Chapter 106: Can I Kiss You Again?

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Lord Draven, who stood at the balustrade of his balcony, facing the suburbia of the hidden valley up ahead, subtly shifted his eyes to the trembling servant who was now in his embrace. With his fangs bared, he viciously sank them into the nape of the servant’s neck, his crimson eyes appearing two times darker than their initial color.

After a few minutes of draining every vital fluid in the servant’s body, he let her drop dead to the ground. Her hollow eyes were empty, and her lips were parted in ways that described her silent agony. Draven, who was relishing the taste of her not-so bland blood, was interrupted by the presence of Carina and her daughter who stormed into his room.

"More annoying peasants."

He rolled his eyes cynically at their intrusion, and he didn’t need to turn around in order to know both Mother and daughter were standing behind him. Calculatively, he stole a side glance to the knife that was placed inside a bowl filled with fruits, and it rested on a table by his side.

"Care to explain to me why...." The fuming Carina, who was about to rage at Draven, immediately lost the ability to speak when a knife was suddenly hanging in her throat in a threatening manner, ready to slit her windpipe open if she dared utter another word, and Claire’s almond-shaped eyes widened in horrification when a knife was threateningly hanging against her Mother’s throat in mid-air.

"Where are your manners?" Draven, who was yet to turn around to look at them calmly leaned forward against the balustrade. He let out a soft sigh, staring blankly at the suburbia, and then he said. "You barged into my personal space, Carina. If I wanted I could silence you right here for ruining my quiescence, I’d let you bleed to your death, and no one would care."

The tone of his voice dripped with a venomous edge that had Carina nervously swallowing her saliva. Slowly, her hazel eyes moved to the body of the dead servant, and due to her anger, she had let herself forget exactly who she was speaking to. Lord Draven wasn’t someone who could easily be messed with, she knew this more than anyone else, and he was showing her his powers meanwhile in front of Ivan, he had backed away from just a little threat.

"Forgive me, I made a mistake." Carina didn’t let her voice crack with the slightest hesitation, and when she was done apologizing for her behavior, the knife clattered to the ground, to her relief.

"Can I ask you something?" Maintaining her composure and schooling her expression in front of her daughter, Carina asked Draven. "Why did you do exactly what you did back there, in the hall? If I remember correctly, you and I were on the same page before I left Vesunard. We agreed we’d stop any form of marriage alliances Ivan had made till my son’s return to take what is rightfully theirs, but you showed up here and suddenly said yes to the two of them? All I want from you is an explanation, Lord Draven."

"First of all, the throne doesn’t belong to your son, Carina. It never was, and it never will" Draven hit her with the painful truth. "What you are doing is merely stealing it from the rightful owner, which you are more than aware of, but too stubborn to accept it. Frankly speaking, I had my misconceptions about Ivan from the beginning, he was a human who failed to awaken his Vampiric powers, but from what I have seen and noticed in tonight’s brief contact, I am.... Shockingly worried."

A deep silence fell heavily upon the balcony as both Claire and Clarina tried to absorb the gravity of Lord Draven’s words.

"Worried?"

"Haven’t you ever once stopped to think about why Ivan is always referred to as the ’Vampire Lord’ and not a ’vampire Prince’?" He turned around to look at Carina with an inquisitive glare, her regal features were unwavering, but her eyebrows furrowed in curiosity.

When her cluelessness didn’t miss his gaze, Draven kind-heartedly proceeded to elaborate it for her. "The term ’Vampire Lord’ holds a power that transcends the boundaries of a normal vampire lineage, most especially in Vesunard. That title signifies an exceptional level of strength, influence, innate abilities rarely seen amongst our kind, and that is a very unique essence even your three sons failed to possess, despite their countless training by the higher-ups."

"I beg your pardon?" Carina’s eyes widened at his slight mockery of her sons, and then he stepped closer, his gaze never leaving her intense piercing eyes. "What are you trying to insinuate by laying all these unnecessary formats, Lord Draven? Please do not beat around the bush and be clear with me on the topic we’re having."

"Can you handle it?" Draven’s eyes narrowed intently at the vampiress, as if he was growing wary of her presence. He glanced at the quiet Claire who was also waiting for him to reveal what he knew, and that brought a plain smile to his lips before it vanished completely, and he said. "Ivan..... he’s becoming something more deadlier than a vampire, Carina. His eyes didn’t share the exact resemblance to that of a vampire. When I stood close to him, I got a good look at it, and it took the shape of a...demon."

He revealed in a cryptic tone, as if trying to bring himself into revealing what he had seen.

"D-demon?" Carina’s eyes sprang wide in sheer disbelief, and she was tempted to laugh at Draven’s presumptions, "how is that even possible? A vampire becoming a demon?" She shook her head. "I’m sorry but there has to be a mishap somewhere."

"And this is why you keep falling into Ivan’s pathetic plans, Carina." Draven fired back indirectly before walking past her and going into his chamber. "Has Ivan ever experienced any near-deaths before?"

"Only once, but it was a really long time ago after the death of his Father." Carina revealed as she joined Draven in his chamber. "Alistair and Tobias had brought his battered body from the orb room, and he had a deep nasty gash on his chest. He appeared to be stabbed by something, I think, but when we asked what had happened, Tobias claimed to have found him lying unconscious there. His heart rate was dropping severely as he was still human at that time, it got to a point we all assumed he was dead, but then he woke up a month after the incident. Nothing changed after he woke up, he refused to tell anyone what happened to him, not even his Mother was aware. He was still the same Ivan who isolated himself from everyone, but things changed drastically after his Mother’s death."

"Did you say a nasty gash in his chest?" Inquired Draven as he turned around to look at Carina.

Claire, who still remained in the balcony, listening to the conversation that happened inside could feel the blood drain from her face.

Why are they talking about the same night when Eamon did the abomination to Ivan?!

—-

The next day in the royal Chevalier Palace, Ivan’s crimson eyes lingered on the young woman who was helping him get dressed as usual. He had told her to get some rest since last night’s incident may have been stressful for her to handle, but the stubborn woman was presently helping him get dressed, using being his servant as her daily excuse.

She was starting to make him develop a certain dislike for that word.

All night, even after his little lamb had managed to fall asleep, Ivan couldn’t stop himself from pondering over the kiss they had shared in front of everyone - the kiss neither of them had planned for, and when he made an attempt to close his eyes even for a little while, the image of what he had done, and the feeling of his lips connecting with that of his little lamb would shamelessly pop in his head.

He was hoping the young woman would question him concerning what he had done, but strangely, she remained unusually quiet.

She hadn’t yelled at him, she hadn’t given him one of those looks that would make him guess if she was annoyed with his actions or not. When she suddenly tip-toed to adjust his high collar, their proximity had been breached, and Ivan could feel the same erratic pounding in his chest when his eyes moved to steal a glance at her luscious lips.

When she pulled back, Ivan suddenly grabbed her wrist. The action had Samantha turning around to look at him, and then he let go of her hand to gently hold the wrist that had been bandaged, his eyes studying it. Without saying a word, he led her to his bed, making her sit, and then he reached for the ointment before returning to where she sat.

"I can do this myself." Samantha protested against his actions, but Ivan, who paid no heed to her demur. He held her wrist and carefully took off the bandages, while Samantha was left with no other choice but to watch him. She had her reasons for refusing his help, it was odd to see Ivan taking care of someone from a third person’s point of view, and Samantha couldn’t let herself get used to seeing a prince going on his knees just to tend to her wounds.

After applying the ointment, he wrapped it up with a new bandage, and then Samantha heard him ask her a question she did not expect.

"Can I kiss you again?"

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read