Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 66: Are You Still Mad At Me?

Chapter 66: Are You Still Mad At Me?

Ivy, who was about to leave the Chevalier Palace for her kingdom, decided to bid her goodbyes to Ivan before returning to her home. She had run into Alistair in the corridor, and he had informed her about Ivan’s whereabouts, which, unsurprisingly, baffled her. It was unusual to hear he had gone to the royal library, but discarding the topic, she bid her goodbyes to Alistair before making her way to the heart of the magnificent Palace.

Tucked away in a secluded corner, lies the royal grand library, and when Ivy creaked the door open, stepping foot inside this enormous library, the towering bookshelves, made from rich, dark oak stretched towards the ceiling in front of her. The dark curtains had been spread apart, infiltrating sunlight into the vast opulence of the library.

She had almost forgotten how large the royal library appeared considering that it had been a long time since she stepped foot in here.

Amidst the rows of bookshelves, her brown eyes moved to a figure who was sitting on a beautifully carved desk. He was dressed in a dark regal attire, and the mere sight of him already made her heart miss a thousand beats. Each time they crossed paths, she was always tranced by his enigmatic appearance.

His pale skin contrasts with his raven-black hair, a few soft locks falling at both sides of his face, and his overall appearance was immaculate, befitting for a royal stature. The desk on which he sat was littered with parchments and books, but at the moment, he had a single book opened before him.

Wearing a pair of sleek, silver-rimmed glasses, she noticed him lean slightly forward, completely engrossed in the text before him that he failed to sense her presence. Those sophisticated glasses, perched upon the bridge of his nose, added an intellectual charm to his already captivating presence.

Suddenly approaching him after their last conversation made her feel unexplainably nervous. However, she found it utterly rude to leave without seeing him one more time, and so, she mustered up the courage to speak.

"When did the great Lord Ivan indulge himself in reading in the library? I assumed the study was your second favorite place in the Palace." Ivy tried to lighten up the atmosphere by speaking in the tone she normally used, whilst approaching the desk where he sat and announcing her elegant presence.

"I heard preferences vary over time." Came Ivan’s plain retort as he didn’t look away from the book. "You are not a library person yourself, so what brings you here by this time of the day?"

"I came to bid my greetings before I leave." She said, disclosing her departure, and only then did Ivan look up from the book to meet her eyes. Those alluring blue eyes staring unshakeably into her own was enough to make her pulse quicken, but she cleared her throat and offered an inquisitive smile.

"What are you reading?"

"A very boring book." His tone was laced with a hint of mundanity. "A certain little lamb says I lack humanity so I am trying to understand in an accurate sense what humanity at first entails." He closed the book, and the dejected look on his little Lamb’s face kept flashing repeatedly in his head. "Human emotions are quite complicated, difficult to understand." And more difficult to comprehend when it’s from a woman, he thought inwardly.

Maybe he’s reading the wrong book. There should be a book specifically focusing on women’s emotions, shouldn’t they?

"I beg your pardon? I’m sorry but I don’t follow." Ivy seemed at loss as her brows furrowed in bewilderment, but Ivan’s lips remained still, betraying no emotion, but there was a certain sparkle in his eyes that seemed to hint at the complicated emotions brewing inside of him.

He must be going mad.

"Didn’t you say you were leaving?" Switching the topic as he met her gaze, Ivy slowly nodded her head till he rose from his chair. "I shall escort you to your carriage."

"Please do not stress yourself, I am honored, and Princess Claire has chosen to escort me."

"Then I shall send a few guards to accompany you safely to your home, the path from EmptyHollow to your Kingdom is no longer safe."

"The witches?" Ivy inquired with her head tilted slightly. "Didn’t you send the dead body back to them as a message?"

"Yes." He affirmed. "But they are not to be underestimated, dead alive, old, young, they’re a pain in the ass. They may be silent for now, but I can’t take any risks with your Father."

"And who am I to object?"

"Don’t get me started with that tone, Lady V, come." And he led her out of the library, ignoring her flirtatious remark.

