A Game Of Chess With A Vampire
Chapter 366: Stop It!

Chapter 366: Stop It!

Avelina softly sighed.

At the counter in the middle of the kitchen, Draven sat her down. He interlocked his fingers, stretching his knuckles and his arms.

Avelina gazed at him with a tilted head, not sure what was about to happen. Out of curiosity, she asked, "Draven...what are you about to do?"

"Cook," Draven replied, half smiling at her.

"Ye?" Avelina was taken aback. "C-cook? You? Y-you?" She pointed at him, her eyes blown wide.

Draven wrinkled his forehead, looking at her with confusion-filled eyes. "What? You don’t think I can cook?"

"Absolutely not!" Avelina laughed in disbelief. "You don’t look anything like it. I mean...you’re a prince and I have never seen you done—"

Draven chortled, patting her head. "Because we are at the royal mansion. I really have no reason to do so. Hmm, I won’t say I am good at it, but I think I am a bit okay at it. And I don’t know how to do much. All I can do is what my mother used to like then."

"Oh...?" Avelina slowly nodded her head, pressing her palms against her thigh.

"This will take a while." Draven smiled, ruffling her hair.

Avelina gave a nod, adjusting herself properly on the counter. The clock ticked as time went by, and with great interest, Avelina watched Draven, who was in a white apron, work with a knife on an onion.

She smirked, commenting, "You are really good with knives."

"Mhm, I am. But I’ve cut my fingers sometimes, well, when I was little." Draven chuckled under his breath, sparing her a glance. He finished up, walking toward the counter to settle himself in between Avelina’s spread legs.

"We’ll be done in a few minutes."

Avelina triangularly looked at his face and subconsciously smiled. Draven’s eyes glistened with a barely noticeable spark, and he palmed her cheek with his left hand, leaning in to tenderly kiss her lips.

Avelina blinked rapidly, suddenly starting to feel her pupils water up. She choked on her saliva, breaking the kiss and shaking her head. "Draven...I think...I think the onion water got into my eyes."

"What?" Draven was confused.

"Did you wash your hands?" Avelina asked, having difficulty opening her eyes fully. Drops of tears were trickling down her cheeks.

Realizing what was going on, Draven’s lips parted softly, and he quickly glanced at his hands. "Oh shit!"

He quickly turned around, hurrying to the sink to thoroughly wash his hands. He returned to her, pulling his handkerchief from the pocket of his pants to wipe her face.

"Does it hurt?" He seemed genuinely concerned.

Avelina lifted her reddish face to look at him. "What do you mean? W-what do you mean? Of course, it stings." She was almost on the verge of sobbing.

Draven apologetically smiled at her, pulling her into his arms to warmly hug her. "I’m so sorry." He stroked her hair, resting his chin on her head.

—-

"He did it," Valentine said, turning around to look at Olive, who was seated on the couch with a cigar in between his fingers.

Olive blew a whiff of a cigar cloud and glanced at him, asking, "Did what?"

Valentine took a moment before responding, "Avelina, he turned her. She survived."

"Isn’t that great news?" Olive was confused. "Why do you look like something is wrong?"

"Because something is." Valentine sat down on the couch beside him, crossing his legs. "I know my brother did it in a state of desperation, but he did it without my father’s permission. It is a huge problem, and I don’t know what my father will possibly do if he finds out about this."

Olive hummed, raising his eyes to stare at the ceiling. "Then we will just keep it a secret. It is only you, I, and Don that know. No one has to find out, no?"

"What about your friends? What if they find out? Do you trust them?" Valentine looked at him, anticipating his response.

Olive shrugged. "I only take orders from Don, no one else. Even if they are my friends, I am not obligated to tell them everything. Unless Don tells them on his own accord, I won’t say a word."

"No wonder why he trusts you so much!" Valentine mused.

"Huh?" Olive was genuinely surprised by the statement.

Valentine nodded. "I read my brother a lot, and although he’s a tough one to read, I can tell he really trusts you more than the others. He wasn’t surprised to see you with me yesterday." He reached forward, grabbing the glass of cold water on the table.

Olive didn’t say a word but simply kept silent, a half-smile emerging from his face.

"Olive, how did you even meet my brother? Did you just agree to work for him?" Valentine swallowed the water in his mouth.

Olive took a moment but answered, "He saved me."

"Huh? Saved you?" Valentine was obviously skeptical.

"Yes." Olive chuckled softly, as though reminiscing in some sort of memory. "He kept me alive from those that nearly killed me, and in return, I gave him my full loyalty and the permission to use me as he wants. Even if I have to be a killing machine for him, I will never regret it, and I will not mind. It is the least I could do."

"That’s..." Valentine couldn’t exactly form his thoughts into a sentence. He tipped his head, wanting to get a better view of Olive’s face. "What about the others?"

"Pretty similar situations." Olive eyed him. "But I can’t exactly tell how it all went. I was the third person that he recruited."

Valentine nodded, pulling back. "I see." He put his hand over his nose, fanning his face to blow away the cloud of smoke breezing toward him. "Olive, you know I hate you smoking in front of me. I can’t stand it!"

Olive rolled his eyes, glaring at him. "This is my house, don’t tell me what to do."

Valentine scowled at him, instinctively grabbing the stick of cigarettes from him and dropping it into the ashtray. "Stop it!"