Chapter 49: Changes
Just as Evelyn sat there, reeling from everything, the door suddenly burst open with a loud bang, nearly making her jump out of the bed.
"Evelyn!" came Cece’s frantic voice as she rushed into the room in a disheveled state, clearly having had little to no sleep. Her eyes scanned every inch of Eve.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
Before Eve could say a word, Cece launched herself at her and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, completely unaware of her vampiric strength, making Eve stifle a wince.
"I was so worried about you! I barely slept a wink! I was going to come last night, but Ivan told me to wait until morning!"
Suddenly, she paused and pulled back, inspecting Eve again. "Wait...he was here, right?"
Eve blinked, overwhelmed by Cece’s panicked concern for her well being and it warmed her heart, so she said softly, "I’m okay now, Cece." She gave her a warm smile and continued, "Prince Ivan was here, he filled me in on what happened yesterday... I...I’m so very grateful he found me, because if he hadn’t..." A lump formed on her throat at the thought of what could have happened.
Cece’s gaze softened and she hugged Evelyn again, this time more gently and said, "I am so sorry this happened to you. I should have never left you alone...if not for that annoying woman who spilled wine on me..."
She pulled back, her eyes turning fierce and icy cold. "I swear I’m going to find the bastard responsible for this and then skin his face off and make him eat it!"
Watching Cece get so furious on her behalf made Evelyn feel a little better and she said, "Thank you, Cece, for caring about me. I’m very grateful to all of you. I-I know I would’ve been a mess if I didn’t have you guys." Her eyes shimmered with tears, but she pushed them down.
Cece squeezed her hand and said, "You don’t need to say that and I’m very glad I met you too. Just remember that you’re not alone here."
"Ivan instructed us not to act like we know anything while they discreetly conduct the investigation, so that we don’t alert the perpetrator. But you have to be careful from now on, Evelyn." she added.
Eve nodded and said, "I will, Prince Ivan warned me as well."
"Right! Now let’s get you hydrated and then if you are feeling better, we can have our meal and head to class, unless you want to rest today?"
"No, I don’t think I want to stay alone here and classes would be a good distraction from all of this. Besides, we have tests coming up soon, so it’s better if I attend." said Eve.
Cece nodded and said, "Alright, I’ll go get ready and meet you in an hour since it’s still early and you can rest a little more."
"Alright." She gave Cece a small smile and then Cece left.
Days passed quickly after that day and things gradually began to feel normal again, though a few things had undeniably changed.
Evelyn had become much more cautious around people. Whenever someone approached her, she remained polite but kept them at arm’s length. More men would approach her in order to get to know the beautiful princess who danced with the vampire crown prince, but she had sort of retreated into her shell and would avoid most of them. The only men she interacted with regularly were Damien, Ivan and Edward sometimes.
Damien or Cece were almost always by her side and people seemed more mindful when approaching her in their presence. To outsiders, there was nothing strange about the three of them always being together, as after the ball, it had become even more obvious that they were close friends.
While outside the class it was the Silver siblings, inside the classroom it was always Ivan seated next to her, so no one even dared to hover around her in his presence.
After their dance, both of them seemed even more desirable in the eyes of others. Women still made valiant attempts to engage Ivan in a conversation, but he barely spared them a glance, answering with the kind of clipped tone that felt more like an insult. He had a gift for crushing hope before it even fully formed, like stepping on a flower just to remind it who owned the garden.
However it was different with Evelyn, as she felt a significant shift between her and Ivan. He had become a little more vocal when it came to guiding her in her studies as the tests were approaching fast. He had asked her to join him in the library to study so that Mr. Straight-A’s grades wouldn’t suffer because of her.
Currently, she was sitting in a quiet section of the library on the second floor near a window, with a quill in her hand and a notebook on the table. She sat across from Ivan, who had a book in his hand, his molten red eyes scanning through the pages of his notes.
She stopped writing and slowly lifted her gaze to look at him, noticing how absorbed he was in his reading, which somehow made him seem even more attractive. Eve felt more comfortable and calmer in his presence and he had never brought up that incident again.
One day he approached her after classes and told her that he had learned that Edward’s family was her supporter in Luminear due to their close ties with her real mother. Because of this they discussed with him about giving her some basic training as it was no secret anymore that Eve’s powers had recently been awakened.
When Edward readily agreed to help, they allowed him to train her under their watchful eyes every weekend. Eve didn’t have any issues with Edward, as he was Cece’s partner and neither Cece or her sensed any malicious intent from him. He was always very kind and respectful when he spoke to her so Evelyn agreed.
On the other hand, Ivan didn’t share any further details about the ongoing investigation and for now, she didn’t ask, as she was trying to forget about it. Still, her dreams about Ivan had become more frequent....or sometimes about that mysterious man named Kai, who had eyes strikingly similar to Ivan’s.
She wondered, why did they have similar eyes and why her voice reached for him with such yearning each time he would appear in her dreams. She still couldn’t see his face, only his blazing eyes, gazing at her with intensity and longingly all at once.
As she stared at Ivan, her mind wandered to Kai, but then memories of the masquerade ball flooded her thoughts, especially the moment when she had touched him. She remembered her wandering hands on his gorgeous face, the faint feel of his soft raven hair between her fingers and how he had pulled away. Somehow it still stung her for some reason when he did. ’He says because I was under the influence of a potion, which is why he didn’t do anything with me....but I wonder, if I wasn’t, would he...?’ As her thoughts took a dangerous turn again, she shook her head lightly.
"Stare a little more and I’ll start thinking you’re ready to swallow those big, bold words about never falling for me," he said nonchalantly, not even bothering to look up.
Evelyn jolted at his sudden remark, making her skip a beat. "What?" she squeaked.
He finally looked up from his book, "Either that, or you’re convinced the answers are written on my face and that staring long enough will somehow earn you a passing grade." He raised an elegant brow at her.
Her cheeks warmed a little with her eyebrows pulled together as she retorted, "I wasn’t looking at you, I was thinking about..something."
"Is that so? Then what were you thinking about? Was it on how to transition from a princess to a maid in the academy?" He asked coolly.
"I was just...thinking about some answers," she said quickly. As technically it was the truth, just not the kind of answers that had anything to do with her studies.
His lips curled up in a faint knowing smile as he responded, "Answers hm? And should I guess whether they’re the kind you want to write on paper... or the ones your whisper in the dark?"
Evelyn’s heart gave another leap but she tilted her chin up, "And why exactly should I tell you?" she shot back bravely. She knew her reply was childish, but it was all she could muster while caught in the pull of this infuriatingly sharp vampire.
"Careful, princess... looks like I’m getting close to the truth...and I don’t need your permission to take it."
At his words, she swallowed hard, catching the subtle undertone danger, the kind that wasn’t good for her poor heart and said quickly in her unsteady voice, "I..I have to go get another book." With that, she got up gracefully and left under his watchful gaze.
