeon."

    "What do you mean?" frowned Markus.

    Even Lilith had a look of disappointment on her face, "Mr. Heathcliff is not in there and nor is that werewolf that you mentioned." For the embarrassment that was caused towards her, Lilith would have dly enjoyed seeing Calhoun go through the trial.

    "Who is your next witness, Sir Markus?" Dimitri questioned without wasting another second. Markus had topose himself after finding out that both the werewolf as well as the tailorman had disappeared from the dungeon.

    The werewolf would have been more than enough to expose Calhoun and his deeds. It would have also cracked the possible budding rtionship with Madeline but how in the hell''s name did they both disappear?!

    "Did the werewolf eat the man and then break away from the dungeon?" Markus frowned deeply. The members of the High House hade earlier than expected, and in the evening when he checked, the werewolf was still there.

    Madeline, who heard this, pressed her lips because she knew the truth. The werewolf didn''t eat James because James was the werewolf. She wondered what Markus even saw.

    Calhoun couldn''t stop the smirk that appeared on his lips, and he replied, "You must be hallucinating, cousin. There is no werewolf in the castle, and the High House made sure to look at every nook and corner of the dungeon. We all are well aware that leaving a werewolf out in the open is never a good thing. With the moon out, you would have heard the howl of the werewolf, but all you will hear now is my pets howl."

    His eyes looked straight into Markus'' eyes, the smile turning faint with amusement filled in his eyes.

    "These are nothing but wild usations. I would have expected you to have more solid proofs if you are trying to frame me," tutted Calhoun.

    Markus refrained himself from saying anything because if things didn''t work out ording to his n, that would mean he would have to ask forgiveness for the misunderstanding to stay on Calhoun''s side. But he had been absolutely sure that Calhoun would be caught this time, which was why he made a move to involve the High House.

    "I have three other vigers here. They will tell you that they saw the King in the vige around that time when the girl was killed and they also saw the King speaking to the maid in the middle of the night," informed Markus.

    Dimitri started his questioning and the three vigers started to tell what they saw. The rest of the people in the room continued to stay quiet and listen.

    In between, Madeline couldn''t help but wonder why the maid was killed. Did Calhoun kill her?

    Once the members of the High House were done listening to Markus and the words of the witness, Dimitri turned to look at Calhoun, "Do you have only one witness from your side, King Calhoun?" asked Dimitri.

    "I think one is more than enough," Calhoun offered a smile.

    When Calhoun looked at the man who was brought here by Theodore, the man opened his mouth, "Milord!" and he bowed. By appearance, he looked scrawny, and his hair looked messy, falling on the greasy side, "I have known Hilda for some time. And before she went missing, I saw her speaking to this man," the person pointed his finger at Markus.

    "What rubbish are you speaking about?" Markus took two steps forward only to be warned by Dimitri.

    "Take a seat, Sir Markus."

    Markus narrowed his eyes before going to take a seat next to his mother.

    "He was near Hilda''s house behind the tree. I don''t know what they were doing, but it is possible that he is the one who eloped with her!" eximed the vige man, "Even on the day she went missing, he was lurking around her house."

    "Is this true, Sir Markus?" Weasley tried to confirm.

    "He doesn''t know what he is speaking," stated Markus, "Why would I even go, to meet a maid?"

    "My son is being framed for no reason. This is what happens when you raise your voice," said Lady Rosamund, her lips set in a thin line as she looked at the vige man like he was some kind of an insect.

    Calhoun cleared his throat and pulled out a letter from his pocket, which was then handed to Dimitri, "I think this might help jog my cousin''s memory."

    "What is that?" demanded Lady Rosamund.

    "That? That is a letter that was retrieved from Markus'' clothes which is written by the maid Hilda who has gone missing." While the High House members attention was concentrated on the letter, Calhoun stared at Markus whose eyes widened in realization, "As you can read, the letter was sent to Markus Wilmot in an attempt to let him know that shepleted the job which was given to her by him. The letter clearly stears about ruining the future Queen''s reputation," said Calhoun.

    "It must be a fragmented letter!" eximed Lady Rosamund. She stood up in anger and distaste in her mouth, "You are trying to frame him!"

    "Why would I do that?" Calhoun asked innocently, "I have no reason to frame him. I will earn nothing from it. Daphne, dear," he addressed the High House woman, "I am sure you will find the same handwriting in those files that you are carrying."

    "Who knows the King must have set me up to it!" Markus defended himself quickly.

    "As I said, I would benefit nothing by doing it," Calhoun tched, "All the lies and the traps you thought you could frame me with, it''se back to bite you, Markus."

    In a blink of an eye, Markus pulled one of the men who was his witness, using him as a shield and moving towards the door. At the same time, one of the member from the High House used some ability that broke the closest vase near the door into dust. Madeline caught sight of Dimitri moving his hand for the door of the room to close shut. He was a demon as well as a vampire like Calhoun.

    "Let go of the man, Markus," Dimitri advised, and everyone had stood up from their seats.

    Lilith didn''t stop herself, and she went to attack Markus only to end up hurting the man who Markus was holding. Pushing the man towards the woman, Markus broke through the door and escaped from there.

    "Catch hold of him!" came themand from the senior-most High House member.

    "Theodore," Calhoun ordered, and the man bowed his head, leaving the room.

    Madeline caught sight of the vige man who was bleeding through his neck. All Lilith had done was use her fingers to slit the man''s throat. The man convulsed on the floor while blood oozed out from his neck.

    When the other guards arrived, Calhoun ordered, "You can escort Lady Rosamund and her daughter into the dungeon."

    "What do you mean?!" Lady Rosamund was stunned with the development and she red at the audacity of her nephew.

    There was a spark of re in Calhoun''s eyes as he said, "Markus ran away from here before we could sit and speak, which only shows how guilty he is. We will be putting the family under trial for the treason conducted under my authorization. It would be best if you cooperate so that there won''t be any more charges on you or the family."

 Chapter 294 The loving family- Part 2

    <h4>294 The loving family- Part 2</h4>

    "This is only for precaution," Calhoun promised, "It is not like no one in the family has not stayed in the dungeon. Consider it to be a fulfilment of the Hawthrone''s tradition."

    Rosamund Wilmot, who was the former princess of the Hawthrone, didn''t argue but only continued to re at her nephew. Without causing chaos, she didn''t follow the guards but stepped out of the room, to walk in the direction towards the dungeon as she was no prisoner.

    Calhoun looked at Rosamund''s back, and he heard Dimitri who stood next to him, say,

    "Though we''ll be holding the family for possible treason, they will still undergo trial as they belong to the royal family."

    "Two days?" inquired Calhoun because that was the amount of time that was taken by the High House not just by the current four members but also others, before passing the judgement to see if the person was guilty or not.

    Dimitri nodded his head, "Yes, my King. But that also means that you will have to answer some of the questions. Just because the previous King and Queen''s case was closed, where the me fell on the minister, it doesn''t mean I have let you off the hook."

    With what Madeline had witnessed today, she could tell that Dimitri was a person who was level headed and he appeared to be fair in his decision. But at the same time, when people like Calhoun were put in the same space, she wondered how Calhoun bnced it as Dimitri didn''t appear to be a person who let things rest until justice was served.

    "Please feel free to ask questions about anything. I will be right here," Calhoun replied to Dimitri''s words.

    Calhoun and Dimitri stared at each other. The Senior man had his suspicion on Calhoun and Madeline was aware that it was Calhoun who had killed the King and the Queen.

    For several minutes, they stood outside the room, and Madeline heard themotion taking ce not too far away from where she stood with the two men. It was Sophie''s voice, and she was shouting. Madeline felt a chill run down her spine. She couldn''t help but look in the direction of the open corridors. She wondered how far Markus would be able to run away from the people.

    "My Lord."

    It was Theodore who had returned with his head bowed, "Mr. Wilmot is nowhere to be found in the grounds."

    "Did you search everywhere? He shouldn''t have gone too far," Dimitri furrowed his eyebrows.

    Theodore nodded his head, but the High House member was not satisfied until his very own people returned after some time with empty hands to let them know that Markus Wilmot had escaped.

    "The guards here are sloppy! They couldn''t catch one vampire?" Lilith had an incredulous look on her face.

    Calhoun had ced fewer guards since this morning, almost predicting the situation that would take ce in the future. He wanted Markus to flee so that it would only make it easy to get rid of the Wilmot''s. Markus'' head would turn precious to hunt as he had gone against the word of not only the King but also of the High House.

    Like a patient person all these years, Calhoun hadid the mousetrap for the Wilmot''s and so did the Wilmot''s family. Having treaded carefully over the years, one of them was waiting for the other to fall into the trap. Maybe his cousins and his aunt would have been safe if they hadn''t been in a hurry to get him to be noticed by the High House. Maybe Markus would still have a chance if he used his head calmly by speaking to the High House, but instead, he had chosen to escape like a criminal.

    But Calhoun didn''t judge him. Markus would have never guessed that the letter woulde to be in his possession.

    Hearing themotion taking ce in the castle, some of them woke up. The first one was Lucy, then came Raphael and the Harris family.

    "What''s going on, brother Calhoun?" inquired Lucy seeing the sullen look on Calhoun and Madeline''s face. She didn''t bother to look at Theodore who often had a wall like expression when it came to her.

    "Markus ran away from the castle," Calhoun answered her question.

    "What?" came the question simultaneously from Lucy and Beth.

    Dimitri said, "Markus has tried to form treason with his family. Anyone associated with this incident will be put under trial." His words instantly straightened Beth''s back.

    "W-what happened?" Beth asked as the information was still sinking in her.

    "The trial will take ce here in the presence of other court members. We will return at that time. In the meantime, an official search warrant will be sent out to capture Mr. Wilmot," Dimitri informed and turned around with the other three High House members to leave the castle.

    Once they left, the others were filled in with what took ce, and the words exchanged. Lucy looked worried, and she said,

    "Would brother Markus do something like that? I never knew he was scheming something against you...And to speak ill about Lady Madeline," her voice was sad, "But will Aunt Rosamund and Sophie be convicted for it?"

    Calhoun answered, "I won''t let anything happen to them if they aren''t involved in it. The High House will be the one to decide it. If only Markus hadn''t run away from here and if we could have sat down and spoken. This whole thing could have been avoided." He turned to Madeline''s parents and said, "My apologies, Mr. and Mrs. Harris, but we will need to pause on the wedding ns between Elizabeth and Markus."

    Beth''s mouth fell agape. She couldn''t believe this was happening to her. It was only today that she and Markus were speaking about their future, and now that was being taken away from her.

    "W-where did he go?" asked Beth.

    "We don''t know. We hope he cane back so that we can have a calm discussion but seeing what happened..." Calhoun turned to look at the vige man whoy dead in the room, he said, "It doesn''t look like Markus wants to talk."

    It was evident that everyone were in shock and didn''t know what to say right now. "Madeline," she heard Calhoun call her, "Why don''t you take mother and father back to their rooms?" She quickly nodded her head, leading her family back to their guest rooms.

    "Do you think I can go and visit Aunt Rosamund and Sophie tomorrow morning?" asked Lucy.

    "Yes," Calhoun nodded his head, and Lucy finally went back to her room.

    "Get this cleaned up," ordered Calhoun to the servant as he passed a look at the vige man''s body. Apart from the man who had spoken in favour to the King, the other vige men were taken to spend the night in the dungeon.

    Once everyone had gone back to their rooms Calhoun, Theodore and Raphael made their way out of the castle. Going around and behind the castle, which led to the forest. Calhoun stopped walking with the rest of them when they reached a certain ce.

    "I would have never guessed him to be the impulsive kind,"mented Raphael.

    "Good job in getting to him sooner than the people of the High House, Theo," said Calhoun, taking a step forward to get a closer look at his cousin who was unconsciously hanging from the tree by his leg while his hands were tied.

 Chapter 295 The loving family- Part 3

    <h4>295 The loving family- Part 3</h4>

    There was a bump on Markus'' forehead, but Calhoun knew it took more than just a hit on a vampire''s head to turn them unconscious.

    "What do you n to do with him?" asked Raphael, turning his eyes to Calhoun.

    "Keep him here for the night for my amusement," replied Calhoun casually, "Did you use the syringe on him?" he turned his head to the side, his question directed to Theodore.

    "Yes. I used two shot syringes on him. I didn''t want him to wake up too soon if the members of the High House would stay back in the castle," answered Theodore and Calhoun gave him a small nod.

    Calhoun himself hadn''t guessed that Markus would take a stupid step as he made by running away. Though the people of the High House appeared as if they were ordinary people, the abilities they held without demonstrating openly, one had to be wary about them. From the time of his reign, he had met the High House people, not just these four people who had visited the castle today. Even Markus had met them, and seen people getting punished and executed.

    "He must have known there was no way out. What was his defence?" inquired Raphael.

    "Some people saw me talking to the maid whom I killed," it was strange how Calhoun had not noticed it that day. And though Calhoun did kill two people that day, it wasn''t him who had hidden the maid''s body. He doubted there was someone who had followed him, "Whatever he was gathering it was a weak one. Even if he did, it would still be weak against me."

    Hearing Markus groan as he was returning to his conscious state, Calhoun took two steps away from him, giving him space and time as it would take time for him to return to his conscious state.

    When Markus did open his eyes, it took him a few more seconds to focus his eyes as the things around him were not only blur, but it looked upside down. Finally realizing one of his legs was tied with a rope and his hands were bound together, he tried to move and looked nothing less to a worm which was trying to wiggle its way out.

    "You bastard!" Markus growled, seeing Calhoun and the other two people standing in front of him.

    "No need to be angsty here, cousin," Calhoun tsked, "I must say, I am enjoying the sight in front of me. I thought the dungeon would look pretty but look at you, hanging by the branch. How does it feel?"

    "Get me down from here, and I will tell you," red Markus. It wasn''t easy to look at the faces because of his current position, but that didn''t lower his burning anger.

    "You know damn well that you are guilty for those people''s death! You even killed uncle and aunt!" Markus used, and he continued to wriggle. But no matter how much he tried, he only ended up swinging back and forth.

    "I don''t know what you are speaking about," came the nonchnt voice of Calhoun, "You should be careful when ites to using the King that might cost your head. But it looks like you don''t care about your head anymore, especially considering how you ran away earlier," Calhoun''s voice then lowered down as he said, "Did you realize there was no way for you to prove that it was me, that your n would backfire?"

    "I might have run before, but that doesn''t mean you are off the hook, are you?" Markus threatened Calhoun, "Do you think that is all the High House came here for today?"

    Calhoun didn''t bring in the look of surprise on his face, but his eyes did narrow in thought, "And why did theye?"

    "I have asked them to reopen the case of the previous King and Queen''s death. It is not just me but also my mother, along with some others who have raised the concern and you will soon be exposed,"ughed Markus.

    "What brave words," said Calhoun, "I don''t know why you are trying to imply something that I never had a hand in. Did you perhaps kill the previous King and Queen? Is that why you are now trying to frame me for your actions?"

    Markus looked agitated as he tried to free his hands from the ropes, but the binds continued to hold both his hands together, "You think I don''t know, that the previous King wanted to turn me as the King and not you?"

    Calhoun stared at Markus, "Is that so? Was he your father too? I wouldn''t be surprised if you said yes. Father had quite a reputation and so did our grandfather when it came to fucking anything with legs and breasts."

    "How dare you insinuate something so evil and disgraceful!" Markus was not happy with the way Calhoun phrased the words that there was something between his mother and Calhoun''s father, when they were blood siblings.

    Calhoun walked around Markus,ing to stand behind him and cing his hand on Markus'' head before pulling the hair to hear Markus flinch.

    "If you have been cing mousetraps for me, you should know that this is how I am. I am the person who came from the dark alleys of the vige which is covered in dirt. I don''t have the habit to coat poison with sugar as I rather prefer to give it to the person directly. And you know what? People swallow it."

    "You should stop moving so much, Mr. Wilmot," it was Raphael who advised Markus because he could hear the branch starting to creak.

    "That''s alright. Markus has the habit of falling. This little fall is nothingpared to the grave which he has dug for himself," Calhoun shaded Markus heavily which was not received well by his cousin.

    As expected, in less than a few seconds Markus who continued to move fell straight down on the ground and the branch that broke, fell on his leg making him groan as its sharp edge scraped his leg.

    Markus sat upon the ground, trying to keep hold of his dignity and pride. "You heard the King was going to give me the crown, didn''t you? It is why you killed them," he used Calhoun.

    Calhoun took a step towards Markus, and then he sat on both his heels so that he could level himself with Markus who was sitting on the ground. Staring into the furious eyes, a smile cracked on Calhoun''s lips,

    "You are right. I was upset that the King had suddenly decided to change the person who was going to be crowned. After all, he did promise and give his word in front of everyone that I was the rightful heir," Calhoun had a satisfied smile on his lips. "It does make me wonder what happened in that period of time, that father changed his mind. But let me tell you this. Before he died, he desperately wanted to make me the King of Devon. People are such easy beings. A little threat and word about their life, they will do anything to get it back."

    "Calhoun," Markus addressed him, "Your greed and pride for the throne will soon burn into ashes. The High House has already started to look into the matter, and it is only time when everything belongs to you will be taken away. You will know how it feels."

    Calhoun tilted his head, "How it feels?" He looked at Markus'' leg that had been scrapped. Picking up the branch near to him, Calhoun broke it into another half before using the same thing to go straight to stab Markus'' leg, that earned him a cry, "Do you feel this? I was someone who grew up with nothing in my hands or a constant roof over my head. What makes you think that I won''t be careful or even care if everything is taken away? Sometimes it is more than just the throne and power. Sometimes it is about getting even with others so that they can reflect on their actions."

    He twisted the thick uneven branch to earn a more painful groan from Markus, "You fucking bast-" Markus gritted his teeth.

    "That is not the way you speak to the King. It must have been hard to stay put," Calhoun egged Markus to see the fury in his eyes.

    "Your father realized what a scum you are, and he probably found out how you set grandmother up for her death through his own hands," said Markus.

    Calhoun nodded his head, "It was funny, but it was beautiful. We could have lived like any other happy family if you didn''t inform the High House. Did you think I would not find out? Foolish little cousin of mine." He used the same branch as support to stand up without pulling it out from Markus'' leg. "What do I do with you now? It is hard not to grant your death wishes."

    "What about the High House?" asked Theodore as Dimitri had mentioned about sending a search warrant for Markus, "They will want him alive."

    "Keep him here until morning," ordered Calhoun, "You can bring him back tomorrow to the dungeon. Tell how he was lurking near the castle. The High House will be revisiting the castle too. Would you like to be the meal of a werewolf, Markus?" He asked his cousin as if he was asking what Markus would like to eat for breakfast.

    "Fuck you!" Markus gritted his teeth, "Where did that werewolf go? Where is it?"

    Calhoun stared at Markus, "In the dungeon. Where else do you expect me to keep the werewolf. Though I must say, you have been quite nosy," Markus'' eyes widened, hearing the werewolf was still in the dungeon, and the High House members had failed to see it. Calhoun continued, "Sabotaging the Harris'' shop. Setting up the maid to ruin mine and Madeline''s reputation. I wouldn''t have cared about it if it was just about me, but you went too far by involving Madeline in it."

    Markus was the one tough this time, "Do you think she will take it kindly. Especially Elizabeth."

    "About her. How many lies did you feed her?" questioned Calhoun.

    "I spoke only the truth, Calhoun. To make sure Elizabeth knows what''s going on around her," Markus smiled, "She won''t be happy if something happens to me."

    Calhoun sighed, "I care less to what she thinks or feels. If you have poisoned her mind, I don''t care if I need to get rid of her from her current position. I am sure Madeline will understand why I did it."

 Chapter 296 Acceptance- Part 1

    <h4>296 eptance- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline paced back and forth in her room. Every five minutes, she stepped out to see if Calhoun returned to his room, but the darkness shown through the windows of his room let her know that no candle was lit inside the room. When she remembered her conversation with her family and she bit her bottom lip.

    "What happened there, Madeline?" asked her mother in a worried tone.

    "Mr. Wilmot put a false allegation at the King, telling Calhoun was the one responsible for the girl''s death. The girl whose body was found in the backyard of Mr. Heathcliff. Hecked and failed in his evidence, while the King had his own proof that he had nothing to do with it. Before anyone knew it, Mr. Wilmot fled from there," exined Madeline to her parents.

    "Do they think that Mr. Wilmot was involved in the murder?" asked her father.

    "I think so-"

    "That''s not possible! Markus is not someone who would kill a woman," Beth interrupted right away, not happy that her fiance was on the run and was being framed for the murder, "It is a big misunderstanding."

    Madeline continued to bite her bottom lip in the thought of what was going to happen. Beth looked upset, and her parents were in a confused state. She would have never thought that the Wilmot''s would take such a drastic step by trying to expose Calhoun by confronting him.

    "Why are you staying up?" Madeline heard Calhoun''s voice and she turned around to find him sitting on the bed. When did he enter the room? She asked in her mind. She saw him pat the space on the bed which was next to him.

    Calhoun sat with his legs crossed one over the other, his hands moving behind him to support his upper body as he slightly leaned back. He watched Madeline walk slowly towards the bed. Her features were filled with worry, "Sit." And Madeline sat next to him.

    "Where is my grandmother and James?" Madeline questioned him. It was something she wanted to ask since they visited the empty dungeons.

    "They are in the dungeon," he replied to see her furrowed eyebrows.

    "Were they moved back again?" Madeline had been worried when Lilith had suggested that they take a look in the dungeon. Each and every room in the dungeon had been checked closely, "How?"

    Calhoun offered her a smile, a smile that didn''t have any trace of mockery or any trace of sarcasm in it.

    "Come with me," he said, and both of them left the King''s quarters to make their way towards the dungeon. Reaching the cell rooms, where her grandmother was kept in, she was greeted again with the sight of the empty room.

    She then turned back to look at Calhoun with a questioning look, her frown deepening as she didn''t know what she was looking at.

    There was a faint smile on Calhoun''s lips. Madeline stepped forward, her brown eyes looking at every nook and corner of the room and she heard him say, "There are too many rooms in here. Sometimes we fail by missing the important details." Madeline continued to look until she found something strange at the diagonal corners of the room. There were no shackles in here. Every room had shackles to hold in the prisoners.

    The more time Madeline spent looking, the more strange it felt, and she took a step forward while bringing her left hand forward when she felt something stop her hand from moving forward.

    "What is this?" whispered Madeline.

    "An illusion, darling," Calhoun responded, "Why don''t you make use of that ability of yours," he encouraged her.

    It took her less than a second to break whatever was covering the other half of the room, and she finally saw her grandmother who was sitting in the corner ring at her right now. Whatever was behaving like the illusion mirror, it wasn''t a mirror as the pieces of it never fell. It was only an illusion in the room. A small amount of smoke had formed to start to disperse in the room slowly.

    Not staying there for long, Madeline and Calhoun went to the other room where James was locked in. Upon breaking another illusion, she caught sight of James, who was in his werewolf form, lying on the ground.

    "Raphael was the one who took care of it, both James and your grandmother," informed Calhoun, who stood behind her. Madeline remembered Raphael had left the dining room with the rest and maybe it was then did he took care of this.

    "Is it his demon ability?" she inquired, intrigue mixing with worry, and she turned around, "But you cannot hide James in here forever."

    "Right. The High House will find out about it if we keep him here. I will be shifting James to a safer ce where he won''t be hunted by others," stated Calhoun, "Do you remember what Lilith said about werewolves? They either learn to sustain their human selves, or theypletely turn to rabid werewolves."

    "What is going to happen to James?" Madeline turned back to look at James, who had not turned to his human self. With the High House involved and Markus who had dipped himself in the pool of the events that were transpiring, she wondered if Markus would be the one to take all the me.

    Calhoun answered, "We don''t know. Every person has their own level of coping mechanism. Most of the time, a bite from werewolf can turn one into a rabid creature, thus not remembering who they once were or what memories they had while they were human."

    She hoped nothing would happen to James. They stepped out of the room for the guards to take James away from the dungeon cell he was in and castle, while leaving her grandmother behind with Calhoun''s rtives.

    On their way back, Madeline questioned, "The maid they spoke about. Was it you?" Calhoun didn''t answer her, but he did spare her a look, and it answered her question. Madeline didn''t ask him why, because she had already heard about it during the time the High House members were interrogating Markus and him. A slip of her abilities had caused a wave of opinions in people''s mind.

    Both of them made their way back to the castle. Standing at the door where Madeline didn''t try to slip back into her room, she instead stood in front of Calhoun. She wondered what was going on in his head. Even though Markus had been foolish in his attempts, it didn''t mean the High House members weren''t keeping an eye on Calhoun''s actions, when it came to the present and past.

    When she raised her head, to look straight into his eyes, Calhoun took a step forward towards her. He leaned and pressed his lips on her forehead, which came as a surprise.

    "Are you doing alright?" Calhoun asked her.

    "I wasn''t the one who was questioned for the murders," Madeline reminded him. She wondered how strong or cunning one had to be to hold the position of the throne.

    A grin broke through Calhoun''s lips. He couldn''t resist but want to touch Madeline. She had tried to protect him in front of everyone by kissing him in the courtroom, and it meant the world to him.

    "I am fine if that is what you are asking," replied Calhoun, and he tucked some of her hair behind her ear. Not letting go, the back of his fingers caressed her cheek, and he watched how Madeline''s eyes closed at his touch.

    "Calhoun?" his name sounded the sweetest from her lips. He saw her open her eyes to meet his gaze, "What if they try to frame you for the murder? James is not going to show up for alibi, and Lady Rosamund will not take no for an answer." For people who had been trying to get the throne back to their side, Madeline doubted it would be a peaceful fight.

    "Both you and I are aware that it wasn''t Markus or me. Nor was it James but Catherine Barnes who killed Lady La. Let''s write a letter to her," Calhoun offered her a smile.

    It took less than three minutes for Calhoun to draft a letter in his room before it was put into an envelope and sent in the hands of Theodore. They hade to his room as Madeline''s room didn''t have the parchments or the ink to write.

    Madeline didn''t understand why Lady Catherine would stoop so low as to frame James for the murder when they were going to get married. She could barely imagine the vampiress trying to kill someone less frame one.

    "I should get back to my room," informed Madeline but before she could turn around to start walking, Calhoun caught hold of her arm, and she stopped.

    "Stay," said Calhoun.

    Her heart skipped a beat. The tone he used wasn''t one of demand, but it had a tinge of request in there. Madeline stared into his eyes that looked almost ck, "Just for tonight. Stay here."

    Calhoun had never given her a choice before, and this was the first time, where she could refuse and return to her room, but it was the choice offered to her that made Madeline give a thought of consideration to his words. But Calhoun had given her a choice after understanding the state of her mind when it came to him.

    He didn''t want to let her go yet, and he wanted to keep her near him. She parted her lips, trying to find the words to answer before she said,

    "Okay."

 Chapter 297 Acceptance- Part 2

    <h4>297 eptance- Part 2</h4>

    .

    The word that Madeline uttered was a simple one, but it held too many meanings. And she could tell that by the look that was on Calhoun''s face he was surprised for a second as her answer to his request came easily.

    The room was quiet, and the lights from the candles in the room flickered softly. Madeline stared into Calhoun''s eyes that were keenly looking at hers. If it was a few days ago, she would have outrightly refused it, but with what transpired today and Calhoun giving her a choice, the answer to his request to spend the night in his room came without a second thought.

    "Do you need to drink water?" Calhoun asked her in a polite tone, and Madeline nodded her head.

    Receiving the ss of water from him, Madeline took a couple of sips before handing the ss back to him. Though in the past, Calhoun had spent his time in her room, she had never done the same in his room, and this was the first.

    "Make yourselffortable in the bed," said Calhoun and Madeline saw him leave her side to walk towards one of the many closets in his room.

    Her footsteps were awkward as she moved towards the bed. Having already changed her clothes earlier in her room to the nightdress, she took a seat on the edge of the bed. Her back was facing Calhoun. Even though the windows were closed and so was the door, not letting the cold wind enter the room, Madeline felt a shiver run down her body, raising goosebumps even though nothing happened between them.

    It wasn''t like she was expecting and anticipating something to happen tonight, said Madeline to herself. Her hands gripped the front of her dress. The way Calhoun had asked her without any pressure, it had softened her already soft heart towards him.

    The freedom to have a choice was something that she had been craving from the moment she had met Calhoun, and that little part of her freedom had been taken away in the beginning. At the start, Calhoun was forceful in his actions and words. The matter right now was a small one, but it meant a lot to Madeline.

    "Do you want to change into something?" Madeline heard Calhoun ask her.

    "No, I am fine," she quickly replied to his question, her cheeks slightly turning warm. Unable to resist not turning back to see what Calhoun was up to, Madeline slowly turned her head to see him standing in front of the closet with his upper body bare and only in his cks.

    It wasn''t the first time for her to be seeing his upper body naked. Madeline continued to stare from the corner of her eyes while trying not to be too apparent as she was stared at him.

    As her eyes moved down, she noticed how his body tapered down to the hem of his cks.

    Her brown eyes continued to trail the ck ink like markings that were on his back. It looked exquisite as it was something she had nevere across, and it made Madeline wonder when he received it or if it was something he had acquired since he was a child. There were no scars on his back to show the openings to the wings that had appeared and disappeared time after time before their flight in the past.

    While Madeline continued to look at Calhoun from the corner of her eyes, Calhoun stood there, feeling her gaze on him. He took his own sweet time in wearing the shirt he had picked. It wasn''t every day that she agreed to his word with her own consent and also looked at him.

    Calhoun knew what Madeline wanted. It wasn''t that he didn''t know about it earlier, but he hade to understand that she was someone whom he couldn''t use force and had to handle with tenderness.

    But the need to tease her was something hard to drop so quickly, and instead of wearing the shirt he picked up, he dropped it on the ground. Calhoun turned to look at Madeline, catching her staring at him before she quickly turned her eyes to look at the firece.

    "Are you feeling cold?" he asked her.

    "No, I am warm enough," Madeline cleared her throat. When Calhoun had asked her to stay, it reminded her of someone who needed someone''spany so that the darkness wouldn''t swallow them up. "When did you get those?" she asked, "The markings on your back."

    Her eyes slowly shifted from the firece to look back at Calhoun to see him walking around the bed toe and stand next to where she was sitting.

    "Probably around the age of twelve," answered Calhoun.

    "Did it hurt?" she tried not to look at his naked torso and kept her eyes on his face. Calhoun''s expression looked rxed and calm. She had heard that markings on the skin was painful and hard to handle because they used some sort of needles. Calhoun here had inked the whole of his back.

    Calhoun took in her concerned expression, "The markings that I have are not the ones that I got them made. One night when I was sleeping, it just happened to appear on my back." When he got on the bed, Madeline looked at his skin that looked tan. Was it always this shade or was it because of the dim light?

    "How did it appear?" Madeline asked.

    She herself got on top of the bed, leaving her shoes behind on the ground. cing her bare feet inside the nket which Calhoun had pulled out for her. Madeline settled the side of her body against the pillows that were ced on the headboard.

    "My mother said it was something to do with the demon blood that runs in my veins along with the vampire blood. Most of the demons have markings on their body," Calhoun replied to her. He ced one hand to support the side of his head while looking at her, "Raphael and Lillith have it too."

    "Lilith is a demon," Madeline said to herself, and she pursed her lips. The woman looked like in the past she wanted to share history with Calhoun, but he wasn''t interested in it.

    "She is," confirmed Calhoun, "So is Dimitri, but they don''t know I am a demon too." This had?Madeline raise her eyebrows at Calhoun.

    Frowning, she asked, "How do they not know about it?" She would have never guessed that the High House consisted of demons in there.

    "People, in general, are not aware about the existence of demons. Most think or havee to believe that some of us vampires are born with special abilities, who stand apart from the rest," Calhoun exined to her, "Most of the demons usually have markings on their body. It is an identification of who or what you are. Some of the markings are visible to in sight, like on hands, face, or on neck but some of us have it concealed. And people are not allowed to speak about it. Actually, some of the humans or vampires cannot see it."

    "Was it painful? When the marking started to appear on your back?" she asked.

    One side of Calhoun''s lip pulled up as he stared at Madeline, "It did. Like pain erupting within me before it started to spread all across the body. Some markings are small while some are big, something simr to the wings."

    Madeline was learning many things from Calhoun, things she would have never heard about if she didn''t meet him. At least not this soon.

    Madeline had the urge to trace her fingertips across the markings, to take a closer look, but she only continued to look at Calhoun. He didn''t try to touch her since both of them got in the bed, and this felt more normal andfortable, to sit in the bed and speak with each other.

    "What about your back?" he asked her, "Did it hurt again?" and Madeline shook her head.

    "No. Not since thest time."

    She couldn''t help but wonder if she would be receiving her wings, to burn and then to regrow, she questioned what would happen. She was d that Beth was kept in the dark when it came to her being a dark angel. At the same time, somewhere she felt guilty, not knowing what her grandparents did, not just to her but also to her sister. Madeline didn''t know how much maniption had been done by them to continue to exist with the rest.

    In thefortable silence they shared with each other, Madeline took in Calhoun''s presence not just him in front of her but in her life. If she hadn''t met him, would she now be resting in the coffin? The thought was enough to trigger the ustrophobic feeling in her mind, and she felt Calhoun ce his hand on hers.

    "Things need not be the way they have once been. You do not have to feel alone," Calhoun assured her.

    Madeline knew that. She knew that even if her family was going to go against her, she had Calhoun next to her. Her eyes watered, and she blinked her eyes so that the tears would disappear. "They need to know what happened," she whispered, speaking about her parents. As good as the trick of illusion was, it would have to break one day, and the reality woulde out.

    "Are you worried that they will hate and despise you for your grandfather''s death and for throwing your grandmother in the dungeon cell?" Calhoun''s habit of not beating around the bush and getting straight to the point, making it easier to get an answer from her.

    "It is sometimes hard to think...that what the future holds and what might happen," Madeline didn''t know if her parents would hate her. Though she wasn''t the one to kill her grandfather, she was still the reason for his death, "Raphael said he would try to speak to Beth so that it is easier for him to find her lost memories."

    "I think what Raphael meant was to invite your sister for a cup of tea and slip in something in her cup so that she can be sedated," said Calhoun and Madeline''s lips parted to an O. "He might need to do it to you too that is if you wish to look at your memories too. With Markus spending his time away, your sister might find time for other things unless she''s plotting mine and your death."

 Chapter 298 Acceptance- Part 3

    <h4>298 eptance- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Madeline wondered how her sister Beth was doing right now. Considering how she was head over heels over Markus Wilmot, Madeline knew that Beth was in shock and didn''t know what to say. But at the same time, if Markus had spent his time with Beth, was it possible that the man had poisoned Beth''s mind against her?

    Madeline wasn''t ignorant of how Beth felt, that she was the reason why Beth was not chosen, and it was only because Beth didn''t know the truth. As much as Markus would have filled possible hate in Beth, there was some part in her mind that believed that Beth''s actions were redeemable. She was also aware that Beth''s decision often jumped from one boat to another, depending on the fruitfulness she saw in the person.

    Feeling Calhoun''s thumb brush over her hand, Madeline''s attention fell back on Calhoun who was looking at her, "I didn''t know you cared so much about me. If it weren''t for the High House, I would have never known," said Calhoun to her.

    Madeline''s cheeks suddenly turned red in embarrassment and unable to keep her gaze on him, her eyes fell on his taut muscles of his chest.

    "I didn''t want them to find you guilty because of me," her gaze moved back to look into his eyes. Madeline had never tried to kill herself and what the maid said was a lie.

    Calhoun was overbearing by nature, but there were some redeemable qualities. She remembered of the time when he had asked her to list adjectives for him. If he asked now, there were some new ones. Like a rainbow after a heavy rain, Calhoun had shown kindness towards her. He was undoubtedly teaseful, and he enjoyed watching people squirm and feel ufortable. But at the same time, he was here with her, without worrying she could harm him.

    Even her grandparents didn''t tell her, whether they saw her killing people in the past, but part of her knew that she was responsible for it. She had killed people, and it sent a chill over her body. And even after knowing that, this person, who was in front of her, continued to see the good things about her.

    "I didn''t want you getting into trouble because of me," said Madeline to him.

    Calhoun pushed himself to sit straight on the bed, and Madeline''s own body straightened seeing him get close to her,

    "It will be lonely not to have each other around, isn''t it?"

    Madeline gave him a nod, "It will be lonely." And she then saw a smile breakthrough Calhoun''s lips that made him look much younger than he often appeared to be unlike the constant re or smirk on his face.

    "Are you sure about it?" Calhoun asked her, even though he already knew the answer to it. It was the reason why he asked her to stay back tonight, "Thirteen more days and you will be married to me."

    "What about Markus?" questioned Madeline.

    "The guilty people die, and we all get to have our happily ever after." People often died, and most of the time, it was because Calhoun got them killed. His cousin''s death would mean little to nothing to him, "The big bad wolf will be getting married to the red riding hood."

    This brought a faint smile on Madeline''s lips, "But what about the High House."

    "They can burn in mes," Calhoun replied to her before his hand trailed to the side of her neck. He took in the way her eyes looked at him right now. There was no fear or doubt, and even though there was a shyness which was shedding away, he could tell that she had finally epted him.

    To think that this beautiful creature whom he eyed standing in the balcony of the ballroom was finally here with him, without a doubt of resistance in her mind,

    "Would it be too much to ask you to repeat what you did in the courtroom?"

    Madeline''s eyes widened at Calhoun words.

    When he leaned closer to her, she could feel the spike in her heartbeat, but Calhoun didn''t close in the distance between their lips. His eyes were on her lips, and then it went back to look at her eyes that were staring deep into his eyes��time stopped as she looked at his handsome face before she moved her head forward to close the gap.

    Madeline pressed her lips on his, feeling the warmth that started to set her skin aze when he slipped his hand around her waist to bring her close to him. Shyly, she moved her lips against his bold lips, that were quick to dip his soul into her by indulging both of them in a warm kiss.

    The rosebud he had been holding, waiting for it had finally bloomed in his hands, opening up to him and to Calhoun it was nothing less than euphoric. This sweet flower had finally opened its petals, allowing him to love her, and it was pure bliss to know that Madeline was finally responding to his feelings.

    With Calhoun who was taller than her, Madeline''s back had arched and her neck craned up, kissing him back as her cheeks continued to burn. She had closed her eyes, one hand going to ce on his bare chest and the other hand which moved to his shoulder. When she parted her lips, opening to him, Calhoun seized the opportunity to taste her and in return letting her to taste him. Madeline could feel Calhoun exuding his masculinity, taking over the kiss, guiding her with his lips and hands on her body. Another arm of his went to settle on her waist before both his arms circled and brought her near to him.

    Madeline''s eyes fluttered open to find Calhoun''s eyes that were partly open looking at her, and she blushed further.

    Pulling back from the kiss, Madeline turned her head to the side. She hadn''t expected him to watch her expressions during the kiss and her hands slowly slid down from his shoulder and his chest.

    "How was it?" Calhoun''s shameless side came forward, and Madeline was sure she turned close to the colour of an apple by his question.

    "W-what kind of question is that?" she cleared her throat and gave a quick nce towards him.

    A grin was stered on Calhoun''s face, "I need to know if you are satisfied with the kiss," he said. He thenid down on the bed before patting the space next to him,

    "I want to hold you tonight."

    The kiss he shared with Madeline, he had never kissed anyone like that. It was a careful one, a kiss where he wanted to transfer his feelings to her without having to utter those in words.

    "But you are not wearing a shirt," Madeline reminded him.

    "I am sure you will keep me warm," he offered her a charming smile, waiting for her with his eyes holding a mischievous look.

    What kind of reasoning was that, asked Madeline to herself. At the same time, she was surprised that Calhoun had not gone farther than a kiss on her forehead and lips.

    "Did you want more?" she heard him question her.

    Madeline quicklyid down, her back facing him but with a distance between them as she wasn''t courageous and bold enough to snuggle in his chest like some kitten.

    She wondered if Calhoun was listening to her heart beating in her chest. She had surprised not only others but also herself by kissing the King in front of everyone and then in private. And now she was lying on his bed willingly. The heat on her cheeks didn''t reduce, and her skin felt warm.

    While Madeline was still calming her heart, Calhoun''s hand went around her waist and pulled her smoothly towards him. "Your heart is beating too fast," Calhoun chuckled, and he ced a kiss on the nape of her neck.

    "You are holding me," she whispered. She was snuggly pulled against Calhoun''s bare chest.

    "Yes, I am aware of that," Calhoun whispered back, and he then buried his nose in the crook of her neck, "You smell like roses."

    It took some time for Madeline to calm her beating heart, and when it did, she realized she had her hands on Calhoun''s hand that was holding her waist. The candles that were burning dimmed down to turn the room dark so that she could sleep.

    So much had happened over the week and there were only thirteen more days left for their wedding as the hour of the new day had started. This moment felt peaceful and cocooned, while trouble lurked outside. Madeline believed Calhoun was smart enough not to be caught, but somewhere in the corner of her mind, she couldn''t stop but worry about him. Dimitri had openly said to Calhoun that he had his eyes on him.

    Madeline remembered Calhoun''s words to Lady Rosamund.

    ''It is not like no one in the family has not stayed in the dungeon. Consider it to be a fulfilment of the Hawthrone''s tradition.''

    "Calhoun?"

    "Hm," his breath fell on her neck.

    She asked, "Did your family lock you in one of the cells of the dungeon in the past?"

    "They did. It was a long time ago," replied Calhoun to her question. To Madeline, it seemed like he had not forgotten about it. She wondered how much bitterness he carried in his heart or if it had transformed to something else over the years.

    She heard him say, "Sleep, my sweet rose."

 Chapter 299 Cell room- Part 1

    <h4>299 Cell room- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline didn''t fall asleep immediately. Being held in Calhoun''s arms for the very first time in the bed, it took time for her to adjust to the brewing feelings she felt in her chest right now. Oddly she felt safe andfortable with him like this. Who knew that there would be a day where she would feel like this in his presence.

    She felt Calhoun''s breath softly hitting on her skin every time he exhaled, tickling and stirring her body. The night was much quieter than a few hours ago that was filled withmotion because of Markus who had run away in the presence of Calhoun and the High House members. Though the candle lights had exhausted themselves in time, the firece continued to burn, making a crackling sound every once in a while.

    The heat in her cheeks had reduced, and her heart beat had gone back to its normal rate. Though Calhoun had told her to sleep, it was hard for her to fall asleep. Her body felt aware of his hand around her waist. Several minutes had passed, and with her back facing him, she wondered if Calhoun had fallen asleep. If he was sleeping, she didn''t want to move and wake him up.

    They were sleeping in his bed like they were already married, and she could only wonder if this was how it would be in the future. Since the time she was in this room today, when Calhoun had asked her, she knew what he wanted to hear. And every time she agreed, she noticed how his dark red eyes brightened with emotions.

    "Is it ufortable? The position," Calhoun''s sudden question startled her.

    "You didn''t fall asleep," she whispered.

    When Calhoun hummed, Madeline felt goosebumps rise on her nape. "How can I sleep when you haven''t fallen asleep?"

    "I never knew you could be this sweet."

    The words were supposed to stay in her mind, but they slipped through her lips, letting Calhoun know exactly what she was thinking. Madeline questioned herself if it was the calmness of the midnight that was helping her to speak her mind or if she was only gettingfortable with him.

    "I was always this sweet," his words reverberated on her skin.

    "Hard to say," Madeline''s words were short, and she heard Calhoun chuckle.

    "Haven''t I always treated you with utmost respect and love," his hold on her waist tightened to bring her closer to him, "Maybe only when I felt the need to tease you. Don''t deny that you haven''t enjoyed it."

    Madeline didn''t respond to it, and it seemed like the big bad wolf would make its appearance known if she were to poke it. On the other hand, Calhoun couldn''t help but smile at her silence. He enjoyed having her in his arms. She was the treasure of sce he had been searching for all these years.

    When Calhoun saw Madeline from the balcony, ready to walk towards the exit, he had made his way towards her just for the thrill of it. He enjoyed a good hunt, and when the prey was this delectable, it was hard for him to not test and chase it. But when he had walked past her, he had stolen her handkerchief while taking in the sweet fragrance near him. It reminded him of something very home-like, and he tried to pinpoint it, but every time he tried to trace back the smell, the memory was lost. It had made him run his hands through his hair several times before as he still hadn''t found out about it.

    "Do you think angels have their own scent which is different?" Madeline questioned, her body didn''t turn or move but continued to stay in the same position, "How do demons smell?" she asked curiously.

    "How do you think I smell?" Calhoun asked her in return and Madeline was about to sniff the air, but she cleared her throat in the end.

    "I don''t know," she whispered. She closed her eyes as she couldn''t believe that she was actually going to sniff the air around them. Sneakily doing it, she didn''t find any difference.

    "Considering your grandparents and parents didn''t hold such fragrance and appeared to be normal, I would say you are an exceptional case," she heard Calhoun reply to her, "Has your sister ever broken anything before?"

    Madeline gave it a thought before shaking her head, "No. I don''t think she ever broke anything. Why do you think she was skipped from the generational gene?" By her understanding, Madeline believed that both Beth and she were supposed to share the same abilities. But ording to her grandparents, she was the only rotten apple out of the whole lot in the family.

    "Maybe you are the chosen one," he responded, and Madeline couldn''t stop the faint smile that reappeared on her face which Calhoun missed. "Compared to what your grandparents portrayed it to be, you might be the opposite. Sometimes...the most powerful things take time to evolve and learn to handle who they are. And it is possible that your grandparents never had enough knowledge about it."

    "But they were angels. Angels don''t kill others." There were too many doubts when it came to theories of angels as Madeline had killed people and her grandparents were willing to kill her. So where did one draw the line of who was right and what an angel was allowed to do?

    "Fallen angels are nothing less to demons because of their deeds. You shouldn''t ponder too much on it."

    It was hard not to think about it. Calhoun was right. The fallen angels were angels who hadmitted some mistake, which was why they were thrown out from the heavens. Angels who were cursed to lead their lives like humans were death was inevitable, and they had to go through the burdens of life.

    Calhoun had the menace in him, just as a demon would. There were some qualities of him which she was ready to over look. Wasn''t that what life was about, with adjustments.

    In the past, as eager as she was by imagining a life with James, she came to wonder how things would have proceeded with her being an angel and if James was not bit by a werewolf.

    She doubted she would have been at ease. Calhoun appeared to be a wiser choice before she even could make a choice of her own.

    Calhoun continued to hold her in his arms, and Madeline felt a sense of security, knowing nothing bad would happen to her tonight while she slept next to him. She was a dark angel, and he was a demon vampire, and in some sense, both of them didn''t know much about their lineage.

    "Tell me about your mother," she said to Calhoun in a whisper. Though she knew bits and pieces, Madeline wanted to know more about Calhoun and his family, about his life from his young age till the time he turned to a King.

    "She was aposed woman, my mother. We had a good rtionship. A normal mother and son," Madeline heard Calhoun say, "I had the habit of bringing things home, or where we stayed which she didn''t approve of."

    "What did you bring?" she asked him curiously.

    "Dead people," Calhoun answered and Madeline who wasn''t facing him all this time, turned around to face him. She turned around just to see the expression on his face if he was joking or he was telling the truth.

    Her eyes anxiously looked up at Calhoun, "Why would you do that?" she was stunned.

    "They were people who often crossed me or insulted my mother in public for who she was."

    Calhoun was d that Madeline had turned as he could now take a look at her beautiful face. Her eyes had slightly widened, and her lips were parted. The urge to run his finger over her bottom lip was high, but instead, he settled his hand on the curve of her waist.

    "When you are by the King''s side, people envy you and once you leave, the envy turns to demeaning words and actions. Men in the vige liked to take advantage of the situation, and sometimes it worked��"

    Madeline bit the inside of her cheek.

    Though Madeline had met Calhoun''s mother only in her coffin in the graveyard, and even though she didn''t know the woman personally, Madeline felt her heart turn heavy.

    "Every week it was someone, and I brought the person back home, even though I knew it was something that disturbed my mother. But it did bring me a great deal of satisfaction," confessed Calhoun. "Vengenace when found in its purest form, nothing can beat that feeling."

    Madeline pursed her lips for a moment before asking, "Do you remember when you killed for the first time?"

    Calhoun twisted his lips, a thoughtful expressioning to settle on his face.

    "Must be around when I was eight," a grin appeared on his lips and Madeline didn''t understand how he could smile while revisiting such harsh memories. He continued, "I think it was because after killing, I didn''t know where to put the bodies. So I took them to my mother. At the beginning of the time, she helped me hide the dead bodies."

    So this is where Calhoun''s words came from, thought Madeline to herself. The notion of helping to hide the bodies to protect his loved ones.

    "People didn''t find out about it?" Madeline frowned in thought.

    Calhoun stared straight into Madeline''s eyes, "When someone found out, I had to make them disappear from the vige too."

    "I don''t know how to feel about it," Madeline answered truthfully to see him give her a smile. "I am sorry for what your mother had to go through."

    "Hm," Calhoun hummed, "There was a day where she wondered what would have happened if she didn''t leave her father''s side. If she continued to stay there, probably she would still be alive, but I wouldn''t havee to exist, and we wouldn''t be here."

    Hearing what Calhoun said about the past, Madeline wondered if she was ready to hear the rest of it. It wouldn''t be just her but also him, who would be revisiting the past, living the memories all over again.

    "Why did they put you in the dungeon?" questioned Madeline.

    Calhoun''s hand slowly left Madeline''s waist, and it went up to reach her face so that he could caress it.

    "They wanted to get rid of the heir. It was my grandmother and her daughter, Rosamund who sent me in there. I am merely returning the favour of the past," he grinned, his eyes holding amusement in them.

 Chapter 300 Cell room- Part 2

    <h4>300 Cell room- Part 2</h4>

    ''Sometimes, all secrets are not meant to be told. A harmless lie to protect someone is alright.''

    Though there were some things he didn''t tell Madeline, it didn''t hurt keeping them himself on what happened in the past, while letting her know just enough, which was more than what he let any other person know about him. He had stopped caressing her cheek so that it wouldn''t disturb her sleep, moving his hand back to her waist whilst he watched her.

    His thoughts went back to the time when he had entered the castle. It wasn''t his father who had tried to find him, but Calhoun had made sure for his father to notice him, to let him know that he existed.

    His thoughts drifted to the time when he had decided to step into the castle.

    "Calhoun?" Theodore had called him from behind while he sat in front of his mother''s body. The ce around her body had turned red because of the blood and his own hands had covered in blood until his forearms. "We need to bury her."

    Calhoun had not responded, instead he continued to sit there, staring at his mother. "I know a ce to keep her."

    Theodore''s passive expression didn''t change on Calhoun''s choice of words. "Let me help," he offered. Both of them had taken Calhoun''s mother to the cemetery, which was hidden deep in the forest, where the Hawthrone''s graves were located.?Calhoun continued to remember, that both he and Theodore were young at that time, and if he were to turn back time, he would still choose to keep his mother in his grandfather''s grave.

    Returning to the present, he looked at the girl who soundly slept next to him. All he wanted was to live a life with her while removing any pests who would try to ruin them.

    Leaning forward, Calhoun brushed his lips on Madeline''s forehead for a fleeting second before pulling away from her. Sliding out of his bed, he pulled the nket to cover her, tucking her in safely before wearing his shirt and leaving the room after locking it.

    At the far end of the corridor, Calhoun met Raphael, who was watching the sky.

    "The High House came earlier than we expected, what are you going to do about them?" questioned Raphael.

    "There''s nothing to do if they don''t do something," Calhoun replied, and Raphael stopped looking at the night sky to look at the King. "So far all they have tried to find is scraps that are of no use. Every person who had possible information or doubt on us was thrown out of the High House and taking further measures of relocating them somewhere else before they were killed in an unfortunate ident."

    "Are you jealous of it?" Calhoun smirked, his lips twisting to a cunning smile, "Do you know how to hide the deer? You let the lion eat it up, and the deer ceases to exist. Theodore has gone to drop an important letter to someone. Most of the problems will resolve once the persones forward. Not to forget, the High House members will be joining us for breakfast or for tea tomorrow. You should possibly ask them to y cards with you."

    A smile cracked on Raphael''s lips, "I don''t think they would fancy a game."

    Coming to serious matters, Calhoun then said, "Do you think you will be able to do it? Thest time you tried to get into someone''s head, it damaged their existing memories and threw them back to the time you touched the particr memory you were looking at."

    Back then, Calhoun needed answers from a man about his mother''s time in the castle. He had taken Raphael''s help at that time. The answer was critical as those were things his mother hadn''t spoken about, but when Raphael had tried to look into the man''s memory, the man had lost a considerable amount of his years with no idea of what happened after Calhoun''s mother''s time in the castle. And maybe that would have been fine, but something happened that led the man to die two weeks after the event.

    "I will start with Lady Madeline''s sister first. I doubt you mind messing her head?" Raphael proposed.

    "Sure."

    "I will do it tomorrow. Maybe once the High House members are out of sight," informed Raphael.

    Unable to resist, Calhoun made his way to the dungeon and the cell room where Rosamund was locked in. She stood near the grilled bars of the window, staring outside without looking at him even though his footsteps had echoed through the passage.

    Rosamund finally turned to look at Calhoun, where she had finally schooled her features, "You have some nerve throwing me in here."

    Calhoun clicked his tongue, "Is that the way your mother taught you to treat the King?" he reprimanded her. The nerve on the vampiress'' forehead appeared, but she didn''t speak back to him.

    Carefully, she said, "I did no wrong that you have decided to put me in the dungeon like some prisoner."

    "Do not worry. As I said, this is only procedural, and once you have been proven not guilty, you shall get to live the life that you have. After all, what name do you have?" Calhoun''s word struck something in Rosamund''s mind, and she red at him. He was using the same words which she had used on him in the past.

    It was the time of Winter when the illegitimate son of her brother Laurence hade to live in the castle. Rosamund and her mother had thrown him into the dungeon by framing him for a man''s murder who belonged to the elite family. The High House wasn''t prominent back then, and it was still under formation, making it easy for the royals to run the rules and punishments.

    "Where is the boy?" asked her mother.

    "He''s locked in the dungeon," Rosamund answered her mother, "I asked the guards to beat him where it wouldn''t be visible."

    Her mother didn''t look pleased enough with Rosamund''s words, and she started to head inside the passage of the dungeon, stopping in front of the closed room. On her arrival, the guard opened the door, and they found the person who was tied in shackles.

    "I told you before that this castle is not for an animal like you. How could you kill Mr. Gale in such a cruel way?" asked Rosamund''s mother, who was also the King''s mother. She took two steps towards the person whose face had turned dull because of the mud and blood stuck on his skin.

    Rosamund, who had followed her mother, stared down with distaste in her eyes. "This is what happens when you bring people from the streets. Especially a child who is born to a whore."

    The young man''s red eyes shifted to look at the woman, staring at her, "It is rude to be calling your own brother a whore. I don''t think he would appreciate it."

    Both the women''s eyes widened before narrowing down, "Say what you may, but you should have thought it through before stepping into the castle. It isn''t toote. We can send you to the next Kingdom, and you can live the life that you deserve. Because the charges that are up and against you, they will be hard to drop. Even if it means you are the King''s son."

    "You are my grandmother. You should defend me," though Calhoun was beaten up with the bare punishment, he still stood his ground by meeting the older woman''s eyes.

    "And why would I do something like that?" the older vampiress smiled, "I don''t know what has gotten into my son''s head to think he could turn you to his heir. Youck the blood and ss for it."

    "It should be less than two days before you will be beheaded in front of everyone," Rosamund smiled, "Brother Laurence never goes against mother''s words."

    "That''s right, Rose," agreed Rosamund''s mother, "It was on my word that he threw your whore like mother out of this castle. Did you think you coulde here one day and im the throne for yourself?"

    Calhoun tilted his head to the side before a small smile appeared on his face. And that smile was enough to irk the older vampiress.

    "A person like him has no name or identity. No one will care about it," stated Rosamund.

    The older vampiress then said, "Enjoy your remaining time in here before yourst hours. Your mother was smart enough to leave the castle-"

    "But you weren''t smart enough to let her go, were you?" asked Calhoun, he ran his tongue over the side of his cut lip, tasting the raw metallic taste of his blood that had dried, "You think I won''t get out from here?" he chuckled.

    And as Calhoun had told them, he did get out of there in the thirty hours before his judgement of being beheaded could be passed by his grandmother''s order. ording to the royal family''s knowledge, Calhoun had stepped in the castle only with Theodore, but what they didn''t know back then was that Calhoun was spreading his web all around the castle, turning their people over to his side.

    "You ced me in the cell," Rosamund grounded her teeth, ring at Calhoun. He hadn''t ced her in the closed rooms which were used for the people of higher ss and had instead chosen to put her in a ce where the ordinary vigers or other criminals were put in.

    "Wee to the other side of the world of mine," said Calhoun with a pleasant smile on his lips, satisfied to see the vampiress behind the rusted iron rods.

    .

    Note: If you find books on the site which has same things that has been written in this bookpared to other books on Webnovel, please do send me a message on Instagram- ldg_books, so I can bring it to the staff''s attention. Thank you~

 Chapter 301 Decision- Part 1

    <h4>301 Decision- Part 1</h4>

    It seemed like in sleep, Calhoun had let go of her waist, giving her space just like he had donest night by offering her a choice to refuse. He slept with his back against the surface of the bed and his body facing the ceiling of the bed. Madeline started to move, ready to wake up and tiptoe out of the room so that she could get ready when her right hand touched something wet.

    Her eyebrows furrowed and Madeline pushed herself up, sat on the bed, to bring her hand forward only to see her hand that was covered in blood. The shock of the sight was enough to throw her sleep out of her body, giving her body a sharp wake. She gasped when she caught sight of the blood that had drenched the white sheet of the bed, and the metallic smell of the blood hung around the bed.

    Madeline''s eyes were quick to turn towards Calhoun, and she noticed him staring at the ceiling, with his expression frozen. A wide hole had formed on his chest, and she gasped. Her breathing started to change with her heart beating loudly in her chest as shock sank in her body.

    W-what happened here? She asked herself in panic. She looked around back and forth, and checked the windows and the doors to see them closed.

    "C-Calhoun?" she called his name, but there was no response from him. The next moment, she found her hands on his chest. More blood started toe out from his body.

    The room started to stifle, and her anxiety started to have her heart go into overdrive, waking her up from the nightmare she was having until now. Quickly waking up, she looked at the bedsheet to notice it was clean white and to see Calhoun was not lying there with his eyes open.

    Madeline was looking around the room, and at the same time, the door opened, and she saw Calhoun standing there at the door, staring at Madeline with a frown on his face. He walked to where she sat, cing a hand on her forehead. He had gone out of the room ten minutes ago and was only returning when his ears picked up her heart, beating loudly like she was in a state of panic.

    "What''s the matter, Madeline?" Calhoun asked her, his eyes staring into her brown eyes that looked slightly dted out of fear. He caught sight of her watching him, her eyes moving across his chest, and he tilted his head.

    Calhoun sat on the edge of the bed, letting one leg rest down on the ground while the other that was folded on the bed.

    "Where did you go?" Madeline asked, her eyes staring into his.

    Madeline, stared at Calhoun making sure she wasn''t dreaming again, finally dropped her gaze from him and gave him a nod. It was a disturbing dream, a dream that was vivid, and she could still smell the blood in the air, and the wetness in her hands because of his blood that was cold. Though Madeline had seen part of her grandfather''s neck being ripped out, what she saw in her dream felt worse. She didn''t know if it was because it was her own hands that had killed him in her dream, or if it was because it was Calhoun.

    She felt Calhoun ce his hand below her chin, raising it so that she would lift her gaze,

    "Tell me about your dream," he coaxed her, wanting to know what had shaken her this early in the morning.

    Madeline parted her lips, "It was just something," and this made Calhoun even more curious.

    "No matter how little or stupid your dreams might be, I would like to hear every one of them," said Calhoun to her.

    "Even the bad ones?"

    "Even the ones that are ugly and something you cannot digest," he dropped his hand from her chin, letting her hold her gaze where her brown eyes had traces of doubt and worry in them. "You should know by now that I can handle anything. Even the worst."

    Madeline took a moment for herself, gathering words to speak, "What if my grandparents are right? What if I am the person who will kill people? What will you do if I kill you one day?" she questioned him.

    "Then I will die by your hands," he responded with a straight face before saying, "What exactly did you see in your dream?"

    "Blood and you," said Madeline, "You were on the bed, with your heart missing in your chest, and I had blood on my hands."

    "Dreams don''t have toe true every time," Calhoun patted her head, "It is very rare that something ever coincides with reality. And the dream is not wrong. You do have my heart," he offered her a smile, his eyes softening as she took his pats without anyints.

    Madeline didn''t know about it. Though it was true that her dreams had often been bizarre, there were still chances of something happening, or a premonition for the future. Calhoun appeared like he didn''t care if he died by her hands, but she didn''t want to cause any deaths by her hands or by her actions.

    And even though Calhoun had a different outlook about the same thing, and he enjoyed ripping people''s heads off like a farmer who cut pumpkins from the ground, Madeline didn''t wish death upon anyone because every life was precious, and it had to be valued.

    "I should have been by your side when you woke up," he apologized to her. Calhoun wondered if it was because of the conversation they hadst night before she slept. "If you worry about the future, you will fail to see the things that are passing by."

    "What if there''s no future?" asked Madeline, her eyes intently looking at him. Until now, she didn''t know she possessed the quality when it came to killing someone, but if she did, it was possible that she could kill Calhoun one day. They were opposites, an angel and a demon which was good to say that she could turn to his equal.

    Calhoun''s lips finally twisted into a smile, "Once upon a time, you believed there was no future to us. That we didn''t match, sometimes all you need to do is to believe that everything will be okay. That is how I sleep soundly at night even after I behead a good number of people."

    "Must be nice to have a peaceful sleep," Madelinemented, and the grin on Calhoun''s lips broadened, allowing her to see his sharp fangs.

    "A man needs his sleep," he joked. Calhoun leaned towards her face, pausing for a second so that Madeline could take in every second of his action and he tilted his head to the side to kiss her on her cheek. "Good morning. You should get ready now."

    When Madeline left his room, Calhoun stared at the open door before his eyes fell on the bed that looked unkempt, unlike all this time as he barely slept in it. After returning to the room from the dungeon, Calhoun had stayed in bed, not sleeping but watching over Madeline who slept soundly with her face turned towards his side.

    Breakfast in the dining room was extremely quiet because of the absence of the Wilmot''s at the table. Though Beth and her parents had questions on their mind, they didn''t dare to question the King about it. When Lucy didn''t arrive at the table, Calhoun passed a silent look at Theodore, who bowed his head and left the room.

    Madeline took note of this little action, and she looked at Calhoun, who offered her a smile as if nothing was wrong.

    "The room is quieter than usual, isn''t it?" Calhoun chimed in the awkward silence of the room, "Feels like people died already."

    A tter was heard at the table as Beth had unintentionally dropped her knife right on her te upon the King''s words. Beth quickly apologized for the disturbance she had caused, bowing her head. She appeared like she didn''t get a wink of sleepst night and had stayed up worried. She had started to build a castle with Markus in it, but that was pulled away from her.

    "Would you like some butter, Lady Elizabeth?" asked the homeless-looking man, who had picked to sit right in front of her. She didn''t even know what the man was doing in here.

    She shook her head and turned back to look at her food.

    Even though Beth was worried about where Markus was and how he was doing right now, her thoughts were being distracted because of the man who was sitting and staring at her. The man was rude to keep staring at her, and maybe she would question him if he wanted something, but the atmosphere around the table wasn''t right.

    When breakfast was done, Beth pulled Madeline away from the rest, going to another corridor and she asked,

    "Did they find Markus?" Beth had a look of anxiousness on her face which was marred with worry.

    Madeline knew her sister was going to ask her questions about the vampire, and even though Madeline knew Calhoun had found Markus, she shook her head.

    "No, they are still trying to find him," answered Madeline to her sister. Lying was not what she had nned to do, but she wanted to be the responsible sister. Markus Wilmot was only using Beth for his own benefit.

    "Do something about it, Maddie. Help Markus," blurted Beth before Madeline could say something, "The King will listen to your words. Ask him to spare Markus'' life!" Beth had given a lot of thoughts, and she knew Markus was going to be executed if he would be found guilty.

    Madeline pursed her lips, "Mr. Wilmot won''t be in trouble if he hasn''t done anything and has only escaped from the castle in the spur of the moment." She ced her hand on Beth''s arm, "He will be fine if he hasn''t done anything. I am sure everything will be alright."

    She noticed how Beth looked conflicted by her words like she wanted toment something about it, but she tried to hold it in. "But if something happens, you will stop him, right? You promise me?" Beth pressed for an answer.

    Seeing Madeline''s hesitance, Beth''s eyebrows furrowed as she came to realize that Madeline was not going to do anything like that and would instead follow the King''s words. To save Madeline, Raphael arrived at the corridor.

    "Lady Madeline and Lady Elizabeth. Greetings to you both," Raphael bowed his head.

    Though Madeline bowed her head, Beth looked annoyed by Raphael''s presence.

    "I was wondering if youdies would like to y cards?"

    "I don''t think this is the time to y cards. We have something important to discuss," replied Beth. Raphael noticed Beth''s eyes that were green and had more colour to it where her ck hair entuated her features.

    "Allow me to help then," said Raphael, ready to take part in it with a polite smile on his face.

    Beth gritted her teeth, "I will talk to youter, Maddie. Let me see if Lady Rosamund is doing alright," and she sent a small re to Raphael, turning on her heel and walking away from them.

    "Your sister doesn''t look like she likes me much, does she?" Raphael asked, seeing Elizabeth disappear from the corridor.

    Madeline was worried about what Beth would do. She only hoped that her sister wouldn''t do anything stupid that would push Calhoun to add her sister in the same scale as the Wilmot''s family.

 Chapter 302 Decision- Part 2

    <h4>302 Decision- Part 2</h4>

    "I don''t know why I am even here!" Sophie hade to stand right in front of the grills. "I was minding my work in my room when the guards dragged me out! Where is Markus?!" she demanded.

    Lucy shook her head, "There has been no news about him. They are still searching for him."

    Sophie was fuming as if smoke wasing from her ears. She had kept all her ns to be lowkey, and it was her family who now had got her in this situation! "Where is brother Calhoun? I will speak to him and plead not guilty in front of him."

    "He should be here at any moment. Once I find more information, I will let you know about it," assured Lucy. She then walked towards the other cell room which was ced away from Sophie, where her aunt was imprisoned.

    "Aunt Rosamund, do you know why Markus tried to set brother Calhoun up like that?" asked Lucy, trying to understand the situation that was going on.

    Rosamund had a sullen and sad look on her face. She shook her head, "I don''t know, dear. I frankly don''t know why I am here. And Markus must have been just scared, especially considering how things went in the past."

    "In the past?" Lucy furrowed her eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

    "I mean, we all know the unspoken truth of what happened to your parents. Of how they died. It is just that no one speaks about it," said Rosamund, letting her words carefully sink in Lucy''s mind.

    Lucy''s expression only turned more confused at her aunt''s words, "I don''t think I am following what you are saying."

    Rosamund who was looking at the rods of the cell shifted her gaze to look at her niece. "How long are you going to turn a blind eye to what happened in the past, Lucy? Even the walls whisper about the murder that took ce, of how the King killed his very own father and mother, and then even your mother."

    A smile came up to muster on her face, and Lucy shook her head, "No, that''s not true. It was the minister who killed mama and papa. I saw the minister there at the scene, holding a knife and his hands covered in blood. You know that already."

    "Pray tell me, why is the King trying to set up Markus for a murder, then?" asked Rosamund. She slowly moved away from the shadows,ing to light where the light from the torches fell. "I was there yesterday when the proceeding was taking ce. Markus mentioned that he meant no harm and was only doing his duty to the family and to the people. You know how much he cares about people. He would do nothing to harm or bring a bad name to the family."

    "There was someone who spoke against the King about the murder that took ce here in the castle, but Calhoun killed the man. Why don''t you ask him? On why he killed your parents."

    "Why didn''t you bring this up in the past? Why now?" Lucy found it hard to believe that Calhoun had killed her parents. She had seen him follow every word that was given by her parents. He had always been diligent about it. "I think you are wrong, Aunt Rosamund."

    The older vampiress turned her gaze away and whispered, "Speaking against the King will only lead to execution. If something happens to me, I want you to know. It is why I letting you know about it now."

    Lucy was there the day her parents had been murdered. It was the day when she had visited her parents after many days of her marriage, and she was still trying to cope with the changes that had taken ce in her life. She had seen the minister, and she had seen Calhoun. It couldn''t be Calhoun, why was Aunt Rosamund ming him tantly, thought Lucy in her mind.

    She shook her head, "No," she whispered, "Brother Calhoun was with me when we arrived at the scene. The minister didn''t work for brother Calhoun but he was father''s man, who worked in the court. There had been a misunderstanding between father and the minsiter a week before their murder. Whoever told you about it, they are wrong."

    "If I am executed with Markus, promise me you will find the truth, Lucy," Lady Rosamund looked at Lucy.

    "Brother Calhoun won''t allow any injustice happen to you or Sophie. I don''t know what made Markus escape, but I hope it can be sorted without any need for anyone to be executed," said Lucy. Family mattered a lot to her, and she didn''t want anyone dying. But with the ways things appeared right now, uncertainty hung in the air.

    The sound of shoes was heard and both the vampiress turned to see Theodore who had arrived there. He bowed his head,

    "Lady Lucy, the King, has summoned you."

    Lucy''s lips twitched every time Theodore addressed her as ''Lady Lucy''. Pursing her lips further, she glimpsed at her aunt, "I will visit soon," and the older vampiress nodded her head.

    Lucy was the first one to leave, and Theodore followed her after taking a nce at the older vampiress who was standing behind the rusted iron bars. He silently followed Lucy, and she didn''t utter a word. Just as they reached the corridors, Lucy suddenly turned and questioned Theodore,

    "Is it true?"

    Theodore paused his footsteps and stared back at Lucy, giving her a questioning look even though he knew exactly what she was asking.

    "Mdy?" he asked her, his face continuing to hold a passive expression.

    "What Aunt Rosamund said...Is it true?" asked Lucy, looking straight in his eyes.

    She knew that Theodore knew most of the things that concerned Calhoun, and she wanted to know if what she heard was true. But at the same time, she realised it was wrong to doubt. Calhoun had done nothing but shelter her and looked after her. Doubting him like this was wrong.

    But before Theodore could say something or Lucy could stop him from answering her question, they heard the sound of the carriagesing in the direction of the castle and it stopped with the neighing of the horses. The High House members had arrived as Calhoun and he expected,

    "Would you like to stay in thepany of the High House?" asked Theodore.

    "Yes," replied Lucy, wanting to be part of the trial and discussion that was going to take ce today.

    With the High House members who were yet to enter the castle, Theodore turned to look at the vampiress who didn''t look at him and instead looked ahead at the empty corridor. Her features were mild as it was in the past. Her skin pale and her lips pink while she avoided his gaze purposely.

    "Where did Mr. Gerville go?" questioned Theodore as he had not seen her husband.

    "Why don''t you ask him yourself," came Lucy''s clipped answer.

    "If there''s anything I could help you with, please do let me know," came Theodore''s solemn answer, and he bowed his head.

    Lucy finally turned her eyes to look at Theodore, "Why?" her expression had turned cold.

    Why was he offering his help to her, after all these years? Seeing Theodore not answer her questions like many other times before, she asked him,

    "What happened to that maid? The one who was w-with Samuel that night?" Lucy saw Theodore push his sses up the bridge of his nose. She had tried to look for the maid so that she could have some talk, but the maid had disappeared from the castle.

    For a few seconds, Theodore didn''t reply to her and Lucy was about to leave his side, when she heard him say,

    "I thought her presence would bother you, so I took her to the forest."

 Chapter 303 Decision- Part 3

    <h4>303 Decision- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Lucy was taken aback, and she stared at Theodore. She didn''t get enough time to question him as she heard the sharp clicking sounds of shoesing from the other side of the corridors, and soon the members of the High House arrived but not with four people. This time, there were six of them, and next to Dimitri, a blonde woman walked as if she owned the castle.

    The woman had dark red eyes, and she wore a monocle on her right eye that had a chain that disappeared behind her long blonde hair which was parted from the centre of her head. The sound of the footsteps was sharp and loud enough to get everyone''s attention, and even Madeline who was with Calhoun stepped out of the room to see who had arrived.

    The vampiress continued to walk, her face serious and behind her and Dimitri, the other four members walked. Calhoun left Madeline''s side, and walked in the front to stop and stand in front of them in the middle of the corridor and the High House members finally stopped.

    The members of the High House bowed their head, and Calhoun returned the gesture. He was joined by Theodore who stood right behind the King.

    "King Calhoun Hawthrone, it has been a while since west met," spoke the woman, her voice strong and her features looked mature. Madeline who stood farther away from them could tell that the woman was somewhere in her thirties in appearance-wise, but as she was a vampiress, she couldn''t tell how old the woman was. The woman appeared wise, and her eyes were sharp.

    "Helena Shawe," Calhoun greeted the woman, "It has indeed been quite long. I was hoping to see you today as the other members weren''t able to catch hold of my cousin who ran away in the middle of the discussion."

    The vampiress named Helena, stared at Calhoun, her monocle delicately bnced on her strong face, "I heard about it. I also heard that your guards aren''t up to the par. Seems like you will need to change the men here."

    "It was already done this morning, mdy," Calhoun smiled, his eyes on the woman with a polite smile on his face, "Why don''t we continue the discussion in the courtroom, unless you haven''t had your breakfast and would care for it in the dining room," he suggested.

    "We can start with the proceedings," stated Helena and everyone walked towards the courtroom. Chairs were ced for everyone to sit in a semi-circle so that they could start with the court trial. Madeline and the other family members arrived in the room. Lady Rosamund, and Sophie were brought into the room from the dungeon cells.

    When Rosamund''s eyes met Madeline''s, the woman didn''t look happy and she looked like she was ready to throw the human to the dungeon for the issues that had been caused due to her. Nor would Madeline have appeared in front of the King, nor would anything like this happen right now.

    "We are here for the official trial that is going to take ce in the presence of the High House members, the King and his family members along with the concerned people over the matter of the recent deaths'' that was caused by one of the family members. As the matter has not been judged to its fullest potential, we will be giving everyone turns and opportunity to speak," said the woman, giving a look at everyone that included the people who stood near the walls and also at the members of the High House. The clothes that she wore looked nothing less to the one that was worn by a sister in the church, which was the colour of her eyes.

    If Madeline met the woman outside, she was sure to mistake the woman to be a sister of the high standing church.

    "Bring the used family forward," ordered the woman, and Lady Rosamund was the first one to be brought at the centre. It was the first time for her to go through something so disgraceful where both her hands were bound by shackles. Even her legs were bound, making it that much worse. Every step she took, it made her angry.

    Beth, who was standing with her parents, watched what was going to happen, looked at Lady Rosamund with an anxious look on her face. She had gone to meet Lady Rosamund, to make sure her possible future mother-inw was alright and nothing bad had happened. But when she did turn up in front of the dungeon, the guards didn''t let her in.

    To the servants of the castle, Beth was nothing but a guest, and she was of no importance. Her eyes moved towards the King, who was seated on the other side, ready to listen to the trial.

    "Lady Rosamund Wilmot, do you know for what you have been charged today?" questioned Helena.

    "For a crime that I did notmit," answered Lady Rosamund, her stance prideful even though she had been chained like a criminal.

    "Mdy," Dimitri was the one to speak as he was present duringst night''s event, "Your son put false usations against the King, that the King has killed many people while framing someone else who are innocent. Even though what the King''s do in all thends aren''t of our concern, the conflict here rises because the girl who died was the duchess''s daughter, and when people like those die, it creates a strain in the system."

    Helena spoke next, "It doesn''t mean that the others'' lives don''t matter. Usually, death''s like those don''te to our notice, and we are most likely to find the ones that are evident to us. Your son killed the girl and med it on the King. Have I got the fact, right?" she asked the vampiress.

    Lady Rosamund sighed, "Why would Markus self-report for what he is suspicious about? He was only doing his duty, of letting the High House know what was going on. Markus has always looked up to Calhoun, and he followed every word ofmand that has been given by the King, taking it to be absolute. He would never put his family in trouble. We the Wilmot''s and the Hawthrone, have always been close, especially after we lost some of our family members."

    "Why do you think he ran away from the scene? You do understand that it was a basic trial that could be resolved, but Markus Wilmot ran away like a felon," Weasely questioned the vampiress who belonged to the royal family.

    Rosamund tipped her chin slightly up.

    "He must have been worried."

    "About what?" asked Dimitri.

    "About being framed by someone, that the information that Markus ryed to you woulde to put him in trouble. Something like this has happened in the past too," said Lady Rosamund. Helena, who was sitting with her back leaning against the chair, leaned forward��cing both her elbows on the table.

    "And what is that?" questioned Helena, her words firm. "It would be best for you to speak clearly about it so that it can help you clear your name. Were you aware that your son wrote letters to us?"

    "No, I didn''t know about it."

    Sophie, who was standing not too far away from her mother, alone on one side of the wall of the court with only guards next to her, looked at her mother.

    Lady Rosamund continued to say, "As far as my knowledge allows me, Markus never mentioned anything about him sending letters to the High House, nor did he speak about the King''s deeds. He probably didn''t want to worry me or the others."

    "So that would mean he did everything on his own ord. Is that what you are telling, Lady Rosamund?" Helena tried to confirm, and the vampiress nodded her head.

    Sophie''s eyes widened at her mother''s words. Now as Markus was going to be caught and he was in deep trouble, was her mother letting go of Markus by saying she didn''t know anything?

    "Yes," agreed Lady Rosamund, "But I don''t think Markus meant anything ill, and he was only doing it possibly because he felt it was wrong."

    On the vampiress'' words, Helena turned her head to the side, speaking in a low voice in Dimitri''s ear who nodded his head.

    "Mdy, you can step away so that we can speak to your daughter Sophie," informed Dimitri and Lady Rosamund stepped back to let Sophiee and stand where she previously stood. Before the High House people could say something, Sophie said,

    "I am being held as a prisoner for something I didn''t do. I don''t even know what is going on."

    "We will be the judge of it, miss," said another man who hadn''t visited yesterday with the four High House members. He had long silver hair which was tied into a pony with a red ribbon. "Did you hear anything from your brother or mother speaking against the King? Or about the body that was found in the backyard of a human''s house."

    Sophie shook her head, "I don''t know anything about it." Her family had stopped speaking about their ns with her, "I think it''s just a big misunderstanding."

    "Do you agree with what your brother said? That the King is the one who killed the girl and the maid, who tried to frame it back on your brother?" asked Lilith.

    Sophie rolled her eyes, "I said it''s all a misunderstanding. Neither of them would kill that whatever-her-name-is. We don''t even know about that girl, and I don''t know about the maid."

    "But that makes it easier to murder the maid, isn''t it?" Lilith continued to interrogate, "That she was someone no one would be aware of."

    Seeing the prideful personality of the vampiress, Helena said, "You should know that if you don''t answer the questions and if we don''t find you to be innocent, you will be set to execution as you are one of the suspicious people right now in this room."

    "That''s ridiculous!" eximed Sophie.

    Sophie turned to look at Calhoun and then her mother before turning back to look at the High House members who had serious expressions on their face. She wasn''t even part of it, then why was her neck supposed to be in line, under the axe?!

    Soon the sound of footsteps was heard with the nking of the shackles, and in came the guards, dragging Markus into the courtroom. Commotion started to fill in by Markus'' presence in the room and people began to whisper to each other. Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed by noticing this, as she didn''t know what was going to happen next.

    Markus was being dragged by two guards, and his hands and legs were bound simr to his mother and sister.

    "Where did you find him?" Helena had a look of surprise on her face, and she turned to look in the direction of Calhoun. It was because her people had told her that they weren''t able to find him yesterday even after searching for some time after he had escaped from the castle.

    "My men found him," answered Calhoun, "The men in the castle aren''t as useless as the others who hold powers." The little jab was picked by every High House member, and their eyes narrowed at the King of Devon.

    Helena''s eyes stayed on Calhoun for a long time while the others were inspecting Markus who appeared to be in a decent shape. The woman knew that the King had a hand in the matter but with theck of proof, simr to what happened in the past, it was hard to catch hold of him. The first time when she had met Calhoun, he was still the illegitimate son of the previous King from a mistress, someone who was working for thete King. There was something in his eyes that had caught her attention.

    Shifting her gaze from Calhoun, Helena turned to look at Markus and Sophie. "Lady Sophie can take a step back as we have the main person who is of interest now," announced Dimitri, "Sir Markus Wilmot, do you agree that you went against the King. That you killed the maid before using him of murder?" The question echoed the walls of the silent courtroom.

    "I do not," Markus replied to the question, his answer firm and loud.

    "Was there a reason why you ran awayst night?" asked Dimitri, "You grabbed one of the vige men who was your witness as your shield. You not only lost your witness but also ended up to be the reason for his death."

    Markus who had been tied and hadn''t slept for hours since he had regained his consciousness, now stared at Dimitri. He knew how the trials worked, and what happened. Treason meant a direct execution after the verdict.

    "It wasn''t me but one of your people who killed the vige man. I only held the man in front of me while doing nothing to him," replied Markus, "You cannot charge me for someone''s death that I have not caused."

    He was right, thought Madeline to herself. It was Lilith who had killed the vige man and not Markus. Her eyes went to fall on the High House people who were staring at Markus.

    Markus was asked to reiterate what he spoke yesterday and what he had found about Calhoun''s misdeeds, repeating the same spoken things all over again.

    "Mr. Wilmot, you must know that your reason for why you escapedst night does not make any sense, except for the fact that you knew you did something wrong and yielded to it," spoke Helena when no one responded to Markus'' words. "Right now both the King as well as you appear to be guilty. So the decisiones to who has the maximum evidence and how much it weighs in both your cases. It is not forgotten that you bribed the maid to tarnish the King''s image, trying to bring him down. Therefore, I would say your condition isn''t looking so good right now, Mr. Wilmot," said Helena.

    "You didn''t ask the King about his deeds? On how he orchestrated the murder and how he has set me up?" asked Markus, slightly agitated because it looked like the me was falling back on him. "How does a person get a free pass when the person killed the previous King and Queen?" he demanded an answer.

    Helena''s expression turned severe, "The issue was submitted in the past, time and time again by various people, but there has been no evidence that it was King Calhoun who did it. The me goes back to the man who has already been executed."

    "Maybe the High House has not been efficient in finding the truth. I mean considering that one person in there likes the King," Markus uttered the words to receive a re from Lilith. "I told you, I wasn''t the one who killed the dutchess'' daughter. I barely even knew her that she existed. I have nothing to do with the murder and the witnesses already said what they sawst night that I have no hand in the death of the maid either."

    "People say anything, Sir Markus," Helena leaned back against the chair she sat in.

    Helena fell silent for some time, while people in the courtroom looked back and forth between the persons who were involved in today''s matter. Madeline couldn''t help but wonder if that was all the questions that were going to be asked before the High House woulde to a conclusion.

    A whole minute passed by, and after some more discussions with the fellow members of the High House, Helena asked,

    "King Calhoun, is there something you would like to say to clear your name from the usations of what your cousin is pressing on you?"

    Right now, everyone''s eyes fell on Calhoun, who slowly walked to the front so that he could speak to the High House members. Every person in the room stood there holding their breath, thinking what was going to happen, and this included Madeline who bit her lip in worry.

    "I have already given my defence yesterday. I don''t know why my cousin would go so far as to make the maid spread things about Lady Madeline, which are purely untrue. Like my aunt mentioned, Markus and I, we have a great rtionship," agreed Calhoun, "We are cousins of course, but I don''t know what went wrong that he went as far as to fabricate usations and lies on me," he turned to look at Markus.

    "You have been torturing Lady Madeline. That is why she even tried to run away from the castle," stated Markus. This raised eyebrows of the members of the High House.

    "Is this true?" asked Helena, turning to Calhoun.

    "If it was true, she wouldn''t be here today," smiled Calhoun, "As bad as everyone wants to portray our rtionship, we actually have a good one, and I am sure it was already disyed in front of the four High House members yesterday," he said looking at each one of them.

    Markus huffed, "He has kept a werewolf hidden in the castle. And he was torturing Mr. Heathcliff in here! The werewolf must have eaten Mr. Heathcliff as they were both put in the same room."

    Calhoun chuckled, "The only werewolves that roam in these grounds are my pet wolves, cousin. If I did have one, the High House would have found out about it by now as none of us were informed about their possible visit. I don''t know what you have against me. First, the ill rumour, the werewolf and then the murder of the girl? Why would you do that, Markus?" he asked in a disappointed tone.

    "You are ming me for your actions!" said Markus who then turned to look at Helena, "Mr. Heathcliff has gone missing because the King knows how much threat Mr. Heathcliff is when ites between the King and Lady Madeline. Why ce the body in Mr. Heathcliff''s house when it could be done anywhere else? Isn''t it a little too convenient?!"

    "It is also very convenient that you put the me on me, isn''t it?" Calhoun responded to Markus'' im.

    Helena stared at both the men who were part of the royal family. Though Markus looked like he didn''t kill the girl, he was found guilty by making an escape in the middle of the trial. Markus did create treason by ming the King, against whom there wasn''t enough ountable evidence.

    This was the second time Calhoun was giving an exnation in front of the High House, and he hadn''t changed. Hisposure was the same, rxed and calm expression on his face. Though the death of the previous King and the Queen was suspicious, no evidence could be gathered against him, and the case was closed.

    Calhoun Hawthrone. Helena had not met a man like him before. Apart from being handsome, he appeared smart and sharp, possibly cunning. She had heard plenty of stories regarding thest King''s affairs when it came to the number of mistresses he had. Somewhere, it was obvious to her that Calhoun had a hand in thete King and Queen''s death. She doubted the motive was to take the throne, and that it was for another reason. Helena had stepped into the position of the head of the High House to remove the injustice that took ce, to be fair in the judgment, but to do so, one needed enough facts.

    After some more thinking, Helena said, "Due to theck of information against Rosamund Wilmot and Sophie Wilmot where they do not show any signs of involvement in the subject of the case today, where even Markus Wilmot didn''t bring forth their names. Taking all of those into ount, they shall be released."

    A sigh of relief escaped from Sophie''s lips. But Lady Rosamund was not relieved yet as Markus'' verdict had not been announced.

    "The King shall face another trial because of his ties with Mr. Heathcliff and with the body found."

    Murmurs started to fill in the room with the unexpected words from Helena, "Also, Lilith has found some information about the case and what happened there. The King will go through another trial in the presence of the duchess'' family member. But we will still be going through one of the hearings today."

    Madeline looked utterly confused as to why Calhoun had to go through another trial when it wasn''t him but someone else who had killed the girl and buried the body in James'' backyard.

    "It seems very convenient that the body was ced in Mr. Heathcliff''s home, where there must be a possible link to the rtionship with Lady Madeline," said Helena and Madeline frowned, "But in the meantime, the verdict-"

    "WAIT!" came the voice of a person.

    Madeline who stood on the other side, craned her neck like the rest of them to see who had paused the head of the High House, and Helena had a look of annoyance. Madeline then saw a familiar face who stepped into the courtroom, gasping for air.

    It was Lady Catherine Barnes who had a look of lividness in her eyes, and she shouted,

    "Please don''t execute him!"

 Chapter 304 Decision- Part 4

    <h4>304 Decision- Part 4</h4>

    .

    It was the time of the morning, where in the Barnes'' mansion, Catherine Barnes was not pleased with her family that they couldn''t find James yet. It had been some days since Miss La was killed and from that day, James had gone missing. She missed him terribly. The most she had spent without meeting him was three days, but this was more than that, and her heart continued to pace back and forth in worry.

    Getting herself out of the bed, she got ready. She doubted James had left thend. There was no way he would do it, especially with his shop in the vige that was flourishing. He should havee to her by now, but he didn''t, and this bothered her immensely. The charges that were put up against him was not small and with the name of murderer on James'' head, Catherine worried if she had not calcted the oue of her n carefully as she had considered it to be easy. Though her father said he was using all his source in tracking down where James was, she didn''t understand why James was not found yet!

    Catherine had done all this by thinking that James would forever be indebted to her. And he would never think about leaving her or having a change of mind about them getting married.

    But her n had backfired. With his father, who had passed away from this world, there was no reason for him to stay here except for the sake of his shop. James Heathcliff''s shop was not only guarded by her father''s men but also by the official magistrate''s men.

    When she stepped out of her room, a maid arrived bringing her a ss of blood, bowing her head, "Good morning, Lady Catherine," greeted the maid.

    "Hm," Catherine responded with uninterest, "Where is father?"

    "Mdy, Mr. Barnes has gone to attend some important work. He said there was a man from the foreignnd who wanted to talk about work. He informed me that he would be back in the evening," answered the maid. When Catherine finished taking two sips of the blood from the ss, and ced it back on the tray with force.

    "What is with this blood? It tastes like mud," Catherine''s mood only turned bad, and the maid bowed her head deeper without meeting the vampiress'' eyes.

    "Please allow me to bring you another ss-"

    "Why don''t you give it from your hand?" Catherine folded both her arms across her chest. She was the princess of this mansion, and she was brought up to have everything she wanted. There was nothing she couldn''t have. "I always have fresh blood. Have you forgotten that?"

    The maid looked distressed, and she didn''t know what to do but stare at the young vampiress with her eyes wide, "M-my blood?"

    Catherine looked annoyed because of the dy. "Yes." She then looked around and then at the tray. Picking up the ss, she broke it against the wall and picked up the piece of ss in her hand, "Here. Take this."

    "Miss Catherine, there is a letter that came early this morning for you," informed the butler to her.

    "From who is it?" Catherine asked and then turned to the maid, "Are you going to take it or shall I help you myself?" she demanded.

    To the people outside this mansion, Catherine Barnes was a lovely and dainty woman, her voice sweet and her behaviour alwaysposed. As if she was someone who couldn''t hurt a fly nor raise her voice. But those were only things that she wanted others to perceive about her. It was only the people who lived inside these walls of the mansion knew who the real Catherine was. She had a child-like temper and threw tantrums when her parents failed to oblige to her wishes. The vampiress always had a notion that she would marry the man with whom she would fall in love. Though she never intended the person to be a human as they were nothing but lower beings, she had not expected to fall in love with James Heathcliff.

    The butler who watched thedy force the maid to hold the piece of ss, decided to interrupt so that there wouldn''t be any more deaths by the hands of the young miss.

    "Mdy Catherine," the butler interrupted again, and Catherine turned to look at the butler with annoyance in her eyes, "The letter."

    "I asked you from whom it is," Catherine snatched the letter from the butler''s hand and went to read the name of the sender to notice a seal which she had never seen before. At the same time, the butler quietly had the maid to leave so that she could get back to work and live another day in this mansion.

    Catherine frowned, wondering from where the letter hade from. "Do you know whose seal it is?" she questioned the butler.

    The butler promptly replied, "No, mdy. I have never seen this one before." Instead of standing idly, he bent and started to pick up the shards of the ss.

    Thedy tore the envelope, and she read,

    ''Lady Catherine Barnes,

    We would like to inform you that, due to the unfortunate events, Mr. James Heathcliff has been taken under custody by the High House. He will be executed for the charges that are against him with respect to the Murder of Lady La as well as the murder of Miss Hilda. The execution will be taking ce in the courtroom of the Hawthrone''s castle. It will be taking ce early at the noon after the trial and procedures arepleted.''

    Catherine''s face turned pale, and she quickly looked down to see who had sent it, but there was no name. She looked back and forth at the envelope to look at the seal that had disappeared as if she had imagined it. Was James caught and going to be executed today?!

    "Pull out the carriage immediately!" Catherine ordered her butler, who looked startled with the sudden order.

    "Where are you going, mdy?" asked the butler, whose job was on line thanks to this young vampiress who had killed many people in thest three months. Mr. Barnes had specifically asked him to watch over his daughter and keep an eye.

    "I need to go to the castle. James has been found, and I need to be there!"

    "Let us wait for Mr. Barnes to return, mdy," the butler tried to convince, but Catherine was in no mood to stay here for not even one second. Someone had finally found James, and he was going to be set to execution!

    Catherine quickly started to head out of the house, getting the carriage ready and got inside it while leaving the butler to inform her parents of her absence and where she was going. On her way, she couldn''t believe that James was actually going to be beheaded. When she reached the castle, the guards let her in on seeing her face as she had visited the castle in the past with her father.

    She ran towards the courtroom as fast as she could. Holding the front of her dress while some strands of her hair came out loose. She then heard someone from the court say,

    "But in the meantime, the verdict-"

    "WAIT!" Catherine shouted, believing it was James who was getting sentenced to death. She gasped for air as she had walked and run to the courtroom. Her eyes had turned wide, and without seeing who all were in there, she eximed,

    "Please don''t execute him!"

    Now that she had stepped into the room, her eyes frantically searched for James. Her red eyes moved from one person to another, but she couldn''t find James in here. There were six unknown people who were seated in a semicircle, who now stared at her.

    "Is there something you want to tell, Miss��.?" Wesley questioned the vampiress who had interrupted Helena, the head of the High House.

    "Yes!" replied Catherine immediately. Though she was not able to see James, the letter had clearly mentioned about him going to be executed today, and the verdict was about to take ce when she had neared the courtroom, "Please do not execute Mr. Heathcliff! He didn''tmit the murder!"

    Helena looked more annoyed than anyone in the room for interrupting the proceedings.

    "And you are?" inquired Helena.

    Madeline saw Catherine bow her head, "I am Catherine Barnes. The used James Heathcliff''s future wife, and I can vouch for it."

    Helena furrowed her eyebrows. Thest she heard Markus Wilmot was with a human, where did this onee from? But the vampiress spoke about Mr. Heathcliff.

    "The used here is Markus Wilmot, Miss Barnes. Not Mr. Heathcliff," Helena cleared her throat, "Unless you are Mr. Wilmot''s future wife, please stand aside," she sent a small re towards Catherine who had a look of confusion on her face.

    "But James?" whispered Catherine to herself.

    Dimitri took it to say, "We are here for the trails of Mr. Wilmot, who used the King and Mr. Heathcliff before, in the involvement of Lady La''s murder."

    "Unless you have something to speak about the case, please step aside with the rest," stated Dimitri.

    And Catherine would have done it if Calhoun didn''t speak out loud about her, in front of everyone, "Lady Catherine was a dear friend of Lady La. I am sure she has some insights on what happened," he said, with his head tilting subtly.

    Catherine''s mouth fell open by this revtion. Her eyes then went to meet King Calhoun''s who had a look of menace in his eyes and she turned worried. He looked at her as if he knew that it was she who had killed the girl.

    Every person''s eyes immediately fell on Catherine, and she felt as if she was put in a tight spot. Why did the King tell she had an insight?

    "Is that true, Miss Barnes?" inquired Helena.

    "Lady Catherine was devastated when she found out that Mr. Heathcliff was used of her friend''s murder. As she was mourning for the loss, she wasn''t able to make it to the burial or viewing of Lady La," Calhoun continued to speak and the young vampiress looked paler than the time she had entered the room.

    With everyone''s eyes on Catherine, she felt pressured. Pressured because it was true that Lady La was an acquaintance whom she knew closely. It was why her father had been crossed with her actions of killing the girl. It was done in a spur of the moment, and before she knew it, the girl was dead. Now, Catherine was not only worried about James, but she also feared that someone would find out that it was she who had killed La.

    "Miss Barnes, if you may," Helena straightened her back, her hand pointing towards the centre front so that Catherine woulde to stand there. The girl apprehensively took steps to where she was asked. "The interrogation has been going on concerning the King and Mr. Wilmot''s involvement in the recent death. Did Miss La ever mention any of them or Mr. Heathcliff?"

    Catherine, who had been as eager as a beaver to put James in trouble a few days ago, now realized she shouldn''t have done it, "Lady La didn''t know Mr. Heathcliff. They weren''t acquainted with each other."

    "Even though you were closely acquainted with him and you were going to be married to him?" questioned Helena before continuing, "What about the King and Mr. Wilmot?"

    Catherine''s father was well acquainted with the King as he worked for him. Her eyes wandered towards Calhoun who was standing there, staring at her, and she then said, "The King knew Lady La as she was the dutchess'' daughter." This caused another round of murmur in the room.

    Madeline didn''t have a good feeling about this. Calhoun was standing there quietly without raising any concern for what Catherine was speaking right now. Madeline still found it hard to believe that Catherine was someone who could kill people.

    Catherine then did something which Madeline had never thought about, "Miss La...she used to like Mr. Wilmot."

    When Lady Catherine had entered, Madeline was sure she was here in search of James, but this took a sharp turn.

    Was it true? Madeline asked herself on what Catherine just said.

    People in the courtroom couldn''t help but gawk at this little information. The High House members looked intrigued by this sudden development. So far the way things were going, it seemed like Calhoun was the one responsible for it, but now the needle had gone back to point at Markus.

    Calhoun took this opportunity topel Catherine to speak more by saying, "Lady Catherine, can you tell the people in here that a day before the body was found in the backyard of Mr. Heathcliff''s house, Lady La had visited your house."

    "Looks like we have one more person added into the line of suspects,"mented the silver-haired man who sat with the rest of the High House members. His words put Catherine under an alert. She hade here to save James, but here she was now trying to save her own neck.

    "Was this filed by the magistrate?" asked Dimitri to Lilith, who the previous day beforeing to the castle had tried to gather information regarding the case.

    "No, this was not registered," replied Lilith and Helena gave a look at her for her tardiness as not all the information had been gathered.

    Catherine felt her palms turn cold. She had to do something about this quickly and get her out of this little situation that she had dug for herself. Knowing how difficult it was to frame the King for her deeds, she decided to make up a lie,

    "She looked very distressed that day. Miss La, I mean. She wanted to speak something about Mr. Wilmot, but she didn''t tell what it was and left the mansion right away."

    "Mr. Wilmot, you said you have never met or spoken to Miss La, but Miss Barnes says otherwise," stated Dimitri.

    Markus looked angry at the confusing predicament he was being put in, "I have never spoken to the deceased person! I told you already that it is the King and not me!"

    Calhoun said, "I told you I had nothing to do with it. My cousin just found it easy to me me by connecting the dots around. I mean why would I sloppily ce the body in the backyard when I could do other things?"

    "My King, we hope you use your words carefully," Helena frowned upon seeing Calhoun smile.

    "I said I could, but I didn''t. Not that I did," said the King.

    With pursed lips, Helena turned back to look at Catherine, "What do you think Miss La wanted to say? You must have some idea if she came to you."

    Catherine had made up the lie in the spur of the moment, something she was used to doing but the High House members preferred more details, which she didn''t know how to spin. Instead of giving her neck, or giving James'' neck, she decided to go with the obvious suspect like the rest of them, which was Markus Wilmot. And no one could go and question the dead, which made it easier to lie.

    "She didn''t give me any more details than that. She was agitated," said Catherine, remembering the face of the girl when she had killed her, "I don''t know anything more than that. The King ispletely innocent as his name never came up during our conversation."

    Helena''s eyes narrowed, and it didn''t leave the young vampiress who was standing in front of her. She stared at each one of them, who were the suspects in the murder of the maid which Markus had brought up along with Miss La''s murder. At first, it seemed like thepass was pointing at the King as he was the one who was rted, which was why she had ced Calhoun on another trial.

    But with this girl who pointed her finger at Markus Wilmot, to say that Lady La was upset about something with him, it raised eyebrows. Not to forget, it now did look like Markus was trying to frame the King, ming him. It was tricky, thought the woman in her mind.

    Helena then spoke, "Let us go with the majority of the vote from the High House to decide, who is guilty and who is not guilty. Even though Miss Barnes only arrived now, we will be putting her on trial."

    Madeline didn''t know what that meant, and she asked Lucy who stood next to her, "What does that mean?"

    Lucy who had a frown on her face turned to look at Madeline, to whisper, "The majority of votes is something where each member in the seating will give their opinion on who is guilty and who is not. If the number of guilty is more," Lucy paused and then said, "That person will be set to execution."

    Hearing this, Madeline didn''t know how far it was good. If the members of the High House didn''t like the person, it would mean they could vote a person to be guilty, and that person would end up with a beheaded head.

    "Lady Catherine Barnes, you will be the first one to go through the judgement of votes," announced Dimitri. Catherine was unhappy with this sudden turn of events. She hade here to save and not to end up in trouble. Her lips pressed against each other, and unwillingly she came to stand next to Markus, without looking at him.

    "Weasley," Helena addressed the High House member who sat on the far corner.

    The man said, "Not guilty." The person who sat next to him continued,

    "Not guilty."

    "Not guilty."

    "Guilty," came the words from the silver-haired man. Hearing this, Catherine''s stomach dropped.

    "Not guilty."

    "Not guilty," said thest person sitting on the right side. Even Helena didn''t find the girl to be guilty, but she had still put Catherine under trial for a fair judgement.

    Lucy whispered to Madeline, "Lady Catherine has been spared."

    "Miss Barnes, you can join the others," informed Dimitri and Catherine was more than happy to do that, "We will next have Markus Wilmot. Starting from the left."

    Madeline looked at the person named Weasley, who took more time to decidepared to Lady Catherine to be guilty or not quilty. Murmuring went around the room, and with one word of Weasley, the courtroom fell silent again.

    "Guilty."

    The next person was Lilith, and she said, "Not Guilty."

    "Not guilty."

    "Guilty."

    That was two people on each side, thought Madeline to herself. Her eyes fell on Helena, who stared at Markus. In those spare seconds, Madeline turned her gaze towards Lady Rosamund who had mentioned not knowing about what Markus was doing, and even though her words were diplomatic, worry hung over the older vampiress'' face.

    "Guilty," said Helena and even Markus who was holding his brave, prideful face until now, turned pale.

    "Guilty," Dimitri was thest one, and Markus staggered back from where he stood.

    "I wasn''t the one to kill any of them!" Markus didn''t give up, staring at the members of the High House with his eyes turning wider than usual. "This is not justice! You cannot execute me just because of this girl''s lie!" Even the little hope of him having an escape from this situation slipped through his fingers because of Lady Catherine who entered a few minutes ago.

    "The letter is enough to show the lies you have created with the maid by bribing her and trying to defame an innocent woman. You mentioned about the werewolf that the King kept in the dungeon but upon verification, nothing was found. Taking into consideration of what you said, and each members judgment, Markus Wilmot you are found to be guilty by the High House," Helena responded to Markus, who looked at her disbelief.

    All these years Markus had nned carefully, and today because of one mistake and Calhoun being one step ahead of him, it had thrown him to this situation. The throne had been stolen and he was now being charged for actions he wasn''t responsible for. Anger consumed his thoughts, and he turned to look at Lady Catherine before jumping right at her.

    Markus caught hold of Catherine''s neck, ready to tear it apart for the lies she spoke, "How dare you lie?! Tell them the truth! You are only saving the King!" he shouted, losing his temper.

    "Mr. Wilmot, let thedy go!" Helena ordered, but Markus was not ready to free Catherine''s neck until she would tell the truth. Seeing Markus'' unwillingness with themotion that was taking ce, Helena looked at one of her men, "Weasely."

    Just one word and Weasely had left from where he was standing to pull Markus away from Catherine. Both of Markus'' arms were twisted, and he screamed in pain just by the mere touch of the High House member. With the verdict presented by the High House, Markus couldn''t do anything but oblige. Weasley appeared to have some sort of hidden ability in him, which was inducing pain.

    Everyone looked at the scene shocked.

    "Take him to the dungeon," ordered Helena, displeased by Markus'' behaviour. Catherine had a look of shock on her face, and she held her neck with both her hands.

    With Markus who was taken away from the courtroom by force, people''s eyes fell on the Catherine who broke down in confused tears. But the people''s attention on her was short-lived as Dimitri cleared his throat for the final trial of the day. It was King Calhoun Hawthrone''s turn now, and everyone couldn''t help but wait in anticipation to hear what the High House members were going to say.

    Calhoun didn''t have to be told toe to stand in the front as he was already there.

    "We will now be going through the proceedings of the King''s trial if he was involved," announced Dimitri. One would have guessed that with Markus guilty and charged, Calhoun was free to go, but the High House members had other ns on their mind.

    This made Madeline worry if they somewhere suspected the King for today''s issue or the one in the past. Markus was charged for the hical behaviour of conjuring lies through with the maid and also disappearing her.

    Would Calhoun be held guilty? Especially with the way Dimitri toldst night that they had their eyes were on him, anything could happen.

    "Guilty," Lilith was the first one to start. Madeline also realized that the members were calling out their opinion randomly simr to Markus'' trial.

    "Not Guilty," said Weasley.

    "Guilty," Dimitri stated.

    "Guilty," came the next opinion from the woman named Daphne. Madeline was sure that Daphne would have picked in favour of the King, but she was wrong. Four people and so far there were three against one. Her eyes moved to the next two people who were yet to give out their decision against the King. Madeline could tell by the look in Helena''s eyes that she didn''t believe Calhoun.

    The woman looked wiser than the rest of the members, but with the previously past case which was reopened regarding the previous King and Queen''s murder, was there a possibility for them to evict the King?

    "Not guilty," said the silver-haired man.

    Thest decision was saved for Helena, who stared at Calhoun unblinkingly with her keen red eyes.

    Helen then finally parted her lips to say, "...

 Chapter 305 Execution- Part 1

    <h4>305 Execution- Part 1</h4>

    .

    When Helena parted her lips to speak, everyone in the room had their eyes on her, and she said, "Not guilty." The people in the room cheered for the King and murmurs continued to go around the courtroom.

    "That is three guilty and three not guilty," stated Madeline, seeing Calhoun who hadn''t lost hisposure until the very end.

    "We don''t know what is going to happen," answered Lucy, who looked genuinely worried for her family members. Markus had been put up for execution and she didn''t want Calhoun to go through it too. Even though he was the King, the judgement of the High House was mostly absolute, and no one had ever gone against them until now.

    "It is a tie in the decision," said Helena loud enough for everyone to hear, "Because of this��" her words hung in the air to let the murmuring chatter die down and bring everyone''s attention back to her.

    Madeline wondered if they would be holding another trial for another day.

    "We shall be dismissing the allegations against the King as he has proved to be worthy of his title. Announcing him to be not guilty as the usations that were put by the guilty to be not true," on Helena''s words, a faint smile appeared on Calhoun''s lips. "Mr. Wilmot shall be executed tomorrow early in the morning in front of the public. The court is now dismissed."

    Madeline felt a sigh escape from her lips, and she couldn''t tell how relieved she was. With the opinions turning out to be equal, the verdict could have turned to either guilty or not guilty. It seemed like in the end, the final decision was in Helena''s hand. And as happy Madeline was with the turn of events, the same couldn''t be told when it came to the Wilmot''s and Beth who had a look of shock on her face.

    "The people can now leave from here, while we wrap things up here," Dimitri informed everyone and the ministers who had arrived at the scene along with the rest of the people of the castle started to head out of the room.

    Lady Rosamund and Sophie were the first one''s to leave as Markus was going to be executed tomorrow and he needed to be saved! Lady Rosamund decided to bring her husband to speak to the King so that Calhoun would spare Markus'' life. The High House might have delivered their verdicts, but what they had done was only give permission to execute the person. In the end, it was in the King''s hands to go ahead with the execution.

    "Beth," Mrs. Harris called her daughter''s name who appeared to be in far worse shock than anyone else in the room. Mrs. Harris ced her hand on her daughter''s arm, "Beth, dear? Let''s get back to our rooms."

    "No," whispered Beth, and she pushed her mother''s hand away from her arm, "They cannot execute him just like that."

    "I don''t care!" Beth eximed and it gained Madeline and Lucy''s attention who had been standing a few steps away from them.

    Madeline quickly left the ce where she was standing until now to go and meet her sister. Though Markus was not the right man, Beth had taken a liking towards him, and her sister was breaking down now.

    "Beth?" Madeline spoke to her sister, "Let''s go take a walk outside."

    But Beth was not interested in it. "Do something! Help him!" there were tears in her green eyes, "You cannot do this to me. Fix it. Please fix it!"

    Lucy, who had followed Madeline, said, "Lady Elizabeth, you should go to your room and rest." Lucy loved her rtives dearly but the treason that was designed against the King was done by Markus, who was the one to inform the High House. If he hadn''t done it, this would have never happened. He could have spoken to brother Calhoun and resolved the matter, but instead of doing so, he had dragged the High House in it. She wasn''t naive to not understand why something like this happened.

    "I-I need some time for myself," said Beth, tearing herself away from her family and people whom she knew to step out of the court.

    Madeline was about to follow her when Raphael stepped in front of her with a bow, "Allow me to handle it."

    "Okay," Madeline whispered, and Raphael took his leave to follow Beth. Her parents were the next to take their leave as this was a little too much to take in. Lucy ced an encouraging hand on Madeline''s shoulder, and she walked away from there too. Everyone in the family were trying to digest the fact of what happened here, in the courtroom.

    When her eyes met Calhoun''s, he offered her a smile.

    The people in the courtroom had started to disperse, and Calhoun walked to where she was, his strides long and proud.

    "You should go take rest too," he suggested, but she shook her head.

    "I am fine," she replied, taking a look at the High House members. Madeline had been worried when thest members of the High House were supposed to give their word from their side. Calhoun raised his hand, tucking her hair behind her ear while openly disying his affections in front of everyone.

    "King Calhoun," came the stern voice from Helena who walked towards him along with Dimtri who walked next to her.

    Calhoun gave a charming smile to the woman who didn''t have a hint of a smile on her face. "Lady Helena. Thest bit of the judgement was tricky," he said, his intelligent red eyes meeting the woman''s eyes. He knew Helena for some time now, before he even took the position as the King of Devon, and with her bodynguage, he was sure she was going to hold him to be guilty.

    "What changed your mind?" he asked her without holding back his thoughts.

    Helena''s eyes didn''t deter, "Don''t think you are off the hook," she said, skipping his question to earn a smile from Calhoun. "This matter is not over."

    Madeline who had been relieved with the oue now had a frown on her face. "It is only for today that I am letting you off with the current circumstances." The woman''s eyes fell on Madeline, "Congrattions on the wedding that will be taking ce in the next few days," she wished.

    "Thank you," Madeline replied. She then looked at Dimitri, who had outright called Calhoun to be guilty. With no facts, and with the number of years that had gone by, there was no concrete proof against Calhoun. The murder was something that had been closed, and there was no point in opening it as it would lead to nothing.

    "Are you staying back?" asked Calhoun politely as if Helena had not mentioned about her eyes still on Calhoun''s actions.

    "I don''t think there''s any necessity of me to be here to witness your cousin''s execution," stated Helena.

    "How unfortunate," Calhoun clicked his tongue, "I thought I could treat you to the castle''s finest food. Also, with fine wine."

    Helena''s eyes took in Calhoun''s face. The young man she had met at first and the man he had grown into, the King had turned more handsome. The little residues of innocence had been discarded, and the smile he possessed right now was somewhere between charming and malicious.

    "I will take the whole bottle home with me. I like only mypany," Helena responded to earn a chuckle from the King.

    "Theodore," Calhoun raised his hand, and the right-hand man of the King stepped forward, "Pick up one of the finest wines from the cer and make sure it leaves with the Lady."

    Dimitri, who stood there,mented, "We should be careful of what we drink."

    "True," Calhoun agreed, "You never know if there''s poison in something that you are consuming. Especially when you call someone to be guilty, the probability turns high. It must be hard for you when ites to receiving gifts from others."

    Dimitri''s eyes hardened at the King''s words, "Are you trying to imply something, King Calhoun?"

    "I am?" Calhoun had an oblivious look on his face with his eyebrows raised before he cracked a smile. "I was speaking about gifts. Unfortunately today, Lady Helena is the only one who will be taking it home."

    "You should be careful with your words, my King. You never know when they can be used against you," Dimitri warned Calhoun.

    "You don''t have to feel bad about not receiving the bottle of wine, Dimitri. If you want, we can arrange one for you," Dimitri frowned at Calhoun.

    Dimitri knew Calhoun was in the wrong and he had something to do with the murder. Today was the day where he could have been put the King under further trial, but because of the opinions turning to a tie, his effort had turned back to square one. The King screamed danger, someone who wouldn''t hold back in doing things his way and it was because when Calhoun had ascended the throne, he had changed every structure in the vige and in the towns, recing everything in thend the way he wanted it, to get thend under his own control.

    There was something very off about him too, thought Dimitri in his mind because no matter what status a vampire belonged to, they hade to fear the members of the High House, but Calhoun Hawthrone liked to do the opposite.

    When the time came to leave, Theodore brought the bottle of wine to the carriage where Helena stood next to the carriage door. The other High House members had already stepped into their carriage, and the one''s at the front had left.

    "What changed your mind?" asked Calhoun, his eyes curiously looking at her. He was well aware that Helena wanted to call him guilty just like Dimitri and the others.

    "I thought it should be a fair trial," replied Helena, "I know Lilith called you guilty because of her feelings towards you. And I prefer people don''t bring up their emotions when ites to judgement."

    Calhoun nodded. Helena was bncing the unfairness that took ce during his trial.

    There weren''t many people in this world like her, someone who tried to be fair and honest. People like those often hit the dust sooner than the rest because of the low chance of survival amid the cunning men and women, thought Calhoun to himself.

    Helena was ready to get into the carriage when Calhoun said, "Your judgement was fair today, but you let one of the culprits free." The woman''s eyebrows furrowed on his words, wondering if he was speaking about himself until she saw him look in the direction where Catherine Barnes stood.

    "Would you care to borate?" asked Helena, raising her eyebrows.

    "If I did all the work, people in the High House will be jobless. Have a safe journey," wished Calhoun before turning around and walking up the stairs, where Madeline was waiting for him.

    Madeline saw the carriages leave one after another, thest one being Helena Shawe''s carriage. Her eyes then shifted to see Calhoun walking up the stairs.

    "Everything alright?" she asked him.

    "Everything is perfect," Calhoun gave her a crooked smile. It seemed like in the entire castle, he was the only person who was in a good mood while everyone else was worried about what was going to happen tomorrow.

    Madeline wondered what else was going to take ce today as the day was not over yet, and there was still time for Markus'' execution.

    "Did you know, you would be spared today?" Madeline asked him.

    Calhoun didn''t answer her, but his smile did broaden on his face, and she wondered what that meant.

 Chapter 306 Execution- Part 2

    <h4>306 Execution- Part 2</h4>

    "Markus!"

    "Mother!" eximed Markus upon seeing his mother, who came to stand in front of the cell room, "You need to speak with the members of the High House again! You and I both know that it wasn''t me who did it."

    Rosamund''s eyebrows furrowed as she said, "Sophie has gone to inform your father so that he can go and speak to Dimitri and Hudson to request for another trial."

    Markus shook his head, "Nothing is going to happen. You need to expose Calhoun, this very instant!" He had attended enough trials that were conducted by the High House to know what was going to happen to him, that there was no hope.

    "Don''t give up hope, Markus. We still have time until tomorrow morning," Rosamund then continued, "If they cannot do anything, I have another way for it." Rosamund also had the key which could open the dungeon locks. She could get rid of the guards and then free Markus by putting the me on the guards. That way, her son would still be alive.

    "Where is the werewolf?!" demanded Markus. He had seen it right in here! The werewolf was there with the tailorman, but they said they never found anything in here. That was not possible!

    "I don''t know. Calhoun must have hidden the werewolf somewhere," whispered Rosamund. She had got her own people to snoop around, but none of them had found anything, "Someone ising. I wille backter," she quickly said before leaving Markus behind in the cell.

    To Rosamund her children were important, and at the same time, they were also a way to get to the throne. She had done everything one could do in her position to make her way towards the throne. She was the daughter of the previous to the former King of Devon! If only Markus had not run away yesterday in between the trial! But the error had already been made, and the only way to fix this was sending a request for another trial or helping Markus escape from the dungeon.

    On her way, she saw Beth near the gate of the dungeon, ready to make her way inside to meet her son. Not sparing another nce over the human, she walked past her.

    Beth was hurt when Lady Rosamund didn''t look at her. The guards didn''t stop her seeing how Lady Rosamund didn''t question her presence in front of the dungeon. Her eyes anxiously searched for Markus until she caught sight of him standing in the corner of the cell. Her footsteps increased its pace, and she went around to stand near him.

    "Are you doing, okay? What is going to happen?" Beth asked, her voice anxious.

    "What are you doing here?" Markus asked in a cold tone which he had never used on Beth until now. She was slightly taken aback by his tone, but she brushed it away, believing it was because of his current condition.

    "I came here to see if you were doing alright," came Beth''s innocent words, "I have asked Madeline to help."

    "Your sister won''t do anything, Elizabeth," said Markus, "She will do what the King says. The King wants me dead. I didn''t even kill those people. It was the King who trapped me."

    Beth, who was unaware of the details between the King and Markus, asked, "Why would he do that? Do you think if I asked him, he would let you free? Tell me what I can do, to get you out of here."

    Markus stared at Beth''s face, calcting if she could be of any use. Would she kill herself for his sake? Would that have her sister to coax Calhoun to stop the execution? But he knew what kind of person Beth was. He had moulded her carefully, making her dance to his tunes, and it was time to take advantage of it.

    "Do you remember what I said in the carriagest time?" Markus questioned Beth, and she nodded. "The King won''t stop my execution, the only other way is to tumble the crown. Bring it down." Seeing how Beth was still trying to follow what he meant, he whispered, "There''s a little bottle in the second room of the West Wing, a ck bottle that is hidden in between the books. I need you to serve it to the King, through your sister''s hands."

    "What does the bottle contain?" questioned Beth.

    Markus looked around to make sure no one was near to eavesdrop on their conversation, "It is a poison that can freeze a vampire''s heart and put them into a frozen state of sleep. If your sister gives it, the King will surely drink it."

    "But how is that going to be of any use?" It wasn''t like it was going to kill the King.

    "When a vampire consumes that liquid, they go into sleep, and it takes days for them to get out of sleep. All you have to do is, get the King to drink it and then let people know that the crown has fallen. This way, my execution will be put on hold." And even if someone found it, the me would fall on Madeline or on Beth, which Markus didn''t go to exin to her.

    Beth wanted to help Markus toe out of this situation, but she didn''t know if she was brave enough to go and poison the King. She saw Markus look at her with hope and Beth bit her lip.

    "What if the situation can be fixed by talking to the King?" asked Beth and Markus let out a dryugh.

    "If the King wanted to save me, he would have done it by now bying down here. He is not here, Elizabeth. We have only a few hours, and you need to do it quickly," Markus stepped closer to her and ced his hand on hers that was holding the iron rods, "You are the only person I can trust and believe in. No one else."

    Beth finally gave him a nod, and left the cell. When she stepped out of the dungeon, she took a turn away from there to hear,

    "Don''t do it."

    Her head snapped around to see the shabby-looking man standing near a tree as if he was waiting for her toe out.

    "What?" asked Beth.

    "Whatever Mr. Wilmot asked you to do, don''t do it," said Raphael.

    "He didn''t ask me anything," Beth''s face turned hard. She doubted this man had heard anything Markus said and was only making it look like he had heard them speak, when in truth he had not even entered the dungeon.

    Raphael responded to this, "I once had a neighbour who wanted to jump down from the cliff as it was hisst dying wish. But then he died before he even reached the cliff," he gave her a kind smile and then said, "I know dying people often have ridiculous wishes. Which is why I said not to heed to it."

    Beth wanted to tell that Markus was not going to die, but instead of wasting her time by arguing with this man, she bowed her head and went back inside the castle.

    Seeing Beth leave, Raphael''s eyes moved back to the dungeon, and he made his way through the dark passage after letting the guards know that he was here on the King''s word.

    "Good evening, Sir Markus," Raphael greeted Markus who looked annoyed with his next visitor. He wanted to get out of this ce and save his life, but instead, he was being humiliated.

    Raphael pulled out the cards from his pocket, spreading it out in his hand and bringing it forward so that Markus would pick one of it.

    "I thought you would be bored and would like to y."

 Chapter 307 Execution- Part 3

    <h4>307 Execution- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Elizabeth didn''t reside in the castle, but with the little number of days she had spent in here, she had tried to cover as many ces as she could with Markus, and sometimes without hispany. Living in a ce like this was what she had dreamt about in the past and now in the present, but she would have never guessed that there would be these many conspiracies ced against each other.

    For as long as Beth remembered, she was ambitious, and she didn''t see it to be a bad thing. Unlike Madeline, who was shy, she had always been open with her thoughts of what and how she wanted, and she didn''t see it to be a terrible attitude. Everyone had goals and motives in their lives, and hers was to have afortable and generous lifestyle.

    Raphael had not heard anything, said Beth to herself. If he did, he would have gone to the King by now. All she had to do was follow what Markus had told her to do. Calhoun was a smart King, and if she tried to offer him the drink, the man would positively make her drink the poison. The best option was to have Madeline do it.

    Reaching the room in the West Wing of the castle without anyone''s notice, she started to look for the bottle in the room. Finding it, she quickly put it in her skirt pocket and left the room.

    "Where is Beth?" asked Madeline who was on the other side of the castle in the guest room where her parents were in. After speaking to Calhoun, she had decided to check on her sister Beth in her room, only to find it to be empty.

    "Is she not in her room?" asked her mother. Madeline frowned, wondering if Beth went to meet Markus in the dungeon. "Is he really going to be executed tomorrow?" questioned her mother in a worried tone.

    "That''s what the High House has decided. That Mr. Wilmot will be beheaded not only for killing the maid but also for trying to conspire against the King," answered Madeline.

    "What is going to happen to Beth? She must be feeling devastated right now with the news," her mother let out an exhaustive sigh from her lips. This was something even Madeline was worried about, which was why she hade looking for Beth.

    "Coming here to the castle was not a good idea," whispered her father, shaking his head in the process, "This ce is not for people like us. We don''t belong here. And that man, I knew something was not right," said her father, speaking about Markus, "You should not have coaxed Beth."

    "Me?" her mother looked taken aback, "I didn''t do anything. I was only trying toply with her wishes and see what was best for her."

    "I was doing what was best for our daughters. I am their mother, and I wanted them to live a better and peaceful life-"

    "That''s enough," interrupted Madeline, and both her parents stopped arguing. "I just wanted to know if you knew where Beth is."

    Her father looked at her with a passive expression on his face. All these years, Madeline had been closer to her father than her mother because they somewhat shared simr interests in things around them, while Beth shared a lot of simr qualities with her mother. But since Madeline had found out about who she was, and about her grandparents, an invisible wall had appeared between her and her father. The people whom she loved had turned to strangers because of the untold secrets.

    "I will go find her," said Madeline, taking her leave from her parent''s room.

    Mrs. Harris saw the door shut, and she said, "You cannot speak to her like that anymore. She favours the King."

    "He is a bad influence on her," replied Mr. Harris, "There is a reason why our kind doesn''t get too close to other creatures, especially the vampires who have no moral values. You said she broke something."

    "That''s what she said. It was supposed to rest, wasn''t it?" asked Mrs. Harris.

    Mr. Harris knew this was a bad omen. Something terrible was going to happen again just like many other times in the past. "Should we request the King to give his permission to take her back home for two days?"

    "And do what?"

    "I can ask my parents toe and take a look at her. To see if there''s any need to do something." The King had mentioned that Madeline and Beth''s grandparents would arrive here at the castle, but so far, there was no news about them visiting the castle.

    Mrs. Harris walked to her husband and asked, "Do you think it might trigger Beth too?"

    "It should have happened years ago. But Beth has turned normal like us," answered Mr. Harris.

    "Everything will be alright," Mrs. Harris assured her husband, even though deep down she knew there was no way to fix something that was broken years ago.

    Madeline, who was looking for Beth, finally found her sitting in the inside gardens of the castle, all alone by herself. Beth appeared to be staring at nothing in particr and with a sad expression on her face.

    Walking to where Beth was sitting, Madeline took a seat next to her sister.

    "What am I going to do, Maddie?" questioned Beth to her, "I came so close to getting married to someone I like, and look what happened. Why is this happening to me? Why is he being executed." She turned to ce her hands on Madeline''s hands, "He didn''t do it, Maddie. He didn''t kill those women. Please believe me," she said in an anxious tone.

    Madeline knew it wasn''t done by Markus, and Calhoun had framed his cousin because the man had gone to use and tried to trap the King. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was aware of the fact that she was staying silent and helping someone who had actually killed people. But Calhoun was not the one who killed Lady La.

    "It was the High House members decision. They gave their verdict," Madeline tried to make Beth understand as she doubted her sister would listen if she said that Markus was not a good man.

    "He is the King. The King can do anything. Markus is his cousin, and if you tell him, he will listen to you and stop the execution. Because of the sisterhood we share, ask him!" Beth cried in frustration.

    "I am so sorry, Beth," Madeline didn''t know what to do right now because this was what she wanted, for Beth to stay away from Markus. Was it wrong that she didn''t feel any remorse? She didn''t know what would happen tomorrow, but today, she was d that it wasn''t Calhoun who was framed and Beth''s feelings that was not going to be hurt by the Wilmot''s.

    Sitting closer, Madeline put her hands around Beth''s shoulders for a hug and patted her back.

    "Will you make that drink for me? The one you used to make back in our house," Beth asked Madeline.

    Pulling away, Madeline nodded her head, "Let me go get it right away."

    "Let mee with you," offered Beth, who had sadness in her eyes.

    Madeline didn''t refuse, and both the sisters went to the kitchen of the castle. Though there were servants to do the work, Beth insisted on drinking the juice which was made only by Madeline. Madeline made four sses out of which one she drank, and the other two was gulped down by Beth, leaving one lone ss that was untouched. When Madeline was speaking to one of the servants in the kitchen, Beth took the opportunity to slip in the liquid to the ss.

    By the time Madeline turned around, Beth said, "I should go back to my room and rest. My head has been hurting," and before leaving, she said, "You should offer it to the King. I know he will like it, like the rest."

    Madeline nodded her head, and she was about to pick up the ss from the b when Raphael entered the kitchen, "What is that you have in there in your hand, Lady Madeline?" Beth gritted her teeth, seeing who it was. Was he following her?!

    "This is an orange juice that has spices added to it," answered Madeline with a small smile. She offered, "Do you want to drink it?"

    Beth''s eyes widened, and she quickly said, "He can have another drink made by the servant''s. Things that are made by your hands should be given only to close people." To Beth, Raphael was nothing less to an annoying fly that kept hovering around her.

    "Beth!" Madeline went to scold her because of her impolite words to Mr. Sparrow.

    "What?" Beth asked.

    Raphael''s eyes crinkled as he smiled, "How can I refuse when you are the one who is asking me," and he took the ss offered by Madeline in his hand. Beth''s expression fell from her face, and before she could pull herself up, Raphael drank every single drop of the juice and ced the ss back on the b. "It was a wonderful drink," heplimented and stepped out of the kitchen.

    Beth wanted to harm the King only because he was the reason why Markus was going to be beheaded tomorrow. But that didn''t mean she wanted to hurt someone innocent, but what if it was an idiot?

    There was only one bottle of poison, and that was consumed by the homeless-looking man! What was she supposed to do now?! Leaving Madeline behind, she quickly tailed Raphael, Beth didn''t know what she should do. The poison was meant to freeze a vampire''s body and put them to sleep, but Raphael was not a vampire. At least that is what she gathered by his eyes as they were ck.

    Raphael had moved to another corridor and Beth followed him, her hands wringing each other. Should she perhaps go back to her room and behave like she knew nothing? But before she could decide, Raphael fell on the ground, and she cursed herself while walking up to where he was.

    "Mr. Sparrow?" called Beth. There were other things she had to do than babysit this grown man.

    With her finger, she pushed the man''s arm but he didn''t react. Did he die? Beth turned behind her to see if she could see someone and get help. It wasn''t like anyone would suspect she did anything to him. But when she turned around, her eyes came to look at the empty corridor.

    Beth looked around and she then heard, "You passed the test." And she turned back to see Raphael standing right in front of her. He ced his finger on her forehead. Within a second, Beth fell unconscious.

    Madeline had followed Beth when her sister had dashed out of the kitchen, wondering where Beth was going, and in time, she caught Mr. Sparrow carrying Beth in his arms.

    "What happened to her?" asked Madeline in deep concern.

    "Sleeping."

    Madeline looked down at Beth''s face and then back at Raphael. He said, "The process of going to read through her memories will take time, and this seemed like the perfect time to do it."

    "How long does it take?" asked Madeline.

    "Nearly thirty hours is needed for her to slip into her deep subconscious state and it will also give her mind the time to calm," replied Raphael, "Once she''s reached that state, going through her memories will be easy."

    This meant it would take the same amount of time for her to check her own memories, thought Madeline to herself.

    "I will take her to her room," and Raphael left the corridor with Beth.

 Chapter 308 Execution- Part 4

    <h4>308 Execution- Part 4</h4>

    .

    Upon the night''s arrival, Calhoun walked through the passage of the dungeon as he made his way to where Markus was held in the cell room. It had been barely a few hours since Markus was kept in here, and he already looked like his soul had left his body.

    "Did youe here to mock me?" questioned Markus.

    "About what?" Calhoun feigned ignorance with a straight expression on his face until it finally cracked into a grin. "You are right, I dide to mock you. But more importantly, I thought I should return this to you." He put his hand in his trouser pocket to pull out a small bottle and threw it at Markus, who caught it.

    Markus gritted his teeth upon seeing the same bottle which he had asked Beth to use on the King. By its weight in his hand, he could tell it was empty.

    "I thought you were smarter than this, Markus. You disappoint me in so many ways. All you had to do is ask," said Calhoun, putting both his hands back in his trouser pockets.

    "Would you have left the throne if I did?"

    Calhoun tsked, "I would have told you to move on from the feelings that you and your family have had over the throne for so many years. How does it feel? To be stuck in your trap that you thoughtfully ced it for me?"

    "You might kill me tomorrow, but that doesn''t mean things will sail smoothly from now on," Markus threw the bottle down on the ground. He walked towards one side of the iron rods where he could look at Calhoun closely. "My family is going to make sure you will not rest in peace until they are done with you."

    "That''s alright. I don''t sail in the sea but walk on thend. Thanks for the caution though," the smile on Calhoun''s lips broadened, "You should have thought twice before conspiring against me. Treason never sits well with anyone. If your family does anything, they will receive the same end as our dear grandmother did and you know how she died. Poor little thing."

    "You bastard!" Markus tried to push both the iron rods away from each other so that he could step out of this cell and kill Calhoun. "You were never meant to be the King. A son of a whore who slept with half of the vige and nearby town, for money."

    The smile on Calhoun''s face didn''t fade, "If you think that is going to make me angry and want to kill you, it doesn''t. I have heard it so many times that I have turned deaf to it. Maybe you didn''t know who my mother was, but I do. I wonder how grandmother would feel now that her beloved grandson is going to hit the dust next. Your father went to speak to the High House, but what do you think is going to happen?" he gave a pause and said, "Nothing."

    Markus knew it, and that is what frustrated him. He had hoped at least the human would be of any use, but she had failed.

    "When did Catherine decide to go along with your lie?" demanded Markus. He still had hope until the veryst thread, but Catherine had taken that away too.

    "I didn''t tell her anything. But I hoped she would," smiled Calhoun. He then yawned, "I had a very long day and tomorrow is something I have been looking forward to. Have some good sleep, Markus. I will be right outside so that you don''t feel lonely."

    Markus red at Calhoun, but the King didn''t bother to look back, and he walked away from there.

    Late at night, Rosamund came to the dungeon gate, trying to get it open which was closed and there were no guards around. She pushed the key that she had with her into the lock, trying to turn it around, but it didn''t work. Thest time Rosamund had used it with ease. Realizing she couldn''t open it, she decided to break the gates open.

    "It won''t work."

    Rosamund was quick to turn to see Calhoun, who was standing not too far away from where she stood. She hid the key she was holding.

    "I got the locks changed to a newer one after I realized one of the keys went missing from the set of keys I found in the East Wing thates after the cer room. Did you perhaps steal from it? You should throw that key of yours as it''s of no use," informed Calhoun to see Rosamund''s face harden at his words, "If you wanted to visit Markus, all you had to do was let me know. I am not so cruel to stop a mother from seeing her son, who is going to die in a few hours."

    "You are cruel enough to let him die," said Rosamund, her eyes staring at Calhoun.

    "One or two mistakes can be forgiven, but when they are repeated, it is necessary to draw a line. Even if it means putting an end to a person''s life," replied Calhoun, "We could have lived peacefully, but bloody ambitious people never let us live in peace. Do they?" he shook his head in disappointment.

    "How dare you try to frame him when he is innocent-"

    "Rude," Calhoun cut Rosamund''s words, "You should be d that you aren''t in there with him. Or is it your wish to join him in tomorrow''s execution? It will be an easy run if I say that you tried to help Markus escape from the dungeon. Going against the High House, I wonder."

    Calhoun''s expression then turned serious, the smile on his lips falling.

    "I don''t like repeating myself, but hopefully this little act of yours wanting to get back at me will stop. Unless you don''t care about yourself or your family, let''s consider it to be even. For what you did to my mother and what she had to go through. If you try to pull something again, you will not even have a trial to save yourself," warned Calhoun, his eyes darkening as he spoke every word clear enough for her to hear.

    Calhoun knew what happened in the castle during the time his mother was living as his father''s mistress, and how Rosamund and her mother got his mother kicked from the castle. He liked keeping ount of every action and detail, making sure to return it in twice the amount. Markus would have been an easy kill because of his stupidity, but the pleasure he found in seeing Rosamund anxious and desperate now, it soothed his soul.

    When the rays of the sun touched the ground, bringing light to thend of Devon, carriages left from many houses and from the castle to witness the execution that was going to take ce today in the nearby town. To a lot of ordinary people, the execution gave a sense of excitement and fear as it wasn''t often a royal family member to be beheaded. To the family members, their hearts were filled with dread because of the loss that was going to take ce in an hour.

    The scaffold was ready, and so were the spectators, waiting for the imprisoner who was guilty to be brought on the tform.

    Madeline stood next to Calhoun, her eyes followed the carriage that now arrived not too far away from the scaffold, where everyone were waiting. The guards got down, and Markus was pulled by them. The chains around his hands and legs made noise with every step he took, and for a moment, Madeline felt her heart go still by the scene in front of her.

    The Wilmot''s put on a brave face, standing at the side and watching Markus being dragged up the stairs of the scaffold. He had been reduced from a nobleman to a criminal. Mr. Wilmot had tried to get a hold of the High House membersst night, in the hope that they could reconsider their verdict but the people had already left, and no attempt could be made to change their mind.

    "Execution of Markus Wilmot for the treason hemitted against our King and for the involvement of murdering two young women," announced a man who stood on the scaffold.

    When it came to greeting death, many brave people shook in front of it. Especially people with ambition, who came to realize their dreams shattered and Markus was no different from them.

    Markus was made to sit on his knees, and his eyes moved in the direction where the royal family stood. His eyes met his mother''s. Madeline saw the executioner pull out a sword, it''s color different from the normal ones. The de was made of silver, something that was often used to harm the vampires.

    The executioner pulled his hands far away from Markus before driving it back towards Markus'' neck. Madeline didn''t wait to see the beheading as she turned her eyes away from Markus. She and the others didn''t stand too far away from the scaffold, which was why she heard the sound of the head first fall on the tform before the body fell ck.

    Some people stayed behind, while some left. Calhoun ced a hand on Madeline''s back as if an indication that they were leaving.

    "H-how could you do it to him," asked Lady Rosamund seeing Calhoun and Madeline starting to leave. Her eyes held unshed tears, "Have you no heart," she spoke the words through gritted teeth.

    Calhoun paused his footsteps, looking at Rosamund who looked devasted, "I don''t. I forgot to give you this," he said taking a scroll from Theodore and handing it to Rosamund.

    "What is this?" she asked, a confused re passing through her expression and she opened it to read. "You cannot do this!" she eximed after reading the first two lines.

    "You will no longer be allowed to enter the castle, nor speak to any of the family members. And the name that you have been so proud about, I strip it away today and turn you to nothing less tomon people," stated Calhoun.

    Lady Rosamund''s eyes turned wide, and she said, "I will reim it ba-"

    Calhoun took a step forward towards her, "Don''t forget who you are speaking to, Rosamund," his threat was clear in his voice, "Your family has caused enough trouble. Unless you want to join your son right this instant, refrain from acting rashly."

    Rosamund shook in anger along with her husband next to her. They had not only lost their son moments ago, but Calhoun was even taking their status and reducing them to an average family. She wanted to speak, but she knew what consequences her words would bring to her. In hate, Rosamund turned her eyes to Madeline.

    Before Rosamund''s hand could get to Madeline, Calhoun had stepped in the front, and he held the woman''s neck.

    "Don''t. Even. Think. About it," warned Calhoun, ring down at Rosamund.

 Chapter 309 The walk- Part 1

    <h4>309 The walk- Part 1</h4>

    (Happy Thanksgiving!)

    .

    Madeline had not expected Rosamund to try to get to her. She stood behind Calhoun, who held the woman''s neck in his hand.

    Calhoun hadn''t stopped ring at Rosamund. "I have given you enough warnings to stay away from me and from the people I care for. And as much as I want to see you die, I can''t think of a better punishment for you, than you living a life of poverty like the people you so much looked down upon."

    "Kill me then," Rosamund spoke through gritted teeth, "Kill me the way you have killed your mother, your father, the Queen mother and also Lucy''s mother. It doesn''t matter how many times you kill someone, because the thirst that you feel from what you are, it will never end."

    Calhoun pushed Lady Rosamund''s neck to have her stagger back, and her husband caught her.

    "We are your family, my Lord," said Mr. Wilmot, and even though he addressed Calhoun using his title, one could tell that Mr. Wilmot struggled to address Calhoun as the Lord.

    "Families don''t hurt or wish ill towards each other, uncle. Markus was sentenced to his death only because of his treason. At the same time, I am sparing your lives not because it means something to me," Calhoun stopped speaking, turning to look at Lucy who stood not too behind.

    With everything that was going on, Lucy was left behind to see the family she thought that was together which was breaking right in front of her now. She stood there shocked, unable to move or react as she had never imagined she would be seeing something like this one day. The young vampiress had never expected her parents to be murdered, nor did she expect Markus to be beheaded one day.

    "You should practice what you preach," said Lady Rosamund, her eyes filled with nothing but hate towards Calhoun and the girl who stood next to him. Turning to Lucy, she said, "One day he will also kill you in the name of treason. Mark my words."

    Rosamund and her family left to walk towards the front of the scaffold where Markus''s bodyid cold and unmoving.

    Madeline could see the torn expression that Lucy held on her face. She heard Samuel ask,

    "Do you want to stay back, Lucy?" He came near her as if he was the most concerned person around her��the perfect husband in public. At the same time, Madeline''s eyes fell on Theodore, who held a passive expression on his face, no emotion passing through his features.

    "Madeline and I will be going back home," Calhoun announced, giving Lucy a choice to stay if she wanted so that she could mourn her cousin''s death.

    Sitting in the carriage, on their way back to the castle, after some time, Madeline asked Calhoun, "What if they try, to tell the truth to Lucy? About her parent''s death."

    "About what?" Madeline frowned in question.

    Calhoun moved to a much morefortable seating position, and he said, "If you were to one day find out that I ughtered your family, whom you believe to be loving and innocent. How would you feel about it?"

    Her eyes wandered at the front of the carriage before it went back to Calhoun, "I would be shattered. That someone whom I trusted all these years was the one to betray me. To steal my family and once peaceful life."

    Hearing her reply, Calhoun hummed, "That is what will happen then. Who knows, Lucy might cut ties and prefer to have my dear aunt next to her."

    "But they are not the right people to stay around her." She was no one to decide it, but Madeline somewhere felt close to Lucy for who she was, and the way she lived. It was like they were almost sisters, sharing most of themon things while enjoying each other''spany. Lucy was already hurt by her husband''s action.

    "Lucy is old enough, she should know and understand what is right or what is wrong for her," stated Calhoun, he turned his head to look at the passing scenery of trees. "And if someone feels like she needs to be sheltered, they can go ahead to do it."

    The frown on Madeline''s forehead deepened by these words.

    "The only person I need to protect is you, Madeline," said Calhoun, his hand reaching out to hers that was on the seat. "In the past, I couldn''t save or help my mother, but I can do that to you."

    Calhoun had wished many times of how he could fix certain things, things that could have reduce the burden on his mother, and he felt��wondering if his mother would still be alive if she was well taken care of. The men who often showed up to use her, those men were nowhere near her when she was sick and lying in her bed.

    When the time had arrived, his mother had turned dull. Her eyes had lost the spark, and she could barely get out the bed. It was like she caught a disease that had started to spread throughout her body. At that time, they were still living a life of poverty and barely surviving to keep a roof over their head. The men who used her had suddenly stoppeding after hearing about her condition, not even one person came forth to provide anyfort. Instead, people prayed for the woman to die.

    Calhoun could still hear the painful groansing from his mother''s lips as the pain was wrecking her body. It was the longest time where he hadn''t stepped out of the house because he was making sure his mother was well-tended. So that she wouldn''t feel alone, like the time when his father had abandoned her like a broken doll.

    His thoughts went to thest few days when his mother was still alive, writhing in pain and not eating anything that was given to her. It was more like she couldn''t digest what she was eating as she threw up blood. In the end, he had decided to let his mother pass away in peace without going through more pain as it didn''t seem like she would get any better.

    "I won''t let any harm befall on you," he promised Madeline, his eyes met her brown ones.

    "I know you won''t," she whispered. At least, she had understood so much about Calhoun. The chill that had run down her body hadn''t left, and she remembered thest expression that Markus held on his face.

    "And this holds even to your sister, Madeline. I might look over certain things, but if she tries to do anything to you, I will be merciless to her and this includes your parents," Calhoun''s words were firm, and they left no room for any argument.

    "Beth is still sleeping," replied Madeline. Her sister had been asleep since yesterday, and she was d that Beth missed Markus'' execution.

    "I know," responded Calhoun, "Raphael told me what happened. For some reason, he''s taken a liking towards her."

    Madeline did sense that, but her sister didn''t take too kindly of Raphael''s presence around her. She knew it was because of the way Raphael looked andpared to Markus, he looked homeless.

    "Your sister was following Markus'' instruction on wanting to poison me," came the nonchnt words from Calhoun and this had Madeline instantly worried. Beth was lucky that she was sleeping right now, and if Madeline had not spoken about wanting to see her sister''s memories, she didn''t know what Calhoun would do to her, "I would have considered her to be smart, but your sister is as stupid as my cousin. One sheep following another sheep to jump into the well."

    Thinking back on what happenedst evening, Madeline remembered Beth asking her to make the juice and then telling her to give it to Calhoun. Her lips pursed at the thought of Beth having mixed poison in the ss of juice, which waster drunk by Raphael.

    "Markus didn''t know that I am different from him and not a regr vampire. Poison meant for vampires, they have little to no effect on us demons," exined Calhoun.

    "I will talk to her," Madeline decided it was high time for Beth to fix her ways, instead of staying in badpany and perception of life.

    "Don''t." Madeline didn''t understand why she shouldn''t. "I will talk to her. You are too soft on her. I will tell it to her nicely," Calhoun offered Madeline an assuring smile, but Madeline hoped Beth wouldn''t cause any more damage than what she had done so far. When they reached the castle, she met her parents, who had a look of worry on their face.

    "Did it get over?" asked her mother in worry.

    Madeline gave her a nod, "Lucy will be returningter, I think."

    "What about the Wilmot''s?" her mother asked as Calhoun had taken his leave to attend the court.

    "They won''t be visiting the castle anymore," replied Madeline to see her mother release a shuddered breath.

    Her father had a constant look of worry since Markus had escaped and had been caught. "Beth is still asleep," he said to have Madeline nod her head.

    With Beth sleeping, Madeline was sure that her parents would ask her about her sister. Therefore, she had made up a lie about Beth being sick and wanting to rest where she would be tended by the maids. But she could see the look of doubt in her parent''s eyes, that they knew something was up.

    "I will go check on her now," said Madeline before leaving for her sister''s room.

    Reaching the room, Madeline stepped inside and then locked the door behind her. Beth was sleeping on the bed peacefully, and it made Madeline wonder how much Beth would have despised her for not stopping Calhoun to lift the death sentence that was given to Markus. She walked towards her sister, taking a seat next to her on the bed.

    Madeline ced her hand on Beth''s hand to feel the coldness of her skin. If she didn''t see her sister''s chest moving gently, she would have been worried.

    While pulling the nket to cover her sister so that she wouldn''t catch a cold, she felt static form on the tips of her fingers.

    What was that? Madeline asked herself.

 Chapter 310 The walk- Part 2

    <h4>310 The walk- Part 2</h4>

    A drop of blood seeped out from Beth''s hand to trail down and soak itself on the white nket which Madeline was trying to pull and adjust. Madeline, who was stunned didn''t move an inch for five seconds, before she took one step back at a time, before darting out of the room.

    Her feet were quick that ran through the corridors before making its way to the courtroom as she knew where Calhoun was. Looking at Madeline''s anxious look, Calhoun handed the file which he was holding to the minster and walked to where she was.

    "Is everything alright?" asked Calhoun, seeing her standing at the entrance stiffly.

    "B-Beth. I-I think I think something is happening," she confessed to him, "To me."

    Calhoun went to ce a hand on Madeline''s shoulder, but she took a step away so that his hand would not reach her. The little action had his eyes narrowed, but he kept his patience, wanting to know what had turned her jittery at the moment.

    "Beth''s room," informed Madeline.

    Calhoun gave her a nod. Turning around, he said to the minister, "We will continue the discussionter."

    "Yes, milord!"

    Calhoun followed Madeline to the guest room where Beth was sleeping, and when he stepped inside, he saw Madeline''s sister sleeping on the bed with her eyes closed.

    "Her hand," Madeline informed him, and Calhoun walked around the bed to examine Beth''s hand. On one of her hands, a thick red line had formed that umted blood, "I was making her nket proper for her when it happened."

    He left Beth''s side and turned to Madeline who looked scared, "It is just a line, Maddie." But Madeline shook her head.

    "I think it''s happening," she whispered to him, "What my grandparents were speaking about. It''s going to happen, and I am going to end up killing someone."

    Calhoun wanted toment something on it, but he refrained from saying something that would upset her now. "Stop," he said, noticing how she was about to take a step back when he took one towards her, "Give me your hand," he said, stretching it out for her to take.

    Madeline stared into his eyes with doubt in her eyes. Somewhere it warmed Calhoun to know that she hade so far with her feelings for him, "I am a demon. Nothing will happen," he assured her.

    Her hand clenched tightly before she lifted it to ce it on his hand. She could feel the heat between their touch and her eyes furrowed, "Your palm is burning!" She went to pull it away, but Calhoun only held it tighter.

    Madeline could feel her heart pounding when she saw drops of blood fall on the ground. Until now, she had hoped nothing would happen, that her grandparent''s assumption was wrong, but all along they were right.

    "What do you feel?" Calhoun questioned her without a hint of pain crossing through his handsome face, "I want you to concentrate on what you are feeling."

    Madeline didn''t know how Calhoun could be calm and patient with her right now. She could see the steam escaping from their hands, like a rejection because of them being near to each other. Like a clock''s hand moving from one second to the next, blood fell down from their hands drop by drop.

    Listening to him, Madeline closed her eyes, concentrating on how she felt right now, "I fear that something bad is going to happen to people around me."

    "Why?" questioned Calhoun.

    Madeline shook her head, "It is like there''s a part of me that wants to harm."

    "I feel that too," answered Calhoun and Madeline opened her eyes to see Calhoun had taken another step forward, "It depends on if you want to act on it or turn a blind eye to it. I know you didn''t mean to hurt your sister."

    "What if I lose my consciousness and hurt?" asked Madeline, her eyes moving back and forth between his eyes.

    Calhoun pulled her to him, his eyes intensely looking at her, "I wasn''t joking when I said I would help you to hide the body."

    "And what if the body turns out to be you?" she asked in a heartbeat.

    The dream, her ability and what happened in the past, Madeline wasn''t too sure of what was going to happen. Calhoun didn''t answer her question, but he brought her hand that he was holding near his mouth and his tongue came out to lick the blood clean. She noticed that the steam had stopped and so did the blood.

    He then said, "That won''t happen. I won''t allow it," he licked every corner of her finger until it was clean. His hand that had burned itself had healed now. "We are meant to be together." Calhoun pulled her closer, putting his arms around her to hug her.

    As the time of night arrived, where everyone had gone back to their rooms after dinner, Madeline stood next to Raphael, who had brought a bowl of holy water from the church to start with the viewing of the memories. Calhoun had taken himself to lean against the wall while watching over Madeline.

    "Doesn''t holy water affect the demons?" Madeline asked Raphael.

    "They do, mdy. Holy water affects the children of the demons as well as the vampires," answered Raphael, and when he dipped his hand into the bowl, Madeline noticed how his hand made a sizzling sound as if someone had poured water on a hot utensil. "There are some who can handle the temperament of holy water, not for too long but enough to live like any other people who walk on thesends."

    That meant even demons couldn''t step into the church, thought Madeline to herself.

    The room had been lit with candles, and Raphael sprinkled water on Beth. Left, right, top, and near her legs.

    "How long will I be able to be there?" Madeline had decided to take a look into her sister''s memories herself, to walk through it. She wanted to make sure she knew what to do and what not to do.

    "As long as you want to," answered Raphael, "But don''t wander away too long, if your body turns cold and your soul drifts away, it will be a little hard for us to get you back to the present," he advised, and she gave him a nod.

    "My ability is to look into memories, and I will be giving it to you but make sure you don''t speak anything about the present," warned Raphael. Madeline wondered if the people would be able to hear once she would get to take a glimpse from Beth''s memories.

    She walked to the other side andid next to Beth, who continued to sleep. Calhoun had left the wall toe to stand next to her.

    "We''ll be right here," said Calhoun to her. Not bothered with Raphael''s presence in the room, he leaned forward and pressed his lips on her forehead. Madeline felt her cheeks heat up, and for a moment, the nervousness of what she was going to do had disappeared to leave her thoughts upied by Calhoun.

    He offered her a sweet smile, "Remember toe back." Calhoun said it because there were some cases in the past where people didn''t return and continued to live in other''s memories.

    "On your word, I will even let you open your own memories to see if you can find anything important. Are you ready, mdy?" asked Raphael.

    Raphael went to ce his hand back into the bowl, and the candles in the room started to flicker when the man whispered something that she couldn''t hear. Madeline had closed her eyes, and her heart that had been racing had finally turned calm. When Raphael was done muttering, he looked at the two girls who appeared to be in deep sleep.

    Now it was waiting time, thought Calhoun to himself.

 Chapter 311 The walk- Part 3

    <h4>311 The walk- Part 3</h4>

    .

    When Madeline opened her eyes, she stood in the middle of the narrow alley and the walls on either side looked muddy because of the rain that had sttered the mud that was on the ground to the walls. The sky was dark and cloudy, and it was drizzling. The alley was quiet, and she raised her hand to catch the water droplets, when was she noticed how small her hand was.

    Bringing it closer, she found it strange as it seemed like her hand had shrunk in size. Realization hit her that she wasn''t just looking into memories, she was living it.

    "Madeline?" she heard her mother calling her.

    She looked down at the ground that had created a puddle. When she looked at her reflection, she saw a small girl who looked back at her. When Raphael had spoken about looking into the memories, Madeline had believed that she was going to stand by the sidelines and watch people speak, not that she would be part of the conversation.

    Madeline heard a sounde from behind her. Turning around, she looked at the empty alley but in time caught sight of someone''s long coat who walked behind the wall. Was someone there?

    "Madeline?" her mother called again, "There you are!" eximed her mother.

    Turning, she saw her mother who looked far younger than the current time she belonged to. It made Madeline question how old her mother was. Her hair was ck in colour, a trait that Beth had acquired from their mother. The question was if Beth existed in this timeline.

    Madeline didn''t react, and she stared at her mother.

    "Look at you here in the alley. You shouldn''t wander too far away, especially not in the alley''s where there are strangers who can harm you. Don''t leave mama''s side, okay?" Her mother bent down to pat her head, gentleness in her voice that warmed Madeline''s heart.

    "Okay," answered Madeline, her voice small like a child and it sounded strange in her own ears. Her mother gave her a smile.

    "Look at your face. There''s mud. Where''s your kerchief?" asked her mother, rubbing her cheek with her thumb to get rid of the dirt, "Hm? Where is that cloverleaf you found?" she asked looking at her hand, "Nevermind. Come, your grandparents must be waiting for us."

    Her mother caught hold of her hand and pulled her from there.

    On her way, away from the alley as she followed her mother, Madeline looked around to see where they were. With the houses that were old, and barends, it finally dawned on her that this was the vige where her grandparents lived in. A lot of things had changed in a span of few years after her parents moved away from this ce to live in the vige of East Carswell.

    Reaching the house which she was used to visiting with her sister, she saw her grandmothere into view who was standing outside with her grandfather.

    If Madeline didn''t know about her past, she would have taken it to be a normal concern from her grandmother, but now she knew the underlying meaning behind it.

    "She is small, you need to take better care of her," said her grandfather. His eyes looked down at Madeline and she quickly darted her eyes away from him. She had to make sure not to make it too obvious for people to know that she came from the future. At the same time, Madeline couldn''t help but wonder, if her actions would cause a change in the direction of her and others life.

    "You found her!" came another voice, and Madeline turned around to see it was her father, "Thank heavens!"

    Her father bent down to hug her. She was taken aback by this action. She knew her parents cared for her, enough to not kill her or put her back in the coffin like her grandparents who had done it in the past. But this little gesture told her how much her parents cared for her.

    "Don''t disappear like that," her father scolded her lightly.

    "How did she even leave your side?" asked her grandfather, his tone had a hint of suspicion as if he felt something was up.

    Madeline was released from the hug, and she heard her father exin, "We were in the market, in front of the crowded shop. We were standing at the front, when we noticed her absence.

    "Well, it''s good that she''s safe. Let''s get inside. I prepared lunch for everyone," said her grandmother and everyone got inside. While having the meal at the table, Madeline''s eyes wandered around to see if there was anything she could find that was hidden away now in the present.

    She caught sight of bottles that were ced behind the shelves in the kitchen. There were plenty of books that were stacked in the living room, and while she was still looking around, she felt someone''s gaze on her at the table. Madeline wondered how suspicious it would be if she were to look at her grandfather now suddenly. In the present, her grandfather was already dead thanks to Calhoun.

    "I made another chain, Frances," said her grandfather once he tore his gaze away from the small girl who sat next to him.

    "That is very kind of you," responded her mother.

    "This is a special one, and not any ordinary chain." Her grandfather pulled out something from his pocket and handed it to her mother. Madeline noticed it was a thin chain with a round pendant hanging in it. "The pendant and the chain has special elements added to it. Something I have made it myself. Make sure you have the next child wear it just like you have Madeline wear it. It will keep her safe and wade off from evil eyes of the other creatures."

    "Yes, father," her mother obliged, taking the chain in her hand.

    Madeline was about to frown on what they were speaking because she didn''t remember having this chain with her, though Beth did have a chain.

    "Don''t you like the food today, Maddie?" asked her grandmother, her voice sweet unlike the one now where she despised her existence, "You have barely touched it." Madeline cursed herself for not being more attentive to her current body and the people around her.

    "Did something happen when you were lost in the vige?" questioned her grandfather straight to the point, "Did someone talk to you?"

    Madeline shook her head. It wasn''t like she had met or seen someone back in the alley. She had suddenly started her time of the past by standing in the middle of the alley. After the meal, Madeline couldn''t help but wander around inside the house, her small feet walking and her hands trying to reach for things while no one was looking at her. Unfortunately, she didn''t find anything useful in the house, not to mention it was difficult to look for things with her grandparents hovering around her.

    She was going through the shelves when she ced her hand on the ss to hear it crack. Before she knew it, she was surrounded by shattered ss pieces on the ground.

    "What happened here?!" asked her grandmother, wide-eyed, "Did you do this, Madeline?"

    Madeline opened her mouth and then closed. At the same moment, her mother who was in the kitchen arrived at the scene.

    "Don''t walk, Maddie!" her mother was quick toe to her by pushing the pieces of sses away from her and picking her up in her arms, "Are you alright?" asked her mother worried.

    One side was her mother, who was worried about her. And another side was her grandmother who didn''t look pleased that Madeline had broken the ss case, "I am sorry," said Madeline to her grandmother but that didn''t lower the displeased look on the older woman''s face.

    Madeline spent her time next to her mother. She wondered how long she would be able to stay in this time of the past. How long would it take to uncover the truth?

    The next day, Madeline had a visitor who was someone she was looking forward to, the girl named Jennine.

    "Let''s y!" said the girl, pulling Madeline to her house, which was three houses away from her grandparent''s house. While in Jennine''s house, Madeline knew something bad was going to happen. It was because she had heard that Jennine and her parents had died by her hands. The moment of truth was here, and it turned her nervous.

    When the door opened, Madeline heard a crash in the living room.

    "What is that?" asked Madeline to Jennine who appeared as if she hadn''t heard the crash nor Madeline''s words. On hearing another crash with an argument that broke in the house, Madeline stood up and was ready to go to the other side of the house, when the little girl whom she was ying with caught hold of her hand.

    Frowning, Madeline turned to look at Jennine.

    "Where do you think you are going? We aren''t done ying," said the little girl. Jennine was still sitting with her legs folded on the ground, when she had caught Madeline''s hand without looking at her.

    Madeline could sense the change in the air around Jennine, like something had snapped, "Your parents are fighting," she said. She knew it wasn''t something a little girl would understand or want to hear, but hearing the woman cry she wanted to go see or help.

    "That''s okay," said Jennine, "Papa likes to suck mama''s soul out. He needs to eat. She will be fine."

    Madeline tried to pull her hand from Jennine, but the little girl was not willing to let her go. When their eyes finally met, Madeline saw the pitch ck eyes of the girl like she was possessed.

    "Just the way I want to have your soul," smiled Jennine.

    The little girl no more looked like a human. It wasn''t because of her eyes but also the way she smiled, making her look much older to her age.

    "Little girls are supposed to be tastier," said Jennine, opening her mouth to show the jagged teeth.

    Madeline tried to get away by cing her own hands on the girl and fight her off. The next moment, Madeline''s hand touched the girl''s chest and Jennine started to cough blood profusely from her mouth.

 Chapter 312 The walk- Part 4

    <h4>312 The walk- Part 4</h4>

    Leaving the room quickly, she went to the living room to see Jennine''s father, who had opened his mouth and looked like he was sucking something from the woman, who struggled to push him away. These were not humans, said Madeline to herself. Humans, vampires, angels and demons. Demons.

    She knew she was not supposed to interfere, but her feet automatically moved by itself without a thought and the next thing Madeline knew, she was trying to pull the man away from the woman with her small hands.

    "What the fuck are you doing!" asked the man. He turned around and she caught another pair of ck eyes.

    "Let her go!" Madeline said, pulling the man who pushed her. The man threw the woman across the room, who hit her back on the wall. He then caught Madeline''s neck, "Look at the little preying to the house. Jennine?" he called the little girl and scoffed, "Looks like you don''t want to live," he said while lifting her in the air, and Madeline could feel the air lessening in her body.

    Madeline was not a child, but only in a child''s body. She dug her nails into the man''s hand to stop him from killing her. She didn''t know why whatever had worked moments ago, wasn''t working now. The man''s skin burned on her touch, and his hold on her loosened enough for her to fall on the ground.

    Not waiting for the man, she went to the woman who had been thrown. She nudged the woman to wake her up, and when the woman''s body turned to look upward, Madeline noticed the blooding out of the woman''s mouth with eyes open.

    "What did you do to my hand?!" demanded the man in rage as his skin continued to sizzle.

    The man came to get her, but by then, Madeline had moved away from the spot where she was sitting in front of the dead woman. The man''s hand came straight to pierce through the woman''s face, that left the woman''s face disfigured and out of any recognition. When he pulled his hands out, the blood-sttered Madeline''s face and on her dress.

    He then went to attack Madeline, who tried to stop him. Before she knew it, she ended up putting her hands straight into the demon''s chest, but that wasn''t all.

    "W-what are you?!" asked the man rmed by the little girl''s strength. And the next second, the man''s body sttered into nothing but blood. Blood covered the walls, the floor and every object of the living room.

    The sight of blood shook Madeline, and her knees felt weak. She hadn''t expected something like this to happen to the demon.

    A couple of footsteps came through the outside of the house, and in came her family to see her stand in the room with her hands covered in blood along with her face that had spots of blood on it.

    Her father looked worse at the sight of the room that had turned red, "But-"

    "Right now!" ordered her grandfather. The little tolerance that was in his eyes a few hours ago had been reced to one where he looked at her as if she was an evil entity.

    Her father moved towards her with careful steps, "Madeline?" he called her name. She looked at her father, seeing how he gave her an apprehensive look if it was alright for him to get close to her.

    "Can youe here, dear. Let''s get back home," he tried to convince her as she hadn''t moved from the spot.

    Behind her father, she could hear her grandmother question, "What are we going to do? This is not good. Look at the blood-"

    "We''ll get it cleaned. I will ask Walter to cover the traces," said her grandfather, "Don''t leave her alone. Take her to the room and lock her. Get the damn nket to cover her! Don''t touch her!"

    As the nket was put on her, to cover her entirely where she couldn''t see anything, Madeline felt the surrounding change and the next minute, she wasn''t there in the bloody room. She huffed for air as it felt suffocating until she could again see the light.

    "Maddie? Where are you?" Madeline heard a familiar voice calling her. It was her sister, Beth''s voice, "I am going to catch you this time!" She heard a giggle.

    Madeline turned around to see herself standing behind the tree. This time, Madeline wasn''t living as herself but as a stranger in a memory. When she looked at her hands, lifting them, she noticed they were clean.

    They were in the forest, and it seemed like they were ying hide and seek with each other, at least that is what Madeline believed until she caught sight of another dark-haired girl. Madeline''s face hardened when she noticed it was the same girl who had died.

    Beth walked in the forest, looking for the two girls when she caught one of them.

    "Now it''s your turn, Jennine!" Beth said to the girl, and Madeline frowned. It wasn''t often that people were born with the same face, less with the same name. Maybe she looked slightly older than the previous girl.

    "Why do you always catch me first!" Jennine looked unhappy that it was her turn to seek, "You never catch Madeline even if you see her."

    Beth rolled her eyes, "That''s not true. You are not good at hiding."

    "Lies. I will catch you too," said the girl and Beth turned to look at Madeline who came out from her hiding ce.

    Beth looked excited to hide, and when Jennine went behind the tree to count, Beth pulled Madeline along with her while bringing her finger up to quiet the smaller girl. Madeline wondered if they were around seven or eight years old. Also wondering if this was where Jennine had died again. But Beth had spoken about snow. She looked up at the sky to see it to be clear.

    So far from what she had observed, this Jennine didn''t appear to hold any simr characteristics as the one whom she had killed. But then, even that girl looked harmless. She was trying to understand most of what she was seeing. Noticing Jennine going in another direction, Madeline decided to see what her younger self and Beth were up to.

    "You saw me hiding behind the tree before," whispered Madeline''s small voice.

    Beth took a peek from behind the rock before she sat down next to her sister, "Thest time you went to seek, it took you an hour to catch any of us. And I don''t want you getting lost. Don''t worry, Jennine won''t mind."

    "Hm," responded the younger Madeline looking at both her hands.

    They sat there for several minutes, and Beth took another peek, "I won''t let you get caught, so I will be the one to get caught, and I will catch Jennine again. I wonder if we should go home," murmured Beth.

    "AH!" little Madeline screamed on, seeing a spider. Standing up, she tripped over the stone, and her scream was enough to have the other girl find them.

    "I found you! This time it''s Madeline," announced Jennine.

    Beth didn''t pay attention and looked at her sister, "Eh! Why did you scream, Maddie!"

    "I think I hurt myself," said the little girl and Beth was quick to piggyback her sister. Madeline heard the sound of the tower bell from a distance, letting the sound echo through the forest.

    While they headed out of the forest, Madeline followed them. During one of the conversations, Jennine looked displeased with the other two girls'' closeness.

    "Am I too heavy?" asked little Madeline to Beth.

    "You are fine," replied Beth.

    "Give her to me, I will carry her," offered Jennine, but Beth shook her head.

    Not minding it, the girl named Jennine, asked, "Do you really have to go, Beth?"

    "We''ll be back in two weeks. Right before it starts snowing," replied Beth while adjusting her sister on her back, "I wish not to go either, but grandma and grandpa want to see us."

    Jennine stared at Beth, and then looked at the little sister who was looking ahead with her chin ced on Beth''s shoulder. Even though Madeline was walking behind, she could see the re that Jennine passed to her younger self. A look of menace and anger which was quickly blinked away as she asked,

    "How about you stay here, and Madeline can visit."

    Beth frowned, "Maddie and I go together everywhere. We are sisters."

    The girl put up a smile, "Of course. How could I forget."

    Madeline couldn''t follow them anymore because when she took another step, the scene in front of her turned unclear and started to dissolve. The next step she ced on the ground, her foot sunk, and she noticed snow all around her.

    Not too far away from where she stood, she heard the little girls arguing. Madeline quickly made her way to see Jennine and her smaller self standing there. Not knowing what the conversation was about, in time her younger self ran her hands through the girl''s chest. Unlike what Madeline had witnessed before, this girl who died, she appeared to be a human.

    Beth, who arrived at the scene appeared to be in shock, seeing Jennine fall on the ground. The snow around the body started to soak itself with blood.

    "W-what did you do, M-Maddie?!" asked Beth in shock.

    Her younger self held a look of hollowness in them. In an emotionless tone, she whispered,

    "She wanted to harm you."

    Beth was unable to react after seeing the dead body and the blood. When her lips parted, a loud scream escaped from her lips. She ran back home to tell her parents what happened.

    Madeline''s parents were the next one''s to arrive whilst she stood there near the body, staring at it. They looked as shocked as Beth, but without wasting a moment, her mother covered her hands with a shawl, taking her back home, while her father stayed with the body until a carriage arrived.

    When the carriage door opened, Madeline saw it was her aunt who stepped out of it.

    "What''s the matter? I received a letter toe here and I-Oh Lord!" her aunt eximed, seeing the cold body, "What happened?!"

    Her father sighed, "Madeline��Beth came running back home, and she''s speaking in circles about what happened. I am worried that someone will find out."

    "Where is Madeline?" asked her aunt Mary.

    "Back in the house. Frances has locked her in the room-"

    "You should take her to mother and father," came the quick words, "Even Elizabeth. She will be traumatized. I will take this one with me, and apany you in the journey back there."

    When her family reached her grandparent''s vige, Madeline saw the girl whom she had killed was ced inside the coffin in Carnival''s cemetery during the time of night. With her little self locked in the room with chains around her hands, her grandparents sat in front of Beth, who looked visibly shaken.

    "Beth, dear, why don''t you give me your hands," said her grandmother, a friendly smile on her face.

    "What do you n to do, mother?" asked her father.

    Her grandparents had a serious look on their face, their expressions tense. Madeline heard her grandfather say, "Beth appears to be normal so far, unlike the other one. Before she gets triggered, it is better to change her memories. We would like everyone to leave the room," he insisted.

    With others who left, and only Beth and her grandparents in the room, her grandmother took hold of Beth''s hand to say,

    "I will tell you something now, something very very important and I need you to listen to it very carefully." Beth only stared at the woman, "Your sister. She is sick and might not survive. She''s caught an illness, and we will need to put her to rest."

    "She looks fine-" Beth went to speak to receive a small re from her grandmother.

    "Your grandfather checked you, and her. But it is only her who has caught it. I know you want to forget what happened this morning, and your grandfather will help you. He is very good at it. He will help both you and your sister," assured her grandmother. "Now I want you to close your eyes and sit still."

    Madeline saw her grandfather walk around to stand behind Beth, cing both his hands on either side of her head. Madeline then heard things, she would have never imagined her grandmother to say to Beth. The woman not only removed the memory of what happened that day, but she went as far as to change Beth''s personality of who and what she had turned out to be.

    Her sweet and kind sister''s character had changed to a selfish person who would think only about herself. When her grandfather was done changing Beth''s memories, Beth had turned unconscious.

    Why? Why would they do that? Madeline asked herself.

    "Now she will never go to search or ask about what happened today," said her grandmother, carrying Beth who had fallen unconscious, "She can be quite some bbermouth at times."

    The same night, Madeline''s parents took Beth back with them in her aunt''s carriage while her younger self was left behind simr to the past with her grandparents.

    "What do we do with her?" asked her grandmother in worry, "I thought we had put her to rest."

    "That was what was supposed to happen. I don''t know how that thing even got out of the coffin," her grandfather stood in front of the door where little Madeline was locked, "She was not supposed toe back. So many years have passed. Sixteen?" he asked his wife. Soon enough, they heard the girl''s cries as if she was in pain. Her grandparents gave each other a look before they opened the door.

    The couple gasped, and Madeline who wasn''t too far behind, found herself staring at the little girl who was on the floor, who appeared to be in pain. But that wasn''t what shocked them.

    White wings had appeared on the little girl''s back that was covered in blood.

 Chapter 313 The walk- Part 5

    <h4>313 The walk- Part 5</h4>

    "This is not supposed to happen. T-The wings."

    "Fallen angel''s don''t have wings," her grandmother staggered back in shock, "What does this mean?"

    "This is worse than I thought," murmured her grandfather under his breath, "I would have never guessed it. No one has ever turned out like this, but there have been whispers about it. I thought it was a myth, a rumour. An angel with wings is only the one who resides up in the heavens. A fallen angel with wings is nothing less to an ill omen. He wille for her...We need to take her to Walter right this instant."

    "He?" asked her grandmother and even Madeline was curious to know who her grandfather was speaking about.

    "The first fallen one," answered the man, a shuddered breath escaping his lips.

    "I will cover her, and we can go to Walter," suggested her grandmother. She brought out a cloak and helped the girl to wear it, to cover the wings that formed a big bump on her back.

    Madeline didn''t get to see what happened after that because the room she stood in started to dissolve itself and she was now in the cemetery. She could hear the sound made by hammers that was hitting the wood.

    Following the sound, Madeline found her grandparents who were busy driving the nails into the coffin to make sure the person inside would note out likest time. Once they were done with it, they put the coffin inside the cemented grave that had her name on it and pushed the lid on the top to secure it.

    "With her wings removed, and with the spell, I have casted, she will not wake up. If she does, it would be only after sixteen years," said her grandfather, wiping the sweat that had formed on his forehead.

    "Did you see that? The girl," asked her grandmother, and Madeline stepped closer, "She looked just like that girl."

    "Which one are you speaking about?" he asked before carrying the box of hammer and nails they had got.

    "The girl who Madeline killed today, and the one who died before, they almost look the same." This was something that had been bothering even Madeline. Why did the two girls look so simr, and they both died in her hands. Did it mean something?

    Her grandfather shook his head as if he had no answers for it, "We should get back home. Forget what happened."

    Returning to the coffin, she found it to be empty. Furrowing her eyebrows, she looked around for her younger self, but she was nowhere to be found.

    Suddenly Madeline felt pain on her back returning, and she fell on the ground. It was not supposed to happen right now, thought Madeline to herself. She writhed on the ground, her back agonizing as it felt like something was trying toe out, but nothing came. She closed her eyes, trying to handle the pain, which started to inch through every part of her body that made it hard for her to think or move.

    She wanted to get back to the present time. Laying t on her back on the ground while the mist hovered around her, she stared at the sky that was covered in clouds.

    Taking a deep breath as her chest heaved for air, she closed her eyes and the next time she opened her eyes. She had returned to the candlelit room, which was warmer than the temperature in the cemetery.

    Tears slipped past her eyes, and Calhoun who had been staring at her while she was gone, waiting for her to return was quick to go to her side.

    "M-my back hurts," whispered Madeline.

    "Stay here with her," Calhoun instructed Raphael who was more than pleased to do so. Taking Madeline in his arms, Calhoun carried her out of the room.

    Madeline didn''t remember them walking through the corridors as the pain had overtaken her mind, and she bit her lip to stop herself from screaming. She held onto Calhoun''s neck and heard the doors open.

    Calhoun heard Madeline''s whimper, and he held her even closer. His first thought was to dip her in warm water to soothe the pain, but instead, he walked towards the bed and sat down at the edge whilst holding her. Her hands dug into his shoulders.

    Carefully, he ced his hand on her back to move it up and down to distract her, Calhoun said, "It has been more than two hours since you slipped into sleep. I was wondering if it was going to take more time before I could get to stare back into your beautiful brown eyes."

    He continued to speak to her gently, "You know when I was small, I had made up my mind that I would not give my heart to anyone because of what happened to my mother. I saw her tear up many times, and I came to believe that people are not worth loving. Then I met you, and everything changed."

    The whimpers reduced, and the pain slowly subsided in her body, but she didn''t stop clinging on to Calhoun. The ce she had stepped into was supposed to be her home, but she had felt it to be nothing less than foreign there. A ce like she didn''t belongpared to where she was right now.

    "How was the walk in the past?" asked Calhoun once she had calmed down.

    "Not good," she replied, pulling herself away from him so that she could look at him.

    "I thought so."

    When Calhoun wiped the tears that had streaked down on her cheeks, Madeline''s heartache. The tenderness that her family had not shown towards her in what she had seen, she felt it from Calhoun.

    "We don''t have to speak about it right away. It can wait until morning or whenever you are ready," said Calhoun as he continued to hold her. Madeline doubted, she felt as bad as the first time when she had found out about herself. Having already known how her grandparents were, it came less of a shock. She had tried to learn more about what had taken ce in the past.

    Madeline said, "I don''t know if I saw from Beth''s perspective or not, but I did see from mine."

    Calhoun took note of how Madeline kept dazing in and out as if she was recollecting those memories and pondering over it.

    "There''s something I had to ask of you. That is if you remember," started Calhoun and Madeline''s attention came back as her gaze met his, waiting for him to continue, "Do you believe in the four cloverleaf which brings luck?"

    "Don''t most of them believe it?" Madeline furrowed her eyebrows and said, "Mother spoke about cloverleaf."

    Calhoun frowned, "I hope it is not your mother whom I met." Since Madeline had stepped into the past, Calhoun had started to think about a few things, and he remembered the cloverleaf. It was a distant memory, but somewhere it had him question if it was her.

    "What?" asked Madeline, slightly confused at what Calhoun was speaking about. She said, "Back there, mother asked where the cloverleaf went which I had with me." This was before her mother had taken her away from the alley to her grandparent''s house.

    At the same time, Calhoun who had been frowning, his expression turned to a broad smile, and his eyes twinkled.

    "Why are you smiling like that?" asked Madeline.

    "You are my four clover leaf."

 Chapter 314 Breaking through- Part 1

    <h4>314 Breaking through- Part 1</h4>

    "I don''t understand," she said to him, and Calhoun gathered her closer in his arms.

    "Do you remember where you started to see the past?"

    Madeline nodded her head, "I was in the alley," she replied to his question. Even though in the real world, it took only two hours before she returned from her sleep, she felt as if it was only yesterday that she was walking in the alley that was wet and muddy.

    "My mother was looking for me, and we then went to my grandparent''s house."

    "It was also the same time when I first met you," hearing the words from Calhoun, Madeline''s eyebrows raised. They met before the ball? "It was years ago. A lost memory that happened to resurface a few days ago. With you being introduced as a human when we met at the ball, I didn''t connect it to you because of the age and time frame as it didn''t add up. But it does now. It was also the time when I had started to live in the castle."

    It was strange to think that she had met Calhoun before. Not in years would she have thought about something like that to happen.

    "It must be around the time when you first went to sleep in the coffin. Right?" asked Calhoun in confirmation.

    "It was. The very next night I ended up in the coffin," replied Madeline, "But I didn''t get to see you," she murmured under her breath. Somewhere it would have been nice to have met the young Calhoun. To see how he was back then and how much he had changed since then, till now, "What were you doing there?" she asked him curiously.

    "My grandmother sent a few men so that we could y catch," came the nonchnt reply from Calhoun, "She had ordered them to get rid of me, hoping the action would threaten me enough to not step back in the castle. But that only made my decision to stay and eliminate others instead. You gave me your cloverleaf and handkerchief that day. Hold on."

    Calhoun ced Madeline on the bed and stood up to walk towards one of his many cupboards in the room. Pulling it to open, Madeline heard him rummaging through the things, and he turned around.

    "This," Calhoun had a chain in his hand, and it had a simr pendant that her grandfather had shown in her past.

    "I think my grandfather made that," said Madeline and Calhoun walked back to her, handing the chain for her to take a look at it. "He said it would protect me. I am not sure what it''s supposed to protect me from. My sister wears something simr to this. He made two of them. I think my family didn''t know that I wasn''t wearing it at that point in time."

    "Can you try remembering when it came off your neck, Maddie?" asked Calhoun, his voice filled with curiosity as he wanted to make sure about something else. Believing things were meant to happen.

    She saw shes of green behind her closed eyes. There were many grass des. Her small hands were trying to search for something, and she saw that cloverleaf which she picked. But at the same time, the chain around her neck fell, and she put it in her handkerchief.

    "It was after picking the cloverleaf," she said, opening her brown eyes to meet his that looked enthralled.

    "You wouldn''t mind if I continue to keep this in the cupboard, do you? I rather prefer you wear something that doesn''te from your grandparents or your parents, or what once belonged to them," thest thing Calhoun needed was them trying to trample both his and Madeline''s rtionship.

    A thought crossed his mind and his lips twisted, wondering how things would have been if he had been attracted to the wrong sister. With Elizabeth who wore the chain, Calhoun would have been possibly misinterpreted the whole scenario, thinking it was Madeline''s sister whom he had met because of the identical pendants. But instead of Beth, his eyes had fell straight on Madeline even though there were plenty of other people in the ballroom.

    Taking the chain from her hand, he put it back in its ce. His hand brushed the handkerchief that was folded which was in the corner of the drawer.

    Things like these, it meant little to nothing to Calhoun. Not just in the present, but even in the past. At the same time, it wasn''t many who had shown himfort without expecting nothing in return. Years had passed by, yet he had not thrown this little trinket of chain nor the piece of old cloth which he had not bothered to clean. His blood was still stained in the cloth. Brushing his fingertips across the handkerchief, he brought his hand up to his nose, smelling the sweet fragrance. Here it was, thought Calhoun to himself.

    The smile continued to spread across his lips, broader and broader before he turned to Madeline, who looked slightly worried by his smile.

    "Do you understand what it means?" asked Calhoun, his hand pushed the drawer to close it and he returned to sit next to her, "We were meant to meet again. Even if it meant you were going to end up in the coffin again, you would stille out and we would meet."

    Madeline felt her hands being taken by Calhoun, "My grandparents, they spoke about the fallen angel who woulde looking for me."

    "Did they say why?" She shook her head.

    "I don''t know. They appeared to be worried about it. Also, I think someone let me out of the coffin after I was put in there," she ryed the information and Calhoun tilted his head.

    "That was definitely not me," joked Calhoun, "It is okay, whoever it is. It must be someone who wanted to awake you." Madeline didn''t see what the point was to wait until morning, and she told him what she saw, and what happened. When Calhoun had heard every bit of what she had to share, giving her his time and attention, he finally said, "Your grandparents are unintelligible creatures," was the first thing that came out of his mouth.

    Calhoun said, "Which parent or family member jumps to the conclusion that you are an evil being without seeing if you were at fault or not? You were a child, a small girl. I remember you were only this tall," he used his hand to give her an approximate of her height. He rolled his eyes, "And your parents," he tched.

    "Fallen angels don''t kill people. And there was just too much blood in the room. I think they got scared and worried," frowned Madeline in thought.

    "That they would be next to die?" asked Calhoun, "It is still ridiculous to jump into conclusion without trying to find out what happened. Even the humans and vampires have better way of dealing with things unless you trap people. For example, Markus got caught because there was enough evidence against him. And even though there was no reason for me or Catherine to go under trial with the High House members, they still did because they had a speck of doubt on us. Of course, more than a speck on me, but with no evidence against me, there''s nothing anyone can do. The only results out of this is, you get to know who is vouching for you and who is ready to throw you into prison and have you go through a possible execution."

    "I thought King''s didn''t undergo trials," replied Madeline to his words. She felt him brush the back of her hands with his fingers.

    "Normally, they don''t. But the charges on me are ringly too much that sometimes the High House members feel like there is a need to do it, just to show people that they are fair. You should already know though, nothing is ever fair. The tables can turn any side, at any point of time," said Calhoun, "Some are waiting for my downfall, while some don''t care about it."

    "Doesn''t that mean you will have to watch your back constantly?"

    Calhoun gave her a thoughtful nod, "That is true. A King always has enemies," seeing Madeline''s mind drift towards his words, he said, "Anyways, we were speaking about your grandparents. I must say we have had some very antiquey ones."

    "I feel terrible for what they did to Beth," confessed Madeline. The reason why they even tampered Beth memory was so that her sister would not remember a single thing of what happened, "She''s not a bad person," Madeline said to Calhoun, knowing how he didn''t mind dangling Beth in front of his wolves, and the only reason he wasn''t doing it for her sake.

    "It is still hard to believe that what your sister has turned out to be today is because of your grandparent''s actions. Memory can be tampered only to a certain extent. And we all are selfish in our ways," stated Calhoun, "There''s always the external influence, but I am not sure if it could be fixed. Imagine it to be like, you constructing a tower with the cards. There might be a loose card in the middle. You want to fix it, but you should also know that fixing it might tumble the entire tower down. Many times you cannot fix things."

    It wasn''t that Madeline didn''t love her sister the way she was, but after hearing Beth had gone as far as to try poisoning Calhoun by listening to Markus'' words, she didn''t want Beth repeating it again.

    In her memories of the past, Beth was kinder, and they were closer. It made Madeline wonder if things changed once she returned back from the graveyard to East Carswell after the second time she was put in the coffin. Did Beth perhaps buildpetition with her?

    Pursing her lips, Madeline said, "I know the things she has done, it could warrant her for treason, and I am thankful that she is still alive and breathing."

    "You know I would do anything for you, don''t you?" asked Calhoun, "But, that doesn''t mean I will keep harmful things around you. Raphael can watch over her. Hopefully, she will mend her ways before it''s toote."

    "Where is grandma right now?" she inquired.

    "In the forest, in thepany of the wolf," he answered her casually.

    Calhoun took her into the forest, walking deeper and deeper where no one would evere to wander. They reached a cave that was hidden by bushes. The night was colder than the previous night, a sign of the oing Winter that was soon going to arrive in thends of Devon.

    As it was night, there was no light, and Calhoun held Madeline''s hand in his as they walked towards the cave. He raised his hand to have fire light in the torches that were on the walls. When Madeline stepped inside, she caught sight of two cages that were upied. One that had her grandmother who looked like she was ready to kill her and in another one...the other one there was a werewolf. She instantly frowned as she had not caught sight of the moon in the sky.

    "How are you doing in here with your newpany?" asked Calhoun to her grandmother who raised her hand towards Calhoun and Madeline noticed the cage vibrate, "Still angry, I see. I thought you might be bored because my grandmother doesn''t speak and is as useless as she was in the past. He is a much betterpany, isn''t he."

    "How dare you put me next to a werewolf," her grandmother asked through her gritted teeth, "And you," she turned her eyes at Madeline, "How can you let him treat me like this. Do your parents know what you did to your grandfather and to me?"

    When Madeline was small, she remembered how her grandparents were strict and how she feared them. But now the fear seemed to have disappeared after seeing what they had done. She could hold her gaze with her grandmother without looking away because she knew she wasn''t wrong. She had done nothing wrong, said Madeline to herself.

    "They will know about it tomorrow," Madeline replied to have her grandmother raise her eyebrows.

    "You feel no guilt for what you did do you? Do you understand the severity of the matter, Madeline?" questioned her grandmother.

    Madeline took a step towards her grandmother, and Calhoun let go of her hand so that she could take another step forward. "I do. More than before. Tell me, grandma," she began, "You said angels are not supposed to kill or be tainted by murder. What were you trying to do with me then?"

    Her grandmother gave an oblivious look, "What did we do to you? We were protecting you!"

    "Right," agreed Madeline, a small smile appeared on her lips which didn''t quite reach her eyes, "You try to protect people by keeping them safe, but when you try to nail them in the coffin, that means you want to get rid of the person."

    Her grandmother stared at her for the briefest moment, not responding to her words. "What do you know about the trouble that you will cause in this world. The chaos that you will bring upon the people whom you love and care. Your grandfather and I were only doing our jobs. To put you to ease-"

    "You mean to put her to rest in the coffin?" interjected Calhoun. He was amused with the way the older woman continued to re at him, bringing him that much entertainment.

    Madeline said, "I know what you and grandpa did to me. I saw it." Having already witnessed the past, she didn''t need to hear her grandmother trying to defend their actions, "I had some questions to ask. Grandpa said he woulde for me. The first fallen angel. Why did grandpa say that?"

    Her grandmother''s eyes widened on hearing this, "Because the first fallen angel is trying to collect the dark angels to go against the heavenly people. All the fallen angels, they have been trying to prevent anything remotely close which woulde in line with the first fallen one."

    "Why?" questioned Madeline.

    "Even though the dark angels are born through the fallen angels, they still hold the traits and abilities of the angels. They hold enormous power that can be harnessed and used to destroy unimaginable things. Things that are fallen cannot be angels, they are not pure," exined her grandmother.

    Calhoun sighed, "Thank you for some insights, but the rest is utter garbage. You know the existence of the demons don''t you?"

    "Creatures that ought to be burned in hell. I should have known the first time you stepped into the house when I felt something very different about you," said the woman, her eyes narrowed at him.

    "I have that effect on people. If angels exist, demons do too, but I doubt you realize that there are different types when ites to demons," he tried to educate Madeline''s grandmother, "The first time little Madeline killed those people, they were not humans but demons. Soul eaters, in literal sense. What your granddaughter did was due to her instinct to protect."

    "Even if they are fallen angels, one is not supposed to hurt another!" eximed the older woman and Calhoun chuckled.

    "What a hypocrite. That''s riching from someone who tried to attack and kill their own granddaughter. You know you should practice what you preach, which is why I never preach," as he grinned, his fangs came into view.

    Madeline noticed how her grandmother''s eyes red up at Calhoun''s taunting words, "What we are doing is trying to redeem ourselves. To protect catastrophe from taking ce. You didn''t see what we saw." She turned to look at Madeline as if her granddaughter was a stranger. "Her eyes, they turned white. The look on her face, maybe she failed to notice it, but my husband and I did. The pleasure of blood is never a good trait. The demon was torn to pieces."

    "It doesn''t justify what you did to me," Madeline frowned deeply at what her grandmother said, "You didn''t even ask why it happened."

    "Because the fallen ones don''t harm others. Especially not when a person is that small. It was enough to know, and we did what we had to do, but we never knew you would return," her grandmother had a look of horror on her face just by recollecting the memories, "It''s not toote to kill yourself."

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, and he raised his hand forward. In the next second, her grandmother fell on her knees, screaming in pain, "You fallen angels have fucked up theories that makes no sense. What part of self-defence doesn''t go through that rusted head of yours, mdy?"

    "Have you seen this first fallen angel?" inquired Madeline.

    "We do not associate with the ones who pushed us into this lifestyle," her grandmother folded both her hands against her chest, "We don''t know how that person looks or where he is."

    "Do you know who might know about him?" Madeline continued to question, "What about that man. Walter."

    Madeline''s grandmother didn''t look pleased that Madeline knew so much about what happened in the past. "Your grandfather and I didn''t know where he went. After we were done with nailing you in the coffin, he had disappeared."

    "Sketchy people sure associate themselves with sketchy people," hummed Calhoun.

    Next to her grandmother''s cage, the werewolf that was bigger than Maddox in size growled at them, "Get this thing away from here,"ined her grandmother.

    Madeline turned to Calhoun, "Why is he in his werewolf form? There''s no moon."

    Calhoun''s eyes shifted to the werewolf that appeared to be in a rage, baring its teeth and ready to take a bite. He wondered if the werewolf would find the granny in here to be appetizing, but then there was no telling who would kill whom. For someone who appeared to have no ability like her husband, Calhoun saw how every time she got angry and raised her hand, the cage she was in shook.

    "Mr. Heathcliff decided that he liked his wolf form and he would enjoy his time as a werewolf," came the dull answer from Calhoun which Madeline didn''t find it to be funny.

    "This is that tailorman?" asked her grandmother, surprised.

    "How long has he been like this?" Madeline didn''t want James to be forever stuck as a werewolf. That would only mean death, not that it didn''t warrant one with just a bite from another werewolf.

    When Madeline stepped forward, the werewolf jumped forward and tried to bite her, "You should get it killed before it infects others."

    "How can you say that?! He is still a person!" Madeline couldn''t believe how swift her grandmother''s decision was when it came to killing someone.

    "Theodore said James didn''t change sincest night. James has been like this for almost a day. I hate to agree, but your grandmother is right. As time will tick, it will be hard for him to keep himself in his human state, and he will fall into the second category of no point of return."

    "What about the antidote?"

    "Antidote''s do not exist, Madeline," huffed her grandmother, "Not everyone can be saved in this world. We protect what we can. Better to see him die than writhe in pain."

    When they were ready to leave, Madeline couldn''t resist but ask, "Is there a way to fix Beth''s memories?" She and her grandmother looked at each other in the eye.

    "No," came the answer.

    The fire that was burning in the torches extinguished themselves when they left the cave.?Calhoun and Madeline walked in silence, listening to the crickets chirp around them.

    "Don''t worry about the werewolf," she heard Calhoun speak, who was next to her.

    "You said we have to kill James," came Madeline''s small voice in worry.

    Calhoun offered her a smile, "I wanted to rile the woman in there. I have sent a letter to a man who my mother once knew. I don''t know if the address is still the same, but hopefully, he will have something for James. Until then, he will need to stay in there."

    "And my grandmother?" asked Madeline carefully.

    "If you have all your answers, I will be more than happy to get her a ce in the graveyard. I thought it would be better to have lesser people to worry about before the day of the wedding," Calhoun conveyed his thoughts. His aunt and her family were not allowed in the castle, Madeline''s grandparents were kept to the side where one was dead, and the other would soone to follow. Calhoun could finally have some peace in the castle.

    Madeline didn''t know what to answer. Death was not easy, but she wasn''t naive to think that her grandmother would happily wee her back in her arms. Things weren''t the same as before. But at the same time, she wasn''t her grandmother to wish death on someone.

    Seeing her take time, Calhoun decided not to pressure her for an answer, but he said, "It is okay to be selfish in this world. If you aren''t, someone else will be selfish enough to impose it on you. Take your time."

    Calhoun wanted to ask if Madeline encountered any strange person in the past, but with her gentle and angelic nature, who once saved the man who was about to drain her blood, he kept the question to himself. Madeline had told that someone had let her out of the coffin, and it wasn''t by herself, he wondered who it could be.

    "I don''t know how I will break down the news to my family about grandpa," came Madeline''s worried words.

    "I will help you with it," he offered her with a bright smile.

    When Calhoun said those words, Madeline believed things would go much more smoothly with his assistance. But next day, after breakfast, Calhoun summoned her parents in an isted room with just four of them in there.

    "Mr. Harris, I heard you and your family put Madeline in the coffin while she was still alive��" started Calhoun and her parents turned stiff by his words.

 Chapter 315 Breaking through- Part 2

    <h4>315 Breaking through- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Madeline''s eyes went wide at the amount of smoothness that Calhoun used when delivering the news that she wanted to break to her parents. Her parents looked visibly shaken, their eyes as wide as hers as they stared at the King.

    Taken aback, her father responded, "My King?"

    Calhoun went around and took a seat on the couch, waving his hands at the empty ones so that Madeline''s parents could sit. Once they were seated, he said,

    "Before you ask what, let me tell you that your daughter and I are already aware of your deeds and we would like to hear your version of the story of why you did, what you did to her." Madeline saw how her parents'' gaze shifted from Calhoun to her. They had a look of worry in their eyes, wondering how to respond to the King.

    "W-where did you hear it from?" asked her father.

    "We never wanted you to be put in the coffin, Maddie," said her mother, "It was something I never wanted but-"

    "But you did it anyway," Calhounpleted her mother''s sentence, "Yes, we know that."

    Her mother shook her head, "No. It is very hard to let go of your first child. But the situation back then was so confusing. Your father and I, are not the same as what your grandparents are. Did you hear it from them?"

    Madeline slowly nodded her head, "Why didn''t you ever tell me? You had all these years. I even came to speak about it, but you said nothing," she asked her mother. It had been days since both her parents and she had not discussed about the subject and were ying hide and seek on the issue. Madeline decided that it was time to sort out things and get everything on the table no matter how guilty their actions were.

    "I was scared when you mentioned about breaking the ss. I know I should have told you something, but when you spoke about it, I got worried that they would be sending you back to the coffin. Your father is a dormant fallen angel, and this includes your sister because it seems like you took all the traits leaving none for Beth," exined her mother, "Neither did your father nor I ever wish something like that upon you. Even after your grandparents put you in graves, I didn''t stop visiting you."

    Her father agreed, "Your mother isn''t lying, Madeline. Though my parents aren''t aware, we made visits over those sixteen years."

    "What did grandpa and grandma tell you about me?" asked Madeline. Though she and Calhoun had heard a few things about her from her grandmother, she still felt the need to ask her parents to make sure nothing was hidden and to be aware of what happened until now.

    "Didn''t they tell you?" asked her father slightly confused as he thought that is where Madeline heard about her being kept in the coffin.

    Both Mr. and Mrs. Harris'' face turned pale in shock, "What?"

    "Are you asking ''what'' for their punishment or because you are shocked they tried to kill your daughter?" Calhoun didn''t know how to hold his tongue, and his words came as smooth as he had given Madeline his word to ease the situation, only that it would be done in his way.

    Mr. Harris was shocked over both the things, while Mrs. Harris turned to look at Madeline, making sure she was alright. The woman said, "They said they were going to protect you."

    "Which person is protected by being nailed in the coffin so that even if they wake up, they are expected to die out ofck of air, food andpany," Calhoun demanded, his eyes narrowing at Madeline''s parents. If Madeline didn''t love her family, everyone would have been dead by now upon his word.

    Both Mr. and Mrs. Harris looked guilty, and her mother was the first one to drop her gaze. Mr. Harris was in shock that the King had killed one of his parents. When he went to open his mouth, Calhoun said,

    "Your father instructed your mother to kill your very own daughter, someone who killed people in the past as self-defence. Do you understand what that means? Be careful with your words because anything that will be said against me or your daughter will be held in the same way to what happened to my cousin Markus."

    Mr. Harris stared at the vampire. The King was not only cruel but also cunning. He was right there when the trial had taken ce, listening to the trials that were going on in the courtroom. He knew something was off about the situation. He knew it from the very beginning of how wrong this vampire was, who was sitting in front of him was not suitable for his daughter Madeline.

    The King had used one single piece of letter which was written by a maid to Markus.

    The letter that Markus had used to frame the King, the King had used the same letter to frame his cousin to create treason. The truth was that there was nothing much in the case except for treason, but then treason was the highest betrayal that could warrant immediate death.

    Calhoun decided to put some light on the matter with his inws, a constant smile on his face.

    "I know you are smart Mr. and Mrs. Harris. Now as we are going to be family, I would expect nothing but you peopleing out clean, while I will mostly do the same. I know what you are thinking," he said to Mr. Harris, "The High House was here not just for Markus but also for me. For my past actions, but as you saw, my dear cousin dug his grave far too deep, and he tried to put the me on me with a piece of made-up evidence by him. Now we all know what happens when you make up things that doesn''t exist. One loose end of the thread and it pulls out the whole fabric."

    "There are people in the High House who are involved with you," murmured Mr. Harris and Calhoun''s smile broadened.

    "Life is sometimes the connection that you make, if you know people, you will go ces. If you don''t, the only ce a person will hit is dust," answered Calhoun and this had Madeline surprised. "There are people who hate me, but there are also people who know why I do certain things. I did what I had to do, to protect things that matter to me. Let''s speak about my family another time and get back to your family issues."

    Madeline looked at both her parents who looked ufortable, but at the same time, it looked like they were trying toe in terms with the news that was told to them, or more like pped on their face by the King.

    "What did they tell you?" asked Madeline. Her mother looked more willing to speak than her father, who was still processing the news about her grandfather being dead.

    "That day, your grandmother brought you back home while you were still covered in blood," started her mother, "We were not allowed to go near you. Your grandfather said something about you holding too much energy, and if we tried to irritate that ability within you, we would follow the same fate as the people whom you k-killed."

    Her mother wrung both her hands that were on herp, not meeting Madeline''s eyes.

    She continued, "It is only your father who was aware of angels. I didn''t know anything about it, Maddie. I learned from what was told at that time, they said that you were highly vtile and told us to leave you with them. I didn''t want to leave you! You are my firstborn!"

    Madeline remembered her mother crying before they left the Carnival vige, "I know," she whispered.

    "We were told not to speak about you, to let people forget you," said her mother.

    "And that worked well,"mented Calhoun.

    If the person in front of them wasn''t the King, Mr. and Mrs. Harris would have continued to be tight-lipped about this matter, but with his habit of killing, they didn''t want to take a chance.

    "It is how the fallen angels have worked until now," said Madeline''s father.?"The fallen angels have tried to protect their kind by not letting others know about their existence. In the past, there have been times when dark angels have been born, at that time there was nothing but chaos, bloodshed everywhere. It was then did the fallen angels start to kill those dark angels."

    "But they didn''t die," stated Calhoun and Mr. Harris nodded his head.

    "They couldn''t kill them. Fire, water, nothing worked, and that''s when they decided to hammer those dark angels in the coffin, by putting spells on them and burying them so that they would never wake up. They continue to exist, but they are as good as dead. In a dormant state," Madeline''s father looked at Madeline who was listening to him keenly. "Your grandfather believed it would be the same case with you, and we had to take a call back then. But it didn''t work on you."

    "We don''t know how you woke up, but we were happy to see you back and in front of your grandparent''s house after those sixteen years," confessed her mother, who had tears in her eyes.

    "What happened next?" Calhoun questioned, unmoved by Mrs. Harris'' tears, "It must have been like seeing a ghost at your house, isn''t it?"

    Mr. Harris had a look of guilt on his face. He continued, "My parents were shocked because they didn''t expect her to wake up."

    "Did you find out who woke her up?" interrogated Calhoun. Madeline''s attention fell on her father, who gave a nod.

    "It took a long time for my parents to realize that she was woken up by whisperers of the first fallen angel." Madeline and Calhoun stared at her father, waiting for him to borate, "There has been a rumour about dark angels who are being summoned by the first fallen angel. As much as we like to call the person to be a devil, there is a little inuracy in there. The story doesn''t follow what humans havee to believe."

    Calhoun titled his head, asking, "And how little is this inuracy that you speak." His interest had piqued, and it almost looked like he was going to bite Mr. Harris'' head off of him.

    Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed, questions appearing on her mind as she waited for her father to speak. This was something her grandmother had not bothered to tell themst night.

    Her father took a deep breath and exhaled, "Before the first fallen angel fell from heaven, it seems he wasn''t the first one, but second. The one humans know of, that is the second fallen angel. The period when both the events took ce was close by, so people associate it as one single incident. Most of them believe that the second fallen angel turned to a devil. But we don''t know what happened to the first fallen one. It is told that the first angel has been trying to beckon simr angels of his kind."

    Calhoun''s mouth twisted with a sad expression on his face, "And is this the whole truth? Anything else that Madeline or I need to know?"

    Mr. Harris shook his head, "My parents were tight-lipped about a lot of things. As I do not possess the same abilities as them or Madeline, they keep those things to themselves. Secrets that are not supposed to be whispered about."

    Madeline, who was listening to her father, said, "I saw some person, someone who was at my grave the second time I was put in there."

    "It must be a whisperer," her father replied, "They are only message takers or delivers, they cannot do anything more than that. But we cannot be sure."

    Calhoun said, "Strangely, the fallen angel wants to let Madeline out while your family has been trying to keep her in the coffin. Why hasn''t hee for her then?" he raised his eyebrows in question, "He had many years, where he could havee in contact with her."

    Mr. Harris frowned, pondering on the question, before he said, "I think it is because until now Madeline''s true nature had stayed dormant. My parents tried their best until this very time."

    "And they shouldn''t," affirmed Calhoun, "Look what happened when they tried. I prefer Madeline out in the open than in the coffin, if you know what I mean," his eyes brightened.

    Calhoun looked at Madeline''s parents, who were harmless. So far with what he saw and heard, the only threat Madeline had was from her very own family, her grandparents who had tried to nail her back into the coffin.

    Calhoun would do everything to protect Madeline, and if anyone would try to harm her, he would be the one to put them in the coffins and nail them down instead.

    Mr. Harris asked, "Where is my mother...and father?"

    "It would be best if you forgot about them, Mr. Harris. Someone who can kill their own blood without question, I wouldn''t try to look for them."

    Before they could be dismissed by Calhoun, Madeline asked her mother, "Did you know what they did to Beth?"

    Her mother frowned deeply, looking back as if she had no clue, "What happened to Beth? Is she also-"

    "She''s fine," answered Madeline. Her parents were innocent, and they didn''t know what her grandparents did to Beth or to her.

    "Thank you for answering the questions, Mr. and Mrs. Harris. And for the record, Madeline didn''t do anything to your father. It was I who killed him for trying to kill her," said Calhoun, to receive no response from Madeline''s father.

    Mr. Harris looked like he would need toy down before any more words could be spoken to him.

    Madeline pressed her lips, not knowing what else to say. Her mother came forward, and stood in front of her.

    "Madeline, I was the happiest when you returned home after a few days. Even though your grandparents were displeased by your return, your father and I were happy to have you back. We only hoped that nothing bad would happen, and we tried to shield you in the best possible manner. We wanted to protect you and tried to make sure that your grandparents wouldn''t get a reason to put you back in there. And as years passed, it looked like things had turned normal."

    And it was true, thought the older woman. She and her husband had pushed Elizabeth to take the lead and shine in a way where Madeline got to live a life where she was not in the limelight. Her husband and his family took the utmost care not to trigger the dark angel in her, who could start killing out of the blue.

    Madeline''s mother hugged Madeline, whispering to her, "You are still my daughter. No matter what." Hearing this from her mother, Madeline felt her eyes prickle.

    At the same time, her father said to Calhoun, "My father said that for a dark angel to turn to who they are, they need toe in contact with another creature who is equal to them, a person of darkest thoughts and being. We don''t know how Madeline turned to one because we always kept a watch on her. We were extra careful after her second return, letting her mingle with only humans and trying to have as little contact as possible with the vampires."

    Hearing what was spoken, Calhoun''s eyes considerably narrowed. A dark creature of dark thoughts. His eyes fell on Madeline, who shifted her gaze from her mother to look back at him. Mr. Harris had spoken those words only to Calhoun.

    Recollecting the time when he had met Madeline for the very first time, and when she had first shown the traits of being a dark angel, he wondered if it might have been him who had triggered her innate nature.

    "I would like to talk alone with Madeline if you will step out of the room now and enjoy the weather outside," Calhoun didn''t mince his words.

    Madeline wondered if Calhoun had ever minced his words before saying it to someone. The words spoken by him were not all direct, some were indirectly sarcastic, taunting and on rare asions polite. Her parents offered her a small smile, a heaviness in their heart which was visible on their face. With the door of the room closed, she looked at Calhoun who walked towards the table that had different shapes of bottles with liquor in it. Hearing the glugging of the liquid before it was poured into the ss, she saw him walk towards the couch and take a seat without a word.

    Calhoun had asked her parents to step out so that he could speak, but he was quiet.

    "Is everything alright?" questioned Madeline.

    "I am not sure," he replied, taking a sip from the fancy-looking ss and gulping the liquid that?had his Adam''s apple bob up and down. "I don''t know if I should be happy or not. But then it would be a lie," he said, taking sips from the ss until thest few drops of the liquor. "I am thrilled that I met you before the Eve of the Hallow. I have met a lot of people in the past, Maddie. Some who have stayed in my memories, while some I have met again. But you, I didn''t know you could hold so much significance in my world."

    "Is this about what my father said?" Madeline asked him. Calhoun had been looking at the empty ss, and he looked into Madeline''s eyes.

    "You were listening," he murmured, and she gave him a nod.

    Though her mother had been speaking with her, some part of her thoughts and ear was listening in on to her father''s words. It was hard not to when the topic was about her.

    "Do you think it is because of our meeting in the alley?" Madeline didn''t know what happened before her mother found her. And what conversation took ce between her and Calhoun in the alley.

    "It is possible. Your father said you met another dark creature."

    "But you are not a dark angel," stated Madeline.

    Calhoun sat quietly looking at her, and this had Madeline doubt him. But previously, Calhoun wasn''t aware about the existence of fallen angels.

    "No. I am not a dark angel. I am a demon vampire, remember?" and Madeline nodded her head.

    Calhoun got up, walking back to the table to pour himself another ss of liquor. Madeline bit the inside of her cheek. She wondered if Calhoun was thirsty right now. She had seen him drinking little quantity of alcohol or blood in the dining room, and it had been some time since he hadst taken blood from her.

    He turned around, leaning his back against the table before he lifted his ss to his lips.

    Madeline didn''t break her gaze away and stared at him as he tilted the ss that he held in his hand. The liquid slid down to his lips as Calhoun emptied it in one go.

    "You seem to be thirsty today,"mented Madeline to see one side of his lips pull up.

    "I am thirsty," he confessed, running his tongue over his sharp fang.

    "You can take blood from me if you want," Madeline offered Calhoun for the very first time. He returned to her, leaving the ss at the table.

    Calhoun would have loved to quench his thirst if it weren''t for the footsteps that he heard, which stopped right in front of the door.

    "Milord!" came the servant''s voice from behind the door, having Madeline turn to look at the closed door. "The dressmaker''s assistant is here."

    Madeline then heard Calhoun say, "Maybeter. Right now, your wedding gown awaits for you to try." He walked to her, offering his hand, and Madeline ced her hand before standing up. Before they got to the door, he paused his footsteps and leaned towards her to kiss on her lips,

    "Just because the sky is dark with clouds, it doesn''t have to mean that one cannot enjoy the rain."

 Chapter 316 Solace- Part 1

    <h4>316 Sce- Part 1</h4>

    She wore the inner petticoat first, and upon which she had worn the gown. Its sleeves went up to her wrists and the neckline of her dress was turned to a crescent shape. The back of her dress went down until the midway of her back in V shape to be buttoned down.

    "How do you find it, mdy?" asked the female assistant who stood in front of her with an expression of awe on her face.

    "It is lovely," replied Madeline, moving towards the mirror that wasn''t too far away from the divider so that she could take a look at herself, "It''s beautiful," she murmured, running her hands over the fabric of the gown which was made of silk.

    "You will be a beautiful bride, mdy," whispered the assistant. The female assistant had worked in Mr. Heathcliff''s shop for some years now, and they had stitched many wedding gowns. Gowns of different fabrics and style, and she was the one to go and help the bride try it out before the wedding. But in these many years, she had never seen someone who looked in this beautiful in the gown. It was hard to tell if it was the gown or the girl who wore it, that made the whole thing outstanding.

    This might have been one of the best wedding gown that they had ever made, of course, it was for the future Queen. It had to stand out. But that wasn''t all to the story. The wedding gown had been designed by James Heathcliff out of his affections he had towards Madeline which the assistant wasn''t aware of. He knew he would never be able to have her next to him, and somewhere along those days of making the gown, he had made his peace or had tried before going ahead to make the gown with his assistants.

    "The veil?will be delivered tomorrow as its work is still in progress. This is thepleted wedding gown," informed the assistant, "Is there any other alterations you would like us to do before we wrap it for the big day?"

    "No, this is fine. Thank you for this," Madeline thanked the assistant who gave her a bright smile.

    The assistant had seen the young daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harris before, the sister of the beautiful Elizabeth Harris. Compared to her elder sister, Madeline had always been gentle, always offering people her kind smile. It was good to see that she was to be the Queen of Devon.

    Once the gown was removed from her body, it was ced in the box, Madeline changed herself to her regr clothes before stepping out of the wooden divider to see Calhoun''s eyes watching her, "Everything good?" he asked her.

    "You did a good job on the dress. I will make sure you are paid well for it," said Calhoun to have the assistant bow her head.

    "It is all thanks to Mr. Heathcliff, my King. He is the one who designs the clothes before we start to work on them," answered the woman, keeping the box on the couch. She took three steps away and asked, "Have you heard anything from Mr. Heathcliff?" she asked worriedly.

    Madeline''s eyes moved to Calhoun, who said, "Unfortunately, nothing so far. The charges that were against him have been dropped as it was Markus Wilmot who killed the girl. We have let the nearby viges and towns know about it. Hopefully, the news will reach to him, and he will get back to work again," he offered a kind smile.

    The assistant had a look of worry, and she nodded, "Mr. Heathcliff was falsely med, and it must have been too much for him especially with his father''s death. Thank you, my King and Queen," she bowed her head, "I will have the veil delivered by early morning tomorrow," and she left the room.

    Madeline wondered if James would be able to get back to his human self ever again because he hadn''t changed back from his werewolf form. If his condition continued, it was good to say that he would never return and would forever live as a werewolf until someone woulde to hunt him down.

    "Thank you," Madeline thanked Calhoun, who turned to meet her eyes with a perplexed look on his face on why she was thanking him, "For clearing his name."

    "As I said, I would do anything for your happiness. Also, you should keep it in mind that I did it for my gains," said Calhoun to her, "I wanted to get rid of Markus and used that opportunity to deflect the me on him. The timing was perfect with an opening which Markus gave to me."

    Since Madeline had started to see Calhoun in a different light, she noticed the little amount of quirkiness that he held in his words and the way he looked at her. She was happy that Calhoun had saved James from being put under execution, which could have been done if he wanted James dead. It wasn''t only that, but Calhoun was showing himself to her for the person he was, and it was something Madeline appreciated.

    "Do you think it would be alright to go and visit James today?" she asked him, her eyes searching in his red eyes for an answer.

    "To wish him good morning?" joked Calhoun, his eyes slightly brightening.

    "I want to see if he can turn back. I will be careful," said Madeline. She knew that there were high chances of James not listening to her words as he was in his werewolf form, but she still wanted to try and help him. It wasn''t in her nature to leave the person to rot in the cage.

    "Okay," agreed Calhoun, "You can go and visit him, but keep a good distance. I can ask Theodore or Raphael to apany you there."

    Madeline shook her head, "No, that will be okay."

    Knowing Raphael was someone who Calhoun trusted, she had entrusted the man with her sister Beth, who continued to sleep. At first, she had been worried why her sister had not woken up. It was then that Raphael mentioned that it would take until the time of evening before Beth would wake up. That was almost two days of continuous sleep. It reminded her of a story where the prince kissed the girl to wake her up. On the other hand, Theodore was busy attending Calhoun. She didn''t mind going alone to the cave.

    Calhoun lifted his hand to tuck her hair behind her ear as he continued to stare into her brown eyes.

    "Before everything else, I would like to steal you away for some time," said Calhoun to her.

 Chapter 317 Solace- Part 2

    <h4>317 Sce- Part 2</h4>

    .

    They had been busy since a few days, and he hadn''t got to hold Madeline the way he wanted to. To touch her the way his body craved for it.

    He loved her for the person she was, not caring if she was of dark or light nature because Calhoun himself was plenty dark inside. He watched her eyshes fluttered close as his hand slowly slid down from her cheek down her neck.

    "Can I?" asked Calhoun referring to his previous words.

    Madeline opened her eyes, feeling his hand strangely warm against her cold skin because the morning was cold as the Winter was close. She didn''t know why Calhoun had started to ask her permission. It brought heat to her cheeks, turning them slightly pink.

    "Would you stop if I said no?" Madeline asked him, trying to keep her gaze on his face. He used his other hand to snake it around her waist and pulled her to him.

    A mischievous smile appeared on Calhoun''s lips while his eyes continued to stare at her intensely, "Would you be so cruel to do that? Especially after offering me your blood a while ago?"

    Madeline felt her heart skip a beat when Calhoun''s hand that was on her neck slid towards her shoulder, pushing the fabric, and he leaned forward to press his lips on her shoulder. Pulling himself back and putting the sleeve in its ce, his hand slowly traced down her arm before holding her hand and interlocking her fingers with his.

    Her lips parted, her breath soft and she felt her heart somersault in her chest.

    "Why do you ask?"

    Whenever Calhoun wanted to touch her, he always did what he wanted. He could turn her no to a yes, yet now he was asking her permission. She could see the mirth that lingered behind his eyes as if he enjoyed seeing her turn anxious and embarrassed over his words.

    "Why?" Calhoun repeated her question. The smile on his lips, lowered down along with his eyes that left her face to look at the door, which was when she heard it lock.

    She wondered how long it would take for her to get used to Calhoun making use of his abilities which were umon to themon people. The thought about going to meet James jumped out of her mind to be upied by the thoughts of what Calhoun was about to do with her.

    "Do you even have to ask?" came his words, "I find amusement in this dull life by watching people squirm under my eyes. Did you think it would be anything less when ites to you?" though his words were serious, one corner of his lips pulled up, and it put Madeline at ease. There were times when Calhoun turned hot and cold, and she carefully tried to read his mood. But then, so far, Calhoun had always been himself with her, probably even patient.

    She saw Calhoun take a step back, one hand still holding her hand that was interlocked with his fingers. Without another word, he tugged her hand to follow him to the couch and had her sit at one corner. Suddenly she turned nervous, not out of fright because it wasn''t the first time Calhoun was drinking blood from her, but because of the thought of what his hands and lips would do on her skin. Thest time had been intense, and as much as she had denied it, she liked it.

    Both her hands turned free as Calhoun let go of her hand when he took a seat next to her, leaving the other side of the couch empty.

    With the troubles that were hovering in her life, moments like these felt calmer to Madeline, making her feel she was like any other normal girl. That she didn''t have people who wanted to kill her. The way Calhoun looked at her right now, it felt like his whole world revolved around her like she was the centre of his attention and he didn''t care if the world was going to end until he had her next to his side.

    "Your eyes are moist," said Calhoun, bringing his hand up to catch the tear that escaped her eye. His lips twisted, "Don''t want to offer your blood anymore?" Madeline shook her head, "I prefer you cry in the bed while I make love to you out of ecstasy. What''s the matter, my sweet rose?"

    "Nothing," she whispered, her gaze lowering down to her hands. She could feel Calhoun staring at her even though she didn''t look at him directly.

    She felt Calhoun''s finger move below her chin to have her turn her head to look at him. They stared at each other, and he leaned forward, licking the tear that slipped from her eye.

    "Is it tears of happiness?" he asked, and when she didn''t answer, a smile cracked on his lips, "Let me kiss you," he announced, sliding his hand around her neck.

    Calhoun didn''t have to pull her to him as Madeline moved closer to him even though they were stark opposite. One who couldn''t wait to kill people while the other wished people to be unharmed.

    Like Calhoun, who had found his sce in her, Madeline was now reaching out for him and he didn''t lose an opportunity in grabbing hold of her hands. When their lips touched each other, Madeline felt Calhoun pry her lips open as if unable to wait to taste her and she opened her lips like her heart, letting him seize her feelings that had started to grow for him.

    She could feel his hands holding her face as he kissed her, his tongue pushed and taunted her own tongue, tasting her as they kissed, and Madeline kissed him back. Her hands had gone to ce on his shoulders, but Calhoun didn''t let her kiss for too long. When he pulled away, Madeline followed him to have her lean towards him with a faint hint of blush on her cheeks.

    Slightly embarrassed that she had followed Calhoun by leaning towards him, she saw him stare at her, his hands gently caressing her face. Was that it? Asked Madeline to herself, her heart ready to fall.

    "Disappointed?" came Calhoun''s quick words.

    "N-no," replied Madeline.

    "Don''t worry, I have just started," his lips was covered with a subtle smirk. He took one seat away from her and Madeline wondered what Calhoun was up to, "I will love and cherish you until my veryst breath," his words took her by surprise.

    The next second, Calhoun patted the space that was between them, "Put your feet up here," and Madeline did just as he asked.

    Madeline wondered if she should respond to his words, that she would stay by his side.

 Chapter 318 Solace- Part 3

    <h4>318 Sce- Part 3</h4>

    When his eyes snapped up to look at her, it made her feel as if she was caught doing something she was not supposed to do, it reminded her of something that happened in the past. The time when it was just him and her in the quiet corridor, away from people and with just the faint music from the ballroom echoing through the halls and reverberating against the walls.

    The memory was still fresh in her mind. She had even dreamt of him that night, a nightmare that woke her from her sleep. And now the same nightmare had turned to something so sweet that her heart ached at times.

    The couch was big enough for two people to sleep in. Madeline noticed how the lighting in the room had reduced as if the time of night was right in the corner when it was still morning. The room turned much silent, numbing the world that was outside and behind the closed doors of the room.

    "Here," said Calhoun, passing her a cushion, "Put it behind your back. We don''t want you having back painter." Madeline took hold of the pillow, putting it behind her back. When Calhoun continued to stare at her, she leaned back against the pillow.

    The previous time, Calhoun had sunk his fangs to draw her blood right above the swell of her breast. With the way things were moving, Madeline had an idea of where Calhoun was nning to bite her.

    "I will be removing your garter and stockings off your legs now, dear," he announced, and Madeline turned more red.

    "You don''t have to tell it outloud," she whispered, biting the inside of her lower lip.

    "No?" came the innocent question from Calhoun which Madeline was well aware he was only feigning right now, "I am worried that I might do something that might upset you. Are you telling me it''s alright?" he asked, teasing her with his words.

    Madeline hadn''t broken her gaze from him, and she nodded her head.

    "I didn''t hear that," said Calhoun, and she sent him a quiet re.

    "Y-you don''t have to ask my permission," she rushed the words through her lips, and Calhoun grinned.

    "Your wish is mymand," he replied to her, "Shall we get rid of your dress. I am too excited andck patience right now to remove your clothes," he said, snapping his fingers and the next second, the dress which Madeline was wearing had disappeared, leaving ck feathers to fall out of nowhere.

    "Unfortunately, I cannot bring back the dress, but we don''t have to worry about it now," teased Calhoun, seeing Madeline who wore just the pale white petticoat that reached up to her knees. As if to tease her more, he asked, "You don''t mind, do you?" cing his hand on the sides of her waist to receive no response from Madeline except for a stare.

    He bunched the hem of her petticoat up to her mid-thighs, pulling out thece that was tied around her thighs that looked different to the ones that he had got made for her. As if following his eyes and thoughts, Madeline said,

    "These are mine. Mother brought it along with her thinking I might need them," and she heard Calhoun hum. The garter didn''t have the stic band but was only made of satince and it followed the shoes that he had dropped it on the ground.

    Madeline''s eyes moved from Calhoun''s face to his hands, and then at the feathers that had disappeared just like they had appeared out of nowhere. It was like magic, and she was fascinated by the little action. When Calhoun started to peel down the stockings that she wore, folding them torturously slow, she could feel the air touch her skin, raising goosebumps on her skin.

    Her legs were folded with her feet on the surface of the couch. She felt Calhoun ensp his hands around her ankles, when he said, "She was right."

    "She?"

    "The assistant from Heathcliff''s shop. You will make a beautiful bride."

    Even though Madeline had stood behind the wooden divider of the room, Calhoun could still see her because of the gaps in the divider. He had seen her in the wedding gown, and he realized how beautifully the gown was made while keeping Madeline in mind. In the beginning, he had taken her to James'' shop to rub salt on the wound as he was a petty vampire, who enjoyed people''s difort. But he also knew that if there was someone who would do the job right, it was James. As much as he didn''t like the man for having thoughts about Madeline, he was aware of James'' skills when it came to making gowns.

    "You are not supposed to look at the bride with the wedding dress before the wedding!" whispered Madeline, a frowning to settle on her face, and it had Calhoun chuckle.

    He pulled her ankles towards him, to have her body slide down while her head came to rest on the cushion behind her, "The belief holds only with the humans. Not in our world. If it makes you feel better, would you like to consummate the marriage today?"

    Madeline''s eyes widened, and she shook her head quickly. She had to prepare her mind for it so that she wouldn''t faint, "That''s what I thought," responded Calhoun.

 Chapter 319 Solace- Part 4

    <h4>319 Sce- Part 4</h4>

    "What about you?" she asked him. Though she didn''t put it in full words, Calhoun knew what she was speaking about. The question was enticing, and it turned his eyes dark, to have Madeline question about returning the favour to please him.

    "What about me?" asked Calhoun, his tongue going back to run against his fang, and when the sharp tip cut the tongue, he tasted his blood.

    "I sometimes feel like I want to stab you," she muttered under her breath. Madeline knew Calhoun understood her question, yet he went to the length of wanting her to borate her words.

    "I cannot wait," Calhoun grinned before lifting her one leg up in the air and in front of his face. He kissed the inside of her ankle, his lips brushing against her skin that sent a jolt over Madeline''s body. After brushing his lips for the second time on the bone of her ankle, he said, "If you still have energy with what I have on my mind, I would be more than pleased to have you around me��" he left the words hanging in the air for her toplete.

    Madeline bit her bottom lip. She didn''t know what to do, but she knew Calhoun would help her because of herck of knowledge on the matter.

    She felt her heartbeat quicken when he left her ankle to move his lips up. Calhoun''s eyes were closed as he dropped another kiss on her skin.

    His lips glided up, passing her knee while his hands pushed the petticoat upwards so that he could have a better look at her. There was something about the innocent white undergarment that tightened his cks as his member hardened. He would love to take up on her offer, but he didn''t want to rush Madeline. She was his sweet girl, and he wanted her first experiences in everything with him to be pleasurable enough to have her crave more from him.

    She was nervous and felt ticklish when Calhoun''s lips reached her thighs. His face was half-hidden, and she saw glimpses of his expression on his face, where the cocky King, who often wore a smirk on his face now looked serious. Her hand itched to touch his inky ck hair, which she secretly wanted to weave it through her fingers.

    Calhoun raised his head to look at Madeline, making sure she was doing alright so far where she looked back at him. Her lips that were parted had turned slightly dry, she pressed them together before running her tongue over it. Without warning, Calhoun''s mouth opened, and he bit into her inner thigh of her right leg, letting his fangs sink into her skin to feel blood trickle into his mouth.

    She wanted to squeeze her legs, but Calhoun had ced his hand on her left knee.

    Calhoun had not just bit into her thigh but to suck the blood and he heard soft audible sighs escape through her lips. Her blood tasted sweeter than thest time, and he could smell the scent of rose wafting from her skin. It was sweet and tender, making his heartache and his hands itch to tear the rest of the clothes from her body so that he could consume her until there was nothing left of her.

    With Madeline''s invitation, Calhoun took the chance of pulling his fangs away and took another bite that was higher than the previous ce he had bitten. The blood that touched his tongue tasted nothing less to the sweetest delicacy he ever had the opportunity to have his hands on.

    As Calhoun continued to suck her soft skin, the room filled itself with Madeline''s sighs.

    Taking enough blood from her, Calhoun pulled himself from her, his tongue running over his teeth and lips to catch the traces of Madeline''s blood, "The tastiest meal I have ever had the pleasure of having," heplimented her, "I don''t think many have the luck to have an angel as their meal."

    It was strange that a demon was taking blood from an angel, thought Madeline to herself. It was possibly a strangebination one could find.

    Calhoun''s hands moved up to either side of her undergarment, hooking his fingers on the waistband to see her legs squeeze against each other. Madeline had not forgotten the way his finger made her feel thest time it was in between her legs. Just thinking about it made her undergarment to have a wet patch and her toes pressed against each other. They weren''t in their rooms but in the private parlour room of the King.

    Madeline didn''t stop him when he slid the undergarment down her dainty looking legs that she tried to cross again.

    "I can feel your thoughts, my rose," Calhoun said to her, pushing her knees apart as he came to hover over her body. She gulped over his closeness and his words, "I have barely done anything to you," he dropped his voice to a whisper as his hand went between her legs to feel the wetness and her desire that had pooled in there.

    She gasped when his finger casually ran across the folds between her legs.

    Calhoun basked in the pleasure-filled expression that passed through the innocent girl''s face, hearing her heart hitch with every touch and glide of his fingertips that brushed over her folds. Having already touched her before, he knew what Madeline liked, but today was not going to end the way it did before.

    Widening her legs, Calhoun who had settled between her legs, lowered his head...

 Chapter 320 Stealing you- Part 1

    <h4>320 Stealing you- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline cried out in pleasure when Calhoun''s lips came in contact with her core which only turned wetter with his touch. It was thest thing she had expected him to do. An innocent offer of offering her blood to him had turned to something warm and pleasurable which Madeline would have never expected. Or maybe somewhere she was hoping for it, thought Madeline to herself.

    Her hands that had previously itched to touch his soft ck hair immediately went to weave her fingers through them��not using too much pressure, but enough to grip it as she turned flustered to have him there.

    Calhoun''s movements on her were sultry, slow and gentle as his tongue moved in to have her toes curl. He had moved her legs to be ced on his shoulders so that he could have better ess to her. He pleased her by sucking, kissing and using his tongue often to lick and swirl it around. Every time he sucked her, he heard Madeline cry out.

    "Calhoun!" came her whispered voice, her hands slowly gripping on his ck hair. Her sweet, tantalizing voice only encouraged him, and he continued to kiss her lips.

    Madeline couldn''t exin the feeling that she felt right now, something that she didn''t know could exist and turn her body bothered, which was building in her chest. Her body started to shake when Calhoun continued his ministrations, running his tongue over her wet clit up and down before pushing it in to only turn her mind to a mess where she could hardly think about anything. The worries that had been weighing on her mind were still there, but for now, it had faded itself and had gone to the back of her mind.

    "W-wait, stop!" she said slightly rmed when she felt something forming in between her legs, ready toe.

    But Calhoun didn''t stop or pay heed to her words. He could hear her heart beating against her chest loudly while her body started to shake. Madeline''s grip on his hair subtly tightened, but Calhoun didn''t mind it as he didn''t stop until she was pushed to the edge while the room continued to fill itself with her moans.

    When Madeline came, her body shook, and she felt as if her whole body shattered, turning to nothing but dust in Calhoun''s arms.

    But Calhoun wasn''t done with Madeline. While she was still trying toe down from the high that she felt, his head lowered back down to brush his lips against her sex to hear her heart hitch. Madeline gasped when his mouth was back on her, and she was d that Calhoun had passed her the pillow else she was sure to twist her neck because of what he was doing to her.

    She could feel Calhoun''srge hands that were ced on either side of her waist to grip her to keep her still.

    "AH!" she gasped when Calhoun bit into her skin above her core. His tongue was quick to soothe the bite. Now and then, Madeline felt her soul was leaving her body.

    "I love it when you call my name, Maddie," his whispers only aroused her in need as his breath fell on her core.

    Her head started to swirl simr to the way Calhoun''s tongue moved against her between her legs. Her lips parted, letting sighs escape. It was like Calhoun was pushing her up, and her body felt like it was floating in the air where she had no control. A series of sighs escaped her lips, and she felt something building in her abdomen that scared her, but Calhoun only coaxed her to let go of it every time.

    Calhoun pulled away from her, running his finger over the seam of her folds that were between her legs to feel how wet she had turned. It pleased him to see her panting for air, her eyes half opened and her chest heaved for air.

    He watched how her eyes filled itself with desire, pleasure written all over her face when he pushed his finger into her opening, and her lips parted further in a silent plea.

    Madeline had somewhere let go of Calhoun''s hair when he raised his head to look at her, and when he pushed his finger, her hands moved to hold the couch so that there was something to grip on it.

    It felt like Calhoun''s face reflected her current expression, maybe much more intense than what she felt. The smile on his lips had disappeared, and his eyes had not left her. Even when he was sucking and licking her down there, he was watching her.

    "How are you doing, my rose?" asked Calhoun, his voice husky with need.

    Madeline was barely in the position to speak, less think right now. When she didn''t make an attempt to speak, Calhoun''s finger only pushed in further, and her eyes flew up. He was back to teasing her, she thought to herself. But the thought slipped away when his movements turned faster, and her body was barely able to keep up with it.

    But just before she felt the ball of pleasure ready to be released, Calhoun''s finger stopped, and he pulled away from her.

    "W-what are you doing?" came Madeline''s small voice. The little red riding hood looked confused at the wolf who looked satisfied. Seeing him wait for her to answer, she said, "What kind of question is that!"

    She felt her heart shake in her ribcage when Calhoun leisurely moved his finger to trace the folds without making any attempt to give her the release which he left her hanging.

    "Tell me you want it," came his deep voice that hit her body with feels and Calhoun noticed how affected Madeline was.

    Madeline realized that even though Calhoun loved her to death, he was still cunning and he would do anything to make her utter the words he wanted to hear from her. But she was embarrassed to say anything. She had been moaning and panting, and she didn''t know what else was there to be embarrassed about, especially with her undergarment that had hit the ground and Calhoun''s lips tasted her there.

    Taking the space that was next to her, Calhoun leaned forward so that he could lie next to her while holding one leg of hers down with his and his hand continuing to please her. She gasped when his finger entered her again, this time torturously slow to have her eyes roll back.

    His face moved towards her face and his lips hovered above hers,

    "Tell me what you want, sweetheart and I will give you more than that."

 Chapter 321 Stealing you- Part 2

    <h4>321 Stealing you- Part 2</h4>

    "Don''t," she whispered to him in the sweetest way possible while staring into his red eyes that looked hooded and dark.

    Calhoun gritted his teeth when he heard her plea. He wanted to steal her away from every possible thing and keep her here with him just for himself. How long had he waited for her to look at him with dewy-eyed where she was opening her heart to him.

    "If you don''t want I will stop," said Calhoun, as if he had misinterpreted her words. This had Madeline turn restless by thinking that he had taken her words as wanting him to stop when it was the opposite.

    Herck of words had been misunderstood, and Madeline felt troubled over it. Calhoun instead of moving away, leaned towards her, kissing her soft lips and at the same time, she felt him push his finger back in before the speed started to pick before tipping her off with the release that was all over his hand.

    "You were teasing me!" Madeline cried with her eyebrows furrowed and Calhoun chuckled.

    "I cannot help it," he kissed her nose. "Whenever I see you, I can''t resist not being mean to you. But you should know," he said bringing his hand up to his mouth before licking it clean. "I am mean to you only because I love you."

    "You are mean to a lot of people," she pointed out, feeling her body buzz with the ecstasy she felt in Calhoun''s arms.

    Calhoun''s lips twisted, a glint of mischief in them, "The word for me with respect to others would be cruel."

    Madeline took in the words that he said to her, letting it sink into her just like the pleasure that had turned her body weak. Her heart had calmed down, and now that Calhoun had pulled his hand away from her, she could feel the cold air touching her bare bottom and legs. She crossed her legs shyly, her eyes wandering to search her undergarment that was on the ground.

    Calhoun, who noticed her eyes wandering towards her undergarment, pulled himself away from her to get up and get hold of her undergarment in his hand. He helped her to wear it by sliding it up her smooth milky legs, "Lift yourself," he instructed, and Madeline who had been entranced by Calhoun''s presence quickly raised her bottom so that he could put the white undergarment back to its ce.

    Madeline wondered how she would be stepping out of the room without a dress. She would probably need to ask the maid to get one of her dresses from her room, thought Madeline to herself.

    Time and time, it was Calhoun who had teased and taunted her by his words, pleasing her since the time she had stepped into the castle. She didn''t know how to phrase it right, but she wanted to please him too.

    "Calhoun," Madeline said, his name on her lips held a tinge of passion in it after the aftermath of Calhoun''s ministrations, "I...I would like to.." it was awkward to tell such things.

    Calhoun looked at her, bringing his hand forward to caress her, "Are you sure?" he asked, his voice thick with desire. Madeline gave him a nod. If there was something she believed in, it was that a rtionship was a two-way passage where two people had to be equal in sharing their feelings and thoughts for it to work. And Madeline wanted it to work.

    "B-but I don''t know��" came Madeline''s soft voice, and a smile rose on his lips.

    "You don''t have to worry about that," replied Calhoun before tapping his finger on his lips, "First you start with a kiss here," he teased her. And when he had said it, he hadn''t expected Madeline to do it.

    Madeline pressed her lips on Calhoun''s lips when his hand moved away, taking him by surprise. She quickly pulled away from him before looking away as if she had done nothing.

    For the first time, Calhoun looked stunned, and he asked, "What kind of kiss was that? Let me show you."

    Saying this, he pulled her by her waist to almost have her sit on hisp while he captured her lips with his. The kiss right now was more yfulpared to the previous passionate ones. Calhoun bit into her lower lip before soothing it by running his tongue over it and sucking it. His tongue slid in her mouth as his hand curled into the back of her hair. His other hand ran down from her shoulder to her back, bringing her closer to him. It was hard for him to let her go from his arms, and he kissed her some more before finally releasing her.

    Calhoun looked into her eyes that tried to stay with him. Her breath was short, as if she ran down beforeing to meet him. He made sure that this is what she wanted because thest thing he needed was her bolting out of this room while he was still hard. He had controlled himself for a long time, but he doubted he could do it today.

    "Okay," he said as if giving her the permission, "Stand in front of me," he instructed.

    Madeline got out of his embrace, her feet touching the cold floor that felt nothing less than walking bare feet in the snow.

 Chapter 322 Stealing you- Part 3

    <h4>322 Stealing you- Part 3</h4>

    Madeline watched Calhoun move towards the edge of the couch while parting his legs to make space for her. Her eyes turned wide by the sight of Calhoun''s manhood, and her face turned beet red.

    "Hold it, sweet," Calhoun''s words were gentle, not trying to daunt her.

    Like a curious cat, Madeline, who had offered to please him too, moved to settle between his legs. Her hands cautiously lifted before they went to hold his hard member, which was warm, and she heard Calhoun hum in approval. Having never seen anything like this before, she noticed the veins on them, and she could feel it pulse in her hand.

    Calhoun ced his hand on top of her hand, holding it to guide her, "Move it like this, not too hard." His hand moved her hand up and down. Calhoun''s unfiltered words were enough to turn Madeline to a puddle, but she was thankful that he was leading her on what to do, instead of her going in circles.

    Madeline followed Calhoun''s hand movements, moving her hand up and down to hear another hum of approval from him. She had heard some things about this from some married girls in the vige, who sometimes liked to gossip which reached her ears through her sister Beth, but she had never seen one.

    "Now slowly brush your thumb over the tip," hearing Calhoun''s words, Madeline did just as he asked to hear his quick intake of breath. When she looked up from where she sat, she noticed how his gaze had lowered to look at her. Running her thumb again, she received the same reaction, and it urged her to continue doing what she was doing.

    It was like Calhoun had lowered his guard. To think that she could elicit a reaction like that where he hissed when she moved her hands faster, she never knew she had some power over him.

    When the movement of Madeline''s hand quickened, picking up pace where Calhoun had let go of her hand, she peered up from hershes to see him leaning back, with his hooded eyes fixed on her. The expression his handsome face held right now was of pure bliss and mixture of lust that started to cloud his eyes, which he didn''t enact upon and let Madeline do it. Just when her hand moved faster, Calhoun''s hand caught hold of her wrist.

    "Am I doing it wrong?" asked Madeline worried because she thought she had been doing it properly as she had heard him hiss under his breath.

    It took Madeline a second before what he said sunk in her mind, and she blushed. Calhoun let go of her hand again, his hands moving back to ce it on either side of the top of the couch near his back. She shyly moved towards him before bending down to take him into her mouth as much as she could and she heard him gasp.

    "Move your head just like you did with your hand and slowly lick and suck it."

    She did as he asked, going little by little and when she peered up at him again, Calhoun had thrown his head back at the feeling of her mouth wrapped around his manhood.

    Though Madeline didn''t know what to do, she was doing more than good so far upon Calhoun''s words. Calhoun had been given a head many times but this here with Madeline between his legs, it turned him on like never before. Her sweet mouth had wrapped itself around his manhood, bobbing her head and sucking every once in a while to have him hiss as he could feel the heat of arousal rise in his very own body.

    Hearing Calhoun hiss and with his head thrown back when she increased the pace, it only encouraged her to do it more.

    When Calhoun was close to relieving himself, he said in gritted teeth, "Move away, Maddie," he ced his hand on the side of her head to have her move away from his manhood and soon he released his sexual tension. Madeline saw Calhoun''s head that had thrown back as he continued toe, his body slowly turningx. When he sat up straight, he looked at her with hooded eyes as if the passion had not dissolved but had only fueled further.

    Calhoun stretched his hand forward for her to take and Madeline bit her lip.

    cing her hand in his, she felt him tug her to stand, and she almost crashed against him. He had moved back to give her space, and when he craned his neck up, Madeline leaned down to meet his lips. With the time they had spent together here, in the parlour room, she felt somewhere she had gotten closer to him. And it wasn''t just because of what they did in here, but because both she and Calhoun had let their guard down.

    Calhoun ordered the servant to bring Madeline her clothes while he cleaned himself. Helping her to dress with his own hands when the dress arrived. Madeline felt her cheeks continue to burn even after the passion they shared on the couch. Awkwardly she walked towards the door with him like a duck and Calhoun couldn''t stop the smile on seeing her, on how adorable she was.

    When they stepped out of the room, Madeline was greeted with the bright light. She could still feel her body humming in the clouds of pleasure, and she cleared her throat when they stopped outside to look at each other.

    "I-I will be going then," said Madeline with her cheeks still red.

    When Calhoun hummed, Madeline believed it to be his approval, and she turned, ready to bolt from there only to hear him say,

    "Aren''t you forgetting something?"

 Chapter 323 Forest floor- Part 1

    <h4>323 Forest floor- Part 1</h4>

    Calhoun took one step closer to her, towering her with his height and Madeline looked up, her brown eyes clear as they looked back into his red eyes. He leaned forward to press his lips on her forehead.

    "You forgot the kiss," he murmured, and Madeline blinked, looking at him before her cheeks went back to turn pink.

    Madeline didn''t know how to react to such a simple gesture. Somewhere in between, her lips tried to curl, "Thank you for reminding me about it," she replied to him.

    The smile on Calhoun''s lips broadened at her reply. He wondered if it was alright to gobble her up right this instant. To hold her forever, it would be a joy, a joy he didn''t know of until now, "No problem," he said, and the same time, they heard footstepsing from the other side of the corridor. Madeline tilted her head to the side to see it was Theodore.

    Theodore didn''t interrupt them but stood far away from where they were, and he bowed his head.

    "Don''t get too close," warned Calhoun and Madeline nodded her head. Bowing her head, she made her way out of the castle before making her way through the forest, remembering the path Calhoun had used before. She finally came to stand in front of the hidden cave. She looked around to see guards who stood behind the trees, camouging themselves with the surrounding, making it look like they weren''t standing here upon first nce.

    Entering the cave, she was greeted with the sight of both her grandmother and James, who was still stuck in his werewolf form.

    "Where is that blood-sucking leech? He''s not here with you?" questioned her grandmother in a rude tone while sitting in the corner of the cage.

    Madeline didn''t know anymore how to perceive her grandmother. Her grandmother was no more the woman whom she knew all these years. The woman had only worn a mask of kindness in front of her.

    "He''s in the castle," answered Madeline, her gaze shifting on the werewolf who was in the other cage. The creature looked like it was in deep slumber with its eyes closed, and its bodyx on the ground.

    "How did he let youe here all alone? I thought he woulde here with you. Or did he finally realise the kind of threat you are to the people around you and him?" asked her grandmother. Since the time Madeline had met her grandmother in the castle, the words that her grandmother used were nothing but taunting and hurtful.

    "That you are, which is why he should have you locked," retorted her grandmother with a huff, "We were trying to protect you, and you think we tried to kill you."

    "I spoke to mother and father," began Madeline and her grandmother who was looking at the sleeping werewolf, raised her eyebrows. "They told me what happened and said things which you didn''t. You hid things even after I asked you questions."

    Her grandmother who was sitting until now, ced one hand of hers on the ground to stand up and walk to stand in front of Madeline, who immediately took a step back from the cage. "Do you think I am a talking parrot that will reply to everything you ask, girl?" questioned her grandmother, "Your father doesn''t have the angel''s blood running in him. He isn''t like us, and he doesn''t know the value of the fallen angel''s existence. We are the people who have kept others like us safe and from being hunted."

    "The High House, you mean," asked Madeline.

    Her grandmother''s face twisted, "They are not just High House, there are demons who have tried to search and hunt us down, while we did the same."

    "Strange that you say you hunt demons, but when I killed them when I was young, you had an issue with it," said Madeline, turning her head away from her grandmother and going to walk to James'' cage.

    Madeline didn''t want to listen to her grandmother''s reasons anymore because she was tired of it. Her grandparents had failed to see that whatever that had transpired in the past, it was to defend herself, "You think they won''te to hunt you?" asked her grandmother.

    "If people don''t know, no one will evere to hunt or harm," replied Madeline to see her grandmother shake her head.

    "What a foolish girl you are. You think they haven''t sniffed you? For years, the demons and angels have secretly tried to bring each other down. While most aren''t aware of our existence, there are some old demons and fallen angels who have been trying to deflect each other."

    Madeline didn''t reply to her grandmother and instead looked at the werewolf who continued to sleep. "He isn''t going to change. A lost cause," continued her grandmother. Madeline wondered if it would be rude to ask her grandmother to stop talking. James had a dirty greenish brown looking fur, his body more massive than the time when he was a human.

    "James?" Madeline called the werewolf, "James?" she repeated to find no response. And even though the werewolf didn''t react to her words, she knew that the werewolf could listen quite perfectly. Wolves were smart creatures, who were always awake. To test, Madeline moved closer to the cage where James was being held.

    cing a hand into the cage, she called again, "James?" and the very next moment, the werewolf snapped its eyes open that was a mixture of yellow and gold. The werewolf was quick to pounce towards her hand, and Madeline pulled her hand back to her side. The werewolf snapped its sharp ferocious looking teeth at her.

    Madeline had to move away from the cage as she saw the werewolf start to rattle in the cage and looked like it suddenly grew in its size and was trying to break itself free. The cave echoed with the sound of the werewolf''s growls and snarls as the werewolf continued to push itself out of the cage.

    "Look at what you have done," tutted her grandmother, and Madeline furrowed her eyebrows.

    "What did you do to him?" was the question that came from Madeline, and she turned to look at her grandmother who looked hardly fazed by the werewolf in the other cage.

    Her grandmother smirked, "He was too noisyst night, so I decided to shut him up, but it didn''t go well. You have either way decided to kill me, so it doesn''t matter if the werewolf kills me as it will also kill you."

    "Why are you so hell-bent on killing me? I am not like you or any other fallen ones. I do not want to be part of this war or fight that you have with each other. Nor do I care about redemption and you know why? Because I don''t mind living as a human," shouted Madeline as the volume of the growls and snarls increased, "If the angels turned to fallen ones, it means they did something wrong, and it is not bad, to live as a human."

    "That is because you do not know what it is to be an angel. People who have seen it-"

    "Greed and thirsty for power, that is all I can see," Madeline interrupted her grandmother.

    While the werewolf was using its paws and ws on the cage, pushing the iron grills around it, Madeline''s grandmotherughed, "Don''t lie, dear. I know you have seen dreams about yourself and others. Haven''t you?" Seeing Madeline not reply, her grandmother continued, "Some of us have the gift of sight, to know or sense something that is going to happen."

    "There is a reason why they are called dreams. Because they cannot manifest themselves to reality," Madeline replied, and at the same time, the cage that James was in toppled towards Madeline and she quickly took a couple of steps behind her.

 Chapter 324 Forest floor- Part 2

    <h4>324 Forest floor- Part 2</h4>

    Madeline heard her grandmother say, "There''s a saying in the fallen angels that if we cannot kill people, put them in the coffin. And if that doesn''t work, it is the creature that howls at the moon that will take care of the demons and the angels with its fatal bite."

    Madeline didn''t hear the rest of it as the werewolf jumped out of its cage andnded straight in front of her. She turned sharp on her heel and started to make her way out of the cave. She didn''t know what her grandmother did, that James'' body had turned bigger, and he looked worse than ferocious as if he could barely wait to have his meal. Madeline started to run away as quick as she could, holding the front of her dress while she heard the growls of the werewolfing behind her.

    Madeline doubted she would be able to reach the castle in time, considering the distance from where she was right now. Turning around she waved her hand in the air towards the werewolf, and a bunch of dried leaves that were on the ground came to hover in front of the creature like it was getting wrapped by the leaves and the growls of the werewolf only turned agitated. She quickly hid behind the tree, trying to catch her breath before taking a careful peek to see where the werewolf was.

    She wondered if Calhoun heard the howl of the werewolf and while trying to take a peek, she noticed the werewolf wasn''t there anymore. Did it perhaps prowl forward and away in search of her? Madeline asked herself.

    The forest appeared quiet except for the rustling of leaves. Her brown eyes took in her surroundings when she heard branches creek above her. Hearing a snap, Madeline looked up to see the werewolf there.

    Looking at the werewolf above, Madeline felt her heart drop from her chest, and she didn''t know if she should not move or run away from here. Previously she had some advantage with the leaves, but with their proximity where the werewolf got down from the tree, she doubted running away was a good idea. It was something Calhoun had taught her. Not to run away.

    She ced one foot of hers as carefully as possible behind her, trying to move away from it.

    "I know you must still be there, James," Madeline spoke to the werewolf carefully that looked unapproachable due to its height and its rage-filled expression. "Please return to your human self," she whispered, but the werewolf didn''t look happy. The next second, the werewolf let out a loud growl which was enough to wake up the entire forest. When it snarled, she took it as her cue to turn and bolt from there.

    Her hand came in contact with the fur, and after two seconds passed by, she opened her eyes slowly to see the werewolf growling lowly at her. Her hand shook out of fear and nervousness, waiting for the werewolf to rip her head off her body, but that didn''t happen.

    "Tear her apart!"

    It was the voice of the older woman who had escaped from her own cage. The gate of her cage had opened when the werewolf had been rattling its own cage to break free from the iron grills around it.

    Madeline didn''t know whom she was supposed to concentrate on, her grandmother or James the werewolf who looked like he was ready to kill her. She could still hear the growlsing from the creature as its face was close to hers.

    "Kill her this very instant, and I will turn you back to what you want!" ordered her grandmother as if she was controlling him right now.

    In return, Madeline tried to steady both her hands that were on the werewolf''s neck, and she looked straight into his eyes, "Please turn back to your human self, James," she pleaded, not knowing if James could even hear her now. The werewolf opened its mouth, snarling to show its teeth and saliva that moved between its teeth, "I am sorry," she whispered, "I never meant any harm to you. Not then, not now, and I wish you can return to yourself. To live life the way you want."

    "What are you doing, you stupid mutt!" her grandmother appeared impatient, and she raised her hands to where Madeline and the wolf was.

    The werewolf snapped its head from Madeline to look at the old woman. She shouted, "Imand thee to be by serv-" The woman couldn''tplete her words as the werewolf left Madeline''s side and it pounced right at her grandmother''s arm that was outstretched towards them, "AHHH!!!"

    The feral creature had bitten into the woman''s arm and torn it away, leaving her in agony. Blood dripped down on the floor of the forest, "How dare you to disobey me!" screeched Madeline''s grandmother, and she used her other good hand to run a spell against the werewolf. The werewolf howled as if in pain.

    Madeline quickly stood up, "Stop hurting him! You can turn him back, isn''t it?" she asked her grandmother.

    "I know where the antidote lies. The werewolf''s cure," said her grandmother and Madeline''s eyes widened, "But I won''t tell it. I was stuck in the cage, which I couldn''t get out of. The vampire seems to know more than what he led me to believe��usingponents to impriosn angel or demon without making use of their magic. I will kill all of you for killing my husband. And that will start with this mutt."

    "Don''t do this," Madeline tried to persuade her grandmother, who seemed to have lost her mind.

    Her grandmother stared at the werewolf, twisting her hands to elicit another long howl from the creature, "Kill the girl," came the harsh order that could have broken Madeline''s heart but it didn''t. Madeline raised her own hand and seeing this her grandmother chuckled, "Showing your true intentions now."

    "Like it or not, you are my grandmother. I won''t allow to harm him," suddenly the leaves that were around Madeline blew away from where she stood. The velocity of the wind around her started to increase, "You cannot harm people who have nothing to do with this fight of yours." When she moved her right hand, James stopped howling as if the link between her grandmother and him had broken.

    Her grandmother was intent on killing her, and she wouldn''t stop until Madeline was dead or buried back in the coffin.

    "I hope God can forgive your sins," Madeline whispered beforemanding the werewolf, "You can tear her up now."

 Chapter 325 Forest floor- Part 3

    <h4>325 Forest floor- Part 3</h4>

    Madeline didn''t know if the werewolf heard her or if it acted upon its own instinct that it pounced straight on her grandmother before starting to rip her limb by limb. She didn''t look at the gore of blood continuing to drip down on the ground, turning the leaves around them red where the werewolf and her grandmother was. But she did hear the sound of tearing and the snarls.

    When Madeline heard wings pping up in the sky, she saw it was Calhoun who quickly swooped down. At the same time, the werewolf that was busy dismantling her grandmother dropped her body and turned to look at her for long seconds. James, thought Madeline to herself as he stared at her and she noticed his eyes had changed its colour from yellow to brown. Turning back, the werewolf pranced away from the spot.

    "Madeline!" Calhoun''s wings disappeared from his back, and he looked at the blood on the ground before looking at the shadow of the werewolf disappear in the thicket of the forest.

    "Don''t go!" Madeline ced her hand on his arm when she noticed Calhoun was ready to hunt James down.

    Calhoun turned to see Madeline shake her head. He was displeased that something like this happened, but he was d to see she was safe, "What happened here?" he inquired, looking at the torn flesh.

    "My grandmother," stated Madeline to hear Calhoun sigh, "She did something to James. While trying to break out, he broke her cage��"

    Madeline had no idea what ability her grandmother possessed. The woman did have some ability that she had been hiding, just like she had hidden information from them. Her grandmother had been consumed with the need to kill her, holding onto old beliefs.

    "Would you like me to arrange someone to put her to her grave?" asked Calhoun, and Madeline nodded, her chest turning heavy.

    "It is okay if you want to cry," Calhoun ced his hand on her back, rubbing it soothingly.

    Madeline''s eyes had turned slightly hollow as she stared at the path where the werewolf had escaped, "She said there''s a cure for James."

    "We''ll find it then," he offered to help her, "Let me take you back to the castle. Your sister is awake." Hearing this, Madeline''s line of thoughts snapped, and she looked at Calhoun.

    Apprehensively, she asked, "How is she?" Calhoun''s wings appeared from his back, spreading wide and he carried her in his arms.

    "You will see," was the only thing Calhoun said before they left the forest.

    Returning to the castle, Madeline had to school her expression to hide what took ce back in the forest. Quietly she went to the guestroom where Beth was in and she frowned when she saw her sister packing her trunk.

    "Where are you going, Beth?" asked Madeline.

    "Did you speak to mama and papa about it?" questioned Madeline, "There are only a few more days left for the wedding."

    Beth threw the dress into her trunk before turning around to meet Madeline''s eyes. Her green eyes were filled with hate with a hint of sadness in there, "You are the one who is getting married, not I. The person I was supposed to get married, he was beheaded, and his family was thrown out of this castle never to return. I feel humiliated to stay here anymore."

    Looking around, Madeline saw Raphael was not here with Beth. Her sister was behaving as if she was already married to the Wilmot''s family. "Do you know what Markus and his family did? They created treason against the King, something they have been working for years."

    "Markus never killed anyone!" Beth was so consumed by anger and hate right now. She failed to see what Madeline was trying to tell her, "He was innocent, and you know that!"

    "You forget that it was he who called the High House and tried framing the King. He created treason, something that warrants an immediate execution-"

    "And you did nothing even after I said how much I love him!" Beth''s voice turned loud and cold.

    Madeline who was trying to hold back her words finally said, "The man who was manipting you? Or the man who destroyed the shop which was given to our father."

    "You have no proof! It is all made up lies, and the King is only feeding you with lies," Beth''s voice turned low, "Did the sight of money and jewels around you finally change how you view your life? Or did he fuck you that you-"

    SLAP!

    Beth''s face had turned to her left side, feeling the burn on her cheek while holding a shocked expression on her face.

    "The King knows you tried to poison him so don''t call Markus or yourself to be innocent," Madeline reprimanded Beth, feeling her own palm burn because of the p she delivered to her sister. On hearing her words, Beth''s eyes widened, "You should be grateful that he isn''t sending you or our parents to be executed for your mistake. You should also know that out of the two of us who gets influenced by the sight of materialistic things."

    All these years, Madeline had stayed quiet. And now she knew it wasn''t entirely Beth''s fault and her grandparents had a hand in the way Beth was brought up. Madeline took it upon herself to have Beth return to the way she was when they were young girls.

    "Markus was not the man he posed to be in front of you or any of us. It would be better for you to get it through your head than scheme and put yourself into trouble where I might not be able to help you," said Madeline to Beth.

    "You are still my sister, Beth. And I hope you turn back to the person you once were. Unless you want to rot in prison and be beheaded."

 Chapter 326 Confrontation- Part 1

    <h4>326 Confrontation- Part 1</h4>

    .

    On the other side of the castle, Lucy sat in one of the rooms all alone by herself holding a ss in her hand. She sat on the chair, in front of therge semi-circle window that started from the room''s floor. The window had thin grills on it. Since morning, the clear window had turned foggy because of the cold temperature.

    The vampiress stared at nothing in particr, her red eyes hollow like the weather which was gloomy right now. Lucy had isted herself from her family and other people in the castle so that she could spend alone time with herself. She had also refused to spend time with her husband since a few days. Lucy couldn''t look at him. Knowing the things he did to her, she had been in shock, and it took her days to process it.

    Rtionship with her husband and her family members loosely hung by a thread as she didn''t know whom to believe and whom to side with. Being the former princess, and being the sister of the King, she had to abide by the words that were ordered by the King. Her cousin Markus, someone whom she knew before Calhoun had entered the castle was dead, and there was nothing that could be fixed because of the treason he caused. Even his family had been forbidden to enter the castle.

    She had lost her parents right after she got married. Decades had passed, but the pain and confusion of what took ce years ago still haunted her. She wasn''t able to forget the sight of her parent''s body that was found in the undercrofts of the castle covered in blood.

    The door to the room she was in opened, and in came the person, walking towards her to stop behind her.

    Lucy didn''t have to turn to see who it was, "Is it true what Aunt Rosamund said?" her face had turned pale because of theck of intake of blood and her voice was nothing less to a whisper which was heard by the person.

    "Did you kill mama and papa?" she asked, and Calhoun who stood behind her had a sullen look on his face.

    Calhoun had the opportunity to spin more lies and weave innocent Lucy in his web of lies like many other times before, but for once, he didn''t reply to her right away.

    Instead, he asked, "What do you think?"

    "Does it matter what I think when something has already happened, brother Calhoun," asked Lucy, her voice sad, "I am tired of being lied to by people whom I care and love. Tired that all these years, people have done nothing but hide things from me like I am a child, lied to like it is nothing big." She hadn''t turned to look at Calhoun, and she continued to stare at therge ss in front of her.

    "Have you considered it might be because people wanted to protect you and didn''t want you to be part of the world that doesn''t go well with you," asked Calhoun, his tone calm and collected.

    "What did Samuel hide?" Calhoun asked, not knowing what Lucy wanted to get to. He was the kind of person who spoke things directly, but now that his half-sister was questioning, he let her get there.

    Lucy got up from the chair she was sitting on, and she turned around to meet Calhoun''s eyes, "You knew what he was doing. I know it because Theodore is loyal to you and he saw it. He knows. Why didn''t you tell me?" she furrowed her eyebrows.

    "Every time you came to visit the castle, you liked to tell people how good your husband is and how much love you both are in, but I am guessing now it was only to rub it against Theo''s face. Am I right?" questioned Calhoun to have Lucy''s jaw tick. It was very rare to see Lucy get angry or upset about something, and now she was genuinely upset.

    "That isn''t reason enough, brother Calhoun," she shook her head once again. She closed her eyes, feeling the embarrassment of what she said and what was going on behind her back.

    "Tell me, Lucy. Why haven''t you confronted it with Samuel if you are upset about what he did? Why wait?" Calhoun''s intelligent eyes stared into Lucy''s eyes, "Yes, I have known about it for some time, but he''s been smart when ites to cleaning the traces. It just happens that he was sloppy this time and you caught him. You were happy, and it seemed like he was treating you well, I didn''t want you to feel wronged."

    Lucy had always believed Calhoun. Therefore it was hard for her to hold him to be responsible when he was speaking about her happiness, "What about our parents?" her question had a lot of emotions in it as she waited for him to answer.

    "Do you want the truth that will hurt and scar you forever, or do you want a lie that will save you from the angst and let you live the way you have been living?" Calhoun wanted to give Lucy an option, one which their father and her mother didn''t give her. Being brought up in the vampire household, one who belonged to the royal family, she was a sheltered princess who knew no difficulties as she had never gone through it.

    Lucy and Sophie were brought up simrly. They were given everything, and they didn''t have to go through difficulties, they were both molded by their mothers to behave in a certain way. The only difference was that while Sophie wanted more than what she had, Lucy had grown up to be content with what she had.

    With being lied to all this time, Lucy said, "I want the truth. Nothing but pure truth without being sugar-coated."

    Calhoun stared at Lucy for a second more before saying, "Yes, I was the one who killed them." Tears burned in Lucy''s eyes, and it rolled out of her red eyes before falling on the ground. She took a deep breath. Seeing Lucy still here in the room, willing to listen more, he said, "You have heard the part where my mother was a mistress of our father, but you didn''t hear what happened to her when she was here and after she was thrown out of the castle."

    "You killed grandmother," Lucy whispered, her eyebrows furrowing deeply. Calhoun gave her a nod, and Lucy turned away from him. Though she didn''t know what her grandmother did, somewhere, Lucy knew it was Calhoun''s work, who had set the older vampiress death in the dungeon.

    "They deserved death, and if you turned back the time, I wouldn''t have it any other way," confessed Calhoun.

    Lucy felt her head hurt, and she said, "Thank you for telling me the truth after all these years. I would now like to be excused."

    Calhoun didn''t stop her, and he gave her a nod. Lucy didn''t wait and walked towards the door, pulling it open to find Theodore standing outside. When she pushed the door, her eyes fell on him, and her expression turned to one of anger before she left without another word.

    Theodore stepped inside the room, seeing Calhoun standing in front of therge-sized window.

    "She was upset and angry. Do you think she will be alright?" asked Theodore. He wasn''t sure if it was a good idea, to tell the truth to Lucy.

    "I don''t know," Calhoun exhaled air out of his lips.

    Theodore had a frown on his face. He was standing outside, listening to their conversation when Lucy stormed out of the room, giving him a look as if it was him who had killed her parents and not Calhoun.

    "Let us see what reaction it gets now," hummed Calhoun, and Theodore raised his eyebrows. Did Calhoun speak to Lucy to catalyse a reaction?

 Chapter 327 Confrontation- Part 2

    <h4>327 Confrontation- Part 2</h4>

    On her way, she met Lucy, who was walking in the opposite direction. The vampiress looked spaced out as she walked like she was thinking something deep and wasn''t paying any attention to her surroundings.

    When they came near, Lucy offered a small smile to Madeline, bowing her head.

    "Are you alright, Lady Lucy?" Madeline asked in concern as it seemed like the vampiress was often falling sick and she stayed in her room most of the time.

    "I...I will be alright," Lucy sounded tired, and Madeline wanted to make sure that Lucy got to her room safely.

    Madeline offered, "Would you want me to apany you until your room? I am not doing anything in particr right now." Though she did fall earlier in the forest, she hadn''t received any apparent bruises on her body, "Please."

    Lucy was not in the mood to argue. Therefore she gave her a nod, "Thank you, Lady Madeline."

    Madeline was more than happy to walk the vampiress to her room. When they reached, Madeline noticed Lucy''s husband Samuel was in the room as if he was waiting for his wife.

    "There you are! My beautiful wife!" eximed Samuel,ing forward to hug Lucy as if he hadn''t seen her in days. But instead of greeting him, Lucy dropped her handkerchief and in time went to bend down to pick it up, missing the need to hug her husband.

    Madeline was ready to leave the couple when Lucy held on to her arm, "Lady Madeline and I were going out. And I had to change my clothes," said Lucy. Madeline could feel the evident friction between the couple, especially the one that came from Lucy, but it seemed like Samuel was brushing it like it was nothing.

    Samuel raised his eyebrows, "Where are you both going?" he asked before bowing at Madeline as she was soon to be the King''s wife, "I thought I told you before that we are going out? Not that I mind you going with the future Queen."

    "I don''t remember you asking me. It must have slipped out of my mind," answered Lucy because she didn''t remember Samuel mentioning anything about going out. Since the time she had found out about Samuel''s affairs, she had started to faze him out in her presence.

    The man she thought who was going to love and cherish only her had been going behind her back and doing other girls. And for so many years. The stung she had felt had not disappeared.

    Madeline didn''t know if it was supposed to be a joke as Samuel had a smile on his face, but Lucy didn''t find it to be funny. Lucy let go of Madeline''s hand and she walked past Samuel. Lucy opened the cupboard and said, "You are right. We shouldn''t upset the King or the Queen, but I think it would still hold the same value when ites to the King''s parents or sister, isn''t it?"

    Lucy was already agitated with Calhoun''s words to what happened in the past, and she was trying to keep herposure.

    "Hm?" Samuel asked as if not understanding what his wife said, "Did someone upset you? Tell me, and I will deal with it. Is it that, Theodore?"

    Madeline''s eyes widened hearing this, but she tried not to express her shock. She wondered how much Samuel knew about Theodore and Lucy''s feelings. They were never in a rtionship, but it could have turned to something, had it not been stopped. She was sure that Lucy was going to deny Theodore''s involvement with her mood, but the vampiress said,

    "He sometimes annoys me."

    What was going on?! Asked Madeline rmed. Didn''t Lucy like Theodore?

    "What did he do?" Samuel questioned his wife in authority, which he didn''t have anymore. Madeline saw Lucy turn, who shook her head.

    "He did nothing," and that was the problem for Lucy. If Theodore had done something in the past, things would have been different, but he had done nothing, and that was her issue.

    Madeline didn''t know why Lucy hadn''t kicked this man out of the room after finding out what he was doing. Was it perhaps because she was finding it hard to do as they had spent decades together and without her parents in the picture, she had probably depended on him? As Lucy was the King''s sister, Madeline doubted people would speak badly about Lucy, unlike the other women who were stuck with men who drank and abused them.

    Lucy''s face had turned red, and Madeline was unsure if it was because the vampiress was going to cry or if it was because she was angry.

    "I will deal with Theodore. You don''t have to worry about it. People like him are nothing less to insects. He is the servant of the castle, of the King," said Samuel, taking Lucy to sit on the bed, who hadn''t spoken another word.

    Then Lucy said, "I need some time, Samuel. No, I need time away."

    Madeline felt she was intruding on the time between them but knowing how Samuel was, she decided to stay and look after Lucy, at least until the cheating husband of the vampiress was away from her.

    "Of course! I have been thinking about it myself. With Markus'' death, I am sure you miss home," said Samuel, and he left Lucy''s side. Bending down, he pulled out the two trunks from below the bed and ced them on the other side, "It has been quite long, and you must be missing home which is quite understandable as you never go out anywhere and stay out long." Saying this, he went to the cupboard and started to pull out his and Lucy''s things from the cupboards.

    Lucy sighed softly when Samuel went on to say, "I will have the carriage ready so that we can leave-"

    "Samuel," she called his name. Without turning, she said, "I meant time away from you. I want some time alone by myself."

    Samuel raised his eyebrows, "What?" he then frowned, "That''s ridiculous. Why? Why do you want time away from me?" he questioned her.

    Lucy stared at the bare wall in front of her, "I think I got used to spending time away from you," came the taunt about him being spending his time away from her by giving reasons of his extended work time.

    "This is not about you wanting to spend time by yourself. It is about Theodore, isn''t it?" Samuel huffed, "Your aunt had mentioned it to me, about you both in the dining room a few nights ago."

    Lucy stood up from the bed, going to the cupboard to pull out the remaining clothes of his and putting them in the trunk without replying to him while also taking out her things before she locked the trunk.

    "Did you remember your time of the past because of the wedding that is going to take ce? Lucy, you cannot be seriously doing this," shouted Samuel, his voice turning louder but Lucy went to the stand to pick up his coat before throwing it at him, "Answer me, Lucy! I am your husband!"

    Lucy''s eyes turned narrow at Samuel''s words, "Husband?" she whispered as if the word had been lost, "What kind of husband? Mine?"

    "What are you speaking about, Lucy?" Samuel questioned, frustration evident in his voice, "You never behaved?like this. Is it because of Markus'' death that you have lost your thinking? I knew we shouldn''t havee here. It was only on your insistence that I came here with you," he scoffed.

    "Have you truly been the husband you should have been to me?" asked Lucy, giving him onest opportunity toe clean but Samuel instead looked at Lucy like she had lost her mind, "I know you have been sleeping with other women."

 Chapter 328 Confrontation- Part 3

    <h4>328 Confrontation- Part 3</h4>

    Lucy stared at Samuel. She had seen him with the maid with her very own eyes, and maybe if someone had told her in the past, she wouldn''t have believed it, but the truth was right in front of her eyes.

    "Please leave," said Lucy, and Samuel''s eyes hardened at her words, "You can take the trunk with you."

    "Lucy," Samuel''s eyes softened quickly, "You cannot leave me. We are husband and wife. We are supposed to be together. I don''t know who fed lies to you, but you should stop believing them."

    "I saw you with the maid with my very own eyes, Sam. I thought you loved me, and if you did, you wouldn''t have hurt me. I know the maid was not the only person. Leave." The vampiress crossed her hands against her chest.

    Lucy turned to look in the other direction, not wanting to talk to him. Madeline, who stood right at the door, saw Samuel stare at his wife for the longest time. Before he could step out of the room, he turned to look at Lucy who had turned to see Samuel about to leave,

    "Are you sure about this?" Samuel asked, waiting but seeing Lucy not react, he finally left the room.

    "Would you like to drink some water?" asked Madeline, and Lucy smiled at Madeline''s kind gesture.

    "No, I am fine," Lucy couldn''t believe how much of an idiot she was to not recognize Samuel''s lies.

    All this time, people had done nothing but lie to her. Calhoun, whom she loved as her own brother was the one to kill her parents. She wanted to hold him responsible, but she didn''t know what had happened in the past when his mother was still alive. She had heard bits and pieces of information about histe mother, but nothing was clear. It was hard to trust and believe people''s words. She had been heartbroken when she had seen her parent''s dead bodies, but somewhere she had also been relieved, but that didn''t mean she was happy that they were killed.

    Right three minutester, one of the castle maids came running to the room where Lucy and Madeline were in. The maid huffed for air as she hade as quick as she could, "M-mdy! Y-you need toe near the front rooms where the courtroom is, immediately!"

    "What happened?" questioned Madeline.

    "Mr. Greville and Mr. Chauncey, they are fighting," came the worried words from the maid. Madeline and Lucy quickly left the room to go to where the other two men were. On their way, Madeline asked,

    "Where is the King?" If Calhoun was there, he would have stopped it unless he was bored and wanted to see people fight for his sheer entertainment.

    When Madeline and Lucy arrived at the spot, Samuel and Theodore were indeed caught up in a fistfight, and it didn''t look pretty. Lucy didn''t pause her feet but continued to walk before calling, "Sam! Samuel! Stop it!"

    Theodore noticed Lucy''s presence and stopped, but this resulted only in him being on the receiving end of Samuel''s fist. Lucy stepped in the middle of them and before Samuel could drop a punch straight at her thinking it was for Theodore, Theodore caught hold of Samuel''s hand before pushing him away from Lucy.

    "What is wrong with you, Samuel?!" demanded Lucy, staring at Samuel.

    "It is because of him. He is the one who tried to spoil our rtionship," Samuel tried to get to Theodore, but with Lucy in between, he couldn''t get past as she held her hand up to stop him.

    "Stop making a fool of yourself and me. I told you Theodore has nothing to do with it and it is your fault what has happened. I would ask you to leave right this instant!" Lucy was not happy that Samuel hade to attack Theodore. Looking at the servant who stood nearby, she ordered, "Get Mr. Greville his carriage ready so that he can leave the castle."

    "Are you trying to humiliate me, Lucy? You are my wife," threatened Samuel, his eyes narrowing.

    "I think you have done plenty enough for both of us where I don''t have to do anything. I dissolve the marriage between you and me. We are no more husband and wife. If needed, I will have an official proceeding to free you from this marriage," replied Lucy.

    "Of course, else you would be ashamed that you are having an affair with this servant," Samuel gritted his teeth. By now, many servants hade to gather around and witnessed the little show that took ce in the middle of the corridor.

    Lucy said, "You should be happy that brother Calhoun is not here."

    "You are nothing less to the King. Not listening to the innocent and framing the person who is not guilty," said Samuel, "It only shows how much you want to get rid of me."

    Lucy frowned at his words, "I have faith in the King. And I cannot unsee what I saw that night while you were with the maid."

    The servant that Lucy ordered returned back, bowing his head, "Lady Lucy, the carriage is ready."

    "Take Mr. Greville''s trunks and put them in the carriage. Make sure he returns home safely," ordered Lucy while Samuel''s face was med in anger.

    Madeline stood there, watching the three people in front of her. Samuel looked like he wanted to say something, and he stepped forward in anger. Madeline''s hands turned to fist, and at the same time, Samuel stopped right in front of Lucy as if an invisible wall was stopping him.

    Samuel looked confused, as if he didn''t know what happened for a moment.

    Lucy, who was looking at Samuel, wondered why he was still standing here. After a few seconds, she heard Samuel say to her, "Our rtionship is not over, Lucy. You cannot break it like this. I wille back for you." This time he took a careful step in front of him before walking past them with a re directed at Theodore.

    When Samuel walked past Madeline, she noticed the bruises and cuts that had formed on his face. Madeline wondered in such a short time, how Samuel had caught hold of Theodore, and how they ended up in a brawl. Her eyes caught sight of his peeled skin before the man left the corridor.

    Before Lucy could say anything, Theodore who had received the same amount of bruises on his face, bowed at them and left from there.

 Chapter 329 Closing wounds- Part 1

    <h4>329 Closing wounds- Part 1</h4>

    James huffed for air, his body hurting as if his bones had been broken and rejoined again, which in truth did happen as he had turned from his werewolf form back to his human self. By the time he turned human he was far away from the castle, roaming amid the forest trying to find his way out.

    Thest thing he remembered was being dragged into another cage in the forest cave, but after that he had lost consciousness, and soon it felt like something feral had taken over his body. There were scratches and bruises on his skin. His eyes took in his surroundings before he finally made his way to the road that connected the viges and towns. When a carriage appeared, that was going to pass from there, James raised his hand, and the coachman, for a moment, decided to ignore the naked man who didn''t have the decency of wearing clothes, how shameful! thought the coachman.

    But the person who owned the carriage caught sight of James and got his coachman to stop the carriage.

    "Kind Sir! Are you alright??" asked the gentleman who owned the carriage.

    James was utterly embarrassed standing here like this, but after spending some days in the cell room of the dungeon and then in the cave, things like these mattered less to him. Not to forget, there were some traces of his memory where he remembered seeing Madeline and the flesh in his hands and on the ground.

    "May I ask for a ride in your carriage, Sir?" asked James, "And also clothes if you can offer. I will return it to you!" James bowed his head at the gentleman.

    "Of course, um, will the coat do for now? We can stop by the vige to get you something better," offered the kind man, a human, and James was grateful at the man and bowed his head. He was offered the man''s coat so that he wouldn''t freeze and also to cover his modesty.

    Hopping in the carriage, James noticed the disapproving look he received from the coachman, unlike his master. "I am Moses Montague," introduced the gentleman.

    "James Heathcliff," James introduced himself, and the man raised his eyebrows.

    "Are you the man who was used for the murder of Miss La?" asked the gentleman, named Moses. James looked like he was ready to dive out of the carriage, and Moses said, "I heard it was a false usation, and the murderer was executed yesterday."

    James had been literally living under the rock to know what had taken ce. The onlypany he had was the older woman, who was supposed to be Madeline''s grandmother and the dull realization finally hit him. The blood on his hands was of that woman.

    "Well, yes. It happened in the presence of the King, public, and the other royal family. I heard it was a sight to see as it is not every day you get to see royal family members being beheaded," on hearing Moses'' words, James frowned. There was more than one execution? "Here, take this," Moses offered him his handkerchief, "You look beaten up. It must have been really hard for you to be called as a murderer."

    The man had no idea, thought James to himself. He had not only been used, but he had also turned to a werewolf. James tried to keep a distance from the man so that if he would turn back to his werewolf form, he would be able to escape from here. The King had kept him in the cage because of what he had turned to, and James didn''t know how to fix it.

    He was angry, so angry like he had never been before. His blood started to boil at the fact that something like this had happened to him. He was a human! He was supposed to be a human! They stopped by a vige to get a trouser and a shirt for James before he was dropped in front of his shop. James thanked the man before heading inside his shop.

    His assistants were happy to see him.

    "Mr. Heathcliff! Are you alright?!"

    "We tried looking for you, but there was no news!"

    "Did you hear that your name has been cleared and you are under no charges?!" came the collective voices around him.

    James was d to see that there were still some people here who believed in him. He was too tired right now, and he wanted to rest. At the same time, he felt restless. It was like there was something inside him that was pacing back and forth, looking for blood which scared and worried him.

    "I didn''t hear about it. How has everyone been?" asked James, thankful that they hadn''t closed the shop and had continued to work.

    "We are doing fine! We got the gowns and other dresses delivered to the people. We even sent Lady Madeline''s wedding gown to the castle," they let him know.

    "I am sure Miss Barnes will be thrilled to see that you have returned. With just the three days remaining for the wedding," stated the female assistant which brought a grim expression on his face.

    He was now confused about who was executed, and he asked, "Do you know who was executed yesterday?"

    "It was Sir Markus Wilmot, the King''s cousin," came the reply and James nodded his head.

    "I will be going home to have some rest. Thank you for working hard in my absence," and James collected the spare key of his home and left his shop. He pulled up the cor of the coat enough to cover the lower half of his face to avoid people''s attention.

    When James opened the door of his house, he was greeted with nothing but loneliness. No one had visited the ce except for the officials, and they had locked the house after their investigation. The windows were closed, and silence surrounded him. The one person, who was his family had died, and there was no one whom he could call as family. If the circumstances were different, maybe James would have agreed to marry Catherine Barnes, but he med her for not being able to serve his father before his death.

    Unable to control his anger, he picked up the chair from the room and threw it against the wall. His eyes turned to gold and yellow again as he gasped for air.

    Seeing his reflection in the mirror, James staggered back looking at eyes that didn''t belong to him. He realized his life would no more be the same. He was a werewolf now. After spending some more time until his eyes turned normal, James left his home to knock on the door that belonged to Catherine Barnes.

    "Mr. Heathcliff!" greeted the butler, surprise on his face, "Miss Catherine has been waiting for your arrival. Pleasee in," he said, pulling the door so that James could step inside.

 Chapter 330 Closing wounds- Part 2

    <h4>330 Closing wounds- Part 2</h4>

    "James!" Catherine eximed, dropping the honorifics, "I am so d to see you here! I have been worried!"?James stood up, something he was used to doing as a sign of respect which was when Catherine put her hands around him.?But he didn''t put his hands around Catherine, not making an effort to hug her.

    "I told papa to speak to the King to ask him to clear your name. I knew it wasn''t you, and you couldn''t have done it!" Catherine had pulled away from James, taking a step back while a hint of blush covered her cheeks, "Forgive me for my forwardness. I wasn''t able to contain myself when I saw you."

    The vampiress looked at James, making sure he was alright and he indeed was alright. He appeared to be in a good condition, "Where were you all this time? I thought you woulde here," said Catherine, a frown appeared on her beautiful face.

    James stared at Catherine''s innocent face, doubting if what the King said was true. That it was Catherine, who had killed the girl. The way she spoke right now in concern, it was hard to believe how far it was true. But then the King had nothing to gain when it came to his rtionship with Catherine. Instead, it would be a loss to the King for jeopardizing their rtionship.

    From the time, James had first met Catherine she had always been this sweet innocent vampiress who was shy and didn''t know how to act around. Sometimes she would turn embarrassed after speaking her mind out.

    "I was running away from here," answered James, his voice almost nd and lifeless, "With the me of the murder on my head, I thought it would be better for me to hide than be caught for something I didn''t do. Also, I was mourning for my father''s death."

    Catherine quickly ced her hand on his, "I am so sorry to hear about your father. I should have been there with you. I am so sorry."

    James nced at the hand that was on his, "I wish I could have spent more time with him."

    "I wished that too," said Catherine, a sigh escaping her lips, "I was hoping he woulde to live with us. It is truly unfortunate that he isn''t here anymore. I already have started to miss him."

    James nodded his head, "It is unfortunate. Did you go to visit him?" he asked out of the blue and Catherine looked slightly startled by his question, "To his grave I mean."

    She shook her head, "I didn''t. I haven''t left home since you disappeared and I have been worried about you," she answered him, "I would love to apany you if you are going to visit him."

    "I am nning to visit him tomorrow evening. Will you be able toe with me?" asked James, and Catherine''s face brightened up. Not because she was visiting the grave, but because she would be spending time with James.

    "I will be there," she replied before reminding him, "I knew that you would return to me. I hoped you would, therefore, I didn''t cancel our wedding." Catherine was d that James was here, that would mean they would be getting married in three days. She saw James stare at her, and she wondered what he was thinking. "Is everything alright?"

    James gave her a nod, offering her a smile, "I was thinking about Miss La. It was an unfortunate incident. Her death, I mean. She was a very kinddy, someone who was very polite."

    The worry that was on Catherine''s face disappeared, "Yes, she was a good person," she agreed, not forgetting thest words of the girl, of how James liked Madeline.

    "She was a dear friend of yours, wasn''t she? You must have been very upset after finding her head torn. Did you not get angry at me when you heard the news?" asked James testingly.

    Catherine shook her head, "I knew it couldn''t be you. You are not like that James."

    James stood up, "I should get going," he said, but Catherine was not done with admiring James. She had missed him immensely, and she said,

    "Please stay a little longer!"

    James stepped closer to her, cing his hand on her cheek, "I don''t think your father will appreciate my presence here for too long."

    "Daddy would never say that. You don''t have to w-" James ced his hand on Catherine''s mouth.

    He didn''t say anything but dropped his hand away from her face. Catherine looked entranced by James''s presence. He was the man whom she loved and wanted to have. Suddenly, he flinched, and Catherine asked,

    "What happened? Did something happen?"

    Not understanding what was happening, he felt his bones were breaking again and trying to reform. He could feel the change taking ce and the pain shot up through his entire body. He hade here for something but feeling his body changing, he decided to keep it for tomorrow.

    He gasped for air, "I think I need to leave," he said, stepping away and making his way back home. Thest thing he needed was turning to a werewolf in front of people which could bring him harm.

    Back in the castle as the time of supper approached and passed by in silence where people retired back to their rooms with little to no words to exchange with each other, Lucy went to her room toy down on the cold empty bed. With Samuel gone, where she had informed him that they were no more husband and wife. She wondered if it would work, or how people would perceive her.

    But she had done what she had to do.

    The first time she had met Samuel, he was not her ideal man. Not because he didn''t treat her right in the beginning, but because she had someone else in her heart. Samuel had appeared to be head over heels for her, and now it made her smile in sadness. How could her mother get her married to someone like him? Would her mother have approved of her decision now if she was still alive? The answer to it was no.

    ''What is wrong with Samuel Greville?'' she heard her mother''s voice echo from her part, ''He is the perfect man for you, Lucy. He is smart, sessful and will look after you well.''

    ''I am not a pet to be looked af-" SLAP!

    ''Is this the way you speak to your mother? You will do as I say.''

    Lucy turned in her bed, remembering the wounds that had formed on both Samuel and Theodore''s face this noon. A few secondster, she got up from her bed, picking up thentern that was burning in her room and a box from her cupboard. She then stepped out of her room.

    Walking in the quiet corridors of the castle as most of the people had gone to sleep. Reaching the door, she stopped in front of it. Her hands raised itself, but she didn''t know if she should knock or leave. She hade here out of spur of thought.

    When Samuel had questioned her, she had mentioned Theodore''s name out of anger she felt towards the man. But here she was, standing in front of his room. Dropping her hand, she decided to go back to her room, turning away when she heard the door open.

    Lucy cursed under her breath. She had stood there too long, doing nothing.

    She slowly turned to see Theodore who was in his nightclothes, the bruises still there on his face. Theodore caught sight of the box in her hand and asked,

    "Want toe in?"

 Chapter 331 Closing wounds- Part 3

    <h4>331 Closing wounds- Part 3</h4>

    It felt like it was only yesterday she hade here to his room, knocking on the door to ask him questions for which she never got answers as she expected him to give. She looked around the warm and cosy room, where he had closed the windows and drawn the curtains over the windows.

    "Were you going to sleep?" asked Lucy to drive the silence in the room when she heard the click behind her which came from the door being closed.

    "I had a few parchments to go through which was given by Mr. Fitzwilliam over the tea estate in Humsbrey," answered Theodore, walking around to pull out a chair for her to sit.

    Vampires usually healed themselves quickly, but it seemed like Theodore''s wounds had not vanished and continued to stay on his face. Somewhere Lucy felt guilty that Theodore had been hit, due to her words that had fueled Samuel.

    "I bought the box of first-aid," said Lucy. She didn''t have to utter more words because she knew Theodore understood her intention without her having to speak out loud.

    "Do you hate me so much that you said something to Samuel that made him punch me?" questioned Theodore.

    "Sit, so I can tend to it," Lucy dodged his question.

    Theodore pulled out the round-framed sses from his face, cing it on the table before sitting down on the chair which he had pulled for her. Lucy opened the box, taking out the bottle?of liquid so that she could soak the cotton in it. Once she was done, Lucy leaned forward, holding her heart still to start dabbing the cotton on Theodore''s face.

    In silence, Lucy continued to dab the cotton on the cuts and scratches, "I apologize for what Samuel did," she said, turning her body to take the bottle so that she could pour more liquid on it, and continue pressing the cotton.

    "You shouldn''t have stepped between us earlier. I had only started to enjoy the fight," came the response from Theodore. Lucy only stared at him, pressing the cotton to see him continue to look back at her unblinkingly, "Did youe to tend or worsen the wound?" there was a faint smile on his lips.

    "Both," came the honest response from Lucy to receive a chuckle from him. When she was done trending to his wounds, she threw the cotton away and closed the box.

    "How are you doing now?" asked Theodore, "Calhoun will support any decision you make." Lucy was aware of it. She knew Calhoun would not question her, especially after knowing what Samuel had done behind her back.

    Was that all that Theodore had to say over what happened? Lucy asked herself. A part of her wanted to press the wound that was on his face for his reactions all these years, although she knew it wouldn''t make any difference.

    "Lucy," she heard Theodore call her, and she felt her heart skip a beat which Theodore noticed. She turned around to look at him stand up from the chair, "Thank you for this," he pointed his finger to his face. Lucy took that he was speaking about her tending his wounds and not him receiving it.

    Even after so many years had passed, the feelings that she had turned to hate, it was not hate but was only a veil to cover her true feelings for this person. Keeping her expressionposed, she gave him a nod, "Goodnight," and she left the room with thentern and the box she hade with.

    Back in the vige of East Carswell, since James had returned home, he had gotten to bed quite early. And though he got into the bed, the pain he felt that was shooting up his body was unbearable that kept him awake. Though the night was cold, James could feel his body burning as if it was on fire. He didn''t know what hour of the night it was, but considering the noise outside the house had turned quiet, he believed it was the time where people had fallen asleep.

    For some odd reason, even the slightest noise fell on his ears, and when he heard the wooden floor creak in his house, his eyes flew open. He pushed himself to get out of the bed to see what had caused the sound.

    Walking towards the living room, he saw nothing, but when he turned, he found a man who was holding a knife with him. The man came to attack him, but James pushed the man away while feeling his body tingle. He could feel his bones starting to hurt. The intruder whom he had pushed didn''t seem to get up, and James turned worried. He was about to go near the man, when at the same time, another intruder appeared to attack him. James caught hold of the man, twisting the attacker''s arm and asked,

    "Who are you?! Why are you trying to attack me?"

    The intruder was a vampire, and he struggled to get out of his hold, "Tell me!" James demanded while continuing to twist the vampire''s arm.

    James was unable to control the werewolf''s blood that was right now flowing in his body, and his strength tripled. The anger spiked in him and he heard the vampire groan in pain. "Mr. Barnes sent us here. Ugh!" the vampire pushed James away and went to attack him back again.

    The vampire looked confused at the gold and yellow eyes of James, that almost glowed in the dark. Killing a human was easy, but for a human, this person had odd eyes and strength.

    With one intruder lying on the ground and another fighting with James, James heard someone knock on the front door. Before the intruder could get him, James didn''t know how it happened, but his hands went to the vampire''s head, and he twisted it around to hear a snap and the vampire fell.

    Why did Mr. Barnes send his people to kill him?! James questioned himself. Who was at the door at this hour of the night?

    Pulling the body away from the living room to the kitchen, James made his way to the door. He slowly opened it to see it was Catherine Barnes.

    "Catherine?" asked James confused, "What are you doing here?"

    "I, can Ie in?" James didn''t know if it was a good idea. But since the men were sent by her very own father, he let her in. "I was worried about you because you left abruptly." Catherine looked around the house as she had heard some soundsing from inside while knocking on the door. When she looked at James'' face, she noticed his eyes, "What happened to your eyes?" she frowned.

    James turned his head immediately, not meeting her eyes, "Your father sent some men after me. Do you know about this?" he asked, changing the subject right away.

    "What? Why would my father do that?" asked Catherine and James showed the second person whom he had dragged to the kitchen, "I don''t think it is my father. I mean why would he even do that?" this time it was her who was confused, "And what is wrong with your eyes? James?" her eyebrows furrowed.

    James couldn''t restrain the beast within himself. It was trying to push itself to the front, wanting to take control of his body. He couldn''t hear what Catherine was speaking as his ears rang, and he covered them. The bones in his body started to reconstruct itself, and he groaned in pain.

    "James?" Catherine was worried, not knowing what was wrong with him.

    He fell on the ground, his mind turning nk, and the werewolf slowly took over his body, mentally as well as physically. He slowly started to change, his clothes ripping apart as fur started to cover his skin. Catherine, who witnessed this staggered back in shock with her mouth open. The werewolf growled, snarling at her.

    The first intruder who James had thrown at the wall moved, trying to get back on his feet when he heard the feral growls in the house. He realized the person in this house was not an ordinary human but something more than that. He pulled out his crossbow, readying the arrow in it that was made of silver, and the vampire jumped outside where the feral growl was emerging from.

    Seeing the werewolf, the vampire drew his arrow and was about to release it. The werewolf heard the snap behind it, and in an instant, it caught hold of the vampiress, turning the position in a way where the arrow was shot at Catherine.

    Catherine didn''t know what happened because everything happened so fast in front of her eyes. James had turned to an over-sized wolf. The werewolf was holding her neck. She slowly looked down at her chest to catch sight of the arrow that had pierced through her.

    "J-James��" she uttered the man''s name, her eyes turning hollow and vacant just like her heart.

    The werewolf dropped her on the ground, and soon Catherine looked like the air and water had been sucked out of her body. Before the vampire could draw another arrow, the werewolf killed the vampire before disappearing from the house.

 Chapter 332 Untrue- Part 1

    <h4>332 Untrue- Part 1</h4>

    .

    In the Hawthrone castle, Calhoun was returning back to his room when he caught sight of Madeline, who stood outside her room in the open corridor, looking up at the sky where the moon was visible. He walked to where she was and hearing his footsteps, she turned to look at him.

    "You are back," said Madeline, seeing him stop walking when he came near her.

    "Where else would I go?" Calhoun teased her, his eyes taking in her blonde hair that was let down, cascading down her shoulders, "Not able to sleep?" he asked.

    Madeline was waiting for him as she had not seen him over the time of supper. She was getting used to him being around her, and if there was someone she believed who didn''t want to kill her, it was Calhoun.

    "You didn''t return from the forest soon," Madeline responded, and her words warmed Calhoun''s cold heart.

    "I had to make sure your grandmother was well-rested. Thest thing we need is a haunting woman," he joked to her before continuing to say, "Also something was wrong near the cave."

    "The guards?" asked Madeline and saw Calhoun nod.

    "Yes. The guards were found dead. All of them who were around the cave," on Calhoun''s words, Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed.

    She said, "They were there before I entered the cave, but when I stepped out, it was like they disappeared." She hadn''t realized it right away because of the werewolf that was chasing her that time, too intent to kill her.

    "That is because their bodies were found far away from the cave. They are all dead," stated Calhoun and Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed even further. Dead? She knew she had some abilities, but she never meant any harm to those guards, and she doubted she was the one to kill them. But what if she was? Her thoughts went to overdrive, "It isn''t you," Calhoun said as if reading her thoughts and Madeline looked back at him.

    "What do you think happened then?" she questioned him.

    Calhoun''s lips pursed, "It might be caused by someone who is trying to get to you."

    "The first fallen angel?" whispered Madeline.

    "There are no scratch marks on the guards, no bloodshed. It looks they are in an eternal sleep." When Calhoun said this, Madeline wondered how he was sure it was the first fallen angel because it could be anyone. He fished something in his trouser pocket, and he pulled something out. Bringing it forward, he opened his palm for her to see a lone white feather.

    "A feather that belongs to the angel. Or dark angel," said Madeline. She picked up the feather to feel a jolt run down from her hands and she dropped it immediately, "The first fallen angel," she concluded.

    "Maybe what your grandparents said was untrue. They probably didn''t know the truth, and neither do your parents," answered Calhoun. He turned his body so that he could ce both his hands on the edge of the railings, while he looked up at the sky, "Sometimes knowledge that has been passed down can be wrong. Incorrect with details. Because we know you were only defending yourself and the others."

    "That doesn''t stop me from being vtile, does it?"

    "Everyone is vtile. You learn to control it in time, Madeline. I am a person who used to kill a lot of people in the past, but now the count has reduced."

    "How did you control it?" asked Madeline, "I don''t want to hurt people by mistake."

    "You won''t," came Calhoun''s trusting words, "There''s a difference in what you and I do, sweetheart. You kill to protect. I kill for my enjoyment. I don''t think you can be worse than me."

    Madeline wondered if this was Calhoun''s way to cheer her up, "Back in the forest, I think James was somewhere returning to himself. That is before he left the forest."

    "Hm, James," Calhoun wondered if James would ever be out of the picture. The man''s name didn''t bother him as much as it did in the past, but with James turning to a werewolf, things didn''t look good. A werewolf''s bite could be fatal, and there was no cure. Just like how the cure for a werewolf didn''t exist. Except, ording to what Madeline said, her grandmother had mentioned about the cure''s existence.

    Madeline was worried for James. He had gone through a lot for this lifetime, and all she wanted was to save him from turning to aplete werewolf and return to his human form.

    "Is there no way to find and bring him back here?" she asked Calhoun.

    "I don''t think it would be a good idea to have posters of a werewolf called James Heathcliff be ced around the viges or towns," said Calhoun and Madeline''s frown deepened, "If what you said is true, he should use his head for once and return to the castle if he''s back to his human form." But even Calhoun knew how stupid humans could be. Especially people like James, they were driven by emotions.

    Madeline was worried, and she bit her lower lip.

    "Let''s hope James will return at some point of time after he''s done chasing the moon," said Calhoun. Dropping his hands from the railings, he turned to her while letting his left side lean against the railing, "How is your sister? I heard your day has been very eventful." When she gave him a look, he said, "I heard it from Theodore."

    It felt like Theodore was the eyes and ears of Calhoun during the King''s absence, someone who kept the King well informed on what took ce in the castle.

    "She''s locked herself in the room. Mama asked me what happened that had got Beth upset," said Madeline, her eyes moving to look at the garden that was built inside the King''s quarters.

    "Did you tell her that your sister was acting like a spoilt little girl throwing tantrums?"

    "I told mother to give Beth some time alone so that she can gather herself. I don''t know if I was too harsh, but she was testing my patience, and I couldn''t resist," Madeline''s hand turned to fists.

    "You know I can still talk to her," Calhoun let Madeline know that his offer still stood, "One sentence and it will bring her back to the way you want."

    With furrowed eyebrows, she asked, "And what is that?"

    "Death sentence," came the casual words from him. Madeline was not happy with Beth''s behaviour and attitude, but that didn''t mean she despised her sister enough that she wished for her death, "You will be quite surprised to see the effect of those words have on people. They make aplete turn of character."

    "She will be traumatized," Madeline shook her head. Her grandparents and parents had done enough when it came to manipting Beth. Madeline didn''t want to be like her family.

    "Let''s see how effective your words and action was towards her," Calhoun hummed. If they weren''t sufficient, he would be more than willing to show Beth the way to death so that she could start redeeming herself. His hand went to hold hers when he felt the static and Madeline quickly pulled back her hand from him, "Don''t be scared, my love. Give me your hand so that I can hold while I also see what happens." He stretched his hand forward, waiting for her.

    Thest time when she had felt the static on her fingertips, it had left a cut on Beth''s hand. She looked into Calhoun''s eyes who didn''t look fazed by the static or of the possibility of her hurting him.

    Calhoun raised his eyebrows at her, "So scared at the thought of hurting me?" he asked with a hint of amusement in his voice, "I won''t let go. I promise."

    Taking a deep breath, Madeline apprehensively ced her hand on Calhoun''s hand to feel the static and heat. Thest time Calhoun had caught hold of her hand, it had bled, something she was not used to looking at.

    "Your skin is burning," Madeline frowned.

    "I am too hot," Calhoun ran his tongue over his fang, "See. It isn''t bad. Let''s see if you can hurt me. Let''s go from here."

    Without another word, his wings sprouted from his back, and they left the castle.

 Chapter 333 Untrue- Part 2

    <h4>333 Untrue- Part 2</h4>

    "To have some time for ourselves," answered Calhoun who had let her down on the ground. The enormous ck wings that had appeared suddenly before, had now disappeared, "With everyone asleep and no one to disturb us at this hour of the night, I think it is a perfect time."

    Madeline didn''t know what Calhoun was exactly speaking about. Except for the moonlight, everything else emitted darkness. The trees far away from them seemed quiet but the crickets around them chirped.

    "Stand here, sweet," said Calhoun, leading her to stand almost at the centre of the open ground. She saw him walk away from her, entering the forest before he returned with some branches in his arms to drop them down on the ground while having a decent distance between them.

    "What are we doing here, Calhoun?" questioned Madeline.

    "I want to see how much of your ability has developed since thest time," Calhoun offered a kind smile to her.

    His intelligent red eyes looked at her. He had tried to find from other sources about the fallen angels and the dark angels, and he found some interesting things about them. It was time for Madeline to bloom in many ways and he didn''t want to curb it like her grandparents. To think that the sweet smell of rose had stuck to him all those years. Calhoun believed that they were meant to be together. It didn''t matter if one was good and the other was bad.

    Was he nning to throw the branches at her? Asked Madeline in her mind, seeing him y with one of them, "I don''t know how to harness the energy."

    "You usually feel the burst of energy through your fingertips when you feel you are in danger. Would you believe if I said that an angel''s child was stolen?"

    Madeline looked confused, "What?" But Calhoun didn''t wait to clear her doubts. He broke the branches into sharp stakes before throwing one of them at her with less force so that she could catch hold of it.

    She caught hold of it immediately in her hand, "What did you mean by that?"

    "The story you mean?" asked Calhoun, his voice nonchnt as ever, "There are too many stories, Maddie. The question is, which one you believe and which one is the truth," he said, throwing another stake at her.

    "Tell me the one that you believe," her voice louder because of the distance they had between them.

    "Catch all of them, and I will tell you," chimed Calhoun before throwing the next stake, using more force than the earlier stake he had thrown at her.

    When the next one was thrown, Madeline staggered back as she could see that Calhoun was being serious. Somewhere she could feel that he was enjoying throwing the stakes at her. She could feel the burn on her palms because of the stakes that she caught.?Did his affections for her fly away when they were up in the sky? questioned Madeline.

    "You are doing betterpared to the time when you were shot by the arrow in the forest," said Calhoun.

    She was doing better now because she knew he was throwing the stakes at her. What happened when they went hunting was something she had not expected to happen.

    Calhoun could tell by Madeline''s body movement that she was picking up speed as if going on a flight or fight mode. Wanting to push her, he threw another stake right after heunched the previous one. Madeline had been busy concentrating on only one, and by the time she saw the second onee close to her, her body froze. But instead of piercing her, the stake caught fire and turned to dust in an instant.

    Madeline saw the dust shimmer away in the wind. Wanting to test her further, he threw three more stakes at a time, and her eyes widened, but when the stakes came near her, they caught fire and turned to nothing less to stardust.

    "It''s right there with you," stated Calhoun, his eyes staring at her. The angelic abilities resided in her human body, showing up only when it was needed.

    Madeline was confused looking at the dust on what happened as she had not even attempted to touch them. Looking at her hand and then at Calhoun, she heard him say, "I met a woman who once knew a fallen angel. The person said that the angel named Paschar left the sky because he fell in love with a human," exined Calhoun, "When he descended down the earth, some of the angels were not happy about an angel having a rtionship with a human. You know how the angels have double standards," he threw shade at her grandparents.

    Calhoun had taken Madeline''s hands, running his finger over her palms to feel the scratches.

    "Spiteful, that no punishment was delivered to the first angel they made up a rumour of redemption. To hunt down the children of Paschar."

    "This is very confusing," confessed Madeline. To understand what Calhoun was speaking, she needed to sit down because she could feel her head spin, "Do you mean to say, I am the child of that angel?"

    "It sounds bizarre, but it is how the story goes. While he willingly descended, the fallen angels were thrown out. You see the difference?" asked Calhoun to her.

    "How is that possible? I am the granddaughter of my grandfather, and he should have turned to one of the dark angels before I had my turn."

    "It is the soul that is important, Madeline. It is possible that in the need to protect, the dark angel''s ability was hidden for many years to only show up now in you. The few fallen angels, like your grandparents, they were involved with demons. Friends?" Calhoun had a thoughtful look on his face, "It isn''t too different from what we heard earlier. That Paschar was trying to collect the dark angels so that he could protect them and kill the people who wanted to use his children as a sacrifice. The fallen angels are called fallen for a reason because they are turning to demons. You need to remember that demons and fallen angels are different, things are not the way humans perceive it to be. After some time, fallen angels transition to demons."

    So it was angels, then fallen angels and then demons, thought Madeline to herself. Where some had directly turned to demons since the very beginning.

    "You are a demon too," stated Madeline before whispering, "But you are different."

    Calhoun offered her a charming smile. "Did this woman say where to find Paschar?" asked Madeline.

    "Now that is the tricky part," smiled Calhoun, "No one has seen or heard about him for centuries."

    Madeline frowned at this, "Where is this woman? If she knows, we can go find more from that fallen angel that she heard the story from. Like, follow the bread crumbs-"

    Calhoun saved her breath by saying, "She''s in the graveyard."

 Chapter 334 Untrue- Part 3

    <h4>334 Untrue- Part 3</h4>

    .

    "What?" Madeline asked, utterly confused.

    She didn''t know if it was because of the night and the time for her to sleep, that she was hearing it wrong or things were hard for her to understand.

    Calhoun stepped forward, cing his hands on both sides of her face. Without another word, he pressed his lips on her forehead.

    "After bringing you back to the castle, I went to take a look at the closed graveyard in your grandparent''s vige. I found a soul there, a ghost. Want to meet her?" offered Calhoun and Madeline shook her head to make sure she was wide awake.

    "I mean yes," she nodded her head.

    With the night that continued to prevail in the vige, Calhoun and Madeline stepped in the middle of the cemetery, away from the possible wandering eyes. She realised how she and Calhoun often went to look at things during the time of night, when everyone was sleeping. Looking around the cemetery, Madeline asked,

    "Where did you meet her?" She wasn''t sure if she was ready to meet a ghost, but she had Calhoun with her, said Madeline to herself.

    Calhoun walked to one of the cemented graves and knocked on it. Madeline took note of how fog started to form in the air, and a woman woke up from her grave, who was almost transparent where one could see things through her. The woman appeared to look around in herte twenties.

    Madeline felt goosebumps forming on her skin. Ghosts existed, said Madeline to herself.

    "You again," Madeline noticed how the woman didn''t look happy on seeing Calhoun, "You demon."

    "Good evening, Lady Ruth. I brought someone with me," said Calhoun, and the ghost turned her gaze from the vampire to look at the girl who stood behind another grave.

    The woman suddenly flew in the air toe and stand in front of Madeline. Madeline was quick to take two steps away from the ghost. She stared back at the ghost, holding her ground and trying not to faint.

    "You are hisst child," said Lady Ruth, the Ghost.

    "The first fallen angel?" asked Madeline to see the ghost shake her head and step away.

    "I am not speaking about the devil but the angel Paschar. There was only one who fell from his own will, while the rest were thrown out for their indecisiveness, who now are turning to demons," said the ghost, "If you are here, I believe you are here for answers?"

    "Calhoun told me what you said to him."

    The woman stared at Calhoun and Madeline, her eyes shifting, "What a rare sight to see a demon and an angel together," said the ghost, her voice was nothing less to a whisper. The sound of the crickets increased in the cemetery and at a distant tree an owl hooted.

    "A dark fallen angel," said Madeline but the woman shook her head again.

    Madeline pursed her lips, stepping forward as the ghost started to move away, "What do you know about Paschar? I was told that he is collecting dark angels."

    The woman turned around, a faint frown on her face, "How odd," she whispered. While the ghost took time to talk, Madeline looked around the cemetery.

    "I have seen people getting buried in here before it was closed. The fallen, they have been trying to get back to their original state, but the problem is that they have already turned too corrupt. I have seen some of them being buried in here," and she started to drift away. Madeline and Calhoun followed her in the cemetery, "The one''s who were unaware of what they are capable of, they are all gone. People who were still breathing were buried in the coffins." Lady Ruth''s ghost stood in front of one of the graves.

    "This is mine," Madeline took note of her name on the grave that was on the right side of where the ghost stood.

    Calhoun went ahead and pushed the top lid of the cemented grave where Lady Ruth stood. When Madeline turned to look inside it, her face scrunched. It was a young boy''s body that was rotten, but not to the bones. It looked like life had been sucked out of the boy.

    "Is he one of the-"

    "Like you?" asked the ghost, "Yes. Just like you. Must be forty-eight years ago. The first fallen angel who turned to the other side, who the humans are aware of, he has no interest with the other creatures who now walk as humans on thesends. From what I know, he doesn''t even care about it."

    Calhoun tilted his head to take a better look at the boy inside the coffin, "That is fallen angels against the children of Paschar. And Madeline is thest one?" hummed Calhoun.

    The fallen angels or the in-between believed that they would get redemption if they killed the dark angels. But it was not true!

    "You have never met Paschar?" inquired Madeline.

    "We don''t get to meet heavenly beings. Not the first fallen, or Paschar. They are as good as non-existent in just words and memories," replied the ghost.

    "Even when the angels were cursed to live as humans. I didn''t see both of them," the ghost looked at Madeline, "You should watch your back when ites to some of those fallen angels as well as demons," she said, shifting her eyes on Calhoun.

    Madeline turned to look at Calhoun whose eyes snapped from the boy in the coffin. He pushed the coffin''s lid close, "He''s fine."

    "People wille for you to use your soul can be used as a ticket to get to heaven. "

    Calhoun, who was quietly listening to the ghost, asked, "Why didn''t they do it with others? Like this one here?" he hit the lid of the grave.

    Madeline could see Lady Ruth stay quiet before answering, "There have been times when they put humans and demons in the coffin, mistaking them to be dark angels. They tried to kill them, but unable to do it, they ended up putting the dark angels in the coffin, hoping it would work. The spite went too far making others believe that every dark angel needs to be killed."

    "That sounds fun,"mented Calhoun.

    Far away from where Calhoun and Madeline were, in the vige of East Carswell a person wearing a cloak walked through the back alleys. The lights inside and outside the houses had been blown out, leaving some parts of the vige dark where the light of the moon couldn''t reach itself.

    As the hooded person continued to walk, the shadow moved on the wall until another person was found waiting in the dark.

    "Seems like you took your own time," came the man''s voice, who had been waiting in the dark. The other person who had just reached said,

    "My father said he would be visiting Yorkshire and I was waiting for him. Why did you call me here?" When moonlight fell on the person, one could see that it was a woman.

    "I think it is time for us to discuss about the fallen angel, Mary," said the man with a hint of a sneer in his voice. He pushed the hood back to reveal bruises on his face.

 Chapter 335 Dark alley

    <h4>335 Dark alley</h4>

    "You were supposed to visit the castle on the King''s invitation," the man narrowed his eyes, displeased with the woman.

    "As I said, I have been busy. My father said he would being to Yorkshire, but I don''t know what happened because he did stop at Hanletop. He said history was repeating. Nothing more than that was exined in the letter I received from him," said Mary, pulling out an envelope that had her father''s letter in it.

    The vampire snatched the envelope from her hand and then read what was written in the letter, "So where is he now?"

    "In the castle," answered the woman and the man chuckled, "What''s wrong?" she asked.

    The man folded the letter and returned it to the woman, "I would have known if they had visited the castle. I was right there with everyone. There has been no such word about them having visited the castle," the smile on his face died down. "I was promised that I would get the key, and you told you were still confirming it?"

    "Things like these take time. Did you think that you could just use it? I have been trying to get my hands on it myself but we haven''t been sure," came the woman''s words, her face contouring with annoyance, "We have had many dark angels appear in the past, but they turned out to be useless, and you are aware of that."

    Samuel scoffed, his eyes that were red turned ck. "Don''t give me that bullshit. I know the fallen angels have ears and eyes on a lot of things. You told to keep an eye on the girl, but she''s nothing but human."

    "That''s where you are wrong," stated Mary, "You demons don''t know how to identify a dark angel, and youe to us. My parents buried my niece two times, and both times, she got out of the coffin."

    "And you didn''t think it to be unusual?" scoffed Samuel at her pathetic excuse, "Don''t tell me it is because you want to save her as she is of your own blood."

    The woman rolled her eyes. As much as the demon in front of her wanted to use her niece to get back to heaven and attain back his powers, the same way she had been working on getting her powers. When he sneered again, she raised her hand, twisting it to have the demon cough up blood, "Don''t forget that just because I look like a human, it doesn''t mean I am one. I still hold powers, Sam. I didn''t have a generation skip," she then dropped her hand to receive a re from the demon, "You look bruised and battered like a dog beaten by its master. What happened to you?"

    Samuel spat the blood out of his mouth. This little bitch, he cursed in his mind as he had forgotten that she had some abilities.

    "It doesn''t work like that," Mary let him know, looking at the demon, "Every time when we collected the dark angels in the past and tried to kill them, they caused nothing but damage to us. We even had the demonse to take a look before, but the dark angels are indestructible."

    "There''s nothing in this world that cannot be destroyed. You only need to find more information on it which you don''t have," Samuel''s voice turned impatient. Most of the fallen angels who were living as humans were nothing but humans, useless, thought Samuel in his mind before he heard the woman say,

    "Every time we have ced them in the coffin, their weak bodies couldn''t handle the spells nor the closed space. They died early. Within a day or two," she had a frown on her face as she continued, "And that only means that they were wrong ones. The people whom we buried had been used to misguide us into believing that they were dark angels. And when we ced my niece, we assumed she would turn dead just like the rest."

    "But she isn''t in the coffin."

    "She returned but without powers," replied Mary.

    The first time, they were slightly sad when they had ced her in the coffin. For sixteen years, the girl didn''t wake up, and her family perceived Madeline to be another dummy dark angel. Because dark angels were supposed to have immense power, but after those sixteen years, Madeline had woken up and returned home.

    At first, the Harris'' family had been in shock, which waster reced by the thought that the little girl was not a dark angel as she held no abilities. It was like there was nothing in her, and she was only a in human. Mary remembered how her brother and his wife were happy that their daughter had returned, and that God had shown mercy upon them. But a few yearster, the girl killed another demon. Believing they had to be cautious, her parents had done what they had to do by putting her back again in the coffin.

    But she returned again with no abilities. A human, just like her sister Elizabeth.

    Until now, they were sure that Madeline was not a dark angel, and it was only a false rm. But with what her father wrote in the letter, it didn''t look like it was a false rm anymore. It was possible that Madeline was the dark angel.

    Mary said, "I will gather others so that we can decide when is the right time."

    "That''s more like it," smiled Samuel, his eyes returning to red. He rubbed his jaw. He wanted to get even with the person who was the reason why he even received bruises in the first ce.

 Chapter 336 Red Riding hood- Part 1

    <h4>336 Red Riding hood- Part 1</h4>

    Reaching the doors that were painted inky hue, he pushed them to step inside the room. Not too long, the doors of the room opened again, this time it was Theodore who had entered the room.

    "My King," Theodore bowed his head. He was no more in his nightclothes which he had been wearing in his room, he had changed into a regr shirt and trouser.

    Calhoun was looking at the grounds of the castle through the closed ss window when Theodore arrived. He turned around to catch sight of the bruises that were on Theodore''s face. He had heard about Theodore''s and Samuel''s fight over his half-sister, on what transpired in the evening.

    "Why aren''t your bruises healed yet?" asked Calhoun, his eyes narrowed at the red lines. A vampire took less than thirty minutes to heal bruises like this.

    "I am not sure. I thought it would have healed by now," replied Theodore, but Calhoun didn''t move his eyes away.

    Calhoun''s jaw ticked, "That bastard," he muttered under his breath, "Make sure that Samuel Greville never enters the castle again. And stays the fuck away from Lucy."

    Theodore didn''t have to be told as he would make sure to keep Samuel away from the vampiress. Lucy had openly dered on dissolving her and Samuel''s marriage, "I wonder how we missed it," Theodore heard Calhoun say.

    Seeing Theodore''s questioning expression, Calhoun said, "Samuel is not just a vampire. He''s a demon. If the wound is caused by a vampire or a human, the wound heals quicker, while the wound given by our own kind, it takes time to heal."

    Calhoun ran his hand through his hair. It was possible that Samuel was not aware of his and Theodore''s true identity. They had known Samuel for two decades, and neither of them had found out about each other being demons until now.

    "It would have been helpful if I had gotten into a fight with him years ago," murmured Theodore in thought.

    "How is Lucy doing?" questioned Calhoun. He hadn''t seen her after he had broken the news about him being her parent''s murderer. He wanted to make sure she was alright, and she wouldn''t make any rash decision. He walked towards the table where the bottles of wine and other liquors were kept, pouring the liquid in two sses before he offered one of them to Theodore. Something he didn''t do with everyone.

    Theodore took the ss from Calhoun, replying, "She''s trying to hold up. I thought we decided to not tell her about it ever."

    Years ago when Theodore and Calhoun had nned the King and the Queen''s murder, they had agreed that it would be something that would be kept just between them while the rest could make up theories that would be nothing but baseless without any foundation of proof. That way, the High House who had risen in authority at that time would never find out the truth.

    Now with a third person knowing it, Theodore wasn''t sure if Lucy would be able to keep the truth within herself. For a vampiress, she was less of a vampire and more of a human, someone who was influenced by little things. As much as her parents used her as a pawn by getting her married to Samuel, Lucy had continued to love them. He had seen her breakdown when she had seen their bodies.

    "I wonder if it is because of Madeline," said Calhoun, his eyes looking at the sky.

    It was those damn brown eyes. The way they looked at him as if they were judging him sometimes and Calhoun chuckled. Though Madeline didn''t say some things, her eyes were expressive enough for him to read her,

    "With everything going on, I think it is time to let Lucy know the truth. I am sure she wille to understand it one day. Not to forget, now that Samuel is out of the picture, I am sure you will take good care of my little sister," said Calhoun, his eyes caught sight of Theodore''s reflection on the window, seeing him bow in acknowledgement.

    "Did you find out on who it was near the cave?" inquired Theodore, shifting the subject which Calhoun took note of, and he smiled.

    "Found a white feather not too far away from the cave. Did you hear anything about the werewolf or the aunt? She doesn''t live far away that the letter would be lost," Calhoun took a sip from his ss, "Madeline''s grandparents took time in arriving at the castle, and now her aunt is taking time. Not to forget, even her parents had taken their own sweet time. If it was some other time, I would have assumed that they are a family who are alwayste, but evidently, there''s something off about this family."

    Theodore, who stood at the back, asked, "Would you like me to go take a look at thedy''s residence?"

    "Let''s give it another day. I also have errands for you to run," stated Calhoun, emptying the entire ss he had been holding with one gulp, "Something tells me that she will be here tomorrow."

    The ghost, Lady Ruth had told that the fallen angels were working with the demons. Dimwits, thought Calhoun to himself. There was a possibility that there would be some whoe to hunt his sweet girl for a reason which was based on false information and for a reason, he would kill every one of them.

    "But there is someone whom I would like you to check upon," Theodore heard Calhoun say when he was sipping the liquor from his ss, "The werewolf."

 Chapter 337 Red Riding hood- Part 2

    <h4>337 Red Riding hood- Part 2</h4>

    Calhoun said, "Madeline said that James was in the process of turning himself back to his human form. If it is true, he must have gone back to his shop and house."

    "I will make sure to bring him here from his house," Theodore finished his drink, cing the ss down, bowing his head. When he was ready to leave he heard Calhoun say,

    "He might be in his werewolf form, so make sure you don''t get bitten by him. Even though we are demons as well as vampires, the bite will still have side effects."

    Theodore quickly left the castle, making his way to the vige of East Carswell riding in the carriage. He had the coachman pull the carriage on the entrance of the vige so that the sound of the wheels and the horses wouldn''t alert any person, who would be up at this hour of the night.

    Stepping down from the carriage and already knowing where came what, Theodore didn''t waste his time when it came to going to the shop which was closed and dark inside. It seemed like no one was working overtime, thought Theodore to himself. With no one around to see his crimes, he pulled a pin from his pocket and opened the lock of the shop''s door, which opened with a sound of a click. After having a look inside the shop, he locked the shop again and headed straight to Mr. Heatcliff''s house.

    When Theodore reached the house, he didn''t have to step foot inside the house to see the dead person as he smelt the blood wafting in the air that came from the house. Was it another murder that wasmitted by Lady Catherine, who had decided to ce the body inside this time rather than leaving it in the backyard? Without touching the front door, Theodore walked around the house to notice a big opening in the back door that was broken possibly by a forceful exit, because the wooden pieces had fallen outside the house and not inside.

    Getting inside and finding the dead people in there, Theodore''s eyebrows rose. And he immediately returned to the castle to report to Calhoun on what he saw.

    Calhoun stared at Theodore while he was informed about the scene in Heathcliff''s house.

    "James would be held responsible as this is the second time a body will be retrieved from his house. And this time being the bodies. Might as well turn his house as a graveyard,"mented Calhoun with a sardonic voice, "I would love to offer him my help, but he keeps digging his grave deeper and deeper."

    "Did you find whose men those were?" questioned Calhoun and Theodore shook his head.

    "They must have been hired," came the quick reply.

    Calhoun tched, "If they have ess to silver, they must be sent by a wealthy family." His eyes narrowed in thought on what Catherine was doing in the house along with the vampires who were found dead with her. Was it possible that Mr. Barnes had sent his men to get rid of James and Catherine had by chance visited James to end up dead somehow?

    "Mr. Barnes won''t be happy tomorrow," said Theodore.

    "I guess we''ll be having another visit from the High House. Not to mention with James'' disappearance, it will only draw that much attention to him." Calhoun dismissed Theodore from the room.

    Calhoun sat with one leg on the window sill while the other rested on the floor of the room. James didn''t have ess to arrows of silver ends. The man didn''t have a decent bone in his body to kill in his human form. His outbreak from his house was in his werewolf form, and he hadn''t killed the vampiress.

    For now, James would be in clear because no one knew he was able to turn to a werewolf, but if the High House woulde to hear it, they would hunt him down. Not to forget, the bodies nowid in his house.

    Madeline''s grandparents feared the High House, and with the recent information from the ghostdy, Calhoun discerned he had some things to discuss with Helena.

    The next day as expected, Madeline''s aunt arrived at the castle with smiles on her face and a hug to offer.

    "It is so good to see you girls!" hugged the woman who had short blonde hair, "How are you doing, Beth?" she asked and received a smile from Beth, a smile that didn''t reach up to her eyes. The young girl had been in shock and had barely uttered any words.

    Beth had never been pped on her face until now. Not by her grandparents, nor her parents or anyone else. Receiving one from Madeline was like her sister showing her her ce in this castle. Markus was dead, and the Wilmot''s were gone. Her life had returned to the way it was before she had met Markus.

    After the exchange of words with Madeline, Beth feared that the King would not spare her. ording to Madeline, the King knew about her trying to poison him, and if she even breathed too hard, she would receive a death sentence just like his cousin. She had been so consumed with the thought of standing next to the crown that she hadn''t realised she was walking towards the path of her execution.

    The thought shook her. She didn''t want to die!

    To make it worse, every time her parents looked at her they had a look of disappointment and Beth felt ashamed, making her feel inferior. It was like no one wanted to speak to her; nobody cared about her anymore. It made Beth feel hopeless.

    "And you, Madeline," said their Aunt Mary, her arms wide open for Madeline to step forward and hug, "I couldn''t believe when I heard that you were going to get married."

    Madeline hugged her aunt, "It is good to see you here, finally, Aunt Mary," she greeted.

    "Now only if your grandparents were to arrive here in the castle to spend time with us," said her aunt and the smile on Madeline and her parent''s face froze.

    Before anyone could reply, Calhoun stepped out in the corridor and said, "The invitation has been already sent to Madeline''s grandparents, and we have been waiting for them."

    Mary stared at the King, who made his way to where the family was standing. A prideful vampire, thought the woman. Putting up a smile, she bowed her head.

    The King said, "I was hoping you would know what''s taking them so long to make it here, unless they got eaten by werewolves."

    The smile on the woman''s face fell right away, and Madeline wished Calhoun didn''t mention about what happened with his subtleness.

    "My Lord?" asked Aunt Mary.

    Calhoun slightly tilted his head as if not understanding her question and a smile broke on his lips, "I was referring to the story of the red riding hood. You know, werewolf eats��"

    Grandmother, Madeline filled the sentence in her mind because that''s what happened.

 Chapter 338 Hiding- Part 1

    <h4>338 Hiding- Part 1</h4>

    Mr. and Mrs. Harris felt extremely ufortable. It was only yesterday that they had found out about what happened to Mr. Harris'' parents. Coming to terms with the death of family members was one of the hardest things to do. Mr. Harris would have been angry if his parents hadn''t put Madeline in the coffin not once, but twice. Naturally, he was shocked, but Madeline was still his firstborn child, and no one liked to have their children spending their time in the coffin.

    While Mr. Harris had grown to be unaware of the tales about the angels, Mary, his sister had taken a keen interest to find out and had started to look for answers when she had first found out about the dark angel??s who were Paschar''s children. The woman didn''t have abilities like her parents or her niece, but she had got hold of a spell that was enough to keep the demons at bay.

    Beth''s mood slightly uplifted because whatever the King had said, it had thrown her aunt off.

    Their aunt offered a pleasing smile to the King, eyes shining back again. The woman said, "There are no werewolves in thend of Devon, my King. I don''t think people should whisper fable-like these in here. It is only in Warring''snd."

    "One can never be too sure about it," retorted Calhoun, "It hase to my attention that the werewolves are spreading around the othernds and Kingdoms."

    "Werewolves need to be eradicated from thends. They are harmful creatures," stated Aunt Mary, a pleasant smile on her lips.

    "Yes, the High House will being here to deal with the werewolves," Calhoun casually mentioned, noticing how the woman''s facial expression didn''t change and her heart continued to beat in the same pace. But her eyes slightly narrowed at the mention of the High House. "I heard they have other business to deal with too. Something about the past," the King continued.

    "It is good to see people working for others welfare," answered Aunt Mary, and Madeline wondered why Calhoun was holding the conversation with her aunt for so long, which he usually didn''t do with everyone. A frown appeared on her forehead, was Aunt Mary perhaps involved with her grandparents?

    "Nic, why don''t you lead Lady Mary to one of the best guest rooms in the castle? I would like to make sure that Madeline''s family are well taken care of," said Calhoun, his words ''well taken care of'' having another underlying meaning to it, "It is quite unfortunate that Madeline''s grandparents aren''t here yet. I have gotten the rooms prepared, and they are waiting for them."

    "It is good to see that you and the Harris'' family are so forting and weing when ites to mine and Madeline''s marriage. It is difficult to find people these days with their aggression andck of tolerance towards the vampires and the same goes with the vampires towards the humans," said Calhoun. Aunt Mary had a tight smile on her lips, while the King continued to offer her a polite smile, that looked less polite and more intimidating.

    When Madeline''s family left the corridor with the maid who went to show where Aunt Mary could settle in the castle, Madeline who had stayed behind with Calhoun turned to him,

    "Why were you reciting the story of the Red Riding Hood to Aunt Mary?" asked Madeline.

    "I thought she would enjoy a child''s story, not to forget," Calhoun''s eyes turned to look at her, "I think it''s a wonderful way to bond with each other. What?" he cracked a grin and Madeline shook her head, "Could you recollect again on what your aunt was doing in the past?"

    Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed at the question. She responded, "She took us to my grandparent''s house. So that they could help."

    Calhoun hummed in acknowledgement. He then said, "Don''t stay alone with her."

    "You think she will kill me?"

    "Well, yes. Your aunt might not be a fallen angel like your grandparent''s, but that doesn''t mean she won''t use you for her own gains," stated Calhoun, bringing his hand forward to smoothen her hair before tucking the piece of hair that was on the side of her face behind her ear. He ran his finger over the side of her ear lobe to notice Madeline''s heart skip a beat.

    "With what the ghost said, the demons and the angels wille looking for you for their gains. To use you so that they can redeem their sins through you. The fallen angels and demons find it hard to live as ordinary people on thesends, call it their pride or greed. They want to return."

    "You don''t?" asked Madeline.

    Calhoun was not just a vampire, but he was a vampire who had demon blood in him.

    Parents could often disregard and give up on their child whom they brought up with love and care,ter to treat them as a pawn for their own benefits.?People often followed the path of power, and love between people changed in time. As he said, people wanted afortable life, instead of working hard, they wanted to return to who they once were. It made Madeline question if the fallen angels retook birth, repeating the cycle of life as a punishment, because that made sense. Calhoun''s intentions were differentpared to others when it came to Madeline.

    She heard Calhoun say, "I have no interest inme things like those. I am content with what I have," he said, looking at her, "My happiness lies here with you. Wherever you are."

    As cunning as Calhoun was, words like these had somewhere crawled into her heart, his words warming her, and she leaned to his touch, a smile on her lips.

 Chapter 339 Hiding- Part 2

    <h4>339 Hiding- Part 2</h4>

    "It must be weeks since Ist received any letters from him. Why?" asked Mr. Harris, his words slow and careful.

    Mary said, "Father sent this letter to me a few days ago. He said history was repeating itself and knowing not many things have repeated in the past, I went to the ce where we were supposed to meet each other, but he never showed up. I was hoping I would find him here."

    Mr. Harris shook his head, his head feeling almost doll-like with his neck stuck because of the lie, "No, we haven''t heard from them. Invitations were sent out to everyone."

    Hearing this, Mary''s head tilted, "Huh, I wonder why the invitation never turned up at my doorstep from your side, brother. What are you doing? Getting Madeline married to a vampire and not a human. Don''t you know anything corrupt in nature will end up triggering her?" questioned the woman.

    "That was before, Mary. Madeline isn''t like that anymore," dismissed Mr. Harris. Upon their parent''s words, Mr. Harris had sheltered Madeline away from anything violent. He had also made sure that Beth and her wouldn''t witness any execution, shielding their eyes away from the gore. But in the end, Madeline had met the King.

    A small speck of disappointment settled in Mary''s eyes on hearing this news. She hade here for the sole purpose of retrieving Madeline and making use of her so that she could ascend to a higher position. But now, her brother was telling Madeline was normal?

    "And how sure are you about this?" asked Mary.

    "She hasn''t killed anyone this time. God has been merciful and listened to our prayers, Mary," replied Mr. Harris, but Mary was looking for the opposite.

    She turned to look at her sister-inw, "Have you taken note of anything odd about her? I remember she had a tendency to break sses."

    Mrs. Harris remembered Madelineing to her and telling about her breaking the ss, and she had also witnessed Lady Rosamund''s ss shatter to pieces. "No," she answered. Despite her inw''s words, Frances believed that her daughter was innocent and she wasn''t going to have Madeline ced in the coffin for the third time.

    It was true that in the past, Frances had pushed Beth forward, letting her take the light while making sure Madeline was protected, toter be married into a humble home. Something that would not trigger her memories. And so far, Madeline had hurt no one.

    "That''s not true," Mary was not taking no for an answer. She shook her head, "You both are hiding something from me, aren''t you?" She pulled out the letter from her coat and stretched her hand forward so that her brother would take it from her, "Read this."

    It was alright, thought Mary to herself. She would sacrifice the girl. Her parents had feared, thinking the dark angel would bring destruction, and it was the same information that was fed to others. But Mary, she knew it wasn''t about destruction. A person that could kill demons on the spot while remaining unscratched, it only meant how much power that person had within themself.

    "Mary, you know how father and mother are. They believed in a lot of things. Madeline is a human, just like her sister Elizabeth," Mr. Harris didn''t want his sister to be hovering over his daughter, waiting for Madeline to kill someone as it was ridiculous. Also, another reason being, he would still want to have a sibling because if the King found out that Mary was trying to put Madeline in the coffin, it would not be his daughter but his sister who would be lying in the grave.

    "Okay," Mary sighed, "I will believe your word and not father''s," she smiled at her brother, making it look like she had given up.

    "You will see that Madeline is doing fine, and she''s also happy with the wedding," assured Mr. Harris, "Why don''t you rest?"

    Mr. and Mrs. Harris offered the woman a smile. Stepping out of the room Mr. Harris closed the door turned to his wife, who had a worried look on her face.

    Away from their quarters where the guest rooms were, Beth had decided to take a walk in the empty corridors of the castle so that she wouldn''t have to face her parent''s disappointed looks directed at her. While she was taking a stroll, she saw Lady Lucy walking from the other side. When they came near, Beth and Lucy offered each other a bow.

    "What are you doing here in this side of the castle, Lady Elizabeth?" inquired Lucy.

    Beth was slightly taken aback by the question because, since the day she had arrived with her family, no one had ever asked her why she was walking in certain parts of the castle. "My apologies, I didn''t know I was not supposed to be here," she quickly bowed her head.

    Lucy shook her head, "Pardon me, that is not what I meant. You were walking alone by yourself. Would you like to apany me?" asked the vampiress and Beth nodded her head, not seeing there was any harm in taking a walk together.

    When they started to walk together on the quieter side of the castle, Beth was quiet, and it was Lucy who began the conversation, "How are you holding up, Lady Elizabeth?" She was talking about Markus'' death, "It must hurt when you find someone you loved is gone, but it usually hurts less when you haven''t loved."

    Lucy nced at Beth before looking in front of her.

    "I-I, I am doing alright, mdy," replied Beth. She felt like she was stuck between a rock and a wall, in a difficult position because of what had transpired in less than a week. "How are you doing, mdy?"

    Lucy smiled a smile that didn''t reach her eyes. She said, "I will be okay in some days. Loss is something hard to cope with, but we all learn to let it go in time."

    Beth didn''tment on it, worried that her words might instigate another meaning. She was already walking on thin ice with everyone.

    "I heard what you did, Lady Elizabeth," came Lucy''s voice and Beth''s feet almost froze which she had to force it to walk, "In the past, both Markus and Calhoun were in the run for the crown. I have treated both of them with respect," said Lucy, "I was happy though, that I had a brother of my own. Because when you are in the castle, life turns lonely and even though there are plenty of people who are ready to wait on me, I wanted someone who understood at least some things about me even if it was little, which my parents never understood."

    Lucy continued, "There were some things, which Calhoun understood that others didn''t, and I started to care for him. Because you always care for things that are closer in rtion. The King is one of the few people whom I care about and is my family. You should be able to imagine how I felt when I found out that someone tried to poison him."

    Beth felt her hands turn cold. She had not expected Lady Lucy to bring up the topic so directly with her, especially knowing the mild nature of the vampiress who was sweet and kind.

    "Lady Elizabeth," said Lucy, her feet stopped and she turned to Beth,

    Beth tried to salvage her actions, "That, Lady Lucy it was something-"

    Lucy raised her hand for Beth to stop, "You are lucky to have Lady Madeline as your sister who loves you and treasures your rtionship with her dearly. If not, you would have followed the same fate as Markus. I would like to believe that you were influenced by circumstances and not for your benefits. The next time something like this happens, neither of us will be merciful."

 Chapter 340 Hiding- Part 3

    <h4>340 Hiding- Part 3</h4>

    Silence engulfed around Beth, she could feel the hollowness in her chest, like she was wronged. Why was it always Madeline? Asked Beth. It was like she was the one who had made the pie and Madeline was the one to eat it. She felt worse than awkward and embarrassed to be around people who knew what happened.

    The King had not even taken the poison, nor had she offered it to him! Yet, here she was being med because she had followed Markus'' n.

    Beth walked towards the open window, cing her hands on the edge of the window while letting an exhale because her chest felt heavy. She was used to being praised, loved and having people admire her. She had never been on the receiving end of people''s me.

    She had been happy that the King had noticed her, but his interest was on her sister Madeline. And then after a few more days, she was delighted that Markus, the King''s cousin, had taken an interest in her. He treated her just like she wanted to be treated, caring for her. But he was executed, and now she was left with nothing but eyes looking at her with mistrust.

    Her eyes filled itself with tears of frustration, looking outside at the garden.

    "What are you crying about?" came a voice behind her and Beth turned around to re at the man, who had taken afortable position leaning against another window to her right.

    Beth quickly blinked her eyes, to get rid of the tears but instead it had turned so full that it spilt on her cheeks. She quickly wiped it with the back of her hands. It was Raphael Sparrow, the man who had taken the poison that she had intended to give it to the King.

    "What are you doing here?" asked Beth, taking a step away and ready to leave.

    "I was looking for you," came the obvious answer from Raphael. Beth gritted her teeth at his response. She had taken herself to walk in the most unlikely ce in the castle where people would not walk, and he had found her. She didn''t know-how. The man knew there was poison in the drink and he was possibly the person who had informed to King about it.

    "What did you want?" Beth took a careful step backwards.

    Raphael didn''t reply nor did he attempt to move. He stood there, watching the same girl whom he had stared for hours in her room while watching over her.

    "Why were you crying?" he repeated his question and Beth pursed her lips.

    "Why do you want to know? If you have nothing important to talk, I will be leaving," she bowed her head, ready to leave but Raphael straightened as if intending to follow her.

    Since thest few hours, Beth was tired of receiving looks from others and the guilt burdened her. She felt too ashamed.

    "I am sorry for what I did," apologized Beth so that she could get rid of Raphael. She saw him smile.

    "You are not sorry for what you did," replied Raphael and Beth frowned, "Are you sorry for losing the man who promised you the world? Or are you sorry because you were unsessful in poisoning the King? Or is it that you wanted me dead as you didn''t stop me from drinking it?" he asked in a calm voice.

    Beth felt overwhelmed, and if it wasn''t for her mistake, she wouldn''t be speaking to this peasant-like man who wore a robe with a rope tied around his waist and his hair long until his neck. Even though Beth was in the castle, she was having the worst hours of her life. Tears again brimmed up to her eyes,

    "I told you I am sorry. It was a mistake-"

    "That didn''t work in your favour?" asked Raphael, "You are only sorry because you fear for your life. If your sister still believes in you, there must be some goodness left in you." Beth turned angry, was he telling she was a terrible person?! She had apologized for her deeds, what did he want?

    "What do you want me to say?" asked Beth in frustration. She wasn''t able to meet the King''s eyes in fear, and her parent''s spared only a few words with her. Just because Madeline was going to be a Queen, she had gone as far as to p her! Instead, her sister could have told it through words.

    She stared into his pitch-ck eyes when she heard him say, "To be a better person."

    Raphael offered Beth a smile, and without waiting for her reply, he walked away from her. Beth''s hands that were turned to fists loosened and the tears that she had been holding back fell on her cheeks. Even this insolent man was making her feel bad about herself!

    Not too long, the magistrate of the vige East Carswell arrived at the castle to meet the King.

    "What brings you here this early in the morning, Charmire?" asked the King with a questionable look.

    "My King! Another murder has taken ce in the vige. It is Issac Barnes daughter with two other men who have been found dead in Mr. Heathcliff''s house," informed Charmire with a worried look on his face.

 Chapter 341 A good distance- Part 1

    <h4>341 A good distance- Part 1</h4>

    The man had a stressful look on his face, his eyebrows drawn together in worry, "We are yet to inform Mr. Barnes about his daughter''s body being found there."

    "Why haven''t you done it?" asked Calhoun, his eyes calmly looking at the magistrate. With Theodore who had already informed himst night on his findings in Heathcliff''s residence, Calhoun was barely shocked with the news that came from Charmire, who looked like he didn''t know what to do.

    "My King. Mr. Barnes is a well-renowned man-"

    "I don''t think deathes knocking on people''s door by seeing their status, Charmire," stated Calhoun, his eyebrows raised. He was waiting for Barnes toe breaking through the gates of the castle to meet him so he could help Mr. Barnes find the killer of Catherine.

    Mr. Barnes had shown no mercy or thrown pity at the girl whose head was ripped apart from her body. Calhoun could barely wait to see what Barnes had to express.

    "The problem is for the second time, the body was found in Heathcliff''s residence. It''s like people go there to die," frowned Charmire in thought, "And we still have no information about Mr. Heathcliff. Someone said they saw him leaving his shop, but when we went and spoke to the workers there, they said he hadn''t visited the shop since many days.

    "Maybe he didn''t visit then. It has been quite some time since he went missing. Especially with thest case of Miss La''s death, I doubt he''s even heard about his charges being dropped. This is why I said, you should have a thorough check done before iming someone as guilty," Calhoun chided the man, and the magistrate bowed his head.

    "It is why I came here to see you, milord," came the solemn response from Charmire, "Butst time, we found the body in Mr. Heathcliff''s backyard, and he turned out to be the first suspect."

    "More like your people werezy to find the actual culprit," Calhoun gave a look.

    So what Madeline said was true. James had indeed returned to his human self. It was possible that James went to see what state his shop was in and then had gone home. And even though the assistants told Chamire and his men that they hadn''t seen James for many days now, Calhoun knew that James had visited. Not because there was an outbreak in James'' housest night, but because Calhoun had spoken to Emilio to follow his words. His thoughts went on what he had told to Emilio, who had worked the longest in James'' shop,

    ''If Mr. Heathcliffes to your shop and someonees looking for him, make sure that the people whom you work with tell, they didn''t see him.''

    ''There are some people who want to put Mr. Heathcliff in trouble. And we don''t want him being framed for something he didn''t do. Do we?'' Calhoun had questioned the young man back. It was the time when James was caught as a werewolf, and Calhoun had taken necessary measures with the n of ''ifs''.

    He had given his word to Madeline about protecting James, but if things continued like this, where bodies were found in his house, Calhoun doubted he would be able to keep the werewolf''s neck safe.

    "You said there were other men''s bodies that were found in the house? Did you try to find who they are?" questioned Calhoun.

    Charmire''s hand reached to the back of his neck, scratching it, "I did, my King. After tracing where the arrows are being made, I found out that it is from Mr. Dous'' shop, one of the men whom Mr. Barnes is acquainted with." Charmire would have suspected James Heathcliff again, but with the false usation he put on Jamesst time, he decided toe straight to the King.

    "Get Mr. Dous and ce him in the prison of the vige until the High Housees and question him about why he killed Catherine Barnes. You should be able to cough up something from him," said Calhoun, dismissing the magistrate. He turned around to see Madeline who stood not too far away from him.

    "What are you doing standing there all by yourself?" asked Calhou while making his way to her and Madeline met him halfway.

    "I didn''t want to disturb you as you seemed busy. Why did the vige magistratee to visit you?" Madeline looked at the retrieving figure of the magistrate, who disappeared from the corridor.

    "It was about Catherine Barnes," Madeline looked back at Calhoun, her eyebrows furrowed when she heard about the vampiress, "She was found dead in James'' house."

    "What?" came the shocked response from Madeline, "H-how did that happen? Was it James?" He did leave the forest yesterday and it was possible that he went to meet her. And Calhoun said she was found dead in the Heathcliff''s residence.

    "No, it wasn''t James. Though I do suspect that he was there when the murder took ce. Theodore mentioned earlier that there were light colored marks on her neck," he informed her.

    Of course, Theodore was the eyes and ears of the King.

    "It might be Mr. Barnes'' men who must havee to kill James. He didn''t want his daughter marrying a human, especially one that belonged to a low ss."

    "James doesn''t belong to the low ss," corrected Madeline, "You knew the vampire didn''t want to get Catherine married to James," her eyes narrowed.

    Ah, how he missed that look in her eyes, thought Calhoun in his mind. It had been quite some days since they had bickered with each other.

    "Right now, James'' name is clear," Calhoun replied, a charming smile formed on his face, "It was Catherine''s father''s men who killed her. Silver mixed with certainponents can harm both werewolves as well as vampires. Though not much to us demons as we are a mixture of both. A hybrid."

 Chapter 342 A good distance- Part 2

    <h4>342 A good distance- Part 2</h4>

    "Oh, please," Calhoun rolled his eyes, "I saw him kissing your," he paused to bring his hand up, wiggling his fingers, "In the ball. And in my defence, I didn''t know Catherine would kill people and put one of the dead bodies in his backyard. I mean, I kill people but I definitely don''t let it be apost fertilizer in other houses. Who does that?" he asked with a fake shock on his face.

    "You shouldn''t have pushed him to get married to Catherine."?She wondered how they would be able to get hold of James. Even if they did find a cure, how were they going to find a werewolf who was on the run?

    She didn''t know what happened in Heathcliff''s residence. Maybe James had called Catherine to call off their wedding. Madeline was a person who never wished any harm to any people. People whom she knew were dying left and right, and she stood there, hearing the news one after another.

    She felt her head hurt, buzzing loudly. Before she could fall, Calhoun caught hold of her in his arms, "Maddie?" he called her name and saw her unconscious.

    He carried her in his arms, heading to his quarters. But on the way, he met Madeline''s aunt, Mary. "Oh dear! Is she alright?" asked the woman, worry sttered on her face. When the woman went to touch Madeline''s hand, Calhoun took a step backwards so that the woman wouldn''t get to touch the girl who was in his arms.

    Calhoun had met enough people like her who wore the mask on their face. The cracks on the mask that Mary wore were too many which he could look through. He was more careful because the woman was rted to Madeline. Anyone rted to his love would be put under dire test before he would approve them to be near Madeline.

    Mary looked up at Calhoun, a questionable look appeared on her face at his action. She had stepped out of her room, walking in the halls when she noticed the King carrying her niece. Did something happen that made Madeline faint right now? Or was it because the dark angel''s ability was kicking in her body again, which her brother and his wife failed to see.

    "My King?" came the question from Mary, a polite smile on her face.

    "Yes, mdy?" Calhoun yed the ignorant fool, "Oh! I am a little possessive about her. You might have heard about it from her parents."

    Mary had heard a lot of things about the King, but she didn''t expect him to im Madeline in front of her, shamelessly. All she wanted to do now, was to touch those girl''s hands to know if it would harm her. She noticed how his red eyes stared at her, taking in every single detail and movement of hers like he was sharply watching her.

    Not wanting to be suspicious, Mary asked, "What happened to her? Was it the harsh sun?" she left a trap, waiting for the King to step on to it.

    "It was the blood," said Calhoun, noticing how the woman''s eyebrows rose.

    "Blood��? Is she hurt?" Mary asked in a tone of worry.

    Calhoun smiled, not because he wanted to assure the woman, but for the woman''s facade, "She''s not hurt. I must have sucked more blood from her than I intended," he grinned brazenly while tiptoeing around the trap without stepping on it.

    "Oh," came the disappointed response. The woman looked a little ufortable that he was openly speaking about feeding from Madeline.

    "I didn''t get to speak to you earlier, but I am so thankful to you," Calhoun thanked the woman that left her confused.

    "I didn''t do anything," she replied to see Calhoun shake his head.

    "You did! And I think you should take every single credit for it," Mary didn''t know what the King was speaking about as she had arrived at the castle only this morning. "You taught Madeline how to read and write. Actually both the girls. Taught them how to ride horses, though I would say that would need some work. Not many offer that kind of kindness," he stressed on the word kindness, the smile still on his lips.

    Maryughed, "I am their aunt. I did the best I could."

    "I am d to hear that Madeline has such a supportive family. She speaks a lot about all of you," Calhoun chimed, "I should put her to bed." And he left the woman standing there in the halls without turning back, while still sensing her presence.

    Calhoun kicked the door of his room, carrying Madeline to his bed to ce her down with a pillow under her head. He could hear her heart beating steadily in her chest without any skip or hitch. Pulling the nket, he put it until her chest to tuck her safely. A frown came to settle on his face, questioning what caused Madeline to faint in the middle of the day.

    He went to keep her hands in a much morefortable position, when his hand made contact with her fingers, he stopped.

    He felt pain struck his chest, and he coughed. Walking to the sink, he bent down to spit the red liquid out of his mouth. He turned to look at Madeline, who continued toy there on the bed unconscious.

    It seemed like Madeline''s body was in kill mode.

 Chapter 343 A good distance- Part 3

    <h4>343 A good distance- Part 3</h4>

    Was she dreaming? She was, thought Madeline to herself. Moving her hand forward, she called, "Calhoun?" But it didn''t seem like he was here.

    Madeline felt something tickle the side of her feet, and she looked down to see soft grass on the ground. This was not right. She wanted to get back to the castle right this instant! But how was she supposed to go back? She closed her eyes, hoping to return to the castle, but when she opened, she saw the same empty streets and houses in front of her.

    Standing here was not going to help, and Madeline decided to take a look around. As the wind blew, the longer des of the grasses moved in the direction of the wind.?While she was still walking, she saw someone passing by the alley, and Madeline quickly tried to follow the person. Maybe she could catch hold of that person and ask how she could get back.

    Her feet quickly pressed against the ground to catch up with the man who was in his white robes, "Excuse me!" She called the person.

    But when she came near the man, he didn''t respond. It was like he didn''t hear her. For some odd reason, it felt like she had seen this person before, but she wasn''t able to pinpoint where.

    "Hello, Sir?" she called again but nothing. The man continued to walk, and Madeline stretched her hand to stop him, but her hand only passed through the person''s back.

    "Oh no," said Madeline. Was she in someone''s memoryne?

    Turning around, she found no one. Seeing the man making his way out of the vige and towards the forest, Madeline followed him. From a distance, she could hear the glugging sound of the water and when they reached a stream of water, it was then that she caught sight of a woman who appeared to be waiting by the stream.

    Madeline had stopped walking, and she watched the man go and hug the woman, who returned his hug. She could hear the continuous flow of the water, and even though their lips moved, not a single exchange of word was heard by Madeline. Then something happened, the white wings appeared from the man''s back while the woman stared at him and tried to say something.

    Suddenly he caught hold of the woman''s neck.

    "NO!" Madeline screamed when the woman burst into ashes.

    Madeline woke up. Sweat covering her body, and she saw herself sit upright on the bed, "Nightmare?" asked Calhoun. Her head snapped to see Calhoun, who ced a book on the table as if he was reading it. He walked toe and sit on the bed near her.

    "What time is it?" asked Madeline as the curtains had been drawn over the window.

    Madeline caught sight of the blood on the corner of Calhoun''s mouth, "What happened to you?" she asked him in return, a frown on her face.

    "I was having a ball in the room, and thought I would have some blood while waiting for you to wake up," he gave her a bright smile. Madeline stared at him, gauging Calhoun''s face.

    "Did I hurt you?" she asked because his answer had not been direct.

    "Not that I can recall," hummed Calhoun, and he ran his tongue over the corner of his lips, "What did you dream about?"

    "A man turning a woman into ashes," came the unenthusiastic reply from Madeline.

    "Well, that doesn''t sound fun,"mented Calhoun and Madeline couldn''t agree less.

    Madeline had no idea what was spoken, or whom she saw in her dream. It wasn''t something to brush away, as while she was still speaking she had turned unconscious and pushed into dreand, "It looked like he was an angel."

    Calhoun stared at her, "Do you think it is Paschar?"

    "Possible," she whispered.

    Calhoun was d that Madeline was alright. And testingly, he took hold of her hand that didn''t give out any harmful energy now. He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. "Do you know what he looked like?" If they knew how Paschar looked, it wouldn''t be too difficult to narrow down where this man was.

    Madeline tried to remember, but for some odd reason, she couldn''t recollect. It was as if her dream was evaporating from her mind. She pursed her lips before shaking her head, "I don''t remember anymore."

    "That''s absolutely fine," replied Calhoun, and he leaned forward, "I missed you," his nose touched hers.

    "Me too," she replied because she had felt lost in her dream and she wished Calhoun was there with her. Knowing he would have a solution for a problem.

    "Please keep speaking," Calhoun''s face was full of interest, where he shifted the mood and Madeline smiled, "What else?"

    Calhoun must have been here in the room the entire time, waiting for her to wake up while also making sure nothing would go wrong, thought Madeline in her mind. It was always the little things that affected them.

    Madeline brought her left hand to her lips, licking her thumb that got Calhoun intrigued with what she was going to do. She then brought her thumb towards his face to rub below the corner of his lips where he had missed a spot earlier.

    "Did it hurt?" she asked him, and Calhoun knew she was speaking about the blood he spat.

    He shrugged his shoulder, "It was tolerable."

    She tried to remember the person in her dream, trying to recollect the man who was possibly Paschar, the angel. Would she remember when she woulde face to face with him? But she felt she had met him in the past.

    *

    THIS IS AN ONGOING BOOK.

 Chapter 344 Keys and cards- part 1

    <h4>344 Keys and cards- part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline sat next to her mother and other women in the room having afternoon tea, listening to her mother and her aunt catch up like they hadn''t met for months, "Madeline had not been doing so well today. How are you feeling now, dear?" questioned her aunt who sat next to Lucy. The vampiress had been polite enough to not refuse the invitation for a little tea.

    Mrs. Harris looked slightly worried, a small frowning to settle on her forehead, which she tried not to show as her eyes darted from her daughter to her sister-inw.

    "What happened, Maddie?" asked Mrs. Harris, but before Madeline could answer the question, her aunt went to speak on behalf of her.

    "Poor Maddie turned unconscious because ofck of blood in her body," said Aunt Mary, shaking her head with a hint of disappointment, "I thought you would have discussed with him on how much blood he should take from you. I understand that vampires feed and depend on blood, but you are going to be his wife."

    Lucy, who heard this turned to look at Madeline, "I think your aunt is right, Lady Madeline. Brother Calhoun can sometimes get carried away. Your health is important," said the vampiress.

    Madeline smiled at Lucy''s kind words, her smile a little tight as that wasn''t the reason why she had fainted in the first ce, "I am fine now, Lady Lucy. I don''t think the King expected me to faint."

    "It must be because of him feeding blood from you continuously," Aunt Mary looked upset, her lips set in a thin line. Madeline shook her head, but the woman went on to say, "You should let the King feed on someone else so that you don''t end up withck of blood in your body. What do you think, Frances?" her aunt questioned her mother.

    Mrs. Harris wasn''tfortable in discussing about her daughter being sucked by a vampire, "I am sure Maddie will take care of it."

    "You should put on more weight, dear. Look at your sister Elizabeth. It looks like she turned more healthy since Ist saw her. Is it because you have been eating well?" asked Aunt Mary, turning to Beth. Beth didn''t know if she should take it as apliment or a taunt by her aunt, "The food must be really good in here and I would not doubt if you were eating more. But, Maddie, you should fatten up a little."

    "I think I am fine," Madeline offered her aunt a polite smile.

    Aunt Mary was one of the closest rtives of the Harris'' family, and even though she often liked to be opinionated about people, she was the person who had taught Madeline and Elizabeth everything an elite woman would learn. Though Mr. Harris was poor, his sister, Mary had been married to a decently wealthy family, giving her the privilege and ess to what the people of the high society did and indulged themselves in.

    But the woman hadn''t done helped the girls because she was kind.

    The first time, when the incident took ce, Mary was unaware about dark angels. The second time, she had been too intrigued with what was going on. It was then, did she try to learn about dark angels and came to know what Madeline could be. The only disappointment was, Madeline didn''t show any signs after she returned to her brother''s house the second time. She had gone so far as to make Madeline clean all the sses and handle the delicate objects in her house so that she would know, while making Beth clean other things like the floor when the girls came to spend time in her house.

    "I will still insist that you find someone, maybe someone whom the King used to drink blood from in the past?" suggested Aunt Mary with a nonchnt tone.

    Madeline didn''t know why her aunt was pushing her to pick someone for Calhoun to drink from. Calhoun had mentioned that when he was carrying her to the room, he had met her aunt, and they had a brief conversation with each other.

    "I will think about it," Madeline believed that just because she said she would, she didn''t have to do it.

    "Where is the wedding going to take ce? I mean we all know that the night creatures cannot step into holy ces," stated Aunt Mary in a thoughtful question.

    Her aunt was the daughter of her grandparents, someone who was intolerant towards vampires. Madeline could tell by the look on her aunt''s face, that her aunt wasn''t happy that she was getting married to a vampire.

    "We have a chapel built in the castle, Lady Mary," replied Lucy, cing the teacup on the saucer with a gentle click. Mary raised her brows in astonishment. "Brother Calhoun got the chapel built, and he modified it enough to resemble a church, only that you won''t find sculptures in there and it''s feasible for the royal family."

    "That''s interesting," responded Aunt Mary , impressed. "I would have never thought that there is a chapel here. Would someone be kind enough to show me the way there so that I could take a look at it?"

    "I wouldn''t mind taking you there," offered Lady Lucy, and Madeline was touched by the vampiress gesture. Even though she could tell that Lucy sensed the wall of dislike from Aunt Mary, the vampiress was still willing to tour her aunt.

    Before leaving Calhoun''s room and joining the others in this room, Calhoun had spared a few words regarding her aunt. She decided to stay cautious and not leave Lucy alone with Aunt Mary. "I think we all can go there once we are done with tea?" Madeline suggested, and everyone nodded their head in agreement.

    When everyone finished drinking tea, the women got up, and Madeline was thest one to leave the table. While she was keeping the saucer on the table, the ceramic te cracked, and her eyes widened. She quickly left the room with others so that no one would notice the broken saucer. On their way to the chapel, Madeline could feel her head turning dizzy out of nervousness, and she held her hands together while also maintaining distance with the others.

    It was only a while ago, did she fall unconscious, and she didn''t want to faint again because this would only bring everyone''s attention on her.

    Beth who knew the way, walked in the front with their mother and aunt, while Madeline walked behind with Lucy, who now turned to whisper,

    "Are you alright, Lady Madeline?"

    Madeline''s head snapped to look at Lucy with a cautious expression on her face, "Yes," she nodded, "Why do you ask, Lady Lucy?"

    A smile broke on Lucy''s face, and she tapped her index finger on her chest, "It is your heart." The vampiress spoke softly so that the other threedies wouldn''t turn to listen or eavesdrop on their conversation, "It beats differently. I am very good at keeping secrets."

 Chapter 345 Keys and cards- Part 2

    <h4>345 Keys and cards- Part 2</h4>

    She didn''t want Lucy to be worried as she knew that the vampiress had her own problems right now. Lucy was trying to keep her head up, and preparing herself for the words that woulde to reach her once the news would spread about her dissolving her marriage with Samuel. Not to forget, Calhoun had broken the news to Lucy about her parents death.

    She would have spoken to Lucy on how she was doing, but with her family here, she decided to bring up the matterter.

    Lucy, who had no idea of what was going on with Madeline, said, "I can speak to brother Calhoun if you want," leaning closer as they walked, she said, "I know he has killed people before while drinking their blood."

    Madeline stared at Lucy for the words she whispered, "I know some things, so I can help if you want." Madeline shook her head.

    "That''s okay, Lady Lucy," replied Madeline and Lucy didn''t insist further.

    "You know whom to seek if you need help, right?" and Madeline smiled. Lucy was genuinely tremendous in offering her kindness, something that even humans didn''t do.

    When they entered the chapel, Madeline couldn''t help but remember what had happened thest time she was here with Calhoun. Her eyes darted to the pipe organ that stood at the front attached to the wall. This ce still looked beautiful, light passed through the blue tinted window leaving the shadow of the window on the floor.

    "It is indeed stunning," praised Aunt Mary, and Madeline''s mother nodded her head in agreement.

    "There''s so much detail on the walls and the ceiling. The King did a good job,"mended her mother.

    Lucy smiled hearing the women praise, "There are a lot of other ces in the castle that have been remodelled. Though most of the changes have been done at the backside of the castle, which often goes unexplored as not many pass by there," she exined, walking further inside the room, "Do you know how to y the instrument?" asked Lucy, her eyes falling on Madeline and Elizabeth.

    "I know how to y it," came Beth''s reply. There were some things she was extremely good at, and though she wanted to boast about it, she decided to keep her words to a minimum. She had dragged her feet earlier to have tea with thedies as she was still not ready to face them. In the corner of her eyes, she felt people looking at her, and in the back of her mind, she could feel herself sinking in embarrassment.

    "Would you like to y, Lady Elizabeth?" Lucy asked with a kind smile on her face.

    After having a little stroll in the corridors with Lady Lucy, Beth was sure that the vampiress despised her. But here she was, asking her to y. Walking towards the pipe organ, she sat down on the bench before opening the lid, to look down at the ck and white keys.

    Madeline looked at Beth''s frame from behind, wondering if things could return to the way they were before. The rtionship she had with her sister in the past was a precious one and she didn''t want to lose it. There were already enough people who were hard to trust, and she didn''t want Beth to be in that list. While she looked at Beth, Madeline felt her aunt''s gaze on her. Not shying away, she met her aunt''s eyes who offered her a smile.

    Beth continued to y when she heard a voice in the room, "What a beautiful piece!" It dropped her concentration where she ended up pressing the keys haphazardly, that left a blurring sound.

    "Mr. Sparrow," Lucy greeted the man, who was acquainted with Calhoun, "Were you taking a walk around here?"

    "Indeed," replied Raphael, "I was walking by when I heard the sound of the pipe organ and thought toe and see who is ying." His eyes fell on the girl who sat in front of the instrument, not turning back to look at him.

    Beth cursed under her breath. She felt like she was being followed by a fly that kept returning every time she thought she had shooed it away. Lady Lucy''s warning had been delivered lightly, and it had left her alerted, but this man! He had poked his nose, and after he had left, she had burst into tears.

    "Who is this?" asked Aunt Mary to Mrs. Harris, looking at the shabby man in the room.

    Madeline was the one to introduce him, "This is Raphael Sparrow. He is a close acquaintance of the King." Raphael bowed his head, and so did Aunt Mary, her eyes on the man who looked out of ce. Not because of his clothes, but there was something odd about him which she couldn''t point her finger on. "This is my Aunt Mary, my father''s sister."

    "A pleasure to be acquainted," said Raphael, a smile on his lips and the woman gave him a nod.

    "We were here to see the chapel so that Lady Mary and Lady Frances knew where the wedding would be held," informed Lucy, "There are only ten more days left and so much has to be done. I believe they will start decorating this ce and get the chairs sorted in here on thest two days before the wedding." Even though Lucy''s tone was calm, one could sense the hint of excitement in her voice.

    "A lot of us are looking forward to it," Raphael looked at Madeline.

    "What do you do for a living, Mr. Sparrow?" asked Aunt Mary, her eyes continuing to look at the man, wondering how the King was acquainted with him.

    "I read cards, mdy," came the quick response from Raphael.

    "Cards? You mean reading to say what luck and bad luck is approaching a person? How interesting," murmured Aunt Mary, "I knew a person who once used to read cards. He went by the name Walter."

    Madeline''s eyebrows raised subtly. She had heard this name when she had visited her''s and Beth''s memory. She doubted it was another Walter, and this was the same person whom her grandparents had taken her to, to burn her wings.

    "Walter?" asked Raphael, "I am not sure if I know a person who goes by that name and reads cards."

    "Of course, he doesn''t live here. He used to live somewhere near Carnival''s vige. He is an excellent card reader. It has been a while since Ist got my cards read. Do you have your cards with you?" asked Aunt Mary and Raphael offered the woman a polite smile.

    Unable to keep the words to herself, Beth turned to say, "I thought you didn''t believe in card reading, Aunt Mary."

    Madeline remembered how their aunt used to call it rubbish and waste of time, every time they attended the vige fair. "There''s no harm in a reading. It''s just for entertainment," Aunt Maryughed heartily. After many hours of not seeing each other in the eyes, Beth and Madeline''s eyes met in a silent exchange of thoughts.

 Chapter 346 Keys and cards- Part 3

    <h4>346 Keys and cards- Part 3</h4>

    Mary stared at the man, who shuffled the cards in his hands seamlessly before spreading it on the surface of the table. She pulled out three cards from the lot after which Raphael cleared the rest of the cards. This wasn''t her first time getting her cards read, and she had done it before by another person, someone who her parents were familiar with.

    Most of the card readers were nothing but faux who didn''t know what they were doing, but some of them who knew how to read the cards, they were mostly demons. The reason she had asked this man for a reading was not because she was enthusiastic to learn about her present or future, but because she wanted to know who this man was.

    Raphael turned one card after another for thedy to see. His eyebrows raised itself as he stared at the sequence of the cards, and he looked fascinated.

    "What does it say?" demanded Aunt Mary, and Madeline who was sitting near to the table, noticed Raphael''s expression.

    "I think you are one of the very few who has ever had this sequence. The first card here shows what you are destined to do. There is abundant wealth that ising on your way," he said, cing his finger on the card, "The second card, it tells how important this phase of your life is, which is ongoing. Hmm, there are creepers on the stick," Raphael rubbed his jaw, "It usually is connected to card one. The third one here, the upright sword. You shall reap the benefits for what you have worked. It looks neat," he smiled looking up at the woman.

    Mary, who was staring at the cards, told herself that this man didn''t know how to read them. He only saw the pictures and made all that up because this was not how the cards were supposed to be read. Nheless, she smiled,

    "Thank you for the wonderful reading. It was fun," and Mary got up from the chair, "Frances, would you like to take a reading too?"

    "I am fine without it. I will take a walk-"

    "Let me join you," said Aunt Mary, and the two women left.

    "How about you, Lady Lucy? Care for a card reading?" asked Raphael, seeing the vampiress get up.

    Lucy smiled, "Maybe some other time. Thank you for your time, Mr. Sparrow," and she too left the room with a bow.

    Madeline wondered if Calhoun or Theodore had warned Lucy in the past to not pick the card. Seeing her disappear behind the door, Madeline saw next was her sister who started to make her way towards the door, when Raphael said,

    "What about you, Lady Elizabeth? I am sure you haven''t got a reading done before," he said, looking at the girl who wanted to re at him but was trying not to.

    "How about we both take our readings," said Madeline, "It doesn''t take too long."

    Beth had been quiet since they hadst spoken, and Madeline hoped that her sister was reflecting on her actions. Even if it meant the change was small, she wished to help Beth, change the way she looked at things. That there were other important things apart from position and wealth.

    This was her trying to give Beth a window to change.

    Beth pursed her lips, before making her way towards the table, and Madeline couldn''t help but smile. She pulled the chair, and Beth murmured a thank you. Both the girls sat in front of Raphael and the man shuffled the cards. Spreading the cards again, he said, "Take two cards. One for the present, and one for the future."

    "Not three?" asked Beth as Aunt Mary had picked up three of them.

    "If you want," Raphael drawled looking at Beth''s green eyes. He had spoken enough in the morning. Therefore, he doubted she would like to hear about her past actions. And even though Beth had questioned about picking three cards, she ended up choosing two of them.

    Madeline was d to have Beth sitting next to her, willing to take a reading. Though she didn''t know what was going on in her sister''s mind, Madeline had learned to read Beth''s behaviour, and she knew somewhere, her sister was feeling remorseful with shame even though she wouldn''t openly express it even to herself.

    After Beth''s cards were read to her, Raphael read Madeline''s. Once they were done, Beth who still felt awkward with everything going around and with Raphael staring at her, she excused herself out of the room. Madeline had stayed back and she asked,

    "Was it the truth? The reading you gave today?"

    Raphael was putting the cards back in his trouser pocket, and he faintly smiled, "As your aunt said, I said those things for entertainment. But the cards pulled, they had their meaning."

    Madeline softly gulped, "What readings did you find?"

    "Your sister, she needs to make a choice. To her, it''s like walking on the edge of the sword where she can fall either on the good or on the bad side. You are doing a good job handling her. Must be years of experience?" Raphael''s tone was friendly.

    Madeline smiled withoutmenting on it, "What about my aunt?" The way Raphael read Aunt Mary''s cards, it was as if she was going to turn to a wealthy woman.

    Raphael''s face turned serious, and his voice lowered,?"Stay wary of her. She seems to havee here with ill intentions," and he said, "The treasure is you, Lady Madeline."

    *

    THIS IS AN ONGOING BOOK.

 Chapter 347 Old house- Part 1

    <h4>347 Old house- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline stared at the table where the cards had been spread earlier. It came less as a shock that her aunt hade here with ill intentions of using her, unlike her grandparents, who hade to the castle to bury her back in the coffin. Raphael spoke about her being the treasure which Aunt Mary had been looking for.

    "What if there is no treasure?" questioned Madeline. Because ording to Lady Ruth''s ghost in the closed cemetery, what her grandparents knew was nothing but a false rumour.

    Raphael walked around the table toe and stand in front of her, "Treasure has many meanings, mdy. Something that is of great value, can be nothing to another person. While something dull might be of importance to someone else. Your cards show great potential," he said to her.

    Madeline''s lips were set in a thin line, when she asked, "The cards I chose were differentpared to what I pickedst time when I met you."

    The man nodded his head, "Indeed, they were different. It only shows how quickly things are changing around you. I can tell that you worry that if you close your eyes, you will miss things, but that''s okay. This is the time to keep your eyes open and believe in what you see."

    "Will you tell me what you read today when it came to me? The truth" said Madeline and Raphael''s ck eyes stared at her brown ones. The demon wondered if he should tell her the truth because of how sensitive the matter was. Having the gift of sight, he could tell what was going to happen in theing future, "I want to know," persisted the girl.

    "Death," said Raphael, his voice low, "Too many deaths surrounds you. Do not feel burdened over it. Things happen because they need to happen. There are sometimes when certain events need to run its time. You have the answers, and all you need to do is to bring the puzzles together. Things may seem scattered, but that is only so that you can take in the information you are receiving."

    Madeline wasn''t sure if she should tell what happened, but knowing how Calhoun trusted Raphael, she decided to reveal to him, "I see dreams that are not something I would like to see. I think they are premonitions of what happened or what is going to happen in the future. I saw Calhoun''s dead body in the dream."

    Raphael''s expression stayed the same, without having a hint of indifference on his face, "Was it you?" he asked.

    Madeline nodded her head, "There was blood on my hands, and that was his," the words came out slowly out of her mouth.

    It was one of the most vivid dreams she had, and she still remembered it, as if it was taking ce in front of her right now. Calhoun''s cold body next to her, his eyes closed as if he was sleeping, and the blood continued to spread on the bedsheet of the bed, inch by inch. She snapped out of her thoughts, looking back at Raphael.

    Was she calling the King to be innocent? Asked Raphael in his mind, "Maybe he isn''t, and that is why you killed him in your dream?"

    Raphael''s words were not helpful as it only had Madeline worried more, but the man internally smiled. It seemed like the King of Devon had someone who cared for him.

    Madeline looked left and right, her eyes falling on the window. "Let me show you," she said, walking towards the window and standing next to it. Raphael looked slightly perplexed as he didn''t know what thedy wanted to show him. Taking a deep breath, she ced her hand on the window, and within a second, the ss shattered to fall on the ground.

    The demon looked astonished seeing what happened, "As I said, you have great potential. All you need to do now is to harness it and keep it under control, making use of it only when it is needed," advised Raphael.

    If only she knew how to do it, thought Madeline to herself.

    "You know," drawled Raphael, "When I first took your reading, I hade to know that you were something different, a stark contrastpared to Calhoun. He is as different as you, though I was never able to find more about him, apart from him being a demon. I think you both suit each other. Not just by nature, but also the abilities."

