A Game Of Chess With A Vampire
Chapter 284: What’s Different About It?

Chapter 284: What’s Different About It?

Santino, who saw Avelina hurry off, was confused, but he didn’t pursue her.

Avelina arrived outside the royal grounds and took a deep breath. Her heart had finally stopped beating rapidly, and her flustered facial skin was slowly reverting to its normal color.

She touched her chest and began to approach the bench close to the fountain with her gaze fixed on the concrete ground. With just about five steps in, she accidentally bumped into someone, her head hitting the masculine chest.

Quickly, Avelina stepped back and lifted her head to glimpse who it was. Her breath quickened at the sight of Lumian, whose empty hand was hanging. The book which he was holding onto and reading through, had fallen to the ground.

She blinked, quite startled. It was early in the morning, and by this time, they were usually asleep, so it was a surprise to bump into him.

"Um...sorry. I didn’t mean to—" Her words were yet to be completed when Lumian simply bent, picking up the book. He spared Avelina but only one glance before striding away to return inside the royal mansion.

Avelina stood, gazing at his disappearing figure. She had not exactly expected anything to happen, but she also didn’t expect him to simply pick up his book and leave. I mean, they were troublesome.

She deeply exhaled, her face crumpled in deep pondering.

"Avelina."

She jolted quickly at the sound of a familiar voice and hurriedly turned around to see Draven standing a few steps away from her with his hands hidden in his pocket.

She frantically blinked her eyes. "What are you doing out here?"

"I came to find you," Draven responded and began to stride towards her. "I wasn’t going to sleep if I didn’t find you. Did I make you uncomfortable?" he asked, grabbing hold of her hand.

Avelina did not respond. Her head was lowered as he pulled her away. She still could not get over what had happened in the bathroom. She felt...embarrassed.

Draven shut the door to the room. He let go of her hand and strolled over to the bed to sit down. He fixed his eyes on Avelina, who was unwilling to meet his gaze.

Avelina fiddled with her fingers and awkwardly cleared her throat. "I...am sorry. I didn’t mean to—"

"Sorry for what?" Draven tilted his head to his side.

Avelina furrowed her brows at him. "You know what I’m talking about." She looked away from him with puckered lips.

Draven could not help but slowly begin to smile. He was not kidding when he said she looked very pretty whenever she appeared annoyed.

"It’s not a big deal. You always see me shirtless anyway."

"This one was different!" Avelina glared at him, causing him to draw his head back, startled.

Draven stared at her for a few seconds. He suddenly stood up from the bed, approached her, and stood in front of her.

With a cocked brow, he asked, "What’s different about it?"

Avelina furiously fluttered her lashes. She gazed into his eyes, suddenly at a loss for words. She could hear her heart begin to beat rapidly with each passing second to his unwavering gaze.

What was different this time around?

Wasn’t the difference already clear? If seeing him like that could have her thinking and playing those images in her mind, how could he even ask the difference?

She wished right there that she could pour out her thoughts to him, but she could only inwardly think of them. She would never dare to say what was on her mind.

Draven suddenly lifted his hand, cupping her cheek. "Aveli—"

His touch, as shocking as an electric force, caused her to jolt instinctively, almost falling off her feet, if not for him quickly grabbing hold of her waist and pulling her right back up.

"Are you okay?" he asked, a bit concerned. He couldn’t have made her uncomfortable, had he?

Avelina’s eyes slowly fluttered, and she swallowed hard. She subconsciously nodded her head at him, unable to look away from him.

"I’m fine," she said.

Draven patted her head and gently wrapped his arms around her small figure, hugging her.

"Would you mind sleeping with me today? I know that you are mad at me, but I will definitely make up for it."

"Make up for...what?" Avelina was confused.

Draven replied, "You just have to wait." He smiled to himself.

Avelina crumpled her brows in curiosity, but, aware he wouldn’t tell her, she did not press any further.

—-

In the dimly lit office, Old Master Lenort sat with a set of boxes situated on his table. He had opened a few, looked through the gifts, and was about to open another one, but his attention, having been grabbed by a particular one, made him stop.

He frowned and took the medium-sized box. From the name written on top of it, he could immediately tell that it was from Draven.

Even though he had expected a gift from everyone, Draven was the only one he never expected something from. For some reason, he was feeling off about it. What was inside the box? A bomb? Weapon? What exactly could it be?

Old Master Lenort was reluctant to open the box, but aware that nothing much could be in it, he cleared his throat and reached for the lid with a cocked eyebrow. He opened the box, but contrary to his expectations...

POOF!!

A swarm of confetti came flying, falling all over him. This had him startled as he found himself at a standstill for ten seconds straight, trying to process what and why such a thing

"What is the meaning of this?" He deeply frowned, grabbing the box to look inside it.

There were three sets of framed pictures, each of them turned upside down. This had old master Lenort confused. What was the picture?

He grabbed one of them and turned it to see what photo it was, but at the sight of the person in the photo, his body went dormant, and he sat still, his eyes fixated on the photo.