A Game Of Chess With A Vampire
Chapter 218: Did I Do Something To You?

Chapter 218: Did I Do Something To You?

"Oh, okay, yes, of course." Draven let go of her, putting her down to her feet.

Avelina awkwardly smiled at him, and took a few steps back, giving him a bit of distance.

Draven tipped his head to his right, confused. Why was she stepping away from him?

"Avelina, what are you doing?" he asked, curious and bewildered.

Avelina shook her head at him. "Nothing."

She smiled. "Would you mind always staying that distance away from me?"

"What?" Draven flickered his eyes. He was not sure if he heard her right. He was afraid he might be misunderstanding her, so he inquired, "Why? Did I do something to you?"

Of course, he doesn’t remember. That was how terrible vampires were with alcohol. Avelina softly exhaled and smiled at him while shaking her head.

"No, you didn’t. But...I have my reasons, so just do me this favor, okay?"

Draven gazed at her. It was obvious that he was in deep perplexity. "But what did I do wrong? You treat people like this when they do something wrong, don’t you? So that means I did something awful. But I don’t know what it is, so can you tell me? If you do not inform me, I cannot know." He shook his head at her.

Avelina pinched between her brows, exhausted. No one could understand how much it’d hurt to say that to him. It was not what she wanted, but she needed to get rid of those feelings. They would only put her in deep trouble.

"Draven..." She let out a soft breath. "You did not do anything wrong, I promise. I’m the problem, so please, just stay away. This much distance, only."

Draven frowned. If he was not the problem, then why? He wanted to ask more, to know and find out what the problem was, but realizing it was going to be the same response each time, he exhaled.

"Okay." That was all he said to her before turning around to leave the room. "I’ll be going to the hot spring. You can meet me at the pavilion when you are done." His tone was tinged with a bit of sadness.

Avelina nodded her head without even sparing him a glance. The second he shut the door, she took a deep breath, falling to the ground on her knees. She clutched her beating chest and shut her eyes to prevent herself from sobbing.

How unfair of me to hurt that man! The urge to disappear overwhelmed her, but she didn’t even get a chance to think because a knock came at the door.

"My lady, may we come in?" It was Thalia and Camilla.

Avelina glanced at the door and quickly stood up. She wiped off the small bubble of tears that had yet to break in her eyes and smiled.

"Yes."

Camilla opened the door and stepped in. Thalia followed in after her, and as soon as she shut the door, they dipped in curtsy.

"Good morning, my lady," they greeted.

"Good morning," Avelina responded.

Camilla and Thalia straightened up. "Shall we move to the bathroom?" Thalia asked.

Avelina nodded and followed them into the bathroom.

——

Seated in the hot spring with his wet, dark hair floating above the water, Draven exhaled. He removed the red strands of his hair that latched onto his face and fell beneath the water, holding his breath.

For some reason, he could not seem to get his mind off what had just happened. He was bothered by it like he had never been before. What did he do wrong? Or had he not done anything wrong, like she said?

If so, then why? Didn’t she like being close to him? Didn’t she like him being around her? Santino said she did, or was he wrong? Could he have possibly made a mistake and it was actually the opposite? Does she suddenly dislike him?

Unable to wrap his head around the problem, he moved up, pulling his head out and taking a long, deep breath.

He raised his eyes, fixing his gaze above the ceiling.

Maybe...just like everyone else, she suddenly no longer wants to be around me. Maybe I had done something wrong. Maybe she dislikes me now. Or maybe...I treated her wrongly. Could I have been better? Draven smiled softly to himself, his mind already concluding he was the problem.

...

Draven sat in the pavilion with his legs crossed. He was seated opposite Avelina, who was eating. She was not speaking to him like she usually would. She had not smiled either like she normally would as well.

She was behaving as though she was with a stranger. Was that what he was to her?

Draven parted his lips, wanting to say a word to her, but instantly dismissing the idea, he refrained from doing so.

He didn’t even touch his coffee, and this was enough to show how occupied his thoughts were.

Avelina, who could feel his intent gaze on her, halted eating. Her hand, which held onto her spoon, trembled, and she tightened her grip on it, unwilling to spare him a glance.

"Is there a problem?" she asked, her eyes fixed on the food she was eating. She did not like the way he was watching her. From the looks in his eyes, she could tell that he was blaming himself for something he had no idea about, and that alone was making her feel even more guilty than she felt earlier.

Draven shook his head. "No."

He averted his gaze, able to tell that she asked because he was staring intently at her.

He cleared his throat, saying, "I have understood what you said, and I would first like to apologize if I possibly did something wrong to you. I don’t know what it is, so all I can do is say sorry. I’ll give you the distance you want, but...we had a deal, so it would not be possible not to speak to you."

He stood up from his chair to leave, but he took a moment to say, "I have also realized that the reason why you were on the couch this morning was because you did not want to sleep beside me. That is okay, the issue has been resolved. You will be as comfortable as you want." He left the pavilion before Avelina could say a word.