Chapter 146: Dreams, Destinies And Distant Shadows
[Warning: Mature content ahead]
"You may," Valen said, his eyes still raking over the woman’s form.
She smiled seductively and bowed. "Your Highness, you requested my presence?"
"I did, Sylvie," he drawled, stepping forward until his polished leather boots stopped just before her. "In fact, I called you here today for a very... important task."
He glanced toward Jareld, giving a subtle nod to dismiss him. Once the door closed, Valen began circling the lady like a vulture poised to strike. His voice dropped to a low, velvety whisper. "I’m assigning you a most delicate mission—one that requires your... particular talents. You’ll use your charm to make someone feel welcome."
He stopped behind her, his hands sliding onto her bare shoulders, making her shiver in anticipation. Leaning closer, he ran his nose along the curve of her neck, drawing a soft, involuntary moan from her lips. "Someone powerful," he murmured, his breath hot against her skin. "A very dear guest, if you will." His hands slid from her shoulders below to her twin mounds before deliberately brushing his fingers to her aroused peaks.
She let out another moan at his actions, "You’ll do this for me, won’t you Sylvie?" he asked in a low voice.
"Y-yes Your Highness...anything you wish for.." by now she was leaning on him as he started to undress her. Soon her dress pooled below her feet. He then undid his pants, letting himself free. He violently pushed her on his bed before tearing off her undergarment and thrust himself fully from behind, making her shiver in delight.
He began to move, pistoning himself in and out in a wild rhythm while choking her neck from behind. She screamed in pleasure and though he was busy chasing his own pleasure, his pale green eyes remained fixed on the portrait lying on the table.
He grunted, his voice low and hoarse, as he said, "You need to entice the Crown Prince of Versailles."
Hearing him, she squeezed him tightly in dread, leading him to come undone sooner than he intended to. A deep grunt echoed across the chamber as he finally pulled himself free.
Sylvie slumped on his bed, while he discarded the rest of his clothes on the ground. She was trembling not only from the aftermath of their activity but also at the thought of enticing the infamous vampire prince.
Valen loomed over her, grabbing her chin roughly and forcing her to look at him. "You’ll do as I ask, won’t you, Sylvie?" he asked, his voice unmistakably laced with threat.
Knowing that saying no was not an option with this dangerous prince, she nodded vigorously, watching a cunning smile spread across his face.
"Good girl," he praised before commanding, "Now lie on the bed the way you’ve been taught to."
As soon as he let go of her, she obediently lay on the bed, her front pressed against the mattress. One by one, he took her hands and fastened them to the bedpost before indulging in yet another round of his dark pleasures.
....
The sun was about to dip below the horizon, casting a warm orange glow over the outskirts of the city they were approaching, the light filtering through the thick vegetation of the forest. The excursion team had been traveling non-stop, hoping to reach their destination for the night before darkness fell.
Evelyn sat by the window, her cheek resting against her palm as she watched the play of light and shadow ripple over the trees. When a slant of sunlight brushed her face, her blue eyes glimmered like fragments of the setting sky.
Across from her, Damien lounged with his arms folded and eyes shut, whether asleep or merely pretending, she couldn’t tell. To her left, Ivan sat silent, elbow propped against the window, his molten-red gaze fixed somewhere far beyond the glass.
Evelyn’s lips curved faintly. Reaching across the narrow space, she laid her hand lightly over his. His fingers twitched under her touch, his gaze shifting toward her at once, those eyes meeting hers with their quiet warmth.
"Where are you lost?" she whispered, her voice soft enough that it might have been carried away by the rolling wheels of the carriage.
"Just thinking about what we might find in the Vault," Ivan murmured in a low voice, his expression unreadable.
Her heart thudded once, unevenly. She hesitated, then asked, "Those people...from our dream...do you think they’re connected to the past events?"
Ivan’s gaze lingered on her before drifting back to the fading treeline. "There’s a possibility," he said quietly. "Dreams like that don’t come without reason."
Before she could reply, Damien’s lazy voice sharp with curiosity broke through the carriage’s hush.
"Forgive me for eavesdropping," he said, cracking one eye open, "but I can hardly help it when you two talk like you’re in some prophetic play." A teasing grin tugged at his mouth. "So, what’s this about people in dreams and the past?"
Evelyn blinked with flustered, while Ivan merely sighed and leaned back in his seat, his fingers still loosely entwined with hers, a quiet refusal to let go.
Ivan already knew that Damien had never truly been asleep, only resting his eyes until now. He also knew that, sooner or later, the others would catch wind of why he had agreed to go to the Vault of Ages in the first place. Since they were the only ones in the carriage, he let out another quiet sigh and said, "Eve and I have been having these dreams recently...about two people we’ve never met or seen in our lives."
There was a moment of silence, when Eve pressed her lips together before adding softly, "Recently, I saw a horrifying vision in my dream...the entire city was on fire, and there were these grotesque creatures everywhere. It was chaos...until I saw a man descend from the heavens and fight those things."
She glanced at Ivan and continued, "Ivan said he’s seen a similar dream before."
Damien’s eyes widened at the revelation, and he let out a low whistle. "Are you telling me that you two have been sharing dreams?"
"Kind of," Ivan replied flatly.
"We don’t know what any of this means..." Eve added with an exasperated sigh.
Damien continued to look at both of them in disbelief. "I’ve never heard of anyone sharing dreams before." He paused, thinking for a moment. "Are you two...seers, by any chance?"
"Seers can see the future," Ivan replied. "I’m not sure glimpses of the past count."
"And why do you think it’s the past, not the future?" Damien asked.
"Because it feels like it’s already happened," Eve and Ivan said in unison, then exchanged a surprised look.
"Good gods... this is absolutely crazy," Damien muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.
He was lost in thought for a moment before asking, "Is that what you’re hoping to find in the Vault of Ages?"
"Hm." Ivan gave him a slight nod.
"And nothing about this is mentioned in any of the palace’s history books?" Damien pressed.
"No...we believe the history books have been tampered with," Eve replied.
A frown settled over Damien’s handsome features. "I don’t understand...why would anyone need to do that?"
"We don’t know that either," Ivan said calmly, "which is why we have to find our answers from the only source we can trust."
There was another moment of silence before Damien spoke with a low whistle, "Color me intrigued. Now I really want to know what you’ll uncover there...provided everything goes according to plan."
And though Damien looked his usual self, he couldn’t help but continue staring at both of them, wondering, ’what if...these two are connected by the stars themselves?’ The possibility no longer seemed far-fetched. Both Ivan and Evelyn were extraordinary, wielding tremendous powers, and for their abilities to react to one another amid all the events unfolding so far...it made sense. The more Damien thought about it, the more plausible it became.
Soon, the carriages stopped at an inn in a nearby city near Dartmouth. The inn wasn’t particularly luxurious but was decent enough, with food prepared and rooms ready to accommodate a large number of nobles.
Exhausted from the long journey, the students paired off to share rooms before heading inside to rest.
Ivan, of course, chose to stay with Evelyn, and they made their way to their room together. Damien and Cece shared one room, while Edward and Oliver occupied another.
Cece and Edward were filled in on the same revelations Damien had learned during the carriage ride, leaving them equally shocked. By the end of their discussion, they shared Damien’s thoughts about the extraordinary connection between Evelyn and Ivan.
As everyone was thoroughly exhausted, they all retired early soon after.
During dinner, Professor Dante and Seira had warned everyone not to step outside the inn’s premises, as they had set up a protective barrier around the property to prevent anything dark from entering.
As the night deepened, the inn’s corridors grew quiet. One petite human student sat by her room window, absentmindedly playing with the pendant her mother had given her.
