Chapter 93 We Barely See Each Other
Killorn couldn't think of anything he could do to make it up for her. Instead, he brought her out to the gardens that his mother once frequented. He watched her eyes light up as she observed all of the flowers here, all of which had been kept alive by the gardeners. He leaned against the tea table, watching her with a slight frown. He crossed his arms and wondered what could be lovely about flowers. Suddenly, she gasped, and pulled her hands back.
"Ophelia!" Killorn sharply reprimanded, quickly approaching her to see the blood that beaded like pearls on her fingertips. He scowled at the prickly roses that caused her to bleed. He'd have it burned.
"I-I should've b-been more careful," Ophelia stammered, lowering her hand, but he caught it quickly and sighed.
Killorn took out a handkerchief, surprising her. He covered her fingers, instead of opting to taste it, despite how parched his throat suddenly became. He frowned deeply when he saw blood had fallen on the ground.
"You have to be careful," Killorn warned whilst glancing around the garden. His eyes narrowed upon the Mavez Dukedom's flowers. What were they doing here? He tried to remember if his mother ordered it to be planted here, despite the unlikelihood of the plant's survival.
"I-I will…" Ophelia admitted whilst glancing up at her husband. He was tall and majestic, his figure blocking the sun. Suddenly, he let out a small sigh.
"Come, this garden is dangerous for you. I—"
"Alpha!"
"I should have his head," Killorn corrected, gritting his teeth and straightening up. He had barely spent his free time with his wife before he was dragged away again. He turned his head to see Beetle strolling their way.
Beetle wore an amused grin. "Sorry for interrupting your date."
"At least look apologetic," Killorn growled, dropping his hand and covering Ophelia with his body. Beetle had taken a sniff of the air, his pupils immediately dilating, but he quickly glanced to the floor in confusion. Killorn grabbed Ophelia's hand from behind him, tightening his grip. Fuck. If it affected a werewolf to this extent, what would it do to a vampire?
"Good news and bad news," Beetle said, his voice lowering, almost distracted by something.
"Bad news first," Killorn stated.
"Well…" Beetle grimly held up a red envelope lined with gold and a sickening vanilla fragrance.
"Burn it."
"W-what is it?" Ophelia naively asked, peering over her husband to see it. Her eyes widened at the royal seal on the golden wax.
"You don't need it," Killorn decided for her.
"I-I want to go," Ophelia immediately said, tugging at his sleeves and peering up hesitatingly at him. She had been trapped in the palace for so long without human interaction that it was beginning to kill her. She enjoyed her books, but also wanted to talk to more people.
"It's a banquet held by Princess Elena," Beetle explained, whilst nervously glancing at the storm-faced Killorn. "She often holds these grand balls once a month and there is an upcoming one tomorrow night."
"I-I want to go," Ophelia murmured to Killorn again whilst he frowned deeply down at her.
Killorn wanted to tell her no. It was one word, two letters. Even babies could utter it, but he was struggling to blurt it out. When he saw her violet eyes glisten with desire, resembling ripe grapes, he could only breathe out through his nose. How could he ever say no when she was this excited?
"I'll go with you," Killorn decided, his grip tightening on her hand. "One day isn't enough time for you to get a custom dress, so I'll have some ready-made ones sent to you by tonight."
Ophelia's eyes lit up whilst smiling at him. "R-really? Y-you'll go with me?"
Killorn's lips curled at her joy. He felt a strange fuzziness in his chest, as if he was floating on cloud nine. He immediately nodded, and if possible, she was even more elated.
"I-I'm so excited," Ophelia gushed, her fingers trembling from her excitement. She grinned to the floor, wondering what it'd be like to attend a ball. She never had one before.
Killorn's lips twitched. He wanted a kiss for a reward, but damn Beetle was still here. He held back an irritated groan and turned to his third-in-command.
"And the good news?" Killorn pressed.
"Report from Mavez Dukedom," Beetle said whilst passing the paper along.
Both men glanced at Ophelia, wondering if she knew of what their Alpha did in the early mornings. Ophelia was too busy occupied by her own thoughts and excitement. To their relief, Ophelai didn't seem to have the slightest inkling that Killorn often rode back to the Mavez Dukedom by himself.