"Have you by chance run into Prince Nichole? He has been raging since yesterday."

"Is that so?" He hummed in boredom.

That afternoon, a royal court meeting was held in regards to the overdue emptiness of the throne. Certain decisions and ultimatums had been made by Abdiel since he would oversee the righteousness of the throne till the appointed King took over. Meanwhile, the elders of the royal council were starting to get impatient, and Ivan was being pressured the most.

When the cloud gradually darkened at night, Samantha sat on the cold floor at the corner of her bed. Since she had been locked in here as punishment, she had feared she would go hungry, but twice, Lucy had brought her food as a strict order from Lord Ivan.

"Lord Ivan has an uncontrollable temper, and it sends him literally insane when it reaches the peak." Lucy had told her when she came to give her some food, "but, he was good-looking."

Closing her eyes with remorse, Samantha could still recall the things she had said to him in anger, and the way he had retreated without hurting her or firing back, she didn’t want to feel bad about what she said to him, but right now she felt terrible, even worse if what she said turns out to be true.

She shouldn’t have gotten on his nerves like that, what if he never tells her the location because of what she said to him. That won’t be good for her, she needs to get on his good side if she ever wants to figure out the location of the establishment her brother was held in.

Will he come tonight?

At the mere thought of this, the door knob moved, clicking open, and Samantha immediately got up from where she sat when Ivan stepped into the room. Their gazes met, but Ivan was the first to look away as he took off his coat, hanging it on the nearby stand.

"Lord Ivan." She called his name before he could make an attempt to walk past her. "Are you still mad at me?" She asked meekly, lowering her gaze in front of him and looking like a frail little girl who was aware of her wrongdoings, but the man in front of her sighed to himself.

"I said something about how uttering the truth doesn’t make one heartless. Getting mad at you will be going against my principles. That isn’t why I punished you."

"It’s not?!" Samantha’s pupils widened as she met his crimson eyes, "then why did you lock me in?"

"To put you in your place," he corrected. "In no circumstances are you allowed to raise your voice at me. You should be grateful, you would have lost that tongue of yours if it were someone else."

"That means you were upset?"

"Of course I was upset, I don’t need to wear it on my face." He admitted, and Samantha immediately bowed her head in apology.

"I didn’t mean what I said, but... you were being cruel with your words and it set me off." She explained, "Can you let my one mistake pass just for today? I.... I won’t raise my voice at my master again, how dumb of me to even act in that manner."

"You are dumb." He heartlessly supported that motion, but Samantha flashed him a tight-lipped smile whilst cursing mentally

"What? Did you think I’d say otherwise?"

"Ah no, you speak the truth My Lord." Secretly gritting her teeth, her hands suddenly reached out to help him unbutton his shirt, and that innocent action had Ivan grabbing both her wrist with one hand.

"What do you think you’re doing?" His eyebrow arched questioningly at the little lamb who just realized that he had misunderstood her intention.

"Your wound." She quickly said, "I wanted to see if the wax turned out effective."

"I’m a vampire, the wounds gone." He told her before releasing his grip on her dainty wrists. "The wax was to clear off any visible scars."

"Oh." Smiling at her own foolishness, Samantha took a step back from Ivan. In order to get rid of the lingering awkwardness, she dared to ask. "Uhm... Prince Alistair is a vampire but.... The scars on his face are__ what.. What happened to him?"

"Alistair’s scars?" His eyes narrowed pessimistically. "Are you...."

"Isn’t that a wall gecko?"

"A wall what?" Startled at the mention of a wall gecko, Ivan impulsively backed away as he stood behind Samantha who pointed at the little reptile that was presently climbing the bedpost of his bed.

Noticing Ivan’s funny reaction at the mention of a wall gecko, Samantha, who snickered within, teasingly asked. "My Lord, are you afraid of a tiny wall gecko?"

"What?"

"It seems to me the Mighty Lord Ivan is scared of–"

"I am not." He retorted defensively, but his hesitation were still evident in his eyes. "It’s just..... an insignificant reptile. I don’t want it in my Chambers, how did it even get here? Did you put it there?"