    Madeline''s eyes fell on the pieces of sses that were on the ground. At this rate, every rtive of hers would turn vile with the intention of wanting to have a dark angel to sacrifice for powers.

    "Thank you," she thanked him for telling the truth about what he read.

    "I just read cards," he shrugged.

    "Can I say something?" asked Madeline and the man nodded his head for her to go on, "I know it isn''t nice to say, but Elizabeth has always looked at the outer appearance of things and then liked it." She could see his interest in her sister, and she also knew the kind of men her sister always looked up to.

    Raphael smiled, "I know what you mean. I will see youter, mdy," he bowed his head, taking a step outside the room. He knew what Beth''s eyes pursued, but this time, he wanted her to look deeper than outer appearances. With a small smile on his face, he went on his way.

    Madeline stayed in the room alone next to the window as air passed through it that moved the strands of her hair gently.

    Nobody liked to hear that they were going to be the reason for people''s death. She pursed her lips, only if she could remember the face of the angel in her dream. Looking down at the ground, she turned herself and brought her hand up to see the ss pieces shake on the floor as if they were trying to move.

    *

    THIS IS AN ONGOING BOOK.

 Chapter 348 Old house- Part 2

    <h4>348 Old house- Part 2</h4>

    Putting more strength and focus, Madeline continued to stare at the ss pieces until they started to rise further and further up in the air. As she twisted her hand, the shards of sses began to move towards the open window. She could feel the resistance from them because of the air that moved against them.

    "I was worried where you went," came the voice behind her. Madeline realizing she was doing something which no one knew about, she lost her focus and the ss pieces that were up in the air until now dropped fast on the floor, breaking into many more pieces than before.

    Her head snapped around to see Calhoun leaning against the wall, staring at her. "When did youe here?" she asked, as she had not heard the door open or close after Raphael left the room.

    Calhoun pushed himself from the wall, standing straight before he sauntered towards her with his long legs. His eyes fell on the floor where the pieces of ssid, and he said, "Maybe a minute or two. I didn''t know you were practising by yourself."

    "I didn''t want the maids to have more work because of me," replied Madeline. Calhoun stepped closer to her, leaning forward and his lips brushed against the side of her head.

    "What a thoughtful Queen thend of Devon is going to have. My beautiful rose." When he inhaled, he smelt the fragrance of rose wafting up his nose. He didn''t know how heaven smelt like, where everyone wanted to go, but he believed that if it truly existed, then it would smell just like this.

    Calhoun was the King of Devon, but things didn''t change much from what or who he was. After his mother''s death, he hade to the castle intending to bring people down, worse than where his mother was pushed into. To remind them what it felt like, to be on the other side. And though he had everything he could have right now, the one thing he wanted to secure and keep was this one person who was in the room with him. Right now, she looked up at him with her brown eyes.

    "Can I ask you something?" asked Madeline and Calhoun nodded his head, "Did you sense my aunt''s intentions?"

    A grin broke through Calhoun''s lips, "It isn''t hard to figure out why she''s here. She reeks of suspicion."

    "Curious little rose of mine," whispered Calhoun, "Do you know, sometimes we drop a piece of sweet in the room, waiting for the ants toe out from their hiding and the cracks of the walls. So that we know where the ants are hiding, and how many ants mighte out from those cracks."

    Madeline furrowed her eyebrows. "You are waiting for others to show up who might want me?"

    Calhoun nodded his head, "Yes. One of my very reliable sources in the castle said that your aunt had gone to meet your grandparents, on their request. I believe your grandparents nned to put you in the coffin and then return to meet her, but that obviously didn''t happen as they are the one''s resting now. As the meeting didn''t take ce, she must have decided toe here. Your aunt might not be a fallen angel because of the generation skip, but greed and the need for power doesn''t skip out of genes. If there are other''s, they wille out."

    "Why not stop the trail of the first ant?" asked Madeline.

    "Because one will never stop seeking out that one dark angel. The chase won''t stop, and I rather have you living in peace than worry of what the future might bring. Just finish it in one go and then live with the bad wolf happily ever after," smiled Calhoun broadly. "Don''t worry. I got it."

    But Madeline was not happy with it. She worried that somewhere in the future, there mighte a time where she would be the cause of his pain and hurt, for his death, "Things shouldn''t be this way."

    Despite how things had started with Calhoun and her, it was different now. It meant a lot to her that he was here listening to her. Remembering living in the coffin for all those years, that night where her small hands banged the lid of the coffin from inside where no one was there. She felt suffocated. But having Calhoun next to her now, she knew there were some things he would protect her from, where she could rely on him. Seeing him give a questioning look, she said, "You shouldn''t have to protect me always. I should do it too."

    "From whom do you want to protect me?" chuckled Calhoun, amusement filling up his eyes.

    "From me."

    Calhoun stared at her, "In the game of chess, though it is important to have the King on the board, it is the Queen who is considered to be the most powerful piece��having abilities and skills like no other. Even more than the King. You want to feel useful?" He got his cheek forward, "I would like a kiss," he said.

    Madeline sighed. She was speaking something serious, and he had changed the conversation. Was he hiding or evading something from her? It only worried her further. When she went to lean over to kiss his cheek, Calhoun turned around such that her lips met his and she felt him snake his hand around her waist.

    He kissed her before letting go of her waist, "There. All worries have now disappeared," he murmured to see her cheeks turn red, "I have done far better things than a kiss, and you are shy." Madeline coughed, her eyes darting to look behind at the door that had opened. It was a maid who had stepped in and was quick to bolt out of there after seeing the King.

    "Pardon me, my King!" The maid bowed her head as deep as she could, holding a broom and a bucket in her hand, "Mr. Sparrow said that the room needed some cleaning."

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed at the maid in annoyance for interrupting his time with Madeline, and the maid shook in evident fear. Calhoun felt Madeline ce her hand on his arm and his eyes softened. He said,

    "There''s somece I want to take you."

    Madeline wondered where Calhoun nned to take her, but when they arrived at the ce, she looked at the same alley, which wasn''t as empty as it was in the past. Things that were there right now dissolved and things that weren''t there appeared in front of her eyes just like how it was in the past.

    Calhoun had brought her to the same ce which she had recently visited in her dream.

 Chapter 349 Old house- Part 3

    <h4>349 Old house- Part 3</h4>

    "What are we doing here?" asked Madeline, turning around she met Calhoun''s eyes which were calm.

    Madeline doubted that Calhoun had brought her just to look at the alley and like always there was something more than what met the eyes. "Not too far away from here, there''s a vige. It is where my mother and I used to live in the past. Will you apany me there?" he asked, stretching his hand towards her and Madeline took it without any hesitance.

    Calhoun didn''t use his wings, and instead, they walked to the next vige. She couldn''t believe that the previous ce where he used to live wasn''t too far away from her grandparent''s house. On the way, he said,

    "My mother thought it would be safe for her and me to live away from the castle and the people."

    "But that didn''t work," whispered Madeline, remembering what he said,

    "It didn''t. In the beginning, she moved to a vige not too far away from the castle because she was still too attached to my father," chuckled Calhoun, a dryugh escaping his lips, "Seeing her, I believed how foolish one could turn when they were in love," saying this, he turned to look at her. Was Calhoun epting he was foolish to be in love? Thought Madeline to herself.

    "Even after I was born, she yearned for the man. She didn''t move on until my dear grandmother, and Rosamund gave her the push she needed by sending men to take advantage of her. Sullying her name."

    Madeline didn''t know what she should ask or what she shouldn''t so that it doesn''t offend him, though she doubted if there was anything that could cause an offence to the King unless he decided to call it one and have the person executed.

    "How did your mothere here to Devon? I mean before she met thest King," she asked Calhoun.

    Calhoun twisted his lips, "I asked her several times about it. When she was in a better mood," he replied, "But she often stayed quiet about it. I could see regret in her eyes, but they disappeared when she looked at me."

    "She must have loved and held you very dear to her heart," stated Madeline and she saw him smile.

    Remembering some of their conversations, she recollected on how Calhoun sounded like he didn''t pity his mother for allowing the previous King into her heart like she was truly a fool in love, an idiot who lost everything because of the man. But at the same time, she could tell Calhoun cared for his mother. It was because he treasured the person enough to give her a coffin while throwing the other resident of the coffin out to be left to be dposed.

    "Don''t people recognize you here?" She looked around at people who didn''t bother to bow or greet him. Not a word, except for some side nce at Calhoun. She found it to be rather odd that people here didn''t know who the King was. It must be because they had never seen him before.

    "It has been more than two decades since I openly walked on the road. Some have forgotten, but there are old people who still recognize me." So it was only the younger ones. She still remembered the time when she and Beth were talking about Calhoun where they hadn''t had a glimpse of him before the ball.

    When they entered the vige, Madeline immediately recognized the market which they were walking by. It was the same market which she had seen in the painting that was in the castle. The ce was busy and bustling, and Madeline stuck close to Calhoun, who was more than happy to put his arm around her.

    Madeline saw a couple of people who stared at them as they passed by them.

    They finally stopped when they reached almost the end of the other side of the vige, "Here is the house," announced Calhoun, looking at a ck, abandoned house which looked like lightning had struck it. "Not too far away from here, there is a graveyard, because of which it turned this house to be the cheapest back in that time. It was something my mother could afford through the money that was given by other men," his voice turned cold as he said thest words.

    Looking around, she noticed how the other houses near to this house were deserted. Stepping inside, she noticed how there wasn''t enough space. It was a ce of two rooms, and some things were left as it is, untouched. Like the bed that was broken, the window that had no ss, and there were some utensils in the first room.

    There were cobwebs in every corner of the house, and she heard Calhoun say,

    "I made sure that the magistrate wouldn''t give the house to anyone. So a rumour was spread about ghosts haunting in the other two houses next to this one," that exined empty houses, thought Madeline to herself. "This house, I didn''t want to let it go. Not because my mother and I lived here. But because it holds bitter memories."

    Madeline noticed an envelope in the corner of the room that looked out of ce, as it looked new. Moving towards it, she picked it up from the ground.

    "What did you find?" asked Calhoun.

    "It looks like a letter."

 Chapter 350 Eyes everywhere- Part 1

    <h4>350 Eyes everywhere- Part 1</h4>

    ''Dear Lady Constance,

    It has been a while since west spoke. I write this letter to you in the hope that you are doing well and as requested by you, I wanted to inform you that the bat is now awake. Please do write to me to the same address we first spoke about. The ce thates after the water and the trees.''

    Madeline, who was reading the letter standing next to Calhoun craned her neck. she looked up to see him, "The letter is addressed to your mother."

    Calhoun didn''t reply. He stared at the letter, his face serious, "Looks like there was someone who cared about my mother. Unfortunately, the letter came toote." It felt years had passed by since his mother''s death, "She never spoke about anyone. From where she came."

    "Not even your grandfather?" questioned Madeline.

    He shook his head, "Especially not him. It made the man look like he was a control freak, and wanted things to go the way he wanted." He looked at the word before his mother''s name. Lady. People didn''t often address a woman with status unless they were of high importance. Until now, all Calhoun knew was that his grandfather was sleeping, hibernating, "He''s awake."

    Madeline frowned, wondering who Calhoun was speaking about.

    "The bat. It refers to my grandfather. He''s awake from his hibernation," stated Calhoun.

    Calhoun''s grandfather?

    Madeline wondered why the person had left a letter to his mother, like the person had sent out a warning to be aware and cautious, "Did your mother ever speak to anyone else?" she asked him. She didn''t know if Calhoun was interested in finding the person who had written the letter to his mother? Looking at him right now, it didn''t seem like he was interested. His face was calm, just like before the storm.

    "Apart from the men who fucked her? No," came the words from Calhoun who didn''t mince his words. In the next second, the letter caught fire and disappeared from his hand. They heard some ttere from outside, and both of them turned to look at the door. "Shall we return?" he asked with a smile back upon his lips.

    Madeline wondered what Calhoun was thinking right now, which he concealed with a smile on his lips. All these years, she believed she had a perfect family. Grandparents who doted on her and her sister Beth as they always invited them over to their house. An aunt who liked to teach them the life of the high society which somewhere every one of them secretly craved for. Parents who were kind and generous and a sister, even though Beth was self-centred, she was still someone whom Madeline had relied on.

    There must have been somethings in his past that had scarred and carved him to be the person he was.

    When Madeline stepped out of the house, she took note of a man who stood in front of the house holding a rod in his hand. Calhoun, who stepped out of the house noticed the man, and he greeted,

    "Holden."

    "I thought I would not see you here, Calhoun. You have the nerve to show up here," said the man, whose clothes were shabby and his face holding patches of mud on it. "Came here to reminisce about the past," he said, hitting the end of the rod on his palm.

    Madeline looked back and forth between the two men, wondering if the man named Holden was a friend or a foe of Calhoun. It looked like he didn''t care about Calhoun''s status. When Holden''s eyes fell on Madeline, her back straightened, and she could felt a maic pull towards Calhoun for safety. But at the same time, she felt her hands starting to sizzle.

    "I see your speech has not been fixed even after years. No wonder you are still in this hellhole," chuckled Calhoun.

    Holden''s face hardened in scorn, "What can I say, I am not someone to kill my own parent''s to climb on the socialdder. And who is thisdy? Come here to shack, is it?"

    One would wonder if the King would be angered by the rude words spoken towards Madeline, but instead, Calhoun responded with, "Unfortunately, the bed is broken. Maybe if you could fix the bed and add a new mattress we could do it," he taunted. Calhoun suddenly push her away as Holden came right at him with the rod up in his hand.

    The rod came to crash straight at the wall, breaking the already fragile wall as bricks fell on the ground while leaving a cloud of dust in the air. Madeline stepped away from the house, to see the man with the rod look around for Calhoun.

    "What are you doing by dodging my attack?" asked Holden.

    "I don''t want tomit a murder today," said Calhoun, who had quicklye to stand behind him. But suddenly two wings erupted out of the viger''s back. Seeing this Madeline frowned. When the cloud of dust settled down on the ground, she saw the wings were not simr to Calhoun''s wings, but they were bat-like wings.

    The man quickly turned around, he swiped his hand in front of Calhoun in an effort to get a hold of him. Calhoun pulled another rod from the wall of the house that seemed to be sticking out, to block Holden. The vigerughed, "I was hoping you woulde here so that I could get even with you for what you didst time."

    "It is unfortunate that I do not remember what happened," replied Calhoun while taking a step back and swinging his arm to have the rod hit the viger''s face. Madeline flinched when she heard the crack sound that came when the metal touched the demon''s head.

    The person stopped moving, his body leaning forward with his head that looked like it had moved to the side along with his jaw. He wasn''t a human but a demon and she saw him twist his jaw back to its position.

    "How would you like to die today?" asked Holden, "You know you cannot kill me, don''t you?" he grinned, and Madeline noticed the jagged teeth of the man, reminding her of a fish that was caught by one of the fishermen, "You might not remember what happened, but you killed my wife. Ripped her apart in two pieces. How could you do it?"

    "Haven''t you heard that demons don''t fall in love unless they are destined to be together? And I already told you, she wasn''t someone who wanted to live with you. She preferred me, which was why she came to me that night," came the casual words from Calhoun before the demon went to attack him again. Since this was a secluded ce where they stood away from the main vige and market area, no one was around to see Calhoun or the man fight with each other.

    What did the man mean Calhoun couldn''t kill him? Questioned Madeline in her mind. It seemed like both of them had a feud years ago because Calhoun had killed the man''s wife and the demon wanted to get even.

    The other houses that were around them started to copse as the rods came in contact with the walls, one hit after another. Madeline had never seen a pure demon, who at first nce looked like a human. As more clouds of dust appeared in the air, Holden turned his head to look at her.

    "What do you think about tit for tat, huh Calhoun?" asked Holden, making his way quickly like an arrow dashing towards Madeline. But before the demon could harm her, a gunshot was heard, and she saw a red round mark form on the demon''s forehead. And he fell on the ground.

    *

    THIS IS AN ONGOING BOOK.

 Chapter 351 Eyes everywhere- Part 2

    <h4>351 Eyes everywhere- Part 2</h4>

    "We need to put him in a coffin," suggested Calhoun and Madeline who was still in shock with the sudden attack that took ce. She followed Calhoun, who dragged the demon''s body to the forest.

    She looked down at the dead demon. She had never heard about a demon being buried in the coffin. She wondered if it was the same like vampires who died, and was left to rest in the coffin box.?Madeline, who was walking behind them, curiously eyed the demon before asking,

    "Why did you kill his wife?"

    Calhoun knew this question was going toe up since Holden had mentioned about his wife''s death a few minutes ago, "She killed people. So I killed her," was his simple answer.

    "Why did she kill people?" asked Madeline, "Did you know there are other demons in here?"

    "Not many," answered Calhoun, "Theodore might be the first one I met and befriended. A lot of them stay disguised, blending with the humans so that no one will evere to suspect and they can continue to live their lives. I found killing humans, some of my potential blood givers. Using them as a sacrifice. Demons like to y innocent here."

    Madeline''s eyes moved around them as they walked past one tree after another, heading towards the inner heart of the jungle. In the past, it must have been convenient to have a nearby graveyard, thought Madeline to herself.

    "What did you mean by sacrifice?"

    "In the realm of demons, the more you kill, the higher position you achieve in the underworld," exined Calhoun, "People enjoy doing bad things, to achieve higher power. At least that is what I heard. Theodore also came up with the theory that it was because of the past deeds that I have my wings. But we know it''s not true."

    Madeline questioned in her mind if his grandfather, who was now awake, woulde to find out that his daughter was dead and also find out that he had a grandson. Looking at Calhoun, she couldn''t believe she was following him to the graveyard to bury a demon. Her eyes kept darting left and right. While Calhoun was dragging the demon''s leg, on the way, the demon''s head clunked with a stone on the ground, and she noticed the demon groan.

    Her eyes widened, and she said, "He''s alive!"

    "That''s what he said, darling. I cannot kill him," said Calhoun before going to exin, "He''s a level three demon, and we will need more than holy water and silver bullets to send him back underground."

    "Keeping him in the coffin will be enough?" It was because she wasn''t able to stay in the coffin forever.

    At one part of the borders of thend of Devon, stood a tower with walls surrounding it. It was the ce of the High House, where people worked in the name of providing justice and help to the public. But in truth, it was used only for their benefits so that they could hold most of the control and power on thends of the humans, vampires, and some of the werewolves. But there were also other creatures like the fallen angels and demons existed in this very earthly realm.

    A carriage entered therge gates of the High House, moving towards the entrance before it stopped and a lean man stepped out of the carriage. He made his way through the entrance and the dark walls that stood on either side where he walked, which was lit by torches of fire. His eyes were ck in colour and his hair brown.

    He continued to walk until he reached therge double doors, pushing them open to see the members of High House sitting with Helena who sat at the centre as she was the head of this ce.

    "You seem to have returned here sooner than we expected. Did you finish the job that was given, Luther?" asked Lilith, who stood next to Dimitri, holding a set of parchments in her hands.

    The man named Luther, bowed his head, offering his greetings before he stood up, "Lady Helena, I have some important news to share. There has been one more murder, actually three murders in the house that was part of thetest closed case."

    The blonde woman who sat at the tallest seating chair in this vast room had a look of displeasure on her face. Something she often wore when she was in this room because of the news and information that was delivered to her.

    Helena inquired, "Which one are you speaking about, Luther?"

    "Madame, it is the body that was found in Mr. Heatcliff''s residence in the vige of East Carswell," answered Luther, "The case that involved the King."

    "You mean the King''s cousin," corrected the silver-haired man who was seated on Helena''s left side.

    Luther''s eyes fell on the person who corrected him.. "The King''s cousin was found to be guilty, but the King had also gone through the trial. We cannot forget that," smiled the man, and the silver-haired man returned the smile.

    Just when Luther turned to look at Helena, the silver-haired man spoke again, "Is the King involved in the current case?"

    "He might be, which is why I am here," Luther replied before looking back at Helena, "The bodies that were retrieved from there belonged to the daughter of Issac Barnes, Lady Catherine and there were two other men who were found dead along with her. The bodies were found inside the house. Lady Catherine was the one who spoke in favour of the King."

    Lady Helena was barely amused, "And you believe that it is enough to judge that the King of Devon is guilty? You need to remember that just because we are called the High House, it still doesn''t mean you can call the King to be guilty without any solid evidence. Following just upon instinct and listening to words from others is foolish enough to earn you an execution." She stared at the man in front of her through her monocle.

    "But isn''t that why the High House came into existence to provide a fair judgement?" questioned Lilith.

    "I think it would be best for people to not speak about fairness when they let their emotions cloud their judgement," Helena didn''t have to look at Lilith to let the demoness know that her words were for Lilith. Weasley, who stood on the other side smiled, clearing his throat when Lilith looked at him.

    "What more information did you find there? What happened to the man whom the house belongs to?" questioned Helena.

    "James Heathcliff? There has been no information about the man. He has been missing since he had been used," answered Luther and Helena frowned.

    "Find him," ordered the woman.

 Chapter 352 Eyes everywhere- Part 3

    <h4>352 Eyes everywhere- Part 3</h4>

    "Milord!" came Charmire''s excited voice, who was on his way to step outside the prison building. As the King was going in, Charmire turned around and followed the King, "I got Dougs arrested right away and have him in the prison."

    Reaching the cell room, Calhoun saw a man with a potbelly who was sitting on the ground with a worried expression on his face. On hearing the footsteps, the man stood up quickly, "My King!" he bowed his head, "Please help me! They have imprisoned me for no reason!"

    Calhoun faintly remembered the face of this man, having probably met through someone. "The arrows made in your shop has been found stuck in the vampiress'' body. Did you identify the arrow to be one that you made?"

    "Yes, they are made in my shop, milord. But that doesn''t mean I killed her. It must be one of my customers!"

    "Ah, is that so?" drawled Calhoun, "And who are these customers? Have you given the responsible Charmire the list of these customers whom you dealt in the past?"

    Hearing the King''s words, the magistrate''s chest puffed forward, "My King, I have them all written in here." Charmire pulled out the scroll in which he had got the names.

    "Don''t worry, Mr. Dous, you will be out in no time once we find the actual culprit," assured Calhoun, "If we were to let you go, we don''t know when the murderer mighte for your neck, and we don''t want that now, do we?" he smiled brightly.

    When he turned to the magistrate, the man quickly left to get the real culprit while Calhoun stayed with Theodore, "Mr. Dous, I was wondering what other elements you make use of while making the weapons in your shop? There are only a few people who have ess to silver."

    "Yes, milord. My father''s father was the one to start the shop, and he used to make them before, to hunt the...vampires who caused trouble in the viges as they picked up humans and left the bodies behind."

    "Sounds like the previous King didn''t do a decent job when it came to protecting his subjects, isn''t it?" chuckled Calhoun and Mr. Dous didn''t know if he was supposed to join the King with augh or refuse the ims, "Knowing you aren''t someone who is involved in the deaths, I have something to ask from you."

    "Anything, milord!" came the quick words from Mr. Dous.

    When Calhoun was done speaking with the man, he and Theodore left the cell, this time making their way out, "Do you think we are going to have many visitors in the castle?" asked Theodore, his face passive without any expression.

    It was difficult to pinpoint who was a demon or a fallen angel because they all took over the appearance of humans, blending into the background seamlessly without standing out.

    "The water," said Calhoun and Theodore, who was looking at the vigers, turned his gaze back at the King, "Get the water connected to the church that is here. The most obvious ones will cough up turning allergic, and have the men deal with them."

    "Yes, milord," Theodore obliged to Calhoun''s words, "Allow me to go take a look at the church," and he left Calhoun''s side.

    Calhoun saw Theodore leave, and as he stood there watching people pass by, he heard a calm and steady footsteps approach behind him. A smile spread on his face, and he turned around.

    "I wasn''t expecting you here,"mented Calhoun, seeing who it was.

    "Tell me why I expected you to be here?" asked Helena, who wore clothes that helped her blend in with the other vigers and townspeople who had stepped into the vige.

    "Because you wanted to meet me?" Calhoun tilted his head, "What are you doing here?"

    "One of my men, Luther said he finds your involvement in the current case. I wanted to see it for myself if it was true because sometimes people miss out details while rying the information." Helena''s eyes fell on the entrance of the prison, and it then fell back on Calhoun, "Did youe here to meet someone whom you know?"

    "I heard about what happened in the tailorman''s house, and I decided to take a look. Just like you," chimed Calhoun. This way, Helena couldn''t tell Calhoun was suspicious because that would mean, she calling herself to be suspicious too.

    "You said the girl was the one who killed the dutchess'' daughter. Yet, here she was found dead. Was it the tailor who killed her?" asked Helena, her eyes sharp, and her lips set in a thin line.

    Calhoun knew Helena for some years now, and she was possibly one of the smartest women he had met. But not sharp enough to know who or what he was.

    "When did I tell you that Catherine killed Miss La?" asked Calhoun quizzically.

    Helena''s eyes narrowed, "Didn''t you tell about the culprit not being caught? Or were you speaking about yourself?"

    "I tell a lot of things, Lady Helena. It needn''t be all true," he chuckled. Oh James, thought Calhoun to himself. Helena was intelligent enough to question James'' involvement in recent death directly. "Mr. Heathcliff has not visited the vige, and how can a human kill a vampire? He doesn''t seem like the type to kill people," stated Calhoun calmly.

    "I wouldn''t be surprised if you had a hand in it," Helena''s words were direct.

    A broad smile came to spread on Calhoun''s lips, and he said, "I am not the killer always. You should keep your options open."

 Chapter 353 Sinned blood- Part 1

    <h4>353 Sinned blood- Part 1</h4>

    "Who do you think killed the girl?" she questioned Calhoun, "I heard that you were close to Issac Barnes. You should have been quite familiar with his daughter Catherine."

    "Catherina, yes," agreed Calhoun, "I even made sure to convince her father with whom she wanted to marry. James Heathcliff."

    "I would have never pegged you to be the helping kind,"mented Helena and Calhoun''s lips twitched.

    "You would be rather surprised that I am a giver," replied Calhoun. A giver of death, he thought to himself.

    "I wouldn''t doubt," said Helena, looking at Calhoun through her monocle and picking up his expressions, "It looks more than coincidence to find people dead in the same house. Not to forget, Lady Catherine was going to get married to Mr. Heathcliff, wasn''t she?"

    Calhoun nodded his head, "It is unfortunate, that Catherine died before she could get married. Dying at a young age is a pity," he responded before looking at the direction where Theodore had gone.

    "Do you know who might have killed her?" It would be strange if Calhoun wasn''t aware of who killed the girl and the other two people, thought Helena in her mind.

    "If I told you wouldn''t you doubt me more, which you already do," hummed Calhoun, a crinkle of smile appeared on his lips, "Mr. Dous who is now imprisoned, he has listed out some names of his customers. One among them is Mr. Barnes himself, who purchases weapons from this person."

    "You are telling me Mr. Barnes orchestrated his daughter''s death? Was it to frame Mr. Heathcliff?" a frown came to settle on Helena''s face, "Here I thought he loved his daughter."

    "Oh, he does. So much that he didn''t want her getting married into a family who was poor in staturepared to his own family," Calhoun''s voice was nonchnt, and it barely raised or fell in its tone, "Charmire is already working on it, so why don''t you let him do his job?"

    "If I believed people would do their job, I wouldn''t be here. People are as corrupt as one can find," she looked at Calhoun, "Why don''t we take a visit to the ce where the deaths took ce?" she proposed, and Calhoun happily obliged without having an issue with it.

    Helena ran her hands across the walls of the house when they reached Heathcliff''s residence, "It reeks of blood here," she muttered under her breath. Looking around, she bent down to pick something from the corner of the kitchen, "Did the magistrate or someone in the neighbourhood confirm if Mr. Heathcliff owns a pet?"

    "I will take this with with me to see what information I can get. Didn''t you tell that there have been werewolves? If they are there, I will need to talk to Sebastian about it. The Warring''s have not been controlling the werewolves. Some rogue werewolves must have escaped," said Helena, "I have arranged a meeting with the Kings and some other men so that some of the issues can be discussed to avoid conflicts."

    "Sounds good to me," chimed Calhoun, "I guess that is all that is there in here? I believe that you know your way out from here, Lady Helena." Thedy was smart enough to not need any assistance, and he was about to leave when Helena said,

    "I know something is going on in here. It would be best if you don''t take part in it and stay clear."

    Calhoun turned his head to meet Helena''s red eyes, "And what is going on in here?" The woman stared at Calhoun. He had the habit of behaving ignorant when in truth, he knew far more things than she or others did. But it was Helena who was in charge of things, not just the High House but through the order which was given in the past.

    "I know that you are aware of the existence of the demons. Don''t get involved in it," her face held the severe expression that she always wore, and one would always question if the woman ever smiled.

    Calhoun only smiled at the woman''s naive words, "I will try not to," and he left the house, making his way to the ce where Theodore was waiting for him, "Is it done?"

    "Yes, milord. There''s a water channel that connects the other houses and the well in the vige. The water only needs to be blessed, and we will find out. I will go to the other towns and viges nearby," informed Theodore and Calhoun gave a satisfied nod, "I saw her," he was speaking about the High Housedy, "What is she doing here?"

    "Trying to see for herself if I had any involvement in the recent murders," replied Calhoun with a smile and his fangs peeked out, "I told her to check with Mr. Barnes." They started to head in the direction where the carriage stood.

    Calhoun would have loved to y a little longer but unlike Mr. Barnes daughter''s wedding which was not going to take ce as she was dead, and with James who had disappeared from everyone''s sight, Calhoun had no interest in changing the dates of his own wedding with Madeline. There were also other things that were hanging in the air. It would be better to get unnecessary things out of his way so that his time could be utilized where it was important. He was waiting for other demons or fallen angels to show up so that he could send them back underground.

    Demons, in general, were supposed to live underground, while the angels were supposed to live in heavens, while the humans, fallen angels, and the vampires were led to live on this earthlynd. The issue here was that, with some demons who turned to vampires, some demons started to enter the realm of the living.

    "Leave the evidence in his mansion," ordered Calhoun. Before Helena woulde to the conclusion that the murder was done by James or a possible werewolf, it was better to have concrete evidence against Mr. Barnes, after all, he was the one who was responsible for his daughter.

    In this ce, if one knew how to escape and not get caught, killing people was not a big deal. They were vampires who craved and enjoyed blood. Calhoun had killed people for his own amusement and gains. He was aware that he wasn''t a good person. His hands were not clean, which was why Helena hade here to check.

    As they made their way through the busy street, a woman who wasing in the other direction crashed against Calhoun, and she quickly bowed in apology, "Forgive me, milord!" He looked down at her expressionlessly and walked away, while the woman continued to stand there looking at the King for a few seconds more before she was joined by a man.

    "I smell the girl on him," said the woman to the man, both their eyes ck in colour.

    "The King?" asked the man.

    The woman who stood there nodded her head. Her hair red in colour. "I thought I smelt wrong, but I was right. Her scent is strong. She must be spending a lot of time with him, which is why the smell is so potent. Rich in taste."

    "We should go get her then-"

    "Not now! We are waiting for the word. All of us are waiting for the right time. It has been so many years," the woman''s eyes turned pitch ck for the kind of creature she belonged to and with another blink of her eyes, it turned back to the human eyes, "The first time I didn''t know. But the second time, I wanted to kill her," there was a look of longing in the woman''s eyes.

    "Let us go let others know, Jennine," the man said before both of them disappeared in the crowd.

    .

    NEWS: ''The Crown''s Obsession'' has won the gold award in thepetition that was held by Webnovel, and as one of the award, they will be featuring the book in NYC Timesquare Billboard. I just want to thank everyone who have been supporting the book by reading,menting, voting and showering your constant support. Thank you again because this means a lot!

 Chapter 354 Sinned blood- Part 2

    <h4>354 Sinned blood- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Madeline had locked herself in the room, sitting on the floor and in front of the ss pieces which she had broken out of purpose. Since the time she had seen the ss pieces raise, she was trying to see if she could fix something after breaking it. Using both her hands, she now controlled them in midair.

    By what she had heard so far, she was not a human nor was she a fallen angel. She didn''t know what powers a dark angel held apart from killing people mercilessly for their deeds. But she wanted to know if she could do something useful, something that didn''t lead to destruction. The ss pieces started to move closer to each other, moving to settle one after another, and after a few more seconds, she saw the ss return to its previous state. A smile grew on her lips, and Madeline couldn''t tell how happy she was, to see she had done something with her ability.

    Picking up the ss in her hand, she stood up, taking two steps towards the table so that she could keep it when she felt a pain shoot down her back. Her feet stopped when the pain grew more, her grip in her hands tightened to break the ss that she had been holding.

    "AH!" she gasped for air, her face contouring itself in pain.

    Madeline fell on the floor. Her body coiled closer, and she gasped for more air. Her hand started to bleed because of the ss pieces that had pierced through her skin, and two pieces of ss continued to stick out in her hand. But that wasn''t all where she was bleeding.

    Two red lines formed on the back of her beige dress before it started to spread on the fabric. She could feel the burn on her back. The pain on her palm felt to be nothingpared to what she felt on her back like her very soul was being sucked out of her body. To handle the pain, her hands turned to fists, but that only pushed the ss pieces further into her palms.

    Tears spilt out of her eyes because the pain felt worse than thest time she had experienced. Was her wingsing out? She didn''t know, and she wished there was someone whom she could speak to, someone who knew what was going on with her.

    Hearing her groan, the head maid of the castle who was walking past the room quickly went to knock on the door.

    "Mdy, is everything alright?" asked the maid, but Madeline could hardly hear the words over her pain. She didn''t hear anything, and she started to lose consciousness. The maid pushed the door and saw thedy on the ground.

    The person who had entered the room was none other than Nic. Her eyes quickly fell on the blood on the floor which was around thedy.

    "Mdy?!" eximed Nic, nudging Madeline''s arm as she was not responding. Was the girl dying?

    Like some of the maids, and women outside this castle, Nic disliked Madeline because of the closeness the girl shared with the King along with his interest that was fixed on the human. Nic didn''t see why she should not grant the wish of the girl wanted to die. The maid knew the King had his own quirks, and a simple human who was fragile like this one didn''t deserve to stay beside the King.

    Nic turned around, pushing the doors to lock them and decided to ease the girl''s death from the loss of blood.

    Turning back, she watched Madeline who appeared to be unconscious now groan in pain. "If you wanted to die so much, you should have asked me. I would have helped you with it," said Nic, "I knew you were trouble since the first day when the King decided to keep you in this castle. Someone like you, you wouldn''t understand how the King lives and what he wants. I know what he wants."

    It wasn''t anything new as vampires were sexually active creatures, and the King now as well as the previous King''s had always been serviced by the maids or other women.

    "You are like a newborn, what would you know?" chuckled Nic, "Don''t worry. I will make sure that you die, just as you want and you can live in peace." She wondered if it was the stress of the wedding that was approaching near, that had got to the human.

    Nic decided, once the human would reach the brink of her death, she would leave the room like she wasn''t here. And if someone did catch sight of her, she would make it look like she was the one to discover the body. After another minute passed, Nic decided to recheck the girl. Her hand reached out to touch the girl''s arm, but suddenly the girl caught hold of the maid''s hand.

    Startled, Nic looked up at Madeline''s face, who appeared to be still unconscious. Was she ying with her?! She tried to free her hand from the human''s hold, but she couldn''t pull away from the grip.

    "Are you fucking joking with me? Leave my hand?!" shouted the maid when she saw Madeline sit up.

    Thedy''s eyes looked clean white with her brown eyes missing and seeing this, the maid grew nervous. Why did the girl look like this?! The maid panicked and continued to pull her hand as hard as she could, "Let go of my hand!" she cried, which was when Madeline''s lips parted,

    "You have sinned..." came the whisper that stopped Nic from moving, "You need to be punished."

 Chapter 355 Sinned blood- Part 3

    <h4>355 Sinned blood- Part 3</h4>

    "Bitch! What are you saying!?" Nic spoke the words through her gritted teeth. She stood up from her crouching position. She didn''t know what this girl was ying at and if it was a ploy to get her in trouble.

    Madeline stood up along with Nic, her expression void of any emotion who continued to look at the maid, "AHHH!" Nic cried when Madeline''s hand put more pressure on her wrist, and a crack was heard in the room that was from breaking the bone, "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Nic didn''t care if she was cursing the future Queen to be as she was in miserable pain.

    But Madeline didn''t let go of the maid''s wrist. She looked as if she was in a trance and not in her conscious state.

    "I know what you did a few weeks ago," Madeline whispered, "You were the one who tried to poison the King. You sent the poison that was meant for him which ended up in the hands of the other maid."

    Nic''s eyes widened, "I don''t know what you are speaking about! You have no proof that I did it! Stop ming me and let go of me. I will scream that you are hurting me!" She didn''t know how a human could turn this strong! Seeing Madeline not release her hand, Nic parted her lips, ready to scream. But instead of a scream, a silent cry escaped her lips as she felt pain in her chest, and she coughed blood out of her mouth.

    She staggered back when Madeline released her hand.

    The maid looked scared at the sight of blood that was spewed out of her very own mouth. W-what just happened? She felt the pain return, making her chest squeeze excruciatingly, "W-what, are you doing to me, you crazy bitch!"

    Madeline stood there unflinchingly at what she did, and she replied, "Cleansing you."

    The maid was concentrating on the pain that she felt in her chest when she saw the room turn darker than before. It was then, did the maid''s mouth open wide in shock as she noticed the girl in front of her whom she had called weak started to glow in the room.

    This girl was not human but something more which she had been hiding from everyone! Thought Nic to herself.

    Nic was confused, and she slowly inched towards the door that she had locked previously, cursing herself on why she had even entered the room. But just when her hand reached the bolt of the door, she was thrown away from it to fall on the floor and she groaned in pain.

    Worried about her life, she pleaded, "Please let me out of the room."

    "You can leave this castle and the world," came the calm voice of Madeline that scared the maid.

    "NO!" shouted the maid only to throw up more blood.

    "I heard you wish death. Selfish, greed, untrusty to be serving people here. I hope God can forgive you." Madeline raised her hand to twist, and the maid in time saw something glow behind thedy''s back. She couldn''t keep her gaze long because more blood filled her mouth and in no time, the maid fell down and so did Madeline as if she had spent all her energy.

    Hearing screams, the guards in the King''s quarters quickly ran up, making their way to thedy''s room. Kicking the door open, they found two people lying on the ground with blood spilt on the floor.

    Their eyes turned wide in fear, wondering what happened. Dread filled their mind by thinking on what they were going to say to the King. The light in the room had turned back to normal with other things. One of the guards made his way to call the highest authorized person in the castle as the King was yet to return to the castle.

    The guard was making his way towards the court to inform on what happened as the other people in the castle were guests and servants. On the way he met the shabby-looking man who was often found near the King.

    "What''s got you in a twist?" asked Raphael, seeing the guard''s eyes that looked livid.

    "Thedy, she looks like she is dead!" answered the guard.

    Hearing this, a frown appeared on the demon''s face, "Don''t break the news to anyone until the King says so. Where is she?" and Raphael walked with the guard to where Madelineid along with a familiar faced maid on the room''s floor.

    The guards stood outside the room without taking a step inside thedy''s room, watching the odd-looking man step in and crouch next to the two bodies. At first, the man checked the pulse of thedy and then the maid whose eyes were wide open.

    Raphael turned to look at the guard, "Count yourself to be lucky that the King wasn''t here when you were going to inform him about thedy being dead. The maid is dead, but thedy is alive." The maid had a petrified look on her face. The floor around him was covered in blood.

    Did Madeline kill her...?

    "Take this one to the dungeon," he ordered to get the dead maid out of the room. Noticing something sticking in Madeline''s palm, he went to touch her palm, but sensing the high energy that was still radiating from her, he took his hand back.

    It was only yesterday did he speak about death and it had already started.

 Chapter 356 Wounds on back

    <h4>356 Wounds on back</h4>

    .

    When Calhoun and Theodore returned to the castle, the guard who had informed Raphael saw the carriage and quickly ran towards the King so that he could inform him.

    "My King!" the guard bowed deep. He fidgeted, "M-milord, thedy��"

    Calhoun raised his eyebrows on whichdy the guard was speaking about, "Speak more clearly," he ordered the guard and the guard gulped the ball of nervousness knowing the King might chop his head for the sole reason of informing him the bad news. But he was d that Mr. Sparrow had checked thedy to make sure she was still breathing.

    "Milord, Lady Madeline-" and the guard couldn''tplete his sentence as Calhoun dashed right past him to see what happened to her. And even Theodore didn''t wait for the guard, instead followed Calhoun.

    When the door to the room flew open, Calhoun caught sight of Madeline who was lying on the ground with a pool of blood around her, and his eyes narrowed in anger. "What happened here!" he demanded from Raphael, who had taken to lean against the wall and was waiting for Calhoun''s return.

    "The guards were the ones who found her with the head maid''s body in this state," exined Raphael, and when Calhoun made his way near Madeline, ready to pick her up and ce her on the bed, the card reader warned him, "Don''t. Something is going on with her. She seems to be radiating."

    Calhoun didn''t care about it. He didn''t care what was going on or if Madeline was destructive right now because he couldn''t stand at the side and watch her continue to lie on the floor of the room like some dead person. Bending down, Calhoun put his arms around Madeline and he felt simr pain that he felt yesterday when he had touched her hand. Despite the pain, he carried her to the bed toy her down.

    Raphael stared at the King, who had been adamant enough to touch Madeline.

    He noticed the slight change in Calhoun''s expression, and the King made his way to the basin before spitting out blood from his mouth. Raphael''s eyes widened at this, and it shifted to look at the girl who looked harmless by appearance, but only a few people knew how powerful she was.

    Calhoun''s mood had turned foul, not because of the physical pain he felt but by seeing Madeline who looked hurt, "Tell me in detail what happened," he said, meeting Raphael''s eyes, "I want to know everything."

    "The guards heard screamsing from this room and thought something happened. They found Lady Madeline and the head maid lying on the floor. The head maid is dead," informed Raphael so that Calhoun would not ask where she was, "Thedy was found in the same state as you saw her. I didn''t let anyone enter the room. I thought it would be best if you see her first."

    The guards were dismissed from the entrance of the room, and hearing light footsteps approach the room from the ends of the corridor, Calhoun looked at Theodore, "I don''t want anyone near Madeline right now. Nor see her."

    Theodore bowed his head, stepping out of the room, he saw Lucy making her way towards the room. Before she could reach, he met her halfway, "Lady Madeline is resting."

    "Is she not well?" asked Lucy with concern in her voice. She was ready to go past Theodore, but he came to stand right in front of her, "Calhoun wants her to take some rest."

    Lucy pursed her lips, "Okay. I wille backter when she''s awake."

    Theodore nodded his head. He watched Lucy''s eyes dart left and right, and he said, "Don''t let anyone know she''s sick. I don''t think her family members would like to hear that she''s fallen sick right at the time when the wedding is around the corner."

    Lucy nodded her head, "Okay," and she left the corridor while Theodore continued to stand there watching her walk away.

    Back in the room, Calhoun wiped the blood from his lips, that left a slight amount of red tint. He walked back to where Madeline was. Holding her two minutes ago in his arms had been nothing less to burning under the sun. His skin sizzled, leaving smoke-like vapours because of holding Madeline in his arms.

    "Did you find anything from her card?" questioned Calhoun, his eyes not leaving Madeline. There was blood on the back of her dress, but they appeared to be slightly dry as if the bleeding had stopped.

    "She might be the angel of death," answered Raphael, "You said she was the child of the angel who fell in love with a human. She might be that angel''s child who has skipped generations before taking birth, and she has a dark ability to kill. It looks like she killed the maid, though the reason is unknown and we will find out about it, only when she wakes up. You need to be careful around her."

    "Because I am the demon''s child?" asked Calhoun, moving closer to Madeline.

    "Yes. It is very rare for an angel and demon to be paired together. I don''t think she was in her conscious state when she killed the maid."

    Raphael warned Calhoun subtly because sometimes no matter how much love one had for the other, there were limits and boundaries that were hard to push. Unlike Calhoun, who was much stronger than anyone he knew, Raphael had not dared to touch the girl, knowing what harm it would cause him. If Madeline had unconsciously hurt the maid, that could mean she could do the same to anyone. The question here was if she would hurt anyone or if it was only with specific people.

    "It''s toote to turn back," stated Calhoun with no regret in his voice. He didn''t care about him being hurt because he knew even though Madeline was going to turn to a destructive creature in the future, it would have less effect on who he was and his lineage. The blood that ran down in his veins was thicker and strongerpared to the rest of the vampires or demons. "How often do people like us find things that we feel the need to protect?" It wasn''t a question but more on a thought from him.

    Raphael''s eyes lowered to look back at Madeline. He understood what Calhoun meant. People were often divided into light and dark creatures. And people who belonged to the dark, they were often lost cause.

    "I think she has hurt her hand," informed Raphael. He gave them the needed privacy by stepping out and closing the door behind him.

    Needn''t be told, Calhoun turned the locks of the door so that no one woulde to disturb him or Madeline. He could hear her soft breathing, her heart not as calm as it usually did, but he was d to listen to the beat follow one after another without stopping. When the guard had mentioned, he arrived at the room as quick as he could, and he felt the coldness that was part of him surface up his heart and mind on seeing Madeline on the ground.

    Calhoun raised his hand up to his side, snapping his fingers for the light in the room to increase, which was emitted by the candles. The curtains were closed to stop the light of the sun from entering the room, which was brighterpared to the soft tone of candle lights.

    Getting closer to Madeline, he caught sight of her hand that was held in a loose fist and there was dried blood. When he pried her fingers open and inspected her hand, he frowned on seeing the ss pieces sticking in the palm of her hand. Getting a vessel of water and cloth, he started to clean her hand gently and then pulled out the two ss pieces that woke her up. She flinched in pain, her eyebrows furrowed deeply, and Calhoun was d that she was unconscious as it would have hurt only that much more while pulling them out while she was fully awake.

    "I am almost done," informed Calhoun, dropping the second piece of ss on the table which was coated in her blood.

    Madeline''s consciousness was returning, and her eyes took a while to adjust to the light in the room. She could feel pain rushing up from her palm, and she hissed. She took a deep breath because of the pain before she felt the cold cloth on her hand. Thest thing she remembered was the pain on her back, and after that, she felt like she had cked out.

    "What time did youe back?" whispered Madeline, her words softer than usual.

    "A while ago. How are you feeling?" asked Calhoun, "What were you doing holding ss pieces in your hand?" he asked her testingly without being obvious about what happened.

    "I was practising with the ss...when I felt pain on my back. I don''t remember what happened after that. I must have fainted due to pain," came her small voice. For now, Calhoun decided to keep the part of her killing the maid away from her, "Did something happen?" Madeline asked carefully. She had felt as if something was trying toe out from her back, but she doubted anything came, like her wings.

    Calhoun leaned forward to press his lips on her forehead, letting it linger until he pulled away.

    "We can discuss thatter. Your back is covered in blood. Let me help you clean it."

    Madeline met Calhoun''s eyes, and she gave him a small nod.

    Her back was still hurting and the pain even though it had considerably reducedpared to the time before she fainted, she didn''t want any maids or her family members helping her. Not because she didn''t believe they wouldn''t, but because of who she was or turning to be, she doubted it would be the right thing to do.

    And it was easier to rely on Calhoun.

    She turned around toy on her front, and Calhoun unbuttoned her dress from the back where some part of the fabric had slightly turned stiff and some still wet with blood.

    Calhoun''s eyes hardened by looking at the amount of blood that belonged to Madeline, "You lost too much blood," he murmured. Dipping the cloth in the vessel of water that had turned red as he had used it earlier, he brought it to her back and slowly started to clean, removing the traces of blood on her pale skin. With every swipe of the cloth on her skin, Madeline shivered because of the wet cloth.

    Seeing her blood like this didn''t sit well with Calhoun. All he wanted to do was protect and help her. But the help Madeline needed was beyond his or anyone''s limit as she was changing. When her back was clean, he noticed the wound, understanding why she thought she had fainted because they weren''t thin lines, but there were two visible wounds on her back.

    "It looks like where your wings once used to be,"mented Calhoun, his finger tracing on the skin next to the wound.

    "Do you think they wille back?" Madeline had turned her head to face Calhoun to get a glimpse of him.

    A faint frown stayed on his face. Calhoun said, "Your back looks very simr to one when a person''s wings are forcibly torn out from the back. Maybe one day they will. And if they don''t, you can always count on me. Tell me where you want to go, and I will take you there."

    "Calhoun," she whispered his name, "My heart feels heavy...Like I did something bad."

    Calhoun ced his hand on the side of her head, gently caressing it to say, "I doubt you would ever do anything bad. Being bad is my role. Did you forget that?" he chuckled.

 Chapter 357 Nailed picture- Part 1

    <h4>357 Nailed picture- Part 1</h4>

    "It would be best you don''t dip yourself in the bath and have your body cleansed with only a wet cloth until the wound has healed," said Calhoun. He had brought fresh water in the vessel to remove thest traces of blood.

    It wasn''t the time to feel embarrassed, but to clean herself with only a wet cloth, that would mean she would need Calhoun''s assistance as she didn''t want any maid or any of her family members to see her back. Not just her back, but anywhere else. She heard him speak,

    "Maybe you can dip your lower half in the water unless it''s too painful while I can take care of your back," offered Calhoun. He heard the little hitch in her heart, and he didn''t have to look at her face to know it. "It would also do both of us good if you practiced in my presence next time. This is the second time, and it seems like every time when you try to tap into your ability, you have experienced the pain. This time it was too much."

    If Madeline lost the same amount of blood every day, it would weaken her body, and she was still a human, thought Calhoun to himself. It would kill her.

    "I didn''t know it would happen," came the response from Madeline. If she knew that her attempting to fix the broken ss would harm her, she wouldn''t have tried it, "But��" she paused, gaining his attention, "I fixed the ss."

    Calhoun took note of the hint of excitement in her voice.

    Madeline looked young for her age because of her time that had frozen during the time she was put in the coffin, and even though she was older than how she looked, she still had a young heart, who was trying to discover things around her.

    "What is the point of fixing something when it might break you?" questioned Calhoun without increasing his voice.

    "Are we still speaking about the ss?" asked Madeline whose eyebrows drew in together, and she earned a chuckle from Calhoun.

    "Do you know what your ability can do? You can break things, but you can also fix it. The question is to know how much you can handle and how much you can fix which is broken," stated Calhoun, "Right now, you are still harnessing your powers which is why your body is trying to adapt and keep the power. Your body is learning to contain it, but when you cannot contain and control it, it leads to destruction."

    Madeline ced her good hand below her chin, and she looked at Calhoun''s face that was calm while his hands tended to her, "How do I do that?"

    "Do what you are doing, but in my presence," replied Calhoun. He didn''t want to see her lying on the ground as if she was dead. He gritted his teeth at that thought.

    Now that he was done with tending to her wounds, Calhoun noticed Madeline''s back that was bare.

    Raising his hand, he let his finger trail down from below her nape down to the curve of her back to see her shiver, "There is something I want to try," he said.

    Madeline wondered what it was, and the next second, she felt Calhoun''s lips touch the wound. She gasped, her hands clutching onto the pillow that was beneath her, "W-what are you trying?" she asked, feeling his breath on her back.

    "I want to see if it works," she heard Calhoun murmur. If it was about raising goosebumps on her body and having her heart flip, then it was working, thought Madeline to herself. She felt the kisses drop on her wound.

    "You are using the opportunity," Madeline''s words came muffled. She felt slight pain when his lips touched her wound, but at the same time because of the gentleness it carried, she tried not to sigh.

    "It wouldn''t be me if I didn''t take an opportunity in the situation now, would it?" asked Calhoun, his eyes trailing on the wounds and he saw the open wounds starting to close. It was usually vampires who healed quickly from their injuries and then it was the demons before the rest of the creatures. It was an element in the vampire''s body that increased the rate of healing, and he wanted to see if it would help Madeline.

    Pulling away from her back, Calhoun saw the wounds had not disappeared, but they did get better. Madeline looked nothing less to a cute little animal that was waiting for his next move, "Time to change your clothes," announced Calhoun and Madeline got up.

    The entire time, when Calhouns was helping Madeline change her dress, she wondered why he hadn''t used his ability to turn her dress to feathers. Instead, he took his time to remove her clothes one after another, making her lift her arms to remove her dress and helped her into a dress that wasn''t too tight around her waist or back. Her eyes fell on the ealier dress that she wore to notice one part of it covered in blood.

    "How did it go in the vige?" asked Madeline, knowing Calhoun had gone to check with the recent murder of Lady Catherine. It was still hard to digest that the vampiress had been killed and she was no more in this world.

    People whom she knew were dying or changing quickly.

    "It went well. Mr. Barnes will be executed for his involvement in killing his daughter, though there is a slightplication," mentioned Calhoun, "James might not be safe if he doesn''t turn back to his whole human self which is possible only if he gets the antidote."

    Madeline sat down on the bed in deep thought. She knew Calhoun was busy with other things, one of them that included her in his top priority, and she didn''t know if they would be able to find a cure for James. With hours and days that were passing by, James was shifting to the side of the werewolf, and if it was toote, it would be hard to return to his normal life or self.

    "Helena came to visit the prison." Hearing Calhoun''s words, her eyes snapped back to look at him.

    "Why is she here?" Madeline had met Helena during Markus'' trial, and the woman carried a hostile atmosphere around her.

    "Someone med me for Catherine''s murder. She just came to check and ended up finding James'' fur in his house," and Madeline felt her heart sink. Was James a lost cause now because he hadn''t returned to the castle? How was one supposed to find werewolves?

 Chapter 358 Nailed picture- Part 2

    <h4>358 Nailed picture- Part 2</h4>

    James felt the harsh light fall on his face, and he flinched. When his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he saw it was a girl whose face was close to him. Out of shock, when he tried to get up, his head bumped on the girl''s head.

    The girl quickly turned around in an effort not to see him. James realised he was naked, and he picked up a coat that had fallen on hisp, "Where is this ce?" asked James as he wore the coat that reached up to his knees. He was surrounded by trees, but if there was a girl walking past here, it meant there was a vige or town nearby. He looked back at the girl, his eyes falling on her clothes. There was a vige nearby!

    "Where is this forest?" questioned James, "Was it you who ced the coat?" he asked her.

    The girl had out of pity covered the stranger with the coat she had been wearing, that belonged to her father, not to mention, he was a good looking stranger, but at the same time, it was rude and improper to be sleeping naked in the forest.

    "Yes, I did. You are in the Break Point forest," as she thought, this man wasn''t from here, "What are you doing sleeping naked?"

    James had no idea how he came to be here. He could barely remember anything that had happened, but the memories that had nked out before was slowly returning to him.

    "Where is the nearby vige?" James asked without answering her question.

    The girl peeked behind to see the man had worn the coat. She lifted her hand to point behind her, "There. The vige of Lockwill. It is where I live. Are you lost?" she asked, confused. The girl was fifteen years old, and she hade to the forest to pick the wild mushrooms when she caught sight of the naked man lying on the ground.

    Seeing the man look back and forth, and then at himself, she said, "My parents are good people. If you are lost, they will help you return to the ce where you belong to."

    James'' attention fell on the girl. It was embarrassing to be standing just in a coat with nothing underneath, but he was grateful that there was at least the coat to cover his modesty. He must have turned to a werewolf and torn the clothes that he had been wearing.

    He was worried where he would suddenly turn to a werewolf in front of everyone. It had happened before. It could happen now too, thought James in his mind. The girl was young and small in stature. Wanting to thank her, he bowed his head, and said,

    "Thank you for being generous enough to get me a coat."

    A bright smile appeared on the girl''s lips, "I am Piper."

    "James." He saw the girl continue to stare at him, and he asked, "Your parents wouldn''t mind?"

    "Not even a little bit," assured Piper. James had no money with him, and he was lost. He hadn''t travelled far to know every name of a vige in thend, "Follow me," and they started to head in the direction of the vige.

    The scene in his mind was unclear, and James felt his mind was ying games because he didn''t have an exact recollection of what happened, and it felt more like a dream. But at the same time, he remembered Catherine knocking on his door.

    ''I, can Ie in?'' He heard her voice and his jaws clenched together at the probability of what happened.

    Piper turned back to ask, "Pardon me for being intrusive, but where do youe from?" She had a look of curiosity filled in her eyes.

    "From East Carswell," came the honest answer from James.

    "I don''t think I have been there," Piper wondered where East Carswell was, "Did you get robbed?" came her next question.

    James wasn''t ready to tell people around him that he was changing back and forth between a human and a werewolf, "Yes," he kept the answer short, and turned his head to look in other direction. If he had money, he would have thought about what to do, but right now, he was hungry with no money or proper clothes on him. He thought he had the worst luck when it came to marrying Catherine Barnes, but his current situation proved him wrong. From the time he had been bitten by the werewolf, since then his luck had started to move downhill.

    Pulling the cor up as he was too embarrassed to be walking in a state where his legs were bare below his knee with no shoe or sock, James entered the vige with the girl. He received odd looks from people.

    "Are you sure your family wouldn''t mind?" James tried to be sure because he was only a random stranger.

    "It will be fine," and she led him towards her house. On the way, James caught sight of something he would never have imagined.

    His eyes grew wide on seeing the picture of his face that was nailed on the nearest tree. The picture had been ced the same time when the girl had found him in the forest. The girl who was in the front noticed him not following her and she turned, wondering why he had stopped.

    H-how did he end up in a wanted poster?! James questioned himself in shock. It was not only a wanted poster, but there was also a reason written down at the bottom:

    ''Killed people and need to be captured unharmed.''

    When one of the High House members, Luther had mentioned about James Heathcliff missing from the vige, Helena, the head of the High House had passed an order to fetch James from wherever he was. And this had led to his face being drawn and nailed in the nearest viges and towns that was near the High House. James didn''t know he hade as close as to where the High House was located.

    James didn''t know what to assume by this. It was as if a cold bucket of water had been poured on him. Killed...he killed Catherine...and the realization sunk deeper and deeper.

    "Are you alright?" asked the girl, walking back towards him, but James didn''t continue to stand there. He quickly started to run away from there, making his way out of the vige. Piper wondered what happened to him suddenly, and her eyes fell on the picture that was nailed to the bark of the tree.

    The girl had a look of shock when she read the word ''Killed''. Her eyes snapped back and forth between the drawn picture and at the direction where the man ran.

    "What''s the matter, Piper? What are you doing by standing at the tree?" asked one of the fellow vige man who she was acquainted with. Piper''s mouth opened and closed. The man saw the poster and then said, "The killers are everywhere. All of us should all be careful. Why do you look like a fish?"

    Piper stammered, "I-I...H-he was right here."

    "What? Are you sure?" Piper nodded her head.

 Chapter 359 Nailed picture- Part 3

    <h4>359 Nailed picture- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Back in the Hawethrone castle, Mary walked with her sister-inw Frances taking rounds in the garden. The weather had turned colder as the dark clouds came to hover in front of the sun that slowly started to spread to create a gloomy atmosphere.

    "Have you thought about with whom you would be getting Elizabeth married to?" asked Mary to Frances, who was looking at the flowers.

    "Beth is still getting over the shock of what took ce," replied Frances, "She cared for Mr. Wilmot, and it might not be fair to push her."

    "Hmph, if I am not wrong, didn''t he create treason? It would be best to get her engaged before the news spreads about her involvement with the treason that took ce. And with the way I see it, she keeps dilly-dallying, waiting for the next best and she might never get married in time," said Mary.

    With her second niece who was normal, Mary thought it was only right for her niece to get married than waste her time on useless people who had already passed, "Didn''t you mention about that person who was going to visit the house? Dan something was it?" asked Mary.

    "Mr. Danvers?"

    "Yes! That man" affirmed Mary.

    "He did visit the house, but things didn''t go well," Mrs. Harris murmured at the end. It was because of the whole confusion and they trying to push Beth and not Madeline for the wedding with the King. "Let''s give her some time before dropping anything."

    "How are things at home? I thought your family would be visiting the castle. I mean as the wedding is around the corner," asked Mrs Harris, trying to deviate the topic from her own family.

    "Oh, they will be here for the wedding. They won''t miss something like this," Mary offered a warm smile, and Mrs. Harris returned it. The woman then shifted back the conversation, "I find it rather strange that mother and father still haven''t arrived here. I was hoping to meet them."

    Mrs. Harris'' smile faltered, "Yes. They haven''t arrived yet." Killing people was not something she or her husband were part of. When Madeline was put in the coffin, it had broken her heart.

    When Mary stopped walking, Mrs. Harris stopped too. Mary ced a hand on Mrs. Harris arm, "Frances, you know we are family, right? And you can tell me anything, and I would do anything for you, my brother and the girls." Mrs. Harris nodded her head, "My parents, they have always protected us. I know something is strange with Madeline."

    Mrs. Harris felt herself stop breathing, but she tried to keep a calm face, "Strange?" she asked.

    "Like how she was a few years ago. I can see it in her eyes and the way she moves. I saw her break a ss," stated Mary, looking straight into Mrs. Harris'' eyes.

    Mary had lied about Madeline breaking the ss to test if Frances would give in the truth, but there was nothing, and she was filled with disappointment. Madeline had stayed with her parents since the second time she had returned, and Mary had kept a close eye to see if there would be a sign, but she had found nothing.

    "Are you sure about it?" Mary pressed for an answer.

    "Yes, Mary. You worry for no reason. Madeline is not like that anymore. Whatever was in the past, it is long gone, and we are just humans," Mrs. Harris assured the woman with an encouraging smile, "Madeline is just like Beth. A human." Mrs. Harris didn''t want Madeline getting hurt, and the truth still held, that she hadn''t seen her daughter hurting anyone.

    Mary felt discontent. She couldn''t believe she had missed her chance as her niece had turned to a human. Maybe she was wrong, and the King had indeed drank blood from Madeline, which had turned her unconscious. Her lips were set in a thin line, broke into a smile.

    She let out a smallugh. "I just worry about our family. I would never want anything bad happening to any of us. Even Madeline."

    "I know, Mary," Mrs. Harris said. After a few seconds, she said, "The King got our clothes stitched for the wedding. Come, let me show it to you." On their way back, Mary wondered where both of her nieces were as she hadn''t seen either of them after breakfast.

    Back in Madeline''s room, Calhoun and Madelineid on the bed, facing each other.

    Madeline was worried that she would end up opening the wounds on her back which was still healing because of Calhoun. She had heard about the story of a kiss from the prince that woke up the princess, but she had never heard about a kiss that could heal a wound.

    "Can you heal anyone?" questioned Madeline in curiosity.

    "Just humans I think. It only closes the wound while it still needs time to heal," Calhoun answered her question as he stared at her. He hadn''t left the room and had decided to spend his time with Madeline, which was far better than anything else, "I never healed anyone until now except for myself. You are my first."

    "That''s interesting," she whispered and mindlessly, her hand had moved closer to him to y with one of the buttons of his shirt, "You haven''t told me what happened," she said looking into his eyes.

    Calhoun''s lips twisted, and he said, "I don''t know what happened before the guards or I found you in the room, which is why I don''t want to give you wrong details because of false assumptions. If you remember it by yourself, you will remember every detail." He doubted Madeline would be able to handle the truth that she had killed a maid without any reason, and he would like to believe it was because there was a reason. Not for his sake, but for hers, "Okay?"

    Madeline wanted to know, but seeing the serious expression on his face, she gave him a nod, "Okay."

    "Let me show you something," said Calhoun before putting his hand in his pocket to pull out a pocket watch. Madeline''s eyes fell on the watch that looked old and rusted, "This one was gifted by my mother. To tell me the importance of time."

    Madeline didn''t have to meet thedy to know that she was a good mother to Calhoun despite what she had gone through in her life. His mother loved Calhoun, and she taught him certain things, while most were picked by himself.

    She saw Calhoun press the top of the pocket watch, and it opened to show the dial. Trying to have a better look, she carefully tried to raise her upper body. He tapped on the pocket watch for the dial toe out, and he gently picked something out of it.

    He said, "There might be a time where you may doubt or question, but remember you brought me luck," and Madeline saw a dried four cloverleaf on Calhoun''s palm.

    .

    NEWS: ''The Crown''s Obsession'' has won the gold award in thepetition that was held by Webnovel, and as one of the award, they will be featuring the book in NYC Timesquare Billboard. I just want to thank everyone who have been supporting the book by reading,menting, voting and showering your constant support. Thank you again because this means a lot!

 Chapter 360 Irk- Part 1

    <h4>360 Irk- Part 1</h4>

    .

    "I thought you returned it to me," Madeline whispered, leaning closer to him to have a closer look at the four cloverleaf. She remembered him taking her handkerchief, but as she remembered the events that took ce, she remembered her mother asking where she had left the four cloverleaf.

    When her eyes looked up to meet Calhoun''s eyes, he said, "The cloverleaf that you took back with you was nothing but just an illusion. Just like how you believed when I threw your mother''s note the time we visited your house."

    This was news to Madeline as she hade to believe that Calhoun had heartlessly thrown the note that was written by her mother to her, "Why didn''t you tell me you didn''t throw it before?"

    "Because you would have wanted to take a look at what was written inside," replied Calhoun. One side of his lips had been pulled up to a smile at the thought, "I like to torment people, especially the one whom I am in love with."

    It would have scared and worried Madeline earlier, maybe even suffocated her just by the thought of how Calhoun felt towards her but she wondered since when did the feelings slowly start to slide and shift in a way where now Calhoun appeared to be normal like others. Was it he, who had changed or was it her? Madeline asked herself, maybe it was both.

    She picked up the dried leaf from his palm, looking at its faded colour. She twirled it around, and asked him, "Why did you keep it with you?" Not to forget, Calhoun had kept it in his pocket as if it was something precious without throwing it away.

    "Haven''t you heard there is much more to what you see at the surface?" questioned Calhoun, his tone was light and yful, "I might appear shallow and someone who doesn''t care, but that is because I care for only certain things. I don''t know what made me decide to keep it in here." He didn''t have romantic feelings towards Madeline until he met her again at the ball. One look and that was all it took for her to seize his heart, "I guess it might be because of the day I was having, where I met this little girl who naively came to help me. You were supposed to be my meal."

    Madeline''s eyes moved from the leaf to look at Calhoun, "What changed?"

    "The gesture," replied Calhoun thoughtfully, "It is not every day a person is offered with kindness andpassion without expecting anything in return." After knowing what his mother had to go through because of his father''s family, he had little to no expectation from people. Vampires were already a lost cause, and humans had shown their nature when they vited his mother. "You have a kind heart, Madeline. Don''t let anyone tell you otherwise."

    "If youpare me with you, you are the light. How can I not?" asked Calhoun, and hearing this a small smile graced on her lips.

    "I have some good things about you." Her words brought a hint of curiosity in Calhoun''s eyes.

    "And what might those things be?"

    "You might be an exclusive person. Someone who helps only certain people whom you care about and it''s not just about me," stated Madeline looking in his red eyes. "You have protected Lucy by keeping the truth hidden all these years so that she doesn''t get hurt. Not because you would get caught, but because I know if you don''t want to get caught, you will find a way out of it. I am sure that is why no matter what and how things went down in the past, Lucy will slowlye to forgive and continue to stand next to you. I was angry with you, and disliked you in the beginning."

    "That''s one way to open your side of the story," chimed Calhoun and he leaned on the bed by using his hand to support his head, "I love to hear you speak," he murmured.

    Madeline continued, "I know it is not umon to get married to someone against one''s own wishes. And as much as I despised and wanted to escape from here, I am thankful to you, that if it weren''t for you, I wouldn''t be breathing right now." She didn''t want to die. She had always hoped to grow old with a family of her own, to have children next to her husband, waiting for her hair to turn grey and wanted to live a full life.

    "I know you do and I apologise for being harsh at times, but at the same time I doubt I would change any of it," came his thoughtful words. "Things that we sometimes dislike turns to something, to remember in the future. Don''t you agree? We will have wonderful stories to tell our children and tourhe grandchildren."

    Madeline was surprised that Calhoun had already visualized about their future. With the faint smile still on her lips, she looked down at the dried cloverleaf. She brought it up to her lips as if breathing life into it and she pulled back to see the leaf start to get its colour back to a light shade of green like it was plucked away a few seconds ago.

    "Breath of life," whispered Madeline before handing the cloverleaf back to him.

    "I have something to propose," said Calhoun, gaining her attention and Madeline nodded her head for him to go ahead, "Move into my room." Her eyes widened hearing this.

    "B-but...we are not married yet."

    Calhoun said, "Even without marriage, I already see you as my wife in every sense. I don''t want to leave you alone by yourself," he didn''t want another episode like today happen again, and he didn''t see why they had to wait. He caressed her cheek, "Move in with me, Madeline."

 Chapter 361 Irk- Part 2

    <h4>361 Irk- Part 2</h4>

    "Nothing needs to happen before the wedding," he added, and this had her question even more on what had got Calhoun to ask her to move into his room. "Nobody everes to enter this quarters. We don''t have to tell it to your family or anyone else."

    She bit the inside of her cheek, wondering if she should say yes or a no. In a few days she would be living in his room so did it make much difference if she moved now orter? Madeline asked in her mind.

    "Okay," she agreed, and Calhoun beamed.

    And the same day, most of the cupboards and drawers were cleaned out from the King''s room to make room for thedy''s belongings who would be sharing the space with the King. She saw the servants move one thing after another until everything was properly organized and they left the room. Calhoun had thergest roompared to anyone else in the castle, and maybe even thergest bed that was draped with curtains on the bedposts.

    She was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching the door close and her eyes then shifted to look at Calhoun who was keeping some of his things on the other side of the room.

    "Was this the same room that was used by the previous King and Queen?"

    "No, it was on the other side of the castle. This used to not be the King''s quarters until I turned to a King," replied Calhoun returning to her side. Madeline remembered Lucy mentioning about Calhoun modifying things around the castle, "This has been my room since I entered the castle. Back then it was less fancy."

    "I see," she replied, slightly feeling awkward. It would take more than an hour to get used to the fact that she would be living here from now, thought Madeline to herself. Was this how a new bride felt? But then she had visited this room many times before and she had also slept on this bed.

    She heard a knock on the door which was left open, "Milord. The meal is here."

    "Don''t you think my aunt will be suspicious about my absence?" questioned Madeline. Even though her aunt behaved like nothing was wrong, and she was here only to attend the wedding, but there was something in the way the woman looked at her. Raphael had warned her to be careful around her aunt.

    Calhoun dismissed the maid after the trolley was brought towards the bed and the maid left the room immediately without spending another second there. "Theodore will inform your family that you are having a private lunch with me. One meal away from prying eyes shouldn''t hurt."

    "Did Raphael tell you about the cards we picked?" on her question, he nodded his head.

    Madeline wasn''t sure about the future, "You mean at the wedding?"

    "Who knows. It is better to be prepared, isn''t it?" She wondered what Calhoun had on his mind. "As we all are aware, holy water is something that helps in identifying the demons and the vampires because they both belong to the dark side. Right now, we have connected the water connections from each house and building to the well of the church."

    "But won''t that alert them?" she frowned.

    "Only the connection has been given. The water is yet to flow. Given that it will hurt the ones who are living in the viges and town, it will be enough to alert the ones who are new. It''s going to be chaotic," the old smile that belonged to Calhoun returned to his lips, one that was malicious. Looking at the worried look on Madeline''s face, his smile turned back to a mischievous one, "Everything will be over before you even know."

    Madeline hoped it wouldn''t be as chaotic as Calhoun wanted. His bloodthirst was morepared to others, but when the needle pointed at her, she wondered how things would go. Her eyebrows furrowed.

    "Theodore''s wound didn''t heal as quickly as yours did," she muttered under her breath.

    "Hmm," agreed Calhoun, "It must be because he''s old," but Madeline shook her head.

    "The day when Lady Lucy had the argument with Samuel, both he and Theodore fought," hearing Madeline''s words, Calhoun''s eyes immediately narrowed because he knew where this was going, "I saw wounds on Samuel''s face-"

    "Because he''s a demon," Calhoun gritted his teeth. It wasn''t that he hadn''t met demons before or vampires who were part demons like him, but Samuel had never let the fact out that he was a demon. Running through the time he had spent with Samuel, Calhoun finally stopped at the not so recent memory when everyone had gone hunting in the forest with Madeline.

    The arrow.

    With the past rifts with the Warrings thanks to his senseless father, Calhoun hade to assume that it was the people from the othernd who were coaxed by his dear Aunt Rosamund to harm Madeline. But it was not her, but possibly Samuel who had drawn the arrow at Madeline.

    Four days passed, and the news about Isaac Barnes involved in his daughter''s murder spread like wildfire in the public as the man was captured by the members of the High House for execution. The news had even reached Madeline, and she wasn''t excited about it, because death was not supposed to be celebrated. But the High House were doing their job and two members came to the castle to visit the King.

    Madeline, who had heard about the High House members visiting Calhoun, she hovered not too far away from the room where the men were in now.

    "Lady Madeline?" came a voice behind her, and Madeline turned startled to see it was Lucy. Both the girls bowed at each other, "Are you waiting for brother Calhoun?"

    Madeline had tried not to hover around the room, but it was hard not to do it. She smiled at Lucy''s words, "I was waiting for him."

    Lucy returned the smile, "You don''t have to worry about Weasley. He usually never brings bad news except for rare times," that was convincing, thought Madeline. "When the High House hade to existence, I remember father not being happy about it. He had too many things that needed to be cleaned up." Both the girl''s left the corridor to start taking a walk, "I used to not to get to witness it, but I did overhear the servants of the castle speaking of how my family treated people. I don''t think just because one is a King and Queen, one should not treat people like that."

    The vampiress opened up to the thoughts which she had turned a blind eye until now, "People often take advantage of things, taking it for granted and consumed with power, thinking things will be the same forever without knowing there are ups and downs to everything," exined Lucy, letting her thoughts out which she had never discussed.

    "I think people deserve their fate for the deeds they have done. Having grown alone in the castle, I was happy to see brother Calhoun along with Theodore here. It was more like apany," came a faint smile on the vampiress''s lips, "I think in the past even the High House didn''t look too much into the case because they knew what had transpired. There are some good people we can count on. Weasley has always been one of Calhoun''s informants. So be at ease."

    Was it evident on her face that she was worried? Asked Madeline to herself, "How are things on your end, Lady Lucy?"

    "I think I will be staying here in the castle for a few more days before going to the mansion which my parents had gifted me. Ites in the North of Norberry."

    Madeline slightly frowned hearing this, and she asked, "What about Theodore?"

    "Sometimes we think and hope that the other person feels the same, to reciprocate the feelings. Sometimes we imagine things that are not there," Lucy''s words fell to a whisper at the end, a trace of sadness in her voice before she brightened it with a smile. "Maybe it is for the best. I will have a ce just for myself and live the way I want. You can keep visiting me when you can."

    "I will do that," responded Madeline with a smile.

    Didn''t Theodore like Lucy? Though it wasn''t evident to the eyes, there were some hints which made Madeline feel like the man did care about Lucy. They took a few more walks before noticing Calhoun step out of the room with the two men whom she recognized one of them to be Weasley, and the other was the silver-haired man.

    "Who is that?" inquired Madeline, "The one next to Weasley."

    "That''s Reginald Frost," answered Lucy, "He is the one who is in charge of most of the church. You can count him to be a priest."

    What a strangebination, thought Madeline. Vampire, demon, and the priest under one roof.

 Chapter 362 Irk- Part 3

    <h4>362 Irk- Part 3</h4>

    The High house members bowed at the King and started to leave, walking in the direction where Madeline had been standing. Weasley was speaking something to Reginald, busy in the discussion when the silver-haired man''s eyes met hers, and she noticed a faint smile on his lips. He offered her a bow, and she did the same. For a priest, he looked too pleasant thought Madeline to herself.

    Her eyes continued to trail at the two people until she felt a finger below her chin that turned her head to see Calhoun standing in front of her, "Were you waiting for me?" his eyes looked deep into her brown eyes.

    "What were the High House members doing here?" she inquired, and Calhoun let go of her chin.

    "The other High House members are trying to pick dirt on me. Dimitri, Luther, Lilith and some others because it seems Rosamund has submitted some evidence against me. Not about the past but the recent murders and the werewolf incident," Calhoun said in a casual tone, "Luther and Lilith are siblings. They want to cast me away from the throne."

    "Is it possible?"

    "Not until I am here," Calhoun seemed barely fazed, "Helena already mentioned about a meeting that will be taking ce. The King from Warring will be the one to address the issue, and Luther hopes that Sebastian will agree to stand against me. We''ll need to see how it goes. Also, since it''s the King''s wedding, the High House members will be attending it."

    They started to walk down the corridor, their footsteps slow-paced as they didn''t any ce to be at right now, "Aunt Mary said my cousins and my uncle will be arriving here in two days."

    "More trouble?" Calhoun joked, and Madeline didn''t have an answer to it. Everyone appeared normal until their intention was revealed. "No worries. I think your aunt has dropped the idea about you being a dark angel for now. So you can be at ease."

    The wedding decoration had already begun in the castle, and the servants had turned more upied than before. Soon the guests would arrive to attend, and the days for the wedding wasn''t far.

    Returning back to the present, Madeline looked at Calhoun.

    "How is my bride to be doing?" he asked, the back of their hands brushing against each other as they continued to walk in the corridors of the castle.

    "Nervous," she replied. She wondered if things would change further or if it would continue to remain the same as what had to be changed had been done. Except for the fact that she would need to control her abilities, "How are you doing?" she threw the question back at Calhoun.

    "Wonderful. Mm," Calhoun said, as if remembering something, "Weasley said one of the vige men caught sight of James."

    "Where did they see him?" it was good to know that James was still breathing in his human form.

    "It was near one of the viges that isn''t too far away from where the High House is located. He''s turned to be quite a famous man," Calhoun omitted the part where picture of James'' face was nailed to most of the trees, "Weasley said he will try to get James back at the castle. Try being the word here."

    "That is very kind of him," she whispered, d that someone was helping. And she then asked, "Do you think I will be able to heal him? Without the antidote-"

    "I don''t want you to," came the firm words from Calhoun.

    It seemed like every time Madeline''s powers tried to awaken itself, she ended up in pain, and he wasn''t sure if her body was trying to adjust or if something was happening, "Even if one day something happens to me, you shall not try to ''fix'' it."

    Madeline''s lips set itself in a thin line, "You want to be dead?"

    Calhoun rolled his eyes, "What am I going to do if you aren''t here, you dummy."

    The thought of Calhoun covered in blood crept in her mind, but Madeline pushed it away, "Wouldn''t you do the same for me?" she asked.

    "I am a selfish bastard. Why do you think I would do that?" asked Calhoun, turning his gaze away from her, and Madeline didn''t know if it was alright to smile. "You should expect less from the man who stole you away from the world."

    "Right," agreed Madeline, "A man who steals a little girl''s four cloverleaf."

    "You can have it if you want," offered Calhoun, looking at her from the corner of his eyes. Madeline was about to reply to him when she saw her mother and aunt appear from the other side of the hall, speaking to each other.

    "My King," both the women bowed in greeting. Madeline''s aunt turned to her and she said,

    "I wanted to give you something earlier. At first I thought I will give it when your uncle arrives, but I think it is alright." She fished something in her pocket to pull out a chain that Madeline was familiar with. It looked simr to the one which her grandfather had given to her mother in the past for Beth and her to wear.

    Aunt Mary stretched her hand, ready to give it to Madeline without putting it in a box. But before Madeline could take it, Calhoun caught hold of the chain, and he brought it in front of his face, "This is a stunning piece. Where did you get it from?" he asked in an oblivious tone.

    A sudden look of displeasure came to pass in Madeline''s aunt''s eyes. The smile on her face tightened, "This chain has been passed down in our family."

    "An heirloom you mean? How interesting. Why does it feel like I have seen this before?" hummed Calhoun.

    "Elizabeth has one. Madeline lost it when she was little," Mary replied, wanting the King to hand over the chain to Madeline so that she could wear it. Even though she behaved as if she had given up on the idea about her niece being a dark angel, there was still a part of her that hoped Madeline was one. The chain had the property to emphasize the kind of creature one belonged to when worn around the neck.

    Calhoun looked up at Mary, the charming smile broadening on his lips, he said, "It is a beautiful gift, but you don''t mind her wearing itter, do you? I have a gift for Madeline myself. Excuse us," he put his hand on Madeline''s back before ushering her from there.

 Chapter 363 Old Bat- Part 1

    <h4>363 Old Bat- Part 1</h4>

    "Remember how I said your aunt was not a threat? Well let''s cancel that," he waved his hand. He raised the chain that held a circle like pendant in it, "This is not the same as what your sister wears."

    When he went to wear the chain, Madeline asked, "What are you doing?"

    "Trying to see if the chain is cursed. It will affect me less than you," and he wore the chain around his neck. For a few seconds, nothing happened and she wondered if Calhoun was wrong, but then suddenly she saw him fall on his knees, "Calhoun!" She tried to get to him, but she was only pushed across the room to crash against the many canvases that were ced upright.

    She felt the slight ache on her back. Calhoun looked like he was huffing for air and when he raised his head, Madeline caught sight of him baring his fangs and his wings automatically appeared from his back, taking most of the space in the room. His eyes had turned ck, and there were roots like lines that spread around his eyes.

    It seemed like the chain had brought out Calhoun''s true nature within a few seconds. Madeline gritted her teeth. She believed her aunt had dropped the subject, but it seems like Aunt Mary was adamant in testing her.

    "Cal?" Madeline called his name, trying to inch closer to him. She doubted having the chain around his neck for a long time was a good idea. She had to get it off of his neck! On hearing his name, Calhoun turned to look at Madeline, but she doubted he was in his sane mind. Especially the way he looked at her as if she was thest piece of meal on thisnd. She gulped.

    Madeline didn''t have a good feeling about this. She had heard the door lock after she had entered the gallery, which would mean it was just Calhoun and her in here now. She noticed some of the features on his face had changedpared to his usual one- the colour of his eyes and his fangs looked more deadly.

    Was this his demon side?

    She tried to race her brain on what to do apart from removing the chain. To remove the chain, she was supposed to be near Calhoun, but there was a possibility of him drinking her dry today. Madeline tried to keep herself calm because from what she had gathered, her body went to the defensive mode when it felt threatened and she didn''t want to hurt Calhoun.

    Calhoun took slow steps towards her, pushing one canvas that stood in his way. When he came to stand right in front of her, Madeline could feel her heart starting to thump loudly in her chest. It was hard to break her gaze away from him.

    When she sessfully removed the chain, it fell on the ground, and after a second Calhoun''s fangs retracted back into his mouth.

    "Fuck!" he cursed under his breath.

    "You are back," whispered Madeline willing her heartbeat back to normal.

    Calhoun pulled away from her to see Madeline smile, "Did I hurt you?" he questioned and then said, "I am so sorry," the words rushed out of his mouth before he pulled her in his arms and hugged her tightly.

    "I am okay," replied Madeline while patting his back, but Calhoun could hear her heart racing in her chest. He would deal with the other peopleter when they came, but he couldn''t have Madeline''s aunt around her anymore.

    "Your aunt received a direct entry to hell," said Calhoun.

    By the time of the evening, Mary was found behind the rusty iron bars of the dungeon without anyone''s knowledge as she was dragged away from the castle when she was walking alone in the garden.

    Far away from the castle and in the mountains that was hidden by the thick trees of the forest, in a dark cave, was a coffin that was made of ck polished wood, an old man rested in it with his eyes closed while the lid of the coffin was removed.

    The inside of the coffin was cushioned in red silk, and the old man looked old with grey hair and wrinkles on his face. A man arrived at the side of the casket, "M-milord, we found some information." But the old man didn''t open his eyes, and it looked like he was in a deep sleep. The man cleared his throat, "Constance is dead." This time the old man''s eyes flew open, his eyes were red in colour.

    "Check again," said the old vampire, not hiding his fangs.

    The servant who hade to inform was also a vampire, he opened his mouth but closed it right away. He had checked it three times to make sure the news was right.

    "What are you doing standing there like a fool?" the old man got up from the coffin and stepped out of it.

    He red at his servant, who didn''t dare to look up, "M-milord. I got three other people to check and t-that''s what we found."

    The older vampire''s eyes red in anger, and he caught hold of his servant''s neck. Pushing him against the cold wall of the cave, "How can my daughter be dead, when I told you to look after her?" he asked in a low tone. In a blink of an eye, the old man changed his appearance to a man to be in his early thirties, "Have you lost your fucking tongue?"

    The servant didn''t know how to answer his master. It was true that he was assigned to watch over the youngdy, but she had given them the slip and had never returned. He bbered incoherent words, and the servant was thrown to the side.

    "Take me to the ce where she rests now," demanded the old vampire with a re.

 Chapter 364 Old Bat- Part 2

    <h4>364 Old Bat- Part 2</h4>

    .

    The sky had turned dark, and the weather colder than any other day, which one hade to experience in thest few months. But the weather didn''t deter the old vampire who had been sleeping for ages and had woken up only recently.

    They walked to the vige where everyone was fast asleep in their houses. With the servant who closely followed the older vampire, they headed in the direction of the graveyard that was in the forest which was isted and away from the vige.

    "Is this where she is, Odin?" demanded the older vampire, his eyes ring at every little thing around him. "This looks like a fucking forest with tombs. This is no graveyard."

    Even though Odin was a vampire, he shivered due to fright on what his Master might say or do. It felt like more than five to six decades had passed since his Master had gone to hibernate in his coffin and now that he was awake, nothing but fear-filled Odin''s body.

    Odin walked towards one of the graves, and he stood at the side, giving his master space to look at the tombstone.

    "This is where her name has been engraved, Sire," Odin bowed his head deeply. His Master dimir Lazarus was the first-ever vampire toe into existence with the demon blood. He was the one who had fallen from heaven.

    ''Constance Leigh.''

    "Who is this Leigh?" dimir''s eyes narrowed. Thest time he remembered his daughter''sst name was still Lazarus. "Did you pick the wrong grave, Odin?" he cracked both his knuckles to get a quick response from his servant.

    "Master, this is her grave. I went looking for more information and found out she was the same person when it came to description," even though some details were something Odin didn''t expect to hear.

    "Open the coffin," ordered dimir and Odin quickly stepped closer to the cemented coffin, and he pushed the lid away so that one could take a look at her body thatid inside.

    He saw a skeleton inside the coffin, along with another body and Odin who had not dared to open Lady Constance''s coffin before looked rmed. His Master held a sever and stern look on his face, both his hands ced behind his back, holding each other as he took himself to stand in front of the coffin.

    Moving closer, dimir''s hand shot out to reach one of the skeleton''s hand, running his thumb over it before he dropped it and did the same with another body''s bone that was in the coffin. "Did your brain damage or catch rust, Odin?" asked dimir. With a scrutinizing gaze, he looked at the servant who looked confused, "This is not Constance. I told you she could not be dead."

    It had been only a year after his Master went to sleep when Lady Constance left the cave of tower without anyone''s notice. Some of the servants had gone in search of thedy, but to no avail, as she seemed to have disappeared from sight. They couldn''t disturb their Master and had to wait for him to wake up from his sleep.

    dimir raised his hand out of impatience, and his servant who had been thinking to himself suddenly lifted in the air, "Exin, Odin unless you want to turn as apost to the useless nts in here."

    Odin''s eyes grew wide because he knew what his Master was capable of. Even though dimir, who once held another name when he was in heaven, now a demon turned vampire he hadn''t lost his abilities. The servant vampire had stayed next to his Master, serving him for many years to know one snap of his master''s fingers could turn him to liquid.

    "Master dimir, I swear that this is where she was resting! It is what the vigers said. Thedy''s name is notmon! Why would I lie?!" Odin pleaded.

    "Because you know how much she wanted to get out of the cave. You must have let her free," the older vampire''s eyes narrowed, he saw his loyal servant shake his head vigorously.

    "Never, Master! Odin would never betray you!" and dimir knew that. He gritted his teeth and dropped the vampire down on the ground. He leaned forward towards the inside of the coffin, taking a sniff and his eyes hardened. He could smell the faint smell of his kin in here. The only family he had was his deceased wife and his daughter. It wasn''t the first time he had taken a nap. He had done it before, which was why he had hoped to see his daughter after waking up.

    dimir couldn''t believe that his daughter was dead. His precious and naive daughter. Something terrible must have happened to her when he was sleeping.

    "If she''s not here, where has she been buried!" dimir''s voice came out thunderous, shaking the feeble leaves that were hanging on the trees to fall to the ground. Some of the bats that were sitting in the trees quickly flew away at his voice.

    Odin wished he knew, but he didn''t. "I will ask vigers again, and quickly find her," he bowed his head again without meeting his Master''s eyes.

    Hearing the word vige, dimir''s head turned in the direction they hade. "She must have been living there," murmured the old vampire. At the same time, one of the coffins started to make a noise like bats were living inside it, "Odin," he called the servant''s name to open the lid, to see who was in there.

 Chapter 365 Old Bat- Part 3

    <h4>365 Old Bat- Part 3</h4>

    The man was none other than Holden who Calhoun had put in the coffin.

    "Who are you? Are you here to put me back again to sleep?" asked Holden, his eyes looking at the two men back and forth.

    dimir had a frown on his face, "Put him back in the coffin. He''s of no use," he ordered Odin, and the servant quickly pulled out something from his pocket and Holden noticed it was a whip that was burning red.

    "You must be fucking kidding me!" said Holden. He had initially been filled with rage and wanted to get back at Calhoun for putting him in the coffin, but seeing these two crazy vampires, he decided to break and tear them apart before going to hunt the so-called King. "I will kill both of you for even thinking to put me back. You must be the King''s pals."

    King''s pals? Thought Odin in his mind. His eyes shifted to look at his Master, who continued to stare.

    "Do you know where Constance is?" asked dimir to the demon who hade out of the coffin.

    Holden scrunched his face, "I don''t know who you are speaking about," and he picked up a nearby stone.

    "Seems like you are useless and are better inside in the coffin," murmured dimir, having no patience even after the long sleep he had.

    Odin quickly interrupted the conversation and asked the demon who might have at least seen Lady Constance or known about her, "The Lady was a pretty person. Gentle characters and kind with her words," quite the opposite to her father, thought Odin, "She lived in this vige," said the servant, hoping this demon was from the same vige.

    Somewhere the name did ring in Holden''s mind, and his eyebrows furrowed, "Ah!" he eximed in realization and started tough, "Her. Of course, how could I forget. That cunt who spread her legs to every man in the vige to make money, after the King left her."

    The nerve on the older vampire''s forehead popped in pure, seething anger, at the very words of the demon, while Odin''s eyes widened. He wondered if he should go behind the tree and take cover because his Master didn''t look happy.

    "What did you just say?" came dimir''s low and deadly voice, even though he had heard the words.

    Holden despised the current King since the time he had been living here in the vige. Calhoun had gone as far as to kill his wife, who was a demoness before he had disappeared from here. Demons hid their identity, without letting any other creatures know about their existence and that included the other fellow demons too, unless one found out by mistake.

    dimir raised his hand to snap both of his fingers, and the stone that Holden was holding, fell t on the ground, while Holden himself no longer existed as his body had exploded leaving ck liquid on the forest ground.

    "Useless demons," said dimir. Odin stood there without batting his eysh because he had seen this happen many times. Demons who crossed dimir often met a simr fate.

    "I thought the demons would have evolved, but they seem to be brainless as ever," his words were cold, and he didn''t bother to look at the sttered blood on the ground. To dimir, nothing mattered except him and his daughter, but even she was dead and what he heard didn''t sit well with him.

    Odin, on the other side, didn''t dare to utter a word. He had learned not to speak out of line and only said things that were of importance. Like the humans liked to call it, it seemed like his Master had woken up on the wrong side of the coffin and heard the bad news being Lady Constance'' death. The foolish demon had only added fuel to his Master''s pain.

    "I want to see where Constance is, Odin. Right now and find out about this current King who rules thends. How dare he touch my daughter."

    "Yes, Sire," Odin obliged to his Master''smand. The fog in the forest slowly started to increase, and the two vampires made their way into the vige. When they were passing by the abandoned house that looked like it was in shambles, dimir paused his feet and turned to look at the house, "Is everything alright, Master?"

    dimir stared at the empty house. His gaze moved from one wall to another before he resumed his footsteps.

    Even though everyone was sleeping soundly as it was the time of midnight, dimir didn''t care about it. With one look on the door of a random house, the door flew open, waking the people in the house and a man came holding a pitchfork in his hand thinking it was a robber.

    "Thief!" shouted the vige man.

    dimir didn''t like the insult, and he raised his hand again when Odin nervously whispered, "Master, please! We need to find thedy."

    The old vampire saw the vige man ready to stab him with the pitchfork, and he suddenly caught hold of the vige man''s neck, pushing him against the wall. Putting a smile on his face, he said, "I would like to know where is Constance Leigh''s body buried at because I didn''t find her in the cemetery that is in the forest."

 Chapter 366 It is time- Part 1

    <h4>366 It is time- Part 1</h4>

    "What are you staring at?" asked Mary keeping a calm facade, "Thinking you have outdone yourself?"

    Calhoun sighed, "I was thinking about how your family members enjoys spending time in these cell rooms. Unfortunately, your father had fallen in deep sleep before he was ced here."

    Mary''s eyes narrowed, "Everyone lied about my parents not visiting the castle," she spoke through gritted teeth.

    "Not everyone. We just happened to show them the way to the dungeon after having some word with each other. Like you, they were too adamant on trying to get to Madeline so I killed your father and your mother turned to someone''s chew toy," Calhoun ran his tongue across his upper teeth. "I am d that Madeline has not acquired the foolishness from you or from your parents."

    "It seems like I was right, after all,"mented Mary,ing to stand in front of the bars, "Madeline wore the chain, didn''t she?"

    "She didn''t."

    Mary scoffed, "How did you find out then?"

    Calhoun had got his servants who were humans to escort Mary to the dungeon because he didn''t want any of the demons who were servants to be manipted by this woman as he didn''t know what she was capable of.

    "Thanks to your parents, you turned to acquire the position of being the next suspect directly. My question is, why haven''t you tried sacrificing Madeline when you have been this close to her?" he tilted his head in question. "You are done for, Mary."

    "You haven''t killed me because you want answers," the woman''s expression changed.

    "Don''t get conceited because it didn''t stop me from getting rid of your parents," stated Calhoun, amused.

    "Then, you should. Why don''t you kill me now? Come on," Mary provoked Calhoun. There was underlying evilness in her tone, inviting him and waiting to harm the vampire who stood on the other side of the cell.

    Calhoun pushed himself to reach out for the lock, and he took upon the woman''s offer of stepping inside the cell room. Mary who watched the King get in, she couldn''t help but think how stupid men were with their pride and confidence.

    With no guards around them, Mary didn''t lose a second in muttering something under her breath and moved her hand which Calhoun caught sight of, but before he could stop her, he fell on his knees. Maryughed, and said, "You are not as smart as you think you are. Did you think I invited you in here to kill me?" she raised one of her eyebrows, "My parents were a little dumb, but don''t add me up with them. I might not have abilities like them, but that doesn''t mean I am short of it."

    Calhoun caught hold of his chest, coughing.

    "What do you intend to do with her?" Calhoun appeared to have trouble while speaking.

    Mary watched the King writhe in pain as his heart was being squeezed. How tables had turned quickly, thought the woman because it was only a few seconds ago this vampire was threatening to kill her.

    "Isn''t it obvious? I am going to take her heart for myself," answered Mary with a smug look on her face. She took a few steps to her right before turning around, "Do you know the amount of powers that she holds. She''s the key to heaven, a way to ascend to a higher being than being a normal human."

    "Seems like you aren''t happy or satisfied with what you have," Calhoun''s face contoured in pain, "How can you do it to your own niece?"

    Mary clicked her tongue, "Does it matter who it is? You should know it the best, my King, that how enticing power is. What did you think you were nning? To kill me?" asked the woman, "You are just a mere vampire and just because you are the King doesn''t mean you are a powerful person. Even if you kill me, there are others who are on their way and gathering slowly and surely to take her while sacrificing some blood. I can barely wait for it."

    The woman enjoyed seeing Calhoun in pain. She saw how the King had fallen. He would die once she would explode his heart in his chest. The vampire moved towards the wall and leaned his back.

    "Madeline is innocent. She doesn''t deserve it," stated Calhoun looking straight into the woman''s eyes, and he took in every movement of hers.

    "She has killed two people already. That''s no work of an innocent being," said Mary looking at Calhoun whose head?had lowered with his hand ced on his chest, "She was born to die. To be the key to heaven, but before that, you will be the one to die. Is there anything you want to say? For a King, you are weak. The crown has already fallen-"

    Mary''s words were interrupted by Calhoun''s low chuckle. For a moment, she wondered if the King had lost his mind as the sound of his chuckle turned to augh that echoed in the room.

    "Are you losing your sanity at the fact that you are going to die by my hands?" asked Mary, her eyes narrowed as Calhoun didn''t stopughing. He brought one leg of his to fold while letting his head lean back against the wall and hisughter finally died down.

    Mary felt something to be amiss, and she looked taken aback by seeing that the vampire was not hurling on the floor. She whispered spells and moved her hand, but nothing happened, "What is going on?" she asked with a deep frown on her forehead.

    Calhoun gave her an oblivious look, "You mean why I am not spouting blood anymore?" The woman''s eyes widened. He stuck his tongue out to show the blood before retrieving it back into his mouth, and one corner of his lips pulled up, "I must have bit my tongue."

 Chapter 367 It is time- Part 2

    <h4>367 It is time- Part 2</h4>

    "Like I said," Calhoun pushed himself to stand up on his feet, "I am so d that your family''s ignorance doesn''t run in Madeline. She must have acquired her senses from her parents."

    "What did you do?!" demanded Mary, "You were spouting blood just now!"

    Calhoun couldn''t help but smile, and his fangs appeared to Mary''s sight, "I knew you would pull some shitty trick that you have been hiding below your sleeve, so I did the same. I yed along by biting my tongue and drew out enough blood to make you believe that you were in the lead when in truth, you were only dancing to my words."

    Mary refused to believe that this mere vampire was able to stand in front of her unscathed and had only bluffed about being hurt by her. The vile King had been faking his pain and agony, making her believe that he was going to die.

    "It isn''t possible," her eyes continued to stare at the vampire because her spells could harm both vampires as well as demons! She was able to hurt Samuel. Therefore, she wasn''t able to see what was different when it came to Calhoun, "W-what are you?" she asked, taking a step backwards and her back hit the rusted iron rods.

    "Me?" Calhoun smiled, and when he blinked, his eyes turned pitch ck, and after another blink, it turned to red again, "What do you think?"

    "You are a vampire and a demon," Mary was slightly shocked because she had never heard Samuel ever mention about anyone in the castle being a demon. But her spells should still be able to work on him, thought Mary to herself. "I curse you to go back to the underworld. To the home that you belong to," said Mary raising her hand. Calhoun took a step closer to her, "You are the child of a sinner and-AHHHH!"

    Calhoun had caught hold of Mary''s wrist, twisting it upwards before turning it to hear the sound of her bone crack, "What a silly human you are. It seems like when death and greed approaches together, one starts losing his mind. I wasn''t born as a demon, Mary."

    "You will be cursed for your sins!" shouted Mary in agony because of her broken wrist, "You are a devil!" There was no other exnation to why her spells were not working on him.

    "You will burn in hell before I do!" When Mary tried to escape through the open door of the cell room, Calhoun got it closed right away.

    "Don''t be rude now, we aren''t done talking to each other yet," said Calhoun with a charming smile on his face.

    Mary gritted her teeth. She thought she had an ace card under her sleeve which she could use it on this vampire because she had done it in the past. Who would have thought that he would be unaffected by it.

    "How is it possible? Who are you?" demanded the woman for an answer as she moved away from Calhoun to end up in the corner.

    "I am the King of Devon, the murderer of the previous King," replied Calhoun in a calm tone. "I thought you already knew about it. What a forgetful memory you must have."

    This vampire was ying with her with his words! Mary didn''t know what to do because she was trapped. She had never thought that she wouldn''t be able to harm this vampire, "Let''s try to form a peaceful truce between each other," she proposed so that she could get out of the sticky situation she had put herself in. "I am Madeline''s beloved aunt, someone who has taught her everything that you might be in love with."

    Calhoun chuckled, "Why do you think you are still alive for this long? Take your extended time until now to be a appreciating gift," and hearing this, Mary''s eyes turned wide. She shook her head.

    "You cannot do that. If I am gone, you will only have more troublesing to knock on your door. I can stand by your side and Madeline''s, and help," she persuaded and saw Calhoun give it some thought.

    "I think I will pass your offer for now," said Calhoun as if he wasn''t interested in the offer, "But thank you for thinking about it so soon. What trouble will I fall into? Once you are dead, there''s one less person to be worried about it. Isn''t it?"

    Mary shook her head again, "The demons in the High House along with the fallen angels wille for you. Thest I heard some of them have been trying to throw you out."

    "Interesting, but do you think I care what the members of the High House think?" the smile on Calhoun''s lips fell, and his eyes looked hollow, "Now tell me. How would you like to die? By my hands, or being burnt like a witch in the middle of the vige, or would you instead want to be beheaded like a chicken?"

    The woman said, "Keep me, and you will be able to save more lives. Do you think people will note for Madeline? Oh, they will, and they will kill her-"

    Calhoun had moved so quick that Mary hadn''t seen iting so soon.

    He stood right in front of her, his hand pierced through her chest to hold her heart and he slowly moved his fingers so that the woman could feel him squeeze her heart, while also knowing that she was going to die.

    "You have an ugly heart, Mary. Let''s hope that you can find a better one, until then."

    Calhoun pulled out the heart from her chest and the light in Mary''s eyes turned dull and vacant as she was no more alive. He dropped the heart from his bloody hand, and pulled out his kerchief to clean every part of his finger before throwing it on the ground.

    When he made his way out of the dungeon, he saw Madeline, who was sitting outside, waiting for him. Seeing the seriousness on his face and the screams that she hearding from the dungeon a moment ago, she didn''t have to ask if her aunt was still alive.

 Chapter 368 It is time- Part 3

    <h4>368 It is time- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Madeline stood up, walking towards Calhoun when he stepped out of the dungeon. She heard him speak to the guards, sending them inside the dungeon to clean the cell room.

    "Breath, Madeline," said Calhoun to her, "Even if you have lost one rtive of yours, that is still one less trouble. It makes me wonder if I should send my men to fetch all your rtives and put them in the dungeon," he hummed, his tone having a yfulness which would be hard for another person to digest.

    "I never thought I would be the reason for their deaths," Madeline had a frown on her forehead, "I do understand why we do, what we do. But I think there will always be that pinch of pain even if it means that by the end of the day they wanted me dead."

    They left the front of the dungeon and started to walk, making their way back to the castle, "It wouldn''t be you if you didn''t feel remorse over their death." Calhoun knew that Madeline might have been called as the dark angel, but she had the traits and abilities of an actual angel. Someone kind, gentle, who wanted everyone''s well being not wanting to harm anyone, "To keep your conscious clean, I would be more than pleased and willing to kill the people who wille for you in the future."

    "Because you have enough blood on you?" she asked to see Calhoun shrug his shoulder.

    "Isn''t that right? No matter how much darkness one adds to the colour of ck, it will still continue to remain ck," stated Calhoun.

    Madeline took a second before saying, "But do you know that when white touches ck, it turns to grey?" Calhoun could have the worst qualities, and maybe they weren''t what she had imagined her future husband to have, but he had some very exceptional qualities that no one else had.

    "Your heart is not made of gold," said Calhoun, his footsteps halting in the middle of the garden as they were still making their way back. Madeline took the time to stop her feet too, "You like to see things and people in the brightest way possible. Your heart is not made of gold because it is made of diamond. Crystal clear with not a speck of dirt on it."

    "Don''t you see me in a better light too?" Madeline put both her hands behind her back, locking them. The sky was dark, and as usual, both she and Calhoun were out of their rooms in the middle of the night in each otherspany, "I remembered what I did."

    Calhoun raised his eyebrows, his head tilting slightly, and Madeline said, "I know why the head maid is missing."

    After moving to his room, it took less than two days for her to recollect what she did to the maid. She wondered if Calhoun didn''t judge her because he killed people too. They both did, and it was easier to ept. What if she was with someone else? Would they understand why she killed those people?

    The words Nic said, that had gone unheard that day, Madeline could hear them clearly in her dream, "How do you sleep in peace?" her question was serious. She knew she had asked this in the past, but she wondered if the death''s ever haunted Calhoun''s mind.

    "I have a good soft pillow," he said with a straight face before cracking a grin, "I get rid of the people whom might spoil my beauty sleep. It is as simple as that. You killed people because they had ill intentions."

    "And you never think I might turn to that angel who might kill you?" They shared the same bed, in the same room, and Madeline couldn''t help but question if she would go angelic on him.

    Calhoun''s eyes softened, at how far Madeline''s feelings towards him hade to change and it softened his heart, "If you did...I know you will bring me back by that breath of your life." Madeline smiled. A leaf clover was a small thing, and Calhoun was different where she would need strength. But at the same time, he had forbidden her from using her magic on him, "I don''t think you will ever harm me," he patted her head.

    "You are not who you seemed to be, Calhoun," stated Madeline, "And maybe you have a heart of diamond too."

    "Well, if you think it is, maybe it is true."

    The clouds continued to stay in the sky. It was cold, where Madeline wore a coat around her to keep herself warm. The castle that was once cold and empty wasn''t cold anymore. It was turning to a new home, weing her as she weed it into her heart and mind.

    She had thanked Calhoun before, and she knew right now, she didn''t have to thank him because he understood her feelings without the need to be told through words. Her fingers tightened, which she had been holding back and she let it loose before bringing it to her sides. Before they could leave the garden, she raised her toes, leaning towards him. Her eyes closed slowly as her lips almost touched Calhoun''s lips and she pressed them.

    Madeline didn''t know how things were going to move from here, with her grandparents and her aunt dead, she didn''t know which other rtives of hers would be the next person who would being after her. There were other people who knew about her existence, and she would need to be cautious.

    The air around them turned colder, and Calhoun put his hand around her waist to bring her closer to him, and he kissed her. Madeline''s hands went around Calhoun''s neck, opening to him and kissing him in the same fervour as he did.

    When they pulled away, Madeline felt Calhoun not let go, and he pressed his forehead to hers. His eyes were still close, and she took a moment to look at him before he finally pulled away.

    "We should go back to the room," he whispered to her, caressing the side of her cheek and Madeline nodded her head, returning a smile when she saw Calhoun grin. She also noticed how small kes of snow had started to fall from the sky, one after another. The time of snow was finally here.

 Chapter 369 It is time- Part 4

    <h4>369 It is time- Part 4</h4>

    The servant vampire, looked back and forth, walking only to stop when he came to stand in front of the grave named n Hawthrone. He raised his hand, touching the lid of the cemented coffin, "Huh, this one seems different." Confirming the person inside with his eyes wide, and he turned himself to a bat before flying away from there to inform his Master.

    "Master!" Odin cried, reaching the tower that was connected through the caves, "Master!" Entering therge room that had minimal furniture with a few things like a coffin to sleep, mirror and table. Odin noticed his Master being dressed by another servant. He wore a ck coat with the fabric inside that was red, "Master, I found Lady Constance."

    "Hopefully alive," replied dimir, who fixed his sleeves around his wrists.

    Odin, who was going to speak, closed his mouth. His Master was being adamant in saying he wanted her to be alive, but thedy had passed away. A few nights ago when they had been to the vige where Lady Constance used to live, the man who was in charge of the vige had no idea about whom they were speaking about as he was newly appointed. Apparently, the previous magistrate had been found dead and torn into pieces.

    dimir turned around, walking towards Odin who stood near the door. The older vampire walked past the servant, "Take me to her," and Odin quickly followed his Master.

    It didn''t take them too long to reach the graveyard. dimir went to the cemented grave that had a man''s name. His thick eyebrows furrowed. He was the devil who had everything, yet here his daughter was lying in another person''s coffin that was borrowed? All this while, he had done nothing but protect his dear daughter only to be shamed and used by other people. Just by that thought, his face hardened.

    "Open the lid, Odin," ordered dimir, keeping a straight face. The servant went to the head side of the coffin and pushed the lid until it was left half open and half-close.

    And finally, dimir caught sight of his daughter who was resting in the coffin. Even in death, she looked the same to him as if she was only sleeping. Her body continued to stay the same without decaying like it had been ced in here a minute ago. When he had left her, she was still young, growing��someone who didn''t know how the world worked.

    As dimir continued to look at his dead daughter in silence, he noticed a rose that was ced in her hand, petals that were ck. "What did you find about the King who destroyed my daughter?" asked the older vampire.

    "And you didn''t hear a word about it when it happened?" questioned dimir.

    Odin looked ashamed. His head bowed, he answered, "We didn''t know where she was, Master. We looked for her everywhere for many years, but it never urred to us...that she would be in the castle��" This received a re from dimir and Odin shook out of nervousness. "It seems she lived in the castle for a few years. I heard the King is going to get married again."

    "How dare he throws my daughter and decides to have a younger bride," dimir''s voice shook the nearby graves, "He killed my daughter. I shall kill his bride," announced the older vampire.

    "Yes, Master!" Odin was quick to jump on the boat to hurt the King, who was responsible for Lady Constance''s misery.

    "Good," murmured dimir while he continued to stare at his daughter, wondering why she hadn''t aged.

    Not too far away from the graveyard, in the neighbouring vige of East Carswell, in an old house, some of the men and women sat at the table. The people there were a mix of vampires, fallen angels and demons. The room was filled with chatter until a man dropped his mug on the table with a loud thud to gain everyone''s attention.

    "Has anyone heard anything from Mary yet?" asked the man.

    "Nothing as of yet. Mary said she would send a letter, but there has been not a word from her," answered a man from the table. There were totally twelve people in the room, and this included Samuel, Lilith and Luther.

    Samuel said, "She said to us to wait until she confirms."

    "If she''s not sent out a letter, it means something has happened to her. It is possible that the King knows,"mented Lilith.

    "The King knows nothing," scoffed Samuel, "I was there for years, and he never found out that a demon was living right under his nose."

    "You saw the girl Samuel. What do you think?" asked the older-looking man who had a beard.

    "I don''t see why we are waiting for Mary when the girl has been confirmed to have killed two people in the past. Not to forget, she hase out of the coffin twice," addressed a vampire who was sitting quietly until now.

    "I agree with Walter," said Samuel, "We have enough people to take them down. All we need to do is distract the King and his assistant," he growled lightly remembering the punches that he received on his face. He was going to get even with Theodore for hitting him.

    "How are thingsing along with charging the King for his deeds so far?" asked one of the woman, looking in the direction of Lilith and Luther as they were the members of the High House.

    "Nothing so far. Every time we try to push the issue of Calhoun for discussion, either Reginald or Helena push it aside as if they are barely bothered with it," answered Luther.

    "It looks like having you both in the High House has been nothing but a waste of time," said the bearded man.

    "But Grey-" started Lilith only to be interrupted by the bearded man.

    "So many opportunities and still nothing. We cannot seek the girl right now, and it would be better to sacrifice her on the spot. The full moon day is nearby, we''ll attack at that time," ordered the bearded man. "Walter, see what the Harris'' are up to." Walter bowed his head.

    "I will send the letter to Harris to know what they are up to," answered Walter. The vampire wondered if the little girl still had her wings because years before, he was the one to burn it from her back.

    Walter stepped out of the old house to leave to head for Carnival vige. As he crossed a couple of houses, he walked past a person who wore a cassock and was sweeping the front of the house with a broom. The person stopped sweeping when Walter was out of sight.

 Chapter 370 Sisterhood- Part 1

    <h4>370 Sisterhood- Part 1</h4>

    "Is everything alright, Madeline?" questioned her mother, who had a frown upon her face, "The maid said you wanted to see us."

    "Madeline?" asked her father, looking at her eyes to see if she was okay.

    "I had to inform you about something," said Madeline, hoping she could ease the situation beforehand, unlike the time when Calhoun has delivered the news, "It is about Aunt Mary��" She didn''t know how to spell it out word to word as she felt a heaviness in her heart.

    For a second, her parents looked startled but then a deeper frown formed on their face, "I-Is she, is she d-dead?" inquired her mother. Madeline gave her a quiet nod, and her mother raised her hand to cover her mouth, "I-I don''t understand. Did she try to hurt you?"

    Madeline didn''t want to break the news to her parents but as her aunt was close to their family she felt it was her responsibility to inform them. "The chain that she gave me as a present, it was a harmful one. She wanted to sacrifice me," answered Madeline to see the look of horror appear on her parent''s face. She felt bad for involving them, and if Aunt Mary wasn''t her aunt, she would have skipped the news, but the woman was her father''s sister. "But I didn''t call you here to speak about it."

    Her father had a look of shock over the loss of his sibling, "We shouldn''t have invited her here. It isn''t toote to stop others from attending the wedding."

    "But there''s only one more day left for the wedding. Even before the letters reach them, they would have left their houses," said her mother, "Oh, Mary!" her mother eximed feeling grief since she knew the woman for many years.

    "Where has she been buried?" asked her father.

    "In the forest with grandpa and grandmother��" It wasn''t an ideal ce to bury a family member, but it was Calhoun who had decided to bury them in there.

    "I am sorry mama and papa," she apologized, knowing it was something inevitable as her aunt would have continued to harm her so that she could use the abilities of the dark angel to ascend heaven.

    Her father shook his head, "No, it isn''t your fault," his voice was low that barely held any strength. It sounded exhausted, "Wee from the oldest lineage of the fallen angels, your grandparents, I mean. Was it the King who found out about it?"

    "Yes, he tried the chain," answered Madeline, "The wedding is going to be held day after tomorrow. I have a request from both of you, even Beth."

    "What is it, Maddie?" asked her father.

    Her parents stayed quiet before her father finally said, "Okay. We''ll do that." He believed that the King would look after his daughter, something he had been noticing Calhoun do. Another reason why he agreed was that he didn''t know how many more news about people they knew, they would being to hear. "If Mary has passed away. I would ask you to be careful about your uncle."

    Madeline pursed her lips, "Anyone else I need to keep an eye on?" she asked.

    "I think it would be best to uninvite your father''s side of the family," said her mother, exhaling air through her lips out of stress. "Will you be alright? Isn''t it better if we hide you away?" Mrs. Harris was troubled that something bad would happen to Madeline.

    Madeline shook her head, "It will never stop. I cannot keep hiding in the coffin or run away. If I don''t stop it now, it will only continue." The only worry she had was, she didn''t want her parents and her sister getting involved and hurt.

    After having some more words with her parents, Madeline decided to leave the room, and she started to walk in the corridor to see her sister standing alone and looking at the garden. It had been some days since she and Beth had a decent conversation. She didn''t forget that she had raised her hand to p Beth, something no one had ever done to her sister.

    Making her way to where Beth was, she came to stand next to her sister. "Are you enjoying the flowers?" she asked, keeping her tone light and casual.

    Beth didn''t look startled by Madeline''s voice as she had seen Madeline walking towards her from the corner of her eyes. "It''s going to snow even more,"mented Beth, "Are you done speaking with mama and papa?" she gave a look at Madeline, her green eyes meeting Madeline''s brown eyes before she turned back to look at the garden.

    "Yes. It was something about the wedding," said Madeline, without telling Beth what she had asked from her parents. Looking at the current scenarios, Madeline didn''t know if Beth would consider her to be arrogant and disrespectful for pushing them out of the castle and vige. But it also reminded Madeline that she was doing the same thing as what Calhoun had done to Lucy, shielding his sister from harm. "How are you doing, Beth?"

    "How do you think I have been doing?" Beth questioned back at Madeline.

 Chapter 371 Sisterhood- Part 2

    <h4>371 Sisterhood- Part 2</h4>

    Beth didn''t look at her sister again, but she could feel Madeline''s gaze on her. How was she feeling? She was embarrassed to face people because everyone looked at her with a look of suspicion in their eyes.

    "You know how I have been since we were small, isn''t it, Maddie?" Beth questioned her, "We have spent so much of time together since we were little girls, sisters who have known each other''s ws and positive aspects. How do you think I must be feeling, by not being just pushed in the corner but to be kept aside like I don''t matter?"

    "If it is about the wedding and Markus-"

    "It isn''t about Markus," Beth interrupted Madeline, "You know me better than anyone in here. Even more than what our parents have known about me. I have been an ambitious person, wanting a life better than anyone. A house nothing less to a mansion or a castle. A husband who would dot and love me, someone who would give me everything I would ever wish. You have known how I liked the attention. Why didn''t you tell me before that there was something wrong about it? Now that you are putting your feet in the Queen''s shoes, you''re telling it now." Saying this, Beth turned to look at Madeline who was looking at her.

    "I never told it is bad to be ambitious, Beth. You take it wrong, you always have," Madeline''s words were gentle when she said those words.

    Beth turned so that she could face Madeline, "Enlighten me then. It seems like you have suddenly turned to a smart woman." Beth gritted her teeth in the end.

    "You went to help a person who didn''t care about you, and the same person swayed you to poison the King. Where is that Beth, whom I know who would never hurt or harm anyone? Who would think at least once before stamping on someone''s foot?" asked Madeline, "You are right. We have known each other for so long. It is why I know you have a good heart. There''s nothing wrong to be ambitious about things, but you need to draw a line so that you know what price you might need to pay for those ambition."

    Madeline had noticed how Beth, lowered her eyes at the dining table, not because she was angry, but she was ashamed of herself. It was enough as a stepping stone for Beth to start changing her view of how she saw things.

    "I know deep down in your heart, you know Markus was using you for his benefit," Madeline''s words didn''t sit well with Beth as to her, she felt like she was being told off by her younger sister.

    "Everyone have their reasons. And as I said, there''s a limit to draw which Markus didn''t. Wrong footing would be me asking the King to not punish you for trying tomit treason against him." Hearing this, Beth''s eyes hardened instantly.

    "Are you trying to tell me that it is because of you I am alive? Are you going to keep doing it for the rest of your life?"

    Madeline sighed, "It wasn''t my intention to make you feel that way." All these years, Beth was the one to speak, and others followed her words. Now that Madeline was standing against her words and actions, helping Beth to rectify her mistakes, Beth found it hard to digest. "I won''t bring it up again, and it was only an example. I didn''t speak anything in the past because I didn''t know you would be swayed by people like Wilmot''s. There are many other things that goes in the castle that you weren''t told about. You saw what happened in the trial and don''t turn a blind eye to it. You saw how Rosamund gave away her son just to save herself. It doesn''t matter how much she criedter, because, in the end, that is what she did, making way to his execution. The Wilmot''s were only using you."

    Seeing Beth quiet, Madeline continued to say, "For a moment, just for this one time, I want you to go through all the things they have said and told. I know you are a smart woman, Beth. I have always looked up to you. I know you will see the signs."

    Beth shook her head, turning herself away and sitting down on the edge of the corridor.

    Madeline didn''t know if Beth was refusing her advice. Nheless, she didn''t give up on her sister. There were already enough corrupt people in this world, and she didn''t want to lose her sister. She took herself to join Beth by sitting down next to her.

    "Beth," said Madeline and Beth raised her hand so that Madeline would stop speaking right now. Seeing how her sister didn''t'' ask her to leave her alone, Madeline didn''t make an effort to move, and she instead, continued to sit next to Beth.

    Madeline knew Beth wasn''t a bad person, and she only got carried by her emotions. And Beth was right. Calhoun had not been poisoned, but it was Beth''s thought that was something to be worried about. People like the Wilmot''s could easily manipte her sister, and it was because Beth was still innocent.

    Like many other young men and women, Beth aspired to have a better life, and Madeline never saw it to be wrong, "I am sorry that I am getting married before you."

    "I don''t care about it anymore," came the response from Beth, looking at the snow that surrounded the open ground.

 Chapter 372 Sisterhood- Part 3

    <h4>372 Sisterhood- Part 3</h4>

    "I am aware of it," agreed Madeline.

    "But the way people took care and loved you, I don''t think I ever was able to get it," there was a certain sadness in her voice as she said this, "You didn''t see it, but I noticed the look in everyone''s eyes, you were the child who was looked after with extra care. I am not jealous of it. I mean, it just made me push myself harder to make others notice me and stand out. Grandma and grandpa, Aunt Mary, Uncle Joaquin...I saw the difference. Sometimes even our parents."

    At this, Madeline pressed her lips. The reason why they kept a closer watch on her was because she was someone who could kill people out of the blue. How was she supposed to tell Beth that it wasn''t out of love and care but because she was different?

    "There is a reason for it, Beth. And maybe I cannot tell it to you right now what it is, but please believe me and consider yourself to be fortunate," said Madeline with a small smile on her lips, "People have loved you more than they have loved me. You are Elizabeth Harris, the daughter of the Harris'' family, while I have been Madeline, sister of beautiful Elizabeth."

    Beth slowly turned to face Madeline, "And you never felt jealous��" It wasn''t a question but a statement that Beth acknowledged to herself.

    Beth knew it. After all, she was the person who had spent most time with Madeline as they grew up next to each other. Madeline had never asked for anything, nor did she ever question at her actions. Madeline had always been kind to her, and somewhere it angered her in the past. Even when the King had chosen Madeline, which she now was d that he hadn''t chosen her because she doubted she would be able to survive more than a day with him, Beth had been furious at Madeline for many reasons. The emotion of envy had shadowed all the other feelings she had felt.

    "Why didn''t you ever feel like that?" questioned Beth.

    Madeline shrugged her shoulders, "I don''t know. I think I didn''t mind any of your actions."

    Beth didn''tment on it and looked back straight again at the snow, "People have always looked at us differently. People have loved you for who you are, but when it came to me, it was always the outward appearance," there was a hint of sorrow in Beth''s voice. "There have been times when I wanted people to look past my appearance. It doesn''t make just them, but it also makes you feel hollow when they look at you like that. But part of me was also happy that I could make use of it to get things."

    Madeline sat quietly listening to what and how her sister Beth felt, something that they had failed to address, "There are many people who care for you, Beth."

    "Maybe in time, you wille to learn, to love things like others who wille to love you for who you are and not by how you look. Little by little," added Madeline.

    "Hm," responded Beth. Her eyes had a distant look in them. Madeline didn''t notice it, but Beth had seen the way Markus gave looks at Madeline.

    The insecurity that she felt in the corner of her heart often tried to creep out, reminding her how insignificant she was in others eyes. And it was somethingughable, but it was true, that Beth sought validation from others. Since thest few days, she had kept herself away from people while going through her past actions.

    The hardest thing to do was to ept one''s own fault, and to a person like Beth, it was the most difficult thing to do. The fear in her heart continued to linger on what the King was capable of, and at the same time, she knew how true the words that Madeline had told her when it came to her neck being saved. And the hardest was to look back at the mistakes she had made. One fault appeared out after another, and Beth had to stop looking at herself else she knew she would break down.

    Even though she was one of the most beautiful girls in the vige of East Carswell and in the nearby towns and the viges, it was still not enough. She had hoped for Markus to fall in love with her, but his eyes had shifted to Madeline.

    Madeline didn''t question Beth further, and she concluded that her sister was looking to have some time for herself. Getting up from there, Madeline said, "People are right here with you, Beth. I am still here with you."

    Beth turned her head in the direction where Madeline was. Before her sister left, Beth called, "Maddie?"

    "Yes?" Madeline wondered what Beth wanted to say.

    "I need to buy shoes for the wedding. Will youe apany me?" asked Beth. Madeline knew how prideful Beth was, and it took a lot of effort on Beth''s side where she was trying to save her face. "It''s okay if you''re busy," added Beth.

    Madeline gave her a nod, "I need to go get something from the house." She had meant to go visit, but she hadn''t found the time before, "Let''s grab the coats, and we''ll leave."

    But before they left, Beth said, "I am sorry for what happened, and what I said." Madeline noticed how clear her sister''s eyes were.

    She offered Beth a bright smile, "What''s happened is in the past."

    When Madeline and Beth made their way out of the castle, they first went to get Madeline''s belongings from their house, cing it in the carriage before they made their way to another vige where Beth had seen the shoes before.

    A few days ago, Markus had promised Beth with the shoes, which was why she had not made an effort to get a pair for the wedding. If Madeline had note to speak to Beth, there was a high possibility that Beth would have worn the dull worn-out shoes that she wore now.

    Madeline waited for Beth to buy her shoes, and once they were done, they stepped out of the shop. "Is there something else that you need?"

    Beth, who was ready to open her mouth to speak, closed it immediately. The guilt in her heart hadn''t reduced, and it continued to weigh on her mind. She shook her head, "No, that is all. Is there something you need to buy?"

    "It''s been a while since Ist visited the church."

    Both the girls left the store and the carriage where it was, to make their way to the church of the vige. On their way, Beth, who was walking next to Madeline, caught sight of a woman who was walking on the other side of the street, and she internally frowned.

    It felt like she had seen the woman before, but Beth was unable to point her finger on where. To make it more suspicious, when her eyes met the woman''s, the woman quickly took another street and disappeared from her sight.

    "Do we know a woman who has brown wavy hair and hazel eyes?" questioned Beth.

    "There are so many of them. Whom are you speaking about?" asked Madeline before she followed Beth''s line of sight. "It felt like I saw someone whom I know," whispered Beth before shaking her head and they finally reached the old church, that was as old as the vige itself.

    As they entered the church, Madeline heard the bells of the church ring loudly before it stopped. Because of the time of Winter were the sky was cloudy, light couldn''t get in through the multicoloured windows. But the church continued to hold light without letting the atmosphere turn dark as there were also several candles that were lit in the front.

    Beth had moved forward while Madeline''s footsteps slowed down on seeing the High House member who wore a ck cassock, speaking to one of the couples of the vige. Madeline remembered, apart from being part of the High House, he was also a High standing priest.

 Chapter 373 Cathedral glass- Part 1

    <h4>373 Cathedral ss- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline had not expected Mr. Frost to be here in this church. A coincidence, thought Madeline to herself and she saw Beth walk forward, making her way to the front so that she could offer her prayers. Seeing how the High House member was busy talking with the couple, listening to something the couple was saying, she joined Beth''s side to sit down on her knees and she held her hands together in front of her.

    The reason why she had wanted to visit the church was not only because it had been a while since shest visited one, but also because the day after tomorrow was her wedding and she wanted blessings from God. She hoped nothing woulde to spoil the day. Her life had already started to change since she was born, and it was only now did shee to realize, meeting Calhoun had opened the doors that had been closed in the past.

    Madeline was still praying when Beth stood up, crossing her hand in front of her and she turned around, ready to go and sit on the bench when she caught sight of the woman whom she had seen earlier. When their eyes met, the woman continued to stand there. A deep frown came to settle on Beth''s face, wondering who this woman was, who was appearing in front of her. When she took a step forward, she noticed the woman straightened her back.

    Why did her face appear familiar? Asked Beth in her mind.

    She decided to walk up to the woman and wanted to ask if she knew her. She saw the woman started to take her leave.

    "Maddie, I will be right back," said Beth to her sister.

    "Let mee with you," offered Madeline.

    "That''s alright. I will be back soon. I want to take a quick look," Beth assured Madeline, cing a hand on her sister''s arm, she left the church.

    Madeline wondered what happened that had Beth leave the church. Pursing her lips, she turned back to pray before making her way to sit on the second row of the bench. She didn''t know why, but sitting in the church made her heart light as her worries always disappeared. Maybe it was because she had faith and belief in here.

    With the couple who left the side of High priest, making their way out of the church, Reginald turned his gaze on Madeline who had been watching him converse.

    "I didn''t know you live in this vige, Lady Madeline. It is a surprise to see you here," remarked Reginald. He folded his hands across his chest, walking to his left so that he could stand in front of Madeline.

    "I don''t live here," answered Madeline, "My sister and I came here to buy something for the wedding. I didn''t expect to see you here myself," she offered the man a small smile, and he returned it.

    "The world is small, isn''t it, mdy,"mented Reginald.

    "I thought the High House members only have to work for High House. Do other members have other duties apart from being part of the organization?" asked Madeline, her tone polite, and her words fluent as there were only two more people apart from them in the church.

    The man stared at her, his eyes were grey in colour and his long silky silver-hair tied in a ponytail with a ribbon, "There are some others who indulge themselves in other work. We all have our own interests." Madeline could only tell that Reginald was probably the only person serving in the churchpared to the other members from the High House. "The walls of the church, I find them to be gratifying. Especially the windows through which light passes to fall inside this ce."

    Madeline''s gaze went to fall on the windows that were on either side of where she sat, "I believe that was your sister? Who came here with you?"

    "Ah, yes," she nodded, "She said she would be back quick." Madeline turned around to nce at the entrance of the church, but Beth hadn''t returned back yet. She wondered if Beth had forgotten something from one of the stores. She should have asked where Beth was going as it seemed like she would have to wait for her sister here in the church.

    Not knowing what else to say, Madeline inquired, "When was this church built? The walls look dark and old," her eyes took in the room where she sat in, "I don''t think I have ever?been here before."

    "You haven''t," confirmed Reginald, and Madeline who had been looking at the walls and the painting, her eyes returned back to look at the priest. "I would have seen you here, if you visited before. Would you like a tour until your sister returns? A walk in the corridors of the church?" asked the man, "Sister Harriet," he called the girl who had only entered the front of the church from the back door, "If thedy with ck hair and green eyeses looking for Lady Madeline, tell her we will be back soon."

    "Yes, Father Reginald," replied the young girl.

    "Shall we?" asked Reginald and Madeline wondered if the man had something to tell her. A priest didn''t often tour people, but then she was going to be the Queen, thought Madeline to herself. Did he perhaps want to keep a good rtion, to earn the Queen''s favour for the future?

    Before leaving the front of the church, Madeline took another nce at the entrance before following the priest through the back door, that led to stairs.

    Walking up the stairs, Madeline came to look at the corridor that looked long and each of the windows were multicoloured that left colours on the ground. But she would have to agree that the chapel in the castle was the most beautiful one because of the blue tint of the windows.

    "The church was built even before the vige came into existence," said Reginald, his steps were slow and Madeline walked next to him. "If I am not wrong, words have been passed down by the people who used to work here as priests that it was once the home to an angel."

    This had Madeline quickly intrigued, "Which angel?"

    The priest shook his head, "I don''t know which one exactly. It was said that they didn''t know the name but they had seen the angel with white wings that were covered in blood," said Reginald with a thoughtful expression on his face.

    "Why blood? I thought angels wings were supposed to be white in colour,"mented Madeline and the man nodded his head.

    Reginald said, "You''re right. It seems his wings were removed. Ripped out of his back."

 Chapter 374 Cathedral glass- Part 2

    <h4>374 Cathedral ss- Part 2</h4>

    Reginald took time to recollect on what he had heard from people and he said, "It was the fellow angels, the cursed angels who were thrown to this earthly realm. There are some books that has recorded the events but there''s no dates or time on it. It is said that the fallen angels were so jealous about that one angel, that they decided to take away his wings after making him unconscious."

    "That''s barbaric to do it," whispered Madeline. Her grandparent''s had got her wings removed too, and every time she tried to walk in that memoryne, she felt the pain on her back return. Like she could feel every rip and burn that was nothing less to dying, "I don''t think I have heard this story being told before. Why did they do that?" she questioned Reginald.

    "It was because he fell in love with a human," and Madeline''s eyebrows raised up because she knew about whom Reginald was speaking of. And even though she knew part of the story, she decided to listen to what Reginald had to say, "An angel is not supposed to fall in love with a human and even if they did, they were not supposed to keep a rtionship with the earthly beings. Some of the angels were envious, that this one got away without being punished and when he was here they removed his wings."

    "How did it turn bloody then?" questioned Madeline.

    "The wings grew back of course, with blood on it. At least, that is what I heard happened," and like a secret, Reginald whispered, "I heard that the one''s who tore his wings, they were punished to never have the wings ever again, turning them to humans."

    But then those fallen angels weren''t entirely human as they still held some powers in them, thought Madeline to herself.

    "If his wings returned, does it mean he turned back to an angel?" It was because only angels could have white wings and not fallen angels. Lady Ruth did say that he hade down here willingly.

    Reginald smiled, "Who knows, Lady Madeline. That is something that was never written. If you are interested to read about other things, you are always wee to the library that we have here in the church. You might enjoy it."

    "That is very kind of you, Mr. Frost," she bowed offering her thanks to him. "Um, if you don''t mind, may I ask you something?"

    "Please."

    "Why did the High Housee into existence exactly? I know there is more than one kind in there, or two," said Madeline, her eyes looking at the man curiously. They continued to walk again, making their way through the coloured light that fell on the long passage.

    "But does it happen?" questioned Madeline.

    Reginald smiled, "Are you speaking about what happened recently? It would be like questioning why no one has sentenced Calhoun."

    Madeline shook her head, "No, not like that. I know he had his reasons."

    "We all have our own reasons, mdy. But with all wrongs in the world, we side with the person who is less guilty, because somewhere, all of us feel guilt, don''t we?" The way Reginald asked her the question, Madeline couldn''t help but take a glimpse at her own self, "I can tell that there is something that has been weighing on your mind. Would you like to have a confession?" he proposed. Madeline doubted confessing to one of the High House members was a good idea, even if it seemed that he was loyal to the crown.

    "No. It did before, but now not that much." Speaking to Calhoun was enough of a confession.

    They started to get down the stairs, making their way back from the other side when Madeline caught sight of the window that was breathtaking. The ss of the window was pale yellow in colour and in the middle was a painted woman who held blue flowers in her hands.

    "Beautiful, isn''t it?" She heard Reginald praise the beauty of the window, "They say that this window, it was built and ced in here in the remembrance of the angel. His love for the woman, to keep it alive even after the time had passed."

    Madeline knew she had to get back to the front of the church to make sure Beth had returned and if she had, to make sure she didn''t have to wait for her. But there were still some questions on her mind. As they made their way back, she asked,

    "Is there any information about the woman with whom the angel fell in love with?"

    "She must have died. She was a human," he replied to her question and Madeline nodded her head. A human''s life span was lesspared to vampires and the other kind.

    Outside the church, in the vige, Beth had tried to follow the woman who seemed to be someone she knew, but no matter how much she tried to recollect, she couldn''t. Her feet were quick, and her curiosity had gotten the best out of her. She was now far away from the church and in one of the shadiest parts of the vige.

    Beth stopped walking, looking back and forth as she turned around wondering where the woman disappeared to. She touched her forehead when she felt a sharp pain as shes of images appeared in front of her eyes.

    ''Why did you scream?''

    ''I think I hurt myself.'' She heard a distant voice that came from her head, a voice that belonged to her sister. When the voices in her head got louder, it felt like the memory was trying to push forward and Beth felt a searing pain in her head.

    A rush of overwhelming emotions were pushed into her mind which had her stagger, memoriesing to fall one over the other in front of her eyes.

    ''Do you really have to, Beth?'' said another voice that didn''t belong to her or Madeline. ''How about you stay here, and Madeline can visit,'' said the stranger''s voice in her head. When realization finally hit Beth, her eyes widened and her eyes moved across the street to find the woman standing not too far away from her as if the woman was waiting for her to follow her.

    Beth''s hands turned cold.?She was dead...Jennine was dead, yet here she was. Did she have red hair back then? Beth wasn''t sure but the woman definitely looked like the girl who she and Madeline were once friends with.

    A slow smile appeared on the woman''s face.

    As they were far away from the church, the woman started to make her way towards Beth and Beth turned worried. With the snow around them, Beth froze in her ce and the woman came to stand in front of her.

    "J-Jennine?"

    "It has been really long, Beth," smiled the woman, her eyes turning from brown to ck which was enough to have Beth worry. W-what was that?!

 Chapter 375 Cathedral glass- Part 3

    <h4>375 Cathedral ss- Part 3</h4>

    "I was hoping you woulde to meet me at my grave, but you forgot me, Beth. I was your dear friend, wasn''t I?" asked the woman. Even though the weather was cold, Beth could feel sweat forming on her back out of nervousness. She could feel her head harshly squeezing itself because of the overwhelming memories.

    "Y-you cannot be alive," Beth didn''t believe in ghosts. Was she being haunted out of nowhere? And was she imagining things?

    Jennine smiled at Beth as if she was stupid, "That is so rude of you, Beth. But don''t worry, I will forgive you. You are my dear friend! Let''s go have a cup of tea. We have so many things to catch up."

    Beth took a step back, "I need to go back. Madeline is waiting for me." She turned, ready to sprint away from there with her back facing the woman when she heard Jennine say,

    "Ah, yes. Your sweet sister. I cannot believe that bitch is still alive. She always liked toe between you and me, just like how she came between you and that man with whom you were supposed to get married to. I was there when he got executed. All that blood and his handsome face away from his body. She had always stolen things from you,"mented Jennine, "I don''t think she would mind me having a bite...from you."

    When Beth turned, Jennine had disappeared. Her eyes frantically looked around, but Jennine was gone.

    "Who was that?" came a familiar voice behind her, and Beth twirled around to see it was Raphael.

    "What are you doing here??" asked Beth.

    "You didn''t think the King would have his future wife and her sister out in the vige, unprotected now, did you?" asked Raphael, "I didn''t want to disturb your little walk in the streets and decided to keep a distance while keeping an eye. So who was she?"

    Beth had a deep frown on her face. She didn''t know what to believe and what to think, "S-she was someone Madeline and I knew, when we were small. We thought she was dead." Raphael''s eyes slightly narrowed, and he looked around.

    "I think it would be best if you and Lady Madeline returned to the castle," he suggested, offering Beth a smile. In a different situation, Beth would have disagreed to his words, but she was in a state of shock, and she walked back to the church along with him.

    Madeline, who stood outside the church, noticed Beth walking next to Raphael. "Mdy," Raphael offered his greetings.

    "We should head back to the castle," said Raphael. With nothing else to do in the vige, Madeline held Beth''s arm and got inside the carriage. During the journey back to the castle, Madeline couldn''t help but worry that something must have happened with Beth. Raphael had given no exnation, and when they reached the castle, Beth had quickly excused herself to go back to her room.

    Seeing Beth''s retreating figure, Madeline waited for Raphael to speak, and he said, "The girl is back." And hearing his words, she wondered about whom the card reader was speaking about, "The girl who you both thought was dead."

    Madeline sucked in a deep breath. The one person who had died when they were small, it was Jennine.

    "Did you see her?" she questioned him.

    "I did. When I started to walk where she and your sister was, the woman bolted from there."

    Madeline closed her eyes in the realization, that Beth''s memories were returning, memories of what happened that day, which meant she also saw her covered in blood. She didn''t know what was running in Beth''s head right now.

    Not a momentter, Calhoun appeared at the top of the stairs. Raphael left her side, walking up the stairs and Madeline followed him. The card reader and the King shared a nod, before Raphael walked past him, leaving Madeline with Calhoun.

    Looking at Calhoun, she said, "Beth knows." Worry marred Madeline''s face as her sister had been sheltered away from the things that had taken ce in the past until now.

    "Going outside the castle by yourself is not safe, Maddie," Calhoun lightly reprimanded her, "Not because I don''t know that you can protect yourself, but there are a lot of people who want to harm you, and we don''t know what kind of ability they have that can overpower you."

    Before leaving the castle, Madeline had walked past Theodore with Beth. She believed that the vampire who wore the sses would have informed Calhoun.

    "I don''t mean you to live in fear, but until we resolve some of the things, stay by my side where I and my eyes can reach you," said Calhoun. He stepped closer and ced his hand to hold her chin before capturing Madeline''s lips with his. Pulling back, he whispered on her lips, "The time when you are not next to me, those are the times that are unbearable. And it seems like there is an addition to the people who want you."

    "But I don''t want them," she whispered back, and this brought a smile on Calhoun''s lips.

    "I won''t let them take you away from me, my sweet rose," and he hugged her, his hand running on the back of her head.

    The smile that was on his lips lowered down, and his eyes turned malicious. It seemed like he was right, the demon who Madeline had killed was not an average demon, and it had its eyes on Madeline for the third time. Calhoun thought to himself, maybe third time is a charm where the demon could be stuffed it into a coffin that would led to hell.

 Chapter 376 Carving a new path- Part 1

    <h4>376 Carving a new path- Part 1</h4>

    The memories that her grandparents had hidden and locked away years ago from her were returning as if they were being thrown at her, and she didn''t know how to digest it. Her lips trembled in fear. The sight of blood was clear, and it was not just the girl but also her very own sister whose hands were covered in blood.

    "Beth?"

    Beth whipped her head around to look at the door which she had closed. It was Madeline who hade to visit her. Should she behave like she was not in the room or had gone to sleep already? Instead of opening the door, Beth''s feet moved back, and it hit the chair, causing a small creak of sound.

    Madeline knocked on the surface of the door, "I know you are inside, Beth. Please talk to me," she coaxed her sister, hoping her sister would not shut herself in here and would speak about how she was feeling right now.

    "Go away!" Beth replied from the other side of the door.

    "I cannot. Please talk to me," Madeline pressed her hand on the surface of the door in the hope that Beth would open it. Her sister was finally trying to see things in a different light. Thest thing she needed was for Beth to rpse back to her behaviour after her grandparents had messed with her memories. "I can exin to you. Everything you ask, I will tell you."

    "Is it true what happened? What I saw back in the market?" demanded Beth without opening the door. "That woman whom I saw in the vige, and the b-blood on your hands. Y-you killed someone. Oh God," whispered Beth, raising her hand to her mouth to cover it. She couldn''t believe Madeline had the ability to kill someone. Beth then said, "You killed the girl...Why?!"

    Madeline closed her eyes on hearing Beth raise her voice. She could tell that Beth was hysterical right now as her sister couldn''t believe the truth that had suddenly pushed itself on her. Compared to her, Beth was slightly dramatic in taking information, and Madeline pursed her lips.

    "She wanted to hurt you," replied Madeline, her speech soft and low just for Beth to hear, "There are more things in this world than what we have known and learnt."

    "But you know...Was it just me who didn''t know about it?" questioned Beth.

    She heard the click sound of the door, and the door opened where Beth stood in front. Though Beth had not shown her reaction in the carriage, she was inplete shock remembering the blood and gore on the snow covered ground. She took a couple of steps backwards, maintaining a distance from Madeline when her sister stepped inside the room.

    "Keep the door unlocked," said Beth, her eyes fixed on Madeline. Somewhere, it broke Madeline''s heart thinking that Beth was going to put up walls between them again, "She is that girl, isn''t she? The woman whom I met?"

    "I didn''t see her, but if her name is Jennine, yes," Madeline nodded her head, "She is that girl whom I killed in the past."

    "How is it possible that she is still alive, and what does she want from me?" Beth had a deep frown on her face because she didn''t understand what Jennine wanted from her. Especially one who hade back from the dead.

    "I don''t know why she''s after you," Madeline herself had not met Jennine again, and she didn''t know why she had tried to lure Beth, "It might be because of me. I killed her two times," and Beth''s eyebrows raised high on her face, "Jennine is a demon, Beth."

    "What?" Beth asked as if she hadn''t heard it the first time.

    "This world doesn''t contain just humans, vampires, and werewolves. It is a world that is run in the background by the demons and angels, fallen angels mostly. Our grandparents were fallen angels, Beth. I know it sounds odd, but that is how it is," said Madeline to Beth, "Maybe even Aunt Mary or you can say rtives of ours from father''s side."

    Beth stood there in her ce without reacting, trying to understand what Madeline said. "I guess if vampires exist, demons and angels do too," Beth''s words came as a whisper, "How is it that our grandparents are fallen angels? Is that why the demon is after you and me?"

    "I think the fallen angels have been taking birth again since the first ones who had fallen from heaven because of their misdeeds. We have been living with different kinds whom we didn''t know, or weren''t aware of," exined Madeline, "That chain you have around your neck, it isn''t any heirloom from our family, but something that brings out the essence of the kind to let another person know who you are."

    Beth furrowed her eyebrows, and her hand went up to touch the chain that she wore now, "I find it hard to believe," she shook her head.

    Madeline stretched her hand forward, "Give me the chain. I will show you."

    Beth pursed her lips, and then unhooked the chain to hand it over to Madeline, "Why don''t you have one?" All this while, Beth believed it was because she was special, which was why she had a chain around her neck and Madeline didn''t. But with the memories tumbling in her head, she realized it wasn''t because she was everyone''s favourite.

    "I lost mine when I was young. Before you were born, I lost it," and Beth''s hands turned cold. Her lips parted to speak, but no words came out through her lips.

    Bethughed, "Y-you are telling me that you are older than me? That cannot be true," and the nervous smile didn''t disappear from her lips, "We are only a year apart from each other."

    Madeline stared at Beth. Even before she had found out about the truth, she had always treated Beth with care no matter how demanding Beth was. She had always been that elder sister to Beth.

    "I am two decades older than you, Beth," she stated and continued to speak, "Look at our parent''s closely. You will see something that is amiss. I am going to wear this chain to prove my point, but I need you to remove it right away. Okay?"

    Beth didn''t know why Madeline said that, nheless, she agreed. Cautiously, she moved towards Madeline and saw her sister wear the chain. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Beth then saw the air around them shift like they were standing at the edge of the cliff. But that wasn''t all. Beth noticed her sister''s eyes starting to change. She would have called it to be a prank, but Madeline''s expression changed, and the vases in the room broke into pieces. When the mirror on the wall broke, Beth quickly put her hands around Madeline''s neck to remove the chain that belonged to her.

    "I don''t get it," said Beth and she saw Madeline cough out blood from her mouth. Beth took out her handkerchief from her pocket dress and gave it to her sister, "Why does it affect you and not me?" She had been wearing the chain since she was a small girl, and it had never affected her.

    "You turned out to be a normal human being, Beth. At least that is what all of us believe while I...I turned to something different than what our grandparents were," came the whisper from Madeline.

    "Were? W-what do you mean were?" asked Beth rmed.

    "They are dead," answered Madeline, wiping her lips with the handkerchief, and walking to the table to pour herself a ss of water. If Beth was getting to know the truth, Madeline believed it would be best to keep her sister informed beforehand so that she wouldn''t get manipted by anyone and would know whom to trust and whom to not when the guests would arrive at the castle.

    "Did you kill them?" Beth didn''t feel hurt as much as she was supposed to feel, and it might have been because somewhere, her heart had always been cold towards her paternal grandparents and at her aunt, "Wait...I didn''t see Aunt Mary. Did she��?"

    Madeline nodded her head, "I didn''t kill them, but they are dead."

    Beth turned around, her hands holding the side of her head as if she was trying to grasp the situation, "I don''t understand how you are older than me when you look younger than me," and she turned again to face Madeline.

    Madeline exined everything to Beth from the time of her visiting their grandparent''s house until now on what happened. Beth unable to take in the amount of information, she went to the bed and took a seat at the edge.

    "This makes so much sense," murmured Beth to herself, "I always had these fragments of dreams. When I used to visit grandpa''s house, grandma used to whisper something to me as I fell asleep. She would often start with a story before she would say something that never made sense to me. Because I didn''t understand it."

    "She was trying to hide your memory. So that you would never see what was on the other side," replied Madeline, "They wanted you to live a normal life. Like a human."

    Beth shook her head, "All those things were nothing but covered in lies. I cannot believe they had done that to you," she muttered under her breath. Putting Madeline in the coffin for so many years? Did that mean her grandparents were waiting for her to turn like Madeline so that they could bury her too? Isn''t that why they gave the chain for her to wear? "I guess I did turn normal," said Beth before looking at Madeline who hadn''t moved away from the table, still holding the ss in her hand.

    "It isn''t safe for you to go to the town or vige alone, Beth. At least not until everything settles down. Especially with Jennine out there," reminded Madeline. It was possible that Jennine knew how much she cared for Beth, and it was the reason why Jennine was targeting her, "Beth?" she called seeing her sister staring at the floor.

    "Yes," Beth answered before pursing her lips, "What about you, though? Did you evere to learn where this Paschar is? Wouldn''t it be easy to get his help in getting rid of these people who want you?"

    "No one knows where he is. No one has seen him in many years. He must havepletely disappeared or returned to heaven, after the woman whom he loved died," because that was a possibility, thought Madeline in her mind.

    Beth doubted she would even step outside the castle after knowing and meeting Jennine who looked like she was very keen on inviting her to the tea party. "Why isn''t she dead?" asked Beth disturbed.

    "I think she''s a higher level demon and I might have not been strong enough to kill her."

    "Maybe you weren''t before, but now it''s different, isn''t it?" asked Beth.

    All these years, Beth''s memories had been hidden and kept away from her. The bond that she shared with Madeline had been cut-off by her grandparent''s such that she forgot how much she cared for Madeline. It wasn''t that Beth had stopped caring, but it had evaporated in time. During that same time, she had seen how people treated them differently, it was subtle, but Beth noticed it. There were a lot of things that she had found to be unfair, but she had never been pushed to death by being ced in the coffin. She wondered how Madeline had even kept a sane mind, withouting out to be a vengeful person.

    "I don''t know," Madeline exhaled the air out of her lips, "I don''t know how the wedding will go."

    "I will see what I can do," Beth answered before getting up and walking near Madeline. "I am sure the King would not let anyone spoil the day." And even though Beth was still a little apprehensive after remembering the gore on the snow, she stepped forward before putting her hands around Madeline to hug her. "It will be fine."

 Chapter 377 Carving a new path- Part 2

    <h4>377 Carving a new path- Part 2</h4>

    .

    From the wake of the dawn, snowkes had stopped falling from the sky. Snow covered the most of Devon, with the colour of white spreading across the vige and nearby towns that were near the Hawthrone castle. And though the weather was dull and gloomy, the castle held a light chatter of noise from the guests who had arrived at the castle, greeting and getting to know each other, while the servants hustled in and out to make sure everything was perfect.

    Mr. and Mrs. Harris stood in one of the open corridors, talking to their rtives who hade to attend their daughter Madeline''s wedding.

    "I would have never guessed that vampires get married in a chapel," came the whisper of one their rtive who hade to talk to them, "I heard that Madeline had tried to��" the woman trailed looking at Mr. and Mrs. Harris.

    "It was a wrong information that was spread out by one of the maids who used to work here, Lydia," Mrs. Harris quickly tried to dismiss the woman''s words.

    "Is that so?" Lydia responded, who is one of Mr. Harris'' distant cousin, "We were worried about what might have happened. Not to forget how cruel vampires can be."

    "The King has been generous and thoughtful about Madeline and us," Frances didn''t know how far the false rumour had spread in Devon about Madeline, "We can hardly wait to see them married."

    Lydia smiled, "Of course, marriage is a beautiful thing when you get married to the right person. I hope it is the same with your elder daughter. I heard she is still waiting for a suitable man. Since you are the mother, you should tell her not to wait so long. Not everyone has the fortune of marrying the King. I mean, you don''t want to have one daughter married and the other ending up as a spinster."

    Another rtive who stood next to the Harris couple was Mr. and Mrs. Halls, "I am surprised that Elizabeth was not the one to get married,"mented Mr. Halls, "Where are uncle and aunt?" the man turned to ask Mr. Harris, "I don''t think I have even seen Mary since I arrived at the castle. Has she not arrived yet?"

    Mr. Harris felt his throat turn dry, "You know how mother and father are when ites to their distaste towards vampires," he forced a smile on his lips, "I sent out the invitation, but I think they decided to sit this one out. Mary, I am not sure. We have been waiting for her since we arrived here. Isn''t that right, Francis?" Mr. Harris turned to look at his wife.

    "Yes, he''s right. Hopefully, she will be here on time," came the forced lie from Mrs. Harris, who was ufortable talking about it. She knew questions like these woulde up during the conversation where she and her husband would have to behave as if they knew nothing.

    "I am worried if something will happen," Mrs. Harris whispered as she ced her hand on her husband''s arm, "I heard the High House members will be attending the wedding too. Do you think they will find out something?"

    "Don''t worry, dear," Mr. Harris rubbed his wife''s back, "It will be fine. The King has taken care of everything. And we have more eyes than what we had in the past, on us and on others. All we need to do is behave like we know nothing. People don''t know anything," he whispered back, "Where is Beth?" Mr. Harris had heard from Madeline that Beth had remembered on what happened in the past.

    "She must be with Madeline, helping her to get ready," answered Mrs. Harris, noticing carriages riding from a distance, making their way towards the castle.

    In a room, which was away from the main halls and corridors of the castle, Madeline stood in front of one of the bedpost, holding it with her hands as the maid tightened her corset before tying it. There were three maids in the room, helping her along with her sister Beth, who had got ready beforehand so that she could help Madeline.

    "Have everyone arrived?" asked Madeline after wearing her dress.

    "Most of them," replied Beth, who stood next to the window, looking outside at the carriages arrive one after another. "I met Uncle Joaquin on my way up here. Uncle Desmond is here with our cousin brothers." Madeline couldn''t help but worry on what Uncle Desmond would say regarding his wife Mary''s sudden disappearance. With the maids in the room, neither did Beth nor her speak about it, and only shared nces at each other. "I must say, Mr. Heathcliff sure did a good job with the wedding gown. He knows his work."

    Madeline moved towards the ce where the oval mirror was nailed on the wall. She looked at her reflection. Her hair had already beenbed. Partitioning her hair from the side and pinning them entirely behind. Some pieces of her hair had been pulled out near her temple and she looked at the wedding gown that she wore. There were small pearls embedded into the dress along with the thread work on the silk gown. She could tell that James had really outdone himself, and she could feel the admiration and his soul poured into this gown. And at that thought, she wondered where James was now.

    It had been a few days now since she hadst seen James. Even though Mr. Barnes had been executed, and the marriage was no more going to take ce because of the death of Catherine Barnes, James still had not returned.

    Beth noticed how Madeline had turned quiet and was thinking about something. "I think that is all thedy needed help with. You can leave," she dismissed the maids, who bowed their heads at both the sisters before closing the door. Beth asked, "Do you still love him?"

    Madeline looked startled, and she saw her sister through the mirror, "James? No," she shook her head. "I don''t know if he''s alright because if people find out about him...they won''t think twice before pulling the arrow at him, to kill him."

    Beth gave her sister a nod, "Let me help you in fixing the veil. I need to put the roses in here too. We don''t want to miss it," she offered, walking towards the bed where the thin fabric and pale pink roses were ced. Picking them up, she came to stand behind Madeline, "Sit."

    Even though there were parts in her mind that were empty because of what was going on, Madeline was happy to have her sister by her side, "Beth?"

    "Hm?" responded Beth, who was concentrating on pushing the small pink roses into the back of Madeline''s hair before pinning the veil.

    "I am happy that you are here." Madeline was happy that Beth''s memories had returned and that they were in the process of reconciliation. It meant a lot to her, that things between them weren''t awkward anymore and that they were alright. She could see how Beth thought twice or thrice before saying anything like she was considerate since yesterday.

    Beth lifted her gaze to look at Madeline''s reflection on the mirror, and she smiled, "I am d too," and she went back to finish her job of pinning the veil to Madeline''s hair before spreading it. "There, the bride is ready. I will be going to check on mama and papa. Do you want me to stay here with you?"

    Madeline shook her head, "I will be fine."

    The door shut close when Beth left, leaving Madeline alone in the room.

    Silence filled the room, and Madeline continued to stare at herself. Her hair had been set with pins, and her lips had a tint of red, something Beth had applied on her lips. In a short time, she would be walking to the chapel and down the aisle, and the nervousness slowly crept in her nerves.

    Even though the room she was in was away from the front side of the castle, Madeline heard every carriage that came to enter or leave the castle ground. She stood up from the dressing mirror when she heard rustlesing from outside the window. At first, she took it to be the birds that were chirping a few minutes ago, but when the sound continued, Madeline was about to make her way towards the window and at the same time, someone got inside the room through the same open window.

    "J-James?" Madeline was shocked and happy to see him here.

    The handsome man whom she once knew, he now looked exhausted with the dark circles under his eyes. His hair was unkempt, his shirt not tucked in and his sleeves unrolled. She could tell by looking at him now that he had lost weight. "Where were you all these days?" she questioned. She turned her head around to look at the door before looking back at him.

    "I ended up in the North, and it took time for me toe here," replied James taking in the wedding gown she wore, "You''re getting married today. Happy?" he asked her.

    Madeline nodded in response. She had not expected to see him in here, not at this castle or this time, but she was happy to know that he was still alive. "That''s good. You look beautiful,"plimented James.

    "Thank you. You are the person who made the gown," Madeline smiled, and James returned it, but the smile didn''t reach his eyes.

    It was the gown that had caught the King''s attention in the ballroom. Madeline had looked exceptionally beautiful that day who could captivate anyone''s attention. When James had realized his talent when it came to the fabric and threads along with the needles, he never knew that the same skill would be a downfall when it came to his love life. Maybe not entirely, but the gown that he had rented to Madeline to wear, it had somehow contributed to the change of events in his and Madeline''s lives.

    "You are the one wearing it, mdy," James bowed his head, epting his final defeat, knowing he would have to let go of his feelings about Madeline from his heart, but he wondered if it was possible. Maybe it would take time, but until then, he would continue to love her.

    Madeline didn''t know if James had heard about thest two cases, and she said, "Mr. Barnes was executed in the town for the murder of his daughter."

    And her words only made James realize that his life was not the same as before. "I heard about him." He was too ashamed to admit that he had killed Catherine, "I came here to bid you bye."

    "Where are you going?" asked Madeline with a frown, "We are trying to find an antidote that can help you to turn back. Stay here in the castle. It''s not safe outside."

    James smiled at Madeline''s concerned words. "There is no antidote, and I might never return to the life that I once had, but I met a werewolf who offered to help me with my current condition. I had to settle a few things with the shop and thought to drop by in here, to see you before I left. I will be moving to the North, where there are many people like me."

    Madeline saw James walk towards her, stopping to stand in front of her. James seemed like he had already decided to leave Devon. She hoped that the person or people whom James trusted wouldn''t put him in trouble.

    "I don''t want to bring up the past as you are going to start a new life soon, and if there are any regrets, it is only that I should have been brave enough to do or stop things," said James to her, "I am happy for you," he ced his hand on Madeline''s arm for the briefest moment before dropping his hand to his side.

    James then leaned forward to the side of her face, moving closer for onest greet when he sensed her body turn rigid, and he smiled. Pulling himself back, he wished her, "I wish you a happy married life, Lady Madeline." Before Madeline could say anything, he quickly jumped out of the window and disappeared into the woods.

    A momentter, the door opened and Lucy stepped in to see Madeline looking at the window, "Lady Madeline? It is time."

 Chapter 378 Carving a new path- Part 3

    <h4>378 Carving a new path- Part 3</h4>

    "You look beautiful, Maddie. You turned to a beautiful bride," said her father, "It''s so hard to believe that you grew up and we are here at your wedding." With Madeline who had been put in the coffin twice, Mr. Harris had not expected it in the past. On hearing the music that came from the chapel, he asked her, "Ready?" and the sound of piano started to fill up the ce, escaping to the nearby surroundings.

    The maids who stood behind her made the hem of her gown proper from behind as well as the veil that she wore. A bouquet was given to her, and she put her hand around her father''s arm. "I am ready," she said before they began to walk and stepped into the room.

    Entering the room, Madeline couldn''t help but notice how bright the chapel looked right now with the candles lit in the long room. The guests had stood up on either side, watching her when she entered the room. She saw some of the familiar faces. Her mother seemed teary-eyed and next to her mother, she identified her rtives and she couldn''t help but be cautious about them. As her eyes wandered, she also caught sight of vampires who were Calhoun''s rtives, some who barely smiled, and some who stared at her. There were also the High House members who were present in the room. Theodore and Raphael stood at the front along with Lucy and her sister Beth where the girls offered her a smile.

    Before she could feel nervous with their gazes, her brown eyes met Calhoun''s red eyes who stood at the front, waiting for her to join him. His hair wasbed back, and he wore a ck suit. A gardenia was pinned to thepel of his dark coat. Now that her eyes had fallen on him, it was hard to look away, and she walked along with her father towards him like he was a lighthouse and she was the person who was lost, who was now finding her way to him.

    With each step she took forward, she could feel her heart beating faster in her chest, and she gulped. There was a subtle smile on Calhoun''s lips as if he was listening to her heartbeat very closely as he watched her. She held on to her father''s arm tightly until they reached the front. Handing the bouquet to her sister, she stood in front of Calhoun, staring into his deep dark red eyes that looked right back at her.

    Madeline saw Calhoun''s eyes slightly narrow at her before they returned to normal. She wondered if she imagined it. The priest who was standing there to perform the ceremony was an elderly man with grey hair and he announced, "Everyone can sit down."

    Madeline was sure by the gazes that she felting from the guests, that a lot of them looked at both her and Calhoun strangely. Not because it was the first time for a human to be getting married to a vampire, but because a vampire was performing the wedding ceremony in a chapel simr to what the humans did. Calhoun was doing this for her, to keep his promise of doing things the way she would want.

    She felt her heart slip and stutter in her chest with the way Calhoun looked at her. He was a handsome looking man, and with his hairbed back, it allowed one to look at his face more clearly. She had to remind herself not to feel weak in her knees. They were getting married, thought Madeline to herself as the thought sank in her mind.

    Calhoun looked at her as if she was the only person in the room, giving his full attention to her like any other time as if everything else around them disappeared. She looked beautiful, her innocent eyes quietly reaching out for him because of the possible nervousness she felt right now. And just by that mere look, she stole his heart again which he had lost count of it.

    Returning back to what the priest was saying, she heard him ask, "Do you promise to honour and tenderly care for each another, cherish each other for all the days of your lives until death do you apart?"

    "We do," said both Calhoun and Madeline.

    The priest, who held the rings in his hands, said, "Let these rings be a symbol of your love, andmitment to each other. Please repeat after me, my lord," he said to Calhoun and Calhoun repeated the words before he was given the ring to ce it on Madeline''s finger. The priest then turned to Madeline, "Mdy."

    Madeline then said word to word, repeating after the elderly man, "I, Madeline promise to love and support you Calhoun and live each day with kindness, understanding, truth, and passion. With this ring I thee wed," and she brought the ring near Calhoun''s hand to push it on his finger.

    "With everyone''s blessings, and in the light of promises given to each other. I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride," announced the priest. Without wasting a second, Calhoun stepped forward, circling his hand around her waist and bent down to kiss Madeline.

    Madeline felt her heart leap out of her chest when Calhoun kissed her. Her eyes closed, and she kissed him back until he pulled away from her lips. She noticed a broad smile on his lips. Calhoun picked up her hand and turned to look at the guests and he announced,

    "I introduce you, my wife and the Queen of Devon, Madeline Hawthrone."

 Chapter 379 Guests in the Castle- Part 1

    <h4>379 Guests in the Castle- Part 1</h4>

    .

    The words that Calhoun uttered, echoed not just in the room where they stood along with the guests, but it was also announced loud enough for the people who were in the castle. Madeline felt goosebumps rise on her arms and she looked at the people who were in front and around them bow down deep at her and the King. She was no more the simple vige girl who walked in the shadow of her sister and her family. She was now the Queen of the verynd where she had born and was living, wife of Calhoun Hawthrone.

    Noticing the crowd, she noticed some of the vampires who were not pleased with the news as she was a mere human in their eyes, a human who married the vampire who belonged to the royal family. But they could do nothing but oblige to the news by bowing their heads to wee her as the Queen.

    Madeline felt her hand squeezed by Calhoun''s hand and she turned to look at him, to see the pride in his eyes, that she was his wife and the smile spread out on his lips.

    With the ceremony that came to an end, everyone was asked to move to the ballroom to see the King and the Queen dance with each other, which was considered as a tradition. Madeline had quickly changed into another dress so that it would be easy for her to walk and dance in. Calhoun took hold of her hand, leading her to the centre of the room, which was not far away from the ce where they had first danced with each other.

    "How do you feel, Madeline?" asked Calhoun, his words only for Madeline to hear.

    "Feels like everything is changing since the second the priest dered us as husband and wife," she answered, and Calhoun stopped walking to stand in front of her.

    One side of Calhoun''s lips pulled up, and he took her hand and kneeled on one of his legs as he kissed the back of her hand, "You are no more just Madeline, my sweet rose," he said before raising to stand tall in front of her. "But then you were never just Madeline but more than that." He ced his other hand on her waist before they started to dance.

    Madeline had only ced one step backwards to follow Calhoun''s lead when she heard the soft peaceful piano music from the corner of the room that started to y, slowly filling up the entire room.

    "I thought it would never happen," she confessed to him when Calhoun twirled her in his arms to bring her back to him. In dreaded anticipation until the vows, she had been worried that something woulde to happen, and now as they were finally married, it took time for her to sink it in.

    Looking at Calhoun''s devil-like face that was handsomely charming as he continued to have a subtle smile on his lips, she heard him say, "I did promise that I wouldn''t let any harm to befall on you," he whispered in her ears, "This is yours and my day. With no blood on our hands."

    Every rule in this world had an exception, and in her life, Calhoun was that exception. Her feelings were now more profound for him in her heart than what she had been having in the past few days. And with the wedding and the atmosphere, she felt overwhelmed.

    "Anything for you," he answered, and when they finished their first dance as a couple, the people around pped and cheered them before other people came to join the dance floor to celebrate their marriage.

    Despite everything that was going on, Madeline couldn''t help but smile as Calhoun''s smile was contagious just to her, while for most of the people in this room, it was intimidating. The music only elevated how she was feeling. She didn''t forget the first time when she had met him here. Passing each other, for him to call her as she had dropped her handkerchief down.

    "Is there anything you want as your wedding gift, my wife?" inquired Calhoun and the term wife brought a faint blush on Madeline''s cheek. Her eyes looked into his liquid red eyes that shone in contentment.

    She shook her head, "I think I have everything that I need." It was hard to believe how much both of them hade around since the time of their first dance, at the time of Hallow.

    Calhoun was not less overbearing when it came to things around him, but he was willing to pause and consider her feelings which was something she appreciated now. Without him having to word it out, she could feel his happiness radiating from him, and this made her happy too. Madeline had always wanted to get married to someone whom she could see herself with, someone who could understand her and surprisingly he did. The pain and loneliness which she had felt in the past had been filled up by him. He gave her that sense of security that no one had ever offered to her, a promise that he would always be there for her.

    She noticed how small her hand looked in his hand, and it felt warm. Her other hand was on his chest, and she felt his heart beat. How strange that people believed that vampires had no heartbeat, yet here was Calhoun''s heart, beating calmly beneath her touch.

    "There must be something that you want? A pet? Jewels? A mansion or someone''s head?" Calhoun grinned at the end, and Madeline who was looking at him didn''t know if it was a joke or if he was being serious, "Ask me anything and I will give it to you."

    Madeline had never taken any interest in jewels in the past, not because her family was poor and couldn''t afford it, but because things like those mattered less to her. And what would she do with a mansion? The thought of having a pet was intriguing, but Calhoun already had the wolves in the castle.

    "Peace?" Now that they were married, she wanted a peaceful life, but she knew it was a far fetched thought.

    "Peace it is," chimed Calhoun, "That is one way of telling, you want people''s head who wille to cross us." Hearing this, Madeline''s eyes widened. Calhoun pulled her into his arms, keeping her close, and he said next to her ear, "Also, why is it that I smell the mutt on you." There was a slight edginess in his question, and Madeline pulled back to look at him.

    Madeline wondered how Calhoun had even found out about it. The more seconds she took to reply, the more Calhoun''s eyes narrowed at her, which only she could see.

    She felt Calhoun''s grip on her waist tighten as he stared at her, and she wondered if jealousy ever looked as attractive as it did now. Quickly snapping out from her thoughts, she said,

    "He came to meet me."

    "Clearly,"mented Calhoun, who had smelt James'' scent on Madeline when she stood in front of him back at the chapel.

    "James said he was going to the North, and he wanted to see me before leaving Devon," Madeline conveyed the information of what happened and Calhoun raised his eyebrows, "Something about meeting people like him and living with them."

    "Did he kiss or hug you to say goodbye?" questioned Calhoun with a small frown, and at his question, Madeline quickly shook her head. There was no way James'' scent could be this prominent on Madeline. Under his ever calm demeanour, the thought of James touching Madeline irked Calhoun because he didn''t forget how things were in the beginning, but at the same time, he was d to hear that James was leaving Devon for good.

    Calhoun would have continued to help James in finding the antidote as it would keep Madeline''s heart at ease, but he would also make sure to keep James far away from her. Being a man, he knew how one felt when they were in love with a woman, and Calhoun was not willing to share even a bit of her time to the man with whom she once shared affection.

    "He didn''t," Madeline''s body had turned rigid when James had stepped into her breathing space as if her body knew he had leaned closer to kiss her cheek, and she had been too slow to react through her expression. "Is it safe in the North?"

    "It depends on with which werewolves he''s going to run. Compared to Devon, it is much better for him to be there in the North," replied Calhoun, wondering if the High House would finally get tired of looking for James and pull down his pictures that were nailed on the trees or if another person''s drawing would be ced on it. "The Northnd, it is where the werewolves came into existence before some of them escaped into othernds, biting humans to turn them to werewolves while killing vampires."

 Chapter 380 Guests in the Castle- Part 2

    <h4>380 Guests in the Castle- Part 2</h4>

    "Looks like things are better between you two,"mented Calhoun and Madeline''s gaze returned to him.

    "It feels like things are going back to the time before my grandparent''s meddled with her memory. She also looks happier," said Madeline with a smile on her lips. Her eyes caught sight of Lucy who was dancing with a man whom she had never met before, "Who is that?" she asked Calhoun, and Calhoun twirled her around to switch positions to see who Madeline was speaking about.

    "That''s Ethan Moryet. A distant cousin from Lucy''s mother''s side," said Calhoun before his eyes fell on Theodore who stood at the side, watching the couple dance. Amusement in his eyes, he looked back at his beautiful bride in his arms, "Now that Samuel is out of the picture, I am guessing he cannot wait to woo Lucy. Anyways, stop making me look at other people when I only want to look at you."

    The guests who hadn''t stepped forward to dance with the others stood at the sides, some looked happy, and some out of envy of how a mere human had stepped forward and acquired the position of the Queen of Devon, to stand beside Calhoun Hawthrone.

    Lilith, who stood at the side couldn''t help but quietly stare at the girl. Being part of the High House members had its own benefits, and she didn''te here today to attend and watch the wedding take ce. The reason why she hade here was to observe the girl, who was supposed to be the dark angel.

    "It looks like you drank a whole ss of wine named jealousy,"mented Weasley who was standing next to her while watching the people dance.

    Lilith''s lips twisted in displeasure, "I have no idea of what you are speaking about. Am I looking so beautiful that you cannot keep your eyes off of me?" she turned her head to meet Weasley''s eyes with a fake smile stered on her lips.

    Weasley smiled, "I wasn''t watching you, but I was surely distracted by the smokeing from you. I thought I would let you know." Lilith red at the man for the words he uttered, and if she could, she would tear his head off his body, but they were in a royal gathering, and the people of the High House members were supposed to act sensible andposed.

    "I have no reason to be jealous or fuming over something where I was the one to leave. I just enjoyed the time, and I left," replied Lilith while trying to keep a straight face.

    "Whatever floats your boat. You know what happened," Weasely took a sip from his ss before walking away from there to go and stand next to Reginald who was humouring an old woman.

    "He has been ying with fire for far too long. It is time, I burn and send him to hell," muttered Lilith under her breath.

    Weasley enjoyed taunting her, and every time she had controlled herself. She hadn''t expected Calhoun to actually marry Madeline, but that was alright, thought Lilith in her mind. They were going to kill the girl and Calhoun would again continue to live his life in misery, just like he had, when his mother had passed away. He would look for a ce to forget the pain. But Lilith didn''t want love. She wanted to see both the King and the new Queen suffer.

    With Helena and other High House members, who stood on the other side of the room, Lilith turned her head to Luther and asked, "Did you see Mary? It seems like she didn''te to attend the wedding." Since the time they had entered the chapel, Lilith had expected for the woman to be present as she was a close rtive of the bride, but she wasn''t here.

    "Unless someone decided to kill her."

    "You think someone caught a whiff of what she was up to? Or do you think it''s someone who wants the girl too?" asked Lilith because a dark angel didn''t appear every year. But they couldn''t kill her today as they were told to wait until the full moon day appeared before they woulde for Madeline. She raised the ss in her hand to bring it up to her lips. "So much for a happily ever after tale," and she drank the alcohol whilst staring at Madeline.

    The ballroom had windows that were left open for air to pass through. Many trees stood next and near to the windows that had grown tall and wide in stature. In one of the trees, and in one of the branches of it, two bats were hanging themselves upside down while watching the people in the ballroom.

    The smaller bat quietly looked at people, wondering what he was doing here outside than being inside the castle, "Master, what are we doing here hanging on the tree?" asked Odin.

    "Looking at people, you fool," scolded dimir as he concentrated his eyes on the newlywed couple who were dancing in the middle of the room. He and Odin had been sitting here for quite some time now, observing the King who was responsible for his daughter''s misery. He was a handsome bastard, and he wondered if it was what caught his poor daughter''s eye. "He seems young for a King. He probably didn''t age much, which exins his debauchery."

    Odin understood the part where his master was watching his prey, but what he didn''t understand was, instead of going inside and avenging Lady Constance''s death, they were hanging on the tree.

    "Master-"

    "Hush, you chatterbox. I will burn you if you utter one more word," dimir continued to re at the King. "I want the King to know what pain feels like when something is stolen right in front of his eyes. Let him enjoy the day now so that when the timeses, he remembers how painful it is when something precious is stolen and sullied. I will make sure his bride''s fingers and limbs shall be delivered to him, so that he knows she''s being tortured before being killed."

    Odin quickly nodded his head enthusiastically. The servant cleared his throat, "But aren''t we going inside?"

    "And do what?" came the low voice from dimir, "I can tell, with what kinds you have been associating yourself with, Odin, to have your brain rust and rot. But if you so much insist, we can take a look." And dimir flew away from the tree.

    He? Odin asked himself. When did he insist?

    "Master, wait!" and the smaller bat quickly followed its master.

 Chapter 381 Guests in the Castle- Part 3

    <h4>381 Guests in the Castle- Part 3</h4>

    After sharing their vows, Madeline had changed herself into a sunny coloured gown that was not heavy like the wedding gown. She had let down most of her hair, that now cascaded down her back. Taking a towel that was kept folded nearby, she dabbed it against her temples.

    "Congrattions on getting married, my Queen," Madeline turned around to see it was Lilith who entered the powder room. The maids stood outside as if on standby if Madeline would need something, "I thought the wedding would not take ce."

    Madeline, who had already met Lilith, asked, "Why did you think that?"

    "Because of the snow and the possible oing blizzard, of course. I heard the soothsayer say that this year would see one of the harshest blizzards anyone has seen," said Lilith while making her way to stand in front of the mirror. "Not to forget, I didn''t think the King would take a wife," and she passed a slide nce to Madeline.

    Lilith had followed Madeline here to the powder room?to see if Madeline would show any ability. She didn''t mind sacrificing this girl even if the girl wasn''t a dark angel.

    Madeline sensed the underlying meaning behind Lilith''s words. Instead of taking the same path as Lilith, she looked at her reflection in the mirror, running her hand on one side of her hair to say, "You know what people say, when it is right, it is right. A right person can change a lot of things," and she then looked at Lilith with a polite smile, "Because a wrong person cannot do it."

    "Don''t put too much air around you, my Queen. You never know how poisonous things can turn. You think you are in a higher status now, but there''s always someone else higher than you," said Lilith, "It''s always good to be careful. And if you ever need any help, you cane to me because I know how things are done when ites to the King." The subject had deviated to Calhoun.

    "You''re too kind to worry about me, Lady Lilith. But I have been told that I am good at what I do. Thank you again and don''t be shy to enjoy the food and drinks of our wedding," Madeline offered Lilith a smile before stepping out of the powder room.

    Madeline exhaled air out of her lips when she took five steps away from the powder room. She was making her way back to the ballroom where everyone was, when she caught sight of a dark-haired vampire who appeared to be in his thirties, walking next to a young man. The young man was shorterpared to the vampire.

    Madeline wasn''t familiar with a lot of guests who had shown up today to attend the wedding. Before she could reach the ballroom, she saw the priest step out of the room whom she had met two days ago in the church.

    "Congrattions on your marriage, Lady Madeline or must I say, Queen Madeline," wished Reginald with a polite smile on his face.

    "Lady Madeline is just fine." It was strange to hear people address her as the Queen. "Are you leaving already?" she asked to see the man smile.

    "Yes, I believe I must head out of the castle as there are other things that Helena wants me to attend to. I will see you around," and Madeline nodded.

    "Thank you foring today," she said before walking inside the ballroom.

    Reginald looked at Madeline get inside, and he then turned to look at a man whose eyebrows were dark and raised, below which were a pair of red eyes. But there was something strange about this vampire, thought the priest to himself and it wasn''t because of the young man who looked skittishly back and forth as he followed the other vampire who walked in the front.?Reginald felt like he knew this person, but at the same time he felt he didn''t.

    As they were about to pass each other, both Reginald and dimir''s eyes met each other''s for the briefest moment before they walked past each other. Reginald couldn''t point where exactly he had seen this vampire as he often remembered people he met. On the other hand, dimir''s eyes moved to the corner from where Reginald had walked past him.

    "Is something the matter, Master?" asked Odin, noticing his Master''s attention that had been upied by the man and had left the bride they were supposed to look at. If his Master agreed, Odin would happily kidnap the bride right away, but it seemed like Master dimir had different ns.

    dimir couldn''t shake the feeling, the way the man had just given him a look right now. imbecile fool, thought dimir in his head. If the man had stared at him for a second longer, he would have scooped the man''s eyes out.

    "Do you smell that, Odin?" questioned dimir lowly, "The scent of my daughter is almost everywhere. Didn''t you tell she lived here for many years?"

    "Yes, Sire. I heard she lived here before she was��" Odin didn''tplete his sentence because dimir had turned to him. "Master, if I may ask�� Have you nned when we are going to kidnap the bride from here?" whispered Odin as they were reaching the entrance of the ballroom.

    dimir looked at the people in the room, "When the full moon appears, then starts the revenge for the tears and blood that was spilt."

 Chapter 382 Whisperers- Part 1

    <h4>382 Whisperers- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline, who had stepped back into the ballroom, started to make her way to where Calhoun was, who was swarmed around by people. When she came near, Calhoun automatically turned his gaze away from the person with whom he was talking and looked at her. This led the people to stop listening to the man who was speaking and they made way for the Queen, who came to stand next to the King.

    "My Queen," greeted a woman who had highly arched eyebrows and her eyes were small, possibly because of her age, and Madeline caught sight of the red eyes in them. "We didn''t have the opportunity to meet earlier." The woman took hold of Madeline''s hand to kiss the back of her hand which Madeline found to be strange as she had never been ced in a high position like this in her life until now, "I am Monique Trevett. The previous King''s half-sister. A rtive of the King," said Monique ncing at Calhoun and then back at her.

    Always being the polite one in the room, Madeline introduced herself, "Madeline Hawthrone," and Monique gave her an approving nod.

    Calhoun said, "Monique has been travelling in the Westnds, and she returned to Devon only two days ago. She is a dear aunt, and someone who has been working in court before I even entered the castle."

    "My nephew has very kind words to offer," Monique smiled, "There were a few matters I had to attend to, and unfortunately, I even missed the celebration of Hallow. But I am d that I am able to attend your wedding today. Excuse me while I go meet the head of the High House," and she left their side.

    The other guests who had earlier flocked around Calhoun had slowly started to disperse away from them, while some continued to stay to get into the good word of the King for their future benefit.

    "Is it true that the Wilmot''s have been exiled out of the castle never to return?" questioned a man, curiosityced in his voice as he asked the fellow gentleman next to him.

    "The King has punished them for creating treason and for the code of misconduct in Devon. I think it was the right thing to do rather than keep rats in here who were going to kill the King," replied the man.

    "You say that? I thought you were close and tight with the Wilmot''s," said the first man to see the second one widen his eyes.

    "O-of course not! After I heard what Lady Rosamund and Sir Markus did, I cut ties immediately!" came the quick lie from the man and Calhoun who was listening to their conversation, intervened,

    "Mr. Fitzwilliam, have you heard the order that was passed down to the Wilmots who have been banned from entering the castle again?"

    "I did hear it, my lord," answered Fitzwilliam turning in the King''s direction, "You said that they were never to return here and associate themselves ever again with the royal family." When Calhoun didn''t say anything right away, the vampire could feel sweat starting to form on his forehead even though it was the time of Winter.

    Calhoun then said, "One of my trusted informants said that you have been helping the Wilmot''s in finding their new house, or mansion I should say which is five hours away from the castle. Here, I thought you were someone who works for the royal family. Not to mention, their titles were stripped down from them, yet you address them so highly. You must be very loyal to Wilmot''s, isn''t it?"

    Madeline recognized this man who was under Calhoun''s questioning gaze to be one of the men who was present, when she had broken the ss of the portrait.

    Fitzwilliam shook his head, "My Lord, it is a small house. Barely big enough to be called a mansion. Thedy only wanted a house to move in with her family as they didn''t have anywhere else to go��"

    "If you are smart enough, you will cut ties with them immediately, unless you want someone else to go looking for a house or maybe a hut for you next to stay in," Calhoun threw in the casual threat with a smile on his lips and Fitzwilliam gulped.

    "Yes, milord!" he bowed his head.

    While Calhoun was speaking with the other guests, and introducing them to his bride Madeline, she couldn''t help but get distracted when they started to speak about the disputes and other things which she was yet to learn.

    Madeline''s brown eyes started to look at the other guests who hade to attend their wedding. She saw some of her cousins, uncles and aunts whom she had not met in a long time. Because of her kind behaviour, Madeline always had a good rtionship with everyone, and there were little to no disputes, while Beth was always involved with differences with others because of her opinionated nature when it came to certain things. And even with that, Madeline couldn''t help but have a look of suspicion in her eyes when her eyes met her rtive''s eyes.

    It felt unnerving not knowing what was going to happen, and when it was going to happen. At the same time, Madeline''s eyes fell on a person who stood next to the High House member Dimitri. The man was tall, who had blonde hair and pale skin. Hisshes were lightly dusted, and his eyes blue in colour. There was something very unusual about this man, and she wondered if it was because of his appearance. And as she continued to stare at the man, the person''s eyes shifted from Dimitri to look at her as if he had felt her gaze.

    He offered her a bow and a polite smile, and Madeline gave him a nod while standing next to Calhoun.

    "What are you looking at?" Madeline heard Calhoun ask her. She turned back to see the guests around them had left, and it was just him and her now.

    "Who is that person with whom Dimitri is speaking to?" she asked with a small frown on her face.

    "That''s Michael Reeves. He once used to work in the High House before he was reced by Weasley."

    "Why did he leave the High House?" inquired Madeline. She wondered why she felt such a strong connection towards the man as if she had met him or seen him before. Somewhere in the corner of her mind, she couldn''t help but question if this was the same man whom she had seen in herst dream��the angel with wings who killed a woman.

    "He didn''t like a few things of how the High House worked. He and Helena often had different opinions. Rumour had it that there was something going on between them in their private lives, and sometimes it reflected in the High House, during discussions."

 Chapter 383 Whisperers- Part 2

    <h4>383 Whisperers- Part 2</h4>

    "She seems like a nice person. Monique,"mented Madeline and in return, she received a hum of response from Calhoun.

    "Better than the rest of the folks who are rted to Lucy or me," replied Calhoun, "Your rtives appear to be shy while staring at you from afar. Introduce them to me, so that I know which one to kill and which one to only warn to stay in line," he tugged her hand, walking to where her parents and some of her rtives were.

    On the other side of the expansive ballroom, dimir and Odin had stepped in to catch a better look of the people whom they were going to harm.

    "How long did you say she was dead?" questioned dimir, picking up another ss of the drink in his hand as he looked at the people in the room.

    "Um, I didn''t check with that, Master," Odin scratched the back of his neck.

    "Useless as always. I wonder why I even keep you around," chastised dimir as he passed a look at Odin who had lowered his eyes. The older vampire could tell that his servant''s brain had indeed rusted because of the mistakes he hadmitted.

    dimir was only looking around when his eyes fell on the man who was blonde and tall as him, and his eyes narrowed, "Odin."

    "Yes, Master?" Odin asked when he was done slurping the blood from the ss. To make themselves look normal and not out of ce, they had picked up a ss of blood each in their hand, to make it look like they belonged here. When in truth, they were standing away from the rest of the guests in the ballroom.

    "Is it me, or does it look like you have seen that man before?" dimir had seen those bright blue eyes and pale features before he had fallen.

    Odin followed the sight of his Master''s gaze when his eyes turned wide as big as the saucers, "M-Master, that''s your brother," whispered the servant vampire, who had been serving dimir since they were in heaven.

    Odin had not expected to see the blue-eyed man in here, in this ce today. He looked back and forth between his Master and the man whom he once was acquainted with. Leaning towards his Master, he asked in a hushed tone,

    "What do you think he is doing here?"

    "Who knows," replied dimir. He doubted the person could recognize him as he had changed not only his name but also changed his appearance that he once honed during his time in heaven. "Stay put here. I will be back," said the older vampire before making his way towards the blonde man.

    "I don''t think we have met before," said Dimitri, trying not to be intimidated by the stranger, "I am Dimitri, and this here is��"

    "Michael Reeves," introduced the blonde man and dimir''s smile broadened by hearing the name.

    "How are you rted to the King?" asked Dimitri, trying to make the man his acquaintance by getting to know him.

    "I am a very far and far and far distant rtive of his," answered dimir, "How about yourselves?"

    "I-" started Dimitri, "-work in the High House, and we work with the Kings over the affairs of thends."

    "And what about you?" asked dimir to Michael who had a serene look on his face.

    "I know the King," smiled Michael. While they were talking, Helena hade to take Dimitri to speak about something, giving the other two men a nod before they left. When they were alone, Michael said, "I didn''t expect to see you here." dimir couldn''t help but smile.

    "I thought you wouldn''t recognize me. But it''s good to see that you still remember. That was a good chat," and dimir turned around when he heard Michael say,

    "Return to heaven. There''s still a chance."

    "Now, you don''t mean that. You and the others can keep it to yourselves," dimir had turned back to meet Michael''s eyes, someone who he once used to call as a brother.

    "That''s not true. Luc- What are you doing here? It is very unlike you to be in a ce like this," stated Michael.

    "You are right. I am here to pick up and raise my minions," whispered dimir. The older vampire couldn''t help but narrow his eyes in wonderment thinking what Michael was even doing here. He was more than intrigued, but at the same time, he didn''t care to stay in Michael''spany.

    dimir walked away from Michael, walking past Odin and his servant quickly followed him, "Are we not staying longer, Master?"

    "No," replied dimir and when no one was there to watch them in the empty corridor, he and Odin both turned to bats before flying away from there with a promise of return on the full moon day.

    Back in the room, the blonde man stared at the entrance of the ballroom from where dimir had disappeared. In thought, his lips were set in a thin line.

    It felt like it had been long since he hadst seen the person who had introduced himself as Lazarus. Michael doubted that the angel turned vampire was here for the same reason as him. Because the devil never took sides except for his own sake.

    His eyes then shifted to look at the young girl in the sunny coloured gown who smiled at the King when he said something. Michael hade here for her, after whispers had reached him about the danger that was hovering over the dark angel. It was because of him that she was put in such a predicament.

    It was he, who had sent his Whisperers to wake her up and free her from the coffin.

    Many of the fallen angels'' children, who were now living as humans, had killed innocent people in the name of dark angels, and only after many years, did the actual onee into existence. Angels were not supposed to meddle with mortals, but Michael had made a mistake, and he was only trying to rectify the error that was made years ago.

    Not able to actively participate in this realm, he watched people standing at the sidelines, unlike the ones who had gone against heaven and were thrown out. Having spent enough time in here today, he disappeared out of sight from the ballroom and the castle of Hawthrone.

    The music and the celebrations continued until the time of the evening, where some of the guests from both Calhoun and Madeline''s side stayed back in the castle, something that worried Madeline. And as previously decided, after dinner, Madeline stood next to the carriage with her parents in front of her to say goodbye. Though Beth stood near them, she had decided to stay back for a little longer with her sister Madeline before joining her parent''s in the new house.

    Her mother hugged her in her arms, "It feels hard to leave you behind for the fourth time, but this time knowing you are married I feel at ease."

    There were tears in Mrs. Harris'' eyes as she continued to hug her daughter. Her daughter was finally married, and she would be starting a new life here, something that had been decided nearly two months ago.

    "We will miss you, Maddie. Make sure youe to visit us when everything is over, okay? Just stay safe," said her mother before pulling back, "I still can''t believe you are married. Oh, my little girl!" and she hugged again.

    "I will be fine, mama," Madeline rubbed her mother''s back.

    She was sad that she wouldn''t be seeing her parent''s as often as she used to in the past. She would be missing them terribly, and maybe if everything was alright, she would have asked them to stay back, but their safety was the most important thing right now. Calhoun had arranged a mansion for her parent''s to live in along with a few servants.

    Her mother finally let her go and went to speak to Beth. Madeline walked to her father and she heard him say, "I wanted to apologize again for what happened in the past, Maddie. We should have been stronger and should have known. Even about your grandparent''s intentions."

    At this, Madeline shook her head, "You didn''t know, papa. And maybe I would have been destructive and would have hurt people back then. You don''t have to feel bad about it," she ced her hand on her father''s hands that held each other in worry, "What has happened, it is in the past." As much as she felt terrible knowing what had happened years ago, was there any point still holding on to it when her parent''s only feared the fear that was put inside their heads by her grandparents?

    "Send me a letter when you reach the mansion. Okay?" Madeline requested, and her father nodded.

    Mr. Harris looked at his younger daughter, who had decided to stay back, instead of going with him and his wife. He didn''t know what happened, but it seemed like Beth had turned quieter than the other days, and she wanted to spend more time with her sister.

    "We will. Make sure you take care, and even Beth," and her father opened his arms to hug her, and Madeline hugged him, "Be safe and write to us."

 Chapter 384 Whisperer- Part 3

    <h4>384 Whisperer- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Mrs. Harris'' eyes held tears in them, and with heaviness in her chest, she hugged her daughters again before she was helped to get inside the carriage by her husband. Their father gave them a smile, and he turned around to join his wife. They saw the coachman ce the luggage in the back of the carriage. ording to her Aunt Mary, there were people who were going toe for her, and it felt better knowing that her parents would be somewhere safe. Only the coachman knew the destination where her parents were being taken to which was ordered by the King, and this would keep them safe.

    Calhoun had already spoken to her parents before they had stepped out of the castle, while leaving her and her sister to see her parents off in the carriage.

    "Are you sure you don''t want to go with them?" Madeline asked Beth.

    Beth nodded her head, "I will stay here for a week or two. I am a little worried where Jennine might follow me and do something to mama and papa. It''s better if I stay here with you and the rest."

    And as much as Madeline wanted to send Beth safely with her parents, she was d that her sister had decided to stay back longer with her.

    When the carriage started to move, her mother waved her hand looking at them, and so did her father. With a heavy heart, Madeline waved her hand, and her other hand was held by Beth as they looked at the carriage turn smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared.

    After seeing their parents'' departure, the Harris sisters went inside the castle and parted ways to go to their own designated rooms.

    Biting her bottom lip, Madeline made her way to the room. On her way, she couldn''t help but feel nervous at the thought of how the night might transpire. Since thest few days, Calhoun had held himself back, and the most he had done was brush his hands or his lips against hers. The light kisses from him had only made her yearn more, and she knew if she were to ask him, he would give her what she wanted, but Madeline was embarrassed to ask it.

    With the snow that covered the grounds of the castle, Madeline walked in the quiet corridor, and when air blew in her direction, she tucked the piece of her hair behind her ear. Away from the guest''s presence and intruding eyes, she could now hear her heart beat against her chest. Reaching the room that was previously just Calhoun''s, and now also hers, Madeline stood in front of the closed doors. She wondered if he was inside or he was still in thepany of the guests who were staying back in the castle.

    "nning to stay outside?" asked Calhoun, his expression serious, and it only made her heart stutter. Madeline shook her head, and when he moved to the side, giving her way, she stepped inside the room.

    When she heard the door close, Madeline didn''t turn to look, and instead, she took three more steps into the room. She heard Calhoun ask,

    "Did you see your parent''s off?"

    "Yes," she answered, and wiped the palms on her skirt, "Beth said she would be leaving after a week or two. I think she''s worried about what Jennine might do to her." In Madeline''s memory, Beth wasn''t there when she killed Jennine, but her sister dide to stumble upon the dead body lying on the ground. The memory must have shaken Beth.

    Calhoun stepped behind her, and she heard him say, "They will be safe and be well taken care of." He ced his hands on her shoulders before they went to pull out the coat that she had been wearing when she had gone to see her parents. His movements were slow, and her heart skipped a beat when hepletely took off the coat. "I asked Theodore to have new guards appointed in the mansion where your parents will be living from now on as the guards who work here are useless when ites to protecting this ce. They are nothing less than showpieces to intimidate thieves and intruders."

    With the coat gone, Madeline rubbed her hands together. She turned to see Calhoun go to the stand and hang the coat there. Even though the firece in the room was emitting enough warmth, she felt her nerves wreck with just a single gaze of his when he looked at her.

    "Thank you for making sure they are alright." Unable to hold her gaze for too long as Calhoun looked seductive, she broke her gaze away from him.

    When Calhoun started to walk back to her, his feet quiet against the room''s floor, Madeline looked at the bath that wasn''t far away and asked, "I should go take a bath," her voice quivered at the end. She knew the inevitable was going to happen, but then, why did it feel like everything was happening for the first time?

    When she took a nce at Calhoun, he had already reached where she stood, "Unless you rolled in mud which I doubt you did, I don''t know why you would want to dip in cold water at this hour of the night."

    Madeline closed her eyes when Calhoun brought his hand up to caress her cheek. Calhoun said, "Don''t make me wait longer. I have reached my limit."

 Chapter 385 Warm sheets- Part 1

    <h4>385 Warm sheets- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Hearing the words from Calhoun, Madeline''s heart started to beat faster in her chest. She stood in her ce like a prisoner who had been captivated by him, and he had conquered her today with the little gestures that he had been thoughtful about.

    The windows of the room were closed, and the door had been locked, leaving both of them alone in each other''spany. She saw Calhoun take a step forward toe and stand right in front of her, and unlike how she had turned rigid in James'' closeness, she weed Calhoun''s presence without any resistance. It was strange how things had changed so much in two months. There was a time when Madeline felt repulsed at Calhoun''s very sight, but now she craved for his touch.

    After shifting to his room, Calhoun had teased her by his gaze and words, without openly touching her except from sharing a few kisses in the room or the middle of the corridors, and he wasn''t bashful about it.

    He caught hold of her chin, tilting it so that he could look into her brown eyes that looked slightly dted. Calhoun could tell that Madeline was feeling the sexual tension between them, and it was one of the reasons why her heart was pounding. But he wanted to hear it from her.

    "My sweet rose," he whispered in a way that tightened Madeline''s chest. His thumb slowly brushed across her pale smooth skin, caressing it, "Tell me this is what you want. That you have been anticipating it as much as I have for thest couple of days," his eyes trailed from where he held her chin before moving back up to her eyes.

    And when Madeline parted those delicate lips of hers to speak, Calhoun''s gaze on her hardened. He was holding back the urge of dragging her to the bed and breaking the bed right away. He wanted everything they shared between them to be memorable, and just for her, he was willing to take it slow in the beginning. It was only in the beginning, and he knew she would crave for it moreter.

    "Will it be painful?" came the innocent question from Madeline, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

    He shook his head gently at her, "You will barely feel it. Pain and pleasure are like hate and love, where there is a thin difference between them, and I will take you there today," he let go of her chin, brushing her cheeknguidly with the back of his fingers, "It will be more of pleasure and the pain hardly noticeable."

    Every touch he left on her skin, it left a spark of longing that started to spread across her body with a humming feeling in it. Right now, Madeline felt like she could sink in Calhoun''s eyes that were dark red, looking at her heatedly. Since she had stepped into the room, he hadn''t smiled at her like he usually did and it kept her on pins and needles.

    If it was possible, Calhoun''s eyes darkened even further, and he leaned forward to capture her lips with his.

    Madeline felt every tug and suck of his lips on hers. Her lips trembled as she was still nervous and Calhoun''s very aura was hard to handle, especially with the way he looked in the ck robe that he wore. She felt him pull her closer to him, his hand moving down from her waist to her bottom to pull her snuggly towards him and her heart hitched when Calhoun''s hand stayed there.

    Her toes started to curl, and she felt her head turn dizzy as they continued to kiss. She moved her lips against him, her hands unconsciously moved to ce it on his chest before she glided them up to feel his hard chest against the silk robe before her hands wound around his neck. With Calhoun, who was tall, Madeline had craned her neck to look up to meet his lips, and her back had arched like a bow that was getting ready to have the arrow.

    As their tongues danced with each other, Madeline felt her body starting to feel ck because of theck of intake of air. When Calhoun pulled away, he noticed her eyes looked further dted, and he caught the girl''s erotic expression who was in his arms.

    Calhoun supported Madeline by his hand that held her waist and stopped her knees from giving away and dropping her on the ground, "Shall we take your clothes off?" he asked her and the redness returned to her cheeks. She gave him a nod.

    He didn''t make an effort to turn her around to unzip the dress from her back, but he did let go of her waist when her eyes had turned a little clear. He took a step backwards from her, admiring her in the sunny coloured dress.

    Madeline wondered what Calhoun was thinking as he continued to appreciate her in the dress. The crackling that came from the firece filled the silence of the room along with her breath and with the slight tremors of the windows because of the wind that touched it.

    "I got this dress stitched, the very next day I met you in the ballroom," said Calhoun to her, "I could barely get you out of my mind, and in a sense, I did turn obsessed with you. You gued my dreams, my thoughts that I could hardly think about anything else."

    He remembered fucking the maid after he had seen Madeline, but it was thest he had fucked a woman. He doubted he would be able to contain himself from dragging Madeline to his hearth and have her as he wished, which she wasn''t ready for. He knew it because he had seen the look in her eyes that had stared back at him, even though they looked scared.

    Calhoun raised his hand before snapping his fingers and the dress and other clothing that she wore turned to ck feathers in the air before they dropped slowly on the ground. Not used to being stark naked in front of anybody, Madeline covered her intimate parts with her dainty hands, where one hand was not enough to cover her bosom. The sight was enough to stir his inner beast, which would have been less effective if she had not tried to cover her modesty.

    "So shy," he stated, his voice falling on her ears to only turn her that much red.

    "I am the only one undressed," she said and saw Calhoun tilt his head.

    "That can be fixed right away," and his hands reached for thece of the robe that was tied around his waist, pulling them free before the robe dropped down from his body and fell on the floor.

 Chapter 386 Warm sheets- Part 2

    <h4>386 Warm sheets- Part 2</h4>

    It was hard to look further down from his face because of the way he looked at her as if one small movement from her would lead this big bad wolf to gobble her up. The look in his eyes was something that reminded her of the time when he had cornered her in one of the corridors of the castle before she had run away from him to join the crowd during the time of Hallow. His eyes were intense and intimidating, but there was also something else in there, something dark and dangerous that lurked behind those red eyes of his.

    When he took a step forward towards Madeline, out of instinct, it looked like she was ready to bolt from where she stood. "Don''t try that," warned Calhoun, his voice deep and seductive.

    "I didn''t do anything," she replied to see him raise one of his eyebrows.

    "I know, darling. I am asking you to be cautious to not to run because you know I enjoy a good chase, and the chase tonight will turn one to be a tempting one," he said, walking around to stand behind her. "But the question here is if you will survive at the end of the chase?"

    Madeline felt him ce his hands on either side of her waist, settling on the curve and his thumb started to draw circles on her skin before suddenly pulling her against him. She wondered if it was possible to have one''s soul leave the body because that is exactly how she felt. With his front body pressed against her back, she could feel his manhood pressed on her bottom, almosting to settle on the crease of her bottom.

    "You wouldn''t do something I don''t like," came her breathy words that were hard to get out of her lips, but Calhoun heard it. He always heard what she said.

    "Hm, who said I would do something you wouldn''t like," said Calhoun, he leaned forward to the right side of her face. His words came to fall right next to her ear, "You will possibly pass out before we are done. To let go of the raw emotions, that might burn you. But who knows, you might want more, and I might not just give it to you, holding it back until you give in." His words sent a shiver down her body, "Let''s keep that for some other time."

    When she turned her head around, Calhoun caught hold of her lips in his, opening up to her and she to him as they kissed again. She tasted sweet, the rose fragrance wafting up and around them as he continued to tease her with kisses and brush of his fingers on her stomach that had her push and arch herself towards him.

    Unable to contain himself, he bit her lips to hear a soft cry erupt from her throat and he sucked the blood from her bottom lip.

    "You are hungry," she whispered on his lips, and Calhoun smiled.

    "More than you can imagine." He retraced his hands away from her before picking her up in his arms and taking her to bed.

    Calhoun ced Madeline gently at the centre of the surface of the bed before taking a moment to look at his newlywed wife who looked up at him with doe-like eyes in anticipation of what he had in store for her. She looked beautiful right now, her golden blonde hair sprawled around her head, and her hands brought up to her front and her knees folded to ce her feet t on the bed.

    Like Calhoun, Madeline couldn''t resist not looking at his body.

    Her eyes trailed across his broad shoulders and then his smooth chest. Having already ced her hands several times on his chest, she could imagine the texture of his skin. As her gaze drifted down, she noticed how his upper body started to taper into a V shape before her eyes fell on his endowed member that had already hardened.

    When her eyes went to look at him, she saw him already looking at her, but he didn''t say anything.

    He ced his hands on her knees, pushing them apart while also pushing them down so that she could rest her legs. He moved towards her with a look of a predator in his eyes, one hand moving after another on either side of her before he came to hover above her.

    The fluttering feeling in her stomach didn''t stop, but it only increased, creating a tornado which she had never felt before. Madeline''s eyes moved to look back and forth between Calhoun''s eyes, and with him being this close to her in this position, she felt her heart squeeze in her chest, leaving an essence of sweetness as it started to spread throughout her and making her yearn for him.

    "Maddie," Calhoun whispered her name, and she couldn''t resist not bringing her hands forward to reach out for him.

    When he leaned closer to her, she brushed his hair before settling both her hands on either side of his face. Like something very new, she looked at him in fascination. Her fingertips trailed the bones and ridges on his face.

    If someone had asked her about Calhoun in the past, she would have never believed that he could turn out to be this sweet. That someone like him could open his arms for her even when he knew what she was capable of. Her heart squeezed further at the thought of what her touch could do. Not to forget, he came from the lineage of demons and she from the family of fallen angels, a union which was unheard of.

    And despite knowing her that her ability could cause damage to him, Calhoun continued to stay not just near her, but next to her.

    Her lips parted, trembling, and she whispered something that had Calhoun stop and stare at her.

    "Tell it again," he said, wanting to hear those words from her lips again.

    "I...I love you, Cal."

    And on her words, he leaned forward to press his forehead on hers with his eyes closed as if he had been waiting to hear those words from her and a sigh escaped his lips. Opening his eyes, Calhoun said, "And I love you, until the veryst breath and beyond."

 Chapter 387 Warm sheets- Part 3

    <h4>387 Warm sheets- Part 3</h4>

    Calhoun yfully nipped her skin with his teeth, enough to hear a mixture of cry and sigh that escaped from Madeline''s parted lips. His fingertips continued to explore her body, and every time his teeth bit into her skin, she felt her body arch against the bed, and her toes curl. He made his way down her neck, between the valley of her breasts, making use of his tongue to trail it from the bottom to the top to feel her shiver under his touch.

    The room had suddenly turned warm, along with their bodies. When Calhoun lifted his head, Madeline caught sight of him admiring her bosom like it was a temple. His eyes took in the softness of the skin and the curve of the mounds. Bringing his hand to one of her breasts, he traced his finger from the side of her curve to the underside of her breast, that only left her blood rushing up her cheeks and the wetness between her legs increased.

    As he traced his finger around her breast, he looked at Madeline''s face that was filled with pleasure. And when he grabbed it, a moan escaped her lips that only enticed him to want him to do it more. With his palm spread, he squeezed it again.

    "AH!" Madeline would have died in embarrassment by hearing her very own cry if her senses hadn''t been filled with the pleasure that Calhoun was sparking in her.

    "What a sweet cry you have," remarked Calhoun, his fingers started to push and probe, twirling around her nipple that had hardened under his touch out of arousal.

    Another cry escaped from her lips when his mouth went to attend the other breast. Madeline felt him suck her breast in his sinful mouth and then just her nipples. Biting it to make her arch her back, and she realized what he meant by the thin line between pain and pleasure right now. She had thrown her head back as he tugged on her darkened beads.

    His hand left her breast and slowly traced down to her stomach to feel her suck her breath at the ticklish feeling she felt near her abdomen. Noticing this, Calhoun couldn''t resist the sadist nature in him to torture her, and his fingers lightly brushed her skin again to see her start to stutter.

    "Cal!" she cried his name, that was music to his ears.

    "Yes, my love?" asked Calhoun, his tone oblivious to the mess he was turning Madeline into.

    He enjoyed everything about her, the gasps, moans and pleasurable sighs that escaped her lips. The way her skin turned red out of heat and shyness, her heart skipping beats when he caught her out of surprise and that innocent look that was in her eyes which made him want to consume her very soul and being.

    "Touching you, of course," he said, tilting his head.

    "Stop teasing me!" a small hint of frustrationced in her voice, "Please," she added in worry, thinking he would stop touching her.

    A mischievous smile appeared on Calhoun''s lips, "Tease? This is barely counted to be a tease, darling. I promised to love and cherish you, let me take time to worship you," he grinned with a glint of evilness that made her gulp.

    In Calhoun''s book, worship was equal to the word torture.

    He then said, "Let me help you," and his hands lowered down between her legs, pushing one finger into her wet sex to have her cry out in pleasure. He moved it in and out, to say, "Better?"

    Madeline couldn''t reply to him as she felt her mind start to cloud, and the world around her had begun to disappear where nothing else mattered. He took her to the cliff, pushing her towards the edge. The room continued to fill itself with the sound that left her lips and the wetness that hade to pool between her legs that created an erotic sound every time Calhoun pushed his finger in her. Her lips and her throat had gone dry from the continuous cry.

    After her first orgasm, Calhoun made sure that her body wasn''t entirely spent. He put the finger in his mouth while giving Madeline the time toe back from her orgasm. He took his time to worship her just like he had said he would. His hand went around to sp her left ankle, and he raised it to kiss the inside before moving up and doing the same to her other leg.

    With her chest heaving, her eyes went back to meet his that was watching her expressions. The temperature in the room had increased, and the fire in Calhoun''s eyes had not extinguished, and he looked insatiable.

    Not wanting to be the only one to be pleasured, Madeline raised herself, and she met Calhoun face to face. "Do you know how beautiful you are? So precious," he whispered, leaning forward to kiss her cheeks and peppering kisses across her delicate jaw.

    Calhoun did make her feel as if she was the only beautiful person in this world, while others were dullpared to her. He looked at her as if he needed and wanted to protect her, while also wanting to steal her from herself, offering her the guilty pleasure which no one could provide but him.

    Calhoun''s eyebrows raised when Madeline shifted herself around while cing a hand on his chest so that they could switch positions. It was not just her wedding night, but theirs and she wanted him to feel equally good.

    "Lay down," Madeline said in a soft voice, and Calhoun didn''t question her. Instead, he listened to her demands. She carefully ced her legs on either side of his waist, and then ced her hands on his chest, running them to feel the warmth and noticing how sculpted he was.

    Bending down, Madeline started with drops of kisses on his shoulders, wondering if she could leave something behind on him. She decided to take a small bite on his shoulders to feel him hum in response as if he was enjoying her marking him.

    Madeline''s kisses were nothing less to the lick of a kitten that was soft and sweet in gesture. Calhoun watched her go down before she held his manhood in her hand. Having already experienced it once, it didn''t take her long to start moving her hand back and forth to receive Calhoun sigh in pleasure. His manhood was warm, and she could feel it pulse in her hand, making her wonder how it would fit into her. Brushing the thought away, she bent down to kiss the head of his manhood before taking as much as she could into her mouth, and she heard him hiss.

    This had her smile internally, and she also felt her chest puff up at the thought that she could make him feel like this. Her head started to bob up and down, sucking him to hear him curse under his breath,

    "Fuck, Maddie!"

 Chapter 388 Warm sheets- Part 4

    <h4>388 Warm sheets- Part 4</h4>

    He looked desirous, tempting her with his eyes and aura around him as he licked his bottom lip. Even though Madeline was the one pleasuring him, she felt like Calhoun still had control over his body without needing to touch her.

    With their gazes locked on each other, Madeline went back down on him. She saw how her touch affected Calhoun, and it wasn''t just her dropping down her guard. When his manhood touched the back of her throat, he groaned in pure bliss. Wanting to hear it again, she continued to do it until she gagged to finally pulled back when it went too deep.

    "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned. He got up and rubbed the front of her throat, "You didn''t have to take it that deep." Madeline had been enjoying watching the pleasure cross over his face, and she hadn''t realized it.

    "I wanted to make you feel good," she said with her cheeks turning red. Calhoun leaned forward to kiss her lips, and in a blink of an eye, he had her back against the bed with him hovering above her.

    "It was amazing," he praised her.

    He didn''t want her to push herself as it was only her second time, and tonight was their wedding night. He pecked her lips.

    To Calhoun, Madeline was his world, and he would continue to treasure her until the very end.

    Calhoun caressed her face, leaning forward so that he could kiss her. His tongue rubbed against hers, turning it numb before he guided her back toy down. She felt Calhoun''s finger enter her where he added a second finger, preparing her while he made his way down after kissing her shoulder. Madeline could feel her heart starting to beat fast again as Calhoun kissed her hip bone, and then sat up looking at her.

    Madeline saw Calhoun hold his member in his hand, and position it at her entrance, "Just feel it, my sweet rose," he advised while rubbing himself against her and her toes rose against the bed.

    The feeling was delicious, almost simr to an itch that was being scratched. She didn''t know she had been holding herself until his member rubbed against her wet sex, and her head rolled back. Calhoun allowed her to get used to the sensation while having one hand of his positioned on her waist. While her senses were clouded, Calhoun pushed himself into her tight entrance.

    "AH!" Madeline whimpered.

    Madeline felt like she had been stretched and now that Calhoun was in her, they had turned to one body and two souls. He was a teaseful yet a careful lover. He made sure to see that she was alright before he started to pull himself back before pushing back into her. She could feel his manhood throbbing inside her. Every push and pull of him had left her lips parted, and it made it easier to look at Calhoun who had not broken his gaze from her.

    Madeline cried out his name, calling for him, and he answered each word that left her lips with a thrust until she could barely form a proper sentence.

    As more time passed, the pain and the ufortable feeling was soon reced with pleasure, and Calhoun''s hips had started to pick its pace.

    Looking at Calhoun''s pleasure-filled face did wonder to Madeline''s body as she moved with him, her hands crumpling the sheet further as she twisted them with every thrust of his hips. A series of whimpers left her parted lips as she felt him stretch over and over again. A light sheen of sweat had formed on their body, and Calhoun leaned forward to capture her parted lips with his lips.

    Her hands moved to hold on to his shoulders, and with the increase in his thrust, her nails left light scratches on his back which he didn''t mind. His own hand reached for her bottom, squeezing it in his hand as she clinged to him like her life depended on him.

    Moans and grunts started to fill the room and the bed creaked softly.

    Somewhere in between, he had raised one of her legs to be ced on his shoulder, driving her to the edge with every thrust. Madeline felt like she had stepped into another space. Soon her body started to tremble in Calhoun''s arms, and she cried out his name as she came apart. Calhoun took a few more seconds before he released himself inside her.

    Calhoun''s breath was heavy as he pulled himself out of Madeline before going toy down next to her, where Madeline panted as she tried to catch hold of her breath. She felt his hand reach out for hers, intertwining his fingers with hers before bringing it up to kiss her hand.

    Madeline could feel her body continue to hum after their lovemaking, and she slowly turned her body towards Calhoun, and he turned to face her, putting his hand around her waist to pull her to him.

    He then let go of her waist, bringing his hand to her face to push the strands of her hair away from her face that was sticking to her face. He leaned forward to press his lips against her forehead- a kiss that was filled with tenderness and love.

    "You were wonderful," said Calhoun looking into her eyes, and Madeline''s cheek burned under his gaze.

    Madeline''s mind was still buzzing with pleasure, and she felt overwhelmed with emotions, craning her neck to leave a kiss on his lips. She whispered, "It was beautiful."

 Chapter 389 Was it planned? - Part 1

    <h4>389 Was it nned? - Part 1</h4>

    Madeline felt the bite of the cold weather which had somehow escaped into the room to blow on her skin. Calhoun pulled the nket up to her arms which had been covering only until her waist. Naked in each other''spany and arms, thefortable silence continued to surround them in their very own bubble, barely bothered about who was plotting against them as they continued to live in the moment.

    There was that small amount of warmth that didn''t leave her cheeks. They had consummated their marriage. She was married to the King, who was a vampire, and the thought sinked in her mind.

    "Did you ever think you would be married to a human before you met me?" asked Madeline to Calhoun who had moved his hand to trace his fingers on her arm.

    "I didn''t think I would be marrying anyone," replied Calhoun, a grin breaking through his lips, "After seeing what my mother went through, love wasn''t exactly in my books. And marriage was non-existent."

    "But you are the King, isn''t it necessary for the person to marry? To produce an heir so that thend can continue to thrive under the same family?" At least that is what Madeline knew or had heard from people. Even the previous King had married and tried to have his wife bear a male heir which fortunately or unfortunately didn''t happen.

    "I am not a human, Maddie. Especially, a vampire doesn''t expect to have a bride unless it is of absolute requirement. Unlike the humans whose lives are fragile, we have many years ahead of us. I didn''t n to share thend with another person, because marriage in the royal families often ends up with some deal or treaties."

    Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed, and she asked, "Did that happen with Lucy?" It was because she knew Lucy liked Theodore. At the same thought, she wondered if something had transpired between Lucy and the man named Ethan.

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed at the thought that Lucy had been married to the scum of a demon. It wasn''t that he had anything against the demons as he was a demon himself, but it didn''t sit well with him of how good Samuel had concealed himself until now in the castle. After finding out about Samuel, Theodore had made a quick check about the Greville''s family, something the previous King and the Queen had failed to do. Samuel was the adopted son of the Greville''s.

    "Yes, they did. Lucy''s mother promised two mansions to the family, in return of marrying her daughter while also having the ownership of the ports that the Greville''s once owned, which is now in Hawthrone''s name," said Calhoun.

    "Did you hear about her leaving the castle?" On Madeline''s question, Calhoun nodded his head.

    "Does Theodore know? That she''s leaving?"

    "He does. He was there when Lucy spoke about it," replied Calhoun, and he pulled her closer to wrap her in his arms. With his hand around her waist, and his chin settled on the top of her head, she felt him kiss her head before nuzzling her with his nose.

    Madeline believed that Lucy still loved Theodore just as much she had before she had got married to Samuel. Even though many years had passed and with Samuel who had been thrown out of the castle, Madeline wondered if Lucy felt the love had returned twice now. Maybe Lucy was holding back because she was worried about what people would think? She asked herself in her mind.

    "Sleep, my sweet rose," whispered Calhoun, and Madeline''s eyes slowly started to drift into dreand.

    Madeline fell into a deep sleep. Her worries temporarily washed away from her, where she dreamt of happiness with Calhoun. A life that they shared with children and smiles. And Calhoun soon fell asleep, where for once it was peaceful.

    When morning arrived, the sun was still hidden heavily behind the dark clouds that had started to snow during the wake of the dawn. The fire in the firece had long been exhausted, and Calhoun who was awake had not bothered to fire it up again. With Madeline who had snuggled into his chest for warmth, he didn''t want her to leave his side even for a moment. He had been anticipating her to say those words, yearning as he waited and now that she had finally said it, he was overjoyed by it. It was true that he hadn''t expected to marry someone to secure the throne, but everything had changed when Madeline had stepped back into his life. Like every exception to a rule, to him, it was her.

    During their sleep, one hand of Calhoun''s hade to settle under her head which she used as a pillow, and another hand of his was wrapped around her waist. Her eyes were closed, her breathing calm as she continued to sleep in his arms. Last night had been beautiful and precious, and he couldn''t wait to live the nexting days with her.

    She was his, and he was hers in every possible sense, and he promised to keep her safe. Unable to resist, he kissed her forehead, and the light brush of his lips woke her up. Her eyes fluttered open, blinking before her eyes came to settle on Calhoun''s face, who was wide awake.

    "Good morning," she wished him and saw Calhoun''s lips broaden with a smile.

    "Good morning. How was your sleep?" asked Calhoun before squeezing her in his arms out of bliss.

    "It was good. Did you not sleep?" Madeline questioned because he looked fresh and wide awake while she could only imagine how she looked right now with her hair sticking out. And when she craned her neck up to meet his eyes, he kissed her.

    "I did, but then I woke up when I heard thest wood in the firece fizzle out," answered Calhoun.

    "Do you have dreams?" asked Madeline. After sharing their night, she felt closer to Calhoun, and she wanted to learn more things about him. She knew what he showed to the public, but she wondered if there was more than what she had discovered until now.

    "We are the creatures of the night who don''t have a shadow of our own, and mirrors that don''t reflect us."

    "But those are not true," stated Madeline, she had seen Calhoun''s reflection in the mirror as well as his shadows, "Those are things that the vigers like to believe," and she saw Calhoun crack a grin.

    "To answer your question, I don''t have dreams. But I have heard Lucy dreaming about good things. She once even dreamt about where she had turned to a nun. This was when she wasn''t married yet," Calhoun''s hand moved to her back, and it started to trace lines, "Vampires often don''t have dreams. It is very rare and maybe only the happy souls, who don''t have blood and guilt on their hands and mind."

    Was Calhoun saying he had too much blood and guilt in him? She knew he had killed a lot of people in the past. That he had been bringing dead people home, who had wronged his mother, "What do you feel guilty about?" her eyes looked at him questioningly.

    Calhoun took a second more than usual when he answered, "Sometimes I am gued by the thought of what if''s. If I had not killed my mother to end her sufferings, what if she would have pulled through from her sickness. If she would have continued to live." Madeline ced her hand on the side of his face.

    "But what if she didn''t pull through? She would have only deteriorated further. You did, what you felt was right back then," said Madeline. She had heard from Lady Rosamund of how Calhoun was responsible for his mother''s death because he had killed his mother with his very own hands, and it was true. She noticed how his eyes looked back at hers, slightly hollow in there and she said, "You helped her, Cal. It takes courage to kill someone whom you love dearly." It must have been hard for him in the past, to do something like that.

    "Hm," responded Calhoun. He took hold of her hand on his face, cing one finger of his on hers. He stretched them one after another as they moved in sync before he sped her hand in his to bring it to his lips and kiss her hand, "You are truly an angel in the purest form," he murmured under his breath.

    Madeline saw Calhoun y with her fingertips, bringing them to his lips to kiss each one of them, "And you''re the demon," she smiled.

    Madeline felt happier than how she felt a few days ago. Even with danger lurking in the corners, waiting to strike, she still felt like her heart was going to burst out with the way it felt right now. Hate had turned to love, the pain had turned to pleasure, and the tears that had once spilt from her eyes had changed to a faint smile.

    When she felt the cold run down her body, making her shiver, Calhoun leaned forward to capture her lips with his own, kissing her to wake the sensations she had feltst night. He heard the hitch in her heart, when his hand went inside the covers and between her legs. When he pulled away, her parted lips, whispered,

    "Cal��" her body started to melt on Calhoun''s touch.

    "How do you feel?" asked Calhoun, his eyes on hers, watching her, "You must be feeling sore," he hummed. She saw his tongue run across from one fang to another, and at the same time, he gently brushed his finger on her wet folds.

    Her body trembled at the sight of how he looked at her like she was the most delicious meal of his day, "A little sore," she answered breathly. Her hand came to fall on his shoulder, holding him, "AH��.!" she cried when his digit slipped in, reminding her of the passionate night they had, "It''s only m-morning��"

    "Love knows no boundaries, my sweet rose, nor does one look at time. Let the world burn down, while I will continue to worship you with everything I know and have," he said while watching her face fill itself with need and want.

    He let her get ustomed with his finger again, before he turned her body, putting one leg of hers over his while he rolled himself, filling her whole again and Madeline''s eyes rolled back with her back arching. Calhoun''s movements were slow, and it made it easier for her to take him without the pain being too apparent as it was reced by pleasure.

    Her hands immediately went to hold on to his shoulders, his eyes on hers. Her inhibitions had been dropped away a few hours ago, and she craned her neck towards him. Without her having to ask, Calhoun leaned forward to kiss her on her parted mouth where whimpers had been escaping from.

    After the initial few seconds that started slow, his movements began to pick its pace and Madeline felt every thrust fill her with pleasure until they both climaxed.

    "Why do I feel like I just can''t get enough of you," he whispered as he still hovered above her, "Let me have you again, my sweet rose."

 Chapter 390 Was it planned?- Part 2

    <h4>390 Was it nned?- Part 2</h4>

    Calhoun had left Madeline more than satisfied, that she was floating in the clouds as he carried her into the bath and helped her wash her body that was surprisingly warm even though it was the time of the winter. Spending some more time in the bath, talking to each other before they finally left the room dressed for the day.

    When they entered the dining room, which was located in another room of the castle to amodate all the guests with a long table and chairs. People in there had stood up from their seats on the arrival of the King and the Queen to greet them.

    "Good morning to the King and the Queen!" greeted people at the table.

    Madeline sat right next to Calhoun, a ce she was given since she had started to live in the castle.

    "It''s so good to see my nephew with his wife. Especially one that is so beautiful," chimed Monique, raising a ss to toast at the newly married couple that had taken ce yesterday, "As a wedding gift, I have gotten one of the mansions rebuilt for it to be in your disposal."

    Seeing Lady Monique present the King with a gift, another rtive who was not too far away from Calhoun''s father''s side, said, "I have something for the Queen." The woman snapped her fingers at her standingdy who followed the vampiress everywhere she went. The standingdy was a young-looking vampiress, who walked around to where Madeline sat, and she bowed her head before presenting a box to the Queen. When the box was opened, Madeline caught sight of ruby red stones glittering under the candles'' light.

    ??Oh my! Lady Aubree, that is a beautiful wedding gift,"mented one of the vampiress'' at the table.

    "Isn''t that one of the rare pieces of Hanima?" said a man at the table on seeing the rare piece of jewellery that had many stones in it.

    Calhoun looked slightly surprised at the sight of it.

    "I was able to acquire it from a merchant, and I got it polished again. My Queen," said Lady Aubree, addressing Madeline to gain her attention, "It is told that it once belonged to the Queen of Hanima. A smallnd that used to be rich in jewels."

    Curiosity in her eyes, Madeline asked, "What happened to the Queen?"

    "She was killed brutally," Calhoun deadpanned, leaving the room silent.

    "Killed?" asked Lady Aubree, "I was told that the Queen had fallen sick."

    Madeline wondered why it felt like she knew what effects the ne would bring if she were to wear it? Her eyes went back to look at the vampiress who looked like she didn''t know much about the neckpiece.

    Some of the High House members like Lilith and Weasley had stayed back in the castle. Lilith had been waiting to see Madeline try out the piece of jewellery so that it could unleash Madeline''s powers in front of others. This way, the girl would be executed for being a harmful creature, that was worse than a werewolf.

    Lady Aubree stuttered, "M-My King, I made sure to have a good check before buying it from the merchant. He said whatever curse had been ced was lifted from it. It is just a piece of beautiful jewellery."

    But Calhoun didn''t look pleased with his far rtive''s words, "Guards, take her to the dungeon." It had been barely ten minutes since they had entered the dining room and many people''s blood turned cold at the King''s order, "Did you think I would overlook your actions that might cause harm to the Queen."

    Even Madeline looked slightly rmed. While looking at the vampiress, her eyes fell on Lilith, who was looking straight at her with concentration, a look in her eye as if Madeline was beneath her.

    When the guards arrived at her side, the woman said, "Milord! I would never bring any harm to the Queen. I was only wanting to present a gift today, something that might be memorable-" Aubree''s pleading words were interrupted by Calhoun,

    "By killing her?" came his dull voice as he stared at the vampiress. The vampiress''s eyes turned wide, and she quickly shook her head.

    "It was never my intention to do it-"

    "Who was the merchant who sold it to you?" Calhoun demanded, and the woman didn''t know what to say, "I will show you why," and he called one of the servants who was still in the room, "Wear this."

    And before the neckpiece could be worn by the servant, Madeline stopped Calhoun, "Don''t," she whispered, shaking her head. She had seen the side effects on both him and her, but at the same time, something clicked in her mind. She turned to look at the woman to ask, "From whom did you get it? The ne."

    Everyone''s eyes fell on the vampiress who stood there in fear. All she had wanted to do was gift the Queen and have a better rtionship with Madeline, who knew it would cost her neck! She bowed her head deep down and answered, "It was from the market that is situated not too far away from the closest port from here. It was from a man named Elias. I can take you to him! I swear, I would never do anything to harm the royal family!"

    And Monique who had been watching and listening to the conversation, said, "I wonder how many times one has uttered those words to only be found guilty for it." Monique stood up and then turned to look at Madeline, "My Queen, it would be best if you don''t wear anything from people unless it is tested by others. Be it clothes, nes or perfumes. Now that you are the Queen, it would be better to take care of yourself as many will want to have you dead."

    Madeline felt uneasy by Monique''s words, but she nodded in agreement, "Let her go free," she whispered to Calhoun, speaking about the woman named Aubree. It didn''t look like she had anything to do with the gift except for giving it to her, punishing innocent people didn''t sit well with her. Calhoun gave a hard stare before dismissing the guards and Aubree felt like she had been granted another life.

    After the not so peaceful breakfast, Madeline took hold of Calhoun''s hand and pulled him to an empty corridor where it was just them, "Is something the matter or did you pull me to a lonely corridor to steal a kiss from me?" asked Calhoun.

    "I wanted to ask about your mother. Did she have traces of being a demon in her?" questioned Madeline, her voice anxious.

    Calhoun tilted his head with a questioning gaze.

    She then said, "It isn''t like everyday people start throwing up blood. Is it possible that someone tried to poison her? Simr to the chain?" What if Calhoun''s mother had not died out of disease, but someone had intentionally tried to kill her?

 Chapter 391 Was it planned?- Part 3

    <h4>391 Was it nned?- Part 3</h4>

    "Mother I am-" he said, standing outside the door, but he received no response. He knocked on the door, wondering if his mother had gone somewhere. When he knocked harder, the wooden door moved as if it had not been locked, "Mother?" called Calhoun, and when his eyes fell on the woman on the floor, he shouted, "Mother! What happened?" he questioned her frantically, after going to her side.

    The woman had blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. She held onto something in her hand, which she put in her pocket, "I am fine, Calhoun." She tried to lift herself, pushing her hand on the ground and standing up to almost fall back if it weren''t for her son who caught hold of her in time.

    "I should call the doctor-"

    "No!" his mother shook her head, "I must have eaten something bad today. Which is why," she rubbed her mouth with her sleeves when her son ced her on the bed.

    "Are you sure about it? Let me take a look," said the young man, taking a closer inspection of her eyes and then her pulse, "Let me go get you a ss of water." He left her side to return with a ss of water in his hand.

    His mother looked far worse than he had ever seen her until now. She had been alright in the morning, and it seemed like her condition had turned bad by the time he had returned, "Did someonee by?" he asked, taking the empty ss back.

    She offered him a smile, "Just someone I once knew."

    "Who is that?"

    Instead of answering his question, she shifted the subject by pulling out a ne from her dress pocket, "It was a friend of mine who came to see how I was doing," his eyes fell on the chain, and she said, "When this was given to me as a gift, I was told that this once belonged to a Queen." She started to cough, and soon the water that she had drunk came out of her mouth as if her body couldn''t keep it in. But it wasn''t just water but also blood that she spewed from her lips, "I wonder what I ate yesterday."

    "Pleasey down. I will go get the doctor so that he can take a look at you," he pulled the covers so that it could keep his mother warm, and he left the small house.

    The young man was worried, and he made his way to the doctor''s house. Standing at the front, he knocked on the door, and a man opened to see who it was. On seeing the young man outside, he was about to close the door without responding and Calhoun ced his hand on the door.

    "My mother is sick. I need you toe and take a look at her," came the serious voice of Calhoun.

    "You eithere and take a look at her now, or I snap your neck and break your body in two halves," Calhoun red at the human who had dared to call his mother a whore, "Choose." The man iled his hands and Calhoun finally freed the human''s neck, leaving the man coughing for air.

    The doctor red at the young vampire, but he followed him back to the house to look at the woman. After checking her, the doctor said, "It looks like she has caught an infection. Make sure to give her warm water and keep feeding her."

    "She''s not drinking water. What next?" asked Calhoun, his eyes cold shifted from his mother, who was resting on the bed to fall on the doctor.

    "Force her to eat," answered the man with a sceptical look when he caught sight of the blood that stained the ground, "It would be best for her to stop...working," he said carefully, not wanting to have his neck squeezed again. He gave out some medicines that would help her before he bolted out of the house.

    Unfortunately, his mother''s health didn''t get better, and her body slowly started to crumble every day in front of his eyes. He saw his mother writhe in pain. Her body curled and near the end of her time, her skin hade to stick to her bones as she couldn''t eat or drink. Anything that went through her mouth and her stomach came out hurling.

    "Calhoun?" Madeline called his name as he appeared lost in thoughts.

    "I forgot about it. Hanima''s cursed treasures," murmured Calhoun, while taking a step towards the open patio, and Madeline followed him. "It is an old fable, that makes it to be highly popr where people don''t believe the oue of it, but in truth, it is cursed when ites to the descendants of demons. My mother did receive one of the chains that belonged to the same treasure, which waster thrown. I doubt something like that could affect my mother. But it makes me question now if she still had the ability of a demon."

    Calhoun ced his hands on the edge of the railings, his hands tightening and his voice hard when he said, "It never urred to me back then that the chain had anything to do with my mother''s deteriorating health.?I took it to be as any other normal chain. It was a chain very much simr to what your aunt had presented to you, but with different effects."

    "But the effect shouldn''t prolong��"

    "Hanima''s treasures kills the person slowly from inside. Her health must have started to deteriorate far before the day the effects started to show, which was why she finally removed it from her neck after realizing it," answered Calhoun, "The treasures are held and locked by the High House in their dungeons as artefacts, and with one of it out in the open here, it seems like someone stole it from there."

    Did that mean someone came to kill her purposefully? Asked Madeline in her mind.

    Calhoun stared at the castle grounds, and sighed, "I was hoping to behead someone today," he changed the topic, as he had already sent his men to find out about the merchant who had sold the jewellery to his rtive.

    "I am sorry about your mother, Calhoun," she ced her hand on his that was on the railing.

    He offered her a smile, "It happened a long time ago, and I have somewhere made peace with the matter."

    Calhoun couldn''t wait to catch hold of the person, who had made his mother wear the chain with or without knowledge unless he had already killed the person.

 Chapter 392 Rose and thorns- Part 1

    <h4>392 Rose and thorns- Part 1</h4>

    Standing on one of the patio''s of the castle, where she could see the entrance of the castle, she noticed the guests starting to leave one after another.

    "Are you doing okay?" came Beth''s voice, who had entered the patio and she came to stand next to Madeline. She asked the question because the time during the breakfast had been tense, and both the King and the Queen had disappeared from everyone''s sight after that.

    Madeline offered Beth a smile, "Yes, I was looking at the carriages."

    "So I see,"mented Beth, taking a look at the carriages before her green eyes fell on Madeline, "You know...when I used to dream about living in a big mansion, and castle like this, I never considered the number of dangers that came with it."

    "We all mold into the situations we are pushed into," said Madeline, her voice gentle as ever. A life in the castle had never been her dream, but Beth''s, and now that she had stepped into it, it was time for her to start changing her perspectives with how she saw things around her. She was d to have Calhoun next to her, knowing she could always lean towards him for support.

    "The King is smart to have picked up on the ne in less than five seconds," said Beth, "It is good that you have a shrewd partner. I must confess something to you, Maddie." The brte girl looked slightly ufortable, and she didn''t meet Madeline''s eyes.

    Madeline broke her gaze away from the carriages and some of the guests who stood next to the carriage, "What is it, Beth?"

    Beth''s cheeks had turned red by just the thought of what she was going to tell Madeline, but she believed this was something she shoulde out clean about, "I, out of spite wrote a letter to James in your name-"

    Madeline ced her hand on Beth''s shoulder, "I know. I have known about it, and it''s okay." Beth looked taken aback by this, to see how forgiving Madeline had always been towards her until now.

    "I am so sorry," Beth whispered, and she then said, "I have been thinking about something since yesterday, about you looking into my memories again. Do you think you can tap back into it to get more information?"

    Madeline replied, "We went back to the time which had the key information. Raphael said it was better to not disturb the memories by walking through it again and again, as it could damage the person''s own memory."

    Madeline was tempted at that thought, but it was after years did Beth''s memories return to her, and she wasn''t willing to risk losing Beth. "Maybe there''s another way apart from going through one''s memories," and Beth gave a questionable look at her.

    They left the patio and on their way down, Madeline caught sight of Lucy walking next to Ethan Moryet on the other side of the castle. It was after a long time did Madeline catch sight of the unbridled smile on Lucy.

    On Madeline''s step inside the courtroom, the people who once had ridiculed her on her first day in the castle now stopped talking and stood up, bowing their heads with deep respect that her position demanded from them.

    "Do you think I could borrow Raphael''spany to go outside the castle?" asked Madeline when she came to stand in front of Calhoun, "I want to go to Cossington." It was the vige where?the church she recently visited was situated and also the ce where Beth hade to meet Jennine face to face.

    "Did you forget something there?" asked Calhoun, his red eyes staring back into her eyes. He offered, "I can arrange for someone to pick it up."

    Madeline shook her head, "I wanted to read something there," and this had Calhoun intrigued, "Beth will be with me, and I think Raphael would be a goodpany." Especially considering how Jennine had disappeared on his arrival as he belonged the a higher level in the demon hierarchy.

    Before Calhoun could say something, one of the men who worked for the court arrived and announced, "The head of the High House, Lady Helena has arrived, along with Mr. Dimitri and others."

    "I wonder who has died that has brought them here unless they are here to give gifts,"mented Calhoun, his voice dry that showed theck of uninterest of meeting the people from the High House.

    Madeline herself wondered what the High House members were doing here in the castle. Not a minuteter, the High House members appeared to step inside the courtroom. Helena had an unimpressed look on her face, something she often wore and made one wonder if the woman ever smiled. Next to her was Dimitri, probably older than her in appearance, and the rest of the people included Weasley and Lilith, who had joined them for breakfast earlier that day before departing from the castle. At least that is what she had thought.

    "Greetings to the King and the Queen," said Helena, bowing her head only as much as it was required, unlike the dramatic bows that had been offered by some of the guests who hade to attend the wedding.

    "Good morning, Lady Helena. What do we owe you, the pleasure of having you here at this hour of the day?" humoured Calhoun with a smile on his lips.

    "It has been informed that one of your rtives is in possession of one of the cursed treasure that belonged to Queen Hanima. Is that correct?" asked Lady Helena, and if one wasn''t aware of who this woman was, they would have mistaken her to be Calhoun''s mother because of the authority she exuded from her mere words.

    "Surprisingly yes," replied Calhoun, "My distant rtive had no clue that the jewellery she gifted was more than what she thought it to be. I am sure Weasley and Lilith have already filled you in with it."

    "Yes, they did. Where is the jewellery? And your rtive?" demanded Helena who wanted to see them. There was a reason why the artefacts had been taken away from the public eye and ced somewhere safe so that it would nevere to be of any use or harm on people.

    "Lady Aubree is currently resting in the guest room. She seems to have entered into a little-" Calhoun raised his hand to bring two of his fingers to emphasize it, "-shock."

    Helena''s eyebrows furrowed, "Did she wear it?"

    Being part of the High House for more than two decades now, Helena had tried to keep everything under control, but there was always something or someone to disrupt it. Thest pieces of the cursed jewels they had collected had left people ill in health to the point of no recovery as they died. This was the first she had heard that a woman had gone in a state of shock.

    Calhoun smiled, "I don''t think so."

    "Why is she in shock then?" inquired Helena.

    "That might be because I told her I would put her up for execution and behead her," Calhoun whispered thest two words which was still heard by the people in the court to hear.

    Helena''s lips were set in a thin line. This was no time to be joking, and it appeared like Calhoun was up to no good, "Daphne," she called one of the High House members who was under her direct charge, "Go get the woman in here right now. I would like to question her about a few things."

    The woman named Daphne bowed her head and stepped out of the courtroom along with a guard who apanied her.

    "Where is the cursed jewellery?" asked Dimitri, and Calhoun raised his hand. As if on cue, Theodore was the next person to step out so that he could bring the box that was gifted to Madeline this morning at the time of breakfast. "The woman should be punished for holding and making use of something that belongs to the High House."

    Helena didn''t pay any heed to his words and looked at Calhoun with a scrutinizing gaze while he looked unaffected. In the meantime, Madeline''s eyes fell on Lilith who continued to stare at her, before her eyes shifted to look at the silver-haired man who stood with the High House people. As if sensing her gaze, the man turned around to bow his head to her, and she did the same.

    Madeline heard a lightmotion fill up the room, and in came Lady Aubree whose eyes looked livid, "Stop pulling me! I am perfectly capable of walking on my own!"

    Everyone saw the High House member pull the vampiress by her hand who had an unwilling look on her face.

    "There is no need to manhandle the woman,"mented Luther with a small smirk on his face.

    "She was nning to run away through the window," stated Daphne, pushing the woman''s back so that she could step forward.

    "Rubbish! I was only going to close the windows of the room. The cold wind can sometimes shrivel my skin!" answered Lady Aubree before clearing her throat after she noticed the number of people who had gathered around. She bent down to greet everyone, "I was only taking a nap when this woman decided to barge into my room."

    Daphne shook her head. The reason why she had barged in because thedy had not opened the door and was making an attempt to escape from there. It was often a typical response from people who thought they would be punished for their actions.

    Helena didn''t care what the red-headed woman was doing in her guestroom, "We would like to know from where you received the jewellery which you tried to give it to the Queen as the gift."

    Lady Aubree turned to look at Helena, "I already told it to the King that I received it from a merchant named Elias."

    "Weasley," called Helena, "Take the description from her on how the merchant looks, it will be useful if we don''t find this person named Elias. How much did you pay for it?" At the same time, Theodore arrived in the room, and he opened the box for Helena to see before it was passed on to Dimitri.

    The vampiress wrung her hands together, "I...I paid around four thousand gold coins for it."

    "That''s a lot of gold coins. Your family must be wealthy enough to throw gold and buy things,"mented Helena, "Did the man say something about it before he sold it to you?" she continued to question, one of her eyes peering through the monocle that made her look strict.

    "I-I heard about the Hanami-"

    "Hanima," corrected Helena.

    "Yes, Hanima. Long ago, during one of the soirees I attended, I had seen the pictures of it that were acquired from an artist. When the merchant showed this ne to me, I identified it immediately!" eximed Lady Aubree, "I asked him about the curse, and he said it wasn''t true, and even if it was true, the curse had been lifted. And I thought it would make a wonderful gift. I didn''t know the merchant lied to me! I swear on my family. Even the merchant agreed it would make a good gift to the Queen."

    "Weasley," Helena ordered the man, who came forward and took the vampiress to the side so that they could speak about how the merchant looked like. He pulled out the scroll of parchments and started to draw in the corner.

    Helena stepped forward, walking towards where Calhoun was, "I know you don''t have a hand in this as the gift was something that was decided for the Queen. Not everyone knows the oue of this cursed jewels, and if it is given to her��" Helena''s eyes met Madeline who was standing next to Calhoun, "It makes me wonder if you are more than what you seem."

    Calhoun chuckled, that broke Helena''s gaze from Madeline to look back at him.

    "I think the question you need to be asking is which person from the High House stole it away from it''s safekeeping to be put back in the market," stated Calhoun, "It looks like you have a thief within your members of the High House."

 Chapter 393 Rose and thorns- Part 2

    <h4>393 Rose and thorns- Part 2</h4>

    "The members of the High House would never do something like that. They know well of the oues of what happens if they don''t abide by the rules, King Calhoun," said Helena, her head turning to look at the people who hade with her. But Calhoun could tell by the look Helena had in her eyes, she was doubtful on whom to trust and whom to not, "The meeting is going to take ce the day after tomorrow in the High House, and the matter would be discussed there."

    "I cannot wait to attend it," came Calhoun''s enthusiastic reply, before he added, "There was something else I had to discuss with you. Away from the ears and eyes of your people whom I don''t trust," came his unfiltered words.

    After a long hard stare, Helena finally nodded her head. Madeline decided to give them their space even though Calhoun didn''t mind her standing next to them and listening to the conversation. Her eyes fell on Beth, who stood near the wall alone while she stared at the people with difort in her eyes.

    "Beth?" Madeline called her sister''s name, and Beth looked slightly startled, "Are you fine?"

    "Yes," Beth nodded her head, bringing a smile on her face that didn''t reach even halfway to her eyes.

    Beth felt odd to be standing in the court in the presence of the High House members. Thest time they were in this room, Markus had been sentenced to his death. There had been some nights where the memory had haunted her. As if she had seen his head being beheaded when in truth she wasn''t there the day Markus had been executed.

    She was still trying to work her way around on what had happened until now, and beilving some of her actions could have prevented some of the unfortunate incidents. And though she knew it was wrong, Beth couldn''t help but feel the emptiness she felt in her heart when she thought about Markus.

    Even though previously she was blinded with wealth and power, there was some part of her that had fallen in love with Markus, and it was only in an attempt to help him did she go-ahead to look for the poison. As she was consumed by the thoughts about the past, and her follies, Beth felt Madeline hold her hand. She realized how much Madeline cared for her, and she was the beacon that was guiding her back to the way things were between them when they were small.

    The people in the court had turned busy, murmuring about the cursed jewel and the conspiracy towards the Queen''s.

    Two guards appeared at the entrance of the courtroom, speaking to Theodore, who had his lips set in a thin line. He then walked up to the King, to say,

    "That is not possible!" eximed Lady Aubree, "My standingdy can vouch for me as an alibi that I didn''t make it up."

    "Mdy, if you will please sit down," Requested Weasley who was drawing the man''s face on the description of Lady Aubree. Helena moved her hand as if asking thedy to sit, and the vampiress sat back with a look of worry on her face.

    Calhoun said, "Whoever the person was, he must have given a false name while selling the jewellery to Lady Aubree. Did they bring other merchants who work in the market?"

    "Yes, milord. The guards have brought four people who work there and are well known," answered Theodore, and four men, who had been standing behind the guards until then stepped forward, "These are the men."

    Calhoun stepped away from Helena, moving towards the merchants, "Good morning, gentlemen," he greeted the men with a broad smile on his lips.

    "Milord!"

    "My King!" came the collective voices from the four men who bowed their head.

    "There has been a small question going around, and we need some answers for it," exined Calhoun, "I hear that you don''t know anyone by the name Elias?"

    The merchants shook their head to a no. One of them said, "I knew an old man named Ellias, but he passed away three months ago."

    Calhoun turned to look at his rtive who kept ncing back and forth, "Have you seen that woman in the market before?" he had raised his hand to use his thumb to point at Lady Aubree. The men shook their heads again. "Looks like your alibi is not going to be of much help, Lady Aubree," sighed Calhoun as if the time of her end was near and the woman looked shocked.

    "Lady Aubree, please finish giving the details before you speak another word," Helena was having a headache. She had hoped with the time of snow and the season''s celebratory time, the folks would be busy and it would lead to less work for the members of the High House, "King Calhoun," she said with a frown.

    "What did I do?" he whispered as if he had no idea he had irked the vampiress to her worry.

    Once the drawing wasplete, Lady Aubree had an anxious look on her face, and Weasley asked, "Is this how the merchant looks?" and the vampiress quickly nodded her head.

    "Yes, this is how he looks!"

    The drawing was taken to Helena and Calhoun to see, and Calhoun brought it forward to show it to the four merchants, "Seen this man before in your market? For someone who sells rare jewels, I would peg that person is famous amongst you."

    The merchants took a closer look at the man''s face which was drawn, but unfortunately, none of them could identify him.

    Helena turned to the vampiress, "I hope you have not got the wrong person drawn who doesn''t exist. How many times did you meet this man named Elias?"

    "I met him two times in the market and one time in the town of Cossington. He said he was going to the East and had to deliver something. To save time, I decided to meet him there in the town."

    "And when did you meet him in Cossington and where?" inquired Calhoun, his words sharp.

    Lady Aubree looked a little awkward as she said, "It was the third time. Thest time I saw him, he hade to my carriage to give the box to me. I didn''t want to carry the gold coins on the streets and found it to be feasible back then."

    "Lady Aubree, you might be innocent and have nothing to do with the jewellery, but sadly you are looking very suspicious to not just me but to everyone in this room," said Calhoun who looked like she was about to cry. Cry because she knew Markus Wilmot had been beheaded mercilessly, not to forget those rumours that surrounded the King for murdering his very own birth mother.

    The parchment which had the drawing was circted in the room until it finally came to Beth''s and Madeline''s hand. Madeline took a look at the merchant''s face and her mouth went dry.

 Chapter 394 Rose and thorns- Part 3

    <h4>394 Rose and thorns- Part 3</h4>

    When her eyes met Calhoun''s, he realized that she knew the person and he walked towards her, "This person, he," she whispered to him, "It''s Walter."

    Her eyes moved from the drawing to look up at Calhoun, "His name is not Elias but Walter."

    Helena, who stood not too far away, who had a better ear than most of the people in the room, she stopped her questions to Lady Aubree and turned to Madeline, "How can you be sure? Do you know this man?"

    Madeline didn''t know how much information was to be given and how much was to be withheld as people were not trustworthy. "I remember seeing him where my grandparents live. In the Carnivals vige."

    "Carnivals vige?" questioned Helena, her eyes narrowing down.

    "Yes," answered Madeline, "It must be a long time ago and not recently, but I remember him. His name is Walter, but I don''t know hisst name."

    "Was he close to your family? With your grandparents?" asked the head of the High House.

    If it was in the past, Madeline would have tried to hide the fact of what her grandparents did. It would be the sanest thing to do, to protect and honour the family name, but she believed they were long past gone with the word of honour. "I used to see him in the vige. He once came home to speak to my grandfather when my aunt Mary hade to visit us for the holidays. It must be during the time of Christmas." By involving Helena, her possible rtives who were still working in finding the dark angels would be weeded out.

    Calhoun cut in the conversation by saying, "If the Harris'' family knew about the man, there must be other people from the vige, who can identify him. We should have someone go and check, isn''t it?" he tilted his head.

    The whisperings started in the room, questioning about who the merchant was and Dimitri walked forward to retake a look at the person who was drawn on the parchment, "Lady Helena-"

    Helena raised her hand to silence the member of the High House. From Madeline, she looked at Beth, who stood next to her, "If Lady Madeline has seen the person, you should have seen the man too, isn''t it?"

    Lilith who stood not too far away, voiced her opinion towards Beth, "Perhaps the chain was orchestrated to enter the mansion by you, mdy? You must be very angry with the Queen, your very own sister who did nothing, but stood by the side watching your fiance be beheaded."

    Hearing this, Beth frowned, "I had nothing to do with the jewellery."

    "Beth had nothing to do with the jewellery," came the firm words from Madeline. Both she and Lilith stared at each other intensely.

    "Of course, my Queen," Lilith bowed her head, "But we cannot strike out the possibility."

    "The reason why Beth doesn''t remember is because she was fast asleep that evening. My parents often left us at out grandparents or our aunt''s house to stay in there. I was the one who was awake and who saw the person apart from my grandparents and my aunt," said Madeline.

    Helena then said, "We aren''t sure who this man is, but the Queen says she has seen this person, which is better to have something than nothing in our hands. Lilith and Weasley, go find out about this man named Walter in Cranvial''s vige."

    Lilith looked taken aback, "I think Luther is much more familiar with Carnivals vige than Weasley-"

    "Do you have a hearing problem, Lilith? Go take Weasley with you right now," interrupted Helena with a pointed look that had Lilith shut up right away. Lilith didn''t understand how Madeline knew Walter. Thest time Walter might have possibly met her was when she was small, and children often forgot things.

    It looked like Lillith wanted to say something, but the younger vampiress held her tongue. Bowing her head, she left the courtroom with Weasley.

    "On the same note, we''ll be taking the jewellery back while also trying to find out who got it out of the High House towers. We''ll be back if something is needed," stated Helena, and Calhoun gave her a nod.

    "Please do."

    The High House members continued to stay in the courtroom, and when Madeline caught sight of Luther and Reginald making their way out of the room, she turned to Calhoun to say, "Calhoun."

    Calhoun turned to her, and he gave her a nod before turning to Raphael who was in the room to see the card reader smile, "Don''t go too far," he advised, and Madeline nodded her head.

    "Is the Queen going outside the castle? I would be more than happy to offer my carriage," said Lady Aubree, who was feeling guilty for presenting a cursed object to the Queen.

    "Thank you for the kind gesture, Lady Aubree, but the carriages that belong to the castle are working fine. If we do need to borrow your carriage, I will let you know. You can now leave," Calhoun dismissed the woman with a charming smile on his face. He trusted Madeline would be safe in thepany of Raphael as he still didn''tpletely trust her sister.

    More than people bringing harm to Madeline, the issue to worry would be if the other people would be left unharmed. His beautiful rose had bloomed, and it now had thorns around to protect itself.

 Chapter 395 Irresponsible! - Part 1

    <h4>395 Irresponsible! - Part 1</h4>

    Holding the front of her dress, Madeline called, "Mr. Frost!" and she made her way to where he was. Both the men turned around to see her.

    "My Queen," Reginald politely bowed his head, his eyes looking at her in wonderment for what she wanted from him.

    "Are you travelling to Cossington?" she asked, a little breathless as she had tried to catch up with them.

    "Yes, I am," answered Reginald, "Lilith and Weasley have gone to Carnivals'' vige. I don''t have anything on my hands, and Luther is going to another town to check with the magistrate about something," he offered her a smile, "Are you travelling to Cossington?"

    Madeline nodded her head, "Yes. I was wondering if it was alright to ride in your carriage."

    "It would be my pleasure, my Queen," Reginald''s words were polite to her, and he then looked at Luther who gave a small nod before getting into the front carriage. "Will they be riding with us too?" he asked, passing a nce towards Beth and Raphael.

    "Yes," answered Madeline, and the High House member only smiled. Getting into the carriage, she and Beth sat on one side, while Raphael and Reginald sat on the other side, "Do you have some work in Cossington?"

    "I wanted to take a look at the church''s library and read the books in there which you mentioned to me thest time when we met," stated Madeline.

    "Of course, the church will always be open to you, my Queen. Please use the library as you deem it to be fit," said Reginald before his eyes fell on Raphael, "I don''t think we have officially met. Reginald Frost."

    ??Raphael Sparrow," greeted Raphael in his polite way.

    Reginald then turned to Beth to say, "Lady Elizabeth, please don''t mind Lilith''s words. She can be sometimes harsh with her words." Beth gave him a tight smile.

    "She seemed too happy to me me," replied Beth.

    "Children are often mischievous in their actions. I am sure you can rte to it."

    Though Madeline had forgiven Beth for her actions, it wasn''t the same when it came to other people. Madeline was a forgiving person, but the rest continued to look at her as if she was a criminal. Like a stain that would be hard to get rid of, and she clutched her hands that were on herp.

    "Do you have any idea about who stole Hanima''s ne from the High House, Mr. Frost?" asked Madeline and his lips set itself in a thin line.

    "That would be something hard to tell," said Reginald with a thoughtful look on his face, "

    "What is the story behind the cursed jewels?" questioned Beth. It was only today did they find out about its existence.

    "The Hanima''s cursed treasures?" asked Reginald and Beth nodded her head. "It seems once upon a time, a woman that didn''t belong to this world had fallen in love with a mere mortal who was a King. The man promised to love and cherish her, but when she had turned her eyes away from him, the man fell in love with another woman, who went by the name Hanima. When the woman who didn''t belong to this world found out about it, she went to the castle. On meeting the Queen, she cursed the jewels that the Queen wore that once was gifted to this woman by the King. It is another matter that the King died."

    Beth was not satisfied with the story as her lips were set in a thin line.

    "Didn''t people ever try to rectify it? To lift the curse?" asked Madeline. She wanted to ask if the woman was an angel or a demon, the woman who had cursed it, but with Reginald being vague she didn''t know if it was safe to question him. It couldn''t be an angel as then the woman would be a fallen angel.

    "I heard that the curse could not be lifted from it," replied Reginald, "We the people of the High House members tried to destroy the jewels, but the jewels are indestructible which is why we have ced them away from people''s reach." Yet someone had stolen it, said Madeline in her mind.

    When they reached the church, Raphael stood outside as he was unable to step inside the church. Beth decided to stay with him, not because she felt he would be alone but because she knew Jennine was somewhere in the vige and the safest ce for her was next to the person who had driven Jennine away.

    "How does one know what level a demon is of?" asked Beth, her eyes looking around left and right at the people who walked on the roads.

    "There are some demons who conceal themselves, while some don''t conceal themselves. Most of them are born where it doesn''t let the others know about it like the King and Theodore-"

    "You don''t,"pleted Beth, and Raphael smiled at her words.

    "That''s right. The woman must have sensed me and left. Don''t worry, Lady Elizabeth, I will make sure no harmes upon you."

    "You don''t have to be this friendly with me, you are still an odd man, Mr. Sparrow," Beth gave a side nce at him before looking ahead and keeping an eye for Jennine.

    Inside the church''s library room, Madeline looked at the narrow passage between each of the racks. It was like the people of the church had tried to amodate as many racks with books as they could in this room. The room had enough lighting from the cathedral windows.

    "Are you looking for anything in particr, mydy?" came the voice of Reginald.

    "Ah, I was curious about the story that you told me thest time when I was here. Could you tell me where those books are?"

    Reginald was behind one of the racks, and he came around to pass where she was standing, making his way to thest second rack. "I forgot I ced them here." She heard his voice, and she walked around toe and stand where he was. The priest of the church had a small ck book in his hand. He then turned to look at a particr section in front of the rack he stood, "These are the ones that date to the historical events by the previous priests. Unfortunately, you won''t be able to verify the information as the men who wrote them passed away," heughed in the end and tapped on the parchments.

    There were nobels written and the parchments were stuffed in the racks. Madeline''s hand reached for one of the parchment, pulling it out, she turned a couple of pages to read what was in there.

    "If you had asked me that you wanted to read the books in the libraryst time when you were here, I would have turned you as my apprentice," joked the man, "Do you have any n to join the High House?" came his simple question.

    Madeline lifted her head to look at Reginald who had his back at her, reading the book and at the same time asking her question.

    "No. I never thought about it," she replied, taking a look back at the parchment in her hand.

    "You should. I am sure the King would benefit greatly from it."

    She stopped reading the parchments and looked in the direction where Reginald had disappeared behind the books'' rack which was next to her. Was this him telling he knew Calhoun had dirt on his hands and to be careful about it? Madeline asked in her mind.

    It also made Madeline wonder how close Reginald was with Calhoun, maybe not as close as Theodore but by the way, he had given his decision about Calhoun not to be guilty, she came to believe that this High House member wasn''t against her husband.

    "Why would you say that?" she asked carefully.

    "I believe it is good to make use of all your resources." What did that mean?

    She pulled another parchment from the rack to look at what was written inside it. Even though Aunt Mary had bad intentions towards her, Madeline was d that her rtive had taken time to teach both her and her sister Beth on how to read and write.

    "How long has it been since you started to give your service to the church?" she asked Reginald, who walked around to give her a book.

    "You might like this one. It speaks about the cursed treasure," Reginald gave her a knowing look and Madeline murmured her thanks.

    "It was long before I joined the High House."

    Madeline''s eyes met his grey eyes that were calm, "I heard that you reced a fellow High House member."

    "Yes, that I did-" Reginald''s words were interrupted when he and Madeline heard a sounde from the other side of the room.

    The sound was very faint, but both Madeline and the priest heard it. And maybe they wouldn''t have taken a note of it if the ce where they were in wasn''t quiet. But before either of them could question, she heard a lightmotion taking ce outside.?Reginald walked to the ce where the earlier sound was heard to check what it was. With the multicoloured window that wasn''t far away from where she stood, she went to peer through the pink ss to look down as the library was situated in the second storey of the building that connected to the church from the back.

    She could hear people screaming. She asked, "What''s going down there?"

    Not a secondter the ce where Reginald had walked to, something simr to a cannonball hit the wall to break a part of the room. This caused the racks to be pushed one after another until they were leaning against each other with most of the books and parchments fallen on the ground.

    "Mr. Frost?" called Madeline as she couldn''t see where Reginald was.

    At the same time, she felt the multicoloured ss start to vibrate, and before she could utter another word, it blew up into many pieces. Madeline had brought both her hands up covering her face, where the ss pieces turned to dust before they could touch her.

 Chapter 396 Irresponsible! - Part 2

    <h4>396 Irresponsible! - Part 2</h4>

    "I thought you went to Carnivals vige," said Madeline, her eyes moved to the ce where the racks and the parchments had fallen on the floor. She looked for the priest, to find him buried under one of the racks with just one of his hands visible. There was blood on his hand, and it worried her immensely.

    She wanted to go to where Reginald was, but Lilith stood not too far away from him, watching her every movement.

    "I heard you were out and in the town," replied Lilith with a smile on her face, showing her fangs to Madeline, "I thought I woulde and greet you." The demon vampiress stared at Madeline, noticing how she appeared untouched by the shattered ss.

    "You didn''t have to do that. We saw each other a while ago," said Madeline, trying to reach for the exit of the room as she doubted she would survive if she jumped out of one of the windows.

    Lilith quickly went to block the exit of the library, "You don''t look surprised by my wings."

    "I have seen better things than those," and on hearing Madeline''s words, Lilith raised her hand to break the next window that was near Madeline. But Madeline used her hands to stop it and turn most of the ss pieces to dust before they could harm her.

    "It''s good to know that you are a dark angel. Come, Madeline, let me take you with me without a fight," Lilith said to Madeline as if she was a child. Noticing how Madeline''s eyes moved towards Reginald who was dead, the demoness said, "He''s not going to wake up. A mere mortal of this world. I sometimes wonder if it is only because of his looks that got him this far in the High House," she chuckled to herself.

    Madeline couldn''t believe that the man she had been just talking to was dead and underneath one of the racks, "Where are you nning to take me?" she asked Lilith, trying to find where the den of demons was.

    "It is a surprise. A lot of us have been waiting for you to appear," said Lilith. Madeline had an eye on Lilith, but she would have never guessed that Lilith was in this with her aunt Mary.

    "You know Walter," Madeline confronted, and Lilith pulled out one of the knives from her dress.

    "The question should be, how do you know Walter. He is an unknown face, and you made it look like he is a resident in your sweet grandparent''s vige," Lilith''s eyes narrowed as she said this, "I was quite surprised when you mentioned his name because ording to your grandparents, they had erased all the possible memories of yours that would create any suspicion."

    "You knew my grandparents too��"

    Madeline shrugged her shoulders, "I wonder that myself." Her eyes were looking at all the possible exits, and now she started to consider even the windows which she had excluded earlier. When it was time to save herself, she realized it didn''t matter from where she would be getting out. But Lilith had wings, thought Madeline to herself.

    Hearing more screamsing from the vige that appeared to be chaotic, Madeline questioned, "What is going on outside in the vige?" Her hands had started to turn warm.

    "There?" Lilith raised her eyebrows in questions, "It isn''t me, but others who are enjoying some good blood." A loud thump was heard in the room, and Madeline caught sight of a man who had blood on his hands. His straight hair was brushed upwards.

    "What''s taking you so long to bring her, Lilith?" the man asked, turning to Madeline. He had jagged teeth unlike the humans or vampires.

    "Greyson said we should be careful with her-"

    "Oh, for fucks sake, you are worried about it? Did you even get it right, or are we picking a random again?" asked the man while he made his way towards Madeline in a quick motion. In a blink of Madeline''s eyes, the man stood right in front of her, holding her slender neck in his hand, "Look at her," and Madeline struggled to push the demon?away from her.

    "Walter and Mary said she''s the one. And I saw her turn the sses to dust," replied Lilith.

    The demon stared at Madeline, looking at her face and then at her body. "This is a pretty one, isn''t she?" asked the demon, "Do you think Greyson would mind if I have some fun before we head out from here?"

    "You can do thatter, Den. We need to leave quickly," said Lilith. She went to stand near one of the broken windows, to see people running away from the werewolves, who had been unleashed into the vige.

    The man named Den ran his tongue over his jagged teeth while enjoying the girl''s struggle as he had pushed her against the wall. Her struggles were futile, and he ced his hand on her shoulder before it went to trace the side of her body.

    Madeline felt powerless and repulsed by the demon''s touch. She didn''t know why her hands were not reacting like they usually did. She had used both her hands to ce it on the man''s face, in an attempt to push him away. While the demon continued to slide his hand down further, one of the racks moved, and it was as if someone broke it to create heavy dust in the room.

    Lilith waved her hand in front of her to clear the dust away from her face when suddenly someone caught hold of her head. Her eyes widened to see Reginald, who was up and awake.

    "Y-you were dead!" stuttered Lilith in shock as she had heard the man''s breathing stop along with his heartbeat.

    "You have been a bad child, Lilith," came the calm voice of Reginald, and the demoness didn''t get a chance to utter a single word as she fell t on the ground, dead without a hint of violence.

    The demon named Den had not cared to turn around to see what was happening as the room was still covered in dust that was yet to settle down. Looking at the girl heughed as he moved his hand to touch her bottom, her hands that were pushing his face, turned cold.

    Before the demon moved his hand further, he felt a slight tingling sensation from the girl''s hands, and when his eyes moved to look at Madeline, his head blew backwards as if someone had ced arge gun and pulled the trigger.

 Chapter 397 Irresponsible!- Part 3

    <h4>397 Irresponsible!- Part 3</h4>

    Blood continued to gush out of his body, and when the dust settled down on the ground, she caught sight of Reginald, and then Lilith whoid unmoving on the floor.

    "You are much more powerful than I thought you would be."

    "Y-you are alive," whispered Madeline. Her eyebrows furrowed as she stared at the priest, "You aren''t a normal person, are you?" and she saw him shake his head. She had doubted the man named Michael whom she had seen during the wedding, to be the angel they had been looking for. Btut she would have never guessed it to be Reginald.

    "Let''s take you down where your sister and the demon are," offered the man while Madeline''s head started to turn dizzy at the sight of the blood that was increasing on the floor.

    He was ready to lead the way when Madeline said, "Paschar....I don''t understand," she whispered. "Why?"

    "You don''t need to, Madeline," said the angel, dropping all the honorifics as Madeline knew who he was now.

    Madeline shook her head, "I do," she whispered, "You know what''s going on, yet you decided not toe. I was in the coffin. Twice."

    "We angels are not supposed to meddle with the earthly beings. I was already reprimanded for my past actions, yet taken back. If I were to meddle again, I would be thrown out of heaven just like the fallen angels. I asked Michael to send his Whisperers to aid you," said Paschar, dropping the smile that he had worn earlier, and the look on his face was severe. "I wasn''t sure if you were my child, but it is good to know that you are. Your mother would be very proud of you."

    "Mother?" Madeline frowned, "You mean your lover."

    "Who is also your mother, a human, who passed away quite young," responded Paschar to her.

    "I already have a mother, the one who you must have met in the castle."

    Paschar smiled, "No, not her. She might have given birth to you, but you were first born to us. Your soul has the same energy as mine." Since she had found out about his existence, Madeline had wanted to meet the angel, and now that she did, she was still taken aback, not knowing what to say to him.

    "What are you doing in the High House if you are not supposed to be meddling here?" asked Madeline. She saw a glow started to emit around him. She was worried he was going to disappear in the blink of an eye.

    "Do you know how many people have been nailed into the coffin because the fallen angels thought that they were dark angels?" questioned Madeline.

    Paschar gave her a nod, "It is unfortunate."

    "Is that all you have to say?" Madeline didn''t know why but Paschar seemed much colder than she had imagined him to be. "Your deeds have put a curse on me where I am being hunted by my very own family and demons."

    Paschar took a step towards Madeline, and she took one back immediately. "I deeply apologize for it. I never knew things would turn like this," a small frown came to settle on his face. "When Olivia conceived you, we were both ecstatic to have you in our world. But when the people in the heaven found out about it, it was demanded that I return. At the same time, one of the fallen killed both of you. I killed the woman who killed Olivia. I couldn''t save your mother because it was toote, but I tried to save you."

    "You were the person in my dream," whispered Madeline as she ran her memory through her mind again. The angel who killed the woman up in mes was Paschar.

    "Before I knew it, you had been assigned as a ticket of redemption for the people in this realm. I prayed for you not to appear until the time was right, so that you would be safe," he confessed to her.

    "The redemption is a lie," and on Madeline''s words, Paschar shook his head.

    "It isn''t," she felt her throat turn dry. "Angels are not supposed to have children. I joined the High House to see if I could get more information about you. It is why I even asked Michael to leave his position and give it to me. I knew some of the children were being buried. But the Whisperers often came with the news of the child being dead, which only indicated that it wasn''t my true child."

    Madeline pursed her lips, "So what now? I am supposed to wait for the clock to tick and wait to be sacrificed?"

    "I won''t let that happen to you," assured Paschar, his grey eyes continued to look at Madeline. He then looked behind her as if catching sight of something. "Right now, you are at the safest ce, and no one can hurt you, Madeline. Because of your marriage to the King, who belongs to the highest level of a demon." She saw white wings appear from his back and he threw the ck book at her which he had picked earlier, "Take this book. You might find it helpful."

    "Where are you going?!" questioned Madeline, but with one p of his wings, the angel disappeared from her sight. This angel...they couldn''t be rted, she thought to herself. Which father left their child with half information??

    Within a few seconds, she heard pping sounds to turn around and see it was Calhoun, and within a second, she was engulfed in his arms.

 Chapter 398 Chaos in village-Part 1

    <h4>398 Chaos in vige-Part 1</h4>

    Ten minutes had passed since her sister Madeline, and the High House member had stepped into the church, and she stood outside here with Raphael. Her fingers tapped on her opposite arm. The wind carried the snowkes, a lone keing in front of Beth and she tried to catch hold of it in the palm of her hand. The moment the snowke touched her palm, shes of a small girl standing with blood-covered hands while another girl lying on the ground appeared in front of her eyes.

    She dropped the snowke, doubting if Winter would ever be the same again for her.

    "You alright there?" asked the demon who stood on the other side of the entrance of the church, and Beth who was staring at the front turned to look at Raphael. "I am quite surprised that you are here with me, than inside with your sister," a small chuckle escaped his lips.

    Though Beth was standing here with the man as a shield for her protection that didn''t mean he had turned bearable and he was still annoying.

    "I think I have already told you why I am here. I am here for my selfish gains," said Beth, putting a straight face and turning her face away from him.

    "A person who is selfish never speaks about them being selfish. It negates the whole idea," said Raphael, making small talk with her, something Beth was used to.

    Men had often flocked around her like she was the most beautiful flower, which she was, but every person had their own insecurity. A person always found the grass to be greener on the other side of the fence, and Beth was no exception to it. She knew that beauty was hard to preserve, and a surfacial trait that didn''t allow her to bond that easily. Though there were men who wanted to speak to her and be around her, Beth had always been the target of jealousy that stemmed from her and other girls and women, who liked to nitpick on her, while also trying to thrive the way she was.

    She had her insecurities when it came to the gap that appeared between people and her. It was something she could rte to princesses, where people wanted to be her, but at the same time, she had no true friend. The only person she had been able to rely on was her very own sister, but at the same time, things in the past had never been good. She knew Madeline had better rtionships, and the way her sister received warm smiles, something she was unable to get, including her rtives.

    "You don''t need to make small talks with me. I am sure you have met a person who goes by the name silence," she said, raising her nose.

    "We don''t have to act as if we get along. You still creep me out. It is why I openly said I am being selfish about the current situation," answered Beth. The demon seemed like a person who didn''t have a constant house and kept travelling from one ce to another, leading him to appear the way he was.

    "Is it because of the way I look? It must be because of how I dress that you have such a low opinion about me," Raphael''s words were direct where he didn''t bother to beat around the bush.

    Beth pursed her lips and turned to meet his ck eyes, "You keep looking at me. Even now, you have been staring at me since my sister stepped inside."

    "You speak as if you have never been admired by people''s eyes, mdy," Raphael continued to say, "When there''s something beautiful, it needs to be admired, and when something is hurt, you need to watch over it."

    Beth''s cheeks turned slightly red, "What are you talking about?"

    The man shrugged his shoulders, "I say what I see. It looked like you were recollecting something of the past."

    Beth''s eyes red in a re that was directed towards Raphael for poking his nose or eyes where it didn''t belong. With Madeline who was with the High House member and in the church, Beth came to presume that her sister would be safe as no demon could step into the holy ce. But what Beth didn''t know was that the church was connected to another building through a small bridge which was where the library was, holding books and other artefacts, making it a possible ce for a demon to step into with minimum damage to them.

    With people who bustled to carry on with their daily work and with the sound of carriages, horses, Beth continued to wait for Madeline to return when Raphael took a step forward.

    "What happened?" she asked him curiously as it appeared like he was trying to concentrate on something.

    "Werewolves!" and his head snapped to the left and Beth''s eyes moved to catch sight of a grey-furred wolf that howled loud enough for people to freeze in their spots.

    Beth had never met or seen a werewolf before, and her blood froze in her body. For a few seconds, she couldn''t hear anything as her ears had turned numb, but she could see people screaming for help as they tried to run away from the werewolf.

    "Lady Elizabeth!" Raphael called her, and she didn''t have time to react as he caught hold of her wrist, and he started to pull her away from the church''s entrance.

    But there wasn''t just one werewolf as three more came to appear where they were in the vige, snarling and destroying anything that was in front of them. One of the werewolves picked up a man who was in front of it and tore him into two pieces. This led to people screaming and yelling as they tried to scurry away from the ce to get shelter.

    "What about Madeline?" shouted Beth when she came to her senses where the noise started to fill back in and around her.

    "She is with the priest. She will be alright. It''s not safe for either of us to be here out in the open. If you get bit, you will turn to one of them. If I get bit, I will probably die out of infection, or maybe not as I am not a vampire. Come on now!"

    Screams filled around the ce where they were in, and the werewolves weren''t the only ones who had entered the vige. It seemed like there were demons who had stepped in here, walking leisurely while the rest of the folks continued to run, screaming their lungs out for help.

 Chapter 399 Chaos in village- Part 2

    <h4>399 Chaos in vige- Part 2</h4>

    "AHHH!" screamed another man, who was caught by the enormously tall creature which towered the people by twice its height.

    "Howe the werewolves are here?!" questioned Beth, her voice filled with panic and a crease on her forehead. One moment it was peaceful and the very next second, everything had turned chaotic, "Mr. Sparrow?!"

    "Who knows," he said looking back and forth while making their way towards the carriage that he had caught sight of.

    "What do you mean, you don''t know?" asked Beth, because this man often had answers and Madeline had consulted a few things with him for wisdom. She saw him pull the door of the carriage while trying to usher her inside.

    "I don''t know, let me ask them to have tea with me so I can find out about it," came his response. The girl was shrewd in wrong areas, while she could be really dense in a few ces, thought Raphael to himself. Beth looked unimpressed by his answer, and she saw him take out a pistol from his baggy robes, "Use this."

    "Where are you going??" Now that Raphael was leaving her, Beth turned worried and fear marred her face. She took hold of the weapon in her hand.

    "I will be back soon. Just stay in the carriage and don''t get out until you don''t hear another cry," Raphael advised with a smile to assure her, and Beth nodded. She was about to get in when she caught sight of one of his cards that fell on the ground. She bent down to pick it up. He quickly took it from her, "Thank you. In, you go now,dy," and Beth caught hold of her flowing dress as she got inside the carriage, and the door was shut close.

    Screams filled up around her and Beth anxiously watched through the window, thinking how the count of the werewolves had only increased in time, and more of them entered this ce. Werewolves were nothing less than nonexistent in this side of thends of Devon.

    Raphael who had left the carriage, he caught sight of people being torn. The panic increased in people as they were almost surrounded by the creatures that were controlled by the moon. But there was no moon in sight, which only told how much the werewolves were evolvingpared to old times. Pulling out another gun that he carried with him with bullets that were not made of silver, he believed, for now, it should do, to save some lives.

    "HELP!" a woman screamed, who was caught by one of the werewolves. The wolf snarled loudly, showing its teeth covered with its saliva. Raphael quickly raised his hand to shoot the werewolf and the beast dropped the woman on the ground before looking at Raphael in anger.

    Amid the chaos that was taking ce in the vige of Cossington, Odin who had been sitting on one of the nearby trees that was near the church, in an attempt to keep an eye on the girl they were supposed to kidnap, he flew away quickly to notify his Master.

    "Master! Master!" Odin shouted as he entered the tower where his master was taking a short nap in his coffin, "MASTER!"

    "Shut up, you fool," growled dimir, "Always screaming. What is it?" he asked, opening his eyes and getting out of the coffin.

    "Master the girl! She''s in trouble! The vige where she is in now is under attack by demons and werewolves," informed Odin and he transformed himself from his small bat form into a vampire.

    "That''s good news. Let''s wait for the others to do the dirty work. I am sure a piece or two of her being bring ripped will be a nice start," replied dimir, stepping out of the coffin and walking towards the tall mirror that was affixed on the wall. Only his clothes reflected in the mirror and he straightened his cor.

    "But Master you won''t be able to torture her yourself," said Odin. Though the servant vampire had been ipetent when it came to looking after his Master''s daughter, he had a soft spot towards thetedy and he felt revenge had to be served well, it was how his Master''s mind worked too.

    dimir sighed, "I have brought you up well. My one true servant, who sometimes can be an idiot, but sometimes right," hearing this Odin''s eyes lit up.

    "Also, I would like to know which minions of mine have been trying to create mischief here. How is hell doing, Odin?"

    The servant bowed his head, "Everyone is waiting for you to return, Master."

    dimirughed at Odin''s words, "I am sure they cannot wait to fill my position, so the murky demons can take my ce thinking I am dead as I haven''t visited the ce in a while. Because I don''t remember ordering them to y with people today, especially with the beasts."

    The older vampire turned to look at his coat that was hung on the stand and he raised his hand. In a second, the coat came flying to him and Odin helped him to wear it. Turning to bats, both of them headed to Cossingston vige. Arriving in the middle of the chaos that was taking ce, dimir had an unenthusiastic look on his face.

    "Why did the girle here again?"

    "Um," Odin pressed his lips and said, "I don''t know, Master. I was only keeping an eye on where she was going as you ordered me to, without getting too close to her."

    The old vampire''s blood red eyes observed the people running and screaming, some hiding and his eyes then fell on the puny demons who were agitating the werewolves. His eyes fell on a demon who had arge weapon in his hand, lighting the end of the thick thread which was connected to arge ck vessle before it sizzled and went to strike on the building which was behind the church.

    "What an interesting thing, Odin," murmured dimir, leaving the werewolves and the other people behind as he made his way towards the demon, who was working with the weapon in aiming the metal ball the behind of the church which had a tower.

    dimir stood right in front of the weapon and the demon looked annoyed, "Looks like you want to die. Get the fuck out of here!" At the disrespect, dimir''s eyes turned entirely pitch ck and the demon realized who this person was.

    "M-master. Y-you are al-alive," stuttered the demon.

    "Now you get the fuck out of here," said the old vampire to raise his hand at the demon, who sttered like water and fell on the ground.

 Chapter 400 Chaos in village- Part 3

    <h4>400 Chaos in vige- Part 3</h4>

    dimir sensed the girl was alive, and his feet started to walk in the direction of the church. A smile came to form on his lips on sensing someone else''s presence, and he noticed a light appear from the back of the tower for a second before it returned to normal. "Absolutely nothing. Take this thing with you," hemanded, jerking his head towards the weapon.

    "Yes, Master!"

    Turning around, the older vampire said, "We are not here to clean up people''s mess, but the demons." He walked towards one of the demons, tapping on his shoulder as if he was asking for direction, "I think it''s time to get back home, dear." The demoness''s eyes turned wide and she was the next person to stter down on the ground.

    dimir picked out a few more demons who were out of line before he and Odin disappeared from the vige, leaving the werewolves to continue thrashing and vandalising the ce.

    Raphael had gone to help the vigers to get to their safety, while Beth hid in the carriage looking outside through the gaps of the window with her heart pounding in her chest.

    Beth didn''t know how long it would take for the situation toe under control, and she tried to peer outside by getting close to the window to take a better look near the church where the building''s walls had broken, and also of the vige tower bell. While she was still looking around with her face pressed, suddenly one of the werewolves appeared in front of her face to face on the other side of the window, and Beth stumbled backwards to get away.

    In less than a second, the brown werewolf, got hold of the carriage using its enormous strength to push its hands through the door of the carriage. It tried to swipe its hand inside the carriage with its ws out to get the human who was in there.

    "Ahh!!" Beth screamed when the werewolf''s w almost grazed her.

    Her hands trembled, and she pulled the trigger of the pistol that was given by Raphael, and the bullet hit the wolf''s hand. Instead of retracting its hand back, the beast turned even more aggressive and snarled in anger. When she readied herself to pull the trigger again, the werewolf smacked the pistol from her hand which fell to the beast''s side.

    Beth turned around as quick as she could, trying to see if the side where she was pressed against had a door, but it didn''t! Her breath was quick, and she frantically pushed the window of the carriage, to get out as the werewolf appeared to be too adamant to get hold of her.

    She started to limp away from the carriage, and the werewolf she had shot started to follow her, by jumping on the carriage and then down before its feet thumped loudly against the ground. Beth huffed for air as she ran as fast as her feet could take her. But seeing the werewolf so close to her, she ended up twisting her ankle, and she fell on the ground.

    On the other side, Raphael fought a werewolf with a long branch as the beast tried to kill him not too far away from the carriage. The bullets in the pistol that he had carried had been exhausted. The werewolves eyes filled in rage as it showed its dirty teeth to him, while growling at him. Some of the werewolves had been taken down while some were still in the process of biting and killing people.

    The werewolf was strong enough to throw him and he fell near a well. The things he often carried in his robes fell. His eyes fell on the card that Beth had picked up earlier, and he turned it around, ready to put it back in his pocket, but he paused to look at it again.

    The card he held was the card of fools, which wrote a person''s past, present or future by the mere touch of the person''s hand. The usual card had turned to a person in an open casket, and his eyes snapped at where Beth was.

    "Lady Elizabeth!" shouted Raphael and on finding the empty carriage, he looked around and saw the pistol that he had given Beth. Picking it up he, he found her not far away from where he stood while one of the werewolves hovered in front of her. Raising his hand he shot at the beast without a stop.

    This action was enough to stop the werewolf from charging at Beth and it turned to look at Raphael. The beast started to chase him, and he took it away from the girl, leading it towards the ce where the guards threw arge and sturdy on it, and then another one to capture and stop its movements.

    The men had brought many mores, throwing thes on the other werewolves temporarily while the beasts tried to free themselves.

    "Where are the guns with silver bullets?" shouted one of the guard.

    "Put them in the iron cages! We need to capture them alive!" said guard man.

    Raphael made his way to where Beth was on the ground, who was huffing for air like there wasn''t enough air entering her lungs. Tears streamed her eyes, and the demon looked at her, worried, "Are you alright, Lady Elizabeth? Did you hurt your back?" he asked her as she was sitting on the ground.

    He noticed the lower part of her dress had stained red because of blood. Beth pulled her dress weakly, to reveal the bite mark of the werewolf on her leg from where the blood was dripping.

 Chapter 401 Time to fly- Part 1

    <h4>401 Time to fly- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline felt Calhoun holding her close to him in his arms, "Are you alright?" he asked, pulling away to take a better look at her and she nodded. Calhoun''s hand went to wipe the blood drops that had sprinkled on her face and dress, which had turned slightly turned dry on her skin.

    "How did you know?" she asked Calhoun, surprised and happy at his presence.

    "I sensed something going on with you," answered, Calhoun, "I think it''s because of the invisible bond that we share now."

    "Invisible bond?" she furrowed her brows, not knowing what it was.

    "Yes," he replied, his eyes looking into the depth of her eyes to check that she was fine. He had felt her fear even though they weren''t near each other, "An invisible bond is formed usually by the vampire-demons because the demons have some sort of magic running in them that allows them to create and share a bond with their partners. The bond is often created without knowledge. I don''t know exactly when it happened, but for a while I have been able to know what you feel, and the emotion that runs in you."

    Madeline wondered when it happened, and as she wasn''t a demon nor a vampire, the invisible bond didn''t work the other way around. In the beginning, she had always been in the notion that Calhoun was able to read her mind. But she hade to learn it was something to do with his quick wit and now the possible bond, that had formed unconsciously the very first time they had met.

    As Calhoun looked at Madeline with worried eyes, she ced her hand on his that hade to settle on the side of her face, "I am doing fine."

    He then looked around to see two people who were lying on the ground, "I sense something else in here."

    "Paschar," whispered Madeline, turning her gaze in the direction he had left. The angel hadn''t stayed longer to chat and had disappeared before she could have uttered another word, "It was Reginald. He''s Paschar."

    "What?" he asked, a frown appearing on his face, "He has been in the High House working under demons."

    "He said he joined the High House so that he could get information about me, when I woulde to exist and would be about to be hunted because I am a ticket to heaven," sighed Madeline. She wondered if it made a difference if she was or if she wasn''t one because it looked like she would be hunted anyways because of the word spread about how she could be used as a sacrifice. "Heaven must be angry that Paschar broke the rules, which is why the fallen angels offered a-"

    Madeline shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. "I am not sure," she whispered in thought. All this time, she believed that when she would meet Paschar, she would find answers and solutions to the problems that existed before she even took birth in this world. But it didn''t. "He said he would try to remove the rumour as well as me being a sacrificial person for the fallen angels and the demons?so that I won''t be a target."

    "That won''t drop the idea of you still being the potential sacrifice right now ,that would lead up to people having immense power," Calhoun clicked his tongue. He wondered who else was hiding behind their outer appearance, which he was yet to discover. Until now, no one had a single hint on Reginald that he was Paschar.

    They heard a light sound ofughter in the room, and Madeline and Calhoun looked around to see where it wasing from. Madeline looked startled when Lilith started to move from where she had been lying on the ground until now.

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed as he had seen Lilith lying t unmoving and a man who looked like he had blown up his face. He didn''t have to ask, to know that it was Madeline who was responsible for it. With more power came more responsibility and threat, and right now, Madeline was in a ce where people would start swarming around her only to slice her neck.

    "I thought you died by the hands of my wife,"mented Calhoun, noticing Lilith trying to sit up before standing on her feet with great difficulty as if she was exhausted.

    Lilith turned to meet Calhoun''s eyes, "You wish. It was the bloody angel. I was worried I died, but it seems like people in the heaven don''t trust him. Therefore, he has less than half the energy in him to take me down," she spat the blood on the dusty ground. "I heard what you both were talking about, and you are damn right. What I didn''t know was that you were a different kind too."

    Internally, she was appalled at the sight of the ck wings before it disappeared from his back. She had never seen anything like this before. She had seen bat-like wings but she had never seen feathered wings that were ck. W-who was Calhoun Hawthrone?

    "What can I say, it''s rare to find a person like me," Calhoun remarked while his eyes calmly took in her features again, "Why are you dirtying you hand in a work like this, Lilith dear?"

    "Why not?" questioned Lilith, taking two steps away from the couple so that she kept a safe distance between each other. "Look at that," she nudged her head towards Den, a fellow demon who had his head blown up. "Don''t tell me you don''t crave for it too. I know you, Calhoun, that the bloodthirsty vampire in you enjoys the power, isn''t that why you turned to King?"

    "Priorities change in time," stated Calhoun continuing to hold a cool expression on his face.

    Lilith red at Calhoun, "It always has, hasn''t it? Just like you discarded me," came the bitterness from her voice. "I would have never pegged you to be someone to go and like this girl. But who knows, one day you might find her useful enough to make use of her, more than in the bed."

    When Lilith had first met Calhoun, he was a man who had a look of hollowness in his eyes, empty eyes that barely contained any emotions apart from blood-lust. He had always outshined people by his words and presence. Lilith had looked forward to build a rtionship with him, even though he was only a vampire. But the King had done nothing but humiliate her over and over again.

    "You are right. There''s more than sex which is called emotional support which you clearlyck," said Calhoun, and Madeline noticed how Lilith''s face slightly fell before she covered it up in a re.

 Chapter 402 Time to fly- Part 2

    <h4>402 Time to fly- Part 2</h4>

    "You are a demon who enjoys killing people. Why do you want to turn to an angel?" questioned Madeline to hear Lilithugh again. It didn''t make sense why the person would want to be an angel when they had nothing but ill intentions, that would only lead them to turn as fallen angels?again before they would step back to being a demon.

    "Oh dear, you don''t know the whole truth, do you? I guess not everyone knows but this is more than just redemption," Lilith took a step towards the wall. "Look at you. You are filled with abilities. Even Heaven is worried where you will cause destruction with what you are. By sacrificing you, it isn''t just to be angelic, but the powers that will unleash after your death which is when we can feed and turn to something better than what we are."

    "Right now, you are trash. I wonder what''s the next level after it,"mented Calhoun and Lilith''s hands clutched. ording to the n, she would make use of Den''s help and take the dark angel from here, but Den was dead. And she had discovered that Calhoun was not an average vampire.

    "You were never better. Always behaving so high and mighty when you are someone who came out between the legs of a woman who whored around with every single man in the vige," scoffed Lilith to spite Calhoun.

    In an instant, Calhoun stood right in front of Lilith, grabbing hold of her neck tightly. He stared at the demoness.

    "Well, at least my mother spread her legs because she had to feed me and her, unlike you who whored around just for pleasure." Calhoun''s words were cold and empty as he didn''t like the way Lilith spoke about his mother. He had silenced almost every single person who had bad-mouthed his mother.

    "For a lowly demon, you sure have a lot to speak, don''t you," said Calhoun, pressing her neck further squeezing it and the demoness found it hard to breathe.

    "Kill me," whispered Lilith through gritted teeth. Calhoun looked into the ck eyes of the woman before pushing her away from him. "You can''t, can you?" sheughed. Madeline who stood there watching them could feel her hands start to shake while she saw the way the demoness looked at Calhoun. She was surprised that Calhoun had not done anything, and had let Lilith go unharmed.

    "All in good time," said Calhoun and Lilith staggered back. "How did you end up here? I thought Helena sent you with Weasley to look for Walter."

    Right now, Madeline had turned to nothing less than a Hanima''s treasure. The only curse which people who were after her didn''t know or failed to notice was that, she wasn''t the small helpless girl who once was taken to a demon''s house by her grandparents.

    "I can turn to a higher level of a demon. Almost God-like," whispered Lilith as she eyed Madeline. She then moved away from Calhoun slowly and steadily, towards the broken walls that allowed the wind to pass through in abundant quantity.

    "That''s quite a dream you have in there. Do you think you will be able to do it," asked Calhoun, putting his hands in his pockets.

    A smirk appeared on Lilith''s face, "Now as you know I am not a vampire, you should know it well that I am a demon with wings. Maybe not right now," she said, inching closer towards the opening of the walls. "But I wille with the rest of them. To take her away," she gave them a crooked smile at them.

    "And how do you n to leave this ce?" questioned Calhoun, tilting his head to the side as he watched Lilith readying herself for a flight.

    "Poor, Cal. By my wings of course," Lilith responded, and she tried to get her wings out of her back, but it never came to appear even after many attempts. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she wondered why she wasn''t able to get her wings out. Cracking the bones on her back, she tried again before wondering what the fuck was going?!

    Calhoun pulled out his hands from his pocket before walking towards Lilith, and her eyes widened. "What did you fucking do?! I had them just a moment ago!" there was evident panic in her voice.

    "I?" asked Calhoun, "Nothing at all. I barely even squished your throat."

    Madeline observed Lilith, noticing the demoness wasn''t able to bring out her wings which she had seen a couple of minutes ago.

    "Stop fucking kidding around, Calhoun!" came the rage-filled voice of Lilith.

    "Ah, now I remember!" drawled Calhoun, giving a pause to only have Lilith''s eyes turn big. "I don''t think it was me, but the angel who touched you. He must have turned you to a mere mortal by not just taking your wings but other things too. What an unfortunate thing for a demon who wanted to move up in the hierarchy of demons," he tsked.

    Lilith''s eyes turned livid in shock. She ran her tongue across her teeth and realized her fangs were gone, and so were her wings. She tried to use her ability, but nothing happened.

    "N-no! T-this cannot be happening!! NO!" screamed Lilith. She shook her head with a look of disbelief on her face.

 Chapter 403 Time to fly- Part 3

    <h4>403 Time to fly- Part 3</h4>

    Lilith tried to escape away from Calhoun, but he blocked her way, "Y-you cannot do this to me," she whispered, "I have always helped you."

    "Everything is in the past, and you have been foolish enough to go against me. Did you forget whom Madeline belongs to? You have some nerve, trying to harm my wife," Calhoun caught hold of the woman''s cor of her dress.

    The former demoness tried to negotiate her life, pleading, "I will tell you everything that you need to know about the people who want the girl. You need me right now to keep her alive!"

    Not paying any attention to what she said, Calhoun said, "I wonder if a mere human can survive such a height, but then you can fly. Don''t worry, if you can''t fly well, I will bring you back up here again, and we can try it all day long."

    Lilith shook her head, fright filling in her eyes, "Pl-please...NO! NO-AHH!" she screamed when Calhoun pushed her from above to have her be greeted by gravity until her head touched a statute that was below, breaking her head and neck before she fell t on the ground unmoving with her eyes opened. Blood started to spread on the snow around her.

    Calhoun heard the smack sound of Lilith, and he turned to look at Madeline, taking a step forward, and she shook her head, "Don''t," she whispered. Not liking the sudden rejection, his eyes narrowed. "Don''t touch me, Cal."

    "What''s going on?"

    "My hands," she whispered, and she raised her hand towards the wall that continued to stay strong, and on her movement, the wall cracked under pressure, "I will hurt you." She didn''t want to blow Calhoun the way the other demon??s face had disappeared with nothing but blood.

    Calhoun''s eyes softened at her words, "You need to learn to control it. Shake the hands like you are getting rid of something," he suggested, taking a step towards her while Madeline looked at him skeptically. When she took his advice and waved her hands, the wall broke down before cracking further and flying in all direction. Before the stones coulde to hit her, Calhoun appeared in front of her with his wings spread out to protect her.

    Madeline''s eyebrows had drawn closer in worry, and she stared into his eyes. "Bring your hand forward," he said. She apprehensively raised both her hands in front of him while also taking a step back. "It''s going to be okay," he assured her, bringing his hand to hover above her hand.

    "What are you doing?" she asked tensely.

    Madeline''s lips trembled when his hands moved a little more closer to her open palms. Though Calhoun was stronger than the demon who was lying on the ground, she didn''t want to see him spew blood out of his mouth.

    "You are not concentrating, Madeline," he said, lifting his gaze see her.

    Calming her nerves, she took a deep breath and at the same moment, he caught her hand, their palms touching each other. Madeline''s eyes that had widened looked at him, and she saw him smile, "See. All gone." He was right. Her hands didn''t feel the way they were feeling a few seconds.

    Remembering Beth and Raphael, who were waiting outside the church, she quickly inquired, "What''s happening outside?"

    Calhoun had a grim expression, and he said, "Werewolves and demons have attacked the vige."

    Both Calhoun and Madeline went down the building they were to be greeted with the sight of men and women, including children who were injured and being tended by others. Four werewolves were caught and put inside the cage, while the other beasts had escaped from the vige of Cossington before they could be captured.

    By seeing the amount of injured people and houses destroyed, Madeline''s eyes frantically searched for Beth before she caught sight of her sister who was sitting on the ground with Raphael standing next to her. She saw one of the vige women tending Beth, who just finished wrapping a cloth around Beth''s leg.

    She ran to where Beth was, and noticed her sister''s dress had turned partly red on the skirt. Madeline asked, "What happened? Did you get hurt?" she asked, worried before sitting down to console her sister who had tears streaming down from her eyes.

    Raphael was the one to answer, "A werewolf has bitten Lady Elizabeth."

    "What?" whispered Madeline in disbelief. Beth huped looking at her.

    "Maddie, I don''t want to be a furry animal! I d-don''t want to turn into a werewolf!" sobbed Beth, and more tearss slipped past her eyes.

    "Oh, trust me, mdy. Thest thing we need is another furry animal apart from my wolves." Calhoun''s words had made Madeline send out a small re for being insensitive about Beth''s situation. His lips twisted almost to a smile before he said, "We''ll try to prevent it from happening. Depending on how fast you heal, we will find out how fast you might turn into a werewolf. It will give us enough time to think about what to do."

    When the wind blew in Calhoun''s direction, he looked in the direction where the wind had blown from, his eyes narrowed and his lips set itself in a thin line.

    The scent in the air was something he hadn''t smelt in a long time. As if the air carried the remembrance of histe mother and he couldn''t help but question why the smell was here.

 Chapter 404 Horns- Part 1

    <h4>404 Horns- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline stepped out of the room once she made sure that Beth was well taken care of, lying in her bed. Beth had been in too much pain, and she had fallen unconscious before they reached the castle. With a soft click, she closed the door behind her and saw two maids who stood outside to attend to Beth. Madeline caught sight of Lucy and Raphael who stood not too far away from the room.

    "How is she?" asked Lucy, who had heard from a maid about what happened, and immediately she had made her way to the guest room where Beth was.

    "She is resting now. It''s good that she''s unconscious," replied Madeline, pressing her lips together.

    "My deepest apologies, my queen for not keeping an eye on her," Raphael bowed his head. He hoped that Beth would be safe inside the carriage. But he would have never guessed that Beth woulde to attract one of the werewolves, that woulde to bite her. He felt guilty for not looking after the girl, not because she was the Queen''s sister, but because she was Elizabeth Harris.

    "It wasn''t your fault, Mr. Sparrow. What happened today was a series of misfortunes which none of us expected it to happen," Madeline didn''t me Raphael because when they had stepped into the vige of Cossington, she had only thought about Jennine. Who knew the demons and werewolves woulde out of the blue to attack the vigers, "If we can find the antidote, there will be nothing to worry about."

    Lucy''s eyebrows furrowed in deep worry, and she said, "Forgive me, my Queen, but as far as I know, no cure for a werewolves bite has been found until now. It is inevitable."

    "My grandmother said the antidote for it exists, but she didn''t tell where to find the antidote," answered Madeline.

    Out of all the lies that her grandmother had told them over the years along with her grandfather, Madeline hoped this little information was true. With James, who had decided on how he was going to live, she had dropped the idea about finding the antidote. But with Beth being bitten, she didn''t have a choice but was forced to find a cure so that Beth would never turn to a beast-like creature.

    "But where will you be able to find it?" questioned Lucy. As easy as it was to tell that there was a cure, every human who had been bit by a werewolf and also vampires who had got bitten, they had been unsessful when it came to getting their hands on the antidote. "I remember a distant uncle of mine who was a human, who got married into my aunt''s family. A person of high status and pompous, who had once gone hunting in the borders of thend of Devon only to be bit by a werewolf. Orders were sent out to bring the antidote because there was a rumour that was spread about it being present in one of the caves thates near the Bellmount mountain."

    Hearing this new piece of information, Madeline''s throat went dry, "Dies?"

    "Lady Lucy is right, my Queen," affirmed Raphael with a heavy heart. "When a werewolf bites a person, it leaves venom behind. Some cope up with it by transforming into werewolves while some don''t survive."

    Lucy continued with the story, "While the rtive of mine who was trying to hold up, men went in search of the so-called antidote, but they returned with nothing but dead bodies of the men, and some skeletons. In the end, the person sumbed to his death, and he passed away. Don''t worry, Lady Madeline, let''s hope that nothing happens to Lady Elizabeth."

    "Yes," whispered Madeline.

    Leaving the front of Beth''s room, Madeline started to walk in the corridors while she thought what to do. When James had turned, she had believed there was nothing worse than it, but now knowing about the transition of the werewolves, Beth could die. Worry continued to gue her mind. Her sister was finallying around to the way she was when they were little. Madeline didn''t want to lose her sister.

    She wondered how things were going in Cossington. After seeing her back to the castle, Calhoun had left to visit Cossington as he wanted to follow the scent that he had noticed earlier, while also wanting to find where Paschar was.

    She continued to walk idly and alone by herself in the quiet parts of the castle, giving room to her thoughts so that she could think of something. She wondered if Paschar could help in fixing Beth''s condition, after all, angels were the helpers of God. Standing in the middle of the corridor, she closed her eyes and held both her hands together, whispering her prayers, hoping Beth would be saved from her current situation.

    Madeline had gone to the vige for her work.

    She shouldn''t have taken Beth along with her, thought Madeline to herself, feeling the sliver of guilt that weighed on her mind, she couldn''t help but me herself for being irresponsible. At the same time, no one knew this was how the day was going to transpire. She didn''t know how things would turn once the High House members would find Beth''s condition. Beth would be taken away from here and treated like a wild beast.

    Unable to stand around doing nothing, Madeline wanted to check how Beth was doing even though it had been only thirty minutes since she left her sister''s room.

    Reaching the front of the room, she saw the maids continued to stand on the opposite side of the door. Madeline was about to turn the knob when she heard something from the inside of the room. It wasn''t voices but crackling sounds that had her frown. Did Beth wake up?

    Turning the knobs quickly, she stepped forward to feel and felt her heart slip from her ribcage on what she saw. If her hand wasn''t holding the doorknob, it would have been trembling now.

    Beth was on the bed just like how Madeline had left her with the nket spread loosely so that it wouldn''t press on Beth''s leg that was wounded. But Beth was not alone, and she hadpany.

    Something stood next to Beth''s bed, something Madeline had never seen or dreamt of before. It wasn''t a person, but a creature that had a stag-like face with antlers. But the problem wasn''t that it was an animal with the stag-like face which had no muscles or skin on it as it was nothing but bones located between the shoulders that belonged to a person''s body.

    Her first guess would have been that a person was wearing a mask and trying to make mischief, but she could see the wall that was behind the creature through the gaps of the boney face.

 Chapter 405 Horns- Part 2

    <h4>405 Horns- Part 2</h4>

    As the creature continued to move its boney mouth, Madeline heard the creaking sound that came from it because of its jaw moving.

    She didn''t know what this creature was, but she had seen a depiction like this in some of the books that her Aunt Mary had stacked in her study room. Her eyes widened when the creature''s hand reached towards Beth''s neck.

    "Please stop!" eximed Madeline, "W-what, do you think you are doing?" she questioned it, while not knowing if the creature could understand even a word which she was saying to it.

    On hearing her sudden loud voice, the two maids who had been standing outside the room quickly hurried inside. The maids looked startled, and they looked back and forth between the Queen and the unconscious girl on the bed with a perplexed expression on their faces.

    "Is everything alright, my Queen?" questioned one of the maid wondering if the Queen was speaking to her sister who was resting because there was no one else around.

    Madeline quickly looked at the maid, "Do you see it there?" she asked before holding her breath. The maids followed the line of sight of Madeline only to see the wall and the vase that was ced on the table.

    "Does the flowers in the vase need water, mdy? I will go and get the water right away!" and the maid was about to leave when Madeline shook her head.

    "You don''t see it?" questioned Madeline as her body tensed further when the creature took a step closer to her sister. The maids, on the other hand, looked confused, not knowing what the Queen was speaking about. Did she need something to be cleaned?

    Realizing the maids were not fooling around and were not able to see what she saw, she raised her hand and waved them to leave.

    Was she dreaming? Madeline questioned herself, but it felt too real. When the maids closed the door, the creature''s hand went near Beth''s neck, and Madeline quickly took a step forward to hear the creature snarl, not liking her proximity near it or her very own sister.

    "Why are you here?" asked Madeline to the creature. Its hand moved closer to Beth, moving its boney fingers around Beth''s neck and then brought the hand back to the front of its chest as if to emphasize it was taking Beth with it. Madeline quickly shook her head, "No," she whispered, "You can''t do it."

    "Step away from her!" she stepped forward, her voice raising loud enough for the things in the room to shake and theb that was on the edge of the table fell on the ground.

    Hearing her loud voice, the creature took a step away from Beth, hissing at her in displeasure. And when Madeline took another step, the creature disappeared from the room. She looked around the room, making sure the creature was nowhere. She didn''t know what it was and what its abilities were.

    Once she was sure that the creature had disappeared, Madeline couldn''t help but doubt that she had been imagining the creature that didn''t exist. Because if it did, how did it disappear?

    Quickly moving towards Beth, Madeline checked Beth''s neck to make sure there were no scratches. She felt relieved, and she wondered if Beth wasfortable right now even though she was fast asleep. When Beth would wake up, she would be greeted by the pain of the werewolf''s bite. Beth was unlucky when it came to wolves. First, it had been Calhoun''s wolf, Madox who had bit into her hand, and now a werewolf had bit into her leg that would decide Beth''s fate.

    Moving towards the foot of the bed where she had earlier ced a pillow under Beth''s injured leg, she went to make the nket right when she saw the blood on the surface of the pillow, and she slowly pulled it away to see the pillow had turned wet because of the wound that had again started to bleed.

    "Maids!" Madeline called the maids who were waiting outside, "Get a new cloth to bandage, and also alcohol along with the needle and thread," she ordered without losing a single second.

    The maid''s eyes widened at the sight of blood. "Now!" demanded Madeline before turning to her sister''s leg and she started to unbandage the cloth that had been wrapped earlier that had soaked in blood.

    When the bandage was removed, a small gasp escaped from Madeline''s lips at the sight of the wound that looked deep and bloody. The wound was still not healed, and her eyebrows furrowed. With the venom of the werewolf now running in Beth''s body, she had hoped that the injury would heal itself. Dropping the idea to wait, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

    The maids arrived with a first aid box and handed it to thedy.

    "Would you want us to bring a doctor, my Queen?" asked one of the two maids.

    "No, that won''t be necessary," said Madeline. She opened the box and pulled the things that she would need.

    There had been a time when she had treated a deer which had been hurt. It was the time when their parents had gone to visit their rtives, leaving her and Beth behind in the house. The deer had been hunted by someone with an arrow that had pierced into one of its hind legs, barely able to walk and had ended up at the back of their house in the middle of the night, which the girls had thought it to be a thief.

    Beth and she had somehow pulled out the arrow before stitching the wound.

    Madeline didn''t want to waste time by waiting for a physician, she took the alcohol and washed the needles and the wound. Bringing a candle that was burning brightly, she held the needle over it so that it could heat up. It had been difficult with the deer, and knowing this was her sister, it was even more challenging.

    She looked at the maids and said, "You can leave the room." Once the maids stepped out, she bent down in front of the wound and blew air, but nothing happened. The wound didn''t get better, but it only turned worse. She could see the discolouration of the skin around the wound, and the venom was spreading like an infection.

    Taking a deep breath, she steadied her hand before bringing the needle towards the wound. She pushed the hot needle along with the thread from the bottom of the wound...

 Chapter 406 Horns- Part 3

    <h4>406 Horns- Part 3</h4>

    "You should clean your hands," Madeline heard Calhoun''s voice, and her head snapped around to see him standing at the door. When he entered the room, she stood up. His eyes fell on Beth''s new bandage, and he stated, "You did a good job with it," he praised her.

    "Will she die?" Madeline asked in a low voice. She knew Calhoun was far more knowledgeable than anyone she hade across in her life.

    "We don''t know, Maddie," came the frank answer from Calhoun that had her close her eyes, "If she doesn''t heal before the sun sets, then it is possible that the venom is not turning her, but killing her."

    "We need to find the cure," she whispered to herself. There was no other way to save Beth. Something hit her mind remembering the conversation she had with Lady Lucy, "Lady Lucy said there are mountains beyond the forest and that is where the cure is expected to be."

    "I believe she also mentioned how most people didn''te out alive, when they had tried to cross the forest. And there has been no proof that the cure for a werewolf''s bite is somewhere in there," responded Calhoun.

    Madeline''s eyes lowered. She didn''t want people to die while she was trying to save her sister''s life. She nced at Beth, who moved in her bed, groaning softly before turning quiet again. Madeline and Calhoun stepped out of the room so that Beth could continue to sleep, "How did things go in Cossington?"

    "Helena and the others arrived at the spot. Luther, Weasley, Reginald no news and Lilith, well, her body was found," said Calhoun, and his thoughts drifted to what had happened in the vige beforeing here.

    ''What in the Hell''s name is going on here?'' demanded Helena by looking at the broken state of the vige and the injured people.

    Dimitri had a deep frown on his forehead as well as on his lips. "How did the werewolves even enter this ce? I thought we had checked for any werewolves in thend before the King''s wedding."

    Helena''s eyes were fierce while they skimmed through her surroundings, and she said, "Get the traces of the werewolves. The scent is still fresh, and if we are quick enough, we will be able to trail the werewolves and their hideout. We don''t want more viges tumbling down. What is the count of casualties, who are dead?"

    Before the magistrate of the vige could answer, Calhoun, interrupted by saying, "Seven."

    "M-my apologies, but there are only six dead people. Four in here and one near the tower bell and the other one outside the church," ryed the magistrate.

    "You will find the seventh person in the well," stated Calhoun before looking back at Helena, who tore her gaze away from the magistrate to say,

    "Where are the rest of the members? Reginald was supposed to be out here helping people, but he has been missing since I arrived. And did someone contact Luther?" Calhoun shrugged his shoulders.

    One of the underling men who worked for the High House came running towards Helena to say, "Mdy! There''s Lady Lilith!" his eyes were wide, and he looked like he was in a shock.

    Helena''s eyes narrowed, "Lilith is supposed to be on her way to Carnivals vige with Weasley."

    The man shook his head, "She''s dead on the ground."

    "What?" asked Helena before everyone made their way around the church. They found Lilith''s head smashed to the ground with blood around her, "What in the fucking hell is going on in here? Check her!" ordered Helena that had the underling man flinch before he pulled the body towards them.

    "Poor thing, what happened to her?" questioned Calhoun as if he felt sorry for Lilith, whose head had been partly opened because of the impact of the statue against her head. He caught sight of Helena who bent down to have a look at Lilith.

    "She doesn''t appear to be the person she was this morning," said Helena, confused as to what happened as she knew that Lilith was a demoness and a vampire. But right now, Lilith looked nothing less to a human. "Take her body to the High House and see what has happened to her. And if she is here, where is Weasley?"

    "I will try to find him." Dimitri bowed, leaving their side while the other man carried Lilith''s body to the High House. Seeing the dead body being taken away, Calhoun couldn''t help but think, how dissecting Lilith''s body would be of no use now, except forpost for nts. He then looked back at Helena.

    Taking the opportunity, Calhoun said, "Don''t tell me I didn''t inform you that something is up in your High House."

    "How did you end up here, my King?" asked Helena, her eyes keenly looked at Calhoun as he had reached the vige sooner than she had.

    Calhoun didn''t break his gaze away from her, and he smiled, "By wings, of course."

    Helena gritted her teeth, "This is no time to be joking. I heard that the Queen was here too. With Reginald. Is she alright?" she asked with a hint of suspicion.

    "Yes, she''s fantastic. She said she was in the church with him, but when the werewolves and the chaos arose, he disappeared," replied Calhoun. "Her sister had minor scratches, but she should be better in no time."

 Chapter 407 Salvete Mortem- Part 1

    <h4>407 Salvete Mortem- Part 1</h4>

    .

    "Do you think Paschar will continue to work in the High House?" questioned Madeline after hearing what Calhoun had told her about what happened in Cossington.

    "I doubt so. With the speed he disappeared without staying a second more around you, I doubt he is willing to continue working for the High House," replied Calhoun, and he took her to the basin before pouring water on her hands. The blood that was on her hands washed out to leave as it fell into the basin, "Did he tell you anything more before he left?"

    "He gave me a book. I haven''t found the time to go through it," answered Madeline.

    She stepped away from the basin and turned to look at Beth. Wiping her hands against her skirt, she pulled out the small book that she had ced in her dress pocket and passed it to him.

    Calhoun took hold of the small ck book, opening it to see words written in there. "This is his handwriting. It has spells that can probably be used to control your ability." He had worked with the man for thest two decades, enough to know that this handwriting belonged to Reginald who was Paschar, "Is everything alright?" he asked, noticing Madeline who had turned quiet with her eyebrows that had pulled close to each other.

    "Earlier I saw something in here. A creature and I am not sure if I was dreaming about it," confessed Madeline as her brown eyes started to take a look around the room before it settled on Calhoun.

    "How did it look?" inquired Calhoun.

    "It had a body of a person, wearing long ck coat that reached until its ankles I think. Stag-like face with antlers, but it was all bones," exined Madeline to him with a hint of worry in her voice, remembering how it had stood next to Beth''s bed.

    Calhoun frowned hearing this, and said, "I think I know what you are speaking about. Let me show you." He took her out of the room, leaving Beth in the care of the maids. They walked through the corridors and reached the gallery room of the castle, before Calhoun started to search the books that had been bound and ced in the cupboards. "If my memory serves right, it should be somewhere here. Found it."

    Calhoun pulled out a book from the lot, flipping the pages before he found the page for Madeline to see. "This is the one," whispered Madeline looking at the creatures drawing, "How did your mother draw all of these? Have you met it before?"

    "Once," replied Calhoun and Madeline''s eyes widened. "It was when my mother''s time was near. The creature had arrived during the time when she was in the death bed. I believe my mother has met it too, which is why she drew it down in here. She enjoyed drawing, and she drew everything that probably belonged to the ce she hade from."

    "She called it Salvete Mortem," said Calhoun, remembering thest few days of his mother who was bedridden and didn''t step out of her bed. Not to eat, drink, not to go anywhere buty there almost lifeless as the life in her reduced. He had been shocked when he had seen the creature, something he didn''t know existed. "Bringer of death whoes to the realm of the living to take the person away."

    Madeline felt that today, the bad news kept increasing one after another, "What else did she say?"

    "The Salvete Mortem, is nothing less to Whisperers, preparing the person to be ready so that the soul can either go to heaven or hell. She said it was her time to leave and she would need to rest soon," Calhoun''s gaze had turned cold once again.

    "Her body was rapidly deteriorating, and there was nothing that could be done to help her. Now I think about it...it must be the cursed chain that had affected her, causing her to fall sick. I realized there was no way her health could be fixed, and her body along with her soul turned frail��"

    Madeline knew the next part where he had killed his mother, and then preserved his mother in the cemetery. But if the Salvete Mortem was here, did it mean Beth was going to die, and it had started to prepare to take her away?

    "Is there no way to prevent it from happening?" asked Madeline.

    "Stopping death is not easy. It is like asking time to stop, but you know that even if you have stopped it, the time still continues." With the physician of the vige who had been unsympathetic to help his mother, Calhoun had gone to other towns and viges, bringing other physicians to take a look at his mother, but no one could tell what was going on with his mother. Seeing how worried Madeline turned, he ced his hand on her shoulder tofort her.

    "I don''t want her to die, Calhoun," she whispered.

    "I know," he replied, but if death was hanging near Beth, there was little to nothing anyone could do from preventing her death.

    Madeline looked back at the creature drawn by his mother, remembering the gesture of death of how it said it was going to take Beth away. Beth was breathing, but the infection she recieved from the bite of the venom, it was spreading.

    She then asked, "Do you remember which mountain your mother said where your grandfather lives?"

    "Bellmount," and on Calhoun''s answer, Madeline couldn''t help but look at him with hope.

    "Lady Lucy said that she heard about the cure being there around the same mountains. Do you think your grandfather will know about it." Calhoun''s lips were set in a thin line, and he saw the desperation in Madeline''s eyes.

    Madeline knew that if Calhoun had not made any attempt to contact his grandfather, it meant he wasn''t interested in the reunion and didn''t care about his grandfather, and the same went the other way round. "If he isn''t hibernating anymore, we can find answers." At his words, hope-filled her eyes and Madeline felt grateful.

    "Thank you, Calhoun," and she felt his hand caress her cheeks.

    "Anything for you, my dear wife," he had hoped for a much more peaceful time with her, but her sister had gone ahead and had got herself bitten by the werewolf. Calhoun couldn''t help but think that Beth had the worst luck. Because with all the people in the vige, she was one of the two people who had got bit by the werewolf and was alive.

    "There''s also something that I wanted to ask you," said Madeline to have Calhoun nod at her for her to go on. "When the creature appeared in the room, the maids couldn''t see it. Do you know why it might be so?"

    Calhoun''s eyes carefully looked at Madeline''s brown eyes. "My mother said it was often seen by people who were about to die." And her heart slipped at this information. "But after all these years, I am still alive. Don''t take it into consideration."

 Chapter 408 Salvete Mortem- Part 2

    <h4>408 Salvete Mortem- Part 2</h4>

    She pulled the chair near to Beth''s bed, sitting down and she started to read the book given by Paschar. Calling him father was strange, thought Madeline to herself. She remembered the white wings that spread behind his back. They weren''t huge like Calhoun''s, and it appeared to be of average size.

    Madeline wondered if Paschar''s abilities had been taken away or if he was careful when it came to using them. Because she knew he could kill Lilith, but he didn''t. Instead, he had punished her by turning her to a human, while Calhoun had given the final touch to her life by pushing her down from the tower.

    "Try pulling the energy from your stomach, moving it towards the arms and then bringing it to your fingers," murmured Madeline, reading the words written in there. "To receive and channel other energy, pull it from the surrounding. The air is one of the medium through which the energy will be transmitted. Take it inside your body as if you are breathing, and let the energy circte through your body."

    Madeline decided to get up and stay away from Beth because she didn''t want to take away her sister''s life by mistake. Pushing the patio''s door, she stepped outside. She looked around to see that the balcony was a closed one that showed other patios of the guest rooms��snowkes had started to fall one after another, and when she saw one twirl down, she stretched her hands to catch it.

    Because of the temperature of the body, the snowke had started to melt, and she did what was written in the book��breathing life back to the melting snowke to turn it crisp into it''s original state before it had fallen in her hand. She blew air to see the snowke continue its journey.

    As she tried to control her emotions in her mind, she moved her hand in a circle above her head, the snow near her moved quicker in motion, almost like a hurricane and she controlled it with her hand.

    When Madeline''s concentration averted to what happened back in Cossington, she lost her control on the snowkes. Suddenly out of nowhere, the snow she had been controlling turned nothing less to sharp des of a knife. One of them almost pierced her open hand if she hadn''t pulled her hand away in time. She felt her hitch because the sharp des fell straight down on the floor of the patio, where the tips broke.

    How in God''s name did the snow turn into weapons? She heard the door knock, and Madeline quickly pushed the broken ice to the side.

    Madeline saw that it was Lady Monique who had entered Beth''s room. "I hope I am not disturbing," said thedy.

    The woman walked forward, moving to the foot of the bed and taking a look at her sister.

    "She looks paler than the time I saw her in the morning today,"mented Monique, her red eyes fell on the wet cloth that Madeline had ced on Beth''s forehead. Thedy said, "And the room reeks of blood. It would be better to shift her to another room and clean this ce. Thest thing you will need is one of the vampiresing to sniff her and look at her as a piece of meal."

    Madeline had taken a mental note of it earlier, and she said, "I didn''t want to wake her up."

    "That''s understandable," said Monique in the same soft tone without raising it, "A werewolf''s bite is always unbearable because of its thick teeth and venom. How are you holding yourself, mdy? How about we two step into the patio, so that we can speak more freely."

    Madeline, who was staring at Monique, nodded her head, and they stepped outside where she had been earlier. Unlike Lady Rosamund, who often liked to sit down and have tea while belittling and mocking people subtly, Madeline noticed how Lady Monique was differentpared to the Wilmot''s. The vampiress had a serious-looking face, and one side of her face was covered with her hair with her nose and eyes sharp.

    And the way she had noticed, Calhoun had a better rtionship with this rtive of his than anyone of his other rtives.

    "I am okay," Madeline responded to the question that was asked and Monique offered her a smile.

    "You should be careful about what you do, where you do, mdy. It is not just ears that you need to be careful about but also the eyes." On Monique''s words, Madeline turned slightly weary on what the woman was speaking about. She stared at the woman, waiting for her to speak more, "I heard you were ying with the snowkes."

    Madeline''s body turned rigid, and she bit the inside of her cheek. Heard? Did someone tell thedy about it? It had been only a few minutes since she had tried to control it. And she had thought it was a closed space where no one woulde to witness what she was doing.

    "Do not worry, Lady Madeline. I wish no harm to befall on you or on the King. Therefore, I will keep it as a secret. I believe you have alreadye across people who don''t know when to keep their mouth close. It is why sometimes we have to silence them," said Monique, looking across some of the patios of the rooms that was built facing the inside of the castle with a gap in the middle that had a garden built at below.

    Madeline didn''t need to ask what the silence here meant. Was Monique not surprised by what she heard by the servant and she believed it?

    "I knew you were different from the moment Calhoun sent the wedding invitation to me. I doubt he would find anyone lower than his calibre to be suitable for him," said Monique and Madeline tried to dissect and understand the meaning of the words uttered by the woman.

    "You know about him," said Madeline and the woman turned to look into her brown eyes.

    "I have for a long while now," there was a faint smile on Monique''s lips. "I was surprised at first, and even though I never asked to clear my questions, nor go to find about it, I was astonished to see him with ck wings. As you know, it is not usual for us to see people with wings except for birds. And one like that, it is obvious to tell where hees from or what he is."

    "Does Calhoun know that you know?" questioned Madeline, and the woman smiled.

    "I wonder about that," said the woman, catching one of the snowkes and looking at it.

    "Did you know his mother?" Madeline saw Monique nod her head, the smile dying down from her face while a sigh escaped her lips.

    "Not too closely like the others, but in the past, I have met her a couple of times. I remember the time when my half-brother brought her to the castle. He looked like a love-struck fool who could barely get his eyes off of her," said Monique and for a moment she paused before continuing, "I thought it was wonderful that he had fallen in love. That he would be differentpared to my father, but I was wrong."

    "Apologies beforehand, but may I ask how you were allowed to live under your father''s protection?" questioned Madeline. It was because Calhoun''s mother was kicked out of the castle, while Lady Monique''s mother had got a mansion to live in, which wasn''t too far away from the castle.

 Chapter 409 Salvete Mortem- Part 3

    <h4>409 Salvete Mortem- Part 3</h4>

    That meant that it was because Lady Constance had no actual background, which was why the King or his family had not bothered to give the woman a house or support, and had instead thrown her out of the castle after using her.

    "I wasn''t there when it happened. When the King''s mother was discarded out of the castle, to never live in the castle again, nor allowed to see the King as he was going to get married to his new wife. I didn''t like her, not one bit. I sometimes hope that my brother had changed his mind back then." Lady Monique paused again as if she was recollecting old memories. "But back then things were different. It would be good to say that my father''s wife controlled the castle and thend."

    "I could tell,"mented Madeline.

    Monique nodded her head, "Even though most of us know the truth about what happens in the castle, we have closed our lips from speaking about it. A lot of things often look like some of us don''t know, but we do. I don''t know what happened to Constance, but I am aware they weren''t any good things. Calhoun has never uttered a single word about it, and I don''t expect him to speak either. Rumours oftene to fall on the ears."

    "Do you know how Lady Constance'' rtionship was with everyone when she was living in the castle?" asked Madeline.

    "I believe it was good until my half-brother was happy with her. Maybe not entirely because you know how people are. Some were sure that she would turn to the Queen, but my father''s wife and half-sister had different ns. Constance had no background. The first time I met her, I thought it was rather strange that she had no family nor did we know where she came from. They had sent people to find more about her, but there was nothing. It waspletely clean."

    Monique continued to say, "Constance was a beautiful person. A little too naive to the people in the castle, as she believed them. You would have loved her. She was very kind and happy when I first saw her." There was a faint smile that appeared on the vampiress'' face which disappeared. "We all wish for things to be different, but then things wouldn''t be the way it is now if it didn''t happen."

    Madeline couldn''t agree more to the vampiress'' words. As unfortunate as things had turned out to be, the present was the oue of the past. Probably there wouldn''t be Lucy, and she and Calhoun would have never met. Maybe she would have started a life with James, but she wondered how that would go.

    "And I am d that you are married to him," acknowledged the vampiress, "I have ordered my men to go and find the cure if one exists."

    Madeline had a question on her mind, and considering how Monique knew Constance, she decided to ask, "Was the previous''s Queen mother generous? Your father''s wife when it came to giving gifts?"

    Monique raised her eyebrows, "I wouldn''t call her to be generous. The woman did things for her selfish reasons. But why do you ask?"

    "I was curious," said Madeline, "Calhoun had mentioned about a chain that was given to his mother which she preserved until her very end."

    The vampiress gave a deep thought and then as if in realization, said, "It was given by Rose."

    "Rose?" asked Madeline.

    "Rosamund. I remember her mentioning how generous she was when it came to giving Constance the gift. Calhoun''s mother was wearing it when I met her," exined Monique.

    Was Rosamund Wilmot the one to give the cursed chain? Asked Madeline, "Was it a family heirloom?"

    The older woman shook her head, "It wasn''t. Rosamund said she had bought it, especially for Constance. But what I don''t understand is, how Rosamund never came to contact or look out for Constance after the human was thrown out. One word from the King, and everything changed."

    Before Madeline could say anything to the vampiress, she felt a familiar pain erupt in her body. She caught hold of the railings of the patio, but that only ended upbusting under her hand''s pressure and leave dust behind. Monique''s eyes widened.

    "Are you alright?" asked Monique worried.

    Madeline closed her eyes in pain, and her hands turned to fists, refusing to touch anything or to be touched, "Please excuse me!" she spoke in a hurried tone to Monique, leaving Beth''s room to make her way to her room. Doubting she would be able to make it to her room, she entered the closest empty room and closed the door shut. Simultaneously, the pain on her back turned intense, and she had tears in her eyes.

    Her knees gave out, and she fell on the ground. Her palms pressed against the floor, her nails tried to dig into the marble floor.

    "AH!" she cried, biting her lips.

    "Maddie!" Calhoun had arrived, and he saw Madeline sitting on the floor. He rushed to her side to see her back staining with blood again. His jaw ticked, and his hands quickly tore the back of her dress to see the wound appear again on her back.

    "Come here, sweet," he spoke to her in the gentlest voice possible, pulling her aching body in his arms to feel her hands dig into his back. It was the mostfort he could offer her as this was something she would have to live through right now.

    Blood dripped down from her back and he then caught sight of something surfacing from her back. Using his hand, he touched the lone feather that was covered in blood.

    .

 Chapter 410 Carry you forever- Part 1

    <h4>410 Carry you forever- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Calhoun stared at the lone feather that was drenched in blood. He tried to tug it out from Madeline''s back, but it appeared as if the feather was stuck in her back, creating a slight resistance. Because of the bond that they shared, he could tell that she was still in pain by the way her hands continued to grip his back with her nails digging into his skin.

    "I told you not to test your powers when I am not around you," whispered Calhoun. One hand of his had touched the lone feather, and the other was ced on Madeline''s lower back to keep her in his arms. "You would have been in so much pain, and I would have felt guilty for not being beside you. To help you."

    "It hurts," replied Madeline, her hands trembled. She felt as if the bones on her back were shifting and changing in their structure.

    Calhoun gathered her more closer to him. "I know it''s painful. It will feel worse than anything you have ever experienced before. I felt it too when my wings wereing out. Only that, first came the markings on my body and then came the wings. Your wings areing out, Maddie. Try healing yourself, darling," he said next to her ear.

    Amid the pain that she felt, Madeline pulled away from him with difficulty, and she looked into Calhoun''s eyes, "Wings?"

    As he smiled, he controlled a cough that erupted from his throat that had her on alert. Her already furrowed eyebrows deepened, and she dropped her hand down from his shoulders, while her hands turned to fists.

    "You''re hurting, the same way as I am," she said, ready to pull herself away from his arms, but Calhoun didn''t let her go. Her heart broke seeing how he held her despite him being in pain because of her, "Let go," she whispered, her eyes filling up with tears.

    "Never," answered Calhoun, "I promised to take care of you."

    "Not at the expense of you getting hurt," said Madeline, noticing how he clenched his jaws. She was scared to touch him with her hands. Even though Paschar had given her the book that could help her with certain things, she realized to control her ability, it was something she would have to do it herself. "What happened to sharing things?" Her body started to rx, but her lips were set in a thin line. Calhoun noticed how her nose had turned slightly red.

    One side of his lips pulled up and he said, "Isn''t that what we are doing?"

    Madeline shook her head, "My presence is hurting you-"

    "But not anymore," Calhoun interrupted her, "I am fine." But Madeline knew that he was good when it came to hiding certain things.

    "Of course, my dear," said Calhoun, trying to distract her. When her hands pressed against his shoulders, he felt pain strike in his chest. But he didn''t let it show on his face and hisposure stayed the same, "By keeping you near, I might help in taking away the pain that you feel."

    Madeline couldn''t concentrate on what he was saying because she felt every prick and push on her skin as if it was trying to stretch the wound, "Is this how painful it''s going to be when we will have babies?"

    Calhoun didn''t care about the pain he felt, not when he could hear what Madeline just said now. In her presence, everything else disappeared around him, and it was only Madeline that mattered.

    "I think that''s how you might feel," he brought his own hand away from her back to brush the back of his fingers against her cheek, "Giving life is not as easy as it is when you take it away. I cannot wait to have our children, Madeline. To have our own family," he whispered to her, his forehead touching hers.

    Madeline tried to breathe, huffing for air as she forgot to breathe because of the pain. When Calhoun pulled his head away from her, she went to ce her forehead on his shoulder, letting it rest while leaning on him for support.

    "What else did you think about?" questioned Madeline, trying to divert her mind, while waiting for the pain to pass away like the previous times.

    "To love you from night to dawn, and from dawn to dusk. To go to nearby viges, and spend time together. There has been a mention about a gathering that was proposed before the night of the Hallow," said Calhoun, tracing circles with his hand in the hopes to soothe her. "It was Javier''s idea. Saying people want to build something called a theatre that can be used for people''s entertainment. Music, dance, y. Also, we could have more time for ourselves with our children, teaching them things about the world."

    While Madeline was gasping for air, Calhoun caught sight of two more feathers that started to sprout from her back. Feathers started to emerge from both sides of her back, surfacing out which were drenched in blood, turning the white feathers red.

    Madeline was born from the family of fallen angels, but in truth, her soul, her very essence came from the angel named Paschar who was still an angel and part of Heaven. She was called as the Dark Angel who was not supposed to exist, because of the powers which she held within her that was still growing. Calhoun could tell that there were people out there who were not only thirsty to have her soul, but at the same time they were equally scared of what she could do.

    Her body flinched and clenched while he saw the feathers grow out of her back, and they continued until her wings werepletely out. There were some feathers that were white, turning abination of red and white. They were a beautiful pair of wings which were of decent size.

    "You did well, Maddie," Calhoun kissed her head.

    Madeline pulled herself to turn and have a glimpse of the wings that had appeared. The pain in her body had disappeared. But before she could continue to look at it in awe, her wings caught fire and in less than two seconds, they burned in thin air as if they didn''t exist anymore. She felt the wounds on her back had started to heal itself and the pain had disappeared.

    "Your wings must be remembering what happened when they werest burnt down," exined Calhoun, "Some things have their own memories, and they relive by themselves. Give it a day so that they rest."

    Did that mean she had wings now like Calhoun?

    "I thought only angels have wings," whispered Madeline, her words holding a tone of confusion and excitement in it.

    "Paschar''s lover, your mother, she concieved you when the angel was still a heavenly being and he hadn''t turned to a mortal. His powers passed to you, Maddie. Which means," said Calhoun, "You are part of the Heaven too."

 Chapter 411 Carry you forever- Part 2

    <h4>411 Carry you forever- Part 2</h4>

    "Does it mean I cannot live here anymore?" asked Madeline.

    "Why not?" Calhoun questioned back, "You are a dark angel, one where blood is written. I don''t think Heaven ever told a dark angel to join them as the angels. At the same time, you aren''t a fallen angel. If you ask me, I would say you get to choose what you do. A free soul that doesn''t have to follow the rules."

    "Like you��" whispered Madeline, and Calhoun offered her a smile.

    "I guess you could tell that."

    Madeline didn''t forget how Calhoun''s wings were different from the demoness Lilith, who had bat-like wings, but there was some simrity when it came to Paschar as his wings were made of feathers too, only that Calhoun''s wings were ck while Paschar''s was white.

    "What if you are an angel, too?" asked Madeline.

    "Then I might be the angel of death, better than the Svete Mortem," he tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, "I will be anything you want me to be, Madeline. I hope that you will stay here, forever with me, and nowhere else."

    "I wish to be nowhere else, but here," she whispered, and Calhoun leaned closer to her.

    "I am so d that you want to be here," Calhoun''s hand moved to hold the side of her neck, bringing her near to him before he captured her lips with his own lips. Her lips were soft and sweet, supple enough to make him want to gnaw on it.

    Her body didn''t feel like it was in a defensive mode anymore, and she opened her hands to ce her palms on his shoulders, before wounding her hands around his neck. Her fingers yed with the ends of his hair that were on the nape of his neck. Her lips were fervent on his, seeking forfort as she had grownfortable with it.

    Opening her mouth, she weed his caress and feelings, something she had been allowing, and now that the pain had left her body and her back had somehow healed itself as she couldn''t feel it burning anymore, she moved closer to him for reassurance. And Calhoun gave her that. She stirred his emotions as no one had ever done to him. He pulled away, whispering to her,

    "Let''s clean you up," and Madeline looked nothing less to a small kitten that had been put outside the house on a rainy night.

    Calhoun tried hard to resist himself from torturing her in here, but he hade to learn to cherish her and he now controlled himself. He pulled out the coat that he was wearing to drape it around Madeline''s shoulders. Madeline could feel her lips thrum as Calhoun had only gnawed on it a few seconds ago.

    "Does the scent of my blood bother you?" Madeline asked Calhoun, her brown eyes peering into his red eyes that had turned dark with desire.

    "I don''t think, bother is the right word to be used here." As they both had stood up, Calhoun bent down to pick Madeline up in his arms.

    "I can walk!" she spoke rmed. It was one thing to be in the bedroom and to be carried, and another when they were outside, walking down the corridors where people woulde to witness them.

    "I know, but I want to carry you," came Calhoun''s straightforward answer, and unabashed, he walked towards the doors that opened automatically without being touched, and he stepped out of the room.

    Her cheeks turned red, and she tried not to look at anyone who they came across. The servants were polite enough to not look at them, not because they weren''t interested in seeing the King carrying his Queen from one corridor to another, but because they were ordered to not look in the eye of the King or the Queen.

    "The right word to your question is, your blood allures me. When I first took in your scent closely when we shared our dance, I won''t lie, it made my hand clench. Not out of anger," stated Calhoun and Madeline who had circled her hands around his neck for support, looked at him. "Like how you want to possess something so innocent and cute," his eyes met hers.

    It had been a while since Calhoun had drank her blood. She had been sure that he would take her blood on their wedding night, but he didn''t. She wondered how he was holding up, "Are you killing innocent bunnies?"

    "The bunnies were born to feed my thirst," his answer wasn''t direct, but Madeline received her answer. Though Calhoun had not spat out the blood that had risen in his throat, not letting her know how much she was affecting him internally. She knew he needed blood topensate for the loss of blood, and he was relying on the rabbits. "I enjoy your worried face the most, but only when it is for me," he said, a little smugness could be heard in his words and could be seen on his face.

    "I sometimes worry that you don''t take things seriously when ites to you, and are too lenient about my presence. Don''t die on me, Calhoun," said Madeline, her eyes continuing to look at him.

    Calhoun knew this was her way of telling not to leave her alone.

    "I promise not to," he said, continuing to walk through the corridors that belonged to the King''s quarters. When they reached the room, he finally ced her down near the dressing table before going back to the door and closing the door shut.

    Madeline removed Calhoun''s coat from her shoulders, turning her back at the mirror to see the amount of blood she had lost as her dress was stained red. She still couldn''t believe that she had got to witness her wings before they had disappeared. She wondered what that actually meant, to have wings like the angels.

    She then stood straight, facing the mirror and saw Calhoun return toe and stand behind her. Instead of using his ability to turn her dress to ck feathers and make them go poof in the air, he stepped closer to her. He ced one hand of his at the top of her back neckline, and the other held on to the metal piece before he pull it downwards.

    In Madeline''s head, this was more sensual than the disappearing of her dress. Through the reflection of the mirror, she saw Calhoun''s eyes meet hers.

 Chapter 412 Carry you forever- Part 3

    <h4>412 Carry you forever- Part 3</h4>

    .

    His eyes were on hers, looking at her through the mirror as he brought his hands to push her dress to the side from behind before moving up to her shoulders to push the dress down. The candles burned brightly, and the sky outside had turned dark as the time of evening was passing by to bring in the night.

    Calhoun didn''t stop his hands there. Her dress that was around her slender waist, he used both his hands to push it further down for her dress to pool at her feet.

    She questioned herself, wheather Calhoun was going to enter the bath with his clothes on. It was because she had seen it in the past, and as the thought crossed her mind, she saw him unbutton his shirt, one by one where she could only see his hand movements until he discarded the shirt on the ground.

    Deciding to make her way towards the bath, Madeline turned in its direction, ready to take a step forward, when she felt Calhoun''s hande to settle below her breasts and it slid down towards her stomach. The little action left butterflies in her stomach, and she turned her eyes to meet his.

    "Where are you going?" came his question, and Madeline parted her lips to answer and felt ticklish by his hand.

    "To bath?" Calhoun had told her about cleaning her, so wasn''t that the most obvious thing to do?

    A slow, yet devious smile spread on his lips, and he said, "Come, I have other ns." His hand reached out for hers, and he tugged her towards the bed. "Lay down on your stomach." The wound had healed. Therefore, Madeline didn''t know what Calhoun had on his mind. "Wait," he said. His hand reached out for her hair, pulling the pins one after another and he let it down, allowing it to settle over her shoulders.

    While Madeline shyly got on the bed, lying down, she saw Calhoun made his way towards the patio of his room, and he returned in seconds.

    With her head facing towards the dressing table, she wondered why he had stepped out. She gasped when she felt something cold ced on her back, where she had felt pain earlier.

    Calhoun, who had ced ice on her back, saw goosebumps appear on Madeline''s skin. In order to not let her skin turn numb, he moved the piece of ice on her skin that he had made on his way back to the bed. As the ice started to melt, he got on the bed.

    "Cold," she whispered.

    "How about now?" asked Calhoun, and right at the end of his words, Madeline felt his lips trace the water that had formed because of the melting of the ice on her skin.

    His lips were warm, heating her skin, and the ice quickly started to melt, leaving more drops of water slide down her body that was mingled with blood that hade out from her wounds.

    Madeline felt his lips move up to the bones of her back until he pressed his lips on the top of her shoulder. He noticed her eyes closed. His hands came to settle on both sides of her waist, circling her soft skin with his thumbs.

    She turned her head, opening her eyes to meet his. She leaned forward to meet Calhoun for a kiss that started tender and sweet before the pressure of his lips turned more, and she felt her toes curl further as he took her lips, tasting them while his fang bit into her bottom lip to draw out blood.

    A moan bubbled up from her throat, when one hand of Calhoun, that was on her waist moved in inward direction and beneath her, moving it further down between her legs and she gasped. From her back arching with her front, pressing the surface of the bed, her body now arched the other way when his fingers brushed her wet folds.

    She sucked in a breath, wetting her lips and gulping down the feeling of his hand that had intimately slid down without her expectation as she had believed he would start to tease her from the top before going to the bottom.

    His index and middle finger pushed in and out, slow and steady while his thumb circled her nub. As seconds passed, Calhoun could hear Madeline pant in need and her body started to tremble in the wake of passion in her.

    A loud moan escaped Madeline''s lips, and her face turned red that led her to bite the pillow near her. Noticing this, Calhoun said, "Don''t hide it." And when she didn''t listen, he moved his fingers in a e-hither'' motion that elicited a moan louder than the previous one.

    "T-that''s enough," she whispered, not realizing her bottom half hade to elevate itself that gave easier ess to Calhoun.

    "Hmm," came the questionable response from Calhoun, "Did you mean to slow down?" he asked, and Madeline''s eyes that were closed flew open.

    "I didn''t say that," she hurried the words out of her mouth. The previous words that hade to pass out of her lips, they meant nothing, and she knew Calhoun knew it. Yet, he was went as far as to torture her now by slowly pulling his fingers out before pushing it in.

    "What did you want to say then?" she heard him chuckle at the end of his words, behind her, like he had switched back to his sadistic self, wanting to y with her. "Was it fast?" he questioned her, before he started to move his fingers quickly in and out that almost drove her wild with need. Madeline came close, so close to falling off the edge and flying in ecstasy, but Calhoun had stopped moving his fingers before she could find her release.

    When Madeline felt him stop, Calhoun started to pleasure again to finally pull them away. He put his arm around her waist to bring her to him in such a way that her back pressed on the front of his body while she stood on her knees. He kissed between her neck and her shoulders. His nose trailed from behind her ear to the length of her neck, and Madeline sighed.

    "You''re teasing me again," Madeline breathed the words while Calhoun bit her ear to see her wince, not the kind of pain which she had experienced in her back earlier, but the kind that made her want to press her legs further together.

    "My apologies," his lips pressed on her skin, kissing her, "I wasn''t aware of it."

    Lies! Calhoun knew what exactly he was doing to her. He then said, "Let me help," licking the side of her neck, he left it cold for a moment before he sank his fangs into her neck.

 Chapter 413 Foes- Part 1

    <h4>413 Foes- Part 1</h4>

    Having been bit a couple of times in the past, Madeline had got used to his fangs. The slight prick she felt was reced by his tongue and lips that soothed her skin. Calhoun let her lean against him for support as he continued to hold her. When both his hands unwrapped her, he traced the curves of her body by his hands, running them against her tantalizing skin and leaving no ce untouched.

    Even though it had just turned dark, and they were yet to have dinner with the guests, Madeline didn''t feel like leaving the room right now. The ache in her heart increased and in her body, waiting for him and unconsciously, her lower body pressed itself against him to release the tension that she felt right now. It was like a spark of fire that had been blown, and the fire now had been set aze that only Calhoun could calm it.

    Madeline turned her body, wanting to face him and her eyes looked into his red eyes that looked almost ck and thick with desire.

    "You''re beautiful," said Calhoun, leaning towards her he captured her lips again and again until she felt her lips turn numb. The way he looked at her, Madeline doubted there was anyone who could look at her that way. His emotions were always transparent, and she had started to see the gentleness and love that overflowed in his eyes.

    Pulling back from her lips, he kissed both sides of her cheeks before pressing his lips against her forehead. There was so much tenderness in his touch that the little specks of her past feelings towards him melted down like the snow under the hot sun. It was true when people said love and hate had a very thin line between them. A person coulde to love the person who they had disliked, and the other way around was possible too.

    Calhoun''s handsome face was in front of her, and Madeline couldn''t resist but raise her hand to touch him from the top of his head to the side of his face. Her hands continued to trace down from his jaw to the length of his broad shoulders. His features were nothing less to a devil, especially his eyes and the way he looked at her, which held something so sinful and dark. It daunted her, but at the same time, it intrigued her.

    Now that they were in the bedroom, the gentleness his appearance had carried earlier when her back was bleeding, was gone. The look in his eyes was enough to let her know that he could barely wait to devour her in every possible sense.

    With her hands that were busy fluffing and ying with his thick locks, Calhoun''s own hands that were settled on the sides of her waist, moved up before moving back down, feeling the curve of her bottom. Madeline''s heart hitched when he pressed her against him, squeezing her bottoms and her hold on his hair loosened. Her eyes widened and she turned flustered.

    She looked up, meeting his eyes and Calhoun stared at her expressions on her face. He palmed one side of her bottom, feeling it fill in his hand and when he squeezed it again a gasp escaped from her lips.

    One of his hands then moved up, running the tips of his fingers against the middle of her back to feel the length of her body. The hand trailed up further until it got tangled in her hair and he tugged her head back, leaving her neck bare for him. It was hard to stop with just two sips from someone so delicious, and Calhoun could feel his fangs ache in need to sink in again.

    But instead of doing it, he ran his nose against the column of her neck, taking in the rosy scent that came from her. It wasn''t an overbearing smell, but something sweet and tasteful. So rich, that Calhoun pressed his nose andter his lips on her exposed neck. He nipped her skin, only to be rewarded with a soft cry that escaped from her lips.

    "So sweet," his voice reverberated against her skin, and he lowered his head, kissing her shoulder des and then her chest. Arching her body backwards, while supporting her with his hands so that she wouldn''t lose bnce and fall down on the bed.

    His lips found the swell of her breasts, kissing them while leaving bite marks on her skin. It was a mixture of pain and pleasure that quickly had her humming when his coarse tonguepped against her sensitive skin. His mouth soon covered her nipples that had been aroused by his touch. She felt her body quake, trembling in his arms and it took her all to keep her body still so that she wouldn''t end up falling on the bed out of bnce, which she doubted would happen because of Calhoun''s strong arms around her.

    Madeline''s lips parted, and she threw her head back, her eyes rolling as she swam in the sea of pleasure. She could feel her growing wetness, and she knew Calhoun was aware of it too. It was because every time he tugged and sucked on her hard pebbles, moans escaped her lips.

 Chapter 414 Foes- Part 2

    <h4>414 Foes- Part 2</h4>

    Madeline wasing down from the feelings that she felt when she heard Calhoun''s trouser rustle, and she heard the sound of the zipper go down. She was slowlyid on the bed again, this time to have her face him so that he could look at her.

    He leaned forward, kissing her again, and at the same time, he pushed himself inside her before moving his hips back and forth. Every push had Madeline gasp, her voice turning louder as she called out his name. Unable to hold back, her body shuddered with every orgasm that broke through her body, but Calhoun was not done with her.

    Calhoun moved along with her, the bed creaked because of their movements, and he then pulled her up with him, to have her sit on hisp, while they were still connected. Madeline felt her body stretch, while she was filled by him.

    Madeline ced her hand on Calhoun''s shoulders, staring into his eyes that was nothing less to hell, but she knew it didn''t matter. She had learned to care for him, worry about him and more importantly, love him with her heart and not out of force. Her''s was a love story that wasn''t often heard, where things were different in the beginning, but things had slowly fallen in its own ce.

    The most fascinating thing she had witnessed was the time when she had first met Calhoun in the past and in the alley. Leaning towards him, Madeline angeled her face to the side before kissing Calhoun, something she had started to do voluntarily.

    Noticing Madeline, who was too shy to move, Calhoun was the one to start thrusting his hips up before she started to move along with him to meet his movements. She got to see the pleasure fill Calhoun''s expression. He had a smouldering look in his eyes as he stared at her with his own lips parted.

    Calhoun supported Madeline''s movements by holding her hips, helping her to regte her movements and making sure she didn''t turn exhausted because of her hip movements. When she was close to her climax, Madeline held on to Calhoun where her hands had circled his neck, and he had buried his head in her bosom.

    A loud whimper escaped her lips when Calhoun''s manhood hit her pleasure spot before she cried having her orgasm and Calhoun soon followed her by releasing himself in her. With her body spent, Madeline''s body turned ck, and she dropped forward.

    She panted for air, her chest moving back and forth while her limbs were wrapped around Calhoun and his hands holding her. Her heart felt like it was going to explode in her chest, and Madeline felt Calhoun nuzzle his nose between the crook of her neck.

    Before their wedding, Madeline had made sure to take her bath before Calhoun woke up or after he left the room.

    Calhoun ced her in the tub, turning the faucet for the water to start running.

    "Are you not getting in?" asked Madeline, and Calhoun''s lips twisted into his usual smile.

    "I am. I wouldn''t want you feeling lonely without me," he said to her before getting behind her and taking a seat. As the water continued to fill the tub, Madeline saw Calhoun dip his hand to catch some water in his hand before pouring it down on her shoulder.

    Madeline then turned her face, looking behind to see him tilt his head. "Is something the matter, my love?" he questioned, a small frown appearing on his forehead.

    Had sitting on hisp earlier been too much for her to take? Calhoun asked himself in slight worry. Thest thing he needed was for her to feel ufortable with him. They had long passed the time where she closed her mind and heart to him. He didn''t want to go back to the way things were before as he doubted he would be able to handle it.

    In the past, it didn''t matter to Calhoun, how he acquired her heart. For someone, who had seen nothing but the unfairness of the world, his heart had turned colder than the ice, believing this was how the world worked and it was to be seized by force. But now as he had a taste of how it felt to have someone''s heart open up to him, something he had unknowingly wanted from Madeline, he didn''t want to let it go. He couldn''t let it go.

    He stared into her brown eyes that were still swirling in pleasure which they had shared a moment ago.

    "I didn''t get to do anything with you...to please you," her cheeks turned brighter at the words of her even though they had done more than that. The fierce-looking eyes softened, and Calhoun pecked her lips.

    He smiled, "Not everything has to be a give and take my sweet rose," said Calhoun, scooping water from the tub to pour it again on her shoulders over and over again until her shoulders werepletely wet. He turned the faucet that was running to stop the water. "Yours and my time shouldn''t work like that, like you are bound to do it as that would only turn things to be mechanical. There''s a whole lot of time waiting ahead of us. You can take your time, and there is no rush. I enjoy pleasing you as much as I enjoy being pleased by you."

 Chapter 415 Foes- Part 3

    <h4>415 Foes- Part 3</h4>

    She saw Calhoun wearing his shirt, and she stepped forward, in front of him and ced her hand on his.

    "Let me do it," she said in a soft voice and his hand fell to his sides. "In the past, before things changed, I always wanted to do things for my husband."

    "And what is that?" he questioned. With her eyes on the button, Madeline''s hands started to button his shirt from the middle.

    "I knew I would not end up marrying a Duke or a man who belonged to the high status. My dreams were simple, Cal," said Madeline.

    "Why did you think that? You are more beautiful than your sister Elizabeth," stated Calhoun, "To tell you the truth, I was quite d when I heard that you were unmarried." It would have been a difficult situation if Madeline was actually betrothed to another man.

    Madeline smiled at Calhoun''s words, "I did tell that I was content with a simple life. From where Ie, we have, maybe one maid which is also rare. There are no people to help us wear clothes or have a cushion ced on the ce where we walk." At the same time, she realized how Calhoun initially didn''t belong to this world. His life was dire while hers had been peaceful. "I wanted to cook for my husband, wait for him when he goes out�� things like those," she left the top two buttons untouched and she dropped her hand to her side.

    "If that is what your heart craves for, you can still do it," Calhoun kissed her forehead, "You don''t have to think what others will perceive you as. People have the tendency to follow things that are done by the people of higher status, and that in itself turns out to be true. I doubt people would even dare to breathe a word about you."

    Madeline knew that. Thest time the maids had spoken ill about her, Calhoun had beheaded them. It felt like weeks had passed since that happened.

    "I will do it then��" Madeline whispered and Calhoun offered her a smile. Now that both of them were in a presentable state, they left the room to go down to the dining room to join others.

    After supper, Madeline went to visit Beth who continued to stay in her unconscious state. While she stood against the wall, staring at her sister, the door was knocked and in came Raphael, who bowed his head at her in greeting.

    "You should go and have some rest, mdy. I will be here to watch over her," offered Raphael, and Madeline felt grateful towards him.

    "Thank you for looking after her, Mr. Sparrow," she thanked him in a low voice so that it wouldn''t disturb Beth.

    "It is the least I can do," answered Raphael, "Calhoun said he might bete. He left to go to Cossington."

    "Is everything alright?" asked Madeline and the man nodded his head.

    "They are just following some of the protocols. There''s nothing to worry about," assured Raphael, and Madeline gave him a nod.

    Away from the castle, Calhoun''s wings pped on his back as he flew in the sky. The snow had stopped and it made it easier for him to fly, camouging himself in the background of the dark clouds. His wings continued to p, and he looked down at thend below him and his eyes caught sight of a carriage that had tumbled down. Flying close to the ground, Calhounnded with a loud thump, his ck wings raising the snow around him before it fell back on the ground.

    As he thought, people in the High House weren''t fast enough when it came to finding things or people. With the incident that took ce post morning, he doubted they would be able to find the carriage this soon. Making his way towards the carriage, the wings behind his back disappeared and he looked at the coachman who had a broken neck with his eyes open. The man was dead.

    Calhoun then pulled open the door of the carriage to find Weasley lying there unconscious, who was dead.

    "How unfortunate," murmured Calhoun.

    He pulled out a cigar from his pocket, cing it on his lips before lighting it with a matchstick. After using the lit matchstick, he threw it on the top of the carriage which was made of wood. He took a puff from the cigar, his cheeks turning slightly hollow and he blew the smoke through his lips. He looked around the forest that was on either side of the tumbled carriage, which was now catching fire.

    When he heard the carriage creak, Calhoun didn''t bother to turn around.

    "You know," came the voice behind Calhoun, and the King took a long puff before breathing the air out.

    "It wasn''t too hard," said Calhoun, and his head turned to look at Weasley who stared at Calhoun. "Being a demon, we all know it takes time to kill one another. When you didn''te to report, it wasn''t too hard to guess that you are involved in it."

    Weasley walked around the carriage that had lit up,ing around to stand in front of Calhoun, "You were going to burn me."

    Calhoun pulled the cigar from his lips, and said, "I didn''t see the point to keep a man who is disloyal. I would have not suspected you if it weren''t for the bitch who left you in the carriage. Though, I have to ask, didn''t you feel lonely in here, all by yourself?"

    Weasley, who stood quietly raised his hand to attack Calhoun by using his demon ability, but Calhoun raised his hand to deflect the attack.

    "I hadpany," replied Weasley, and the demons who had been hiding behind the trees like shadows until then, stepped out.

    Calhoun dropped the cigar on the ground before trampling it with his shoe which was quick to exhaust because of the ice on the ground. He said, "So I can see."

 Chapter 416 Red snow- Part 1

    <h4>416 Red snow- Part 1</h4>

    "I must say, I am quite impressed, that you had people gathered in here because youck thepetence to fight all alone by yourself. But I doubt you have been waiting for me," said Calhoun, his red eyes taking in a quick sweep at the demons, who had pitch-ck eyes, "As far as I know, you have been working for the crown."

    Unlike Calhoun, Weasley didn''t bother to smile, and he stared at the King who had used his hand to deflect his attack with ease. "I didn''t know you had abilities yourself."

    "One should always have tricks up their sleeves. You never know when it might be needed," the slow smile started to spread across his lips, before a dryugh escaped his lips.

    "I work for myself. You must know that by now," answered Weasley.

    Calhoun hummed at the demon''s words, "I thought it was little Lilith who had stolen the Hanima''s chain, but it was you."

    Weasley pulled out knives from his back, "Funny, isn''t it? That the High House has so many people who don''t work for the High House, but themselves."

    "I would have to agree to that," came the calm words from Calhoun. "You will be quite surprised when you find the people in there, who are working and who aren''t. Though I am curious to know who we''re waiting for."

    When Calhoun went to put his hand in his pocket, the people around him turned alert, waiting to strike at him. But he pulled out the handkerchief from his pocket. "No need to turn skittish, dear," he said to the demoness who crouched her back.

    "He''s more than what he has been showing you, Weasley!" spat one of the demons, who stood not too far away from the right side where Calhoun stood, "He has wings."

    Weasley''s eyes narrowed down at this information. Since the time he had been working for the High House, he had always found it to be strange that Calhoun arrived and left in a blink of an eye. Vampires had speed, but demons who were vampires had limitations, and theycked the speedpared to normal vampires, while their abilities made up for theck of quick mobility.

    "Those are not just normal wings. They are different," said another demon.

    "What are you, my King?" Weasley asked in a polite tone, waiting in anticipation, but instead of answering, Calhoun raised his hand to his face to yawn as if he was tired. "I know you, Calhoun Hawthrone. I have stayed by your side for so many years-"

    "No hassle, my King. No hassle at all," replied Weasley, "There is still time for the next person to arrive, and we have plenty of time when ites to dealing with you. It''s not like some of us don''t have wings." The demons who were standing around them sprouted bat-like wings on their back.

    "Before we start," said Calhoun, walking in a circle to catch a note of every single demon who stood there, "I do have a question. Do you know where Samuel Grevile and a woman named Jennine are?"

    Weasley wondered why Calhoun was asking about these two people, out of which, he didn''t know who this woman was. "I think Lady Lucy will be a better person to ask that question. After all, he is her husband."

    Calhoun stared at the High House member who was soon going to turn as a former member of the High House once he would have his head torn from his body.

    "Thankfully she doesn''t, but I will check with her just in case she knows about where he is," one side of his lips pulled up into a smirk, and the demons didn''t bother to wait for more chitchat. They pulled out their knives and guns.

    Not a second more was wasted as the demons went straight at Calhoun without a moment of pause. Calhoun used his hand to stop the attack, while he used his leg to turn and kick one of the demons'' stomach, who fell t on the ground, while the others continued to go at him.

    Weasley in the meantime tried to exhaust the fire that Calhoun had started by lighting up the carriage in mes.?A passing passenger or someone from a distance would notice and alert the magistrate, which he didn''t want. The truth was that there had been someone in the High House who had been keeping a watch, on not just him but every single person thanks to the cunt Lilith and her brother, who had been more than suspicious. He didn''t know what Lilith and Luther were up to.

    Calhoun, on the other hand, was attacked by more than three demons at a time, and it reminded him of the time when his dear grandmother had sent men to hunt him down for his head and blood.

    One of the demons, who stood behind watching the King and the other fellow demons fight, he pulled out the pistol that he was carrying in his back. His gloved hand fished for silver bullets, that was made under the pressure of holy water. Aiming it at Calhoun, he tried to get it right, but the King kept moving back and forth without standing in one ce.

    After carefully watching the fight, he finally pulled the trigger of the pistol that only ended up hitting one of the demons who choked on his own blood, before blood blubbered out of the demon''s mouth before the person fell with his body catching up in fire.

    "Fuck!" cursed the demon who pulled the trigger.

    Calhoun raised his leg, kicking one of the demoness'' stomach, who went flying away from the group of people to fall on the ground coughing.

    "He''s just one single person," said another demon, looking at Calhoun to the others, "It shouldn''t be that hard to take him out."

    "Don''t underestimate him, Diego," warned Weasley. The other demons didn''t know Calhoun closely, but that didn''t mean Weasley wasn''t aware of how powerful the King was. Calhoun''s strength was on a higher level, something he often held back from using while ying with his prey.

    "He''s just one person, and we are so many of us," said the demon named Diego, "What do you think is going to happen when the crown falls?" he asked, tipping his chin.

    Weasely stared at Calhoun. He didn''t expect to have him here, but now that he was here, Weasley didn''t see the point of not killing the King. Once he would be dead, a new person would take charge unless the Queen was bearing a child.

    "We were waiting to sacrifice people tonight. Do you think he is enough?" asked a demoness, "Put him in the fire and have him burn."

    Unlike the other demons who were underestimating Calhoun''s abilities, Weasley didn''t. He stood there on the sidelines, watching them fight. "What do we do with him??" came the question from the demons.

    "Burn him like the others," ordered Weasley, and the other demon pulled out the trigger, this time right at Calhoun''s shoulder.

    "A silver bullet always affects a demon or a vampire, especially the ones that have been made under the pressure of holy water. When it hits a person, it starts to diffuse in your body before your insides start to melt," said Diego, educating Calhoun as if he didn''t know about it.

    Another impatient demon jumped behind Calhoun, swinging his hand to catch hold of the King''s neck. But before the demon could get too close to him, Calhoun stepped aside. Using his hand, he caught hold of the demon''s neck before squashing it t on the ground where there was lesser snow. A loud crack was heard because of the demon''s head hitting against the ground.

 Chapter 417 Red snow- Part 2

    <h4>417 Red snow- Part 2</h4>

    "What impatient demons you have in here, Weasley. Not the kind who you would like to work with," stated Calhoun, while pulling out the handkerchief from his pocket, and cleaning the blood that was on his hand, one finger after another before dropping the handkerchief on the ground as it was of no use to him. "I thought you were better than this. Let me guess. Helena?" Calhoun''s eyes looked at Weasley calmly.

    "What are you going to do by knowing about it?" Weasley questioned back, "Well if you are going to die, I think it should be alright. I want to be the head of the High House. I have worked harder, and its existence is because of my resultant work. Not hers, not Dimitri''s but mine."

    "Must feel quite terrible that you didn''t get the position in the High House. Do you think you would be able to do it this way?" Upon Calhoun''s question, Weasley smiled.

    "No, but if all the members are dissolved, there won''t be a High House to begin with. Lilith must be already dead," Weasley had a calmer aura around him,pared to the other people in the High House excluding Reginald.

    "And you believe killing them is easy?" Calhoun tilted his head.

    "Isn''t that why I have people with me. Something came to fall on my ears. About a dark angel who hase into existence," said Weasley in a slow voice, "I heard sacrificing the person will bring many advantages which no one has been able to find until now. Have you heard about it? The soothsayer said the person is somewhere nearby and in thisnd, but he couldn''t point out exactly where. Which is why a little sacrifice would help us to get answers."

    "How interesting," murmured Calhoun, "I have a proposal. Why don''t I join you, and we both can look for it?"

    Weasley shook his head, "My King if you are going to join, you would be thest person standing, while the rest would end up dead. Diego! Fire!"

    And not a secondter, the other demons who carried the pistols, loaded their guns with the silver bullets before they started to fire right at Calhoun. The night that had tried to stay quiet wasn''t quiet anymore, and it was filled with gunshots being fired over and over again until none of the bullets were left in the cartridge of their pistols.

    Smoke filled the ce where Calhoun had been standing, with the dust of snowing to rise in the air when the bullets hit the ground near him. The demons who stood smiled, when they found him not to be standing as he was before.

    The smoke had not settled, and the demons saw Calhouny on the ground with blood sttered on the snow, turning the white snow to patches of red. The King didn''t move, nor were they able to hear his breath nor his heartbeat.

    Weasley stared at the unmoving person and ordered, "Someone go and check him."

    Diego volunteered to check the dead man who had holes on his clothes, leaving a stream of blood on the ground as even his body had holes because of the bullets. Bending down, the blonde demon took a look at Calhoun whose eyes were open, and his lips parted, "He looks like a dead vegetable. I feel nothing," shouted Diego so that Weasley could get the information.

    "What are we going to do with him? We cannot leave him here. Burn or put him in the coffin?" spat the demoness who had earlier been kicked by Calhoun.

    "Drag him to the woods," ordered Weasely, "And clean up this ce."

    Diego, who stood next to Calhoun''s body, said, "He looks nothing less than beaten dough in here? All liquid. Let me s-"

    Before the demon couldplete his words, a leg came to hit the side of Diego''s face, who staggered back in shock. Diego brought his hand forward, coughing blood and three of his teeth fall on his hand. He looked at the person, whom he thought to be dead.

    Calhoun stood four steps away from Diego, and the demon looked like he saw a ghost. He had clearly heard the heart, not beating anymore, and the King looked dead. But right now, Calhoun''s heart was beating again, and the wounds in his body that had holes earlier started to close themselves.

    A sarcasticugh escaped from Calhoun''s lips, the smile broadening out of delight and excitement. His red eyes stared at Diego, and he lifted his hand to wipe the blood near his mouth with the back of his hand.

    "What the fuck?!" whispered one of the demons, who was clutching the swords in his hands that almost slipped out of his hold in shock.

    "Why isn''t he dead?!" asked another demon. The bullets were made of pure silver with holy water. There was no way this man could be standing here looking unscathed in front of them. Only a devil could return from the dead!

    "Who was talking about burning me?" questioned Calhoun, his eyes appeared to be bloodthirsty as he smiled at the demoness. Without prior notice, his leg soon came to attach to Diego''s jaw with such force that the demon''s neck broke instantly and the tip of Calhoun''s shoe was filled with blood, "We should see how you feel when you burn in hell."

    "Kill him!" announced another demon, and all of them except Weasley went tounch on Calhoun, but every one of them got beaten by Calhoun.

    As the guns were of no use, they pulled out knives and swords that they had hidden behind them. One of the demon''s used a crossbow to fire arrows at Calhoun.

    Calhoun would have thought that they would have received the memo about things like these not affecting him, but the demons were witless and they continued to attack, only to fall on the ground with their head torn apart from their bodies.

    Soon the demoness came to attack Calhoun, and she tried to hurt him with the two knives of hers only to be trapped by him. He twisted her arm behind her back, pushing her to the ground before using the same knife that she was holding, to slit her throat.

    Before getting up to stand again, he let the demoness'' body drop on the ground with her eyes holding a look of emptiness in there as she was dead.

 Chapter 418 Red snow- Part 3

    <h4>418 Red snow- Part 3</h4>

    "You aren''t a normal person," noted Weasley. He had never seen any vampire or demon ever return like that from the dead. He was positive that Calhoun had died because of the holes in his body and bloodshed on the ground. A person would have easily considered him to be a pile of torn flesh, not knowing what happened.

    "I keep hearing that. I wonder why," said Calhoun before jerking his head towards the sword that was on the ground, "Pick it up. I wouldn''t like to kill you without a fight." Calhoun used his leg to flip the sword near his leg up in the air for him to catch in his hand.

    Weasley looked at Calhoun with an apprehensive look on his face. "You didn''t answer my question," he said. He bent down to grab the sword while keeping an eye on Calhoun. The King liked to y, and Calhoun could strike at any time.

    "Are you in the position to ask a question, Wes?" Calhoun returned the High House member''s question with his own question, "I trusted you, and look at you."

    "It is unfortunate that you came to look for me, at the same time you were ready to burn me," Weasley''s calm expression started to break, and the mask that he had been wearing all these years, slowly cracked. Calhoun''s smirk increased at the sight of it. "It didn''t have to go that way, but you have caused me more loss." Weasley''s eyes took in the sight of the bodies that littered around them.

    Weasley was no ordinary man, and he knew the odds of winning against the King. The demon had seen Calhoun ughter every one of them today here, enough to have his eyes brighten with the excitement of killing people and having blood on his hands.

    "It is a pity that I couldn''te to see what the chain could do, but with the Queen not wearing it, we should call it as a no game, my King," said Weasley, while trying to see his options in getting out of here. He needed a distraction for Calhoun, but they were in a ce which was away from the vige.

    Calhoun smiled, "You know that is not going to happen," and soon enough both of their swords that were being held by the two men shed against each other and sparks of orange and white flew every time they pulled and struck the swords at each other.

    "Who knows, I must be very loved to have many lives like a cat that has nine lives," responded Calhoun, and as much as Weasley tried to attack with the sword, he couldn''t get close to Calhoun.

    Using his elbow, Calhoun hit straight at Weasley''s stomach before throwing him on the ground and the sword that Weasley was holding dropped down, to have another sword being ced against his neck by the vampire.

    "What will you get by killing me?" asked Weasley.

    "Satisfaction of your death. It''s been so long since I felt this good," hummed Calhoun, bringing up his hand to lick his bloody fingers. "Not fresh, but decent enough and the smell," his eyes darkened looking around, his words cold like the air around them.

    "Helena won''t be happy with you. You will need me alive if you truly want to get your name cleared-"

    "Two decades and you learned nothing," said Calhoun, "Reputation means little to nothing to me," said Calhoun, staring down at Weasley before dropping his sword from the demon''s neck. "Alright, I will let you go."

    Giving a look, Calhoun turned his back and started to walk.

    Noticing Calhoun continuing to walk, Weasley stared at King''s back that was left wide open, and his hand reached out for the sword that had dropped down on the ground. Holding it tight in his hand, he got up before going straight at the vampire. But as the tip of the sword touched Calhoun''s back, Weasley crashed into his back, the de turned to a bunch of rose petals in Weasley''s hands while some dropped on the ground.

    Weasley turned utterly confused as to what happened and where the sword he had been holding disappeared. Before he had the time to process, Calhoun turned around to grab his shoulder and his head.

    "You were a good man, Weasley, but not good enough to continue living. I would like to have fewer problems than have them piled up for the sake of my woman." Calhoun''s words didn''t make any sense to Weasley. His time hade, and in a second, Calhoun tore the demon''s neck before dropping the head and the body away from each other.

    Calhoun''s clothes and face were covered in patches of blood, and he wiped his face with his sleeve again, a sigh escaping his lips as he took a nce at the dead people and then at Weasley. He didn''t have anything against Weasley, and he was only protecting what was his. People were ambitious with their dreams, and he had nothing against it. It was only when others interests collided with his, did the oue turn to something like this.

