Chapter 91: The Art Of Confession
Eve’s face burned like a cooked lobster, and she quickly averted her gaze and answered meekly, "No need."
Damien burst out in a deafening laughter, "I knew you guys wouldn’t disappoint me when it comes to entertainment."
Ivan shifted his piercing gaze to Damien and said, "Is she the same woman then?"
Damien settled down, his eyes sharpened, "Yes. The woman’s name is Kayla Michael. She is one of the women serving Drake Viremont, and we traced her tracks all the way to Raven Street, where she went to seek out a hideout belonging to some local goons. I am not sure how she managed to learn about their whereabouts, but that’s something we can ask her ourselves... in a civilised manner," he said cryptically and continued, "We are not certain whether she was aware that they were darkrots in vampire disguise, but it seems everything that the prisoners have confessed to is adding up. I’m certain she is the one behind this, along with that vermin."
"Why would she do this? Eve’s forehead creased as she just couldn’t fathom why she would be the target of such hatred from someone she didn’t even know. "I am certain that I’ve never interacted with her before, let alone have any conflicts."
Damien tilted his head, "From what I’ve gathered, she seems to be obsessed with Drake. And Drake, in turn, seems to have this unhealthy obsession with you...so. Call it twisted, but that’s where we are."
"What kind of logic is that?" Eve scowled at his explanation.
Damien just shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Scorned women can be very scary, Evelyn. Personally, I’d rather face an army of darkrots than deal with one."
He then looked at Ivan for his opinion. When Eve also turned to him, he finally spoke, "I don’t care what twisted logic she was operating on, but the fact remains that she tried to harm Eve...and the consequences would have been much worse if I hadn’t reached her in time."
"I agree," Damien chimed in and asked, "Now that we have confirmed that it is her, what do we do next?"
"Can’t we arrest her like we did Gabe?" asked Eve.
""We can, Evelyn. The crown prince has the authority to arrest anyone in his kingdom who breaks the law. Gabe is a vampire of this kingdom who confessed his crimes right away because he is a coward, so it was easier to persecute him. In the Drake Viremont case, he will be dealt with since his father has committed the highest level of treason, so none of that family will be spared. However, regarding the woman...she is from a human kingdom, a count’s family with their king’s backing. If we just arrest her without any concrete evidence, it won’t look right politically, and the chances of humans interfering would be higher."
Eve pursed her lips and asked, "So...what do we do then?"
"Confession," Ivan answered. "Since we know that she is involved in this, we don’t have the evidence apart from a couple of testimonies, which the humans can counter as us framing her. So we need to push her to confess to solidify our case."
"But why will she confess, knowing she might have a chance to get away like this?" Eve asked.
Damien smirked and replied, "It’s easier to break a human mind than you think, Evelyn." He cracked his knuckles in excitement, as if getting ready for what’s to come next.
Eve, however, misinterpreted his gesture, assuming he was ready to go beat Kayla up until she confessed. So she asked nervously, "You’re not planning to use violent means to make her confess, are you?" She gulped lightly as she eyed warily.
Ivan’s lips twitched slightly while Damien burst out laughing, leaving Evelyn to wonder what was so amusing about her question.
Still chuckling, Damien said reassuringly, "Don’t worry, Evelyn, I’m not going to beat her into confessing...even though it would be the fastest way," he added with a wicked smirk.
Eve’s brows creased further at his words, when Ivan finally decided to step in and save her from any more confusion Damien seemed to enjoy putting her through.
"There are other ways to break a human mind besides physical infliction, Eve," he informed her.
Her curiosity sparked again, "Really? How so?"
"There are ways," Ivan replied, "but we’ll need to plan them more carefully and quickly."
"Can I be involved in this plan?" Eve asked expectantly. When he went silent, she quickly added, "Please, I promise not to get in the way...and I don’t have anything to do here anyway."
"Oh, not to worry, Evelyn, Ivan has already got you covered in that area." Damien cut in with a bright grin
"What?" she asked in confusion
"I have brought all your books here, advanced assignments from professors approved under special permission. So you’ll have plenty to keep you occupied."
Her face fell in disappointment at the thought of more studying and of not being able to be a part of the plan. With a soft voice, she simply replied, "I see."
"Now, now don’t look so disappointed...I’m sure we can find a decent part for you to play in this mission." Damien said cheerfully.
Eve’s eyes brightened, "Really?"
Damien grinned, "Really."
Ivan frowned at the idea of Eve being involved with any of the perpetrators. "Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, shall we?" He gave Damien a pointed look for making promises that might not be possible.
Eve’s face fell again, and Damien could only sigh, "See what you did? She looks like a dried flower."
"And whose fault is that for making false promises to her?" Ivan shot back.
Damien only shook his head lightly, "Alright, we can discuss how to trap the rat later. I need to be somewhere, so if you’ll both excuse me." He stood up, giving them both a nod and walked out of the balcony.
Once he left, Eve sat silently with Ivan when a knock sounded at the door. Arthur stepped in with a stack of books in his hand when Ivan allowed him.
He bowed politely, "Your Highness, Lord Damien has sent these books for Her Highness. Where shall I place them?"
"You can place them on the table by the sofa , Arthur," Ivan said.
"Certainly," Arthur set the books down and returned, "Your Highness, His Majesty wishes to speak with you."
"Send a message that I will be there as soon as possible," Ivan replied, then paused before adding, "Also, prepare a dress for tonight’s dinner for Princess Evelyn."
"Right away, Your Highness," Arthur bowed and left.
Once they were left alone again, Ivan turned his gaze back to Eve, who was now staring at the horizon, watching some ships sail away while others returned home. A moment later, she felt a warm hand covering hers where it rested in her lap, and he asked softly, "Where are you lost?"
She turned to meet his molten red eyes, shining like two rubies under the morning sun, and her heart skipped a beat when she felt him brush his thumb gently over her hand. When Ivan saw her continuing to gaze at him, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "Is this your way of a silent protest?"
"Is it working?" she replied absentmindedly.
His lips curved ever so slightly, "Hm...I’d say you’d probably have to do more."
She caught the teasing glint in his eyes, and colour quickly rushed to her cheeks. Looking away, she murmured, "And just what am I supposed to do here alone when I am not even allowed to look around the palace?"
"I can take care of that." He rose from his seat and tugged her hand for her to rise gracefully as well, and guided her back inside the room. Once inside, he released her hand, walked over to where the books were placed and picked up a history book out of the lot and tilted his head slightly in her direction.
"I need you to finish ten Chapters of this, and then you can move to potion-making formulas and complete ten of the Chapters from there." His tone suddenly became more serious and spoke in a no-nonsense voice, leaving Eve gaping at him.
She quickly walked to him, picked up the potion-making book to take a look at the Chapters, before looking at him wide-eyed. "These Chapters are not even taught by the professors yet!" she exclaimed.
"So...do you want to wait and continue to be lost like others when in class, or do you want to be ahead of them?"
She opened her mouth to speak but he continued, "Since you will be missing some of the classes, you’d better not use that as an excuse to fall behind. Although you are mine, I’d still like my grades to be unaffected."
He stepped closer to her, narrowing his eyes at her, he added darkly, "If you do fall behind..." He lifted her chin lightly with the edge of the book and whispered, "..you’ll be punished...hard."
His voice carried dark promises that only jumbled up her thoughts, but she refused to be affected so easily, so she retorted, "And what about you? I don’t see you studying."
