A Game Of Chess With A Vampire
Chapter 171: But She Was A Nice Woman

Chapter 171: But She Was A Nice Woman

As Santino opened the gate, Draven started the car and drove off onto the road.

"Draven, can you lower the window?" Avelina inquired with a soft smile on her face. If there was one thing she loved, it was having the window lowered when she was in a car. It makes it easier for her to view and admire things. Not only that, but she loved the wind.

Draven nodded at her.

Avelina stared at the window, waiting for it to be lowered, but a look of confusion emerged on her face when she felt the wind starting to blow against her hair.

"Huh?" She slowly looked up to see that the roof was gone.

The roof has disappeared... She blinked her eyes in thought.

Draven looked at her and gently caressed her fluttering hair, also pulling on her cheek in the process.

"You’re very beautiful." He averted his gaze to the road ahead of them.

Avelina was dormant. She batted her lashes, stunned and unable to utter a word. The compliment came out of the blue.

She sloped her head and looked away. The breeze whipped against her face, and she secretly smiled to herself, not minding her nose, which had turned deep red.

Upon arrival at their destination, Draven slowed down the car.

The bodyguard, clad in all black and completely covered, opened the gate.

He drove in and proceeded through the courtyard to park the car. He stepped down, and Avelina did as well.

The roof of the car closed itself, and he locked the car.

Avelina began to look around, her eyes sparkling. This place looked way more expensive than the royal mansion. Although the royal mansion was way bigger.

"What do you think?" Draven, who stood next to her, asked.

Avelina responded with a smile: "It screams wealth." Her comment had Draven cackling.

"Does anyone live here?" she probed. The lights were on, and there were bodyguards too, so she assumed there might be someone around.

Draven shook his head at her.

"No. I have never brought anyone here before."

"Huh?" Avelina tilted her head. "Then what about them?" She pointed at the guards.

"They take care of the villa. The maids are inside. While I may hardly come here, I hire these people to keep the house clean," Draven explained.

Avelina nodded her head, grasping a full understanding. "Oh...I see."

Draven gripped her hand and began to proceed into the villa. The double door was pushed open, and they stepped inside.

Avelina’s eyes sparkled, engulfed by the beauty of the interior. If the outside was beautiful, the interior was beyond gorgeous.

"Do you like it?" Draven inquired as he moved further into the mansion while pulling her along with him.

Avelina gave a quick nod. "I do. It’s very beautiful."

As though having noticed his presence, the maids in the house rushed down to the last floor and stood in perfect line in front of him.

"Good morning, Your Highness," they said in unison, shifting their attention to Avelina. "Good morning, my lady."

Avelina responded with a charming smile.

Draven interlocked his hand with hers and pulled her along with him toward a certain colorful door.

"Where are we going?" Avelina queried, curious.

Draven glanced at her as they approached the door.

"I want to show you something. Tell me what you think, okay?"

Avelin nodded. "Okay."

Draven grabbed the handle and opened the door. He stepped in first and pulled Avelina in.

Avelina flickered her eyes, and the second she glimpsed the interior, she went still in awe. It was...an art room.

There were large windows on each corner through which natural rays of light spilled onto the rows of easels, each supporting canvases in various stages of completion.

On the walls were a few canvases propped up on shelves. Tables strewn with brushes, palettes, and tubes of paint were situated at the center of the room.

The scent of paint hit Avelina’s nose, and she slowly blinked her eyes. She glanced at Draven, speechless. She never knew he could...paint. He had never mentioned anything about it to her.

Draven was gazing at her with a wide, anticipating smile on his lips. "What do you think?" he once again asked.

Avelina batted her lashes. She averted her gaze to the painting and approached one of them.

"This is beautiful..."

"That is my mother," Draven said, walking forward to stand next to her.

Avelina sighed in admiration. "She’s gorgeous." Then she glanced at Draven. "You look exactly like her. No wonder why you do not look like your father at all."

"What about this? This must be your son, right?" She shifted to the painting in the middle.

Draven nodded. "Yes."

"He’s cute, but he does not look like you. Although he seems to have your dimples when he smiles," Avelina commented.

Draven affirmed, "Indeed. He looks like his mother."

Moving on to the next painting, Avelina came to a halt. The painting was of Draven’s late wife.

She was not beaming in the painting but rather held no expression at all.

"She’s not smiling like the others," Avelina said, perplexed.

Draven was quiet for a moment before explaining, "She stopped smiling after she met me. I have never seen her smile, so I could not picture what her smile would be like."

Avelina looked at him with crumpled brows.

"W-why?"

"I do not know." Draven shook his head. "Perhaps she did not like me, nor liked being married to me. I probably ruined her life by marrying her, or maybe she loved someone before I came. I cannot tell because she never said anything to me or told me why."

Avelina became even more confused. "If it were this way, then why do you want to bring her back to life?"

Draven thought seriously for a moment. He answered, clarifying, "Because I want to give her back the life I took from her."

"I want to bring her back and then let her go so that she can find her happiness again and live well. I feel guilty for marrying her, even though I knew she would never be happy. It may have been a contract marriage, but I couldn’t protect her like I promised I would. But she was a nice woman."