    He felt an ache in his chest, and he coughed, spitting blood on the ground. It was time to get back home, thought Calhoun to himself.

 Chapter 419 Three Counts- Part 1

    <h4>419 Three Counts- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline sat on the bed, her legs softly swinging as she waited for Calhoun to return. It had been more than three hours since they had finished their supper and an hour since she had returned to the room after leaving Beth in Raphael''s care who had offered to stay back and looked after Beth. Somewhere, it worried her that the creature, Svete Mortem, would return for Beth.

    She was careful when it came to making use of her abilities. With Calhoun not here in the castle now, Madeline believed it was better to refrain her dark angel abilities unless a dire situation arrived where she would need to make use of it. Stopping her legs from swinging, she brought her hand up to take a look at it. Standing up, she walked to the cupboard and pulled the ck book which she had hidden beneath the clothes, so that even by mistake, someone would note to find it.

    Madeline heard a loud sound from the patio that was attached to the room. Her head snapped around to see a figure appear in the dark, on the patio, which she saw through the drawn curtain.

    Did Calhoun return? Asked Madeline to herself. Closing the cupboard, she walked to the doors of the patio and pulled it open to be greeted by nothing but cold air, where snow continued to fall from the sky.

    Her eyes carefully observed her surroundings, but the figure that she saw, it was not there anymore. She bit the inside of her cheek. At the same time, she heard something creak from inside the room. Madeline, who was standing next to the window, saw a figure appear inside the room, and she gulped. The figure looked like it started to morph into a person, creating a silhouette, and Madeline felt her heart start to race. She took one step backwards and then another to stand in front of the open door, and she saw the creature that had been on her mind. The Svete Mortem was here, but this time it held an axe in its hand, dragging it behind it and the creature stepped out of the room through the front door.

    Before she could react to it, another thud appeared on the patio, and this time she saw it was Calhoun.

    Madeline''s eyes went wide on seeing Calhoun''s face and clothes smeared with blood.

    "W-what happened?!" she asked rmed. She came to Calhoun''s side, putting his hand around her shoulder so that she could support him. Though he wasn''t as tired as he looked, he savoured the care that Madeline offered him and seeing her worry for him, something that was new to him, he internally took delight from her actions. "Raphael said you went to Cossington. Was it the High House?" Madeline had never seen him in such a state before.

    There were holes in his clothes, and it appeared like Calhoun had dipped in a pool of blood beforeing here.

    "What happened, Calhoun?" asked Madeline with her eyebrows knitted together.

    "I went to check where Lilith left Weasley." Calhoun raised his hands to remove the coat that he had been wearing, and Madeline was quick toe to his side, helping him out of it.

    "Is he dead?" Madeline had been shocked when Lilith had appeared at the church, all by herself, leaving Weasley behind.

    Calhoun nodded his head before twisting his lips in displeasure. He felt the slight ache in his muscles as they were still under healing.

    "Who did this to you?" she asked him. Madeline was curious to know what had transpired outside the castle that had left him in such a bloody state.

    "Demons," responded Calhoun, his eyes meeting hers. Madeline started unbuttoning his shirt. "There are some demons out there who are waiting to see the High House fall. They weren''t waiting for me, but I just happened to be their first visitor."

    "I don''t understand. You went to look for Weasley but ended up meeting other demons on your way?" Madeline caught sight of the round dents on Calhoun''s body once she was done unbuttoning his shirt. She saw the wounds on his chest covered with dark and dried blood on his skin. "You''re hurt," she whispered, her eyes slowly went up to meet his eyes.

    "I''m doing better. The demons were trying to see if they could create holes in me," saying that Calhoun pulled his shirt to the side to expose a deep gash on his right abdomen. "It''s healing."

    A shuddered breath escaped Madeline''s lips, "Should I go get the-"

    "I am fine, sweetheart," Calhoun assured Madeline with a bright smile on his lips. "It''s just a few wounds that are taking time to heal." He raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to reply as she continued to stare at the wound. "I went to look for Weasley, but the man was faking his death and waiting for Helena or Dimitri. Something to do with wanting to be the head of the High House, while at the same time wanting to dissolve the entire High House that would probably lead up to the demons'' crimes to be unknown and hidden."

    "He was alive?" on Madeline''s question, Calhoun gave her a nod.

    "Yes, he was alive until the time I killed him. He also had an eye on the supposed existence of the dark angel," and Madeline''s hands froze midway in the air. "Your existence seems to be more valuable than any other person, where people are trying to seek you out for sacrifice."

    "I never thought one day I would turn out to be popr," responded Madeline to hear Calhoun chuckle.

    "If they want you, they will have to go through me first, and if they do go through me, I know you will turn them to nothingness," Calhoun''s words were confident.

 Chapter 420 Three Counts- Part 2

    <h4>420 Three Counts- Part 2</h4>

    "Instead of thinking what you are is going to hurt you, im it to be something that belongs to you. Be proud of it, Maddie, because this thing that is inside you, it utterly and solely belongs to you in every sense. If people are going to hunt you for certain reasons, use those same reasons to hunt them back."

    "I don''t think I have it in me to kill people," replied Madeline, and Calhoun took hold of her hands.

    "I know that you don''t. Maybe you don''t have to kill the people who are after you but only put them in their rightful coffins. Your grandparents did it, it is just to protect yourself and nothing more or less than that," Calhoun squeezed her hand. "Haven''t you heard about the knife having the ability not only to kill to take a life, but also has the ability to cut an apple to feed a person."

    "Where did you learn to speak this well?" Madeline had always been curious about how Calhoun was able to twist and turn his words for his advantage. She had never met a person with such skills before.

    One side of Calhoun''s lips pulled up, and he said, "Have I mentioned before how much I enjoy yourpliments that has been very rare in the past?"

    Madeline offered him her sweet smile, "You didn''t answer my question."

    "Hm," responded Calhoun, "When you almost grow up on the streets while listening to people who belittle you and your mother, you end up learning to reply and also turn smart. My mother used to say that even a man, who is under the threat of the axe hanging above his neck can turn his fate with a little bit of luck and using right words to get him out of the situation."

    She stared at him for a second, getting lost in those dark red eyes that looked back at her, "Did you ever go through it? An axe close to your neck?"

    When Calhoun gave her a nod, a surprised gasp escaped her lips, "When? Why?" she asked.

    "It was a long time ago. Those were some good times," as he smiled his eyes crinkled, and Madeline believed only Calhoun could smile at things like this. She wanted to ask more about it, but seeing him covered in blood with a slight amount of rusty smell filled the air around him, she followed him to the bath.

    Instead of getting into the grand bath, Calhoun stepped into the bathtub, and Madeline helped him in cleaning his body so that she could remove the tough blood that had dried on his skin.

    "Tell me what happened to you," said Madeline while pouring water on his back, using her hand to clean it.

    While she continued to remove the blood carefully, she made sure not to press the skin too hard because she didn''t know how much it would hurt. It was only a few hours ago when she had touched and traced Calhoun''s chest and body with her fingertips that were now covered with marks. She wondered if it would leave scars on his body.

    "You could have died today," whispered Madeline. And with the way his body looked right now, it appeared like the bullets had passed through his body several times.

    "When all the bullets had been fired at me, I think for a moment my heart freeze did freeze. But I feel as good as before," said Calhoun, scooping the water in his hand that only sshed out when his hand formed into a fist.

    Opening his palm, he noticed how the wound got better and so did the other parts on his body that went back to normal. If it was another demon or a vampire in his ce, the person would have died because of the number of bullets that was shot at him, while leaving only a mass of flesh on the ground.

    Sometimes it made him think that he was a descendant of an angel as demons didn''t have feathers in their wings. He knew the abilities he held were received from his mother and not from his worthless father. He remembered how he had smelt his mother''s scent in the vige, but when he had gone back to follow the scent, it was long gone.

    Madeline finished cleaning Calhoun''s back, and she moved to the front, to sit next to him to see him. The wounds on his body werepletely healed, and his skin had turned back to the way it was this evening, "I am happy that you are alright."

    "And I am happy that you are happy," responded Calhoun.

    After finishing his bath, Calhoun changed himself to his nightclothes.

    Madeline sat on the bed with her legs crossed and looking at him. He was going through the parchments rting to the court discussions that had took ce today that needed his attention. Theodore''s attention and focus had been diverted to his half-sister Lucy, since their cousin Ethan had arrived to attend his marriage with Madeline, who was still staying in the castle.

    Calhoun internally rolled his eyes for what was going on, but he didn''t bother to get into matters that didn''t concern him.

 Chapter 421 Three Counts- Part 3

    <h4>421 Three Counts- Part 3</h4>

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, "Did it try to talk to you?" and he saw her shake her head.

    "No. It didn''t speak to me, it stepped out of the room," Madeline had a frown on her face. She had been worried when she had seen it in here, a visitor whom she hadn''t expected to see nor was she interested in meeting. When the creature had stepped out of the room, she had felt relieved at the thought that it had left the castle, not realizing it could have gone to Beth''s room.

    Suddenly turning alert, Madeline quickly crawled out of bed, and said, "What if it went to Beth''s room?"

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, and he asked, "Who is there with her?"

    "Raphael. He said he would be looking after her."

    Both of them left their room, making their way towards the quarters where Beth was in. Calhoun had reached the door before her, and when the door did open, Madeline''s eyes frantically looked at the bed to find Beth sleeping, while Raphael, who was sitting on the chair that was next to the bed, looking up at the couple who stood at the door.

    "Did you leave the room, Raphael?" questioned Calhoun and Raphael didn''t know if he was supposed to leave the room. Something looked amiss as thedy''s eyes had turned wide as if she hade running here.

    "No?" came the careful answer from Raphael.

    "Mr. Sparrow, did you see anyone in here?" Madeline demanded the answer from him, and the man shook his head.

    "Not that I remember," he picked up the book to show them what he had been up to, "Is everything alright?" With Calhoun in here with Madeline, Raphael believed it was something serious.

    Madeline''s eyebrows had knitted together, keenly observing the quiet room, staring at Beth''s bed. Calhoun''s lips that were set in a thin line, said, "It''s the Salvete Mortem. Madeline saw one of them enter the room and leave."

    "Greetings from the death?" Raphael had heard about it, but he had never seen one. Considering how Madeline was a dark angel, he didn''t appear to be too surprised by hearing that she could see it. "Their presence never brings good news. If I may ask, have you seen them before?" The question was directed to Madeline.

    "Today. It was next to her bed," whispered Madeline and a subtle frown appeared on the card reader''s face. "But I think the one I saw minutes ago, was a different one. It had an axe in its hand."

    Calhoun looked at Raphael while thinking. He asked, "Do you know what it means?"

    Raphael answered Calhoun''s question, "There are different representations when ites to death. The first one with nothing in its hand. It is nothing less to a greeting for a possible death that might arrive at the person''s door. The second Salvete Mortem with an axe means it''s preparing for a kill."

    "Someone''s going to die?" asked Madeline. There was already enough blood and death, she thought to herself, she didn''t want more.

    Calhoun asked, "Does the death take ce the very time when it appears? How do we get to know when a person is going to die?"

    "That is a little hard to say," Raphael pursed his lips. "In this world, most of the things runs on three counts. First, is the greeter of death. Then is the guard who makes a ce where the person is going to die, and then is the third Salvete Mortemes with blood in its hands. It takes away the soul with it."

    Madeline wondered, if the creature had entered the room, Raphael possibly couldn''t see it like the maids, who had seen nothing but walls and other furniture when she had asked them if they could see where she had pointed.

    "It''s not possible to know when those creatures arrive and leave, but if they are here, it means people need to be alert," stated Raphael, and Madeline bit her lip. Beth looked fine, but if the Svete Mortem was here for her sister, that would mean two of the warnings had been received, and if the third one arrived, it would take Beth''s soul from this world.

    "Beth will die," whispered Madeline, goosebumps forming on her skin at the realization. "How many times have people in the past been able to deflect them away?"

    "The information about Svete Mortem is close to non-existence because it is a creature not everyone sees," said Raphael.

    While they were speaking, Beth groaned, and Madeline''s attention fell back on her sister, "Beth?"

    "Ugh, my��.leg...it hurts...feels heavy," came the words from Beth who was opening her eyes.

    Noticing how Beth was regaining conscious, Calhoun ordered the servant who had been positioned outside the room, "Get Lady Elizabeth''s food in here."

    "Yes, milord!"

    Wide awake, Beth pulled out the nket that hid her leg. She started to remember the werewolf biting her leg before she was able to escape out of the carriage. Just thinking about it and feeling the pain strike her leg, tears formed in her eyes.

    "I am going to turn to a werewolf! AHHH!" Beth cried.

    "It''s going to be okay, Beth," consoled Madeline, taking a seat on the bed.

    Calhoun turned his back and pinched the bridge of his nose. If Beth wasn''t Madeline''s sister, he would have killed her by now for more than one reason. But at the same time, the girl looked like she was changing her behaviour for the better. Unless she brought harm to Madeline, he would ignore the girl for her past deeds. He knew Madeline''s heart would break if something were to happen to her sister Elizabeth.

    "Did Lady Monique receive any information from her men?" asked Raphael, and Calhoun sighed. And here was another reason to keep the girl alive.

    "Yes. Monique said her men have found the cave and will find out if the antidote exists. They will send the antidote through the bird. It will be the fastest." Calhoun had spoken to Monique right after supper about her receiving any news from her men as she had sent a letter through her loyal bird to her men who stayed close to where the mountain of Belmount was situated so that they could verify about the antidote''s existence. In the past, many had gone in the hunt for the antidote, but none of them ever returned the same.

    Calhoun had himself thought to fly there, but he didn''t want to leave Madeline unattended here as it would take time for him to reach back to her. To Calhoun, first came Madeline, and then came the rest.

    Both Calhoun and Raphael moved to the side, and the card reader said, "If the antidote really exists, we need to give it to her before the end of tomorrow''s night as it will be a full moon''s night."

 Chapter 422 Snow cold night- Part 1

    <h4>422 Snow cold night- Part 1</h4>

    .

    A person who wore a ck coat walked on the road with his hands in his coat pockets while snow fell from the sky. The sky was dark, and the area he was walking in had little to no light. His features were defined with a sharp nose and sharp jaw with thick eyebrows below which held the deep red eyes that appeared to be intelligent. His straight ck hair had beenbed back, leaving a single lock of hair that was stubborn enough toe to fall on his forehead.

    dimir''s footsteps were firm on the ground, and a few steps behind him, his loyal servant, Odin, followed him. The vampire servant''s body moved like a pendulum in motion as he swayed left and right.

    Odin had no idea why his Master was walking here when his Master could make use of the time to rest in the coffin, but somewhere he was also d that his Master didn''t go to sleep, who knew when he would wake up again. The night was cold, and the snow continued to fall from the sky.

    "Master?" Odin called dimir, but the vampire didn''t respond to his call.

    dimir had never thought that there woulde a time where he would me himself for the loss of his daughter. If he hadn''t gone to sleep, his daughter Constance would still be alive. He was the head of the Hell, who had not visited the ce for a long time, and his underlings were the ones who were looking after it. But not everything was under control, and things were being misused in his absence.

    Unable to stay in the cave for long, dimir hade out for a walk. Instead of flying, he had chosen to walk on the roads, where he would get his possible meal from a passing carriage. "Which is the closest vige from here?" he asked his servant.

    "Master, it is Morriest, but I believe there are a lot of vampires living there than the humans," answered Odin. His feet tried to keep its pace with his master''s feet so that he wouldn''t end up losing the sight of his master.

    "Who cares if there are vampires in there. You forget, Odin, my mealse in all forms. Humans, vampires, they are all on the list," dimir was still walking when his nose picked up the smell of blood that was fresh as well as strong. "Looks like people were ughtered." His footsteps stopped, and he looked in the direction from where the smell was drifting and in an instant, dimir transformed himself to a bat, and he flew in the direction of where he smelt the blood, disappearing into the darkness.

    "Master!" Odin shouted, and he turned to a bat, searching for his Master. He finally found his Master standing in the midst of a possible sacrifice. His eyebrows raised and he looked at the demons whose necks were either slit orpletely torn out from their bodies. "It looks like it was only a few minutes ago since the massacre took ce."

    When he stepped further, observing the bodies, his eyes fell on the petals that belonged to a red rose. His eyes narrowed, and he bent down, something he often didn''t do and Odin looked surprised.

    "My daughter is dead, and I have seen her body in the coffin, resting peacefully, yet why does it feel like she is still around?" dimir''s voice was empty, with little to no emotion in it. He picked up the petals of the rose in his hand that was on the ground, running it between his fingers. "They are almost the same. The same texture."

    dimir''s memory went back to the past before he had gone to take his nap. It was a few years back before Constance had turned curious about life outside.

    ''Why can''t I go out?'' he heard her voice from one of the many memories he held with him, ''Odin and the others step outside this ce, but I am not allowed.''

    ''The world outside is not safe, Constance,'' said dimir to his daughter, who looked not more than fifteen. ''The world outside is filled with the filthy people and their greed. It is worse than Hell.''

    ''Hell?'' came her innocent voice to ring in his ears and in the back of dimir''s mind as he continued to stare at the petals. ''You think Hell is better?''

    ''It is safer for you,'' came the stern voice from dimir. ''One day, when the time is right, we can visit the people who reside on the other side of the forest. Odin said you picked up a new trick. What is it?''

    Hearing this, his daughter''s face brightened, forgetting about their earlier discussion. She pulled out a knife from her dress. She raised her hand and went to stab his hand with the knife, and dimir didn''t blink his eyes, nor did he make an effort to pull away his hand. Just as the knife went to prick him, it turned to petals of red roses, and the young girlughed.

    ''Did you see that?''

    She had looked up at him with so much of excitement. It was probably the first and one of the very few things she had acquired from him, while she had received the rest from her deceased mother. Constance didn''t have any ability until then, and when she had shown him the trick, he had been proud of her.

    He knew the shape of the petals and the peculiar scent that it left behind. His teeth gritted in anger, "It looks like someone is mimicking what Constance used to do. How dare he kill her," came the cold rage-filled voice from dimir, "My daughter, she was like her mother, and she had never hurt a single soul."

    More anger filled in his mind because if his daughter was dead, that would mean her soul had probably gone to heaven. dimir wished Constance had made one grave misdeed. Just one and it would have possibly been enough to send her soul to Hell where he would be able to pick her up and ce her back in here. But his daughter was not brought up the way he was.

    "What is the status of the girl and the King, Odin?" demanded dimir.

    "They are still in the castle, Master. I don''t think they are going to leave the castle anytime soon. I got hold of her parents. Would you like to bring them to you?"

    "I doubt the King would understand the importance of the girl''s parents death. Don''t forget, Odin, tomorrow night when we take the girl from there, then starts the torture."

    "Yes, Master!"

 Chapter 423 Snow cold night- Part 2

    <h4>423 Snow cold night- Part 2</h4>

    dimir heard a groaning from one of the demons, and he made his way to where the bodyid and the demoness who was hanging to her life in this realm, tried to move when the older vampire came to stand right in front of her.

    Bending down again, dimir held the demoness'' face who spewed blood from her mouth.

    "Who did this to you?" he questioned in a calm voice, but the demoness didn''t appear to be in the mood to speak as she wanted to save her life. When she didn''t answer, dimir''s hands pressed the jaws of the woman, and when she went to question, his eyes turned pitch ck. "Now answer me unless you want to spend your time bathing in the hot melted iron, so that your skin feels good."

    The demoness had believed she had lost her life earlier, and she was d to be back, but not anymore, after seeing the pitch ck eyes of the man who ruled Hell. He had gone missing for years and now he was back.

    "Master, please forgive me!" cried the demoness. "The person who did this to us, he''s the King of Devon. Calhoun Hawthrone. I think he has been sent by the angels to kill the demons," she answered.

    dimir was displeased by this information, and even though the demoness had answered, he picked a hint of a lie in her words. His fingers pressed on her jaws to hear the demoness cry in pain, and the next second, he broke her face and sent her soul back to where it belonged.

    "Odin, go to Hell and tell people I have returned and will be there soon," dimir''s eyes sharply looked at his servant, who bowed his head and within a second, Odin zapped out of the ce. The older vampire wondered why the angels were trying to get to the demons.

    He couldn''t help but question if this King was the one who had copied his daughter''s trick, the skill of turning to petals. After all, she did spend a lot of time with this King before the fucker had thrown her out of the castle. dimir would break every single bone of this person for dishonouring his daughter before he would feed the person to the hellhounds.

    dimir continued to look at the demons, some of them whom he noticed to be of a higher level who were never there when he hadst checked with the demons'' status.

    He left the dead bodies'' side and made his way to the coachman who was standing near the horses, while the demon who got down from the carriage quickly hurried towards the bodies that were lying on the snow.

    dimir slowly sneaked behind the coachman, and before the human knew, a person was waiting to suck him dry, dimir put his hand on the human''s mouth covering it to stop the coachman from screaming as his ears were sensitive. The vampire was about to take a bite into the human''s neck when someone said,

    "Stop, right there!"

    It was a woman''s voice, and dimir''s gaze moved to look at a woman with blonde hair and a monocle on one of her eyes. "What do you think you are doing there?" Her red eyes were fierce, and they stared at dimir.

    "Me? I was going to take my breakfast before you rudely decided to interrupt me," replied dimir. The human''s eyes looked petrified in shock, and he tried not to move from his ce, while looking at Helena for her help to save him.

    "Let the man go right this instant. If you need food, there are inns not too far away from here that offer blood to drink," Helena''s eyes looked at the vampire whom she had never seen around before. He appeared to be in his thirties, his eyes looking back at her mockingly. "It doesn''t look like you are poor, and don''t have a coin to spare for a drink. But if you still insist that you don''t have it, then take this." She threw a gold coin at him, but dimir made no attempt to catch it.

    "I doubt the inns have fresh blood like this that you speak of. Warm and smooth in texture. Especially filled with fear that runs through the veins, hmm," dimir hummed in appreciation, "Don''t tell me you don''t know how it tastes, girl."

    Helena''s eyes red, but she didn''t lose her overallposure. Seeing the vampire''s unwillingness to let go of her coachman, she pulled out the gun which she always carried with her to point at the predator. dimir found it to be funny, and he started to chuckle as if Helena was stupid.

    "Let us see how good your aim is. If you shoot me sessfuly, I will let this man live and if you fail," he paused to look at the human in his hand, "Then I will drink him dry. What do you say?" he proposed the option.

    "Keep your games to yourself," said Helena.

    Dimitri who had gone to have look at the dead bodies and the burnt carriage that he found not too far away from the scene, yelled, "Weasley is dead, and there are some other demons dead bodies lying in here!"

    "Oh, are those your people?" inquired dimir.

    Helena stared at the vampire, wondering if he was the one to kill Weasley and the others. For a vampire, he was showing too much arrogance and courage, "Did you kill them?" she asked.

    dimir, instead of answering her question, questioned back, "Why are you wearing just one monocle? Why not two of them? But then it covers your pretty face." Helena only continued to re at him, ignoring the ttery. "Don''t you want him alive? My reflexes are excellent."

    Helena didn''t believe the vampire. He was bluffing. He appeared to look like he came from a renowned family, but if he did, why did she not see him before? Not wanting to waste any time, the vampiress pulled the trigger aiming at dimir who was taller than her coachman. But the bullet instead of hitting the vampire, it hit her coachman who cried in pain.

    "AHH!" the coachman cried, falling on his knees in pain. Helena didn''t stop shooting, and she continued to press her finger on the trigger for the gunshots to echo one after another until she had no more bullets to shoot. The vampire had escaped. Her eyes moved left and right, searching for him, but he was gone.

    Helena gritted her teeth and went to aid the human whose arm was shot. There was something very eerie about the vampire who had disappeared from here.

    After the first gunshot, Dimitri had quickly made his way toe and stand next to Helena, "Who was it?!"

    "Some deranged vampire," answered Helena, "What''s the status out there?"

    "Bodies and limbs are torn, they are all demons. Someone must havee and ughtered them. The blood is fresh and not from the morning. If it took ce post morning, we would have received information from the vigers or passerbys," informed Dimitri. The man had a frown on his face, and he said, "Also, I think Weasley was alive for some time before we arrived. Do you think someone held him captive in here?"

    "Doesn''t seem to answer why there are demons dead here unless they killed him first before deciding to kill each other." Helena stood up, looking in the direction where she had shot the vampire, who was lurking near the scene. Lilith and Weasley were dead. And so far there was no news from Reginald. She couldn''t help but grit her teeth. It was too many death''s in one day.

    She said, "Something is going on. And I can feel the wind carrying the ill omen with it, like a warning. About a sacrifice."

 Chapter 424 Snow cold night- Part 3

    <h4>424 Snow cold night- Part 3</h4>

    "How much more time do you need, Fraunces?" asked the man, who stood at the window.

    Apart from these two people, there were six more people in the room who had almost camouged themselves to the background, standing near the wall and waiting for the soothsayer to give them more information about what was going to be feasible for them.

    "Just a little more time," replied the soothsayer, grabbing the four bones of an animal from the table that were of the size of a matchstick. He shuffled the bones in his hand before throwing it on the table.

    "What does it say?" asked Walter,ing forward and looking at the design that the bones were showing.

    "Tomorrow is the perfect day. You will be sessful when ites to getting hold of the girl, but make sure that you don''t sacrifice her until the clock strikes three at midnight. That is the time when the moon will turnpletely gold, recieving powers from heaven to shine brightly. It will be the perfect time to sacrifice the girl," stated the soothsayer.

    "And what if we miss the time?" asked another man who was in the room, a demon.

    "We won''t," said the man named Greyson, "The time like tomorrow''s night doesn''te often, and if we are going to make use of the dark angel, we better make use of her fully."

    "They killed my sister!" said Luther, where his voice could barely contain the anger in it, "Calhoun killed her!"

    "And you will get your revenge tomorrow," Greyson responded to Luther, "But I need you to keep a straight head tomorrow. We have lost Lilith, Den and the others yesterday, something I didn''t expect. They would have still been alive if one of you didn''t try to get the dark angel who was in the vige. If I am not wrong, the actions have only made the people alert, which is why all of us need to tread carefully tomorrow."

    "What is the n?" asked Samuel.

    "Distract the King and the others, and get the girl alone before bringing her to our hideout. Make sure you don''t do anything to her because we need her alive." Greyson stressed on the word alive because a dead angel was of no use. Walter chuckled, hearing this, and Greyson raised his eyebrows, "Something you find to be funny, Walter?"

    "I think what you need to say is for everyone to be careful. She''s not a dark angel just for namesake. It would be better to have her unconscious before she is being brought here. When she was a child, she was able to kill demons," said Walter.

    "I guess I will be staying in here, considering how the High House members decided to have my face drawn and put it everywhere," said Walter, pulling out the chair and sitting down. Some of the demons had left, including the soothsayer, and Samuel, who stood there couldn''t help but be eager for tomorrow to arrive. He had scores to settle, and he would do it right.

    Back in the Hawthrone''s castle, Madeline saw Beth go back to sleep after eating and crying some more. Now standing outside Beth''s room with Calhoun, she said, "If only I knew how to summon Paschar. I would have asked him how to escape from the eyes and hold of the Svete Mortem."

    "We still aren''t sure if it came for you or Beth," replied Calhoun. It was because Madeline had seen the creature appear in their room earlier. "It might havee for anyone."

    Madeline nodded her head. With the creature of death that hade to visit the castle, she had forgotten something Monique had said to her. "There''s something I need to tell you. About the chain that was given to your mother. Monique said it was Rosamund who gave it to her."

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed at Madeline''s words. He knew Rosamund and his dear grandmother didn''t like his mother, but he would have never guessed that they would go as far as to n her death so that she would never appear at the castle. The cursed chain often took short time for the person to fall sick and die, but his mother''s body had tried to fight it, keeping her alive before her body slowly started to sumb.

    His mother had treasured it as a valuable gift, not knowing the gift held the illest intention from the giver. And all these years, Rosamund dared to step in the castle while speaking about his mother like she was of no good.

    "Cal," whispered Madeline, and Calhoun noticed her looking at something behind him. Her lips moved, but no word came out from it. Turning around to see what she saw, he caught sight of the Svette Mortem which walked towards him, keeping three steps distance from him before it stopped.

    The creature held nothing in its hands, and it stared at Calhoun, who stared right back at it.

    Madeline hoped it would walk past them, but instead, the creature raised its hand towards Calhoun and then dropped its hand back to its side. In a blink of an eye, the Svette Mortem disappeared.

 Chapter 425 Deed of the sister- Part 1

    <h4>425 Deed of the sister- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline stared at the space where the creature had been standing in front of them a second ago. Both her mouth and throat had gone dry, and she doubted she had really seen it pointing its finger at Calhoun, whether she had really seen it.

    "W-what does that mean?" her voice trembled.

    Calhoun, who stood in front of her, didn''t react. His face was nk. His expression unchanging on his face continued to prevail until he finally said, "It''s nothing."

    Madeline shook her head in disagreement, "You heard what Raphael told about the three Svette Mortem''s. The greeter, the ce maker, and then the soul taker." She took a step back, and her lips continued to tremble in uneasiness. Was Calhoun really going to die? The fear had always gued in the back of her mind, and now as they both got the confirmation, she doubted there was a need to question it anymore. Would she be the one to kill him?

    "It''s only the greeter, Madeline," Calhoun assured her. Turning aroundpletely to face her, he said, "It was just the first one."

    "Which means it has begun. The greeter of death has arrived," Madeline looked at Calhoun with her eyebrows furrowed, staring at him anxiously. "I might be the reason for your death."

    "And I told you I was going to be okay, if it is you who is going to kill me," Calhoun was not unknowledgeable to not know that Madeline understood things perfectly well. The worry she had in her mind had increased, and he didn''t want that for her. If death wasing for him, there was no stopping it because everything followed one after another until the very end.

    "But I am not okay with it," she shook her head. If she was going to be the reason for his death, Madeline doubted she would ever be able to forgive herself for it. Though she was learning to control her abilities, what if she couldn''t do it all the time? What if something like what she did to Nic happened again?

    Calhoun took a step forward towards her, closing the distance between them and he ced both his hands on her cheeks. "I know what you are thinking, but you need to believe that you won''t do that to me. I have faith in you. I doubt you will ever do anything wrong."

    Madeline closed her eyes. Trying to contain her overwhelming emotions after the creature''s visit to Calhoun. The reason why she was partly worried was not just about her going dark angelic on him, but because she remembered when she had lost control by harming the head maid for her sins. And when it came to Calhoun... Madeline opened her eyes to look back into his red eyes. He hadmitted too many sins, and she wondered if the other part of her would look over his actions because of the love she had for him.

    Calhoun''s eyes softened, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. "Only you would think something like that. Bringing the dead back alive is not easy, dear, but let''s keep that for another time because we are still alive and breathing, standing next to each other." He leaned forward while bringing her closer so that he could press his lips gently on her forehead. "Everything will be fine. You will see."

    Madeline hoped it would be fine.

    Having stayed up for most part of the night, Madeline sat next to Calhoun on a bench, outside Beth''s room while keeping an eye at the corridor before her eyes slowly started to drift to sleep. Her head rested on Calhoun''s shoulder, and her lips were slightly parted, where air passed in and out softly through it.

    Raphael stepped out of Beth''s room, leaving it open and he noticed Calhoun who was with Madeline. "You should go take her back to your room," suggested the card reader as the Queen had fallen fast asleep.

    Calhoun moved his head to his left to see Madeline, and he replied, "I doubt she would be able to fall asleep as peacefully in there as here, waiting in front of her sister''s room. She''s too kind."

    "She is," agreed Raphael, their words were low enough to not wake up the sleeping dark angel. "Elizabeth is lucky to have her as her elder sister. Not everyone is as forgiving as much as she does. I found out about a few things that she did to Lady Madeline, and they aren''t pleasant."

    Calhoun raised his eyebrow at this, waiting for Raphael to exin and the card reader continued, "I went through her past memories and found out some disturbing things. I was curious why Elizabeth felt guilty towards Lady Madeline when you didn''t even take in the poison. So I took a peek."

    What Raphael did was rude, looking at a person''s memories without the person''s permission, but Raphael was neither a human or an angel. He was a pure demon, who often went looking through other''s memories to know more about them, and to exploit it when the time came.

    "Tell me more about it," came Calhoun''s curious voice as to know what Raphael had found out.

    "You promise not to hurt the girl?" Raphael wasn''t in love with Elizabeth, but she was mixed with good and evil, and he had grown a soft spot for her in his dead heart.

    Raphael''s words only made Calhoun''s eyes narrow in wonderment as to what worse Beth could have done to his woman. "I will try not to." He would not keep promises that he didn''t intend to keep, and his actions would depend on what he would hear now. Not to forget, Elizabeth was already being punished by getting bit by the werewolf. "Speak, Raphael," ordered Calhoun, and the card reader sighed.

    He left the entrance of the room from where he had been standing until now, to walk towards Calhoun before bending down to sit on his heels. He then raised his hand, "ce your hand on mine. It would be best to keep our voices low for thedy''s sake."

    When Calhoun ced his hand on the card reader''s hand, he noticed how the things around him started to diffuse, including Raphael and Madeline, who was sitting right next to him. It was like a drop of ck ink being dissolved in water, and the surrounding changed instantly.

    He wasn''t sitting on the bench with Madeline anymore. He stood in the middle of the vige which he identified to be the vige that Madeline''s grandparents used to live in. Hearing the tower bell ring loudly, echoing through the ce, he saw the vigers start to disperse from the streets, and the sky was turning from blue and pink, to orange and purple.

    "Do you think grandma will be angry if we get backte?" he heard Madeline''s voice.

    Calhoun caught sight of Madeline and Beth walking past him. They were probably two years younger than now.

 Chapter 426 Deed of the sister- Part 2

    <h4>426 Deed of the sister- Part 2</h4>

    He heard Madeline question her sister, "Where are we going then? You said it was in the afternoon."

    "Yes, but the n has changed. You know how people often keep their eyes on us. I thought it would be better for you to meet him now, in a much quieter ce," said Beth while moving her head back and forth to make sure they were not being followed.

    "But Beth, I told you, I don''t even like him," whispered Madeline. "I think it would be better to go back home."

    "Don''t be scared, Maddie. He just wants to confess to you. He said how much he loves you and wants to ask papa for your hand. Don''t you think he''s handsome?" asked Beth.

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, wondering about whom the girls were speaking about. As far as he knew, the only person Madeline had liked before him was James Heathcliff. Madeline turned to look at Beth, that allowed him to see half of her face where she had pressed her lips. "I think you took it the wrong way when Iplimented himst time, Beth."

    Beth was being pushy, and she asked in a surprised tone, "You don''t? This is going to be really embarrassing. I told ke that you like him too."

    "What?" Madeline furrowed her eyebrows, "Why would you say something like that?"

    "Well, you have been speaking about him and helping him since we came here. What am I going to say to him now? His heart is going to break when he finds the truth." Beth put a sad face, and even though Calhoun was not part of the past, he was only the viewer in here, and he could easily look past the flimsy mask, to see Beth''s true intentions.

    Madeline sighed, "You were the one who said it, you fix it. Or we can both speak to him now."

    "Me?" Beth asked, surprised. "Oh, dear. I feel like he might kill me alive," and she gave out a nervousugh. "I was speaking to him about building castles with you."

    "Beth!" Madeline scolded.

    "I am sorry! I am sorry! I really thought you liked him. You do awfully spend a lot of time with him," Beth brought her hand to scratch her neck. "What are we going to do, Maddie? Let me go clear the things to ke."

    "Yes," said Madeline with a firm tone. But when they reached the ce, the person was not there. "Did he forget?"

    "He must bete. Maybe he''s still at work. Um, why don''t you stay here, and I will see if he''s at home or in the market? This way, we will not miss him," said Beth to her sister. "We''ll be leaving tomorrow early in the morning back to East Carswell and we may not meet him for some time again. But then imagine if hees home, asking papa for your hand?"

    Calhoun saw Madeline waiting for Beth before she stepped inside the hut when it started to drizzle. Folding both her hands together and walking in circles. She and Beth had walked far enough near an isted hut away from the other houses of the vige. He followed her footsteps, until she took a sharp turn, and gasped as if she could see him.

    "Madeline," Calhoun whispered her name, looking at her innocent face that was filled with surprise. He doubted she could see him. "Who are you people?!" Frowning, he turned around to see two men who had entered the hut.

    "Isn''t she pretty?" said one of the men who was lean and skinny.

    "Indeed, she is. Looks like she is in need of some love," said the other one who had a beard, closing the feeble door of the hut. The two men stepped closer to her. "Dressed up nice, and alone at this hour, how much do you cost?"

    Madeline took a step backwards, "You have got it wrong. I am waiting for my sister here." She tried to get away from there, but the two men blocked her way, minimizing her space.

    The skinny man came near her, and said, "We don''t mind if your sister joins us. Standing in a lonely hut, and you tell we got it wrong? How much money do you want?"

    "Please leave! Help!" Madeline shouted, and the man with beard quickly covered her mouth, "Mffhgf!" came the muffled words from her.

    Seeing this, Calhoun''s blood boiled, and his hand went to get hold of the two men, but his hands only passed through them as they were not real, and it was only a memory. His hands turned to fists, and he gritted his teeth at the inability to do anything as he could only stand by and watch.

    "Fuck!" he cursed in anger.

    Madeline tried to kick and p the two men, but the men had caught hold of her hands, and that''s when Calhoun heard footstepsing from outside. He quickly passed through the door and saw Beth standing outside the hut.

    Beth could hear the muffled sounds of Madeline and the voices of two mening from the inside the hut. Her hand went to reach out for the door before it fell back to her side where she had a startled look on her face. She took a step back, staring at it without making an effort to go inside the hut. She took a step to the side, not realizing the puddle of wet mud that was next to her, she stepped into the puddle for her shoes to cover itself in mud along with the hem of her dress turned muddy and she flinched away from there.

    A cry for help escaped Madeline''s lips, but Beth couldn''t hear it. She took another step back ready to leave, taking nearly fifteen steps away from the hut before she came to meet a young man with blonde hair.

    "Where''s Madeline?" he questioned Beth. Her lips moved, but she couldn''t make up words as if she forgot what she was doing there.

    She shook her head, "I left her somewhere here, but I don''t know where she went," she replied to him with a worried look, while looking up at him longingly. "We were looking for you. She must be somewhere there. Let me go see," she said, pointing her finger in the opposite direction of the hut.

    Before they could start looking for Madeline, a scream erupted from the hut, and the young man without waiting quickly kicked the door open, before throwing the men away from the young blonde girl who looked frightened. Madeline had tears filled in her eyes, her body trembling in fear with her clothes still intact.

    The scene slowly started to dissolve around Calhoun, and he was back to the present where he had been sitting earlier.

 Chapter 427 Deed of the sister- Part 3

    <h4>427 Deed of the sister- Part 3</h4>

    "How dare she call her as her sister," came the threatening words from Calhoun.

    The blood in Calhoun''s body boiled out of rage, and he made Madeline lean against the wall, when Raphael said, "She regrets it."

    Calhoun red at Raphael. He stood up, taking one step after another towards the card reader before towering him as he was two inches taller, "Do you know what could have happened if the man didn''t hear Madeline scream for help?"

    Raphael nodded his head, "It is the most terrible thing a woman could do to another woman, to allow a male to prey upon. But I know she regrets her past actions now."

    "She might regret it right now, and it might be easy to me her personality for being something that was molded by her grandparents. But there''s something called consciousness, which most demons and vampires ignore while the humans often ponder," said Calhoun, his eyes aze after seeing how Beth had refused to offer her help to Madeline. "What is the guarantee that her personality will not flip again like before? Don''t tell me you have never experienced people changing personalities and their behaviour to the way they used to be again."

    For a moment, Raphael stayed quiet. A while ago, he was taken aback when he saw the memory surface above Beth''s mind. He had met many people in the past, lived more years than what people perceived his age to be, but this had been surprising.

    "I don''t think she understood the severity of her actions in the past, but she does now, which is why the girl is gued by memories of her wrongful actions," stated Raphael, his eyebrows furrowed in thought and he nced at Madeline who continued to stay asleep. "There was another memory that I picked upon. It must have taken ce the same time when this incident took ce."

    Calhoun raised his hand forward, waiting for Raphael to give his hand so that he could look at the next piece of memory. The card reader carefully stretched his hand forward below the King''s hand.

    Again the surrounding around him disappeared, and Calhoun now stood in a room where Madeline was lying on the bed with her eyes wide open. Her grandmother, who was sitting at the edge of the bed, said,

    If Calhoun had the ability, he would have caught hold of the older woman''s neck right this instant and ripped it apart slowly, so that she would know what pain felt like. How could they let the men go without giving them any punishment?! Calhoun wanted to find those men right away and beat them until they could not walk or see the next day.

    "You will be alright, right?" asked Madeline''s grandmother and the young girl gave a small nod. "Beth," the older woman called the girl, who hovered at the door of the room.

    "Yes, grandmother," answered Beth.

    "Make sure to keep your sisterpany and don''t let her feel lonely. What happened today was an unfortunate incident. It would also be a lesson to both of you that you should return home early rather than wander by yourself. Sometimes no ce is safe," said the woman before bending down and kissing Madeline''s forehead. "Now rest and dream something good. I promise you would have forgotten everything bad that happened today and start the new day as nothing happened once you wake up."

    Their grandmother got up from the bed, looking at both the girls before stepping out of the room. Beth stared at Madeline, and Calhoun tried to find an ounce of guilt on Beth''s face, but there was none of it.

    "Are you doing okay?" asked Beth in a low voice from where she stood at the door, and Madeline stared at Beth before nodding her head.

    "Did Mr. ke leave?" questioned Madeline, and Beth shook her head.

    "Grandpa was speaking to him in the living room a while ago. But ke has left now and gone to his own house. I thanked him on your behalf foring to your aid," said Beth, and she then stepped inside the room that they used to sleep in, closing the door behind her.

    Beth walked around the other side of the bed, getting her pillow ready, and then sliding inside the nket. "Do you want me to keep the lights on?" she asked Madeline.

    "No," whispered her sister, "You can blow the candles."

    Not needing to be told twice, Beth leaned forward towards the candle-stand that was on the side stand. Once she had blown out all the candles, she slid back in the bed and ced her head on the pillow with little to no words to spare for her sister, who was nearly assaulted today.

    A few minutes passed before Madeline asked Beth, "Did you clean your shoes?"

    Beth, who had her back facing Madeline, slowly turned towards Madeline in the darkness of the room. "Shoes? Why?" There was a tone of puzzlement in Beth''s voice.

    Madeline didn''t answer right away, and she took her time as if gathering her thoughts. "Back in there, you stepped in the puddle of water that was outside the hut."

    Beth herself didn''t remember what Madeline was speaking about and when it finally dawned on her about her shoes and her dress that got dirty, a deep frown formed on her forehead in the dark.

    Her eyes then suddenly widened. How did Madeline know that she had stepped in it?!

    "I-I will be cleaning them tomorrow," answered Beth, and without another question, she turned her back again to get some sleep, with a doubt of how hovering on her mind.

    "I see," came the dull answer from Madeline, who had been staring in Beth''s direction, before pulling the nket close to her neck while staring at the darkness around her.

    When Madeline was being held by the men, she had tried to get away from their hold, while looking at the door hoping that someone would barge in and help her. The hut had been built in such a way that the bottom part of the walls of the hut had an opening, letting one know if someone was standing outside.

    She had caught sight of her sister''s shoes from the gap of the hut, standing out there for a long time without moving to help her. Thinking about it, Madeline took a deep breath before exhaling it out.

    .

    Note: You can find my other books by tapping on my profile. Or search the books by their names: Valerian Empire, Heidi and the Lord, Bambi and the Duke, Young Master Damien''s pet, Belle Adams'' Butler.

 Chapter 428 Unheard: What happened

    <h4>428 Unheard: What happened</h4>

    .

    Madeline stared at the darkness above her. She thought about what happened back there in the hut today. The incident that took ce today had scared her, leaving her shaken, but worse was that her sister had stood outside as if Beth didn''t know she was in there being attacked by two men.

    "Beth?" Madeline called her sister, but receiving no response, she believed Beth was asleep. She didn''t know why, but something didn''t feel right to her. Seconds passed followed by minutes, and Madeline continued toy down on the bed, wide awake.

    After some time, she heard some sounds that wereing from outside the room, and wondering if her grandparents were awake at this hour of the night. She got up to sit upright on the bed. With the moon that showed itself in the sky, the moonlight fell into the room, and she could see things better than before now.

    With more soundsing from outside, she carefully pushed her nket to the side and got out of the bed without waking Beth. Her family was everything to Madeline. She wondered if Beth had got scared and worried, which was why she didn''t get inside the hut.

    Padding her feet carefully towards the door, she heard the angry voice of her grandfather, "What were you thinking by doing something like that?! I thought we had already dropped the matter and decided to keep an eye on her."

    Madeline furrowed her eyebrows, wondering about whom her grandfather was speaking about. Being inside the room, it was hard to eavesdrop on their conversation, and her hand reached out for the knob of the door, and turning it around, she stepped out of the room. It seemed like her grandparents were in their room, and they just happened to raise their voice which was why she was able to hear them.

    "Because nothing dies that easily. We might have put her in the coffin, but that hasn''t changed anything!" whispered her grandmother. "Sometimes I can sense the tinge of darkness around her, radiating because of who she might be."

    "Rubbish!" her grandfather dismissed his wife''s words. "It''s been many years since she has been out and since then she has shown no sign of it. It only means the curse has moved to someone else."

    "I know you don''t believe in it. But I was close to finding out today. Mary said-"

    "Mary is delusional. She thinks she knows better than what we know," came the stern voice of the old man. Madeline made sure to hide behind the wall and not be noticed by them. "She is not like us. You know how our lineage works. If I hadn''t got there on time, things would have gone haywire."

    The older man turned around, his forehead held a deep frown and his eyes narrowed. "You think the girls won''t find it to be suspicious? We have been manipting their memory for a long time. Don''t you know how it works? The more we manipte, the more space forms in their minds which will make them question before trying to get an answer for it."

    Madeline''s eyes widened hearing this, and her lips parted before pressing them together when she heard her grandmother chuckle.

    "They are children. They have never questioned before, to do it now. And I have always been good when ites to hiding their memory," said the woman. "I was so close, and you put back the spell of sound so that Beth and that useless man could hear the sounding from the inside the hut."

    "I did what was right. Going after something evil and then hoping something evil wille of use by harming our granddaughters is not something I will stand for. They are both humans, and we have verified it. Don''t pull a stunt like this again," said her grandfather in a stern voice. Madeline stepped away from the wall, taking a step back for her back to hit something or someone.

    When she turned around, Madeline came to face Beth. How long had she been standing here? Madeline brought her hands up to her lips.

    "What are you doing here?" whispered Beth in question. "What did grandpa mean?"

    Before Madeline could respond to the question, both the girls heard their grandfather say, "Fix it right now. Erase the memory. We don''t want anyone asking questions." Madeline quickly held Beth''s hand and pulled her back to the room. Closing the door shut, she took her sister back to the bed.

    "What''s going on, Maddie? What did grandma mean?" questioned Beth with a confused look on her face.

    It seemed like Beth had heard only half of the things their grandparents had said while it was Madeline who had heard most of it. Her grandparents would be here at any moment, and for the first time, Madeline was more scared of her very own people than the strangers outside the house.

    "Beth, what happened today?" questioned Madeline, staring into Beth in the moderately dark room. She had not pressed for an answer earlier, but she wanted to know now, "Quick!"

    Beth furrowed her eyebrows, "I was looking for you. I came near the hut and thought that I heard your voice, but then I heard growling soundsing from the hut. I mistook it, and I don''t know why. I was going to reach out for the door, but I couldn''t. It was like for a moment, I forgot something."

    Madeline bit her lip. "Y-you weren''t sure if I was in there?" Was that true, then? What her grandma told her grandpa? Was grandma the one to who had sent the two men? Fear trickled down her body.

    "I feel guilty, and I am sorry I didn''t open the door! I don''t know what happened. One moment I heard your voice and the next, there were these growls. But when I saw you in there after ke pushed the door��" Beth looked down, unable to meet Madeline''s eyes.

    Beth didn''t know how it happened and why it happened. But after returning home and before heading to bed, shame had settled into her bones, and she didn''t know how to make amends. The thought of Madeline mistaking her actions of what happened made it even worse.

    "Get to bed, quick," whispered Madeline on hearing footsteps approaching their room.

    Beth had no idea of what was going on, but seeing Madeliney down on the bed, pulling the nket to her neck before closing her eyes, she did the same. Soon the door of the room opened and in came their grandma.

    The woman had brought a candle along with her, and she came to stand next to Madeline. cing the candle on the bedside, she ran her aged hand over Madeline''s head while the girls acted as if they were fast asleep.

    A sigh escaped from the woman''s lips, and she said, "I am going to get rid of the bad memories of what happened today. You will wake up tomorrow as if nothing happened and that it was all just a dream that never happened." The woman then whispered something under her breath.

    Unable to resist, Beth, who had closed her eyes, slowly opened them. She saw her grandmother ce her hands on Madeline''s temples. Her sister''s body jerked, and it had Beth worry about what was going on in here. What was her grandmother muttering? When Madeline gasped before her body turned ck as if she had turned unconscious, Beth turned concerned. She quickly closed her eyes when her grandmother looked her way.

    Even though Beth had closed her eyes, she could feel the brightness increase around her as their grandmother came to her side of the bed, and Beth''s body turned rigid, but she continued to keep her eyes closed.

    Beth heard her grandmother whisper something incoherent, anguage she had never heard before. The old woman then ced her hands on Beth''s temples'', and the muttering continued, but unlike Madeline, Beth''s body didn''t jerk.

    The older woman looked satisfied with the work she had done here, and she blew out the candle that she had carried in here before closing the door behind her.

    When the morning arrived, at the time of breakfast where both the girls were going to leave the vige of Carnival to go back to their parent''s ce, their grandmother asked, "Did you both have a good time here in the vige?"

    Beth was quiet, helping her grandfather in spreading butter on the bread when her eyes raised to look at Madeline. Her sister smiled.

    "We did, grandma. We''ll be sure to visit as soon as we can again. Right, Beth?" on Madeline''s question, Beth was slightly confused. So much had happened, and Madeline said they had a good time?

    "I guess," replied Beth. Once she was done with the bread, she said, "I was wondering if I could go meet Mr. ke-"

    "For what?" came the sharp tone of their grandmother.

    Beth sensed the hostility, something that Madeline overlooked. "I had to give him the book I borrowed from him. Both Madeline and I were thinking about visiting him before we leave."

    "You can give it to us, Elizabeth. Mr. ke has left the vige and won''t being anytime soon," this time it was their grandfather who had responded to her words. "Do you remember what happened yesterday, Madeline?" The question was direct without being beaten around.

    Madeline nodded her head, "Beth and I went to the market to get the watermelon seeds to nt in the backyard of our house. We then went to visit Mrs. Heckle before returning home."

    Beth wondered if she had dreamt what happened because yesterday had not been a good day.

    "And what about you, Elizabeth?" her grandfather questioned her, his eyes staring straight into her. She put up a smile.

    "We had delicious tea at Mrs. Heckle''s house, Maddie forgot about the biscuits," said Beth and this pleased their grandparents.

    "Wonderful," chimed her grandmother, and Beth caught the subtle exchange between the two older people''s eyes in the room.

    Once when Beth and Madeline left the vige in the carriage, Beth decided to bring up the topic about what happened yesterday because everyone behaved like nothing bad had happened. There had been many times in the past where Madeline had taken the attention of the men whom Beth liked, which had filled her heart with envy, but that didn''t mean she would do something like that to Madeline.

    Her grandparents had behaved strangely and the way her grandmother looked at her, it was like she had a look of suspicion in her eyes.

    "Um, Maddie?"

    "Yes?" Madeline turned from looking through the window to face Beth. "Did you forget something?"

    Beth didn''t know how to say it, but she tried, "About yesterday-"

    "We should go to Mrs. Heckle''s home again. She enjoys both ourpany, doesn''t she?" While Madeline went ahead in speaking about the tea, Beth noticed how her sister had forgotten the bad things that took ce yesterday.

    "It''s aboutst night about grandma and grandpa," Beth chose her words carefully, but Madeline had a nk look.

    "What about them?" asked Madeline, and Beth shook her head.

    "Nothing," replied Beth before looking out of the window. Her grandmother had done something to Madeline. As her sister didn''t seem to be bothered by it, Beth decided to drop and forget the incident.

 Chapter 429 Visitants- Part 1

    <h4>429 Visitants- Part 1</h4>

    Though it looked like Beth had not attempted to help Madeline, there were some factors to look at, like how it was their grandmother who had sent the men at Madeline so that her dark angel abilities would trigger again.

    If Calhoun knew about this earlier, he wouldn''t have left the old folks to die that easily. He would have ripped their eyeballs before torturing them until they wished death upon themselves. The question here was if Madeline''s sister would have screamed for help if their grandmother didn''t intervene in the situation by putting a spell on the hut.

    "I know you want to kill her," said Raphael, and Calhoun''s eyes snapped to look at the card reader.

    Calhoun didn''t bother to respond to Raphael''s words. Remembering the helplessness Madeline felt when she was in the hut, her muffled words boiled his blood. Her grandparents were nothing but a piece of shit who had never cared about her. They had put her through so many situations, yet she had the heart to worry for them.

    "Do you know where that man went? The person named ke," asked Calhoun, his eyes burning?in question.

    "I don''t think either of them knows," answered Raphael, "Isn''t it strange that what her grandmother did to Lady Madeline didn''t affect Lady Elizabeth?"

    This was also something that Calhoun had questioned in his mind.

    "It looks like the girl is not aplete human either. Unless she built some sort of resistance to the old hag''s abilities,"mented Calhoun. When both the men heard the sounde from inside of the room, Calhoun ordered, "Stay here with Madeline. I have something to discuss with her."

    And Calhoun got up from where he was sitting and stepped into the room where Beth was.

    The bite that Beth received from the werewolf was changing and destroying her internally, making it unable for her to have a sound sleep. She groaned in pain, and when her eyes opened, she caught sight of the King who had a cold expression on his face.

    "How does it feel knowing you are going to die soon?" asked Calhoun. The question was enough to have Beth look at him in shock, and she looked frightened.

    "I-I am going to d-die?" stuttered Beth.

    "Yes."

    Calhoun pulled out the chair that was in the room, bringing it towards the bed, and he sat down crossing his legs one over the other.

    Beth had a look of horror on her face. Madeline had given her hope that they would do something, speaking about some antidote that existed as a cure. Was it not there anymore?

    "She''s sleeping. She got tired and fell asleep," replied Calhoun, staring at Beth''s face, who was in a mode of panic. "You know what people do when they are going to die? They start reminiscing, and I am here for it before you die."

    Raphael, who stood outside sighed but he didn''t go to interrupt the conversation that was taking ce between thedy and Calhoun in the room. He wasn''t sure if Elizabeth would die before the venom of the werewolf would break her body or if Calhoun would kill her by his hands or by his words.

    Back inside the room, Beth couldn''t believe that she was going to die. She had lived only for a few years, and she was yet to marry and have children, and she was horrified, thinking she was going to die now!

    "I-I don''t want to die," pleaded Beth and Calhoun hummed.

    "Don''t worry, Lady Elizabeth. I have heard people say that the dying person barely feels the pain. How does it feel, though, to end up in the situation you were digging for your sister in the past." Beth didn''t understand Calhoun''s words.

    "I didn''t dig anything." And just as Bethpleted her words, the vase that was not too far away from her left side, broke into pieces.

    "Jealousy makes people do unexinable things. Remember what Markus did and what you tried to do," Calhoun reminded her, "Don''t think I have forgotten how you are and what you did. Madeline might forgive you, but I haven''t. My eyes will always be on you."

    Fear filled Beth, and she turned nervous. She bowed her head, "Forgive me, my King. I am trying to make my amends. Please forgive my actions."

    "Is it worth forgiving you?" asked Calhoun in a calm voice. Beth looked up at Calhoun. "A mistakemitted once, twice or even five times can be overlooked, but I don''t know why. I feel like if I allow you around Madeline, you will have her throat slit to save yourself. Am I wrong?"

    Calhoun red down at Beth without sparing an ounce of sympathy towards her.

    "I would like to think that it was all your grandparent''s fault, but you knew what happened that day in the hut. Yet, until now, you didn''t think about her happiness. You realized I would send you straight to a ce far worse than hell, and it was then you decided it was time to change."

    Beth shook nervously, the pain that she felt in her leg was negligiblepared to the way the King was looking at her.

    "I never meant any harm to befall on her," Beth shook her head, and her eyes were quick to well up in tears. "I wish I had entered the hut, but I don''t know why I couldn''t. Please, I didn''t mean any ill towards Madeline."

    "It''s something I find very hard to digest." The intensity in Calhoun''s eyes didn''t drop. He tapped his finger on the armrest. "What if I tell you that the antidote I have foundes from sacrificing Madeline''s life. Would you want to be saved?"

 Chapter 430 Visitants- Part 2

    <h4>430 Visitants- Part 2</h4>

    She was not proud of her past, and if she could, she would like to forget every wrong doing of hers. But the problem was that she couldn''t. She didn''t know what her grandparents had been up to in the past because it was only that night did her grandma whisper things that she didn''t understand. Beth didn''t know how the King found out, but she meant it when she said, she didn''t mean any ill towards Madeline.

    She knew staying mum was going to be of no use. Therefore she opened her mouth to speak, "I did terrible things in the past, I-"

    "I didn''t question you about what you did or how you feel right now. My question was if you are willing to sacrifice your sister to keep yourself alive," Calhoun looked at Beth with sharp eyes. "You are already aware of how there are people who want to kill Madeline. I am asking because who knows, one of them might one day approach you to trade for the antidote in exchange for Madeline''s life."

    Beth didn''t know how to answer it. She had never wanted to hurt her sister and now she was trying to be a good person. And the thought about her turning to a werewolf scared her. When she didn''t reply, another vase broke in the room, and Beth looked startled at Calhoun who red at her. Was the King breaking the vases out of anger?

    "Even if I said, I don''t want the antidote like that, you wouldn''t believe me," whispered Beth.

    "You''ve got that right," responded Calhoun. He tilted his head, "You might be nice now, but what if you flip back? You have given me no reason to trust you, Elizabeth Harris. Forging the letter, trying to belittle Madeline, going as far as to attempt treason. You have quite some list in there."

    "You might not believe me, but I will not put Madeline''s life in harm. The only reason I didn''t bring up the matter again because I was confused about what transpired that night. The next morning when I tried bringing it up, it was as if Madeline didn''t remember what happened. I had seen the look on her face that night when it happened, and I felt guilty," Beth finally confessed.

    "Guilt? About what? A person with guilt shows empathy, tries to make amends or did you lose your memory like how Madeline''s memory was lost?" Calhoun''s eyes narrowed at Beth.

    "No��" whispered Beth, "I-I don''t know what my grandmother tried, but whatever she did it was like Madeline forgot, but I didn''t. I think she did some kind of hypnosis."

    "And you never questioned it?" interrogated Calhoun and Beth shook her head.

    Beth had a desperate look on her face, not because she didn''t want to be killed, but because she didn''t want to carry the guilt with her anymore. Along with Madeline, she had tried to forget about it too, but since she had started to own up to her actions, the things she did before, had started to weigh more in her mind.

    Though Calhoun looked like he was ready to snap her neck, he listened to every word that was uttered from Beth''s mouth, looking at her expressions keenly and listening to her heartbeat. He had kept a close eye on her, and even though her actions right now were sincere, Calhoun continued to look at her maliciously.

    "What can I do to fix it?" asked Beth, knowing no matter what she woulde up with it would never be enough.

    "I am not the one who damaged the things around. It was you," Calhoun stood up, pulling out the gun and Beth''s eyes widened with horror. "Either ways you are going to die because of the werewolf bite, I will only help you speed up the process." He offered Beth a smile, and she noticed how his actions didn''t sync with his facial expression.

    The King had killed many people in the past, and for her past actions, Beth knew the King would not blink his eyes when it came to killing her. Tears streamed down from her eyes. She didn''t know what to do.

    "How about I remind Madeline about what you did, and let her decide if you are worth to live around her or I can help you save your face. This way, Madeline will continue to believe that you are a good sister who was changing for good," stated Calhoun.

    Beth''s face turned pale.

    "No, please!" she pleaded, her voiceing out as a whisper. It was after many years did she and Madeline start to have a proper sisterly bond. Beth didn''t want to jeopardize it.

    "I will give you an easier choice. Let Madeline know about every single deed of yours or you dying. I will make it quick." Calhoun pulled the cork behind, and Beth''s heart rate increased in terror.

    Beth didn''t know what she was supposed to do now. She could already feel the shame filling her mind by thinking about Madeline knowing about her past deeds, and more tears spilt down on her cheeks. Anyways she was going to die because of the werewolf''s bite, thought Beth to herself.

    Calhoun hadn''t dropped his hand down, and hearing another sound of the cork, Beth closed her eyes, readying herself to die. For a couple of seconds, she sat there unmoving, waiting for the gunshot, but it never came.

    Just as Beth opened her eyes, Calhoun pulled the trigger and the sound of the gunshot echoed.

 Chapter 431 People at the doorstep- Part 1

    <h4>431 People at the doorstep- Part 1</h4>

    "The Salvete Mortem was here with the axe in its hand," answered Calhoun, staring at Beth before he turned around to look at Madeline with a bright smile on his face. "It disappeared after hearing the gunshot."

    Madeline looked around the room, then looked at Beth who was awake, "Are you alright? Did it harm you?"

    Beth didn''t know what to say because she didn''t know what was going on again. Before she could say something, Calhoun said,

    "Don''t worry, my sweet. Until I am here, I will make sure your sister will be safe."

    Beth had a look of shock on her face because of the bullet that hit next to her. Calhoun had aimed the gun straight at her before he had pulled the trigger, and she had flinched back in fear, not realizing that Calhoun had moved his hand one second before pulling the trigger, missing the aim at her to shoot right behind the headboard of the bed. She was sure she would die, but now that she was still alive, she stared at Calhoun in disbelief, who stared back at her.

    "Do you think it wille back?" questioned Madeline. Beth, who had no idea of who this Salvete Mortem was, looked at them with a puzzled look on her face.

    "Not for a while at least. You can stay here with her," suggested Calhoun and Madeline nodded her head.

    Beth looked more than disoriented. Calhoun had not killed her and had let her live. Then why did he pull the trigger? She couldn''t believe when Calhoun suggested Madeline to stay in here with her?

    Calhoun''s gaze had not left Beth, and he continued to stare at her. "With the second greeter of death who showed up here, you can keep an eye on it if it appears again because I doubt your sister can see it."

    Madeline sighed, "Beth, don''t worry. I won''t let anything bad happen to you, okay?" She walked to her sister and sat down on the bed. "I will be right here with you." Right now, Beth needed Madeline around her more than anyone else. She didn''t know if the King had let her off the hook for now, but if there was someone who wanted her alive, it was Madeline.

    "I will be back soon," informed Calhoun, and Madeline gave him a nod.

    Sparing one more look at his sister-inw, Calhoun stepped out of the room. He found Raphael sitting in the same ce where he had been sitting earlier. The card reader stared at the King, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

    "Did you get the answers which you were looking for?" asked Raphael. He had heard the entire conversation that took ce in the room while making sure not to interrupt Calhoun.

    Raphael, who kept his feet with Calhoun, raised his eyebrows in question, "Blockage?"

    Torches on the walls lit up as they walked in the empty and dark corridor every time when Calhoun''s feet stepped near the torches on the walls, and they exhausted themselves when he walked past them.

    "Apart from losing memories and having a reset where you start from where the intruderst visited the memory, there are times where memories changes. Every time a spell is put on the person, it builds a wall to hide the memory, and the wall builds so much that there is no more space left to hide the memories. But I believe there is a slight modification when ites to Miss Elizabeth''s case," exined Calhoun, "As much as her actions were driven through emotions that were filled in by her grandparents, the old memories have stayed intact. After seeing what happened to Madeline, she must have created a block that caused the spell to not have any effect on her. She has probably turned immune to it."

    "So it''s not because she is an angel?" inquired Raphael and Calhoun shook his head.

    "ording to thedy in the graveyard, Paschar had only one child, which is Madeline. Being the firstborn to Mr. and Mrs. Harris, Madeline must have taken up all the genes that left Beth as human as one can find the person to be," stated Calhoun. "It seems like she''s trying to fix things and I will give her a chance. But if shepses back to her previous behaviour, you know what happens after that."

    Raphael didn''t say anything. When he had heard things breaking inside the room, the card reader came to believe it was Elizabeth who was breaking it, but all the while, it was the King who had tried to intimidate her.

    The reason Calhoun had shot near Beth was to see if she held the same ability as Madeline. Dark angel''s abilities yed differently in each person. Beth was driven by harmful desires in the past, while Madeline was driven through kinder thoughts. And fortunately, the roles that each of the sisters held was not destructive.

    Another reason why Calhoun had not shot at Beth even though he remembered Madeline''s tear-streaked face was that his wife had stayed next to Beth for years, and until now she had never turned dark angelic to give Beth''s judgment. This only meant subconsciously, Madeline had a sense of hope for her sister, and she saw the goodness which some of them failed to see.

    "So what now?" questioned Raphael.

    With what Calhoun noticed, it only looked like it was the start of something big, and it had him on alert.

    "There are other things in this castle. Apart from the guests who are already here in the castle," said Calhoun. His footsteps stopped when he caught sight of the boney stag-like face creature walking past the corridor. Raphael looked in the direction of where Calhoun was looking, but he saw nothing but emptiness in there. "Something big is going to happen," and Calhoun''s eyes narrowed when the first Salvete Mortem disappeared behind the wall of the corridor.

    Calhoun''s eyes caught sight of something, and he stepped towards therge window that started from the ground to stretch until the ceiling.

    He saw four more creatures that stood like the stone-like statues in the castle''s grounds. They didn''t enter the castle, but they continued to stand there as if waiting for something to happen.

    "It would be quite unfortunate if the girl dies because of the werewolf''s bite,"mented Calhoun. "Get the guards positioned. Change the old ones to the new ones whom I appointed recently so that it safeguards the boundaries of the castle and also the ones who are inside."

    Raphael looked slightly taken aback at Calhoun''s serious tone. To the pure demon, he didn''t see anything on the castle grounds through the window.

    "I will go see what Monique has found out," said Calhoun, leaving the card reader standing in front of the window.

    .

 Chapter 432 People at the doorstep- Part 2

    <h4>432 People at the doorstep- Part 2</h4>

    "Raphael said until the third one doesn''t appear, you are still safe. The creature cannot take you away with it, Beth," Madeline consoled her sister.

    Beth sniffed. After Calhoun had left the room, she felt the heavyweight she had been carrying on her shoulders had finally started to break down along with her, leaving her in tears by thinking of her past actions. She was too ashamed to speak about it, and she didn''t know if her sister would ever forgive her for the other things, which Calhoun had not brought up with her.

    Madeline patted her sister''s back, "Nothing will happen to you. You heard what Calhoun said. He will not let any harm befall on you."

    Taking a deep trembling breath of air inside through her mouth, Beth asked, "Did you see that creature next to my bed?" Beth knew the King had lied about it being in the room.

    "Once."

    Madeline saw Beth close her eyes and more tears spilt on her face. "It must be because you are an angel that you can see it."

    "I guess," answered Madeline. Even Calhoun could see it, but he was not an angel, but a demon. It was a mystery on how things worked in this world, which they were previously unaware about. "Do you want me to get you something to eat or drink? I can ask the maid for it."

    Beth shook her head. She had lost the appetite to eat, and she doubted she would be able to sleep peacefully, knowing the clock of death had started to tick for her. "Where are you going?" she asked rmed when Madeline stood up from the bed.

    Madeline offered Beth a smile, "Right here in the room." She walked towards the broken vases. Bringing her hand forward, she brought the ss pieces up in the air, and her eyes stared at them. They started to mend one after another before the vase turned into its original shape. She fixed the other vase and then got back to stay next to Beth.

    When morning arrived where the sun had finallye out of the clouds for a few minutes. After finishing breakfast, Lady Lucy arrived at Beth''s door.

    "Good morning to the Queen and Lady Elizabeth," greeted the vampiress, who was apanied by her far rtive, Ethan Morryet. The vampire offered his polite bow at them. "How are you doing now, Lady Elizabeth?" asked Lucy.

    "I am doing fine, Lady Lucy," answered Beth for the courtesy''s sake being polite, when in truth, she was having the worst time of her life, not knowing when she would die.

    "My Queen," the man bowed his head deep again, "I am Ethan Morryet. I didn''t get to introduce myself properly."

    "Madeline Hawthrone," greeted Madeline with a small bow.

    "Tomorrow morning Ethan will be travelling with me to the mansion that I spoke to you about a few days ago. He has been kind enough to provide me with help there," informed Lucy and Madeline looked slightly surprised.

    "Are you travelling tomorrow?" asked Madeline. "I thought that you would be staying here longer."

    "My apologies, Lady Madeline. Both Ethan and I were discussing about the mansion, and I realized it needs some alterations so that I can start living there for the time being." Lucy had a smile on her face, and Madeline couldn''t help but return it, while at the same time, she wondered how genuine the smile was on the vampiress'' lips. "Ethan lives not too far away from there, and I can settle in there at the earliest without bothering brother Calhoun."

    Madeline didn''t know much about this far rtive of Lady Lucy, but since she had got married, Lucy seemed like she was spending more time with Ethan in the castle, and she looked happy.

    "Let me know if you need anything," said Madeline to Lucy. Before she was the Queen of Devon and Lucy a princess, they were both people who were friends and almost like sisters.

    Lucy nodded her head, "I will, mdy."

    And while they spent time talking to each other in the room, keeping Bethpany, Beth felt some sort of uneasiness in her leg. She tried to switch her leg''s position, but not too much as she didn''t want the wound to be poked at. She felt a sudden pain and the next moment, it was gone.

    "Beth?" asked Madeline, being attentive to her sister''s reactions.

    "Something felt strange, but I am okay now. I don''t feel the pain anymore." Beth moved her leg underneath the nket and she wondered if the wound healed itself?

    Madeline''s eyes fell on Beth''s legs that were beneath the nket, and she felt something to be visually odd about it.

    Taking a step closer to the bed, Madeline ced her hand on Beth''s leg, and Beth smiled, "I think I am all healed," said her sister.

    Ethan Morryet being the gentleman, he turned his head to the other side, walking towards the window, stood there with his back against them. Madeline pulled one side of the nket before slowly removing the bandages. Beth''s leg revealed the wound that had now disappeared.

    "This is a miracle," whispered Lucy. "I have never heard about people healing without turning to a werewolf. Usually, when they heal, the person shows aggression, but everything here looks normal."

    Beth had a hopeful look on her face, "Does this mean I won''t turn to a werewolf?"

    Madeline didn''t know what to say. The werewolf''s bite seemed to have not affected Beth the way everyone had thought it would. Maybe Beth had acquired some of her abilities from their grandparents? She thought in her mind.

    Beth''s lips trembled in a smile of relief, and she was about to get out of the bed, ready to walk when her eyebrows furrowed, and in doubt, she moved the entire nket that had been draped on her. Her eyes widened, and her jaw fell ck.

    "W-what is that?" asked Beth with a gasp.

    The vampire who had turned his back turned out at the surprised gasp in the room and his eyes widened.

    Madeline felt her heart drop seeing Beth''s leg that had increased not only in size but also in its appearance as it had turned furry. Beth''s leg looked just like werewolves would. On seeing the wound vanish, they had believed Beth had gotten better, but no one would have guessed that her other leg had changed. It was just a matter of time before her body would slowly transform to a wild beast.

    "I will call brother Calhoun," said Lucy to Madeline, leaving the room with Ethan.

    "This is why the creature was here. Because I am going to die once I turn to a werewolf," whispered Beth. She couldn''t stop staring at her beast-like leg, and it was nothing less to a nightmare. She was going to turn into a hideous beast.

 Chapter 433 People at the doorstep- Part 3

    <h4>433 People at the doorstep- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Calhoun took a look at Beth''s leg from afar, and he took Madeline to the side to speak to her. "So far there''s no response from Monique''s men. Most people never get past the forest and often die or return scared, after breaking their limbs."

    This meant getting hold of the antidote was not going to be easy. "Do you think we should go and find it?" asked Madeline. She turned her head, ncing at Beth who was staring into space with a nk expression on her face. At first, her sister had panicked, but then Beth had stopped reacting like she had undergone shock and was preparing herself mentally for the worse.

    Madeline wanted to find it herself, but she was worried where Beth wouldpletely transform in her absence. "Will you go to find it?" she asked, her brown eyes staring into his red ones. She knew Calhoun wasn''t fond of Beth, and it would take time for him to ept her sister as a good person, but everyone had their faults, that''s what made that person who they were. The only person she could rely on was Calhoun.

    Calhoun would have considered in helping search the antidote, but not in the current situation. "There is not just one, but many Salvete Mortem who are in the castle. There were a lot of greeters earlier, but the count of them is decreasing only to be reced by the second Salvete Mortem."

    Madeline furrowed her eyebrows, and she felt a chill pass through her body, hearing this. What does that mean?"

    "I don''t know when, but a lot of people are going to die soon. Might be this very hour, or tomorrow, or this week. There is no specific time," he answered her question. "There are at least more than twenty of them."

    Madeline''s face turned pale. Were people going to die? Her eyes slowly moved to look at her sister. Was Beth going to be the one, to kill the people once she would transform into a werewolf? Or was there something worse approaching the castle?

    Gulping down the nervousness, she felt Calhoun catching hold of her wrist, and he tugged her out of the room in the care of Raphael.

    Once they were in the corridor, she asked worried, "What are we going to do?"

    Calhoun''s jaw clenched, "I don''t want to leave you here by yourself. The thought of leaving you here without me. I don''t feel it right." He shook his head. "You might be powerful, but you are still the woman I love, and I cannot bear to see even a scratch on you." Especially after what he saw in the sister''s memories, he swore to protect her.

    Madeline stepped closer to him with her toes raised and she kissed his lips. She felt the urgency in his kiss, wanting to keep her safe as he wrapped her with his arms. She didn''t want to lose him. With the creature of the death settling in the castle, waiting for people''s death, she felt anxious.

    She felt cornered. On one side Beth needed the antidote, and there was no news from Monique''s men so far, and on the other side, the Salvete Mortem hade for Calhoun, pointing its finger at him. What if Calhoun died like the rest of the people who went to the mountains?

    It was like both Calhoun and Madeline didn''t want to leave each other''s side, but at the same time, Beth''s life depended on the antidote. Madeline would have had faith in Calhoun being alright because she believed in him, but things were now different.

    Her toes slowly went back to ce t on the ground, and she leaned in a way to have her head pressed against his chest. "If you want me to, I will go, but you will have to promise me to stay in and not go to anyone''s aid. If something happens like your sister turning into a werewolf and going rampant, will you stay away from it and first save yourself before anyone else?"

    Hearing this, Madeline pulled back to look up at him. She shook her head, "Stay. Stay here with me."

    Calhoun looked at her with a hint of surprise in his eyes. He knew that even though Madeline wanted to save her sister, she was worried for his life. And as much goodness this dark angel had in her, she wanted to be selfish this time.

    "Monique sent another letter at dawn and if the men don''t respond to the letter, let''s see what to do then," said Calhoun and Madeline agreed to it.

    When Madeline left his side to go back to Beth, Theodore arrived in the corridor, making his way to where Calhoun stood. With a small bow, Theodore said,

    "The count has not decreased." He was speaking about the creatures that even he could see. Though the Salvete Mortem wasn''t entirely visible to him like how Calhoun and Madeline could see it, he could see the creatures appear and disappear as if they were trying to apparate.

    "So it seems. The full moon is tonight, and her transformation is only going to speed up with the moon''s help," said Calhoun with a subtle frown on his forehead. He raised his hand, running it through the thick locks of his hair.

    "We went searching for the antidote once ourselves, but we found nothing there," said Theodore, remembering the past he and Calhoun had spent together. "If I may speak?"

    Calhoun''s eyes shifted to look at Theodore.

    "It would be less painful to look at, if the trigger was pulled than watching thedy turn to a werewolf and go rampant," said Theodore, while looking at the King through his crystal clean sses.

    A chuckle escaped Calhoun''s lips. He said,

    "It would have been easier if it was just me, but Madeline hopes and believes that things will get better. I don''t want to break that innocence and the basic trait of who she is," pausing for a second he then said, "If things get worse, I will need to go and get the antidote. I will leave Madeline in your care."

 Chapter 434 Can the moon disappear? - Part 1

    <h4>434 Can the moon disappear? - Part 1</h4>

    .

    The entire time Madeline looked after Beth, but instead of her condition getting better, it only got worse. At first, it was only Beth''s right leg that had turned to look like a werewolf''s leg, but after a while both her legs had turned like the feet of the werewolf''s leaving her sister''s body from above her thighs to be human.

    Beth had stopped speaking as she was in shock.

    "Beth?" Madeline called her sister and Beth shifted her eyes from the walls to look at her, "Do you want to leave this ce?" she offered, and even Raphael who was in the room looked startled at this suggestion.

    Beth shook her head, "It won''t stop my body from changing into a beast. I will be like those animals who kill the vigers in the woods. I had never expected or imagined for something like this to happen...to turn to a hideous creature." Her eyes moved to look at her legs that were not covered with the nket anymore.

    Lucy took her rtive out of the room while ensuring he would not utter a word to anybody on what was happening to Elizabeth. Beth''s room was away from the rest of the guest rooms which made it easier to keep the guests away from walking in the corridor where Beth''s room was located. Even if one word went out of the castle and fell into the wrong ears, not only Beth would fall into trouble, but also Calhoun.

    When Helena had inquired about Beth''s health, during the time when the ambush had taken ce in the vige of Cossington, Calhoun had told her that it was a mere scratch and nothing more than that. Because giving more details would only have Beth being put in the local cage before she would be shot, when the High House would find out that Beth was turning to a werewolf.

    Madeline, who sat next to Beth, squeezed her hand. "We are waiting for Calhoun''s aunt''s men toe back with the antidote. The message was sent yesterday, and we should get the answer soon."

    "What about mama and papa? Don''t tell them anything," pleaded Beth. It was currently only a few people who knew about her condition, but the truth couldn''t be hidden for long.

    Madeline nodded her head, "I received a letter from them saying they reached the ce."

    Madeline didn''t want her parents to be caught in the possible crossfire, by inviting them back to the castle. Situation in the castle was already turning tense, and no one knew what this day or night that was approaching was going to bring them. She then moved closer to Beth''s furry legs and ced her hand on it.

    "Can you try changing back, Beth?" questioned Madeline. It wasn''t unheard of people returning to their human self after turning to werewolves. She had seen James turn back. Beth should be able to do it too, thought Madeline to herself.

    "Mdies," came Raphael''s voice who was in the same room as them, "If you allow me, I would like to help." Beth, who had been avoiding the man all this time in the castle now looked at him, desperate for help. It didn''t matter to Beth how he looked and what he wore.

    "Do you know how to turn a werewolf''s body to a human again, Mr. Sparrow?" asked Madeline.

    Raphael who was standing near the wall started to walk towards the bed. "I have met a handful of werewolves in the past, mdy. I have seen them transform back and forth, and have heard how it is done." He then looked at Beth, bowing his head, "Let me see if I can help you."

    Beth stared at the man before giving him a nod, "Okay."

    Raphael nodded his head, and then he turned to Madeline, "Mdy, I might need some time alone with Lady Elizabaeth. Please," he persuaded, and Madeline couldn''t help but wonder what he was going to do.

    "I will be right outside," Madeline assured Beth, and she stepped out of the room.

    Several minutes passed by, and Madeline paced back and forth in the corridor when she heard a loud growling from the room. Her eyes widened, and she quickly reached for the door, stepping inside to see Beth didn''t look like herself anymore.

    "What did you do?!" questioned Madeline on seeing Beth, who now stood on the bed with her werewolf feet and her face that had morphed simr to how James'' face was.

    "I think right now she''s too emotional," shouted Raphael who was on the other side of the room.

    Beth had transformed into a werewolf, but her body had not turned big like the other werewolves as her body was still changing. Her hands were still human-like. She growled at them, snarling in anger, and it was strange to see a werewolf wearing a dress.

    "You were supposed to bring her feet back to normal," said Madeline worried, and something she told upset Beth as her sister turned to look at her before jumping down on the ground from the bed. To Madeline, this was indeed a nightmare. Since Beth was her sister, Calhoun had not locked Beth in the dungeon, but Madeline wasn''t sure if it was safe anymore to keep her sister in here. Because if Beth was going to turn to a werewolf with no return, it was only wise to lock her up to avoid any deaths.

    Raphael, who had raised both his hands earlier trying to calm the werewolf down, now dropped his hands. "It is how it works. She needs to transform into the beast so that she can return. I don''t think anything I am telling right now is reaching her."

    Madeline didn''t know if instead of helping her sister things had turned worse. More growls erupted from Beth''s throat and the fear of what was happening finally dawned on her.

    "Beth, can you hear me?" Madeline spoke only to receive a snarl, and the werewolf opened its mouth to show itsrge teeth.

    "What did you speak to her about?!" she questioned Raphael. There must have been some conversation that triggered Beth to turn to a werewolf. It was not even ten minutes since she had left both of them alone in the room.

    "I was speaking to her about some of the things shemitted in the past. I thought confrontation would be a good way to start with, but before I could pull out everything, she had already started to transform," answered Raphael. "Lady Elizabeth?" he called her, but Beth seemed to have her eyes on Madeline. Her feet made a loud thumping sound on the ground, cornering Madeline.

    "What did you say?" asked Madeline, her eyebrows knitting together in worry. She wanted to calm Beth down before anyone woulde to notice what she had turned to. When her eyes shifted to look at Raphael who stood behind, the demon held a reluctant look on his face. "Please."

 Chapter 435 Can the moon disappear? - Part 2

    <h4>435 Can the moon disappear? - Part 2</h4>

    "It was two summers ago. There had been a misunderstanding in the vige, where Beth could have cleared your name but she didn''t. It was about the-"

    "About Mr. Parsons," interrupted Madeline and Raphael''s eyebrows raised. Without wasting a second and diving into the matter, she turned to look at Beth, who now threw the desk out of her way, that hit the wall to break into many pieces. "You don''t have to feel angry at yourself anymore, Beth," said Madeline to her sister. She didn''t want her Beth to be disappointed with her.

    Beth growled even more. Her eyes were no more green but had turned to yellowish gold in color while her face had turned to the beast that she was scared of. As the werewolf started cornering her, Raphael tried to distract Beth by throwing a pillow on the back of the werewolf''s head. The werewolf looked annoyed by this action, and for a moment, it was distracted. Turning around, it went to attack Raphael, and the man said to Madeline, "You should step out of the room, mdy. Now!"

    But Madeline didn''t leave her sister here. She raised her hand trying to control Beth''s actions, but that wasn''t enough. In no time, Beth''s human hands turned to the point where Beth transformed into a full werewolf.

    "She''s going to kill you!" shouted Madeline when Beth''s hand went straight to hold the demon''s neck. What was Raphael thinking?!? It was because he made no attempt to attack her back and was waiting for her to turn back to herself, but this was Beth''s first time, and she didn''t know what she was doing.

    Looking around, Madeline''s eyes fell on the wooden piece that was on the ground. Picking it up, she threw it straight at Beth''s head. The werewolf didn''t drop Raphael and instead threw him across the room, and he fell on the ground.

    "She''s strong," murmured Raphael under his breath.

    "I know what happened before and what you did, Beth," Madeline spoke in a loud voice to catch the werewolf''s attention. The werewolf snarled in anger. "I know everything. It wasn''t just you but also me. The spells that grandmother used on us, it stopped affecting me too, and I know what happened." The growls lowered down, and the werewolf stared at Madeline.

    That night it wasn''t just Beth who had turned immune to their grandmother''s magic, but partly even Madeline. When Madeline had pulled Beth to the bed, on hearing her grandmother''s footsteps, she had not let go of her sister''s hand.

    The sisters had slept in the same bed, sharing the nket where Madeline had continued to hold Beth''s hand. Her grandmother that night had been able to hide only the things what her grandmother and grandfather had spoken about Madeline and not what happened in the hut. Though Beth had tried to bring up the conversation when they were in the carriage, Madeline knew how heavy those incidents weighed on each of their minds, and she wanted to forget the awful evening.

    "No matter what, you will always be my sister, Bethie," and Madeline took another step closer to Beth. "I know you are a good person. You don''t have to doubt it in your heart."

    "I know you don''t want to harm me," Madeline continued to speak, "You don''t want to hurt anyone, and I know it because you are my sister. I have known you for so long. I couldn''t go wrong with it. You have always been there when I needed you. When people themselves have spoken badly about it, you have protected me. Come back, Bethie. I know you can do it."

    The werewolf that was staring at Madeline, its hands dropped down to its sides, and she wasn''t sure, but she saw its eyes glisten before the eyes started to return to green colour. In less than two seconds, the werewolf transformed back to its human self, and Madeline quickly went to support her sister to be followed by Raphael.

    Beth fell unconscious and she was put back in the bed, and her feet with the rest of her body turned normal.

    "This is only the beginning, mdy," said Raphael, and Madeline pursed her lips. She wanted the antidote, but it was equal to exchanging one life with another.

    "Is there no way to stop it?" she asked, and he shook his head.

    "You could try to disappear the moon," but it was an impossible thing to do, thought Raphael to himself.

    "Will it keep her safe then? If I disappear the moon?" questioned Madeline, ready to find an alternate solution to keep Beth safe.

    Raphael was still surprised by Madeline''s words and actions. Speechless, he nodded his head.

    Before Madeline could step out of the room, she heard Raphael say, "People are fortunate to have you, my Queen." She turned around to see him offer his deepest bow. "I don''t know if you notice it, but you both are growing. I mean you and the King. I will stay here with her in the room."

    Far away from the castle, behind the forests where the Belmont mountains stood wide and tall, the men entered the empty and hollow caves in the search of the antidote, holding crossbows and spears in their hands as they continued to walk.

    "Look! There''s another path in there!" whispered one of the men by tapping on another one''s shoulder.

    "It looks like someone lives here," came another hushed tone of another man. Nearly ten men had been sent in search of the antidote, but out of the lot, one of them had died in the forest by the quicksand that swallowed him to never surface back again. "Everybody keep yourselves ready."

    The men carefully started to tread the lonely path in the cave, which had torches burning on the walls. While they moved to the next passage, the men caught sight of a young man carrying logs of woods in his arms. Seeing how normal the person looked with servant clothes, one of the men jerked their head to catch hold of him.

    They had no knowledge of people living in these caves.

    Odin was making his way with the pile of logs which his Master would need, when he felt something cold touching the back of his neck.

    "Stop right there!" came one of the men''s voices who had pointed the sharp edge of the spear at Odin.

 Chapter 436 Can the moon disappear? - Part 3

    <h4>436 Can the moon disappear? - Part 3</h4>

    Odin''s eyes widened at the voice of a man behind him, and he wondered how these people had got in here.

    "W-who are you people?" asked the servant in a worried tone.

    "Who are you?" asked one of the men. People were strange, thought Odin to himself.

    "I am Odin, but I don''t know who you are and what you gentlemen are doing here," Odin slowly turned towards them with his hands still carrying the log of woods. He looked at the men who were all vampires. People usually got stuck in the forest near this cave, and it had been way too long since this ce had any visitors.

    "Who lives here?" demanded another man who had worn an eyepatch over his left eye. The man held the crossbow on standby, ready to release the arrow into Odin''s body.

    "Y-you know it is rude to enter a ce and questioning wh-oooo-" the spear that was on his neck before was now ced right in front of his throat.

    "Speak else I will have slit your throat right this instant," threatened the man.

    Odin gulped hard, looking at the men carrying weapons with them. "My Master dimir Lazarus is the one who resides here. I would request you to leave unless you want to face his wrath."

    One of the men scoffed, "Do you know where to find the antidote for the werewolf''s bite?" demanded the person.

    "The antidote?" Odin blinked. "Don''t think it is here."

    "He''s lying! We should go inside and get the antidote," said another man, starting to walk past the servant when Odin stretched his hand to the side to stop the person from intruding further while holding the rest of the logs in another arm. "Get the fuck out of my way."

    "Gentlemen," Odin bowed his head, "My final request, that you leave unless you don''t want to see the next day."

    "Keep him here, Gorik. We''ll be going inside to see what is in there," said one of the men and another ced his hand on the servant. They started to walk when the man who caught hold of Odin''s shoulder fell dead on the ground, and the logs of the wood ttered.

    The men looked startled and shocked, looking at where the servant vampire was standing who had blood on his mouth. "Please step out of here," Odin repeated his words, but the men were angry that this person killed one of their men.

    Two men went straight at Odin, but the servant quickly dodged and used their weapons to pierce their hearts before pulling it out. When more men came to attack him, Odin caught one of the person''s head to smash it straight against the cave''s wall that sttered with blood before the man''s body fell. Staying under his Master''s care, Odin had picked a thing or two when it came to getting rid of people, even though hecked the abilities like his Master.

    Wiping his face clean, Odin ced his hand on his back as if he was too tired and getting old. He then went to pick up the log of woods. As he entered the castle connected through the caves, his Master appeared at the top of the staircase.

    "What was that noise?" demanded dimir, his eyes narrowed as he looked at Odin, who blinked again.

    "I was cleaning some insects in the cave, Master. I have put them back in the forest," answered Odin.

    "Make sure to clean the blood out there. I can smell the filthy stenching from there," dimir looked in the direction where Odin hade from. "Do you have everything prepared for tonight?"

    "Yes, Master!" Odin nodded his head enthusiastically. The vampire servant knew where exactly the Queen''s parents were staying right now as he had got hold of their information, and one word from his Master and he would bring them here. But his Master showed no interest in the measly vigers.

    "Are we going to leave from here when the moon appears in the sky?" Odin asked for confirmation.

    "Yes," saying this dimir pulled out the pocket watch from his pocket, "There are a good few hours remaining before we leave. Bring some blood tea to my room," and the older vampire turned around to walk back to his room.

    Meanwhile, in the Hawthrone''s castle, Monique looked at her pocket watch before flipping it close and putting it in her dress pocket.

    "They arete, aren''t they?" questioned Calhoun standing next to Monique, watching the sky through the open window. The breeze ruffled his hair.

    Monique responded, "If they had found the antidote, they would have sent it by now. I had ordered them to keep sending me the letters so that I know they are alive, but I haven''t received any letter since thest one hour."

    "They must be all dead," stated Calhoun. He had heard many stories rted to Belmont mountain, and it usually spoke about death. Two hours ago, he had heard from Madeline that Beth had turned to a werewolf. As much as they were trying to keep things under control, the news would soone to light. His face held no expression as he continued to stare at the sky.

    When he started to leave the ce where he and Monique stood, his aunt asked, "What do you have on your mind?"

    "Right now?" asked Calhoun, turning his head over his shoulder, "To see my wife." And he walked away from there.

    Madeline was in their room, sitting on the ground with the ck book kept open, along with three candles ced in the left, right and another in front of her. The book had something written regarding the lunar cycle and about the energy that was used for certain spells.

    "What are you doing?" came the sudden voice. Madeline looked up startled, seeing it was Calhoun who had entered the room and closed the doors behind him. His eyes fell on the book and Madeline.

    "Requesting the moon to not appear in the sky tonight," was Madeline''s innocent answer. Calhoun walked to where she was, sitting down on his heels next to her.

    Picking the ck book from the ground, Calhoun read through the page which Madeline had opened. "Will it work?" By the look in her eyes, he could tell that she was scared of losing her sister, which was why she had locked herself in the room with the book.

    "I thought it was worth a try," replied Madeline, and he gave her a nod.

    "Go on. We wouldn''t want to waste time," stated Calhoun, while watching over her so that she wouldn''t have another strike of pain and bleed herself to death. When she was done memorizing what was written in the pages, Madeline closed her eyes, and Calhoun stood up, giving her the space she needed while she whispered those words. He saw the candles flicker, letting him know that her spells were working.

    As minutes passed by, Calhoun caught sight of something in the room, and his eyes fell on the creature that held an axe in its hand.

 Chapter 437 Awaited night- Part 1

    <h4>437 Awaited night- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Calhoun stared at the Salvette Mortem that had stepped inside the room without noise while holding an axe in its hand. It didn''t move but stood in its ce, looking at him with its hollow eyes as its face was only made of bones with no actual flesh.

    His eyes shifted to look at Madeline who continued muttering the spells, and the candle''s light flickered further as if a window had been opened for the air to pass by. He stepped closer to her while hoping she wouldn''t open her eyes and find the creature of the death in the room. Calhoun knew it would only make her worry more, but he had faith in their future, knowing nothing would evere to harm him or her.

    Madeline had reached the point where she wouldn''t need to be supervised or kept an eye on as she was capable of defending herself. She was learning, and Calhoun took pride in it. The beautiful bud of rose had slowly grown and bloomed along with the thorns to protect itself.

    In a blink of an eye, the creature disappeared from its ce, but Calhoun, who had a keen sense of things around him, could feel the creature had not vanished from the room. Instead, it stood right behind him as if gauging him and getting itself ready to ry the message to the next Salvete Mortem on whom to pick.

    The candlelight flickered again before they suddenly blew out, leaving the room moderately dark with a low amount of light that passed through the windows that had the curtains draped over them.

    When Madeline opened her eyes, the Salvete Mortem had left the room that had turned dark, and she had finished uttering the spells that would possibly either dy or keep the moon away from appearing in the sky tonight.

    "Is that all?" she heard Calhoun, and the next moment light appeared back in one of the candles where Calhoun had used his fingertips to touch the end of the candle where the me was moments ago.

    "I think so," answered Madeline. "The book speaks about using the clouds as a shield to stop the moonlight falling on thends and affecting the creatures that reside here. I used two spells, one from the lunar page, and another that speaks about barring the evil," she paused before adding, "I think I used the right words with slight interchanges. This way, we can keep the moon from appearing in the sky."

    "Let us hope it works," stated Calhoun, cing his other hand on the top of her head before he petted her. He ran his hand over her silky blonde hair. "You are doing your best, Maddie. Making use of everything avable to fight the odds when ites to your sister turning to a werewolf."

    "I think I understand how you felt. Maybe not a lot, but I can feel the pain of what you felt, Calhoun," said Madeline to him. In her case, Beth was still conscious, and they knew the reason. But in Calhoun''s situation, he didn''t know back then why his mother had fallen sick. She being the only person in his life, it must have been really hard for him to lose her and put her in the coffin.

    Her hand reached out for his, and she squeezed his hand at the top. "I wish to be there for you, the way you have been with me."

    "I know, darling," Calhoun responded to her. What happened in his past was something he couldn''t fix as he didn''t have control on the time, but he did have control over his present and his future. "You do know that even if the moon doesn''t appear today, it wille and at that time, you will need the antidote."

    Madeline was aware of it. As it was still the time of post noon where the sky was bright, and the moon was yet to show up, they didn''t know if the spells worked or if it had only blown the candle out. Only at the time of night would they know if it worked.

    "Elizabeth is rapidly turning to a werewolf rapidly without waiting for the moon to appear. This might be a new case where she mightpletely transform before we even know it," said Calhoun and Madeline turned worried. He didn''t want to raise her hopes, for it to only shatter into million piecester.

    Madeline bit into her lip. It wasn''t that she hadn''t thought about it. ording to what Raphael said, Beth still had time, but instead of having time, she had already turned to a werewolf once.

    "I was thinking of moving her to another room," offered Calhoun.

    Madeline looked up at him, "You mean the dungeons?" It was only logical to have a werewolf locked in the dungeon, instead of causing harm to the ones who live in the castle. At the same time, she felt ufortable to think that Beth would need to spend her time in the cell.

    "It is the safest. But if it makes you feel better, I arranged another room that has shackles and chains to keep her safe. Let me show you," said Calhoun, getting up to stand and then offering her his hand to take. Madeline ced her small hand in his before getting up and following him out of the room.

    They made their way up the stairs of the northern tower, where in the past, Madeline had broken the ss and fallen out of there. It felt like it was only yesterday that it was still raining where Calhoun had caught her before she would have turned to a squashed pumpkin on the ground. The rain was reced with snow, and the hand that was once cold had turned warm. Madeline''s hand gripped on to Calhoun''s hand as they continued to make their way up the tower beforeing to stand in front of a locked room.

    "This was once used to keep members of the royal family locked up here, rtives and guests who opposed or would cause possible treason against the crown," said Calhoun. He ced his hand on the door, and the lock automatically opened with a click. "I spent two days here." There was a faint smile on Calhoun''s lips as his eyes swept across the room.

    Madeline caught sight of the empty room where one corner of the room was filled with hay. There were shackles and chains connecting the walls and arge window ced on the opposite end.

    "Why did you end up in here?" inquired Madeline, her eyebrows drawing together as she stepped at the centre of the room.

    "I was used to have stolen a valuable item that belonged to one of the guests, as it went missing, and the me fell on me."

 Chapter 438 Awaited night- Part 2

    <h4>438 Awaited night- Part 2</h4>

    "What did she want?" asked Madeline, walking towards him and looking at the old rusty chains. This ce was much better than the dungeons, thought Madeline to herself.

    "She wanted sexual favours from me."

    Madeline''s eyes snapped at Calhoun, "What?" she asked as if she had caught it wrong the first time he said it.

    Calhoun chuckled at Madeline''s response, and he stood up to face her while dropping the chain he held in his hand.

    "You don''t think it was just my mother who earned bread for us, did you?" Hearing this, her eyebrows drew close to each other. "It was the time when my father was still the King, and I had not stepped into the castle and knew nothing about this side of life. The viges and towns were left in nothing less than in tattered condition. It was called the Era of dire poverty. If people think the taxes right now are heavy, they should have lived in the time when my father and grandfather were Kings," said Calhoun.

    Madeline, who hadn''t heard about this before, continued to listen to Calhoun speak, "The time and ce of when I lived with my mother was the worst, and getting food or work with a decent pay of money was tough. Especially a person who belongs to the vige, no matter how much the person works, all the money goes to make ends meet. Times now are much better. Back then only some ces in Devon were decent enough to live in, but people were not allowed to cross over to live in another ce that easily. The little coins my mother earned went back to the royal family, and it is ironic to think that the woman who they kicked out of the castle, they took her money as their own."

    Calhoun took her hand, leading her to the better side of the room, and sat down on the ground. Madeline followed him quietly, listening to him speak. He interlinked his fingers with hers, meshing it before he held them in his hand.

    "It was around the same time when I met Theodore. I learned his trade, and started to earn money by being one of the most sought out men by women."

    Madeline felt her heart stop for a moment, and she looked straight into his red eyes that looked hollow before the light appeared back in his eyes. Though Calhoun didn''t tell it out in actual words, she understood what he said.

    "I-I don''t know what to say," Madeline was speechless. "Did your mother know about it?"

    "I am sorry about that," whispered Madeline, bringing his hand on to herp and cing her other hand on his.

    "You don''t have to be. They say what we do and experience is what we be. I do not regret my actions," stated Calhoun. He did what he had to do.

    This was something that made him different from others, thought Madeline to herself. He owned the person who he was, something a lot of people struggled to ept. She believed it was the hardest thing to do. To put oneself out there in front of people by baring the ws and scars one had, something which people often hid because they were ashamed of it. Many people often wore a mask that didn''t belong to them��hiding their true intentions behind their facade.

    What Calhoun just said to her, it was something he didn''t share with others. She wished she could have helped him and his mother in some way. But she didn''t exist at that time.

    "You did what you had to do at that time," said Madeline, turning her head to look at Calhoun''s sculpted features. "What happened to that woman? Lora," she asked, knowing Calhoun wouldn''t have let the woman off the hook without any payback.

    "She died of course," came the reply from Calhoun and if it was in the past, she would have looked at him in shock, but now instead, she gave him a nod.

    "Of course." It was Calhoun''s way of clean revenge. She didn''t go to ask in detail of how the woman died.

    With silence filling the room around them, where no one was there to disturb them, Madeline leaned on Calhoun''s shoulder, breathing softly as they shared this moment. She wondered what more he had gone through before he had turned into King. With the guests who were yet to leave and were in the castle and with her sister''s condition,ing here felt like a little escapade where the worries stood at the entrance and not hovering around them.

    They sat there for an hour in each other''spany. With Calhoun''s hand around her shoulder, keeping her close, Madeline wondered how such a simple gesture was enough to provide her afort and sense of assurance without any words. A few more minutes passed before she felt Calhoun shift his body, and she lifted her head.

    "What is it?" she asked.

    Calhoun''s eyebrows furrowed, looking into her eyes he said, "It''s your sister. She''s changing again."

    They both quickly left the tower, making their way to Beth''s room and found her growling, but she hadn''t morphed into a werewolf yet.

    "She''s going to turn to a werewolf again," whispered Madeline. The moonlight was not even here, and Beth was changing quickly. As the growls continued, Calhoun ordered the servants to carry Beth to the tower so that she could be chained there.

    "The werewolves are evolving simr to how the vampires have. Their bodies are adapting quicker than before," replied Calhoun. While Beth''s legs were being chained in shackles, Madeline saw a bed had been ced in here. "We at least know she''s not going to die, and she will continue to exist."

    The sky had started to change its colour, and Madeline wondered if the time of evening had already appeared. At the same time, Beth transformed into a werewolf, and this time she seemed bigger than thest time.

    "This is not good," whispered Madeline.

    "If this continues, she will no longer be human anymore and will slowly switch to a werewolf''s nature," informed Raphael with a glum expression on his face. "Some of the guests have been curious to know about the growling sound that has beening."

    Calhoun gave it some thought, and then said, "If I fly to Belmont quickly, it shouldn''t take much time."

 Chapter 439 Awaited night- Part 3

    <h4>439 Awaited night- Part 3</h4>

    "What other option do we have?" asked Calhoun to Madeline gently. He ced his hand on her cheek, "You don''t want to see your sister die, and without the antidote, we have no other way, do we?"

    "Not at the cost of your life or anyone else," replied Madeline. She stared into the depth of his eyes, "What is the point of you sacrificing your life. It wouldn''t be right." She ced her hand on his hand, "The Salvete Mortems, they-"

    "Nothing will happen to me, have faith, my sweet rose. I wouldn''t leave you alone in this world," and he pressed his lips on her forehead, leaving a tender kiss before he pulled back to look at her. He looked at her features and the anxious expression on her face. "Raphael, the card of the fool, please."

    It was the very first time, Calhoun had willingly asked to draw his card from Raphael. Madeline stared at the card that the card reader pulled and then at Calhoun. Calhoun took hold of the card, turning it around to show a single flower of lily on it.

    Though Calhoun had never touched the cards willingly from Raphael or any other card reader carried with oneself, it didn''t mean he hadn''t been intrigued to read about them. He knew exactly what the flower on the card represented, and his eyes met Raphael, who was quick to look at him with a passive expression on his face. The flower had many meanings, like love, hope, and death.

    "A perfectly healthy card. As I said, there''s nothing to worry about," Calhoun smiled brightly at Madeline.

    "What does it mean?" Madeline asked, not knowing the interpretation of the flower.

    Raphael''s eyes had not moved away from Calhoun. The King raised his eyebrow, and Raphael took a second before answering, "The Lily represents good hope, mdy. It speaks about beginnings."

    Madeline hoped it was a good thing and she rxed upon hearing this, but that didn''t remove the issue where the creatures of the death were lurking in the castle. "Come back soon," she whispered to him. Raphael stepped away from the couple to give them the space, while going to where Beth was.

    Calhoun''s hand reached out for Madeline''s hand, bringing it up to his lips and he kissed the back of her hand. "I will know if something happens here with you. And if it does, I will return right away. Don''t forget what I told you, first is you and thenes rest," he said to her. The heavy clouds in the sky had started to scatter away, giving way for the sunlight to touch thend onest time for the day before the sun would sink below the horizon.

    The rays of the light passed through the grills of the window to fall inside the ce where they stood. Madeline nodded her head. She saw the ck wings appear from behind Calhoun''s back, spreading and he took a step back where the ceiling had an opening.

    She prayed to God, for him to stay safe. Beth, who had turned into a werewolf, growled louder than before. Her movements turned aggressive, and with her being tied this time, Madeline noticed the werewolf didn''t look pleased.

    Madeline spent the next hour watching over her sister, and she walked towards the window to see the clouds hiding the sky. The sky was turning dark, and so far, there was no hint of the moon.

    "Looks like the moon isn''t out yet, mdy," said Raphael with his hands crossed and leaning against the wall.

    "We cannot be too sure about it," replied Madeline. Now and then, her eyes moved to look at the window, hoping she would catch sight of Calhoun even though he wouldn''t return this soon.

    Looking down at the castle''s grounds, she noticed the Salvete Mortems had not left their ces. They were no more greeters, and she caught sight of them holding axes in their hands. It looked like there was going to be a war, and she gulped.

    "Where do these creaturese from? Salvete Mortems," she asked Raphael. To Madeline, it seemed like guarding Beth was necessary as there were chances of her turning into a rabid werewolf before she would go on a killing spree. She didn''t know that it wasn''t her sister who was going to bring trouble, but people from outside the castle.

    "Some say theye from the ce between heaven and hell. Some say that theye from hell because of the appearance that they carry with them," answered Raphael. "I would ce my bets on Hell."

    She took a deep breath before trying to ease the tension out of her body. While Madeline was still taking a look at the creatures of death, her eyes took in one of the Salvete Mortems that made its way towards the castle. Noticing how it didn''t hold an axe in its hand, she believed it to be the first creature of the greeting until she caught sight of blood on its bones and unusually long fingers.

    Her eyebrows furrowed, and her lips were set in a thin line. She said to Raphael, "I will be going down for a while and will be back soon."

    With Beth meticulously chained, and unable to harm anyone, Madeline couldn''t help but question for whom the Salvete Mortem wasing for. Walking down the stairs of the tower, she retook a look outside the window, in the direction of the creature that continued to make its way to get into the castle.

    In one of the castle rooms, Lucy went to the cupboard to pick out the remaining clothes, to ce it in the trunk which she was packing right now. She would be leaving early tomorrow after breakfast, and she wanted to make sure she wouldn''t be leaving anything behind. When her room''s door was knocked, she asked,

    "Who is it?" Receiving no reply, she frowned. Walking to the door, she opened the door to see the person standing in front of her.

    She whispered, "You��"

    .

    THIS IS AN ONGOING BOOK.

 Chapter 440 Dark corridors- Part 1

    <h4>440 Dark corridors- Part 1</h4>

    .

    "You��"

    Lucy felt her heart flip like every time when this person had appeared in front of her room because it was rare to have him here, "What are you doing here?"

    It was Theodore who had made his way here, wearing casual clothes, and his expression looked more rxed than when he stood next to her brother Calhoun.

    Theodore bowed his head at Lucy. It was something she didn''t like him doing as she felt the already existing gap between them widen. "I wanted to check if you need any help for tomorrow." Hearing this, she bit the inside of her cheek, but not letting her emotions surface upon her face.

    "No, I got everything packed. Ethan was here earlier, he helped me with it," replied Lucy. He took a step forward, and the vampiress took two steps backwards to allow him toe inside.

    "Everything?" asked Theodore, his eyes fell on the open trunk that was on the bed.

    Lucy turned around to see the trunk that she had kept open, seeing some of the intimate garments of hers at the top, she quickly went to it and closed the trunk while her cheeks turned slightly red. After two decades, she would have thought that things would have changed and passed, but it seemed like they were back to where they started.

    Without holding back, she asked, "What are you doing here, Theodore?"

    "To help you, mdy." He looked at her through the clean sses that he wore.

    "I think you have already offered enough help of yours. I need to stop relying on people," Lucy''s words were bitter. "You never turn up unless there''s something important to say."

    A faint smile appeared on Theodore''s lips, "You know me so well, mdy." Lucy realized how painful it was to see someone you loved for years, to see them smile, but not for you and with you, thought Lucy to herself, it made her heart squeeze. "I came here to tell you something."

    Lucy turned to look at him. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and her red eyes waited for him to speak. Somewhere deep in her heart there was a spark of hope, hoping it was something she wanted to hear.

    Theodore said, "I think you shouldn''t leave tomorrow."

    Gulping down the slight nervousness, Lucy parted her lips, "Why not?" Was this his way of asking her to stay?

    "I think it would be more suitable if you leave right now, instead of waiting until tomorrow," and her heart sank. Lucy stared at Theodore, her teeth gritting against each other in anger.

    "Do you always have to do this?" she whispered, her eyes ring at him while it started to shine under the candlelit room. Not wanting to show her face to him, she turned her back to Theodore.

    "I don''t want you to watch over me!" eximed Lucy as she lost her cool. The vase''s broken piecesid on the ground. She looked at Theodore to meet his eyes. "Thest time you went to watch out for me, you put me in a ce where I have been unhappy for so many years. Don''t you understand that it doesn''t make me happy? You willingly sent me away...every single time."

    Theodore''s expressionposed back, "It is you who decided to leave the castle with Mr. Morryet, mdy."

    "We have already had this discussion, and you know the reason," responded Lucy looking at him. She had been waiting, waiting for him but nothing happened. "I must be the most delusional person in history, not to know when to stop. Or is it because I am married. Someone who is not fresh anymore."

    "We can discuss about thister, but I need you to leave the castle right now," said Theodore. Since the time Calhoun had mentioned about the new guests appear in the castle, he had a bad feeling, and he wanted Lucy to leave the castle at the earliest and return only after some of the things in the castle would settle down. "I am telling it for your own good."

    Lucy stared at him, "Is that why you came here? To chase me away. I will be leavinf with Ethan tomorrow morning, and after that, you don''t have to concern yourself with me."

    A sliver of spark appeared in Theodore''s eyes, but he didn''t go toment on Lucy''s words. Compared to the vampiress, he was way older and wiser, knowing this was not the time to rebuke an argument. Turning her face to not look at him, she waited for him to leave, but he didn''t.

    Theodore went to speak something when he heard a screech outside and a few corridors away from where they stood now.

    "What was that?" asked Lucy with a frown appearing on her face.

    "Do me a favour and stay here in the room. Please don''t open it until I return. Can you do it?" asked Theodore, waiting for her to reply.

    Lucy didn''t know what was going on as she had been busy packing her things while somewhere in the back of her mind hoping she would be able to start fresh and at the same time waiting for Theodore. She gave him a nod, "Okay."

    Theodore closed the doors behind him, leaving Lucy safe in her room.

    Back up in the tower, Raphael who continued to watch over to see her regain her consciousness. It had been only two minutes since Madeline had left the tower to look around the castle. Beth suddenly panicked when she saw the chains around her furry ankles, and she started to tug on it.

    "It is only for tonight," she heard Raphael''s voicee from her left. "You have been turning to a werewolf back and forth without the moon''s presence. It is only for the precautionary purpose that you have been bound in chains and are in here."

    "Where is my sister?" asked Beth.

    "She left a moment ago. She will be back up here soon," answered Raphael, his eyes catching on to her movements, "You should stop doing that unless you want to get hurt."

    Beth looked at the ce where she was in. It was an empty ce and its roof was shaped like a dome at the top with an opening in the middle. Thest time she was conscious, the sky was still bright, and now it had turned dark. She didn''t remember a thing that had happened, and she looked at the dress that she wore that looked tattered. Her heart sank at the thought of the inevitable.

    "Why are you here?" Beth asked Raphael who was ying with a stalk of the hay.

    "I am on werewolf duties. Watching over you," Raphael replied with a polite smile on his face.

    "Why?" questioned Beth, her eyebrows furrowing deeply.

    "Why?" prompted Raphael.

    "I have been turning to a werewolf, and you have seen the hideous creature I am turning into. Why are you still being nice to me?" Beth, who was aware of Raphael''s abilities when it came to extracting memories from a person''s past, she knew he had taken a peek at her memories.

    "Would you rather have me not stay here? Every person needs someone around. Haven''t you felt that when you fell ill? That you wanted your sister or mother next to you?" asked Raphael as if it was the most obvious thing. He saw Beth continuing to stare at him with questions in her eyes. There was a doubt in her eyes, and the doubt was not about him.

    Beth had grown up being praised for the way she looked and right now the confidence in her was breaking. Though she hade back to her conscious her feet which once used to be dainty, it looked repulsive in her eyes. She wondered if it was better to die than live like this. If people found out about what she had be, she would be banished, not to go back to the life she once had.

    "I will never be me anymore��" whispered Beth.

    As much as Beth had tried to chase behind wealth and status, she had always craved to be loved, and she realized how distant that thought turned right now.

    "You don''t have to feel that way, Miss Elizabeth,"mented Raphael, taking a seat not too far away from where she was chained.

    Elizabeth shook her head, a tear slipped past her eye when her eyes went back to look at her furry legs. "You don''t understand. My entire life, I have craved to fall madly in love with the man I want, and then have a marriage on top of it. To be treasured and treated well. I cannot have any of those. No one will want me, and instead, I will be hunted."

    "Once the cure is here, you won''t have to worry about such things," said Raphael.

    That is if the cure existed. But the cure didn''t exist. She wondered if this was nature''s way to give her back everything that she had done to people around her and was now being punished.

    "I think you look much better than how you looked two days ago,"mented Raphael, gaining Beth''s attention.

    "Did you not look at me," asked Beth, a slight amount of frustrationced in her voice. As if it wasn''t enough, her hands slowly started to morph into the werewolf''s hands, and her hands turned to fists.

    "I have. For a while now, I have been looking, " Raphael''s answer surprised her. Beth''s emerald eyes stared at Raphael. "I think you are a beautiful person, Miss Elizabeth. No matter what you did in the past, it wasn''t entirely your fault."

    "But partly they were my fault."

    "Shut up," said Raphael and her eyes widened. Before she could say anything, he said, "Stop wallowing in self-pity. I don''t think you are that kind of person to do that. I know you have a lot of pride and even when a pebble touches that ss-like heart of yours, you prevent it from cracking. Haven''t you heard that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, mdy? As I said, you look better than how you used to look in the past."

    Beth''s eyes welled up, and she blinked back quickly.

    Breaking her gaze away from him, she looked everywhere before going back to look back at him. "Are you not worried? That I might kill you?" asked Beth, her green eyes focussed on him.

    Raphael offered her a smile, "I guess not."

 Chapter 441 Dark corridors- Part 2

    <h4>441 Dark corridors- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Madeline walked in the lonely corridors of the castle near the tower where she had left Beth in Raphael''s care. This side of the castle was not used by anyone, which was why even the torches that were burning in here had scarce light in them. Every time she passed through a window, she tried to keep an eye on the Salvette Mortem, but now she had lost sight of it. She didn''t know where it was and started to look for it.

    She couldn''t help but wonder who was going to die right now. Was someone else going to kill a person here because Beth was chained and there was no way she could turn rampant in the castle. She felt her heart beating loudly in her chest.

    "My Queen!" greeted the guests when they met her, who were still staying in the castle. Madeline offered them a polite nod. Without spending time to chat, she excused herself and went in search of the creature of death that had entered the castle.

    As she walked, her eyes fell on the nearest torch of fire that had burned brightly. It flickered, moving with the wind before it exhausted in a blink of an eye. The strangest thing was that it wasn''t just one torch but every single torch in the corridor had exhausted themselves, leaving the castle entirely dark with no light.

    "Why did all the torches exhaust suddenly?" asked one of thedies who were out in the corridor.

    "Someone tell the servants to light up the torches again. It is so dark in here," said another woman. Madeline could hear the lightmotion from behind, but she didn''t bother with it as she wanted to look for the creature of death. The next moment, she heard a scream, "AHHHHH!"

    Madeline quickly made her way to the ce where she heard the sound and a guard came running there with antern.

    "I-I don''t know what happened, a moment ago she was still alive," said the woman, looking down at thedy whose throat had been slit with her eyes left open and lying on the ground. It had started, thought Madeline to herself. She looked around to catch no one in sight.

    "There''s an intruder in the castle!" the guard notified the others by shouting. "Intruder has killed ady! Alert!" he called to gain the attention of the other guards who stood nearby.

    "Why would the person kill her?!" eximed thedy in shock.

    "My Queen, let me escort you to the King''s quarters. It''s not safe out here," said the guard.

    Madeline saw a shadow move behind one of the walls. Instead of listening to the guard and turning to a mouse to hide in the room, she said, "Escort thedy and the other guests to their rooms immediately. Have some one move the body in the front room of the castle. I will have a look around, and if you find Theodore, ask him to meet me."

    "Yes, mdy!" the guard obliged.

    "It is finally good to make your acquaintance, Lady Madeline," said the man, pushing the hood that he had been wearing backwards. With darkness that prevailed in the corridor, it was hard to see who it was, but the voice sounded familiar to Madeline.

    "Who are you?" questioned Madeline while taking a step back from the person.

    "I am an old friend of your grandparents. We have met several times in the past, but I believe your grandparents must have erased your memories," said the man. Three torches near the person lit up. He said, "But I heard you remember me."

    Madeline''s mouth went dry, seeing the person, "Walter."

    "I knew you would not disappoint me," Walter offered her a polite smile, showing his fangs that peeked out of his lips.

    "What are you doing here? I don''t think you are here to have tea." Her fingers stretched, moving it wide before she turned them into fists as if she was readying herself. Walter''s eyes were quick to snap to look at those movements, and she felt her heart stumble.

    "Don''t be afraid, little Maddie," whispered Walter, but Madeline heard his words that raised goosebumps on her skin, making her feel ufortable. "I can hear your heartbeat so loud as if it is my own heart. Maybe you have my heart." His words put Madeline on alert. "We have spent so much time together in the past. Don''t you remember how carefully I took away those wings that were on your back that would have turned you odd in this world?"

    "You mean how you burned them?" asked Madeline, and the man smiled.

    "I was protecting you. This ce is not safe for you. Come with me so that I can take you to the ce where people will stop harming you," he offered her a kind look in his eyes. Madeline was not a vampire, therefore, it was hard to know who else was here with him. She knew Walter was part of the group of demons who were after her, and he wouldn''t havee here alone by himself.

    In a blink of an eye, Walter came to stand right in front of Madeline, and she quickly stumbled back for him to catch her arm. She ced her hand on his hand without holding back, burning it to have him curse at her and she walked backwards.

    "Fuck!" cursed Walter whose skin had melted on Madeline''s touch and he could see bones while part of his hand bled. "It is good to see that you are at the highest peak of your abilities. I can only imagine what powers will unleash once we pull that heart of yours."

    His wounds started to heal, and he pulled out two gloves. "I am on a limited time to take you to your rightful ce."

    "I have no interest in leaving this castle," retorted Madeline, and she raised her hand to shatter the ss that covered the portraits, that was directed at Walter before she started to run to the next corridor.

    Walter was quick to appear in the opposite direction of where she was heading, making her feet stop right away. "You cannot run away from me. I have been waiting for this moment. Do you think I would not havee prepared?" he chuckled and pulled out something that looked like a stone. "I guess you won''t being with me willingly," and he dropped the stone on the ground.

    The fire in the torches lit up and from the stone that fell, something started to creep out of it, like creepers that quickly moved towards Madeline. They moved in such speed, that it was quick enough to swirl around her legs and arms, stopping her from running away.

    "You caught her," came another voice, and a woman walked forward with her shoes thatcked against the ground. "I knew you would be able to catch her faster than the rest of us. Now, all we need to do is get her out of here."

    "Where are the others?" asked Walter to the woman.

    "Killing the guards and other people for joy while feasting on human blood. She looks quite pretty. What a waste to have such a beautiful face, yet die so young," the woman clicked her tongue upon seeing Madeline.

    Madeline tried to raise the heat in her hands to burn the creepers that looked brittler in appearance but were actually strong. It was hard to break herself free or to cut them.

    "These are the creepers from hell, try as much as you want, but you won''t be able to break free, them" said Walter. "I guess it''s time to put you to sleep. Don''t worry, I will wake you up."

    "You wouldn''t want that," whispered Madeline and the woman who looked at the dark angel said,

    "Do it quick, Walter. We don''t want to waste more time. Where the fuck is the moon," she cursed under her breath.

    One of the creepers crawled up on the wall, letting arge flower bloom. From the middle of the flower, a needle-like stalk appeared, ready to prick Madeline. But before it could prick her neck, an icicle came to cut the stalk and the flower froze that was on the wall.

 Chapter 442 Dark corridors- Part 3

    <h4>442 Dark corridors- Part 3</h4>

    "I am not that little girl anymore," said Madeline. Before anyone could move or say anything, the ice that had spread on the floor around her shattered into pieces while also tearing the creepers before it turned to dust and they rose up in the air.

    The demoness'' eyes widened, "What incredible powers she has," she said in astonishment. The icy dustbined itself into many sharp des before they were shot at both Walter and the demoness, who jumped away from being pierced by the ice des.

    "Lady Madeline!" Theodore appeared on the other side of the corridor. With one wave of her hand at the intruders, the snow from the other side of the ground turned to more des before they were aimed at the intruders. The demoness raised her hand to bring out fire from her hands, melting the ice de before it could touch her.

    "You have wonderful, silly tricks, but they aren''t enough to save you," smiled the demoness.

    And when the demoness aimed her hand at Madeline, the fire zed around the ce that had Madeline start running away from there. Trying not to stumble down, she ran from the demoness who was persistent to catch her. It seemed like Walter had not followed her as Theodore had kept him upied by fighting with him.

    While Madeline ran, one of the guests appeared in between her and the demoness. The demoness used a knife to slit the guest''s throat, and Madeline caught sight of the Salvette Mortem with bloody hands, moving towards the dead body.

    Screams could be hearding from the other parts of the castle, and Madeline didn''t know which side to head towards. These people hade for her, but the innocent people in the castle had nothing to do with the situation who were being killed mercilessly.

    "Why are you killing people?! You want only me!" demanded Madeline.

    "Don''t cry. You will end up like this one soon," said the demoness, kicking the dead body to the side. "We need a few sacrifices before we can use you. More the blood, merrier."

    Madeline didn''t know who else she would be facing. There was no point in running because that would only create more problems. She moved her hand to the open side of the corridor. The snowkes that were on the ground came to settle in her hand, to form a sword-like weapon.

    The demoness held both the knives in her hands before attacking the dark angel. Madeline raised the de to stop the demoness'' attack. Though it wasn''t made out of metal, one could hear the sh between the weapons.

    "You should have run when you had the chance. It would have been much more fun than seeing you faint now in pain," saying this, the demoness pushed the de of the knives further and Madeline felt the twist in her flesh.

    Madeline tried to breathe, and said, "Then I wouldn''t have been able to do this." For a moment, the demoness was puzzled on what the dark angel''s words meant. "In the name of God and the holy spirit, I condemn thee to get back to where thou hase from."

    The demoness''s eyes widened, and she asked startled, "What the fuck do you think you are doing?!" At the same time she pulled out the knives from Madeline''s arms.

    "Sending you back to Hell," replied Madeline.

    A white light appeared from Madeline''s hand that she was ced on the demoness'' neck. The woman screamed in pain as she was engulfed in light and when the light zapped out, so did the demoness, leaving the knives behind that fell on the ground.

    Quickly running away from there, Madeline stumbled across many dead bodies of either the servants or the guests ,whose heads had been ripped off or their hearts pulled out of their chests. All she saw was blood around her and she took time to gather herself. This was not good. She was able to fight one overconfident demoness, but that didn''t mean she would be sessful again, and who knew how many more people hade for her?!

    Madeline caught sight of a maid who groaned in pain. "Are you alright? Let me help," she said, helping the maid up on her feet.

    "M-mdy, there are people with bat-like wings on their back. They are killing everyone," spoke the maid, scared.

    "Listen to me. Get all the servants to go back to the servant quarters and not toe out of their rooms. Make sure they don''te out until one of the guards appears. Okay?" asked Madeline, and the maid nodded her head vigorously.

    Back in one of the many royal rooms, Lucy picked on the screamsing from somewhere outside, and she frowned. She stayed in the room for a minute, but hearing one more cry, her hand reached out for the knob, and she pulled it open to step outside the room.

    Lucy was ready to head in the direction of the screams, when she heard, "It''s been long, Lucy. Did you miss me?" Hearing the voice behind her, her body froze. She turned around to find Samuel standing in the empty corridor.

    "What are you doing here?" asked Lucy because clear orders had been given to him to not enter into the castle.

    Samuel smiled, "I thought you would be happy to see me here. My wife," and he started to make his way to where she was. Warning bells started to ring in the back of her head.

    "I am not your wife. Our marriage has been dissolved," responded Lucy while taking a couple of steps backwards.

    "Don''t be like that," he tsked, getting closer to her and blocking her way before she could run. "You think I haven''t seen the looks you and Theodore give each other? You make it seem like what I did was equal Imitting a crime. I have been so good to you, Lu."

    Lucy could tell something was very different from what Samuel usually portrayed himself to be. Or maybe this was him, and even after staying next to him for years, she wasn''t able to detect it.

    "What did youe here for?" All the needed settlement had already been done through Calhoun so that she wouldn''t have to see Samuel again. He cornered her against the wall.

    "Do you want to know?" he asked. In the background, Lucy heard themotioning not too far away from where they stood. "I came here for you."

    Lucy''s eyes looked back at Samuel, and her eyes widened. She used her hand to stop him from attacking her, but he caught hold of them. And within a second, his hand pierced through her stomach, making her gasp and he pulled his hand that was covered in her blood.

    "How''s that for a start as a reason?" asked Samuel.

    .

    THIS IS AN ONGOING BOOK.

 Chapter 443 Chaotic corridors- Part 1

    <h4>443 Chaotic corridors- Part 1</h4>

    .

    For the first few seconds, Lucy didn''t know what happened to her because it felt too fast. Even though she was a vampire, she could feel the pain in her stomach, and she ced both her hands on the wound and felt something wet. When she looked down at her hands, slightly dazed, she saw blood on her hands.

    She looked shocked at Samuel, who had taken two steps backwards to admire her. "Did you think I would let you off the hook without giving something in return, my wife?" asked Samuel to her.

    Lucy could feel the pain starting to spread as Samuel had dipped his fingers deep into her stomach before pulling it away.

    "You are supposed to be my wife. Someone who will stand by me forever, but what did you do instead? It is your fault, you know that I even started doing the maids and the other women," said Samuel, ming her as he saw her gasp for air. "Not one day into the marriage and I caught you and Theodore looking at each other, while ignoring my existence. Not once but every single time."

    "That''s not true," whispered Lucy as she felt more blood pour out from her wound and she tried not to move her hand to stop the bleeding. "I put all my effort when it came to our marriage."

    "Can you honestly tell me that your heart doesn''t beat for that low-life? The way you came running that day to make it look like it was my fault. Humiliating me in front of everyone. Did you think I would note back to do the same to you?" questioned Samuel, "Don''t worry, you won''t die soon as you aren''t a human but a vampire."

    Lucy couldn''t believe this was happening to her. Her eyes went to look at the end of the corridor, hoping for someone to show up, but it seemed like everyone was caught with other things, and she had only herself to fend for.

    "I did everything a wife could do, and you are ming your lust to be my fault, causing infidelity in our marriage," Lucy gritted her teeth. Samuel wasn''t used to hearing Lucy speak back to him like this, and he stared at her. Stepping closer to her again, he said,

    "Keep talking, Lu," and this time he pushed his fingers above her stomach and below her heart. Lucy started to cough blood because of this. "I have treated you so well. Have I ever hit you? Abused you?"

    Lucy felt tears slip from the corner of her eyes. She had been brought up in a protected environment where no one had ever hurt her. The only people who would have raised their voices until now was her mother and her grandmother, on rare asions, her father. Because of how Lucy was, no one ever hurt her.

    Taking a deep shuddering breath, Lucy asked, "Is that why you are doing this to me now? To settle the things between us?"

    Samuel pulled his hand out of her body, and Lucy felt every intrusion leaving her body. Unable to stand on her feet anymore, her legs gave out, and she fell on the ground, on her knees continuing to cough out more blood.

    "What has he ever done to you?" asked Lucy, her gaze moved from the floor to look at Samuel, who stood in front of her.

    "It isn''t just him, but also the King. We alle from the same ce. I just happened to realize we are all the same, yet they behave so haughty. From the low point of life, the dirty alleys of the viges and towns that are dark," said Samuel to her before crouching down to level himself with her. He brought his bloody hand forward to touch her face, and Lucy didn''t know if he was going to snap her head. "I was adopted, Lu."

    "You were adopted, I heard that," came the words from Lucy''s mouth with difficulty.

    "I was in my lowest state��no food, no shelter, nothing, no love either. Do you know how I ended up with Greville''s family?" asked Samuel with a smile that made him look like a mad man, who didn''t care about anything. "The Greville''s had a son, just like me, who one day entered the market. You know how cocky children are when they are fed with love and wealth. He thought it was going to be just like another day, but I killed him. Recing him and taking up his identity as Greville''s family couldn''t bear the loss. The boy''s name was Samuel. My real name is Tony. Can you call me by my name, dear wife?"

    He got closer to her, holding her jaw in his hand to turn her cheeks smeared with her blood. When his face was in front of her, Lucy stared at the man like she was seeing a stranger. She spat blood on his face before pushing him away from her with all her strength, but her strength was decreasing because of the amount of blood that she lost.

    Samuel was not pleased with this action. He used his other clean hand to wipe the blood from his face, but it in turn only smeared the blood across his face, and he red at her.

    "You show me so much fire, Lu," stated Samuel, and heughed, "I could see that fire every time Theodore was around you. But then this is not just about him, but also that dear brother of yours who has always looked down upon me. Keeping an eye on me only to restrict my movements."

    Lucy tried to get away from him, pushing herself with her hands while dragging her body.

    "Brother Calhoun must have known what you were up to. Smoke doesn''t arise without the fire," said Lucy, keeping a distance between them which was quickly closed by Samuel. He hovered above her before stopping her from going further.

    "Aren''t you so proud?" he asked her, his hand reaching for her neck, and Lucy closed her eyes.

    She felt Samuel''s hand slide down to her chest, and his fingers readying itself to push in so that it could touch her heart. "Just thinking about what might happen once you are dead, I can barely wait to watch it. You have been a good girl, Lu, and my issues are mostly with the others, but you know how the world we live in works, don''t you?"

    "I hope you rot in hell," spat Lucy and Samuel chuckled.

    "I thought you were going to say you love me, but that is alright. I will miss you," said Samuel, the smile dying on his face, but Lucy couldn''t continue to focus her eyes on him. It felt like her sight was blurring, and her life was slowly escaping from her body. She felt the pressure of his fingers building against her chest.

 Chapter 444 Chaotic corridors- Part 2

    <h4>444 Chaotic corridors- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Before Samuel had the opportunity to dig his fingers into Lucy''s chest to get hold of her heart and pull it out, he felt something approaching him from the corner of his eyes.

    With a frown on his face, he turned his head to catch sight of a sharp icicles that wasing at him. At first, he dodged it, but then came another icicle, and he had to step away from Lucy, who was lying on the cold floor.

    "Get away from her!" shouted Madeline.

    "Look who is here. I thought you would have been captured by now," said Samuel, getting up to stand, he looked at Madeline who stood at the end of the corridor. "I didn''t know you could manifest snow into such amazing des."

    Madeline heard only a part of his words as her eyes fell on Lucy on the ground. "What did you do to her?" she demanded. There was blood all over the floor that belonged to Lucy.

    "Just a little goodbye gift," answered Samuel. "This room once used to belong to me too," he said, turning to point at the room which Lucy had stepped out of a few moments ago. Theodore had asked Lucy to stay in the room, not knowing that Samuel woulde to find her here first before anywhere else. "You should tell your goodbye too. Her end is near."

    Madeline''s teeth gritted against each other, and the icicles that had fallen on the ground, she turned them into nothing less than shards of ss pieces before attacking Samuel with it. Samuel tried to dodge it, moving a few more steps away from Lucy. Madeline turned worried because she could tell Lucy didn''t have an ounce of strength to move, and she needed help right this instant.

    Samuel dodged the icicles before going to attack Madeline with the gun he had brought along with him, trying to aim at her limbs while making sure not to injure her critically as they needed her alive.

    "Who knew that beneath the innocent facade, you held such powers, dark angel. You should know better than to fight. Give up now, and I will think about saving Lucy''s life for yours," proposed Samuel.

    Madeline tried to get Samuel as far away as she could from Lucy. She didn''t know what the bullets were made of, and if it were by chance a silver bullet, Lucy would die.

    "You are already a demon with powers. Why are you seeking out for more?" asked Madeline. Samuel''s wings spread out from his back that were bat-like.

    "Has any wealthy man ever stopped working at the thought that they have enough money?" Samuel questioned back, "Power is what we are all after. To be superior than the rest."

    "I know all the tricks of the fallen angels. Your aunt Mary enjoyed putting me through the pain. Where is she? I thought I would pay her a little visit while I was here," said Samuel, closing his eyes and trying to listen to the nearby voices in the castle keenly. "Did you kill her?"

    "Do you want to end up like her?" Madeline retorted back while steadying her stance.

    "With the way it looks, you are more on the disadvantage side because I don''t see the bloody King hovering over you. Not that I question him considering how you look. I knew you were special since the first time we met," said Samuel, gazing up and down at her. "Where is he? Did he perhaps decide to offer you for us?"

    Madeline didn''t know if Calhoun had reached the cave or if he had turned back around, after sensing the fear in her heart and mind. She didn''t know if Calhoun would be here anytime soon, but until then, she would have to hold her ground, as well as, protect Lucy.

    On the other side of the castle, Theodore fought with Walter, trying to kill him, while the other did the same. Walter tried tond punches on Theodore, but the man deflected it by using his hand. Walter used his leg, kicking Theodore to have him flying and hit against the wall. But as fast as Theodore''s body had fallen, at the same speed he stood up unscathed.

    Suddenly, a massive wind blew in the corridors nearby asrge ck wings had appeared in the inside garden of the castle. Though Calhoun had left to get the antidote, halfway through, he had turned around after getting a bad feeling. He hade back as fast as he could.

    The demons who had appeared in the castle swarming like bees continued to kill anything and everything that came in their way. When one of them came across Calhoun, the demon went straight with a silver-coated de at him. The orders to the demons had been clear: to either kill people or keep the people busy so that the dark angel could be captured.

    When the de came near Calhoun, he caught hold of the metal and his skin started to burn like steam appearing and it started to bleed. The mere demon looked happy and ready to push another knife and im the victory on how he killed the King. But Calhoun twisted the de in his hand while staring at the demon.

    "How many of you are here?" demanded Calhoun. His ears tried to pick the number of screams and the weapons being shed. "Nevermind," he said, pulling the bent de out of the demon''s hand, and then holding the demon''s head before squashing it against the floor to have the demon''s head sttered into a mess.

    Seeing this, some of the demons who were wandering and trying to create more chaos, came right at Calhoun. He twisted each of the demon''s arms before tearing it away without mercy. His ears were trying to pick on where Madeline was. It seemed like the werewolf was still in the tower, but the growls continued to turn louder.

    "Kill him!" one of the demons shouted at others, and they pulled out their guns, knowing they were dealing with a vampire. When they started to shoot, most of the demons believed they would see the vampire pass out on the ground in a dead state, but instead, he stood there without moving with holes in his body and smoke around him.

    "I don''t think you received the news, but silver doesn''t affect me much. Hasn''t for a while," said Calhoun, pulling out the bullet that was stuck to his neck. He threw the bullet on the ground that fell with a tter. "It''s my try now," he said, pulling out the gun that he carried.

    The demons and some of the fallen angels who hade, looked shocked by seeing the vampire standing there unharmed. There were at least a minimum of ten intruders in here, who had shot fires at the King, which would mean more than fifty bullets of silver.

    Calhoun pulled the cork of the gun, pulling the trigger one after another, where the bullet came to hit right at the centre of the people''s foreheads.

    With the bullets exhausted in his gun, Calhoun didn''t bother to waste his time to reload them. The remaining three of the people, he used closebat, fighting them with his hands and legs. He kicked one of the demons into another room, while when another came at him with knives to cut him up, Calhoun caught hold of the demon''s hand, twisting it and pushing the person on the ground before using his knuckles to punch him.

    The demon who was on the ground tried to get up, but every time his hand even tried to move, Calhoun''s fists crashed into the side of his face. The punches kept oning until the demon stopped moving, and his face was left bloody, along with Calhoun''s knuckles and fingers.

 Chapter 445 Chaotic corridors- Part 3

    <h4>445 Chaotic corridors- Part 3</h4>

    The dark corridors lit up in his presence, and he made his way through killing the demons who had intruded the castle. Catching up to Theodore, who was fighting with a familiar face, Walter, he made his way there. This was the same person who had torn Madeline''s wings.

    Theodore was on the ground, his hand pushing Walter''s face while Walter had his hands around Theodore''s neck, strangling him. When a gunshot was fired, Walter growled in anger, as his arm was shot. This gave an advantage to Theodore to push him and have Walter''s back on the ground.

    "How unfair the royals y in the game of fight," chuckled Walter through his gritted teeth.

    "Theo, go and check how others are doing. Get them into a safe zone. I have some scores to settle with this one," said Calhoun, when Theodore had just dropped a blow at the man''s face who was beneath him.

    Within five seconds, Theodore disappeared on orders, while Walter pushed himself to sit upon the ground. Touching his mouth with his fingers, he looked at the blood.

    "You should have taken the chance to kill me than dy it, thinking you might win," said Walter, getting up to stand and smile at Calhoun, "I have heard so much about you, but it''s a shame that we have to meet in such conditions, isn''t it?"

    "I think it''s quite perfect that we meet each other like this," said Calhoun, his feet slowly moving to step into the corridor from the little garden. "I have been waiting to meet you for so long myself. I will make sure you are well taken care of."

    Walterughed, "I guess I am okay with that. I was waiting for someone who was of my own strength and calibre to fight. Let''s hope it''s a good and a fair fight."

    The smile on Calhoun''s lips broadened, and he ran his tongue over his fangs, "Fair it is," he said, knowing nothing was fair and he enjoyed ying dirty. Within a second, both Walter and Calhoun went up against each other.

    Walter was a vampire and demon, simr to Calhoun, but not with everything. The demon was faster when it came to his attacks, and it seemed like he had only been ying around with Theodore to keep him upied and have some blood on his hands.

    But Calhoun, who was the devil''s descendant, his movements were faster and each punch thatnded at Walter had the demon vampire stagger back. But Walter had his tricks up his sleeve, and he used his demon ability to move faster and extinguish the lights from the corridor tond a hit at Calhoun''s stomach and then his face.

    "What can I say," replied Calhoun. Walter, who stared at the King for a second more went back to attack Calhoun, but this time, Calhoun blocked the demon''s hit with his arm, pushing Walter away before using his leg to kick the side oftter''s face, to have him crouch in pain before getting back up on his feet. "I sometimes wonder why people don''t have a good vision for themselves and the longevity of their lives. You came here only to die, or mark your time of death."

    "The same can be told to you. I heard you killed your mother, and then ascended the throne. Want to know something? She was a nicey in the bed," came the vile words from Walter''s lips. This had Calhoun''s eyes burned in fury. "We lived so close, the viges next to each other. It was hard not to know what the King saw in her, that he had her for so many years before throwing her out."

    Calhoun didn''t often lose his cool, but the subject of his mother and her life was sensitive, and his eyes filled itself in pure rage.

    "Now I have more than one reason to kill you," seethed Calhoun, his eyes darkening.

    The fight between them soon broke out, punches and kicks were delivered against each other while being thrown against the wall with full force. Calhoun pulled Walter, using his fist to hit Walter''s jaw from below and the demon staggered back. Walter spat the blood that came to his mouth.

    "Enough of ying games. It is time to get serious," remarked Walter, and he came straight at Calhoun, using his own hands to punch back and tried to get his hand closer to his chest so that he could pull out his heart and end it. On the other hand, Calhoun had many opportunities to rip the man''s heart out of his chest, but a death like that was too easy for a man like Walter for the sins, he hadmitted.

    Walter picked up one of the knives that the demoness had dropped when she was in here before splitting up. Rotating both the des in his hands, before he ran towards Calhoun, letting the knives scrape thetter.

    Calhoun dodged the knives, not letting the fast-moving des near him, that rotated in circles to create a much more powerful weapon. He picked up a sword that was ced as a showpiece on the nearby wall, using it to fight back metal against metal. Pushing the sword through the gap of the two knives, he pierced the de through Walter''s shoulder, making him wince in pain. He kicked his stomach to have the man fall on the ground.

    While Walter was on the ground, Calhoun used all his force in his fist and hit the wall that started to crack. The ceiling almost fell on Walter if he didn''t move away from there in time. A smug smile came to appear on Calhoun''s face when he heard Walter curse him.

    "How''s that for cockiness?" asked Calhoun, looking at the skin on his knuckles that bled. "Would you like your ribs to be broken one after another or would you prefer that I hammer silver rivets into your nails?"

    This time it was Walter who looked mad with anger. His face contoured itself in wrath, and he got up again. "I will kill you before that!" promised Walter to him.

    On the orders of Calhoun, Theodore made his way to get the innocent folks to safety when his eyes fell on something lying on the ground. Stopping his feet, he bent down to pick up a piece of fur that was brown. His eyes widened, and he quickly ran to the North tower, making his way up through the stairs, and opening the door to find the room to be empty.

    Both Raphael and Lady Elizabeth were not present, and the chains attached to the walls seemed to be broken.

 Chapter 446 Blood on the floor- Part 1

    <h4>446 Blood on the floor- Part 1</h4>

    dimir sniffed the air and said, "What''s this, Odin? It looks like there''s a party going on in the castle."

    Odin followed his Master since they had left the caves, looking left and right, craning his neck and heard the screams and metals sh against each other. "It seems like there are fights going on, Master."

    "Do you know why there are people in here when we have already scheduled our day to kidnap the King''s wife?" dimir didn''t like the idea of someoneing to try and interrupt his already pre-scheduled ns. "Smells like the half baked demons and fallen angels in here. Did you go to Hell, Odin?"

    Odin cleared his throat, "Yes, Master. I have informed about you returning to Hell, but it seems like there have been slight changes. One of the demons named Greyson has been gathering an army and telling how you were not going toe back."

    "Filthy creatures never know when to draw the line, do they," dimir''s words were more of a statement. They stepped into the inside parts of the castle and caught sight of dead bodies on the ground. He took a big sniff of the air, relishing the smell of death that was alsoced with power-hungry, greed, cruelty and other emotions that he very well associated himself with. "I think we havee on time."

    Odin craned his head again, this time to look at the top to find two people fighting.

    "Leave them be," said dimir, "We aren''t here to y with the minions. Now where is the girl, the human," said the older vampire, closing his eyes and trying to trace her scent, "Found her," said dimir, his eyes snapping open to show his red eyes.

    Away from the new duo who had entered the castle, Raphael snapped his head now and then, trying to find where Beth had gone. He had only stepped near the window to take a look outside where there was a fight going on, but in less than a minute when he had turned around, Beth was no more in the room. He didn''t even know how she had freed her legs from the chains as the chains looked like they were broken.

    Running around the Northside of the castle, Raphael loudly called out, "Lady Elizabeth? Shit this is not good," he said to himself.

    "Lady Elizabeth, where are you?" he shouted again, his ck eyes searching for thedy or a brown werewolf.

    "What are you looking for?" asked someone from behind him, and Raphael turned to find a woman standing not too far away from him. He hadn''t seen this woman before, and he could only guess that this person was an intruder.

    "Peyton Humphrey," she greeted back before saying, "You didn''t tell me whom you were looking for. I can help you search."

    "What a kinddy you are," said Raphael. "I am looking for my future wife, but she''s been too shy with me. It would be best if you went back to your...home. I will find her by myself." As if on cue, both of them heard a wolf''s loud howl that echoed through the castle for not just them, but everyone to stop for a second and hear it.

    "It would be rude of me to let a charming man such as yourself go alone and not help," both the sides of the woman''s lips pulled up into a broad smile, and Raphael smiled. Without uttering a word of response to her, he turned and started to walk away to head in the direction of the werewolf''s howl. But he had barely taken a few steps when a sharp knife was thrown at him, and in time he caught it.

    It was a throwing knife that had a loop on the opposite side of the de, and he rotated it in his finger. "That is not nice at all."

    "You didn''t wait for me," sheined with the smile that still didn''t fall from her face.

    Raphael faced the woman, "Here, I am."?The woman went straight at him to attack him with her knives that kepting one after another, making one think from where she was pulling out the knives so quickly to throw it at Raphael.

    He dodged away, his movements were as quick as the knives that were coated in poison to get to him. "I wished I could y for longer, but I have very little time, and I would rather prefer I use the time to find the person I am looking for."

    "Too bad that you are upied but I insist," said the vampire-demon Peyton, who almost got hold of Raphael as one of the knife grazed against one of his sleeves, the fabric melted, leaving a wide gap.

    Raphael moved behind the pir, covering himself and hiding from the woman who had not stopped throwing the knives at him even for a single second. He pulled out the cards from his pocket that were all ck and metallic in nature.

    "Are you here for the dark angel?" asked Raphael.

    "If you are here for the same reason I will need to put you in the coffin," replied Peyton. "What are you doing hiding behind the pir? Are you a low-level demon who has no abilities? Poor thing doesn''t have any weapon to defend. Let me help in lending you two of my knives, and we can see who wins."

    "I would rather happily love to call you victorious and forfeit from the fight," remarked Raphael to hear the womanugh. But he knew the woman wanted to kill him. "You know what they say," his voice echoed in the empty ce they were in, "Do things that you are good at. No point in me picking your beautiful looking knives when I don''t know how to swing them as elegantly as you do."

    He then stepped out of the pir and noticed the woman was not there. His eyes carefully took in the area he was in. He knew the woman was still somewhere in here and hadn''t left. Hearing the soft rushing air above him, he looked up to see hering at him, and he raised his leg to kick her, and she slid through the ground to crash against another pir.

    "Pardon me for my gestures. I am usually much more polite with thedies," Raphael bowed his head, while still trying to follow the growls of the werewolf.

    "I must be bringing the best out of you. Don''t you think we should get together?" she asked.

    "Hm, too forward, aren''t you. I think I will pass on that. But I do have to ask you, do you like to y cards,dy?"

 Chapter 447 Blood on the floor- Part 2

    <h4>447 Blood on the floor- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Raphael raised his hand which had cards spread in his fingers. The woman stared at his hands. "Please see if you can catch them as fast as I caught your knives."

    The woman looked startled when the cards started to move in her direction in such fast speed that she had not expected him to throw it in such swiftness. One of the cards came to tear the clothes that she wore, while another card came to graze against her cheek, drawing blood and leaving a light sting on her cheek.

    "Impressive," she said, the smile on her lips fell, and she had a serious look on her face now. Raphael threw one more card, and she caught hold of it right in front of her face between her two fingers. "You were slow this time."

    "Are you sure?" smiled Raphael. For a moment, his words left the woman confused, and the next second, the card blew up in her hand like a little fire of cannonball.

    "You bastard," she cursed him, and soon they ended up indulging in throwing knives and cards at each other.

    The woman had not expected the cards to st in her face, and it left a burn where part of her skin had burnt itself, leaving the skin on her face melted.

    "How is that when ites to getting to know me? I love explosives, and these are my very own creations," remarked Raphael in delight. "Please have some more," and he went on to throw the cards at her. If the cards were only going to pass through, it would have been a less hassle, but it was bursting, putting the woman at a disadvantage.

    The cards that Raphael was making use of, was not normal but made out of metal. When the thrown cards moved in speed touching the demoness, upon his mind''s word, the metals reacted to st, where he exactly wanted.

    In no time, the woman was left with her body melted and she fell on the ground, unable to move an inch from where she was. She uttered something incoherent as if she was speaking in the demons''nguage.

    Raphael didn''t bother to check up on her and he went back to look for Beth, but he came to realize that the growl of the werewolf had stopped. He tried to search for her, but he couldn''t find her. Did she perhaps step outside the premise of the castle grounds, which was why he couldn''t hear her?

    But what really happened was that after Beth had turned into a werewolf, she had also turned back into her human self, where she nowid unconscious outside the castle stairs, on the grass with her tattered clothes. Madeline''s spell had worked, and the moon was nowhere in sight, but it was also causing a fluctuation with what Beth''s body was trying to transform into.

    Beth continued toy there while Raphael looked for her on the other side of the castle and the fight with others continued.

    "Do you think hitting me is going to do anything? You should perhaps consider joining with me and the others, Calhoun. Who knows, with a little bit of sacrifice, you can bring back your dead mother," said Walter, coughing blood from his mouth, and then staring at Calhoun.

    "Let me think about it," replied Calhoun. He paused his hand for a second, and then said, "I guess I have no interest," and he continued to punch Walter until the demon could barely get up from the ground and heid there with his bloody face.

    When Calhoun pulled back and turned his back, ready to find Madeline, Walter tried to push himself up and spread his bat-like wings.

    "I forgot about that," murmured Calhoun, and before Walter could try to get away from him by flying into the sky, Calhoun caught hold of one of the bat-like wings, and tore it from the demon''s back and Walter cried out in pain.?Walter''s voice echoed loudly through the corridors.

    Calhoun threw the wing on the ground that pped as if it had its own life. Anger coursed through the demon''s body. Calhoun caught hold of Walter''s neck, pushing him against the wall, while they both struggled to get a good hold of each other. In no time, Calhoun tore even the other wing of Walter, and blood dripped down the demon''s back.

    Before Walter could get over from the shock of what happened to both of his wings, Calhoun had Walter on his knees, standing behind, he put both his hands on the demon''s head, and Walter struggled to get the King''s hands off of him.

    But Calhoun was too strong for him, and he tore the demon''s head from his body and threw it on the ground, and blood started to stter.

    Near the royal''s room, Lucy continued toy on the ground with her hand on her stomach as she felt the blood continue to ooze out from there. She could hear the shing soundsing not too far away from where sheid, but the vampiress eyesight had started to dim, and she found it difficult to breathe in the air as she felt suffocated.

    On the other hand, Madeline continued creating icicles and threw it against Samuel for him to only dodge. He wasn''t letting her near him, which made it difficult for her to send the damned back to Hell.

    Samuel then disappeared from her sight, and he appeared to stand in front of her quickly, "I must say, you are an eyesore," said Samuel, ready to use therge metal of rod which was in his hand to strike Madeline''s head. At the same time, Madeline had got the icicle to attack him from the back, piercing him through his stomach. "You bitch," he red at her, trying to get the icicle out of his body.

    Leaving the struggling demon behind, Madeline quickly made her way to where Lucyid on the ground, soaking in her blood.

    "Lucy!"

    The vampiress'' lips moved, and in great difficulty, she spoke, "Ldy Madeline."

    "I am here. I won''t let him harm you!" Madeline assured her. She didn''t know what to do, and she ced her hands on Lucy''s stomach where the wounds were.

    "Thank you," whispered Lucy, a faint smile on her lips before her eyes slowly started to close. With the blood she had lost, there was no telling if the vampiress would survive, thought Madeline to herself. How cruel could Samuel be to hurt Lucy!

    "Please stay with me!" came the rushed words from Madeline, and she tried to heal the injured girl who was on the brink of her death.

    Her hands shook, and she tried to steady them while covering Lucy''s wounds with her hands by whispering spells. But after a while, Lucy''s body didn''t move. The vampiress'' eyes stared, and the light in there started to turn dark.

    Madeline felt her heart stop when she caught sight of Lucy''s hand that slid down to the ground which she had ced at the side of her body earlier. The vampiress'' lips were parted, but not a single word came out, nor did she move her lips for the pain she felt in her body.

    "Ldy Lucy?" Madeline called the vampiress, but in return, she received no response.

    Noticing the red eyes that had turned nk, she uttered more spells to heal, putting her own life and soul to get Lucy back. Madeline felt her chest hurt and a bubble of cough rise in her throat because of the extent she had made use of her ability, and she raised her hand to see her blood. But even though Madeline didn''t stop using her ability, Lucy didn''t wake up.

    The more she tried, the more pain arose in her chest, and Madeline doubted if her ability was even working.

    Madeline took a shuddering breath, her eyes starting to prick as tears began to appear, and she felt one tear slide down her cheek as she realized Lucy was not breathing anymore.

 Chapter 448 Blood on the floor- Part 3

    <h4>448 Blood on the floor- Part 3</h4>

    Not in her dreams had she imagined that Samuel belonged to the group of demons and fallen angels who were trying to get to her. It was only this morning she had seen Lucy''s face that was smiling kindly at her, but now the same face had blood on it.

    Samuel, who had pulled out the icicle from his back, turned in the direction where Madeline was sitting on the ground, holding Lucy''s hand. "It is a surprise that shested that long. I made sure to twist her muscles at the right ces so that she could feel every single pain as her life left her body."

    Madeline gently brushed Lucy''s hand, hoping the vampiress woulde back, but she hadn''t. She turned to look at Samuel with hateful re.

    "How could you do that to her? She never wished any ill upon anyone. Not even you!" Madeline red at Samuel who didn''t look one bit remorseful. Instead, he stood there, watching Lucy''s body with a smirk on his lips.

    "She was too kind for this world. You should know that people like her don''t survive too long. If it weren''t for her protective family and me, she would have been butchered by now,"ughed Samuel, who was responsible for Lucy''s death.

    "She didn''t do anything wrong. She didn''t deserve this," whispered Madeline. At the same time, Lucy''s cousin, Ethan, arrived with blood on his forehead looking as if he had fought someone beforeing here.

    "Samuel," whispered the vampire, his eyes wide in surprise as to what this man was doing here.

    "Oh, look at that. I didn''t know you were here," said Samuel. Ethan''s eyes fell on Lucy and Madeline, and noticing how Lucy didn''t move, he red at Samuel. Ethan ran from where he was to attack Samuel. "I have no time to deal with you." Saying this, Samuel raised his hand, pointing at Ethan and moved it to his right to have Ethan crash against the wall. Picking up the icicle that was still in the process of melting, Samuel dug it deep into Ethan''s stomach.

    As Samuel made his way to where Madeline was, she caught sight of something lurked behind the pirs and then appeared the creature of death. The Salvette Mortem was here for Lucy, its hands bloody and before it could even get close to the vampiress whoid on the cold floor, Madeline let go of Lucy''s hand and stood up.

    "No," she said to it.

    When the Salvette Mortem appeared in the front, Madeline raised her hand that emitted white light and the creature made a displeasing noise. "I won''t let you to take her," she said to it.

    The creature continued to make noise, stepping away from the light and went to move behind the wall as if waiting for Madeline to leave the vampiress'' side so that it could grab the deceased person''s soul.

    Madeline couldn''t continue emitting the light which she had only discovered some time ago as her body had exhausted itself while trying to heal Lucy. She could taste the metallic blood in her mouth. She didn''t know what to do. One side there was the Salvette Mortem, and on the other side, there was Samuel who was waiting to take her from here.

    Samuel picked up the rod that was on the floor.

    "Now that we don''t have any more distraction, lets get you to your right ce," said Samuel while making his way to her.

    An icicle quickly appeared in Madeline''s hand. Before he could get too close to Madeline, someone emerged from behind, who was none other than dimir. While Samuel looked annoyed by seeing the stranger, Madeline noticed that she had seen this person on her wedding day. "Who the fuck are you now?" demanded Samuel.

    Madeline stared at the vampire who wore a long ck coat. The stranger said, "And where have you lost your manners. I thought it was going to be just me here tonight, but there''s a whole lot of party going on in here." dimir looked down at the dead girl on the ground and then at Madeline. "It is time to take you to a special ce."

    "Who are you?!" Samuel turned irritated. He raised the rod to the front, "You will do no such thing. Leave this ce and nevere back again. Now."

    dimir looked down at Samuel as if the demon was throwing a childish tantrum at him. "Fuck off from here before you make me a little angry," came the cold words from dimir.

    But Samuel didn''t care for the words spoken by the nameless vampire, whom he was meeting for the first time. He raised the metal rod, using it to harm dimir, but dimir caught hold of the metal, and in a blink of an eye, the metal disappeared in thin air. Confused, the mere demon stepped backwards to gauge the stranger. Where did the rod disappear to?!

    Samuel used his hand to punch dimir, but dimir caught hold of the demon''s hand and pushed him against the wall, twisting it in a way where the demon cried in pain. It was the first time he had felt such immense pain.

    "What did I say about making me angry, hm?" dimir asked in a calm tone, and Madeline who was witnessing this didn''t know why, but she felt the stranger somewhat simr to Calhoun with the way he asked the question.

    "I will fucking kill you!" Samuel struggled to get away, "Let go of my hand!" he ordered.

    "Okay," said dimir, and for a moment he loosened his hold on the weakling, but the very next second, he ced his other hand on Samuel''s back and then ripped out his hand. "There, I let it go."

    Madeline''s eyes turned wide seeing vampire''s strength. Was he perhaps helping her? She asked herself. She heard Samuel scream in agony as he had lost his arm and blood oozed out from the torn flesh. Anger spread on Samuel''s face, and he turned to look at dimir, not knowing who he truly was.

    Samuel used his only hand to harness his ability to attack the vampire in front of him. "I wouldn''t do that if I were you," said dimir, and he ripped the other arm of Samuel. The demon screamed, and he fell on the ground, rolling in pain.

    Madeline then saw the stranger bend down to ce his index finger on Samuel''s chest and for a moment even Samuel looked perplexed. But soon he started to splutter blood out of his mouth. "Seems like a lot of bad blood. Let''s get you clean, and I shall see youter in Hell."

    "Wh-what did you d-" Samuel didn''t get toplete his words as in a blink of an eye, he sttered into a ck mass of liquid on the ground.

    "Madeline!"

    Calhoun had entered the corridor in time to witness the stranger who appeared familiar, who had turned Samuel into liquid.

    Hearing Calhoun''s voice was nothing less than finding heaven in the world of chaos to Madeline. He was here, and that was all that mattered to her. She caught sight of blood on him.

    dimir didn''t turn to see who had appeared because by the way the girl''s face brightened, he could tell it was the King. Without sparing a second more to talk, dimir caught Madeline''s arm. Calhoun noticed this, and his eyes narrowed and he quickly made his way to where Madeline was.

    But before his hand could even have the opportunity to touch her, dimir smiled cunningly, and in a blink of an eye both Madeline and the stranger disappeared, bursting into specks of fire, leaving nothing but emptiness behind.

    Calhoun''s hand swiped across the empty ce, where Madeline had been just a fraction second ago. "Fuck!" he cursed in rage.

 Chapter 449 Fuel of Chaos- Part 1

    <h4>449 Fuel of Chaos- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Calhoun turned around to see Lucy who was on the ground, and he closed his eyes.

    He felt his hands turn to fists, and rage consumed his mind. His teeth gritted against each other, and his fist hit the pir to leave the wall cracked. White dust fell on the ground, and his already bloody knuckles left a smear of blood on the white pir.

    Walking towards his sister, Calhoun sat down on his knees and Lucy''s blood that was on the ground, started to soak his cks. In the beginning, he had kept a distance from her, but she was probably the only person when he had entered the castle to check up on him. Though they shared the same father and not the same mother, Calhoun hade to watch over his half-sister over the years.

    Her eyes continued to stare nkly, and he held the same hand that Madeline had held before she had disappeared from here. Calhoun''s fingers gently brushed Lucy''s hand, and he then held it firmly in his hand as if the life from his own body would transfer and bring her back to life.

    From the other end of the corridor, Theodore who hade in search of Calhoun, came running to where Calhoun was but seeing the person whoid on the ground, his body froze, and his feet came to a halt. Disbelief spread on his face like others as he hadn''t expected this to happen.

    "What happened?" asked Theodore, his voice stiff, and Calhoun who sat next to Lucy didn''t go to meet Theodore''s eyes.

    "It was Samuel!" came the voice of Ethan, who tried to get near them slowly, his body staggering as Samuel had pushed the icicle into his stomach earlier.

    "Bastard!" cursed Theodore, his hands clenched into fists simr to how Calhoun''s hands had turned.

    Calhoun could sense the turmoil of anger, and confusion in Theodore. Before Theodore could go hunting for Samuel, Calhoun said through gritted teeth, "He''s dead." He tried to figure out what to do next.

    Maybe if the stranger and Madeline went bynd or flight, he would have been able to hunt them down. But the vampire had disappeared in thin air, taking Madeline with him.

    Silence filled around them, and Theodore bent down to look at Lucy''s eyes that continued to fill itself with darkness, moving dot by dot. He lifted his hand, moving it near her head before he ced it on the top of her forehead, brushing her hair without much pressure, while both Calhoun and he refused to close her eyes.

    Calhoun heard the pping of wings, and he turned around to stand, seeing it was Reginald. His eyes zed, and he walked to where the person was, not caring if this person was an angel. Calhoun''s hand went straight at Paschar''s neck, and he pushed him against the wall.

    "Tell me why I shouldn''t kill you right now?" Calhoun growled in anger. His red eyes had already turned to a darker shade as he glowered at the grey eyes.

    "I don''t care what you spoke in Heaven or what the deal is with your people, but because of you, my peace has been screwed. I have lost my sister, and Madeline has been taken to who knows where," Calhoun red at Paschar, and the angel''s face turned to a frown. "It is because of your mistake, people are suffering and you haven''t done anything about it!"

    Paschar felt the push against the wall, but he didn''t retaliate to Calhoun''s gesture, knowing the vampire was in rage because of the current events. "The demons and the fallen angels cannot make use of Madeline. The Heavens have forgiven my deeds. They cannot hunt her. The punishment has been uplifted, and they cannot use her for any redemption."

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, "Do you think the demons and the fallen angels care about it?! Madeline might be strong, but that doesn''t mean she cannot be outnumbered. We have fucking Mortems walking in and around the castle like they are guests!" He then let go of Paschar before running his hands through his hair in frustration.

    At the same time, Calhoun caught sight of a dark shadow that was lurking behind the pir. When he saw the boney stag''s face peek out of the pir, he pulled out the gun he had and aimed it at Paschar.

    "The bullet is not going to kill me, Calhoun," Paschar let him know.

    "Tell me what will help, and I will use it on you unless you n to fix it," Calhoun deadpanned, pulling the cork. "You and I both know that there''s something different about me. Who knows, the bullet might work better in my hands."

    The creature of death started to move away from the pir, making its way towards the corridor and heading in the direction where Lucy was.

    Away from Calhoun and Paschar, Theodore''s eyes fell on Lucy''s wounds that were on her stomach and above it, which was covered in blood. He could see the indentation of the wounds, and he pulled out his handkerchief to cover the wounds, but even the handkerchief stained itself in Lucy''s blood.

    "Things that have happened have only run its course. Something that was supposed to happen," said Paschar.

    Calhoun shifted his hand away from Paschar, and without turning his head, he aimed the gun at the walking Salvette Mortem, whose hands were covered in blood. Without blinking his eyes, he pulled the trigger of the gun for the bullet to hit the stag''s head. Paschar''s eyes slightly narrowed.

    "Mortals cannot touch the creatures," whispered Paschar with a hint of confusion in his voice.

    Calhoun then turned around to unload all the bullets from the gun at the stag-like creature to stop it from getting closer to where Lucy was. The creature stepped back from getting shot again and turned its head to look in Calhoun''s direction and then back at the girl who was on the ground.

    Leaving Paschar''s side, Calhoun made his way toe and stand in the way of Salvette Mortem. "I heard my mother once say, that you creatures can speak. So why don''t we strike a deal," said Calhoun to it.

    The creature of death stared at Calhoun for a few seconds. It finally spoke, ''I cannot take her.''

    It seemed like only Calhoun and Paschar understood or heard what it said as Theodore only stared at the creature, while Ethan couldn''t see the creature.

    "What do you mean?" questioned Calhoun.

    ''Her life is frozen,'' said the stag-like creature, and it started to walk towards Calhoun and said something to him to which he frowned. Calhoun didn''t move from his ce since he didn''t fear the Salvette Mortem, and as the creature continued to walk, it almost passed through him only to vanish in thin air.

    Calhoun turned around, bending down to sit beside where Lucyid, staring into her eyes where the dots of darkness continued to spread in her open eyes. But then it slowly started to reverse until her pupil turned back to normal.

    Lucy took a huge gasp as if life was breathing back into her.

 Chapter 450 Fuel of Chaos- Part 2

    <h4>450 Fuel of Chaos- Part 2</h4>

    "Lucy?" called Theodore, but Lucy didn''t react to his words. At the same time, the colour of red in her eyes was filling back.

    Paschar, who witnessed this, frowned, not knowing if the girl had died or had been resurrected back to life, which was not possible. If the Salvette Mortem was here, it only meant it hade here for her. Like Calhoun, the angel had heard the words that had been uttered from the creature of the death.

    When pain started to contour Lucy''s face, Paschar stepped forward and crouched in front of her. His hand reached out towards the injured girl, but Calhoun''s hand caught Paschar''s wrist before the angel could touch her.

    "What do you think you are doing?" asked Calhoun. If there was something he had learned, it was the distrust against people, especially when it came to angels and fallen angels and the only exception in it was Madeline.

    Paschar had known Calhoun for many years, which was why he didn''t smite the vampire. "You asked me to fix it. I am only going to do that. I mean no harm, Calhoun," he assured while keeping eye contact.

    ring at the angel with his intense gaze, Calhoun finally let go of Paschar''s hand. Keeping a close eye, he watched the angel ce his hand on Lucy, who was again being consumed in pain. "It looks like Madeline has been using her abilities. She tried to heal and stop Lucy from turning dead, putting her in a frozen state."

    "Is that possible?" asked Ethan with wide-eyed while he stood leaning against the wall.

    Paschar turned his head to the side, realizing the one who spoke now was only a vampire. Someone who was not supposed to know about things like this. People in the living realm were left ignorant about the existence of the angels and demons, but as days passed by, it was hard to hide it because of the demons and fallen angels who liked to cause trouble.

    "Yes, it is. For a person with angelic abilities," answered Paschar. He moved his hand across Lucy''s wounds, and a golden light appeared from his hand. The injuries started to heal, but Lucy felt more pain, and she screamed before falling unconscious.

    "What happened?" asked Theodore, worried.

    Paschar pulled his hand away from Lucy, and he got up. "You should take her back to the room and let her rest. I speeded the process of healing, a little angelic ability is bound to have repercussions," he then paused and turned around, walking to where Ethan was leaning against the wall.

    Ethan looked startled and asked, "W-what are you doing?"

    Paschar didn''t answer, but only ced his hand on the vampire''s head. Both their eyes turnedpletely white. In less than ten seconds, Paschar pulled his hand away from the vampire. He said,

    Calhoun furrowed his eyebrows, and he saw Theodore pick up Lucy in his arms. "Does this mean the Salvette Mortem will return for Lucy again?" questioned Calhoun.

    "Unless she is dead, she should be fine. I don''t even know how Madeline did it," answered Paschar.

    "She has wings," stated Calhoun. Though many of them believed Madeline to be a fallen angel with immense powers and called a dark angel, Calhoun had always doubted why Madeline had received a pair of angelic wings that the fallen didn''t possess. In the back of his mind, there had always been a drop of worry about what it meant.

    "What?" Paschar appeared genuinely shocked.

    "Her wings havee out like a newborn baby from her back," said Calhoun and he gave the nod to Theodore to take his sister to be tended.

    "Thest time when she had wings, the bastard Walter and her shitty grandparents got it burnt and threw her in the coffin and nailing her down as if she was dead."

    This was something Paschar was unaware of. "When did the wings appear again?" asked Paschar.

    "A day or two ago," replied Calhoun. "What if she turns out to be like you? Not fallen anymore as she has angelic wings." This was a question that had been hovering in his mind.

    Paschar''s eyes moved to look at Ethan, who had been listening to their conversation, and the angel ced his hand back on Ethan''s head, "Forget everything you have heard since thest hour and heal your wounds that has been received by the demon." For a moment, the vampire''s eyes turned white before he fell unconscious on the ground. The angel then turned to face Calhoun, meeting his burning gaze. "Then she doesn''t belong here. She belongs to the heavenly realm."

    Calhoun had a nk look on his face, and he then smiled, a smile that didn''t reach up to his eyes, and Paschar was well aware of it.

    "You aren''t thinking of taking her away from here, are you? She was born in this world, Paschar," said Calhoun to the angel.

    "An angel cannot associate with the living, not the way you want to, Calhoun." It was a different matter when Madeline was only his child that his lover had conceived years ago. He hade to believe that she was a human with abilities like the fallen angels, but he didn''t know she was transforming into an angel.

    Calhoun bit the inside of his cheek, drawing blood out. "What you are saying is, making her forget and leave the life she once used to have here. Before anything else, Madeline is my wife, then your daughter because seeing how meticulous you have been in protecting her, I would say you have lost that right to call her your daughter."

    "We have rules to follow," Paschar lost his cool, and the ground beneath them shook slightly. The angel''s eyes narrowed at Calhoun.

    "You should have done something then," Calhoun was unfazed by Paschar''s ability. "Like the rules in Heaven, there are rules when you fall in love and have a child. You should have protected her no matter what."

    "Don''t test me, Calhoun," warned Paschar. He pulled out a trident from the air and held it in his hand. "If Madeline is an angel, then the life that she has spent here doesn''t matter. God will cleanse her mind and soul, and she will stay where she rightfully belongs."

    "You can try doing that and see what happens," challenged Calhoun, not backing down even for a moment.

    "Calhoun!" someone entered the corridor, and both the men turned to see that it was Raphael. "I found this!" said the card reader, who held a note in his hand.

    Calhoun took hold of it, reading what was written. Raphael said breathless, "They took Lady Madeline away."

    "I think I know one of their hideouts," Paschar offered his help to find Madeline. He knew it because it was only a couple of days back when he had tried to find what Luther and Lilith were up to in the middle of the night, when all the vigers had fallen fast asleep.

    Calhoun sighed, running his hand through his hair. As if one problem wasn''t enough, things kept piling up nonstop, he thought to himself. He read the words that was written in the note:

    ''We are taking the dark angel with us. Don''t try to search for her because you will only find her remains in the end, after we are done with the sacrifice.''

    "Where is Beth, Raphael?" questioned Calhoun.

    "She transformed into a werewolf, and I tried looking for her everywhere, but there is no trace of her." When Raphaelpleted his words, he finally realized what Calhoun''s question meant. "They didn''t take Lady Madeline, but Lady Elizabeth?"

    "Which means we have two people, who have been abducted from the castle," said Calhoun looking back at the ce where Madeline had stood before disappearing.

    While Calhoun and Raphael discussed, Paschar smelt something in the air which he hadn''t taken note of earlier. With the number of people who had entered the castle and with the amount of blood shed, most of the smell had been lost. He sniffed the air before his eyes turned wide as if knowing who had been here a couple of minutes ago.

 Chapter 451 Fuel of Chaos- Part 3

    <h4>451 Fuel of Chaos- Part 3</h4>

    Madeline tried to free herself from the straps, but they were too tight. Where was she?! One moment she had seen Calhoun, and the next moment, everything had turned pitch ck until she regained her consciousness.

    When she tried to use her ability, she felt her chest start to pain again and she finally gave up. Was she going to be sacrificed here? She tried to look for a window from where she was strapped. At the same time, Madeline heard someone humming a tune, and she caught sight of a young vampire whose oily hair wasbed to the side.

    "Hello! Please help me!" Madeline persuaded the young man who appeared to be sane looking.

    The person looked surprised and looked at the girl he had strapped on the table himself. For a second more, they stared at each other, and Odin shouted, "Master! Master! She''s awake, Master!"?and he ran out of the room.

    "Wait!" Madeline called, but the person ran out of the room, his voice echoed and she wondered whom he was calling his Master. Moving her body as much as she could, she finally caught sight of a window, and all she could see through it was darkness.

    After a couple of minutes of silence, Madeline heard the sharp sound of shoes clicking against the floor before the person who had abducted her from the castle to this ce appeared at the door.

    dimir stared at the girl whom his servant had tied so that she wouldn''t have the chance to escape, not that she had the luck to do it in his presence. Being the oldest vampire and a devil, he didn''t spare people that easily.

    "Odin," called dimir, "Raise the table to the front."

    "Yes, Master!" said the servant vampire. He went next to Madeline and started to rotate the handle that was connected to the table. The levers made creaking sounds, and Madeline felt the table''s position started to change until the table stood upright, and she was in the standing position.

    "I saw you at the time of the wedding," said Madeline. If this person had killed Samuel, and Samuel didn''t know who this person was, it only meant that this person wasn''t working with Walter''s group. "What do you want?" she asked him.

    dimir stood right in front of Madeline, looking into the brown-eyed girl. "Vengeance. That is what I want."

    "Can you bring a dead person back to life?" asked the man.

    Whom was he speaking about?

    "As I thought, you cannot bring the dead back to life. You cannot heal the wounds that took ce in the past. I lost my daughter all because of the King. And I think it is only right that I take what he holds dear to his heart. Don''t you agree?" dimir asked Madeline.

    "I am sorry to hear that, but he might have some reason to do it. He-"

    "Using my daughter and throwing her away!" dimir''s voice boomed in the room, shaking the windows. "How dare you mortals think you can do anything you want without any repentance," his voice fell low, and Madeline gulped. Which girl was he speaking about?? Madeline wasn''t familiar with every kill Calhoun had until now, nor had she asked in-depth about his affairs with other women.

    "You should talk to him," said Madeline.

    "I have no interest in that," dimir''s features schooled down. "Don''t worry, I won''t kill you right away. But I will break every finger and toe of yours every day from now on, so that the King knows how it feels to have your loved one taken away. Odin!"

    And Odin dutifully grabbed a nearby device, pulling it next to the table before he caught hold of Madeline''s hand. The device only had to be tightened manually, and the finger ced inside it would be chopped.

    Madeline could feel sweat forming on her forehead. The night was only turning worse, and she didn''t know what to do.

    "Please!" She pleaded, feeling the tension rise in her body and she struggled to keep the servant away by turning her hand into fist. When the servant vampire finally ced her finger inside the slot, her body started to shiver out of nervousness because she wasn''t able take it out. "The world is already filled in chaos. You can make it a better ce." She tried to drag the time by distracting the older vampire to avoid her finger being chopped.

    dimir raised his hand at Odin, and the servant looked back and forth before dropping his hands down from the device which he was going to tighten.

    The older vampire scoffed, "Haven''t you heard you should be bad with the bad? This world is worse than Hell, covered in deceit and lies where people decieve their own blood, ready to kill for materialistic values and powers."

    "Doesn''t mean every person is like that," said Madeline and dimir gave her a nod.

    "Yes, my daughter was not like that. I raised her in a way as my wife would want her to grow up, but now I realise I raised her in a wrong way," stated dimir. "This world is a shitty ce, and I don''t care about others except for my own blood," he then raised his hand signalling Odin to continue with his job.

    Odin bowed his head, going back to ce his hands on the lever...

    .

    .

 Chapter 452 Tick Tock- Part 1

    <h4>452 Tick Tock- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline felt the tension rise in her body, when she caught sight of the servant named Odin, who went to turn the lever one round after another, her heartbeat increased. A loud click was heard, and Madeline closed her eyes. A finger fell on the ground, and Odin let go of the lever as his Master had said one finger for a day.

    She anticipated the pain, waiting for it to shoot up from her finger to her arms before it would spread to her entire body, letting her know the excruciating pain. When she didn''t feel it, she opened her eyes and looked at the finger that fell on the ground, that didn''t belong to her. The colour of the finger was white, and it didn''t have blood on it.

    dimir, who was waiting for the girl to start screaming, looked slightly disappointed. He was staring at the wall behind her before looking at her face that was calm but etched in fear. His eyes then fell on the ground to look at the finger that had fallen.

    "Odin," called dimir, and the servant turned to his Master. "How long has it been since youst cleaned this device?"

    Odin looked down at the finger, and his eyes widened, "It must be long, Master. Forgive me for my negligence. I shall get it cleaned right away!" The servant vampire picked up the old finger from the ground, and Madeline stared at it wide-eyed. The finger was cut into a perfect half, leaving a dark ck circle of dried blood at one end.

    "ce her finger again in it," ordered dimir.

    Madeline didn''t know if her torture was being prolonged or if she was getting an opportunity to speak so that she could continue to keep her fingers to herself. "Mr��."

    dimir turned back to look at the human. There was something funny about her, but the old vampire couldn''t point out what it was. With his narrowed eyes, he said, "It''s Lazarus. dimir Lazarus. I am sure you would like to know who is cutting your finger."

    She didn''t know what to say to this. This vampire was crazy enough to take his ire on her, instead of punishing the person who was responsible. "Mr. Lazarus. I understand that you loved your daughter and that she was precious to you, but do you think she would like it if she were to know that you are torturing someone who had nothing to do with her death?"

    "She was naive when it came to her surroundings. It is why she even got into trouble by staying beside a man who was a worthless piece of shit," dimir didn''t filter his words, speaking his mind out while Odin was refixing the device by oiling it so that he wouldn''t step on his Master''sst nerve. "I don''t get how you even got married to him. Was it for the money? Or was it his looks that got you to marry him? How can you love a man who used and killed an innocent woman? Aren''t you afraid that he will do the same to you?"

    "Bastard?" dimir filled in the word.

    "When I first met him, he was cruel and insensitive about my feelings," exined Madeline. "I know he hasn''t done things that would warrant him a ticket to heaven, instead, he would end up straight in Hell for the things he has done and said."

    "I will be extra good to him when he visits Hell soon," hummed dimir, waiting to be satisfied by avenging his daughter''s death and to save thest part of her honour.

    Madeline didn''t understand what dimir meant by that, but she didn''t stop talking. "Yes, you can do that, but no person is perfect. We all have our ws. He isn''t the person he appears to be. I have seen things, some in my dreams which I question if it''s real and that is what happened to him."

    "What do you say your w is, girl?" questioned dimir, humouring the human before she would start screaming in agony. Humans were fragile creatures. Even a prick of a pin had them screaming.

    "Would it be a w to fall in love?" Madeline asked the question in return to have dimir smile.

    "You do understand that emotions are something that can be made use of. If the King loves you, it will only make, sending him your fingers each day will be that much exciting before I send just your head," hearing this Madeline gulped. It seemed like soon she would have no fingers. No one knew who dimir was, and Calhoun would not be able to find her.

    Seeing Odin ce his hands back again on the lever, Madeline pursed her lips.

    "Master, it is all set," informed the servant. Madeline decided to take her words back that she had thought earlier about this person being sane. The servant was insane enough to agree with his master to break her limbs!

    "Why didn''t you do something about it? When your daughter met the King and stayed next to him, you could have prevented it!" Madeline spoke again. With the way dimir looked at her, it felt as if she would lose her tongue any moment now, but if the vampire was going to kill her in the end, it was better to speak than stay mum.

    dimir''s eyes turned dark, and he stepped forward threateningly, "You think I would have let her stay next to that filthy vampire King if I knew something was going on between them? By the time I woke up, she was gone, and the servants who were supposed to watch over her, she had slipped past their nose."

    So he had slept in the night, and in the morning she was not there?

    "You could have looked for her in the morning once you woke up," Madeline scrunched her eyebrows.

 Chapter 453 Tick Tock- Part 2

    <h4>453 Tick Tock- Part 2</h4>

    If it was possible, dimir''s eyes turned smaller than before, and he spoke through his gritted teeth, "Because I slept in terms of years, and not for a single night. By the time I woke up, she was already dead. My dear innocent daughter. This world doesn''t deserve people like her, and I wished that she had killed someone to warrant her soul to go to Hell, instead of Heaven."

    How strange that this vampire wanted his daughter to spend her time in Hell and not in Heaven, thought Madeline to herself.

    "You didn''t do a good job in protecting her. Maybe if you treated her the way she wanted, she would have returned to you," said Madeline, her eyes lowering down and she muttered, "Some of you never do it right." She said, thinking about her angelic father, "Even my father didn''t do a good job when it came top protecting me."

    "Because he offered your hand in marriage to the King?" humoured dimir. Odin who had been waiting for his Master''s word to rotate the lever again dropped his hands to his side.

    A small smile appeared on Madeline''s lips. She shook her head, "He didn''t protect me the way he should have protected. And things are not the way it seems to be. If I hadn''t met Calhoun again during the time of Hallow, and if I didn''t stay in the castle, I think I would be resting in the coffin now, or worse dead."

    Wasn''t resting in the coffin and being dead one and the same? questioned dimir in his mind. Unless the girl was a vampire like him, who enjoyed sleeping in his warm andfortable coffin.

    "What do you mean in the coffin?" inquired dimir, "You don''t seem to be the type who has done anything bad to end up in the coffin." He looked at her closely, noticing how brown her eyes were without a speck of red colour in them. "Speak. I don''t think you will be stepping out of this ce. Your secrets will be safe with us."?Staying in this lonely castle and away from people who were nosey, it had been long since dimir had heard anything interesting.

    "My grandparents have tried to put me in the coffin. Making me sleep there," said Madeline carefully.

    "Your grandparents must be knowing how good a coffin feels like. Did they have no beds to spare for you?" questioned dimir with a chuckle.

    "They couldn''t kill me, which was why they hoped I would stay put in the coffin," hearing the wordse from the human''s mouth, Odin was sure that this girl was feeding his Master with bizarre stories.

    "Will you let me go if I tell you the truth?" Madeline tried to bargain for her life and fingers.

    "Foolish creature. You think your little story is more valuablepared to my daughter, who was killed?" dimir''s words were not a question to Madeline. "Don''t try to push your luck."

    "Let me help you with it," said Madeline and the vampire stared at her with a nk expression. "Not every retriubition will bring peace to yourself. Sometimes talking it out, and letting your thoughts out with the other person helps. If you do kill me and the King. What if you do not find the peace that you are looking for or the revenge as you spoke of?"

    "I will drag the person from Hell and torture again. Don''t underestimate my hobby of tormenting,?especially when ites to people who have crossed me," smiled dimir. "Odin, you can continue turning the lever!"

    "Wait!" Madeline shouted rmed. "I am a fallen angel."

    dimir stared at Madeline for a second and said, "Good. And I am the devil." Did he take it as a joke? asked Madeline to herself. Odin looked worried if he should start turning the lever or not as his Master and the girl were still speaking back and forth. "Do you want me to break your limbs, Odin?" on his Master''s words, Odin started to turn the lever for it to make a creaking sound.

    Realizing her mistake, she quickly corrected at the end second, "Not fallen angel! But a dark angel!" and she felt the pressure on her finger, making her close her eyes in pain.

    dimir raised his hand for Odin to stop. "What did you say?"

    Madeline opened her eyes, her breath ragged because of fear, "I-I am the dark angel..." She didn''t know if the vampire understood what she said, but considering how some people knew about her, she hoped he would not break her finger.

    "Prove it," said dimir. Both of them stared at each other, and Madeline tried to get out of the straps but she only spewed blood from her mouth. "For a dark angel you are weak," he remarked.

    Madeline had made use of all her strength in her body to save Lucy''s life, but in the end, even that didn''t work, and she felt nothing but pain. She saw the vampire turn to have his back faced at her, and he took a couple of steps away from her.

    "Do you know what a dark angel means?" she heard dimir question her.

    If he had heard of the existence of dark angel, it only meant he was aware of it. "The child who was born to Paschar and the?human."

    dimir seemed pleased with her answer, but not satisfied with it. He turned back to face her, watching the human who imed to be a dark angel, and some of her words made sense now when it came to her being ced in the coffin.

    "I am surprised you aren''t dead yet," he smiled and Madeline didn''t know if his response was a good or a bad thing.

 Chapter 454 Tick Tock- Part 3

    <h4>454 Tick Tock- Part 3</h4>

    Being the dutiful servant he was, Odin bowed his head, leaving behind Madeline and dimir in the room.

    "Now I see," it dawned in dimir''s mind. "I was wondering why there were uninvited guests in the castle, but this exins it." Suddenly, dimir started tough like someone had told him a joke, and hisughter echoed through the almost empty room. Madeline felt ufortable as it sounded malicious to her ears.

    dimir would have never guessed that, he would be meeting the dark angel today. Though he had heard a lot about the dark angel and the powers that came with it, he had never bothered to find it like the rest. dimir didn''t chase after things that others did. He had always been different, and it was because of Paschar did he realize how right his decision was, even if others saw it to be going against the Heavens.

    "Where is Paschar?" asked dimir, and Madeline shook her head.

    "I don''t know." Thest she had met Paschar was back in the church''s library?in the vige of Cossginton, and after that, the angel had note back to meet her again. "Wait. How do you know about him?"

    The smile on dimir''s lips broadened, "You can say that we go way back in time. I heard how he joined Heaven again, but if I were him, I would have not bothered because the Heavens have reduced his angelic abilities while also lowering his position. Don''t you believe in the saying, if you are doing something, do it right else don''t fucking do it? I do sympathize with you. Your life must have been rough, and you ended up with the King-"

    "Calhoun is a good person to me!" defended Madeline, "And I will be forever grateful to have met and known him. Things and people change Mr. Lazarus along with situations. You must have heard the saying: To know a person, you need to go up close and then find how he or she is. Calhoun wouldn''t have killed her-"

    dimir''s eyes turned cold, "The vigers have already testified that it was he who killed my daughter." At the same time, Odin appeared holding blood tea in his hand for his Master and offered it to dimir. The servant went back to stand next to Madeline, readying himself to turn the lever. dimir stared at the red blood and said, "Constance was the only person who mattered to me. I had no one else."

    Hearing this, the loyal servant''s eyes slowly moved to look at his master and dimir rolled his eyes. "You are not my daughter, Odin."

    Madeline frowned, hearing the name and whispered, "Constance?"

    "I-Is this the Belmont area?" Madeline whispered the question.

    "The only Belmont that is present in Devon," replied dimir. He was ready to signal Odin to finish the process of breaking her finger when Madeline rushed her words,

    "You have got the wrong person! The King you are looking for isn''t him but his father!"

    "You are lying," dimir scowled at her.

    Madeline continued to stare at dimir. If Constance was Calhoun''s mother, and if what this vampire said before was true, then that would mean this was Calhoun''s grandfather who had been hibernating! He did say he was sleeping when his daughter had disappeared!

    Seeing how Madeline stared at him, dimir turned his eyes at Odin, "Is this true?"

    Odin quickly shook his head and bowed, "I asked the vigers, and they said it was the King who was with Lady Constance and put her out of the castle before killing her."

    "There''s an inuracy in there!" said Madeline. "The King of Devon indeed hurt Lady Constance, but the King you are looking?for is dead."

    dimir was not happy hearing that the person he wanted to torture was not alive. "You are telling me that the current King didn''t kill my daughter? Calhoun Hawthrone?"

    Hearing how Madeline''s heart skipped a beat, dimir looked at her with rage filling back up in his eyes, and he closed the space between them and caught hold of her neck. "Are you trying to save him."

    Madeline felt the cold fingers of the vampire around her neck, and she closed her eyes.

    "Calhoun didn''t kill her because he wanted to. He was forced to do it so that he could end her sufferings. He loved his mother, Mr. Lazarus," she whispered before he could squeeze her neck.

    dimir let go of his hand instantly, "What did you just say?" He would have ripped the person''s gut for trying to make a joke about his daughter, but he sensed that this girl was speaking the truth.

    Madeline slowly opened her eyes, "Your daughter left Belmont and never returned because for a few years she lived in the Hawthrone''s castle with the previous King before she was forced to leave the castle. It was only a few days ago did I find out that someone tried to get rid of your daughter because of her closeness with the previous King. The person presented her a cursed chain that deteriorated your daughter''s health over the years, before she couldn''t take it anymore, Calhoun ended her pain. If you are looking for revenge, you should catch hold of that person, who presented the cursed chain and not Calhoun."

    dimir turned his gaze at Odin, who looked as if he was ready to pass out. "I will go verify the information, Master!" and he turned to a bat, disappearing from the room.

    Madeline then said, "The current King, my husband, whom you intend to kill, he is your grandson." And the straps that had been holding her suddenly opened, letting her free.

    "I have a grandson," murmured dimir, who took a few steps away from her as he immersed into a deep thought.

    Madeline pulled her hand out of the device, rubbing her wrists. Out of curiosity, she asked, "When did you meet the angel Paschar?"

    dimir''s eyes went back at the human before he responded, "When I was still in Heaven, living there. I haven''t met him after I left, thought I would meet him here but the fucker went back to Heaven." At the same time, a white cat appeared in the room, and it walked towards dimir. "Meet Lucy with the Fur. She takes after my name. She misses Constance''s presence."

    With the chaos and the other crazy things that had taken ce, Madeline took time to join the dots and she stared at the man in the room. "Y-you are the angel who turned to the dark side."

    dimir didn''t answer her question, but he had a frown on his face.

    "If he is my grandson, that would mean you are my granddaughter-inw. An angel," he stated, and then a wide smile spread across his lips. Seeing the smile, Madeline could tell that Calhoun had acquired his features from his grandfather. "My grandson married an angel. How wonderful."

 Chapter 455 Drink your tea soon! - Part 1

    <h4>455 Drink your tea soon! - Part 1</h4>

    .

    In the castle, as the fight went on between the demons, fallen angels and the people who lived in the castle, Beth had fallen unconscious in the garden after transforming back to her human self from her werewolf form.

    The demons who were searching for the dark angel, waiting to abduct her, looked for her in the rooms and other ces in the castle, not knowing Madeline was in the royal rooms corridor and not in her quarters.

    "Where are Walter and Samuel?" asked one of the demons who was waiting to sacrifice the girl for their use.

    Another man, who was a fallen angel and a rtive of the Queen, who went by the name Braylon, said, "Samuel disappeared when we entered the castle. The bugger must have gone to find his wife. Greyson is not going to be happy when he hears this." Braylon was Mary''s husband, where his wife had gone missing since she hade to visit the castle. "I am going to look for Mary."

    "Fucker, do you think we are here to find each other''s wives?" asked the demon with a sneer. "We need to look for the dark angel, anything that stands in our way or causes trouble shall be killed."

    Two guards appeared at the end of the corridor, ready to attack them but before that, the demons pulled out their guns, shooting the vampires head and saw them fall.

    "Fjor," called Braylon, "I will go this way to see if Greyson has found her."

    The demon nodded his head, "I will see if I can get hold of this King, about whom I have been hearing a lot." The demon''s eyes were bright red, and a smile etched on his lips. But once they did part ways in search of the dark angel, Fjor found someone lying on the ground outside, a girl and his eyes narrowed.

    He walked towards the girl and turned the girl to see she was unconscious and her clothes were tattered. At the same time, a guard who was running to help the other guards and caught sight of the demon and the girl, and eximed, "Lady Harris!"

    The demon''s eyes narrowed and he looked down at the girl. Harris? Wasn''t that Mary''s brother''sst name? Did that mean this was the dark angel? Asked the demon to himself.

    Elizabeth''s body was still under transformation, so when the demon had found her, her hair was still golden brown, which was the colour of her werewolf''s coat.

    "Get away from thedy!" warned the guard, who held a spear in his hand. But as the guard tried to get close to protect thedy, Fjor shotst bullet into the guard''s forehead.

    "Look at that. I turned all lucky," said Fjor. He got another demon to get the ropes so that he could tie her hands and legs before putting her in the gunny bag which they had already prepared before stepping into the castle.?Carrying the girl on his shoulder, he decided to look for Greyson as there was no point staying in the castle, fighting the others.

    "I have got the dark angel," said Fjor confidently and the other demon narrowed his eyes.

    "Are you sure?" questioned Greyson. "You were standing outside, and she fell in front of your feet to be caught?" Thest time some of his people had gone to Cossington to get the dark angel, things had turned awry. He had lost some of his?fellow demons who were useful because of their stupidity.

    "Didn''t you say golden brown hair and that she''s a beauty. Her clothes are rich, and it was tattered. She possibly fell unconscious when she was trying to protect herself. What was that called, the power burst?" asked Fjor.

    "I will still need to see her to confirm if it is her or not," said Greyson. Today was the night of the golden moon, but for some reason, the moon had not shown up in the sky, and it was making him restless.

    "Master!" suddenly came a voice from the other of the corridor, and both Greyson and Fjor went to see who it was. They caught sight of a young-looking vampire who had his hair oiled andbed to the side. "Where did master disappear?" asked the man.

    Fjor turned to look at Greyson with an uninterested look on his face. "Seems like a lost duck." At the same time, Beth, who was regaining consciousness, started to move and tried to get free from the binds. She fell on the ground who was inside the gunny bag. "Fuck, she''s strong!" eximed Fjor, trying to keep the girl down. Not knowing what else to do, he raised his hand and plummeted his hand at the end of the gunny bag, knowing it was where the girl''s head was, and the girl''s movements stopped again.

    The other demon, Greyson, who had seen Fjor struggle to keep the girl still, could only believe that this was the dark angel. He felt an ominous feeling when he caught sight of the vampire looking for someone amid the chaos of blood and fighting in the castle. Greyson was no a mere demon, but he was one of the preachers in Hell. He had been looking to gain powers and dethrone the devil for so long, and the dark angel was the one who could make his wishe true.

    "Do you know who that is?" questioned Greyson, and Fjor at the same moment hoisted the gunny bag back on his shoulder.

    "The thin vampire?" asked Fjor, his eyes looked back and forth to make sure they were not going to be attacked by anyone. "Are we leaving? Our work is done here, Greyson."

    "It''s time to leave," and in a blink of an eye, both the demons along with the girl turned to smoke without a trace of them being there a few seconds ago.

 Chapter 456 Drink your tea soon! - Part 2

    <h4>456 Drink your tea soon! - Part 2</h4>

    "What about the others?" asked one of the demonesses who had stayed back at the old ruins of the mansion.

    "They are still in the castle, and didn''t heed to the call when we left," responded Greyson, not bothered if the demons who had gone along with him were dead. There were other things to bother, and useless lower demons were not of his concern right now. "Get the girl on the table. Once the moon is out, we will be starting the ritual. Did you get the silver knife?" he asked the demoness.

    "Yes, it is ready," she answered, and they pulled out arge table and ced it in the hall. The table was carved in markings with a pentagon designed on it and some words were written in demonnguage. Greyson watched Fjor and a fallen angel getting the girl out of the gunny bag before they put her on the table.

    "Tie her down with the binds. We don''t want hersh out in the middle of the sacrifice," informed Fjor, and the demons got the ropes to tie the girl. As they put her in ce, one of them asked,

    "Why are her clothes torn? If it weren''t for the fabric of the dress, I would have thought that she''s a maid."

    Fjor rolled his eyes, "This is the girl. Do you know how vtile dark angels are? They can harm their own body because of the power a dark angel possesses. Don''t touch her hands and be careful. Unless you want to end up dead with blood sttered around."

    "Let me see. She''s still unconscious," said a confident demon, when Greyson threw a stone at the demon.

    "Do as you are told and stay away from her hands. Walter said thest two times when her dark angel abilities appeared, she killed a whole bunch of demons and then a third level demon," said Greyson. "Now get to your job and stop wasting time!" he red at the demons who quietly went back to continue their work. Candles were lit in the room and around the table, readying for the ritual.

    Greyson couldn''t shake the thought of the vampire, whom he had encountered in the castle. His eyes widened when he realized who it was. It was the servant of their Lord. Thinking about this, he gritted his teeth. There was no way the devil existed. He hadn''t shown up in years, and the demons only believed that he had been smote by an angel''s trident.

    Maybe that fool of a servant found a new master to work under. Greyson didn''t want to believe that the devil was in the castle at the same time when he was in there. This would only mean that they would need to get the sacrifice done as soon as they could.

    The soothsayer bowed his head, "The moon should havee by now. I don''t know why there''s a dy but tonight is supposed to be the full moon night. Let me see." Shuffling the bones in both his hands, he then threw it in his bowl.

    "What does it say?" asked Fjor, his eyes watching the soothsayer who pursed his lips.

    "I don''t know how it happened, but someone is dying the time of the moon from appaering in the sky," replied the soothsayer.

    "Dying?" Greyson looked at the soothsayer as if he grown two pairs of head. "You cannot fucking stop the moon from appearing. It is not a person but part of the heavenly stars." The soothsayer shook his head.

    "Someone must have meddled with it," exined the soothsayer, "Right now something is blocking the moon. If the moon doesn''t appear, the day won''te by. It''s like the time has frozen."

    Fjor stared at the unconscious girl who was lying on the table, and then back to look at the soothsayer, "You sure about it? What if today is not the day."

    "We cannot extend the time. Even if the moon doesn''t appear in the sky, we shall still go ahead with the sacrifice. It might not be to the full potential, but it will be enough to give all of us abilities," exined Greyson. He didn''t know when the dark angel would wake up and what harm she was capable of. "We''ll wait for three more hours before we start the ritual," he dered, and the demons agreed as they could hardly wait to recieve new powers.

    Far away from the hideout, and in the mountains of Belmont, dimir had Madeline sit down on the chair with a cup of tea in each of their hands, while Odin begged for his Master''s forgiveness.

    "Master! I didn''t mean any harm! It was the viger''s fault!"

    Odin had reced Madeline''s previous ce, and the servant vampire was strapped on the table.

    Madeline was more than worried about the servant while also wondering what was going on back in the castle. This was no time to be drinking tea and catching up on things, but dimir had waved his hand and got her to sit right away.

    Madeline looked back and forth between the old vampire and then at Odin who didn''t look like he was struggling to get out, but he was asking forgiveness from dimir for not getting the correct information. dimir, who had picked up his teacup, took his own sweet time to sip the blood. With the time amount of time he had kept the cup near his mouth, Madeline was sure he would have finished the entire cup and asked for a refill, but when she saw the teacup being ced back at the table, outwardly, she had a passive look. It didn''t look like he even took one whole sip, and she said,

    "Mr. Lazarus-"

    "You can call me d," he corrected her.

    Madeline offered him an awkward smile, "d," she said to hear him hum in response.

    "You have barely touched your tea. Don''t you like it?" asked dimir and then looked at Odin. "Have you not put enough milk in it, Odin?"

    "No, it''s not that. I need to return to the castle right now," said Madeline in an urgent voice.

    "Don''t worry if Calhoun is my grandson, which he is. Then he wille looking for you. We can all have blood tea together," proposed the old vampire.

    Madeline wasn''t sure if dimir was testing her. Clutching her hand, she said, "My sister is in danger. She will transform into aplete werewolf, and I might not be able to save her in time. Please, d."

 Chapter 457 Drink your tea soon! - Part 3

    <h4>457 Drink your tea soon! - Part 3</h4>

    "I think I know who took Madeline from here."

    Calhoun hearing this, stopped speaking to Raphael and turned his attention to the angel, "Who is it?"

    "He is the fallen angel of Heaven," answered Paschar. Was he here to make use of Madeline''s dark angel abilities? "It has been a while since Ist heard anything about him. Nobody knows where he went or what he''s up to because when we sent some people to find him, they didn''t find him in Hell. People barely heard about it, and he almost turned out to be a myth. But we angels know that he wasn''t a made up person."

    Calhoun gritted his teeth, and his eyes narrowed, he demanded, "Do you know where he lives?" It had been quite some time since Madeline had been taken away. At the same time, they didn''t know how Elizabeth was doing.

    "I don''t know where he lives. He''s the fallen one, which was why most of us stopped keeping contact with him. He changed his appearance and the the way he is, at least that is what I heard. The angel who once was loved and kept close to God, he fell to the dark side," replied Paschar.

    If Paschar had no clue where this fallen angel was or lived, Calhoun would have to find Madeline with his strength and intelliegence. Minutes had passed, and he didn''t want to waste more time. The demons and the other fallen one''s were waiting for the moon to appear so that they could cut out Madeline''s heart from her chest and then use it for sacrifice.

    "You said you know where the demon''s hideout is?" Calhoun questioned Paschar. "I will go and?find Madeline, but in return, I need you to get my men near the hideout and make sure nothing happens to the girl, who has been abducted from here. Can you do that?"

    Paschar had an unwilling look on his face, "You need to know that I cannot involve myself in the fight, and the most I can do is, guide you to that ce."

    "That will be enough," chimed Raphael. "We''ll take care from there."

    Calhoun didn''t know how Madeline had ended to have unreliable family members. "Raphael," Calhoun raised his hand, and Raphael ced his hand on Calhoun''s hand. A thin golden thread appeared around their hands to tie around their arms before it disappeared. "Now I will know if you are near."

    When Calhoun''s wings spread out from his back, and Paschar''s eyes widened at the sight of it. Demons didn''t have feathered wings, and it was only the angels who possessed them.

    The night was cold because of the snow, but it didn''t matter to him. Instead of flying up in the sky, Calhoun had chosen to move closer to thend, picking up every single trace of the intruder. His wings moved relentlessly, and he moved in a speed which he had never moved before because of the worry that hung over his mind if Madeline was alright.

    It took half the time before he finally reached the forest that he and Theodore had once stepped into when they were young, but had never crossed it. Under the night sky, Calhoun''s ck wings pped before he came near the mountains and caught sight of the cave that was built cleverly, but not enough to hide from his eyes. Near the forest ground, he caught sight of the dead bodies. Following the trail, he finallynded in front of the cave.

    When he saw the cave''s passage it reminded him of one of his mother''s drawings.

    Calhoun closed his eyes, stopping his footsteps to smell the scent of rose drift in the air and he could sensed she was here.

    Back inside the castle cave, Madeline hadn''t touched her teacup, and she felt her heart quicken its pace as if letting her know someone dear to her had appeared. Her head snapped to look in the direction where she sensed him.

    "He''s here, isn''t he?" dimir asked her who was enjoying his cup of blood. He ran his tongue over the seam of his lips. "Let me see how strong he is. It would be a shame if I found out he isn''t my blood." The cup made a small tter of sound on the saucer, and Madeline could tell that there was still a hint of doubt in dimir''s mind if Calhoun was truly his grandson.

    They were running out of time!

    "What do you n to do?" questioned Madeline, and she saw the vampire stand up from his chair.

    "Talk. Why?" dimir offered a smile to Madeline, and in a blink of an eye, he disappeared from where he stood, while allowing Odin free from the straps.

    When dimir appeared at the top of the stairs, he saw the boy had already entered his castle while leaving two bodies behind at the entrance. Dead. His dark red eyes narrowed, and he stared at his kin, who his deceased daughter had left behind. He wondered how he had missed noticing the same characteristics passed down from him to his daughter, and then to this boy.

    Calhoun noticed the vampire standing at the top, and he asked, "Where''s Madeline?"

    dimir continued to stare at Calhoun in awe, thinking this one was his own blood. He replied, "She''s drinking tea."

 Chapter 458 Apple and the tree- Part 1

    <h4>458 Apple and the tree- Part 1</h4>

    .

    When Madeline got up and was ready to leave the room where she had been sitting in, before she could leave the room, the door itself shut close, and she tried to get it open. What was that old bat thinking?! Turning around, her eyes met the servant vampire who had been barely tortured and was let free before dimir had disappeared from the room with a blink of an eye.

    She had heard a lot of lore when it came to the fallen angel who had gone against Heaven, rebelling and raising his own world with his power such that the world now shared the good and the bad.

    "Do you know how to open this?" Madeline asked Odin, who quickly made his way to where she was and tried to shake the knob of the door, but the door appeared to be locked as he couldn''t open it.

    She looked around the room to find something, so that she could break the door and get out to meet Calhoun. Though dimir said he was only going to speak to Calhoun, his first sentence had mentioned about seeing how strong Calhoun was, which meant a fight would break between them and who knew who would get hurt because of it.

    On the front side of the cave-like castle, Calhoun red at the vampire who had abducted Madeline right in front of him. Since the moment she had stepped into his life, he had made sure to see that no one woulde to harm her. Every hurtful words and every evil look that had been passed at his woman had received punishments by either beheading them or gauging their eyes out of their face.

    Was he ying with him by telling Madeline was drinking tea when in truth she was tied somewhere in this cave? Asked Calhoun in his mind.

    "Did you think I wouldn''t find you or her?" questioned Calhoun, his hands dripped blood because of the recent kills. He didn''t have the time to y around as he wanted to rescue his woman from here, while also to kill the bastard who had dared to think he could take Madeline away from him.

    Instead of answering dimir continued to stare at his grandson. If one knew dimir, they would have seen his eyes sparkle in pride. His beautiful daughter Constance had left this world, but she had left a son behind.

    "I thought that you wouldn''t, but after a little talk with the girl, I was waiting when you woulde," dimir tapped his finger on the railings, watching Calhoun get annoyed. "I would have been truly disappointed if you didn''te here in the next hour."

    "Where is Madeline?" Calhoun repeated his question. He wanted to take her to a safe ce before he would deal with this person.

    dimir smiled, making his hair proper at the side, "I told you. She is drinking tea," came his steady voice only to receive a re from Calhoun.

    "It takes less than a minute toplete drinking tea, unless you are drinking at a snail''s pace and you just gave her to drink right now," stated Calhoun. He noticed the vampire step down as he walked down the stairs one after another while the two men kept eyes on each other.

    "Tea is supposed to be relished. You should try the tea that my servant Odin makes. Let the girl have her tea, and we can have some talk," said dimir with delight in his voice. Within a second, the vampire disappeared before he even ced his foot on the ground toe and stand in front of Calhoun. dimir brought his hand forward to catch hold of Calhoun, but thetter in return blocked dimir''s hand. "Hm, your reflex seems alright," dimir looked at his grandson with his eyes that had a passive look. "Let''s see what else you have acquired."

    The next second, dimir went to attack Calhoun, who continued to block him before retaliating back by trying to attack dimir.

    Calhoun noticed how the stranger enjoyed fighting with him.

    He raised his hand and continued to attack the vampire who was smiling, making the situation that much vexing. Before the person could get an advantage, Calhoun tried to throw the vampire against the wall. He fought a lot of people until now, but he sensed that this person in front of him was merely making use of his abilities. As when Calhoun had thrown dimir, the older vampire was back on his feet.

    "Madeline!" Calhoun called Madeline''s name, hoping she would let him know that she was safe and he could take his time to kill this devil.

    "You worry for nothing," said dimir before saying, "I didn''t introduce myself."

    "I know who you are," answered Calhoun, and this brought light in dimir''s eyes like a small boy who was looking forward to Christmas.

    dimir asked, "You do?" his head slightly tilted, and the smile on his lips faltered in anticipation. Had his daughter spoken about him? Of course, she would have. It was only right to let his grandson know that he had an amazing grandfather.

    "You are the fallen angel from Heaven, who descended to Hell," came the sharp words from Calhoun. If what Paschar had said about this person who was the fallen angel, Calhoun knew he would have to be careful as he was up against the devil.

    "I believe ascending the throne in Hell is much more suitable, unless you believe Heaven is right and Hell is wrong," remarked dimir. He then raised his hand, and with one snap of his fingers Calhoun was thrown at the wall that left a huge hole with dust that lifted itself in the air. When the dust finally started to settle, dimir''s eyes narrowed as he could tell that Calhoun was not there. A smile spread on both the men''s lips, and Calhoun appeared behind dimir, and made use of his elbow against the devil''s back, and dimir staggered.

    "I don''t give a fuck about Heaven or Hell," Calhoun didn''t stop and continued to attack the man relentlessly, their hands moving against each other to attack the other.

    "Of course, you only care about the girl. I nned on cutting her fingers earlier, and a finger fell," dimir provoked Calhoun, throwing more logs of woods in the already zing fire.

    Hearing the words, Calhoun gritted his teeth and then used his demon ability to draw out fire from the torches on the walls, directing it at dimir.

    "What are you nning to do with Madeline? Use her for her dark angel abilities?" questioned Calhoun in between the fight. He sessfully burnt the older vampire who was covered in fire now, but the next moment, the fire exhausted and dimir who had been left with blood and bones, his skin started to reappear and make him look as he did before the fire engulfed him.

 Chapter 459 Apple and the tree- Part 2

    <h4>459 Apple and the tree- Part 2</h4>

    "Paschar said otherwise," Calhoun responded, and the name of the angel was enough to have dimir roll his eyes, and he used his gifted abilities to test his grandson. The knives that were in the showcase that were hung on the wall, the outer ss broke into pieces, and they came flying at Calhoun to attack him.

    Calhoun deflected them one after another, not knowing that the knives would rise from the ground and continue to attack him from all the sides. One knife went to pierce through his arm, and dimir looked pleased.

    "I am dimir Lazarus, Calhoun," dimir introduced himself. When he pulled out the knife, blood dripped down from Calhoun''s arm and he used the same thing to attack dimir. "The same tricks doesn''t work on me. I heard you killed your mother."

    Though Madeline had told Calhoun didn''t have any other option but to kill Constance, dimir still wanted to find the truth through this boy''s words. If this boy killed his daughter, dimir would not let it pass this easily, even if it meant Calhoun was his grandson. He would torture and kill Calhoun himself, thought dimir in his mind.

    With both the men who were rted to each other and the apple that fell right next to the tree, Calhoun said, "Yes, I killed her." All these years since the time of his mother''s death, people had done nothing but me him, telling how he was the one who had killed her while the people said how his father hadmitted a lesser sin by only throwing her out of the castle. "I twisted the muscles of her heart, and squashed it in my hands to see the life leave from her body."

    dimir, who had been calm until now, his eyes red suddenly, and the emotion of rage took over his face. "I wouldn''t expect anything less from you," he snarled, and the air that was in the castle started to turn heavy before it turned as a fast-moving wind to shake the things around them. "Why did you kill her?"

    Calhoun didn''t know why this angel was interested in his mother''s death. "Haven''t you heard about keeping your nose out of matters that don''t concern you?"

    "It is why I have such a long nose. I am a curious being," dimir offered him a smile.

    Back in the room where Madeline was with Odin, trying to open the lock, she went back to the table where the devices were present to pull out a wire and bringing it to the lock. But that didn''t help either.

    "Is there no way to get the door opened?"

    "We can break it," Odin offered his suggestion, but he doubted his Master would be happy to have a broken door.

    "Break it then," Madeline decided to take the route of damaging the wooden door, and Odin''s eyes turned wide. "Right now!" she said with a frown.

    The cave-like castle was something she had never seen before, as the walls were rocky and jagged, almost grey. Torches were ced on the walls, burning brightly that showed her the way through the empty corridors. When she turned around to see if Odin was with her, she realized he had disappeared. She didn''t go back to find him but continued to walk down the long spiral stairs while searching where Calhoun was.

    Time was scarce, but dimir wanted to get acquainted with his grandson, while Beth''s life hung on a fragile thread.

    Remembering something, her footsteps stopped. She wondered if this was the cave where the antidote existed. Did dimir know about it? Or did he possess it?

    When Madeline did end up at the top of the other stairs to the hall, she caught sight of Calhoun and dimir, who were creating a mess below. Both of them continued fighting with each, trying to hit the other, and she wondered if the older vampire was only ying or if he was out to get Calhoun''s blood on his hands.

    She heard dimir question Calhoun, "You know I put your beloved''s finger in the device to cut, and the finger fell."

    This increased Calhoun''s anger, and he picked up the knives that had earlier fallen on the ground. The metal started to heat up in his hand until it started to burn orange in colour. Not wasting a second, Calhoun''s hands started to swipe the hot knives at dimir, and the older vampire finally received the cuts on his face and chest. But instead of this action demotivating dimir, feeling the cuts only increased his excitement.

    Before Calhoun could sink the knife into dimir''s eyes, Madeline shouted, "Wait!"

    "Never lose attention," remarked dimir and he caught hold of the knife that was in Calhoun''s hand. Twisting his grandson''s hand, he pushed the knife straight into Calhoun''s shoulder to hear Calhoun hiss in pain.

    But Calhoun was not done. He picked up another knife, heating it up in his hand. Just when dimir turned to meet Madeline''s eyes, Calhoun pushed the knife right into the devil''s face, leaving a knife sticking out.

    Madeline''s eyes widened, and she quickly ran down the stairs, but the men were not done with each other. Calhoun''s face was marred in anger while dimir looked as if he was enjoying his time.

    Madeline looked around the room and caught sight of the ss pieces on the ground, the one thing she had been practicing. Before either of them could try to harm each other, she built the ss wall between them to have it broken again that left an impact, having both the men thrown back from their ces.

 Chapter 460 Apple and the tree- Part 3

    <h4>460 Apple and the tree- Part 3</h4>

    "Are you alright?" she asked Calhoun anxiously. She ced her hand on his shoulder, and before she could even part her lips to whisper a spell, Calhoun caught hold of her wrist, and put her hand down, leaving her puzzled.

    "Don''t," there was a hint of anger in his eyes that were directed at her, and it made Madeline wonder what she did to receive this reaction from him. "You used your ability to bring back Lucy." She now understood why. He had made her promise so that she would not put herself in danger, but she had done it anyway as she was swayed by emotions after Lucy on the ground.

    Biting her cheek, she said, "She was losing so much blood. I couldn''t leave her just like that."

    "Every time you try to save someone, you hurt yourself," said Calhoun, his hand reached out for her face, and his thumb went to touch the side of her lips where the blood had dripped down from her mouth before. "You idiot," he muttered under his breath before pulling her to his arms. It felt good to have her back, knowing she was safe.

    Calhoun pulled back to quickly take a look at all her fingers that were still there on her hands. He red at dimir who now pulled out the knife from his face, and a drop of blood slid down from the wound before the wound healed itself.

    dimir looked at the couple and then focussing his eyes on his grandson, "What?" he asked as if he had no clue and wasn''t the one to start the fight. "I never said the finger belonged to her," he shrugged his shoulders.

    "Cal, he''s your grandfather," Madeline revealed the truth so that dimir wouldn''t continue provoking Calhoun.

    "I thought I locked you up with Odin, how did you get out of the room?" questioned dimir, unhappy that he wouldn''t be able to test and get more acquainted with his grandson.

    "We broke the door," replied Madeline, and dimir''s lips set itself in a thin line.

    "Odin!" dimir''s voice boomed, and the bat who was hanging on the ceiling in his bat form turned to his vampire form once he got back on the ground.

    Odin bowed his head, "Master, she is rted to you now. I thought it would be rude to refuse her words." dimir rolled his eyes.

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, and he stared at dimir, who offered him a bright smile. "We are leaving from here, Maddie," said Calhoun, not bothering to speak to dimir, and the older vampire''s smile fell from his face. He snapped his fingers to close the doors of the entrance and the other windows of the castle.

    "Did Constance mention about me to you?" dimir questioned, and Calhoun replied,

    Madeline''s eyebrows raised at Calhoun to see the passive expression on his face.

    "What do you mean no?!" This time it was dimir whose eyes had turned narrow and he was unhappy hearing his daughter had not mentioned him to his grandson. There was no way out with the doors and the windows closed, and it didn''t look like dimir would let them go in peace.

    When Calhoun had left the castle in search of Madeline and the stranger who had stolen his wife from him, he hadn''t expected to end up near the mountain of Belmont, to find the scenting from the cave. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he sensed something more than Madeline being here. The smell was abundant, and for some twisted reason, it had made Calhoun feel like he was finally home.

    It wasn''t like his mother hadn''t mentioned about her father. The reason why Calhoun had even thought about passing through the wild forest before the mountains appeared in the past, was to see if the man truly existed, but halfway through, he had decided not to go further. Something he had deep down buried and tried to forget it. It was why when he had ended up here a few minutes ago, he knew he would be meeting that one person who was rted to his mother.

    "You are supposed to be dead," answered Calhoun, meeting dimir''s shocked eyes.

    "She said I was dead?" whispered dimir.

    "No, I dered you to be dead," deadpanned Calhoun.

    Madeline could tell by the look on dimir''s face that he was not happy. "Tough luck. I am still alive."

    "Unfortunately," Calhoun replied, and the nerve in the older vampire''s head popped. More than anyone, Odin looked back and forth between his Master and the boy who was his Master''s grandson. "What is the point of having a father who isn''t there next to his daughter''s side when she needs him?"

    "You should know that I wasn''t aware that she would flee from here, and end up with that fucker in the castle," dimir''s words were not even a bit filtered. "Your father-"

    "He''s not my father," Calhoun was quick to correct the man''s words, and dimir stared. "All you had to do was fucking wake up in between and see if she was alright." This man might be the devil, the fallen angel and his mother''s father, but Calhoun had not forgotten the tears his mother had spilt in pain.

    dimir took a step forward, and Madeline quickly came in between them. She said, "We can sit down calmly and sort out the differences. There''s no need for more bloodshed."

    "You think I wanted her to get hurt and die? I protected her for decades! Knowing well how she was, just like her mother. She looked human, lived like a human, but part of her blood came from me. My daughter, Constance!" dimir''s voice was filled with emotion, shaking the little things around them. "Even she wasn''t aware of it. I did everything to protect her. Killed every person whoid their eyes on her knowing how vile people are."

    "It wasn''t enough,"mented Calhoun.

    "I didn''t expect to sleep that long, and since the time I found out that she died there isn''t one moment where I haven''t wished to turn back time so that I would not go to sleep. Wishing that I could have spoken to her, letting her know how precious she was to me. That all I did was to protect her-"

    Calhoun interrupted by saying, "I think she got the message the day her heart broke and she was thrown out of the castle, letting her know the world was exactly the way you told it to be."

    Madeline didn''t know if she was supposed to me dimir for what happened or not.

    Calhoun was angry because he had seen his mother break down, but not once had she spoken about going back to her father. At first, he didn''t understand if it was the same pride that flowed in their veins that had stopped her from going back to the ce she came from, or if she was ashamed for what happened. His hands clenched in tight fists, and he looked away from dimir.

    He whispered, "I didn''t understand mother''s reasoning in the beginning, but I do now."

 Chapter 461 Preparation- Part 1

    <h4>461 Preparation- Part 1</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Panic by Kensuke Ushio

    .

    dimir himself didn''t get why his daughter, Constance, had not returned to his side. The servants were scared to wake him up from his slumber, but one whisper from her and his eyes would have snapped open. He would have torn the man into pieces before rejoining him back to torture the disgusting man all over again. Since he had seen his daughter in the coffin of the graveyard, he questioned why.

    Calhoun then said, "She went through a time far worse than Hell can provide. Do you know why she didn''t seek your help? Because she was scared that she would live the same life before she stepped out of this castle."

    "That''s bullshit!" dimir scoffed.

    "It is the truth. And I found out about it after spending time with her," Calhoun''s eyes shifted to look at Madeline. "It isn''t that she didn''t speak about you, but when she spoke to me about the life she had before meeting my useless father, they were very minimal. It was when she was in her death bed. No mention about who you were or what kind of person you are. She did mention you were hibernating in one of these mountains."

    "And didn''t youe looking for me?" dimir questioned disappointment in his tone.

    "You aren''t a child that Ie looking for," retorted Calhoun. Madeline didn''t know why, but it felt like both the vampires were mirror images of each other when it came to speech. "I came to believe that someone who didn''t bother to look for his daughter all those years; it didn''t matter if she existed or not."

    "Constance knew I would do anything for her. Tell me why she didn''t return to me. Did she tell you...before you killed her?"

    If Madeline had not mentioned about the cursed chain, dimir would have ripped Calhoun''s head from his body, but she was suffering. His dearest daughter, thinking about her, he felt the heaviness in his heart. Something he hadn''t felt since the woman he remotely fell for had passed away.

    "You should know that your daughter would not have uttered things as such. Even on her final days, she shared nothing but her goodness," Calhoun had a frown on his face, and he continued, "Things like these aren''t hard to figure out, and took me long to figure it out."

    Calhoun then said, "You made sure to protect her, not knowing if it was suffocating her. Your demon blood might have been coursing through her veins, but she was still human-like. She wanted to breathe, and she couldn''t do it under you. When I figured it out, I realized I was doing the same thing as you. Trying to control things, and seeing what the person did and didn''t to make sure no harm would evere to ur."

    dimir''s face contoured into a sneer, "You are telling me it is my fault? If she hadn''t met that worthless man and met at least half a decent one, she would have still been alive."

    Silence fell in the room, and dimir then said, "If time allowed me, I would fix my ways. My emotions were lost long ago, and I did what I thought was the right thing, not knowing that I was sending Constance away from me. I also wished I didn''t bring her up how her mother would want her and instead show her the world through my life. I would have at least been able to get a hold of her. To see her again."

    The main person to be med was his father, the previous King, and even though Calhoun had killed the man with his own hands, he hadn''t found theplete satisfaction he was looking for. His mother''s absence had left a void in his heart, something that had taken a lot of time to fill it, and it strangely it continued until he found something worth protecting.

    Madeline turned to dimir and asked, "Do you have the cure for the werewolf''s bite, d?"

    "Why, I do," dimir answered, and she couldn''t tell how happy she was. He then said, "Follow me," and without waiting for them, he started to walk away from the hall and Odin was the first to follow his Master before Calhoun and Madeline followed the man.

    The path was moderately dark because of the torches that continued to burn. Madeline took note of how they didn''te across any servant, and it almost seemed like dimir lived only in thepany of Odin, until she caught sight a demon with horns. Was this the true form of a demon? She asked herself.

    Entering a cold room where snow fell through the open grills of the window, Madeline finally caught sight of a syringe that was blue. It was ced in a liquid-like closed container that had to be broken before making use of it.

    "Do you think we could borrow it for my sister?" Madeline kept her tone to be polite, and the older vampire stared at her.

    dimir raised his hand and said, "On one condition."

    Calhoun asked, "What is it?" Time was of the essence, and right now, it was flowing like liquid through their fingers as they didn''t know when the demons would find out that they had caught the wrong sister.

    "I will be the Godfather to your children."

    And Calhoun, Madeline and Odin stared at dimir.

    "I understand your ire that I didn''t take good care of your mother, but-"

    "Okay," responded Calhoun, and dimir stopped speaking.

    "You''re not telling so that I shut up now and then you pull al leverage on me, are you?" dimir narrowed his eyes at his grandson.

    "I am mad at you for certain reasons, but I am not someone who would keep you away from your family. Thest thing I need is you abducting them in the future," Calhoun put his point across, and dimir chuckled.

    The older vampire nodded his head, "Yes, I might have to do that if you don''t allow me near them."

 Chapter 462 Preparation- Part 2

    <h4>462 Preparation- Part 2</h4>

    Moving her hand towards the ss casing that looked like a cover, she heard dimir say, "I wouldn''t touch it." The older vampire stepped closer to the casing, and when he knocked on it, she caught sight of electric sparks surrounding the ss. "I got it built in a way where nobody would ever get to steal it."

    Calhoun, who noticed something strange inside the ss, said, "You have been killing every person who visibly lurks in the forest. It''s not like someone would be able to steal it by entering the castle."

    "True," replied dimir, nodding his head in agreement. "I don''t believe people, even if it is the servants who have been working for me for years. I would still like to make sure that the person who by chance, does try to take the antidote, that person would be punished."

    Something had been bothering Madeline since she had found out that the antidote existed in dimir''s possession. "Why do you have it? The antidote?" She didn''t know why the devil who had turned to be a vampire would need a werewolf''s antidote. She saw dimir continue to tap on the ss that let out gold like sparks, some that passed through his hands but he stood next to it unaffected.

    "That''s a good question, dear. Well, you see, the antidote is not used just to heal a person from turning to a werewolf, but it was created so that if a werewolf would bite a vampire, it could be used to heal and revive the body. Helpful for both human as well as a vampire," answered dimir. His fingers were long, and so were his nails that looked unusually pointed. When he scratched the surface of the ss, it made a screeching sound that had Madeline flinch. "Of course, I got it made for my own use. And it was when werewolves had onlye into existence. I believe you are well versed with how the werewolves came into existence?" the older vampire turned to look at Calhoun.

    "They were created in Warrings. An experimental mishap took ce many years ago," replied Calhoun, and dimir nodded his head again.

    "Right," agreed dimir, "And the rumour was it that it was a mistake, but not many know that it was an angel''s whisper that had pushed the humans to create them. Though angels and demons are not supposed to involve themselves in what happens to the earthling beings, there are some who go ahead to quietly rebel."

    "Heaven seems to have more fucked up people,"mented Calhoun, his thoughts drifting to what Paschar had told before he had left the castle.

    dimir pulled his hand away and then looked at his nails, "I know. It is why I left it. Such prudes."

    "No. Even the purest form of water does not escape the dirt. Heaven is only a ce with people, the angels and curiosity often leavessting effects that cannot be fixed. A lot of them would like to believe that it was one of my demons who caused it, but I can damn tell it is an angel," remarked dimir, and he waved his hand for Madeline to step away. "We wouldn''t want your beautiful dress to be spoilt now, would we?"

    Madeline took three steps away from the jar of liquid, and the next second, dimir used his hand, breaking the ss with his hand. When the liquid fell on his hands, and some sshed on Calhoun, it burned down their skin until their bones, making them look nothing less to a decaying body in the coffins of the graveyard.

    "What is the liquid made of?" asked Calhoun, unaffected by the liquid that had burned down his skin and muscles of his face. Something like this didn''t hurt him, as he had gone through worse than that.

    Odin''s eyes moved to look at his Master, where the servant vampire had quietly followed them while listening to them speak.

    dimir picked up the syringe that was now resting on the stone while the liquid that had spilt around and on the ground left a sizzling sound as if it was trying to melt, but the rocks were strong enough to withhold the acidic nature of the liquid.

    "It is a special substance from Hell. Very much effective on demons, humans as well as vampires," replied dimir before handing the syringe to Calhoun. "Make sure that when you are using the antidote, you use it entirely until the veryst drop. You want to make sure it works, and nothing goes to waste."

    Calhoun filled in about Beth being taken away from the castle, mistaking it to be her, and Madeline wondered if things could go anymore worse than this. The moon hadn''t appeared in the sky, but that didn''t mean Beth''s life wasn''t in danger. How did even one mistake her with her sister? Asked Madeline in worry. She had blonde hair while Beth had brte hair.

    "What is the guarantee that it will work?" questioned Calhoun. This was the first time someone had got hold of the antidote, and the only one that existed which was why no one could tell its reliability.

    dimir smiled, "It will. You have my word on it, but don''t try to split it. Remember just one."

    The way dimir was stressing his words, Madeline didn''t know why, but it felt like they were going to have another werewolf when they would arrive at the hideout.

    She hoped that would not be the case. She then looked at Calhoun, who appeared to be calmer than the first time she had seen him in here. The wound he had received from dimir on his shoulder had disappeared, and so did the older vampire''s wound in his face that now looked smooth without a single scratch on his face.

    Madeline asked, "Do you know where they took Beth?"

    "Yes, Paschar said it before he took Raphael there," replied Calhoun. He put the syringe in his pocket, and he looked for a window so that they could leave right this instant.

    "Paschar is there?" dimir questioned, a slight hint of eagerness in his voice. "I am interested in joining this little adventure of yours," he decided.

    Calhoun didn''t refuse dimir from joining them. Without prolonging time, he looked at Madeline and without him making use of words, she walked towards therge window. She ced her hand and within the next second, the ss disappeared. When Calhoun''s wings spread out from his back, dimir''s eyes snapped to look at the ck feathered wing''s.

    Odin who saw this, his mouth fell open in surprise, and he looked back and forth between his Master for his response and then at his Master''s grandson''s wings.

 Chapter 463 Preparation- Part 3

    <h4>463 Preparation- Part 3</h4>

    In one of the huge buildings, Beth had slowly started to regain her consciousness and she heard some muttering taking ce around her. Realizing that she was bound, she tried to free herself when she heard the sound of shoes clicking against the ground.

    "You are finally awake," came a man''s voice, and Beth tried to look in the direction where she heard the voice, finally catching sight of a man with a beard who came to stand next to her head.

    "Where am I?! Who are you?!" asked Beth, panic in her voice.

    "You are in the safest town you will find in entire Devon. A ce where no onees and goes," answered the man, his eyes for a moment turned pitch ck and Beth felt her heart leap, realizing a demon had caught her.

    Thest thing she remembered before losing her consciousness was watching Raphael walk towards the tower''srge window when they had heard soundsing from below the castle. She didn''t know what happened after that.

    "We thought of having you in our previous hideout, but then there are too many people. Thest time my demons went hunting for you, they ended up dead because we didn''t consider the possibility of the King and the othersing to help you. Who knew that the lonely girl, a monster, would end up turning to have people to aide her," said the demon, his eyes switching back to his human eyes.

    Beth was confused for a moment, but it then dawned upon her on what exactly was going on. They thought she was Madeline!

    She tried to pull the binds of her hands, but they were tied too tight.

    "Try as much as you can, but it won''t work. We took extra measurements so that we wouldn''t lose you," said the same demon.

    "When are we going to start the ritual, Greyson?" asked a woman, who was a fallen angel.

    Greyson turned, looking through the window to ask, "The moon isn''t here yet, is it?"

    "Not that I can spot it," answered the demon named Fjor in a bored tone, who was the one to mix up the girls and bring Beth from the castle.

    Beth saw the man named Greyson turn back to look at her, "What did you do with it?" he questioned. "There''s no way the soothsayer can be wrong." He ced his hand on Beth''s arm, digging his nails into her skin, and this had Beth scream in pain as the pain pushed his fingers enough to draw blood out of her hand.

    "I did nothing! Let go of me unless you want to be killed!" screamed Beth.

    "I will kill you myself," Beth gritted her teeth. She hissed when Greyson pulled out his fingers from her hand, trying to breathe as she felt the pain. But the demons and the fallen angels who surrounded Beth weren''t aware of their mistake, not knowing that she was a werewolf.

    The demons snickered at her words and left Beth on the table. She could feel her skin starting to prickle, and her body trying to twist in pain. Her body was trying to transform into a werewolf again, but at the same time, it was waiting for the moon to appear.

    "The hour is up," said another demon, "We should start the ritual. There''s no point waiting for the moon."

    Greyson gave onest look at the sky before returning at the table with the other people. There were more than twelve of them, and Beth didn''t recognize any of them. The candles that she hadn''t noticed earlier started to burn brightly, and she turned anxious. "Start the ritual."

    "What about Walter and the rest?" asked Fjor, turning to look at the door as they were not here yet.

    "If they aren''t here, it only means they are dead, and there''s no point waiting for the dead. If they were alive, they should havee by now," said the fallen angel. The woman held the knife in her hand, and she rotated it around while looking at Beth''s face. "Do not fret, sweetheart. I will make sure it''s painless when I dig in the knife into your heart and rip it out for the ritual."

    Beth red at the woman. If she was going to turn to a werewolf, now was the time to do that so that she could rip this woman''s head from her body!

    Without waiting for anybody, the demons and the fallen angels who had gathered to take their share of abilities that would be emitted from the dark angel started to chant spells. As they continued to utter words, Beth saw the mes increase in its luminosity, and she wondered if she was going to die today. At that thought, she turned nervous.

    One of the demons caught sight of something strange and pointed out, "Wasn''t her hair blonde?"

    Hearing this, the others who were uttering the spells stopped and looked at Beth''s hair that now looked ck.

    The demon named Fjor tilted his head, staring at Beth''s hair, "It sure is ck." At the same time, someone knocked on the door, and their gazes fell on the other side of the room, at the closed door, wondering who it was.

 Chapter 464 All breaks loose- Part 1

    <h4>464 All breaks loose- Part 1</h4>

    Beth''s eyes looked at the ceiling, she tried to turn her head so that she could take a glimpse of what was going on. The knocking sound on the door was heard again, and Greyson nudged the demon next to him to go and check who was there at the door.

    When the demon opened the door, he saw there was no one. "Do you think they found this ce?" asked the woman who stood next to Fjor.

    "It''s a secluded town where no one everes. There''s no way they would know we are here," stated Greyson. He then said to the demon who was at the door, "Go see who it is." The night like today was something he had been eagerly anticipating. He wasn''t going to let any person ruin his chance of ascending the throne of the devil.

    "What are we going to do with this girl? Her hair color is changing," said another demon, and Greyson''s eyes narrowed. "Do you think Fjor made a mistake of picking up the wrong girl?"

    Fjor raised his hands, "The description was of a blonde brown-haired girl. You saw her hair before."

    Greyson took a closer look at Beth who stared back at him. "Are you not the dark angel?" he questioned her dauntingly, his eyes turning pitch ck in anger.

    "What do you think?" Beth questioned back at him.

    "Answer me!" Greyson dug his fingers into Beth''s shoulders, piercing his fingers in her skin and making her wince in pain. "Where is the dark angel?" The demons and the fallen angels around could tell that this demon was going to lose it. As they stared at the girl on the table, they caught sight of her green eyes that started to change colour, slowly transforming into gold and yellow.

    "T-this looks like a werewolf," said one of the demons in there.

    "AHHHHH!!"

    Hearing the screaming from outside the building, everyone turned alert, and stared at the open door. "There are uninvited guests in here. On alert!"manded Greyson. The demons and fallen angels he had recruited were not average people, but people who had unique abilities who would be of use in fighting the people who had arrived. He had taken extra care when nning for tonight, working on it for years.

    His minions started to spread out and away from the table. One of the demons who had stepped out of the building tried looking for the demon who had just screamed, to only find the person dead on the ground.

    "Aren''t you feeling cold wearing only that?" came a voice from above the roof. The demon quickly snapped his head around and caught sight of a man sitting on the top, on his heels.

    "That hurt,"mented Raphael, after receiving a blow from one of the two demons and he fell on the snow-covered ground.

    He felt something wet on the back of his head. His hand reached out to touch the warm liquid, and he noticed the blood on his hand. The two demons in front of him were sure that Raphael would be dead as he looked more human than a demon, but the card reader only smiled up at them politely.

    "Hit him again!" ordered the shorter demon.

    But before the demon, who was holding metal rod could hit Raphael with it, his hands slipped into his pockets of his robes, and he threw the metal cards at the demons to have their face st. "I asked if you weren''t feeling cold. Let me warm you up."

    "You asshole!" cursed the demon whose face had turned dirty because of the card exploding where some parts of their face had melted to show bones.

    When Madeline arrived at the ce with the others, Calhoun had moved to the other and had already started to kill the demons, while she stepped inside the building to find Beth tied to the table. She quickly ran to her sister''s side where the demons had only left Beth''s side.

    "Maddie!" Beth eximed with a sense of relief as well as worry entering her mind. "You shouldn''t be here!" she warned, while Madeline untied the ropes around Beth''s hands and legs one after another.

    "Don''t worry," Madeline assured her sister. Until she was alive, she would not let any harme upon Beth.

    "No! They are nning to sacrifice you here!" Beth spoke in a rushed tone. She sat up once her hands were free. Running her fingers across her wrist because of the binds that had been tied around her hands. Before she could say anything more, the time which Madeline had been dreading about finally arrived. The clouds that were covering the moon, drifted away from the sky, making way for the golden moon to throw light on thend of Devon.

    A growl surfaced from the back of Beth''s throat. "Beth?" Madeline called her sister, seeing Beth''s face contoured itself in pain. Her sister had closed her eyes and her hands gripped the table.

    Madeline had seen Beth change before, but the way she was changing right now, it was something she hadn''t expected. The growl only increased and Beth''s hands that were t on the marked table, her nails started to grow long and dirty while her back started to transform with her bones that started to modify, and so did her face.

    She staggered back, looking at Beth, who continued to transform, and when she looked up at the sky through the window, she saw the moon had appeared.

 Chapter 465 All breaks loose- Part 2

    <h4>465 All breaks loose- Part 2</h4>

    "I would have never guessed that we caught a werewolf," murmured Fjor behind a pir while staring at the werewolf and quietly stepped out of the building to see what was going on as he didn''t want to fight the werewolf and decided to leave it to Greyson.

    "Beth?" Madeline called the werewolf, hoping Beth could hear her. James had heard her voice, that would mean Beth would be able to listen to her too. But Madeline didn''t know that her sister whom she knew was not in there right now. The werewolf''s head snapped to look at where Madeline was, it snarled at her as if it could barely wait to kill her.

    The werewolf jumped down from the table, charging towards her, making Madeline raise her hands to stop the werewolf''s movements, but it wasn''t enough. Not a secondter, the werewolf picked up Madeline, throwing her against one side of the room.

    "Kill the werewolf!" ordered Greyson, noticing the presence of the blonde girl in the room. The way she had tried to stop the werewolf, she was the dark angel, thought Greyson to himself and his eyes filled itself with greed.

    "No!" Madeline shouted, and before she could stop the demons, a woman appeared in front of her with a gun in her hand.

    "Little girls are not supposed to get themselves involved in things that don''t concern them," and the woman aimed the weapon at Madeline''s shoulder so that she could wound the dark angel.

    Just as the woman pulled the trigger, Madeline dodged it. The woman appeared to be a human, but when she smiled, Madeline knew that this person was a fallen angel.

    "Do you remember me, Madeline?" asked the woman. Madeline stepped behind the pir to take shelter. "We met in one of the soirees that your aunt Mary had invited us to attend. It was very long. Probably seven years ago."

    In the meantime, Madeline searched for something that she could make use of. An arrow came straight to hit near her head, and she gasped. Trying to see where it came from, she caught sight of another demon who held a crossbow in his hand.

    "I don''t think she remembers, Wendy," said the demon holding the crossbow. Madeline stepped out behind the wooden pir and saw one of the demons who fell on the ground from above.

    On the above floor, Calhoun who was fighting withthe demons had ripped one of the demon''s head before throwing him down. He now fought with another demon, who belonged to a higher level.

    "I thought you will die," murmured Calhoun with a small hiss before pulling out the stake from his thigh to have blood ooze out from the wound.

    "The King of Devon, I heard whispers that you are a demon," the demon snarled at him, his voice coarse. "But you should know that I am not like you," he snickered this time, "I don''t think you have been educated with how demons work. I am not like the other demons. The demons here are different."

    "I am listening," replied Calhoun, and his eyes snapped to look at the demon who tryed to get to him. The demon''s fingernails swiped through the wind, waiting to leave a deep gash of wounds on Calhoun.

    The smile on the demon''s face broadened into a V shape, showing his jagged teeth to Calhoun. "Do you think a mere demon-vampire like you can defeat us? Your father was a wise man, and he knew when to hide his tail. It would be wise for you to leave, instead of thinking you can defeat us."

    "So how do I kill you?" came the calm voice of Calhoun. His voice filled with arrogance, and that only had the demon''s nerve pop because he was more experienced and the King was younger than him.

    "I can tell you in Hell," smiled the demon. He pulled out small crystal balls from his pocket that had liquid inside it.?"See if you can catch them. They are special ones which I brought with me." As the crystal balls rubbed against each other, Calhoun heard them crackle simr to how the ss crackled back in dimir''s castle.

    "Seems like something you borrowed from Hell," remarked Calhoun and the demon chuckled.

    "You bet." Without waiting for another moment, the demon threw the crystal balls at Calhoun at high speed. When the crystals touched Calhoun''s body, they sted with acid in them. Wherever the crystal balls had burst, it had melted Calhoun''s clothes as well as his skin, leaving steam behind.

    The demon had expected it would deter the King, but instead, Calhoun chuckled.

    "Such childish tricks," remarked Calhoun. He tilted his head for the blood that was dripping down from his forehead to move near his mouth. His tongue peeked out to catch his blood, and he swalloed it. "Considering there are some demons who cannot be killed in normal ways, the rest are nothing but useless. Just like you."

    The demon pulled out other crystal balls, holding each of them in between his fingers. Before the crystals could leave the demon''s hands to be thrown at Calhoun again, Calhoun pulled out his gun and shot every single crystal ball, to have them break and explode.

 Chapter 466 All breaks loose- Part 3

    <h4>466 All breaks loose- Part 3</h4>

    Calhoun tsked, "We both are demons, a lot of things will have the same affect. I think you forgot to find how to protect yourself from your own creation," he noticed one side of the demon''s face continued to melt until the bones. It left one of the eyeballs open without any eyelids around it. "You are fast. But not fast enough."

    The demon raised his hand towards his face and touched the bones. Suddenly anger took over the person''s face, "I will make sure to shred you into pieces." He spat the blood on the ground.

    Calhoun tapped on the side of his gun and loaded it with silver bullets, "I can barely wait."

    Back at the building''s ground floor, Madeline''s concentration was split between the fallen angel, the demon with the crossbow and Beth who tore one of the demon into two pieces. The werewolf loudly growled, shaking the entire building before breaking the wall and stomping away.

    "Beth, wait!" Madeline tried to follow her, but she was stopped by the two people who wanted her heart.

    The woman named Wendy, said, "Earlier, I thought there was something extraordinary with that girl, wondering if the dark angel always had green eyes, but then that was just your sister. Your sister is already a lost cause. It would be better for you to give your heart by lying on the table."

    Madeline didn''t know where dimir had disappeared, and she couldn''t see Paschar in here either. Just as the thought crossed in her mind, another arrow was lodged at her, and before she could dodge it, the tip of the arrow pierced through her chest, grazing her heart and suddenly everything started to slow down and freeze.

    The arrow hade at a speed that had Madeline stagger back, and she tried not to lose her bnce. She could feel the pain that came from the arrow, starting to spread simr to the way a nt''s roots grew, spreading throughout her body and her eyesight started to turn dim.

    Madeline fell on the ground, unconscious and the woman''s eyes widened, "What the heck did you do?! Did you kill her?" she demanded, going near the dark angel to check her breathing.

    "Rx, she''s still alive, at least for a few more seconds," replied the demon who had tagged along near the dark angel, making his way to where they were. "The spells have already been uttered, all we need to do is to cut open her chest and pull out her heart."

    "Do it," ordered Greyson who had escaped from the eyes of the King and had reached at the scene in time to see the dark angel fall back on the ground. "Before there are anymore disruptions. The moon is out, and this is the right time."

    "Alright then," answered Wendy.

    "What happened?" asked the demon standing next to Greyson.

    Wendy leaned forward, and suddenly a white light emerged from the wound where the arrow was sticking in Madeline''s chest. The demons couldn''t see anything because of the blinding light and Greyson being the smart demon, he pulled the demon in front of him as a shield, which was when a sudden force pushed them away. The light stopped and Wendy, who had hit her head on the ground, groaned in pain, noticing her skin peel from her body. She looked up to see the dark angel who was previously on the ground, who now stood in front of them.

    Madeline wasn''t herself anymore. Her eyes had turned white and her face had a passive look on it. But it was the bloody red wings that had erupted through her back that caught everyone''s attention.

    "It''s the dark angel!" whispered Greyson. Realizing this was the right time, he picked up the knife that Wendy had dropped and he made his way towards Madeline. Before he could even step near her, Madeline raised her hand, and with one push from her hand, the demon went flying to hit the wall, wincing over his broken arm.

    Wendy''s mouth was left open as she had not expected to see the wings right now.

    Consumed by the greed of power, the woman ran towards the dark angel, but Madeline without making use of a weapon caught hold of the fallen angel, and she pushed the fallen angel against the wall while squeezing the woman''s neck.

    "You fucking bitch!" Wendy struggled to get Madeline''s hand away from her neck as the dark angel oozed with enormous strength. Even though the fallen angel had a few abilities, the person was still human-like, who needed air to breathe.

    The white eyes turned back to brown, and Madeline said, "You have sinned, fallen angel, and I condemn you to the ce where you rightfully belong."

    "Tear her wings!" said another demon who was on the same floor.

    Wendy didn''t get to do it because Madeline didn''t let go of her neck. Using another hand, Madeline ced her fingers on Wendy''s forehead, "I hope God forgives you for your sins."

    The fallen angel started to spew blood from her mouth, and Madeline let go of the woman''s neck. In time she turned to catch hold of another demon who hade behind her to tear her wings. Madeline ced her open palm on the demon''s face who turned to a pool of blood as the demon''s body was ripped open.

    Wendy continued to vomit blood, and she fell on her knees, "S-stop this!" she begged Madeline.

    Madeline turned to look at the fallen angel''s child, staring at the woman''s plight.

    "Okay," she whispered, receiving a relieved look from Wendy, which was short-lived as Madeline said, "Die."

    Wendy''s eyes widened, and she shook her head, "N-n-" before she could utter a word, a sharp icicle pierced through her heart from behind, and the woman froze.

    .

    Scroll to read...

 Chapter 467 All breaks loose- Part 4

    <h4>467 All breaks loose- Part 4</h4>

    He pulled the demon he was fighting with, cing the gun in the demon''s smiling mouth before pulling the trigger as the silver bullets were loaded into the demon''s body. Dropping the body, he was ready to jump to the ground floor when he caught sight of the werewolf that was outside, howling at the moon.

    "Raphael!" Calhoun shouted, gaining the card reader''s attention. He fished his hand in his pocket before throwing the blue liquid that was in the ss vial at Raphael. Raphael looked at the ss vial while dodging the demon''s attack who had been engaging him in a fight. By the time he looked up at where Calhoun was, the king had disappeared.

    The demon, Greyson, on seeing Madeline''s dark angel abilities unleashed with wings on her back, he decided to leave her in the hands of his minions until he would find an opening to attack her. He took hold of his gun, loading it as he stepped away, when he heard Calhoun speak from behind,

    "Too scared to face her?"

    Greyson didn''t wait to chat as he shot Calhoun with his gun. Two of the bullets lodged themselves into Calhoun''s chest. Blood started to drip down from Calhoun''s body, but Calhoun appeared unaffected by it.

    The demon''s eyes narrowed, "The bullets do not affect you."

    Calhoun used his hand to pull out the bullet and then throw it on the ground. He walked towards the demon, his footsteps steady. At the same time, the demon used his ability to produce shock-like thunderbolts at Calhoun to stop him from advancing further.

    "Nobody can stand against the thunderbolts,"ughed Greyson, increasing the pressure to have Calhoun cough out blood. Calhoun had tasted a simr pain in the past, and it was when he had touched Madeline''s hand when she was not able to control her dark angel abilities.

    "You were thrown out of heaven with the rest of them, isn''t it? The indecisive ones," Calhoun spat the blood and nullified the effect of bolts of thunder that had run through his body.

    "Who cares about that," said Greyson, and his eyes fell on the rod on the ground. Raising his hand, the rod came flying to his hand.

    Within a second, Greyson relentlessly went on attacking Calhoun, making the King know how powerful of a demon he was and was only trying to be cautious in the presence of the dark angel. Calhoun used his own ability to throw the demon at the wall that left a huge hole, sending the demon flying outside, who fell on the snow ground.

    Calhoun jumped down on the ground as elegantly as a cat and stood on his feet.

    "You seem to have some high-level ability there. Where did you receive it from?" asked Greyson, spitting the blood from his mouth because of the attack he took from Calhoun.

    "You would be surprised," smiled Calhoun.

    Calhoun used his foot to kick the demon''s face, and one of the demon''s teeth fell out.

    Greyson, who fell on the ground, ced his hands on the cold snow, and soon sharp icicles popped up from the ground beneath Calhoun''s body, making him jump away from one ce to another as Greyson was trying to nail him through the icicles.

    Calhoun used his ability, drawing fire from the closest source, and soon fire zed around him and on the ground, turning the snow to a puddle of water, making it impossible for Greyson to kill him through the icicles. A smug smile appeared on Calhoun''s face.

    Irked, Greyson said, "Do you think that would help?" and he created icicles in thin air before throwing a lot of them at Calhoun. Suddenly ck wings spread from Calhoun''s back and it protected him from the sharp ice that crashed against the wings.

    Greyson looked shocked and caught sight of the wings being pulled away from each other to reveal Calhoun. Fjor, who was rxing, leaned forward on the sight of the ck wings.

    "Not taking part, Fjor?" asked someone from behind, and the demon turned around to see a pair of legs. When his eyes moved up, his eyes widened, and he almost tumbled down from the roof.

    "Master!" eximed Fjor looking at dimir. In shock, Fjor ced his forehead on the cold surface of the bricked tile. The devil watched Calhoun and his underling demon fight on the ground. Greyson sprouted his bat-like wings.

    "I was only watching, Master!" Fjor then lifted his head, "W-what are you doing here? I thought you were-"

    "Dead?" asked dimir, "Silly bug, the devil never dies. I was looking for someone. You don''t suppose you saw any person who has grey eyes with long horse-like hair that is grey, have you?"

    Horse-like hair? Fjor shook his head.

    dimir hadn''t bothered to take part in the fight as it looked like his grandson and his granddaughter-inw were doing fine. Arriving here, he had gone in search of Paschar, wanting to take a jib for old times sake, but the angel seemed to be nowhere around.

    "What have you been up to, Fjor? It has been a long time since west spoke," dimir brought his hand up and stared at his sharp nails, "Anything interesting that I need to know?"

    Even with the cold weather, it looked like Fjor was ready to start sweating in the presence of the devil. Not knowing what else to say, the demon replied, "Master, Greyson has been trying to raise an army in Hell, trying to rece your position."

    "And what have you been trying to do in the meantime? Catching flies?" questioned dimir, his red eyes not leaving the sight of his grandson.

 Chapter 468 Chase in forest- Part 1

    <h4>468 Chase in forest- Part 1</h4>

    .

    When dimir had left Heavens, he was condemned and called the first fallen angel of Heaven. There were some who had followed him, turning to demons, then there were the others who had been indecisive and had turned to fallen angels as humans in the earthly realm. It was one of the reasons why the demons who had directly sought him, turning to his side, had received wings and abilities, while the fallen angels who lived as humans, carried no wings with them.

    Once he had gone against Heaven, his magnificent white wings that he once possessed had shed the feathers leaving only ck wings that looked like a bat''s wings, and he received the name as the devil.

    He heard the metals sh against each other as Calhoun fought Greyson, both of them kept their pace and trying to injure the other. With both of them having wings on their backs, neither of them stood on thend, and they slowly ended up moving up in the air with sparks like lightning erupting because of metal shing against another metal.

    dimir''s eyes narrowed at the wings that Calhoun possessed, and a small smile started to spread across his lips before it broadened. The woman whom he loved in the past was a human with no trace of demon or fallen angel blood in her, and the person with whom his daughter had consummated her rtionship with was a mere vampire. Not even mere but utterly useless. And this only meant that the wings Calhoun received were from him. The wings Valdimir once possessed had been passed down to his grandson.

    As dimir was the first fallen one, the devil, his grandson had acquired those ck wings. The prince of Hell.

    "Master there is an angel with ck wings," Fjor who was on his knees informed the devil who had made his surprised visit here. Did the devile here to sort out things with the other demons? Or was it for the dark angel? Fjor didn''t dare to question dimir as he was only a servant of Hell.

    "I can see it. I have eyes," responded dimir. "You didn''t tell me what you are doing here, Fjor." The older vampire''s eyes shifted from his grandson to look at his demon servant from Hell.

    "I was keeping an eye, Master. There''s a dark angel inside the building. Would you want me to bring her here in front of you?" offered Fjor, but dimir waved his hand.

    "Leave the girl, unless you want to turn crisp like a meat, which no one would like to eat,"mented dimir. He then turned his head to see if he could catch the Paschar, wondering where exactly he disappeared to. "Let''s enjoy the fight, unless he needs a helping hand."

    Fjor, not knowing if dimir''s words were for Greyson or the King, decided to keep his mouth shut, and watched the two people fight in the sky.

    "How do you have ck feathers on your wings?" The demon used all his strength when making a blowing attack at Calhoun, which was stopped by Calhoun''s sword. "Only angels have those. And they usually have white wings."

    "What do you think?" Calhoun questioned back, he gritted his teeth through the smile. He growled, pushing Greyson with another attack to have the demon flying in the air. Greyson used his bat-like wings to stop himself from falling on the ground.

    Greyson stretched his hand that was holding the sword that started to change its shape and appearance to thicken and turn into a shiny metal rod. He stared at Calhoun, while the metal rod that he held started to cover itself in electric sparks that started to move from his hand to the tip of the other side of the rod.

    "There is no way you can be an angel. I know about your deeds, Calhoun Hawthrone. Killing your mother, your father, your rtives, and other people which is how you ended up sitting on the throne of Devon," said Greyson. "I can sense the demon blood in you. High-level demon blood." But what he didn''t understand was that the higher-level demons were the ones who had converted directly to demons from angels, to serve the devil. "I have never seen you before. Did you change your appearance, which is why I cannot identify you?" asked Greyson. He twirled the rod in his hand before he went straight at Calhoun, swinging the metal rod that had bolts of lightning passing through it.

    Getting an opening, Greyson used it to hit Calhoun''s head. "How do you like the bolt of lightning?" asked Greyson as he increased its intensity, and the wings that were pping behind Calhoun slowed down for his body to start moving towards the ground.

    Calhoun looked like he was losing consciousness and Greyson looked happy and he followed the vampire. He created bed of icicles that awaited for Calhoun on the ground.

    Greyson was ready to swing the rod at Calhoun''s head who continued to be pulled by gravity while his body had turned ck, but just when the rod came near Calhoun, his eyes flew open. Calhoun caught hold of the metal rod, twisting it and his wings started to p back, avoiding the icicles that were on the ground.

    "What are you?!" questioned Greyson.

    Greyson had lost his grip on the metal rod, and both the men ended up in close bodybat. He had expected Calhoun to ept defeat, but the King had turned the tables to attack him instead.

    Calhoun''s fists went straight at Greyson''s face, and the impact was powerful enough to send the demon flying far away in the air. Calhoun didn''t wait but followed the demon, beating him, until he finally sent the demon back to the ground with one single punch.

    "Did you think you could use of the dark angel in my presence?" asked Calhoun. He raised his hand, and the metal rods came flying to his hand.

    Hitting the demon with the rods, it made a cracking sound when it touched Greyson. The demonughed, realizing this King had been deceiving people by telling he was only a vampire when there was much more than what was perceived through the eyes.

    "You don''t have to kill me, Calhoun. I will make an offer with you. I will turn you to one of the higher esteemed demons in Hell. The best position. We can work together," Greyson offered, speaking through his bloody mouth. He brought his hand forward to wipe the blood on his mouth.

    "I thought you were going to give me The position, not some regr ones," Calhoun yed with the metal rod by throwing it in the air and catching it in different ends. "You know what your mistake is? Youid your eyes on the wrong person. I will pass on your offer."

 Chapter 469 Chase in forest- Part 2

    <h4>469 Chase in forest- Part 2</h4>

    Calhoun stared at Greyson, "I have a question for you."

    "Anything!" agreed Greyson. Calhoun dropped the rod on the ground, and in a blink of an eye, he pulled out the gun and shot Greyson''s leg, and heard the demon scream in pain. "Why did you do that! I told you I would answer your question! Ugh!" he groaned in pain.

    "For inviting yourself in my castle without any invitation," came the calm words from Calhoun. "I got these bullets specially made for demons like you. You didn''t feel the pain earlier, but you will feel it now. Your body will try to turn like a human body when ites to pain. Even a pinch will make you wince. Isn''t that wonderful?"

    Greyson clutched his leg. His body trembled in pain, and his face contorted.

    "Did you know my mother? Closely?" questioned Calhoun.

    The pain on the demon''s face disappeared, and he looked pale. His eyes slowly moved to meet Calhoun''s eyes. He shook his eyes, "I didn''t."

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, and he shot two more shots into Greyson''s body, this time in his stomach.

    dimir, who had been standing on the roof, watching the two people fight, heard the question, and he said, "Fjor, make yourself useful than being a useless piece in here." The demon quickly stood up, bowing his head, he was ready to escape from the scene as if he was nowhere part of it. "Get the souls of the previous King of Devon and his family ready." He waved his fingers, and Fjor immediately disappeared from there.

    dimir jumped down from the roof and made his way to where his grandson and the demon was. His footsteps left a light footprint on the snow. As he came in view of Greyson''s eyes, the demon''s eyes widened, and his jaw fell ck in shock.

    "Y-you-"

    "Good morning, Greyson. Are you enjoying the pain?" questioned dimir. "Good to see that you haven''t forgotten me. Now, what do I hear about you knowing my daughter."

    If it was possible, the demon''s eyeballs would have fallen from his eye socket. His daughter? When did the devil have a daughter? Wait, the King asked about his mother. Greyson''s eyes moved back and forth between the two people. Did that mean��? His eyes bulged out.

    Instead of using any weapon, dimir stepped on the already injured leg of Greyson, "Speak."

    "I didn''t do anything!" Greyson shook his head, "I had nothing to do with it. It was Walter who was fucking the woman like any-AHHHH!"

    Calhoun raised the gun at Greyson''s face, "He will end up in Hell. You can talk to himter."

    When the echo of the gunshots dulled down, far away from the centre of the deserted town, howls of the werewolf could be hearding from the forest.

    Raphael, who had taken the ss vial from Calhoun, searched for the brown werewolf that had disappeared after ripping apart a demon in front of him. He would have followed Beth, but the werewolf was fast, and also he had been held back by the other demons who had tried to kill him.

    "Lady Elizabeth?!" Raphael shouted as loud as he could, trying to pick her scent, but her scent had drifted in all the directions, making it difficult for him to follow her.

    He had been d to see her, but with the golden moon out in the sky. It wasn''t just one but two people whose lives were in danger. He heard an owl hoot that had perched itself on the nearby tree. Raphael looked for Beth''s werewolf footprints made by her hind legs, but there was none.

    "Lady Elizabeth?" he sang her name, "You don''t have to be shy. It is Raphael Sparrow. I brought you something that you might like to take," his voice left a distant echo in the forest.

    A few trees away from where Raphael stood, the werewolf with the brow fur got down ever so slowly from the tree without making a sound. Its mouth was open, showing its big sharp teeth that were coated in its saliva.

    When the beast stepped on a branch on the ground, Raphael quickly turned to look at the werewolf.

    "There you are," remarked Raphael with a polite smile on his face. "I have been looking for you everywhere. Why don''t you and I sit down now so that we can talk?"

    Hearing Raphael''s words, the werewolf snarled, and the demon raised his hands. "We can stand and talk. You don''t have to be angry."

    The werewolf then widened its mouth, growled loudly and it snapped its teeth before stomping its feet forward to tear Raphael into pieces. Raphael didn''t mind taking Beth the way she was, but right now, the werewolf was not pleased to see him.

    He didn''t want to injure her too much, but to give her the antidote, that would mean he would need her to be still, which appeared to be an impossible task. Dodging away from the werewolf by rolling to one side on the snow-covered ground, Raphael tried to shoot the werewolf''s leg to stop the beast from moving.

    When Raphael pulled the trigger, the bullet missed its mark and the sound of it only turned the werewolf that much more aggressive, and it growled as if he was going to be its meal.

 Chapter 470 Chase in forest- Part 3

    <h4>470 Chase in forest- Part 3</h4>

    Raphael''s body skidded through the forest ground, and he hit his back against the trunk of a tree. The gun that was in his hand slipped and fell elsewhere, and he cursed himself. The werewolf came right at him, and he tried to stall it. His eyes checked the trees and trying to find the right ce where he could trap the werewolf.

    Running past the trees, pulling out his metal cards as it was the only thing that could be used ot distract the werewolf. He turned back to throw the cards at the werewolf and once it touched the beast the cards exploded.

    The werewolf pranced as fast as possible and it got hold of Raphael''s legs before pulling him as if he was a toy. If this werewolf wasn''t Elizabeth, Raphael would have slit its heart out, but he was at a disadvantage.

    "You know this might be one of those times where Elizabeth Harris is chasing me," he joked as he was dangled by the giant beast to be thrown on the ground. Standing up, he cracked his neck while keeping an eye on the werewolf. He pulled out the ss vial that had the blue liquid inside it from his pocket.

    When the werewolf came to attack Raphael, he didn''t run but tried to escape from its ws, and he tried to get on its back. The werewolf tried to catch him, moving back and forth but Raphael made sure to hold on to the beast. He had to somehow put the antidote in the werewolf''s mouth. He tried to turn the werewolf unconscious, but it was a beast and not a human. Raphael pushed the werewolf down on the ground by using his demon strength, struggling not to get scratched or bit by its vicious teeth.

    Bringing the ss vial back in his hand, he was ready to break the vial and pour the liquid into the werewolf''s mouth, when suddenly it wed his back, making him wince in pain. Its nails dug deep enough to cause blood drip down from his back. The werewolf growled before pushing him on the ground, and then took a bite at his leg.

    The werewolf''s teeth digged deep into Raphael''s leg that carried its saliva and venom.

    Before the werewolf could bite him again, he pushed it back on the ground, wrestling with it and felt another its ws dig into the side of his body. Trying to ignore the pain he felt, Raphael brought his hand near its mouth and broke the ss in his hand for the liquid to fall straight into its mouth. Raphael only hoped that this worked.

    He felt its ws digging further into his body before it threw him away, for him to fall on the ground. Raphael groaned in pain, clutching the side of his waist as blood started to ooze out of it profusely. Raphael felt his strength starting to leave his body.

    Beth looked at her hands, and then she looked around her surroundings and saw she was in a forest.

    "Take my coat..." she heard Raphael''s voice, and when she turned around, she caught sight of him leaning against a tree.

    During her transformation into a werewolf, Beth''s clothes had torn, leaving her now naked. She quickly took the coat, wearing it before sitting down next to him, seeing the blood that started to soak on the snow-covered ground.

    "You''re bleeding!" Beth didn''t have anything with her that would help in covering his wounds.

    Nociting her hands that were already covered in blood, she realized it was her who had done this to him. She looked ahead and then behind, wondering if she could get some help. Thest time she had been conscious, it was when Madeline was untying the ropes around her legs.

    "I am fine," Raphael tiredly waved his hand so that she wouldn''t worry about him. "I guess you don''t have to worry about being a furry animal anymore." Beth noticed he had difficulty in uttering those words because of the pain he was in. She saw him looking up at the sky, and her gaze followed to catch sight of the moon that continued to emit light down on the ground.

    "We need to get you help," said Beth with worry, ready to put her hands around Raphael to support him which the demon found it to be endearing. This entire time, he had stayed next to her side, watching her and she had changed.

    "I don''t think we can make it there on time, Lady Elizabeth," said Raphael.

    The blood around Raphael only increased, making the snow turned redder, simr to the time when she had seen Madeline kill the demon girl when they were little.

    "What do you mean? There''s Madeline there. She can heal your wounds-"

    Beth was interrupted by Raphael, "Lady Madeline might not be in her full strength now. She used most of her strength in healing Lady Lucy, who was in far worse condition than I am right now. If she tries to heal again, it will only harm her."

    Raphael took a deep breath before letting out a sigh. He let his head lean back against the bark of the tree.

    Worried, Beth said, "Let me go and find someone who can help." She was ready to stand up when she saw Raphael shake his head.

    "Stay, Lady Elizabeth, please. It would be lonely to die without anyone next to me."

 Chapter 471 You again- Part 1

    <h4>471 You again- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Raphael''s hand clutched the side of his stomach where the werewolf had earlier attacked him through its ws. It wasn''t just his stomach but also his leg that was right now bleeding because of the chomp that the werewolf had taken before he had sessfully broken the ss vial to pour the antidote in Elizabeth''s mouth.

    If he was a human, he would have turned to a werewolf, leaving him in another condition. But since he was a demon, he was unaffected by the venom of the werewolf. Simultaneously, the bleeding would take time to heal, and the way he had been wounded severely, it seemed like the chances were less.

    Beth felt her hands turn to fists. She felt worse seeing the blood that continued to spread on the ground,?where Raphael was. Was he going to die? As she had been abducted from the castle, she had missed a lot of events, not knowing Lucy had died only to be healed by Madeline''s angelic abilities.

    "I will go find someone. Maybe the King will know what to do," said Beth, trying to think of a way, but Raphael only shook his head.

    "Rx, Lady Elizabeth. Why don''t you sit down," came his slow voice. "How do you feel after having the antidote?" he turned his head to meet her green eyes.

    Beth was speechless. Here he was dying, and he was inquiring about her health.

    "I feel normal," she whispered, and he nodded.

    "That''s good to hear. At least I will know that you were saved," he offered her a polite smile, and it only broke Beth''s heart.

    It was true that in the beginning that she had tried to hurt a lot of people for her selfish reasons, but she had never meant to kill anyone purposefully. In the past, what she did was all because of people''s influence. Her grandparents, her aunt, some of the other people and people like Rosamund and Markus. She didn''t want Raphael to die, not because of her.

    "Why did youe to give me the antidote?" Beth questioned him, "You could have given it to someone else. You could have waited. You knew this would happen." There was a deep frown on her face.

    "I don''t think others would have done the deed. You would have killed them without a single thought. I know you have a soft spot for me in the corner of your heart. In the most corner ce," Raphael joked with her, but Beth was not in the mood to hear any jokes about such things. "If the antidote was not given before the moon would disappear, you would forever end up as a werewolf, and there would be no cure. Giving it after the moon leaves the sun would not help you either."

    She shook her head. "There might be something I can help you with. To stop the bleeding," she said, her eyes falling on his leg that looked like it was barely attached to his body. If only she had her clothes on her, she would have torn it and tried to help him, but Beth was naked beneath the coat.

    Realizing they were surrounded by snow, Beth moved near his leg and gathered some of the snow from the ground. Pressing them together so that it would hold together, she then ced it on his wound.

    "What are you doing?" asked Raphael.

    "Trying to stop the bleeding," replied Beth, concentrating on her hand so that she wouldn''t press on the deep gash of his wound. His leg was bloody, and the blood that had dripped down soaked the snow on the ground.

    When she went to sit on his other side, ready to ce the ice on his wound, Raphael caught hold of her wrist. "Let me help," said Beth, staring into the card reader''s ck eyes that had started to turn dull.

    "Why are you doing this?" he asked. Beth didn''t know why Raphael was asking her questions right now. "Is it because you don''t want to feel burdened in the future?"

    Beth pulled her hand away from his, her eyes showed a spark of fire in them before she looked away. "Take it the way you want, Mr. Sparrow." She then ced the ice on the wound. "Is it necessary for you to try provoking me right now?"

    Raphael smiled, "It is one of the ways to catch your attention. Do you see the amount of blood that surrounds me, Lady Elizabeth? There''s a lot of it. The amount of blood that has spilt is more than the blood that is in my body. I am not a vampire but a demon. There is no point in trying to save me."

    Beth felt her heart squeeze at his words. Pursing her lips, she said, "It would feel better knowing you died after help was offered than no help was offered to you. Why did you ask me to stay with you?"

    "You are free to go. If that is what you want," Raphael hissed when the pressure on Beth''s hand increased, and she quickly muttered a sorry. "Are you trying to torture me?"

    "I didn''t mean to increase the pressure," Beth apologized. She noticed even after she ced the ice on his leg and stomach, the bleeding didn''t stop immediately. The wound wasrge, and it only gave way for more blood to spill from his body.

    But Beth didn''t give up on her hope. She continued to keep the ice on his wound, waiting for him to get better, but Raphael, who had been speaking earlier, now turned quiet, and it worried her.

 Chapter 472 You again- Part 2

    <h4>472 You again- Part 2</h4>

    "Lady Madeline and the King are in the town. They are still fighting with the others. It would be good for you to stay here rather than turning yourself into a bait they can make leverage of," stated Raphael. The smile on his lips had dulled down, and his expression had turned calmer than before. "Stay here until the King or Queene looking for you."

    Beth felt her eyes prickle, but she tried to hold back her emotions. If only she had some ability, she would have been able to defend herself that day in the vige of Cossington. The werewolf would not have bitten her, nor would the fight between her and Raphael would have broken this way.

    "This is all my fault," she whispered, her eyes lowered down to her hands that held the ice. Her hands were turning numb, but she ignored the feeling and continued to aid the demon, who was the reason why she was not a werewolf anymore.

    Beth realized how useless she was. All her lifetime, she had done nothing but caused trouble to people around her. She couldn''t do anything right, and it further broke her heart.

    "I have a request," said Raphael, and Beth turned to look at him. "When I am gone, I would like to have some flowers on my grave. Specific ones."

    Until now, Beth had never discussed after flowers to be ced on the grave with anyone. It was ufortable, and she felt guilty. "What flowers would you like?" She asked him. The blood didn''t stop, and it continued to spill down from his body, and Beth felt the ice was nowhere helping him but only melting in her hands.

    "What do you rmend? Something that you would like?" asked Raphael. Seeing her stare at him, he said, "Lady Elizabeth," he took a deep breath before continuing, "I know you don''t like me, but I do like you a lot. Maybe you are not fond of some parts of your life in the past, but I think it is the errors that we make and fix, which makes a person amazing. And you have been doing wonderful," he said, keeping his gaze on her.

    When Beth closed her eyes, the tears she had been holding back finally spilt down on the coat that she was wearing which belonged to him.

    "H-how is it wonderful if I have saved my life at the cost of another person''s life?" she looked away from him quickly.

    "It isn''t you who made the choice, but I," said Raphael. "I think it would be quite a waste to see a woman like you, who is ate bloomer to not bloom and not live your life to the fullest. Now that you know how precious your human life is, you can decide to live the way you want. Don''t carry the guilt in your heart, because it wasn''t your decision, but mine."

    "What happened is already done. Now we hold the oue of our actions," stated Raphael. "Do you think it would have made a difference if I was still alive? Would you have allowed yourself to think about me?"

    Beth''s tear-filled eyes met Raphael''s eyes, and she nodded her head.

    "A pity indeed," he murmured to himself.

    For a moment, Beth, who looked at his leg was somewhat d that the bleeding had finally stopped after all her efforts. But what she didn''t know was that, apart from the wound on his leg and the stomach, her werewolf ws had ripped into Raphael''s back, which the demon didn''t mention nor had she seen it as he leaned against the bark of the tree.

    "You didn''t tell me which flowers you would pick for me,"mented Raphael.

    "I will see to it that you don''t die," said Beth, trying to give both of them hope and hearing this, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

    "Flowers, mdy," at the same time, he pulled the card from his pocket that was the card of the fool.

    Beth took time to think before answering, "Forget me not. That''s the flower."

    "What a wonderful flower you have picked," he said, almost getting lost in her green eyes. "I am sure that there will be at least one person who will not forget me. You have beautiful eyes, Lady Elizabeth."

    "Thank you, Mr. Sparrow," Beth pulled the ice piece away from his wound to have a look which was when he caught her hand to see it had turned pale.

    "That should be enough. Your fingers will fall out from your hands if you continue doing this. Don''t waste your efforts by doing that," said Raphael with a small frown on his face. He didn''t let go of her hand, and continued holding her cold hand. Beth didn''t pull her hand away. It might have been the first time where she didn''t flinch or refuse a male''s advances. Instead, she wrapped her fingers around his hand.

    "What about your family?" questioned Beth. If the worse did happen, wouldn''t he want his family toe and look at him?

    "I have none. I was an orphan, and we all know how difficult it is to find people we have no clue about," hearing this Beth squeezed his hand.

    "I am sorry."

    Raphael groaned in pain, making Beth worry. "I am fine," he whispered, his voice turned lower than before, and if she wasn''t sitting next to him, it would have been difficult to hear his words. "I am fine," he repeated, bringing his other hand forward. But before his hand could reach up to her face, the hand fell without having the opportunity to touch her face.

    "Mr. Sparrow?" Beth called his name, but the demon didn''t respond to her nor did he move. His hold on her hand loosened as if it had lost strength.

    Tears spilled from her eyes, falling on her cheeks that trailed down and fell on his coat. "Mr. Sparrow?" she called him.

    A sob escaped from her lips, and her body bent forward, unable to hold her tears any longer, she cried alone in the forest.

    She found it hard to believe that Raphael was no more. She didn''t want to leave him here all by himself, and she continued to stay next to him, apanying him even after his death. She was thankful for the kindness he had shown her, and she hadn''t been able to thank him. Even though Raphael''s hold had loosened on her hand , Beth continued to hold on to his hand.

    She used her other hand to ce it on his face, "I won''t forget what you did for me. Never," and she closed his eyes so that he could rest.

 Chapter 473 You again- Part 3

    <h4>473 You again- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Beth wasn''t as alone as she thought she was in the forest. Someone had entered the forest, making their way towards where she was. The person stood not too far away behind her, watching her cry over the demon who was dead.

    "Funny, isn''t it? How people keep dying who are near you."

    Beth turned in the direction of the voice to see the person who spoke to her. Her eyes blinked the tears away to see the woman she had hoped not to meet. It was Jennine.

    "You shouldn''t be that surprised," said Jennine, who stood next to a tree.

    "What are you doing here?" asked Beth with a heavy heart.

    "I?" questioned Jennine, "I have wanted to meet and spend some time with you. Every time I wanted to talk to you, your sister was always there. Hovering over you, you must have felt suffocating, isn''t it?"

    Beth slowly stood up from her ce.

    "Thest time I saw you, I was so excited. So happy to see you, but I didn''t expect you to be hanging out with another demon who wasn''t me," Jennine had a look of disappointment in her voice. "I came looking for you, searching in the castle tonight. I don''t care about the dark angel. You are my friend, Beth. You are all I care about. But I didn''t expect someone to mistake you as the dark angel. I would have never made that mistake."

    Beth knew that Madeline had killed Jennine twice in the past, yet here she was alive.

    "What did you want to speak about?" questioned Beth, and she saw Jennine offer her the politest smile that only turned Neth queasy.

    "Just the normal things," Jennine started to make her way towards Beth, but Beth took a couple of steps backwards in an attempt to keep a distance from the demoness. "You look scared. Don''t be scared of me, Bethie. I would never hurt you."

    "Stay away from me," warned Beth.

    Jennine chuckled at Beth''s innocent words, "What will you do? Scream for help? I was hoping that I wouldn''t have to fight with this one, but who knew that you would be the one to kill him. I must say I am very impressed."

    Beth felt Jennine was rubbing salt over her fresh wounds, reminding her about how unlucky of a person she was.

    "I can sense that you aren''t a werewolf anymore. Come, Bethie," Jennine waved her hand as if waiting for Beth to start walking. But to the demoness'' displeasure, the human girl only stepped farther away. "Don''t be difficult," the smile on the demoness'' lips fell.

    Beth didn''t know where exactly she was and in which direction she was supposed to start running so that she could head back to the town. But would she end up bringing more misfortune of death?

    Pressing her lips, Beth uttered the words, "We are not friends, Jennine. I know you did bad things."

    No person had scared Beth as much as this woman, who imed to be her friend. Beth had reached the sce that day as by the time she had reached, Madeline had killed Jennine, and everything had turned confusing that day.

    "What did you tell Madeline that she made her kill you?" demanded Beth.

    Before Beth could take another step backwards, Jennine disappeared from the front and came to stand right behind her. Beth spun around and felt Jennine''s hand around her neck, and the demoness pushed her against the nearest tree, leaving her struggling.

    "Don''t you now wish that you were a werewolf now?" a smug smile appeared on Jennine''s lips. This woman was crazy! Thought Beth to herself. "I told Madeline to leave you alone. I mean every time we were spending time together, she woulde and cling on to you. But I have to me you for it. You always took so much care of her. It made me extremely jealous. We were best friends, just like sisters, and you were so nice to me."

    Beth tried to get Jennine''s hand away from her neck, but the demoness didn''t budge. "The only sister I have is Madeline," Beth red.

    Displeased by hearing this, Jennine''s hold tightened and she tried to strangle the human, "This is why. Always about Madeline! What about me? Aren''t I important?"

    Beth suddenly felt her nails turn to ws and she dug into Jennine''s face, having the demoness scream. She continued to push her ws into Jennine, while the demoness tried to get away, not expecting for the ws to appear.

    "Arghhh!" Jennine staggered behind, her hands touched her face to notice the blood. The demoness stared at Beth''s hands and saw the ws. "How do you have the ws?!" she questioned in shock.

    Even Beth was shocked after seeing her hands that had werewolf ws. The antidote should have cured her, but it seemed like there were still traces of her being a werewolf.

    Slowly, smoke started to appear from Jennine''s face, where Beth had dug her nails. Jennineughed nervously, "We are supposed to be friends and sisters for life, Bethie! You won''t kill me."

    "You are no one to me," stated Beth.

    Jennine looked angry, and she came at Beth, for both of them holding hands against each other to get leverage against the other. It seemed like Beth''s strength had increased, and Jennine''s face slowly started to change to one who belonged to Hell with two horns that appeared from her head.

    The demoness overpowered Beth, pushing her against the cold, snow-covered ground. Jennine''s hands went straight to Beth''s neck, trying to strangle her. Jennine said, "I will take you with me from this horrid world. Stop struggling!"

    Though Beth''s hands had gained strength and tried to push Jennine away, the demoness used all her energy in trying to kill Beth. Beth felt suffocated, where the air was leaving her body. iling her arms at Jennine, she finally ced her hand below the demoness face, pushing it back with all her might.

    Beth pushed the demoness on the ground with a kick, and she continued to push Jennine''s face until it finally tore away from the demoness'' body. Blood sttered on the ground and on her. Beth moved away from the dead woman before which the person turned to ck liquid.

    Beth realized she had killed two people in less than an hour, first Raphael, and then this demon. That was only if the woman died this time. Beth hoped Jennine wouldn''t return to haunt her or her sister again.

    Her hands trembled, and she looked at her blood-covered hands and saw it had turned back to normal.

 Chapter 474 Clash- Part 1

    <h4>474 sh- Part 1</h4>

    "Took you by surprise, didn''t I?" asked the demoness with a maddening smile on her face.

    Madeline was not her usual self anymore, and her movements were faster, keeping up with the demoness who tried to attack her. "What''s the matter? You have no words?" the woman continued to poke her.

    The demoness was an apprentice of the demon Greyson. Compared to the other demons, she had more powers, dying Madeline from sending her back to Hell. Madeline tried to create the icicles and sent it at the demon, but before any of them could pierce the demoness, everything turned to water.

    "Did you think tricks like this would work on me?" chuckled the woman, and she raised the weapon in her hand to plummet it at Madeline. But Madeline moved again, and the demoness ended up hitting the wooden pir that was behind Madeline.

    The rest of the demons inside the building had either died or were in the process of dying as they spluttered blood out of their mouth after the judgment that was passed by the dark angel on them.

    The demoness, who was holding the hammer in her hand, she threw small ball bearings near Madeline. Creepers emerged out of it, multiplying and reaching Madeline''s hands and legs to hold her in ce by binding around her.

    Madeline tried to get away from it, but the creepers were strong, and for some reason, she couldn''t make use of the snow or ss ability through her hand. Not a single ke of snow moved up, and the demoness walked to where Madeline was.

    "So much for the struggle," said the demoness, her mouth twisted into a smirk. She tightened the creepers'' grip, and Madeline''s eyes slowly started to turn back to her brown eyes.

    As part of her senses returned, Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed, staring at the woman in front of her. "You��" she whispered.

    "Hm? Have we met before?" asked the demoness.

    This was the same woman whom she had met in her dream where Paschar had killed her near to the river. She tried to get away from the creepers, but they were too strong to break free from.

    At the same time, Calhoun and dimir who was outside dealing with Greyson heard the chirping sounds from the crickets that surrounded them. Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, and Greyson who was covered in blood started tough.

    "You have been gone for far too long, d. You should know better than anyone how a demon''s mind works," stated Greyson, running his tongue inside his mouth and spitting the blood on the snowy ground.

    "Right now it is not you, but I, who is the Master of Hell," Greyson imed loudly. "Your time has passed, and now it is mine."

    The demons came out nothing less to ants or swarms of bees, who started to run towards them so that they could kill Calhoun and dimir.

    "How pathetic that the Master of the Hell cannot hold his battle himself and needs his minions,"mented Calhoun. The demons had weapons, weapons that resemlbed simr to the living world like crossbows and guns. Some of the demons worked in pairs by pulling the small-sized cannonballs.

    The demon who was on the ground with Calhoun''s gun facing him, he disappeared from there to appear away from the fight, chuckling at Calhoun and dimir. Some of the demons started to shoot bullets Calhoun, and the vampire King didn''t bother to step away from the scene.

    dimir''s wings appeared quickly, and he flew up in the air.

    Greyson started tough, delighted that he had caught them by surprise, "I will the boy first, and then you, dimir!"

    The demons didn''t wait and started tounch the arrows continously that made it look like it was raining arrows. The ce had turned chaotic, and the demons continued to attack dimir with arrows and Calhoun with bullets made of silver. With the number of gunshots that took ce, the town echoed with noise of gunshots. Snow raised itself, creating a cloud of white dust where Calhoun stood, which was mixed with a hint of redness in the air.

    The demons started to cackle when they saw Calhoun not move, believing him to be dead with the number of bullets that were fired at him. As the cloud of snow started to settle on the ground, even Greyson smiled, while dimir stared at the mass of blood on the ground. As blood covered the ground, it looked like Calhoun who was shot at had been minced and turned to nothing but liquid.

    dimir''s bat-like wings continued to p in the air, moving around to dodge the arrows while he looked down at Calhoun who looked like he had been sent to Hell. But it was his blood that coursed through his grandson''s veins.

    "How many teeth did you lose so far, Greyson?" questioned dimir, and Greyson shifted his gaze from the blood-covered ground to look up at dimir.

    "Why do you ask? Do you n to fix them?" came the sarcastic words from the demon.

    dimir had a smug smile on his lips, "Oh well, I am keeping a count of how many you will lose in theing minutes."

    Greyson didn''t get a chance to question dimir as he sensed an ominous presence that started to fill around the ce. A burst of distantughter was heard, filled with menace, and it came from the mass of blood and flesh on the ground.

 Chapter 475 Clash- Part 2

    <h4>475 sh- Part 2</h4>

    The blood and flesh started to join together until Calhoun stood back up on his feet like he had not been harmed.

    "You are born in the earthly realm. This is not possible," Greyson murmured under his breath. "Everyone attack him!"manded Greyson, and all the demons started to run towards Calhoun.

    Calhoun had yed enough, and he decided it was time for the demon to die with the rest of them. He bent down on one of his knees, and ced his hand on the ground. Suddenly a wave of energy moved in the outward direction, and the demons who were around screamed and groaned in pain. Blood sttered on the ground until every one of them except for Greyson was left alive along with Calhoun and dimir.

    Greyson staggered backward with his eyes wide in shock. He tripped behind him when Calhoun appeared to stand in front of him.

    "Resurrection," murmured dimir. "You cannot kill him."

    Realizing the person in front of him was invincible, the demon started to push himself back to get away from Calhoun so that he could apparate and save himself. But when Greyson tried to apparate, he couldn''t get out from there.

    Calhoun picked up the demon by his cor before punching his face, and as expected, two more teeth of Greyson fell out from his mouth. Pushing the demon down, Calhoun took his gun to ce it on Greyson''s forehead. Pulling the cork, his hand lowered down to the demon''s mouth. Once he pulled the trigger, the back of the demon''s head blew up, and Greyson''s body fell on the ground.

    From ends of the forest, a Salvette Mortem appeared, making its way to the town where Calhoun was. When the creature of death appeared near the, dimir, who had stepped back on the ground, ordered,

    "Take him to the fiery dungeon."

    Calhoun stared at the demon who had a shock filled expression on his face. He wasn''t surprised that dimir spoke to the Salvette Mortem. Before when he was in the Hawthrone castle, he hade across one of the same kind who looked as if it was going to take Lucy''s soul with it. But it wasn''t there for her, but him.

    ''You will soon meet the fate that has been awaiting you,'' was the whisper from the Salvette Mortem for him.

    In a blink of an eye, the Salvette Mortem disappeared, and Calhoun looked at the building which had caught fire with mes and smoke moving up in the air. Madeline was still in there!

    Inside the building, the demoness had caused fire while trying to attack Madeline. As most of the things were made of wood, it didn''t take long for the entire ce to be surrounded in fire.

    "Why did he kill you?" demanded Madeline, trying to get away from the creepers.

    Just as the demoness brought the hammer at Madeline, ready to strike her, Madeline used all her strength to free herself from the creepers. As she struggled the creepers bit into her skin, drawing blood from her. She sessfully freed her hands. Madeline ced her hand on the woman''s face, ready to utter the holy words so that she could send the demoness back to Hell, but the woman twisted Madeline''s hand and pushed her.

    Madeline in return pulled the woman''s arm and took a bite from the demoness arm as hard as she could to taste the demon blood. It helped in distracting the demoness for two seconds, giving Madeline the time to twist the woman''s arms, and using her elbow to hit at the woman''s stomach.

    The demoness looked angry, and she swung the hammer left and right in front of Madeline, trying to hammer her to death, but Madeline continued to dodge it. The ce was heating up because of the fire, and Madeline didn''t know where Calhoun and Beth were right now.

    Madeline''s eyes fell on the gun that was lying on the ground that the demoness hadn''t noticed yet. She freed herself and started to run.

    "Where do you think you are running? I have blocked all the exits," the demoness cackled, seeing Madeline run, she blocked the route by bringing fire in between to stop the dark angel from running. "I caught sight of those bloody red and white wings of yours earlier. Where are they?" the woman mocked her.

    Madeline brought her wings out that started to p. She tried to get on the above floor where there was less fire. It took her time to know how to fly as she had never done it before. When she almost got to the first floor of the building, the demoness tried to stop her by flying towards the dark angel, and grabbed Madeline''s ankle.

    "If you have issues with Paschar, you should talk to him instead of me," said Madeline before kicking the woman''s face and climbing up the floor.

    The woman used her demon wings toe to stand in front of Madeline. "Paschar is very hard to contact. And I don''t think there''s any point. I killed your mother, and now I shall kill you too!"

    Madeline brought her hand forward and responded, "I have nothing to do with either of you!" A white light emitted out of her hands and it pierced through the demoness as if she was being purified. The woman screamed in agony until she turned to a puddle of dark blood that sttered on the ground.

 Chapter 476 Clash- Part 3

    <h4>476 sh- Part 3</h4>

    When she tried to p her wings, that only fanned the existing fire to ze more.

    "Madeline," a voice came from behind her when she was trying to find a way out.

    Her eyes narrowed when she found Paschar standing there, "What are you doing here now?" she asked him.

    "I know you are upset with me-"

    "Upset doesn''t even cover what I am feeling right now," Madeline couldn''t believe he had appeared now after everything was over. She had hoped that he would help her out tonight, but instead, he had done nothing.

    "I came here to let you know that you don''t have to worry about being hunted anymore. Protection will be given to you-"

    "That won''t be necessary," it was Calhoun who had entered the building through fire.

    Paschar had a displeased look on his face on seeing Calhoun. "She is my daughter-"

    "I thought Heavenly beings were not supposed to keep any sort of rtionship with the earthly beings," Calhoun''s eyes narrowed. When he was making his way in here, he had been surprised to hear Paschar''s voice. "You don''t have to provide her with your help. I think you have done enough of it and most of us can agree on it."

    Paschar pulled out his trident, and when he tapped on the ground, the fire exhausted itself instantly. "I have already spoken to the Heavens, and we decided that her rightful ce is not here, but in Heaven. She''s an angel. She has been summoned, and I am here to take her back."

    Madeline''s jaw fell because of Paschar''s words. Did he understand that it was because of him that she had gone through these many of trouble until now?

    "I refuse," Madeline let her decision known to Paschar, and he frowned. "This is where I was born, and this is where my people are. Not Heaven," she shook her head.

    A light appeared next to Paschar, and Madeline and Calhoun noticed it to be the man named Michael. How ironic that this person had not changed his name, thought Madeline to herself. The man''s blue eyes first fell on Madeline and then on Calhoun, eximing in surprise, "I would have never guessed."

    If it was another scenario, the man would have bowed at Calhoun, but with the knowledge about the existence of demons and angels, where it was evident who Calhoun was, and he wasn''t just a vampire King, neither Paschar nor Michael bowed their head at the demon. "Did you know this, Paschar? You have been working with him for two decades."

    Paschar answered, "He never revealed it."

    "And I said I am not going anywhere," Madeline took a step closer to Calhoun for shelter.

    Paschar was about to say something when Michael raised his hand, and he said, "We understand that you are angry at Paschar, and you have every right to do that, but you need to know that we have rules to follow. Paschar made a mistake, and he''s still trying to make amends. The one rule that we angels have is not to involve ourselves or meddle into the earthly matters unless we are given orders. If Paschar helped you, he would be thrown out of Heaven to never return again."

    Madeline doubted any reasoning would ever suffice to what had happened. "Okay," she said, brightening Paschar as well as Michael''s eyes.

    "Great! You can tell your goodbye''s, and we can leave once you are done with it," stated Michael. To his words, Madeline blinked at him.

    "I meant, I can look past his actions for why he never came to look for me, or why he didn''t take part in the fight. Or how I was left in the coffin for years. But I didn''t agree toe with you to Heaven," said Madeline.

    Michael''s lips set itself in a thin line, "We cannot leave a dark angel in the earthly realm. To assure your safety, it wasn''t just once or twice but I sent the whispers to your aid to make sure you were alright. When you were in the coffin and during your initial days of living in the castle," he said to her. "I sent my whisperers because your father was concerned and he couldn''t do anything about it. If you had no wings, we would have somehow overlooked the matter, but the point is beyond it."

    "Until you are a dark angel, you will always be a threat to yourself," Paschar tried to make Madeline understand, "This will never end. The demons and the fallen-angels will always want to kill and make use of you."

    "And I wonder who is to be med for it," was the sarcasticment from Calhoun.

    Michael''s eyes narrowed at Calhoun before looking at Madeline, "What has happened in the past is something that cannot be changed, but the present is something that is in our hands. It would be good not just for you, but also to the people whom you love and care. I heard your sister was abducted. You wouldn''t want that happening again, would you? We are only doing what is best for everyone."

    Michael took a step forward, and Calhoun ced his hand in front of Madeline protectively, "She''s not going anywhere. She''s my wife."

    "A rtionship like this is going to bring chaos to the world!" Michael''s white wings appeared on his back, and he brought his trident forward. "We angels are the one who keep bnce, and you will do it as you are told or I will smite you if you try to stand between the girl and us from going to Heaven."

    Suddenly fire appeared next to Calhoun and it was dimir who had appeared. The fire exhausted from dimir''s body, "Are you sure you want to do that?"

    "Lucifer!" Michael said the devil''s name, not expecting him to be here. Paschar took a wary stance.

    "Lucy fur is my cat''s name. I am dimir," smiled the devil to show his sharp teeth. "I dare you to take my granddaughter-inw from my grandson and me. Hell hath seen no fury like the devil''s ire."

    Michael''s eyes fell on Calhoun and then back at dimir before he gritted his teeth. His lips twisted in distaste, and he said gingerly,

    "dimir. Madeline belongs to Heaven and not this ce. You know how the rules work, you have been there for eons. An angel is not supposed to live in this world unless being ordered by Heaven."

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed at the two angels. He said, "You don''t have to worry about her. I will protect her the way I have since the beginning. And if you are telling that she is not supposed to live here, then it doesn''t mean she has to end up in Heaven. She is married to me, and now she belongs to Hell too."

 Chapter 477 Plain card- Part 1

    <h4>477 in card- Part 1</h4>

    "I think you forget that Madeline is not a maiden anymore, who lives by the mercy of the Heaven or Hell, but she is her own person," Calhoun continued his words that were firm and clear. "She might have her wings now but you are forgetting she is married to me. If it makes things more clear, we have already consummated our marriage, which makes it a no to go to Heaven right now."

    Michael gritted his teeth, "We can still fix it. God shows mercy on everyone, and he will help in purifying her mind, and she will bepatible to stay in Heaven under our guidance."

    "Madeline," spoke Paschar in a gentle and polite tone, his grey eyes looking at her. "We are only doing what is best for you. The Heaven forbids the rtion of an angel with humans. A demon is an impossible thing."

    "But I am not part of Heaven," reasoned Madeline, "I started my life here, in this ce. You cannot take me away from here by force and without my permission."

    "Then you leave us no choice," said Michael, and every person in the room suddenly turned stiff, staring at each other and the atmosphere turned tense. "We will need to take you by force then, and once your memories will be erased, you will be able to live in Heaven."

    Calhoun pushed Madeline behind him, shielding as well as protecting her. "I don''t get why Heaven is so hell-bent on wanting her, when it was only a few days ago, for years actually, that none of you bothered to look for her or take care of her. What is with this sudden love that seems unnatural."

    Even Madeline didn''t understand this part. For years she had suffered, but none of the angels hade to offer their help to her, and now suddenly they wanted her to be part of Heaven.

    "They are scared, aren''t they?" murmured dimir who was tired of listening to the angels bullshit.

    "Scared about what?" questioned Madeline.

    Michael''s bright blue eyes looked as if it was going to burn the building and the demons who were in front of him. "The Heavens are scared of nothing."

    "Are you sure about it?" asked dimir. "Madeline is not just an angel, but she''s a dark angel. You are scared and worried about the future, thinking if she will be used to go against the Heaven."

    "That''s nonsense!" Michael rolled his eyes.

    "Then why do you insist that she has to live in Heaven?" Calhoun was not going to let them take Madeline away from him or from this world. "She has no interest."

    "I have killed people. A lot of them," added Madeline just to remind them if the angels had forgotten about it.

    "Which means all you need to do is kill someone or do something bad so that Heaven will not be able to take you back," Calhoun responded, suggesting Madeline so that she would not have to go. "But looking at how things have gone so far, I would say that they would still take you back," his eyes then shifted back at the angels, "You n to cage her so that she will never rebel."

    "I have no interest in it," said Madeline. "I would never do that, so please."

    "The angels don''t trust anyone, dear,"mented dimir, and Michael red at him.

    "And who do you think is the reason for it?" asked Michael being oblivious.

    "You and the others?" dimir shrugged his shoulders, and Paschar was ready to step forward if Michael didn''t stop him.

    "You were a good angel before. What happened to you?" asked Michael with a look of disappointment in his eyes. "You were like my brother, so dear to God and loved immensely. God will forgive all his children,e back."

    "I will pass," were the quick words from dimir. "And don''t call me brother, we are not brothers."

    Michael gave a long hard stare at all the three of them, his eyes then settled on Madeline who stood behind Calhoun and she peeked her head from there. "If that is your wish, then so be it." Paschar looked confused, and he turned to Michael.

    "But we have been given orders to-"

    "She doesn''t seem to be part of Heaven, and she''s corrupted herself in the shadow of the devil. There''s no more reason for us to stay here," in a blink of an eye, Michael disappeared from where he had been standing. Madeline felt the breeze when he disappeared as if he had used his angelic wings to leave this ce.

    Her eyes then fell on Paschar, who stared at her with a grim look on his face. He and Madeline never shared a proper conversation like a father and daughter would do. They had barely even spent time with each other. She didn''t know what to say to him but return his stare. After a few seconds, even Paschar disappeared from his ce without a word of goodbye.

    dimir then turned to look at the couple, "Looks like they are finally gone."

    Madeline hoped it too. Being part of the angel and fallen angel family had brought her nothing but trouble in her life so far. She doubted she would ever look forward to live a life without knowing the people with whom she had spent weeks and years.

    Remembering her sister, Madeline asked, "Do you know where Beth is?"

    "I sent Raphael to give her the antidote," answered Calhoun.

    They left the building that continued to have smoke move up in the air. As it was night, it wasn''t apparent to the people of other towns and viges that something had caught fire in the neighbouring deserted town.

 Chapter 478 Plain card- Part 2

    <h4>478 in card- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Even though Madeline felt her chest hurt she used her wings to fly, seatching for Beth, and she didn''t stop flying. Thest thing she needed was to have Calhoun worry about her. She finally stopped to step on the ground when she found Beth in the middle of the forest.

    "Beth!" Madeline called her sister''s name loudly.

    She ran towards Beth, where she was sitting on the ground. She caught sight of blood that was spilt on the ground. She made her way near her sister, and caught sight of Raphael who leaned against the tree as if he was sleeping.

    "Maddie!" Beth whispered with a sense of relief in her voice. There were evident tears in her eyes, and the rim of her eyes had turned red and swollen because of continuous crying. Madeline hugged her sister to have Beth hug her back.

    "I am so sorry," Beth apologized.

    Madeline was d that Beth was alright, and she patted her sister''s back to soothe her. Seeing Raphael not move or open his eyes, she understood why Beth was crying right now.

    "I-I didn''t know. I didn''t realize it," said Beth, pulling back from the hug to look at Madeline and she then looked at Raphael. "I hurt him when I was in my werewolf form. I killed him. Please do something," Beth turned to look back at Madeline pleadingly.

    Madeline nodded her head, and she moved closer to Raphael. Calhoun and dimir who had followed Madeline closely stepped on the ground too. They took note of the bloodshed on the snow-covered ground, a mixture of red and ck.

    Calhoun''s eyes fell on Beth and on seeing Raphael, he gritted his teeth.

    "Fuck!" he cursed under his breath.

    Calhoun took a closer look at Raphael who looked as if he was fast asleep with blood spilt all around him. By the look and colour of the demon''s skin that had turned pale, it didn''t have to be told out loud that Raphael was dead.

    "Looks like another demon was here," dimir noted, seeing the ck ssh of liquid not too far away from where he stood.

    On the other side, Calhoun didn''t take note of it as his eyes were on Raphael. He saw Madeline check Raphael''s pulse by cing her hand on the card reader''s neck and then his wrist. She took a look at his eyes before she turned to look at Calhoun and shook her head with a sad expression.

    Beth''s hand moved up to her mouth to hide the sobs that escaped from the lips.

    Just when Madeline was ready to ce her hand on Raphael''s chest, Calhoun said, "Don''t even think about it."

    Calhoun stepped forward and he then sat down next to Raphael. He looked at the card reader''s face that had a tranquil expression on it. When he had given the antidote to Raphael, he had given it knowing if there was someone who could handle the transformed werewolf, it was the demon himself. He hadn''t imagined for the events to turn out this way.

    dimir stood behind them with a passive look on his face.

    Having witnessed many deaths in the past, Raphael''s death meant nothing to the devil as he was surrounded by death. dimir''s eyes then fell on the girl who was Madeline''s sister. "The antidote seems to have worked," hemented.

    Beth who heard this, her lips pursed and her eyebrows furrowed. She said, "I don''t think it entirely worked."

    "What do you mean?" asked Madeline.

    Beth looked down at her human hands, and within a few seconds, her fingers transformed into ws, and her eyes turn to gold.

    dimir stared at the girl, and his lips twisted in thought. "I don''t think he gave every single drop of the liquid to her."

    And it was the truth. In an effort to have Beth drink the liquid, the only opening that Raphael had found was when the werewolf had pierced its ws deep into his back from which he had lost a lot of blood. He had broken the ss vial in his hand before letting the drops of antidote fall into the beast''s mouth, where some of the drops were lost on his hand.

    Beth didn''t care about it. She shook her head, "Is there no way to bring him back?" She doubted she would be able to live the future days in peace by thinking her life was granted by the cost of another person''s life.

    Madeline ced her hand on Beth''s hand tofort her. It was hard to say anything at the moment, when her sister was trying to be a better person. No, thought Madeline. Beth had already turned to a new leaf since they hadst spoken and Beth was trying to do everything right.

    Calhoun turned to dimir who stood behind them. When his eyes met the other pair of red eyes, the older vampire said, "There is one way to bring him back."

    Beth''s eyes brightened, "What is it?"

    "Bring me an innocent''s life, and I will grant this demon a second chance," said dimir.

    dimir might have weed his grandson Calhoun and Madeline as his grandson''s wife, but that didn''t mean he had forgotten his ways. dimir was still a devil, and his offer was always hard to pay back. The price to pay was always a higher than the request or wish made.

 Chapter 479 Plain card- Part 3

    <h4>479 in card- Part 3</h4>

    Beth wanted to say something that would be of help, but she could barely think about anything. Instead, her face filled itself in shock, and she stared at dimir, not knowing who this person was.

    Madeline asked dimir, "There are some demons who return to the living even after killing them several times. Why? Why can''t hee back?" On hearing this, a spark of hope ignited in Beth''s eyes.

    "In Hell, demons belong to different levels and status. Though I would like to im that the entire Hell belongs to me, there are still some parts, which is filled with demons who want to overpower my rule and overthrow me," dimir answered Madeline''s question.

    The older vampire then continued to exin, "Some of the demons, who belongs to higher level they can revive back to life, while some can''t. I don''t have all the information of what happened during my absence, but things have turned upside down. There has been a shift in power and abilities. Even death, the demon who has appeared here must be because they got hold of another demon''s ability. By defeating them."

    "The demoness named Jennine, she said Raphael was a higher demon. She was scared to get anywhere close to him," like Beth, Madeline hoped for Raphael to return.

    dimir''s eyes turned passive. He stared at the young angel who held hope in her eyes, "It is usually the higher-level demons who are able to kill the demons who are lower than them. The strongest beats the weak. The demoness about whom you mentioned, she probably had the ability of resurrection, which is why she keepsing back."

    "If she''s been troubling you, I can find her soul and torture her in Hell," offered dimir. "Odin is waiting for me along with the rest. Some new rules need to be imposed in there. I have some guests waiting for me. I will see youter," and the older vampire disappeared in thin air.

    Madeline had hoped they wouldn''t see any more death, but it seemed like it was hard to stop it. All these things that was happening, where people were getting hurt and killed was because of her, for who she was.

    Now as the angels and the devil were not around, in silence, Madeline couldn''t help but question herself if Paschar was right. Would her existence in the living world only invite more death? As she was the dark angel, the demons and the fallen angels would continue to seek her out for obtaining power through her, and for that, she would need to be strong so that no one would evere to hurt anyone whom she loved and cared about.

    Madeline''s eyes slowly moved towards Calhoun, meeting his eyes. Calhoun didn''t have to ask what she was thinking as he could sense the emotion of turmoil running in her mind.

    Calhoun stared at the card, knowing which card it was. The cards that Raphael carried were not regr cards, but it was the cards that the card reader had made it himself��pouring not just his ability but also his soul in it. The cards changed by channelling into Raphael''s soul, which was why the fool''s card Calhoun held right now was purely nk.

    Putting it in his pocket, he said, "Let''s take him to a ce where he can rest in peace."

    Madeline turned to Beth who had grown an attachment to the demon she hadn''t shown until now. Beth nodded her head without a wording from her lips. Madeline said,

    "I saw a carriage that was next to the building. It must have been brought by one of the demons or the fallen angels. We can use it to ride to the ce. And Calhoun will take Mr. Sparrow and wait for us."

    Calhoun picked up Raphael, one of the demon''s leg dangled loosely.

    Being the elder sister, Madeline felt terrible for Raphael''s death and the sorrow that Beth felt. She helped Beth to stand up, and before they could leave, she noticed the wound on Raphael''s back. It was more than a deep gash as if someone had scooped his back and that someone was Beth herself.

    Without saying anything, she started to walk with Beth, moving towards the town with not a single wording to exchange between them. It took more than an hour for both Madeline and Beth to arrive at the graveyard, and they got down. The graveyard was where Calhoun''s motherid in the cemented coffin, which was near to the castle.

    Making their way through the graves, they caught sight of Calhoun, who stood next to an open cemented coffin. While Madeline came to stand next to Calhoun, Beth walked forward to stand next to the coffin where the King had ced the demon in there for him to rest. In silence, Beth stood next to the coffin, staring at Raphael''s face. Silent tears didn''t stop falling from her eyes, and she wiped them away.

    When the rays of the sun started to break through the sky, it was finally time to close the coffin''s lid, after offering their peace of prayers.

    While Madeline prayed, Calhoun walked next to Beth and said, "Here." He brought his hand forward, holding the fool''s card. "I think he would have liked you to have it."

    Beth''s eyes prickled. Her heart felt heavy, and her lips pressed against each other. Bringing her weak hand to the front, she caught hold of the card that appeared in. If it was in the past, she would have questioned andmented on how bleak it looked, but right now she knew the importance it carried.

    "Thank you," she whispered, running her finger over the smooth surface of the card, and Calhoun gave her a nod.

 Chapter 480 Washing the walls- Part 1

    <h4>480 Washing the walls- Part 1</h4>

    .

    When Madeline and the others left the forest, soon afterwards the two angels arrived at the same spot where bloodshed had taken ce. Michael looked at the ck and red blood that was immensely spilled, soaking itself in the ice-cold forest floor.

    Michael walked forward, bending down to scoop the snow in his hand, and then smelled the ck blood. "This is never going to end," he said.

    "Why did you agree with them then?" questioned Paschar. He could sense the presence of his daughter and the two devils who were here minutes ago.

    Michael dropped the snow from his hand and then stood up. He looked around the ce, his blue eyes fell on the tall trees and the surrounding, making sure no one was there to listen to his next words, "What did you expect me to do? You know how unbending Lucifer is. The matter could have been easily resolved if Madeline was not rted to him, but who would have thought that the devil would have a grandson and not to forget, that person is Calhoun."

    When the wind blew with the sun rising in the sky, Paschar''s long silver hair that was tied in a pony moved in the direction of the wind. He knew he wasn''t the father Madeline was looking for, and it was because of his actions she had suffered until now. But he wanted to stop the problem that would ur in her future.

    The demons and fallen angels would continue to try hunting her down. There were only two ways to rectify the situation. One was to take her to Heaven after erasing all the memories that she held in this living world. And the second was to do the same thing that had taken ce in the past. To rip her wings and kill her. dimir was somewhere right that the Heavenly beings were worried, where Madeline would turn to be a threat or be used against them.

    Word would soon reach how the dark angel was rted to the devil, married to the devil''s heir, and it would only cause many more catastrophes.

    In the past, Paschar couldn''t do anything with his hands tied by Heaven''smand, and he didn''t want to kill his daughter. It was a demoness who had killed his human lover, and maybe if his lover was still alive, he would somehow have continued to live here beside her. Paschar had remembered the powerless feeling, when he had left Heaven for scarce time.

    But in the end, he had returned to the shelter of Heaven.

    The decision taken by Heaven was final. He had persuaded them so that Madeline could be brought to Heaven and would spend her life as an angel, where she would be protected. But she had outright refused. If he knew this was going to happen, he would have never let the marriage take ce. It wasn''t entirely his fault because the authorities who belonged to Heaven had decided it at thest moment.

    "Then we''ll wait for the time when neither of them are around her. If we don''t do something, the bloodshed will only continue. Neither you or I can miss this, because there will be a fight if we leave her be," replied Michael.

    Paschar nodded his head. It would have been easier if Madeline agreed and came with them, but she was corrupted with the living world''s things. Her emotions were swayed, and she had left him with no choice.

    When Madeline and the others reached the castle, Madeline took Beth to her room as she looked dazed and lost. Making sure Beth fell asleep, Madeline left the room to see Lucy who was still unconscious. The vampiress was being tended by Theodore, who barely left her side. Lady Lucy appeared to be in better condition than the time before she had left with dimir. The wounds had not wholly healed.

    Madeline decided to step out of the room to find Calhoun.

    The servants had started to clean the castle, moving the dead bodies and cleaning the red stains of blood on the floors and walls. The difficult night had passed, and the clouds that had been hovering in the sky had cleared to bring in warm sunlight.

    Madeline made her way to where Calhoun stood facing the rising sun. Sensing her presence, he turned his head in her direction.

    "You should get some rest," said Calhoun, turning his body so that he could face her.

    "You need it too," she replied to him. Calhoun was quiet, and he stared into her brown eyes.

    Madeline wondered how deep Raphael''s death affected Calhoun. He was a person who was a close acquaintance of Calhoun, a man who knew the vampire King, simr to Theodore. She took his hand with both of her hands.

    "Are you okay?" she asked him with concern in her voice.

    Calhoun offered her a smile, "I am okay. What about you?" Madeline nodded her head. "Come here," he said, pulling her close to him.

    Madeline stepped into his embrace, feeling his strong and warm hands around her as they held her protectively. She closed her eyes when she felt her eyes starting to burn due to the exhausting night that affected her mentally and physically. Too many things had happened over the night, and many people had lost their lives.

    She held onto Calhoun, finding sce in his arms. "I cannot help but think about what Paschar said. People might die because of me," she whispered in his arms.

    Calhoun said, "Sometimes, there are some things that are not in our control. And this was something that was never your fault to begin with. Don''t me it on yourself. I will be right here next to you. Always," he gently patted the back of her head. "It is over now," whispered Calhoun, feeling Madeline''s heartache.

 Chapter 481 Washing the walls- Part 2

    <h4>481 Washing the walls- Part 2</h4>

    "Did the physciane to the castle?" questioned Madeline. Everything had moved so quickly in haste that Madeline continued to feel the jitter in her nerves.

    Calhoun hummed in response, "Yes. The guards called three physcians from the nearest vige and town. Most of the people have already been checked and are in the process of being treated."

    "Lucy too?" she asked, pulling away from him and taking a step back so that she could meet his eyes without having to crane her neck up.

    "Her too. Paschar checked her before I came to get you from the mountain. You did good, Madeline," Calhoun praised her, and the little remark was enough to bring a faint smile on her lips. "But you were also bad in trying to heal people. Not once, but twice." There was a stern look in his eyes, and Madeline''s eyes lowered.

    She knew she would get to hear about this from Calhoun once they would be alone. "I wanted to help."

    "I know, my sweet rose, but at the cost of your own life?" asked Calhoun. Lucy was a dear sister of his, and Raphael was someone he could count upon when his own rtives couldn''t offer that kind of help. And as much as they were important, Madeline was the breath to his soul. If something happened to her, he would have torn both Heaven and Hell apart until he would reunite with her again.

    He then said, "It might be wrong of me to say, but Paschar and the others are waiting for you to enter Heaven. Dark angel or not, they would happily receive you. And you put yourself in such risks," he tsked in the end.

    Calhoun ced his finger below Madeline''s chin, raising her face closer to him so that he could inspect. He then leaned forward to lick the blood that had smeared across her lips. Madeline felt his warm coarse tonguep on her skin, making her tremble before he pulled away.

    With the chaotic night that fell in the Hawthrone castle, the guests who had overstayed in the castle had started to pack their bags and put in the carriage so that they could leave. Some had already left, and there were barely two or three guests who had not started to pack their trunks. The sounds of the carriage could be heard as if they were leaving the castle. The guests who were leaving had already met Calhoun, when Madeline was in Beth''s room. Some of them now made their way to where Calhoun and Madeline stood, bowing their heads to offer their greetings.

    "They always do," whispered Madeline. Her mama always used to tell it was always the difficult times that showed who stuck in life.

    When one of the servants was walking past them in the corridor, Calhoun questioned, "Are the maids attending Lady Monique?"

    The servant bowed his head, "Yes, my King. Three maids are right now assisting Lady Monique. Would you want me to send a few more?"

    "No, that will be fine. Have the servants clean the front part of the castle first. They can finish the restter," ordered Calhoun.

    With the attack that took cest night, it was apparent that the High House members were going to arrive.

    Madeline saw the servant leave when Calhoun dismissed him.

    Only a few members were left in the main seating of the High House as Lilith, Luther, Weasley were now dead, and Reginald, that was Paschar had left the High House without a word. She wondered how the Head of the High House was doing. Calhoun was making sure to reduce the blow of the death''s in the castle, but then they were not all guests as it was mixed with intruders who had broken in at the time of night.

    "I am going to see Monique. You can go to the room and rest," Calhoun offered Madeline. He was a vampire. Therefore theck of sleep didn''t matter to him. But Madeline had been hiding her yawns just so that she could stay around him, which he found it to be sweet and it warmed his heart.

    Madeline shook her head, "I wille with you."

    Calhoun didn''t refuse, and instead, his hand found her hand, interlocking the fingers, they made their way to where his rtive was in the guest room.

    When they arrived at the door, the maid who stood outside pushed the doors open, and Madeline caught sight of Lady Monique who sat upright on the bed with her back leaning against the bed''s headboard.

    There were two maids who stood on the left and one on the right side of the bed, holding a wet towel in her hand. "It is good to see that both of you are doing well," said Lady Monique, seeing the couple enter the room.

    "How are you doing?" Calhoun inquired the vampiress.

    "Never better. It was quite some night yesterday. Thest time I saw things run out of control was when my step-brother and his wife died. But I believe that barely scratched the surfacepared to what happened in here. Did all the damn intruders die?" asked Lady Monique.

    "All killed and sent to Hell," replied Calhoun.

    The vampiress nodded her head, a sigh escaping her lips. With the nket ced until the vampiress'' chest, Madeline wondered if she had injured her leg. But then when Monique raised her right arm, she noticed the bandage around Monique''s forearm. It was as if the length of the vampiress'' hand had shortened because, after her forearm, the other part was missing.

    Madeline''s eyes widened, "Your hand��" she whispered with a shock-filled voice.

    The older vampiress looked down at her arm, "It was Greville''s boy. I knew he despised me because he knew I had an eye on him. It was something unfortunate." It must have happened before Samuel had met Lucy.

    Calhoun looked less shocked as it seemed that news about thedy''s arm had already reached his ears. "There''s a physican who lives in the vige of Maycott. He came from thend of Warrings, and he is excellent in creating body parts things from metals."

    "Lucky me," remarked the woman without being upset over her hand that was missing from her body. "How are you both doing? I heard from Theodore that both you and Lady Madeline were not here. Everything well?"

    Calhoun offered his aunt a small smile, "For now, yes. There won''t be any more attacks from the demons or other creatures."

    "That''s good to hear. How is your sister, Lady Madeline?" asked the woman to Madeline.

    "She''s resting right now. She has been exhausted," replied Madeline.

    "We''ll let you rest too," said Calhoun and Lady Monique offered him and Madeline a smile, nodding in agreement to see the couple step out of the room.

    As they walked farther away from thedy''s room, Madeline questioned, "Will her hand be okay?"

    "Hm, the physician I spoke about, will provide her with a fake hand that she can use once he operates on her arm. Thend of Warrings are mostly subjected to animals biting them, and it is one way to rece the original hand," Calhoun answered her question.

    Madeline had never heard about something like this, and it was brand new to her.

    Last night, most of the guests had hidden in their rooms, avoiding the fight. A few had tried to escape, at least that is what she and Calhoun believed, but those guests were unsessful because their bodies were found outside the castle. Hours passed in Hawthrone''s castle, and Madeline took a walk by herself as Calhoun had other matters to attend to.

    The castle had turned back to its normal state and the walls that were broken and damaged, men had already arrived to fix it. Halting her footsteps, she walked towards the railings. She noticed the long path from where she stood that led up to therge castle''s gates.

    It felt like it was only two days ago that she had held on to the front of her dress, running towards the gates. And now that she thought about it, a faint smile appeared on her lips. Things had changed so much.

    Bringing her hand in front of her, she opened her hand and stared at the in emptiness before a snowke appeared out of nowhere to settle there. She yed with it by letting it twirl, and she moved it up and down. At the same time, she felt her chest turn restless.

    It made Madeline wonder how long it would take for the uneasiness to leave her body and feel all better. Just as the snowke was about to settle back on the palm of her hand, her eyes fell on the creature that stood on the castle ground, which was not too far away from where she was.

 Chapter 482 Washing the walls- Part 3

    <h4>482 Washing the walls- Part 3</h4>

    She had been d to see all the Salvette Mortems leave the castle as people who had to die were gone, and there wasn''t going to be any more bloodshed as the people who hade after her had all died. Then why was there still one creature hanging around in the castle? She felt goosebumps appear on her skin, and when she continued to look at it, the creature disappeared.

    Madeline looked back and forth, trying to see where the lone Salvette Mortem had disappeared to. She hadn''t even got the chance to see which one of the Salvette Mortem it was. Did it carry an axe? Or was it standing empty-handed? Or worse, was it standing with its bloody hands?

    Unable to stand still, Madeline quickly started to first walk before she ran, trying to see if the creature was still hanging in the castle, but the castle was too big to cover in a short time. While she was walking in the corridor, she heard a slow sound of the metal being dragged behind her.

    Gulping, Madeline''s head snapped around to see the creature of the death standing not too far away from her. Servants were walking past her, and for a second, they stopped to see what the Queen was looking at, but they found nothing but space.

    The stag-like creature didn''t do anything but stand there, staring at her, and Madeline noticed the axe that it carried along with it, which was bloody. If only she knew who was going to die next. Not fearing it, she started to walk towards it.

    And when she took three steps towards it, the creature disappeared and at the same moment, Calhoun appeared with Helena and Dimitri around one of the corners of the corridor.

    "There will be re-election to fill the empty positions that were left by some of the High House members'' death and disappearance. But that will be held after the meeting with the fellow Kings and the people who work for the High House," informed Helena, standing there and talking to the King of Devon. "You should know that even though some of them are dead, there are still people who are ready to influence others and point their fingers at your rule, against you."

    "Wouldn''t it be easier to kill all of them?" questioned Calhoun in a nonchnt tone.

    Helena''s lips set itself in a thin line, and she gave Calhoun a look, "We cannot go killing people, my King. Of course, I will cover the deeds that happened in here, but I doubt the word about the existence of demons and angels would be kept a secret for long to the public."

    Helena noticed how Calhoun had shifted the order of the words, but she didn''t care much about it as she was a demon herself.

    Calhoun continued, "Given it will be chaotic for a while, but people will at least know what they are living with," he raised one of his eyebrows.

    "This will need discussions, and it can be done once the position of the main High House members is filled. The meeting is in two days," Helena let him know, her expression grim as she could still smell the hint of blood wafting in the air.

    The woman then saw Madeline standing on the other side of the corridor, and she bowed. Madeline bowed back.

    "I will get the reports about the deserted town," said Dimitri and the two High House members left the corridor to walk straight so that they could leave the entrance of the castle, while Calhoun walked to where Madeline stood.

    "Did it go well?" she asked him. Calhoun had told her that he would be informing Helena on what had happened so that she could help them if they would ever need it in the future.

    "Some of the matters are still under discussion, but for now we don''t have to worry about the High House. At least not with the people who are now dead. Reginald or Michael are not joining back," remarked Calhoun. He stared at her face and asked, "You looked like you had seen a ghost. You okay?" he raised his hand to brush it against her cheek.

    Madeline''s eyes wavered from his gaze, "Does dimir know every Salvette Mortem?"

    "Maybe. Did you see one now?" he questioned, a frowning to settle on his forehead when she nodded.?But if one was taking the devil''s help, the devil would ask something in return.

    "Do you remember the one that came for you?" asked Madeline, and he nodded. "Do you think someone will try to kill you...like the angels?"

    "I don''t think they are so stupid to start a war between Hell and Heaven. But then you never know," remarked Calhoun. "If one doese for me, I will always resurrect back, my sweet love. I won''t die that easily." Madeline had not gone dark angelic on him, and she hoped that that day would nevere in the future.

    "I don''t think the Salvette Mortem was taking a walk in the castle," said Madeline, and this brought a smile on Calhoun''s lips.

    "Well, we do have lovely architecture and gardens. Maybe it got lost in the maze. Or it just decided to stick around and enjoy the view," joked Calhoun and Madeline smiled. "But regardless of it, I will check with dimir to see what that creature of death is doing here."

    "What time do you think he will be here?" asked Madeline. dimir had mentioned about meeting with some of the guests in Hell, and she didn''t have to guess too hard on who his supposed guests would be. She wondered how that was going.

 Chapter 483 Welcome to pain- Part 1

    <h4>483 Wee to pain- Part 1</h4>

    .

    In the underground world, fire zed at the top of tall pirs that stood around a ck tower, where one could hear the screams of demons and other souls from all the sides. Even though there was fire burning in some parts of Hell, no smoke appeared in the air.

    The walls of the tower were wide, and one of the demons whose oily hair wasbed to the side, made his way through the halls. Odin carried a couple of rolled scrolls in his arms and his body swayed back and forth. As he walked through the other halls, lower demons who were working at the sides serving their Master.

    The demons weren''t human-like in appearance, but instead, they had horns on their head, and their body looked deformedpared to the people of the living world. They snickered looking at the servant demon because he hadn''t changed his appearance from the living world.

    "Do you think Master is going to throw him in the dungeon?" asked one of the lower demons who was carrying a bucket of coals in his hands.

    Another demon who was holding the other side of therge bucket snickered looking at Odin''s retreating figure from there, "It might be any time soon because of the number of mistakes he hasmitted. I heard that he even plotted to kill someone. No wonder he is in his lower demeaning form of a human. Disgusting creatures," spat the demon.

    "I knew that Master would always return. The others are so much in trouble who had thought that Master died," cackled the first demon and they continued to carry the bucket of coals so that it could be fed to the offenders. "Do you think Master will consider taking me as his assistant? I would be of so much use than that useless Odin." Thinking about the servant, the demons snickered again.

    In the meantime, Odin continued to walk, unaffected by the words of the demons as no matter how much they were considered to be efficient, he was still the most loyal servant his Master relied on.

    dimir''s servant vampire made his way to the Grand Hall where his Master now sat on the throne, that rightfully belonged to him as this world was ruled by none other than the devil himself.

    "There you are, Odin. I thought I would be seeing you once I would go back to the living world to meet my grandson. Did you bring in all the names?" questioned dimir, who sat with his legs ced one over another with his back leaned against the stone throne. The devil rubbed his chin when his eyes fell on the scrolls that his loyal servant carried in his arms.

    To greet his Master, Odin went to bow down, but this only resulted in some scrolls falling on the ground. dimir rolled his eyes. The ever clumsy servant of his.

    "How thoughtful of you, Odin," hummed dimir in praise for his servant and Odin beamed with the smallpliment.

    Odin had always worked hard for dimir. He had been serving dimir even before the devil had turned to who he was today. Though the servant''s intention had always been pure towards dimir, to please the devil with his work and receivepliments, Odin didn''t know why, but things always went in the wrong direction. He brought catastrophe with him.

    "Why don''t we have the first important guest from the list? I can barely wait to break and torture people," said dimir bringing his hand forward to check his nails that he often made sure to keep them as sharp as possible so that he could tear people with his own hands without having to rely on weapons. The joy of tearing people was iparablepared to killing them within a second. "Since I have woken up from my sleep, I feel very unlike myself, Odin."

    Odin, who had pulled one of the scrolls, he looked at his Master. "Would you like to take a bath in the acid, milord?"

    "Maybe once I am done with the imbecile fools," murmured dimir. "Now, bring that insect whom you didn''t find earlier, and instead mistook my grandson to be the offender."

    Odin wondered if it was a jab for his mistake, not that he minded. It was much better than thest time when his Master had left him in the boiling iron for hours for his mistake. Thinking about it brought sweat on his forehead, and he unconsciously wiped his forehead using his hand.

    "Yes, Master," obliged Odin, bowing his head again, he turned to look at the demon who was responsible for bringing the souls in and out from the locked prison of Hell that was dark and murkier in appearance where the demon guards who had the stag-like face tortured the sinners. "Bring the Sinner!"

    Suddenly in less than two seconds, a person appeared in front of dimir who wore nothing but skimpy underwear. The person appeared to be in histe forties, and his body appeared to be tortured with dark lines because of the whipping.

    The person had dark red eyes, and hunched back. It was the previous King of Devon, Laurence Hawthrone, the man who had sullied his pure daughter, Constance. dimir wondered what his daughter had seen in this scum. He also concluded that his grandson had inherited his genes and not from this low-life.

    The previous King of Devon looked broken, and he nowhere looked like the person he once used to be. Finding a man sitting on the throne with clothes, who looked like he belonged to the human world, Laurence folded his hands and quickly pleaded,

    "Please help me! Save me from this ce!"

 Chapter 484 Welcome to pain- Part 2

    <h4>484 Wee to pain- Part 2</h4>

    "What is your name?" questioned dimir.

    Laurence looked startled and slightly confused at the question. Not because he was surprised that someone was asking what his name was, but because he didn''t remember what his name was. He tried hard to remember it, but he couldn''t. Even an hour of torture in Hell felt like years, and the previous King of Devon had spent around two decades here that felt like eternity, where he had forgotten his name.

    dimir rolled his eyes again. Only a weakling would forget such a simple thing. "Forget it. Your name is Useless. Do you know why you are here? Away from being punished?"

    The man shook his head. Even a man who was of strong mind and body always broke down eventually when he stepped into the prison of Hell, where there was no escape.

    dimir didn''t have to touch the man to know his history as he had already heard enough from Odin about how the man was. His eyes narrowed for the things this useless man had done to his daughter.

    "Let''s hope you still remember some things. It wouldn''t be enjoyable if you don''t remember at least a few of it," remarked dimir before he stood up from his seat and made his way down the three steps of his throne. Compared to dimir, the previous King looked smaller in height, and the devil stood tall.

    Bringing his hand forward, dimir ced his index finger on the low-life''s forehead, and the previous memories came flooding in Laurence''s mind, the life he once had and lived. The things he did and how proud he was of his position while abusing others for his interest. Laurence''s back that was hunched slowly started to straighten before it took on the stature of the person who he once was before being dragged to Hell by the Salvette Mortem.

    He also remembered the way he had died, and suddenly anger started to fill up in his body. His very own son had killed him! His hand moved up to his chest, and he felt the hollowness of his chest where Calhoun had dug his fingers into his chest to grab his heart and pull it out from his chest.

    "How does it feel?" questioned dimir, circling Useless as he stared at the person.

    The previous King of Devon misunderstood the situation and came to believe that this stranger who had returned his pride and taken him away from torture was a friend. Also,ing to believe that the stranger would help him to get out of this Hell. "What are you doing here in Hell, Useless?"

    "I am the King of Devon! A Hawthrone by blood!" raged Laurence. Forgetting that the stranger in front of him was the one, to bring back his memories as if they took ce yesterday. He red at the stranger with disrespect in his eyes.

    "You mean the previous King," dimir corrected the prideful King. "You are a dead person now, did you forget how you died?"

    "How can I?" the King''s eyes lit up in anger.

    Laurence had trusted that bastard son of his, but who knew that his very own son would backstab him. He had been considerate towards the boy by letting him inside the castle after the woman''s death, giving the boy a ce to learn and thrive. And what did he do? Bite the hand that was feeding him!

    "I will kill him! I will break every bone in his body and feed it to those damn wolves of his. I gave him shelter, and he killed me," red Laurence.

    dimir, who had been circling the man like a hawk, stopped walking and he clicked his tongue, "Tch, how awful that must be. How did he kill you?"

    The souls who entered the haven of Hell belonged to dimir. He could see the memories and deeds that passed through their mind, and he could read their past by his mere touch on them, but it was more enjoyable listening to people cry and scream in frustration.

    Calhoun, his grandson, had done an excellent job by killing this man, taking his time to let the previous King know who his killer was. As expected from his kin, thought dimir to himself. Calhoun had all those qualities he would have wished for in his grandchild. Cunning, maniptive, a person who killed others without a thought and had every other quality that he possessed.

    "I will kill him right now! I need to get out of here!" said Laurence, looking back and forth to see where he was. When he looked up, the ceiling was too high as if it reached the sky''s darkness that looked like a ck abyss.

    dimir snapped his fingers, and a sudden pain struck Laurence, making him fall on his knees, "Argh!" groaned the man.

    "So, Useless, you n to kill him?" questioned dimir with a calm voice.

    "W-what are you doing?" asked Laurence, who was in pain.

    "Paying back for your kindness, of course. Don''t you like it?" the devil''s head tilted to the side as he looked down upon the insect that he wanted to squash, but the fear that wafted from the King was enough to have him on his toes.

    Odin had moved to one side of the wall so that he could enjoy the view better as his Master punished the ungrateful vampire who was the cause of Lady Constance''s death.

    "Make it stop! Stop it!" shouted Laurence.

 Chapter 485 Welcome to pain- Part 3

    <h4>485 Wee to pain- Part 3</h4>

    .

    dimir snapped his fingers and the pain slowly subsided, and Laurence heaved for air.

    "I am all in when ites to hurting and killing people, but you. Useless fucking piece of shit who I would more than happily slice you with the butcher''s knife that you get in the living world. How dare you think that I will let you off that easily?" dimir''s eyes darkened, while his voice turned cold.

    "What have I done to you?!" Laurence demanded. He raised his head to look at dimir with his face contorted in agony as he felt a sudden shock of a bolt of thunder hit his body.

    dimir took a threatening step towards the useless man. "You stole my beautiful daughter from me. You killed her, and now you ask me what you did to me?" the Devil ran his tongue around the front of his teeth, and said, "You don''t remember which one, do you?" dimir sneered before he raised his leg to kick Laurence below his jaw, sending the vampire to fall on the ground.

    Laurence fell on his back, groaning in pain as he felt the pain spread from his mouth to his entire face. As he tried to get up, he touched his mouth to see blood, and he huffed. Not knowing who this stranger was, who had kicked him, Laurence tried to apologise as he wanted to get out of this ce,

    "Look, I don''t know what I did in the past, but I am very regretful for it."

    dimir nodded his head, stepping towards the low life again, this time he used his hands to punch Laurence straight at his nose and they heard the bone crack.

    "Fuck!" cursed Laurence.

    "Yes, you should have thought about it before you fucked up her life," responded dimir, and he pulled the useless insect by his shoulder before dropping another punch, this time across Laurence''s jaw.

    "How dare you use and throw her as if she was nothing?" demanded dimir, and he plummeted his fist straight into Laurence''s face. "My daughter Constance," red the Devil at the low life who staggered away from him.

    The previous King''s eyes widened at the name of the woman whom he had bedded.

    There were various versions of why the angel fell from Heaven, telling how he was consumed by greed of power and was a heartless person, a devil who showed no mercy to any being, but it was not wholly true. Like any other creature who had the ability to feel, the Devil had fallen for a woman and had a daughter. The woman had died, but he had continued to protect his daughter. Keeping the child away from any ill eyes or harm from the people who could get back at him.

    "Y-your daughter?" asked Laurence with wide eyes.

    dimir''s facial expression turned passive with not a single emotioning to pass through it. And though he looked like he was not bothered, he brought his hand up to snap his fingers. Suddenly a coil of hot burning iron wound itself around Laurence, and dimir heard the man scream and shout.

    "AHH! NO! STOP IT-AAH!"

    His screams filled the Grand Hall. The demons who were walking near the Grand Hall didn''t care as it seemed like their Master was having fun.

    "AHH!!"

    "Did you stop when my daughter begged you to not kick her out of the castle?" dimir''s words were still calm, and he looked at the ck walls, where one of the torches holding fire burned brightly like his ire.

    The useless vampire, who was screaming, for a moment his eyes shed through the time he had spent his time with the woman named Constance. Somewhere in the back of his head, he could hear her pleading voice.

    "Guards! Throw this woman right this instant!" ordered Laurence''s mother.

    Tears streamed through Constance''s eyes. She shook her head, unable to form words as she was shocked with the sudden change of behaviour from the people around her.

    "Please, don''t send me out from here," Constance begged Laurence''s mother and then looked at Laurence, where he stood away from her with his hands crossed against his chest. "I don''t know what I did to upset you, but please forgive me!" she pleaded, looking back and forth between him and then his family members. Big drops of tears fell from her eyes uncontrobly.

    His mother sighed as if she was tired of hearing Constance''s whining voice since they had broken the news about her not to stay in the castle anymore.

    "Did you forget the difference between you and us? You are not fit to stand next to my son and you can''t have a future with him," said his mother, raising her eyebrows at Constance. "We belong to the royal family of vampires. He''s the King, and you, you are no one but a poor girl. Did you really think that I would let a girl like you marry him?"

    Next to his mother, his sister Rosamund snickered. "Dreaming is good, but you should only dream about what you are capable of,"mented Rosamund, supporting her mother''s words.

    "Sister Rosamund," Constance beseeched.

    She approached the vampiress, but Rosamund turned her head away. She then went to the King''s mother, bending down she caught the Queen''s legs.

    "Please, don''t send me away from here. I love Laurence. I will do everything I can and will keep him happy," pleaded Constance.

    "What part of my words did you not understand and decided to ignore it? My son has chosen his Queen, who will bring great affluence to thisnd. You were just his passing amusement. Don''t think that my son loves you," and when Constance didn''t let go of the older vampiresses legs, the woman kicked Constance. As they were at the top of the stairs, Constance rolled down and fell on the hard ground. "Now leave this ce, unless you want to be punished for crossing your limits! Guards drag her out of here!"

 Chapter 486 The lost coins

    <h4>486 The lost coins</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Uno by Ludovico Einaudi

    .

    The young girl who fell on the stairs looked up from the ground, her eyes searching for the man whom she loved and had given her heart to him, trusting it would never break, but life was not made of roses. What Constance didn''t know was that since she had stepped out of the Belmount mountain, away from the shadow of her father, she had exposed herself to evil people.

    Now with eyes that were filled with tears, Constance blinked her eyes as they had turned blurry. She saw Laurence spare her an emotionless look from the top of the stairs, where he stood.

    "There''s nothing left for her in here. Let''s get inside as there are other things that we need to do than waste our time on this poor girl," said the older vampiress, cing her hand on her son''s shoulder.

    "Please Laurence," Constance sobbed, knowing he could hear her, but he turned deaf to her plea and blind to the tears that she shed from her eyes. Laurence turned his body to have his back facing her and he then walked back inside the castle, while the guards who were ordered came and stood next to the girl. They caught hold of her hands, dragging her out of there while Constance was unable to do anything. She begged, but none heard her.

    Constance was dragged until the end of the Hawthrone''s castle gates and then pushed out of it before therge gates were pulled to close on her face.

    "Please, let me talk to him for a minute. That is all I ask for," begged Constance. The things that belonged to her and also the things that were showered upon her as gifts were all taken away from her, leaving her standing alone and with empty hands.

    The guards red at the human girl. It was one thing when she stayed next to the King and the King was interested in her, keeping her close to his side, but then there was the side where King wanted to do nothing with this girl anymore. One of the guards who was standing inside used his metal rod to hit it against the gates, and Constance took three steps away from the gate, startled.

    "Leave now. The gates are closed to you from now on, and none of the royal family members wants to do anything with you," the guard spoke in a gruff voice. "Move away from here."

    Another guard who stood there watching thedy, who once used to smile, was now crying. The guard had seen many people pass in and out of the castle gates, but thisdy was one of the few people who spared a nce at him and offered him a kind smile when she was in the carriage.

    When Constance started to walk after a couple of seconds more, the second guard called her, "Wait!"

    The other guard stepped out of the gates, and he went near the young girl.

    Constance, who was ready to leave with a heavy heart, stopped her feet and saw one of the guards step out and walk towards her. He fished something in his pocket and stretched his hand. When she looked down, it was two coins: one silver and one nickel.

    She shook her head.

    "Take it. If you keep walking from here, you will find the vige on your left. You will need this once you reach the vige," the guard had only so much on him, and there was nothing more he could give to repay her kindness.

    Constance''s eyes filled up with tears again. She didn''t know what to do, and with shaky hands, she took the coins from the guard, "Thank you," she whispered, and the guard nodded his head. When he went back on the other side of the gates, the other guard warned,

    "If the King or the mother Queen hears about this, they won''t be happy. We are not supposed to help or do anything to this girl. You''re going to end up in trouble, of course, I will be the one to tell on you," the guard smirked.

    The one who had offered Constance his two saved coins stared at the girl who had started to walk, and she disappeared from their sight. The girl walked from the castle to the next vige for two hours and then reached the vige. The Hawthrone''s family had decided to throw her out of the castle before she could even eat anything, and it had left her with an empty stomach.

    Constance didn''t understand what happened and on her way, she tried to recollect if she had done anything wrong, but she couldn''t identify any mistake from her side. She had believed Laurence loved her and they would live together forever. Did he not love her anymore? It was only a week ago he was speaking about marrying her, how did things turn sour so quickly?

    When she reached the vige, she looked for a ce to eat, but to her bad luck, she only met one of the rtives of the King who was in the vige. Before she could even step into the inn, the King''s cousin saw her and said,

    "I heard what happened, Lady Constance," the cousin looked up and down at the girl, "You poor thing, how about I take you to my home, and we can see if we can speak to the King to persuade him?"

    Constance, who was naive and hopeful again, she nodded her head. "Let me go and have some food before it quickly."

    "Sure," the man internally smiled looking down at her and the condition she was in. When Constance stepped inside, she went back out again as she had dropped the silver coin from her hand somewhere. The carriage of the King''s cousin stood outside, and she heard someone ask, "Will the King take her back?"

    The King''s cousin chuckled, "Do you think I am crazy to get on his bad side? Laurence and my aunt have already decided the girl who he would be marrying, and it is not this girl."

    Constance''s eyebrows furrowed, and she didn''t let the two men know that she was standing behind the carriage, "What do you n then?" asked the other man.

    "To take her to my private mansion, of course. I would love to experience what Laurence saw in her that made him not to look at the other women for this whole year. Men like us can only crave the fruit that the King eats, but now that the fruit is reachable, I would like to have a taste of it myself,"ughed the King''s cousin.

    Constance''s eyes widened, and she covered her mouth so that no sound of her voice or sob coulde out from her mouth. Terrified at the vile thoughts, she didn''t wait to search for the silver coin and started to walk without waiting for the food either. And as expected, after a while, when the King''s cousin went inside the inn looking for her, the girl was long gone, and he cursed his luck.

 Chapter 487 More than an eye- Part 1

    <h4>487 More than an eye- Part 1</h4>

    .

    In the underground world, screams of the man could be heard echoing through the passages which was near to the Grand Hall as Laurence Hawthrone was being tortured by dimir.

    "AHHHHH!"

    Laurence screamed in pain when he felt the hot iron rings tighten around his body. It felt worse than the pain he had been feeling until now. And it was because dimir had given Laurence a break he needed from the torture so that his body remembered what the absence of pain felt like before he would start to inflict the pain again.

    "Rings any bell?" questioned dimir. "These are specialized iron rings. Perfectly hot, which willpress your soul and body, and as much as you wait for death to arrive to stop the agony, that is never going to happen. How does that thought feel right now?" dimir stared at Laurence, listening to the music that came from the vampire''s mouth.

    "I am sorry!" Laurence apologized dimir. "I never knew she would go through such pain. If I knew it I would have prevented it!"

    "Hm?" dimir stopped walking and looked into Laurence''s eyes. He snapped his fingers, and the iron rings released the vampire before disappearing in thin air. "You didn''t know she went through pain or what your family put her through?"

    Laurence gasped for air, his body twisted in pain, and he could not keep his gaze on dimir. "I swear to God! I was only doin-"

    "Oh, hush now. If you loved God, both of us know you wouldn''t be here right now, but in Heaven. But seeing how you have been living as one of the precious guests in my abode, I believe you have been extremely naughty, or should I say a fucker who needs to be fucked?" questioned dimir.

    Laurence shook his head in desperation. He knelt on his knees, pressing his forehead against the ground. "I never meant to hurt her! It was never my intention!" In the past, he and his other family members hade to believe that Constance had no actual family, and because of her poor background, she couldn''t have a future with him. He was the King who had to rule Devon, and he had to use the benefits by marrying a woman of high standing stature. "I loved-"

    "Do you want me to castrate you?" threatened dimir, his eyes ring up to have Laurence close his mouth. "If you haven''t learned yet, this is Hell, and I am the Devil who runs this ce. Speak lies by using Constance''s name and I will rip that tongue of yours and feed it to yourself."

    The previous King quickly closed his mouth when he felt the stranger who imed himself to be the Devil ce his shoe on top of his head. He knew this was Hell, but he didn''t know that the Devil truly existed. And even though he was not alive as he was in the living world, Laurence was still scared.

    Laurence felt shivers run down his body. He had gone through pain in Hell, but this mental torture that the Devil was inflicting in his mind, he felt every drop of fear fall into him.

    "Odin!" dimir called his servant, and the servant quickly made his way to where his Master was while keeping at least ten steps distance between each other so that he didn''t enter the torture zone.

    "Yes, Master," Odin bowed his head, ready to be of dimir''s use.

    "Bring the next sinners in line. I am sure it would be quite a party to have all of them together and make them meet each other," dimir hummed. And Odin quickly nodded his head.

    Odin signalled the guard who had a stag-like face, and on Odin''s hand gesture, three more people arrived at the spot. dimir looked at the sinners, his eyes calm and collected while the other three looked like they were gasping for air and looking around the ce to see where they were right now.

    "Wee my fellow Sinners," dimir had a smile on his face. Hell worked in a way where, the more souls collected in this ce, the stronger it turned. The three people who had appeared were Laurence''s parents Morganna and n Hawthrone. The third one was young, and dimir looked at the young man. "And who is this that we have today? Looks like a fresh soul."

    Odin quickly moved to the side where he could see the third person who had appeared, and he said, "Master, this is Master Calhoun''s cousin brother. Markus Wilmot."

    dimir continued to stare at the young man who had a pretty face, said, "And what are his sins?"

    Odin scratched the back of his neck as he didn''t have all the details. "He harmed Master Calhoun and tried to poison him by using the girl named Elizabeth, who is Lady Madeline''s sister."

    "The wolf girl? I guess I will need to withhold her antidote then," hummed dimir.

    "Laurence?!" Morganna asked, surprised on seeing her son.

    "Mother?" came the surprised tone of Laurence, "Father is here too," his eyes then widened as they were brought in here for the same reason he had been summoned. "It''s so good to see you both-"

    "Oh, shut up!" Morganna rolled her eyes at her son.

    She hadn''t expected to see her son here, and it felt like eons had passed since she hadst seen him. At the same time, she didn''t forget how Laurence had ordered people to put her in the dungeon, and his bastard son had killed her!

 Chapter 488 More than an eye- Part 2

    <h4>488 More than an eye- Part 2</h4>

    "Ah ah ah!" sang dimir. "Careful now with your family reunion. You wouldn''t want to upset me, would you?" he reminded Laurence, and the vampire closed his mouth immediately.

    Now that the older vampiress was away from the torture cell room and was brought to a better ce, she believed she had finished her term of punishment. She looked down upon the stranger who stood in front of her.

    "And who are you?" asked Morganna, pride and sneer in her voice.

    dimir''s lips broadened, and he said, "I am your host and will be taking care of you."

    Morganna didn''t know what was going on, but she red at the stranger who stood in front of her. Even during the time of her death, she had not shied away and held her head high in pride. She didn''t know what exactly was going on, but she did have a fair idea that the ce she had been delivered to was called Hell.

    "I don''t need a host. I want to go back to my world. Right now," demanded Morganna, ring at dimir.

    dimir chuckled at the insolent fool, "If you were pretty, I would have considered your words, but did you look at yourself? You old hag." The Devil''s eyes turned from red to pitch ck. "Let me remind you who I am as it seems like your mind has caught rust over the years."

    Instead of taking a step towards Morganna, he took a step towards the older vampiress'' husband who was still going through tremors of pain in his body. "I heard that you touched my daughter when she was still in the castle." And dimir ced his hand on n''s shoulder, where steam started to appear.

    "I never touched any woman except my wife," n trembled as he had overheard from his punisher about the Devil returning.

    dimir cracked his neck left and right before straightening it, "Bastard," he red at n. He turned around, his hands locking behind his back, and he said, "Castrate him."

    Laurence''s father''s eyes widened in fear, and he shook his head. Before n could tell anything, his private part fell on the ground and blood poured, while the man screamed his lungs out.

    "I know what you did. There''s nothing you can hide from me," said dimir, who turned to see the man hurling on the ground. The other people had horror written on their face.

    dimir had a dull expression on his face, and he closed his eyes, listening to the screamsing from the man, and he smiled. "Sounds so much better. Now only if my daughter was here to witness the revenge."

    "What next part of you do you prefer that I damage?" he asked the screaming vampire.

    Morganna gulped in fear, seeing her husband bleed. Even for a vampire, it was too much of a pain. "What do you want from us?" asked Morganna. "We have been tortured for years!"

    "Well, I wasn''t here in those years to see you suffer. I ampensating over the lost years between us. A family get together. Isn''t it wonderful?"

    Whoever this stranger was, he was a deranged man who belonged to Hell! Thought Morganna to herself.

    "We wish to go back to our lives. We have finished our term of punishment," she repeated herself and stood firm on the ground.

    Laurence had a fear-stricken look on his face. He turned to his mother and said, "He''s Constance''s father!"

    Constance? Why did the name sound familiar? She then realized it was Calhoun''s mother. Was this man the girl''s father?

    "Thank you, Laurence, for saving my breath. Odin take this one to the level four torture ground. With the right connection, getting a promotion is easy, isn''t it," dimir looked down at n, and the guards arrived to pull the vampire away from the Grand Hall.

    "Where are you taking him?!" questioned Morganna.

    dimir smiled at the woman, "Would you prefer to take his ce?" and the woman immediately closed her mouth. "That''s what I thought. Now, as you are my first special guests, I would like to spend as much time as possible with you, and of course in the future to maintain good rtionships. Especially you, woman."

    Morganna''s eyes red. Not once in her life had she ever been spoken down like this by any person! She had ruled and controlled thend of Devon through her son, without leaving the power, until her very own son had been tricked and she was framed for treason that she didn''t expect to happen.

    "I was once the Queen of and," Morganna stared at dimir.

    "My apologies," said dimir before correcting himself, "Especially you bitch." The woman''s eyes widened. The screams of her husband had decreased and the Grand Hall turned quiet again. "Did you say you wanted to go back to the living world?"

    Both the mother and son duo looked at dimir in suspicion. "We get to live there again?"

    "Don''t stretch your luck. We are only visiting for a short time," said dimir.

    His eyes fell on Markus and he waved his finger for Odin to take Markus away from there. He would take care of himter. "I have other people to see than spend my time with small shrimp-like this one."

    dimir raised his hand before snapping his fingers. The three of them dimir, Morganna and Laurence disappeared from Hell, and they arrived at the vige next to Carnival''s vige. Laurence was now fully clothed, but his clothes were that of a poor man, and so was Morganna''s dress as if they came from the poorest family.

 Chapter 489 More than an eye- Part 3

    <h4>489 More than an eye- Part 3</h4>

    "Why did you bring us here?" asked Morganna.

    "To let you see how people don''t remember you to be the Queen that you imed to be. We are in the market ce, yet you are nothing but ghosts," said dimir. His eyes looked around the ce, and he could sense traces of his daughter still in here.

    It was like a memory that had stayed behind, and dimir saw his young daughter holding a basket in her hand whilst she supported it on one side of her waist. As she walked, some people whispered something in each other''s ears. A woman came behind her, pushing her and the basket fell on the ground. People around herughed without offering their hand to help her to stand up. His eyes hardened seeing this, and when he closed his eyes and opened them again, the scene in front of his eyes changed back to the present.

    "Look here, who we have today! The previous King and the Queen mother have graced their presence," dimir spoke loud enough for people to start looking at them and a collective amount of gasps was heard. Many people''s eyes had turned wide in shock, seeing Laurence and Morganna stand in the middle of the crowd that was forming in the marketce.

    "That''s not possible," whispered one of them.

    "The previous King and the mother Queen have been dead for over two decades unless they went into hiding," said anothermoner.

    "That is the previous King and the Queen!" said another woman in herte forties. "But it can''t be!"

    "Look at their clothes? It is worse than what any man or woman can wear in here," came the hushed voices.

    dimir stepped behind Morganna and Laurence. He said, "Now Laurence. Why don''t you reveal what you and your mother did to my daughter so that they are well versed with you. But before that!" the Devil pped his hands and came to stand next to Morganna. "I need you to finish a small task."

    "What makes you think I would do it?" Morganna stared back at dimir, and when the Devil smiled, she felt pain ascend in her body.

    "Now��" said dimir, "Get on the ground and lick my shoes." He wanted to break the prideful vampiress and humiliate her. He smiled, seeing how appalled she looked by the idea of it.

    A horrified look appeared on her face.

    "Do it," said dimir, "You saw what happened to your husband."

    It felt as if something strong was holding her shoulder, and she couldn''t get up from her position.

    "This is a suitable time where you start speaking about your repentance, Useless. Make sure you don''t lie, and I will see how I can lower your punishment, hmm?" stated dimir, the smile had fallen from his lips and his eyes narrowed in controlled rage. He turned to look at the previous King, who was staring at the crowd that had turnedrger in thest few seconds.

    Laurence had seen his father being castrated right in front of him for misbehaving with Constance in the past, he didn''t know what would happen if he refused the Devil. He regretted meeting the girl and bringing her to the castle.

    "That is King Laurence!" someone shouted from the crowd.

    Laurence then opened his mouth, "I am the previous King of Devon, Laurence Hawthrone," he said to the people. "This is my mother, Morganna. We are here to confess how we have treated people with injustice. I would like to clear the woman''s name today. Constance��"

    "Shit doesn''t even know thest name," dimir hissed, and this was enough to have chills run down Laurence''s back.

    "Lazarus. Constance Lazarus. I will have your eyes skewered in the fire and feed it to my grandson''s beloved wolves."

    Laurence gulped.

    "Constance Lazarus, she should have been treated with more respect. She was a beautiful and kind woman, and I misused her kindness, taking advantage of her by persuading her toe to live in the castle before I ruined her," said Laurence and the people around them didn''t whisper a word. What the vampire didn''t know was that his words were only building the Devil''s ire. "She used to live here, but I didn''te to meet her. She suffered because of me, and I did nothing to prevent it."

    "But it wasn''t just me, but also my mother who was greedy to have a daughter-inw who would bring in wealth. I didn''t mind having Constance next to me. I heard from my sister that my mother, the previous mother Queen of Devon, had sent men after Constance, to kill her after she was thrown out of the castle, but they had been unsessful as Constance had already left the vige. My mother here was not satisfied, and she made sure Constance''s life turned to Hell. She stole the money from Constance so that the girl would sumb to death. It wasn''t I but her, who took the decision," said Laurence turning to face dimir.

    "And what are your mother''s thoughts towards the people?" asked dimir. Laurence bit his tongue from saying anything, the Devil snapped his fingers to have the vampire reveal the truth.

    "My mother believes that people are not equal to us, they are nothing but dirt and do not deserve to live, and even if they do, they should live under our rule. She levied taxes on the vigers and the townsmen so that people would die out of starvation and the barrennd would turn to her use," said Laurence as if a pistol had been ced on the back of his head, where the trigger would be pulled any second if he didn''t speak.

    Gasps erupted from the crowd, and they stared at Laurence and Morganna with their judgy eyes.

    "Laurence!" Morganna looked up at her worthless son, who was running his mouth without thinking.

    "It looks like the bad mother queen needs to be punished for her deeds," dered dimir, his eyes calm. The crowd that had formed looked at Laurence and Morganna with disgust in their eyes. dimir''s voice then turned low only for Morganna to hear, "Now."

    Morganna looked at the people and then back at dimir before she unwillingly bent down towards his shoe.?Opening her mouth, she then licked the shoe that was covered in dirt. Most of the people raised their hands to cover their mouth, while some chuckled over the state of the vampiress.

 Chapter 490 More than an eye- Part 4

    <h4>490 More than an eye- Part 4</h4>

    "Not yet," replied dimir. "The same people whom you had manipted in the past have now been manipted against you. Let''s see," and the Devil looked at the crowd, "Your rightful King Calhoun Hawthrone would be pleased to leave justice in your hands. I leave them at your mercy!"

    "W-what?" Laurence asked, shocked, "Y-you said you would lower my punishment!"

    dimir offered the vampire a smile, "When you were born, your mother must have dropped you. Enjoy your time with them," and he started to leave from the ce while leaving the two sinners with the crowd, who had turned wild in anger. Shouting and cursing the two of them before they picked up weapons and stones to beat them up. As dimir walked away, he could hear the mother and the son screaming and shouting for help, before it turned to painful cries. Their sins were so deep that they would return to Hell if they died in here, and he would keep another session until he was satisfied.

    Before dimir could leave the ce, he caught sight of someone who seemed very fond of him. Not disappearing or detouring, the Devil continued to walk towards the blonde man with blue eyes.

    "What do you think you are doing?" asked the angel.

    "I didn''t know we were meeting here, Michael," stated dimir, the maddening smile returned on his lips.

    Michael had a displeased look on his face, "This is not Hell that you involve yourself in things that don''t concern you by using people."

    "And how do you know it isn''t of my concern?" dimir raised a single eyebrow. "And it is quite riching from the person who kept a rtionship with a demoness of this world before breaking it off."

    Michael''s eyes narrowed, "I did it not because I wanted to initiate a rtionship with the woman. It was because I had to make sure that I got to the dark angel first."

    dimir rolled his eyes, "Of course, what is a few heartbreaks, isn''t it? What are you doing here? I don''t like being followed, and it makes me ufortable."

    The angel red holes into dimir''s back as the Devil had walked forward and then turned around. Themotion continued in the central market ce where dimir had left Laurence and Morganna.

    Seeing dimir ready to disappear from here, Michael said, "Wait! I havee here with a proposal, and you might find it to your liking."

    "And what is that?"

    "The offer is straightforward, but you need to agree to it. You don''t understand the severity of what the dark angel is capable of-"

    "Yet you left her by herself until now. Is it because she received her wings back again, and you have confirmed things won''t go ording to what you all thought?" questioned dimir.

    "Right now the dark angel is only sending people to Heaven and Hell, but the time is not too far when Madeline will kill your very own grandson. And she will send him to a ce where nothing exists. He willpletely disappear. Is that what you want?" asked Michael. "You should know that we angels do only things that will keep bnce with the living and the immortal world."

    dimir stared at Michael, "Speak directly instead of going in circles."

    Michael''s eyes moved around the ce to make sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation, and he said, "Madeline''s power will only increase as time goes. She is already near to surpassing her father''s abilities. And given Paschar''s wings and abilities have been reduced in the name of punishment, but it is still a lot in this world. I overheard about what that man said," he jerked his head towards the duo whom dimir had brought from Hell, who now was being attacked by the people.

    "So you were following me. We need to find you a new hobby," dimirmented, amused.

    The angel didn''t heed to the Devil''s distraction. Michael said, "What happened to your daughter was something that should not have happened. I can give you my word that she is safe in Heaven, but there are still traces of disturbance in her mind thates from thisnd as if she is not in peace with herself." This caught dimir''s attention. "I will give your daughter back to you. In a much better condition before she entered Heaven with all her memories intact about you and your grandson. In return, you will hand over the dark angel."

    A cunning smile appeared on dimir''s face as he stared at Michael.

    "What you mean to say is me getting on my grandson''s bad side and give the girl to you. You and the others already know with me around, it''s impossible to get to her, don''t you?" smirked the Devil.

    "I heard Calhoun loved his mother dearly, and I am sure he would be more than happy to have her back too," stated Michael. "Constance was your blood, your daughter. Madeline is Paschar''s daughter, and he might not have been able to be the right father, but it is only right to have her back where she truly belongs. She is not your blood, Lucifer."

    "Your offer is very tempting, but I will need time to think about it. Until then," and within a second, dimir disappeared, and Michael looked around the ce, realizing the Devil had already left.

    dimir appeared in front of a mansion that was far away from the vige he had visited. The mansion was an old one that looked broken and there were no fresh nts or flowers surrounding it as they had all dried up. He made his way through the gates, appearing in front of the door, and knocked on it.

    The door was half-opened by a maid, and she asked, "May I help you?" The maid had an apprehensive look on her face.

    dimir put his best smile on his face, and he bowed his head, "I am dimir Lazarus and am here to meet Rosamund Wilmot."

    The maid looked behind him to see no carriage or any other officials from the Hawthrone''s pce. "She''s-"

    "I know she''s here," the smile on dimir''s lips was eerie, making the maid nervous.

    Since her mistress had been banished from entering the castle or meeting anyone rted to the castle. They had no visitors. The King had taken away everything that belonged to the Wilmot''s, leaving them in poverty. But Mrs. Wilmot had kept her treasures somewhere in a secret ce and had brought this mansion in someone else''s name while living in the mansion without anyone''s knowledge.

    The maid opened the door, and dimir stepped in. "Please sit in the drawing room while I let Lady Rosamund know about your visit."

 Chapter 491 What goes around... - Part 1

    <h4>491 What goes around... - Part 1</h4>

    Music Rmendation: The Burnt Orange Heresy Theme by Craig Armstrong

    .

    dimir stepped inside the old mansion that had a typical scent lingering in the air. It was hard to point out what precisely the smell was, but he could tell from where it wasing from. Without a hint of his expression changing on his face, the vampire made his way to the room where the maid took him to and asked him to sit on the old couch. Some sides of the couch had torn, but it was still kept clean.

    The room looked dull with paint that hade off, and so did the wallpaper on one side of the wall leaving patches on it. The windows were closed, and the curtains were drawn to cover it so that no one woulde to peep and see what was inside the room.

    Rosamund Wilmot.

    The woman would not have been in his list if Madeline had not mentioned the vampiress when they were in his castle. Hearing the footsteps approaching towards the room, dimir did not attempt to stand, and instead, he continued to sit on the couch with one leg over the other as he stared at the scarce objects in the room.

    When the vampiress and?the maid arrived at the door, the maid stood behind without entering the room, and Rosamund stepped inside to look at the stranger whom she had never met until now. dimir finally stood up, and Rosamund said,

    "My maid said that you wanted to meet and talk to me. I don''t think we have met before to hold any conversation."

    "No, we haven''t met before, but I was hoping to acquaint myself with you," dimir stared at the vampiress who held a simr pride like her mother.

    It had been a few weeks since her son had died, and in those few weeks, things had changed upside down. She and her family were thrown out of their mansion, unable to take a single object from there. The job that Rosamund''s husband had was taken away from him, and the house they thought they could afford was only a percentage of what they once used to own, they couldn''t buy it either.

    Rosamund''s red eyes narrowed, "Are you from the royal court?" she asked.

    She was not scared about the officials snatching her wealth away, because she had arranged things in such a manner that the King would not be able to cause any harm to her wealth. Rosamund had stayed low-profile until she believed no one would hound her. No one could prove that the wealth belonged to her family. It was only the days after being banished from the castle did things turn extremely difficult, where people had jeered andmented at her family��throwing stones or rotten vegetables at them when they were still struggling.

    "No, I am not," replied dimir. "I am not here from the royal court, but for my gain."

    "I have nothing to offer you. It would be best if you leave right this instant," said Rosamund on her guard.

    Rosamund took a look at the man and his clothes that were slightly unusual in thend of Devon.

    With an apprehensive look on her face, the vampiress took a seat on the chair, while dimir took his seat back at the couch again.

    "Who are you?" questioned Rosamund because she didn''t know if she could trust this man with anything. There was a glint in his eyes that looked familiar, but she couldn''t point out where she had seen it before.

    "I go by the name dimir, and I live in the castle thates near Belmount," replied dimir with a smile. "Won''t you offer me tea?" his eyes then shifted to look at the maid who hadn''t moved from the entrance of the room.

    "We are out of milk," responded Rosamund, being on her toes with this stranger.

    dimir smiled, "I was thinking about blood tea. Just pure blood will do too, the girl looks quite fresh," he took a deep breath, looking at the maid who was a human.

    Rosamund''s eyes narrowed, and she turned to her maid, waving her hand, and the maid left to the kitchen. "What questions did you have for me?" asked Rosamund.

    dimir was still looking around the room with eyes curious, and the woman heard him ask her, "Where is your family? It must have been a while since I saw Lady Sophie, your husband and your son...Markus." dimir''s eyes went back to meet Rosamund''s eyes that hardened.

    "We don''t have money, and my husband doesn''t have a job. He has been looking for one so that he can support the family," she answered, her eyes gauging the man who was sitting in front of her.

    "I suppose if you cut down the costs in hiring the maids and instead of living in a mansion, live in the vige. You will get to save more money, isn''t it?" murmured dimir. Rosamund didn''t know who this impudent man was, who hade to her house and was running his mouth on what she should and shouldn''t do.

    Though her maid had gone to prepare tea, the vampiress had also signalled to get the men from viges toe here if this man was going to pull a trick on her. Since her family had been cut off from the royal family, people were always ready to pounce and take advantage of her family. Men had tried to assault Sophie physically and mentally before moving into this house, but Sophie had saved herself. Sophie hade back crying more than three to four times when she stepped out, that she now refused to leave the mansion.

    "Is this why you came to talk to me?" Rosamund was ready to stand up when dimir waved his hand for her to sit back down.

    "I came here wanting to know about the Hawthrone family. I have been greatly interested in their history and would love to hear more about it," dimir, who had been leaning his back now came forward to ce his hands on his knees, showing his interest in the matter.

    "There''s nothing fascinating about it," Rosamund didn''t want to do anything with the Hawthrone''s right now. Even though it was once her family name, it wasn''t anymore.

    dimir stared at Rosamund, "That would be hard to agree on. I have been eagerly waiting to hear it from you."

    "As I said, there''s nothing to hear about it. My parents'', brother, his wife, and my son, they are all dead," Rosamund red as she said this.

    "How unfortunate. How did they die?" dimir taunted the vampiress. "Is it true that the present King, Calhoun Hawthrone killed them?" there was a spark of pride in his eyes and his tone was calm.

    Rosamund had enough, and she stood up. This was something she didn''t like talking about, and she raised her hand pointing towards the door, "Leave this ce right now, and do not show your face to me."

    dimir didn''t bother to get up and instead he stared at the vampiress who was a spitting mirror personality of her mother. "Your mother must have forgotten to teach you manners. Sit," ordered dimir and by his one word, Rosamund felt someone push her to sit down on the chair.

    Startled by this, Rosamund tried to get up, but every time she tried to move, the chair also moved along with her. "What are you doing?!" she asked rmed, noticing something strange about this man.

    "I was politely talking to you before you decided you wanted me out of this house because your consciousness ising to attack you, making you feel ufortable," remarked dimir.

    "Rubbish!" Rosamund eximed while trying to get up. "Let me free right this instance, unless you want me to call the guards and forcibly throw you out from here!"

    dimir let out a sigh pass through his lips. "Guards? I don''t know which guards you are speaking about because thest time I checked, you have no one. And even to pay for the one''s from the viges, you need money for it that I have taken care of. I heard that you were too intent on sitting on the throne so that you could rule thend. So what''s the story? Princess fell into poverty because of her greed."

    Rosamund was not pleased with dimir''s words, and she was going to say something when dimir suddenly appeared in front of her in a blink of an eye. His fingers and his hand moved nothing less to a snake, circling the vampiress''s neck.

    "People think vampires are stronger creatures, and it might be true because they are strongerpared to humans, but what if there was a creature higher than the vampires? Do you think it would be easy to snap the neck with just one movement?" asked dimir, seeing fear start to creep into the woman''s mind. "I thought it was your mother who was pulling strings, but now that I see you, it wasn''t just her but also you. Power makes you do unimaginable things, doesn''t it?"

    "What do you want from me?" asked Rosamund because it didn''t look like the man hade here for a mere chit-chat.

    "Truth is I want your soul, but I will take itter," dimir''s tone was casual. "Do you remember Constance?"

    How could she forget, thought Rosamund to herself. It was that human''s son that had put her in such a state.

 Chapter 492 What goes around... - Part 2

    <h4>492 What goes around... - Part 2</h4>

    "Everything. From the day she entered the castle until the day she was thrown out of the castle by the royal family members," said dimir, he increased the pressure on her neck, letting her take a peek at his strength.

    Rosamund felt him move his hand away from her neck, and she felt the tension in her body slowly starting to subside.

    dimir didn''t go to the couch to sit, and instead, he went to the window, his eyes looking through the intricate gaps of the curtain. He knew what happened to his daughter. How Constance had left Belmount and ended up in the Hawthrone castle, of how she was thrown out and misused by many men and how she died. But he wanted to know more about her life when she still lived in the castle.

    It wasn''t many who knew how his daughter was, not like the way he knew her. The people who mostly knew about Constance, they believed her to be a woman who sold her body to make a living, a whore. dimir''s hands clenched into fists before he released them. Constance''s name had been sullied, and people didn''t know the kind of person she was.

    On the vampiress''s question, the answer was simple. He missed his daughter. Somewhere he was d that Constance had left a piece of her behind, her son, Calhoun, to be the only family he had right now. But that didn''t mean it reduced the existing emptiness in his mind.

    "Why do you want to know about Constance?" asked Rosamund. Was this one of the men who had used Constance? wondered Rosamund.

    And as if dimir heard her thoughts,?Rosamund started to shake in her chair as bolts of lightning passed through her body. She could feel the bolts biting into her very bone and drying up her blood from inside. She gritted her teeth in pain until dimir stopped the pinch of torture. The vampiress metallic taste in her mouth.

    Hearing Rosamund''s screams, who was being punished by dimir, Sophie came running into the drawing-room to see her mother on the chair and there was a stranger present in the room. Her mother was huffing for air and appeared to be in pain.

    "What''s going on?" demanded Sophie. "I will call for help right away!"

    But dimir moved his hand towards her and it had Sophie sit on the couch without her free will so that she wouldn''t be able to leave. "Who are you?! What are you trying to do?!" Sophie went on to speak, and when dimir snapped his fingers, her mouth suddenly sealed itself. Sophie no more had lips, and it was left with a smooth surface.

    Sophie''s face turned into horror, and so did Rosamund''s on seeing the mouth disappear from her daughter''s face.

    "Don''t hurt her!" Rosamund screamed, "What did you do to her?"

    Rosamund was distracted by her daughter''s mouth being sealed, and she couldn''t help but question who dimir was. And as much as she was her mother''s daughter, she was also shrewd enough to know where to stop pressing someone''s buttons. Worried for her daughter, she looked back at the man to see a shadow of evil behind him.

    "I will tell you everything that you want to know, but please don''t harm my daughter!" pleaded Rosamund. She had lost her son, and then she had lost her stature. People didn''t respect her anymore, and she was a nobody. Her husband and Sophie were all she was left with.

    "Speak," ordered dimir, not bothering to hear her pleas which he was hardly interested in.

    Rosamund tried to remember from the beginning, and the girl''s face that she had always tried to forget often came to haunt her.

    The vampiress started, "My brother Laurence was the one who introduced her to me in the castle. He had met her in one of the soirees through another woman, who had given Constance shelter. Laurence fancied the girl, and I still remember how he wouldn''t shut up about it. Mother didn''t care much about it because most of us believed that she was just another passing time for my brother. Laurence was the apple of my parents'' eyes. The male heir who would rule Devon."

    "Poor Rosamund was being ignored?" dimir''s voice didn''t have a hint of sympathy in it.