"Mavez Dukedom is flourishing and doing well under Maribelle's guidance and Gerald's strictness," Killorn stated when he read the report. "The monster sightings seem to have decreased with our absence."
"Yes, fascinating isn't it?" Beetle said. "Unfortunately, the monster population only seems to be increasing around the empire. One of the trackers reported discovering an enormous nest of harpies in the forest."
"It's Spring," Killorn deadpanned. "They do not breed until summer, how is this possible?"
Beetle grimly shook his head. Half-bird and half-human associated with the winds, it was a wonder why the monsters were alive. They often feasted on human corpses like vultures, but wouldn't hesitate to kill a human.
"We're unsure, Reagan is looking into it. Something seemed to have spread amongst the monster population, the goblins we examined had abnormally large brains as if their intelligence increased."
Killorn narrowed his eyes. None of this was making sense. Everything that he knew about monsters was beginning to backtrack.
"I'll look more into it," Killorn decided. "For now, we'll continue our bi-daily monster excursions to lower their population to prevent a repeat of yesterday's incidents."
Killorn pressed his lips together. None of this was making sense. What was causing the increase in their population? When Ophelia had been in the Mavez Dukedom, there were reported sightings of that as well, but with his instructions, the monster hunters went out more frequently, almost everyday, to lower the growth. Now, the empire was suddenly facing a spike? What was the world coming to?
"Get me a quill and paper," Killorn suddenly said. "I'll be sending a message back to Mavez."
Beetle immediately nodded, even though he was reduced to a mere secretary at this point. To his relief, the actual secretary was returning to the empire in just a day's time.
"Will that be all?" Killorn pressed.
"No, unfortunately not," Beetle started with a grimace. "The flesh-eating dogs that the empire employs for the worst dungeons are not behaving. The vampires are too frightened to go in and feed them, so they've requested if one of our kind can go in, since—"
"Everest that brat," Killorn growled under his breath, understanding exactly what this meant. Dogs and wolves were from the same family apparently. "My father raised and gifted those creatures to the empire out of good standing. I'll deal with them. It wouldn't be bad to buy their loyalty back to us."
Beetle's brows shot up. Now that he thought about it, dogs often didn't bite the hands that fed them—even if they were crazy animals like that. He slowly nodded his head at the idea, for they'd have a hand in the dungeons too.
"I'll go and examine them," Killorn stated whilst turning on his heels. He saw Ophelia was staring intensely at them, almost eavesdropping blatantly. Upon being caught, her face burned and she immediately looked away.
"I'll return earlier tonight and we'll have dinner together, alright?" Killorn softly said, cupping her face.
Ophelia tried to hide her disappointment. "D-do you have f-free time soon? L-like a day off?"
Killorn's brows shot up. "No."
Ophelia pressed her lips together. "I-its just w-we barely see each other a-anymore…"
"Are you lonely?" Killorn asked.
Ophelia's eyes widened. "O-oh, I-I just… w-well… I just miss you."
Killorn's chest tightened as her voice grew tiny. "You won't be alone for long. I have a surprise for you tomorrow morning."
Ophelia blinked wondering what it could be. Then, Killorn kissed her on the side of her head.
"Beetle will watch over you until the surprise. In the meantime, feel free to explore the library, but don't stay in the gardens for long. I'm fairly certain my mother has raised poisonous flowers in the greenhouse not too far from here. Don't wander there," Killorn deadpanned.
Ophelia sullenly nodded her head, for it didn't fix the problem of his absence.
"I-it's alright, I-I am safe in the castle, y-you don't need to assign Beetle," Ophelia relented with a forced smile. She didn't want to reduce the talented man into just a bodyguard. That wasn't what he worked for all his life.
"You—"
"A-and I'm just in the l-library," Ophelia relented.
Killorn narrowed his eyes. He let out a sharp exhale and glanced back at his palace. It was good to let Beetle do his tasks too.
"T-theres g-guards in the entire c-castle too," Ophelia reminded.
"There should be more soldiers near the library now that I know it's one of your favorite places," Killorn agreed. "Go there straight away and if you need something, fetch one of the knights."
Ophelia realized he wasn't even going to guide her there. She could do nothing, but watch as he departed. His stature was large and he was powerful even when walking. The last thing she saw was his disappearing shoulders. Then, he was gone. Once again.
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