Chapter 105: Breakfast of Revelations
Eve beamed at her, "I am so happy to see you here! When did you arrive? I got your letter! I thought you weren’t supposed to be here!" She shot out questions one after another.
Cece raised a brow at Ivan and said, "I’m guessing someone didn’t bother to fill you in on everything that happened since last night?"
"Last night?" Eve frowned, shifted her gaze to Ivan, who stood like he had done nothing wrong.
Damien’s dramatic voice rang out, "Well, well, what a touching reunion! Why don’t we sit and then talk about it? I’m sure, Cece, you don’t want our Evelyn to be standing by the door throughout the conversation, now do you?"
Cece rolled her eyes at Damien before turning to Eve, "Wasn’t planning on it. Come, let’s have breakfast!"
Eve nodded excitedly and walked ahead with Cece, leaving Ivan to trail behind.
Once they reached the massive dining table, Ivan, instead of taking his seat at the head, pulled out a chair for Eve on his immediate left, stunning everyone once again, including the poor servants who were still recovering from the earlier shock.
Eve blushed at his gesture and gracefully settled into the chair, ignoring the amused looks from Cece, Edward, and Damien. Cece shook her head lightly before sitting beside Eve. While Damien sat on Ivan’s immediate right, with Edward next to him.
Once everyone was settled, the staff began serving breakfast. Eve turned her curious gaze to Edward and said warmly, "Edward, good to see you too."
"Good to see you doing well, Evelyn," Edward replied with a gentle smile.
Damien, of course, couldn’t resist. "How heartbreaking, Evelyn! You forgot about me!"
Eve looked at him and smiled, "Of course not, and we met yesterday, Damien."
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, Evelyn," he quipped with a wicked grin.
Evelyn sighed and shook her head at Damien’s antics, while Cece and Ivan only rolled their eyes.
Eve then cleared her throat and continued, "As happy as I am to see you all, not to be rude, will someone fill me in on how you all ended up here today?"
As the servers left after doing their due diligence, Cece was the one who responded, "We’ve been here since last night, Evelyn. A lot happened at the academy last night, which is why we came."
Ivan spoke in a calm, steady voice, "Cece and Edward caught Kayla, burying a forbidden scroll that has long been banned in our kingdom. Cece and Edward caught her red-handed, and now she’s in our custody."
Eve’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, "A forbidden scroll? What could it possibly contain that she was arrested right away?"
Ivan’s expression became tight as he replied, "It contained instructions on how to perform a slave bond."
"What is that?" Eve asked curiously.
"It’s a cruel bond that allows a vampire to basically turn anyone into their puppet. It has long been banned in the kingdom because slaves were brutally abused by their masters with no means to fight back, as the bond tied the slaves’ lives to their masters. When one such case reached King Iskara, he issued a decree ordering all information regarding the bond to be destroyed and declared it treason should anyone dare to attempt it." Damien explained with a serious expression.
"That sounds horrible. What was Kayla doing with something like this when it had already been destroyed? And...she’s not even a vampire." Eve asked.
Ivan felt his blood boil at the thought of that wretched woman’s motive, but remained silent to control his rage. It was Cece who replied, "Evelyn, Kayla was planning to give the scroll to Drake Viremont so that...he could perform that bond on...you."
Suddenly, Eve looked as if she had been doused with cold water. Goosebumps rose on her skin, and she struggled to comprehend the motives behind something so vile. Blood drained from her face as she swallowed hard, horrified at what could have happened had they succeeded.
She then felt something warm on her hand. Looking down, she saw Ivan’s hand wrapped around hers on the table. Lifting her gaze to meet his fierce, molten red eyes. "Why?" she whispered, looking positively pale.
"Because they are evil and evil cannot distinguish right from wrong. Kayla is a vile woman who only wanted to persuade Drake to agree to her plans to attack you with local goons and then make him mark you as his slave. But she had her own plans. She confessed that she was planning to get rid of you altogether instead of letting Drake ever mark you on the night you were taken captive. The only thing she miscalculated was the possibility of darkrots disguising themselves as the local goons."