    Rosamund looked down at her hands that had turned paler than before as if her death was right around the corner, and it would only speed up if she didn''t answer dimir''s question.

    "I wasn''t ignored, but my position was less importantpared to what my brother held in my parents'' hearts," replied Rosamund. "Constance was beautiful, and my brother hardly found any time to look at other women whom my mother brought in for him to build a rtionship with. There were proposals from the richest and highest status of the Dukes and Lords daughters, but he spent his time with Constance."

    "And what were your thoughts on it?" questioned dimir, his body turned along with his gaze shifting to look at the older vampiress. Sophie made squeaking noise like a rat, and dimir said, "Keep doing that and I will rip your throat out so that you won''t have any way to make a single sound ever again." This was enough for Sophie to stop making any sound, and silence fell in the room.

    Rosamund said, "I didn''t like her. She smiled too much, and she was too nice to people around her, not knowing where to stop speaking and whom not to speak. When my parents'' were still ruling thends, things in the castle were much more strict. We had rules to follow, and it wasn''t just for servant''s but also the members of the royal family," she shook her head, remembering Constance''s face that was sweet and pleasant.

    She knew why her brother had fallen for Constance, it was because there was no other woman who was as pure and beautiful as her, but at the same time she was naive with theck of knowledge of how the royal family worked.

    The older vampiress continued, "Laurence was smitten by her, and all of us could see it. He boldly insisted on having here to stay in the castle. I thought it would be for two days or a week, but never would I have imagined that she would be living in the castle for more than a year. Obviously, my mother didn''t like a poor girl hanging around in the castle by the word of my brother."

    "Hmm," dimir responded, "I heard that you gifted her a chain. You must have loved her dearly, supporting your brother."

    Rosamund''s eyes snapped to meet dimir''s eyes, "What?"

    "The chain? Didn''t you gift the chain to Constance that was supposed to be cursed and kill the person over time?" dimir let his body lean back, and he folded his hands across his chest.

    Hearing this, Sophie, who was quiet, turned her eyes to look at her mother in question as she had never heard about this.

    Rosamund''s lips trembled without a word. No one knew about this! This was something that only her mother and she knew about. How did this man know?! She then tried to school her expression, her lips opening and closing many times.

    Under the scrutinizing gaze of the man, Rosamund closed her eyes, "My brother was nning to have Constance as his wife, and it was not only causing a strain on my mother, but also me�� My mother didn''t want to lose control on the throne, while she also wanted someone much more suitable to be his wife, not some one picked up from the soiree." Rosamund continued to speak, "Mother spoke to brother about looking at other girls, but it didn''t work. At that point of time, the Hanima''s treasures were not seized by the High House as they didn''t exist at that point of time. We somehow got a hand on one single piece, and I gave it to Constance as a gift."

    "I wonder why I shouldn''t kill your daughter. For someone who doesn''t think about other''s lives, you don''t deserve to have a daughter," dimir brought his hand in front of him when Rosamund caught sight of his nails that started to elongate.

    Rosamund quickly shook her head in dread.

    "I only did what my mother wanted! Constance wore it for two days, but she took it off her neck, keeping it with her without wearing it," Rosamund had a confused expression on her face. "I don''t know why she did it and it had failed the purpose. At the same time, a misunderstanding broke between Laurence and Constance, and my mother used the opportunity to set my brother with my sister-inw."

    "You don''t look pleased about it," observed dimir.

    Right now, Rosamund looked nothing less to a criminal who was being interrogated by a person, who had disappeared her daughter''s mouth from her face.

    "Let me guess, you wanted to have control, instead of your brother," guessed dimir, and the guilty expression on the older vampiress''s face said it all. "You know we would have been friends if you didn''t do what you did to Constance. But knowing what happened, you automatically turn to my enemy."

    Rosamund gritted her teeth before she said, "Everyone knew I was the better choice whenpared to my brother. He was just half-assing while I was the one who worked hard. But I couldn''t openly fight for the position."

    "So you took the passive approach," stated dimir and Rosamund raised her head, holding it high before she nodded her head.

    "Though Constance was removed from my way, my brother went ahead and got married to his wife, Samara. All they needed was a male heir to clinch the throne. At that time, I wasn''t married. I had to have a male heir to ce on the throne and call it mine. Samara had a couple of miscarriages, and everything was going ording to my n. The only child Samara had was Lucy, and by then I had already married and had my first male child, Markus. Everything was perfect," said Rosamund as she recollected it.

    "Before my father died, he wrote his will where if Laurence didn''t have a male child, the throne would automatically go to Markus. But who would have guessed that Constance had already given birth to Laurence''s child. It was something unexpected."

 Chapter 493 What goes around... - Part 3

    <h4>493 What goes around... - Part 3</h4>

    As eager as Laurence was to have Calhoun as his wife could not bear a male child, Morganna was upset because she didn''t want the whore''s son to sit on the throne of Devon.

    "Why do you even want to know about Constance or our family?" questioned Rosamund.

    "Because I am the girl''s father whom you tried to kill by presenting her the cursed chain. I am the Devil you should fear for your life and the sins you havemitted against her and my grandson. dimir Lazarus, the ruler of Hell in the literal sense," stated dimir, and his red eyes suddenly looked like fire was burning behind it.

    dimir released Rosamund who suddenly got up from her chair and went to her daughter''s side. The room''s door shut itself close, leaving no chance to escape for them from the Devil.

    Fear consumed both the vampiress''s mind, and Sophie, who had been freed from the chair, she got up, and both the mother-daughter moved towards the wall.

    The fire in dimir''s eyes didn''t disappear, and he stared at them. "Something tells me that you are hiding a piece of vital information. Why do I feel that way? Don''t you love your daughter?"

    Sophie shook in terror when dimir''s hand touched her head. "I did nothing! My mother orchestrated everything!"

    Suddenly the closed windows exploded, breaking and falling inside and outside the room. Wind passed through the open space, and the curtains flew.

    dimir said, "I just left your brother and mother in the market-ce at the mercy of the public. Tell me what is the most precious thing to you, Rosa? Because it doesn''t look like it is your son. Else you would have sacrificed yourself during the court trial."

    "It wasn''t I who put my son for execution. It was Calhoun and the High House members who framed him! I never wanted anything to happen to my children," said Rosamund, pushing her daughter behind her protectively. "Everyone who witnessed the trial knows how biased the judgement was. Without any solid proof, Markus wasbelled to be guilty, when it was Calhoun who was responsible for the murder and other matters."

    "Did he now," hummed dimir. "I heard Markus tried to poison Calhoun. Of course, I will deal with himter, but I am thinking what is the most suitable punishment for you."

    "Sophie?!" Rosamund was in panic. "What are you doing to her?? You have issues with me, why are you hurting her!"

    In the past, Rosamund hade across some people who had abilities, calling themselves to be demons, but back then she had not believed it. Looking back at the man, who stood in front of her with a peaceful look on his face, she believed this person was indeed a bigger demon than those people whom she had met in the past.

    "The pain you have caused me, it is very personal, Rosamund Wilmot. You and your mother threw her out of your castle, but you didn''t leave her be. Your brother has been truthful in mentioning how it was you who was responsible for Constance''s misery after she left the castle," dimir ran his thumb''s nail on his index finger to see blood appear. "Weren''t you the one who sent the men at her? To turn her life miserable so that she never steps anywhere near the castle?"

    Rosamund spoke in a rushed voice, "Sophie is innocent! Please spare her life! You can do anything to me-"

    "Now that''s the problem. You don''t care what happens to you, but you care enough for your daughter''s life. It is good to know, you have a pinch of consciousness still residing in your mind."

    "Please!" Rosamund pleaded, turning to see Sophie''s lips slowly start to open but it looked like webbed skin that was trying to pull away haphazardly, through which blood poured out that had been contained in her mouth.

    "You stole my daughter from me. I don''t see why I shouldn''t do the same to you. An eye for an eye, but then I have the habit of taking something more than the eye," dimir had a lost expression on his face. "Do you understand the pain you have caused me?" The sky had started to turn dark, and dimir''s rage didn''t lower down, but it only increased.

    The objects and the things in the mansion caught fire, that moved in every direction.

    "Please! Please, don''t hurt her for my mistakes!" Rosamund was frantic. Sophie finally stopped spewing blood, and her mouth turned back to normal. Both the mother and daughter held each other, staring at dimir in terror. Seeing how dimir was still waiting for her to spill thest information, she said,

    "I just wanted her gone! I shouldn''t have gotten her to wear it again!" confessed Rosamund with tears in her eyes.

    "Killing you would be too simple," said dimir to Rosamund, "Let me open the door to the world that you pushed my daughter into, and see how you survive," the Devil slowly smiled as the mansion started to burn and the women in the room screamed.

    The door made of wood broke down and seeing the Devil not do anything, Rosamund pulled her daughter Sophie out of the house, and they noticed how the mansion continued to burn.

    Rosamund saw how every part of the mansion zed, burning down until it turned to ash. Thest remaining of her savings had gone up in mes, and her family was homeless. Simr to the way she had pushed Constance into.

 Chapter 494 Thread of Hope- Part 1

    <h4>494 Thread of Hope- Part 1</h4>

    Her parted lips trembled, but not a word came out of her mouth, and her eyes looked livid.

    "Stop it!" Rosamund pleaded with the man who had suddenly appeared next to them. "Please!" her knees gave away and she fell on the ground, pressing her forehead on the cold snow. "Please don''t make my family walk in the path of misery. Those mistakes weremitted by me. My husband and my daughter had no part in it. Your ange-"

    "Be happy that I am not breaking anything in you, and only taking away things that you cherish. Killing you would be meaningless as it would be over within a second and you won''t be able to know the pain that you put Constance through," said dimir, his eyes bright as he looked at the mes. He could torture Rosamund just like he had done it to her parents and her brother, but this woman had done far worse than what they had done. "For a woman who wanted to rule Devon and was ambitious, I believe this is only fitting that you continue to see your downfall from here."

    Sophie had fallen on her knees, sobbing as she saw the smoke move up in the air.

    "Don''t think about killing yourself, because if you try it, I will make sure to bring you back to where you started. I hope from this point, you enjoy your time and life that you deserve," said dimir, and he started to walk away from the two vampiresses. Rosamund looked back and forth before she tried to follow the man to beg him for forgiveness, but dimir had disappeared in thin air after taking six steps.

    Far away from where the mes had started to extinguish, Madeline blew air into the firece to increase the heat in the room. Holding a hollow rod in her hand, she continued to fan the fire at the logs of wood that slowly continued to catch fire.

    Madeline let go of the rod, and she then stood up before making her way to the bed where Calhoun sat at the edge. He stretched his hand for her to take, and Madeline ced her hand in his.

    "How are you doing today?" Calhoun inquired, tugging Madeline closer to him so that she woulde to settle between the space of his legs. "I know you are hurting," he had a disapproving look on his face.

    "I didn''t want you to worry," said Madeline. Her hand slipped away from his hold, and she ced her hands on his shoulders before it circled around his neck, and yed with the ends of his hair.

    Madeline shook her head, "Nothing will happen to me. How could anything happen when you are with me."

    Calhoun stared into her eyes while he listened to the way her little heart beat continuously yet calmly. The heart that once was scared about the big bad wolf had found itsfort in the wolf''s den.

    "Since when have you been feeling the pain?" questioned Calhoun and Madeline pressed her lips.

    "Before I got back my wings at night. I thought it was just the usual reflex of my body, but even without the presence of the wings on my back, I feel the ache in my chest as if the strings of my heart are being pulled every time I breathe," came Madeline''s truthful reply.

    Hearing this, Calhoun''s eyebrows furrowed in worry, and this was exactly why Madeline had not brought up about it with him. It wasn''t her intention to hide it, but all she had wanted to do was to let this day pass before she would tell him anything about it. It was only hours since they had fought with the demons and the fallen angels; they deserved some time of peace.

    "I am okay now," she murmured and Calhoun pulled her closer to him, holding her waist.

    "We need to ask the physician to take a look at you. I would feel unsettled until I find what is hurting you. The angels don''t go through pain like this, and I wished they did. That way they would get off our backs," there was an unimpressed look on Calhoun''s face.

    "Paschar and Michael said they would let me be," said Madeline but Calhoun shook his head.

    "Those are words only to extend the time to allow them to be ready to take you away from here. The angels and demons have been at war for so many years, they are both stubborn and they won''t back down that easily," stated Calhoun. "It would be only wise to stay on guard."

    Madeline nodded her head. "Beth woke up two hours ago."

    "How is she?" asked Calhoun in an uninterested tone of voice.

    "Lost right now. She barely spoke to me, and she has been crying. I thought maybe it would be only right to send her where my parents are. This way, the demons would not follow her thinking she''s still here in the castle, and she will be safe there," said Madeline thoughtfully. Though Beth was notpletely cured, she was still able to hide her werewolf traces, and for now, that was more than enough, better than a werewolf going rampant in the towns and viges.

    "I will have Hammond prepare the carriage so that he can take Miss Elizabeth to where your parents are right now."

    If they had sent Beth with her parents, instead of staying behind in the castle, she wouldn''t have been bit by the werewolf nor would Raphael be dead. There was nothing but the possibility of if''s which couldn''te true as the moment had passed.

    Leaning forward, Madeline let her chin rest on Calhoun''s shoulder, and he hugged her. "I am sorry about Raphael," she whispered.

    Since the time they had reached the castle after cing Raphael in the coffin, neither of them had found time to speak about the card reader. Raphael was a good man, someone everyone could count upon. She only hoped that the demon was in peace, but knowing what type of ce Hell was, she wondered if anyone ever found peace after entering Hell.

    "There are times when a person''s death feels surreal and hard to believe that the person is truly gone. Sometimes we hope that miraculously the person will return to us," said Calhoun, and Madeline who had earlier ced her head on his shoulder lifted it and sat on hisp, staring at the passive look that Calhoun''s handsome face adorned.

 Chapter 495 Thread of Hope- Part 2

    <h4>495 Thread of Hope- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Madeline knew Calhoun was not just speaking about Raphael, but also about his mother.

    "I will never hand you over to those darn angels."

    Leaning forward, Madeline pressed her lips on his cheek, leaving a tender kiss. "I am not leaving the big bad wolf," she said.

    Calhoun had not spent a lot of time with Raphelpared to the time he had spent with Theodore, but that didn''t mean the demon''s life didn''t hold any value in his eyes. Most of the people viewed the King of Devon to be cruel and heartless, considering his history when it came to killing men who had bad-mouthed his mother or when it came to killing women whom he had bedded only to find out their ulterior motives. He had done it all to protect the things and people he cared about.

    He looked at the girl who sat with him in hispany. Though he had fallen in love with her the moment he had spoken to her during Hallow, Calhoun had trulye to love Madeline for the person she was, and she did the same, epting him with his faults. And even with the possibility where the demons or the angels coulde for them again, Calhoun still looked at their life to be perfect as they had each other. And now he had a grandfather too.

    Picking her up in his arms, he ced her in the middle of the bed before he joined her side. Madeline had a tranquil expression on her face, and she turned her body to face him.

    "I didn''t get to spend time with you the way I thought I would do. But I don''t think anything ever goes ording to the ns," confessed Calhoun, reaching for her hand and bringing it in front of his mouth. He pressed his lips on her hand first before kissing each tip of her fingers.

    "What are you doing?" Madeline whispered her question as Calhoun seemed to be moving one inch of space at a time, making her smile.

    "Loving my wife, and worshipping her the way she deserved to be cherished," he replied to her, every word he uttered was interrupted by a kiss that he dropped on her finger and Madeline didn''tin about it.

    Right after their wedding night, they had been thrown into danger and dealing with other things where they hadn''t been able to find time for each other like this. Toze on the bed as if there was nothing to worry, like there was no Salvette Mortem that had appeared in the corridor, or how there was still a possibility of more demons and fallen angelsing for them.

    A small giggle escaped Madeline''s lips, and she asked, "How did you think we would be spending our time?"

    Calhoun''s eyes shifted from Madeline''s fingertips to look up into her eyes. "Not let go of you even after the rays of the sun has touched thend. And to keep you in mypany and in my arms. To make love to you until you lose yourself in me before repeating it all over again."

    "That would be lovely, and maybe it is time," said Calhoun, and as he said that, the off-white nightdress that was on her body started to change its colour to ck until it started to dissipate itself into soft ck feathers.

    With Winter still prevailing in thends of Devon, Madeline could feel the cold air on her naked skin.

    Calhoun pushed himself up to hear Madeline''s heart skip a beat when he hovered above her. Bncing his body with one hand, he used the other hand to brush her cheek.

    Madeline felt less shy about her nakedness, but her heart continued to beat faster at their closeness as the loose shirt that Calhoun wore had disappeared simr to her dress.

    Eyes still on him, she asked curiously, "What happens to the dresses?"

    "They go back in the cupboard," answered Calhoun, feeling her skin heat up because of him.

    Even though she was part angel, things like this still fascinated her as if she was seeing it for the very first time.

    Madeline hade far from being the innocent girl who didn''t know about the existence of the creatures she was part of. Calhoun knew what the angel''s meant, about her power, and he had felt the strength of it. It was one reason why he believed she would be alright during the fight as the dark angel in her knew how to defend herself. Madeline''s hands that once used to be covered in mud because of nting nts were now covered in blood.

    But to Calhoun, she was still the same innocent girl he had met during the time of Hallow, as well as the small girl who had shown him kindness by offering her handkerchief to him when he was falling into a pit of darkness. Not a single person was able to warm his heart the way she did, and it was because she had his heart with her.

    "That''s good," Madeline raised both her hands to brush Calhoun''s hair away from his forehead, letting her fingers weave through the thick lock of his hair. Her eyes continued to stare back at him with a faint smile on her lips.

    Leaning forward, Calhoun''s lips met Madeline''s lips, and she opened to him even before he could touch her. Madeline weed Calhoun into her arms, and she kissed him back with more ferocity than she had done in the past. Both of them got lost in each other''s kisses and touches, their hands holding a certain fervor in them.

    Amid their passionate touches, Madeline pushed herself up and her fingers traced to feel the length of Calhoun''s strong shoulders, and then his chest before touching his abs that were firm and taut.

    Calhoun''s hand moved from Madeline''s chin to move towards her jaw before bringing both of their faces closer to each other so that he could ce a kiss. She was like water while he was left in a desert thirsty, and he couldn''t get enough of her. When he bit into her bottom lip, he heard her gasp and her heart hitch. The drop of blood that appeared, hepped it with his tongue, sucking her lower lip to feel her body starting to turn on as it was filling itself with desire for him.

    He weaved his fingers through her lustrous hair, having her head pulled backwards he went back to kiss her as if wanting to possess and keep her with him so that no one would evere to take her away. His lips made its way to kiss her slender neck, and he took his time to love her the way she deserved to be loved.

    "Ah!" she gasped when he bit one side of her breast. His fingers had made its way between her legs to feel the wetness as if she was waiting for him.

    "So precious," he whispered in the shell of her ear. More gasps and groans erupted through their lips, letting their lips and hands roam around each other''s body.

    When Calhoun pushed himself into her, Madeline lost herself in his arms. She was barely able to think as every single cell in her body could think nothing, but be filled with the feeling of pleasure that Calhoun was making her experience. When she was close to her orgasm, her eyes closed and her toes curled, while her body shuddered until she finally climaxed.

    It felt like Heaven, and maybe it was the only Heaven she would like to go with Calhoun.

    Calhoun wasn''t too far away from his release, and with half-dazed eyes, Madeline saw Calhoun''s face fill itself with pleasure, and it was one of the fascinating things she had seen until now, that only heated her body up. He was insatiable, and his lips continued to love Madeline, raising goosebumps on her skin. Their second orgasm wasn''t too far, and Madeline slowly felt her senses return. She felt Calhoun kiss the nape of her neck, and she sighed.

 Chapter 496 Thread of Hope- Part 3

    <h4>496 Thread of Hope- Part 3</h4>

    Madeline hummed in satisfaction, feeling Calhoun''s nose brush against the side of her neck. She ced her hand on his. She felt him interlock his fingers with her fingers. Calhoun was a gentle lover in the bed, taking his time as both of them reached their climax. The silence that fell in the room feltfortable and soothing. The wind strongly blew outside their room as if a blizzard was taking ce, but the couple who were in each other''s arms were unaware of the blizzard.

    As minutes passed, Madeline wondered if it was possible to bring Raphael back. Given the Devil didn''t do anything for free, she had hoped dimir would have brought the card reader back. But instead, the Devil had offered them a deal to find an innocent person to sacrifice, in return for Raphael''s life.

    "Why is it that Raphael ended up in Hell and not in Heaven? He was a good man, wasn''t he?" questioned Madeline in thought.

    "Heaven probably has a high standard that picks only high quality souls," she heard Calhoun speak not too far away from her ear.

    "Do you think if I did something bad, the angels in Heaven would not wee me into their ce?"

    "Right now, I believe even if you killed an angel, they would still take you in. They worry what might happen if you were to one day go against them," stated Calhoun, and Madeline turned her body. Calhoun''s hand loosened around her waist so that she could now face him. He then continued, "They are desperate to have you."

    "But I don''t want to do anything with them," her eyebrows furrowed and Calhoun''s lips twisted into a smile. Paschar was never around her, and it made little to no difference now with him being there or not. "How was he? When he was in the High House. Paschar I mean."

    "He listened only to Helena because she was righteouspared to the other demons. He was always quiet, intelligent and resourceful when it came to helping me. He never knew I was a demon and only saw me to be a vampire, not knowing until recently that I am a demon like the rest of them," he replied to her. Madeline had grown up in the presence of the fallen angels, and in that, some of her rtives, including her grandparents, had tried to kill her. Calhoun wondered if Madeline was trying to acknowledge Paschar as her father. "You can call him your father if you want to."

    Madeline shook her head, "I don''t think we share a bond like that."

    "What about d?" They hadn''t heard anything about him since he had left the forest near the abandoned town. "Did you hear anything from him?"

    "I am fine. d gave me tea to drink and locked me in the room when he sensed you arrival at the castle," responded Madeline.

    Calhoun rolled his eyes, "Crazy old bat." Seeing Madeline stare at him, he asked, "What happened?" She quickly shook her head.

    "I was just thinking how simr you both are," Madeline adjusted her position so that she could look at Calhoun without her having to crane her neck too much.

    "It is slightly annoying," admitted Calhoun, but Madeline could sense that both the grandfather as well as the grandson would work out things without locking their horns. dimir had mentioned about him being involved in their lives and she believed he would only want to stay here with them in the Hawthrone castle, and be part of the family as Calhoun was the only person he had. It was good to know that Calhoun had someone apart from her, who genuinely cared about him.

    "Do you think he will stay here?" she asked Calhoun. "It would be nice, to have him here," she thought out loud.

    "Why do you say that?" asked Calhoun.

    "Even though he''s a devil, I think he''s a good person."

    "You will find good even in the worst of the worst person. You possess eyes that has the ability to look past every mistake that has beenmitted by a person. Remember what I said before," Calhoun ced his hand below her chin, "Your heart is made of diamond. Crystal clear." Calhoun didn''t care what those fucking angels said, because they hadn''t spent time with Madeline like he did.

    Madeline''s eyes lowered, and when her eyes raised to look into his, she said, "I thought you were bad."

    She had never said it out loud to him until now, but memories hade flooding since Calhoun had mentioned her and Constance being in a simr state to dimir. But he had slowly changed, and somewhere she had tried to understand how Calhoun had lived his life.

    It had taken her some time to understand that she was his thread of hope��something he was tightly holding on to, to not to be swallowed by darkness.

    The love and trust they had for each other was different because even if people didn''t understand their lives, Madeline and Calhoun understood each other.

    "I told you I was the bad wolf," said Calhoun, leaning forward and this time pressing his lips against her forehead. He let his lips linger there longer, and heard Madeline say,

    "A warm wolf." Nuzzling below Calhoun''s chin, Madeline fell asleep in his arms.

    As Madeline drifted into her dreams, she found herself to be surrounded by darkness, and as her eyes adjusted, she heard an owl hoot, and she realized she was in a forest. After having a couple of dreams in the past, Madeline hade to realize that her dreams were not her subconscious making up things, but that it held some sort of knowledge in it.

    She continued to walk, stepping out from the edge of the forest to end up in the abandoned town that she had visited the night before. Unlike a day ago, the ce had light as litnterns were hanging outside the houses. Some people walked in her view, one of them passing through where she stood to continue walking in front of her.

    "You''re finally here," came a voice, and Madeline saw a woman who had golden-blonde locks of hair that was let down. The woman was petite in figure, a smile on her face and for a moment, Madeline wondered if the woman had spoken to her.

    But then came a voice in the direction where the woman was looking at. "I was looking for you."

    Madeline turned around to see a person with a hood on his head, walking towards them. Her eyes widened in surprise, when she caught the glimpse of the man, who had long silver hair.

 Chapter 497 Its all grey- Part 1

    <h4>497 It''s all grey- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline stared at Paschar who had appeared at the ce, that looked less of a town and more of a vige. She wondered what time of the past she had entered and she heard him ask the woman,

    "I thought we were going to meet after ten days. What are you doing here, Marina?"

    The woman was a few years older than Madeline''s age. Her eyes lowered down at Paschar''s question, and she said, "I wanted to see you. I was looking for you."

    "I know," answered Paschar. His long silver hair was tied, he had pushed it to one side of his shoulder, and his grey eyes looked at the woman. "It is why I am here. Was there something you needed from me?" Unlike the woman, who had smiled at him, Paschar held a passive expression on his face.

    Marina stared at Paschar, her brown eyes staring into his grey ones. "I wanted to let you know that there have been demon sightings in this ce."

    "Where are they?" asked Paschar, his eyebrows furrowing in thought. He turned behind him, looking at the people who walked on the streets.

    "There''s some suspicious things taking ce next to my house," informed Marina. "When do you want to check the ce?" she asked, pulling the hood over her head so that she could cover it.

    "Now," answered Paschar, and they left the ce.

    Madeline didn''t know what she was doing here or why she was here. The woman named Marina, she had hair that resembled hers, blonde and golden locks of hair. Was this her...mother? It was hard to tell because she had never asked who the woman was, who had been involved with Paschar.

    Following the two of them, Madeline tried to touch the people who were nothing less to air that blew past her, who didn''t know she was there.

    Madeline''s feet caught up with the duo who walked away from the vige. They were walking next to the forest, and Madeline heard the loud growl of thunder from the sky. If she hadn''t confirmed it earlier, the weather was enough to tell that she had travelled to the past.

    If the person who was walking in front of her was really the woman who had conceived her for the very first time, then that meant this was the time when Paschar had stepped into the living world, and it looked like he was still serving Heaven.

    The Paschar she knew in the present and the Paschar in front of her appeared to be two different people. The angel here had a passive look, and it reminded the angel Michael''s facial expression.

    "My neighbours haven''t stepped out of their houses for more than two days, and it has me worried. I knocked on the door, but there has been no response," exined Marina. "It is because Mrs. Sawyer always shows up in front of my door to borrow sugar. Last night I heard some noise. There has been no lighting from the inside of the house."

    The woman shook her head. "I think the magistrate is involved in it. You told me to inform you if I see anything odd because you hunt demons." Paschar passed a nce at the woman from the corner of his eyes before looking ahead of him. It seemed like Marina didn''t know about Paschar being an angel. Of course, letting a human know about demons or angels was not epted.

    Reaching the isted houses that were away from each otherpared to the present time from where Madeline came, where the houses were built closer. Marina stopped walking near one of the houses, while Paschar walked towards the house''s door, and he knocked on it.

    "Is anybody home?" asked Paschar. His knocks were loud and clear. Hearing no response, he kicked the door open and stepped inside.

    Madeline who couldn''t hold in her curiosity, she followed Paschar, and she brought her hand forward, "Light." A luminous ball of fire appeared above the palm of her hand, and she let the fire to guide her inside the small cramped house.

    Though she didn''t belong to this time period, she could still smell the stenching from the house, and she didn''t have to see to know that it wasing from dead bodies.

    Paschar didn''t need light. As he was born as an angel, he had powers that allowed him to look past the objects and find the human''s dead bodies, who were stacked in the cupboards.

    "Did you find them?" came Marina''s voice from behind. Paschar turned around and stepped out of the house, not letting her to see or smell what was inside the house. The woman gave him a questioning look. "What happened?"

    "The people in there are dead," answered Paschar, "And the ce has a thick smell of demon in there. As if the demon was there a few minutes ago, but left the ce."

    Marina frowned, "What are we going to do? This is the second death taking ce this month. At this rate, the demons will kill everyone here."

    Paschar suggested, "Go to your parent''s ce. Or any rtive who will take you in until the matters in here settles down."

    The woman stared at the angel before saying, "I don''t have anyone," and she looked away. "I live by myself because I have no one. Do you think I could live with you until then?" she looked back at him.

    Madeline didn''t get to hear what Paschar''s answer was to the woman''s question as the scene started to dissolve in front of her and she was taken to a time further than where she had been, as if someone had sped the time before putting a pause. Suddenly she stood in a house, and she heard Marina''s voice.

    "What do you think we should do outside the house? I have asked John to ce the wiring mesh around the house so that no animals or peoplee in," she said to Paschar who was next to her. The atmosphere between them seemed to have changed as Paschar looked more rxed.

 Chapter 498 Its all grey- Part 2

    <h4>498 It''s all grey- Part 2</h4>

    Marina had a concerned look on her face, and she said, "You are a kind man, Paschar."

    "Isn''t that because of you?" he offered her a smile. "I sense something strange in you, Mari."

    Madeline, who stood there felt as if she was intruding the couple''s time, noticed how Marina''s face turned slightly tense, and she tried to smile. "You do?"

    Paschar said, "Yes. You look dull and worn out. Is there something that is bothering you? You know, you can tell me anything, right?"

    "Yes. I think it''s just the heat of the sun that is affecting me. I will be alright with some sleep," she ced her hand on Paschar''s hand. "If there''s something worrying me, you will know. You always do." Saying this, Marina hugged Paschar, and the angel hugged the woman back.

    The smile on her lips lowered down which Paschar couldn''t see, and she stared at the wall behind Paschar.

    Madeline wondered why Marina had a look of worry on her face. Walking towards the window, she noticed it wasn''t the same vige she had earlier stepped into. This was another vige, and knowing how Paschar had mentioned about being with only one woman, Madeline turned back to take a look at the woman''s face. This was her mother, the person who hadn''t given birth to her as Marina had died before giving birth to her.

    "Do you think we should move from here?" questioned Marina.

    "Where do you want to go?" questioned Paschar, pulling away from the embrace they shared, the angel looked down at the woman.

    She shrugged her shoulders, "Anywhere would do," she smiled at Paschar.

    Paschar raised his hand to caress Marina''s face, and Madeline could tell that he really loved the woman. He then thoughtfully responded to her earlier words, "It might be a good idea to change ces. Sometimes I worry my brothers wille to find me."

    "Do you miss them?" she asked him.

    He dropped his hand from her face, going to hold Marina''s hands.

    "On rare asions, but they should be doing fine. They are just angry that I left...without letting them know," answered Paschar. "But that doesn''t matter anymore. I am happier here."

    Madeline stood there watching the couple speak, finding Paschar had not spoken to Marina about who he was as she seemed to not know about who Paschar really was. There were no conversations regarding the angels, but only the demons who were causing a stir.

    With the dream that continued to prolong its time, Madeline saw Paschar leave the house for some work while leaving Marina back in the house.

    She was angry at Paschar for letting her down. For not searching and helping her when she was in the coffin, left to rot not once but twice. He loved Marina, but didn''t he love his and Marina''s daughter? The angel had taken her soul out of the dead woman''s womb, and he had hidden her soul until she finally was reborn in this world. Madeline didn''t know if Paschar considered her to be his daughter or not.

    The woman who had first conceived her, she appeared to be a good person. A gentle smile on her lips, and her voice was calm. Madeline felt her heart skip a beat when Marina turned around and saw straight at her. Madeline wondered if the woman could see her, and her heart started to thunder in her chest.

    "Mama?" Madeline whispered, feeling goosebumps forming on her skin.

    Marina smiled and Madeline who had stood not too far away from her, took a couple of steps towards the woman when they heard a knock on the door. Marina''s gaze shifted to the door, and she asked loudly,

    "Is that you, Regi? Did you forget something?" She walked towards the door and opened it. The smile Marina had on her lips slipped from her face, and she stared at the visitor.

    "Are you not going to wee me inside your sweet and warm house?" Madeline heard a woman''s voice from the other side of the door.

    "What are you doing here?" the sweetness in Marina''s voice dropped and it turned sharp.

    "I thought I would visit you as it has been quite a long time since west met. I was worried, where you forgot about me while ying as the angel''s lover." The woman stepped inside the house without any invitation, and Madeline caught sight of the same woman whom she had seen in her dreams, where Paschar had strangled the person.

    Was this person going to kill Marina? Asked Madeline in her mind. Marina looked visibly worried, and her eyes went to look outside the house where no one was there.

    "That''s the most unweing look I have received in a while from you, Mari," the woman went towards the chairs and sat down in one of them. "How is life with the angel? I can tell you haven''t told him that you know who he is or who you are, have you?"

    Marina stared at the woman, "Did youe here alone, Astrate?"

    "Just by myself to meet my good friend. So how are things going so far, Mari? Darian is upset that you haven''t returned bypleting the task quickly. You''re taking too much time to sway the angel, or has he swayed you?"

    "That''s rubbish, Astrate," replied Marina, "Things like these take time. It has barely been two months since he left Heaven."

    Astrate chuckled, "Whatever you are doing, do it quickly because when Dairanes, you will be answering him. I can tell that you are in love with the angel, and don''t try to deny it. You should know that you are not supposed to fall in love with the angels."

 Chapter 499 Its all grey- Part 3

    <h4>499 It''s all grey- Part 3</h4>

    When Marina''s eyes turned pitch ck, Madeline''s eyes widened. Oh, dear God, she thought to herself.

    "Don''t you dare. You won''t do anything like that! I can handle things here," Marina gritted her teeth when Astrateughed before the smile on her face died down.

    "Don''t forget why you stepped into the living world. Our goal is to turn the angels against each other. To put doubt in their mind so that we can infiltrate Heaven. Do it when he still thinks you are an innocent human."

    In a blink of an eye, the demoness named Astrate disappeared from the house, and Marina raised her hand at the door for it to shut close just by her gesture. Madeline, on the other hand, looked at Marina with her mouth wide open. This couldn''t be, she thought to herself. The person who had conceived her was not human, but a demon. And here she thought things couldn''t get moreplicated than it was in her life.

    When morning arrived with the sun shining brightly in the sky, at the Hawthrone''s castle, Madeline''s dream dissolved into something happier, turning her mood subtly back to the way it was before she had closed her eyes to dream.

    Madeline snuggled closer into Calhoun''s chest, her face pressing on his taut muscles while breathing in and out softly. Some of her hair hade to hover in front of her face, and Calhoun who was awake long ago, pushed her hair away from her face so that he could look at the sleeping beauty.

    Feeling Calhoun''s fingertips brush against her skin, Madeline started to wake up from her sleep, stretching her body while moving only closer to Calhoun.

    "Good morning, my sunshine," Calhoun whispered, leaning forward and pressing his lips against her forehead to hear her hum in response.

    "Good morning," whispered Madeline, still groggy with her eyes closed.

    "Sleep some more if you want. There''s plenty of time before we go out and make an appearance. Or I have a better idea, stay in bed," Calhoun tucked the piece of her hair behind her ear.

    "Maybe this is why everyone wants the throne," whispered Madeline with a smile, "So that they can sleep as much as they want." Her forehead creased when Calhoun caught hold of her cheek with his thumb and index finger.

    "A person is restless when he''s chasing the crown, and he might think the restlessness stops once he gets it, but it doesn''t," said Calhoun. "When you have the crown on your head, there''s another kind of restlessness of where one fears of losing their life."

    Madeline opened her eyes to look at Calhoun''s deep red eyes.

    "But you don''t feel that way," said Madeline as she raised her upper body so that she could look at Calhoun.

    Things had only settled down in their lives after dealing with the demons and the fallen angels, and Madeline had hoped that at least for a day, they wouldn''t have to deal with anything bad. No, not a day, but forever.

    The dream she had dreamt wasn''t vivid anymore, but that didn''t mean she forgot about it. It was still there in her head, "It wasn''t bad," she responded to Calhoun''s question, "But I am not sure if it was good either. Life used to be so much simpler when I was ignorant about some things, and it makes me question if I should let some things as it is."

    What happened before she was born, was it worth walking down that path? Madeline told Calhoun what she remembered from her dream whilst they spent their time in the bed.

    Calhoun patiently heard what Madeline had to say, and once she was done, he said, "Your father still has no clue that he fathered a child with a demoness."

    Madeline shook her head before taking a deep breath and letting it out through her lips. "She, Marina didn''t want him to know that she was a demoness. I think even the other demoness who had killed her, didn''t get the opportunity to reveal it to Paschar."

    "The world is not ck and white as people perceive it to be. It is grey," said Calhoun. He pulled Madeline close, to hug andfort her.

    The King and the Queen of Devonzed in the bed talking to each other, while Madeline moved closer to Calhoun''s chest to hear his heartbeat.

    "How is it possible?" she whispered, "That a vampire''s heart can beat just like a human."

    "Because vampires are the creatures of the living world, just like humans. It is why we make use of a stake, pushing it through the vampire''s heart to kill them," Calhoun brushed the back of Madeline''s hair with his hand, weaving and feeling the texture in between his fingers.

    Calhoun could feel the heaviness in Madeline''s heart, but he didn''t ask her, knowing her thoughts were lingering back to the dream she had while she was asleep. Paschar had failed to notice him being a demon until recently when he revealed it to him. Therefore, he didn''t find it surprising that the angel had not been able to find his lover to be a demon.

    He wondered what Madeline''s dream meant. He didn''t want her to feel burdened by anything right now. "What would you like to do today?" he asked her.

    Madeline lifted her head from Calhoun''s chest and looked into his eyes, "I was thinking about visiting the graveyard." Receiving a questioning look from him, she said, "It has been a while since west visited your mother."

    Calhoun gave her a nod, "Graveyard it is."

 Chapter 500 Prayers of peace- Part 1

    <h4>500 Prayers of peace- Part 1</h4>

    .

    She stood at the window, staring at the grounds of the castle, noticing things had turned back to normal as if nothing had happened two days ago. Her dark brown hair had been tied into a braid, and her eyes looked empty. Since Beth had seen Raphael die, the incident had left her shaken. As hours passed, the reason about his death only sunk into her mind, in the realization that she was the reason why he was dead.

    Her green eyes continued to stare at nothing in particr while she was in deep thought, alone in therge room she had once craved for. Madeline had spoken to herst evening, consoling her that it wasn''t her fault, but she knew that it was her fault. So far, all her decisions had brought nothing but ill omen towards people near her, and she wished for it not to happen again.

    Remembering the blood covering her hands that was red and warm, belonging to Raphael, Beth stepped away from the window. She had been having a disturbed sleep as every time she was pulled into her sleep, she was woken up with the memories of what happened in the forest. There were moments in her dreams that turned the scenes even bloodier with gore than what had happened in reality.

    Turning around, she walked towards the bed and bent near the pillow. Lifting the pillow in one of her hands, she reached for the in card that she had ced under it. It was the card of the fool. Beth remembered when Raphael was still alive and held this card, it had a picture of a clown on it, but since he had died, the markings on it had disappeared as if to confirm the card owner to not exist anymore.

    cing the card in her pocket, Beth stepped out of the room, making her way towards the front side of the castle corridors when she met Madeline, who was walking towards her.

    "Good morning," Beth greeted Madeline with a bow.

    "Good morning, Beth. We will be going to the graveyard. Would you like toe along with us?" asked Madeline, knowing her sister would like to visit Raphael''s grave.

    Beth nodded her head, "Will you be leaving right now?" she inquired.

    "Probably in an hour. Calhoun said he has to attend a meeting with the ministers and the magistrates of the viges and towns. We''ll be leaving once he is free," informed Madeline. "Did you have your breakfast?"

    Beth offered Madeline a smile, "Yes. The maids brought it to the room."

    "That''s good," Madeline ced her hand on Beth''s shoulder, "Are you feeling alright now?" She had been worried about Beth since they had found her in the forest. It was like something had snapped in Beth''s mind, and she had turnedpletely lost. Madeline had made sure for the maids to attend to her sister when it came to bathing or eating her food timely.

    Madeline had never seen Beth in this condition before, and it worried her.

    "I don''t know, Maddie. I feel like I am drowning in the guilt for what happened. I have done a lot of things in the past, things I am ashamed of, but this beats them all," she held her hands together on herp, staring at the trimmed bushes that surrounded them. "I know you told me not to worry or think about it, that Raphael knew that it might cost his life...but it doesn''t make things easier."

    She had never wished for someone to die by her hands. In the past, she had tried to poison the King, but she doubted it was what she wanted. She had blindly followed Markus'' words, wanting to please the man and get his praise, not realizing what she was going to do.

    Madeline furrowed her eyebrows, hearing Beth''s words.

    "Don''t let his effort go in vain, Beth. When Raphael received the ss vial that had the antidote, he knew making you drink it would not be easy. But he wanted to help you, save you from what you were going through so that you could continue to live as before," Madeline tried tofort Beth.

    Beth shook her head as if not wanting to ept what had happened. "If only we could go back in time. So many things could be fixed, so many lives could be saved," whispered Beth. "How do you continue to live, Maddie? Knowing you have killed people. Does sleepe easily without any hauntings?" she turned to meet Madeline''s eyes.

    In Madeline''s case, the people she had killed were the ones who hadmitted grave sins, but in Beth''s case, she had injured Raphael when she was in her werewolf form. Madeline wondered how long it would take until Beth would finally make peace with what she had done.

    "Sleep doese when I go to bed," replied Madeline to Beth''s question, "But the dreams aren''t all good. Most of them are disturbing with what has taken ce in the past, and sometimes even things you believed to have justified yourself, ites back. The worry never stops, until I am wide awake knowing what happened was in the past, and not something that is going to happen."

    There had been recurring dreams where Madeline had dreamt about Calhoun lying dead next to her. It was around the time when she had killed the head maid of the castle.

    "You are not aplete werewolf right now. Because some part of the antidote worked on you, and you can now control when you turn and don''t want to," said Madeline.

    "I would have been fine being a werewolf. It''s not like I would have remembered anything anyways," a dry smile appeared on Beth''s face. And no matter how much she wished she could fix things, it had broken without any possible repair.

 Chapter 501 Prayers of peace- Part 2

    <h4>501 Prayers of peace- Part 2</h4>

    Madeline shook her head, "We haven''t seen him since that day in the forest." If only dimir would have agreed to help them without any deal, she thought to herself. It wasn''t just angel''s but also the devil who was being difficult.

    "I see," murmured Beth. "What happened to Paschar?" With her mind consumed with the murder that took ce by her hands, Beth had not found the time to ask Madeline about what happened.

    "For now they seem to have disappeared like the demons and fallen angels," replied Madeline. At least that is what she believed.

    "Maddie...I know I said I would stay here with you for some time, but I think it is time for me to leave," said Beth to her. "Not to the ce where mama and papa are because I don''t want to endanger their lives because of me."

    Madeline frowned, hearing this, "Where would you go then?"

    "I was thinking about going to the North. I heard from Raphael that there are people who have learned to control their werewolf instincts," Beth stood up from her seat, taking a few steps towards the nts that had flowers bloomed in them. "It is not safe, me staying with mama and papa, or with anyone until I learn to control myself."

    "It''s not safe," Madeline didn''t want Beth to go alone because she didn''t know how safe it was for her to trace alonel.

    "Don''t worry, I will be fine," Beth turned her head to offer Madeline a smile. "I don''t think I am as strong as you to carry a person''s death on my shoulder. It will break me."

    Madeline got up from her seat and walked to where Beth stood. She could sense Beth''s resolve to leave and the heaviness that her sister carried in her heart. "I will ask Calhoun to send someone reliable with you. I doubt I would be in peace by sending you alone by yourself."

    Beth didn''t refuse it, and she gave a nod. "Who knows I might find Mr. Heathcliff there," she said.

    Madeline gave Beth the space she needed to gather her thoughts and emotions by leaving her alone, while making her way to the young vampiress'' room. Two guards stood outside the room, and on seeing Madeline appear in front of the room, the guards bowed their heads.

    The doors opened, and Madeline stepped inside the room to see Lady Lucy, who was awake and sitting on the bed. Theodore wasn''t there with her, and instead her cousin Ethan Moryett was keeping herpany. They both bowed their heads in greeting.

    "Good morning, Lady Madeline," they wished. Ethan said, "I will leave Lucy in your care, mdy," and he left the room. Lucy saw the back of her cousin as he disappeared behind the doors.

    Madeline sensed the slight tension in the room before the vampire left and she said, "I hope I wasn''t interrupting anything important."

    Lucy was quick to shake her head, a smile appearing on her lips, "Never, mdy. Please have a seat."

    "Much better, Lady Madeline. Thank you so much for saving me," from where Lucy had been sitting with her back against the headboard of the bed, she offered Madeline her gratitude with a deep bow. "I heard from Theodore what you did, risking your own life to save me. I will forever be indebted to you for what you have done for me."

    Madeline smiled at Lucy, "You don''t have to feel that way. We are all just d that you are alright," and alive, thought Madeline in her mind.

    Back there, on seeing the amount of blood on the floor where Lucy was dead, Madeline had turned desperate to save the vampiress. She had used all her strength to heal, while shooing away the Salvette Mortem from the ce.

    Madeline took a seat on the chair that was near the bed before she had arrived at the room.

    "It was a night that I didn''t expect would happen, but I am d that it is over now, though we lost many people from the castle," whispered Lucy pressing her lips in thought. "Theodore wanted me to leave the castle that night, but I think no matter what I agreed upon, fate would still y the way it is written in our destiny, mdy."

    Hearing this, Madeline confirmed Theodore''s feelings towards Lady Lucy. The man had been hovering in and around the room, looking after Lucy. "I don''t think any of us expected Samuel toe and hurt you, to be part of the group who were hunting me."

    "Please do not feel bad, Lady Madeline. As I already said, it was just something that was supposed to happen. Theo wanted me to lock the door, but even if I did, it would have been broken," said the vampiress, and Madeline nodded her head. Lucy had been found in the same corridor where her room was located.

    "I hope you will stay here longer, Lady Lucy. We will be able to take better care of you," said Madeline.

    Lucy had a thoughtful expression on her face.

    The vampiress said, "I considered to stay back here for some more time. Sometimes we don''t realize the importance of time. Not knowing when it will slip through our fingers, where we might leave certain things unresolved, and take it to our grave. I had a nanny named Kimora," the vampiress shifted the subject effortlessly, "She looked after me, and I spent more time with her than with my mother. She once told me that people who have secrets in them, not telling it to at least one person, would turn to ghosts, floating forever as they live alone in the middle world. She said it was the space between the living and Hell and Heaven. She used to have wonderful things to say, but she passed away��"

 Chapter 502 Prayers of peace- Part 3

    <h4>502 Prayers of peace- Part 3</h4>

    "She was," agreed Lucy with a smile. After a few seconds, the vampiress said, "So are you, mdy. Forgive me for my words beforehand. People might perceive you to be...ignorant, but I think you are amazing the way you are because they don''t know you." There was a hint of admiration in Lucy''s eyes for Madeline, and Madeline didn''t know how to receive the generouspliment, and she smiled.

    "You too, Lady Lucy."

    Madeline spent some more time with Lady Lucy before she left the room to see if Calhoun finished his meeting in the court room. She headed in the court''s direction and saw Calhoun be the first one to step out of the room, and he was apanied by the member of High House, Daphne. She was d to know that Helena was supporting Calhoun instead of putting up charges on him.

    Suddenly a man walked past Madeline in a hurry to meet the King.

    "Milord!" the man bowed his head deeply.

    "Raise," Calhoun ordered, and the man stood straight, "Speak."

    "Milord, there has been somemotion going on next to the Carnival vige, in Holcott," informed the man. Holcott? Wasn''t it the ce where Calhoun used to live with his mother before he came to live in the castle? Asked Madeline to herself.

    "What is themotion about?" Calhoun inquired. The man had a perplexed look on his face with a deep crease on his forehead as if he didn''t believe the news that he heard.

    The man wrung his hands, opening his mouth to speak, "There has been talk about the previous King Laurence and mother Queen Morganna who appeared in the vige yesterday." Hearing this, Calhoun''s eyes narrowed.

    "Are you drunk, Marcellus?" questioned Calhoun and the man shook his head vigorously.

    "Milord, I swear, everyone has been speaking about it," Marcellus'' rushed his words. "They also said a man appeared with them, and the man made the mother Queen lick his boot before they were beaten by the vigers."

    Calhoun stared at Marcellus for a few seconds and believed the only way the two of them had appeared back in the living world was by the help of dimir. What was the old bat thinking bringing the dead into this world?

    "Did you find out what happenedter? Where are they now?" questioned Calhoun and Marcellus looked taken aback that the King believed this crazy information. He was sure he would lose his neck, but he wanted to ry the information as fast he could to the King.

    Calhoun''s lips twisted, and he waved the man to leave from his sight. The High House member didn''tment on what was just spoken, and she bowed her head at the King before leaving the corridor. Both his father and his grandmother''s soul must have gone to Hell for the sins they hadmitted, and dimir must have decided to torture them by bringing them here.

    "Do you think he took them back to Hell?" Madeline asked,ing to stand next to him.

    "Seems like it. The angels, who have not only tried to hide their existence but also the existence of the demons along with the fallen angels are going to fail badly, thanks to dimir,"mented Calhoun with a serious look on his face.

    The angels were trying to bnce and protect the living world, while the Devil intended to create chaos. It wasn''t like Calhoun wanted to do anything with the angels or with the Devil, but fate had turned in such a way that he had fallen in love with the girl who was a dark angel. And he was the descendant of the Devil.

    This onlyplicated things for the angels.

    As much as the angels thought that Madeline was harmful, Calhoun thought it to be otherwise. Because if Madeline was going to destroy and kill people, he believed the first person in line to be killed was him because of the amount of sins he hadmitted.

    "Anyways, it is something between the Devil and the Angels. Let''s not get ourselves involved in it and stay away from it," stated Calhoun and Madeline agreed to it.

    In the carriage, Calhoun, Madeline and Beth left the castle, making their way to the graveyard where both Calhoun''s mother as well as Raphael was buried.

    Beth was thest person to get down from the carriage. Two days ago, when she had visited this ce, everything was a blur and the only significant vision she had was the blood on her hands. She followed the couple, offering her respects and prayer to thetedy, before heading towards the other grave.

    Reaching the grand cemented coffin, Madeline stayed behind, letting Calhoun take his time as the woman in there was special and meant a lot to him. But when she stopped walking, Calhoun''s hand reached out for hers, holding her hand and he tugged her along with him.

    Calhoun had pulled her to stand next to him as if it was the most natural thing to do.

    They ced the flowers on the grave, and Madeline folded her hands close to her chest to pray, hoping wherever Constance was, she was at peace.

    Not too far away from where the couple was, Beth''s feet slowly reached the grave, and she stared at it. She held blue flowers in her hand with yellow in the centre. Noticing some of the dried leaves that hade to fall on top of Raphael''s coffin, she leaned forward, blowing it away before cing the small flowers that the demon had asked before hisst breath.

 Chapter 503 Devil and Angels- Part 1

    <h4>503 Devil and Angels- Part 1</h4>

    .

    ''For the love, you have showered on him, for the way you have protected him when he was little, I promise to watch over him, and love and cherish until the very end. I will do everything in my power, and always be there for him both in the happiest time of light, as well as in the darkest hours of his life,'' Madeline silently whispered in her mind while she had her eyes closed, standing in front of the closed grave. ''Thank you for protecting him as much as you could, Lady Constance.''

    When she felt a breeze move across where she stood, Madeline opened her eyes and noticed that the atmosphere had turned gloomier. When she turned her head, she noticed Calhoun was standing away from the coffin, looking in another direction. Walking towards him, Madeline ced her hand on his shoulder, and he turned around to meet her eyes.

    "Did you ask her for her blessings?" asked Calhoun, turning his body entirely so that he could face her. His eyes looked softer than they usually did with his features calmer, almost like he was in a tranquil state and at peace with himself. It made Madeline wonder if it was the presence of his mother that made him feel like that.

    In the midst of cold weather, she offered him a warm smile, "I did. I wonder if she can hear me. I mean because she is in Heaven." Madeline hoped that Constance heard her prayers because she didn''t know if they would ever get the opportunity to meet and get to know each other. As Madeline was part angel, she hoped that her words reached Calhoun''s mother.

    Calhoun''s hand reached out for hers, to hold it in both his hands. "She must have heard it. Whenever I needed her to hear me the most, she always heard."

    Madeline didn''t need to meet Constance to know how wonderful of a mother she was to him. Every time Calhoun spoke about Constance, his words were filled with deep respect and admiration towards her. It only made her wonder how much he missed his mother.

    Letting go of her hand, he fished his trouser pocket and pulled out red berries from there, and it made Madeline smile whilst her eyebrows furrowed itself. "It is the strangest thing I have seen. A vampire carrying berries in the pocket," said Madeline and Calhoun grinned at her.

    "I think you had that same look the first time when I offered them to you," replied Calhoun, fondly remembering the memory. "I don''t exactly carry them in my pocket." Saying this, he closed his hand, and when he opened it, the berries had disappeared. "There are things that can be pulled from the air," and he pulled a single berry from nowhere, offering it to Madeline.

    "Thank you," whispered Madeline, not forgetting her manners. Putting it in her mouth, she crushed it, tasting sweetness burst on her tongue.

    "Good morning, Calhoun and Madeline! I wondered where you both went and thought I woulde and visit the graveyard. And vo! Here you both are!" came the excited and loud voice of dimir.

    Madeline bowed her head, greeting dimir, "Good morning, d."

    Calhoun gave his grandfather a stare before asking him, "What are you doing here?"

    "I wanted to have breakfast with my grandson," dimir stated as if it was the most natural thing to do.

    "You brought the previous King and the old woman back to the living world," Calhoun''s eyes narrowed at his grandfather. "Thanks to you, people are going to wonder if ghosts exist."

    dimir didn''t look one bit guilty, and he only smiled like he had woken up on his good side this morning, that was if morning existed in Hell, which Madeline doubted. He appeared to be wearing clothes that weren''t the old ones, but belonged to the present time.

    "Isn''t it wonderful that people will have better things to speak about, than talk about the useless matter," dimir pped both his hands together, and he walked past them, making his way towards the grave where Constanceid. "I didn''t know what I wanted to do with them because chopping people and then burning them in the molten iron is meh. It is the mostmon thing we have been practicing in Hell. I wanted something new, so I decided to restore their memory before breaking it down. It was fairly enjoyable."

    The Devil then touched the cemented coffin, feeling the soft crackle of lightning run up his fingers. "Why is your mother lying in a grave that doesn''t have her name?" questioned dimir, the smile turning upside down and he looked back at Calhoun.

    "It was safer to keep her here, where people wouldn''t move her, believing it was the great old King who was inside. Also, this particr grave has properties to preserve the body without rotting," replied Calhoun. So he threw his great old grandfather out of the cemented coffin to be reced by his mother.

    "Hm," responded dimir, "Seems fair," and he went to the front where the man''s name was engraved. With one snap of his finger, the stone turnedpletely nk with no name on it anymore.

    Beth, who had finished praying, was making her way to where Madeline was when she noticed the Devil standing next to them. Sensing Beth''s presence and the scent of light werewolf in the air, dimir''s eyes narrowed.

    "While I was in Hell, I heard something very interesting about you," said dimir, looking at Beth who seemed jittery in his presence. "Heard that you were going to poison my grandson," his eyes turned utterly serious, and if it was possible, the clouds turned darker.

 Chapter 504 Devil and Angels- Part 2

    <h4>504 Devil and Angels- Part 2</h4>

    Beth pursed her lips. The way the Devil was looking at her right now, she was sure the death reaper would appear and drag her to Hell. She repented meeting Markus, believing his and Rosamund''s words, and she wondered how long it would take until she would be forgiven for her actions.

    Not knowing what else to do, Beth bowed her head, "I apologize for my mistakes. I would never do anything like that ever again. My loyalty lies with my sister and the King of Devon."

    dimir didn''t lift his gaze away from her but only stared at her.

    Beth raised her head, while feeling the tension in the air.

    "How strange," murmured dimir and everyone''s eyes fell on the Devil. "I would have enjoyed seeing you poison him," an instant smile appeared on his face, without bothering to exin his first words. Hearing this, Calhoun''s eyes narrowed again. It wasn''t just one or two screws that were loose in this man''s head, but a dozen of them. "I mean, I would have found out earlier Calhoun was my grandson. It would have been a quick process."

    Beth wasn''t sure if dimir was angry or happy, but she decided to keep her guard up for now.

    "How are you feeling? Any feeling where you want to tear and rip people into pieces?" dimir hummed the question.

    "I haven''t turned to a werewolf for thest two days," answered Beth.

    "And how do you find the transformation with a few werewolf abilities in hand now at your disposal?" the Devil asked with a glint of curiosity in his eyes.

    "I have been able to control it," Beth didn''t know why, but it felt like dimir was trying to look deep into her soul as he was barely bothered with her answers. It made her ufortable, but she answered his questions.

    When he took a step closer to Beth, Madeline''s own body turned alert and tense. Whatever happened was in the past, and she had no idea what dimir was up to. She quickly nced at Calhoun and saw he still had the sameposure as before. Beth, in the meantime, noticed how dark the Devil''s eyes were. It was like a dark abyss that didn''t have a way out. And suddenly for a second, she noticed a corpse that stood in front of her, and her eyes widened in fear.

    "Stop trying to scare her," Calhoun rolled his eyes at dimir.

    dimir slowly smiled before retrieving back his steps from where Beth stood. Beth blinked her eyes, "W-what did you do?" she asked in a shaky voice.

    "Ole me didn''t do anything. What had to happen has already been done," dimir looked left and right like he was enjoying the view around him.

    Calhoun sensed the change in dimir''s tone that held a tinge of aloofness in it. Beth''s heart was beating loudly as if she had seen a ghost. He asked, "What did you do to her?"

    The smile on Devil''s face filled itself with mischief, making Madeline question what dimir had done to Beth. He had handed the antidote to them willingly after telling them he wanted to be part of their family.

    dimir said, "How do you think the antidote has been made? It isn''t easy to acquire something so delicate and precious which many men and women have tried to get their hands on. Let''s keep the details out about how the antidote was made, but I must tell you, there was a pinch of venom that was dissolved in it. The venom belonged to the first turned werewolf, and during the making, the acquired venom was mixed with my blood."

    Beth felt her blood drain from her face, turning pale as she stared at dimir.

    "Venom of the first werewolf? Isn''t it only going to make things worse?" questioned Madeline rmed, ncing at her sister.

    "Does it have any side effects?" inquired Calhoun.

    "I am going to die," whispered Beth.

    "One question at a time children," responded dimir, "My blood has stayed in Elizabeth''s body for hours now, this means she has turned to one of my underlings. Of course, it isn''t just blood, but also a word of a spell that was whispered during the making of the antidote. Spells of some goodness, and a bit of curse. I also had to sacrifice a couple of lives who were innocent," seeing the two horrified faces of the girls, dimir chuckled. "I am the Devil. You should not expect anything less from me."

    dimir then continued to exin, "The first person who had turned into a werewolf, I was able to acquire the venom from him before he could turn to dust. It was told that the person who initiated the transformation of the human to a werewolf, had also prepared an antidote for his test subject. But it got wasted when the tower exploded in fire. No one knows if there was more than one antidote created by the man," the older vampire clicked his tongue.

    "What do you mean by your underling?" asked Beth.

    dimir offered her a bright smile, "It is simple. You shall be able to do my bidding in the living world. It is why you saw my true form and what a privilege it is. Though there is something that is bothering me," he looked down at Beth, his smile lowering down from his lips. "I can sense the guilt that you carry in your heart and in your mind, for the sins you havemitted, but I am unable to see them. I wonder if it has anything to do with the antidote."

    "You have no im on her as your servant,"mented Calhoun, barely bothered by what dimir just said. "For the Devil to be able to control a person from the living world, that person should ept you as his or her Master, until then, the soul is free."

 Chapter 505 Devil and Angels- Part 3

    <h4>505 Devil and Angels- Part 3</h4>

    One side of Calhoun''s lips pulled up, "From my mother."

    Beth let a sigh of relief through her lips. She had been worried that something bad was going to happen. It seemed that she was part of the living as well as belonging to the underworld because of the Devil''s blood coursing through her veins.

    dimir chuckled, "I saw Michael yesterday. What a nosey angel he is, always trying to keep an eye on what I am doing. He came to me with an offer, an offer much better than what I gave you all when ites to the demon''s life. Did you find an innocent soul or have you decided to let him rest in peace in the coffin?" dimir turned his head to look in the direction where Raphaelid in the cemented coffin.

    "Your offer was so amazing that we thought it was better to let it pass,"mented Calhoun with sarcasm.

    "I never make offers to bring back souls from the dead. It is one of those rare offers thates once in many decades," smiled dimir.

    It wasn''t easy to get an innocent soul to Hell as it went to Heaven. The easiest way to get an innocent soul to Hell was by making a deal with some of the high level demons or the Devil.

    "We would prefer not to take away someone''s life. Why not pick the worst or corrupted souls?" questioned Madeline.

    dimir nodded his head as if in agreement with Madeline''s words, and then said, "There are too many of those kinds in Hell. I would like to have some innocent ones instead."

    Hearing the old bat shift the conversation again, Calhoun asked, "What did Michael offer you?"

    dimir folded his hands behind his back, he took a few steps away from them and walked towards Constance''s grave. He ran his hand on the top of the cemented lid where his daughterid, "Why don''t you take the opportunity to kill someone if you have a chance to get someone dear back in your life?" he didn''t look at them and continued to stare at the grave. "After all, that person is a stranger."

    Madeline didn''t know what dimir was going on about, but she said, "It doesn''t matter if we know someone or not. Taking away someone''s life is wrong."

    "Spoken like a true angel,"mented dimir. Feeling the reing from his grandson, dimir said, "I was offered Constance, who will get to live again, and breathe just as she used to, but in return-"

    "They want Madeline,"pleted Calhoun, his lips twisted in distaste.

    At this revtion, Madeline''s eyes widened. Never would she have thought?that the angels would do something like this. Calhoun was indeed right. Thest time they had spoken with the angels, they were all just words. In the end, they still wanted her toe to Heaven.

    "And what did you say?" asked Calhoun.

    "I will fucking kill you," Calhoun threatened his grandfather lowly.

    dimir showed Calhoun his fangs. "I didn''t tell him anything, though it is very enticing and hard to refuse, as he said he could send Constance. It isn''t like I haven''t thought about the con side of it," he gave out a dramatic sigh as if he was torn between what to do.

    Beth who stood next to Madeline had heard never to make deals with the Devil, which was why she hadn''t spoken much in his presence, not to forget, there was something very eerie about the man.

    dimir smiled in glee. He said, "You should know that the angels can be very persistent, especially when ites to the righteous path they want to lead the world in. I am just paving a path for everyone, letting them know what exists."

    So that was why dimir had brought Calhoun''s father and his grandmother back to the living world? It wasn''t just about torture, but an act that had possibly provoked Heaven. dimir was instigating a war between Hell and Heaven, and it made Madeline wonder what the oue would be.

    Out of curiosity, Madeline asked, "If a person enters Hell, can they return to the living world again?"

    "Entering Hell is probably the easiest thing, but getting out from there is impossible. When ites to Heaven, entering and leaving is both difficult as the gates of Heaven are secured by the archangels," dimir answered her question, "In Hell, you remember every single sin you have caused, while in Heaven, the angels find it quite convenient to erase the soul''s memories. They call it to be the Wiping. A person who enters Heaven doesn''t remember anything from the living world, and can live there in peace."

    Madeline pursed her lips.

    "There was something I wanted to ask you," said Madeline and dimir stared at her, "Do you know a person named Marina? She is a demon."

    dimir tilted his head to the side. "There are too many demons, with many names. Why do you ask about her?"

    "Marina was Paschar''s lover," stated Calhoun and dimir raised his eyebrows.

    "I thought his lover was a fragile human," murmured dimir.

    Madeline shook her head, "I don''t think Paschar ever found out that she was a demon, and I would prefer that you keep it that way. Please," she added when she noticed the glimmering mischief appear in dimir''s eyes.

    "Things have turned interesting," hummed dimir staring at the dark angel. "I was hoping to spend some time with you children, to bond. To hunt some old demons or humans who have sinned. Let''s go to Hell," decided the Devil and he raised his hand to open a ck portal at the nearest tree, "And see if we can find your mother if she''s truly a demon."

 Chapter 506 Trip to Hell- Part 1

    <h4>506 Trip to Hell- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline looked at the ck circting portal that had been opened by dimir on the bark of the tree. It looked nothing less to a pit of ckness, and it was hard to believe that this was the way to enter Hell. Since the time she had seen her mother in her dream, she had wanted to know more about her mother. She had somehow learned about the beginning and the end of Paschar and Marina''s love story, but what happened in between? ording to Paschar, the woman who had visited Marina had killed her, but how far was it true?

    She wanted to learn more about her mother, and like Paschar who hade to know about Marina, Madeline believed her mother was not a demon but a human.

    "You are the King of Hell, shouldn''t you have all the details about the demons who are in there?" questioned Calhoun, he looked at dimir with distrust in his eyes.

    The Devil only smiled at Calhoun''s words. He expected nothing less from his grandson. "I am not the guardskeeper of Hell to keep a register in my hand, Calhoun," dimir paused before saying, "There''s a person who has sinned to the point where there was no return. Though the person is not a prisoner, but the warden of the prisons. He''s the one who has the names," he showed his fangs to them.

    "You didn''t punish him?" inquired Madeline.

    "There are only a few people whom I get along with. I thought he was an excellent person to take care of the sinners in the building of torture. How about we step in, and we can continue our discussion once we are in Hell?" dimir raised his eyebrows.

    Madeline wondered if it was safe. Since the Devil was rted to Calhoun, the possibility was high that dimir could keep them in there forever so that no angel would be able toe and disrupt their lives. Not to forget, it seemed like the Devil was waiting to have Beth in his collection of servants.

    "Do you not trust me?" questioned dimir.

    "No," Calhoun didn''t hold back his answer, and his response only broadened his grandfather''s smile.

    "Do you know how proud I am to have you as my grandson? Constance was brought up with such sweetness, but I don''t see it in you unless your eyes fall on the girl," stated dimir, his eyes coyly fell on Madeline. "I can tell how much you treasure and love her."

    dimir''s eyes shifted back to look at Calhoun, both of them staring at each other intensely. It was apparent that it was hard to trust the Devil or the angels. Each had their own cunning and the righteous path that they wanted to follow, and the best one could do, was to be on guard.

    "Let me go first," said Calhoun so that he could receive the two girls in Hell. Though the Devil was his grandfather, Calhoun couldn''t help but be cautious around the man.

    Madeline saw Calhoun disappear into the ck portal, and she turned to look at Beth, "You don''t have toe if you aren''tfortable."

    Thest time when she and her sister had tagged along to go to the Cossington vige, they had met with bad fate and Beth had been bitten by a werewolf. Madeline hadn''t questioned or stopped Bethst time, thinking spending time together would reconcile their lost sisterhood, but who would have thought that they would end up losing a good-hearted demon.

    Beth pursed her lips. She couldn''t deny the tension she felt around dimir, who had told her, that his blood coursed through her veins. "Will wee back unharmed from there?" asked Beth.

    "He said to stay near him. He owns Hell, so it shouldn''t be a problem, but if you still feel uneasy, go back to the castle, Beth. I will be with Calhoun and will be fine," promised Madeline. Likest time, they were going for her sake, and she didn''t want Beth to feelpelled toe along.

    "Do you, do you think he will be there?" asked Beth. Her heart was heavy, but the thought of him being there, she couldn''t resist herself from not seeing him.

    Madeline didn''t need to question Beth about whom she was talking. "We can try."

    "I wille," Beth made up her mind.

    "Okay," Madeline offered Beth a smile, and she got inside the portal.

    Madeline stretched her hand in front of her, and she felt a hand caught hold of her hand. When she finally stepped into Hell, Madeline saw Calhoun waiting for her. She looked around the ce to see the limitless dark sky and below her feet, there was smooth sand. Soon they were joined by Beth, who came from the portal and once Beth moved away from it, the portal automatically closed itself, disappearing from the ce as if it didn''t exist.

    "As everyone here has wings, I will meet you in the tower of Sin," informed dimir, and in a blink of an eye, he turned into a bat and flew away from there.

    "He speaks as if it is a tower where we usually meet and that we know of," muttered Calhoun under his breath. "It would be best if you don''t show your wings here. Demons hate angels with passion," and then he looked at Beth, "You should check if you have wings."

 Chapter 507 Trip to Hell- Part 2

    <h4>507 Trip to Hell- Part 2</h4>

    "If what dimir said before is true about his blood in the antidote, then that only means that you might turn into a demon. Or you already have, considering how many hours have passed since you took the antidote," exined Calhoun. Even though his mother didn''t receive the wings from dimir because of the generation skip, Calhoun was able to acquire them.

    Madeline didn''t like the fact that Beth was turning into a demon, but it was much better than her sister turning to a full werewolf who would be part of the wild animals.

    "Doesn''t it take time to get wings?" questioned Madeline before looking at her sister. "Did you sense any pain in your back since you returned to the castle?"

    Beth shook her head.

    "How about you first take Beth there, and I will wait for you here?" suggested Madeline. "There shouldn''t be any trouble here." All her eyes saw was a vast desert with not a single soul around except for them. It was as if they were left in the middle of nowhere. dimir could have made them enter the building directly instead of dropping them in here. The devil had left them far away from anything. With the portal closed, there was no way for them to get back to the living world.

    As if in realization, Madeline said, "Does this mean...not being next to him equals getting into trouble?"

    Calhoun''s eyes looked around the desert, where the sky was starless with a nket of darkness in Hell.

    Leaving Beth alone here where she didn''t know how to protect herself was not safe. "If anything happens, call my name, and I will be here," he said to Madeline, and she nodded her head. His ck wings spread wide on his back, he picked up Beth to fly in the direction where dimir headed in earlier.

    Madeline could hear and sense the silence that started to wrap around where she stood. It was strange to think she was in Hell even though she wasn''t dead.

    She felt a strange prickliness on her skin as if her body was trying to resist the atmosphere of Hell. But what was not known to the living mortals, was thatpared to Heaven, the ce of Hell was inhospitable when it came to weing living beings. And it put a time limit on the living things that entered Hell. One had to leave the ce soon unless they wanted to be part of the Underworld, never to be mortals again.

    While Madeline stood in her ce, waiting for Calhoun to return as she had been told not to bring out her angelic wings, she stared up at the sky, and at the same time, one step away from her feet, the sand started to shift and move.

    Slowly something stuck out from the ground, and it was a hand made of bones that started to move towards her leg, ready to grasp her ankle and pull her inside the sand. But in time, Madeline moved away as she saw Calhouning for her with his wings pping in swift motion.

    Calhoun took Madeline in his arms, carrying her as they made their way away from the desert, she noticed an orange light from a far distance. In time, she noticed arge wall that surrounded a vastnd that looked bigger and bigger with every second. There were plenty of buildings made out of rocks, but they were all broken. There was fire everywhere, and before they even entered the ce that was surrounded by walls, Madeline heard the souls of people screaming and crying continuously. It was something ufortable to listen to.

    She then caught sight of demons, who were not like the ones had ever seen before.

    The true form of the demons were strange in appearance, and it was evident that they didn''t belong to the living world. Some of them had one horn or more, and some didn''t have any. But apart from the demons, Madeline''s eyes fell on the creatures who didn''t have skin, and the creatures had hollow eyes filled with reddish-orange light in them. The light could be seen from their nose and mouth along with parts of their body that was torn to emit the light like fire as if its body was burning from inside.

    As Calhoun''s wings pped towards the tallest tower present in there, the demons who were on the ground caught sight of the ck wings on the person. The demons turned curious as to who this person was.

    Reaching the tower, Calhoun let Madeline down on the ground. Beth quietly stood at one side, her face slightly nk as if she was in deep thought. At the same time, through therge spiral stairs, Odin stepped down as quickly as he could, almost losing his footing, but he quickly got hold of his bnce.

    "Wee to Hell, Master Calhoun, Lady Madeline and," said Odin, and his eyes fell on Beth. "My apologies to you, mdy." Odin didn''t know the news about the werewolf''s death, but then he hadn''t seen her name in the new arrival list of souls in Hell.

    "She''s not dead, she only turned to a demon," Calhounmented at Odin''s words, and the servant demon''s eyes snapped at Beth.

    "No?" But the girl smelled like a demon. He quickly bowed his head, "My apologies for thinking it so."

    Madeline couldn''t help but wonder how Odin was a demon because his mannerisms were very polite. "Master has been waiting for you. Please follow me."

    Calhoun and the other two?followed Odin, making their way through the dark passages of the building, whilst they heard the souls that were being tortured screaming in agony, their voices echoing through the ce.

    When they finally reached the hall where dimir sat in his throne, Madeline noticed he wasn''t alone but he hadpany.

 Chapter 508 Trip to Hell- Part 3

    <h4>508 Trip to Hell- Part 3</h4>

    "I thought you would love to meet your father, and your grandmother," dimir pped his hands together, his eyes full of delight and amusement.

    In the room apart from the living mortals, the Devil and the demon servant, there were three other people who were on the ground, on their knees. Morganna and Laurence had a look of shock on their face, while Markus'' eyes fell on Beth, whom he hadn''t seen on the day he had been executed in the living world.

    Morganna wanted to strangle Calhoun for what he had put her through, but with the series of punishments she had received from the Devil, she didn''t dare to utter a word.

    "Beth," came the whisper from Markus, looking at green eyes and Beth''s face hardened.

    "Oh, I forgot you are here," murmured dimir and then spoke to the other sinners. "Is there something you want to say before you return to your exclusive rooms?"

    Markus smiled at Beth, but she turned her face away from him. For the mistakes she hadmitted in the castle, Markus had med the fire and made her stand against her very own sister.

    Laurence pressed his head against the ground and said, "Forgive me! I never meant to hurt you or your mother, Calhoun. I have never mistreated you. I have always put you first. I knew what I did in the past was wrong, but I sent my very own mother to the dungeon!"

    Calhoun closed his eyes, a faint smile appeared on his lips, "Is this all you are capable of?" It made Laurence wonder what Calhoun meant. Did his son want more apologies? He would do that! But then Calhoun turned his head to look at dimir. The question wasn''t for Laurence, but directed at dimir.

    "Odin," dimir called his ever-faithful servant. "It looks like Calhoun is not pleased with the punishments given to these rats." Hearing this, Morganna, who was busy cursing the boy who had sent her here, her eyes widened in terror.

    "W-what do you mean by that?!" questioned Morganna.

    Madeline looked at the two people she had only seen in the portraits of the castle, and they looked just like that. But the only difference was that the expressions of arrogance and pride had been reced with fear and dread.

    "We did everything you asked! We even told the vigers the truth of what happened and how we are the ones to be med! Our name has been sullied-" Laurence words were interrupted by Calhoun.

    "Yet you have the audacity to speak right now."

    Madeline, who stood next to Beth, noticed how Calhoun''s entire demeanour had changed from calm to something very sinister. It reminded her of the time when Calhoun had cut people''s head right in front of her eyes.

    Gulping, Morganna said, "We have done everything to make it right-"

    "You did? I don''t think I got to see it," responded Calhoun. "Anyways I will deal with these peopleter," and Calhoun turned to dimir, "You know why we came here. Don''t stall it."

    dimir grinned widely, and with one snap of his fingers, the sinners disappeared from the room. He ordered Odin, "Make sure they are turned back to flesh before the keepers decide to inflict pain on them."

    "Yes, Master!" Odin bowed his head, turning into a bat and flying out of the Grand Hall.

    dimir then snapped his finger, and a Salvette Mortem appeared next to Madeline, making its way to stand in front of dimir, and it bowed its head.

    "Do you know all the Salvette Mortems?" questioned Madeline.

    "They belong to me, so yes, I do," responded dimir.

    "There''s a Salvette Mortem that is still lurking in the castle. It felt like...it came for me��" said Madeline, looking at the older vampire who stared back at her.

    "I heard one of them went missing. Didn''t know it came to see you unless it decided to spend its time in the castle, after the hours it spent in there. But then, it could be there, waiting for you to die," came the thoughtful answer from dimir. "It won''t take your soul away from the living world. Even if you die, I would prefer you toe to Hell, but for that, you must have sinned."

    "My mother. I want to meet her," Madeline changed the subject abruptly. She didn''t want to be part of Heaven or Hell.

    "Of course," said dimir, and he got up from the throne-like seat, stepping down. "Follow me," and dimir started to walk.

    Madeline and the rest followed the Devil and they got down at the lower base of the stone building. The ce was dark, and the only thing that kept it bright was the mesing from the torch. She felt her heart race with every step she took forward, not knowing how her mother was doing. Was her mother being tortured because the tower was called the tower of sins? But strangely the screams lowered down as it only got quieter.

    "Where are we?" questioned Madeline.

    dimir didn''t reply right away, but when they reached the ends of the stairs, she noticed the change in the light of the torchespared to the ones that were burning yellow and red me earlier on the walls. These were blue and purple.

    Madeline noticed a river not too far away from them.

    "This is the ce where the souls reside. A mixture of souls of demons, some who are good and some bad. Demons who were killed by other stronger demons," exined dimir before bending down next to the river where souls floated in there. "I heard that your mother was killed by another higher level demon, hence her soul must be somewhere here."

 Chapter 509 She loved me dearly- Part 1

    <h4>509 She loved me dearly- Part 1</h4>

    "Is this the person?" questioned dimir, and Madeline stared at Marina without a wording out of her mouth.

    "Is s-she dead?" asked Madeline.

    "Well, she''s in Hell and floating in here. She is very dead," replied dimir. Madeline stepped towards him, taking a seat next to him while looking at the woman''s hair waving in the water. "Souls like these are the ones that are used to feed the existence of Hell. Everynd needs something to feed on so that it can flourish. What happened to her?" he asked Madeline, looking at the woman whose eyes were closed.

    "She was killed," whispered Madeline. "By a demoness named Astrate. They were trying to lure Paschar to turn against Heaven."

    "Looks like the demons failed," dimir harrumphed.

    Calhoun who stood behind Madeline, he noticed the resemnce between Madeline and the woman, the colour and texture of their hair were simr, and so were their features. The mysteries that revolved around Madeline twisted only further.

    "What does it mean? To be an offspring of a demon and an angel? Is this is why Madeline is a dark angel?" demanded Calhoun. Most of them, including him and Madeline, hade to believe that the reason why Madeline had wings and abilities to kill people was that she was cursed for Paschar''s actions, but it wasn''t so anymore.

    dimir turned to look at his grandson from where he sat on his heels.

    "I don''t think demons and angels have ever tried to live together. I believed you were the first ones, but it seems like it was her parents," dimir jerked his head towards Madeline. "She''s a demon, how did Paschar not know?" the Devil smiled, wondering if Paschar had been stupid and blind in love. "So what happened?" he inquired with curiosity.

    Madeline tried to put her hand into the river, and she noticed the way even her hands turned to bones, the prickly feeling she had been feeling on her skin since she had entered Hell increased and she took her hand back before she could touch her mother.

    "I don''t think Paschar wanted to get involved with anyone, or even with her. He said something about hunting demons, which was why he came to the living world. The ce was in the town where Beth was kidnapped and taken to," exined Madeline.

    "Hm, I think I have a vague memory of Paschar when he was sent to the living world," dimir said with a thoughtful look on his face as if he was recollecting the past memories.

    "No one fought on his behalf? Is an angel never to have any feelings for anyone?" asked Madeline.

    "Heaven has strict rules, dear," stated dimir, "If the angel doesn''t follow, people turn very, very upset with the angel. The reason things are not strict in Hell is that the underworld is for sinners who cheat, and lie, and do everything immorally."

    "It doesn''t sound like a good ce," Madeline murmured to herself, and she noticed dimir offer her a smile.

    "Paschar was hard-headed and difficult to persuade. It was one of the reasons why they sent him down to the living world to hunt down some of the demons. No one knew that a human could make Paschar leave Heaven to pursue his life as a mortal. It was before I imed Hell as my own. The demons were turning humans to another set of demons. The ones you see in the living world are mostly those turned offsprings, while only some original demons still live there," said dimir. He then continued, "But now we know she was never a human, but a demon."

    "She loved him. I think they both wanted to stay away from the world they came from," said Madeline, her eyes falling back on her mother in the river. "She was too scared to let him know about her being a demon."

    "Because she was aware that he would leave her immediately," stated dimir. "Angels and demons are arch enemies of each other."

    Madeline wondered about it. She wondered if Paschar would have left Marina if she had told him the truth, or would he have continued to love her unconditionally?

    "And here you are epting Madeline with open arms," murmured Calhoun, his eyes not leaving dimir.

    "Madeline might be an angel, but she''s also a part demon. Maybe not as potent as the rest, but she''s still the daughter of a demoness, which means she can be turned into aplete demon if guided in the right direction," dimir let out his thoughts.

    "She''s not going to turn into one," Calhoun''s words were firm. He knew dimir had something up his sleeves. It was why his eyes didn''t move away from the old bat.

    "Aw, why not?" asked dimir, "Wouldn''t it be wonderful to spend time with each other in Hell? Having dinner and torturing people together. I know, for one thing, you will enjoy this ce, Calhoun."

    "You can rule this ce by yourself. If you want to spend time, the gates of the Hawthrone''s castle is always open for you," said Calhoun, his eyes ring at dimir.

    "That I already know. Mere metal objects like gates and doors cannot stop me," snickered the Devil. "But it would be wise to have Madeline turned to one side, unlike the angels'' I won''t hound her toe to Hell."

    "That''s because she will have nowhere to go, but to end up here," deadpanned Calhoun.

 Chapter 510 She loved me dearly- Part 2

    <h4>510 She loved me dearly- Part 2</h4>

    .

    dimir couldn''t stop the grin that spread wide on his lips. He was proud that Calhoun was not a dimwit, but it also put him in quite some trouble here.

    "Do you think the angels are going to let it be? Until Madeline is an angel, they will always want her. And it doesn''t matter to them if she is a part demon or has only a drop of demon blood. They believe in saving souls," exined dimir, raising his eyebrows at Calhoun.

    "I thought there were rules if one wanted to enter Heaven," said Beth after hearing what dimir just said.

    "Like what?" questioned dimir.

    "To never lie, to never kill, to never have...sex," Beth cleared her throat.

    dimir threw his head back and started tough as if he had heard the best joke. Hisughter continued to echo in the ce, and he finally said, "If all those were true, then that''s like telling the old men and women who had children are not worth entering Heaven and are thrown in Hell. I said they were strict, but on rare asions, some rules are bent to let the souls into Heaven."

    Somewhere in between, Madeline had stopped listening to them and was busy looking at her mother.

    "Does this mean she won''t wake up?" Madeline had hoped to speak to her mother, to hug and know her.

    Without a word, dimir twisted his wrist and the woman who was sleeping, opened her eyes, and she stared at Madeline. "She won''t be the same if she steps out of the river. If a living person steps into the river, they will turn to nothing but bones in appearance, but if the dead souls get out of the river, they will turn to bones."

    For a moment when dimir had opened his mouth to speak, Madeline was sure he was going to tell her that she wouldn''t be able to speak to her mother or look into her eyes. She could feel her heart race again, this time in nervousness as well as in excitement. She moved closer to the river, her upper body leaning forward to look at her mother, who stared back at Madeline with her brown eyes.

    "Mama," whispered Madeline, and a sliver of confusion appeared on the woman''s face before her eyes widened.

    The surface of the water was like a thin ss that separated the mother and daughter. Marina looked at Madeline in fascination, and she stretched her hand to ce it on the other side of the surface of water and Madeline couldn''t resist, but ced her hand back on the surface of the water as if they touched each other''s hands. A rush of memories started to flood in her mind, and Madeline saw shes of images that rushed in front of her eyes, while they continued to keep their hands connected.

    In the sh of images, she saw Marina trying to get something by bending towards the ground before a small cry escaped her lips.

    ''Why do you do that?'' Madeline saw Paschar move to where Marina stood near the window.

    ''Why don''t you sit down, and let me help you,'' offered Paschar, helping Marina to sit on the bed. He bent down, getting hold of theb and he said, ''Let meb your hair. You should be rxing, instead of trying to bend and try to break your back. You''re a human."

    Hearing this, the smile on Marina''s face lowered down from her lips which Paschar overlooked as he helped her inbing her hair. ''I am stronger than any human��''

    ''That you are, and you will have to be stronger for the baby. How is she doing?'' questioned Paschar.

    Marina''s eyes fell on her baby bump, and she ran one of her hands to caress it with love, ''She''s been quiet. Must have taken to her father.''

    Paschar chuckled, ''It would be lovely to have a small one just like you. Our daughter,'' murmured the man with gentleness in his voice.

    Marina smiled, but the smile slowly started to lower down from her lips out of worry. It would be good if their child turned to be like Paschar and not like her, a demon because the world was harsh for demons. She protectively held the baby bump in her hand.

    Madeline could tell that her mother was worried about Paschar finding out about who she was, the lie that she had hidden from him for a long time.

    The surface of the river wavered, and Madeline''s attention was brought back to the present, away from the past that Marina showed her. There was a smile on her mother''s face as if she was fascinated to see Madeline right now. Years had passed one after another before Madeline was brought to the living world.

    Madeline didn''t know about her mother. She didn''t even think about meeting or finding out about her mother until she had seen Marina in her dream. Even though Marina was in the water, Madeline could tell that tears appeared from the corner of her mother''s eyes because the colour of the tears changed before dissolving in the water. Madeline felt her heart squeeze, and her lips pressed itself while her own eyes blurred because of the tears. Her mother loved her, and so did her father.

    With their hands still connected, Madeline was taken back to the past to see what had urred. She was once again taken back in time,ing to stand next to a river she once had visited in her dream. She heard,

    "You have stalled and tried to hide, but your time is up, Marina. And a baby?" asked the woman named Astrate, "Moving from one vige to another, did you think you could hide?"

 Chapter 511 She loved me dearly- Part 3

    <h4>511 She loved me dearly- Part 3</h4>

    Astrate''s lips pulled up into a smile, "Come back, Marina. The living world is not for you, not once the angel finds what is growing in your stomach."

    Marina took a protective stance, and she raised her hand in front of her, "My child is part of the living world. Leave my child alone."

    "Darian sent you to turn the angels against each other, but what did you do instead? Thest time I met you, I should have known that you had changed and had turned disloyal to us demons. That''s what the world of the living does to one, isn''t it? What do you see in him, Mari? Have you forgotten what we have gone through?" asked Astrate, pulling out a wooden staff in her hand from thin air.

    "You can find someone else to fill the position, Astrate," and before the other demoness could harm her, Marina swung her hand to send electric shocks towards the other woman.

    Astrate didn''t hold back herself in bringing Marina down, trying to attack in every possible chance she got. And then she quickly disappeared from the front, "You should know when to give up, Marina, but knowing you I know you won''t. I will keep your secret safe. If not I, you will be killed by Darian. I will be morepassionate to you." Astrate swung her wooden staff right at Marina''s head.

    The strike of the hit on Marina''s head was enough to have her stumble and lose her bnce as she staggered forward.

    "Why are you doing this?" asked Marina in pain, trying to get her bnce back, and she tried to use her ability, but it seemed like she had lost the ability.

    "If I wasn''t your friend I would have tortured you, Mari," said Astrate and Marina turned to look into Astrate''s eyes. "It''s not just you, but you will be putting everyone else''s life in danger," she held the staff tightly in her hand and ced it behind Marina''s head.

    Marina ced her hand on her stomach, feeling the fullness. There were only a few more weeks left before the baby woulde to this world. She knew the consequences when she had fallen in love and it wasn''t like she didn''t know.

    "I will see you one day," whispered Marina, "I will settle the ount with you then."

    "I shall wait for it," replied Astrate knowing there was no way Marina could return. The demoness pulled the staff far away from Marina''s head before hitting it straight at the back of Marina''s head to have the woman fall.

    When Madeline saw her mother fall, she tried to catch her, but her mother''s body passed through her hand as Madeline was only a spectator in this memory and her mother fell t on the ground. "Mama!" Madeline cried, getting down on the ground and saw blood starting to ooze out from her mother''s head.

    The surface of the river in Hell glimmered again, and Madeline stared into her mother''s eyes that looked identical to her own eyes.

    In the meantime, dimir had not pulled his hand away from the water, and his hand that had dipped itself in the river caught sight of everything Madeline had seen. He finally pulled his hand, cleaning his hand with his handkerchief.

    The water''s surface broke by Marina who emerged from the water and she, who had flesh and skin on her, her body now turned to bones as it left the water. And even though her mother didn''t have eyes, Madeline could tell that she was looking at her right now. Her mother''s hand reached out for her, cing it on the side of Madeline''s face.

    Madeline had grown and spent her time with the Harris family, but it was this person who was responsible to bring her into this world. Her heart felt more solemn than before, and she had a mixture of sadness and happiness in her mind.

    Marina moved her jaws, but no words came apart from the creaking of the bones.

    "The dead cannot speak," informed dimir, "But I can understand her."

    "What did she say?" asked Madeline, her eyes moist.

    "She said you have grown," dimir tranted, and he stood up from the ce.

    "Is there no way to bring her back?" Madeline asked hopefully.

    "Unfortunately, no. Shees in the first category of the original demons. Consider it to be like pulling out a fish from the water. You can always visit her. Daily if you stay here," dimir proposed in a casual tone.

    "I can now tell why my mother didn''t stay with you,"mented Calhoun, and this was enough to raise a nerve in dimir''s forehead. The subject of Constance was sensitive not only to Calhoun but also to the Devil.

    "Sure you did, because you were born at that time," dimir sneered.

    "You forget that I am your grandson. I can sense you are up to no good," Calhoun looked straight into the older vampire''s eyes.

    "And that is very true," agreed dimir in pride.

    Madeline saw her mother starting to get back into the water, and the flesh and skin on her body returned the way it was earlier. Turning behind, she was going to ask dimir something when she noticed there were only four people in here that included her mother.

    Her face turned slightly pale, "Where is Beth?"

 Chapter 512 Beths night out in Hell- Part 1

    <h4>512 Beth''s night out in Hell- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Beth stood behind Calhoun watching the souls that floated in the river, that looked strange to her. What Madeline saw wasn''t the same as to what Beth was seeing, and it might have been because of the drop of blood that belonged to dimir that now coursed through her veins, making her see things which a mere mortal couldn''t see.

    In the living world, Beth and Madeline shared the same mother, but the truth was that it was this woman who was in the river, responsible for bringing Madeline into this world. The bones that Beth saw were rotten and had green moss on it, turning the sight to be ufortable to watch. Madeline and her mother were talking to each other, Madeline bending down towards the surface of the river, when Beth heard a sound that drifted down the stairs they hade from.

    ''Beth,'' she heard a voice that fell right in her ears. She turned around, trying to see who it was, but she couldn''t find anyone there.

    Beth then looked at dimir, Calhoun and Madeline, who seemed to have not heard the voice and she wondered if she had just imagined it in her mind. As dimir spoke, she turned behind and she heard the voice call her again.

    ''Lady Elizabeth.''

    A chill ran down her body, and Beth realized to whom this voice belonged to. Her eyes turned wide, and she wondered where it wasing from.

    ''Lady Elizabeth, I have been waiting for you,'' said Raphael''s voice, ''Don''t be startled, my words are only for you to listen and no one else. I have been locked up in the Tower of Chains. I have been waiting for you.''

    Beth didn''t know if she was hallucinating Raphael speak to her because of the guilt that weighed heavily in her heart and mind. Looking back and forth at the people with whom she hade down here, and then at the stairs where the voice wasing from, she couldn''t resist herself and started to walk towards the stairs.

    She quickly held the hem of her dress before she started to climb up the spiral stairs that were lit with torches of fire. There were certain intervals of gap before a torch of fire was lit on the wall. Therefore Beth picked up a torch from the wall and made her way.

    "Raphael?" whispered Beth, wondering if he could hear her.

    The tower they were in was called as the Tower of Sins. From what Raphael said, it made Beth question if he was being tortured in a ce simr to the dungeons back in the castle. There was something that had been worrying her for a while, were all demons fated to end up in Hell? By what she understood, Madeline''s actual mother was not a bad woman as she had tried to protect her child. Raphael was not a bad person either.

    When Beth reached thest stairs from where they had descended earlier, she didn''t see anyone around, and she called, "Raphael? Can you hear me?"

    There were a lot of things she wanted to speak to the demon, and before anything, Beth wanted to apologize for his death. She turned back, wondering if Madeline would need more time to spend with her mother. Maybe in the meantime, she could speak to Raphael and then ask dimir how to bring him back to life with an alternative deal other than sacrificing an innocent soul.

    ''Beth, leave the tower of Sins, ande to the Tower of Chains,'' Beth again heard Raphael''s voice. She heard him groan in pain as if he was being tortured.

    ''Where do I find it? Where is the tower of Chains?'' Beth had entered Hell for the first time. She didn''t know where the Tower of Chains was located or how to find Raphael, without his guidance right now, she would be lost.

    ''You will find the long passage between the pirs that light up itself in basins of fire. Walk straight until you find the three-way route. Take a right from there, and you will find the third tallest tower outside. It is ck andpletely charred. You will find its top broken, you will know when you see it,'' said Raphael''s voice to her.

    Beth who was half-demon and half-human right now, with a mixture of werewolf''s blood also running in her veins, the scent made the demons who came across her stare at the woman who wore clothes that didn''t belong to this ce. It wasn''t that Beth was not scared of Hell. The truth was she was terrified. But the only thing that kept her sane was Raphael''s voice.

    The ce was hot because of the amount of fire that zed in random ces in the pits. Beth could hear the screamsing from the pits and other ces. She walked away from it, following the voice, half in a trance state, and half-awake as what was happening right now didn''t feel real. When she caught sight of the broken tower that was far away from the rest of the other towers, Beth quickly started to make her way to the ce.

    But what Beth didn''t realize was that the creatures of Hell smelled the scent of the human in the air, waking some of them from their slumber. The creatures that had fire zing from inside their body turned alert on seeing Beth, and they slowly started toe out from the ground.

    Back in the Tower of Sins, Madeline looked distressed.

    "Beth?" she called, her eyes looking at where they were and the entire passage of a tform that was built next to the river.

 Chapter 513 Beths night out in Hell- Part 2

    <h4>513 Beth''s night out in Hell- Part 2</h4>

    "How did we not realize it?" Madeline stood up, a deep frown on her face. "She was right here. She was here before I tried to look at the second part of the memory."

    "Can''t you find where she is?" questioned Calhoun.

    dimir tilted his head to the side, "Maybe? It was barely two to three minutes. She must not have gone too far away from here. But which person ever decides to explore Hell by themselves?"

    "Elizabeth can," deadpanned Calhoun. They should have made her stay in the graveyard or sent her back in the carriage to the castle. But Beth had such bad luck that, even if they did that, there would have been chances where the carriage would have been attacked while going back to the castle. "Find her."

    dimir chuckled, "I don''t take orders, Calhoun. Be nicer, and I will try to see if I can find her."

    "Please find Beth. I don''t think it is safe for her in here," said Madeline. "Even if your blood runs in her, she still is a human, and it will only attract trouble."

    The Devil stared at Calhoun and Madeline, a slow smile gracing his lips, "How about we make a deal?"

    "You must be joking," Madeline stared at the older vampire.

    "No, I am very serious," his smile on his lips broadened, "I do not see why I shouldn''t milk an opportunity like this to my very own benefit."

    Calhoun let out a tired sigh, "I knew he had more than a couple of screws loose in his head. I think it''s time to tighten it." His ck wings automatically spread out from his back.

    "Now now, calm down and let us sit down and speak calmly," suggested dimir.

    "If anything happens to Beth, our children will hate you," Madeline didn''t know how else to threaten the Devil. "Beth is important to me, and I do not want to lose her."

    "Are you sure about it?" dimir raised his eyebrows in question at her. "I mean I know both of you had a very rocky rtionship with each other, but do you know it wasn''t all about jealousy? Poor Elizabeth, every time she tried to do something good, you always stole it from her when you both were young. There''s that deep dark corner in her heart that is scared and worried, you could say her mind is scarred."

    Madeline knew that the Devil was not someone who could be trusted. Though he was Calhoun''s grandfather, there was only upto a certain extent they could rely on him. This person didn''t leave a single opportunity to get something in return, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembered the first few weeks she had spent with Calhoun in the castle.

    She closed her eyes, trying to sense Beth around, but she wasn''t here. She then opened her eyes.

    "Are you trying to meditate?" asked dimir, and Madeline knew she would need to keep her calm. "You know what I said is true."

    Seeing how dimir didn''t respond to it, Calhoun''s eyes only narrowed, "You had no intention of letting us leave this ce, did you?" he took a threatening step towards the old bat.

    "I did ask you politely if you would stay here with me, but instead you said I shoulde to visit you. How rude, you want an old man travelling back and forth. What unfilial grandchild I have got," said dimir in a sad tone before turning his head in the other direction.

    "I will kill you like the butcher who minces the meat," red Calhoun. "And when ites to unfilial, I must have acquired it from my grandfather."

    "I think you are telling about your paternal grandfather," stated dimir.

    "No, I am speaking about the one who left my mother and went to get his beauty sleep," replied Calhoun and the smile that was on the Devil''s face fell.

    "You have some nerve, to keep poking me about the same matter. It isn''t funny," spoke dimir in a low growl.

    Calhoun didn''t back away, and he responded, "It was not meant to be funny. Tell us what you have been hiding from us? What is it?"

    dimir turned and walked a few steps away from them, the reflection of his body non-existent on the surface of the river that he walked next to. His shoes made a sharp clicking sound on the ground. "Well..." the man drawled.

    Madeline wondered where Beth was or if dimir had kidnapped her sister. They didn''t know where to find her, and it was best to get some answers from dimir than waste their time in Hell.

    dimir turned to look at her, "You have less than two hours left before you will be registered as residents of Hell," he said, "You will turn to a full demon."

    Calhoun didn''t waste a second, and he went straight at dimir, pushing the Devil against one side of the wall while holding dimir''s cor, "You are trying to kill her," he said the words through gritted teeth.

    dimir didn''t mind that Calhoun held his cor. If it was someone else, he would have burned them right there with a snap of his fingers, but the reason Calhoun could do it was because it was his blood that was running through Calhoun''s veins.

    "Let me correct my words," said the Devil with a smile, "Madeline won''t feel the pain of death, and she will not be hounded to go to Heaven. I am only helping both of you. I know you would disagree with my methods-"

    "And I wonder why," Calhoun''s eyes zed. He pushed the Devil further against the wall in raging anger, "Find Beth, and open the portal to us so that we can get back to the living world."

 Chapter 514 Beths night out in Hell- Part 3

    <h4>514 Beth''s night out in Hell- Part 3</h4>

    "I don''t want to be infected by using that name," remarked Calhoun, and Madeline agreed. She should have known that the Devil did only what benefitted him and not for others. By offering his help to meet her mother, he had trapped not one but three of them.

    The old bat chuckled, "I think you already have, son. All Madeline needs to do is drink a potion, and she will be a demon," he then shifted his gaze to look at Madeline, "I can tell that your skin is prickling because this ce isn''t for you, not for an angel. Once you drink the potion," he pulled out a ss vial from his pocket that had purple liquid in it. "You will be free. I won''t have to worry where the angels will take Calhoun''s happiness and even mine, because I want to see my grandchildren. A lot of them, unless Calhoun decides to have them with another woman."

    "That is Madeline and my problem. We will handle it, and both of us would prefer her not turning to a demon," Calhoun wanted to crush dimir''s head for having such ideas in his head. But only the Devil knew how to get out of this ce.

    Madeline felt her head squeeze, and she pressed her temples with her fingertips. She wondered how to get dimir to understand without throwing him in the river now.

    "But I am your family, I have a say!" said dimir. His methods might have been strange, but it was a hundred and one percent guaranteed to drive away the angels.

    "You are our family, d, but things like these need to be discussed. You cannot do it against our will, because then you will be the same as the rest of them who want me to end up in Heaven," said Madeline as patiently as she could.

    dimir stared at Madeline before he remarked, "You children, are naive. Do you think the angels are going to let you be? They have been trying to get rid of the demons from the living world even before I turned my back against Heaven. They don''t care if there are demons who are good because they believe every single demon needs to be killed and destroyed."

    "You are here to protect me along with Calhoun. Please, I do not want to turn to a demon," Madeline tried to sway dimir.

    "I think it would be best if you drink the potion," dimir disappeared from where he was and reappeared in front of her, stretching his hand towards Madeline, giving the ss vial to her. "The sooner you drink, the faster everything settles down, and we can then find little Elizabeth who has gone to explore Hell. I will check in an hour," and in a blink on an eye, the Devil disappeared from their sight.

    "Fucker!" Calhoun cursed dimir before turning to Madeline, "Are you doing alright?" he asked.

    Madeline nodded her head, "I am okay. We need to find Beth. Something might happen to her!" she said with worry. Having Beth was nothing less to having a toddler next to them who needed constant supervision. They started to make their way up the stairs as unlike dimir who could apparate in and out of any ce, neither Calhoun nor Madeline had honed their skills in it.

    dimir, who had left the children to y and have fun in Hell, had reached his room so that he could get some rest. A demon came from the corner of the room, helping dimir remove the coat that he wore.

    He unbuttoned the cuffs of his sleeves when Odin came with hurried footsteps.

    "Master," Odin bowed his head.

    "My faithful servant," dimir appeared to be in a good mood. He removed his clothes and stepped into the acidic bath from where steam came out. As the Devil dipped his body down, his flesh disappeared, and he was left with only bones on his body, turning him into aplete skeleton.

    Odin came forward with a ss of blood in his hand, and he offered it to his Master, "Did Master Calhoun and the others leave, Master?"

    "They decided to spend some time in Hell," dimir hummed, and Odin nodded his head, not knowing what dimir''s n was. "Are all the exits to the living world closed?"

    "Yes, Master! Tightly sealed so that no angel or demons can pass through without your permission," said the dutiful servant.

    "Hm, wonderful," dimir let his body sink further to rx, "Wake me up after an hour," he said to Odin, as well as, to the other demon who was in the room.

    The servants bowed their heads, and Odin decided to leave the bathing room of his Master as it wasn''t like his Master needed any help in bathing.

    Away from the Devil''s quarters, Beth had finally entered the Tower of Chains. Instead of hearing souls scream, Beth felt a certain lingering of quietness in here. The building was in utter ruins as if it was unused.

    There were bones on the ground, and Beth searched for Raphael with frantic eyes, "Raphael? Are you in here?"

    ''Lady Elizabeth? You are here! Take the stairs at the far end that will lead to the bottom ground. I am right there.''

    Beth did as she was told, and she took the stairs to climb down and find a sizeable empty corridor that had cell rooms on either side of it. When her eyes fell on one of the cell rooms, Beth noticed a strange creature with a werewolf-like face with its body almost human and it looked starved. It growled at her, and in response, Beth''s eyes turned slightly yellow and gold.

    She met a few more strange creatures in there as she walked past one cell room after another that were covered in rusted iron grills.

    Her feet finally stopped.

    "Lady Elizabeth..." said the shabby man, who stood behind the iron bars.

 Chapter 515 Frists- Part 1

    <h4>515 Frists- Part 1</h4>

    .

    For a moment Beth felt her heart stop when her eyes fell on Raphael who stood near the iron bars waiting for her. He looked pale, his eyes dull along with his appearance. But none of them caught Beth''s attention except for his presence.

    She slowly took one step after another toe and stand right in front of him.

    "It is good to see you here, Lady Elizabeth," said Raphael with a small smile on his lips. Now that she stood in front of the demon whom she had wanted to meet and speak, to apologize, she didn''t know what to say.

    Beth''s lips parted, "It is good to see you, Mr. Sparrow." Her eyes then looked behind him, taking in the appearance of the cell he was in, that had bones in them as if it had many prisoners in the past. A stench of air drifted in the atmosphere.

    Beth felt terrible seeing Raphael end up here.

    "I am so sorry," she whispered, ready to apologize to him but the man shook his head.

    "It wasn''t your fault. I did what I thought was right at that time, and I don''t regret it," said Raphael. In the short period of time he had spent here in Hell, his ck shoulder-length hair had turned greasy.

    "What is this ce?" asked Beth when she heard someone cry out in pain far away from where she stood. The sudden scream rmed her because this ce had been quiet when she had reached.

    While Beth looked to her right, staring at the endless passage that had many more cell rooms, holding the sinners in there, Raphael stared at Beth as if he couldn''t believe she was here.

    "This is the Tower of Chain, a ce where the demons are destroyed," replied Raphael.

    "W-what?" Beth''s eyes went back to look at the demon, "When you say destroyed, do you mean killing the demons forever?"

    Raphael looked away from Beth, his eyes moved to the corner of the passage until where he could see, "I hoped to see you onest time before I left this ce."

    "Is there no way to get you out, I thought demons were only tortured, and not killed," said Beth in a confused tone.

    "Demons who are of no use are removed from existence. Of course, if you speak to the Lord, he might be the only person to help, but he won''te down here for my sake," Raphael smiled.

    Lord? Was Raphael speaking about dimir?

    At the same time, Beth noticed the creatures inside the cells hade to the front, near the iron bars as they had smelt something different in the air. The smell of a living being in the midst of the dead.

    "As d as I am to see you here, I am surprised as to what you are doing here, Lady Elizabeth?" the demon frowned slightly, "I sense something odd about you, less of human. Did you enter Hell for your sins?"

    "She''s here too?" he asked, and Beth nodded her head, and he smiled. "I see," he looked into her green eyes. The colour of her eyes had not changed since the first time they had met when they were children.

    Away from the Tower of Chains, both Madeline, as well as Calhoun, looked for Beth. She could be anywhere, and this was not the ce to go by herself, thought Madeline.

    "Can you smell her?" asked Madeline to Calhoun, and he shook his head.

    "The stench of death is heavy here. It is hard to find her," he sighed. "She must have gone looking for Raphael. Did she say anything before entering Hell?"

    "Nothing important, but I think she had decided to see him before we left this ce," replied Madeline. Unfortunately, it wasn''t just Beth, who was a breathing person from the living world. The creatures who had smelt Beth from afar had also smelled the strong smell of Calhoun as well as Madeline. The creatures who had fire burning from inside their body started to move closer to where the couple was.

    Even though the creatures didn''t have a nose, they took a big sniff in the air.

    "Cal," Madeline''s hand reached for Calhoun''s arm, and she pulled his sleeve. "What are these things?"

    Calhoun''s eyes fell on the creatures of Hell, and he stared at them.

    "They are called Frists. The creatures that feed on each other, and are expecting us to be their meal." He said it in such a calm tone, that it made Madeline believe there was nothing to worry about them. But the very next second, those creatures who were moving slowly suddenly sped towards them in speed that she had not expected for them toe at her and Calhoun.

    Calhoun wings reappeared, and he swung his hand to have some of the creatures thrown far away, while some were persistent like spiders who stuck themselves to the ground. The Frists quickly started to attack them, and Madeline and Calhoun turned busy to fight the creatures.

    Madeline didn''t bring out her wings, but her scent was enough for the other creatures to smell the angel who had descended to the underground world. She used the wind to deflect the creatures, trying to keep them away from her.

    Odin, who had arrived at the scene, his eyes widened, and he quickly stepped forward to shoo away the creatures. Master had told him that the children were exploring Hell, but the mere demons were not informed about who Calhoun was.

    "Go away from here you Frists! This is no ce to y. They are Master''s important guests," he waved his hand and came to stand next to Madeline.

    The creatures growled at Odin''s words. At the same time, Calhoun tore one of the creatures into two halves, and the creature turned to dust.

 Chapter 516 Frists- Part 2

    <h4>516 Frists- Part 2</h4>

    Madeline didn''t know if it was Odin''s words or Calhoun''s actions, but the creatures who hade to attack them quickly dispersed from there, leaving them alone. She turned to Odin and bowed her head before saying, "Mr. Odin."

    MR. ODIN!

    Odin felt warm in his cold non-existent heart of his chest. Nobody had ever called him with this much respect, and it made him internally cry in joy, but Odin didn''t let it show up on his face. Instead, he wore a respectable face and responded,

    "Yes, Lady Madeline, how can I be at your service?"

    Madeline looked at Calhoun, and as if they had a conversation by their eyes, Calhoun asked, "Where is dimir?"

    "Master? Master is taking a bath in his quarters. Would you want me to escort you there?" asked Odin with a polite smile.

    "That won''t be necessary. We wouldn''t want to intrude his time. We were looking for Lady Madeline''s sister Lady Elizabeth. We seem to have lost her," Calhoun tested the waters with Odin. Unless dimir had mentioned about not letting them leave Hell or about Elizabeth going to explore on her own, Odin could be of good use.

    Odin nodded his head diligently, "Of course, Master Calhoun, let me see where thedy is."

    By one p of Odin''s hands, a demon appeared carrying arge book in his hand. Odin took it and flipped the pages, going through the entry of the names, before pointing his hand, "Here she is! She is in the Tower of Chains," replied Odin, looking up from the registry to meet Calhoun''s gaze.

    "Would you be kind enough to lead us there?" asked Madeline.

    "Weren''t you there?" questioned Odin, wondering why they were asking about the ce if they had already walked past it. He then said, "It is your first time, it must be confusing. Let me take you there." He handed the book back to the demon before waving his hand as if he was dusting something in the air.

    Back in the Tower of Chains, Beth stood in front of Raphael''s cell room. She looked at the iron bars, trying to see if there was a way to get him out of here. Noticing atch outside the cell room, Beth went to reach out for it, "What are you doing?" he questioned her.

    "Trying to get you out of here," said Beth. She didn''t want to sacrifice an innocent person so that Raphael coulde back to life. She tried to unlock thetch that made creaking sounds before she let him out of there. They could try to have another deal with dimir that didn''t involve any innocent''s life, thought Beth to herself. "I cannot leave you here like this. Not to die," she said to him.

    Beth said, "What are you saying? You are the reason why I am all cured now and haven''t turned to a werewolf. You gave up your life for me, and it is only right that I try to save yours."

    "Does that mean you are willing to give up your life now for mine?" asked Raphael, and for two seconds, Beth thought he was joking, but his face was serious.

    Raphael''s ck eyes stared at Beth, and she softly gulped. Before she could say something, she heard a couple of footsteps echo and from the other side of the broad passage entered Madeline, Calhoun and Odin.

    "Beth!" Madeline was relieved to see Beth to be fine, and she saw Raphael next to her sister. As she had seen him dead in the coffin, it felt strange seeing him here now. But then she remembered how she was in the coffin for years, yet back on her feet. "You should have told us something before disappearing like that!" scolded Madeline, giving a stare at Beth. Her feet were quick to move towards Beth, and she came to stand next to her sister.

    "Lady Madeline," greeted Raphael, staring at the girl next to Beth. "It has been long since west saw each other."

    Odin had a perplexed expression on his face, and his eyes widened on seeing the door of the cell, wide open.

    Madeline noticed Raphael had turned pale, but there was something odd about his appearance, which she couldn''t point out. Was it because he had spent his time in Hell?

    As the thought crossed Madeline''s mind, she heard Calhoun call her, "Madeline! Get away from there!" and at the same time, she noticed the expression on Raphael''s face change to something she had never seen before.

    Calhoun didn''t wait and he used his ability to push the three people away from each other, Raphael to the left side and Madeline and Beth on the right side. Madeline and Beth''s crash on the ground was less impactfulpared to the strength he used on Raphael. The demon went and crashed right against the opened door before falling on the cold floor.

    Raphael smiled before he started tough loudly from where he sat. Beth looked confused on what was going on, while Madeline raised her hand, ready to strike if needed. Calhoun, on the other hand, walked near them.

    "That''s rude of you to throw me off," said Raphael, his gaze shifting to Calhoun. "Is that how you treat a friend?"

    Calhoun''s eyes held a passive look on his face, "You might be sessful in fooling others, but I can see through your facade," he said, snapping his fingers for his power directed towards Raphael.

    Soon Raphael''s face started to morph into another person''s face, "And you are no friend of mine."

 Chapter 517 Frists- Part 3

    <h4>517 Frists- Part 3</h4>

    "How did you find out?" asked the woman with a smug smile on her face as her face continued to get back to its original shape and structure.

    Beth gasped on seeing the woman who was none other than the person whom she had killed in the forest next to the deserted town. It was Jennine. She took a step backward. It was like the horror would never stop and it kept repeating over and over again like a never-ending nightmare.

    "I wouldn''t have been able to see it before, but since I stepped into Hell, I can see a lot of things as if a new world has opened itself to my eyes," replied Calhoun, stopping his feet a few steps away from the demoness.

    "A pity that you caught me. I was hoping for no one to catch me, and," Jennine looked at Beth, who looked utterly terrified. "I hoped I could be friends with Bethie again."

    "I-I thought I killed you. How are you alive?!" questioned Beth, standing one step behind Madeline. She could feel her hands starting to tingle as if the werewolf blood in her wanted to shift and change as a reflex to protect herself.

    Jennine smiled, "My desire to live is too strong, and what you did was barely a scratch, Bethie," she then huffed, "I thought you would be remorseful by now after seeing me dead in the living world. How could you do that to me?"

    "Why do you keeping back for me!" Beth wanted Jennine to stay away from her, Jennine was one person she was scared of and even after Raphael had died, there were some memories of Jennine that haunted her mind in her dreams.

    "Because you said we would be friends for life and after death. It is rude of you to turn back and away from the promise you made with me," said Jennine with a sad expression on her face. "And it is all because of her," the demonesses eyes shifted to look at Madeline.

    Madeline stared at Jennine, her brown eyes looking at the demoness. She remembered the girl who was in the coffin, whom she saw in her dream in Carnival''s vige. Madeline remembered how conniving the girl was back then.

    "You killed the boy with whom we once used to y," said Madeline without breaking her gaze from the demoness. Every one stood in their ces, while Jennine continued to sit on the ground without moving an inch. "You knew we were friends with the boy."

    Jennine clicked her tongue, "I knew about it after I befriended Bethie. I was never your friend, and I know you sensed it. You were so familiar as if I knew you, but I didn''t know why I couldn''t point my finger that you had killed me once in the past. We were once friends, but then you killed me."

    "You killed my people and me. It wasn''t I," Jennine shook her head, ming it back on Madeline, "You alwayse in the middle, why don''t you just die the way your grandparents tried to stuff you in the cheap coffin," sheughed seeing a sliver of pain cross Madeline''s face.

    Calhoun narrowed his eyes, and he asked, "Why do you keep insisting on following Elizabeth when she has no interest in being your friend?"

    "Because we are very alike, we are supposed to be sisters, and not this one," Jennine jerked her head towards Madeline. "This girl was not even there when I was friends with Bethie, and then one-day Bethie tells she has a sister. I mean from where? The tree?"

    Beth gritted her teeth, "I don''t want to be your sister nor your friend! How many times do you want me to tell you that?" she red at the demoness.

    Jennine ced her hand on the cold ground''s surface and then pushed herself up to stand on her feet. "Just because you broke the promise, doesn''t mean I am going to break it. I might be a demoness, but so are you now. If not here, then maybe you will agree with your afterlife!"

    Beth didn''t know what was afterlife after Hell!

    Suddenly, the cell rooms doors opened themselves to allow the creatures who were in there to be free. Odin who saw this wondered if he should call his Master now, but then his Master was having a nap, and he didn''t want to disturb him.

    Calhoun raised his hand and threw away the creatures back into the cell rooms, and Madeline sealed it one after another with spells so that they wouldn''te after them. Odin made sure each of the gates were closed and wouldn''t be opened. Jennine, on the other hand, started to make her way near Beth with a wide smile on her face.

    "You are crazy to think that I would be friends with you after trying to kill me and Madeline," stated Beth as her hands transformed into werewolf ws. "What did you do to the boy? Jonathan."

    "I am surprised you still remember his name," said Jennine, making her way towards Beth. "Dear Johnny was a tasty meal of mine. He tasted sweet and so rich for his age. I thought I must wait until he ripens, but then he liked to hang around you so much that I thought it was better to get rid of him. The only thing that stood in my way was your sister!"

    Jennine came right at Beth, trying to get to her neck so that she could snap it, but Beth fought back, protecting herself by swinging her hands at the demoness.

    "Why don''t you want to be my friend?! We were so good, but you changed! I changed for you!" screamed Jennine while pushing Beth to one side of the walls.

    "Stop this madness! I have told you that I do not want to be friends with you!" Beth didn''t know how to make this demoness understand it.

    Jennine, who had cornered Beth, was about to kill Beth, when everyone heard a loud snap, and the demoness froze midair.

 Chapter 518 Compassion- Part 1

    <h4>518 Compassion- Part 1</h4>

    "W-what did you do?" asked Jennine, "I cannot die," the smile on her face faltered.

    Calhoun didn''t have the time to be ying and humouring this demoness. Madeline''s life was in danger where his grandfather intended to have her turn as a demon, which he wouldn''t allow.

    Calhoun pulled out his hand back, and Jennine took a step backwards with her hand reaching out for Beth. He stepped away from the demoness with ck blood dripping down from his hand.

    He said, "I believe I am the higher demon here, which would mean if you are fortunate you will end up in the river of souls to repent for your sins or if you have sinned too much, which you have, you will turn to dust and be forgotten even from Hell."

    Jennine fell on her knees, her hands clutching her stomach where blood oozed out.

    Madeline came to stand next to Calhoun, and she looked at the demoness, "Is she going toe back again?" she asked in worry.

    "This will be thest time. Beth didn''t kill her sessfullyst time," said Calhoun before turning his back as he didn''t care about the demoness.

    Jennine slowly started to lose her strength, and her body moved sidewards before she tried toy her back t on the ground.

    "You are so mean, Bethie. Making me your friend and then throwing me away," whispered Jennine in a trembling voice. "All I wanted was to be your friend, the friend I once had and our friendship." Beth didn''t dare to move from where she stood, and she looked at Jennine, who stared back at her. "You stopped caring about others and thinking just about yourself. When did you turn like this?"

    "Maybe since I met you," said Beth, her hands tightly clenched into fists.

    A bubblingugh erupted through Jennine''s throat that resulted in blooding out of her lips. "Come sit. I want to show you something that you forgot," whispered the demoness.

    Though the demoness looked like she was dying, Beth was still apprehensive to step closer to her. Madeline came forward to stand next to Beth for support. Jennine looked at Madeline as if she was the most undeserving person to exist in the world.

    "You must be thrilled, to see me dead, but I will be very sad, Bethie, for not being able to be your friend for thest few seconds of my existence," whispered Jennine.

    Beth didn''t understand why Jennine was so obsessed with her being her friend. There were millions of people in the living world, and she could find someone else to befriend with. Hearing the words that the demoness spoke now, her fists tightened.

    "I didn''t know how else to get to talk to you. You wouldn''t havee if you heard me calling you. The one time we met back in the vige, you ran away," Jennine gasped as if she was having a stroke before her face returned back to normal. "Please, I need to show you something. Sit by my side."

    "How do I know you aren''t going to do something?" questioned Beth. "You say you want to be my friend, but all you do is lie."

    Jennine looked sad hearing this, "I promise not to do anything. I would never harm you, Bethie." This was something hard to believe because thest time they met in the forest, Jennine was intent to kill her so that she could bring her here to Hell. "I am a dying person, won''t you do onest thing? It isn''t much��"

    Madeline who was listening to the conversation between the obsessive demoness and her sister Beth, she tried to keep a close eye if the demoness was lying and would pull another stunt. Calhoun had told that Jenine was going to die, and because of that, she ced a hand on Beth''s back.

    Beth turned to Madeline and saw her sister give a small nod.

    With doubt still on her mind, Beth finally took a step forward while being apanied by Madeline next to her. She slowly sat down next to where Jennineid.

    "What is it?" came Beth''s cold yet careful voice.

    Jennine raised her hand. But when Beth didn''t take it, and the demoness said, "I promise. I won''t do anything." Beth gritted her teeth, her hand that was still in her werewolf form, she sped the demonesses hand. "I will die with the thought that the person whom I cared the most was next to me."

    Beth knew that Jennine was delusional and the woman was like that from the very first moment. But she hoped at least by this little peacemaking, if Jennine were ever to return, she wouldn''te to haunt her.

    "Now let me show you something," came the feeble voice of Jennine and Beth saw her surroundings quickly start to dissolve, and she was transported to another ce. For a second, she panicked if Jennine had kidnapped her away from Hell, but then she noticed she was in the vige of East Carswell.

    She knew the vige of East Carswell like the back of her hand. She had lived in this vige for almost all of her years, and it made her wonder what she was doing here. She saw people walk past her on the street. Beth, who was still sitting down on the ground, stood up.

    She saw a young couple making their way in her direction and realized they were her parents.

    Did she go back in time?

 Chapter 519 Compassion- Part 2

    <h4>519 Compassion- Part 2</h4>

    .

    The sky was bright in colour with only a few clouds that hovered up in the sky. When a rush of air passed by her, she caught sight of a dark-haired girl, who was young and who held a basket in her hand.

    "Beth, wait!" called her mother, who looked much younger than how she appeared in the present time along with her father. Beth''s eyes went back to look at her younger self, who was small, and she followed her younger self.

    Beth didn''t know what exactly Jennine wanted to show her, but if she had brought her here into her memories, this only meant that Jennine wanted to show something.

    The little girl hopped and ran, and Beth remembered how much she enjoyed doing it until she was scolded by her grandmother for it, telling how girls were not supposed to jump and y around. Her little self went to the market, chirping happily as she asked the vendor for a fruit in exchange for a nickel that was given to her by her mother.

    Her mother was going to buy some things from the market. Therefore, the little girl decided to look around the shops to see the new things brought from other ces to this vige to sell. While she was still looking, she heard a smallmotion. Walking towards a back alley, she noticed a girl of her age being beaten by a man.

    Little Beth held the fruit close to her chest while watching the girl on the ground being beaten by the man with a stick. Unable to look at it, little Beth quickly went to where they were.

    "What are you doing, Mister?" asked little Beth. "Stop hitting her! She''s hurting."

    The man stared at the girl who hade and interfered in his business, "This little rat tried to steal things from my shop! She has to be punished, or her hands need to be chopped for it."

    The girl who was being beaten, she continued toy on the ground, and she didn''t utter a word.

    "Stop! I will tell the magistrate that you are trying to kill her!" said the courageous girl, and the man red at Beth.

    "How dare you, an impudent child try to threaten me!" the man swung his hand at Beth, and she was ready to bolt away from there. At the same moment, the shabby girl on the ground caught hold of the man''s leg and bit into it. "AHHH! You little-!" he kicked the girl from the ground.

    Little Beth caught hold of the other girl''s hand, and pulled her up before they ran away from the ce as quickly as they could, while the man tried to chase them until half of the alley before he gave up. The two small girls continued to run with Beth holding the other girl''s hand before finally letting it go.

    "Are you okay?" asked little Beth to the girl with a frown on her face. Being brought up with love and care, Beth had never seen another child being beaten so brutally before.

    The girl even though was beaten and had bruises on her face and arms, she looked calm and stared back at Beth. She then nodded her head.

    "Well, I don''t think you are okay. Why did you try to steal?" asked Beth to the girl, "Don''t you know it is wrong to steal?" The girl barely spoke, but it didn''t stop Beth from staring at the girl with a questionable look in her eyes.

    "I was hungry," said the girl, and Beth didn''t know what to say as she had never felt the need to steal things when she was hungry. She scratched the back of her neck. Her eyebrows subtly rose, and she stretched her hand towards the girl that had the fruit that she had brought minutes ago in the market.

    "Take this," offered Beth, before pushing it in the girl''s hand, "What is your name? My name is Beth, actually Elizabeth, but then everyone calls me Beth."

    "Jennine, I think," the other girl muttered thest two words that went unheard by little Beth.

    Little Beth nodded her head, "Jennine, where are your parents?" When the girl didn''t say anything but started to eat the fruit, Beth didn''t know what else to say. "Why don''t you stay here, and I will be back. Stay," said Beth after taking a few steps forward to make sure Jennine didn''t run away. At the same time, she noticed how the fruit she had given had disappeared.

    Did she eat it all?!

    Little Beth caught the front of her dress, and she went back to the market ce to look for her mother, who was with her father buying something from the shop.

    "Mama! Mama!" She went running to her mother.

    "Beth, where were you? You always run away when we arrive at the market, you should stop doing that," her mother ced her hand on the top of Beth''s head.

    "But Mama, there''s a hungry girl," said Beth as if it was something important.

    She looked up at her mother with an anxious expression on her face. "Do you think we can feed her?"

    "Who is this girl?" asked her mother.

    "Let me show you," Beth pulled her mother''s hand, but when they reached the alley where Beth had left the girl, the girl had disappeared from there. "She was right here, Mama."

    "There''s no one here, dear, and you shouldn''t go looking for trouble. Always leaving our side and trying to explore things around. The world is not safe, Beth," her mother spoke to her gently. "Come now. Your father is waiting at the front. He has to go to the forest soon to collect the log of woods. For the next few months, the sun is going to set down soon."

 Chapter 520 Compassion- Part 3

    <h4>520 Compassion- Part 3</h4>

    "You! I told you not to go anywhere,"ined Beth.

    "I was right here, waiting for you," said the other girl, who had introduced herself as Jennine. "I was sitting right here when you came here with your mother, but you didn''t see me."

    Beth looked perplexed. She was here? But even her mother had looked around, and the girl was not here. "Anyways, I was hoping I would find you. I brought you something," and she pulled out pieces of cotton from her pocket.

    "What is this?" asked Jennine with a dull voice.

    "This is for your wounds. You can clean it with this, and it will hurt less," said Beth, and the girl stared at her, wondering why Beth was here and what she was doing.

    "Why?"

    Beth tilted her head, "Because you are hurt? The sight of blood makes me unhappy and sad," she replied. "I can ask mama and papa to find your mama and papa so that you can get back and you don''t have to be hungry."

    Jennine took the cotton from Beth''s hand, leaning closer as if taking in Beth''s scent that smelled sweet and tasteful, and she gulped before looking back at little Beth.

    "I don''t have them. I am alone," answered Jennine, looking away from Beth and Beth ced her hand on Jennine.

    "Don''t feel sad. I can always bring you food," said Beth, knowing how lonely it felt when her parents left her back in her aunt''s house while they went to meet her grandpa and grandma in the other vige. "Let me help! I always help mama," and Beth climbed on top of the carton box, taking one piece of the cotton to dab it on the girl''s wounds, "Oh, we need water."

    The other girl stared at Beth, her eyes ck and bleak that held no life. "Why are you helping me?"

    Beth blinked, her green eyes staring into the ck eyes, "I...Because I want to help and be friends with you! That''s why," she grinned.

    Jennine furrowed her eyebrows, "We are friends?"

    "Yes, you are my friend now," little Beth nodded her head enthusiastically, "And I would like to make sure that my friend is okay. Most of the people in this vige are my friends, and you can meet them. If I had a sister, it would have been easier to spend more time and y at home, but mama and papa don''t talk about it. I think they are happy with just me," she smiled. Beth continued to tend to the girl''s wounds, not knowing who the girl really was, as the girl seemed like she wanted to eat Beth up as the most favourite meal she had ever smelt.

    While she was ready to leave, Jennine whispered something, and Beth turned around with wonderment on her face, "What?" asked Beth.

    "You promise to be my friend? Forever?" asked Jennine, and Beth nodded her head.

    "Yes," and she smiled.

    "Then we can be sisters too?" asked Jennine, and Beth slowly nodded her head.

    "I guess. I will see youter. I am going to meet my grandpa and grandma today. Take care!" and little Beth left the ce, leaving Jennine standing alone in the alley.

    Once Beth was gone, Jennine said to herself, "Looks like I will need to look for another person for food so that I don''t eat her...my friend."

    The scene started to change like seasons moving quickly in front of her eyes, where the two girls spent time with each other. A few monthster, Madeline appeared at the front door, and everything changed. Beth started to spend more time with Madeline, talking and ying, taking care of her quiet little sister.

    "You didn''te to meet me, so I thought I woulde and see you here," said Jennine, a smile on her lips on seeing Beth at the front of the door.

    "I want you to meet someone special, Jennine. Maddie!" Beth called, and a small girl appeared at the door.

    Jennine asked, "Who is this?"

    "This is my sister! Isn''t she cute," grinned Beth, but Jennine didn''t look happy.

    Witnessing the everything of the past, It was strange how Beth had forgotten about it, like all those time she had spent with the girl had evaporated in thin air once her grandparents had put a spell to suppress her memories of what she knew and had seen.

    "Beth, who is it?" asked her mother.

    "It is Jennine," Beth replied, and when Madeline went to hide behind Beth, she said, "She isn''t used to new people yet. I will meet you tomorrow."

    Jennine mustered a smile before nodding her head. When the children went inside, and the door closed, the smile on her lips fell, and her shoulders slumped as in Beth''s world, another person had reced her position.

    Witnessing things that happened in the past, it was strange how Beth had forgotten about it, like all those time she had spent with the girl had evaporated in thin air once her grandparents had put a spell to suppress her memories of what she knew and had seen. The scene had started to dissolve back, and Beth returned to the present, holding the demoness'' hand that had turned cold as she had died.

    Beth sat unmovingly. Somewhere when Beth was witnessing the past memories, Madeline hade and taken a seat next to Beth.

    Madeline said, "Beth, we need to leave."

    She nodded her head, but before she got up, she closed the demoness eyes.

 Chapter 521 Compassion- Part 4

    <h4>521 Compassion- Part 4</h4>

    She heard Calhoun question Odin, "Do you know how to open the portal to the living world?"

    "I do, Master Calhoun. But I think you need to wait for Master dimir to finish his nap. We are trying to withhold the demons from passing in and out from Hell," informed Odin.

    "Hell is not a feasible ce for both thedies right now and as you can see," said Calhoun, ncing at Beth who was quiet, "I would prefer to have them in a ce where there''s less threat. We''ll pass through quickly, and you can close the portal as tight as you can," his red eyes peered down at the servant.

    Odin tapped his hand on his leg before nodding his head, without knowing that dimir wanted to keep the portals closed so that Calhoun and the others wouldn''t leave Hell until what he wanted was achieved.

    "As you say, Master Calhoun," obliged the servant by bowing his head, and he moved his hand from top to bottom in front of him for a ck hole to appear.

    "Thank you for your help, Mr. Odin," Madeline bowed at Odin who looked at the girl with the utmost respect.

    "I only opened the portal," Odin didn''t know what was so big about this. He had opened and closed the portal many times in the past. Madeline was the first one to step inside the portal.

    When it was Beth''s turn to step inside the portal, she ced her hand to the side of the portal, and she turned back to look at the demoness who was on the ground. As Jennine was dead, her body started to dissipate up in the air into fragments, and Odin looked at Beth with a curious expression.

    Beth bowed her head before stepping inside the portal and stepping out of Hell.

    Calhoun came to stand next to Odin, and he said, "You are a brave man, Odin."

    Patting Odin''s back, Calhoun stepped into the ck portal. A few secondster, the portal closed behind him. They were back in the castle without needing to travel from the graveyard to here.

    Calhoun hugged Madeline, keeping her close before pulling away from her to make sure she was alright. Madeline let a sigh of relief out of her lips, d that they were all back in the living world without being harmed or held back by the Devil.

    "Do you think Odin will be alright?" asked Madeline in slight worry as they had sneaked out from Hell. Who knew how angry dimir would be when he woke up from his mini nap to find them missing from the underworld.

    "He will be alright. d seems to like to keep him around and likes him. I doubt he would be tortured too much," replied Calhoun, and he leaned forward to kiss her forehead.

    Madeline knew that Beth had entered Hell with the thought to see Raphael and talk to him, but instead of meeting him, she ended up meeting the one person who believed Beth to be her friend. Walking to where her sister was, Madeline ced her hand on Beth''s arm to gain her attention.

    "I was thinking of having some tea, do you want to join me? Or do you want me to walk you back to your room?" asked Madeline.

    For two seconds when Beth didn''t respond, Madeline turned worried if something happened as her sister didn''t reply. When Beth''s bright green eyes did meet Madeline''s brown ones, tears started to brim up her eyes.

    "Oh, Beth," said Madeline, opening her arms, and hugging Beth while rubbing her back.

    "I didn''t mean to hurt anyone," whispered Beth.

    "And you didn''t," said Madeline, sensing the heaviness in her sister''s heart. "You didn''t do anything, Beth. She depended too much on you, and maybe it was not wrong, but you need to remember that she killed people. She killed Johnathan with whom we were friends with, and she tried to kill me��" but the dark angel in Madeline hade out and sent the demoness back to Hell.

    It made Madeline wonder if Jennine was a demon child, who grew up like any other creature in the living world. It was probably why Jennine didn''t remember Madeline killing her the first time, until the second time Jennine came back to the living world with her memories intact.

    "You did what best you could do, Beth," said Madeline and Beth held on to her sister.

    After a while, when Beth had gathered herself, she pulled back to say, "I am sorry for causing trouble earlier today."

    "That''s okay," replied Madeline. "I am just happy that we are all okay."

    Even though Beth almost got into trouble, they didn''t have to worry about Jennine trying to take Beth''s life again. It was a strange feeling, and it was hard to hate on the demoness because it felt like she was lonely, and the only person who must have shownpassion to her was Beth. But at the same time, a friend had to know where to stop and not step on boundaries.

    Back in Hell, Odin hummed something under his breath and made his way towards his Master''s quarters. He saw his Master was already out of the bath and wearing his clothes now.

    "Master, an outbreak took ce in the Tower of Chains because of a demoness. But Master Calhoun killed her, and all the creatures are back in their cages," reported Odin dutifully.

    "And where are Calhoun and the others?" questioned dimir.

    To this question, Odin replied, "They must have reached the castle, Master-"

    "What?" frowned dimir. "How did that happen?" and his eyes narrowed at Odin, making the servant wonder if he did something that he was not supposed to do.

 Chapter 522 The muse- Part 1

    <h4>522 The muse- Part 1</h4>

    A demon stood behind the pot, who looked like a troll. The troll was tall with a deformed face, smiling down at Odin who looked like a fragile vegetable thrown into a cooking pot to add vour into it. It was rare to have Odin being punished as he was the favourite out of all demons and vampires who were in Hell, and it was pleasant to have Odin being punished.

    dimir stood not too far away from the ce where Odin was turning part of the iron soup''s prominent ingredient.

    "Odin, who told you to open the portal for Calhoun and the others?" asked dimir in a calm voice, staring at his fingernails that needed to be sharpened.

    "Master! You never told me that they were not supposed to leave Hell!" screamed Odin in pain. With Odin being part of Hell''s resident, the hot boiling iron wouldn''t disappear him. Still, it made a point on how upset dimir was after knowing his grandson and Madeline along with the werewolf-demon had disappeared from Hell.

    dimir''s neck snapped in Odin''s direction. His eyes zed in uncontained anger, "What part of close all the portals and the exits did you not get?" dimir asked in a low and threatening tone.

    Odin wanted to snap the troll''s head for swirling him, and he felt his legs turning jelly as his body started to sink in the pot of hot iron. It had been a while since his Master had got angry, but then it wasn''t his fault that his Master forgot to mention that his grandson was not just taking a stroll in Hell, but that he was held as a prisoner.

    "But Master-"

    "Shut up, you fool!" dimir raged in anger, his eyes ming in fire and soon his entire face looked as if it had caught fire, leaving his skin and flesh melted and only bones to be seen. The voice of the Devil changed to something deeper and darker, "Do you know how difficult it was to get him to the underworld?"

    dimir took a few steps away from the pot, his hands holding each other behind his back in deep thought. "My grandson, as proud as I am of him, it is hard to trick him because it''s like talking to myself in the mirror."

    "He takes after you, Master!" Odin replied as he moved round and round, his head had started to spin.

    dimir then raised his hand, and the troll looked sad as he had to stop swirling Odin in the pot. Odin''s screaming stopped, and he felt as if someone had ced a bell on his head and then striking it hard to have his head ring and twirl. When dimir was not watching, Odin sent a re at the troll, and he got out of therge pot before taking a step outside it.

    "What do you think the angels will do, Master?" asked Odin, and the Devil turned to look at his faithful, yet dumb servant.

    "Something so bad, in the name of right decisions taken by Heaven and in the name of the welfare of people," stated dimir. "All they care for is Madelineing to Heaven. They are so scared that one day I will make use of her."

    Odin blinked at his Master, "Are we going to make use of thedy?" Madeline had been too nice to him, and no one in this world had showered him with such niceness.

    dimir chuckled, "Maybe one day. When the time is right, we can fight against Heaven and its white-winged creatures, the ce that was once rightfully ours." The fire in his eyes extinguished and turned pitch ck. "Madeline might be a demon, but there is only a speck of it, while the rest is all angel. But even a speck of dust can stain a soul. You know that," a slow smile graced upon his lips. The Devil was once an angel too, but all it took was one speck of doubt and one speck of emotion that changed the entire universe upside down.

    He understood the angel''s worry and concern, but it brought a great joy to the Devil. To make things worse for the angels, Madeline was married to Calhoun, his very own blood and she was Calhoun''s beloved.

    The Devil started to walk away from the ce. Odin who had regenerated his skin back on his body, he quickly caught up to his Master and asked in an apprehensive tone, "What will happen now, Master?"

    "I have sent the Salvette Mortem to the castle. It will guard the girl. If something does happen, the creature of death would take her soul away from the living world and bring her directly to Hell. This way, there will less inconvenience, and our problem will be solved," remarked dimir with a smirk on his face.

    The Devil never interfered when souls were taken to Heaven or Hell, but Madeline was special, and if she were to die, he would personally make sure that her soul was brought to the underworld.

    As they left the torture room, Odin dutifully followed dimir, clearing his throat, he said, "Are we going to the living world now?"

    "No. I missed Hell and wanted to spend some time here. There''s a foolish demon who dared to speak and raise his voice against me when I was in Hawthrone''s castle. Bring him to me," said dimir in a calm voice, and Odin bowed his head, disappearing from there as a bat.

 Chapter 523 The muse- Part 2

    <h4>523 The muse- Part 2</h4>

    .

    "Wow," said Lucy, listening to what Calhoun said about his visit to Hell. She looked in awe as well as in shock, "I would have never thought that a ce like Hell exists."

    "If Heaven exists so does Hell," said Theodore who stood against the wall while Calhoun and Lucy were sitting down and speaking. When Calhoun looked at him, Theodore pushed his sses up his nose.

    "I thought you were going to acquire the signatures from Duke Arlington," Calhoun gave a pointed look at Theodore who bowed his head.

    "The ministers were still working on the drafts when Ist checked," replied Theodore.

    "They finished it before the gathering wasplete. I have put my seal on the papers so that you can fasten the process," stated Calhoun. He noticed the way Theodore looked reluctant to leave the room. It made his lips twist into a smile, but he hid it, keeping his facial expression to be passive. It seemed like Theodore was guarding Lucy''s room like a hawk in the thought that someone woulde and steal her away. It didn''t need a genius to know that, that someone was his cousin Ethan. "Go on," he nudged Theodore through his words, who couldn''t refuse but bow his head.

    Calhoun noticed the little nce that Theodore passed at Lucy before he left the room. Lucy stared at Theodore''s back, a look of longing filling her eyes, and it vanished quickly when Calhoun turned back to look at her.

    "What?" asked Lucy with an innocent expression on her face.

    Calhoun lightly rolled his eyes, "I never said anything," he shrugged his shoulders. "I spoke to the physician, and he said you should drink only fresh blood. It will help in recovering your lost strength much more quickly."

    Lucy pursed her lips, and she then smiled, "I am all better now. My wounds are all healed too."

    "So I have heard, but it would be better if you follow what the physician prescribed," replied Calhoun. His hand reached out for the jug of blood that was ced on the table to refill Lucy''s ss. "He is someone who specializes with the injuries received by demons." And he raised the jug to take a sip from it, and said, "Stale already."

    The vampiress smiled further at Calhoun''s words and gesture.

    There was a time in the past when Calhoun walked past her as if she didn''t exist, but then he behaved like that with everyone. People were automatically ignored by him. In the past, after speaking his mind out, he often breezed from there, that ended up with her grandmother or mother having their blood pressure increase in anger and annoyance.

    Lucy couldn''t help but think how time had changed. If someone had questioned her about Calhoun in the past, she would have never believed that he and she would be sitting in the room with him worrying about her health.

    "I am fine, brother Calhoun. Do you think Mr. dimir will show up in the castle soon?" questioned Lucy, slightly worried.

    "Hopefully not, I see the damn Salvette Mortem lurking in and around the castle. At this rate, I might as well make it clean the floors and dust the walls, so that I make use of its extra presence in the castle," murmured Calhoun, and this had Lucy chuckle.

    Lucy wasn''t able to see the creature before, but after she had died and returned to life thanks to Madeline''s healing abilities, she couldn''t unsee the creature of death. She hade across it yesterday, and oddly, it didn''t scare her. Instead, she found it interesting and had gone following itst night until it finally disappeared from her sight.

    Calhoun reminded himself to let Madeline run her spells and try to put an invisible wall to prevent demons and angels, but then who knew how reliable Paschar''s book was, he thought to himself.

    When Lucy ced her hand on his hand, she said, "Thank you, brother Calhoun. If it weren''t for you, I doubt I would be standing here where I am today. If you didn''t exist, my life would have turned worse than any ce in Hell."

    Calhoun gave her a nod, and before they could exchange any more words, both Calhoun and Lucy''s ears picked on the footsteps that approached the door, and their cousin Ethan appeared.

    "My King," bowed Ethan and then at Lucy.

    "Well, I am d that you are here, Ethan. I am sure you wouldn''t mind giving my sisterpany," stated Calhoun, getting up from the chair.

    Without a second of hesitation Ethan bowed his head, "Of course, milord. It would be my pleasure."

    Calhoun smiled brightly at Ethan and he then turned to Lucy. "I will see you at dinner," Lucy offered her respect to Calhoun by bowing her head. He stepped out of the room with the smile still stuck on his face. It seemed like some people in the castle needed a push and Ethan seemed to be the right kind of push one required.

    He made his way to the gallery where he had stacked some of his mother''s books. Reaching the ce, he opened the cupboard and pulled the parchments that had drawings and wordings written in there. His mother was not a full-fledged demon like him or her father dimir, but she still had taken a keen interest in the demon world.

    Madeline saw Beth off to her room, where Beth had decided to pack her clothes and other belongings. She had left her sister''s room with a heavy heart and went in search of Calhoun. Though Madeline wanted Beth to be safe and happy, where no harm woulde to befall on her, she also had to do the right thing for her sister.

    None of them knew what dimir or the angels had in their minds. But if there was one thing she was sure about, it was that neither would harm her or the people whom she cared for directly.

    The angels were supposed to be fair and not hurt anyone in the living world unless the person turned to a direct threat. And the Devil, he was Calhoun''s grandfather. Anything that would upset Madeline would upset Calhoun, and he wouldn''t be happy about it.

    ''At first, I thought I would go to the North, but I don''t think how good of an idea it is when I have demon blood now running in my veins,'' said Beth to Madeline, back in the guest room. ''I need some time for myself, and maybe before I leave, I will see mama and papa.''

    ''Are you sure about it?'' asked Madeline, and Beth nodded her head.

    ''I think so��'' Beth had then smiled, ''The moment I reach there, I will write to you and let you know that I am safe.''

    After recollecting their conversations, Madeline believed it was probably for the best. As much as she loved and cared for Beth, it wasn''t safe for Beth to be more involved in what was going around her.

    Searching for Calhoun through the castle, she found him in the gallery room, standing there with parchments that were spread on the table with candles lit brightly on the stand.

 Chapter 524 The muse- Part 3

    <h4>524 The muse- Part 3</h4>

    Calhoun turned around with one hand of his that rested on the table, "But you finally found me," he said, looking at the dainty creature who made her way to where he stood.

    "I did," she agreed, and her eyes fell on the parchments that were spread on the table. "What are you reading?" she asked in curiosity.

    "I was looking for spells if my mother left it behind. There are some writings that are written in the demonnguage. Hopefully, we can make use of the spells if we ever need it," answered Calhoun. "I would have asked dimir, but seeing how cunning he gets with the give and takes, I thought it was better to rely on these."

    "Your mother seemed like someone who was very passionate about life," whispered Madeline when she caught sight of some of the drawings and the details that Lady Constance made.

    Calhoun pulled out a worn-out book from the edge of the table, and he ced it in front of Madeline, "This book was a gift to me. It has almost every creature''s drawing that exists on thesends," said Calhoun to her. These were beautiful, thought Madeline in her mind. "If you look closer, you will find wordings in there." And he was right. The drawings did have intricate writings in there. Calhoun tore one of the pages and held it above the candle. Instead of it burning slowly by catching fire, it turned to specks of sparks within a second and Madeline looked fascinated by it.

    "Don''t you need it?" questioned Madeline.

    "There is no need for it to exist as I have memorized them all," and within a few seconds, the book was utterly gone, leaving not a spec of dust behind. "Let me show you something," and Calhoun pulled Madeline in front of him and he ced a lone candle on the table.

    Madeline wondered what Calhoun had on his mind as he put his hands around her, holding both her hands before bringing them up and near the me of the candle. The gallery room was moderately lit, and they were alone and away from their troubles that stood outside the room, leaving them be for now.

    She felt his chest press on her back, and his heading to settle on one side of her shoulder, "An angel is the representation of ice, and the demon is represented as the fire," whispered Calhoun softly next to her ear shell. She felt a shiver run down her body as his breath felt warm. "There''s a veil of difference between the two and the kind we belong to because they aren''t far apart the way people believe it to be. In fact, they are the light and dark that bnce the entire world."

    Saying this, Calhoun''s hand that was supporting the back of Madeline''s hand, he guided her near the me and scooped it in their right hands as if it was a drop of water.

    When Calhoun tried to wrap her fingers, the me slowly dimmed down as if she was hiding the me, and when she opened her fingers, the me flickered. It startled to crackle and manifested into a little bird.

    Madeline didn''t know what Calhoun did, but whatever he did, the me of the bird started to fly away from the palm of her hand, and it started to flutter itself in the room, moving from one ce to another without burning anything.

    Her brown eyes keenly watched the bird hovering in front of a canvas that was covered in thin cloth. As she took a step forward, the bird went to sit on one of the bottom edges of the canvas, burning the thin cloth that had hidden the painting underneath it. The bird had turned to fire as it spread itself from the corner to the very end of the material. The fire had left her startled, but when it had exhausted itself, she caught sight of the painting, and her eyes turned wide. For a moment, it was as if she had stopped breathing and everything around her stopped.

    "This��" she whispered, looking at her being painted on the canvas. It was her sleeping on the couch, and she remembered the day it was painted.

    Madeline had believed it would be the most atrocious painting anyone would every their eyes upon, but instead, it was nothing close to it. Her eyes were closed, and it was apparent that she had fallen sound asleep. A coat was draped on to cover her, and Madeline wondered why she didn''t remember that coat being there on her.

    Calhoun stood behind with his back leaning against the table, watching Madeline''s awestruck expression, which was mixed with a hint of confusion in it. He then slowly pushed himself, walking towards her.

    "This was what you painted that day?" came the surprised question from Madeline. Calhoun chuckled. She remembered when she had turned tired after holding herself in one pose, that had led her to fall asleep.

    Calhoun came to stand behind her, putting his hands around her waist, and letting his chin rest on her shoulder without putting his weight on her.

    "Beautiful, isn''t she?" said Calhoun with a faint smile on his lips as he looked at the painting along with her. Madeline couldn''t help but agree to his words, not because it was her, but the way Calhoun had captured her in the painting. "I couldn''t help but hide it. I didn''t want others to see what I saw, my sweet innocent rose."

 Chapter 525 Gatherings- Part 1

    <h4>525 Gatherings- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Looking at her portrait, Madeline smiled, her heart turned warm by seeing the way Calhoun captured her so delicately through his eyes and hands. "Why didn''t you show this to me that time?" asked Madeline because it would have saved so much time and she wouldn''t have misunderstood him.

    "I like seeing your various expressions, it is fascinating, and I was only feeding my curiosity," murmured Calhoun as he held her in both his arms whilst they stared at the painted canvas.

    "More like feeding your sadistic self in teasing and torturing me," said Madeline and Calhoun chuckled.

    "That might be true too, but now if you look back, you have a memory that is way differentpared to the reality," remarked Calhoun. He looked at the colours that he had used which were all soft texture-wise and it brought out Madeline''s personality. He remembered how Madeline''s eyes red in anger that waspletely vexed with him, and the sweetness that only he could see.

    On the other hand, Madeline couldn''t believe that Calhoun had tried to scare her using this portrait. She smiled now. Knowing how Calhoun was now, she doubted he would ever bring this out in the open for people to see. He was a possessive man, and Calhoun didn''t like showing things that belonged to him to others, even though he initially made it look like he enjoyed it.

    "We should get a painting done with us together in it," she heard Calhoun say, while swaying her gently in his arms.

    "What do you have on your mind?" asked Madeline.

    "There''s a family painter, we can get one with just us and then have another with Lucy and others like your family in it," replied Calhoun. "It is time to throw all the old ones and rece them with the ones I like. The old ones, they are not worth hanging in the castle, and they are quite an eyesore. We can have dimir in it too, it would be more of a peace offering."

    "Hopefully he will take it that way," replied Madeline with a soft sigh escaping her lips. It had been only a few hours since they left Hell and God only knew what was happening in there. "I think he will like the idea about it."

    "Hm," hummed Calhoun.

    They then put the parchments back in the lower cupboard while the ones that Calhoun thought were useful, he lit them up by holding each page above the candle. It was only so that no one would evere to use the inscription in it. Few things were better not to exist but only know. They then left the gallery room while walking in the corridors.

    "I heard from the maids that you were helping Elizabeth in packing her things. Are you sure that is what you want?" asked Calhoun to her.

    "Maybe it is for the best," responded Calhoun.

    Though he knew that Madeline would feel lonely by the absence of her sister, it was good to have Beth continue searching for the peace she was looking for. With the Devil''s blood that was in her body, the little faith he had gained when it came to her had diminished because the Devil could whisper into her ears. And if ever that time came, Calhoun hoped Beth would use her conscience, instead of giving in to the darkness the demon blood brought along with it.

    "Do you think we can apany her? She''s going to meet mama and papa," asked Madeline, her eyes looking at Calhoun. It had been a long time since she had seen her parents, and she missed them.

    "I don''t see why not," replied Calhoun in a casual tone and Madeline beamed with a smile. Calhoun knew that Madeline was close to her parents of the living world, and she cared dearly about them as she was attached to them. "We can stay there for a day or two before returning."

    The next morning, Beth had packed her trunks and so did Madeline with just one trunk as she and Calhoun nned to stay there only for a day at her parents'' ce. A few more trunks were added with the luggage in the back of the carriage as gifts to the Harris'' family.

    At the side of the carriages, Lucy hugged Elizabeth, "Please doe and revisit the castle," said the vampiress to Beth.

    Beth smiled at Lady Lucy''s words, "Thank you for yourpany, Lady Lucy. I hope you feel better soon," she said, and Lady Lucy nodded her head.

    The short duration of time Beth had spent here in this castle, she didn''t have many fond memories, and the good one''s were scarce. And she might have been solely responsible for it because of her poor decisions she had taken until a few days ago. Jennine had shown the kindness that once belonged to her and had then forgotten. She was trying to fix her ways, and that little walk in the memoryne showed her the person she once was and the person she had turned into. Even though she was trying to mend her way back to her previous good self, she could barely recognize the little girl to be her. That amount of goodness only Madeline could possess and not her.

    Before Calhoun could head inside the carriage, he looked at Theodore who bowed his head along with the others.

    "We''ll be back in two days," informed Calhoun.

    "Please have a wonderful time. We''ll look after things here," said Theodore. Of course, thought Calhoun to himself before eyeing Lucy.

    The coachman took his seat, his hands holding the horses'' reins, and when it was time to leave, he pulled the reins. The carriage was pulled by four brown horses.

    Madeline, who sat next to Calhoun, looked outside the window when they passed through the castle gates and entered the forest area where the trees passed one after another without a pause. Before leaving, Calhoun had told her that he had sent her parents to the town Bassorian, it was a town that had a mixture of vampires and humans living in peace. It was considered to be the second capital of Devon, whilst the first being where the Hawthrone castle was situated.

    "I wonder how mama and papa are doing," whispered Madeline, who gained Calhoun''s attention. Beth, who had turned tired, she had fallen fast asleep with her head leaning against the side of the carriage.

    "I have told the magistrate to look after them, and aid them if they ever need any help," responded Calhoun, his thumb brushing the tips of her fingers as he had not let go of her hand since they had left the castle behind.

    Madeline smiled, "Thank you for looking after them."

    She knew Calhoun did everything in his power so that her parents wouldn''t face any problem. She knew he did it because he loved her and didn''t want her to be worried about her parents, and things like these warmed her heart immensely. The love that had grown between them was different from the rest of the couples in the world.

    The way Madeline''s feelings had grown for Calhoun it was nothing less to the cold charcoal, but when the spark had been ignited in it, the coal had slowly and steadily started to burn brighter with every spark, and it would stop only when it would turn to ash.

    "The previous shop was demolished by Markus. Therefore this time I got a proper ce for your father. A shop that won''t be destroyed and no one will evere to harm him or your mother. If they do, the magistrate knows he will be the first one to lose his head," Calhoun offered Madeline a smile, and he tucked the piece of hair behind her ear that was flying because of the wind that entered through the open window.

    Madeline was aware that if people knew who her parents were and how they were rted to the King, people would swarm around her parents. But that would also end up drawing unnecessary attention from the demons as well as from the fallen angels. After many days, they finally got to experience some peace, and it felt nice to stay undisturbed and without having anything to worry about.

    Her eyes then fell on Beth, who was fast asleep, noticing her sister snore softly out of exhaustion.

    "How is she doing?" asked Calhoun when he noticed Madeline''s gaze shift towards her sister.

    "She''s okay. There are many things going on in her head, and she wants some space for herself where she can think," replied Madeline, her voice carrying a hint of worry in there. "Do you think dimir wille for her?"

    Since the Devil had mentioned his blood running in Beth''s veins, Madeline couldn''t help but worry where dimir would drag Beth to Hell and turn her to one of his minions. Her sister was trying to get back on the right path, but the Devil could put her back to the dark ce she had just got out from.

    "His eyes are on you and not on her now, but it is good that she decided to stay away from you because we never know who will make use of her," Calhoun''s words were blunt, and he didn''t hide the uncertainty when it came to Beth''s character. He had given the girl a chance because it meant a lot to Madeline, but that didn''t mean he let his guard down. When it came to Madeline, every person was a suspect, and his eyes were always on the people who came close to her.

    "Do you think dimir will try to provoke me through her?" questioned Madeline.

    "There is a high possibility," answered Calhoun. His lips set themselves in a thin line of displeasure, and he hoped his grandfather would not make use of underhanded methods in trying to persuade him or Madeline. "It is good that so far, you haven''tmitted any sin. If you did, dimir wouldn''t blink his eyes in sending the Salvette Mortem at you to take your soul to Hell."

    Madeline turned her head behind to look at the small window that let a person see the snow-covered path that they had left a few seconds ago. But along with the luggage tied to the back of the carriage, Madeline caught sight of the ck figure that was sitting on the luggage with its head that swayed left and right because of the movements of the carriage. The Salvette Mortem assigned by dimir had decided to ride along with them in the carriage.

    "What about the angels? Can''t they do the same and take me to Heaven?" Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed in question.

    "An angel cannot kill a soul in the living world unless the person tries tomit harm to the others. There are codes and rules to be followed in every realm, and the living world might be the only ce where rules are broken," said Calhoun, "But seriously, your sister doesn''t know when to stop following trouble, does she?"

    It annoyed Calhoun that Beth was reckless and she didn''t think before doing something. dimir could have yed dirty by trapping Beth and keeping her in Hell until Madeline would drink the potion to convert herself to a full demon. His eyes narrowed, and he felt Madeline squeeze his hand.

    "She feels guilty for what happened to Raphael. She was only looking for him," whispered Madeline so that she wouldn''t wake Beth up from her sleep.

    Calhoun exhaled and shook his head, "I would like to go and find him in Hell, but we don''t know if we''ll find him there."

    "Why do you say that?" Madeline turned her body so that she could face Calhoun.

    Calhoun had a grim expression on his face, and he said, "There are some demons who end up in the tower of torture so that they can repent for their actions, while there are some demons who stay in the river of the dead like your mother. But there are also some demons who end up nowhere. They just disappear in thin air. Of course, this is just an assumption, and we cannot be certain until dimir speaks the truth."

    "Is it possible to find an innocent soul to sacrifice it to the Devil without causing any sin?" Madeline wanted to bring Raphael back, but making a contract with the Devil was risky.

    "It isn''t that hard," and on Calhoun''s words, Madeline''s eyes looked at him with intrigue, "There are many lost innocent souls who want to kill themselves, but the question is if they are willing to spend the rest of their eternity in more pain and torture. There are demons whom you will find lurking in the shadows, demons who make contracts with the living creatures so that the fools can live their life in ease in the living world. But that is only trickery, and we know no matter how good a deal is, one will have to pay the price by giving up their soul."

    Madeline dropped her gaze and looked at their interlinked fingers.

    When they finally reached the town where Madeline''s parents lived, the carriage finally pulled over in front of the Harris'' residence. The coachman pulled open the carriage door, and as Beth stepped down from the carriage, she looked up at the mansion that stood tall. Just when she turned around to speak to Madeline, she caught sight of something that was sitting at the back of the carriage.

    Beth ced her hand on her chest as if to settle her heart, "What is that thing doing here?" she asked Madeline.

    Madeline looked at the Salvette Mortem, who now jumped down to stand on the ground, "It decided to tag along with us. Courtesy of dimir. Don''t worry about it," she ced her hand on Beth''s back. They started to make their way towards the entrance of the mansion.

    Calhoun walked in front of them, and before they could reach the door, Madeline''s parents who had heard the sound of the carriage and neiging of the horses, stepped out to receive them.

    "My King," both Mr. and Mrs. Harris bowed their heads to greet him, "We received your letter a few hours ago about you visiting us today. Pleasee in," said Mr. Harris, stepping to the side to give way for Calhoun.

    "I am d to hear that you received the letter on time. I thought it would be better to keep you informed about our visit so that we aren''t intruding your time," as Calhoun said this, he stepped inside the mansion.

    Beth was the next person to be greeted, and her parents hugged her, "How have you been doing, Beth?" asked Mrs. Harris, "Hopefully, not giving your sister any trouble." Beth didn''t know what to tell because she still felt guilty for soiling the family name by helping Markus.

    "She''s been wonderful, mama," Madeline came to the rescue, "It was good to have Beth in the castle."

    "And how are you doing, Maddie?" asked her mother. Madeline hugged her mother, her eyes closing for a second before they opened and she pulled back.

    "Just the same, mama. I hope you are doing well, papa too," said Madeline, her eyes moved from her mother to look at her father.

    "The King has been extremely generous in bestowing us with a mansion and a shop for your father''s work which is way more than we could have ever dreamed about," replied Mrs. Harris. Madeline was happy hearing this, knowing her parents werefortable in their lives without a shadow of a demon or angel or fallen angel''s around them.

    When everyone settled in the living room, the two servants who worked in the mansion took the luggage and ced it in the respective rooms.

    "We were worried that we didn''t receive any letter from you Maddie, and we thought toe and visit you in the castle," said Mrs. Harris. "Has everything been well?"

    Madeline nodded her head, "Yes, mama, everything has been well and good," and Beth nodded her head in agreement. Both the Harris'' sisters had decided that they wouldn''t let their parents know about Beth turning to a werewolf or about the Devil being Madeline''s rtive. At least not now.

    "How is your work going on, Mr. Harris? I hope the magistrate is treating you well," remarked Calhoun and Mr. Harris nodded his head.

    "He has been generous just like you, my lord. It was only yesterday our carriage wheel had broken, and he got it reced as quickly as he could," answered Mr. Harris before silence filled the room. "Why don''t you have something to drink and then rest? The journey must have been long and tiresome."

    Calhoun looked at Madeline, and then at her parents, "I have somewhere to go. The High House has decided to keep a meeting, and I would like to check if everything is on schedule." When he stood up, everyone stood up too, and without blinking his eyes, Calhoun made his way to where Madeline stood. He kissed her forehead that turned her red as he kissed her in front of her family. "I will be back soon."

    "I will wait," murmured Madeline, her cheeks turning warm and he left the room.

    Hearing the front door click from where they were, Madeline felt her mother''s gaze on her, "Is he treating you well, Maddie?"

    "What kind of question is that? He must be treating her well," retorted Mr. Harris at his wife''s words.

    "He is now, but don''t you remember how things were in the beginning?" asked Mrs. Harris with a slight worry in her voice. The King''s behaviour had surely softened towards her daughter, but that didn''t mean he wasn''t intimidating anymore.

    "Don''t worry, mama. He is treating me right," Madeline offered her mother a smile to ease her mother''s tension. "I don''t think any other person would have stood next to mepared to the way he supports me."

    Her mother had a small frown on her face, but she nodded her head, "If you say so," she whispered before offering her daughters a warm smile.

    Madeline and Beth went to the rooms to rest, but something bothered Madeline, and she stepped out of the room to find her mother in the kitchen. Seeing her mother busy in cutting the vegetables, Madeline asked,

    "What are you preparing, mama?"

    Mrs. Harris turned to look at her daughter, "It is for dinner," she said, cutting the vegetables. Since her mother had mentioned Calhoun''s initial behaviour, Madeline didn''t know why, but it felt as if her mother wanted to say something.

    "Let me help," offered Madeline and she took some of the potatoes and started dicing them. "Is everything alright, mama?"

    Her mother looked startled and nodded her head, "Yes, why do you ask?"

    Madeline didn''t know how to put her thoughts in words, "You don''t like Calhoun?"

    Mrs. Harris gave out a nervousugh, "He''s your husband, he has been looking after you well, what more can a mother ask for?"

    Madeline went to stand near her mother, and she ced her hand on her mother''s hand, "You don''t have to fear him, mama. Calhoun will never hurt you."

    Mrs. Harris sighed, "I am sorry, Maddie. Sometimes, I just worry about you and him. It would have been easier if he was just the vampire King, but knowing he''s the Devil''s grandson, it is intimidating..."

    Madeline furrowed her eyebrows, "How do you know that? That Calhoun is the Devil''s grandson?" It was because neither she or Calhoun had ever found the opportunity to mention it to her parents. Her mother pursed her lips.

    "It doesn''t matter how I know about it, Maddie. Have you thought about what it might bring to the world? An angel and a demon''s union has only been condemned and shunned," said her mother in a soft tone as if she didn''t want Mr. Harris to hear about it.

    "Where is this talking from?" Madelineughed, trying to lighten the mood, but her mother looked tense. "Mama, it doesn''t matter who Calhoun is or his origin, he is who he is, and I am who I am. And what is wrong if an angel and a demon fall in love? Doesn''t that mean there''s hope for peace between the two kinds?"

    Mrs. Harris nodded her head before letting a sigh, "I just want you to be safe."

    "I know, mama," Madeline put her hands around her mother, hugging her, "Even though Calhoun is the Devil''s grandson, he has done nothing but protect me from harm. He would never do anything to hurt me," she said in a soft tone.

    If there was something to be worried about, it was about her giving her judgement on Calhoun, thought Madeline in her mind. It was a thought that lurked in the shadow.

    After speaking some more with her mother, Madeline had sessfully calmed her mind, but she wondered who her mother found out about Calhoun being the Devil''s grandson. How did she find out? Or did someone tell her?

 Chapter 526 Gatherings- Part 2

    <h4>526 Gatherings- Part 2</h4>

    The town wasn''t too far away from where the High House was, and this town was where one of the headquarters was located to hold meetings. He had moved Madeline''s parents here not because there was a harmony between the vampires and humans, but also because this was where the head of the High House, Helena lived.

    He continued to walk until he came to stand in front of an old building made of square red bricks. As he walked towards the door where two men stood guarding it, a small ck card slid into his hand, and he raised it in front of him. One of the guards hand reached out to open the door, but Calhoun didn''t need it as he walked past the door. He entered a dark walled room that was lit with torches of fire on the walls.

    A man with two horns on his head appeared from the corner of the room. An average person wouldn''t be able to see the horns, but Calhoun had been able to see it since the very first time he had been here. The demon had droopy eyes, and his expression looked bored.

    "King Calhoun, shall I take your coat?" requested the demon, his head in a deep bow while he waited for Calhoun to speak.

    Calhoun only raised his hands, and the demon stepped behind him to remove the coat off his shoulders.

    "Who has arrived, Miser?" asked Calhoun

    The demon folded the coat, cing it on his arm, "The ministers, some of the magistrates, the usual High House members, and some of the Kings, King Calhoun." The demon kept his head bowed without raising it.

    "Hm," responded Calhoun. Without sparing more words, he made his way through the passage between the brick walls, his footsteps quiet on the floor.

    When he finally reached the double doors, this time he waited for it to be opened by the men who stood outside, and once the doors were opened, he was weed by the chatter of men and women. He caught sight of people whom he already knew and had met in the past.

    "King Calhoun, it is good to see you here," greeted Helena, her voice held little to no enthusiasm in it.

    "I was hoping you would be," replied Calhoun with a broad smile, and he walked around the table, hearing the people who were sitting at the round table while most of them had decided to stay quiet and watch him. "How is everyone doing?" he questioned them.

    One of the women in the room said, "We are doing well, King Calhoun. We heard the news about your father and grandmother returning from the dead. Is that true?"

    "I heard those rumours too," said another person who was in the room, "How strange to be hearing that people areing back from the dead. Do you think it is a witch''s work?"

    Calhoun looked at the woman who had dark eyebrows, and her ck hair had been tied at the back of her head. A human who always had too much curiosity, and if she weren''t the Queen of the neighbouringnd, it would have been easier to snap her head.

    "What do you think, Lady Amoura? You were thick as thieves, you should know the answer to it, unless you are someone who likes to gossip," stated Calhoun with a smile on his face. In the High House, some members were once loyal to his grandmother, and those same people had tried to throw him off the throne.

    The woman named Amoura was in herte forties, and she stared at the vampire, "Are you trying to imply something, King Calhoun?"

    "I don''t know about me, but I would like to ask you the same question," the smile on Calhoun''s lips broadened.

    "Gahanger," Helena called the man who was standing near the wall. She had raised her hand, and she said, "Get everyone something to eat and drink so that their mouths can be quiet for some time."

    Hearing this, Lady Amoura turned offended, and even though she was the Queen, she couldn''t retort back to Helena as Helena was not any person but the Head of the High House, someone with immense authority as Amoura herself.

    Calhoun lightly chuckled, and he made himselffortable on the cushioned chair at the table. Helena''s hand reached out for her pocket watch, and she flipped it open to see the time.

    "It seems like there are some people who aren''t here in the room-" started Helena and at the same time, the doors of the room opened, and in entered a man who had ruffled brown hair and his gaze narrowed on seeing the people in the room. He offered a small bow to Helena,

    "My apologies for beingte. I was held back with an urgent matter," said the man.

    One of the men at the table, remarked, "Was it the herd of sheep that had blocked your path?"

    "He must have been distracted with the amount of food in front of him," snickered another person.

    The man''s eyes turned golden yellow as he stared at the two people. The room suddenly turned hostile, and the two people who hadmented turned alert as if they were readying to fight the man who had entered the room.

    "I don''t bother with the food on my path when I know there are full-grown people here who can be eaten," answered the man, his eyes continuing to glow.

    "Lady Helena, this man is threatening to kill us! I don''t even know how he can even hold the title with such brazen behaviour," said the man who hadmented about the sheep.

    Helena rubbed her forehead, trying to keep her patience that was running thin because of the people in the room. She had tried to postpone this meeting with everyone in one room because she knew how people behaved with one another. Most of them didn''t get along, and they were usually set on throwing mud on each other.

    "And who do you think instigated it?" Amoura questioned back, crossing her hands across her chest.

    "At least it is confirmed that every person in this room has brains," murmured Calhoun and the woman''s eyes red.

    "How dare you disrespect-"

    Helena finally snapped, "That''s enough! This is not the way the leaders of thends behave with one another. And Mr. Turner, refrain from using degrading remarks, else I will personally offer you as food to someone," her red eyes brightened, and Mr. Turner, who had opened his mouth to speak back, closed his mouth immediately.

    "My apologies," Mr. Turner bowed his head and felt the humiliation as people stared at him. When Helena turned her eyes away, Mr. Turner red at the person.

    Calhoun, who sat with his back leaning against the chair, observed what just happened, and the smile continued to stay on his face in amusement.

    "King Sebastian," Helena addressed the man who had walked through the doors a while ago. "If you would please join us," she had lifted her hand towards the empty seat at the table. Though Mr. Turner had apologized, everyone knew how insincere his apology was, and Sebastian took one step towards Mr. Turner making him gulp in his seat before he walked to the other side and sat down.

    Helena tapped the quil''s tipl on the table, "Everyone must be wondering why all of you have been called here today. We have some critical issues that need to be discussed. There are some known matters in the room, but we believe it would be good to be transparent now, considering the situation that happened recently," Helena''s red eyes looked at the people who were seated at the table. "I would like to start with the werewolves'' situation, King Sebastian," she addressed the man.

    The High House head continued, "There have been recent sightings of werewolves who roam out of yournd, and they roam upon the othernds killing people, especially the ones in Devon."

    The man named Sebastian stared at the blonde vampiress, "I handle and take care of what happens in mynd, Lady Helena, not the ones that walk in the othernds. You should know how infectious the werewolf bites are. There are too many rogues that hide and don''t get caught until the very end."

    Helena watched Sebastian through her monocle, "I thought when we signed the treaty, it meant you would regte the existence of werewolves in all thends."

    "That would be possible only if I had the authority, Lady Helena. You should speak to the Queen of the damned, maybe she will give you the insights of how she didn''t want me or any of my men stepping on hernd," responded Sebastian, and he received a re from Amoura.

    "Do not call me the Queen of damned, unless you want to die," threatened Amoura.

    "What''s the meaning of this?" questioned Helena, and Amoura rolled her eyes slightly before raising both her eyebrows.

    Amoura clicked her tongue, "The man whoes from thend of Warrings was causing an unnecessary ruckus. Therefore, I did what I thought to be fit. He killed my men!"

    "She sent them after me. What did you expect?" replied Sebastian, "I was only returning her the favour. There were rogue werewolves on hernd, and she refused to have me or my men there as if she was protecting them."

    The Queen''s eyes red, and she red, "How dare you use me about it!"

    Calhoun chuckled. "Seems like no one here gets along, not that I have any issue, but if we could continue than waste time on bickering," remarked Calhoun.

    Looking at Helena, Calhoun said, "If I may speak. There have been a few problematic situations because of the rogue werewolves, and their numbers have been increasing. And I do agree with King Sebastian. He is not some type of angel to appear everywhere and kill the rogues. The situation can be handled only by the respective rulers of thend."

    Hearing the word angel, Helena narrowed her eyes. "And what do you propose?" questioned Helena.

    "Let the Kings and the Queen handle it. We are after all responsible for the safety of ournds. Last time, there was a slip, but we did capture the rogue werewolves. It has been a while since that outbreak," stated Calhoun in a calm tone, "I think there are other pressing matters apart from the werewolves." His eyes went back to look at Helena whose lips were set in a thin line.

    Thest time when they had met, Helena wasn''t pleased to speak about angels and demons'' existence, and Calhoun was aware that the vampiress believed in keeping it as a secret. But it was high time people were aware of other creatures'' existence and to know where to draw a line between the lower and the higher beings.

    Every person''s eyes fell on the head of the High House who was quiet for a few seconds before she said, "There is some things that many are not aware, and we would like everyone to know about the existence of some creatures, who live among us like any other creatures be it humans, vampires or werewolves," Helena''s words were enough to catch the attention of the people in the room. "There are demons and angels who walk in the living world."

    Suddenly, the quiet room broke into a chatter with people questioning it with a look of disbelief on their faces.

 Chapter 527 Gatherings- Part 3

    <h4>527 Gatherings- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Back in the Harris'' mansion, Madeline had finished helping her mother, and she learned that Calhoun had assigned maids in the mansion, but her parents found it to be too much and they had asked them to return to the magistrate, who was the one to arrange the maids for the mansion.

    Madeline heard Beth and her father''s voiceing from the other end of the corridor, and she walked towards the other side, wondering where the Salvette Mortem had disappeared to unless it had gone hiding and would appear in time if she were to die. As sweet as the thought was, where dimir wanted her soul for his grandson, Madeline wasn''t sure if she liked the thought about the creature of death hanging around her, waiting for the time where she would die.

    She was making her towards the hall when she heard a sudden rush of winding from the above floor. Wondering if a window was open, Madeline made climbed up the stairs, and she heard a window hit against the wall because of air. Stepping into the room, she reached for the window when she heard something creak from behind her, and suddenly the air that was blowing inside the room had quietened.

    Madeline noticed this and her eyes moved to the right corner, and she turned around to meet the blonde angel, Michael.

    "Good evening, Madeline," Michael greeted her politely.

    "Evening," replied Madeline softly and when she took a step back, she heard the door lock behind her. "What are you doing here?" How did he know where she was here?

    A faint smile appeared on the angel''s lips, "I only want to talk to you."

    "I can listen with the door open," Madeline spoke apprehensively.

    "I doubted that you would be willing to talk to me with the Devil''s grandson not here," replied Michael, his voice calm and the expression on his face serene. "I am here only to talk to you."

    All these years, even though she didn''t know if angels and demons existed, she always believed that angels were pure and right, but she was wrong. Their intentions were pure, but the methods weren''t as pure as they thought it to be. Michael had chosen toe to speak to her in the absence of Calhoun because he knew Calhoun would not allow him anywhere near her.

    Staring at the angel, Madeline asked, "What did you want to speak about?"

    "Before I speak anything, I need you to know that I or any other angel is not your enemy but your aid. We are only doing what is best not just for you, but also the others around you," exined Michael. "Don''t let the demon and his words taint your heart, you staying here will only bring pain, and you will see your people whom you care die."

    "You want me toe to Heaven, it is why you are telling this to me," said Madeline, and Michael shook his head.

    "You spoke to my mother," whispered Madeline in realization, and her eyes turned wide, "You were the one to tell her about who Calhoun is."

    Michael didn''t refuse her usation, and he said, "Your parents are good people. People who have sheltered you, and who believe in the goodness of people. I believed they should know what is going on with their daughter. I have been mindful by not mentioning what your sister has be."

    Madeline felt anger rising in her because this person had intruded and done things he was not supposed to do, "I don''t know if you know it, but my mother was a demon."

    Michael smiled, "Your mother is not a demon, but a human from the fallen-" and he stopped mid-sentence, "Was?" his eyes slowly narrowed, "That is impossible."

    "It is the truth that even my father is unaware of," replied Madeline.

    "Paschar would have known if that woman was a demon-"

    "You fail to see, don''t you? When you fall in love, you don''t notice where the persones from but ignore everything else. My parents were deeply in love, and I am that mark that they left," said Madeline to him, "If I am an angel, I also have demon blood coursing through me."

    Michael didn''t speak for several seconds and stared at Madeline, weighing the words she spoke.

    "This only makes it worse. A soul once tainted, is tainted for life and there''s no going back. It is only a matter of time when darkness seizes your heart," a faint frown had appeared on Michael''s forehead.

    Michael noticed how stubborn Madeline was, he had hoped to sway her through her mother''s words, but that hadn''t worked. "Why do you insist on turning to the dark side?"

    "I never did. All I want is to live here peacefully without taking any sides."

    Michael had dropped his hand, and he was about to say something when the creature of death appeared in the room. The Salvette Mortem who had nothing in its hands, suddenly an axe appeared that was bloody while staring at the angel. The room turned hostile as if the creature didn''t like the angel in the room or next to Madeline.

    "Seems like you havepany. I will returnter, and I hope you would have changed your answer," and in a blink of an eye, the angel disappeared from the room as if he was never here and the door unlocked itself.

    If Michael could find her, she wondered how long it would be before dimir would find her and Calhoun too.

 Chapter 528 Archangels- Part 1

    <h4>528 Archangels- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline stared at the empty room where she stood along with the Salvette Moretm that didn''t move from its ce. It hadn''t let go of the bloody axe that it held in its hand for many seconds, and when it did, Madeline came to know that Michael had disappeared from this mansion.

    She found it rather strange that an angel would use underhand methods when it came to taking her to Heaven, and this persistently. Something felt very off and odd about it. Since she was a child, she had heard nothing but good things about angels of how one had to only pray and the angels would look after the person, but the current situation was far from it.

    The Salvette Mortem walked towards the room''s balcony, its boney hands pushing the door and it stepped outside, while not bothering to interact with her, not that she would understand a word if it would speak to her.

    When the door knob turned, Madeline''s head snapped around, and she saw Beth push the door open,

    "What are you doing here?" questioned Beth, taking a step inside the room. In time she caught sight of the ck robes of the Salvette Mortem that had stepped into the balcony.

    "Michael was here," informed Madeline and Beth frowned.

    "Did hee here to persuade you?" asked Beth and Madeline nodded her head. "How did he even know? He must have been following us during the entire journey."

    Madeline pursed her lips, "I don''t know. He told mama about Calhoun being the Devil''s grandson. He must have tried to get into her head about how Calhoun and I should not be together and must separate."

    Hearing this, Beth frowned, "That doesn''t sound like an angel''s work."

    Madeline''s brown eyes looked at Beth''s green eyes, "It doesn''t, does it. It feels more like a demon''s work," she whispered.

    It was because an angel never whispered things into the ears of the living creatures. Things like those were a demon''s work, to sway and convince the naive people of the living world. She could sense something was amiss, but she couldn''t point out what it was.

    "What did mama say?" inquired Beth.

    "I tried to convince and tell her that Calhoun would never harm her or anyone whom I care for. She seems to be behaving normally, but I hope the angel would note and meddle with her thoughts again," stated Madeline before something dawned on her, "Beth, do you know how an angel and a demon''s rtionship work? I mean there are protocols. But are angels allowed to indulge themselves with demons? No matter how good natured they are?"

    "Why do you ask that?" asked Beth, wondering if Madeline was speaking about her and Calhoun.

    "I need to speak to Paschar," informed Madeline to Beth.

    "Now?"

    Madeline nodded her head, "There is something we have been overlooking, and we didn''t notice it."

    "The church," whispered Madeline and she turned to Beth, "I will go to the church. It is the ce where God resides where you will find the angels."

    "Let mee with you," Beth offered, but Madeline was quick to refuse her sister''s offer.

    "No, I will be fine by myself. I will also feel better knowing there''s someone to take care of mama and papa," said Madeline. It was only a few minutes ago since Michael had disappeared from here. She didn''t want him to influence her parents by feeding more things into their ears. Not to forget, thest time when Beth hade out with Madeline for her work, things had taken a bad turn. "If Calhoun returns, let him know that I have gone to visit the church."

    "Are you sure you don''t want me toe with you?" asked Beth, understanding Madeline''s reasoning even though it wasn''t spoken out loud. Both Heaven and Hell wanted Madeline''s soul, which only put Madeline as a target.

    "I will be okay. I will be back soon. I just need to contact Paschar," replied Madeline, and she quickly left the room.

    Madeline took the carriage, asking the coachman to take her to the nearest church. When they reached the ce, the coachman opened the carriage door for her, and Madeline stepped down and saw a whitewashed church that had turned dull. On one side of the church stood the bell, and on the either sides of the church at the top, she caught sight of the statues of archangels sitting with their wings. The door to the church was open.

    "Stay here. I will return soon," Madeline informed the coachman who was from the royal pce, and he bowed his head.

    Just as she entered the church, she heard the church bells ring loudly, and it brought peace to her mind.

    For a moment, Madeline closed her eyes, feeling a wave of tranquillity pass through her body when she heard the sound of the bell resonate throughout the nearby houses and buildings. She wondered how something so simple could have such a profound effect.

    Her eyes took in the church''s architecture, noticing the ceilings that were tall with paintings that covered it. The benches had been pushed to the sides as if people barely visited this ce. Noticing the lit candles that were ced at the front, Madeline walked down and found a woman, who just stepped out of the confession box. From the other side of the confession box came the priest of the church.

    cing both her hands together, she prayed in hope that she could see Paschar right now. She wanted to speak to him. After seconds passed, she opened her eyes, but he didn''t arrive.

    "I don''t think I have ever seen you here, mdy. You must be new to the town," said the priest.

    Madeline turned her head to meet the priest''s eyes, bowing her head in greeting, "I am, father. I thought I would speak to an angel."

 Chapter 529 Archangels- Part 2

    <h4>529 Archangels- Part 2</h4>

    Madeline didn''t know if she should answer his question. Noticing her reluctance in telling the angel''s name, the priest offered her a kind smile.

    "It is alright if you want to keep it as a secret. What is your name, my child?"

    "Madeline Hawthrone," introduced Madeline to the priest.

    "I am Gabriel Quintin." When the priest said this, Madeline stared at the priest. Since the time she hade to know about Paschar, and then Michael, Madeline had followed the angel''s names much more closely, and she noticed him smiling at her. "Is something wrong?"

    "Are you-are you the archangel Gabriel?" She slowly took a step back to maintain a distance between them. The priest blinked his eyes as if not understanding what she just said.

    Madeline had not waited to confirm and had dived right into the question. She had noticed the pattern in the past, and she didn''t doubt her gut feeling.

    "I think you are mistaking who I am, youngdy," the priest had a perplexed look on his face, and his eyes looked at her curiously.

    "I am the daughter of the angel Paschar, and I came here looking for him," said Madeline to the priest named Gabriel and suddenly the expression on his face changed. "Are you still going to deny that you aren''t the archangel?"

    Gabriel''s expression turned calm, and he stared at Madeline with a faint smile on his face, "So it''s Paschar who you are looking for."

    Madeline nodded her head, "I wanted to talk to him, but if you are an angel, you should be helpful." Her words intrigued Gabriel.

    "I have heard many rumours about you Madeline, but it is a pleasure to meet you," said Gabriel, looking into the brown-eyed girl. "You are the child Heaven has been curious and wary about. A dark angel with unexplored power and potential. I don''t think you will be able to see Paschar as he has been ordered to not step out of Heaven and work there instead."

    "Why?" frowned Madeline.

    Initially Madeline was angry at Paschar, but after meeting her mother and seeing some of the memories that belonged to him and her mother, Marina, she had decided to speak to Paschar.

    "He has broken quite some rules bying and meeting you when he was ordered to stay away from you or anything rted to you. This is Heaven''s one way of keeping him safe, until he wille to know the difference between the people in the living and the angels," answered Gabriel in a calm voice. "I thought he would have understood when his powers had been stripped away from him, but his feelings from the living world must havee back to him after discovering you."

    "Please take a seat," he said, stretching his hand towards the bench at the front.

    Passing an apprehensive look at the archangel, Madeline carefully took herself near the bench and sat down at one corner and on the other side, Gabriel sat down.

    "Your words are true, but there are rules that Paschar didn''t follow. If he continued this, he might be thrown into the living world and go through the punishment like the rest of the fallen angels. But as he is an archangel like some of us, angels of high rank, it isn''t easy to do it. Heaven is merciful about him, believing he won''t turn his back."

    "What about the archangels who had rtionships with the living in the name of work assigned to them?"

    "Work is work. Unless the person is hurt by the angel, which I doubt has ever happened, then it should be alright," Gabriel replied to Madeline''s question. "We do things to maintain bnce and keep the living world in peace, while letting as many people as possible to enter Heaven so that they can spend the rest of their eternity in peace."

    Did that mean it was alright for Michael to have a rtionship with Helena in the past? Asked Madeline in her mind.

    "Was this what you wanted to speak to Paschar about?" asked Gabriel and Madeline shook her head.

    "No. There are other important things that I wanted to directly speak to him. It is something between us, and no one else." Madeline replied to the archangel who didn''t press her for an answer. He seemed more like a genuine angel, unlike Michael, who seemed off. "How does one know when an angel is turning to the dark side?"

    "When that happens, the tainted angel will show his or her true nature in front of other angels, by letting their thoughts known to others. Only one such angel has done it, and I believe you have already met him. How is he?" inquired Gabriel. He was asking about the Devil.

    For some reason, Madeline smiled at this, and she said, "He''s his usual self. Trying to bring me to Hell, the same as how Paschar and Michael want me to end up in Heaven."

    Gabriel stared at Madeline, her words sinking in his mind, "I see. Why don''t you want toe to Heaven?"

    "I am not eager and ready to step into the afterlife. I still want to live long with Calhoun next to me and have children," confessed Madeline and Gabriel nodded his head.

    "If I am not wrong, I heard it from the whisperers that the angels have been asked to drop the matter for now. I mean having you in Heaven, because it does sound unfair when you haven''t done anything. But then that doesn''t mean there won''t be eyes on you," informed Gabriel.

    Madeline frowned, "Does that mean I won''t be forced and am allowed to stay here?" there was a hint of confusion in her voice.

 Chapter 530 Archangels- Part 3

    <h4>530 Archangels- Part 3</h4>

    Madeline wondered why Michael was still intent on having her in Heaven when Gabriel said there were whispers about her being free, which meant Heaven didn''t think she was a threat anymore.

    It was funny how what people thought to be true was untrue, and Madeline was told to be free like any other person in the living world.

    "What if I want to speak to Michael? Can you call him here?" requested Madeline.

    "Unfortunately Michael is busy in Heaven. It was only a few minutes before you entered the church did we receive news about people now finding out about the existence of demons and angels. Apparently, your husband has something to do with it," Gabriel looked at her with his brown and orange eyes.

    "Calhoun seems to have acquired all the qualities of the Devil. Causing unnecessary troubles. He must be angry about what happened to Raphael."

    Madeline''s eyes slightly widened at the mention of Raphael, and she stared at Gabriel, who seemed to know about a lot of things while he stayed in the shadows without meddling in things, unlike the other angels.

    "You know Raphael," murmured Madeline.

    "Let me tell you a story, Madeline, only if you have the time of course," said Gabriel, his tone polite and Madeline nodded for him to go on while wondering if he was changing the subject. "This is the story of Heaven where many archangels live together along with the other angels. When one of angel''s heart tainted with darkness, he left Heaven and made the dark underworld into his home, the same ce that had been trying to go against Heaven from the very beginning of the time. But the angel was tainted when another angel fell in love with the living soul from the living world. Sometimes all it takes is a spark in the forest to burn most of the trees and thend."

    The angel, Gabriel didn''t have to explicitly mention whom he was speaking about because she already knew it was about her father Paschar, and dimir.

    "After these two, there was another angel who stood to bnce the other two which our father didn''t like. As merciful and gracious he is, there are-"

    "Rules to be followed," Madelinepleted the sentence, and Gabriel gave her a nod.

    Madeline''s mouth turned dry hearing this. There was no way! Thought Madeline to herself. Gabriel had not made use of any names in his storytelling, but she had ced the story perfectly in their ces.

    Before she could speak or tell anything, Gabriel''s eyes shifted to look at the uninvited creature that had entered the church. It was the Salvette Mortem.

    "This one isn''t here for me so I believe it is here for you?" Gabriel''s gaze shifted from the Salvette Mortem to her. Unlike Michael, who had disappeared in a matter of seconds in the presence of the creature of death, Gabriel didn''t move but had only stared at it calmly.

    "It is a gift from dimir," murmured Madeline.

    "Must be a wedding gift," Gabriel hummed, his eyes going back to look at the Salvette Mortem who continued to move towards where they sat.

    In curiosity, Madeline asked, "Are you not scared about the creature?"

    Gabriel turned perplexed, "Why would I be? The Salvette Mortems are the ones to pass by the souls from one realm to another. It must be worried where I was trying to convince you to go to Heaven," he chuckled softly.

    When the angel stood up, Madeline stood up from the bench too.?"It was good talking to you, Madeline Hawthrone," said Gabriel and Madeline bowed her head.

    "Thank you for talking to me," Madeline replied and Gabriel gave her a nod.?She wasn''t able to meet Paschar, but Gabriel had been insightful, and her suspicion about a few things only deepened.?When she started to leave the church, the Salvette Mortem started to follow her footsteps right behind her.

    The ride back to her parent''s home was quiet even though the Salvette Moretm had decided to sit on the opposite side of the seat in the carriage. The guardian angel of death was prompt when it came to following her, and it only made Madeline realize that dimir already knew where she and Calhoun was, after all this creature was sent by him.

    Reaching the house, she made her way to the room. Calhoun wasn''t back yet, and the sky had turned dark. Walking towards the sink, she spalshed water on her face and she looked at her reflection on the mirror. Droplets of water slid down from her face, and she reached for the towel before dabbing her face.

    Stepping outside the room, Madeline walked towards the room that had a rack of books on one side of the wall, and her finger stopped when she found the book she was looking for. Pulling it out, she went through the book of Heavens. When she felt a hand on her head, Madeline turned startled and she saw it was Calhoun who had returned.

    "Wee back home," greeted Madeline. "How did the meeting go with the High House?"

    Closing the book, she let it go before standing up from the chair. Calhoun leaned forward, kissing Madeline''s lips while basking in her rosy smell.

    "It went excellent. How was your day here? You smell like church," he murmured, snuggling into the crook of her neck before he pulled away.

    As Calhoun''s red eyes looked at Madeline, she said, "I did visit a church."

    "Everything okay? If you wanted to go, I would have taken you there myself," stated Calhoun and Madeline smiled, knowing it was true.

    "It was on the spur," replied Madeline. She didn''t know that she was going to visit the church herself. "I had a visitor. Michael."

    Hearing the angel''s name, Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, "Surely he didn''te here to ask how you were doing."

    Madeline shook her head, "I don''t think the angel who came here was the archangel Michael."

    "What do you mean?"

    "Michael seemed slightly scared about the Salvette Mortem, and the person even spoke to mama about you being rted to Devil," said Madeline, "I wanted to speak to Paschar, but he is not to step out of Heaven because of his interactions with me. Whoever it was, who came here today, the person seemed to be like an imposter, posing himself to be the angel."

 Chapter 531 Family time- Part 1

    <h4>531 Family time- Part 1</h4>

    "Looks like dimir did a good thing by leaving the Salvette Mortem around you even if I don''t like the idea of you being dead," said Calhoun. His eyes looked around the room before they settled on the book that Madeline was reading when he had arrived.

    "Who do you think would be scared of the creature of death? The archangel Gabriel seemed barely fazed by its presence," and the more she thought about it, the more she couldn''t believe how someone had impersonated the archangel Michael and arrived here to meet her.

    Who could it be?

    Madeline bit her lip in thought before letting it go.

    "If angels are not scared of the creatures of death, it leaves only two kinds. One who must be part of the living world, or two, a person from the underworld," stated Calhoun and his eyes slowly narrowed. "Do you remember what you saw in the memories that you glimpsed through your mother? There must have been something?"

    Madeline pursed her lips, trying to recollect what she had seen. "There was the demoness named Astrate, but she was killed by Paschar the same day my mother was sent to Hell. Do you think she will be found in Hell?" If her memory served her right, she had met this demoness the day Raphael had died.

    "It is a possibility," replied Calhoun.

    "Do you think she''s the one who came to meet me today?" Madeline found it to be rather strange that the demoness wanted her to go to Heaven. She was the woman who had killed her mother and separated her family��one in Hell, the other in Heaven, and she was in the living world.

    "We won''t know until we find out from her," responded Calhoun. But then to affirm it, they would have to go to Hell where dimir would dly wee them with open arms, but he wouldn''t let them out. "What did Michael say to you?"

    "He wanted me to go with him. He said Heaven, but I doubt that is where he wanted me toe with him," answered Madeline, remembering the way Michael had tried to sway her decision.

    "Wonder where the person wanted to take you, if it is not Heaven or Hell. Must be for his own use," murmured Calhoun.

    "Wait, I remember the woman named Astrate had mentioned about a demon for whom they were working. He went by the name Darian. That''s the name!" The conversation between Astrate and her mother Marina didn''t seem hostile. "It felt like Astrate had done a favour on my mother by killing her."

    "I thought the demons came into existence by following dimir." Madeline''s eyebrows furrowed. This was something she didn''t understand even when Gabriel was telling the story.

    "There were a few demons who existed even before dimir took reign of Hell. They were called the Fiends, and they had tried to revolt against Heaven and tried to use the living world to their advantage. I believe your mother was part of it too, it was how she came in contact with Paschar," exined Calhoun.

    That would only mean that the demon who was truly responsible for her mother''s death wanted her.

    "Do you think we can enter Hell by cing conditions so that dimir cannot make us stay there through any trickery?" inquired Madeline.

    Calhoun stared at Madeline, and he gave her a nod, "Where''s the Salvette Mortem?"

    "Must be lurking somewhere in the mansion. Earlier, it was standing in one of the room''s balconies," Madeline answered his question. Calhoun left her side, going in search of it, and she followed him. Walking through the corridors and mansion''s halls for a while before they finally found the Salvette Mortem who had apparently been trailing right behind them.

    "Did you see who the person was who hade to meet Madeline?" Calhoun questioned the Salvette Mortem. Being the Devil''s descendant, he had the ability to speak and understand the Salvette Mortems.

    The creature with the stag like boney head, it opened its mouth, making a creaking sound as it''s jaw moved up and down.

    ''It was a demon, Master Calhoun,'' answered the creature.

    "Who was it?" demanded Calhoun.

    ''Never sensed this person before. I thought there was something very strange about him as he didn''t seem the same as thest time,'' replied the creature.

    A few seconds passed before Calhoun said, "Tell dimir I want to speak to him. Right this instance." The creature looked apprehensive, throwing a look at Madeline and Calhoun assured it, "I will be right here with Madeline."

    The Salvette Mortem disappeared in a blink of an eye, leaving Calhoun and Madeline alone in the corridor. A fire appeared on the ground within the next few seconds, and dimir arrived in the Harris'' residence.

    "Hello, my dear children. I was waiting for you to invite me," remarked dimir, his eyes looking around the walls that surrounded him, and his eyes fell on the couple. "Lovely evening, isn''t it? If you wanted to have dinner with me, I could have arranged it in my quarters of Hell."

    dimir had a wide grin on his face, and he looked at Calhoun with a proud look on his face. Before any of them could say anything more, Mrs. Harris arrived on the other end of the corridor, and without noticing dimir, she said,

    "Supper has been prepared."

 Chapter 532 Family time- Part 2

    <h4>532 Family time- Part 2</h4>

    dimir tilted his head, and he prompted the word, "Guest? I am the rtive, mdy."

    For a moment, Mrs. Harris was left confused, and her eyes then suddenly widened, "Y-you are the King''s grandfather?"

    "So you have heard about me," dimir offered Madeline''s mother a smile, and with his eyes that were wide, it only turned the woman frightened in his presence. The Devil started to walk straight towards Mrs. Harris, and he said, "We didn''t get to meet each other officially. I am dimir Lazarus, Calhoun''s beloved grandfather," he stressed on the word beloved.

    If her mother hadn''t heard about who dimir was, maybe it would have been easier to ease her into the situation, but Madeline could tell her mother''s nerves were wrecked in worry in the presence of the Devil.

    "Mama," Madeline tried to get her mother''s attention, "Let us go to the kitchen to see if the dessert you made is done. dimir is here to join us for dinner." If it was possible, her mother turned shocked. Walking towards her mother, Madeline smiled and took mother''s hand to lead her down the stairs.

    When they entered the kitchen, Mrs. Harris turned sharply on her heel, "What is the Devil doing here?!" The horror that Mrs. Harris felt was now apparent on her face. In the past, she thought if there was one person whose presence was intimidating, it was her son-inw Calhoun Hawthrone, but this was something she had never foreseen.

    Beth, who was in the kitchen, turned around to ask Madeline, "dimir is here?"

    "You know him too?" whispered Mrs. Harris with a shocked expression on her face.

    With the way her mother was behaving, Madeline questioned what the demon had said to her mother that had her terrified. Madeline ced a hand on her mother''s shoulder, "Mama, breathe. dimir is here because we have some questions to ask. The person who came to talk to you, he wasn''t an angel."

    "What?" frowned Beth.

    Mrs. Harris ced a hand on her temple, pressing it, "Oh, dear God. Please be merciful on my family and me," she muttered under her breath.

    "What is going on?" questioned Beth, cing the pot on the table that she had earlier carried in her hands.

    Madeline turned to Beth, "We had an unknown demon in the house who impersonated the archangel''s form to persuade mama and me."

    "The Devil is here! This is not good," whispered Mrs. Harris under her breath, going to one of the racks, she pulled out the garlic from there, and Madeline sighed. "One should not associate with the Devil! One should not invite him as he shall bring nothing but destruction and misery. Have we all not read it?"

    "Mama, grandma and grandpa wanted to kill me," Madeline responded. She understood that her mother was scared and worried, but this was not how to go about it. "dimir is here to help us! You need to believe my words, instead of listening to a stranger, okay?"

    She stared at her mother, waiting until her mother finally nodded her head.

    "How do I act?" asked Mrs. Harris.

    Madeline squeezed her mother''s shoulders and said, "Like any other person. I know he is the Devil and the thought is daunting, but he is Calhoun''s only family. There is goodness and badness in every person. We have all had it," she said looking straight into her mother''s worrisome eyes. "It might be wrong of me to tell this, but he is better than grandma and grandpa. He helped Beth."

    Mrs. Harris''s gaze shifted to her younger daughter, and Beth nodded her head.

    "Madeline is right, mama," said Beth, before someone would drop the news to her mother she decided to say, "Something happened in Cossington, and I fell very, very sick. It was dimir who helped me get better."

    "Why didn''t you tell us anything about it?" Mrs. Harris''s eyebrows had deeply furrowed, "Are you alright now?"

    "We didn''t want you to worry about it," replied Beth.

    "Let''s get the table ready to serve the food," suggested Madeline, and Beth nodded her head, "Mama?"

    "Yes, let''s get it ready," agreed Mrs. Harris.

    On the above floor, dimir and Calhoun heard every word spoken by the women of the house. While the Devil smiled, there was a questioning look in his eyes, "Seems like I missed something."

    "Do you know a demon named Darian? Madeline and I suspect that he was here," informed Calhoun.

    "I don''t think I do, but what business did he have here?" questioned the Devil, his eyes holding curiosity in them.

    "He came here impersonating the archangel Michael, tattling to Madeline''s mother on how I am rted to the Devil and he tried to sway Madeline''s decision to leave the living world. He came to Madeline when I wasn''t here," hearing the words from Calhoun, dimir''s eyes narrowed. "Madeline heard from the angel Gabriel that Heaven has decided to stop from persuading her."

    "The bastard sure has some nerve trying to pull something like that,"mented dimir. He snapped his fingers, and within five seconds, four demons appeared in front of them. "Find the demon named Darian. You can let the others know about it too, and the one who gets him in front of me will be rewarded handsomely," and he waved his fingers for the demons to disappear.

    "We want to enter, Hell," stated Calhoun and dimir''s eyes lit up like a child''s eyes.

    "You know Hell is your home, and you are always wee Calhoun," replied dimir, excited to have his grandson and the angel back in Hell.

    "But I have conditions before I step back there," said Calhoun and the smile on dimir''s face faltered.

    "I am listening."

    "You shall not try to keep us in Hell, and you won''t threaten or kill Madeline or me, forcing us in any direct or indirect way to live in Hell. Nor try to turn Madeline into a demon," Calhoun was specific about his deal with the Devil, and dimir nodded his head.

    "Sure."

    "And I get to ask you for a wish," said Calhoun, but this was something that didn''t sit well with the Devil. "Consider it to be a backup n if you ever try to flip and go back on your word. The wish can be from either me or Madeline."

    dimir ced his hand on his chest and said, "My heart bleeds that you don''t trust your very own grandfather."

    Calhoun rolled his eyes. After the stunt dimir pulled at them when they were in Hell, Calhoun would not let the Devil trick them again. And he also doubted Odin would be able to help.

    "Alright, consider it to be done," dimir agreed to the conditions. "We can leave whenever you want-"

    "After supper," Calhoun had already decided not to wait. He would have gone to Hell alone, but he didn''t want to leave Madeline behind. Both of them then headed down the stairs, making their way to the dining room.

 Chapter 533 Family time- Part 3

    <h4>533 Family time- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Supper at the table was odd because nobody spoke except for asking each other to pass something while they continued to eat in absolute silence. Mr. and Mrs. Harris didn''t look up from their te, and Beth quietly continued to eat her food while asionally raising her gaze to look at every one.

    Madeline sat next to Calhoun and on his other side sat dimir, who had a bright smile that made Madeline''s parents queasy. After all, it wasn''t every day the Devil came to join to have food with them.

    "What a delicious cooked duck this is,"plimented dimir.

    "Mama cooks the best roasted duck. She always has," Madeline chimed so that her parents could ease into the current situation. Her parents were nothing less to a pair of scared bunnies in front of dimir who knew he was intimidating them. But asking him not to would only provoke him to do it further.

    "It must have been wonderful growing up in a loving family of yours," hummed dimir. Calhoun looked barely bothered by dimir''s presence next to him, and he had a bored expression on his face. "They did look after you even though your parents are Paschar and Marina. I forgot to mention this earlier when you visited Hell, but I met your grandparents," dimir''s eyes had moved to Mr. Harris. "They are quite some people. I made sure they were well taken care of."

    Everyone around the table knew that people didn''t go to Hell to walk in the gardens but to be tortured on the burning coals. And by dimir''s words of ''well taken care of'' it tranted to him torturing them to his heart''s content.

    When the front door of the mansion was knocked, dimir''s head snapped in its direction. He smelt something in the air, and his eyes narrowed. Just when Mrs. Harris stood up from her chair, dimir said in a polite tone,

    "Why don''t you sit and continue your meal. Let me go and see who it is."

    Apart from Calhoun, the people at the table were shocked that the Devil had offered to do something. Seeing the back of dimir as he left the room, Calhoun slowly chewed his food.

    "See, mama. He isn''t that bad," Madeline whispered to her mother, and Mrs. Harris nodded her head.

    As dimir walked towards the front door which was closed, he caught sight of a maid who was making her way towards the door. When their gazes met, dimir dismissed her such that the maid turned around and went back inside in the direction she hade from. Bringing his hands towards his shirt''s cor, he straightened it. Cracking his neck, while running his tongue across the front of his teeth, he opened the door.

    Dimitri cleared his throat as it seemed like the man who had opened the door, his concentration was somewhere behind him. dimir''s gaze shifted to look at the unattractive man who stood in front of him.

    "We would like to speak to King Calhoun," informed Dimitri.

    dimir stared at the man, his eyes slightly narrowed, remembering he had met this one the night he had met thedy who stood outside. It looked like this one was a demon too, what did he want with Calhoun?

    On the other hand, Dimitri wondered if the man didn''t understand what he said because he continued to stare at him. Perhaps he was deaf? Believing he didn''t hear it the first time, Dimitri went to repeat his question,

    "Is King Ca-"

    "He is. What business do you have with him?" questioned dimir, his eyes going back to admire the woman''s back.

    "It is something we would like to discuss with his majesty. Could you please notify him that the High House members have arrived to meet him and that it is urgent," Dimitri continued to be polite with his words. He slowly turned behind him to see Helena who was facing their carriage that stood outside the mansion.

    "He''s having supper with his family. Do you know how important it is to spend time with your family?" came the bored reply of dimir, whilst trying to ignore the man who talked to him. "Is that your wife?" he jerked his head at the woman, and Dimitri''s eyes widened.

    Helena, who was looking at her pocket watch, her ears picked up the question, and her eyebrows drew in together with a slight annoyance. Today''s meeting at this town''s headquarters had consumed all her energy and patience, and all she wanted to do was to get back to the inn and rest.

    She turned around toe face to face with the man at the door, and her eyes narrowed.

    "You."

    "Good evening, mdy. How have you been?" asked dimir, taking a step down and towards Helena.

    Helena didn''t take a step back and only stared at the man she had met where the demons'' mass massacre had taken ce. "All you had to do is call my name, and I would be there next to you."

    "What?" Helena''s expression turned into a scowl for the man''s audacity.

    "I mean, you dide to meet me."

    Helena looked at dimir through her monocle. "I don''t think you heard what Dimitri said, but we are here for the King of Devon."

    "So cold. I was joking. Are you always like this? Or do I bring out this trait in you?" dimir asked with a charming smile on his face.?Helena looked at the man as if he had left his brain somewhere behind and had forgotten to pick it up.

    Right on time, Calhoun who had heard the interaction walked through the door. "King Calhoun," Helena greeted and walked past the crazy man.

 Chapter 534 The night to let go- Part 1

    <h4>534 The night to let go- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Helena along with Dimitri spoke to Calhoun, discussing what happened after he had left the High House quarters. While on the other side, dimir had not left the ce and watched them from a little distance away while hearing their conversation very clearly.

    "The magistrates want a full sweep of thends so that they are assured that no harm will evere to bestow on them," stated Helena with a serious voice. "They are now scared and want re-election to themittee of the High House by dissolving the current one."

    Calhoun, who heard what Helena had to say, nodded his head.

    "They are scared about what might happen to them if we demons and angels rose in power." A small chuckle escaped Calhoun''s lips. It was funny how the vampires who previously looked down upon the humans and other lower creatures now couldn''t stand the thought of another creature being above them. "They feel as if they are losing control. We have a majority of demons who are of higher rankings working in the High House. There is no way the judgment can move in their favour."

    Helena let out a tired sigh from her lips.

    She said, "Things like these need proper nning, King Calhoun."

    "And when did you n to reveal it to the public and to the officials?" Calhoun questioned with his eyebrows raised at Helena. "Thend doesn''t hold only humans, vampires or the weres anymore. There are many demons and fallen angels, and we don''t know when the ratio will increase. It is only right that we regte the situation to avoid any possible uneventful events in the future."

    Dimitri, who was standing next to Helena, spoke, "My King, if I may. Demons are of different levels. At least that is what I heard. How do we send back the ones who came from Hell?"

    "You cannot send them back that easily," chimed dimir, "The world belongs to every creature, but most of them want to dominate it, and that is what is causing an issue here."

    dimir, who had not been introduced to the High House members, Dimitri looked at Calhoun, and asked, "Who is this man?"

    Calhoun''s red eyes shifted to look at dimir, wondering if his grandfather wanted to reveal his identity.

    The Devil smiled as if his grandson read his mind.

    "I am the King''s very close rtive. I go by the name, dimir Lazarus," the Devil introduced himself.

    Neither Helena nor Dimitri had ever heard about this man, nor did they know that the King of Devon had a rtive like this one.

    dimir''szy red eyes moved to look at Dimitri, wondering who this person was to question him.

    "He is," said Calhoun, not wanting dimir to go all dramatic as he didn''t bother to answer the High House member''s question.

    Helena''s eyes narrowed, and she observed dimir. There was something very peculiar about this person, and she wondered what it was. If Calhoun was a demon, it meant even this man was a demon and maybe a powerful one at that. Because not everyone had the ability to notice who was a demon in this world, it was a rare gift.

    dimir''s eyes went back to look at the woman''s eyes that were bright red. He could sense her character''s strength just by the way she looked at him with hidden annoyance in her eyes, and it put a brighter smile on dimir''s face. It was their second meeting, and he enjoyed it with amusement.

    In the world that they lived, there were different kinds of demons. The level one demons who existed before the Devil imed Hell, the level two demons were the ones created by him, the level three demons were born in the living world, while the rest of the demons were creatures who the Devil didn''t pay heed to.

    "The demons who came from the underground world, some are under contracts with the Devil while there are other superior level demons who need to be dealt carefully, else you might end up burning yourself," said dimir to Helena when his words were for everyone.

    "I don''t think it''s a problem to have demons in the living world unless they try to cause unwanted problems to the living creatures of this world," Helena turned to Calhoun, "Anyways, we came here to inform you about the dissolving moment that has started in the High House."

    Calhoun gave her a nod, "That is very much appreciated. I will have some of my men ced in the main tower of the High House so that they can guard."

    Helena bowed her head in acknowledgement.

    "Why don''t we have dinner together? We have one spare seat at the table," chimed dimir and Calhoun felt the urge to roll his eyes. If he was not wrong, the Devil was trying to get under Helena''s skin.

    "Dimitri," called Helena, "Ask the coachman to get the carriage ready."

    Dimitri offered Calhoun a bow and then at dimir before leaving the front of the mansion''s entrance.

    "Aren''t you worried that the vampires and the humans will try to revolt?" dimir tilted his head in question. "Maybe we should have someone guard you. It would be saddening if something happened to you."

    The frown on Helena''s forehead didn''t leave, and she said, "I can take care of myself, but thank you for your concern." She turned to look at Calhoun, and said, "Thank you for your assistance, King Calhoun," and she turned her back to make her way towards the carriage.

 Chapter 535 The night to let go- Part 2

    <h4>535 The night to let go- Part 2</h4>

    "What do you know about that woman?" questioned dimir, and Calhoun''s eyes that were set ahead moved to the corner, giving dimir a look.

    "That she is the head of the High House," came the nd reply from Calhoun before a small smile appeared on his lips. "She''s staying in the Cruciferian inn. You can directly ask her."

    dimir hummed, "That I will, but she appears to be a little strong headed. Very hard to charm."

    Calhoun shook his head, "When did you both meet?" By the look Helena was giving towards dimir, it looked as if she was ready to bury him in a coffin and leave him there for the rest of his life with mud over the coffin.

    "When I was enjoying my midnight walk," responded dimir and they entered the dining room. Madeline had barely touched her food since Calhoun had left the table, and on seeing him, she asked,

    "Who was it?"

    "Our possible rtive," answered dimir with a lopsided grin on his face.

    When Madeline gave Calhoun a confused look, he shook his head as if to ignore the Devil''s words, and he sat down next to Madeline.

    Calhoun then said, "It seems some of the people from the othernds as well as some of the High House members want to dissolve the High House because they are scared of what might happen to them after finding the existence of demons and angels, including the demons in the High House."

    "Won''t that causeplications?" asked Madeline with a small frowning to settle on her face.

    Calhoun picked up the knife and fork in his hands. "It will but only for a while. I believe it is the damned Queen, Amoura who has tried to instigate the doubt. They have possibly picked about how the High House favoured me during the many circumstances and for the death of the previous King and the Queen."

    "What scared little creatures they are, to fear a demon," chuckled dimir before his face turned serious, his eyes darkening. "And they should. Every change causesplications, but it is important for the people to adjust, else they will forever be lost in chaos. They are only a bunch of scared people. There is barely anything to worry about. And if you need any help-"

    "That won''t be necessary," replied Calhoun, cutting the meat on his te that had been reheated and he put it in his mouth, chewing before he swallowed it. "I have already prepared the men to kill the ones who tried to cause trouble today." His voice was calm as he took another bite.

    This was something he had foreseen, and he had taken proper measures to stop any possible problems.

    "Master Darian," a demon appeared behind him, kneeling on the ground with his head bowed.

    Darian turned his head to the side to listen to his servant. "What news have you brought Ammon?"

    "The trap has been ced as you ordered," the servant demon ryed the message.

    Hearing this, Darian smiled. His eyes went back to look at the dead person who had been sacrificed a few moments ago. Blood dripped down from the sides of the table and the edges, some blood dripping down from the person''s hand that travelled to the tip of the fingers before it fell on the ground.

    "I also heard something while passing by the mansion," informed the servant. "I think I heard the Devil in the mansion, and he was speaking to the King of Devon."

    Dairan looked displeased by this news, "What is he doing here? I thought he disappeared or was killed by the angels."

    The Devil had been away from the face of the living as well as from the underworld. This had led to many superior levels of demons who wanted to im the throne of Hell their desire rekindled in time when they heard about the rumours of the existence of the dark angel from whom powers could be drawn for their own use.

    The servant shook his head, "Master the news is already old as the Devil reimed the throne of Hell a few days ago. It happened when we were here, which is why we didn''t get to hear about it."

    Darian looked enraged, and when he moved his hand, many bricks of the wall broke and fell down, leaving dust in the air. "This cannot be happening! Funny how a fallen angeles to the underworld and ims the throne to be his. Hell is mine, and for so many years I have been working for it. But it doesn''t matter," hummed Darian, moving away from the table where the deadid.

    "Once the dark angel falls into our trap, the devil or no angel can do anything about it. We just need to wait for tomorrow, and you will lead the way, Ammon," ordered Darian. "I don''t want any mishaps else you will turn in far worse condition than this human here."

    Once upon a time, he had demons who worked for him, in the promise that they all get equal standings in Hell. But because of that one single bitch, his whole n had been screwed up, and his ambition had slipped through his fingers right in front of his eyes. But this time he wouldn''t let it happen. This time Hell would be his, and so would be the world.

    "Clean this ce and throw the body in the forest. I have something else to do," said the demon before he stepped out of the room.

 Chapter 536 The night to let go- Part 3

    <h4>536 The night to let go- Part 3</h4>

    .

    The night wrapped up in a tense state for Mr. and Mrs. Harris as they had barely been able to chew any of their food without being wary of the Devil, who sat at the table along with the rest of the family. Mrs. Harris tried to behave naturally and tried her best to not to show that she was not intimidated by her son-inw''s grandfather.

    "Will you be staying here for the night, d?" inquired Madeline and dimir, who was having his dessert, shook his head while waving his hand.

    "I have other ns, and I don''t think your parents would be able to rest well by having me under the same roof," dimir grinned wide, making the Harris couple uneasy by his words. "I need to check who this person is, who is trying to disrupt my children''s lives. Once I find him, I will make sure he receives the first-ss treatment in Hell. How are you doing, Elizabeth? Staying out of trouble?" and his eyes fell on Beth.

    Beth had stayed quiet the entire time, keeping her thoughts to herself and her actions to the minimum without drawing any attention to herself. She nodded her head, "I have been doing well, Mr. Lazarus."

    Mrs. Harris looked slightly worried, "What exactly happened in Cossington? How did you fall sick? Was it the weather?"

    Madeline held her fork tighter, and she slowly lifted her gaze to look at Beth.

    Beth offered her worried mother a smile, trying to brush it away as if it was nothing. "I am perfectly alright now, mama. I fell sick for a brief time. Three-four days."

    "If Mr. Lazarus had to intervene, it must have been something big," stated Mrs. Harris.

    dimir ignored the conversation while he made scraping noises by using the spoon against the little ss bowl where the dessert had been earlier been filled as if he was enjoying it immensely.

    Beth had a guilty look on her face, and Mrs. Harris'' lips set itself in a thin line of disappointment. "Always getting into trouble, Elizabeth. It is good that you will be spending your time here, and wouldn''t be causing your sister Madeline any trouble."

    "Mama, it wasn''t Beth''s fault," intervened Madeline.

    "Then why are you both hiding it?" demanded Mrs. Harris. There was a time when her two lovely daughters shared everything with her, but the number of secrets only increased as they grew up.

    "Because they believe you wouldn''t be able to take the truth," Calhoun spoke to Madeline''s mother, and the woman bowed her head before looking back at her daughters. "Your daughters are trying to protect you, and you should allow them. They have grown up and havee to the age of understanding things around them," he offered his mother-inw a smile.

    When he finally looked up, an instant smile appeared on his lips, and he said, "Thank you for having me for dinner. We should do this every day," he suggested before getting up from his chair and making his way out of the room.

    Calhoun stared at dimir''s back that looked lonely and at the same time, he felt Madeline ce her hand on his leg under the table, gaining his attention.

    "I will see you in the room," Calhoun said to Madeline, and she smiled, nodding her head. Excusing himself, he stepped out of the room.

    Calhoun walked in the corridors until he sensed the Devil was not inside the house, but standing on the mansion''s roof top''s edge. Going to the top, he felt the cold wind blow at where he stood, and Calhoun put his hands in his trouser pockets, noticing dimir standing at the edge.

    "You miss her," said Calhoun. dimir who had his back facing his grandson, his face continued to stay expressionless.

    Calhoun didn''t close the distance between them, and he paused his feet, feeling the wind ruffle his hair.

    dimir said, "I still remember the day she was born. So small that I knew if I used a little more pressure, I could kill her. I knew she was delicate, maybe the most delicate, and I made it worse. We think we are doing the right thing by sheltering and not letting the rays of the sun touch them in worry that it might burn them, but it only makes it worse. Would it be strange if I said that Constance was someone who brought me joy, the existence of my little daughter."

    "Sometimes I wonder if I should have appointed another caretaker and not Odin. He was too soft on her," dimir tched. "But then she liked hispany and spoke mostly only to him. Her loss is something that has left the heart Hollower than before, but then I remember she left you behind."

    "Do you regret not taking up the offer of trading Madeline with her soul?" questioned Calhoun, his voice quiet.

    dimir looked up at the sky, his hand stretching forward when he caught sight of the snowke making its way down before it settled on his hand and disappeared.

    "Sometimes, no matter how much you want something, it is hard to get it. It is vexing to think that I wasn''t there when she needed me, and it is something that will forever weigh in my heart" murmured dimir, "And yes, I do miss her."

    Staring at the Devil for a few seconds, Calhoun made his way towards dimir and said, "You don''t have to feel that way. It was a choice she made for herself, and something she made her peace with. She is now in peace, and that is all that matters."

    Calhoun understood how dimir felt because by the time Calhoun had attained power his mother was gone, but nheless, he had killed the people who had hurt her. He then sat down on the cold mud tiles belonging to the roof, cing his hands behind him to support his body. dimir decided to join Calhoun by sitting next to him.

    The cold breeze continued to blow, where the snowkes started to fall down from the sky. The two men sat quietly, reminiscing the good things of the past.

 Chapter 537 More than the eye- Part 1

    <h4>537 More than the eye- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline helped clean the table, while Beth helped their mother in the kitchen. Once they finished cleaning, she ensured that her mother wasn''t as jittery as she was when she saw the Devil for the first time, standing in the house. Leaving her mother in Beth''spany, Madeline made her way out of there and she started to climb up the stairs, making her way to the room.

    Calhoun wasn''t in the room, and she only assumed that he was still talking to dimir about the words his grandfather uttered during the time of supper. It was hard to understand the Devil because of the amount of cunningness the person possessed, his wordsced and wrapped in sweet lies so that the other person would do his biddings. People forgot that the Devil that they feared was once loved. That he was an angel with all the good qualities and dear to God.

    It put the question on one''s mind on how an angel had tainted himself.

    Hearing a rustle behind her, Madeline turned around and saw it was Calhoun who had returned to the room.

    Calhoun didn''t say anything, but he made his way towards her, his long legs quickly catching up to where she stood. And in one single movement, Calhoun''s one hand went to curl around her waist while the other went to hold her chin.

    Madeline felt Calhoun''s cold lips press against hers and she closed her eyes as he kissed her tenderly, cherishing her in his arms. Madeline kissed him back with the same vigour. When they pulled back, her brown eyes lost itself in his red eyes.

    "Are you okay?" asked Madeline, her hand moving up to ce on both sides of his face, and she tried to look into his soul through his eyes that looked slightly lost.

    "I am always wonderful around you," replied Calhoun, pushing the small baby hairs that was on the sides of her temples. "I just felt the sudden rush to see and hug you." And he took her in his arms.

    "I am right here," responded Madeline, her hands going around to hold Calhoun and it made her feel as if she was holding a giant bear that was warm despite its unnerving appearance. They had been away from each other only for a few minutes, and she could feel Calhoun''s longing for her through his actions. "You will always find me near you, Cal."

    Calhoun hummed in response, holding her close and dear to his heart, "Like always. You are the anchor to my ship, Madeline. The light that I have been looking for in the darkness, and I don''t know what I would do without you."

    Madeline snuggled closer to Calhoun, "And I don''t know what I would have done without you with just me alone in this world," and it was the truth. She would have been in far worse condition than she could ever imagine and maybe even dead. Their rtionship had started rocky, and if she could fix things, she would try to go back in time and save both their time.

    Calhoun leaned forward and kissed Madeline''s soft lips that were of the same texture as the rose petals, and when she parted her lips, he could taste the rich scent of a rose that enticed him like a bee to never leave the flower alone ever again.

    Taking hold of Madeline''s hand, Calhoun brought it up to his lips before kissing them as if she was the most precious thing he could ever have in his life. When he had first seen her, he had been obsessed with Madeline, wanting to have her and not wanting anyone to see what he saw. He wanted to monopolize her, and somewhere he was torn with his emotions of how this one woman had the ability to seize his heart.

    But somewhere in the middle, he had learned to understand what she wanted, and he did it without letting her go. He knew if he had let Madeline go in the past, he wouldn''t be who he was today, and instead, he would be consumed by utter darkness with no way toe out of it.

    "I would like to apologize to you, my sweet rose," whispered Calhoun to her. Madeline had a confused expression as she didn''t know what he was going to apologize about. "For hurting you in the beginning. I was crazy about you, still am, but in a more rational way."

    "I do not hold a grudge over it, Cal. You don''t have to feel burdened for that," Madeline traced his jaw with affection. "Whatever happened in the past, it is what has made us today. Every action that was taken and words that were spoken."

    Madeline didn''t know what Calhoun and dimir spoke when they left the dining room, that now had left Calhoun wanting to apologize to her. It wasn''t that he hadn''t expressed his feelings in the past, but they were usually subtle.

    "I know, darling," Calhoun murmured, and before they could spend more time talking to each other, Calhoun turned his head to look at the closed door.

    dimir walked straight into the room, a smile on his lips, "While both of you make me teary-eyed, I believe you wanted to visit Hell?"

    Madeline blushed, wondering how much dimir had heard from her and Calhoun''s conversation. The next second, dimir snapped his fingers, and a ck portal appeared in the room.

    "Do you promise to keep your word?" questioned Calhoun to the Devil so that the Devil wouldn''t feign his memory being lost over what they spoke earlier.

    dimir raised his hand, "Aye. Both of you will be able to return here whenever you want."

    Calhoun was the first one to enter the portal to step into Hell while being followed by Madeline and thest to enter was the Devil.

 Chapter 538 More than the eye- Part 2

    <h4>538 More than the eye- Part 2</h4>

    .

    When Madeline stepped into Hell, this time they didn''t arrive in the desert like thest time, but instead near the damaged buildings where the towers of Hell were. In the pits, fire zed making the ce hot, and dry wind blew around the ce. Compared to the current weather in Devon, Hell was the stark opposite.

    "Wee back, Master!" Odin appeared in thin air as a bat and he flew towards them. He transformed into his human form, bowing his head, "Master Calhoun and Lady Madeline."

    Madeline was d to see that Odin continued to exist and as Calhoun said, the Devil liked to keep Odin around him and he wouldn''t kill him. She offered Odin a smile.

    "Good evening, Mr. Odin," Madeline greeted the servant, and Odin forgot what happened thest time she had addressed him as Mr. Odin, and he returned the smile.

    "Odin, bring out the registers that have the details of the death regarding the level one demons, the day Miss Elizabeth had been abducted," ordered dimir and Odin was quick to pull out the registers from thin air, making Madeline wonder how he did that.

    "These are the registers, Master," informed Odin carrying more than four registers in his hands that had parchments in them. "Who are we looking for?"

    "There''s a demoness named Astrate. I want to know if she''s here," stated dimir and Odin started to look for the name. In the meantime, Calhoun questioned dimir.

    "Where do the level one demons end up if they are dead?"

    "Either they turn to dust or end up in the river of the dead. If they are the demons who were created by me, they would end up in the Tower of Sins, Torcher or Chains," replied dimir, looking at his servant''s hands going through the parchments. It looked like many demons had died on that day. "I wonder if it is the angels or the level three demons who are sending my demons back to Hell."

    "It is the demons who belong to the living world," answered Calhoun. There was a difference when it came to the three levels of the demons, where the demons who belonged to the living didn''t hold any powers. They were considered as good as to be humans unless they were turned into vampires.

    "That is not good," hummed dimir, "How are my demons going to make deals and bring the souls into Hell?"

    "Why do you need more souls? You already have enough of them floating in the river," stated Madeline, slightly confused.

    "The souls are nothing less to the energy source, to keep Hell functioning. But there are some souls that can be turned into demons," dimir''s voice then turned to a whisper as if it was a secret. He said, "There are some souls that are qualitative and can be used to channel abilities and powers that were previously not discovered as the people in the living world didn''t care about it."

    "Astrate Joslin," dimir read the name, "Looks like she was indeed born before I ascended the throne of Hell. But now she sleeps in the river of the dead souls."

    "The same ce where my mother is?" questioned Madeline and dimir nodded his head.

    "Seems like it. Shall we go there?" suggested the Devil.

    Reaching the river where the souls floated, Madeline walked near the edge of the water, hoping to see her mother but she didn''te across her mother and instead saw other souls that were floating in there. She felt a hand being ced on her shoulder, and she turned to see it was Calhoun. He squeezed her shoulder in encouragement, and she smiled.

    dimir walked in the front before sitting down and dipped his hand in the river.

    With one dip of hand, the souls opened their eyes as if awakening from their sleep and they quickly started to swim towards him like fish when a crumb of food was dropped into the river. And it was then Madeline saw the woman named Astrate make her way, but she didn''t get close to dimir. Instead, the woman''s soul moved near where Madeline sat.

    Even though Astrate was dead, Madeline caught the menace in the woman''s eyes. The soul moved closer to her while still being on the surface of the water.

    "Is there no way to torture souls that are in here?" questioned Calhoun who could feel the distress in Madeline''s mind.

    dimir pulled out his hand from the river, and he got up to stand next to Calhoun. As Hell solely belonged to the Devil, dimir didn''t have to open his mouth to speak, but he spoke in a way where only Calhoun could hear.

    "The souls that you see in here are nothing but figments of memories that are left behind," dimir stared at the demoness who was staring back at Madeline. "They are people who have ceased to exist. What we have in here is nothing but remnants of the dead."

    Calhoun turned to dimir with his eyebrows furrowed.

    "Doesn''t this mean that the souls that are in here are not real?" asked Calhoun before his eyes fell on the floating souls that continued to spread out.

    dimir smiled, "Indeed, you are right, Calhoun. What you see here is not real, but every demon in here has some important information to share, and I thought it would be quite wasteful just to destroy them. You never know when one of them wille in use."

    Madeline, who was sitting near the edge of the river, her hand stretched to reach towards the surface of the water, and the woman named Astrate moved her hand too.

    When their hands touched each other, Madeline felt as if she was sinking in the water, and the things around her started to dissolve until she came to stand in the vast desert. She was surrounded by screams as if the people were in pain, but she couldn''t see from where it wasing.

    "Do you believe we will be able to pull it off?" came a voice from behind her, and Madeline''s head snapped around to see two demonesses standing there- her mother and Astrate.

    Marina looked down at her fingertips of her hand, running her thumb over it with a sullen look on her face. "It is our only hope here, Astrate. I am too tired of living in the dark and want to see how the living world works."

    "Don''t let Darian hear you say that," chuckled Astrate, "He wouldn''t be happy if he came to know about you being enthusiastic about it."

    Madeline''s eyes that looked at her mother''s hand, she caught sight of the light frosting to appear on her mother''s fingertips. When Marina spread her fingers out, there was a snowke in her hand, and a dry smile appeared on Marina''s lips.

    "Then let''s keep it between us, Astrate," said Marina, ying with the lone snowke.

    "You are my friend, Marina, so don''t try to betray us. If you cannot do it, I am more than d to do it. I know how you have spent time lurking in the shadows of the living world," said Astrate, staring at the other demoness before continuing to say, "I have known you for many years, and I know how you care about things and forgive unlike the other demons. If I didn''t know you better, I would have told you were born on the wrong side," said Astrate in a low voice.

    "What''s the talk about?" came a man''s voice, and a demon appeared out of nowhere. Astrate looked at Marina, a coy smile appearing on her lips.

 Chapter 539 More than the eye- Part 3

    <h4>539 More than the eye- Part 3</h4>

    "I was telling how much you love Marina and how much you are going to miss her," said Astrate before opening the portal to the living world.

    "That I will," agreed the man. "It is why she''s the person I trust to do the job, isn''t that right, Marina?"

    "Yes, Darian," and Dairan hugged Marina, while her eyes met Astrate''s who only stared back at her.

    The demon instructed, "I heard that the angel is currently trying to hunt down the demons, and this is the right time. All you need to do is lie and make him believe that you are a human. Make him fall in love with you so that he falls from his position in Heaven. Once that happens, he will help us to rise against the angels."

    Marina nodded her head, and she stepped into the portal.

    Seeing Marina disappeared in the portal, Astrate asked, "Not that it means anything, but do you think she will seed? A demon making an angel fall in love? What if it goes the other way?"

    Darian''s expression turned sour for a second, and he turned to meet Astrate''s eyes, "That won''t happen. Marina is loyal to me, and if it were to happen, I will kill her with my own hands in a way where no one can ever find her."

    Madeline took her hand away from the surface of the water, which was helping her to interface with the demoness who had killed her mother. Astrate continued to stare at her with curiosity in her eyes. From what Madeline saw, her mother was with the demon named Darian, but she had fallen in love with Paschar. It also seemed that Marina didn''t enjoy Hell and wanted to live in the living world.

    "Found anything of any importance in there, dear?" questioned dimir and Madeline stood up from the spot she had earlier been sitting.

    "Is it possible to know how long has Astrate been here?" asked Madeline.

    dimir tilted his head, looking at the soul that swam away and he said, "Years. Probably around the time when Pashchar decided to return to Heaven."

    Calhoun frowned hearing this, "That only means the woman who attacked Madeline in the abandoned vige was not Astrate," dimir nodded his head.

    "True, it might be a false projection. Seems like Darian has been following you for quite some time now," dimir raised his eyebrow while looking at Madeline.

    "I don''t think Astrate holds anything important more than what we already are aware about," exined Madeline to them. "The only information is that...I think before my mother entered the living world to meet Paschar, she and Darian were together."

    "My my, that is some whirlwind romance,"mented dimir.

    "What? I don''t deal with pesky demons who want to steal my throne here," responded dimir in a dramatic tone.

    "How do we find him then?" demanded Calhoun.

    "I can find out through my demons on where to find him, but if he''s changing his appearance to his advantage, that would be slightly problematic," dimir rubbed his chin. "But let''s see what my demonse up with. There should be at least a hint to track him down."

    When the time came to take leave from Hell, dimir opened the portal for the couple, and he said, "You don''t have to ask for anyone''s permission or wait for me, Calhoun. Feel free to walk in and out of Hell whenever you please. I gave some thought and then realized I am too attached to the throne of Hell to pass it to you. You can live your life in the living world."

    Calhoun stared at dimir before saying, "Thank you for the help."

    The next day, both Madeline and Calhoun stepped out of the mansion. Calhoun had work in the quarters of the High House, and Madeline needed some air, which was why she had tagged along with him.

    "Lady Madeline, would you like to have some tea?" asked a man who worked for the High House. It had been fifteen minutes since Calhoun had gone to speak with the members of the High House, while she had decided to wait not too far away from where the meeting was taking ce.

    "I am fine thank you," Madeline offered the person a smile whilst she waited for Calhoun.

    When the man left, Madeline faced her palm upwards, and a snowke appeared in her hand. She realized how she had taken after her mother''s ability, and it made her happy to think that there was something that belonged to her mother, that was with her now. It was unnerving to think that the demon named Darian had followed them until here and bying to where her parents were, she had possibly exposed them to danger.

    The double doors of the room opened, and Madeline saw Calhoun step out of the room while he spoke to Helena in a low tone. The head of the High house listened to him with a grim expression on her face. With a nod, the woman stepped back inside while Calhoun made his way to where Madeline was.

    "Are they still trying to dissolve the High House?" asked Madeline softly.

    "The people who tried to oppose are now dead and cannot be found anywhere. It has instilled a sense of fear in others'' minds so that no one rebels against the current system of the High House," replied Calhoun. Noticing the frown on Madeline''s forehead, he said, "The ones who were killed were the ones who had caused many other troubles in the past. They would have been executed in the future."

    When the door opened again, some of the men and women walked out of the room with murmurs and whispers of disagreement.

    "You don''t have to worry about it," assured Calhoun. "Matters like these are trivial. I need to go and collect a parchment from the magistrate that was sent out by Theodore two days ago. I will be back in a minute, and we can leave from here," said Calhoun and Madeline nodded her head.

    Seeing Calhoun''s back as he went to another room, Madeline turned to look outside the window from where she could hear the sound of the carriages passing on the road.

    The High House meeting quarters was quiet, and the ce felt almost empty and isted. Madeline continued to stare outside until she heard the footsteps approach towards her, and she turned to find Calhoun making his way to her.

    "Where do you want to go?" asked Calhoun, and Madeline smiled.

    "I have never been to this town before. Why don''t you suggest and I will tell you," stated Madeline.

    He stretched his hand forward, and Madeline ced her hand in his, "Let me take you to this beautiful ce that I know of," and they stepped out of the quarters of the High House. The coachman opened the door to the carriage, and Calhoun and Madeline got inside before leaving from there.

    Back inside the quarters, Helena signed the papers that held the information about the demons and the fallen angels toe forth, while they would be given protection like the rest of the creatures who were part of the living world. It had to be sent to the concerned authorities, who were in charge of all the towns and viges. It also had the details of the meeting that took cest evening.

    Handing it to the young man who was an associate of the High House, she said,

    "Make sure to see that they are delivered to the right people. We don''t want peopleing back to us that they weren''t informed about it."

    The young man bowed his head, and when he stepped out of the room, he caught sight of the King of Devon, who walked in the direction of where he stood.

    When Calhoun''s eyes looked towards the window where he had left Madeline not more than five minutes ago, his eyes narrowed.

 Chapter 540 Snow forest- Part 1

    <h4>540 Snow forest- Part 1</h4>

    "The town seems so peaceful," murmured Madeline under her breath, her brown eyes leaving the sight of the outside world and looked at Calhoun who was looking at her with a faint smile on his lips. "What was the paper that you wanted to collect?" she asked curiously.

    "It was regarding thend dispute that was taking ce not too far away from the castle. Were you bored while waiting for me?" asked Calhoun, his eyes slightly lighter than the usual dark red she was used to. She wondered if it was because they were out now.

    Madeline shook her head, "I would have been bored by sitting in the mansion too. For a change it is good to be out here with you."

    Calhoun nodded his head, "True. We barely stepped out of the castle together since our marriage. The ce where I am taking you, you will love it. It will be the most memorable ce you have ever stepped into," he said to her and Madeline wondered what surprise he had in store for her.

    "I hope it isn''t anything like the cliff you took me to in the past ," her lips stretched on both the ends. She wondered how one could consider jumping down the cliff as an adventurous sport. Maybe only Calhoun because he had wings, while the rest would be squashed like melons thrown on the ground.

    Madeline still remembered the time she had with him there near the edge of the cliff. In the past, she had concluded that Calhoun was a mad King and she had consoled herself that it was alright to die than being caged by a man she didn''t love. How strange the events and their lives had changed in a way where now Madeline sought for Calhoun''s hand.

    "Do you want to go to the cliff? I doubt there''s one in the vicinity, but I heard from the people that there''s a beautiful forest where many stag''se to drink water from the stream," proposed Calhoun, his eyes looking at her calctingly.

    "Maybe if we have time. Are we leaving from here to go back to the castle tomorrow morning?" she inquired.

    "You are in a hurry to go there,"mented Calhoun with a calm expression in his eyes, and Madeline blinked at him.

    "It is our home, isn''t it?" questioned Madeline, but then she thought wherever Calhoun was, that was where her home was, and she knew it was the same for him. "I don''t want to burden mama and papa with our presence, not to forget how nervous mama is by the mention of the Devil under the same roof."

    This caught Calhoun''s attention, and his eyes subtly narrowed which Madeline missed as she had turned her face to the front, looking at the road ahead of them.

    "If he wants to be part of our lives, I don''t think that is a problem. He is after all family, and I know he would like to be involved. It would be rather sad to deprive him from the joy of knowing and feeling how a family is," said Madeline with a thoughtful look on her face. "He didn''t appear today. Do you know where he is?"

    When both their eyes met, Calhoun shook his head, "I wish I knew it. He didn''t say anything."

    Madeline nodded her head, "It is good that he''s given you ess to Hell. At least now we know he won''t try to hold either of us back in there."

    Calhoun only nodded his head, and when Madeline looked away again, her eyes briefly moved towards the window, the smile on his lips fell, and the light in his eyes turned dull and dead.

    The coachman continued to ride the carriage until they were away from the town and entered the deserted forest. The carriage came to a halt and the horses'' hooves stopped. Madeline looked around and noticed trees surrounding them. The coachman got down, and he opened the carriage door for them.

    Calhoun was the first one to get down, and Madeline followed him next with his hand holding hers firmly without letting her go.

    "You can leave," said Calhoun to the coachman and Madeline didn''t question it because they often flew back, and this time, she had wings too. The coachman bowed his head to Calhoun and Madeline before getting on the front seat and riding the carriage away. "Let''s walk," Calhoun tugged her hand and Madeline followed him.

    "Where is this ce?" questioned Madeline, her eyes taking in the number of tall and wide trees that surrounded them. Snow covered the leaves of almost all the trees and the ground as it had snowedst night.

    "It is a ce which is precious to me," answered Calhoun without looking back at her. His red eyes fluctuated between red and ck before it went back to look bright red colour. "I hold very dear memories in here."

    "Did youe here with your mother?" asked Madeline. Most of Calhoun''s memories held dear to his heart were of his mother and him, and it made her smile internally. "It''s so quiet here."

    Calhoun who heard her question muttered under his breath, "Your mother," in a low tone that Madeline didn''t quite catch.

    "Hm?" asked Madeline, and Calhoun offered her a smile.

    "This is an important ce in my life, Madeline. It is a special ce because of what happened and took ce that I cannot forget," exined Calhoun as they made their way inside the heart of the forest. "I have beening here for some time."

    "What happened here?" Calhoun had told her that they were going to some nice ce, but it seemed like this ce held some sort of painful memories. She stopped walking further, and Calhoun stopped too, "Cal?"

 Chapter 541 Snow forest- Part 2

    <h4>541 Snow forest- Part 2</h4>

    They then continued to walk until they reached theke that felt familiar to Madeline as if she had been here before. But at the same time, she thought she had nevere visit this town or anywhere near it.

    Calhoun let go of her hand, he started to walk towards the edge of theke. Bending down, he started to remove the snow away from the ground, and it made her wonder what he wanted to show her.

    Madeline stepped closer to him, and she saw Calhoun continue to dig his hand into the snow until he finally pulled out mud. She found his behaviour to be rather strange, "What are you looking for?" she asked him.

    Calhoun then finally took out ck ashes from the ground before letting it blow away with the wind. "Do you know what this is, Madeline?"

    "Dust?"

    Hearing her response, he chuckled, "Yes, you are right. Dust of the woman whom I once loved and thought she was mine." Hearing this was enough to have Madeline''s head ring like the church bell and she quickly took many steps away from him. He looked up at her with a smirk on his face.

    "Darian," whispered Madeline and the demon didn''t make an effort to stand up. He continued to hold the appearance of Calhoun, looking at her with vengeful eyes.

    "I see that you know me, but we haven''t met before. I am Darian, the first level demon, the superior one," said Darian. He continued to dig his hand in the mud to pull out more ck ashes and throw it on the white snow.

    "I know you. Enough that you impersonated an archangel to convince me to kill myself," Madeline''s wings quickly spread out from her back. This time they were white in colour and not covered in blood as they had taken aplete form. When she readied her hand, an icicle appeared in her hand, and she looked at him apprehensively.

    Darian looked excited by the sight of her wings, and when his eyes fell on her hand, he chuckled. "It looks like you received your mother''s ability, or did she pass it to you before she died? You should not believe what others say about me, and you should hear it from me directly, Madeline. I know you are a smart woman, unlike your mother, who didn''t heed to my orders."

    Madeline gritted her teeth, "If you are nning to take over the world and go against Heaven, you will never seed in it. It would only be right that you beg for forgiveness now rather than be destroyed."

    Darian who had impersonated Calhoun, his face and body slowly started to transform into the face that she had seen in Astrate''s memories when she had visited Hellst night.

    The man''s eyes turned pitch ck.

    Madeline softly gulped, her feet moving backwards while her eyes didn''t leave the sight of the demon who was still sitting in the same spot.

    "The Devil is busy with things going on in Hell because of the chaos I have unleashed by freeing the prisoners. If you are thinking that Calhoun wille to save you, he will not be finding you anytime soon. I have enough time to kill and take your soul with me," chuckled Darian, "Oh, and about that Salvette Mortem."

    "What did you do to it?" Madeline''s eyes narrowed at him.

    "Don''t worry about it. I made sure that it is following my servant who is impersonating as you. My servant will keep it busy and away from us," smiled Darian. He got up from the ground, facing Madeline. "I have been waiting for years. Your mother betrayed me quite badly, something I didn''t foresee. I should have known that something like that would happen. For a demon, she had a weak heart."

    "It is because of you that she is dead," whispered Madeline, "I don''t think you know how to let go of things."

    Darian shook his head, "You are right," and he took a step forward. Madeline''s hold on the icicle tightened, and her heart started to race out of worry because she didn''t know what this demon was capable of. "You know, I loved Marina, and somewhere she loved me too, but the angel screwed up everything."

    "Did you resurrect Astrate?" Madeline demanded from Darian.

    "It was just her appearance that was projecting with my anger," responded Darian. "That time, I didn''t know that you had an alliance with the Devil. If he wasn''t there, I would have cut out your heart."

    "You would have cut out my sister''s heart," Madeline knew it wasn''t the time to correct him, but for a demon who imed to be the oldest of demons and a knowledgeable one, the execution of his n was terrible, and this was what gave Madeline hope that she would be fine.

    "It doesn''t matter anymore. Your mother died, knowing I would hunt her and the child growing inside her. Paschar was the person I was waiting for, but instead, he changed her heart and Marina fell in love with him. She dodged our questions, changing towns and viges so that it would be hard to track them down. Not to forget, Paschar''s rtionship with a demoness was not permitted in Heaven," exined Darian. Suddenly he disappeared from his ce and he appeared in front of her.

    Before Madeline had the opportunity to stick the icicle into the demon''s heart, Darian had caught hold of her head, and he smashed it to the nearest tree.

 Chapter 542 Snow forest- Part 3

    <h4>542 Snow forest- Part 3</h4>

    "I have nned it for years, but the only thing I didn''t expect was the Devil having a grandchild, less a child," Darian sneered at that thought, "That is enough to tell how unfit he is to rule Hell. Let me cut your heart now," he said, raising his hand and readying to push it through her chest.

    Before Darian could push his hand through Madeline''s chest to grab her heart, an icicle made its way through his palm that ripped his hand. The demon groaned in pain, and Madeline quickly brought another icicle in her hand before pushing it through his chest where his heart was.

    When she tried to fly away from the ce using her wings, she couldn''t do it. No matter how much her wings pped in speed, she was unable to lift herself from the ground. She heard theughter of the demon that echoed in the forest.

    "When are the people from the living world ever going to learn and listen to what is told to them?" asked Darian with a tired sigh. He ced his hand on the icicle that Madeline had pushed into his chest a few seconds ago. "I don''t have a heart for you to kill me. I thought you would know at least that much. Your wings won''t work here. None of that angelic trash abilities. I have cleaned this part of thend."

    "Yet, I see dirt," muttered Madeline under her breath. Darian''s eyes narrowed at her words while a smile came to settle on his lips.

    "You were such a good girl, Madeline. Just like your mother, sweet and innocent. What happened to you? You happen to be speaking a lot when you should know that it will only make me want not just to rip your heart but also your head off the body," stated Darian.

    Madeline red at Darian, "It must be my husband''s influence."

    "I guessed."

    Madeline didn''t make use of close-range when it came to attacking the demon, instead she turned the nearby snow into icicles that flew at Darian, allowing the space increase between them.

    It had been quite some time since they left the High House''s quarters, and Calhoun by now might have known she was missing, thought Madeline to herself. It was only a matter of time Calhoun would be here. But at the same time, if Darian had ced a spell here so that no one would interrupt them, Madeline understood that she would have to deal with him all by herself and kill him.

    While Madeline was thinking about it, Darian, who was far away, appeared right behind her. Before he could grab her, Madeline had created a thick wall of ice, stopping him for a moment and allowing her to escape from him.

    He didn''t bother to find an open space to leave. Instead, he used the window where Madeline had been standing next to.

    When a loud crash was heard outside the meeting room, Helena, who was inside the room frowned. She stepped outside and saw the broken window and ss pieces on the ground.

    "What happened here?" Helena demanded the young man who stood with his eyes wide.

    "M-Mdy, King Calhoun has wings!" replied the young man and Helena''s eyes narrowed.

    "Seriously. Calhoun could have used the door instead of breaking the ss," she walked towards the window, seeing the King was nowhere in the sky and had disappeared from there. With a loud sigh, she turned back to look at the young man, "Get this cleaned right this instant!" and she walked back inside the room.

    Back in the isted forest, Madeline didn''t know how long she would be able to keep herself away from the demon. He had unexinable abilities that were hard to keep up with.

    "Are you going to sacrifice and make use of me like the other demons?" asked Madeline, trying to drag the time between them.

    But Darian saw through Madeline''s n, and he didn''t indulge himself in the small talk. His face started to morph itself back to Calhoun''s face, turning Madeline ufortable.

    Within a moment, Darian caught hold of Madeline''s neck, and he pushed her down on the snow ground.

    "I will make the sacrifice quick, and you don''t have to feel sad. I am sure you will find more peace by being killed by a person who looks the same as your husband," chuckled Darian. Madeline tried to get up, but Darian''s hands held her in an iron grip, and she couldn''t move her hands or legs. "Since the very beginning, everything has been nned, and I have been waiting for you."

    "You are digging your own grave," Madeline said with difficulty. He readied his hand for the second time, and his hand transformed into a sharp de-like knife.

    Looking down at Madeline, Darian smiled, "Even if not today, we were fated to meet each other in the future so that I can kill you, Madeline. After all, you are Marina and that bastard angel''s daughter."

    The icicles that appeared behind Darian disintegrated to dust as if the demon''s power was multiplying. Madeline tried racing her mind on what to do. She was not just an angel but also a demon! If Darian had nullified her angelic powers, her demon ability was still working that came from her mother.

    Darian didn''t wait, and he pushed his hand into her chest, and Madeline screamed in agony feeling her flesh being torn, and it started to bleed as the sharp de of hand went deeper into her chest

 Chapter 543 Gone- Part 1

    <h4>543 Gone- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline felt the sharp de-like hand pierce through her flesh as if it was ripping her chest apart beneath which her heart continued to beat. She tried to use the icicles that she could manifest by using the snow on the ground.

    But when Madeline sent the icicle flying at him, Darian caught hold of it with ease, and with one crush of his hand, the icicle turned to nothing but white dust.

    "There were many demons who belonged to the first level which we call it to be the superior level. But very few made it through as once the Devil ascended the throne, he sent out an order to capture all the level one demons and were thrown to the pits of Hell so that the demons would scorch and extinguish them from the underworld," said Darian. He pushed his hand further into her chest and more blood started to spilt out from Madeline''s chest to drip down on the white ground, turning it red.

    Madeline flinched in pain, unable to think of a spell. She had never felt any de or hand in her chest trying to get hold of her heart. She slowly tried to inhale air. Her one hand was on the ground, grabbing the snow, while the other tried to push his hand away from her.

    Darian sat on top of Madeline, and he had a maddening smile as if a whole wave of happiness had been thrown at him.

    "Even if you take my heart out of my body, you will never be able to make use of my powers or abilities. It will never be yours," Madeline gritted her teeth, and she wondered if this was how Lucy had felt on the night when Samuel had harmed her.

    The demon chuckled in delight, "I am not any mere demon, but a demon who can absorb abilities by killing the other. Have you not heard about it? There are only a few of us who still exist with that ability, while the rest of them have perished thanks to the Devil," exined Darian. "It is time to say goodbye and join your mother, Madeline," he smiled at her.

    If she wasn''t born to a demon and an angel, Madeline doubted she would have been able to live this long with the amount of blood that profusely oozed out of her chest. But her mind was turning dizzy and her body weak, after all, she was still a person from the living world.

    When Darian moved his hand in another direction on Madeline''s chest as if he were cutting a cake, he whispered spells to start the sacrificial ritual. Madeline''s eyes turned pitch white. Her hand that was on the ground, held the snow in her fist and it converted it into a sharp de that was sharper than Darian''s hand that was trying to cut her heart out.

    It was a throwing starde that rotated in Madeline''s hand, and within the next second, her hand went towards his neck. The de sliced the front part of the demon''s neck, and Darian who hadn''t expected it jumped away from her.

    Madeline didn''t know if she could move or not, and she could hear her heart beating loudly.

    The de in her hand continued to spin, and slowly she tried to get up to sit on the ground.

    "Why do you resist when you know I will kill you now orter? There''s no point in unnecessarily trying to drag the time,"mented Darian, and he turned his other hand into a de too. His appearance continued to stay that of her husband, and it troubled her.

    She knew the demon who was in front of her wasn''t Calhoun. The demon had smartly impersonated Calhoun''s appearance and somewhere it weakened Madeline''s heart.

    "Your ambition is pointless," stated Madeline, "If you wanted to rule Hell, you had all the opportunity to do it before the Devil came into the picture. You were eyeing Heaven, believing there was nothing in the ce where you had born and lived. It was only after that you realized that Hell was as valuable as Heaven."

    Madeline''s eyes had not returned from the pitch white. Even though Darian had tried to block any possible angelic magic from being used here, Madeline was still able to bring out her true nature and abilities.

    She slowly stood up to face the demon who had pitch-ck eyes.

    "You don''t deserve to live anywhere," whispered Madeline, "Less rule one." Her words were enough to irk the demon, and he ran right at her with his hands ready to swipe and cut her into pieces. It didn''t matter anymore to him if Madeline would be damaged as the only thing he cared about was her heart and soul.

    Madeline picked up the snow in her other hand, and the de that was rotating in her hand turned to a strong sword and another formed in her other hand. The swords were made of unbreakable ice, and they shed against Darian''s hands that tried to break them. He uttered a spell that sent a gust of wind from where they were, sending birds that had perched themselves in the nearby trees to fly away from there.

    He shes both his hands against each together, and the gust of wind that had moved outward, moved back in the reverse order. He brought his bat-like wings out of his back to move up in the air, leaving the spell to attack Madeline.

    Madeline tried to protect herself from the collision by covering herself with her wings that took the hit, and the feathers caught fire.

    "Give up, Madeline," Darian shouted, whispering another spell. Many branches from the trees broke, and they came flying towards Madeline, ready to pierce through her body.

    In return, Madeline bent down and ced her hand on the ground for walls of ice to appear in front of the flying branches, and they fell.

 Chapter 544 Gone- Part 2

    <h4>544 Gone- Part 2</h4>

    "Even if you have the blood of the demon and an angel running through your veins, you need to remember that you are still a person who was born in the living world," Darian tutted her. His wings pped behind him, keeping him up in the air and away from her. "All I need to do is bleed you to death, which is already happening," he stared at her.

    And as he said this, her vision started to turn ck and returned every few seconds.

    "How are you feeling, Madeline?" When Madeline opened her eyes, Darian wasn''t up in the sky. Instead, he stood right behind her. Before Madeline could retaliate, her reflex had turned slow and Darian threw her from where she stood at the tree, and she fell with an oomph.

    The pain started to spread across every part of her body, and it hindered her thoughts and movements. Because of the blood that was oozing out, her body had turned weak. She didn''t get up and sat down on the ground. She let her hands rest on the ground, and her body leaning forward as she gasped for air.

    Madeline thought Darian didn''t have any reason to lie to her right now, and she wondered if this was how she would die. Here in the forest all alone by herself, thought Madeline in her mind. Her wings disappeared from her back, and Dairan stepped back on the ground.

    "Don''t you feel angry for how your father didn''te to help you? An angel is supposed toe and save the ones who are in pain, but it looks like he isn''t here when you need him the most," chuckled Darian, making his way towards Madeline. "I used to wonder how Marina fell in love with an angel. I mean demons and angels are far apart. I was a much better choice for her."

    "You sound more miserable than I am," whispered Madeline, and she raised her head to look at the demon who came to stand right in front of her.

    Darian sat down to level himself with Madeline. "You remind me of her," said Darian, catching hold of Madeline''s lower jaw in his hand. "The face structure, and the way you speak and the re in the eyes that is often cold."

    Madeline looked at Darian''s face who looked like Calhoun, and she ced her hand on the side of his face. She felt her heartache, and she wondered if she would be able to stay alive before Calhoun would find her. Even though they were far away from each other, Madeline could imagine how frustrated and angry Calhoun was as he searched for her frantically.

    "Death brings nothing, but sometimes there are deaths that bring peace in the world. Do you agree to it, Darian?" asked Madeline.

    He let go of Madeline''s face, and she lowered her head, feeling her chest ache even more, and she didn''t know how much more time she had. If Darain got hold of her soul and made use of it, the little peace that currently existed in thends would be destroyed.

    "I won''t let you do that," whispered Madeline and Darian tilted his head.

    "We are running out of time," said Darian, and he pushed Madeline to sit upright against the tree.

    When Darian''s hand reached for Madeline''s heart, she grabbed hold of his face, and started to mutter spells under her breath. Darian tried to get away from her, but he felt she had turned strong for some odd reason. She pushed him to the ground.

    "You are not worthy of any judgement," stated Madeline and Darian went to stop her, but Madeline''s hand was quick to move towards the other side of his chest, and she got hold of his heart that he lied of not having. The demon''s heart wasn''t on the left but on the right side.

    "H-how did you know?" Darian asked, rmed with his eyes wide.

    "I could see your heart that is filled with deceit and lies. It is too dark not to notice it," Madeline''s words were calm.

    "I will find you again and kill you!" threatened Darian, his wordsing in gasps. The next second, she pulled his heart out, and blood sttered out of his chest.

    Soon Darian''s body started to convulse, and the words he wanted to utter turned to nothing but a spluttering mess before his bodybusted and left behind a dark shadow of ash in the ce where he had earlierid on the ground.

    Suddenly the atmosphere turned lighter and brighter, the heaviness in the air had been lifted, and Madeline felt she could breathe again, but it wasn''t easy. Considering how the blood continued to spill from her body, she could feel her strength leave her.

    Madeline pushed herself to stand up, starting to walk in the direction by looking at the sun that helped her guide her. She wondered if she would be able to make it on time in reaching Calhoun, but ten steps away from where Darian had been destroyed, a Salvette Mortem appeared in front of her, and Madeline doubted it was the same one who dimir had assigned.

    "It seems like my time hase too," whispered Madeline, and it didn''t bother her because she knew if the creature of the death was going to take her to Hell, she would be able to see Calhoun there again.

    Her consciousness started to sway, and her vision began to dim until she finally fell on the ground.

 Chapter 545 Gone- Part 3

    <h4>545 Gone- Part 3</h4>

    The creature of death, slowly moved towards the girl so that it could deliver her soul to Hell. But at the same time, a pair of white wings appeared in front of it, blocking its way. It was Gabriel, who wore white robes and his white wings that were present on his back.

    "You are quite fast," said Gabriel, who had arrived at the ce after sensing the dark energy that Darian had sent earlier before attacking Madeline a few minutes ago in the forest.

    The Salvette Mortem didn''t pay heed to the words spoken by the archangel, and it tried to get hold of the girl''s soul when Gabriel pushed it away with his hand. "Her soul doesn''t belong to Hell but Heaven." He hadn''t expected for Madeline to die, but now that she was dead, it was only right to guide her soul in the right direction instead of letting the Devil take charge of her innocent soul. Once the soul would register to be part of Hell, there was no taking it back, and her heart would slowly taint itself.

    The Salvette Mortem was not pleased seeing the angel trying to disrupt the order given to it. It opened its mouth to speak something to Gabriel.

    "I don''t care what the Devil wants. I won''t allow this child''s soul to be tainted. Not one that is pure," responded Gabriel, and he raised his hand to swipe in front of the creature and the Salvette Mortem faded into the background of the forest.

    Gabriel walked towards where Madelineid unmoving on the ground. Blood had been spilt around her, and when he turned her around, he noticed the damage that had been done to her. His eyes lowered, and he murmured,

    "This is what happens when angels step into the living world."

    She was the daughter of Paschar, and it was only right to take her to Heaven where she could lead her afterlife in peace after the hardships she went through in the living world.

    Gabriel''s head moved in the direction where he heard the sound of wings pping against each other. His lips pressed itself in a thin line, and he turned around to pick up Madeline in his arms before disappearing from there as if they didn''t exist.

    Calhoun had smelled the strong scent of Madeline, and he caught sight of the big white wings. For a moment he was d, thinking it was Madeline''s wings, but when he caught sight of a man, his eyes narrowed, and it worsened when he saw Madeline in the angel''s arms.

    Before Calhoun could get there, Gabriel disappeared with Madeline from there without a trace behind. Calhoun''s hands turned to fists, unable to believe that they had missed each other by only a few seconds.

    Some of the trees that didn''t have snow on its leaves and branches were quick to catch fire because of the boiling temper in Calhoun''s mind. His red eyes turned to pitch ck, and he snapped his fingers to disappear from the forest and to show up in Hell.

    Calhoun made his way through the long and wide corridors of the tower and entered into the room where dimir had only got up from his throne.

    "You appear to be in a foul mood, Calhoun. Everything alright?" asked dimir with a calm voice.

    "How does one enter Heaven?" demanded Calhoun.

    "For that one will need to die and have a pure soul," dimir raised his eyebrows before realizing what must have happened.

    Odin, who stood behind his master, looked back and forth between the two people in the room, noticing Calhoun''s eyes that had changed its colour. The aura that he emitted right now was dangerous and stifling even for Odin.

    Even dimir took note of it, and he stared at his grandson. It was often told that one needed a push or a trigger for their true nature to be revealed, and right now Calhoun''s wrath wafted in the air.

    "You were once part of Heaven. I believe you know how to get there," stated Calhoun.

    Since Calhoun''s eyes had fallen on Madeline''s dead and unmoving body, his patience had slipped past through his fingers. He had kept a close eye on Madeline, protecting and taking care of her while watching every single step of hers so that she wouldn''t step on a stone or thorn. But even Calhoun knew that Darian would find a way to iste Madeline if not now,ter. He was furious.

    "Do you think the angels at the gate would open the gates for a demon like you or me? It isn''t easy to step in there, Calhoun," said dimir.

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, "You expect me to sit quietly and let go of Madeline?"

    dimir stepped towards where Calhoun stood, "Why do you think I haven''t gone to Heaven to get Constance back? If you go there, there''s no guarantee you will return alive. Heaven was once my home, the people who were there were once my family, who are now my enemies. Once they find a demon has entered Heaven, they will smite you without blinking their eyes."

    "That is up to me. Don''t forget, no Madeline means no grandchildren," stated Calhoun. Upon hearing this dimir looked slightly grim. " I am going there with or without your help."

    "Odin," dimir called his servant, "Get ready, we are leaving for Heaven."

 Chapter 546 Garden of Owe- Part 1

    <h4>546 Garden of Owe- Part 1</h4>

    .

    When Madeline opened her eyes, which had returned to her usual brown ones, it took her a while before she was finally able topletely open them and see where she was. All she saw was the blue sky that stretched from one side to another with a never-ending expanse. She felt something soft beneath where sheid, and she pushed herself to stand up.

    Madeline looked down to see the smokey clouds beneath her feet. She didn''t know where she was and didn''t find anyone around right now.

    Where was she and what was she doing here? Questioned Madeline to herself.

    She started to walk, her feet careful as she was worried where she would fall down and somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt as if she was dreaming. After walking a few distance, Madeline didn''t know what or where to go from here until she heard someone behind her speak,

    "Good morning, Madeline."

    Her head snapped around, and Madeline caught sight of a person with blonde and wavy hair, "Who are you?" she asked with a faint frown on her face.

    The person had white wings behind his back, and he offered her a warm smile even though he had heard the same question being asked almost every day by people who entered the realm of Heaven.

    "We have met before. I am an archangel and my name is Gabriel," he introduced himself. "I can tell by the look on your face that you are confused and wondering where you are, but I believe you have already figured it out."

    "Heaven?" whispered Madeline and Gabriel nodded. "Does this mean I am dead?" she asked him.

    Gabriel didn''t nod nor did he answer her question right away, but he then said, "We all finish our terms in the living world. God creates us with certain tasks that we need toplete. When the person is done and is worthy to enter Heaven, the person gets invited in here. It is the afterlife where one doesn''t have to worry about anything as this is a ce where you shall be protected and will find the evesting peace in your mind. Don''t you feel that?" he asked, his golden-brown eyes staring into her brown ones that had slightly lowered down.

    "I do feel I am in peace," agreed Madeline before offering Gabriel a smile. "I feel like my mind is free, and there is nothing I need to worry about." But somewhere in the corner of her mind, she didn''t know why it felt as if something was trying to push her memories into her mind. "It is strange��"

    "What is?" questioned Gabriel, his eyes picking on her facial expression that looked like she was confused.

    "Why is it that I am not able to remember anything," murmured Madeline under her breath.

    The archangel had been apprehensive if Madeline would continue to have her memories intact, but he was d to hear that it had been erased. This way, she would peacefully be able to transcend into the afterlife.

    "Don''t be frightened over it, Madeline," instructed Gabriel. He ced his hand on her arm and said, "What happened when you were in the living world doesn''t matter anymore. It is a past that you don''t have to worry about remembering and recollecting. Some memories are washed away so that you could attain inner mental peace. God has given you shelter, and he has weed you with open arms, my child."

    Madeline bowed her head, "God has been generous."

    "That he has. Come let''s take a walk so that I can show you the ce," offered Gabriel, and Madeline started to walk with him.

    "Where are others?" asked Madeline because she had not seen anyone in sight since she had woken up from her sleep that felt like a slumber as if she had been sleeping for years. "Where exactly is Heaven?" she questioned, her curiosity peeking with questions.

    "It isn''t a ce that you can travel to. Heaven wille to you when you deserve it. It will open the doors and show you the path. You have a pure heart, and it holds good to everyone who is in Heaven, the souls I mean," exined Gabriel, his footsteps were steady, letting Madeline walk next to him. "Right now, we are in the pathway passage thates before the gates to Heaven."

    When Madeline turned, she noticed her wings that were as big as Gabriel''s wings, "I have wings," her words were filled with surprise as if it was her first time seeing it.

    "The most gifted one''s will always receive it. Your actions and nature has been remarkable in the living world," informed Gabriel, and as they continued to walk, Madeline caught sight of an open garden ahead of them, that had plenty of flowers, and it gave out a pleasant smell.

    "They smell like roses," murmured Madeline. They had started to walk past the tall trees and beneath their feet was the green grass to cushion their bare feet.

    Gabriel smiled at her words, "The garden of Owe smells to please every soul who resides in this realm. Every person smells a different scenting from it, something that would calm them. Some smell honey, some smell wet mud and many other things."

    "What do you smell, Gabriel?" asked Madeline, turning to look at the archangel who stared at the bushes and the flowers in there.

    Taking a second to answer, Gabriel replied, "I smell the clouds."

    The clouds? Thought Madeline to herself, how strange.

    Just as they continued to walk in the vast ce that looked like a garden with tall trees that had grown at random ces, she caught sight of people who wore white robes simr to what Gabriel and she wore. Except that they had no wings, but they did have a halo above their head.

 Chapter 547 Garden of Owe- Part 2

    <h4>547 Garden of Owe- Part 2</h4>

    "Everything alright?" asked Gabriel, who was assisting her as she was new.

    Madeline smiled, "Yes," she answered.

    Gabriel then said, "Here as you can see, you will find your fellow angels who havee to live in Heaven. The peace and calmness that you have been looking for, you will find it here."

    "Thank you for bringing me here, Gabriel," she thanked him, and he offered her a nod. "I wonder if people are sad that I died. I wouldn''t want them to be sad."

    Gabriel''s hand that was holding the golden staff tightened at her words. The reason why he had stuck with her right now was not just because he wanted to guide her, but because no one knew how an angel-demon''s daughter would react and adjust in Heaven. Beforeing to Heaven, Madeline was the daughter of the two beings who were from different worlds.

    "Do not be saddened. The people who spilt tears are the ones who cared for you dearly. It isn''t because you have caused them pain, but because you would be missed dearly for the person you are," he responded to her. "Why don''t you explore the garden and I will be back soon."

    Madeline nodded her head, and she saw Gabriel walk away from where she was. Alone now, she looked around the ce and started to walk with her bare feet pressing against the grassy ground that was soft and not prickly. Her mind was clear, and the air around her was pleasant. Her hand reached to touch the bushes and the flowers one after another.

    She looked at the people who were either seated under the trees, some reading books in their hands while others either admiring nature while most of them spoke to each other. Heaven was truly peaceful, thought Madeline to herself as she continued to walk.

    Not too far away from where she was in the garden, Gabriel had not disappeared. He had thepany of another archangel Michael who had arrived near the garden of Owe, the moment Madeline had stepped into Heaven.

    "Does she remember anything?" questioned Michael, his eyes calmly staring at Madeline who had leaned forward towards one of the bushes to take in the scent of the flowers and smile.

    "Nothing," replied Gabriel, his eyes not leaving the new soul who was considered to be a valuable person.

    "Keep a closer eye on her. At least for a few more hours or days if necessary," instructed Michael. "Here, I thought I wouldn''t be seeing her for a while, but it seems like fate had something else in store for her. How did she die?" he asked, slightly curious.

    Michael frowned, "I thought Lucifer killed all of them. How was the person still alive?"

    "He must have escaped from the hands of Lucifer. I didn''t get to see what happened, but by the time I made it there, Madeline had killed the level one demon and was badly wounded. The Salvette Mortem was there too," he added thest line, and Michael''s lips set itself in a thin line. Michael looked like he wanted to say something, but he instead said,

    "Looks like it wanted to take her to Hell. It is good that you brought her here," stated Michael, his eyes left the girl and looked at Gabriel. "Souls that belong to Heaven should have the opportunity to live here rather than in the vile environment like Hell which is no ce for innocent people."

    "I wonder how Lucifer lives there," came the questioning tone from Gabriel, "I heard you met him. How is he?"

    Michael closed his eyes before shaking his head, "I feel sorry for him. The angel he once was, he isn''t that person anymore. Maybe that is what it means to fall, and I''m d Paschar made his way back to Heaven and didn''t get lost like Lucifer."

    Their once fellow angel had fallen from his position and had turned to the dark side that was now considered to be the darkest and sinful, living in a ce no one had imagined years ago. They had hoped he would fix his ways and ask for forgiveness, but no one knew Lucifer had no ns to return. He had a kingdom and people of his own that he relished in people''s misery and pain.

    But there was something that was in the back of Michael''s mind, "I offered him his daughter''s soul in return for the girl."

    Gabriel''s head snapped at Michael, "What were you thinking by doing it? You know we cannot offer a soul for another soul. Things like that happen in Hell not in Heaven."

    Michael nodded his head.

    "I wasn''t nning to give her away. I am aware of the rules, Gabriel, but anyways it doesn''t matter anymore as everything seems to have fallen into its ce. Whoever the demon was, his actions benefited us in keeping the girl''s soul in here safe," stated Michael. "Does Paschar know?"

    "Not yet. We just arrived," replied Gabriel and Michael nodded. Without sparing another word or nce at the girl, Michael left the garden and Gabriel''s side.

    Madeline was walking in the garden and she sat down on an empty bench, looking up at the branches that provided shade. She took a deep breath before exhaling out, and looked at the people until her eyes fell on a person who stood behind a standing canvas.

 Chapter 548 Garden of Owe- Part 3

    <h4>548 Garden of Owe- Part 3</h4>

    ''Are all these done by you?''

    ''Hmm.''

    ''All?'' She asked doubt in her voice.

    ''No, I stole them from an artist,'' replied the male''s voice. For some reason her cheeks turned warm. Not knowing what caused it, she ced both her hands on her cheeks.

    She wondered what that was about. Making her way towards the canvas and the person, who stood behind the canvas, Madeline caught sight of a slender looking woman, who held ck charcoal in her hand.

    The woman''s dark ck hair had been tied and was left to rest on one side of her shoulder. The breeze that went around them was soft and gentle, and Madeline caught sight of some of front hairing to hover in front of the woman'' face, which she pushed behind her ear. Her features were serene, and Madeline wondered why she felt as if she had seen this person before, but she couldn''t point her finger where she had seen. Not that she remembered anything that had happened back in the past.

    As if sensing Madeline''s eyes, the woman''s gaze shifted to look at Madeline. A small blush appeared on Madeline''s face, and she quickly bowed her head for intruding the person''s space. A smile broke through the woman''s lips that was warm, and she greeted Madeline.

    "Hello."

    Madeline bowed her head again, greeting the first person who wasn''t an archangel. "Hello." She wondered if she had disturbed the woman.

    "I don''t think I have seen you here before," said the woman.

    "I arrived here today," answered Madeline. She didn''t know if it was minutes or hours since she had arrived here, "I am Madeline."

    The woman offered her a warm smile, "Constance."

    "What were you drawing?" asked Madeline curious, walking to the front and taking a look at the art that Constance had been working on. It was thendscape of the mountains that was located away from the garden but still viewable from here. The person had captured it beautifully without the need for colours to be filled in. "It''s lovely," sheplimented Constance.

    Though the people here were kind and polite, Madeline could feel a part of her missing and something told her to go looking for it. But every time she tried to remember, she felt the sudden block, and it hurt her head before making her feel dizzy.

    Peace was right here, yet why was it that her heart was yearning for something she couldn''t exin?

    "How are you finding Heaven, Madeline?" she heard Constance question her, and Madeline''s train of thoughts broke away to return to the present.

    "Just as I imagined it to be," replied Madeline and she caught sight of a little sparrow that flew right in front of her.

    Madeline''s eyes kept moving to look at the people while trying to find familiar eyes, and she asked, "Do you remember about your past?"

    "None of us do. When a person enters Heaven, their mind is cleared from the pain and everything rted to it. Helping the person leave the burden, agony, the torture that a soul once felt, everything is left at the gates when you are weed to Heaven. I can tell you are finding it hard to adjust here as you are new." Constance ced her hand on Madeline''s shoulder. "If something is troubling you, the archangels will help you out with it. All you need to do is ask, and help will be provided."

    "I will keep that in mind. Thank you," thanked Madeline, and Constance smiled.

    "I will be going back to my ce. It was nice meeting you, Madeline," said the woman before departing from there, and Madeline stood there. She spent the next two hours aimlessly walking while admiring the things Heaven offered.

    As the woman said, Madeline didn''t feel the pain that she went through when she was dying, nor did she remember what had transpired the entire time she was in the living world. Heaven was her home now.

    While she was still walking, she heard a man call her name, "Madeline."

    Madeline turned around to find another man who had white wings, holding a staff in his hand. She stared at the man whose eyes looked wise, and the wind pushed his long silver hair that had been let down to the right. She stared into his grey eyes, a very unusual colour.

    Paschar saw Madeline look back at him, her expression looking peaceful than thest time he had met her. Though he had been unable to help Madeline because of the rules imposed on him for his past actions, Paschar cared about Madeline, and the other Heavenly beings were aware about it. They had restricted him from stepping out of this ce.

    He knew she didn''t have a trace of memory of who he was to her. The only reason he had not involved himself in his daughter''s life was because he knew how much light would be thrown to her already troubled existence if he involved himself. She was thest symbol his lover had left him. Paschar had protected her soul, bringing her to the living world only when he believed it was safe.

    "Are you an archangel like Gabriel?" asked Madeline.

    Paschar nodded his head, "I am. My name is Paschar. How are you doing, Madeline?" he asked her.

    "I am doing good. How about you?" Madeline returned the question.

    "Good," with Madeline in Heaven that was safe for her, Paschar didn''t have to worry about her well being. But he doubted things were well in the living world.

    Far away from Madeline and Paschar, another archangel stood looking at them. The angel''s ck hair reached until his shoulder, and his ck eyes slightly narrowed, wondering how she had ended up here.

 Chapter 549 Angels and Demons- Part 1

    <h4>549 Angels and Demons- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline didn''t know the angel with whom she was walking, but it seemed like he knew her as he spoke to her in a familiar tone. She didn''t know what hour of the day it was and how much time had passed since she had arrived at this ce.

    "How many angels are in here?" asked Madeline to the archangel named Paschar.

    "Many, in order to protect Heaven and the people who reside in here," answered Paschar, "Heaven is as vast as the living world, maybe even bigger that no one can measure it. With the number of souls that arrive, we have had a decent number of angels since the very beginning so that, they can not only provide help here but also in the living world."

    "What do they do in the living world?" Madeline believed the angels belonged in Heaven, and each creature had their own realm.

    "For work of course," responded Paschar, "Sometimes we go down to the living world to see if everything is going as expected without any disruptions. Sometimes there are disruptions from other kinds, and we try to resolve it." Years ago it was one of the reasons why he had visited the living world, not expecting his and other people''s lives to change because of the love he shared with a woman.

    "I see," replied Madeline with a smile on her lips. "It looks like the angels work very hard. I am d to be here. I heard from the other angel that not everybody gets in here, and I feel very fortunate."

    Paschar wasn''t sure how to respond to this. He was aware that the other angels were keeping a close eye on Madeline, making sure to see that she waspletely part of the Heavenly realm. Even now, he could sense pairs of eyes looking at them, as if making sure he wouldn''t say something he was not supposed to say and not let any doubt be ced in Madeline''s clear mind. Because sometimes it took just one ck drop in the water to turn everything impure and dark.

    He left Madeline to herself, and as he returned, he came across the angel who stood there staring at him with his arms crossed.

    "Does she remember anything?" asked the other angel, his ck eyes staring at Paschar.

    "Does anyone ever remember anything whoes from the living world?" Paschar questioned back. "What are you doing here? I thought you were with Michael."

    The other angel hummed, "I was with him a while ago before he left saying he has something important to attend to." They heard a slightmotion, and he turned his head along with Paschar to look in the direction, catching sight of many angels making their way to the tower of justice. "Seems like all of us are taking precautionary measures with the interest of our elder brother making his appearance here."

    Paschar''s eyebrows furrowed, and his lips set itself in a thin line.

    "Did the angels hear any echo at the gates?" asked Paschar.

    "It was a demon. It would be better for you to stay away from Madeline, Raphael," warned Paschar, and Raphael offered a gentle and polite smile.

    "I wasn''t going to do anything. I was curious because unlike her, I do remember what happened in the living world," replied Raphael. "It is a pity that you are trying to bond with her. Nothing goodes when you do things half-heartedly, Paschar. You know that."

    "I don''t know what you are speaking about," Paschar''s grey eyes were set on Raphael who turned his head in the other direction, staring at the angels who had disappeared from their sight and had made their way into the tower of justice where they were called to take orders.

    The smile on Raphael''s lips didn''t leave, "It is alright if you don''t, but if you think you can mend your rtionship with her for not being there for her earlier, you won''t receive the same feelings. You and I have both been part of Heaven, and not at the same time. We know what it is like, and how things here are programmed in a way where the souls are expected to live in a certain way, unlike the tolerant world of the living."

    "It is so because Heaven wants to keep peace in here. We do what we need to do. Don''t forget what happened when you tried to form a bridge," Paschar knew Raphael had stood with him and Lucifer, trying to bring in peace and calm things down. But it had only ended up with Raphael being exiled to the living world where he had lived as a demon with his memories lost for that time period. "Just keep yourself away from trouble. I don''t want to feel burdened with your support."

    "I will keep that in my mind," Raphael offered Paschar a smile, who stared at him for a few seconds before he walked away from there.

    The smile that was on Raphael''s lips lowered down, and he looked around him before hearing a loud collision from somewhere in the distance. It was like an earthquake had taken ce in Heaven. Raphael had a brief idea of who was near Heaven right now. When the next collision was heard, one of the angel''s said,

    "Get everyone inside!"

    The souls from the living world started to move while being guided by some of the angels to get back inside.

    "What is that sound?"

    "Did something burst?" came the muttered and confused voices from people.

    Away from the centre and heart of Heaven, near the closed golden gates where ten angels guarded it, while two demons with ck wings stood in front of them.

 Chapter 550 Angels and Demons- Part 2

    <h4>550 Angels and Demons- Part 2</h4>

    "Step away from the gates!" ordered one of the angels standing in front of the gates. "Heaven is no ce for demons. You are not wee here anymore, Lucifer!"

    "dimir," corrected the Devil, "I go by the name dimir. Now be good boys and open the gates."

    "Never!" shouted another guard. "We are the guards who protect the gates of Heaven. You shall not pass and will leave immediately!"

    The other guards stood in position, ready to attack if the demons were to advance forward.

    "Do you think I havee here to sightsee Heaven?" asked Calhoun, his eyes turned dark in anger. "You have something of mine, and I havee here to retrieve what rightfully belongs to me. Now move unless you want to die."

    The guard angels didn''t step away and stubbornly blocked both Calhoun and dimir''s way. Calhoun didn''t have the time to spare talking with the guards, and his wings pped to raise him from the clouds like ground. Seeing this, the guards looked slightly confused as this person had ck feathered wings, while the Devil had bat-like wings.

    "If you are not going to step away, don''t me us for burning you," came the calm voice of dimir.

    And in a blink of an eye, dimir''s trident came to sh against the staff of one of the guards who had not expected for it toe at them at such speed. Calhoun used his hands to fight the guards off so that he could get inside the gates. Being the Devil''s descendant, the ability to harness fire in the palms of his hand came naturally, and he used it against them.

    The guards fought together against dimir and Calhoun, but Calhoun used the fire to burn them while throwing them far away from the gates so that they wouldn''te back to attack them anytime soon.

    The guards were persistent, and as expected, they weren''t easy to get rid of. dimir then said, "I will take care of these guards. Go find Madeline."

    Calhoun gave a nod, and he entered the gates of Heaven with his ck wings pped, moving the clouds on the ground.

    Back in the heart of the Heaven where most of the people resided, Madeline had stepped out of the garden of Owe to see what themotion was about. She had heard the angels instructing the other people to get back inside.

    It being only a few hours since she had been admitted into Heaven, the curiosity got the best out of her.

    "What''s going on?" Madeline asked a fellow angel who was going to walk past her.

    Madeline frowned, and followed the other set of angels running in a specific direction. Someone caught hold of her arm, and Madeline turned around to see it was another archangel she hadn''t met before, he had white wings too.

    "Where are you going?" he asked, his eyes sharply looking at her.

    "I heard that there was a problem," she said, her eyebrows knitted together.

    "It is just a small problem that hase up. You don''t have to worry about it...Madeline," said the archangel. He hade here on themand to keep Madeline safe so that the demons would not be able to take her away from here.

    "How about I walk you back to your ce. The others will solve the problem in no time, and you can then take a walk outside here," he offered.

    When another collision took ce, Madeline felt her heart beating loudly, and unconsciously, she ced her hand on her chest. She felt an unexinable ache in her heart as if something from a distance was calling out for her.

    Receiving a pointed look from the archangel who was waiting for her, Madeline nodded her head, obliging the man''s words as all the angels wanted to do was to protect them.

    Following him, they made it to the front of a building, when suddenly she heard a clunk sound along with schittering noise like lightning. The archangel who hade along with her fell on the ground, and she saw a man standing there, who wore ck gloves.

    Madeline took a step away in fear, "W-what did you do to him? W-who are you?"

    The person bowed his head, "I wish I could say it is good to see you again, Lady Madeline." Madeline looked at him, confused. Did he just hurt another angel? Was it possible? Was the person dead? "Uriel will be fine. We have somewhere to go. Quickly."

    Instead of agreeing to what this person said, Madeline took a step back from him.

    Even though Madeline knew Raphael when she was in the living world, her memory had been erased now that she didn''t remember him nor the help he had provided in the past.

    "My name is Raphael, Lady Madeline, and I know you from the living world," stated Raphael. He could feel Madeline worried and tense about what was going on.

    "Why did you hurt him?" questioned Madeline. She looked down at the archangel who was lying on the ground, who was only trying to get her back to her safety. Could an archangel be hurt? Madeline didn''t know.

    Raphael offered her a smile, "I believe my brothers are being irrational and are failing to see the situation in front of them. I know they will. I believe there''s someone who wants to see you."

    Someone wanted to see her?

 Chapter 551 Angels and Demons- Part 3

    <h4>551 Angels and Demons- Part 3</h4>

    "Why does he have feathers?" asked one of the angels. "Only an angel can have feathers on their wings."

    "He''s the Devil''s grandson," said another angel, watching Calhoun.

    "Lucifer''s grandson?" came the shocked words of another angel, his eyes turned wide as he looked at Calhoun.

    Calhoun watched the five angels who hade to greet him. He could sense more angels making their way here, but it didn''t matter to him.

    "Tell me where Madeline is, and there won''t be a need for a fight to break in here," announced Calhoun.

    "Do you think we would let a demon-like yourself to be here? Go back to where you came from. This is no ce for you unless you want an angel''s staff to smote you to death," warned one of the angels with a stern gaze as he looked at Calhoun.

    "Do you think he is as strong as Lucifer?" asked another angel.

    "Lucifer is no more powerful," said the earlier angel, "He''s a fallen angel who has fallen and made the underworld his home."

    While the angels were having a quiet and pleasant chit chat with each other about the former angel of Heaven, who was now the Devil, Calhoun raised his hand forward for the fire to appear in his fists.

    "I guess I will have to burn you fuckers to get an answer," came the low, threatening voice from Calhoun.

    "How dare you use words like that in here!" one of the angels looked upset and angry.

    Calhoun stared at the angel with a dead expression on his face, "Polite words didn''t seem to work, so I decided to go back to the way I speak."

    He remembered the words that dimir spoke to him before arriving near the gates of Heaven.

    ''There are angels guarding the front gates, but there are more angels inside to protect Heaven. If you are trying to go and get back Madeline, it is tougher than you expect because there are archangels who have abilities and immense strength. And apart from it, you don''t know where they have kept Madeline,'' dimir had informed Calhoun.

    ''Where do you think they have kept her?'' inquired Calhoun.

    ''Probably in the heart of Heaven. Remember that Madeline''s memory has been erased rted to the life she once had in the living world. You cannot take a soul by force from here, that is not willing to leave. Which means abducting is not possible,'' stated dimir.

    ''Great,'' cursed Calhoun.

    Calhoun remembered the time he had taken in the past for Madeline to fall in love with him. Now with her memory erased, he would have to rebuild the memories which he didn''t mind. But the problem was that if Madeline didn''t want toe with him, stepping out of Heaven, he wouldn''t be able to take her from here.

    The angel''s staff were quick to attack Calhoun, but he stopped it with his bare hands. He didn''t need any weapon, and he used his demon abilities to hit and push the angels one after another who came at him like swarming bees.

    "We have been given the order to kill the demon. Don''t hold back!" came another angel''s voice from behind who had only joined the battle.

    But no matter how many angels came and tried to attack Calhoun, the Devil''s grandson was too strong for them to defeat. One of the angels threw the wire?that was simr to the bolt of lightning to capture the demon. The wire moved back and forth Calhoun as they tightly circled around his body to stop him from using any more of his abilities.

    "Ha! I caught him! We angels are much stronger than the demons. The angels will always prevail," said the angel who had thrown the electric gold wires.

    "Good job, Luth!" praised one of the fellow angels who was nearby. "We need to take him-"

    His words were interrupted when Calhoun''s body started to break the wire, and the angels quickly threw some more wires on the demon. Something started to change within Calhoun as he tried to break himself free from the wires.

    Calhoun''s eyespletely turned pitch ck and theplexion of his skin looked paler than before, along with the little nerves beneath his skin that came into view. Something started to protrude from the top of his head like a stem that was growing and branching like a tree. It resembled him to look like the Salvette Mortems that had antlers. Even the wings that were on his back grewrger.

    With one push, the wires that had tried to keep Calhoun still had broken and turned ineffective.

    The angel''s eyes widened, watching something they had never seen before. Did demons have antlers like that?!

    "I have no time to y with you people," Calhoun red at them, and when he moved his hand, the angels who were on his right suddenly flew away from their position because of the force produced by his one single movement.

    The angels tried to resist him by bringing their staffs forward to stop them from being swept away. But when Calhoun raised his hand towards the angel and moved his hand, the angels were either blown away.

    "Calhoun," came the voice that Calhoun was familiar with since the High House had started functioning. His eyes fell on the archangel, who had arrived at the scene.

    "Michael," Calhoun said the angel''s name.

    "Heaven is no ce for the Devil or for you," stated Michael. The archangel noticed the strange appearance of the King of Devon while feeling his power being emitted from where he was.

    One side of Calhoun''s lips pulled up, "Don''t worry, I don''t have any ns to stay here. We will leave, once I find Madeline and take her back with me."

 Chapter 552 And we meet- Part 1

    <h4>552 And we meet- Part 1</h4>

    "What makes you think that I would let you take an innocent soul from Heaven and allow the soul to leave with a demon like you?" asked Michael, his eyes were calm and his expression passive as he looked at Calhoun. "I would have never thought that you were a demon, less a Devil''s grandson. You have been hiding it from everyone."

    "Trust me, I had no idea until dimir appeared in front of me," smiled Calhoun and the amount of fire that was in his hands only grew more prominent.

    Michael found it hard to believe.

    When it came to identifying level one demons, the angels and the archangels found it hard because they didn''t have enough intel on them. With most of the level one demons dead thanks to the Devil, it had reduced most of their work. But the level one demons who still existed, they were hard to spot, and it had often put angels in a challenging position.

    He knew Calhoun closely as he had worked along with Paschar in the High House, and in that whole one decade, not once had it urred to them that Calhoun was more than a vampire and King Laurence''s son.

    "Where is Madeline?" questioned Calhoun.

    "It would be best if you leave this ce now and forget about her," advised Michael, and he brought his staff forward. "We had nothing to do with her death in the living world. Her soul was brought here because it rightfully belongs to Heaven. I will give you a chance, Calhoun, just because I knew you in the living world, while forgetting you are rted to the Devil. Leave Heaven and nevere back because demons are not weed in here."

    Arge gust of wind blew across the ce where everyone stood, and Calhoun stared at Michael.

    A chuckle escaped from Calhoun''s lips, and the angels looked at the demon with an apprehensive look in their eyes, "I am not leaving Heaven without Madeline, Michael. You either give her to me, and we leave in peace without causing any trouble here. Or I will take her by force while creating chaos in here. Why do you want to hurt your fellow angels?"

    A spark of fire lit in Michael''s eyes by hearing Calhoun''s words.

    Michael had seen many demons, but never had he seen anyone like Calhoun who now had antlers on his head. Even the Devil didn''t possess an appearance like this, and Calhoun''s presence only put a threat in Heaven.

    Michael had always spread harmony, and he had no interest to fight. But if Calhoun and dimir were going to create trouble, he would not hold himself back. The archangels were assigned to maintain order and to protect the people. He wouldn''t allow a demon or a Devil to steal a soul from here so that they could taint it!

    "Suit yourself," came Calhoun''s next words.

    Before anyone knew, the archangel and the demon with antlers shed against each other. Michael used his golden staff while Calhoun had manifested a weapon in his hand, holding it, that looked like a burning iron rod covered with fire.

    The force that both of them used, it sent out a vibration through the wind and people around them could see the intensity with the way they fought. Sparks flew with every sh and crash, but neither stopped or held back in attacking the other in the sky. When both Calhoun and Michael moved towards the ground of the clouds, the gathered clouds moved away from their ces because of their agility, sweeping them away.

    "The Salvette Mortem was supposed to bring her soul to Hell, but one of your angels brought her here," said Calhoun, blocking Michael''s staff which he had brought up and above his head so that Calhoun''s staff would not hit his head. "By doing that, you only waged war with me!"

    Michael used all his strength to keep Calhoun''s attack away from him. Somewhere in the corner of his mind, the archangel knew Calhoun was strong, but he hadn''t expected Calhoun to be as strong as him.

    "You know what the problem is with you demons? It is that you believe in snatching things by force and going against the rules," responded Michael. He pushed Calhoun''s burning metal rod away and put all his might in his hand to swing his golden staff at Calhoun.

    The other angels who stood away from them, witnessed the impressive fight that was taking ce in front of them. It didn''t look like it would be getting over any time soon.

    "I don''t care about your other souls here. The only person I want is Madeline," dered Calhoun, his movements persistent. Michael''s body disappeared from the ce, and in an instant, he came to stand behind Calhoun. Michael hit Calhoun with his staff, sending the demon flying to a distance before Michael caught hold of his footing in the air.

    The angels looked happy, noticing the blood that appeared from the demon''s mouth that he spat it out.

    "It is not toote to leave, Calhoun," advised Michael with a small frown on his face.

    Calhoun ran his tongue around the corner of his lips, and he then looked up at Michael, "Do you think you are the only one with tricks?" he asked with a smirk on his lips. Like Michael, he was able to apparate from where he stood, and he came to stand behind Michael.

    Michael''s eyes widened as he hadn''t expected a person from the living world like Calhoun to be able to apparate. Soon enough, Calhoun had brought the burning rod to take a sessful hit against the archangel. But Michael was quick to recover and the fight between the two looked like it was not going to end anytime soon.

 Chapter 553 And we meet- Part 2

    <h4>553 And we meet- Part 2</h4>

    Raphael pursed his lips, he knew this would happen, but he had hoped thedy would oblige to his words and would follow him. He knew his action of hurting Uriel would cost himter, but he believed that things would only worsen if Madeline was not taken to the front part of Heaven in time. Thest thing he needed was people killing each other and dying in Heaven, which was considered a haven.

    Raphael didn''t take any offence to Madeline''s words. He nodded his head as if he agreed to her words.

    "The reason why I am asking you to follow me is that it is important," Raphael let Madeline know. "With the vibrations that I feel in the air, I can only assume that the fight between the angels and demons has begun. Right now, you are someone who will be able to stop that."

    "I don''t understand," replied Madeline with a small frown on her face.

    "Long ago, God sent an archangel from Heaven to bring peace in the living world, because the innocent souls were turning corrupt. The angel fell in love and bore a child that I believe is a good sign. You are like a bridge Madeline, but you are only half of that bridge while the other half waits for you at the front ce of Heaven," exined Raphael to her. "I understand that everything I am speaking is sounding strange to you, and it would have been easier with your memories still intact. But when you meet him, you will find your answers. I am Raphael, and we have met each other in the living world."

    "Why did you hurt him then?" questioned Madeline, her eyes looking at the archangel whose wings had disappeared from his back for the time being.

    "Some of my brothers are too rigid in their thinking, looking at things only as ck and white. They are unable to see what is in front of their eyes, and I am hoping they will. We need to leave from here rather than wasting our time talking. You are the daughter of an angel, Lady Madeline," said Raphael before ncing at Uriel as the archangel could wake up any minute.

    Madeline pursed her lips, not knowing what to do. Though initially, she was suspicious, the man in front of her was an archangel and angels never hurt anyone. They never meant any harm, and she finally nodded her head.

    They heard another loud collision, and Madeline couldn''t help but look far in the direction where they were now heading.

    "What is happening out there?" she asked Raphael, her heart starting to feel anxious.

    Madeline noticed small creatures who had wings on their back. They hid behind the leaves and flowers, when they saw Madeline and Raphael walk by them. She wondered if they were fairies.

    Their feet were quick, and before they could reach the end of the long passageway of the garden, Paschar came into view as he stood there, blocking their way.

    "What are you trying to do, Raphael? Did one punishment not suffice that you are looking for another one?" questioned Paschar with a deep frown and his lips setting itself in a thin line.

    Madeline looked back and forth between the two archangels. Seeing Raphael not stop walking, she followed him.

    "I am doing what I believe to be right, Paschar," answered Raphael, his feet finallying to a halt, keeping five steps distance from Paschar.

    Paschar asked, "Do you think what you believe to be right is right? The orders were clear, and you heard it too. Innocent souls are not supposed to leave Heaven, and until now we have done everything to save them. It is the will of God, and you are going against him. Did spending your time in the living world make you forget who you are? Don''t do this Raphael. You are an angel and not someone who works for the Devil."

    Madeline couldn''t help but wonder what was going on as from what she heard from the words between these two angels, it seemed that the angel who was leading her outside the garden of Owe was going against the rules.

    "Madeline,e with me. I will take you to a safer ce," offered Paschar.

    "Don''t tell me you want her here because you can keep her closer and watch over her. Would your actions be the same if you were allowed to go and meet her in the living world?" questioned Raphael.

    Unlike the humans and other creatures who belonged to the living world, Paschar''s expression barely changed, and he continued to stare at Raphael, who was younger than him.

    "Madeline is my daughter, and she is under the protection of Heaven, which means we are here to protect her from evil that has stepped into Heaven," stated Paschar. "Maybe I wasn''t able to protect her before, but I am going to make it up to her and her mother by looking after her here."

    Raphael''s eyes softened, "You don''t mean it, do you? I heard that she refused toe to Heaven. Doesn''t that mean that she has already made her decision? She doesn''t mind going to Hell if it means she gets to stay next to him-"

    "Guiding the souls is our responsibility," interrupted Paschar.

    Paschar was one of the mellowest angels, who often kept to himself. He had once defied Heaven, and it had cost his daughter to go through many difficulties. He didn''t want to burden her more because of his mistakes.

 Chapter 554 And we meet- Part 3

    <h4>554 And we meet- Part 3</h4>

    "Why are you trying to defy the orders, Raphael?" questioned Paschar calmly without taking a hasty decision of attacking a fellow angel.

    "Because I believe people''s misdeeds can be forgiven. Isn''t that what Heaven is all about? We give people a chance to mend their ways. While I lived in the living world, I realised why father sent me there. It had nothing to do with the punishment because if it was, I would not be here now, but would have continued to roam in the living world or ended up in Hell," exined Raphael, "Our father is forgiving, and he wants people to live in harmony. Madeline''s happiness lies on the other side of Heaven, and I understand it is not something that you approve of, but don''t you think she deserves true happiness?" Raphael''s eyebrows knitted itself.

    "And you are ready to take the punishment for a second time," Paschar narrowed his eyebrows.

    "You have closely worked with him in the past, enough to know he makes your daughter happy. You know my reasoning is right," Raphael hoped Paschar would listen to him. If Paschar decided not to let them pass, there was no way he would be able to take Madeline to where Calhoun was and save the other angel''s if they had involved themselves in the fight.

    Madeline was taken aback, when Raphael mentioned this angel who was in front of them to be her father. Paschar''s eyes shifted from Raphael to look at Madeline, who was staring back at him.

    "Are you sure about this?" Paschar directed his question to Raphael.

    "Yes," answered Raphael, and Paschar took a step backwards before moving aside from the passageway. "Where are they?" inquired Raphael.

    "Not too far away from the gates," answered Paschar, and he then said, "I wille with both of you. If there are other archangels at the ce, I doubt they will let you pass through." Having him would only put more weight on Raphael''s exnation as he was one of the eldest archangels.

    Away from the garden of Owe, Calhoun and Michael continued to fight with each other without taking a break. Most of the clouds beneath them had scattered away, leaving nothing but space like sky below them.

    With sparks flying in the air because of their weapons sh against each other, Calhoun and Michael red at each other.

    "Did you know that Paschar''s lover was a demon?" taunted Calhoun, and Michael''s eyes widened.

    "That''s not true!" retorted Michael before making use of his angelic abilities, and he shot a beam of light with full force right at Calhoun. Calhoun tried to deflect the beam using both his hands, but being a demon from the living world, it left burns on him.

    Michael didn''t believe what Calhoun just said. There was no way Paschar had been in a rtionship with a demon. The angels had made a thorough check, and all they had found out was that the woman was a human.

    "I don''t care if Madeline is a demon or an angel''s child anymore," replied Michael, his eyes steadily looking at Calhoun. "You must have already heard that we don''t care about it anymore as the matter was already dropped. It is ironic, though, that fate yed in a way to have Madeline end up in Heaven. Doesn''t it mean that this is her destiny? We had nothing to do with her death."

    "That I have gathered. It was the demon, and I don''t care about it either. My only concern has been, where Madeline is." Seeing Michael not obliging to his words, Calhoun swung his hand to release a beam that didn''t just go at Michael, but it spread out like waves from where Calhoun stood. The angel''s who weren''t as powerful as Michael fell on the clouds.

    "Weren''t you in a rtionship with Helena?"

    "What about her? It was purely for work reasons," said Michael with his eyes that narrowed.

    It took Calhoun a second before he started tough, "Oh, nothing."

    "Don''t make me angry, Calhoun. Return to where you havee from, unless you want to die here," said Michael, raising his hand up and to the side as if he was harnessing all the energy around him.

    "I have the same words to offer to you," replied Calhoun, and as he said that a dark shadow started to appear around him.

    Before both of them could sh against each other, their attention was diverted by the presence of two more angel''s and the girl who was today''s highlight. Michael''s eyes narrowed, and he red at his two brothers,

    "What are you doing by bringing her here?!"

    Paschar and Raphael had arrived at the fighting scene. Calhoun''s gaze moved from Paschar to look at Raphael, someone who he had thought he wouldn''t be seeing. But since hisst three visits to Hell, he hadn''t been able to sense Raphael in there.

    Calhoun''s eyes then looked at the person who stood behind the archangels, and on seeing Madeline, his eyes returned to their red ones, and his gaze softened.

    The other angel Gabriel had already been there, and he had let Michael fight the demon. His brother seemed to be enthusiastic to fight. Gabriel had decided to stand on the sidelines and observe.

    Looking at Raphael, Gabriel asked, "Came to tour thedy around Heaven?" in subtle sarcasm. He could feel Michael''s anger that was radiating from where he stood.

    "This is perfect," Calhoun stated loudly. "Hand me Madeline over, and all of us can continue our lives like this never happened."

    Michael''s anger was directed at Paschar and Raphael, who had defied the orders for the second time. "Have you forgotten whose side are you on?"

    Calhoun didn''t wait, and he quickly apparated at a speed that within the next second he stood behind Madeline. Feeling the sudden breeze, Madeline turned behind to look at the stranger, who had red eyes.

    "W-who are you?" blurted Madeline.

 Chapter 555 Back in my arms- Part 1

    <h4>555 Back in my arms- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Madeline stared at the stranger who was looking back at her. She didn''t remember anything that had happened in the living world before she came to Heaven. That was why she didn''t know a person like this existed, at least not one that had antlers on his head.

    Calhoun already knew this was going to happen, and no matter how much he would tried to prepare himself for this moment since Madeline''s death, the blow of her words didn''t reduce the crack in his heart. Madeline wore white robe that was simr to the other angels robes, and her wings were out for one''s view. He noticed her gulp down, her throat moving up and down.

    The nerves that had appeared on Calhoun''s skin slowly started to disappear, and the antlers slowly turned smaller and smaller until they finally disappeared.

    When a gust of wind blew across them, Madeline raised her hand to push her hair away from her face while she continued to stare at Calhoun.

    Instead of using force that he was used to in the past, Calhoun knelt to everyone''s surprise as they didn''t expect the Devil''s grandson to showcase such politeness. Calhoun was in a delicate situation where Michael had made it clear that Madeline wouldn''t be able to leave Heaven without her will. Maybe if it was someone else, he would have agreed to leave the person here. After all, Calhoun never had an issue with people going to Heaven, but the person who had entered Heaven was Madeline, his lover and wife, and he wasn''t willing to part away from her.

    With Calhoun''s body back to normal and the antlers that had vanished, Madeline noticed the stranger was handsome and somewhere, she felt her heart skip a beat when he knelt in front of her.

    Without hesitation, Calhoun picked up Madeline''s hand as if it was the most natural thing, and he heard her heart race. He pressed his lips on the back of her hand, a kiss that was gentle and enough to sway Madeline''s heart.

    "My name is Calhoun Hawthrone, the King of Devon in the living world, but most importantly, I am your husband and your soulmate," Calhoun''s words were confident as he looked up at Madeline.

    The little gesture Calhoun showed was a big surprise to everyone who was there because until now no demon had appeared in Heaven and had knelt down on their knees in front of an angel.

    Madeline''s eyes widened hearing these words. Was it true? With everyone''s eyes that were on her and on this man who introduced himself to be Calhoun, it made her conscious, and she fell short of words.

    When the angel named Raphael had mentioned that he was going to make her meet someone, someone who was waiting for her, thest thing she had expected was a handsome stranger dering her to be his wife.

    "Are you ready toe back to the living world with me?" came the polite yet patient words from Calhoun.

    "She''s not going anywhere!" Michael red at Calhoun because the demon had dared toe and take away a soul from Heaven. For eons, the angels had been trying to keep the souls safely in Heaven. Providing them with a life that they deserved after the hardships they went through in the living world, which was nothing less to Hell.

    Gabriel flew from where he stood, making his way to where Michael stood, "The memory spell is too strong, brother. No one has ever been able to break it. You and I, with everyone else who is part of Heaven, are aware of it."

    Like other angels, Gabriel had worked in saving and protecting the people from the living world. At the same time, it was quite interesting to see a demon having a connection with an angel in here. Not to forget, the demon had entered Heaven knowing he could be killed. As much as evil prevailed in the world, the angels had always seeded in guarding the children of God while trying to show them the right path.

    "Lucifer is here," informed Michael, and Gabriel raised his eyebrows. It had been years since he hadst heard about their brother, who had turned to the dark side.

    "I don''t think we should be surprised, considering how this one is rted to him," came the calm voice from Gabriel. He turned back, looking at the sky and caught sight of the bat-like wings that swiftly headed towards them. "I wonder if we have more trouble," murmured Gabriel under his breath without a hint of panic in his voice.

    A deep frown appeared on Michael''s forehead when he sensed Lucifer''s presence not far behind them, and his grip on his golden staff tightened.

    While the angel''s concentration was deviated with the Devil''s arrival, Calhoun tried to woo Madeline like he should have rightfully done since the beginning they had met in the ball.

    "So what is it going to be, sweet rose?" Calhoun nudged Madeline by his words.

    Madeline''s cheeks turned warmer as heat appeared to settle on her face. Both Raphael and Paschar had left the ce to join where the other two archangels stood.

    "Were you the one who created the collision earlier?" questioned Madeline, and Calhoun nodded his head. "Why? Were you fighting with the angels?" With the knowledge that Madeline had, angels were the ones who brought light and protected the souls, while the demons were the ones to create an uproar and spread bad influence on people. "Are you a demon?"

    With her memory wiped clean, Madeline had only found Calhoun''s appearance unusual, but she didn''t judge him.

    "I am," answered Calhoun truthfully. "But me being a demon has nothing to do with loving you, Madeline. You are the most beautiful and kind woman I have evere across in my life, and I treasure you above anything and above my very own life. I know it is hard to believe with your memories erased, but I mean every word when I say I will be lost without you next to me."

    Calhoun could feel Madeline''s heart skip a beat, but he didn''t stop speaking.

    "You might not remember the time we have shared, but I assure you that each and every one of them is worth remembering, and I cherish them all. The one''s where you smiled andughed, the ones where you were angry and sad, the time when you cried, and all I wanted to do was to wipe them away while wanting to take the burdens that you have felt," said Calhoun. He got up from the ce where he had knelt on one of his knees to stand tall and in front of Madeline. "I will build them all again because all I need is you with me. So...will youe?"

 Chapter 556 Back in my arms- Part 2

    <h4>556 Back in my arms- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Madeline parted her lips. Though she didn''t have a memory of this person or what he was speaking, she felt a strange familiarity in the way he talked to her. His words were sweet on her ears.

    Her eyes moved to look at the other people who had gathered around them. Most of the angels intently watched them, while the archangel''s had a mixed response. Paschar and Gabriel looked at her with a calm expression, the angel Raphael had a faint smile on his lips, and Michael looked more than upset right now.

    Michael was unhappy with the turn of events as his brothers were letting an angel mingle with a demon who was the definition of catastrophe.

    "Have you all decided to side with the evil in the world?" questioned Michael.

    Being one of the eldest out of all the angels, he had always tried to set an example of how angels were supposed to be. The demons had caused nothing but trouble until now. The demons whispered things to the people in the living world, tempting them to do evil things before the same people who were tempted ended up in Hell.

    "This might bring in peace," said Raphael and received a re from Michael.

    "By joining hands with the Devil and his grandson?!" Michael''s temper shot up. "It seems like your punishment went in vain, and being friends with the demons has changed your vision."

    "I think what Raphael means is," Gabriel interrupted with a pleasant smile on his face, "That the evil in the world might reduce because of the demon and an angel''s reunion."

    "It didn''t before. How do you expect it will happen now?" Michael''s eyes narrowed while he tried to control his voice.

    The other three archangel''s frowned upon hearing this. Michael pursed his lips, wondering if he should tell it. But even though he didn''t say anything more than that, it didn''t take long for the other three angels to know that it was Paschar, regarding whom Michael was speaking about.

    Gabriel''s eyebrows raised, and withoutmenting on Michael''s words, he said, "Didn''t you tell that Madeline had refused toe to Heaven, not because it isn''t a good ce, but because this isn''t where her heart belongs?"

    "Yes, and that is why we decided not to insist on the matter further. But you know she belongs here. Her heart is pure and untainted even after what took ce in the living world. If you didn''t feel that way, you wouldn''t have brought her here," stated Michael, and he had a point there.

    Gabriel was quiet for some time before deciding to speak, "That was before I heard his confession. If you look at the records, he has truly loved and cherished her."

    "I have no issue with them being in love," Michael rolled his eyes. "We cannot let souls leave from Heaven. Next thing you know, someone else will be at the gates of Heaven asking for their loved one''s soul to be sent back."

    The other angels narrowed their eyes at him. "Don''t even think about it," red Michael. "You have some nerve by showing up here after what you did."

    "Me?" asked dimir, cing his hand on his chest while looking behind him when there was no one. A chuckle escaped his lips. "I missed you," the Devil said with a straight face, and Michael''s eyes hardened.

    Gabriel and the others were not too concerned with Calhoun being here, but with the Devil who had appeared, everyone looked at him in high alert. Everyone took their position so that if the Devil would strike, they would be ready to strike back at him.

    "Go back to where you havee from. You are no more wee in Heaven," Michael turned himself to face dimir.

    A smile appeared on dimir''s lips, "I have note here to fight with anyone. All I havee here is to supervise the situation. I don''t think anyone would like to see my wrath after hurting my children." dimir''s eyes moved to look at Calhoun, who seemed unscathed.

    On one side there were the angels, and on another side was the Devil. On the third side, Calhoun had built his own space of bubble with Madeline so that he could capture her whole attention.

    Without any hesitation, Calhoun leaned forward and kissed Madeline right on her lips. He kept the kiss short without making it overbearing, leaving a breath of sweetness in her mouth. Madeline''s eyes widened.

    "I know you feel it in your very soul, Madeline," said Calhoun, his red eyes piercing through her.

    "That''s enough!" said Michael, stepping forward. "As you can see, Madeline now belongs to Heaven. I can understand that it''s hard to believe that she isn''t in the living world, but you need to ept the truth of what has happened."

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, looking at the archangel with the same intensity. "One way or the other, I am taking her," while saying this, a ck fuming fire appeared in his hand.

    "How will you take her when she doesn''t even know you? Using the whisperings of the devil to sway her," Michael tched at the end.

    "That won''t be needed," came Madeline''s voice who stood beside Calhoun. She stepped closer to Calhoun, and she ced her arm on his. "I remember."

    The angels who gathered around looked at Madeline with a perplexed expression on their face. They wondered if Calhoun had done something to Madeline to make her utter words that she didn''t mean. Soon whisperings broke in there by the angels who stood there watching the scene,

    "That''s not possible!"

    "It''s the Devil''s work. He must have done something!"

    "No one has ever regained their lost memories��"

    pping his hands together, dimir looked at Madeline, "It is good to have you back, Madeline."

 Chapter 557 Back in my arms- Part 3

    <h4>557 Back in my arms- Part 3</h4>

    "Gabriel?" a look of shock appeared on Michael''s face, and before he would misunderstand, Gabriel said,

    "Let us try to resolve the matter without any fight. Bloodshed has brought no one happiness, and it would only make things worse. We all know it''s not possible for a person''s soul who has passed through the gates of Heaven to remember what has happened in the living world, and a demon''s abilities doesn''t work here. Why don''t we rify it?" suggested Gabriel with a smile on his lips.

    Raphael agreed with a nod, "Yes, why don''t we? Maybe a true love''s kiss awakened her memories?" A round of murmur took ce around the angels again, and they wondered what would happen.

    Everyone waited on what Michael would say, and he nodded his head before asking Madeline, "Do you remember who killed you in the living world?"

    Madeline''s hand that slipped from Calhoun''s arm moved down for Calhoun to hold it in his hand in support. She didn''t know how it happened, but right after Calhoun pulled himself away after the kiss, it was as if every single memory that she had from the living world had made its way back to her.

    "It was a level one demon, his name was Darian," answered Madeline.

    Calhoun had no interest in Michael''s question, "This sorts everything. You cannot keep someone against their will. At least when you know where their heart belongs."

    Michael was not happy with the unexpected development because in all these years, not once did a soul regain their memories. He wondered if it was because Madeline was Paschar''s child. He stared at Madeline before his eyes fell on her and Calhoun''s hand that had interlinked with each other.

    After some deep thought, Michael said, "It seems like the demon''s love has already tainted her heart. I don''t see it to be of any point in keeping her here. With her regained memories and the love that she seeks not being here, she will only wilt away��"

    Michael continued, "And when ites to love...It is hard to stand against it. But keep it in mind that this is the only exception and thest one." Hearing this, a smile spread on Madeline''s lips. "I will let it go with the hope that demons can learn to love and bepassionate. Leave Heaven soon before I change my mind," and saying that, Michael didn''t stay any longer there and left the ce. After Michael left, so did dimir.

    Gabriel and Raphael smiled at Michael''s decision, knowing even though Michael was strict with rules, he still had a soft heart. After all, he was an angel.

    "I will see you in the church if you ever n to visit," said Gabrie to Madelinel. Raphael bowed at both Madeline and Calhoun.

    "I was d to be of your help, King Calhoun," replied Raphael, and before they knew it, both Gabriel and Raphael flew away to follow their brother Michael. Madeline looked at Paschar, who still stood there, looking at her without going back to the heart of Heaven. Calhoun let go of her hand, and Madeline walked to where Paschar stood.

    With most of the angels who left the scene and the issue about Madeline staying in Heaven resolved along with the memory that had returned to her, she didn''t know what to say to her father. Not because she didn''t want to speak to him, but there was a certain heaviness in her heart. She knew he cared.

    His grey eyes watched her, walk ande to stand in front of him.

    "You are free now, Madeline. You don''t have to worry anymore," said Paschar.

    "Will you get into trouble? For not listening to Michael earlier?" Madeline didn''t spend much time in Heaven to know how he would be punished for his actions.

    "Don''t worry about that. That would mean Michael''s decision was wrong too. And he did the right thing by letting you go," Paschar offered her a smile, "At the end of the day, we just want the others to be happy without causing any harm. He knew that the love you both share is special and not something that will hurt anyone. It just took him some time to understand."

    Paschar was speaking about Michael. Madeline nodded her head.

    Then Madeline said, "I wanted to tell you something." Paschar tilted his head with a questioning gaze.

    "What is it?" he asked her.

    Madeline had never met her mother when her mother was alive, but there was a secret that they both shared. Not knowing, Micahel had already dropped a hint about it earlier. She said, "Mother loved you a lot. You meant the world to her."

    Paschar had not expected Madeline to say something like this. "I know." A smile broke through his lips, "You should go before the gates that Michael opened closes again," he advised, and Madeline nodded her head. Before Madeline was ready to go, she stepped forward and put her hands around Paschar.

    Her actions caught Paschar off guard, and after a second, he put his arms around her, "I will miss you," he said to her.

    "Me too," whispered Madeline to him. It was the first time she was acknowledging him as her father. "Do you think you will be allowed to visit the living world again?"

    "Let''s hope for it," replied Paschar, and he then dropped his hand as it was time for Calhoun and Madeline to return to the living world. Stepping away from Paschar, Madeline went to where Calhoun was waiting for her.

    While Madeline made her way to where Calhoun was, she heard the wings p that told her that Paschar had left them alone now. Madeline took onest look at Heaven, the ce she had stayed for the briefest time and a home to her father.

    "Ready to leave?" asked Calhoun, and Madeline nodded her head.

    Back in the heart of Heaven, Gabriel had taken a seat on one of the benches as if he was enjoying the warmth of the sun. The atmosphere had turned back calm and the angels had returned back to their usual duties. Raphael had gone with Michael.

    Seeing Paschar making his way, Gabriel asked, "Did they leave?"

    "They did. What are you smiling at?" questioned Paschar.

    "I can sense the heaviness in your heart, Paschar. If you didn''t want her to go, you shouldn''t have done it. She is your daughter," stated Gabriel. Paschar stared at the other archangel for long seconds before saying,

    "I don''t know what you are speaking about," and Paschar left the ce.

    Maybe Michael, Raphael and the other angels didn''t notice it, but Gabriel was aware that Paschar had something to do with fixing Madeline''s lost memories. Setting it to the time when Calhoun had kissed Madeline.

    Gabriel ced his hands back on the bench, leaning backward to face the bright sun before a faint smile appeared on his lips.

 Chapter 558 Closure- Part 1

    <h4>558 Closure- Part 1</h4>

    (The song is avable on spotify too under the artist''s name ''ichiko aoba'' in 2010 year)

    .

    Peace had settled back in the realm of Heaven as the fight that had started had stopped, and the people who hade to retrieve a person from Heaven had left, at least that is what people of the Heavenly realm presumed it to be.

    Somewhere away from the garden of Owe, a woman stood facing the mountains that appeared to be near but was in truth far away from the ce where she was. Due to the quietness that prevailed back in the ce, she had brought her canvas and the charcoal that was in her room out here to paint.

    Like many other souls in Heaven, Constance had no recollection of the memories that she had from the living world. She waspletely unaware that her dear son had appeared nearby. She had started to draw the mountains when a person came to stand right behind her. The person looked at her drawing earnestly while getting lost in it.

    While cing one of the charcoal''s sticks on the edge of the canvas stand, it slipped from there and fell backwards, making her turn. Before she could pick it up, someone had picked it up for her, and Constance saw a man who wore white robes, and his eyes weren''t blue or gold. They were red, an unusual colour that she had note across since she hade to live in Heaven.

    "Thank you," she whispered, noticing there was something strange about this person who stood out from the rest of the angels who were around.

    "What are you drawing?" asked the person who appeared to be in his thirties, his hair neatlybed back to show his sharp jawline.

    Constance looked back at her canvas, "It''s the mountains. I have finished almost everything that is in here and decided to draw something using my imagination."

    "I can tell," hummed dimir, staring at the canvas that didn''t resemble the mountains that were in front of them. Instead, it resembled the Belmount mountains.

    Earlier, before everyone had the opportunity to disperse, dimir had disappeared from the fight scene toe in search of Constance, his daughter, whom he yearned to look at. This might be the only opportunity and the time where he would being to Heaven, and he had grabbed the chance to see her without letting anyone know. He wore the white robes that were identical to the other angels robes, camouging himself in the surroundings.

    "You seem to be an expert in it," praised dimir, something he had often done in the past, and he caught sight of his daughter''s smile. "Where did you learn to draw this?" he questioned her.

    Constance stared at the drawing, "I am not sure. It must have been from one of my imaginations or maybe from the dream that I often have."

    "You seem to be very interested in it. Do you draw?" Constance questioned back at dimir, and the Devil smiled.

    "I do. Been an excellent artist," but he didn''t stop his words there, "My daughter used to draw too. She acquired the talent for it from me. She used to see the paintings I made, and she would then carry a bunch of pencils along with her before scribbling something that was at first hard to understand, but she got better."

    Constance smiled, hearing this. For a moment, she was confused by thinking about how this person remembered things from the living world or if he was only dreaming. Nheless, she continued the conversation with the stranger,

    "She must have turned to be a good artist then," said Constance, hearing the man speak earnestly about his daughter.

    dimir nodded his head. Looking straight into her eyes, he said, "The best. She passed the talent to her son." Constance returned the smile, and dimir was reminded about how Heaven felt before he had decided to leave this ce. The memories were bittersweet, but they were all history.

    He could hear the bird''s chirp and felt the rays of the warm sunlight that passed through to touch Heaven. This was something that didn''t exist in Hell, but he had made his choice.

    "Actually," started Constance, and dimir was pulled out from his thoughts. "The dreams I used to have are always so beautiful. Sometimes I wonder if it was from the life I once had in the living world before I entered Heaven. Every day I open my eyes with a smile on my lips, believing everything is alright and I am in peace with my mind. At the same time, I cannot help but wonder if I am missing something. I see people in my dreams, but not their faces as it is unclear."

    "The angels sure love to erase my face," dimir muttered under his breath. This gained Constance''s attention, and a questioning look passed through her features. He shook his head, "What else do you see in your dreams?"

    Living in Heaven for so long, Constance had spoken to many people about various things, but the way this man questioned and asked her, she wondered if he was different from the rest of them. Probably special, like the archangels.

    Constance tried to recollect what she dreamt, "I see a person in my dream who wears ck clothes. He has a stern voice, but it doesn''t scare me. It feels like I was small because of how tall he looked. I try to go out, moving towards the window."

    ''Don''t step too close to the windows, Constance. It can be dangerous,'' advised the man,ing to pick her up in his arms from where she was.

    ''I saw a bird that was flying outside. Do you think we could go and see it?'' she asked him.

    ''Birds? They are useless things, why don''t I show you the horse.''

    Constance then said, "The person calls for someone who is smaller in size, and then says ''Constance needs a horse.'' And the person who was carrying me puts me back down on the ground."

 Chapter 559 Closure- Part 2

    <h4>559 Closure- Part 2</h4>

    ''Odin!'' Constance hugged Odin''s leg when he appeared in front of her. Odin brought his hand in front of his face out of happiness that the child loved him.

    ''There are no horses in the tower, mdy, but I can be the horse,'' said Odin before having the little girl hopped up on his back.

    Having a faint recollection of her dream, Constanceughed, "I wonder if I was a troublesome child." The dreams were unclear, simr to a fragrance that was hard to hold on to, but she remembered it to be a sweet memory.

    "You weren''t," dimir cleared her doubts, "You were one of the most well-behaved child when you were small, and the most loved."

    A warm smile spread across Constance''s lips, "Thank you for your kind words. If you ever want to borrow a canvas, you can ask me for it. I would be happy to share my canvas and the charcoals with you," she offered.

    When dimir had decided toe to Heaven to help Calhoun and find his way to Heaven, which was ironic, but that wasn''t the only reason why he had agreed to help. He had hoped to take Constance from Heaven too. After all, she was his daughter. What were the angels thinking by keeping the Devil''s child with them?

    Tch, kidnapping her, huffed dimir to himself.

    He was the Devil, and he wanted to live up to his name by taking Constance away from here. Being the Devil, he could do it. But he knew the pain and misery Constance had gone through in the living world beforeing here.

    Calhoun wasn''t the only one who had gone looking for answers about his mother, as even dimir had tried to get information about Constance, trying to know the life she had led. He had tried to hunt down who had hurt her in the past, but Calhoun had killed them all.

    "Do you like it here?" questioned dimir, and Constance looked at him.

    Constance nodded her head, "Very much," and that decided what she wanted. In the past, dimir had forced her to live in his way, and it had resulted in her life taking the worse turn. He wasn''t going to do something that she wasn''t ready for.

    dimir exhaled and said, "That settles then. I wille back again, and I hope at that time, you will be able to remember more things."

    On the other side, Michael and Raphael were taking a stroll next to each other, with Raphael intently exining something as the other archangel listened to him. When their eyes fell on the person with whom Constance was speaking to, Michael''s eyes narrowed.

    At the same time, dimir disappeared from there, and Raphael said, "He must have missed her. She is his daughter."

    Michael''s eyes hardened, "Make sure to check her memory as well as increase the number of angels to guard the perimeter and near the gates of Heaven."

    Back in the living world, in the Hawthrone Castle, Madeline and Calhoun who had returned to their room had locked the room''s door.

    Madeline had made Calhoun to sit on the bed, and she tended his forehead that had a mark due to the wound that he had received while fighting with Michael. As it was a wound inflicted by an archangel on a demon. The mark had not disappeared the way it usually did and it continued to stay.

    She dabbed the wet cloth on Calhoun''s forehead while standing between his legs, "Does it hurt?" asked Madeline with worry in her voice.

    Calhoun was not bothered with the wound or the ache that he felt on his back because of the archangel''s staff. There was a smile on his lips as Madeline was back, and that is all he wanted��not caring about anything else.

    "Cal?" Madeline stopped dabbing the wound and looked straight into his red eyes. "Are you okay?"

    "Perfectly fine. You worry for nothing," Calhoun caught hold of her hand, that held the wet cloth, and he brought it down. He took the cloth and put it down before making her sit on hisp so that he could hold and look at her. Cherish her even more than before. "Kiss me, and everything will feel better."

    Within a heartbeat, Madeline closed the distance between their lips and she kissed him. Pressing her warm lips on his, "If it doesn''t feel better, I can kiss again," she whispered on his lips.

    Thinking back about the time where she had spent a few hours without knowing who Calhoun was, it somewhere frightened her. She knew the angels did what they had to do, but remembering the memories she had forgotten before gaining it back was something she was not ready to let go of.

    Calhoun''s nose touched her nose, rubbing the tips. "I would like some more, maybe lots, but you already know how I feel," he said, pulling her closer and kissing her again. Madeline circled her arms around Calhoun''s neck, and she pushed him to the surface of the bed to only have her positions changed with Calhoun on top of her as he had flipped her on her back. "When did you learn such things?" he asked her, his eyes fascinatingly looking at her.

    Madeline''s lips stretched with a smile she couldn''t keep to herself as she was happy to have Calhoun''s presence near her. Her hands reached for him, her fingers tracing his cheeks and then jaw before it slid down to feel his broad shoulders.

    "There is a saying that when two people love and live together, they end up picking up each other''s habits," said Madeline. Calhoun caught hold of one of her hands, kissing her wrist with his eyes closed before he opened them.

    "You learned it from me," Calhoun hummed in approval. His eyes fell on her face, staring deep into her eyes, "I was worried I lost you."

    "But you found me." It was a risky move for him while being a demon to enter Heaven. Not to forget, even if Calhoun wasn''t dimir''s grandson, he wouldn''t be weed into Heaven because of the sins he hadmitted. "Thank you foring to get me."

    Calhoun pressed his lips on Madeline''s forehead, leaving a tender kiss before he said, "I would never leave you alone."

    When he pulled away, tears appeared in her eyes, and he gave her a questioning look, "What''s the matter, my sweet rose?"

    Madeline smiled at him, "It''s been a long journey."

    Calhoun offered her a warm smile, "And there''s more ahead of us. Now that we have the demons and the angel''s out of our way, I think it''s finally the time to have for ourselves." With one snap of his fingers, her angelic robes turned to white feathers before they disappeared from the bed.

 Chapter 560 Bundle of joy

    <h4>560 Bundle of joy</h4>

    One of the High House headquarters had been built in the abandoned town that was now being brought back to life where people could start living there too. In the meeting room of the High House quarters, one of the men reported,

    "The viges in the East side have calmed down about the matter, but there has been quite somemotion going on in the North side. Both the West and North sides have opposite conditions with the different kinds who have tried to colonize and hurt the others," the man had knit his eyebrows in worries.

    "What about the magistrates in there? I thought we spoke to them in the meeting that had taken ce a few months ago," demanded Helena, who sat in the centre seat of the half-circle shaped table in the room. Her ever narrowed eyes hadn''t changed, and she stared at the man with a stern look.

    "A rogue werewolf killed the magistrate in the capital of the Northnd," informed the man.

    "Does Sebastian know about it?"

    The man nodded his head, lowering his head, "He found the ones who killed the magistrate and killed them."

    Helena leaned back, wondering what to do with the Warring King''s temper. "Daphne," she called the fellow High House member, "Get the carriage ready. Both you and I will be leaving tonight and see how things are in there. Good job on the reports, Hammon. At least the East and South has turned calmerpared to the first time the news about the existence of demons had broken to them."

    Looking at the pocket watch that she had kept open on the table, she said, "We''ll meet you in thend of Warrings, Hammon."

    "Yes, mdy," the man bowed his head. The High House members slowly started to step out of the room, and Helena picked up the parchments on the table. When one of them fell on the ground, she went to get it when?someone else picked it up for her.

    One nce at the hand and the ring that was on the person''s hand, a scowl appeared on Helena''s face.

    "What are you doing here?" Helena asked, frowning at dimir.

    "I came to the Hawthrone''s castle and thought I would make a visit to the beautifuldy," dimir offered a charming smile.

    Snatching the parchment away from dimir''s hand, Helena ignored him and started to make her way towards the door. When she stepped out of the room, she saw dimir standing outside the door, "Where are you going?"

    "To my grave," replied Helena, and dimir chuckled at her response.

    Helena looked at him from the corner of her eyes. After a few weeks of meeting this man for the second time, she had soon found out about who he really was. "I would love to apany you, but then I am already...dead?"

    Making her way down the stairs, she heard the footsteps that followed her, and she asked, "Don''t you have something more important to do than following me?"

    "My my, following you? I am only doing that now, but how can I deny your wish if that is what you truly want," dimir responded to her. He had the worst ways when it came to wooing a woman, thought Helena to herself and with him around, it was like a constant headache that kept appearing in front of her.

    Helena didn''t answer, and she made her way to the carriage that was waiting for her to get inside, and when she sat inside with the door of the carriage closing, she heard dimir''s voice,

    "You didn''t tell me where you are going," Helena looked slightly shocked, her eyes closed as if she was trying to calm her heart. He had appeared inside the carriage sitting next to her.

    "What do you want, dimir, so that you will leave me in peace?" Helena asked, tired of dodging him.

    "Invite me to dinner?" dimir tapped his finger against his leg, waiting for her answer.

    Helena replied, "I have nothing but rat poisons in the cupboard."

    "Then let me invite you for dinner. Of course not in Hell, but in the castle in the living world, Belmount?"

    It seemed like the Devil had taken an interest in her, and she wondered if she ate one meal with him, if he would let her live in peace without showing up in the High House. It was something that had been urring for months. To avoid him, she had also changed the location of the meeting, but dimir had found her.

    "One dinner," stated Helena, and dimir picked up Helena''s hand. Like a gentleman, he kissed the back of her hand.

    "Wonderful, I shall see youter," and within a blink of an eye, the Devil disappeared, leaving Helena alone in the carriage.

    dimir flew away from the town, making his way to the Hawthrone castle and heard a littlemotion. Though most of the servants continued with their work, on one side of the castle, in front of one of the rooms that had double doors that were closed, some of the maids stood outside, but they weren''t all who were there now. Mr. and Mrs. Harris stood out along with Elizabeth, Lucy, and Theodore.

    The Devil appeared in the long corridor, noticing the crowd formed in front of the room. His shoes clicked sharply against the floor. The maids who saw him quickly scattered away, resuming back to their work while some brave souls continued to stand there.

    "How are things going on, Elizabeth?" dimir questioned Beth, who left her parent''s side and had made her way to where dimir was.

    "The physician said it''s going fine so far. King Calhoun is in there," answered Beth. At the same time, one of the midwives appeared from the other side of the door and said, "We need some more hot water."

    Two maids quickly hurried away from the door to get the water, and the midwife disappeared behind the door again.

    They heard Madeline''s scream from behind the doors before they heard an infant''s cry. Inside the room, Madelineid on the bed with many pillows ced behind her for support. She was covered in sweat, and her breathingboured, feeling her body exhausted with her eyes that felt dizzy.

    Calhoun stroked Madeline''s head, "You did well, Maddie. He''s finally here," he whispered to her, his voice filled with love for her, and he kissed her head.

    With tired eyes, Madeline saw Calhoun leave her for a few seconds so that he could take their child from one of the midwives, who had finished wrapping the baby in a white cloth. Calhoun brought their child to her so that she could see and hold him.

    Her heart filled itself with joy by carrying the little one in her arms, "He''s so small," she murmured. Calhoun sat next to Madeline, putting his one arm around her, while the other supported her hand in holding their child.

    "Thank you. I couldn''t ask for anything more in this world than you and our child and future children," Calhoun thanked her for the gift only she could give him, and Madeline looked up at him with a tender smile on her lips.

    Not soonter, the room''s doors opened and in came the family members to see Calhoun and Madeline''s newborn baby. Mr. and Mrs. Harris were the first ones who couldn''t stop gushing looking at their first grandchild.

    "He''s beautiful, Maddie!" eximed her mother, who had already begun shedding happy tears as their children had grown up so quickly and that they had turned to grandparents. Beth was the next one to hold the baby, who was followed by Lucy who held the baby boy.

    "Look at those hands. My nephew," said Lucy as she gently rocked the baby gently in her arms. When she handed the baby to dimir, who seemed to be waiting for his turn after everyone so that he wouldn''t have to pass the baby to the next person immediately.

    Theodore who stood next to Lucy said something in her ears that had the vampiress'' eyes turn wide before she coughed.

    Holding the baby in his arms, dimir couldn''t help but remember the first time he had held Constance in his hand after he had turned to the dark side. "What a wonderful feeling to have my great-grandchild in my arms. I can tell he will grow just like his great-grandfather," he proudly announced. "Have you decided what to name him?"

    "Yes," answered Calhoun and dimir raised his eyebrows.

    "What is it?" asked the Devil.

    Calhoun answered, "We were thinking about the name Michael."

    "You are joking," dimir''s eyes narrowed, and Calhoun chuckled on seeing the Devil''s reaction. "You have terrible jokes to share."

    "We are still deciding," replied Calhoun.

    dimir reluctantly parted from the newborn baby, wondering if he should order Odin to shift his things from Belmont to the Hawthrone''s castle so that he could bond with his great-grandson. And the minute he stepped out of the room, he had gone back to Belmont, dering Odin that they were moving to the Hawthrone''s castle for a few weeks.

    With the new member''s arrival in the Hawthrone''s family, the news was announced to the towns and viges before celebration took ce in thend of Devon. People came to look at the royal baby while wishing Calhoun and Madeline for the happiness that was spreading in the castle and the whole Kingdom of Devon.

    The family members that Calhoun and Madeline had, stayed in the castle to spend more time and dot on the baby boy. Beth walked in the corridor, making her way to her room after providing her sister herpany, who now had fallen asleep, and Calhoun was with her.

    On her way, she noticed Lady Lucy speaking to one of the male guests who had arrived at the castle two hours ago. Beth bowed her head to offer her greetings.

    "Mr. Winkle, this is Lady Elizabeth Harris, Lady Madeline''s sister," Lady Lucy introduced her to Mr. Winkle, who was a handsome man wearing posh clothes.

    Mr. Winkle bowed his head, "It is a pleasure to acquaint with you, Lady Elizabeth."

    "The pleasure is all mine," Beth greeted back.

    Lady Lucy said, "Mr. Winkle is from Borris. He was recently appointed as one of the High House members, and he is here for the High House''s work." Lady Lucy was soon informed by a maid about her rtive Aunt Monique who had only arrived at the castle and she excused herself, leaving Beth and Mr. Winkle in the corridor.

    "Forgive me for my forwardness, mdy, but I have never seen someone as beautiful as you. I was wondering if you-" Mr. Winkle didn''t get to finish his words as Beth bowed her head and said,

    "Forgive me, but I have somewhere to go. It was good to meet you, Mr. Winkle," she offered him a polite smile before leaving from there.

    While Beth continued to walk, she walked past another person who seemed to be another guest, who wore high-ss clothes. Not paying attention to it, she reached the front of her room and away from the crowd that she once craved for. She walked inside her room.

    Unconsciously, her hand reached for the simple chain with a pendant enclosing a small blue flower. Her hand dropped, and she fished in her dress pocket to pull out the card from it.

    "I think you have something that is mine," came a voice at the door of her room.

    Beth''s head snapped around to look at the same person who she had walked past earlier, but in a haze to get to her room, she had failed to see the face. She felt her heart jump in her chest.

    He looked different but the same at the same time.

    "How are you here��?" She asked, confused. She had heard from Madeline that Raphael was an archangel and not a demon. The more she thought about it, the more sense it made on why Raphael''s behaviour was the way it was.

    Raphael made his way to where she stood, "We were granted permission to step into the living world. God is merciful and knows how important love is." His eyes then fell on the flower that was in the crystal-like pendant that she wore. "Paschar is on his way to meet Madeline and the child."

    "She''s resting at the moment," informed Beth, and Raphael nodded his head.

    "He''ll wait."

    When Beth was handing over the card, she noticed the in card of the fool was not in anymore as it had a picture of an angel with white wings. She softly gulped and turned her eyes away.

    "Are you here for a short visit?" she inquired before looking away.

    His appearance was nothing like the way he previously looked, and instead, it was the stark opposite. It was hard to keep eye contact with him because it had been months since she hadst seen him. Thest time she had seen him was when Calhoun had put him in the coffin.

    "Thest time I was here, I believe I had left things unfinished, and I decided toe back here," stated Raphael, and Beth looked back at him and saw him stretch his hand towards her. The smile on his lips was gentle, and Beth pursed her lips so that they wouldn''t tremble.

    Back in the castle''s royal room, Calhoun took care of the baby while Madeline tried to catch up with her sleep as their small one had kept her awake. He had arrived in the room right after she had fallen asleep, thanking Beth for staying here with Madeline before she left. He took care of the baby as well as Madeline, letting her know he was right there next to her. After a short nap, when Madeline woke up, she caught sight of Calhoun who tucked their baby in the cradle.

    "Sleep some more," advised Calhoun.

    Madeline hummed in response before a yawn escaped her lips and she sat up. She asked, "Did he just go to sleep?"

    "Yes," replied Calhoun, going to her side and pulling out the pillows to ce it behind her so that she could lean against them. He kissed the side of her temple, "I missed you."

    "I missed you too. When did you return?" she asked him.

    "Nearly an hour ago," Calhoun replied before taking a seat next to Madeline, and brushing the baby hairs from her face. Instead of using the pillows, she preferred to lean against him by putting her hands around his arm and hugging it, whilst she looked at their baby boy they had been blessed with.

    So much had changed, thought Madeline to herself. She was not only a wife, daughter and a sister, but also a mother now. Interlinking her fingers with his, she whispered,

    "Have I told you how much I love you?"

    "Tell me again," Calhoun replied in a low voice without wanting to wake up the baby and he turned to face her. He looked at the innocent brown eyes that peered up to look at him. He smiled, "I don''t think I will ever tire from hearing it."

    Madeline returned the smile, "I love you, Cal."

    "And I love you more every day, my sweet rose," Calhoun whispered back to her.

    .

 Chapter 561 The Bond

    <h4>561 The Bond</h4>

    In thend of Devon, rain poured down heavily from the sky, and the people who had been out a few minutes ago had disappeared either into their houses or had taken shelter under trees. But the leaves weren''t enough to hold back the water, and people were forced to run back to another ce. It turned the ground wet and muddy, water slipping down the slope like areas to create puddles on the ground.

    And in the rain, a young man walked, not bothered with the speed the rain fell and fell on him. His clothes had turned wet, and his shoes filled themselves with water. His dark hair stuck on his forehead and the sides of his temple. Water dripped down continuously, and his dark red eyes stared ahead of him without blinking his eyes.

    The vigers who had taken themselves to their homes and noticed a person walking in the rain couldn''t help but gossip with each other.

    "Isn''t he that whore''s son?"

    "It''s best we don''t talk about him or even look at him," said another man.

    "I wonder how he even walks in here as if it doesn''t happen," came another''s words.

    The first one who spoke asked, "Do you think she''s still avable for a-" he stopped talking right away when the young man turned his head in their person''s direction. "I am going to close my shop. My wife is waiting for me!" said the person hurriedly before closing the door of his shop.

    Calhoun didn''t care about thements that were passed by the idle vigers whom he didn''t know and cared to know about. With the heavy rain, the vigers who had spoken ill about him and his mother believed their words had gone on unheard by him, but he heard every word that passed through their mouths. For some reason,pared to the other vampires, he had a better hearing than the rest.

    The only reason he wasn''t plummeting his fists through the men''s faces was because of his mother.

    He made his way through the streets that tried to camouge him as if it was trying to save a life. Not Calhoun''s but the vigers so that they wouldn''t utter a word towards him. Because even though he looked tamed outside, internally, he was waiting for the right opportunity to drag each and every one of them to their graves.

    Reaching the end of the vige near the edge of the forest, Calhoun pushed the door of the house that was isted from the rest of them.

    "Mother, I am home," announced Calhoun.

    His eyes fell on the bed on which his motherid as she was sick. It seemed that she was sleeping asleep. The rainy weather was worsening his mother''s health. It had been days since she had caught a fever. He had hoped it was just another cold, but this one seemed to persist.

    Going to the kitchen, which was right in front of him, Calhoun looked for the logs of woods that seemed to have exhausted. With a few sticks still in the house, he broke them into pieces before putting them in the fire and heating the water. Pouring the water in the ss, he went to the room that his mother upied. The house they lived in was small with two rooms in it.

    Bending down, he ced his hand on his mother''s shoulder, gently trying to wake her up.

    "Mother?" Calhoun called, and his mother slowly woke up from her sleep.

    "Cal," his mother whispered because of theck of energy in her body. "You are back," she said, trying to get up, and Calhoun helped her sit up.

    He had tried to get three physicians so far so that they could take a look at her, but none of them knew what was wrong with her. Though he didn''t show it outwardly, he was worried about her. She was the only family he had.

    "Of course, I will be back," replied Calhoun with a smile on his face. "I brought you some medicines. The physician said he woulde to take a look at you, but for now, this should help in making you feel better."

    Calhoun helped her hold the ss, supporting it from the bottom and handing her the white tablet. He waited for her to swallow it, seeing her gulp water and then let out a tired sigh.

    Constance stared into her son''s eyes that were dark red. It seemed like her son had acquired it from her father and not Calhoun''s father. It was because Laurence''s eyes weren''t dark enough.

    When his mother started to cough, Calhoun patted his mother''s back to ease the uneasiness she felt. "I will make something hot for you to eat. You feel much better after it."

    His motherter ate porridge and got back to rest. She shivered as if she couldn''t handle the cold, and Calhoun pulled another nket that was his. He spread it on her while sitting next to her until she fell asleep.

    The next day, Calhoun had stepped out of the house as he needed to find a better job, but most importantly, something that was close by the house so that he could check on his mother. But with the nearby vigers who were not willing to offer him work, it was hard.

    While he was passing by one of the streets, Calhoun could hear someone getting thrashed. Following the sound, he came to stand in an alley to notice a person around his age being beaten by an older man.

    "How dare you?!" the man shouted before punching the younger man''s face, who didn''t bother to defend. "I will fucking kill you for sleeping with her!" threatened the man.

    Calhoun noticed it was one of the men who in the past hadmented on his mother. He had been noticing something for a few years, that there was something more than humans, vampires and weres in this world. It was because some of them had different appearances, like the two people who were in the alley right now.

    The older man continued to beat, and when the young man noticed someone standing in the alley watching them, the older man turned his head to see it was the whore''s son, Calhoun.

    "What do you think you are doing here? Trying to find customers?" asked the older man, but Calhoun didn''t react. Instead, he walked forward, and the older man red.

    "Are you?" Calhoun questioned back, stopping his feet from walking further.

    The man looked enraged, and he said, "I heard the whore has fallen sick. It would be good riddance to have her de-" before more words coulde out from the man, Calhoun had raised his hand and punched the man squarely at his jaw to have the older man fall on the ground.

    Calhoun looked at the man with cold eyes while the older man groaned in pain, not understanding how a person who was younger than him had been able to punch him hard. When he turned back, ready to walk, he heard the person who was being beaten tell,

    "You are strong," said the other person, who hadn''t stood up from where he had been sitting. He had pulled out his sses from his pocket that had broken. "I can tell you are like me. Thank you for your help."

    Calhoun stared at the person, "I didn''t do it for you."

    .

    Wee to volume 2 where will be going to the past, to unravel the story of Calhoun, along with Theodore and Lucy''s love story ^.^

 Chapter 562 Need for work- Part 1

    <h4>562 Need for work- Part 1</h4>

    Without sparing another word, he left the alley as if he wasn''t there.

    The older man continued to groan, not understanding how a young man''s punch could be this hurtful. He had fought with many people, but he hadn''t expected Calhoun''s punch to hold this much strength. When he spat the blood, a tooth fell on the ground along with the blood, and he cursed Calhoun.

    "The bastard! I will fucking kill him!"

    The younger man stood up, dusting his trousers before he wore the ss back on his face that had broken because of this shopkeeper who appeared to be in pain now. "Who is he?" asked the younger man.

    The shopkeeper red at the person with sses for even thinking he could speak to him after he had not only slept with his wife, but he had also gotten beaten by the wretched woman''s son!

    "As if you don''t know," spat the shopkeeper, "He''s the whore''s son, Calhoun. The whore who was kicked out from the castle by King Laurence. If I see you near my wife again, I will slit your throat!" he threatened.

    The young man chuckled as if mocking the shopkeeper, "Don''t worry, I don''t get into bed with an unwilling woman," and when he pushed the cracked ss frame up to the bridge of his nose, it automatically fixed itself, looking brand new again.

    Before the shopkeeper could get up and try to beat the young man again, the man who wore sses had already left the alley.

    The next few days, Calhoun continued to make rounds in the nearby viges, searching for jobs that would pay the expenses of the house, take care of the medicines and the physician''s fees. For some strange reason, the physicians had started to charge more, making it difficult to get them to see his mother''s condition.

    The pouring of the rain had reduced, and all Calhoun could hope was for his mother to get better like the weather. He made sure to sit next to her and take care of her, and even though he didn''t want to believe it, he knew his mother''s health was deteriorating. It was because she was losing weight, and her body was turning fragile.

    "I will be fine," said his mother, assuring not only him but also herself.

    "I know you will. You need to eat," advised Calhoun holding a bowl of porridge in his hand while sitting next to her bed. He had smashed the vegetables so that his mother wouldn''t have to put too much effort when it came to eating the food, but she had lost her appetite.

    When he brought his hand up to feed her, Constance ced her hand on her son''s hand, "I will eat it. Come sit here, Cal," she patted the space on the small bed by making room for him to sit.

    Herplexion had turned paler, and the colour that she had possessed a month ago on her face had reduced. Dark circles had appeared on her skin, and day by day, Calhoun noticed it turn darker and her cheeks hollower.

    "Where did you go and catch the fever?" questioned Calhoun, his eyes passive in expression as he rubbed his mother''s hand that had turned slightly cold. "I told you, you should stop working. I have grown up, and you don''t have to do it."

    A smile appeared on his mother''s lips, it was a faint one, and she sighed, "You did." After a few seconds of silence passed between them, she asked, "Does it bother you, the things I have done��"

    "I know you don''t do it because you enjoy it," came the frank answer from Calhoun, his answer direct, and he continued, "There is no need to do it anymore. We can move to another vige. Away from this ce, and start afresh. You just have to say the word."

    His mother looked up at him from where sheid, trying to read his expression, "It''s been a while since Ist saw you smile."

    On his mother''s words, one side of his lips pulled up, and he then smiled, "I will when you getpletely better, and when we move from here."

    His mother lowered her eyes, not to hide her gaze away from him, but because it strained her from looking up for long. "Forgive me for troubling you. It isn''t my intention to make you feel this way, but life has turned in such a way that it''s hard to retrace the steps I took in the past." Calhoun didn''t interrupt his mother because of the energy that her body took up when it came to speaking now. "I feel like I havee so far that I cannot see things. This is all I know and this is what life has turned into."

    "Did you send the letter to him?" asked Calhoun, and he heard his mother''s heart skip a beat. "I read the letter when it was on the table." It was a letter that was addressed to the King of Devon, Laurence Hawthrone.

    "I sent it some time ago," whispered Constance. Calhoun could sense her heart break as there had been no reply from the King, her eyes holding sorrow in them. He gritted his teeth, thinking about what the King had done to his mother. "The letter must have got lost."

    Calhoun didn''t respond to this, and he gently patted her head, "Your fever has reduced. All you need is more food in your body, and you will feel better."

    Constance smiled at her son''s words. The world where she had brought him in, it was cruel and unforgiving. She had hoped to give him a better life, but some things of the past were hard to get rid of. Things that she once cherished and had made her happy, the same things had turned painful.

    "How is it going with the hunt for work?" she asked, worrying to settle in her eyes. She was aware that Calhoun was not able to get any work here in the vige because of her. Her reputation and her past rtionship with the King of Devon, someone she had given her heart to, had cost her heavily. The royal family had not left her or her son alone, by giving the vigers orders to not help them.

    "I heard there''s an opening near the port. One of the men who works there said the main person is going to give me the work," replied Calhoun. He didn''t want to lie to her, but if it was a lie that kept his mother''s worry at bay without troubling her in her sick state, he didn''t mind telling the little white lie.

 Chapter 563 Need for work- Part 2

    <h4>563 Need for work- Part 2</h4>

    Calhoun smiled, "From what do I need saving?"

    His mother offered him a warm smile, "I can see the emptiness in your eyes. I worry about you, Cal." She knew the fights that Calhoun got himself into, and she had often tried to appease him, asking him to let it go.

    "You worry for nothing," responded Calhoun, holding her hand and helping her sit up on the bed again as she found it hard. "Time for your meal, mother." She ate the food that Calhoun had prepared before getting back into bed and fell asleep.

    Calhoun stepped out of the house, and he made his way to the next vige when he caught sight of the man in the sses who was speaking to a woman. The woman looked older than the man, and she stood way too close to the person. Though Calhoun didn''t converse with anyone in the vige, he knew every single person in the vige.

    For most of his life, Calhoun had grown up in this vige. Learning and understanding who he was and what the names people called him and his mother meant. When he was around eight, he had brought so many bodies back home for insulting his mother, that his mother had run out of ces to hide the body.

    It was hard to hide the bodies with everyone''s eyes on them, but they had done well so far. The worthless King had given his mother nothing but misery and pain that continued to haunt even her shadow. Calhoun didn''t want his mother to suffer more, and he did things that made her happy,plying with most of her wishes, while some of them were not known to her.

    As Calhoun continued to walk, he heard the footsteps that followed him, and he turned his head to his right side to notice it was the person he had met in the alley. Four eyes, thought Calhoun in his mind.

    Before the person could speak, Calhoun said, "You are going to get killed one day."

    The person smiled, "Why do you say that?"

    "The woman with whom you were speaking to right now, she''s Mr. Chapman''s wife. He''s the magistrate of the town Le Bone. Considering he''s in histe forties, and the woman is in her early twenties, here in this ce, I would say she''se here for a favour. It might not go down well because he''s like us," exined Calhoun as he continued to walk, and the person followed him, intrigued that Calhoun knew about the woman.

    "You seem to be a knowledgeable person. If you are warning me, I believe you already know my line of work," the young man smiled.

    "If you don''t want your line of work to disappear, it would be better if you don''t talk to me. Especially not where people can see," Calhoun warned, his voice nonchnt.

    The man chuckled, "If you ever need help with work, you can always join my work. There are always free spots."

    Calhoun''s feet finally came to a halt, and he stared at the person. The young man said, "I am Theodore. I am aware of your situation and thought you could earn some money."

    "Let me give you some advice, Theodore, in exchange for the help that none has offered me until now," said Calhoun, his dark red eyes staring at the person in front of him. "It would be best for you not to entertain Mr. Chapman''s wife unless you want to die. The shopkeeper in the alley is nothingpared to Mr. Chapman. He is a powerful man who has connections."

    Theodore gave out a pleasant smile at Calhoun''s words, "And I thought you didn''t have a heart...Thanks for your advice. You know how things like these pay you well, other jobs aren''t rich with gifts and gold coins." Compared to how Calhoun had dressed, Theodore was better dressed because of the money he had made by satisfying the women who craved forpany.

    "It is your life. Do what you please," came Calhoun''s uninterested tone in the conversation he was having.

    He was ready to walk away from there, when Theodore said, "I heard your mother is sick. What happened to her?"

    "I don''t know," replied Calhoun, his eyes slightly narrowed as the topic about his mother had been brought into the conversation. "No one knows."

    Theodore nodded his head, "I know a physician who might take a look at her," and he pulled out a folded note to pass it to Calhoun. "It might help. It''s a repayment for thest time."

    Calhoun found it hard to refuse, and gingerly he took the folded note from Theodore''s hand.

    "Is it true? That the King of Devon is your father?" asked Theodore, his eyes curiously looking at Calhoun. Lies and rumours often circted, and it was hard to decipher what the real truth was. Loose women liked to call themselves to be the King''s lovers while some imed themselves to be the King''s children which only turned out to be false.

    When Calhoun smiled, Theodore looked slightly taken aback by Calhoun''s expression that had changed smoothly. He was probably two or three years younger to him, he thought to himself. And even though there was a smile, Theodore could see the emptiness in those dark red eyes, that more than intrigued him.

 Chapter 564 Need for work- Part 3

    <h4>564 Need for work- Part 3</h4>

    Stepping outside the house, the physician said, "She doesn''t have a cold, nor does she have a raging fever. How long has it been since she has been like this?"

    "Weeks," replied Calhoun, "What do you think is wrong? The other physicians said it might be the flu, and the medicines they wrote, none of them worked."

    The physician pursed his lips, "Frankly, I am not able to ce my finger on what is wrong. I can give you the medicines, but for that, she would need to eat. I don''t think she has been eating well. If this continues, the medicines that she takes will only break her body down. If I may ask, she''s a human, and you are a vampire��"

    "She is my mother," Calhoun rified the physician''s doubt, "My father is a vampire." The person nodded his head, and it seemed that he had no clue about Calhoun''s origins.

    "There''s a well-renowned physician who goes by the name Atticus. Some of his medicines are said to do wonders. It is expensive because the man makes the medicines only for the royal family and some of the elite families. They cost more than two gold coins," exined the physician. "Forgive me for myck of knowledge."

    "I am grateful that you took the time toe here. It was more than I could ask," said Calhoun because the previous physicians who hade to look at his mother had spared no more than two minutes before writing the medication and leaving the house.

    "I pray to God that your mother gets better," and the physician bowed his head, and Calhoun returned the gesture, seeing the person walk away from there.

    When Calhoun returned inside the home, within the next ten minutes, he saw his mother coughing with her hand covering her mouth.

    "Mother?" Calhoun went to his mother''s side. Her body shook continuously as she coughed. Every cough wrecked her body a little more than it already had. He ced his hand on his mother''s back, gently rubbing it and said, "Let me heat the water. Maybe you can inhale the steam."

    But his mother shook her head while still lying on the bed. "Cal...Can you bring some logs of wood?" she requested with a feeble voice.

    "I have already stocked the logs in the back that should suffice for the next four days. Do you want me to light the firece?" He couldn''t see his mother''s face as she had her back facing him. He had altered the room, by building a firece that could keep his mother warm.

    Slowly the faint smell of blood started to diffuse in the room and Calhoun''s eyes narrowed. When she slowly turned around and pulled her hand away from her mouth, he caught sight of the blood she had spewed from her mouth.

    "That''s alright, mother. Let me help you in cleaning that," said Calhoun dutifully and he went to get a wet cloth before cleaning her hand and mouth.

    At the time of dusk, Calhoun sat on the chair, watching his mother sleep. The food his mother had eaten, she had thrown up as if her stomach was not letting her keep the food in her body. The only thing she could swallow was water. The time he had with his mother was slipping through his fingers, and he desperately wanted to fix it. Getting up from the chair, he went to his mother''s bed and slowly pulled the nket upward to tuck his mother. His eyes fell on the chain that she wore, and he pursed his lips.

    Leaving the house, he made his way to the ce where the man named Theodore was often found hanging around, which was in one of the Taverns.

    The Tavern was an open inn for people who wanted to drink and eat, filled with men inside. His eyes swept across the ce, but the man named Theodore was nowhere to be seen. Calhoun''s eyes then fell on the woman who was serving the food.

    Walking straight up to her, he demanded, "Do you know where I can find Theodore?"

    "Theodore?" the woman looked puzzled.

    "The one with the four eyes," said Calhoun and the woman quickly gave him a nod.

    "He hasn''te here sincest evening. I heard he was going to the town as he had work there-"

    "Le Bone?" questioned Calhoun, cutting their conversation short and the woman nodded her head.

    The woman stared at Calhoun, and offered him a coy smile, "Yes." When she saw him leave the Tavern, she muttered, "What a rude man, not even a thank you," and she went back to work.

    As Calhoun stepped out of the Tavern, he wondered if he should go and find Theodore or leave him be, because if Theodore''s luck was worse, there was no telling if he would live long. But at the same time, Calhoun was in need of work, and that work was something Theodore was well versed with.

    Reaching the town of Le Bone, Calhoun came to stand near the mansion that stood out from the rest of the buildings. It belonged to the wealthy magistrate Jasper Chapman. The man wasn''t a human or a vampire, but a demon. With Calhoun''s hands disappearing inside his pockets, he decided to wait outside. Pulling out the berries from his pocket, Calhoun threw one of it in his mouth. Minutes passed and a carriage finally arrived at the front and when the door of the carriage was pulled open, Mr. Chapman stepped down and went inside the mansion.

    But Calhoun didn''t move from his ce. With his back leaning against the tree, he continued to throw the berries in his mouth, chewing it slowly while waiting for themotion to take ce.

 Chapter 565 Whirlwind- Part 1

    <h4>565 Whirlwind- Part 1</h4>

    .

    A few minutes passed, before amotion was heard from the residence of Mr. Chapman. Calhoun picked up on Mrs. Chapman''s scream and Mr. Chapman shouting on top of his lungs. What a ssic, thought Calhoun to himself. The berries that were in his hand had disappeared as he had eaten all of them, and he looked at the walls of the mansion that stood cold from where he heard the screaming and shouting of the people who were inside.

    He gave it a minute, but just as he had expected, Theodore didn''t step out of the mansion.

    Calhoun was not a vampire, but he was a demon who was able to assess the other demons'' strength. Compared to Mr. Chapman, the man named Theodore was less powerful, which would only make it difficult for Theodore to break free from Mr. Chapman''s clutches tonight.

    Calhoun wanted to get the job so that he could buy medicine for his mother, and with that thought in mind, he exhaled the cold air through his lips.

    Making his way towards the mansion''s entrance, he didn''t bother to knock. He touched the knob of the door and heard the door unlock itself. Hearing the soundsing from the fighting ce, he continued to walk in that direction. One of the maids of the mansion caught sight of the stranger, and her eyes widened,

    "Who are you? Please sit in the drawing-room. Mr. Chapman is busy at the moment. Hello?" the maid tried to gain his attention.

    "I haven''te here to see Mr. Chapman," replied Calhoun, making his way towards the stairs and climbed up.

    When he reached the room from where themotion was taking ce,he noticed the door to be half-closed. Through the gap, he caught sight of a person''s hand on the ground. Someone was getting beaten up, and he didn''t have to guess who it was. Pushing the door open, he caught sight of Mrs. Chapman lying dead on the ground. On the other side, two demons had Theodore on his knees with his face covered in blood.

    With Calhoun''s entrance, the four men''s attention fell on him. The two demons who worked for Mr. Chapman pushed Theodore down, standing on his legs while having a knife over his neck so that he wouldn''t be able to move.

    "Never thought you''d being here," said Theodore with a smirk on his face.

    "You took longer than I expected and I need to get back. I wanted to ask you about the job," responded Calhoun, staring at Theodore, who seemed unaffected even after badly being beaten. He gave Calhoun the impression that he enjoyed getting into trouble.

    "Who the fuck are you?!" Mr. Chapman looked enraged, "Are you one more ythings of my wife?"

    Calhoun didn''t bother to answer Mr. Chapman''s question, ignoring him as if he didn''t exist, and he asked Theodore, "When do you think I can start?"

    Mr. Chapman didn''t order his two men to deal with Calhoun, but instead, decided to show the person his ce. Pulling out a knife that was made of silver, he went straight to attack Calhoun, swinging his hands and Calhoun dodged it.

    "How dare you two try to sleep with my wife!" Mr. Chapman demanded furiously, while misunderstanding Calhoun hade here to offer an indecent favour to his wife. He had gone out of town for some work and had told his wife he would return after two days, but he hadpleted the work sooner than expected. Returning home, he caught his wife red-handed in the bed with another man.

    Calhoun moved his hands to stop the magistrate''s attacks that were faster than the other people''s attack, who he had met back in the vige, who were sloppier.

    When the magistrate raised his leg, Calhoun caught hold of it and threw him against one of the furniture. This only angered the magistrate more, and he ordered his men by looking at Theodore, "Kill him!" At the same moment, Mr. Chapman held the dagger tightly in his hand, ready to stab Calhoun for his arm to only be twisted and pushed against the wall.

    Before one of the demons could slit Theodore''s neck, Theodore twisted his body, dodging the knife. He fought back the two demon servants who had earlier stood on his legs.

    Mr. Chapman pulled out another dagger, but Calhoun snatched it, using it to stab the man''s hand and pinning it to the wall, having Mr. Chapman scream in pain.

    "Did you kill her?" asked Calhoun in a bored tone, his eyes watching the demon who breathed heavily in anger. Mr. Chapman tried to free himself, but with Calhoun, who didn''t budge away from his spot, it was hard to do it.

    Within a blink of an eye, Calhoun took the other dagger and pushed it behind the man''s back.

    Mr. Chapman heard a thud on the floor as one of his men. The other person who had tried to go and help his master, Theodore caught the demon, and used the same knife that was previously held in front of his throat to drag it across the person''s neck and blood spluttered on the fancy carpet of the room.

    "W-why do you care?! She is my wife! I will do what I want with her! How dare she betray me-"

    "I am not interested in it," Calhoun deadpanned. "I don''t think it''s good to keep you alive because of the damage that can be caused in the future," he murmured to himself and the magistrate''s eyes widened.

    "No! No! Tell me what you want! I will give you anything! If you need money-Ah!" Mr. Chapman winced when Calhoun pulled out the dagger, rxing with the thought that Calhoun was going to negotiate with him.

    But Calhoun stabbed Mr.Chapman and the man yelled, "AH!"

    Calhoun had pushed the dagger right through the magistrate''s chest.

    Stepping back, he let the body fall on the ground, joining the other three dead bodies that were already lying there.

    Calhoun turned around and saw Theodore licking his hand that was covered in blood. He saw how Theodore was clearly capable of handling himself in the fight, yet it somewhere looked as if the man enjoyed the pain or was it the blood?

    Theodore offered Calhoun a polite smile.

    "Tomorrow morning,e near Huntingon tower bell. I will help you," said Theodore when Calhoun started to walk away, and Calhoun raised his hand as if in agreement.

    The next day Calhoun met up with Theodore, who had an eventful night as he had to move the bodies elsewhere so that the officials would not find out what or who had caused their murder. Thankfully, Le Bone''s town was far away from the viges where Theodore or Calhoun came from, making it easier to cover their tracks.

    "Where are we going?" questioned Calhoun as they walked.

    "To Madame Fraunces'' house. She''s the one who arranges the customers, and we get to fix the rates," replied Theodore.

 Chapter 566 Whirlwind- Part 2

    <h4>566 Whirlwind- Part 2</h4>

    "A silver coin, sometimes gold if the customers are satisfied," said Theodore as they continued to walk. "Even though the pay from the younger girls are good, it is easier to handle an older woman than the young ones. They get very clingy, and it''s hard to get rid of them because they are either mama or papa''s princess."

    When they reached the house, Theodore pushed the creaking gates, and they stepped inside the moderately sized house. A woman came into view who was on the more healthy side, and her curled blonde hair was up to the length of her shoulder, that was ced on either side of her shoulders.

    The woman was a vampiress, and she had a displeased look on her face. Looking at Theodore, she said, "You caused me quite some troublest night, Theodore. What is it that I hear from people? That there was a massacre in Chapman''s house? I thought our deal was clear that you wouldn''t involve yourself in any killing or deaths."

    Theodore bowed his head, "Good morning Madame Fraunces. It was an unfortunate night, Mr. Chapman killed his wife. And the rest was in self-defence."

    Madame Fraunces lips were set in a thin line, "I shouldn''t even let you in here. If the word is out, it won''t be just you who will be climbing up for execution. Any witness?"

    "All clean," Theodore again bowed his head. At the same time, Madame Fraunces'' eyes fell on the young man, who stood next to Theodore. "This is Calhoun. He''s the person I mentioned you about."

    Calhoun didn''t bow or greet the woman. The woman, after staring at him for a few seconds, Madame Frauncesmented,

    "You have a handsome face."

    "I know," answered Calhoun, and this had the woman smirked at the young man''s cheekiness.

    "Come inside," she said, turning back and stepping inside her house. Theodore followed her, and Calhoun was thest to get in. Inside the house, Calhoun noticed the woodwork on the dull looking wall. The house had another floor above where he stood that consisted of rooms.

    Madame Fraunces, who was walking at the front, said, "I don''t know if Theodore has mentioned it to you, but the work we do, we don''t speak about it to anyone. People who are involved like to keep it confidential and so do we." Walking towards the table, she picked up the teapot.

    "Don''t people get caught likest night?" questioned Calhoun.

    "Usually no, even if you do get caught with a married woman, you will be the one to take the responsibility. After all, you are the one making money, most of it at least," replied Madame Fraunces, "Of course, it is not ethical, but we all do things we have to do to survive. Don''t you agree?" she asked him.

    It was one thing killing the worthless people who lived in the vige, but it was entirely different when it came to killing a person like the magistrate, who was an influential figure in the town.

    "I have some people who work for me��best friends with the caretakers of the cemetery. Just because we aren''t part of the elite families doesn''t mean we cannot get help," Madame Fraunces picked up the teacup along with the saucer and offered it to Calhoun.

    "Anyways, you don''t have to worry about those things. Most of the women whoe to me are widows or women who don''t get attention from their partners. I would like to call the person as an escort. I have some of them alrea-"

    "I will pick the one that pays the highest," Calhoun said confidently.

    Madame Fraunces tapped her nail against the surface of the table.

    "Alright. Annabelle is the daughter of Mr. Martin Roper who belongs to an elite family. She''s been asking me, and I think you might be perfect for it. Make sure you don''t kill her," warned the woman, "Let me give you the details," she went to the cupboard and pulled out a drawer, returning with a folded note in her hand and cing it on the table. "You will be paid after finishing the job."

    Calhoun stepped out of Madame Fraunces house, leaving Theodore behind. He could finally feel things turning to the brighter side. No job in the vige could give him a silver coin even after two weeks.

    He returned home with less worries, but he was greeted with the smell of blood as his mother had thrown up blood again.

    That day, his mother barely spoke a few words, not because she didn''t want to, but because she didn''t have the energy for it.

    The first three times, spending time with Lady Annabelle had gone well, and the young girl, who was not more than eighteen, was smitten by Calhoun''s charm and presence, which was nothing but a pretence. On the fourth meet, the girl had turned clingy. Right now they were in Madame Fraunces'' home, making use of one of the spare rooms.

    "Stay! You don''t have to go back," said the girl, a coy smile on her lips and her hands on his arms so that he wouldn''t leave the room.

    "I have something to attend to, Annabelle," informed Calhoun.

    By her insistence, he had stayed for another five minutes, but he doubted he would be able to keep his patience. The time to spend with her was up, and Madame Fraunces had given him permission to terminate the contract at any time with the customer. She sat next to him on the bed with her dishevelled clothes along with her hair.

 Chapter 567 Whirlwind- Part 3

    <h4>567 Whirlwind- Part 3</h4>

    Annabelleughed, hearing his words, "What more important work do you have other than attending to me? Do you have other customers to please?" she asked with narrowed eyes. "I can pay you more than them."

    A small chuckle escaped Calhoun''s lips, "And when is that, mdy?"

    Though she was young, she was smart. Annabelle had arranged it in a way where Calhoun had to spend a month''s time with her, and she would pay him fifty gold coins at the end of the period.

    "In just a few days," she smiled, and before she could put her arms around his neck, he got up from the bed, making her stumble forward.

    Before Calhoun could reach the door, the girl quickly moved to the front of the door, blocking his way. "I am serious. Drop everything and stay here with me today. We are having such a good time. Why do you want to leave? I am not going to let you leave."

    Calhoun now understood what Theodore meant when he said how young girls were crazy. But then...he was crazier than them.

    Calhoun offered the youngdy a polite smile that didn''t reach his eyes. "I will see you tomorrow. There''s something important that needs my attention."

    "Is it another woman?" asked Annabel, stretching her hands on either side of the door while smiling at Calhoun, believing she could seduce him.

    "It is," replied Calhoun.

