Chapter 71: Restless Heart
Alex’s lips twitched as he saw how Ivan’s expression grew more irritable at hearing his report. He knew this prince, who had always remained unaffected by anyone, was finally moved by someone. And he knew that the lady was someone special, ever since the first time he saw her in Raven Street.
Without another word, Ivan climbed onto his horse and barked, "Stop wasting time and let’s get moving."
’Didn’t His Highness just stop on his own a moment ago?’ the men thought collectively. ’Just what is happening to our calm and composed prince?’ as they thought, none of them dared to say it out loud, as they all valued their heads too much.
As they manoeuvred through the rain, Ivan felt restless and uneasy after hearing Damien’s report. He had been away for days after he received another report of a massacre of a village nearby, Bastian. Since then, he has been on the path of discovering and destroying every single hideout of darkrots and sorcerers who have been practising dark magic, either to turn more people to darkrots or to cause massacres. He knew he had to handle this personally, even though his elite soldiers were the best at wiping those creatures from the face of the planet, his presence was still necessary as this was a large-scale operation and extremely dire to the kingdom’s national security.
He has been stealthily raiding and destroying hideouts in order to bring the situation under control. But since Ivan was aware of a certain princess’s knack for finding herself in trouble every now and then, he had asked Damien to watch over things in his absence personally...or perhaps to watch over a certain lady in particular. Otherwise, Damien would have been at Ivan’s side on these missions.
Since his mission was highly sensitive in nature because he couldn’t afford to alert the enemies, only Damien knew about it. Ivan had informed Headmaster Charles that he would be gone for a couple of days on urgent official business. Four days had passed since then, and he felt this constant yearning to return to the academy and see her again.
He didn’t understand what was happening to him, as he himself was extremely perplexed by this strange situation he found himself in. On one side, his kingdom’s national security rested on his shoulders. On the other hand, he just wanted nothing more but to leave everything and rush back to her, to taste her soft lips again, to hold her close and to keep all the freaking "buzzing bees" away from her.
His jaws clenched at the thought of those bees, and his eyes briefly flickered to molten orange as he steeled his resolve to end this quickly and return to the academy... to return to her.
...
Six hours away from the village where Ivan and his elite team were, lay a small city perched atop a hill, Welford City. Since it was past ten, the city was dimly lit with only a few establishments open for late-night business, while the rest of the population prepared for bed. Welfort thrived on the abundance of mines surrounding the land, making it a major supplier of natural minerals to other parts of the kingdom. The wealth generated from it was enjoyed by Marquess Lester Viremont (Drake’s father).
Inside a grand mansion, a man with sleek grey hair and dull red eyes sat at the head of the dining table, tearing meat directly from the bone of a roasted goat and gobbling it up noisily, as if he had been starving for days. The man was none other than Marquess Lester Viremont. He was a stout man with a noticeable pot belly, and while he munched loudly on his meat, his butler entered the main hall and bowed.
"Milord, Mr Dunkin is here and requests an audience with you," said the butler.
He tossed the bone on the plate and said dismissively, "Tell him to wait."
The butler continued to bow and added, "He mentioned it was urgent, Sire."
Displeased by the sudden interruption to his meal, he let out an irritated grunt and finally wiped his sauce-smeared hands and mouth with the napkin and rose to his feet.
"Where is he?" he barked at the butler.
"He is waiting in the drawing room, Sire."
He snorted and said, "Clear the area around it. I don’t want any interruptions."
The butler bowed, "Understood, Milord."
Once Lester reached the drawing room, Dunkin rose from his seat and bowed, "Milord," he greeted.
"What is so urgent that it couldn’t wait, Dunkin?" His voice was edged with anger, though he reined it, knowing Dunkin wouldn’t disturb him so late at night without a good reason.
"Forgive me for disturbing you this late at night, Lord Viremont," then his voice dropped low as if afraid someone might overhear. "I have news from the Cloak Mansion."
Lester sat down as his eyes suddenly gleamed with interest, "Go on, there is no one around."
"Yes," Dunkin shifted in his seat before continuing, "I have received a word that the ritual can take place tonight."
Lester’s mouth twisted into a vicious smile, "So they finally caught a strong lumen, is it? Who is it, and how did they manage to capture one?"
"They caught her at Blood Moon Academy, and it is believed that she is none other than the princess of Luminear," Dunkin replied.
Lester was left agape for a bit as he swallowed the information, "This...how did this happen? How can they go after the princess?! The authorities will swarm the place the moment they catch a whiff of it!"
Dunkin pushed his glasses back and said, "This is why I came to you; they are planning to use the princess as the sacrifice in order to cultivate their powers tonight, and you have been summoned by the master."
"M-Master is aware of this? But didn’t the lumen princess hold no powers? How is her sacrifice going to help in the ritual?" Lester asked.
"I had the same question, so when I asked, they told me that even if she doesn’t have powers like other royals, her blood is still the closest to that of the first Lumen. That alone will suffice for the ritual."
"Oh...that’s good," Lester muttered, greed filled his eyes as he rubbed his hands together, already forgetting any other worries related to the authorities.
"And..what of Prince Ivan? Has he made any move from his end yet?" Lester asked cautiously.
"The prince seems to be in the palace at the moment. Our spies reported that the king is not doing too well, so he has been handling official work on his behalf."
Hearing this, Lester broke into a wicked laugh, "What good news you have brought me, Dunkin! Soon that arrogant vampire king will be brought to his knees, and tonight shall mark the beginning of his downfall!" He laughed again and then placed his heavy hand on Dunkin’s shoulder, "Why don’t we have a feast together before the main event, Dunkin?"
Dunkin pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose and replied with a smirk, "If you insist, Lord Viremont." They left to continue their dinner, as they eagerly awaited the main event tonight.
.....
On the outskirts of the city of Wilfort, stood a dark grey castle, its faint lights barely visible, making it seem like just another ancient castle that stood the test of time and now silently awaited its master. From the outside, the tall grey boundary walls revealed nothing, with barely any guards in sight; it appeared as though no important personnel were in there at the moment. But on the inside, in the dark corners, prowled those who thrived in shadows.
As silence hung heavily over the surroundings, deep within the castle, a spiral staircase led to the lowest level where the dungeon lay. Passing several chambers sealed with rusty iron grilles, the last cell held a beautiful, unconscious princess, currently unaware of the true danger she was surrounded by.
Four hours had passed since she had remained unconscious on the cold, dark floor of the dungeon. As she lay there, with her face half covered with hair, her arms stretched limply to her side. Her eyebrows furrowed as she stirred back to consciousness, she felt something crawling up her arm slowly.
When she finally opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the iron bars, with faint light passing through because of a lit sconce outside. As her vision adjusted, she saw dark walls surrounding her. ’Where am I?’ she wondered as she tried to remember what might have happened to lead her to this place.
As her eyes adjusted to her surroundings, she felt the sensation of something advancing on her arm. When she focused there, her eyes slowly widened in horror at the sight of a big, fat rat that was climbing up her outstretched arm. She let out a soft squeak as she yanked her arm, sending the rat scurrying away.
She was about to get up when she heard a harsh whisper cut through the silence, "What was that sound?"
"Hmm...maybe the princess is finally awake? The master told us to inform him once she is awake, let’s go check," another voice rasped.