Eve bit her lips as she felt her stomach churn with the weight of the information.
Cece placed a comforting hand on Eve’s shoulder, "Don’t worry, Evelyn. Edward and I caught the witch red-handed before she could get rid of the evidence. No matter what, she won’t be able to get away from this."
"But... but she must have already shared the information with Drake on that scroll. And even though she’s captured...what if he still decides to come for me to perform the bond?" Eve asked, her voice laced with nervousness.
"We won’t let that happen. I’ll kill him before it comes to that." Ivan said firmly.
They all stayed silent for a moment before Eve spoke in a low voice, "Is he...still in the academy?"
Damien responded this time, "No, Drake Viremont has been missing since last night."
"What?" Eve whispered. Her mind felt like it was about to explode with one revelation after another. Her heart began to race as the bad premonition she had felt last night surged back. Panic rose within her, leaving her slightly breathless.
Ivan and every other vampire in the room who heard her racing heart turned concern. She heard Ivan call her name, but she simply couldn’t respond, feeling her hands growing icy cold. Before she could react, she felt herself being lifted from her seat and cradled in his arms.
Slowly, when her senses began to return, she heard him speak in a low, soothing voice.
"You’re safe...nothing will happen to you." He continued whispering gently, his hand rubbing her back in calming circles.
Cece, Damien, and Edward exchanged concerned glances, silently watching how tenderly Ivan tried to calm her. Eve took a deep breath, as she rested her head on his shoulder and gradually began to feel herself calm.
When she felt steadier, she slowly raised her head for Ivan to look at her with concern in his eyes. He cupped her cheek and said, "You’re okay? You don’t have to worry, Eve. We are all here with you. Nothing will ever happen to you again. Okay?"
She looked at him, centering herself, and finally gave him a small nod. He smiled softly before hugging her again, only this time Eve realised that she wasn’t sitting in her chair anymore. Looking down, colour slowly returned to her pale cheeks as it dawned on her, she was sitting on Ivan’s lap.
Startled, she scrambled back and tried to rise, stammering, "I-I’m alright now."
Cece, Damien, and Edward let out a soft chuckle at the sight of her fluttering like a nervous little bunny.
Ivan smirked as amusement danced in his eyes. Seeing her like this, he felt an urge to bully her again. "Are you sure?" he asked in a low voice, "I’m completely fine if you decide to have your breakfast this way."
Eve burned like a thousand suns and scrambled off his lap, muttering, "So shameless." Her words only made Cece, Edward, and Damien chuckle louder.
Damien chimed in with a grin, "You’re right about that, Evelyn. Thanks to you, I’m finally getting to see this new side of my brother."
Cece and Edward, who had long suspected that something was going on between Ivan and Evelyn, finally got confirmation today.
Settling back on her seat, Eve cleared her throat, her face still as red as a cooked lobster. "My apologies, I lost my composure a little back then."
"No harm done, Evelyn. What you felt is a normal reaction to this...abnormal situation," Damien replied.
"That’s right, you have nothing to be sorry about, Evelyn," Cece added, and Edward nodded in agreement.
Eve gave them a grateful smile before turning her attention to Ivan, who was watching her intently. She hesitated for a moment, then asked, "So...do you have any idea where he might have disappeared to?"
Ivan clasped his fingers together and rested his chin on them, "We believe the darkrots behind him," he said, pausing briefly before continuing, "As you already know, the dark stone was recently discovered to be capable of opening a portal, allowing them to travel between places."
"That doesn’t sound very good," she gulped at the thought of them appearing anywhere if they decide to come after her. She began, "If they can travel like that, then they can com-"
"No, they can’t," Ivan interrupted before she could finish. "They can’t because yesterday barriers were set up around Dracoria Palace and Blood Moon Academy with the help of Edward, along with some other Lumens."