    "Stop seeing her. If you don''t, I will make you regret it. All I will have to do is inform my servants about it. They will make sure you never see her ever again. I have a better idea, let''s get married-" Calhoun started tough hearing this and Annabelle, who had been smiling until now, frowned. "I am serious. If I don''t have you-"

    "Or what?" the smile dropped from Calhoun''s lips. "The little girl who secretlyes to have pleasure."

    "Is that woman worth it? I will get her kille-"

    Annabelle couldn''t speak another word as Calhoun caught hold of her lower face, "Don''t test me. It would take less than a second to snap your pretty little neck." The girl gulped, feeling fear creep up in her eyes as Calhoun had never before spoken to her this harshly.

    Annabelle pushed Calhoun''s hand away from her face. She quickly made her clothes proper, dashing out of the room. When Calhoun was making his way down the stairs, he met Theodore who stood with a cigar in his hand, blowing the smoke up in the air.

    "You made the little girl cry," stated Theodore.

    "She is lucky I didn''t snap her neck," muttered Calhoun under his breath.

    Theodore smiled, finding it to be funny. "This Friday, there is a soiree that''s taking ce in Wilmot''s mansion. Do you want to go?"

    "I am busy," responded Calhoun, dismissing the idea of going to meet people he didn''t care about. He walked past Theodore when he heard the man say,

    Calhoun turned around, his eyes meeting Theodore''s eyes, "How did you get an invitation to attend there?"

    "Lady Christine was kind enough to invite me there," Theodore smiled, and Calhoun stared at him. "I don''t think she would mind yourpany. Unlike the little girl who ran away just now, she''s quite generous."

    "Why are you doing this?" questioned Calhoun. There was nothing he could offer this man, yet Theodore was helping him. He tilted his head to the side, "I don''t think you got the news, but I am not the prince." The few people who hade near Calhoun had always disappeared after realizing how the royal family wanted nothing to do with him.

    Theodore noticed the look of distrust in Calhoun''s eyes. Before the day of the fight that had taken ce in the alley, he hadn''t seen Calhoun or heard about him, which was quite strange considering how they lived around the same vicinity. After meeting Calhoun, Theodore did find more about who he was and about his mother who was currently sick.

    Coming from a poor background himself, he could somewhere rte to the ce where Calhoun came from.

    "I know that. I think the people around the vige and some other ces are aware about it," answered Theodore, leaning against the wall. "I thought you might be interested. If you don''t want it''s perfectly alright. I enjoy good food and wine."

    "I will take it," said Calhoun. The gears in his mind quickly started to move.

    When Calhoun left Madame Fraunces'' house, Theodore finished smoking the cigar that was in his hand and he went inside the kitchen to see Madame Fraunces in there. "For a moment I was worried that he would snap her neck," shemented while cutting the cucumber and cing them on the te.

    "I will be going. I need to collect the clothes from the tailor," informed Theodore.

    Picking up the coat from the stand, he wore it before heading out and into the market area of the town where shops were built and arranged in a more proper manner unlike the ones in the vige. He was only walking when a whirlwind came and hit straight behind his back.

    "I am so sorry!" It was a young girl''s voice that was sweet and calmpared to the busy street.

    Theodore turned around to catch sight of a girl who turned her head to look behind her. And when she turned back to look at him, he took note that it was a vampiress. She was dressed in clothes that were made of silk.

    When she was ready to step away from him like a rabbit that was going to make a run from being caught, he stepped right in front of her.

    "What?" she asked in a hurry, her eyes turned slightly wide. To his surprise, she asked, "Which side of the market do you think is good to hide?"

    Theodore noticed two guards who wereing from the opposite direction, and he could tell they were from the castle because of their clothes.

    "Do you know?" asked the girl impatiently, and he pointed his hand to the right. She quickly bowed her head. "Thank you!" and she darted from there.

    The two guards looked around for the princess who had disappeared from their sight, when they had entered the town.

 Chapter 568 Red line- Part 1

    <h4>568 Red line- Part 1</h4>

    .

    The young girl held the front part of her dress, making sure she wouldn''t trip and fall, quickly walking through the narrow alley, which was darkerpared to the ce she had just stepped out of. She could feel her heart pounding. Her red eyes carefully looked behind her, making sure she wasn''t being followed by the guards right now.

    Lucy Hawthrone was in her teens, a vampiress who was the only daughter of Laurence Hawthrone, king of Devon. She hade out of the castle in the carriage, wanting to get some fresh air, but she hadn''t been able to do it with the two guards who had followed her, drawing unnecessary attention to herself from the people.

    Now away from the crowd and standing in a deserted ce, she felt she could finally breathe. There was no one to hover over her, nor was there anyone to tattle what she did to her mother or grandmother.

    What Lucy didn''t realize was that when she had stepped into the alley, she had walked far enough that had led her away from the town''s market, and the ce was much shadier that she was not supposed to be at.

    "Are you lost, beautiful?" asked a person from behind her, and Lucy quickly snapped her head around and saw a man standing in the narrowed alley. The man wore tattered clothes, and his hair looked like he hadn''t washed it in a long time.

    Not having spent a lot of time alone by herself, especially outside the castle, her red eyes looked at the person with keen interest. People around Lucy were often well dressed in silk fabrics and were always in a presentable state.

    "Do you know which way from here leads to the outside part of the market?" asked Lucy, but at the same time, she heard something snap behind her. Turning her head, she caught sight of two more men standing on the other end.

    "Where do you want to go?" asked one of the men, "We can help you by taking you to your destination."

    Lucy could sense that she had gotten herself into trouble. She bowed her head, "That won''t be necessary. I think I changed my mind. I will go back to the market."

    She quickly started to walk, turning her head back to see the two men who stood in their ces, without moving from there and somewhere it worried her that the man she walked past would stop her, but when he didn''t, she let out a sigh of relief which was short-lived.

    "You look like youe from a wealthy family. How much do you think they would pay us if we kidnapped you?" asked the man she had passed by, and she soon came to see one more man, who blocked her way.

    Lucy smiled,ughing a little, "You have got it wrong. I am one of the maids who works in the castle. You have got the wrong person," she said, her feeting to a halt. She could sense the other three men at the back, making their way towards her, and her hand clenched the side of her dress.

    "My mistress likes to give me clothes when she is pleased with my service. I think it would be wise if you get her, rather than me who has nothing to offer," stated Lucy, her hand slipped into her dress pocket and clutching on to the dagger that was in there.

    "You are princess Lucy, aren''t you? The royal guards don''t follow anyone or anything in this part of the town," chuckled the bald man.

    Lucy quickly pulled out the dagger from her dress pocket that she often carried with herself. It was a gift from one of her rtives, and she treasured it. No one ever knew when or who woulde to attack her, and she carried it with her so that she could protect herself when she stepped out of the castle.

    "Don''te near me, or I will kill you," she threatened them, turning front and back with her hand raised and pointing the sharp dagger at them. They were humans, and she was a vampiress. She could handle them by using her vampire strength, thought the princess to herself.

    The men around her chuckled, "A weapon like a dagger doesn''t suit you, princess. You should throw it away unless you want to get hurt." The bald man was quick to catch hold of her hand that was idle, believing she was just an innocent flower in the wildness of the world.

    But Lucy surprised him by stabbing the man''s other hand that had tried to snatch the dagger, "Argh!" he groaned in pain, not expecting her to attack him. She quickly raised her leg to kick him, and it would have worked, but with the number ofyers that her dress consisted of, her leg barely made a hit as the dress cushioned the man from being hurt from her kick. She used the dagger again to stab his shoulder before pulling out the dagger. "Catch hold of her!" yelled the man in pain.

    Lucy had started to run through the narrow alley, trying to find her way back, and she finally realized how far she hade from the marketce. The people who were at the back suddenly appeared in front of her, making her stop her heels.

    How did they get there so quickly?! They were mere humans!

    "This is going to cost you, princess," said the bald man right behind her, and before she knew it, he snatched the dagger that she had in her hand and ced it against the front of her neck.

 Chapter 569 Red line- Part 2

    <h4>569 Red line- Part 2</h4>

    "You dare try to kill me. I will make sure the royal highness knows how it feels to have his daughter torn into little pieces," threatened the man, and Lucy couldn''t help but curse herself for her bad luck.

    "You were the one who started by telling you were going to kidnap me," Lucy muttered under her breath. "You think you will be left alive if you kill me? My father will kill you."

    Lucy had grown up with too much love and care, because of which she wasn''t aware of the danger that lurked outside the castle.

    Lucy''s hair was pulled back by the man, and she felt the slight pinch on her neck because the sharp edge of the knife had grazed against her soft skin.

    "She''s right. You should let her go," came a voice from above them.

    Lucy wondered if it was God who hade to help her. Her caretaker, Nana had always told her that God would always protect his children in one way or another. Though she was a vampire, Lucy was brought up by the human maid whom she called Nana. She had turned more humane than the other vampiresses and her family members.

    With the sun that had moved high in the sky, the men found it hard to see who had disturbed them.

    "Who is there! If you have the gutse down here," said one of the thugs who was in the front.

    "The royal guards aren''t far from here. You should let the princess go unless you aren''t keen on keeping your neck," said the man, and Lucy noticed a silhouette that stood on the roof of the nearby building. The person started to walk on the roof''s edge before he finally jumped down on the ground.

    "Are you from the royal castle?" asked one of the men.

    "Not by his clothes," said another one, looking up at the man who interrupted them, "Why don''t you move aside and let the elders do the job?"

    Lucy realized this was the same man she had crashed earlier in the market. Previously, in a hurry, she hadn''t looked at him clearly, but now as she was in a sticky situation unable to move, she finally looked at his face. His red eyes were hidden behind a pair of in sses. A polite smile settled on his lips that looked gentle and harmless. He was tall and his ck hair gently moved because of the wind.

    "I would have let it be, but��" Theodore drawled his words, making others wait on what he was going to say, before he said, "I don''t happen to be in the mood today. And it''s quite rude to hurt a girl."

    "Get him shorty!'' shouted the bald man, and the henchman attacked Theodore.

    Theodore caught the man''s arm and twisted it behind his back. These men only looked like humans, but they were demons in disguise, thought Theodore in his mind.

    Finding the opportunity, Lucy bit into the man''s arm and freed herself from his hold.

    Lucy backed away from the other men who tried to get to her. Before they could grab hold of her, the stranger who had interrupted the thugs n came in between her and them. She witnessed the stranger twist and pushed the men against the wall, reminding her of the time she had seen the maids wash clothes near the river. Lucy flinched hearing something crack, and she couldn''t help but believe that the sound came from the men''s bones.

    Within four minutes, the three men were on the ground lying dead, and Lucy looked more than impressed by her saviour, who had beaten the men.

    But there was still one more person left, the main one. The bald man came straight at Lucy, holding his knife in his hand. Before he could hurt her, Lucy used both her hands to stop him from hurting her. When another hand appeared, both the bald man and Lucy looked surprised because neither of them had a third hand.

    "This is not how you do it," said Theodore, who was the one to interrupt them. He helped Lucy by twisting the demon''s hand in a way where the knife now pointed at the bald man and not her.

    "I will give you half of the share!" the demon said through his gritted teeth. "We are one kind! Are you betraying us!"

    Hearing this, Lucy frowned, not understanding what it meant. Was he perhaps telling that the stranger was also involved in kidnapping her? But then this person wouldn''t be helping her��

    Theodore looked at Lucy, "Princess," and Lucy''s eyes snapped to look at him, "Let me show you how to attack when you are in this kind of situation."

    Theodore pulled the dagger out of the demon''s hand, pushing him against the wall and the demon''s eyes widened. Theodore held Lucy''s hand and he slit the demon''s throat. Lucy was the next one to widen her eyes.

    "W-what did you do?" Lucy whispered in shock.

    Her mouth was left hung open because even though she carried the dagger, she had never meant to kill anyone.

    Blood started to drip from the demon''s neck profusely, and Theodore had let go of the girl''s hand. Some drops of blood dripped down from the dagger that Lucy continued to hold, and she stepped back in horror. She had killed someone!

    While Lucy panicked, Theodore''s eyes fell on the princess, who looked as if she had seen a ghost. After the royal guards had moved in the opposite direction, Theodore had climbed up on the roofs of the buildings to have a better look, and he noticed the girl holding the dagger, her eyes fierce.

 Chapter 570 Red line- Part 3

    <h4>570 Red line- Part 3</h4>

    Theodore''s red eyes looked into the young girl''s eyes who stared back at him, her eyes were calmer than most of the people he had met. It made him wonder if it was how people from the royal family were. Away from troubles and pain, not knowing the darkness that was outside the beautiful castle.

    She looked innocent, her features soft. Girls like her wouldn''t be able to survive in his world because people with wolf-like nature would tear her, thought Theodore whilst she continued to wait for him to speak.

    "Hello?" Lucy called him as it seemed like he had zoned out. Realizing she hadn''t asked the person''s name, she was about to-

    "Princess Lucy!" came the gruff voice of the royal guards who quickly made their way to where she was.

    Theodore didn''t turn as it would only put him on the map by showing his face and getting himself to trouble. He said in a low voice, "If it is possible, don''t mention anything about me." Offering her a bow, he left the alley.

    Lucy stood there, surrounded by men whoid dead on the ground while she stared at the stranger''s back, who disappeared like a mist in the air.

    "Princess! Are you alright?" asked one of the guards, looking at Lucy, who had a dazed look on her face.

    "You are hurt!" said another, looking at Lucy''s neck that had a thin red line.

    Lucy finally snapped from her thoughts, and she touched her neck. Bringing her hand forward, she noticed the spots of blood on her fingers. "I am fine," she whispered.

    "Was it that man who hurt you? I will go and capture him!" said the guard immediately, who had seen a person standing in front of the princess. He took two steps, and Lucy raised her hand.

    "Leave him be. He had nothing to do with the fight," stated Lucy. She then looked down at the men on the ground, "These are the ones who tried to hurt me," pursing her lips, she said, "Do not mention what happened today to anyone," she looked at the two bulky guards from the royal castle.

    The guards looked surprised. They had been worried about the princess when she had gone missing as they were entrusted to protect and watch over her. But with this mishap and her neck that had the clear red line, they were sure that they wouldn''t have their heads on their body anymore for losing sight of the princess.

    Seeing the guards blink at her in puzzlement, Lucy ordered, "You shall not speak a word about what happened in here." While Lucy said it only because she didn''t want her family toe to know, but the guards mistook her words, believing Lucy was saving their lives. "Did you hear me?"

    "Yes, mdy!" the guards immediately obliged to her words.

    Sitting in the carriage, Lucy couldn''t help but wonder about who the man was, who had helped her. He hadn''t asked her for any favour and instead asked her not to mention him. She couldn''t help but think how selfless he was. Though Lucy was not scared, she was still thankful for his help.

    Lucy leaned her head against the side of the carriage, while she looked outside the carriage. She had been happy when she had stepped out of the castle, but when the gates of the castle came into view, she couldn''t help but worry. Quickly pulling the white handkerchief from her other pocket, Lucy brought it to her mouth, wetting it and she dabbed it against the red line on her neck. She could only hope that her family wouldn''t notice the red mark, and that she would get the opportunity to change herself into a high cored dress.

    When the carriage came to a halt in front of the castle, the door was opened by the guard, who had apanied her, and she stepped down. Climbing the flight of stairs of the castle, she made her way through the long hall. The guard left her side, and her personal maid, Amice, came to stand next to her.

    "Mdy," Amice bowed her head, who was of the same age as the princess. The maid whispered, "Queen Morganna was asking for you, and she didn''t seem happy that you stepped out of the castle."

    "Where is she?" asked Lucy as they walked through the corridor.

    "Right now in the court room. She''s been there for nearly half an hour. I thought you were going to return sooner," Amice had a worried look on her face, and she coughed when another servant came to walk past from the opposite side.

    Lucy knew if there was someone she could rely on in this castle, she could count on Amice and Nana when it came to getting some air outside the castle.

    When her maid looked at the front, she coughed. Lucy looked ahead of her and saw it was her aunt Rosamunding from the opposite direction. Lucy smiled at her aunt, but at the same time she whispered to her maid,

    "Get my clothes ready in the room. The one with the high cor."

    Her aunt watched her maid leave before offering Lucy a full-blown smile.

    "Good afternoon, Lucy, dear. Did you go out?" came Aunt Rosamund''s question.

    Lucy smiled, "Yes, for a small ride in the carriage."

    "Hm," responded her aunt, and the woman''s eyes fell on Lucy''s pale neck that held the red mark. Lucy turned tense, worried that her aunt would question about her day.

    To shift the subject, Lucy asked, "Did Sophiee with you?"

    Rosamund''s sharp eyes moved from Lucy''s neck to look into the young girl''s eyes, "She''s still learning etiquettes from the governess. I wished she would learn something from you than waste her time."

    "I think she''s doing great so far, Aunt Rosamund," Lucy spoke well about her cousin.

    Her aunt smiled, "Sophie is very grateful to have a supportive sister like you. Hopefully, she will get better. Sometimes she truly worries me." And before they knew it, Lucy heard peopleing out from the court room as it looked like her father and grandmother had finished the meeting with the people. "Come, let us meet your grandmother. Since I arrived, she''s been too upied with the court work."

    "I feel like I have turned sweaty because of the heat outside. Let me go and change into another dress," said Lucy, ready to bolt from there, but Rosamund had other ns. Her niece had been acting stranger than usual, and it made her question what her niece was up to.

    Rosamund ced her hand on her niece''s arm, "I don''t n to stay long, I would be sad to not be able to spend enough time with my beautiful niece. Come."

 Chapter 571 Teachings of the castle- Part 1

    <h4>571 Teachings of the castle- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Oh no, thought Lucy to herself...

    She loved her aunt, but there were times when she had often got into trouble for not telling her mother or her grandmother beforehand. Her feet didn''t move from where they were, but when her aunt ced her hand on her back, Lucy could feel the tension rise in her body.

    She had asked her maid Amice to get her dress ready for her to wear so that her grandmother would not see the red line that the knife had caused against her neck. That was at least her n, but she hadn''t expected to meet her aunt on her way to the room.

    "You appear to be so reluctant to spend your time with me, dear," said Rosamund, a frown appeared on her forehead, "Did I perhaps do something that you didn''t like? I must have upset you in some way," said the woman, passing a worried look at Lucy who shook her head.

    "Of course not, Aunt Rosamund. I would never be upset with any of you," Lucy uttered those words out of nervousness. "I just feel like I am not in my best presentable state. It would be rude to show myself in front of Queen Morganna in this state."

    "She''s your grandmother. I doubt she would take it personally," Aunt Rosamund''s hand didn''t let go of her back, and they started to walk towards the royal court room. Even though Rosamund said it, she internally smiled, foreseeing what was going to take ce soon.

    Everyone addressed the King''s mother by her name and not by their rtionships with the woman. It was never grandmother to Lucy, but always Queen Morganna. The reason was that Morganna didn''t want to pass the power of control to her son or her daughter-inw''s hands. She enjoyed her position of ruling the kingdom and holding the authority to rule Devon by cing her son in the front and using him to control thend.

    When Lucy and Rosamund arrived at the royal court room entrance, most of the ministers and the concerned people who hade to attend and take part in the affairs concerning the public interest slowly left the room, except for a few of them who were stayed behind.

    Lucy caught sight of her grandmother who sat on the left side of her father''s throne, where her father sat. And on the right side, the seat had been left empty. It was because her mother rarely attended the court proceedings and left most of it to her father and her grandmother.

    "Rosamund," King Laurence greeted his sister.

    "My King," Rosamund deeply bowed her head and then bowed at Queen Morganna, "My Queen. Long live the reign of the King and the Queen mother," said Rosamund before she lifted her head.

    Lucy wondered if it was okay to leave the royal court room as, right now, everyone''s eyes were on her aunt.

    "What brings you here, Rosa?" Queen Morganna questioned her daughter. She didn''t bother to step down from herfortable seat to greet her daughter.

    Queen Morganna''s blonde hair had beenbed back and tied up with pins while leaving the ends of her hair to rest on one side of her shoulder. Her slightly plump body was covered in a pastel green coloured rich silk dress specially ordered and made from anothernd. Her red eyes stared at her daughter. The mother Queen looked somewhere pleased, yet notpletely happy as she had already heard about this formal soiree by someone else''s mouth.

    "I wish I could, but there are other pressing matters that need to be attended in the castle. I am sure Samara and Lucy would love to join you there. Maybe that way, we can find a good suitor for our dear child Lucy," responded Queen Morganna, "Though I must say, I would have been more pleased if you had informed me first than keeping it until the end, Rosa. Unless you forgot to invite us," the woman smiled, and the sides of her eyes creased to show her age.

    The smile on Rosamund''s face faltered, but she tried not to change her expression. "I wanted to surprise you. Forgive me that you heard it from someone else."

    Queen Morganna''s eyes moved to look at her granddaughter, who stood behind her daughter.

    "Where have you been since morning, Lucy? You weren''t there in your room," stated Queen Morganna, waiting for Lucy''s answer, and her eyes then narrowed, "Where have your manners gone?"

    Realizing her folly, Lucy quickly bowed her head to offer her grandmother and her father her greetings.

    "Good morning Queen Morganna. Good morning father," greeted Lucy with her head bowed while staring at the marble floor.

    "It seems like day by day, people''s manners in the castle keep disappearing. Laurence, what happened to the senior governess who was supposed to teach the etiquettes to Lucy?" questioned Queen Morganna.

    Lucy felt her cheeks turn red for the mistake she had caused in front of everyone in the room. She had always been careful when it came to following the etiquettes of the royal family, but she had been so consumed with worry that she hadn''t realized that she had forgotten to greet them.

    Her father turned to her grandmother, "The governess who was assigned to teach Lucy cannot visit as she broke her leg and she will be unable to arrive at the castle for at least the next two months. Arthur is searching for another governess who can fill the position.."

    "That''s a pity," Queen Morganna clicked her tongue in distaste without looking away from Lucy. Lucy shifted her weight from one leg to another that others failed to notice because of theyers her dress consisted of. "First, it was Sophie who finds it hard to follow our words, and now it seems like Lucy is following in her footsteps. The girls are barely learning anything. Where did you go, Lucy? Your mother had no idea about where you went, and I had to ask the lowly maid to know about my granddaughter''s whereabouts. Hm?"

    Lucy softly gulped, and she responded, "For a change...I thought to have some fresh air outside the castle."

    "Why?" questioned Queen Morganna, "Has the amount of air lessened in the castle or has it turned stale? Are you living in a closed matchbox space that you cannot get enough air in here? Your great grandfather built this castle that is filled with everything you need. If he was alive, he would be greatly disappointed to know that his great-granddaughter finds it insufficient."

    Lucy quickly shook her head, "Not at all, Queen Morganna. I was only looking for some-"

    "That''s enough, dear," her grandmother cut short her words. "It seems like your legs have been trying to walk faster than it is required for the girls of the royal family."

 Chapter 572 Teachings of the castle- Part 2

    <h4>572 Teachings of the castle- Part 2</h4>

    Queen Morganna stood up from her throne and walked to where Lucy stood.

    "What happened to your neck?" questioned Queen Morganna with narrowed eyes.

    A sweat trickled down from Lucy''s back, "My neck?" she tried to act innocent as if she didn''t know, and she saw her grandmother raising her hand making her flinch for a second. The woman swiped Lucy''s neck with her finger, bringing her hand back in front of her face, and looked down at the drop of blood.

    Lucy''s eyes widened. She thought she had cleaned her neck properly to remove any spots of the blood, but somehow it seemed like it hadn''t healed.

    Queen Morganna''s eyes narrowed at Lucy, and before anyone knew it, a sharp sound of the p was heard in the courtroom. Lucy felt the burn on her cheek, her face turnedpletely hot and red, her lips trembled.

    "How many times do I need to tell you not to go outside the castle, but you never listen. Unnecessarily getting yourself into trouble," Queen Morganna stared at Lucy. "Do you know the consequences your actions can put us through?"

    She would have asked, but she would be refused before she would get half of the sentence out of her mouth, thought Lucy to herself.

    Lucy didn''t raise her eyes and continued to look down at the floor, unable to meet her grandmother''s eyes. King Laurence, her father didn''t move from his ce and instead had a grim look on his face. While Rosamund, who stood near Lucy, couldn''t help but faintly smile over this. All these years, Rosamund had tried to be her mother''s favourite, patiently waiting for her mother to favour her and her family, instead of her brother Laurence''s family.

    Rosamund wanted her family to rule Devon, and so far, her ns were going well. With the King''s wife, who was unable to bear a child after Lucy as the woman went through multiple miscarriages. It was only a matter of time, until the throne would be passed to her son Markus, thought Rosamund to herself.

    "People can misuse things so easily," Queen Morganna reprimanded her granddaughter in a stern voice, "If people?found out that the King''s daughter is roaming outside the castle all by herself, they can use it against us by using you."

    "My apologies for not thinking about it," whispered Lucy, not moving an inch from where she stood. She could feel tears starting to brim up her eyes, but she didn''t let a single drop of it fall from her eyes.

    Her grandmother had always been strict with everyone who was in and around the castle, and the only person who could rarely defy her grandmother was her father. What her grandmother said was the iron rule to be followed, and when a person didn''t follow, they often met the end of their life or disappeared never to be seen again.

    While returning back Lucy had a feeling she was going to get into trouble today, and she didn''t know if her grandmother had found out about what happened to her near the town''s marketce. There was no way for her grandmother to know because she had made the guards promise her that neither of them would tell anybody about it. She had stepped out because at times the atmosphere in the castle felt heavy and suffocating. But at the same time, she was curious about the outside world, and also it wasn''t like she had gone all alone.

    "Lucy?" came her mother''s voice, and she sat up. "What happened to your face?" asked her mother.

    Her mother''s maid, who stood behind her mother, said, "Queen Morganna was unhappy about Lady Lucy''s disappearance from the castle."

    "Why would you do that, Lucy?" her mother looked at her in horror as if she made a grave mistake.

    "I needed some fresh air," said Lucy, stepping out of the bed and picking up the dress to wear it.

    "What do you mean by fresh air? Do you know how dangerous the world outside is?! What would you do if someone kidnapped you or raped you!" her mother demanded. "You know nothing that happens outside-"

    "I would?have known if you told me or if I stepped out often. I cannot live like this inside the walls of the castle-"

    "Lucy!" her mother yelled. "You are a princess, or have you forgotten about it? It must be because of those two maids who are filling your head with worthless things. It is only right to remove them and appoint two new maids."

    "No! This has nothing to do with them!" Lucy could feel the happiness slip through her fingers, not that she ever had it before. It was the sad life of a princess whose life was kept only to use as a pawn and to benefit others.

    "Then learn to behave like a well mannered princess unless you don''t want them working in the castle anymore," stated her mother.

    Lucy frowned, "You are threatening me��"

    Lucy''s mother, Samara, rolled her eyes over her daughter''s stubborn words, "I am teaching you what is right and wrong."

    "By curbing my freedom," replied Lucy and her mother shook her head.

    "You have everything in this world, Lucy. Delicious food to eat, unlimited wealth that can buy you anything, a roof over your head that will never leave your side. Maids who stand at every beck and call of your word, yet you answer to me like you are not happy with it," scolded her mother in disbelief. When Lucy picked up the dress in her hand, her mother ordered her maid, "rence, help her with the clothes."

    "I can do it myself," said Lucy, and her mother red in anger.

    "Don''t forget, I am your mother, Lucy. You either listen to the elders, or I will tell your father how you have been misbehaving, and have you locked in this room. And who knows where you have been earlier before stepping back into the castle," saying this, her mother looked at the maid, and the maid bowed her head.

    Lucy huffed for air, and she raised her hand for the maid to help her to remove her clothes. Like her mother said, Lucy was a princess who had everything. There was barely anything she had to do herself. The maids helped her bathe and wear her clothes,bing her hair and putting her to bed. At least they didn''t force her to eat, thought Lucy to herself, but then who knew when her parents or grandmother would order the maid to feed her. A wry smile appeared on her lips.

    "What are you smiling about?" questioned her mother.

    This time it was Lucy who shook her head, "If I smile people question it, if I don''t smile people question it too. What am I supposed to do?"

    "Don''t try to be smart with me," her mother narrowed her eyes. "Don''t step out of the castle again, Lucy. Not unless you are going with me, or with your father or any of us rtives. Do you understand my words?"

    "Yes, mother," answered Lucy, and by seeing her mother''s expression on her face, she could tell that her mother didn''t believe her words.

    "I cannot believe that both the girls of the royal family are spoilt, doing whatever they want. Here it is you, and there it is, Sophie," muttered her mother under her breath.

    Lucy remembered her cousin Sophie who had received more ps from her grandmother. Due to this, her aunt had stopped bringing her cousin over to the castle, making up the reason that her daughter Sophie was busy in her studies.

    Once Lucy waspletely dressed, her mother came near her, kissing her cheek and said, "Why do you defy my word? You know I tell it for your own good. I don''t want my child getting pped from the mother queen," her mother caressed her cheeks. "Now be good, okay."

    Lucy only nodded her head, and saw her mother leave the room along with her maid.

 Chapter 573 Teachings of the castle- Part 3

    <h4>573 Teachings of the castle- Part 3</h4>

    The maid was fairly plump in appearance and an inch shorter than Lucy in height, and the young vampiress didn''t cross more than five feet three inches.

    "Mdy," Ruby bowed her head. When her eyes fell on Lucy''s cheek, she quickly came to the vampiress'' side. "Are you alright?" the woman noticed the four lines that had been imprinted on Lucy''s cheek.

    Lucy''s eyes softened considerably on meeting Ruby''s eyes. Ruby looked after Lucy as her own daughter and maybe more than her mother ever paid attention to her. "I am okay. It''s just a simple p," replied Lucy, not taking her grandmother''s action nor her mother''s words to her heart.

    Ruby''s eyebrows knitted together, "I am sorry I wasn''t there to greet you in the halls earlier. I would have done something."

    Lucy smiled at the woman''s concern, an emotion that she had always wanted from her mother, but she had never received it. "I don''t think either of us would have been able to deflect what was going to happen today."

    The woman stared at the skin that had turned red and said, "It''s swollen and is going to leave a mark on your pretty skin. Sit down, mdy. Let me get a wet cloth to reduce the pain."

    "Wait!" Lucy stopped Nana, and she went to the door, peeking her head and looking left and right before locking the doors.

    She didn''t want any maids to be eavesdropping on her or Nana''s words. Because in the past, there had been times where some of her words had reached her grandmother, whoter reprimanded her in a way where Lucy wasn''t allowed to bring up that subject again.

    But it wasn''t just Lucy who was punished. If any time Lucy disappointed her grandmother, the maids got into trouble because of her. Many times, the maids were deprived of food or sleep as punishment for being a bad influence on the princess.

    "Now I think it''s fine," said Lucy with a bright smile before going to bed and sitting on the edge of it.

    "You made us worried in the morning, mdy. Thankfully Amice knew you were out with the two guards," said Ruby with a look of concern on her face, "The Queen got busy with some matters, therefore we were fortunate to not be questioned right away."

    Ruby dipped the cloth in the cold water and brought it to where Lucy was sitting.

    "Sit down," Lucy patted her hand on the space next to her. "I even locked the door to make sure no one would intrude or see what we are doing," her mood was back to normal, forgetting that she had been scolded by her grandmother.

    "You always tell that, but you know I would never look at you as a maid," said Lucy whilst Ruby brought the wet cloth to ce it against Lucy''s cheek that soothed the burn.

    "That is what worries me. It is not right for the princess to tell a maid like me to sit next to her," replied Ruby, her hands gently dabbed the wet cloth of Lucy''s cheek, and Lucy sighed. "Why do you go against the mother Queen''s words? It always ends up with you getting punished. Are you not worried about receiving punishments, mdy?"

    If there was a maid who could speak out the thoughts to Lucy, it was Ruby. But even that had restrictions as they couldn''t speak like this infront of the others. It would only result in Ruby losing her head.

    "I do listen to everything, grandma says. I just felt like going out today," Lucy pursed her lips.

    "Did you at least enjoy your time outside?" asked Ruby, her brown eyes shifted to look at the young vampiress who raised her eyebrows.

    "I did at least until I got caught in the alleys. You won''t believe what happened today!" gushed Lucy. She exined what had happened in the alley, from the beginning to the end in a whisper and the elderly woman listened to the story with her eyes wide in horror.

    "No wonder the Queen doesn''t want you stepping outside the castle. It''s never safe, and you never know what might happen. I hope God bless the man who came to save you today. It would be best if you are careful, mdy," responded Ruby after hearing what Lucy said.

    Lucy smiled, "For a moment, I thought it was God who hade to help me," but then it was because the stranger was standing on the roof of the building.

    "God must have sent him to help you," whispered Ruby to her, and Lucy nodded her head.

    "Maybe he did."

    Lucy couldn''t help but remember the man who had appeared in front of her out of nowhere and saved her from the thugs. More than the damage the thugs in the alley had caused her, it was her grandmother who had caused her more damage by pping her hard on the cheek, that was now going to leave a bruise on her face for a few hours.

    Lucy and the stranger hadn''t exchanged a word, nor had the stranger bothered to ask her for a favour in return for his help. Lucy remembered how the stranger had moved, when he was dealing with the thugs, so quickly that she felt if she were a human, she would have missed his movements.

    "There," said Ruby, dropping her hand back to her side, "This should reduce the swelling at least a little bit." The woman started to move away from the bed when she heard Lucy whisper to her,

    "Do you think God will forgive me? For killing that person?"

    Lucy had never hurt a thing in her life. Remembering the de that she held and that slit the man''s throat, the scene reyed in her mind. Death wasn''t new to her but seeing it that close had shaken her.

    Ruby offered Lucy a warm smile, and she said, "God will always forgive you, my child. He knows you have a good heart."

 Chapter 574 Void- Part 1

    <h4>574 Void- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Calhoun wore clothes lent by Theodore, and he made his way to Lady Christine Rous, who was apparently not a young woman but a widow who had lost her husband eleven years ago.

    "Theodore said he was going to send someone in his ce, but never would I have thought that it would be a person who is younger than him," said the woman. Her hair had turned grey, and her skin shrivelled.

    Calhoun bowed his head in greeting, "Good afternoon, Lady Christine. Even I didn''t expect to meet a beautiful woman like you today."

    The womanughed, "You are good with words, young man. Come let''s get into the carriage else we would bete," said the woman, and with the assistance of Calhoun as well as the coachman''s help, she got inside first, and Calhoun followed her before the carriage''s door was shut close. "What is your name?" she questioned him.

    "Calhoun, mdy," replied Calhoun.

    "Theodore said I should call you Theodore, and it makes me wonder if you children are up to some mischief. He''s a sneaky fellow," the womanughed again. "But a fairly decent man. I didn''t even know there was someone who joined Madame Fraunces'' work," she said, looking at him. "By your face and words, you will go ahead in the line of work."

    "I don''t n to continue working for her. It is just for a month," answered Calhoun, gaining the elderly woman''s attention.

    "Why not? You don''t like it?" asked the woman, "A few years ago, I didn''t even know work like this existed. But I suppose one would find it hard to view a job like this without judging it. I believe it is hard. Is this your first time attending a soiree?" she was more chatty than Calhoun had expected.

    Not answering her previous questions, he nodded his head.

    "I see," hummed thedy, "I wouldn''t have gone, but myte and handsome husband, he was acquainted with Mr. Wilmot. With work, of course, else, why would us humans be invited to a vampire''s mansion. Theodore said you were interested in attending it, also that I would enjoy yourpany."

    Calhoun still didn''t understand why Theodore was helping him. All his life until now, he wasn''t used to people helping him. People had done nothing but deny it.

    "How long has he been working for you?" asked Calhoun, and the woman gave a deep thought about it.

    "It must be four years," she answered, "Time flies so fast. At first, I had refused the idea, but I kept him aroundter. I got him to clean things in my house when my maid wasn''t there. Surprisingly he''s very efficient."

    Entering the mansion, Calhoun took note of how big the mansion was, and it looked nothing less to a castle. His eyes shrewdly followed the servants as well as the guests who had arrived to have lunch with the Wilmot''s, the King''s sister''s house.

    "Lady Christine," a young girl made her way to where they were, exchanging kisses in the air on either side of their cheeks before she pulled back and said, "I was hoping you woulde. It''s been long since Ist saw you. Where have you been hiding?"

    "In my mansion, of course, you would have found me if you came to visit me," Lady Christine smiled back at the girl, "But I guess your coachman had forgotten the address." The smile that the girl had stered on her face faltered.

    "Of course not. I would never. Excuse me," she said, and left their side.

    "That was very quick," muttered Calhoun under his breath. "Who was she?" he asked, as the girl turned around and gave them a look before going near a woman and whispering something in the person''s ear. The woman turned around in their direction and waved her hand at Lady Christine.

    Lady Christine smiled and then looked away in another direction, "Someone my husband once knew, you could tell, the woman was my husband''s mistress."

    "You seem to get along fairly well with them," replied Calhoun, and the womanughed.

    "Theodore was right. I am enjoying yourpany,e, let us get a drink," said the woman, dragging him towards a table.

    While Lady Christine had pulled him to have some drinks, Calhoun''s eyes keenly looked at the guests and the environment that he had never experienced before. He didn''te here to enjoy the food or the drinks. He had onlye here to meet the King''s sister.

    "Lady Rosamund!"

    He heard someone greet thedy of the mansion, and his eyes shifted from one side of the room to another, noticing a woman who stepped into the room with a smile that was spread across her lips. His blood boiled just by looking at the vampiress, who was right now the centre of the attention in the room. Here were people who were enjoying their life in bliss, while there was his mother back in the house, all alone by herself, battling for her life.

    "You look beautiful, Lady Rosamund. Thank you for inviting us today," thanked the man, who stood next to his wife.

    "Lady Rosamund is always generous when ites to inviting all of us. We are grateful for your generosity, mdy," said another person who was in the room. It was quite clear that the people who surrounded her were just like the woman trying to tter each other.

    Rosamund smiled, "Please, this is the least I can do."

    There had been many times in the past where Calhoun had tried to get more information from his mother on what happened to her when she was living in the Hawthrone''s castle, but his mother had always brushed it away like it was nothing. The only thing he knew was that the Hawthrone''s family had kicked his mother out of the castle, ordering her never to return again.

    "That''s Lady Rosamund Wilmot," Lady Christine whispered to Calhoun while they stood at the back with their back close to the walls. "The King''s very own sister. The people very much love her. The boy you see there," and Calhoun''s eyes fell on a young boy who looked two to three years younger to him. "That''s her son, and next to him is her daughter, Sophie. A small thing but often gets into trouble. I heard it was only a month ago that little Sophie threw water on Queen Morganna''s face. Needn''t be told, the day didn''t go well."

    Christine was more than happy to inform Calhoun, letting him know who was in the room, but Calhoun''s eyes were glued on Lady Rosamund.

    Not soon after Rosamund had made rounds in the room, interacting with her guests, she came to where Calhoun and Lady Christine were.

    "Lady Christine, how have you been? We have been missing you in the soirees," said Lady Rosamund as if she was upset, "You should not miss the future ones."

    Lady Christine bowed her head, "I could never refuse your request, Lady Rosamund. It is just that my bones have turned weak, and it''s hard to get out of bed these days."

    "Let me know if you need a physician to look after you. I would be more than pleased to help you with it," offered Lady Rosamund, and it made Calhoun question himself if people''s words were true. Had he perhaps misunderstood things? Maybe it was the King who had thrown his mother out, and not this person, thought Calhoun to himself.

    "And who is this young man whom you have brought here?" questioned Lady Rosamund, looking at the person who stood next to Lady Christine.

    Before the woman could introduce him, Calhoun bowed his head and raised it, looking into her eyes, and said, "Calhoun, mdy."

    "What an unusual name. You seem strangely familiar, yet I cannot point my finger as to where I have seen you before," she made a hmph sound and then turned to look at Lady Christine, "What happened to the other one who was with youst time?"

    "He''s fallen sick, and this boy had been reced for the day," Lady Christine patted Calhoun''s arm.

 Chapter 575 Void- Part 2

    <h4>575 Void- Part 2</h4>

    At the long table, Lady Christine was seated at the end, and it wasn''t hard to guess that the seating had been arranged in such a way where people who were more liked by thedy of the house were made to sit near her.

    "Lady Christine, may I ask you for a favour?" Calhoun asked in a low tone, making use of the distance that was created by the seating arrangement where no one could hear him.

    The woman looked up from her te, "Do you need salt?" she asked.

    "No. Mdy, I was wondering if you could help me in meeting the physician Lady Rosamund rmended. The personal physician," Calhoun asked thedy.

    "I can do that," she nodded her head in agreement.

    "Thank you," he bowed his head. Thest time he had tried to meet the main physician, he had only seeded in meeting with the physician''s assistant.

    When the soiree came to an end, Lady Christine being true to her word, she collected the rmendation letter from Lady Rosamund regarding the meeting with the royal family''s physician.

    Calhoun dropped thedy at her house in her carriage, and he was given two gold coins for his service along with the letter she had earlier collected. An amount he had never seen. With the letter in his hand, Calhoun made use of it, to go meet the physician to get the medicines which he was sessful at this time.

    When Calhoun reached near his house with the medicines in his hands that he had bought using the gold coins from what he had been paid, he hoped that this time it would work on his mother. It had been weeks since his mother had fallen sick and every day her condition only worsened, her body turning fragile because of the amount of blood that she threw up. He had never seen anyone fall sick this way, making it difficult for not only him but also the physicians to decipher what was wrong with his mother.

    Calhoun stepped into the house, announcing to his mother, "Mother I am home!" Even though his mother was sick, he didn''t want her to feel neglected, and he hoped she would get better if he continued to behave as if nothing was wrong with her. Not receiving an answer, something he was getting used to, he ced the medicines at the side and started heating the water so that his mother could have the medicine with it.

    He was still pouring water in the ss when he heard his mother choking in the other room. He quickly rushed to her side and saw her body twist in the bed.

    "Mother!" eximed Calhoun. He quickly went to her side, patting her back to ease her pain but his mother had started to throw up blood again. The blood that came out from her mouth and spilt on the bed was too much.

    "It''s going to be okay," Calhoun whispered to her, cing his hand on her back and he felt the bones in her body. It squeezed his heart to see her in this state. She didn''t deserve this! He tried to make her feel better, but the blood continued to spill out. The sheet that was spread on the bed had soaked itself in blood and for a moment Constance''s hand moved towards Calhoun and he grabbed it with his hands.

    "Cal," came the feeble voice of his mother, through the spluttering sound.

    Calhoun held his mother''s hand with both his hands, giving all his attention to her. He shook his head, "It''s okay. You don''t need to speak, I brought you the medicine," and he was ready to get up but Constance whispered,

    "No��"

    A tear trickled down from the corner of her eye, sliding down her pale skin where it looked alivepared to the other part of her skin before it seeped into the hard pillow. The grip of her hand on her son was weak, and she tried hard to breathe, exhaling and inhaling in great difficulty.

    "You and I both know that...it won''t work," she said, trying to focus her eyes on Calhoun, who quietly sat next to her, listening intently to what she wanted to say.

    Calhoun''s jaw clenched and unclenched, "We cannot be sure unless we try it. Thest medicine''s failed, but this one might work."

    Constance flinched in pain as she felt like millions of needles were passing through from her skin and into her chest. She shook her head, "This is something far worse than any person would have gone through in the past, and no one knows what this sickness is. Stay here instead, Cal. Please," she added, noticing the reluctance in his eyes. "I have lived, more than I expected, and everythinges to an end."

    Calhoun closed his eyes, shaking his own head before he opened his eyes, his eyes glistening, "Don''t say that. We are in this together, aren''t we?"

    His mother offered him a smile, "Yes, we are," and Calhoun brought her hand up towards his face, and he kissed her hand.

    "Then don''t leave��" he whispered.

    Constance used all her energy to ce her hand on her son''s cheek, her hand trembled because of the weakness andck of strength in her body. "Like everything in this world, one day we leave this ce. My body is no more the way it was, Cal. I can barely get out of bed, less speak this much. My son," there was a tenderness in the way she used the words at Calhoun, "You were the precious gift, something that filled every space in my heart and in my world. The best thing that happened to me, so don''t be sad about my condition."

 Chapter 576 Void- Part 3

    <h4>576 Void- Part 3</h4>

    .

    "What shall I do without you," asked Calhoun. His eyes moved back up to look into his mother''s eyes.

    "You will be alright. I know you will miss me," she tried to reach for his head, wanting to touch his head for onest time, but at the same time, she started to cough, and her breathing turnedboured before more blood spilt out of her mouth.

    "Don''t talk. Rest, you might feel better," but by her expression, Calhoun understood that his words had been dismissed by his mother. "It won''t be the same without you."

    All Calhoun had known was his mother, and she had been the only person in his life to take care of him without a doubt. The rest were the people whom he didn''t care about, and they didn''t exist in his world.

    Calhoun pulled the clean handkerchief from his pocket, and he wiped the blood that had smeared around his mother''s mouth��cleaning it, but his mother only spilled out more blood. It looked as if her body wanted to finish every single drop of blood that was in her body and would only then let her rest.

    "It will get better," her hand slid down, and she looked at Calhoun with her tired eyes. "Like the rest of the things, you will learn to ovee everything. There is nothing you cannot do, Cal. You are my son. One day you will ovee this sorrow, and the pain and hurt that you have felt. They will all disappear like they never existed."

    "But you won''t be there with me," Calhoun''s voice was low and hardly audible, but Constance understood his emotions.

    "You don''t know...that," breathed Constance, "You aren''t alone, Cal. You will have someone who will be your family. And that person will help you to grow not only the family but also you. To fill the spaces. And then you have your gran-"

    Constance''s body started to spasm, making it unable for her to finish her sentence.

    Calhoun then heard something his mother said that he never imagined she would say to him, "Cal...please...I d-don''t think I can take it any longer."

    His mother''s hand slipped away from his hands, and her body started to shake uncontrobly with blooding out of her mouth. His hands clenched into fists as he watched his mother''s life slipping away from her. It hurt him, seeing her like this and the words that she spoke slowly started to sink in his mind. The medicines didn''t work, and letting her be like this, it was only prolonging her pain and misery.

    He moved closer to his mother, putting his hand around her back and raising her as if to sit on the bed. He wanted to see his mother look into his eyes, for onest time, to smile and talk to him, but Constance''s eyes had turned unfocused, and she looked as if she couldn''t see or understand what he was going to say anymore.

    Calhoun needed a moment to prepare himself, and he closed his eyes.

    When he opened his eyes, he saw the red liquid continue to fall on the bed, and he raised his hand, "Rest well, mother��"

    Within the next second, Calhoun''s hand pierced through Constance''s chest to stop it from beating any further and adding more pain into her life. A tear slipped past his empty red eyes while he carefully handled his mother''s heart without putting much pressure into it, and the heart that he was used to hearing beat, stopped.

    Retreating his hand back, Calhoun carefully ced his mother back on the bed, silence filling the room along with the darkness that started to fill in his heart.

    His mother, whom he looked at as a strong woman as she had raised him with care, not paying attention to mistreatment from the vigers and focussing only on his well being. She now looked fragile, her cheekbones had turned hollow along with the dark circles underneath her eyes. Calhoun didn''t know how long he sat next to his mother, watching her face after he had closed her eyes.

    Nobody usually entered the home he and his mother lived in, but someone entered, which Calhoun didn''t pay attention to until the person called him,

    "Calhoun?"

    It was Theodore who had arrived at Calhoun''s house to pick up the clothes that he had lent Calhoun to wear for attending the soiree. He had alsoe here because he was curious to know where Calhoun lived. A deep frown had appeared on his forehead because of the scent of the blood that surrounded the house.

    Theodore''s eyes widened when he noticed Calhoun sitting on the floor and in front of a woman who was evidently dead because of the blood on the sheets and her clothes. He noticed the indentations on the woman''s chest, as if someone had dipped their fingers. His eyes fell on Calhoun''s hand that was covered in blood.

    He would have been surprised by the death that had taken ce if he hadn''t known Calhoun had been making visits to many physicians'' houses to find out what was wrong with his mother. It seemed like the tipping point had arrived, and there was no way to drag the time anymore, thought Theodore to himself.

    An hour passed, and Calhoun didn''t move from where he sat, and Theodore silently stood behind him.

    Calhoun turned his head to the right, feeling Theodore''s presence behind him, and he said, "You don''t have to stay here."

    "I am aware," answered Theodore, "But you need to let her rest. In a better ce."

    At first, Calhoun didn''t respond, instead, he continued to sit in the same position, staring at his mother. He then said, "I know a ce to keep her."

    .

    The hiatus book has been updated-

    The Fourth Mistress...(previously titled as ''The girl in the...'')

 Chapter 577 Provoking insecurities- Part 1

    <h4>577 Provoking insecurities- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Calhoun had decided the ce where he wanted to bury his mother. Many years ago, when he was small, Calhoun had heard his mother speak about the royal family. It was notints but ordinary things that most of the people already knew about. She had mentioned about a ce where the royal family members were buried, and it was where he decided to keep her.

    Not because he wanted her to be part of the royal family, but because there was a special coffin that had been built for the previous King.

    He knew once the local vigers would find out about his mother''s death, they would be overjoyed and would wait for him to die next. But he wasn''t going to die that easily, not when he had unfinished business with the people who had hurt his mother and put her through this misery. The vigers wouldn''t allow his mother to rest in peace in any of the nearby cemeteries.

    He looked at his mother, who looked like she was fast asleep, but the stench of the blood was strong that spoke the truth of what happened. Getting up from the floor, Calhoun went near the bed and used a wet cloth to clean her face. Theodore had stepped out of the house, and Calhoun changed her clothes to a fresh one before picking her up in his arms.

    She barely weighed like before, and it felt as if he were carrying a small child.

    When Calhoun was about to step outside the house, Theodore offered,

    "Let me help."

    Calhoun didn''t refuse, and he gave Theodore a nod.

    Theodore had arranged a carriage and had gone along with Calhoun.

    On the way, neither of the men spoke to each other, and they sat in silence.

    Calhoun had made his mother sit next to him, letting the body lean against him, making it look like she was taking a nap on his shoulder. He held her arm in his hand for support so that she wouldn''t fall in front or hit the window that was next to her. Calhoun looked outside the window, and Theodore couldn''t help but watch the two people in the carriage.

    Theodore had heard from the women whom he had bedded in the past mention about a woman who was whoring around, spreading her legs for a few coins just like what she did with the King in the past. It was ironic, though, thought Theodore to himself. The women who gossiped were far worse than the person who was doing it to earn her bread for a living.

    There was something very peculiar about Calhoun, and it wasn''t because he was the King''s son. The King and his family were vampires, while his mother appeared to be a human. It made one question how Calhoun had a demon blood along with being a vampire. Usually, one of the parents had to be a demon for it, thought Theodore in his mind.

    "It is," replied Calhoun, speaking to Theodore for the first time since they had got on the carriage, "There''s a special grave that was built in this ce. Just one that stands out from the rest of the other cemented coffins."

    "Is it being built for the King''s purpose?" questioned Theodore, pushing his ss up to the bridge of his nose as they walked inside.

    "It was for the previous King. He got it prepared for his own sake and in time, wanting to live eternally in this world even after his death," replied Calhoun. The cemetery was deserted, and the graves in here were located far away from each other. Carrying his mother in his arms, Theodore followed him towards a cemented coffin.

    Theodore couldn''t help but raise his eyebrows. Was Calhoun nning to put his mother in one of the used coffins? A grave that would be shared by two people, how strange, thought Theodore to himself. He noticed Calhoun carefully ce his mother down on the ground before he went near the grave of the previous King and pushed open the lid.

    Calhoun stared at the King''s father who looked like he was in histe sixties.

    Theodore was about to say it would be hard to adjust the man and Calhoun''s mother''s body in one single coffin. But Calhoun surprised him by picking the man''s body up from his coffin and throwing the man on the ground as if he had picked a leaf.

    Calhoun then picked his mother back and ced her in the now empty coffin.

    "What do you n to do with this one? You don''t think people are going to find out about it?" stated Theodore, and a chuckle escaped Calhoun''s lips.

    "They barely have time for the living, I doubt they woulde here to check a dead person," responded Calhoun. He knew it because since a few months, he had been visiting this ce, and he hadn''t oncee to cross paths with any of the royal family members. People who were dead were often forgotten.

    Calhoun never cared about the people who belonged to the royal family, and he didn''t care one bit about the previous King, "I am sure he doesn''t mind giving his resting ce."

    "I will put him somewhere," offered Theodore, picking the man''s leg and dragging him away from there. But when he was still dragging, the body had started tobust as it had been taken away from the resting ce that was filled with some sort of magic. Within a few seconds, the person withered into and Theodore felt dust slip through his fingers.

    Back at the grave where Calhoun stood next to Constance,bing her hair back by using his fingers. Calhoun whispered,

    "I will visit you soon, mother. And I promise to give you the justice that you deserve, which you didn''t receive before. Make every single one of them pay for their deed."

    His fingers continued to stroke her hair and he ced her hands below her chest. The wound on her chest had started to close. Calhoun''s emotions were all over the ce, and he wished he could turn back time to spend his time with his mother all over again. But then he did live to the fullest with her beside him. After all, they only had each other.

    His head bent forward, cing his hands on the edge of the open coffin in which his motherid. It was hard to let go, and with her gone, he could feel the darkness that started to wallow and engulf him. The emptiness in his heart only increased, and he closed his eyes with his hands resting on the edge of the coffin, and his ck wings erupted from his back. They were bat-like wings.

    Theodore, who was making his way back to where Calhoun stood, noticed the bat-like wings to show Calhoun''s demon side. He had seen some demons who had wings, but they mostly belonged to the first-level demons, who he had asionallye across. But something else happened, and Theodore noticed the in surface of the wings that started to cover itself with feathers one after another until it waspletely covered in it.

 Chapter 578 Provoking insecurities- Part 2

    <h4>578 Provoking insecurities- Part 2</h4>

    .

    It was evident that Calhoun was no ordinary person and his lineage was stronger than it appeared to one''s naked eye.

    By the time Calhoun had closed the lid of the cemented coffin for his mother to rest, the time of dusk had passed, and the night had pulled over the sky.

    Home wasn''t home anymore, and instead, it was nothing but a space left with nothing but memories. Not wanting to return, Calhoun now sat on one of the building roofs in the town that belonged to Madame Fraunces. The crescent moon shone down on thends of the Devon while some parts held darkness. It was the time of midnight, and the town was peaceful without a sound of carriage nor a chirp of the bird or people''s chatter.

    Calhoun sat with one of his legs folded up while another leg was stretched long to rest. With an old bottle of liquor that sat next to him, he looked at the sky, devising ns on what he wanted to do. After a while, he heard the footsteps from behind him, and he asked,

    "You didn''t go to sleep?"

    "I thought you could make use of somepany," replied Theodore, his eyes fell on the bottle of liquor, and he came to sit next to the bottle. When he picked up the bottle and was ready to take a sip from it, Theodore realized the bottle was empty. His hands fished into his pocket and pulled out a cigar, and ced it on his lips. When he was lighting up the one end of the cigar, he heard Calhoun ask him,

    "What are you doing here? There seems to be much more to you than what you lead on."

    Calhoun''s eyes that were looking at the sky moved to the corner to look at Theodore, who pulled both his legs close to him so that he could let his hands rest on his knees.

    Theodore said, "I think everyone views a person differently. I don''t know where Ie from. I didn''t know who my parents were and I grew up in the streets and learned about the world." He brought the cigar up to his lips that he cradled between his long fingers. Dragging the smoke through his mouth, he blew it up in the air, "One was a vampire while the other was a demon."

    "Did you ever try to get into contact with them?" questioned Calhoun, his eyes moved back to look at the town, his eyes fell on some of the dark alleys.

    Theodore smiled, a polite smile forming on his lips, and he said, "I did. I was curious, and like any other person, I wanted to know who had abandoned me or if I was separated from them. But it seemed like it was the first one, a woman who was too ashamed to call me as her own, and the man who didn''t want to do anything with either of us as he had a family of his own."

    The smile on his lips fell, and his red eyes turned sullen. He brought the cigar back to his lips, taking another drag and letting the smoke pass through his lips.

    Calhoun moved back so that he couldy down against the tilted roof, staring at the luminous moon that looked sad and lonely up in the sky.

    "Seems like people don''t like to own up to the consequences caused by their actions," responded Calhoun, "With your work and reputation, it looks like you would have saved enough money for yourself. Why not quit and start something else?"

    "I didn''t find anything worth working for," replied Theodore, "We all look for some purpose in our lives, to fulfill it, and if it isn''t good enough, it is never worth it. This job...it is not viewed kindly, which you already are aware of. People find temporary love, a friend, apanion, a way to spend their remaining hours of their life? without loneliness. It isn''t close to the purpose, but there''s some satisfaction I receive in here, it''s a different kind."

    But there was more to Theodore''s words��

    He then turned his head to look at Calhoun, "And I think I found my purpose," he offered Calhoun a smile.

    "You want to help me," murmured Calhoun, who had closed his eyes, feeling the breeze. Even though he had emptied the whole bottle of liquor, he was still in his senses and he wasn''t able to drown the pain and miserable feeling as he didn''t have the power.

    Theodore had never witnessed such magnificent wings until now, and he had an inkling that Calhoun was something different than the rest of the people who walked on thesends, and he didn''t know why, but he felt as if he had found the purpose he had been looking for.

    Demons had bat-like wings, but they didn''te with feathers. The woman with whom he once slept with, she was a demoness, one that belonged to the first level demon, hiding from someone, but he didn''t question her. She had told him that the feathers were something that only an angel possessed. The woman had said,

    ''The feather signifies purity, patience, strong will. Though there are many more qualities these are the main ones. The wings on the demons back are bare because theyck it, they don''t hold the strength an angel does.''

    To her words, Theodore had chuckled, ''Aren''t you looking down at yourself by saying it?''

    ''It is what it is.''

    ''Do you think there is a person like that ever existed? What about the Devil? Stories tell he was an angel,'' he asked her and she smiled.

    ''Once the Devil turned his back by doing unfathomable things in the living world, the gates had closed for him. He was on the bad side, doing things a demon did, so he doesn''t have the feathers. Even if it meant he was once an angel,'' exined the demoness without much thought, ''To have feathers grow back on a demon''s back, one can only imagine the person to be powerful. But such a thing doesn''t exist.''

 Chapter 579 Provoking insecurities- Part 3

    <h4>579 Provoking insecurities- Part 3</h4>

    "I will be the person who watches your back and helps you aplish your goals. I know you want to avenge for the past events."

    Calhoun''s eyes that were closed, opened, and he sat up. He looked at Theodore, "You might get caught and executed. Are you willing to give up your life?" demanded Calhoun.

    With Theodore''s background and his involvement with the women of the high society, Calhoun wasn''t sure how well it would go.

    Theodore bowed his head, "I doubt I would be executed that easily. Do you have a n?" asked Theodore, adjusting the sses on his face.

    Calhoun nodded his head, "There''s always a n."

    After a week, when the rays of the sun touched the Hawthrone castle, a piece of news was sent through the parchment scroll with a man in a carriage. The carriage entered the castle gates, making its way to the front of the castle entrance. The coachman jumped down, pulling the door for the magistrate. The man quickly started to walk up the flight of the stairs.

    The magistrate was of short stature, and he tried to walk as quickly as he could so that he could deliver the news to King Laurence or Queen Morganna.

    When a guard appeared in the front to block his way, the magistrate said, "Tell Tuffin is here on urgent matters and that it cannot wait! It is something rted to the kingdom!"

    Another guard who heard this went to inform the king, and King Laurence appeared at the corridor''s end. "Let him pass," ordered King Laurence to the guard, and the magistrate quickly walked to stand in front of the King and bowed his head.

    "Greetings of the day, King Laurence," the magistrate deeply bowed.

    "What are you doing here early in the morning, Tuffin? Unable to sleep with your wife?" the King threw a distasteful joke. The magistrate tried to smile, but it didn''t stay up on his lips for long. He only hoped news he had brought with him would be taken in the same way by the King of Devon.

    The magistrate informed King Laurence, "I have brought a piece of news that hase from the East, milord. It is of absolute urgency that you might want to know," He presented the scroll to the King.

    The King raised his eyebrow, not knowing what this pressing matter was, and he snatched the scroll of parchment before opening it so that he could read it. The magistrate had not lifted his head, and when the King read half of it, his eyes lit up in rage.

    "What the fuck is this, Tuffin? There''s no way the King of the Eastnd could do this!" King Laurence was furious.

    "They said that they have been waiting for a long time for the Hawthrone''s to produce a male heir, and ording to the treaty there hasn''t been a male heir to take over the throne. And the treaty has expired. They said with the chances of other Kings trying to take the throne, they would prefer to take it themselves-"

    "How dare you!" King Laurence caught hold of Tuffin and pushed him against the wall.

    Tuffin iled his hands, "Milord, it isn''t I b-but they who said it," and the King dropped him down, leaving the magistrate coughing.

    King Laurence was enraged by the fact that the treaty signed and agreed a few years ago had expired, and the neighbouring kingdom had now sent a message about taking the throne from him. In anger, he picked up the painting that was on the wall and threw it on the floor, leaving the ss to shatter into pieces. The servants who were working nearby stopped their work to see that the King of Devon had gone mad in anger.

    Queen Morganna, who was taking a walk in the corridor came across the scene, her eyebrows knitting together, and she walked to where her son was.

    "What is going on?" asked Queen Morganna, and all the servants who were around bowed their heads before going back to continue their work.

    Even the King greeted his mother before Morganna asked, "Laurence?"

    King Laurence turned to look at Tuffin and said, "You can leave us." The magistrate was more than d to leave, and once the man left, Laurence said, "The duration of the treaty hase expired, and with no male heir, the Eastnd wants us to hand over the kingdom."

    Morganna calmly listened to him, and she then said, "It won''t happen."

    Laurence furrowed his eyebrows in question, "What do you mean?" Did his mother have a n to expand the period of the treaty?

    "What if you don''t have a male heir, Rosamund''s son, Markus can sit on the throne and im it as his own." On his mother''s words, Laurence''s eyes went wide, and he gritted his teeth.

    "That''s not possible," something that he feared was going to happen, it was going toe true, thought Laurence to himself.

    Morganna''s eyes narrowed at his words, "Rosamund is my daughter, the Queen''s daughter, and that makes Markus eligible to sit on the throne. It is already written in the past records that if there is no male sessor of the King, the throne would go to the closest male heir. And right now, it seems to be the right thing."

    Laurence couldn''t believe himself that his mother was quick to pass on possession of the throne, "And what about me?"

    Morganna smiled, "Think smartly, Laurence, Markus is still a young boy that means you have plenty of time to have a male heir with Samara." She patted his back and then stepped into the garden.

    King Laurence clenched his fists in anger, unable to retaliate while wondering what he should do to stop the throne from slipping through his fingers, and not fall into his sister Rosamund''s family.

 Chapter 580 Hour of waiting- Part 1

    <h4>580 Hour of waiting- Part 1</h4>

    .

    In one of the Hawthrone castle rooms, King Laurence walked back and forth with his hands wringing together as he tried to think of a solution to the possible damage that was going to hit him.

    Being the King of Devon was his birthright, something that purely belonged to him. From a young age, the thoughts of how he was the only person who was eligible to get the throne had been put into his head. His father had affairs with women, and when Laurence grew up, he made sure to kill the male heirs who would be a threat, by framing them to be guilty.

    But now, thanks to the Eastnd''s King, he was going to lose the throne. Either to the neighbouring Kings or to his very own sister, Rosamund who had a son. Compared to the othernds, Devon was weak when it came to its strength. A few years ago, when Laurence''s father was ruling the Kingdom, he had thoughtlessly sent his men for war without proper nning, and had lost half of the men where his father left him and that was broken.

    He continued to pace in his room when the doors opened, and in came his wife, Samara.

    "I have been looking for you all over the castle. No one knew where you were," said Lady Samara on seeing her husband and walking inside the room, "What are you doing here?"

    King Laurence looked at his wife''s maid who stood behind. He waved his hand for her to leave. The maid bowed her head and left the room before closing the doors behind her.

    "We are in trouble," King Laurence spoke through his gritted teeth.

    Lady Samara could see her husband looked tense, and it was too early in the day for him to be in the room when he was supposed to be dealing with matters that concerned the kingdom in the royal court.

    "What do you mean?" frowned thedy with a questioning gaze.

    "Now orter, soon we are going to lose the power on the throne," his head turned to look at the bed.

    Following her husband''s line of sight, Lady Samara looked at the bed where a scroll of parchmentid. She walked towards it, picking it up in her hands, and started to read it out loud,

    "To the King and the Queen of Devon, I hope you are doing well and are in good health to read what is written here in this parchment. This is regarding the treaty made and signed by the previous King, offering peace that we wouldn''t attack each other''snds. But word has it that you have been secretly trying to dere a war against us. I would like to remind you that the duration of the treaty has expired, dissolving the prior conditions that were previously agreed upon have now turned invalid."

    Lady Samara stopped and looked at her husband. Worry slowly filled up her eyes as there was more to the letter.

    Lady Samara couldn''t believe something like this was going to hit them this early in the day.

    "We have to let Queen Morganna know about it," said Lady Samara, "She will have a way to fix and help us. She always does!"

    King Laurence shook his head, "She won''t this time. Her help will only damage it," gritting his teeth, he said, "She wants to give the throne to Markus, iming him to be the next King."

    "What?" Lady Samara looked taken aback, "But Markus is not-"

    "He is still a young boy, but mother ns to have control over the throne. To rule it through him!" spat King Laurence in anger, his blood boiling since he had read the news.

    Queen Morganna tried to manipte her son, making him rule Devon the way she wanted it to be ruled, but there were some things that her son didn''t agree with her. The King had his ego and pride, not wanting to listen to a woman who was not worth listening to as they were unfit to be taking part in the ruling. He had acquired his nature from his deceased father.

    "There should be another way!" said Lady Samara, "Because the throne cannot be passed until the King passes away, you still rule��" and her voice trailed, her imagination starting to run wild.

    King Laurence, who stood next to the firece where at the top there were decorative items made out of ceramic, he pushed them away, like a child who was throwing a tantrum.

    "I need a fucking son! My own blood to be sitting on the throne!" he looked at his wife with a hateful expression, and Lady Samara gulped.

    Tears were quick to appear in thedy''s eyes, and she said, "I tried, Laurence, you know I tried!" but for some reason, she had been cursed with miscarriages.

    But Laurence wasn''t pleased with the answer. It was because that was not what he wanted to hear from her!

    "Leave!" he shouted, making Lady Samara flinch because of his loud voice in their room.

    Anger and pain passed through the woman''s eyes, and she quickly turned around and left the room whileposing herself. Laurence tried to think hard on what to do before something finally shed in his mind.

    He quickly went to one of his cupboards and started to pull out the drawers one after another, searching for something that he had thrown somewhere in here years ago.? When he finally caught sight of the half-torn letter, his eyes zeroed in on the words written in there.

    "Guards!" he shouted, and the guards who stood outside the room quickly came in, bowing their head. "Find the woman named Constance. Find her right now and bring her to me!"

 Chapter 581 Hour of waiting- Part 2

    <h4>581 Hour of waiting- Part 2</h4>

    "Has he moved from there since morning?" Madame Fraunces asked Theodore, who stood next to her and away from where Calhoun sat. "How is he holding up?" she asked, starting to walk away from there and stepping outside her house.

    Theodore followed her with his hands in his pockets, "He''s holding up. He will be fine. Right now, he is waiting."

    "For a customer?" questioned Madame Fraunces, her eyebrows raising.

    Theodore shook his head, "No, waiting for some news."

    Thedy turned her head to look back inside, and she sighed, "He looks too lonely, seems like the death rattled him."

    Theodore didn''t respond to her words and instead said, "Madame Fraunces, there was something I wanted to tell you." The woman nodded her head for him to go on, and he said, "If the news is as expected, Calhoun and I will be leaving this job."

    Madame Fraunces didn''t look surprised by his words, and she looked at a carriage that passed in front of her house on the wide street. "Hm, it is time for the birds to leave the nest. Seems like it is something very big. Are you trying to rob someone?" she joked.

    A chuckle escaped Theodore''s lips, "Something like that. Thank you for everything you have done so far for me, I will ever be grateful for it, and I hope one day I can repay what you have done for me," he bowed his head deeply, and the woman''s wise eyes looked at him.

    "I am sure I will live long for it," Madame Fraunces smiled at those words, and she folded her hands against her chest, "You grew up well, Theodore. But then it''s because of your skill when ites to learning things quickly."

    When Madame Fraunces had taken Theodore in, she had trained him to be part of the high families lifestyle, teaching him everything that she knew. She had infused it in a way that Theodore now appeared as if he was born in a wealthy family.

    Nothing was perfect, and people had their own ws. Some wore it on their sleeves while hid it.

    It reminded thedy of a saying how even if you change the color of the crow, it would still be a crow.

    "Don''t get into trouble, and don''t kill people," advised Madame Fraunces, and Theodore offered the woman a smile, leaving the sides of his eyes to crinkle in humour.

    Back inside the house, Calhoun waited for King Laurence to notice his existence, the very same existence that the royal family had wanted to erase from people''s mind and the world, that they were ashamed of. As he grew up, Calhoun was quick to learn because of the way people treated him and his mother, finding out why and what so that he could understand it better. He had seen the King and his family before, from afar, when they hade to one of the towns to witness someone''s execution.

    Back in the Hawthrone castle, King Laurence was in the royal court room with Queen Morganna and the other ministers for discussing the previous day''s disputes that had taken ce.

    "There has been a group of people who have been taking approvals from the other Kings and Queen to form an establishment to give justice to the people," said a one of the ministers who stood in front of King Laurence. "I heard they are mostly vampires, but it is still under process."

    "Things like that don''t exist, Barett,"mented King Laurence, "If another systemes into existence what are the Kings and Queens supposed to do?" heughed at the end.

    The other ministers quickly nodded their heads in agreement while some chuckled. The minister who had passed the information looked distressed, "My King, I heard they have already received approval from most of the Kings and Queen, especially from the King of Eastnd."

    Just hearing the minister mention about Eastnd had Laurence and Morganna tense. The King who had signed for the treaty to maintain peace had now turned to an enemy.

    Queen Morganna said, "There have been many people in the past who have tried to overrun the King''s powers, but all of them have failed in their effort because things like those are pointless. You have witnessed it too, Barett. Haven''t you?" she asked, her voice calm and collected as if nothing could ruffle her feathers. "Some of the men can be truly foolish."

    The minister named Barett nodded, "I heard it was led by a woman, a vampiress who goes by the name of Helena."

    Queen Morganna chuckled, "Whatever is forming, it won''t stay long. Things like this break, or she will get killed. Anyways, there''s something I would like to inform," said the woman and Laurence'' eyes moved in the direction of his mother. "As all of you know, King Laurence, my son doesn''t have a male heir, and it has put us in quite a-"

    Laurence already knew what his mother was going to say. He was quick to interrupt his mother''s words, "Indeed, it is unfortunate, and we are very fortunate to have men like you who have stood next to us and faith in my rule. We are hoping we can soon provide you with good news."

    The Queen''s eyes hardened, but she didn''tment on her son''s words.

    "Of course, King Laurence," everybody bowed their heads.

    King Laurence passed a look at his mother before he stepped down from the throne and made his way out of there. One of Queen Morganna''s trusted man came to stand next to her, bowing his head, and she said,

    "Ask my daughter to meet me, tell her I have something important to discuss with her."

 Chapter 582 Hour of waiting- Part 3

    <h4>582 Hour of waiting- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Lucy walked in the corridors with her maid Amice who walked right behind her. Humming a tune as she moved from one corridor to another without a care about the world around her and not caring about who was going to get the throne. It didn''t matter to her, which was why, out of all the Hawthrone family members, she was one of the only members who had the least of worries right now.

    "Did you hear how the soiree was, Amice?" questioned Lucy, her eyes catching sight of the little birds that chirped on a nearby branch.

    "You have been quiet today for a long time, mdy. Is there something that is bothering you?" asked the maid, her hands folded at the front, and Lucy smiled.

    "I didn''t realize that. I was thinking about how nice it would be to visit Aunt Patricia. It has been a while since Ist saw Aunt Monique, too," said Lucy. Aunt Monique was her father''s half-sister, who was strict, but at the same time she was kind.

    "Do you think you can ask your mother to allow you to visit her?" asked the maid, her eyebrows knitting together, and Lucy shook her head.

    "Grandmother would not allow it. I think Aunt Monique has been ordered not to return unless she is called," Lucy then turned to look at her maid, meeting her eyes and said, "I heard they have had her fixed in the town near the West of Rudhall. Keeping her busy," she whispered. "It has been long, but I think she wille back soon. Say Amice, have you met a vampire who wears sses?"

    Her maid looked perplexed by her questions, "sses?"

    "Yes, on the face. Spectacles actually. The person I met in the alley wore it. I wanted to thank him for his bravery," stated Lucy, "I thought of going to the town-"

    "Oh, mdy! Do not do that! If the Queen finds out, you willnd yourself in big trouble," whispered Amice while looking here and there to make sure no one was there to eavesdrop at them.

    "Don''t worry, Amice, I won''t get into trouble," Lucy assured her maid, "I wonder if I will get to see him again."

    The maid then asked curiously, "Was he handsome to look at, mdy?"

    Lucy''s thoughts went back to the stranger who had helped her in the alley. She didn''t forget the way his hand had caught hold of her hand, and with one swift movement, he had sliced one of the thug''s neck with her dagger.

    "I think so," answered Lucy, and then said, "He had eyes hidden behind the sses that he wore, so I cannot be sure."

    Lucy spent more time out in the garden, listening to the birds sing until she felt her skin start to prickle under the rays of sun as she had stayed outside the castle for a long time. While heading back towards the castle''s inside, she saw a young man standing in the corridor and speaking to one of the ministers.

    "Good afternoon, princess," Ethan bowed his head deeply, and so did the minister who had been talking to him. The minister didn''t stay and left the two young people in the corridor as he had important work to attend to, that was given by the King.

    "Did youe to visit grandmother?" asked Lucy, and he nodded his head.

    "I did. How have you been doing, mdy?" asked Ethan, his words were polite.

    He had hoped to see the princess before leaving the castle, but if he specifically asked about her, it would throw a bad impression on both him and her. Compared to all the people he had met, Lucy Hawthrone had a pure heart, and it was obvious that her actions were all pure without asking for anything in return. The truth was that the princess had stolen his heart.

    "I have been doing well, Ethan. I told you, you should call me Lucy. Even though we are distant rtives, we are cousins," said Lucy, with a smile on her lips.

    "It would be rude of me to address you in such a casual way," and to his words, Lucy shook her head.

    "I won''t take it that way. We have known each other for years, yet you address me formally," Lucy offered him a smile, and she said, "Are you heading back to your ce now?"

    "Yes," Ethan nodded his head, "I came here to deliver some of the papers that Queen Morganna wanted to have in her possession."

    "Let me walk you to the carriage," she offered and Ethan couldn''t refuse such an offer that the girl was giving him.

    "I would be more than blessed to have yourpany," the vampire bowed his head in gratitude.

    Both of them walked slowly towards the carriage, Lucy chatting with Ethan and when they arrived near the carriage, Lucy was still speaking. They turned to face each other, and Ethan bowed his head,

    "I should get going now...Lucy," said Ethan, and Lucy gave him a nod.

    "You''ve turned so busy. I hope you get some time off from work. We still have to finish the game of cards," she reminded him. "I think you will be more busy once you get married."

    Ethan chuckled at this, "I think I will have more time when I get married to the girl who is on my mind."

    Lucy tilted her head, and said, "I didn''t know you like someone. Does she know?" she asked in curiosity. Lucy''s maid, Amice who stood a few steps away from the couple could hear their conversation, and she couldn''t believe how oblivious the princess was regarding Ethan Moryett''s feelings.

    Ethan stared into Lucy''s eyes, and with a smile, he said, "I n to tell her soon."

    "Good luck," wished Lucy, and she saw him leave in the carriage.

 Chapter 583 Illegitimate son- Part 1

    <h4>583 Illegitimate son- Part 1</h4>

    .

    The guards who had been sent by the King to find Constance had returned to the castle, making their way to where the King was.

    "My King!" The two guards entered the room where King Laurence was drinking blood in one of the rooms of the castle��sitting on a luxurious couch and waiting for the good news. But he was not interested in the guards, and his eyes looked behind them to notice they hade without the woman.

    "Where is she?" demanded the King, his eyes narrowed.

    "Milord," one of the guards started to speak, "The woman named Constance passed away a week ago. It seems she has been sick for a few weeks."

    Laurence''s lips twisted, "What about her son? Is he alive?" That was thest hope he had been holding on to, to keep the throne to himself.

    "Yes, my King," the other guard answered.

    "What are you waiting for then?" King Laurence raised his eyebrows, "Go fetch him right away! And make sure you treat him well," he rubbed his chin, watching the guards leave.

    On the other side of the castle and in the West wing where Queen Morganna''s quarters was, in her room, she stood in front of the window looking outside. When the doors behind her opened. She didn''t turn around as she could tell by the footsteps who it belonged to. Her daughter, Rosamund hade to meet her as she had been ordered to meet her immediately.

    "You wanted to see me, mother?" Lady Rosamund dropped the honorifics as they were now alone in the room.

    Queen Morganna didn''t turn and continued to stand in front of the window with her head held up high, "Yes, Rosa. There''s an important matter that needs to be discussed," and she finally turned around to meet her daughter''s gaze, "Take a seat."

    Rosamund didn''t know why she was summoned, but considering how the invitation was from her mother, she could only believe it was something of grave importance. Walking towards the couch, she took herself to sit in one of them.

    Queen Morganna made her way to sit on the opposite couch, facing her daughter. Making herselffortable, she said, "I called you here to discuss the matter about appointing Markus as the next King of Devon. What do you think about it?"

    Rosamund looked taken aback, not expecting her mother to utter such good news to her, "Did brother Laurence agree?"

    "No," came the sullen voice of the Queen. She ced both her hands on herp, holding them together, and she said, "I don''t think he would ept it, which is why I decided to speak to you. Of course, any King wouldn''t happily hand over his throne and kingdom to another person except for his own son. But considering the current circumstances, where Laurence has no male heir of his own, it puts not only the kingdom but also our family in danger."

    "I have already asked Patrick Moryett to hand me the concerned documents that need to be changed and rewritten before submitting them in the royal court. This way, the process will be faster, and we won''t lose the control on the throne because of your brother''s stupidity," stated Queen Morganna.

    Rosamund couldn''t believe herself that her wishes had finallye true, and she could barely wait to go back home and ry the message to her husband and her children. This was the moment she had been waiting for so long.

    "What about brother though?" questioned Rosamund. She was well aware of how dear the throne and the crown was to Laurence.

    "Maybe in the future if he has a male heir, we can reconsider it and prepare another document to pass the authority back to him. But for now he will need to swallow it up," replied Queen Morganna before continuing to say, "I have already ordered the ministers and the magistrates toe and attend the proceedings tomorrow. Tomorrow bring Markus so that we can go ahead and get everyone''s approval."

    Rosamund was quick to nod to this, "I will make sure to see that Markus knows his responsibilities and duties towards Devon."

    "Good, he will need it all," said Queen Morganna. She then motioned one of her maids and ordered, "Get an old bottle of wine. I would like to celebrate with my daughter." The maid bowed her head before leaving the room.

    To Queen Morganna, it didn''t matter if the throne went to her son''s hands or her daughter''s son because it was the same. Even with her husband dead, she still had people who listened to her words more than her son, and she controlled and ruled Devon.

    When the next day arrived, the magistrates and the ministers who were supposed to give their consent of agreement to the next heir of Devon had gathered themselves in the royal court room. Queen Morganna, Lady Rosamund had brought her son Markus along with her family, and Lady Samara, and her daughter Lucy were some of the royals who were present.

    Lady Rosamund''s happiness knew no bounds, and there was a constant smile on her lips.

    Queen Morganna continued, "As I have said before, Devon is in danger because the Kings of the othernds see it to be an opportunity to steal what we have here. It is only right that we protect."

    "Does King Laurence agree to it?" asked one of the magistrates who stood at the side. "The King is not here, and it wouldn''t be right to decide without him here."

    Queen Morganna was unimpressed by the magistrate''s words, and she said, "King Laurence has gone to attend an important work. He is already informed about today''s meeting. It is why Queen Samara and Princess Lucy are here. His absence shows he has full faith in my decision, and it would be right if you respect it unless you disagree, Mr. Letterford."

    The magistrate bowed his head, "My apologies, my Queen."

    Queen Morganna stared at the man, and the other people who were present could tell that the magistrate''s hours to live were short, and he would soon die in an ''ident''.

 Chapter 584 Illegitimate son- Part 2

    <h4>584 Illegitimate son- Part 2</h4>

    Morganna said, "We believe and trust that you will do what is right for the future of our kingdom," her eyes moving from one person to another.

    Soon each magistrate and the minister was called out to give their opinion in favour for or against the decision. When the opinions were received and written down, the minister went to where the mother Queen was seated, and he bent down to show what he had written. Morganna looked more than pleased that more than three-fourth of the room had agreed.

    The minister looked at the group of people who had gathered, and he said, "Thank you for taking part and proving your loyalty to the Queen and this kingdom. The decision is as clear as day. Majority of the people have agreed for Markus Wilmot to be crowned as the next King of Devon. A coronation ceremony will be held soon to spread the word to the ne-"

    The minister couldn''tplete his sentence as they heard a pair of footsteps approaching the royal court. The guards who stood outside bowed and announced loudly, "Bow to the King of Devon!"

    Everyone in the room quickly bowed their heads, and Morganna''s eyes narrowed. She hadn''t seen her son since morning, and she had only guessed that her son was sulking somewhere in the corner of the castle. It was an inevitable move that had to be made, and even the King himself couldn''t do anything about it.

    Seeing King Laurence step into the room, Lady Samara was d that her husband hade back from wherever he had gone. Being the King''s wife, she wasn''t too keen to let go of the authority of the throne or the crown.

    But Laurence hadn''te alone. There were two other young men who stepped into the room along with the King. One wore a pair of sses on his face with a polite smile. The other person stepped inside the royal court as if he owned everything in the castle, but it did.

    Morganna didn''t know who the other two men were, and she could only guess that her son had brought them either to entertain him or to work for the royal family.

    "Did you finish your work, King Laurence?" asked Queen Morganna as if she wasn''t preparing to transfer his position to her grandson.

    King Laurence looked at the people who were gathered in the room, and his eyes then shifted to look at his mother, who had stood up from her throne after he arrived in the room.

    The King smiled, a bright smile on his lips that confused his mother. He said, "I did. I can see that everyone is here. What an opportune moment."

    The magistrate who had earlier questioned Queen Morganna bowed his head and informed, "Yes, my King. Most of us have agreed to allow Lady Rosamund''s son to be your sessor."

    "Is that so?" questioned King Laurence, "I don''t think it is necessary now. I have found the solution to the problem."

    "What are you talking about?" asked Queen Morganna.

    While Laurence did nothing but smile, his mother believed her son had started to lose his mind. The young man with dark red eyes and ck hair stepped next to her son.

    King Laurence then announced, "I would like to introduce you to my son. Calhoun Hawthrone." It received a couple of gasps in the room, and people''s eyes fell on Calhoun.

    "This is not the time to joke, brother," stated Rosamund. "You cannot pick someone from the street and im him as your son."

    Laurence couldn''t help butugh out loud, "I did not pick him from a street. The prior rules we have been following states that it is enough to keep my rule if I have a son. Calhoun is Constance''s son, the woman who once used to live in the castle."

    Morganna, as well as Rosamund''s eyes, considerably narrowed on hearing the woman''s name whom they thought they had erased from Laurence''s world. Rosamund''s hands turned into fists. Queen Morganna was about to speak, but she was immediately interrupted by her son, who said,

    "My blood runs through this boy''s veins. Royal Hawthrone blood, and I would openly like to im and ept him as my rightful son. Tuffins, the documents," ordered King Laurence, and his minister quickly walked to where the Queen stood, and he handed the documents to her. "I have already asked the men to make an inspection. This way, everyone can sit back and not worry if he isn''t my son. Now that the matter is solved," King Laurence''s smile fell, and he said, "I now dismiss the court!"

    The ministers and the magistrates couldn''t help themselves but look at Calhoun with their eyes wide. They bowed their heads to offer their respect, the people slowly started to dissolve.

    When Lady Samara saw her husband taking leave, she quickly followed him. Near the throne, Queen Morganna stared at Calhoun with pure distaste in her eyes.

    "I thought Laurence didn''t know about the boy''s existence," whispered Lady Rosamund.

    "We thought wrong," Queen Morganna murmured under her breath.

    She stared at the boy who her son imed to be his son, but the boy looked right back at her with a faint smile on his lips that looked smug, irking her.

    She turned to her loyal minister and whispered, "See what you can find about the boy. I want to know everything." The minister bowed his head and left.

 Chapter 585 Illegitimate son- Part 3

    <h4>585 Illegitimate son- Part 3</h4>

    A smirk appeared on his face, and he noticed the older woman, Queen Morganna, pop a nerve on her forehead. They could dig all they wanted about him, thought Calhoun to himself, but they wouldn''t find a speck of dust on him. He hade here to send every single person to Hell, who had made his mother shed tears.

    Queen Morganna stepped down from the throne, walking past Calhoun closely while not leaving her gaze from him until she crossed him to step out of the royal court room. Rosamund closely followed her mother along with her son and her family.

    "Lady Lucy?" The maid named Amice called Lucy''s attention as the princess appeared to be in a dazed state.

    "Hm?"

    Startled, Lucy came out of her thoughts, and she realized the room had almost turned empty. Her eyes fell back on the man who wore the sses. With her family who had stepped out, her feet had their own mind, and it took her to where the stranger stood with another person whom her father had introduced him as his son.

    "I am Lucy Hawthrone, a pleasure to make your acquaintances. I guess you will be my brother now," said Lucy, with a smile on her lips. Calhoun stared at her for two seconds before making his way out of the room. She wondered if she said something she wasn''t supposed to say.

    "Give him some time. He will warm up to you," said the stranger who had stayed back, and Lucy''s eyes snapped back to look at the man. "I am Theodore. Theodore Chauncey."

    What a strangest name, thought Lucy to herself. So that was her saviour''s name.

    "I was just thinking about you yesterday," she blurted before a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. Theodore looked at her curiously. Even her maid looked rmed by the choice of Lucy''s words, "I mean, I wanted to thank you for saving me back in the alley."

    Theodore offered her a smile, "I did what any other gentleman would do. To help ady. I am d that I could be of your service," and he bowed his head to her. Lucy couldn''t help but feel the air around him had changedpared to the time she had met in the alley. The roguish look in his eyes had been reced with utter politeness.

    Lucy bowed at him again and started to walk away from him before turning behind and taking a look at him as if he would disappear likest time. Theodore had that constant gentle smile on his lips, and Lucy returned it.

    When Lucy stepped out of the room, the smile on Theodore''s lips fell, and the light in his eyes darkened. As he made his way out of the room, Calhoun, who was leaning against the wall, stated,

    "I met her in the town a few days ago, and she needed some help. You should smile a little," said Theodore.

    Calhoun rolled his eyes, "I don''t have time for people who are of no use." She seemed cluelesspared to the other royal members. "Anyways, the King said he wants to talk to me. I am going to meet him. Can you stay by yourself?"

    "I will be fine," Theodore assured him, and he saw Calhoun leave.

    With his hands in his pocket, Theodore made his way through the corridors, looking at the surroundings and also feeling the eyes of the servants who were possibly loyal to the Queen.

    He walked until the very end, finding his way to one of the rooms in the first floor and walking to the patios. The life in the castle seemed much better than the one he lived. Who would have thought that the boy who once lived in the dirty alleys near the marketce would one day enter the castle, less live here.

    He caught sight of the young vampiress, the princess who entered the garden apanied by her maid, who followed her. She continuously spoke as if she was excited about something, and Theodore tried to zero his eyes and ears on her.

    "Can you believe what would happen if pumpkins grew up in the trees? The pain it would cause on breaking on top of a person''s head?" asked Lucy. "Mama said the governess ising tomorrow, which would mean I will get to spend less time outside and more time inside," she looked unenthusiastic about it.

    "It seems like Lady Sophie''s action has caused great offence to Queen Morganna," the maid responded, and Lucy nodded.

    "You are right. But then Sophie is still a small girl. I wouldn''t throw water on grandmother''s face. I feel if I did something like that, that might lead to my hands being chopped. I know what to do!" eximed Lucy, "I am going to befriend the governess, and together we both can step out of the castle."

    An idle chatter, thought Theodore to himself. All the women and girls that belonged to wealthy families were stuck up, and spoilt who had no regard or concern for others, doing what they pleased. It wasn''t anything new to him.

    To Theodore''s surprise, he caught sight of the vampiress pulling the front of her dress to show her slender and pale legs. Bending down, she unbuckled and removed her shoes. He heard her sigh before a bright smile appeared on her lips.

    "Mdy, I don''t think it''s a good idea to walk barefoot," said the maid in concern.

    "But it feels so much better to walk like this," frowned Lucy, and she started to walk bare feet, "I can feel the cold floor, the stones and the gras-" she stepped on a bee that stung her sole, making her yelp loudly.

 Chapter 586 Beginning of changes- Part 1

    <h4>586 Beginning of changes- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Lucy sat t on the ground, holding her leg, wondering if she stepped on a piece of ss, but this was worse than that.

    "Lady Lucy! Are you alright?!" The maid quickly bent down to check the princess''s feet and saw nothing to be word, at least by the looks of it now. "You must have stepped on a sharp stick or a thorn, but it must have not gone inside," informed the maid, it was because Lucy''s sole didn''t have a drop of blood on it.

    Holding her leg, Lucy looked on the ground where she had been earlier walking before sitting down. She didn''t catch anything, "It must be. For some reason, it hurts quite a lot. Like a...sting.." Was it a bee?

    "Here, mdy," said Amice, standing on her feet and offering her hands for Lucy to take.

    Just as Lucy was pulled up by her maid, they caught sight of Queen Morganna, who wasing in their direction with her Aunt Rosamund in the garden.

    "I keep hoping the girls in the royal family would fix their behaviour, but it seems like it is going downhill with every single day,"mented Queen Morganna, who had caught sight of Lucy sitting on the ground. "If you want to sit, there are better ces in the castle than in the middle of the garden area where people walk with their dirty shoes."

    Both Lady Lucy and her maid bowed their heads to offer their greetings to the Queen and Lady Rosamund.

    Theodore, who stood in one of the castle''s patios, watched them interact in curiosity, wondering what the young vampiress was going to say. Never before Theodore had an opportunity to personally meet the Queen or any other people who belonged to the royal family, but by the looks of it, he could tell Queen Morganna was a stubborn woman who wanted everything the world could offer. Right now she looked perfectly annoyed after what happened in the royal court room. He could only guess about the future of how it would feel to see her die, and at the thought of it, a pleasant smile appeared on his lips.

    "I, uh, I was wondering how t the ground was," blurted Lucy. She didn''t dare to move as her feet were bare without shoes that her maid now hid behind her back.

    With the things that had gone down in the royal court, Lucy believed her family would be busy discussing it, but who knew they wanted to spend their time in the garden too.

    "What?" questioned her grandmother as if she didn''t understand the rubbish that came out from her granddaughter''s mouth. "Get inside. Look at you, I can already see your skin turning red, and it might cause blisters on your skin if you stay out and under the sun."

    On the other hand, Rosamund looked at her niece and at the maid with her keen eyes, sensing both the young girls were up to no good.

    Lucy quickly said, "Queen Morganna, do you know from where my governess is? The one who has been newly appointed?"

    "Suitors?" Lucy used the word as if it was foreign to her. "I am too young, my Queen-"

    "It is the right age," Queen Morganna interrupted Lucy''s words, "Your mother agrees to it, and it is always good to get married when you are young. We all did, and so will you. Now get back inside."

    Lucy bowed her head, seeing the Queen and her aunt continue their walk and talk that had been paused. The young vampiress didn''t move from her ce. "Will I be married soon, Amice? I am not ready for it," she whispered. She was still learning the ways of the castle life and the life around her, it felt surreal to hear it.

    "Don''t worry, mdy. The Queen said they are going to do it in the future and not right away," consoled her maid, but that didn''t remove the fact that she would be married to someone whom she had no idea about.

    Lucy''s eyes moved to look at the castle, looking at the windows and the patios that were empty, including the one where a man stood earlier that had gone unnoticed by her.

    When Lucy started to walk, she flinched, "I have been stung by a bee."

    By the time of the evening, Lucy felt as if stones had been tied to one of her feet, and she rested in her room. Sitting on the bed now, she read a book in her room. Candles had been lit in the chandelier that hung on the ceiling not too far away from where she was. Even the firece was lit that gave out warmth while adding light to the already lit bright room.

    Hearing a knock on the door, Lucy quickly made sure to hide her leg by covering it with a nket and before she could saye in, the doors of her room opened and in came her mother.

    "I have been looking for you. What are you doing by sitting on the bed?" questioned her mother with a deep frown marred on her forehead.

    "I am reading," came the obvious tone and her mother narrowed her eyes, "I am reading, mother. Did you need me?" Lucy used a much more polite tone and bowed at her mother.

    "Yes, the governess is here. She arrived half an hour ago, and I thought it was best to introduce you to her so that you can start your studies tomorrow morning," stated her mother. "Come now, leave thepany of your book, and meet the governess."

    Lucy didn''t want to leave her bed yet. Having been stung by a bee, it would need some time until the swelling would reduce. Thankfully she was a vampiress, and the swelling would disappear by tomorrow morning.

    "I thought it was the governess who came to meet the princess, not the other way round, mama," said Lucy, her innocent gaze only vexing her mother.

 Chapter 587 Beginning of changes- Part 2

    <h4>587 Beginning of changes- Part 2</h4>

    "Brother Calhoun?" questioned Lucy, and her mother''s eyes turned furious.

    "He is no brother of yours! He is not rted! I cannot believe your father would bring a boy who belongs to another woman. One who had a bad reputation," said her mother, feeling ashamed.

    Lucy pursed her lips, not knowing how to console her mother on this matter. As much as she had tried to turn a blind eye towards a lot of things that happened in the castle, she was still aware of a few things that hade to fall in her ears. Her father had bedded many women before his marriage to his mother. Lucy could only guess that the young man whom her father had presented in the royal court was one of the women he had slept in the past.

    "But father is the one who brought him to the castle," said Lucy, and her mother frowned even more, "If it is to secure the throne-"

    "I do not like it!" eximed her mother, and Lucy was startled. She didn''t understand why there was a need to keep fighting who the throne went to because, in the end, it would still stay in the family. "If only I could bear a male child, if only you were born as a male heir," said the woman looking at Lucy.

    Lucy bit the inside of her lip. It wasn''t her fault that she wasn''t born as a male to continue the Hawthrone family name. Though she was born as a healthy and beautiful baby, her family weren''t entirely happy because she wasn''t born as a boy but a girl.

    Her mother seemed like she had forgotten the reason as to why she hade here to the room, and she turned around and left the room.

    Lucy gripped her hands on the book she held in her hands, not whispering a word, nor a tear fell from her eyes. Not soon after her mother left, Amice and the elderly maid, Ruby, appeared in the room.

    "Did Lady Samara find out?" asked Amice with concern.

    Lucy shook her head. The elderly maid looked at the young vampiress and then said to Amice, "Why don''t you get a bowl of cold water, Amice?"

    "Ah, okay," nodded the girl and left the room.

    "I heard what happened in the garden, is your leg still hurting?" asked Ruby, walking towards the foot of the bed, she looked at Lucy''s legs that were covered in the nket and then up at Lucy as if asking for permission.

    Lucy nodded her head and Ruby let go of the book that she had been holding until now.

    She saw Ruby remove the nket so that the elderly woman could take a look at both her feet and the woman frowned, "Oh my, your foot appears to be swollen, mdy. The bee must have stung too deep."

    "Does it hurt?" asked the elderly maid and Lucy shook her head. It didn''t hurt physically but something did hurt in her heart. Why was it that her own blood failed to see the pain she was in, while it was someone who was not part of her family could see her difort? Putting a brave face, Lucy said,

    "I am alright," she grinned, "It is just a little bee sting, it should be gone by the time I sleep and wake up tomorrow morning."

    Ruby offered Lucy a warm smile, something Lucy was used to and foundfort in thisrge castle that she felt empty. "I am sure it will. The princess is a brave girl, and I know you. How do you think you will be able to walk to join the rest of your family for supper?"

    Lucy didn''t want to get scolded from her grandmother or from her mother again, "Do you think you could bring the food here? It would be best if I ate here in the room."

    "That''s understandable. I will get it arranged, you can rest at ease until then," replied Ruby. When Amice returned back to the room with a bowl of cold water in her hands. Ruby ced the bowl on the ground so that Lucy could put her swollen feet inside it to temporarily reduce the pain. "Why do you insist on walking without shoes, Lady Lucy? You never know when you might step into something dangerous."

    "I enjoy it," came the simple words from Lucy and Ruby nodded her head as if she had expected that answer.

    "If you want to walk barefoot, you should stick inside the castle. The floors are clean and that way you won''t get hurt. Look at your beautiful feet," said Ruby rubbing Lucy''s ankles to make sure the princess was not ufortable because of the bee sting.

    Lucy smiled looking down at Ruby, who sat on the ground, "Your son must have been very lucky to have you, Ruby. He must have loved you dearly." Ruby didn''t have a family of her own as her husband had died early in their marriage, while her son had died in the war that had been waged between Devon and one of the neighbouring kingdoms. "You really know how to look after a person."

    Ruby bowed her head, "It is why I am here, mdy. To make sure you are well taken care of."

    Ruby had been appointed by Queen Morganna, when Lucy was born. The elderly woman was the one who had looked after Lucy from cleaning her to feeding her, and putting her to bed. Though it was her mother who had given birth to her, to Lucy it was Ruby who had given the warmth and love that her mother failed to give as she didn''t realize Lucy needed it.

 Chapter 588 Beginning of changes- Part 3

    <h4>588 Beginning of changes- Part 3</h4>

    "And I feel privileged to be taking care of you, Lady Lucy. I know you will one day turn to be one of the finest women of thisnd," there was a promise in Ruby''s voice and Lucy grinned. Now only if her grandmother could think and see what Ruby saw, thought Lucy to herself.

    "Today''s supper time is going to be something, it is good that you aren''t going to the dining room," whispered Amice before quickly turning behind to make sure there was no one at the door.

    Lucy nodded her head thoughtfully. It wasn''t that she wanted to skip her meals purposefully, but coincidently turned out this way. Her mother, Samara was upset because her husband? had brought some woman''s son into the castle, but there were two other people who were more upset than Lady Samara in the castle.

    "It will be an eventful dinner," she murmured to herself.

    As Ruby gently pressed Lucy''s ankle. She said, "Amice told me the young man hase along with the King''s son. Did you get to thank him?"

    "I did," replied Lucy.

    Thest thing she had expected was to see the person in the royal court room. Theodore, she whispered his name.

    When the time of supper arrived, the royal family members made their way to the dining room. When Queen Morganna stepped into the room, her eyes fell on the young man whom her son had brought in. Even though her son had brought the boy to keep the control of Devon in his hand, Morganna didn''t believe it would be a good idea. It was because when a person was hurt, they often kept things in their mind and waited for the right opportunity to strike back, and by the looks this boy seemed no different.

    "I didn''t know we were going to have the new guests joining us for dinner,"mented Morganna, proudly making her way into the dining room.

    "Calhoun is part of the family now," announced Laurence, and Morganna internally rolled her eyes. Her son didn''t have to repeat it, they weren''t deaf. "From now on, Calhoun will be living with us."

    "Are you sure he is your son, Laurence?" asked Morganna, taking her seat at the table. "What if he is another man''s son and not yours?"

    "You don''t have to worry about that, mother," Laurence offered his mother a smile. "I know when Calhoun was conceived and born. I received the letter about it." Lady Samara, who had taken a seat next to her husband, wore an expressionless look on her face.

    "If you say so, I doubt you would ever do any mistake," Morganna had suddenly changed her demeanour as if she had epted Calhoun wholeheartedly.

    Rosamund, who was asked to join in celebrating Calhoun''s arrival, she clutched on to her fork tightly.

    Her mother had assured her before to be patient, and that her time woulde, but with her brother bringing the whore''s son to the castle, she was furious underneath her calm demeanor.

    "I can see we have another new person at the table and one is missing,"mented the King, noticing the governess who had arrived today and she bowed her head. "Where is Lucy?"

    Nobody seemed to have an answer, and the King''s eyes fell on the elderly woman who was appointed to take care of his daughter. The woman bowed her head, "King Laurence, Lady Lucy said she will be having her food in her room today as she isn''t feeling well."

    King Laurence frowned, "What happened to her?" and he then looked at his wife who shook her head.

    "She was alright when I went to her room," said Lady Samara.

    "That is right, she was perfectly doing fine when I saw her in the garden," Morganna''s eyes narrowed, and she said, "Is she perhaps avoiding supper with us for no reason? You should be more strict with her Laurence."

    "Now we have the governess, she will take care of Lucy and help her in fixing her ways," Laurence seemed hardly bothered.

    Morganna shook her head in disagreement, "This is not eptable. My granddaughters won''t be able to find a decent suitor if they behave like this. It would be hard to get them married for the better prosperity of Devon." The mother Queen then turned her eyes towards the maid, and ordered, "This is not the first time in this month and we don''t want it to repeat. No food will be sent to her room. If I find out someone offered the food to the princess, you shall be tortured in the dungeon."

    Hearing this, the maid bowed her head. Even though Lady Samara didn''t know half of the time what her daughter was upto, she didn''t like her daughter being deprived of food, and she said, "Queen Morganna, let me go get Lucy-"

    "That won''t be necessary," interrupted Morganna before picking her knife and fork that was on the table.

    Calhoun, who was listening and watching the royal family drama, said, "She didn''tmit a crime." His voice startled the people at the table, making their head turn to look at him.

    "Do you have a problem, young man?" questioned Morganna with her eyebrows raising up.

    One would think that it would be best to not question the Queen''s decision, but Calhoun offered her a polite smile, "I said she didn''tmit a crime that warrants her from being denied food." The servant''s who were in the room, their eyes turned wide.

    Morganna red at Calhoun, fuming in her seat, "How dare you question my decision?" she glowered.

 Chapter 589 Sharing meal- Part 1

    <h4>589 Sharing meal- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Everyone present in the dining room looked back and forth between Queen Morganna and the young man, whom the King had imed as his son, Calhoun. Until now, no one dared to interrupt or question the Queen''s words, which was why it was quite a shocking surprise for them that Calhoun questioned her decision of punishing her granddaughter.

    Queen Morganna furiously looked at Calhoun. The boy had only arrived today, yet he had the audacity to speak. Seeing him not utter a word, she harrumphed and-

    "I find it to be strange that you would deny a meal as punishment to someone who is young and is barely taking her time away from the dining room," stated Calhoun, and if people''s eyes hadn''t turned wide-eyed earlier, it did now.

    Queen Morganna tried topose her expression, and she demanded, "Am I now supposed to ask someone like you to know what I am, and I am not supposed to do with my granddaughter? Leave the dining room!" she shouted, her words echoing in the room.

    Laurence didn''t say anything because it was the Queen''s words over anyone else''s words all these years. His mother was the one who sent out orders, and everyone followed them without opposing as a sign of respect.

    Calhoun stared back at the old woman, his eyes piercing through and into her, "It seems like people here are not allowed to give their opinions."

    This was enough to irk the Queen even more than before, and she stood up from her seat and pointed her hand towards the door, "And it seems like people whoe from streets don''t know the rules that need to be followed, which the royal family sets. If you are so much against what I have decided. Victor!" She called the person in charge of meals and the kitchen, "See to it that even he is not offered food. And as a punishment, even his bodyguard won''t be allowed to have food from the kitchen tonight until tomorrow morning. They will be provided with food only after I am done with eating my breakfast!"

    "Yes, my Queen," the man bowed his head, obeying Morganna''s instructions.

    Calhoun dropped the cutlery he had been holding right next to the tes that ttered softly, and when he got up, the chair screeched against the floor, making the vampires and vampiress'' flinch at the sharp sound.

    Without another word, Calhoun walked out of the room, but Theodore didn''t leave. Seeing this, Morganna''s re fell on Theodore.

    "Did you not hear what I said? It applied to you too," she tried to control her anger.

    Theodore bowed his head, "King Laurence has ordered me to protect the future King Calhoun. I am doing my duty seriously, my Queen, and it is my responsibility to see it that no one is speaking ill towards the prince."

    Listening to Theodore''s words, a vein popped on Morganna''s forehead.

    Morganna didn''t take her seat, and she gritted her teeth, trying to simmer her anger that the two young men had tried to me since their arrival.

    "I cannot believe this is happening, Laurence," Morganna turned to look at her son, "Make sure that the boy knows how to speak and doesn''t disrespect any of the elders'' words. Thest thing you know, he will try to teach us what is right and wrong."

    Instead of taking it seriously, Laurence chuckled, "Don''t worry about it, mother," and Morganna wanted to re at her son, but he was the King of Devon. He told her not to worry, but Morganna could tell that this young man was bad news. She had thrown his mother out of the castle. He would receive the same fate soon. "It is only his first day in the castle. Before tomorrow''s supper''s time, he will be well-versed in what to do and what not to do. How about now we all have meals in peace. Please take your seat, mother."

    Morganna offered her son a smile, and she then sat down. At least Calhoun was not here right now, thought Queen Morganna to herself, she would need to do something quickly.

    Outside the room and in one of the corridors, Calhoun was walking when Theodore caught up to him.

    "Why did you do that?" asked Theodore.

    "Refusing a meal?" Calhoun questioned back, and Theodore chuckled.

    "You know what I am speaking about. Don''t let your emotions take over, my future King. The woman is obviously a serpent who has people coiled around her old finger, including the King," said Theodore.

    "I am aware of it," said Calhoun. Every time he saw Morganna''s face, he wanted to strangle her, but that was too easy for a person who had tortured and humiliated his mother in front of everyone. Making it such that his mother couldn''t raise her head in front of the people.

    "You know��" Theodore drawled, "I keep thinking you are emotionless, but you do things that make me question my opinion. Helping your future sister, what a kind brother."

    Calhoun''s eyes shifted to look at Theodore, and he replied, "I didn''t do it for her. The things in the castle are worse than what is on the streets." Calhoun stopped walking, and he turned to look at the sky from the open corridor. "It is good to irk the old woman though. It gives me some sort of satisfaction," and a slow smile appeared on his lips that pulled up, stretching it wide.

    Calhoun couldn''t wait to turn every single person''s life into his own personal living hell, who were responsible for his mother''s misery. All these years, because of his mother staying next to him, he had not done anything. But with his mother no more alive, all he felt was the emptiness and how hollow his life was.

    All these people were responsible for stealing his mother away from him, and it was time for revenge.

    "You know I am hungry," murmured Theodore, and Calhoun turned to look at the four eyes, and he offered him a smile.

    "I know where to get food."

 Chapter 590 Sharing meal- Part 2

    <h4>590 Sharing meal- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Lucy sat with her knees pulled close to her chest, hugging them while sitting on the bed. She didn''t know what was taking the maids so long in bringing her dinner to her room. She was so used to eating in time that her stomach started growling, and she sighed, staring at the door.

    "Guess I will go out myself and see," she muttered under her breath, and pushing the nket away from her legs, she carefully ced both her legs on the floor.

    One of her legs looked normal, while the other leg looked swollen. She quickly held both her hands together, looking up at the ceiling. She said, "Oh God, please don''t leave me with this swollen leg forever. Make the swelling disappear by tomorrow morning.."

    If someone were to hear what Lucy said, especially her family members, they would frown and reprimand her along with the maids around her, believing them to be brainwashing her with the humane beliefs.

    Getting up from the bed, she walked towards the door and opened it. The maids were not there, and even the servants didn''t appear to be walking anywhere near the corridor. She wondered where everyone had gone.

    "Amice? Ruby?" Lucy softly called the maids name by peeking her head out of the room without stepping out of the room. "ra? Brielle?" but she received no response from anyone.

    Lucy pulled open the door and stepped outside the room. It waste...She had waited for her meal to appear in her room and had fallen asleep before waking up and wondering where it was.

    Her bare feet walked on the castle''s cold marble floor, passing through torches that were lit on the walls. When she met a servant, Lucy questioned,

    "Where are Ruby and Amice? My food has not been sent to my room," Lucy crossed her hands against her chest, staring at the servant with a frown on her face. The servant bowed his head, and he informed her,

    "Mdy, Queen Morganna has ordered us to not send you any food to your room tonight nor offer food."

    "What? Does grandma expect me to sleep on an empty stomach?" she let go of her hands that she had crossed a few seconds ago.

    The servant bowed his head deeply, "Queen Morganna seemed unhappy by your absence in the dining room," and Lucy rolled her eyes. It wasn''t like her grandmother couldn''t swallow food without seeing her. "Unfortunately, we cannot help you as she has ordered all the servants not to help. If anyone does, it would warrant us time in the dungeon."

    Lucy nodded her head, "You can go now. Thank you," she dismissed the servant, and the person bowed his head again before making his way to the servant quarters.

    The dining room had fruits!

    When Lucy arrived at the dining room, she looked at the table and was greeted by an empty bowl. Her grandmother was sure not happy, thought Lucy to herself.

    Lucy idly walked through the corridors, and she heard something. She wondered what it was and followed the sound. Her eyes turned wide when she caught sight of four people in the dark ce.

    Lucy was greeted with Calhoun and Theodore, who were sucking blood from the two maids. Calhoun was quicker in drinking blood from the maid, and the maid lost her bnce as if she fell unconscious on the ground.

    "W-what are you doing?" Lucy demanded, looking at the maid. Seeing the vampiress, Theodore pull away from his meal.

    "Having dinner," came Calhoun''s nonchnt response, but Lucy didn''t find it right, and she shook her head to snap out of her daze.

    "You cannot go killing a person for your meal! They are living people!" Lucy had grown up around them, and even though they weren''t her maids, they belonged to her...oh no, thought Lucy to herself. "Grandmother is going to rage tomorrow morning," she said, "Didn''t they serve you enough at the dining table that you decided to take the maids'' lives?"

    "You speak as if you survive on nts," muttered Calhoun, barely bothered by seeing the panic in the vampiress'' eyes. "You think the blood you drinkes from the nts or rabbits?"

    "Yes."

    Both Calhoun and Lucy stared at each other without blinking their eyes. Calhoun didn''t know if the princess was too sheltered or was purposely acting dumb right now.

    Lucy''s gaze was interrupted by Theodore, "We were denied from having meals, Lady Lucy, and we were starving."

    Frowning, she asked, "Why? Did you both not go to the dining room to have dinner?"

    "We did," responded Calhoun before picking up the maid''s body on his shoulder and licked the blood off his fingers.

    Theodore, who still held the maid, went to exin, "We were in the dining room, but your grandmother didn''t want us joining the table because she didn''t like something that Calhoun said."

    "Grandmother is intolerant about a lot of things. It is why you won''t often find me where she is," the young vampiress grinned. Most of the things Lucy liked to do were things that her grandmother and the other royal family members disapproved of. "By the way, what did you say?"

    Calhoun didn''t reply to her, and he instead walked past her without a word.

    Watching her half-brother leave, Lucymented, "He seems very aloof."

    Hearing this, Theodore smiled, "Calhoun disapproved of your grandmother''s words about you being denied any food. There was just a little discussion that didn''t go down well."

    Lucy''s brows raised high, and she quickly turned around, but Calhoun had disappeared. Had he stood up for her sake? Asked the young vampiress in her mind.

    Until now, no one had ever done it for her.

 Chapter 591 Sharing meal- Part 3

    <h4>591 Sharing meal- Part 3</h4>

    Since Lucy had stepped into the quiet side of the castle, Theodore had stopped sucking the blood from the maid. Before he could say anything, Theodore heard a loud growling from Lucy''s stomach, "I believe you are more hungry than I am, mdy. Would you like to take a sip or more?" he offered her.

    The smell of blood was heavy in this ce, and it invaded her senses. She quickly shook her head, "I-I cannot. I have never killed someone for blood," she confessed to Theodore.

    "You don''t have to kill her because I already did that," said Theodore. Lucy was a vampiress with the purest soul and heart, almost like she was an angel''s child, while Theodore was a demon. His words and the smell of blood that wafted near her nose tried to sway her, but she tried to hold her ground.

    "It is wrong," said Lucy, taking a step back and seeing the lifeless looking maids. "Grandmother is not going to take it well once she finds out what you did to her two maids. Please hide them."

    Theodore found it funny that Lucy was against killing, yet she told him to hide the body so that he wouldn''t get caught along with Calhoun.

    "How is your foot?" Theodore''s question surprised her, and Lucy quickly tried to hide her feet behind her skirt. "I saw you get stung by the bee," he added.

    And here, she thought no one had noticed it. She brought her bare foot ahead to show it to him and said, "It feels like I wrapped it up with a cloth. It will get better by tomorrow."

    She stood there in front of Theodore, awkwardly in silence. One part of her was hungry, and she could feel her gums ache because her fangs wanted to sink into the maid''s neck and drink blood from her. While the other part of her held onto her morals that her parents didn''t teach but was taught by Ruby.

    "It isn''t bad, you know��" said Theodore, bringing the young vampiress'' attention back to him, "The maid is dead, and you might as well share it with me else I will finish the blood myself. If it makes you feel better, why don''t you remember the time when the maid did something against you? I am sure there will be something," whispered the demon.

    Pursing her lips with her stomach rumbling and her throat feeling dry, she slowly took a step to where Theodore stood. Theodore angled the maid for Lucy, and the sight of the blood was enough to entice her. Moving closer, she bent down with her mouth open, and she finally sunk her fangs into the maid''s neck.

    Lucy didn''t know she was this hungry, but it burst into vours when the blood touched her tongue, making her suck the blood faster. Being the princess, she never needed to sink her fangs into someone, and this was her first time. It was tastier than what she was offered in the ss.

    "Thank you," Lucy thanked Theodore, and he gave her a nod.

    "You are most wee, mdy. Why don''t you go back to your room, and like you said, I will hide this one somewhere safe so she can rest in peace," he patted the maid''s arm.

    Lucy nodded her head, and she saw Theodore start to walk away from there. Before he could disappear, she called him, "Wait!"

    Theodore wondered why Lucy had stopped him, and she came to where he was, whispering to him, "There''s a forest thates behind the castle, and you will find a big tree with hanging branches. Not many go there."

    For someone innocent, she sure knew ces where to dig the bodies, thought Theodore to himself.

    "I will keep that in mind," Theodore bowed his head and left.

    Lucy''s stomach had stopped rumbling, and she decided to meet the governess who hade to the castle. Familiar with the castle and its corridors, Lucy made her way to the guest rooms. She was about to knock on the door, but she noticed the door was left slightly ajar. She heard a pair of voices speaking to each other in a hushed tone, and Lucy recognized one of them to be her mother''s voice. What was she doing here at this hour of the night?

    "Are you sure about it, mdy?" asked a woman, whom Lucy believed it to be of the governess.

    "Yes," replied her mother, "My daughter is naive, and I would prefer you to spend your time educating her than wasting away her time on useless things. Her maids will be changed so that they wouldn''t hinder her learning, and you will solely be responsible for her proper etiquette. Don''t bother me with silly things; if you feel the need to punish her, you can do it."

    "Yes, mdy. I will keep that in mind," replied the governess. "I will make sure to get her ready for marriage in less than two months."

    "I look forward to it. She isn''t a boy, which is why she cannot get the throne, but at least she can be useful in the better of Devon," stated her mother, and Lucy felt her heart drop.

    She could feel the distant emotions in her mother''s voice when it came to her feelings towards her very own daughter.

    When she heard the footsteps approach towards the door, Lucy quickly stepped away from the door to hide behind arge pir until her mother had left the corridor and the governess had closed the door of her room.

    Lucy had often tried to ignore it and looked at the brighter side in everything, but there were times when it was too much for her to handle.

 Chapter 592 Pepper please- Part 1

    <h4>592 Pepper please- Part 1</h4>

    .

    When the next day arrived, Queen Morganna woke up like any other day with the maids and her servants waiting on her at her every beck and call. She was bathed by the help of the maids, and dressed in the finest silks and wore jewels that were brought from the othernds. But when she stepped out of the room, she hadn''t expected to have her two maids disappeared and not standing in front of her.

    "Where is Edith and Sybil? I haven''t seen them since the time of morning," questioned Morganna, her red eyes sweeping through the servants who were around.

    "They must be busy with some other work, my Queen," replied another maid, bowing her head, but Morganna was not pleased, and she found it to be rather odd.

    "I am the only one who gives orders to them. And everyone in the castle knows that they are my personnel maids. Nic! Go find them and bring them here to me immediately," ordered the Queen and the maid who had answered earlier, bowed her head inpliance.

    "Right away, mdy," and the maid quickly walked away.

    "What are the recent news for today, Maurice?" demanded Morganna, making her way out of her room and through the corridors. "How have things been in the castle?"

    "Just as you wanted, my Queen. I made sure to keep the kitchen keys with me after locking the kitchen doors, and I cleared every room that had fruits or any other eatables in there. Even the sheds and barns have been locked until the wake of dawn," informed the man named Maurice, who was the Queen''s main informer and eyes in the castle. "The two young men who arrived yesterday with King Laurence haven''t left their rooms sincest night, and I can tell that they have been starved."

    "Starved is not the right word, Maurice," Morganna dismissed the maids who had been following her as they were of no more use to her right now, and if she did need them, she could always summon them upon her one word. "What my son did yesterday, it is something unforgivable, but he is the King of Devon, and it is his words over mine. The boy needs to be kicked out of the castle at the earliest with the other boy with him."

    "Forgive me, my Queen, but is it possible? King Laurence seems intent on keeping the boy as Calhoun is his son and be used to rule Devon," Maurice quickly bowed his head when Morganna''s eyes shifted to look at him.

    Morganna took no offence at her loyal servant''s words, and she huffed.

    She had faced many people in her lives, and a young man like Calhoun was nothing but a speck of dust. All she had to do was blow the dust, and it would disappear. But Morganna didn''t know that Calhoun was the dust that could trouble an eye until it spilt tears from it.

    When Morganna entered the dining room, the royal family members were already present, and so were the two young men. Even her granddaughter seemed to have made her presence in the dining room after skippingst night.

    "Looks like you finally found your way towards the dining room without getting lost and going back to your room,"mented Morganna, staring at Lucy, who bowed her head in greeting.

    Lucy knew if she was going to avoid having food with her family, her grandmother would find something worse, and who knew if Calhoun would stand up for her or not. But if they did, the maids would turn to nothing less to chicken, and the maid''s headcount would decrease in the castle. She was only being thoughtful about it, thought Lucy to herself, and she grinned.

    "Oh no," Lucy shook her head, and she smiled, "I didn''t want to trouble the maids. It would be troublesome in the end, and I thought it was best for the maids and the servants, and also you."

    "For someone who didn''t have her supperst night and didn''t eat until now, you seemed to be very energetic," stated Morganna, taking her seat at the table.

    In response, Lucy asked, "Can you tell?" her head tilted to the side.

    Since she had woken up in the morning, Lucy felt energetic, and her vision had turned much more clearer than before, and so did her hearing. She was sure it was because of the blood she had drank from the maid. Even though it was something she was not supposed to feel, she could feel her throat turn dry and her mouth water at the same time, thinking about the potent taste of fresh blood on her tongue.

    Lucy felt someone nudge her leg, and she turned to see her mother, who red at her to behave herself right this instance.

    "It looks like sweet Lucy snuck out and ate something, did you not, dear?" asked Lady Rosamund, a polite and friendly smile on her lips.

    "How is that possible, Aunt Rosamund, when grandmother clearly ordered everyone not to let me eat and starve," came the quick words from Lucy, and everyone heard a ttere from Morganna''s te as her knife had hit her te.

    "Lucy Hawthrone, what do you mean by this?" demanded Morganna, her eyes narrowed and waiting for her granddaughter to speak.

    Theodore, who stood near the wall, wondered if the young vampiress had the same blood that he had. Because he was normal but the vampiress, she looked like someone high on sweets or alcohol. Her thoughts were straightforward, and clearly, the Queen didn''t appreciate it.

 Chapter 593 Pepper please- Part 2

    <h4>593 Pepper please- Part 2</h4>

    Lucy offered her an innocent look, "Well, grandmother punished me by ordering the maids not to give me any food. And I was left starving...Was that not what happened?" she asked.

    Lady Samara''s eyes were about to fall out from her sockets over her daughter''s words, and she whispered, "What is wrong with you, Lucy?! Apologise right now!"

    "It seems like theck of food in your body has only turned you rude and misbehaving. If you are so eager to run your mouth and defy me, then I would like to tell you this," said Morganna, "From today onwards, you shall not step out of the castle. You will not be allowed to attend any soirees, nor will you be allowed to go out for your ''air'', you shall no-"

    Calhoun, who sat at the table, didn''t bother to participate in the discussion, and he suddenly stretched his hand towards Lucy. The young vampiress'' attention broke away from her grandmother, and Queen Morganna''s mouth was left hung open by seeing she was interrupted.

    King Laurence wasn''t present yet in the dining room yet as he was busy in the royal courtroom.

    "What?" questioned Lady Samara, startled.

    "Pepper," came the nonchnt words from Calhoun, "I wanted pepper. The roasted chicken tastes well with pepper."

    Everyone at the table was left dumbfounded looking at Calhoun, who waited for someone to pass the pepper vial. Lucy leaned forward, reaching for the small pepper vial, and she handed it to Calhoun, who sat across the table from where she sat.

    With the room filled with vampires, everyone could hear the pepper shaking in the little ss vial as Calhoun sprinkled it over his roasted chicken in his te.

    "What do you think you are doing, boy?" demanded Rosamund as she could see her mother turning more angry with every passing second.

    Calhoun raised his head, hiszy red eyes looking up at the woman who had spoken to him, "Excuse me?" he asked as if he hadn''t heard the first time she had spoken.

    "It''s pepper, not an ingredient to be poured all over your te by making so much of sound," Rosamund remarked, her eyebrows furrowing by hearing the continuous sound in the dining room.

    With King Laurence''s absence from the dining room, the other royal members didn''t hold back themselves from subtly showing Calhoun his ce. Letting him know how he didn''t belong here but outside the castle.

    Calhoun''s blood ran cold, and his hold on the vial of ss tightened. He knew this was going to happen once he would start to live in the castle, but reality hurt more than the imagination. His mother''s image had been tarnished, and with the way it looked, the people here didn''t care about his mother, including his power-hungry father.

    Rosamund and Lady Samara chuckled at Queen Morganna''s words, but Lucy didn''t find it funny. The young vampiress had no clue about what was just spoken, and her eyes slowly drifted to look at Calhoun, who stared at the surface of the table.

    Theodore, who stood near the wall, his eyes subtly narrowed at the low blow caused by the Queen''s words, and he could only hope Calhoun would not attack the Queen right now. Calhoun''s shoulders had turned tense, and he hadn''t responded a word.

    Morganna smugly smiled at the boy who had blindly thought he could survive in the castle. Within a week, she would throw him out of here so that in the future, he would never show his face at the castle ever again.

    "We should forgive people whoe from the streets because they know nothing, but it does make me question why they even bother entering a ce where they don''t belong to. Pity that people don''t understand," Morganna clicked her tongue before picking the cutlery from either side of her te.

    Lady Samara wasn''t happy with her husband''s decision, but knowing how her inws felt about it, it put the woman back in a good mood. Not wanting to miss an opportunity, she decided to take part in the conversation,

    "How much do you think they earn, my Queen? Is it worth the coins?" asked Lady Samara.

    Something flipped in Calhoun''s mind, and he sat back against the chair before turning the cap of the vial that covered the pepper bottle with small holes in it. The cap would have been easily opened, but Calhoun took his sweet time turning the cap so that it made an annoying sound in the room.

    The people in the room flinched at the sound that Calhoun was deliberately making, and when he did open the top, he tried to dip his finger inside the pepper bottle.

    "What do you think you are doing?!" asked Lady Samara in horror. A low life''s hand was being dipped into the bottle, and now they would have to ask the maid to clean and refill the vial ss again.

    Calhoun raised his eyebrows, "I? You didn''t want me making noise, so I decided I would sprinkle the pepper with my fingers," he then offered her a sweet and polite smile that spread across his lips.

    "How dare you! Are you trying to instigate something?!" demanded Lady Samara.

    "Calm down, Samara," Queen Morganna pacified her daughter-inw while looking at Calhoun.

 Chapter 594 Pepper please- Part 3

    <h4>594 Pepper please- Part 3</h4>

    The smile on Calhoun''s lips didn''t die down, and a small chuckle escaped his lips, "You seem upset...grandmother," and Morganna''s eyes red.

    "I.Am.Not.Your.Grandmother," the Queen entuated every word. "A person who belongs to the whore."

    "My my, I should tell the King how you are calling him to be a whore," not that it was wrong because King Laurence had many affairs with women in the past.

    "ENOUGH!"

    The silverware on the table cluttered as Morganna stood up from her chair, and she red at Calhoun. If her eyes could burn things, Calhoun would have turned to ash. "Don''t try to cross your line here. You forget I am still the mother Queen, and one word is enough to let you know where you belong," and her eyes moved to look at the floor.

    Without replying to what Morganna said, Calhoun, who was done sprinkling enough pepper on his chicken, he ced the pepper bottle''s cap back on it. The noise of the cap being turned filled the room once again, and the older vampiresses in the room looked more than annoyed by this action.

    Nobody had ever upset Morganna the way this boy''s presence did in the dining room.

    Calhoun''s head tilted to the side, and he noticed the excess amount of pepper that was on his te. Leaning forward, with one blow of his mouth, most of the pepper scattered on the table, turning it messy.

    Before anyone could tell anything, King Laurence walked past the entrance of the dining room, and he noticed his mother standing at the table at her seat.

    "Everything alright, mother?" questioned Laurence, his eyes moving to look at the other people in the room who had stood up. Calhoun was the first one to bow his head, and he said,

    "Grandmother was making toast for my arrival at the castle, and saying how happy she is to have a grandson like me," his face had turned back to a calm one as if he weren''t smiling a while ago.

    "Seems like we should but before that," stated King Laurence looking at his mother, "Calhoun has a lot to learn, and we can then toast and celebrate. Let''s keep it until then, yes, mother? Seems like you are more excited to have him here than I," heughed before taking the seat at the head of the table.

    When Morganna sat down gingerly without causing any scenes, her gaze shifted to look at Calhoun who looked back at her. He brought the meat towards his mouth and took a bite from it before a subtle smile appeared on his lips.

    Lucy went to her study room where her governess was waiting for her. The woman wore sses on her face, and her hair was tied up into a bun without letting a single piece of her hair down. She appeared to be somewhere in herte twenties.

    "Good morning, Lady Lucy. It is a pleasure to finally make acquaintance with you, I have been eager to meet you. I am Deborah Lewis, but you can call me Ms. Lewis," the woman introduced herself,? stepping forward, she leaned and air kissed Lucy on both her cheeks.

    "Why don''t we take a seat and start with your studies right away," the woman ced her hand on Lucy''s back. "There''s no time to waste. It is time to fix your ways and turn you to a fine and refineddy."

    "I know the way to the study table," said Lucy, pushing the woman''s hand away from her back and she offered her governess a polite smile. She walked towards the table and sat down.

    She would have acted normal if she hadn''t heard her mother and the governess speak to each otherst night. In the end, she was only a pawn to be used, and there was no more value in their eyes for her, Lucy thought to herself sadly.

    The governess rolled her eyes over the princess'' attitude, and she followed Lucy before pulling out a book and cing it on the table. "Have you gone through the poetry, Lady Lucy?"

    "It is unnecessary to study poetry," imed Lucy, "I am not going to write a poem for someone when words can be easily conveyed."

    "That is where you are wrong, Lady Lucy" replied Ms. Lewis. "Poetry is not about big or flowery words, but it is expressing emotions. To y with words by using metaphors and personification. Reading in between lines, that only certain people can while some are lost. Years ago, people wrote poems to pass messages, because the information couldn''t be passed through ay man''s words, with the fear of losing their life or head," exined Lucy''s governess.

    "And, poetry is very important when ites to expressing your emotions to the other person."

    "I thought it was men''s job to write poems and please us women," frowned Lucy. "And if a suitor wants my hand in marriage, I believe he will be satisfied without any poems written by me as my father is the King, the suitor would be showered with money handsomely."

    The governess widened her eyes, "Mdy, that is wrong usage of words. The proper words are, whoever marries you, will receive betrothal gifts."

    "That is what I meant," muttered Lucy under her breath before pulling the book and flipping the pages.

 Chapter 595 The Crow- Part 1

    <h4>595 The Crow- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Lucy scribbled something in her parchments while the governess sat in front of her at the table, scrutinizing the young vampiress'' writing. Two hours had passed since they had taken their seats at the table, and the governess had made her write and understand the meanings of the poems, which Lucy still didn''t understand why she had to learn them. Especially ones that belonged to people whom she hadn''t met or known.

    When Lucy finished writing, she pushed the parchment towards the governess, and Ms. Lewis picked it up to examine it through her sses.

    "Wonderful," praised the governess. "Your inferences on the poem and ability to read between the lines seem perfect, though we will need to work on those metaphors."

    Lucy beamed with a smile, "I guess we can work on that slowly as there''s plenty of time for it."

    The woman nodded her head, "Yes, you are right. I don''t think your suitors would go in-depth by asking you about poetry unless the inws decide to question you on literature."

    "Is it true?" questioned Lucy.

    Ms. Lewis, who was going through Lucy''s beautiful handwriting, looked up from the parchments, meeting the vampiresses eyes, "What is?"

    "That I will be married within the next two months?" there was a spark of fire in Lucy''s eyes, and the governess mistook it to be Lucy''s excitement over the matter.

    "Isn''t that splendid? I believe it is something that you have been looking forward to, to find a suitable man and marry him," said the governess, "Now that I know how eager you are, it only makes it that much easier for your parents to find the suitor. I know some girls who were being educated and didn''t want to marry at the correct time."

    "What happened to them?" asked Lucy, sensing there was more story to the governess'' words.

    The governess leaned over and whispered to Lucy, "They were forced into the marriage, of course. It is what the girl should rightfully do, to marry a man and have children."

    Lucy nodded her head, "I suppose that is what men should do too, right? Considering how a woman needs a man to marry, it should hold the same the other way round."

    The governess wanted to deny what the princess said, but she decided to keep her thoughts to herself and said, "You can take some break, and we can continue to study with your music lessons."

    "You seem well versed with everything, Ms. Lewis. Why aren''t you married?" It was an innocent question by Lucy, but the governess didn''t take too kindly to it.

    "Some of us choose this path to enlighten children who need to be taught the right and wrongs, Lady Lucy."

    "Are you from the church? I heard that the priests and the nuns there are very kind. They never refuse to help and offer nothing but kindness," Lucy bombarded the woman with the next question.

    A few minutester, Lucy was found walking in the corridors, which weren''t far from her study room. She had spent only two hours studying, and she was already tired.

    Her mouth parted open, and a yawn escaped through her lips, and she brought her hand up, but it waste in covering her mouth.

    "What a loud yawn," came a voice from somewhere, and Lucy looked back and forth but found no one around. Did studying poetry put her in a hallucination state now? She asked herself.

    "W-who is it?" demanded Lucy, her eyebrows deeply furrowed.

    Lucy then heard a thump on the ground behind her, and she turned around to see it was Theodore. Did hee from above? She looked up at the tall walls and the roofs.

    "You startled me!"

    "My apologies for startling you, Lady Lucy," he deeply bowed his head.

    "You must have been a cat in your previous life, Theodore,"mented Lucy, and the man tilted his head to the side.

    He questioned, "If I may know, why do you think that?"

    "You keep jumping here and there, I mean on the ground," stated Lucy while wondering what he was even doing up on the roofs.

    Theodore''s ever so polite expression stared at Lucy, and the vampiress wondered if she should leave. At least since she hadst seen him in the alley, there was something very strange about him. The ever so calm smile on lips that pulled up was something that daunted her, yet it was also something that intrigued her curiosity in him.

    Being the Devon''s princess, Lucy was used to people flocking around her and opening their mouths to please her, but this person and her new half-brother stood apart from the rest of the crowd.

    "How is your leg now?" inquired the man, and Lucy looked down at her feet, that was now wearing shoes and hidden behind the dress.

    "Much better thanst night. Thank you for asking," Lucy responded.

    "You don''t have to thank me, mdy. It is only right that we take care of our beloved princess with a lot of care and make sure no harm befalls her." The smooth and sweet talk, along with the smile that quirked up Theodore''s lips, was enough to have Lucy''s heart skip a beat, and she softly gulped before lowering her eyes. The smile subtly increased on his lips, and he asked, "I see that your ss with the governess hasmenced."

    "Yes, it has," replied Lucy, she wondered how long she had strayed away from the study room, and right now, she didn''t have the heart to go back.

    All these days, Lucy had spent her time outside the rooms, not sitting in one ce and walking in and out of the castle. This sudden change of having to sit in a closed room and with only the governess was too fast of a change for Lucy.

    "You must be delighted to have someone to teach you," Theodore humoured her with a question.

 Chapter 596 The Crow- Part 2

    <h4>596 The Crow- Part 2</h4>

    He saw a look of dismay pass through her facial expression, but her response was quite the opposite, "Yes! I am overwhelmed to have my governess teach me things that are....valuable as she tells," and she put up a smile on her lips.

    "What a good time to learn things. You must make the best use of it, Lady Lucy. You never know when what mighte to your use."

    "Hm," Lucy responded, "Did you have a governess too?"

    A small chuckle escaped Theodore''s lips, and it had Lucy look at him with a quizzical look on her face. "Not everyone is lucky and bestowed with highly qualified people who are willing to teach, mdy, especially a governor or a governess. Though I would like to say, there is a woman who taught me things that I think have been useful."

    "Even to fight?" whispered Lucy, and when their eyes met, she quickly looked away from him, "You can forget I asked you that question."

    "Why? There''s nothing wrong with the question you ask, Lady Lucy," Theodore offered her a kind smile, "It is good to ask questions."

    "Mother says otherwise," muttered Lucy, and it wasn''t just her mother, but also her grandmother who didn''t like her questioning things. In the past, it had oftennded her in trouble, and this was why she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from questioning.

    "It seems like you find it hard to fit in here, Lady Lucy. The rules, I mean," Theodore pushed his sses upwards that had subtly slid down his nose, while his gaze was on the young vampiress, who looked nothing less to a sheep that was lost. He wondered if it was possible to use her to their advantage, but then she was naive, someone who didn''t know or failed to understand that she lived amid the wolves at the castle. "The fight no. I didn''t learn it from the woman; it was something I picked up on the streets. The streets teaches you everything and very quickly. A very quick gain of knowledge."

    "Is that so," asked Lucy, and she bit the inside of her lips before letting it go, "Maybe you should teach me."

    This time it was Theodore who looked surprised and taken aback by the princess'' request.

    "I don''t think I am following you, mdy," responded Theodore, the smile still intact on his lips.

    "I mean the knowledge," Lucy beamed to the side, an innocent smile on her face.

    Theodore nodded his head, "Maybe when I am free. Though I believe a lot of things, you will find it to be useless."

    At the same time, they heard a distant voice of the governess calling for Lucy as her break time was over, and it was time to return to her study room.

    "It was nice meeting you here, Theodore," replied Lucy, and the man bowed his head.

    "Likewise, mdy."

    When Lucy left the spot, walking away from the corridor and disappearing behind one of the walls, the smile on Theodore''s lips fell. It seemed like the princess was liberal with her words as she didn''t bother herself to call him ''Mr. Chauncey'' and instead preferred to call him Theodore. Was it perhaps because he wasn''t up to her status, which was why she took her liberty or was it just in her nature? Wondered Theodore in his mind.

    The remaining day, Lucy spent her time with her governess while yawning as she was tired.

    "It''s been only four hours, mdy, and this is only the beginning. We still need to get your music sheet ready," said the governess in a stern voice. "This is no time to be sleeping as we need to work on your skills."

    "I don''t understand,"ined Lucy, "I have to study history and politics, yet I am not allowed to take part in the discussions going on in the royal court room. Why? Grandmother takes part in it."

    "Queen Morganna, Lady Lucy," corrected Ms. Lewis while gathering all the books from the table and getting up so that they could be ced back in their assigned ces. "It is Queen Morganna."

    "She''s still my grandmother, and she isn''t here," Lucy brushed her governess'' words, "So tell me, why am I not allowed, yet ampelled to read these old and dusty parchments?"

    Ms. Lewis turned around to see Lucy staring at her, and she answered, "That is because Queen Morganna is the Queen, and she is still part of the royal court, ruling it along with your father. Your mother decided it was best that you concentrate on your skills and develop talents-"

    "Talents that will appease my husband. I know," there was a tinge of bitterness in Lucy''s mouth. "What if I am not ready?" Lucy stood up from her seat, walking towards one of the shelves, "What if I am not ready to take a husband?"

    "That ispletely out of the question, mdy. With me here, you will be ready within a month. Your mother expects good results, and I intend to give her the best. Now let''s start your music lessons for the piano ready-"

    "I don''t like the piano," Lucyined, crossing her arms against her chest.

    "No problem, we can go with the violin. It might be-"

    "I don''t like that either."

    Ms. Lewis ced all the books in their intended ce, and she could see that the princess was right now trying to push her buttons. But, Ms. Lewis had taught many brazen and irresponsible children, and she had turned them into fine youngdies. The princess was not going to be an exception from it.

    "And which instrument do you like?" asked Ms. Lewis, keeping her patience.

 Chapter 597 The Crow- Part 3

    <h4>597 The Crow- Part 3</h4>

    The governess'' lips twitched, and she slowly nodded her head, "Alright then. Let me get the metronome, and let me hear your beautiful voice."

    "Yes!"

    When the young vampiress had mentioned that she liked to sing, the governess was sure that the princess had the sweetest voice that would enchant everyone who heard her sing. Even Lucy looked eager to sing, and Ms. Lewis came to believe that this part of the princess'' curriculum would be the easiest to handle and manage. It would even save both of them time.

    The governess brought the metronome instrument and ced it on the table. The stick started to sway back and forth, simr to a pendulum while making a soft ticking sound.

    "What will you be singing today, Lady Lucy?" asked Ms. Lewis.

    "I was thinking about ''Blood and gore on the walls of the-"

    "Maybe we should try something easier and lighter, yes? How about you sing Daisys in the garden. I believe you know this song?" Lucy quickly nodded her head at her governesses question. "Okay, then. Sing when you are ready."

    Lucy held both her hands together in the front as she could now hear silence in the room. Finally, there was peace, and she could hear the birds chirping somewhere far away.

    "Go on," Ms. Lewis encouraged her with a poised look on her face.

    Lucy cleared her throat, coughing, and she then opened her mouth to sing,

    "LOOK AT THE DAISY''S THAT HAVE GROWN IN THE MEADOW. O'' LOOK THERE, IT WAS ONLY YESTERDAY THE SEEDS WERE PLANTED."

    Ms. Lewis''s eyes turned wide, and she felt her heart was ready to jump out of her chest because of the sudden high pitch in the princess'' voice. She winced and felt the sses in the room vibrate on Lucy''s voice.

    The other people who were nearby the study room flinched hearing someone sing loudly with their shrill voice.

    Calhoun, who was walking in the corridor frowned, and looked in the direction from where the sound wasing from, "Who is singing in a sweet tone?" he muttered sarcastically to himself before heading in the other direction.

    Queen Morganna had only just sat to have her evening blood tea when she heard her granddaughter who was screaming her lungs out in the name of singing, and she looked at her maids, "What is going on? Go tell the governess to stop it this instance," she rubbed her forehead as if a sudden ache had started in her head.

    Theodore hadn''t moved away from the area he had earlier been in, and he was sitting on the roof on one side of the castle when he heard the voice of the vampiress, and a chuckle escaped his lips. What a funny little girl she was, thought Theodore to himself.

    Lucy gave an oblivious look, "The daisy''s?"

    "You said you like to sing," the governess had a look of bewilderment on her face. The reason why she had dropped the idea of the instruments was because the princess said she loved to sing.

    "I very much do," replied Lucy, but then she put on a sad face, "But for some reason, I am never allowed to sing."

    The governess pursed her lips tightly, and she took a deep breath, feeling a certain echo in her ears even though Lucy had stopped singing now, "That''s alright mdy. We can work on your singing...perhapster, and maybe stick to the instruments for now. Yes? Yes!"

    "Let meplete the song for you, Ms. Lewis," and Lucy was about to start singing when the governess ced her hand on the vampiress'' mouth.

    "How about we call it a day? You have worked hard, and you should go and have some rest now," suggested Ms. Lewis, and Lucy nodded her head.

    When the governess pulled her away, Lucy bowed her head, "Thank you, Ms. Lewis. I shall see you in the dining room."

    "Hm," responded the woman and saw Lucy leave the room before releasing a sigh.

    Noticing a couple of maids arrived in the corridor on Lucy''s way, Lucy dismissed them, telling them not to worry.

    "So you were the crow," stated Calhoun when they crossed paths, and Lucy grinned, bowing her head.

    "Good evening, brother Calhoun," and Calhoun''s eyes narrowed at Lucy''s words, but he didn''t bother to argue or discuss it. "Did you like my song?"

    "Excellent," came the dull praise from Calhoun before walking away from her.

    "Thank you..." Lucy murmured as Calhoun was long gone, leaving her in the corridor.

    Returning to her room, Lucy wanted to tell Ruby what happened today in the study room, and she ordered one of the maids who was waiting on her in the room, "Call Ruby here."

    "Forgive me, mdy," the maid bowed her head, "Lady Samara has given orders to Ruby to work for her from now on, and has filled the position with her maids instead."

    Lucy''s lips set itself in a thin line, and a small frown appeared on her forehead. "What about Amice?"

    "She too, mdy, along with a few others," answered the maid. It seemed like her mother was serious when she had told that she was going to rece her maids.

    "Do you know where Ruby is right now?" demanded Lucy.

    "Yes, mdy, she''s currently working in the South Wing of the castle," replied the maid.

    Lucy quickly stepped out of the room and made her way towards the South Wing. When she reached the ce, she didn''t find Ruby there, making her wonder where the elder woman was positioned to work.

    Pushing the doors of her mother''s resting room, Lucy asked, "Where is she?"

    "And good evening to you, my daughter dearest," wished her mother who was seated on a couch, conversing with a guest while ignoring Lucy''s question.

    "It seems like the governess is busy as she has let you out of her sight."

    "I finished my studying for the day. Where is Ruby?" asked Lucy, slightly worried.

    "I have no idea about whom you are speaking about, dear."Her mother''s words were sweet and polite. "You shouldn''t worry yourself with people who don''t concern you. Use your time on something more useful, like your studies."

    .

    I am doing much better than two days but still a little sick, hopefully will feel better in the next two days. Thank you for your patience.

 Chapter 598 Hush - Part 1

    <h4>598 Hush - Part 1</h4>

    Her mother didn''t bother to look at her, and Lucy bowed her head and stepped out of the room. She wondered where else Ruby might be.

    When the time of supper arrived, the people who were sitting at the dining table were quieter than usual. In King Laurence''s presence, everybody stood up, bowing their heads in greeting before taking their seats after the King seated himself.

    "What a pleasant evening!" eximed the King as he appeared to be in a good mood. "Don''t you agree, mother?"

    Queen Morganna wasn''t particrly fond of her son for not addressing her as Queen Morganna, but considering how he was the King, and she was only the mother of the King, she decided not to react to it. "And you seem very pleased about something. Did something good happen that the news didn''t reach me so that I could share my joy too?"

    "The minister of the Westnd with whom we have been trying to get favour from is a dear friend of Calhoun, and he willingly gave out some information to us," informed King Laurence, "Isn''t this wonderful? Now we all know how important it is to have Calhoun here with us."

    Morganna was not interested in what the boy did and didn''t, but it seemed like Calhoun had been sessful in charming her son.

    "How strange that Calhoun has all the answers for the problems that we seek for," murmured Morganna under her breath while looking at Calhoun with her scrutinizing gaze.

    Calhoun returned her smile, "I am more than happy to help my father and you," he paused for a second and then added, "Grandmother."

    Theodore, who stood against the wall, watched the Queen, who looked perfectly normal, but with him standing behind her, he caught sight of the woman clenching her hand in anger.

    Morganna knew if she were to allow this boy to stay in this castle for any longer, he would brainwash her son and her people. For a young man of his age, who hadn''t even lived half of what she had lived, she noticed the smugness in his eyes that annoyed her.

    "Of course, I hope we can get plenty more help from him," Morganna answered with a tight smile on her face.

    While the maids started to serve dinner, Calhoun pulled out something from his pocket and ced it on the table. "I forgot about this," Calhoun apologized. Morganna''s eyes fell on the pepper bottle, and her eyes narrowed.

    When the King used the vial bottle of salt, his hand reached out for the pepper bottle that Calhoun had ced.

    "Wait!" Morganna stopped Laurence from using the pepper vial. "Let''s ask the servants to get a new bottle of pepper filled in."

    Morganna and Lady Samara stared at Calhoun as they knew earlier he had put his finger inside the bottle, and now he was offering the same to the King.

    "My King, why don''t I spread the pepper on my te for grandmother''s assurance," suggested Calhoun, but Laurence dismissed it right away.

    "That won''t be necessary. It is just pepper," said Laurence. He took the bottle and shook it for the pepper to fall on his food. Morganna''s lips set themselves in a thin line. Somewhere she was also angry at her own son for not listening to her words and bringing this trash into their castle. Her son deserved to be taught a lesson.

    "Lucy, dear, how was your time with the governess?" questioned Laurence.

    Lady Samara turned to her daughter with a sharp gaze, "What did I tell you before about singing, dear?" her words were calm and collected, unlike her eyes that were displeased with her daughter''s actions.

    Lucy didn''t reply to her mother''s words but only rotated the spoon in the bowl of soup that was ced in front of her.

    "Did something happen?" asked King Laurence, who had been sitting in the royal court where Lucy''s voice went unheard as the study room was located in the opposite direction.

    "You should ask your daughter. Even after telling her multiple times not to sing, she goes ahead and sings," stated Lady Samara.

    "But mama," started Lucy, "I will get better if I keep singing-"

    "You sound worse than a creaking gate, Lucy. If any of your suitors by chance hears you singing, they will run away from the castle," said Lady Samara, a hint of horror in her voice as it reflected her worry if her daughter would forever stay with them. "Ms. Lewis."

    "Yes, mdy!" the governess, who was already sitting in a straight position, her back straightened further. "Lady Lucy said she wasn''t keen on learning any instruments and would rather prefer to sing songs."

    King Laurence started tough, finding amusement in the situation, "If Lucy decides to start singing, I doubt we would have to repair every window in the castle, Ms. Lewis." The smile on his face then died down, and in a stern voice, he said, "I thought my wife made it clear on what and how we want things to be with our dear daughter. We aren''t paying two hundred gold coins for no reason, and it won''t take a moment to rece you with a new governess."

    Ms. Lewis quickly bowed her head, "I understand that, milord. I will be more strict and careful with the princess henceforth."

    King Laurence then looked at his daughter, "Learn an instrument. It would be better and also easier to get approval from your future husband. I have already selected a list of names, and they are all men of the highest-ranking. You will do good, won''t you, Lucy?"

    Lucy nodded her head. She found it hard to refuse her mother or her father''s words. She had been instilled with the thought of respecting their wishes while also listening to every word spoken by them without disobeying them.

 Chapter 599 Hush- Part 2

    <h4>599 Hush- Part 2</h4>

    With the King in the dining room, everyone behaved as if they got along well with each other, when in truth, everyone had issues with at least more than one person. Lucy, who was eating her supper, had barely touched her food, and she was idly swirling the soup with her spoon until she decided to ask,

    "Father?" Lucy called the King to get his attention, "I was wondering if I could keep my maids with me, the old ones, as I am more ustomed to them than the new ones."

    King Laurence didn''t respond to her right away as he was chewing his food, but then he said, "Your mother informed me that you have been spending more time gossiping with them. She fears that you will turn out just like them."

    Hearing this, Lucy frowned, and she didn''t understand what was wrong if she were to turn like Ruby and Amice. "There''s nothing wrong with them."

    "I am well informed about it, Lucy," replied her father, "If they weren''t, they wouldn''t be working here in the castle anymore. "You are not a little girl anymore, and it is only right that you have maids who are much more well versed with what you might need."

    She had heard this since she was little! Thought Lucy to herself. She had always been treated like a big girl, someone who had to understand things, even though her parents didn''t bother to help her apply that knowledge.

    "Ruby has been assigned to work for mama. I am sure she is more than capable of continuing her work with-"

    "My my," Morganna cut in, a displeased look in her eyes, "I told you, you should have changed the maids years ago, but both of you don''t listen to me," said the woman looking at the King and his wife.

    Lucy dropped the spoon that ttered against the side of the bowl, and she asked, "If I am going to stay here for only a little time, shouldn''t I spend my time to the fullest? I have grown up with-" she stopped her words right there because she saw her mother widen her eyes.

    Lady Samara knew exactly where Lucy''s sentence was going, and she red at her daughter, "Have you forgotten your position and theirs? Or has spending time with them filled your head with empty air? You are a princess, Lucy. You will listen to what has been decided and follow your governess'' words."

    Lucy frowned before looking back at her soup, and she didn''t speak to anyone. That night, though Lucy saw Ruby in one of the corridors, walking, she didn''t dare to follow her, and she was d that Ruby was still here in the castle. Thest thing she wanted was her grandmother or her father getting rid of Ruby or Amice.

    The same night, Morganna called one of her men to her personnel quarters to discuss something important.

    "Yes, Jesoph," replied the Queen. She raised her hand forward that carried a red velvet bag, and the man walked forward to take it from her. "I have an important task for you. It might be simple, considering how you have excelled with the tasks given so far."

    When the man took the bag, he could hear the jingle sound that came from the coins inside, and he asked, "Tell me what I can do for you, mdy. Consider it to be done."

    Morganna walked towards her window, staring at the starless sky while holding her hands behind her back.

    "My son seems to have lost his thinking, but considering how I see things clearly, I need you to frame the two young men who Laurence recently brought to the castle," said Morganna. She was going to remove the venom before it would spread through her castle, and for that, Calhoun had to leave.

    "Not kill them?" questioned the man named Jesoph.

    "My son has his eyes wide open. I heard there''s a new society forming in the name of justice, and it would be best not to have the suspicion fall on me. I don''t want to tarnish my name, Jesoph. I am the mother Queen, who is kind and merciful, and I would prefer people to continue to view me like this. Also, the boy is acting too smug, and I would like to see him on the ground, bowing his head in defeat," her red eyes reflected from the windowpane.

    "If you say so, my Queen. I will have the trap prepared," he bowed his head, and Morganna nodded her head.

    Before the man could step out of the room, Morganna said, "Also, it seems like since yesterday my two maids have gone missing, and they are nowhere to be found."

    "Did they escape from the castle?" questioned Jesoph, and Morganna chuckled.

    "That would be highly not possible. It is quite a coincidence that my two maids go missing around the same time the two new young vampires enter the castle," her eyes slowly shifted to look at the man before waving her hand to dismiss him.

    Back in Lucy''s room, she sat on her bed, unable to sleep. Her mother had warned her not to waste her time, and use it on important things like grooming herself. But what her mother didn''t understand was that she was lonely without thepany of her favourite maids whom she had grown fond of.

    Unable to sit still in her room, Lucy stepped out of her room.

    With the servants who had gone to their quarters to sleep, Lucy found it easier to walk in the castle corridors. Her family members had retired to their rooms for the day, and it felt like she was the only one who lived here. With her bare feet, she tiptoed from one corridor to another. The breeze in the atmosphere felt good, and with no moonlight and just the dim lighting from the torches on the wall, Lucy raised her hands.

    And though Lucy believed she was alone and the only one to be awake, it wasn''t entirely true.

 Chapter 600 Hush- Part 3

    <h4>600 Hush- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Instead of making use of the rooms provided to Calhoun and Theodore, both of them didn''t make use of it as neither of them believed the people''s intentions to be good. Though their bed right now was made to look as if someone was sleeping in it. It was only a decoy, where the pillows were covered in a nket.

    Calhoun had taken himself to use a tall tree, happily cing both his legs on the branch while leaning against the bark as he slept with his eyes closed. Much better than Morganna, who twisted and turned in her bed out of agitation.

    On the other hand, Theodore had decided to use the rooftop while cing both his hands behind his head for support. He had been used to sleeping on the rooftop, and he found it to be much morefortable and peaceful than sleeping in the bed, where one didn''t know when someone would push a dagger into his heart. He did that to avoid the husbands of the women with whom he slept with in the past.

    Taking in a deep breath, he had just closed his eyes when he heard the light sound of footsteps moving in one of the nearby corridors. The sound of the footsteps were nothing less to the paws of a cat. It was not the castle guards, nor was it a servant from what he had observed. The servants walked quicker than the others.

    Getting up from his position, Theodore looked down at the corridors, his eyes following the sound of the light footsteps until he caught sight of the ghost that stood behind therge and wide pir.

    It was a ghost because he couldn''t see who it was. The nightdress gently moved the ghost''s dress, letting him see the off white fabric worn by the person who stood hidden behind the pir. Pulling one leg up, Theodore ced his hand on his knee, and with his other hand, he supported his upper body, watching the person step away from the pir.

    Lucy Hawthrone.

    Why wasn''t he surprised, thought Theodore to himself. It seemed that the young vampiress enjoyed sneaking out of her room when everyone was asleep.

    Theodore saw Lucy raised her hands while her feet stretched, and she stood on her toes. Her hands moving up to hold above her head. Though he wasn''t in a ce where she could see her entire face, he could tell that she had closed her eyes as if enjoying the quiet night with a faint smile on her lips.

    Then he saw her do something that he didn''t expect.

    Lucy let go of her hand from the top, stretching them wide on either side of her body, and she took one step forward after another while elegantly rotating herself across the floor.

    Right now, she didn''t care about anything. Not her family or the people in the castle, nor even the world she lived in. Though she could walk normally, it had been a while since she had spun this freely, and it felt liberating to do so.

    Theodore had switched his position from sitting to stand on the roof, and he jumped down with little to no noise. Lucy wasn''t just spinning as it seemed like she was dancing to something. And as she danced, there was a softness of whisper that the air carried as if it wasing from her.

    Lucy''s voice as she sang was nothing like the one she had sung for the governess to listen to, and instead, it was melodious. Like a kitchen that created the sweetest delicacy, and one could taste it just by the smell of it.

    But while the young vampiress was spinning on her bare feet and Theodore followed her, keeping a distance between them, Morganna had woken up and had left her room.

    Lucy had closed her eyes and, without realizing it, her body moved in the direction of the pir. When she opened her eyes, it turned wide and ready to stop. She lost her footing. She was about to hit her head against the pir when a hand came in between and caught hold of her.

    A gasp escaped her lips at the shock that someone was here, and while she was being held from not falling on the ground, Lucy''s eyes moved to look at the round frame of sses that was on the person''s face.

    "Theodore," whispered Lucy.

    Even though she was a vampiress, her heart continued to beat against her chest. Theodore''s hand was around her waist, supporting her, and she stared into his eyes whilst he looked back at her. Under the moonless sky, Lucy noticed how his hair looked darker than the night itself, and he looked at her with an inexpressive face.

    When she parted her lips to ask him what he was doing here, Theodore pulled her behind the pir and hid her along with him as he heard a pair of footsteps approaching from the other end of the corridor.

    It was Morganna who was walking. Her footsteps weren''t as sharp as they were during the time of the day.

    Lucy didn''t know what happened, but Theodore''s hand covered her mouth, and the sudden closeness had her blood rushing up to her face.

    Using his other hand, Theodore raised his finger to his lips, indicating her to stay quiet, and Lucy slowly nodded her head. He wondered what Morganna was doing at this hour of the night. It didn''t look like she was out of her room to take a casual stroll.

    As Morganna walked past the pir, her footsteps stopped, and she turned back to look at the pir.

 Chapter 601 Fluttering feeling- Part 1

    <h4>601 Fluttering feeling- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Lucy didn''t know what happened and why Theodore had asked her to stay quiet, but with the way he looked at her, she felt as if someone was there in the corridor and he was hiding her away from that person.

    Her heart continued to beat against her chest, and Lucy felt her heart beat simr to a ticking sound of a clock that had left her in suspense. She then heard the person''s footsteps that came to a halt not far from where she stood.

    Before she could say something, Theodore pulled her along with him as they moved around the pir. It only made Lucy worry as to whom they were hiding from. Obviously, there was no need to hide from the servants, and it only meant the person there was one of the royal family members.

    "Mdy!" One of the guards arrived, and his voice was enough to distract the person, and Theodore was quick to drag Lucy to another pir that was far away from the first one.

    Lucy then noticed the person none other than her grandmother walking in the corridor, and she had stopped walking after finding something suspicious. With her heart beating loudly in her chest, it was only a matter of time for her grandmother to find out about her out of her room at this hour of the night. Queen Morganna was already annoyed by her actions because she behaved like the simpletons from the viges and not like how a princess was supposed to behave.

    Morganna took a round around the pir, but her suspicion didn''t lower down.

    Theodore tugged Lucy''s hand to get her attention, and he brought his hand to point towards her and then pointed behind him as if telling her to go back to her room. But she turned worried. It wasn''t possible to leave the ce through the corridor without getting caught by her grandmother.

    "Is there something you are looking for, my Queen?" asked the guardsman and Morganna''s eyes turned to look at the servant.

    "Why does it look like someone was here...or is still here,"mented Morganna, and Lucy gulped. If her grandmother found not just her but also Theodore with her, it was going to be disastrous for both of them.

    Theodore raised his hand in front of her, showing his palm as if saying not to worry, and he would take care of it. He leaned as close as he could towards her ear, and though it wasn''t on purpose, his lips brushed against the young vampiress''s ear.

    "I am going to distract her, but you need to get back to your room. As soon as you can," he whispered those words into the shell of her ear, and a shiver ran down Lucy''s back.

    He pulled back from her, his eyes looking at her seriously, and Lucy looked at him in a trance. Under this moonless light and only a short amount of light reaching the ce from the nearby torches, Lucy''s face warmed up.

    "My apologies, my Queen! The sound must being from the chambers that are nearby, and the other guards were speaking about seeing a floating ghost in the corridors-" the guardsman was interrupted by the Queen with a re.

    "What rubbish. Believing in nonsensical things like ghosts and whatnot," scolded Morganna in a disgruntled tone.

    When she heard her grandmother''s voice, she nodded her head, and he offered her a smile, making her heart skip a beat as it had never done before. Quickly gathering herself, she saw Theodore nod back at her. Right when Morganna had turned her head for a spare second to speak to the guardsman, Theodore stepped away from the pir.

    At the same time, Theodore stepped into the corridor, and he let out a loud yawn, his face looking sleepy along with his half-open eyes. Morganna was quick to snap her head, and she noticed Theodore on the front side of the corridor.

    As if Theodore had not seen Morganna earlier, he quickly stopped walking and deeply bowed his head. "Forgive me, my Queen! I did not see you there. Forgive me for my rude disy of action in front of you."

    Morganna''s eyes narrowed, and she took two steps away from the pir where she had been facing her back against.

    "What do you think you are doing roaming in the middle of the night?" demanded Morganna, and her eyes then looked at the guard, "Did you not see him walk past you?"

    The guard looked perplexed, and he shook his head with his eyes lowered down, looking at the floor. Theodore had arrived in the opposite direction where Morganna was heading earlier.

    Theodore raised his head, and he answered, "I was looking for the kitchen to drink water, but I must have confused myself and lost my way in this huge castle," came his humble and polite voice.

    With the help of Theodore''s distraction, it allowed Lucy to escape from the corridor without her grandmother''s notice. She held the front of the nightdress tightly and quickly sprinted away from the ce to get back to her room.

    To distract the Queen''s attention, who seemed to hear some noise from behind, his eyes looked in another direction, and Morganna caught Theodore''s line of sight. She was quick to snap her head around, and she ordered the guard,

    "Go see who is in there. Also, I would like to see if Calhoun is having a sound sleep right now," her eyes red at Theodore. "Things such as water should be there in the room, and you could have asked the servants to fetch it."

    Theodore didn''t meet her eyes, but he continued to look in the direction where the guard had disappeared.

 Chapter 602 Fluttering feeling- Part 2

    <h4>602 Fluttering feeling- Part 2</h4>

    "Good to know that you have at least that much amount of sense in you," Queen Morganna scoffed, and she turned around and said, "Let me see you to your room. We don''t want you getting lost again."

    Theodore knew this would cause a problem, but with two more guards who appeared behind him, there was nothing much he could do butply with the woman''s order. He bowed his head, and they started to head to the quarters where he and Calhoun had been allotted the room to stay. He was apprehensive because Calhoun wasn''t in the room, and instead, pillows were kept underneath the nket.

    "Were you not able to sleep too, my Queen?" asked Theodore, and the Queen looked at him as if he was a piece of trash.

    "Who do you think you are to know what I do and don''t? Know your ce, and be d that I am not dragging you to the dungeon for finding you wandering in the corridors at this hour," the tone Morganna used was calm, but there was an evident threat in it.

    "Apologies for my rude question, my Queen," Theodore bowed his head again.

    "Hmph!" responded Morganna, and when they reached the room, the guards who had followed them opened the door.

    Theodore noticed his bed didn''t hold the pillow but scattered nket, and Morganna said,

    "People usually work in pairs, you know, while trying to get something done. One to do the deed and the other to distract. What do you think you are, boy?" she asked Theodore, turning to look at him and waiting for him to reply.

    "I don''t understand what you mean, mdy," he had an oblivious look on his face as if he didn''t understand what she said to him.

    "Let me tell you then," Morganna walked straight towards the other bed, and she pulled the nket that was earlier covering the pillows before he and Calhoun had left the room through the open window. They used the window because Morganna had made the guards station around their room.

    When Morganna pulled the nket, her eyes widened, and she took a step back as Calhoun looked annoyed, and he stretched himself before getting up from the bed.

    "Grandmother," surprise was evident in his voice, and Calhoun asked, "What brings you here? Is everything alright?" his eyes then shifted to look at Theodore.

    Morganna was sure that the bed was a decoy, a lie, but instead, she saw Calhoun had wrapped himself in the nket. She looked gobsmacked with a loss of words.

    When the Queen turned to look at Theodore''s face, his expression didn''t change. But Theodore politely said, "Queen Morganna wanted to see me to the room."

    Morganna felt as if she had made a fool of herself, and she scowled, "I am Queen Morganna, you shall address me as the Queen, and not by grandmother."

    Calhoun tilted his head at her words, "Why?" Hearing his question, Morganna frowned, "It seems like you don''t like to keep family rtionships and rather prefer to have your status. I am your grandson, the next King of Devon."

    The guards had not stepped into the room, leaving Morganna alone in the room with Theodore and Calhoun in the room that was not well kept as the other rooms of the castle.

    "I know why you are here, but you are dreaming too much if you think you will seed in taking the throne away from any of us," Morganna''s words were low, and she warned Calhoun. "It''s not toote to go back to the ce from where you havee from. If needed, I will see to it that you are well taken care of for the rest of your life. With women, wealth, and everything you might fancy."

    A smile appeared on Calhoun''s lips, and he chuckled, turning Morganna only alert.

    "I am your grandson, yet you try to distinguish me telling I am not one of you, but maybe you are right," Calhoun nodded to himself, and he sighed. "Why settle for something of lesser value when I can have the world at my feet, the entire kingdom."

    "You''re ying with fire. Your mother didn''t heed my words and see what happened to her. You will face a fate worse than she did," Morganna''s tongue clicked, but Calhoun didn''t back down.

    "You have misunderstood me, grandma," Calhoun''s voice was sweet. "My father is happy to reunite with me. It is only right that I stand next to him and support him."

    Morganna red at him, and when she was about to leave, her eyes fell on Theodore, "You seem more sensible than this one. I will give you some time, and you can confess why he''s here. I will give you a position much better than what you are in right now, boy," proposed Morganna, baiting Theodore, "Think wisely," and she left the room with her guards following her.

    Calhoun''s smile lowered from his face, and he looked at Theodore, "What were you doing talking to her? Didn''t you find someone better to talk to?" Turning around, he went to sit on the edge of the small bed.

    Theodore stared at the door through which Morganna had stepped out of the room. Ignoring the question, he said, "She seemed to be in a hurry as if she wanted to go somewhere in the castle."

    Hearing this, Calhoun''s eyes narrowed. "I doubt she will be going back to where she wanted to go tonight," he murmured to himself and then said to Theodore, "Avoid things that aren''t of importance," and heid on the bed.

    Something told Theodore that Calhoun knew he had helped Lucy, or else Calhoun wouldn''t be here in the room when Morganna had arrived.

 Chapter 603 Fluttering feeling- Part 3

    <h4>603 Fluttering feeling- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Lucy, who had reached her room, was too stunned, and her back hit the door that she had closed. Leaning against it, she brought her hands up to touch her cheeks that had turned warm.

    "What just happened?" asked Lucy to herself.

    One moment she was dancing in the deserted corridors, and the next moment, she had been saved from hitting her head against the pir or falling on the ground. Dropping her hands down, she quickly shook her head.

    This unknown feeling that she felt in her heart and spreading in her mind brought a certain tingle into her body, and she curled her toes from where she stood. Her eyes lowered on the ground as she recollected what had happened a couple of minutes ago. Having never been involved too closely with men, with their hands around her waist or her mouth, this feeling was different for her.

    Slowly she moved towards her bed and climbed before lying t on the front of her body. A pillow rested below her head, and she pulled it closer to her, and she fell asleep.

    The next few days continued the same as usual in the castle and its people.

    Lucy had finished her time with her governess and with her grandmother, who had left in the carriage for some work, leaving King Laurence and Lady Samara in the royal court, Lucy was a free bird.

    With her shoes off her feet, as she had removed them, Lucy quickly walked through the corridors, and the servants bowed their heads to greet the princess.

    "Lady Lucy, wait! Please wear your shoes, or Lady Samara won''t be happy if she notices you walking with your bare feet!" The maid fretted, her hands carrying the shoes while tailing behind the princess, who padded her feet forward. "Your feet will get dirty, mdy!"

    "Then I will clean itter. And look, the floor is clean. It is alright. I am inside the castle so they wouldn''t get dirty. You worry for nothing, Wenry. Mother is not here," said Lucy, holding the front of her dress so that she wouldn''t step on it, "I heard she is attending the royal court meeting along with? father. I wonder what it is about."

    Lucy wished her family would involve her in the matters in the court, but since she hade of age, her parents wanted her to focus more on her studies and preferred for her to concentrate on turning herself more beautiful.

    The maid followed the princess''s crossing corridors when they met the King''s illegitimate son and his guard. The maid was the first one to bow, and Lucy bowed next to have the two men bow in return.

    Remembering what happenedst night, Lucy quickly distracted herself by greeting her half-brother.

    "Good afternoon, brother Calhoun," Lucy greeted him.

    "Afternoon," came the uninterested voice from Calhoun, and he stared at her with his dark red eyes. Darker than the others who lived in the castle.

    Lucy smiled, not minding his short reply. She was d to have a brother, just like Sophie had Markus, "Are you not going to attend the meeting in the court today?"

    "It is an unimportant meeting," Calhoun replied to her. When his eyes fell on the maid''s hands who stood behind Lucy, he questioned, "Why aren''t you wearing shoes?"

    Lucy beamed, "I wanted to feel the heat. Today, it''s warmer than thest few days. Did you know that?" she asked him.

    "You can keep your legs in the fire if you''re looking for heat," he suggested, and the maid''s eyes turned wide. Theodore, who stood a step behind Calhoun, cleared his throat. "Wear your shoes," Calhoun said before walking away from there.

    Seeing Calhoun leave, Lucy finally looked at Theodore, and she saw him offer her a polite smile. Last night, he looked daunting, something opposite to now, and it was something she hadn''t been able to forget.

    Before Lucy could say something aboutst night, Theodore said,

    "You have beautiful feet, princess. You should wear your shoes if you want to keep them the way they are." He didn''t stay back, and he followed Calhoun.

    Lucy''s cheeks instantly turned red, and she looked at Theodore''s back. Why? Asked Lucy to herself, unable to get rid of the heat and the little butterflies that had started to flutter in her stomach.

    Lucy then quickly waved her hands to her maid, who stood behind her, "I think I have taken enough strides with my bare leg. I should wear my shoes now."

    The maid didn''t know if the princess had decided to wear her shoes because of Calhoun or Theodore, but d that the young vampiress was finally listening and willing to wear her shoes before one of the royal members would notice and scold her.

    Theodore, who caught up with Calhoun, who continued to walk in the corridor, heard him say, "I am going to go and see what is taking so long for Morganna to return to the castle."

    "I will take care of the things here," offered Theodore, and Calhoun turned to look at him, staring without a word. "I will keep myself out of trouble," and he smiled.

    Though Calhoun had left the spot where Lucy stood along with Theodore earlier, he still could hear the conversation between Theodore and the princess, and after leaving her alone too.

    Now alone, Calhoun looked around him.

    Using the carriage would only let Morganna''s people know that he was away from the castle, so Calhoun walked to the isted part of the castle where no one walked and that had a patio. In a matter of seconds, his ck wings spread out from his back, and he flew to the ce where Morganna had headed to.

 Chapter 604 Unexpected help- Part 1

    <h4>604 Unexpected help- Part 1</h4>

    This was the vige of Obson, and Calhoun saw Morganna talking to a man. He couldn''t help but wonder why Morganna hade here when she could send her men to do whatever the job she had in here. If he wasn''t wrong, Morganna was already scheming a n to throw him out of the castle as his presence threatened her rule over the Kingdom.

    "When do you think I will be able to acquire the other pieces?" questioned Morganna to the man who wore a turban around his head.

    "Word is that the jewels are going to be transported through the sea as there is a possibility of sabotage taking ce in thend. The bandits in the forest have been stealing things," informed the man, bowing his head as he spoke.

    Morganna had worn a ck cloak that hid her face as she had pulled over the hood. She currently stood in the deserted alley along with a man who wore a cloak too. Calhoun couldn''t help but wonder why Morganna wanted the jewels. It was possible that, like any other woman, the Queen fancied jewellery and wanted all of it in her possession.

    "Word is that there are pirates sailing in the sea. Do you think it is wise to get them by using the boats?" demanded Morganna in a low voice, and she red at the man as if he was an idiot. "It better reach my hands within the next few weeks unless you want your head decorating one of the walls in the dungeon."

    The man gulped down and quickly nodded his head.

    Calhoun stood behind one of the street vendors'' barrels, holding a fruit in his hand while his eyes were set on Morganna, who continued to speak to the man.

    "Are you going to buy the fruit, mister?" asked the vendor, and for a moment, Calhoun''s eyes shifted to look at the person.

    "I will have ten of those," said Calhoun, jerking his head towards the red looking fruits. There was a time when he couldn''t buy anything for himself or his mother from the shops and had to pluck the fruits from the trees in the forest. But even that came with a price as the vigers often watched the ce and made sure he wouldn''t break a single fruit.

    While the vendor packed the fruits, Calhoun noticed Morganna had disappeared from the alley. Paying the vendor coins, he was ready to leave when two men, whom he once knew from the vige where he and his mother lived, appeared in front of him and blocked his way.

    "I thought you died with your pitiful mother; what are you doing here?" asked the man.

    Calhoun''s expression didn''t change, and he politely said, "Why don''t we all mind our own business and continue with our lives?"

    Two more people came from behind, clicking their tongues, and it created a small circle around Calhoun. Other people in the street had stepped back, not knowing what was going on.

    "What a brave man you have turned out to be, Calhoun. You even learned to speak back to us; it seems like you have forgotten what happened in the past," said the man behind him.

    "Javier," Calhoun identified the man who just spoke with his name.

    "It looks like he stole the money from someone. After all, who would pay money to a whore''s son? I cannot believe he has the audacity even to step in here," said the person who stood at the front.

    Calhoun didn''t have the time to deal with these imbecile fools as he wanted to follow Morganna and see how he could throw her off the throne. He said, "Thest I knew, you people don''t live here. That only means everyone is allowed in here, and I can do what I want."

    "That is what you think, but you know it''s not true. If the colour is grey, it is grey in every other part of thend," chuckled Javier.

    "I have somewhere to be, and I have no time," Calhoun stepped forward, but the men in front of him did the same, getting closer to him.

    "You are foolish to think that you will be let off that easily. Get him!" Javier ordered the other three men.

    Soon a fight broke out, and the men tried to attack Calhoun, but he dodged most of it. It wasn''t the first time he was in a fight like this. He remembered when he was a little boy of seven and was being beaten by other children older to him.

    ''How dare you think you can freely walk in here!?'' asked another boy who was a few years older than Calhoun. Calhoun was on the ground, his face covered in blood.

    ''I didn''t do anything-'' PUNCH! Blood dripped down from Calhoun''s face in the rainy afternoon. The youngest boy on the ground tried to move his hand, but one of the boys stamped his fingers, making him flinch in pain.

    ''A whore''s son should not exist. You are not worth living but are better to rot in Hell! Both you and your mother! Beat him up so that he knows where he belongs!'' ordered the older boy, and the boys dragged Calhoun to the alley to beat him up for some more time until someone caught sight of what was happening.

    ''What do you think you are doing?'' demanded the man, shooing the bullies away. The man had blonde hair, and his eyes were blue. ''Are you alright? Can you stand up?'' questioned the man.

 Chapter 605 Unexpected help- Part 2

    <h4>605 Unexpected help- Part 2</h4>

    When the man ced his hand on Calhoun''s forehead, the wounds that the little boy had received slowly started to heal, and the person pulled his hand away.

    ''Children without proper guidance can truly destroy the world,'' murmured the man to himself and noticed the small boy had fallen unconscious because of pain. Not wanting to leave the boy here alone in the rain, the man decided to pick up the boy and left the boy at his house without another word.

    Coming back to the present, Calhoun didn''t know what happened that day when he was small because he was sure it was going to be hisst day. He had been in too much pain, and he didn''t know how he ended up back in his house, nor did his mother.

    "You don''t deserve to be alive!" shouted one of the men who was fighting with him, "You are an abomination in this world like your mother!" The man had picked up a rod from one of the shops and threw it at Calhoun, but Calhoun caught it on time.

    Calhoun pulled the rod before he twisted the man''s arm and kicked him. The fight continued with some of the shopkeepers yelling at them for damaging their things, while most of the people had gathered around the ce to watch the fight. Though Calhoun had strength, it was one person against four of them, and they were all demons born in the living world.

    Two men fell on the ground, groaning in pain as Calhoun had beaten them up, while the other two continued were persistent. The man named Javier pulled the burning rod that was heating the vessel and was ready to strike on Calhoun when someone''s hand came in between to hold his arm.

    "That is enough for the day," came a woman''s voice and people who stood nearby looked startled. Not because someone had tried to interrupt the fight, but because it was a woman.

    The woman stepped forward. Her features were sharp and her eyes red with her long blonde hair tied. She wore arge greenish-brown cloak that covered her body except for her hands, which had stopped the demon from using the rod.

    Javier was not one bit pleased, and his eyes narrowed, "Small pretty girls are not supposed to poke their noses where it doesn''t belong. Go y in the kitchen," he said, ready to pull his arm away from her hold, but the woman''s grip tightened.

    "Stop it before you make matters worse," she demanded as if she didn''t want to hear any more bullshit.

    When Javier didn''t listen and pulled his arm away, ready to use his other arm to catch hold of the woman, everyone gasped, not because she was hurt.

    "Just to let you know, this small girl is more than your older sister''s age, not that I want to be your sister," said the woman, and she twisted his arm further to have him groan in pain.

    Calhoun wondered who this person was because he had never seen her before, at least not around Javier and hisckeys.

    "How dare you?! I will fucking kill you, you whor-AH!" Javier yelled in pain, and Calhoun only hoped that the vige guards would not appear now.

    "Useless," the woman pushed Javier down on the ground, and she dusted her hands before her eyes fell on Calhoun. As if on cue, the viges'' guards came running towards the marketce after hearing the sounds and screams from people.

    Both Calhoun and the woman ran from the ce, moving to another corner of the vige so that they wouldn''t get caught.

    "Do you often get into trouble?" questioned the woman who had run along in the same street as Calhoun. She cracked her knuckles before putting the hood over her head.

    "Do you often involve yourself in matters that don''t involve you? You don''t have to get into a fight for me. I can handle things myself," he offered the woman a lopsided grin, but the woman didn''t return it.

    "I don''t like fights, especially one that isn''t fair. This vige is going to be turned into the capital of Devon. You should be more careful about the ce where you choose to fight. The number of guards are only going to increase, and you will be thrown into the dungeon for causing unnecessary troubles," she advised, her eyes continuously looking at Calhoun. "Even if it wasn''t your fault."

    "Seems like you speak from experience,"mented Calhoun, passing a look at the woman whose eyes had narrowed, and he smiled. Most of the women usually didn''t know how to defeat men in a fight, even if they were vampires, not everyone fared well in the art ofbat, but this woman seemed more than capable. "What are you doing here?"

    The woman looked apprehensive about talking about it, but then she said, "I came to Devon to meet the royal family, but it seems like they don''t want to talk to me."

    Hearing this, Calhoun, who was ready to leave, looked back at her and asked, "Why? Are you the illegitimate daughter of the King?" a dry chuckle escaped Calhoun''s lips.

    The woman didn''t find it funny, and she said, "I don''t know what that means, but I can only guess that you are the one. The one who is being most discussed in the high society circles right now." Calhoun could tell this person wasn''t an ordinary woman. "I am here to get the King and the Queen''s approval for the establishment of justice. Amittee, to be precise. I have been here for a week, but the guards won''t allow me or answer my letters. I heard someone mention that Queen Morganna was here, and I decided toe and meet her here."

    Calhoun didn''t respond to her words and only listened to the woman before realizing he should get back to the castle.

    "It doesn''t look like it is the first time I saw you being involved in the fight. You should keep a low profile," advised the woman, her red eyes staring straight into Calhoun''s eyes.

    Calhoun smirked and then said, "I wasn''t born to keep a low profile." Without exchanging another word with the woman, he left the alley so that no one would see him. The woman continued to stand there, watching the young man''s back until he disappeared from there. Not a minuteter, a man came running towards her.

    "Are you alright, mdy?" asked the man, who was a vampire. He looked back and forth between thedy and the empty street where thedy looked at.

 Chapter 606 Unexpected help- Part 3

    <h4>606 Unexpected help- Part 3</h4>

    "I caught up with the man with whom the Queen was earlier speaking to, and your suspicion was right. They are on the move to acquire Hanima''s treasure. What are we going to do, mdy?" asked the man with a small frown. Though he looked older than the woman, he looked at her with deep respect.

    Hearing this, the frown on the woman''s face only deepened, and she turned around and said, "Hanima''s treasure is the top priority, Dimitri. Already one of the Duke died because of it. Though we have some of them in our possession, there are still others that are hidden. Do whatever you need to do to get the treasure and make sure it doesn''t fall in any of the King, Queen or any other person''s hands who knows about it."

    "Yes, mdy!" replied Dimitri, bowing his head.

    "In the meantime, I will go and see how I can acquire the approval for the creation of themittee that will stand in power above the Kings and Queens. When people are not willing to hand over their approval, it doesn''t show their power but also the fact that they are trying to hide their misdeeds," said the woman.

    "Do you have anything on your mind? To whom you will be approaching, if the King and the Queen of Devon are unwilling?" inquired the man, and the woman shook her head.

    "Not yet. But I will find a way."

    Back in the castle, Lucy sat with her governess in the music room with a cello that sat upright on the floor, in front of her and in between her legs.

    "Are you sure you want to learn this and not the piano?" questioned Ms. Lewis as she watched the young vampiress through her sses. "It would be much easier for you to y on the piano than sitting this...oddly."

    "I am very muchfortable, Ms. Lewis. I have always been fascinated with this instrument when the people in the theatre yed it. What sad music it creates," murmured Lucy to herself before looking at her governess.

    "Well if you insist. Let us start with your lesson, and it will be easy as you already are aware of the basics," instructed Ms. Lewis, and she took another cello so that she could teach the young vampiress.

    While they were halfway in their lesson, Lucy picked up on the littlemotion that took ce nearby, and she couldn''t help but stop ying the instrument. "What''s that sound?"

    "What sound?" questioned Ms. Lewis while raising her eyebrows.

    Lucy dropped the bow to her side, and she stood up, cing the cello to lean against the chair before stepping out of the room.

    "There are others to look after the castle, Lady Lucy," stated Ms. Lewis, "We should finish our lesson."

    When Lucy stepped out to look at the castle grounds, she saw her brother Calhoun who was in the garden but he wasn''t alone. Not too far from him stood her grandmother with a rage filled expression on her face, along with her mother and her father looked shocked along with the rest of the people around, who didn''t dare to get near to where they were.

    She saw four small furry animals near Calhoun and she looked puzzled, "Are those dogs?" she whispered before hurrying herself to go down there.

    "You must be fucking joking!" Queen Morganna was unable to keep her temper to herself and she brought her hand in front of her mouth as if trying to not speak another foul word. She closed her eyes while her whole body shook in anger. "Seriously, you aren''t expecting that we will have these hideous creatures in the castle!"

    "Calhoun," spoke King Laurence, who wasn''t least bit amused and he looked at the wolves that Calhoun had brought to the castle a few minutes ago. "Wolves are not allowed in the castle. We do not entertain them, not cats, not dogs, nothing. Take them back from where you brought them," ordered the King.

    "They have no home of their own, and I am the only one they know," reasoned Calhoun, "They are my pets and I cannot abandon them."

    "You are the only one they know?! For the sake of sanity, these are not people but creatures, wild ones and you want them to kill people," stated Morganna who stood a few distance away from Calhoun along with her daughter-inw.

    King Laurence raised his hand so that his mother would stop and he said, "Take these pups out of the castle right away, Calhoun."

    "I cannot do that," came the instant words from Calhoun, and even the King looked displeased by the young man''s behaviour.

    "Are you trying to go against the King''s words?" questioned Laurence.

    Calhoun bowed his head deeply, and he said, "I do not mean any disrespect, my King. The wolves are like my family, and mypanions. If you are against the idea, I will be more than willing to take them away along with me, while finding another ce to live."

    King Laurence''s eyes narrowed because he couldn''t allow it. Calhoun was supposed to be introduced to everyone as his heir as the Kings and Queens of the othernds hadn''t received the word about it. If he were to allow Calhoun to leave the castle, it would only make people question and he gritted his teeth.

    Hearing what Calhoun said, Morganna was more than happy and she said, "Well, considering how dear these wolves are to you, maybe it would be best to stay with them-"

    "Alright," said King Laurence, "But they will be tied and kept in the kennel and you will be the one responsible for them."

    Morganna''s eyes widened. This is not what she meant!

    "Long live the generous King," Calhoun deeply bowed, a faint smile on his lips that disappeared when he raised his head.

 Chapter 607 Climbing to meet Juliet- Part 1

    <h4>607 Climbing to meet Juliet- Part 1</h4>

    .

    When King Laurence started to leave the open grounds of the castle, Lady Samara didn''t want to stay near the wolves that looked less like pups and more like grown wolves. The woman quickly followed her husband, wanting to discuss further regarding the wild creatures staying in here, in the castle.

    "You have some nerve to bring these things into this ce," Morganna''s words were low, and she glowered, looking at Calhoun.

    "Nerve?" Calhoun looked at the Queen with an oblivious look on his face. "I don''t think there''s anything wrong in bringing things that belong to me to the castle. They are my pets who need to be looked after. Unlike others, my mother taught me to not abandon things that I once took interest and cared for."

    The taunt that Calhoun threw at Morganna didn''t go undetected, and the Queen stared at him. He spoke more than what was required for a young man, and as she thought, he was like a serpent.

    "What do you think you are proving by bringing them here? My son might have agreed to your terms, but remember this boy, he is still my son. Your mother didn''t know where to draw the line and when to stop. One word and it was enough to throw her out of the castle, don''t think it won''t happen again," she threatened, ring at the four wolves that stood next to Calhoun.

    Calhoun smirked, and it was enough for Morganna to turn more annoyed, "You must be mistaken if you think I am like my mother. She was too kind and innocent for your world. Don''t mistake that I am like her," he offered the woman a smile, "The more you try to regain control, the more you will see it slip through your fingers that much faster."

    "This will cost you, boy. Mark my words," dered Morganna, and at the same time, one of the wolves growled, making her take a step backwards. She turned around without speaking another word and went inside the castle.

    Calhoun stared at the older vampiresses back, who disappeared behind the pirs and walls of the castle. All these years he had waited for this time, and now that he was here, he was going to turn every single person''s life into Hell, for the actions they had bestowed on his mother. He will return it in twice the value, he thought to himself.

    When the grey wolf continued to growl, Calhoun hushed it, "Shh, not yet. You will soon be allowed to roam in the castle corridorster on and you can hunt for meat," saying this, he bent down, sitting on one of his knees while patting the grey wolf''s head.

    "Brother Calhoun!" Lucy quickly loped to the ce where he stood and she paused her feet from approaching the wolves that growled at her. "Where did you get these wolves from?" there was a hint of astonishment and excitement in the young vampiresses voice.

    "They are mine," replied Calhoun, "Do you like wolves...Lucy?" he asked, and he caught the girl beam.

    "I am not sure, but they look lovely!" eximed Lucy, and one of the wolves that had brown and white fur, moved near her. It was the same wolf that had growled at her and it sniffed her. "I thought wolves bite are fatal."

    "They are," affirmed Calhoun and Lucy''s eyes widened. "But it is the werewolves bite and not the wolves. If you treat them with love and care, even the wildest beast will turn tame in your presence."

    Lucy couldn''t shift her gaze away from the wolf that was near her, and she asked Calhoun, "D-do they have names?"

    "Yes, the grey one is Myster, the one with a mixed color coat is Lark, the white one near me is Scar," introduced Calhoun that had a reddish coat, "And the one next to you, that is Howard."

    Calhoun could tell Lucy was eager to touch, but at the same time she was careful because these weren''t tamed wolves. The wolves had grown in the forest that he and his mother lived in front of. They looked small right now, but in time they would grow bigger.

    But Lucy was not like other people in the castle or like her family members. Within the next second, she sat down to lower herself, meeting the eyes of the wolf that looked straight at her unblinkingly. The wolf had deep yellowish-orange eyes that she found herself to be mesmerized with.

    "Good afternoon, Mr. Howard. I am Lucy, it is nice to meet you," she whispered to the wolf, and the wolf for a moment opened its mouth, showing its ferocious-looking teeth to her. "I don''t think he likes me," there was a hint of sadness in her voice.

    "Wolves take time to warm up to a person, Lucy. Especially with people like us because they find our kind to be very distrusting and cunning," stated Calhoun, he walked to where she sat, and he rubbed the wolves neck. "It took me a long time before I could feed and get close to them. You have done wonderful so far. It takes courage to get close to a wolf, especially when you are a vampire."

    Lucy looked up from the wolf to look at Calhoun. She then smiled, "Thank you, brother Calhoun. I think I like Howard the most," she confessed.

    "I would have never guessed," came the nd words of Calhoun as he patted another wolf that came near him. "Why not grey or white ones? They are more handsome," said Calhoun, his hands scratching the wolves ear before the wolf decided to yfully bite Calhoun''s hand.

    The smile on Lucy''s lips didn''t fall, and she watched Calhoun interact with the wolves that sat around him and some walking around. She found it to be fascinating because a person like Calhoun, who didn''t talk much, had wolves that loved him. In Lucy''s world, it only meant one thing, Calhoun was a good person, which was why the animals cared about him.

 Chapter 608 Climbing to meet Juliet- Part 2

    <h4>608 Climbing to meet Juliet- Part 2</h4>

    When Lucy heard Calhoun chuckle, she looked at him, confused, "Wolves are warmblooded, but they are quite cold when ites to killing people. Very loyal, you should get one too."

    "I don''t think mama and papa would agree to it. Do you think I cane to y with them?" she asked.

    "Sure," replied Calhoun, and before Lucy could get up, the brown wolf got closer to Lucy, sniffing her and her hair that she had let down. When it pushed its muzzle against her arm, Lucy was startled to feel its cold nose. "Looks like he''s already warming up to you." Calhoun''s eyes shifted to look behind Lucy, and he said, "I think you should go back now."

    "I should?" asked Lucy in a questionable tone.

    At the same time, Lucy heard her mother''s voice, "LUCY! Get back here right this instance!"

    "I guess I should. Thank you for bringing them here. I will see you around," Lucy offered Calhoun a smile, and she quickly walked to where her mother stood next to her governess with wide eyes.

    Ms. Lewis had been searching for Lucy to continue with their lessons, and she had found the princess sitting around the wolves. Too scared to approach, she had quickly gone to Lady Samara to inform about it.

    "What do you think you are doing, Lucy?!" her mother held a bewildered look on her face.

    "I? I was with brother Calhoun and meeting his wolves. They are so dazzling. I cannot wait-"

    "Enough!" Lady Samara looked disappointed at Lucy, "How many times do I need to tell you that he is not your brother and not rted to our family! And what do you think you are doing with those feral creatures? Do you wish to die?! Have you forgotten everything I have taught you until now?"

    Lady Samara''s voice had turned loud, and the servants who were working around stopped their work to look at the princess and her mother.

    "But mother, I didn''t do anything wrong," Lucy''s words were enough to irritate Lady Samara because her husband was busy focusing his attention on his ''new son'' instead of his daughter''s learnings and her marriage.

    Lady Samara caught hold of Lucy''s arm in a tight grip, making the princess wince, and dragged the young vampiress into the castle towards Lucy''s room.

    "Mother, father has epted him as his son, and he will be the King one day," Lucy tried to speak on the way, which only added more fuel into Lady Samara''s already agitated state.

    Lady Samara pushed Lucy into her room and locked the room from outside.

    "Mother!" Lucy quickly went to the door, banging on it, but her mother didn''t open it.

    "Mother, please!" Lucy banged the wooden door, but no one opened it for her. She heard her mother''s retrieving footsteps, and her forehead touched the door.

    She didn''t understand why her mother was being like this when her father had already epted Calhoun into the castle and announced him as the next heir.

    "Mother," Lucy whispered, but there was no one to listen to her words, and her hands that were on the surface of the door slid down.

    Hours passed, and nobody opened the door for her.

    Lucy could only tell that her mother had decided to punish her by making sure the servants wouldn''t open the door for her, nor would she be allowed food. It wasn''t the first time things like this happening, and as the thought sunk in her mind, Lucy clutched onto the pillow while sheid on the bed.

    She didn''t know what time it was, but when something creaked on her patio, it woke her. Getting up from the bed, Lucy padded her feet on the cold floor that was as cold as the castle people''s feelings.

    Pushing the doors to the patio open, Lucy gasped when she realized who it was.

    "Theodore?!" she whispered on seeing him climb up and when he came near the edge of the patio, she helped him get on her side before hended on his feet. Theodore had climbed up through the walls beforeing to the patio that was attached to her room. "W-what are you doing here??"

    He brought his hand forward that had a sk, "I thought you would be hungry, and you could use some blood for the night."

    Lucy frowned, looking at him. She turned away from him and said, "I cannot. I am not supposed to eat until my mother says so."

    Theodore had not seen her in the dining room, and when Lady Samara had lied about her daughter throwing another tantrum and not wanting to join the dinner. Queen Morganna had ordered her servants to not give Lucy any food until the next dinner for her continued misbehaviour. Though Theodore didn''t have his ears everywhere, he had seen Lady Samara in anger dragging this young princess towards her room.

    "Would you stop breathing and living if she asked you to?" questioned Theodore, and her head snapped around to look into his eyes.

    "It''splicated," whispered Lucy. It wasn''t because her mother had denied her meal and she obeyed it. Lucy was hurt over her mother''s words, for putting her on the receiving end of her mother''s feelings.

    "You should leave before the guards notice you standing here," said Lucy in worry, but Theodore didn''t listen to her.

    Instead, he walked towards the wall and he sat down making himselffortable.

 Chapter 609 Climbing to meet Juliet- Part 3

    <h4>609 Climbing to meet Juliet- Part 3</h4>

    .

    "I already drank my share of the blood, it would be rude to waste this," stated Theodore, and Lucy noticed he wasn''t wearing his sses right now.

    Lucy had mixed feelings about Theodore being up here in her patior where no one was supposed to be, even if it was during the day time. Before any of the guards would see her, she quickly sat down next to him. One part of her wanted him to leave so that neither would get caught and be reported to her parents or her grandmother, while another part of her found it to be thrilling.

    Like the breeze that moved into the atmosphere, Lucy felt her heart sway by the presence of this person.

    She didn''t know him enough, yet here she was, sitting on her patio with him.

    "Here," said Theodore, handing the sk in Lucy''s hand. "If there is one thing I have been taught, it is to never show your emotions on your stomach."

    "Thank you," whispered Lucy, opening the cap of the sk. She was quick to gulp down the blood until the veryst drop.

    She felt embarrassed to face him, because it was the second time her family had denied her meal and she could only guess that Theodore might think she was a person who was always misbehaving and causing unwanted trouble.

    "You must be thinking how troublesome I am, isn''t it?" questioned Lucy, holding the empty sk tight in her hands.

    "Not even for a second, mdy," responded Theodore and Lucy blinked at his words before turning her gaze to meet his red eyes that were looking at her. "I think it is remarkable that you try to put your thoughts of how you feel out in the open, even though there are people who are ready to curb those thoughts. Truth to be told, I haven''t met many women like you."

    "You seem to be very brave, Theodore. Climbing up to the princesses patio without worrying to be caught. Did you not consider that I might call the guards?" questioned Lucy and she shifted her gaze away from him as she felt her heart would continue to skip its beats if she looked at him any longer.

    "I was hoping you wouldn''t call the guards. I did bring you blood," he offered her a smile and Lucy smiled back.

    Lucy had met many handsome men before, but there was something about Theodore that had started to make her notice his presence more than before. She wondered if it was because even though he had a polite demeanor there was something roguish underneath it.

    "I can bring you some more blood if you want," offered Theodore and Lucy shook her head.

    "It is more than enough for now. I wouldn''t want you to be caught," said Lucy. "Did you break your sses?" she asked curiously.

    "Hm? It is right here," Theodore pulled out his framed sses from his pocket.

    Lucy picked up the sses and she watched the sky through it. While she continued to gaze, she asked, "What did you do before entering the castle?"

    "Why?" his question was direct and Lucy dropped her hand before shaking her head.

    "It''s not me, but my maids who were curious about it," blurted Lucy and she handed the sses back to him. "They were um, curious about both brother Calhoun and you." It wasn''t a lie that the servants in the castle were curious about the two young men, but Lucy had taken an interest with the man who had shown her concern and care. It warmed her heart.

    "Can I ask you something?" she questioned.

    "Of course, mdy," Theodore asked her to go on.

    "What happened to brother Calhoun''s mother?" Her mother and grandmother looked unhappy with his presence in the castle, but her father was more than happy to wee him. People around her refused to talk about him or answer her questions.

    Theodore''s face turned serious and his lips were set in a think line. He then said, "She fell gravely ill. She couldn''t get up, nor could she eat. Nobody knew what was wrong with her."

    "May her soul rest in peace," said Lucy, quickly praying that caught Theodore''s attention. Lucy didn''t forget her mother''s choice of words for Calhoun''s mother, calling the woman as a whore, and it had her frown. "She must have been a lovelydy. Right?"

    Theodore didn''t meet Calhoun''s mother but he nodded his head to the young vampiress'' words, "Yes, I heard she was a good woman."

    "What about you?" inquired Lucy. She didn''t know anything about Theodore.

    In response, Theodore smiled, "I don''t think it is right if I tell what I did beforeing here. You might not view it well."

    "Did you kill people for a living?" Lucy sprung the question, her eyes intently looking at him and waiting for his answer. "It must be true...you did kill the man in the alley that day."

    "My apologies if it startled you," apologized Theodore, and Lucy shook her head.

    "Nothing ever startles me, I am always prepared beforehand," replied Lucy as if she was very brave.

    The smile on her lips slipped down when she noticed him watching her. For a moment, Lucy felt the world had stopped and she lost herself in his eyes. His hair had slightly ruffled because of the wind and she gulped down the fluttering feeling her mind.

    "I think I should leave," said Theodore and Lucy cleared her throat.

    "Let me see if the guards are around," Lucy whispered and she stood up and took a peak around the ce. But when she turned around, Theodore had already disappeared.

 Chapter 610 Unsaid words- Part 1

    <h4>610 Unsaid words- Part 1</h4>

    .

    As the next few days passed, in Hawthrone''s castle, Lucy sat with her governess Ms. Lewis as she was learning the proper etiquettes on what to do and how to behave with others, which included her very own family. Though there were times when Lucy stepped on the line, for which she was punished by not being allowed to leave her room or having meals as ordered by her mother or her grandmother to the servants, but it didn''t leave Lucy hungry as Theodore secretly supplied her blood during that time.

    Right now, Lucy was working on writing a poem that she had been by her governess to write. Her governess was writing something in the parchment, and Lucy couldn''t help herself and stopped to ask her,

    "What are you writing in there, Ms. Lewis?" The woman quickly started to scroll the parchment as if she didn''t want Lucy to have a peek at it.

    "Don''t startle me like that, princess! It is nothing in particr-"

    "Are you writing a letter to someone?" asked Lucy with keen curiosity. She had a grin on her lips, and the woman narrowed her eyes.

    "You should concentrate on your studies and the task I gave you rather than worry about what I am doing," the woman lightly reprimanded the young vampiress, and Lucy pouted.

    "What a secretive woman, you are Ms. Lewis. Maybe I should ask mother what you are writing during our lesson," and on Lucy''s words, the woman''s eyes widened, and she hushed the princess right away.

    "Quiet now!"

    Lucy chuckled, and she offered, "If you want to deliver it to someone, I will be more than happy to see that it is done. No one will even know about it."

    "Maybeter, but let me see what you have written," and the governess took hold of Lucy''s parchment where the poem was written down.

    ''With an easy breeze and a sky filled with clouds,

    My songs sing your name.

    Upturned lips kissing the sun,

    My gaze is unable to catch you.

    O, how time has passed,

    With feelings unchanged.

    Lighter than white,

    Yet strong as ink.

    Looking right,

    My smile smiles with my thoughts of you,

    Countless and endless.''

    The governess looked impressed but with a hint of doubt in her eyes as she asked, "You turned your thoughts into a perfect poem, Lady Lucy. Where did you get your muse from?"

    Lucy could see the doubt in the woman''s eyes, and she smiled, "From my imagination, of course," she lied. It would be troublesome if someone found out how she felt towards one of the people in the castle, and she was yet to confess to the person about her feelings. "I dreamt of this prince a few days ago. Blonde hair, maybe gold, but I couldn''t see his face. It was very blurry, but I could tell he was handsome."

    "Does this mean I can attend the royal court by joining it?" asked Lucy, her eyes looking eager, but the woman''s lips were set in a thin line.

    "We have already discussed this, princess, and your grandmother prefers that we prepare you to find a suitor as quickly as? we can," on hearing the governesses words, Lucy''s heart sunk.

    Lucy didn''t want her parents to find a groom for her because her eyes had already fallen on someone, and she believed her heart was set on the person. The only question right now was if he shared the same feelings as she did.

    "But, Ms. Lewis, I still need to work on my music and perfect it. Else I can always start singing-"

    "No, singing is out of the question here, mdy. I mean to say, we all have heard your wonderful voice, but it would be more pleasing to listen to you y the cello, yes?" the governess asked, and Lucy offered the woman a tight smile.

    "Did mother tell you when I will be going to meet the suitors?" inquired Lucy, her heart softly thunder against her chest.

    "It should start in the next two weeks or so, mdy. You have already reached your age where you will be able to have healthy children and build a family with your husband," the woman chimed, putting the quills back in their assigned ces.

    Lucy frowned, hearing this and said, "I already have a family. Here in the castle."

    The governessughed, patting Lucy''s back, "Don''t worry, mdy. Everyone says that, but you won''t be living here forever. One day you will need to leave the castle to live with your husband."

    Lucy was not willing to go ahead with it, and whatever she had to do, she would have to do it quickly.

    "You didn''t tell whom you are going to give the parchment," Lucy''s curiosity didn''t leave her, and she looked at the parchment that her governess had rolled and held in her hand.

    The woman looked back and forth towards the door, and then she whispered, "It''s for the young man, a handsome one in the castle."

    Lucy wondered who it was, and she asked, "Brother Calhoun?"

    "Oh, no, no! I would never dare to give him one even though he is handsome. Not to forget he is going to be the future King," said the woman before telling, "It is the other one," and Lucy''s heart had already started to sink in her chest, knowing about whom her governess was exactly speaking.

    "T-Theodore," Lucy uttered his name, and the governess smiled.

    "He is a little younger than me, but every time when we speak with each other, I can only tell that he is very mature for his age. I think we would look great together," said Ms. Lewis, and she stood up from her seat.

    "You look like siblings with your sses," blurted Lucy, not liking the fact that there was one more woman who liked Theodore.

 Chapter 611 Unsaid words- Part 2

    <h4>611 Unsaid words- Part 2</h4>

    "That is a funny thought, Lady Lucy," the governess didn''t look like she took any offence, but she said, "Sometimes couples tend to look like each other because of picking up each other''s habits. Maybe we are more in sync."

    When the woman went to ce the books in their respective ces, the frown on Lucy''s face didn''t leave her.

    "I thought a governess was only supposed to teach and not get involved in matters like love here in the castle," muttered Lucy under her breath.

    "What?" Ms. Lewis turned to look at Lucy with a questioning look as she didn''t catch on what the young vampiress just said, "Did you say something, Lady Lucy?"

    Lucy shook her head, "I was humming to myself."

    "We can stop our lessons for today as you have done well, mdy. In the meantime, I will deliver this letter to him and hope that he returns the same feelings." Saying this, Ms. Lewis picked up a book in her hand and left the room.

    Seeing the governess leaving the room, Lucy stared at her parchment, which had the poem that she had written for Theodore. Biting her lips, she quickly caught hold of the parchment and ran out of the room in the other direction of the corridor, heading down to find where Theodore was.

    In thest few days, Lucy''s feelings towards Theodore had grown, but she didn''t acknowledge it properly, nor did she take any action. Her footsteps were quick on the ground, and her eyes frantically searched for Theodore around the castle.

    Where was he at this time? Asked Lucy to herself. Since she had started to be more aware of his presence, she had also started to take note of what he did every day.

    When she finally caught Theodore, who was speaking to one of the castle guards, Lucy looked behind to find the governess was nowhere around. In Lucy''s presence, the guard, as well as Theodore, bowed at her in greeting.

    "Good afternoon, Lady Lucy," greeted Theodore. Lucy could feel her heart shake at his polite smile. "Did you finish your lessons with Ms. Lewis for the day?"

    Lucy spoke to Theodore, "Yes, I want to speak to you about something." Seeing the anxious and serious expression on the princesses face, Theodore nodded his head. The guard left Theodore''s side, and he said,

    "What is it, princess?"

    "Not here, a quieter ce," said Lucy in a low voice, and Theodore gave her a perplexed look. Both Lucy and Theodore failed to realize that there was someone standing on the above floor, who was watching and listening to their words.

    Theodore, on the other hand, watched Lucy fiddling with her fingers. Her cheeks had turned slightly red, and her lips were parted, wanting to speak but finding it hard to speak, while her eyes didn''t meet his.

    "Is everything alright? Did something happen?" Theodore asked Lucy.

    "Can you do something for me?" asked Lucy, and Theodore nodded his head. "If Ms. Lewises to give you something, please do not take it. Anything," she said, looking straight into his eyes.

    "Anything else?" asked Theodore, and Lucy shook her head. She was slightly surprised because Theodore didn''t ask why or what, and he agreed to her request.

    Lucy shook her head, and she knew she should leave his side as the day was not over, and people were walking around, but it was hard to leave. When she heard Ms. Lewis'' voice from afar, Lucy said,

    "I must take my leave now," and she hurriedly walked away, not realizing the parchment had slipped out of her hand and fell on the ground when she went to hold the front of her dress. Theodore, who caught sight of the paper roll that fell near his shoes, picked up the parchment.

    When Lucy had walked halfway, she realized she had dropped the parchment somewhere between her study room and this ce. She could feel her heart thudding in her chest. Should she go back and find it? Lucy weighed her option before going back to look for it.

    Returning back to the ce she had spoken to Theodore, she noticed how Theodore had disappeared from the corridor.

    After an hour, in Queen Morganna''s room, Morganna sat near the small table with her daughter? the sentenceRosamund and daughter-inw Samara.

    "I don''t know what you are waiting for, mother," said Rosamund as she ced her teacup with a click on the saucer. "The boy is clearly poisoning brother''s mind, and it is only time something happens."

    "Don''t worry about it, Rosa. I have everything set in ce. In the next few hours, both he and his bodyguard will be rotting in the dungeon," stated Queen Morganna with a pleasant smile on her face. "I gave them time, but they seem adamant. Young people with hot blood are always foolish."

    "Speaking about young blood," said Rosamund, "It seems like the governess who has been assigned for Lucy isn''t efficient."

    "Why do you say that?" questioned Lady Samara.

    Rosamund pursed her lips, looking as if if she should speak about it or not, but she did anyway,

    "When I was on my way here, I saw young Lucy speaking to Calhoun''s bodyguard. She seems to be hovering around him, and it makes me question if something is up."

    "What rubbish is that," Lady Samara was not pleased hearing this, "Are you trying to insinuate something here, Rosamund?"

    Rosamund smiled, "I would never do that, Lady Samara. Lucy is like my daughter Sophie to me, and I would wish nothing but good things for her. I just worry...that she will be wrongly influenced. Don''t you think so?" she asked, cing doubt in Lady Samara''s mind.

 Chapter 612 Unsaid words- Part 3

    <h4>612 Unsaid words- Part 3</h4>

    Rosamund''s face turned red hearing this, and she failed to respond immediately.

    "I am teaching her, mother. Her punishments are always due in time when she needs it so that she doesn''t repeat it again," replied Rosamund.

    "It better be. Thest thing I need is being humiliated by my own blood," Queen Morganna let out a tired sigh from her lips.

    When the time of dinner approached, Lucy entered the room, and the first thing she noticed was Theodore missing from the room along with Calhoun and her father.

    Unable to question directly, Lucy inquired, "Is father not joining us for dinner?"

    "Your father is in the dungeon, dealing with the criminal thieves," answered Lucy''s mother and said, "Sit down, Lucy. The kitchen cook has prepared your favourite dish tonight."

    Lucy furrowed her eyebrows, and her eyes fell on her grandmother, who looked calm.

    "Did we have intruders in the castle? I didn''t know," she hadn''t heard a word from her maids about it.

    "Conniving thieves, dear. Come sit next to me, my child," Queen Morganna''s words were sweet, and Lucy didn''t know why, but she felt apprehensive by her grandmother''s words. Nheless, she walked to where her grandmother was sitting, and she took a seat next to the woman. "How are your lessons going with your governess?" asked her grandmother.

    Ms. Lewis was in the room, and Lucy knew her grandmother would have informed about her progress from her governess, yet here she was asking.

    "It has been going really well, Queen Morganna," replied Lucy, and she saw her grandmother nod in appreciation.

    "That is excellent. I believe you are ready to meet your suitors then?"

    When her grandmother asked this question, Lucy knew the only eptable answer was yes, and no other answer would be approved to be right.

    "Yes, grandmother. I am," Lucy answered dutifully, and her grandmother continued to nod.

    "Good. This would also mean if you have anyone in your mind, you can always tell me, and I will see what can be done, yes?" though Lucy was naive in a few things when it came to her family, it didn''t mean she didn''t sense the trap that her grandmother hadid out for her. "It is because I heard you dreamt of a prince. Golden hair was it?"

    "Yes," answered Lucy, and she felt the room turn tense when her grandmother turned to meet her eyes.

    "I hope this is someone you haven''t met , as it would be quite troublesome as we already have the selected suitors whom you will be marrying. Dreams are good, but let''s not look for the golden blonde hair, okay?" questioned her grandmother.

    Lucy bowed her head, "Yes, grandmother."

    "Now, let''s have a good meal," announced Queen Morganna, "After so many days, my mind is finally at ease. I shall also rest well tonight."

    "I cannot agree more, my Queen," responded Lady Samara, and Lucy couldn''t help but be suspicious about something being up.

    Dinner passed, and Lucy could only guess that Calhoun and Theodore were with her father, probably punishing the intruder who had dared to break into the castle. Once she was done, she went back to her room and stood on the patio as if waiting for Theodore to arrive. Since thest few days, the man often came to her patio and brought her blood with other treats.

    It made Lucy feel special, and her feelings for Theodore only grew more.

    When one of the maids arrived at her door, Lucy decided to ask, "Do you know if brother Calhoun has had his dinner?"

    The maid looked startled, "Have you not heard about it, Lady Lucy? Both Master Calhoun and his guard tried to steal the Queen''s jewel from her room. They found the jewel in Master Calhoun''s room."

    "What?!" asked Lucy in shock. "That is not possible!"

    When Lucy was ready to step out of the room, the maid informed, "I don''t think it would be the best idea to leave the room now and visit them, Lady Lucy. If I am not wrong, Queen Morganna went to visit them a few minutes ago."

    "It must be some kind of misunderstanding," whispered Lucy with a deep frown. "Brother Calhoun doesn''t seem to be a person who would steal."

    The maid shook her head, "I heard the jewel was found in one of the cupboards of his room. They found it in the evening, and it seems the jewel has been missing for a week now."

    It was only a few hours ago since Lucy had spoken to Theodore, and now he and brother Calhoun were locked in the dungeons. She bit her lip in worry.

    Away from princess Lucy''s room, both Calhoun and Theodore had been tied in shackles. Blood dripped down from their face as they were beaten and tortured for stealing the queen''s jewels. In front of one of the cell rooms, Morganna stood there looking down at Calhoun, who was now sitting on the ground.

    It didn''t matter that the King chose Calhoun , because people didn''t forget who he was or where he came from.

    The Queen clicked her tongue, a look of false pity on her face.

    "You must be regretting not listening to my words to end up like this," Morganna shook her head, a faint smile appearing on her face.

 Chapter 613 Turning tables- Part 1

    <h4>613 Turning tables- Part 1</h4>

    "Did you think you would get away this easily for stealing my jewels?" questioned Morganna.

    Calhoun, who sat on the ground with one leg stretched while his other leg pulled up, he stared at the woman who had a triumphant look on her face. "You know well that I had nothing to do with it. Nor Theodore. Have you run out of ideas that you have decided to fall so low by stealing your own things and hiding them to frame me?"

    Morganna didn''t seem affected by Calhoun''s words, and she only smiled, "I don''t have any idea of what you are speaking right now. Perhaps you have lost your mind that you are pointing your finger at me. Don''t forget that you are the one who has been confined and not me. Let me give you some advice. When a person is in your position, you need to grovel on the ground and beg for forgiveness."

    Turning to the guards who were standing around, Morganna raised her hand and dismissed them. She didn''t need them in here as the boys were not worth looking after.

    "It is only a matter of time before my son throws you out of the castle, just like what he did to your mother," when Morganna said this, a chuckle escaped Calhoun''s lips. The Queen''s eyes narrowed. "Have you lost your mind?"

    Calhoun pushed himself up from the ground, and he made his way to stand in front of Morganna with iron bars separating them.

    "Maybe," he answered the woman''s words and the smile on Morganna''s face finally slipped down. His eyes didn''t break away from her. "Don''t look so happy about what happened today, because the days that are approaching are dark and it will drag you down to dust."

    "How dare you try to intimidate and threaten me," Morganna red at Calhoun. "I will make sure that day neveres, because you won''t be alive to see it."

    Since the time of evening Calhoun and Theodore had been dragged into the cells. The guards on Morganna''s orders had tortured them.

    Theodore sat down in the other cell that was next to Calhoun. Even though they were beaten and their skin had turned bloody in pain, he watched Calhounugh at Queen Morganna''s face. It wasn''t like he hadn''t gone through such situations before, but this was the royal family and their prison, he could only wonder how Calhoun was nning to get them out of this situation.

    Obviously, Morganna wanted to get rid of both of them as soon as she could, but the thing was, would the King really agree to it?

    Calhoun''s jaw ticked, and Morganna relished in the boy''s defeat.

    When Morganna turned around and started to walk away from there, Calhoun said,

    "Do you think I don''t know about it?"

    Morganna stopped walking, and she turned to look at Calhoun. Her proud eyes looked down at him.

    "I know you were behind it. I would expect nothing less from you," said Calhoun, and the side of his lips pulled up.

    Morganna didn''t stay there to listen to what Calhoun had to say as she had other important things to do, and she stepped out of the room and got out of the tall tower. The guards left with Morganna, leaving the tower unattended.

    When Morganna left, Lucy, who was hiding behind the walls, stepped forward with her face filled with shock. She couldn''t believe what she had just heard, and her hands turned cold. After finding Theodore and Calhoun were locked up in here, she hade here, but she hadn''t expected her grandmother to say what she uttered a few moments ago.

    Lucy''s steps were quiet, but it was enough for Calhoun and Theodore to pick up the sound and saw the young vampiress walk through the entrance of the room. Her eyes widened at the sight of blood spilt and the wounds on both the men.

    Calhoun watched Lucy step into the room with a look of shock sshed on her face, "You shouldn''t be here," he said.

    Lucy nodded her head, "I know. I thought you would be hungry." She had two sks in her hand, which was filled with blood.

    "The Queen will not be happy if she finds you in here," said Calhoun. "But thank you for being thoughtful." He stretched his hand forward, and Lucy quickly handed one of the sks to him.

    She then turned to look at Theodore, who watched her with a small frown on his face, "If someone sees you here, you will be in grave trouble," said Theodore. She knew it, but she wanted to see them.

    "I cannot sit quiet without offering my help," replied Lucy. "You brought me blood when I was locked in my room. It is only right that I repay your kindness."

    When both of them finished drinking the blood that was in the bottle, Lucy asked Calhoun, "Is it true? That grandmother framed you?" she looked up anxiously.

    "What do you think?" Calhoun questioned back. He had heard the sound of her feet even before Morganna had left the room, knowing she had heard every word that was spoken in here. Lucy didn''t know what to say, and when she heard some sound outside the room, she quickly ran out of the room as if she hadn''te here.

 Chapter 614 Turning tables- Part 2

    <h4>614 Turning tables- Part 2</h4>

    Her breathing had turned to gasps, and when she reached the servant''s quarters, she came to stand in front of an old door. Knocking on it, she waited until the person opened the door for her.

    "Lady Lucy?" Ruby looked surprised to see Lucy standing outside, and before any of the servants would see, she had the young vampiress step inside the room. "Is everything alright?" she asked, worried.

    Lucy shook her head. It had been weeks since she hadst spoken to Ruby as her mother had kept the maid busy and away from her. Lucy hadn''t even got the chance to see Ruby as the maid was always working in some corner of the castle, and Lady Samara had particrly ordered the servant not to talk to her daughter. The pressure of her family to behave the way they wanted, and the things she came to know, along with the loneliness that had crept into her heart, she went straight to the woman and put her hands around the maid. Hugging her.

    Ruby didn''t know what happened because Lucy had not said anything, but she put her hands around before patting Lucy''s head from behind.

    "It is going to be alright," the woman consoled Lucy. Even though Lucy didn''t shed any tears or sniffle, Ruby could tell that something was bothering the young vampiress, which she couldn''t share with anyone.

    "What if it is not?" whispered Lucy.

    "Then one can only hope that it will get better. And it always does, dear," said Ruby while patting the back of Lucy''s head. "We all go through trials of life. The pain, hurt, disappointment, but thenes the happiness,ughter, contentment. It is only that sometimes it takes days for it to show up."

    Lucy pulled away from Ruby, dropping her hands and looking at Ruby, who seemed wise and offered her the warmth that she craved in this castle.

    "I am too tired, Ruby. There are days...where I just want to run away," confessed Lucy and the woman looked surprised by the vampiresses thoughts. "I wished I was never born into the royal family, and instead born in a normal family."

    A mother who would spend her time with her, give her love and care, and not watch her in the judgement of what she did wrongs. A father who would spare his time and look at her unbiased without thinking of how she wasn''t the male heir he wanted.

    "Things will get better, dear. After the darkest clouds, there is nothing but sunshine and rainbow. Even if it takes a long time, hold on to it and that will help you survive," Ruby offered Lucy a warm smile.

    "I missed talking to you," said Lucy, and the woman smiled.

    "Me too, mdy. It has been long since I sat down and was able to speak to you," responded Ruby.

    "I must go now," said Lucy, standing up from the bed where she had taken a seat along with Ruby. Before she could leave the room, she turned around and said, "Thank you, Ruby. Goodnight."

    "Goodnight Lady Lucy," Ruby wished the vampiress, who went back to her room.

    On her way back to her room, Lucy couldn''t help but wonder how her half-brother and Theodore would be able toe out from the situation they were in. It seemed like her grandmother disliked Calhoun''s presence in the castle and had framed him. She wondered what her father was going to do about it. Usually, stealing things from the royal family resulted in people being severely punished by being beheaded. But if Calhoun was in the tower, it meant there was still a chance.

    In the Royal court, King Laurence sat on his throne with a grave expression on his face. He hadn''t spoken a word since he had returned from the tower, where Calhoun was locked right now.

    "What are we going to do, my King?" asked one of the ministers in the room.

    Queen Morganna, who had joined the discussion, said, "What''s there to do? The boy went so far as to steal something that is precious to me. It is only right to throw him out of the castle."

    "But what about the current situation with the neighbouring kings and queens?" asked the minister in worry.

    "We will not speak anything about it. Everybody believes that the male heir is here, so let us make them continue to believe it," stated Morganna, "Our situation has already been solved-"

    "When did your jewel go missing, mother?" King Laurence interrupted his mother''s words.

    Morganna suppressed her annoyance from showing up on her face, and she answered, "It was a few days ago. But I am d it is back in my possession."

    "Few days, yet you didn''t utter a word about it until today," questioned the King.

    Morganna stared at her son, "It is not like I wear the same jewels every day. Some of them are meant to be preserved for best asions. It was presented by your father, and I would like to value his feelings."

    When the news about what happened reached King Laurence''s ears, he had straightaway gone to the tower and had stopped the guards from punishing Calhoun.

    He wanted to gather information on what happened before taking any action. "Calhoun is my son, mother. That makes him your grandson, and you were eager to punish him. I don''t see you doing the same thing to Sophie, Markus or Lucy. I am sure if it was someone else in Sophie''s ce, who threw water in your face, the action would have warranted them death, yet, this is just a simple jewel."

 Chapter 615 Turning tables- Part 3

    <h4>615 Turning tables- Part 3</h4>

    "Newton, get the boys back to their rooms," ordered King Laurence, and Morganna''s eyes widened.

    "The boy stole my jewel! You cannot let him off that easily," protested Morganna, unhappy with her son''s sudden decision. She had nned to keep Calhoun ced behind bars before throwing him out of the castle or getting him executed. "Nobody has ever dared tomit such a thing until he arrived here."

    "I find it hard to believe that Calhoun would try to steal something from any of us, mother. A King can have anything he wants and he knows that. He could get a new set of jewels if he wanted. You must have probably mistaken his actions," stated Laurence.

    Morganna gritted her teeth, not believing things would turn out this way.

    "If he is not the one, then who is the culprit? There must be someone. It must be his aplice, the guard," Morganna tried to get rid of at least one person as this was turning more difficult than she had previously expected.

    "I will have Newton check the maids and servants. I am sure the culprit who ced the jewel in a convenient ce like Calhoun''s room will be caught in good time," promised Laurence. "The thief shall not go unpunished for trying to defame our family member. We all should live together in harmony."

    When both Theodore and Calhoun returned to their room, the King hade to speak to Calhoun along with Morganna.

    "There was a mistake, my son," said King Laurence. "Your grandmother lost her jewel that was given by your grandfather. She seemed to be upset and she made a rash decision. After we had a discussion, I can only tell that you had nothing to do with it."

    Calhoun looked at his so-called father, "I think it is better for me to leave the castle and go back to my usual life."

    Hearing this, Laurence frowned, "What happened was a mistake, but you need not worry about such things in the future. It will not happen again."

    Calhoun shook his head, "Forgive me, my King, but I don''t think I will be looked at the same way as the rest of the royal family members. Ie from the alleys and streets, and I know I will always be questioned and doubted if something like this happens again. It is only right that I leave the ce which doesn''t belong to me."

    Theodore couldn''t help but internally smile at the way Calhoun was ying the King and the mother Queen. He could tell the King felt threatened, and if Calhoun wanted, he could walk out of here right this instant. But that was not why they were here in the castle.

    Morganna''s eyes snapped to look at her son. A smallugh escaped her lips, and she said, "That is a good one. I don''t think Calhoun needs that. He knows it was a simple folly."

    But Calhoun didn''t budge, and his eyes were set down to look at the ground without looking at the woman who was not only prideful but arrogant.

    Right now, to Laurence, Calhoun was more important than his mother, and he said, "We are all family here, nothing wrong in admitting our faults and apologies."

    She was the Queen! Not some fool to be begging for forgiveness to the whore''s child! Thought Morganna in her mind.

    But Calhoun was not going to have it any other way. He brought his hand towards his lips, wincing at the cut which had bled, "When I came here to the castle, I thought I had a family," he turned his head to the side, "Believing I would finally be reunited with all of you, and live together with love...but I don''t think I can now."

    "That''s rubbish!" King Laurence dismissed Calhoun''s words instantly. The man wanted Calhoun, and if the situation was different, Laurence would have never sought out for Calhoun to be his legal son by epting it publicly. "We all are happy to have you here with us. I must have reached out for you sooner, but betterte than never. Mother," he then turned to look at Morganna. "You need to apologize to Calhoun."

    "Laurence," Morganna scowled, "You forget I am the Queen. The Queen bows down to no one."

    "Calhoun is family, and the future King of Devon. I believe you know how important he is to ournd. Now, let''s try to diffuse the situation rather than drag the matter," suggested Laurence, waiting with others for Morganna to apologize.

    Morganna had not uttered a word yet, but she felt utterly humiliated by just the thought of her having to say it. Though she still had the reigns of the Queen, it was Laurence who was the King. She didn''t want to upset her son, and at the same time, she didn''t want to bow her head down to a boy who was nothing.

    Clenching and unclenching her jaw, Morganna finally said, "My...apologies for being harsh and quick in judging what happened today." She hoped this would be enough, but with Calhoun, who didn''t react, it only made her want to kill him that much more. "I should have been more understanding, and I hope you forgive me."

    Calhoun met her eyes finally, and he offered her the sweetest smile, "How can I ever be angry at you, grandmother."

    He could have told this before making her apologize! Morganna wanted to re at him, but instead, she smiled back.

 Chapter 616 Growing flower- Part 1

    <h4>616 Growing flower- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Rosamund looked at her mother, who had her back facing her right now while standing in front of the firece. It had been more than ten minutes since she had entered the room, but her mother had not spoken a word.

    "I heard what happenedst night," Rosamund spoke to her mother, "I don''t know how you are able to stand there doing nothing, mother."

    Morganna turned her head to the side before her eyes met her daughter''s who hadn''t taken a seat on the couch since she had arrived in the room.

    "You do not have to remind me what happened yesterday, Rosa," Morganna''s words were sharp and Rosamund who hade to add more salt on her mother quickly closed her mouth after murmuring,

    "Forgive me mother."

    Once the news about what happened in the castle had reached Rosamund''s ears through the informant who was positioned in the castle, Rosamund had quicklye to meet her mother in hope to remind the Queen that her Markus could be appointed as the next King.

    Morganna hadn''t slept the entire night. She was utterly humiliated by a man who was younger to her and she didn''t take it well. All these years, she had ruled thend of Devon through iron fist, even if it meant she yed puppeteer behind the curtain by making use of her son. But since the throne had been threatened, her hold on her son had been cut off and that was because of the boy.

    In the room now, it was just Queen Morganna and her daughter Rosamund without any maids waiting on them.

    "I thought framing him through the jewels would be easy, but your brother turned out far worse of an idiot than I expected him to be," stated Morganna with a grim expression on her face and her lips turned upside down out of displeasure. She shook her head, "Everything was perfect, even Laurence wasn''t around when I got them inside the cell rooms."

    "How is it possible that Laurence let them go? Theft in the royal family is a great offence," replied Rosamund, not understanding the situation.

    "Laurence is desperate and is not able to distinguish right from wrong. He is so desperate that he even forgot my position in Devon," Morganna''s hands turned to fist in controlled anger.

    Even Rosamund was unhappy that all her efforts had gone in vain. She had made sure that the King''s wife would continue to have miscarriage so that eventually in the future, the throne woulde in her hands, but then came the whore''s son.

    "He seems to be smarter than what we pegged him to be, mother."

    Morganna nodded her head in deep thought, "He is. Just like he said, I underestimated him. I pull anything against him, he makes use of it for his own advantage. Now not only has he shook Laurence, but he has taken the position of the advisor in the royal court room."

    Rosamund''s eyes widened hearing this, "What?"

    "There''s still time," said Morganna, her hand going behind her back and holding the other hand. "There''s no use waiting for your brother to snap out of his bubble. It is time I use my own methods to let the boy know what it is to live in Hell."

    "Will it work?" asked Rosamund slightly apprehensive about what her mother had on her mind.

    "I have a couple more things under my sleeve. He is greatly mistaken to think that I will not retaliate for the humiliation he has caused me. I will make sure that he doesn''t step back in the castle," stated Morganna, and Rosamund was more than hopeful and happy to hear it.

    "I shall hope it works, mother," chimed Rosamund.

    Morganna was not going to wait to strike at Calhoun. She would continuously attack him in a way where he wouldn''t be able to stay in peace. Until now she had only thought to put him out of the castle by scaring him, but he had stepped the line.

    She wondered if she should do something about her own son, who was being stubborn and not able to reason properly. But before that, she would need to fix the smaller problem that was turning big.

    Away from Queen Morganna''s quarters, Lucy sat with her governess ying the cello.

    Lucy had ced her hand in front of the instrument,holding the bow in her hand and gliding on the strings as it produced music. Her wrist moved every now and then to adjust to the music sheet, and when she continued, Ms. Lewis scolded her,

    "This is not how it goes. We have already gone through it five times and you are having difficulty in learning it," said the governess, looking at Lucy through her sses with a stern expression on her face. "Now start from the beginning and move your hand faster."

    "This is not the way you speak to me," Lucy was not pleased with the tone of the woman''s voice.

    The governess had been in a bad mood since this morning as witnessed by Lucy, but the woman was in a foul mood sincest evening because of her conversation with Theodore. She now rolled her eyes at Lucy''s words.

    "Stopining and fix the position of your hand, mdy. You don''t expect me praising you for your mistakes, now do you?" questioned the governess, taking out her anger on Lucy. "Your mother and the Queen have given me permission to be strict with you. I will do what I came here to do."

 Chapter 617 Growing flower- Part 2

    <h4>617 Growing flower- Part 2</h4>

    "And you can get even better-"

    "And do what? Join the group of theaters and y with them?" questioned Lucy, slightly annoyed by the governesses persistence. "I get that you are in a bad mood, but I would prefer you keep your personal feelings out of this ss and with me unless you prefer not to work here anymore."

    Lucy ced her bowed, ready to leave when the governess sighed and she apologized, "Pardon me, mdy. I didn''t mean to be harsh but the Queen wants you to be perfect in what you are learning."

    "I am sure my future husband will be more than happy to listen to me y basic things," respond Lucy, and the governess wanted to say something but knowing this was the princess, she decided to bite her tongue.

    Lucy watched her governess nod and the woman then offered her a smile. She was curious about what happened yesterday, after she had left Theodore.

    "Are you doing alright, Ms. Lewis? You have been spacing out a little today. You can talk to me if you need someone to listen to," offered Lucy, her curious self wanting to know what happened.

    Her governess offered a tight smile to Lucy as if she was a little embarrassed about what went down. "It is nothing, let''s take a break here and continue after an hour."

    "Okay," Lucy was more than d to leave the music room, and she stepped out of the room.

    She bit her lip, her steps slow and careful when she noticed Ms. Lewis leave the room to get some fresh air herself. It seemed like she had been rejected and Theodore had not epted the woman''s letter.

    Lucy didn''t know if what she did was right, and if she had hurt the woman''s feelings by indirectly meddling in the subject. But she had done what she felt was right yesterday. At the same time, she was d Theodore had not questioned her orders and he had followed it.

    Deciding to take a walk in the corridors, Lucy was alone when she caught sight of her cousin who was speaking to her brother. Walking to where they were, Lucy greeted both of them,

    "Good afternoon brother Calhoun. Ethan, it is good to see you here," she wished her cousin who offered her a deep bow.

    "A very good afternoon to you, Lady Lucy," greeted her cousin.

    Hearing someone call for Calhoun, he excused himself to leave Lucy and Ethan alone in the corridor that wasn''t far from the royal court room.

    "Seems like things have changed since Ist arrived here,"mented Ethan as he watched Calhoun''s retreating back. "I would have never guessed that King Laurence would have a third advising minister in the court."

    "So I heard," responded Ethan, a faint frown on his forehead. He had also heard more than just the death that had ured, as word was that Calhoun had killed his own mother to gain the King''s attention. "You should be carefull, Lady Lucy."

    "Don''t worry about me, Ethan," a softughter escaped Lucy''s lips and the man turned around to see the gleaming smile on the young vampiress''s face. The very smile stole his heart and he wished he could tell her how bad the world was, but he doubted she would understand itsplications. "Brother Calhoun and hispanion are wonderful people. You didn''t tell me how it went with the girl you were supposed to speak to."

    Far away from them, Theodore who stood on the above corridor watched the young man and girl interact with each other. Lucy was friendly with everyone in the castle, speaking to everyone, but he had never seen this man before in the castle.

    Ethan turned slightly embarrassed and he shook his head, "I haven''t told her yet."

    "Ah, I see. You should tell her quickly without dy. You are a good man, Ethan, I am sure she will say yes to you the moment you put the question out," encouraged Lucy, not knowing the girl whom Ethan wanted to ask for marriage was no one but her.

    Even Theodore who had seen the man for the first time could tell his feelings were reserved for the girl who stood in front of him.

    Theodore had met many women and girls who were mostly cunning, spoilt, and felt they were entitled to everything around them by being selfish. The women he had been with sometimes got caught but refused to take the me. And when that happened, either their family members or spouse would hunt and beat him up. He had slept and had been in thepany of many females since a very young age, but he no one couldpare to the princess.

    He had brought blood to Lucy only because she looked pitiful in thepany of her family, and yesterday, he hadn''t expected her to bring him and Calhoun blood where they were tied. People often forgot the help that was provided and to think this young vampiress hade there, even after knowing she would be in trouble if someone caught her, caught Theodore''s attention.

    "Yes, I hope so too," replied Ethan with a smile, without being able to move his eyes away from her as if he was entranced by her. "I was nning to take her to a ball that is being hosted by Duke Barnes. But I am having trouble with the dance steps."

    "I can help you with that if you want," Lucy offered her help thoughtlessly.

 Chapter 618 Growing flower- Part 3

    <h4>618 Growing flower- Part 3</h4>

    "Thank you for the offer, Lady Lucy. I was wondering if you would be able to make it to the ball. Considering how the Barnes family is close to the King when ites to offering help in work," inquired Ethan, watching her eyes blink and her hand tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear.

    "I am not sure about it. When is the ball?" she questioned back.

    "Six days from now. It would make me feel much better to have someone I know in the room to support me, and you will be able to meet her too," added Ethan and Lucy was quick to take interest in it.

    "I will try to be present, Ethan. You have my full support," and they both smiled at each other. Somewhere, Lucy caught a whisper of word in the wind that spoke ''idiot'' but there was no one around them.

    "I cannot wait," and he looked at the sky outside the window, "I should probably head out now. The clouds are dark and I might possibly catch rain on my way back home."

    "I hope your ride back home is peaceful, Ethan," wished Lucy and the man bowed.

    "Until the next time we meet again, mdy," and his gaze held hers for a second longer before he walked away from her to step out of the castle.

    Lucy hadn''t moved from her spot, and she watched the corridor until she heard footsteps approach behind her, "He seems to be in love, doesn''t he." Her head snapped around to find Theodore who had made his way to where she was and she felt her heart skip a beat just by hearing his voice.

    "Uh, you mean Ethan?" asked Lucy, "He does, he said he loves this girl and he was going to ask her for her hand in marriage."

    "How wonderful and the girl doesn''t know,"mented Theodore and Lucy gave him a perplexed look.

    "She will on the day of the ball," said Lucy and she then asked, "Did youe from the royal court?"

    "Not exactly," and he then fished something in his pocket before handing it to Lucy, "I think you forgot this yesterday."

    For a moment, Lucy didn''t know what it was as it looked like folded parchment and then her eyes widened in realization. She quickly snatched it away from him, her cheeks tinting red.

    "W-where did you find this? Thank you," said Lucy before putting the folded parchment in her dress pocket.

    She had looked for it yesterday, but she was sure the wind had blown it away to another corner or it was handed to the minister or her family members. If that happened, Lucy didn''t know what she would do.

    Did he read it? Asked Lucy to herself. Some part of her wished he had read, and some part was already embarrassed with the thought that he had already read it. Her eyes slowly moved back to look at his face that had very faint markspared to the wounds that he had received yesterday from the guards after being put in the cell rooms of the top tower.

    "How are you doing today, does it hurt?" asked Lucy with concern in her voice. Her heart ached when she had seen him bloody and on the ground.

    "I am doing much better today. Thank you," replied Theodore.

    "That''s good to hear. What happened yesterday, it shouldn''t have happened," Lucy pursed her lips. Theodore didn''t utter a word about her governess and even though Lucy wanted to know, it would only make him question why. But Lucy wanted to let him know about her feelings.

    Though Theodore didn''t bring a single change in his expression, he noticed the way the vampiresses cheeks had turned slightly pink. Her tongue peeked out to wet her lips that seemed like it had turned dry.

    Previously he had humoured her for no reason. When Lucy had dropped the parchment without her knowledge, he had picked it up to return it to her without reading it. Not bothering what was written inside it. But one single action after that had changed his view about Lucy Hawthrone. After being released from the cell room and after King Laurence and Queen Morganna had left them, Theodore had reached out for the parchment, opening to read what was in there. It was clear as day that the poem written in there was nothing less to a wonderment of love.

    Theodore was not ignorant when it came to women and girls affections towards him, to not know that there was something brewing in Lucy''s chest and to whom it was directed to.

    The question here was if it was worth the trouble, to involve himself with her, but then he was so used to trouble and at the same time, he was in the castle to aplish Calhoun''s goal.

    Theodore offered her a polite and friendly smile, "Little misunderstandings happen, Lady Lucy. I am thankful that we have moved past yesterday''s event."

    Lucy quickly nodded her head in agreement, "Me too."

    "How are your lessons going on with your governess?"

    "It was a little bumpy this morning, but nothing too difficult," replied Lucy, "Did you say something to her? The governess I mean."

    Theodore tilted his head as he looked in her eyes.

    "Nothing of importance, mdy," said Theodore and he asked, "Why do you ask?" as if he had no clue.

 Chapter 619 Start of the suitors- Part 1

    <h4>619 Start of the suitors- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Lucy knew her governess had spoken to Theodore, which was the reason why the woman was in such a bad mood. Theodore behaved as if nothing of importance took ce between them, and she could only tell that she wouldn''t find out anything from him.

    She shook her head, "I was just curious��I should get back to my lessons, Ms. Lewis must be waiting for me," and she turned around, ready to walk before she turned back to look at him and say, "Thank you for finding my poem."

    Theodore offered her a polite bow, "I hope you have a good ss, Lady Lucy." He watched Lucy walk away from there, and the smile slowly lowered down.

    Not because he was faking his smile with the princess, but because she had left the corridor, and his thoughts went to the words that were written in the folded parchment that he had returned to her.

    Theodore had no interest in involving Lucy in the politics in the castle as the people whom Calhoun was interested in were Queen Morganna and King Laurence. He didn''t know why, but sincest night it seemed that things had changed as if the very air that he was breathing had changed to something else than what was there before.

    He knew the princess was innocent and ignorant, but yesterday she had been allowed to hear something he was sure she had not expected to hear about her grandmother. The shock was clearly written on her face.

    King Laurence had sent Calhoun on some work, and it seemed like it would take a while before he would return, giving him his own time to watch people of the castle and learn more about them. The clouds had turned heavier, and in no time, the rain started to pour down in Devon.

    Away from the castle, Calhoun had just finished speaking to one of the magistrates in the vige of Carnival, and he stepped out of the building to notice the carriage he had arrived in had disappeared from the previously parked ce.

    "Do you need a ride?" asked the magistrate, holding an umbre in his hand.

    "That''s fine," replied Calhoun. "The coachman must have pulled the carriage to another ce so that he wouldn''t get drenched along with the horses."

    The magistrate then offered another spare umbre to Calhoun, "Take this, my future King. You might need it as the rain is going to turn heavier. You are free to stay back in here until the rain stops."

    "Thanks," Calhoun took hold of the ck umbre and said, "I should probably get back to the castle as the King expects the package to be delivered to him as soon as possible."

    Calhoun had not stayed for breakfast or lunch as his father wanted him to get on the work that was waiting for him. This has not given him the time to drink blood, and he opened the umbre for it to make a soft pping sound before he ced it above his head.

    Calhoun left the building behind him as he made his way through the nearby streets, looking for the coachman or the carriage that belonged to the castle, but he noticed it was nowhere to be found. It seemed that the coachman had disappeared without letting him know, and it made him wonder if it had anything to do with his grandmother, who was trying to trouble him with such silly things.

    The people of the vige had returned to their homes. The rain reminded him of his mother because of how sick she turned in this weather. It reminded him of the people and their gazes, along with their whispers of hate for him. The only difference right now was that he now had an umbre to shelter him.

    He wondered if he should go back to the building, considering how he wouldn''t be able to fly in the sky because of the pouring rain.

    When he stepped into another street, even though the sound of rain, he heard a couple of footsteps behind him, and he turned around to see men who didn''t bother to carry an umbre, but they did hold rods and sticks with them.

    "Are you Calhoun? The whore''s son?" asked one of the men over the rain.

    Calhoun stared at the men who were in the count of ten, and they seemed to circle him slowly. "How strange that you address me that way. I am the bastard''s son," chimed Calhoun.

    "He''s the person," said another man behind him, "I saw him with King Laurence in the town."

    Not a secondter, a fight broke down in the middle of the street where the men tried to attack Calhoun, and he tried to defend himself. It wasn''t that Calhoun didn''t expect people from the royal court not to pull a stunt like this. And though he had fought people in the past, he hadn''t fought so many people before at a time.

    Calhoun punched and kicked, but with the weapons that the men held, one of the people pushed the rod''s sharp edge into Calhoun''s stomach, making him lose his stance for a moment. But when the men thought they had finally got the vampire good, two of them came forward to catch hold of Calhoun to thrash him into the ground.

    But at the time, Calhoun caught hold of one of the men, and he tore the man''s head apart. The same thing happened with the next two people. Blood spilt on the ground, turning the water around red as the others looked at Calhoun in shock while he tried to keep himself alive.

 Chapter 620 Start of the suitors- Part 2

    <h4>620 Start of the suitors- Part 2</h4>

    When Calhoun hid between the walls and away from the eyes, the main man who was in charge of the group demanded,

    "Where is he?! He should be somewhere close by! Make sure to drag and bring him to me!"

    "Sir!" came the collective voices from the other six men who had apanied the man who just ordered them.

    "Everyone split up!" came the next order, and the men dispersed from the streets.

    The rain had eventually slowed down, leaving a drizzle of the rain. He gritted his teeth at the wound that was on his stomach. He doubted he would be able to get back to the castle right away, and his body felt like it was losing its strength.

    When he got to an alley, his body slid down, and he sat down on the ground.

    Calhoun noticed how blood dripped down from his leg, and he leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes, taking a breather. The rod had gone too deep into his body, and he coughed out blood from his mouth. With the amount of blood that he had lost, he now craved for blood.

    He sat there for minutes that felt like hours because of the pain, and when he heard a small sound approaching his way, he believed it to be a stray cat. When the sound stopped in front of him, Calhoun opened his eyes, and his eyes fell on a small girl who wore oversized clothes as her hands almost disappeared because of the long sleeves. The girl was a human and probably around the age of five.

    Instead of being scared by him, she stared at him.

    "Haven''t you heard not to speak to strangers and to run away from them?" Calhoun asked the girl.

    The hand that he had ced on his stomach hadn''t moved, and his tongue ran across the corner of his lips, feeling the sore and metallic taste of blooding from his mouth. The pain in his body didn''t reduce, and he was hungry.

    He could smell the scent of blood wafting from the little girl, and it was divine.

    It wasn''t just because of his hunger, but there was something so sweeting from her, like the petals of roses. He was gravely injured, and to make it better. He needed blood.

    His eyes moved to look at the ends of the alley, making sure her guardians weren''t around, and he raised his hand forward that he had been clutching on his stomach,

    "Come here."

    When the girl took a step back, Calhoun''s eyes narrowed. It seemed like this was easily scared, and he decided to use a much sweeter tone, "Come here, little girl. Let me see what you have in that hand of yours."

    "Hah," Calhoun responded, looking at the leaf and then up at the girl. "Do you believe in that thing?"

    The little girl slowly nodded her head. Her eyes were brown, and her hair blonde.

    "How lucky are you to be meeting someone who is at the peak of hunger," murmured Calhoun to himself. "Why don''t I take a look at the leaf? It seems like it''s not working well for you. I will return it to you."

    The girl''s eyes turned slightly wide when her eyes fell on the ground that slowly spread the redness in the water.

    She was small and naive, moving towards him for him to get hold of the clover-leaf.

    Just like he thought, the girl took five small steps towards him, holding the cloverleaf for him to take. The smell of blood that belonged to her got more potent, and his eyes turned red. All he had to do now was quickly grab her and then sink his fang until she was dry.

    But before he could grab her, the girl covered his mouth with her handkerchief.

    "What do you think you are doing?" asked Calhoun.

    "Hurt," she spoke with her small voice.

    "You know I am starving," said Calhoun.

    "I have no food," replied the little girl and a chuckle escaped Calhoun''s lips.

    "Why will I ask my food to bring me food? It makes no sense, stupid little girl," Calhoun brought his hand up and flicked the girl''s forehead before pushing her forehead with his index finger so that she would keep a distance by taking a step back away from him so that her blood would not tempt him. "You are a funny one."

    Calhoun then said, "Go back to your parents. I cannot promise that I will spare you if I meet you next time," he ordered before leaving the alley and the girl behind.

    Back in the castle, Morganna hummed a happy tune as she looked at the sky that had started to clear.

    "You seem to be in a rather pleasant mood today, mother," noted King Laurence, and Morganna''s smile only widened on her lips.

    A soft sigh escaped the woman''s lips, and she said, "The weather today is pleasant. What is not there to appreciate it. I can tell that our rule in Devon is going to thrive and one day is going to outshine the othernds by capturing the others as ours. I can tell just by the weather today that it is going to be a good day. Wonderful actually."

    King Laurence responded with, "Here, I thought things would turn sour after what happened between you and Calhoun, but I am d to see that you haven''t taken it ill to your heart."

    Morganna chuckled, "Why would I? He is my grandson, and I have decided to ept him and love him dearly." She had asked her men to kill Calhoun today and dispose of him where no one would find his body. Calhoun would not make it back, thought Morganna to herself.

    But after a few hours, when Calhoun returned to the royal court, it was like a p on Morganna''s face, and she couldn''t help but re at the boy. She had sent her best men to kill Calhoun, hoping to never see Calhoun''s face ever again in the castle, but here he was, standing in therge room with her son.

 Chapter 621 Start of the suitors- Part 3

    <h4>621 Start of the suitors- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Days passed, and the day for the ball in the Barnes'' mansion was hosted during the time of evening for only people who were close to Mr. Barnes. Lucy had dressed herself up along with her other family members who attended the ball.

    When they reached therge mansion, Ethan Moryett, who had arrived early, greeted everyone before greeting the princess, "Lady Lucy, you look lovely."

    "You look handsome as well, Ethan," Lucy was polite topliment the man whose hope only rose by her words. He had been waiting for this day and hour of the evening eagerly, hoping to finally let Lucy know his feelings for her.

    "You seem to be having quite some spare time in your hands, Ethan," spoke Lady Samara, noticing the little extra attention the man was giving to her daughter. Given that they were far rtives, Lady Samara wasn''t kind with her words when it came to him.

    Ethan didn''t offence to thedy''s words, and he answered, "I finished the documents earlier than expected and thought it would do me good toe here."

    Lady Samara didn''t respond back and only stared before shifting her gaze elsewhere. "Oh look, Lucy dear. I wanted you to meet Mr. Vinter," said the woman, cing her hand on her daughter''s back and driving her to walk towards a young gentleman.

    "Lady Samara," Mr. Vinter bowed his head. The person was in histe twenties, and he came from a strong political background being the neighbouring King''s nephew. "You look beautiful, just as a Queen should be," heplimented the woman.

    "You are very generous," Lady Samaraughed softly. Her expression hadpletely changedpared to the way she had spoken to Ethan Moryett. "You must have seen my daughter Lucy before," she introduced and looked at Lucy, "This is Jensen Vinter, Lucy. King Stephen''s nephew."

    Lucy felt her hand being picked up, and the man leaned forward to kiss the back of her gloved hand.

    "It is good to finally be meeting you, Lady Lucy. I have heard a lot about you and have been eager to meet you," Mr. Vinter was not short when it came topliments, and Lucy wished she could do the same, but she didn''t even know he existed.

    "What an opportune time that you havee to attend Mr. Barnes ball. I am sure you would be a wonderful partner to Lucy this evening," said Lady Samar.

    Hearing this, Lucy''s eyes snapped to look at her mother. Was she trying to set her up with this man? She didn''te to attend the ball for this! Thought Lucy in her mind.

    "I wouldn''t want to impose on Mr. Vinter. I am sure there are plenty of people that I can dance with and not upy all his time," stated Lucy, trying to get out of this situation, but her mother didn''t let go of her back.

    "I am sure Mr. Vinter''s wouldn''t mind, would you?" asked Lady Samara to the man who smiled.

    "How wonderful!" eximed Lady Samara before leaving Lucy''s side, and Lucy watched her mother walk back to her father.

    The entire time, Lucy had Mr. Vinter''s next to her side, and even though the man was not bad, this was not where she wanted to be right now. Her eyes kept wandering around the room, looking for brother Calhoun, knowing that was where she would find Theodore. And like others who were attending the ball, even if he was dressed, he looked as if he was always part of high society.

    Her eyes followed him, stealing nces when Mr. Vinter''s wasn''t looking or talking to her.

    She felt her heart squeeze during the rare times his gaze moved to where she stood but not looking at her.

    "Lady Lucy?"

    "Huh?" Lucy snapped out from her thoughts and saw Mr. Vinter''s waiting for her.

    The man was polite enough to repeat his question by asking Lucy, "I was wondering if you give me the chance to dance with you."

    Not having anything else to do, Lucy nodded her head in politeness.

    When they were on the dance floor with the other couples who were dancing, Mr. Vinter''s who held Lucy''s hand, said, "Lady Lucy, I hope I am not being too forward, but I find you to be a beautiful woman and I think you will be wonderful wife."

    "Thanks," Lucy nodded her head, and Mr. Vinter''s corrected his sentence.

    "I mean my wife."

    Lucy, who was looking around, searching for that one person, her eyes turned wide, and she looked up to meet Mr. Vinter''s gaze.

    "I am ttered by your words, Mr. Vinter''s, but��" she didn''t know how to refuse politely, and she hoped her mother or her grandmother were not listening in on her conversation with him.

    Mr. Vinter''s said, "You don''t have to feel it right away, we can give it time. You can get to know me and you can then decide."

    If her family heard about this, Lucy doubted there would be less knowing and more about preparing for their wedding. To be firm, she said, "Pardon me, but I don''t think it would work well."

    "Why?" he asked, both their voices hush so that the others wouldn''t be able to hear. "Unless you have already chosen someone," and the man noticed the change in Lucy''s expression as if he had got it right.

    Lucy didn''t confirm it through words. The music came to a stop on time, and she was d. With a small frown, she bowed her head, and he did the same.

    "Thank you for the dance, Mr. Vinter''s," and Lucy started to make her way away from there when her eyes caught Theodore''s who was watching her.

 Chapter 622 Stealing glances- Part 1

    <h4>622 Stealing nces- Part 1</h4>

    .

    When Lucy met Theodore''s eyes, the vampiress felt an evident maic pull towards the handsome vampire. There were other men in the room, who were much more handsome than how Theodore looked, but her eyes couldn''t leave him alone. Even after she joined her family and her mother''s side, they tried to introduce her to other eligible men, her eyes would slowly try to look for him, and when his eyes met hers, she would look away quickly with a blush on her face.

    The only downside of this blush was that the men who came to talk to Lucy thought she was blushing over their words, not realizing it was for someone else.

    Lucy had sneaked several nces at Theodore, and after repeatedly being caught, she decided to not look at him for the remainder of the evening. She could feel her heart beating loudly in her chest, and she tried to keep it calm.

    "Lady Lucy, I heard that you are learning to y cello, have you learned all the strings or are you still in the process of learning it?" questioned Mr. Parrett, who was an elderly gentleman and he had brought his son along with him, who was slightly older than Lucy.

    Lucy tried to concentrate on the conversation that was taking ce, and she politely smiled, "I have been trying to learn to y like the musicians in the ball and the theater, Mr. Parrett."

    Mr. Parrett''s son let out a smallugh and asked, "Are you nning to join the theater or y in balls? I think spending time on such unimportant things is not worth it."

    "What do you suggest then?" questioned Lucy, her eyes falling on the younger Mr. Parrett, who was already looking down at her even though she wasn''t rted to him.

    Since Lucy had left Mr. Vinter''s side from the dance floor, her mother had introduced her to other suitors whom she considered to be worth having an alliance with. While some were decent, some were nothing but idiots in Lucy''s eyes.

    "Do you suggest that I sit in the room with a ball of yarn in my hand so that I can stitch sweaters, or do you prefer I know how to make the bed at night?" Lucy''s words were sharp, and it had Lady Samara''s eyes widen. Her mother caught hold of her arm in a tight grip with an awkward smile on her face.

    "I don''t think Lucy meant it in that way," Lady Samara tried to rectify the situation. "We already have enough maids and other servants to take care of it. Music is an important part of our lives, and it is pleasing, especially Lucy''s. My daughter was not born to do minimalistic tasks."

    Senior Mr. Parrett nodded his head in agreement, "The princess should do what she feels like. It is good that she''s taking interest in it."

    The younger man stared at Lucy, who stared right back into him.

    Lucy had no interest to invite him to the castle, at least not a person like him. But her mother, Lady Samara, was the one to answer it, "Maybe we could arrange something in the near future."

    "That would be wonderful," replied Senior Mr. Parrett.

    For most of the people in the room, Lucy was not a person but a thing that everyone wanted to have next to them as their wife. She was no ordinary girl, but the King''s very own daughter and the person who would marry her would have wealth and connection to fulfil their dreams.

    When the Parrett''s left their side, Lady Samara murmured, "I hope he will be someone we will not be associating ourselves with."

    "Is it necessary to speak to every man right now, mother? I came here to enjoy the ball, to listen to the music and have a good time," whispered Lucy while smiling at the other people who walked past them after bowing their heads.

    "My naive and innocent daughter," Lady Samara turned to look at Lucy, "You are mistaken if you think balls and other parties are held for solely merriment purposes. This is the time where people try to widen their socialwork so that someone can turn out to be of good use in the future. Don''t you see the crowd? It is of people who belong to high status and influence."

    Lucy quietly shook her head, notmenting on her mother''s words, and she continued to look through the crowd of people in the room. Her grandmother and father were flocked around by people who were ttering them to gain their favour. Even Calhoun was being spoken to, and her eyes then fell on Theodore, who wasn''t with them but at the dance floor with a woman in his hand.

    The woman was red-headed, and she was beautiful. The woman wasn''t demure, and she spoke to Theodore about something, making him smile, and when he said something, the womanughed.

    Lucy could feel the emptiness in her heart, and her lips were set in a thin line, wondering if this was how it felt when a person turned jealous.

    "Good evening, mdy," came a man to stand in front of her and Lucy''s attention broke away from the dance floor to look at the man with a polite smile on his lips. He was a fairly handsome man.

    Then came another man, who was older to look at, "My humble greetings to Queen Lady Samara and our princess Lucy."

    "Mr. Gerville." Her grandmother had left the other guests and hade to see what her daughter-inw and her granddaughter were up to. "I didn''t think I would be seeing you here. I heard you were away and had been on a voyage."

    The man bowed his head and then said, "I was my Queen, but I decided it was time toe back. I don''t think you have met my son before."

 Chapter 623 Stealing glances- Part 2

    <h4>623 Stealing nces- Part 2</h4>

    "Aren''t you a handsome young man. Where have you been hiding him?" joked Queen Morganna.

    "He has been away, learning about the ministry work as one day in the near future he wants to work in the royal court, my Queen," answered Senior Mr. Gerville.

    "What an ambitious man," hummed Queen Morganna, and she looked at Lady Samara, "King Laurence has been looking for you. And Mr. Gerville, I have something to talk to you."

    Lucy didn''t know how many times she was left alone with a man before trying to go back to where her family, who only pushed her again to stand and provide herpany to eligible suitors.

    "Is there something you would like me to get you to drink, Lady Lucy?" asked the man named Samuel.

    Since she had arrived here, it was the first time someone had offered her to get something to drink, and Lucy shook her head, "No, I am fine. But if you want to get something for yourself, please don''t worry about me," said Lucy. She was more than d to be left alone. She hoped that her time here in the ball would be good, but now that she was here, all Lucy wanted to do was get back to the castle and her room.

    "Pardon me for my forting words," Samuel apologized to her and said, "I feel if I would leave you alone, you would be surrounded again with a bunch of people with whom you don''t want to be surrounded with. I have been noticing you, Lady Lucy."

    Lucy felt like she was caught, and her eyes looked into his red ones. Most of the people who hade to attend the ball were vampires, and there were only a few people who were humans.

    "It''s nothing new to me," said Lucy, keeping her calm demeanour intact. "Please do not hold back on my ord. I will be perfectly fine here."

    But the man didn''t leave her side, instead, he turned around and raised his hand forward, "Would you be kind enough to dance with me, mdy."

    Lucy had danced enough for the day, and the person with whom she actually wanted to dance was dancing with another vampiress. She felt agitated, and she wanted to push the woman away from Theodore, but that was out of character even for Lucy.

    "I promise to keep youpany and make sure that you are not bothered by anyone else for the rest of the evening," he gave his word, and for the first time since Lucy came here, she felt like her prayers were finally being answered.

    "Okay," replied Lucy, cing her hand on Samuel''s hand, and the man''s smile widened as if he was happy to have her dance with him.

    When she was pulled to the dance floor, Theodore was still there dancing. She thought being near him would help diminish the raging feelings in her chest, but instead, it only felt like oil was added to set it aze.

    But then it wasn''t just Lucy who was being tortured. Ethan Moryett, who had feelings for Lucy for a long time, had hoped he would get his opportunity to speak and ask her for a dance. But before he could ask her, someone else woulde and upy her time.

    Lucy heard Theodore say something, "...I would love to show it to you. Maybe we can meet��"

    The young vampiress''s mood had gone downhill, and Samuel, who noticed this, asked, "Are you alright, Lady Lucy?"

    Lucy offered him a polite smile, "I am feeling a little unwell. I should go and rest."

    "Of course. Please allow me to get you a ss of water, or perhaps blood?" asked Samuel.

    Before Lucy could say anything, her eyes fell behind Samuel to see Theodore looking at her with a concentrated expression on his face.

    Feeling her heart skip a beat, she replied, "Water will be fine. Thank you," and both of them stepped away from the dance floor.

    When it was time to leave, Lucy was more than happy to leave the ce, and she quickly went to her carriage and had it ride back to the castle. She wondered if anything could be done, considering their status and not knowing what Theodore''s thought about her.

    As expected, her parents or other family members didn''t bother toe and check on how she was feeling, deciding things about her on their own. When it was midnight, Lucy was still unable to fall asleep. She twisted and turned in her bed, a certain anxiousness filling up in her mind and her chest, not letting her sleep.

    At past two in the morning, Lucy finally got up from her bed and stepped out of her room. Unlike the previous time, she didn''t walk in the usual corridors, and she decided to go to the other side of the castle where her family would note to find her. Away from the madding crowd, she walked in the narrow passage of the tower.

    The night sky was clear, and as Lucy headed the stairs upwards, she caught sight of the stars and moon in the sky. By the time she entered the deserted room, knowing no one ever came here, she was mistaken when she caught sight of a silhouette who stood at the window.

    As if sensing her, the man with the sses turned around, slightly taken aback by her presence here at this hour of the night.

    Seeing Theodore, Lucy turned around to go back to her room, but he stopped her,

    "Lady Lucy," Theodore called her.

 Chapter 624 Stealing glances- Part 3

    <h4>624 Stealing nces- Part 3</h4>

    "Would you like to watch the stars?"

    "No," Lucy''s response was quick, and she looked as if she was in haste to leave the tower and not be anywhere near Theodore.

    Theodore would have let her go, but he had caught her looking at him more than he could count. If she continued to look at him, that would have been a different matter, but the princess had been stealing nces at him.

    Lucy was sure he would let her go without any question, and when she was ready to turn, he asked, "Why not?"

    What kind of question was that? Asked Lucy in her mind.

    "I realized it is ratherte and I should get back to my room," said Lucy half-heartedly. Part of her wanted to run away from here, but the other part of her, she wanted to stand next to Theodore and talk to him. The emotions inside her slowly teared her up, and she wished she knew what to do with it.

    "You came all the way up here to decide it?" Theodore''s head tilted to the side, and he said, "Looking right, my smile smiles with my thoughts of you, countless and endless."

    Lucy''s eyes widened hearing Theodore recite the poem that she had written, "Y-you read what was written in the paper."

    Theodore didn''t move from his ce, and he ced both his elbows behind him to rest on the edge of the open windowpane. Lucy noticed how his demeanour appeared simr to when she had first met him in the alley of the market. There was something daunting in his eyes, and as curious as she was, Lucy doubted she should wander to see what those eyes held.

    "I couldn''t resist my curiosity, mdy," confessed Theodore while watching the young vampiress in her white nightgown. "At first, I thought to not read what it was, but curiosity got the best out of me. For whom did you write it?" he questioned, and Lucy felt her heart stutter.

    It took her a few seconds to calm herself, and she ended up shaking her head, "I am not sure," she breathed the words, too shy to confess that she had written it with him in her thoughts.

    But the man who was in front of Lucy right now was not one of her suitors to tter her, or behave politely on her face because she was King Laurence''s daughter. Theodore said, "Are you not sure, or you don''t want to share?"

    "Why does it matter?" asked Lucy, her cheeks holding a faint flustered blush.

    Theodore, who was staring at Lucy, a small smile tugged on the corners of his lips.

    "I was merely being curious, mdy. There''s no reason for you to be defensive about it," Theodore pushed himself away from the wall as if he was about to leave the room for Lucy to stay until she wanted.

    Theodore raised his eyebrows, "Me? What did I do?"

    Lucy didn''t know if she should tell now or maybe in the morning, but the question was when was the right time? She then shook her head, "It''s nothing."

    Theodore then asked, "How was your time in the ball, Lady Lucy? Did you enjoy anyone''spany?"

    None, thought Lucy.

    "Yes," Lucy surprised him with her answer. "They were all polite and rather kind to me."

    "Is that so," responded Theodore, his eyes keenly continuing to watch her. "One of them must have made quite some impression on you. I am sure the King would be very pleased to hear the news."

    Brushing away his words, Lucy said, "I thinkpared to anyone, you are the one who enjoyed the ball the most. You barely left the dance floor."

    Theodore nodded his head, "It was thanks to Lady Adrienne. She was too kind to keep me in herpany."

    "She seemed wonderful," agreed Lucy. Her heart squeezed as she said this, and she wondered if she should go back to her room and get some sleep. While she was contemting about it, she heard Theodore say,

    "You had some of your dance steps wrong."

    Lucy frowned, hearing this, "That''s not possible," she said, "I was taught by Madame Georgiana. She''s one of the best teachers. Not that I am telling I am perfect," she added in the end.

    A chuckle escaped Theodore''s lips, "They weren''t all wrong, just two or three of them. And the partners you danced with happened to make the mistakes too."

    "You speak as if you know everything about dance," then, in doubt, Lucy asked, "Do you?"

    Theodore left his ce and walked to where Lucy was standing, "I know some, maybe not everything," and he stretched his hand forward and towards Lucy.

    Lucy was slightly startled, and she could feel the blood in her heart, pumping fast. Though Theodore didn''t ask her like the other gentleman for a dance, Lucy''s hand moved up, and she ced it in Theodore''s hand. When he sped his fingers around her hand, she felt the air leave her lungs for a moment.

    Theodore didn''t wait for her to walk forward, and instead, he tugged her hand for her toe near him quickly.

    "Let me show you."

    A gasp escaped Lucy''s lips when Theodore ced his other hand behind her back. Unlike others in the ball, who had ced their hand directly and some apprehensively on her back, Theodore ced his hand at the top of her back, and it slowly slid down to its actual position.

    The wind rustled the leaves on the trees, and Lucy, who stood in front of Theodore, looked into his eyes, standing near to him as she had never done before.

 Chapter 625 Trouble- Part 1

    <h4>625 Trouble- Part 1</h4>

    .

    For a moment, Lucy felt like her head was about to spin because of the sudden closeness she shared with Theodore, not expecting him to pull her the way he did just now. She could feel her heart beating quickly as she stared into his red eyes that peered down at her.

    The men she had danced with were all tame in their movements, not that Theodore wasn''t with the way he held her back and hand. But there was something very dangerous and daunting that she could now see very clearly in his eyes. Because of standing in the tower, his hair from neatlybed had turned dishevelled.

    When Theodore stepped back, Lucy followed him closely as if her body was glued to his. Lucy was slightly nervous as they moved back and forth, upying the tower''s entire open space.

    "Howe you didn''t dance like this with Lady Adrienne?" inquired Lucy, noticing how smooth his movements were.

    Theodore released his hand from Lucy''sher waist, and she felt him jerk her away from him, "I thought it would be impolite to correct her or bring attention to myself, Lady Lucy. You must know how it feels to have too much attention?" and he tugged her back towards him. She swirled right into his arms, and she was back to looking up at him.

    "I thought you were enjoying the attention that you received this evening. It seemed like you were having a lot of fun," said Lucy, a hint of jealousy escaped her mouth, and she tried to hide it.

    "That is a very strong opinion of how I felt. If I may ask, how did you know I was having fun?" Theodore asked her, his voice was ever so polite.

    Lucy didn''t want to confess that she had been looking at him almost all the time when they were in the Barnes'' mansion. Truthfully, she didn''t know how much Theodore had deciphered her poem. It would have been easy to brush it away by telling it wasn''t for him, but her actions and gestures this evening told everything that needed to be conveyed by words.

    "I just thought you did. You seemed happy," Lucy breathed the words as she felt Theodore slide his hand away from her back to ce it on the curve of her waist. She was nervous, but not the wrong kind.

    "You seem to be an expert when ites to reading people''s emotions. What do you think I feel right now?" he questioned her, the pressure of his hand increasing on her waist.

    Lucy, who was unknown to a man''s touch, quickly jumped away from Theodore and stared back at him. Her breathing turned heavy.

    He slightly tilted his head as if questioning her silently if she was scared of him.

    "I don''t know," she whispered, not knowing what was going in Theodore''s mind. When Lucy was about to turn and ready to tell she was going to leave, Theodore caught hold of her hand and pulled her back to him and said,

    Lucy doubted she could resist not telling or letting him know how she felt for him. She felt like her heart would burst at any moment. "Wasn''t aware of it."

    "You didn''t tell how your suitors were. You seemed to have spent a lot of time with thest one. Mr. Gerville was it?" questioned Theodore.

    Somehow Lucy''s hand had ended up on Theodore''s chest, and she could feel his taut muscles underneath his nightshirt. How strange, thought Lucy to herself, that they both were wearing nightclothes and dancing under the moonlight.

    "Why did you find someone to be interesting?" Lucy raised her brows, wanting to know what his thoughts were about them.

    At Lucy''s words, Theodore cracked a smile on his lips, "I don''t swing that way, mdy. But then truth to be told, I don''t think any of them is worth to be your husband."

    Her eyes slightly widened, and she tried to fish for more meaning behind his words. "W-why do you say that?"

    They were swaying, moving from one ce to another, and Theodore didn''t answer her question. Instead, he twirled her out of his hold and brought her back with her back, this time facing his front.

    Lucy didn''t know how she ended up having her back facing Theodore''s front, but when she was about to turn around, she felt both his hands on her waist.

    "It isn''t hard to know what a man wants from you. If he really wants you for you, his hands and his breath will move fervently," whispered Theodore next to her ear.

    Lucy was sure she was going tobust into mes before being reduced into ashes. This feeling that she had and felt, it was something iparable and she could feel it coursing through her veins.

    "Like the way you danced with thedy?" asked Lucy, feeling his hands on her waist and his breath not too far away from her neck.

    A chuckle escaped Theodore''s lips, "It seems like your eyes were not where it was supposed to be. Have you been watching me, princess?"

    Blood suddenly rushed up Lucy''s face and she turned around to once again meet Theodore''s gaze. She knew he knew, yet he wanted her to confess. The question was what after she confessed. As eager as she had been to convey her feelings, there was a sliver of nervousness that was filled with uncertainty of what might happen.

    "Hasn''t everyone?" Lucy questioned back, and she finally looked away. Pushing one piece of her hair that had moved to the front of her face because of the wind.

    Theodore watched Lucy who looked out of breath and too shy to meet his gaze right now.

    "I don''t know about others because I couldn''t shake off the feeling of someone looking at me with every opportunity," said Theodore.

 Chapter 626 Trouble- Part 2

    <h4>626 Trouble- Part 2</h4>

    "Did you find out who it was?" asked Lucy, and Theodore nodded his head.

    "I did. Plenty times," Theodore noticed how Lucy gulped down the nervousness that had bubbled up her throat. Her face looked anxious. "Was the poem for me, Lady Lucy?"

    Hearing this, Lucy cleared her throat, "Why do you ask the question if you already know the answer to it?"

    "Because it would be troublesome if I assumed something to be something else," said Theodore, not moving front or back from where he stood.

    It was clear as the sky in the night that Theodore was speaking about her, and Lucy said, "I should probably go back to my room."

    Before she could leave, Theodore stopped her, "Wait." And she turned around, wondering what he wanted to tell her.

    Lucy saw Theodore making his way to her, and he caught hold of her hand. Bending down, he dropped a kiss on her hand in the same way as the other gentlemen in the ball, and he said, "It was an utter pleasure to dance with you. Thank you, Lady Lucy."

    She wore no gloves like she had worn while attending the ball, and her heart trembled, feeling Theodore''s lips on her skin. There was a softness in there, but there was also a certain firmness that could steal anyone''s heart, and if Lucy''s heart hadn''t stolen yet, it did now.

    "Same here. Goodnight, Theodore," she wished him, and like the girl who ran at the strike of the clock in a storybook, Lucy was quick to run down the stairs and the corridors to go back to her room.

    When Lucy had exited through the door to go to her room, Theodore looked down at his hand that had held her a few minutes ago. As if he could still feel the softness, his thumb rubbed against his fingers, and he looked back at the entrance of the door.

    While Lucy was hurrying to her room with her beating heart, her mother, Lady Samara, had woken up and had stepped out of the room, and she saw Lucy roaming outside her room in the middle of the night. She followed her daughter to her room, and when Lucy stepped inside, she barged in.

    "Mother?" Lucy was surprised that her mother was awake at this hour of the night.

    Lady Samara furrowed her eyebrows, and she questioned her daughter, "Where were you?!"

    "I was out walking in the corridors. Why?"

    "At this hour of the night!?!" her mother looked suspiciously and then crossed her arms. "Haven''t we already spoken about this that you shall not roam outside your room in the middle of the night."

    "I wasn''t able to fall asleep, mother. I thought if I took a walk it would help me-"

    Lady Samara caught hold of Lucy''s hand and pulled her to sit on the edge of the bed.

    "Are you not able to fall asleep too, mother?" Lucy asked her mother and her mother offered her a warm smile.

    "I just have a lot of things to worry about, dear. Your father is not listening to your grandmother or to my words. I worry something bad is going to happen," confessed Lady Samara.

    Lucy turned her body, and she ced her hand on her mother''s hand, "Don''t worry, mother. Nothing bad will ever happen." She knew her mother didn''t like Calhoun for her own reasons, but in her opinion, he was a good person, and Lucy decided to keep that bit in her mind. "Father must be feeling pressured because of the letters he has been receiving from different Kings and Queens."

    Lady Samara nodded her head, "Yes, that''s true. Very true indeed," the woman muttered under her breath. "It''se to a state where your father wants to continue his rule because it is rightfully his to begin with. But with everything going on, your grandmother wants to ce your cousin Markus on the throne as he is blood."

    Her mother continued to speak, but Lucy''s thoughts went to what her grandmother had spoken about Calhoun''s mother. With how her mother addressed Calhoun''s mother, Lucy could only believe that her mother knew nothing about it.

    "You will help me and your father with it, won''t you dear?" asked her mother, and Lucy broke out of her thought.

    Lucy furrowed her eyebrows, "Help?"

    "Yes," her mother nodded her head. This time Lady Samara ced her hand on her daughter''s hand, and she offered Lucy the warmest smile she could muster before saying, "This is why it is important that you marry one of the suitors. Once you are married and give birth to a male child, everything wille back to the way it is supposed to be."

    Hearing this, Lucy''s heart stumbled down, and she stared at her mother.

    "I did not like any of the suitors, mother," confessed Lucy. She didn''t like any of them because she was falling in love with someone she was not supposed to be falling for and didn''t know what other obstacles she would have to face in the future.

    "What do you mean by that? They were all excellent men who are not only capable but also influential," her mother frowned, not understanding what happened to her daughter. "Tell me the truth, Lucy. Whom did you write that poem for? Is there something I should know?"

    The way her mother looked at her right now, Lucy was quick to shake her head, "No, mother."

    "That''s good," Lady Samara ced her hand on Lucy''s head. "You should know how important you are to us and to thisnd. You will help your father and me, isn''t that wonderful?"

    When her mother stood up, Lucy hoped her mother would kiss her forehead or hug her, but her mother did nothing as such.

 Chapter 627 Trouble- Part 3

    <h4>627 Trouble- Part 3</h4>

    Lucy wasn''t naive to not know how her royal family wanted her to marry someone of their own stature, someone whose alliance would benefit them and less to her.

    Right now, she was in the garden, taking a walk with one of the suitors with whom her parents wanted her to spend her time.

    "I have met your father before, but I don''t think I ever saw you with him," said Lucy to the man.

    The young man offered her a polite smile, "I don''t want to hide things from you, Lady Lucy, but I spent most of my time away from home. In the sea. You know how people can get when they start to overwhelm you with how you should and shouldn''t be."

    Somewhere, Lucy understood where this person came from, and she nodded her head. "The sea must be wonderful. I have only gone and stood near the ports but never stepped into an actually sailing boat," she responded to his words.

    "Maybe one day I can take you there?" he offered, "Of course it need not be that we have to be married. Even if you decline, I can fulfill that dream of yours."

    With the number of people she had met, Mr. Gerville seemed to be the kindest of them all when it came to considering her feelings. "Thank you, Mr. Gerville. I will look forward to it. Is it true that there are pirates in the sea who sabotage the ships? There are so many stories that I hear, even one that included a ship that is owned by a ghosts."

    "Is that so?" Samuel let out a smallugh.

    Lucy wasn''t able to answer Samuel''s question as her eyes caught sight of Calhoun as well as Theodore, who stepped out of the carriage, returning from somewhere. Her heartstrings tugged when Theodore''s eyes fell on her, and their eyes met for a brief moment.

    "Isn''t that the King''s son born from the infamous woman?" questioned Samuel, and Lucy frowned, "The woman who has-"

    "She''s not infamous," Lucy corrected him right away. "Brother Calhoun''s mother was a respectable woman. She was a good person and mother. I would prefer that you do not sing along with the rest and learn first before you speak about her."

    Samuel deeply bowed, "My apologies, mdy. I should have been more careful with my words. Forgive me for upsetting you."

    Lucy wasn''t upset just because of Samuel''s words but also for being unable to stay near Theodore. She wanted to speak, to spend time with him, but the time never felt right as people were always there around both of them. She had tried to sneak back into the tower, but Theodore wasn''t there, and it only ached her heart.

    The suitor looked at the young vampiress who left his side. The polite smile that had apanied him all this time slipped away, and his eyes turned dull.

    "This seems more difficult than I expected it to be," muttered Samuel under his breath with no one to hear him. "It''s okay. I will wait, Lady Lucy."

    Lucy''s feet were quick, and as she walked, she caught up with Theodore, seeing both he and Calhoun were interrupted by a minister to speak to each other.

    Her heart couldn''t stop pounding, and she left the ce to go to the music room. Ms. Lewis wasn''t aware that Lucy had finished speaking to her suitor, and Lucy took this opportunity to y the music by herself in the room.

    Picking her cello and positioning it as she sat down on the stool with the bow in her hand, she started to y the music to divert her mind. Lucy didn''t know what she was going to do. She wondered if she could run away from here if possible to live away from the castle life and the rules. Music started to fill up the room, with her emotions being poured out of her soul. While she was still ying, she put more force, and some of the strings broke from her bow, and she stopped, silence starting to swallow the room.

    "You should be careful with the pressure."

    Lucy jumped in her seat. Her eyes snapped to find Theodore, who was in the room. When did hee here?

    "You shouldn''t be here," said Lucy, looking away from him and giving her attention to the bow.

    "You seemed upset about something," stated Theodore. "Are you alright, Lady Lucy?"

    "What if I said, I am not?" asked Lucy, her eyes challenging him.

    Theodore walked to where Lucy was, and he took hold of the bow from her, inspecting it with his eyes and fingers.

    "When there''s something troubling you, you should either speak out and try to resolve it or ignore it and start fresh," his eyes then shifted from the bow to look at Lucy, who was looking at him. "You put too much pressure, did the governess teach you to y in this way?" he asked her.

    He looked around the room to find another spare bow, and he went to fetch it.

    Bringing it back to where Lucy was, he walked behind her and handed it to her, "Why don''t you y from the beginning again. Go on," he urged her.

    When Lucy ced the bow on the cello''s strings, a pair of hands came to ce on top of her hand. "Here," he spoke to her softly, and she felt his breath reverberate against her neck, raising goosebumps on her skin.

    While Lucy moved her hand under the guidance of Theodore''s hand, he said, "You should stop looking at things that are going to cause trouble. Trouble attracts only more trouble."

    "Are you addressing me as trouble?" asked Lucy.

    "No. I was speaking about myself."

 Chapter 628 Sound of pearls- Part 1

    <h4>628 Sound of pearls- Part 1</h4>

    .

    "It isn''t going to be easy to pull it off," said Theodore, looking at Calhoun, who sat on the opposite side of the carriage. After meeting the ministers of the town, they were on their way back to the castle. "You think King Laurence won''t find out about it?"

    Calhoun had ced his elbow on the hand rest that was next to the window while supporting the side of his head.

    "It''s a long shot but if everything goes right, then it will be done quickly," replied Calhoun, watching the things that moved past the carriage. "If it is done without any mistakes, we''ll be resolving the matter sooner than the expected time."

    Theodore nodded his head, "She won''t rest until you are out. I heard her speaking to her loyal minister who had gone to speak to the woman who is forming the establishment of vampires and humans for higher justice. Morganna ns to infiltrate and control the establishment if it is to form."

    "She must be scared with the number of people who are poking and trying to take her power away," said Calhoun, his gaze leaving the outside world and shifted to look at Theodore. "Queen Morganna has tried to attack the woman who is forming the organization, but Helena is strong. Not just physically but also mentally. A demoness."

    "Demoness?" Theodore raised his eyebrows in question. It wasn''t often a demon or demoness came forward in the limelight as they preferred to stay out of focus from being found who they truly were. "Isn''t it possible to bring her to our side?"

    A small smile tugged on one side of Calhoun''s lips, "If I approach her now, she will suspect something is up. Let''s give it some time, eventually she will side with us."

    When they reached the castle, both of them got down from the carriage and started to make their way towards the castle''s entrance. Before Theodore could step inside, his eyes fell on the vampiress who was standing in the garden with a familiar-looking man who had attended the ball that Mr. Barnes hosted. His eyes slightly narrowed, and when his eyes met Lucy''s, he looked ahead of him.

    Last evening, it wasn''t just Lucy looking at Theodore, but even Theodore had looked at her, noticing her stealing nces at him. She looked beautiful like a porcin doll, dressed in a dark blue gown, and her hairs were curled and let down.

    Theodore had received plenty of attention from girls and women before, but the way Lucy looked at him was different. She was a beautiful girl, and now as she hade to an age to marry, her mother and grandmother didn''t leave any stone unturned by making her meet one suitor after another.

    "They treat her like a high biddingmb," Calhoun muttered under his breath without looking at Lucy and continuing to walk in the corridor. "Minister Fitzwilliam," he greeted when one of the ministers stepped into the corridor from the other side.

    While Calhoun spoke to the minister, Theodore heard the quick footsteps from behind him. When he turned around, he noticed it was Lucy. She looked slightly irritated and anxious, not sparing a word. She disappeared from the corridor.

    Theodore would have let it be, but he didn''t forget the moments that had transpiredst night between him and her. He didn''t know why, but he felt the urge to follow her. And he did just that when Calhoun got busy with another work.

    Reaching the music room, he could hear the cello''s sound escaping through the closed windows and doors. Lucy''s fingers moved in quick movements as if the vampiress was trying to get away from something, and when she put more pressure, the strings of the bow snapped, making her stop ying the instrument.

    Unable to resist himself from talking to her, Theodore stepped inside and said, "You should be careful with the amount of pressure you put." He saw her snap around to look at him, her eyes looking even more lost than usual.

    She looked troubled. Looking back at her instrument, she said, "You shouldn''t be here."

    He knew that. Theodore knew he wasn''t supposed to be here because he didn''t hold a status that allowed him to be near the princess. But here he was, standing in the same room as Lucy. At first, it was just a fleeting curiosity where he wanted to read and observe the princess, but then it turned to intrigue where he could not turn his head away in the other direction.

    "You seemed upset about something. Are you alright, Lady Lucy?" he asked, looking at her hand that was tracing the broken strings. She looked somewhere sad, as if she had lost everything around her, and she was sinking in the depth of the dark sea.

    When she looked back at him, her eyes held a glint that came and went quickly, "What if I said, I am not?"

    What a troublesome girl, thought Theodore to himself. Until now, he had not ventured through what was going on, and he had let it be. He had shown kindness to Lucy as she seemed lonely and stuck with her family. He walked to where she was sitting, took hold of the bow, and ran his finger on the still attached strings.

    "When there''s something troubling you, you should either speak out and try to resolve it or ignore it and start fresh," said Theodore, noting how speaking to her family would do no good. He could tell she felt trapped in here. "You put too much force, did the governess teach you to y in this way?"

    Lucy didn''t reply to it and stayed quiet. She looked down, feeling slightly hurt. Looking at her, his eyes softened, and he fetched another spare bow. He was used to seeing her smile and talk, running in the corridor with her bare feet when she thought no one was looking at her.

    Coming to stand behind her, he handed the bow to her.

    "Why don''t you y from the beginning again. Go on."

    He saw her tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear, her fingers hovering above her skin, and his eyes fell on her slender pale neck.

    When she was about to y, he leaned forward and ced his hand on hers, hearing her heart skip a beat. Lucy was too pure and innocent, and Theodore was aware of it. Unlike the other women, her thoughts were innocent, and there was just something about it that drew him to her.

    "Here," he said, and her breath hitched.

    In the imperfect universe that they lived in, he wasn''t someone who deserved Lucy, thought Theodore to himself. It wasn''t just their status, but their nature and thoughts were poles apart. Yet here he was, giving in to the sweet temptation of the forbidden fruit.

    "You should stop looking at things that are going to cause trouble. Trouble attracts only more trouble."

 Chapter 629 Sound of pearls- Part 2

    <h4>629 Sound of pearls- Part 2</h4>

    "Are you addressing me as trouble?"

    Had she done something, she was not supposed to do? Did she perhaps trouble him by making him bring the blood to her patio all those times when she was locked in her room? Asked Lucy to herself.

    She then heard Theodore reply, "No. I was speaking about myself." Every word that left Theodore''s lips fell right on Lucy''s skin on her neck like a pearl that broke free and bounced on the floor.

    Lucy stopped ying the cello, and she slowly turned to face him, "You didn''t do anything. I want to know how you feel towards me."

    "You don''t understand the consequences, do you, princess," he stressed on the word princess, and she shook her head.

    "I want an answer for my question," she stared into his eyes, where she saw her own reflection.

    "Does it matter how I feel, Lady Lucy," he whispered the words that sent a shiver down her body. "Few things are meant to be and some are not."

    "Yet, you followed me to check on me if I am doing fine. Why?" she demanded an answer.

    Theodore stared into the anxious looking eyes, and a faint smile appeared on his lips, "If I do, it would be a sad thing to admit as those feelings would not be used in this lifetime. You are a beautiful girl, princess. I am sure any man would love to have you next to his side."

    Lucy got up from her seat, turning to look straight into his eyes.

    "What if I said I want to have you next to me," Lucy didn''t want to beat around the bush and wait for the right time.

    Before Theodore could reply to her, both of them heard some noise right outside the room. Lucy turned gravely worried, and they both stepped outside to see who was listening to them.

    "This is why it is troublesome," said Theodore, "The fear that you feel right now is because you know things won''t be easy."

    "When it''s something good, nothing ever is easy," whispered Lucy, watching one of her former maids quickly hurrying down the stairs which was visible to her. Ruby had heard them. Lucy wanted to talk to Theodore, but this was not the time, and she had to speak to Ruby.

    "Would you want me to talk to her?" inquired Theodore, and Lucy quickly shook her head.

    "No, I will," she replied. Lucy learned that Theodore was remotely attracted to her with what happened today, and he liked her. She didn''t want him to talk to Ruby because somewhere, she was worried that he would scare Ruby for no reason.

    Quickly running, she followed the elderly maid. Before the governess could arrive in front of the music room, even Theodore had disappeared from there.

    "Nana!" Lucy called Ruby by the nickname she had given to her maid. "Wait, I need to talk to you!"

    The elderly maid stopped her feet and met the young vampiress'' eyes, "It is not good for me to speak, mdy. Your mother has given strict orders to not interact with you and keep my distance."

    "It is just for a moment. You can me it on me. Come!" Lucy caught hold of the woman''s hand and tugged her to a room where people didn''t often wander upon.

    "Lady Lucy," Ruby tried to resist, but Lucy didn''t listen. Finally, when they were in the room, Lucy closed the doors, and she turned to face the older woman.

    "Please talk to me, Nana," Lucy pleaded with the woman, who appeared to be in shock and unable to meet Lucy''s eyes.

    The woman bowed her head, "Forgive me for wandering in the corridor. I didn''t know what I was doing there," Ruby shook her head. "Maybe I wanted to know how you were doing with the suitors."

    Lucy stepped in front of Ruby, catching hold of both her hands, and she looked at the woman''s face, "I am not upset that you saw or heard what was spoken."

    "I know, dear," whispered the woman, and she then shook her head. "I would have never guessed. I don''t think anybody does, but what you both spoke...you I mean...do you like him, Lady Lucy?"

    For a moment, Ruby was surprised, and she could only believe that she heard it wrong, but she didn''t. The way Lucy looked at the man, it was apparent that she was head over heels when it came to him. And even though now no one knew, eventually people would find out about it, and it would turn ugly. Ugly because Ruby knew the royal family members, their intentions and aspirations.

    Lucy knew if someone could understand her, it was this person, and she slowly nodded her head.

    "No, mdy," whispered Ruby. "Your parents, the Queen, they would never allow it."

    Lucy''s eyebrows knit together, knowing what Ruby meant, but her heart tugged in pain at the thought of not being able to stand next to Theodore.

    "If they were to hear even a word about it, it will not only cause harm to you but also the young man," stated Ruby. "Your mother, she''s hoping you will choose the right prospect as quickly as possible to save your father''s throne."

    Lucy was aware of it. Her eyes closed, and she let out a tired sigh through her lips.

    "I have fallen in love with a person with whom I cannot live with," said Lucy softly and her shoulders drooped.

    "I am sorry, my dear," and Ruby opened her arms to give Lucy a warm hug. The woman patted her back, "Nothing should ever be like this, but the ce we live...it doesn''t work on our terms."

 Chapter 630 Sound of pearls- Part 3

    <h4>630 Sound of pearls- Part 3</h4>

    "I wish things were different," responded Lucy, and the woman patted the back of Lucy''s head.

    "I know. It will get better," the woman pacified Lucy''s mind, and after a while, they finally pulled away from each other. "How about I make your favourite dessert today. I will have it sent to your room, and once you eat it, you feel better. Yes?" the woman ced her hand on Lucy''s cheek.

    Lucy nodded her head, "I know I shouldn''t say this, but...sometimes I wished you were my mother."

    The elderly woman offered Lucy a warm smile, "Take care now. I will see youter."

    Lucy was the first one to leave the room, and when Ruby had left the room and had continued to do her task that she had been given with, one of the servants appeared near her, "Ruby, Queen Morganna has summoned you right now."

    The woman furrowed her eyebrows, not knowing what the Queen wanted from her. Leaving her work unfinished, she went to meet the Queen. Ruby had worked here in the castle for several years, and until now, she had never been summoned by Queen Morganna, at least not since the time she had been assigned to look after Lucy.

    The other servant knocked on the door, and then they entered the room where Queen Morganna sat down on one of the plush couches and another side, Lady Samara was seated, delicately holding the teacup while sipping the tea.

    "Good evening, my Queen! Good evening, Lady Samara," Ruby offered them a deep bow before raising her head. "I was told you wanted to see me?"

    "Yes, Ruby," said Queen Morganna. The older vampiress gauged the woman from head to toe, while Lady Samara didn''t look at the servant who had just entered the room. "An important matter has reached my ears, and I thought it was better that we resolve it today."

    Ruby held both her hands together in front of her, waiting for the Queen to speak. "I heard that Samara has reassigned you to work for her, while appointing the governess to handle my granddaughter Lucy. But for some reason, you are having trouble following it. Is that right, Ruby?" questioned Morganna.

    "My Queen?" Ruby looked slightly perplexed, "I do not understand-"

    "There is nothing to understand here," said Morganna, "Just because Lucy is attached to you, have you forgotten your ce and decided to think that you are her mother and not Samara?"

    The maid quickly shook her head, "I would never make that mistake, my Queen. Lady Samara is the princess'' mother. I am just a maid here."

    "And a lowly one,"mented Lady Samara, cing her teacup on the saucer that was on the table.

    Lady Samara said, "I told you to stay away from Lucy, but you don''t listen do you? I know that you both meet each other in secret. She prefers to spend more time with you than with me."

    The maid shook her head once again, "That''s not true, mdy." She offered a polite smile and said, "Lady Lucy loves you very much and she-"

    "Shut up. I didn''t ask you to give your exnation," news had reached Lady Samara''s ears that Lucy had been visiting this lowly maid''s room in the servant''s quarters. She had ordered both her daughter as well as this maid, but it seemed like both had chosen to ignore her orders. "Lucy is still a child, but you Ruby. You could have that you wouldn''t meet her anymore. How hard is it to follow the orders?"

    The maid didn''t know how to answer Lady Samara''s questions. It was only today that she had gone looking for Lucy as she was worried about how the princess was doing. If she told it wasn''t her, the me would fall upon the young vampiress, and Ruby didn''t want Lucy to get into trouble.

    Seeing the unwillingness of the maid to answer the question, Morganna said,

    "As you are one of the oldest maids in the castle, we have tried to overlook the amount of work you have done here, but an attitude like this," Morganna clicked her tongue in distaste. "It is not only going to set a bad example to the other servants, but Lucy''s mother worries where you will brainwash her daughter into doing something she is not supposed to do."

    Ruby could already see where this was going, and she quickly knelt on the ground on her knees and she pressed her forehead on the cold floor.

    "My Queen, forgive me, but I haven''t done anything that would cause Lady Lucy to misstep and not know what is right or wrong," apologized the elderly maid.

    "Your right and wrong is different from what we think is right or wrong," came the sharp tone of Lady Samara, looking down at the maid who was trying to rece her motherly position in her daughter''s life.

    "Lady Lucy is your daughter, mdy. I would never dare to do anything-" Ruby''s words were interrupted by Morganna, who said,

    "Lucy listens to you. All you had to do was not to cross your lines, but you took advantage of it. Ruby. It is something that cannot be allowed and Lucy''s mother is not happy with you or your work. Not to forget, you have turned quite old��" Morganna let out a loud sigh, "Guards!"

    The maid looked rmed, and she looked behind her to see two guardse to stand on either side of her.

    "My Queen, please. I have done nothing, I swear to God. I have not sullied Lady Lucy''s mind," beseeched Ruby in panic.

    Morganna didn''t want to waste her time on the lowly human, and she waved her hand at the guards, "Take her to the vige and have her executed."

 Chapter 631 Dark hour- Part 1

    <h4>631 Dark hour- Part 1</h4>

    .

    The guards dragged the elderly maid out of the room as she begged for forgiveness for a mistake she didn''tmit. But the royal families often did what they thought to be right, suppressing others'' lives while fulfilling their own wishes.

    "Let this be an example," stated Morganna with little to no sympathy for the maid, who could be heard begging for her life that was going to end, where she would not be able to see the sunrise again.

    Lady Samara looked extremely pleased with Queen Morganna''s order, and she held her head higher in arrogance. She had given enough chances to the maid, but the woman continued to cross the line.

    "And Samara," Morganna called her daughter-inw, "This time make sure to spend enough time with Lucy before ming it on someone else. Just because you are the King''s wife doesn''t mean you forget to control your child. Look at me, Laurence loves me dearly and you should work on creating the same rapport with Lucy. She''s a good child, she will listen to you."

    "Of course, my Queen," Lady Samara bowed her head in acknowledgement.

    "How are things going on with the suitors? Any news from them or from Lucy?" questioned Morganna before picking up the teacup that was filled with a mixture of blood and milk in it. They were vampires and not humans to drink the normal stale tea, instead, they preferred blood in their cups.

    Lady Samara replied to the Queen''s question, "So far Lucy has met six of them, and I think only two of them caught hold of her interest, talking to her. Mr. Vinter and Mr. Gerville."

    "Hm," responded Morganna. "I like Mr. Vinter. He seems to be a suitable man, doesn''t he? Did Lucy mention anything about them?"

    "I haven''t asked her yet, my Queen. I wanted her to feelfortable with them before I asked her," and on Lady Samara''s words, Morganna shook her head.

    "This is the season of weddings and you have decided to leave the matters in Lucy''s hands. Forget it, I will ask her myself. She''s turned to a fine youngdy with the assistance of the governess, we should arrange the wedding in a month or two''s time," said Morganna, taking a sip from her teacup before swallowing the liquid down her throat.

    Lady Samara didn''t say anything but only bowed her head as if she obliged every word that the Queen said. Now that she had gotten rid of the maid from the castle, Samara believed her daughter would turn to her forfort or any advice instead of going to the lowly maid who knew nothing about how one should live in high society.

    Outside, the clouds had turned thick and dark in the sky, but it still didn''t start to rain. The movement of the wind had turned fast, and when Lucy came to know about Ruby being taken away from the castle, she didn''t go to see her mother or her grandmother.

    "Do you know where Ruby was taken? The elderly maid? Take me to the ce where she is now," said Lucy in a hurried tone to the coachman.

    Her maid, Amice, was the one who had informed her about what just happened, and without any dy, Lucy had decided to find Ruby and bring her back. They couldn''t exile Ruby out of the castle without proper reason! She would not allow it, thought Lucy to herself.

    "They went to the Broadeux town, mdy," informed one of the coachmen while the others looked sceptical to answer her questions.

    "Take me there right this instance,"manded Lucy, but when Lucy went to one of the carriage doors, the coachmen didn''t make an effort to move. "What is it?" she asked in question.

    The coachman who had answered her earlier deeply bowed his head and said, "Princess, Queen Morganna has ordered us to not allow you to use the carriage unless the word personallyes from her or King Laurence permits it."

    "What?" Lucy questioned, even though she heard his words quite clearly. "But this is an emergency. Please Fredrick," she pleaded.

    The coachman continued to bow his head, not meeting her eyes to let her know that it was the Queen''s word against hers.

    Lucy looked away, exhaling out, and she then looked back at Fredrick, "Broadeux is the town that is deserted from the others, right?"

    "Yes, mdy. That is the one," he dutifully answered her question.

    "Okay," she nodded her head and left the shed. Even though it wasn''t the time of the evening, the atmosphere had turned dark. But that didn''t matter to Lucy. If her grandmother and parents were trying to restrict her movements from using the coach, it didn''t matter. She would go there by herself without anyone''s help.

    Using her vampire abilities, she ran away from the castle by using secret passages that she knew of. She made her way to the town, clutching the front of her dress so that she wouldn''t trip by stepping on her dress. When she reached the road, she caught sight of a local carriage and offered the person a coin when she got down and caught another moving carriage.

    While Lucy was making her way through the castle''s hidden passages, Calhoun, who had stepped outside the castle, had caught sight of Lucy. It made him wonder where she was going. He went back inside to hear the maids working in the corners whispering to each other while thinking no one was eavesdropping on them.

    "I cannot believe she would be executed," whispered one of the maids in the softest way possible.

    "What did she do?" asked another one, "I don''t think she would ever do anything wrong. She might have been framed."

    "You think so?" asked the first one. "Poor thing, this is what happens when you get too close to any of the royal family members. Though I do wonder what she did to receive the Queen''s ire."

 Chapter 632 Dark hour- Part 2

    <h4>632 Dark hour- Part 2</h4>

    The maids quickly dispersed from the spot, leaving the young maid staring at them. The girl started to walk away from there, and in time, she caught sight of Calhoun, who stood in the corridor.

    She bowed at him with a pleasing smile on her face.

    "Was there something you needed, Advisor Calhoun?" she asked, looking at the handsome vampire who was going to be the future King of Devon. It was only right that she build a good impression for her future, and she asked further, "How can Nic be of your help?"

    Calhoun looked disinterested in her antics, and he asked, "What were those two talking about?"

    "The maids?" asked Nic, turning back to look at the ce where the two maids were earlier standing, and she turned around again to look at Calhoun, "The maids are always talking unnecessary things. You do not-"

    "Answer my question," his words were stern, and the maid bowed her head again.

    "Lady Lucy''s former maid, Ruby has been taken out to be executed for crossing Lady Samara. The Queen doesn''t like to have any gossip circling in the castle as it will create an unhealthy atmosphere in here," informed Nic.

    Calhoun rolled his eyes. The castle was already unhealthy because of Morganna''s presence in the castle, but it would turn healthy once he would get rid of the woman.

    The maid hoped that Calhoun would stay there and talk to her, but instead, he turned around and left the corridor.

    Outside the castle, Lucy continued to travel in the second carriage, not caring about the scoldings she would receive when her family woulde to find out that she was outside and not inside the castle. Right now, she was worried about Ruby and the way Amice had told her that she had seen guards dragging her Nana out of the castle. It broke Lucy''s heart.

    Lucy held both her hands tightly together on herp as worry continued to mar her face.

    "I am not going to the town, but will be passing near Broadeux," informed the woman who had given Lucy a ride.

    "I will get down on the way. That will be sufficient, thank you," Lucy thanked the woman who didn''t seem like she knew who Lucy was, and Lucy decided to stay quiet.

    Lucy prayed to God, hoping nothing would happen to Ruby. Her mind filled itself with anxiety and nervousness, not knowing what had triggered her family to punish Ruby. The town of Broadeux had long ago been gued, and now no one lived there except for the crows and vultures that scavenged in hope for food.

    The carriage stopped, and the door opened for Lucy to get down.

    Lucy looked at the ck umbre that the woman offered her. Bowing her head, Lucy took the umbre and thanked the woman again. The carriage went on its way, leaving Lucy standing in the deserted path near the town she intended to go.

    She could only hope that Ruby was alright, and she took the path that the owner of the carriage had suggested to her. She didn''t walk but ran as fast she could, almost tripping twice on her way. When she discovered Ruby being taken away from the castle, more than half an hour had passed, and she prayed with all her might.

    When Lucy entered the town, she frantically searched around the ce before her eyes fell on the scaffold and air knocked out of her body. She stood still as her eyes looked at the woman whose body was hanging on the gallow with a rope.

    "No," in shock, the whisper left Lucy''s mouth as she didn''t want to believe what she saw.

    Lucy''s feet that had stopped earlier slowly moved forward towards the scaffold. Her lips trembled in disbelief, and her eyes started to well up with tears that slowly slipped down to fall on her cheeks.

    Ruby was hanging in midair, the noose tight around her neck. The wind''s force in the town increased, and the dark clouds got even darker as if it was hovered by a shadow of death. Because of the wind, the maid''s body swayed, and it only put Lucy in further shock. Her knees gave away, and she screamed,

    "NO! Bring her back!"

    More tears fell from her eyes, and even though she screamed, there was no one to hear as the guards who hade to execute the maid had already left the town, leaving the ce only with Lucy and Ruby.

    "Bring her back," screamed Lucy. "You cannot die!" she whispered before sobbing back again. "Don''t leave me here! Please,e back!"

    Soon the clouds started to drizzle, and the sobs that escaped from Lucy''s lips were hidden by the sound of thunder that struck above in the sky. When it started to rain, Lucy didn''t get up from where she sat, staring at Ruby''s body that gently continued to sway in the direction of the wind while getting drenched because of the drops of water that fell on the woman''s body.

    How could they do it?! Questioned Lucy in shock.

    Ruby had never done anything wrong!

    She was there when Lucy needed her, and her grandmother had decided to take the one person who cared about her. Just like that, Ruby, her Nana, was gone. The woman who had listened to her worries, the pain and loneliness that she felt in the castle, all the memories came back, which made Lucy feel empty.

 Chapter 633 Dark hour- Part 3

    <h4>633 Dark hour- Part 3</h4>

    What she saw right now felt unreal. It was only two or three hours ago since she hadst spoken and hugged Ruby. Her hands shook with fear by the turns of the events, and she noticed Ruby''s shoes peeking beneath her dress, suspending along with her body.

    Bringing her hands forward, she touched Ruby''s legs, it felt like she was in a bad dream that she just wanted to wake up from, but every drop of rain that fell on Lucy was a reminder of her being part of the real world.

    Unable to control her tears, she cried even more that were camouged by the thunder and the rain. Not able to stand her ground anymore, Lucy''s knees gave away, and she sat on the scaffold next to Ruby''s body.

    Lucy then felt someone''s hand on top of her head, and startled, she looked to her side to find Calhoun, who stood next to her.

    The heavy rain seemed to have stopped, or so she thought because Calhoun was holding an open umbre above her. Seeing Calhoun here, Lucy''s eyes welled up, and she broke down to more tears.

    "She''s gone...Nana''s gone," she said to him while looking back at the maid.

    Calhoun had a grim expression on his face.

    It wasn''t too hard for him to track down where Lucy was even though it had been hard to fly in the rain. The world was a cruel ce for the weak and innocent. Only the strongest, cunning or the wisest could survive here while pushing the weaker ones to the corner. When Calhoun had arrived at the Hawthrone castle, in the beginning, he had assumed Lucy was simr to the rest of the royal family members. But now that he closely looked at her, the girl had been born in the wrong ce. Maybe it was best for her to get married and stay away from her family.

    "Why?" he heard her question, and that single word held a lot of questions from Lucy.

    "It''s the world that we live in...that is faulty," replied Calhoun.

    Unlike him, where he had grown with people''s hate towards him and his mother, Lucy had never experienced such things. At least not one that was as painful as seeing a woman she cared about hanging in front of her now.

    "She didn''t do anything wrong," said Lucy, her eyebrows drawing in together, and she looked at Ruby through her ssy eyes. "Not even once. Why was she punished? What warranted her to this?"

    "This is something you will need to ask them. The ones who have put her in this situation and condition," answered Calhoun. When the rain stopped, he put the umbre aside and said, "Your family will be looking for you."

    Lucy shook her head. She didn''t want to go back, not like this.

    "Pain isn''t forever. It will fade one day. All you need to do is to believe that she is in a better ce now than she was before," stated Calhoun, offeringforting words to the girl whom he was now epting as his sister. "That is what I believe when ites to my mother."

    "Like Heaven?" asked Lucy, looking away from Ruby to look at Calhoun before she stood up.

    "Yes, Heaven," agreed Calhoun.

    Lucy wiped the tears from her face, and she nodded her head. "Because that is where all good people go and are safer than here," she whispered. "Do you think...we can bury her?" She knew if she were to ask anyone else in the castle, not only her request would be denied, but she would also be reprimanded for it.

    "Let''s have her buried somewhere safe, and where you can visit her," said Calhoun, and he walked towards Ruby and brought the body on the ground.

    Lucy stepped backwards, and even though it had been only a little while, she could smell the stench of death that surrounded the maid.

    Calhoun was the one to carry the dead maid, and Lucy walked beside him, following him. They walked away from the town and entered the road in time to find the royal carriage that Calhoun had arranged to arrive here so that they could get back to the castle. The carriage moved towards the Hawthrone''s castle, but before it could reach the ce, they took a detour inside the forest, and the coachman pulled the carriage on Calhoun''s order.

    When they came to stand in front of the cemetery, Lucy looked perplexed and asked, "T-this is the cemetery of the royal family. Is it alright to bury her here?"

    If her family ever came to find out about this, they would be furious at both her and Calhoun. "It is fine. You just have to make sure not to mention her resting in here. Can you do that?" he questioned her.

    Lucy tore her eyes from Ruby to look at Calhoun, who looked back at her with a calm expression. "Okay," she whispered. "It will be a secret between us. But all the graves are upied."

    To prepare another grave would take time, and right now, they didn''t have time. As rebellious as Lucy wanted to behave with her family, she didn''t forget the consequences. By sentencing Ruby to her death, her family members were making a statement of what could happen if she were to cross another line that they had drawn.

    "That isn''t an issue," murmured Calhoun before he looked around and said, "Do you know where your rtive Silvanus Grost''s grave here?"

    "Silvanus?" asked Lucy, and she raised her hand in the direction of where his grave was. The cemetery was built for the use of the royal family members and people who were rted to them.

    Calhoun had heard from one of the ministers of how he had mistreated his mother when she was alive. He walked to the grave, and he then pushed open the coffin lid before throwing the man out of his grave and on the ground to be reced by Ruby.

    Seeing this, Lucy''s eyes widened. Calhoun said, "He needs to get some fresh air. I will go put him somewhere else," and he dragged the body while leaving Lucy to stand in front of the grave.

    Taking a step forward, she touched the grave and a tear slipped her eyes.

    Things would not be the same without Ruby''s existence.

 Chapter 634 Seed of doubt- Part 1

    <h4>634 Seed of doubt- Part 1</h4>

    .

    With Calhoun, who had gone to put the man''s body somewhere else out of sight, Lucy stood in front of the cemented grave that now Rubyid in. Calhoun had not closed the lid, and it allowed her to look at the older woman''s face whose eyes were closed. One would peg that the woman was asleep, but by the discolouration of the maid''s skin, it was evident, and it was only a matter of days before her body would reduce itself to bones and dust.

    Not in her wildest dreams, Lucy had imagined that Ruby would die this way.

    She remembered the time in her past that she shared with the woman. It was when she was around ten years old and had been hurt.

    ''Again?'' questioned her mother, vexed with Lucy''s actions. ''Can''t you ever learn to take care of yourself? At this rate it is better you don''t step out of your room. Every time I see you roaming in the garden and wasting your time.''

    ''Forgive me mother,'' Lucy bowed her head. Her elbow burned because she had fallen on the ground and had scraped her skin. ''I didn''t know I would fall.''

    ''Look at your clothes,'' her mother let out a frustrated sigh. ''I brought this for you a week ago and you have already ruined it. Go ask the maids to change it now.''

    Lucy had hoped that after being scolded by her mother, she would beforted by her mother. But instead, her mother left the room as she had to speak to some of the guests.

    The maid who had been appointed to look after her entered her room and asked, ''Are you alright, Lady Lucy? Oh my! Your hand,'' the maid, Ruby, eximed upon seeing the bruises on her hand. ''Why haven''t you cleaned it? Come dear, let''s get it cleaned,'' ushered thedy.

    After her elbow was cleaned, she asked the maid, ''Does mother not love me enough as father?''

    The words had caught the maid by surprise, and she shook her head, ''I don''t think it''s true, mdy. Your mother loves you very dearly. It is hard to not love you.''

    Now that she remembered the time, a small smile came to form on her lips. Ruby had told her what she wanted to hear at that age. Her Nana had done everything Lucy had expected from her mother, showering her with love, kindness and warmth.

    Praying for Ruby''s soul, Lucy turned to look at Calhoun, who returned empty-handed without the body.

    "Did you ce him in another grave?" questioned Lucy, not knowing why Calhoun had picked this particr grave to be used for a maid. Her eyes tried to read into what Calhoun was thinking, but it was hard to do with his passive looking expression.

    "I did," answered Calhoun, making his way to where Lucy stood before he asked, "Did you pray for her?" When Lucy nodded, Calhoun ced his hands on the cemented lid, and he pushed it back to close it. "We should get back to the castle."

    Calhoun offered her a smile, one side of his lips pulling up more, "Leave it to me. I will make sure you won''t be reprimanded for it."

    She could only hope and believe in Calhoun''s words, her brother.

    They got back in the carriage to return to the castle. As expected, Queen Morganna and Lady Samara were more than displeased to find Lucy not anywhere in the castle. When the carriage stopped in front of the castle, Calhoun and Lucy got down with their clothes drenched in rainwater.

    Just when both of them stepped into the corridors, the servants informed Queen Morganna about seeing the princess with the whore''s son.

    Lucy''s footsteps were slow, and her heart was thudding in her chest out of nervousness. When she caught sight of her parents, grandmother standing on the other side of the corridor, she couldn''t help but take a step behind Calhoun to take shelter.

    "Where do you think you have been, youngdy?" demanded Lady Samara, her eyes raging.

    Lucy was overwhelmed with emotions of pain and loss that she couldn''t form a proper sentence in her mind.

    "Lucy? Didn''t you hear your mother asking you something or have you turned deaf?" Queen Morganna questioned her granddaughter. "Answer her."

    "She was with me," said Calhoun, bringing all the attention to him.

    "Who do you think you are to take my daughter, the princess of Devon outside the castle?" asked Lady Samara while ring at Calhoun for his audacity.

    Calhoun offered Lady Samara a polite smile, "I am King Laurence''s son, so that rightfully makes me Lucy''s brother. And as a brother, I believe I have the right to spend time with my sister, unless you are trying to imply something else?"

    "How dare you!" Lady Samara wasn''t fond of Calhoun because he was another woman''s son, who was once King Laurence''s lover.

    "Samara," King Laurence stopped her by raising his hand from saying something more and turned to Calhoun, "Lucy''s mother is upset because you didn''t inform her about taking Lucy out of the castle. You should know things like these are not permitted. Lucy is a young girl and we wouldn''t want people seeing things in the wrong way."

    Calhoun bowed his head and then said, "Isn''t that equal to telling a brother and a sister are not supposed to spend time with each other, how foul can one''s thoughts be."

    "You aren''t my son. You share only half blood with Lucy. It would be better if you stay away from her. What are you doing standing there next to him, Lucy?" questioned Lucy''s mother.

    Lucy turned her head to look at Calhoun, who gave her a nod, and she finally moved forward to go and stand next to her mother with her eyes not able to meet the others eyes. Not because she was ashamed of herself, but about them. They behaved normally as if Ruby didn''t matter, and it hurt her.

    "My apologies if my actions hurt anyone, but we were merely bonding with each other as sister and brother would. I didn''t know Lucy was under restrictions of leaving the castle with family members," said Calhoun to King Laurence, who stared back at him.

    With implying the word of restriction with family members, Calhoun had thrown the question at the King, who held a grim expression on his face.

    Lady Samara began, "You are not allowed to take Lucy anywhere, not you-"

    "It should be alright if it is Calhoun," said King Laurence, slowly changing his words, having everyone turn to look at him in shock. "Calhoun is not some stranger but one of the Hawthrone''s? family member. If he wants to spend some time with Lucy to bond as siblings, there should be nothing wrong with it."

    "King Laurence, you forget that-" the King, cut off Queen Morganna''s words

    "As much as Lucy is important and part of the family, Calhoun holds the same value. But Calhoun," King Laurence turned to look at him, "It would be much appreciated if you let the family member know about it so that we don''t have to worry if Lucy has been kidnapped."

 Chapter 635 Seed of doubt- Part 2

    <h4>635 Seed of doubt- Part 2</h4>

    King Laurence left the spot with his ministers, and Queen Morganna, who still stood there, red down at Calhoun''s facade that he had on his face. Maybe her son couldn''t see it, but she saw it well. This scheming little brat was intent on trying to change things in the castle.

    Lady Samara caught hold of Lucy''s arm, and she dragged her back to her room. Lucy didn''tin and followed her mother before they came to stand in the room, and her mother red at her.

    "Where were you, Lucy?" demanded Lady Samara, "Did you go to see Ruby?"

    On hearing the maid''s name, Lucy, who was looking at the ground, looked up to meet her mother''s questioning eyes, "I need to take a bath. I might catch a cold, Ruby would always send me to take a bath when I got drenched in the rain."

    Lady Samara''s mouth fell on seeing her daughter turn her back to her. "I am still talking to you, Lucy. And vampires don''t catch cold because of some drops of rain."

    "Maybe not," whispered Lucy, "But vampires do have feelings, don''t they mother?"

    "What are you talking about? Look at me and talk to me," Lady Samara shook her head in frustration.

    Lucy turned around to meet her mother''s gaze, her eyes filled in tears, and she asked, "Why did you do that?"

    "Do what?" Lady Samara didn''t know what her daughter was talking about.

    "Ruby. You ordered for her death," as she mentioned Ruby''s name, a tear slipped past Lucy''s eye, and it rolled down her cheek to fall on the cold floor.

    "You know I would never do that, dear. It wasn''t me but your grandmother who was the one to order it," Lady Samara was not going to take the me, and she wanted to mend her rtionship with her daughter.

    Lucy shook her head, "I know you were there when grandmother ordered her to be taken away from the castle to be executed. Are you telling you weren''t there?"

    "I am telling you the truth, Lucy. Why would I ever do something like that, the most I would do is tell her to not speak to you-"

    "You killed her. All of you," Lucy closed her eyes as more tears sshed on her cheeks. "Why? Because she cared for me?"

    "Now you are speaking rubbish that doesn''t even make sense. I know you are sad about her death, but I would like you to take a moment and think about what you just said," her mother frowned, looking down at her. "You are calling your family to be inconsiderate and cruel."

    But it was the truth, thought Lucy in her mind.

    "You took away the person whom I cared about, who was kind. Are you going to steal everyone that will show even a little amount of kindness?" questioned Lucy to her mother like she had never done before. This turned Lady Samara angry, and she walked forward and pped Lucy across her face.

    "I am bad now because I sympathize with the woman who showed me how I could be loved?"

    Lady Samara couldn''t bear the thought that her daughter was still under the spell of the lowly maid. She knew her daughter had gone to see the woman who had been executed, only that she didn''t understand how Calhoun had ended up in her daughter''spany.

    "We are not your enemies, Lucy. I have done everything for your own good and you are ming me now for looking after you! Stop being an ungrateful child and see things from my perspective. It should be others you should be wary about. Do you ever consider what I feel or think?" asked Lady Samara, "I asked you to keep a distance from Calhoun yet look what I had to hear?"

    Lucy said, "Ruby did no wrong, mother. I don''t understand how you or grandmother could kill someone without any good reason. You are calling her to be the poison, but I feel we are the poison who killed her. You, grandmother, me, we are responsible for killing an innocent person-"

    SLAP!

    This time the p on Lucy''s face was harder than the previous one. Lady Samara had pped Lucy with the back of her hand that held a ring in one of her fingers. A thin red line appeared on Lucy''s cheek, turning it darker by every second.

    "Now you make me think what your grandmother did was right," Lady Samara turned away and stepped out of the room before saying to the maid outside, "Have this room locked and no one shall enter or leave. I hope you can reflect on what you just said ande to realize that I am your mother and want nothing but the best for you."

    The doors to Lucy''s room were immediately locked, and a warm drop of blood slid down from the young vampiress'' face that went unattended.

    Outside the castle, King Laurence had summoned Calhoun to join him to givepany for a walk, when in truth, it was to speak to him about what urred this evening.

    "My King," Calhoun bowed his head at the man who had broken his mother.

    "Calhoun, my son. I am d to see that you havee to join me. Let''s take a stroll in the garden," suggested King Laurence.

    "Yes, please," replied Calhoun.

    It took a lot of effort to bow his head for someone who was not even worth the dust that was on his shoes. He loathed this person''s very existence, and it didn''t matter that it was because of the King''s existence that Calhoun was now alive. But every time he felt his control and patience running thin by the people around him, he remembered his mother''s words.

    ''Don''t react too fast as it will only hurt you back. When you feel you are losing control, take a step back from your ce and step into their own to know what they think and feel.''

 Chapter 636 Seed of doubt- Part 3

    <h4>636 Seed of doubt- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Before Calhoun and Lucy had returned to the castle, the rain had already stopped, and it left a cold wind in the atmosphere. The ground was wet in the garden, and both the King as well as Calhoun took a stroll in there, listening to the crickets chirp and the frogs softly croak behind the bushes.

    "Do you see these flowers on my right? These were the ones that your mother loved and enjoyed looking at it. The azaleas, alstroemeria, bluebells, all of them were nted for your mother''s viewing," stated King Laurence while looking at the flowers.

    Calhoun''s eyes shifted to the corner to see King Laurence, who was walking next to him. He wondered why the man was bringing up his mother, and he couldn''t help but be wary about it.

    "It is a pity how things went between us," King Laurence sighed, behaving as if he wasn''t there the day when his mother had been kicked out of this very castle. Calhoun didn''tment on it and instead listened to what the useless King was saying. "Anyways those are in the past, and that is not the reason why I asked you toe and take a walk with me."

    As if he knew nothing, Calhoun asked, "Was there something weighing on your mind, my King?" his voice was gentle and polite as if he meant no harm.

    King Laurence didn''t care about Constance. He had used her, and she hadter been deemed unfit to stay next to him, though there were a few times when his mind wandered to think about the woman whom he had fallen head over heels for in the past and tried to keep her next to him.

    "Do you believe we have all done our fair share of mistakes, Calhoun?" asked Laurence.

    "I am not sure I understand what you mean. I don''t think you would ever make any mistake, you are the King of course," Calhoun praised Laurence.

    King Laurence stopped walking, and Calhoun stopped his footsteps too. Laurence turned to look at Calhoun more closely, noticing subtle simrities between the boy and Constance.

    "I am so d you have taken up to be like your mother. So forgiving and such a polite boy," said Laurence. "I can only tell that you would be a wonderful possession of mine, Calhoun."

    Calhoun bowed his head, and when he raised his head, he said, "I wish I can be of great use to you, my great King, father," he paused for a moment and then said, "But sometimes I worry, wondering if I should go back to the ce where I came from. Believing this ce is not for me, after all, I am not a royal member."

    If it was someone from the street, Calhoun would have ripped the man''s throat by now, but now, he wanted to n the King''s death well while not getting caught. He wanted to build a bond with his dear father because it would bring him that much satisfaction when he would break his father.

    In the next two seconds, Calhoun''s face turned dull and downcasted.

    "I don''t think Queen Morganna wants me here in the castle, my King. She prefers I leave this castle," Calhoun instigated a spark in King Laurence''s mind. "Even though I work hard and she isn''t happy about it. She doesn''t approach me for any advisory duties and prefers to keep a gap. It deeply saddens me to see the hate in her eyes."

    King Laurence chuckled, "If she gets a chance, she would happily rece me to have Rosamund''s son Markus on the throne so that she can continue to be the Queen."

    "That must be hard," Calhoun said, looking at King Laurence with a sympathetic eye.

    "Not really," scoffed King Laurence, "I am not the King for no reason. It is something that need not to be worried, and now with you here with me, son, no one can shake my position." The King ced his hand on Calhoun''s back. "We will both rule together, with you next to me."

    Calhoun offered his father a smile, "Anything to achieve your dreams. I have already drawn up the ns to conquer the neighbouringnd that is on the left side. The ns and how to execute it are all in there and have been ced in your study room. I will be at your service."

    Laurence, who had turned blind in wanting to hold on to the throne, didn''t notice the intention behind Calhoun''s smile, and he smiled along with his son, not knowing the grave that Calhoun was digging for the royal family members.

    "What a wonderful son I have," Laurence looked at Calhoun with a proud look on his face. "Even my experienced advisors were unable to get me these strategies, yet here you are already working day and night for Devon and Hawthrone''s prosperity."

    "I am forever grateful that you took me in and have provided a life people can only dream about. I can only hope that one day I can be part of the Hawthrone''s family. That Lady Samara and Queen Morganna will ept me with open arms," came Calhoun''s polite words.

    "You have my support, Calhoun. One day they will appreciate you just like I do," King Laurence patted Calhoun''s back, and he then left the garden.

    Now alone in the garden where the torches light didn''t reach enough, Calhoun walked towards the flowers that the King had earlier mentioned his mother loved.

    "It is time for one of you to die," whispered Calhoun, and when he touched the flowers near him, they started to wilt.

 Chapter 637 Deep water- Part 1

    <h4>637 Deep water- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Even though she was a vampiress, Lucy felt the burn on the skin of her cheek where she had been struck by her mother''s hand. She didn''t cry over the action as she had cried enough beforeing to the castle with Calhoun. The emptiness that she felt in her heart was creating a deeper void she couldn''t exin.

    Lucy didn''t know if she should feel hurt over the p that she felt or if she was supposed to feel hurt that her mother didn''t care about her. Feeling more than one drop of blood appear on her cheek and start to slide down while her clothes were wet, she stood there in the big room that was lonely.

    The water didn''t seep down from her clothes but it hadn''t dry, leaving Lucy''s body colder than usual. Lucy looked at the locked door that her mother had ordered for the other servants to not open as if she was an animal that needed to be trained, but she wasn''t one. Going to the door, she didn''t knock on it and instead locked it from inside as she didn''t want to speak to anyone.

    How strange, thought Lucy to herself, that her mother didn''t realize her patio was open and she could always step out from there.

    The blood dripped down from her cheek and fell on the ground.

    When she turned around, Lucy was nning to go to her bed andy down in her wet clothes as she didn''t care about it. But then she saw him standing there at the entrance of the patio, his sses on his face and his eyes on hers.

    "It''s too early for you to be here," said Lucy, her heart softly beating.

    Until now, Theodore had entered her room only when it was midnight, a time where most of the servants were asleep and it was only the guards who roamed outside the castle''s vicinity.

    "Would you prefer me toe backter?" questioned Theodore, his eyes calmly looking at the red line that had formed on one side of her cheek.

    Theodore had been busy with work, not realizing Lucy''s absence nor Calhoun''s until his ears hade to pick up the littleotion when Lady Samara had gone to King Laurence. He had seen Lucy being dragged by the woman who disliked Calhoun as much as Queen Morganna did.

    Lucy didn''t know what to say and she could feel something bubble up her throat but she tried to push it back down, something she was used to doing.

    "If a servant finds you climbing in and out of my patio, they won''t stay quiet and they would instead go and inform the King or the Queen about it. It would put you and brother Calhoun both in trouble."

    "They never found out about it until now, I don''t think they would find out now. Everyone is busy and the sky has already turned dark enough for no people to not notice," stated Theodore. "Your cheek, it''s bleeding."

    "I know," whispered Lucy. She could feel the sting on her cheek as she moved her lips to speak and smile. It was like the wound was there to restrict her from showing emotions and to behave docile like a doll. "I know there''s a mark on my face and if I touch it," she raised her hands up to cheek and when she pulled the lower skin, more blood appeared to seep out to show that the line was deeper than it actually looked.

    Seeing this Theodore frowned and he came to stand in front of her to catch hold of her hand to stop her from pulling her skin.

    "Don''t. It''s going to leave a mark," Theodore could feel Lucy''s slender wrist that he caught in his hand.

    Lucy couldn''t help but stare into Theodore''s eyes. They were back to standing next to each other, and she could feel her heart tugging.

    "I believe you have a first aid box in here?" asked Theodore and Lucy turned her eyes in the direction of the cupboard where the first aid box was in. "Please take a seat on the chair. It would be ufortable for you to sleepter if the bed is wet."

    Lucy was too tired to ask him to leave and somewhere she craved forpany. Not arguing about it, she went to the chair and sat down, turning the wooden chair wet as it tried to absorb water.

    Theodore took hold of the first aid box and he brought it to where she was seated. He ced the box down, while kneeling down as he tried to pull out the cotton and a bottle that held the antiseptic lotion. Lucy didn''t stay on the chair and she slid to sit in front of Theodore, on the floor.

    "A vampire has the ability to heal quickly, but with what I noticed, when you get hurt, your wounds take time to heal," said Theodore as he dabbed the cotton with the antiseptic liquid.

    Lucy watched Theodore''s hands that moved elegantly around the first aid box. "I was born with a weaker immune systempared to the other vampires or my family members. My body is simr to a human''s body...I catch fever, I fall sick and I take time to recover back to my health. My wounds, they take their time unlike our kind."

    "And your mother doesn''t know it, does she?" questioned Theodore, bringing his hand forward and near Lucy''s face. Lucy only shook her head.

    Theodore then ced the bud of cotton on Lucy''s cheek for her to close her eyes as if the liquid in the cotton stung her skin.

 Chapter 638 Deep water- Part 2

    <h4>638 Deep water- Part 2</h4>

    "Have you ever lost someone in your life before, Theodore?"

    "I wish I had someone for that to happen, but unfortunately I haven''t," replied Theodore, his words sincere for the young vampiress, who looked a little confused by his answer. "Did you see her rest?" he asked her.

    Lucy nodded her head, "I did. But I cannot tell you where she is. It is supposed to be a secret between us siblings."

    Theodore wished Lucy was much stronger and not this sheltered by her family. Not because he had an issue with her calling Calhoun as her sibling, but the girl was nothing less to an innocentmb who believed every person was good. Unlike her mother, Lucy had epted Calhoun as her brother without a single doubt in her mind.

    "It''s okay, mdy. Secrets are to be preserved," he gently glided the cotton to the other side of the cut that had formed. Theodore didn''t have to ask to know that the body was reced with another person in the royal cemetery.

    "To think Nana is no more anymore, it is so strange," whispered Lucy, her eyes looking slightly lost. "She was here a few hours ago, and I had spoken to her. She told me everything would get better, but it only turned worse." Her eyes started to water and when the tear touched the wound, it stung her skin again.

    "Humans leave this world faster than the vampires, mdy. If it makes your heart lighter and calm, you can believe that her time hade to leave this ce," said Theodore, catching one of her tears so that it wouldn''t touch the wound. The cut didn''t seem like it was from fingernail, thought Theodore to himself.

    "It would have been easier to digest her death if my family had faked it, that Ruby died in an ident or from some disease. But they didn''t because they wanted to set an example for me and the rest of the people," Lucy didn''t understand why Ruby had to be caught in the crossfire and be punished. "I shouldn''t have met her today."

    Lucy moved her body away from Theodore''s hand. She shook her head in guilt. Maybe her mother or some maid had mentioned about her meeting Ruby.

    "It shouldn''t have been Nana but me to be punished," said Lucy to Theodore.

    Theodore dropped the hand that had the cotton, and he raised his other hand to ce it on the side of her face. Her eyes widened over Theodore''s action.

    "It wasn''t yours or Ruby''s fault. "Sometimes in this world, people don''t receive things where they are supposed to get. Therefore, people often look for those things in other ces. If it isn''t going to cause harm to anyone, I don''t think there''s anything wrong. Do not me yourself for the woman''s death, because it was not your fault," said Theodore.

    "You should go get yourself changed. The weather is colder than yesterday and you might catch cold," advised Theodore, putting away the cotton and the antiseptic bottle back in the first aid box.

    "Theodore," Lucy called him when he was about to stand up. Having Theodore turn to look at her, she asked, "Don''t get caught."

    Theodore offered her a smile and bowed his head. She saw him leave the room through the patio and when he was gone, she closed the doors of the patio. If it was another time, Lucy would have been overjoyed and would have danced around her room that Theodore had touched her cheek, but Lucy was not in mood.

    She leaned her back against the closed doors and her head leaned back to look at ceilings as the tear started to spill all over again.

    Seeing Ruby handing on the gallows was a nightmare that would be hard to erase from her memories. The cruelty of the Hawthrone''s, something she had not expected toe.

    Lucy stripped down from the wet clothes that she was wearing and she got behind the woodenpartment of the room where the bathing tub was ced. The water was cold and had not been given the opportunity to be reced with the hot water, but Lucy barely noticed it. She was consumed with her emotions.

    Stepping into the water filled tub, Lucy sat down before she slowly submerged herself under the water to shut down the minute noises that reached her ears. It felt quieter in here as if she was safe from everyone and everything. Her eyes were wide open as they looked at the surface of the water from below.

    After supper was served, Theodore returned back to his room while sitting on the bed and wondering who had tattled against Ruby and Lucy. It was one of the servants of the castle.

    When Calhoun entered the room, Theodore asked, "Where did you throw the other body?"

    "I didn''t throw the body away," replied Calhoun, closing the door with his leg that moved from behind. "The man was the reason for sparking differences with the King and my mother. For putting seeds in my brainless father''s head. I thought he deserved a better ce than just being washed away in rain or wind. I am sure the Queen will enjoy its warmth in her room tonight," he chuckled.

    Theodore didn''t go to question him further as it seemed like his suspicion was right. He could already see in the future the royal cemetery having non-royal family members because of the number of people being reced from there by Calhoun.

    "I will be taking a walk outside," informed Theodore, and Calhoun looked unbothered. With Lucy who was locked in her room, Calhoun was already aware of where Theodore was going.

 Chapter 639 Deep water- Part 3

    <h4>639 Deep water- Part 3</h4>

    Instead of using the corridors, Theodore walked on the top of the roofs of the castle, jumping from one ce to another without moving a single te of brick from its ce. He then came to stand in the patio of the Queen''s room who seemed to have someone in her room.

    "You did a wonderful job today. I am sure Lady Samara is more than pleased that you have been watching over her daughter this closely," stated Queen Morganna. "Truly my granddaughter had turned her worried with the way she has been behaving."

    "It is my duty to protect the princess, mdy," the maid''s voice sounded familiar and Theodore, who was hiding behind therge wall wondered why.

    "It is good to see that I assigned at least one decent maid to her. As promised, you shall be rewarded for this. Doesn''t it feel wonderful?" Queen Morganna chuckled.

    "Yes, my Queen," the maid deeply bowed.

    "You can leave now and make sure Lucy doesn''t do anything she is not supposed to do. At least until she gets married," the Queen dismissed the maid by waving her hand before turning to look at the firece that crackled unusually louder than usual.

    The maid left the Queen''s room with a satisfied smile on her lips, heading towards the servants quarters so that she could now have a sound sleep. But before the maid could reach her room, someone ced their hand on her mouth and pulled her to another isted ce of the castle.

    The maid turned rmed, trying to il her arms and trying to get away from the stranger who had dragged her before releasing her into a dark corner of the castle. She turned around to face the person, ready to shout for help before her eyes fell on Theodore.

    "Y-you? What do you think you are doing?"? It was one of Lucy''s favourite maid Amice.

    Theodore offered the maid a smile, "My apologies if I startled you. I wanted to talk."

    Talk? The maid looked confused at Theodore while her heart continued to beat quickly. "You could have just asked me. What is it that you want to speak about?"

    Theodore should have known this was from where the information was leaking into the Queen''s ears. "I was wondering how you were doing because of what happened to Ruby."

    A sh of guilt crossed the maid''s face and she pursed her lips. "We are all trying to cope with it as best as we can."

    "I feel terrible for you and the others. She was a good woman, someone who was not only dear to Lady Lucy but also you, wasn''t she?" questioned Theodore.

    The maid couldn''t meet Theodore''s eyes and she looked away, nodding her head in agreement to Theodore''s words.

    "Yes, that is right. I have a lot of work tomorrow and should sleep early," said Amice, ready to take her leave as she started to feel ufortable.

    "Oh yes," Theodore nodded his head. "I was hoping I could mourn the woman''s death along with you. She was after all, close to you and the princess, wasn''t she? How long has it been since you started working in the castle."

    Amice gave him a tight smile, "Must be since the princess was small. I must really go," she said, noticing the daunting way Theodore watched her. When she was about to leave, Theodore asked,

    "How much money did Queen Morganna offer you to tail and report what Lucy and Ruby does together? Or was it Lady Samara?"

    The maid turned worried by Theodore''s words and feeling the fear crawl up her spine. She turned around, ready to run back to the servant''s quarters when Theodore pulled her arm and pushed her against the cold wall. When she opened her mouth, ready to scream, Theodore said,

    "Scream and you will not have a tongue to talk with."

    Amice looked at Theodore in fear and her heart started to pound against her chest, almost as if it would jump out of her throat with the way Theodore''s smile and sympathy had fallen down from his face.

    "W-what do you want from him?" asked Amice and Theodore''s hold on the maid''s neck tightened.

    "What I want? There are a lot of things that I want," replied Theodore before taking a step closer to the girl and smelling fear radiating from her. "I am surprised you would sell out your fellow maid whom you grew up under for a mere number of coins."

    "I-It was m-my intention. I d-didn''t mean to do it," she tried to shake her head.

    "You do understand that it is because of you that an innocent soul was sacrificed today. You were such a good friend and person, what happened to you?" questioned Theodore, his eyes watching the girl who looked frightened.

    "It was L-Lady Samara who wanted to keep an eye. I didn''t know she would kill Ruby for it," blurted the maid and Theodore only clicked his teeth.

    "I don''t know why, but I find it hard to believe. Greed changes everyone doesn''t it?" Theodore asked her.

    "Let''s take that quality that you have been infected with. It wouldn''t be good to have you infect the princess."

    Amice''s eyes widened and she pleaded, "Please, please! I didn''t mean to hurt anyone, I was doing what thedy said was good for Lady Lucy."

    Theodore nodded his head before letting go of the maid''s neck from his hold. The maid was about to release a sigh of relief when Theodore said,

    "Tell me how the after life is," and he snapped her head.

 Chapter 640 Underwater- Part 1

    <h4>640 Underwater- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Lucy stayed in the bathtub for several minutes, submerged herself under the water while she stared at the tiny bubbles that escaped from her nose. Being a vampiress, it didn''t harm her staying in this position for a long time. Still, when the memory of what she had seen at the gallows came to sh in front of her eyes, she gasped for air��pushing herself up from the water and breaking the surface so that she could breathe normally again.

    She wondered if the pain would reduce tomorrow. Once she would sleep and wake up in the morning as if everything was just a dream and nothing more than that.

    When she sucked the inside of her cheek, she felt the pain that had not reduced, and she got up from the bathtub, stepping out with water that dripped down from her body. Walking towards the nearby mirror, she looked at her reflection, where her body was covered with a towel.

    Her face looked paler than the usual days, half because of staying in the water for so long, and another part of the reason was because of her mood. The girl who reflected in the mirror didn''t smile. Eyes slightly red and hair wet with water, her red eyes caught sight of the deep cut her mother''s ring had caused on her cheek.

    After drying herself with a towel, she wore a dried dress from the cupboard. Before she could sit on the bed, the door of the patio knocked and in came Theodore.

    "You are on time," whispered Lucy to him, and Theodore, who entered the room, handed her the bottle that contained the blood.

    "I was here a few minutes ago, but noticed you were still yet to dry yourself and wear clothes. So I decided to stay out here and wait for you," stated Theodore without changing his expression and Lucy, who was about to take the bottle from his hand, a blush coated her cheeks. Did he see her when she was getting out of the bathing tub?

    Taking the bottle from Theodore, she looked at it before her eyes moved to look into his eyes, "Whose blood is this?" Lucy asked this because she could feel the warmth of the blood that touched the bottle''s outer surface. It only meant that the blood had been freshly drawn out from someone''s body.

    "Someone who was worthy to offer their blood to you. You will find it to your liking," informed Theodore and Lucy''s heart that still ached, she asked,

    "Not an innocent person''s blood, right?" it mattered to Lucy from whom she was going to drink blood. Even though her parents had made the habit of providing her with unlimited sses of blood, she had no idea where the blood came from and from whom. There was a difference in both the tastes, in what she drank from the sses and the blood that she drank that was offered by Theodore.

    Lucy was thirsty, and she pulled open the cap of the bottle before her delicate lips connected to the opening of the bottle so that she could gulp down the blood. The blood was indeed tasty, like a delicacy, and she finished until the veryst drops while some of them escaped from the corner of her lips.

    Satisfied with what she drank, she returned the bottle to Theodore.

    But Theodore didn''t stop there. He stepped in front of her and raised his hand towards Lucy''s face. Lucy wondered if the wound that she had received had started to bleed again, but instead of touching her cheeks, he used his thumb to rub on the skin at the corner of her lips.

    "You had blood there," informed Theodore and Lucy, who had been spacing since the time of evening didn''t know what to say, and she stared at him. "I can get you more if you want."

    Lucy shook her head, "No, I am fine. I don''t think I have an appetite for one more bottle of blood." She took a step back, her heart thumping in her chest at Theodore''s action. "Thank you for the blood, but I think you should go."

    Because of her, Ruby was no more alive. She doubted if she would be able to see another death because of her.

    Theodore was not going to push her for an exnation, and he turned his head away, ready to leave when he heard her ask,

    "I don''t understand your actions, Theodore. Why do you risk your life for me?" Lucy looked at Theodore''s back that faced her. "Nobody has ever broken rules in this castle, even though I am a princess, I have been subjected to punishments and people who help me will receive worse punishments than what I have for going against the King or Queen''s words. So tell me why��.why do youe here."

    Theodore turned around to see Lucy, who looked at him anxiously, "People are punished for things they have done and not done, and I think we all can agree that you haven''t done anything wrong. Moreover, a princess shouldn''t be punished and no one should ever stay hungry."

    "You know this is not my question and your answer is not what I am looking for," Lucy might be innocent, but she wasn''t stupid.

    "What is it that you would like to hear, mdy? Tell me and if I can, I shall fulfill it," said Theodore, his words polite and his eyes looking at her through his round-framed sses.

    Lucy stared at Theodore, their eyes not breaking away from each other, "Do you kill people often to offer blood to someone? Do you sneak into other girls rooms at night?"

    Theodore''s lips quirked, and a soft sigh escaped his lips.

    "I am not the person who you see me to be, Lady Lucy."

    "That doesn''t answer my questions," said Lucy before looking away from him. "Okay. You can go back and rest. I wouldn''t want to burden you with anything. Thank you for the blood again."

 Chapter 641 Underwater- Part 2

    <h4>641 Underwater- Part 2</h4>

    "You have done a lot for me, by bringing me blood and keeping mepany when I have been locked. But I think such things need to stop and I need to stop depending on people. Thest time I depended on someone...that person��" Lucy couldn''tplete her words as a lump formed in her throat by thinking what happened to Nana. If she could rewind the time, somehow, she would fix it and make sure the woman was still alive.

    A warm drop of tear slipped from her eye, and before she could move away from him by turning her back against him, Theodore caught hold of her arm and pulled her to him.

    For a moment, Lucy was startled by what just happened, and without another exchange of words, Theodore ced his lips on her cheek where the mark was. Everything stopped still around her, and all she could feel was his lips pressing against her cheek.

    The pressure wasn''t too much but gentle, and even though it seemed like an innocent kiss, her heart skipped beats, and her lips trembled. Out of shock, she ced her hands on Theodore''s chest, ready to push him away, but instead, he caught them in his hands. He pulled his lips away from her cheek for a second before pressing them back again to let her know this was not a dream.

    His lips brushed against her tender skin, and a gasp escaped her lips.

    "You have a bad way of coaxing a person to answer your question to only push them away," whispered Theodore against her cheek. "Is it something you developed after knowing me?"

    He had left her tongue-tied as this was more than she had bargained to hear, and her heart couldn''t stay still by hearing his words.

    "W-why did you do that?" Lucy questioned with wide eyes.

    "I wonder that myself now," replied Theodore, staring deep into the young vampiress'' eyes.

    He didn''t mean to involve himself with the royal family members, at least not this way, because he knew it woulde in between the ns of what he and Calhoun had. But his feet and his mind often drew to this ce.

    It wasn''t his intention to involve himself with Lucy, but something seemed to be budding between them without his knowledge. With the questions, she had been asking since this noon, and with the way she looked hurt, he wanted tofort her. He didn''t want to defile her, and therefore, he had kissed her cheek, but it had not gone as expected.

    Like a bee being beguiled by a flower, his lips followed the proximity of her pale skin.

    "You wanted answers to your question. I didn''t know how to express myself, Lady Lucy," exined Theodore.

    "Why do you call me, Lady Lucy?" whispered Lucy.

    "Is it because I am a princess?" questioned Lucy, the sweetness that she tasted a moment ago started to turn painful now.

    Theodore nodded his head, "Undeniably you are a beautiful girl, and I am attracted to you, but it is better we do not mistake and forget who we are." If Lucy was some other girl, he would have already bedded her, but she wasn''t anyone.

    "Why did you kiss me then?" demanded Lucy, her wordsced with hurt. Theodore had offered her a delicious fruit, and before she could even take a bite, he had snatched it away from her.

    Theodore had made an error, but seeing her so heartbroken over the maid''s death and wallowing in pain, he couldn''t resist himself butfort her. Lucy bit her bottom lip, noticing Theodore looking slightly frustrated, something she had never seen before. As if to repay him, Lucy stepped towards him, cing her hand on his shirt and pulling him down while raising herself to stand on the tip of her toes.

    Lucy kissed him. Not on the cheek but on his lips, taking Theodore by surprise.

    She didn''t know why she had to hold back her feelings when he was right here and trying to drift away from her. She had never done something bold like this before, but then she had never fallen in love either.

    Theodore was the one to ce his hands gingerly on her shoulders to break away from the kiss that wanted him to push Lucy on the bed and kiss the very life of her.

    Theodore wasn''t a guy who jumped into things. He wouldn''t jump without thinking, even if they looked as enticing as Lucy did. He was more mature and rational for his age, not wanting to be influenced by emotions without considering the consequences.

    Lucy didn''t need Theodore to tell her how he felt about her taking him by surprise by kissing him. It was obvious that they were both attracted to each other, and even though Theodore had pushed her away, there was a moment where she felt him surrender to his feelings, just for a moment before he regained back hisposure.

    A small chuckle escaped Theodore''s lips, and he said, "Where did you learn to do that?" his eyes fell on her lips for a fraction of a second before they moved back to look at her eyes.

    "I think when you fall for a person... you learn things automatically," whispered Lucy, her heart thumping in her chest and her cheeks slightly red.

    Theodore didn''t know if the princess was trying to test his patience by provoking him with such words, but she was still amb, and he was a man. And as much as he was experienced, a man could resist only for a certain extent, and this was the first time his control had slipped.

    "I love you, Theodore with all my heart," confessed Lucy, and she softly gulped before looking away. "If it is the status that worries you, I will leave this ce, everything behind me."

 Chapter 642 Underwater- Part 3

    <h4>642 Underwater- Part 3</h4>

    Lucy felt thefort return back to the way it was when Ruby was still alive. Theodore''s hand stayed there for a second more before he finally dropped it to his side.

    "You should get some sleep," advised Theodore.

    Lucy didn''t want Theodore to go, but after kissing him, she was overwhelmed with feelings, and Theodore seemed like he wanted to go back to his room. She nodded her head. When Theodore left the room, Lucy closed the patios'' door and was quick to get on the bed while closely hugging her pillow.

    Theodore didn''t go back to the room, nor did he stay around the castle. Instead, he went back to the town and pushed open a gate before sitting in front of the door. Pulling out a pack of cigars, he ced one in his mouth, and he lit it up before taking a drag from it.

    The door in front of which he sat opened, and Madame Fraunces came outside and said, "Fancy seeing you here. I thought I heard the gate creek."

    "I didn''t mean to wake you up," responded Theodore.

    Madame Fraunces watched Theodore, who didn''t make an effort to move and instead sat there smoking the cigar that was in his hand. The air around him looked serious, and she asked, "It''s been weeks since Ist saw you. How have you been doing? How is Calhoun?"

    "We are doing okay. How have you been, Madame Fraunces?" Theodore asked her, watching her take a seat next to him. He passed the cigar to her, but the woman waved her hand before pulling a pack of her own from her dress'' pocket.

    "You know. Still young and meeting rich people while listening to people''s gossip," replied the woman. "Life in the town doesn''t change much, at least not for people like me."

    Theodore smiled at Madame Fraunces'' words, and he took another drag from the cigar, pulling the smoke into his lungs, letting it pollute him before exhaling it out.

    "It seems like something is troubling you. You don''te and sit in front of my house just to guard it now, do you?"

    "It could be out of love that I have for you," Theodore turned to meet the woman''s eyes, who raised her eyebrows.

    "Your pretty words don''t work on me, boy. What is it?" questioned Madame Fraunces. Having taken Theodore in when he was small, she had watched him grow up into a fine man while also knowing when his mood changed.

    "Do you think people like us are allowed to have happiness?" he asked in a thoughtful tone.

    Madame Fraunces was taking a puff, and she said, "Why shouldn''t anyone be allowed to be happy? It isn''t a crime, unless you cause a crime to be happy. If you are asking about yourself, I would advise you not to grovel in self pity. It doesn''t suit you."

    "And why is it a problem?" she asked him and frowned, "Unless you are addressing the King''s wife as the girl," and she cracked a smile to lighten the mood.

    "It is the King''s daughter," replied Theodore and the woman hummed.

    Fraunces watched Theodore from the corner of her eyes, who seemed to have lost himself in his thoughts. Thest time she had seen him like this was when she had first saved him from the streets.

    "Lucy Hawthrone, is it?" asked Madame Fraunces.

    "You have met her," said Theodore, it was because the woman had met many people from high society.

    "Just twice. A sweet innocent thing, isn''t she. Beautiful long hair, small face and petite figure," hummed the woman, "You like her."

    Theodore didn''tment on Madame Fraunces'' words. He had acted on his emotions, and instead of keeping a distance, he had brought himself closer tonight. He knew his action would cost him, but the feeling of her lips against his was driving him towards the edge.

    He finished his cigar before putting it down to stamp with his shoe, cing his hands behind him to support his upper body.

    "It''s all good until you end up on the other side of the fence, isn''t it?" asked Madame Fraunces. "What do you have on your mind, Theo?"

    Theodore then said, "I don''t think I will be able to see the end of what has started. One of the goals is going to be met soon. If I pick one, I won''t be able to fulfil the other."

    "Why not both of them?" she asked him. "It''s not bad to choose both of them."

    "If only it wasn''tplicated," murmured Theodore.

    He knew Lucy would close her eyes and follow him if he uttered the love word to her, but that would leave Calhoun alone in the castle, and everything that had been worked so far, would go to waste. He wondered if it was possible...to have both and be selfish.

    Madame Fraunces then smacked his back to wake him up from his thoughts, "If you find it hard, go with your gut. The little problems children these days have," sighed the woman, and she stood up from where she was sitting. "I am going to sleep now. Come visit me tomorrow and I will bake something good for both of you and Calhoun."

    "Have a goodnight sleep, Madame Fraunces," he stood up, bowing his head, and the woman waved her hand before getting inside her house and closing the door.

    Theodore stepped out of the house''s gates, and he started to head back to the castle. Upon reaching the castle, he went back to Lucy''s patio, catching her fast asleep on the bed, and he then went back to his room.

 Chapter 643 Sparrow- Part 1

    <h4>643 Sparrow- Part 1</h4>

    .

    When Theodore returned to his room, he was surprised to see Calhoun standing next to the bed as if he was waiting for Theodore to return to the room.

    "Everything alright?" asked Theodore, closing the doors behind him and walking inside the room.

    "Morganna has decided to kill the woman in the next three days to stop the formation of the organization," informed Calhoun. Oddly, a sparrow was sitting at the window and faintly chirping. It was strange to see a bird apart from an owl at this hour of the night. "Helena has gotten the approval from the majority of the King''s of the neighbouring kingdoms. There''s a soiree that''s going to be held where some of the high profile people are going to attend and she is going to be there."

    "Seems just like something the Queen would do,"mented Theodore and then questioned, "Do you think she will be sessful?"

    "Maybe. The people who are going to be there are the ones who are in favour of Morganna. She wants to silence the woman before the entire organization is formed," said Calhoun, his eyebrows drawn together in deep thought. It would take some time before the organizationes intoplete form, and right now, Morganna was only trying to get rid of anything that woulde between her and the control she had on Devon''s people.

    "Wouldn''t be best to speak to the King and make yourself present there. You can probably try to get rid of the person who is going to kill her," suggested Theodore, but Calhoun shook his head.

    "There''s going to be more than one person, who is going to attack her and we don''t know when they will. Just because I protect her once doesn''t mean we will be able to do it every time. Having Helena with us is important for our future rule and she can be an important pivot with power," Calhoun didn''t want to lose a powerful woman who could be of great use.

    Knowing how Morganna feared to have powers slip through her fingers only brought joy to Calhoun. Queen Morganna felt threatened by a mere woman''s presence, but then it seemed like Morganna was easily scared. She had also felt threatened by his mother''s presence in King Laurence''s life.

    "I have decided to speak to the King about it. Hoping he will see how important Helena can be to Devon or to him if he ys his cards right," said Calhoun.

    Theodore nodded his head. "Did the King say anything important this evening?" Though he wasn''t in the garden, he had caught sight of Calhoun and King Laurence walking in the garden.

    "Nothing worth remembering about,"mented Calhoun, showing no interest in going through what he had spoken to his father. While he was going to sit on the bed, his nose picked a faint scent of blood on Theodore. "You should take a bath to get rid of the smell of blood."

    "Let''s hope they don''t," replied Calhoun, not bothering to know whom Theodore killed beforeing here. "How is Lucy doing?"

    "Fast asleep," answered Theodore, the smile not leaving his lips. "By the way, Madame Fraunces misses you. She said we should visit her tomorrow. She offered to cook something good for us."

    Calhoun hummed for an answer and then said, "It has been a while since we visited her."

    Theodore saw Calhouny down on the bed with his back facing him as if he was done for the day and wanted to be alone. His eyes fell on the window where the small bird that was earlier there had flown away.

    Walking to his own bed, Theodoreid down there with both his hands supporting the back of his head while he stared at the ceiling.

    "Did you kill someone important that you have been smiling?" Theodore heard Calhoun question him from the other bed.

    "I didn''t notice it," murmured Theodore, and Calhoun rolled his eyes. Though he had turned his back, he hadn''t fallen asleep. He doubted he would be able to sleep in peace until he would avenge his mother.

    Since Theodore had entered the room, he seemed to be in a much better mood than he was, and Calhoun had stared at the man before ignoring the mood.

    Receiving no response from Calhoun, he went back to staring at the ceiling, unable to erase the anxious red eyes and the quickening breath of the young vampiress. When he had returned to offer Lucy blood, he hadn''t meant to intrude. He had given her enough time to bath and change her clothes, believing she was done with it before he hade to her patio only to catch her naked self stepping out of the bath.

    He closed his eyes as if cursing himself for seeing her in that state. Theodore wasn''t foreign to a female''s naked body, but he was entranced seeing Lucy, and he had hidden away from her sight for the moment.

    Lucy was beautiful and worthy, her features dainty and her movements nothing less to the water she had stepped out of. Her skin was soft under his lips, and her lips...they had caught him by surprise.

    He doubted he would be able to sleep soundly with the memories that his eyes, lips and his hands had caught hold of Lucy.

    Madame Fraunces had told he could have both of them, and he wondered if it was possible. To have both the girl as well as fulfil his purpose, to help. Since the moment he had caught Lucy in the alley with the thugs, Theodore''s heart had grown a soft spot towards the vampiress, and now she was spreading like a drop of poison in his heart.

    Theodore wondered if he would be able to answer her question with something that she would like to hear, now only if the King and the Queen could go to Hell and never return, thought Theodore to himself��not knowing that his thought had been blessed for the future.

 Chapter 644 Sparrow- Part 2

    <h4>644 Sparrow- Part 2</h4>

    Lucy ran in the forest, her feet bare without the shoes that often restricted her. She ced her feet one after another on the soft grass on the ground, feeling the slight wetness from the dewdrops that had formed on the des of the grass��how strange, thought Lucy to herself. It wasn''t even morning as the sky was dark, yet she could feel the ground be wet.

    Her heart continued to beat faster, and before she could run farther away, a hand came to wrap around her waist, picking her up and making her shriek in surprise.

    "I caught you," were the words that whispered next to the shell of her ear.

    Lucy''s breath was uneven, and she could feel a shock of desire deliciously run down her spine. Blood rushed up to her cheeks, and she couldn''t help herself but steal a quick look at Theodore, who had his hand snugly wrapped around her waist.

    "I thought I told you to count until ten," Lucy breathed the words, her voice uneven, and she noticed the way Theodore''s eyes had turned dark. Almost ck without a hint of red in there.

    Theodore didn''t reply to her words, and instead, he pulled her and had her back pressed against the tree''s bark.

    "You didn''t answer my question," whispered Lucy when Theodore came to stand in front of her, cing both his hands on either side of the tree.

    "I don''t think there''s any need for me to tell when the answer is as clear as day, amare," said Theodore, leaning forward, and even though nothing happened, she could already feel breathless.

    "What does that mean?" asked Lucy, her eyes sinking into the depth of Theodore''s eyes.

    "Which one?"

    "Amare," said Lucy, her toes dragged behind, and she ced the sole of her foot t on the uneven bark of the tree.

    Hearing this, a faint smile came to form on Theodore''s lips, "My answer." He brought his hand towards her face, running his finger across the side of her face to have her heart hitch. He then brought his finger to ce it under her chin and raised it so that he could have a better look at her. "Why did you propose to y hide and seek?"

    This felt much different from what she had experienced earlier. Her tongue peeked out to wet her lips as it had turned dry, and she gulped when Theodore''s hand came to settle on her waist.

    "I...I was hoping for you to catch me," she whispered, and he leaned even closer than before.

    "Mm, now that I have, I think it is time for reward," after his lips hovered above hers, it came to nt on her-

    She sighed. Couldn''t her mothere after a few minutes?

    "What''s the matter, mother?" questioned Lucy, not knowing what exactly her mother was looking for.

    The guards opened every cupboard while looking under her bed and then going to the patio. When her mother didn''t respond, Lucy asked again, "Mother?"

    Her mother snapped her scrutinizing gaze at her, "Did someone enter this room, Lucy?"

    Lucy blinked her eyes, and her throat turned slightly dry. "I was sleeping. I wouldn''t know," she answered her mother''s burning question.

    "There''s no one here, mdy," informed one of the guards to Lady Samara. The woman stepped outside the patio to look at the height of the patio from the ground.

    Lucy could feel her heartbeat rising while her mother looked around the room. Did what she feared toe true? Did someone catch Theodore when he was jumping in and out of the room? She could feel a light sheen of sweat forming on her back.

    Her mother stepped back inside and asked, "Are you going to tell the truth, Lucy or do you want the person to be punished?"

    Lucy had been caught before, and right now, she hoped it would nevere to this. One word from her, and it would be the end of Theodore.

    Her mother came forward and snapped her fingers in front of her face, "Stop being quiet and answer me, Lucy."

    "I-I don''t know what you are talking about. I was really asleep and don''t know which person you are speaking about," answered Lucy.

    She wondered which person had seen Theodoree and go, and she couldn''t help but internally curse. She didn''t want anything bad happening to Theodore! She had lost Ruby, and she was not ready to lose another person! Her family couldn''t do this to her. She refused to ept it.

    Lady Samara red at her daughter.

    "I thought an example that was set yesterday by your grandmother would make sure the others wouldn''t step out of line, but this," Lucy''s mother looked frustrated. "I ordered that no one was allowed to enter your room, yet this happens. Where is she?"

    "Mother I really-She?" Lucy was confused now.

    "Fabel told me that Amice is missing sincest night. She came here, didn''t she?" Lucy''s mother didn''t seem pleased. "She''s nowhere to be seen. Did you send her to her vige?"

    "Why would I do that?" Lucy''s eyebrows furrowed. "What''s going on?"

    "Amice is missing. Her clothes and her other belongings. Everything is missing and she left a note telling she was leaving the castle," Lady Samara''s eyes red. "Did you have run away after what happened to Ruby?"

 Chapter 645 Sparrow- Part 3

    <h4>645 Sparrow- Part 3</h4>

    "Where did she go?" Lucy questioned her mother, and her mother rolled her eyes.

    "You are telling me you don''t know where she is? Yesterday one of the guards saw someone in your room. There were two people in this room at night, Lucy, so tell me," Lady Samara raised her hand, and Lucy flinched, shrinking away from her mother. But the woman didn''t strike and dropped her hand to her side.

    Lucy slowly opened her eyes, and she saw her mother stare at her.

    "Your grandmother will deal with it," said her mother before stepping out of the room without exchanging another word with her.

    In the room of Queen Morganna, who was still getting ready with her jewels being worn around her neck and rings being pushed on her fingers, she held a grim expression on her face while listening to one of the men who worked for her inform her about what he saw.

    "Are you sure it was her?" questioned Queen Morganna, and she saw the man bow his head through the reflection of the mirror.

    "The maid has left the castle without any trace. The guards at the gates haven''t seen her pass through the gates nor the ones who were patrolling out on the castle grounds," exined her servant. "I don''t think she''s left the castle yet, my Queen."

    Morganna stared at her reflection, not understanding why a maid would visit her granddaughter and then n to leave the castle. She slightly raised her head and ordered, "If the guards haven''t seen her yet she should still be around. Have them search for her, and if you find her, bring her to me."

    "Yes, my Queen!" the man bowed his head.

    Once he was gone, Morganna stood up from the plush chair, and she moved her head to the side to take a look at the pearls that hung in her ears. "Bring my granddaughter to meet me after breakfast. I would like to have a little chat with her in my private room."

    The maids who stood behind her bowed their head.

    Lucy got ready in her room, being helped by maids before she stepped out of the room with questions on her mind. She couldn''t help but worry for Theodore. One of the guards had seen his shadow in her room, and she bit her bottom lip. Fiddling with the ends of her sleeve, she continued to walk in the corridor.

    Before she could make her way towards the dining room, her eyes fell on Calhoun walking in another corridor, and she was quick to search for Theodore, who walked right behind him. Her heart fluttered, and for a moment, all her worries seemed to dissipate.

    "Lucy," came a voice from behind her, and she turned around to find her cousins heading to where she was along with her aunt, Rosamund.

    "Don''t you look lovely today, Lucy," greeted her aunt, opening her arms and hugging Lucy.

    Rosamund''s eyes fell on Calhoun and the bodyguard who were walking in the nearby corridor. She then pulled away from Lucy, a bright smile on her lips.

    "How have you been doing, Lucy?" asked the young blonde boy.

    "Very well, Markus," Lucy nodded her head. "It has been a while since Ist saw you and Sophie. How are your studies going on?" she questioned, and her eyes fell on her younger cousin sister, but the girl seemed to disregard the presence of Lucy and ran past her.

    "Don''t mind her, Lucy. Sophie is still learning," there was a small smirk on Markus'' face. "I heard you have been meeting suitors. Anyone who has caught your eyes?"

    Lucy could feel her aunt''s eyes on her, and she smiled at her cousin Markus, "No one so far."

    Markus'' smile dulled down when he looked behind Lucy, noticing Calhoun walk from one corridor to another.

    Sophie had followed Calhoun like a fly that kept moving back and forth around Calhoun. Noticing him not paying attention to her, she decided to cling to his leg.

    "Seems like she likes you,"mented Theodore.

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed. "Let go of my leg," he ordered the girl, but the small girl was spoilt, and she didn''t listen to him.

    Calhoun stopped walking with no one around to see them, he leaned forward before bringing his hand in front of her face. He flicked her forehead in a force that she not only let go of his leg but also ended up falling away from him. The girl was stubborn enough to bite Calhoun in anger, but this was caught by Laurence, who just appeared in the corridor.

    "Sophie!" King Laurence reprimanded the girl, and she looked petrified. She ran back to her mother.

    "Mama, he hit me!"ined the girl.

    Rosamund''s eyes snapped at Calhoun, who had a perplexed expression on his face. "Me?" he asked the girl, and he then offered her a warm smile. "I didn''t even touch you. Are you sure about it? A lie is never good, little girl." Looking at Calhoun''s smile, the small girl turned confused now.

    Before the older vampiress could tell anything, King Laurence said, "Rosamund, I thought Sophie was being taught by a governess."

    "Sophie is young. It is going to take some time, my King," answered Rosamund, putting up a smile on her face.

    "It is good to see Markus here, I hope it is to spend good time with his cousins?" King Laurence didn''t want his mother going behind his back and trying to have his nephew on the throne.

    "Of course," Rosamund''s smile stayed on her lips. "I thought Markus could spend some time with his new brother. Hopefully they can bond with each other? Like hunting?" she proposed.

    "What a wonderful idea," King Laurence approved this idea, and he ced his hand on Calhoun''s back. "Hunting is always an excellent recreation for men."

    When everyone started to head towards the dining room, Lucy quickly came to walk next to Calhoun, and she pulled Calhoun''s sleeve.

    At her action, he raised his eyebrow, and she whispered, "Can Ie along?" and he gave her a nod.

    "Sure."

 Chapter 646 Hunting- Part 1

    <h4>646 Hunting- Part 1</h4>

    .

    In the dining room with everyone eating, while speaking about the matters brought up in the royal court, Lucy brought the fork with the food to her mouth before taking a bite from it. She tried hard to not look around at the table because there seemed to be more than one person who was watching her actions.

    Lucy didn''t know why her mother thought Amice had run away from the castle, while even she was confused as to why her maid had left without sharing a single word with her.

    Her mother, grandmother, and aunt asionally looked her way, making it difficult for Lucy to look at Theodore, who stood behind Calhoun. Last night was something sweet and memorable, and she had slept like a baby.

    "We should always be careful about whom we keep near us. You never know what poison they bring with them,"mented Rosamund while cutting the steak on her te. "What do you think, Lucy?" she asked the young vampiress.

    Lucy clutched the fork in her hand, looking up to meet her aunt''s eyes, "What ever grandmother did must have been done for the well being of all of us."

    Her tone was enough to make one know that she didn''t agree with it, yet she forced the words out of her mouth.

    Lady Samara, who sat next to Lucy, offered her sister-inw a smile, "Lucy is well versed with what is right and what is wrong in the castle. She has turned more responsible, thanks to Ms. Lewis'' help."

    The governess bowed her head, a polite smile on her lips, "The princess is a quick learner. She has already finished most of the lessons."

    "How wonderful," murmured Rosamund, putting the thin slice of steak in her mouth and chewing it.

    "Would you like to hear me y the cello sometime, Aunt Rosamund?" offered Lucy, trying to keep a calm demeanour without allowing the pain of losing someone to appear on her face. Ruby might not have been rted to her by blood, but she was everything Lucy had wanted as a mother figure.

    "Maybe I will. We should perhaps fix it in the evening. Perhaps before dusk so that all of us can enjoy your talents," replied Rosamund, and she then looked at her brother. "My King, I hear the organization is in formation. They seem to have gone with the majority of votes. I heard they n to call it the High House, what an absurd name."

    "Absurd people give absurd names," came Morganna''s sarcastic words. "King Laurence, I believe we should be extremely wary of that woman. I heard that the woman who is forming the High House is nning to take the reins and is going to put the royal families under interrogations."

    King Laurence, who was eating, nodded his head, "That is what reached my ears. She must be a fool to think she would be able to control all thends and hold power in this so-called High House in existence. It is bound to fail, no King would support it."

    Hearing this, King Laurence started tough, "A woman is going to run it? It is nothing less than leaving our positions and giving it to her. We might as well end up as mere puppets."

    Calhoun''s eyes subtly narrowed at Laurence''s words. Morganna had instilled fear in Laurence''s mind of his throne being stolen away from him, that he doubted his father would be able to see through his reasoning. He had hoped to sway Laurence, but it didn''t seem like it was possible.

    "For a person who has been in the royal court for only a few weeks, you shouldn''t believe that the others would do things in your favour," scoffed Morganna. Her eyes met Calhoun''s eye in a challenge. "The King''s grandfather was the one to bring Devon the way it is now, we aren''t going to give it to someone else."

    Laurence waved his hand, "Calhoun. I need you to keep an eye on this woman. Make sure to find out what she does and where she goes. I need all the information."

    Calhoun bowed his head, "I will make sure to get every information about her," heplied to the King''s words.

    The time continued in the dining room, and suddenly a servant appeared at the door of the room, bowing his head, he announced,

    "My King, Mr. Greville''s son, Samuel has arrived to meet Lady Lucy."

    Hearing this was enough for Lucy''s face to turn pale inplexion. She had been wrapped in her world that now it felt she was being pulled back to the reality where she didn''t want to step into.

    "Mr. Greville? Seems like he''s quite taken by Lucy to make such an effort of making time from his busy schedule,"mented Lady Samara, pleased to hear that one of the suitors had decided toe to talk to Lucy.

    Lucy wanted to go out hunting with others. Now with Samuel here, she bit her bottom lip. She wanted to spend more time with Theodore, to stay in hispany and not in someone else''spany with whom she was not interested.

    Queen Morganna looked at Lucy, and she then said to the servant, "Bring him in here. Tell him to join us for breakfast."

    The servant bowed his head and left the front of the room. "Is this the same Greville who is the Duke''s son?" questioned Rosamund with faint interest.

    "Indeed he is," Lady Samara was the one to answer. She was more than excited to have the man join them so that he could ally with her daughter.

    When Samuel arrived in the room, he deeply bowed at everyone, a polite smile on his lips, "Long live the King! A good morning to everyone."

 Chapter 647 Hunting- Part 2

    <h4>647 Hunting- Part 2</h4>

    With everyone''s eyes on Samuel, who had only entered the room, Lucy''s eyes fell on Theodore, who was watching her. She felt her heart skip a beat and her eyes lowered with a faint blush coating her cheeks. She didn''t forget the closeness she shared with himst night as well as in her dream.

    All Lucy wanted was to stay in Theodore''spany, to continue the conversation she had startedst night and receive an answer from him through his words.

    "Why don''t you take a seat next to Lucy?" suggested Lady Samara. The vampiress leaned forward and looked at Sophie, sitting on the other side of her daughter. "Sophie dear, why don''t you shift so that the gentleman can sit next to Lucy?"

    Rosamund didn''t like how Samara was ordering her daughter to move, but she was only the King''s sister. Therefore there were only a few things that she could oppose.

    "Sophie, why don''t youe and sit next to your brother," said Rosamund, and without question, the little girl hopped and came around to sit next to Markus.

    "Thank you for having me here," Samuel had a kind smile on his lips, and he bowed his head at everyone again before making his way around the table and taking the seat next to Lucy. "How are you doing this morning, Lady Lucy? I hope you had a wonderful sleep."

    Lucy didn''t have a mean bone in her, and she returned the man''s smile, "I did have a good sleep. I wish I can dream it again. Did you finish all your work?" she questioned.

    "I did. I have asked some of my men to handle it so that I can spend time with you. My mother said it is important to build the foundation of a rtionship for a good future," Samuel insinuated his extreme interest in Lucy.

    King Laurence, Queen Morganna and Calhoun were discussing the court''s affairs while Samuel tried to initiate small talks. In that time, Lucy couldn''t help but look towards Theodore, who wasn''t looking at her anymore. She wondered what to do because her heart was elsewhere and not with the person at the table.

    She wondered what Theodore was thinking about, and her heart tugged.

    The more time passed, the more Lucy could feel her heart and eyes wanting to follow Theodore.

    When they finished having breakfast, the elders left the ce. Calhoun, who was talking to Theodore about the hunt they had nned to go on, turned around to look at Lucy, who smiled, that didn''t reach her eyes.

    "Mr. Greville," Calhoun addressed the gentleman who was talking to Lucy. "I don''t think we have been formally introduced."

