She Belongs To The Devil

While Theodore was away, Adeline was panicking more and more. She was still in her workroom, pacing back and forth until her legs felt numb.

She was dying to know why her father had gone to Azriel's place. She felt as though her heart was beating in her mouth. She did not want her father to join hands with Azriel and do something to separate her from Theodore once again.

She did not have the energy left in her to go through the separation again. She thought that she would rather die and go to Hell to be with Theodore than to live and stay apart from him.

After about an hour, Adeline felt that neither her father nor Theodore were returning any time soon. So instead of pacing back and forth in her room, she thought of gathering some information related to Mihir and the vampires. She wanted to distract herself from the horrific thoughts that she was having.

So she called Bennett in her room and asked, "Bennett, how much do you know about the Kingdom of Mihir?"

Bennett readily answered, "I just know a few things. I know that Mihir has never been friendly with any of the Kingdoms of this continent. They never opened the trade with us, but the trade was never possible because of the geography anyway. I heard that they trade with Kingdoms overseas but I don't know for sure."

However, those were not the answers that Adeline was looking for. So she asked a more specific question again, "Do you know anything about the creatures called vampires?"

A frown appeared on Bennett's calm face. "Vampires? Aren't they the creatures found in folklore and bedtime stories?"

For the first time, Adeline found something that Bennett didn't have much knowledge about. She smiled. She did not want to send panic to everyone just yet.

So she simply said, "Yes, they are found in folklores. I was curious to know more about them. Can you help me find some manuscripts about them? You know, maybe about possible sightings of them or something like that."

Bennett was quick enough to notice that the Princess was keeping something from him. But he did not want to question her unless she was willing to share the information with him. "I think we have some manuscript that claims the supernatural creatures to be real. I will look for it and bring it to you."

"That would be great!" Adeline sat back on her chair, not intending to leave the workroom before reading more about the vampires.

After quite some time, Bennett returned back with old-looking manuscripts with him. "I found a few of them that mentions the word vampire. I hope that they will be helpful."

"Thank you, Bennett." Adeline looked outside her window. It was already getting dark so she ordered her assistant, "I think you should take a leave for today. Sorry for keeping you here until it is this late."

"You don't have to apologize to me, Your Highness. It is my duty to serve you. And I would rather help you with your work than to sit idly at home." Bennett smiled politely and gave a gentle bow.

After Bennett left the room, Adeline immediately turned the pages of the manuscript.

"Red eyes, cold body… I already know that much." She skimmed through the lines, trying to search for something that she didn't already know.

She wrinkled her brows while reading the next paragraph, "Vulnerable to sun… hmm… this is new." She then reflected back to her meeting with Reginald. "But that man looked perfectly fine in the broad daylight."

Adeline sighed and thought, "Maybe I should not believe everything that is written here." She tapped her fingers on the table and whispered, "Or maybe, I should confirm it with Theodore. He seems to know an awful lot about them."

She shuffled through the pages until her eyes fell on an interesting topic - 'Ways to kill the vampires'. Her eyes lit up when she found that topic.

"Yes, I need to know this," she whispered to herself, and then she kept on reading several bullet points, "Drive a wooden stake through their heart. Pull their heart out of their bodies. Separate their head from their bodies. Burn them in the sun."

After reading the last point, something suddenly dawned upon her. "Is it possible that the sun is really their enemy? Why do I feel like they are going to attack us during the night?"

She thought for a while and noted in her mind, "I should ask Edwin to find the precise time they will be attacking us. They can see even during the night so attacking at night shouldn't be any problem for them. That will be a problem for our soldiers though."

Adeline leaned back on her chair and sighed deeply. The more she learned about the vampires, the more she was feeling defeated before they even fought the war.

"I need to sort everything out before they can commence their 'sneak attack' or else Wyverndale will suffer."

She looked outside her window at the dark night. "It would have been great if humans could also see in the dark…" she pouted. She complained to God in her heart for making his superior creation, namely humans, so weak and vulnerable to so many creatures.

Adeline saw a cat's glowing yellow eyes as it passed by her window. "Even cats can see well than humans at night… and wolves… wait!"

She jumped up from her chair in delight. "Wait! Wait! Werewolves can also see in the dark and they are as strong as vampires. Oh my God! Why didn't I think of this sooner?"

And she suddenly came up with a plan, "I should go and visit Aberdeen. I need to ask for their help. Our soldiers will be massacred if I send them to fight those bloodsucking monsters. The werewolves should be able to fight on par with those monsters."

"But how do I ask for a favor when they think that their secret is very well-protected?" Adeline frowned and sighed, "I think I should talk with brother Nigel first. Maybe he can convince the alpha to fight for us."

Adeline walked towards the door while thinking, "Yes, I should visit Aberdeen soon. The vampires have already started preparing for the war. I should do the same."

As Adeline was about to open the door, Theodore suddenly appeared in front of her, startling her to her core. She inhaled sharply and whispered, "Theo! You scared me."

"I'm sorry," Theodore was smiling ear to ear. In the next moment, he picked up Adeline in his arms and kissed her passionately.

Adeline didn't know what was going on but she kissed him back with equal passion. The warm touch of his lips swept away all her worries and troubles in no time. She felt at peace.

After a while, Theodore pulled away from the kiss and looked into her ocean-deep eyes. Her eyes reflected the vast love that she had for him. He gave a soft smile to her and asked, "Adeline, do you want to hear the extremely good news?"

Adeline smiled and nodded her head. "You're asking me if I want to hear good news amidst all the bad news that I have been hearing lately? Of course. What is it?"

He pecked her soft lips again and gave her the good news, "Your father has agreed to have a meeting with me.. I will be coming to ask your hand in marriage in a few days."