“Yes, Your Highness,” Griffin replied. “I’m hungry, so I’ll have my meal first,” he added. Unlike the immortal vampires, Griffin could taste food and even eat it.
“Hmm.” Magnus went back to the room and shut the door from inside.
As he finally sat on the bed, he spotted Alora exiting the washroom while drying her face with the towel. As she moved it down, her eyes locked with Magnus’s.
“I feel exhausted now, but I’m hungry too,” Alora said. She looked at the table, where already a tray was rested. A bowl was placed above it and she checked what it was.
“Ahh, the berries!” Alora picked up the bowl and came to bed.
“Is Prince Magnus not hungry? I made him run so much,” Alora said as she began eating the berries.
“I am not. I had enough blood earlier,” Magnus answered.
Alora sat with her legs folded to one side, slowly eating berries. “Why doesn’t Prince Magnus try this once?” She offered a berry to him, moving it towards his mouth. “He might like the taste.”
Magnus opened his mouth slightly, and Alora moved her hand close, but withdrew it quickly, eating the berry herself while giggling.
Awestruck by his wife’s smile, Magnus was caught off guard when she repeated the gesture, teasingly denying him the taste of the berry. As she pushed it towards her lips, Magnus seized her wrist. In one swift motion, he drew her close and took a bite, his lips grazing against hers before pulling back.
Alora chewed the remaining half berry as a blush crept on her cheeks till her ears.
“It tastes blend,” Magnus remarked, causing Alora to look at him.
“These are sweet,” Alora said.
“Not for me,” Magnus replied.
“Oh. That’s sad,” she murmured. “What about the blood? Does it taste sweet?” She curiously inquired.
“It does,” Magnus replied.
“Hmm.” Alora realized why he didn’t wish her to turn into a Vampire this early. She would miss everything.
“Your Highness, do you want to taste my blood?” Alora suddenly asked him. “I know we have discussed it many times, but the Lunar Goddess said that I could control you. I mean… there is nothing wrong in trying. You don’t have to hold yourself then,” she asserted.
“I appreciate your willingness to let me drink from you. But I don’t want to,” Magnus again refused. “I still remember the last time I drank from you. I regretted it,” he stated.
Alora put the bowl down and held his hands as she moved closer to him. “Don’t regret it.”
“Don’t push me for it. If you fail to control me, I may end up…” He paused, not wanting to finish his words.
“Hmm.” Alora gently withdrew her hands from his and resumed eating the berries.
*****
“Mother, will you please stop telling me that I did wrong to Alora? Your dear elder daughter doesn’t care for me a bit. If she had, then she would not have left the capital to spend some time with Prince Magnus,” Venus got annoyed by the way her mother kept asking her to apologize to Alora once she returned.
“Venus, she and Prince Magnus told you the truth about Eugene. Yet, you didn’t seem to discuss it with me. Was it all fake when you told me that you always misunderstood Alora?” Rhea asked, looking into her daughter’s eyes.
“Alora never wanted me to be happy. That day, she wanted to break my marriage. She herself got married to a prince while I was wedded to a man who betrayed me. Today, I’m called a widow because of Alora. Mother, why did you never love me the way you love your first daughter?” Venus complained to her.
“You sound like a jealous person. A mother is never biased toward her kids. Stop blaming Alora for your own actions,” Rhea stated sternly.
“Then, should I be happy? From the very beginning, I always felt cursed because of Alora’s curse. No one ever wanted me. All happened because my elder sister is Alora. Please never preach about her in front of me,” Venus pleaded her mother and asked her to leave.
Before Rhea could further speak, her mother-in-law entered the room. “Don’t trouble Venus,” Madam Aubrey told her.
Rhea’s eyes brimmed with tears and she walked away.
“Grandma, why doesn’t Mother see me I’m hurt because of Alora?” Venus complained as she began weeping.
“Rhea has always been protected toward Alora. Don’t mind her. Your father is looking for new proposals for you. Given his rank-“
“Pardon me, Madam, but Sir Norman is removed from the Chancellor’s position,” a servant informed them with a fearful tone.
“What did you say?” Madam Aubrey quickly turned around.
“Madam…” The servant couldn’t gather the strength to say it again.
“I think Alora did this. She must have asked Magnus to do it,” Venus said with fury.
Alora was seated on the swing, looking at the twinkling stars in the sky. The cool night breeze blew past her face, cascading the tiny strands of her hair along with it.
The conversation with Stella made her realize that if she got such eyes, she also got a caring husband and companion because of them. She had now two big brothers and friends: Izaak and Alaric. While in Selvina she found a sister.
“I want to see what my mother looks like,” Alora murmured. “I wonder how she is living these days. They all must be blaming her again.” She had the desire to bring her mother out of that house, but it wasn’t possible.
“What have you been thinking?” Magnus’s voice fell into her ears as he entered the balcony with a candle stand in his hand. Placing it on the table before the swing, he arched his eyebrow at Alora.
“My mother isn’t treated well by them. I wondered if I could bring her with me later. It’s just a thought,” Alora stated, realizing what she suggested wasn’t a good idea.
“Your mother has to fight her own battle,” Magnus replied. “Bringing her to the residence later will not be the best solution,” he added. “Moreover, a married woman will never leave her home. You know this well.”
Alora hummed as she lowered her eyes for a brief moment. “I know. Is there any way they start respecting her? Mother did a lot for me. I feel as a daughter, I should at least make her life better,” she stated.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.