    Samuel bowed his head, "I don''t think there''s anyone who doesn''t know who you are."

    Samuelughed along with Calhoun, "It is good to be making your acquaintance. I hope I can be of great service to the future King."

    Calhoun stared at Samuel, watching the man closely before saying, "All of us have nned to go hunting, I suppose you wouldn''t mind joining?"

    "Hunting? I would be more than happy to join yourpany," obliged the man, and Calhoun gave him a nod.

    "Good. We shall see you outside then," and when Calhoun stepped out of the room with Theodore, he murmured, "What a people pleaser."

    Lucy was taken aback, and she could only remind herself toter thank Calhoun for inviting Samuel to hunt as that way she would be able to join too instead of walking round and round in the garden with Samuel.

    "Do you like to hunt, Lady Lucy?" questioned Samuel and Lucy, who had been staring at the door, snapped her eyes back to look at Samuel.

    "I enjoy them. How about you, Mr. Greville?"

    "Please call me Samuel," he spoke in his gentle tone. "I would like to pursue you wholeheartedly, mdy. I feel we will be able to get closer to each other without making use of the honorifics to our names."

    Lucy''s eyes widened while she looked at Samuel. The man was handsome, and he was kind to herpared to the other suitors who were pompous and pushy towards her. If Theodore had not caught her heart, she would not have minded this man''spany, and maybe her heart would have been captured by him.

    "I...I need to tell you something, Mr. Greville-"

    "Please," Samuel stopped her, and he caught hold of one of her hands. "You don''t have to decide it right now, and I know things like this takes time. I am ready to wait."

    Lucy had intended to be truthful to him, wanting him not to wait for her as her heart was already set on someone. She didn''t want to break the polite gentleman''s heart, but he said he was willing to wait.

    "I will be waiting outside with the rest of them," Samuel bowed his head and left the dining room.

    Lucy changed her clothes to much more appropriate wear, and her hairs had been braided to the sides of her head while letting it down.

    Theodore, who stood with Calhoun, Samuel, Markus, caught sight of Lucy making her way outside the castle anding to where they stood with their horses.

    "Which horse would you like to ride, princess?" asked Theodore to her. A faint smile came to settle on her lips, and Lucy felt her heart soar just by his presence.

    Samuel was already ready with the n, and he proposed, "Lady Lucy can ride with me."

    Lucy turned to look at Samuel and said, "Thank you for the offer, Mr. Greville, but I have my own horse."

 Chapter 648 Hunting- Part 3

    <h4>648 Hunting- Part 3</h4>

    Lucy got on her own horse, and so did the others before they headed out of the castle. The hooves of the horses clip-clopped on the ground. She noticed her cousin Markus was talking to Samuel as he had no actual interest in Calhoun.

    On their way, Lucy paced her horse to move forward, and she came to move next to Calhoun, who asked her, "How are you doing today?"

    "I am doing okay," replied Lucy.

    It had been nearly a day since Lucy had seen Ruby dead, and she clutched on the reins of the horse she was riding on. Not a single person in the castle had mentioned her death or absence, not to forget, even Amice had gone missing.

    "Did you hear about one of the maids who went missingst night?" asked Lucy to Calhoun.

    "So that was what themotion was about this morning," murmured Calhoun, and he said to her, "The queen must be under the notion that you helped her to run away so that she doesn''t meet the same end as Ruby."

    Lucy shook her head, "Amice didn''te to my roomst night," and she turned to see her cousin, Samuel and Theodore, talking about something. Looking back at Calhoun, she whispered, "One of the guards saw someone in my room and believes that it was the maid."

    Though Lucy wasn''t direct with her words, Calhoun understood what Lucy worried about. "Who knows, someone must have killed the other maid so that she doesn''t cause any problem to you or to them."

    By saying this, Calhoun ced doubt in Lucy''s mind that it was probably her mother or her grandmother, who had done something to her dear maid. "I should go ask them."

    "What do you think you will achieve by it?" came the immediate question. Calhoun paced his horse to move faster, and Lucy did the same, giving them the little space they needed to speak with each other. "The mark on your cheek that has turned faint now, asking them will result in something harsher than that."

    Lucy sighed. She knew Calhoun was letting her know the oue if she were to cross her grandmother. She was curious about Calhoun''s mother, and she turned to see her brother, who looked ahead of him.

    "Thank you for yesterday, brother Calhoun," she thanked him, and his eyes moved to look at her for a brief moment before looking in front of him.

    "How about you?" she returned the question to him. "How are you doing, brother Calhoun."

    "Better," came his short reply.

    Lucy smiled at Calhoun. When he had arrived at the castle, he hadn''t spared a look nor a word with her, ignoring her presence and yesterday, he hade to ce an umbre over her head.

    Before Lucy could reply to Markus'' words, Calhoun was the one to speak, "Lucy was asking how I feel as now I have been chosen to be the future King." Hearing this was enough for the younger vampire to narrow his eyes.

    The rest of the journey to the forest was normal where Lucy chose to hear the others speak, and Samuel tried to get on her side by having his horse next to her and making little talks that she politely replied to. Catching sight of a deer, they started to chase and hunt it.

    Lucy had never actually taken part in the hunt, and this was the first time she was actively participating in it. A thrill of joy coursed through her, and along with others, she went on to chase the deer, but the deer was too quick. Samuel wanted to impress Lucy. Therefore, he decided to chase the deer faster than the others, leaving the young vampiress behind.

    Lucy''s horse continued to gallop and follow, but the others had moved farther away, disappearing behind the many trees that were between them.

    Suddenly a ck creature came in front of the horse that Lucy was riding on, and the horse suddenly stopped, raising its legs forward to have Lucy lose bnce and fall on the ground.

    When she fell, Lucy flinched, and she quickly opened her eyes toe across a wolf that bared its teeth not too far away from her. She had never seen a pitch-ck wolf before, and she could feel her heart beating loudly. The wolf looked feral, its teeth coated in saliva. Right on time, Calhoun had turned around his own horse as Lucy had fallen behind.

    "Lucy!" Calhoun called her, bringing other men''s attention.

    She tried to move away from the wolf, but her movements turned the wolf angry.

    "Don''t move from there. I wille there," said Calhoun seeing Lucy petrified.

    "A wolf''s bite can be fatal to a vampire,"mented Markus, who stood behind and away from the wolf after he came back to where Lucy was with the rest of the party. He got down from the horse, and so did the others.

    Calhoun ignored Markus'' words, and he said, "Theodore, get Lucy from the other side." He moved to the left while Theodore moved to the right. Having taken care of wolves before, he could tell this was still a young one, but by size, it was big, and its fur was coated with blood.

    Lucy shook her head. This wasn''t safe. But when she caught sight of Theodore, he stretched his hand for her to take.

    "Why don''t we just kill the wolf," suggested Samuel, "It will keep everyone alive."

    As if sensing the word kill, the wolf turned to find Calhoun approaching it, and it pounced on him, taking a bite at his hand.

 Chapter 649 Hidden angels- Part 1

    <h4>649 Hidden angels- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Lucy was scared because of the ck wolf that looked ferocious and its fur matted with blood. When the wolf''s concentration fell on Calhoun, Theodore pulled her to his side so that she wasn''t in the wolf''s vision anymore.

    But not everything went as expected.

    When Samuel had suggested killing the wolf instead of having to deal with the feral wolf, Markus had pulled up his bow, which had sharp des like knives in them and without a moment of hesitation, he dislodged a single de towards the wolf.

    Before the knife could attack the animal, Calhoun caught hold of it, but the wolf didn''t take the sight of the weapon too kindly. It bit Calhoun''s hand, making him wince, and he red at Markus.

    "What do you think you are doing?" he glowered. Even though Markus was a royal family by blood, he was younger than Calhoun, who was the King''s son.

    "I was trying to help! It is better to kill the wolf so that it doesn''t bite any of us!" imed Markus, his voice holding an urgency.

    "Well congrattions, you were sessful in getting the wolf to bite me," red Calhoun while feeling the fangs of the wolf dig deeper into his hand.

    On the other side, Lucy had ended up standing closer to Theodore. Her hand still clutched his hand in fear. "What are we going to do?" she whispered in worry. She could see drops of blood falling on the forest ground from Calhoun''s hand as the wolf was stubborn enough not to release his hand..

    Samuel noticed the closeness between Lucy and Theodore, and instead of helping Calhoun, he went to where Lucy stood and asked her, "Are you alright, mdy?"

    Lucy looked slightly shaken, and she nodded her head.

    Seeing how Lucy''s gaze was fixed on Calhoun, who was trying to calm down the wolf, he pulled out his own weapon, pointing it at the wolf.

    But Theodore ced his hand on Samuel''s weapon, and he pushed it down, "You are only going to turn the wolf more agitated."

    The Duke''s son didn''t like the fact that a mere bodyguard was trying to educate him on what to do and what not to do. He pulled his weapon back in position and said, "I don''t take orders from a servant like you. Lady Lucy, you shoulde stand-"

    "Put the weapon away," ordered Calhoun, who had his back facing them.

    Samuel looked slightly confused, "But the wolf has infected you with venom and it is a feral one. Look at the blood on its coat. It has killed people and is going to kill the-"

    "If any of you try to hurt the wolf, I will make sure to let the King know you tried to aim your weapons at me," threatened Calhoun, and both Markus, as well as Samuel, dropped their weapons.

    The blood on its fur belonged to its own kind.

    "The wolf didn''t kill any of our kind or a human, instead the hunters who were here before us must have killed its pack. Take a closer whiff of the air and you will be able to smell it too," stated Calhoun, and he brought his other hand to pat its head before going to scratch its neck. "The wolf is only in attack mode because people killed its pack."

    Markus didn''t care about the wolf, and instead, he preferred to have all of them dead so that the vampires would be the only ones to kill others and not the other way round.

    "You have been infected,"mented Markus, and Calhoun finally felt his hand be released. With his eyes still on the wolf, Calhoun replied,

    "You must be having a terrible teacher who hasn''t taught you the basic difference between a wolf and a werewolf. Let''s pack it up here and go back to the castle," he ordered, and Markus, not knowing how to reply back, gingerly bowed his head in response.

    Calhoun continued to scratch the wolf. He was used to being in the wolf''spany, and he knew exactly what to do to calm it down.

    "You will be my favourite pet," he said to it, and Markus'' eyes widened.

    "A feral wolf? The King would never approve of it!" said Markus.

    Calhoun turned around, and a broad smile settled on his lips, "Father loves me dearly. I am sure he can make an exception when ites to me," he found it rather strange that the wolf had tried to attack him and no one else as if it was waiting to attack him. He then looked at Lucy and said, "You will ride with Theodore. I will get the wolf. We can have the guardse fetch Lucy''s horse."

    Samuel looked bbergasted over this idea, and he looked back and forth between Lucy and Calhoun.

    "Wouldn''t it be better if Lady Lucy rode with me?" asked Samuel.

    "You might be of a higher status in person, Samuel, but you aren''t engaged to my sister yet. I cannot let a man I do not know very well or trust around her. Theodore is my right hand man and I trust him to take her back. Do you have an objection with it?" Calhoun raised one of his eyebrows at Samuel, and the man shook his head.

    "Of course not. I know you would have decided thoughtfully," Samuel bowed his head.

    Lucy walked with Theodore towards his horse, and Theodore helped her sit on the horse first before he climbed to sit behind her. Samuel and Markus climbed on their horses while Calhoun caught the wolf and arranged for it to ride with him. The wolf didn''t stop growling, and Calhoun bent down to kiss its head.

    "Don''t be angry, we''re going to be friends," said Calhoun to the wolf.

    If it was possible, Markus'' eyes would have fallen on the ground with Calhoun''s actions and words. His mother had arranged for Calhoun to be attacked, but things had not turned into their favour.

 Chapter 650 Hidden angels- Part 2

    <h4>650 Hidden angels- Part 2</h4>

    "Are we not going to tend to brother Calhoun''s hand?" asked Lucy as they rode.

    "He''s stronger than he looks, much more strong. A bite like that won''t harm him," replied Theodore and Lucy bit her lip. If she hadn''t fallen behind and if her horse had not run away, Calhoun wouldn''t have been bit.

    Markus had already overtaken them and went ahead of them as if he was in a hurry to reach the castle, while Samuel tried to keep up with Theodore and her not too far behind them. As the horse galloped, Lucy held on to the saddle while feeling her back move against Theodore''s front. His hands were around her, holding the reins of the horse.

    A mixture of worry and excitement filled Lucy''s mind. She had to be mindful of what she was going to say as it seemed like Mr. Greville would be able to eavesdrop on their conversation.

    "You didn''t answer my question," said Lucy.

    Theodore could hear Lucy''s heart beating, and to get rid of Samuel, he increased his horse''s speed so that they could get away from the suitor. "I thought my gesture was clear, mdy."

    "Don''t call me like that. Don''t call me the way everyone does," Lucy didn''t want to be any other woman in Theodore''s life. Was it wrong to expect from him that she wanted to be treated special to him? "I know what it means. What you called mest night."

    With Samuel who had fallen behind and Calhoun who overtook them too, one of his hands moved to ce on Lucy''s waist, "And what was that?" he asked her.

    Lucy felt her toes curl at his touch, and she turned a little shy. She said, "It is love. Amare." Theodore didn''t agree or deny her words. "I am still not sure though. You continue to let me stay in thepany of the suitors."

    "Would you prefer I kill them and have them hidden away so that they nevere in contact with you ever again?" asked Theodore with a calm voice as if he didn''t just propose to kill people.

    Lucy couldn''t help but turn around to meet Theodore''s eyes, and she felt air knock out of her body. A fluttering feeling of happiness came to spread from her chest to every single part of her body.

    She didn''t know what rtionship she and Theodore had, except that they shared simr feelings. It put a bright smile on her face, and she basked in that moment. She knew her family would not allow it, and it only made her wonder if she should run away from the castle. The idea was tempting as well as daunting.

    When they reached the castle, Markus was the first to reach and find his mother, who was sitting with Queen Morganna.

    "That was quite a quick hunt. Did you catch anything delicious? Or did it go as we nned?" questioned Rosamund, who leisurely sat with her mother, talking about people.

    "Calhoun has been bit by the wolf!" informed Markus and both the vampiress looked pleased by this information.

    "I knew you were my favourite grandchild for a reason, Markus. You bring good news to us," praised Queen Morganna, but Markus shook his head. "What happened?"

    "The wolf''s bite had no effect on him. And instead he brought it to the castle-"

    "WHAT?" questioned Rosamund, her eyebrows furrowing.

    "What do you mean by he brought the wolf to the castle, boy? Did he bring it to add it to his pet collection?" when Markus nodded his head, Queen Morganna''s eyes narrowed.

    "Get Laurence! I cannot let Calhoun do whatever he wants," Queen Morganna got up and walked out of the room. Rosamund was quick to follow her mother while Markus searched for the King, so that it could be informed on what his son did.

    The queen, with the others, went to meet Calhoun and make sure to reprimand him.

    "You cannot be serious and in your right mind to bring a wolf that bit you and can bite anyone else!" Morganna raged. "Do you think we are providing a sanctuary in here to the wolves?"

    Calhoun had finished cleaning his wound and had tied the wolf in the kennel, "You look very upset, grandmother. You should go take some rest in your room."

    "Get the wolf out of here. It cannot stay in here," ordered Morganna, but Calhoun didn''t budge from where he stood. "Do you think you rebelling against me is going to do good to you?"

    Calhoun offered the older vampiress a polite smile, "I don''t know what you mean by that, grandmother. I took a great interest in this wolf, I often take great interest in the things that hurt me. Don''t worry, it won''t bite you. You are my beloved grandmother, it knows you won''t hurt me, don''t you? Hm, I forgot to name the wolf."

    "You are a madman," came the low words from Morganna.

    "Madman...What do you think about the name Maddox?"

    Morganna saw Markus walking to where he was, and he said, "King Laurence isn''t here. He went to attend a meeting that is taking ce three towns away from here."

    "I will talk to himter," said Morganna before her eyes fell on Calhoun''s hand, "You should apply something on that wound. You don''t want to have an infection simr to what happened to your mother. I heard you killed her and hid her body."

    The others who stood near them looked at Calhoun, not expecting this piece of information to be revealed.

    "Did you want to ask her for forgiveness for what you did to her?" asked Calhoun.

    Morganna smirked, "I don''t think she''s worth it. There are people who are already trying to get more information about what you did to her. To find out about your crimes, so let me give you some advice," she paused for a moment, stepping closer to him. She said lowly, only for him to hear, "Be on your guard because you never know when you will be standing behind the bars and be executed."

    "Thank you for your precious advice. I will make sure to watch my back, and yours along with the rest," Calhoun smiled before bowing his head.

    As expected, during the time of the evening, when the King returned to the castle, the news reached him, and Calhoun had requested to tame the wolf for his own benefit before getting the approval for his new wolf.

    Morganna fumed at the thought of how her son didn''t listen to a word that she said and was instead being manipted by the whore''s son. With her arms crossed, she stood in front of the firece, and her loyal servant stood not too far away behind her.

    "Get it done today. It is time to strike and we cannot afford to y anymore," stated Morganna, whose face had turned serious. "Kill the woman so that they know what they have gotten themselves into."

 Chapter 651 Hidden angels- Part 3

    <h4>651 Hidden angels- Part 3</h4>

    "I was hoping to see you here," came the woman''s voice, and Calhoun turned around to find Helena standing in front of him.

    "Was there something you needed to speak to me, Lady Helena?" he inquired.

    "I was wondering what you think about joining the High House. You aren''t the King yet and it would be valuable to have a smart man like yourself with us," stated Helena.

    Calhoun offered the woman a smile, "I don''t think my father would be pleased if he heard you offering me a position at something that he is against," a small chuckle escaped his lips.

    "Do think about it. I am sure with the unfairness you have faced in your very own life, you will be able to make proper decisions in the organization," said Helena.

    The smile on his lips, only broadened. He wondered what was proper and improper. He had no interest in protecting anything because his mother, who was worth protecting, was no more, and the only thing his mind was consumed with was revenge. A sweet revenge that he wanted to witness and that was all he cared about.

    "Are you here scouting people to join the High House?" questioned Calhoun.

    The woman stared at him, "We have one more spot open in the higher position and I thought I would appoint the right person. Because who knows how many men and women have joined hands only to keep an eye on what we do, or what I do."

    As he thought, Helena was a smart woman, and he smiled, "If you ever need my support, I will be here to offer it, but I would rather prefer not to join the High House. I like to run things in a certain way. Excuse me," and he stepped away from her with a ss of wine in his hand.

    Helena knew it would be hard to convince Calhoun to join the High House, but it was worth a shot. When a servant came towards her with a tray holding a wine ss, she was about to pick it up,? but before that, someone else grabbed the ss sooner than she did. The maid looked slightly worried as the ss was meant for the woman and not the man.

    When the maid stepped out of the room, a man who stood outside demanded, "Did you give it to her?"

    The maid shook her head, "Some other man picked up the ss before she could take it."

    "What?!" the man red at the maid, who looked down at the ground, "You fucking couldn''t do one job? Get out of here," and the maid quickly scurried away. He muttered, "I guess I will have to do this myself."

    "Good afternoon, Lady Helena. I couldn''t help but overhear what you were speaking with the young man over there about the free spot in the High House," said the man, his voice smooth and his demeanour calm like a still water.

    Helena asked, "You seem to have very good ears to be eavesdropping."

    "My apologies," the man didn''t hesitate to bow his head, and when he looked back up at her, Helena could only agree with herself that she had nevere across such blue eyes before. "I didn''t mean to intrude."

    "I don''t know who you are. It would be troublesome if you are one of my many enemies," Helena didn''t beat around the bush, and her thoughts were direct, catching some of the people off guard, who were secretly listening to her.

    "I do not have a status, if that is what you are asking. I came here in the hope to speak to you, in the hope to have fairness in this world and for innocents to be protected," informed the man, "My name is Michael Reeves."

    The man spoke as if he had full faith that the High House could change the world, making things a little better than the current state. He seemed like a genuine person, and she gave him a nod.

    "It is good to see that you support the same thoughts as I do," responded Helena.

    Michael smiled, and as he looked around the room, his eyes fell on a person sitting at the table who had long ck hair, wearing shabby clothespared to the rest of the others in the room. Two women sat in front of him, giggling amongst themselves over something he said.

    "Everything alright?" asked Helena, her eyes following Michael''s line of sight to look at the table, noticing the cards spread out in front of the woman.

    Michael looked back at her and offered her a smile, "Yes. Everything is alright," he replied to her and said, "Now that I have spoken to you, I should leave. It would be wonderful if you could try to give me a chance to work in the High House."

    "I will think about it," she responded.

    Michael ced the ss on the surface of the table without taking a sip from it.

    But before he could leave her side, he whispered, "You should be careful with what you pick to drink and eat in here, things are not what they appear to be," and offering her a smile, he left the room.

    For a second, Helena frowned, not knowing why he said it, and her eyes then widened in realization. She quickly tried to follow the man she had been speaking to, but when she stepped out of the room, he had already disappeared.

    A man appeared at Helena''s side and said, "Mdy, would you like to have a ss of wine?"

    Helena stared at the wine and then at the man and said, "You can drink it in my name."

 Chapter 652 Resolve- Part 1

    <h4>652 Resolve- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Lucy walked in the corridor, her fingers twiddling in a circr way while wondering why her grandmother had summoned her to her room. When she arrived in front of the doors, the guards who stood on either side of the doors pushed it open so that she could enter.

    Stepping inside, Lucy caught sight of her grandmother sitting on the couch and she bowed.

    "Did you want to see me, my Queen?" asked Lucy, her tone polite.

    "Yes, Lucy. Come sit with your grandmother," offered Queen Morganna, patting the empty seat next to her with a smile on her face. There was only one maid in the room to serve tea and to help the Queen while the rest of them had been dismissed. "Come," said her grandmother when Lucy hadn''t made an effort to move from where she stood.

    Apprehensively, Lucy walked to where her grandmother was sitting, and she took a seat next to her. Her governess was teaching her, when a servant who had been sent by the Queen appeared in the study room, asking her to meet the Queen.

    "What would you like to drink? There''s different vours of tea powder that has been brought from the othernds. Or would you prefer to have blood?" asked Queen Morganna, being hospitable and too sweet to her granddaughter.

    Refusing to drink with the Queen was nothing less to being disrespectful, and Lucy replied, "I will have the blood."

    The Queen didn''t have to order the maid for it as the maid stepped forward to the side table, bending down, she started to pour the blood from the teapot into the cup and offered it to Lucy.

    "Go on, drink it," advised Queen Morganna, and Lucy smiled before bringing the cup to her lips and taking a sip of the blood. "It has been long since we sat together by ourselves and drank tea, isn''t it? How are your sses going on with Ms. Lewis?"

    Lucy nodded her head, "It is going well, my Queen. Ms. Lewis said she is almost done teaching me everything I would need."

    "Things that wille in use after the marriage I believe?" asked Queen Morganna, and Lucy slowly nodded her head.

    "Queen Morganna, there was something I would like to ask from you."

    Morganna raised her eyebrows in question, "What is it?"

    "Do you think it is possible for me to take part in the discussions that take ce in the royal court? I tried to learn and understand everything, I was hoping I could be useful-"

    "But I know I can-"

    "Didn''t you hear what I just said?" Queen Morganna offered Lucy a smile that was not warm but chilling. "Samuel is a good man, what do you think of him? Isn''t he wonderful?"

    Lucy pursed her lips, a small frowning to form on her forehead. "I don''t know."

    "What do you mean, you don''t know? Silly girl, you have been spending time with him every day. You don''t have to be shy about it," said Morganna.

    Lucy wanted to tell her grandmother that she didn''t want to meet any of the suitors as her heart had already decided whom she wanted to be with. But at the same time, she was scared of her grandmother''s reaction. The Queen had opposed the idea of her being present in the royal court room. It was obvious she would nevere to ept her love for Theodore.

    Queen Morganna then came to the topic, "I wanted to know you if you met your maid Amice before she left the castle."

    Lucy shook her head, "I haven''t spoken to her since mother had her shifted to another work."

    "Is that so," said Morganna, taking a sip from her cup and then cing it on the saucer with a little clink sound. "You have been meeting the other maid and look what you did to her?"

    Ruby, thought Lucy and her heart ached for the deceased woman. "I didn''t do anything to her," she firmly stood her ground, and Queen Morganna raised her eyebrows.

    "If it weren''t for you who had decided to go against your mother''s and my words, the maid would have still been alive, but look at what you did. We have been teaching you to follow the rules of the castle, but it seems like you have always preferred to break the rules," Morganna looked down at her teacup with a displeased look on her face.

    Now that the subject had been brought up, Lucy clenched her hands, and she asked, "Why did you do it? Ruby did nothing wrong."

    "You both broke the rules, Lucy. Considering you are my granddaughter, there is only little that can be done here. But she deserved it for going against our words," stated Morganna with not a hint of remorse in her voice. "She was leading you on the wrong path."

    "Like what?" questioned Lucy, cing her teacup on the table. "Ruby never taught or led me on the wrong path. She was there when I needed her, beside me-"

    "That''s absurd," Morganna interrupted Lucy, rolling her eyes, she said, "You have us. Your mother, your father, me. You don''t have to rely on a servant."

    Lucy looked at her grandmother in disbelief, shaking her head, she got up, "I don''t know why it took me so long, but you are not what I thought you are," she whispered, and Morganna narrowed her eyes, getting up to stand in front of Lucy.

    Ruby had died because her grandmother had ordered the guards to kill her, and Lucy could only imagine the pain Ruby went through with the noose around her neck until she died.

    "Careful with what you speak, Lucy. Just because you are my granddaughter doesn''t mean I will take your usations kindly," warned Queen Morganna. "Sit down now so that we can finish our talk."

 Chapter 653 Resolve- Part 2

    <h4>653 Resolve- Part 2</h4>

    "No," responded Lucy, and she noticed the way her grandmother''s eyes subtly widened at her rebellious nature. "You cannot force me to quietly sit down and make me believe that I was the one who was responsible for Ruby''s death. You had something to do with brother Calhoun''s mother too, didn''t you?"

    "That is a very wild usation that you are throwing at me, Lucy. Do you know the consequences of doing so?" asked Morganna with a calm voice.

    Lucy didn''t im openly that she had heard those things from the Queen''s very own mouth, and it wasn''t a rumour she had picked up.

    "God will keep an ount of everything you have done. Be it in heaven...or in hell-"

    SLAP!

    Lucy could feel the stinging sensation on her cheek, and the force of the p was twice as hard as what her mother had delivered to her three days ago.

    "How dare you to speak back and insinuate what I did was wrong," Morganna red at Lucy. "I guess having a governess was of no use as she couldn''t teach you the basics of how to speak with your elders or the Queen. You can take your leave from the room now. When you feel you are ready to speak and in a much sane mind, you cane talk to me."

    Lucy''s jaw clenched together, and she left the room without exchanging another word with the Queen. When Lucy left, Queen Morganna called the maid to her side and said, "Bring the governess and tell Samarae visit me." It seemed like she should get her granddaughter married quickly before Lucy turnedpletely rebellious, thought Morganna to herself.

    Queen Morganna had made sure to tame the people around, making sure no one would ever stand up against her. It was a surprise that her son Laurence was recently not listening to her, but the whore''s son was the one to be med. Since he had stepped into the castle, the people who listened to her were slowly not taking her orders and instead behaved how they felt like. Laurence was the King therefore, she had to stay on his good side, but Lucy...Lucy seemed to be growing up too fast. She wondered if Calhoun had mentioned something to her granddaughter.

    Lucy had tears filled in her eyes once she stepped away from the room where Queen Morganna was in. She knew what it meant when it came to standing one''s own ground in front of Queen Morganna, but Ruby''s loss was the breaking point for Lucy.

    "Lady Lucy?" she heard Theodore''s voice in the corridor, who stood not too far away from where she was. Lucy didn''t know when she had stopped walking, but it seemed like her feet were glued to the ground now.

    Theodore frowned and walked towards her, looking left and right to make sure no one was there. He caught hold of her wrist and pulled her to a nearby empty room.

    Lucy didn''t answer his question, but stared into Theodore''s eyes. He was someone she felt close to her, and her emotions started to well up, and a tear came to roll down her cheek.

    "Hey, don''t cry," said Theodore, pulling Lucy to him, who looked broken, and he hugged her. One of his arms came around her waist while the other patted the back of her head.

    With Lucy, who was not too far away from the Queen''s quarters, he could only guess that Morganna had done something to Lucy and his eyes narrowed. Both Morganna and Samara had no concern regarding what Lucy wanted, and they treated her like a doll that had to listen to what they said.

    "Shh," Theodore whispered.

    Lucy started to sob, her hands clutching on to the front of his shirt, and he could feel the fabric turning wet. He heard someone walking outside the room in the corridor. He had locked the door earlier, and when he hugged the young vampiress, he realized how delicate and petite she was.

    She stayed there in his arms until she had calmed down, and she realized her head was buried in his chest, and she pulled away from him. She wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeves.

    Theodore raised his hand, using his finger to wipe one drop of her tear from her cheek, and he noticed the way her heart skipped a beat. He wondered if it was a curse for breaking many women and girl''s hearts before meeting Lucy, that he couldn''t cherish the girl the way he wanted to.

    Her eyshes held sprinkles of tears, turning her eyes darker than the normal time as they peered up at him right now.

    "Things will get better," he assured her, and Lucy believed him. It was only a matter of time before Morganna would be dethroned from her position, and Lucy would be able to be free once Calhoun would take his position as the King of Devon.

    There was still time for Lucy''s marriage, and that gave him time. "But don''t run away," he advised. He knew Lucy craved freedom, but the path she thought to be easy wasn''t as easy as she would think it to be. Being born in the royal family was a boon as well as a curse at the same time.

    Lucy nodded her head, feeling Theodore trace his finger over her cheek, "Does it hurt?" he asked her.

    "No, it doesn''t," she replied. Theodore offered her an encouraging smile.

    Calhoun had gone out to attend the soiree, giving Theodore no work to do but to watch people and make sure the ministers or the servants were not setting up any traps for him or Calhoun.

    After some time, in Queen Morganna''s room, Lady Samara appeared at the door.

    "My Queen, you wanted to see me?" asked Lady Samara.

    "Yes," answered Morganna, "I wanted to speak about Lucy''s marriage to Samuel Greville. They have been spending time with each other for a few weeks now, and I think it is a perfect match, especially with what the Duke has agreed to give us."

 Chapter 654 Resolve- Part 3

    <h4>654 Resolve- Part 3</h4>

    "She must not be home and maybe is outside," said Calhoun, noticing no sounding from the inside of the house. The windows and the doors were closed. He stood against the wall with his arms crossed.

    Theodore moved the iron ring that was affixed to the door once more. "She didn''t give a specific day and just told toe over. I doubt she was nning to go out somewhere," he said, waiting for several seconds before stepping away from the door.

    Calhoun took a walk near the windows, and when he was going to turn back, he smelt the familiar scent of blood and death that came from the inside of the house. His eyes immediately narrowed, and he said,

    "Something is wrong."

    At first, Theodore didn''t notice it even though he had stood in front of the door for several minutes, but after Calhoun pointed it out, he stepped back towards the door and took a deep breath and smelled the faint smell of death. His eyes widened, and without waiting for another second more, he broke the door open to step inside.

    The air inside the house was filled with the stench of death, and Theodore rummaged through the rooms one by one until he finally found Madame Fraunces, whoid motionless on the ground. On seeing this, Theodore''s jaw clenched together. The blood that was on the wooden floor near her body had dried, turning it dark in colour, and the woman''s eyes were left open while herplexion turned pale and she looked like a ghost.

    Theodore was in shock, and Calhoun walked forward to check the woman, cing his hand on her neck and then looking into her eyes.

    "She''s been dead for quite some time now," informed Calhoun.

    Theodore clenched his hands into fists before freeing them. Walking to where Calhoun was, he asked, "She dealt with women and girls who belonged to wealthy families, but I don''t think they had anything to do with it."

    "Morganna," Calhoun''s eyes narrowed.

    He should have known something like this would happen. Calhoun had been pushing the Queen, testing and taunting her time after time. He should have known that she would strike back by ying dirty. When Theodore had decided to help Calhoun, he had taken things like these into consideration, but the impact that he felt right now...it was something hard to fathom.

    Theodore knelt next to Madame Fraunces body. "Do you know how many days have passed?" he asked Calhoun while his eyes were on the woman.

    "Possibly more than three days," replied Calhoun.

    She must have been murdered the next day after he had visited her at night. Anger filled his mind, and he brought his hand up towards her face to close her eyes. For more than three days, her body had been lying here cold on the floor, and no one even knew about it.

    "You should go back to the castle," informed Theodore, "I will stay here and have her buried." He doubted people would look at them kindly if they were to bring out a dead body from the house.

    Queen Morganna was eagerly waiting to frame them. She couldn''t shake Calhoun''s will therefore, she tried to separate Theodore from Calhoun to weaken Calhoun.

    "We are in this together," said Calhoun, looking up to see Theodore. "She helped me, even if it was for a short period. Get a carriage to the back of the house, it wouldn''t be right to keep her body out in the open. It is only some time before someone finds out that she is dead."

    Madame Fraunces body had started to decay, and the rotten body''s stench had filled up the entire house. Standing up, he started to make his way out to bring a carriage. On his way, Theodore couldn''t help but remember the time he had spent with Madame Fraunces, who was always kind to him, who had taught him everything he needed to know, providing him food and shelter.

    After getting the carriage to the back of the house, he noticed Calhoun had wrapped and covered Madame Fraunces'' body in a thick nket so that the coachman wouldn''t be surprised on whose body they were carrying. Getting inside the carriage, the coachman asked,

    "Where would you like me to take you?"

    Theodore was going to say the forest, but before that, Calhoun said, "To the royal castle of Devon."

    The coachman raised his eyebrows, wondering if the two young men were going to sell the nket to the royal family. When they were still riding on the way in the forest, and away from the castle, Calhoun knocked on the window to have the coachman stop the carriage.

    "The castle is far from here," said the man, confused as they had asked him to stop in the middle of the forest.

    "I realized we are short of coins. Here they are," said Calhoun, passing the nickels to the man while Theodore got down, carrying the body on his shoulder. "Thanks for the ride," he said to the coachman.

    The coachman was more than happy to receive an extra coin, and he rode away from there. The two young men headed towards the royal cemetery to have Madame Fraunces''s body buried there.

    After cing Madame Fraunces''s body in one of the graves that was cleared a minute ago as another Hawthrone rtives body had been removed from their resting ce. Theodore''s face stayed calm.

    The Queen had crossed her limits, and she had to die, thought Theodore to himself. And this meant he couldn''t have any distractions.

 Chapter 655 Collapse- Part 1

    <h4>655 Copse- Part 1</h4>

    They weren''t rted to each other by blood, but the woman was no less to a motherly figure to him.

    Back in the castle, when Calhoun arrived, one of the guards walked to him and informed, "Advisor Calhoun, the King has asked you to present yourself in the royal court."

    Calhoun went straight to the royal court room to find King Laurence, who was talking to one of the ministers, and on his left side sat Queen Morganna; her eyes fell on him the moment he had stepped into the room.

    "Good that you are here, Calhoun," said King Laurence. "We have an important matter to be ryed."

    Calhoun offered the King his deepest bow, a pleasant smileing to form on his lips, "I hope it is a wonderful news for Devon."

    King Laurence gave him a nod, "Indeed it is. We have some of our men, to keep an eye on the members who agree to be part of the High House. Some of them have changed their decision about their interest in it. This has put a doubt on the minds of the Kings of the othernds on the unnecessary unneeded? existence of such a thing. It is only a matter of time before ites to an end. Good job at the soiree, Calhoun."

    Calhoun smiled at the King''s words, "You praise me for nothing, my King. It was a small job that I did."

    King Laurence shook his head, "It wasn''t an easy job, to have people step down from their nned positions. This has even other men we have to step away as it isn''t necessary anymore."

    "Are you sure they are not going to change their mind to go back to the High House?" questioned Morganna.

    "Not after what Calhoun did. Him attending the soiree seems to be a sess and we don''t have to worry about that wretched woman Helena," stated King Laurence.

    ording to the King, Calhoun had spoken and convinced the people why they shouldn''t work towards the High House formation, and the people who had joined had stepped back.

    But Calhoun had his motives. The High House could be infiltrated by the King''s and Queen''s men, who could still hold control by either Morganna or Laurence. But what Calhoun wanted was to run the entire thing in his hand movements like a puppeteer. He was having his own chosen people join the High House. This was so that there wouldn''t be any influence against him in the future.

    "I still think it is right that we get rid of that woman. We wouldn''t want her to strike back," said Morganna, her eyes falling on Calhoun, and she then asked, "Where is your bodyguard?"

    Morganna''s eyes twitched, and the others in the court room took a deep breath, hearing Calhoun addressing the Queen informally.

    All these years since Morganna Hawthrone had turned to a Queen by the help of her deceased husband, and now next to her son Laurence, she hadpelled people to treat her with the utmost respect while keeping the title of Queen with her, without handing it over to her son''s wife. She demanded the people address her as the Queen, which included the royal family members.

    And thenes this whore''s son who dares to disrupt her title.

    The ministers and the others remembered the time when one of her very own rtives forgot to address her as the Queen had spent a week in the dungeon before being released to never return to the castle ever again.

    Disregarding Calhoun''s question, Queen Morganna said,

    "Did you forget to address me as the Queen or are you doing it on purpose?"

    King Laurence''s eyes fell on his mother, who had a look of displeasure on her face.

    Calhoun''s expression didn''t change, and instead, it stayed calm before he spoke, "Grandmother," he addressed her one more time, and one could only tell that the young man was taunting the Queen once again, "I use that word so that I can be close to you my Queen. I have spent my years without an actual family, and now that I have one with you, my father, a sister, a mother, I would like to have a better rtionship with all of you."

    Queen Morganna was well aware Calhoun was always up to no good, and she said,

    "If you aren''t aware, the tradition in the Hawthrone''s castle has always been where you address the royal members who is in higher position with utmost respect. Haven''t you seen your cousins and your sister do it?" Morganna yed nice as she didn''t want to throw mud at Calhoun in front of her son. Doing that would only result in spoiling her own image, it had happened before, and she wasn''t going to fall for that one more time.

    The ministers and others in the room couldn''t help but internally smirk at the Queen''s words, and they then looked at Calhoun. He was a young man who was trying to change things, but he should know better than that, thought many of them in their heads, when Calhoun hadn''t responded to the Queen.

    King Laurence was more than amused by watching the small discussion, and he didn''t bother to get in the middle and instead watched his son and mother.

    Calhoun smiled, "I was finished reading the book that was written by the previous Queen of Devon. By what I read, she liked to be addressed as mother, grandmother, sister."

    "Are you trying to insinuate on something by mentioning this?" Morganna was quick toment, and her eyes narrowed at Calhoun.

    "I would never dare," Calhoun bowed his head and then continued. "I was only thinking by addressing a person on their rtion, the family often bonds in a better way. What do you think about it, my King?" he turned to look at Laurence. "Forgive me if it is something uneptable."

 Chapter 656 Collapse- Part 2

    <h4>656 Copse- Part 2</h4>

    King Laurence stared at Calhoun as well as his mother. Silence filled the room once again, and the King finally spoke,

    "Even though all of us are aware of your rtionship with the Queen, addressing her as your grandmother in here isn''t right." Hearing his words, Queen Morganna smirked at Calhoun. "The royal court room is a ce where important discussions and decisions are taken. But," he paused, gaining everyone''s attention, "You can call her grandmother when you aren''t in this room."

    Morganna gritted her teeth as she couldn''t go against the King''s words, but it didn''t mean she wouldn''t bring this matter up when it was just her and her son alone.

    Calhoun''s smile widened, and he bowed once more, "I cannot tell how grateful I am to have a family here, my King."

    "You didn''t answer where your guard is," Morganna went back to her previous question again. "It isn''t good to have your guard away from you, unless you want to be suspected of doing something you are not supposed to do."

    At the same time, Theodore stepped inside the royal court room, offering his greetings. He came to stand behind Calhoun.

    "I do not understand what you mean, my Queen," Calhoun feigned ignorance.

    "There have been people, who have gone missing since you arrived at the castle-"

    "Mother," warned King Laurence. "Aren''t you cing a baseless usation here."

    Morganna responded to this, "My two maids, Lucy''s two maids, and some others have gone missing. I am not using my dear grandson, but I am suspicious of his guard. I wouldn''t trust people that easily."

    Calhoun could see what Morganna was trying to do here. She had first attacked Theodore by having Madame Fraunces killed, and now she was slowly trying to frame Theodore.

    "Why has there been no mention about the people going missing until now?" demanded King Laurence with a frown on his face.

    "People go missing in the castle and it wasn''t brought to my notice even once?"

    As it was Queen Morganna who had brought the matter up, she answered him, "We didn''t want to bring such miniscule things when you have other important work on your hand, my King. At first I thought people were just leaving the castle, but now that I think about it, they have gone missing."

    King Laurence frowned further, "Let there be a search in the castle and people be interrogated."

    "Of course, milord. It is the right way to deal with such things, and I was only bringing up my concern. I wouldn''t want someone else going missing," replied Morganna.

    "I would like to mention that I doubt it is Theodore who is responsible for it. Considering how we share the same room, I have never seen him leave my sight," said Calhoun to the King. "I would like to request for the other guards to make a through check before using my man here to be the culprit for something he hasn''t done."

    King Laurence nodded his head and then looked at the guards who stood near the back of the room, "I want to have the castle checked in and out, including the castle grounds to see if you find something," he ordered them. "Also mother," he turned to look at Morganna, "I would appreciate that when ites to things like these, you inform me sooner than wait until the tipping point."

    Queen Morganna bowed her head.

    Soon King Laurence got up from his throne, and he stepped down before leaving the room with the other ministers following him.

    Queen Morganna didn''t stay back, and she left the room along with the others until it was just Calhoun and Theodore in there.

    "Where did you put the maid''s body?" asked Calhoun, staring at the entrance of the royal court room.

    "Away from the grounds and the forest. They wouldn''t be able to find the bodies," replied Theodore. Calhoun''s eyes fell on Theodore, and he said,

    "You should go and rest. I will handle things here."

    Calhoun wasn''t unaware of Theodore''s mood with what happened today. Though he didn''t show his emotions, Calhoun could tell it still affected his mood.

    "I am going outside to finish something, I will see youter," informed Calhoun. He left the castle knowing that even if Morganna nned to trap Theodore, she couldn''t do it in the next hour.

    Seeing Calhoun leave, Theodore started to make his way to his room. His mind was filled with Madame Fraunces'' death, and while he continued to walk, he caught sight of Lucy, who was walking from one end of the corridor to another, not noticing him, which allowed him to look at her.

    When Madame Fraunces told him that it was possible to have both things, he wasing to believe it. That he could help Calhoun while letting things grow between him and Lucy. But right now...

    Not staying there for one more second, Theodore continued to make his way to his room, and heid on the bed. But this didn''t prevent Lucy from trying to find where he was, and she knocked on the door, not knowing what had happened.

    Lucy stood outside the room, looking left and right to make sure no servant had seen her yet. Her eyes looked slightly anxious and excited at the same time.

    Theodore didn''t have to open the door to know who it was. Not wanting to draw the inevitable time with what he had on his mind, he walked to the closed doors of the room and opened it to see the young vampiress, whose smile appeared on seeing him.

 Chapter 657 Collapse- Part 3

    <h4>657 Copse- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Since Lucy had woken up, she had decided to speak to Theodore, but both he and Calhoun were not there in the castle. She had waited for them to return, but it took longer than the time she had expected them to return.

    She had been walking from one corridor to another corridor when she sensed someone behind. When she turned, she saw Theodore''s back disappeared from the other side of the castle, and she had quickly tried to follow him.

    "Theodore," Lucy''s lips pulled up just by seeing him. With all the things going on around her, the only hope she could rely on was Theodore''s existence and kindness, including her newfound brother, Calhoun. "Mm, were you resting?" she asked, her eyes darting inside the room and then at him.

    Theodore shook his head, "No." He then stepped outside his room, taking a look around before he asked her, "Would you like toe in?"

    Lucy''s heart fluttered at Theodore''s offer, and she felt giddy about it.

    She didn''te here to spend time with him, but to speak about something important. It was only this morning, did her mother mention her marriage to her father. Samuel and his family had been invited to have dinner with the royal family so that her father could speak about moving things forward.

    Nodding her head, she stepped inside his room, and Theodore pushed the door to close it. She looked around the room, noticing two beds that were far apart and behind the beds were windows to let sunlight inside the room. The room was not luxurious or like the guest rooms but rather like the servants'' ones.

    Lucy asked, "Where did you and brother Calhoun go this morning? I didn''t see you both during breakfast either."

    Theodore watched Lucy, who was still looking around the room, "We were invited to have breakfast at an acquaintance''s house. Someone we both know."

    Lucy nodded her head, "I see. I thought father sent you both on some work," and she smiled in the end.

    Noticing Theodore watching her, she said, "I wanted to talk to you about something," and Theodore nodded his head for her to go on. "It is actually about us, I mean about what''s going on. You said not to run, but I don''t know what n you have on your mind."

    Saying this, Lucy turned shy, and she looked at the window, "Mother and father have invited Samuel''s parents tonight for dinner...to speak. I do not want to go ahead with-"

    "You should get married to him."

    For a moment, Lucy didn''t grasp what Theodore said, and she looked back at him. Her eyebrows furrowed in question.

    "I don''t understand," she replied with a confused expression.

    With a straight face, Theodore said, "I don''t think it is right for us anymore to meet or spend time together closely with each other. We have a wide difference between us and it because of this it would never work. I would never be able to keep you the way you have been brought up."

    Lucy could feel her heart shattering, and she tried to keep herself calm, "Why?" she whispered. "I thought we already went through which was why I offered to run away...Did someone say something?" Was it her grandmother who had found out about it? But then she doubted it was so.

    Theodore offered Lucy a polite smile, "No one said anything, mdy. I think it would be better for both of us to know where both our status stands. I am your half brother''s guard, a servant while you are the princess. Duke Greville''s son seems like he has taken quite an interest in you, and he will keep you happy. It would be best and safer to stay away from the castle."

    Lucy couldn''t believe Theodore was telling her to marry Samuel when he clearly knew she had feelings for him and not for the Duke''s son.

    She had believed that Theodore had feelings for her. No, she was sure about it, but he denied it. She could sense the distance he was putting between them, and it ached her heart. Did she perhaps do something wrong?

    "You''re joking, aren''t you?" Lucy tried to identify Theodore''s intentions, but the man barely allowed any emotions to be disyed on his face. He had a serious look on his face. "W-why did you kiss me then?"

    When Theodore didn''t respond, Lucy''s hand that was clenched into fists released itself, and she demanded an answer,

    "I want to know why?"

    Theodore knew Lucy might have appeared weak, but if she put her heart into something, she would not let it go. Having her around would not only affect him but also her. And he did the best to create a wall between them. Even if it meant she would hate him, it would still allow her to have a peaceful life, away from a cunning family. This way, it would stop Lucy from getting involved in family politics, and she would remain safe.

    He then said, "You once asked what my job was beforeing to the castle. I will answer it today," he said, meeting her eyes. "I used to satisfy women by sleeping with them. That is how I earned my money. I thought you are a beautifuldy, a princess and wanted to bed you in the same way, but-"

    "Stop it," whispered Lucy, unable to believe it to be the truth.

    "I don''t think it is right to deceive you-"

    A sharp sound was heard in the room, and it had left Lucy''s hand burning as she had pped Theodore so that he wouldn''t speak more than what he had. Her hands and her lips trembled.

    "Why are you doing this?" asked Lucy, tears in her eyes.

    Theodore didn''t react to the p, and instead, he bowed his head, "Forgive me for my misbehaviour, mdy. I hope you will find your happiness once you are married," and this was enough to leave Lucy''s heart broken into pieces.

 Chapter 658 His scent- Part 1

    <h4>658 His scent- Part 1</h4>

    .

    On hearing Theodore''s words, Lucy felt her heart shatter into little pieces. When she hade knocking on the door of his room, she had hoped to move their rtionship forward and not cease it instead.

    The hand that she had used to p Theodore to stop him from speaking more turned into fists on seeing him offer her a smile of indifferencepared to how she felt. Was that it? She refused to believe that he held no feelings for her when he had kissed her cheek or when he had consoled her after seeing the bruise on her face that had been inflicted by her grandmother and mother.

    "Please take back your words," she said to him.

    Theodore didn''t change his words nor his expression for the young vampiress, "What I said, every single word is true and if you want to punish me, I shall take it without anyint."

    Tears finally rolled down her cheeks, but Theodore made no effort to move from his ce and console her. Instead, he bowed his head as if he was ashamed, and it only broke Lucy''s already broken heart.

    "Comint��" Lucy whispered the word looking away from him. "How would you have anyint when you are the one to step back, telling me you don''t like me and wish to see me with another man," her voice cracked in the end.

    "I heard from some of the ministers that your parents are speaking about your marriage to the Duke''s son. You have been having pleasant conversations with him. You-"

    "Stop it," ordered Lucy immediately, and she looked back at him. "I thought you were different, not like the other men. That you understood, but you don''t��" he was hurting her by speaking such things, and it only ached her heart that much more. "You don''t have to exin anymore."

    And Lucy turned away, walking towards the door, and her hand reached for the door, but she paused to turn back and look at Theodore, who had the same expression on his face. She felt as if his hand had reached out for her heart, and though initially she had been happy, and she now felt as if he was squeezing it. Lowering her gaze, Lucy finally pulled open the door and ran towards her room.

    When Lucy had stepped outside, and in the corridor, Theodore could hear the sob that escaped Lucy''s lips, and he felt his heart shake. The smile on his face fell, and his eyes that looked bright in front of the princess turned dull.

    Theodore knew Lucy would never forgive him, he believed what he did was for the best.

    In the princess'' eyes, what he did was the cruellest thing she had ever been through, but the pain was inevitable when revenge came into the picture. Madame Fraunces had died because of him, and he wouldn''t be able to forgive himself.

    "Forgive me, Lucy," he said when she was long gone, where she wouldn''t be able to hear him.

    When Lucy reached her room, she closed and locked the doors. The sobs didn''t stop escaping from her lips, and with every passing second what Theodore said only sunk in her mind. She brought her hand to cover her mouth so that the people who would walk outside her room would not be able to hear her.

    Her body slid down against the door, and she finally sat down on the floor. After a while, the sobs stopped, and Lucy stared into space in front of her, unable to think more. Pulling her knees closer to her chest, she hugged them to keep herself calm.

    As the evening approached, Lady Samara appeared at Lucy''s door, knocking on the door, "Lucy? Open the door, the maids need to get you ready. The Greville''s are joining us for dinner. Did you forget it? Lucy?"

    Lucy could feel the vibration of the knocks as she was sitting with her back against the door. She felt numb, like the emptiness she had been trying to escape from had opened wide and was now swallowing her up.

    People around her...they lied, they were cruel, and they did what they pleased without considering her feelings.

    "Lucy! Open the door, right now. I know you are in there!" Lady Samara''s voice lost its cool, and a smile appeared on Lucy''s lips, that didn''t reach her eyes.

    She got up from the floor and wiped the remnants of possible tears on her cheeks that had already dried. She finally opened the door.

    "What were you doing?!" demanded her mother.

    "Nothing," came the nd answer from Lucy/

    "Get her ready and make sure she looks presentable. Your future inws areing to meet you along with Samuel. Isn''t that wonderful? I cannot believe you will be getting married soon. I will miss you dearly," said her mother, making her sit in front of the mirror, and the maids started to swarm around Lucy.

    "If you are going to miss me, why are you even trying to send me away from here?" whispered Lucy. Hearing this, Lady Samara rolled her eyes.

    "Have you forgotten all your learning given by Ms. Lewis?" asked the woman before turning to look at the dresses that were being taken out from Lucy''s closet that were now neatly being ced on the bed.

    "I don''t understand how a woman who has not been married can exin the importance of marriage to me," Lucy was in an irritable mood with her heart and mind troubled.

    Lady Samara turned to look at her daughter with a frown, "What is with these absurd questions? For once, can you not listen to me?"

    Lucy''s hand gripped on the long petticoat that she wore, "I have been doing that since I learned to speak," she muttered under her breath.

    Lady Samara let out a tired sigh, and she asked, "What are you trying to do, Lucy? Don''t try to push me by thinking I won''t reprimand you for your behaviour just because the Greville''s areing to see you."

    Lucy''s eyes lowered down to look at her hand, before she let go of the white petticoat she had been clutching.

    During the time of dinner, everyone was seated at the table. The royal family members as well as the Greville''s. The Duke was busy speaking to Lucy''s father about his trade and how he could help Devon in its progress.

    Lucy, who now sat next to Samuel hadn''t touched her food and his mother questioned her,

    "You haven''t touched your food nor your drink, dear. Is everything alright?" On the woman''s question, everyone''s eyes fell on her immediately and Lucy put up a smile on her lips.

    "Yes, Mrs. Greville," replied Lucy.

    "You''re such a beautiful girl. Because of my sickness, I barely step out of the mansion and prefer to spend my time in my room, which is why I wasn''t able to attend the soiree. But I am d to finally met you," said Mrs. Greville, her tone polite.

    "I hope you are doing better now, Lady Delh," said Lady Samara, trying to be a good hostess and making the woman feelfortable and weed as she was soon going to be Lucy''s mother-inw.

 Chapter 659 His scent- Part 2

    <h4>659 His scent- Part 2</h4>

    Lucy had never said anything like that, and her eyes fell on her mother, who looked back at her with a smile as if it was true.

    "Samuel and Lucy have been spending quite some time together here in the castle, they seemfortable around each other, it was only a matter of time this was going to happen,"ughed Lady Samara.

    While the people at the table continued to talk, Lucy felt like she was sitting with strangers. Everyone was busy talking to each other, and it left Lucy alone. Her eyes slowly moved to look at Theodore, who was not looking at her. Since she had arrived in the dining room, Theodore had not made an effort to meet her eyes even once. Her silence only continued to allow the people who wanted to see her marriageplete for their benefit.

    Her family and Samuel''s family had started to discuss the date of the wedding that would take ce soon. Lucy was too hurt with everything going on around her, and she had shut herself down from the world.

    But Calhoun was at the table. He looked at Lucy, who stared at her te as if the discussion at the table didn''t involve her.

    When the dinner was finished, and the guests had left, Calhoun and Lucy were crossing paths in the corridor, and he asked,

    "You barely spoke at the table tonight."

    Lucy smiled at his words, d to know someone had noticed, "Is that so brother Calhoun. I must have been too tired to interact. Speaking to strangers all the time is exhausting."

    Calhoun didn''t know what was going on between her and Theodore, but he doubted something brewing between them. But now, it seemed like it had disappeared as both of them didn''t look each other in the eye.

    "Can I ask you something, brother Calhoun?" he nodded at her question. "Did the Queen or my mother speak anything with you about my marriage?"

    "No," he answered, and she gave him a nod.

    Lucy replied, "I see. I should go now. It''s been a tiring day."

    Calhoun didn''t stop her, "Have a good sleep, Lucy."

    "You too. Goodnight," and she continued to go on her way to her room.

    Calhoun was about to leave when he sensed Theodore''s presence behind the wall, who had note forward in front of Lucy. But with her gone, he appeared and informed, "I heard the High House has fully formed and they n to start working in two weeks."

    "Good. It will be easier to get the castle investigated with what Morganna is hiding in here," replied Calhoun.

    "Are you not happy with our marriage that is going to take ce in a few days?"

    Lucy snapped out of her thoughts, and she pursed her lips. She looked into Samuel''s eyes that looked at her with patience and politeness.

    Samuel continued to say, "Lady Lucy, we have been spending a lot of time with each other. I finish my work as soon as I can so that I can spend time with you. But I feel you don''t feel the same way. It''s like your heart and mind isn''t here."

    "Pardon me for my inattentiveness, Mr. Greville," Lucy apologized.

    "Is there something you would want me to change in my behaviour or something that you would want to see in me? I will make sure to make an effort to change myself into the person you want me to be," said Samuel and Lucy''s thoughts started to drift again.

    Could the man wear sses that were round in frame? Could he look more mature as if nothing bothered him?

    "Do you smoke, Mr. Greville?"

    "Sorry?" Samuel was taken aback by the princess'' question.

    "Do you smoke cigars to blow smoke from your mouth?" Lucy exined to him as if he didn''t know what smoke meant. "Do you have it with you now?"

    A startled Samuel put his hand in his pocket before bringing out a small metal box that held cigars, "I don''t smoke often, Lady Lucy. It is only on rare asions. During the gatherings."

    Lucy didn''t care if Samuel smoked or not, "Do you think I could borrow one from you?"

    Samuel would have never pegged that the princess had the habit of smoking, but he shared one of the cigars with her in an attempt to get closer to her.

    "Would you want me to light it for you?" he asked politely. "Maybe away from the prying eyes."

    "No, that is fine. I just wanted to have one. Thank you," Lucy offered him a smile.

    "I don''t smoke," she rified, waving her hand. There was another reason why she had borrowed a cigar from him.

    Samuel chuckled, his eyes twinkling as they looked at her, "I never thought you did. You don''t seem like you enjoy the smell of the cigar. Not that there''s anything wrong in smoking because it doesn''t affect vampires'' health."

    Compared to the many suitor''s Lucy had met in the past few days, Samuel was the only person who was easy going and he didn''t impose things on her, and that was before their parents met for dinner. He was still the same, and somewhere, Lucy felt guilty.

    Whenever she and Theodore met, he looked at her as if she didn''t exist, and it hurt her, pushing her away and to Samuel''s arms. She wondered why life was this difficult. Was love supposed to be this hard?

    She had dodged Samuel''s question for now, and she was d he didn''t press her for an answer. When the time came for Samuel to leave the castle, he picked up her hand and gently kissed the back of it.

    "I was thinking if we could go and visit the town tomorrow. Away from the castle to get some fresh air," proposed Samuel. "I heard you haven''t left the castle for some time. Is there any ce you would like to go?"

    Lucy pursed her lips and then said, "The royal cemetery."

    "Of course," he nodded his head while looking at the girl, "I had a lovely time with you, Lady Lucy. I will see you tomorrow," said Samuel.

    Lucy bowed her head along with him, "Me too, Mr. Greville. Thank you for visiting me." She didn''t see why she should be rude to someone who wasn''t aware of her broken heart or wasn''t the person to break her.

    Samuel bowed his head, and as he turned towards the carriage, making his way there, his expression changed like a chameleon. The polite and kind nature he appeared in front of people with a gentle smile on his lips, especially for Lucy, turned to one of menace.

 Chapter 660 His scent- Part 3

    <h4>660 His scent- Part 3</h4>

    "I used to live right there, four streets away from the center ce of the town," responded the woman to something he said. "How strange that we have never crossed paths before."

    "Indeed, the world is small and vast at the same time," replied Theodore.

    As Lucy was approaching the ce where they stood in the corridor, she heard their conversation and her gaze hardened. "Lady Lucy," the woman bowed her head, who was probably as old as Theodore. "Good afternoon."

    But Lucy''s attention was on Theodore, who looked at her hand that held the cigar and noticing this, she was quick to hide her hand between her flowy dress.

    "Afternoon," Lucy greeted the woman, but she didn''t stay there to watch them chatter or to speak to Theodore.

    "Doesn''t she behave as if she has everything and is proud about it to not spare another word?"mented the woman when Lucy had disappeared from their sight. "I know these princesses, little girls like those, they can be quite a hassle to deal with-"

    "Are you done with your work here, Lady Selina?" Theodore cut in her words.

    The woman looked taken aback, and she stared at Theodore, "Yes, but I am in no hurry."

    "I think you should. Queen Morganna isn''t fond of people who don''t deliver their work in time," Theodore then stepped forward, cing his hand on her shoulder. "I heard that you have been working for her for so long and responsible for taking care of her treasury. I am surprised a woman like you, who is efficient, has not been promoted in her work or in status," he praised the woman.

    She smiled at Theodore by the position of his hand, "What can I tell, the Queen is peculiar in a few things."

    "Mm," responded Theodore, and he slowly brought his hand to her face. "I was wondering if we could meet to have supper together. You wouldn''t mind would you?"

    "Of course not," answered the woman with a coy smile. "Let me see what I can cook for you tonight."

    Lucy turned sad when she found out from Calhoun that Theodore had gone out on personal work, and he had given him the day off until tomorrow morning. At the time of night and after dinner, where no one was there to talk or interrupt her, she was back in her room.

    The smell was heavy at the time of night, and in the morning, it would disappear like it was never part of it.

    The log of woods in front of her softly crackled in the firece, and Lucy brought the tip of the cigar near the fire and lit it up. Getting up from there, she came to sit on her patio''s floor. Bringing the cigar near her nose, she smelt the smoke while closing her eyes and remembering the times Theodore sat next to her, right here in the middle of the night.

    As painful as it was to part away and make her heart understand what had happened, why was it that she still wanted to stay in hispany, in thepany of Theodore''s memories, who had broken her heart.

    Lucy couldn''t forget what he said to her about earning money by selling his body to offer sexual favours to please women. When he had kissed her wound, there was a certain tenderness in them that she doubted she would ever be able to erase the memory from her mind. The memory had rooted in her mind.

    She took a deep breath of the smoke, and she put her head back to look at the sky.

    "So ironic," whispered Lucy. "It''s always the good memories that haunts us in the end."

    The excitement and happiness was slowly turning into vines of thorns around her...and it hurt.

    On the other side of the castle, Morganna was waiting for her man to frame Calhoun''s bodyguard. Hearing the footsteps, she turned around in the deserted corridor where no one was there except for her, and now the man.

    "Is it done?" demanded Queen Morganna.

    "My Queen, there seems to be a problem," answered the man as he bowed his head.

    "Is there any time that you do not bring problems along with you? What is it?" snapped Morganna in slight anger.

    "The three people we spoke to, two of them have left town and we don''t know when they will be returning to speak against Theodore. There''s only one woman, Lady Christine, who is still in the town who is there to speak against him," informed the servant.

    "That is fine. What about the house?" questioned Morganna.

    "The bloodstain on the floor is still there along with his clothes in the house," Morganna smiled at this. "Well the news isn''t as bad as I thought. Now make yourself useful by going and informing the magistrate of the town about it."

    The servant bowed and quickly left the corridor to ry the message even though it was the time of night.

    Morganna couldn''t wait to frame Theodore so that Calhoun would be alone without any support.

    But when the servant went to the magistrate''s office, the ce was already closed, and he decided to wait until the time of the morning to deliver the news of Madame Fraunces'' murder.

 Chapter 661 Pivoting of control- Part 1

    <h4>661 Pivoting of control- Part 1</h4>

    A pair of hands came to circle around his waist that belonged to the woman Lady Selena.

    "What are you doing here, instead of lying in the bed with me?" she questioned, cing one side of her cheek against his back while continuing to hug him.

    "I wanted to smoke," replied Theodore, stepping forward so that the woman would release her thin hands away from him. "This is the time I usually smoke and I was missing it."

    When he turned around, the woman smiled, looking at him, "I thought you were a mere guard of Advisor Calhoun. I would have never pegged you like the rest of the vampires," she chuckled, bringing a cigar from the table before lighting it using Theodore''s already lit cigar.

    "What did you think?" questioned Theodore, his eyes calm like still water.

    The woman chuckled, "I am not sure if I should say this, but then we have done the dirty deed. I guess it can stay as our little secret."

    A smirk appeared on Theodore''s lips, and he responded with, "I love secrets. It has a certain thrill in it, doesn''t it?" Without pushing the woman, he waited for her to start speaking.

    "You know how people don''t look at Advisor Calhoun favourably. He is an illegitimate son, someone who clearly doesn''t have the right to hold the status in the castle or in Devon. It makes me wonder why you still work for him," stated the woman in wonderment, her eyes meeting his gaze.

    "We all work for our own benefits, don''t we, Selena," he took a drag from the cigar before his lips allowed the smoke to be ejected straight into the air. "We all want to climb the statusdder. To improve our status or our wealth. Which one is yours?"

    Selena wore only a ck robe on her body, where she had not bothered to tie it, to entice Theodore back to her bed.

    "Aren''t you too eager to know about me?" asked Selena, a coy smile on her lips as she threw the cigar out of the window.

    Theodore tapped the cigar and then said with a straight face, "What can I say, you must have bewitched me tonight. I just want to know more about you."

    The woman chuckled, walking towards the bed. Sheid down before tapping on the surface of the bed as if inviting Theodore to join her.

    "The Queen pays a good wager because I do more than handle Devon''s treasury records," proudly said Selena. When Theodore extinguished his cigar and came towards the bed, she said, "Just because I know your motive and how you are not actually too attached towards Calhoun, I suggest that it would be better for you to work for the Queen than for him, it will also increase your reputation."

    The woman pulled him towards her, kissing him, and she said, "You seem to be asking a lot of questions."

    "I would like to know who I am with if we are going to spend more time together," whispered Theodore, running his hand from her shoulder to caress her hand.

    Theodore had note here to warm the woman''s bed, nor was he even remotely interested in this person. He had something to ask and speak to her, and for that, he had used the method which he was good at.

    And it seemed to be more challenging than what he initially thought it to be. When he started to wear his clothes and his shoes, the woman spoke,

    "Make sure you never let this information be known to others. The Queen has been trying to divert the funds to her own vault for a while now and I have been working on keeping quiet."

    Theodore looked up at the woman who stood in front of him, and when he stood up from the bed, heughed as if the matter was of no importance to him, "Does the Queen believe that one day she will be cut out from the family one day?"

    The woman shook her head, "I don''t think King Laurence would ever cut his mother out from the royal family. I mean he loves her dearly."

    "Of course," Theodore nodded his head. "People are truly strange, aren''t they?"

    Selena then ced her hand on his arm and said, "Will you being tomorrow?"

    "I would not miss it, but as you said, let''s keep what you and I spoke as a secret. I don''t think either Calhoun or the Queen would be happy that we have shared such information," said Theodore to have the woman nod and beam in a smile.

    While Theodore was making his way to the castle, he made sure no one was following him this time, and he made use of the alleys before reaching the town where he had grown around. His feet made way to Madame Fraunces'' house, which was now empty as a shell with no life in it.

    Entering the house, he walked to the ce where both he and Calhoun had seen her body on the ground. His eyes fell on the wooden floor that had patches of darkness on it.

    After spending some more time, Theodore started to make his way out of the house when he caught sight of a person who served the Queen. The servant was sitting near the stairs and in front of a building, and on hearing someone''s footsteps, the person woke up to only have his eyes widen.

    "What are you doing here, Ulric?" asked Theodore.

    "I-I was doing nothing at all," stuttered the man and Theodore looked at the door behind the man which led to the magistrate''s office.

    Theodore offered him a smile, "Waiting for the magistrate, is it?" and the servant gulped in fear.

 Chapter 662 Pivoting of control- Part 2

    <h4>662 Pivoting of control- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Theodore dragged the servant by one of his legs as the dead person was used to sweep the ground. Once he had brought the body in the forest, he left it near the den of wolves so that they could use him as their meal for the night. If there was no trace of the body to be found, there was no way to find the crime that had taken ce.

    ''W-who said I am waiting for the magistrate?'' the servant had nervously looked at him while standing up and his eyes darting left and right.

    ''Did you perhaps switch your work from serving the Queen to guarding the door of the magistrate until he returns?'' asked Theodore, taking a step towards the man, and the servant was quick to start running towards the castle.

    It was the servant''s bad luck that he had decided to wait for the magistrate and at the same time when Theodore had decided to pay a visit to the town. Theodore, who was already well aware of the town''s streets and alleys. It took less than two minutes to catch the servant and drag him into the alley so that no one would catch sight of them.

    ''You seem to be in quite a hurry there. Something that you need to tell me?'' questioned Theodore.

    The man shook his head, ''T-There is nothing I need to say to y-you. I only answer to the Queen! Let me go or I yell for help,'' he threatened.

    ''Really now, I wonder how you would yell if you don''t have a voice to scream,'' came the low voice of Theodore. His hand was still around the man''s neck, and using his other hand, he pulled his sses and slipped it into his pocket. ''Now tell me why the Queen sent you here.''

    When the man refused, Theodore started to squeeze his neck, and the man iled his hands. He didn''t give the person a chance to speak, and soon the man''s body turned ck.

    Leaving his body in the forest, Theodore made his way to the castle, and he met Calhoun.

    "Did you find anything important from the woman?" questioned Calhoun.

    "An important detail that might be of great use," replied Theodore with a smile, and Calhoun listened to what Theodore had found out from the woman who was in charge of handling the treasury.

    After hearing the information that was ryed, Calhoun said, "I think you found the perfect way to have the King doubt her. But like the woman said, Laurence is still under Morganna''s spell and to fix it, something big needs to be done. Frame her for the King''s possible assasination."

    Theodore raised his eyebrows, impressed with the n, "But how are we going to do that?" he asked.

    Theodore informed, "She wants to lead the magistrate to know about Madame Fraunces'' death and our involvement in it. I might have silenced the matter for one or two days, but Morganna will pin it back at us again."

    "Don''t worry about that. What we are doing is trying to buy some time, and even if the magistrate finds out, we have taken proper precautions in covering our tracks," replied Calhoun. Morganna had gone all out when it came to setting traps for both him and Theodore while they were setting their own traps for her. "Are you sure we can trust Selena''s information?"

    "I will find out to make sure she wasn''t making it up," said Theodore and Calhoun nodded his head.

    Two days passed, and Morganna, who had been waiting for the magistrate toe along with the other guards to the castle to question Calhoun and Theodore, noticed how nothing like that didn''t happen. She narrowed her eyes, sending another servant to tip the magistrate as the previous one had gone missing.

    And finally, the next day, the magistrate arrived at the castle and made an appearance in the royal court room.

    "Greetings to King Laurence and Queen Morganna," the magistrate bowed his head.

    "What brings you here, Maki? Good news I believe?" said the King looking at the magistrate, who lifted his head after deeply bowing and standing straight.

    "My apologies beforehand but there has been a murder of a woman in the town and the person whost visited her was Advisor Calhoun''s bodyguard," informed the magistrate named Maki. "Theodore used to live there and there are people who believe they saw them together, while also informing that he had threatened the woman because he wanted the house in his name."

    Theodore stood there along with Calhoun, listening to the lies that were being spouted now.

    When King Laurence looked at Theodore with a look of suspicion, Calhoun spoke to the magistrate, "Can you tell who said that he was there at the person''s house? Because if I am not wrong, Theodore has been with me all the time."

    "Are you sure about it, Calhoun?" questioned Morganna, who looked at them from her seat. "What makes you so sure that he has nothing to do with it?"

    Theodore bowed his head, "My King, I would never do something so uncouth. The woman they speak of, she was like my mother."

    But King Laurence had no regard for a lowly servant like Theodore. "Take him to the town''s dungeon and you can interrogate him there."

    Calhoun frowned, "Without an investigation?" He had hoped the King would change his ways, but Laurence''s eyes and ears were blinded by power.

    "It is necessary that you stay safe, Calhoun. He might be innocent, or maybe not. But if he isn''t, I wouldn''t want him to harm you," stated King Laurence.

    Morganna chimed in to say, "The King is right. I wouldn''t want anything happening to my dear grandson," and she smiled.

    The magistrate ordered his guards to get hold of Theodore.

 Chapter 663 Pivoting of control- Part 3

    <h4>663 Pivoting of control- Part 3</h4>

    Theodore''s hands were being tied in chains, and it was when his eyes met Calhoun''s, both the men shared a faint smile before he was dragged away by the guards from there.

    The royal court room filled itself with murmur and chatter when Calhoun''s bodyguard was taken away from the room. With the discussion that was going on before the magistrate had interrupted, Calhoun waited for it to get over.

    "What a pity to find out that your man is not only a jewel thief but also kills people," said Morganna when the King left the room with others. Calhoun turned around to see Morganna, who had a smug smile on her lips. "Laurence has already been filled up with the possible murderer that has taken ce in the castle and I must say, your guard did quite a sloppy job by killing my servants and my informer."

    With the people who had dispersed from the room, Morganna had taken the opportunity to taunt Calhoun.

    "The investigation still needs to be done before he is convicted to be the murderer," replied Calhoun, and he heard Morgannaugh.

    "So naive, you think they haven''t been investigating until now? They got all the proof they needed and people have testified to Theodore''s involvement. You should have bade your guard goodbye, you might not see him again," there was a satisfied smile on Morganna''s lips.

    Calhoun''s expression didn''t change, and he said, "I wonder if it is me or if it is you, who is naive. Do you think I am like you to allow the person to be killed, who has been standing next to me?" his lips tugged on both the side to show his fangs.

    Morganna stared at Calhoun. This young boy could bber things, but he couldn''t fool her with his boastful words.

    "Laurnece is not going to be one bit happy if he finds out that you are trying to break thews that he set. He is my son and at the end of the day, he will listen to me and not you," Morganna looked up and down at Calhoun.

    Calhoun nodded his head, "You are right. It is why you should remember even though he is your son, he loves the throne. More than you and I am the only option he has," he whispered before taking his leave from the room.

    Morganna gritted her teeth in anger before making her way out of there.

    When Calhoun left the castle, he didn''t meet the magistrate or see where they kept Theodore. He was quick to reach a building where the new organization had been formed.

    Having taken notes of who did what and where Calhoun pushed the doors open, he made his way towards the room. The guards who stood on either side bowed their head.

    "Is she in there?" questioned Calhoun.

    Helena sat behind a desk with a stack of parchments to her right. Her shrewd eyes looked up to see Calhoun entering the room.

    "You arete," said Helena. "The spot I offered you has been filled by one of the men who had attended the soiree."

    "I didn''te here for it," replied Calhoun. "There''s a case I would like to put forward to be considered by you, where you can start your work."

    Helena didn''t move from her chair and instead stared at Calhoun, "Can you see these piles of parchments? These are the records that belonged to one single town that has been borrowed from the magistrate."

    "As busy as your schedule is, a man has been wrongly put behind the town''s prison and is going to be executed. I thought this was what the High House did, saving innocent lives," Calhoun raised his eyebrows. "He is a friend of mine. The magistrate jumped into conclusion without proper evidence that it was my friend who killed the woman named Madame Fraunces. You can have your men investigate the case and in the meantime let the man free on my guarantee. I will keep an eye on him."

    More than a couple of minutes passed, and Helena sighed before putting her quill down. She stood up from her chair.

    "Seems like you will be my first case. Dimitri!" Helena called someone, and a man appeared at the door. "Get your coat. We are going out. Have others deal with these and finish it by the end of the day," she ordered.

    The man bowed his head before disappearing from there. Both Calhoun and Helena stepped out of the building, and soon Dimitri joined them in the carriage. When the carriage left the front of the building, one of the members of the High House organization hade to speak to Helena, to only be informed that she had gone out.

    He stepped out of the building as it didn''t seem like right now he was needed here. After the soiree, Michael had stuck around Helena as it seemed like there were people who wanted to bring harm to her in the soiree.

    While he was going to disappear from there, his eyes fell on a couple of long ck feathers on the ground. When he went to pick it up, he sensed something dark and evil that sent a jolt like shock up his arm.

    Michael frowned, and he stood up. Why did it seem like the Devil was here?

    The carriage in which Calhoun, Helena, and Dimitri were travelling finally stopped when they reached the town and in front of the magistrate''s office.

    When the magistrate''s office doors were pushed open in force, the magistrate saw Calhoun walk in there along with a man who was older than him, and he saw a familiar face, the woman who was the talk of everynd.

    "Advisor Calhoun, Lady Helena," the magistrate greeted them. "Would you like some tea-"

    "On what basis have you put Theodore behind the bars, Mr. Maki?" Helena didn''t bother to greet and instead directly asked the question.

    The magistrate chuckled at the woman''s words, "I cannot do that."

    Helena didn''t bother to smile and instead stared at the magistrate, "If you have forgotten, Mr. Maki, the magistrates and other peoplee under the control of the High House now. I will personally be taking care of the case and I demand you release the man."

    "But he is the murderer, Lady Helena. He has more than one charge on him. The Queen-" he cleared his throat. "There have been many deaths in the castle."

    "Did you find the bodies?" questioned Calhoun.

    "No, but-"

    "Get the bodies and we can then speak. Until then, you shall not touch my man," stated Calhoun.

    The magistrate looked troubled, and he said, "Lady Helena, you see, the man has been sent for execution for his deeds." He didn''t even know why he had to listen to a woman who had no background.

    "Aren''t you in a hurry to silence him," Helena narrowed her eyes, "Stop the execution. Unless you prefer to be the next person to be executed for your half-assed work and for punishing an innocent person."

 Chapter 664 Hangman- Part 1

    <h4>664 Hangman- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Helena was not like the other women who looked delicate and docile. She had no interest to y coy Her re was enough to have the magistrate gulp down in nervousness.

    The vampiress ordered, "Get your carriage to the ce where the execution is going to take ce. I will make sure to see why a person has been taken to the execution when he was med only yesterday."

    "But what if he''s already been executed?" asked the magistrate, his eyebrows furrowed in question. ording to Queen Morganna''s orders, they were told to put the man under immediate execution.

    "Do you love your life?" asked Calhoun, taking a step forward. It seemed like Morganna had taken precautions to eliminate Theodore from this world.

    "Y-you cannot threaten me, Advisor Calhoun. You might be the King''s son, but we received our orders from the Queen," informed the magistrate without backing down.

    Calhoun''s eyes twinkled, "So the order came from the Queen Morganna. I am sure the High House would be more than willing to investigate the matter."

    "Magistrate Maki," addressed Helena, "Unless you want to go against the will of every othernd''s King and Queen and don''t want to be med for the disruption in Devon, I would ask you to lead us to where Theodore is being held to be executed."

    Magistrate Maki bowed his head, scurrying away from the table, and they followed him out of the building.

    Away from the town, Theodore was held in an isted dungeon in the forest. His hands were tied in ropes, and his legs were connected by shackles that connected both his ankles. The guards who had brought him here hadn''t bothered to give him food, but they had not missed the opportunity to beat him up on the Queen''s orders.

    One of the guards arrived in front of his cell, making a sound using the rod that hit every single rusted iron bar. The guard unlocked the gate and then pulled up Theodore, dragging him out of ce before being brought outside where the gallows stood.

    Theodore didn''t resist one bit and instead kept quiet while the guard continued to drag him towards the gallows.

    "What are you doing bringing him here now?!" shouted a buff man, who was the hangman, who wore a ck cloth-like mask that covered the upper part of his face. "There''s already another prisoner whose time is due to be executed."

    "This one is from the Queen''s direct orders," spat the guard, who continued to pull Theodore until they finally came to stand next to the gallows. The guard then looked at Theodore before asking, "What did you do that''s got the Queen in a hurry to kill you?"

    Theodore''s face that was smeared in dirt and blood, looked up to meet the guard''s eyes. He shrugged his shoulders, and the guard didn''t bother to question more as to him Theodore was only more prisoner here to be executed.

    "NO! Don''t kill me! I want to live!" screamed a lean man who was being dragged forcefully towards the gallows by the guards.

    Theodore''szy eyes moved to his side, noticing the man and the two guards who walked past him. By the man''s appearance, it seemed like the person had stayed here for quite some time, and the guards took him up to the gallows before forcibly putting the noose around his neck while the man kicked and shouted for help.

    "Don''t kill me!!! NO!" the man continued to scream. With his hands bound, there was no way for him to escape or pull out the noose that was now around his neck.

    The hangman went to stand next to the long bar like a lever, and he pushed it to one side so that the floor on which the man was standing opened itself. The person struggled until his body turned still, hanging by the rope.

    "Bring the next one in!" ordered another guard, and soon Theodore was forced to walk up the wooden stairs and to take the position next to the person''s body, who continued to hang.

    Theodore looked at the trees that stood in front of him. He wondered if Calhoun would be able to make it on time to stop the execution. He wasn''t scared of death as he hade to face death many times in the past. He wondered if today was the day where the edge that he enjoyed would be met to the point where there would be no return.

    The noose was soon adjusted around his neck to make sure it wasn''t loose but tight enough.

    He caught sight of one of the guards who came to stand right in front of him with a gun in the hand that would be used to shoot him as a vampire wouldn''t die by merely hanging by the rope.

    Before he knew it, the guard who stood on the scaffold pulled the other lever, and soon Theodore''s body was let to suspend on the gallows through a rope. His body started to move back and forth as if he was struggling because of his air passage being blocked.

    He caught sight of the man who stood in front of him, raising his hand to point the pistol at him, trying to aim at his heart or his head.

    But before the guard could pull the gun''s trigger to shoot at Theodore, another sound of the gunshot was heard, and the head guard dropped the gun down.

    Calhoun was the one who had pulled the trigger from his own gun to stop the guard from shooting Theodore.

    "What the fuck do you think you are doing?!" demanded the head guard in anger, not knowing who had entered the scene. "Guards! Get them to the prison-Magistrate Maki?" he looked behind the three people at the magistrate who was huffing and making his way there.

    As magistrate Maki was a human, he didn''t have the energy and speed to reach the ce this quickly like the other three people. He stopped walking and bent down to ce both his hands on his knees as he huffed. He then raised his hand.

 Chapter 665 Hangman- Part 2

    <h4>665 Hangman- Part 2</h4>

    In the meantime, Calhoun took another shot by breaking the rope that Theodore had been hanging on to have him fall on the ground. He walked to the gallows.

    "Let...let...him��" magistrate Maki breathed the words in great difficulty.

    The guard looked slightly confused, and he looked back to find the man who shot held the prisoner to stand up. "Keep him right there. He''s a prisoner and you dare interrupt up the execution. Keep him right there!" ordered the guard by pointing the gun at Calhoun.

    But then another end of the gun came to point the back of the guard''s head.

    It was Helena who had pulled her own gun, "Drop it now or I will blow your head," she said in a calm voice. The guard''s eyes widened in fear of what exactly was going on in here.

    "Magistrate Maki, what''s the meaning of this?" questioned the person, who was actually the head guard of this ce.

    The magistrate had finally stood straight and rmed at the scenario in front of him. He said, "Lady Helena, please put your gun down. Mario too! The man cannot be executed." Looking at the other guards, he ordered, "Get the keys to the binds around the man."

    "The order has been sent out clearly that we are to execute the man today. The Queen''s words must be valued," informed the head guard.

    Magistrate Maki pursed his lips and then said, "The High House members want to run the investigation one more time before putting the man under the noose."

    Helena dropped her gun when the guard dropped his own gun and put it back in his belt.

    "I would like to discuss something with you, magistrate Maki. If you don''t mind," said Helena, waving her hand to the side, and the man nodded his head.

    While Helena spoke to the man in the presence of another fellow High House member, Dimitri, Calhoun waited for Theodore to be released from the chains. The man looked beat, but his eyes were bright as the first time he had met him for the first time. There was blood and obvious wounds on him.

    "Are you alright?" asked Calhoun, and Theodore, for a moment, didn''t answer.

    Theodore said, "I think I broke my sses."

    Calhoun didn''t show it outwardly, but he was d that no serious damage had been done on Theodore. "I will get you a new one," and one corner of his lips pulled up.

    After Helena finished speaking to the magistrate, she saw Calhoun and Theodore make their way to where she stood.

    "Thank you foring to my aid," thanked Calhoun, offering the woman a bow.

    Theodore bowed at Helena, "I would be grateful if you were to catch hold of the person who killed her," came his polite words.

    "Magistrate Maki," said Helena, turning her head to look at the human. "I hope you remember what we just discussed. Every case of death from now shall be reported to the High House. And discrepancies in it...you will be held ountable to it."

    The magistrate felt like he was stuck between a rock and a wall, especially with the two women, the Queen and this High Housedy.

    The magistrate made use of the same carriage that he hade in, giving a ride to the rest of the people before he dropped Calhoun and Theodore at the castle.

    "It seems like our n worked magnificently,"mented Theodore, his lips quirked up.

    "Hm," responded Calhoun while he looked at the walls and pirs of the castle. "With the High House''s involvement, there''s very little Queen Morganna will be able to do."

    If Morganna thought she was smart, Calhoun was her grandson, and he was ten steps ahead of her. And in those ten steps, he had already nned how Queen Morganna would trip over her own dress and fall into the death trap that was waiting for her.

    He knew Morganna wouldn''t stop attacking Theodore or him until they were far away from the castle. But Calhoun didn''te here to sightsee and be a guest in the castle for a few days. He would im the throne for himself. With the High House in the picture, the Queen would have to watch her steps, not that she had time to do it.

    As they entered the castle and started to walk in the corridor, they came to see Queen Morganna, who stood with the ministers crowded around her. On hearing the footstepsing from the other side of the corridor, her gaze moved before it narrowed.

    "What do you think you are doing with the murderer here?" demanded Morganna while trying to keep her cool.

    "Me?" asked Calhoun in an oblivious tone. He then looked at Theodore before raising his eyebrows, "Oh you mean Theodore? The magistrate said he would investigate the scene closer as he wasn''t satisfied with hisst work."

    Morganna looked at the ministers with a dismissive look, and the people left the corridor so that she could talk to him. "How dare you try to stop a Queen''s order? Do you think Laurence won''t hear about it?"

    "Please do, grandmother. I am too tired and would like to rest in my room. I am sure you will be kind enough to deliver this news to him," Calhoun offered her a broad smile, showing his fangs and his eyes twinkling.

    Morganna red at Calhoun and at his audacity.

    She didn''t wait there and instead went to speak to the King.

    "What do you think is going to happen?" asked Theodore, watching the woman disappear behind one of the walls.

    "The time of her death has started to tick," replied Calhoun.

 Chapter 666 Hangman- Part 3

    <h4>666 Hangman- Part 3</h4>

    .

    When news reached Lucy''s ears about Theodore being thrown into one of the dungeons, she had tried to look for Calhoun to ask what happened. Even though he had broken her heart, she still loved and cared for him.

    "Do you know which town''s dungeon he has been ced in?" asked Lucy in a nonchnt tone to one of the maids who wasbing her hair.

    "I heard it was the town near Neulle. But it can be the nearby dungeons too, mdy. I cannot believe he could kill someone. He even killed people in the castle, how shocking is that," whispered maid.

    The more Lucy thought about it, the more sense it made. Amice...she didn''t run away from the castle, but she was killed by Theodore. But why? Did something transpire in her absence that she wasn''t aware of?

    "That will be enough, I will do the rest," said Lucy, taking theb from the maid to brush her hair.

    Hearing amotion that was taking ce in the castle, Lucy wondered what it was, and the maid was the first one to go and take a look before she came back inside.

    "Oh, mdy! It is the murderer!" informed the maid.

    Lucy felt her heart skip a beat, and she ordered, "Tie my hair."

    Once her hair had been braided from behind, she quickly made her way to look where Theodore was. She walked in her bare feet. When she saw him, she waited until there was no one to catch sight of her or him. She followed him, watching him from afar. He looked worn out. When she took a second to look away from him, Theodore had disappeared from the front, and Lucy frowned.

    Stepping away from the shadows that the evening sky had created, she wondered where he went when suddenly someone spoke behind her.

    "What are you doing?" came Theodore''s question, and Lucy was quick to turn around, and she took two steps away from him.

    "You startled me,"ined Lucy, feeling her heart skip a couple of beats as she looked at him. He was standing right in front of her. How did hee to stand behind her? "I was walking in the corridor, am I not supposed to do that?" she demanded, her tone defensive.

    It felt like years had passed since they hadst spoken to each other. The strings of her heart pulled towards him. His eyes stared back at her, his face cleaner than how the maids had described. The windows were casting a shadow on the walls and the floors of the castle, and the corridor that they were in, was a quieter one.

    "I never said you shouldn''t walk, mdy," he offered a bow to her before raising his head.

    Theodore knew someone was following him for some time now, and he had decided to walk in the deserted corridors where no one woulde to stumble in the evening. He was surprised to find it was Lucy.

    He could sense the pain in her eyes, and he said, "I hope you enjoy your stroll. I shall take my leave."

    Theodore, who was about to start walking, turned his head to the side, "You should concentrate on Mr. Greville and not who I speak to."

    Lucy gritted her teeth at the hostility she received from Theodore. "You shouldn''t worry how much concentration I put on Mr. Greville."

    Theodore''s lips curled before it went back to set itself in a thin line. He enjoyed the spark in Lucy''s words, and right now, it was filled with fire that could burn him too.

    "You are brother Calhoun''s guard. Don''t waste your time on unimportant things when there are things to do," stated Lucy, not happy by finding out somehow that he had spent his time with that woman yesterday.

    Theodore gave her a nod, "Of course, mdy. Is there anything else you would like to ask from me?"

    Lucy could sense the way he was putting space between them and reminding her who they were and the gap between them. Her eyes then fell on his neck to catch sight of a red line that she had missed earlier. From what she had heard, Theodore had visited the dungeon for the murder, and she gulped.

    "I do," said Lucy. "Did you have anything to do with Amice''s disappearance?"

    Her eyes didn''t leave his even for a moment, and she wondered what torture he had been put through in the dungeon. Theodore didn''t seem like he wanted to answer her question right away, and it only weighed her mind with the questions of why, wondering if she were to ask, she would receive the answer to it.

    "Why do you ask that, Lady Lucy?" asked Theodore, his expression calm and unwavering.

    "Isn''t that why you were taken away by the guards today? Because they imed you to be the murderer," said Lucy, wanting an actual answer than being stalled by him.

    "It was told that I killed the woman named Madame Fraunces, and the servants of this castle. Do you think I killed them?" questioned Theodore and Lucy didn''t know. She didn''t know what to think and what to not. If Theodore was back in the castle, it meant he was still innocent.

    "Forget it," whispered Lucy. Questions like these were pointless, and Theodore would only question her back.

    Lucy was ready to leave when she heard him ask her, "Did you get your wedding gown prepared?"

    Her hand clenched together, and her head snapped around. "Not yet. But I am sure it will be a beautiful one."

    "I am sure it will be," he was standing next to the window and looking outside, he said, "It seems like your future husband is here for you."

    Lucy looked mad at him, gritting her teeth. She turned on her heel and left. The smile on Theodore''s lips fell, and he ced one hand on the window sill before clutching on it.

    He watched Lucy meet Samuel outside. "Somethings are hard to let go," he murmured to himself.

 Chapter 667 Poisoning minds- Part 1

    <h4>667 Poisoning minds- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Before Theodore was found by Madame Fraunces in the muddy wet street caused by the heavy rain poured from the previous night, he was a nobody. Someone who had no parents, no rtives, no people who were ready to take care of him or wanted to be acquainted with him. And there was no reason for any person to be acquainted with a young boy who wore torn shoes, shabby clothes that had holes in them and a face that had bruises that looked like it was beaten up.

    He was used to staying alone without anypany, and the only person he had got used to was the woman who had taken him in and sheltered him.

    Though Theodore had learned the art to seduce women or girls for his own benefit, he had nevere to love anyone. The vampire had been detached with no feelings and a constant hollowness in his heart that he continued to carry along with him.

    Meeting Calhoun had given him a purpose to something he believed would bring in great change in the world. Though people hadbelled Calhoun to be the whore''s son, Theodore knew there was something more to the surface, and he had seen it himself when the bat-like wings had received feathers all around it.

    And aftering to the castle, he met her.

    She was everything he wasn''t. She was the light like the bright sun that could shine despite the heavy clouds that often came to hover in her life. He was the dark sky, but unlike them, even night and day tried to meet each other during dawn or dusk.

    Lucy Hawthrone was beautiful and dainty, her expressions polite, and her words could never hurt anyone as they were always thoughtful. Unknowingly, his gaze hade to follow her, and his feelings towards her had only turned profound.

    Though Theodore stood in the same ce as before, he could see and hear what Lucy and Samuel were speaking.

    "I thought you wouldn''t being today," said Lucy to Samuel while they stood in the middle of the garden.

    "I was caught up with work. I was supposed to meet a person today but the person took quite some time to reach the ce so that we could discuss our ongoing work. It''s good that he did turn up before it was not toote, else I would have not been able to meet you today," replied Samuel, staring at Lucy as if she was the most beautiful thing in the garden. "How was your day, Lady Lucy?"

    How was her day? The man she was in love with was pushing her away from him, worse rubbing salts over her wound. Others had dered the same man as a murderer, and somewhere Lucy was shaken by the thought of it.

    Lucy smiled at him, "It was fine. How was your day? You must be tired after working for such long hours and making time toe and meet me."

    She felt sad thinking she was going to get married, but at the same time, she remembered the way Theodore was behaving with her like he had nothing to do with her. It was as if he had decided to cut off every single tie with her, along with erasing the memories they shared. Samuel Greville seemed to be a good man who had not hurt her, and he was an understanding man.

    She heard Samuelugh, and he said, "I am sorry for getting ahead of myself. I guess, it is a dreame true that I am here standing next to you and talking with you now."

    Lucy was talking to Samuel, but when she looked a little far behind him, she noticed the person who stood near one of the castle''s windows. Even after everything that had happened, she felt her heart skip a beat.

    Samuel caught hold of her hands, taking it in his. He said, "I am very much in love with you, Lady Lucy. Since the first time I saw you, you have taken my breath away. I am grateful to be in your presence, and if you allow me, I want to spend my life with you and will never hurt you. I will love and cherish you just as you deserve."

    Lucy was taken aback by the sudden confession given by Samuel. While the man continued to speak, her eyes had shifted slightly to look at the calm expression that Theodore carried on his face.

    Even though Theodore stood far away from where she was, she knew he could hear every word they were speaking. He hadn''t moved away from the ce where she had left him beforeing to meet Samuel, and now that she had noticed him, she wished for a change of expression on his face.

    Lucy didn''t love Samuel, but Theodore. And she knew in some corner of his heart, Theodore felt the same way as she did, but with every passing day, her feelings of hurt only increased.

    With the words that transpired between Theodore and her, out of anger, Lucy smiled at Samuel.

    "You''re a kind man, Samuel. I am sure in time I will be able to return your feelings," and her words brought an instant smile on Samuel''s lips.

    "I cannot wait for that day, Lady Lucy," responded Samuel. But he didn''t stop there.

    Samuel took a step forward towards Lucy, and he brought his hand to hold her chin. He didn''t wait but bent down to ce his lips on hers. Lucy''s eyes widened, and at the same time, when she was being kissed, she noticed Theodore''s features looked unruffled. The little feelings that she had been holding on to shattered further in the realization of his uninterest.

    When Samuel pulled away, he patted Lucy''s head with a gentleman-like smile.

    Days continued to pass by, and the day of the wedding for the princess and the Duke''s son finally arrived.

 Chapter 668 Poisoning minds- Part 2

    <h4>668 Poisoning minds- Part 2</h4>

    Away from the castle, in the forest which had grown behind the castle abundantly, Theodore sat near the rocks. He had stayed in the castle to help Calhoun, but he didn''t stay there to watch the wedding ceremony proceedings.

    Theodore heard the footsteps behind him.

    "I thought I would find you here," said Calhoun, walking to where Theodore sat on one of therge rocks. "Morganna was looking for you, wondering if you went off to kill another maid of hers."

    When Calhoun came to stand next to Theodore, he noticed the empty bottle next to Theodore''s leg.

    Theodore had purposely skipped attending the wedding as he didn''t want to see Lucy getting married, even though he had pushed her to get married to Samuel. There was a prick and an ufortableness that he felt in his chest when he saw her with that man.

    "Did she leave the castle?" asked Theodore, his words blunt without hiding his emotions.

    "She will in the next twenty minutes," replied Calhoun. "I thought you would like to see her off."

    Both the men stared at each other before Theodore sighed. "I think it would be best to not do that��"

    Listening to Theodore''s decision, Calhoun went to walk around, and he came to sit next to Theodore. "You could have asked her to not agree to the marriage if you didn''t want her to go."

    Theodore didn''t respond to it, and he stared at the trees that were ahead of him. "Did you hear anything from Helena?" questioned Theodore. With Lucy away from the castle, she wouldn''t end up on the kill list, and now he could concentrate on the rest of the Hawthrone family. He wanted her alive and to live her life without being under her grandmother or mother''s control.

    It had been quite some days since they had heard anything from the High House members.

    "Morganna has created many other cases to divert their attention from you and her," said Calhoun. "I heard from Dimitri that the King of Warring has asked Helena to meet him. It might be why it''s taking longer than expected. I will need you to do something tomorrow, Theo."

    "What is it?" asked Theodore, turning his face to meet Calhoun''s eyes.

    "Speak to the Queen and tell her that I know about her shifting the money to her own vault from the treasury." Hearing this, Theodore frowned, wondering if it was a good idea.

    "Why not expose her deeds to the King of how she''s stealing the wealth that belongs to him and Devon?" asked Theodore with a small frown.

    When the next day arrived, Theodore did just as Calhoun had asked him to do, and the Queen, after hearing it, turned outrageously furious.

    "Get Calhoun to my room," Morganna red at Theodore. "Right now," came her low, threatening voice.

    Theodore bowed his head and went to fetch Calhoun.

    Morganna paced back and forth in anger, while a slight hint of nervousness filled her chest, thinking the woman who was responsible for handling the treasury had given out this detail. She would have the woman executed! At the same time, she thought, if this news hadn''t reached Laurence yet, it meant Calhoun wanted something from her, and she wanted to hear it.

    The room''s door was knocked, and in came to Calhoun while Theodore stood outside the room, waiting for him.

    "Grandmother you wanted to see me?" inquired Calhoun in a sweet voice that irked Morganna.

    "Take a seat, Calhoun," ordered Morganna, and she saw the boy make his way across the room to sit in the plush chair which she always sat in. "I underestimated you. I should have known better that people from the streets are often smarter than what they show."

    Calhoun offered her a kind smile, "I am ttered by your praise, grandma. If I didn''t know better, I would tell I am your favourite grandchild. Aren''t I?"

    Morganna stared at Calhoun, making her way to the chair next to him, and she asked, "Tea?"

    Calhoun bent forward, reaching for the pot. He said, "Allow me to do it."

    "Hmph, it''s good to know that you at least have some basic manners to not allow the Queen to make tea for you,"mented Morganna.

    "Don''t misunderstand my words, grandmother. I prefer to make the tea myself because who knows if you try to poison me," he gave her his charming smile.

    Morganna''s re only increased, but she tried to calm herself, "I heard that you know about the treasury and my involvement in it. What is it that you want? I believe there''s some motive behind your actions of not informing the King."

    "Motive?" Calhoun chuckled, "Why would I have a motive, grandmother. I love you to pieces," he stressed the word on pieces as he poured the tea in two cups. "I thought it was better to let you know that it would be quite shameful if people came to find out that their beloved Queen is stealing their hard earned money."

    Morganna''s eyes narrowed, "Don''t look triumphant just because you have the useless High House who haven''t been able to solve one case in days."

    Calhoun nodded his head, "I will have to me it on you, considering you don''t let them inside the castle so that they can investigate. How many cubes of sugar would you like me to add?"

    "None," answered Morganna and Calhoun''s smile broadened. "What?" she asked, annoyed.

    "Don''t mind me," said Calhoun before adding two cubes of sugar. "With the amount of bitterness that you are made of, one or two cubes of sugar might help in sweetening you up."

 Chapter 669 Poisoning minds- Part 3

    <h4>669 Poisoning minds- Part 3</h4>

    "How does it feel, grandmother? To be drinking tea that is made by your dearest grandson?"

    Morganna had called Calhoun to interrogate him, but instead, the boy continued to get on her nerves. Pursing her lips, she said,

    "This is never going to end, you know that, right? This cat and mouse game where we both are trying to make the other fall."

    Calhoun took another sip from his cup until the teacup was empty, and he ced it back on the table with a clink. "You are right, but then you are wrong at the same time. To think we are equal, when you clearly know who has the upperhand," the corner of his lips pulled up.

    "My son is blinded with the need to hold on to the throne like a child, and I don''t care who holds the throne-"

    "Until the power and control stays in your hands, you don''t care no matter what thoughtless persones to take the ce of the King," Calhounpleted her words.

    "You do know if I wish, I can have you dead in less than an hour," came the low warning from Morganna.

    "Yet, we are sitting in this room and having tea," replied Calhoun. "I know you have been trying to instigate the King against me, but the question is until when? Do you really think you will win this fight that is going on between us?"

    Morgannaughed at Calhoun''s words. "A childish fight, that you think you are wiser than a person who is older and far more experienced than you."

    Calhoun tilted his head, "What if I said I slipped something in the teacup. Do you think you will escape from death?"

    Morganna clicked her tongue, "You think you will stay in this castle unscathed when everyone knows you are here with me, having tea. What a short lived victory that would be. Killing the Queen is one of the highest forms of treason and even Laurence will not believe a word thates from your mouth."

    He nodded his head, the smile not leaving his lips, "I don''t think you have been carefully listening to what I have been speaking, grandmother." Morganna''s eyes narrowed as she stared at Calhoun and saw him cough. He brought his hand to his mouth, and when he coughed, he spat blood. "Who spoke about poisoning you?"

    The Queen had been looking at Calhoun''s hands and the teacup that he had offered her closely so that he wouldn''t slip in something that would be harmful for a vampire-like her, but she wouldn''t have thought he would inflict harm upon own self. This bastard!

    "Maybe it is better if you die here," whispered Morganna, but Calhoun had no ns to stay quiet.

    "Help me!"

    Morganna turned rmed, and before the suspicion would fall on her, she shouted, "Guards!"

    Calhoun continued to cough more blood as the floor around him started to stter with his blood, and he fell unconscious. He was immediately taken to his room, and a physician was called upon to check on what happened to him. King Laurence, who was in the court hearing about Calhoun, left the discussion in the court midway and went straight to see what happened to his heir.

    "What happened to him?!" demanded King Laurence from the few people, who had gathered themselves in and outside the room.

    "King Laurence," the physician bowed his head, "It seems like someone tried to poison the prince."

    "Poison?! Who dares to poison my son!" King''s Laurence''s question thundered in the room in anger. As Theodore was the one who was usually around Calhoun, King Laurence''s eyes snapped at him. "What happened to Calhoun?"

    Theodore bowed his head, "My King, I am not sure what exactly happened. Master Calhoun was with Queen Morganna when this happened."

    Everyone''s eyes fell on Morganna, and the King''s eyes narrowed. Morganna knew that if she said Calhoun had poisoned himself, it would only make things look bad for her. She shook her head in disappointment.

    "I wish I knew who did this to my dear grandson, but I don''t know. One moment we were having tea and the next moment, he started to cough blood," exined Morganna. She added, "Someone must have tried to poison him when he had his breakfast or lunch."

    Theodore chimed in to say, "Forgive me for interrupting, but Master Calhoun didn''t eat anything during breakfast or for lunch. He seemed to be busy working on the files today before he was called."

    "Called?" King Laurence raised his eyebrow in question.

    "...to have tea with the Queen," Theodore had his head bent down, and Morganna''s temper only rose.

    "Are you trying to insinuate that I was the one who tried to poison him?!" demanded Morganna.

    King Laurence looked conflicted with the news, and he turned to the physician, "How long will it take for him to recover?"

    "He might need at least a day''s rest, my King, and a lot of blood topensate for the loss of blood from his body," informed the physician. Before the man could leave, he said, "If the King can allow me to have some words with him in private."

    King Laurence dismissed everyone from the room, including the servants, his mother and the guards. "What is it?"

    "I wanted to let you know that the poison he consumed today was something that affects the body quickly, within a matter of a few minutes," informed the physician in a hush whisper, and King Laurence''s eyes considerably narrowed. King Laurence stepped out of the room with a grave expression on his face, and he then looked at his mother.

 Chapter 670 Wooden planks- Part 1

    <h4>670 Wooden nks- Part 1</h4>

    .

    King Laurence was not least bit happy with what the physician said to him, and he stared at his mother, Queen Morganna, who looked back at him. It would be difficult to find the truth, and jumping to the conclusion was not good here.

    Looking at the physician, he said, "The guards will show you to your room. You shall stay here until I am sure that my son is no more danger and in good health."

    The physician bowed his head, "Yes, my King. I will do my best that nothing happens to him."

    King Laurence then looked at his mother once again, "I would like to have a word with you," and he walked away from there while Queen Morganna followed him.

    Morganna and Laurence moved to another side of the castle where no one were present before the King questioned her, "What do you think you are doing, mother?"

    "Like I said before, I don''t know what happened. One minute we were sitting and talking to each other, the next minute he looked as if he was choking with blood," exined Morganna. "Do you really think it is me who poisoned him?"

    King Laurence pursed his lips. He didn''t like the fact that someone was trying to threaten his rule by trying to kill Calhoun. If something were to happen to his son, he would lose his hold on the throne, and he would be pushed to give up his throne to his nephew, which he wasn''t willing to do at all.

    "I don''t know, why don''t you tell me what happened. Considering how you were thest person who was with him before he was poisoned," used Laurence.

    "This is ridiculous," stated Morganna, looking away from Laurence, who had gone astray from her since Calhoun had arrived at the castle. "If I wanted to kill him, I would have tried to do it when he was out of the castle or in another way. You should know better that I don''t attack people in such a sloppy way."

    "Who knows," Laurence spoke in a low tone. He was still angry at his mother because, without a second thought, she had decided to offer his throne to another person when he was still alive. "Maybe you knew I would not suspect you for the sloppiness in the way Calhoun was poisoned."

    Morganna rolled her eyes, her aged face turning back to look at her son, who failed to see sense, "Do you hear yourself talking about it? Why would I ever do something like that? You are my son, Laurence, you or anyone in the ce, I would still have the same position. Someone is trying to cause a rift between us two."

    The Queen was clever to figure out if she tried to me Calhoun, it would only make her appear to be suspicious, and her son would only suspect her of being guilty. After all, no person in their sane mind tried to poison themselves, but she should have known...Calhoun was no sane person.

    Morganna shook her head, "I don''t know�� We should have the servants interrogated to make sure that there won''t be another repetition like this."

    Laurence was still not convinced that his mother had nothing to do with Calhoun''s poisoning, and he said, "Let me warn you right here, mother. If you have a hand in this and something like this happens to Calhoun again, I won''t take it lightly. Forget about the servants, you will be the first one to go through the trial," and saying this, he walked away from the corridor, leaving his mother alone.

    When the next day arrived, the King was already there in Calhoun''s room, waiting for his son to wake up. It took another hour before Calhoun finally regained his consciousness.

    "Get him food and blood!" ordered King Laurence, and the servants were quick to move near the table while one servant left the room to get fresh blood from the kitchen.

    Calhoun sat up on his bed while being helped by Theodore, who ced pillows behind his back. He looked slightly confused by seeing the people who were in the room, and he asked, "What''s going on?"

    King Laurence frowned before taking a seat next to Calhoun, "You don''t remember what happened?"

    "Thest thing I remember was having tea with grandmother and then there was this sudden pain in my chest after drinking the tea. I remember blood surrounding me," replied Calhoun, his eyebrows knitting together in concentration. "I was poisoned��"

    The physician who stood in the room said, "It seems like someone did poison you, prince Calhoun. It is a poison that affects the vampire and makes a person lose blood from the body by coughing. It is good that we treated you with an antidote right away."

    "Did you consume anything before you went to meet the Queen?" questioned Laurence, his eyes holding a re.

    Calhoun gave it some thought, and he then shook his head, "Nothing. Something must have been mixed with the tea," and a sigh escaped his lips. "I thought things were getting better between us when grandmother invited me to have tea with her."

    Hearing this, King Laurence''s face turned hard, and his hands clenched into fists. His mother was ying an underhanded game.

    The physician examined Calhoun and took a sample of his blood which was put in a ss vial, "I will run some tests in myboratory and I will know what poison this is."

    Laurence then said to Calhoun, "I will try to find out who tried to poison you. I doubt Queen Morganna would have gone as far as trying to kill you."

    Calhoun nodded his head, a glum expression on his face as he stared at the space in front of his bed. "I don''t think it is grandmother too," he agreed. "We were only making progress and she is trying to be nice to me. I wouldn''t want it sabotaged."

    "Take some more rest, Calhoun. I will see youter in the royal court room," said the King before leaving the room along with the others from there.

 Chapter 671 Wooden planks- Part 2

    <h4>671 Wooden nks- Part 2</h4>

    "Where did you learn to act so well?" asked Theodore, walking towards the chair and taking a seat.

    Calhoun smiled, his smile stretching from one corner of his lips to another, "Must be an innate nature that I acquired from birth." As much as Calhoun had fainted in front of everyone and was put to bed, the truth was he had only acted to have lost consciousness while he heard every word that had left Laurence, Morganna and the others lips.

    "Not to forget, it is also good to have the physician who is ready to lie for us," said Calhoun before taking a seat at the table where the food and blood had been ced for him to eat and drink. "The seed of doubt was ced weeks ago, but the nt has finally sprouted from the ground. Did you hear anything from Morganna?"

    "Apart from consumed in rage, I doubt at the moment there''s anything she has been able to do. The King is displeased with her. He refused to talk to her this morning," informed Theodore, and Calhoun chuckled.

    "I would like to do things quickly, to have her blood on my hands before I inflict pain on my dear father. But then there''s something very satisfying in this slow process. I can sense their turmoil, the feeling of being trapped where one loses the ability of control," said Calhoun as he started to eat.

    Theodore noticed the way Calhoun''s appearance and his demeanour was slowly changing. The smile that didn''t reach his eyes previously now looked emptier in his eyes, and it looked maddening on his lips.

    Away from the castle, Helena had called magistrate Maki to throw light on the recent cases, including the one where Theodore had been put under the charge of murdering a woman named Madame Fraunces.

    "I have told you everything you needed to know, Lady Helena," said magistrate Maki, "What more do you want to know about what happened? We found the woman to have been murdered and some of the witnesses said that they saw Theodore, Advisor Calhoun''s bodyguard to be seen with the deceased woman before her death."

    Helena sat behind her desk, staring at the magistrate for his inefficiency in sharing information about the case with her.

    "Do you think you will feed me with garbage and I will listen to it without any questions or doubts?" she asked him in a stern voice.

    Magistrate Maki let out a frustrated sigh, "What do you mean by I am feeding you garbage-"

    A loud bang was heard in the room that was caused by Helena banging her hand on the table, "Do you think I don''t know how the King''s, Queen''s, the Duke''s and magistrates have been trying to maneuver their way around all the murders they are involved with? Dimitri," she called the man who was in the room.

    "Charge magistrate Maki for breaking edict number fifty four. He will be put under trial," dered Helena, and this had the man who was sitting in front of her look rmed.

    "What?! What do you mean breaking edict? I didn''t do anything and you are going to put me behind the bars?" questioned the magistrate.

    Helena stared at the man''s face before uttering the simple word, "Yes."

    Dimitri had walked forward, writing something in the parchment and said, "This will be handed to the base level in this building. Mr. Maki, you will be dragged behind the bars-"

    "Lady Helena, I don''t think you understand the severity of this case. You might put me behind the bars but that doesn''t mean no ill will happen to you for meddling in something you are not supposed to be snooping your nose in."

    Helena seemed hardly fazed by this, and she leaned back in the chair she was sitting in, "I will give you some advice, Mr. Maki. You can either help us and we can charge you with lesser punishment, or you can rot behind the bars before being dragged to execution. So what is it going to be?"

    The magistrate didn''t know what to pick, and seeing how this brazen woman wanted him in the dungeon, his jaw ticked.

    "We don''t know where the body is, we only found blood in the house. We tried looking for it, but there has been no body nor bones found in the nearby ce of the town," exined magistrate Maki.

    Helena stood up from her chair and picked up her coat that she had let hang on the chair she was sitting in. The magistrate noticed the way the woman was clothed as grandly as the Queen but less shy.

    The magistrate didn''t know where Helena was going, but he tagged along with her and other High House people who received the order to join them for inspection. When they reached the house that looked darker than the other walls of the houses next to it, Helena pushed the gate that creaked softly and walked to the house entrance that belonged to Lady Fraunces.

    Unlocking the door, they stepped inside, and the men started to search for a hidden body.

    "This is where the woman was killed," informed Magistrate Maki, looking at the wooden flooring that had dark red marks etched around.

    Helena took a closer look at the wooden floor, and she finally sat down, "How many days has it been since she was killed or has gone missing?" She questioned the magistrate.

    "A couple of days, probably in weeks now," replied Magistrate Maki. "We were tipped soon enough when they found thedy had not returned to her house."

    "You have the crime scene, but you didn''t find the body. How can you tell it belongs to the woman. The woman might have killed someone and fled from here," theorized Helena.

    The magistrateughed, "That''s not possible, Lady Helena. The witnesses said that they often heard and saw the man misbehaving with the woman. The blood was still fresh when we came here to inspect."

    Helena took some time staring at the blood before she said, "Dimitri, get the blood deprehendant."

    "What is that?"

 Chapter 672 Wooden planks- Part 3

    <h4>672 Wooden nks- Part 3</h4>

    Helena stepped away from the patchy wooden floors, and she exined, "The blood deprehendant is something that identifies if the testingponent is blood or not. Did you think the High House is just a namesake organization, Mr. Maki?" she turned to look at the man.

    "There is no need for such a thing when we clearly know it is blood. You waste your time on unnecessary things, mdy," the magistrate rolled his eyes. This is why women were not fit to handle the cases, thought the man.

    "There is no waste of time if you are trying to give a clear cut justice to someone who is being framed in a hurry. An innocent''s life is lost, while the cunning one''s continue to live," Helena words were firm, "How would you feel if I said you were the one who was behind Madame Fraunces'' murder and you are only trying to cover it up."

    "What bullshit is that?!" magistrate Maki was appalled by the usation.

    Helena scoffed, "When the problem falls on us, we all turn alert and worry, don''t we," she then waved her hand. "If it is truly blood as you say, the colour will turn ck. But if it is anything else apart from blood, the colour will change to blue."

    The magistrate turned his head around to see some of the men who were outside, digging the ground to find if the body was ced there while some were present in this room. He watched Dimitri step forward with the ss bottle before pouring half of the liquid all around the darkened wooden area.

    The colour turned blue, and Helena''s eyes narrowed. "Seems like I was right, Mr. Maki. Do you see the colour? For some strange reason it still continued to hold a reddish colour with it and we all know the color of the blood turns ck after a day, almost ck."

    "This cannot be true," the magistrate had received the information from the men the Queen had sent. There was no way there could be any errors in it. And even if there wasn''t a body, everyone knew what the Queen and the King said was the final word.

    "We can spill some blood and see if it will clear your doubts on it," said the woman, and the magistrate looked at her as if she had lost it. "It seems like he was framed. Thank you for not assisting Magistrate Maki. You can leave us now."

    Once the magistrate left the house, Helena sent her other people back to the High House, and on time, another High House member appeared at the house.

    "Where were you? You have been missing from the building for two hours," said Helena to Michael, who made his way to where she was.

    Dimitri, on the other hand, watched Helena as well as Michael converse with each other. It was only a few days ago since Helena had been acquainted with the man, who hade to join the higher High House. Did Helena miss him, which was why she was staring at him now? Asked Dimitri to himself. Michael was always around her, and it seemed like Helena, who didn''t often trust people seemed to trust Michael.

    Were they perhaps doing it? Helena was a strong figure not just in the High House, but she was turning to be someone who was turning out to be an important person in thends. In thest few weeks, he had heard some of the subordinates mentioning Michael and Helena to be together, but he wasn''t sure how far it was true.

    Helena then said, "We ran a test on the floor and apparently it isn''t blood. It looks like the Queen is trying to frame the poor young man for some reason."

    Dimitri added the information he found, "It must be because he is Calhoun''s bodyguard. The Queen isn''t fond of her grandson as he is an illegitimate son of the King."

    The vampiress nodded her head, "I am aware of it. How is the scheduling meeting with the King been going so far?"

    "Not good, mdy. They oppose the existence of the High House," replied Dimitri.

    While Helena spoke to Dimitri, Michael stared at the wooden floor that had been discoloured. Though there was no blood, he could sense the recent death that had taken ce in this house.

    Death did take ce, but these patches weren''t of blood. It seemed like someone had smartly reced the wooden nks from here before recing them with the same size and type of wood nk before spilling something that looked simr to blood.

    With the way things looked, it seemed like the Queen was desperately trying to frame Calhoun''s guard.

    "Michael?" called Helena, and his gaze moved back to look at the vampiress. "Do you want to take a look around the house?

    "No. I already took a look before," Michael answered her, "I believe you did a good job at it." He wondered if it was the Queen who had reced the wooden nks, but then it didn''t make sense why she would do it and try to frame the guard. It was someone else.

    In the castle, Calhoun finished his lunch in his room while taking reports from Theodore on Morganna and the King. In thought, he yed with one of his fangs with his tongue, feeling its sharpness. It was time for revenge to be served, and he would himself serve it to Morganna.

 Chapter 673 Panic- Part 1

    <h4>673 Panic- Part 1</h4>

    Every step that Morganna took, she didn''t realize she was making way for Calhoun and he was making use of her for his own benefit.

    The day when Madame Fraunces was found dead, Calhoun had not only moved the body where the royal family would least suspect, but he had gone back to the house at the same night to rece the wooden nks before he had spilt juice that was extracted from beetroot. This gave an effect of blood before he left the house.

    The Queen acted just as he had expected, tipping the magistrate as well as the guards to drag Theodore to be executed, but she wouldn''t have guessed that the High House would be on her trail now.

    In the royal court room, Calhoun stood next to King Laurence while the discussion took ce in the castle.

    "My King," one of the ministers who stood in front Laurence said, "The vigers have been giving the money for the taxes that are being collected every month. We even increased the amount so that it could cover the wars and thend''s other expenses, but that seems to not be enough."

    "Increase it some more then. We work for the welfare of the people and if the expenses are getting high, it only means we are spending more on them," stated King Laurence in a matter of fact tone.

    The minister looked slightly troubled by hearing the King''s words, "That would mean they wouldn''t have a singly penny left for themselves. The people from one of the viges have already started to revolt over the tax that has been implied by us. I don''t think it would go well, my King, if we were to pressure them more."

    "Maybe it is time we attack one of the neighbouring kingdoms and use the wealth from there topensate for it," proposed Queen Morganna. "I heard there are lots of expensive and rare jewels that are possessed by the Queen."

    On hearing the Queen''s words, Calhoun smiled, "That might only cause further holes in our wealth, my King. We are still trying topensate by using other possible measures, and to get the men trained for war would mean to have enough resources. We have only half the menpared to the previous war and if we don''t calcte properly, we would only end up weakening our military resources."

    King Laurence nodded his head in agreement.

    "Calhoun is right," stated King Laurence, "We cannot afford to lose what we have in haste. The neighbouring kingdom might be weakpared to the othernds, but they are also being supported by the Warrings."

    The minister who had brought up the issue, then said, "What shall we do, my King?"

    Before everyone could agree on the idea, Calhoun proposed, "Why not make use of the wealth that is present in the treasury?"

    Morganna let out a chuckle, "What are you saying, Advisor Calhoun. The wealth that is there in the treasury right now, it cannot be used for the benefit of the public, but it will be needed for the use of the royal family, the ministers and other people. And it is only a matter of time before everythinges back to normal."

    Calhoun knew Morganna knew what was on his mind, and she was trying to divert the conversation, but he wasn''t going to let it go.

    "My King," Calhoun turned to look at Laurence, "I have been going through the records and the details that exin the expenses of the treasury, but it seems like a few things aren''t matching up. I would like to ask the woman who has been in charge of it."

    King Laurence nodded his head, "Go ahead."

    "Mdy," Calhoun turned to the woman who had been working in handling the treasury of the Kingdom. She had an apprehensive look on her face while the Queen turned alert.

    Ms. Selene bowed her head, and Calhoun asked, "Ms. Selene, could you exin why there has been discrepancies since thest few months, no, years actually. It seems that the amount thates to the vault vanishes to nowhere, and I wasn''t able to figure out why."

    Morganna gritted her teeth that Calhoun was bringing this up in front of everyone. She had tried to kill Selene because the woman was the sole witness to what she had done, but the woman was always surrounded by Theodore or someone else, and it made it difficult for her to eliminate the woman.

    Ms. Selene had a troubled look on her face when her eyes met Calhoun''s and then the King''s.

    "I don''t know, Advisor Calhoun. I have been recording the transactions as much as I can. I swear on my life that I didn''t touch a coin from the treasury."

    "Are you sure you can bet your life on a couple of coins that sits not in your house where you live, but in the mansion that you brought through the money you received?" inquired Calhoun, tilting his head to the side while noticing how the woman started to sweat.

    King Laurence narrowed his eyes, and he asked, "What''s going on in here Calhoun? Is there something I need to know?"

    Calhoun offered his father his deepest bow, "You will find out in a while, my King. People have been doing this under your nose."

    Morganna knew if she were to protect Selene right now, it would only put her under problem. Without wasting time, she said,

    "Guards! Put the woman in the dungeon."

    "Wait," Calhoun raised his hand towards the guards. "Always so eager to help me out, grandmother. My apologies, Queen Morganna. We should conduct a fair trial so that the Kinges to know of what his people have been doing, don''t you agree?"

 Chapter 674 Panic- Part 2

    <h4>674 Panic- Part 2</h4>

    "Mother!" King Laurence was quick to leave his throne to pick his mother up. "Are you alright, mother? Guards!"

    Calhoun stared at Morganna, who had fainted and was taken out of the royal court room to her very own room while the physician was called to examine her condition. The old hag seemed to use the oldest book''s trick, and his tongue ran over his fang.

    After checking Morganna''s pulse and other vitals, the physician informed the King and Calhoun, "There is nothing to worry about. It seems like she fainted because of fatigue that caught up to her."

    "Thank the heavens!" eximed Calhoun with a relieved expression on his face.

    "She will be fine with a night''s rest," informed the physician, and Calhoun led the man outside while leaving Laurence in Morganna''s room, who continued to behave as if she was still unconscious.

    While Calhoun took the physician to the end of the halls, he said, "Did you bring what I asked youst time?" his polite expression dropping and his eyes looking straight at the man next to him.

    The physician looked back and forth to make sure no one was around before he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small paper that had been folded. "This is the one. The colour will change in a matter of a few seconds."

    "Wonderful,"mented Calhoun. "You have been of great help, Henry. Here you are," he pulled a small bag filled with coins, handing it to the man.

    "Thank you," said the man before taking the bag, he disappeared from not just the castle but also from the town. Calhoun was about to go back to where his father was when he heard footsteps behind him.

    "What is that, that you have in your hand?" asked a voice.

    Calhoun turned around to catch sight of a woman, who appeared to be somewhere around his father''s age whom he had never seen here before. "It''s medicine for Queen Morganna."

    The woman had a wise look on her face, and the clothes that she wore were slightly differentpared to the frilly and heavier dress that women wore in the castle or around. It was a long and smooth navy blue dress made of tough silk��covering most of her skin, while one could see the ck boots that peeked from below.

    The person didn''t question him, instead walked past him before making her way to where the Queen was. Calhoun followed her, and on her entrance, King Laurence looked surprised.

    "Monique."

    "She fainted. The physician said she will feel better by tomorrow morning. You should go back to your ce," said the King, "Also, it might not be the best if you stay around."

    Calhoun watched the interaction between Laurence and Monique, figuring out the woman was his half-sister. By the King''s words, it was clear that Morganna didn''t like the woman and the King wanted to send her out of the castle as quickly as possible.

    When Monique''s eyes fell back on Calhoun, Laurence introduced his son to his half-sister, "This is Calhoun, my son."

    The woman looked taken aback by the King''s words, and she stared at Calhoun, who bowed his head in greeting. "A pleasure meeting you, Lady Monique."

    They stepped out of the room so that the Queen could have her required rest, and the King left the room.

    "I didn''t know Constance had a son," said Monique.

    Calhoun''s eyes looked at Monique with a hint of curiosity in them. People never brought his mother''s name during a conversation. Even his own father refused to mention his mother as if she was his dirty secret, and the public had slowly started to view him as the future King of Devon, son of King Laurence.

    "Seems like you knew my mother in the past,"mented Calhoun, and the woman nodded her head.

    "I did, but it was only for a short period. It was when she had arrived at the castle. Sadly I didn''t get to stay in the castle and stayed mostly away from it," responded Monique. "How is she?"

    "She passed away a few months ago," Calhoun''s voice held no emotion, but it was like the chill cold in winter.

    "I am sorry to hear that," replied Monique.

    Monique had met Constance, Calhoun''s mother, for a brief time, but the time she had spent with her then half-brother''s lover had left asting impression on her.

    From the corner of her eyes, she looked at Calhoun who was looking at the castle''s ground. In Monique''s eyes, the young man looked nothing like his mother, but then he didn''t look like the King either. She would have never guessed that Constance''s son existed and it made her wonder how he even ended up here. As she had been working in a remote location, she hadn''t received the news about it.

    "You can meet Lucy in Greville''s mansion. It isn''t too far from here," informed Calhoun.

    "I will do that," said Monique. Her family had decided to forget to send her the invitation to the wedding like many other times, and it didn''t hurt the woman as much as it did in the beginning.

    Calhoun then asked, "How was my mother here?"

    Monique turned to face him, "Your father brought her here."

    "I meant, how was her life here," corrected Calhoun.

    Monique remembered the time when Constance had arrived at the castle, and she said, "Your mother was a beautiful person. Not just by looks, but even the way she thought about things. You could tell somewhere my niece, Lucy reminds me of her."

    A chuckle escaped Calhoun''s lips. In some ways, Lucy did remind him of his mother, and maybe that is how he viewed his mother before she came to live in the castle and after what the King and Queen did to her.

    "She was full of life, and truth to be told, I don''t think she deserved to live here," Monique said in a low voice.

    "It seems like you view life in the castle to be a bad one,"mented Calhoun.

    A faint smile appeared on the woman''s lips, "I don''t think I need to exin to you on why I feel that way. Anyways, I need to head back as the King has asked me to."

    "The duty at the border seems to be a tough one. Why not ask someone else to stand by while you get some break," questioned Calhoun to her when she readied to leave the corridor.

    "Maybe one day, I will," answered the woman. They bowed at each other and Calhoun saw Monique leave the corridor.

 Chapter 675 Panic- Part 3

    <h4>675 Panic- Part 3</h4>

    Readying to call a servant, she opened her lips but instead, someone beat her to it.

    "How are you feeling now, grandmother?" questioned Calhoun, making her jump out of her skin. She snapped her head to catch sight of Calhouning out of the shadows.

    "How dare you stay in my room. Get out right now," Morganna threatened in a low tone.

    Calhoun tsked, his tongue clicking in his mouth, "So much of anger, it is not good for you, especially not at your age. Let me get you a ss of water," he smiled at her.

    "All I need to do is harm myself, and me it on you on how you have been trying to attack me," she red at him.

    "Me attacking you?? The Queen? I would never do something like that, how dare I,"mented Calhoun, his words filled in sarcasm. "You are thinking too much, grandmother. Why don''t you take some more rest in the bed."

    "What do you want?" asked Morganna in a low tone. She wanted Calhoun out of her sight, all she wanted was to be the Queen and have this little pest out of her castle.

    Calhoun leaned his back against the chair, "I don''t think you will be able to give what I want."

    "I will give something topensate you. You can address me as your grandmother in the royal court room, or anywhere else."

    Hearing this Calhoun couldn''t control hisugh and his shoulders started to shake at Queen Morganna''s humour. "It seems like you have lost your sense of thinking. What makes you think I have any interest in addressing you? I am not happy with your offer. I am sure you can get something better than this in that old rusted mind of yours. Come on, think."

    Morganna didn''t know what Calhoun was ying at, but if she was able to fulfill it, she decided to do it. It was because Calhoun had been very close to exposing her today, and if she hadn''t fainted, who knew what would have happened.

    "I will help you turn to the King," offered Morganna, "Everyone wants to be the King, I will help you with it and you can rule Devon. I will be right here to guide you."

    "Tch, you are a foolish woman. Why does a King need guidance?" he raised one of his eyebrows. "But your offer does seem enticing. How do you think you are going to achieve it? I will forget about your little wealth that you have umted until now if you turn me into a King soon."

    Morganna knew her son Laurence was useless, while Calhoun was smart and at the same time, he was also cunning.

    "How do I know you won''t throw me out if I turn you to the next King of Devon?" questioned Morganna, her red eyes staring at Calhoun.

    "You do have a point," agreed Calhoun.

    "I will give you guarantee. An agreement drawn out between us that if I do turn to be the King, you will be allowed to stay as the Queen, but I will be holding the reins in here," said Calhoun, bringing his hand up to take a look at his nails. "It is quite a good dealpared to you being humiliated and shamed in front of everyone for stealing themoners hard earned money."

    Calhoun gave her the time she needed to think, dropping his hand that took support of the chair and he tapped on the wood like the clock ticking its hand.

    "Get me the guarantee, and I will help you to have the crown for yourself," Morganna gave her word. "Until you don''t bring up your agreement, you cannot throw me under the wheels."

    "Is that the tone you use with your future King, grandmother? You forget that it is not I, but you who is at a disadvantage right now."

    Morganna gritted her teeth in anger. Calhoun had all the good cards, and she was stuck to lose everything.

    "Do you think Ie unprepared," he said to her before pulling out rolled out parchments from his shirt. He moved away from the table so that she coulde and take a look at it. "You can take your time in reading it, and sign it for me. This way we both uphold the deal. I will be waiting for your generous help."

    Saying this Calhoun opened the doors and he was about to step out, but he stopped right there.

    "Don''t make the mistake of handing these parchments to father. It isn''t written in my handwriting and the document states that you are the one offering it to me and you are the one to prepare it," he smiled at the woman. "I wouldn''t like to take the risk of you turning the King against me."

    Calhoun finally left the room, and Morganna pushed the chair in anger that crashed against the wall. How dare the boy try to threaten her! It was obvious that he wanted the throne and she would make use of that time to get some of the things sorted out so that the me would note to befall on her. She wanted to poison him, or have him beheaded.

    She decided to take the help of her men who had infiltrated the High House and now worked there.

    Walking outside, she called one of the guards who stood outside, "Get Arthur Horatio here. Tell him the Queen has summoned him and that it is of great importance."

    She didn''t know why Calhoun''s bodyguard was not thrown behind the bars in the dungeons. She had gone through extensive nning, going so far as to nt her men in the High House so that they could favour her and have the man executed. But nothing like that had happened.

 Chapter 676 The last dinner- Part 1

    <h4>676 Thest dinner- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Morganna was not happy with her current situation, and in her room, she waited for her loyal man to arrive at the castle so that she could ask him about the progress in the High House regarding Theodore being the murderer of Madame Fraunces. A few months ago, her life was perfect, and there was nothing to worry about. Since her husband''s death, she had made enough wealth, and she had control over thend of Devon and its people.

    But right now, she was stressed. Every passing minute, she looked at the closed door, waiting for the person to arrive.

    Finally, when the door opened, Morganna was more than relieved that the person had finally arrived, but her heart sunk when she noticed Laurence, Samara and Calhoun entering the room.

    "Mother, you are awake!" eximed Laurence, moving to his mother''s side and sitting on the bed. "How are you feeling now?"

    Morganna smiled at her son''s concern, "It was just a little fatigue. I ampletely fine and should be able to go back to attend the royal court meetings."

    The King shook his head, "I think it would be best for you to sit out on the meetings for a few days. Rest and get back your energy. You have been by my side, assisting me for so long, it must have been exhausting as you never take a break."

    "I am fine, Laurence," Morganna ced her hand on her son''s arm. "Tomorrow I will be doing well."

    "It is good to see that Queen Morganna is doing fine," Lady Samara showed her concern towards the Queen. "Is there something you would like me to do? I will see to it that it is done."

    Morganna had a tight smile on her face. She wanted to butcher this cocky boy who was in the room.

    "Don''t trouble yourself, Samara. There are maids to do that," responded Morganna, and Samara bowed her head.

    Calhoun, who was watching the exchange of words, said, "Grandmother, you should let us spoil you. How about we go out and spend some time together. Us family members. What do you think, my King?"

    King Laurenceughed, "Calhoun seemed to be quite taken by you, mother. He has been worried about you since you fainted, asking when you would wake up and if we need to find another physician to look after you. Isn''t he wonderful?"

    A broad smile appeared on Calhoun''s lips, "She''s my family now, like everyone else. I wouldn''t want anything bad to happen to her."

    This lying bastard! cursed Morganna in her mind. The time right now was so bad that if Calhoun brought a crow after painting it white, her son would nod his head and tell it wasn''t a crow.

    Lady Samara looked slightly taken aback by this exchange of words. It was because she knew the Queen despised Calhoun''s existence. Did something happen?

    "It''s good to see that you both are bonding so well," said King Laurence with a pleased expression on his face. This also meant that his mother wouldn''t try to give his throne to anyone else.

    At the same time, while they were speaking, the person whom Morganna had summoned for arrived at the door.

    "My King! My Queen!" the person bowed his head in greetings.

    King Laurence raised his eyebrows in question, "Arthur Horatio, what brings you here?"

    Queen Morganna red at the minister and then at her servant for bringing the man here without any prior notice.

    Arthur nced at Morganna, receiving the noticeable re from her while Calhoun tried to hide his smile, "I-uh, I heard about the Queen''s health and decided toe here and see if she was alright."

    "It seems that news reaches the High House faster than anyone else," as Laurence said this, there was an evident distaste in his voice when he said ''High House''. "How are things going there?"

    "We have been working as per your instructions and orders, my King and watching the people''s moves on what they do," replied the minister.

    "And what about the woman Helena?" demanded King Laurence. "I thought you were going to kill her at any possible opportunity. I guess it is time that we change the men appointed in the High House as they don''t seem worthy of the job."

    The minister bowed his head and said, "Forgive me, my majesty! It has been extremely difficult to get a knife near her without being suspected. Many of them have already tried to attach her, but they have either ended up with broken or twisted arms. I tried to arrange a kill on her when she was outside, but there is another High House member who is always with her. He must be her lover because they go to her house together-"

    "That''s enough!" King Laurence had turned annoyed just by hearing what the minister had to say about Helena. "You cannot handle one mere woman? Pathetic!"

    "My King, I will try to arrange another way to have her killed. I won''t let you down this time!" assured the minister, but Laurence waved his hand as if he didn''t want to listen to the man.

    "I wille backter to see you again, mother. Please rest until then," said Laurence before walking out of the room followed by his wife and son. This left the minister with the Queen and some of the maids who were in the room.

    "Leave us alone," ordered Queen Morganna to her maids, "And close the door, while making sure if someonees, let me know."

    The maids bowed and stepped out of the room and closed the door to give the Queen and the minister the needed privacy.

 Chapter 677 The last dinner- Part 2

    <h4>677 Thest dinner- Part 2</h4>

    "Forgive me, my Queen. The servant just led me here. I didn''t know the King and the others would be here," he apologised. "Are you alright, Queen Morganna? I can-"

    "I called you here to know the progress of the case that went to the High House. Where do we stand when ites to Calhoun''s bodyguard Theodore being framed and set for execution?"

    Minister Arthur had a grim look on his face, and he said, "About that... there has been some new findings in the case."

    Morganna narrowed her eyes and questioned, "And what is that?"

    "The High House has their eyes on you because the spot where the supposed death took ce, they didn''t find blood there."

    "What rubbish are you speaking, weren''t you the one to kill the woman and have her blood spilt?" demanded Morganna, and the man nodded his head.

    "Yes, mdy, but someone must have gone back to the murder scene and changed the nks of the floor. The blood was not blood but beetroot juice. Right now they suspect you have something against Calhoun and they n to interrogate you about it. I tried-"

    "Get out of the room," whispered Morganna, closing her eyes to control her fueling rage. "Get out!" she yelled.

    The minister turned rmed and was quick to scurry out of the room. He was heading out of the castle, walking down the stairs, and sat in the carriage. He closed the door, when he caught sight of Calhoun sitting next to him, his heart almost jumping out of his chest.

    "Advisor Calhoun," came the shocked voice of the minister.

    Calhoun offered the man a smile, "Minister Arthur, I wanted to discuss something with you."

    "I-I don''t know what you are talking about," stuttered the man in fear.

    Calhoun put his hand around the man''s shoulder, "Don''t look so scared, I haven''t even done anything to you...yet," and the minister gulped.

    When the night arrived, Morganna started to lose her mind with the way things had spiralled out. Not only was Calhoun trying to put her against her son, but also the High House who hade into existence were watching her. Pacing back and forth, she finally took the parchments that Calhoun had given to her.

    She read them several times, and when it was time, she ordered a maid to bring Calhoun to her.

    "Before I sign, I need you to sign it," she said to Calhoun.

    Calhoun chuckled, "Seems like we have some trust issues in here, but that''s alright." He picked the quill thatid next to the parchments, dipping it in the ink bottle before signing his name at the end of the parchment. "Your turn now, grandmother."

    "I look forward to your ns, grandmother in dethroning father," he smiled as he rolled the parchment.

    "Never would I have imagined joining hands with you," stated Morganna, "But if we both are going to benefit from it, and neither of us are going to expose each other''s secrets, it should be fine."

    "So what is your n, grandmother. I have been eager to hear it," said Calhoun.

    "Patience. You will find it tomorrow," replied Morganna.

    "I cannot wait."

    The next morning, in the royal court room, the Queen had gone back to upy her seat next to the King.

    "We should have a feast to celebrate the recovery of the Queen''s heath," proposed Calhoun in the royal court room.

    Morganna''s eyes narrowed. She had told him that she would be the one to run the n of giving the throne from her son to Calhoun so that her grandson would? get off of her back, but with his current behaviour, she didn''t know what he was up to.

    "I agree," said another minister, "We should all drink and eat for the Queen''s health."

    King Laurence didn''t have money to spend for the welfare of his subjects, but on hearing the proposal of celebration to drink and eat delicious food, he was quick to agree to it. "I demand from? the royal kitchen to start cooking for tonight''s feast for the ministers and the royal family! Get on it right now!" he ordered the servants.

    "I haven''t seen Lady Selene today. Where is she?" questioned Laurence. "I thought you wanted to question something about the transactions, Calhoun."

    Calhoun smiled at his father, "Lady. Selene is at her home, my King. It seems she fell sick and I sent Theodore there to see if she needs anything." He paused for a moment before saying. "Also, I thought it won''t be good to bring up the matter right now, when we are in the celebratory mood. We can rify about it when Lady Selene returns."

    King Laurence nodded his head and turned to his mother and said,

    "There is something I would like to give you today, mother," He raised his hand for the guards who were standing behind him, to start walking. One of them carried a velvet box and came to stand next to the King.

    Everyone turned curious as to what the King wanted to give the Queen and on seeing the blue velvet box, they guessed it was jewellery.

    Morganna, who was excited by her son''s words, her face turned sour when the box was opened for her to see the chain.

    "How about you wear it tonight," said Laurence to his mother, a proud smile on his face.

    Morganna smiled, and said, "The jewel looks truly precious. Maybe I will," she smiled. Thest thing she wanted was a cursed hanging jewel around her neck. She didn''t know why, but it felt like her days had been coated with bad luck. "Thank you, my King for your generous gift."

    She took the box and kept it with her.

 Chapter 678 The last dinner- Part 3

    <h4>678 Thest dinner- Part 3</h4>

    King Laurence was displeased that the High House hade to the castle to attend the celebration. He had no idea how they even found out about the celebration taking ce tonight, making him question who had invited them. Though Calhoun was the one to tip the High House about it, he hadn''t disclosed a word about it, and right now, everyone had gathered in the big hall to have supper.

    There was an air of hostility hanging in the room, while everyone sat at the long table that had been arranged to amodate everyone.

    "It is good to hear that the Queen has recovered so quickly," said Helena, who was sitting near the King and the Queen, unlike the other ministers, who sat away from the King.

    King Laurence, who was sipping his wine, said, "You seem to be surprised with her speedy recovery, Lady Helena. Did you expect her to be stuck to bed? We are vampires, not humans," came his passive-aggressive tone.

    Lady Helena didn''t take any offence, but she stared at the King''s for the immature words he uttered, "I am well aware of it, King Laurence. But we cannot rule out that there are some things that affect vampires and vampiresses like disease that are rare and incurable. Don''t you agree with it?" Her eyes then slowly fell on Calhoun, who was sitting next to Lady Samara, chewing his food.

    Hearing this, King Laurence said, "It might be because they weren''t good enough vampires like us. Not belonging to the higher social standing. You never know what they eat and drink. Our quality of life is iparable to themoners," he said proudly. "How is your High House functioning so far? I heard from my magistrates that you have been seizing all the cases from them. At this rate they will be left with no work to do."

    Helena turned her head to look at the men seated on the other end of the table. When their eyes met hers, they were quick to look down at their tes.

    "Seizing would be the wrong word here. I am trying to rectify the wrong job done by some of them as they fail to do it. With the High House''s help, they will be able to work more efficiently," said Helena.

    "Hmph," the King harrumphed, "You know the magistrates have been doing their job, how else do you think thew in the capital and other parts of Devon has been running smoothly?"

    Morganna, who sat next to Laurence, put in her own thought in the conversation and said, "I heard you believe that the Kings and the Queens are not doing a good job in giving out justice. Doesn''t that mean you do not believe in the fairness of our rule?"

    Both Morganna and Laurence''s eyes narrowed at this. So the woman was aware that their men were part of the High House.

    "How about we continue the discussion of work after dinner," proposed Calhoun. "We are gathered here to celebrate for the longevity of the Queen," and he raised his ss.

    Everyone raised their sses before toasting to Queen Morganna''s health. In truth, Calhoun had toasted to the woman''s death that was approaching her at such speed that she failed to see it.

    The night continued, and the friction in the atmosphere didn''t reduce. While they were conversing, King Laurence said,

    "When my father was the King, he made sure to look after the welfare of each and everyone. The tradition has only continued," boasted King Laurence. "You will be able to see that many viges are being turned into towns by reconstructing them."

    "That is good, my King, but something hase to my notice, " said Helena, "It seems people have started to rebel over your rule because of the increase in the tax that you have imposed on them. And they are indeed too high."

    King Laurenceughed at this, "The money is spent on them, doesn''t it. Themoners have no vision andin without seeing what we are doing for them."

    Away from the main hall now, Helena took a sip from her ss, feeling the dinner time had gone too long. After finishing dinner, she stood with the King and Dimitri and the King''s wife when one of the High House men came to speak to Dimitri''s ear. After hearing it, Dimitri leaned to her side, and he said something to her.

    "Are you sure about it?" questioned Helena, and Dimitri nodded his head.

    "Is everything alright?" asked King Laurence, his curiosity peaking.

    Helena took a while to grasp what Dimitri just said in her ear, and she then looked straight at the King.

    "Beforeing to the main subject, I believe that you, my King, are aware of how the High House works," stated Helena, her red eyes holding Laurence''s gaze. "It isn''t a formation of one or two King''s, but every single King''s and Queen''s who exist. There''s some questions that we would want to rify regarding the ne that you presented to Queen Morganna today. You wouldn''t mind if we took the ne to the High House and inspected it, do you?"

    Laurence was obviously not pleased by this, and he said, "Do you think you cane into the Hawthrone''s castle, and take the jewel away from here that easily?"

    "Yes," deadpanned Helena, not wanting to go in-depth about what or from where the ne came.

    "That''s absurd," responded King Laurence. "The ne is part of the set of jewellery that my mother has. I will need more than just your words before you take it away from here."

    At this, Helena''s eyes narrowed. Did he just say part of the jewellery set? She turned around to see where the Queen stood, and when her eyes fell on the woman, the Queen stared back at her.

    She had been gathering the cursed jewels for quite some time now, and to think thest pieces that she had been trying to seize was with the Queen, her suspicion on the woman only increased furthermore. Seeing how King Laurence wasn''t willing toply to her wishes, she said,

    "That''s alright."

    Helena moved from her ce and walked to where Morganna stood, "My Queen, you wouldn''t mind if I ask you some questions, do you?"

    Morganna stared at the head of the High House, who stood in front of her. "Why would I mind?" she offered Helena a smile.

    "Good, then shall we move to a more private ce?" proposed Helena. Seeing the Queen start to walk, Helena whispered something to Dimitri, who nodded his head and got on the carriage right away.

 Chapter 679 Interrogation- Part 1

    <h4>679 Interrogation- Part 1</h4>

    .

    In one of the castle''s private rooms, Morganna sat in front of Helena, the younger-looking vampiress who wanted to ask her something. In the same room were King Laurence, Calhoun, Lady Samara, and some of the people who attended the royal court room.

    It wasn''t Queen Morganna but Helena who had asked the others to apany them so that they could witness what she was going to speak with the Queen.

    "What is it that you want to question me, Lady Helena?" Morganna looked at the woman who sat in front of her with a streak of arrogance and pride in her eyes.

    Helena watched the older woman, the Queen, who looked down at her. "This is regarding Madame Fraunces''s death. I believe you have already heard this name before?" questioned Helena.

    "I do," answered Morganna, "The woman who was killed by a guard in the castle and you freed him."

    "Are you upset that I freed him, my Queen?" questioned Helena and Morganna''s eyes narrowed. "I received information that you were the one to tip the magistrate about it. Magistrate Maki," she called the magistrate, who looked like he was struck with fear and nervousness.

    Queen Morganna raised her hand as if telling her there was no need for the magistrate toe and talk.

    "Being the Queen of Devon, I need to make sure my subjects are well taken care of and that no harmes to befall on them," stated Queen Morganna. "And being in the responsible position, I receive information regarding who does what in the castle. More importantly, this is the ce where my family lives, it is only right I see and inform the magistrate to take necessary actions. Are you questioning me that I shouldn''t do it?" Morganna raised one of her brows at Helena.

    "You didn''t conduct any trial to prove if he''s guilty or innocent. If I am not wrong, people are often put under trial before being sent to execution. On what basis did you send him for execution without any proper evidence?" Helena''s tone was slightly demanding, and it got Morganna annoyed.

    "I am the Queen of Devon, the mother of the present King. Do you think I would do something wrong, and that is why you are questioning me back and forth?" asked Morganna. "Just because you are the Head of some small organization, don''t think you canpare your responsibility to the vastness of thend that needs to be looked after."

    When Helena was young, her brother had been put under execution by the King''s word; When the matter came about the King or the royal family, their opinion was different. Since then, she had tried to find a way to establish a central system so that each person in allnds could get fair treatment and catch the people who belonged to the higher status andmitted sins.

    "My informant said he found blood on the floor and that the neighbours were concerned as they didn''t see the woman for quite some time. Magistrate Maki, why don''t you go get the people who saw what happened," ordered Helena, and the man was quick to leave the room.

    Helena stared at the woman before saying, "There was no blood spilt in any part of the house. The blood that was reported earlier on the wooden floor was not blood but a vegetable extract. It might be possible the woman left the house to go somewhere and someone framed Mr. Chauncey for it? Do you agree with it?"

    "How would mother know about that person," demanded King Laurence, "Your questions are absurd, Lady Helena."

    Helena shifted her gaze from Morganna to look at the King, "I will tell you soon enough why it isn''t absurd. With the way I see it, it seems like Mr. Chauncey was framed for no apparent reason, and whoever informed you possibly didn''t like him, Queen Morganna," her eyes had gone back to look at the Queen.

    Morganna red at Helena.

    "Do you understand what can happen to you with you pointing your fingers at me?" Morganna asked in a low, threatening voice.

    The Queen''s words didn''t faze Helena. "I am only doing my job, my Queen. You do not have to feel intimidated by my presence if you aren''t guilty."

    "You must be delusional to think a person who is more experienced and wiser than you would be intimidated. You seem to be a person who likes to give yourself a lot of credit," chuckled Queen Morganna.

    As time passed in the room, Dimitri, as well as magistrate Maki arrived at the room. Dimitri had left the castle with the pace, one would think he had gone to fetch men from the High House to get reinforcement, but unlike Maki, who brought three people along with him, Dimitri had returned alone.

    "Here are your witnesses, Lady Helena. These are the people who testified earlier against the bodyguard," stated Morganna, letting her back lean against the chair she sat in.

    She knew this day would possiblye. Therefore she had readied the people to support her side of the story in advance.

    Helena left the chair, and she walked towards the three people who didn''t look like they were part of the Queen''s schemes. But the Queen was a clever woman, and she might have chosen people in a way where the fingers would not point at her.

    Magistrate Maki was the one to introduce the three people, "This here is Mr. Barwood, Lady Gracelynn, and the one at the left is Lady Christine."

    Helena took her time staring at each and every one of them closely.

    The first one to be questioned was the man, "Mr. Barwood, what did you see and tell that you have used Theodore Chauncey to be the murderer of Madame Fraunces?"

 Chapter 680 Interrogation- Part 2

    <h4>680 Interrogation- Part 2</h4>

    On hearing this, Theodore, who stood in the room, clenched his hands into fists. Given Mr. Barwood was speaking the truth when it came to him being Madame Fraunces neighbour, the man had been nothing but rude to the woman whom he had lived next to. Many times Theodore had heard Mr. Barwood''s uncouth words, which Madame Fraunces ignored.

    "We had such a good rtionship, especially after her husband''s death. You know how cruel the world can be for a widow," said Mr. Barwood.

    Helena''s gaze shifted to look at Lady Gracelynn, "How about you, Mdy? How are you acquainted with the deceased woman?"

    Gracelynn said, "Madame Fraunces was a dear friend of mine. In one of my visits to her house, she told me that she was troubled. Troubled because the boy whom she took in was threatening her to pass on the ownership of the house in his name. She was heartbroken," the woman paused to look at Theodore and then back at Helena. "In the recent visits, it seemed like she was hiding something, as if she was unable to speak especially when Theodore was present in the house. I think she was terrorized."

    Calhoun, who stood next to Theodore, turned to him and whispered, "Do you know her?"

    "Never seen her before," Theodore whispered in a way that only Calhoun could hear him.

    Calhoun nodded his head. Clearly, the woman and the man were lying right through their teeth, and it didn''t sound believable.

    "Did she tell you anything else that must have caught your attention? When was thest time you spoke to Madame Fraunces?" questioned Helena.

    "It must be three days before she was dered to be dead," answered Lady Gracelynn. "I think she must have died on the same day Ist met her."

    "Doesn''t that mean you are the murderer?" Helena interrogated the woman, and Lady Gracelynn''s eyes widened in shock.

    "W-what me? Why would I ever do that to my friend!" asked Lady Gracelynn.

    "It is surprising that you know when she died when she could have died any day," came the blunt words from Helena''s mouth. "People have different motives when they kill people. Revenge, to hide truth, or whatnot. How about you Lady Christine? How were you acquainted with Madame Fraunces."

    Both Calhoun and Theodore watched Lady Christine, who stood in the same line as the other two witnesses, who came to testify against Theodore. She was an older woman, someone with who both the young men had conversed in the past.

    Lady Christine had a stoic expression on her face, "How I know her? She was someone who offered me what I wanted."

    Helena raised her eyebrows, "I would need you to be more specific, mdy."

    "Do you believe and agree with what others just said about him wanting to illegally take the ownership of her house?" inquired Helena. "Lady Christine?"

    The older woman stayed quiet. Like the other two witnesses, she had been bribed by money and had asked to speak against Theodore. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she said,

    "No, I do not believe it."

    Hearing these words, Queen''s Morganna''s eyes narrowed. She had asked her men to pay a huge sum of money so that they would tell the same things she wanted them to speak.

    "I am an old woman, and my end is near. I would like to leave this world with a clear conscience unlike some others," came the dull words from Lady Christine''s mouth. "I do not believe Theodore has anything to do with Madame Fraunces murder, in fact, I believe someone who hates him must be trying to frame and get rid of him."

    "How can you be sure about it? Do you know who it might be?" demanded Helena.

    Lady Christine looked at the people who were present in the room. After meeting everyone''s eyes, she said, "I do not know."

    Helena''s jaw ticked because she could sense that the woman knew who it was, and even Helena knew it.

    "I hope you are aware of the new rules made from the High House that were sent out two weeks ago to every single kingdom, lying and giving false information to the High House will onlynd you behind the dungeon. It is considered to be a crime," said Helena, looking at each one of them. "I need you to tell me, who found the woman''s body that was in her house. It is because the body is missing and we have already taken a look at every cemetery that has fresh bodies being buried and none of them has Madame Fraunces'' body in it. So who was it."

    Lady Christine stood quiet, and the other two stared at Helena, "It was I who saw the body," confessed Mr. Barwood. This meant Lady Gracelynn was lying, thought Helena in her mind.

    Helena nodded her head, "We''ll need you toe with us to the High House, Mr. Barwood. There are further questions we would like to ask."

    "W-what? Why me?!" demanded Mr. Barwood, and Helena took a step towards him.

    "Because you look very suspicious to me and I feel like you were the one to kill her. I would like to give you a chance before I decide to throw you in the dungeon. Dimitri," Helena ordered the person and other men who hade from the High House to take Mr. Barwood out of the room. "I will have the rest of the discussion tomorrow. Dimitri, did you get it?" she asked her fellow High House member.

    Dimitri walked to where Helena was, and he pulled out a scroll of parchment from his coat and handed it to her.

    Helena then brought it in front of Morganna. "What is this?" asked Morganna in arrogance.

 Chapter 681 Interrogation- Part 3

    <h4>681 Interrogation- Part 3</h4>

    Morganna quietly read the contents in it one after another, her eyes widening now and then. People in the room turned curious about what the parchment consisted of. Morganna, after finishing reading it, looked up at Helena.

    Before the Queen could say anything, Helena said, "I think it would be wise for you to cooperate with the High House unless you want to face the wrath of the other Kings for not listening to such a simple thing."

    Morganna gritted her teeth, and she finally nodded her head. "Jaime, take Helena to the room where my favourite nts are. We would like to discuss something in there," said the Queen without revealing anything to people who were watching and listening to them.

    After an hour, the High House and the rest of the ministers left the castle.

    After finding out what Helena and his mother had spoken with each other, the King was enraged about it.

    "You gave her the chain I gifted you?!" King Laurence looked at his mother with a look of disbelief on his face.

    Morganna had her back faced towards her son, her hands holding behind her back. She wanted some time alone, but Laurence, being curious, wanted to know why his mother had agreed to speak to the head of the High House in privacy.

    The parchment had sealing of the other Kings on it, where it was written in there that the Kings had all agreed that the High House would be the one to go through the justice system. Though her son had no clue about the jewel that he had gifted her was cursed, she and her daughter were well aware of what it could do to a person who wore it. Surprisingly, even Helena knew about it.

    "Would you rather prefer that Devon is ambushed by the other kingdoms and we fall down? We overlooked these people, and they are gaining power and favour too quickly," came the frustrated voice of Morganna.

    "Do you know how hard it was for me to find the rarest jewel?" asked Laurence.

    Morganna''s hand itched to p her son to bring him back to his senses. She was speaking about the High House, and he was stuck talking about the jewel!

    "Just go back to your room, Laurence. I need to be alone and think on what to do next," said Morganna before turning around to meet her son''s eyes. Seeing her son not answer her, she asked, "What is it?"

    "Did you have something to do with the woman''s murder?"

    Morganna appeared hurt by her son''s words, "Are you believing them?"

    The King sighed, "If you had something to do with it, tell me now so that I can help you before it is toote." Laurence knew his mother could go to any point, but he hade to believe she had nothing to do with the woman''s murder.

    Laurence had differences with his mother, but he would always choose his family, his mother, over a mere stranger to protect. He let out a frustrated sigh when his mother didn''t say anything more than that.

    "Mother-"

    "You know this wouldn''t have happened if you would have listened to me," whispered Morganna.

    "Are you telling I didn''t rule right?" asked Laurence. "You still want to put Markus on the throne, isn''t it?"

    "Why aren''t you listening to me, Laurence. I-" Morganna tried to speak, but Laurence raised his hand for her to stop speaking.

    "I need some time alone," and Laurence left the room.

    Laurence''s steps were heavy on the floor as he made his way to another room without going to his sleeping chambers, where his wife waited for his return. He had to draw out some n to get rid of the High House because, at this rate, every murder case that had their involvement that had been closed woulde to haunt them back because of Helena.

    The room was moderately dark, with only the lighting from the firece burning and the candles on the chandelier. He walked towards the small table that had the bottle of liquors on in it. Taking hold of the bottle, he started to pour one of the liquid into the ss and took a couple of sips from it.

    Laurence went to sit on the couch, cing one leg of his over another as he stared at one corner of the room.

    Almost ten minutes passed when he felt an ache that started to rise in his throat. He uncrossed his legs, and he fell on the floor as his body was going through fits. Laurence turned his body with great difficulty, looking at the door and his hand reaching out for help,

    "G-guards!" he called for help.

    Three secondster, Calhoun pushed the doors, and he quickly approached Laurence.

    "Father!" called Calhoun. "Are you alright? What happened?"

    Laurence was coughing blood, and he raised his hand towards the liquor bottles and then to look at the broken ss that had slipped from his hold to fall on the ground.

    "Someone poisoned you," whispered Calhoun, and he said, "Stay right here."

    Calhoun went to the firece, and he picked up the charcoals that had turned cold. He crushed the coal into powder, putting it in the ss and then adding water to it. Bringing the ss to where the Kingid on the ground, Calhoun said,

    "It is an unorthodox method, but this will help," he assured the King before making the man drink it.

    It was hard to make the King drink the crushed coal powder liquid as he was coughing blood, where some of the liquid fell on the King''s clothes. Once Calhoun had seeded in making the King drink it, Laurence finally coughed out blood and the charcoal liquid that had absorbed the poison.

    The guards who had entered the room were startled by the scene. King Laurence wheezed, cing his hand on his chest, and suddenly anger consumed him.

    "Search for poison in every single person''s room and in the castle!" ordered Laurence, wanting to know who had dared to poison him!

 Chapter 682 Hunt for the culprit- Part 1

    <h4>682 Hunt for the culprit- Part 1</h4>

    .

    In Hawthrone''s castle, the castle guards had locked the gates while closing every other entry to exit to ensure the culprit who had poisoned the King would not escape from the castle.

    One of the guards arrived at the servant''s quarters and announced, "Every single person has to assemble in the main hall and not be allowed to go anywhere. Leave what you have been doing and head towards the hall right now!"

    "What''s going on? What happened?" asked one of the maids on hearing the guards words.

    "Is there an attack?" asked another one, a frown appearing on each person''s face.

    "But there was no sound of weapons and we would have known," a collective sound of murmurs went around the ce as all the servants started to walk towards the main hall.

    With the servant''s ordered to stay on one side of the castle, the royal Hawthrone family members appeared with a perplexed expression on their face. The first one was Lady Samara, who didn''t know what was going on. But when she found out from the guards, she was quick to go to find her husband.

    The next one was Morganna, who had been disturbed because of themotion in the castle. She stepped outside her room.

    "What is going on in the castle?" questioned Morganna with a deep frown on her face. She was trying to think of a way to maneuver around the problem that had appeared, but the people in the castle weren''t giving her a moment of peace even to think. "Guards!" she yelled for them.

    "My Queen! Everyone has been asked to assemble in the main hall of the castle," informed the guard who came running to her.

    "For what joy? The celebration for my health has ended long ago," said Morganna. Having one dinner in her name weighed heavily on her shoulders, and right now, she didn''t want to deal with another one.

    The guard bowed his head, "Mdy, the King has been poisoned!"

    "What?!" Morganna was taken aback by this information. "Where is he?"

    "He''s heading to the main hall from his chambers, my Queen."

    Morganna didn''t wait for the guard, and she quickly headed to where her son was. When she entered the main hall, the servants had gathered to one side, and on the other, on the tform, she saw Laurence sitting on the chair, leaning his back against it.

    "Laurence!" Morganna was quick to walk to where her son was. "Who poisoned you?!"

    Every family had its own fights and differences, but that didn''t mean Morganna loved her son less. He was still her blood, the one thing that her husband left for her. She went to take a closer look at Laurence.

    Lady Samara, who was already standing next to her husband, seemed distressed, and she said, "My Queen, the King was almost going to die, he would have been dead if it weren''t for Calhoun''s quick thinking."

    "Do you think someone is trying to target us?" asked Lady Samara. "First it was Calhoun and now it is the King. I am worried for our lives."

    When Calhoun turned to look at the King and his wife, a sullen look appeared on his face. "It was fine when I was poisoned, but to poison my father," he shook his head, "I don''t think the castle is safe anymore."

    It would be if you left the castle! Thought Morganna to herself.

    "You shouldn''t be here, but be resting in your room, Laurence. You look pale and you need all the-" Morganna showed her concern to her son to only be interrupted by him.

    "I won''t rest until I know the culprit is caught and is punished with the severe most punishments handed to the person," said King Laurence. "How dare this person try to poison me and my son. I will not rest until the person is executed!"

    Calhoun nodded his head in agreement, "You are right, father. Whoever did this to you, they should be punished."

    The guards had started to check into each room of the servants in the servants quarters and the other rooms. It was the time of night, but every person in the castle was wide awake, waiting for the guards to find the culprit so that they could get back to their sleep. Most were curious to see who would dare tomit such an act of treason.

    When Calhoun went to speak with one of the guards, Morganna followed him and demanded, "What do you think you are doing?"

    "Standing in the main hall?" asked Calhoun with an oblivious tone. "I can stand on the other side."

    "Don''t behave innocent, when I know you are far from it!" Morganna gritted through her teeth in a low voice.

    "Don''t look so ruffled, grandma, people will think you have something to do with the poisoning," whispered Calhoun to her.

    "I thought we had a deal that I would handle Laurence and turn you to Devon''s King," stated Morganna, her eyes looking at Calhoun furiously.

    One side of Calhoun''s lips pulled up, and he said, "What made you think I believed what you said, that you were going to follow what was mentioned in the deal? I know you love your son, very dearly. You would never harm him. Somewhere, we both are rted to each other by blood and it seems like you bestowed your cunningness to me."

    "You bastard," Morganna cursed him.

    After a while, the guards'' head returned to report to the King, "My King! The guest rooms, the kitchen, the drawing room, the servant''s quarters, they all have been thoroughly checked and there is no trace of the poison."

    "What other rooms in the castle are left and have not been searched through?" questioned King Laurence. Even though he had thrown up the poison that he had consumed, he still felt weak, as if some traces of the poison was still lingering in his body.

 Chapter 683 Hunt for the culprit- Part 2

    <h4>683 Hunt for the culprit- Part 2</h4>

    King Laurence''s eyes narrowed, and his lips were set in a thin line. The main hall had turned extremely quiet, and everyone waited for the King to say something, wondering if the culprit was someone they had not expected.

    "I order you to look for it in the royal members chambers. Make sure to check every nook and corner. Wait," said Laurence, getting up from his seat, and he said, "I wille with you. The servants will be staying here until the matter is resolved," he ordered.

    Lady Samara, Queen Morganna and Calhoun, and Theodore followed King Laurence and the guards followed behind them. They first headed to the empty rooms that belonged to the other rtive''s rooms in the family. Once they found nothing in there, they moved to the King''s chambers.

    Lady Samara was more than embarrassed to see the guards go through the things in their room. She was the King''s wife, but Laurence had not made an attempt to stop the guards from what they were doing, and it only said how little trust the King held in his heart right now.

    Finding nothing in there, the guards informed, "There''s nothing in this room, my King."

    "Go to the next room," ordered Laurence, and everyone obliged.

    The next one was Calhoun and Theodore''s room. The guards went through every little thing in there, from the cot to the mattress, the windows, the walls in the room and the floor, before moving to the cupboards and drawers.

    Morganna folded her arms, watching the guards keenly doing their job. She wondered if she would be able to expose Calhoun right now. She had thrown her parchments into the fire beforeing to meet her son. That meant the only copy left was with Calhoun and the sign she had made. It was different.

    "You don''t mind if I have a look around your room, do you?" questioned Morganna, turning to look at Calhoun and seeing his lips twitch before he smiled.

    "Please," Calhounplied. "I would never stop my grandmother from being involved more with me," he offered her a smile.

    Morganna moved towards the drawers and cupboards, wondering where Calhoun might have ced the parchments that consisted of the deal they had made with each other. Her red eyes carefully moved from one corner of the room to another because when the guards were going through the two young men''s things, they didn''t find any parchments in the room, at least not the ones she was looking for.

    Her eyes then finally fell on the firece, and she noticed a hollow ce at one corner of it.

    Morganna walked towards the firece, bending down. A smile came to appear on her lips. She had finally caught him. Putting her finger in the gap, she pulled out the parchments.

    "What is that?" questioned Laurence.

    Laurence frowned, and he walked towards where his mother stood.

    "Why would you keep something like this hidden away in such a ce when we have offered you a room that has cupboards and drawers?" Morganna continued to pour oil into the fire that she thought was present.

    "Calhoun," King Laurence demanded his son to answer his mother''s question. "Let me take a look at this."

    Morganna tipped her chin up, her eyes on Calhoun before she heard Laurence sigh, and he handed it back to her. Seeing her son''s quick loss of interest, her eyes fell on the wordings of the parchments, and she saw it to be a bunch of poems in praise of the King and thend.

    "What is this?" she whispered, her hand shaking in uncontrolled rage. She tried hard not to crush the parchments that were in her hand.

    Calhoun gave the woman a polite smile, "They are poetry, grandmother. I am embarrassed to share them with anyone, therefore, I hide them in here."

    The guards at the same time returned from finishing their search and informed the King once again, "There''s nothing in here, my King."

    "Apart from the rooms, we should check each person," ordered the King. When they were done checking, they found nothing on anyone.

    Finally, they moved to Queen Morganna''s room. Morganna didn''t seem fazed because she had her loyal guards guarding her room, and she knew she poisoned neither Calhoun nor Laurence.

    But one''s assurance was never enough.

    The castle guards started to go through her things while the royal Hawthrone family members stood at one side, watching the guards do their job.

    The guards then opened her cupboards, using the key which Morganna handed, and they pulled out her jewellery boxes where some of them were empty as she had given some of the jewels to Helena which belonged to the cursed jewels'' set.

    As the guards continued their search, one of them found a small velvet pouch in one of the jewellery boxes, and he opened it, tilting it around to see what it was, only to find powder fall into the palm of his hand.

    Morganna had not expected this, and her eyes widened in shock by seeing this. Lady Samara, the King and the other guards who were in the room were stunned.

    "T-this isn''t mine! I don''t even know how this came inside the box!" Morganna could feel the tension in her body increase, and so did her anger. "It isn''t me but Calhoun who did this!" she used her grandson.

    Calhoun frowned at Morganna''s words, "Grandmother, how could you. I trusted you, I thought our rtionship was improving," there was a clear disappointment in his voice.

    "Mother, what is the meaning of this?" Laurence demanded from his mother before saying, "Bring the physician here right this instance. I need to verify what this powder is!" and the two guards who were in the room quickly hurried out of there.

    "I swear on you, Laurence, I really don''t know how it got there! This is Calhoun''s ploy, it is a set up!" she red at Calhoun.

 Chapter 684 Hunt for the culprit- Part 3

    <h4>684 Hunt for the culprit- Part 3</h4>

    "Mother," came the loud voice of Laurence, "I thought you are the only one who has the keys to the locks of your room. No one else has the keys to open your cupboard. Are you telling Calhoun stole the key from you, unlocked it and then ced it back in your hand?"

    Morganna''s hands clenched, "I would never try to kill you. You are my son! My only son!"

    Laurence continued to have a look of disbelief on his face. He hadn''t expected this from his mother that she would poison him.

    "Why would I even keep the poison in such a in sight?"

    "Maybe you thought we wouldn''t search your room," stated the King. "Let''s wait for the physician and then see what he tells. And stop ming Calhoun for something he had nothing to do with."

    Morganna didn''t know how to convince her son to understand that this was all Calhoun''s ploy! Right now, she had been ced upon a hot pan, and the only thing she could do wase clean about what had happened until now.

    "I will exin everything to you, but you need to listen to me, Laurence," said Morganna. She threw a re at Calhoun before looking back at her son. "Calhoun has been trying to set me up against you since he has arrived at the castle. He behaves like the perfect son and grandson in front of you, but with me, he has been vocal to me about how he wants to hurt you and me. Yesterday, he came to me with a deal, telling how he would not expose me if I listened to him."

    "Expose you? About what?" Laurence''s eyes narrowed. "Is this about the woman''s death?"

    Morganna was ashamed to reveal the truth, and she didn''t know how her son would react after finding the truth.

    "No, it''s not about that. I-I...it has something to do with the treasury-"

    "Grandmother was stealing the wealth that you umted from the people, father," Calhoun dropped the information, and Laurence''s eyes widened.

    "You did what?!" shouted Laurence, and Morganna closed her eyes.

    "I didn''t mean to-"

    "We have been facing low wealth and have been discussing it while you have been not only stealing but also hiding it from me!" eximed the King, and he looked away from her as if he couldn''t stand her actions.

    Morganna quickly spoke, "No no, you don''t see it do you? Calhoun has something to do with this-"

    "Are you telling me Calhoun was the one who has been stealing from the wealth that belongs to the King, when it has been only a few months since he arrived at the castle?" questioned King Laurence. "And Calhoun, why haven''t you informed me of this before?"

    Morganna continued to re at Calhoun, "The parchment that had two copies, one which you gave me and another that you took back to keep it with you, where you mentioned wanting to be the King right away!"

    "If what you are saying is true, where is the parchment? Even if I don''t have mine with me, you should have yours, isn''t it?" asked Calhoun.

    King Laurence and the others waited for Morganna to show them the papers'' parchment, but she stood there feeling her control slipping through her fingers. Before leaving her room, she had burned it down so that she could frame Calhoun, but who would have thought that they both would burn down the parchments, turning the whole thing baseless!

    Morganna walked towards where Laurence stood,ing to stand in front of him.

    "Believe me, Laurence, I didn''t mean to steal the wealth. I was only keeping a portion just like your father wanted me to keep," she pleaded with her son.

    "You could have told me, mother. I would have given part of it to you myself, but you went behind my back. I cannot tell how disappointed I am with you," replied Laurence, a grim expression on his face. "And now you go as far as to use Calhoun. If you had issues with him, you should havee to me about it. I would have done something, but you resorted to poison him and now me!"

    "No! I didn''t poison you! I would never do that to you. Calhoun ced the poison in that pouch! He has been scheming to put you against me!"

    Once again, Laurence looked away from his mother, and he then ordered, "Guards! Make sure to stay with her and see to it that she doesn''t go anywhere." Laurence, Lady Samara, and Calhoun stepped out of the room.

    After some waiting time, the physician arrived to check the powder with his equipment in front of the King.

    "What is this?" demanded Laurence.

    "It is the same poison that was used on Advisor Calhoun, my King," answered the physician, bowing his head, who desperately wanted to leave the castle as soon as possible because of the tense atmosphere that had formed in here.

    King Laurence took a few steps away from the people, watching the castle grounds in deep thought, while he held both his hands behind his back.

    Laurence would have never thought that his mother would go behind his back to take such an extreme step, but then this wasn''t the first time for her to do something he opposed. She had been lying, trying to scheme, and he would have let her off the hook if she had confessed. But she had gone as far as to poison both him and Calhoun.

    It seemed like his mother still wanted to get rid of Calhoun and wanted to turn his nephew to be the King.

    "Calhoun," called King Laurence.

    Calhoun was quick to go near Laurence. "I am not happy that you didn''te to me, when you found out about what your grandmother did."

    "My sincere apologies, my King," Calhoun bowed his head, "I thought grandmother would rectify her ways. I promised her I wouldn''t mention it to anyone including you if she would notmit the mistake again, but I would have never guessed that she would try to kill you. I only wanted to strengthen my rtionship with her."

    Silence again filled between them, and Laurence went back to Morganna''s room.

    On seeing her son return, Morganna stood up from her chair in hope, ready to exin further to him why she wasn''t the one who poisoned him. But before she could say anything, and their eyes could meet, Laurence said,

    "Take her to the dungeon."

 Chapter 685 Fallen Queen- Part 1

    <h4>685 Fallen Queen- Part 1</h4>

    .

    The colour on Morganna''s face fell quickly when she heard the order given by her son Laurence to the guards. For a moment, everyone stared at the King and the Queen, not knowing if King Laurence was joking with them, but when the man didn''t utter another word, the people around the room realized how serious he was.

    Lady Samara had not expected her husband to order the guards to take her mother-inw, the Queen of Devon, to be dragged out of the castle. But then, no one had expected Morganna to poison her son.

    Morganna was in utter shock, and she pleaded, "Laurence you are being rash with your decision, please listen to me," her eyes had narrowed in disbelief because of the absurd order that her son had passed.

    The guards stood dumbstruck in their ce. Until now, the Queen was as important as the King in Devon.

    "I would never poison you, I would never hurt you. I am your mother, Laurence, and a mother never hurts her children," beseeched Morganna, "This is Calhoun''s ploy."

    Laurence didn''t respond to his mother. Instead, he red at the guards, "Didn''t you hear what I just said?"

    The guards quickly came to stand next to Morganna''s both sides, and they held her arms. "You cannot do this to me! I am the Queen of Devon! You cannot put me in the dungeon!" She struggled to get out of the guards hold. The bystanders silently watched the scene in front of them as Morganna was dragged out of the room, screaming and shouting about her innocence.

    Lady Samara couldn''t help but ponder on the Queen''s words. Her eyes fell on Calhoun, who stared at the door of the room through which Morganna had been dragged out. Could it be that Calhoun had framed Morganna? Maybe her husband didn''t see it, but she had noticed the obvious friction between the grandmother and the grandson.

    As if sensing her eyes, Calhoun turned to look at her, his eyes meeting her eyes that looked inexpressive at the moment.

    When Laurence and Samara reached their private chambers, Laurence sat on the bed, staring at the wall in front of him. How could his mother do this to him, he asked himself.

    "Laurence," spoke Samara, who came to sit next to him on the bed. "Do you think it is the right thing? To put your mother in the dungeon?"

    Laurence shook his head, "My mother is the only one to have the keys of her room and to the cupboard that holds her personal things. Her room is heavily guarded as ours, there''s no way anyone would have entered the room and broken into the cupboard."

    "But what if someone framed her? Someone tricky?" asked Samara in a tone of concern. "Don''t you think she has to go through a trial?"

    Samara''s lips were set in a thin line. A frown appeared on her face. It had been a long time since a royal family member had been sent to the dungeon or created treason of such high standing value.

    Back in the dungeon where Morganna was ced, she tried to free herself from the iron bars surrounding her.

    "Bring my son here! Imand you!" Morganna shouted at the guards who stood nearby, but they ignored her by not reacting to her words. "I demand to see him right now!"

    Morganna''s breath had shortened, and her eyes looked livid. "If you listen to me, I will give you a bag full of gold," she said to them, and her words finally caught one of the guard''s attention. "Just get my daughter Rosamund here. Bring her here so that I can talk."

    The guards looked at each other, passing looks before one of them decided to go and intimate the Queen''s daughter on what just happened in the castle.

    Morganna looked around the cell room where she had been ced that was dirty and badly smelled. How did she not see thising? She had taken all the precautions and had been careful in her steps.

    When she heard a couple of footsteps approaching her through the far passages, Morganna turned hopeful, hoping her son hade to talk to her. But then she saw it was the whore''s son who entered the ce where she was. Her eyes narrowed on seeing Calhoun.

    Calhoun walked towards where Morganna had been held while being closely followed by Theodore. Theodore dismissed the guards who were around, taking their ce so that Calhoun could talk to Morganna.

    Morganna breathed heavily, and in a low, threatening voice, she said, "Do you think your actions will be spared? Even if I don''t step out of here right away, my men will track your trails and hunt you down."

    Calhoun stared at the older vampiress, an expression of contentment filling up his face.

    "You look pretty good behind the iron bars like an animal being caged. Doesn''t it feel wonderful?" asked Calhoun to her in a casual tone. This received him a re. "Do you think I am scared of those people who work for you?" he tilted his head in question.

    Morganna tried not to lose herposure, and she said, "The High House that you support, they will be the one to track what you have done. By putting me under false charges."

    Calhoun clicked his tongue, making noise of disapproval at what Morganna said, "You really think they will catch me for something like this? I don''t know if it is your old catching up, but you should know by now that you are the one who is in trouble and not a single finger is pointing at me."

 Chapter 686 Fallen Queen- Part 2

    <h4>686 Fallen Queen- Part 2</h4>

    Morganna gritted her teeth. "Don''t y dumb with me, I know you were the one who poisoned my son! You psycho child of that whore! I knew Laurence had made a grave mistake when he brought to the castle."

    Calhoun stopped walking, and he turned around to meet Morganna''s eyes, "Are you sure that was his grave mistake?"

    His nails grew long, and he ran it across the iron bars as he walked back to where she stood, making a sound in the dungeon.

    "You must be wondering how I got inside your room," whispered Calhoun, and this had Morganna listen to him closely. She never parted with the keys that belonged to her room, and to see the poison ced not just anywhere in her room but inside the jewellery box, she had never expected it!

    "You stole the key, what else can I expect from a person like you who grew up in the dirty alley," spat Morganna in distaste.

    Calhoun chuckled, hearing her words, "I wonder about that." He said, his hand reaching for the lock of the cell room which held Morganna. When he ran his hand across it, Morganna heard a click sound, and her eyes turned wide.

    "W-what did you do?"

    "The right question would be how, isn''t it, grandmother?" asked Calhoun with a smug smile on his face.

    Seeing the gate of the cell she was in the open, she quickly tried to reach for it, but before her fingertips could evene in contact, Calhoun touched the lock, and an instant click was heard.

    "Get me out of here, Calhoun. We had a deal, you promised you would not bring my deeds out if we both upheld our deal!" Morganna clutched the iron bars with both her hands in frustration.

    It wasn''t like Morganna had believed the words that hade out of Calhoun''s mouth because she knew he was cunning. But she would have never imagined that he would act so swiftly within a day and frame her for treason.

    The smile on his lips only broadened by looking at Morganna''s plight.

    "This is only the beginning, or maybe near to an end that I have been looking forward to, dear grandmother."

    Morganna gritted her teeth, "The High House won''t leave you. Didn''t you hear what Helena said? She wants to catch people who wrongly frame their rtives with injustice and kill them. Do you think you won''t fall under her radar?"

    "What makes you believe that I would be caught?" came Calhoun''s dull question. "Do you think I am you? Don''t be mistaken...this is just a scratch of what I have been intending to do to you and your family."

    "She brought it upon herself. Do you think I didn''t warn her to leave Laurence alone?" red Morganna.

    "Why did you kick her out of the castle? No," he paused, "You humiliated her to the point where she couldn''t lift her head and meet one''s gaze outside our house."

    Morganna''s hands clenched into fists at the thought of Constance. "We were going to acquire the kingdom that belongs to the Lathams. The girl was willing to marry Laurence and everything was perfectly going well, but thenes this vige girl who has no identity, no stature, or no value. Devon would have been in a better condition if it weren''t for your mother."

    Calhoun had a calm expression on his face, "Seems like my mother was of a high value, because it''s costing you heavily now."

    Morganna could tell that Calhoun was not going to get her out of this ce. No bargain or trade between them could be made as he had already voided the one madest night.

    Out of spite, Morganna said, "What do you think you are going to achieve by doing this? Your mother was a whore who slept with men to satisfy their sexual desires, opening her legs and whoring in the viges as well as in the towns. I knew she didn''t deserve Laurence."

    Calhoun looked down at his shoes as if they had turned interesting, and he cleaned it with the back of his trouser as if wanting to polish it. "I think you forgot that you mentioned you were the one to push her into it."

    "I never told her to resort to opening her legs and whore around, I cannot tell how upset Laurence was when he found out about it. He despises her, the very thought of her," replied Morganna with a chuckle in the end. "Once he finds out what you have done, he will make sure to punish you in a way that you wish you were never born."

    "Thank you for the advice, I will keep that in my mind," a yawn escaped Calhoun''s lips, and he said, "I think we have spent quite some quality time together, I should get some sleep. I hope you enjoy your night here."

    "You are making a big mistake, Calhoun. You forget that I am the Queen, once I am-"

    Calhoun interrupted Morganna when he started tough, hisugh echoing in the dungeon. "I have such a forgetful grandmother. You are no Queen. That''s okay, because you have me. I will always be with you, grandmother. To remind and keep you here safely with me," he stressed on the word safely.

    He walked out of there, stepping out of the dungeon along with Theodore, who hade with Calhoun to meet the Queen who had fallen from her position.

 Chapter 687 Fallen Queen- Part 3

    <h4>687 Fallen Queen- Part 3</h4>

    Calhoun gave him a nod, "Yes, it is perfect. Let Rosamund know whom she''s up against and not to pull any strings that might damage her own family," he smiled, saying this.

    The next day arrived, and the news about Queen Morganna''s treason against King Laurence spread like wildfire in Devon and in other neighbouring kingdoms. The news also reached the High House and to the ears of Helena.

    "Do you think she did it?" questioned Dimitri.

    Helena had ced both her elbows on the table, and her fingers had interlinked with each other.

    The Hawthrone family...Helena wasn''t sure what to think about it. The King had gone as far as to present a cursed jewel to his own mother that could kill any creature if the person wore it. And she would have believed that the King wanted the Queen to be dead by putting her in the dungeon, but word had it that the woman had tried to kill King Laurence by poisoning him.

    She couldn''t disregard the fact where Queen Morganna had collected Hanima''s cursed jewels, and with the way it looked, Morganna knew what those jewels could do.

    "What other things have you heard from the castle?" questioned Helena.

    "It seems a few days ago, Calhoun was poisoned and the King was the recent person to be poisoned in the castle," replied Dimitri. "The Queen even tried to frame the guard. She seems to be the culprit in many things."

    "It seems like it," responded Helena, but there was a doubt in her mind that didn''t wholly point at the Queen. Something seemed amiss to her.

    One of the men who worked for the Queen and was working in the High House arrived at Helena''s room door.

    "Lady Helena," the man bowed his head, and he said, "I believe the Queen is being framed for something she hasn''t done. Lady Rosamund, Queen Morganna''s daughter, wants you to take action to look at this injustice."

    Upon hearing this Helena frowned , and she said, "Dimitri has already sent the men to find the physician to know about the origin of the poison so that we can trace who sold the poison to whom. But one right doesn''t correct the wrong that has been made. We cannot overlook the fact that the Queen murdered an innocent person through someone. I will speak to the King."

    And even though Helena nned to speak to King Laurence, she couldn''t find anything more as it seemed like his mother had indeed poisoned him, and he was utterly furious by the Queen''s actions and Helena''s presence in the Hawthrone castle.

    Rosamund, who had arrived at the castle, tried to convince her brother and bring him back his senses so that he wouldn''t take a harsh decision against their mother.

    Laurence''s back faced Rosamund, and a look of pure displeasure had marred his face, "If you havee here to speak about this, I would like to ask you to leave. Else it would only make me think that you are involved in this treason."

    Hearing this, Rosamund''s jaw fell.

    Her brother then said, "Don''t think I don''t know how you have been eyeing the throne before I even turned King. Rosa, go back to your mansion and rest. I prefer not to speak about this treason right now."

    Rosamund wanted to save their mother, and only the King''s word could get her mother out of her current state, but she could tell her brother was wrapped around Calhoun''s finger. When did this happen? It felt like history was repeating itself, but instead of the weak Constance she and her mother had gotten rid of, they were now up against Constance''s cunning son.

    "I don''t mean to irk you, brother," said Rosamund in a sad tone, trying to gain pity in her brother''s eyes. "I only wanted to speak to you as you are my brother. I doubt you would ever do anything wrong, but it is possible that our mother was wrongly used. Are you sure Calhoun-"

    "Calhoun has nothing to do with it. Mother had turned delusional, poisoning us, and if she had something against you, she would do the same with you. Tell me something, Rosa," said the King, turning around to face his sister. "Did you know that mother was stealing the wealth that was umted for the welfare of Devon and for me?"

    Rosamund shook her head.

    "Go back home, Rosa," said Laurence.

    Rosamund stepped out of the room, making her way down the stairs when she caught Calhoun and his right-hand man in the opposite direction, walking next to each other. Upon meeting each other face to face, her so-called nephew bowed his head in greeting.

    "Good afternoon, Lady Rosamund. Were you here to meet the King?" asked Calhoun.

    "Yes," she replied, both of them not showing their emotions of how they felt towards each other. "I hoped to see if Laurence could change his mind. Do you think my mother poisoned him too?" she feigned ignorance and questioned Calhoun.

    A sigh escaped Calhoun''s lips, "I understand it is hard to ept the truth, but the King would never make a mistake in passing down the judgment. Would he?" he passed the question back to the vampiress.

    She was surprised by his words,ing to understand the depth of this person''s craftiness.

    For a moment, Rosamund didn''t know what to say, and finally responded with, "I will go and see how mother is doing," and Calhoun and Theodore bowed at her, while Rosamund only spared a nod before she walked away from there.

    "Have you nned anything for her?" asked Theodore, watching the woman leave.

    "Maybeter. We still have others in line," said Calhoun.

 Chapter 688 Revenge- Part 1

    <h4>688 Revenge- Part 1</h4>

    .

    When the news about Queen Morganna''s treason towards the King of Devon reached Greville''s mansion, Lucy went straight to meet Samuel, who was in the study room working.

    "Is it true?" questioned Lucy after entering the room and finding Samuel sitting behind the desk. "About what grandmother did?"

    She had been in the drawing-room with her maids when the news reached her ears through one of the maids. She would have never expected her grandmother to poison her father.

    Samuel held a grim expression on his face, "It is true," he replied to her and a deep frown appeared on Lucy''s forehead.

    Lucy quickly walked to stand in front of the desk, and she questioned, "What else did you hear? Did you hear why she might have done it? Shouldn''t we be going to Hawthrone''s castle to see if father is alright?"

    Samuel saw his wife being distressed by the news, and he pushed his chair back before standing up and walked around to face Lucy. "I received the newsst evening."

    "Why didn''t you tell me?" she asked. This was about her family, and she wanted to know everything that was going on in there.

    She saw her husband offer her a kind smile, and he then ced his hand on her arm, "I didn''t want you to get worried until I heard things in the castle are calm." He paused for a moment and then said, "The High House have involved themselves in this matter and in their eyes, everyone is a suspect because it wasn''t just the King, but also Calhoun who was poisoned. Anyone entering the castle will fall under the radar."

    "Brother Calhoun was poisoned too?" Lucy''s tone turned worried. Why were bad things happening after she had left the castle?

    "Unfortunately that is how it is," replied Samuel to her before going to answer the rest of her questions, "Queen Morganna tried to frame one of Calhoun'' men for someone''s murder and she has been caught not only for holding poison in her room that affects vampires, but she also stole wealth from the kingdom''s treasury for her own use."

    Lucy pursed her lips and then asked, "You wouldn''t mind if I go and visit the Hawthrone castle, would you?"

    Samuel felt a tick in his jaw because he had just exined why Lucy shouldn''t go there. "What do you n to do by going there?" he asked her.

    Lucy could feel the disapproval from Samuel, but she brushed it away. It had been nearly a week since they had been married, and even though Lucy married the Duke''s son, she found it hard to love him. She didn''t feel the connection��

    Her husband was an understanding man, letting her do what she pleased in the mansion, dotting on her, but why was it that her heart continued to feel empty, questioned Lucy to herself.

    Samuel sighed and then offered her a smile, "Okay."

    A smile spread on Lucy''s lips, and she was quick to leave the room so that she could get ready and leave the mansion to visit the Hawthrone''s castle. When Lucy left, the smile on Samuel''s lips instantly fell, and he called one of his servants.

    "Get the carriage ready for Lady Lucy, and another one for me," ordered Samuel.

    The servant who was right outside the study room looked taken aback by the Duke''s request, and he politely asked, "Won''t you be travelling with Lady Lucy to the castle, sire?"

    "No, I have some other important work to attend to. I will go to pick her upter," said Samuel before dismissing the servant from the room.

    The Grivelle''s mansion and the Hawthrone''s castle weren''t nearby, and the journey took quite some time before Lucy finally reached the castle. Even with only a few days that had passed since she had left the castle, the atmosphere felt foreign, making her wonder why it was so.

    While she continued to walk through the corridors, Theodore, who was walking from the other direction, his eyes narrowed as if this castle was no ce for her. The look didn''t go unnoticed by Lucy, and she felt a prick in her heart.

    They came to stand right in front of each other, and Lucy''s eyes fell on Theodore''s neck that still had a round mark that was under healing. She was about to ask him how he was doing, but instead, he was the one to speak first.

    "Good evening, Lady Lucy," Theodore bowed his head, "Did youe alone? Mr. Gerville didn''te with you?" he asked, looking behind her.

    Lucy clenched her fists, "No, he didn''t. I came to visit father and mother."

    "I see," he responded to her. "King Laurence is in the royal court room with your mother. Would you like me to walk you there?"

    The pain and sadness that had covered Lucy''s heart had slowly started to rece her love with hate, because it was easier to cope with hate than with the heartbreak. Was she the only one to feel this way? But then Lucy had to remind herself that she was a married woman now, and she was no more that girl who she was a few days ago.

    "I haven''t lost my memory on where the royal court room is, I can find it myself without your help," she retorted to Theodore''s question before walking past him without waiting for him to say anything more.

    The servants who caught sight of her were quick to bow their head in greeting, and Lucy finally stepped into the royal court room where her parents sat with a few ministers.

    "Lucy?" came the surprised voice from Lady Samara, and she quickly left her husband''s side to wee her daughter. "Is everything alright? What are you doing here?"

    Lucy said, "I heard what happened here and decided toe here as soon as I could." Her mother looked behind her before looking back at her. "Father," she bowed her head in greeting.

    Laurence, who was already in a bad mood since his poisoning and his mother''s treason towards the crown, wasn''t pleased to see Lucying all alone by herself without her husband apanying her.

    "How are you feeling father?" asked Lucy, her voice filled with concern, while noticing the paleness in her father''splexion.

    "Doing much better now. You should have informed us beforehand that you were arriving here. Where is Samuel?" questioned Laurence.

    "He had some important work to finish and said he woulde hereter," informed Lucy. Laurence dismissed the ministers who were in the room so that it could have only the Hawthrone family members. "I couldn''t believe when I heard grandmother did something like this."

    Laurence nodded his head, "I don''t think any of us saw iting. She''s not only grown old but lost her sense of what is right and wrong," he clicked his tongue in the end.

    Apprehensively, Lucy asked her mother, "W-where is she now?"

    "Locked away in the dungeon. We are waiting to see what the High House is going to do as they want to be involved in our family matters, tch, the strangers," Laurence was not happy with the fact that Helena and her people wanted to involve themselves when he could take the necessary actions himself. "Calhoun has gone to visit the High House and check what decision they have taken."

    Lucy moved to the side, talking to her mother who said, "You shouldn''t leave the mansion by yourself, Lucy. You aren''t a little girl, but a married woman now. The next time something like this happens, don''te running here all by yourself. You belong to the Gerville''s family now, not the Hawthrone''s, do you understand that?"

    She had hoped her mother would tell her she missed her presence in the castle, that she would invite her for tea and talk to her. Instead, it looked like her parents were displeased by her sudden presence in the castle.

 Chapter 689 Revenge- Part 2

    <h4>689 Revenge- Part 2</h4>

    "It would be better if you don''t. Your father was upset because your aunt Rosamund went to visit the Queen without his permission. You wouldn''t want to irk him now, would you?" whispered Lady Samara and she suggested. "Come let''s step out of the room for some air."

    But before they could take their leave, Calhoun walked inside the royal court room, bowing his head to the King.

    "What news have you brought from the High House, Calhoun? I hope it is something good," said King Laurence.

    Calhoun said, "It is my King. The High House has dered Queen Morganna to be guilty for the treason and for murdering while framing an innocent person. Helena said she is willing to give us permission to handle the punishment."

    Hearing this, Laurence fell silent, and Lady Samara turned worried on what her husband was going to decide. Though Laurence was furious after finding out his mother had tried to kill him, at the same time, this was his mother.

    Now that the time of judgment was here, it was time to make a decision.

    "I thought I had a family who loved each other and wouldn''t go against each other''s neck to kill..." muttered King Laurence under his breath. "But timees and we need to decide."

    Calhoun didn''t want to let the opportunity slip away from him, and he said,? "It is indeed a sad thing, father. I can only imagine how much this decision weighs on your shoulders."

    Laurence nodded his head, "It is good that Lucy isn''t staying here and is married. Else who knows, your grandmother would have poisoned you and Samara would be the next one," he sighed in the end. "It is better to ask one of the executioners to run the punishment."

    "Father, if you allow me," interrupted Calhoun, "I would like to take the responsibility. She tried to kill the King and instant death is too easy for her. Please allow me to handle this, while you rest at ease so that no harm befalls on you or your image in public."

    While King Laurence thought about what Calhoun just said, Lucy''s eyes widened by hearing that Calhoun wanted to take the initiative with the punishment.

    It was Lady Samara who watched Calhoun with an apprehensive look. It was like invisible lines connected to the events, she could only question if it was her overthinking or if things that were happening were something to do with Calhoun.

    "I don''t want any rtive or family member to think that they could get away easily after causing treason. Any person should think ten times before they try to harm any of us," Calhoun swayed the King.

    After a while, Laurence finally gave Calhoun a nod. "I don''t want to see or know about her."

    "Yes, my King," Calhoun bowed his head.

    "The atmosphere in the castle is not right for you to stay in, Lucy," said Calhoun, his eyes shifting to look at the newlywed vampiress.

    Lucy frowned, "It looks like everyone is trying to chase me away from the castle, not wanting my presence in here."

    Calhoun then cleared her doubts, "The castle right now is polluted with doubts and mistrust. I wouldn''t like you getting involved in it and you should try to stay away from it," he advised her. "You are more than wee when all these things are settled. It hasn''t been long since the King was poisoned, we don''t know who else will be poisoned next."

    "How are you doing? I heard you were poisoned too," asked Lucy in worry.

    Calhoun offered her a smile, "I am doing much better. Almost as if I am all new."

    Truthfully, Lucy had mixed feelings about her grandmother, who was going to undergo punishment.

    Her grandmother had been nothing but a Queen figure and less of a grandmother to Lucy. The pain of the loss she felt when she had found Ruby hanging in the gallows, the images continued to haunt her when she went to bed.

    "Please take care of yourself, brother Calhoun. I shall be going now," informed Lucy.

    Calhoun tilted his head to the side, "Aren''t you going to stay back? Supper isn''t too far."

    "Maybe another time," she answered. And it seemed like everyone was busy with other things. She bowed her head, and Calhoun returned it with his own and saw her walk out of the room.

    While on her way, Lucy met Theodore in a corridor away from the royal court room. "Are you leaving, mdy?" asked Theodore.

    Lucy gritted her teeth, and her eyes snapped to meet his eyes, "Don''t try to talk to me unless I speak to you first."

    A faint smile appeared on Theodore''s lips, "It seems like you have finally understood the difference between us. How have the people in the Grivelle''s mansion been treating you?"

    "They have been treating me very well, thank you. Always making sure to see all my needs are fulfilled and my husband dotes on me. Without giving me empty words that he cannot fulfil, unlike other people," replied Lucy, and Theodore looked at her eyes red.

    "How wonderful. You are a lucky woman," praised Theodore.

    Lucy crossed her arms, "Of course I am. I got married into a good family, a husband who loves me. Samuel is a good man, he would never do anything to hurt me. Never."

    They stared at each other, an unspoken friction between them without more words being exchanged by them. Around the same time, Samuel arrived at the castle, and he caught sight of his wife, who was standing in front of a meagre bodyguard who served Calhoun.

    Samuel noticed something very odd in front of him and his lips twitched. He walked to where his wife stood. He put his arm around Lucy, that surprised her, and said, "Good evening. Are we leaving already?" he asked Lucy.

    Even though Lucy had praised her husband, there was an obvious wall that she had built with Samuel, and she smiled, "Yes."

    Samuel didn''t bother to speak to Theodore and only spared a look at him before taking his wife with him.

    Theodore watched the couple who were leaving, his eyes falling on Samuel. There was something different about the man, he thought to himself. The gentle nature had started to evaporate, and the man seemed certainly jealous of him standing in front of Lucy.

    Calhoun, who made his way out of the royal court room, walking in the corridors, caught Theodore standing in the middle while staring at the other end of the hall.

    "Everything alright?" questioned Calhoun.

    "Perfectly splendid," replied Theodore before asking, "Have you decided when to carry out the punishment?"

    Calhoun hummed in response. For months, Calhoun had dreamt of feeling the satisfaction of killing the people who had hurt his mother. And even though he had done nothing, the excitement had his lips broaden to a wide smile. It was going to be beautiful.

 Chapter 690 Revenge- Part 3

    <h4>690 Revenge- Part 3</h4>

    And when it was time, Calhoun entered the dungeon where Morganna was held as a prisoner. He dismissed the guards, ordering them to step outside while ordering only two of them to follow him.

    On seeing Calhoun return, Morganna threw a hateful re at him.

    "Are you here to taunt me again of how I will be left to rot in this ce?" she spat the question.

    Calhoun stood looking at Morganna, his gaze unwavering while the guards opened the gates, "We decided to promote you to stay in a secluded room. After all you were a Queen and you should be well taken care of," he said to her.

    Morganna could only narrow her eyes at Calhoun''s words, not knowing what hidden meaning his words carried in them. "Where is Laurence? I want to speak to him," she demanded. She tried to get away from the guards, but they caught hold of her arm on either side and shifted her to another room that had walls.

    "King Laurence doesn''t wish to see your face," answered Calhoun while standing at the side of the entrance of the door, leaning against it. He watched the guards shackle her legs and hands, where the ends of the chains were attached to the walls. "You can leave us," he ordered the guard, and the men bowed their head before leaving the premise of the dungeon.

    Morganna tried to pull her hands and legs, but the shackles stopped her movements.

    It was because of this boy her son was not listening to her words.

    "What do you n to do to me? Keep me prisoner for the remaining days of my life?" she asked him.

    "That''s the n," he responded to her. "You didn''t tell me how you feel being shackled. I am sure you have had a fair share of putting innocent people in the dungeons and killing them mercilessly."

    Morganna''s jaw ticked, but she tried to keep her calm, "You think things like these will irk me? That it will humiliate me?"

    "I don''t know if they will, but seeing you in this state does bring the needed healing in my chest," said Calhoun, his eyes closely watching Morganna. "You could have let it go, let my mother be while you carried on with your petty lives. I will make sure that you regret throwing her out, kicking her out."

    Morganna chuckled, hearing this, "You think by hurting me will make you feel better? It is only a temporary feeling, Calhoun. And the way I see it, you will turn just like me, after all like you said, we are rted by blood. It would be impossible for you to not acquire some of my qualities."

    "Did you feed them with your lies too?" Morganna''s eyes hardened.

    "Does it matter if I did or didn''t. What you should be worried about is what I am going to do with you."

    Morganna stared at Calhoun, "Do you think I am going to beg you to spare my life? If I die, I will die honourably and one day everyone will find out what you did."

    Hearing Morganna''s words, the echo of Calhoun''sughter filled up the entire room and the adjacent cells of the dungeon. "Honourable? You are a delusional bitch to think people view you that way." He then looked to his right to see a long and lean iron rod that leaned against the wall right now. "I told you I was going to keep you with me forever."

    Calhoun''s hand reached out for the metal rod, his fingers wrapping around the cold object that had a coarse outer coating because of the formation of rust over time.

    Morganna''s eyes narrowed, fear slowly started to crawl down her spine, and she blurted, "I am the Queen and a Queen is supposed to be beheaded or shot."

    "Fallen Queen, Morganna. Really, what am I going to do with you," Morganna grew extremely nervous on seeing the cold smile that was on Calhoun''s face. "For the sins you havemitted, beheading and getting shot is too easy. Did you think I would let you go that easily?" came his chill spinning voice.

    Calhoun didn''t forget the blood that coated his hands when he pushed his hand through his mother''s chest. His mother curled up in the cold bed, coughing blood. He didn''t forget a thing about it.

    Morganna realized her position, and she asked, "W-what do you think you are doing? Don''t do it, Calhoun!"

    She wanted to live and not die! She was the Queen of Devon! She shook her head. "We c-can still sit down and talk, let''s not rush, alright?"

    Calhoun relished by looking at Morganna''s misery.

    The older vampiress whose eyes were once filled with pride, arrogance and nopassion for others now looked pitiful. Her eyes pleaded for mercy.

    "Your father, Laurence won''t be happy about this-"

    "Don''t worry about it," he said in a low voice,ing to stand in front of her. "I will make sure to send him to you as soon as I can."

    "Stop it! Calhoun!" she shouted in panic.

    Morganna took a step back, trying to get away from Calhoun, but he was quick to catch hold of her arm in a tight grip. The woman shook her head, starting to reason out with him, but Calhoun''s eyes had turned hollow.

    "You look so scared, you don''t have to worry about it," Calhoun smiled down at her, his hand holding her arm painfully and Morganna tried to pull away. Her movements of struggle caused the shackles to make noise.

    Calhoun yfully raised the iron rod and brought it to point at her, "Where would you like to be poked, grandmother?" he asked her with a sweet smile.

    "P-please, no. I-I will listen to you. I swear!" begged Morganna.

    "That''s okay," came Calhoun''s dull voice. "I don''t want to hear you speak anymore."

    When she started to scream for the guards to help her, in less than a second, he pushed the sharp edge of it right through Morganna''s mouth so that the rod slowly passed from the front to the back beforeing out to get stuck to the wall.

    Blood sttered on the ground from behind Morganna''s neck and her mouth as she made incoherent noise. Her lips, hands and her legs trembled. Her eyes had turned wide in shock while the pain spread across her body.

    Calhoun pulled out a cigar from his pocket and lit it up, watching more blood spilling from the woman''s body, on the dirty ground.

 Chapter 691 Deep until elbow- Part 1

    <h4>691 Deep until elbow- Part 1</h4>

    .

    The news was quick to spread across Devon''snd about the fallen Queen who had been executed on the King and the High House'' members orders formitting treason. As shocking as the news was when it reached their ears, people slowly forgot it and continued their lives as if the Queen''s death didn''t matter to them anymore.

    In the royal cemetery, Theodore silently stood in front of one of the cemented graves. Revenge never brought back a person, but it somewhere did pacify the pain that had stayed in Theodore''s mind.

    He returned to the castle and went to the royal court to see Calhoun humouring the King with something he had found out about Devon''s ministers. With the Queen not in the scene anymore, Theodore didn''t know what Calhoun was waiting for.

    "Isn''t Calhoun wonderful?" praised King Laurence. "He''s my true sessor, and also my saviour. If it weren''t for my son who used his quick thinking in removing the poison quickly out of my body, I would have either been dead or bed ridden."

    "Aye, my King," came the voices from the ministers who were in the royal court room in agreement.

    "My mother thought she could overthrow me and my son, but here we are and she...she''s dead for her misdeeds," stated King Laurence, with little to no pity towards his mother, who wasn''t with them anymore. "Rosamund," he addressed his sister.

    "Yes, my King," she bowed her head in response.

    "Do keep this in mind that in the future if I die, Calhoun should be crowned as the King and no one else," King Laurence was still bitter with the thought that his mother, along with his sister, had tried to pull strings to overthrow him.

    Rosamund nodded her head in acknowledgement.

    When the discussion in the court came to an end, people started to leave the room. Alone, Theodore finally asked Calhoun, "What are you waiting for?"

    "The right time," replied Calhoun. "I heard from one of the men in the High House that Morganna''s followers are still working on trying to pin the me on me for her death. It would be best to give some time before we make another attack so that they aren''t suspicious."

    "Rosamund keeps looking at you,"mented Theodore, and Calhoun smiled.

    "It would be strange if she didn''t. She is trying to get into the good side of the King, but we all know how her position has fallen in the King''s eyes," said Calhoun. "Let''s pick two weeks from now."

    Theodore turned to look at Calhoun, "How would you want it to be done?" he questioned.

    After a couple of seconds passed, Theodore was walking in one of the corridors, going to the shed next to the castle, when Rosamund appeared in front of him.

    "Theodore Chauncey, I would like to speak to you about something," said the vampiress.

    Theodore didn''t refuse, and he walked along with Rosamund, a questioning look in his eyes. "Was there something you needed, mdy?"

    Rosamund nodded her head, a grim expression on her face, "As you know, the King doesn''t like anyone bringing up the topic about the Queen in front of him. I wanted to know where my mother''s body has been buried so that I can go and visit her. I was hoping you could tell me where she is."

    "My apologies, Lady Rosamund, but I don''t know where the Queen''s body is," Theodore bowed his head in apology. "I think it would be best if you ask Advisor Calhoun about it. He was the one who executed her."

    The vampiress gritted her teeth, her jaw ticking. At first, her plea to save her mother''s life had been refused, and now no one cared to know where her body was.

    "Is it in the dungeon?" demanded Rosamund.

    "All the bodies in the castle''s dungeon have been cleared a week ago. I doubt you will find it there. I have some important matters to take care of. If you will excuse me now," offering another bow, Theodore left her standing in rage.

    Rosamund left the castle and went straight to meet the bunch of ministers who were her mother''s loyal servants.

    "What is taking so long to reopen the case?" Rosamund demanded the four men who stood in front of her. "It has been many days since the Queen''s death and we haven''t even scratched the surface of what we were supposed to do. Nor have you seeded in erasing the woman and the High House organization, neither have you been able to put Calhoun under the High House''s scrutiny."

    "Forgive us, Lady Rosamund, but the situation ispletely differentpared to how you are viewing it. Head Lady Helena passed the judgment on Queen Morganna''s actions before she was executed. Neither the King nor Calhoun took it in their own hands until Helena signed papers to carry out with the execution."

    Rosamund didn''t understand how things had taken such a sharp turn. She knew that Calhoun had entered the castle to destroy her family. It was only a matter of time before he woulde after her, thought Rosamund in her mind.

    "Laurence is too blind with power and I cannot let him have the crown," stated Rosamund. "He is intent on saying he will handover the power to Calhoun, but he will continue to hold on to the throne like a stubborn child. I know some things that may help in getting Laurence off the throne."

    One of the ministers looked curious, and he asked, "What is it , mdy?"

    "I know the people who have been missing and were killed on my brother''s order. I will send the list of people to you and you can reopen the wounds of the people so that they can reach out for the High House for help," exined the vampiress. "I am sure you can take care of the rest of it."

    While Rosamund was intensively nning to remove her brother from the throne to take control for herself, Calhoun in the castle had his own ns. Two weeks passed, and some of the rtives arrived at the castle to have lunch with the royal family.

    "Good afternoon, Calhoun," greeted Mr. Moryett, a distant rtive of King Laurence. "How have you been doing?"

    "Very well, Sir. How have you been doing yourself, Mr. Moyett? I see Ethan isn''t here," Calhoun''s eyes fell behind the man before looking back at the person.

    "Ethan said he had to work. He has been terribly busy and doesn''t have time to evene home, ends up sleeping at the office,"ughed Mr. Moryett.

    Calhoun offered the man a smile, "He is a diligent man. I can only hope that we can continue to have a good rtionship between us so that I can make use of his skills."

 Chapter 692 Deep until elbow- Part 2

    <h4>692 Deep until elbow- Part 2</h4>

    "You are too kind with your words, Mr. Moryett. I am more than happy to stay as an advisor in the royal court," Calhoun wore a charming smile on his lips, speaking to every one of them while making sure to let them know how important they were. People were always quick to fall for the ttering words thrown at them, and they often obliged to be nice to the other person, and those were the people who wanted to impress others by their presence.

    On the other side of the room, Lady Samara was talking to a woman who asked,

    "Isn''t Lucying today?"

    Lady Samara replied, "We did send out the invitation. I don''t know what''s taking her this long."

    Calhoun overheard the woman''s words but didn''t react to them. A few days ago, when he and Theodore were sending the invitations to the people who would be in their favour and behave as assumed, Calhoun had found the unsent letter that was addressed to the Greville''s family. It was Theodore who had refrained from inviting Lucy to the castle, and it only made Calhoun question to what extent Theodore cared for his half-sister.

    Calhoun didn''t let his mind wander too much on unnecessary things when there was death to be executed today. When everyone started to head towards the dining room, Lucy appeared with her husband, catching both Theodore and Calhoun''s attention.

    "I thought you didn''t send the invitation," whispered Calhoun.

    "I didn''t," replied Theodore in a deep frown.

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, and he wondered who had invited Lucy today. "Greetings to the King," Samuel bowed his head, and so did Lucy. Laurence nodded his head and hugged his daughter.

    "We thought you weren''t going toe. What made you sote?" asked King Laurence.

    "I think the delivery person lost the letter. If it weren''t for Aunt Rosamund''s letter, we would have nevere to know," replied Lucy with a smile.

    "Well, it is good to know that you are writing letters to your aunt. And Samuel, I hope you are treating my daughter well," the King raised his eyebrows.

    Samuel offered his polite smile, "I am my King. She''s the Queen of my mansion."

    While everyone continued to walk into the dining room, Theodore turned his head towards Calhoun and whispered, "Do you think I can add her in today''s list?"

    Calhoun was displeased by Lucy''s presence because he didn''t want to deal with everything today itself, but Rosamund Wilmot had truly decided to fill in her mother''s position. "Depending on the avability of time," replied Calhoun before making his way to sit at the table.

    Lucy sat next to her husband, Samuel, who was showered with questions by other rtives.

    Though Lucy had put on a smile on her face, she didn''t know why the invitation hadn''t reached the mansion. Did her family not want to invite her? But then her father seemed pleased to have her here, to have lunch with him, and it was enough to soothe her anxious feelings.

    She didn''t interact much with the people around her, but her eyes did slowly move to look on the opposite side where Theodore stood with his back facing against the wall. The time they had spent together on her patio during midnight seemed like a beautiful dream that was never going to repeat. There were days when sheid in the bed, staring at the walls while she had her back facing Samuel, wondering how her life had changed so quickly.

    While Lucy was lost in her thoughts, Samuel turned to ask something from Lucy, and he caught sight of her watching Theodore. The man couldn''t help but question if something had happened between Lucy and the guard who worked directly under Calhoun. Even though Samuel had married Lucy for his own benefit without a drop of actual interest in her, he now felt the streak of jealousy spread in his mind.

    But before Samuel could speak to Lucy, a heated discussion arose at the table with the King and one of the ministers who closely worked with the deceased Queen.

    "My King, I would never do anything like that. My loyalty lies with you and not with Queen Morganna," said the minister whose name was Merden. "I had no idea that the Queen was stealing from the treasury."

    King Laurence looked down at the minister, "People in this room behave as if they weren''t benefitting from my mother for working for her and keeping their mouth shut. Since Calhoun has decided to go through the records and find out what things each of you have decided to buy for yourselves in the past few years."

    The minister looked highly offended and humiliated in front of others. "I think you are wrong to use me, my King. I will cooperate with advisor Calhoun along with the rest."

    "Wrong?" King Laurence continued to speak, "I will make sure to find out who else is trying to dethrone me. All of them will be executed. Hope all of you tread carefully," and he raised his ss as if to toast on it.

    The two other ministers who had spoken to Rosamund two weeks ago turned ufortable at the thought that they were going to be exposed. Unwillingly, they raised their sses with the others at the table before drinking to the King''s health.

    "I doubt there''s anyone who would dare to try such a thing, my King. Please be at peace about it," assured Calhoun.

    Minister Merden excused himself and left the dining room as he wanted to tell the mistakes the King hadmitted, but that would only cost him his life.

    After lunch was over, Laurence and Calhoun moved into a private room so that the King could speak about what was troubling his mind. It was apparent that the King had been shaken after the first attempt of his murder, and he didn''t know who woulde after him.

    "I think it would be only wise to change all the ministers with the new ones to work in the royal court so that we don''t have to worry about such silly things," stated King Laurence with deep thought.

    "I would be more than willing to do that, my King. Give me your permission and I will be at your service," came the polite words from Calhoun.

    Laurence said, "Can you sense it? The atmosphere in the dining room was strange as if something is going on that I am unaware of. There''s some sort of conspiracy." Calhoun stood there with a straight face as the King continued to speak, "I will get a few things in writing so that it could get the approval."

    Saying this, Laurence walked towards his table, pulling out the parchment and quill. He wrote something in there before handing it to Calhoun.

 Chapter 693 Deep until elbow- Part 3

    <h4>693 Deep until elbow- Part 3</h4>

    "Forgive me father, but if I am not wrong, there are some people in the High House who might try to oppose the idea," Calhoun reminded Laurence, and a deep frown appeared on the older vampire''s face.

    King Laurence nodded his head in agreement over his son''s words. There were still people in the High House who could disapprove of his request and question it. "Guards!" he called. And in came the guards who were standing outside the room. "Get Devon''s finest executioners and send them to the High House to get the men who used to work for Queen Morganna. Send the order without any dy," he ordered the guards.

    "There, we don''t have to worry about my mother''s minions," assured King Laurence, and Calhoun offered his father the kindest smile he could muster.

    "You are right, father. There is nothing to worry now and you are the King of Devon, no one wille in your way," agreed Calhoun.

    "Why don''t I take the parchment back and once we finish washing our hands from the disloyal people, we can have this submitted," said Laurence and Calhoun didn''t question his father''s decision. Though Laurence was grateful towards Calhoun, it didn''t mean the manpletely trusted Calhoun.

    A servant appeared in front of the closed doors and informed, "King, Laurence, Sir Merden said he would like to speak to you about what happened in the dining room."

    Laurence rolled his eyes, "Look at that. After they realize who is the real master, they alle wagging their tails back to me." Looking at the door, he said, "Tell him I will see him in the cer room."

    "Yes, milord!"

    "I will take my leave so that you can discuss with him, father," and Calhoun was ready to leave, but King Laurence stopped him.

    "That won''t be needed. You can join us and listen in on whatever this man wants to tell. Come with me, Calhoun," saying this King Laurence stepped out of the room. Calhoun took three seconds before he joined his father''s side.

    On their way, Calhoun caught sight of Theodore, who wasing from the other direction. Their eyes met for the briefest moment as if sending a message before walking past each other.

    Theodore and Calhoun had already discussed where, when and what they were going to do. His responsibility was to keep the people away and stop them from witnessing the murder that was going to happen soon. Calhoun continued to walk with Laurence until he suddenly stopped.

    "What''s the matter, Calhoun?" questioned the King, not liking the fact that his son was making him wait.

    Calhoun had a deep frown on his face, "I think I just saw Merden walk towards the North Wing. I think he took the passage to the undercroft."

    Calhoun followed his father with steady steps, and his expression once again turned vacant, his eyes filled with a look of menace. He followed the King like a ghost of death who wanted to reap the King out of this living world.

    The guards and the servants had been called to the front of the castle due to the number of guests on the other side, leaving this ce unprotected. They entered the undercroft, their footsteps not echoing while Laurence tried to figure out where to catch the unfaithful minister!

    When they came to an end where the inner gates were locked, Laurence frowned and turned around to question, "Where did he go? What a waste of time, we should get back now-"

    "What''s the urgency in it, father. Let''s stay here," said Calhoun.

    Laurence noted the change of tone in Calhoun''s words. "What do you n on doing here? The undercrofts are dusty and not a ce for us." Calhoun stepped forward when Laurence took a step as if to stop him from walking any further. "What do you think you are doing?" Laurence asked, his eyes narrowed.

    Suddenly Calhoun''s hand moved to catch hold of Laurence''s neck, and he pushed him against the giant wall.

    "W-what, are you doing, Calhoun?" asked his father in shock with his eyes turned wide, "Free me right this instant! It is my order! Stop your jokes right now!"

    A chuckle escaped Calhoun''s lips, watching his father struggle to get out of his hold, but he was too strong for the King.

    "Order? A King who cannot shield his own back is not worth being a King. How does it feel to be powerless?" asked Calhoun to the King. His father couldn''t move an inch except to talk. "Jokes?" he asked, staring into his father''s eyes, who had stopped struggling.

    Laurence didn''t know what was going on. One moment, he was having a wonderful time with his son and right now, his son was holding his neck, which waspletely disrespectful!

    "I don''t know if I did something that upset you, but surely we can speak about it," said his father in nervousness.

    Calhoun moved closer to whisper next to his father''s ear, "You have the nerve to ask if you did something to upset me? You killed my mother, you and your family, isn''t it only right that I repay your kind service?"

    He pulled away, and a broad smile spread across his lips.

    "I don''t want to go into details," said Calhoun, cing his hand on his father''s chest and running his fingers over the material. "I have spent enough time with you and I would rather not increase it."

    Laurence looked left and right, hoping for guards to arrive, but Calhoun only increased the grip around the King''s neck.

    "I-I loved Constance, your mother, she loved me," the King tried to yback with Calhoun. "I know you are angry with me, but I am really sorry for what I did and if you like, we can speak about her. I w-will give you every single m-memory of her, how about that?"

    Calhoun continued to stare before he closed his eyes and sighed. "You think I haven''t heard about it?" he tilted his head.

    "What do you want?! I will give you anything. I will make you the King right this instant!" Laurence tried to bribe his son.

    Calhoun tapped his fingers on his father''s chest, "That I will be when you die. Do not worry, father. I will make sure you die heroically unlike the kind of worthless person you truly are." He pushed his fingers through his father''s chest, digging it in deep to see his father splutter blood from his mouth.

    "I have taken care of you! You are my son. I love you! Stop this, Calhoun!" his father pleaded, and Calhoun smiled in satisfaction.

    "I don''t care," came the hollow words from Calhoun''s lips. When he heard the sound of footsteps, he whispered, "Don''t feel sad. I will send your beloved wife to give youpany." Laurence''s eyes widened, darkening as it was turning empty.

    Calhoun''s hand had dipped in blood until his elbow. It was because he had not stopped by just pulling out his father''s heart, but he had pushed his hand through the back of his father before dropping the heart on the ground.

    Laurence dropped dead on the ground, blood starting to surround his body, and in a few seconds, Lady Samara appeared in the undercroft''s passages. A gasp escaped her lips when she caught sight of her husband lying dead on the ground. She quickly ran to where his body was.

    "Laurence! Laurence! Guards!" she screamed for help.

    At the same time, she heard someone click their tongue in distaste. She quickly snapped around and saw Calhoun standing behind her with his hand covered in blood.

    "You murderer!" screamed Lady Samara, getting up to stand and face Calhoun. "How dare you kill hi-"

    "Shhh," Calhoun hushed her.

    Lady Samara looked down and saw Calhoun had put his hand in her chest. There was a look of horror on her face as she stared at Calhoun. "W-why?" she asked him in shock and confusion.

    But Calhoun didn''t reply, and he pulled his hand out for blood to flow down from her body, and she fell on her knees. He left the ce as quickly as possible, which was when Merten, the minister, appeared at the undercroft area. After going to the cer and not finding the King, who had made a fool of himself, he had stepped out that wasn''t too far away from the North Wing to hear Lady Samara''s scream.

    Reaching the spot where the King and the Queen fell, Merten quickly ran to their side, "My King!" he tried to wake him up, and while trying to turn his body, blood coated his hands and his knees. "King Laurence?!"

    Merten was in shock, and he called the guards, "Guards! Guards! Gu- Lady Lucy," he whispered on seeing the young vampiress who stood on the other end of the undercroft''s passage. Her face turned pale seeing her parents surrounded in their pool of blood.

    Before the minister could speak something, a shrill scream escaped Lucy''s lips, notifying the people in the castle.

 Chapter 694 Dusting hands- Part 1

    <h4>694 Dusting hands- Part 1</h4>

    Watching her mother and father motionless, it had Lucy stagger back while she tried to catch bnce of herself. It felt like her world had not tumbled but crumbled to the level of dust that was whisked away into the wind that she was not allowed to keep. Her lips trembled, and her eyes watered until water spilt down from her eyes.

    When she caught sight of the minister sitting next to her parent''s body with blood-covered on his hands, a gasp escaped her lips.

    The minister watched the princess look at him wide-eyed, "You should call for help, Lady Lucy. We need to get-"

    "You killed them," whispered Lucy in horror. "You killed them," she repeated. It took her a while to get her senses back, and as if one scream was not enough, she screamed for the guards again.

    This time it was the minister to turn even more shocked, and he quickly shook his head, "No no, I wasn''t the one to hurt them, Lady Lucy. By the time I was here, Lady Samara was on the brink of her death."

    It took the guests in the castle quite some time to hurriedly run towards the undercrofts to witness the same sight as Lucy had. Calhoun entered the undercroft a couple of minuteste with a guest who was with him. He quick to move to the front, and he asked in a shocked voice,

    "What happened here?!"

    Minister Merten saw the guests stare at him, suspicion in their eyes. "When I was walking by, I heard Lady Samara scream for help and by the time I came here, she and the King were already dead. It wasn''t me! I didn''t do it!"

    Calhoun walked forward to where Minister Merten had stood up near the bodies, and he caught hold of the man''s cor before pushing him against the pir. "How dare you kill our King and Queen!" Calhoun red down at the man.

    "I-I swear I didn''t touch them, I would never think about killing them-" Minister Merten was interrupted by Calhoun choking him.

    "Calhoun!" Mr. Moryett was the first to recover from the shock, and he came to pull Calhoun''s hand that was squeezing the minister''s neck. "Don''t try to do something you might regret. Let the man go and let''s talk."

    Calhoun shook his head, "How can I when he had killed my father! Look at his hands!"

    Everyone looked down at Merten''s hands to catch sight of the blood that coated his hands. "I was only trying to wake them up, I wasn''t sure what happened here! Please believe me, this is a set up!"

    But who knew, this might be an opportune moment, thought Rosamund to herself.

    "Guards!" Calhoun called the people who were as stunned as the others as the King had fallen from his position. "Get this man tied and bring him to the court room right now! And get the King the Lady Samara there too," he ordered.

    Lucy stepped closer to where her parents were, and when she finally saw the wounds and the blood, the numbness started to evaporate, and she broke down next to their body.

    "Mama!" Lucy shook her mother''s body with her hands, hoping her mother would wake up. But she didn''t move an inch, and it broke the young vampiress'' heart. "Please wake up," she begged with her eyes turning blur.

    Calhoun ced a hand on Lucy''s shoulders, "Let''s give them some space, Lucy."

    Lucy sobbed, looking at Calhoun more tears fell, "How could he do this?"

    "It''s okay," Calhoun consoled her, rubbing her back before Samuel came to stand next to Lucy and take her away from the scene to go to the royal court room. "Everyone to the royal court room."

    Rosamund then asked, "Shouldn''t we share this news to the High House so that they know what happened?" her eyes looked straight into Calhoun''s eyes, and he nodded his head.

    "You are right. We should ask someone to inform the High House about this and also punish the minister,"mented Calhoun. "Theodore, if you will."

    Rosamund''s eyes narrowed as if her suspicion was correct, and she said, "How about I send my men, I am sure you will need you guard around as it isn''t safe for any of us in the castle."

    "Pardon me, Lady Rosamund, but I would prefer to send my own man there than trust with another person''s servant," deadpanned Calhoun. "Forgive me beforehand, but after what happened with the King and his wife, I have little to no trust in the people as we aren''t still sure who would have killed them. Theodore," he nodded his head for Theodore to walk away from there.

    While everyone started to leave the undercroft area, whispers ran around as to what just happened and if it was Minister Merten who had killed the King in rage after the argument they had. The servants in the castle were in shock as no one had expected something like this to happen.

    A King had been murdered with his wife, God only knew what would have next, thought many of them who stood outside the royal court room while the guests had assembled outside.

    When Theodore returned, he came with Lady Helena, Dimitri, and some other people in the High House''s higher level. Helena was the first one to step in, and she went straight to look at the bodies.

    "What happened here?" questioned Helena.

 Chapter 695 Dusting hands- Part 2

    <h4>695 Dusting hands- Part 2</h4>

    Helena had a grim expression on her face. She had been working on the files in her room when Calhoun''s men came in and informed her that Devon''s King had fallen along with the Queen. The wounds looked quite deep as if they were done in spite.

    The head of the High House turned to look at Lucy, who had been recently married. The young vampiress looked pale, her eyes staring as if she wasn''t present in the room.

    Walking to where Lucy was, Helena questioned, "Could you tell us what you saw, Lady Lucy?"

    Lucy hugged herself closer, and she slowly nodded her head. "I...I was looking for mother when I heard? a scream. When I came to the ce, I saw the minister sitting next to my parents body."

    Helena then turned to look at the man whose hands were bound by ropes, "I had nothing to do with it! I heard the scream too and I went running to find the bodies. Before I even reached the ce, they were already dead. Why would I kill them?!"

    Rosamund then cut in to say, "Minister Merten must have not done it, Lady Helena. He has been serving the Hawthrone family for many years now. He would never try something like this."

    "I want to know where everyone have been and who saw each other and in whosepany you were in. If you know anything more, I would like you toe forward and be frank so that we know who it is," came the calm voice of Helena. "Get everyone''s replies," she ordered the High House members who hade with her to the castle.

    The High House members got on to work in questioning the people and trying to find out who was suspicious. After speaking to the people, Dimitri returned to Helena, and he said, "The Minister named Merten had a disagreement with the King during lunch and it seems the minister left the room.? One of the castle servants mentioned that Merten wanted to speak to the King, but the King asked him to go to the cer."

    "I believe the cer isn''t right next to the undercroft?" Helena raised her eyebrows.

    "No, but it isn''t too far away. But Merten states that the King didn''t arrive there and he decided to look for him," replied Dimitri. "If you ask me, I think we are looking at more than once suspects in the room."

    Helena turned her head to look at the minister first, then at the King''s sister who had pointed her finger at Calhoun, telling how he was the one to kill them, though she didn''t do it openly. And her eyes then fell on Calhoun, who was speaking to one of the guests in the room. Was it possible that Calhoun had killed the King and the Queen?

    "It is true that we spent our time in the room because father was upset about a few things that happened in the dining room. I can exin it to you if you want," he offered, and Helena nodded her head.

    "Lead the way," she replied.

    Calhoun went to the room where he and the King were in earlier, and he pulled out the scroll put in the desk drawer. He then handed it to the woman, "You will see here that he has mentioned wanting to change his ministers because he believes there is a conspiracy going on to dethrone him. He is wary of his sister Rosamund, my aunt who had worked along with the deceased Queen to take the throne away."

    "Can you tell me what you did after you spent your time with the King?" questioned Helena. "It is because someone strongly believes that you had something to do with it."

    Calhoun shook his head as if in disappointment, "While we were still in the middle of the discussion, one of the servants arrived to mention how Merten wanted to talk to him."

    "But the King didn''t go to the cer, but to the undercroft," stated Helena, "Might you know why he changed his mind from going to the cer?"

    "Hm? Cer?" questioned Calhoun, his eyes confused, "I doubt he said to meet in the cer."

    Rosamund, who stood not too far away from them, said, "Get the servant who was following the King''s orders!"

    When the servant was brought in, Helena said, "You don''t have to be afraid about anyone. I only need you to tell the truth of what happened."

    "Mdy, the King asked Minister Merten to meet at the North Wing-"

    "The servant lies!" Merten tried to get to where the servant was, but the guards pulled him back.

    "Are you sure about it?" Helena pressed for an answer, and the servant nodded.

    "Yes. I conveyed the same message to the minister before going back to my work-"

    "He is involved with the killer! He must have killed the King before putting the me on me!" shouted Merten in rage as he was being framed for something he hadn''t done. "This must be Calhoun''s work! He first killed the Queen and now he killed the King! He wants the throne!"

    While the minister was shouting, Helena turned to Calhoun to see him not utter a word but stare at the man.

    "That''s rubbish," came one of the guests. "Calhoun could have never done it. He was outside with me near the kennel''s to show me the wolves. It is also why we didn''t know what happened until the guards came to call us."

 Chapter 696 Dusting hands- Part 3

    <h4>696 Dusting hands- Part 3</h4>

    "Minister Merten must have spoken to the King before killing him and Lady Samara!"

    The truth was that Calhoun had sent a message through Theodore that he would be meeting one of the guests outside the castle to show him the wolves in the kennel. One would have to leave the guests''pany and then step out of the castle that gave Calhoun quite sometime before he reached the kennel as if he was already there, waiting for the gentleman.

    They stayed there to admire the wolves before getting back to hear what had taken ce. It was also why Calhoun was one of thest few people to reenter the ce again.

    Some of the guests came in rescue of Calhoun while most of the fingers were pointed at the minister. Even the servant had exined that the minister had lied about the ce, and Helena tried to weigh what was true and the lies that were spoken in the castle.

    Calhoun Hawthrone, Helena wondered if he killed the King, especially considering Calhoun''s history with the King.

    Frankly, Helena was not looking forward to dealing with this because this was Laurence, the nut head King whom she wasn''t particrly fond of. The King seemed like he deserved what he had received, and though all evidence proved that it was Minister Merten who had killed the two people who were of the highest standing figure in Devon, her suspicion fell on Calhoun.

    Both Dimitri and Helena walked away from the people so that they could discuss.

    "Do we execute the minister right now or shall we wait for a few days and try to find out what is going on?" asked Dimitri.

    Helena''s lips twisted out of unpleasantness, "People''s memories are like dreams, Dimitri. The longer we wait, the faster the details in their minds evaporate. Lady Lucy believes it is the minister who killed her parents, while she believes Calhoun had nothing to do with it. At the same time, Rosamund, the King''s sister wants Calhoun in the dungeon, though she isn''t affected by the death that took ce."

    "It seems like everyone is a culprit," stated Dimitri, and a small chuckle escaped Helena''s lips that didn''t quite reach her eyes.

    "That is because they are. We live in a world where everyone does bad things and lies. The decision is where we spare the ones who do the least wrong," Helena exhaled the air through her lips, and she said, "Did Daphne mention that this man works for the Queen and Rosamund?"

    Dimitri nodded his head, "She did."

    "Hmm," responded Helena. "The girl believes that Calhoun would do no wrong."

    "Do you believe it?"

    Back inside the castle, the room where everyone was had turned quiet except for some asional murmuring. After a while, when the High House members stepped back inside the room, the people''s eyes turned to them anxiously.

    "We will be taking Minister Merten with us for further interrogation, also Calhoun and Lady Rosamund, you will be asked toe visit the High House. I hope to see you cooperate with us," said Helena before her men took the minister out of there. "As most of the fingers are pointed at Merten, we would like to keep him with us before executing him."

    Everyone agreed on it, and both the dead bodies were taken to another room for their wounds to be cleaned so that they could bury the bodies in the royal cemetery.

    Before leaving, Lady Helena took a stop in front of Rosamund and said, "There was something I needed to ask you."

    "Anything that I can help you with," came the quick response from Rosamund, guessing it was about Calhoun.

    "Your mother was collecting jewels. A whole set, and I was wondering if you knew about it as one of the ne seemed to be missing from it. They had red rubies in them," said Helena and Rosamund stared at the woman.

    "I am sorry, but I am not sure which one you are referring about," Rosamund offered the head of the High House a polite smile.

    "That''s alright. I was only curious," said Helena before leaving the room with the rest of the High House members.

    The next day, Laurence and Samara were ced in the cemetery, where only a few rtives came to pay respect to the deceased. Lucy stood there with Samuel, her aunt Rosamund and her family, brother Calhoun, Theodore and some other rtives in front of the grave. She brought the handkerchief to her face to wipe the tears. It was like a nightmare to have her family taken away from her, and she was d that she still had Calhoun and her husband, who had been supportive of her, by being there for her.

    Calhoun watched peoplee and pay their condolences to Lucy, Rosamund and him now and then. He stood in front of the graves with little to no emotion in his eyes for the death he had caused. He felt no guilt or remorse over what he did. Even though Lucy was sad now, one day in the future, he hoped she would understand why he did what.

    ''Are you at peace, mother?'' asked Calhoun to Constance, whose bodyy in a nearby grave.

    He did what he hade here for, but there were still snakes around that he wanted to torture. He despised Laurence, and he had killed him without waiting to draw out the time. But the person he despised more was the Queen.

    After two days, the High House sent a note that they found Minister Merten guilty of killing King Laurence and Lady Samara. The man had been tortured to reveal things about the Queen he worked for that didn''t put him in a good light in the past. To make things worse, Rosamund, who had nned to expose her brother''s actions, hade to Helena''s notice that made Calhoun less suspicious and putting Merten and Rosamund in the eyes of the High House.

    "Minister Merten has been framed, Lady Helena, you cannot be seriously thinking of executing him!" one of the members in the High House objected to her judgment.

    Another person who worked for Rosamund said, "The man has no prior intention of doing something like that-"

    Dimitri cut in to say, "Lady Helena took the decision after speaking to everyone. And we already know he has been working for the Queen while trying to dethrone the King so that Rosamund Wilmot''s son could take the throne."

    "That doesn''t mean murder!"

    "This is Calhoun''s work for taking the King''s throne. He has never liked the King, nor the Queen-"

    "That''s enough!" came Helena''s loud voice to silence themotion in the room. "Are you part of the High House or the market?" Helena red at the men, a look of annoyance in her eyes.

 Chapter 697 Make way for the King- Part 1

    <h4>697 Make way for the King- Part 1</h4>

    "Minister Merten Lowth was working for Queen Morganna and he was following her words. Let us not ignore that the Queen was executed on the High House and the King''s orders," stated Helena, watching every person who was in the room, where the walls were ck, including the marble floor that reflected their reflection. "ording to Lucy Hawthrone''s words, she saw the minister sitting next to the dead bodies with his hand on them and covered in blood. Not to exclude the fact that a heated discussion had taken ce in the dining room between the King and minister Merten."

    "Lady Helena," spoke a man who was in a high position in the High House, "Isn''t it possible that maybe the man is being framed? Maybe the King and the Queen were dead before the minister arrived at the scene."

    Helena''s gaze shifted to the person who had spoken just now, "And who do you think is the culprit if it isn''t the minister, Luther."

    Luther smiled at her, "Maybe the one whom the minister mentioned. Didn''t you say Rosamund Wilmot believes her nephew was the one to kill her brother and her sister-inw?"

    "You speak of the woman who didn''t utter a word of pain or sympathy over the death that took ce in the castle. If you aren''t aware, Rosamund has been trying to get the throne for her son. I am sure the ministers who work for her family will be kind enough to exin it to all of us on the matter," and she then passed a look at the four ministers who blinked back at her.

    One of the minister opened his mouth to say, "That isn''t true, mdy-"

    "I did not ask your opinion," Helena was quick to shut him up.

    Luther then said, "Lady Helena, don''t you think it is strange that Calhoun met the man outside while the murder took ce inside the castle. But then who knows it might have been done by someone else, who entered,mitted the murder before disappearing from the castle?"

    Helena stared at the man, "I have already discussed this with you and the others and I find it rather fascinating that you had no issue about it earlier and you are eager to bring it now. Is there something I need to know about, Luther?"

    Everyone''s eyes fell on the man who only offered her a smile, "I was only curious and thinking about the possibility that it could be someone else," answered Luther, "I did not mean any disrespect towards the Head of the High House."

    She got up from her seat ced on the higher tformpared to the rest of the others and walked out of the room. Helena had keenly looked through the case, and she had tried to question all the people who were in the castle,? finding out about their locations that particr hour when the murder took ce. But she hit a dead-end that pointed to the minister to be the murderer. The servants, the guards, the guests who hade to attend lunch were all in favour of saying the same thing.

    Helena had seen many injustices and very little justice take ce, and now that she was in a position where she could protect and save the innocent people who deserved to be saved, she felt the weight of the responsibility on her shoulders.

    Hearing footsteps approaching from behind her, she turned around to see it was Dimitri.

    "The order has been sent, mdy. The man is going to be executed in a couple of minutes," informed her fellow High House member.

    "I will need you to keep an eye on Calhoun Hawthrone, Dimitri," ordered Helena with a frown on her face. "It is strange that first falls the Queen, and then falls the King. Very odd."

    "Do you think he had something to do in this? Why not question him to get the right answer?" asked Dimitri looking at Helena.

    "Have you not met the young man?" Helena ced both her hands on the edge of the rails, letting her wrists rx. "There is something very peculiar and familiar about him. He isn''t going to give any more information than what we already are aware about. By the way, have you heard from Michael?"

    Dimitri shook his head, "Nothing so far. Has he not written back to you?"

    "He has the habit of appearing and disappearing whenever he wants. I wonder if it is better to rece him with another person. Also keep an eye on Luther and his sister," said Helena. "You never know if the people who we are working with in the High House, turns out we are working with lions or vultures."

    Dimitri nodded his head. "What is going to happen next? Devon is left without a King."

    A small chuckle escaped the vampiresses lips, "Laurence had openly imed with his rtives and his ministers that Calhoun is his heir and the only heir. And as per the tradition that goes in every royal family, the crown belongs to the next in the bloodline of the family."

    "I don''t think the ministers and some of the rtives like Rosamund will take it too kindly,"mented Dimitri. Every time a King fell, people were always eager to get hold of the crown for themselves. "There was already an appeal made and submitted where she wants to ce her son on the throne. It was also mentioned in it that, no one ever bothered to find out if Calhoun was really the King''s son or someone else''s as the woman slept with many men."

    Helena''s lips twitched hearing this.

    "You know Dimitri, my uncle, King Solomon, he was crazy to hold on to the power too. He had three sisters and four brothers. When his father died, he ordered the execution of every male heir in the family so that they wouldn''te to stand in his way by forming a threat to him. In one night nine people were killed, including children. Thankfully my brother had not been born at that time, not that it changed his fateter."

    "I have heard the stories regarding King Solomon. It seems like he was rewarded with a much more gruesome death than what he had inflicted on his brothers and nephews," said Dimitri. "I will send the rejection letter to Rosamund Wilmot."

    "That would be wonderful. Everyone is obsessed with the crown, but the truth is once you put that crown on your head, the head is often not safe," murmured Helena.

 Chapter 698 Make way for the King- Part 2

    <h4>698 Make way for the King- Part 2</h4>

    .

    As decided, a letter was sent to Wilmot''s mansion with the news of the High House''s final verdict. When Rosamund read it, she rushed the letter in her hand in anger.

    Back in Hawthrone''s castle, Theodore looked for where Calhoun was in the castle.

    "Have you seen Advisor Calhoun?" Theodore asked a maid who was walking in the corridor.

    "He must be in the King''s study room," replied the maid, bowing her head before she went on her way to continue with her work in the castle.

    Theodore knocked on the door before entering the room and saw Calhoun sitting behind the desk where King Laurence used to sit.

    "I received the letter from the High House," informed Theodore, and he stretched his hand to pass the letter to Calhoun.

    Calhoun took it before opening the seal that had been unbroken, and he read through the contents in it. His eyes took a sweep across the writings before a slow smile started to rise on the corner of his lips.

    "Is it done?" asked Theodore, and Calhoun looked up with a bright smile on his face.

    "Perfectly done," replied Calhoun. "Seems like they took the bait that was offered to them."

    As much as Rosamund opposed Calhoun taking her brother''s ce, she was no idiot to send a letter to the High House by writing ill about Calhoun and asking them to check for his background.

    "One of the advantages of being able to copy a person''s handwriting is the other would nevere to find out about it," stated Calhoun, pulling an old letter that Rosamund had written to his now-dead father. The High House believed Rosamund was the one who had written the letter and sent it to them. But in truth, it was Calhoun who had written words against himself, making it look like Rosamund was desperate.

    "It reminds me to never write anything in front of you," Theodore raised his eyebrow before a smile appeared on his lips. He then bowed his head at Calhoun, "Congrattions to the new King of Devon."

    Calhoun got up from his chair, walking around the table to stand in front of Theodore.

    "I wouldn''t have been able toplete this without your help. Thank you," Calhoun appreciated Theodore''s help and support over the entire process.

    Theodore knew that even without him, Calhoun would have found a way to bring things the way they were right now, and he offered Calhoun a smile. "The pleasure was mine. Do you n to keep the crown?"

    Calhoun nodded his head, "Before that, there is some cleaning I need to do with some people. Right now,? I cannot touch Rosamund because of their eyes on me, but that doesn''t mean I cannot finish the job with the other small fish."

    After speaking in the study room, Theodore asked, "Going to meet her?" when he saw Calhoun walk towards the door.

    The sound of his shoes were sharp on the floor, and he walked in the corridors before stepping out of the castle. He then made his way towards the dungeon. As he walked inside, his footsteps echoed in the cells and rooms of the dungeon.

    He then pulled out a key that he carried with him. Pushing the key inside the slot, he turned it before hearing the click sound, and he stepped inside the room before closing it behind him.

    "How are you doing, grandmother? I thought you might be feeling a little lonely in here," said Calhoun, looking at Morganna, who had the rod still stuck in her mouth.

    Morganna didn''t look healthy as before. Her skin had started to wilt, and herplexion had turned dull like the walls she was surrounded in. The woman couldn''t move an inch from her ce since Calhoun had pushed the rod into her mouth. Her body looked frozen except for her eyes. Calhoun had not offered her a drop of blood and had her starved.

    A gurgle of incoherent voice was heard in the room that was feeble to the ears, and Calhoun leaned his back against the wall while watching the woman.

    "The weather today is exceptionally good, isn''t it? Can you feel the heat?" he asked her before pushing himself up and walking towards the small window at the top of the wall. He opened it, and Morganna made sounds as if the rays of the sun were hurting her.

    "I wonder if you already heard it, but Laurence and Samara are dead," informed Calhoun, and he saw Morganna''s eyes widen. "You told me that he would find out about how I framed you? I thought it was better to get rid of them before trouble follows me. Don''t you agree I did the right thing?" he questioned her before heughed, and he exhaled the air out of his lips. "People think you are dead and resting in the coffin, but here you are, very much alive."

    Morganna red at Calhoun with hate-filled in her eyes.

    "Unlike you, I decided to kill them off. There was no point in keeping them alive," said Calhoun,ing back to his ce so that he could look at the shrivelled up woman. "You see, I love you much more than I loved and cared about Laurence and his petty wife. You are the apple of my eyes, grandma," and the smile on his lips only broadened.

    "You didn''t think I would let you go that easily now, did you?" he whispered to her.

    Morganna had no energy left in her body, and it was only a matter of time before her body would crumble into dust because of theck of blood in her body. She couldn''t call anyone for help because, in the beginning, no one was around to hear her, and now, she had no strength.

    Her lips trembled, and she tried to speak. With great difficulty, a word came out of her lips, "W....w....w-why?"

 Chapter 699 Make way for the King- Part 3

    <h4>699 Make way for the King- Part 3</h4>

    "I am sorry I didn''t quite catch that," said Calhoun with an oblivious look on his face. "Could you repeat it?"

    If the time was different, Morganna would have killed Calhoun with her bare hands, but she was not in a position to do that right now. This bastard had kept her in istion without offering her even water.

    "W-why are yo...do t-this?" it took everything in Morganna to speak those words, especially with the rod stuck in her mouth. It was hard to move her lips to speak.

    "Because I am savouring your pain. I thought it was evident?" asked Calhoun, and he grinned. "I cannot tell you how happy I am today. Considering how important you are to me, I decided toe and share the news with you."

    He gave a pause so that his words could sink into her rusted mind.

    Calhoun then said, "Your son and his wife are dead, therefore the High House has decided that I will be the next King of Devon," hearing this, Morganna''s eyes widened. "I would have got your daughter added to the kill list but unfortunately that will need to wait. Maybe she has something better awaiting for her in the future."

    Bringing his hand forward, he touched the iron rod that stuck out of Morganna''s mouth. He rotated it for her to cry out in pain.

    "Tsk," Calhoun clicked his tongue, "Only if you had let the things go the way they were. To let my mother stay in the castle and ept her as your daughter-inw, but you were too prideful. Look at what your pride has done to you today, stuck yourself with a rusted rod. You know...when I was small, I used to wonder why my father didn''t want me and my mother. I was angry at you, but I never thought of harming you because at that time, I had no idea what you had put her through. But then we all grow up and finallye to know the truth. Maybe if mother was alive, you wouldn''t be here. Does it make you repent that you didn''t keep her alive?"

    Calhoun''s eyes narrowed at the memory of how he had visited every physician who lived around where they were, but none of them ever willingly offered toe and take a good look at his mother.

    "I might be my mother''s son, but that doesn''t mean I have the heart to let things go in peace, Morganna," confessed Calhoun. He threw his head back and said, "I can finally sleep in peace tonight. I can promise you that I will have good dreams tonight."

    "P...pl..."

    "Please?" asked Calhoun. "Don''t worry, I won''t keep you here around for anymore. I only came here to share the news," and he smiled.

    When Calhoun made his way towards the door, the woman made gurgling noises, and when his hand reached for the door of the closed-cell room, he said,

    "The sunrays will turn your body crispy by tomorrow morning or noon. I look forward to seeing your skeleton," said Calhoun turning to her, watching her for onest time in shrivelled flesh before she would turn to nothing but dust. "Some scars cannot be forgotten and I cannot let you rest in the coffin. Don''t worry, grandmother, this room will be just for you," and he finally left the room after locking it.

    And as Calhoun had mentioned, he did have a good sleep after killing the people who had hurt his mother the most. It was like most of the burden he carried on his shoulders had been released while his heart continued to stay cold and empty. Though he was satisfied with the people''s death, revenge didn''t heal every wound.

    By the following day, in the cell room where Morganna had been secretly held, her body''s flesh had disappeared, and only her skeleton remained in the room with dust that covered the ground.

    The coronation of the new King was set after fifteen days of the deceased King''s death, and the old ministers had been reced ordingly by making use of the letter that Laurence had written before his death. This way, Calhoun made sure to keep the ones he believed were loyal while discarding those who continued to work in favour of Queen Morganna and her daughter Rosamund.

    Ministers, rtives, the High House members and some of the other prominent figures from the other Kingdoms had been invited to witness the coronation.

    "Everyone stand!" announced a minister on hearing the footstepsing from the corridor, and people stood up.

    The boy who once was humiliated and beaten by people, the boy who wore torn clothes, now walked in clothes made of fur and silk. Polished ck shoes had reced the dirty shoes. With every step Calhoun took towards the room, the ce turned quieter.

    When Calhoun entered the room where everyone was gathered, he walked to the tform before the coronation took ce, and the crown was finally ced on his head.

    "I present to you, the new King of Devon. King Calhoun Hawthrone!" announced the head of the ministers and everyone bowed their heads.

    Calhoun watched the way power had shifted and one side of his lips pulled up while he barely raised his hand and said,

    "Rise," Calhoun''s voice was loud that demanded respect and on hismand, everyone lifted their heads.

 Chapter 700 Waiting- Part 1

    <h4>700 Waiting- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Lucy sat on the patio in a chair, watching the grounds that belonged to the Greville''s family. The hair on the side of her face moved when a gentle breeze moved against where she sat. She caught sight of a carriage on the road, and her heart leapt, but the carriage didn''t stop or enter the mansion. Instead, it continued to move past from there.

    Lucy sighed in disappointment. It had been more than two months since her husband Samuel Greville had left home because of his work, and he hadn''t returned from it yet. She wondered if she should write a letter to her brother or go to the castle to visit him? It had been quite a while since she had visited the Hawthrone''s castle.

    "Mdy, you should get back inside as the weather is cold. You might catch a fever," the maid showed her concern towards her.

    Lucy smiled at the woman''s words, and she said, "I will be fine, Jamie. Little cold like this won''t hurt a vampire''s health," but then she realized how her body was weakerpared to the other vampires or vampiress''s body.

    For some odd reason, her health had always been on the worse side since she was a child, and she didn''t know why it was so.

    The maid, who was a human, worked before Lucy had arrived at the mansion that was almost two decades ago, knew about her delicate condition, and she asked, "Would you like me to bring you a nket, mdy?"

    "Um," Lucy nodded her head, and the maid was quick to bring a nket to keep thedy of the mansion warm. "Stay here, Jamie. I could use yourpany." The maid obliged Lucy''s wishes.

    "Do you think Mr. Gerville will be arriving home today?" asked the maid in curiosity.

    "I was hoping he woulde any moment. It''s been a while since he wrote a letter. It has been neen days since west received a letter from Mr. Gerville. Hopefully he will be able to write back sooner. Do you think the letter went missing?" she asked the maid with her hopes up.

    "There might be a chance for it, mdy. Maybe you could send the letter to Mr. Baldwin who is the magistrate of the town. Though the letter will take a while for it to reach," said the maid in a thoughtful voice. The maid had taken a seat on the ground, and Lucy continued to sit on the chair. "You must be missing him, terribly, isn''t it, Lady Lucy," the maid smiled.

    Lucy returned the smile with her soft smile, "I very much do. This must be the longest time Samuel has been away from home. It makes me worry that something bad might have happened to him."

    The maid''s eyes softened, "I am sure he will return safely, mdy."

    Lucy loved her parents dearly. Some things had not been perfect between them, but they were still her parent''s. The former princess, a duchess, her world was a small one, and she didn''t know what love and care actually was. The love that she had followed and tried to seek years ago had left her heart bitter.

    And even though Samuel was a good man who loved and took care of her, some boundaries had been built over the years. A wall that Lucy wasn''t sure if it was her or him who was responsible for it.

    When another carriage arrived at the gate, Lucy stood up from her chair, seeing the carriage making its way through the opened gates. This didn''t seem like it was Samuel''s carriage and when the carriage stopped, out stepped her paternal aunt, Aunt Rosamund.

    "It''s Lady Rosamund Wilmot," the maid whispered, and Lucy said,

    "Can you please bring tea to the drawing room, Jamie."

    "Of course, mdy. Right away," and the maid quickly left the patio to prepare and bring the tea to the asked room.

    Lucy watched her aunt, who stood straight, and when she looked up at the patio, the woman had a smile on her face. Lucy waved at her aunt, not knowing why exactly her aunt had appeared here today.

    She quickly left the patio and went down to greet her aunt, who looked as if she had aged only four years since thest twenty years. Her aunt was quick to give her coat to the mansion''s butler, and she opened her arms for Lucy.

    "Good evening, my dear niece," greeted Lady Rosamund, and she air-kissed Lucy''s cheek, which the other did the same before pulling away from each other. "I came here to meet the magistrate and thought I would drop by your house as it would be rude toe this close and note meet you."

    Lucy was polite with her words, "You did the right thing, Aunt rosamund. It is not every day that I have visitors whoe to meet me. And I have missed seeing you."

    "Oh my! Why do you say that?" inquired her aunt, "You can go and attend the soirees if you feel bored. It is the reason why soiress are even held in the first ce. Unlike men, women don''t have many things to do to spend their time."

    "I should," replied Lucy, the smile on her lips not reaching her eyes.

    She didn''t know why, but Samuel had never brought any rtive to their mansion, nor did he bother to mingle with them. Due to this, there was a huge gap between him and his rtives that eventually resulted in Lucy''s istion.

    Lucy had to follow her husband where he went, leaving ces earlier than she intended to.

 Chapter 701 Waiting- Part 2

    <h4>701 Waiting- Part 2</h4>

    "How is everyone? It has been quite some time since I heard from Sophie or Markus," said Lucy when they took a seat next to each other in the drawing-room.

    "Markus has been busy helping in the court duties with the King, you know how busy things get. And Sophie, she''s finished her studies and is now learning ballroom dancing. You would be proud to see that she has turned into a quite remarkabledy," assured Lady Rosamund.

    "I am sure she has. She has turned more feminine now. Did you have something to deliver to the magistrate who lives here?" asked Lucy.

    "Oh, I did. It was regarding a work that your brother wanted to see it to be finished today and I decided to personallye here," replied Rosamund. At the same time, the maid who had earlier left Lucy''s side appeared in the room with a tray in her hand. "I was going to ask you if you will be attending the ball that is going to be held in shortly. The ball of Hallow."

    Why did Lucy know that this question would appear in their conversation? She asked in her mind.

    "Samuel isn''t back yet, and I think I would feel odd to attend the ball without hispany," answered Lucy.

    She had received the invitation about the ball a week ago, and since then, she had been waiting for Samuel to return sooner, but there had been no news from him. Going to the Hawthrone castle was like opening wounds that she had not closed, which was why her visits to the castle had been very scarce and only for a concise time.

    The Hallow ball was arranged by the King, her half-brother, but to her he was her very own brother Calhoun.

    Calhoun had appearedte to the castle a few months before she got married to Samuel, but even with the little time she had spent with him, it felt like they were actual siblings. And unlike her parents, he never questioned why and what, giving her the space she needed while replying to her letters on time.

    "It has been arranged a month sooner than usual, isn''t it," murmured Lucy.

    Rosamund raised her hand so that the maid wouldn''t add sugar cubes into her cup, and she picked the cup, "The minister and some other person advised Calhoun that this time he needs to involve the local vigers to the ball. Frankly I do not know what they were even thinking when they said that."

    "But isn''t it good, that we will havemoners who will get a chance to interact with the people whom they usually don''t get to speak," stated Lucy. Society was divided into the poor and wealthy people, who often never crossed paths directly.

    "I would say otherwise, Aunt Rosamund," responded Lucy. "Brother Calhoun doesn''t appear in front of the public eye , and people only have an idea about him. The vigers think he''s a phantom and maybe it would be ideal to show himself so that they know how the King is."

    The older vampiress wasn''t least bit excited about Hallow, except for the fact that her daughter would stay in the King''s vicinity to woo him. Years had passed since the throne had slipped right through her fingers and was passed to the illegitimate son of her brother Laurence, and she was still bitter about it.

    "How are they making arrangements to amodate many people in the castle? I don''t think it would be wise to have people inside the castle as it would only pack up the ce," said Lucy.

    "Who knows," Rosamund seemed too tired to speak about it. "I thought it would be lovely to have you during the time of the ball, Lucy. I would personally love to see you there."

    "You are too kind, Aunt Rosamund. I will try," Lucy said and then she heard her aunt say,

    "Did you give a thought about what I said about Sophie and Calhoun?"

    Lucy chuckled, hearing this, "Sophie is too young, and I don''t think Calhoun sees her that way. It would be too odd for Calhoun to marry Sophie, their cousin sister."

    "This was how we have been preserving the pure blood line of the vampire and vampiress. It would be nice of you if you help Sophie with it by mentioning about it to Calhoun in your next letter," Rosamund patted Lucy''s hand and continued to sip her tea.

    Lucy didn''t know from when and where her aunt got the idea that it would be good to have her daughter married to the King. Though Lucy had not spent lots of time with Calhoun in the castle, she knew how brother Calhoun was and that Sophie was not the right person. She knew about his reputation of killing people for their mistakes and the audacity they showed in front of him.

    As more years had passed, he had turned more talkative than the first time he had straight away ignored her existence. But like many other things, he had turned ruthless. Rumours had it that there was quite some sh in opinions between him and some of the High House members.

    "I will keep that in my mind," she replied to her aunt with a polite smile on her lips.

    After her aunt spent some more time talking to her, the woman finally left the mansion, leaving Lucy all alone again in Greville''s mansion with thepany of servants.

    Away from thend of Devon, Samuel wore a hood to cover his head while he spoke to a man in the dark alley.

    "I thought it would make it easy to hunt the person. What''s taking you this long to see where the soul is located?" demanded the man who had a short beard.

    "Do you think finding the dark angel is that easy?" scoffed Samuel. "The child hasn''t shown up."

    "The reason why we even killed Greville''s boy was so that you could take a lead. You even got married to the fucking princess and work in the? royal court yet you have nothing?" spat the man. "It has been nearly two decades and nothing."

    "I told you already. The section that deals with the crimes doesn''te under my job, but Chauncey''s. The King is a sharp who keeps a look at each and every person''s work. I have been doing my best in trying to find the dark angel, but I don''t think she has appeared in the living realm yet," exined Samuel.

 Chapter 702 Waiting- Part 3

    <h4>702 Waiting- Part 3</h4>

    .

    The other person who was with Samuel exhaled a frustrated sigh, "That damn Paschar hid the dark angel somewhere so that no angel or demon finds it. We have been doing a hit and try, but all the hits have been nothing but a faux."

    "Don''t worry, Greyson. When the dark angel appears, I will make sure to bring her to you. Paschar cannot hide the dark angel forever," assured Samuel.

    Both the men left the alley, parting ways as if they had no clue about who the other person was. Samuel then walked into the inn, where they sold alcohol that women served.

    The following day in one of the viges in Devon, a young maiden stepped out of a humble house to go to the market as her mother needed some of the items that were out of stock in their home. She walked with a poised posture, her chin up and her lips holding a smile. She returned the bows when people greeted her, men taking a second look because of the beauty that she held.

    The young maiden finished buying the things for what she hade to the market when a suddenmotion broke near the centre ce of the vige, where the scaffold stood. A chatter of questions broke around.

    "What''s happened?"

    "Is it an execution? Did someonemit a crime?" there was a hint of excitement in the voices when the question was asked.

    The young girl was curious, and she quickly walked toe and stand near the scaffold to witness men who were guards of the royal castle, and two men were well dressed.

    "What is going on?" asked the girl to a woman who was about to leave from there.

    "The King has decided to hold the ball of Hallow and he has decided to invite some of themoners of our vige to the celebration," replied the woman. "It looks like a luck of cards where your name might be there or might not be there in the list. Sadly mine isn''t there," and the woman left.

    "Only some?" whispered the girl, and she heard the guards calling one name after another. Some people were there to receive the invitation, while the others who weren''t there, the guards would go to the respective houses to deliver it.

    "Mr. and Mrs. Finely, Mr. and Mrs. Radley, Mrs. Thompskin��" the guard called the name before he said, "Mr. and Mrs. Harris-"

    The girl''s green eyes widened, and she quickly went near the edge of the scaffold, "Mr. and Mrs. Harris''s daughter, Elizabeth Harris is here," she informed before bowing her head to the two men.

    When the invitation card was handed down to her, she looked at it with excitement, hearing the guard say something about bringing this card along when they were visiting the castle. Excited, she quickly left the ce to show her mother and sister what she had in her hand.

    "How did they evene to pick names of the family on who has to be invited?" asked one of the men.

    "They must have made into paper chits before picking the names," proposed the other. "I guess the remaining folks would be invited for next year''s ball. I heard the Hallow this time is going to be more grand thanst year."

    "It might be," replied the first one. "I heard it was Reginald who helped with the invitations."

    "But I didn''t see him pick up the names in his room. I work with him and most of the things he does are secretly. Do you think he works for someone else?" asked one of the second High House members who were of lower position than the higher positioned people of the High House members who took important decisions with Lady Helena.

    They continued to distribute the invitation cards until they had none in their hands before moving to the next vige to distribute the next set of invitations.

    Far away from the vige of East Carswell, a town stood that went by the name of Baudeux.

    A man travelled in the carriage before stopping it in front of a church. Getting down, he walked inside the old church that was built with rocks and ck stones. The multicoloured sses that had arts depicted let colourful light inside the church as the sunlight passed through it. He wore a long ck cloak that covered his neck with a high cor, and the cloak stopped right above his ck shoes. His thin silver hair had been tied in a ponytail.

    He walked towards the chapel before stopping and offering his prayers. When he heard a person''s footsteps, his eyes opened, and he turned to see a person who wore priest''s clothes that were white.

    "How are things at the High House?" asked the priest, who took a seat at the front bench.

    "The same as usual," answered the silver-haired man. "Do you want to take part in it? I am sure Helena wouldn''t mind having another lending hand."

    Hearing this, the priest smiled, "I think I am fine with working in the church. It suits me much better. Did you send out the invitations?"

    "I did. Though I can only believe that there was something that you wanted to do or you were too bored that you said you would pick the names for the invitation of Hallow," replied the silver-haired man, looking at the priest or his brother as he called him. "What are you upto, Gabriel?"

    Gabriel smiled, "Let''s assume that I was bored," he paused for a moment and then asked, "Are you still looking for her, Paschar?"

    Paschar stared at Gabriel before asking him, "Did Michael or Uriel ask you to check on it?"

    "No, I was only curious," replied Gabriel.

    Paschar didn''t stay in the church for long, and in a blink of an eye, he disappeared from there, leaving Gabriel alone, who sat on the bench. The man got up, walking towards the front and picked up a fresh candle before he lit it, a faint smile upon his lips.

    "It will be an interesting Hallow," he murmured to himself. "...to see if you can save each other."

 Chapter 703 Questioning the decision- Part 1

    <h4>703 Questioning the decision- Part 1</h4>

    Hearing the carriages'' sound enter one after another through therge gates of the castle from a distance, he turned his head to look at the moving carriages that approached the castle. Guards had taken their position to wee and serve the guests at the castle that had been decorated as if it was someone''s wedding, but then that''s how the celebration of Hallow usually took ce. The humans celebrated Halloween, but the vampires used the Hallow to mark their own existence to let the other kinds know about them.

    It was the day of the Hallow where a ball had been arranged, young women and men, people of significant value, including themon people from the viges had been invited. Putting the invitation card down on the table, Theodore left his room to head to where the King was.

    "Good evening, Sir Theodore," the servants of the castle greeted him as he made his way through the corridors.

    "Good evening to you," he greeted them with a soft smile on his lips.

    Theodore offered them a polite smile even though it was only for show that looked harmless. After Calhoun had turned to the King of Devon, the man hadn''t left him behind but instead had raised his status to the advisor in the court, giving him the same position and the status that belonged to Calhoun before he had taken full control of the crown and throne.

    There was a murmur of chatter that could be heard around the castle, excitement and eagerness filling up in the air as this time, the ball and Hallow had beenbined.

    He then caught sight of Calhoun who stood not too far away from where he was, talking to a High House member about a person''s body that had been retrieved from a river. On arriving at where the gentlemen stood, Theodore offered his greetings,

    "Good evening, King Calhoun. Good evening, Weasley."

    "Good evening, Theodore," Weasley chimed in. "It is good to see the castle being decorated so beautifully. It looks absolutely enchanting."

    Theodore smiled, "The King has the best taste, doesn''t he."

    "He does," Weasley agreed with a smile.

    King Calhoun didn''t pay heed to thepliments. Spending around two decades as the King of Devon, he had been showered withpliments, praises and words of ttery that had numbed the value of it.

    "You should stay for at least an hour, Weasley," said King Calhoun while looking straight into the man''s eyes. "Toe so far and not attend the Hallow, what a sad thing to do. I can only believe that the members of the High House don''t know how to enjoy their lives."

    Hearing this, a broad grin started to spread across King Calhoun''s lips. "When you tell me like that, it only makes me want to do it more. But I will try."

    "Morganna''s men have been trying to fill Helena''s ears with the information of what you have been doing. You do not want to end up with a trial, King Calhoun," advised Weasley. "Until the case is solved, it would be best to not attract any attention that will lead to any suspicion."

    Calhoun offered the man a smile, "Have a drink and leave, Weasley."

    The member of the High House bowed his head before leaving the corridor. "One would think Morganna''s men would be tired of trying to trace the crime on me. I am surprised that they continue to work for her or must I say for Rosamund."

    Theodore, who stood next to Calhoun said, "The guests have started to pour into the castle and the ballroom."

    "Indeed they are. Did you get the guards secured and ordered in the castle," questioned Calhoun. Being someone who had killed people in this very castle, Calhoun knew where the blind spots were. "How annoying to be attending the Hallow when I am not even in the mood. To make it worse the minister has added more people in the list."

    Hearing Calhoun''s words, Theodore smiled, "I also wanted to alert you that Rosamund and Sophie will be attending the ball."

    "I did not forget about that," said Calhoun, barely interested if his aunt wasing or not. "Keep an eye on Sophie, it is quite troublesome to have her stirring trouble with other women whom I meet."

    "You should have saved Ms. Lipton forter and have Sophie taken off the board," suggested Theodore as they started to walk.

    "It would be too soon. Who knows if my dear aunt is using her own daughter as a bait to catch me off guard," said Calhoun before mentioning, "I received a letter from Lucy."

    Upon hearing the King mention about the woman''s name, Theodore''s eyes slightly moved towards Calhoun.

    "She said she couldn''t make it as Samuel hasn''t returned to the mansion yet," stated Calhoun in a nonchnt voice. "I sometimes worry about her because she believes in her husband too much. It makes me wonder what would happen when she finds out the truth."

    "Thest I heard, he is still working on improving Devon''s rtion with the trades minister," informed Theodore, and the sides of Calhoun''s lips quirked up though he didn''tment anything on it.

    "Come it is time to attend the ball and see who is going to be whose prey for the night and the rest of the life," smiled Calhoun, a twinkle in his eyes.

    Theodore knew part of why the minister had proposed to invite so many people into the castle so that the castle would look full even if some of the people went missingter. He saw Calhoun wear a silver mask that covered his entire face, while he wore a ck mask that covered his eyes and part of his forehead.

    "You seem like you don''t want to have any attention tonight,"mented Theodore.

    "A King doesn''t have to show his face to let a person know who he is, Theo," said Calhoun with an evident smile in his voice. "The mere presence that can intimidate someone is enough. And sometimes, mingling in the crowd as amoner is more thrilling, isn''t it?"

    "I don''t know if I should be worried about it," answered Theodore.

    A servant who was carrying a tray of drinks stopped on Calhoun''s sign, and the men took hold of the delicate sses in their hand. Instead of entering the ball through the entrance, Calhoun and Theodore took the stairs from the next room before entering the passage and then the ballrooms'' gallery.

    Music yed in the corner of the room, filling up not just the ballroom but the other nearby rooms and corridors with music. The ballroom had filled itself with people who had shown up at the castle while leaving the dance floor more spaciouspared to the rest of the room.

 Chapter 704 Questioning the decision- Part 2

    <h4>704 Questioning the decision- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Theodore took a sip from the ss, wondering what Lucy was doing at this hour. By what he had heard and found out, she had spent more time alone with herself than with her husband, Samuel. And after many years that had passed, somewhere, it made him question if the decision he had taken in the past was wrong.

    When a maid arrived to give them another ss of wine who looked like a trembling leaf in the presence of the King, Theodore picked up the sses and dismissed her. Calhoun was busy looking at the crowd of the people when Theodore asked,

    "Are you nning to go down there, Calhoun?" questioned Theodore, dropping the title that he used in front of others. When it was just them, Calhoun and Theodore''s spending time in each other''spany, the time went back to the way things were between them in the past, only that the King had turned a little more entric than he was in the beginning.

    "Go ahead. I will join in sometime," said Calhoun as he was still observing the people.

    Theodore finished the drink that was in his hand, and he bowed his head before leaving Calhoun''s side. He spent some time greeting the people he knew before stepping outside the castle''s corridors and in the garden where some of them were enjoying themselves.

    Away from the ballroom and the chatter, the music had dulled down on his ears, and he took a seat on the bench. Pulling out the cigar from his pocket, he lit it up before taking a smoke.

    "Theodore!" came a minister''s voice who seemed slightly drunk.

    "Minister Fitzwilliam. Fancy seeing you here," greeted Theodore.

    "I should be saying that! I wouldn''t peg you to be a smoker, do you have another one of those?" asked the minister beforeing to sit next to Theodore.

    Theodore hade here to spend some time alone by himself and to havepany now, he wanted to chase the man away, but at the same time, he reminded himself that this was a minister. He pulled out his cigar-case before handing a cigar to the man.

    "You seem to be enjoying the ball, Fitzwilliam. Found anyone you like?" asked Theodore before taking a deep puff.

    Before the minister could even take a puff from the lit cigar in his hand, he gave a sad look at Theodore. "My wife died four years ago. It has been very lonely to enjoy anything without her. Even to drink some good blood in my mouth?" the men then leaned towards Theodore to whisper, "I would have picked a nice person, but I doubt the King would be pleased if he finds it. Especially after receiving instructions to behave."

    Though Calhoun had ordered the people not to do something that would cost their head, Theodore doubted Calhoun would hold himself back if he found prey to feed on, and Theodore held the same values. It was an advantage of being the King and being close to the King.

    "What a wonderful story," stated Theodore with little excitement in his voice. Not that the minister minded as he was drunk.

    "You should elope with someone too, Theodore!" decided the minister.

    A dry chuckle escaped Theodore''s lips, "I think the time has passed for it to do such things."

    Fitzwilliam turned to look at Theodore and asked, "Why? You shouldn''t give up hope!"

    "Thank you for cheering me, minister Fitzwilliam, but I think you should stay here until you turn sober," advised Theodore to the man who was loyal to Calhoun when it came to his royal court duties.

    "I am fine," the man waved his hand. "Why don''t you want to elope? Is the girl not ready?"

    It wasn''t that, thought Theodore in his mind. It was him who had refused the idea, and it was his fault. Theodore had never spoken about Lucy or his feelings to anyone until now. Though he was aware that Calhoun hade to find out about his feelings for Lucy on her wedding day, he had never openly spoken about it.

    Theodore doubted Minister Fitzwilliam would remember what he said in the morning, and he said,

    "She''s somebody''s wife."

    All these years, Theodore had no issue in having sexual rtionships with married women, but for him, Lucy was different, and it might be because he cared for her. In Theodore''s eyes, she was the girl who was still innocent and unaware of the threats in the world, and he wanted to keep her unaffected.

    "I thought I did the right thing, but recently I have started to question myself if I let her go without thinking it through and did things in a spur," said Theodore staring at the lit cigar that burned brightly. He tapped it so that the ash that was on the tip fell on the ground. "She loves her husband now," and she despised Theodore, he knew it.

    "Hmm, that is a tricky thing to deal with," agreed the minister. "You need toe out as the saviour, to make her see what she''s missing."

    Theodore smiled at the man''s words, "I am sure her brother wouldn''t approve it."

    "Fuck the brother and the husband! You should always follow your heart. If you want help, I am right here, I will help you in beating both of them up," said the minister and Theodore''s lips twitched.

    "That would be too troublesome but thank you for your support, minister Fitzwilliam," Theodore wondered how Calhoun would react or the minister himself if he found out that he had told he would beat the King up.

    "By the way, where is King Calhoun?" The man looked left and right, trying to have a glimpse if he had missed the King''s presence.

    "He is in the ballroom," replied Theodore, and the minister nodded his head.

    The ce where Calhoun and Theodore were earlier standing in the balcony-like gallery was now left empty with just empty sses resting in the corner.

    Calhoun had caught sight of something enticing on the ballroom floor, and he made his way towards the ballroom entrance to notice a few people noticing the silver mask he wore. With his identitypletely hidden, it made it easier for him not to be interrupted. He stood in front of the entrance, his red eyes catching sight of the person for whom he had left the gallery.

    Her features were delicate, and Calhoun found it hard to look away. He wondered if she would be his prey for the night, to drink blood from so that he could quench his thirst.

    He continued to move towards her, seeing how she was trying to get away from the crowd and when their eyes met, he noticed her eyes slightly widen behind her mask, as if she was startled to have someone looking at her. The corner of his lips pulled up in delight.

    With every second, he moved closer to her and even with the loud music and people''s voice in the room, he could tell she was wary of him.

 Chapter 705 Questioning the decision- Part 3

    <h4>705 Questioning the decision- Part 3</h4>

    Not wanting to see her leave, his hand pulled the handkerchief that was peeking out of her pocket, and he turned around.

    Calhoun said to the beautiful girl in a beige dress, "Fairdy...I think you dropped your kerchief."

    Her eyes were innocent, and her delicate lips parted when he raised the handkerchief for her to see. He doubted she was going to be just prey for him.

    After leaving Fitzwilliam, Theodore spent his time talking to the guests, greeting them, while Calhoun decided to spend time in the room without removing the mask from his face. After they had met with a fair share of people, Theodore noticed how Calhoun disappeared, and it made him wonder what the King was up to tonight.

    He could only hope that Calhoun wasn''t going to murder someone. Even though the High House members weren''t here to regte the event of Hallow, it didn''t mean there weren''t others who wanted to bring Calhoun down. All these years, there had been several spections regarding the possibility of Calhoun killing the previous King and Queen, but there was no concrete evidence to prove the baseless spection.

    "Did you see King Calhoun?" Theodore questioned the maids who were walking in the corridor.

    "King Calhoun went up to the viewing deck, Sir Theodore," answered one of the maids who had a tray of fried meat in her hand.

    The viewing deck?

    Theodore walked through the corridors and stairs before he finally saw Calhoun, who stood all alone by himself at the castle''s front side of the balcony called the viewing deck. By standing here, one could see the carriages that arrived at the entrance more closely and the people who talked before getting inside the castle.

    "I thought you would be speaking with the girl and not standing here by yourself," stated Theodore as he made his way. Calhoun had crouched the front of his body while cing his forearms to rest on the railing.

    "I think I spent enough time with her. If I spent a minute more, she would have fainted," murmured Calhoun under his breath.

    Hearing this, Theodore smiled, "Did she find your handsomeness too hard to resist?"

    "I wouldn''t go that far," hummed Calhoun while looking down at the people as if he was waiting for someone.

    When Theodore had returned to the ballroom, Calhoun had pulled Theodore to look for ''something'', and that something turned out to be a girl who was being humoured by another man. It seemed like the girl had caught Calhoun''s attention as he looked rather angry at the sight of the man kissing the back of the girl''s hand.

    "What did you do?" inquired Theodore in curiosity.

    It had taken Calhoun years to be able to tolerate and make use of women and girls for his own benefit, but then sometimes it ended up with the King snapping the women''s necks because he would have run out of patience. Calhoun seemed too interested in the human as he had asked him to get her information.

    "Have you ever met someone and remembered their scent, Theo?" Calhoun asked him.

    "I don''t think I have ever done that. Thest I remember is of Minister Fitzwilliam because I had to help him get inside the carriage," replied Theodore, and after remembering it, he dusted the front of his clothes.

    They continued to look at the people until the girl in the beige gown appeared with her family. When Theodore turned to look at Calhoun, he confirmed that Calhoun had been waiting to see her again.

    "Why don''t you go down and see her off? I am sure she would be more than delighted by knowing that the King came to see her,"mented Theodore, watching the girl with another girl who wore a red dress. "Seems like she has a sister, a mother and a father," he murmured on seeing the family who waited for their carriage to appear in front of the entrance.

    Calhoun smiled at Theodore''s words. He didn''t want to overwhelm her right now because it would happen soon.

    "Madeline Harris," said Calhoun.

    Calhoun watched Madeline tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear whilst she looked left and right, her eyes anxious as if she was looking for someone. This only brought a grin to his lips. She was thinking about him, and his tongue yed with one of his fangs before it pricked, and he tasted blood on his tongue.

    Her sister was tugging her arm, and his eyes narrowed, remembering the words spoken by the sister on the dance floor. She was whispering something in Madeline''s ear, and Calhoun saw Madeline nod her head. When the carriage arrived, Madeline was quick to get inside like a rabbit that wanted to hide. He had never felt like this, and looking at her brightened his mood like no other thing ever had. Even though she got in to hide, she had chosen to sit next to the window as if wanting to continue to watch while he watched her without her knowledge.

    Theodore, who stood next to Calhoun, could see that Calhoun was smitten by the human.

    "Looks like the minister did an excellent job by arranging the vigers and townspeople toe attend the ball," stated Calhoun. His eyes followed the carriage until it diminished from their sight, and he said, "Make sure no man goes to the Harris'' house to court Madeline."

    Theodore smiled hearing this and responded, "Understood, milord."

    Back in the Grivelle''s mansion, Lucy had decided to clean the things that she had brought from the castle that belonged to her when she was married. She had missed the ball, and most of the balls carried memories. While she was sorting out the books without the maid''s help, a parchment slipped out of a book.

    Lucy picked it up, taking a deep breath as she stared at the poem that she had written years ago.

 Chapter 706 Newsletter- Part 1

    <h4>706 Newsletter- Part 1</h4>

    Walking towards the tailor''s shop, he knocked on the door.

    A young boy appeared in front of the door, "Is there any order that you need to collect?" he inquired Theodore.

    Theodore offered the boy a polite smile, "I was wondering if Mr. Heathcliff is present in the shop so that I could speak to him."

    "Mr. Heathcliff? He has gone to his house to have lunch. He will be back in maybe an hour or two," answered the boy. "If you want to look for the sample of materials and designs on how you would want the dress to be stitched, I am sure we can help you with it before Mr. Heathcliff arrives."

    Theodore gave it a thought before asking, "Do you stitch wedding gowns?"

    "We do, Sir! Like I earlier said, we have different styles and designs that might suit the bride," the boy continued to answer him.

    "I think I would love to look at the designs you speak of," said Theodore before getting inside and looking at the ce. "Does this ce belong solely to Mr. Heathcliff?"

    "Yes, it does. Mr. Heathcliff set it up a few years ago. He has the best taste when ites to clothes and enough knowledge of what suits a man and a woman," praised the boy. "Please take a seat while I go get the designs we have or would you prefer to take a look at the stitched dresses?"

    "The design book would do," stated Theodore, his eyes looking at the moderate-sized room where the other workers worked in the backroom, and he could hear the sound of the spinning wheels which were used to stitch clothes. The ce looked decent, and it seemed like James Heathcliff had a decent ie of living from the tailoring job that allowed him to own more than an average shop in the vige''s centre ce. "I have heard a lot about Mr. Heathcliff''s work and decided toe here. How is he like?"

    "Mr. Heathcliff is an amazing person to work with," praised the boy, "He treats us all well and our wages are much better than what the other people have to offer."

    Theodore learned the needed information about Mr. Heathcliff before leaving the shop with a bow as if he was going to buy a wedding gown for his fiance. After finding out the girl, Madeline Harris, he didn''t head straight back to the castle.

    "Theodore!" shouted a man from behind him, and he turned around to catch sight of the man he was looking for. "I was expecting to see you here."

    Theodore sat down at the table where the man sat, "And I was hoping to catch you here. When did you return, Kruger?"

    "Two days ago," answered the man named Kruger. "I heard that the King held the ball quite early. I didn''t have time to arrange clothes, else I would have been there," he smiled, showing one of his front teeth to be missing from his mouth.

    "Did you find anything of importance?" questioned Theodore.

    Kruger nodded his head, "You would be surprised if youe to know what I have found out. But then knowing you, you must already know about it."

    "What is it?" asked Theodore, waiting for the man to spill the beans.

    "Samuel has been meeting with some people who I have never seen before. I know the people with whom he is dealing with on the King''s order, but these particr sets of people don''t look like people who exist in the normal world," said Kruger, and at the same time, the server brought two mugs of liquor, cing it on the table.

    "What do you mean they do not exist in the normal world?" Theodore narrowed his eyes.

    Kruger tookrge gulps from the mug before the alcohol turned half, and he ced it back on the table with a dull thud. "I tried to track them down, but it is hard to do it. The maximum I could do until now is follow them around was probably two or three hours but after that, they would have disappeared."

    "Maybe they are good at leaving the ce quickly," stated Theodore, but the man shook his head.

    Kruger seemed like he had something stuck in the back of his teeth, and he tried to remove it by making use of his tongue. "I doubt that is so. Those people whom he met, I followed them without looking away from them, but in a blink of an eye, I lost sight of them and I never found them again." He then leaned forward towards Theodore to speak in a hushed tone, "If I didn''t know better, I would tell that there are different creatures apart from the humans, vampires, and the weres."

    Hearing this, Theodore narrowed his eyes. He knew what Kruger was speaking about, and he wondered if Samuel was involved with the demons.

    "How did they look? You should have seen the person closely, isn''t it?" asked Theodore, and the man nodded his head.

    "I did. I also heard the name. One of them goes by the name Greyson. He has a beard and they often meet up at night. Only rare times in the daylight," replied Kruger.

 Chapter 707 Newsletter- Part 2

    <h4>707 Newsletter- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Theodore didn''t know why, but he had decided to keep an eye on Samuel the same way he did with the rest of the ministers who worked in the royal court. Trust was an issue which he didn''t depend on and didn''t believe in.

    With Calhoun, who had taken possession of the throne in dire condition by killing the previous King, the queen, and thedy, many wanted Calhoun to fall from his position.

    But Theodore kept a closer watch on Samuel because of his behaviour. It wasn''t because it was suspicious, but because his behaviour was spotless in the royal court room and outside the castle. No one ever could have such a clean reputation, and it only made Theodore suspicious and kept an eye on the man.

    Calhoun was suspicious about Samuel, too, and it gave Theodore the leverage to find out what Samuel was up to.

    "Also, the number of women he has been sleeping with, mm," said Kruger as he took another gulp from the mug, "I would have to say I am surprised that he isn''t scared of the King''s wrath. Does he know about it? The King?"

    Theodore only stared at Kruger for his words, without going to reply to the man if Calhoun was aware or unaware of Samuel''s debauchery.

    "Did you find anything else? Any murder or body around him?" asked Theodore.

    "None that I found. He sleeps with the women, and then cleans up and leaves. Sadly none of those women agree to speak against him. Are you waiting to frame him, Theodore?" asked Kruger with a glint of curiosity in his eyes.

    "Samuel Grivelle is hiding something from all of us and I will get to the bottom of it. For someone to have women who are unwilling to speak about him, it makes it much more suspicious even when threatened under the King''s name," said Theodore in a thoughtful tone. "I would prefer to catch him red handed but the timing matters."

    "Timing?" asked Kruger.

    Theodore nodded his head. He and Calhoun were aware of Samuel''s affairs, and they would have brought it up in front of Lucy, but with the way he saw it, she blindly trusted her husband, and Samuel was her family now, someone who looked after her.

    "Any news from the Grivelle''s mansion?" inquired Theodore, and Kruger shook his head.

    "Nothing of importance. Even though he has many affairs with the women, the man has been looking after his wife," replied Kruger, and this was what Theodore was worried about. Samuel had a gentleman-like attitude in front of everyone, and he was cheating on Lucy. "You seem to be more interested in the man than the King does. Calhoun is a lucky person to have someone like you have his back."

    He then fished his hand into his trouser pockets and ced the coins for his and the man''s liquor. He then pulled a pouch that had coins, throwing it at the man.

    "Shouldn''t it be easier with the Hallow celebration over now?" Kruger asked while keeping the pouch safely in his pocket.

    Theodore stood up and said, "I would like to think that but Calhoun has his own ns. I believe he wouldn''t like to be disturbed in the next few days as his hands are going to be full," he offered the man a smile.

    "Hmph, I will see you around," replied the man to see Theodore leave the ce.

    On his way, Theodore''s lips twisted into displeasure that no dirt had been found on Samuel. If he could, he would arrange for Lucy to catch Samuel red-handed, and he knew he was petty about it. It wasn''t because he was jealous about Samuel having Lucy next to him, but it was that there was that smug look in the man''s eyes whenever he spoke about Lucy, and his eyes often met Theodore''s eyes at that time. Somewhere, Theodore felt Samuel had his doubts that there was something between Lucy and him in the past.

    He knew it was in the past and he had lost chance. Not that he would be able to do anything. If he got to turn back time, to fix things again, Theodore knew he would do the same things all over again because today was the reflection of what had urred in the past, and every step they took had been necessary.

    Not to forget, out of all the suitors, Lucy had picked Samuel when she could pick someone else, thought Theodore to himself.

    Theodore started to head back to the castle to inform Calhoun about James Heathcliff and Madeline Harris. He would have never thought that yesterday was the day where Calhoun would be smitten by a human. He wondered how well the family would take in the information because he knew Calhoun didn''t like to waste any time and did things quickly.

    Back in Grivelle''s mansion, Lucy was in the midst of the garden looking at the flowers that had bloomed this morning when the maid came running near her.

    "Mdy, the newsletter for the ball has published a new scroll. Would you like to read it?" one of the maids asked Lucy.

    "Did it get written so fast?" asked Lucy, surprise in her voice. "Yes, bring one of it here. I wonder what has been written today. The ball must have been mentioned, even though it is mostly the same things."

    "Yes!" The maid quickly hurried herself to leave the garden and run past the gates before she returned with a rolled paper in her hand. "Here it is, mdy."

 Chapter 708 Newsletter- Part 3

    <h4>708 Newsletter- Part 3</h4>

    On seeing their eagerness, Lucy chuckled. She asked, "How about we all go inside the mansion and have some tea while we read it?"

    "Yes, mdy!" The maid smiled and quickly headed inside the mansion before going to the kitchen while calling the others. They started to prepare the tea not just for Lady Lucy but also for them.

    Since Lady Lucy hade to live in the mansion after marrying Samuel, some of the rules had been changed in the Grivelle''s mansion, where thedy had showered her kindness to the people around her. Senior Mr. and Mrs. Grivelle had passed away somewhere in the middle of thest two decades, leaving the mansion in Lucy''s in charge as Samuel was mostly away from the mansion because of work.

    Lucy treated them with care, and it only made them love and respect her more, unable to imagine that the former princess was kind and sweet.

    After the maids had prepared the tea, Lucy was informed about it, and she went to the kitchen. Lucy had grown up in a restricted family with rules and restrictions that had to be followed and not to be broken. Though everyone behaved differently when Samuel was home as he didn''t like giving the servants leniency, it didn''t mean Lucy followed it when he wasn''t around.

    Lucy didn''t love Samuel, at least not the way she had fallen in love with the first person she had given her heart to. It wasn''t that she didn''t respect him, she did respect Samuel, but it was only that Lucy didn''t believe in the divide of the status.

    She walked towards the wooden table that was in the kitchen and sat down on the chair that wasn''t plush but hard. The maids and other servants had paused their work so that they could hear what the newsletter had to offer about yesterday''s grand Hallow. With teacups in most of the servant''s hands, they watched Lucy unroll the rolled parchment, and she cleared her throat.

    "Devon broke the tradition by not only celebrating Hallow earlier than the usual time but also by invitingmoners to join the royal castle''s ball that has been reserved only to the elite until now. I would like tomend and praise the King for this, for allowing some of usmoners to visit the castle and be part of the celebration," Lucy read the paper.

    "I didn''t knowmoners were also invited," whispered one of the maids who was sitting on the ground.

    "Maybe it is finally time to break traditions," said another.

    "Sshh," shushed the servant who was standing and waiting to hear the rest of what was written.

    "The clothes were vibrant and rich with colours, and the theme of the masks never fades away. Though we must let you know that it was hard to spot the King," Lucy gave a pause, wondering what it was about. "With the masks not being pulled away, it seemed like the King had decided to mingle with the people and if you are someone who was in the ball, you might have spoken to him or stood next to him. The thought leaves an intrigue in the mind. But it also puts a question, did the King attend the ball? What if he didn''t?"

    "Do you think he missed attending the ball, Lady Lucy?" one of the maids asked in curiosity.

    Lucy shook her head, "I don''t think so. As much as the King would tell that he doesn''t like it, he still attends it."

    Some of the maids quickly nodded their heads.

    "What else is written in there, Lady Lucy?"

    Lucy continued to read to them as they didn''t have any other source of entertainment, "...out of the many red and dark clothes that twirled and moved in the ballroom, the girls who wore lighter colored clothes had many people''s heads turn," she read some more before she came to read the lines, "King Calhoun''s sister, Lucy Greville was not seen at the Eve of Hallow, and we wonder if everything is well. This is the second time she had missed it. Since the previous King and Queen passed away, it has been noticed that she keeps her to herself and doesn''t talk to anyone��"

    The maid named Jamie said, "I think that was a lot of information. We must get back to work now."

    "Yes, time to finish cleaning," said another maid who looked at Lucy with concerned eyes. "Don''t pay heed to the lines written in there, Lady Lucy, it is just a silly newsletter."

    Lucy looked up from the paper, putting a smile, and she said, "I know. You should continue with your work. Also, I might have my dinner earlier than usual."

    "Yes, Lady Lucy."

    The servants left without mentioning the newsletter, and Lucy looked down at the paper. The smile didn''t fade away because she knew something like this woulde up, and she ced the paper on the table.

    She was only d that nothing more had been written, not that the people who wrote these newsletters would live to see the next day if they crossed the line because Calhoun would bury them alive, and the thought made her smile.

 Chapter 709 Distance in the bed- Part 1

    <h4>709 Distance in the bed- Part 1</h4>

    His carriage came to a halt, and the carriage door was left open. After two minutes, a woman wearing a hood over her head entered the carriage, and she smiled, looking at Samuel.

    "Seems like you spent quite some time in thend of Tyrill. You look as good as new,"mented the woman with a smug look on her face.

    "Did you get the information, Lilith?" Samuel directly asked her. "Greyson is turning impatient."

    "Greyson is always impatient," said Lilith while leaning against the seat of the carriage. "I had to go to every soothsayer because the priests rarely leave church, and they aren''t as well informed about the dark angel as the soothsayers."

    "Is the dark angel out?" inquired Samuel, his eyes narrowed when he saw Lilith smile at him.

    "No," she replied with a bright smile, and Samuel turned annoyed. "Frankly, I have my doubts on Greyson if the dark angel will evere out or not. We don''t know where, when or what it will manifest into. The soothsayers have no information about it."

    "Then keep looking instead of wasting my time," said Samuel.

    Lilith then leaned towards Samuel and whispered, "You should be careful with how you speak to me, Sammy," she brought her hand forward so that she could run it across his jaw. "If the King ever finds out that his dear brother-inw is meeting up with a High House member behind his back or worse fucking women when you''re married to his sweet sister, I wonder how he would react," she smiled, looking at him with a coy expression.

    "Get off my carriage, or I will report it to Greyson on how you aren''t bringing any fruitful results," threatened Samuel, and the woman''s eyes this time narrowed.

    "You shouldn''t think so little of me. You know I am your senior while you are lower in position than me, Greyson would listen to me and not to you. Also, I met a demoness who goes by the name Jennine. She told me she had caught sight of the dark angel, and I have sent the same information to Greyson. I wouldn''t want someone taking credit for what I have found. I will see youter," she offered him a smirk before getting down from the carriage.

    The calm demeanour that Samuel held until now slowly started to dissolve, and his face contoured with anger and he gritted his teeth.

    "That little bitch!" he cursed Lilith. He decided to deal with herter.

    Unlike Lilith who hade from the ce where demons were born, Samuel was a demon who was born in this living world. The demons from the underworld were gifted with abilities while people like him had very little or no abilities.

    Samuel continued to walk in the Hawthrone castle corridors and on the way he found a young woman standing in the corridor whilst she looked up at the evening sky. Because of the different shades in the sky, the woman''s hair looked golden blonde. Her features were delicate and soft. His eyes then scanned her from top to down before his gaze moved back up.

    He took a deep scent and his lips quirked up. An elite human in the castle, how interesting. He wondered if he could take a bite from her.

    The young woman sighed, looking at the birds in the sky chirping and flying away, and he decided to talk to her,

    "They are going back to their nests."

    Hearing him speak, the young woman turned startled, and she looked at him. Samuel had never seen someone so beautiful where he wanted to sink his teeth in her neck and drink the veryst drop of blood from her. He bowed his head, "I am Samuel Grivelle. I work for the King," he introduced himself to her.

    The girl looked apprehensive but bowed her head, "Madeline Harris."

    He took a few steps towards her and said, "If you enjoy the sight of birds, the King has his own collection of them in the backside of the castle. I have some of them back at my mansion too." He brought his hand to his ear as if to y with the silver ring that was in his ear.

    Samuel had never seen or met the young woman before, and he wondered if it was possible to woo her to leave the castle and spend time with him.

    "I will keep that in mind," the young woman answered politely.

    Samuel took a step closer to her, his eyes fixing on her as there was no one around to watch them, but before he could say something to her, he heard footsteps approaching towards them from one of the corridor''s ends.

    An emotion of annoyance passed Samuel''s eyes while he tried to keep the same expression on his face. The King''s dog was here.

    Theodore had finished writing the letter that Calhoun had told him to write and send it to the King of Warring. He was on his way to the royal court room to meet Calhoun when he caught sight of the leech that stood near Madeline.

    Madeline appeared to be one her guard, and Theodore wondered if Samuel had said something to her that he was not supposed to. Calhoun kept Madeline close to him, and if he found out that a male was eyeing his woman, there would be another head rolling in the court, and Theodore doubted Madeline would be able to digest that many deaths in such a short period of time.

 Chapter 710 Distance in the bed- Part 2

    <h4>710 Distance in the bed- Part 2</h4>

    Theodore wondered if this was the phase between the transition of how Calhoun was and what he was going to turn into because of the girl''s influence on him.

    Theodore walked to the ce where Madeline and Samuel stood, catching sight of the relieved look in Madeline''s eyes. He looked at Samuel and said,

    "You arete with your report."

    There was a crackle of sparks between the two men who tried to stay calm and not get into a physical fight as it would be unlike the characters they portrayed in front of the people.

    Samuel didn''t like Theodore, and he knew Theodore didn''t like him either. He put up a false smile on his lips, "I was speaking to this lovelydy here about the birds." He wanted to know who she was so that he could better acquaint himself with her once he finished his work with the King.

    Theodore wondered if Samuel possessed a bit of shame in him for eyeing a woman when he was married to Lucy.

    "She''s the King''s woman," responded Theodore, a light warning in his tone to let Samuel know to not to get involved with Madeline as she was off-limits.

    Samuel turned to look at Madeline, taking a better look at her and asked, "What kind?"

    Theodore noticed how Madeline felt ufortable hearing this. He said, "The kind where he wouldn''t want you to ask any questions rted to her. The King is waiting for you in the royal court room."

    Before thedy could leave, he informed her, "Lady Madeline, the King wishes to see you."

    The three people walked together and entered the court, and Samuel got down on one of his knees before bowing his head and greeting King Calhoun,

    "Long live the King of Devon. My apologies for returningte as I had an issue with the carriage''s wheel that took time to repair. I have brought the signed documents from the Flemings'' house." Samuel pulled out a scroll from his coat and handed it to Theodore, who gave it to Calhoun.

    "Three days is too long to fix a carriage unless you dismantled the carriage and decided to rebuild it," Calhoun''s eyes glowed as they stared at Samuel.

    Theodore sensed the subtle taunt in Calhoun''s words, and so did Samuel, knowing exactly what the King meant when he said those words.

    Samuel smiled at the King, spewing a lie that he had already prepared, "We were stuck in the middle of the forest that had no civilization-"

    "The carriage-" Samuel began only to be interrupted by Calhoun.

    "Yes, the broken carriage. Three days to fix it," stated Calhoun, "I wonder what you did the remaining days. Hopefully you have been a good man and not having fun there. But then I am sure you know how important the work you had been assigned with was," his lips twisted in amusement.

    Samuel didn''t know why he had ended up with this person being his wife''s brother. The previous King of Devon was an idiot who would have agreed to the lies he fed without any questions, but with Calhoun on the throne, it was hard to do anything without being watched.

    Calhoun was smart, his intelligent eyes looking down at him from where he sat. Samuel wondered if the King had found out about his debauchery, but that was impossible. He had made sure to use his abilities on the women so that they would never speak against him.

    Samuel replied to Calhoun, "I went on work, my King. I wouldn''t betray my wife."

    Theodore''s hands clenched at the man''s tant lie before his hand released itself from the fists.

    Calhoun stared at Samuel as if assessing his brother-inw.

    "That is good to hear. I wouldn''t want to hear anyints from Lucy on how her dear husband is fucking another woman. Because I for sure would not be pleased if you broke her heart," said Calhoun, as one side of his lips pulled up, "Well, good job on getting it signed. I will see you tomorrow."

    "I won''t disappoint you, my King," said Samuel.

    "Let''s hope for both of our sake you don''t," Calhoun''s dark red eyes then leisurely shifted to look at the young woman who had been silently standing in the room. Calhoun''s eyes softened, "What are you doing by standing there, my sweet,e here."

    Samuel''s eyes fell on Madeline again, staring at her with intrigue in his eyes as he wondered if Theodore was serious when he had told that this one was the King''s woman?

    Calhoun''s eyes snapped at Samuel and the King said, "If that is all you came here for, you can take your leave."

    Samuel offered Calhoun a false smile even though he didn''t like the King nor his pet servant. But there were benefits from being close to the King, which was the only reason he was polite to the people in here.

    Bowing his head, Samuel left the room and the castle to head towards his mansion.

    When the familiar carriage arrived through the gates of the Grivelle''s mansion, the maid who caught sight of it was quick to convey the news to Lady Lucy, who had been waiting for her husband to return home.

    "Lady Lucy! Lady Lucy! Master Samuel has returned!" informed the maid.

    Lucy was in the kitchen talking to the maids when the maid came running, and she quickly washed her hands before heading to the front entrance to greet her husband.

    "Wee back home, Samuel," said Lucy with a smile and Samuel returned it with his own smile.

    "I am back," responded Samuel while his coat was removed by a servant and some other servants unloaded the luggage from the carriage.

    Lucy was ready to hug him when he would open his arms as it had been more than three months since they hadst seen each other, but instead of that, he took off his hat and started to walk towards their room, "How are things in the mansion? Have you been doing well while I was gone?"

    Without showing the hurt appear on her face, Lucy put up a smile and she nodded, "It has been the same as you left it. I was worried about you when I didn''t receive any reply to my letters," she confessed, her voice sweet as the servants left them alone.

    Samuel and Lucy stepped inside their room. Samuel said, "I must have missed the letter as I had to go to Barlow. It is another town."

    "Oh, that must be the reason," hummed Lucy.

    "Of course, I would never lose the opportunity to not write back to you," replied Samuel with a chuckle on his lips. "Did you think that I am lying?" he asked, turning to Lucy as she was quiet.

    "I never said that," Lucy smiled, "I heard from brother Calhoun through the letter that you were supposed toe earlier and that was why he had hoped we could attend the ball together."

    Samuel stared at Lucy, "Letter?"

 Chapter 711 Distance in the bed- Part 3

    <h4>711 Distance in the bed- Part 3</h4>

    Lucy might have appeared to be naive, but it didn''t mean she was blind to not see the expression on her husband''s face, who looked stunned that her brother had sent her a letter. Did something happen between Samuel and Calhoun?

    "Brother Calhoun doesn''t write a letter often to me, but he seemed to be in a mood to write one this time," said Lucy as she pulled out the clothes from his trunk and started to ce the clean clothes back in the cupboard so that she could spend with him. "He mentioned about taking care of the matter that was written in the newsletter and that I shouldn''t worry about it."

    Samuel frowned hearing this and asked, "What was it about?"

    "The person who published the newsletter wrote something about me not attending the ball twice in the row and you not being here," murmured Lucy softly as if it wasn''t a big deal.

    She didn''t know how Calhoun had found out the news had bothered her a little, and he had taken his time to write a letter for her.

    Samuel exhaled the air through his lips as if he was tired and he said, "I don''t know what''s the big deal about not attending the ball. It is just a silly gathering. And what do they expect? That I leave my job toe dance for something like a ball?" heughed at the end.

    Lucy gave him a small smile as she continued to fold and ce his clothes inside. Maybe for Samuel, it wasn''t important, but she had grown up with attending the balls, soirees and other social gatherings to interact and was considered to be a normal thing to do.

    "What did he do to the publisher who wrote the newsletter?" asked Samuel with a nonchnt tone as he started to unbutton his shirt.

    "He was executed," replied Lucy, and she saw her husband shake his head.

    "Such violence and for something so small," replied Samuel. "I know we are family, but I wish he would be less violent, Lucy. Did you tell him not to do something like that again?"

    "I haven''t written him back," said Lucy and Samuel hummed.

    People viewed Calhoun differently, and the people who knew him closely knew how the King of Devon was. His ways were harsh, but he cared for the people who mattered to him.

    "You can write him one then," Samuel offered Lucy a smile before he came to stand in front of her.

    "I just worry about you, Lucy. I know you don''t like the violence, especially after what happened to your parents. I care a lot about you and I don''t want you in a ce where it might affect you," he ced his hand on the side of her face before pecking her lips.

    "How did your work go?" asked Lucy, changing the subject, and Samuel smiled.

    "It was sessful, but there has been one matter that still needs to bepleted," replied Samuel, pulling his shirt off his body. "Hopefully I will be able to get it done soon. I have been waiting for it and maybe then...we can take a vacation. Go somewhere quiet."

    "I hope so too," responded Lucy. "I will go check if dinner is ready while you take your bath."

    Samuel nodded his head, giving a warm and gentle smile to Lucy. When she left the room, the smile dropped like a stone being thrown on the ground. He went to the door, locking it before he started to look for the letter that Calhoun had sent to his wife. Samuel made sure to monitor Lucy and the people with whom she interacted.

    He looked for it all around the drawers and cupboards, but it was nowhere to be found. He wondered if she had thrown it away, but that would be unlike her. Where else did she keep it?

    During the time of dinner, Lucy said, "Brother Calhoun wrote in the letter that he met a girl at the ball. He said he intends to marry her."

    Samuel, who was eating his food, looked up from his te, "Marry?" his eyes slightly narrowed. Was it the same girl he had met today?

    Lucy nodded her head, a smile spread on her lips, "Yes, isn''t that wonderful? I would have never thought a day woulde where I would hear something like this from him," she said, excitement in her eyes. "I cannot wait to meet her!"

    Samuel nodded his head, ying the good husband. "That is wonderful news indeed."

    Lucy couldn''t agree more. Calhoun had been brief with his words, but she could tell whoever the girl was, she was a good person. She wondered if her aunt had heard about this. Her aunt Rosamund had been wanting to arrange her daughter Sophie''s marriage to Calhoun. But now that he had chosen the woman to be next to him, her aunt would finally give up on that idea.

    When it was time to sleep came, Lucy and Samuel entered the bed, but they slept on two different corners. Even with Samuel not too far away from her now, she still felt the distance. Staring at the darkness while unable to think about her life.

    Few years ago, when she married Samuel, she thought she would be able to forget a few things and it did fade. Samuel loved her, but for some reason she was unable to give him a child even after the number of times they had spent in the bed together with their bodies tangled in the past.

    Unconsciously her hand moved up to ce it on her t stomach. Lucy wondered if shecked the ability to have a baby...and if that was what was causing the distance between her and Samuel.

 Chapter 712 The past- Part 1

    <h4>712 The past- Part 1</h4>

    .

    A couple of days passed, and during breakfast with Samuel, Lucy looked at Samuel, who was quietly having his meal.

    She said, "I was thinking to visit the Hawthrone''s castle tomorrow. Would you be able to apany me? It has been a while since we went together to the castle," her words were careful so that they weren''t impolite.

    Samuel, who was eating, agreed to her words, "You are right, it has been a while since west went together. Unfortunately, I have some urgent work that needs my presence, would you be alright to travel there by yourself?"

    "Yes, I will be fine," Lucy nodded her head. It wasn''t like it was the first time she was travelling alone as she had done it many times before. "I am sorry for nning it tomorrow when you are busy."

    Her husband offered her a warm smile, "You don''t have to feel sorry about it. Who knows when I will be able to turn free from work unless Calhoun arranges for another meeting in the castle. You shouldn''t wait on my ord and instead go visit him. I am sure you are missing him."

    "Thank you, Samuel," she thanked him with a bright smile on her lips.

    Samuel took another bite from his te before wiping his lips with the napkin that he had ced on hisp before. Getting up from the chair, he leaned forward and kissed one side of Lucy''s temple. "Go carefully and let me know if you need anything."

    When the next day arrived, Lucy carried baskets of fruits and delicacies made by her maids on her instructions to take it to the castle.

    She wanted to carry the best delicacies to give it to her brother as it had been months since she hadst seen him. Once they were ced on the carriage, Lucy travelled with her maid Jamie where they were driven towards the Hawthrone castle by carriage.

    "Are these flowers for the previous King and Queen, mdy?" asked Jamie, looking down at the sets of flowers that sat next to them on the seat. "You have four of them."

    The maid didn''t understand why Lady Lucy was carrying two extra sets of flowers for her parents.

    Whenever Lady Lucy visited the castle, she always carried flowers as the royal cemetery where her parents were buried was near the castle. She looked at thedy with a confused expression.

    Lucy smiled at her maid''s quizzical face, "They are for two other important people who are buried in the cemetery."

    "Oh," the maid quickly nodded her head. "I see. My apologies, mdy. I thought you always visited the cemetery to meet your parents. They must be important people."

    When the carriage finally reached the Hawthrone castle, the coachman got down and opened the door for Lucy to step down from it.

    Lucy took a couple of steps forward before noticing her maid was not following her. When she turned around, her maid was still inside the carriage.

    "I will be right here, waiting for you, mdy."

    "Are you sure? You cane in with me," offered Lucy and the maid quickly got down from the carriage, walking to where she was and stood one step behind her.

    They entered inside the castle, making their way in the corridors, and Lucy finally caught sight of Calhoun, who came to meet her as he had received the news that she was here. The maid''s feet slowed down on seeing the King as he seemed intimidating while letting Lady Lucy move forward.

    "Brother Calhoun, it is good to see you again!" greeted Lucy as she walked forward and bowed her head.

    "And it is good to see that you finally decided toe here and meet me. You don''t have to bow your head, Lucy," said Calhoun with a smile on his lips. "You can be yourself."

    Lucy took the opportunity to take two steps forward before she put her arms around him, and she heard him say, "That seems more like you." It was good to be back home, thought Lucy in her mind while her heart felt slightly heavy with memories.

    It felt warm hugging Calhoun, knowing nothing ill would ever happen to her until he was around. To think that there was a time when her brother didn''t like her standing in the space as him, the same person now allowed her to hug him, thought Lucy. Since thest two decades, so much had changed.

    "Where is Samuel?" inquired Calhoun.

    "He said he is busy with work today and I didn''t want to bother him," responded Lucy with a smile. "I had something to ask from you, you wouldn''t mind letting one of the servants to tour my maid around the castle, would you? She was very excited when she heard she was going to visit the castle."

    Calhoun''s eyes fell on the girl who stood a couple of steps behind Lucy, and he gave Lucy a nod. "Sure thing." He snapped his finger to call a maid who was nearby and said, "Show Lady Lucy''s maid the castle except for the main rooms and the royal wing."

    Lucy was about to thank him for being kind when she felt someone staring at her. When she turned her head, her red eyes fell on a young woman who stood not too far away from where she and Calhoun stood. The person wore a rich silk dress, and her blonde hair was loosely braided with a few strands pulled at the sides of her face.

    This must be her, thought Lucy to herself.

    "Are you done ying with the sticks?" Lucy heard Calhoun ask the young woman. By the tone he used, she believed this was the girl Calhoun had mentioned in his letter as brother Calhoun wasn''t kind to anyone.

    Lucy took the opportunity to bow her head, and she introduced herself, "I am Lucy Grivelle."

    And the young woman introduced herself, "I am Madeline Harris."

    "I have heard about you. It is good to meet you," unable to contain her joy, Lucy stepped forward and put her hands around to hug Madeline. When she pulled away, she could tell that she caught the young woman by surprise.

    Madeline smiled back, "It is good to meet you too."

    With their introduction done, Calhoun asked, "How are things at the mansion?"

    "It has been good. You sent Samuel on work, it was a little lonely, but he''s back now," joked Lucy.

    "Is he treating you well?" asked Calhoun.

    Lucy wondered why Calhoun was asking this and if Samuel had said something to Calhoun. "Yes, he''s been treating me well. If there''s anything I will let you know."

    The three of them took a walk outside the castle, and it gave Lucy time to interact with Madeline, who seemed like a nice person. When they went to meet the wolves, Lucy noticed how Calhoun spoke to Madeline, and it warmed Lucy''s heart. She noticed Calhoun teasing Madeline about something that had turned the young woman red, and Lucy smiled internally that Calhoun had finally found someone to love and cherish.

    She knew a marriage between a human and a vampire had its own difficulties, but she couldn''t help but hope Calhoun and Madeline to work. Calhoun needed someone apart from that stone man next to him.

    Where was he? She hadn''t seen him since she had arrived.

    After finishing their meal, the three of them had moved to another room, when suddenly as if Lucy had summoned the devil by just thinking and it had knocked on the door to greet her. The door opened and in came Theodore.

    Lucy tried to keep herposure calm but it only turned her whole demeanour icy just by the sight of him. He hadn''t changed one bit since herst visit, thought Lucy to herself. The round frame of sses was settled on the bridge of his nose, and in these years, his expression hadn''t changed much.

    When their eyes met, Lucy''s eyes narrowed in a way where if it was possible, it could disappear Theodore from the room.

 Chapter 713 The past- Part 2

    <h4>713 The past- Part 2</h4>

    "Good afternoon, mdy. How have you been doing?" Theodore had the polite smile that he would often use for the other people, and the vein on her forehead popped up at his question.

    "I am doing fine," Lucy responded to his question, her tone turned colder than winter. You must be busy. Being the King''s right-handed man and being an advisor must be a lot of work."

    Theodore hadn''t known about Lucy''s arrival. Therefore when he had entered the room, he had been taken aback for a moment before heposed his expression. She was shooting invisible arrows and daggers at him by ring at him with her eyes. She had matured when it came to her thoughts and behaviour, and if it was possible, the air of allure around her had increased.

    "Yes, it is. I hope you are doing well back in your mansion. The King worries about you."

    Was there something she was supposed to be worried about? Even Calhoun had asked her a simr question. Remembering the youngdy who was in the room with her, Lucy put up a smile on her face, "I am doing fine."

    When Theodore smiled, offering another bow, Lucy wanted to take the kitchen scrub and rub it over his mouth.

    Turning to a slightly confused Madeline, Lucy asked, "Do you want more tea?"

    Lucy enjoyed Madeline''spany, and she found it easy to speak to her, much easier than thedy''s she met at the soirees. She came to learn the way of how Madeline had ended up staying in the castle. She decided to speak to her brother about it because certain things needed to be handled delicately.

    She didn''t know what advice Theodore had given, that was if he had given, but taking it to be her responsibility to advise as she was Calhoun''s sister, Lucy tried to make him understand how love and rtionship worked. She knew Calhoun was new to this feeling, and he loved Madeline dearly. But the girl needed some space to breathe.

    "...I hope it goes well because she is a lovely person," said Lucy, when they were alone while speaking to Calhoun in the room afterwards, where he stood in front of the tall ss window.

    "Don''t worry. She has me. Travel back home safe, Lucy," said Calhoun. She stared at Calhoun before she bowed her head. Sometimes talking to her brother was the same as talking to a ram, but she hoped he would change a few things for the better instead of staying bitter. "Do you want me to send someone with you to the cemetery?"

    Lucy shook her head, "No, that won''t be necessary. I have my maid with me. I will be fine," she smiled at him. "Stay well."

    He was carrying a stack of parchments in his hand as he was making his way up. Now that it was just her standing at the top, watching him, she noticed the way his hair had been parted from the side. His jaws were sharp, and for a moment, she remembered the way her fingertips ran across those jaws and the softness of his hair.

    Lucy shook her head to rid the thought out of her head.

    When he caught sight of her, he stopped walking and bowed his head.

    Lucy''s eyes hardened at his actions. In the past, she had tried to understand him, it wasn''t like she hadn''t made an effort to understand him, but it seemed like she had barely touched his surface, and like him, she had slowly stepped back.

    She would have walked away from there, but today the hate and the bitterness she felt for this person only increased.

    "Have a good day, mdy," said Theodore.

    Clenching her fists which were hidden in her dress, she asked in a low voice, "I wonder how you sleep soundly at night."

    Shifting her gaze away from him, she walked past him without waiting to hear his response to her words.

    Decades had passed, and one would think the pain would have subsided by now, but it hadn''t, and it had only continued to pile. Once she reached near the carriage, she took a deep breath to calm herself and caught sight of her maid waiting for her.

    Lucy got inside the carriage, followed by her maid. The horses pulled the carriage away from the castle towards the royal cemetery. She always felt riled up when she visited the castle because of Theodore''s behaviour, and it took her a while to return to her normal self without acting like a child wanting to throw something at him.

    Reaching the cemetery, the carriage stopped again, and this time, Lucy said to her maid, "I will be back, stay here with the coachman."

    "Yes, mdy," obliged the maid.

    Lucy carried the four bouquets that she had earlier carried before leaving her mansion. As she walked towards the graves, she could hear the birds and the other animals who resided near the cemetery built inside the forest, making sounds that were calm and felt quiet to her ears.

    Her footsteps turned slow when she came to stand in front of the graves that belonged to her parents, cing one bouquet each, and she prayed. She then walked towards the grave that belonged to her caretaker Nana.

    The woman had been killed because of her, and even though she knew if the woman was alive, she would forgive her. Lucy couldn''t forget the pain that she felt in her heart. And a tear slipped down from her eyes.

    She ced another bouquet on the grave, not letting go of her hand. She whispered,

    "I am so sorry."

    She took note of how the tombstone in front of her looked clean, and she wondered if the caretaker of the cemetery had received instructions to clean the tombstones, but then she noticed all the tombstones looked clean.

    Offering her prayers, Lucy then walked to the right side while carrying thest bouquet in her hand to another grave that was old and belonged to her grandfather. She wasn''t close to him, but she knew her grandfather wasn''t resting here anymore. In the past, she had seen Calhoun standing in front of it for a long time when they were here to bury Ruby.

    "I don''t know who you are," confessed Lucy, "But you seem to be important to brother Calhoun. I hope you are at peace."

 Chapter 714 Stop following me! - Part 1

    <h4>714 Stop following me! - Part 1</h4>

    By the time the carriage returned to the mansion, it was night, and Samuel had also returned from his work.

    "How is everyone in the castle?" inquired Samuel with a nonchnt voice. He was sitting behind the desk in the study room and was writing something that had to be sent out to the magistrates.

    "They are doing well," replied Lucy. "I met Madeline, the woman with whom brother Calhoun is in love."

    "How is she?" asked Samuel as if he hadn''t met and seen her.

    "She''s polite with her words and maybe a little wary when ites to us vampires because she hasn''t met many vampires beforeing to the castle," exined Lucy. She was sitting on the couch, a book on herp to spend time with Samuel.

    "I had a really wonderful time with her. I think we will be good sister-inws." It had been a while since she had been able to have conversation with someone of her own frequency.

    Samuel continued to write something in the parchment with his quill without looking at her. He had to send out a letter to Greyson regarding what he had heard from Lilith and about her petty taunts that were filled with threats.

    Lucy looked at her husband, her lips setting itself in a thin line, "I heard they will be getting married soon. They have started the preparation for it."

    "Finally Calhoun will have a Queen then, are you sure though? A human is never a good match for a vampire to marry,"mented Samuel before looking up from the parchment that he had been writing. "There areplications not to forget the age. She will die while he will continue to live."

    Even Lucy had thought about it, but she had hoped that something woulde along and that age wouldn''t be a conflict to their blooming rtionship.

    "Maybe she can turn to one of us," proposed Lucy and Samuel chuckled.

    "My wife, do you think it is easy to turn a human? Ny-nine percent of the time, the transformation is never sessful," stated Samuel. "Who knows, maybe it might be a fleeting feeling that he might lose interest after some time and marry someone who is more suitable."

    Lucy frowned hearing this, "Brother Calhoun, isn''t like that."

    Samuel looked at Lucy who seemed like she was upset with what he said, and he stood up from where he sat and left the desk toe and sit next to her.

    "I don''t think it would happen again. History doesn''t repeat itself and Calhoun is nothing like father," defended Lucy.

    Samuel offered her a smile and he gave her a nod, "If you believe in him, that is good enough," said Samuel, noticing how Lucy always supported what Calhoun did, which was why it had turned hard to get her away from the influence of the Hawthrone''s castlepletely. Lucy was influenced easily, but there were some things that were hard to sway in her.

    On the other hand, Lucy knew her brother would never turn out to be like her father. She loved her father, but it didn''t mean she didn''t know what he had done to Calhoun''s mother.

    Samuel took the book away from Lucy''sp and he ced it on the table, taking her hand to hold in his. "I sometimes worry about you, Lucy. You are my dear wife, and I wouldn''t want anything bad to happen to you."

    "You worry for no reason. No harm will befall on me," Lucy smiled looking at her husband. "You are here and I know brother Calhoun too will always make sure to see that I am safe and alright."

    Samuel nodded his head. That was what the problem was, thought the demon in his mind. He was a demon who depended on sucking part of people''s soul and it was hard to not finish Lucy off because of the King.

    "Did you visit the cemetery?" he asked her, wanting to know what else or with whom she had spent time with, in his absence.

    "I did," replied Lucy. "It was good to see them after many months."

    "Hm," responded Samuel. "I heard you took four bouquets with you. I didn''t know you had other people who are dear to you there," he used one of his hands to push the piece of hair behind her ear.

    Whenever Lucy went with Samuel to the cemetery, she always carried only two bouquets. It was because of Samuel''s nature, who liked to question her on everything to know what she did and how close she was to someone. As easy as it was to lie, it was hard to keep it until the end. When Ruby was ced in the royal cemetery, she and Calhoun decided to keep it as a secret and she had continued to do so.

    She felt Samuel''s fingers ying with her ear, while he looked at her.

    "Who else did you meet at the castle?" asked Samuel in a calm voice.

    Lucy could sense the prying question and she shook her head, "That was all. The rest were the servants."

    "Servants?" asked Samuel and Lucy nodded her head. "Did you meet Theodore."

    And there came the expected question. The distance between Samuel and her had been growing where he didn''t stay around her as much as before, but when it came to Theodore, her husband liked to get all the details as if he was suspicious about her and the man.

    "Isn''t he always there in the castle," Lucy tried to avoid talking about it. The topic of Theodore brought a certain uneasiness when it was Samuel who was questioning about the man. "He is always glued next to brother Calhoun, it would be strange if he wasn''t there, isn''t it?" she threw the question back at him.

 Chapter 715 Stop following me! - Part 2

    <h4>715 Stop following me! - Part 2</h4>

    After a while, Lucy had stood up from the couch she had been sitting on along with Samuel, "Brother Calhoun has invited us toe stay in the castle until the wedding is over. Even Aunt Rosamund, and Sophie will be joining us."

    "If the invitation is from the King, how can I refuse it,"mented Samuel, standing up along with her.

    "Yes, I also thought it would be nice to go and see the preparation of the wedding," smiled Lucy, and Samuel raised one of his eyebrows before smiling at her.

    "Sure," and ready to send her out of the study room, he went to hug her when he felt a spark of pain arise in his chest. He started to cough.

    Concerned, Lucy pulled away from him and asked, "Are you alright?"

    "Yes, it was just a scratch in the throat. I will see youter in the bedroom," Samuel gave her an assuring smile and saw Lucy leave the room.

    Once the door of the study room closed, Samuel walked towards the sink to spit. He saw blood spill on the white sink, and his eyes narrowed, wondering what just happened now. This was the very first time he had vomited his own blood, and he turned around to look in the direction of the door. Was it something to do with Lucy? asked Samuel.

    The pain he felt was severe, and he wondered if Lucy hade across someone or something peculiar that had passed the dust on to her.

    Back in her room, Lucy changed her clothes to her nightgown, and she got into bed.

    She knew when Samuel said he would meet her in hereter, it meant he would beingte, and she would be asleep. Not giving more thoughts on it, she decided to be happy for her brother.

    The next few days, Lucy went through the same mundane life in the mansion with the servants and Samuel, who returned homete at night. They finally travelled to the Hawthrone''s castle.

    Samuel and Lucy arrived at the Hawthrone castle to meet some of Lucy''s rtives who had already arrived before them. They had lunch with Calhoun, Madeline, Aunt Rosamund and Sophie. It seemed like her cousin Markus was unable to make it for lunch today, thought Lucy to herself.

    While the conversation went on at the table, Lucy noticed her cousin sister Sophie sending res at Madeline. Sophie had always tried to cling on to Calhoun since she was small. At first, they thought it was just because Sophie was fond of him as a brother, but then they saw it wasn''t so. The strangest thing was that Aunt Rosamund didn''t object to it.

    Then on the other side, her own eyes fell on Theodore before looking away from him.

    Post noon, Samuel was busy with Calhoun, and it allowed Lucy to wander around the castle without anyone following her as even Aunt Rosamund had decided to join the King. Because Calhoun was in the royal court room, Sophie followed them.

    Carrying the cello to the chair, she sat down, cing the instrument between her legs and positioning the bow against the cello''s strings.

    It had been long since she hadst yed it, and she closed her eyes, trying to remember the chords as she yed the instrument. She was too immersed in it when she heard,

    "Thought I heard the sound of the cello."

    Startled at the voice, Lucy pushed the bow''s strings that produced a shrill sound in the room.

    Lucy''s eyes snapped at Theodore, who stood at the door, "Have you not heard of something called knocking?"

    "My apologies for startling you," said Theodore, offering a bow to her, and Lucy wondered what he was doing here. Was he following her? "You have lost your touch in ying the cello."

    Was he looking for a fight with her bymenting something like that?!

    "I am not ying in the theater to worry about such things," said Lucy in a hardened tone. "What did you want?" she asked while staring straight into his eyes.

    "Lady Madeline was looking for you," informed Theodore.

    Keeping the instrument aside, Lucy stood up, and Theodore was ready to step back when she asked,

    "Who has been cleaning the graves at the cemetery?"

    "Probably the cemetery caretaker. Was something wrong with it?" asked Theodore, looking at Lucy, who shook her head.

    "No, I was only curious," replied Lucy, raising her chin with an air of authority to make it known to him who was in the higher position here, and she started to walk towards the door.

    She didn''t look at the ground below her, nor Theodore, but before she could step out of the room, her ankle twisted funnily, and she lost her bnce to be only caught by Theodore''s arms. How embarrassing! Thought Lucy in her mind.

    "Let go of me!" eximed Lucy, her face red along with her neck as blood had rushed up from her neck. "Don''t you know you aren''t supposed to touch ady."

    Theodore''s eyebrows subtly raised while looking at Lucy, who looked like a tomato right now.

    "Was I supposed to let you fall down?" he asked with a straight face.

    For some reason, his words only turned her even redder, and Theodore wasn''t sure if it was because she was embarrassed for epicly missing her step or for what he said.

    Lucy narrowed her eyes at Theodore, "You should have let me fall. I did not ask you for your help."

    Theodore bowed his head, "I will keep that in mind, mdy," and when the faint smile appeared on his lips, Lucy stomped away from there.

 Chapter 716 Stop following me! - Part 3

    <h4>716 Stop following me! - Part 3</h4>

    Unfortunately for Lucy, her horse hadn''t galloped as fast as the other horses did, and she was quick to fall behind, while her horse wanted to walk in a nt direction.

    "Seems like you are having trouble with your horse," said Theodore from behind. Where did hee from? Asked Lucy to herself.

    "I am having a bad week," muttered Lucy under her breath.

    "If you want, we can exchange the horses. You can ride mine and I will ride your horse," offered Theodore.

    "That won''t be necessary," said Lucy quickly. She thought she had seen him riding next to her aunt before they had disappeared from her sight. "Don''t you have an animal to catch and win the praise from Calhoun like the rest of them?"

    "The King praises me enough, I don''t think I need to gather more of it," replied Theodore watching Lucy struggling to keep her horse walking in a straight line.

    "I never thought you to be boastful, but then I didn''t know many things about you back then," Lucy muttered at the end as she made sure Theodore heard her.

    "The same can be told, mdy. I never knew you could be unreasonable in exchanging the horses. She''s a new mare, and she''s more used to me," stated Theodore.

    "Don''t worry about it. I can handle her just fine, I am sure she wille to love me," replied Lucy, while trying to make her mare move faster so that she could avoid moving right next to Theodore.

    After a few seconds, Theodore said to her, "It seems like you are still upset about what happened."

    Hearing this, Lucy felt her stomach drop. It had been years, and neither Theodore nor her had brought it up. Her hold on the reins of the horse tightened, and she heard him say, "Once in a while, everyone has a misstep while walking."

    "I am not upset about it," responded Lucy. "What are you even doing here with me? I didn''t ask you to chaperone me."

    "I never said you needed one, Lady Lucy," said Theodore, and when he said her name, Lucy wondered why Theodore was always around when she was trying to get away from him. She didn''t want to open the old wounds that she had closed. "The King wouldn''t be happy if something happens to you. I am only doing my duty, please don''t mind me."

    "I have to follow the King''s orders. I would have left your side if your husband was here," stated Theodore with a smile.

    Was Theodore saying she was stuck with him until they reached where the others? He must be joking, thought Lucy to herself.

    The rest of the time, both of them didn''t speak. Thankfully Lucy wasn''t the one who was walking else with the way she had turned her head to look in the other direction, she would have missed her steps and cursed Theodore a couple of times by now.

    The only thing she had to do was to not speak to him, and once they would reach the hunting ce, he would be busy, thought Lucy to herself. Somewhere deep down, her heart clenched at the fact that Theodore had stayed behind so that she wasn''t lost while her husband had gone ahead to get the prized meat.

    Lucy''s eyes moved to the corner to look at Theodore, who was looking straight ahead of him without a wording out of his mouth. Her heart turned slightly anxious, and she quickly looked away, not to be swayed by the man again like in the past.

    She didn''t know if the pain would ever leave her. Suddenly Lucy started to gallop, and she moved past Theodore.

    She finally came to the ce where everyone had stopped their horses, and not a few secondster, Theodore appeared at the scene. She heard Aunt Rosamund ask Samuel,

    "Where did you hear about it?"

    "I heard some of the men in the town speak about it. If there''s a possibility why not hunt it?" Samuel replied with a smirk on his lips.

    "We should go and hunt it down then. It will be far more exciting,"mented Calhoun, but on the other side, Sophie looked upset, and she said,

    "But I want to hunt the stag."

    Seeing this, Lucy said, "I will go along with Sophie to look for the stag."

    Samuel let out a small chuckle, "Hunting the same old thing?" and she smiled. Sophie had been upset for quite some time, and she didn''t want her cousin to feel left out.

    Calhoun gave some thought to it, and he said, "Rosamund, Samuel, Madeline and I will go looking for the new animal. Theodore, apany Lucy and Sophie in their hunt."

    Lucy''s eyes widened hearing this. More time with Theodore? She quickly schooled her expression and then saw her husband, who looked at her, but he made no effort to switch himself from the hunting group.

    Samuel said to Lucy, "You shoulde with us, Lucy. It will be far more interesting than a small stag."

    Lucy smiled and said, "I think I prefer the stag." She took note of how Samuel''s eyes then shifted to look at Theodore.

    "Advisor Theodore, do look after my wife," said Samuel as if to remind Theodore Lucy was his woman.

    Theodore had a polite and calm look on his face. He said, "I believe Lady Lucy is capable of looking after herself, but I will be there if she needs something." When his eyes fell on Calhoun, he noticed one corner of the King''s lips pulled up in mirth.

 Chapter 717 Trotting on the horse- Part 1

    <h4>717 Trotting on the horse- Part 1</h4>

    "What are you doing here?" asked a man, who opened the door after Samuel had knocked on it. "You aren''t supposed to be here," stated the man.

    "I have something urgent to discuss, Walter," said Samuel, stepping inside the dark house.

    "What is it?" asked Walter, who had sharp facial features.

    Samuel said, "I need you to find a physician whom I can use help from. I have been spitting traces of blood since thest two hours." He looked at Walter with a severe expression.

    "Why not use your family doctor for that? I am sure the King would be more than pleased to offer his help to you," said Walter as if it would be the most obvious thing to do. "There are plenty of doctors to help the Duke."

    Samuel had a hard look on his face, "It isn''t that I don''t know where to find the physicians, but-" he started to cough again, and he looked around for the basin. Walking towards it, he was followed by Walter before he spat the blood out that was not red but ck. "Do you fucking see this? I need an expert who deals with us demon-vampires."

    The man named Walter had a frown on his face now, and he stared at the ck blood that was in the basin.

    Samuel was right, Walter had never seen anyone spit ck blood, and it happened only with the demons who originated from Hell.

    "You must havee in contact with someone special in thest few hours. The body doesn''t react without a catalyst," stated Walter while looking back at Samuel, who continued to cough out blood.

    "I haven''t met any new people. I have been meeting the same people for thest few days. There''s no way I should be spitting my blood out that looks like it is decaying!" there was a hint of frustration in Samuel''s eyes as he said this.

    Walter gave it a thought on why Samuel was spitting ck blood. "A couple of years ago, I knew a woman who puked blood. But I don''t think it was ck and was quite red in colour. A woman who fell extremely sick and she couldn''t eat anything. She eventually died."

    Samuel washed his mouth with the water, spitting the blood''s remnants, and he stood straight, facing Walter. "I know something went wrong and I came here looking for a solution, not for you to tell me I might die."

    Walter replied, "The solution can be only found if you are able to find out why you are even coughing blood. Someone must have given you something. Maybe it was the food that you ate or the drink you had. People don''t fall sick just like that. There must be a reason for it. Find out the reason and I will then tell you what to do next."

    It didn''t matter if he didn''t find out from Walter who was supposed to be good at the information. Samuel decided he would find it himself. He started to draw out if it was Lucy or the maids who had tried to harm him by giving him something during breakfast or dinner. Different poisons had different effects on a person''s body and who took it.

    When he struck those options out, he could only guess something was transferred through someone. He had been perfectly alright, and it was only after he had hugged Lucy did he feel the pain. Did it mean Lucy was something he wasn''t aware of? All this while, he had kept a close watch on her, which was why he doubted Lucy was anything special.

    Lucy had stepped out of the mansion, meeting people in the castle, and she had also been to the cemetery. He wondered if she had picked something from the graves. His eyes narrowed at that thought, but that was not possible either. She had been there several times in the past, and nothing like this had ever happened before. What was new then? Questioned Samuel to himself before realization hit him.

    It was the girl who had started to live in the Hawthrone castle. He wondered if it was her who had transferred something to Lucy before his wife returned home.

    Madeline Harris seemed like any other normal person, and there was nothing special about her apart from her physique and looks.

    He wouldn''t know until he would test her himself if she were something people around her were unaware of.

    Now in the forest with the rest of the party, Samuel trotted forward with his horse next to Lady Rosamund.

    When his wife had suggested that they were going to hunt animals for dinner, Samuel knew he could count on his naive wife, but he had hoped he would get to speak to Madeline. Instead, she was riding with Calhoun, and Samuel''s jaw ticked.

    "Are you already giving up on the idea of hunting the animal, Samuel?" asked Rosamund with a smug smile on her lips.

    Samuel chuckled, "I would never let the animal slip from my hand, Lady Rosamund. You will see that I will catch the animal and you all will be struck in awe."

    Rosamundughed at his words, "I would like to see that happen. If you aren''t aware of it yet, I am an excellent huntswoman. Much better than my own son and daughter. My mother, your father-inw and I used to oftene to the forest to hunt down the animals."

    "You are an excellent hunter, I will have to agree on that one, Lady Rosamund," chuckled Samuel. He looked behind him where Calhoun and Madeline were on the horse that trotted leisurely.

 Chapter 718 Trotting- Part 2

    <h4>718 Trotting- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Samuel wondered how he could get Madeline alone. Usually, people who had special abilities were often sharp, and he would have to depend on that one, but he needed an opening to attack her, thought Samuel to himself. He then looked farther behind the couple, his eyes moving around to see no sight of Lucy, Theodore or Sophie. His eyes hardened at the fact that his wife was sent with Theodore.

    Away from the four members of the royal family, who were looking for the rumoured animal to hunt it down, Lucy and the others moved in the other direction to look for Sophie''s wish to find a stag.

    "Did you know the stags antlers can be used against the poison in healing when it is turned to powder and taken in the mouth?" asked Sophie in the know it tone.

    "I think I heard something simr to it," answered Lucy. "When father was poisoned by grandmother, brother Calhoun had used his intelligence and had helped father in removing the poison out of his body. I don''t think anyone would have been able to act so fast."

    "The King is admirable, isn''t he?" Sophie chuckled before her mood soured, "I don''t know how he ended up with a human who has no single promising quality in her."

    Lucy looked behind them to make sure brother Calhoun wasn''t around them to listen to what Sophie was saying now. But then Sophie was speaking because Calhoun wasn''t here and it was just her and Theodore.

    "I don''t think it is true, Sophie," said Lucy. "Madeline seems like a nice person. She''s polite and kind with her actions."

    Sophie waved her hand for Lucy to not believe in those things, "You don''t know about that, Sister Lucy. There have been times when she has been rude to me, and she forgets I am part of the royal family."

    At least Sophie knew that she was rted to Calhoun and wasn''tpletely blind, thought Lucy to herself.

    Her cousin continued toin, "She is always gloomy, and doesn''t speak to me when I tell I want to spend time with her. It only makes me question if something is going on. I mean, there are so many women who have entered the castle, but none have captured Calhoun''s attention. It makes me question if she''s into some sort of witchery."

    Hearing this, Theodore coughed, clearing his throat to let the twodies know he was right behind them.

    "That is some wild usation, Sophie. I think she''s just a wonderful person and ratherpliments Calhoun''s nature," Lucy was frank with her thoughts. "We should all ept her."

    Sophie looked upset again, her lips setting into a thin line, "Are you telling I am not suitable for him? I have been giving Calhoun all my attention and even Theodore supports me with this!"

    "Is it true, Theodore?" Lucy questioned him, unable to miss the opportunity to interrogate him.

    Theodore looked at Lucy, "I think Lady Sophie is being very vague with her words here. I don''t remember making any such promises or statements to her."

    Sophie''s eyes narrowed, and her eyes snapped around to look at the King''s right-hand man. "Advisor Theodore."

    Theodore bowed his head, "I have never answered to your questions or statements about your interest with the King as it isn''t my ce to say anything about it."

    "It doesn''t matter. She''s just not fit, and I-" Sophie was interrupted by Lucy.

    "Sophie, brother Calhoun has already made his choice and I think it would be best for all of us to ept his decision. All these years, every person in our family has been married to bring good fortune to Devon or the Hathrone''s family, but this is the first time it is for love. I think it is the right thing to do," stated Lucy with a serious tone.

    "I love brother Calhoun, what more is needed?"? Sophie changed her tone, unhappy that Lucy was not taking her side.

    "The thing here is brother Calhoun doesn''t love you, but he loves Madeline. Can you tell with a clean conscience that you would love him even if he was from some dirty alley or streets? With no wealth or position and with nothing to offer you except for his love?" Lucy questioned Sophie before looking away from her cousin sister. "I don''t think so and you don''t have to lie to me," she added so that Sophie would not deny what she just said.

    Love was something where one could overlook everything about the concerned person, and nothing would matter except that one person. It would be more than enough to have that person next to them. Her heart turned heavy at those thoughts.

    "What about you, sister Lucy? You married Samuel because he was a Duke, you could have married someone else too," taunted Sophie.

    "I would have if I would have been allowed to marry whoever I wanted, but sometimes things you hope for don''t happen and you finallye to realize how your initial thoughts were wrong," replied Lucy in a curt tone.

    Sophie ignored Lucy''s words and turned to Theodore and asked, "Do you feel the same way, Theodore?"

    Theodore was looking the other way, hoping he wouldn''t be dragged into the conversation, but Sophie, who Lucy had shut down, had now turned to speak to him.

    "My apologies, mdy. I wasn''t paying attention," apologized Theodore.

    "All these years we have been following family tradition, shouldn''t the King marry someone who is agreeable?" questioned Sophie.

    "I think matters like these are best to be discussed with the King himself. I am only a humble servant," he replied with a smile on his face.

    "I knew it was of no use to ask you questions. You never answer anything," muttered Sophie under her breath, slightly annoyed.

    Theodore was d that Sophie didn''t try to stretch the conversation, but Lucy didn''t feel the same way about it.

    Lucymented, "It is a habit of his. To skip answering questions as it keeps him on the safer side. Isn''t that right, Advisor Theodore?"

    Theodore turned his head to look at Lucy, "I never knew I did something like that, Lady Lucy.. If you don''t mind me asking, which question did I miss answering? I will be more than happy to answer them now," he spoke in a polite tone.

    Lucy rolled her eyes, her lips twisted before she said, "What is the point of asking something that was not answered years ago. It is the same as asking you if I should water the nts and you answering it after it is dead. Isn''t that right, Sophie?"

    Sophie, who was ying with her bow and arrow, randomly aiming and releasing her arrows, had no idea of the context of what was going on, but she agreed with what Lucy said by nodding her head.

 Chapter 719 Trotting- Part 3

    <h4>719 Trotting- Part 3</h4>

    Lucy sent him a re from where she was sitting on her horse. The audacity of this man to be replying to her as if it was nothing.

    "I have lost interest in asking the questions now," said Lucy. "I don''t think any of us have spotted any stag around here. We should probably go back where the others are. I should have gone with Samuel."

    Theodore watched Lucy while she and Sophie Wilmot were trotting in front of him in the forest. His eyes had left hers only when she was looking at him. His ears had tuned themselves to her heart beat while listening to every word that came out of her lips.

    It wasn''t often that they spent so much time together in the same ce where he could hear her speak. Both she and him were tired of listening to Sophie''s whining. He hadn''t stepped into the guilt trap that Lucy had ced for him in the question, but he had stepped away from it as if it was nothing. No matter how much Lucy looked at him with hate, Theodore had never felt bad about it. He knew she had a right to be angry at him, and he didn''t mind that.

    Lucy''s ck hair had small braidings from the two sides of her head before it was let down at the back after being pinned. She carried arrows behind her back and the bow in her hand. Her eyes refusing to meet him as if she didn''t want to stay in the same ce where he was.

    When they finally met with Rosamund and Samuel, Theodore looked around, wondering where Calhoun and Madeline were.

    "Oh, looks like Samuel caught the animal first!" Sophie eximed, looking at the animal that was tied with ropes.

    "And looks like you guys didn''t find any stag,"mented Rosamund to her daughter. "I told you it was pointless to go looking for it."

    With most of them here, Lucy unmounted from her horse and jumped on the ground.

    Soon the others followed her action, and Lucy, who was about to take a left turn, came to stand in front of Theodore.

    "So much space in the forest," and I don''t know if it is you or me who gravitates around each other, thought Theodore in his mind.

    Lucy felt her heart stutter on having Theodore this closely standing in front of her. Staring at him, she took a step back to be weed into Samuel''s arms.

    "How was your hunt?" asked Samuel, and Lucy turned around to meet her husband''s gaze while Theodore looked away to pat his horse.

    While they decided to stay at the same ce, waiting for Calhoun and Madeline to return, Theodore didn''t look at Lucy again as Samuel liked to intervene every time they were near each other. Somewhere it made him smile that the low life was scared of his wife changing her feelings.

    On seeing him, others turned around, but Calhoun went straight at Sophie and caught hold of her neck to startle everyone.

    "B-brother C-Calhoun," Sophie stuttered.

    "Were you the one who shot the arrow?" demanded Calhoun with his eyes narrowed at her.

    "I-I, we were only hunting the s-stag," Sophie looked scared.

    "Brother Calhoun, I don''t think that Sophie mea-" Lucy tried to defend, but one re from Calhoun had her stop from saying another word.

    Calhoun said to Lucy, "If I wasn''t with her, you would have turned dead today. I don''t care if it was by mistake, but I would rather have you to stay aware of where the Queen walks and is present. Do you understand that?" his voice dropped low to a threat, "I will rip every single part of your body. Limb to limb," and he finally released Sophie.

    On hearing this, Theodore frowned, and he caught sight of the arrow that indeed belonged to Sophie, but he was with her and Lucy the entire time. With the way Sophie had used her arrows, there was no way she could have aimed at Madeline. He looked at Rosamund, who was holding her daughter and speaking to the King, and his eyes then fell on Samuel, who stood next to Lucy with a grim expression.

    If it wasn''t Sophie, it was either Rosamund or Samuel, thought Theodore to himself. And considering the history Rosamund shared with Calhoun, his doubts fell on the older vampiress.

    Calhoun didn''t want to discuss more on the subject as he was outraged, and he dered, "The hunting session has been dismissed. Madeline and I will be heading back to the castle."

    "Come, Lucy. We should get back too. We don''t know if there are other people around," Samuel said to Lucy, and she nodded her head.

    On returning to the castle, Lucy went to see her cousin sister, who was in fits of tears that rolled down her eyes. Lucy consoled Sophie, wondering if someone had got hold of Sophie''s arrow that she had been meaninglessly aiming at earlier in the forest.

    Sophie sniffed and sobbed while her mother, Rosamund, had gone to speak to the King to convince him there was no hand of Sophie in what just happened in the forest today. Once Lucy had put Sophie to sleep, she started to walk towards her own room.

    When she opened the doors to her room, she felt her heart slip out of her chest, but she tried to keep an impassive look on her face. Samuel had wrapped his hand around a maid''s waist whilst he sucked her blood from her neck.

    On seeing Lucy arrive in the room, Samuel dismissed the maid, and he licked his lips. He asked,

    "How is Sophie doing right now?"

    "She''s resting now. She should be alright with some rest," replied Lucy.

    Her heart was a little rattled that someone had tried to kill Madeline. The attacker could have killed anyone today, and Madeline was lucky to have Calhoun next to her. For assurance, she went and sat next to Samuel, but he stood up from the bed.

    "I will be going to the royal court now. Make sure you rest too," said Samuel before leaving her without any word offort.

    Lucy''s hands that were on herp clenched her skirt. She didn''t know if she was imagining things, but there were times where she had seen Samuel hold the maids intimately as he drank their blood. She wondered if she was imagining things, which was why she felt she was being neglected.

    The same day when Lucy had gone to take a walk around the corridors of the castle, she came to find out that there was no royal court meeting being held and that Samuel possibly had lied to her. But why?

 Chapter 720 Light- Part 1

    <h4>720 Light- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Lucy didn''t know how to take the lie that she had heard regarding her husband. Samuel was her husband, someone she relied upon after her parents and Calhoun, and her lips set itself in a thin line, wondering why he didn''t return to the room after finding out there was no meeting taking ce in the royal court room.

    She decided to not jump into conclusion and instead confront Samuel about it. There must have been a reason, thought Lucy to herself.

    At least that is what she initially had decided, but before Lucy could even question on it, Samuel had returned back to say,

    ''I had to go to Baudeux town to tell the magistrate to release the water to the next vige that has been blocked there.''

    Maybe Samuel had mistaken it by thinking there was a meeting, but instead he was supposed to go elsewhere, thought Lucy to herself. Until now, he had done no wrong in her eyes, and he had behaved as the perfect husband. Except for showering affections when they were alone and spending time to love her, he was perfect, and many young women wished to have a husband just like him.

    When Lucy had heard things like those from other people, it made her happy that she had at least ended up with a person who cared for her, but then she remembered the way he drank blood from the maids. Her hands gripped themselves on the railings of the balcony where she stood now viewing the grounds of the castle.

    "Lady Lucy," appeared a maid behind her. "Lady Rosamund wants you to have tea with her and with the Harris family."

    "Hm," responded Lucy, but before the maid could take her leave, she realized this was the same maid from whom Samuel had taken blood. "Wait. I have something to ask you."

    The maid stood in her ce, both her hands holding each other with her head bowed down.

    Lucy pursed her lips before asking, "You know my husband Samuel Grivelle, right. Have you spent time with him?"

    The maid, who was looking down at the ground, her eyes widened. "Yes, mdy."

    "How many times have you given your blood to him?" questioned Lucy. "Raise your head."

    The maid did as she was told, and she looked at Lady Lucy, "I don''t remember the number of times."

    "Do you know if there are other maids from whom he drinks blood?" Lucy continued with her questions.

    "Not that I know of, mdy. We maids don''t discuss such matters with each other," the maid looked slightly nervous, and Lucy stared at the maid.

    It wasn''t a big deal for a vampire and vampiress to directly drink blood from humans, but there were certain ways blood was drawn out. "Did you ever kiss him? Samuel I mean."

    The maid shook her head, and Lucy nodded her head. "You can go now," ordered Lucy before making her way to where her aunt and Madeline''s family were having their afternoon tea.

    "Good afternoon, Aunt Rosamund, Mrs. Harris and Elizabeth," Lucy greeted as she entered the room. As the wedding day was approaching, both Madeline and Calhoun had decided to invite Madeline''s family to the castle.

    Like Madeline, her parents were polite and kind with their words, somewhere a little nervous at the fact that their daughter was going to get married to a vampire. Though Lucy was not sure if she could tell the same about Madeline''s sister Elizabeth.

    "Good to see that you havee to join us, Lucy dear. Take a seat," said Aunt Rosamund with a smile on her face.

    "Our apologies if you were busy, Lady Lucy," Mrs. Harris was quick to follow, and Lucy smiled.

    "There''s nothing much to do in the castle other than sit idly and take rest while having tea. I was only looking at the castle grounds when the maid came to inform me about the tea gathering," replied Lucy, taking a seat next to Mrs. Harris so that she felt more at ease.

    The Harris'' family were the bride''s family who was important to Calhoun, and it automatically made it important to Lucy too.

    "That is very kind of you, Lady Lucy," replied Mrs. Harris.

    "It is nothing at all," chimed Lucy before looking down at Mrs. Harris'' teacup, and she said, "Let me pour you another ss," she offered.

    On the other side of the seats, Lady Rosamund stared at Lucy and the old human who had no ss or status. Her eyes then fell on Elizabeth, who sat with a straight back and her features far more poised than her younger sister.

    "You should let the maid do the job, Lucy," stated Lady Rosamund. "If you do all the work, the maid will have nothing to do. It isn''t duchess'' job to pour tea for another woman."

    "I am pouring it for Mrs. Harris, who is our important guest, I don''t think pouring tea puts my status down. Instead it strengthens the rtionship," smiled Lucy, who had picked up the kettle.

    "Would you say the same if your mother had asked you the same question?" asked Lady Rosamund to see her niece freeze at that question. The older vampiress in the room then raised her hand at the maid toe to do her job. "I guess people in the castle have lost the touch on how to work. Don''t worry about it, Mrs. Harris. You will get used to our lifestyle, isn''t that right Elizabeth?"

    Mrs. Harris'' other daughter, Elizabeth, smiled at Lady Rosamund and nodded her head, "You are right, Lady Rosamund."

    Lucy didn''t like why her aunt always threw her mother''s name to remind her how she was crossing lines and forgetting her status by not behaving how she was supposed to behave in front of everyone.

    Days continued to pass, and Samuel turned only busier and was often away from the castle. This led to Lucy spending more time with her rtives. After what happened in the forest, Sophie had stopped speaking about Madeline as she was too scared to speak anything rted to the human or about her affections towards Calhoun. But with one problem solved, another had opened where Sophie and Madeline''s sister didn''t get along.

    But Lucy tried her best in not getting involved in their matters as she had her own to handle, not to forget, she often crossed paths with Theodore, and now that she was in the castle for a longer period, the previous memories she had tried to block had started to rush through her mind.

    On one of the mornings, Lucy had found the ce next to her empty on the bed, and she wondered if this was the life she was going to lead for the rest of her life. As Samuel wasn''t here and the rest of the family members were yet to wake up, Lucy called one of the maid''s and ordered,

    "Ask the guards to get the carriage ready for me. I will be heading out soon."

    "Yes, mdy," the maid bowed her head and left the room to follow up the order.

    Not soon enough, Lucy was in the carriage that travelled towards the royal cemetery.

 Chapter 721 Light- Part 2

    <h4>721 Light- Part 2</h4>

    Instead of carrying a bunch of bouquets, Lucy this time carried four roses with long stems. As Lucy continued to walk where the graves were located, she first ced the flowers at her parents graves before moving to spend time with Ruby. While she stood there in silence, she heard the crunching sound of the leaves on the ground.

    "Old habits don''t die, do they."

    Lucy turned her head to the side before turning entirely and she saw Theodore, who stood not too far away from her.

    "What are you doing here?" questioned Lucy before turning back to face Ruby''s grave.

    "To do the same as you," replied Theodore, and Lucy heard his footsteps. With every step he took, his shoes crushed the dry leaves that were spread on the ground, letting Lucy know which direction he was walking.

    Lucy couldn''t believe that Theodore was here at the same time when she was trying to get away from the castle and him. In all these years, she had never known there was someone lying in the cemetery whom Theodore cared for. But she should have known, thought Lucy to herself. It was hard to tell who was in the grave and who wasn''t.

    Not that it mattered as many of the graves were decades old, and they were people who didn''t have visitors. Calhoun had turned their grandfather''s pureblooded royal vampire cemetery into his personalized cemetery.

    Lucy didn''t have to guess too much to know who was in the grave that Theodore hade to visit. But why was he here today and at this time?

    "Did you follow me from the castle?" Lucy asked Theodore when she was done with paying her respects to the dead who deserved it while standing a few steps behind Theodore.

    Theodore turned around to meet her eyes, "I wouldn''t dare, mdy, especially after you clearly stated you are capable of taking care of yourself," he said in a calm voice, but Lucy didn''t believe him.

    Lucy noticed Theodore didn''t wear his sses right now, and his face looked familiar to how it was in the past. Seemed like there was no one for him to impress here, therefore he had kept it away for now.

    "I find it rather strange that you showed up at the same time when I am here," stated Lucy.

    "If it makes you feel better, I was here even before you entered the cemetery. It would be more appropriate to say that it is the other way around," he bowed his head and started to walk away from the grave.

    Her eyes widened before narrowing when his words sunk in and she said, "It seems like you have turned quite brave to not worry about your head being part of the body by insinuating something like this."

    Lucy was not sure if Theodore was following her or not, but she had stepped out of the castle for some peace of mind.

    "I thought with the years that have passed, your hate would have reduced a little."

    "Why should it?" asked Lucy, her eyes not leaving his as they stared at each other. A light breeze passed through the cemetery, picking up the leaves before putting them down. "Why should I stop hating you?"

    For quite a long time, Theodore had been watching Lucy from a far distance, and though she put a smile on her lips, it didn''t reach the way it did in the past. Some part of her innocence had been lost, and he knew he was partly responsible for it.

    "Aren''t you happy with the Duke, Lady Lucy?" Theodore asked her directly.

    Lucy was taken aback by his question, and for a moment, she felt lost before retorting back, "Of course I am happy with Samuel! What kind of absurd question is that?" she demanded. "Samuel is so much better than how you are and what you did to me. Someone who takes care of me, and makes sure he knows what I care and what I don''t like. Keeping my feelings in"

    "I don''t understand why you would be angry at me then," stated Theodore, putting his hand in his pocket to pull out the golden framed ss.

    Theodore didn''t like hearing what Lucy said, and somewhere even as twisted as the situation was, he wanted her to confess to him that she was sad and unhappy in Samuel''spany. Even though she didn''t tell anyone, Theodore could tell that her heart was as lonely as his.

    He had posed the question to her, hoping she would give in, but Lucy was stubborn and her emotions were controlled by hatred and anger towards him. Many times, Theodore had wanted to break down the news about Samuel''s debauchery to her, but Lucy spoke so highly of the man that Theodore decided to keep the information to himself a little longer before he would let her know.

    Caught off guard by Theodore''s words, Lucy now blinked at him. His words did make sense, but it was right!

    She lifted her chin, "I don''t need you to tell me what I should and I shouldn''t do."

    Theodore bowed his head in acknowledgement and said to her, "If I have the permission to speak to you, mdy-" What was he doing until now? asked Lucy in her mind, "-isn''t it better if we dissolve the old hatred and start afresh?"

    If Lucy said no, it would let Theodore know that she was not happy in her marriage with Samuel, and Lucy would not show it to him. But at the same time, she didn''t know if she could see Theodore in a ce where her heart wasn''t involved.

    Lucy hadn''t forgiven Theodore for leading her on in the past before telling her to marry Samuel. The bitter pain continued to linger in her heart, but being from the Hawthrone family, she had her own pride to uphold and she said,

    "It is gettingte. I should head back to the castle."

    She walked past him, when he said, "Mdy, you wouldn''t mind giving me a ride in the carriage, would you?"

    Frowning, she asked, "You didn''te in your own carriage?"

    Theodore shook his head with a gentle smile that threw her off guard, "I came here by walk. I wasn''t lying when I said I wasn''t following you."

    Lucy didn''t want to spend more time with Theodore, but she didn''t have a mean bone in her body. Even if she did, it was because of Theodore. "You can ride in the carriage I came here," said Lucy before walking towards the carriage and Theodore smiled, following her.

 Chapter 722 Light- Part 3

    <h4>722 Light- Part 3</h4>

    Lucy didn''t remember when was thest time she had travelled in the same carriage with Theodore or spent this much time with him after she was married to Samuel. She felt him watching her, but every time her eyes tried to meet his, he was looking in the other direction, making her wonder if she was only overthinking and being too receptive about the situation.

    Maybe she was behaving too childish by having a dig at every opportunity, but she didn''t mind it. Her hand clutched on to her clean skirt when she remembered the tears she had spilt after Theodore had refused her feelings.

    When they finally arrived at the castle, Theodore opened the door and stepped down from the carriage. A stool was brought forward so that Lucy could step down on it, and Theodore stretched his hand for her to use it as a support.

    Lucy stared at Theodore''s hand, a hand that she had familiarized in the past, and her gaze then moved to look at his red eyes.

    "Are you scared to take a simple hand that is being offered, mdy?" taunted Theodore, and Lucy ced her hand on his to hold, and she got down.

    "You might be scared, Advisor Theodore," said Lucy as they let go of each other''s hands, "I have never been the one to be scared of things," she offered him a smile before walking inside the castle.

    Lucy had not bothered to look at the time when she had left the castle, and not even the time she spent in the cemetery, not realizing there was someone who had caught sight of her and Theodore stepping out of the same carriage.

    As she walked in the halls, Lucy came across her aunt, "Good morning, Lucy dear. Where were you? I was looking for you all around the castle," smiled Aunt Rosamund.

    Lucy made a slight bow, "Good morning, Aunt Rosamund. Was there something you needed?" she asked curiously.

    "Yes, Calhoun said the tailor would be arriving early this morning, and I thought I would let you know so that you could be ready to give your measurements. But it seems like you went outside. No worries though, the tailor has not arrived yet," informed Rosamund.

    "Is that so," responded Lucy. "I will change my clothes to something more easy then."

    "Of course," Rosamund agreed, and when her niece was about to head to her room, she said, "By the way, Lucy."

    Lucy stopped walking, and she turned around to meet her aunt''s gaze, "You should be careful with whom you spend your time with. If word was out about what you do outside the castle and alone with a man, the nder will be something hard to handle, isn''t it?" smiled Rosamund before leaving the corridor.

    When the tailor arrived with his assistant to take the measurements of thedies of the royal family and who was going to be part of the Hawthrone family, the measurements were written down in the book. Lucy tried to ignore her aunt''s words because the woman often liked toment on things that had nothing to do with her.

    Away from the room where thedies were gathered, Theodore entered the room where Calhoun and Markus were speaking.

    "Oh good, Theodore is here," said Markus, "How are things going on with the tailor? Did thedies decide what and how they want?"

    Theodore offered the man a polite smile, "I don''t remember me joining the tailor with his work, Mr. Wilmot," he replied to Markus before turning to speak to Calhoun. "King Castell has agreed to your demands but he has his own conditions that he would like us to fulfill."

    Markus looked appalled by Theodore''s audacity in answering back to him.

    "Did you bring the parchment?" inquired Calhoun and Theodore pulled out the scroll.

    "It came this morning," informed Theodore.

    When Markus left the room after a while, Calhoun said, "He has some suspicion that something is in there in the dungeon."

    "He won''t stay quiet for long," replied Theodore and Calhoun smiled.

    "We can take advantage of him being a bbermouth," responded Calhoun. "I know he and Rosamund are waiting for a chance to call the High House. Let them do it because I am waiting for it."

    During the time of midnight,Theodore was making his usual rounds in the castle corridors when he caught sight of Lucy walking towards the West Wing. He wondered if her old habits were hard to let go of. In the past, Lucy loved walking in the quiet side of the castle, dancing on her toes and she also had the habit of leaving the castle without anyone''s notice.

    Pushing his sses up the bridge of his nose, he started to follow and saw her stop. When he got a little closer, he caught sight of Samuel who disappeared behind the doors of one of the empty rooms.

    Theodore was torn between letting Lucy continue to follow her husband and somewhere he wanted to catch hold of her hand to stop her. But it was time for Samuel to disappear from her life. He had given the man many chances to fix his rtionship with Lucy, and she didn''t deserve it.

    If he knew in the past that Samuel would turn out this way, he would have never sacrificed her like this but it was done. He was done sheltering Lucy and it was time for her to step into the light to see what kind of scum her husband really was, thought Theodore.

    Theodore''s eyes fell on Lucy''s bare feet on the cold ground. From where he stood, he could tell she was nervous and anxious, her heart beating as she made her way towards the door. For more than five minutes, Lucy didn''t move as she was still contemting and he watched her finally ce her hand on the door before, pushing it as slow as she could.

    Theodore saw her face turned pale like a ghost, her eyes wide in disbelief and shock. Even from where he stood, he could hear the gasps and moans that came from the room.

    And it was then that Lucy''s heart cracked before shattering into pieces. Tears started to slip from her eyes, rolling down on her cheek as she stood there in shock, watching Samuel being pleased by a maid.

    Theodore knew he was cruel in letting Lucy witness Samuel''s deed''s, but he doubted if he had told her by words she would believe him. And even if she did, and then asked Samuel, he would have lied to her all over again.

    When she had seen enough, he walked to where she was and he ced his hand over her eyes that were wet. He wasn''t going to let anyone hurt her again.

 Chapter 723 Messed- Part 1

    <h4>723 Messed- Part 1</h4>

    Theodore was pulling Lucy to the dining room, and Rosamund wondered if they were stupid enough to think no woulde to see them at this hour of the night.

    She always knew something was going on between them, but to think they had gone for so long keeping their feelings as a secret from others even after Lucy was married, Rosamund believed it was only right to let every person in the castle as well as in the kingdom to know what kind of sister the King of Devon had.

    Rosamund made her way to the dining room, trying to listen to what they were saying or rather doing, but the doors were thick, and so were the walls to hear what was going on the other side. Unable to resist herself, she pushed the door open and caught sight of Lucy and Theodore standing in front of each other.

    "My my. What do we have here?" she noticed her niece appeared taken aback by her sudden presence. "I hope it''s not rekindling memories in the middle of the night?"

    Lucy replied, "We came here to drink water."

    Rosamund smiled at Lucy. Did they think she didn''t know what was going on between them? She always caught one of them staring at the other. "Funny that none of us have water to drink in our rooms and we are all here at the same time, isn''t it?"

    She then looked at Theodore, who stood there unmoving along with his expression, "Are you going to pour me a ss of water or not?"

    Theodore replied to her words, "I am an advisor of the royal court mdy and only Calhoun''s servant to serve. I will tell the maids to refill the water in the jugs in your room." He offered his bow to both of them and left the dining room.

    He didn''t want to continue unnecessary conversation with Rosamund because he knew she was just like her mother, Morganna. At least Morganna was impulsive, but Rosamund was more patient when it came to drawing out her ns and waiting for it to happen.

    But Theodore didn''t leave the ce. He had taken a seat on the roof, watching over the dining room and listening in on the conversation that took ce between the two vampiresses.After a while, Lucy stepped out of the room, upset and not wanting to spend more time with her aunt, and Theodore decided not to follow her and give her the time she needed.

    After two more hours, the door to her room opened, and she heard Samuel''s footsteps. He walked around the room, stopping in front of her side of the bed. Even though awake, Lucy had closed her eyes, and she could sense Samuel watching her sleep. She tried not to open her eyes and kept her breathing even. After a few seconds, he finally walked around to sleep on the other side of the bed.

    When the next morning arrived, during the time of breakfast, Theodore noticed how Lucy had not appeared in the room along with Samuel and it was just him. The Harris family were yet to arrive in the dining room.

    "Where is Lucy?" asked Calhoun to Samuel.

    "Lucy is not doing that well and she has been feeling weak since she woke up. She said she would rest and join the next meal when she feels better," answered Samuel in a polite tone.

    "Weak?" Rosamund murmured, "I hope it isn''t something she caughtst night."

    "What happened to sister Lucy?" asked Sophie to her mother. And even though Rosamund had murmured her words, everyone at the table had heard it.

    In the meantime, Theodore only stared at Rosamund without changing his expression. Nothing had happened between him and Lucy except for the exchange of heated words regarding Samuel. Lucy was upset.

    ''You knew it, didn''t you? You knew it, and you didn''t care enough to tell me about it!''

    More than her husband, Lucy was furious with Theodore, and though it was questionable, he could only deduce that she found it easier to deflect her pain and anguish towards him.

    Rosamund didn''t y coy, and she turned her gaze towards Theodore, "We should ask the person with whom she wasst night. She might have caught a cold."

    Calhoun, who wasn''t paying much attention to them, now looked at Rosamund and then at Theodore.

    Samuel''s eyes narrowed at Rosamund, and he asked, "Is there something that you want to share with us, Lady Rosamund?" he asked the woman. Samuel then turned to look at Theodore with a questionable look. The man sure had the audacity to control Lucy when he was the one doing the dirty deed, thought Theodore.

    "You should be careful with how you phrase things, Lady Rosamund," stated Calhoun, "It seems like you were having your own time. As if you have been up to no good," one side of his lips pulled up. Rosamund was about to say something, but on seeing the Harris'' family Calhoun beat her to it, "Now let us all have our breakfast in peace."

    And even though it was ordered by the King to bring up the topic, Samuel was not pleased with what he just heard from Rosamund. When they finished their breakfast, Samuel caught up with Theodore, who was talking to one of the ministers not too far away from the royal court in the corridor.

    "Advisor Theodore, if I may have a word with you," said Samuel.

    Theodore had only finished speaking to Minister Fitzwilliam when Samuel arrived at the corridor. Turning to the man, he asked, "How can I help you, Duke Grivelle?"

    "Maybe we could go to a quieter ce than this where people aren''t walking back and forth?" proposed Samuel.

    "Sure," answered Theodore, knowing this was going to happen one day or another. They moved to a quieter ce and Theodore behaved oblivious to question, "What is it that you wanted to speak about, Duke Grivelle?"

    Samuel stared at Theodore for the longest seconds before he asked, "I would like to know if what Lady Rosamund said in the dining room was true? Were you and my wife spending time togetherst night?"

    Samuel wasn''t sure how it was possible, considering Lucy was fast asleep when he had entered their room and he had made sure to check she was still asleep before getting into the bed.

 Chapter 724 Messed- Part 2

    <h4>724 Messed- Part 2</h4>

    Theodore stared back at Samuel, his eyebrows subtly raising, "I think you missed what the King said, but it would be better if you don''t phrase it that way for Lady Lucy''s sake," his reply struck a nerve in Samuel.

    Samuel let out a chuckle from his mouth, "You don''t have to worry about it. Lucy is my wife, and I know how to treat her. Answer my question."

    "Like I said earlier, Lady Lucy and Lady Rosamund happened to join me in the dining room when I went to drink water. It seems like the maids forgot to fill the jug with water in their rooms and mine. We all happened to turn thirsty at the same time," replied Theodore, his expression impassive until a faint smile appeared on his face that Samuel caught on to.

    "You should watch your back, Advisor Theodore. People, especially the King wouldn''t be happy if he were to find his advisor buzzing like a bee around his sister who is married," warned Samuel. "I know Lucy is beautiful and it is hard for people to look away from her, but it would be better if you don''t cross your lines."

    This time it was Theodore who chuckled, "I think you are letting your imagination run wild, Duke Grivelle. Hold your horses because what you are insinuating is also something that the King won''t tolerate. I wonder where you got the idea, but it would be better if we don''t speak about this any further."

    Theodore was about to start walking when Samuel said, "Don''t think I won''t be watching you."

    "And I will watch you too," said Theodore before adding, "Your back of course," he offered the man a smile before leaving the ce.

    Samuel gritted his teeth and his hands clenched together, wanting to punch Theodore for acting as if he was superior to him. He went to the room, opening the doors to find Lucy sitting at the table in their room and having her meal.

    "How are you doing now, Lucy?" asked Samuel to her, cing his hand on her head and then on her shoulder.

    Feeling Samuel''s hands on her, Lucy''s grip on the spoon tightened, but she tried not to react and behaved normally as if nothing happened.

    "I still feel sick. I think I must have caught something," replied Lucy, and she stood up to walk away from him, moving towards the basin to wash her hands and mouth.

    "This is why I always tell you why you shouldn''t spend your time in the cemetery. You never know what those deceased bodies contain or carry near them," responded Samuel.

    Lucy was too dazed and still in shock from what she had seen and heard that she failed to respond to Samuel''s words.

    Lucy stared into her husband''s red eyes. All these years, she had trusted and depended on him. After catching him red-handed without his knowledge, it allowed her to understand why Samuel had tried to cheat on her.

    After a few months of their marriage, the most Samuel had done was kiss her, but nothing more than that. Sometimes it felt like she was his wife just by name, and apart from it, there was no other meaning to their rtionship.

    "I love you so much, do you know that, Lucy?" asked Samuel, and she stared right into his lying eyes. "Do you think we should return to our mansion? I am not sure if the castle is suiting you as you were doing much better in our home."

    Lucy shook her head, "It has nothing to do with staying in the castle. I just need some rest," she said, turning her head to the other side. She doubted she would feel better any time soon.

    Samuel knew something was not right, and he wondered if Theodore and Lucy had confessed their feelings for each other.

    Lucy was his wife! Only his!

    "I know this is not the right time to bring it up, but your aunt mentioned something about you visiting the dining room with Theodore," he drawled his words so that Lucy could rify it.

    "Hm," Lucy responded. "I was too sleepy, I don''t think I even remember meeting my auntst night."

    "Is that so," replied Samuel with a smile, and he then looked at the clock and said, "I am gettingte to go to work. I am supposed to go meet the magistrate again-"

    "Would you mind me if Ie with you? The time in the castle is slow," added Lucy, wanting to see what kind of work Samuel was working on. She looked at him curiously.

    Samuel''s smile faltered, and he said, "You will be utterly bored there and also it is hot outside, not to forget, you are still not well. Maybe some other day," saying this, he stepped out of the room.

    Lucy stared at the door even after it had been minutes since Samuel had left her in the room. Going to bed, she sat at the edge of it. Things which she had failed to see and notice earlier, she could now clearly see it. In their own little world, Lucy was unaware of Samuel''s deeds. From one cage, she had moved to another to never spread her wings again, and the sad part was that until now, she had never taken a note of it.

