SPELLBOUND

Several hours later.

When the door opened, Evie nearly burst out in a smile at the sight of Leon standing tall and stiff next to her father. But she immediately bit down on her lip instead because someone she did not expect came along with them. The crown prince was also here! What was he doing here?

Not forgetting to continue on with her acting, Evie was quick to greet the vampire prince. "Greetings to you, Your Highness." Evie addressed him with a small curtsey. She hoped in her heart that her actions showed enough respect mixed in with the slight fear that she supposedly had of vampires.

"I am really relieved that you are fine and well, My Lady," Caius smiled genially at her as he reached out and took her hand and was about to kiss it when Evie suddenly snatched her hand back. She was caught off guard at what the prince just did. Her eyes were wide and showed a slight alarm in them.

"T-thank you," she forced herself to smile. But deep within her, she was worried her reaction was a little bit too much. She cannot give them any hint to doubt her at all! Not even the slightest. "I… I am sorry, Your Highness. I… I… was just…" she pretended to stammer in fright, and started to cling on to her father, resuming her acting once again. "It seems I am used to reacting like this now every time a vampire tries to t-touch me –" she said, as her voice shook a little as if she was just remembering something awful that had happened to her.

Caius retracted his hand and straightened. But his expression that was sullen and slightly darkened suddenly lit up again upon hearing Evie's last line of explanation. It seemed as if her excuse and acting worked well enough to convince him of her reaction to his touch.

"It's quite alright, Lady Evielyn. It must have been such a traumatic experience for you. Don't worry, Gavriel can never touch you again." He said a confident voice. "We will make sure of that. Won't we, Lord Lucius?"

"Prince Caius is right, Evie. You don't need to be so afraid anymore. I'll never let anyone else hurt you any longer." Lucius consoled his daughter as he hugged her and patted her on her head as though she were still a little girl in need of comfort.

"I guess what you need the most right now is just time to forget about your traumatic experiences with Gavriel, Lady Evielyn." Caius said magnanimously as he stretched out his hand towards her again. However, this time he moved slower and did not encroach on her personal bubble, giving her the space to retreat if she wanted to. "I will help you forget about it. After all, we have already danced with each other back then in the capital, right? If you would permit it, take hold of my hand, My Lady. I will gladly help you get over your fear."

The smile on Caius' face made Evie's inside nearly churn. She had a bad feeling about this. What sneaky plans do you have up your sleeve, Caius?

Evie's grip on her father's arm subconsciously tightened as she stared warily at Caius' palm. What was she supposed to do with that offer? She absolutely did not want to touch that hand at all, but would this prince get angry and became suspicious if she adamantly refused?

"Crown prince, Caius, I appreciate your offer to help my daughter, but I do think it's still too soon for her to do this. I believe we must give Evie a little more time to adjust for now." Lucius said after Evie kept silent for quite a while. This caused Evie to sigh in relief in her head. Thank you so much, Father! You're truly the best!

"Oh, right. I might have been too excited in my wish to help." Caius relented as he nodded, and he finally retracted his hand again. However, his smile at Evie and his overly friendly gesture and gaze on her only further made Evie feel uncomfortable. She did not like the way he was looking at her. It just gave her a bad feeling.

"By the way, I was surprised that you wanted this person to be your guard, My Lady." The prince initiated a change of topic as he looked at the quiet Leon and Evie clearly saw how his gaze sharpened the moment he shifted his gaze from her. Was he doubting Leon?

Evie nodded. "I find that I'm not as scared of him as compared to the other vampires. Maybe because he's a half-human?"

"I see. That does make sense."

"Did… did the emperor agree to my request?" Evie asked her father in a timid manner and Lucius smiled widely.

"I told you, emperor Lorcan will not say 'no' to me." He said proudly, "So here is the guard you had wanted with us now. From now on, he'll be responsible for guarding you."

"Thank you, Father."

"Crown prince Caius also helped me convince the emperor. So, you should thank him too, my dear daughter."

Evie nearly let her smile fade but she somehow managed to widen her smile in gratitude as she looked over to Caius. "Thank you so much for your help too, Your Highness."

"Don't mention it, Lady Evielyn. All I wanted is to make you feel secure and safe now that we are here." He smiled and then he faced Leon with a strict face. "You must bear in mind all the things I have told you earlier, Leon. If something happens to Lady Evielyn, you will pay with your life, understood?" his voice was hard and broke no arguments.

Leon bowed. "I understand, Your Highness," he said and then Caius sent him to wait outside the door.

"Evie," Lucius held Evie's shoulders and looked straight into his daughter's eyes. "I am going to leave at daybreak."

"Why? Where are you heading and are you going to leave me?" Evie panicked.

"We will be going out to hunt Gavriel down, Lady Evielyn." Caius was the one who responded. "We will definitely kill him once we find him, so you don't have anything to worry about anymore. He will pay for what he did to this empire and the humans, especially to you."

"Yes, Evie." Lucius added. "So, you are going to stay here for now and wait patiently for my return. After I settle this, we will finally head back home. So just hang in there, okay?"