Chapter 150: Out in the Woods

"Lauren?"

By the time Alec was done with his bath, he went out of the bathroom in a robe only to find out Lauren was not in the room. With a towel in his hand wiping his damp hair, he roamed around and he still did not find her.

The two maids outside jumped when the door suddenly opened and saw Alec only in a bathrobe. They quickly lowered their heads in nervousness.

"Have you seen the Queen going out?"

Although they were confused why the King asked if the Queen went out even when they were together in the room, they replied in unison, "No, Your Majesty."

Alec shut the door behind him and took a pause. He cocked his head as his eyes wandered around the room. He couldn’t think of a reason why Lauren would suddenly leave. And if she had urgent matters, why would she not use the door?

Alec looked at the open windows. He believed she either used the windows or made her way down to the balcony. But didn’t she want to talk to him?

"Where the hell did she go?" He hissed as he looked out the window where the view outside was marred with snow and mist. She shouldn’t be out there in the cold with this weather!

* * *

Lauren’s pale lips parted as she inhaled air to fill her distressed lungs. With the excruciating pain in her chest, she had a hard time breathing. She had a coat on top of her nightdress but it wasn’t enough to save herself from the cold.

Earlier while she waited for Alec to finish his bath, her condition attacked her again. She didn’t understand why it did when she just took a vial of pacifier the other day. It was called pacifier because it wasn’t a cure but only a drug that could pacify an illness temporarily and could not be used on a long-term basis.

Scared that Alec might see her in such a state and that she might harm him, she used the window to get out. She was in a hurry and the pain on her chest was growing more potent by the second so she just grabbed her coat and left. There were a few guards on the west side so she used the west window.

However, the only path available to her on the west was the path heading to the woods. She did not want to meet anyone in her state as she might accidentally hurt them so she just chose to go to the woods hoping the cold would not kill her.

Lauren clutched her chest as her eyelids fluttered. Cold sweats covered her nape, her auburn hair dancing as she ran into the deeper part of the woods. The snowy ground she was walking on made her feet go numb inside her shoes.

What was happening to her? One vial of pacifier should be enough to keep her sane for at least two weeks.

Did her illness progress? Was she dying sooner than she expected?

Panting, Lauren stopped when she thought she was far enough to not come across anyone. She pushed her palm on the big trunk beside her for support as she struggled to remain standing. She slid her other hand into her pocket and faint moonlight hit the vial of liquid she had been carrying with her this whole time.

She remembered Darius telling her that this kind of pacifier could not be taken twice in a week and she just took one the other day. But what was there to do? Her condition had worsened and if she would not try to use another vial of pacifier, she didn’t know if she would still see tomorrow’s sunrise.

But taking another vial would also put her life on the line...

Lauren pushed her back on the trunk as a muffle shrill escaped her throat. She bit her lip so hard until she tasted the metallic taste of blood on her tongue. Her stomach recoiled as her heart raced. Her chest was moving up and down at a quick pace as though she was losing air to breathe.

Of all people... why did she have to be like this? Why not those evil people taking advantage of the innocents? Why it must be her?

The deities must have cursed her.

With her eyes half-closed, she looked down at her palm where the vial of pacifier was. It could either save her from the night or kill her. Pacifiers were meant to pacify the illness or a curse a person had but the kind of pacifier she had was stronger than most so it was strictly prescribed to be taken only once a week. It was a big risk to take another dose just after a day after taking the last, but if she did nothing, she was sure her dead body would be found the next morning.

With her shaking hands, Lauren took off the lid of the vial. She was about to take it to her mouth when she heard the violent rustle of the wind accompanied by rushing footsteps.

Lauren was caught off guard when her body was suddenly thrown into the ground. Due to the intensity of the force, the vial slipped from her hand and it broke into pieces when it hit a rock.

The pain from her chest and back made Lauren curl her body. She winced when she felt how painful it was to move her left elbow.

"Your scent smells nice," the dark voice of the man squatting in front of her was unfamiliar.

The young man who was a vampire smirked at how the lady struggled. He was a traveler from the North. He happened to pass by the woods but he did not expect to smell a sweet scent. It triggered his hunter instincts and he could not resist it. He wanted to know if she was as sweet as her scent.

Noticing that Lauren was not properly dressed for a woman wandering out in the night, the man mocked, "Are you on a run, lady? Having trouble at home?"

Lauren shut her eyes tight when she felt the pain vibrate from her chest throughout her body. The man who was staring down at her looked confused. He wondered if she hurt her internal organs or broken some bones after throwing her to the ground.

"Don’t worry, I’ll end your suffering," he muttered with a smile.

He was about to grab Lauren’s head to pull her up so he could suck her blood when she stopped recoiling all of a sudden and her eyes flew wide open.

The man left his hand in the air when he saw Lauren’s eyes were now all white.

"What on the earth..." Before he could retreat, Lauren caught his wrist and her grip was so strong that he felt how his bone was slowly crushed.

The man was thrown into a trunk after Lauren pushed his chest with one hand. She rose from the ground like she was just laying there cozily earlier and did not look like someone who suffered from any kind of pain. Her eyes were empty, cold, and soulless. Her nails grew long and sharp, enough to cut someone’s lifeline. And her auburn head now had white hair in some parts.

"Who are you?!" The lowly vampire felt fear at the sight of an unfamiliar creature. He was someone who had traveled in different lands but never did he encounter a person with the same appearance as the woman in front of him. Full white eyes, hair mixed with white, possessing great strength, and looking like someone who would not hesitate to kill.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read