    She wanted to confront him, but she wondered how that would go. She needed some time for the information of what happened to sink into her mind topletely grasp the situation before taking any decision.

 Chapter 725 Messed- Part 3

    <h4>725 Messed- Part 3</h4>

    Theodore knew it, yet he had not mentioned a word about it. Lucy felt like an utter fool who was humiliated by her own words. She covered her face with her hands, remembering the times where she had boasted about Samuel, and all that time, Theodore knew Samuel was cheating on her.

    "I should find and talk to the maid," decided Lucy before getting ready and stepping out of the room to look for the maid in the castle whom she had seen with Samuel.

    But even after she had walked around the entire castle, she wasn''t able to find the person. Where did the maid go?

    And as much as everyone had been looking forward to Calhoun and Madeline getting married, life in the castle never went as expected.

    In a few days, Lucy found out Markus had his issues with the King and had tried to frame Calhoun for a murder that he didn''tmit. Her cousin had called the High House members to the castle, but instead of going in Markus'' favour who had informed them, he had fled from the castle, and her aunt and her cousin sister Sophie had been put behind the iron bars in the dungeon.

    She had wanted to bring up her issues with Calhoun, but with everything that was going on in the castle and their family, she decided to wait until some of the matters were settled.

    Right now, Lucy hade to the dungeon to visit her aunt and her cousin. Never would she have imagined something so bizarre. Sophie tried to pull the bars of the cell she was in anger,

    "I don''t know why I am even here! I was minding my work in my room when the guards came and dragged me from my room! Where is Markus?!"

    "They are still looking for him," whispered Lucy.

    "How can brother Calhoun put us or me in the dungeon?! I didn''t do anything!" yelled Sophie.

    Lucy sighed, not knowing how to react to it. It was as if one problem was not enough, and another arose right on time. While she was spending time with them, Theodore appeared there.

    "Lady Lucy, the King, has summoned you," he informed her.

    Lucy nodded her head and then turned to look at her aunt, "I will be back soon."

    "Be careful, Lucy," whispered her aunt. "You never know if you will be the next person to be thrown in the dungeon or to be killed."

    Theodore and Calhoun knew that Rosamund would try to brainwash Lucy by feeding her things to go against Calhoun, which was why Theodore had tried to stay close to the dungeon, listening to them speak.

    As Lucy and Theodore walked out of there, heading inside the castle, Lucy halted and asked, "Is it true?"

    Lucy had been kept in the dark for a long time, and he doubted he was the right person from whom she should hear the truth. He was also worried that the anger that she had for him, it would blow out of proportion.

    "Mdy?"

    But before he could answer her question, the members of the High House had arrived in their carriages, and he asked,

    "Would you like to stay witness the trial by the High House in the court room?"

    "Yes," she nodded her head. This wasn''t about and dispute or the matters that concerned themoners but about her family. Lucy wanted to be there.

    While Lucy waited for the High House members to make their appearance in the corridor, Theodore watched Lucy and asked, "Where did Mr. Greville go?" Samuel had been disappearing from the castle more often than he expected him to. Something didn''t seem right about it.

    Hearing Theodore''s question, Lucy turned annoyed, "Why don''t you ask him yourself?"

    There was the anger, thought Theodore to himself. She refused to meet his eyes. Though Lucy covered her emotions in anger, he could see the pain behind it in her eyes. She felt betrayed by him, and he wondered if it was because she still believed in him.

    When Theodore bowed, Lucy turned perplexed, "If there''s anything I could help you with, please do let me know." He wasn''t in the position to directly be there for her, but he would do his best in the shadows.

    "Why?" asked Lucy as she stared at him. Her heart clenched in pain. All she wanted from Theodore in the past was to return her feelings.

    She wondered if he understood how hard it was for her to be in the same room as him. It was as if someone was pushing millions of needles into her chest. After all this time, now he wanted to help?

    "You should have told me the truth. It was up to me to believe or not to believe you," said Lucy when Theodore didn''t respond to her. "Did you enjoy seeing me make a fool of myself?"

    "It was never my intention. My apologies for my past mistakes," said Theodore.

    Lucy shook her head as if not believing they were discussing this right now. She then remembered something and asked him,

    "What happened to that maid? The one who was with Samuel that night?"

    Theodore stared back at her, "I thought her presence would bother you, so I took her to the forest."

    Even though Lucy understood what Theodore actually meant, it took her a few seconds to sink the information and her mouth parted before it closed.

    "You didn''t have to do it," whispered Lucy.

    "I wanted to," replied Theodore and Lucy turned to look at him.

    Soon the High House members appeared in the corridor and Lucy lost her opportunity to question Theodore further. After the High House held a trial that day for Markus as well as Calhoun, the head of the High House Helena announced Calhoun to be not guilty while Markus was held ountable formitting treason against the King.

 Chapter 726 Cutting the strings- Part 1

    <h4>726 Cutting the strings- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Lucy had not gone back to her room and had stayed away from people for long hours because of what had happened to her cousin Markus and what she heard from Calhoun. Until now, she had hoped none of the family members would get at each other''s throat, but one of them had already been executed because of treason.

    The first treason Lucy hade to see was her grandmother who had tried to kill her father and...she finally found out that it was Calhoun who had killed her parents.

    When Calhoun revealed the truth to her after so many years, Lucy knew she should be angry at him, that she should go to the High House members and tell them what she just heard. It was the most right thing to do as she was the previous deceased King and Queen''s daughter. But she didn''t.

    She didn''t forget that day when she had found her parents bodies surrounded in their own pool of blood. The horror had shut her down. She loved her parents dearly, and she had cursed the minister whom she believed had killed them. It was only right to show her ire back at the person who had killed her parent''s, yet now Lucy wasn''t angry at Calhoun. It wasn''t because her anger had simmered down over the years, but it was because it was Calhoun who had killed them.

    At first, Lucy had only heard the rumours, but she hadter found out from other people regarding Calhoun''s past and his mother.

    She wasn''t ignorant about the sins her parents hadmitted, especially not with Ruby''s death either. Her grandmother had been punished, but Lucy knew her mother was the reason behind Ruby''s death. It was her mother who had informed the previous Queen on the maid''s mistakes. If her mother had not gone to tell her grandmother, her dear Nana would have still been alive.

    Lucy was conflicted with her thoughts, and she wanted some time alone for herself. The castle had turned a little empty with Markus dead, and her aunt and her cousin sister were ordered to never step inside the castle or meet any of the royal members of the Hawthrone family.

    Calhoun was her big brother. Even though they didn''t share the same mother, they did share the same father, and to Lucy, the King was her own brother and the only one whom she believed in.

    Lucy now sat in the garden, away from the people and the maids so that she wouldn''t be disturbed with anything. She wanted to be left alone with her thoughts, and another reason being, she was avoiding Samuel.

    ''Are you alright, Lucy? We should head back to the castle,'' Samuel had said to her on the day her cousin had been executed.

    As days had passed by, the reality only struck harder over what Samuel did and how he behaved in front of her as if he had done no wrong. The lies continued to pile, and she watched it.

    "Are you alright, Lady Lucy?"

    Lucy had been avoiding people from meals, giving them reasons for her being sick. She felt guilty for lying and making people worry about her.

    "I...I will be alright," answered Lucy with a soft smile on her face.

    "Would you want me to apany you to your room? I am not doing anything in particr right now. Please," Madeline offered her help.

    Lucy nodded her head, "Thank you, Lady Madeline," and as they started to walk, she asked, "How are you holding up with everything?"

    Lucy was aware that Madeline was having her own problems to deal with because her parents had that look of worry on their face.

    Madeline tried to muster a smile, "My parents are disappointed with Elizabeth, and she...I am hoping she wille around."

    Lucy nodded her head. It was hard to think Madeline''s sister had attempted to kill Calhoun on Markus'' words. Even though Calhoun had killed her parents, he was there for her when she needed him, and even though they came from different backgrounds, Lucy realized she did trust Calhoun''s decisions over anyone else''s.

    Madeline then continued to speak, "I didn''t expect her to do it, and hopefully she wille around. I spoke to her a few moments ago."

    "We allmit mistakes, Lady Madeline, the only question we need to ask is if the person willmit the mistake again without a guilty conscience," stated Lucy as she stared ahead of her. This wasn''t about Elizabeth, but about Samuel, who continued to lie to her face.

    Madeline pursed her lips before asking, "Are you angry at Calhoun?"

    Lucy was surprised by this question, and she turned her head to meet Madeline''s eyes. She wondered if Calhoun had told Madeline the truth about her parents death or if Madeline was speaking about the actions he had taken on their rtives.

    "The loss of our dear ones are often hard to digest, but if they are going to cause more damage, it is only right that we be protected from it," replied Lucy. "Calhoun did what he is supposed to do as the King."

    When they reached her room, Lucy had not expected Samuel to be there.

    "There you are! My beautiful wife!" eximed Samuel. Lucy wouldn''t have returned to her room if she knew he was here. Every touch and word that came from him had started to repulse Lucy, and when he was about to hug her, she dropped her handkerchief on the ground.

    Madeline, who had apanied her till Lucy''s room, caught sight of the little action which seemed far from being noted as coincidental.

 Chapter 727 Cutting the strings- Part 2

    <h4>727 Cutting the strings- Part 2</h4>

    He still needed her to get information in the castle to continue looking for the dark angel. Noticing Madeline''s presence, he put the loving husband''s facade on his face and stepped forward to greet Lucy, which was when her handkerchief slipped from her hand, and she bent down to pick it up.

    Before Samuel could say something, Lucy decided to spin a lie, "Lady Madeline and I were going out. And I came here to change my clothes."

    For a moment, Madeline was confused if they had a conversation on it but seeing Lucy turn around to her, she decided to go along and nodded her head.

    "Yes," Madeline replied with a smile, "I needed something for the wedding and Lady Lucy was kind enough to spare her time for me."

    Samuel didn''t know why, but he felt something to be amiss here, and he questioned his wife, "Where are you both going?" He wanted some time with Lucy, but it was hard to talk to as she would either be in some corner of the castle or talking to the guests or resting in the bed. Somewhere, Samuel was irked with the thought that Lucy was secretly meeting Theodore without his knowledge.

    Lucy was such a good wife, listening to every word of his. Buttely, since they had arrived at the castle, she had failed to listen to him. Right now, he didn''t want her to leave the castle, and with a smile on his face, he said, "I thought I told you before that we are going out? Not that I mind you going with the future Queen."

    He saw Lucy frown before she said, "I don''t remember you asking me. It must have slipped out of my mind."

    "Of course, it must have. You have been sick. That''s alright, dear," said Samuel with a warm smile on his face, and he said, "You can go with the Queen, and we can go out some other day. We wouldn''t want to upset the Queen or the King, considering what happened to the Wilmots."

    Lucy''s hand clenched, and she walked past Samuel before opening the cupboard. Her temper had raised, and she doubted if she could hold back the words that had been brewing in her mind any longer.

    With her back facing Samuel, she said, "You are right. We shouldn''t upset the King or the Queen, but I think it would still hold the same value when ites to the King''s parents or sister, isn''t it?"

    She was tired of people treating her like a showcase doll who was just pretty to look at with no other value. She was no puppet, and today she was going to cut those strings that held her arms, legs, and her very mind.

    Samuel, who was unaware of what Lucy meant, asked, "Did someone upset you? Tell me, and I will deal with it. Is it that, Theodore?"

    She couldn''t believe her marriage hade to this state. Her mother and grandmother had been eager to get her married to Samuel, and now she was bearing its consequences. But as angry as she was with Samuel, she was hurt by Theodore too, for not doing something before it was toote. Everyone had turned her into aughable fool.

    Out of anger, she murmured, "He sometimes annoys me."

    Hearing this, Samuel''s temper reached its peak. He knew it! Indeed, something had been brewing between them, which was why Lucy had been distant!

    "What did he do?" Samuel demanded from Lucy.

    "Nothing. He did nothing," said Lucy. If only he had done something, she wouldn''t be in this situation.

    She had lost so many precious years between them, and at that thought, Lucy shook her head.

    She was tired of everything going on, and she couldn''t put up a pleasing face for people anymore. Samuel didn''t understand her. She thought he did, but she was so wrong and blind with anger and pain that had consumed her, and now she felt sorry for herself.

    Samuel took Lucy to sit on the bed, but his actions did not move her.

    On the other hand, Samuel was more than pleased to hear that Lucy was annoyed by Theodore''s presence, and it made him internally smile. Finally, there was a reason to throw Theodore out of this castle and away from Lucy forever.

    He ced his hand on her back and said, "I will deal with Theodore. You don''t have to worry about it. People like him are nothing less to insects. He is the servant of the castle, of the King. I will speak to Calhoun and make sure Theodore is punished."

    Lucy could feel her skin crawl at Samuel''s touch, and she said, "I need some time, Samuel. No, I need time away."

    Hearing Lucy''s words, Samuel''s mood brightened even more than before. He had been waiting to leave the castle as it was hard to move in and out of the castle with Calhoun and Theodore present here.

    Samuel then said to the vampiress, "Of course! I have been thinking about it myself. With Markus'' death, I am sure you miss home. It has been quite long, and you must be missing home which is quite understandable as you never go out anywhere and stay out long."

    In excitement, Samuel started to pull out their clothes and other things from the cupboard so that he could start packing them. When he was done packing both their trunks, her things in a different trunk and his in a separate one, he said,

    "I will have the carriage ready so that we can leave-"

    "Samuel," Lucy called his name. "I meant time away from you. I want some time alone by myself."

 Chapter 728 Cutting the strings- Part 3

    <h4>728 Cutting the strings- Part 3</h4>

    Samuel seemed more than shocked by her words, and he snapped his head around to look at her. "What? That''s ridiculous. Why do you want time away from me?" he questioned her. He looked at Lucy as if she had lost her mind.

    It was only a few minutes ago that she mentioned her displeasure towards Theodore, so how did it end up in her wanting to be away from him?!

    "I think I got used to spending time away from you," responded Lucy without meeting his eyes.

    The smile on Samuel''s face fell, and his eyes narrowed at her, "This is not about you wanting to spend time by yourself. It is about that bastard Theodore, isn''t it?"

    Lucy didn''t feel the need to answer him, and she got up from her ce and went towards the cupboards to make sure all his things had been packed in the trunk. Picking a few things of his that he had not picked, she ced them in his trunk.

    Samuel''s hands turned to fists. This was because of that Theodore!

    "Did you remember your time of the past because of the wedding that is going to take ce? Lucy, you cannot be seriously doing this. Answer me, Lucy! I am your husband!" shouted Samuel.

    "Husband? What kind of husband?" Lucy whispered as she stared at Samuel. How dare he try to suppress her after doing what he did without thinking about her. "Have you truly been the husband you should have been to me?" she asked him.

    Samuel''s eyes narrowed before it widened on hearing Lucy''s words, "I know you have been sleeping with other women."

    How did she find out? Samuel''s eyes narrowed in suspicion. There was no way the maids had uttered a single word about him, and his face contorted in anger.

    "That''s an absurd allegation!" responded Samuel, "I have done nothing but love you, and yet you repay me with this? It is all because of that Theodore, isn''t it? He must have fed you with lies and you believed him? I cannot tell how disappointed I am today."

    Lucy closed her eyes.

    The amount of lies only kept piling up, and she wondered why she was being punished.

    "Please leave," Lucy slow said, "Take your trunk and leave." She didn''t want to see him anywhere near her.

    Samuel couldn''t believe his sweet, naive wife was kicking him out of the castle right now. He gritted his teeth while trying to keep a calmposure. Lucy was easy prey, and she just needed some convincing words from him to change her mind.

    Once he would find that fucker who had told Lucy, he would kill that person himself, thought Samuel to himself.

    Lucy then said, "I saw you...with my own eyes. Leave," she said, breaking her gaze away from him.

    Samuel stayed there for a few seconds, hoping Lucy would change her mind, but she didn''t move.

    In anger, he stepped out of the room without taking the trunk he had packed earlier. His hands shook, and his eyes turned red in rage. He knew exactly who had tattled to Lucy. Walking in the corridor, he looked around and caught sight of Theodore, speaking to a servant.

    Theodore was speaking to a servant to get the carriage prepared when he caught sight of Samuel making his way to where he stood. In time, Samuel''s fist came flying right at his jaw, and he allowed it without dodging it.

    It wasn''t that Theodore was a masochist when it came to pain.

    For quite some years since he had started to find out more about Samuel''s deeds, it had only wanted him to beat the man into a pulp. But being the King''s right-hand man and Samuel being a Duke, it was a hard thing to do.

    "You fucking asshole! How dare you try to feed things into Lucy''s ears?" Samuel held Theodore''s shirt beforending another punch on him.

    The servants around them gasped in shock, not knowing what was going on, while Theodore continued to have an impassive look.

    "I don''t know what you are speaking about," stated Theodore.

    Samuel didn''t hold back, and he punched him again to have Theodore stagger a few steps behind. "I knew you have had your eyes on her for a long time. Don''t think I don''t know. You have crossed your line and I will make sure you are punished for it!"

    Theodore ran his tongue inside his mouth to taste blood, "Did anyone tell you how pathetic you are?" he asked, his hand touching the corner of his lips to see blood.

    His words only angered Samuel, and soon a series of punches broke down between them.

    "Lucy is mine! I will kill you for even thinking you can have her!" growled Samuel as he moved his fists.

    Theodore didn''t hold himself back and was more than happy to beat Samuel, a faint smirk on his lips. He made sure to hit Samuel in ces covered by his clothes so that if someone looked at them, it looked like Samuel had received fewer injuries while Theodore was badly injured.

    "I think you have got something wrong here," said Theodore. He pulled Samuel to him and whispered, "She was never yours to keep," and within a second, Samuel''s back hit against the pir as Theodore had kicked right at his stomach.

 Chapter 729 Missed opportunities - Part 1

    <h4>729 Missed opportunities - Part 1</h4>

    "I think it is you and not I who is forgetting here, Theodore," said Samuel with a smug smile on his lips. "Lucy and I have been married for nearly two decades. If it still doesn''t sink in your mind let me tell you, Lucy has slept with me on the bed. What a satisfying girl she is with the right curves and dips, I am sure you would like to hear how-"

    Theodore''s fist came flying to hit Samuel''s face once again. Hearing the cheap words from Samuel''s mouth, he wasn''t able to hold himself back, and he continued punching Samuel''s face in anger as the emotions that he had sealed until now had started to escape.

    "If you loved her so much, why didn''t you protect her? Why did you cheat on her over and over again?" questioned Theodore, and Samuel pushed him.

    This time, Samuel kicked and punched Theo, fists flying one after another while one of the maids who had witnessed the fight quickly went to call Lady Madeline or Lady Lucy.

    "You bastard," Samuel cursed Theodore. It was indeed Theodore who had told about his time with the maids to Lucy. "I am going to make sure you are going to pay for it. It must be vexing to think the woman you loved was in another man''s arm."

    At the same time, Theodore raised his leg for it to hit straight at Samuel''s jaw that left a bruise. "Sometimes, people end up in wrong ces, but after knowing where she has been all these years, I think it is time to bring her back to the ce where she rightfully belongs and that''s definitely not where you are," said Theodore in a low tone.

    "I will not let anyone have Lucy," red Samuel, "She is mine. My wife, my woman. You would wish you never tried to fight me." Drops of blood had started to spill around them while their knuckles were bruised.

    When a couple of more punches were passed between them, Samuel was too intent on beating Theodore, not noticing Lucy had arrived at the end of the corridor.

    Lucy had an rmed look on her face.

    "Sam! Samuel! Stop it!" Lucy shouted from where she was before hurriedly walking to where they were.

    Hearing Lucy''s voice, Theodore stopped throwing punches at Samuel. But Samuel sent another blow with his fist at Theodore, and thetter took the blow without backing away. Because of the impact of the fist, Theodore staggered a few steps back from Samuel, leaving a reasonable distance between them.

    But Samuel didn''t care if Lucy stood there as his hand came right at her, and before it could hit her, Theodore had caught hold of Samuel''s hand, and he pushed him back.

    Lucy''s eyes widened as Samuel''s hand hade too close to her face, and the little hope she had for the man had utterly dissolved right now.

    She stared at Samuel, who had minor cutspared to Theodore, and she could only guess that Samuel had attacked Theodore first, taking advantage. She had asked him to leave the castle, and he had instead picked a fight with Theodore.

    "What is wrong with you, Samuel?!" demanded Lucy.

    Samuel red at Theodore,"It is because of him. He is the one who tried toe between us and spoil our marriage!"

    Lucy couldn''t believe that Samuel was still spouting lies.

    "I told you, Theodore has nothing to do with it. Stop making a fool of yourself and me, and leave the castle now," said Lucy to Samuel, holding her hand forward so that he wouldn''t take another step forward. She then looked at the servant and ordered, "Get Mr. Greville his carriage ready, so that he can leave the castle."

    Samuel looked taken aback by his wife''s words,? "Are you trying to humiliate me, Lucy? You are my wife."

    Lucy realized it was time to make the decision for which she had taken so much time until now since she had found out about his affairs with other women. It was time to let the man and everyone know about it and she said,

    "I think you have done plenty enough for both of us where I don''t have to do anything. I dissolve the marriage between you and me. We are no more husband and wife. If needed, I will run through an official proceeding to free you from this marriage."

    This time it was Samuel who was shocked and he couldn''t believe that his naive wife was doing this. When his eyes fell on Theodore, there was a triumphant smirk on the man''s face and it only made Samuel that much angrier.

    Samuel then scoffed, "Of course, else you would feel ashamed that you are having an affair with this servant."

    Lucy stared at Samuel, watching the way how his expressions had slowly started to change, expressions she had never seen in thest two decades. There was a snide on his lips and the eyes were not polite or gentle anymore, but rather harshly looking at her now.

    "You should be happy that brother Calhoun is not here," she said to him. If Calhoun was here, Samuel would not be spared and would have been beheaded right this instant.

    The servant to whom Lucy had ordered returned, bowing his head, "Lady Lucy, the carriage is ready."

    Lucy stared at Samuel while Theodore stood right behind her, "Take Mr. Greville''s trunks from the room and put them in the carriage. Make sure he returns to his house safely."

    Samuel was more than pissed off right now because it was not Calhoun or any other person, but Lucy who was kicking him out of the castle. The rage he felt only increased as the servants had started to gather around looking at him. He turned around, walking away from them and then Madeline so that he could leave in the carriage.

    He had never been humiliated like this by anyone, especially by a woman and with that thought, Samuel decided he wasn''t going to leave things as it is. He was going to return to the castle to settle things with his dear wife.

    When he reached the carriage, the coachman opened the door. But before Samuel could get in, he said,

    "Take me to Cossington town." He would get his revenge on Theodore soon.

    When he reached the ce, he dismissed the coachman and reached a building where the demons and the half angels with whom he was working, lived there. Upon entering, one of the men looked up at Samuel.

    "Look it''s Sammy," sang the demon withplete ck eyes. "What is with the trunk?"

    After Samuel exined how he was kicked out of the castle, the man who had a beard came forward and held Samuel''s head before mming it against the wall.

    "Do you know what you have done, Samuel? Screwing with women when you know exactly that we need someone at the castle so that we can find the lead to the dark angel?" red the man.

    Samuel felt his head turn dizzy and he was let go. He ran his tongue over the corner of his lips as it had a cut there. He looked down at the ground and said, "Forgive me for my negligence. This won''t happen again, Greyson!"

    The bearded man red at Samuel, "We have lost demons and you have the audacity to take things lightly. At this rate we will all perish! You fucking bastard!" the man said in a low voice.

    Samuel gritted his teeth, "I will fix this right away. Lucy will forgive me-"

    "You are not going anywhere near her until we find out where this dark angel is! The King already killed some of our men and I cannot deal with the loss of more demons on our side as we need them when we hunt the dark angel. Don''t fuck up my n, Tony. Else I will make sure you regret what you did," threatened the demon.

 Chapter 730 Missed opportunities - Part 2

    <h4>730 Missed opportunities - Part 2</h4>

    .

    Theodore stood in front of the basin of his room, sshing water on his face a couple of times before he raised his head to look at his reflection in the mirror. The cuts on his face looked deep, and the bruises had started to darken. He looked straight into the reflection of his eyes, and he recollected what just happened a couple of minutes ago in the main hallway of the castle.

    Turning away from the mirror, he picked up the towel that was nearby, and he dabbed it on his face, which caught drops of blood in it.

    When he went down to meet Calhoun, who had returned from the forest after burying Lady Madeline''s grandmother, Calhoun raised his eyebrow at him.

    "I thought something was wrong with the way the servants were scurrying away in the corridors. What happened?" questioned Calhoun looking at Theodore''s bruised face.

    "It was Samuel," replied Theodore.

    Calhoun''s lips twisted into a subtle amusement, "Did you finally beat him up?"

    "Lucy must have confronted him before he came to fight me. She said she wants to dissolve her marriage with him and doesn''t want him in the castle," exined Theodore and instead of being angry, Calhoun smiled, but he didn''tment on what was on his mind.

    "It is good to see him out of the castle as well as from Lucy''s life. She finally decided to take a stand," murmured Calhoun, pleased with his sister''s decision. "Send the servants to fetch her clothes and things from the Grivelle''s mansion. I would prefer her to not go and meet him again. She can stay here in the castle."

    Theodore nodded his head, obliging to Calhoun''s words.

    When it was night, Theodore had returned to his room, and he lit the candles to bring light to the room along with the firece. Thinking back about what happened today, he looked at the door. He had waited for years.

    In the past, he had tricked himself into believing what he was doing was for Lucy''s good as she was a married woman.

    Beforeing to the castle, his past reputation was where he had slept with married women, and people who were in the same circle were aware of this. He didn''t want to taint Lucy''s name, and he had kept his distance, watching her from afar. Samuel had been punished by none other than Lucy herself, and Theodore couldn''t tell how pleased he was by this.

    He knew earning back Lucy''s trust and feelings would take a long time.

    Theodore also knew he had yed dirty with Samuel to gain Lucy''s sympathy, but Samuel had been ying dirty for a long time. Right now, Lucy had no husband who could control and manipte her, no aunt who could taunt her. The princess was finally free to do what she wanted with no strings attached to her.

    As he walked towards the door, he felt nostalgic. Thest time she had arrived at his door was when he had broken her heart.

    He opened the door to find Lucy in her night dress, holding thentern in her hand and in another hand he caught sight of a box. She looked like a deer being caught during a hunt.

    "Want toe in?" Theodore asked her before stepping away from the door.

    Lucy stepped inside his room, cing thentern on the ground and looked around his room.

    "Were you going to sleep?" she inquired, noticing the bed and the covers.

    Theodore was happy to see her here. He had been watching her for so long in the shadows that it was impossible for him to get anything wrong because he knew she woulde to see him. He pulled a chair for her to sit on.

    He answered, "I had a few parchments to go through which was given by Mr. Fitzwilliam over the tea estate in Humsbrey."

    She nodded her head, but didn''t take a seat on the chair that he had pulled for her. "I bought the first-aid box." His wounds didn''t look like they had gotten better and it was her fault he had been hit. If she hadn''t uttered Theodore''s name to Samuel, he would have never gone hunting Theodore.

    As if reading her mind, Theodore asked her, "Do you hate me so much that you said something to Samuel that made him punch me?"

    Hearing this, Lucy pursed her lips. She remembered the times when Theodore had hurt her and then said, "Sit, so I can tend the wounds."

    Theodore noticed the blood rushing beneath Lucy''s pale skin and it seemed like he was right.

    He removed his sses before taking a seat on the chair. He watched her open the box and pick up the cotton as if everything was back to normal between them. It was only a couple of days ago that Lucy was dodging him, not wanting to stay in the same room, but here she hade to his room out of her own will and kindness.

    Lucy then stepped closer to Theodore, leaning forward and she started to tend the wounds with the cotton dipped with medicine. Her heart squeezed and she tried not to meet his eyes.

    "I apologize for what Samuel did."

    Theodore could hear her soft breath and with her face so close to his, it distracted him from little pain he felt from the cuts and wounds. Her lips were rosier and her eyes not once looked at him as if they were concentrating on healing him.

    "You shouldn''t have stepped between us earlier. I had only started to enjoy the fight. Ouch! Did youe to tend or worsen the wound?" Theodore asked her when she pressed the cotton on his wound. When a chuckle escaped his lips, Lucy felt her heart skip a beat.

    Why? She asked herself. After all these years why did her heart still beat like this.

    It seemed like they both had hurt each other and Theodore didn''t seem to mind it. But she hadn''t healed and she was still wounded from the past. She realized she had stopped dabbing the cotton and was now staring into his eyes, their faces in front of each other.

    Quickly Lucy stepped away as if she was done tending his wounds and she started to put things back inside the box.

    She heard Theodore ask her, "How are you doing now?"

    Lucy wasn''t sure how to answer it. Somewhere she was sad that for all these years Samuel had lied to her and then somewhere, she felt relieved that she was not part of Samuel''s life anymore. It was a mixed feeling and hering here to Theodore''s room, she didn''t know what she was thinking. It must have been her guilt and worry, but that didn''t let her forget the pain and the amount of tears she had spilt.

    Theodore let Lucy know, "Calhoun will support whatever decision you make."

    "I know," whispered Lucy. She knew Calhoun would always support her, since he had arrived at the castle years ago, he had always protected her and that was why she believed in him.

    "I should get back to my room," said Lucy, picking up the first aid box in her hand. But before she could reach the door, Theodore called her name.

    "Lucy."

    There was no ''Lady'' or ''mdy'', just pure Lucy and it had her clutch the box she held in her hand. When she turned to him, she saw him stand and raise his hand towards his face. "Thank you for this," there was that gentle smile on his face, the same one that had made her fall hard for him and she had scraped herself in the past.

    Their gazes didn''t break and Lucy realized she was not ready to break her heart again. Not again.

    "Goodnight," she whispered, picking up thentern that she had brought with herself.

    "Goodnight," Theodore responded back to her, watching her take her leave while he heard her heart thudding in her chest. He still affected her like no other had.

 Chapter 731 Missed opportunities - Part 3

    <h4>731 Missed opportunities - Part 3</h4>

    Even though her direct family had never been supportive, Calhoun had taken the role to support her, and she had found a sister in Madeline, who was going to marry Calhoun in the next three days. Having gotten used to sleeping alone at night and spending her time with the maids in the Grivelle''s mansion, the days right now was nothing new.

    Lucy was in her room when a maid appeared at the front of her room, knocking on the door, and she responded to it, "Come in."

    "Mdy, the tailor has finished preparing your gown for the wedding and I brought it here," informed the maid, and Lucy nodded her head.

    "Leave it on the bed," said Lucy. Noticing two other boxes the maid carried, she asked, "What is there in the other two?"

    "Ah, these are the clothes that were prepared for Lady Rosamund and Lady Sophie. I wasn''t sure what to do with them and thought to bring them to you," replied the maid.

    Her aunt and her cousin sister were stripped down from their status and were prohibited froming in contact with any of the royal family members...she doubted Calhoun would be pleased if he found out that she had sent the dresses to them.

    "Give it to the castle''s eldest maids. It would be a waste to keep them aside and not wear them to the King''s wedding day when they were made for the asion," said Lucy, sending the maid with the two boxes. Going to the box that had her dress, she opened and took a look at it.

    As much as Lucy missed her parents, she was somewhere d that they were not here. Calhoun was marrying someone he loved, and it made her happy. And now that the secret about the deaths and the conspiracy was known to her, she finally had figured out who was in the grave where once her grandfather''s body was buried.

    She was folding the dress to ce it back in the cupboard when she heard another knock on the door, and she turned around wondering if it was the maid, "Come in," she said, but when the maid didn''t enter inside, she opened it herself.

    "Ethan?"

    The man in front of her offered her a warm smile and Lucy was startled by seeing him. It had been years since she hadst seen him, and she couldn''t believe he was here.

    "Good afternoon, Lady Lucy," Ethan bowed his head, greeting her.

    "I cannot believe it is you," replied Lucy before stepping out of her room and hugging him while she smiled. "Where have you been? I never heard from you."

    Finding Ethan standing in front of her door was thest thing she had expected when she had woken up this morning.

    "My apologies for that, mdy. I have been doing better. How about yourself?" asked Ethan.

    Lucy nodded her head with a smile, "Better too."

    "I received the invitation from King Calhoun two weeks ago and decided toe here earlier than the wedding day. It is good to see you too, Lady Lucy," replied Ethan. "Are you busy with something? I cane byter-"

    "No, it''s fine," said Lucy, waving her hand and she asked, "Did you meet brother Calhoun?"

    "Yes, I did. I met him beforeing here."

    As it had been quite a long time, there was a tinge of awkwardness in the air, but both Ethan and Lucy were no more young. They had grown up in their own way. They smiled at each other, and Ethan finally asked,

    "Would you like to take a walk? The weather seems pleasant today."

    "Yes," Lucy didn''t mind Ethan''spany as he was a good person. But at that thought, she realized how she thought some of them were good, but they had ended up betraying her. Then again, this was Ethan.

    As they walked in the corridors, Lucy asked, "Howe you never came to visit the castle? Did Calhoun appoint you at the borders to work?"

    Ethan smiled, "I think I got too busy with work. Though I did visit the castle every month."

    "Oh, you did? I don''t think I ever got to hear about it," she murmured to herself.

    That was because Ethan never appeared at the castle when Lucy was present. He looked at her from the corner of his eyes, watching her features that hadn''t changed much. Her demeanour was still gentle as before.

    Things in the castle often didn''t stay as a secret as it always slipped through someone''s lips before it was known to the people outside the castle. Ethan Moryett had heard about Lucy and Samuel, of how the man had been cheating on her with several other women.

    Ethan wasn''t here to reignite things of the past, and had onlye to check if Lucy was doing fine.Though many years had passed, he still held a soft corner towards Lucy whom he once loved.

    To drive the awkwardness away, Ethan said, "Everyone has been looking forward to the royal wedding. There has been a lot of chatter about it. I was surprised hearing they were going to hold the wedding in the castle."

    "I think it took most of us by surprise, especially with Calhoun falling in love," Lucy smiled at that. Remembering something, she asked Ethan, "What happened to that girl? Wait, are you married?" she looked down at his hands but there was no ring on his finger.

    She remembered Ethan telling her that he was going to confess his love to a girl, but the memory had faded.

    Ethan smiled at Lucy''s curious expression, "I didn''t get the chance to tell her how I felt about her."

 Chapter 732 Time to pursue you- Part 1

    <h4>732 Time to pursue you- Part 1</h4>

    "Are you going to stay in the castle for some more days or are you just here for the wedding, Lady Lucy?" inquired Ethan as they continued to walk in the corridors of the castle.

    "I might stay a little longer," replied Lucy. Ethan had not questioned a word about her marriage or Samuel, and she could only guess that word on what happened had reached him, and he was being thoughtful by not intruding on those matters. She was grateful for his gesture.

    Ethan replied, "I am sure the King would be more than happy to have you here. I think it was only two months ago when he had mentioned he had not seen you for a very long time."

    Lucy wondered herself why she hadn''te to visit the Hawthrone castle, but then it might have been because of Theodore. Their pasts were slightlyplicated because of the feelings that had been carried over all these years.

    She smiled at the vampire''s words, "That I have been told."

    With Samuel out of her life, where she was free from him, Lucy wondered what to do next with her life.? The Hawthrone castle might be her true home, but that didn''t mean it was right to stay here. She needed some time for herself, alone and away from people. She had decided to think about it once the wedding was over.

    "How about you, Ethan? Will you be staying here longer?" questioned Lucy.

    "I came here to attend the wedding and to make sure you to see you were alright," Ethan''s words slipped from his mouth, and he bit his tongue before he would say anything more. "Pardon me for my words."

    Lucy shook her head, "You don''t have to be careful around me, Ethan. Don''t apologize for something you aren''t responsible for," and they both turned quiet.

    Ethan looked at Lucy, who offered him a sweet smile, and he couldn''t help but wonder how her bastard husband had the heart to cheat on a person like her. Lucy was everything a man would dream of having, and she deserved nothing but happiness. If he found Samuel in the future, he wouldn''t leave the man without a fight, he thought in his mind.

    As cheerful as Lucy appeared to be, he could tell she was hiding her pain from everyone, and that was why he hade here. Hoping she could rely and lean on him as a friend.

    Lucy then said, "It is surprising sometimes, isn''t it, to realize what we chose to be wrong."

    "People are deceptive, mdy. And some lowlives don''t know what they have next to them, living their lives without any morals. I am sorry to hear what happened," said Ethan and Lucy had a tight smile on her lips.

    "I know it''s too soon, but if you ever want a change of surroundings and people, you can alwayse and visit the Moryett''s mansion. The mansion is built near the river and it might be something you might find to your liking," offered Ethan.

    "I remember you telling that. Maybe I will," she smiled at Ethan, and he returned the smile to her. "Actually, my family had gifted me a mansion before they passed away of course. By my father, it is probably six to seven hours of journey from here. I was thinking about speaking to brother Calhoun about it and spending some time there," said Lucy, raising her hand to push the piece of her hair behind her ear.

    The mansion was a birthday gift to her that had not been used and had been now left in the dust as no one lived there. Getting it suitable to live would take some time, but Lucy believed it would be worth it.

    Lucy hadn''t spoken to Theodore since the time she had left his room, and she didn''t know if she was ready to forgive him. She had held on to the pain for so long that her hand didn''t want to let go of it.

    "Maybe I can help you with it," Ethan was kind in offering his help, and Lucy''s heart went out for him. "I don''t have anything in particr to do as I will be taking a vacation from my duties."

    "Thank you, Ethan," she thanked him.

    When she was young, she hadn''t realized it, but now she wondered why she hadn''t fallen for a person like Ethan. He was a good man, someone who respected and showed his concern towards her, and she then remembered why. It might have been because Ethan had someone he already loved, thought Lucy to herself.

    Lucy wondered what kind of girl Ethan had or was still in love with that he himself had decided to not get married. How strange, she thought to herself. Neither Ethan had married the person he wanted to, and neither did she marry the person with whom she was in love.

    Considering how Ethan had not married, Lucy guessed that the girl was married to someone else now. "Didn''t you find anyone else to fall in love with again?" she asked him.

    Ethan took a deep breath, a faint smile appeared on his lips, "I didn''t find a person like her again."

    Lucy pursed her lips, "Well, people are different but they still have a little amount of simrities. I feel bad that a handsome person like you didn''t marry the girl or anyone else to heal your pain. I can find you some suitable girls on the wedding day," she proposed and Ethanughed at her suggestion.

    "I think I am fine, mdy," replied Ethan. "Oh look, there''s Advisor Theodore," and Lucy turned her gaze away from Ethan to find Theodore busy talking to a woman.

 Chapter 733 Time to pursue you- Part 2

    <h4>733 Time to pursue you- Part 2</h4>

    .

    On seeing Theodore talking to a woman who looked like she had some work with him, Lucy''s lips set itself in a thin line with a faint frown on her face. Just the mention of his name was enough to make her alert and quick to take a look where he was.

    If she was going to stay here in the castle, this was how it would be, crossing paths with Theodore who would often be found either speaking to the ministers or the maids. If there was something Lucy had noticed, the maids always stopped their footsteps when they saw Theodore in their vicinity.

    What did the maids even want from him? asked Lucy in her mind, her frown deepening as she stared at the woman with whom Theodore was speaking.

    When he was only Calhoun''s bodyguard, the women around were suspicious about him because of her grandmother''s order to keep an eye on them. But since her brother had imed his throne and Theodore had been promoted to be the King''s advisor along with minister Fitzwilliam, it seemed like Theodore''s poprity had only increased.

    "Lady Lucy?"

    "Hm?" Lucy turned to look at Ethan, her frown disappeared from her face.

    "You seemed to be lost. Let''s go and talk with Advisor Theodore. It is so hard to get hold of him when I am here in the castle," Ethan proposed, and in a few seconds, they reached where Theodore and the woman stood.

    Theodore, on the other hand, was speaking to the woman who was a member of the High House when he caught sight of Lucy walking in his direction with a familiar man, Ethan Moryett. What a lovely surprise thought Theodore to himself.

    "Advisor Theodore, it is good to see you," Ethan bowed his head in greeting and then to the High House member who stood next to him. "Lady Daphne."

    The woman looked at Ethan, offering her greetings, "Mr. Moyett. I never thought I would see you here, especially this soon." Lucy wondered if Ethan and the woman knew each other through work. "Lady Lucy," the woman bowed her head. I must get going now."

    "Please do think about my request, Lady Daphne," Theodore said to the woman, his eyes not breaking away from her, and Lucy looked back and forth between them before looking away.

    The woman, in return, smirked, "I will give you my answer before tomorrow evening," and she left them.

    When Ethan turned back, he looked at the bruises on Theodore''s face that hadn''t caught his eye at first nce, and he asked, "What happened to your face, Advisor Theodore? Seems like you were in a brawl," there was a surprise in his voice.

    Theodore chuckled as if it was nothing, "I had a little bit of fight with a dog. It should get better within a few days."

    It was the first time even Lucy had seen Theodore fight after he hade to stay in the castle. She didn''t forget the first time he had fought to save her.

    "That''s fine, Mr. Moryett. I had my own personal physician who hade to take a look at the injuries," came the nonchnt words from Theodore and Lucy''s face burned bright redt. Was he calling her as his physician?!

    "You should be careful, Advisor Theodore," stated Lucy, her eyes looking straight into his, "You never know if the medicines will be mixed with poison." Just because she had tended to him out of kindness, it didn''t mean they were alright now. Theodore was wrong if he thought he was forgiven that easily.

    Ethanughed, "I don''t think anyone would dare to poison people who live in the castle, Lady Lucy. Though word did reach me that someone had tried to poison the King twice. They must have been very brave to do it."

    Theodore noticed the way Ethan looked at Lucy while Lucy was still oblivious about the man''s feelings. Having already known from the past that Ethan was in love with her, he didn''t like the man being here. Not right now, at least when things between him and Lucy were in delicate condition.

    "Do you rmend any physician, Lady Lucy?" questioned Theodore. "My stomach and my back still hurt. I was thinking about asking one of the maids to help me with that."

    Lucy''s eyes narrowed, and she said, "Why don''t you ask one of your lovers to do that? I am sure they wouldn''t mind lending you a hand."

    Theodore''s own eyes subtly narrowed at Lucy''s words, "Considering some of them have died, it would be hard to do it."

    Ethan didn''t know what just happened, but he could feel the tension between the two of them. Curious, he asked Theodore, "Died?"

    "My lovers were mostly old women. They were quite mature in their thoughtspared to the younger girls," exined Theodore, and Ethan nodded his head.

    "I see. You are a man of many mysteries, Advisor Theodore," Ethan tried to brighten up the atmosphere. "The fight must have been quite bad."

    "I will see youter, Ethan. I remembered I have something urgent to do," Lucy bowed her head and slipped out of the corridor.

    Lucy''s steps were quick on the floor as she tried to get away as far as she could from where Theodore was. It wasn''t her business what Theodore did or whom he spoke to. Some of his words pushed her even though she didn''t have to care about it. When she reached the other side of the castle, she saw Theodore walking from the other side.

    Lucy opened her mouth, ready to speak but then she closed it. It was better to ignore the man and she decided to walk past him,

    "What was that?" Theodore asked her.

    Lucy raised her eyebrows as if she didn''t know what Theodore was speaking about, "What?"

    "What you just said there," stated Theodore, removing the sses from his face. "It sounded like you were jealous."

    "I think you were hit quite badly to assume it," replied Lucy.

 Chapter 734 Time to pursue you- Part 3

    <h4>734 Time to pursue you- Part 3</h4>

    "You left Ethan toe speak to me. People are going to wonder if something is going on, you wouldn''t want people speaking," said Lucy, ready to leave but Theodore came to stand in her way. They stared at each other intensely.

    "If you didn''t want people to think like that, you shouldn''t have spoken what you said there?" asked Theodore, his eyes unwaveringly looking at her.

    Lucy didn''t lose her ground and replied, "I don''t think I said anything that was untrue. You were the one who told me you slept with many women." Not to mention, he had indirectly called her immature, thought Lucy in her mind.

    A small smile appeared on Theodore''s face. "Isn''t it unfair, princess. You got married and started to live your life, and you expect me to not do anything remote to it?" he raised his eyebrows at her.

    It wasn''t that Lucy wasn''t aware of what she did because the words had slipped from her mouth and right now she was too prideful to apologize for what she had said.

    "It was...you can ignore it. It was nothing," said Lucy.

    "But it clearly seems like you want to say something to me. I don''t understand your actions," stated Theodore. "In the middle of the night youe to my room to aid my wounds and now you are back to being cold."

    "I wonder why that is," was the quick retort that came from Lucy. She hadn''t expected Theodore toe after her and she felt her heart tremble at that thought.

    When Theodore caught sight of a servant who was walking in the nearby corridors, he caught hold of Lucy''s hand and pulled her to the nearest room that was not upied by anyone. "What do you think you are doing?!" Lucy asked, rmed.

    Theodore shut the door close and Lucy stared at him. "I thought we should speak," he suggested.

    Lucy crossed her hands. She would have retorted but that would only prove his point on how immature she was and she wasn''t going to let that happen.

    "If there is something you would like to discuss, we can sit down in the study or drawing room. What is it? I have other things to do," demanded Lucy, lifting her chin up as she looked at the walls. But her eyes moved to the corner to take a look at Theodore who was looking at her and she looked away from him.

    It had been a few days since Lucy had found out about her husband''s infidelity in their marriage and Theodore knew she had started to detach herself before that point with Samuel. It was the reason why he didn''t want to wait around anymore, especially now with Ethan who was here, he didn''t want to let Lucy slip through his fingers once again.

    "Are you angry at me for hitting Samuel?" questioned Theodore and Lucy frowned.

    "I thought I would answer your question," said Theodore and this caught her attention. Slowly, she turned to face him. A small frown came to settle on her forehead because she didn''t remember asking him any question now. "It is a question that you asked years ago. I don''t want to let you go."

    Hearing this, Lucy gulped and then stared hard at him, "You are quitete, Advisor Theodore. Like you said before it has been many years and in those years, people move on," she gritted her teeth and turned to reach for the door.

    But Theodore ced his hand on the door so that she wouldn''t leave. "Can you truly say that you don''t feel a pinch of what you felt before?"

    Lucy stared at the wooden door. Her heart thudding loudly, "What are you trying to get to? Maybe you do have a bad memory, but it was you who didn''t want me. It was you who didn''t listen to a word and instead told me to marry Samuel. You don''t have to pity me now."

    "Who spoke anything about pity," replied Theodore.

    "If that is all you wanted to speak, I should take my leave now," said Lucy, pulling the door knob and the door slightly opened before it was shut close.

    Theodore could hear every beat of Lucy''s heart and even though her lips denied how she felt about him, he knew the truth. "I want to mend my errors with you. I know you never loved Samuel and your rtionship had started to dissipate from a few years. I apologise for not informing you about what I knew."

    Lucy shook her head. She whispered, "I hate you, Theodore."

    "I know. I am d you do," he replied, his head moved closer to hers. He was d that she held something about him.

    Her hand shook, her eyes about to start filling up with tears as the emotions she had blocked within herself all these years started toe out. "You hurt me when I needed you. It isn''t that easy," she said, closing her eyes.

    "I had my reasons," Lucy heard Theodore''s words.

    Lucy nodded her head, "I know. I know you had your reasons, but you could have told it to me back then. But it doesn''t matter anymore now." Staying close to Theodore was harmful to her heart. She had to quickly run away from here before she would be caught in the web.

    Theodore ced his other hand on the other side of Lucy, trapping her between his hands and in front of the door.

    Lucy might have been angry at Theodore but she was still weak to his actions and the barrier she had ced between them had started to crumble. "Looks like you don''t care about your head anymore."

    To this, Theodore replied, "What''s there to care about when I don''t have my heart with me."

 Chapter 735 Tangled- Part 1

    <h4>735 Tangled- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Hearing Theodore utter those words, for a moment, Lucy felt like her surroundings had turned still and almost non-existent as if it was just her and Theodore in this entire world. Her red eyes had widened, and her hand that was ced t on the surface of the door, she used it as a support so that she wouldn''t fall weak to his words.

    "Lucy," whispered Theodore, stepping even closer than he had before. If he leaned a little further to the front, he would be able to smell the scent of the top of her head. "I have made mistakes, but they weren''t intentional. Deep down in your heart you know that."

    His hands had started to close in on her, and the goosebumps that were on her arms had started to spread to her whole body.

    "For the pain that has been caused, I cannot forgive you," she said in a low voice and turned around to meet his eyes. Her re didn''t deter him, and he instead moved towards her. "What do you think you are doing?"

    "You can take your time," said Theodore, "You can hate me as much as you want and once you are done with hating me, then we can get back to the same page as before."

    Thankfully they were in a closed room where no one could walk in to see the scandalous position they were standing in.

    "I don''t think I will ever be done with hating you," said Lucy in anger.

    It was not right how Theodore was trying to win her heart when he could have stopped her anguish and pain long ago. It wasn''t like she hadn''t attempted to understand where he came from, but if he had believed and had faith in her, he would have told what Samuel had been doing. The pain, the humiliation, how could she forget them.

    Lucy whispered, "I loved you, Theodore, like I had loved no one."

    Theodore raised his hand to ce it on Lucy''s cheek as if to simmer the anger that was burning behind her eyes. The anger was derived out from the pain she had felt all these years, and Theodore wanted to take them away from her. On his hand''s touch, Lucy automatically closed her eyes, a gasp escaped her lips.

    God only knew how she felt right now, and Theodore was not making it any easier.

    "I love you, Lucy. Before and now, and will continue to do so," whispered Theodore, and that was enough to create a crack on the wall. Lucy opened her eyes, meeting Theodore''s gaze, and he said, "I know I have hurt you, but allow me to make it right and I promise to never break your heart again."

    She felt him brush her cheek with his finger, the strokes caressing her skin, and it brought back the remaining memories she had locked away from herself. When it was Samuel, he was her husband but she had never felt even half of how she had felt for Theodore. With their closeness, Lucy could see her own reflection in Theodore''s eyes, and she realized how her back had pressed itself against the door.

    "Is the door locked?" came a voice of a maid from the other side of the door.

    The doorknob moved as if the maid was trying to open the door, but Theodore held it tightly so that it wouldn''t open.

    Realizing where she was and what she was doing, Lucy became worried at the possibility that the maid and the others would find her and Theodore alone in the room.

    It had been only a few days since she had found out Samuel was cheating on her, and she didn''t want people to think that Samuel had been framed by someone so that she could be with Theodore. Maybe it was best to step out of the room as if nothing had happened, because nothing did happen, and they were only speaking. But the longer she stayed inside with Theodore with the door locked, the more suspicious it would be.

    "Why is this door not opening? I am sure it was left to be open so that I could clean it now," said the maid to someone, and both Lucy and Theodore heard another pair of footsteps approach the door.

    "It isn''t opening?" asked another maid, her voice confused, and she said, "I thought it was at least when I was walking by earlier."

    While the maids talked to each other, Lucy sent a re at Theodore, "What are you doing?" Lucy whispered as softly as she could.

    "I am not finished talking to you," stated Theodore, his eyes swept across her face and noticing this action, Lucy unconsciously licked her lips that had turned dry. Theodore was quick to follow the tongue that peeked out and disappeared.

    "I am," replied Lucy. "Now step away so that I can leave."

    "Promise me something before you leave then. That you won''t give your heart to anyone," said Theodore, his eyes holding her gaze, and Lucy frowned.

    "My heart is none of your business-"

    Lucy wasn''t wasn''t finished speaking when she was interrupted by Theodore''s finger on her lips to hush her.

    Lucy''s heart hitched on, feeling Theodore press his index finger on her lips. Her breathing had suddenly quickened, and she felt frozen. Gulping down at the unexpected action, she was about to speak when Theodore brushed his finger over her plump bottom lip.

    "Seems like you want to be caught," Theodore whispered to her, his head moving to one side of her lips and saying. "I wouldn''t have pulled you here if I wasn''t sure about our feelings for each other. I know you love me, Lucy, but I don''t want you to do something in haste to spite me."

    When they heard the sound of the footsteps leaving from the other side of the door, Theodore finally dropped his hand and his gaze from her lips.

    "You have slept with Samuel, I have with other women. It would be rude of you to pin on me that I was supposed to not do anything while you-" Lucy punched her fist straight into Theodore''s stomach. "Ouch!"

    "Do you think I wanted to get married to him?" questioned Lucy when she had gathered back her sanity. "I could have waited for you, but the truth is you didn''t want me��"

    "We wouldn''t be here if I didn''t want you," pointed Theodore, but Lucy was too angry at Theodore to listen to him.

    "No," whispered Lucy. "If you would havee to me and exined, we wouldn''t be talking like this." She pushed Theodore away from her before quickly opening the door and leaving the room as fast as she could.

    Theodore stared at the door, hearing it close shut, and his lips turned into displeasure. A frustrated sigh escaped his lips.

    In the evening, when he went to meet Calhoun in the study room, pushing the door open, he noticed Lucy was in there, speaking to the King.

    "The mansion is in ruins and it would need lots of repairing to do before you can move in," Calhoun responded to something Lucy had said.

 Chapter 736 Tangled- Part 2

    <h4>736 Tangled- Part 2</h4>

    Theodore''s eyes subtly narrowed on hearing Ethan offering his help to Lucy.

    Lucy caught sight of Theodore entering the room before Calhoun gestured to him to take a seat. She tried not to look at the man so that it wouldn''t shake her resolve from what she had decided beforeing here to meet Calhoun.

    "Seems like Mr. Moryett and you are good friends," Calhoun smiled, his words holding unspoken questions in it, and Lucy nodded her head.

    "Ethan has been very kind to me. I wouldn''t have agreed if he didn''t mention about him going to be on leave from his work for a couple of days," replied Lucy. "He said he knows the right architect and said he would drop the letter once I would finish speaking to you."

    Calhoun rubbed his chin, "It saddens me that you don''t want to live here in the castle with us. I am sure Madeline would be more than happy to have yourpany. Not to forget I and Theodore too, isn''t that correct, Theodore?" came his nonchnt words, looking at the vampire who sat on another seat.

    Theodore''s eyes met Lucy''s, but none of them said a word.

    Noticing the silence, Calhoun hummed and then said, "If you truly wish to do that, then I cannot force you to stay now, can I?" he offered his sister a smile.

    Lucy clutched on to the side of her dress. She hadn''t expected Theodore to appear here when she was speaking to Calhoun, and she said, "I have too many memories here to leave itpletely behind me. Some of the memories haunts me," she paused before saying, "I wille visit the castle as often as I can."

    Calhoun nodded his head, "Then I will have the things there arranged."

    "Thank you, brother Calhoun," thanked Lucy, and she stood up, bowing her head at him and then bowing at Theodore before leaving the room. When the door shut close, Calhoun used his hand to support the side of his head and asked,

    "What happened between you two that made up her mind to run away from here this fast?" There was a curious smile on Calhoun''s face. Even though he didn''t like meddling in Lucy and Theodore''s personnel matters, he couldn''t help but feed his curiosity now. With Samuel gone, he thought things would get better, but it didn''t seem like it. "She wants to go live in the mansion that Laurence gifted her," he added so that Theodore knew about it.

    A frown appeared on Theodore''s face. She was running away. He wondered if he had overwhelmed her by speaking to her in the afternoon. He wouldn''t have spoken if Ethan had not shown up and words had slipped one after another. His jaw ticked.

    "I didn''t know Ethan was off duties," stated Theodore.

    Theodore rubbed his temples, "I only told her how I felt."

    "Seems like you are as bad as me when ites to courting the person you love," responded Calhoun, picking up the ss that had previously been ced on the side table.

    "She hates me, Calhoun. For breaking her heart and most importantly for the words that I uttered that day," Theodore got up from his seat, making his way to the little trolley that had bottles of alcohol ced in there and he picked up one of the bottles.

    Calhoun stared at Theodore, who hadn''t spoken much and looked as if he was thinking of what Lucy had said before leaving the room.

    "I wonder what Madame Fraunces would have to say if she were alive, to know that her boy couldn''t woo the girl,"mented Calhoun in a calm voice and then said, "Lucy only knows why we came here to the castle and about her parents."

    Theodore returned to his seat with a ss in his hand, "I know."

    He knew if he were to tell Lucy why and what happened with Madame Fraunces before he broke her heart, she would have another view, but he didn''t want to win Lucy''s affections through pity.

    Right now Theodore saw some of the options ahead of me, one was to break down the mansion that the previous King had given so that it would be inhospitable for anyone to live in. Another was by having Ethan out of the picture by sending him as far as possible from Lucy. Thest option was for him to let go of Lucy, parting ways to never meet at the same point as they did in the past.

    Back in her room now, Lucy closed her windows and the doors including the patio doors. Lying in bed now, she had ced her hand over her eyes to cover them while her heart flipped every time she remembered Theodore''s closeness to her and his finger on her skin.

    A soft sigh escaped her lips. She needed some time for herself, and she would do that by going to the mansion and, if needed, live alone there.

    When the day of the wedding arrived, Lucy was helped by the maids to wear the gown that had been made for her, wearing her shoes and the maids helped her with her hair. Once she was ready, she went over to check on Madeline if she needed any help.

    She was walking in the corridors when she heard a familiar voice call her from behind, "Lucy dear, look at you all dressed as pretty as a flower."

    The smile on Lucy''s lips widened on seeing the woman, and she eximed, "Aunt Monique!" They were quick to exchange hugs with each other. "I thought you wouldn''t being."

    "How could I miss Calhoun''s wedding you silly girl. It is good to see you after so long," said the older vampiress. "I heard what happened a couple of days ago about the Wilmot''s and Samuel. I am sorry I wasn''t here when it happened."

    Lucy shook her head, "None of us knew it would happen. You don''t have to feel bad, Aunt Monique. I am just happy to see you here. I am sure brother Calhoun would be delighted to see you."

    "Mhm," Aunt Monique then curled her hand around Lucy''s arm. "The castle looks different every time Ie visit it," said the woman, looking around the ce.

    "Is that so?" asked Lucy, surprise in her voice. "I don''t think apart from some of the paintings much has changed."

    Aunt Monique smiled, "The people in here have changed, Lucy. It feels lighter than thest time when I visited. Tell me about the bride before I meet her. How is she?"

    "She is fantastically lovely. You will adore her as much as you adore me," Lucy praised Calhoun''s bride to be.

    "Looks like you get along well with her," murmured her aunt and Lucy smiled.

 Chapter 737 Tangled- Part 3

    <h4>737 Tangled- Part 3</h4>

    "You looked beautiful, Lucy,"plimented Ethan.

    "You look handsome yourself, Mr. Moryett," Lucy used a sophisticated tone, and both of themughed at it. Lucy had worn avender coloured gown, and her hair had been parted from the side and tied in a messy bun next to which fresh flowers had been pinned. "Did youe from Calhoun''s room?"

    "Unfortunately no. I was told to greet the guests from the High House as everyone is still getting ready," answered Ethan. "I will see you down in the chapel."

    "Yes," Lucy replied before she started to head in the direction to the King''s quarters. As she continued to walk, the hem of her dress stuck itself to her shoe, and she had to stop walking, so that she could free her dress.

    "Do you need help with that?" Lucy heard Theodore''s voice and she looked up to see him carrying a box that was covered in cloth.

    Lucy didn''t know why it had to be Theodore. Without waiting for her reply, he ced the box down and seeing this she quickly said, "It is alright! I will manage it-"

    "It''s just a little help. Or do you believe I am beneath you that you cannot ept it," asked Theodore while his hand reached for her shoe, and he untangled the hem of her dress from her shoe.

    When Theodore stood straight, Lucy''s throat went dry. God was not being fair to her, thought Lucy to herself. How could a man be this handsome? He was in a ck suit, and his hair had beenbed differently than usual.

    "Thank you," Lucy murmured.

    Theodore noticed how? Lucy''s eyes looked darker than normal. Her hair loosely tied and her features soft while her lips were painted pink.

    Lucy on the other hand didn''t know what to say to Theodore and both of them decided to keep thepliments to themselves.

    "Is Lady Madeline ready?" asked Theodore.

    "Yes," replied Lucy, recovering from the thoughts she had sunken into. "She''s ready. How about Calhoun?"

    "He just headed towards the chapel," Theodore responded to Lucy''s question. Oh, he already left, thought Lucy to herself. There was no point walking in this direction. Before she could leave, Theodore decided to ask, "When did you n to move out of the castle?"

    "Three days ago," replied Lucy.

    "Don''t go," came the blunt words from Theodore, and Lucy looked at him surprised. "Don''t go with Mr. Moryett."

    Lucyughed softly, "You don''t have to worry about such things. Ethan is a good man."

    "A man who is in love with you," stated Theodore.

    And now he was making up things, "That''s not true. You don''t know Ethan."

    "This is not the time to be discussing it, Advisor Theodore. We have a wedding to attend," and Lucy was about to leave, but Theodore asked,

    "When then? You seem to be running, I didn''t know the princess has turned into a scaredy cat," taunted Theodore.

    Lucy''s eyes narrowed, "Maybe never."

    "Look at you both, you look like a married couple fighting over something,"mented a man? seeing Theodore, who hadn''t seen the woman with whom Theodore was speaking to. When Lucy turned to meet the man''s eyes, the man quickly bowed his head. "My apologies, Lady Lucy. I didn''t know it was you."

    "Minister Fitzwilliam," Theodore greeted the man.

    "Advisor Theodore," the minister greeted back.

    Seeing the frown on Lucy''s face, the minister said, "Pardon me for my words, Lady Lucy. I thought it was Advisor Theodore''s mystery girl."

    Theodore''s own eyes narrowed at the man, and he gave him a death re as if, if he would utter anything they had spoken during the time of Hallow, he would not spare him. And here he thought the man had forgotten everything in his drunken state, thought Theodore to himself.

    "I am sure our advisor has many mystery girls, Minister Fitzwillian," Lucy''s jaw ticked in annoyance, and she then sent a re at Theodore. "I hope you spend your time well with the mystery girls," and she stomped away from there.

    Minister Fitzwilliam looked confused on what exactly happened. "Seems Lady Lucy is angry about what I said."

    "You think so?" deadpanned Theodore.

    Lucy had misunderstood minister Fitzwilliam''s words, not realizing she was the girl and there weren''t other women in his life right now except for her.

    "I do," minister Fitzwilliam murmured to himself, and Theodore shook his head. He would deal with itter as Lucy said, they had a wedding to attend. Calhoun and Madeline''s wedding.

    During the wedding, Lucy stood next to Aunt Monique, and she couldn''t help but smile for the couple. The priest told his prayers, and the bride and the groom vowed, repeating the priest''s words before they were finally dered by the priest as husband and wife.

    When Madeline went to change her gown to something more suitable for the wedding dance, Lucy stood next to the Harris family, introducing her aunt Monique to them as they hadn''t been introduced well earlier.

    "You know what you should do, Lucy?" Lucy heard Aunt Monique question her in a whisper. "Dance because no one will question you."

    Lucy smiled at her aunt''s words, "I don''t think I have the heart for it, Aunt Monique. I think I would be better off as a spectator."

    "Rubbish!" the woman was quick to dismiss Lucy''s words. "You look no more than neen. It is an advantage of being a vampiress, you get to stay young. I know you are hurt by something, but you know you will let it go eventually. Why not let it go now rather than feel sorry?" Aunt Monique took a sip from her ss.

    "I will try," Lucy replied to her aunt while looking at people dance.

    While she continued to look at people, Lucy caught Theodore talking to a woman, his eyes briefly meeting hers and she was quick to look away. But at the same time, Ethan appeared in her sight, who headed in her direction.

 Chapter 738 The Cellar - Part 1

    <h4>738 The Cer - Part 1</h4>

    .

    Lucy watched Ethan walk up to where she stood. In those spare seconds, she couldn''t help but ponder on the words that Theodore had uttered to her. Was it true that Ethan liked her? But then why didn''t she realize it until now?

    Her eyes took in the man''s presence, who offered her his kind smile, "Is something wrong, Lady Lucy?" he questioned her in concern, noticing her stare at him.

    "Um, it''s nothing," Lucy shook her head. "I just got lost in my thoughts. Thinking about the wedding."

    Ethan nodded his head, "Yes, it is good that everything went ordingly without any much things going around. Now we have a Queen."

    "We do," replied Lucy, turning quiet as she tried not to stare at him this time. Theodore had surely not told it out of spite, did he? Slowly her eyes moved to look at Ethan, who had a smile on his face as he was busy looking at the people on the dance floor.

    While they stood next to each other, Lucy noticed how his expression subtly changed on seeing Ethan standing next to her. It seemed like Theodore didn''t like Ethan because he believed she would give her heart to Ethan.

    Their eyes met, staring at each other from where they stood. Lucy couldn''t help herself but admire the man who looked sophisticated in the ck suit. Theodore had always been a looker because of his elegant demeanour, and it was hard to believe that he didn''te from a well-known family and, in truth, hade from the dark alleys and the streets.

    When someone came to stand in front of him to speak, they broke their gazes, and Lucy looked somewhere else so that no one would catch her staring at him.

    It was strange how she was always trying to catch up to him in the past, following everywhere he went so that she could look at him. She had put her heart and soul into loving him wholly, and the way things had ended a few weeks before she got married, it had been the hardest time she had spent. Even harder to live with a man whom she didn''t love after her marriage. She had cried at night, time after time until the tears had dried, and there was no more of it for her to shed.

    "Lucy?"

    "What?" Lucy turned to look back at Ethan, who had a quizzical look on his face.

    "You look distracted. Is something the matter?" asked Ethan in a polite tone, and Lucy shook her head.

    "Everything is fine," she answered him before asking, "Would you like to dance, Ethan?"

    For a moment, she saw him turn startled before he nodded his head, "I would be delighted, mdy, if you allow me the chance."

    Ethan bowed at her before taking her hand in his and leading her to the dance floor where Calhoun and his bride were dancing with the others.

    "Did you speak to the King about moving to the mansion, Lady Lucy?" inquired Ethan.

    Lucy nodded her head, "I did. He is willing to support me with my decision," she answered him as they danced. One hand in his hand and the other was ced on his shoulder. She couldn''t help but wonder if Ethan was helping her because he still had feelings for her. "If you don''t mind, may I ask you something?"

    "Please go ahead," Ethan responded to her curiosity.

    Lucy wet her lips as she tried to get the right sentence from her mouth without it being too direct, "Why didn''t you find any person to marry until now? I mean, everyone gets married, I did too," she chuckled in her dry humour.

    Ethan didn''t take her words to be intrusive as Lucy had always been someone who had been outspoken with him. He stared into the vampiress'' eyes, "I guess I didn''t have the heart to marry."

    "Because of the girl?" asked Lucy, and he shook his head.

    "I wouldn''t like to me her. She had no idea of my feelings towards her and maybe it would have never happened. As time has passed, I havee to learn that some things in this world are meant to be while some things are not meant to be even after years," responded Ethan. "Do not feel bad for me, Lady Lucy. I don''t...resent the girl. You don''t have to hate her," heughed at the end.

    Lucy smiled at his words. Ethan was a good man, and she wished for him nothing but happy life.

    "I will try not to hate her," sheughed with him. "I hope you can find love again, Ethan. I am sure there are plenty of women out there who are eager to marry you."

    "Thank you for your encouragement, Lady Lucy," he answered as he stepped back and she stepped forward.

    While Lucy continued to dance with Ethan, she caught Theodore looking at them, but his expression didn''t change. It was like watching a man who was frozen in time.

    It wasn''t that she was trying to punish Theodore. She was tired of being hurt. She was being careful as the pain continued to linger in her mind that she had carried for the past two decades. Emotions like those didn''t disappear in a week or two. But then she remembered what Aunt Monique had advised her.

    Lucy wondered if it would be easy to let it go, the pain she had been holding.

    The celebration continued, and Lucy stepped out of the castle for some fresh air. For thest few days, she had needed a lot of fresh air, and she wanted to stay away from people.

    "Didn''t think there would be somebody here," said a voice from her right side. Lucy turned to find one of the High House members she had seen around Calhoun, who now stood at the garden side.

    Lucy bowed her head, and the man did the same. His silver hair was smooth and straight that had been tied into a ponytail, "You can have this side of the garden, I was about to leave."

    "That''s fine," said the man. "I came to view the beauty of the garden. What are you doing here, instead of being inside?" He looked at the walls of the castle.

    "I thought I would take a walk. I am not used to staying around too many people."

    The man nodded his head understandingly, "I know how that feels," but his eyes looked at her as if he didn''t believe her words. "May I?" he asked, ncing at the bench.

    "Please," Lucy said, giving way for him, and as the man walked past her, she felt a sense of calmness wash over her mind. She took a seat herself on the other side of the bench.

    "I don''t think we officially met with each other, I am Reginald and you must be King Calhoun''s sister- Lady Lucy," said the man. The High House members who hade to attend the wedding hadn''t changed themselves to wedding clothes and instead wore their uniform, a long ck cloak with a cor. "Wonderful, isn''t it? To see your dear ones getting married. Time moves so quickly."

    Lucy smiled at the man''s words. "Indeed it is."

    The man had a faint smile and a distant look in his eyes, "Children grow up so quick that you don''t even realize, but be happy for them. For a person like me, everyone are my children, almost," he added when Lucy gave him a look. "It seems like you are holding some heavy thoughts in that mind of yours."

    "Are you a mind reader?" asked Lucy, and Reginald smiled.

    "Unfortunately, I don''t have such profound skills. But I have often hear that burdens turn lighter when you share it with others. It eases your mind," said the High House member.

    Lucy looked down at her hands, and a small sigh escaped her lips, "Frankly my mind is too nk to think anything."

    After a few seconds passed, she finally said, "Would you forgive a person easily?"

    "Maybe," came the answer from the man, "But then it depends on if the plea for forgiveness is asked sincerely or not. We all make mistakes, don''t we. I think I did one too, and I only hope I can rectify it." Reginald looked up at the clear sky, "We all do something that we regret, but sometimes we do things to protect."

    "Why not be truthful about it?" asked Lucy. "It would avoid so many heartbreaks. Why do weplicate things by not talking when it is needed?"

    A faint smile appeared on Reginald''s lips, "Maybe the person was trying to protect you, thinking about your well being. There is a time for everything, mdy. Sometimes, it might not be the right time to tell things to a person because not everyone takes things well. It is all circumstantial."

    Hearing this, Lucy turned quiet.

    Reginald said, "If the person truly means sorry for what happened, why not mend it, instead of wasting the precious life by being angry at that person."

    Lucy wondered if this person, by chance, had any idea about whom he was speaking about.

 Chapter 739 The Cellar - Part 2

    <h4>739 The Cer - Part 2</h4>

    .

    Later that day, when night arrived in the castle, the celebration continued with the guests. But Lucy didn''t stay there for long, and she went back to her room.

    Lucy sat in front of the firece, not on the chair but the cold floor. She stared at the mes while she held her knees together, hugging them closely.

    After knowing the possible feelings Ethan had for her, Lucy couldn''t help but distance herself from him a little so that her actions wouldn''t send any wrong message to him. On the other hand, Theodore hadn''te to speak to her after her little entanglement of her dress with her shoe.

    She knew she had ordered Theodore to not speak to her and stay away from her, but at the same time, she couldn''t help but wonder what he was up to. Thest time she had seen him, he was dancing with a woman, not looking at her even once.

    "I should stop thinking about him," whispered Lucy to herself.

    She wondered what to do with her things in the Grivelle''s mansion, and at that thought, she wondered if Samuel would be willing to send the maids to her new mansion as she liked them. For the years she had spent, she had formed a good rtionship between them.

    Letting go of her knees, she stood up, "I didn''t do anything wrong. Why have I stuck myself in a room while everyone is being merry?" she questioned herself. Calhoun was her brother, and she was supposed to enjoy her brother''s celebration more than others.

    Unlocking her doors, her feet padded from her room to look for some enjoyment.

    In the meantime, Theodore, who had been entertaining the guests, was stuck with one of the women named Lady Rebekah, who was drunk and was now clinging on to his arm.

    "Theodoreee, I think I am going to be sick!" said the woman.

    "I am sure you are, mdy. Why don''t you get back to your room and have some rest?" he suggested before calling two guards to escort her to her guest room.

    Most of the men and women had turned drunk, and one of them was Ethan, who sat on a plush seat without talking to anyone but staring at his ss. The bride and the groom had disappeared, leaving the guests in his care. Theodore couldn''t wait for people to leave the castle to go back to its former state.

    "Mr. Moryett, would you like any help in getting back to your room?" inquired Theodore in a polite tone. At the same time, he looked around, his eyes searching for Lucy, but she was nowhere to be found.

    "No, I will be fine," replied Ethan, and he ced his empty ss and stood up.

    Before the man could take his leave, Theodore inquired, "Did you see Lady Lucy, Mr. Moryett?" The entire noon she had been with Ethan, and he was more than annoyed by it. He wondered if Lucy was trying to push his buttons.

    "I thought she was here a moment ago," Ethan responded to Theodore''s words. Theodore frowned upon hearing this. It seemed like Mr. Moryett was drunk as the others. "She seemed like she wanted some time alone for herself."

    Theodore, who was looking at the wide and big room, turned back to look at Ethan, "Why would you say that? Did something happen?" a small frown marred on his forehead.

    "I am not sure. She must have been thinking about her marriage to that Samuel," whispered the man. "If I find that bastard, I will make sure to pay him back for breaking her heart!"

    "Okay, time for you to go to bed," murmured Theodore, and he called the guards to see him to his room. He made sure the human guests were sent to their rooms first so that no vampire guests would turn them into their midnight snack.

    Worried about Lucy, he decided to check her room. He was only going to check her room, and if she was asleep, he would not bother her, Theodore thought to himself. The clock had struck past twelve, and he wanted to make sure she was alright. Reaching her room, Theodore stood there for several minutes before cing his hand on the knob of the door and pushed it slowly to find the room empty.

    Theodore''s eyes narrowed, and he stepped into her room to catch sight of her clothes and trunk still in the room. It didn''t seem like she had left the castle, which meant she was still in the castle.

    But where did she go?

    The corridors had turned deserted as the servants had gone back to the servant''s quarters, and the guests had gone to their rooms to sleep. Theodore searched for Lucy in the halls and then in the garden. He continued to look for her until he went to the cer room to find her sitting on the table with her legs folded while she hummed something under her breath.

    What was she doing here all alone by herself?

    The cer had rock-like walls that were uneven, and it was much colder than the rest of the castle, holding bottles of liquor and wine that had been used to store here since the castle had been built.

    When he walked around, moving closer to where she sat, he noticed Lucy in thepany of an empty bottle and another one where the liquor was quarter gone.

    Lucy didn''t notice Theodore''s presence, and she picked up the bottle of alcohol, pouring herself another ss before she drank it like it was blood.

    "What are you doing here in the cer?"

    Theodore saw Lucy''s bright red eyes looking up at him. "What do you think I am doing? I am drinking," she replied to him.

    "You know that''s not what I meant," said Theodore, walking to where she was sitting on top of the table.

    Lucy raised her eyebrows in realization and said, "My apologies, would you like to have some?" When he didn''t reply to her, she poured some more into her ss and took a sip.

    "You''re drinking the liquors that are made for vampires. You have a weak body, almost simr to the humans. You''re going to have a bad headache," stated Theodore, and Lucy waved her hand in front of him. "You''re intoxicated."

    "I am perfectly wonderfly," replied Lucy, without the speech of slur, but her words were not right.

    Theodore watched her rx, not caring if someone would enter the cer to see her in her nightgown and ss of alcohol next to her. "I don''t know about wonderfly but it would be wonderful if you could head back to your room now. It is ratherte and you need to rest. We all had a long day."

    "We did," Lucy agreed, her voice calmer than thest few days and her whole demeanour seemed rxed. "What happened to others? They still alive?"

    "Very much so I believe," replied Theodore, watching her closely. Her cheeks had turned pink, and so were her lips. Her eyes looked a little hazy. When his hands reached out for the bottle on the table, Lucy pulled it back.

    Theodore doubted that Lucy was in the mood to return to her room, and he said, "Let me get a ss." He decided to give herpany, and he went to pick up a ss and returned.

    "Allow Lucy to pour the drink for you mansueer," said Lucy.

    Monsieur corrected Theodore. It was a word used in one of the neighbouringnds.

    Lucy''s grip on the bottle was tight as she poured the alcohol into his ss before cing the bottle back on the table with a loud thud.

    It seemed like she didn''t mind hispany, and he wondered why or if it had something to do with the alcohol.

    She continued to hum something, and Theodore decided to ask, "What are you doing here?"

    "You ask the same questions. I was drinking, but now you are drinking with me," at the end of her sentence, Lucy''s serious face cracked into a grin. "I wanted to drink and I came here. I was bored in my room."

    People often drank to either forget something or to sleep, thought Theodore to himself. Deciding to not touch upon the topic of wooing her, he let it rest for the time being. When silence filled the cer again, Lucy looked at Theodore, looking at the ss in his hand.

    "Did youe looking for me?" questioned Lucy.

    "I was looking for thieves. Our guards are not good at guarding the castle," responded Theodore, not wanting to spark something that might not go well.

    Lucy stared at him, "Then what are you doing sitting here? You should keep looking for thieves."

    "I will once I see you off to your room," Theodore muttered under his breath.

    "What?" asked Lucy.

    "I was going to open another bottle, would you like to have some?" asked Theodore, getting up and walking towards the cupboard.

    Lucy turned her head, "I will have it once I am finished drinking this one," she responded with a smile on her face.

    Theodore took a while before he returned to the table where Lucy hadn''t moved from her ce. Leaving the ss, she now held the neck of the bottle close to her.

 Chapter 740 The Cellar - Part 3

    <h4>740 The Cer - Part 3</h4>

    "Did you enjoy the wedding?" he asked her.

    "Um," Lucy nodded her head. "Calhoun is finally married. I was married. Are you going to marry too?"

    "Do you want me to?" asked Theodore, his gaze fixed on hers.

    Lucy shook her head, "It is up to you, isn''t it," she whispered to him. "Who was that woman in blue dress with pearls around her neck."

    "Lady Paulina. Why do you ask?" Theodore kept his tone to be nonchnt. Running his finger round and round on the rim of the ss.

    "You seemed to be glued to her, that''s all," replied Lucy, bringing the ss back to her lips before she took a sip without meeting Theodore''s eyes.

    Theodore could tell she was bothered by that particr woman, and he said, "She''s not of any importance. Just a guest who happened to be glued to me."

    "It''s not like I care," Lucy said in between her sips, and Theodore couldn''t help but internally smile.

    "Of course, I totally know that," he responded to her words. "You seem to have spent quite an awful amount of time with Mr. Moryett. You enjoy hispany."

    Lucy nodded her head, "I do. What''s not there to enjoy. He is a good man, very sweet," and she sighed in the end. "I didn''t know," a small frown came to settle on her forehead.

    She then had a look of confusion, "I didn''t understand though...by what he meant it wouldn''t have worked even if he tried. You know what he meant, don''t you?" she asked, her eyes slightly drooped, and she tried to focus on Theodore.

    "Your family must have disapproved of the idea of him marrying you," replied Theodore, and Lucy nodded her head. And even if Ethan did propose to her that time, Lucy''s heart had already been upied by Theodore. In the end, it would not have worked.

    "My family��" Lucy looked slightly lost in her thoughts, "It was a mess. I keep wondering why I don''t hate brother Calhoun as much as I hate you...Then I wonder if it is because I had the feeling of hate and remorse towards my parents, knowing what they did to people and to me...But you!" her voice turned high as she narrowed her eyes at him, and she then turned to a wilted flower, silence once again filling the room.

    "I believed you would never hurt me. In this world of Hell, you were my guardian angel, Theo," she whispered as her eyes started to blur.

    Theodore''s heart turned heavy hearing her words, "I did hurt you��"

    "You did," a faint smile appeared on her lips. "I know you told me the right things that would hurt me. I hate you for it. You were so mean to me. I am a nice person, why did you have to-" a hup escaped her lips.

    "You regarded me too highly, Lucy. I am not the guardian angel but a demon," said Theodore. Right now, Lucy looked like a child.

    "I know you are a demon. I am such a sweet girl," said Lucy in between the sniffles and hups. "You even let me marry someone whom I didn''t love! I would have run away from the castle and no one would have known. You poured alcohol on my n!"

    Theodore continued to wipe her tears, a sigh escaping his lips, "Running away doesn''t help in the long run, Lucy. I didn''t want you dead, I wanted you alive," he spoke to her in a gentle voice. "You are running away again."

    Lucy looked at him, "I am sitting right here. I cannot believe I am crying in front of you."

    "It isn''t something that I have never seen before," stated Theodore, and he picked up her ss to pour the water that was in the bottle he had brought earlier. "Here."

    "Thank you," muttered Lucy, bringing the ss to her lips, and when she drank it, she pulled away and stared at it. "This doesn''t taste like the previous one. It tastes like...water."

    "It is a special alcohol that tastes simr to water," answered Theodore before making her drink some more so that her head wouldn''t hurt when she would wake up tomorrow.

    "You hate me, yet you came to my room with a first aid box," he caressed her cheek. "I know you won''t remember anything tomorrow, but for what it is worth��" he leaned forward to kiss her forehead.

    "You think such a small gesture is going to fix things?" asked Lucy, unhappy with the peck.

    Theodore''s lips twitched, "I think it is sufficient for now. If you remember about our time here tomorrow, I shall kiss you in the morning," saying this, his finger brushed across her lips before it went to his side.

    He wasn''t going to kiss her when she was drunk because there were high chances of her getting angry if she found out that he had kissed her whilst she was in her drunken state.

    "Mm," Lucy hummed in response. A yawn escaped from her lips.

    "Do you want to drink more or would you like to go to bed?" asked Theodore, ready to make her drink some more water if she chose to drink some more liquor.

    "Bed," replied Lucy and Theodore gave her a nod.

    "A wise choice,e on," he said, ready to see her climb down the table so that she could start walking. But Lucy stared at him. "What is it?"

    Lucy offered him a sweet smile, one that belonged to her past when she was still innocent where her current pain didn''t burden her.

    Two minutester, they were away from the cer room and in the corridor. Theodore carried Lucy on his back with her arms around his neck. "Such afortable ride," murmured Lucy while she had ced one side of her face on his shoulder.

 Chapter 741 Oncoming deaths- Part 1

    <h4>741 Oing deaths- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Theodore carried Lucy on his back. His hands firmly held both her legs on either side of his body while her head rested on his shoulder, murmuring something incoherent under her breath.

    In the morning, when he hade across her in the corridor, thest thing he had expected out of the night was him carrying her on his back as she was drunk. Even though she tried to behave strong and brave in front of him as if she didn''t need anyone and she waspletely capable of looking after herself, she had demanded him to take her to her room by carrying her.

    Lucy...Hawthrone thought Theodore in his mind. He had loved her the same way as how she had loved him.

    He wondered if he had done something that had triggered her to go to the cer and drink, but then he hadn''t done anything today apart from entertaining the guests, who hade to attend the wedding.

    "Theo," Lucy whispered right next to his ear. "You have been very quiet," she hummed, trying to move forward so that she could get a better look at him.

    "I thought you fell asleep," responded Theodore, continuing to walk down the corridor.

    "How can I sleep without the bed," she softly grumbled. "What about those thieves?" she asked as if remembering what he had said earlier in the cer.

    "I caught one," replied Theodore. "

    "You did?" there was a surprise in Lucy''s voice, and her mouth opened wide to yawn. "I am so sleepy. You wouldn''t mind if I slept here, do you?"

    "Go ahead," replied Theodore, and Lucy tightened her hold around his neck.

    Theodore could only hope that Lucy would remember the conversation that had taken ce tonight. As many memories they had created in the past, this one was filled with a little bit of bitterness and more sweetness in it. Like a cookie that was burnt but was still sweet, which he would savour.

    The corridors were deserted, and the fire in the torches had started to dim because the oil in it had started to exhaust. But before Theodore could reach Lucy''s room or near the corridor, a woman walked in the other direction.

    It was a vampiress whose footsteps were firm and sharp on the floor. It was Lucy''s aunt Lady Monique.

    When Theodore''s eyes met the woman''s gaze, he wondered what to say to her if she would ask him what happened to Lucy.

    "My my," murmured Aunt Monique when she came to stand in front of Theodore. "Did she drink more than she could handle?" asked the vampiress while looking at her niece.

    Theodore bowed his head from where he stood without dropping Lucy.

    "She did, mdy. I thought I would put her to bed so that she could sleepfortably," responded Theodore.

    Monique nodded her head, "Of course, you thought it."

    When Lucy had spoken to her today about her not willing to dance, she had believed it was something to do with Samuel. That asshole had to be thrashed for hurting her sweet niece, thought Monique in her mind. Most of them had not seen iting, and the news had reached their ears as a shock. She noticed how Lucy had her arms tightly locked around Theodore as if she didn''t want to let him go. Her breathing was calm, as if she had fallen asleep.

    "I believe you don''t need any help in carrying her to bed," noted Monique, and Theodore bowed his head again.

    "I will make sure she gets to bed and has a good rest," assured Theodore, wondering if the woman suspected anything going on between them. But with neither of them who had uttered a word about what they felt, Theodore walked past the older vampiress to head to Lucy''s room.

    Monique turned her head, watching Lucy and Theodore''s back before they disappeared from the corridor.

    Upon reaching Lucy''s room, he ced her in the bed before pulling the nket to cover herself so that she wouldn''t feel cold. Tucking her carefully, Theodore watched Lucy turn around, pulling the nket closer to her before she started to snore softly.

    "Have a goodnight, Lucy," whispered Theodore, blowing the candles in the room to bring in darkness so that she could sleep without any disturbance.

    He took onest look at her peaceful face, closing the doors of her room before he walked away from there. After speaking to her, some sort of tranquillity entered his mind, and he felt less troubled. At least now, he knew that she still loved and cared for him.

    Monique made her own rounds in the castle before she took a seat at the stairs, which was the castle''s entrance. After many days the night was quiet and calm, but her mind was filled with memories and wonderment of if''s.

    Since Calhoun had turned to the King of Devon, things had drastically changed. The ill rules that Laurence and Morganna had set were gone, and the people of Devon received their justice of the peace because of Calhoun''s rule.

    "Things have changed," whispered Monique to herself. She looked up at the stars that were in the sky right now.

    She hadn''t been able to get too close to Constance when she hade to visit the castle in the past, but she had liked Constance. Monique knew if she were alive today, she would have been happy to see her son marry.

    Though Monique had worked for the royal court and its royal members, somewhere, she was d that the older generation didn''t exist anymore.

 Chapter 742 Oncoming deaths- Part 2

    <h4>742 Oing deaths- Part 2</h4>

    "Mdy, you are awake," a maid appeared in the room.

    "Is the sun unusually bright today or is it just me feeling this way," Lucy questioned the maid while she sat up and felt her head sway. It felt as if someone had tied a rock on the top of her head.

    The maid had brought tea inside the room for Lucy to drink, and she ced it at the side table, "Ah, it is the same as usual, mdy. Would you like to keep the curtains closed?" asked the maid.

    "No, it''s fine," said Lucy before flinching at the sunlight. She felt as if the path of heaven had opened itself for her and was weing her.

    "Are you alright, mdy? If you would like to take some more rest in the bed, I will let the King and the others know about it," said the maid, concern in her voice.

    "No, that won''t be required," thest thing she needed was to bring attention to herself, thought Lucy to herself. She realized the headache was possibly because of the alcohol she had drunkst night in the cer. She remembered opening the bottles and taking a couple of sips, but God only knew what happened after that. "Was there anyone waiting on mest night?" asked Lucy.

    The maid stood at her ce and tried to remember, "Not that I can remember,, mdy. You dismissed us telling you would be fine."

    "Get me the jug of water from there," Lucy pointed to the jug that sat on the table.

    The maid quickly brought it to the vampiress to see thedy pour the blood into it, which she had brought for her tea. Her eyes widened, wondering what Lady Lucy was doing. Lady Lucy stirred the blood in the water, dissolving it until it was fully red and then she lifted the jug to drink it until the veryst drop.

    "Would you like me to bring you more blood, mdy?" asked the maid.

    "Yes, that would be lovely," and Lucy saw the maid dart out of the room.

    "Ah, my head," Lucy brought her hand forward as she felt her head throb. How much did she drink that her head felt like it was going to split into two halves now? This was not the excitement she had been looking forward tost night.

    Lucy hoped the blood and water would help her in recovering and healing her vampire body faster.

    After getting ready and going to the dining room, she met the guests who had stayed back in the castle to greet the King and the new Queen. And she noticed Theodore, who had taken a seat at the table.

    Lucy didn''t forget Theodore because he had been embedded into her memories that were hard to remove.

    When everyone finished their meal and stepped out of the room, Lucy''s eyes didn''t stop following where Theodore was, and her aunt, who was with her, noticed her distraction and asked,

    "Is everything alright, Lucy?"

    Lucy''s eyes quickly snapped back to look at her aunt, "Yes, everything is fine," she smiled. "Why do you ask, Aunt Monique?"

    Monique ced a hand on Lucy''s back, and they started to walk away from the dining room, "You have been distracted since yesterday, you didn''t stay back with the guests to enjoy the celebration and left quite early. Something you would like to share with your lovely aunt?"

    "I must have been very tired," Lucy scratched the back of her neck.

    Monique hadn''t noticed it before, but since she had caught Theodore carrying Lucy to her room, she could now see that her niece''s eyes looked back and forth at the King''s advisor.

    "Here you are, Lady Monique!" eximed a woman from behind, "Oh, we have Lady Lucy too. You wouldn''t mind if we joined you two in the walk, would you?" With the woman was her daughter named Rebekah, the person whom Theodore had danced closed yesterday, noted Lucy to herself.

    Though Monique looked at the two women with a look of displeasure on her face, Lucy offered them a polite smile.

    "Where is Mr. Dunkril?" asked Monique.

    "You know the men, they either go hunting or drinking and ying a game of cards," answered the woman. "It is just like us women, who like to gossip and sleep."

    "I would beg to differ, mdy," Monique''s tone was serious, unlike the warm tone she had used on Lucy.

    "Oh, I know, Lady Monique," said the woman, pulling her daughter to walk along with the rest of the party. "I heard you were positioned at the borders. The King must have sent the letter weeks ago so that it reached you. And Lady Lucy, I am so sorry for the things I have heard. It must be really hard on a young girl as yourself."

    "Not much," replied Lucy with a soft smile on her lips. "But thank you for your concern."

    "How did you find out that he was cheating on you with another woman?" asked Mrs. Dunkril, her eyes curiously looking at Lucy. "I mean, you are brave to kick him out of the castle."

    Mrs. Dunkril''s daughter whispered to her mother, "Mama, that''s rude to ask."

    "I am d to see that you brought up your daughter well,"mented Monique. "I don''t think Lucy isfortable speaking about it."

    "Of course," the womanughed, "I was just worried about Lady Lucy after what I came to hear. I mean she will be spending the rest of her life alone and it is something very difficult to do. You know how difficult it is for a woman without a family of her own and the loneliness."

    The smile on Lucy''s face faltered.

    Monique stopped walking, and she turned to look at the woman, staring at her before she said, "Lucy will marry again if she wants to, and if she chooses to live alone, then Calhoun and I will be more than happy to support her decision, Mrs. Dunkril. You should worry more about your daughter, than my niece," she raised her eyebrows at the woman who looked offended by her words.

    "I was only concerned, Lady Monique. It seems like Mr. Dunkril will need my assistance. Come Rebekah," said the woman, dragging her daughter away from there.

    Seeing her aunt still staring at the women, Lucy ced her hand on her aunt''s arm, "You didn''t have to scare them away, Aunt Monique. I am fine," smiled Lucy.

    Monique had a small frown on her face, "The gossip mongers," she muttered. "You don''t have to pay attention to what people say, Lucy. You are the King''s sister, so whatever you choose, it shall be supported."

    Lucy nodded her head, "I know that. I am the one with a headache, and you are more annoyed than me here," her aunt had always favoured her.

    Hearing the words from Lucy, Monique slowly turned to look at her niece and asked, "You must have had quite a lot to drinkst night."

    Lucy''s cheeks turned red, and an awkwardugh escaped her lips, "I-uh yes, I had a trip to the cerst night."

    "Is that so," hummed Monique, "You should have called me, I would have given youpany."

    "Actually, I didn''t have ns to drink too much. I guess I got too happy by seeing brother Calhoun''s wedding," replied Lucy. She had tried to remember what happened after her first bottle, but everything was just a blur after that.

    "I am sure Calhoun is lucky to have you as his sister as are you lucky to have him as your brother," stated Monique before they started to walk again.

    "The advisor, you both seem to have a good rtionship. I would have never guessed."

    Lucy''s eyes slightly widened, wondering why her aunt brought up Theodore''s name in the conversation.

    "It must be because we have known each other since brother Calhoun arrived at the castle," she tried to y it cool. It was just Theodore and her who knew that things were not alright between them. There was no need to advertise it to everyone, thought Lucy to herself.

    "True. It is only a surprise because I doubt I have ever seen you both near each other," hummed Monique before adding. "I would have joined you both at the cer. He''s a tolerable man, isn''t he?"

    Lucy''s face turned pale by hearing what her aunt just said to her.

    Last night Theodore was with her, drinking liquor in the cer? She didn''t remember when he even came, and internally she cursed herself. And what did her aunt mean by they were ''close''?!

    "I guess you could tell that," Lucy muttered to her aunt''s question, and she changed the subject by asking, "By the way, Aunt Monique, when grandmother and my parents were killed, were you here in the castle?"

 Chapter 743 Oncoming deaths- Part 3

    <h4>743 Oing deaths- Part 3</h4>

    Over the years, Lucy had slowly learned about her family and the differences the members of the Hawthrone family had against each other. After spending some more time with her aunt, Lucy decided to speak to Theodore to know what happenedst night.

    Finding Theodore in the royal court room with some ministers, Lucy stepped inside, "Advisor Theodore, may I get a few minutes of yours?"

    Theodore turned to her, his expression unchanged, "Of course." It wasn''t every day Lucy came looking for him to speak something, and he was more than willing toply with her wish, wondering if her memory regardingst night had returned. "Excuse me, gentlemen," he said to the ministers before following Lucy''s footsteps.

    When they entered a deserted corridor where the guests who were still in the castle wouldn''t eavesdrop on their conversation, Lucy looked straight into Theodore''s eyes. "What happened yesterday?"

    Theodore stared right back at Lucy, "King Calhoun was married to Queen Madeline."

    "You know that''s not what I am asking," said Lucy.

    "I think you will need to be more specific with your words, mdy," Theodore feigned ignorance, hoping Lucy would remember their little warmful chat. "What are we speaking about?"

    Lucy pursed her lips, "The cer, we��" Theodore''s eyes brightened at her words, "My aunt said we were in there." He knew it was too soon to be iming Lucy''s heart, and he would wait. There were too many things going on in the castle without other people''s notice, and he wanted it to simmer down. "Is that true?" she asked him.

    Theodore had sent the maid to Lucy''s room with blood, tea and food, knowing she would need it once she was awake. He noticed a slight frown on her face because of the headache she had from the previous night''s alcohol consumption.

    "Lady Monique saw me carrying you back to your room. You didn''t seem like you were in a state to walk by yourself," replied Theodore.

    How awkward, thought Lucy to herself, "I see. Thank you for seeing me to my room," she was ready to leave when she heard Theodore say,

    "A pity that the question''s answer will not be met," and he turned around, ready to leave from there himself.

    Unable to keep her curiosity, she asked, "What question?"

    What did both of them speakst night that Theodore had aroused a question of intrigue in her mind?

    "Unfortunately, it is for you to remember. Mdy," he bowed his head and left her there without sparing another second.

    Her heart felt like it was in turmoil, and she wanted to run away and hide. She knew her action would be frowned upon. These emotions that she felt were like the violent waves in the stormy night of the sea. Lucy didn''t know for how long she stood there before she caught sight of a shadow that passed in front of her. She shook her head wondering if she had started to hallucinate, and she left the corridor.

    Some of the guests in the castle eventually left, and on one side of the castle, Calhoun had called Theodore to one of the rooms to speak about something important.

    "They are increasing in number," stated Calhoun in a serious tone. "The Salvette Mortems have transitioned from the first state to the second state. It is only a matter of time before they turn to the third state."

    "Do you think she''s going to go rampant in the castle?" questioned Theodore, "A werewolf is lethal to the vampires."

    Calhoun nodded his head, "I know. Keeping her away would unnecessarily worry Madeline," and he sighed. "Have the people changed. The guards. Change it to the list that was drawn up earlier and speak to the magistrate to send the men here."

    Theodore frowned, hearing this, "Is there no way to stop it?" his eyes met Calhoun''s eyes.

    "Raphael said, there isn''t. If the Salvette Mortems have decided to turn into the guests of the castle, it means we will soon have many dead people. A minimum of hundred," replied Calhoun. "Speak to the magistrate to send the prisoners here, let them know that they would be awarded hundred gold coins each for working here. Instead of having them executed in the local prisons, they can be better used here as sacrifices."

    "Will it work?" It was a risky thing to believe in people who hadmitted crime, especially in a crucial time like this.

    "By the word of money, people change. It should work as it is for a short duration."

    Calhoun then said, "We need to ask Lucy to leave sooner, so that she won''t end up as a casualty. But if you believe you can protect her with the distractions..." He knew Theodore was trying to win Lucy''s heart and Calhoun wanted to give him the option.

    For a very long time, both Calhoun and Theodore had always tried to keep Lucy away from being caught in the crossfire. Calhoun had already sent Madeline''s parents away so that there would be fewer people to worry about while keeping the guests who were on his special kill-list, who couldn''t be earlier killed because of the existence of the High House.

    No one knew when Elizabeth Harris would turn into a werewolf. It was only a matter of time before the castle would be painted red in blood.

    "I will talk to her," said Theodore.

 Chapter 744 Unseen

    <h4>744 Unseen</h4>

    A small smile adorned her lips while she spoke to her distant cousin, who had been hanging around her for quite a few days since he had arrived for the King''s wedding. ;

    Her gaze was soft, and even though there was a considerable distance between them, where they couldn''t see him, he could perfectly hear what they were speaking right now. ;

    "The carriage will be leaving tomorrow at nine in the morning. If you need some more time, we can stay in the castle before going to the mansion," said Ethan to Lucy. ;

    "No tomorrow is fine," replied Lucy. ;

    "Okay," and silence came to fall between them before he said, "Lady Lucy, there was something that I have been wanting to tell you." ;

    Lucy, who was looking at somewhere else, turned her head to meet Ethan''s gaze. Theodore wondered if this was the time when Ethan was going to confess his love for the girl, and Lucy seemed to have a troubled look on her face. But before either of them could speak, a maid appeared calling upon Lucy as Lady Monique wanted to see her. ;

    "Must be unfortunate to not be able to confess to the woman whom you love," murmured Theodore from where he sat with one leg that was stretched out to rest entirely while the other had been folded at the knee. He had spoken to Calhoun about the shadows lurking in the castle two days ago, and he was yet to speak to Lucy. ;

    It was hard to send her away without any reason. Theodore had done it once, and though he had agreed that he would be the one to send her off, he wasn''t sure if he wanted to. Maybe the amount of hearts he had broken until now wasing back to break his own heart. But he couldn''t dy it any longer. First was her safety, then came his heart, thought Theodore to himself. ;

    He watched Ethan Moryett spend some time at the ce where Lucy had left him. A sigh escaped the man''s lips before he finally walked back inside the castle. ;

    The sun had started to set, the colours in the sky changing, and Theodore finally got up from his ce. It was only for some time, he thought to himself. Once the matter on the dark angel was closed, he would go to retrieve Lucy himself. He pulled out the sses from his pocket and wore it on his face before jumping from the roof tond on the ground. ;

    Away from the Hawthrone castle, in the town where no one would suspect, a group of demons and half-angels had gathered around in a building. Everyone wore ck cloaks to camouge into the background once they would reach the castle. ;

    "We have waited enough for the moon. It will appear when it has to. It is time to attack the castle," ordered Greyson. Everyone picked up their weapons, and just as Samuel was picking his own, Greyson came to ce his hand on the weapon. "You will be guarding the ce where we are expected to bring the dark angel."

    Samuel''s eyes narrowed at this, "I thought I wasing with everyone."

    "Not after you screwed up. You had the dark angel right under your nose and we had to wait for a whole month before realizing it," stated Greyson. "Go and wait for us at the deserted town," and people in the room started to leave one after another. Samuel gritted his teeth, his face covered in little scars that Theodore had left. ;

    He didn''t forget the way Theodore had hit him back, but more than that, he had been humiliated by his wife Lucy. ;

    "No one is going to stop me from meeting you, my dear wife," murmured Samuel. ;

    With everyone gone, Samuel walked out of the building to go to the castle with his own agenda. ;

    Back in the castle, after seeing the condition in which Lady Elizabeth was in, Theodore went straight to meet Lucy, who was in her room. Calhoun wasn''t in the castle as he had gone to get the antidote for the werewolf''s bite. Theodore raised his hand before knocking the door firmly. ;

    Lucy had changed her clothes and though she gave him a cold look, Theodore noticed her heart beat skip at the sight of him. There was a certain amount of anxiousness in her eyes. ;

    "What are you doing here?" Lucy asked him.

    Theodore said to her, "I wanted to check if you needed any help for tomorrow." ;

    "No, I got everything packed. Ethan was here earlier, he helped me with it," replied Lucy folding her hands across her chest. "What are you doing here, Theodore?" her words were softerpared to her earlier words. ;

    Theodore said, "I think you shouldn''t leave tomorrow." ;

    Lucy''s eyes widened, "Why not?" ;

    Theodore wanted to tell her how much he loved her, but she was stubborn to ept unlike the time she was intoxicated. His eyes fell behind her at the trunks that were closed as if she had prepared herself to leave. He didn''t want her to leave, he wanted her to stay right next to him forever and telling her otherwise was nothing less than pushing a stake through his own heart. ;

    But before he could say something, he heard something at a distance which was away from Lucy''s room. He realized this was no time to change his mind and he bowed his head.

    Raising his head up, he said, "I think it would be more suitable if you leave right now, instead of waiting until tomorrow," and he saw her face fall and turn pale.

    Before Theodore could speak more, a loud screech was heard and theory turned to look in the direction of it. ;

    Lucy questioned, "What was that?" ;

    It had begun, said Theodore in his mind. It had begun sooner than he and Calhoun had expected. Hearing someone scream, he looked back at Lucy and said, "Do me a favour and stay here in the room. Please don''t open it until I return. Can you do it?"

    He could tell she was confused with the soundsing from the other corridors.

    "Okay," said Lucy. ;

    Theodore left the front of her room only when he heard the click sound from the door, making sure she was safer inside than out in the corridor. ;

    When Theodore reached the hallways, he caught sight of two of the guards whose throats had been slit, blood oozing out of their necks. He could sense the energy of the demons in the castle, and a servant quickly ran when he was Theodore near the bodies. ;

    "Advisor Theodore! The castle is under attack!" ;

 Chapter 745 New home- Part 1

    <h4>745 New home- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Theodore stared at the dead bodies of the persons whose neck had been shed and who were lying t on the castle''s floor, motionless. Their bodies were still warm when he had touched, which meant they were killed probably four to five minutes ago, he thought to himself. Standing up from where he had previously knelt, he turned to look at the servant, who looked tense and worried, waiting for Theodore''s order to be passed.

    "See where Lady Elizabeth, Lady Madeline, Lady Monique are right now. If you find them, right away take them to the West Wing. Also inform the servants and the maids to not leave their quarters no matter what," ordered Theodore.

    "What about the rest of the guests?" asked the servant, his eyes turning wide when he heard a scream not too far from the ce where they stood.

    "Leave them to me, I will take them to a safer ce," stated Theodore. "Go now! Don''t waste any time and take this," he said, throwing a knife for the servant to catch so that the servant could defend himself if he were to be attacked.

    "Yes, Advisor Theodore!" the servant quickly ran in the opposite direction, leaving the bodies that were lying on the floor as they had found out.

    Theodore didn''t stay there either, and he started to look for the demons and the people who imed themselves to be the fallen angels, who had infiltrated into the castle right now. Only if he would have been able to see the Salvette Mortems roaming in the castle, it would be easy to hunt people down. It was strange that he couldn''t see the creatures of death, but Calhoun could. He knew Calhoun was in some way special, but it only made him question upon what the King''s origin was that gave him the ability to look at the creatures of death.

    With Lucy, who had locked herself in the room, Theodore only believed that it was for the best for her safety, and he wouldn''t be distracted with any thoughts of worry for her.

    "AHHH!" he heard a painful cry of a man, and Theodore quickly ran in the direction. He found a demon who stood near the squashed guard''s head on the once clean marble floor that was now covered in blood.

    "Look, who we have here. A brave man who hase to fight," said the demon looking at Theodore walking in on his crime. "You are just in time to be my next victim."

    The demon had sharp zig-zag teeth, hair straight and sharpbed upwards, and the nails on his fingers sharp.

    "You should tell yourpanions to retrieve back from where you came," stated Theodore, and the man chuckled.

    Theodore pulled out the gun that he carried in the back of his clothes, rolling the metal piece where the bullets had been ced earlier. "He is in the ce he ought to be. But I think you are in the wrong ce." He couldn''t help but wonder how this person knew that Calhoun wasn''t here in the castle, could he sense it? He questioned it in his mind.

    Theodore didn''t know how long it would take for Calhoun to return to the castle, but he would need to take control of the situation and handle it until then.

    "Let us see if you are only talk or if you really have any actual value in those words," smirked the demon while looking at him.

    Theodore didn''t wait for the demon and instead pulled the trigger that made the person move from one pir to another. Before he came near him, the demon dodged the bullets and caught hold of the gun that he had been using to shoot. It was obvious to know that with the speed and appearance of the demon, he didn''t belong to the living world, and the person hade from the underworld.

    The demon tried to use the gun, but Theodore had already finished all the bullets, and he said, "You aren''t smart are you."

    Soon both of them ended up in a closebat fight, using their hands and legs to hit each other while keeping Theodore upied so that the other people who had intruded the castle could find and capture the dark angel from here.

    Theodore didn''t give any advantage to the demon, and he was quick to defend himself by dodging the attacks that came from the demon before he used his own demon-vampire strength to hit the demon with his leg that had the person slide away from him.

    He could hear the screams and shouts in the nearby corridors, and the demon chuckled, "Why don''t you hand over the girl and we will spare your people."

    "Why don''t you leave, unless you are looking forward to sacrificing your life here. The King won''t be pleased once hees back," Theodore warned the man.

    "Hmph!" The demon responded before disappearing from Theodore''s sight, something Theodore hadn''t expected toe to stand behind him, putting his hand around Theodore''s neck, ready to tear his head. "Why don''t you seem surprised?" asked the demon as he tried to rip Theodore''s head.

    This demon was strong, thought Theodore in his mind while he tried to get the demons'' hand off him. Pulling the knife in his shoe, he stabbed the demon''s leg, who cried out in pain.

    "AHH!" the demon cried out in pain. He let go of Theodore as smoke-like fumes escaped from the stabbed area. "What the fuck did you do?!" he shouted at Theodore.

    "I was trying to cleanse you," came the deadpanned voice from Theodore. The knife he had was made out of silver and holy water. It was created in the church under the guidance of the priests.

 Chapter 746 New home- Part 2

    <h4>746 New home- Part 2</h4>

    Theodore removed the sses that he was wearing on his face and ced it in his pocket so that it wouldn''t break. When his eyes looked back up at the demon, his eyes had turned ck, and the other demon narrowed his eyes.

    "So that is how it is," chuckled the demon while looking at Theodore, "You are a demon yourself, but a lower demon from this world. How pathetic," hemented. The demon raised his hand to the side as it turned hot and red, "We have no time to y around, but others seem to be busy so why not."

    The demon came right at Theodore to attack him with his burning hand that looked nothing less to an iron rod that had been heated until it was red. He went on to punch Theodore, his hand swinging left and right to get a hit at Theodore, but Theodore kept dodging it before the demon''s hand got stuck in the pir wall.

    Theodore clutched on to his dagger in one hand, and in the other, he held the demon''s head before severing the demon''s head from the body. ck blood fell on the ground before it sshed into a heap of liquid-like smoke.

    Instead of finding Lady Elizabeth, he went to look for Madeline as the demons hade here to get her, while also believing that Raphael would look after Lady Elizabeth as he could hear her growls from where he was.

    When he entered the inner part of the castle, he caught sight of the guards who were fighting with the demons, while some of the guards had fallen dead on the ground. After killing some more demons and the half-angels, Theodore finally caught sight of Madeline, who was fighting with two other demons, while icicles appeared on the floor.

    "Lady Madeline!" Theodore called to get her attention.

    The girl who once had appeared nothing but as a normal human now wielded control on the ice where she was transforming the nearby snow into sharp w

 Chapter 747 New home- Part 3

    <h4>747 New home- Part 3</h4>

    .

    While everyone in the castle was fighting the demons and the half-angels who belonged to the living world, they had failed to notice that Lucy had been badly injured and was on the ground as blood flowed out of her body.

    Ethan had been packing his things in his room, cing them in the trunk with some of the servant''s help when he heard the crash and screamsing from outside his room. He had immediately stepped out of the room with a dagger in his hand, wondering if there was an attack when he found a pile of bodies decorating the floors of the castle.

    When he finally entered the corridor where Lucy''s room was located, he caught sight of Samuel, and he red at the man, "Samuel."

    Samuel rolled his eyes on the sight of Ethan, "Oh, look at that. I didn''t know you were here. It must be obvious considering I am not here, you must havee here to lick my wife''s wounds. You must have little to no pride, do you, Ethan?"

    Ethan, who was ring at Samuel, his eyes moved to catch sight of Lucy, who didn''t move, and for a moment, his face turned pale before anger took over his features. When Ethan came to attack Samuel, all the demon had to do was raise his hand and wave it to the side to have the vampire crash against a nearby wall. He then picked up the icicle that was previously used on him to push it into Ethan''s stomach so that the vampire wouldn''t be able to move.

    Around the same time, two people were walking more leisurely than the rest of the people in the castle as if they were taking a stroll in the garden. One was a man who looked like he was in his thirties, his eyes blood red that looked at the walls before he spotted the person he had been looking for since he had stepped into the castle.

    Another was a lean man who fell short in heightpared to his master, walking behind him.

    "Odin, go to Hell. Have the demons souls who have been found here ced in a different cell. I would personally like to deal with them once I will be done with this girl and the King," said the taller man.

    "What do I do after that, Master?" asked the servant.

    "Go to Belmont and wait for me. Soon I will bring the girl there," and on hearing the words from his master, the servant was quick to disappear in thin air.

    The man stepped into another open-like corridor where one side was the wall, and the other side was left open to step into the inner garden of the castle. He took a deep breath where the air was filled with the scent of death when he caught sight of the girl, but she was not alone as there was a fool who seemed like he wanted to take her from the castle.

    In a blink of an eye, the devil appeared to stand between the girl and the demon.

    "Who the fuck are you now?" demanded Samuel.

    "And where have you lost your manners. I thought it was going to be just me here tonight, but there''s a whole lot of celebration going on here."

    "Who are you?!" Samuel raised the rod that he was carrying to the front, "Leave this ce and nevere back again. Now."

    "Fuck off from here before you make me a little angry," came the cold words from the devil.

    Ethan, who was in pain, watched the stranger and Samuel talking while Samuel looked angry. He tried to get the icicle away from out of his stomach, but as much as he tried, the rod had gone deep into his stomach, and if he would pull it out, he would only bleed profusely from it.

    From where he was he saw Lucy who hadn''t moved, and he couldn''t believe she was dead.

    "I will fucking kill you! Let go of my hand!" ordered Samuel as the stranger had caught and twisted his arm.

    Samuel grinned when the man let go of his hand, and he was ready to attack the person, but the older vampire caught hold of Samuel''s other hand and ripped it off from his body. "There, I let it go."

    The lower demon''s eyes widened, and his face turned red because of the surging pain of losing his arm, and blood spurted out of his arm. He screamed in pain, gritting his teeth before bringing his hand up to attack.

    "I wouldn''t do that if I were you," said the devil to rip the other hand and Samuel couldn''t take the pain anymore. He saw the man ce his finger on his chest, and before he knew it, blood started toe out of his mouth.

    "Seems like a lot of bad blood. Let''s get you clean, and I shall see youter in Hell."

    Suddenly fear appeared in Samuel''s eyes as he stared at the stranger who hadn''t moved. His blood felt like it was boiling underneath his skin as if it wanted toe out "Wh-what did you d-" within a second, he felt his body ripping and being torn into molecules of water while he screamed in agony.

    Samuel, who had felt the pain in every inch of his body, noticed how the pain had stopped, and he suddenly opened his eyes to find himself not in the castle anymore but somewhere else.

    He was right now in a cage-like room, and he looked around to see some of hispanions whom he had seen in the castle earlier. His arms looked perfectly fine, and he wondered if it was a dream. Catching sight of a demon who held a parchment and was walking outside these cells, Samuel went to the front of the cage and gripped on the iron bars.

    The demon was the servant who had earlier been in the castle, and he was counting as he looked at the people in the cage, "..ny-two, ny-three-"

    "Where am I?!" Samuel shouted in anger.

 Chapter 748 Underworld

    <h4>748 Underworld</h4>

    Odin had other important things to do, as his master had already ordered him to get back to the Belmont castle once he was done collecting all the level one demons as well as the demons who were born in the living world. While he also had to drag the other souls who had rooms reserved for them in the underworld.

    When he started to walk, the demon who had questioned him a moment ago red at him, "Let me out of here! I need to go back right this instance!"

    Samuel doubted this was a dream, and he continued to grip his hands on the iron bars as if the metal rods would bend if he would put more strength into it and he would be able to step out of this hideous animal-like cage. There was no way he was dead! Just because he had killed Lucy, it didn''t mean he was done! He had to kill Theodore!

    He looked around the ce where he noticed the dark corridor, and he started to yell, "What do you want? Tell me! I will see to it that your wishes are met," he tried to bargain with the fellow demon, who stood on the other side.

    Odin stopped walking and stared at Samuel, "Shut up," he said in a dull voice.

    This only angered Samuel. He had no idea where he was, and when he began to speak, Odin snapped his fingers. In the next second, both Samuel''s arms were ripped apart from his body again, and he screamed in pain. He fell on the ground, writhing in pain.

    "I told you to shut up, didn''t I? You are here because you have been very very bad. Master will see you and the restter," stated Odin, and when he snapped his fingers, he disappeared, leaving a crackle of a spark behind.

    "S-somebody contact Greyson!" Samuel said through gritted teeth.

    "It is not possible," said another demon, who was three cells away from where Samuel was. There was a tinge of nervousness and fear as the person spoke.

    Samuel tried to look at the people who were on his left and right side of the cells and then in the opposite direction,where he sensed the air thick with some of the demons'' fear. In pain, he had fallen on the ground, and he gasped for air.

    The same demon who had spoken out said, "We aren''t in the living world anymore. This is Hell."

    "That''s not possible!" denied another demon, who had been born in the living world. "Us demons cannote here. The Devil has not appeared in centuries. We have been killed to be reborn again! Greyson controls Hell and its exits-"

    Soon an empty cell filled itself with a new person in it, and everyone leaned over to see who it was. For every few minutes, the cell rooms in this ce had been getting filled one after another with demons and other people who hadmitted sins in the living world.

    Another demon slowly whispered, "The person who was here was the Devil''s servant. The Devil is back��"

    Back in the living world, in the Hawthrone castle, silence slowly fell in the corridors and the grounds of the castle, leaving just the scent of blood to drift in the air.

    Theodore, who had finished killing thest of the demons whom he could get his hands on, started to look for Calhoun to find him next to Madeline in the corridor. When he reached where they were, his eyes widened at the sight of the person whoid motionless on the cold floor. No, this was not supposed to happen, he thought in his mind.

    He had made sure to see her safety first before he had left her side to deal with the intruders in the castle. Blood covered Lucy''s body that belonged to her, and her eyes continued to turn hollow.

    Theodore asked, "What happened here?" anger and confusion in his voice.

    "It was Samuel!" replied Ethan as he limped towards them, blood trailing behind him as he moved.

    "Bastard!" Theodore''s hands turned into fists, wanting to look for him, but Calhoun said,

    "He''s dead. Samuel is dead."

    Theodore had not foreseen this. Thest thing he had expected was for Lucy to die, and he felt a lump form in his throat. He had always tried to save her, to keep her safe so that no harm would fall on her, but she had ended up getting caught in the crossfire. It was as if death was crossed with her for escaping the first time and had eventually caught up to her. But he refused to believe it.

    Everyone was in shock and pain, grief in their hearts over Lucy''s death.

    His blood boiled at the thought that Samuel had dared to kill Lucy, someone who had done nothing but meant happiness for people around her. There were two deep wounds near her stomach, and he closed his eyes. The pain she must have gone through and he didn''t even know...

    Theodore slowly sat down next to Lucy''s body, looking at her face that now looked frozen. The scent of blood was heavy in the air, one that belonged to her. They had to fix things, and she was yet to tell him that she had forgiven him for pushing her away in the past.

    He brought his hand near her head, brushing her hair as if she were alive, and he tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear.

    Please don''t go, whispered Theodore to her in his mind.

 Chapter 749 Clouds- Part 1

    <h4>749 Clouds- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Lucy felt her eyes turn light, and so did her body as if she were floating on the surface of a river. There was tranquillity in the air, which she didn''t know existed until now, the peace around her sinking her mind and trying to be one with her surroundings.

    When Lucy opened her eyes, all she saw around her were trees and the darkish grey clouds that held a tinge of green in them, hovering in the sky. Right now, her mind was in a peaceful state as she didn''t know what was happening, and her mind remotely bothered where she was. Getting up to sit upright, Lucy looked around her surroundings, her red eyes taking in the tall trees that stood in certain intervals from each other.

    Was this in Devon? Asked Lucy to herself, standing up on her feet that were bare. A certain amount of fog covered the ground, and she looked at the clouds that were thick in the sky. It felt like it was still night, but at the same time, it felt as if dawn was near.

    "Is anybody here?" Lucy shouted in the middle of the forest, but her words only echoed back to her.

    It felt like she was dreaming. Maybe she was, she thought to herself.

    Thest thing she remembered was seeing Theodore''s face as she closed the door of her room, and after a while, he had knocked back on the door. But it wasn''t him...Remembering what happened, her gaze fell on her body, and her hands touched her stomach to see no wound and not a single drop of blood on her dress. She no longer wore the dress she was in the castle, but the dress''s colour closely resembled the clouds.

    "Brother Calhoun? Theodore?" Lucy called their names in the hope that they would hear her, but no one replied.

    "You must be new here," came a voice from behind her.

    Lucy snapped her head, turning her body to see who had just spoken, but with the thick clouds, it was hard to see who it was. "Who is there?" she asked, her heart softly racing.

    Finally, as the person moved forward, the clouds started to clear to show the person, who was a woman. The woman had red lips and her eyes red, that looked at Lucy right now. "I would have never guessed that I would be meeting you this soon."

    A frown appeared on Lucy''s face, "I am sorry, but do I know you?" she politely asked the woman without forgetting her manners.

    One side of the woman''s lips pulled up, "You don''t me, but I know you, Lucy Grivelle, or would you prefer Lucy Hawthrone."

    Lucy had never spoken or met this woman before, which was why she was confused by thinking who this woman was. Maybe it was because she was the former princess, and the royal family had always been in the news, allowing many people to know about their existence. In contrast, the members of the royal family knew and remembered only a handful of people.

    "Hawthrone it is. Must be unpleasant to be part of the two families who didn''t treat you the way you wanted them to treat you, but still carry one of their names,"mented the woman, and she stepped to the right side before she continued to walk.

    Lucy had no idea where she was, and as blissful as this ce was, she preferred to have apany of guidance. She quickly followed the woman before she would disappear in the middle of the woods and the heavy fog-like clouds.

    "Pardon me, but why did you say you didn''t expect to meet me this soon?" asked Lucy, once she caught up with the woman.

    "If you look deeply in your heart, you will find the answer to be already there," replied the woman, looking ahead of her.

    Hearing this, Lucy pursed her lips, and she finally said, "I am not alive, am I?" asked Lucy, her voice slightly filled in disbelief.

    She didn''t forget the pain that she felt when Samuel had pushed his fingers into her body, not once but twice, and she had fallen on the ground as blood oozed out of her body. Was she dead? Asked Lucy to herself.

    "W-where is this ce?" she asked in a guarded tone while looking around her. It didn''t seem like this was Hell, but it didn''t look like Heaven either. "Where are we?"

    On Lucy''s question, the woman smiled, "We are in a ce that is neither Hell nor Heaven, it is called as in between. A ce where some of the souls wander, it is near to Heaven, but some of us refuse to step in through the gates and end up turning to wanderers."

    "Why didn''t you?" asked Lucy.

    "Some of us have our memories intact and it is hard to let go of the living world that wee from," replied the woman, and she said, "You see there."

    Lucy turned in the direction where the woman looked, and the clouds had suddenly moved away from each other to show the bright light that passed through from one side. "That is where Heaven is. We the wanderers, we are closer to Heaven, but it is the choices that we make that writes our fate and destiny."

    "Can''t you still go to Heaven?"

    "I would, but it is hard to let go of the living world and the memories. Once you step in there, you forget your woes and sorrows," she said as if it was a bad thing.

    "How do you know me?" inquired Lucy.

    "It is because of him," smiled the woman. Him? Lucy didn''t know who the woman was speaking about and when her quizzical eyes continued to look at the woman, she said, "Theodore."

    She knew Theodore? Asked Lucy to herself before asking, "Who are you?"

    "I used to be called Madame Fraunces."

 Chapter 750 Clouds- Part 2

    <h4>750 Clouds- Part 2</h4>

    She stared at the woman who watched her while she tried to remember but in no vain. The woman named Madame Fraunces then fished for something in her pocket before pulling out a cigar, and Lucy''s eyes widened.

    "Is it allowed to smoke here?" questioned Lucy.

    The woman chuckled at the young vampiress innocence, "We are vampires and not inside the gates of Heaven. I think it is perfectly fine. Would you like to have one?" she offered, and Lucy shook her head.

    "I am fine. Thank you," replied Lucy, watching the woman lighting the cigar. "How long have you been here?"

    "It is hard to remember. A day feels like an eternity and a year feels worse than that. I think the wanderers in the, in between world forget about time," said the woman, turning around and starting to walk again.

    Lucy looked at the light that came from the gates of the Heaven that Madame Fraunces had faced her back against, and she followed the woman. Now that she was dead, she would have to live like one of them, and deep down in her mind, sadness came to spread. She didn''t even get the chance to say her goodbyes, and her life had been taken away with one snap.

    "I have been watching you for quite some time, Lucy. All of you," confessed the woman, her gaze turning soft and almost warm. "In the time I have watched people, I would have never thought that you would be the person who would be turning special."

    Lucy didn''t understand what the woman meant, but she quietly listened to her.

    "It is sad that you had to go through all those hardships and heartbreak," said Madame Fraunces and hearing this, Lucy''s eyes widened. "Some of us wanderers miss our home and we visit the living world to watch whom we once knew and the life that once belonged to us."

    "Like the guardian angels?" asked Lucy, her eyes looking at the woman with intrigue.

    "Unfortunately, we can do nothing but watch people carry on with their lives," murmured the woman under her breath.

    The path where they walked now was turning heavier with the foggy clouds, and Lucy tried to keep up with the woman''s footsteps so that she wouldn''t lose her. The ce where she was in looked like a vast, never-ending forest of trees and clouds.

    "I havee across only a few wanderers because people in here can get lost but sometimes we meet in the living world as shadows," continued the woman. "Like the rest, I have been watching you, Lucy. Life might seem unfair and hard, but follow your heart as you have followed since the beginning. Your heart is the key to your answers. I know who killed you."

    "If you don''t mind me asking...how did youe to be here?" Lucy asked curiously.

    For a few seconds, she didn''t receive a response to her question, and Lucy wondered if the woman had drifted away.

    "It was the Queen who had given the order to kill me. Queen Morganna Hawthrone," Madame Fraunces finally replied to her question.

    "Grandmother," muttered Lucy under her breath.

    So many people had died because of her grandmother and also because of her parents. They had been merciless when it came to killing innocent people for their own gains. Lucy wondered why her grandmother had ordered for Madame Fraunces to be killed. At the same time, her eyes widened, and she asked,

    "Do you know a woman named Ruby, she-"

    "Nana?" asked the woman, and Lucy could feel as if the seed of hope she had sown had erupted from the ground to start giving out new leaves. But the woman said, "She''s not here. She must have walked through the gates."

    As fast as the hope in her had risen, it shattered, and Lucy turned quiet. All these years she had spent praying for Nana''s peace, and if she was in Heaven, she was not going to be sad anymore. It seemed like the woman she was walking right now wasn''t interested in getting into Heaven and instead preferred to live as a wanderer.

    "I am sure she is more than happy in Heaven. The ce doesn''t let down and it gives the people who deserve a new life, a life full of peace and happiness which can be found only there," Madame Fraunces cheered Lucy up. "I know she means a lot to you, considering how you ce flowers on her grave."

    Lucy didn''t know how to feel, now that she knew there was someone who had been watching her in the cemetery.

    "I am sorry that you had to die because of my grandmother," Lucy apologized, stopping her feet for an instant before she bowed. "Only if it weren''t so..."

    "It is fine. That old hag received far worse punishment than I or anyone else except for the punishment giver had on his mind," a faint smile appeared on the woman''s lips.

    A pinch of curiosity arose in Lucy''s mind at the woman''s words, wondering how Calhoun must have delivered her death.

    Lucy turned a little apprehensive as they were walking to the darker side of the clouds, she asked, "Why are we walking in the opposite direction of where Heaven is?"

    The woman stopped walking, turning to her and said, "It seems like your time hasn''te yet." Stepping closer to her, the Madame ced her index finger on Lucy''s forehead. "It was good talking to you, Lucy Hawthrone," and suddenly, a blinding light emerged in front of her, making her close her eyes.

 Chapter 751 Clouds- Part 3

    <h4>751 Clouds- Part 3</h4>

    "Lucy?" she heard someone''s voice.

    The pain that had disappeared from her body came back in twice the fold, and she felt the wetness around her while the air around was heavily filled with blood and death. As seconds passed by, the blood loss and the pain suddenly engulfed her body and unable to handle it, she screamed in pain. Her scream echoed through the corridors before it quietened, and she fell unconscious.

    Theodore stared at Lucy, unable to believe that she hade back to life when it was only moments ago her body had turned cold like the snow, and her heart had stopped beating.

    He turned to Paschar, who had joined them in the corridor earlier, "What happened?"

    "I speeded the process of healing. You should take her back to the room and let her rest," replied Paschar.

    Theodore couldn''t believe his eyes, and his heart felt like it had returned to him. Lucy was back, and she was breathing. He doubted there was anything more he ever wanted but to see her breathe again.

    He carefully leaned forward before picking her fragile body up in his arms so that he wouldn''t cause her more pain.

    Calhoun, who was talking to Paschar, questioned, "Does this mean the Salvette Mortem will return for Lucy again?"

    "Unless she is dead, she should be fine. I don''t even know how Madeline did it," answered Paschar.

    Calhoun turned to Theodore and nodded his head without a moment''s hesitation for Theodore to take Lucy from here while he would handle the rest of the things by himself.

    Theodore carried her through the corridors, away from the chaos that had taken ce some time ago. On his way, he looked at Lucy, who had her eyes closed and every few seconds, he made sure she was still breathing. He didn''t want to lose her again. The pain and the grief, he wasn''t willing to go through it.

    He took her to the room and carefully ced her on the bed.

    A maid who had seen Theodore carrying Lucy quickly made her way to the front of the room and asked in panic,

    "Advisor Theodore, is Lady Lucy alright?!"

    Theodore looked down at the young vampiress and said, "Yes, she will be alright. Get me a bowl of warm water. Actually, three of them with some clean towels and clothes."

    "Would you like me to send the maids to help?" the maid nervously asked as there was too much blood on Lucy''s front side of the dress.

    "That won''t be needed. I will be fine in taking care of her by myself," hearing this, the maid''s eyes widened, but she didn''t question orment on it. "Also tell the servants to clean the castle."

    Within a few minutes, bowls of warm water were brought into the room with clean towels by the maids. The maids left to clean the castle, where the dead bodies were scattered around with blood sshed on the floor along with broken walls.

    Theodore locked the doors and the windows of the room so that no one woulde to disturb or intrude. He removed the blood-soaked clothes from her body and dipped the cloth in the warm bowl before cleaning her wounds that she had received from Samuel. He wrapped a bandage around the wounds. Thinking about the demon boiled his blood. Though the angel had tried to heal Lucy''s wounds, it was still in the healing process, and he knew Lucy would be in pain once she would wake up.

    He made sure to remove the trace and smell of the blood from her body before putting fresh clothes on her.

    He used a lighter sheet before using it to cover Lucy''s lower body while also making sure the sheet wouldn''te to press on her wound.

    Looking up at her sleeping face now, he unconsciously brought his hand up to touch the ce below the bruise on her forehead and the side of her cheek.

    "I am so sorry," whispered Theodore to her.

    It wasn''t that Theodore had not protected her, he had done his best, but in the end, it was just not enough.

    Theodore had never fallen in love before Lucy or after her. In the past, she had been the princess whom he couldn''t keep next to him because of who they were, but now it was different, and he had decided to fight for her. He lightly caressed the bruise that had formed on her cheek.

    From where he sat, he heard Calhoun, Paschar and Raphael leave the castle. A few minutester, the door was knocked, and Theodore went to get it, opening it to find Lady Monique standing there.

    Theodore''s eyes slightly widened on looking at Lady Monique''s right hand that looked shortened, and she had bandaged it, but blood spots had appeared at the end. He wondered if she lost it to one of the intruders. With the amount of chaos that had surrounded the castle, he must have failed to see it earlier when he had met her, he thought in his mind.

    The woman had a deep frown on her face as she entered the room to see her dear niece on the bed.

    "Oh, poor Lucy!" whispered Lady Monique, going to the bedside and taking a seat next to Lucy. "Did you bandage her?" asked the woman to Theodore.

    "I did," answered Theodore without a word of hesitation.

    "I see," responded Lady Monique. "Where is Calhoun and the others?" she inquired.

    "Lady Madeline and Lady Elizabeth have been abducted from the castle. He went to bring them back," informed Theodore, and the woman nodded before a sigh escaped her lips.

    So much had happened in the span of a few hours, thought Lady Monique to herself. Her eyes fixed on her niece before she turned to look at Theodore and said, "I will be here with her. You should go clean yourself up." Seeing Theodore''s hesitance, she narrowed her eyes. "You look like you haven''t taken a bath in thest four days."

    Seeing Theodore finally leave, she muttered under her breath, "Children these days."

 Chapter 752 Taking care of you- Part 1

    <h4>752 Taking care of you- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Theodore reached the front ce of his room, pushing the door open, and once he stepped inside the room, he shut it close. The castle that had been quiet for some time had suddenly turned busy with the servants who started to diligently clean the stains of blood from the floors and the walls of the castle while trying to put the bodies on one side so that they could be buried afterwards.

    And even in the middle of the murmur and chattering sound in the castle, it sounded distant to Theodore. His hands were cleanpared to the rest of his body as he had used them to clean Lucy. Raising his hands, he started unbuttoning the buttons of his shirt one after another, discarding the clothes from his body before he got into his bath.

    Being the King''s advisor, Theodore had received his own perks of facilities where he didn''t have a small bathtub but rather arger one that was built attached to the room to form a pool of water.

    Getting inside the water, he sshed the water on to his face to wipe out the bloodstains, but some of them were tough and didn''te off that easily. As he continued to pour the water on him, he didn''t forget the state in which he had found Lucy on the ground. Lucy was safe right now, but the memory had been engraved into his mind, and he doubted he would be letting it go anytime soon. Drops of water slid down his body, the water carrying his and the other demon''s blood, whom he had killed a few hours ago.

    Away from his room, Lady Monique, who sat next to Lucy, heard a soft knock on the door and a maid entered the room.

    "Mdy, the physician is here," informed the maid with a bow.

    Lady Monique slightly frowned, and she asked, "Who called the physician this soon?" and she saw the man enter the room.

    "It was Advisor Theodore, mdy. I received the request two hours ago to bring in other physicians along with me to the castle so that the injured could be aided right away," replied the physician.

    Monique wondered when Theodore had the time to stop in the middle of the fight to send a servant to fetch the physicians. She understood why Calhoun trusted the man and had turned him as his advisor because Theodore merited it.

    "Would you like me to examine you in this room or would you prefer another room, mdy?" inquired the physician.

    "Here will be fine, if you don''t make any sound," replied Monique, her gaze shifting to look at Lucy, who was still unconscious. The physician nodded his head and walked towards the table, and he ced his first aid kit and opened it. Monique left Lucy''s side and went to take a seat next to the table.

    "I have brought the medicine with me that you will need to take," and he ced a folded paper inside which the medicines were present.

    Once he finished taking care of the older vampiress'' wounds, the physician looked at the former princess and asked, "Would you want me to check her wounds?"

    Monique shook her head, "No. That won''t be needed, she had already been taken care of," she replied and said, "Thank you foring in such a short time. I am sure the Hawthrone family will be grateful for your work."

    "We are fortunate to have been summoned by the King''s orders, mdy," the physician then stopped for a moment and asked, "If I may ask, mdy, what happened in here?" When the man had entered the castle with the other physicians, he had not expected to see a sea of bodies lying around the floor.

    "That is something hard to exin. We just happened to be under attack a while ago," replied Monique and saw the physician leave with the maid. Another maid appeared in the room and asked, "Lady Monique, your room has been prepared for you to have rest. Would you like to eat or get some sleep?"

    Monique was going to refuse when she saw Theodore making his way into the room. He looked in a much presentable state than earlier when he had been covered in blood. There were visible bruises on his face, but his expression hadn''t changed, and the sses that had gone missing a few hours ago on his face were back to their original position.

    "You should go and get some rest, Lady Monique. The King wouldn''t want to return back to see you in pain and would prefer you to be resting," said Theodore, who hadposed his emotions and feelings after his bath.

    "It is hard to rest until Calhoun and thedy are back. Not to mention, Lucy isn''t awake," stated Monique with a grim expression on her face. Having been involved in the work where she was required to fight people at the borders in the past, she was barely fazed by losing part of her hand.

    Last night, she knew something was up, and the things she hade across was something she had not imagined. There were creatures out there who were neither vampires nor werewolves andpletely different from humans. Her red eyes now carefully looked at Theodore.

    "Lady Lucy has fallen unconscious but ording to one of the former High House members, she will be fine. She is currently recovering from her injuries," answered Theodore, letting the woman know there was nothing to worry about.

    "Let me know if you hear anything from anyone. I would prefer to be informed if something is going on," said Lady Monique and Theodore bowed his head in agreement.

    "Yes, mdy."

    Monique looked at Lucy and started to walk away from the bed. But before she could leave the room by stepping out, her footsteps halted, and she turned back to look at Theodore.

    "Is something the matter, Lady Monique?" asked Theodore, and the woman shook her head and left the room.

 Chapter 753 Taking care of you- Part 2

    <h4>753 Taking care of you- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Theodore came back to sit next to Lucy, watching her closed eyes and her breathing steady. Hours passed by, and he spent his time in the room with the only few visitors who were the maids.

    After some more time passed where the dawn had broken to allow rays of light to fall on thends of Devon, Theodore finally heard the pping sound of wings, a sound he was too familiar with. It seemed like Calhoun had returned.

    "How is she?" Calhoun entered the room, walking inside while looking at Lucy. His clothes were covered with blood that was ck and red.

    "Same," replied Theodore. "Were you able to bring both of them back?"

    Calhoun nodded his head, but Theodore noticed something seemed to be weighing on his mind, and he finally let it out.

    "We found the antidote for the werewolf transformation, but Elizabeth didn''t take it until thest drop. It left some traces of werewolf wolf venom behind in her body, and��" he paused for a moment, "Raphael is dead."

    Theodore''s eyes subtly narrowed at this information, but that didn''t seem like it was all to the story. He heard Calhoun continue to speak, "Do you know how all demons die, Theo?"

    "By being shot?" asked Theodore. The weapons made in the church with the help of spells and prayers, silver bullets often killed a demon, at least purging the person to Hell.

    "Elizabeth wed him, and he lost a lot of blood," said Calhoun, walking towards the bed where his sisterid, and he looked at the bruises on her face. "A normal demon would have sttered into a mass of ck blood, but it didn''t happen."

    "You found his body?" asked Theodore, and Calhoun nodded his head. If what Calhoun was saying was real, it meant Raphael wasn''t a normal demon. But then he was never a vampire. "I don''t think any of us suspected him to be anything else."

    "True. I guess I will have to go to the ce where the demons reside to see if he''s there," and before Calhoun left the room, he decided to drop another information and said, "By the way, do you remember the Belmount mountain that in the past we tried to get near? Apparently, my grandfather who is actually the Devil lives there. He was the one who kidnapped Madeline."

    Theodore raised his eyebrows at Calhoun''s casual tone, "Seems like we learn new things every day."

    Seeing Calhoun leave, Theodore returned to sit in the chair.

    The castle continued to be busy with the High House members who arrived at the Hawthrone''s castle after finding out about the attack that took ce in the night. Calhoun spoke and gave all the information they needed to them while Theodore continued to stay next to Lucy, watching over her.

    Hours passed before Lucy finally regained her consciousness from the pain she had felt before losing her awareness. Her eyes felt blurry as they opened, blinking while trying to adjust to the brightness of the candle and the lighting from the firece. She was greeted by the ceiling of the room, staring at it for a few seconds as she tried to take in where she was now.

    She was in the castle, thought Lucy to herself. Was she still dreaming? Because thest she remembered was her walking in the forest and surrounded by the clouds. As her consciousness had returned, pain erupted from the wound that she had received from Samuel, and she noted that she wasn''t dreaming.

    Sensing someone to her left side of the bed, her head turned, and her eyes caught sight of him.

    Theodore was sitting on the chair next to her bed and had his head ced on the bed as if he was sleeping, his eyes closed, and his face turned in her direction.

    How long has he been here, that he had now fallen asleep, Lucy questioned herself.

    She looked at his sleeping face that was calm, the same as when he was awake, and she wondered how much he had practised maintaining such a constant demeanour without being ruffled.

    He hadn''t removed his sses, and she wondered if it was ufortable. As if he knew she was awake, his eyes opened to look back at her, and he sat upright on his chair.

    "You are awake," whispered Theodore, and she could see the sense of relief in his eyes. He asked her, "How do you feel?"

    "Much better than thest time when I was awake," replied Lucy. Though she didn''t know how.

    "It was Paschar, I mean Reginald. He tried to heal you," informed Theodore, "Do you want to eat or drink something?"

    "Blood," whispered Lucy, and Theodore nodded his head. "What hour is it?"

    "It is seven in the evening," answered Theodore, and he stepped out of the room and called the maid, ordering the maid to get him a jug of blood for Lucy to consume. Once it was brought, he poured it in the ss before helping her drink it.

    Taking the ss from her, he ced both the jug and the ss on the side table and got back to her side. "You should go get yourself something to eat too," said Lucy.

    "I am fine," replied Theodore, silence filling in the room except for the sound of the crackling fire that came from the firece. He took the opportunity to apologise to her, "I am sorry," he bowed his head, "I shouldn''t have left you in your room by yourself."

    A small smile appeared on her lips that met only halfway to her eyes, "It wasn''t your fault that Samuel came to kill me. I was the one who lived with him. I should have known."

    Theodore shook his head, "Samuel was a demon. We should have found out about it sooner, but he was too smart to hide it from Calhoun and me, from everyone who was acquainted with him."

 Chapter 754 Taking care of you- Part 3

    <h4>754 Taking care of you- Part 3</h4>

    Lucy pursed her lips, "It is fine, Theodore. I am fine now," and she then offered him a smile. "Will you promise me something?"

    Theodore replied to it, "Anything. Anything you want."

    "Don''t hide anything from me," she said, and Theodore nodded his head. And she then winced in pain when she tried to move, her breathinging out as aboured one.

    Theodore spent some more time with Lucy by offering hispany before falling asleep again because of exhaustion. As an angel had healed her, he had decided not to let any physician examine her. It felt good to sit with her in the room, exining to her some of the things she wasn''t aware about. She didn''t push him away from her and instead weed hispany. Maybe it wasn''t the same as before he had broken her heart, but right now, he was willing to take whatever she would offer him.

    When Lucy woke up from her sleep again, while they were speaking, she said,

    "It is good that Lady Madeline and Lady Elizabeth have returned safely to the castle," her face held a serious expression. "Did the High House charge anything on brother Calhoun for the massacre of the people in the castle?"

    "Helena and Dimitri arrived this morning to visit Calhoun. He told the truth about what actually happened so that it doesn''t bring any more problems to him or the people in the castle. I think the High House members are trying to wrap their head around everything that exists and has happened until now," exined Theodore.

    "That''s good to hear. I was worried where they would charge brother Calhoun for all the murders," sighed Lucy.

    From what she had heard, most of the guests who had stayed back had died in the hands of the demons while they had also lost their guards.

    The anger that Lucy had felt towards Theodore before she had been injured had slowly started to crumble, and there was some kind of awkwardness in the air.

    Both of them had spoken about what had happenedst night during the attack, but they hadn''t addressed their feelings. Theodore didn''t want to push her and had decided to give her all the time she needed, but that didn''t stop Ethan Moryett froming to meet Lucy.

    He knocked on the door firmly, and Theodore opened the door with a sliver of annoyance that appeared in his eyes when he saw who it was.

    "You are supposed to be taking rest, Mr. Moryett and not be roaming out of your bed," stated Theodore, his eyes trained on the injured man who had a bandage around his neck to support his hand.

    The man didn''t hold back, and he leaned to where she was, putting his good arm around her so that he could hug her. Lucy was startled by this action, and before she could reply to him, her eyes met Theodore''s, whose face had turned back to ice.

    Ethan said, "I am so d that you are okay. I don''t know what I would have done."

    Lucy''s eyes didn''t leave Theodore''s eyes, and she said to Ethan, "I am doing better now, Ethan. Thank you," and the man pulled away to look at her.

    "I will give you guys some time while I go check if the King needs me," said Theodore, offering a small bow before he left the room, but not too far away. He left the room just so that he wouldn''t injure a man who was already injured, and he took a deep breath before releasing a short, frustrated sigh.

    It wasn''t like him to go and stir trouble. Oh, who was he kidding, thought Theodore to himself. He enjoyed stirring trouble and getting into one himself. It was only after he had entered the castle, he had held himself back.

    He loved her too much, and now that he had seen what it felt like to not have her anymore, he wasn''t going to let her go. It was time to bring back the older him to woo her back, said Theodore to himself.

    For now, he would give them the time without being jealous.

    Back in Lucy''s room, a small worry appeared in her mind as Theodore had left the room quite abruptly. She didn''t know why but it felt like there was something important she wanted to share with him, but she couldn''t recollect what it was about.

    Thankfully, Ethan had let go of her, and he hade here only because he was extremely worried about her.

    "I should apologise. It is because of me that you are hurt," Lucy pressed her lips into a thin line.

    "Please, don''t me yourself," Ethan hurriedly spoke, "If not now, it would have happened some time in the future. I wasn''t going to let him off the hook for doing something so unscrupulous to you," he offered her a warm smile.

    From what she had known about this man, he wasn''t someone who resorted to anything with violence and was rather a peaceful man. His words made her smile.

 Chapter 755 Wish of an eyelash- Part 1

    <h4>755 Wish of an eysh- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Two days passed and Lucy felt much betterpared to the time when Samuel had pierced his hand in her stomach. And though the pain had lessened, her nightmares didn''t leave her. Every night she woke up in the middle of the night, her body covered in sweat as she relived the moment with Samuel in her dreams.

    Lucy tried to feel better by assuring herself that Samuel would nevere back and hurt her again, but her subconscious told her otherwise. Pushing the cover on her body, she stepped down from her bed and slowly made her way towards the patio of the room she was staying in. She ced her hand on the side of her abdomen as she dragged herself out to get some fresh air.

    When she stepped into the patio, she was greeted with snow that surrounded the castle''s grounds. It was the peak of Winter, and once it woulde to an end, the flowers would bloom again, thought Lucy to herself.

    Looking outside at the castle grounds felt good. The guards had been stationed in front of her room and the maids so that they could attend to her if she were to call them for anything. She had been advised to rest, but she doubted she would be able to sit still any longer.

    All these years, she had tried to behave with maturity, behave like an adult her parents and grandmother wanted, not step out of line, and follow the rules. But she couldn''t do it anymore. No, she didn''t want to do it. Following her mother and grandmother''s words had felt nothing but suffocating.

    Holding the railings of the patio, Lucy took a deep breath before looking down at the ground where the height was too much. Within a few seconds, she had jumped over the railing tond on the ground with a wince.

    When a sigh escaped her lips, breath-vapour escaped her lips, and her red eyes looked vibrantpared to the off-white nightgown that she wore and the white background that was due to the snow. Her bare feet felt the snow, and she closed her eyes.

    "Bored of sitting in the room?"

    Lucy quickly turned her head and found Theodore standing with his back leaning against the wall with one of his legs ced t on the wall.

    "What are you doing here?" the words flew out of Lucy''s mouth.

    "Me?" asked Theodore. He didn''t have a polite smile on his lips that he often wore, but his eyes held a hint of mischievousness in them. "I was following you. What else would I be doing?"

    Hearing this, for a moment, Lucy''s eyes widened because of his direct words, "What?" she whispered, her heart singing faster.

    Theodore didn''t make an effort to move away from where he stood.

    He stared at her, "You haven''tpletely healed yet. You should get as much rest as you can," he said to her.

    Since the time she had returned from the dead, thanks to Lady Madeline and her father''s help, Lucy''s feelings had mellowed down towards Theodore. She didn''t know if it was because she had epted that she had been too harsh on him when he had done things only to keep her safe.

    But she doubted that was the reason. It was as if something had happened without her knowledge or memory.

    "What are you doing here instead of sleeping yourself?" questioned Lucy. The fog continued to escape from her lips, and herplexion had slightly turned pale because of the cold weather.

    Theodore finally pushed his body against the wall to stand straight, and he started to walk to where she stood. "I was watching over you. I don''t trust the guards, which I was rightful in thinking so. You jumping from your patio was thest thing anyone would have expected from you to do. Was it a nightmare that woke you up?" he asked her.

    He wanted to win her heart, but he didn''t want to suffocate her. He had chosen to stand below the room, listening to her breathing which had spiked and a gasp escaping her lips.

    Lucy didn''t answer him right away and instead turned back to stare at him.

    "Tell me about it. I have been told I am a very good listener," offered Theodore.

    "I know that," murmured Lucy to herself. "It is just a silly little dream. You shouldn''t worry about me, I will be fine."

    "How can I not? You ask me something I cannot do, Lucy," said Theodore and hearing him drop the honorifics in her name and made her heart beat faster. He had pulled out his sses from his face, and his hair was ruffled because of the night wind, his gaze sharp and unwavering as they looked at her. "You don''t mind me calling you just Lucy, do you?"

    "Aren''t you brave," responded Lucy, her eyes staring into Theodore''s red eyes.

    "When a person falls in love, every person turns brave, don''t they?" asked Theodore. Lucy had stepped down from her room to get some air, and she hadn''t expected to have Theodore''spany, which was why she was unprepared for the words he said. "I once knew this girl, beautiful girl. Someone who believed in love and was ready to elope for the sake of love. She was brave in it."

    "I was brave in other things too," Lucy corrected Theodore, giving him a look, and he chuckled.

    "What makes you think I was speaking about you?" he asked her.

    Lucy opened her mouth and then huffed, "Seems like there were many women and girls who were ready to elope with you."

    Before Lucy''s mood would turn sour, Theodore said, "Have I told you how it warms my heart when you get jealous thinking I favour women, people who are pretty much non-existent to me?"

    Lucy didn''t like this feeling that she felt, the feelings of turmoil. She had felt it when her governess had tried to gain Theodore''s attention. "I am not jealous," she looked away from him. "You did those things because the situation demanded it. People go through different hardships."

    "Then why does it feel like you are still punishing me for it?" questioned Theodore. He didn''t hog her space by getting too near her and gave her time.

    "You are imagining it," came the quick words, and she started to walk away from where she stood. Theodore followed her while keeping a good distance. They left a trail of footsteps on the fresh snow that had fallen on the ground. "You don''t have to follow me. If brother Calhoun asks, you can tell I wanted some air."

    "What makes you think I am here because of Calhoun? Have you forgotten I am here for my own selfish reasons?" asked Theodore from behind, and Lucy stopped walking, her feet buried in the snow. "I am here because I love you."

    Lucy turned to meet Theodore''s gaze, and unlike before where he had kept a distance from her, right now he stood right in front of her. The close presence startled her, and she was about to fall back on her bottom, but Theodore caught hold of her by putting his arm around her waist.

    "Stop running away from me, Lucy," said Theodore to her. "Tell me that you hate me, and I will nevere to bother you again."

    She softly gulped, her breathing turned heavy, and she stared at the grey shirt he wore. She closed her eyes, "You know I don''t��"

    "Don''t what?" he tried to coax the words from her.

    When Lucy opened her mouth to speak, she sneezed twice, "Achoo!" before the pain in her abdomen shot up, and she winced.

    Hearing Lucy wince in pain, Theodore let go of her waist, and he looked down at her dress, where he noticed spots of blood on her nightgown.

    "You''re bleeding," whispered Theodore a frown appearing on his face, and before Lucy could say anything, he lifted her in his arms.

    "W-wait! I can walk," protested Lucy, her eyes wide.

 Chapter 756 Wish of an eyelash- Part 2

    <h4>756 Wish of an eysh- Part 2</h4>

    "Hush now," Theodore lightly scolded without looking at her. "Why don''t you enjoy yourself being carried by me, while you can me your wound that has opened up, hm? Put your arms around my neck so that you don''t fall."

    "T-that''s not the thing!" whispered Lucy without making too much noise. Right now, she didn''t know if she was supposed to be embarrassed or not.

    "Hm? What is it then?" asked Theodore in an oblivious tone. "I miss drunk Lucy. She''s more fun than sober you."

    rmed at his words, Lucy asked, "What do you mean by that?" She remembered her aunt mentioning her being taken back to her room by Theodore, but she didn''t know what had happened before that. She raised her eyebrows as if waiting for him to speak. "Are you not going to tell me?"

    Theodore opened his mouth before he closed it and then said, "I don''t think it would be right to relive the moment," he shook his head. "I mean the things you said and you wanted to do to me��" a shuddered sigh escaped his lips.

    She did what?! Asked Lucy to herself.

    "That''s not possible," she whispered to herself, "I-I would never behave like that��" Did she? She looked up at him and noticed the grim expression on Theodore''s face.

    "I didn''t want to tell you this, but it is the truth," said Theodore in a solemn voice.

    Lucy tried to find out if Theodore was joking with her, but then he had a poker face which was hard to find out. "Did I try to kiss you?" she slowly asked him, and Theodore hummed to it. She wondered what else she had done, but she didn''t go to question and only assumed it in her mind.

    "Now, hold tight," said Theodore once they were right below the patio, and Lucy put her arms around Theodore''s neck, holding him.

    Within the next second, Theodore had pushed himself far from the ground, and they hadnded right on the balcony. The rushing air and sudden movement had made Lucy move closer to him as if she was hugging him. The action didn''t feel foreign, and instead, it felt natural to stay near him like this. She wondered if it was because Theodore was her first love, a love she had not forgotten, and now that the hate had melted away, her emotions were in turmoil.

    Theodore didn''t let go of Lucy, and he took her inside the room before they reached the bed, and he leaned forward to ce her on the surface of the bed.

    A little awkward, Lucy didn''t meet Theodore''s gaze, but her eyes were quick to follow him when he moved around the room. She could feel her heart beating loudly and the realization of him being able to hear it made her bite her lip.

    "Is it hurting too much?" asked Theodore, bringing the first aid box, and Lucy shook her head.

    "Just a little," she replied and said, "I can do it myself."

    "You can sit here. If I need any help, I will ask you," said Lucy, taking hold of the box from his hold. But before she could walk towards the divider, Theodore caught hold of her wrist. His fingers slowly grazed on her skin, knowing how his actions affected her.

    "I will be right here," he assured her, and Lucy nodded her head before walking around the wooden divider that hid her away from direct gaze, who was on the other side of the wooden divider.

    Lucy was quick to walk around, and she pulled her dress to check the wound had indeed opened up, and it was bleeding now. Though she was a vampiress, her body healed as slow as the human''s body, and she could only tell that Heaven''s had blessed her by giving her life back to her.

    She started to remove the bandage one round after another, and a sigh escaped her lips. Some of the bandages'' threads had gotten stuck into the wound, and she didn''t want to pull it out as it would only hurt.

    "Do you want me to call the physician?" Theodore asked from the other side.

    "No, that won''t be required. The wound is healing...I wouldn''t want to bother the physician for such things," replied Lucy, knowing Theodore would drag a physician from the town or the vige even in the middle of the night.

    "What is it then?" He could sense the hesitance in her voice.

    "Um, the bandage-" said Lucy to turn her head to find Theodore had arrived at the stand near the wooden divider, "-it got stuck��"

    Lucy had worn bloomers inside her nightgown, and to remove the bandage, she had pulled up her nightgown. "Can I see?" Theodore''s words were polite and serious. And it was the seriousness that had attracted her, along with the calm demeanour making one wonder what was beneath it.

    She could call the maids who were outside, but Lucy didn''t know why she feltpelled not to call them and instead let Theodore make his way to her. It wasn''t like she had stripped naked. It might have been because she trusted him more than she thought she did.

    Theodore suggested, "Why don''t you sit here so that I can take a look," and Lucy took her seat on the big chest of the cupboard that was on this side of the room.

    When he leaned forward to take a look at the wound, Lucy couldn''t help but clutch the edge of the wooden chest. Even in the past, she and Theodore had shared innocent things, the most being a kiss and a hug.

    "We''ll need something to cut it. I don''t think I noticed the loose ends," murmured Theodore, his eyes still on her skin and his hands rummaged through the first aid box. Picking up the needle, he brought the candle closer to them before cing the needle on the tip of the fire. Once it was burning hot, he used it to break the thread gently and free the threads. "There, all better," he said, standing upright and in front of her.

    For thest two days, Theodore had given her time whenever Ethan had appeared toe to see her. The way he stared at her, she wanted to tell him nothing was going on between her and Ethan. Ethan had mentioned wanting to say something to her, but being interrupted by the maids, the subject had nevere up again.

    Theodore didn''t look away from her and instead looked right through her, his gaze steady.

    "Thank you," she whispered, her gratitude for his help.

    "I was sure you were going to scold me foring in here. You would in the past, what changed?" questioned Theodore before picking up a piece of cotton and pouring the medicine on it.

    Did he want to be scolded? Asked Lucy to herself.

    "Life is too short to hold grudges," replied Lucy without beating around the bush, and she heard Theodore hum in response. She took a sharp breath when he ced the cotton where it had started to bleed.

    "Does it hurt?" asked Theodore, and Lucy''s gaze lowered, and she then looked up to meet his eyes that looked brighter than before.

    "It will get better."

    "I am d to hear that," his voice lowered down as he continued to dab the cotton before putting it away.

    Lucy didn''t know why their voices had dropped down when it was just them in the room, and she felt the room turn warmer. "I heard one of the viges is going to set up the vige fair in theing two weeks," said Theodore as he picked up the new bandage. "I usually go there for work. Would you be interested in visiting it?"

    Her gaze didn''t leave Theodore''s face, watching him concentrate on wrapping the bandage around her stomach.

    Years ago, she had always been eager to visit the fairs, but the guards often found her to be brought back to the castle on her grandmother''smand.

    "I am not sure about it," murmured Lucy.

 Chapter 757 Wish of an eyelash- Part 3

    <h4>757 Wish of an eysh- Part 3</h4>

    Right now, her face was burning bright red, and he took his own sweet time to wrap the bandage while taking advantage of her distracted mind to spend more time with her by being this close. The nights they had spent in the past, sitting in her patio in the middle of the night, he had heard her speak her heart out about things he didn''t care about before. Nheless, he had heard her, and he knew what she desired.

    "You didn''t tell what you dreamt about," Theodore reminded her, and Lucy pursed her lips while watching his elegant fingers. "Is it Samuel?"

    Lucy knew that Theodore knew about it, and he was only confirming it from her. She nodded without speaking a word, and he didn''t question more on it. Once he had secured the bandage, he stepped away from her, and Lucy got down, pushing her gown back to its ce.

    "Your bruise hasn''t reduced," she noted, watching his forehead.

    "When you fight with the same kind, the impact is harder than the usual," replied Theodore. "You should get some rest so that your body can heal the wound faster. Is there anything else you would like me to help you with?"

    "No, that was all. You should get some sleep too...than watch over me from there," her eyes moved to the patio, and Theodore offered her his charming smile.

    "I would if I knew you wouldn''t step away from your bed, but the princess''s feet have their own mind, don''t they?"

    Was it her imagination, or did Theodore turn cheekytely? Asked Lucy to herself.

    "You should know the princess can walk anywhere she wants and no one can stop her if she decides to walk," responded Lucy.

    She was ready to tell him goodnight and leave her so that she could gather her thoughts that had been scattered. But Theodore had other ideas as he stepped right in front of her.

    Theodore moved closer to her, and her back was quick to hit the back of the chest where she had been earlier sitting on, and Lucy gulped at the closeness. She tried to put a wall, but he passed through it as if it was nothing with his debonair.

    "Did you forget something?" asked Lucy, her voice barely a whisper.

    But Theodore didn''t reply to her, and instead, he moved further close to her. Her lips trembled when his gaze moved down from her eyes, her heart thumping in her chest. "W-what are you doing?" she asked nervously, her heart not prepared for the kiss Theodore was going to give her.

    Theodore raised his hand, "It is just one��" his voice trailed.

    "I don''t think this-"

    Huh?

    "I was picking up the eysh," exined Theodore before his lips twisted, "Were you anticipating a kiss?"

    "Of course not!" Lucy blushed brightly and what she wanted right now was for the ground to swallow her.

    "I would have never imagined that you believe in such things, she added, stepping away from him and the wooden divider.

    "Says the one who taught me about it," hummed Theodore.

    It was something Lucy had learned from Ruby about cing one''s eyshes to make a wish so that it woulde true by blowing it on the back of one''s hand.

    "You don''t have to follow what I say," muttered Lucy, and she got on the bed. "I will get some sleep now."

    "Of course," responded Theodore to go around the room and blow out the candles. "Have a goodnight."

    "Goodnight," murmured Lucy, who had already buried herself in the nket.

    Theodore stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. Letting her rest now, he made his way to his room. Taking a seat at the edge of his bed, he brought his hand forward, which he had turned to a fist since he had left Lucy''s room.

    Opening the palm of his hand, he looked at the eysh that he had brought along with him, staring at it while remembering one of the memories they had spent together.

    It was one of the times when Morganna had ordered Lucy to not step out of her room without being allowed to have any meals. And as usual, he had gone up with a bottle of fresh blood for the princess to drink.

    Lucy had finished drinking the blood from the bottle, and Theodore had taken a sip directly from it. He remembered how her face had turned red, and though he didn''t realize it before, he did now. They had shared an indirect kiss.

    ''What is it?'' he asked her, a question in his eyes.

    ''Ah, that,'' the young princess tried to answer him, ''There''s ash under your eye! Nana says, if you use it to wish, your wishese true.''

    The young girl had moved from her ce toe to pick his fallen eysh from his face. ''Give me your hand,'' she whispered, turning it around before cing it on the back of his hand. ''Now you close your eyes and wish before you blow it. Don''t tell me!'' she quickly added.

    Theodore smiled at that memory. Such innocence was hard to find. Lucy was too pure in her thoughts, and maybe it was because she had been raised by a human and not by her wicked vampire family.

    He wondered if it would work, but it was worth a try, and he ced Lucy''s eysh on the back of his right hand before he closed his eyes.

    ''To the person whom this eysh belongs to, I wish her nothing but happiness,'' and he opened his eyes before blowing it away.

 Chapter 758 Something to tell- Part 1

    <h4>758 Something to tell- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Lucy sat in front of the dressing table where her hair wasbed by one of her maids. The maidbed the hair from the top of her head to the ends. A few pins had been fixed to the side of her head so that the hair wouldn''te out loose and hover in front of her face, while the rest of her hair had been let down on her back.

    Her thoughts went to the time ofst night that she had spent with Theodore. It felt nostalgic to be spending time with him alone as if they had moved twenty years back.

    Though it was unexpected, Lucy didn''t mind Theodore''spany, but she didn''t openly tell him. Once she got ready, she left the room to go to the dining room, where everyone was seated.

    Once she entered the room, Lucy caught sight of Calhoun and Madeline and her aunt, who was present in the room. With them, there were other people like Ethan, Lady Elizabeth and the guests who were alive after that unfortunate and chaotic night, who had packed their things after realizing what terrible things could happen if they continued to stay in here. But more importantly, Theodore was sitting at the table. In the past, when her parents were alive, they had never invited him to the table and always made him stand near the wall, waiting for Calhoun, and it had bothered Lucy.

    "It is so good to see you here with us after so many days, Lucy," chimed Aunt Monique. "Come here sit next to me so that I can take a better look at you."

    "Good morning," Lucy bowed her head, greeting everyone as she went around and sat next to her aunt, where the maid had pulled the chair for her to sit.

    "How are you feeling now, Lucy?" questioned her brother Calhoun.

    One of his hands affectionately held his wife''s hand on the table without caring what others would think about him. As far as Lucy could remember, Calhoun had always done what he wanted without holding himself back.

    "I feel like I have almost recovered now, brother Calhoun," replied Lucy, her gaze was gentle and her words polite.

    "That''s good to hear, but it would be better if you get more rest until you turn fit for riding a horse with us again," responded Calhoun, his voice calm. "It has been a while since west went hunting. Thest time we went, it turned into a mishap."

    Lucy didn''t forget the day, nor did the others as it was one of the times where she had seen Calhoun furious. At first, the suspicion had fallen on her cousin Sophie, but everyone finally found out that it was Samuel who shot the arrow at Madeline.

    "I would love to join you children, but with just one arm, it is going to be difficult to hunt," said Lady Monique. "That damn Samuel, I curse him every morning and night."

    "I would have asked him, but from what I heard from Helena, he hasn''t returned to the High House after the night of the fight," exined Calhoun. "He must have gone back with the others from where he came. I know a person who works in creating artificial limbs. If you want, I can tell him toe and look at your arm, Lady Monique."

    Lady Monique waved her good hand, "That''s fine, my King. I think I have spent enough time of my life working for the royal court. I believe it is time that I retire and you hand the position to someone else."

    The room filled itself with a murmur, and Lucy noticed how much the atmosphere in the dining room had changed over the years. Gone was the stiff room where it was now filled with a conversation where one could easily be part of.

    "What about you, Lucy? Are you still nning to get the mansion renovated?" questioned Calhoun, and the room turned silent as if wanting to hear Lucy''s reply.

    Her initial n was to leave the castle to get some new perspective in her life before she decided how to spend the rest of her life. But as she had been injured, Calhoun had asked her to spend some more time here until she turned better.

    "Yes," replied Lucy, and Calhoun gave her a nod.

    "You do not have to worry about Lady Lucy, milord. I will make sure to see that she will be safe and in goodpany," said Ethan, who sat on the other side of the table from Lucy.

    Lucy could feel Theodore''s gaze on her, and he said to Calhoun, "My King, if you permit, I would like to look after the renovation work with Lady Lucy."

    "I think it would be not right to take Advisor Theodore''s help when he has more important matters in the castle," replied Lucy. "And I am going to have Ethan to help me with the renovation."

    Lady Monique had only picked up her fork and brought it to her lips, slowly putting it in her mouth, while her eyes looked at Theodore and her niece.

    On the other hand, Calhoun''s eyes shifted to look at Theodore, who subtly raised his eyebrows, and the King said, "I am sure you can make use of an extra helping hand. It isn''t very often where Advisor Theodore volunteers himself to help someone''s work which isn''t mine," he smiled looking at Lucy. "I will be more at ease if Theodore is there with you. Who knows if there are other demons who mighte to hunt."

    Lucy looked troubled at Calhoun''s words.

    As if Calhoun''s words were not enough, Madeline added, "Calhoun is right, Lady Lucy. The demoness named Jennine didn''t leave Beth for a very long time." Everyone preferred Lucy to stay in the castle, but she wasn''t a child but an adult who could decide things like these herself.

    "We are not doubting Mr. Moryett''s fighting skills, but a demon can cause more damage to a vampire," stated Calhoun.

    Unlike Lucy, Ethan didn''t mind their suggestion, and he nodded his head, "Indeed the King is right. It would be better to have Advisor Theodore with us until the renovation work is done."

    "Then that''s settled," chimed Theodore and Lucy threw him a small re to which he only smiled.

    After breakfast, Lucy left the dining room to roam around the castle. She wouldn''t be able to leave right away, and it would take some more days before she waspletely healed. Her feet that wore shoes cked against the floor, and on the way, some of the servants bowed at her. She offered them a smile before she stepped towards the undercrofts as if someone had called her name.

    Her feet had the mind of their own, and she came to stand in front of the undercrofts walls where she had discovered her parent''s dead bodies. The pain of seeing her loved one''s die had hurt her that day, and it took so many weeks and months before she felt better.

    One would have thought that her life would have gotten better by not living in the Hawthrone castle under the influence of her parents or her grandmother, but it hadn''t.

    She heard someone''s footsteps that were light on the ground as they made their way to where she stood. "The maid''s told me that I would find you here," said Lady Madeline.

    "I don''te here often. In truth, this is possibly the first time I havee here after finding my parents dead bodies down here." said Lucy, her voice soft to one''s ears that didn''t change its frequency.

    "Do you miss them?" asked Madeline, looking at the pir and then at the ground.

    "A little," Lucy smiled before turning her gaze at Madeline. "I miss the little things, but then I find out more about their true nature and it makes me question. I don''t think it is the right subject to speak about right now."

    "Please don''t feel that way," Madeline ced her hand on Lucy''s arm. "You are the same as my sister Beth. We are sisters now and you don''t have to feel that way."

 Chapter 759 Something to tell- Part 2

    <h4>759 Something to tell- Part 2</h4>

    "Maybe," whispered Lucy. "Sometimes, I wonder if I was born in the wrong ce. I am not like the other vampires or my parents or any of my rtives. I still remember how disappointed my mother was after finding out I favoured my maid more than her. I know that is why Nana was hanged."

    "It is not wrong to be an exception from the lot, Lady Lucy. I am sure a lot of humans and maybe even vampires look up to you," said Madeline. "No matter where you go, it will only be your surroundings that changes while the rest will continue to stay the same. Truth to be told, I will miss not seeing you in the castle. Beth had decided to go to the Northnd where the werewolves reside."

    Lucy wondered if Calhoun had spoken to Madeline about her and Theodore. Once upon a time, she had let herself be drowned with the feelings and her emotions. She only knew to what extent it had broken her.

    "It will be only for a few weeks, Lady Madeline. I just want to have it renovated and put to better use," confessed Lucy.

    Madeline''s face turned slightly confused before a bright smile appeared on her lips, "So it isn''t forever?"

    Lucy pursed her lips before she said, "I gave it a lot of thought and what the others have told me. In the past, I didn''t deal with some of the things in the proper manner. There are nights where I think...where if I pushed a little more, if I would have found the answers that I was looking for." She looked ahead of her, a small smile appeared on her face, "When I was young and before I got married, I wanted to be part of the royal court, wanting my father to appreciate my existence that I was as capable as any other man."

    She had always tried to ace in things, but it had never been enough. And because her father, who was not satisfied with her excellence, her mother had followed suit. In the end, she had turned to a doll who was supposed to sit and talk only onmand.

    "I want to open a ce where girls will have an opportunity to learn, to move ahead and excel. I want to turn the mansion into a school, Lady Madeline, but right now it is a secret," Lucy offered Madeline a smile.

    "I would have never thought about it, Lady Lucy! That is absolutely wonderful!" Madeline cheered her sister-inw in excitement. "If you need any help, all you have to do is ask."

    In the evening, Lucy met Ethan in the front hallways, who had returned to the castle after missing for the entire day after breakfast.

    "Good evening, Lady Lucy," Ethan bowed his head while removing his hat from the top of his head.

    "Good evening, Ethan. Did you go out on an errand?" she asked him.

    Lucy nodded her head.

    "No, not here. Would you like to walk with me in the castle grounds?" offered Ethan so that no one woulde to interrupt them.

    "Okay," replied Lucy before they made their way out of the castle corridors and into the wide castle grounds. She wondered if this was something about the same topic he had tried to speak before, but with the maid''s interruption, the topic had been lost.

    While making their way, Lucy caught sight of Theodore, who was walking in the above floor''s corridor, and he seemed to catch sight of them. Once they were away from people and just surrounded by the cold wind, Lucy asked,

    "Is everything alright, Ethan?" she knew if it weren''t that important, he would have never brought her here. Not to mention the little frown that was on his face right now.

    "Yes, yes. Everything is wonderful," replied Ethan, offering her a smile. "It is something I have been wanting to tell you for quite some time now. And I thought it is time I told you than keep it within myself without letting you know about it."

    A small worry appeared in the back of Lucy''s mind, realizing what exactly he was going to say. She parted her lips to speak, but Ethan shook his head as if he wanted to speak first.

    "Lady Lucy, I have been in love with you from maybe the moment I came to know about you closely, for the person you are," confessed Ethan and Lucy''s hands turned cold. "I know I should have told you this long ago and somewhere in the past, I have wondered why I stalled from telling you the truth. I don''t think you knew about it."

    "I-I...I found out about it very recently," Lucy replied with a little worry in her voice. "I don''t know what to say, Ethan��"

    The smile on Ethan''s lips didn''t leave as he stared at Lucy. "You don''t have to because it is fine. We all need closure over things and I thought it was time I told you how I felt about you, not that I expect you to return my feelings. Because that isn''t my intention. Sometimes we just happen to carry those feelings and are stuck in a loop."

    Since Lucy had found out from Theodore that Ethan had feelings for her for many years, it hade as quite a surprise for her as she had never expected her to be the girl whom Ethan had spoken about so fondly.

    "I feel very privileged that you felt that way for me, Ethan. You were and are still a good man, but-"

    "But you don''t feel that way because you like someone else," Ethan finished her sentence. "I caught up with that. You don''t have to worry about me, because I found someone too."

    For a moment, Lucy was surprised, and then a broad smile appeared on her face, "You did? Who is she?" she asked him.

    "I-uh, we met before King Calhoun''s wedding. She is Mr. Frewell''s daughter. Valery," replied Ethan. "I just came after meeting her before returning to the castle."

    So this was what he wanted to speak about, thought Lucy to herself, and she felt a sense of relief in her chest. She had been worried that somewhere the topic woulde up and she wouldn''t know what to say, but now she realized how easy it was after speaking it out.

    "I am really happy for you, Ethan," said Lucy. "You deserve all the happiness."

    Ethan bowed his head, "Thank you, Lady Lucy. Your words means a lot to me."

    He looked at the vampiress who hadn''t changed much since the first time he had met her. The way she looked at him had always been the same, and though in the past, he had hoped for things to work out in a certain way, he didn''t hold any ill feelings towards it.

    Ethan had noticed the res and the stares that had been going back and forth between Lucy and the person who had caught her attention. And it was only right that he respectfully stepped back. Since he had arrived at the castle, he didn''t have the intention to woo Lucy. But he did care for her tremendously, and as she was the first person he had loved, the girl would forever have a soft corner in his heart.

    Putting out his feelings were necessary as he doubted he would get a window of time like this in the future. With him telling it to Lucy, he would be able to put it behind him without any regrets in his mind.

    "You deserve everything in the world too, Lady Lucy," responded Ethan. "Do not worry, I will be there to help you for the renovation, but I think it would be right if he would there too. He does care a lot about you," he mentioned casually, and Lucy''s eyes widened.

    Did everyone in the castle know about her and Theodore?

 Chapter 760 Something to tell- Part 3

    <h4>760 Something to tell- Part 3</h4>

    .

    After speaking to Ethan and spending some time hearing him talk about Mr. Ferwell''s daughter, Lucy couldn''t be any happier knowing he wouldn''t live his life alone anymore. It was good to see him move on, and she felt less guilty.

    On one of the evenings in the Hawthrone castle, Lucy took herself to sit in the study room on the above floor, which once used to be hers. She sat there for hours thinking about her life and the people around her. While engrossed in her thoughts, someone knocked on the open door, and she looked up to find her aunt standing at the entrance.

    Lucy stood up from the chair where she had been sitting, and Aunt Monique waved her hand to sit down.

    "What are you doing, sitting here all by yourself. Reminiscing old memories?" questioned her aunt, stepping inside the room and looking at the books that were lined on one side of the wall. Apart from books, there were other things in here like the musical instruments. "I forgot you used to y the cello. Have you yed it after you got married to that useless man?"

    Compared to her other aunts, who were poise in their words and elegant, Lucy had noticed how Aunt Monique liked to deliver some of her words without any filter. It was one of the many reasons her mother Samara didn''t like Lucy staying in thepany of her aunt.

    "Samuel wasn''t fond of cello. He didn''t like music and any loud sounds," replied Lucy, and her aunt clicked her tongue in distaste.

    "If I knew about this, I would have told he was an awful man. What kind of person doesn''t like music?"mented Aunt Monique, making a round in the room before she opened the cover of the piano keys. She sat down on the bench, cracking her fingers.

    "Do you know how to y the piano, Aunt Monique?" asked Lucy, surprise in her tone.

    "I do, but I am not sure if I remember all of the keys. Let us see," and the older vampires started to y the keys much better than her governess used to y in the past. Lucy sat in her ce, cing her chin on the table as she heard the music fill up the room. "Do you know why I didn''t marry a man?" questioned her aunt.

    "I never found out," replied Lucy.

    "It is because my own father was worthless and so was my half-brother. I came to believe it wasn''t worth sharing my life with anyone and I wanted to live alone," said Aunt Monique while continuing to y the keys without stopping for even a moment. "But then I came across a human. He wasn''t much of a looker, but he was a good person. Even younger to me. Unfortunately, I didn''t get to spend much time with him as he had been killed by a werewolf at the borders."

    Lucy lifted her head and said, "I am sorry to hear that. Did you like him?"

    Hearing these words from her aunt, Lucy looked down at her hands in thought.

    "Did you never meet anyone else again you wanted to spend time with?" asked Lucy.

    "I did. My dog Brutus," Monique chuckled, and Lucy smiled at her aunt''s reply. "People you click with don''te by often. Which is why when you do, you seize the moment."

    Her aunt stopped ying the piano and then turned to look at Lucy, meeting her gaze. "Come here, let me teach you the song that I first learned on the piano." Monique moved to the side, giving Lucy the space to sit.

    Lucy walked near the bench before taking her seat next to Aunt Monique.

    It was fascinating to see how her aunt used her only one hand to y the piano.

    Lucy''s feelings and thoughts were more sorted nowpared to thest few days, as if she was at ease. She could finally see things more clearly, things she hadn''t noticed before. She knew her aunt didn''t want her to regret anything, and she was thankful for that, for being understanding.

    The way Ethan had spoken to her, she felt it was time for her to speak to Theodore.

    "I will be going to the town tomorrow. The magistrate has fallen sick and I need to go and get some of the documents signed as I will be resigning from the royal court," stated Aunt Monique, showing Lucy where to move the keys as she slowly moved her fingers. "Would you like toe? I could use somepany."

    Lucy nodded her head, "I would love to apany you." It wasn''t like she had anything else to do in the castle. Ethan had been visiting Ms. Ferwell, and brother Calhoun had been keeping Madeline busy. At this rate, Lucy was sure that they would soon be receiving another good news from the couple, thought Lucy while smiling to herself. It had left Theodore with some more responsibilities in the royal court room.

    "Here, you press them both together," taught Aunt Monique, and Lucy pressed her fingers at the same time on both the ck and white keys.

    Once Lucy had spent enough time with her aunt, she started to head back to her room. But before she reached her room, she turned around and walked away from there, heading in another direction. She finally came to stand in front of Theodore''s room.

    She cleared her throat before raising her hand and knocking on the door while patiently waiting for it to be opened.

    When Theodore finally opened the door, Lucy noticed he hadn''t changed his clothes yet even though he wasn''t working anymore. But he didn''t have his sses on his face.

    Lucy asked, "Are you still nning to go to the vige fair?"

 Chapter 761 Village fair- Part 1

    <h4>761 Vige fair- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Lucy stared at Theodore, waiting for him to say something or anything, but he looked a little taken aback by her sudden words. Her lips pressed against each other, wondering if it was a little strange of her to being here at this hour in front of his room.

    He looked at her with his unwavering eyes and emotions that didn''te to pass through his face. As a few more seconds passed in silence, Lucy started to doubt if Theodore had changed his mind.

    "You are asking me if I am still going to the fair?" questioned Theodore with a straight face.

    He watched the anxiousness in her eyes, seeing how she waited for him to speak, and he wanted to make sure they were speaking about the same thing, and he wasn''t just imagining it. There was a slight awkwardness in the way she had ced her feet while standing in front of his door.

    "Yes, I am asking about the same thing," replied Lucy.

    A few days ago, he had seen Ethan take Lucy away from the castle, his doubts only increasing, which was why Theodore wanted to listen to what Ethan wanted to speak, but the distance had been a lot to eavesdrop on. As if that wasn''t enough, Lucy had turned even friendlier with Ethan Moryett, something he didn''t approve of.

    "What changed your mind?" questioned Theodore because something didn''t feel right here.

    "Just a few things," Lucy cleared her throat as if something was stuck in there. "So, are you going?"

    "I thought about it, but then I cancelled the n," came his words.

    "Oh," Lucy''s shoulders drooped. She hade here thinking she would speak to him, but it seemed like he was busy��

    If Lucy could see herself through Theodore''s eyes right now, she would have known how precious she was to him. She looked like a cute puppy that had been scolded for something that it didn''t do. Her eyes had lowered down in disappointment and a small frown formed on her forehead. She was readying herself to leave the ce when she heard him say,

    "I cancelled the n because the person with whom I wanted to go with hadn''t given me the answer whether she wanted to go or not. So I decided to instead go and finish some of the work so that I will be free when I travel to the town where your mansion is, mdy."

    Lucy''s eyes immediately snapped to look at Theodore''s eyes, "I said I wasn''t sure. I never said anything about not being interested," she said to him. "But you chose to do your work," she murmured to herself.

    "You didn''t tell a yes either," pointed Theodore, and Lucy sent a small re at him.

    "Fine," she tipped her chin up and said, "I guess I then I will ask Ethan if he''s willing to apany me to the vige fair."

    Lucy''s eyes widened by Theodore''s sudden action, and at the same time, she caught sight of a maid who was walking from one side of the corridor to another. When the maid noticed them, she quickly ran away from there so that she would not be caught peeping something that she was not supposed to look at.

    "You shouldn''t have changed your schedule. You know how much I love the vige fairs,"ined Lucy while being caught in Theodore''s arm, and she demanded, "Now let me go."

    "Never," whispered Theodore, and blood rushed up through Lucy''s neck to settle itself in her face. "If you like it so much, you should have agreed on it before."

    Lucy, who had noticed the maid running, closed her eyes, not knowing what other rumours were going to spread in and outside the castle. "I was angry at you. You know that...for everything you did."

    "Shall I take it that you aren''t angry at me, princess?" Theodore''s words fell right against the shell of her ear. A shiver ran down her back, which she had forgotten.

    "I came here to speak to you. To go to the vige fair. Aren''t you getting too ahead of yourself?" asked Lucy, and Theodore smiled before letting her go from his arms.

    Though she was the one who had demanded him to release her, she now felt sad that he had let her go that quickly. An emotion of loneliness fell back into her heart, but it disappeared when she turned to look back at him.

    And though she believed she had concealed her emotions, Theodore read her well. The serious expression on his face was gone and was reced by a smile that was a mixture of cheekiness and impenitent.

    "My apologies, princess," said Theodore and Lucy could detect theck of apology in it. The way he smiled at her now, something fluttered in her chest, its wings pping to cause a tornado within her.

    "It''s fine," replied Lucy, and she cleared her throat. "So are you going to the vige?"

    Theodore took a deep breath before releasing it, "Who else will I go with if not you?" he smiled at her.

    Lucy felt like the cupid of arrows were being shot with the words that came out from Theodore''s lips, and she tried to hold her ground without being swept by it. With her face still red, she said, "Alright then. I will be waiting," and she turned around to leave the front of his room with her heart beating loudly that only broadened the smile on Theodore''s lips.

    "That idiot," muttered Theodore under his breath, his words filled with love. "Such a princess."

    Theodore knew everything about Lucy because she had opened her heart so wide that he had known everything he wanted. He knew her strength and her weakness. He knew the vige fair would be something she wouldn''t be able to refuse, and he had taken the opportunity to take her there.

    In the meantime, Lucy walked stiffly back to her room. Her feet were quick and muttering something under her breath while her cheeks were red.

    "Stupid stupid girl," whispered Lucy such that only she could hear what she was saying.

    Lucy''s face felt warm, and she entered her room, closing it before bringing her hands to ce it on her cheeks. Suddenly a smile appeared on her lips which was mixed with shyness, and her body swayed to one side. She then quickly shook her head.

    "I should get myself together. We need to speak," she said to herself, but the smile unconsciously returned to her lips.

    The people in the castle right now were the ones who cared about her, and Lucy was thankful that there were no people who were against each other or trying to plot someone''s death. Times like these were rare, something she had not been able to experience in the past. It felt like there was finally peace.

 Chapter 762 Village fair- Part 2

    <h4>762 Vige fair- Part 2</h4>

    "Have you heard about the vige fair that is being set up? The one regarding the winter," asked Lucy.

    "It is going to take ce in the next five days, mdy," informed the maid, and Lucy nodded her head. Now she knew when it was, and the little bubbles of excitement had started to hit the surface.

    "I see. You can go now," said Lucy, and the servant bowed her head before leaving the room.

    When the day of the fair arrived in the vige, Lucy had been barely able to catch her sleep because of the bubbling anxiousness. There was a lot of nervousness in her heart as she got dressed.

    While walking in the castle''s corridors, she met Madeline and Elizabeth, who were walking in the corridors.

    "Good afternoon, Lady Lucy. Are you going to some specific ce?" asked Madeline, her eyes curiously looking at the vampiresses attire.

    Lucy turned a little worried and asked, "Is it not right?" she looked down at her dress.

    Madeline shook her head, "No, it is not that. Um, they are clothes that one would wear in the vige." She had never seen the vampiress in such clothes before, which was why it was surprising.

    Hearing this, Lucy turned pleased, and she beamed with a smile on her lips. She had chosen to wear this dress so that she wouldn''t stand out and would be able to mingle with the crowd as amoner. This way, she would enjoy the fair to the fullest without people being too wary about who she was.

    "I got this stitched a long ago. I am just d that it still fits," a smallugh escaped Lucy''s lips.

    "I think you look wonderful, Lady Lucy,"plimented Beth, offering a small bow to the vampiress.

    "I should get going now. I will see you bothter," said Lucy before going on her way to where the carriage was waiting for her.

    "I don''t think I have ever seen any highdy so happy to wear clothes like that," murmured Beth.

    "Lady Lucy is one of a kind," Madeline smiled and then said, "Come, I was going to show you something," and the sisters walked away from there.

    Lucy continued to walk until she came to stand at the top of the stairs. She saw the carriage that had been pulled in the front entrance with the coachman, and there stood Theodore, waiting for her. His eyes were quick to look at her, taking in her presence, a faint smile appeared on his lips. Theodore''s attire didn''t change and was the same as the usual days in the castle, but he would still stand out even without it because of his presence.

    "I never knew a person could look this beautiful in clothes that themoners wear," said Theodore to her, a gentle smile on his lips, and he looked at her through his sses.

    "I didn''t want to stand out in the fair," replied Lucy to his words, her other hand tucking the piece of her hair behind her ear.

    "Fair," he responded to her, barely fazed that Lucy had chosen to wear clothes that the lower people mostly wore.

    Lucy stepped inside the carriage, Theodore was soon to follow her, and the coachman closed the door. Even though Lucy didn''t wear fancy clothes, he couldn''t help but look at her while she fiddled with the handkerchief that she held in her hand. The journey to the vige was a quiet one, and when they reached the ce from where Lucy could see the fair, her eyes brightened like one of a child''s.

    They got down, and Lucy was the one to walk forward-looking at the series of stalls that were ced in rows. Looking at it, it brought back memories.

    "Have the carriage parked at the other side of the road," Theodore ordered the coachman before following the vampiress so that he wouldn''t lose sight of her.

    Lucy went looking at stall after stall, looking at everything one had to show and give. Even though snow covered the ground, it didn''t deter themoners from noting to look at what the fair had to offer. Some ces were crowded with either adults or children.

    Theodore walked behind her, watching her expressions that changed from curious to excitement and then to fascination. With his hands in his pockets, he saw the way she stood behind the people, standing on the tip of her toes while trying to look at another stall from where the smell of roasted food drifted in the air.

    Compared to themoners, who were more aggressive, the princess stood at the side, hoping someone would move aside so that she could move to the front. But seeing her continue to stand there, she turned startled when a woman pushed her. Theodore appeared to her side.

    "Are you alright?" Theodore asked her.

    Lucy nodded her head. "I guess we cane backter to look at this ce. Probably once it has less customers," she muttered.

    "That would be a wise choice, but do you think the vendor would have all the items then? He might have sold and closed the shop," stated Theodore, and Lucy nodded her head in agreement. He ced a hand on her head, "Don''t go anywhere. I will be back soon."

    Lucy watched Theodore leave her side while he easily made his way through the crowd in front of the stall, speaking to the vendor before returning with two sticks that had fried meat on it.

    "Is this what you were looking for?" asked Theodore, and Lucy smiled.

    "You were so quick," praised Lucy as she stood there without making it through the crowd. "Thank you," she said before taking a bite from the meat that tasted delicious, mostly because they were outside and because of the waiting time.

    "You know if you tell the servants in the castle''s kitchen to prepare it for you, they would do it within a heartbeat," said Theodore as they walked towards the next stall.

    Lucy nodded her head, "But it wouldn''t be the same. How did you turn out to be so smart?"

    "When I was a small boy I used to steal things from people. It must be practice of pushing through," came the casual words from Theodore, and Lucy turned to look at him and wondered if he was joking with her.

    Lucy watched him walk next to her. She had to crane her head to see him properly as he was more than six to seven inches taller than her.

    But if he was serious, it meant Theodore didn''t have enough food to eat when he was small, while she had abundant food to eat on the table.

 Chapter 763 Village fair- Part 3

    <h4>763 Vige fair- Part 3</h4>

    She had given a lot of thought to what her aunt said, and she came to believe that it was her time to be happy. All this time, she had put other''s feelings and wishes first, but now, she wanted to live for herself. She wanted to be happy, to be able to love the person for whom she had carried her feelings for so long.

    "Did you not get caught?" she brought the meat stick near her mouth as she asked him.

    Theodore replied to this, "So many times. I believe I lost count after a dozen of times."

    If anyone looked at Theodore, no one would ever guess the background that was part of him before he even entered the castle.

    "What happened after that?" she asked curiously, yet knowing how one would be punished for stealing things.

    "Hm," Theodore hummed in response before saying, "I would be beaten until I would not be able to walk or sit or stand. People on the streets are rough but then it might be because we don''t learn." His words didn''t hold any emotion, and instead, they were empty.

    "I see," murmured Lucy while returning to her thoughts as they continued to look at the other stalls.

    "Here, take this," Theodore offered the stick that was in his hand, which he hadn''t taken even a bite and had been saving it for Lucy so that she could eat it once she finished her own portion.

    Lucy shook her head, "Eat it."

    Theodore had been the one to get it for her, and she didn''t want him walking with her without enjoying the fair. They hade here together. Theodore stared at her for two seconds before taking a bite, and he said, "Let us get some more after looking at this side. You didn''t tell me what changed your mind."

    "You didn''t tell me what happened in the past," retorted Lucy, cing both her hands behind her back and looking around the stalls while feeling his gaze on her.

    "I thought you would have forgotten about it," murmured Theodore.

    Lucy didn''t forget anything that was rted to Theodore. She had always tried to keep him close, not caring if it was love or hate.

    He then said, "Maybeter. Why don''t we enjoy the fair, would you like to y mark?"

    "Mark?" asked Lucy, and Theodore slipped his hand to hers, pulling her with him. "I-uh-"

    "I don''t want you getting lost in here," said Theodore, his hand warmer than hers, and Lucy quietly followed him.

    Lucy watched Theodore''s broad shoulders and his clothes that stood out from the rest of themoners. He didn''t care about the people who were watching them as if their thoughts and words didn''t matter. She, who had grown up under specific constraints, couldn''t help but shy from the people''s gaze around them.

    On the other hand, Lucy''s feet were quick enough to close the gap, and she tried to hide their hands from people''s eyes.

    Theodore held her heart, but somewhere in the corner of her mind, she was scared of people judging her. After all, it had been only a few weeks since she had separated from her husband. But at the same time, she told herself that it wasn''t her who had broken the marriage.

    "Come here and take a shot. Five nickel coins for one round!" shouted the person who owned the stall. "Only for five coins of nickel!"

    Lucy came to stand next to Theodore, watching a board ced on the back side wall of the stall, and there were stuffed toys ced at the side.

    The vendor continued to shout, "Aim at the centre point and you can take the toy, but make sure it should be at the centre!"

    Theodore pulled out the coins and ced it on the table, "Take this," he picked the long metal like sticks that had mas on the ends of it.

    "I am not good at this," Lucy shook her head. Thest thing she needed was to throw it at someone''s head.

    But Theodore ced the ck sticks in her hand, "You will be fine. All you need to do is focus," he advised her before giving her the way."

    Lucy smiled at the vendor, who smiled back at her. The man was more than happy to get coins without losing any toys as he believed she wouldn''t hit the mark. Taking a deep breath, she brought her hand up while concentrating on the board and the mark. Some of the people who were around turned curious and started to look at Lucy, waiting to see if she would fail like the rest.

    As if that was not enough, Theodore ced his hand on her waist, and he whispered, "Have fun whilst you are here. You can worry about thingster."

    Lucy wet her lips before throwing the stick that fell on the board but not at the centre. "That wasn''t bad at all," hummed Theodore.

    When she used the other three, leaving her with just one more stick in her hand, Lucy turned to Theodore and gave it to him, "It''s your turn now. You forgot about doing it together."

    The smile on Theodore''s lips widened at Lucy''s words. Bringing her to the vige fair had dropped her guard down, and she had fully opened her heart. "Alright then," he said, taking the stick from her, and he said, "Why don''t you pick the toy from the lot?"

    The vendor, on hearing the confidence in the vampire''s words, rolled his eyes at the couple who were behaving like newlyweds, "Sir, please finish it quickly. There are other customers who are waiting for their turn."

    "Of course," Theodore offered the man a smile, and while he was still looking at the person, he threw the stick at a speed that left a hole in the board, letting one see the other side of the stall. "There. We are done."

    Lucy''s eyes widened when she noticed the force Theodore had used in not only hitting the mark but also creating a hole where the vendor would be forced to pause his service.

    "Isn''t that a little harsh," murmured Lucy while leaning towards Theodore.

    "Not much, considering the way he was smiling at you," replied Theodore and picked up the toy made out of cloth and stuffed cotton inside it before passing it to her.

    Lucy and Theodore spent some more time in the vige fair until evening started to approach. They had picked a ce away from where the stalls had been set up and took time to rest their legs by taking a seat near some big stones that were covered in snow.

 Chapter 764 Village fair- Part 4

    <h4>764 Vige fair- Part 4</h4>

    .

    Lucy held a couple of sticks in her hands that were covered with meat, eating them one at a time while the toy was ced on herp.

    While Lucy continued to chew her treats, her eyes met Theodore''s, and she asked, "You aren''t going to have any of them?" She asked it because Theodore had barely eaten more than three of them, while it looked like she had been starving for thest two days.

    "I am fine," replied Theodore, watching Lucy, who was busy enjoying and savouring every bite from the food she ate. "Was there something else you wanted to watch?" he asked her, and Lucy shook her head. They had gone around looking at every stall, spending time and buying some of the things.

    "I had lots of fun today. Thank you for bringing me here," Lucy thanked him.

    The fair had been much more exciting than she used to think and she could only hope that she would be able toe back here again next year, just like this.

    "I didn''t do anything. It was you who came here today," replied Theodore, picking up the toy that was on Lucy''sp to have a look at it. "But I am d you came."

    Lucy nodded her head, "Me too..."

    She took another bite from the stick, chewing it slowly while not looking at the passerby, who seemed quite surprised by seeing the number of sticks they had brought to eat.

    "Do you have any fond memories of when you were young?" she asked Theodore while he looked at the doll.

    "It would be hard to say. I feel if I tell it to you, you might start crying out of pity," a chuckle escaped his lips.

    "I would not!" a frown appeared on her face. "I will try not to," she promised, wanting to hear more about Theodore. In the past, it was always her who used to bber things while he would only smile.

    A sigh escaped Theodore''s lips, and he said, "I guess the most memorable moment was when I broke into a house where a celebration was taking ce. I didn''t care to know what it was about because all I could smell was the warm food that wafted in the air. It was the first time I had seen so much food, food that I never imagined," he paused for a moment and then continued, "And I ate what I could get. Even cutting the cake that was kept there, but I was caught, not that I cared until I was handed to the vige town''s guards."

    Hearing this, Lucy''s eyebrows rose, and she leaned forward to ask, "What happened then?"

    "I escaped from them. It isn''t that hard for a scrawny boy to run away from the guards when some of the alleys and walls are thin," exined Theodore. "And then one day when I was getting beaten up, ady came up to the alley. A ck umbre in her hand and her eyes and lips red, waving her hands so that the men would leave me alone. Actually she paid them so that they wouldn''t bother me."

    "I did. It is what my memories are made up of," replied Theodore, staring at the people who still hovered around the stalls that would be closed soon. "The woman took me in. Gave me clothes and fed me, taught me how to be part of the higher ss. Madame Fraunces was too generous."

    "She taught you well," said Lucy.

    Theodore had held back the information for a long time, but he decided it was time with the conversation that hade up.

    "Madame Fraunces was an important person to me. It would be strange to call her mother, because we didn''t share a rtionship like that, but she knew me well and I learned about her. When I followed Calhoun to the castle, I never would have thought that she would end up being one of the pawns who would be used to threaten me. Morganna ordered her death."

    A deep frown came to settle on Lucy''s face. She remembered the time when Theodore had been sent for execution. That time, everything had been a mess and confusing to Lucy.

    "She was killed in her house. Before her death, I thought I could handle everything around me, that I was in control," exined Theodore, a distant look in his eyes. "If I chose you, no one knew what the oue would be. Your grandmother wanted to keep her power and I didn''t want you to end up in the middle of it."

    They could hear the distant chatter and murmur of the crowding from the fair. Lucy didn''t need Theodore to exin more as she understood the rest of it.

    Theodore had tried to protect her.

    Madame Fraunces. Lucy wondered why the name sounded more familiar to her than she was supposed to feel.

    "Like Aunt Monique said, it seems like grandmother deserved what she got," replied Lucy, her words cold as she didn''t forget in what state she had found Nana. Even after these years, the bitterness for the previous Queen only grew more in Lucy''s heart. "I wish I could have been there for you at that time," she whispered.

    "It would have not been possible," stated Theodore. He had pushed her away from him so that she would never speak to him. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled before getting up from his ce and said, "You shouldn''t let your mind weigh things of the past when there''s present and the future."

    Lucy had finished eating the meat from the sticks, and she stood up, brushing the front and back of her dress for crumbs of meat and snow to dust off from her dress.

    "We should head back to the castle," proposed Theodore, and they left the ce where the fair had been set up.

    On their way back, Lucy held the stuffed toy close to her, looking at the things outside the window as they rode the carriage.

 Chapter 765 You

    <h4>765 You</h4>

    She had spent barely ten minutes in the fair before being found out and taken back by the guards-scolded and punished by her grandmother for attending something so disgraceful as the fair. Now, after she had spent nearly half of the day in the fair of the vige, Lucy couldn''t help but feel how much her grandmother and her parents must have missed in their life.

    The pure joy that she had felt while being around the crowd of people who wereughing and talking was something that could not be found in the castle life. This was what she had been craving for all these years, and to have it fulfilled, the feeling was inexpressible.

    She turned to look at Theodore, who was looking outside the window, his features ever so calm like the water that didn''t move.

    When they finally reached the castle, Theodore helped Lucy to step down from the carriage.

    "I will have the guards carry these things that you brought to be sent to your room," said Theodore to Lucy, who stood right in front of him now.

    Lucy nodded her head, her eyes looking at him and her right hand holding the toy. "I had a lovely time today," she expressed herself. "Thank you for letting me know about the Winter fair and taking me there. I had a lot of fun."

    Theodore bowed his head, "I am d to hear that you enjoyed it. We should do it again," his words holding a ray of hope about them spending time together.

    "I agree," replied Lucy. "I-I look forward to it. Thank you for the-uh-doll," she raised her hand to show the stuffed toy, which was made out of wool and cotton.

    Theodore nodded his head.

    "I will go to my room," said Lucy, her movements pausing for a moment, and she offered him a sweet smile before she started to walk up the stairs.

    Seeing Lucy leave, Theodore smiled at her retreating figure. He wanted to hold her before seeing her to her room, but he didn''t want to push his luck. After telling her what he had been hiding from her all these years, he felt the weight on his shoulders had finally been lifted, and he could finally rx.

    As eager as Lucy had been to look at the fair, Theodore had been looking forward to spending his time with her. To create new memories so that she wouldn''t be able to leave him or this ce easily.

    Though she was an adult, a vampiress, she was still a child in a few matters where her innocence hadn''t changed. He loved her wholeheartedly, and he wanted to give her everything that he couldn''t offer years ago.

    He was now the King''s advisor, the closest person to Calhoun. He now had the money, the status, including the looks and charms that not many people possessed. The people who once looked down at him now looked up at him, bowing their heads. Times had changed, and he had turned into a capable man, someone whom he could see next to Lucy without a doubt.

    He waved at the guards who stood at the end of the stairs, beckoning them, "Have these ced in Lady Lucy''s room."

    "Yes, Advisor Theodore!" bowed one of the guards, carrying the bags away from the carriage.

    Before going inside the castle, he heard Calhoun''s voice, "Did you finish enjoying your evening?"

    Theodore looked up to find the King standing at the front viewing patio of the castle with his arms ced on the railings while he had his body bent forward.

    "I guess," replied Theodore, and within less than a second, Calhoun jumped down from the patio tond smoothly on the ground before he stood up straight. "I wonder if it is from you where Lucy has learned to jump down from the balcony."

    Calhoun chuckled at Theodore''s words, "You don''t have to be modest in giving me credit for everything," a smile was etched upon his lips.

    The King was well aware of Theodore and Lucy''s time in the past where he had even caught sight of them spending time with each other in the middle of the night, on Lucy''s patio. Obviously, Theodore didn''t make use of the normal doors.

    "I thought you two were going to spend some more time outside the castle. You finished the couple outing too quickly," smiled Calhoun, putting his hands in his trouser pockets.

    Theodore stared at Calhoun, "What are you doing out here, instead of being with your wife?" he questioned him.

    "Madeline is helping Elizabeth to pack up the things for her journey. She is sad that her sister is leaving soon, therefore I decided to not intervene and let her have her time with Elizabeth," responded Calhoun. "Madeline is worried something bad will happen to her. But I think the more important thing to worry about here is what will happen to people who are near her. She is safer here in the castle, but the girl wants to leave."

    Theodore noticed how Calhoun had changed, not too much, but just enough to amodate and adjust with the person he was in love with. If it was in the past, Calhoun would have interrupted the sisters before pulling Madeline away from any other person who wasn''t him.

    The carriage in which Theodore had returned to the castle with Lucy started to ride away towards the shed so that the horses could rest for the night.

    "Lady Elizabeth must be feeling lost. She isn''t a human nor aplete werewolf," stated Theodore. "Did dimir say anything about another antidote?"

    "Don''t even remind me about him or anyone else now," a sigh escaped Calhoun''s lips. "I have had enough with these angels and the devil, but it is also good to have some peace atst after everything that has happened. I was hoping he would have an antidote, but he said he doesn''t. Even if d has it, he will probably want something in return," he rolled his eyes at the thought of his grandfather.

    A faint smile appeared on Theodore''s lips, "There is something I had to ask from him, do you think he would be willing to meet?"

    Calhoun, who was looking at the long path that led to the castle''s gates, turned to look at Theodore. "I don''t think he will refuse to meet you," he tilted his head to the side.

    "I see," replied Theodore without giving away the question that was on his mind, and Calhoun ran his tongue over one of his sharp fangs.

 Chapter 766 One last hit- Part 2

    <h4>766 Onest hit- Part 2</h4>

    .

    Calhoun didn''t have to ask to know what Theodore wanted to ask, and he said, "I was nning to visit him. To see if I can haggle with the existence of the antidote while also see why he tried to cause a ruckus in Devon by bringing people back to the living world who are already dead."

    "Then this might be the right time," suggested Theodore, to which Calhoun nodded his head.

    Calhoun didn''t bother to walk to a quieter ce where no one would be able to see. Instead, he raised his hand, his palm open, which created a huge ck smoke. Since thest time he had been to Hell, the Devil had bestowed him the ability to be able to step in and out of Hell on his wish.

    Theodore stepped into the ck smoke as a tunnel, and Calhoun followed him. When the smoke reduced, he caught himself looking at the vast dark sky and in front of him stood tall buildings that looked like ruins. Screams filled the surroundings, and therge pits of fire burned brightly to light up the ce where they stood now.

    Walking to one of the buildings, they made their way up the deserted stairs beforeing to be greeted by a familiar face.

    "Master Calhoun, what a surprise to have you here!" Odin deeply bowed his head before standing straight. "Master dimir will be very pleased to hear that you havee to see him."

    "I was hoping he would be here," came Calhoun''s dull tone.

    On the other hand, Odin looked at the person who stood next to Master Calhoun, and he asked, "Are you here to collect his soul to take it back to the living world, Master Calhoun?" he didn''t know this man had died. When did he die?

    "He''s still alive, Odin. He had something to ask, which is why he is here," replied Calhoun, and he demanded, "Where is he?"

    Odin wasn''t sure if it was a good idea to bring a living person to the underground world, "He is sitting in the throne room, Master Calhoun. Let me lead you there, please," offered Odin, who was more than happy to serve the Devil''s grandson.

    It was Theodore''s first time entering Hell, and he could only gather this was where he would be ending up once he would die. The ce of an afterlife was fixed for a demon when they were born. The only ce at the end for them was Hell. While walking, he saw other creatures stout in appearance, and they stopped walking to bow their head at Calhoun as if they knew who he was.

    "Wee, wee, wee to my humble home," a voice boomed before they even entered the room.

    When Theodore stepped inside, he caught sight of the Devil, who sat on his plush throne. His body rxed as he watched them enter the room.

    Theodor, who had bowed his head, raised it to look at the Devil.

    "I know you, Theo. I know your actual name. It is one of the perks of being a devil," the smile on dimir''s face didn''t disappear. "Born as an orphan with no family and no name, you decided to pick a name for yourself on a whim. You have been of excellent help to my grandson. The support you have offered him by staying by his side has been wonderful."

    "Thank you for acknowledging it," said Theodore. "I havee here wanting a favour."

    The light in dimir''s eyes didn''t reduce.

    "Haven''t you heard about making deals with the Devil, Calhoun knows about it if you ask him," chuckled dimir to himself. "Though I am curious to know what this favour is, that has youe to me. Hm."

    dimir rubbed his chin in wonderment.

    "I want to meet one of the prisoners here. Samuel Grivelle," said Theodore.

    "Such a simple favour. I thought you would ask for wings or maybe a position in Hell. There''s a vacancy," the Devil tried to snare Theodore''s attention, and he added, "I can guarantee that you will be able to spend more time as you want, punishing the demons."

    "Thank you for the offer, but I am satisfied with the way things are," replied Theodore.

    "What a pity," murmured dimir.

    When Lucy had died, Theodore had wanted to kill Samuel with his own two hands, but the demon had been killed before he had the opportunity to leave a blow at the person. Though Lucy was back to life, the anger had not simmered down, and if it weren''t for Madeline, Lucy would not have been alive.

    "Alright, let us all go visit this favourite person," dimir pped his hands before getting up and walking down to where they stood. "Odin, take us to where Samuel Grivelle is being held."

    "Yes, Master!" Odin obliged before starting to walk, and the others followed.

    "At the time I met the useless thing, I didn''t know he was special to you," came the calm voice of dimir. "He is such a child," heughed. "How is my grand-daughter-inw?" he asked Calhoun.

    "Upset," came the short reply from Calhoun, and dimir raised his eyebrows.

    "What did you do?" asked the Devil.

    "She wants the antidote for her sister which you aren''t willing to give," deadpanned Calhoun.

    "I told you that was thest antidote that I had with me. Now why would I ever lie. Do I look like the type of a person to lie? Me?" dimir ced his hand on his chest to emphasize his point. Calhoun''s eyes narrowed, and the other people with them felt an itch in their throat. "The creatures of the living world aren''t good when ites to sharing things. If I evere to hear about it, I will directly deliver the antidote to the girl. You know what we should do? Have dinner together here to have a family discussion," decided dimir.

    When they finally reached the underground level, they were greeted by a foul stench in the air. Theodore caught sight of the cells aligned from the front to the other end of the corridor, possibly the longest corridor he hade across.

    Inside each of the cells were demons and creatures that belonged in Hell. Theodore and Calhoun were quick to notice the familiar faces as they were the ones who had attacked the castle that night and some people before that particr day.

    "Did we have too many free cells here?" questioned dimir while looking at the people with a sharp re at them and a maddening smile on his face.

    "Master," started Odin, trying to make sure not to walk along with his master but a step behind him. "I thought it would be right to segregate all the prisoners ording to the crimes of when, where and on whom. This ce holds the souls who were involved in troubling Master Calhoun since thest six months."

    Odin was more than pleased with himself as he had categorized Master Calhoun''s kills like trophies ced in each cell of the underground.

 Chapter 767 One last hit- Part 3

    <h4>767 Onest hit- Part 3</h4>

    He had lost twenty good years with Lucy, where she had deserved to be cherished, and instead of that, this demon had cheated and controlled her.

    "This is the man you are looking for, Mr. Hosteler," informed Odin, rechecking the name near the wall where the name was written.

    Theodore watched the man behind the iron bars who looked bloody, not because he was beaten up, but it looked like his skin had peeled out and burnt, where steam could be seen escaping from his body.

    "Tony Porter?" questioned Calhoun when his eyes fell on the name next to the cell.

    Odin turned around and exined, "This man stole the vampire''s identity before turning himself to be the child of the Grivelle''s."

    Calhoun had been displeased when he had found Lucy''s body on the floor, worse when he found out it was Samuel who had killed her. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the man who was inside the cell. "If only I knew you were a demon. You hid it too well, Tony."

    Theodore red at the demon, who slowly lifted his head to see who hade to meet him. The only person who came to see him every day were the hellhounds and the guards, who tortured him until he felt death hit over him, over and over again.

    On seeing who it was, the demon red at both Theodore as well as Calhoun. They stood there unscathed while he was burnt almost to his bone. But that didn''t stop him from smiling, where his face had patches of skin while most parts of the skin had been peeled out, where one could see his eyes protruding out as they looked at the visitors.

    "Look who is here to meet me," came the coarse voice of the demon, the smile widening on his face. "I am so important that you have taken the pain toe and see me," he clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Poor Lucy, she had to die for betraying me and trying to leave me."

    "You are sicker than any person," said Theodore, his eyes turning cold and distant.

    Calhoun turned to look at Odin and asked, "Howe he''s still in the condition to talk."

    "Um, it might be because he has a high resistance of pain or maybe he finished recovering from the punishment and needs to be dragged again to the boiling pot of hot liquid iron," replied Odin.

    The demon inside tried to get up, but his hand broke when he tried to put some force to stand. "How does it feel to not have the woman you love next to you?" questioned the demon with a snide.

    "It must have been a blow to your ego as she could never be yours because she was in love with me," said Theodore while standing in front of the demon''s cell, facing him.

    Hearing this, Tony''s face turned vile, and his eyes narrowed at Theodore.

    Theodore didn''t want to get blood on his hands, and somewhere he felt it was unneeded. So he did what he was best at, and he smiled at the man, "What a pitiful life you had. I can imagine why you went woman to woman. I know you loved Lucy, but the way you loved��" he paused before continuing to say, "Lucy could never be yours. Pathetic demon who only ended up in Hell, an unloved child by his family and then by his wife and his servants. Even though we weren''t together...we are now. Lucy is very much alive, Tony."

    "That''s not possible,"ughed the demon. "I saw her die, waited there until I heard her breathinge to a stop so that you would never be able to have her. She couldn''t be minepletely, then she couldn''t be anyone else''s."

    But the faint smile on Theodore''s lips didn''t disappear, "Lucy is alive, breathing and we spent our time together today. How pitiful is that for you," his voice fell low, and he saw Tony''s anger rise.

    "You are lying!" shouted the demon behind bars.

    dimir, who was watching this, snapped his fingers, and Tony''s face started to reconstruct back to his original form, and the gate of the cell opened. Theodore, who had previously thought not to enter the cell, now entered it. Tony tried to attack Theodore, but thetter quickly twisted and pushed Tony''s hand before pushing him against the wall.

    While Theodore was inside the cell, Calhoun stood outside, turning to look at dimir and asked, "Where are Morganna and the others? I heard you brought them to sightsee the living world?"

    Hearing this, a mischievous smile appeared on the Devil''s face.

    Back inside the cell, Theodore thrashed Tony by punching him right into his stomach and then at his face. As much as Tony wanted to fight back, his arms were weak against the force Theodore used on him.

    "She''s my wife! I was the one who married her! She is-" Tony was interrupted by Theodore''s fist, and the demon fell on the ground.

    The anger that Theodore was inside him until now surfaced in his eyes, and he climbed on top of the demon and started to punch him over and over again and heard the bones in Tony''s face crack under his fist while they turned bloody.

    Theodore didn''t stop until he heard the demon whimper in pain, trying to get away from his hold, which he didn''t loosen. The people in the adjacent cells could hear the sound that came from the cell where Tony was assigned, and the others who had personally met Theodore and Calhountried to cower away from the front side of their cells so that they wouldn''t fall to be the next victim.

    Theodore punched Tony to the point where his face had not just disfigured, but he had squashed the demon''s head to the floor of the cell.

    After a while, Calhoun and Theodore left Hell, and Odin stood in front of the cell with his head slightly tilted in concentration.

    "What are you doing standing there like a fool?" questioned dimir, who had walked a couple of steps forward.

    "Master, what are we going to do with this one? He seems like he doesn''t exist," replied Odin.

    "Let the Hellhounds eat him up," said dimir nonchntly and left the underground with his faithful servant.

 Chapter 768 To have you- Part 1

    <h4>768 To have you- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Back in the Hawthrone castle, Lucy was in her room without her maids, folding the dress that she had worn today for the fair with Theodore that was deep maroon and had ck straps. She dusted it one more time before cing it carefully in her cupboard.

    It had been two hours since she hadst seen Theodore, and her memories of today were still fresh as she rewinded it back to her favourite moments before living it through over and over in her head.

    She plopped herself on the bed, reaching for the toy that Theodore had won for her. Lucy never thought that she would one day evere to feel this way. The peace and happiness offered to her today felt like a dear gift that she wanted to cherish forever. She knew Theodore was a charming man, but she had seen him today in a much better light for who he was.

    Minutes passed by until she heard some sounde from the other side of her room. She wondered if it was a servant who had appeared outside the room, but then she remembered it was only a few minutes ago since a maid hade to refill the jug of water.

    cing the toy back on the bed, she got up from there, walking towards the door. When she opened it, her eyes widened at the sight that greeted her. It was Theodore.

    His hair was a mess, and his clothes looked like there was some ck liquid on it. Her eyes finally fell on the floor, where she caught drops of blood that fell from Theodore''s hand.

    "What happened to you?" she whispered in worry.

    Theodore didn''t reply to her, but instead, he walked forward to step into the room and put his arms around her to hold her. It felt truly precious to have Lucy in his arms, thought Theodore to himself. The little action had Lucy''s eyes widen in surprise.

    "I missed you," said Theodore, his arms tightening around Lucy to keep her close.

    He hadn''t meant to show himself in this state where he had blood on him, but the need to see Lucy had been so much that he couldn''t resist himself from noting to meet her.

    Lucy didn''t push him away and instead was surprised by his sudden visit and the state Theodore had shown up in front of her room. She could feel her heart beating in her chest.

    "We saw each other two hours ago," replied Lucy, her voice a little shy and her face red.

    "Why does it feel longer than that," murmured Theodore, and he let her go when he felt his mind had calmed itself. "Were you going to sleep?" he asked her.

    Lucy shook her head, "Not so soon."

    She couldn''t help but look at the spots on his shirt, and by the look of it, it seemed like Theodore had got himself into a fight. Whom did he get into a fight this soon? Lucy then closed the door behind Theodore and held his hand.

    "Let''s fix your hands," she said, looking in his eyes, and she offered him a smile.

    "Whom did you get into a fight with? Did someone say something?" asked Lucy.

    "I had to settle an old score with someone," responded Theodore, watching Lucy''s small hands that held the bandage, and when it was time to tear, she leaned forward and tore it by the help of her teeth.

    From what Lucy had tried to learn on what was going on in the castle and what had happened the night she had died and returned to life, she knew ck blood usually belonged to the people who had more demonposition in their bodies.

    "Do you have more people on your list with whom you need to settle your score?" asked Lucy as she ced everything back in the box once she was done with his hands as it was the only ones that had been hurt.

    "For now that''s all," replied Theodore, and Lucy nodded her head.

    "I think I should have bandaged your hands after you took a bath," muttered Lucy while looking at his clothes. "Let me get another cloth," she said before disappearing from his side.

    Theodore didn''t care about his wounds as it would heal within a while, but seeing Lucy walk around her room to help him, he didn''t have the heart to stop her. Instead, he watched her earnestly from where he sat.

    They had spent so much time together today that Lucy didn''t think twice before bringing the wet cloth to him.

    "Thank you," thanked Theodore before he started to clean his face and neck.

    Lucy moved to the side, her hands moving to hold each other behind her, and she stared at Theodore. When he looked at her, her eyes slowly shifted away and looked at the wooden divider. It felt like the old days had returned, but maybe better than before. Heart continued to flutter in her chest by Theodore''s presence in her room.

    When he was done cleaning himself, he ced the cloth on the side table. A small gulp moved down Lucy''s throat when his eyes moved back to her.

    "What were you doing?" asked Theodore, questioning about her time before he appeared at her door.

    She was thinking about their time together��

    "Just cleaning the things around the room," replied Lucy, and Theodore took a look around her room which was already clean.

    "You should ask the maids to help you," suggested Theodore and then said, "I should go now," he said to her and Lucy pursed her lips before nodding her head.

    "I will see you tomorrow," she released her hands, her heart fluttering in her chest which didn''t reach her lips as she saw Theodore towards the door.

    There was an unexinable ache in her chest and she smiled when Theodore turned to look at her. His eyes looked darker and his features more precise, something she had memorized. A faint smile on his face, he wished her, "Goodnight."

    "Goodnight," she said, looking at him leave and she closed the door shut.

    She ced her forehead on the door, a sigh escaped her lips. It was easier when she was young to do or ask things, she wondered why she was hesitant now. Maybe it was because she was overthinking about everything, thought Lucy to herself, on what was right or wrong.

    Unconsciously, her hands went to feel her arms as she left the door''s side, remembering how it felt, so safe and tranquil.? A few seconds passed before she heard another knock and she opened the door to see Theodore.

    "I forgot something," his face looked serious.

    He did? Lucy turned behind, wondering what he had left. The next second she had turned back to look at Theodore, he had stepped closer to her and she felt her breathing hitch.

    Theodore then said, "You."

 Chapter 769 The question- Part 1

    <h4>769 The question- Part 1</h4>

    .

    For a second, Lucy didn''t grasp what Theodore meant when he uttered the word ''you'' to her. There seemed to be something that lurked behind his eyes, and she stared right into it.

    When a faint smile appeared on his lips, blood started to rush back into Lucy''s cheeks, and her eyes slightly widened when she finally came to understand what he meant. He took two long steps towards her. His arm went around her petite waist, and he turned her around before closing the door shut with his other hand.

    Her heartbeat increased, flipping now and then as he slowly leaned towards her without rushing things from his side, letting her sink in with the emotions that his actions were making her feel.

    Theodore heard Lucy''s heart beating loudly along with the crackling fire that came from the firece. He leaned his face close to her, watching her closely before their lips were just an inch away from each other.

    "May I?" asked Theodore, asking for Lucy''s permission as he wanted to confirm this was what Lucy wanted. That she was ready to ept him and move forward by letting go of the things that had happened in the past.

    With Theodore''s closeness to her and with his lips that hovered in front of her, her lips trembled. Not because she was scared or nervous, but the anticipation of what might happen thundered in her chest.

    "You already have all the answers when ites to me," replied Lucy, her neck shyly craning up. One of her hands were ced on his chest, and the other on his arm when he had caught her off guard in his arms. "You can," she whispered.

    She understood the loneliness and the emptiness that she had felt a few minutes ago after Theodore had left her room. It was like a piece of her was missing, and she would never be whole again without his next to her.

    Since how many years had she been waiting for him, and her eyes started to glisten as they moistened with the unshed tears. She felt Theodore bring the back of his hand near her cheek, caressing it gently before it settled below her chin.

    Without wasting another second, Theodore closed the remaining distance between their lips to kiss her. Her lips were more than he had imagined it to be. They were soft like the velvety rose petals, and he couldn''t help himself but relish in its softness.

    Lucy felt a gasp escape from her lips when Theodore broke the kiss for a fleeting second before he captured her lips in his again. Her eyes had closed, and her hand that was on him held on to him for support so that her knees wouldn''t give away. She could feel her heart bursting out with bright colours because of the feelings that were spiralling out from her.

    To Theodore, Lucy was sweet, like a fruit that he had been holding himself back from eating it. But now that he had her in his arms, he didn''t want to gobble up the fruit and instead, he wanted to eat it slowly so that he could relish every bite of it.

    She opened up to him like a flower that bloomed in spring, and he tasted her, nibbling her lips with his teeth yfully before letting his teeth graze her jawline, tasting everything she could offer to him. He could hear her heart tremble, her body heating up quickly, and when he had kissed her some more, he finally pulled away from her lips.

    Her eyes were partly closed, and she heaved as she breathed through her lips.

    Lucy''s eyes fluttered to look at Theodore, who was already looking at her, "Are you going back to your room?" she asked him, her voice turning slightly anxious.

    Theodore smiled looking at her, "I was thinking of going back to my room," and Lucy''s face fell, her shoulders drooped. He said, "But maybe not alone."

    Lucy didn''t want Theodore to go away as it felt like they hadn''t spent enough time together. She didn''t want the day toe to an end. "To your room?" she asked in confirmation with a soft gulp.

    "You don''t want to?" asked Theodore, his red eyes looking at Lucy as he patiently waited for her answer.

    It wasn''t that Lucy didn''t want to, and she finally nodded her head, "Okay."

    "Okay," replied Theodore, his smile warm enough to settle her ragging emotions.

    Lucy''s feelings were like the dried logs of wood that had been waiting for Theodore, who had left a spark of fire for her to catch up in mes now. With just a simple touch of caress and a kiss that felt like she was going to melt right into his arms, she doubted she would be able to sleep by herself.

    Theodore let go of Lucy''s hand that he had been holding. He walked towards the door that he had closed earlier, d that he had arrived at a time where the maids and the other servants of the castle had gone asleep. He doubted he would have been able to keep his cool if someone had dared to disturb them.

    Earlier, when he had left Lucy''s room, he had walked until the end of the corridor, and he then stopped. Realizing he didn''t want to keep things waiting. He and Lucy had waited enough for this lifetime.

    "My princess," Theodore said, waiting for her to start walking, and Lucy caught hold of the front of her dress as if she didn''t know what to do with it.

    She heard the door click, and Theodore started to walk. She was quick to follow him.

    In the past, even though Theodore had spent enough time on her patio with her, Lucy had never spent more than ten minutes in his room, which was why this was a new feeling. She had never felt like this when she was with Samuel, not even once, and she realized what kind of ce she had been in. Nobody could elicit feelings from her the way Theodore did.

    They walked in the deserted corridor, light present because of the mes of the torches that were ced on the walls. Out of eagerness, she had agreed to spend her time in his room, but then she remembered something and said,

    "Wait!" her words came out as a whisper.

    Theodore turned around, wondering if Lucy had changed her mind. Though he hadn''t expected her to change her mind this soon, he would let her go if she wanted to. With a faint smile still on his lips, he asked, "Is something the matter?"

    "T-that," Lucy started while looking around the corridor to make sure there was no one. "I forgot to carry my nket."

    In the past, the marriage that existed between her and Samuel, they had different nkets for each other. Lucy didn''t want Theodore to feel cold without his nket if he was going to give it to her, she thought to herself.

 Chapter 770 The question- Part 2

    <h4>770 The question- Part 2</h4>

    "You don''t have to worry about it," said Theodore realizing what she meant, "I am sure, you wouldn''t mind sharing it, do you?"

    Lucy blinked at his words, her lips immediately closing and the toes of her bare feet curled on the cold floor. "You wouldn''t need it for yourself?" she asked him.

    Theodore didn''t know what Samuel had taught Lucy about the concept of marriage, but with the way she asked him, something just didn''t feel right to him. "I would be more than happy to share it with you, unless you aren''tfortable."

    To his words, Lucy quickly shook her head as if that was not what she meant.

    "Then it should be fine," Theodore offered her a smile, and they started to walk through the corridors.

    Reaching Theodore''s room, he pushed the door open for Lucy to step in, and she walked inside it. She noted how the guards were present in his room, and the corridor was rather empty. Did he not need any protection as he was the King''s Advisor? Questioned Lucy to herself.

    "Make yourselffortable," she heard Theodore, and the door closed for her to hear a click sound of it.

    The room was locked, and they were away from people. Though she was still in the castle, staying with Theodore at this hour of the night and spending it with him, there was something very magical about it. She felt like time had moved backwards, and if she was alone, she would have raised her hands, dancing awkwardly out of happiness.

    But instead, she cleared her throat while looking around the room and seeing the firece where the woods burned lowly as he wasn''t present in the room for quite a few hours. Lucy didn''t know what to do. She dide here to spend time with him and even sleep in the same bed, but she stood at one ce, watching him.

    Even in her younger days, Lucy had never spent the night with any other girls in their mansions or castles as her family didn''t approve of it. She had always been kept away from people, living in the bubble of the Hawthrone''s.

    Theodore walked to the cupboard, which was next to the firece, and he pulled out the log of woods before cing them in the firece so that the room would be warm. The time of night brought snow from the sky, dropping the temperature of the surroundings.

    Lucy slowly moved towards one side of the bed, and she asked, "Which side do you sleep?"

    "I don''t think I have a specific side, I don''t think it matters. Pick whichever side you want," he gave her the option to choose, and Lucy got on the bed from the right side.

    Were they really going to sleep together? Asked Lucy to herself. With the little spark ignited in her, the me hadn''t reduced and still continued to burn brightly.

    Theodore had closed the windows to stop the snowkes from getting inside the room.

    When he went to the other side of the room, Lucy couldn''t help but look at him. It wasn''t every day where she was given the opportunity to look at the person she had held dearly in her heart. Theodore''s hand moved to his back before he grasped his shirt and pulled it from his body, standing in front of the cupboard with only his trousers and his bareback facing her.

    "I got to hear something today," said Theodore and Lucy''s gaze broke to look at the back of his head. "When I was still in the streets, I had picked up a differentst name, Chauncey, hoping to forget my actual family and the parent who abandoned me. I had forgotten the name that belonged to me and todaydimir reminded me of the name that I had forgotten."

    It would have annoyed him if it was before, but he had grown out from the hate and pain. He had learned how to deal with it, by hunting and killing people��getting into fights. Remembering his forgotten name didn''t bother him as much as it did in the past.

    "What was it?" asked Lucy, who had pulled up her knees close to her, to hug them.

    "Hosteler," replied Theodore.

    Thinking about it, Lucy wondered if that was where he had gone after they had arrived at the castle to meet dimir in Hell. She tried to connect the dots with the ck blood and his visit to Hell, and her eyes subtly widened in realization. He had gone to meet Samuel��

    "You don''t have to worry about him anymore," stated Theodore as he watched the expression on Lucy''s face.

    When his hands went to ce at the edge of his trousers, Lucy quickly looked away, her cheeks turning redder as she heard the rustle of clothes from where Theodore stood. Sensing him leave the other side of the room, she lifted her gaze to notice he didn''t wear a shirt and his chest was still bare.

    "Aren''t you going to feel cold?" asked Lucy, trying to keep her eyes on Theodore, and she wondered if this was what temptation felt like.

    "I have the habit of sleeping without the shirt. You don''t mind do you?" he questioned her back, and Lucy shook her head.

    "Why would I mind," she whispered before sliding inside the nket and pulling it until her nose so that she could still look at him.

    On his way, Theodore blew out most of the candles so that the room wouldn''t bepletely dark, but enough to let one sleep peacefully, and he then slid into the nket.

    Gettingfortable in the bed, they faced each other, staring at each other, and Lucy lowered her eyes as she wasn''t able to keep up with Theodore''s eyes that looked at her intensely. Not to mention his bare shoulders and chest was enticing her to inch her eyes from his eyes. How strange that it was only a few months ago that she wanted to strangle him, but with the truth out, her feelings were back to before and maybe more profound.

    "Do you think it is okay for me to move in closer?" questioned Theodore.

    Lucy smiled at his question and replied, "I would like that very much."

    When Theodore moved closer to her, Lucy did the same, the nket sliding off her face and neck as sheid on the side of her body. She closed her eyes when he caressed her cheek again, a blissful sigh escaping her lips.

    "I don''t think I can resist from not touching you," Theodore confessed his true feelings to her. His finger moved from her cheek to her lips, grazing across the softness to hear her breathing hitch.

    Saying this, Theodore moved closer than before, lifting himself, and he ced a hand on Lucy''s delicate shoulder so that sheid on her back. She raised her hands, weing him to her as he descended his face, capturing her lips once again.

 Chapter 771 The question- Part 3

    <h4>771 The question- Part 3</h4>

    With her lips parted, Theodore''s tongue sneaked into hers, probing and ying with it. Her body had started to heat up with him on top of her, and she couldn''t resist circling her hands around his neck and weaving her fingers through the back of his head. She felt him capture her bottom lip, softly biting into it, and she whimpered into the kiss.

    Theodore kissed her as if she was the most precious thing to him. He had treasured her for years, and he continued to do so while stealing her breath now. He sucked her lips, and somewhere in between, he felt Lucy bite into his lips, sucking the faint taste of blood from him.

    He trailed kisses down her jaw and neck, nibbling and nipping the skin there. His hand traced the curve of her body with the nightgown that she wore. One of his hands settled on her waist. When he pulled away to look at Lucy, he noticed her eyes that looked slightly dted and her lips parted.

    He picked one of Lucy''s hands and kissed her wrist, pressing his warm lips on her skin. The lone gesture was enough to melt Lucy''s heart, and she saw the heated gaze in his eyes.

    "I love you, Lucy," confessed Theodore. "I don''t know when I fell in love with you, but I do know I love you. So much that I doubt I can bear it if you aren''t next to me. I promise to never hurt you, to love and cherish you until the end. So don''t leave."

    Lucy realized she hadn''t told Theodore about what she was going to do with the mansion. She put her arms around him to hug him. Closing her eyes, she whispered back to him, "And I love you. You are the only person who has been able to hold my heart."

    Theodore was d to hear it, knowing it wasn''t just some fleeting emotions that would one day die.

    "I am d to hear that. So much d," responded Theodore, hugging her back. He turned to his back so that he wouldn''t weigh on Lucy, and she pulled back to look at him with a blush on her cheeks.

    Theodore picked up her hand to kiss them, a warm smile on his lips, and Lucy returned the smile.

    "I don''t want to have more regrets than I already have," said Lucy. In the past, there had been misunderstanding from both their sides and now that it was clear, she didn''t want to waste more time. Sheid her head on Theodore''s arm while resting on her side so that she could look into his eyes. "I will be going to the mansion only for some time. No matter how long it will be...in the end I will return to you, Theo."

    Lucy''s gaze was soft, her words sweet.

    She leaned closer before pecking his lips.

    "What is it?" asked Lucy.

    "I am happy that you are here. I don''t know what I would have done without you," he replied to her.

    Smiling, Lucy said, "Isn''t that what I am supposed to say. My parents, my grandparents, my so called husband...I don''t know if they ever saw me as a person." It was Theodore who hade to her at midnight, bringing her meals so that she wouldn''t starve.

    "You took care of me, but I was mean to you," her eyes lowered from him.

    "You didn''t know back then. You had the right to do it," Theodore brought her closer in his arms, cing his chin on top of hers. He brushed the back of her hair through his fingers, weaving it carefully.

    Like a rabbit, Lucy got closer to Theodore''s chest before letting her head rest. They had only kissed and spent time together, and she was more than content with it. She felt safe and protected in Theodore''spany as if no one would evere to harm her again.

    "Did you sleep?" questioned Theodore when Lucy hadn''t moved nor said another word.

    "No," whispered Lucy.

    "Lucy," Theodore called her name, and Lucy hummed before craning her neck up to meet Theodore''s eyes.

    "Hm?" she wondered if there was something important that he wanted to tell her.

    Theodore sat up on the bed, and Lucy followed his suit. She saw him take both her hands in his, and he said, "Marry me, Lucy."

    Lucy''s eyes widened at Theodore''s words. If it was possible, one could have heard her heart making incoherent noises.

    "I know you have been married before and you might have some unpleasant memories from that, but I promise to erase those things that have pained you and to re-write them with the new ones. To give you the life you deserve," said Theodore looking in her eyes without blinking. "I would never want to defile you the way I did to others because you are different and special. Right now, you are the most important person to me and you deserve to be treated with love and respect."

    Lucy wondered if he was telling about him not going further than the kisses they shared because he didn''t want to treat her like the rest of the women he slept with before.

    "I am not as pure as you think I am," responded Lucy, staring at their hands.

    "Your heart and mind is pure, Lucy, and that is what matters. In my eyes, you will always remain that girl who liked to run in the corridors barefoot. Someone who was brave to wander out of the castle alone without the guards and the person with whom I shared blood from the sk," stated Theodore.

 Chapter 772 Simple things- Part 1

    <h4>772 Simple things- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Lucy stared at Theodore, her body numb and her emotions frozen as she tried to sink in the words that he said to her. It wasn''t hard to understand what he told her, but the way he did and the words he chose were what she needed to hear. She didn''t know how to react, leaving herpletely speechless.

    Theodore loved her. Even after all these years where she had given him nothing but cold shoulders and her words sharp like knives, he continued to love her.

    Her eyes started to blur while staring at him, and she finally looked down to hide her tears from Theodore. A quick frown appeared on Theodore''s forehead, and he apologised,

    "I am sorry. It must have been too fast."

    Lucy shook her head, "No," she whispered, her voice cracking as she took a deep breath and looked back at Theodore.

    Theodore brought his hand to ce it on the side of her face, gently caressing the skin there with his thumb, "What is it? You can tell me anything, Lucy. I will never judge you for it. You do not have to hide anything from me, even if it hurts me."

    A tear slipped down from Lucy''s eye, her lips softly trembling with the image of Theodore turning blur in her sight.

    "Why do you love me after everything?" she questioned him.

    Theodore''s actions and words had warmed her heart, and she doubted anyone would ever do that for someone else. While living in a world of high society in thepany of the Dukes and Duchesses and many other people who belonged to the high social standing in the kingdom Devon. She saw how people reacted towards the women and men who were left by their partners or turned into a widow. While the situation with the men was more bearable, it wasn''t the same for the women, who were judged harshly by society.

    Lucy had not spent enough time with the other people, but with the little amount she did spend outside to mingle and keep up the image of her being Duke Grivelle''s wife, she hade to learn how people treated each other.

    A woman who was in her position would never be asked to marry again, and they would shun both the man and the woman, which was why the woman was often left alone.

    Theodore''s eyes softened even more than before on seeing Lucy, who had tears in her eyes.

    "Such simple questions you already have answers to," replied Theodore, bringing her near to him, and he patted her back while he hugged her. "In the past, I sent you to someone and it pained me. I don''t want to give you to someone else again. I don''t see the point of waiting when we know the inevitable thing."

    Lucy closed her eyes so that she wouldn''t cry more, but the tears escaped from the corner of her eyes, slipping down her cheek before it fell on Theodore''s skin.

    "I don''t do things if I am not sure," responded Theodore, a smile on his lips as he continued hugging her. He then pulled away from her so that he could take a better look at her. He wiped the streaks of tears from her cheeks. "Will you be my wife, Lucy Hawthrone. Just be mine, while I be only yours."

    Lucy nodded her head, "Yes. I would be happy to take you as my husband," and sniffed before breaking into more tears.

    "Come here," said Theodore, taking her back into his arms to console her so that she would not cry more.

    Theodore had hoped for Lucy to agree, and now that she had, he couldn''t tell how happy he was right this moment. It felt like fresh air had started to circte him and his breathing turned lighter with every intake of his breath. He wanted nothing more than to have Lucy next to him, to live life with her, beside her and to grow a family that she wasn''t fortunate to have before.

    He loved her with everything he had, and he would give her everything she deserved. This was the woman who was the most important person in his life.

    It had been long since one of his purposes had been fulfilled where he had stood next to Calhoun, and he did until now. But now it was time to have Lucy and never to let her go.

    "Tell me how you wanted to get married the first time and I will see to it that it is how it will happen this time," said Theodore as he gently patted the back of her head.

    Lucy had finally calmed down after her emotional breakdown, and she shook her head.

    "I don''t mind anything. Anything with you would be perfect," she answered him. Things likevish celebrations by inviting the other high-status people, expensive decorations, or luxurious food didn''t matter to her. The only thing that mattered would be him, which was why she didn''t mind the details he would pick. "Whatever you think is fine."

    "What a lovely future wife I am going to have," praised Theodore and Lucy felt her heart flutter at his words.

    Wife.

    Future wife, but it still had the word wife, thought Lucy in her mind. A blush came to settle in her cheeks at the thought of being Theodore''s wife. She remembered back in the days how she wanted to be his wife, and finally, she had the opportunity to be his.

    There had been days where she had written down his name over and over on the parchment, but unable to keep it out in the open, she had to sadly burn it in the firece so that her mother or her governess would note to know of her feelings towards the guard who worked for her brother.

    "Anything I want?" repeated Theodore, humming in the end, and he said, "I was thinking, how about we having a celebration followed by a soiree after the wedding. I have never had a celebration that was kept only for me, on my ount. Exquisite drinks and food that everyone will praise how delicious the food is. Me in my groom clothes and you in your white gown so that people will know what a beautiful bride you are. We can possibly pick a mansion by borrowing it from Calhoun. What do you think about it? A big wedding celebration for us."

    Lucy smiled at him, nodding her head, "That sounds good."

    Theodore''s eyes subtly narrowed at her, and he pulled her cheek, "Is that what you really want?" he asked her. He leaned forward to bite one side of her cheek, making her softly yelp.

    "What did I do?" she asked, her eyes wide and the rim of her eyes that were slightly red. "You said you wanted it."

    "You idiot," scolded Theodore, his words not harsh on her. He said, "I know you don''t want those things. How long do you think I have known you?"

    "You shouldn''t have listed out those things if you didn''t want to," she replied, her mood shifting back to its usual self. "I only wanted to see you happy."

 Chapter 773 Simple things- Part 2

    <h4>773 Simple things- Part 2</h4>

    He said, "And you think I don''t want to see you being happy? You don''t have to sacrifice your own happiness for mine, Lucy. I know a lot of things about you, but I believe there are still a lot more that I might not know, and at that time, I need you to tell me how you exactly feel about things."

    Hearing this, Lucy pursed her lips. "I wouldn''t mind if you are happy though. I am more than happy to see you happy."

    Theodore ced his hand on the top of Lucy''s head, "What I listed are not the things that I want to do. Do you think I care about what people eat and drink? The only person I would care about is what you do and how you are doing," the rest could rot, thought Theodore in his mind while he smiled at Lucy.

    Lucy spent the rest of the time describing how she had dreamt of the wedding to take ce while lying next to him on the bed. To not do anything buty next to each other was more than she could ever dream about, and her heart felt full and soft.

    It felt like right now as if she was dreaming, and if it was true, she hoped that the dream would never end. She wanted it tost forever.

    The night slowly continued to pass, and Lucy fell asleep next to Theodore, their fingers interlocked while facing each other on the bed.

    Weeks passed, and the snow that had fallen over thest few days had started to disappear, the heavy clouds turning lighter and the atmosphere turned brighter until all the snow had disappeared.

    On one fine morning, Madeline woke up early along with Calhoun and had dressed. Deciding to visit Lady Lucy, hoping they could spend some time before breakfast, but she received no response when she reached Lucy''s room and knocked on the door.

    "Mdy," a maid who was at the end of the corridor had walked on seeing the Queen appear in front of Lady Lucy''s room. "Lady Lucy isn''t here."

    On hearing this, Madeline frowned, "Did she go somewhere?" It seemed like she had woken up earlier than most of the vampires in the castle, thought Madeline to herself.

    "I was here to deliver Lady Lucy the ss of blood, but she must have gone out," informed the maid, bowing her head.

    "I see," responded Madeline before returning to Calhoun, who was in his study room. She walked towards the desk where her husband was busy with some of the parchments. "Lucy went out."

    Calhoun hummed in response, "She must have gone to visit the graves at the cemetery. She likes to spend time there." He was writing something on the parchment before cing the quill to rest on the table. He raised his hand, and Madeline walked towards him before cing her hand in his. "You can go visit your parents. Or I can invite them here to the castle."

    The corners on Calhoun''s lips tugged, and he said, "I am sure it is something very memorable to all of us. But maybe a family dinner again doesn''t sound that bad. dimir has been pestering me about it."

    "He misses you," whispered Madeline. The devil was one of thest fragments of Calhoun''s mother.

    Madeline came to stand closer to Calhoun, running her hands through his pitch-ck hair, and she heard him hum in satisfaction, making her smile. There were only a few people left in their families whom they could count upon, and it was important to treasure them, thought Madeline to herself.

    "Later, I will be going out to take a look at Lucy''s wedding gown," informed Madeline.

    Calhoun nodded his head, "I would be more than happy to host the wedding here. It is not everyday you get the opportunity to hold your sister''s wedding. She takes after the woman who looked after her."

    Madeline smiled at Calhoun''s words. She had heard a lot about Ruby, who Lucy also addressed as Nana, who had brought her up. The maid who was kind and had loved Lucy as her own.

    "Isn''t it wonderful, that they will be getting married," responded Madeline. "Only if they could see how happy they had turned out to be."

    "Did you speak to Paschar?" asked Calhoun, his eyes meeting hers.

    Madeline shook her head, "Not since we returned from Heaven. But I did write a letter to Gabriel."

    "Did you now," responded Calhoun. He then said, "Today Monique is going to meet another mechanic to help with her hand."

    Madeline nodded her head, "She told me about it. I thought the person was going toe here to size the length of her hand and to find its proportion again."

    Lady Monique, Calhoun and Lucy''s aunt, had been trying to get an artificial arm to be ced permanently. Thest one she had got was inefficient, and she had decided to go to another one today.

    "Monique is not used to staying inside the castle. She spent most of her time at the borders, keeping her mind busy. She wants to go out and have a change of surroundings," replied Calhoun. He had asked his aunt to stay in the castle, to attend Lucy''s wedding before she would go back home.

    "It is nice to have her here. Lucy has someone to look up to as a mother figure," replied Madeline.

    Not too far away from the Hawthrone''s castle, Lucy stood in the quiet and peaceful cemetery that belonged to her family. She stood in front of Nana''s grave, her hands folded and her eyes staring at the tombstone.

    "I hope you are doing well, Nana. I returned to the castle two days ago," Lucy spoke to the grave. "The renovation of the mansion has started and it looks like a lot more work than I expected it to be. But it has been going smoothly. Some of the walls have been demolished to make the rooms bigger."

    The wind softly blew the dried twigs and leaves lying on the ground, sweeping it from one ce to another.

    Lucy continued, "There''s nothing much to n for the wedding, except for the dress. Aunt Monique wants me to pick the best gown and she had some rmendations for me. But I asked Madeline to pick one from the vige. Theodore doesn''t mind me wearing regr clothes," she smiled at the thought of it. "Life has been much peaceful since the attack that took ce in the castle. I wish you were here, but at the same time I am d that you are in Heaven."

    Lucy could imagine how Nana would look now if she were still alive. Grey hairs, more wrinkles on her face, as twenty years for a human was a lot in their life.

    "It is good to see you to be doing well, Lucy," she heard someone speak not too far away from her.

 Chapter 774 Simple things- Part 3

    <h4>774 Simple things- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Hearing the voice, Lucy turned in its direction to find a young-looking vampiress sitting on the top of one of the graves in the cemetery. The woman had a cigar in her hand that was rxed as she sat with one leg over the other.

    "Oh, you can see me?" asked the young woman, and Lucy''s eyes widened on looking at the red lips and red eyes.

    "Madame Fraunces?" asked Lucy carefully, and the woman smiled. She looked much younger than she had met in the other world. As if time had turned back and the woman was in her early thirties.

    "I wonder how you are able to see me now," hummed the woman.

    Lucy felt a rush of memories that came to pass through her mind that she had forgotten when she had returned to the living world. She quickly bowed her head, "Forgive me for forgetting the conversation that we had."

    "Don''t fret about it," responded the woman. "People who enter and leave the in between world, don''t remember anything. Not that it happens often. The world is not supposed to exist or to be known by people, because people then? will never not want to enter Heaven, the good souls I mean."

    Lucy was yet to ce the flowers that she had brought for Madame Fraunces grave, and she held it tight in her hands. She remembered how the woman had earlier told her that she often came here, spending her time while watching people who visited her. She wondered why she was able to see a dead person unless she was purely imagining it. But then she remembered the words they had exchanged when she had died.

    "When did youe here?" asked Lucy. Slowly taking steps towards the woman, who sat on someone''s grave while not caring as she smoked.

    "A couple of minutes ago. I cannot tell how strange I find it that you fell in love with someone who is purely differentpared to you, but at the same time, I am d that he has someone," said Madame Fraunces. "I heard you both are getting married. Have you decided the day?"

    Lucy nodded her head, "It is around three weeks from now."

    "Wonderful,"mented Madame Fraunces. "You should pick up a beautiful gown and not settle for anything less. And the vige does have some excellent tailors. They are good with their hands," she smiled at the end, one corner of her lips raising more than the other.

    Remembering Theodore, Lucy turned excited and said, "Theodore will be very happy to see you! He adores you."

    "Of course he does, I did save him from trouble a couple of times. I hope when you two have children, they inherit your nature. They are going to be handful if they turn out to be like him," Madame Fraunces''s words had Lucy clear her throat. To have children, they hadn''t done that, and at the same time, she didn''t know if she could bear children.

    As fast as her cheeks had turned red, it also dulled down.

    Madame Fraunces frowned, hearing this, "You seem to be perfectly well, Lucy. And you were blessed by an angel to recover from your injuries. Even if you weren''t able to have children before, you should be fine now. It is not every day an angeles to help."

    Lucy ced her hand on her stomach. Was it possible? Samuel had injured her stomach, near her abdomen. Was there still hope?

    "Silly girl," said Madame Fraunces.

    "Wait here!" said Lucy. "I will be back soon, don''t go anywhere!" and Lucy ced the flowers on the nearby graves.

    The woman who sat on the grave watched Lucy run towards the cemetery''s gates, bringing her hand up to drag the smoke.

    Lucy knew Theodore would be more than happy to see Madame Fraunces here, in the living world. If she wasn''t wrong, she had heard how her grandmother and father had been brought to Devon before they were taken back. She was quick to get on the carriage and reaching the castle. She pulled Theodore away from the castle. When they arrived at the front of the cemetery, Lucy pulled Theodore by his hand.

    "What happened, Lucy? You haven''t told me what it is about," said Theodore, who had been left in suspense, not knowing what Lucy was up to.

    Lucy dragged Theodore towards Madame Fraunces gravestone before looking around back and forth, searching for Madame Fraunces, but it looked like she had disappeared.

    "Lucy?"

    Theodore had been talking to the minister when Lucy hade to drag him from the corridor. He heard her whisper, "She was right here. She must have left."

    "Whom are you speaking about?" asked Theodore, his eyes sweeping across the empty cemetery as it was just them in there.

    Lucy bit her lip before turning to look at him, "Madame Fraunces."

    Hearing the name, Theodore''s eyebrows furrowed. If a human heard this, one would tell that she was imagining things.

    And Theodore was no regr person, "Did you speak to her?"

    Lucy nodded her head, "I met her before. Before returning back to life. I forgot we had met earlier and today was the second time we met. I asked her to stay, but I don''t know where she went," she pursed her lips.

    Theodore wondered what that was about. He knew Madame Fraunces was dead for quite some time now. After spending some more minutes in the cemetery, he said, "Maybe she went somewhere. We can return here tomorrow at this time and see if we can meet her."

    Before they left the ce, Theodore gave onest look to see if he could see the woman, his eyes on Madame Fraunces grave before leaving the ce with Lucy, to head back to the castle.

 Chapter 775 Preserved gown- Part 1

    <h4>775 Preserved gown- Part 1</h4>

    .

    The young-looking vampiress hadn''t gone anywhere, and she continued to sit on the grave where she had been sitting for thest few hours. Her bright red eyes looked at Theodore and Lucy, who walked and reached the end of the cemetery gates. She saw Theodore turn around, looking at her, but she knew he wasn''t able to see her. On the second time, even Lucy was not able to see her.

    It didn''t feel like much time had passed since she had died or seen them, as she had always tried to be here, watching people enter and leave the cemetery.

    Madame Sylvie Fraunces stared at the couple until she couldn''t see them anymore. After ending up in the in-between world, it had taken her a while before she was able to visit the living world. Right now, it wasn''t that her body was stuck to the graves, but it was only that she didn''t want to follow them.

    "I was wondering what happened in here," said someone from behind her.

    Madam Fraunces turned her head and caught sight of a person in white light who had smoke evaporating up in the atmosphere. She couldn''t see the person''s face, but by the aura, she could tell it was an angel.

    "I didn''t expect to find a wanderer in here," said the angel before his features started to turn more precise, and she was able to see the gold eyes of the person.

    "I didn''t expect to find an angel in the cemetery," replied Madame Fraunces, not knowing what an angel was doing here.

    "Devon has been a favourite kingdom when ites to angels visiting it," smiled the person, and he looked around the ce to see if there was anyone else in here. "It seems like you came in contact with a living being. How strange," murmured the person.

    As far as Madame Fraunces knew, mortals couldn''t see the dead.

    Like many other days, she had been sitting here and watching peoplee and go on rare asions. With years that had passed, the vampiress found out that there were many people here whose name didn''t match the skeleton that rested in the graves.

    With the angel here, she could only guess that he was here to check the vicinity and make sure to keep a bnce in the living world.

    "Is there a reason why she was able to see me?" questioned Madame Fraunces. It had taken her by surprise that Lucy had caught sight of her.

    "I guess the veil between the living and the dead had fallen down," replied the angel named Gabrielle.

    Gabriel had been around, speaking to one of the church priests where he had nned to locate himself instead of staying in the town that was near the borders. Since thest few weeks, things here had turned far more interesting.

    Hearing this, Gabrielle smiled, "My brothers seem to have been affected by the mortal world." With one of them, who had turned his back on Heaven and had turned to the dark side, the other two brothers had been put under trial. "I guess this is something that will need to be discussed once I go back. Though I do wonder what you are doing here, instead of being in Heaven? Your soul doesn''t look tainted," he noted while watching the woman.

    Madame Fraunces chuckled, "I wonder how you people segregate the souls to be good and bad. If someone were to ask me, I would have been sure to choose Hell."

    Gabrielle didn''t respond to this, but he continued to stare at the woman who looked younger than when she had died. It wasn''t often a person''s soul turned back its time.

    "Why do you think it to be so?" he asked, his voice calm and peaceful like the surrounding of the cemetery where no one was there to disturb.

    The woman wasn''t shy to bring her hand up that held the cigar in between her fingers, using it to drag the smoke before she blew it away. "I don''t follow the worldly rules which other people follow. Not to forget, if I am not wrong, most of the vampires are damned and are warranted to end up in Hell."

    At the woman''s words, the angel smiled. "This is where the difference lies, we believe if there is still hope in a person to change, then that soul is worth saving. They are worth living in the Heavenly realm," he said to her. "I know what you have done until now, Sylvie. We try to be fair in our judgment, because God is merciful. I doubt what you have done is something evil or to harm others."

    "Will the veile down again?" asked the vampiress.

    Gabrielle had seen many wanderers who refused to enter Heaven and took the path of loneliness. Some hoped to go back to the living world and continue their lives that had been paused without their will.

    "I doubt so," replied the angel, who had fixed the veil back to its ce. "It must have been a temporary error that dropped the veil between the mortals and the existence of the dead. You should enter Heaven before it is toote."

    The woman smiled, "I find it hard to do. Rumours have it that you wipe out the memories, and what are we without any memories? An empty shell."

    "You must know that it is done to prevent a person from experiencing any more pain and heartache. Cleaning the memories, helps in putting the person at ease," stated Gabrielle. "It isn''t as bad as it sounds."

    Madame Fraunces didn''t respond to his words. She didn''t have any ns to leave the world that she was once part of.

    "Think about it, whilst you have a few more days. You won''t see many wanderers around and that has a reason," said Gabrielle. "A wanderer has only a certain period of time before he or she needs to decide if they are willing to enter Heaven. If not, their soul gets dragged by the Salvette Mortems to the underworld," saying this, Gabrielle disappeared from there, leaving Madame Fraunces alone in the cemetery, again.

    Back in the carriage in which Theodore and Lucy rode, Lucy couldn''t help but wonder where the woman had disappeared to. She had told her to wait.

    She felt Theodore''s hand slip into hers, and she turned to look at him, "Don''t worry about her. She will be fine. As far as I remember, the woman has always been able to look after herself without anyone''s help."

    Lucy nodded her head, "I hope she''s okay."

    She let her head rest on Theodore''s shoulder while putting her arm around him.

    Theodore, who sat next to Lucy, wondered why Madame Fraunces was still around without entering Heaven. It seemed like she refused the idea to leave the living world.

 Chapter 776 Preserved gown- Part 2

    <h4>776 Preserved gown- Part 2</h4>

    .

    At noon, Lucy got back inside the carriage with her aunt Monique and Madeline, who had decided to apany her.

    "Is it true that you will be able to move your fingers once they fix the gears and bolts in your hand?" asked Lucy while staring at her aunt''s hand. One of the hands of Aunt Monique had been cut from her forearm. Though Monique had an extended metal like hand, it was only for a show that didn''t move and only weighed on her.

    "Mm," responded Aunt Monique, "At least that is what I know. I don''t think there''s anyone here with decent qualifications to create a moving metal hand with fingers. I curse that bastard."

    Samuel was the one who had cut her aunt''s arm, and Lucy couldn''t help but partly feel guilty about it.

    Madeline, who noticed Lucy''s eyes lower down, ced a hand on hers, "You shouldn''t take the me, Lucy. No one is ming you."

    "That is right," agreed Aunt Monique. "If there''s anyone to me, it was the previous Queen for forcing you to be married to someone you didn''t like," she shook her head at the end. "Sometimes people do a lot of things to prevent something from happening, but it happens anyways. It makes you question what was the point of all those things that was done. Absolutely pointless."

    Madeline then asked Monique, "Will you be apanying us to the tailors shop?"

    "You both dearies can go ahead. I am not sure how long it is going to take for the person if he does decide to fix things today," replied Monique, and Madeline nodded her head.

    The coachman pulled the carriage to a pause so that Lady Monique could get to her work for what she hade here. The two young girls continued to travel to the next vige to visit one of the tailors, where Lucy had already given her measurements during her first visit. With James Heathcliff, who didn''t work in East Carswell''s vige anymore and wasn''t in Devon, they had decided to go to the second-best tailor but not the ones where the High-status family went to get her clothes made.

    Madeline and Lucy had worn clothes suitable to visit the vige so that they wouldn''t stand out from the other people and attract unnecessary attention.

    When they entered the shop, the man was quick to offer them a deep bow.

    "Mdies!" greeted the tailor with a bright smile on his lips, showcasing his sharp fangs. He had a thin moustache that rested above his upper lip. "It is so wonderful to have you both here again! Mario, chairs for the youngdies. What would you like to have tea, coffee or would you like some blood tea?" he asked, knowing who precisely one of the women was.

    The Queen had taken her time toe to revisit his shop, and he was more than happy to build a good rtionship with her so that she would continue to take his services.

    "Now, mdy," the tailorman named Abel turned to look at Lucy. "I made just the right gown for you! You will be blown away just by looking at it!"

    Lucy turned to look at Madeline and whispered, "He finished so quickly?"

    "Young girls get married in the vige often. They are used to working on the dresses quickly," replied Madeline.

    Abel had disappeared into the back room and reappeared with the white gown as he carefully carried it with his two hands, "Here it is, mdy."

    Lucy looked at the cloth that had sparkling stones on it, and her eyes widened, "This��"

    "I told you, you would be mind blown by the very sight of it. I made use of the exquisite stones and the rarest rare high quality materials," replied the man.

    Madeline looked at Lucy, and she then turned to look at the tailorman and said, "Abel, Lady Lucy wanted something simple. I believe this is a little too much."

    "It is?" he asked in a questioning tone. "I thought it was the simplest for the King''s sister''s wedding," he whispered with a smile on his face.

    Lucy wanted a simple gown, and it wasn''t that this wedding gown wasn''t beautiful. Like the things used, it was indeed exquisite, but it wasn''t what she had nned to go for.

    Seeing how much the tailor had put his effort into it, Lucy didn''t want the gown to go to waste, and she said, "It is fine. I think it is fine," she smiled, looking at them.

    But the tailor was quick to notice that thedy didn''t seem to be too fond of it, and he waved his hand.

    "You don''t have to worry about this gown, mdy. I have many other customers whoe looking for gowns and other materials like this. A dress will never go to waste if the tailor knows how to change it into a different dress." Remembering something, the tailor said, "Please, wait right here while I go find you some more."

    Abel returned after five minutes with another wedding gown. Like other gowns, it was made out of silk and was soft to touch, but it had no dazzling embroidery made out of tones to shine under light and was instead very in to one''s eyes.

    "What do you think about this, mdy? This is nearly four to five decades old. As a vampire, I always make use of special elements in the cloth so that it can stay? in good condition even after decades. Actually, I am not sure about the time. Thedy wanted a simple gown for her wedding with her lover, she even paid for it, but I never got to hear from her again. I don''t know where she went and since then, the dress has been lying in one of the old boxes," informed the tailor.

    Lucy''s eyes lit up like she had been given an early Christmas present, and she walked forward to take a closer look at the dress. Indeed, the dress was simple, but it was elegant and beautiful to look at.

    "Why don''t you let my assistants help you with it and you can see how it looks on you. If you like it, we can make some adjustments to it," Abel held both his hands together, hoping the vampiress would like it.

    "Okay," replied Lucy, and the tailor quickly pped his hands to get his assistants to assist thedy in wearing the dress.

    While Lucy was ushered to go to the back room with the female assistant, Madeline looked around at the other dresses disyed in the shop. "Do you have any more gowns that are as old as that wedding gown?" she questioned the tailorman, who waited on her and Lucy.

    "Not many, mdy," answered the man. "Usually we store important gowns and clothes, and it isn''t often that people forget to collect their orders back. After all, we ask them to pay up in advance before they can take the dress from us, we don''t want people wasting the materials and time for no reason if they don''t n to buy it."

 Chapter 777 Preserved gown- Part 3

    <h4>777 Preserved gown- Part 3</h4>

    The tailorman then continued to speak, "This wedding gown just happened to be an exception. It was probably two or three years since I started working. A girl came here, who was very excited and she wanted to get the wedding gown stitched. She was excited to marry him and she said she would invite me. If I am not wrong, she was a beautiful girl, and I remember she had given me the full payment. I felt she woulde back, which was why I stored it, but she never did."

    Madeline didn''t know why, but the story tinkled something in her mind, and she asked, "Do you know what her name was?"

    The tailorman tried recollecting it, but he shook his head, "I think the names should be in one of the old registers. Give me a moment, mdy, while I look for it. I have been writing down the customer''s names and the amount they have spent and what they like. It makes it easier for me to understand what my customers are particrly keen about."

    He walked towards the corner of the shop, pushing the clothes away from the table, pulling out various collected parchments that were bound together.

    "Found it!" said the man. "Wedding gown made out of silk without any stones or pearls except for thread work. Simple fittings without too much bufness in the skirt. Sleeves until wrist with circled cut and neck with a heart design. Her name was Constance. Constance Leigh."

    Hearing the name, Madeline felt her body turn slightly cold.

    This was Calhoun''s mother. This was the first time she had heard about the Lady''s wedding gown, and she asked, "Did she say anything in particr? To whom she was getting married to?"

    "No, mdy," answered the tailorman. "But, I do remember she seemed very excited. She said she wanted to get the gown with her own money and not from her lover''s money. I suppose her lover didn''t know that she was getting a wedding gown."

    Madeline couldn''t believe that years ago, Calhoun''s mother hade here to get her wedding gown stitched. The worst thing was that it was obvious whom Constance believed she would be getting married to, but the man had broken her heart even before she had the opportunity to look at the wedding gown.

    After two more minutes, Lucy appeared wearing the gown that had been pinned so that it would fit her well. Madeline didn''t know how Lucy looked in herst marriage, as it seemed like it was the same time when she was lying in the coffin.

    "You looked beautiful, Lucy," Madeline smiled at her sister-inw.

    Lucy smiled back at Madeline. "Why don''t I give you some time for you while I look for the other wedding gowns that might be there in the room," said the tailorman before getting inside the side room.

    "I would have never guessed it was her gown," whispered Lucy, who had heard what Madeline and the tailorman had spoken on the other side of the door.

    "We should give this dress to brother Calhoun," said Lucy. "It doesn''t feel right wearing a gown that belonged to his mother."

    Madeline ced her hand on Lucy''s shoulder, "You don''t have to feel that way. I believe Calhoun would be more than happy to see you wear his mother''s wedding gown. It would be a pity if someone else wore this gown that was made for a particr person, if the person doesn''t know to treasure it the way you know."

    Madeline had spent enough time with Lucy to know the vampiress wasn''t like the other night creatures. If there was anyone else in women apart from her and his mother, whom Calhoun cared about next, it would be his sister Lucy. She had heard from Calhoun how some of the things Lucy did reminded him of his mother.

    "Do you like the wedding gown?" she asked Lucy.

    Lucy looked down at the gown that she wore, running both her hands over her waist and to the sides, "It is too beautiful that I worry I might stain it."

    Madeline smiled at Lucy''s words, "Mr. Abel, we''ll be taking this one here."

    The tailorman quickly walked outside, stumbling one step before he got back on his feet, "You don''t want to take a look at the others?"

    Lucy shook her head, "I think this is what I was looking for. This is the right one," she said to him.

    The man looked slightly dejected as they didn''t pick an expensive one that would profit him, but at the same time, the tailorman believed it was the bride''s choice decision. He politely bowed his head.

    "Let me take the measurements and do the final alterations that need to be done," said the man and Lucy went back to change herself into the clothes that she had worn when leaving the castle. While removing the gown, Lucy caught sight of something that was stitched inside the gown with a white thread that was hard to notice.

    ''Love \u0026 Happiness''

    After waiting for two more hours, the wedding gown was ready to be taken from there, packed inside a box and handed to them.

    Lucy pulled out her pouch that held more than fifty gold coins which she carried with herself, and instead of opening it, she ced the entire bag on the table for the tailorman.

    The tailorman didn''t know if he was being tested, and he politely asked, "Mdy?"

    "Thank you for preserving the gown for such a long time and not reusing the cloth for another dress. The dress might appear to be a simple one, but it is an important one," said Lucy.

    The tailorman, as well as his assistants, were quick to bow their heads, "Thank you for your generosity, mdy!"

 Chapter 778 Riches to rag- Part 1

    <h4>778 Riches to rag- Part 1</h4>

    .

    In the vige where Lucy and Madeline had gone to visit to meet the tailor, in the same ce, there were two more people who once were rted to the royal family of Devon but were now shunned.

    The once very proud and arrogant daughter of the former Queen Morganna, Rosamund Wilmot, now stood behind a vegetable shop with her face covered so that nobody would recognize her. Gone were the expensive clothes on her body and the jewels that used to adorn around her neck and ears, the rings on her fingers had disappeared, and her palms were now dirty and empty.

    Her daughter Sophie sat behind her, her arms crossed while she didn''t bother to stand next to her. She wore a dirty dress that had stains and was torn at the ends.

    The shop was located in the vige''s marketce filled with a stench of stale meat and food. Sophie covered her nose so that she wouldn''t smell the foul air around them.

    After a while, Sophie came to stand next to her mother. "Mother, how long are we going to live like this?" she whispered.

    This was not the lifestyle she had been looking forward to. She hadn''t even done anything, but she was stuck with her mother in poverty. She had wished for the stars, and instead, she had received dirt.

    Rosamund barely had an expression on her face. The mansion and the little money she had saved had been burnt in mes right in front of her eyes.

    Sophie looked at her mother, "Let me go and talk to Calhoun. I am sure he will forgive us," if not her mother, at least her, thought Sophie in her mind.

    "If you cannot help me here, then the least you can do is sit in the corner and not speak," Rosamund red at her daughter.

    "I didn''t do anything! Why am I being punished! You and Markus tried to frame Calhoun, I am the innocent one here who had nothing to do with it," retorted Sophie, and when a man appeared in front of the shop, looking at the vegetables, Sophie turned quiet.

    But the man didn''t pick anything to buy from them. Instead, he stood looking at the vegetables before his eyes fell on Sophie, "Are you in need of money?" asked the man.

    Sophie stared at the man who didn''t look like a person who was of good status, but money had been scarce, and she didn''t have a decent meal for thest few weeks.

    Several weeks had passed since she and her mother had turned homeless. No money, no status, their lives had been ruined since that human had entered the castle. Madeline...Sophie despised the human with every single fibre of her body.

    "How much do you have with you?" asked Sophie, lifting her chin.

    "It depends on how much you can offer me," and the man looked at her eyes before his gaze travelled down to look at her chest and her whole body.

    "Who am I?" the manughed, staring at the younger vampiress, "I am the person who owns this stall that you and this woman decided to sell vegetables. Get out of this ce unless you want me to call the guards."

    "Sophie apologize to him!" Rosamund red at her daughter.

    With the King, who had closed the doors for them and had ordered people not to help, Rosamund didn''t know where to go. Not to forget, the devil, after he had burnt down her mansion, had dragged her husband somewhere that she had no clue about.

    Hearing this, Sophie frowned before gritting her teeth. "He was looking at me rudely!"

    "It is not how you speak to people. We need this ce, how do you think we are going to afford living?!" questioned Rosamund.

    Sophie huffed, "I am your daughter, and you are letting the man to look at me-"

    "You can vacate the ce right this instant," demanded the man, crossing his hands across his chest while waiting for Rosamund and her daughter to start moving. "Quick! I don''t have time for people like you!" Saying this, he pushed one of the wooden baskets that had tomatoes in it. The fruit rolled on the ground.

    Rosamund had no ce to go! Somehow, the people who were remotely willing to help her had helped her with this shop, but now this man imed to be the owner of it. She didn''t know if it was a trap that had been set up for her.

    Her lips trembled as it was hard to push away the pride that she had carried for years in her. She was no peasant''s daughter from the streets or the alleys selling vegetables, and it was humiliating! She was thete King Lauren''s sister and Queen Morganna''s daughter!

    Rosamund tried to keep a calmposure and said, "We were told this was our shop. That it can be used by us. I have the papers for it," she said, looking around the shop before finding the parchment that she had been given a few days ago. "Here it is."

    The man took it in his hand, observing it before he said, "Are you trying to act smart with me? These are false papers!" he yelled loud enough for the passersby to look at them.

    The man threw the parchments on the ground, and he snapped his fingers, "Get out of the shop. This one belongs to me. Move!"

    He pulled Rosamund out of the shop while she tried to stop him, "Wait! I know the person who gave these papers to me, the person''s rtive used to work in the royal court of the Hawthrone''s castle. Let me bring him-"

    But Rosamund didn''t get to finish her words as she pushed out of the small shop.

    Seeing this, Sophie turned angry, and she red at the man''s audacity, "How dare you push my mother! You won''t be spared!" she went to hit him, but the man caught hold of her hand before twisting her arm.

    For a human, this man seemed stronger, and Sophie realized he wasn''t a human but a demon. Lately, news had been circting in all thends about the existence of the demons in the living world.

    "Let me go!" Sophie screamed, and when she elbowed his stomach, her action didn''t sit well with the man.

    He only twisted her arm further, and right at the time when she faced him, his hand struck hard on her face, making her stumble into her mother''s arms.

    "Get out of here! If I see you lurking around my shop again, iming it to be yours I will call the vige guards and lock you both in the dungeons," the man red at Rosamund and Sophie.

    Even though scenes like these weren''t umon in the market, it was still entertaining to watch, and the people who were in the market stared at the mother-daughter duo, whispering and muttering within themselves.

    Rosamund had lost her son and her husband. She had lost her status and name, and right now, she was a nobody in this vastnd that thrived. The only person she had was her daughter, and she tried to look at Sophie''s face.

    "I told you to keep a low profile!" whispered Rosamund while scolding Sophie, who had a split lip where blood oozed out of it.

 Chapter 779 Riches to rag- Part 2

    <h4>779 Riches to rag- Part 2</h4>

    "He must have lied. Every person is involved with Calhoun. Do you see why I told you cannot go to the castle? This is what he wants, he wants us to suffer."

    "But I didn''t do anything!" whined Sophie. The humiliation she felt right now with people who were much lower than her in position, staring at her as if she were beneath them annoyed her.

    Rosamund pulled Sophie to the other side of the market to sit where there was less crowd so that she could tend to her daughter''s lip. "I will try to fix this, Sophie," she assured the young vampiress. "I will make this wrong right."

    Sophie shook her head, closing her eyes before looking up at her mother, "No, it won''t. It has been weeks, but it feels like years have passed. This was not how I grew up! Markus was the one who created treason, and you didn''t do anything either. Did you mother?" she questioned.

    Rosamund didn''t reply to her daughter, and she stared at the ground that was covered in dust. She had been desperate to get hold of the throne, so desperate that she didn''t see the path that had been waiting for her.

    Years ago, when Constance had entered her brother''s life, she had gone to visit a soothsayer to know her future, if she would be able to get the throne and how to get it.

    The soothsayer had used his seven sticks that had engraved markings on them, throwing them in the bowl before giving her a read. He had said,

    ''Be careful with the girl who has entered the castle. She will be the reason for your downfall. If there is anyone who will stop you from holding the throne and the crown, it is her.''

    She had questioned, ''Do you think she will be less of a problem, if I send her away from my brother?''

    ''It is hard to say. Her maic power is high and your brother seems to have fallen too hard for her. I see that she will y an important role in your life and she will be the reason that will keep you away from what you want,'' stated the soothsayer while staring at the bowl.

    Rosamund had thought hard about it before saying, ''Do you know anything that might reduce the maic power and also kill her without being caught?'' All she had cared about was the crown on her head. She was born for it, and her brother was doing a terrible job with it when she could do much better.

    ''There''s a cursed jewel that once belonged to a cursed Queen. You must have heard the story of Queen Hanima. Offer her one of the jewels and see to it that she wears it, the process is slow but the result will be fruitful,'' the soothsayer had shown her a way to get rid of the girl who had bewitched her brother.

    The marketce she was in was familiar to her. She had been here before when she had pushed Constance into a corner, making her beg for food and sending people to trouble and thrash her.

    ''Please stop it!'' Constance had pleaded with one of the women who caught hold of the back of her head. ''Please!''

    ''You pushed me and behaved as if you didn''t do anything. You think we don''t know who you are?!'' the woman next to Constance red before pushing her towards one of the front shops to only be scolded.

    ''I didn''t mean to, forgive me!'' Constance bowed her head while holding both her hands together.

    One of her men hade to stand next to her and asked, ''Lady Rosamund, what else would you like us to do?''

    ''Make sure she doesn''te anywhere near the castle and see to it that no one offers her any work. People who offer her work will have to face the King''s wrath,'' said Rosamund. ''I want to see how she will survive.''

    As the memory passed by her mind, at that time, Rosamund didn''t know Constance had already conceived Calhoun. She had no idea, which was why twenty years ago, when her brother had brought Calhoun to the castle, seeing the boy exist had been a p to her face.

    ''I asked you to keep me reported! When was he born?! This can''t be true,'' Rosamund had red at the person who worked for her and her mother.

    ''It might be another man''s child, Rosa. You worry for nothing. Laurence is only trying to cling to anything possible that will keep the throne safe to himself,'' her mother, the then Queen, had tried to calm herself.

    The minister in the room bowed his head and said, ''Mdy, Calhoun is King Laurence and Constance''s son. I have verified it. He was born seven or eight months after she left the castle.''

    Rosamund couldn''t believe that the soothsayers'' words hade to be true. She had worked so hard to keep her position in the court, to overthrow her brother so that she could be the Queen. Instead, time had stopped favouring her. It was as if the time of her bad luck had started to tick the moment she had met Constance in the castle for the first time.

    She and her daughter had been ced in a ce where they had never imagined it to be. And suddenly, a carriage that was moving from one side to another, its wheel hit the puddle of water to ssh it on her and Sophie.

    "Can''t you see where you are going!" Sophie yelled in irritation, but when the carriage started to pull over, Rosamund cursed under her breath.

    She caught hold of her daughter''s hand and pulled her in the opposite direction so that they didn''t have to deal with the coachman.

    "How many times did I tell you that you cannot go yelling at people! There''s no one to save us, get that in your empty brain!" Rosamund scolded her daughter while continuing to drag her away from there.

    "I am hungry, mother. I haven''t eaten anything since thest two days. I am thirsty and with the guards who follow us wherever we go, it doesn''t make it easy,"ined Sophie.

    Sophie''s fangs ached in need to want to have some blood in her body, but thest time she had tried to drink blood from a human on finding the person alone, she had not only been caught by people but also pped for nearly killing the person.

    "I will find a way for it tonight," Rosamund assured Sophie, cing her hand on her daughter''s back tofort her.

    "Mama, look there," whispered Sophie, staring straight ahead. When Rosamund turned, she noticed it was her niece Lucy and Madeline, who were walking on the other side of the vige road.

 Chapter 780 Riches to rag- Part 3

    <h4>780 Riches to rag- Part 3</h4>

    Her footsteps had slowed down, and Lucy, who noticed this, followed her gaze to see what had caught Madeline''s attention.

    Lucy was surprised to find them here, and she walked halfway to be followed by Madeline closely, and her aunt and her cousin covered the other half. The condition they were in was something she had not expected to see. The clothes both wore were overused and dull in colour, with patches on some ces to cover the torn areas. There was dirt on their faces, and their eyes had turned slightly hollow.

    "I-Its so good to see you here, Lucy," she heard her aunt express to her with a forced smile on her lips.

    Calhoun had given strict orders to the royal family to not mingle with the Wilmot''s, but Lucy offered her aunt a smile. By blood, the woman was still her aunt. Rosamund then turned to look at Madeline, who did nothing but stare at the older vampiress.

    Madeline knew the history between Rosamund and Calhoun; therefore, she didn''t feel the need to speak to the woman.

    "My Queen!" Rosamund bowed her head. Sophie, who stood behind her mother, gritted her teeth in bitterness and bowed her head. "It is so good to see both of you here. Did youe here to have a look at the market?" her tone was polite.

    Madeline didn''t respond, and Lucy, who stood next to her, nodded her head, "We did. I didn''t know you were here."

    Rosamund shook her head, "There is no ce to go now, Lucy. Some man, whom I presume was the devil, took your uncle away with him, and it has been just me and poor Sophie. We have no ce to go or stay, no roof over our head and we have been starving," she said in a whisper and her eyes in tears.

    Sophie came forward to speak to Lucy and said, "Sister Lucy, please speak to brother Calhoun. I know he will listen to you."

    Lucy''s eyebrows furrowed on seeing the small amount of blood smeared on her cousin''s face.

    Her cousin continued, "I didn''t do anything. I don''t even know why I am being punished. We were even kicked out of the shop that was told to be ours. How can he do this to us?" cried Sophie. "People treat us like rats and no one ever opens the doors and they aren''t nice. We have been sleeping on the ground. Please, sister Lucy."

    Rosamund nodded her head, "We went to the people whom we believed we have helped in the past, but no one cares. They chase us away and threaten us to not show up in front of them. I agree Markus did the mistake and he was executed for it, but we are getting punished because we grieved for his death. He was my son-"

    The older vampiress stared at the Queen, trying to not snap at her as she still needed favours from her, "I didn''t do anything, my Queen. You are under wrong assumptions."

    "You can drop the act with me, Rosamund," Madeline''s words were colder than usual. After seeing the wedding gown that Calhoun''s mother had lovingly got it made, the thought of how her life had ended left a bitterness in her mouth. "You and I both know why you are in this ce today."

    "My mother did nothing! If you feel she is involved, howe your sister was not sent on an exile? How is she pardoned?" turning to look at Lucy, Sophie questioned, "Is this unfair, sister Lucy? Why is there a partiality? Aren''t we family?"

    Though Lucy didn''t know the full details, she knew the overview of what had urred in the past.

    "Elizabeth made a mistake, but she is trying to fix herself unlike you Rosamund, who has been given plenty of chances in the past," stated Madeline. "You weren''t satisfied driving Constance into a corner and killing her, that you decided it was time for Calhoun to die." She then turned to look at Sophie, "You should ask your mother what she did to deserve this that she has also dragged you into it."

    Rosamund shook in anger, "How dare you say that to her," she spoke in a low tone and turned to her niece. "Calhoun killed your parents, Lucy. He killed them."

    "I know," came the calm words from Lucy. Rosamund was surprised that Lucy didn''t care about it. "I know what brother Calhoun did, and whatever he did, he did it to protect people who were right. The life you gave him and his mother was not something anyone deserved. But you did it anyways, and it hase to you now," her words were calm.

    "I had nothing but the best interests for the Hawthrone family, Lucy! You should believe it!" pleaded Rosamund, and Sophie nodded her head. "Please forgive me, Lucy! I never did anything to you! Please think about your sister Sophie!" she begged for Lucy to convince Calhoun.

    People treated them like dirt, badmouthing them right in front of their face while they could do nothing but listen quietly. The acquaintance and people who used to visit their mansion for the soirees and to receive favours from Rosamund had turned their backs and behaved as if they didn''t exist anymore.

    Lucy bowed her head, and she said, "I cannot help you."

    Rosamund was desperate to get her life back, and she went to catch Lucy''s hand so that she could continue to persuade her, but to others, it looked as if she was about to attack. Madeline pulled Lucy behind her, and at the same time, a tall man appeared to stand between them.

    He caught hold of Rosamund''s hand tight enough to let one hear the crack in her bone.

 Chapter 781 List of sins- Part 1

    <h4>781 List of sins- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Lucy''s eyes widened on seeing the person in front of her squeeze Rosamund''s hand, hearing the crack in her aunt''s bone that made people who were nearby cringe at the sound.

    The man who stood in front of her with his back facing her, and he was tall. He twisted her aunt''s arm before pushing her with a little push, at least that is what it looked like, but her aunt stumbled a couple of steps backwards.

    "What did I tell you about not getting anywhere near my family? Tch," he clicked his tongue.

    When he slowly turned to look at her and then at Madeline, Lucy caught sight of the darkest red eyes she had seen until now. They were darker than Calhoun''s eyes, and she realized it was Calhoun''s grandfather.

    "What are you doing here, talking to this useless woman?" questioned dimir to Madeline. His eyes then fell on the young women''s hands that held two bags and his eyes lit up, "Enjoying buying things?"

    While Madeline looked calm andposed in the presence of the Devil, the same could not be told about her aunt, who now trembled in fear.

    Madeline bowed at him and said, "We came here to buy Lucy''s gown. I didn''t know you were here." Odin hade along with him.

    "Oh, I am always here. You never know what might happen, and people in the mortal world are far more interesting than the other worlds," dimir smiled at Madeline. When he looked back at Rosamund, his expression changed to one that was deadly. "And what are you doing here?"

    Sophie, who had been earlier throwing tantrums, now shook in the devil''s presence, standing right behind her mother so that the Devil would not drag her like it had dragged her father.

    Rosamund suddenly fell on her knees, a sight that neither Lucy nor Madeline had expected to see. "Please forgive us. Please forgive me for what I have done, I am ashamed for what I did and I am repenting for it."

    "You must be taking me too lightly to think that I will forgive you this easily. What did I tell you, my dear Rosa?" hummed dimir, his voice falling threateningly low, "I will turn your life into a living Hell. My personal Hell, where I can provide much better service than what the underworld can offer. To live the life you used to look down upon, it has its own excitement doesn''t it."

    The older vampiress ced her forehead on the ground, "I have understood the importance of this punishment. I will never repeat my actions again with anyone! I will do anything! So please release my daughter from this punishment, she has nothing to do with it."

    Her aunt and her cousin Markus had attempted treason and not her cousin Sophie, which was why she didn''t know why Sophie was going through the punishment.

    dimir had only appeared in the vige with his faithful servant when he caught sight of his granddaughter-inw and the woman who killed his daughter.

    He ran his tongue over one of his fangs, a smile appearing on his lips as he stared at the older vampiress. "Why do you think I am punishing her, Rosa? You ask questions that have obvious answers to it. Do you think you have the right to be asking me questions right now?" demanded dimir.

    Rosamund quickly shook her head, "I would never dare! Please forgive me!"

    dimir waved his hand for her to stand up, and Rosamund stood up, wondering if she would be forgiven. "You don''t have anything with you. The wealth that your mother and you tried to gather and keep it in the safe is not there anymore. The mansion that once belonged to you has turned to dust and the people who once blindly followed you now don''t dare toe near you. Ah, not to forget, your son and your husband are in Hell."

    Hearing the Devil''s words, Rosamund''s lips trembled in panic. They were in Hell?

    "You can kill me! Kill me and avenge Constance''s death-" Rosamund''s words were cut off right away as dimir had raised his hand, and without touching her, a harsh p had been delivered across her face.

    Rosamund stumbled back again to be caught by her daughter. The vampiress could feel the searing pain on her cheek and the blood she tasted in her mouth. She was scared to spit the blood but also scared to swallow it.

    "Don''t utter my precious daughter''s name in your foul mouth," dimir red at her, and she cowered behind, her shoulders shaking. "Kill you?" he licked his mouth as he shook his head. "Your death is not going to bring her back, but I can use your pain as a medicine to heal my grieving heart. Don''t you wish you that you had treated her better? Who knows, if you treated her well, you might have gained favour from me."

    dimir continued to speak, "Calhoun dismissed you from the very court where you wanted a position in there, away from wealth and the only person who is left with you is your daughter. Isn''t she the most precious thing to you?"

    Rosamund tried to push Sophie more to her back so that she could hide her daughter from the Devil, but with dimir, who towered above them, and his eyes on the younger vampiress, the Wilmot women couldn''t help but turn scared and worried.

    "S-spare her," Rosamund pleaded, and dimir smiled.

    "I have done nothing to her. What is happening to her is your very own doing, Rosa. You should learn to own up responsibilities and the mes, don''t you think so?" the Devil stared right into the older vampiresses eyes. "Constance was my daughter, my precious girl whom you tore away from me, worse sending her to a ce where I cannot even reach her without having the bothering angels around me. Do you know how hard it is to get into Heaven? Not that you have to worry considering how I have opened a spot for you in Hell. A special reservation."

 Chapter 782 List of sins- Part 2

    <h4>782 List of sins- Part 2</h4>

    She couldn''t die, nor could she live here.

    dimir raised his hand, cing his hand on Rosamund''s cheek, and she gulped.

    "I find it fascinating to see things to be delivered to you, the same way you tried to hunt Constance just because you thought you could. The audacity you must have, did you think you would get away from your sins?" questioned dimir, his voice turned cold like Winter.

    Lucy felt a chill run down her body with the way the Devil questioned her aunt.

    "I-I didn''t know. I d-didn''t know she was your daughter, if I knew, I-I would have n-never-"

    "Silence!" dimir got Rosamund to shut up instantly. "You will go through twice and more the humiliation, the pain, the anguish she felt. To know that I am here to turn your life worse than Hell, watching everything you do. And you," his eyes then fell on Sophie.

    Sophie looked as if she was ready to bolt from there, but her feet were frozen, and she couldn''t move. She didn''t breath loudly in fear that she would be burnt like her house by this person who stood in front of her and her mother.

    "I heard you have tried quite some things in the living world," stated dimir.

    Sophie shook her head, "I didn''t hurt the K-King. I didn''t t-try to kill him." She held her mother''s sleeves for support.

    "Odin, bring this onion''s parchment," ordered dimir.

    Odin, who had apanied his master to the living world, raised his hand to start looking through the scrolls in midair. One could hear the sounds made by the parchments, and the servant finally pulled out one of the scrolls to present it to his master.

    "Here it is, Master."

    dimir took the scroll of parchment and started to look from the top. The scroll was ck, which held the number of sins one hadmitted in their life while they were in the living world.

    "What remarkable sins you have in here," the smile on his lips widened from one corner to another. "I absolutely love it. I will make sure you have a cell reserved too."

    "W-what?" Sophie looked at him in horror. "Y-you cannot do that to me! I can fix myself! I haven''t done anything serious that warrants me to Hell. Mother, please tell me he is joking!" she shook in panic.

    dimirughed at the silly girl''s words.

    Neither Madeline nor Lucy stopped dimir from questioning as they knew both Rosamund and Sophie deserved it.

    "You went to harm her before and I doubt you will stop it. It is very clear that you will harm her with every opportunity," dimir''s eyes burned. "Live the life that you shunned and the way you treated people. To be treated the same way that you had previously offered people, what more can one ask? Don''t forget, if you take your life, I will bring you back again."

    Handing the scroll back to Odin, who hid it away from sight, dimir snapped his fingers, "Get out from here."

    They had nowhere to go! Where was he expecting them to go?!

    Both Rosamund and Sophie blinked at what dimir just said. Rosamund then said, "T-this, we have a shop which is ours. It is-"

    "I am counting till three. One," started dimir as if he had no patience and didn''t have time to spare on them. "Two."

    Sophie looked confused, and her eyes shifted from Lucy to Madeline, who stood behind the Devil. Suddenly her mother caught hold of her hand and dragged her away from there so that they wouldn''t have to face the Devil''s wrath.

    When dimir turned to face both the young women, his face lit up like a candle. "What a wonderful day it is. What did you buy?"

    Lucy, who watched her aunt and her cousin disappear from her sight, her gaze moved to look at dimir, and she asked, "Did she really do all those things?"

    "Don''t feel sorry for someone, who won''t feel sorry for you. She''s no innocent sheep. If you give her a few more years, she will turn just like her mother," stated dimir.

    Lucy felt her heart squeeze in uneasiness. She knew Ms. Julianne, who used to meet Calhoun to offer her blood as her body was able to create the blood quickly. The news had reached her in the past how the woman''s mother was bedridden as she had slipped down the stairs, but it was apparent that someone had pushed her. It was only now did she confirm that it was Sophie who did it.

    She knew her family had been despicable people, but she had hoped her cousins wouldn''t turn out to be the same. She had hoped for a family to be better than that, but they were all greedy for power and the crown to end up on their heads.

    dimir spoke to Madeline, where Lucy had fazed out from the conversation, thinking about the past, present and the future, hoping no harm woulde to befall on any of them.

    "I heard from Calhoun that you are getting married to Theodore," said dimir, turning to look at Lucy, who broke out of her thoughts, and she nodded her head. "I must tell though, that I am hurt."

    Lucy looked slightly surprised and asked, "Pardon me if I did something to offend you," she bowed her head in apology.

    dimir stared right at Lucy and then questioned, "Why is that I haven''t received any invitation to the wedding?"

    Madeline could tell where this conversation was going to go, and she internally smiled.

    "Ah," Lucy offered him an awkward smile, "The wedding is not going to be big. It isn''t as grand as brother Calhoun''s and is rather a simple one."

    "You think I am petty to not attend simple weddings? I love simple weddings," dimir''s bright-looking eyes shone in delight, and Lucy then asked,

    "But will you be able to enter church? Because you��" she trailed, not wanting to offend him.

    dimir gave it a thought and then said, "Hm, so it is going to be held in church. I will get that fixed. You don''t have to worry about me. I will make sure I get you some beautiful flowers that day. Odin," he turned to look at his servant and said, "Get my clothes ready."

    "Yes, Master!" Odin was quick to oblige to his master''smand without a second thought.

    And like that, dimir had easily invited himself to Theodore and Lucy''s wedding.

    Madeline wasn''t sure if it was the right time to tell dimir about the gown as Calhoun was still unaware of it. She said, "d, would you like to join us for dinner tonight?"

 Chapter 783 List of sins- Part 3

    <h4>783 List of sins- Part 3</h4>

    "The celebration of the wedding, I regret not waking up sooner else I would have not missed your wedding. It would have been wonderful, not that I didn''t attend the celebration that took ce after it, but we didn''t stay for long, did we, Odin?" said dimir while they walked on the side of the road in the vige.

    "I remember seeing you," replied Madeline, and dimir nodded his head.

    "If it weren''t for Michael and Paschar in there, I would have stayed longer. We don''t get along in each other''spany, or maybe mypany to be specific," responded dimir, his demeanour rxed as if he was on vacation and making it look like he was part of the living world. "Did you speak to your father?"

    Madeline shook her head.

    "I was hoping to talk to him if he were toe to the castle, but he hasn''t shown up even in the High House," said Madeline. She wondered if her father was being punished with the rest of them. "Did you know about Raphael?"

    "Hm," came the short response from the Devil. "Where is the little were?"

    He was asking about Elizabeth. "She''s reached the kingdom in the North." Beth had been mindful enough to write a letter to her, keeping her informed that she was safe.

    "Thend of Warrings, where the family of Warrings live," he muttered under his breath.

    "I heard King Sebastian has decided to fill in one of the positions in the High House. But Calhoun hasn''t made up his mind yet," said Madeline from what she knew and heard. Helena had offered Calhoun the position when the High House had just formed too. With the demons of the High House who had died and the angels who had returned to Heaven, it had left many positions open at the High table of the High House. "Did youe here for some important work?"

    dimir smiled at Madeline''s question, "Something like that."

    "Master, how can a vampire marry a person in the church?" Odin whispered the question to dimir.

    "Maybe the people in the living world have created a way to step inside. Though the idea is intriguing," and he turned to look at both the youngdies who walked next to him.

    Lucy, who heard this question, said, "Madeline was kind enough to arrange it."

    "I knew my grandson would pick the right woman to be next to his side. If Constance were alive, she would be proud of him," the words were thoughts of dimir and Madeline couldn''t help but want to know more about the woman, whose son she was married to.

    "Could I ask you some questions?" asked Madeline, and dimir''s eyes shifted to her. "Was there someone who was close to Lady Constance?"

    "She lived in the castle of Belmount. I doubt there was anyone outside the castle," replied dimir. "There is Odin, whosepany she enjoyed since she was born."

    "Well, apart from Odin, she was well versed with the servants of the castle and they were her friends," stated dimir. Thest time Madeline had been to that castle, it looked deserted as if there was no one. She wondered if the demons who worked for dimir had turned invisible to her eyes.

    The reason why she asked was because of the letter that she and Calhoun had found in the house where Calhoun once lived with his mother. The letter had mentioned the bat who had woken up from his sleep.

    Odin, who was in deep thought, said, "After Master and me, maybe it was Dous with whom she used to spend her time."

    "Dous?" asked Madeline.

    "He used to be my coachman. So that we would look more human when we went to visit the viges here," exined dimir. "He died a few years ago when I was still sleeping. A human''s life is very littlepared to us immortals and he was turning old when I went to sleep. He was the one who taught Constance about the humans and the other things outside the castle."

    "Do you know where he is buried?" asked Madeline, and Odin shook his head.

    "No mdy. After a few years of Lady Constance leaving the castle, Dous left the castle to get things for the castle, but he never returned. I did look for him but didn''t find him."

    "Talking about it brings back some of the memories," said dimir.

    They finished looking at things that the vige had to offer before picking up Monique, who was in the next vige, before heading back to the castle.

    While Madeline came to meet Calhoun, she saw Odin, who stood outside the room where Calhoun and dimir were speaking.

    "Mr. Odin," Madeline greeted the Devil''s faithful servant.

    "Lady Madeline," Odin bowed his head. "Did youe to meet Master Calhoun?"

    "Yes," she replied, but she didn''t go inside the room. Instead, she asked the demon servant, "Mr. Odin, there is something I would like to ask from you."

    Odin was about to say ''anything,'' but thest time he had done it, his master had put him in the pot where the melted iron was boiling.

    "Do you think you would be able to bring me some of Lady Constance''s writing? When she was small and still learning things? I think Calhoun would like to have more of her memories," she said to him.

    Odin was quick to nod his head, "I can do that, mdy," and in a blink of an eye, he transformed himself into a bat and flew away from there.

    Seeing Odin leave, Madeline then knocked on the door before entering the room to see Calhoun and dimir, who stood in front of each other.

    "I need to talk to you both about something," said Madeline. "It is about the wedding gown."

 Chapter 784 Veil of the night- Part 1

    <h4>784 Veil of the night- Part 1</h4>

    .

    While on their way back to the castle, Madeline had wondered how to break the news to Calhoun. It was good that dimir was here as it would be easier to convey about it. She had met Calhoun''s mother in the cemetery, and she had been visiting her since she hade to know where the womanid, praying for her peace. But since she had returned from Heaven, somehow Madeline felt like she knew the woman better than before.

    "Did the tailor give the wrong gown?" questioned Calhoun, slightly tilting his head.

    "No, it isn''t that. The tailorman had a wedding gown which was old and he had stored it when the person who asked him to stitch it didn''te back to take it," exined Madeline, her eyes locking with Calhoun''s eyes. "The gown belonged to Lady Constance."

    dimir''s eyes narrowed, and he said, "That''s not possible. The man and his family had no ns to ept her into their family. There was no arrangement of a wedding between her and Laurence, unless you are telling she was getting married to someone else."

    "Are you sure the wedding gown was ordered by my mother, Madeline?" asked Calhoun, a small frowning to settle on his forehead.

    Madeline nodded her head, "She was one of his first few customers when he started his line of trade. Laurence didn''t know about it, she must have got the gown ready for the future," came her slow words. "The man had saved all of his customer''s name since the very beginning and her name was in there. Constance Leigh."

    A frustrated sigh escaped from dimir''s lips, "This only makes me want to beat and torture them up even more. That bastard had the nerve to hurt my daughter. And what the fuck is with Leigh? She had a perfectly good name to keep, and she picks Leigh," he turned his head to look away from them.

    Madeline pursed her lips, staring at Calhoun, who seemed to be in shock, and she walked up to him before cing her hand on his arms. "We brought the gown along with us."

    "I would like to see this wedding gown," demanded dimir, and soon one of the servants was sent to fetch the box in which the gown was from Lucy''s room. Once the box was brought to the room, it was opened, and the dress was ced on the couch.

    Calhoun couldn''t help but stare at the wedding gown. His expression was almost nk, while only his eyes moved. His jaw ticked in anger while at the same time, the revenge he had administered to some of the royal family members seemed too little in front of what his mother had to go through all those years.

    "What more did the tailorman tell you?" asked Calhoun. Walking near the couch where the white gownid and he sat down next to it.

    "He..He said she was very excited and happy to get it tailored and stitched. She wanted something simple," replied Madeline.

    Silence filled the room, and Madeline stayed quiet, giving the two men the time they needed.

    "How strange that you ended up going to the same shop where she had once been to,"mented dimir. "Foolish girl, she should have returned to the castle and everything would have been fine," he muttered under his breath.

    As much as dimir was the Devil, he was still someone''s father to a girl who was opposite to him, and it was obvious he treasured her.

    "Is Lucy going to wear this?" asked Calhoun, standing up and turning to his wife.

    "If you both don''t mind, I think it would be good if Lucy wore it, the dress that Lady Constance made so enthusiastically than keep it in the cupboard," said Madeline, not knowing if the men in the room would be happy with her suggestion.

    Calhoun nodded his head, "You are right. It would be disrespectful to not have someone wear it than keep it in a dark ce," he said.

    dimir looked enraged, not because Lucy was going to wear it, but because he remembered Laurence''s existence, and within a second, he disappeared from the room, leaving a trail of smoke behind him.

    "You don''t have to agree to it if you don''t want to," whispered Madeline. "There is still time and Lucy can have another gown-"

    "It is fine," replied Calhoun. He picked up her hand and squeezed it. "I lived with my mother for so many years, knowing more than the rest of them, but it feels like there were things that she couldn''t share."

    They took a seat on the other couch, and Madeline said, "She possibly didn''t want you to be hurt more than you already were. She was protecting you, Cal."

    A small smile appeared on Calhoun''s lips that didn''t reach up until his eyes before the smile fell. His lips twisted, and he said, "I wish she would have told me, shared things that she was scared about and had scared her. I could have reduced her burden. So many things used to happen, and I always found out through others on what happened to her. She had turned so quiet."

    Calhoun had loved his mother dearly because, in the past, she was the only person he had and no one else. As good as the present time had turned out to be, the past was worse, and he wished he could have done something.

    "If I knew about this, I would have drawn out their punishments," said Calhoun while staring at the wedding gown.

    "You don''t have to be so hard on yourself, Cal. You did everything that you could possibly do. Sometimes,? people don''t say things because they don''t want to hurt the other person. Your mother loved you a lot and she probably didn''t want you..shing with the royal family in fear that something might happen to you," Madeline consoled him.

    Calhoun turned his head to look at her, "Promise me something," and Madeline nodded her head. "That you won''t care if the truth will hurt me or not."

    Madeline offered him a warm smile, "I promise," and Calhoun leaned forward to kiss her forehead before interlocking their fingers. She ced her head on his shoulder and said, "Do you think d minds?" Though Calhoun didn''t mind Lucy wearing his mother''s wedding gown, she wasn''t sure if the Devil was alright with it.

    "He will be fine," replied Calhoun while staring at the gown.

    His heart quietly grieved for his mother, thinking how she had been looking forward to being someone''s bride.

    A few minutester, the vase next to the firece crashed as Odin had suddenly appeared in the room in the wrong ce, breaking the vase as it fell on the ground.

    "My apologies Master Calhoun and Lady Madeline!" he bowed his head. He carried binded parchments in his hand that looked like books, and he looked at the ground, "I didn''t mean to break the vase!"

 Chapter 785 Veil of the night- Part 2

    <h4>785 Veil of the night- Part 2</h4>

    The demon servant thought thedy was asking about the crash, and he couldn''t help but release a sigh, noticing his master wasn''t here to scold him now. "I thought it would be easier to travel at a higher speed through apparition, but I must have not mastered it yet, mdy. I thought I would end up in the corridor, but I ended up somewhere else and then here��"

    "Your appearance has changed, Odin," stated Calhoun and the demon servant turned surprised.

    "Oh?" and he turned to look at his reflection, "Indeed it is true," he said while touching his face with one of his free hands. "I don''t know, Master Calhoun. I have been like this since thest two days. Even Master d said it might be a fluctuation in the realm near Heaven."

    "Fluctuations?" asked Madeline, and the demon servant nodded his head.

    "Yes, mdy. I didn''t originally belong to the Heavenly realm. In the past, I was a wanderer from the in-between world. It was Master who took me in and tried to guide me whilst he was still in Heaven, I have been with him since that time. The wind carries whispers that the veil between the living and the dead must have been dropped and it caused some changes," exined Odin before he brought the binded parchments to the table and ced them all there. "Did Master leave?"

    "He went to Hell," came the dull voice of Calhoun and Odin''s eyes widened.

    "I brought the ones I found in her room, mdy. I shall take my leave!" he bowed his head before disappearing, leaving a smoke in the room.

    "What are these?" questioned Calhoun, his eyes falling on the old looking parchments that had folded at the ends. At the same time, he called the servant who stood outside and ordered him to take the dress back to Lucy''s room.

    Madeline put her hand in the pocket of her dress, pulling the letter that they both had discovered in the old house, "This, I wanted to see if there''s a writing that matches this one."

    "The letter," murmured Calhoun, and she nodded.

    "Did you ever hear your mother speak about a man named Dous?" she asked him, but Calhoun shook his head.

    "I don''t think so. Mother never ever spoke a word about people or the things that were rted to her in the past," replied Calhoun and he picked up one of the parchments. "But do tell what you have found out."

    "dimir said Dous was close to your mother, he was her tutor. He left the castle but never returned back. You said someone came to meet her before she died, do you think it might be him?" asked Madeline, and as they looked at the two handwritings, they finally found the second writing in the parchments that was written to correct the first writing.

    Leaving Calhoun with the letter and the parchments that belonged to his mother, she made her way to where Lucy and Monique were, where the older vampiress was busy showing her new hand that had been fixed.

    "I would have never believed that metals can be used as artificial fingers," said Lucy in awe, her hands touching her aunt''s forearm and the new fingers.

    "It is good that we vampires have advanced ourselves in some of the fields and I don''t have to wear a hook on my hand as it is missing," said Monique with a straight face, and Lucy smiled at this.

    "Now only if you could also feel the sense of touch, it would be like a real hand," said Lucy, and she noticed Madeline entering the room and the patio where they were seated. "How did it go?" asked Lucy, knowing Madeline had gone to speak to Calhoun about the wedding gown.

    Madeline offered her a gentle smile, "He was surprised and taken aback, but he is fine." She decided to leave dimir''s reaction out of it.

    "I see, I am d," responded Lucy. Thest thing she wanted was to make someone ufortable by her actions. She felt it to be fortunate, to be wearing a gown made for thetedy.

    "What was up with the demon who came with dimir?" questioned Monique, "He ended up falling right on the bush before he headed inside the castle. Not to mention his appearance."

    Madeline replied while taking a seat with them, "He said something about the veil between the worlds that dropped and must have fixed by now. He returned back to his usual form."

    Hearing this, Lucy''s eyes narrowed. This was something she had noticed early in the morning. "The in-between world," she whispered to herself, and the two women looked at her, "When I went to visit the cemetery today, I saw Madame Fraunces, the woman who took Theodore and gave work to brother Calhoun. But when I got there with Theodore, she had disappeared."

    "There must be some sort of distortion going on up there," said Madeline, her eyes moving up to look at the blue sky. "But a while ago, Odin was in his form. Maybe it is notpletely fixed."

    Lucy wondered if she would still be able to speak to Madame Fraunces, or maybe Nana. The thought created a spark in her mind, and she couldn''t wait to go back to the cemetery to speak onest time.

    That night Theodore had gone to visit the next town to investigate one of the death cases, and Lucy had tiptoed out of the castle and into the cemetery in the dark and quiet night.

    The dried leaves on the ground drifted from one ce to another because of the wind that blew across the cemetery. She walked towards the grave of the people she had been visiting for quite some time, her eyes looking around to see anyone.

 Chapter 786 Veil of the night- Part 3

    <h4>786 Veil of the night- Part 3</h4>

    .

    Lucy sat down in front of the grave that belonged to her caretaker Ruby. She didn''t know for how long she sat there, while recollecting the events that took ce this noon until someone behind her spoke,

    "Why did I know you would be here."

    Her head turned around to see it was Gabriel, who had recently been assigned as the priest to the nearby local church of a vige. "I didn''t know I would havepany," responded Lucy, and the angel smiled.

    "I thought you could use some as it would be lonely in here with no one in the cemetery," replied Gabriel, walking around and taking a seat next to her, which she hadn''t expected.

    Listening close to his words, she wondered if it was his way of saying she wasn''t going to be meeting anyone here today.

    "How are the wedding nsing along? I heard you got your wedding gown today," said Gabriel, and Lucy wondered how much the angels knew about what was going on in the living world.

    But then, Gabriel was also in the loop when it came to the wedding as they had decided he would be the one to perform her and Theodore''s wedding ceremony in the church.

    "I did. Did you get the church prepared?" asked Lucy, worried that since she was a vampire, she wouldn''t be able to stand too long inside the church.

    "Don''t worry about it. I have picked a ce which is not only going to give your privacy, but also you can enter it freely as it is in Baudeux," replied Gabriel.

    "Thank you for your help," whispered Lucy, and the man smiled at her. "People won''t question you? That you are helping us vampires and...demons."

    Gabriel continued to smile at her question, "If you are worried about me getting into trouble, you should free your mind from it. You only want to get married, and I am the assigned priest of the vige and so it only bes my duty to uphold my responsibilities."

    Lucy nodded her head, understanding what the angel meant, but she found it strange how he hade here. "Are you waiting for people like me?" she questioned him, a small smile on her lips, and the man chuckled.

    "I guess in one way I am waiting, but at the same time I hope they won''t," replied Gabriel before adding, "I know why you are here, Lucy."

    Lucy looked down at the ground, a sigh escaping her lips. "Is it wrong that I hope to see people whom I care for?"

    "What if all we know is to cling onto the memories in hope to make some of the things right?" Lucy questioned him back, her voice low.

    When Ruby had died, Lucy had not been there. She had arrived at the gallows several minutester, after finding out that her grandmother had ordered her to be taken away from the castle, to hang her. She couldn''t help but feel guilt that built itself in her heart, believing it was her fault for sneaking around and making it difficult for her maids.

    Gabriel could sense the uneasiness and turmoil on the vampiresses mind. It was probably one of the first few times where he met a night creature who showedpassion as much as a human did.

    "What happened isn''t your fault, Lucy," said Gabriel, "Somethings were meant to happen and predestined. Sometimes even the choices that we make leads to the written destination. I understand that life in the living world is difficult, but do you think the people you have lost would want you to be sad? To remember is good, but to cling will only hurt them. It would be equal to not letting them go in peace."

    Hearing this, Lucy''s eyes widened, and she looked at Gabriel, "Madame Fraunces said Ruby is in Heaven, is she not?"

    "She is. Madame Fraunces has been stubborn, holding on to past memories and not entering Heaven. It is going to affect her soul and push her to be a demon. Not that all demons are bad, but the one she might turn might not be good," came the calm voice of the angel.

    "Ruby is in a better ce. Let me show you something, but it will be our little secret," and he waved his hand in front of him.

    A fog-like smoke appeared before it cleared to show the woman whom Lucy had continued to remember. She could see the bright ce where Ruby sat under a tree and on the bench. She had a peaceful look on her face, and Lucy''s eyes teared up by seeing Nana.

    "She looks much better than thest time I saw her," whispered Lucy.

    And the fog that was in front of her disappeared to bring in the darkness where they sat.

    Gabriel ced his hand on Lucy''s hand and said, "Sometimes we arete to certain things, and we feel terrible thinking we missed it, but maybe it is for the best," he patted her hand before letting it go and standing up. "You should go back now and get some rest."

    Lucy stood up, bowing her head in appreciation, "Thank you for yourpany."

    Gabriel offered her a smile before disappearing in a blink of an eye.

 Chapter 787 Ingredient- Part 1

    <h4>787 Ingredient- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Lucy saw Gabriel disappear from her sight and the cemetery without leaving a trace behind as if he weren''t here at all and it had been just her. She looked back at the graves where Nana''s bodyid inside, and she finally turned around, ready to leave when she heard the rustling sound that came from the nearby trees.

    She wondered what or who it was when she finally caught sight of Theodore, who made his way through the gates of the cemetery.

    He walked straight towards where she was before engulfing her in his arms. For a moment, Lucy turned startled at the sudden action, and then a smile spread across her lips.

    "I didn''t know you were going to return soon. I didn''t mean to keep you waiting," she said to Theodore even though he was yet to speak to her.

    She could hear his heart beating loudly in his chest and his breath slightly raggedpared to the usual one. She could smell the musky male scent that wafted across her nose that came from Theodore.

    She heard Theodore say, "I was worried about you. The room was empty and you left no note."

    Lucy hugged him back, "I thought I would be back before you returned. I am sorry," she whispered.

    "It''s okay," replied Theodore while holding Lucy closely in his arms. She was petite in physique, and there was still space after he hugged her. He drew his hands closer to him, cing one of his hands on the back of her head and the other around her waist. "You should have told me if you wanted toe to the cemetery, I would have apanied you. Even in the middle of the night."

    "I know," she responded to him. She knew Theodore would apany her to any ce where she would want to go, but since he had been away on some work and she had been too curious to leave this ce by itself.

    Another reason being, this morning when she was here all alone, she had met Madame Fraunces, but the woman had disappeared when she had brought Theodore to the cemetery. She wanted to see again if she would be able to meet people alone again. In the end, as Gabriel said, she could wait there all for as long as wanted, but the people she was looking for would not turn up.

    "I am sorry for worrying you," she whispered as they pulled away from each other''s embrace, and she looked up into Theodore''s eyes to see how his brown hair had turned dishevelled. He must havee by himself without the carriage, thought Lucy to herself.

    Theodore brought his hand up, cing it on her cheek so that he could caress it with his thumb. "I just worry sometimes, that this is all a dream and everything around us will disappear."

    A gentle smile appeared on Lucy''s lips. She ced her hand on his.

    "I will always be here," replied Lucy, and he held her hand as it slid away from her face.

    "Do you want to stay longer here?" asked Theodore, and Lucy shook her head. Today she had spent enough time in the cemetery, once in the morning and then now.

    They got back to the castle in the carriage that Lucy had used. Returning to the room, Theodore didn''t question her regarding her night trip to the cemetery, believing she would tell him when she was ready.

    "Is this the gown?" he asked, looking at the box where the white material peeked out of it.

    Lucy turned to look at the box, and she nodded her head, "It is. This actually belongs to brother Calhoun''s mother."

    "I would have never guessed," he murmured to himself.

    "Madeline spoke to Calhoun and dimir about it," she exined everything that happened, and Theodore nodded his head.

    "That exins why the atmosphere in the room was heavy when I went to meet him," said Theodore, his gaze leaving the box and looking at Lucy, who came to sit in front of him on the chair.

    "Is he okay?" asked Lucy, a small frown appearing on her forehead. She knew it would bring unpleasant memories when it came to Lady Constance''s past rted to her time in the castle.

    "He will be fine. He''s Calhoun Hawthrone," Theodore smiled as he said this, and he asked, "You don''t have to wear the gown if you don''t want to." He had heard how some of the humans believed wearing a wedding gown that belonged to some other person, which was not used, was considered bad luck. Not to forget, Lucy had adopted the human beliefspared to the vampire beliefs. "He said he has somewhere to go tomorrow. Someone to look for."

    Lucy nodded her head. Though she knew the truth of what happened, she had never heard her brother openly speak to her about it. Maybe it was only when she found out the truth did he speak, but not everything that was on his mind.

    "I met the angel tonight," she informed him, and Theodore stared at her.

    "Which one?" asked Theodore. It was because there were so many of them, and every angel was differentpared to the next one. Somewhere, he had always been worried since Lucy had returned back to life. What Madeline had done was cheat death by freezing Lucy''s time. He was worried that someday, a salvette mortem woulde to take her with it.

    "Gabriel," answered Lucy, and she saw his expression rx. "Actually I heard something interesting today."

    Lucy exined what she had heard from Madeline about dimir''s demon servant who had changed appearance and also Madame Fraunces, whom she had met in the morning.

    "He said if she doesn''t decide to go to Heaven, she will automatically turn into a demon of Hell," stated Lucy, worried as she didn''t want a lovelydy like Madame Fraunces to turn into an evil being. "I thought I would be able to meet them, but I did see Nana through Gabriel''s help. She''s doing well."

    Theodore was d to hear that Lucy had received the closure that she needed from her caretaker. He remembered the day when Calhoun had brought Lucy back to the castle and the way she had broken down into a sea of tears that didn''t stop for a long time.

    Gabriel was one of the angels who was easier to approachpared to the rest of them. Though previously, Paschar and Raphael were avable in the living world to talk to, but since the fight in Heaven had taken ce, they both had been ordered not to leave Heaven until permissions were given to them.

    "What about your wedding clothes?" inquired Lucy, her eyes staring into Theodore''s eyes that reflected her.

    "Calhoun had summoned the tailor to take my measurements and it is in preparation. It should be here by the end of this week," he replied to her before tugging her hand and making her sit next to him.

 Chapter 788 Ingredient- Part 2

    <h4>788 Ingredient- Part 2</h4>

    She ced her head on Theodore''s shoulder, letting it rest there while watching Theodore hold her hand in his, intertwining their fingers together and the smile continued to stay on her lips. Thest time when she was about to be married, her emotions had been filled with anger and pain them. She didn''t want to get married to Samuel, but she did anyway, a little to spite Theodore.

    But now, she was back with the person with whom she was in love and couldn''t believe that she would marry Theodore, and everyone was happy about it. They were looking forward to it and thinking about it, Lucy''s heart felt full. Her eyes were turning heavier, but she fought to stay awake while Theodore''s fingers soothed her soul.

    "I spoke to Calhoun about going to the town with you. We have spent enough time here and I know how you feel about this ce. If you want we can move into the mansion and I can work from there so that you can be more involved with the institute that you want to bring up," said Theodore to Lucy, "What do you think about it? Lucy?"

    When he looked at her face, he noticed her eyes had closed, and she had fallen asleep.

    Theodore picked up Lucy in his arms and ced her on the bed. Pulling the covers to cover her body before heid next to her.

    Away from the Hawthrone castle where peace had finally prevailed and below the living world where Hell was present, dimir sat on his throne with his legs crossed one over the other. Odin stood at the side while Laurence had been brought to stand in front of the Devil.

    Laurence had been in the dark cell room where he didn''t know if it was day or night, not knowing the time and being tortured by the guards when he was dragged out of his cell room. The clothes in which he had died had been torn, and he now wore a clothing that many other souls wore in Hell, the sinners who had sinned.

    He didn''t dare to look at the Devil who sat watching him, which he had been doing for thest twenty minutes. Not knowing why he was here, he looked at the demon servant, who was staring back at him. Two guards stood on either side of Laurence, waiting for the Devil to give an order to them.

    "You can leave," ordered the Devil.

    Laurence felt the little life that still existed in him return after hearing dimir''s words. He was more than happy to stay away from the Devil, who looked at him menacingly. Turning around his body, he was ready to leave the room when he heard the Devil speak.

    "Where do you think you are going, Lauri?" came the low, threatening voice from the Devil.

    dimir raised his hand, and Laurence suddenly cowered in fear thinking the Devil was going to do something to him, but instead, he only brought his hand to the front to check his nails while feeling its sharpness.

    "The guards can leave," and dimir snapped his fingers for the guards to disappear from the room, leaving only the Devil, Odin and Laurence in the vast room.

    Laurence could feel sweat trickle down his body, and he wished he could die, but then he was already dead.

    "You know, Laurence, I came to hear some wonderful news today. A news that I didn''t expect to hear, do you know what that might be?" questioned dimir without looking at the person who was in front of him as he continued to check his nails.

    Laurence shook his head. If he spoke, it would be a problem, if he didn''t speak, it would be another problem. Therefore he had resorted to the signnguage.

    "How did you even rule the kingdom, everything I ask you have no answer to it. What a useless man you are," dimir finally dropped his hand, and his dark red eyes moved to look at Laurence. "I have decided to be a benevolent man today, to be good to you. No not just you, but your mother too," he smiled at the man before turning to look at Odin.

    Odin didn''t have to be told again as he quickly disappeared from the room to get thete Queen of Devon, Morganna, to join her beloved son in the room.

    "The news is so good, that I have decided that I will return your body and the part of your memories that are taken away when you enter Hell," dimir leaned back against his throne, staring at the worthless man, and he could see the confusion in the bastard''s eyes. "You don''t want to feel how it was in the living world?"

    Thest time the Devil had dragged him and his mother to the living world, they had been humiliated to the point where the image they had built over the years had been washed into the dirt. He didn''t know why, but he felt the Devil''s offer to be too good to be true.

    "I-I am f-fine like this," stuttered Laurence, and dimir waved his hand.

    "I realized I should treat you better," replied dimir and saying this, he snapped his fingers for an electric zap escape from between his fingers and reached where Laurence stood.

    Suddenly Laurence could feel the air around him had turned lighter, and he could now breathe better. He felt like he was alive again while the flesh and scars that had formed on his body started to reduce until theypletely disappeared.

    "How does it feel? Good, isn''t it?" questioned dimir with a smile on his lips, and soon Odin returned to the room with Morganna behind him. "Wee, mother Queen, well not Queen anymore. Morganna."

    The woman''s footsteps were unwilling as she didn''t want to meet the Devil again. Her back had scars because of the whip used on her in Hell to torture her.

    "You look so scared. Now only if you would have had the sense to not touch my daughter in any way and let her live, this wouldn''t havee," dimir clicked his tongue in distaste and disappointment. "I met your daughter today. Rosamund seems to not be doing well on the road. Apparently I will need to increase the torture by a notch."

    Unlike Laurence, who was dimwit, Morganna decided to y along with the Devil as he ruled this ce. She quickly got down on her knees and touched her forehead on the ground.

    "Please forgive me, milord! I have been regretting my actions, please forgive me for what I have done to your daughter! I shouldn''t have hurt Constance in the past, and I should have taken care of her. I should have treated my grandson better!" Morganna tried apologizing and trying to gain sympathy from the Devil, but she received no response from dimir. She slowly raised her head to see dimir had disappeared from the front. Did he leave the room?

    Then suddenly, dimir''s voice came from behind her, "Did I ask you yourme apology or did you hear me ask you for one?"

    Morganna''s lips trembled at dimir''s question. She had only meant to clear her name to avoid further punishment, but she had spoken out of turn.

    "Odin, bring in the pot. Today we are going to cook," stated dimir with an enthusiastic smile on his face.

    Both Laurence and Morganna didn''t know what dimir meant by his words, they shared looks with each other. Odin raised his hands, and arge pot appeared in the room, mes from the bottom boiling the liquid inside it.

    "Bring the ingredient," ordered dimir.

    On his master''smand, Odin walked towards Laurence and caught hold of his hand.

 Chapter 789 Ingredient- Part 3

    <h4>789 Ingredient- Part 3</h4>

    Laurence''s eyes had widened, and he looked back and forth between the pot and the Devil. He knew it was too good to be true! The Devil had fixed his wounds and turned him back to the way he had entered Hell for the first time only to cook him!

    "I-I don''t know what I did! You have already punished me f-for what I did! We have cleared Constance''s name. The p-public h-hates us!" Laurence tried to pull his arm away from Odin, but the demon servant, even though he looked scrawny, was stronger than he appeared. "I d-didn-"

    "Shhh," dimir silenced the man, who was shouting in the room, and silence fell back in the room except for the bubbles that moved to the surface of the pot. "Do you think this is your ce to scream and shout? Do it again and I will cut off your tongue," he red.

    Laurence whimpered, not wanting to go even a step near the boiling pot. "But I didn''t-"

    "I am not sure if I should be happy or continue to be upset by your actions, Lauri," stated dimir.

    In one side of his mind, he was d that a bastard like Laurence had not got to stay next to his daughter. But on the other side, the thought about this pitiful man, who had not only broken his daughter''s trust but had defamed her in front of people, it nowhere sat well with him.

    dimir leisurely walked around the room as if he was waiting for Laurence to step forward and sit inside the pot, but with the sound of liquid bubbling from the top and the smell of the metal that wafted in the room, the former King of Devon couldn''t make himself walk towards the pot. There was a pure look of horror on his face.

    "Go on now," Odin tried to push Laurence towards the pot as the sinner resisted it. "It isn''t as bad as it looks," he encouraged Laurence.

    This only made Laurence re at the lowly servant who did the Devil''s bidding. He couldn''t re at the Devil, but he could put his anger on the servant. And what did he mean it didn''t look as bad it looked! It was fucking molten iron that was in its liquid form!

    "P-please, I am willing to go back to the living world and ept my wrongdoings towards Constance," Laurence begged dimir in the hope to be let off.

    At least beforeing to this room, he was mostly bones, and his muscles and skin had melted that would let him feel little to no pain. But the Devil was cunning, and he had been given a ''gift'' to live like a person in the living world. He didn''t want it!

    "Willing?" dimir''s eyes snapped to look at Laurence. He then walked towards Laurence, who started to walk back to cower away from the Devil, whose eyes zed like fire. He ced his hand around Laurence''s neck and lifted him in the air. "I want to rip and shred you into many pieces, one at a time before putting you back together and doing it all again. You stole my daughter away from me."

    Within a second, dimir threw Laurence into therge steaming pot, who cried out in agony, his scream echoing in the nearby halls.

    "NO! NO! PLEASE SAVE ME!" cried Laurence while he drowned in the pot. "HELP!"

    On one side, Morganna, who was on her knees, looked at the scene in horror in her eyes, and on the other side, the Devil closed his eyes to enjoy the pain-filled screams, while at the side, Odin stood with a smile, watching Laurence enjoy his bath.

    The torture Laurence had felt until before was nothing inparison to how he felt in the pot right now, and it was because the Devil had mended him only to use him as an ingredient in Hell. He didn''t stop screaming, and dimir didn''t stop enjoying it before he turned to look at Morganna and walked slowly towards her.

    Morganna quickly stumbled back, but she couldn''t run or escape. The hell belonged to the Devil, and there was no way to hide.

    "Spare me dark lord! I have been stupid to hurt someone! I will fix my ways! I am fixing it! I will do anything!" pleaded Morganna. Since the Devil had returned, Hell had turned far worse than before, and the torture never stopped.

    Unlike the other inmates in Hell, both Laurence and Morganna were shown mercy by keeping them in different cells, but it only increased their fear on hearing the painful screams echo around the cells.

    dimir''s eyes turned dark, and asked, "Can you bring back my daughter''s innocence?"

    Morganna blinked at his question.

    "Can you return the respect and dignity that you decided to snatch away from her? Can you bring her back to me without the horrific memories you and your daughter put her through?" dimir questioned her, his eyes drilling holes in her. "Can you bring her back so that she could wear the wedding gown...and I could walk her down the aisle?"

    He bent down to level himself with her, seeing the fear in the woman''s eyes.

    "How can you think I will forgive you that easily?" he asked in a dead tone.

    "W-we, I-I didn''t know. Please," Morganna looked pitiful. Her entire body trembled in fear if the Devil was going to put her in the pot of boiling liquid too.

    "You said, you would do anything right?" stated dimir. Getting up, he turned his back and snapped his fingers for Morganna''s body to return the way it was before she died. A smile spread across his lips, and he said, "Remove your nails from your hands. All of them."

 Chapter 790 On the other side of the door- Part 1

    <h4>790 On the other side of the door- Part 1</h4>

    .

    Lucy looked at the wedding gown for the tenth time in her room, pulling the cupboard door where the wedding gown had been left to hang for tomorrow. As eagerly she had waited for the day, now it felt as if it had approached quickly.

    Though she had already been married once, looking at the preparation and the way people were hustling around the castle, it felt like she was going to marry for the very first time. The excitement and the nervousness hung around her, warmly wrapping herself with it.

    "Lucy?" Aunt Monique appeared at her door, knocking it before she entered inside.

    "Aunt Monique, good afternoon," Lucy bowed her head to greet her aunt. "Was there something you needed? You should have asked one of the servants to summon me."

    The older vampiress stepped forward,ing to stand next to her niece to take a better look at the gown that had been making whispers and murmurs within the castle.

    "It is beautiful, isn''t it?" asked Lucy, turning again to look at the gown where the colour from bright white had turned a little pale because of its age.

    Even though Madeline said Calhoun was alright with her wearing this for her wedding and dimir was also fine with it, somewhere, she still felt guilty to wear something that belonged to Lady Constance. This dress was specially made for thedy''s wedding, and it hade to her.

    "It looks just like her. Something she would wear,"mented Aunt Monique, staring at the upper part of the dress and the elongated sleeves that were intricately designed.

    "Were you close to Lady Constance, Aunt Monique?" questioned Lucy, and the woman pursed her lips.

    "I wouldn''t say we were close, considering how we didn''t spend enough time with each other unlike Rosamund who was here with her when she was in the castle. But she was kind, just like you Lucy. There was something very special about her, I am not sure what it was, never been able to figure it out but the same spark is there in Calhoun. Not too much, but enough to know whose son he is," replied Aunt Monique, and she looked away from the dress. "She was a beautiful woman. A life of her own."

    Luy smiled at her aunt''s words, "Sometimes I wished you were my father''s direct sister, and not Aunt Rosamund. Maybe life would be different. It could have been different."

    But that would also mean she wouldn''t exist in this world. It was strange to wish upon things and find out. It wouldn''t work as she would want it to.

    "I wonder about that," hummed Aunt Monique and then said, "We shouldn''t worry about the past, when we have a whole future ahead of us. Waiting for us, especially you, to walk and enjoy it," the woman offered her an encouraging smile.

    "It is me," Aunt Monique smiled at Lucy, and Lucy returned the smile.

    "That is wonderful. I wasn''t sure if brother Calhoun was going to walk me because Madeline is the bridesmaid. I wonder if I should have invited some more people but then I don''t know them well enough, as much as I know you all," her words turned low at the end of the sentence.

    Lucy had asked Madeline to be her bridesmaid, and she was the only one to attend. Elizabeth was somewhere far away in the North as she wanted to find a way to fix herself because of the werewolf bite, not to forget, things were still yet to settle down between her and Elizabeth. Lucy had spoken her mind in the past with Elizabeth so that the girl would fix her attitude with people around her, and Lucy was d to see the person making an effort.

    "You know, Aunt Monique," started Lucy and her aunt hummed in question, "In the past, I used to dream about my wedding. I used to dream about the beautiful church bell that dings loud enough for the entire vige to vibrate with its sound, and making me feel warm. Me in white gown, walking down the aisle carrying flowers, walking towards the groom, but in that dream I used to walk alone," she confessed. Strangely she never had her mother or her father there, nor her grandmother with her.

    "It seems like your dream didne true, dear Lucy. I am d to see that you have finally found your happiness," smiled Aunt Monique before one of the maids came to interrupt them.

    "Apologies for interrupting you, mdy," the maid bowed her head. "Your shoes for the wedding have arrived and Lady Madeline asked me to inform you about it."

    "That''s good. I was worried where I would be wearing the same shoes," said the older vampiress. "Where is Lady Madeline? I had to discuss something with her."

    "She''s in the viewing hall, mdy," answered the maid politely.

    Lucy noticed how Aunt Monique had cut her straight hair further short, and it nted from the back to the front, leaving the front of her hair long. It made her aunt look younger in appearance.

    "I will be back soon, Lucy. Make sure not to go visiting the cemetery or outside," Aunt Monique gave a pointed look at Lucy, making her chuckle. It seemed like everyone was aware of her habit of going out of the castle since she was small.

    Aunt Monique left the room in which Lucy was present, and she made her way to the viewing hall to find Madeline, who was getting the paintings removed on the wall.

    Madeline stood in front of the wall where the servants were getting the paintings down from the wall.

    "Be careful with it," said Madeline to them, and as if sensing the vampiress, who stood behind her, she turned around. "Lady Monique! Did you find your new shoes in the room?" she asked her.

 Chapter 791 On the other side of the door- Part 2

    <h4>791 On the other side of the door- Part 2</h4>

    .

    "Not yet, but thank you for arranging them," Monique thanked her with a short bow and then looked at the servants who were carrying the paintings away. "Are you nning to put something else here, mdy?" she asked the young woman.

    "Calhoun has asked the painter toe visit us tomorrow. We thought of getting all of us in a frame to remember," replied Madeline. "Some of them are painted in the time when the previous King and Queen were alive."

    "I do remember that. It is good to have the family portrait painted and ced here, instead of paintings of people we don''t know and care barely about," responded Aunt Monique without mincing her words. "Maybe it will change Lucy''s mind and she will stay."

    Hearing this, Madeline smiled. It seemed like everyone wanted Lucy to stay in the castle so that they could stay near each other without any worry.

    "I heard Theodore decided to go along with her during that time when she will be there in the mansion," stated Madeline, watching two servants who tried to get down the painting from the wall. "Do you feel the same way as Lucy, Lady Monique? About the castle I mean."

    "I guess you could say it. But then I don''t hold any particr memories of this castle except for work, that is how it used to be," answered Lady Monique. "Everything and everybody needs a change. Like death, change is inevitable and it happens over time."

    Madeline agreed to Lady Monique''s words, and when she was about to say something, she closed her mouth. She felt slightly dizzy and weak.

    "Are you alright, Lady Madeline?" asked Lady Monique in concern.

    "Yes," Madeline offered the woman a smile. "I am fine, just probably a little sleep deprived." She hadn''t been able to sleepst night until the wake of dawn because of Calhoun.

    "You young children sometimes make me wonder if I am missing something," the older vampiress shook her head, and a small tint of redness appeared on Madeline''s cheek. "Are your parentsing here tomorrow?"

    Madeline shook her head, "They will being next week."

    "I see," murmured Monique.

    At the same time, Madeline felt the uneasiness in her stomach and throat.

    She didn''t know what was happening, but the difort that she had been feeling in her body for quite some time seemed to have appeared again. She quickly left the hall, running towards the nearest room to throw up in the basin.

    Monique, who had closely followed Madeline, worried that the girl had fallen sick, her eyes widened in realization, and she ordered the nearby maid, "Get King Calhoun here right this instance."

    "I must have eaten something bad," Madeline whispered to herself. Her eyes had teared up, and she thanked Monique while taking the ss of water first to wash her mouth before she drank it, feeling a little relieved. But it was short-lived as she threw up again, and Monique brought the jug from the table, pouring water for her to drink.

    With the amount of time Calhoun and Madeline were spending time with each other, Monique was barely surprised by the turn of events. The King loved his wife too much to leave her alone, always holding her or kissing her at every opportunity. She was sure he was going to be ecstatic hearing the news.

    "Drink some more water," suggested Monique and Madeline brought the ss close to her lips while her heart beat had increased.

    Within a short time, Calhoun appeared in front of the door, and he entered the room. Seeing Madeline sitting on the chair with a ss of water. Monique moved to the other side of the chair to make room for Calhoun.

    "What happened?" demanded Calhoun with his eyes narrowed at the thought that someone had tried to harm his beloved wife. "Are you alright?" he got down on one of his knees so that he could look at her.

    Calhoun had been working on getting the letter written to the High House when a maid barged into the room to inform him that something had happened to Madeline.

    He looked at Madeline''s face now that looked pale, and he turned to look at Aunt Monique to see a smile on her lips.

    "The Queen is carrying a child," said Monique with a calm voice. "I will step out to give you both some privacy," and she left them alone.

    Calhoun''s narrowed eyes turned subtly wide now, and he looked back at Madeline, who seemed as surprised as he was. He stood up from his ce, and Madeline stood up along with him, staring at him, waiting for him to say something as an anxious look appeared in her eyes.

    Suddenly he hugged her, closing his eyes, and he whispered, "Thank you, Maddie. Thank you."

    Madeline''s eyes suddenly turned moist, and she hugged him back. They had spoken about children, but she didn''t expect that day would be today. She was d that Calhoun was happy with the news.

    "I cannot thank you enough for what you have given," said Calhoun, and he pulled away from her to take a look at her. "Are you feeling alright?"

    She shook her head, "I feel nauseous."

    "No wonder you didn''t eat much this morning at breakfast," hemented and took a good look at her. "It is time to rest and eat so that the baby that growth will be fine," saying that he picked her up in his arms, and Madelineughed, seeing the excitement in Calhoun''s eyes.

    "There''s still a lot of time for that," said Madeline, putting her hands around his neck.

    Calhoun didn''t listen to her, and he stepped out of the room while carrying her in his arms. "You look pale as ice. Is there something you want to eat? I heard women have strange cravings. I will order the cook to prepare everything you like. Also we''ll need to get the room prepared for the baby," he continued to speak, making Madeline giggle.

    "Currently I only feel sick, Cal. I think all those other thingse after many weeks or months," replied Madeline, her heartwarming at the sight of Calhoun''s excitement.

    Calhoun carried her to their room before cing her on the bed so that she could rest her feet.

    "Make sure to not use the stairs too much and don''t go here and there. Don''t lift anything heavy," advised Calhoun.

    "Cal," Madeline stopped him from speaking more, and she brought her hands forward so that he could hold them. "Let''s keep this as a secret until they get married." Tomorrow was going to be Lucy and Theodore''s day, and Madeline wanted everyone to enjoy their moment before letting them know about Calhoun and her having a baby.

    "As you wish, my sweet girl," he said, bringing her hand towards his lips and kissing the back of her hand. "We are going to have a baby."

 Chapter 792 On the other side of the door- Part 3

    <h4>792 On the other side of the door- Part 3</h4>

    "Will this work?" asked Lucy, surprise evident in her voice. "I never knew I could curl my hair by doing this."

    Madeline nodded her head, "It does. Beth and I used to use this trick at night and it used to work wonders in the morning. We used to attend some of the local soiress together."

    "It must have been fun, isn''t it?" said Lucy, wondering how beautiful the life of a middle-ss family was. "Thank you foring here to help me, Madeline. I truly appreciate your help. I am grateful."

    "We are sisters now. Things like these don''t need to be appreciated between us," Madeline conveyed her thoughts. "I am more than happy to be helping and be part of this time."

    Lucy smiled at Madeline''s kind words. She sat there without moving her head so that Madeline could get the rest of her hair tied in ribbons. Once it was done, Madeline wished her goodnight and good rest as tomorrow was an important day.

    She got into her bed with her hair that was tied with peach coloured ribbons, her eyes staring at the ceiling while excitement bubbled in her chest. And though she tried to fall asleep, she couldn''t because she had been looking forward to this day for a long time.

    Minutes passed by, and Lucy realized she wasn''t able to fall asleep. She got out of the bed, walking towards the mirror and imagining herself in the wedding gown even though there was still a lot of time to wear it. She smiled to herself, the room turning colourful in her eyes and a piece of piano ying in the back of her mind, which was peaceful.

    The time right now reminded her of the day that took ce two decades ago. She had stood at the patio, waiting for him to appear, hoping he woulde to tell her how he was only joking and he wanted her. If one had looked at her closely the following day, they would have noticed how she had not slept the entire night because she had waited for Theodore, who never showed up.

    Remembering about the past turned her nervous about her present. Hearing something on her patio, Lucy''s eyebrows furrowed, and she slowly stepped closer to the closed doors.

    "Theodore?" she called his name. When her hands reached for the knobs of the door, she heard him speak.

    "Don''t open it."

    So it was him, thought Lucy to herself. Her mind eased itself.

    Theodore then spoke from the other side of the door, "They said we shouldn''t see each other until we meet near the altar in the church. Isn''t that what humans follow?"

    Lucy let go of the knob, but she stepped closer to the door, "When did you start believing the ways of the humans?" she softly asked him.

    "What else did this girl do?" asked Lucy, her eyes staring at the door, and she sat in front of it.

    "Sleepless nights like this. I thought you would have fallen asleep," stated Theodore.

    "I couldn''t. What about you? What are you doing here?" she asked him before turning around and letting her back lean against the same door where Theodore sat on the other side.

    "I thought I could use somepany. Yours being the best," replied Theodore, that brought a smile on Lucy''s lips. "There''s still ten hours to pass."

    "Ten hours nine minutes," said Lucy, and she looked down at her hands. "Madeline helped me with my hair. I have ribbons tried in my hair now."

    "It makes me curious to see how you look now. What a bad girl you are to tempt me at this hour," murmured Theodore.

    The smile on Lucy''s lips widened, and as if remembering something, she said, "I invited Ethan for the wedding."

    "I see," hummed Theodore, d that the man had found someone and wouldn''t be in unrequited love with Lucy. "Calhoun has invited Helena and Dimitri."

    With Theodore, who sat on the other side of the door, Lucy felt less anxious knowing they were both in this together, and soon she fell asleep. When morning arrived, Lucy found herself on the ground and near the door of the patio. cing her head closer to the door, she wondered if Theodore was still there or if he had left.

    Right on time, the doors to her room opened, and three maids appeared to help Lucy in getting ready. On seeing thedy sitting on the floor and one side of her head ced on the door, one of the maids asked,

    "Good morning, Lady Lucy. Is everything alright?"

    "Ah, yes," Lucy cleared her throat and stood up on her feet.

    One of the maids walked forward, towards the other side of the wooden divider to draw a bath, while another maid brought her breakfast to have in the room.

    Taking two bites and a few sips of blood from the ss, Lucy got into the bath while making sure her hair wouldn''te in contact with water. The maids helped her wash her with a floral scent that was sweet to smell before drying her and started to help her wear the wedding gown.

    As she got ready, Lucy looked at her reflection in the mirror while the maids continued to fix the gown and theyers that came along with it. The wedding gown might have been old, but it was everything she would have wanted. It was simple and elegant with its thread work at the top, her sleeves that left floral patterns and near the gown''s hem.

 Chapter 793: Little change

    <h4>Chapter 793: Little change</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Canon in D - Brooklyn Duo (cello and piano)

    .

    By the time Lucy had worn her dress, Madeline had arrived in the room so that she could help Lucy. The ribbons hade undone, and the front of her hair had been brushed back, her hair was tied up with ck pins. Three roses that were palevender in colour had been pinned to the side before the veil was fixed to flow behind Lucy''s back.

    A little amount of makeup was put on her with dusted rose on her cheeks and her lips tinted to light pink.

    "Who is this beautiful bride that I see now?" came Lady Monique''s voice, who had entered the room on seeing Lucy getting ready.

    Lady Monique wore a grey and white straight dress that had a little ruffle at the front near her chest, while Madeline wore a pale pink dress, and her blonde hair had been let down.

    "You look beautiful, Lucy," praised Monique and Madeline smiled in agreement.

    "Really?" the joy in Lucy''s eyes was evident as she beamed in happiness.

    "Of course, silly girl. I brought you something. Here," saying this, Monique presented a hairb f that was made with pearls and ivory gold with two flowers and twigs that emerged from it on the sides.

    "This��" Lucy was stunned seeing this. It was beautiful.

    "It once belonged to my mother which was passed down to me. You are just like my daughter and I want you to have it," said Monique, having Lucy turn around and pinning it in the veil.

    "Thank you," whispered Lucy, feeling grateful for being loved by everyone now.

    Once she was ready along with the others, they got into the carriage and rode towards Baudeux town and stopped in front of the church.

    As she stepped down from the carriage, Lucy could hear the music that came from inside the church. The town looked quiet as it had been abandoned for quite some years now, and it was only a while ago that the High House members had started to reconstruct by working with Calhoun on it so that the other vigers and townsfolk coulde to live here.

    With no people to peek and hover around as they belonged to the royal family, it gave the privacy Lucy had been looking forward to.

    "Is the musicing from the church?" asked Lady Monique and Calhoun, who hadn''t entered the church grinned, one side of his lips pulling up.

    "I have only one sister. You didn''t think it was going to be a dull wedding, did you?" he asked, sending a wink at his wife, who shook her head.

    Lucy had mentioned having a simple wedding with not many people as their guests, but she hadn''t specified the other details, and Calhoun had used the opportunity to make the asion more special.

    Theodore had already stepped inside the church, and another carriage appeared to halt near the church. Out stepped the two members of the High House, Helena, who was the head of the High House and her right-hand man Dimitri. They were in their High House uniforms and walked to where the other stood, bowing their head in greeting.

    Ethan Moryett''s carriage had appeared earlier, and seeing Lucy in the wedding gown, he smiled at her.

    Within the next second, fire zed next to the High House members, and dimir made his appearance with his faithful servant Odin.

    "Good that we are on time," said dimir, and when his eyes met a pair of eyes that looked annoyed, he couldn''t help but grin. "I didn''t know we were having others outside the family to attend the wedding."

    Helena quietly red at the Devil, and she turned her head to speak to the bride-to-be.

    "Looks like everyone is here," said Calhoun, looking around the people. "We''ll be going inside," he said to Lucy, and she nodded her head. Calhoun was the best man, and Madeline was her bridesmaid.

    dimir and Odin went inside the church to be followed by Ethan, Calhoun, Madeline and Monique.

    Seeing her aunt step inside the church, Lucy, who stood behind, wondered if her aunt would being out again as she waited at the side, making her dress proper so that they didn''t look wrinkled. After a few seconds passed and the music continued to y inside, and she heard a crackling fire behind her. Turning around, she noticed it was dimir who had appeared outside the church.

    Did the church repel him? Asked Lucy in her mind. But then this church was an old one, and Gabriel had put a spell so that the vampires and demons could enter without a problem.

    Knowing this was the Devil, Lucy was slightly wary of him, but at the same time, he was Calhoun''s grandfather.

    dimir stared at Lucy, his eyes looking at the young vampiress who stared back at him. Since he had found out about this wedding gown that Constance had got made for herself, it was something that had weighed in his mind.

    "Is Aunt Monique busy inside?" asked Lucy.

    The Devil looked at Lucy with his dark eyes, "No. They are waiting for us to enter the church. I noticed we were short of bridesmaids," he replied, and Lucy turned a little surprised by this.

    dimir said, "I didn''t get to walk my daughter down the aisle because of some of my mistakes. But I still have the opportunity to walk her down the aisle, believing it is how it would feel to give away my daughter in marriage to someone she loved as I apany you," someone other than that bastard Laurence, he thought to himself.

    Lucy smiled at dimir''s words, and she said, "She would have loved that. To walk with you."

    She knew it took a great deal to ignore some of the things and make the best out of the present situations in front of one. She might have been Calhoun''s sister, but at the same time, she was also the man''s daughter who had broken Lady Constance''s heart.

    dimir then brought his empty hand forward, and suddenly a bouquet appeared in front of Lucy, "I told you I would be bringing you flowers, didn''t I. I had Odin pick up the best ones," he said to her. Handing the white and pink flowers in her hand.

    "Thank you for bringing them," Lucy smiled while looking at the flowers.

    Standing in front of her, he gave his arm, and Lucy put her hand around his arm. The wedding music started to y from inside, and dimir said, "It is time."

    .

    Note: cing the hair pin and flowers inment section ^.^

 Chapter 794: Wedding Portrait- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 794: Wedding Portrait- Part 1</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Alps- Novo Amor

    .

    When Lucy put her hand around dimir''s arm, she couldn''t help but feel the jittery nerves and butterflies that bubbled up in her stomach. The sound of the music yed inside the church drifted to the nearby ce, leaving something soothing as she walked along with dimir next to her side.

    When she entered the church, she noticed the walls and the ceiling of the church, which was indeed old, and the windows had been opened for light to pass through along with the air and music.

    Looking ahead of her, she noticed Madeline and her aunt standing on the left side. It seemed like dimir had truly turned her aunt as her second bridesmaid, and on the right side, she caught sight of her brother Calhoun and Ethan, who must have apanied her aunt. At the side stood Helena, Odin, who looked young again and Dimitri, watching them. When her eyes fell directly at Theodore, she caught sight of him in the white wedding clothes, waiting for her near the altar.

    She saw him smile at her, his smile warm and kind that was directed towards her. Lucy''s heart fluttered even more than before on locking her eyes with the groom.

    He looked as handsome as the first time when they had met, his golden sses in ce. His hair had been parted to the side as usual, and he looked like a knight, her own personal knight, thought Lucy in her mind. Her heart skipped a couple of beats at how he stole her heart for the millionth time.

    The feeling of walking down the aisle with dimir was way differentpared to the time when she had walked with her very own father.

    Thest time when she had walked down the aisle, the feeling had felt foreign, but now it strangely felt morefortable, and it wasn''t because she had done this before. She was walking with the Devil who had decided to apany her, with his daughter''s thoughts in his mind and heart. Reaching near the altar, dimir finally let go of Lucy''s hand and looked at her.

    dimir could see his daughter''s face as she looked at him, his heart tightly squeezing at the thought that she was here now with him. Before he could let her go, he leaned forward to kiss both the sides of her cheeks with an air kiss.

    "Thank you," said dimir to Lucy, and she offered him a warm smile.

    "I will be right here," Lucy surprised with her words as if dimir was her very own father, and it was because she noticed the subtle reluctance in his movements. He gave her a nod.

    At the same time, Theodore had stretched his hand forward for Lucy to take and join him.

    This was it, thought Lucy to herself, and she ced her small hand in Theodore''s hand.

    She felt him gently wrap his fingers around before having here stand in front of him. She stared into his eyes that reflected her happiness in them. The entire time, she couldn''t stop smiling and to release the excitement, she squeezed Theodore''s hand.

    She had waited for this time for so long and had dreamt it in so many different ways, but nothing couldpare to the way how she felt now. The moment felt so precious that her heart could burst with pure happiness.

    The four musicians had taken a seat at the backside of the church as they continued to y the music, and the tone and pace of the music had been lowered to something more serene.

    Gabriel, the priest for their wedding ceremony, stood looking at them and addressed,

    "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in holy marriage. The sacredness of marriage binds us to what we believe and love," said the angel as he started the ceremony. "Theodore Hosteler and Lucy Hawthrone, let us remember that the future happiness is to be in consideration to patience, kindness and affection. To pledge today to each other to remain undivided for eternity."

    With only a few people attending the wedding who were close to them, Lucy could be herself without having to worry what the next person was going to think and perceive about her actions.

    On the other hand, Theodore couldn''t get his eyes off his bride, who stood in front of him. Lucy looked enthralling in his eyes, and though he knew how beautiful she was, he felt like her presence had put him in a trance that only she could break.

    The whole night until the early morning, Theodore had stayed with her, listening to her soft snore as she slept against the door with him on the other side of the door. He had given herpany until the rays of the sun had started to change the colour of the sky and brightening thend.

    She looked beautiful and happy, and he wanted to keep her like this for the rest of their lives. The smile that had been lost years ago had finally returned on her face. He had noticed the unbridle smile on her lips when their eyes had met when she hade walking down the aisle.

    It was good to see dimir had walked with her because he knew as much as the Devil was evil, she needed an older male who was like a father figure. Even if dimir didn''t care until the veryst few minutes, Theodore knew dimir would see the resemnce of his daughter in Lucy.

    Gabriel had continued with the ceremony, saying, "It is your duty, Theodore, to your wife to be, Lucy, to cherish and be a loving husband. To be thoughtful to her and be her support. To protect her from danger and to share the love with her. To shoulder her sorrows and burdens until the end," he said to Theodore.

    The priest then turned to look at Lucy to say, "It is your duty, Lucy, to your husband to be, Theodore, to be faithful and patient wife, tofort him and provide him with affection as you support him. To be there for him at the darkest hours and stand next to him with the marriage that binds you both."

 Chapter 795: Wedding Portrait- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 795: Wedding Portrait- Part 2</h4>

    The others, who were present in the church, watched the couple and listened to the priest''s words who performed the ceremony. They were more than happy to see Lucy and Theodore finally getting married to each other.

    Standing four steps away from Lucy, Madeline felt her husband''s gaze on her, and her eyes shifted to look at him. Her lips widened with a smile when he didn''t look away. Calhoun had always been too bold for her, it had been hard to handle those emotions, but she had gotten used to it. She subtly raised her eyebrows, questioning if something happened, but she only received a mischievous smile from him.

    "Repeat after me," said the priest, "I, Theodore, take you Lucy, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part."

    Theodore repeated every word that the priest said. Gabriel then turned to Lucy, "I, Lucy, take you Theodore, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part," and Lucy did the same.

    "The rings," said Gabriel.

    Madeline, who held Lucy''s bouquet, brought the box forward that she had been carrying to give it to Lucy and Calhoun on the other side, passed on the ring that Theodore was going to help Lucy wear.

    After pushing the ring on Theodore''s ring finger, Lucy brought her own hand forward, and she felt him slide the delicate ring on her ring finger before holding her hands again.

    Gabriel then said, "I believe there is no objection with anyone who is here with these two lovely people''s union, and now that the bride and the groom have epted each other''s vows. I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride now."

    On hearing the priest''s words, Lucy had felt the attention on her grow more, and a blush appeared on her cheeks, seeing Theodore step forward.

    Calhoun''s gaze turned to the side where the musicians were sitting in the corner of the room, and he quietly brought his hand up, rotating his finger, and on cue, the sound of the music went higher as if the entire church was bursting with happiness and joy.

    Lucy felt her heart thump as Theodore got closer to her. He whispered to her, "How would you like to kiss me, my wife?"

    The butterflies in her stomach grew more like a tornado, and she whispered back, "However you would like to, my husband."

    Theodore circled one of his hands around Lucy''s waist, bringing her closer to him with a small gasp escaping her lips. The gentle smile transformed to a s.e.xy one, and Theodore leaned in to ce his lips on hers, kissing her.

    Lucy could feel her toes curl because of the kiss, and she kissed him back. It was a sweet kiss, everything she had wanted and dreamt of before they broke from the kiss with smiles on their face.

    dimir quietly snapped his fingers, and pink petals of cherry blossoms gently fell from the church''s ceiling downwards, where the bride and the groom stood. The petals disappeared once they touched the ground, and everyone looked at the petals that started to shower from nowhere before they started to congratte the newlyweds.

    Lucy''s happiness knew no bounds, and the smile on her lips continued to stay as if it was not going anywhere and was here to stay with her. Holding the bouquet again in one of her hands that Madeline passed to her, while the other was Theodore''s hand, they were the first to step out of the church as husband and wife, bound by marriage everyone who were present had approved.

    "What about the other traditions followed by the humans?" questioned Calhoun, who had found his way back to stand near Madeline. He had both his hands around his wife.

    "You mean throwing the flowers?" asked Madeline, turning to look at him, and he hummed in response.

    Lady Monique, hearing this, said, "It would be lovely to have it done, but then with one already, it leaves only me and Lady Helena. Lucy dear, you can hand the bouquet."

    Lucy looked back and forth between her aunt and the head of the High House, who looked taken aback. As she already knew her aunt''s thoughts about her wedding, Lucy went straight and handed the flowers to the High House woman.

    Helena was startled by this action, and a frown appeared on her face, "I believe the tradition is about throwing the flowers backwards."

    "Keep it," came dimir''s voice. "It isn''t right to refuse such beautiful flowers from the lovely bride," and the corner of his lips pulled up.

    Madeline''s eyebrows raised, and she looked at Calhoun in question, and he winked back at her. dimir had been extra nice today, which was a little suspicious.

    Helena turned annoyed by dimir''s words, knowing the underlying meaning as she had heard about getting the flowers prepared by dimir before the ceremony had started. Not wanting to be rude to the new bride, she took it without anyints.

    "How do you like the flowers? I have a whole garden of it," flirted dimir when Lucy went back to Theodore, talking to him and the others.

    "What do you expect me to reply?" Helena''s eyes had narrowed, and her words were direct as her eyes stared back into the Devil''s eyes.

    The first time when they had met in the cold snow where the dead bodies of the demonsid on the snowy ground, she was sure it was him who had killed all of them. She had sensed something more malicious and eerie about this person, and now that she knew who he really was, she couldn''t help but stay on her guard.

    "That you wille by the mansion to see and smell it?" dimir said it with the same straight face as Helena, and her lips twitched.

 Chapter 796: Wedding Portrait- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 796: Wedding Portrait- Part 3</h4>

    Music Rmendation: What if? - Guy Jackson

    .

    Turning away from dimir, Helena was going to speak to Calhoun when she heard dimir ask, "When will I see you next?"

    Helena was a serious and busy woman who didn''t have time for silly things like this. She answered him, "When I die."

    "How lovely," smiled dimir.

    Helena walked to where Calhoun was, and when he saw her approach her, he said, "Thank you for sparing your time to attend my sister''s wedding." His eyes subtly moved to look at dimir and then back at the woman.

    Dimitri, who had joined her, they both bowed their head in appreciation, "Thank you for inviting us. We will take our leave, to take a look at the other buildings to see what it can be converted into before having the people toe and live here. It might be better if the things around are set up beforehand so that there won''t be any breaking of rules and there will be an order."

    "That sounds good," agreed Calhoun.

    "We should get going now," said Helena, ready to leave, but Calhoun stopped her.

    "My wife has decided to get a painting, the wedding portrait done today. We would appreciate it if you would be able to join us, after all, there aren''t many here," stated Calhoun.

    Helena''s lips were set in a thin line, and she said, "I think what the Queen means is a family portrait. We are the members of the High House, it would be odd to have us in something special as the family painting is done."

    "Not at all," Calhoun''s grin widened to show his fangs and he said, "I believe we are family, Lady Helena," and hearing this the woman narrowed her eyes. He turned to look at Madeline while ignoring the small re sent by Helena. He asked Madeline, "Did you tell the painter what time to arrive and where?"

    Madeline nodded her head, "I did. I wonder where they are."

    "No worries, we aren''t in a rush," said Calhoun, slipping his hand in hers and holding it as he had been excited since he had heard the news from Madeline. To think that next year at this time they would have their child in their arms.

    Lucy and Theodore, who stood together, were speaking to each other, where Theodore touched Lucy''s face while running his thumb under her eyes, "Are you tired? You didn''t get enough sleep," he asked her with concern.

    She shook her head with a smile, "Not at all. I am wide awake," she grinned, saying this. She held his arm with both her hands, her head leaning against him.

    Lady Monique came around to speak to the couple, "Look at you both all lovey-dovey. You should have just eloped," she said, speaking about the past. Hearing this Lucy nodded her head, and Theodore chuckled.

    "My apologies for not doing that, mdy," said Theodore and Monique stared at him.

    "Take good care of Lucy. I will make sure to break your legs and hands if you are to hurt her in any way," she gave him a stern look before a small smile broke on her lips.

    "I promise to take good care of her and to love her unconditionally," he bowed her head, and the older vampiress nodded her head.

    Monique then came to stand in front of Lucy, and she ced both her hands on either side of Lucy''s face and leaned forward to kiss her forehead, "Be happy, dear Lucy."

    "Thank you, Aunt Monique," Lucy was grateful towards her aunt that she had stayed back in the castle for so long.

    She was someone Lucy looked up to, and it meant a lot to her that her aunt cherished her the same way she did. She had always been kind to her, guiding her through when she felt she needed the support.

    "There seemed to be a little change in ns as we were short of the bridesmaids," Monique apologized for not walking her down the aisle. Lucy shook her head.

    "I am happy to have so many people who havee to attend our day today. It means a lot to me," she had let go of Theodore''s hand to step forward and hugged her aunt, who hugged her back.

    "I know you do, dear," Monique smiled at Lucy''s words.

    While everyone was still talking, Theodore caught someone inside the church.

    "I will be back," he said to Lucy, and she nodded her head before continuing to speak to her aunt while Theodore stepped inside the church to see someone standing at the front.

    The people who hade to attend the wedding were standing outside the church, waiting for the painter to arrive, and it being an abandoned ce, he wondered who it was. He saw a woman standing with her back facing him, and as he got closer, the person turned to look at him. His eyes widened in surprise, seeing the familiar woman who looked young now, and a smile had settled on her lips.

    "Congrattions on your wedding, Theo," wished Madame Fraunces.

    "Thank you," said Theodore, watching the woman in surprise. "I didn''t know you were going to be here. We would have waited for you to join."

    "I didn''t miss it. I was one of the first few people who arrived in here," replied Madame Fraunces, and she asked, "How are you?"

    "Very happy. Happier to see you here. Lucy told me about meeting you," he said, d to see Madame Fraunces. "She also told me what Gabriel said about you."

    "Did he now," murmured Madame Fraunces without a hint of anger or annoyance in her voice. "He dropped the veil for a while so that I could talk to you."

    Theodore was at a loss of words by seeing the woman now as thest time when he went to see her, he had been greeted by her death. It was as if there were many things he wanted to speak, but he knew their time was limited. "Forgive me. If it weren''t for me and Calhoun, they wouldn''t have killed you."

    "It is fine. I never med you both for that," replied Madame Fraunces. "I have lived far better than most of the people and longer than any other human. I am happy to see you have finally settled with the person you have loved for so long. I like her. She''s kind."

    "She is," agreed Theodore.

    When she started to glow, Theodore realized her time to leave had arrived, and he said, "I will miss you."

    "Me too, Theo. Me too," smiled Madame Fraunces. She said, "Thank you for continuing to remember me. I am d that I took you in, you turned into a wonderful person."

    Fragments of her body had started to move up in the air as if she was evaporating.

    Theodore returned the smile, and he bowed his head in respect, "I will always remember you."

    "You have been released from your burdens, go now live the life you want. Live and love the girl..." said Madame Fraunces and her eyes fell behind Theodore where Calhoun stood at the entrance of the church, staring at her. She smiled at Calhoun before evaporating into fragments of orange and white light that disappeared in the air.

 Chapter 797: Adjusting line- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 797: Adjusting line- Part 1</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Haven (from life is strange) - Novo Amor

    .

    When Theodore returned to where Lucy was, he was in a slight dazed state as the moment he had been hoping to see Madame Fraunces hade and gone quickly. Like Lucy, who had wanted to see her caretaker, he had hoped to see Madame Fraunces, especially after Lucy had mentioned seeing her in the cemetery.

    His eyes moved to look at Gabriel, who was talking to dimir about something, and then his eyes shifted to look at the Devil''s servant who had not returned to his usual form yet. Even though the veil had already been put back in its ce, its after-effects lingered in thend of the living.

    "Theo?" Lucy called his name, and he looked at his beautiful bride, who stared at him curiously. "Is everything alright?" she asked him, a little worry in her voice.

    Theodore brought his hand forward to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear while offering her a smile, "Everything is perfect," and this had Lucy smile too.

    By Madame Fraunces'' words, it was evident that she had finally made up her mind to leave the in-between world to enter Heaven instead of turning into a low-level demon. Several minutester, the painter who Lady Madeline had summoned to the location appeared in the carriage.

    "Our apologies, my King and Queen!" The painter was a woman, and she bowed her head to convey her apologies for beingte. With her, there was a man who carried therge canvas, and he bowed his head along with her. "The first canvas had broken and we had to get another one."

    "That''s fine," Madeline responded with a smile, "I am d that you have been able to make it here as soon as you could. Cal, this is Fadh. Fad. She''s an excellent painter, her works are exceptionally beautiful."

    "Milord," the woman named Fad bowed her head again.

    Monique, who stood next to Ethan, muttered under her breath, "I am sure they did, considering the King''s reputation of beheading people when he is displeased."

    "It''s good to see he is more patient in Lady Madeline''s presence," responded Ethan, and Monique nodded her head.

    "True. With both the siblings married now, I think I can finally rest in peace. In my mansion," she added as she wasn''t looking forward to dying anytime soon. "When are you getting married to the girl whom you have been seeing?"

    "We were thinking of getting married after four months from now," answered Ethan.

    Monique hummed hearing this, "Lucy and you didn''t end up marrying each other, but you both are going to share the same year when ites to marriage." The older vampiress turned her face to look at Ethan, who looked like he had been caught doing something. Apart from the girl he had loved, the rest had a hint about it.

    Ethan wasn''t sure how to react to it, but Lady Monique patted his back, "It is good to see you have found someone, else I would have felt bad that a good man like yourself didn''t get a suitable girl." At her words, he bowed his head. The feelings of love didn''tpletely go away as she was his first love, but he cared enough to understand her.

    Soon everyone was called to stand in a line.

    "We are going to stand right here? I thought there would be some seating arrangements made for this," stated dimir, while the painter was speaking to the bride and the groom.

    The painter, hearing this smiled at the man, not knowing who he was. She said, "Pardon me, but I was told by the Queen that she was looking for something simple that could represent more like a family rather than people just posing. The church will give out the perfect background as its walls are old."

    "Are two painters going to be sufficient to capture all of us? I doubt all of us are looking forward to standing here forever," stated Helena, who stood next to her fellow High House member. "The finishing time of the painting will be dyed with us two in it. We should probably go-"

    "Please stay, Lady Helena," insisted Lucy, her words were polite, and there was a smile on her lips.

    "It seems like Lady Helena is worried that her face won''t be captured well. You don''t have to worry about it. I am sure the painter knows how beautiful you are," said dimir, a crooked smile on his face. His words had Helena narrow her eyes.

    Before she could retort to his words, Madeline intervened and said, "Fad is an expert and she''s known to finish the painting faster than the most of them in Devon. We can probably have everyone stand first so that she can draw the outline before starting to work on the shades and colours one by one?"

    "An excellent idea," agreed Calhoun.

    "I would like to have the bride and the groom stand in the middle," informed the painter while the assistant continued to set up the wide canvas on the stand before getting the charcoal ready to be used. "The groom on the left and the bride on the right side. The rest of you can join at the sides so that there are equal numbers on both the sides."

    "I am going to stand here," said Lady Monique, walking to stand next to Lucy.

    On the other side, Calhoun joined to stand next to Theodore while having Madeline to his right.

    Lucy turned back and said to Gabriel, who stood away from them, "You shoulde and join us, father Gabriel."

    The man didn''t refuse, and he came to join where Lady Monique stood, and Ethan, Helena and Dimitri joined him. On Theodore''s side, dimir and Odin joined.

    The painter looked at them with a frown on her face and said, "It looks like the frame isn''t bnced. Mdy," she addressed to Helena, "Mdy, if you may pleasee and stand on this side. That way there will be equal women on both the sides."

 Chapter 798: Adjusting line- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 798: Adjusting line- Part 2</h4>

    Helena walked around and saw the Devil''s servant step away from his master as if he was making space for her toe and stand very next to the Devil. Without showing much reaction on her face, she came to stand there while facing the painter, crossing her arms against her chest.

    "To think that we ended up standing next to each other. Isn''t this what destiny is about?" dimir smirked when he said this to Helena.

    "Or it might be the beginning of my bad luck," replied Helena without bothering to turn and look at him. Calhoun couldn''t help but clear his throat while not looking at his right side.

    "How cold. But no worries. Me being the Devil and along with the bad luck, things will turn into good luck. You know what they say, two negatives equals one positive," responded dimir with a grin.

    The painter made Lucy''s dress proper, while positioning them in a way she wanted before going behind the canvas and said, "This looks great. I will start outlining everyone before I start to add colours."

    Once the painter finished working on the outline, she had only Theodore and Lucy stand without the others so that she could capture the expression and every other detail of them.

    Theodore didn''t want a portrait where they were standing like the rest of the other portraits, and considering how it was their day, he put his arm around Lucy''s waist and brought her closer to him. With a smile on his face, he noticed Lucy''s smile that broke through her lips.

    Lucy held the flower for the time being so that it woulde in the portrait that Fad was working on. In a whisper, she asked, "Did you know about it? About them?" her eyes turned to the side where dimir and Helena were standing.

    "I think it is a surprise for most of us," Theodore replied in a whisper. Maybe not to Calhoun as he seemed to be enjoying the little banter that was going on between the Devil and the head of the High House.

    When a breeze came to pass near them, it ruffled Lucy''s hair at the side, bringing it on her face. Using his hand, he pushed the piece of her hair behind before making sure her hair was alright.

    Lucy''s heart warmed at Theodore''s action. He wasn''t her brother''s guard or the King''s right-hand man anymore, but her husband. The thought itself made her giddy, and she felt like flying along with the wind that swept where they stood now. This was her most precious day, and she doubted she would be able to rece it with anything else.

    Everything had been perfect, and it was thanks to her family and the others who had made it happen.

    "Where did you go earlier?" asked Lucy as he had left her side for a while when she was speaking to her aunt.

    "Gabriel dropped the veil for a few minutes," answered Theodore and Lucy''s eyes widened. It did? Asked Lucy in her mind. "I met Madame Fraunces before she disappeared."

    "No wonder Odin is in his younger form again," muttered Lucy. A bright smile appeared after it, happy knowing Theodore had met the woman today. "He''s a kind angel, isn''t he? Gabriel."

    Theodore nodded his head, "He is," he returned her smile with his own.

    Though Lucy couldn''t take her eyes off of her husband, every time his eyes stayed longer on her, she lowered her eyes as she couldn''t believe how handsome he looked.

    He wore a white suit as his wedding dress, and his hair looked just like the usual. The polite gentleman and Lucy leaned towards him with a blush on her cheeks.

    "Did I tell you how beautiful you look?" he asked her, his words music to Lucy''s ears, and she nodded her head.

    "You did, but I don''t mind you telling it to me again," said Lucy with a grin and the painter who was working on capturing Theodore''s facial expression stopped so that she could work on Lucy''s expression as it was one that was filled with bliss.

    "From now on, I will tell it to you every day," replied Theodore, "I ended up marrying the most beautiful girl I will ever get toy my eyes on."

    As the wedding couple were getting their painting done at first, it gave the opportunity for the angel and the devil to speak to each other.

    "It is good to see you here with the rest of them,"mented Gabriel, who was standing next to dimir. "Both you and Paschar broke rules and have you heirs in the living world."

    "Exciting, isn''t it. To have the devil''s grandson marry an angel''s daughter," one side of dimir''s lips pulled up into a smug smile. "What are you doing here? Isn''t mingling with the mortals this closely going to warrant you for a punishment? Or did they turn liberal?"

    Gabriel smiled at his former brother''s words, "You are too harsh for a person who came from that ce that you initially belonged to."

    "How about you people give me my daughter back then? I am sure with the erased memories, she will live happily in mypany," stated dimir.

    "Why did I know this was going toe up," hummed Gabriel. The war between the angel''s and the demon''s has simmered down since dimir''s return to Hell. Gabriel still hoped for harmony and for people not to fight.

    Gabriel had broken the rule when he had let Paschar off when the angel had let Madeline''s memories return. He couldn''t break another one like that by letting a soul out of Heaven where it was saferpared to other worlds.

    "You seemed to have taken an interest to the woman in the living world," said Gabriel, shifting the conversation by looking at Helena, who was talking to her fellow High House member. "Did you know there were some rumours in this world where she and Michael were together."

    Hearing this, dimir''s eyes narrowed. "Rumours is it?"

    Gabriel had an innocent smile on his lips, and he replied, "I don''t know much about that. I never asked Michael about it as you know how his lips are often sealed."

    dimir rolled his eyes, "Surely nothing happened," thepetitive streak appeared in the Devil''s blood on hearing Michael''s name associated with the woman he had been eying in the mortal world. "If something like that had happened, he would have been punished."

    Eons had passed since he had left the Heavenly realm, and there was no way an angel would have dared to break the rules again by getting into a rtionship with a person in the living world because they had seen the punishment he and Paschar had gone through for going against the rules set by Heaven.

    "You shoulde up with something much better if you are trying to rile me up, Gabriel," came the cool voice of the Devil. He watched Helena, her red painted lips moving quickly but quiet to one''s ears, her gaze constant as if nothing could evere to faze her.

    The painter took the help of her assistant in mixing the colours to a proper shade, finishing one person''s frame after another. As she was a vampire, it was easier for her toplete the work faster than the regr painters who were human.

    "Thank you for your patience," bowed the painter, "We''ll be finishing the rest of the details at my shop before it will be brought to the castle."

 Chapter 799: Adjusting line- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 799: Adjusting line- Part 3</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Rhythm of the Breeze- Chapavich Temnitikul

    .

    "Thank you foring here to paint our portraits within one frame," thanked Madeline, and when she turned to look at Calhoun, he pulled a bag from his pocket and threw it towards the painter.

    "We look forward for you painting many more portraits of ours," said Calhoun as if he were booking the woman for the subsequent asions that would take ce in the future.

    "I look forward to it, milord," Fad bowed her head.

    "The walls in our castle are quite empty, aren''t they, Odin?" questioned dimir to his faithful servant.

    "You," came out the sudden threatening voice of the Devil that had both the painter as well as her assistant step back in worry. "You will being to Belmount once you finish this portrait. I want to have you make a portrait of mine."

    The two people quickly nodded their head andter carried the canvas to the carriage that they hade in, taking their leave.

    "We''ll be leaving too King Calhoun and Queen Madeline," Helena offered her bows along with Dimitri, wishing the married couple once again before they departed in their carriage.

    "We should head back to the castle," suggested Lady Monique, to which everyone agreed. They sent Lucy and Theodore in a different carriage while Calhoun, Madeline, and the older vampiress travelled back to the castle together in the other carriage. Ethan, who hade in his own carriage, and took his leave to return to his mansion for now.

