Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 160: This Is Not Normal

Chapter 160: This Is Not Normal

"Are you bleeding?" He asked for the second time, his troubled eyes clouding with concern as he met her own. At this point, Samantha could only gaze at him in startlement, but when her delicate hands reflexively clutched her lower abdomen like it would suppress the pain, she averted her gaze elsewhere, unable to meet his penetrating eyes. She had been hoping he wouldn’t sense it, she had tried hard to keep her cool when she walked in, but unfortunately, this month’s cramp was beginning to take a real toll than the previous ones she had silently tolerated. She had gone to see Lucy in the hopes that she had other remedies to share with her, but Lucy wasn’t in her chamber.

"I... it’s nothing.. it’s just.. cramps.. a monthly occurrence for women." She stammered on her words, her cheeks blushing profusely as she dared to meet his troubled eyes again. When it became obvious he wasn’t going to let the matter drop until she explained it in detail to him, especially when he gave her that ’don’t lie to me’ kind of look, Samantha subconsciously bit her lower lip as she stared down at her toes. "Actually it’s.... It’s nothing but I.... You don’t need to worry about anything as it is a discomfort that shall soon pass. I’m... I’m fine." She reassured him, another fake smile blossoming her face, but when she tried to walk past Ivan as she could not keep up with her pretense for too long, he stopped her from going anywhere, and when she looked at him questioningly, his gaze softened into genuine concern.

"Little Lamb, you’re bleeding and you expect me to not get worried? I am worried about you, your health, and I won’t stop worrying until you explain to me what’s going on." Samantha didn’t fail to catch the slight panic that contoured his expression, his troubled eyes now scanning her up and down as he grabbed her shoulders firmly. What made him more distressed was when her emerald green eyes glistened with tears, and he knew for a fact that what he perceived had to be his little lamb’s blood. He couldn’t mistake it.

"Talk to me. Are you hurt by any chance? Did something happen to you?"

Although Samantha was silently suffering from the pain that brought tears to eyes, it didn’t stop her from blinking in surprise at Ivan’s sudden outburst. Through the previous months, she had been doing a great job in hiding her scent whenever it got to that specific time of the month. She had done everything and even went to Lucy for some advice, but today, she was having one of those awful heavy flows that even Ivan was starting to detect. If she doesn’t do something soon about it, then every vampire in the Chevalier Palace would get a whiff of her blood, and then what? Becoming a temptation to the eyes of every vampire within the vicinity was an absolute NO! But how can she change if Ivan was standing in her way?

"Can I–"

"When did it start?" He cut her off before she could make up another excuse. He didn’t have much knowledge when it came to a woman’s monthly visitation, and he could only guess that that might be the case with his little lamb. It was normal for her to be wary of him, he was a vampire after all and scents like this were more tempting to his kind, but the difference presently was she was his precious little lamb, and hurting her in any way was something he’d do if humans no longer needed oxygen to breathe. He only wished she knew how much of himself he was willing to sacrifice just to keep her safe, and asides from that, he wanted her to involve him in everything that happened to her, even her monthly trials.

"I’m not going to harm you." He murmured his assurance, and the sincerity in his tone could not be missed. "It’s fine, you don’t have to say anything directly to me, but it’s obvious you’re in pain so you’re going to have to let me help you, even if you don’t want me to. Now come." Holding her hand firmly in his, Ivan led the perplexed woman to his bed, and when he gestured for her to lay down so she could rest comfortably, she shook her head politely and took a step back from him.

"I can.. go to my own bed." Samantha insisted, but to her astonishment, Ivan simply helped her get on his bed, whilst lifting her off her feet and gently making her sit on his bed. Samantha’s eyes widened at his act, and before she could say a word of protest, his eyes sliced through her own, rendering her speechless.

"Don’t pretend like my bed is anything new to you. Besides, it’s more comfortable to rest on. Now be a good little lamb and stay here." He instructed softly before heaving out a small sigh. His little lamb’s blood was gradually beginning to cloud his senses, but instead of feeling really tempted to bite her and get a taste of it, he was concerned about other vampires perceiving his little lamb’s blood. The scent of her blood was for him to perceive alone, no one else, and when his eyes drifted to her face that reflected her pain, he hated seeing her this way and immediately wanted to curse the heavens for making his little lamb suffer like this.

"Hey." He said softly, his hand caressing her hair as Samantha met his gaze. "What do you need help with? There has to be something we can do to stabilize the pain you’re feeling. Hmm?" He questioned, his voice dripping with genuine concern, and Samantha let out a sigh before shaking her head. She appreciated his effort to help but she had tried everything, but none of the remedies seemed to be working.

"It is a pain that will pass, I’m really fine." She answered with an appreciative smile. Ivan didn’t question her further on the matter and covered her properly with his duvet. When he exited the room, Samantha was finally able to reveal her agony as she turned the other way, and if there were words to describe what she was going through, it felt like a fat man was sitting on her lower abdomen.

Ivan made his way through the corridor, and when he reached the spiraling stairs, he ran into Lucy who was heading up with a fellow servant. They immediately lowered their heads in a deep bow, but Ivan dismissed the second maid so he could talk to Lucy privately. Finally alone, he asked.

"You’re a woman yourself, I need your assistance concerning something urgent." He requested as they went down the stairs together. "My little lamb is not feeling very well presently, she’s facing one of those monthly visits and I was hoping you could help her curb the pain." The genuine worry in his tone didn’t go unnoticed by Lucy who immediately understood what he was talking about. "She won’t say anything to me, she’s stubborn, so I’m relying on you now. Is there anything she can drink, or a herb she can take? Just anything that will ease her off the pain she’s feeling."

They stopped walking after reaching the end of the stairs, and he turned to look at Lucy who flashed him a reassuring smile. "You don’t have to worry about that at all, it’s a natural occurrence for most women and she’ll get better."

"No, I need her to get better now." He admitted before whispering, "what if she bleeds to death?! She’s losing blood so I need her to get better as soon as possible." He stated with finality, his demeanor revealing his concern, and as difficult as it was, Lucy tried not to laugh. She could see he was holding himself from panicking, and Lucy couldn’t help but wonder how her friend had succeeded in breaking the once cold Lord Ivan.

"There is something I can do to help her curb the pain, a herbal tea I just learnt."

"Then why are we standing here, let’s go."

"W-wait, you want to follow me to the kitchen?" Lucy couldn’t help but blink in disbelief when he nodded.

"Yes, I am, and I’m going to look into the ingredients myself. Hurry up." He snapped his fingers as he walked ahead, and Lucy watched the man who had never seen the colors of the kitchen, about to make his way there all for Sam??

"This is not normal." Lucy concluded before picking up her feet and hurrying up so she could catch up with His Majesty.