Chapter 13 - Finding Out the Truth

Eloise’s POV



Once I was able to steady myself, the mysterious brown-haired man quickly let me go. I looked up at him and gave him a small smile. "Thank you so much for helping me."



“You're welcome, miss.” He smiled.



Wow. His eyes are such a beautiful, bright shade of turquoise when he smiles. I thought to myself.



I noticed that the man continued to stare at me and it was making me super uncomfortable. I couldn't get a read on what his intentions were but mostly, I just hated being stared at for so long. With a hurried goodbye, I linked my arm with Nora and walked away.



We walked out of the central market as we were expecting to meet Adrian. However, instead, it was Xavier.



Nora nodded at me and left us alone so she could go find Adrian.



“My Lord, what brings you here? I thought Adrian was going to be picking me up?"



“Plans with my mother went by faster than I anticipated, so I figured that since I had the time, I could come and get you myself." Xavier raised an inquisitive brow as he looked at me.



He took his finger and pointed at his ear, mirroring the side it would've been for me. "You seem to be missing something. What happened?"



I lifted my hand to my right ear and felt that my earring was gone. I shrugged my shoulders. “A lot of people were present at the central market today and I might've lost it with all of the people pushing and shoving me to get by.”



Xavier shrugged his shoulders and didn't press the matter anymore. It seemed like he was satisfied with the answer or didn't care anymore enough to ask more questions.



Regardless, he instructed me to retire for the evening and head back to the house since he had some extra business to attend to. I was more than happy to get back to the room and rest.



————



Xavier’s POV



Once Eloise was situated and comfortable in the room, I made haste for my study. On my table sat an unopened envelope that I got from Adrian earlier on in the day.



I sat down at my desk and tore it open. Inside contained a few documents. They were reports from a scout that I sent away to find Adam after we raided his castle and rescued Eloise.





My eyes followed the writing that looked like it was hastily written. Someone didn't want the information getting to me.



“Lord Xavier, The following papers document my findings on the whereabouts of the vampire prince, Adam. I do hope that this information serves you well in your plans to regain the throne.” I read out loud.



The papers went on to detail how the scout picked up Adam's scent outside of the castle and he went off to see where it led. My eyebrows shot up in shock when I read that the scent ended up leading back to Douglas's castle.



The scout continued to keep a close eye on Adam and to see what his intentions were. Based on the reports, it seemed like Douglas willingly accepted Adam into his territory. He even went as far as to feed him, address his wounds, and ensure he rested well.



That's when I knew something was wrong.



Vampires and werewolves have always been at odds since their conception. To mitigate any rising tensions and escalations of war between the two, the Goddess blessed the world with witches who were supposed to act as adjudicators—middlemen. They were the jury, judge, and sometimes, executioners.



A knock came at my door. I remained quiet in hopes that whoever was on the other side would leave me alone.



“My Lord,” a familiar voice called to me. “Is everything alright?”



I opened the door to see Adrian on the other side. Peeking my head outside to ensure that there was no one else with him, I pulled Adrian into the study.



I handed him the documents.



After a few minutes, Adrian's expression turned to shock. “Adam fled to Douglas's territory?”



“And was well taken care of.”



Adrian's eyebrows furrowed. “I don't understand. Why would Douglas aid Adam? Our kind has been at war with each other for so long. What could've changed?”



I took back the documents and crumpled them into a ball. “I don’t know but I do know something for certain. Not only were the witches too cowardly to oppose Douglas and deliver him a swift justice, but the vampires also had a hand in the assassination of my father.”



Adrian was too stunned to speak at the new revelation.



I continued. “You have new orders, Adrian: investigate Douglas's kingdom now. Gather as much information as you can on their interactions with one another and document anything you hear.”



Adrian bowed his head and immediately left the study.



I threw the letter into the fire. Whatever the cost, I was going to punish anyone and everyone who had a hand in my father's assassination. It didn't matter who was involved—I would ensure they all suffered the same way I did all these years.



————



Adam’s POV



I found myself seated at a table that wasn't my own. Aside from the same bland and tasteless food I had already eaten for the past week, the table itself was completely void of any decoration. How uncultured, I scolded.



After the whole fiasco at my castle, I found solace in Douglas's territory. it was the only place that Xavier wouldn't show his face at and for that I was grateful.



I sat idly by and picked at the food. Luckily, it was still severely undercooked and, for the most part, raw. At least the blood's still here.



Douglas sat across from me and he tried to make friendly conversation. “You know, I thought about sending a maid to your quarters to have her attend to your wounds. You vampires have quite the self-healing speed.”



“We do.”



I had no desire to hold a conversation with him. I already hated the alliance that we were forced to make.



Even more so, I was completely pissed with having lost almost all of my men and Eloise.



Anger began to set my heart on fire.



I wiped my mouth and stood up from the table as I left the dried-out hunk of meat on the plate. “Thank you for the meal.”



I didn’t want to be in his presence any longer than I needed to so I decided to just go back to my room so I could be left alone.



I just barely got out of the dining hall when I heard Douglas's badmouthing me to one of his servants on the table,



“I can't believe the nerve of that damned vampire prince. How dare he show his face around here. How is an illegitimate son of a lowly maid considered royalty anyway?”





I clenched my fists into balls as my nails dug into the palm of my hand. The nerve of that cursed werewolf king!



My sour mood only worsened when I retreated to my room. One of the maids that survived the attack sat in the corner of the room. I didn't even make eye contact with her. “If you have nothing to report, get out of my room and leave me alone.”



“Your Highness, I do have something to report.” she bowed. “There have been sightings and other reports of some abnormal magic usage. You won’t guess who it is.”



I looked up. “Out with it!”



“It's Eloise, Your Highness.”



Without another word, I grabbed the maid by my wrist and shoved her out into the hallway. I needed to be alone so I could think straight.



I stood in the middle of the room as I tried to calm down my breathing. In my mind, I thought about who destroyed my castle, who took my fiancée from me, and who was the source of all of my problems.



“Xavier, you have taken everything from me… Just you wait. I'm coming for you.”