    Seeing the carriages leave, dimir said, "I guess it is time to return back to Hell."

    "We are not going to the Hawthrone castle, master?" questioned Odin, and dimir waved his hand at this.

    The Devil then turned to look at the angel, who hadn''t left the ce and questioned, "What are you doing with the veil, my servant has been changing his appearance back and forth."

    "He looks quite adorable,"plimented Gabriel, and he then added, "It should be fixed by today."

    "Hmph," responded dimir, "I hope I don''t see any of you anytime soon."

    Gabriel smiled and said, "We miss you too." dimir snapped his fingers, and the next second he disappeared with a sizzle of fire. Seeing this, Odin quickly zapped out of there to follow his master. "I hope one day you can turn back to who you once were," he murmured under his breath, where his gaze was gentle as always.

    The carriages that hade here before had all left, and at a distance, he could sense the two High House members inspecting a building to set up another headquarters so that the High House could have control over the affairs of the town.

    His eyes turned back to look at the church where even the musicians had left, leaving the ce empty. At least, that is how it looked to a person from the living world who continued to exist here. But since he was an angel, Gabriel caught sight of the young-looking vampiress who sat at the front bench of the church.

    "My apologies if I pulled up the veil too soon," said Gabriel, walking around the ce toe and stand in front of her.

    "No, the time was more than enough. Thank you for letting me be here," Madame Fraunces thanked the angel who had granted her wish.

    The gentle smile on Gabriel''s lips didn''t leave, "You did promise me to enter Heaven if I let you talk to him and somewhere it seemed right to do it." If he let the veil down for too long, it would alert others in Heaven, which would bring in questions. "It is time, Sylvie, toplete your end of promise."

    Madame Fraunces stood up from the bench, turning back to look at the entrance space of the church before nodding her head, "I am ready."

    Gabriel ced his hand on her shoulder, and suddenly they disappeared without a trace, leaving the church abandoned.

    The two carriages rode back to the Hawthrone castle with the horses neighing and their hooves clopping against the ground as they pulled the carriages. In one of the carriages where Calhoun sat, he held Madeline''s hand firmly in his hand, his ears keenly listening to her heart beat while his eyes were trained outside the window of the carriage.

    Strangely like dimir, Calhoun had felt as if his mother was here with him today. The gown would be preserved in her remembrance like the rest of the things that belonged to her. A few days ago, when Madeline had mentioned the man named Dougs, he had gone looking for the man''s family, and he did find the person''s house.

    The house was located near the mountain of Belmount, which was close to where dimir''s castle was located.

    When he had knocked on the door, an older woman had appeared at the door, ''How can I help you?''

    Calhoun had worn clothes that didn''t highlight his status, and he had let his hair down instead ofbing it back. ''I was looking for a man named Dougs. I was told he lives here.''

    The woman had given him a confused expression, ''It has been a while since my father passed away. Was there something you wanted from him? Maybe I can help,'' she asked him.

    He brought the letter that had been sent to his mother. ''This was sent to this address, to my mother.''

    The woman nodded her head, identifying the letter right away, ''I remember this letter, it was written by him, but I was the one to send it. He returned back from the castle he was working at and he had gone to find your mother. When he finally found where she was living, he handed me this letter and said if he was unable to send it in time, I should do it. My father said it was important, and to send it when the bats from the East woulde flying to make noise under the full moon. I think he knew, he was going to make it for the next few days. The day he went to meet her, the same evening someone found him on the ground. He had passed his time. I don''t know if he met thedy.''

    Calhoun had hoped it would bring in some more light to his mother''s life, but in the end, it was just a letter to let her know that dimir was awake. At the same time, he was d that some people cared about her.

    On reaching the castle, the carriages came to a stop. Lady Monique got down to be followed by Calhoun. He offered his hand to Madeline, holding her carefully so that she wouldn''t fall.

    In the past, his mother was the only family he had, but now he had a doting wife who loved him, and they were going to have a child. He had a kind sister, where they were connected by blood, and he had Theodore, whom he knew had his back. He had a grandfather and other members like Monique. The family that once consisted of only two people had started to grow.

    "Cal?" Madeline ced her hand on his cheek. "Everything fine?" she asked him.

    His eyes sparkled, and a grin broke through his lips, "Absolutely splendid."

 Chapter 800: Loving you- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 800: Loving you- Part 1</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Friedrich Dances with Jo- Alexandre Dest

    .

    With the sweet sound of the marriage bells that had been tied to the backside of the carriage to let one know that a newlywed couple was sitting inside it, Lucy felt like things around her were changing. Like a reptile that sheds its old skin to let in the new skin on it. When she had left the castle this morning, she was only Lucy, but now she was someone''s wife. Theodore''s wife.

    "Ready to go in?" she heard Theodore question her once they had got down from the carriage.

    He offered his hand for her to take, and without a drop of doubt in her mind, she ced her hand in his hand before they started to climb the stairs that were at the front side of the castle. The warmth Theodore''s hand held started to transfer to her, spreading to every part of her body like a nket of security.

    Calhoun, Madeline and Aunt Monique were yet to climb the stairs, but they seemed to have stayed back so that she and Theodore could enter the castle first without being hovering.

    "Congrattions, Lady Lucy and Advisor Theodore!" The maids who were waiting for the royal family to arrive congratted the newlywed couple.

    And when they finally reached Theodore''s room, she felt her heart begin to beat louder and louder as she knew what was going to happen. She had waited for this moment for so long in anticipation, and the thoughts were enough to turn her body hot.

    "I cannot wait to see how the painting turns out to be. I have heard about the painter before," she heard Theodore speak to her. With his hand that hadn''t let go of her, Lucy had a hard time concentrating on her current surroundings.

    "Yes," replied Lucy. "If Lady Madeline has rmended the person to paint, she must be really good."

    When Theodore let go of Lucy''s hand, she felt as if she had pulled away from the hot me, and she brought it close to her chest. It wasn''t her first time getting married and being with a man, but why did it feel like it was her first time with a man?

    Unlike her, Theodore''s demeanour was calm, and after letting go of her hand, he removed the white coat that he had been wearing until now. His actions were smooth and calm as he ced the coat on the stand before turning around to notice her standing and staring at him.

    Theodore walked toe and stand in front of her, "You have been exceptionally quiet since the time we rode back in the carriage," he noted, and he caught her right hand. "Is there something you would like to tell?" he asked her, his voice low and holding a certain ring in it that made her stomach deliciously flip.

    "I don''t know why, but I can''t think of anything right now," she was heavily distracted by her husband, and she saw the s.e.xy smile that appeared on his lips.

    Theodore hadn''t removed his sses from his face and his eyes trained on her, looking down at her hands that had white gloves on them.

    He replied to her, "That must be quite troublesome."

    "Not much," whispered Lucy when he looked back at her eyes.

    "Are you sure about it?" Theodore''s head tilted to the side, and he took hold of her hand before his fingers slowly started to pull one end of her glove from her fingers after another before pulling itpletely off from her hand. There was something sensual in his gaze, the way he looked at her right now.

    Thest time she had seen such a heated gaze from him was when he had kissed her cheek two decades ago. But back then, the emotion in his eyes had stayed only for fleeting seconds as it came and went too quickly.

    "You seem shy," stated Theodore, and Lucy wished he hadn''t pointed out the obvious thing. "Am I too handsome for you to handle today or is it that you are wondering what we might be doing now that we are alone in the room with each other?"

    Theodore had never been able to tease Lucy as a dark line had been drawn between them, but now that she was his wife, he couldn''t help himself from teasing her a little as she looked lovely in her white dress.

    "Maybe both," whispered Lucy and Theodore chuckled after hearing her. Lucy wasn''t like the other vampiresses who acted coy as she didn''t know how to behave like that.

    Theodore pulled out the other glove from her hand before throwing it to the side of the room. "You know, we missed one of the traditions of human weddings."

    Worried, Lucy asked, "We did?"

    With a straight face, Theodore nodded his head, "We did. The tradition in the marriage doesn''t stop by just throwing the bouquet to the females but there''s also one more tradition for the groom to follow by removing the bride''s garter before it is thrown towards the men, simr to the women."

    "I-I didn''t know that," responded Lucy, her eyes locking with Theodore''s eyes. At the same time, his hand had reached to take out the hairpins that were fixed in Lucy''s hair.

    Theodore hummed at this, "It is a recent addition to the tradition of human weddings. I didn''t want to give something so intimate that is worn by you to be taken by someone else," he said with a hint of possessiveness in his voice. Lucy was finally his, and he wasn''t going to share her with anyone. He had stepped closer to her, where he was able to hear her breathing more clearly, noticing how his words had turned her breathless.

    "But won''t that be breaking tradition?" Lucy softly asked, goosebumps forming on the side of her arms.

    A smile formed on Theodore''s lips. Neither of them had ever followed the traditions properly, but here Lucy was worried about notpleting thest one as it was in regard to their wedding.

    "Don''t worry, we can do it here. Let usplete thatst part of the tradition before I fulfill your imagination," Theodore replied to her, his words gentle yet continued to be sensual.

    He then dropped down on his knees right in front of her, and Lucy felt her heartbeat suddenly increase. All this while, he hadn''t broken the gaze away from her, and she gulped.

 Chapter 801: Loving you- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 801: Loving you- Part 2</h4>

    Theodore hadn''t done anything to her that warranted her to blush furiously, but the way he looked at her, she knew she was going to find it out soon. He finally removed the deceiving sses he had been wearing, and in less than a second, the sses disappeared in thin air.

    Being a demon, he had a few tricks of his own.

    Looking down, he caught the hem of her dress before getting inside. Lucy turned even more red by his action. She was d that this was not done in front of everyone because she doubted she would be able to stand still without fainting out of embarrassment. Vampire''s had a fancy life, but it was humans who celebrated it like no other with joy when it came to the weddings.

    "Theo?" Lucy called his name while he had gone under her dress. A quick gasp escaped from her lips, and her hands clutched itself on either side of her dress when she felt Theodore''s hand on her ankle.

    This was too sinful good even for her to handle, thought Lucy to herself. She had never done something like this before, nor had she seen. It would have been easier to know what Theodore was doing, but her gown covered him.

    "I was right in not having your garter given to someone else," she heard Theodore speak to her, and she could feel heat pooling between her legs.

    Theodore was bold, way too bold and even though they had not been together, she had peeped during the times he had flirted with women. His words were enough to have a woman willingly drown for him.

    When she had entered the room, she had already removed her shoes, and she now stood with her stockings that reached until her mid-thighs where the garter had tried to secure it.

    Her eyes closed automatically when she felt his hand trail from her ankle up to her thighs, but he didn''t pull the garter from her, which was made of fanciful ribbons. All it took was one pull to have ite undone. Instead of pulling it with his hand, Theodore moved closer, and Lucy''s eyes flew open on feeling his mouth on her skin near her thigh.

    A small m.o.a.n escaped from her lips, and an uncontroble shiver ran down her body.

    Lucy bit her lip so that the m.o.a.n would not escape her lips, at least not that loudly to her ears. As his lips traced her skin where the garter had been tied, her toes curled, and she tried to make sure her knees didn''t give away. She flinched when he bit into her skin, that left her only more excited.

    He finally pulled the ribbon with his teeth before stepping out of Lucy''s gown.

    On seeing the garter in his hand, Lucy cleared her throat, "The tradition isplete now," she said.

    When Lucy started to walk towards the other side of the divider, Theodore caught hold of her hand, "You don''t have to go there," he said, believing she was going to take a bath. His demeanour that was polite and gentle had started to wither away. The way he looked at her, it stirred something deep within her.

    "I was going to change my clothes," replied Lucy. "To something much easier one to remove..." she added with her cheeks turning red.

    On hearing her words, Theodore''s eyes softened, but the intensity in them didn''t reduce, "That won''t be necessary. No point in wearing something when it is only going to be discarded in a few minutes," he said to her.

    Lucy felt her hand being tugged back to join him, and she followed him like a moth that was attracted to the me. He moved behind her, pulling the strings of her wedding gown one after another where the corset had been tied. Once the topyers of her gown had pooled at her feet, Theodore said,

    "Sit down," his words were sweet to her ears, his voice and actions bewitching her while the old memories of being touched had started to wash away from her mind.

    Theodore watched Lucy listen to every word that came out of his mouth as if he had put a spell on her. With only her stockings and shift covering the white underwear that she wore beneath it, he could feel his fingers wanting to clench, but he tried to keep a calmposure.

    The emotion reminded him of the time in the past when the King had asked him how it felt when he looked at something cute or beautiful. Though it wasn''t Lucy''s first time, her delicate features continued to hold the innocence in her. He would offer her everything she would ask, in every way possible, thought Theodore to himself. He pushed her shift up to her thighs, his eyes falling on her pale legs.

    Before Theodore removed it, he looked up at Lucy, who was intently looking at his hands, "May I?" he asked her.

    "Yes," whispered Lucy, and Theodore effortlessly removed the stocking from one of her legs before removing the other leg''s stockings along with the garter.

    Lucy felt his fingers trail from the top to her ankles before the smooth material was discarded away from her ankles.

    On seeing Theodore stand up, Lucy stepped in front of him. It wasn''t just Theodore who had been waiting but also her. She ced her hands on his chest, feeling her heart continue to beat loudly, but she didn''t care about it.

    She had loved him for so long, wanting to stay near him and wanting his attention only on her and no one else, and now that she had it, Lucy was scared that it was too good to be true.

    Theodore leaned forward to kiss her forehead, "Something worries you. What is it?" he asked her in a whisper, pulling back from her and cing his finger below her chin so that he could take a look at her.

    Lucy put her hands around Theodore''s neck while raising herself on her toes.

    Theodore smiled at her action, and he wound his hands around her waist, holding her safely in his arms.

    "All these days, it feels like I have been dreaming. Somewhere I am scared that it will be taken away from me. I don''t want to lose you," she murmured.

    "You won''t lose me, Lucy. I won''t let that happen to us, not again," he promised.

    When they pulled away, Theodore kissed her forehead, "You are being blessed for being good and it is your goodness that has brought me luck and happiness. So believe it when I say this is not a dream and that it will forever stay like this. It is your time to be happy, Lucy."

    Lucy nodded her head, and she slowly unbuttoned his vest and then his shirt, pushing the fabric away from his shoulder, and it slid down to fall on the ground.

    She ced the palms of her hand on Theodore''s chest, the shyness drifting away from her as she tried to explore his upper body. Her fingers traced the shape of the muscles, hearing the rise in Theodore''s heartbeat, and it fluttered her heart, knowing the effect she had on him.

 Chapter 802: Loving you- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 802: Loving you- Part 3</h4>

    With Theodore, who was much taller than her, she stood on the tip of her toes while her hands were ced on his shoulder. Lucy''s lips traced his chest, reaching the ce underneath where his heart was beating now, she pressed her lips there.

    "You are just like a kitten," said Theodore, his hand moving to hold the side of her face while his thumb brushed her lips.

    In one swift movement, Theodore carried Lucy in his arms, and he ced her at the centre of the bed while joining her.

    Soon Theodore''s hands found their way to where Lucy sat, one hand getting lost in her hair while the other around her waist, wrapping up in his arms to hold her.

    As they kissed, Lucy felt jolts of lightning pass through her body. The kiss was tender and sweet to her lips. She kissed him with the same fervour as she got lost in it. In between the kiss, Theodore pulled back, pecking her lips before he whispered against her lips,

    "I will make you forget everything that you have known before, and all you will need to remember is the present time that we share together."

    To be here, Theodore felt like thousands of years had passed before he had been given the opportunity to take Lucy back to him. He loved her with every single fibre of his, cherishing her with tender kisses while hearing the sighs that escaped from her delicate lips.

    He held the hem of her shift before lifting it and throwing it on the ground. "You''re beautiful, Lucy. So beautiful," he praised her as his eyes fell on her.

    Lucy bit her bottom lip when her body was exposed to Theodore''s eyes. Her pale skin looked flushed because of the way his merciless eyes continuously looked at her.

    His heated gaze noticed every gulp of her and her movements, his ears picking up her heartbeat and the sighs and m.o.a.ns that escaped her lips. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders, covering parts of her shoulders and her chest. Right now, Lucy looked utterly delectable. For so long, he had curbed his needs and desire towards her, ignoring it. But now that she was here, the emotions that had been locked flooded the gates open, that could burn her with him.

    Theodore reached out for her like he would reach out and feel for no one else, cing his hand on her smooth neck before it travelled down.

    His hand turned around, the back of his hand gently touching the curves and tip of her b.r.e.a.s.t. On his touch, Lucy sucked in a breath, her hands and toes curling at the feel of his touch. This feeling, she had never felt like this in herst marriage. Lucy didn''t know one could feel so many emotions by just one single brush of the hand, and the heat between her legs only increased.

    "Do you like this?" questioned Theodore, his voice had lowered than his usual voice. He used his fingers to touch the tips of her b.r.e.a.s.t, and her heart hitched.

    "W-what kind of question is that?" Lucy asked with her heart thudding. What was there not to like? She asked, feeling the sinful touch that only aroused her body even more.

    Theodore softly chuckled at her embarrassed reaction, "A question that is easy to answer with a yes or no." His eyes had not left her face. Due to his constant touch, the tips of her b.r.e.a.s.t had turned hard, which had an inviting colour to it.

    "Yes," she whispered quickly when he stopped his hand.

    Theodore moved closer to Lucy, kissing her lips again while he carefully had hery on her back on the bed before he hovered above her. Pushing her hair away from her shoulders, his lips quicklytched on to her neck, leaving a trail of kisses before they found their way to her b.r.e.a.s.ts.

    Her hands twisted into the sheet that was beneath her, crumpling them when Theodore''s hand squeezed one of her b.r.e.a.s.ts while he used his mouth on the other. His mouth captured the tip of Lucy''s b.r.e.a.s.t, sucking and tugging on it to hear her m.o.a.n in pleasure. Her back arched when he lightly bit it, a loud m.o.a.n escaping her lips that was mixed with pain and pleasure.

    The pleasure was like waves of water that left for a moment only to hit back again at the shore, and Lucy''s thoughts were all over the ce as Theodore''s mouth worked on her b.r.e.a.s.t. Her own hands couldn''t stay still, and she weaved her fingers through the thick locks of his hair. When he bit again, her grip on his hair tightened and to soothe it, he gently licked the skin.

    Dropping a kiss, his head lowered down while the hand that had been palming her b.r.e.a.s.t left to y with the hem of her white underwear.

    "I am going to remove it," Theodore let her know, and in that moment, she looked adorable. Both her hands hade to hold together in front of her chest, and there was an anxiousness in her eyes.

    "I will be gentle," he promised even though she had already given her consent from her side.

    Hearing his words, Lucy smiled, "I know you will be. You always have been," she replied to his words.

    Theodore had always put her first even if it hurt him, "Theo," she called him when his fingers were about to tug the cloth. "Love me the way you want to love me, not the way I want you to," she said, her gaze holding him for long.

    Hearing this, his eyes turned even darker than usual, and if it was night, it would have looked pitch ck.

    His voice had turned a little huskier as he said, "I think the way you want me to love you is exactly the way I want to love you," his lips pulled up, and he added, "I will love you more than that," and he tugged her underwear until her ankles before letting it join with the rest of their discarded clothes.

 Chapter 803: Beyond dreams- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 803: Beyond dreams- Part 1</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Friedrich Dances with Jo- Alexandre Dest

    .

    Hearing the words that came from Theodore''s lips, Lucy felt her heart skip a beat. Compared to her, he was more experienced when it came to the art of seduction. Her toes curled further, her ankles twisted in a way where her heel dug themselves into the surface of the bed. With thest garment that left her body, she waspletely under Theodore''s mercy.

    Indirectly, she had told him not to hold back and love her the way he wanted to because she would be able to handle it. Though her body wasn''t as good as an average vampire, it wasn''t as delicate as the human, at least; that is how she liked to believe it to be.

    She had yearned for Theodore for a very long time. Now that the obstacles between them had disappeared, there was nothing there to stop them.

    Theodore''s demeanour had always been slightly different with herpared to the time when he spent with others. It was something that she had noticed only after she was married to Samuel, realizing something to be off, but she had been angry at him, enough to believe that this was just his frivolous attitude.

    Theodore was going to touch Lucy just the way she wanted, but with her, who had voiced her opinion, he didn''t see any reason to hold back his wild nature with her. He was a man who had originallye from the streets, someone who had gone through immense hardsh.i.p.s in the past and his life had been rough. To think that this lovely creature in front of him loved him, he wanted to freeze time.

    His eyes slowly trailed from the top of her head to her feet, observing every little detail as if he was memorizing them where he would be able to sculpt her if he went blind.

    He could hear her heartbeat that skipped after every couple of seconds. She looked ethereal in his eyes with her hair that was let down and spread around the pillow. Her breathing was shallow as she peered up at him, her b.r.e.a.s.ts perked up as if waiting for his attention, her stomach had dipped down out of anticipation. Her thighs pressed against each other, trying to hide what was between her legs, but not for long.

    Lucy felt her body heat up with just Theodore''s gaze on her. He touched her very soul through his eyes, and every time it moved to another part of her body, her heart hitched, and her cheeks turned redder.

    Her desire of wanting to be touched only increased with every passing second, and Lucy gasped when Theodore ran his fingers from the side of her knee in an upward direction.

    "You''re so beautiful, Lucy," whispered Theodore, and in one quick movement, he picked up one of her legs, raising it to have Lucy blush furiously. He had raised her leg from the bed towards his shoulder.

    "Theo!" Lucy responded in surprise.

    His lips were quick to kiss her ankle, pressing his lips for a long time before his eyes met hers from where he sat in between her legs. "I seem to have remembered something that happenedst night, not to forget how naughty you were a few years ago."

    Theodore noticed how his words only fueled the passion in Lucy''s eyes, but she didn''t utter a word about it, quietly watching what he did to her.

    He glided his lips from her ankle to the inner side of her thigh, and the closer he got to the core, he smelt her wet arousal.

    When Theodore bit Lucy''s inner thigh, sinking his fangs there, a small cry escaped from her lips. Her back arched at the pleasurable pain, and it allowed Theodore to run his hand on her back that had arched itself.

    "Was it painful?" he asked her.

    "No," came the whisper from Lucy''s lips.

    The next second, Theodore had picked a higher spot to sink in his fangs, tasting the blood that seeped down his fangs, and it left another cry from Lucy''s lips. Her hands moved away from her chest to hold on to the bedsheet on either side of her body.

    With the pillows that supported her head, Lucy could see what Theodore was doing. His tongue peeked out of his mouth, licking the traces of blood from her skin. Every time his gaze met hers, the sensual look in there and the dark streak of s.e.xiness melted her body under his touch.

    The hint of pain mixed with pleasure was something Lucy felt she was getting addicted to quickly.

    Lucy was sure that there were going to be bruises on her neck and her thigh tomorrow where Theodore had sunk his fangs and sucked her blood, but she didn''t mind it. Call her to be strange, but she had always wanted to have her lover''s markings on her skin.

    In the past, she had never belonged anywhere, the ce she hade to believe had been taken away by her grandmother and her mother by killing her Nana. And the rtionship between her and Samuel had been an odd one.

    "AH!" Lucy cried when Theodore bit harder, but this time without breaking her skin.

    "Don''t think about other things when you are with me. I am a very jealous person," Theodore whispered those words against her skin.

    "That makes two of us," said Lucy, and she gulped when she caught the small mischievous smirk on his face.

    "I am d to hear that." Suddenly she gasped when she felt Theodore''s finger swipe across her wet core between her legs. "So ready for me," he hummed in appreciation as his finger continued to move up and down.

    The intimate contact had Lucy breathless, and when Theodore pushed his finger in and out, she quickly closed her eyes.

    Her breathing turnedboured with every movement of his fingers, and her nails dug into the surface while her back arched. All this time, Theodore continued to watch every e.r.o.t.i.c expression that passed on her face while listening to every sound that escaped from her lips. Her lips trembled with delight, and just when her arousal was going to hit the peak, he stopped.

 Chapter 804: Beyond dreams- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 804: Beyond dreams- Part 2</h4>

    Lucy turned utterly confused, her eyes flying open because she had been close to climax, but it had been denied as Theodore had pulled his finger away from her pulsing core.

    "What happened?" she asked, her eyebrows knitting together as she looked at Theodore.

    Before she could get an answer, she caught sight of Theodore licking the finger that he had used to pleasure her, and her face lit up into fire, ready tobust with embarrassment.

    "We have the whole day and the night for ourselves, I thought I would take my sweet time in loving you," replied Theodore, once he pulled his finger out of his mouth.

    "You are teasing me," she used him cutely, and Theodore chuckled.

    "I would not dare to do such a thing. Not to you, my love," he smiled in humour and then ced both his hands on her knees. "We were only warming up. But now��let me taste you."

    Lucy''s heart went still when Theodore pushed her knees apart and bent forward. When his lips touched her throbbing s.e.x, her breathing returned only to increase as her heart continued to beat quickly.

    Lucy closed her eyes as they rolled back, and she threw her head back. Theodore licked her aching s.e.x at first, and a shiver ran down her spine that had arched itself. She had never done this, this e.r.o.t.i.c thing...not even in the past, which was why it was new. Lucy had only heard about it from some of the women when she attended the soiree.

    For a person who had never been touched like this before, Theodore was the first one to go down on her, kissing and licking her, which had fireworks bursting in the back of her head.

    "AH!" Lucy cried out when he sucked on her, and she doubted she would be able tost like this. Her arousal was hitting a high she had never experienced before, and it felt like her body had turned alive for the very first time.

    "Theo!" she m.o.a.ned.

    Her hand moved up to the upper side of the bed, not knowing what to do as she experienced this new sensation that Theodore was helping her experience.

    Lucy''s m.o.a.ns only encouraged Theodore to pleasure her even more as he helped her reach her orgasm one more time, this time letting her hit the peak.

    The feeling of her hitting her orgasm was earth-shattering, but Theodore didn''t stop there but continued to kiss and nibble her, his tongue probing her. When she came again, Lucy''s breathing turned heavy and shallow as she tried to catch her breath.

    Theodore lifted his head from between her legs, sitting upright while he ran his thumb on the side of his lips before sucking it in his mouth. He caught sight of Lucy, who still had her eyes closed as her body hummed with the orgasm she had just felt her body go through. His fingers gently caressed the side of her body, feeling the curve of her bottom and the dip after her waist.

    He came toy next to her, watching her expression in fascination. Her delicate lips were parted as they breathed in and out.

    "Are you alright, my love?" asked Theodore, his words gentle as he caressed her cheek.

    Lucy''s eyes fluttered open, her eyes heavily filled with arousal as they appeared slightly dted, "I am wonderful," she replied to him, a smileing to form on her lips.

    The word wonderful reminded Theodore of the drunk night, and he smiled back at her.

    "You were wonderful," agreed Theodore, his eyes looking at her as if he was in a trance.

    "I never knew this could be so beautiful and amazing," hummed Lucy when he leaned forward to kiss her shoulder.

    Hearing Lucy''s words, his eyes went back to meet hers, and he asked in doubt, "Isn''t it always amazing?" Her eyes lowered, a small smile on her lips that looked sad. "Don''t tell me..." his eyes narrowed while realizing what she meant.

    That bastard had not treated her with love. "F.u.c.k!" he cursed under his breath in disbelief as anger started to simmer in his mind. He couldn''t believe that he had sent Lucy to someone who had failed in being a husband to her in every aspect.

    Lucy deserved everything in this world, every bit of happiness and love. He had done exactly what her parents had done to her; he had made her suffer in pain and loneliness.

    "Theo," Lucy ced her hand on the side of his face, feeling the anguish he was feeling right now. "What happened is in the past, you shouldn''t let your mind dwell on it," she whispered to him.

    "If I could, I wish I could change and maybe erase his existence from the very beginning. Ethan would have been a far better choice that time but I failed to see what type of person Samuel was," he said to her. "Why didn''t you tell me anything."

    Lucy smiled, her eyes kindly looking at him, "We weren''t on talking terms to tell you that my then husband wasn''t pleasuring me like every other woman was used to. Most. That he was selfish enough to only see his pleasure met," she paused for a moment and said, "Maybe it was pride. I didn''t want you to know that I was...feeling that way."

    All those years, she had been unhappy, and he had failed to see it. He should have known, but they had changed. They both had changed from what they knew about each other in the beginning.

    Theodore''s lips were set in a thin line as he continued to stare at her, "I should have tortured him more." With everything she had gone through, she had forgiven him, he thought in his mind.

    Lucy circled her arms around him. Leaning forward, she bit his lips and then beamed with a smile, "If you had sent me to Ethan, we would not be here."

    To Theodore, Lucy was like a rainbow, her spirit beautiful and vibrant.

    "I guess you are right," leaning forward, he kissed her lips.

    This was not the time to speak about it, and right now, all he wanted to do was make Lucy happy. To give her everything he could, which he couldn''t in the past.

 Chapter 805: Beyond dreams- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 805: Beyond dreams- Part 3</h4>

    Theodore picked up Lucy''s hand in his, kissing the back of her fingers, and he said, "I promise to love and cherish you, Lucy, until the very end of our time."

    "I know you will," Lucy pushed herself up before pushing him toy down on the bed. "I don''t want to be the only one to enjoy our first..day together," she said as it was only post noon, and Theodore was intrigued by what Lucy had on her mind. If there was something he knew about his wife, she was a woman who had always been eager and excited about things.

    Lucy got on top of Theodore, cing her legs on both sides while she leaned forward to kiss him, "I love you, Theo, with all my heart. I have for a very long time and am also guilty for chasing my governess away so that she wouldn''t spend time with you."

    Saying this, Lucy ran her hands over Theodore''s shoulders, feeling the muscles that were firm and strong.

    Pushing her hair to one side of her shoulder, Lucy leaned forward to kiss his lips before peppering kisses along the length of his jaw. Moving to the column of his neck, she left long and lingering kisses as she pressed her lips on his skin, taking her time to let him know how much she treasured him.

    The doors of love that had been closed had opened since the day he had taken hits from Samuel, and she had gone to Theodore''s room to tend to his wounds. Her fangs appeared, and she let it lightly scr.a.p.e against the surface of his skin which joined his neck and shoulder. Wanting to return the favour of love, Lucy let her fangs sink into Theodore''s neck, purposely biting hard into it so that it would leave a mark there for a few days.

    Theodore didn''t mind the pain that Lucy gave him, and he weed it. His hands didn''t stay still, and it went to hold Lucy, one hand caressing the back of her head, while the other had moved to feel the curve of her waist.

    Once Lucy was done biting him, she let her fangs retrace back, and when her gaze met his, right at the moment, she licked the blood where she had bitten him. While her eyes turned bright in mischief, knowing what effect her little action had done to him, Theodore''s eyes had turned dark in arousal.

    "Don''t y with fire, Lucy," warned Theodore.

    Lucy moved closer to him and said, "I came to burn, I cannot help it."

    She kissed his shoulders before hovering down and showing the same affection to his abs beforeing to sit near his legs with her hands that touched the edge of his trouser. Small hums of approval had escaped Theodore''s lips, but she wanted him to feel the same way he had made her feel.

    Seeing the curious expression on his face on what she was going to do, Lucy yed with the edge before she slowly pulled it down while he helped her remove the rest of his clothes that were on him. They were both n.a.k.e.d on the bed now.

    Lucy''s gaze moved to look at Theodore''s manhood, and a soft gulp went down her throat.

    "You don''t have to do it if you aren''t ready," said Theodore, but Lucy quickly shook her head.

    "I want to," she whispered while her cheeks burned brightly.

    Her marriage to Theodore wasn''t out of force or out of her will, but something she had dreamt and eagerly awaited. They were both going to work together, but the truth was neither had to work because they loved each other immensely. Their love was easy, just like the air they breathed, thought Lucy to herself.

    Her hands moved to hold his manhood that felt warm and throbbed in her hand. On her touch, another hum came from Theodore, and it was enough to urge her to continue.

    She knew what to do next as she had done this before. Leaning forward, Lucy took his member in her mouth and started to lick and suck him. Hearing Theodore''s sharp intake of breath, she continued to move her head up and down while watching him, where he had thrown his head back in pleasure.

    Theodore ran his hand through his hair as Lucy''s hot mouth surrounded his member, working on pleasing him, and he never knew Lucy could be this good at it as he felt his control slipping through with desire. Curses left his mouth when she didn''t stop but only continued, licking the head before moving to the length of the shaft.

    "F.u.c.k Lucy!" Theodore cursed, and hearing him curse had Lucy internally puff her chest.

    She didn''t stop until he hit his own peak, and she pulled away, seeing his chest heaving for air. His eyes that were closed snapped open and looked at her in a heated gaze.

    Lifting himself, he sat up with her on hisp. He ran his thumb over the bottom of her lips, "You''ve turned to a vixen," he murmured, and a shy smile appeared on her lips.

    "Was it good?" she asked him while ying with the ends of the back of his hair.

    "The best," responded Theodore as he tucked one side of her hair behind her ear. "It is always the best when you do things together with the person you love. Always."

    She noticed it, thought Lucy to herself.

    Theodore pulled her closer to him while putting his arms around her waist, and he stared into her eyes.

    Without letting Lucy go, Theodore ced her back on the bed, hovering her while he kissed her lips again, their tongues dancing with each other, yfully fighting for dominance before Theodore won, and Lucy smiled into the kiss.

    Lucy''s hands had moved to settle on his shoulders as they kissed, and she felt his manhood brush against her wet entrance.

    Parting from the kiss, Lucy''s lips trembled along with her body. Not breaking eye contact with Theodore, she finally felt him enter her, and she gasped, feeling him fill her whole.

    .

    .

    Ending chapter song- Somewhere Only we knew - Keane

 Chapter 806: Grandpa Vlad- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 806: Grandpa d- Part 1</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Together Again- Stephen Rennicks

    .

    Lucy didn''t know how much time had passed, but both hers and Theodore''s body was covered in a sheen of sweat as their bodies moved on the bed. Every thrust of Theodore had her go to the edge of the cliff as if she was standing with the tip of her toes while waiting to jump off the cliff.

    The feeling she felt was iparable and out of this world.

    Gasps and m.o.a.ns escaped her lips, the room filling with their sounds as Theodore filled her.

    Her lips called his name with every touch of Theodore, and all she could think right now was him, who was in her arms. Like Theodore, she looked at his expression that was filled with desire. Her hand moved from his shoulder to ce it on his jaw.

    In time, Theodore leaned towards her to kiss her lips. He stole everything that belonged to her, the first being her heart and thest being her breath.

    She gave him everything, and he took it from her without a doubt, stealing everything so that he could keep her safe with him.

    "AH!" a m.o.a.n came out of Lucy''s lips when Theodore hit the spot while he thrusted his h.i.p.s back and forth. Her heart rate had spiked up, and he hit it again to elicit another m.o.a.n from her, which sounded the sweetest in his ears.

    Lucy''s hand went back to his shoulder, pulling him closer in a way where her fingernails dug into his back, marking him the way he had marked her. Watching Theodore''s love and l.u.s.t-filled raw expression had her heart squeeze and her toes curl. In a few seconds, her body trembled before she came undone with Theodore holding her in his arms.

    Her body turned ck, her b.r.e.a.s.ts moving up and down with her back arched while her head was thrown back.

    Theodore himself had stepped into a different kind of high, and when his senses returned to the room, he saw Lucy, who looked dazed with her lips parted and her body humming. Bringing his hand forward, he traced his finger from the column of her neck to travel down between the valley of her b.r.e.a.s.ts and then downwards to her stomach that trembled at his touch.

    Her pale skin had turned pinkish-red because of his teeth and hands. He pulled himself out before lifting her in his arms.

    Lucy''s body followed his direction, moving along with him as he sat upright. She wrapped herself around his body, putting her hand around him while letting her face rest on one of his shoulders. Theodore held her closely, not letting her go and holding her in his arms as he patted the back of her head.

    There was a smile on his lips, to think that the princess was finally his. They had gone three rounds straight without a break, and it must have tired her, he thought in his mind.

    "Do you want to sleep?" Theodore asked her, his voice soothing her spent body.

    Lucy had a small smile on her lips. Her eyes were closed as she relished the moment of their love-making that was everything she had imagined it to be and maybe more.

    "No," she whispered to him before pulling away from his embrace so that she could look into his eyes.

    Her husband was handsome, with sharp features and demeanour that he liked to hide behind the golden frames. Somewhere, she understood why Samuel was insecure in front of Theodore''s presence, and one side of her lips pulled up.

    Theodore broke her thoughts by saying, "Would you like to go another round?" and when her eyes widened, a hearty chuckle escaped from his sinful lips.

    Lucy knew she wouldn''t be able to handle another round of love-making with him. The chances of her falling asleep because of tiredness was possible, and she didn''t want their first time together to end up like that.

    Both her hands hade to rest on Theodore''s face, her fingers tracing his features, "Bath?"

    "Bath it is," responded Theodore, picking her up in his arms, he carried her to the bath, and he joined in.

    Theodore helped her take a bath, pouring water on her shoulder and his hands gently moving across her shoulders whilst he had her back leaning against him.

    The water felt cold, and Lucy sighed, feeling Theodore massage her shoulders, "Your hands feel good," she hummed in appreciation.

    "I am d that you like them," replied Theodore from behind her.

    Lucy felt like she had returned to being a princess again, maybe a Queen. That''s right, thought Lucy to herself. With Theodore next to her, who treated her with care and respect, offering himself with love, she doubted her life could get any better. This moment that they shared felt right.

    "The day seems to havee and gone too quickly," murmured Lucy, thoughtfully.

    The wedding day had felt so far, and then near, and now that it was over, it felt like it had finished too soon. She was happy that Madeline had extended the wedding time at the church by getting the painter to get a portrait done of everyone in it. With everyone together, it felt good.

    "Is there something you would like to do?" asked Theodore, his hand moving to the mug to fill water in it before pouring it on Lucy''s body.

    She shook her head, "I want to spend time with you. That is more than sufficient for me," she smiled at him.

    Theodore leaned his head and kissed her bare shoulder, "I am more than happy toply with your wishes."

    Turning around, she took the mug from Theodore''s hand to fill it up and pour the water on him so that she could wash him too. How strange and funny, thought Lucy to herself. An angel and a devil hade to attend their wedding.

    "It seems like you have a grandfather now," said Theodore while taking a scoopful of water in his hand and pouring it on her neck and noticed the love bites he had given her.

    "I am excited," beamed Lucy. "He doesn''t seem as bad as people talk about him."

 Chapter 807: Grandpa Vlad- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 807: Grandpa d- Part 2</h4>

    Leave it on Lucy to think the worst person to be a decent person, thought Theodore in his mind. But then that was what made her his Lucy. The ability to not see the worst and to see the best in everything was a gift and, at the same time, a curse. And he decided to turn it into aplete gift while eliminating anything or anyone who woulde to harm her.

    Pecking her lips, he smiled. Happy to see the lost smile on her face return after many years, he intended to keep it this way for the rest of their lives.

    "It is nice you know, our family is getting extended," said Lucy in a thoughtful tone. "First it was just me and brother Cal, but now we are all rted to each other. Calhoun is married to Madeline, you, who is his best friend, married his sister, so now you two are brother-inws. Then we have dimir, who is our new grandpa."

    Theodore wasn''t too keen on keeping dimir as his grandfather-inw because the Devil meant trouble. Calhoun was the Devil''s grandson. If it weren''t so, everyone would have had a piece of the Devil''s wrath and being friends with him was thest thing one would do. He knew exactly why the Devil had offered him a job in the underworld; that way, it would be easier to persuade Calhoun toe and join Hell.

    Lucy continued to speak excitedly, "Oh! I never knew he was interested in the head of the High House."

    "If I would have known earlier that you had this much energy, we would be not here but in the bed," said Theodore, his wet hand touching her face, and Lucy blushed. "Enough about others, I want to talk about you."

    "Okay," whispered Lucy, "We shall speak about me and you."

    Away from the newlywed''s room, Calhoun sat with Aunt Monique, talking to her on the first floor of the front patio of the castle, while Madeline was resting in their room after throwing up again.

    "Is it necessary to leave this early? I am sure we all could use yourpany in the castle. It will turn a little lonely without you," one side of Calhoun''s lips pulled up in a smile.

    "I have overstayed my stay here in the castle. I thought it was going to be a short visit where I would be returning to my mansion once I finished attending your wedding, but I ended up staying longer than the expected time. My poor dog must be missing me and might think I have died," replied Lady Monique with a smile.

    With the asion of the wedding that hadpleted, and Calhoun and Lucy, who had married the people they loved, Lady Monique didn''t see a reason to stay any longer in the castle.

    "In a few months you will be having one more member added to the Hawthrone family," smiled the older vampiress, her eyes gaze on the grounds of the castle. "Time has changed and it feels good, doesn''t it. The peace we all have been looking forward to. You have done well, King Calhoun. More than I expected you to do."

    In the past, Monique had been worried when news had reached her about Constance''s son in the castle, that like the woman, even her son would be put under a simr situation. But Calhoun had ovee the hurdles.

    During the time of the evening, Lady Monique''s trunks had been ced in the back of the carriage along with another carriage that was ready to go with her, filled with gifts for her by Calhoun. Everyone had stepped out of the castle, standing near the carriages, where the older vampiress was going to take her leave.

    "Do you really need to go, Aunt Monique?" asked Lucy, her voice a little sad.

    "I wille to visit you, or you cane to visit me. Write me letters, dear Lucy," said Monique with a smile on her lips.

    "I will miss you terribly," Lucy hugged her aunt, the hugsting for more than five seconds before they pulled away from each other. "Once the mansion has finished its renovation, we wille to visit you."

    Lady Monique''s eyes shifted to look at Theodore, who offered her a bow, "We look forward to visiting you, mdy."

    "Take care of Lucy. She is like my own daughter," said Monique.

    "I will, mdy," responded Theodore, putting his arm around Lucy when she returned to his side.

    "The King and the Queen," Monique turned to Calhoun and Madeline. "I wish you happiness that you didn''t find in the past. Please take care of yourself," she said, looking at Madeline.

    "Your help won''t be forgotten, Lady Monique," Calhoun was grateful that Lady Monique had stayed back in the castle while offering her support.

    "With my work done here, it is time for me to leave now," Monique murmured under her breath. Wishing everyone, she finally got inside her carriage. Soon, the horses pulled the carriages away from the front of the castle before leaving the castle grounds through the gates.

    Madeline felt Calhoun slip his hand in hers, and she smiled.

    "Your parents areing here tomorrow?" asked Calhoun, and Madeline hummed.

    "That''s what the letter said," replied Madeline, unconsciously her other hand moved to her stomach, cing it there protectively.

    Calhoun tugged her hand, climbing up the stairs while Theodore and Lucy followed a couple of steps away from them.

    Soon even Lucy and Theodore would leave the castle to look after the renovation of the mansion. It felt like everyone had gone through a long journey. They had started with the worse and had ended with the best days to look forward to in the future, thought Madeline in her mind.

    A week passed in the castle since Lucy and Theodore had been married, and the castle turned joyous but also quiet at the same time as the couples were busy with each other.

    On one fine morning, the King and the Queen finally broke the news about Madeline being pregnant, and Lucy couldn''t be anymore happier.

    "I cannot believe we are going to have a small one in the castle soon!" gushed Lucy. "I am so happy for both of you!"

    Madelineughed at Lucy''s excitement. She had already sent a letter to her sister Beth to inform her about the news the very evening of the wedding day.

    ''Dear Beth, I hope you are doing well.

    I heard from Calhoun about the disturbance that is going on in the Nortnds, and it has had me worried, but I know you are stronger. Winter has passed, and the flowers of the spring that we used to view have bloomed. It looks beautiful, and I wished you were here with me.

    Lucy is finally married to Theodore, and she''s very happy. They both are. Mother and father are going to be here in the castle.

    I wrote this letter because I have news to share with you. In a few months, you are going to be an aunt, Beth. I am pregnant. Calhoun has not been letting me do anything much and, as always, hovers around me as if I will trip and fall any moment�� I know the reason why you left Devon, Beth. But I hope you can forgive yourself. Come home soon. I miss you.

    Love Maddie.''

 Chapter 808: Grandpa Vlad- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 808: Grandpa d- Part 3</h4>

    In the underworld, the scrawny servant looked for his Master in haste.

    "Master! Master!" Odin came running through the corridors and burst through the Devil''s room, where the Devil was taking his bath, immersing himself in the fuming acid.

    dimir, who had his eyes closed while rxing himself in the bath, squinted one of his eyes open in slight annoyance, "So noisy. This better be good, Odin for disturbing me," came his low threat to his servant. If it was someone else, he would have burned them and thrown them inside the hot iron pot.

    But dimir hade to believe that Odin had gotten so used to it that the punishments had turned pointless, not to mention his servant was amusing.

    Entering the room, Odin caught sight of his master who was surrounded by two demonesses, who were helping him bathe.

    "Master, I have news!" said Odin, his eyes looked wider than usual and dimir tapped his nail on the surface of the room while he had his back rested in the bath pool. "Master, Lady Madeline, s-she is going to have a child!"

    "WHAT?!" dimir''s eyes narrowed on hearing this and he got up from the bath, before snapping his fingers for the two demonesses to disappear from the room. "And how sure are you of the information. You aren''t joking about this, are you, Odin?"

    Odin vigorously shook his head and if it was a person from the living world, they would have snapped their head. "I heard Master Calhoun speaking about it with Lady Madeline, Master! I would never dare make jokes like this," not to mention, Odin often didn''t understand jokes or sarcasm which was why dimir''s sarcasticments went right through his head.

    "I have spent more time in Hell than in the living world," dimir huffed and he raised his hand for the clothes to automatically move from the stand to move towards his body. In less than three seconds, the devil waspletely dressed and he said, "I cannot believe my grandson would not inform me something so important," his eyes lit itself with fire and he took a deep breath to calm it down.

    With the next snap, dimir had disappeared from the room and Odin looked around to realize his master had gone to visit the Hawthrone''s castle.

    dimir suddenly appeared in the middle of the corridor, making one of the maids shriek in fear before tripping and running away from there on noticing the Devil''s presence.

    The Devil cared very little to the maid''s reaction as he made his way through the corridors to finally notice his grandson who was talking to one of the ministers of the royal court. Unable to contain his anger, dimir''s voice shook through the castle.

    "Calhoun!"

    Calhoun''s eyes leisurely moved to the side to catch sight of dimir, who was fuming in anger and he walked to where he was. The minister looked terrified and cleared his throat.

    "I-Is that all for the day, my King?" asked the minister, wanting to take a leave as soon as possible.

    With the existence of angels and demons known in the living world, word had spread quickly on who the Devon King''s grandfather was.

    Calhoun raised his hand, waving for the minister to leave and the man was more than happy to oblige. Some of the servants who were working in the open were quick to hide behind the walls and others like Madeline and Lucy who were in the patio together had stepped out of the room and into the corridor along with Theodore who came out of the royal court room.

    "d, what a surprise," greeted Calhoun, his voice calm. He offered the Devil a smile.

    The nerve of this boy, thought dimir in his mind. His mother was such a sweetheart and this one here was nothing less to him.

    "How dare you keep away something so important as Madeline turning pregnant away from me?" demanded dimir. Suddenly Odin appeared a few steps behind dimir.

    Calhoun looked at the Devil and said, "We thought to share the news with you when you woulde to visit us. You did visit a lot before Lucy got married. I didn''t know you would stop visiting us, d."

    Noticing Madeline who was glowing, a bright smile appeared on dimir''s lips and he asked sarcastically, "Do you mean to say I would never find out if I didn''te to visit you? Did you perhaps lose your power to enter Hell?"

    "I think you are imagining things now...grandfather," smiled Calhoun and dimir''s eyes subtly narrowed. "We were actually hoping you would drop by today. We even ordered the kitchen cook to prepare delicious dishes."

    They did? Asked Madeline in her mind.

    Calhoun then said, "You are going to be a great grandfather, d."

    "Hmph," harrumphed the Devil but Calhoun noticed the spark of excitement that the old man held in his eyes, walking past him, he went to stand in front of Madeline. "Look at you. I cannot wait to see my great grandchild, Madeline."

    Madeline bowed her head in greeting and said, "We too, d. Thank you foring to see us."

    "You are my granddaughter-inw. When Odin gave me the news, I came here as quickly as I could. I know the right things you should eat and drink," dimir raised his hand and a scroll appeared in his hand. "This has everything that you will ever need. Come now, let me tell you what are the most important things to remember," he said, having Madeline walk next to him. Madeline looked at Calhoun and he nodded at her.

    "Grandpa d is like a whirlwind," murmured Lucy.

    Calhoun watched dimir walk next to Madeline, his steps slower than usual so that Madeline didn''t have to walk too fast to keep up with him.

    A smile appeared on his lips and he said, "He is. Let''s go and have lunch together," turning around he looked at Odin, who hadn''t moved from his ce, "You too."

    With Mr. and Mrs. Harris, who had arrived two hours ago, everyone gathered themselves in the castle''s dining room to have lunch together as a family.

 Chapter 809: Submission of a wish- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 809: Submission of a wish- Part 1</h4>

    PLEASE READ- On 30th of this month, I will be releasing a new book. I hope you look forward to it! Also, tomorrow 5 chapters will be released for this book, along with 1 chapter for ''The Fourth Mistress''

    .

    Lucy sat at the table next to Theodore along with the other people who were part of her family now��listening to people talking andughing, while Mr. and Mrs. Harris appeared shell shocked without a wording out of their lips unless somebody asked them a question.

    "I was the one who took care of Constance, I know everything that you would need to know. Isn''t that right, Odin," said dimir, and Odin, who had taken a seat next to his master, quickly nodded his head vigorously.

    "Master is excellent with children," agreed Odin.

    The young-looking servant of the Devil was too excited to be seated next to his master that he had not dared to touch the silverware that were on the table. With both his hands on hisp and his back straight against the chair, he looked at the food that had been brought by the maids.

    dimir was busy talking to Madeline on how to take care of the baby since he had had her walk next to him. "I will have three servants of mine in here to serve you. This way I will have little to worry about."

    Calhoun rolled his eyes, "That is unnecessary. We have enough servants in the castle to look after Madeline, most importantly, she has me," he said, cing his hand on Madeline''s hand that was resting on the top of the table. "Truthfully, I wouldn''t want my wife left in the hands of the maids or even midwives in the future for a long duration. I would rather like to be as involved as I can with her and my child by taking care of her."

    "My great grandchild," added dimir. He then looked at the food that was kept on the table that was leafy green vegetables. "Where is the raw meat? All I see is overcooked meat, and not a hint of blood on it."

    Calhoun smiled at his grandfather, "We don''t know if we are going to have a human or a vampire or a demon or an angel in the family. Madeline and I believe it is best to feed the baby slowly with vegetables just in case it turns out to be a human baby."

    dimir loudly huffed, "You are the Devil''s grandson, of course the baby will be a powerful demon."

    Hearing this, the food that Mrs. Harris had swallowed ended up in the wrong pipe, and she coughed to be helped by her husband, who patted her back.

    Paying no heed to the Harris family, dimir continued, "Our bloodline is strong. I am sure that the child will turn into a little devil!" he gave a curt nod as if it had been finalized.

    "Grandpa d," Lucy spoke to gain his attention, and the Devil turned to look at her. "Weren''t you once an angel? Do you think it will influence the baby? The chances of the child turning into an angel is high."

    "I prefer it doesn''t happen so. Can you imagine the angels leaving the baby alone if it were to turn into an angel. They will take him to Heaven. From what I heardst time, the angels were quite persistent when it came to wanting Madeline to be in Heaven."

    Calhoun couldn''t help but agree with dimir''s words. The angels were strange at times when it came to their values, not to forget the way Paschar and Raphael had been punished.

    "Let us hope the child turns out to be healthy, we can worry about the remaining things when he or shees out," said Madeline. There were still months for the baby to grow inside her belly and then for her to give birth, thought Madeline to herself. This baby that was slowly growing every second, it was going to be loved and cherished, the most loved child, she said to herself.

    "Calhoun, I would like you to keep Odin here for a while. He is the best I have had until now and he will make sure to see that Madeline is safe when you aren''t around," decided dimir.

    Odin looked at his master in surprise, "Master?" there was a sadness in his voice.

    Seeing this, dimir rolled his eyes, "I am not sending you forever. It is only until Madeline gives birth to the child. Of course I will call you back from time to time for my own little work."

    But Madeline and Calhoun weren''t too sure about having Odin as the caretaker. The servant did more damage to himself than taking care to make sure no damage would take ce.

    "We appreciate your help, grandfather, but we''ll be fine. If we do need your help, we''ll be sure to ask for it," said Calhoun in a serious tone, and dimir gave him a nod.

    Madeline was eating her boiled peas when a green looking juice was pushed to her side by dimir, and he said, "This is made out of many healthy leaves. It doesn''t taste that great but you and the growing baby will be nourished within a few hours. Go on," he waited for her to drink it.

    Just by the looks of it, Madeline felt sick, and she looked at Calhoun, who whispered, "Now you will know I am less pushy than the others in the room," with a wicked smile on his lips.

    "That''s not helpful at all," whispered Madeline, but everyone at the table heard them, making them chuckle.

    Calhoun lovingly looked at his wife, and he then reached for the ss, taking a sip from it before handing it to her, "There, you don''t have to feel lonely that you are drinking it alone."

    At his action, a sweet smile spread on Madeline''s lips, and she raised the ss near her lips before finishing the entire juice.

    dimir, who was watching this, couldn''t help but feel the emptiness return to his heart. If the world was truly good, his daughter Constance would have been alive. He would have been able to tend to her and be there with her when carrying and giving birth to Calhoun. He had lost the opportunity, and the memory was hard to let go of. It waspletely another matter that he would have beaten the man who had sullied his daughter to death in the living world unless the man had been someone who loved Constance.

 Chapter 810: Submission of a wish- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 810: Submission of a wish- Part 2</h4>

    Constance was his child, his heart that had been torn away from him and was now in Heaven. She was at peace, and that was what mattered. But at the same time, he was the Devil, and he wanted his daughter next to him with this growing family.

    "Did you hear anything from Beth, Maddie?" Mrs. Harris asked her daughter.

    "I sent her a letter nearly a week ago. If it has reached her in time, it should take another week or two for the reply to reach the castle," replied Madeline.

    Hearing this, Mrs. Harris sighed.

    Madeline knew her parents worried about her younger sister Elizabeth as she was away from thend of Devon and was staying in one of the northernnds right now. She would have gone to visit her sister, but with the baby, she knew Calhoun wouldn''t want her going anywhere outside the castle where there was harm.

    "How long does it take for one to master and control the werewolves abilities?" questioned Lucy to her husband.

    Theodore responded to her question, "On an average it takes months or possibly years. But with Lady Elizabeth who doesn''t have the transformation problem, it should be a little less problematic."

    dimir had started to cut his rare cooked steak, and he said, "If the Warrings still have an antidote with them, maybe she will be able to heal quicker."

    "I spoke to King Sebastian about it," informed Calhoun. "The day he had arrived for the High House meeting that Helena had set up." On hearing Helena''s name, dimir''s ears turned alert, but no reaction came to pass across his face. "He said the simr antidotes that were created in the past have been exhausted decades ago and they are trying to recreate another antidote to control the rogue werewolves."

    "I haven''t seen a werewolf in a long time. I knew the great great grandfather of this Sebastian King," came the casual tone of dimir. "He was an excellent man, but died a horrific death," he clicked his tongue.

    Hearing this, Madeline hoped that Beth could find her peace and return home where her family was. What happened wasn''t her sister''s fault, and it was just the situation that had presented itself in that manner which had been unavoidable.

    "How long do you think it is going to be before the Heavens forgive and let my father and Raphael back into the living world?" Madeline asked dimir as he was the one who knew Heaven like no one else at the table.

    "Punishments in Heavens canst upto years. Because if I am not wrong, Raphael had been the ''demons wanderer'' for many decades or maybe centuries. I will let you in on a trick, and the Heavens will let him off the hook in a snap," dimir snapped his fingers to emphasize his point.

    "Really?" Madeline''s mood brightened.

    "Hm," responded dimir.

    Madeline didn''t want Paschar going through punishments again, and she had forgiven him like the rest of the things. When love and honour of responsibilities fell on one''s shoulders, it was hard to manage both of them if the two things walked in different paths.

    "Thank you so much, d," she thanked him, and the Devil offered her a smile before everyone continued with their meal.

    The same day, far away from the living world and above the clouds where there was the path of peace and tranquillity, not too far away stood the hidden golden gates of Heaven that weren''t visible to a mortal''s eyes.

    The number of guard angels had been increased since thest intrusion of the Devil and his grandson, holding staffs that were stronger and as powerful as the bolt of the thunder. Inside the premises of the gates, many buildings were built with beige coloured stones and trees that were green along with flowers that left a sweet fragrance for one to smell.

    Some of the souls hade out from their rooms to feel the warmth on their skin while they either sat idly, mediating or were busy talking or doing something they liked.

    A tall building stood with the door open for the angels to walk in and out as it was where the wishes and prayers of the mortals from the living world were passed and given to the next minister of angels for approval. Arge wooden box was built where the wishes were collected, and the angels who worked randomly pulled out the scroll of wish.

    One of the angels, who pulled out a scroll, unscrolled it and started to read the wish. His eyes suddenly widened in surprise. For a few seconds, he stared at the parchment, wondering if he should add it to the approval list or show it to one of the archangels.

    "What''s the matter, Amos?" asked one of the angels, noticing his fellow angel had stopped pulling out the scrolls.

    "T-this, the wish��" said the angel in a daze before snapping out of it, and he said, "I will be back soon. This must be quickly shown to a higher authority!" and he ran out of the building.

    When the angel came across one of the archangels who was walking past him, he quickly went to him, "Archangel Ramiel! Archangel Ramiel, there is something you need to see!"

    The archangel had blonde locks of hair that went past his shoulders, his demeanour was calm, and his icy blue eyes made him look serious.

    "What is it, Amos?" questioned the archangel. He noticed Amos holding the scroll of wish in his hand. "Is there a sinister wish in there? You can discard it if it is so."

    "It is not that," Amos offered the scroll and the archangel took hold of the scroll, reading it.

    "I will take care of it. You can go back to your work," said Archangel Ramiel.

    Ramiel looked back at the parchment of wish that read-

    ''I wish my father Paschar toe and spend time with my child when it is born in the living world.''

    A simple wish that indirectly would free Paschar to return to his full position while visiting the living world thought archangel Ramiel to himself. To love and care, isn''t that what they had learned? Walking away from there, he submitted the scroll directly for approval.

 Chapter 811: The wolf territory- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 811: The wolf territory- Part 1</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Drive to Parkersburg- Marcelo Zarvos

    .

    A young woman carried a basket in her arms filled with some of the vegetables that she had brought from the main market of the vige. It was so that it could be sold to people who lived in the outskirts of the vige and near the forest.

    Her face had a little dirt that toned her beautiful face, but her striking green eyes was enough to catch one''s attention.

    Elizabeth Harris made her way through the quiet road, a road she was trying to familiarise with. Before she could get to the ce where she had taken shelter recently, she came across two men who were walking towards her from the opposite direction.

    "Mdy! Why don''t you allow us to help you with that!" came one of the men''s voices whom Beth didn''t know. By looks, they were both humans. Being new to this part of thend, there were only two people whom she knew of, and she was yet to meet King Warring as he had been away from thend.

    The men didn''t wear the usual vige clothes but wore clothes that usually belonged to a high-status family. Beth had met many men like this before to know what kind these two were��deciding to ignore them by walking past them without paying heed.

    "Where do you think you are going, miss?" asked the other man, catching hold of Beth''s arm to stop her from walking further. The basket from her hands fell.

    "Let go of my arm!" Beth warned the man, but the person didn''t listen to her and instead came to stand right in front of her.

    She could feel her hands tremble, and it wasn''t because of fear for herself but for the other two people near her. Since the time she had been bit by a werewolf, she had noticed the subtle changes in her moods, one of them being anger that coursed through her veins where she wanted to hurt the other person.

    Staying in Devon, she hade to understand her situation wouldn''t get better unless she went to look for a solution. She needed some guidance on how to control the animalistic urges that came within her.

    "Did you not hear what I said?" her green eyes turned darker in threat.

    The two men chuckled at her words, "You must be really new to this ce because we have never seen you here. What is your name?" asked the man who had spoken to her first.

    "I don''t have time to sit and chat. If you could let go of my hand, I would go on my way," Beth tried to pull her hand away from his grasp but the man''s hold on her only tightened.

    "Why won''t you tell us your name, unless you are a rogue werewolf," the other manmented, getting closer to her and sniffing the air around her. "She doesn''t smell like a rogue wolf. You have so much dirt on your face, let us help you in washing it."

    "I have hands to clean it," red Beth, her fingers slowly starting to curl. "You will be very sorry if you don''t step back right now."

    "What are you going to do? Just because we came here to talk to you, you are throwing us that attitude," and the man pushed her head as if he was reprimanding her. He pushed her head two more times. "What are you going to do?" and heughed.

    "She doesn''t look like she is from here, does she?"ughed the other man and right when his hand moved closer to Beth''s chest, at the same time, her nails grew into ws, and her teeth turned feral in defence to protect herself.

    Consumed by the animalistic instincts, Beth didn''t realize what happened until she heard one of the men screaming in pain while on the ground. The man stumbled back with his hand on his chest, and not a secondter, blood started to ooze out as Beth had used her ws against him.

    "W-what did you do?!" questioned the other man in shock, who came right at her, but Beth pushed him right across the tree to have him crash and fall on the ground.

    As her senses returned a little, Beth looked at them in horror. She wasn''t sure what to do with one man bleeding! She had hurt someone!

    "Elizabeth?" She heard someone call her, but her eyes were fixed on the man she had wounded.

    "I hurt a person," she whispered under her breath. "I killed someone."

    The sight of blood triggered a memory of hers, snow covering all around the ground and the person in her arms, who continued to bleed to his death where she had been unable to do anything. The more the memory continued to repeat in her mind, the worse it had gotten in time. Right now, one hand was coated in blood.

    A couple of footsteps were heard along with voices.

    "What are we going to do with these two?" asked someone.

    "Have someone tend to them and send them back home," ordered the man in charge of the area. "And who is this? I thought this area had been cleared for rogue wolves," the voice was gruff.

    "Alpha, this is Elizabeth Harris. She''s from Devon," said the person who had identified Beth.

    "Bring her to the dungeon right this instant!"

    By the time Beth hadpletely gained consciousness of the situation, she had been dragged to the dungeon of the vige and had been ced behind bars.

    She found herself in the dark lit dungeon, and she quickly moved to the bars, "Is anyone here?!" she called, worried.

    Hearing footsteps approaching the cell she was being held in, her eyes widened on seeing the person, "Mr. Heathcliff?" Seeing a familiar face, she felt relieved. It was James Heathcliff.

    "Good evening, Lady Elizabeth," James bowed his head in greeting while standing on the other side.

 Chapter 812: The wolf territory- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 812: The wolf territory- Part 2</h4>

    Music Rmendation: David''s writings- Christopher Willis

    .

    Beth was happy to see James standing in front of her, but at the same time, the smile on her face fell. A bad deed was like a fool stepping on a dog''s tail, whichter resulted in iting to chase you.

    A few months ago, when she had found out that James had been bitten, she had not cared about it. But after being bit and while trying to make things right, she finally realized the depth of the situation. Not to forget the way she had tried to catalyze between him and her sister.

    "I didn''t know that you were bit by a werewolf. When did this happen?" there was an evident surprise in James'' voice as he looked at her.

    James Heathcliff was once one of the most sought bachelors in the vige of East Carswell. He came from a decent family and owned a popr shop in its trade and looks that were fairly handsome. But now the man had changed, a beard that had grown around his jaws, and there were dark circles below his eyes.

    "It was after Madeline got married," replied Beth, her words turning low at the end of the sentence as she noticed James'' jaw tick at the news. "There was an attack in Cossington when we went to visit the church on some work."

    James nodded his head. When he had been bit by a werewolf, it had happened out of nowhere, and he had nowhere to go.

    He then said, "The magistrate is going to take a look at your things and is going to ask some of the people where you have been living to make sure you aren''t a threat to them. I have already mentioned how you are rted to the Queen of Devon. You don''t have to worry about anything, they should free you by tomorrow morning or worse in the evening."

    "Thank you," thanked Beth, not knowing what else to say as she felt guilty.

    "I heard Madeline mention about you moving here. But I didn''t expect to cross paths with you."

    James smiled at the mention of the girl''s name, whom he had continued to keep in his heart, "Yes, I did meet her before leaving Devon. I must say, it was a surprise to see you in the middle of the road. I am d we took the road today rather than the forest. How is she? The Queen."

    "She''s doing good," Beth conveyed the message. Seeing how James was trying to hide his feelings for her sister, she wasn''t sure if she should mention the unborn babying to this world. "I am happy to see that you have found a ce here."

    "Yes, people here are a little rough, but it is alright. The person who took me in, Jagger, he has been helpful when ites to teaching me about the transformation. He''s also the person who put you in there," James let her know.

    Beth wasn''t sure if it was a good way to start an introduction by nearly killing people. Remembering it, she quickly asked, "The men who were with me. Are they alright?"

    James pursed his lips before shaking his head, "One of them died, while the other has camped himself in the magistrate''s office wanting to hunt you for killing his brother."

    A nervous sigh escaped her lips, her eyebrows knitting together on hearing the news.

    Seeing the blood drain from Beth''s face, James quickly said, "We know it was out of self-defense. As wolves, we have better hearing abilities. Jagger won''t let any harm befall on you and he is also one of the men who is well acquainted with the King of thisnd. With you being King''s sister-inw, I am sure they won''t bring any harm to you. I will go get you some food to eat and a nket so that you can rest."

    "Thank you foring to talk to me here, Mr. Heathcliff," Beth deeply bowed her head, and James'' eyes lingered at the young woman longer than it usually did in the past.

    Since he had met Elizabeth Harris in the roadway that led away from the vige today, he noticed something very different about her. It wasn''t because she had shown her werewolf traits. It was her demeanour that appeared to have changed.

    Back when they still lived in the same vige of East Carswell, Elizabeth Harris was the attractive young woman whose head had always held high, and everyone sought to be like her. But if there was something he did take a note of, nobody was truly next to her. It was because there was a coldness, a gap in the way she was and behaved with people.

    Offering her a quick nod, he went to get her the promised things while wondering what must have happened in thest few weeks since he had left Devon.

    Beth was more than thankful for the food and the nket that was provided to herter. Even though she had animalistic traits, she was still part human. Draping the nket around her body, she went to the corner to sit down. As her eyes turned heavy, her mind took her to the past troubles she had experienced.

    ''What are you doing here, Elizabeth?'' asked her grandmother, who had only opened the front doors of the house. But her grandmother''s eyes softened, looking pleased when her eyes fell on her sister Madeline. ''Come on in.''

    ''Mama said I shoulde along with Madeline as she might get lost,'' replied Beth with a smile on her face. It was the time of summer where she had only turned fourteen.

    ''Well that is good, it would be troublesome if she were to get lost,'' replied her grandmother before turning to look at Madeline and asking, ''How about I give you something to drink, Madeline. You must be very tired because of the heat outside.''

    ''Look at my two angels in the house,'' her grandfather greeted them with a smile on his face, and Beth forgot the little amount of insecurity that she had felt a moment ago.

    ''Grandpa!'' Beth hugged him.

    ''How are you doing? I heard from your aunt Mary that you are learning to read and write,'' said her grandfather before sharing a silent look with his wife that went unnoticed by the two girls.

    Her little sister trailed right behind their grandmother, while Beth had stayed back to reply to her grandfather''s questions. ''Aunt Mary has a lot of books in the house. I finished reading five books when we went to visit her house.''

    ''And how about Madeline, is she slow or is she quick when ites to learning things?'' asked her grandfather, his eyes looking at her curiously while the tone he had used was light.

    It was always about her sister, while it seemed like her grandparents weren''t as enthusiastic when it came to her own learnings. Unhappy with the thought, she responded, ''She''s a dimwit! She keeps making mistakes, I don''t even know why Aunt Mary is trying to reach her things when she''s younger to me and still has time.'' She said it, when in truth, it was untrue as her sister was a quick learner.

 Chapter 813: The wolf territory- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 813: The wolf territory- Part 3</h4>

    Hearing this, her grandfatherughed as if something that had been worrying him had disappeared.

    ''I am happy to see that you both get along so well," her grandfather patted her back.

    Beth hadter quickly gone hopping into the kitchen to see what her sister and grandmother were up to. Her grandmother stood next to her sister while helping her drink something.

    ''What is that, grandma? I want some too,'' Beth demanded as it seemed like her grandmother gave biscuits and juice to drink only to her sister while making her feel left out. She hade to learn to ask if people were not going to share things with her, a trait that had gone too far with the passing time as she grew into an a.d.u.l.t.

    ''It was tasty! Beth should try too!'' decided Madeline, her neck craning to see her grandmother, who looked a little caught in the situation.

    ''Oh dear, that was thest ss. I will make it for you in the night, will you wait until then, Bethie?'' questioned her grandmother, and she nodded her head.

    ''I can wait,'' she smiled before dragging Madeline outside the house to roam around.

    ''What is the matter, Beth? You look sad,'' stated Madeline as they walked next to each other.

    Beth quickly shook her head and said, ''It is nothing. You are just imagining it! Come I want to see the things in the market!''

    When night arrived, her grandmother had brought the ss of drink that she had promised her in the afternoon but noticing the milky white liquid, Beth didn''t have to guess too far that this was something different from what was offered to her sister.

    ''Are you not going to drink it, dear?'' asked her grandmother, and Beth drank it, handing the ss to her grandmother before getting inside the nket.

    In the middle of the night, she was woken up by her grandparent''s voice, and she stepped out of the room while feeling something very familiar with the situation. It felt as if she was reliving the moment again.

    ''I don''t sense anything in there,'' said her grandmother, ''She isn''t reacting to the ring or the chain or the liquid.''

    ''Maybe she isn''t that hideous thing anymore, and it was only in the past,'' replied her grandfather in a serious tone. ''Or worse it is yet to show up.''

    ''As far as I can tell, right now there''s nothing. She''s normal,'' her grandmother responded to her grandfather. Beth didn''t understand what they were both speaking about. She tried to lean in closer to hear them better. ''Did you notice? Beth is picking up on what we do, she seems suspicious. Isn''t that right, Bethie?''

    On hearing her name being called, Beth felt her hands go cold while her grandparents appeared to stand right in front of her.

    ''This seems to be a recurring thing, to be eavesdropping is a bad habit,'' said her grandmother, her eyes slightly colder. ''I guess thest time''s spell wasn''t good enough.''

    ''W-what were you speaking about?'' asked Beth, her back hitting the wall. ''What are you speaking about Maddie? What''s wrong with her?''

    Her grandfather raised his hand, cing it on her shoulder and said, ''You shouldn''t worry about those things. Your concern for your sister astonishes me. You are soon going to enter an age where you should think about clothes, jewels, and handsome men who can provide you a secure life.''

    Saying this, her grandfather ced his index finger on her forehead, and she felt a sudden pain in her forehead that started to spread across her entire body.

    When the pain turned excruciatingly painful, she screamed, but no voice came as if it was stolen away, and no one heard her. Beth''s eyes suddenly snapped open with a gasp when she heard the gate of the cell open, and she was brought back to the present.

    "Bad dream?" asked the woman who had unlocked the gate of the cell. "If you are a newborn werewolf, dreams of the past are nothing less to a st."

    Beth furrowed her brows, wondering if the dream was one of the things her grandparents had erased and manipted as until now, she didn''t have a recollection of it. She wondered how many memories she had lost every time she visited her grandparents or her aunt Mary''s house.

    She looked around the cell to notice the ray of sunlight pass through the little space of the window in the room.

    "Jagger told me to bring you to the magistrate''s office. They want to speak to you as you don''t smell like a werewolf. I am Violet," informed the woman.

    Getting up, Beth stepped out of the room to be led out of the dungeon by the woman.

    When they reached the building that appeared to be in a better shape than the other buildings of the vige, Beth wondered if the man named Jagger would be willing to help guide her. She hoped he would. After all, who knew when the King of Warring''s would return to thend.

    If there was something Beth had noticed, this ce had old buildings that had not been pulled down to rebuild it again. There was a mossy formation covering the wall, leaving a dark greenish colour on it.

    Before they entered the building, the woman whom Beth was following spoke, "Be sure to answer the truth, if you cannot then don''t lie and stay quiet. Magistrate Langston doesn''t like to be lied and he might put you back in the dungeon," she advised Beth.

    "I don''t have anything to hide," stated Beth.

    "Here is your way," said the woman, pushing the door open.

    Noticing the darkroom that was in front of her, Beth finally stepped inside the room, and the door closed behind her. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the room where antern was ced on the table, her eyes fell on the man who sat behind the desk. This was the magistrate''s office? Asked Beth to herself. The ce looked like it was where one woulde to conspire against someone''s death.

    "Ms. Elizabeth Harris, take a seat," said the man. "I am Richard Langston, the magistrate of this area."

    Even though the magistrate was seated behind the desk, Beth could tell he was a buff man.

    Taking a seat in the chair in front of her, Langston said, "Have you ever met any family members of the Jordan''s before?"

    Beth shook her head, "I have been here only for four weeks. The only person I know is Mrs. Robbins. She''s the one who gave me the ce to stay until I meet King Sebastian."

    "I heard that you are King Calhoun''s wife''s sister. Is that true? Thest we had information, you were still a human," questioned the magistrate, moving forward to ce his hands on the surface of the desk. Beth caught sight of his canine teeth that belonged to the werewolves.

    Beth had tried her best to keep a low profile while trying not to gain any attention to herself. When a person of the royal family was alone, it was always better to camouge in the crowd than turn into a possible target for ckmail.

 Chapter 814: Claws- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 814: ws- Part 1</h4>

    But with James, who had already ryed the message about her and the unfortunate kill, Beth nodded her head. "Yes, I am. I was bit by one of the werewolves who were being manipted by the demons," she answered him.

    "Then why is it that you don''t smell like a werewolf?" his eyes narrowed down at her. "Humans who are bitten by werewolves take less than three to four days to turn, and in rare cases a month. But you said you were bit by a werewolf more than two months ago."

    "I took the antidote that had the cure for turning a werewolf back to a human. But I ended up taking only half of it," she exined, and the magistrate leaned back against his chair.

    "There is no antidote left for curing the werewolf venom. Whatever antidote was created in the past has either been destroyed or exhausted long ago-"

    "The Devil had one antidote," as Beth exined this, the words sounded absurd to her ears because a few weeks ago, no one knew about the existence of demons or angels, and the Devil existed only in the folk tales of the vigers.

    "So it seems like it is true," came a voice from the wall and Beth turned startled as she hadn''t seen the person in the room apart from her and the magistrate. The person stepped into the light and away from the wall, and seeing the long dark locks of hair until his shoulders, she felt her stomach fall on the ground.

    Raphael? Asked Beth in her mind.

    But when the man got closer, she realized it wasn''t him. How silly of her, thought Beth to herself. Not all men who had the same build and hairstyle were Raphael.

    The man stepped closer to the desk and said, "I thought it was all a lie that the demons exist in our world."

    "Where is the Devil? If he exists, he would be here, Jagger," the magistrate huffed. "This is the High House and Devon''s n to scare us by creating absurd things."

    "I believe King Sebastian believes these things," pointed Jagger.

    Beth wondered if dimir would pop at any moment, but nothing happened, and the magistrate rolled his eyes.

    "You killed a man on our grounds, Lady Elizabeth and because of this, we cannot let you go. Especially considering how you are still a werewolf and not to mention rogue werewolf," said the magistrate.

    Beth was more than happy toply as she hade here with the purpose to control her werewolf abilities so that she wouldn''t harm anyone. "Jagger, she will be your responsibility and Lady Elizabeth, don''t think about running away from here. You wouldn''t like what we do here for punishments," he warned her. "You can leave now."

    Beth was d that she was not getting punished for killing someone, and she stepped out of the building with the man named Jagger, who had followed her outside.

    "Did you change your mind midway that you drank only half of the antidote?" asked the man out of curiosity.

    "I never wanted to be a werewolf," replied Beth. It was possibly thest thing she had wished for.

    "Anyways, that doesn''t matter. With the werewolf''s venom still in your body, you will go through the same things as the rest of the werewolves. We will also test you to see if you will transform, Elizabeth," said Jagger and seeing him start to walk, Beth asked him,

    "What am I supposed to do now?"

    "Follow me," said the man, his voiceless gruff than the magistrate she had met back in the building.

    Beth followed Jagger through the forest, and when they came near a clearing, her ears picked up the voices of people in there.

    "This is where we train the werewolves. The children who are born to the werewolves parents and the people whoe here to be part of the pack," exined Jagger, "Your training will start from tomorrow early in the morning. Violet will give you clothes and maybe pack another one just in case you end up transforming."

    She saw men and women running in a line, and on the other side, some people had circled two people who were wrestling with each other, "Won''t they get hurt by it?" questioned Beth.

    Jagger was busy watching the two people fight, "They are sparing, and it is good to have little fights of matches so that people are aware of what to do when the right timees. For example, when ites to your case, it will teach you how to limit your strength and not end up killing someone. You are lucky that you killed someone who was notorious, if it was someone else and you were not the Devon''s King''s rtive, I doubt you would be breathing," he gave her a side nce before looking back at the people.

    Hearing his words, Beth wasn''t sure if the man was threatening or warning her. Away from home and the people she knew, she was now surrounded by people who were strangers.

    She bowed her head, "Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this ce. I won''t disappoint you."

    "Hm," came the small response from the man. Though he did share the same hair and haircut as Raphael, on a closer look, he appeared older than the archangel. "You can see how things work here, Violet will take you back."

    Turning to him, Beth asked, "You won''t be here?"

    "I have other important things to do than babysit a rogue werewolf," and saying this, Jagger left her side, walking back in the direction they hade.

    Her face turned slightly red as she turned embarrassed by her own words. The only person she knew here was James, but he was nowhere to be seen. The next person she had been acquainted with was Jagger.

    Intrigued by the fight, Beth decided to get closer to the circle of people who watched the two grown wolves who had shredded their clothes and were right now snapping their teeth. She stood there watching for a long time before the woman, who had freed her from the cell room, appeared next to her.

    "It is good to see that you aren''t under the death sentence," said Violet.

    The woman had little braidings done to her blonde hair, and her clothes were like the others in this ce while making Beth the odd one out. "How long does this take? This full training," asked Beth, wanting to make sure she would be able to get back to Devon in time before her sister would give birth to the baby. She had received Madeline''s letter two days ago.

    "This? It can take forever," chuckled Violet. "For the pups, it is easier to control the werewolf instincts, but if you are bitten by a werewolf, turned I mean, it takes longer than that."

    "What about you?" questioned Beth, happy to have someone to talk to her.

    "A pure werewolf. My parents are both werewolves," replied the woman, and Beth noticed Violet they were probably of the same age.

 Chapter 815: Claws- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 815: ws- Part 2</h4>

    After spending some more time in the open forest area, Beth went back to the house. She was finally at a ce where there were people simr to her, but she would be lying if she thought they were like her. After dimir had mentioned about her having his blood running in her veins along with the werewolf''s venom, it was something that had worried her.

    Beth had been unable to sleep at night. In the morning before the break of dawn, she got ready wearing the clothes that Violet had given her the previous evening. The dress was grey, and it had trousers and a shirt which would make it easier for her to run and fight. Braiding her hair, she left the house.

    Walking past the river clearing, she joined the women and men, children who were running around the hill. For someone who hadn''t done much work in her life, three rounds around the hill was the most she could run before she started to huff and wheeze for air.

    "How are you doing there, Lady Elizabeth?" James, who hade to run next to her, asked her. Compared to her, he seemed like he didn''t break a sweat while she looked like she had dipped her head in the water.

    Beth moved her lips, but talking seemed hard, "I think��.I am seeing...white light."

    The people around her chuckled, and James did too, "You are half human and half werewolf, a rarebination. This is how you learn to bring your werewolf traits out. Learn to control it."

    It was easier to tell than to be done, thought Beth in her mind. It was only her first day, was running these many rounds necessary? She asked herself before the person who was in charge of the werewolves scolded her to run faster.

    While most were finishing theirst round of run, Beth was four rounds behind them. She wondered if this was what people meant when they said that every person got served for what they did. In the past, it was often Madeline who used to work the most tedious jobs in the house, and Beth had been happy enough to pass it to her sister.

    I think I am going to die, thought Beth to herself in her mind.

    When she finished running, her legs shook, and she went to the river clearing to drink water. Bending down, she scooped a handful of water before drinking it.

    "What is a half-werewolf doing here? Jagger must be out of his mind to allow a rogue train with us," came a girl''s voice from behind where Beth had sat in front of the streaming water.

    "I heard she is that infamous girl who tried to poison the King of Devon," said another girl.

    Hearing this, Beth bit her lip.

    "Shouldn''t they take strict actions against her? Maybe throw her back in the dungeon?" asked the first girl. Their footsteps got closer, and Beth, who was looking at the water, sensed them move to her right side to drink water. One of the girls started to clean her handkerchief in the water before lifting the mud in the path, where the muddy water passed through the stream where Beth was.

    Beth was regretful of her past actions, but that didn''t mean she didn''t know what the girl was trying to do.

    Her head snapped to look at the girl humming a song with her friend as if they had no clue what they were doing. Gritting her teeth, she put a smile on her lips before getting up from there and walking back to where everyone was.

    "That little��" Beth muttered under her breath.

    After a week, the werewolves were grouped in sections to train separately. And Beth ended up with the two girls whom she had met near the river clearing.

    The person in charge of Beth''s group was a woman in her early thirties, and her blonde hair had been tied up in a ponytail. With a scar on her neck, the woman stood in the centre of the twenty people who had fallen under the same group.

    "Tomas, draw the circle and everyone step out of it," the woman instructed them, her face serious with not a single drop of humour in it.

    "Ms. Reina, are we going to fight today?" asked one of the two girls whom Beth had met earlier. "We are still working on our transformation, I don''t think it is a good idea-"

    "I didn''t know Jagger turned you to an instructor today, Laurel," came the sharp words from the woman named Reina. The girl quickly closed her mouth. "Today is going to be this group''s first spar. I want you to control your wolf''s side without letting it out as you try to lock the person on the ground. Make sure to avoid the vital parts as I would prefer no dead bodies today."

    Two people were called to step inside the circle before the woman raised her hand for them to start fighting.

    The girl named Laurel was probably a year or two younger than Beth, but she was quick to lock her opponent with no way out before Ms. Reina called for a break.

    "Elizabeth and Rose, you both are next," said Ms. Reina. Laurel whispered something to Rose before the person entered the circle, and Beth turned slightly nervous. This ce was apletely different world, and somewhere she yearned to get back home. But then that would lose this journey''s purpose, thought Beth to herself.

    Clenching her hands, she stared at the other girl, who looked right back at her with a small smug smile on her face.

    "Go!" came the signal, and soon they two ended up inbat.

    As it was a first fight between the two girls, the fight felt nothing less than a silly one without using their werewolf''s abilities. Rose stamped Beth''s feet before elbowing her stomach, which she wasn''t prepared for, making her stumble backward.

    "Fight back, Elizabeth! Don''t stand still!" Beth heard Ms. Reina''s voice.

    "Are you sure about it?" asked Beth, and the woman huffed.

    "Yes," replied the woman, and Beth saw Rosee straight at her with her hand lifted to catch her neck.

    But before that, Beth raised her hand and struck a harsh p across Rose''s cheek to have the girl freeze in shock at what just happened. Everyone''s eyes widened as they hadn''t expected this. Quickly Beth pushed her opponent to the ground, and she held the girl''s hand behind her and used her legs to lock the girl from any movement.

    "Let go of me, you bitch!" Rose struggled to get out of Beth''s grip.

    "Ms. Reina, is this okay?" Beth politely asked the instructor, who regained from the little event, before nodding her head.

    "Yes, you can let go of her now," responded Ms. Reina.

    When both the girls stood up on their feet, Beth was about to walk away when she heard the sudden swish of sound right behind her. She turned around in time to catch hold of Rose''s hand and twisted it.

 Chapter 816: Claws- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 816: ws- Part 3</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Someone loves us- Dario Marianelli

    .

    "I will kill you!" threatened Rose, whose pride had been hurt. "AHH!!" the girl screamed.

    "Elizabeth! Let go of her hand right this instant!" shouted Ms. Reina, and Beth pushed the girl away from her. "And you," she turned to Rose, "The match is over, if I see you pull a stunt like that again I will make sure you will be sitting out this year''s training. Have I made myself clear? Everyone."

    "Yes, Ms. Reina," murmured everyone.

    "I would like to have a word with you, Elizabeth. Follow me," said Ms.Reina, and the two girls cackled, thinking Beth was in trouble.

    "My apologies, I didn''t mean to do that. I just thought it would shock her and give me time to tackle her," Beth bowed her head when they hade to stand away from the others, who were training.

    "You did a good job in shocking not just her but also me," said the woman, a frown on her face. "It seems like it is going to be a little problematic with the way I saw how today''s training yed out and I prefer the ss to be clean. I will have you regroup with another instructor tomorrow. I will speak to Jagger about it."

    Beth wasn''t sure if she should be worried or thankful, but she bowed her head again, "Thank you."

    The woman stared at Beth. Since this girl had arrived here, the other werewolves often had something to speak, and the gossip had reached her ears. "You seem to be in better control with yourself than the others. Did you know that werewolves live longer than humans?"

    Beth nodded her head.

    "You don''t want to live long?" asked Ms. Reina.

    With the amount of guilt Beth carried in her heart, she wondered if she wanted to continue feeling that way.

    The instructor then continued, "When people get bit by a werewolf, they feel they are cursed. Mostly because others shun them, but Warrings is not like that. It is in your hand to turn it into a gift or a curse or maybe to keep it as it is. For now you can work on controlling it and maybe by the end of the time when it is your time to leave, we can see if you can turn back to human again."

    Hearing this, Beth''s eyes widened, and she asked, "You know the cure?"

    The woman shook her head, "I don''t, but you aren''t a full formed werewolf. I only know that you are stuck in the middle. You can either choose to turn into aplete werewolf, or maybe I can try helping you in walking you back to your human form."

    As decided, the next day, Beth was put in the group where James was without anyone like the two girls to meddle with her.

    Days passed by, and weeks soon turned to months.

    Beth put her heart and soul in controlling the werewolf trait she had received while continuing to change the way she looked at things. After many failed attempts, she finally learned not to harm anyone through her hands or words.

    She now stood under the tree, holding the letter in her hand that her sister Madeline had written to her. A smile on her lips.

    Folding the letter, she ced it in her trouser pocket to feel the thin metal card she always carried with her.

    Pulling it out from her pocket, Beth brought the card in front of her so that she could take a look at it. The card was still in, and she wondered if he would evere to the living world before her time was over.

    It was true that people often valued a person after the person left their side. On one side, Beth was torn knowing he was an archangel, and on the other side, the memory of her being the reason for his death still haunted her.

    "What is that?" came a question from James as he walked past the trees toe and stand where Beth stood. "I always find you staring at it."

    "It is a memory," answered Beth, running her thumb across the smooth surface of the card before putting the card back in her pocket. "Are you sure you don''t want toe back, James?"

    "My home is here now. Even if I go back to Devon, there''s nothing to return to," responded James, a small smile on his lips. "But I am happy that you are going back. You have your family there, Mr. and Mrs. Harris must be waiting to see you. Even your sister."

    "They are," Beth nodded her head, and silence fell between them.

    Pursing her lips, she then said, "Thank you for your help, even after everything."

    Somewhere, Beth had understood that James had found out about the lie she had told him regarding the letter when she was still a foolish girl. Though neither of them had addressed the matter, it was a known matter.

    She deeply bowed her head and then said, "Forgive me for my past actions. I wish I could fix some of the things, but with time that has passed, I can only hope to make the present and the future right." James was a good man, and he had still helped her despite her past actions without holding any ill feelings towards her.

    "Like you said, what happened is in the past. The person who changed my life isn''t you, but Catherine. I now know, I should have been clearer with my words else it would not have led to this today. I have put it behind me as I have a new life now. You havee a long way from the time in Devon," he offered his sincere smile, and Beth smiled back.

    In the distance, Beth could hear people who continued to train. The time of evening had started to get closer as the sky had slowly begun to change its colours. While Beth and James spoke about things in their hometown, someone was looking at them or her in particr, from a different ce.

    A man stood in front of arge vessel that had magical water in it. The vessel was ced on a marble stand, allowing one to look at people who belonged to the living world.

    His eyes looked at the young woman who had been holding the card in her hand, something he had left behind for her before he had left the living world. Raphael had been watching Beth for quite a while now, watching her transition like a seed that sprouted from the ground to grow into a nt with leaves and branches.

    Hearing a fluttering sound in the room, Raphael''s fingers were quick to touch the surface of the vessel''s water to turn it back to its regr surface, and the woman''s reflection disappeared.

    "Unable to leave her alone?"

    Raphael smiled at the voice, and he turned around to meet Gabriel''s gold eyes, where the archangel''s expression was calm.

    "That answer can go in many directions," replied Raphael.

    "And I am curious which one you are going to pick," said Gabriel.

 Chapter 817: Time to return- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 817: Time to return- Part 1</h4>

    Only a few months had passed since Raphael had returned to Heaven. And in that time, he had not stepped out of this beautiful ce. One of his brothers, Uriel, had been angry at him for leading Madeline out in the open where the fight was taking ce while knowing exactly what he had done by breaking the rules once again. This had led to further punishment where he was forbidden from stepping into the living world.

    Raphael didn''t mind it because this ce was his home, a ce that gave him sanctuary and where he loved. But there was something else or someone whom he had left behind in the living world.

    When his memory of who he was had been erased, Raphael had lived as a demon in the living world. He had spent years looking around, and when it was finally time to return, there was very little he could do. It had turned into a habit toe to the vessel of the magical water to see what everyone was up to in the living world. What she was up to.

    "When did you return from the living world?" questioned Raphael, trying to shift the subject of the question that his brother Gabriel had posed to him.

    "An hour ago," replied Gabriel.

    "Hm, you have been busy with getting people married and listening to their confessions. Must be interesting. Especially with...dimir in there," stated Raphael.

    Raphael''s words brought a smile to Gabriel''s lips, "It was an interesting wedding. Shockingly peaceful than any other wedding that I have had the pleasure to conduct. We had a family portrait done. But you must already know about it." His eyes shifted from Raphael to look at the vessel behind Raphael.

    Raphael had watched the wedding of Lucy and Theodore, a person who was a friend along with Calhoun Hawthrone. How strange, he thought to himself, that being an archangel, he was friends with the Devil''s grandson and a demon.

    "Are you there to make sure another mistake like in the past doesn''t ur?" questioned Raphael. His words were calm from where he stood.

    "I am there only to look after things, what makes you think otherwise?" Gabriel questioned back, his head tilting to the side. "What happened with Madeline won''t happen to her child. But we are taking precautions to see how things turn out."

    Raphael nodded his head, and he started to walk to where Gabriel stood before he stopped right in front of him. "Sometimes I wonder where you stand, brother."

    Gabriel smiled and asked, "Why such a wonderment?"

    "Don''t think I don''t know that you knew Paschar allowed Madeline''s memories to return to her," said Raphael, his eyes staring into the gold eyes.

    "It is why I am curious to know what you have in your heart, Raphael. I know a lot of things, but that doesn''t mean I have to tell everything to everyone about what I know, does it? Don''t think I don''t know you have beening here, visiting the vessel of the water to look at her," said Gabriel, his voice continuing to stay peaceful.

    "If you already know then I don''t think I need to speak a word about it," smiled Raphael.

    "Speak about what?" came the serious tone from the archangel Michael, who had stepped into the room that had no ceilings.

    Gabriel had a saint-like look on his face.

    "About Elizabeth Harris," came the straight answer from Raphael as his brother''s presence didn''t daunt him.

    Hearing one of Harris'' names, a frown appeared on Michael''s face. "The Harris''s and the Hawthrone''s. With dimir joining them, it is hard to do anything, not forget both families are troublesome."

    Gabriel''s smile widened, seeing Michael vexed with the two families, "Did something happen?"

    "Did you hear about the wish of Madeline Hawthrone?" questioned Michael. Both Gabriel and Raphael waited for their brother to tell them the details about it. "She wished for Paschar to be released so that he could join the family. She wants him in the living world and his punishment to be indirectly uplifted in a few days."

    "How wonderful! She must have prayed religiously for the wish toe and reach Heaven,"mented Gabriel. He had been spending his time in Devon, staying close to the King and his family. He had watched the young girl''s baby bump slowly grow, and she seemed happy too. "Did you think Paschar would forever be kept in Heaven?" chuckled Gabriel.

    "It isn''t that," said Michael, "I know this has something to do with the Devil. It would have been easier to grant the wish if they weren''t rted to him," Michael seemed a little vexed with the thought of dimir.

    "I wonder when it will be my turn to go to the living world," Raphael openly sighed. Was Beth not praying for him to return? he asked in his mind.

    Michael''s eyes narrowed down, "You should focus on your duties here rather than spend time by thinking about the living world."

    "You know logically, after some time she wille to Heaven and I can spend my time here with her. Why wait, when things can be done right now?" asked Raphael with a smile. Before Michael could give him an earful, he quickly left the ce.

    "You are too hard on others as well as yourself, Michael," Gabriel ced a hand on his brother''s shoulder. "Weren''t you the one who said there is nothing more beautiful than love in this world. With the revtion of the existence of us and the demons in the living world, it is only a matter of time before everything starts toe together."

    "Mortals have a fickle mind, Gabriel," retorted Michael, and a sigh escaped his lips. "Haven''t you seen it? Only a few uphold the value of life while the rest waste it. If the girl truly holds his heart, then I shall wait and see if the letter of wish will appear here. It isn''t that I want to confine people in here."

    "I am aware of it, brother," Gabriel nodded his head. "If that is so, then we shall wait and see. But my senses say that it shouldn''t be too long," he smiled, and they both left the ce, walking away from there.

 Chapter 818: Time to return- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 818: Time to return- Part 2</h4>

    Beth stared at the ceiling of the small room she was in. To think that she would be able to go home soon, it felt like a decade had passed since she had left Devon and since she had seen her sister and the rest of her family.

    In thest few months, she had worked hard under the help of James, whom she hade to value as a good friend here and the person in charge Jagger and Ms. Reina. Lifting her hand up in the air as sheid on the bed, she brought her hand closer, noticing how calouse they had turned because of the work done here.

    ''Why is there dirt on my dress!'' she heard her own voice in her head, her eyes looking lost as she continued to stare at her hands.

    ''Mister, do you know how expensive this is?'' asked Beth to the man in the market when she had gone to get vegetables with her sister. She had only turned sixteen and she had saved enough shillings to get the money with her.

    ''This is the market, what do you expect? Carpet to be spread for you?'' asked the man with an incredulous look on his face.

    ''Beth,'' whispered Madeline next to her while pulling her arm. ''It is only mud, we can remove it if we pour water on it.''

    In the past her sister had always been meek and quiet, and Beth had taken the role to be the stronger outspoken child. Also, she had learned from her family''s actions that if she didn''t speak what was on her mind and what she wanted, she would probably never get it as they had often been subtly partial towards her and her sibling.

    But Beth was angry. She had worked for the little shillings, saving every penny that came to her bypleting little errands before buying a beautiful dress for herself, which wasn''t upto the par of the townsfolk, but betterpared to the vigers.

    And it wasn''t by mistake, as the man had seen theming and he had decided to step on the slosh of mud that was on the ground.

    ''Yes, I do expect a carpet. Who do you think I am?'' questioned Beth with pride, her chin up and waiting for the man to apologize.

    Of course, in the end the man didn''t pay for the mud he had sttered and the girls had gone home to clean the dress.

    But she had heard other girls of her age, who liked to whisper and taunt on how she had been stupid enough to wear a good dress in the market and that she deserved it. This had only spurged Beth to show off and turn herself into the most sought youngdy, where people stopped what they were doing to look at her. Back then it was what she thought was an aplishment, and right now, it made her smile.

    The world wasn''t small and there was so much more to it. The value was greater than what one could imagine and it was the purpose that kept them moving forward. It wasn''t that the dress and jewels didn''t give her joy, somewhere she was still her, but she understood it wasn''t everything.

    A few months ago when she was leaving Devon, it had been painful. But she was d that she had finally stepped out of her own.

    In the dim lit room with just a candle burning on the nightstand, Beth turned toy on her side, watching the me of the candle. When morning arrived, she packed her clothes and other belongings of hers in a trunk.

    Stepping outside the house, she headed to the forest where the training for the werewolves had started.

    Walking to where two werewolves were sparing against each other, Beth came to join the people who were watching. Her green eyes stared for a while before she went to stand next to Ms. Reina.

    Noticing her presence, the woman asked, "Is it time already? Time does fly quickly, doesn''t it. When will you be back?"

    "I am not sure," replied Beth and the woman nodded her head.

    "Did you decide on what we had discussed before?" the woman''s eyes were fierce to look at. Her head snapped to the two people who were wrestling and she caught hold of one the werewolf''s scruff to bang the person right against the ground. "What did I say about the rules? No using weapons! Go get yourself turned and meet me!" she red before calling two more people two steps inside the circle. "Where were we?" she said getting back to Beth.

    Beth doubted there was a way to return back to her human-self, but she was grateful for the hope the woman had given her.

    "I will keep the gift," answered Beth with a straight face and a smug smile appeared on Ms. Reina''s face.

    "That''s good to hear. I am sure it wille to be very handy. Your approval letter is with the magistrate that has already been signed by King Sebastian. Don''t forget to collect it," said Ms. Reina.

    "Thank you for everything. I won''t forget it," Beth bowed her head.

    "If you''re going to miss this ce, you can always return," the woman reminded her and she smiled. "Have a safe trip."

    Nodding her head, Beth then started to walk through the forest so that she could head to the vige magistrate''s office. On her way, the two girls who often liked to walk around her appeared to stand in front of her. It was Laurel and Rose.

    "It is good that you are finally leaving this ce,"mented Rose. "We can finally have some peace here without the conspirer in this ce. Are you going to poison the King again?"

    Beth didn''t feel bad about it, "I did try to poison him," she epted her mistake. In the past it had been hard to ept the truth but like many other things, it had turned easier to own up to her actions. "But I was also forgiven with the thought that I would change. I will miss both of your remarks on my life," she offered them a polite smile.

 Chapter 819: Time to return- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 819: Time to return- Part 3</h4>

    Both the she-wolves stared at Beth with annoyance. With Beth, who would be leaving the ce today, Rose didn''t see any reason as to why she should hold back anymore, and she stepped forward, raising her hand to w Beth.

    Though Beth had joinedter than the two girls, she had learned to defend herself without harming the other person. She caught hold of the girl''s wrist before turning it around and pushing her against the tree.

    "Why do you want to fight with me for no reason? You might not see me again, unless Ie back here," said Beth.

    "I will kill you!" The same threat, thought Beth to herself. If she truly wanted to harm her, the girl would have brought her ws out now.

    "What is going on in here?" James appeared at the scene, a deep frown on his face.

    On seeing James here, the girl who was pushed against the tree and in Beth''s hold tried to get away. Her cheeks turned red for being seen like this by James.

    "Stop getting in my way!" shouted Rose in anger.

    Beth''s eyes slightly widened, noticing what was going on. She pushed the girl towards James, and he caught Rose in his arms for the girl to only blush further. She quickly stepped away from him before running away from there with her friend.

    "What was that about? Are they troubling you again?" questioned James, his head turned to look at the two retreating figures. "I don''t know why she always tries to get into trouble with you."

    Beth would not have known the look the girl had given to her and James. But it was hard to ignore as once upon a time, and in the past, she had the same look on her face.

    "You are so dense, James," she shook her head. "The girl likes you."

    "She does?" there was an evident surprise in his voice.

    "Anyways, I am going to the magistrate''s office now. Was there anything you wanted me to ry to the people in the vige or town?" she asked him. Seeing him shake his head, she gave him a nod. "Thank you for your help. I hope to see you sometime around soon."

    "Have a good journey, Elizabeth," James wished her, offering her a small bow.

    Wishing him luck, Beth made her way to the magistrate''s office and collected the parchment that had been sealed and signed by King Sebastian Warring.

    "See, there was no Devil to begin with," said Langston to Beth. "You people of Devon are ready to believe anything. I don''t even know why King Sebastian has epted it, when he hasn''t even seen the Devil," he rolled his eyes.

    "If I meet him, I will be sure to let him know to pay you a visit," said Beth, and the man narrowed his eyes.

    "We shall see that. You were lucky that your life was saved because you are rted to King Calhoun," harrumphed the magistrate.

    "I am very fortunate for that," replied Beth. During her stay here, she had seen the rogue werewolves who came to attack people, and these rogue werewolves were captured and killed. She had been lucky. "Thank you," she bowed her head, and the magistrate was more than happy to see her leave.

    "Tell the Devil that I look forward to having tea with him," mocked the magistrate.

    cing her trunks behind the carriage, she got in the carriage before getting inside it. It was finally time to get back to Devon.

    Back in Heaven, Raphael was back to his usual hobby of viewing the surface of the magical water in the vessel. He looked at the dark-haired woman who was in the carriage, who was staring outside the window while asionally falling asleep and then waking up.

    Raphael often slipped from the eyes of the people who came here to disappear, only to return. He had been watching her, keeping an eye on what she was up to. She had always been the interesting one from the lot, like a piece of the puzzle that didn''t fit in with the usual pieces.

    He still remembered the first time when he had caught sight of her, her green eyes staring at him with suspicion before it was diverted by something else. Though he was a demon in the living world, he had the ability to sense the light and darkness in people, and the girl was something in between that had been messed up by her grandparents.

    He wondered why she hadn''t sent a wish to be fulfilled unless he had been unable to move her the way he wanted to in the living world, thought Raphael to himself.

    A frown came to settle on his handsome face. Since he had returned to Heaven, the long locks of hair had disappeared and the stubble around his face. The ck eyes had turned back to gold eyes.

    Thanks to the card that she carried, he knew she hadn''t forgotten him.

    "Why don''t you wish to see me, Beth," he murmured under his breath.

    When his fingers touched the water''s surface, a small ripple formed for it to clear the surface and show the bottom of the vessel.

    The other angels and archangel''s who had somehow caught this little hobby of Raphael stepping in and out of the ce where the magical vessel was ced had decided not to mention it, but some couldn''t help but wonder what the archangel always looked at.

    Archangel Uriel, who was with others in the room, asked, "Does this mean we angels are allowed to have a rtionship with the mortals now? From what I heard, Michael was with this woman named Helena."

    Michael was at his desk, who hadn''t lifted his head until now but hearing his name, he turned annoyed, "I was not with her. We didn''t do anything, nor did we share any feelings."

    "I don''t think that is what Gabriel told our other brother," said Uriel, while some of them were curiously listening in on them.

    "Now, Uriel. I never said that," Gabriel appeared in the room. "If my memory serves it right, I was vague with my reply to dimir. He seemed quite interested in her."

    "Seems like everyone is falling in love," muttered Ramiel, who had been reading a book. He then looked up to pass a nce at Michael, who appeared quiet in deep thought.

    Michael brushed away the other archangels words, while his thoughts went to the time when he had found a boy in the alley in the living world. It was the time of the rain, and the boy had been beaten up. And out of kindness, he had taken the boy to his home.

    To think he had helped the Devil''s grandchild, Michael couldn''t help but believe that everything came back to a circle.

    .

    Note: Please check thement I have posted in this chapter regarding the art~

 Chapter 820: Memory of the Archangel- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 820: Memory of the Archangel- Part 1</h4>

    Music Rmendation- Sayuri''s Theme- From ''Memoirs of a Geisha''

    .

    He walked from one vige to another, looking for the demons who had been causing trouble to the mortal beings of the living world. His shoes, as well as the ends of his trousers, had turned wet and muddy while he carried an umbre over his head, walking in the pouring rain.

    He had heard about the disturbances and the dark energy that was hovering somewhere around. Though he had sent most of the demons back to Hell, there were still some who continued to persist and break the bnce of the living world.

    On the way, Michael heard a littlemotion that was taking ce somewhere far ahead of him. Even though the rain was pouring from the sky, blurring every sound from the surroundings, he could still pick up the faint sound of pain and anger from the alley. Heading in the direction, he didn''t see anyone as the ce had suddenly turned quiet. It seemed that whoever was here earlier had disappeared.

    He then heard a gasp, his eyes falling on a young boy who was on the wet, cold and hard ground.

    The boy had dark hair that covered the front of his forehead, which was stuck to his face, and there was also the smell of blood. Bruised and beaten, that is what the world hade to be. Michael wondered when things had begun to change so drastically. With the existence of vampires, werewolves, and demons who had started to live early in the living world, chaos seemed to be hard to deflect, especially with the humans'' poor choices.

    The boy seemed unmoving, the blood from his wounds oozing out and joining the water surrounding him.

    He wondered what the boy had done to result in such a state. Michael''s gaze lifted to look around the deserted alley.

    Michael stepped forward, and he bent down to check if the boy was still alive or if his heart had stopped beating. For a moment, the boy didn''t seem to be breathing. His heart had even stopped before he started to cough and lose consciousness again. A small frown came to form on Michael''s forehead, his eyes subtly narrowed. Did the boy die before returning from death?

    Though he was looking for demons, it would be very unlike him to leave the boy here without aiding him, thought Michael to himself.

    He picked the boy up from the ground with one of his arms, while the other continued to hold the umbre without moving its position from above his head. Finding where he lived, Michael walked with the boy before reaching the small house with its feeble walls as if it was waiting to break down with one heavy pour of water.

    Lifting his hand, he knocked on the wooden door, and a young woman opened the door for him. The woman had the same dark hair as the boy, and Michael presumed that this must be the boy''s mother. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of her unconscious son.

    "My son and I are terribly sorry for troubling you. Thank you for bringing him home!" the woman bowed her head before raising both her arms to pick her son up.

    Michael didn''t say anything, but his eyes looked behind her, the small house she and her son lived in.

    "Pleasee in! I cannot send you without offering you something to thank you," said the woman to him.

    "It is fine," said Michael, his striking blue eyes looking at the woman. He was still working on finding the demons.

    "I insist," pleaded the woman, stepping back from the door so that he could step inside. "The rain is going to turn heavier."

    Michael stepped inside the house and getting in there. The house was over with a few steps because of the wall on the other side of the house.

    He stood there, watching the woman close the door without locking it and went to ce the boy in the next room. In the meantime, his eyes took in the scarce things that were in here.

    "Let me prepare some tea for you," said the woman, making her way out of the room after she had changed her son''s wet clothes to a dried one.

    "It''s fine," said Michael, noticing the kitchen that didn''t have milk, and there was barely anything in there. He wondered if this was how difficult a mortal''s life was to go through the tribtion of life before they would enter Heaven or Hell.

    He wondered how she would make tea when the ingredients were barely there.

    "Please take a seat, it is cold outside. Again I am sorry for the trouble caused by my son," she apologized before moving into the same room where the kitchen was, and she lit the wood before cing the utensil on it. The woman was lean in her physique, but she still looked pretty, almost doll-like.

    Michael pursed his lips. He hadn''te here to drink tea but only to bring the boy to his home. His body was stiff with his expression cold, and the woman mistook it to be him feeling cold because of the rainy weather.

    "Does he often get into fights?" Michael finally spoke, his voice gentle yet firm.

    The woman smiled at the question, and she shook her head, "I believe he does, but I doubt it is because of what he does. It is my fault and not his."

    Michael watched the woman who took the ss of milk that must have been the only one, and she poured it in the utensil, heating it along with the tea leaves. Once it was prepared, she handed the cup of tea to him.

    Noticing the living condition of the family, he felt ufortable drinking it.

    "He''s usually a good boy. I should have asked him to stay inside when he said he was going out," the woman murmured at the end of the sentence, and she walked to where her son was, running her hand through his wet hair.

    "Did youin to the person who is in charge of the vige?" asked Michael, not wanting to get personally involved in the matter.

    The woman shook her head, "I doubt it would be of any help. They will only tell us to leave the vige and live somewhere else. Cal, will be fine. He''s a strong boy," she offered the stranger a smile.

    "I am sure he is," replied Michael, his eyes moving to the boy who continued to remain unconscious. He wondered what had happened a few minutes ago in the alley.

    "Are you new here?" she asked him.

    "Is it too apparent because of my clothes?'''' He hadn''t bothered to wear a cloak to cover him, and his clothes were differentpared to what any vigers or the townsfolk wore.

    The woman smiled at Michael without answering his question. The reason was that if he was someone from the vige, he wouldn''t have touched her son nor troubled himself to bring Calhoun to her. People here didn''t like associating themselves with her or her son.

    After spending some more time until the rain slowly lowered down, Michael got up from the wooden chair, ready to leave.

    "Thank you for the tea," he thanked the woman, and the woman offered her bow of gratitude.

    But before leaving, Michael had tried to look upon the status of her afterlife, and he found it to be rather surprising that she didn''t have a path paved for Heaven. He couldn''t help but wonder why.

    For the selflessness shown towards him by offering him something when there would be nothing left for her or her son, he had opened the path for her. Back then, Michael had no idea that she was the Devil''s daughter, which was the reason why the path of Heaven had not been opened for her until he had made a way if she were to continue to walk in it.

 Chapter 821: Memory of the Archangel- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 821: Memory of the Archangel- Part 2</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Foolish Once again- Frizzell D''souza

    .

    It took a few days before Beth finally entered thend of Devon from thend of Warrings, and she could already feel the nostalgic feeling hitting her senses. It had been many months since she hadst seen her loved ones, and she wondered how much would have changed in that time.

    She felt a mixture of emotions within her. On one side, she was excited to see her family, and on the other side, dread filled her. The stain on her had inked for so many years that she knew the bacsh she had received from some of the people in thend of Warrings would be nothing.

    The hooves of the horses clopped against the forest road while she asionally heard them neighing.

    From the letters that she had received from her sister, who had written to her diligently to make sure she was alright, Beth hade to learn that her parents had moved back to their original house.

    The carriage in which Beth was travelling finally reached the vige of the East Carswell, and her anxiousness only increased. The carriage pulled itself in front of the house of the Harris'' residence with the horses stopping, and the coachman stepped down to open the carriage door for her.

    But Beth had already pulled it open, and she stepped down from the carriage.

    "Mdy, would you like me to bring your luggage into the house?" asked the coachman while watching Beth admire the house from where she once wanted to run away and stay in a mansion.

    "Let me check if my parents are here. I don''t know if they are here or with my sister now," replied Beth, making her way through the creaking gate and knocked on the door. On receiving no reply, she walked around the house to step into the backyard to see the house''s back door was locked too. "We''ll be heading to the castle, Trevor," she informed him, returning to stand next to the carriage.

    "Alright, mdy," the coachman bowed his head.

    And while the coachman waited for her to step inside so that he could close the door, one of the vigers who caught sight of the young woman called, "Is that you, Elizabeth?"

    Beth turned around, noticing it to be Mrs. Parsley along with her daughter Pauline.

    Beth had nned to meet her family before showing her face to others but caught near the carriage. She offered them a bow and a smile.

    "Good evening, Mrs. Parsley," greeted Beth.

    "Oh my! I cannot believe it is you. Poor you," the woman clicked her tongue. Beth wondered if the word had spread about her being bit by a werewolf. Not that she minded about it now, but she was aware of how the people of Devon didn''t wee werewolves in their territory. It was only thend of Warrings where people were tolerant because it was where the werewolves had originated. "Thest I heard you were exiled out of thisnd for trying to kill the King."

    Beth wondered if she would be living with it for the rest of her life, but then it was her fault why people held it against her.

    "When did youe back?" asked the woman with false enthusiasm in her voice.

    "Only a few minutes ago," Beth replied, and she noticed Mrs. Parsley''s daughter, who was two years younger than her, keenly looking at her clothes.

    "Is that what people have to wear when they are banished, mama?" the girl whispered, but Beth heard it quite clearly. Things that she had not paid attention to before could now hear as good as an average vampire.

    During her training period, Jagger had not gone easy on her. In one of the training periods, she was made to sit in the forest with her eyes closed. Arrows were then fired close to her ears, and she had to catch them with her hands before the arrows would nip the side of her earlobes.

    Mrs. Parsley sized Beth up and down before asking the question that her daughter questioned before, "What happened to your clothes? It is really pitiful to see that you are wearing something as dirty as that," the woman shook her head as if a great misfortune had fallen upon Beth. "This is why you shouldn''t have felt jealous of your sister. Look at her now, she''s the Queen of thisnd. If they don''t get you decent clothes, as everybody knows what you did to the King, I am sure Pauline will be happy to lend you her old clothes."

    More than a year ago, when Mrs. Parsley had asked Beth for some of her clothes for her daughter to wear, Beth had outright refused it. It was because Mrs. Parsley could afford clothes. It seemed like the woman was taking her revenge by rubbing salt over the wound. But Beth didn''t have any wounds.

    Beth offered the woman and her daughter a kind smile, "Thank you for your kind consideration about what I will be wearing. But I don''t think I would be able to fit in Pauline''s clothes. Especially considering how she''s t in the front unlike me."

    Just because she had changed some of the things in her attitude didn''t mean she had reformed every little thing about herself.

    Hearing Beth''s words out in the open while they were on the road, Mrs. Parsley''s daughter turned red out of embarrassment.

    "H-how dare you talk like that?!" Pauline questioned Beth. "We are being kind to you by offering you my old clothes, when people are talking ill about you."

    The smile on Beth''s lips slowly slipped away. She said, "I am grateful to your thoughtfulness, but my sister still loves me dearly. And don''t think I don''t know what you were trying. Try it on someone else and not on me," her eyes turned sharp, and she turned to Trevor, "Let''s go now."

    When Beth left in the carriage, both the woman and her daughter fumed in anger. "Let here back. I will make sure to see that she pays for those words!" Mrs. Parsley shouted, looking at the diminishing sight of the carriage.

    In the moving carriage, a sigh escaped Beth''s lips. Before the carriage could continue its path, she leaned forward and pulled the window aside so that she could speak to the coachman. "Take the right path in the forward."

    "Not to the castle?" questioned the coachman.

    "It is a small stop," replied Beth and the man obliged to her words.

    The carriage pulled in front of the two tall pirs with its gates that had been left open. The name of Hawthrone written with the help of iron rods that were bent and shaped into letters, Beth stepped inside the cemetery.

    With the time of evening, the sunlight wasn''t as harsh as it was in the afternoon, and the wind was gentle that breezed through the trees that were around the ce.

    Before leaving Devon, she hade here, and here she was again, back to standing in front of the grave that had Raphael''s name written on it.

 Chapter 822: Memory of the Archangel- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 822: Memory of the Archangel- Part 3</h4>

    Apart from the grave and the card that he had left for her, she didn''t know how else to feel his presence, to know he was still around. It was strange, thought Beth to herself. Raphael was an archangel, yet his body was buried here. She wondered if it was still here or if it had disappeared without a trace as he was back in Heaven.

    ''Elizabeth.''

    She heard a whisper of murmur, and she looked around the ce, wondering if she was dreaming or if someone apart from her was present here.

    Turning back to look at the grave, she said, "I didn''t bring you flowers." She hadn''t brought him any flowersst time either.

    Back in Heaven, Raphael leaned forward towards the vessel, watching her stand in front of the grave where his body once used to be but had turned to dust once the top lid had been closed. He had been in the living world only for his punishment, and now that it was over, he had returned to Heaven.

    Unable to resist calling her name, it had slipped out of his lips to reach the living world and to her.

    "Stupid little girl," he muttered under his breath as he watched her speak to his empty grave. "You already have the flower with you," he said to her even though she couldn''t hear him anymore.

    When he was still part of the living world, he had asked her to bring him flowers. And though she didn''t have any flower in her hands, there was one in her crystal pendant that was tied with a chain around her neck.

    "Wish, Beth," said Raphael looking at her.

    Before he had been sent to the living world, he had never guessed that he would end up getting attached to a troublesome human, who was now a werewolf.

    He tapped his finger against the vessel as if hoping it would cause an effect where she was, but only wind breezed through, and he heard someone click their tongue behind him.

    "Seems like she hasn''t made her wish yet,"mented Uriel.

    The archangel came to stand next to Raphael to look at the mortal, "She is a pretty one. Oh, she''s praying for you, how kind of her. She must be praying for you to be doing well in Heaven."

    Raphael''s lips set themselves in a thin line. He wondered if this was going to end up one-sided love, and he couldn''t help but wonder as she had returned to Devon, she would pick her life the way it was while he wouldn''t be there.

    "I am sure you regret having an awful looking appearance when you were in the living world,"mented Uriel, who was having more fun than he was supposed to. With the bnce of the living world disturbed, Heaven had been affected, and the archangels seemed to be busy in other things recently.

    "She will wish for me," Raphael was confident in not giving up on her.

    The way they had started had been odd, but he believed she would. If what he believed was wrong, Beth would have thrown or lost the card long back. It was because when she was in thend of Warrings, Beth had once lost the card while walking in the forest. But she had gone back to the forest, searching for it the entire three hours before finding it and taking it back with her.

    Uriel ced his hand on Raphael''s shoulder, "It will be good if it happens, but if it doesn''t...be careful."

    Back in the living world, Beth stood in front of the grave for a few more minutes, wondering what Raphael might be doing right now. He must be busy with his angel duties, she thought in her mind.

    A sigh escaped her lips. Turning around, she started to walk back to the carriage that waited for her. The sky had turned orange and red, and by the time she had reached the front of the castle, the sky had turned dark in a matter of a few minutes.

    Her coachman was unloading her trunks from the back of the carriage while she walked up the stairs. Reaching the end of the stairs, she caught sight of her sister, who was followed by her husband. Seemed like old habits were hard to let go, thought Beth to herself. A smile came to form on her lips on seeing the baby bump.

    "Bethie!" Madeline greeted with a wide smile on seeing her.

    "You look good, Maddie. I am so happy for you," Bethplimented her over the glow her sister had.

    Madeline was soon toe and put her hand around Beth, "I am so d that you came. I was hoping you would."

    "I couldn''t miss the arrival of the little one," replied Beth, rubbing her sister''s back and at the same time, her eyes met the King''s eyes. Someone who had daunted her many times in the past. "Greetings to the King," she bowed her head when she pulled away from her sister.

    "It is good to see you, Elizabeth. Madeline couldn''t stop speaking on how she wanted you to be next to her." To this, Madeline nodded her head. "You smell like a cemetery," he noted.

    Beth didn''t know Calhoun would give her away like that, and she cleared her throat, "I paid a visit beforeing here."

    One side of Calhoun''s lips pulled up, and he gave her a nod, "Your room has already been prepared, the maid will take you there. I believe Madeline would like to stay next to you. I will go take a look at the reports quickly in the court room ande back," he leaned forward to kiss his wife. Before he could leave, though, he turned to Beth and said, "Wee back to Devon."

    Turning to her sister, she saw Madeline beamin in happiness.

    Beth wondered if, by this, it meant that she had beenpletely forgiven.

 Chapter 823: Fixing- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 823: Fixing- Part 1</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Giverny- Remo Anzovino

    .

    "Come on, let''s get you to your room," said Madeline, cing her hand on Beth''s back.

    Beth nodded at her sister''s words, following the guards who had picked up her luggage at the carriage and had just walked past where they stood. "How have you been, Maddie?" she asked her sister.

    "Absolutely wonderful," smiled her sister. "We are all happy that the baby will being out soon. Leave me, how was your journey?"

    "It was fairly alright. The distance felt less because of the excitement of wanting to see you all. Where is mother and father?" she asked.

    "Thest I saw them was with one of the ministers who was keeping thempany. Mother has been eagerly waiting for your arrival, she will be very happy to see you, Beth," replied Madeline, cing one hand on top of her baby bump while walking slowly with care.

    "Do you need to rest your feet? You don''t have toe along with me, Maddie," said Beth, slightly worried on seeing her sister, who looked tired.

    Madeline waved her hand at Beth, "I am perfectly fine. You don''t have to worry about me, d and mother said it might feel ufortable, but there''s nothing to worry about."

    "d is here?" questioned Beth, and Madeline nodded her head.

    "He is. He has been hopping back and forth in and out of the castle. Even stayed around when the physician hade to check my condition," she smiled at the thought. "Cal has already been making sure, reminding me not to do this and that, to make it worse I have the Devil watching my every step."

    Bethughed, hearing this, "I am d to hear that you are being well taken care of. I have nothing to worry about at all-"

    "No!" Madeline stopped walking, "I wanted you to be here. Having people around, everyone ys a different role, Beth. Calhoun is my husband, dimir is the grandfather, but you, you are the sister I grew up with." She caught hold of Beth''s hands, "You are important to me and don''t you forget that."

    "I would never do that," Beth smiled at her sister''s words.

    "If you aren''t too tired, let''s take a walk," suggested Madeline, pulling Beth to the garden.

    Reaching the garden, they sat down on one of the benches while Beth saw Madeline stretch her feet forward.

    "Where are the others?" inquired Beth.

    "Aunt Monique wrote to Calhoun that she is travelling back to Devon as she was in the Westnd. Lucy and Theodore will be here soon," answered Madeline, fondly watching Beth. She was seeing her sister after many months, and it felt good to have her here.

    "I can hear the heartbeat of the baby growing," stated Beth.

    "You didn''t tell me how you have been doing," reminded Madeline, and Beth smiled.

    "The people of Warrings, are in general a little more roughpared to the people of the othernds, because of how they are treated by the outsiders and what they are. I decided to keep my werewolf abilities," said Beth and Madeline nodded her head. "I met James there."

    Even though they had shared many letters between them in these months, Beth had not once mentioned James, and she doubted Calhoun knew about him being there.

    Hearing this, Madeline''s eyes grew wide. For a second, she was quiet before she asked, "How is he doing there?"

    "Much better. When I met him, he was already in control of his werewolf side, he was very helpful," said Beth to Madeline.

    "I see, that is good to hear," whispered Madeline, feeling slightly responsible for the way his life had changed.

    Beth then said, "You don''t have to worry about him, Maddie. It has been many months, and by what I have seen, he has put everything in the past. I was with him, getting trained."

    "We should definitely send him a word for your gratitude then," smiled Madeline. "It feels like it has been so long since all those things took ce. We all have changed so much, haven''t we?"

    Beth couldn''t agree more to it, "We did. By the way, there was something I wanted to ask you."

    "What is it?" Madeline asked Beth to go on.

    "Did you hear anything from the archangels? I mean apart from the priest Gabriel."

    Madeline pursed her lips before shaking her head, "Gabriel doesn''t share any information, and there has been no word from Paschar. Did you go to meet Raphael?" It was because Calhoun had hinted about Beth visiting the cemetery.

    "Mm," Beth nodded her head.

    "It looks like they are still undergoing the punishment for breaking the rules of Heaven. A few months ago, d had told me that if I prayed wholeheartedly, my wish would reach Heaven and they would be able to hear my thoughts. And though I have done it, I haven''t heard anything about it from Gabriel because he behaves as if he doesn''t know anything."

    "Are you sure it will work?" asked Beth, cing both her arms on the edge of the bench and leaning back.

    "d said it would work and it was possible that Paschar would return at the time when the babyes to this world. As he was a former angel, we can only rely on his information. I did mention it to Gabriel but he does nothing but smile. It is hard to know if it has worked or not. But it is worth a try, right?"

    Beth gave it a thought on what Madeline said. A wish that Heaven could grant if the prayer was true, but it wasn''t like she hadn''t wished for things in the past. When it came to luck, hers sucked more than the others, and she had learned that if she wanted something, she would have to work hard for it.

    "I am sure Paschar will be here to meet you and the baby. I doubt the archangels would deny such a request," smiled Beth.

    After speaking with each other and catching up with the things that they hadn''t written in the letters, both of them stood up and got back inside the castle.

 Chapter 824: Fixing- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 824: Fixing- Part 2</h4>

    With her trunks in the room, Beth met her parents, who were happy to have her here with them. It was good to be back home, where she felt a feeling of belonging. At the dining table, she noticed that her parents had slowly started to getfortable around the King, and he was right now feeding Madeline.

    While she was having her meal, a sound of crackling fire came to appear next to her, and when she turned around, she was greeted by the old bat.

    "Look, who we have here. It is the werewolf," smiled dimir, his eyes brightly shining. "How are you doing, Elizabeth? I was nning to visit you, but with the baby that is going toe, time has been scarce."

    "I heard. I have been well thank you, dimir," answered Beth.

    "How was thend of Warrings? Interesting people, aren''t they," the Devil asked in a nonchnt tone. "Did you turn into aplete werewolf? It is time for Calhoun to implement new rules."

    Madeline nodded her head in agreement. She turned to look at Calhoun and said, "We should make sure Beth doesn''t get into trouble if people were to find that she''s a werewolf now."

    "The High House has already prepared the new rules for all thends, so it should be fine," replied Calhoun. "You should have already caught wind of it unless you do something else in the High House," he looked at the Devil, as he had heard about dimir hanging around the High House.

    Beth bowed her head, and she turned to look at dimir and said, "A lot of people in thend of Warrings, don''t believe about the existence of demons as well as the Devil. The magistrate told me to convey his message to you, that he would like to have tea with you."

    "Did he now," replied dimir.

    "It is simr to the time when people had a hard time digesting the existence of the vampires and the werewolves. Like many other things, people will finallye to understand the truth," stated Calhoun.

    "Mortals have always been like that. Though I would love to meet this magistrate," smiled dimir.

    "I am sure he would appreciate it," replied Beth before getting back to her meal.

    When she returned to her room which was spacious and prepared for her sake, Beth went to take a warm bath as the journey had been long and tiresome. While in the bathtub, she had her head leaned back to stare at the ceiling while wondering what to do.

    Though her parents had weed her, she could still sense the way they treated her. There was a slight awkwardness because of the event that had taken ce before she had left the castle. Her hand reached out for the pendant that was around her chain, touching the smooth surface while wondering if her prayer wasn''t considered to be wholehearted.

    The following day, Beth had left the castle to visit the nearest church, hoping her prayers would reach Heaven faster than praying in the castle.

    Using the royal carriage, she arrived at the front of the church and stepped inside to pray.

    Beth folded her hands together while kneeling, hoping her words would reach him or any other angel.

    "You seem to be in better shape now," came a voice from the side, and Beth opened her eyes to notice one of the archangels, who wore the white uniform of the priest.

    Standing up, Beth bowed her head in greeting, "Good morning, Father Gabriel."

    "Good morning, Ms. Elizabeth," Gabriel greeted her back.

    "I was hoping to meet you," said Beth and Gabriel slightly tilted his head, "I have confessions to make."

    With no one else in the church at this hour, Gabriel waved his hand towards the confession box, and she started to walk towards it. Beth didn''t know how else to speak to Raphael, but she hoped her words would reach him through Gabriel.

    Stepping inside the wooden box, Beth took a seat while holding her hands on herp. Hearing the rustle and door closing on the other side, she could tell Gabriel had taken a seat too.

    "What is it that worries your mind, Ms. Elizabeth?" asked Gabriel as if he didn''t know anything about her or the person she wanted to speak about.

    Beth''s lips parted, wetting it, she said, "I have done bad things in the past, things I am terribly ashamed of now. It makes me worry that my past deeds are catching up to me."

    "You have been working on making things better, haven''t you?" asked Gabriel.

    "I have," whispered Beth, "But I still feel terrible about it. That may be the reason why my prayers have not reached."

    A smile appeared on Gabriel''s lips that Beth couldn''t see because of the wooden separator.

    Beth continued, "I have never killed people intentionally. I don''t know if it is his punishment or even mine. When I left Devon, I decided to pray and wish to see him after I got into a better condition so that I wouldn''t end up hurting him or anyone else again."

    "You''re too hard on yourself. Maybe Heaven has been busy with work, considering how many people pray. You should pray again, until your prayers are answered," replied Gabriel, his words calm. "You have reformed yourself to be a new person, and it isn''t something easy to do."

    "But what if my prayers never get answered?" questioned Beth, doubt in her mind.

    "God and the angels answer everyone''s prayers. Sometimes it is only a matter of patience," said Gabriel and Beth wondered if there was still hope. "And if you still don''t find the answer to it, maybe it is time to pray for something else and let the one you are holding on to go."

    This was something Beth had been worried about. People spent years hoping and wishing, but nothing came out of it.

    "Do you deliver messages, Father Gabriel?" asked Beth.

    Gabriel pursed his lips at this. The interaction of a mortal and the angel in Heaven was something that couldn''t be passed, but considering how Raphael was most of the time spending his time with the magical vessel, Gabriel doubted he would need to pass anything at all.

    "What is it that you would like to tell?"

    Gabriel didn''t know if the girl had prayed to see Raphael, but sometimes the prayer required more sincerity. He was a little curious about what was going on.

 Chapter 825: Fixing- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 825: Fixing- Part 3</h4>

    Beth felt a bubble of hope in her chest, and she said,

    "I wanted to apologize to him, for the way things were before he left and for taking away his life. Back then, I did not see things clearly as I see it now. Along with my sister, he was one of the people who believed that I could change. Even when I thought I was hideous to look at." She looked down at her hands. Raphael had looked after her even during the time she was in her worst. "I wished...he was here so that I could tell him�� I am sorry for causing trouble."

    "I am sure he hasn''t held it against you. He did good by helping you, Ms. Elizabeth. Whatever happened, it gave out fruitful results, don''t you agree?"

    She shook her head, "I am not sure about it," whispered Beth.

    "I would like to pray directly to you, Archangel Gabriel, for Raphael to be allowed to step back into the living world," she said, turning to look through the divider.

    "Unfortunately, that is not how it works, Ms. Elizabeth. Raphael is still undergoing a punishment for breaking some of the rules and I cannot intervene," replied Gabriel and Beth''s heart sunk.

    "Thank you for listening to me," thanked Beth, and she stepped out of the confession box.

    Before she could take her leave, Gabriel said, "Times might be difficult, mdy, but like many other things it will pass and you will be able to see the brighter side of it."

    Beth bowed her head again before she left the ce.

    Even Gabriel disappeared from the church on seeing the girl leave, and he entered Heaven to verify something. Something was amiss, and he walked into the building that had the box where the prayers and wishes of scrolls entered from the living world sent by the mortals from the living world.

    He ced his hand on the surface of the wooden box, but he didn''t find the scroll of wish from Elizabeth.

    "Amos," Gabriel called one of the men who worked in here.

    "Archangel Gabriel," Amos bowed his head, and he replied, "Are you looking for something?"

    "Yes, I want to know when was thest time the mortal named Elizabeth Harris'' scroll of prayer or wish entered into the box. You have the records, don''t you?" questioned Gabriel.

    Amos nodded his head. Stepping away from the desk, he went to the racks where the parchments had been binded and neatly ced in the room.

    "Just the time period should do," stated Gabriel while he patiently waited for Amos to fill him in.

    "Archangel Gabriel, thest scroll of Elizabeth Harris'' prayer that had entered the wish box was a couple of months ago. More than ten months. It was about not wanting to turn into a werewolf, but that was rejected," informed Amon.

    Gabriel''s eyebrows subtly raised itself, and he tried to confirm, "Nothing after it?"

    Amos turned back to face Gabriel and shook his head, "I don''t think she made a wish."

    "How strange," murmured Gabriel under his breath. Even though it took a while for a wish or a prayer toe true, it should have been collected in the box, but in Elizabeth''s case, it wasn''t there.

    "Is something the matter-" Amos went to question, but Gabriel had disappeared from the room in a blink of an eye. The angel looked at the other angel workers and asked in puzzlement, "Did we make a mistake?"

    Gabriel returned to the living world and entered the forest near the mountain of Belmount, which had more traces of the Devil. He waited there for his former brother to arrive.

    "I didn''t know you were missing me and came to look for me," said dimir, appearing there with a curious look on his face.

    Gabriel had a pleasant smile on his lips, and he said, "I came here to ask you something."

    "Hm? And what might that be that you havee here to the dark side for help?" dimir raised his eyebrows.

    "The antidote that you had given Elizabeth Harris, I want you to remove your blood from her body," said Gabriel. It took him a while to know what exactly was going on as he tried to backtrack on the events that had urred over thest few months.

    "And why do you think I have to listen to what you or any of the other archangels'' words?" questioned dimir. "With my blood running through her veins, one day she will be able to turn into a fine demon once she enters the underworld."

    "Her wishes are not passing through from the living world because of your blood in her body, dimir," pointed Gabriel. "And that is thanks to the Devil''s blood."

    "How rude," dimir''s eyes narrowed as they looked at Gabriel. "You dare to say that you blocked my possible messages to Heaven and you ask me for help."

    Gabriel''s eyebrows furrowed as he didn''t want to fight his brother or have another war that would lead to another disruption. It had been only a few months since peace had fallen upon all the people.

    Turning around, dimir raised his hand, ready to snap his fingers to leave, and Gabriel quickly said, "I will let you spend an hour with Constance." Hearing this, the Devil dropped his hand.

    "Just an hour?" questioned dimir, clicking his tongue in unhappiness.

    "A day," Gabriel gave his word. He knew beforehand if he were to tell a day, the Devil would ask for a week, which was why he started it with an hour. And the Devil removing his blood from a mortal being wasn''t difficult for the Devil.

    dimir didn''t say yes or no as he disappeared from there, but the archangel believed it was a yes.

    In Hawthrone''s castle, Beth was in the kitchen, talking to the cook when the Devil appeared in the middle of nowhere and caught hold of her wrist.

    "Come with me, girl," said dimir, dragging Beth away from there.

    "W-what happened?" Beth asked, startled while keeping up her feet with him as they crossed the corridors to a quieter ce.

    "Hush child," dimir shushed her before stopping and turning around to face her.

    Beth didn''t know what was going on, but she saw him ce his index and middle finger on her forehead. She felt something being pulled out from her, and as dimir''s hand moved away from her forehead, she caught sight of ck threads that he pulled out from her. The ck threads crackled before they disappeared in thin air.

    "There you go. I have taken my blood out of you and now you are just a part werewolf and part human," said dimir.

    Beth touched her forehead where she had felt a slight pain, and she looked at dimir with a look of surprise on her face. She said, "Thank you."

    Noticing how Beth had not figured out like the rest of them, dimir rolled his eyes and sighed, "What are you doing here, instead of making a wish? The more time you take, the more time it is going to take to receive."

    Wait, what? Asked Beth in her mind.

    "Gabriel said your prayers are not reaching and I would like to have your good prayers to reach my great grandchild," said dimir.

    Beth closed her green eyes, making a wish, and by the time she had opened her eyes, dimir had disappeared.

 Chapter 826: Owner of the card- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 826: Owner of the card- Part 1</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Your Majesty- Rupert Gregson

    .

    Another week passed in the living world while Beth waited for something to happen, as this time she knew her wish had finally reached Heaven. But even though her wishes could go through, it didn''t mean it would be granted. Some wishes were granted, while most were often rejected, especially when they were rted to the Heavenly beings.

    "Here let me help you," offered Beth, giving her hand to Madeline and putting her other hand on her sister''s back, who was trying to stand from where she sat.

    "God, I feel so tired and hot today,"ined Madeline when she got on her feet. "I feel like I grew twice my size, but Cal said I look the same," she shook her head, remembering something her husband said.

    "Did the physician say that the baby was due next week?" asked Beth, and she slowly let go of her sister''s back while staying close next to her.

    Calhoun had left Madeline''s side an hour ago so that he could attend to the royal court matters on what was going on in Devon. He mostlypleted going through the doc.u.ments and signing them when Madeline was taking her naps while sitting in the same room as her.

    "Yes, that is what he said. Feels like the days are passing sooner than before, and I wonder if it is because the castle is full with people again. To think that almost a year has passed since we entered the Hawthrone castle," Madeline reminisced the days with a smile on her lips. "And we are still deciding the names for the baby."

    "That''s alright. You still have time for it," assured Beth.

    Through the door, Lucy entered with a tray in her hand.

    "You should have asked the maids to get them, Lucy," said Madeline, but Lucy waved her hand before cing the tray of flower tea in the pot.

    "That''s absolutely fine. I am so used to getting things done by myself with Theo and it has turned out to be a habit now," and saying this, Lucy sat down to pour the tea for herself and to the two young women, who were on the patio. Lucy and Theodore had arrived at the castle four days ago. Now it was just Aunt Monique, who was missing from the castle, but she was already on her way to the castle.

    Madeline ced her hands on the baby bump, running them back and forth to feel the roundness while she hummed something.

    "It feels so peaceful, doesn''t it," said Beth, looking at the grounds of the castle.

    "It feels blissful," replied Lucy, bringing the teacups and handing them over to Madeline and Beth before she picked her own and came to stand near the railings. "To think that life was different not just one year but two decades ago. Back then it was hard to dream for a future which was so perfect like this."

    "Are you nning for a child too, Lady Lucy?" asked Beth, and the vampiress smiled.

    "We thought about having one after everything settles down with the school. I never knew that the renovation work would take this long time," replied Lucy thoughtfully. Back then, she thought it would get ready in two months, but it had taken more than six months. "How about you, Lady Elizabeth? Are you nning to settle down here?"

    "Beth is waiting for Raphael''s return," chimed Madeline, slowly sipping the tea before bringing it down.

    "Is that so," Lucy responded before saying, "Did Gabriel mention anything about them being allowed toe to the living world? I heard from d that some of the wishes get granted after many years, and many get rejected."

    Madeline sighed, "I did make a few more wishes to make sure the Heaven''s would not forget about it. I don''t know when the time wille." As optimistic as Madeline was, she didn''t know if Paschar or Raphael would being any time soon. At the same time, she didn''t want Beth to keep waiting and live the rest of her life all by herself, but then in the end, it was her sister''s decision. "How about you, Bethie?"

    Beth smiled at her sister''s question, "I have sent a fair share of prayers to Heaven."

    Somewhere there was hope, and everyone held on to it.

    "AH!" came the sudden sound from Madeline, and the teacup slipped from her hand to fall on the floor as Madeline clutched the front of her dress.

    Beth''s eyes furrowed, and at the same time, she noticed water drops dripping on the floor where Madeline stood.

    "I think the baby ising sooner than the time we expected him toe," Beth''s words slipped out of her mouth, supporting Madeline hunched her body out of pain.

    "Him?" asked her sister in pain.

    Lucy said, "I will go call brother Calhoun and have someone get the midwives at the earliest as possible!" and she quickly left their side to go and inform about Madeline''s condition.

    Beth continued to hold Madeline''s hand, and she felt her sister squeeze her hand because of the difort and pain she was experiencing right now. Seeing her sister heave for air, Beth said, "Breath, Maddie. It is going to be fine. The King should be here any moment."

    While she was in thend of Warring, she hade to identify the smell pregnant women held around them, which was different when they carried a girl or a boy child with them. Beth had found out the day she had arrived here, but she had decided to keep it to herself.

    Madeline felt the contraction and the pain that only continued to increase.

    Within less than a minute, Calhoun had appeared through the door, and Beth stepped away so that he could stand beside Madeline.

    "You are going to be alright," Calhoun assured Madeline before picking her and carrying her to the room that was being prepared for her to deliver the baby.

    The whole castle had gone on alert, and everyone in the castle couldn''t help but wait eagerly while the family members reached the front of the room to see Calhoun bring Madeline to the room and ce her on therge bed.

    "I am right here, my sweet girl. Come on breath for me," whispered Calhoun while sitting next to her on the bed and wiping the sweat forming on her forehead.

 Chapter 827: Owner of the card- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 827: Owner of the card- Part 2</h4>

    After a few hours of struggle and pain, where Calhoun stayed next to Madeline, offering her words of encouragement, the Queen of Devonter sessfully delivered a healthy vampire baby boy.

    Soon the family members entered the room and wished the new parents their congrattions while holding the baby in their arms with love and affection.

    Beth watched her sister being taken care of by Calhoun as he gently patted her head with love. Unlike in the past, she didn''t feel jealous of Madeline anymore, nor did she view the King as a potential husband for herself.

    When the baby boy was passed to her by her parents, Beth couldn''t help but touch the baby''s head as gently as she could while holding its little fingers. She was no more a sister or a daughter. She was now an aunt, and she couldn''t help but smile at the baby.

    "Look at those hands. My nephew," said Lucy when she had got the opportunity to hold the baby. Like everyone in the room, she was entranced by the baby''s presence.

    "I want one too, Lucy. On a second thought a dozen of them," Theodore whispered only for her to hear. Lucy''s eyes turned wide, and she coughed and cleared her throat.

    She knew what Theodore meant. Looking at her brother''s child, her heart yearned to have one. With Paschar''s magic that had fixed her wounds, it had also given her another chance to have a child of her own. While dimir was speaking to the baby and Calhoun, Lucy turned to look at Theodore, and she said, "Tell me when, and we can put the thought into motion," a mischievous smile was on her lips.

    "I cannot wait," replied Theodore, leaning to her side and kissing her temple.

    While the people in the Hawthrone castle and the whole of Devon celebrated the arrival of the King and the Queen''s child up in Heaven, parchments were getting sealed and signed on orders of fulfilling the wishes that the mortals had prayed.

    "Did you hear that? The Devil''s grandson and the Archangel Paschar''s daughter have a child now," said one of the angels to another, who had returned from the living world.

    "What is the baby? Is it a demon or an angel?" questioned another angel, who heard this.

    "A vampire," answered the first angel. "How strange, to think that it didn''t turn like either one of the kind."

    "Strange it is," came archangel Ramiel''s voice from behind, where the two angels stood to talk. "Stranger that you aren''t working on finishing the work as fast as you can. Get back to your work now," he said in a calm voice, and the angels quickly went on their way toplete their tasks.

    Seeing the two angels leave, Archangel Ramiel made his way through the garden and towards the tall building by walking past the corridor of light where he found Paschar. Paschar was looking at a painting that hung on the wall.

    "Congrattions for having a grandchild," Ramiel wished Paschar and the archangel turned to look at his fellow brother with a smile. "It is fascinating that it is only you and the Devil who have a grandchild and a great grandchild, sharing the same child. The term of your punishment has been over and you are now free to enter the living world, Paschar."

    Paschar had been patiently looking forward to this day, and now that it was here, a smile appeared on his lips on hearing the news about his daughter giving birth to her son. But it was the fact that his daughter had kept him in her prayers and wanted to be part of the happiness.

    "It is wonderful news," replied Paschar, and he then asked, "What about Raphael?"

    Murmurs had been going around about Raphael and Madeline''s sister, Elizabeth, whose wish had not appeared in the Heavenly realm.

    "It was pulled out two days ago, and I have submitted the girl''s wish for approval. He should follow you soon," responded Ramiel. "I worried that he might get too attached to the vessel," he added.

    Paschar smiled and said, "Thank you for submitting them, Ramiel."

    Raphael was in the garden painting with Constance when the news about Calhoun and Madeline''s child had reached his ears. Since the time he had heard Beth''s words in the church, he knew the time was near, and he waited. He had been waiting while helping the souls in here, speaking to them.

    After a few hours, an angel came looking for him and called him, "Archangel Raphael!"

    "What is it?" questioned Raphael, his golden eyes staring at the person.

    "It is about the wish, and it has passed its approval. You are now free to go," informed the angel, and Raphael stopped what he was doing. "Archangel Paschar just left to visit the living world."

    Raphael brought his hand forward, raising it and a small watch appeared in the palm of his hand, reading the hour of Devon, and he saw it was still noon.

    "Would you like me to bring the doc.u.ments that had to be-" the angel was still speaking, but Raphael had disappeared from there, heading to the living world.

    In less than a few seconds, Raphael appeared in the Hawthrone''s castle. His attire had changed from his angelic robes to one that a person in the living world would wear. He was no more a demon and hade here as an archangel. The fringes of his ck hair fell over his forehead, and the backside of his hair shortened.

    A light chatter filled in the castle that came from the maids and some of the guests who had arrived to congratte the King and the Queen.

    His appearance was starkly different than thest time he was here, which was why people in the castle thought he was the King''s acquaintance. His hairstyle, the clothes he wore, and his gold eyes that now searched for the girl, whom he hade here for.

    Walking through the corridors, he finally caught sight of her.

 Chapter 828: Owner of the card- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 828: Owner of the card- Part 3</h4>

    Musical Rmendation: Foolish Once Again- Frizzell D''Souza

    .

    Raphael watched Beth, who was walking on the other side of the corridor. She seemed to be in deep thought. Her demeanour appeared sweeter than the time he had been looking at her in the magical vessel.

    She wore a dark green dress thatplimented her eyes, her movements ever so graceful. The months that had passed without meeting each other seemed to have been the longest he had counted. Watching her continue to walk, Raphael started to walk towards her and noticed Lady Lucy, who stood ahead, talking to one of the guests.

    Beth bowed her head when Lucy and the man turned to look at her.

    "Mr. Harper, this is Lady Elizabeth Harris, the Queen''s sister," Lady Lucy introduced her to the man who was with her. "Mr. Harper is from Borris. He has been newly assigned in the High House as well as a minister in the royal court of the King."

    "Congrattions on receiving the post, Mr. Harper," Beth wished the man, and the man bowed his head.

    "It is a pleasure to acquaint myself with you, Lady Elizabeth. I have heard many praises about your beauty across thend of Devon and they indeed are very true," praised Mr. Harper and Lucy smiled, noticing the interest Mr. Harper openly showed towards Beth.

    "You are too kind with your praise, Mr. Harper. It is a pleasure to meet you," Beth''s words were polite.

    "I heard you were staying in thend of Warrings. It must have been difficult to live in a ce like that,"mented the man.

    At the same time, a maid appeared next to Lucy, "Mdy, Lady Monique has arrived."

    "Oh, that''s good. I was worried about what was taking her this long. Excuse me," Lucy bowed her head and left the ce, leaving Beth alone with Mr. Harper.

    "It isn''t as bad as what people perceive it to be," Beth responded to Mr. Harper''s earlier question. "It is a wonderful ce once you adjust to it."

    Beth noticed the way Mr. Harper looked entranced by her, and she looked away from him for the briefest moment, to look behind her in the direction where Lucy had left.

    Raphael couldn''t stop staring at Beth right now. From where he stood, there was a sliver of awkwardness in how she behaved as if she wanted to run away from the person who was trying to impress her. The man somewhere reminded him of Calhoun''s cousin Markus. Maybe it was because of the attire, he thought to himself.

    "Forgive me for my forwardness, mdy, but I have never seen someone as beautiful as you. I was wondering if you-" Beth bowed her head,

    "Forgive me, but I have somewhere to go. It was good to meet you, Mr. Harper," her words were quick, and she hurriedly left the man''s side.

    She walked in Raphael''s direction where he stood, and he noticed her lips pursed together as she continued to walk past him without sparing a look at him. Raphael smiled at this, and he followed her to her room, his footsteps much slower than hers.

    Reaching her room, he said, "I think you have something that is mine."

    Startled by the voice, she snapped around to look at him, and her eyes widened in shock.

    Beth''s lips were parted, half star-struck and half in shock as she didn''t know he would being here today. She had been praying and hoping to see him, and now that he was here, she couldn''t get a single word out of her lips.

    His punishment had been lifted, and he was finally able to enter the living world.

    Her heart was beating hard, and she finally moved her lips, "You are here." Finally, thought Beth to herself.

    Raphael took a couple of steps forward to where she stood, and he said, "Someone wished and prayed for me toe to the living world and the wish was sincere along with the prayers. Paschar and I were granted permission to step into the living world. God is merciful and knows how important love is. Paschar is on his way to meet Madeline and the child."

    Of course, the person was her, who had wished for him.

    Beth couldn''t take her eyes off Raphael, and she seemed to be in a trance. Under those stubble, shaggy hair and rug like a cloak that he wore, who knew this was how he looked. Even his eyes were not ck but golden brown.

    Seeing Raphael stare at her, Beth then said, "Madeline is resting at the moment."

    "He''ll wait."

    Breaking her gaze away from him, she looked down at the card to notice the in metal card that previously had the impression of the fool on it wasn''t in anymore. Instead, there was a picture of an angel with golden wings on it.

    Looking up, she asked, "Are you here for a short visit?"

    Beth didn''t know if the archangel had only arrived here toplete the wish and again leave back to Heaven. Raphael''s gaze was calm as he stared into her green eyes. He said,

    "Thest time I was here, I believe I left things unfinished, and I decided toe back here for it," he then stretched his hand as if he was asking for his card to be returned to him.

    So it was for the card, thought Beth to herself. She wondered if it was one of his powers which was why it had the ability to change. As happy and thrilled she had been to see him stand in front of her, in her room. The sadness of him having to leave again was something she couldn''t stop growing in her chest. With his absence next to her over thest few months, Beth hade to acknowledge his feelings as her own feelings grew, but it seemed like it was toote for it.

    Beth raised her hand, which held the card in it. This was thest thing that belonged to him, and she, who had held onto it for so long, had to part with it today.

    She saw Raphael reach for the card, and for a second, her heart sunk until his hand caught hold of her wrist and not the card, pulling her into his arms.

 Chapter 829: 12 hours each - Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 829: 12 hours each - Part 1</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Niki - Martin Phipps

    .

    Beth could feel her heart beating loud and fast. She hadn''t unexpected Raphael to pull her for a hug. His arms surrounded her, holding her close, and blood rushed up to her face.

    Over the years, Beth had fallen for many men, maybe fallen in love with their wealth would be the right thing to say and then with their looks. And as much as she was trying to pin herself to marry someone of great calibre and status, nobody truly treated her the way she wanted them to treat her.

    Though her family cared for her, it wasn''t the way she wanted it and not being able to find it inside the house, she had tried to find it outside. But the men who wanted to take her as their wife and the women who envied her because of how she looked never treated her with love and respect. Back then, she had been a young woman who could be swayed by materialistic things, and she had tried to find her happiness in it.

    Even Markus had not been able to scratch the surface where Beth had been waiting for someone to knock at the door that she had built.

    But with Raphael, it was different. He had broken the door. Was it because he had relentlessly cared for her since the beginning, always hovering over her until he left to Heaven.

    Embarrassed with the sudden hug as it was the first time she hade into such close contact with a male, she stepped away from him. Her face was bright red and her eyes wide.

    "W-what are you doing?" questioned Beth.

    Her heart continued to beat loudly, and she saw Raphael offer her a smile. "For someone who has been under the limelight and showered with affections, who would have guessed that you would turn shy with a simple hug."

    Beth''s lips trembled while trying to think straight as she didn''t know why but her heart felt like it would explode in her chest.

    "It is because this is different. It isn''t anybody but you," replied Beth in a rushed tone, and one of her hands clutched onto her dress.

    "Is that so?" Raphael questioned her, where they had only two steps of gap between them.

    Her cheeks looked like berries, and her lips closed and parted very often as if she didn''t know what to do. Who knew she could look this adorable. Raphael was well aware of Beth''s feeling of how she had felt deprived of love from her grandparents and the protectiveness her parents provided her sister, but not her.

    "I wasn''t ready for it," whispered Beth. "You took me by surprise."

    "My apologies for it, but I would like to ask you to prepare yourself for it," said Raphael, and he closed the gap between them by stepping forward.

    Raphael put his arms around Beth, bringing her close to his heart, and this time, Beth didn''t move away. But her face did continue to turn bright in shyness.

    "Thank you for wishing for me, Beth. I was worried that you might have forgotten me," he said, one of his hands around her back and the other holding the back of her head.

    "How could I," it was less of a question as Beth spoke those words. "I thought you would nevere back to the living world. I thought you woulde only after I turned old and was near my deathbed," she responded to him.

    The smile on Raphael''s lips widened, and he couldn''t help but feel happy right now. He had been counting the days to return to her side, and he had only hoped for her to be alright. Making sure through the vessel that she didn''t get into any trouble, but she had done more than better.

    Beth had never hugged a man before, and her hands stayed next to her sides while the archangel continued holding her.

    "It was the antidote that had d''s blood that didn''t let my wish go through. If it weren''t for that, I would have seen you earlier than now," said Beth. The embrace was warm and everything she had dreamt of having even before she knew he existed. Somewhere, she was d that she had the time to reform herself while he was away.

    "I must say, I am more than impressed with you. You have done well," he praised her.

    Beth felt the card that she had been holding on disappear from her hold as it went back to Raphael.

    Pulling away from each other, both of them sat next to each other on the edge of the bed.

    "With the upliftment of punishment for both me and Paschar, we are not bound with any more punishments. But I believe Michael is working on reinforcing the rules when ites to the mortals'' prayers and wishes, to make sure dimir doesn''t trick others into wishing things that might harm the people in Heaven," exined Raphael, and Beth who was still red nodded her head.

    "Does that mean you can stay here like before?" came Beth''s question, a small worry on her face.

    "Unfortunately I cannot live in the living world as a demon as I used to be in the past, but I should be freely able to move back and forth between the living world and Heavenly realm," hearing this, Beth nodded her head with relief.

    She wasn''t going to be a selfish person and wish for many things. Instead, she was going to make use with what she was given. She was more than happy to have Raphael sitting next to her now. It was better than him stuck in Heaven, where she would never get to meet him.

    "But that doesn''t mean I will not get to stay here," Raphael added in the end.

    Hearing this, Beth turned to look straight into his golden-brown eyes, "You will stay in the castle?"

    Raphael smiled at the hidden excitement behind Beth''s question, "Well, maybe not in the castle but I am going to speak to Gabriel and see if I can take his position of being the priest in the vige. I am sure he wouldn''t mind, considering how he has been serving as a priest in Devon for years now."

 Chapter 830: 12 hours each - Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 830: 12 hours each - Part 2</h4>

    Beth nodded her head before looking away from him. For a while, she stared at the palm of her hands in thefortable silence that filled the room.

    "There is something I have been wanting to tell you, Raphael," started Beth and Raphael, who had been watching her stare at her palms, nodded his head for her to go on. "I...didn''t get to apologize to you before you left the living world. I didn''t treat you well and I was rude to you...I hurt you. And those days before I was told who you really were, it was very hard to live with the guilt that I was the reason you died."

    She told Raphael the things that she wasn''t able to confess in the confession box of the church and the things she hadn''t got to tell him before.

    "Even after the days that have passed by, I wake up with the memory of your blood on my hands and unable to forgive myself," saying this, Beth''s hands clenched into fists. "I wanted to thank you for taking care of me, in my worst time and for believing in me. For risking your life for a person like me," her eyes moistened, blurring her vision.

    Raphael had heard bits and part of these before, but he didn''t mind hearing it again.

    "Why do you think I did it for you, Beth?" he questioned her, cing the hammer on the question.

    Beth bit her lip, "Because you like me? You are an archangel who always looks at the best things when ites to a person?" she added the second question so that she didn''t appear to be full of herself.

    Without answering the question he had asked her, Raphael asked her another question, "Why aren''t you looking at me right now, Beth? You seem to have trouble looking at me."

    Beth gulped, hearing the question. Her eyes slowly moved to fall on Raphael''s face.

    Gabriel was a fairly handsome man, and so was d and Michael. She should have known that every archangel would be handsome, but Raphael''s previous homeless image had not left her mind. It was why she was having a hard time meeting his eyes now.

    She stared into his golden eyes for a few seconds longer before she blurted, "I-I mean you, you are too handsome."

    Raphael couldn''t stop the smile that started to spread on his lips by seeing how cute Beth had turned out in his absence. His eyes watched every little expression that came to pass across her face, and he asked, "Don''t tell me that your feelings have changed after seeing me like this." His words held a little teaseful tone at the end, but Beth failed to pick it up.

    Blood drained out from Beth''s face, and she turned pale, and she looked like a puppy as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on it in the night.

    Her lips trembled, and her eyes watered, "I never told that," she whispered. Because of her past attitude, she was still being viewed like that, and she asked, "Why would you think that?" her voice suddenly raised while looking in his direction.

    Somewhere in her mind, she knew this would be brought up as Raphael had turned to a handsome man. "I-I-" a hup escaped from her lips while tears rolled down on her cheeks. "I have been waiting for you to appear in front of me and y-you think I did it because you have turned into a good looking man. I have been hoping to see you for so many many months, w-waiting-"

    "Oh my," Raphael moved closer to her and put his arm around her. "I was only joking. I didn''t know you would take it this seriously."

    "It isn''t f-funny!" Beth sniffed before breaking into a mixed emotion of tears.

    "It must be mypany''s influence," murmured Raphael, ming the other two men, who were his friends in the castle.

    Once Beth had stopped sniffling, she pulled away from him, bringing her handkerchief from her dress pocket to dab away her tears and blow her nose, while Raphael watched her endearingly with a smile on his lips.

    A few hours passed in the Hawthrone castle, and Paschar, who had been waiting in front of the room for his daughter to wake up, saw the door open, and Calhoun stepped outside.

    "I thought I felt two angels step inside the castle earlier,"mented Calhoun, seeing Paschar, who was in his archangel angelic form. He was in his white robes, and his long silver hair that was often tied in a ponytail in the past had let down his shoulders and back. "I am sure you want to talk to her, more than me. She''s awake," informed Calhoun.

    "Thank you, Calhoun," and Paschar stepped inside to see Madeline and the newborn baby.

    Knowing it was safe to have Paschar around his beloved ones, Calhoun decided to meet the other angel who had stepped into the castle. Walking through the corridors, he caught sight of the person standing next to Beth near one of the pirs.

    "I thought you really died,"mented Calhoun, his red eyes staring at his friend.

    "It is good to see you again, Calhoun," smiled Raphael, and he stepped forward, and the two men hugged each other before stepping back. "Forgive me for leaving things in such a state."

    "It is fine. It isn''t like you knew about it. It is good to see that you are back. Poor Beth has been visiting your grave every day hoping to see you," his eyes shifted to his sister-inw, who turned red.

    "I will go see how my sister is doing," murmured Beth, bowing her head, and when she looked at Raphael, he nodded her head for her to go on.

    "I will be here," Raphael assured her, offering her a smile, watching her walk away from them.

    Calhoun leaned against the pir, and looking at Beth disappear, "She''s changed because of you."

    "Some people are redeemable when the right path is shown to them and they are given the opportunity to change," said Raphael, a faint smile continuing to linger on his lips.

 Chapter 831: 12 hours each - Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 831: 12 hours each - Part 3</h4>

    Raphael said, "In Elizabeth''s case, she had been misguided and had lost her path. You did too, Calhoun, but you changed in Madeline''s presence. Your values are more humane, or should I say that the traits of your mother that had disappeared have appeared again. At some point, we are all put through trials, and sometimes it doesn''t matter where we started but only the end matters."

    He had always kept a close watch on Calhoun when he was a demon and even after he had gone back to Heaven. He had noticed the subtle changes in Calhoun while some of his traits continued to persist.

    Everyone could change. Most of the mortals often didn''t go to the depth of the things, unlike the angels and the archangels in Heaven, who looked beyond the person''s character.

    "I would have never guessed that you were an archangel," chuckled Calhoun, and Raphael smiled.

    "I was surprised when I returned to Heaven, but I am d that Madeline was able to return," replied Raphael.

    "Are you going to stay here for some more time or will you have to return soon?" questioned Calhoun.

    "The bnce in the world has changed now. It isn''t like before along with the demon and the angel dynamics," said Raphael, "I think this time, I am going to be here for as long as people exist."

    While Calhoun and Raphael were catching up with things each of them had to speak, dimir appeared in the corridor and caught sight of Raphael.

    "Look who we have here,"mented dimir while being followed by his servant Odin.

    "I must say, the demon aura looked more appealing on you than this angelic one. I have a couple of spare positions that are waiting to be filled. You are more than wee to join me, little brother."

    Calhoun smirked at the Devil''s effort of trying to recruit people in Hell.

    "Good evening, dimir. It is good to see you again," smiled Raphael, and dimir rolled his eyes. "Have you gone and met Constance in Heaven?"

    "You''re going to meet mother?" Calhoun''s eyes snapped at dimir.

    "It was a deal between one of the archangel''s and me, that they would see to it that for a whole day I get to spend time with her in return for helping them," came the nonchnt words from dimir, when in truth he was excited to see his daughter. He had decided to save the day when he would get some free time from looking after his great-grandchild, but the little one had kept him busy.

    "Switch it with me," came Calhoun''s sudden words and dimir''s eyebrows furrowed hearing his grandson demand.

    Thest time when Calhoun had gone to Heaven to bring back Madeline, he hadn''t got a chance to even nce at his mother, who resided there. He knew the Devil loved his mother dearly, but being her son, he wanted to see her too. There were many things he wished he could do, but he hadn''t been able to, as he was incapable when she had passed away.

    Calhoun was dimir''s grandson, but the Devil wasn''t ready to give away the rare and precious opportunity of spending his time with his daughter. It wasn''t every day he was invited into the Heavenly realm.

    Raphael, who stood listening to them, proposed, "Why not split the day?"

    A sigh escaped from dimir''s lips, "Alright. You can take the first half and I shall take the second half."

    Calhoun''s eyes sparkled, and a grin appeared on his lips.

    Raphael pulled out a gold card from his pocket that had twelve hours written on it, "This card will allow you to pass through when you want to visit her. dimir has already been allowed to visit her once, so I don''t think you would need one."

    "How exciting that we have everyone here. By the way, Cal, soon you shall have a grandmother," stated dimir.

    "You are back to building castles in the air," taunted Calhoun.

    "She has agreed to go to have dinner with me in the castle. It is only a matter of time before she falls for this Devil," one side of dimir''s lips pulled up into a smile.

    Calhoun wasn''t sure how to view the family tree that was growing right now.

    Raphael, his friend who was once a demon, had turned to be an archangel, who referred to the Devil as his lost brother. With Raphael''s interest in Beth and the love that was growing between them, it was only a matter of time he would join his family. Then there was Helena, the Head of the High House, to consider her as his grandmother would possibly be the strangest thing.

    Calhoun had left the two men''s side and was on his way to Madeline. Reaching the room, he noticed Paschar holding the child in his arms while sitting next to Madeline while Beth was sitting in the chair.

    "Have you decided on a name for him?" asked Paschar.

    "I hope it is none of the existing names that we already know of," dimir appeared in the room with a sizzle of fire so that he could have his own time with his great-grandchild.

    Paschar stood up before handing the baby to Madeline, only to be taken by dimir in eagerness. The archangel stepped away from his daughter, and soon he noticed Raphael arrive at the room. Madeline turned to look at Calhoun, who smiled at her beforeing to sit next to her.

    "If you haven''t thought about any, how about Thomas?" said Paschar.

    "If we are proposing names, then I would like Beezlebee," chimed dimir.

    "My grandson is not going to have a demon name," Paschar narrowed his eyes.

    dimir huffed, "And my great grandchild is not going to have an ordinary name."

    Beth, who was quietly standing in the room, couldn''t help butugh while disguising it as a cough on seeing the two elders re at each other. Everyone was amused, watching Paschar and dimir fighting to be part of the baby.

    "Actually, Madeline and I have decided on a name," said Calhoun so that the Archangel and the Devil would not fight over the names. He put his hand around Madeline''s shoulder and had her lean against him. "It is Morven. Morven Hawthrone."

    "Strangely, the name reminds me of spiders. I wonder why," hummed dimir. He then looked down at the baby he held in his hand. "Little Morven."

 Chapter 832: Permission from the parents- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 832: Permission from the parents- Part 1</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Wish I could spend the day with you- Mychael Danna

    .

    Mr. and Mrs. Harris were in their room, waiting for the maid to leave the room, who hade to serve the morning tea. It was only a few minutes ago they were with their elder daughter Madeline before returning to their room.

    Mrs. Harris saw her husband walk towards the bed and take a seat at the edge of it, a sigh escaping his lips, and she went to ce her hand on his shoulder. The maid had left the room a few seconds ago after bringing them tea.

    "You seem to be too tired. Did you not sleep wellst night?" Mrs. Harris asked in concern.

    "I haven''t been able to sleep well for quite a while now. I don''t know if it is because of my age or if I am just worried about the possibilities of the future of our daughters," replied Mr. Harris while staring at the clean floor in front of him.

    Another tired exhale escaped his lips, and Mrs. Harris came to sit next to him.

    "Why do you worry about them? Madeline has settled well in the castle and our son-inw seems far more capable and understanding than we could ever imagine him to be. And Beth, she appears to be in love with the Archangel," Mrs. Harris stated the facts.

    "That is what worries me, dear. In the past, it was the worry to get them into families so that their lives could go with ease, but now. One got married to the Devil''s grandson and another is with the Archangel. It is only now that they have been able to sort out the differences between them about their past, and I cannot help but worry about the possibility of what the future holds," replied Mr. Harris.

    Mr. Harris loved both of his daughters, and the peace that was present around them worried him as if it would be short-lived.

    At the same time, someone knocked on the door, and the Harris'' wondered who it might be. Believing it was possibly one of the maids, Mrs. Harris went to open the door. Opening the door, she noticed it was Archangel Raphael, who hade to visit them.

    "Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Harris," greeted Raphael.

    "Good morning, Mr. Sparrow," Mrs. Harris bowed, and Mr. Harris gave Raphael a nod while wishing good morning.

    "What brings you here, Mr. Sparrow?" asked Mr. Harris, standing up as the situation was a little confusing right now. It was because, on one side, Raphael was one of the archangels of Heaven. And on the other side, the man was also a person who had been hanging around his younger daughter, Elizabeth.

    Previously, Mr. Harris hadn''t been able to be strict and got the chance of weighing if the man was good enough for his daughter Madeline because of the King''s power and position, but now with Beth, he didn''t know how to approach. Therefore, he decided to keep a nk expression on his face.

    Raphael had heard some things that Mr. and Mrs. Harris had been discussing earlier before he had knocked on the door.

    Offering another bow without lifting his head, he said, "My apologies for showing up in front of the room without any prior notice. I wanted to speak about Elizabeth," and he raised his head.

    Hearing their daughter''s name, their eyebrows furrowed. Mrs. Harris asked, "Did something happen to Beth?"

    "She''s fine," replied Raphael. "Actually it''s more about Elizabeth and me. I hope this is the right time to speak."

    Mrs. Harris nodded her head for him to go on. She had seen the man before with his shabby clothes, but with the way he looked now, the man appeared to look like a prince.

    "I was thinking about taking Elizabeth outside today, if you don''t mind that is," requested Raphael. He had been in thepany of the mortals and in the living world more than enough to know what the parents expected and how to go about things. As Beth was dear to him, he wanted to keep her happy while building a good rtionship with her parents.

    Mr. and Mrs. Harris had not expected Raphael to ask them such a question, and Mr. Harris asked, "What do you think about my daughter, Archangel Raphael?"

    "Just Raphael will be fine," smiled the Archangel. "I am in love with your daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Harris, and I believe it is the same for Elizabeth."

    Mr. Harris had a grave expression on his face while he continued to stare at the Archangel, less daunted by the manpared to his current son-inw and the Devil.

    "I believe Mrs. Harris and I are thrilled about it, and even though archangels are allowed to love people, are they allowed to live next to each other?" questioned Mr. Harris.

    From what Mr. Harris had heard, the Archangel named Paschar had been put under punishment for being in a rtionship with a woman from the living world. He didn''t want his daughter Beth to suffer.

    Mr. Harris continued to speak, "Beth, she gets hurt very easily. Since she was small, her grandparents always told her to be a strong girl and not to be meek. She gets swayed easily and falls for things. Not to forget about what happened a few months ago, you should already know it better. But even after everything, she is still my dear daughter, a little naive and doesn''t realize when people try to manipte her. Making her an easy target."

    "I would never do anything to hurt her, Mr. Harris," responded Raphael. "I understand what you mean, but I would like to give you my word that I would bring no harm to her."

    "What about when you go back to Heaven? Do you think she is prepared for it?" asked Mr. Harris.

    "I won''t leave her side," Raphael bowed his head once again. "Currently the situation in Heaven and its dynamics with the living world has changedpared to before because of the exposure of our existence."

    "Hm," hummed Mr. Harris, listening to Raphael''s words and weighing on what to question him next.

 Chapter 833: Permission from the parents- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 833: Permission from the parents- Part 2</h4>

    Though Raphael wasn''t here to ask Beth''s hand for marriage, and he had onlye to visit them to ask their consent to take their daughter outside the castle with him, Mr. Harris wanted to make sure to know what was on the archangel''s mind.

    "I heard from Beth that you are nning to stay in the living world as a priest. How is that going to work?" questioned Mr. Harris.

    Mrs. Harris, who stood not too far from the door as she was the one to open it, couldn''t help but wonder why her husband was asking these many questions. Not to forget, technically, it would be right to agree that this person in the room was far more superior than them, even though the Harris'' family were the descendant''s from the half-angel''s bloodline.

    Raphael met the old man''s eyes, a small smile on his lips, and he answered, "I will be speaking to Gabriel who works in the nearby church. I will be able to help him in some way, while also being able to stay next to Beth."

    "Without marrying her? Let me tell you, Beth has always been eager to get married. When she was twelve years old, she had already decided on how she wanted her wedding to take ce. Do you n to keep her with you without getting married to her?" the old man''s eyebrows furrowed as he questioned this, an unhappy looking to settle on his face.

    "I did consider that, Mr. Harris. Which is why I said I would be helping him and not be the priest. There are also other positions to consider and I should be able to work around it. You have my word that I would never make Beth unhappy with my choices," promised Raphael.

    Mr. Harris didn''t respond to Raphael''s words, and instead, he took more than a minute before he said,

    "I don''t know what to think about it. Things only get stranger day by day." He shook his head before he said, "Alright. I am entrusting you to look after my daughter, Raphael. I hope you can put a," he tapped his ring finger. "Elizabeth is a beautiful girl and she is now far more capable than she was in the past. Both my daughter''s actually. But if you aren''t quick, she will be stolen from you," Mr. Harris gave him a pointed look.

    Raphael bowed his head, pleased with the answer.

    "Thank you for your permission, Mr. and Mrs. Harris. I will take my leave now," said Raphael, and he stepped out of the room to find Beth, who stood against the wall next to the room. Her eyes had turned red and moist over her father''s proud words for her.

    When her gaze slowly met Raphael''s eyes, a tear rolled down from her eyes, and the angel smiled at her.

    "When did you turn into a crybaby?" he murmured, raising his hand to wipe the tear-streaked cheek of Beth.

    Beth didn''t enter the room of her parent''s, and she walked away from there with Raphael next to her.

    When strangers spoke ill about her, Beth cared less about it. But if it was her own family, she knew it would make her feel small. When Markus had been executed, and she was med for it, her parents had been disappointed with her, not wanting to talk to her.

    As time had passed and after she had returned from thend of Warrings, her parents had forgiven her for the mistakes she hadmitted.

    "Where are we going?" asked Beth.

    "Calhoun said there were a few things that had to be brought from your house and I thought why not go there with you, spend some time together and know more of what you like and what you don''t," proposed Raphael while they were already making their way through the corridors, passing one after another before walking down the front stairs of the castle.

    "I don''t think it is a good idea."

    "Why not? You did wonderful earlier when you went to visit your vige,"mented Raphael.

    "Y-you know about it?" asked Beth, a little stunned by this revtion.

    "You will be stunned with the other things I know. Poor Pauline, did you really have to point out what shecked?" Raphael chuckled, remembering it and Beth''s eyes widened.

    How did he know that?! Reputation still mattered to Beth, which was why her words came out only in certain times and when not many people were around her.

    The carriage was already awaiting them with one more carriage prepared to put the respective things from her house. The coachman had already opened the door, waiting for them.

    Raphael came forward to give his hand, and Beth felt her heart flutter. The angel smiled because he knew it was the little things that made Beth happy. She ced her hand in his and got inside the carriage. Making her dress proper, she took one corner of the seat, and Raphael followed her to sit on the other corner of the seat.

    Once they reached the vige of East Carswell, they went to Beth''s home before the guards, who hade in the other carriage, started to load the things in the carriage. Once most of the essential things were loaded inside both the carriage, Raphael and Beth saw it leave while they stayed back.

    Beth walked next to Raphael, heading towards the church which she had visited a few days ago.

    "It is good to see you Ms. Elizabeth and Raphael," Gabriel greeted them both, his eyesing to settle on his brother from Heaven. "Looks like your wish got answered, Ms. Elizabeth," his eyes shifted back to the girl who bowed at him in greeting.

    "Thank you for helping us," Beth thanked the archangel, who offered her a smile.

    "Who would have thought that things woulde to turn this way," said Gabriel.

    Gabriel would not have helped Beth if he didn''t understand why Raphael had been sent to the living world, was not just because of the punishment. Though being an archangel, Raphael had ended up as a demon. He had befriended the Devil''s grandson and helped guide him.

    Raphael had fallen for Elizabeth Harris, and he had kept her dear to his heart. From what Gabriel had observed, even the girl had changed for Raphael''s sake as if they were fated to meet each other one day.

    With the bnce in the world disturbed, new rules would be implemented, and until then, he would let things stay as it was.

 Chapter 834: Permission from the parents- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 834: Permission from the parents- Part 3</h4>

    It didn''t seem like there was any harm in allowing Raphael to be with Beth as they seemed to be falling in love with each other. Heaven had always thrived for love, so why not?

    Beth excused herself so that she could pray at the front and Raphael watched her kneel.

    "I heard about your wish about wanting to stay here and helping me," said Gabriel, grabbing Raphael''s attention, who turned to meet his eyes. "You can pick any other position, join the High House or help Calhoun by working in his court. Is it because of her?"

    "Not exactly," replied Raphael, his words low for Beth to hear. "I don''t think I want to be in the High House, especially with our other older brother there hovering over the woman. I did think about helping Calhoun, but I think it would be easier and probably better for me to guide people than create a domino effect through my words or actions."

    Raphael enjoyed everyone''spany in the castle, and he was more than happy to advise people when they came to him or when required. He was still an archangel, and he had his responsibilities to fulfil.

    Hearing this, a pleased smile appeared on Gabriel''s lips as if he knew this was what Raphael would say, "If you turn to be a priest like me, it will remove the possibility of you marrying her. Are you okay with that?" asked Gabriel.

    Raphael had promised to keep Beth happy, and listening to Gabriel''s words, his lips set themselves in a thin line.

    "I guess I will be continuing my previous work of fortune telling," said Raphael.

    "You seem to have been good at it. I am sure you will be careful with whatever you pick," responded Gabriel in confidence. Even when Raphael was a demon, he hadn''t been able to pick a hint of darkness in him, and it might have been because Raphael was originally an archangel, who was the representation of light.

    When Beth returned to where the two archangels stood, Raphael said to Gabriel, "I will see you soon."

    "Of course," smiled Gabriel, "I hope you have a good day, Ms. Elizabeth. I will visit the Hawthrone''s castle soon." His other brother Paschar had not left the castle and had stayed there either around his daughter or his grandchild, not to mention the Devil in there too.

    "I hope you have a good day yourself, Father Gabriel," bowing her head in polite greetings, Raphael and Beth stepped out of the church.

    "Why did you go to my parents to ask to go out? I don''t think they would have minded for such a simple errand like this," said Beth, walking next to him while noticing people''s eyes on her and the man who walked next to her.

    "Isn''t that how it is supposed to be?" asked Raphael as if he wasn''t sure before a smile appeared on his lips.

    "For marriage proposals yes," replied Beth, unable to stop herself from returning his smile. "Are you sure about it?" she asked him.

    "Hm?" asked Raphael, not knowing what she was asking about.

    "I mean about working as a fortune teller? Won''t you be given other work from Heaven?" there was a hint of worry in Beth''s voice.

    "Silly girl, I have not been banned from entering and leaving Heaven. Even though I am here for you, it doesn''t change my position in Heaven. At least for the time being," chuckled Raphael. "I will still be able to attend the work that is given to me. It is just that I will be spending more time here and I thought it would be good to have something else to do apart from showering you with my love and affections."

    A smile came on Beth''s lips which was shy and excited like a child.

    "Come let me show you the ces that Madeline and I used to visit," said Beth, looking ahead of her, and they started to walk forward.

    Beth started exining about the time of her childhood of what she and her sister did and what she liked to buy in the market, while walking on the side of the road. On their way, she noticed the vigers, who eyed her with a frown on their face. She wasn''t immune to it, but she tried to put on a brave face as if it didn''t bother her.

    "And this is where we used to get our essories. It isn''t as good as the ones that are avable in the town but they are of reasonable price," exined Beth, standing in front of one of the shops.

    "How interesting. What do you like in these?" questioned Raphael as if he was about to buy her whatever she would pick.

    Beth shook her head, "I don''t wear them anymore." Since she had turned into a werewolf or part werewolf, her interest in the ornaments had disappeared. Not to forget, whenever her skin came in contact with silver, it burned her skin.

    Raphael turned to look at Beth, "So it is just that one," he looked around her neck at the ck thread and the flower pendant in it. "The hairpins look good. It would look pretty in your hair," he said, taking a look at one of them.

    "Elizabeth?" came a male''s voice from not too far behind from where they stood, and Beth turned around. She saw it was Mr. Danvers.

    Thest thing she wanted right now was to meet men whom she had rejected in the past, and there were too many in the vige. Not to forget the harsh and arrogant words she had used against them.

    "Good morning, Mr. Danvers," she bowed her head. "A surprise to see you here."

    "Indeed it is a surprise. Thest I heard about you, you had left Devon," replied Mr. Danvers. His eyes fell on Raphael, and a slight smirk appeared on his face. "Seems like you are doing well with a new man to y with."

    The blood in Beth''s face drained, and she turned pale.

    "It would be better for you to keep your thoughts to yourself," advised Raphael. "If the King were to hear about one of his family members being ill-treated in public, he wouldn''t take it too kindly."

    Mr. Danvers huffed, "I am telling it for your benefit. I believe you don''t know much about Ms. Elizabeth Harris'' habit here. She is a woman who likes to hop from male to male, while trying to climb up on the socialdder on picking whichever suits her. You will only end up being left behind."

    "Forgive me for my previous actions, Mr. Danvers," Beth apologized to him.

    "I thought you were a wonderful woman, but never would I have thought that you would be someone who would fall so low," said the man before looking back at Raphael. "I am telling it for your sake and not mine. I don''t care about her."

    Raphael saw Beth clutch her dress because in the past, she knew she had been in the wrong. He said,

    "Then it is good that I am in the highest position," Raphael politely smiled at the man, who blinked at him. "We have nothing to worry here."

 Chapter 835: Goodbye- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 835: Goodbye- Part 1</h4>

    Music Rmendation: In the Origin, we breathe (I)- Kisnou

    .

    Mr. Danvers stared at Raphael with a look of disbelief on his face over the words Raphael just spoke. He had never seen this man, who right now stood next to Elizabeth. By looks, the man looked like he came from a wealthy family and was probably close to the King.

    "You know what? You don''t even look as good as before and it seems like age is quickly catching up with you,"mented Mr. Danvers, looking at Beth.

    The first time, when he had met Elizabeth Harris on the Eve of Hallow, he had fallen hard for her, and he had decided to make her his wife. She was the perfect woman to be beside him, but never would he have thought that she would show her disinterest the next day through a letter.

    Beth felt a little insecure by the words uttered by Mr. Danvers, not to forget, a crowd had started to form around them, to see the drama that was taking ce right now.

    "Mr. Danvers," spoke Raphael, "I think I already told you there is no need for any more ill words and it in fact it is very assuring that you feel that way for Ms. Elizabeth," saying this, he put his hand around Beth''s waist.

    Mr. Danvers gritted his teeth. He was trying to save the man, and instead of listening to him, the man was taking Elizabeth''s side.

    "Looks like you arepletely under her spell. Don''t fall for a woman like her, I am sure every man in the vige can agree with me on how coquettishly she behaves before moving to her next prey. I doubt any dignified person would even want her as his wife, not to forget the attempted treason against the King," stated Mr. Danvers.

    Raphael let go of Beth''s waist, and he took a step forward. The smile on his lips had fallen, and his gold eyes looked straight into the human''s ck eyes.

    "You know, just because you have a mouth doesn''t mean you need to keep speaking. Especially when you don''t have anything nice to say," Raphael''s words were serious and cold. "Sometimes keeping your mouth shut helps others much better than opening it and speaking hurtful things."

    The crowd that had formed around them started to murmur things about Mr. Danvers, Beth and the stranger who had been seen standing next to Beth.

    "How pitiful."

    "It is true what he said, I heard about the treason from someone. What is she even doing here?"

    "Who is that man? I don''t think I have ever seen him here."

    "You know what they say, girls who are pretty usually like to take advantage of men."

    The whispering and murmuring continued around them. Raphael said, "I would like for you to move on from how you feel about thedy. You are a fairly decent man to look at, I am sure there are many willing maidens who are eager to be your wife, Mr. Danvers."

    Mr. Danvers huffed at the plight of the man for falling for a woman who wasn''t worth it. Turning around, he left the ce without sparing another word.

    Raphael looked at the people who had gathered and smiled at them, offering them his charming smile, "The same goes to everyone. If you don''t have anything nice to say about someone, please keep your words to yourself rather than turning this ce hurtful."

    Soon the crowd that had gathered started to disperse, and when Raphael turned to look at Beth, who was supposed to be standing next to him, he saw the spot to be empty.

    "Hm? Beth?" he called her name, but she had disappeared from there.

    Beth had gone back to her parents house, sitting in the backyard and on the steps with her knees pulled close to her chest.

    She knew it would be difficult, but she didn''t know she would be humiliated in front of Raphael. She was sure that Raphael would look at her differently, one day realizing how dark her heart truly was.

    "I thought you would be here. Why did you leave?" questioned Raphael as he came around to stand in front of her. "We weren''t finished watching the other things in the market. Come on."

    Beth shook her head, "No," she whispered.

    "Why not?" asked Raphael before bending down to sit on his heels right in front of Beth. "Are you already tired?" he asked as if nothing had happened a while ago.

    "I don''t think I can do it," said Beth while staring at the muddy ground. "You already saw what happened back in the market. Everybody hates and despises me."

    Raphael stared at Beth for a long minute before he spoke to her, "People have their own perception but that doesn''t mean it has to be always true, does it?"

    "Does it matter," she whispered again without meeting his gaze.

    "You feel hurt because you have acknowledged what you did was wrong, and though you did, it doesn''t mean you are the same person, Elizabeth," said Raphael, his words gentle and soothing to her ears. "Everyone makes mistakes, but not everyone tries to fix it. If you are going to run away now, people will only believe it to be true. Instead, why don''t you try to change people''s mind on what they think of you?"

    "The damage has already been done. Too much-"

    "That doesn''t mean you cannot fix it. Everything can be fixed and I am right here with you, which is why you don''t have to feel you are doing it alone," Raphael had ced his hands to rest on hisp while he looked at her. "You havee this far, and it would be such a waste for people to not see who you truly are. Don''t give up, Beth."

    A shuddering breath escaped from Beth''s mouth as she tried to calm her nerves that she had felt while being in the market, in the presence of Mr. Danvers and his sharp words.

    "Why did you decide to help me, Raphael?" asked Beth, her eyes slowly moving to meet his eyes.

    "I guess I knew there was a diamond in the rocky surface," smiled Raphael. "You don''t have to worry about anything. There is more than one person who believes in you, so it is worth it. By the way, I have something for you."

 Chapter 836: Goodbye- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 836: Goodbye- Part 2</h4>

    Beth saw Raphael fish something in his trouser pocket before bringing his closed fist in front of her. She wondered what Raphael wanted to show her, and when he opened his palm, she noticed a delicate silver chain thatid in his palm.

    "This is for you," said Raphael and Beth looked back at him. "You said you don''t wear any essories anymore and I thought why not rece your ck thread by a simple chain?" he smiled, saying this.

    She didn''t know how to react to it, half happy and half sad, "I cannot wear silver, Raphael. My body doesn''t allow it."

    "I know that," he said before his hands reached behind her neck to unhook the ck thread-like chain in which the pendant hung. "This is a special chain which won''t harm you." Sliding the pendant in the silver-looking chain, he asked, "May I?"

    Beth nodded her head, and Raphael helped her to wear it. Her heart felt full, and tears brimmed back into her eyes. "I am just a little emotional right now," she said to him before he would call her a cry-baby again.

    Raphael smiled at her words, and he came to sit next to her. "It is fine. You can cry as much as you want in front of me. I won''t think badly of you. Here, I even brought a good handkerchief," he brought the cloth in front of her.

    Bethughed with her eyes still filled in tears, "I have never heard anyone encourage a person to cry."

    "What can I say, this is a special case," replied Raphael.

    "Thank you," whispered Beth, letting the handkerchief soak the little drops of tears before they would fall on her cheek. "For everything."

    "You don''t have to mention it. Like I told your parents, I am here for good and would like to stay here next to you," he stated before moving his hand to reach out for hers, and he held it in both his hands. "We haven''t spent our time together like people usually do, but Elizabeth Harris, would you like to live here, in this vige with this fortune teller?"

    Beth stared at Raphael as the words sunk in her mind that he just said to her.

    "You mean together?" asked Beth to rify.

    "Well, I didn''t think about living separately in two houses, it would be very strange, especially considering how we would be spending our time together. I will speak about it with your parents, but if you-"

    "I would like that," replied Beth to his words.

    Right now, the castle, the big life with people of high status, didn''t matter anymore to her. As he said, she would have to work and try to gain people''s trust, turning the wrongs into right.

    "I am d to hear that," Raphael beamed with a smile, and Beth smiled back at him.

    His hands felt warm and nice, just like the bright sun that blew away the clouds of doubt in her mind.

    After a few seconds, Beth asked, "Can I request a card reading too?"

    "You already have yours," replied Raphael, and when he let go of her hand, Beth felt one of his cards appear in her hand.

    She looked down at her hand where one of the metal cards had appeared out of nowhere. Bringing it in front of her, she noticed it was the card of the fool, and there was an impression of a person with wings. Beth didn''t ask what it represented, and she only smiled. Forgetting what happened earlier, she couldn''t help but feel her heart grow lighter in Raphael''s presence.

    "I have the fool," she murmured.

    "You do," agreed Raphael, and he nudged her shoulders with his own.

    Both Raphael and Beth continued to sit in the backyard house in each other''spany.

    Back in the castle, Madeline and little Morven were surrounded by Paschar, d, Odin, Lady Monique, Lucy and Madeline''s parents.

    "Don''t you have somewhere to go? You have been holding him for far too long,"ined Paschar, watching d holding little Morven without giving him to anyone except Madeline.

    "Maybe we should wait for some years before we get to spend time with him," murmured Mrs. Harris under her breath.

    Lucyughed, seeing d keep little Morven to himself and being brave, she said, "d, you should let us spend time with him too."

    "I will be going to Heaven, you can have him at that time," dimir was quick with his response.

    Madeline smiled, seeing the happy family that was in the room. With everyone taking turns to dote on the little baby, it gave no time for Madeline to worry about as she slept in peace while her family took care of him.

    Calhoun had already left the living world to go to Heaven so that he could visit his mother for the very first time after many years. He had been in a deep thought before he had left, and Madeline Calhoun would be alright.

    "Master, I think the baby has poo''ed," said Odin, who stood next to his master.

    "Now where is the cloth to clean him and the scented powder?" d asked his servant, and Odin quickly brought the things to spread it on the table. Mr. and Mrs. Harris had a dumbstruck expression on their face as they would have never thought to witness something like this in their whole life.

    Far away from the living world, Calhoun stood in front of the golden gates of Heaven that were heavily guarded by the gatekeepers, who held a staff in their hands.

    "What is the Devil''s grandson doing here?" questioned one of the gatekeepers. "Heaven is no ce for a person like you. Leave this ce right away!"

    Calhoun''s ck wings pped in the air before he came to stand on the fluffy clouds beneath him. He raised his hand to show the card that Raphael had given him.

    "I am here to meet Constance Lazarus," said Calhoun.

 Chapter 837: Goodbye- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 837: Goodbye- Part 3</h4>

    The gates of Heaven immediately opened, and Calhoun stepped inside to be followed by one of the gatekeepers, who had decided to follow him to ensure he wasn''t here to cause any disruption.

    Many of the nearby angels sensed the darkness that entered the realm of Heaven, and though the deal that the angel and the Devil made was known to them, they sensed something else in the air that didn''t belong to the Devil.

    Calhoun entered the garden, his dark red eyes looking at the other souls, who seemed unfazed by his presence. Walking around the scented flowers, he finally caught sight of the woman, who stood in front of a canvas. She looked in a better condition than he hadst seen her, and he could feel his heart thud against his chest. For a long time, he had yearned to see her, and now that he was here, he stood there stunned.

    "Mother?" Calhoun called Constance, and he realized she didn''t have any memory from the living world.

    He walked towards her and came to stand to her side, for her to turn and meet his gaze.

    "Did youe here to enjoy the scenery?" asked Constance.

    Calhoun had many things to talk about and ask her, but she didn''t have any answers to them, and he didn''t know what was painful right now. For her to forget about him, or if it was good that she didn''t remember the burden she felt while still in the living world.

    A puzzled expression came to settle on her face. Calhoun looked at the canvas where she was painting the sky that must have already passed long ago, "I didn''t know you were good at painting."

    Constance smiled, "I didn''t know that either. I guess we never know until we try," she said to him. "You seem a little sad, is everything alright?" she asked him.

    "My name is Calhoun. I once knew you," Calhoun said to her without beating around the bush.

    The smile that was on Constance''s face lowered down, and she pursed her lips.

    "Forgive me if I did something wrong," she apologized.

    He shook his head, "You don''t need to apologize for anything. You don''t mind if I call you mother, do you?" To Calhoun, Constance was that one person he had always respected, and she held the highest affection and love because she was that person who had protected him.

    "I didn''t know I had a handsome son," whispered Constance, and Calhoun smiled. "I wish I could remember my memories so that I would be able to know and rte."

    "It is fine. Maybe they are not worth remembering," replied Calhoun.

    "Let''s take a seat. The canvas should dry by then," proposed Constance, and they walked towards the bench before taking a seat there next to each other.

    "Some time ago, a man named dimir visited me. Raphael said the man used to be my father and he talked in fragments about my memories that were wonderful to listen to. It is our little secret here," exined Constance. "But Raphael has been busy and I haven''t seen him around much."

    Calhoun wondered if it was allowed for an archangel to recollect memories of a person when the memories had been erased. Raphael had always been helpful, and he was d to know that she had people to keep herpany.

    "How is the living world? I hear the angels whispering about it," said Constance, turning her eyes to look at Calhoun.

    "It is troublesome, but at the same time, it is peaceful now. Surrounded by people with love. My wife, Madeline and I have a baby boy now. We named him Morven," Calhoun let her know.

    "That is wonderful news. I am happy for you, Cal. I can call you Cal, right?" she asked for his permission.

    Calhoun nodded his head, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

    "That means I am a grandmother now," Constance smiled. "I wish I could see him, he must be as handsome as you. You know, I have very faint memories."

    Hearing this, Calhoun''s eyebrows furrowed. The souls that came to Heaven never had any memories. "What do you mean?" he asked her.

    Constance looked around the ce while making sure no one was listening, and she whispered, "Just some of them that are very blurry but something that makes me think about. It happened when the man named dimir was here."

    Curious to know, he asked, "What do you see in them?"

    She had a thoughtful look on her face as she stared at the clear sky, "I see toys in a room. Many of them, and the ce is big. Like a castle with only a few people in there. I think I know why the name Morven sounds familiar now. I used to have a spider toy named Morven. I named it after this story that was told by someone in the castle. It was my favourite one."

    ''Strangely, the name reminds me of spiders. I wonder why.'' Calhoun remembered dimir''s words.

    Calhoun knew the story that his mother was speaking about. It was also the same story she narrated to him when he was a small boy. Recollecting it, he said, "It was about the boy who lost his way through the woods and made friends with the animals."

    Calhoun spent his time talking to her, sharing happy things with her even though she didn''t remember it, while she nodded her head at what he said while responding to his words.

    When the twelve hours started toe to an end, both of them stood up, and Calhoun said, "It is time for me to leave."

    Constance nodded her head with a gentle smile on her lips, "Will I see you again?"

    "One can only hope," said Calhoun, and he stepped forward before putting his arms around her while cing his chin on her shoulder. He didn''t know if he would be allowed to see her in the future, and seeing her right now was nothing less to a dream, where the time to wake up was near.

    And once he would be awake, he would onlye to realize the painful truth that his mother didn''t exist in the living world anymore.

    Calhoun whispered, "I will miss you, mother."

    .

    NEW BOOK NAME: ''Letters to Romeo'' Please add the book to your library, the book will be updated from June 1st. Once TCO ends please switch your votes from this book to the new book. Thank you for your support!

 Chapter 838: Treasured memories- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 838: Treasured memories- Part 1</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Princess Margaret- Rupert Gregson

    .

    Constance watched the Calhoun as he left the garden, where they had been talking for hours. His back seemed lonely, and she didn''t know why, but she felt an ache arise in her c.h.e.s.t. It was an unexinable feeling, not knowing why wondering if it was because of the past that was tangled with this person.

    Since she had gained her consciousness in Heaven, there was something that often tried to appear in her dreams. People who lived in Heaven had nothing but pleasant dreams, but recently when it came to her, something seemed to be scratching the surface, and she wished she could see it.

    As Calhoun continued to walk, Constance noticed ck wings appear from his back, and he turned to look at her. For a few seconds, he stared in her direction.

    "We''ll meet again," said Calhoun before disappearing from the Heavenly realm.

    And though Constance saw Calhoun''s lips move, she couldn''t hear what he said. When he left, an emptiness came to ur in her heart, like suddenly the hollowness she hadn''t felt before had appeared.

    Feeling something on her cheek, Constance raised her hand to touch her face, and she pulled her hand back to look at it.

    "You are sad," came a voice from behind her.

    Constance turned around and saw it was Archangel Michael.

    "It looks like I loved him very much when I was in the living world. It must be why I feel like a piece of me has been torn after spending time with him," replied Constance. The tear that had streaked down her cheek dried out. "Is it normal?"

    "What is?" questioned Michael, his response quick, knowing the Devil would be here any minute.

    "To feel this anguish that I feel in my heart. I don''t remember anything, but I can feel that prick of pain as if my heart is being tugged. Does it happen to others?" questioned Constance.

    Michael had a serious expression on his face, his face often without a smile as he was here to uphold the values and responsibilities. When he had found out about dimir splitting his time with his grandson to meet his daughter, it had surprised him because the Devil was greedy and didn''t share with others.

    But the boy was the Devil''s family, and it might havepelled him to share his time. Not to forget, he now had a great-grandchild to upy himself with.

    Michael had hoped Constance''s soul would not be disturbed with her precious memories, but it seemed like the Devil''s intention was to stir her emotions. Even though Heaven had erased the memory of her time in the living world, she was no ordinary person.

    It was because Constance was never supposed to be here. If he knew she was the Devil''s child, he would have only kept an eye on her. But she had entered the living world, living amongst the people there, and Michael had ended up opening the path for her.

    "Truth is that people often don''t feel the turmoil of emotions," replied Michael. He wondered if he had made a mistake by allowing Calhoun or even dimir to meet her. "Though memories are erased, some of them continue to persist. What do you want, Constance?" he asked her.

    Michael usually didn''t ask this to anyone, but considering this was a special case where he was responsible for it, he decided to ask her.

    Constance looked slightly puzzled at Michael''s question to her, "What I want?" She repeated his words.

    "Yes. What does your heart yearn for?" Michael''s words were peaceful, like a still and calm water.

    He knew if he mentioned to dimir about anything remotely close to him having shown the path to Constance to Heaven, there would be another sh.

    The woman thought about it and said, "I want people to be happy. You too Michael."

    The archangel smiled, "You are too kind." He didn''t understand how a Devil could father such a gentle soul.

    "Do you think he will be alright?" Constance asked, turning to look back in the direction Calhoun had disappeared.

    "With time, everything heals. Even the scars turn dull and fade into the skin," answered Michael.

    In the next second, a fire zed between Michael and Constance. The archangel had a look of annoyance on his face when he noticed the Devil had made his grand entrance.

    "Looks like it is my time to spend with my beautiful daughter. I was caught up with changing your grandson''s clothes-" dimir stopped speaking to Constance when he noticed Michael standing there. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

    "I was speaking to Constance. Calhoun just left and I am leaving too," said Michael, giving the nod to Constance, and he started to walk away from there.

    "That''s good. I get all the time with Constance," and dimir offered her a bright smile. "How have you been? I was looking forward to seeing the painting you were working on during myst visit."

    Michael could still hear the light chatter taking ce between the Devil and his daughter, and when he passed quite a distance, he finally stopped. Turning around, he took a look at them before walking away from there.

    When Calhoun returned to the castle, his heart had turned heavy, and he went straight to where Madeline was with their son, Morven. Some of the family members had stepped out of the room to give space for the mother, unlike the Devil who had been hovering around the baby.

    Madeline had only finished feeding their son, dabbing the soft cloth gently on the baby''s mouth.

    "How is he doing?" asked Calhoun, bending down to pick up the baby in his arms while Madeline tidied herself up.

    "He hasn''t cried as much as he did yesterday. Everyone was around keeping himpany, I think he liked it very much. Especially with d," informed Madeline. She saw Calhoun carefully raise small Morven in the air before bringing him wrapped and using both his arms around the little one to hug him.

    "My little lion. I cannot wait for you to grow up," said Calhoun to the baby.

    Madeline''s heart turned warm at the sight while she sat against the headboard with pillows that had been arranged for herfort. It was good to know that everyone loved the baby, and Calhoun often paid equal attention to both of them.

    "Did you rest?" asked Calhoun when a yawn escaped Madeline''s lips.

    She offered him a smile and a nod, "I did. How was your day?" she asked him.

    "It was exceptionally good. So much that I wished it didn''t end," said Calhoun and Madeline understood how much he must have wished for his mother to stay alive here, with him. He walked towards the bed, sitting next to the space near Madeline while continuing to hold their child. "But then I realized it was possibly the best for her to stay in a ce that would not remind her of anything that has happened in this world."

    Madeline had only heard what Constance had experienced, but Calhoun had witnessed it. Only he knew the pain his mother had gone through. She ced her hand on his arm.

    "How are you doing?" she asked him.

    Calhoun offered Madeline a grin. Leaning forward, he kissed her cheek, "Fantastic, especially with you and our boy with me."

 Chapter 839: Treasured memories- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 839: Treasured memories- Part 2</h4>

    As the night continued to go on, stars spread in the sky along with the lone moon. Calhoun had taken his time to have Madeline sleep with the baby next to her with pillows kept on one side of it so that little Morven wouldn''t fall from the bed.

    Calhoun had got on the roof above the room, taking a seat on the roof while keeping an eye on his family.

    He sat there for long minutes, both his hands ced behind to support himself. His eyes moved to one corner when he heard something sizzle in the air,

    "Peaceful night, isn''t it?" questioned the Devil, making his way towards where he sat.

    "Did you finish talking to her?"

    "Hm," dimir hummed in response. "No matter how much time is given, I realize it will never be enough. Isn''t that right?" and he took the liberty to take a seat next to Calhoun.

    Calhoun knew the time in Heaven and the living world didn''t match because of the discrepancies between the two realms. He looked at the castle ground and the trees that had grown from one corner to another, touching the horizon. Some of the buildings in the towns and viges could be seen peeking from where he sat.

    "What are you doing here?" questioned Calhoun as it was very odd for the Devil to be apanying him in the middle of the night.

    "Giving youpany of course," came the direct words from dimir and Calhoun chuckled.

    "I am not a child, d. You don''t have to worry about me," stated Calhoun, a smirk on his lips at the silly thought of the Devil being worried.

    "Aye, you are right, but you are my family now," replied dimir. "While we are sad about the person who has left us, we shouldn''t forget that there are people in the living world whom we love and care about. The words some say- Don''t worry about the people that have gone, but worry about the ones who are here so that you don''t end up regretting anything."

    "Sounds strangeing from you," said Calhoun, but he didn''t mean it in a hurtful way as the Devil continued to sit next to him.

    "There are many times when I wish Constance to be here. Before I went to sleep, it didn''t cross my mind that she would disappear from this world. To think that she is in Heaven, I knew I should have brought her up more harshly. Maybe having her kill someone would have earned her a free ticket to Hell and I could have brought her back," dimir shared hisints he had with his grandson.

    "I doubt she would have done that," replied Calhoun. His mother had been too kindhearted to hurt anyone.

    There were times in the past Calhoun had wished she weren''t like that. Wishing she had plotted against the King, but she was too soft and naive for this ce.

    "How did she turn out like that? You obviously are the Devil, did she turn out like her mother?" questioned Calhoun. A thoughtful expression came to fall on his face.

    "Ah, Harriet," came the thoughtful words from dimir as if it had been a while since he hadst remembered about the woman. "I guess you could say that. Harriet. She was a beautiful woman, who was passionate and spirited, who was against the vampires."

    It seemed like dimir had a particr taste when it came to women, thought Calhoun to himself.

    "She was a human of course. When the time came, there was too much blood and it turnedplicated. Unfortunately, Harriet didn''t stay long to spend time with Constance. But I guess you are right, Constance took after her mother''s kindness," exined dimir. "I can give you some of the memories of her if you want, to look at it," offered the Devil.

    "And what do you want in return?"

    "I will take some of your memories to see the time she spent in the living world," dimir shrugged his shoulders.

    Calhoun stared at dimir before he smiled, "I doubt you would want to do that."

    "I am already aware of what has happened. I am only offering a give and take deal here, it is alright if you don''t want it," said dimir, ready to get up from the ce where he had been sitting in.

    "Fine."

    A pleased smile appeared on dimir''s lips, "Great." And he brought his hand towards one side of his temple, cing his index finger there before pulling out a bright ball of light and giving it to Calhoun. "These are the most precious one''s I kept of her, I am sure you wille to cherish them as much as I have."

    The Devil then did the same by taking Calhoun''s memories of Constance to watch it himself.

    Once the Devil disappeared from the castle, Calhoun was left with a white ball of light that rested on the top of his palm. Bringing his hand towards his c.h.e.s.t, the ball of light disappeared within him, and he received a set of new memories that didn''t belong to him but dimir.

    "Papa! Look, there''s a butterfly at the window!"

    Calhoun heard a little girl''s voice he believed to be his mother before the scenery he had been looking at until now changed into the Belmount castle.

    The little girl had her hair let down, and she peeked back and forth while dimir tried to take a short nap. The small girls appeared to be no more than five years old.

    "Are you sleeping? You said we would be reading together," came the sweet voice of the little girl. "Are you?"

    dimir, who had ced his forearm to cover his eyes, didn''t move, except for his lips, "Of course, I am. Why would I be lying here for no reason."

    "But you are awake," pointed the little girl.

    "Argh. Fine, I am up," said dimir, throwing his arm to his side and sitting up. "What did you want to read?"

    "Lost boy in the woods."

    "Didn''t we read that more than two hundred and seventy-two times already?" questioned the Devil. "I do not understand the fascination the mortals have towards suchme stories. There are no actual talking animals in the real world. Have Odin bring another book to read."

    "Odiiiiii," little Constance disappeared from dimir''s room while trying to get the servant of the castle.

    After the Devil spent his time, unbelievingly reciting an entire book with his daughter, which was of no use to him, his daughter finally fell asleep during the middle of the day.

    "Master?" Odin called his master for his attention.

    Only dimir''s eyes moved to look at Odin.

    The demon servant bowed his head and said, "Are we going to stay in the living world longer, Master?"

    "So it seems. Constance belongs to the mortal world and we need her to pass this life before she can enter Hell. I would have left her, but she looks too troublesome. Worse than you," stated the Devil.

    Odin''s eyes turned bright as if his Master had included him in being taken care of.

    "Don''t turn happy. It is nothing to be happy about," dimir rolled his eyes. "We will stay here until the right timees, before going back to Hell."

 Chapter 840: Treasured memories- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 840: Treasured memories- Part 3</h4>

    Music Rmendation: What if? - Guy Jackson

    .

    It was never his intention to stay in the living world where the mortals lived. Visit? Sure, but the Devil had never thought that he would be stuck in the living world for the next decades, not knowing what wasing his way.

    Right now, little Constance slept on his l.a.p as if there was no pillow when in truth, there were many luxurious items that she could make use of. But she preferred to rest her head on his l.a.p.

    "Tell me what this bewitchery is. I was here trying to take a nap and she woke me up to only sleep instead,"mented dimir, without raising his voice so that it wouldn''t wake the girl up.

    "She looks like a cat, Master," added Odin.

    "It''s too big for a cat," said dimir.

    He then slowly picked his daughter up in his arms. At the same time, his daughter put her hands around his neck, moving closer to hug him. "Looks like I won''t be getting a chance to nap today," came the dull words from dimir''s mouth. And even though he was unhappy about missing his short sleep, he put his arm around the girl so that she wouldn''t fall while also keeping her near to him.

    The scene that Calhoun was watching changed to a time where dimir had returned to the castle after finishing his small stroll in the vige. He was greeted by his daughter, who had been surrounded by books. His two servants, Odin and Dougs, as usual, had been babysitting his daughter.

    "Papa!" his daughter came running to hug him with excitement as if she hadn''t seen him in thest few months. His daughter was so adorable, thought dimir in his mind while his expression remained unfazed.

    "Wee back, Master," the two servants greeted him with a bow.

    "Seems like you have been having quite a day. What is with this mess in the hallway?" he questioned the two servants who were with his daughter.

    "Lady Constance wanted to read in the hallway today, Master. And there seems to be a spider that went missing," Odin exined with a serious face.

    "So?" dimir deadpanned. "Kill it."

    Odin looked a little troubled, and he said, "We did, Master, but we are unable to find the nasty thing. It seemed to have escaped."

    "If people in the underworld are going to hear that the Devil''s personal servant is unable to find one meager spider, even the little reputation is going to die," red dimir. Turning to his daughter, he asked, "Where did youst see the spider, darling?"

    "It was in my room, papa. This big," she opened her open palm, "With nine legs."

    "What happened to the other leg? Anyways, Odin and Dous, let''s get the spider out," said dimir, walking towards his daughter''s room and everyone followed the Devil.

    Odin and Dous got two brooms, and they started looking for the spider in every nook and corner. In the meantime, little Constance had inched closer to her father, tugging one of his sleeves.

    "Did you find the spider?" questioned dimir.

    His daughter shook her head, and she said, "Did you go to the vige today? When will you take me there?"

    "When you grow big enough. The vige is not safe for a small girl like you. I would rather say the forest is more pleasingpared to those imbecile fools. Now is not the time to talk about it, lest you want this spider toe attack you," dimir tried to change the subject.

    Odin, looking for the spider, couldn''t help but overhear what his Master just said, and he turned to look at his Master with a nk look on his face. Thinking to himself as if the Devil would ever allow a spider hurt his only child.

    After a minute, Odin was the first to find the spider hidden behind the cot. He used the broom in an attempt to smash it, but the big spider only escaped and moved to another corner.

    "AH! It is there!" the little girl screamed, hiding right behind her father.

    "You. It is just a small spider. There''s nothing to be scared about," dimir lightly scolded his daughter. "You are the Devil''s daughter, you should be fearless."

    Both Dous and Odin tried to hit the spider, but it was much smarter than them, escaping before the broom could touch it. Hearing the nking sounds in the room, dimir sighed and said, "Hand me the broom," he raised his hand.

    Odin quickly passed his broom, giving it to his Master while standing in front of little Constance, where the girl hugged his leg with her small hands.

    "How hard is it to kill one spider," dimir shook his head, pulling the desk and found the spider below it.

    He raised his hand with the broom in it, and the next second, he hit the spider with full force.

    But when he pulled the broom back, and though the spider was dead, little Constance screamed.

    "M-master I think the spider was pregnant and its eggs were about to hatch," said Odin on seeing the tiny little spiders start to crawl on the ground. dimir raised his hand, and with one snap, the entire floor of the room filled itself with fire except for the ce where little Constance stood, where an empty circle had been created.

    "There, problem solved," said dimir cooly, but Constance was in tears.

    "Master...you burnt down Lady Constance''s things, the toys��" Odin''s voice trailed, looking at the little girl who didn''t utter a word, but she looked sad. It was because she knew her father didn''t like her crying.

    "I will get you better ones. Anyways it was time to clean this room," said dimir.

    During the night, the little girl brought her pillow and nket along with her, dragging it behind her before getting into dimir''s room to sleep. She climbed into the bed, holding his hand and in a couple of minutes, the girl fell sound asleep in her father''spany.

    .

    NEW BOOK NAME: ''Letters to Romeo'' Please add the book to your library, the book will be updated from June 1st. You can switch all your votes to the book ''The fourth Mistress'' from now!

 Chapter 841: Old fashioned man- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 841: Old fashioned man- Part 1</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Latent dream- Mattia d Morleo

    .

    A lone castle was built on a mountain, hidden away from the mortal and immortal eyes. The sun shone brightly while the rays of it passed through to touch the castle''s walls.

    With a crackle of a fire, the Devil appeared in front of the cave that led towards the castle entrance. His steps were firm on the ground, his posture straight and his eyes sharply looking ahead of him. The ends of the cloak that he wore gently swayed behind him without touching the ground.

    "Wee back, Master," Odin bowed his head before he quickly came to stand behind the Devil. He removed the cloak that his Master wore before cing it on the nearby stand. "Did you visit Heaven, Master?" asked the servant with a curious expression on his face.

    "Hm," came the short answer from dimir as he continued to walk inside the castle, to be followed by his faithful servant. "Get the bath prepared and I need blood. Lots of it."

    Odin bowed his head, "I will get them prepared right away, Master," and the servant disappeared from dimir''s sight.

    Even when Harriet had passed away, dimir had felt little pain, and it had bothered him just a little as he was a heartless man. He enjoyed herpany the most until Constance hade into this world. It had taken him quite a while before he had got used to his daughter''s presence as she became a part of his life.

    When he received his daughter''s memories from Calhoun, he knew he was going to see the worst of all, and the memories didn''t disappoint him. Right now, there was a grim expression on his face, and as much as he wanted to steal Constance away from Heaven by reminding her about him and her son, he now questioned if she would be able to deal with it if her memories were restored. To go through those memories all over again.

    ''Papa!'' he could hear his precious daughter''s voice in his mind, echoing in the empty castle now. ''Wee back home!''

    "How strange," dimir murmured under his breath. "It feels like it was only a while ago since she had been following me."

    His cat appeared in the hall, where he stood. It walked towards him before the cat rubbed its head against his leg.

    The Devil bent down, picking up Lucy Fur in his arms and he pet its head.

    "Do you miss her too?" asked dimir to the cat, his voice calm as he scratched the cat''s ear.

    Lucy Fur was not an ordinary cat that belonged to the mortal realm. When Constance was small, she had no otherpany apart from him and some of the servants in the big castle. Thanks to the boring books about animals, she had continuously pleaded with him before he got a creature from the underworld that was faithful to him.

    ''Thank you, papa!'' dimir remembered how ecstatic his daughter was on seeing the white-furred cat in his arms.

    "Master, the bath is ready with bubbling acid," said Odin, who had returned from the bathing room.

    dimir let go of Lucy Fur, and the cat was quick to jump out of his hands.

    Reaching the bath, his clothes were quick toe off, and he stepped into the bath. His skin and muscle started to dissolve except for his bones. It was like a skeleton had beenid in the wide bath.

    "It feels like so much time has passed," murmured dimir. "And at the same time, it feels like it has slowed down."

    "Is Lady Constance doing well, Master?" asked Odin, eager to know about the Lady whom he had looked after since she was a baby.

    "Yes, she is. I brought the painting that she made in Heaven. To hang it here," said dimir. "Have the painting nailed in the hall so that I can see it clearly," he ordered.

    "I will do that today," Odin obliged his master''s words.

    dimir''s long nails tapped on the surface of the floor as he rested his arm. "What I don''t understand is how she ended up in Heaven. I checked the status of her afterlife and she was supposed to end up either in the inbetween world or in Hell. I know it has something to do with that shady Heaven," his eyes narrowed at the possibility.

    "Why not ask them to send Lady Constance to you, so that she can live with us, Master?"

    "Because it seems moreplicated than it first appeared to be," came the grim words from the Devil. "You think I would not do that. Every time I have visited her, I have tried to break the surface, the walls that protect her memories from being revealed��"

    Odin wondered what his Master meant as the Devil had turned quiet.

    Just thinking about the memories that Calhoun had given of his daughter, it made dimir grit his teeth. While Calhoun had sat on the roof, going through the memories, it had taken less than a few seconds for dimir to consume those memories before his eyes filled themselves in rage.

    One of the memories was of the time that took ce in Winter when Calhoun was around twelve. He had been waiting for his mother to return, and the night had passed its time where men and women had gotten back inside their houses.

    Calhoun had stayed in the house, waiting for Constance but seeing she hadn''t, he stepped out of the house to see where she was.

    The snowkes continued to fall from the sky, the ground cold and white.

    Calhoun had frantically looked for his mother, sprinting from one ce to another until he found his mother lying on the ground.

    "Mother!" Calhoun called her, running towards her. "Mother? Mother!" he called her.

    "Cal?" Constance uttered his name. She appeared to be exhausted, and a red handprint on one side of her cheek.

    "What happened?!" asked Calhoun in shock when his eyes fell on the ground near her legs where blood had spread on the nearby snow. "Did you hurt yourself?"

    "I am fine," assured Constance, trying to get up and stand on her feet. But for some reason, it seemed like it was the hardest thing to do as she struggled with it. Calhoun quickly put her hand around his shoulder. "You shouldn''t havee out. It is snowing. I don''t want you catching a fever."

    Calhoun frowned because he was a vampire while his mother wasn''t. The cold would affect him less while it could spoil her health. When they reached their house, his mother said, "I will take it from here, my son. Why don''t you heat up some water?"

    The boy nodded his head, watching his mother go inside the room, and he caught the small drops of blood that trailed behind her.

    Calhoun ced the water to heat up. He picked up the knife in the kitchen, closing the door of the house behind him as he stepped outside.

    He made his way to the man''s house who had hurt his mother. He had seen the man who had earliere to the house to pick his mother up. Reaching the man''s house, he sneaked inside the ce before slitting the man''s throat, who was alone in the room.

 Chapter 842: Old fashioned man- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 842: Old fashioned man- Part 2</h4>

    dimir was more than proud of Calhoun''s actions of taking revenge on the men and other people who had hurt Constance when she was still in the living world. The boy was truly his grandson.

    But even with the revenge, his heart only grew colder at what his daughter had to go through.

    "Master?" Odin carefully called his master as the Devil appeared to be not in a mood to speak much.

    "Hm."

    "I have packed your clothes in the trunk and they only need to be taken to the Hawthrone castle. Shall I have them delivered?" Odin asked for dimir''s permission.

    "Yes," replied dimir. Now, as baby Morven hade to the world, he wanted to spend as much time with the baby so that the other angels would not influence him. He knew somewhere in that vampire body, the demon blood strongly ran in the baby''s veins. Only time would show how powerful the child was, thought the Devil to himself.

    "Master, shall I pack my things too?"

    "Did you think I was going to leave you behind? Of course, you areing you, dimwit," dimir shook his head before deciding to get up ande out of the bath. The acid dripped down his bones, making a sizzling sound as it hit the floor.

    Odin was happy hearing he would be moving to Hawthrone''s castle along with his master.

    "But don''t pack everything that is here. I would still like this ce to feel like home," stated dimir while his body returned to look like a man who was in his early thirties. He wrapped the towel around his waist. This castle held memories that he didn''t know he woulde to cherish one day, it was a ce where the woman Harriet had given birth to his daughter and Constance had grown up here.

    "Also, Helena is going toe here to have a meal. Make sure you prepare the castle well. Don''t forget the food."

    "Of course, Master! All of it has been prepared," Odin bowed his head inpliance.

    Outside the mountain of Belmount, Helena had arrived at the forest in the carriage. A serious expression on her face with a frown. She hade here before, but she had never stepped further into the woods, hearing about a creature that killed people.

    She wanted to get this over with so that the Devil would leave her alone. dimir had been showing up in front of the headquarters of the High House and wherever she went.

    Her coachman looked around the tall and thick trees that looked scary, "Mdy, are you sure you will be fine?" asked the man. Hearing a crow caw, he quickly turned alert, and Helena sighed.

    "Take the carriage and have it parked at the edge of the forest. I will be back after the meal," said Helena, looking at her coachman. She then started to walk, leaving the carriage and the person behind. After she came to the other end of the forest, she finally caught sight of a cave and the castle built behind it.

    Reaching the cave, she noticed the torches of fire ced on either side of the walls. The passage would have been dark if it weren''t for the fire. The smell of blood drifted in the air, and her eyes fell on the walls that had traces of blood.

    If it was someone else, she would have imprisoned the person formitting the kills. But she had never been put in the situation to deal with the Devil before.

    A young man came to greet her, bowing his head, he said,

    "Lady Helena, Master has been waiting for your arrival."

    She hoped he wasn''t. Didn''t the Devil have other things to do? Asked Helena in her mind. She had seen this person hanging around the Devil, a minion.

    As she stepped closer to the castle entrance, the temperature started to drop, and she felt the cold increase. Entering the castle, she caught sight of its spaciousness.

    "Would you like me to take out your coat?" Odin politely asked.

    "No," came the curt reply from the head of the High House.

    "Please take a seat, while I bring you something to drink," said Odin before disappearing from there.

    Helena crossed her arms, standing in her ce while her eyes took in the castle''s decor that looked empty with only b.a.r.e minimal things. On one side of the walls, some cases contained parchments. Curious, her feet moved towards it, and she stood to find immature drawings in there. The Devil had strange tastes when it came to decorations.

    Helena was still staring at the drawings when she caught the Devil''s reflection through the ss. Turning around, she saw him standing at the top of the stairs.

    "I hope your journey to the castle was peaceful," he said to her.

    dimir had chosen to wear a suit as if he was going to attend someone''s wedding. His hair wasbed with a side partition and the front of his hair slightly curled. There was a smirk on his lips as he descended the stairs.

    "If you are speaking about the demons whom you decided to bury in the ground to attack people, they have been shot down with silver bullets," replied Helena, while keeping her eyes on him.

    The Devil was said to be a trickster. If one did meet him, it would be better not move your eyes away lest you want him to trap him, thought Helena to herself.

    dimir turned pleased with Helena''s response, "I knew you would be able to shoot them. It was a little bit of recreational activity." He came to stand in front of her before taking her hand and leaning forward to kiss the back of her hand.

    Helena only continued to stare at the man with a sceptical look, and dimir smiled.

    "You seem a little unenthusiastic to have a meal with me," said dimir, his eyes taking in the High House uniform that the woman had not bothered to change.

    "d to hear that you are finally able to see it," Helena deadpanned.

    "That''s fine. You look beautiful in the uniform. The colour of itpliments your pale and smooth skin."

 Chapter 843: Old fashioned man- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 843: Old fashioned man- Part 3</h4>

    When dimir offered his charming smile, he noticed the vein on Helena''s forehead pop up in annoyance. He could tell that she was trying to control her anger from saying or doing something to him. But the way her eyes zed, he couldn''t help but poke her.

    "Let''s move to the dining room," proposed dimir and the woman quietly red before following his lead.

    Watching the back of dimir''s head, Helena gritted her teeth. If she could, she would have shot him dead for annoying her and for unnecessarily wasting her time. But this was no ordinary mortal. If she did something, who knew what the consequences would be? The sooner she would finish the meal, the faster she could get him out of her hair.

    "I took the liberty to prepare some of your favourites after having Odin ask the people who know you closely," said dimir, his head turning to look at her with that evil smile that represented him.

    The dining room was big, and going to one side of the head of the table, dimir pulled out the chair for her. Helena gingerly sat down, and dimir took the other end to sit opposite of her. He stared at her while she red at him, neither of their gazes dropping.

    "You haven''t spoken much since you arrived here. The more you stay quiet it only makes me think that you want to stay mysterious so that I can find more about you," smiled dimir.

    "It seems like you are not good when ites to reading people, Mr. Lazarus. I don''t think you have heard of the term called personal space," responded Helena. The look in her red eyes was fierce with a no-nonsense attitude.

    dimir closed his eyes, his head down as if she had said something she was not supposed to. He then looked up and said, "Please. Call me d."

    "You aren''t my rtive or someone close to you to be calling you by first name," replied Helena.

    "Then it is only right that we familiarise ourselves," said dimir with a bright smile.

    Odin, who had just entered the room, cleared his throat without using words to interrupt them. Helena''s eyes snapped to look at Odin, who brought the wine bottle forward, "Wine?"

    She leaned her back against the chair, watching Odin pour the wine into her ss and then move to where the Devil sat before pouring the wine into his ss.

    Helena didn''t touch her wine ss, but she did see dimir pick up his ss, taking a sip as if he was enjoying this moment.

    "I am not here to familiarize with you. I am being polite and I would request you to stop showing up in front of me. You might have a lot of free time in your hands, Mr. Lazarus, but I have a ce to work that needs my attention," stated Helena.

    "You speak as if I am next to you all the time. You must be remembering me a lot, it isn''t truly my fault now, isn''t it?" He raised his eyebrows.

    If Helena had a branch of the tree right now, she would have beaten the man until he came to his senses. Instead, her hand reached for the wine, and she took a sip from it.

    "It seems like the apple doesn''t fall too far from the tree," she replied, her tongue cl.i.c.k.i.n.g in the end.

    dimir beamed at Helena''s words. He then looked at Odin and said, "Get the first round of food, Odin." When the servant left, the smile on dimir''s lips slowly slipped from his face. Running his finger around the rim of the ss, he asked, "I heard you weren''t like this when you were young. What happened?"

    "Aren''t you nosey," came the calm and collected words from Helena, who took a few more sips from the ss.

    "I am. I hope you can overlook it," responded dimir while waiting for Helena to speak.

    For a person who got his minion to find what she liked to eat, Helena couldn''t help but question if he had already done a background check on her.

    Helena didn''t speak for a few seconds, and she then said, "Why don''t you speak about yourself."

    "I am the Devil from Hell and that," he looked at Odin, who entered the room, "That is my faithful demon Odin. I have a handsome grandson and a cute great grandchild. I was hoping you could turn into their grandmother."

    The annoyance in Helena''s eyes increased, "I don''t know where you have picked up these lines, but you should stop.

    "Does it make your heart race?" he asked her.

    "It makes me cringe.

    dimir chuckled, "I am an old fashioned man, that must be the reason. Would you prefer if I tried something else?"

    "What I prefer is for you to not bother me," saying this, she took a bite from the food.

    "Hmm...I can tell you you want to throw the knife at me,"mented dimir when he noticed Helena''s eyes on the cutlery. "But people don''t often live after they try something like that on me."

    "I am not afraid of death," responded Helena, meeting his eyes, and he smirked.

    "So I have noted."

    The rest of the meal time went in silence, and when the time to leave appeared, Helena hoped that dimir wouldn''t follow her anymore. Walking out of the castle, she said, "Thank you for the meal."

    "We should do this often," proposed dimir.

    "No," came the quick response from Helena. "I hope since you are an old fashioned man, you will respect my thoughts and note in front of me anymore."

    dimir gave it some thought before he nodded his head, "Okay."

    Offering him a bow, Helena walked back to the carriage, and she returned to her work.

    A week passed since she hadst seen dimir, and without him, she felt peace was back in her life. The decorum in the High House had returned to its normal state that was busy with meetings and papers that needed to be read and sealed.

    She leaned against the plush chair, closing her eyes for a moment in the room.

    "You should take a break from work, if you don''t want early wrinkles on that pretty face." Hearing the Devil''s voice from behind her, she turned herself and saw it was indeed him.

    "You," she grumbled.

    "You said not toe in front of you, nothing about showing up behind you," smirked dimir. Helena felt her headache return.

 Chapter 844: Smoke of the night- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 844: Smoke of the night- Part 1</h4>

    News from : There will a badge event for the book that can be added to your profile.

    Music Rmendation: 1917 (From "1917") [Piano version] - Thomas Newman

    .

    A few days passed, and Helena now sat with her back against the chair, her eyes closed and her lips in a frown as if she was displeased with people''s attitude. Even though many King''s and the Queen''s hade forward to offer their support in the functioning of how the High House worked, there were still some who liked to cause trouble.

    Her eyes opened to reveal the deep and clear red eyes while she leaned back to her position and picked up the top parchment from the stack that had piled up on her table.

    Hearing a knock on the door, she said, "Enter."

    The door opened, and in came her right-hand man, Dimitri, "Good evening, Lady Helena. The issue of filling up the position of Duke Grivelle''s bloodline has been addressed by King Calhoun. Here is the list of the people whom you might find to be worthy to fill up that position." He walked forward to ce the scroll in front of the head of the High House before taking a step back and watching the woman''s gaze fall on the scroll.

    "I will have the person picked by night and by tomorrow morning, you can inform the respective person. The position has been left empty for a while now," said Helena, picking up the scroll and taking a quick look at the names, and she ced it on the table. "Is there something else?"

    "No, mdy," Dimitri answered, and he paused before he said, "Have you thought about going to meet the King?"

    "King Calhoun?" questioned Helena, and the man shook his head.

    "I mean King Edison. He had sent you a letter," answered Dimitri and hearing the name was enough for Helena to stop whatever she was doing.

    Helena''s lips were set in a thin line, and she said, "My cousins wants me to join him in the royal court for lunch, hoping I would favour himpared to the rest of them. I wonder why people forget things easily while turning delusional. He has addressed the letter to the head of the High House, requesting to visit him."

    "Are you going?" asked Dimitri. A slight concern came to fall on his face.

    "I can refuse his request as a rtive, but I cannot refuse it with him because of his position as the King. Sometimes we think we have power, but in truth we still don''t," came the grim words from Helena''s mouth.

    King Edison Rufford was Helena''s cousin, the son of thete King Solomon Rufford. She knew Solomon and his son Edison since she was small, and she had believed they were family until he stole the one person who was dear to her. Before Dimitri had turned as the right-hand man of hers, he had previously been her caretaker.

    Though Helena put on a cold stone-like appearance in front of others, Dimitri knew the hardsh.i.p.s she had gone through toe to this position.

    "I would like to go instead of you. I will finish the matter quickly and return," proposed Dimitri.

    "No," responded Helena. "Edison has specifically asked me toe and join him for a meal. If you go there, it would only upset him."

    She had a lot of things to settle in the past, but now as she was in a different position, she didn''t want to misuse it. She had believed in fair treatment and justice to be given to people who deserved it while punishing people who deserved it.

    "It is only one day. I will be fine. Instead, I would like you to handle this ce," stated Helena, who had already made up her mind.

    Dimitri didn''t try to convince her, and he bowed his head in acknowledgement. "You should also get some sleep. You have been here for two days straight."

    "Hm," Helena responded and saw Dimitri step out of the room. Getting up from her seat, she pulled the drawer to pick up a small cigar case. Snatching an old lighter with marks on it, she lit the cigar before putting the lighter back in the drawer and walked towards the long window.

    Bringing the cigar up to her lips, she took a long drag and blew the smoke through her lips.

    Her eyes watched the road below while she stood inside the tall building. She saw carriages passing back and forth, people making their way back home, some with their loved one''spany while some all by themselves.

    Her eyes seemed distant, and she wondered if there was ever an end to how she felt. The life she had picked for herself was of a righteous one. When she took a few more drag from the cigar, she heard a crackle in the air.

    "A woman standing near the window and blowing a cigar. I don''t know if I should find it to be intriguing or if it looks lonely."

    And here came another problem, thought Helena in her mind.

    "It seems like Hell has been quiet without any sinners that you are here to kill time," replied Helena to the Devil''s words.

    "I am waiting for you tomit a sin, but you have been a very good person," dimir responded to her words, and he took hold of the cigar case that was on the table. He walked towards where she stood, cing the cigar in between his mouth, he said, "May I?"

    Helena could somewhere rte the Devil''s attitude that was simr to a persistent fly. No matter how many times a person swatted it, it would return singing to the person.

    dimir leaned his upper body forward and towards her, such that he touched the tip of her cigar with his end of the cigar to light it up. When his cigar burned bright, he pulled back to take some puffs from it.

 Chapter 845: Smoke of the night- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 845: Smoke of the night- Part 2</h4>

    "I thought you left," said Helena. She pulled the cigar from her lips to hold it between her fingers while she rested her wrist on the edge of the window. After appearing that day to surprise her, dimir had disappeared, and she had hoped he was gone for good. But here he was now.

    dimir smiled at her words. He said, "You''re an intelligent woman, Helena. I believe that is what I like about you. It seems like there''s something bothering you."

    "Which doesn''t concern you. I believe you have to learn to mind your own business and not to poke in others matters, Mr. Lazarus," sparing him a look, Helena''s eyes shifted to look outside the window at the people.

    "Speaking about that, there is something I noticed in you," said dimir, his eyes not moving away from looking at the woman''s features. "You are from a family of good demons. And as we all know, every demon who dies, ends up in Hell. Right?"

    "Are you waiting for me to die?" Helena''s words were calm and collected. She brought her hand that held the cigar, her eyes falling on him as she pulled the smoke into her lungs and letting it escape out of her lips again.

    "I would have been excited if I didn''t find the mistake. It seems like Heaven has decided to open the path for you to get inside in it to spend your afterlife," stated dimir. The Devil continued to say, "I don''t often check people''s status and I know the demons always end up in Hell, but I couldn''t resist not looking at where you would end up, considering what you do."

    The person seemed far too free, thought Helena to herself. The life of the Devil and that of a person from the living world was too different. People in the mortal world were put under constant trials. Though she didn''t know about this until now, she knew why the path to Heaven had been opened to her. It was Michael.

    dimir stared at Helena, who broke her gaze from him to look back outside the window as if the scene outside was far more interesting than the person who was talking to her. His own eyes moved to see what she was watching, and he noticed a family walking at the side of the road. It was a mother, a father, and their two children.

    "When are you leaving to Cait?" questioned dimir.

    Helena didn''t see a point in withholding the news from him. Telling or not telling, he would eventually find out. Therefore, it was better to prepare herself than get into shock by his sudden visit.

    "Next week," replied Helena. Once her cigar was exhausted near the end, she said, "I should get back to work." Within a blink of an eye, the Devil disappeared. She looked all around her room and behind the book rack, which was ced behind her chair. He was gone.

    Far away from the High House and in the Hawthrone castle, dimir appeared in the middle of the corridor, having a nearby servant gasp in shock and running in the other direction.

    "Wee back, Master!" Odin greeted him enthusiastically. "Did you have a good stroll outside?"

    "I did. How are things in the castle?" questioned dimir.

    Odin cleared his throat before he started to speak, "Master Calhoun has been busy with Theodore in the royal court. Archangel Paschar left for Heaven with Archangel Raphael after being called. Mr. and Mrs. Harris went to their house and said they would return tomorrow. Lady Madeline has been keptpany by Lady Lucy, taking care of baby Morven. Baby Morven has taken an attachment to the spider toy that you gave him, but I doubt the Harris family was pleased with it as they got him a sheep," Odin dutifully reported.

    "Is that so," hummed dimir, walking through the corridors of the castle that had turned into his house. "I am going to see what is keeping my grandson in the court, while you make sure nothing happens to little Morven."

    "Yes, Master!" came the enthusiastic voice from the demon, and he quickly went where the baby was.

    Odin knocked on the open door of the room, and Madeline smiled at him, "You don''t have to ask for permission, Odin. Feel free to step in and out any time."

    "I would never dare, mdy," Odin bowed his head.

    "Did d return?" asked Madeline, as the demon had stepped out of the room to find where his master was. It was strange how the demon was different whenpared to the rest of the other demons. Odin often turned anxious when dimir was away for far too long.

    "He did, mdy. Master has gone to meet Master Calhoun," replied Odin beforeing to stand next to the baby and making sure it was alright. He had been noting down every detail so that he could report it if his Master would ask him.

    "He must have gone to meet Lady Helena," murmured Lucy in a thoughtful tone.

    "How strange, I would have never guessed that there was something going on," replied Madeline, a hint of surprise in her tone. The head of the High House didn''t look like she had time for romance and her words were usually curt. She still remembered the time when the High House hade to the castle to run a trial, and Calhoun had offered her a bottle of wine.

    "By the way, Odin," said Lucy to grab the demon''s attention, "I heard you were in the in-between realm before, is that true?"

    Odin nodded his head, "I did, mdy. It was before the Master took me to Heaven."

    "Why didn''t you go through the gates? Did you miss your family and didn''t want to forget them?" questioned Lucy, looking at him curiously. Even Madeline was curious about this. Since dimir and Odin had started to live in the castle, people became curious about the Devil''s servant.

    Odin blinked at this question and then said, "No, I wanted to kill them."

    Hearing this, the two young women turned surprised.

    "Once upon a time, I had a loving family. I had a brother. A twin," Odin said. "We were all killed. And I was thest person to die out of the four of us, I couldn''t let go of resentment towards the murderers. I had spent quite a few years and if I stayed a little longer, I would have turned into another creature. The people whom I wanted to hurt, they had been attacked by vampires but I couldn''t let go of the memories. But Master found me in the in-between realm and got me to follow him inside the Heavenly realm."

    "We are sorry to hear that," murmured Lucy, and Madeline nodded her head.

    With a smile on his face, Odin said, "I don''t feel bad about it now. Master took care of the humans I was waiting for once we descended into Hell."

 Chapter 846: Smoke of the night- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 846: Smoke of the night- Part 3</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Oogway Ascends - Eliott Tordo Erhu

    .

    When the day to leave Devon and visit thend of Cait to meet the King arrived, a small trunk had been packed for the journey. Helena had nned only to visit and not to stay the night. Getting in the carriage, she started her journey alone as she had done even in the past.

    As the travel time was long, her thoughts drifted to the time when she was still young and free of any worries. Or it would be more right to say that she had been ignorant about the things that had been going around her.

    It was true that many people who had known her from the time before were surprised to see her current demeanour as she had changed, but Helena didn''t care about it.

    When the carriage reached the Kingdom of Cait, her carriage was stopped at the borders by men, "Who goes there?" demanded a man,ing around to stand near her window.

    "I am from the High House and am here to meet the King," Helena replied to the person.

    The man stared at her for a few seconds before saying, "I will need you to show me your-"

    Helena pushed the ck cloak away to show her uniform that every High House member wore, "Does this suffice?" she asked him in a dull tone.

    The man cleared his throat and raised his hand. "Let the carriage pass," he ordered his fellow men who had blocked the road. The long wood was then raised to allow the carriage to move forward before moving towards the castle and stopping in front of the castle.

    Helena stepped out of the carriage, where the castle looked the same way as in her memory. She hadn''t pulled her cloak to not gain attention from people by revealing her uniform.

    "Well well, look who has finally decided toe back to Cait," came a woman''s voice, and Helena''s eyeszily moved to her right side to catch sight of an older woman. The person made her way towards where Helena was, and she sized her up and down. "Don''t you look pretty, Helen."

    Helena didn''t offer the woman a smile, but she did greet her as she was her aunt, who was also the former Queen of thisnd, "Good afternoon, Aunt Guilene."

    "Come inside, Edison is waiting for you. He told me he sent you a letter, but you didn''t write back to him," said her Aunt Guilene, cing her hand on Helena''s back.

    Not liking the touch and to make the woman understand she was no more the same old person, Helena took a step forward. "I know the way to the King''s royal court room. After all, I used to live here. I wouldn''t like to bother you and will go and find him myself."

    The woman watched Helena walk away from her, and her smile was quick to drop from her face, and she narrowed her eyes. She raised her hand at the nearby guard toe in front of her, and she ordered, "Make sure to check her luggage and seize all the weapons."

    "Yes, mdy," the guard bowed his head, walking towards the carriage and having the trunk brought down on the ground to check.

    While Helena walked through the corridors, she felt the light shes of the time when she used to live here. The times back then were peaceful that had been lost in front of arrogance and misuse of power. Every step she took on the floor was sharp, making the castle servants turn to look at the woman in a cloak, who had blonde hair making her way through the corridors.

    When she reached the entrance of the royal court room, she saw the men who were inside turn to look at her, and the room suddenly turned quiet. But soon, murmurs of chatter stirred. Unlike in the past, Helena didn''t have to stand outside, waiting for permission. Instead, she walked right inside the room, and the men moved away, making room for her.

    "My dearest cousin Helen," King Edison greeted her. It seemed like people liked to forget that there was an ''a'' after Helen, thought Helena to herself. Her cousin stood up from his throne and walked forward to wee her. "I am very d to see you here. To think that we are meeting after such a long time."

    For the position the man held in thend, Helena offered the King a slight bow before raising her head.

    "And I am d to see you. I am here because of your letter where you mentioned you wanted to speak to me regarding thend disputes that are urring here?" Helena came directly to the point instead of wasting her time on things that weren''t beneficial.

    At Helena''s cold behaviour, King Edison only smiled and said, "There''s a lot of time for that." Leaving her gaze, he looked at the other people who were in the court, "Let us continue the discussionter. The court is dismissed."

    The people left the room on the King''smand, and when Helena''s eyes fell a few ces away from where she stood, she remembered the blood that had spread on the floor in the past.

    Her voice echoed in her head as she screamed and begged for her brother''s life.

    ''STOP! He didn''t do anything wrong! Please, stop it King Solomon!''

    But her words had fallen on deaf ears. Not a single person had stepped forward to aid her or her brother, who had been pushed down on the ground.

    ''He dares to create treason and threaten my position on the throne,'' the King''s voice echoed in the room in anger. ''To make sure no one ever attempts it again, son of Nixon, shall be executed right here now.''

    ''NO!'' she screamed, tears falling while she was being held back by two guards.

    With no parents, her uncle, who was filled with power and greed, had used her brother as a sacrifice. When her eyes met her brother''s gaze, she saw him looking in her direction as the guard held the sword above his neck. She had seen the helplessness filled in his eyes. And the sword moved down, maring the floor with innocent blood.

 Chapter 847: Way to Hell- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 847: Way to Hell- Part 1</h4>

    "Marcelo! Marce!" Helena shouted her brother''s name while walking through the corridors, wondering where he was. "Where did you go?" she muttered under her breath, reaching his room to check if he was there.

    It was only seven in the morning, and he was already out of bed. Walking down the stairs, Helena came to see her brother, who was talking to her uncle Solomon.

    "Go get the approval from the magistrate of the town so that we can create the dam. I need it before tomorrow morning so that it can be sent with the rest of the papers," she heard King Solomon speak.

    "I will leave for the town right away," replied her brother, offering his bow, and the King left the corridor.

    Helena walked to where her brother stood, "He''s sending you out for other work again?" she questioned.

    Her elder brother turned and met her gaze, "When did youe here? You seem to be getting better at sneaking around people without anyone''s notice." As usual, his blonde hair had beenbed to the side, and there was a smile on his face.

    Helena''s eyebrows furrowed seeing her brother trying to dodge her question, "He makes you work morepared to any of his ministers. I thought you were going to have a day off from the royal court duties," she said to him.

    "The King said it was urgent and you know how much he trusts me," replied Marcelo. He started to walk, and she was quick to follow him, walking beside him.

    "He trusts you enough to make you work for him but he doesn''t offer you the position as one of his ministers. Don''t you think something is wrong with it? It has been more than three years and you are still not anywhere near to the position you deserve," stated Helena, pursing her lips in the end.

    Her brother was a naive person, believing everything that was told to him to be true and blindly trusting people. In contrast, Helena had always been sceptical about the people around them.

    "I thought we already went through this. The King holds us dear to his heart. If it weren''t so, we wouldn''t be living here in the castle. After our parents'' death, he allowed us to stay here, promising position and purpose. And you get to be educated too," exined Marcelo while he continued to walk, and Helena stared at him. "You shouldn''t worry about such things when you should be grateful for the King''s generosity ."

    "I would be grateful when the Ruffords decide to give you the position of a minister," muttered Helena under her breath.

    "You should be careful with what you speak, you don''t want to get caught saying something people don''t like," pointed out her brother, and Helena shook her head. "If you are upset that we won''t be able to spar today, you don''t have to feel that way. I will try to find some time by evening and we can go to the forest after that."

    Back then Helena had pleaded with her brother to leave the castle with her, to go away from the castle and make a life for themselves. This ce didn''t seem like a ce where they were weed as her brother thought it to be. She had a feeling that the King was only making use of her brother''s good nature for his own dirty work, like a master and a dog who were ying fetch.

    "I will wait for you," said Helena, giving her brother a look, and heughed.

    "With the way you behave, it seems like you are older to me, than the other way round," he offered her a warm smile, and she only stared at him.

    "You are too good and I cannot help but worry about you. It isn''tte to leave the castle and start afresh, life away from the castle is much better than in it," responded Helena to Marcelo''s words.

    When they reached where the carriage was awaiting for him, Marcelo waved at her once he got on the carriage. Helena watched the horses pull the carriage as he left the castle for another errand of the King. While returning inside, the Queen noticed her and called,

    "Helen dear, did you go outside again?" asked Queen Guilene. "Seems like you have lots of free time on your hands. Come help Martha in studying."

    "I have other things to do," came Helena''s direct words.

    Queen Guilene''s eyes subtly narrowed, the smile still intact on her lips, "I don''t think I heard it quite right. What was that again?" the woman gave her another opportunity to fix her mistake by abiding by her words.

    Helena stared at the Queen, "I have to work on my sword fighting skills to make sure I can cut the enemy to pieces."

    "Where have your manners gone? Don''t you know that you are supposed to listen to what the Queen says?" asked Guilene.

    "Forgive me, but I am not that qualified to monitor young Martha. I am sure the governess who has been busy drinking tea and trying to be more of yourpanion for chatter than a governess can be put to better use," responded Helena, leaving the Queen appalled by her blunt response.

    Maybe her brother didn''t see it, but Helena had weighed every person in the castle, while keeping a watch for both her and her sibling. She didn''t care if she was thrown out of the castle because that was exactly what she wished for.

    "Helena?"

    Helena''s eyes shifted to look at King Edison, who was looking at her, "Where did you go? You seem to have dazed out of the conversation."

    "Pardon me. What were you saying?" asked Helena, not denying that the conversation her cousin had been on about had been lost.

    King Edison tried to be as patient as he could, "I was saying, how about you rejoin us, here in this Kingdom here.Obviously you are far more capable to work beside me than being away."

    "Do you mean against you when you say away?" questioned Helena, her face serious. But King Edisonughed over it as if he was covering his actual feelings.

    "Of course not. I have always wanted you beside me, because you are an intelligent woman. I know people often shun weddings between close cousins, but don''t you think it is better to keep the blood thick and keep the family line strong?" questioned King Edison with a smile on his lips.

    Helena knew Edison would try to have her join back the Kingdom of Cait. With the constant rise of the High House that had taken part of the power from the Kings and the Queens of the nearby kingdoms, it had turned to a central system of justice. As more time would pass, it would turn into an iron rule that everyone would have to follow while having the ability to destroy people who misused power.

    King Edison was aware that Helena knew some secrets of the Kingdom of Cait, and she could use it against him, and he was trying to gain her attention by inviting her to have a meal with him.

 Chapter 848: Way to Hell- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 848: Way to Hell- Part 2</h4>

    "I don''t think I ever gave you an impression that I am interested in you, King Edison. There are many willing young women who would happily agree to marry you," responded Helena, her expression continuing to stay the same and uninterested in the King''s proposal.

    "The other young women aren''t as smart as you. You are a woman of great caliber and I wouldn''t like to lose this opportunity," said King Edison.

    The one side of Helena''s lips pulled up, but the smile didn''t reach her eyes, "I thought we are going to have a meal."

    "Of course, let us eat together," proposed the King and together, they continued to walk towards the dining room.

    On reaching the room, Helena noticed the former Queen sitting right next to the King''s chair. Guilene red at Helena for even showing up in the castle. It was because of Helena that her husband had been killed and dethroned. The Ruffords had been lucky enough to keep the throne within the family because, at that time, Edison was old enough to ascend on the throne.

    "If we knew you wereing today, I would have asked the cook to prepare things that are of your taste," said Guilene while Helena walked around to take a seat in front of Guilene.

    "I don''t n to stay here for long and only came here on the King''s invitation," replied Helena, watching Guilene pick up the napkin and spread it over her l.a.p.

    "Always trying to get away from the castle, isn''t it?" smiled Guilene.

    "When the atmosphere is so dark with people I am not exactly fond about, I think anyone would feel that unless the next person has a dark mind," came the blunt response from Helena and Guilene''s eyes red in controlled temper.

    "You might be the head of the High House, but don''t forget right now you are in someone''s kingdom and disrespect towards the royal family shall not be tolerated in the slightest," Guilene gave her a warning.

    "How about both of you calm down and have this delicious food that is ced on the table while it is still hot," King Edison tried to appease both the women. He had already spoken to his mother to behave and not tosh out about past issues.

    Helena stared at the woman and replied, "Wasn''t like you tolerated anything when it came to my brother and me. Your actions in the past shall not be overlooked."

    "Are you trying to threaten me and the King? Guards!" Guilene stood up from her chair, and the guards came near the door, waiting for themand.

    The woman was easy to predict as she had always been petty enough to be offended by the slightest things, thought Helena to herself.

    "Mother, please sit down," the King requested his mother to sit, but she refused to do so. "Helen, watch what you speak. There is no reason to attack my mother. Apologise to her."

    Helena had allowed herself to lean against the chair, and her appearance looked calm and stronger than before. She bowed her head, and when her eyes met the woman''s eyes, she said, "My apologies if my words hurt you, but I didn''t know it would offend you greatly, when in truth I was only talking about your actions. You shouldn''t feel bad about it, unless you feel attacked for being guilty."

    King Edison ced his hand on top of his mother''s hand, gaining her attention. He said, "She is right, you don''t have to feel offended because you haven''t done anything bad."

    Guilene''s jaw ticked in anger, and she gingerly sat down while her son was yet to dismiss the guards who stood outside the room. The meal went quietly with just res sent by the former Queen while Helena seemed unaffected by it.

    Once the three of them finished their meals, Helena dabbed her napkin over her lips. She then said,

    "I am d that you invited me to have a meal with you, King Edison. There is something I wanted to speak to you about," addressed Helena to the King. "Whatever illegal activities the kingdom has been involved with until now with yours and the ministers, it would be better to stop it unless you want those ministers to be executed."

    "Don''t you think it is a little too harsh?" questioned King Edison, the smile from his face dropping.

    "She''s nothing but bad luck. Back then she was a bad luck for her brother and then she killed your father,"mented Guilene.

    Hearing her brother being mentioned, Helena''s eyes narrowed, "Be careful with what you speak. I am no longer a person who is not in power, and you don''t want a simr fate to what happened to your husband."

    "You should drop such an exchange, Helen. We are family and we shouldn''t harm each other. You did what you had to do by punishing my father, don''t you think that you are going a little too far?" questioned King Edison.

    Going far, said Helena in her mind. These were the same people who had not stepped forward when her brother had been executed and in the middle of the court, where everyone knew he wasn''t responsible.

    "I am not the one joking here, King Edison, instead it is you who joked with me about us two getting married to each other," came the calm and collected words from Helena''s mouth.

    Guilene''s eyes snapped to look at her son in shock, "What?!"

    Right now, King Edison, son of Solomon Rufford, whom Helena had dethroned, stared at the head of the High House, while his mother looked shocked by what Helena just said.

    "I was hoping you would agree to my request, and I was polite about it, Helen," stated the King, his voice turning low and threatening. "Being close rtives, I was hoping you would understand andply with it."

    Helena''s stoic face looked at the King, "If that is all that you wanted to speak about, then I believe we have finished talking and there is nothing more here. Thank you for having me, I should get going now."

    King Edison made no attempt to move from his chair, and he watched Helena step away from the chair, and before she could reach near the entrance of the dining room, he said,

    "I truly hoped you would have agreed but with your refusal to ept my proposal, I don''t have any another option."

    Suddenly the entrance was blocked by the guards as they entered the room. "You are under arrest, Lady Helena," said King Edison and his mother finally smiled, d to see the girl being caught.

    Helena looked unruffled, and she stared at the guards with her eyebrows subtly frowning.

    She turned to look at the King. Her eyes narrowed at him while she somewhere had doubts that he would try to pull something like this against her.

    "It isn''t toote for you to have your guards move out of my way so that I can pass and return to Devon, Edison," said Helena, her eyes staring at the King, who huffed. "Do you think you can get away with the fact of holding me as a prisoner in yournd? The other authorized people from the High House won''t be pleased with it."

 Chapter 849: Way to Hell- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 849: Way to Hell- Part 3</h4>

    "That''s where our historyes to help. Everyone knows that you were the reason why my father was killed. And who is here to support you? You are overconfident to think that I would let you go without youplying to my words," said King Edison, and he got up from his chair.

    "You must be quite desperate to get married," murmured Helena.

    "Guards, take her and put her in the dungeon," ordered Guilene, eager to see Helena behind the bars. But when one of the guards came to catch hold of Helena''s arms, she was quick to dodge it by swatting the man''s hand away from her.

    "Don''t step closer," warned Helena, her eyes ring at the guards, and for a moment, they stopped in their tracks.

    "What are you doing? Take her from here," ordered King Edison and he made his way out of the dining room and was followed closely by his mother.

    When the two royal family members left the room, the guards slowly approached Helena and one of them said, "Comply with us and it would be better." The guard went to get hold of her arm once again. But when she stepped back, they realized they would have to drag her from here as she was unwilling.

    The Head guard was quick to grab her hair as the Head of the High House was rumoured to be stronger than most women. Helena''s eyes red, and she quickly elbowed the man''s face while using the back of her hand to p him right across his face.

    From the time she was young, Helena had trained herself to be more efficient and well versed when it came tobat, and the guards who were trying to attack her right now had a death wish.

    "Get her!" Another two guards appeared near her, ready to beat her as the King had not mentioned anything about keeping her in the same state.

    Helena raised her leg, pivoting with the other leg, while she kicked the closest guard to have him flying across the table and the vessels on the table fell on the ground. "I told you to not touch me and step away. Seems like people here have trouble understanding simple words."

    She sent another guard flying to crash against the wall. One of the guards came behind her, putting his hand around her neck and trying to have her stand still so that the other guards could tie her before being taken to the dungeon. But before that could happen, Helena sunk her nails into the guard''s arm and drew her fingers downwards for the skin on the guard''s arms to scr.a.p.e deeply. The guard yelped in pain and blood started to ooze out from his hand.

    Helena punched and kicked one after another, her annoyance increasing, until she had every guard on the floor who g.r.o.a.n.e.d in pain.

    When she stepped out of the dining room, a metal rod came close to hit her face but she caught it in her hand. ring at the guard and she bent the metal to turn it into a ''U'' shape. The next second, she pulled out the gun from her uniform, cing it on the guard''s head.

    "This is a specialized gun that I got from an old church. One pull and it will blow your brains out of your head. Now step away, unless you want to end up in Hell," Helena''s words were low, and she stared at the guard who quickly stepped away from her, and once he was a good distance away from her, he was quick to run from there.

    Helena made her way to where the King was, one hand of hers clutching the cold gun as she walked in the corridor. The other servants of the castle, who noticed the woman in the maroon dress, were quick to scurry away from there.

    Finding the King in his room and in front of the window, Helena ced the trigger behind the back of King Edison''s head.

    "Are you going to kill the King? Do you know the possibility of what might happen to you after that?" questioned the man. King Edison turned around and Helena was quick to have the nozzle of her gun ced on his forehead.

    "Do you think I actually care about it? Trying to hold the head of the High House as a prisoner is going to have consequences," said Helena.

    "You should be thankful to my family. For taking care of you and your dimwit brother. My father provided you with everything, even education even though you are a girl, opportunity to learn and what did you give him in return? And even after everything, look what we turned you into. A woman holds power like no other," said Edison, while also being confident that she would not shoot him.

    "Step down from the throne and leave it in the hands of the High House to appoint a new King," ordered Helena.

    Edison smiled at Helena''s naivety, and soon Guilene, who had entered the room, ced the gun''s tip behind Helena''s head. "Drop the gun, Helen. It is time to know when you are defeated."

    Helena didn''t care about life or death, and she didn''t drop the gun from her hand.

    TISHOO! The sound of the gun was heard in the room, and Helena pulled the trigger at the King and Edison staggered back to fall on the ground. Blood started to cover the ground near the man''s head.

    "What did you do?!" Guilene demanded in shock, and she pulled the trigger that only clicked every time she tried to shoot Helena.

    Confused, Helena brought her hand to the back of her head and saw no blood. Where was the bullet fired? The former Queen of Cait on seeing her son dead on the ground, was quick to bend down to sit next to her son.

    Helena had never nned to shoot him, but on hearing the gunshot, her finger had pulled the trigger out of instinct. She saw the person, who was once her blood rtive,y cold on the ground now.

    "Guards! Arrest this woman and send word that this woman has killed the King!" Gueline shouted for the guards toe so that they could arrest Helena.

    "You reap what you sow, Guilene,"mented Helena. The pain she had felt when her brother had died, none of the royal members would be able to understand it.

    "Guards!" Guilene shouted again.

    Helena didn''t move from her ce and she stared at the blood oozing from King Edison''s head.She heard footsteps, but it wasn''t of the guards. The footsteps halted right in front of the room.

    Her eyes met the blood red eyes of the Devil.

    "This should earn you a spot in Hell now," he said, the smile stretching on his lips.

    One would think that dimir was speaking to the dead man and the woman who looked livid, while sitting next to the dead body. But while Helena stared at the Devil, her lips twisted in annoyance and couldn''t help but curse under her breath,

    "F.u.c.k."

    The gun shot before hers had never taken ce and it was dimir''s doing so that she would pull the trigger.

 Chapter 850: Completing the promise- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 850: Completing the promise- Part 1</h4>

    Helena''s mouth that had been slightly open closed itself at dimir''s words, and she couldn''t help but curse herself for not being able to identify the difference between the gunshot. She had pulled the trigger for self-defence but on the wrong person.

    "How does it feel to relieve your burdens with just one single push, darling?" questioned dimir, his eyes sparkling and his expression appearing to be polite, which was anything but that.

    "You killed my son! You killed the King of Cait!" Guilene screamed while looking at Helena. But the head of the High House had other things to think about than listen to what the former Queen had to say to her. "You will burn in Hell! You will be sent on execution for murdering the King! I will make sure of that! Guards! Guards!"

    But no matter how much Guilene screamed for the guards, not a single person came to appear in front of the room. It was as if the entire castle had turned quiet, except for the sound that came from Guilene.

    "You should stop wasting your energy. Instead, use it to form a n of defense on why you shot your son, Lady Guilene," stated dimir. When he was about to step forward, Helena raised her hand in which she held the gun. He said, "You seem upset on seeing me here."

    "I wonder why that is," deadpanned Helena. She pulled the cork of the gun towards her while the gun continued to point at him.

    Guilene just red at the stranger and Helena before stepping out of the room to call for help.

    "You know the bullets are going to do little to no harm on me," responded dimir. He slowly moved one step at a time before he finally came to stand in front of Helena, and he ced his hand on top of hers before pushing it down. "The man deserved to die, and so does this woman. They were all involved in making your life miserable. How about I do the final touch?"

    The Devil was busy poking his nose in her life, thought Helena to herself.

    "These are my battles, and you don''t have to fight them for me," Helena''s eyes were sharp on dimir.

    "I know you are capable of fighting your battles," said dimir, his eyes fixed on hers. "I think the guards can vouch for it the way you fought and beat them up a while ago," a chuckle escaped his lips. "But you are too nice for a demon. You remind me of someone whom I knew in the past. The same fiery spirit who wanted justice."

    Helena didn''t understand his words, but she quickly sat down where the Kingid dead on the floor. She ced her fingers on the man''s neck but couldn''t feel his pulse.

    "You f.u.c.k.i.n.g cost my work!" Helena was furious at that thought.

    It had taken her years of nning and hard work to form a central system ofw and justice, and she had taken great care and effort to build it. To think that because of one false rm of a bullet being shot, she had shot the King, she could feel her head ready to explode.

    "Don''t be angry, Helena. The man did a lot worse things you need to hold him ountable for. Though on one hand I am d that you let my grandson off the hook in the past for the crimes hemitted, but you shouldn''t continue doing it," dimir seemed barely fazed by the dead body or the blood that had trickled out from the King''s head. "Edison tried to imprison you, because he felt threatened by your position. Not to mention, he even wanted to marry you. I don''t think he knew he hadpetition," The Devil brought his hand forward to inspect his nails.

    Helena wanted to unload all the bullets into the Devil''s head, but then what use would it be?

    The King of Cait was dead, and everyone here would know it was her doing. It would only be a matter of time before she would be executed.

    "Why are you so persistent? You can have anyone else, who is interested in you," stated Helena, her eyes moving back to him with a re.

    dimir gave a thoughtful look at it, "Why not? You knew I would being here."

    "I would have never guessed that you would create a false gunshot sound," replied Helena. "You know I don''t care if I go to Heaven or Hell, don''t you?"

    The Devil nodded his head, "I ampletely aware of it. You want to live here, in the living world rather than enjoy the fruits you have sowed."

    By having her pull the trigger, dimir had opened the pathway to Hell for her while the path of Heaven was still avable. She had done many good deeds here that Heaven hadn''t forgotten about.

    In the beginning, Harriet was just a woman whosepany he had enjoyed immensely. When she had died not too far away after giving birth to their daughter Constance, he had not gone to look for her. He had been upied with Constance, and he had never met a woman like her ever again. After many years had passed after Constance''s birth, he had finally gone to look for her, believing she had entered Heaven. But heter came to find out that she wasn''t there, nor was she in Hell.

    Some souls could take rebirth in the living world, like a circle that kept moving from one point to only end and begin from the same point again.

    The appearance often changed, but the purpose always remained the same.

    "How about we make a deal?" questioned dimir. He saw a Salvette Mortem enter the room to pick up the dead King''s soul from the realm of the living.

    "A deal that will profit you and will make me lose in the future?" questioned Helena, her smart mouth quick to respond to the Devil''s proposition. "I think I will pass."

    "It isn''t as bad as it seems," the Devil tried to convince the strong-headed woman.

    From her early age, Helena had always been strong. And now she had turned into an influential figure, rising in her position among all the King''s and the Queen''s of all the kingdoms. She wasn''t someone who could be manipted. This was the Devil and not a mere mortal.

    While dimir and Helena were near the dead body, Lady Guilene, who had stepped out of the room searching for the guards, found nothing but deserted corridors. Where did all the guards go?! Questioned the woman.

    "Guards! Guards! Where is everyone?!" she shouted in frustration.

    Did that man or Helena kill every person? But then there should have been blood, thought Guilene in her mind. Looking back and forth, she continued to walk and finally saw the guards standing in the corridors.

    "The King is no more and has been killed! What are you all doing here, instead of catching that woman and that man who is there!! I order you to go get them right this instant!" ordered Guilene with authority in her voice. But she received no response.

 Chapter 851: Completing the promise- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 851: Completing the promise- Part 2</h4>

    Her eyebrows deeply furrowed, and she slowly stepped forward before her feet moved quicker. She came around and stood amid the servants and the guards in the corridor, who didn''t move an inch from their ce.

    Guilene''s eyes widened in shock because it looked like her servants had frozen, and she didn''t know what was going on.

    Back in the room where King Edisonid dead on the ground, Helena red at dimir. The man had little to no seriousness in him and had pushed her into the deep pit.

    "You shouldn''t have pulled the gun out if you weren''t going to shoot. What would you have done if the woman pulled the trigger?" questioned dimir. "Who would uphold justice in all the kingdoms?"

    He had made all the bullets in Guilene''s gun disappear.

    Helena looked away from the Devil. Standing up, she turned her back at him while staring at the King, who was once her cousin. But even in the past, she had never considered the man as her blood rtive��none of them except her only brother.

    "What is your n?"

    "Agree to my proposal," said the Devil, "In exchange, I will bring this one back and you will have less trouble."

    Hearing this, Helena frowned again, "Is it allowed? To bring back the dead to the living world?" she questioned, turning her head to look at the Devil over her shoulder.

    dimir walked around toe and stand on the other side of the body. Earlier, he had seen the Salvette Mortem arrive and also leave with the person''s soul. A smile came to appear on his lips, and he said,

    "You would be surprised by the things I can do��" his voice trailed, but Helena''s facial expression didn''t change.

    "What is your proposal?" Helena was careful enough to not agree to him without knowing the terms and conditions of this deal that the Devil was offering her.

    As much as she would love to see the King dead, she didn''t want him dying like this in her hands. Every person was supposed to go through life in the living world before moving to the next realm, thought Helena to herself.

    "You shall consider the idea of having me in your life, and you know in what way?"

    "I don''t," came the blunt response from Helena. The Devil was being vague, leaving loopholes for himself. She saw him smile at her.

    "In the terms of a lover," dimir gave her a smile where his fangs appeared. "It is the easiest one. All you need to do is to consider."

    Helena''s lips twitched in annoyance, "I don''t think it is worth it to save this one''s life over a deal like that. I don''t think you know me well, Mr. Lazarus. I don''t have time for romance."

    "How about if I take the higher position in the High House," proposed dimir with a thoughtful look on his face.

    "Over my dead body," her eyes narrowed. If the High House was given in the hands of the Devil, the world that was finally turning to be peaceful without any constant raging wars, it would fall into chaos under his administration.

    "Funny that I cannot wait for it," dimir''s response was quick, and Helena rolled her eyes. The smile on his lips didn''t fall, and he knew somewhere the woman was slowly getting used to his presence.

    "Guards! Guards!" came the distant voice of Guilene, who was looking for her servants to help her. Finding no one who was moving and had turned into a statue, the woman returned to the room to find Helena and the stranger still in there. "What did you do to the people in here, you witch!" demanded Guilene.

    Helena, who was unaware of what the woman meant, turned back to look at dimir in question. "What did you do?"

    "Your eyes use me for my harmless action. I thought it would be good to have some peace and quiet between us," hummed the Devil, his tongue running over his sharp fang.

    "What did you do?!" Guilene had an outburst of frustration.

    dimir''s eyes snapped at the woman, who interrupted his conversation with Helena. He said, "Shhh, so noisy, it makes me want to feed you to the hellhounds."

    Helena looked at Guilene''s livid eyes, and she then looked back at the Devil, "I ept."

    dimir''s eyes were quick to brighten at Helena''s words, and he said, "Sweet." All he did was snap his fingers, and the dead King suddenly gasped before heaving for air.

    "Edi! You are alive!" The King''s mother quickly went to his side, hugging him, "Thank God."

    "Devil," corrected dimir.

    Until now, Helena had never known that a person who was dead could be brought back to life. All this while, she had only heard about the rumours of people making a deal with the Devil. Looking at King Edison, she noticed how he was in shock. But he didn''t look the same. The King was quick to scoot away from his very own mother and moved towards the corner of the room as if he was filled with fear.

    "What happened to him?" asked Helena. An hour ago, the King was not like this. Like many other kings, he was prideful, arrogant, and overbearing.

    "He must have had a wee party in Hell," smirked dimir.

    "Stay away from me! Stay away!" shouted King Edison.

    "What about the-" Helena turned to look at where the Devil had been standing, but he had disappeared from the room. Vanishing in thin air as if he was never here.

    A series of footsteps headed towards the room where she was, and several guards appeared, "My King! Mydy!" came the chorus voice.

    Guilene was busy, trying to speak to her son, "What happened? You are back, Edi!"

    "Stay away from me!" King Edison pushed his mother away from him, leaving the former Queen in confusion. His eyes were wide and he looked scared to death.

 Chapter 852: Completing the promise- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 852: Completing the promise- Part 3</h4>

    "Arrest this woman! She shot your King!" the older woman pointed her finger towards Helena. "She shot him!" Helena''s stance turned on guard.

    But before the guards coulde and arrest the head of the High House, King Edison said, "No! Leave her!"

    "What do you mean?!" Guilene''s eyes were wide. "I saw her shoot you!"

    "N-no, she didn''t. She did nothing! Leave me alone!" the King raised his voice. The back of his head was bloody, and he stood up, quickly walking away from there.

    "What did you do to him, witch!" demanded Guilene, ring down at Helena.

    Helena stared in the direction where King Edison had disappeared. She replied, "Ask the Devil."

    Guilene immediately left the room, following her son, while the guards and other servants turned extremely curious as to what was happening in the castle. Helena finally put her gun back to its original ce before she headed out of the room and from the castle.

    But Helena didn''t leave for Devon right away. She made a stop at the ce where her brother had been buried.

    Walking towards the grave in the forest where no one else was around. She didn''t forget the day her brother had been killed. It had scared her for her entire life.

    ''NO!'' she had screamed when the guard had beheaded her brother. The blood was quick to spill on the ground, covering part of the floor while she stood there in shock.

    ''Throw his body in the river!'' ordered King Solomon. ''This traitor doesn''t deserve to be buried in the royal cemetery. Take his body and head from here!''

    The guards who had been holding her back let her go, and Helena quickly ran to stand in front of the King. ''Please don''t do this to him! Marcelo never did anything to threaten your throne! Please don''t take away the right of his burial rights.''

    ''Helen,'' came the King''s loud voice. ''You should be careful about siding with the traitor. You might be my niece but I won''t tolerate you trying to question me.''

    ''You should have stopped him frommitting the crime,'' said the then Queen Guilene with a huff.

    ''On what basis? He did nothing wrong. He has been diligent with every work that you gave him, he has listened to every word without stepping out of line whilepared to the other ministers who work here and receive the benefits. How is it right?'' demanded Helena.

    The people in the royal court room gasped, seeing Helena dare to question the King and the Queen of Cait, demanding rification from then.

    "How dare you question the King''s decision when has he ever done anything without a reason!?" Guilene looked down at Helena from her seat.

    Before Helena could say something, her caretaker ced his hand on Helena''s shoulder and whispered, "Please calm down and don''t speak."

    Helena''s hands had turned into fists, and if she could, she wanted to kill every person in this room, including the King and the Queen.

    King Solomon raised his hand, and his wife closed her mouth while the other people in the room turned quiet. "I was beingpassionate with you, and instead of being grateful, you dared to speak against me. From here on, I exile you from this castle. You shall not return to this castle, nor will you be weed. You can leave now."

    Helena turned to look at Edison, who was at the front of the crowd, but the man looked away from her when their eyes met.

    "I had never intended to stay here. The reason I had stayed here until now doesn''t exist anymore," stated Helena, her voice growing distant and cold over the loss of her brother.

    "You can stay here, Dimitri," said the King in a nonchnt voice.

    Dimitri bowed his head, "I have been assigned to take care of Master Marcelo and Lady Helena since they were small. Please allow me to leave with her."

    "Suit yourself," said King Solomon before waving his hand to dismiss them.

    Both Helena and Dimitri stepped out of the castle, and both of them went to the river where her brother''s body had been tossed into it. She had dived into the river, searching for her brother''s body. After retrieving both parts of the body, she had buried him in the forest with the help of Dimitri.

    It was thest time Helena had cried. She had spent two days in front of the grave while trying to wrap her head around what she had witnessed.

    "He should have listened to me," murmured Helena. "He wouldn''t have been in this state."

    Dimitri, who had taken care of both the siblings, could understand her grief, and he ced his hand on her shoulder. "Marcelo had faith and believed in every person, Lady Helena. He was different from the rest of the people."

    "He was too damn kind," said Helena, closing her eyes while taking a deep breath. "I am not going to leave this as it is. I will bring him the justice that he deserves."

    Coming back to the present, she now stood in front of the wooden cross that Dimitri had made and had ced a stone. Helena stared at the cross with her hands held.

    "I was worried back then, thinking you had ceased to exist. But knowing there are angels and the devil exist in this world, it makes me believe you are still there," said Helena. "I havepleted what I promised to you, and I mean to keep it that way."

    Whatever she hade here for, it seemed like somehow it had worked out because of the Devil. Not caring about the proposition, she got inside the carriage to head back to Devon. It was time to file the report on the things that had happened in Cait. Because if she were to hide it, she knew one day it woulde back to get her.

    Walking to the nearby stream inside the forest, she took away the monocle from one of her eyes. Sshing the water, she saw her moving reflection because of the water that continuously flowed. Her left eye could see things perfectly well, while her right eye had been bruised during a fight that took ce in the past with King Edison''s men. It wasn''t that she had lostplete sight, but it had turned blurry. She wore the monocle back in its ce to protect her eyes.

    On the way, the carriage stopped for food and drank water before it reached Devon.

    Returning to the headquarters that was posted in Devon and the town of Cossington, she entered the building to be greeted by the members of the High House.

    "Good afternoon, Lady Helena," one of the High House members greeted her.

    "Afternoon," murmured Helena, whilst she continued to walk towards her room. Once she got in, she went around the desk and sat down in her chair.

    Soon her right-handed man knocked on the door and entered the room inside. He greeted her, "Wee back, mdy," Dimitri bowed his head. "Was your trip peaceful?" he inquired.

    "I shot Edison, but he is alive," replied Helena in a grim tone.

    **

    Please read this:

    I request everyone to switch your votes to the book ''The Fourth Mistress'' (TFM) from today onwards. The book is going to have around 60-80 chapters (current n).

    New book: Letters to Romeo. The book doesn''t have voting option enabled to it yet.

    With TCO''s end around the corner, when a book is markedplete, it disappears from the ranking list. By providing your votes to the other ongoing books, it helps in providing exposure for new readers to find the book.

    Also, I have tried to remove the privilege for the new month, so everyone should be able to ess the next released chapters in the normal way.

 Chapter 853: Promise rings- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 853: Promise rings- Part 1</h4>

    Helena finished filing the report on the incident that took ce in Cait. And as fast as she had filed it, the issue had resolved thanks to the Devil''s involvement. It wasn''t like anyone would judge her for her actions, considering she was the head of the High House. But some still tried to stop the functioning and the power she was gaining every day.

    "Mdy," came the voice from behind her while she stood facing the window, looking outside at the people who were walking on the road.

    "What is it?" she questioned, turning around to see one of the High House members who held a scrolled parchment in his hand.

    "Mdy, this is the signed doc.u.ment of King Edison who has stepped down from his position. He has personally signed and sealed it," informed the man. "But the same is not being epted by his mother. Former Queen Guilene is angry and she''s trying to oppose that you did something to the King. Like ck magic."

    Hearing this, Helena rolled her eyes, "Let her be. I am sure after some time she will get tired and will drop the matter."

    "Yes, mdy," the man bowed his head. But he wasn''t done speaking, "Um, the person is standing outside the building."

    "Which person?"

    The man seemed hesitant to speak, and Helena could only guess who it was because no one whispered the Devil or his name.

    "Fine, leave and get back to your work," Helena dismissed the person. Grabbing her maroon coat hanging on the stand, she wore it around her shoulders without putting her hands inside the sleeves. When she started to head towards the entrance, she met Dimitri, who was walking by with another fellow member of the High House. "I am leaving for the day, Dimitri," she informed him.

    Dimitri was slightly taken aback, but at the same time, he was pleased to see that the small girl whom he had looked after was trying to get back the lost time, even though he knew she was doing it because she was annoyed.

    "I hope you have a good time," he bowed his head. "I will be here."

    "Hm," the woman hummed, and she stepped out of the building.

    She saw a ck carriage with ck horses tied at the front. In front of it stood dimir with his hands in his pockets. "Seems like our minds are working together as you knew I am here," dimir offered her a charming smile.

    "It isn''t hard to know when you are trying to scare my people in the High House," she spared him one nce before looking at the carriage. "What are you doing here?" she questioned even though she knew he was here to see her.

    "To spend time with you of course. My grandson kicked me out of little Morven''s room telling me I should do something apart from taking all the baby''s time. I would have thrown him in the pot, but then he''s my grandson and my beloved daughter''s son," said dimir in a thoughtful tone, "So I thought, why note here and visit mydy."

    Helena''s eyes narrowed, "I think you forgot that the deal was about ''considering''. It said nothing about being your woman."

    "I remember that, but it is hard to resist the Devils'' charm. You know there are quite some benefits. How about I strike a deal where you will get to see your brother?"

    Hearing this, Helena''s eyes softened, and she red at him again, "Don''t y with me."

    "I never meant to," dimir''s head tilted to the side, "It is an enticing offer isn''t it?"

    "Did you mend your rtionship with the angels and your brothers? Michael," she casually dropped the name.

    dimir ran his tongue over one of his fangs.

    "I wondered when that name was going toe. No, we still have the same delicate rtionship that is always on a thin thread of wanting to hurt each other," replied dimir, "But there are some exceptions and uses." At least by her question, dimir knew she wanted to see her brother.

    "Well, whatever. I need to go home and rest my eyes," she said, raising her hand and looking at the guard standing in front of the building to bring her carriage.

    "I don''t minding along to your house. We can have blood together, which is exciting," as the words flew from the Devil''s lips, Helena gritted her teeth. "Or if you want, we can take a stroll. I promise you it will be a good one."

    Helena knew when she had agreed to the deal with the Devil, it woulde to bite her soon. Maybe she should have left Edison dead. "Fine, let''s take a walk," and she started to walk without waiting for him.

    dimir was quick to join next to Helena, his stature tall and proud. But then Helena was no less to him. She didn''t cower, and with the constant furrow of her eyebrows, people on the road were intimidated toe in front of them. People were quick to scurry away, making way for the two people who stepped into the streets of the town.

    "I heard about the no charges regarding the incident that took ce in Cait," dimir was the first one to start the conversation as Helena was quiet.

    "They did. Edison imed I had nothing to do with the gunshot," replied Helena. "Are you going to be here permanently?" she asked him.

    "In the living world? I am not sure. Maybe until my family is here, but that doesn''t mean I can leave Hell alone all by itself. Thest time I did, my poor granddaughter-inw suffered," responded dimir.

    "Would have never considered you to be a family man," murmured Helena. But at the same time, she had heard the little things regarding how much the Devil loved his daughter, and he had brought the previous King and his mother to Devon from Hell just to clear his daughter''s name. "Do you miss her? Your daughter."

    "Here I am picking lighter subjects, and you pick the heavier one''s," hummed dimir, giving her a look and Helena''s eyes moved from the corner to look ahead of her. "Don''t any parents miss their child? She was a good daughter, but I am d that I got to meet her."

    "I see," replied Helena, having heard enough about King Calhoun''s mother from the public.

    They continued to walk in the town, moving from one street to another, while some bowed their heads to greet the head of the High house.

    "We have lunch set up this week on Saturday in the castle. How about you join us," dimir politely pushed the invitation to her so that she would ept it without a quick refusal. "Calhoun said you haven''t dropped by the castle since I arrived. It looks like you are scared of me."

    "Do you think I am a person who would fall for words like that?" Helena gave him a dull look. "I have been busy with other things and don''t think there is any reason for me to meet people unless they are causing trouble."

    "You know, there was this woman I once met. A headstrong woman who didn''t follow the herd. I met her when the existence of vampires came into picture and was known to everyone. It was a time of chaos and I was trying to fight for the humans. Unfortunately she died, her health was fragile," exined dimir.

    "Who was that woman?" asked Helena.

    "She was my lover, the mother of my daughter," revealed dimir.

    "I am sorry to hear that," Helena''s lips pursed. She then said, "Being the Devil you must know what is in my heart, Mr. Lazarus. I don''t have time for romance, when I can put the same time for something else."

    dimir nodded his head, "I am aware of that. Which is why we are going to do this step by step," he said optimistically. "We have a lot of time in our hands. There is no time to rush for it," he offered her a smile, and he brought his hand forward.

    "We are just acquaintances now," she said to make sure.

    "That''s a good start," said dimir.

    Helena sighed, wondering if she was truly stuck with the Devil. Gingerly, she ced her hand in his hand, and that had dimir smile.

 Chapter 854: Promise rings- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 854: Promise rings- Part 2</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Rhythm of the Breeze- Chapavich Temnitikul

    .

    Time slowly moved forward in every person''s life, before months moving like pages of a book being flipped.

    In the Hawthrone castle, the servants were quick to walk in and around the kitchen as they were busy preparing lunch for the royal family members as well as some of the guests who hade to join in the celebration of King Calhoun and Queen Madeline''s son Movern''s fourth birthday.

    "Where is the cake?" asked Beth, who hade to check the condition it was in that she had prepared in the morning.

    "It is here, mdy," one of the maid''s brought the trolley forward on which the cake had been ced. "We brought in fresh strawberries from the garden, would you like us to ce it on top of it?"

    "Here, let me do that," said Beth, taking hold of the bowl and cing the sliced berries. The castle was filled with the chatter of happiness as the servants continued to decorate andplete their tasks. Beth was satisfied with the cake. She made sure it was in perfect condition. "Once everyone gathers in the dining room, you can bring it then," she informed the maid, who bowed her head to oblige to Beth''s words.

    "Yes, mdy!"

    Offering a smile to the maid, Beth stepped out of the room. In the span of four years, many things had changed. She had started to smile more while learning to forgive herself for her mistakes that she hadmitted in the past. As she and Raphael had discussed four years ago in her parents'' backyard, she had moved back to the East Carswell vige and her former home.

    Raphael hade to live with her and her parents. And while Raphael continued with his part-time job of being a fortune teller, Beth had learned to bake and create delicious cookies that were sold to the people of viges and the towns. She would have never known that she could bake if it weren''t for Raphael, who pushed her forward to try something new.

    "There you are!" came Raphael''s voice from behind her, and Beth turned around to see him walk towards her. "I was looking for you everywhere. Did youe to take a look at the cake?"

    Beth nodded her head, "I did. I was worried it might lose its texture."

    "I am sure it will be fine. You have baked some of the best cakes and if I weren''t an archangel, I would have turned fat by now," heplimented her.

    "You always know to say the right words," replied Beth, and she then asked, "Did mother and father arrive?"

    "Yes, a few moments ago. They had an issue with the carriage wheel which is why they werete," he informed her.

    Beth was d that her parents had arrived because she had left home early in the morning while Raphael visited Heaven on some work. "Is everything alright in Heaven?" she questioned him.

    "Something like that," responded Raphael and Beth was quick to turn worried. Every time he left her side to visit Heaven, she was worried they would have him stop froming to the living world. "Don''t worry, it isn''t anything you need to worry about," he brought his hand to ce it on her shoulder in assurance.

    "My worries are too obvious," she muttered, knowing there was barely anything that she could hide from him. And the moment he saw it, he resolved it as if the problem was nothing.

    "It must be the little traces thate from living in this realm of the world that makes me happy to see you worry. I feel very loved," there was a gentle smile on his lips and Beth couldn''t help but warmly smile at him.

    In thest four years, they had spent together, they didn''t get married to each other. Though somewhere Beth had always dreamt about getting married, she knew there were restrictions when it came to loving an archangel. She wanted to be content with what she had instead of worrying about what she couldn''t have.

    "How about we go out in the garden? It looks like there''s still time before everyone gathers here," proposed Raphael, and she nodded her head.

    They stepped out of the castle and into the garden, surrounded by flowers that left a sweet fragrance in the atmosphere.

    "Days have so quickly passed," said Beth, bringing her hand forward to touch the flowers before she dropped her hand gently. It felt like it was only yesterday that she had seen the shabby man standing next to her sister and talking.

    "Indeed," Raphael agreed, taking a seat on the bench and watching Beth look at the flowers as if she was in deep thought. Elizabeth Harris had turned kind and mellow, the traces of the old Elizabeth who her grandparents had manipted hadpletely gone.

    He knew there were still some people in the vige, who liked to badmouth her, and on good asions, he had given his piece of thoughts. Some mortals didn''t hold a heart or enough kindness but preferred to im to be kind. When Raphael had moved into the Harris'' house, he had witnessed the harsh environment.

    ''A cake that is made by you? Who knows if you are going to add some poison to it,'' huffed a woman when the news had spread about the new shop Beth had opened in the house.

    ''A traitor will always be a traitor. You might fool others, but we know how you are. I don''t even know how the Queen has forgiven you,'' said another person before leaving the front of the house.

    At a point, the hate towards her had piled up too much that Beth didn''t step out of the house. On one fine day, he had found her crying in the room in fits of tears. Given how she behaved, she deserved those words, but people didn''t speak when they had to. The time had passed, and she had changed for the better.

    Beth had closed the curtains of the room, and he had found her sitting on the floor with her knees drawn close to her.

    ''I don''t think I can ever be good enough,'' she whispered, sensing his presence in the room as she lifted her head.

    Raphael closed the door so that Mr. and Mrs. Harris wouldn''t be worried. Coming to sit down next to her, he asked, ''Did someone tell you something again?''

    Beth shook her head, ''I know the way people look at me. And the more they look at me like that, the more foregin it feels to be here, like I don''t belong. I know I hurt people, but I never hurt them like this,'' her words were a whisper.

    ''Like many other things, this will pass too, Beth. You only need to be strong. We can have Calhoun give an order-"

    ''No,'' she quickly responded, ''I don''t want it by force.''

    ''Do you prefer to live in another town? We can start packing your clothes, while I just need to bring my cards with me,'' he tried to cheer her up.

    Beth didn''t reply because this ce was her home, and she didn''t want to be pushed away. After a while, she asked, ''''Will it get better?''

    ''It will I promise,'' he promised her, and though Beth didn''t believe in the future, she did believe in his words. He ced his hand on top of her head, gently patting it. ''Everything will be fine if you believe in yourself.''

    Beth had decided not to feel hurt, and she started to bake more varieties. The smell of fresh cookies and creams escaped from the house to the road that had brought one person at a time, and through word of mouth, a few more people came to try it. It didn''t take long for the ones who had badmouthed Beth to return to the shop with a stiff expression, personally buying something from there or some through someone else.

    Beth turned to look at Raphael, who had turned quiet, and he was watching her. "Is something on my face?" And he nodded his head.

    "Oh," she brought her hand up, wondering what it was. She went to sit next to Raphael so that he could remove whatever was on her face.

    But when she turned to him, Raphael stared right into her green eyes. "It is the smile on your face, I would like to keep it there," he said to her. "There is a reason why I brought you here, Beth."

    Beth nodded for him to go on...

 Chapter 855: Promise rings- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 855: Promise rings- Part 3</h4>

    If Raphael had not said earlier that there was nothing to worry about, Beth would have been extremely anxious about what he wanted to speak about.

    "Elizabeth," he used her full name, and Beth wondered if this was something serious.

    "Why are you calling me Elizabeth? Beth is fine," said Beth, and she heard Raphael chuckle.

    "Okay. Let''s retry it. Beth," he said with a pause and a smile on his lips, "Since thest four years, I have made many wonderful memories of my life with you. And I treasure each and every one of them very dear to me. I have known your good, your bad and the ugly side."

    "Thank you," murmured Beth.

    She felt him turn facing her, picking her hand up, which was resting on her l.a.p. "I have seen you change, making an effort that has stolen my already captured heart," Raphael''s words were the same as the breeze that surrounded them, gentle and soothing. "It isn''t easy for a mortal to steal an angel or an archangel''s heart. But now that you have mine and I have yours, I have been wondering how to fulfill the promise that I have wished to make to you."

    Saying this, Raphael pushed something on her ring finger. When she looked down, her eyes fell on a in-looking silver ring. She didn''t know what to say for a moment because she was stunned by the unexpected action.

    "T-this ring, you-" Beth tried to form a sentence, but she felt lost.

    "We haven''t been able to wed each other, but recently when I was walking in the market, I heard these two young children. They spoke about promise rings," said Raphael before he continued, "I promise to stay by your side, Beth. To love and cherish you until the end."

    Beth''s eyes were quick to water, and she felt her heart flutter at his words and gestures.

    "But I don''t have one for you," replied Beth. It wasn''t like she hadn''t thought about the rings, but they were not going to get married, and Heaven''s wrath was thest thing she wanted.

    "You don''t have to worry about that. It seems like it has be a habit of buying everything in pairs. If I bring one for me-" he said, his hand slipping into his pocket and pulling it out, "-I bring one for you."

    He handed her the ring so that she could help him wear it. Beth didn''t take much time in pushing the ring on Raphael''s finger. Before he could say something, she was quick to ce her fingers on his lips. She was yet to speak about her promise to him. She would not get to make a vow, which was why she didn''t want to lose the opportunity to make a promise.

    "Archangel Raphael," addressed Beth.

    "I understand now," he murmured.

    Beth''s green eyes stared into his golden eyes, which had brown flecks in them, "You are not just anyone that I have loved. Given I fell for many men, but how I feel with you is something I will never have with anyone else. Having you next to me is like a non-exhaustingntern next to me during my dark times in the past. The faith you have put in me, in helping me and seeing the better from the worse. Thank you for believing in me and changing things, where I can now not have to cower. I promise to love you, Raphael. And feed you good food."

    Raphael grinned at Beth''s words. Leaning forward, he kissed her before pulling away and said, "I cannot wait for that."

    They spent some more time in the garden by themselves while Beth couldn''t help but look down at her ring. She felt a giddy smile appear on her lips. Humming softly while sitting next to Raphael and talking to him.

    "Look at you two love birds sitting here on the bench by yourselves," came the voice of Gabriel, and Beth was quick to turn around to meet his eyes. Next to him stood Michael, who had a serious-looking expression on his face.

    Beth stood up, bowing her head in greeting, "Wee to Morven''s fourth birthday."

    "Thank you, Ms. Elizabeth. Seems like something exciting happened,"mented Gabriel, noticing how radiant the young woman looked right now.

    Beth waved her hand, a blush quick to appear on her face. "We were just sitting and talking."

    A crackling sound was heard next to her, and dimir appeared to stand next to her now. "That only makes one more suspicious when you say that, wolf girl," hemented. "I don''t remember inviting you to my great grandson''s birthday," he narrowed his eyes, looking at Michael.

    "You didn''t. It was Madeline, who invited me here," Michael responded coolly without bothering the words that came from the Devil. "It wasn''t like I was eager to stand in the same room as you."

    "As if I am looking forward to it," dimir retorted.

    "Isn''t this wonderful to have everyone gathered here," Gabriel pped both his hands with a smile on his face. "

    Michale asked, "Where is the little boy? It has been a while since Ist saw him."

    dimir''s eyes narrowed at Michael, suspicious if the archangels were here to inspect his adorable great-grandson.

    "Odiii!" a boy''s voice was heard from near the maze, and soon little prince Morven appeared with Odin following him.

    "Master Morven, wait, don''t go there-Oh, Master is here!" Odin''s face brightened up by seeing dimir standing along with the other people.

    "He''s growing up fast," said Gabriel, looking at the boy who had features simr to his father. "Vampire childrens often grow faster than human ones. What a cute one."

    Beth walked forward to pick her nephew in her arms so that she could hold him. Though Morven looked like Calhoun, he had acquired Madeline''s character with a quiet nature, and he was still learning things around him. But then only time would say.

    "We should get back inside, I am sure others are waiting for us," proposed Raphael, and everyone stepped back inside the castle.

    **

    Please read this:

    I request everyone to switch your votes to the book ''The Fourth Mistress'' (TFM) from today onwards. The book is going to have around 60-80 chapters (current n).

    New book: Letters to Romeo. The book doesn''t have voting option enabled to it yet.

    With TCO''s end around the corner, when a book is markedplete, it disappears from the ranking list. By providing your votes to the other ongoing books, it helps in providing exposure for new readers to find the book.

    Also, I have tried to remove the privilege for the new month, so everyone should be able to ess the next released chapters in the normal way.

 Chapter 856: Little one wish- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 856: Little one'' wish- Part 1</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Let him Goverture - Michael Gihino

    .

    When Beth and the others reached the dining room, everyone had already gathered in there, and she slowly let Morven down. The small boy was quick to run towards his mother, his hands circling Madeline.

    Madeline ced her hand to pat her son''s head, and she asked, "Did you have fun outside in the garden?" Morven nodded his head at the question to her.

    "Odi was with me," said the boy in a small voice.

    "Of course, he was," Madeline smiled warmly at her son. She gentlybed his hair with her fingers to the side that had been ruffled, which was possible because of him running in and out of the bushes.

    She couldn''t believe that four years had passed so quickly and her baby boy had grown up, and he would continue to do so. She couldn''t wait for him to cross her height. He was a sweet boy, and d had personally appointed Odin to babysit Calhoun and her son.

    "Look at you," said Mr. Harris to Morven. "You are already four and so big."

    "Grandpa and grandma," little Morven bowed his head while not letting go of Madeline, and it had her chuckle.

    "How are you doing, Lady Madeline?" came the question from someone while her parents spoke and pampered her son. Looking to her right, she saw it was the Archangels who had arrived at the door. It was Michael who had spoken to her.

    She had hoped for him toe, and it was something she had been wishing for, knowing how Michael didn''t spend his time with the mortals like Raphael or Gabriel. As it was Morven''s birthday, she wanted everyone to be here, to celebrate together.

    "I am doing well, Michael. Thank you foring," she offered him a bow, and he returned it to her.

    "Everyone was going to be here and I wanted to meet the boy," replied Michael. "It looks like he is only a vampire now."

    "That is right," said Calhoun, walking toe and stand next to Madeline. "So far Morven hasn''t shown any demon or angelic abilities."

    Some of the eyes fell on small Morven, who Madeline''s mother was closely hugging. It was obvious that everyone adored the boy, and they loved him very much.

    Calhoun continued to say, "I got my demon abilities after I turned eight years old. He too might get itte."

    "He is going to turn out to be a wonderful demon," chimed Monique, who held the wine ss in her hand. "It will be quite a sight to see him being surrounded by demons and angels," she pointed out.

    And while everyone was talking about the boy, Morven had stepped out of the room again. The boy loved to wander around. Noticing her son''s disappearance, Madeline said to Calhoun, "Let me go bring him back and also see where Lucy and Theodore are."

    Stepping out of the dining room, she looked around for her son. Walking through the corridors, she finally came to see her son, who stood in the inner side of the garden. "What are you doing there, Morven?" she asked him. Holding the front of her sunny coloured gown, she stepped into the garden where Morven was.

    "I finally found it, mama," said the little boy.

    "What is it?" she asked, showing interest and kneeling to level herself to his height. It appeared that he had caught sight of a blue butterfly that was currently sitting on a nt. "It is a butterfly."

    It was good to see that Morven was interested in the little things. When she saw him move closer, moving both his hands as if he was about to catch or squish it in his hands, she ced her hand on his.

    "Let ite to you, my dear," Madeline whispered to her son.

    "But what if it flies away?" Morven asked, turning his bright eyes to meet his mother''s gaze.

    "With so many flowers in the castle, I am sure the butterfly is here to stay. And if it isn''t, you wait for the next one toe," she replied to him.

    "I am not going to harm it. I only wanted to hold it," came the small boy''s voice.

    Madeline smiled at her son''s words, "Here, let me show you a trick." She slowly moved her hand to where the butterfly was, waiting for it, and the butterfly came to sit on the palm of her hand. "Life is about being patient, my son. Sometimes you need to wait for a long time, and sometimes for a shorter time, but if you wait, you will be rewarded. Here, why don''t you try holding it. Bring your hand closer."

    She let the butterfly pass to her son''s small hand, and seeing this, Morven turned excited. "It has so many colours, mama," he spoke in an excited tone.

    Madeline looked around the garden, using her magic to bring the nearby butterflies toe and greet her son by having them fly around. Seeing Morven''s face light up, it had her continuously smiling.

    "Oh my! I was wondering where all the butterflies came from!" eximed Lucy with a chuckle in the end. The vampiress stood in the corridor, with her hands ced on her stomach that had grown big.

    "How are you doing now, Lucy?" asked Madeline, letting her son y with the butterflies, while she got back inside toe and stand where Lucy was. She had heard Lucy not being well this morning and that she had been in bed.

    "Still nauseous. Even though this is the second time, it doesn''t make me feel better, except knowing it is going to be only a month more before the babyes," said Lucy, looking down at her baby bump and gently running her hand over it as if to soothe the baby.

    "Mama said she made some tea for you so that it can help in easing your body," responded Madeline.

    "That is very kind of Mrs. Harris," replied Lucy. Even though she didn''t have a mother, not that she had when her mother was alive, she was grateful to have Aunt Monique and Mrs. Harris, who told her what to drink and eat. Not to forget, she had Theodore as her constant backbone, which made it less difficult. Madeline and her brother were there to look after her as well.

    With the school that she had dreamed about established in the mansion, Lucy and Theodore had moved back into the castle, while Lady Monique had taken over the school.

    Not soon enough, Theodore came walking from the other side of the corridor whilst he held his and Lucy''s one-year-old girl, Lillie, close to his c.h.e.s.t in his arms.

    Over thest four years, it wasn''t just Morven who had grown, but many things had changed. Lucy and Theodore had their child, and they were expecting the second child soon. From what Madeline had heard from Beth, Lucy was going to have one more daughter. The Hawthrone and Hosteler''s family was growing together, and it was good to be part of it.

    "Are wete for the celebration?" asked Theodore, and Madeline shook her head with a smile.

 Chapter 857: Little one wish- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 857: Little one'' wish- Part 2</h4>

    "Morven seems to be having his own celebration here," smiled Madeline. Butterflies surrounded the boy, and the breeze around him had increased.

    "There was something I wanted to tell you, Maddie," said Lucy and Madeline turned to look at the vampiress.

    "Is everything alright?"

    "In the morning, I saw Morven break a ss. By touching it," informed Lucy.

    Hearing this, Madeline''s eyebrows rose. The breaking ss was something she used to do before. Considering how she was an angel and Calhoun was a demon, it didn''te as much surprise. "I guess he is going to have a bit of both me and Cal in him."

    In the past, when she was young, there had been misconceptions of her being the fallen angel''s ticket to Heaven and using her powers. But now the time was different, thought Madeline to herself. There wasn''tplete peace, but she was d to see that the archangels hade down to celebrate her and Calhoun''s son''s day along with the Devil.

    Madeline was sure that with everyone''s help and guidance, her son wouldn''t lose his path, nor would he be shut in the coffin as she had been inside it for years.

    "In time, he will turn powerful,"mented Theodore.

    "Mama, see!" Morven looked utterly excited about the butterflies until Calhoun''s favourite pet appeared there to growl at the butterflies. "Nu! Haha hahaa," Morvenughed when Madox went round and round around him while l.i.c.k.i.n.g his face.

    "Seems like I need to wash his face," murmured Madeline. As if sensing the presence, she turned to look at her husband, who made his way through the corridor, and she felt her heart flip.

    Calhoun leaned towards her and kissed her temple. "You said you were going toe back soon after finding him. I decided toe see what was taking time," he said to her. Madeline couldn''t believe that even with the years that hade to pass, Calhoun still loved her the same way as he had before, or maybe even more.

    "Morven wanted to y with the butterflies and then we ended up talking here," replied Madeline with a smile on her lips.

    "Did you now," he hummed, putting his arms around her while looking at his son and his wolf chasing the butterflies withughter and bark-growl. "Your father, Paschar I mean along with d and the others are at debate again."

    "What is it this time?" asked Madeline, cing her hands to hold on to his arms that wrapped around her. Calhoun didn''t reply, but when his gaze did turn to look at one side of the corridor, she turned to see Helena, who looked annoyed as if she was fed up with people. "Ah, I see," she whispered.

    Though Helena had finally agreed to allow d into her life, her demeanour hadn''t changed much when it came to the other people around her, and dimir was yet to have herplete heart. But so far, it looked like they had made some progress.

    The next to follow her was Lady Monique, and then came Raphael and Beth, before the others joined them in the corridor and near the inner garden.

    "Looks like the prince is quite enjoying himself," said Gabriel.

    One of the kitchen maids arrived at the corridor, looking slightly confused, and she quickly bowed her head, "My King, shall I bring the cake to the dining room?" she asked nervously as there were quite some influential people in the castle. The Hawthrone castle had turned into quite an unexpected ce because of the Devil''s presence, the Archangel''s, the angel, the head of the High House, the King.

    "I think we are missing one person," murmured Madeline, and soon they saw Ethan Moryett making his way with his wife and his son in his arms.

    "My apologies, my King and the Queen, little Victor had a small emergency before we could get into the carriage," apologised Ethan, Victor being his son who was one year old.

    "That''s fine, we haven''t cut the cake yet," said Calhoun. His eyes then shifted to look at Morven, who hugged Maddox as if the wolf was a toy with both his arms. He said to the maid, "You can bring the cake here."

    "Milord, here?" The maid tried to reconfirm because they were in the corridor and not in the dining room.

    "This is a lovely ce to celebrate, just family and inside. What do you say, Morven?" questioned Calhoun to his son, and on hearing his question, his son was quick to let go of the ck wolf ande to him.

    "Yes, papa," agreed the small boy, and Calhoun picked Morven in his arms. He pulled out his handkerchief and cleaned the small traces of mud and the licks that Maddox gave.

    The cake was soon brought in the trolley, and the servants around the castle were quick to hover around the corridor to be part of the prince''s birthday celebration.

    The family members and the guests stood around the trolley while Calhoun let Morven down and handed him the knife.

    "Make a wish, dear," said Madeline, before her son would blow out the candles that were in the cake.

    Morven brought both his hands together, and instead of making a wish in his mind, he said it loudly, "I wish to spend my day here with grandma Constance." Madeline was startled with Morven''s wish, and so were the others, as they didn''t expect it.

    But not soon, everyone''s eyes shifted to look at dimir, who raised his eyebrows, "What? I didn''t do anything," he said as if he knew nothing about it.

    The Devil always yed tricks, and this time had decided to make a wish through the small boy.

    "Well," drawled Raphael. "Small children''s wishes move faster than the others so that they can be approved quickly. What are we going to do now?"

    "You," Michael red at dimir as if he couldn''t wait to pull out his staff and smite the Devil for pulling such a trick. "With the Devil''s involvement, the wish cannot be approved."

    Morven looked like a puppy whose ears had suddenly wilted.

    "A heartless Archangel breaking a child''s wish of him wanting to meet his grandmother. I expect nothing less from you," dimir fueled the situation. "You are his grand uncle, and you cannot give him one wish on his birthday? How stingy."

    Gabriel ced his hand on Michael so that the two of them wouldn''t start fighting, "How about we deal with itter. The cake looks delicious, Lady Elizabeth. You seem to have found something you are talented in," praised the Archangel before looking at the boy. "I am sure you are waiting to eat the cake too."

    "You didn''t get any other time to pull that trick?" murmured Paschar at dimir.

    "Don''t me me that my great grandson wants to meet his grandmother. He is just missing her," came dimir''s voice in a matter of fact tone.

    "He has always been like that,"mented Michael.

    "All righty!" said Lady Monique, "It is time to cut the cake!"

    "You know, if you-" d started with a small re. But Raphael quickly started to sing,

    "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday��"

 Chapter 858: Little one wish- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 858: Little one'' wish- Part 3</h4>

    And soon every person in the castle joined one after another as the small boy cut his cake. Calhoun was the first to feed a small piece of cake to be followed by Madeline and the rest of the family members.

    "God bless you, Morven. It would be interesting to see you grow up with all of us around,"mented Gabriel, wishing the boy happy birthday.

    dimir came forward, bending down to bring his hand forward with a wrapped present in front of Morven.

    "A present?" asked Morven in an innocent voice, his eyes fixed on dimir''s hand.

    "Of course, you didn''t think I was like these other useless great grand uncles who can''t grant your birthday wish," he threw shade at the other Archangel.

    Morven took the present in his hand, excited to unwrap it. When he was done unwrapping it, he found an old stuffed toy, which was a spider.

    For a long time, dimir had safely kept the toy with him, saving it as one of his daughter''s memories that was precious to him. But he knew it would mean a lot to the little one, something to keep with him in the cupboard.

    Morven then moved his gaze from the toy to look into the Devil''s eyes, "Thank you, great grandpa."

    Every person came forward to wish the little boy, either by their prayers or by giving him something that he might like. Once the family members finished feeding the cake, the maids were called to cut it so that it could be distributed to everyone in the castle.

    Two hourster, Helena was walking in the corridor, and she caught sight of the blonde archangel who was standing on one of the pirs of the castle. Making her way to where the person was, she said, "Seems like your old habits still remain the same, of standing away from people."

    Michael smiled at her words without looking at her. He was looking at the small prince who was ying with the wolf right now.

    "I guess it is just integrated into who I am. Some things are hard to change. Looks like you haven''t changed too, you still look the same as if someone stepped on your nerve,"mented Michael, and his eyes slowly moved to the side to see the blonde woman and her sharp gaze looking at the little one. "You seem to be spending quite some time with the Devil. Have youe to like him?" The tone was nonchnt, as if the question wasn''t important.

    Helena''s lips twitched, "You both seem to get along very well," she said without answering his question right away and then said, "He''s rough around the edges, but I think I am getting used to it. Is it true?"

    "What is?" asked Michael, turning his head to watch her serious expression.

    "That I took birth again," asked Helena, her red eyes meeting his gold ones.

    As time had passed, where she had started to spend more time in dimir''spany, there were shes of memories that she had started to have in her dreams. It wasn''t clear, but it was there, and she had tried to connect the dots of what it meant. It wasn''t too hard with dimir, who had already mentioned about the woman named Harriet, who was very simr to her in nature, but he had never told her that she was his lover in her past life, nor had she asked him about it.

    The thought did get her curious. In the beginning, dimir was the most annoying person, but now he had turned less annoying. There were still many times when she had to chase him away from the High House because she had more work to do than romancing with him. But in time, she had slowly started to turn tolerant with the man, and her frown from her face had disappeared a little.

    It was almost more than twenty years when Michael had tried to protect her from harm and being killed. Though rumours had spread because of him spending more time with her, there was nothing between them.

    "You did," replied Michael. "We are still in the process of learning how the universe works, because some souls don''t stay in Heaven nor in Hell, but they repeat their lives in a cycle by taking birth. It is ironic to see that you ended up right where you started."

    "I see," murmured Helena.

    Until now, she hade to understand that people of the royal family would be rted to her only by name through dimir, but it seemed like there was more depth to it.

    "He thinks you like me," said Helena, a small smile came to appear on her lips, and Michael shook his head.

    "It seems like people like to perceive anything," he said, a sigh escaping from his lips. "I think I should leave this one just as it is so that I can see him frustrated."

    Michael had never felt anything remotely romantic towards the woman who stood next to him now. All he had done in the past was help her while being in the living world. And if there was someone, whom he was a little partial to, the person was in Heaven and someone he was not supposed to be partial with. Who would have known that the Heavenly realm would be disturbed because of the living world that was spilling out and Heaven and Hell spilling themselves into the living realm.

    "Are you going to be here for long?" asked Helena.

    "No," answered Michael. "I will be leaving in a few minutes. It was good talking to you, Helena," he said to her.

    "It was my p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e," replied Helena, watching Michael make his way towards the boy.

    Michael came near Morven, who continued to y with his wolf friend, both on the ground. While the wolf had fur where the mud didn''t matter, the small boy''s clothes were turning muddy.

    "What are you doing here instead of being inside with everyone?" Michael questioned the little boy.

    Morven''s red eyes snapped to look at Michael, "What about you?" asked the little one.

    It seemed like the child was much smarter than he looked, asking him the same question. "I need to leave and I thought I would meet the birthday boy before I leave."

    "You won''t stay?" Morven looked a little troubled that his guest was leaving.

    "I have work to attend to and I wille down to visit you and your parents some other time," replied Michael. "It looks like you love this wolf." And the wolf held the same sentiments, considering how the boy gently held its tail.

    "Papa gifted Maddox to me. He said I was supposed to take good care of him," said the small boy. "He''s the best," added Morven.

    The boy went back to pet his wolf, letting go of the tail and this time scratching the back of the wolf''s ears, and the wolf lightly growled as if it was enjoying the ear rub.

    Michael wondered how things had changed because of the kindness he had spread in the world. He couldn''t help but weigh his thoughts on the little one''s wish.

 Chapter 859: Dandelions- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 859: Dandelions- Part 1</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Wish I could spend the day with you- Mychael Danna

    .

    Michael stared at the little boy, who continued to y with the wolf, petting and talking to it as if the wolf understood everything he said. No one would have ever seen thising, for the archangels and the Devil to meet each other''s eyes without using their staffs to smite the other.

    The wish the boy had asked was a simple one, just like Madeline had prayed for Paschar toe and spend his time with her child. But with the wish being associated with the Devil, Michael wasn''t sure about what to do. When it came to the Devil, the slightest actions had consequences. The ripple effect would go too far to cause possible chaos.

    But then...this was a wish that rted to Constance. The person had a pure soul, and even though she had gone through difficulties in the living world, her soul had continued to stay pure and forgiving.

    "What would you do if I brought your grandmother here?" asked Michael to the boy.

    Morven, who had both his hands on Maddox''s head, turned slowly to look at the man, "I will show her the toys that I received today. She can tell me stories at night."

    Michael nodded his head, "Looks like you have already decided."

    "Papa told me that grandma used to tell him many good stories," said the little boy.

    The archangel gave it more thought before disappearing from there, leaving the living realm and returning to the Heavenly realm. As he walked through the garden, he met other souls who offered him their greetings, and he returned it. He made his way to where Constance stood like a painting.

    As if sensing his arrival, Constance turned to meet Michael''s eyes with a smile. "You are back," she said. "Did you enjoy your time? Raphael said all of you were going to the living realm."

    Michael didn''t respond to her because he had to make the decision now. Like many other pure souls, he had tried to protect Constance, opening the path to Heaven, which was where she had ended after her death, where there was no pain. And somewhere along the line, he hade to care for her a little morepared to the other souls. He couldn''t help but question how a Devil had such a pure soul as his daughter.

    In the past, Lucifer used to be one of the best archangels of Heaven, but he had fallen. He wondered if the little hidden goodness the Devil was left with had been passed on to Constance.

    A frown appeared on Constance''s face, noticing him not responding, and she asked, "Is everything alright?"

    Michael gave her a nod, "Yes. I wanted to ask you how your dreams have been."

    Constance was no mere person. Being the daughter of the Devil and being able to give birth to a powerful son, Michael knew the protective shield he had ced over her mind was slowly crumbling.

    "They have been the same with blur," answered Constance, and she added, "You look troubled. Would you like to take a seat?"

    "I would like that," replied Michael, walking with her towards the bench, and they sat next to each other. The breeze around the garden was gentle, and the sun''s rays touched the ground of the realm of Heaven. "As I was the one to bring you here, believing you will be safe here, I want to ask you if you want to go back to the ce where you originally belong to?"

    "You mean the living realm?" asked Constance, and Michael nodded his head.

    "Sometimes, we angels interfere in the mortal world and don''t realize what it might cause. But at the same time, it is also the right decision," said Michael.

    He had not opened the path for her in the past, she would have been in more pain, and Hell would have scarred her because dimir was sleeping at that point in time. Constance had been preserved by making way to this ce, and her soul had tried to heal from the pain that had been caused when she was alive.

    "One day...your memories will break free and that day you will want to go back, not that we won''t let you," said Michael, turning to look at Constance, who was already looking at him intently. "Souls in Heaven forget about their past life, but it seems like you are different. We send you now, or we send you backter, it is going to be one and the same. I believe in time, Constance."

    "Is it allowed?" questioned Constance. She hade to hear some of the rules from the angels and what happened if they broke them.

    Michael offered her a smile. He should have known that her heart was in the living world, and though she did die, he was willing to send her back.

    "I am willing to make an exception for you. You have been a kind soul, Constance and it has been a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to have you here," said Michael. He brought his hand up and ced his finger on her forehead. His fingertip gently brushed against her skin. Sending her away wasn''t easy, but he was someone who had always stood for the right things. "I wille and visit you in the living world. My favourite soul from Heaven."

    It took a moment for Constance to realize what Michael actually meant, and she could see her surroundings starting to change.

    "Won''t youe with me?" she asked, cing her hand on his wrist, and her actions took him by surprise.

    When Constance had died, Michael was there at her bedside to collect her soul. He had seen the pain she had gone through, but being a person from the Heavenly realm, he couldn''t interfere.

    Since he had taken Constance to Heaven, being there and watching over her, some form of attachment had formed. There were times when he couldn''t help but wonder how she had ended up in such a badpany and had a bad life.

    Even though Constance was pure, she had ended up falling for someone who was theplete opposite of her. He had seen the man and his family,pletely vile and just like most of the mortals who liked to manipte everything around them for their own gain. But he was only an archangel, and he had decided not to stick his nose where it was not needed.

    He didn''t know if he would have been able to change things in the past, but he offered her a smile.

    "Life would have been much easier if we didn''t have so manyplications, isn''t it? Now I understand the others a little better than before," said Michael to her. "I will see you soon, Constance. But for now, I hope you will continue to stay in peace."

    Constance felt the shield and the protective barrier ced over her mind start to break while the foggy clouds around her increased. Before she knew it, Michael''s hand had disappeared, and she appeared in the middle of the garden.

    She was back in the Hawthrone castle.

 Chapter 860: Dandelions- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 860: Dandelions- Part 2</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Carry you - Novo Amor

    .

    Constance stood in the garden, looking at the familiar ce that she had seen in the memories, and soon she came to realize that those were not just memories. The memories in her mind that had been protected for so long slowly came to reveal in front of her eyes and the back of her mind.

    She walked towards the castle, her footsteps careful while realizing what Michael had done. As the memories rushed, her footsteps turned faster, and she quickly found a boy sitting on the grassy area.

    Already having heard a lot about the current Hawthrone castle, Constance walked towards the little one who sat with a ck wolf. Sensing Constance''s presence, the wolf lightly growled from where it was, but when it came towards her, it started to wag its tail, and it let out a growl like bark as if sensing the scent of familiarity.

    "Where are you going?" asked Morven to the wolf, and he caught sight of a woman in a white robe. He stared at her. The little boy was intelligent enough to map the woman''s face whose portrait was in the hall.

    Both Morven, as well as Constance, walked towards each other. Regaining all her memories back, Constance could hardly believe that this boy was her grandson. He was so small, and he reminded her of her own son, the boy''s father.

    "I-is that you, grandma Constance?" asked Morven, his red eyes looking at her.

    He was adorable, thought Constance in her mind, and she nodded her head. "It is me. You must be Morven," she spoke to the boy, her voice gentle and sweet for one who heard her voice.

    This time Morven nodded his small head, "My wish came true," he said as if acknowledging the thought.

    Constance bent before she sat down to meet his height, her eyes taking in the boy and a smile on her lips, "Happy birthday, little Morven. I hope you will be well protected and grow into a wise King just like your father," she wished him. Leaning forward, she kissed the boy''s forehead.

    She brought a flower in front of her and asked, "What is your favourite colour?"

    Morven looked at the white flower, and for a second, his eyebrows furrowed in thought, he said, "Red." Soon the flower changed its colour, and Morven''s eyes grew excited by this little trick.

    While Constance and Morven were in the garden of the castle, Odin, who was on his way to babysit the little prince, stopped in his tracks when he noticed a woman sitting in front of Morven. He wondered if they had other guests today and what was with those white robes-

    His eyes went wide, and he leaned to the side, realizing who the person was with prince Morven. Odin couldn''t help but have tears in his eyes by seeing the Lady had returned. Not knowing if she was here for only a little time, he sniffed and wiped his face before running to where his Master was.

    "Master! Master!" Odin''s voice echoed through the corridors of the castle.

    The servants were quick to move aside because Odin was running in speed, looking for dimir from one room to the next one. Where was his Master? Odin realized that he could apparate, and he quickly reached where dimir was with Madeline, Lucy and Beth.

    "MASTER!" Odin shouted in excitement, and everyone turned startled. "T-there, the outside��"

    dimir didn''t know what Odin was speaking about, "What are you talking about, Odin? Where is the boy?" he asked, raising one of his eyebrows.

    "S-she, she is here. The wish," came the breathless words from the Devil''s faithful servant, and dimir disappeared in thin air.

    "Let me find, Cal," whispered Madeline before running out of the room.

    Beth frowned, helping Lucy to stand up and walking along with her while her sister had gone to find the King.

    "Cal!" Madeline called him, and within a blink of an eye, he was near her. "The wish Morven wished for. I think Michael granted it and dimir went to the garden."

    The people who were around were quick to follow them by stepping out of the castle.

    Calhoun could feel the rise of his heart beating and his eyes frantically looking for his mother. When his eyes finally fell on her, his footsteps slowed down, taking in her appearance. dimir was already there, and he was speaking to her. He couldn''t believe his eyes, to think that his mother was back in the living world.

    When he got closer, Constance''s eyes shifted to look at him, meeting gazes with each other and the smile on her face widened. Constance left dimir''s side, walking in the direction of her son before they came to stand in front of her.

    "We finally met again," said Constance, her eyes brimming with tears and Calhoun, who would never cry for anything, his eyes moistened.

    "So we do. Tell me you are here for good," Calhoun was selfish when it came to things and people who belonged to him, and he wanted her to be here.

    Constance brought her hand up, cing her hand on the side of his cheek, and she c.a.r.e.s.sed her son''s face. He had grown up so big, and had turned into a fine man and now had a family of his own. A family that had not beenplete in the past.

    "I am here to stay," she replied to him with a warm smile. "Someone told me that this is my rightful ce, to live with everyone."

    Calhoun stepped forward and put his arms around his mother, hugging her. "I am happy to hear that." It wasn''t dimir who had made Morven wish for his mother toe, but it was him who had put the idea in his son''s head. "Wee back, mother."

    Constance was happy to see that her son was doing better than before. Before she had passed away, she had seen the misery and anguish in his eyes, the inability of him to help her had driven him towards pain. And it had broken her heart seeing him like that. He had been forced to grow up faster than the others, his childhood was stolen away from him.

    Pulling away from the hug, Constance said, "I am very proud of you, Cal. You turned perfectly well."

    Calhoun caught his mother''s hand, smiling at her and said, "I have someone I want you to meet," and he turned around.

    Constance turned with her son, looking at the young woman, who stood not too far away from them.

    Madeline was quick to bow her head to show her respect and greet Calhoun''s mother, "It is good to have you back, Lady Constance."

    The woman smiled, leaving Calhoun''s side and going to hug Madeline. "Thank you for standing next to him. I know it might not have been easy, but thank you for being there," said Constance. Madeline couldn''t help but smile at Constance''s words.

    "Let me tell the maids to get your room ready and the clothes prepared for you," replied Madeline before calling the maid and ordering the things to be done.

    Soon Constance was introduced to the other people of the family. Once she had changed into a gown, everyone moved into the dining room to have tea and biscuits. Calhoun looked at the people who were at the table, where his mother sat next to Lady Monique, catching up on their lost time. Theodore and Lucy sat with their daughter Lillie and right next to Lucy sat Mr. and Mrs. Harris before being followed by the archangels and the Devil with Odin, who had stayed back to enjoy thepany.

    The people in the chair had changed over the years, reced to the one''s who had turned out to be part of his family.

    Madeline, who was sitting next to Calhoun, felt him reach for her hand and squeeze it that made her smile. She turned to look at her handsome husband, "I was thinking about getting the painter here. We can have everyone in the portrait."

    Calhoun nodded, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing the back of her hand, "Anything for you."

 Chapter 861: Dandelions- Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 861: Dandelions- Part 3</h4>

    "Seriously, d. It is her choice to decide on where she wants to stay and you cannot have her choose like that," said Helena with her hands folded as they walked through the woods.

    dimir rolled his eyes, "Constance is my daughter, of course, I would like to spend time with her."

    "Which can be done in the Hawthrone castle," Helena pointed out. "You could go back and live in the Hawthrone castle, instead of moving back here. And everyone has a family now, you should find other hobbies to do."

    The Devil was not pleased, but at the same time, he decided to drop on that matter before moving to the subject. "Did you see how much time she spends with Michael? I would think he has other things to do but he always shows up every weekend."

    Helena rolled her eyes at this. dimir had been suspicious by thinking something was going on between Constance and the archangel Michael as the archangel visited her. "At least, unlike someone, he meets her once in every seven days, and not once in seven hours."

    dimir chuckled at Helena''s words, "You are my soulmate, I couldn''t let you go just like that."

    The head of the High House shook her head at the Devil''s words. Once they reached the castle that was in Belmount, Odin was quick to greet them at the door.

    "Good evening Master and Lady Helena," the demon bowed his head in greeting and took each of their coats to ce and then hung on the stand. "Would you like to have some blood tea?"

    "Yes," replied Helena, and dimir waved his hand as if he was not in the mood to have tea now. The walls inside the Devil''s castle now had been decorated withrge paintings of him sitting on a throne in Hell and a few more with his servant and one that was the family portrait as well as one in which he and Helena had been painted.

    "I know he has something to do with Constance going to Heaven," muttered the Devil with his eyes narrowed. "Michael knows he won''t be able to meet our dear daughter if she were toe and live here."

    Though Helena knew dimir was right, she didn''t speak on it and instead said, "So what if there''s something going on, isn''t he much betterpared to Lawrence? He took care of her and brought her back to the living world."

    "I will never approve of him for Constance!" fire zed in dimir''s eyes, but Helena was barely fazed by it.

    "She''s not a child, d. She has a son and a grandson. And, she deserves good people around her and peace," Helena sighed before saying, "Stop being selfish."

    d''s mouth parted, and his eyes narrowed, "You want a person who used to be called as my brother to be approved for her?"

    "It isn''t like you both are blood brothers," she gave him a look. "I have important doc.u.ments to read and sign, don''t disturb me," said Helena, taking the blood tea in her hand from Odin''s hand and starting to climb up the stairs. But even though Helena had told him not to disturb her, he climbed up the stairs to follow her as the matter was not over.

    Back in Hawthrone''s castle, Madeline was helping her son in teaching him how to write when Constance arrived at the room.

    "I hope I am not disturbing you both," said Constance and Madeline quickly stood up to greet the woman.

    "Of course not, Lady Constance. Was there something you needed?" asked Madeline earnestly to her mother-inw.

    Constance said, "I was going to the old house and was wondering if you would like to apany me," came the polite words of the woman. "But I see you are teaching Morven, we can goter."

    "That''s fine," Madeline shook her head. "We are almost done and I was going to send him to Cal." Though they were the King and the Queen of Devon, both Madeline and Calhoun had taken up the tasks to be close to their son by involving themselves, instead of not keeping a governess to look after their son.

    The little boy had been learning something from every family member, some from his parents, some from his grandparents, and some other rtives. "Come, dear. It is time to go see your papa," said Madeline, giving her hand to Morven, who held her hand.

    Only two months had passed since Constance had returned to the living world. And life in the castle had turned even more peaceful than before, where it was filled with a serenity like the clear sky without the clouds.

    Walking towards the royal court room, they entered it and saw Calhoun talking to one of the ministers. "I will be going out with Lady Constance," Madeline informed him.

    "Take the guards along with you," said Calhoun, not wanting any harm to ur on his family. Madeline nodded her head. He then offered his hand for his son to take, bringing him to sit on his l.a.p. "I guess it is time for both of us to spend time and for you to learn what happens in the royal court room."

    Madeline and Constance left the castle in the carriage while being apanied by the two guards. Reaching the vige, they stepped down. It seemed that thedy wanted to take a look at the house where she once lived with her son, thought Madeline to herself.

    Constance stared at the house that was filled with precious memories. To others, it was a ce that was looked down upon but for her, it was her home which was warm. When her memories hade rushing through, it hadn''t felt as painful as people had thought it to be. And the reason might have been because before she had even died, she had made peace with reality.

    "Cal was small, probably around Morven''s age when we moved to this ce," said Constance to Madeline, and as she said this, there was a smile on her face. "We had moved a lot, every time moving one vige farther away from the castle. Back then, he always had this frown on his face. I think he acquired it from my father."

    Madeline smiled at Constance''s words. She held respect for the woman, who could see the good things from the bad things.

    "He must have been smart since he was little," said Madeline, and Constance nodded her head.

    "He was. Smarter and sharper," responded Constance. They then started to walk away from the house, while the carriage had been parked far away, with the guards keeping some distance from the two royal women.

    Madeline had learned many more things about Calhoun from Constance, learning about his childhood that made her smile and think about the hard life.

    They now moved near the market, taking a stroll at the side of the road, when her eyes fell on two familiar people in their tattered clothes.

    Rosamund and her daughter stood at the side, looking at people who passed in front of them while begging them for help and food.

    **

    Please read this:

    I request everyone to switch your votes to the book ''The Fourth Mistress'' (TFM) from today onwards. The book is going to have around 60-80 chapters (current n).

    New book: Letters to Romeo. The book doesn''t have a voting option enabled to it yet.

    With TCO''s end around the corner, when a book is markedplete, it disappears from the ranking list. By providing your votes to the other ongoing books, it helps in providing exposure for new readers to find the book.

    Also, I have tried to remove the privilege for the new month, so everyone should be able to ess the next released chapters in the normal way.

 Chapter 862: Good things- Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 862: Good things- Part 1</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Framed Memories- Dominic Lewis

    .

    The state in which Rosamund and Sophie were in right now was something unimaginable. In the past, they were the most reputable women of the royal household. Being the former princess of Devon and daughter of thest second deceased King, Rosamund had grown up with a gold spoon in her mouth.

    She had never shown any consideration or sympathy for any person who was lower than her in status. And she stood in the corner of the road, now and then trying to stop the people who were walking past her. But people were fickle-minded, who changed their mind like the weather. The people, who once used to respect her, paid no heed to her or the state she was in.

    "Please wait!" said Rosamund, her eyes looking frantic. She was only pushed aside by the people as if she was a speck of dust.

    Madeline, who stood next to Constance, watched them from afar while Constance looked at some items in the nearby shop. She didn''t know what to do right now. When Lady Constance was in the castle, Rosamund and her family had tortured her in and outside the castle. She didn''t know how much trauma her mother-inw must have gone through.

    "What do you think about this?" asked Constance, picking up one of the mud made artefacts.

    Madeline turned to look at the little pot and smiled, "It looks pretty."

    When her mother-inw went back to looking at the other objects, Madeline wondered if it would be better to leave. Protecting Lady Constance from any mental or physical harm was her priority.

    But it was toote to dodge because, on hearing a familiar voice, Constance turned her head in its direction. Both the woman''s gazes met from one side of the road to another. Rosamund appeared to be in shock on seeing Constance alive and standing next to Madeline. She was in disbelief as she had heard about Constance''s death. Everyone had heard about it!

    While Madeline was worried that bad memories would trigger Constance on meeting Rosamund Wilmot, who was the cause of her misery and death, Constance stood in her ce, staring at the vampiress.

    "Who is that, mama?" asked Sophie when she saw her mother staring at a woman. Sophie was in even worse condition, and when her eyes fell on Madeline, her eyes hardened. Here she was, her life turned from riches to rags where she was wearing torn clothes covered in dirt, and there was the Queen who had snatched her rightful ce.

    Rosamund wasn''t able to process anything in words, and her lips only trembled. She turned scared on seeing Constance walk towards her.

    Madeline diligently followed her mother-inw''s footsteps while also making sure to be on alert if Rosamund were to try any tricks. But the vampiress looked in the worst of the worst conditions.

    "I-Is that you, C-Constance?" questioned Rosamund.

    Her straight and proud back, now hunched with both her hands holding each other.

    Constance replied, "It is me. I didn''t know I would be meeting you again this way." She remembered the first time when she had met Rosamund. The attribute of arrogance and pride coursed through the vampiress''s blood, talking to her only because Lawrence had brought her to the castle.

    The one time when Constance had gone back to visit the castle after she had been thrown out of there, Rosamund and her mother had only continued to mistreat her.

    ''How many times do you think we need to remind you to stay away from my brother?'' questioned Rosamund with a deep frown on her face.

    ''I only need to tell him something. Please, let me talk to him once. I just need to tell-''

    ''Looks like you haven''t learned your lesson yet. You are a woman with no background, what made you even dream and think that you could stand next to him?!'' demanded Queen Morganna. ''Get out now! And don''t show your face again!''

    ''Don''t you know that my brother is tired of you? Have some shame, to be standing here and thinking he will ept you,'' scoffed Rosamund. ''But I think you have none, considering how many men you please,'' she sneered before leaving the entrance of the castle.

    Constance had wanted to speak to Lawrence, to tell him who she was and how much she loved him, that she was carrying his child. But love seemed to be a trivial subject when it came to the mortals of the living world. A promise that didn''t have any value, nor did the love they showered, which could change at any time.

    As the memories dissolved in Constance''s mind, Rosamund quickly fell on her knees in front of her and begged, "Please forgive me for the things I have done and for what I have told you! I have made mistakes and I want to fix them! Please forgive me!"

    Sophie looked utterly confused as she didn''t know why her mother was begging a stranger whom she had never seen before. She red at Madeline because it was all her fault! She had done nothing! Nor had she tried to poison anyone, nor did shemit treason! The least the King could do was to punish her mother and not her!

    Four years had passed since the Wilmot''s had been demoted from their position. d had made their lives as difficult as one could ever think that no one in the town or vige came forward to help the Wilmot''s.

    "Please forgive me! I should have not treated you that way!"

    "Who is this mother?" asked Sophie as her mother continued to beg on the ground.

    Seeing how Sophie was still trying to stand up and against Madeline, Rosamund pulled her daughter down so that she could join her by sitting on her knees. "This is the King''s mother!" she whispered to her daughter.

    Sophie had heard many stories about the woman. But realizing the woman who was supposed to be dead was now standing in front of them, the young vampiress''s eyes turned wide in horror.

    "S-she''s a ghost!" Sophie stuttered, and Madeline couldn''t help but internally smile.

    Rosamund quietly red at her daughter for uttering stupid things right now. She shifted her gaze back to look at Constance and said,

    "Our condition is so bad that we don''t get anything to eat and starve. No one treats us right. Please help us, Constance!"

    "Lady Constance," corrected Madeline.

    "Y-yes yes, Lady Constance," agreed Rosamund. "The King and your father have made our lives hard, and I agree we deserved it but we have learned from our mistakes. I know what I did was wrong, and I want to make it right. Just give us one opportunity," she looked at Constance with pleading eyes.

    Madeline didn''t know what Constance was thinking as she stood there quietly, looking at Rosamund and her daughter Sophie. The Wilmot''s didn''t deserve forgiveness.

    "Thank you for acknowledging that what you did to me was painful. When you inflicted the pain on me, I quietly took it, Lady Rosamund," said Constance, her expression calm and barely holding any bitterness or anger. "When we first met, I thought we could be sisters. And I wished you would have told me directly that you didn''t like me being next to Lawrence. I would like to forgive you for what you have done to me in the past."

    Though Madeline was not happy, she didn''t utter a word as it was Constance''s decision to make. Rosamund looked extremely happy. A wide smile spread on her face.

    "Thank you! Thank you, thank you! I knew you would forgive us, you have a heart of gold, Lady Constance!" Rosamund praised the woman whom she once looked down upon.

    Rosamund couldn''t believe that her misery was finallying to an end. It felt like an eternity had passed while living on the streets.

    "But," Constance said, and Rosamund''s smile faltered. "I might have forgiven you for the things you have done to me, but how can I forget what my son had to go through. The things he had had to hear and bear. People beating him up and himing home covered in blood, do you know how it feels, Lady Rosamund?"

    Remembering the memory broke Constance''s heart because, in the past, it was a recurring event in her and her son''s life.

    Rosamund''s lips moved because she could tell how this conversation could go. She shook her head, "N-no, I never even knew you had a son. If I knew I would have-"

    "You would have killed him," came the chill voice from Constance.

    Madeline saw Rosamund was in a fix, and she shook her head, but she couldn''t lie. Because the truth was that if she or Queen Morganna knew about young Calhoun''s existence, they would have killed him.

    Not knowing what else to do, Rosamund touched Constance''s feet in defeat, "I was stupid and consumed with the thought of wanting power! I shouldn''t have hurt you. I am sorry for everything and believe me when I say I am disgusted for what I have done. I will never ever do anything like that!"

    Constance nodded her head. She then turned to Madeline, who had been quietly standing next to her. "Give me the bag, dear."

    Madeline didn''t know what Constance was going to do, but she handed the bag and saw thedy fish for something from it. Pulling a pack of a bun, she ced it in Rosamund''s hand.

    Constance then said, "During my time, no one offered me food and I know how it feels when one feels hungry."

 Chapter 863: Good things- Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 863: Good things- Part 2</h4>

    The action had left Rosamund in shock, and Constance didn''t stay there. She turned her back and ced her hand on Madeline''s arm. "Let''s head back."

    "Yes," replied Madeline, giving one look at the Wilmot''s before leaving the ce.

    Madeline knew how much Constance loved Calhoun and Calhoun loved his mother equally, respecting her for the person she was. As they travelled back in the carriage, she remembered when she was not yet married and how rumours about him killing his mother had reached her ears through Rosamund.

    It had scared her, believing the King had killed his mother heartlessly, but now that she knew the circ.u.mstances, she understood his helplessness.

    "Are you alright, Lady Constance?" asked Madeline.

    The woman turned away from the carriage window to meet her gaze, and she offered her a warm smile. "Why wouldn''t I be? I have you next to me now."

    Madeline couldn''t help but smile at Constance''s words. The woman never spoke about the past or how people had treated her. Not that she didn''t remember it, but she kept all those to herself.

    "You know when Cal was young, I would often wonder which girl might end up with him. Somewhere also worried that he might end up alone," said Constance. "But seeing you now next to him, it makes me happy to see himplete. Thank you for that, Madeline."

    "I didn''t do anything," replied Madeline with a smile. If Calhoun had not pursued her from the time of the ball, she would have probably been living a different life, she thought to herself.

    "Oh, you did," Constance nodded her head, "You brought light into his dark life. Sometimes even a spark is enough for a man who is drowning in darkness. You turned the ce so bright that now I am here."

    Returning to the castle, Lady Constance went to her room, and Madeline went straight to meet Calhoun, where he was with Morven and Lucy.

    "Did you have a good time?" asked Calhoun.

    "I did," replied Madeline,ing near him and her son, who sat on his l.a.p. Her son raised both his hands as if wanting to hug her only to kiss her cheek. Their adorable son, she thought in her mind.

    Calhoun let Morven down from his l.a.p, who quickly went to his Aunt Lucy''s side.

    Lucy looked down at her nephew, running her hand over the top of his head. "Aunt Lu? We go get cookies now?" Hearing this, the vampiress smiled. She gave him her hand and said, "Let''s go to the dining room to get those out of the jar."

    "He''s turning into a sweet tooth,"mented Calhoun and hearing this, Madeline smiled.

    "Beth is spoiling him with a lot of biscuits," she said, watching Lucy and Morven slowly walk out of the room. This left Madeline and Calhoun alone in the room by themselves.

    Calhoun brought his hand forward, and Madeline ced it in his hand. Tugging her hand, he brought her toe and sit. A tranquil offortable silence and peace fell in the room. Madeline leaned her head against his c.h.e.s.t, hearing his heartbeat.

    She could feel him run his fingers through her blonde hair.

    "Cal?"

    "Hm?" Calhoun responded to her.

    Lifting her head, she looked straight into his red eyes, "Do you have more work today?"

    "I always have work, but I can always slide them for a while to spend my time with my family. Why do you ask?" he questioned, a look of curiositying to settle in his eyes.

    "I was wondering if we could go and visit that cliff, just you and me," said Madeline, while her fingers traced the side of his jaw.

    "Who would have thought that you would like to cliff dive just like me," murmured Calhoun.

    "I have wings too, and even if I didn''t, I now know you have a pair of wings to catch me," responded Madeline, leaning forward and sharing a kiss. Things that she had been afraid of had turned into something that she didn''t mind anymore.

    "Alright, let''s go then," said Calhoun with a grin.

    Away from the vige of East Carswell, Beth was busy mixing the batter to make a cake for one of the children''s birthdays, which would be delivered by evening. She turned around to get some of the dried fruits that she had roasted. On turning back, a small gasp escaped her lips.

    "Good afternoon, Elizabeth," greeted dimir.

    "Good afternoon, d. Raphael isn''t here, he will be back home by evening. Do you care for a piece of cake?" Beth politely asked him. Having seen and interacted with dimir so many times, the Devil was no stranger to Beth, and her tone was more casual than the first time they had met. Though the same could not be told about her parents as they were still wary of the Devil.

    "Hm," came the response, and Beth pulled out a tray of the cake she had baked a while ago, and brought the knife forward, cutting a slice and offering it to him. "I am not here for him. My business is with you."

    "Me?" asked Beth, not knowing what he wanted from her.

    dimir ate the slice of cake in one go. Running his tongue over his teeth, he said, "I was getting my portrait to be painted, when I remembered something that you told me about this magistrate who didn''t believe my existence."

    "Magistrate Langston?"

    "So that is what the fool''s name is," and in a blink of an eye, he disappeared from there.

    Beth didn''t get the time to say another word, and seeing the Devil in a hurry, she could only pray for the magistrate life, "Rest in peace, Mr. Langston," she murmured to herself.

    "Whom are you praying for?" came a voice from the front door, and within a few seconds, Raphael entered the room where she was.

    "The magistrate''s life in the Northnd," replied Beth and then said, "You are early. Did you finish for the day?"

    "I did. I missed you," he answered, walking around anding to kiss her on her cheek. Receiving the kiss from the angel, Beth couldn''t help but smile like a child and seeing that, Raphael smiled even more. Like many other times, she exined to him what she was making. Once Beth had ced the cake on slow fire to bake, she sat next to Raphael while waiting for it.

    Raphael then asked her, "What are your thoughts on adding another person to our family?"

    Beth''s eyes turned wide, and she looked at him, "Is that allowed?"

    Raphael smiled at her like a saint and pulled Beth up with him. "Wait, the cake is not done!"

    With one snap of his fingers, he said, "There," and Beth blushed.

    Away from Devon, dimir now stood in thend of Warring''s and in front of the magistrate''s office. With everyone busy in the family, he had decided to kill some of his time by torturing people. He made his way up the stairs and stepped inside the magistrate''s office.

    dimir saw a man sitting behind the desk, and the Devil questioned, "Are you Langston?"

    The magistrate looked at the stranger up and down before answering, "That is me. Who are you?" he questioned the Devil back.

    "I?" dimir asked in a polite tone. "How rude to not remember me. I am that person whom you were eagerly wanting to have tea with. The person from...Hell," and he offered the magistrate his fang smile.

    While the magistrate started to sweat, faintly remembering what he had told a young woman about the existence of the Devil, on the other side in Devon, Calhoun and Madeline had stepped towards the cliff.

    "It has been a while," said Madeline.

    She looked around the trees that spread themselves below the cliff and the sky that was clear. With the evening approaching, the wind was cooler that moved around them. She couldn''t believe how long it had been. With everyone around, she had lost track of time, and it was only when she was returning to the castle today, did she want toe to visit here.

    Calhoun''s wings were quick to sprout from behind, the ck-feathered wings that looked proud, "Indeed it has been a while. Time did pass quickly, didn''t it," he hummed.

    Madeline then slightly pushed her back, and her white wings erupted from her back.

    She was the first to fly, her wings pping. Calhoun, who stood at the edge of the cliff, watched Madeline, and with one p of his wings, he soared to where she was.

    .

    Please checkment for wedding portrait.

 Chapter 864: The life of the demon: Odin

    <h4>Chapter 864: The life of the demon: Odin</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Ha''s Grave - Patrick Doyle

    .

    Odin carried the clothes of his Master in his hands, walking around the room to keep them in the cupboard. He then stepped out of the room to clean the stairs of the castle in Belmount. His Master had refused the idea of appointing someone else for the job because he had him with him. Him meaning Odin himself.

    Being the beloved servant of the Devil, Odin knew every little thing when it came to tidying the ce or cooking for the Devil or taking orders that had to be delivered to the demons in Hell.

    "Odin," he heard his Master calling him, and within a second, he dropped what he was doing to run to his Master, who was in the hall. "Helena and I are going out. Make sure to take care of things here in the castle."

    "Yes, Master!" Odin bowed his head. Ready to protect this ce with his life, but then it was not needed at all, as the mortals were scared to step anywhere close near the castle. The rumours about beasts and other creatures continued to spread that turned this ce unapproachable.

    "Else, go make yourself useful in the Hawthrone castle," ordered dimir, who was going to a meeting that Helena had set with one of the Kings of the neighbouringnds.

    Seeing his Master leave, Odin turned himself to a bat, and he quickly flew to the Hawthrone castle. On the way, he was disturbed by a vulture that wanted to take a bite of him, and it took a while before he arrived in the middle of the corridor.

    "Damn bird," muttered Odin under his breath.

    "Odin!" Madeline greeted him, walking to where he was. She asked, "Where is d?"

    "Master has gone out with Lady Helena, mdy," replied Odin. "Master said I should make myself more useful here."

    "Is that so, you will find Morven in his room. I believe he will be happy to have you here," came the polite words from Madeline and Odin bowed his head.

    Making way to the little boy''s room, Odin caught sight of the boy who was scribbling something on a paper, "Good afternoon, Master Morven."

    "ODII!" came the excited voice from the boy on seeing Odin in the room. With no children of the prince''s age in the castle to y with him, Morven enjoyed Odin''spany the most as he got to y with the demon. Recently, apart from running and hiding in the bushes, Morven had started to climb the roofs of the building, which had given Odin quite a run as he was the one who mostly babysat the young prince.

    Walking inside the room, Odin sat next to Morven, ncing at the paper in front of the boy.

    Morven held a crayon in his hand, and there were other colours spread around the floor. On the paper, he saw the drawings of stick figures that one couldn''t identify who was who. But Odin saw it to be a drawing and he praised,

    "What beautiful art you have here, Master Morven, I am sure you will turn into an excellent artist." Odin pped his hands together. Hearing this, Morven beamed in a wide smile.

    The little boy searched for a sheet from the pile of art he had made before handing it to Odin, "This is for you," came the sweet voice of Morven.

    Odin brought the drawing forward and saw blue and red stick figures in there, "Is this me and you, Master Morven?" asked the demon, his eyes shining.

    Morven shook his head and said, "It is you and great grandpa d."

    Hearing the boy''s words brought tears to Odin''s eyes, and he whispered, "Thank you. I shall make sure to put a frame on it and have it hang in my...room. The best art ever, Master Morven." The boy''s gesture deeply touched odin.

    Odin sat next to the small prince, watching over him while his thoughts wandered. The warmth he felt that came from hispany reminded him of the time when he was still part of the mortal world. When his parents were still alive and when his twin brother was alive too. His family was warm and loving.

    ''Lian, where are you?'' Odin had tried to look for his brother, who was a few minutes older than him. ''Lian?''

    ''Come up here, Odin,'' his brother answered him from the top of the tree while hanging upside down on the branch.

    His brother had often been like that, always doing strange things instead of helping his parents. ''We need to take the sheeps out. It is time for them to graze. If papa finds you here, instead of helping, he won''t be happy to find you like this.''

    ''Do you know how different the world looks from where I am?'' asked his twin brother Lian. ''The sky looks like an ocean, and the birds that fly look magical. One day I will sail, Odin. Mark my-OW!'' he fell on the ground as the branch had broken down.

    Both the boys left the forest and went with the sheep to graze in the grassynds. Surrounded by the fluff looking sheep, his brother looked at him and asked, ''What about you? Have you nned to stay here forever and never leave?''

    Odin gave a thought to what his brother said before shaking his head, ''I must be happy where I am. Satisfied to be next to mama and papa. You can fulfill your dream and then one day you will be sick of it ande back home.''

    ''Do you think I n toe back? Maybe I wille back when I turn into a rich lord of thend,'' said Lian, and Odin only exhaled at the castle that his twin had built.

    A few hours had passed since then, and when the sheeps had their fill, Odin noticed one of the sheep had gone missing. Odin said, ''I will go take a look around, and you can take the rest of them back.''

    ''Don''t keep on looking for it if you don''t find it. I am sure she wille back on her own,'' and saying this, his brother left with the herd of sheep.

    It took Odin quite a while to find the lost sheep. Carrying the small sheep in his arms, he lightly scolded the sheep, ''This is the second time you have decided to wander away from your family. Always trying to escape, I should name you Lian after my brother.''

    While making his way back home, he noticed another sheep that belonged to his family, which was left behind. Did his brother miss this one? Questioned Odin. But when he tried to take it back, he noticed some more sheep scattered around the ce, and his brother was nowhere to be seen. Something seemed odd, and he called his brother,

    ''Lian? Where did you go, leaving the sheep here?''

    Receiving no response, Odin turned worried, and he looked around before heading towards his home as fast as he could. Reaching the front ce of his home, he noticed his father and motherid on the ground with their throats slit with blood oozing out from it.

    ''Papa! Mama!'' Odin screamed, going to their sides, but theyid on the ground motionless with their eyes wide. Getting up, he frantically searched for his brother, ''Lian? Where are you? Lian?'' his voice filled with panic.

    Hearing some soundsing from the backside of the house, Odin quickly ran to the back and saw a person standing right behind his brother, holding a rope around his neck.

    ''Let go of him!'' shouted Odin, seeing his brother being strangled.

    But before he could reach where his brother stood, another person came from behind him and hit his back. Odin didn''t know what was happening or who these men were. And when he fell down, he saw a third man, who came in front of his brother and stabbed him to death. His brother was quick to bleed, falling on the ground and dying in front of him.

    Odin felt a sudden pain in his stomach, but as fast as the pain he had felt, it disappeared until he felt nothing. Opening his eyes, he saw nothing but clear sky above him. As the thoughts about what happened rushed back, he got up looking around the ce where he was, noticing the clouds that surrounded.

    It took him quite a while before he found his way back to his house. But by the time he reached where his family was, they were being buried along with his body.

    Was he dead? Odin had asked himself, trying to reach out for people and trying to talk to them, but no one could hear or see him.

    Years had passed and Odin had tried to hunt down the people who had killed him and his family, but he couldn''t. He had ended up turning into a wanderer like some of the souls after their death, refusing to enter Heaven as he wanted to avenge his family death. One of those days, he was sitting in front of his parents grave, when someone spoke to him.

    "What are you doing here, instead of entering Heaven."

    Odin turned around in surprise, his eyes wide as it fell on a person who wore white robes. There was a halo above his head and wings that were white and big. His hair was dark and the expression on his face serious.

    The angel said, "I see you sitting here everyday."

    A frown came to form on Odin''s face, and he said, "I lost my family. They were killed and I am trying to find where those murderers are."

    "And what do you n to do after that?" questioned the angel, his clear eyes directly looking at Odin. "You should already know that you aren''t a mortal anymore. Even if you find them, you cannot touch them. It goes against thews of the realms."

    Odin''s hands turned to fists, understanding the situation but unwilling to let go of things in the living world. "Are they in Heaven? My family?"

    "They are in Heaven," said the angel, but he didn''t mention what would happen to a soul after they entered the gates of Heaven.

    "Do you think God will punish those men for hurting my family?" asked Odin, his eyes not leaving the angel''s gaze.

    "When the time is right, everything will fall in its ce and the wrongs will be punished," responded the angel before continuing, "For so long, you have wandered here all alone by yourself and it is time for you to leave the mortal world."

    Odin nodded his head and then got up from his ce. He followed the angel to enter Heaven, not knowing one day the same angel would turn out to be his beloved Master.

 Chapter 865: What a long name: Helena and Vladimir

    <h4>Chapter 865: What a long name: Helena and dimir</h4>

    Odin stared at the clouds that continued to drift in the sky. The people in Heaven were nice to him, the souls gentle and in peace, but still, there was something that bothered him in the back of his mind. He wondered why it was so.

    On seeing the familiar angel who was the first toe and greet him at Heaven''s gates, Odin quickly ran to the angel.

    "Lucifer!" came the excited voice of the young man.

    "Odin," Lucifer looked at Odin, who always liked to be around him whenever the young soul saw him. Instead of following what others did and keeping himself upied, the newly turned heavenly being was often found alone by himself, lost in thoughts.

    "Did you finish your work?" asked Odin.

    "No."

    "Can I apany you?" asked Odin in the same enthusiasm.

    Lucifer stared at Odin and had the same answer, "No."

    "Where are you going?" asked Odin again, and Lucifer finally turned to Odin.

    "You shouldn''t question where the angels or archangels are going. Go be useful and do something," replied Lucifer. The archangel didn''t know how Odin had turned so attached to him.

    "But there''s nothing to do here," replied Odin with a confused look on his face. Lucifer''s expression didn''t change, but he couldn''t help but wonder why this soul was disturbed. He had noticed the changepared to the others, and he wondered if it was because the young man had been near the verge of turning into an unknown demon. "I wanted to ask you something. I have these dreams of a person who looks just like me, and he is not me. Do you know who it is?"

    Lucifer pursed his lips, the expression in his eyes unchanging, "Have you gone thinking about those dreams again?" he asked the young man.

    "I try not to as you have suggested, but I cannot help it when I am dreaming. I sometimes see things that I don''t quite understand," Odin blinked while looking at the angel for answers.

    "They will go away in time. Go find some hobby," suggested Lucifer.

    "Do you think it will be alright, to help you?" asked Odin with a hint of eagerness in his voice.

    Lucifer rolled his eyes and then said, "We''ll see. I need to go now," and Odin bowed his head.

    When Lucifer left the garden area, entering the building where some angels were working, he walked through the corridor before archangel Michael greeted him.

    "Looks like that young man adores yourpany,"mented Michael. "His memory barriers of the mortal world are breaking, aren''t they?"

    "They will stay intact if he continues to stay here without anyone mentioning it," answered dimir.

    "It is never a good idea to bring a soul that is on the verge of turning into a demon, unless they walk through the gates by themselves," responded Michael.

    Since that day, eons had passed, thought dimir while he travelled in the carriage with Helena. Even during the time of the day when he had left Heaven, Odin had dutifully followed him without knowing the cause or asking why.

    "I heard from King Sebastian that you scared one of his magistrate''s," said Helena. Her eyes moved to the corner where he sat before she looked back outside the window, her demeanour stoic as usual.

    "He said he didn''t believe I existed and he said he wanted to have tea, I couldn''t refuse such an offer. I didn''t know he would leave his job," answered dimir while checking out his nails.

    "I wish you would go back to Hell," muttered Helena.

    "With you of course," smirked the Devil, and Helena rolled her eyes.

    dimir had been enjoying the mortal world a little too much, but that was also hampering Helena''s work in the High House. His presence scared half of the people, and the other half didn''t show up in front of her on finding she was with the Devil. Over thest few months, it had created quite a lot of trouble getting the work done.

    "You have already prepared a seat for me in Hell, I doubt I will be going anywhere else,"mented Helena.

    dimir picked up her hand in his, bringing it near his lips, and he kissed the back of her fingers, "My lovely Queen of Hell. All it took was a look to know with that spark in your eyes, when we met after many years. You had the same spark even when we met for the first time."

    When dimir hade to the living world from Hell, he hade to turn some of the demons and humans to have vampire blood in them, and it was around the same time when Helena, back then known as Harriet, and he had met.

    "If you were a mortal you would have died, rotting under the ground in mud," replied Helena, remembering their first meeting.

    "It was a cute meet, wasn''t it," smiled dimir, reminiscing about the past.

    Helena was in the vige, a human was leading the other humans and fighting against the vampires who had turned berserk in some of the viges. The vampires had attacked the vige she lived in. Every human was trying to fight back, but the vampires had the advantage of strength and speed.

    But even back then, Helena was strong just like now. She was protecting the vigers, who were fleeing or taking shelter, when someone came behind her. On sensing the ominous presence, she pulled her dagger while turning around and stabbing the vampire''s heart.

    Her eyes were fierce as she pushed the dagger again, while the man did nothing but stare at her. The first thought that came to her mind was ''Why wasn''t he dying?!''

    "Aren''t you a beautiful person. What is your name?" asked dimir, fascinated by the woman who was intent on killing him. He twisted her hand and pushed her against one of the houses.

    "I will send you to Hell!" she spat in anger.

    "What an interesting long name you have there," replied dimir, but before he could continue his talk, someone tried to shoot him with silver bullets that were dipped in holy water. Helena had been quick to run from there, realizing the man she hade across was not an ordinary person.

 Chapter 866: Love to shoot: Harriet (Helena) and the Devil

    <h4>Chapter 866: Love to shoot: Harriet (Helena) and the Devil</h4>

    Harriet was covered in blood, trying to catch her breath after killing some of the vampires who had gone rampant and s.u.c.k.i.n.g the blood of the humans. At the same time, even the humans, who were capable, seeded in ripping some of the vampire''s head off from their body while lighting it up in fire.

    She pushed herself from the wall before corking the gun she had in her hand. Stepping out, she looked for the vampires. On finding one of them, she pointed her gun at one of the coldblooded creatures, who was draining blood from one of the vigers'' necks.

    She pulled the trigger, but before the bullets could hit the vampire, he had caught sight of her. The vampire was quick to pull the human in front of him, and the human got shot. The vampire jeered at her.

    "A gun is not a toy to be handled by a woman. What are you doing here, instead of learning to cook?" sneered the vampire.

    Harriet knew the human was long dead, and she took her shot in shooting the vampire again, but all the bullets were collected in the human''s body. "Don''t even know how to aim," taunted the vampire.

    "Why don''t you stop hiding behind the corpse like a coward if you are that brave?" retorted Harriet while taking out the bullets from her dress pocket and trying to add them into the gun.

    On hearing her words and seeing the woman shuffle with the gun, the vampire quickly threw the human to the wall and came right at her. Harriet didn''t have enough time to load the gun, and she used both her hands to stop the vampire from taking a bite from her neck.

    "For a woman you are strong," grumbled the vampire, and he pushed her against one of the house''s walls.

    Harriet used her elbow to hit the vampire, and she tried to attack the vampire, but this blood-s.u.c.k.i.n.g creature was stubborn. Her hands reached for the dagger that she carried with her. Grabbing it, she used it to create a deep cut on the vampire''s arm.

    "It might be because I like cutting people like you more than cutting the vegetables in the kitchen," Harriet gripped the knife.

    Hearing her words, the vampire turned angry and came to attack her. It took less than a few seconds of duel before she staked the vampire''s heart. Blood spilt on her dress, and she got up from her ce.

    Just as she turned, she gasped and brought her knife to point at the person whom she had met a few days ago.

    "How rude to point that knife at me. I haven''t done anything...at least not yet," said the vampire with red eyes and his fangs visible as he smiled at her.

    Harriet didn''t let her guard down, and she tried to keep a distance from him. Thest time when she had stabbed him, nothing had happened, and he continued to live. Was he not like the rest of them?

    "You seem to be very skilled when ites to fighting and killing people. Where did you learn it from?" asked the stranger with red eyes.

    "Get yourself and your creatures out of thesends," ordered Harriet.

    "I don''t think I have ever seen a woman like you fight and think she could be attractive," he continued to tter her.

    But Harriet responded with, "You people don''t belong here, go back to the ce where you came from and let us live in peace."

    "I mean the way you used the knife, hmm. But the way you handle the gun, could use some work. Life is after all precious in the living realm," replied the vampire. Harriet could only believe that they were speaking two differentnguages as neither wanted to listen to the other. "What is your name?" he asked her.

    Harriet didn''t know what this vampire wanted, "Are you here to offer peace?" she asked him.

    "Always picking such long names," the person smiled more widely. He then said, "I am dimir Lazarus."

    Harriet quickly pulled out the other gun that she had hidden in her dress and pointed it at him, "Leave," she said.

    The vampire was deaf because he took a step forward. Without wasting a second, she pulled the trigger, pressing her finger over and over again until all the bullets had been exhausted. Harriet finally realized this was no ordinary vampire because he was the Devil.

    Even though the silver bullets could harm a vampire, this person felt no speck of pain. Blood did spill out from his body, but he was unaffected by it.

    "You look surprised. Haven''t you figured it out yet?" dimir questioned her.

    "Devil," Harriet red at him.

    "Harriet!" someone called for help, and for a moment, her eyes snapped in the other direction before finding the Devil, who came to stand right in front of her.

    "How about I solve these vampire issues, and we can create a truce between us two," smiled the Devil. Within one second, he disappeared in thin air, and Harriet''s eyes snapped around to see where he went.

    When she returned to where her men were, who had been fighting the vampires, one of them came to her and said, "The vampires have fled. They suddenly dropped everything and left." Harriet realized the deal had been made even though she didn''t agree or disagree to it.

    Helena''s thoughts came back to the present time, and she stepped down from the carriage to be followed by dimir. She couldn''t believe how things had not changed since the first time she had met the Devil. The only difference between her past and present was that now she had a family, while in the past, she had never got the opportunity to have that.

    Both Helena and dimir entered the building, walking to the room where Duke Briggs was working.

    "Lady Helena, it is so good to see you here," said the man, standing up and greeting her. When his eyes fell on the man behind Helena, he said, "Looks like you changed your personal guard," he chuckled.

    As usual, Helena didn''tugh, and she stared at the man in front of her. But dimir found certain humour in it and chuckled. She then said, "I have receivedints from many people that you have taken theirnds f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y while iming it to be yours by misusing the doc.u.ments that were sent to you by the High House. Do you have any exnation for it, Duke Briggs?"

    The man raised his eyebrows and started tough, "I am sorry but I don''t know what you are speaking of. People are just trying to spoil my name for no reason, I am a dignified person who wouldn''t do such things."

    Helena''s eyes narrowed, "I have already sent my men to your house to search those doc.u.ments." She pulled out the official letter from the High House from her coat and ced it on the table.

    "What is this?" Duke Briggs asked in suspicion.

    He quickly picked up the letter to read and scoffed, "I am not going to resign from my post. My father worked hard to have this position in our family."

    "And you screwed it. You are in no position to call yourself as the Duke, when you are misusing your position and stealing the assets from the hardworking families," ordered Helena.

    "I want a trial for this! I need proof against me before youe to decide anything. But you will never get any of it. Just because you are close with the King of Devon now, doesn''t mean every word of yours shall be followed. I am not leaving my position," said the Duke, his words firm.

    Beforeing here, Helena had thought to hold a meeting for theints she had received from the people. But after seeing the Duke''s face, she had changed her n.

    dimir decided to take a slow walk near the window as if he wasn''t in the room because Helena had told him not to poke his nose.

    "Sign it, unless you want an even more severe punishment charged on you," came the serious words from the head of the High House.

    The Duke red at Helena as if she had lost her mind, "Who are you to tell me that?" he questioned her. "For so long my family has been the Duke of this ce and we have been looking at the affairs of the people and in control. You know who you are? The woman who had dethroned her own uncle after her brother tried tomit treas-"

    In the next second, Helena had pulled out her gun, pointing it at him, "I have been running on low patience. Don''t test your luck."

    "If I were you, I would listen to her. She''s even shot me too," came dimir''s advice from where he stood near the window, a smile on his lips.

 Chapter 867: Runaway princess: Constance

    <h4>Chapter 867: Runaway princess: Constance</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Prayer for Peace - Goetz Oestlind

    .

    Sitting next to one of therge windows of Belmont''s castle, young Constance stared outside, looking at the trees that surrounded the castle. But it wasn''t the trees that interested her, but what was beyond those trees where there were people with things she hadn''t experienced. It was only once did she get the opportunity to have a look at the vige. Though the vige contained small houses, unlike the big castle she lived in, she was fascinated by the people and things they did for a living.

    "Lady Constance, I brought snacks for you!" came the excited voice of Odin, and he entered her room with a tray in his hand. "Today Dous has prepared different cookies and said that you will like them. There are mint leaves with melted butter inside it."

    Constance turned to look at Odin, who ced the tray on the table, and she thanked him, "Thank you for bringing them here, Odin. I should havee down."

    "Do not fret, mdy. I have nothing else to do. Moving up and down the castle will help me kill time, and I am happy to serve you," he bowed his head to her.

    She smiled at the demon''s words.

    Her father had told her that the humans and the vampires in the viges were as bad as demons: people who were cunning and maniptive, people who would not gel well with her. But then, here, Odin was such a good demon, and it made her doubt that her father waspletely right. It was possible that he had misunderstood them.

    "And I am happy to have you here," answered Constance, picking up the cookie that had been prepared for her. "Has my father returned?"

    "Not yet. Master seems like he''s busy in the underworld because some of the first demons are trying to create a disruption," Odin let her know, and she nodded her head.

    "If only things could settle down," she murmured to herself. Constance took a bite from the cookie.

    Odin already knew that the youngdy was looking at the vige. She always did when she sat on this side of the window as it had a better view. "You can ask Master to take you there again. I don''t think he would mind apanying you."

    Constance wondered if her protective father would take her there anytime soon. The first time they had been there, she had been excited. But it seemed like her father was unhappy with the fact that she had enjoyed her time in the vige amid the foolish vigers.

    "How did you turn out this good, Odin? Are there other demons who are as good as you?" asked Constance, and this made Odin''s c.h.e.s.t puff forward at thedy''spliment.

    "It must be because I was an angel before. The demons from the living world, here, aren''t necessarily bad. But the demons from the underworld, it would be best to not associate yourself with them," exined Odin.

    "Like my father."

    "No no!" Odin hurriedly spoke. If his master came to hear this, he would be drowning in the hotpot, "Master is an exception as well, mdy. He wasn''t originally born as a demon. He only chose to be one." The demon servant then added, "I am sure if Master has refused you from stepping out, it is for a good reason."

    And then came one day, where her father couldn''t step outside or in the light, also Hell. His skin had turned paler than before, with eyes turning pitch ck. He had to rest so that his body could continue and sustain itself in the living world.

    He had gotten inside the coffin to regain his powers and his sustenance. "How long will it be?" she asked him in worry.

    "Not too long. I will wake up soon," said her father before closing his eyes.

    In the initial days, Constance patiently waited for her father to wake up, but at the same time, she couldn''t help but get the idea of going and visiting the nearby vige. It would be a quick trip, and she woulde back to the castle before her father would wake up, thought Constance to herself.

    But as eager as she was to step out of the castle and explore the world that was waiting for her, she didn''t know how to do it. Especially with Odin, who kept hovering around her and making sure he kept his word of taking care of Lady Constance until her father woke up.

    One week passed, then another week passed such that one month passed and then it went to two. And one day, Constance decided to escape from there. She wrote a note to Odin,

    ''Dear Odin,

    I will be back soon. I am going to explore the vige for a little while and then return. Don''t panic. Everything will be fine.''

    But the next day, in the morning before the sun could rise and she was trying to escape, she had been caught by their coachman Dous.

    "Lady Constance, where are you going?" asked the man, rmed. His eyes fell on the little bag that hung over her shoulder. "Are you going out?"

    "It is just for a little while," her eyes pleaded. "I will be back before my father wakes up. I just want to see how things are outside this castle. Please."

    The man looked troubled about letting her leave the castle on her own and insisted on going alone. At the same time, he knew she had wanted to visit the vige. Even though she was the Devil''s daughter, she was nothing less than a prisoner in the spacious castle with no people to talk or interact with, as the Devil didn''t like it.

    Dous then fished for something in his pocket, pulling out the gold coins and cing them in her hand. "You will need them if you want to buy something that you like."

    A wide smile appeared on young Constance''s face in excitement. "I will write a letter if it takes long," she whispered, and the man nodded his head.

    "Be careful, mdy," wished the old man, and Constance offered him a smile before leaving the castle.

    When the sun rose, Odin entered thedy''s room to wake her up, only to find her bed empty and cold as if she hadn''t slept on it. Did someonee and abduct her?! Questioned Odin in panic. His Master was going to kill him! No, not kill. He was going to tear his limbs!

    While he frantically called the other servants, trying to look for the youngdy, he found a note that she had left for him.

    Odin couldn''t leave the castle as he had sworn to stay inside the castle by making sure Lady Constance was safe, and also his Master''s coffin, in which he slept. But thedy had decided to take a trip by herself, and he didn''t know what to do. He walked back and forth in the room, "What are we going to do?!" he asked in a panic.

    Dous didn''t mention a word about the secret he and the youngdy shared. He hoped she would be fine and well.

    Away from the Belmont castle, in the vige near the mountains, Constance walked on one side of the road. Excitement bubbled in her as her eyes took in the people and things the market had to offer.

 Chapter 868: The angels affairs: Michael

    <h4>Chapter 868: The angel''s affairs: Michael</h4>

    Music Rmendation: Zoey''s Theme- Brian Tyler

    .

    Michael stood in front of the vessel of the water that showed the people of the living world. He watched the woman, who was having tea with her daughter-inw, with the same pleasant smile on her lips that he hade to know before she even had entered Heaven.

    "Looks like the angel''s are following the same one after another," said Gabriel, who entered the room and walked towards where Michael stood.

    Michael snapped his fingers for the water to create a repel, and he turned to look at his fellow archangel brother, "I was only watching."

    "Of course," Gabriel smiled at Michael''s words. Paschar had fallen in love with a person from the living realm, and recently, Raphael had followed him in the same footsteps. Gabriel wondered if Michael would walk in the same path. "I am sure it was easier to keep an eye when the person was in Heaven, but now difficult, as she is in the living world. Not to mention dimir who keeps buzzing like a fly."

    Michael''s expression didn''t change, and they were calm. He cared for Constance, the Devil''s daughter, which was ironic considering who and what he was.

    He hadn''t ventured too far away on the thoughts about his true feelings for Constance because he knew deciphering it would only lead to problems. She was his favourite soul from the living world because of the purity her heart held, which hadn''t been soiled with not a single drop of evilness in there.

    In the past, he had watched her suffer as the curse consumed her body, shortening her life. And he had been there when she was near to her death, ready to collect her soul from the living world, taking her into the gates of Heaven so that she wouldn''t wander.

    "He''s her father," replied Michael, "It is natural for him to worry."

    "Hm," hummed Gabriel. "I heard from Helena that he has been apanying her wherever she goes. If you want you can go and visit her in the living world, I will be here to manage things around," he offered.

    Michael shook his head, "When did you start ying as a matchmaker in Heaven?" He and Gabriel slowly started to walk in the corridors where the sun''s rays fell on the floor, and the light reflected on the white walls with a golden glow.

    "Since love started to bloom here," smiled Gabriel.

    He watched Michael not reply to his words, as if Michael was tired of others whispering about the same. He knew Michael well, and even though he had formed an unexpected attachment with Constance, he had sent her back to the living realm because he believed her happiness was there more than the peace she carried in here, in the Heavenly realm.

    Now that Michael had sent Constance to the living world, he couldn''t meet or see her like before and only see her through the magical vessel of water from Heaven.

    "Now that she is in the living realm, do you think she will find someone to love?" Gabriel asked casually while they continued their walk.

    Michael was fully aware of what Gabriel was trying to do, but at the same time, the archangel''s question was something to weigh upon. "If she finds someone, then I can only be happy for her," he replied.

    "Is that so? I wonder what Constance has to say about it. Let me go and find out about it," and saying this, Gabriel disappeared from there.

    Michael had not expected Gabriel to do that, and he too quickly disappeared from the corridor to go to the living realm. But with Michael who disappeared, Gabriel appeared back in Heaven''s garden, "Ah, that was a good practice of appearing and disappearing," he murmured with a smile before walking back into the building.

    In Hawthrone''s castle, Michael appeared in the corridor and realized he couldn''t sense Gabriel''s presence in the castle. Mixing up with the Devil and the demon''s was not a good idea, he thought to himself because of the harmless trick that had been pulled at him. But before he could disappear, he was caught by Calhoun.

    "Michael, I didn''t know you were going to visit us," said Calhoun. Or my mother thought the King in his mind, but his smile gave away to have the archangel frown.

    Michael could tell that Calhoun had inherited every characteristic from dimir. Now that he was here, he decided to spend some time here before leaving.

    "You wouldn''t mind taking a walk with me, would you?" proposed Calhoun with a charming smile on his face, and they stepped out of the corridors and moved into the open space.

    "How are things in Devon?" questioned Michael.

    "Good. The whole kingdom hase under control and we are working on expanding it near the sea. With Gabriel and Raphael around, not to mention Helena, things areing along well," replied Calhoun. "Do you n toe and stay here?"

    Michael smiled at the offer. Even though in the past there had been friction between him and Calhoun regarding the dark angel and the conflicts that had arisen, things had settled now, and everything had turned more peaceful.

    "I don''t think it would be easy to have three archangels in one ce. It might even turn chaotic because of the Devil," stated Michael with a straight face.

    Calhoun didn''tment on it right away, letting a few seconds pass. He then said, "From a long time, there has been something on my mind. There was a time in the past where I was often beaten and dragged into the darker parts of the alley until I learned to fight back. But there was this one time on a rainy day��" he paused for a moment, looking at Michael. "Was it you? Who brought me back home?"

    Calhoun could still remember the severe pain he had felt that day when he was a small boy, and for a moment, he had died. He knew he did because when he had seen the gates during the time to get Madeline back, he had found it to be familiar. But that wasn''t all, he never knew how he had ended up back in the house, and he had his doubts on it.

    Michael pursed his lips before saying, "I just happened to be passing by." Hearing this, Calhoun smiled.

    "I also wonder what would have happened if you were the one who my mother met first and not Lawrence. Even if not the first, she seems happy and at peace in yourpany," said Calhoun looking ahead of him. "I am sure it is also something d will agree upon even if he doesn''t like the idea of it. I havee to believe that living alone in the living world can be truly lonely with no one to provide the love one deserves. Don''t you agree with that?"

    Calhoun didn''t care what the Devil or others had to think about the situation. In the past, he had seen the way his mother had led her life without thepany she deserved. Lawerence had broken her heart, and the other men had done nothing but use her.

    The thought of having Michael with his mother had been odd at first, but then every person who had joined his family were different, and their family was strange.

    When Michael didn''t answer, Calhoun paused walking, and he turned to look at the angel, "If I still wasn''t clear, if you both want to proceed, you two have my blessings," and he smiled.

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