Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 67: A Deal For A Deal

Chapter 67: A Deal For A Deal

Samantha had stopped for a moment to peer at the troubled Vampire Lord.

He was staring intently at the tiny reptile that remained habitually still on his bedpost, and all he needed to do was shoo it away with his presence. It wasn’t that difficult to drive away a miniscule reptile, but surprisingly, he seemed quite hesitant to approach the little thing. A man, not just an ordinary man but a vampire lord, who has set his foot in wars, battled a lot of creatures and wasn’t afraid of having a thousand blades pierce through his spine, was afraid of a harmless little reptile???

"Come to think of it, your room is actually pest free."

"Precisely!" He quipped at her inference, "Whiskers has been doing a good job assassinating my lowest formidable foes asides witches." Despite the waning sarcasm in his response, the discomfited look on his demeanor was yet to be erased.

"Remove it from my sight." She heard him say, and Samantha politely nodded at his order before quickly approaching his bedpost. Like the little reptile had sensed her presence untimely, it scurried off the moment she got too close to grabbing it, and when she tried again, it dropped to the ground and went underneath the bed.

"Oh?" Samantha, not willing to let it get away, also went on her knees and looked beneath the bed. "It’s not here." She murmured to herself in disappointment. If she doesn’t find that little reptile, she doubts Lord Ivan would let her get any appropriate sleep tonight.

"Where did it go?"

As the young maid tried to catch the elusive gecko that kept fleeting from her eyesight, she was unaware of Lord Ivan’s inner turmoil. While she was trying her best to find the little reptile to appease the Vampire Lord’s spirit, Ivan had reclined on a nearby chair, trying to regain his air of composure.

However, as Samantha bent over to peer beneath his bed, putting her in a rather inappropriate position, his eyes inadvertently trailed down to her figure. He felt a flush of discomfort, realizing where his gaze had lingered and quickly averted his eyes like he had looked at something that was detestably forbidden.

"Is she doing this on purpose?" He questioned no one in particular as his uneasy gaze refused to stay in one place. He knew he shouldn’t harbor such thoughts about his little lamb, but the transitory moment of discomfort lingered in the air, adding an undeniable layer of tension between them. Maybe he made the wrong decision by keeping her here with him, but if he assigns her to the Maid’s quarters, he wouldn’t be able to monitor her movements.

"The stress..." he sighed almost inaudibly.

Suddenly, Samantha’s hand darted forward, and he noticed a victorious smile gracing her lips as she exclaimed softly. "Gotcha!" Successfully grasping the little reptile, she scooped it in her hand and met the wavering gaze of Ivan, showing it to him.

"I got it!"

"Well done, I’d give you a treat but you’re not off punishment yet." He swatted his hand. "Now take it out of my chamber and throw it away. Wash your hands before you come back." He had said without bothering to look at her, and Samantha, who gazed at him puzzledly could sense something was amiss in his usual composed demeanor.

Was he having a headache?

Pursing her lips, she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but decided not to dwell on it and make unnecessary assumptions.

With the little gecko safely resting on her palm, Samantha stood gracefully, sparing one glance at Lord Ivan before taking her leave. Only when he heard the door close shut did his tense body relax.

Making her way down to the second corridor, most of the candles had been put out, and very few of them still burned with signs that they were about to die out soon. Walking barefooted, her footfalls were silent on the tiled floor, and the only thing heard were the whispers of the wind as they blew open the curtains.

Samantha didn’t think the Chevalier Palace would be more creepy at night, and the eerie atmosphere was starting to create goosebumps on her skin. Stopping by at one of the opened windows, Samantha carefully dropped the gecko on the outside window slit, and she stared out at the outside view of the Palace.

Taking a deep breath, Samantha closed the window and made her way to the Kitchen. Opening one of the barrels, she used the cup made from hard clay to fetch some water and rinsed her hands with it. When she was done, she turned around to leave when a figure suddenly towered in front of her, from nowhere, and her ghost nearly escaped her body as she made an attempt to scream, but a large hand covered her mouth, stopping her from making a sound.

When her terrified gaze settled on who it was, her eyes widened to see it was none other than Alistair.

"Human fears.... I can feel it so much it excites me!" Samantha could see his ears perk in delight at her sudden fright. When he sensed she wasn’t going to scream anymore, he let her be.

"Prince Alistair?" The tone of her voice was laced with unexpected surprise, but she was still nervous considering why he would sneak up on her like that, but not like she had the mind to question him.

His crimson eyes pierced through her green ones, and Samantha was able to get a good look at the scars on his ethereal face. The way they had crossed along his face, forming an X, she wondered if that ’X’ meant something, a punishment maybe? And observing the visible lines of the scars, they looked stitched like his face had been sewn together.

The pain must have been torturous.

"Eyes down." He ordered, and Samantha was immediately snapped out of her daze. Realizing she was looking at a royal straight in the face, a shiver ran down her spine and she immediately lowered her head in apology.

"Forgive me, I didn’t mean to–"

"Save it, it’s actually refreshing to have someone look at me in the face without feeling disgusted, but enough with that." A sinister smirk graced his lips as he began approaching the young maid.

"Why’s a human like yourself wandering in the Palace building at night? And one occupied with thirsty Vampires. Haven’t you heard evil crawls out at night when all is silent to devour the ignorant ones?" There was a malicious glint in his crimson eyes as he approached her, and Samantha could feel her heart race in fear as she understood to some extent what he meant by that malefic phrase.

Was he going to kill her??

"Please don’t hurt me." She begged in one breath, squeezing her eyes shut upon noticing his fangs that peeked out as his smile began to broaden. "Please don’t–"

"Let her be Alistair." The seemingly austere voice of Tobias made Alistair and Samantha whip their head to the entrance to see the second Vampire prince standing at the entrance. "If she dies from a heart attack then you’ll have Ivan to contend with."

"I wasn’t going to hurt her." Alistair admitted in a sorry-not-sorry tone. "I was only messing with her, she’s cute when frightened." And he reached his hand out to ruffle Samantha’s hair. "See? Cute."

Samantha flinched back when he reached out to ruffle her hair like she was some sort of pet. Tobias simply rolled his eyes and stepped foot into the Kitchen, he walked past the two of them and reached for a glass cup, wanting to fetch some water for himself, but Samantha insisted she’d do it for him.

Getting him a glass of water, Samantha candidly stepped back from the two Vampire brothers.

"Due to some depressing noun plight, I couldn’t get my answers from you." Tobias straightly began as he dropped the glass cup at the top of the covered barrel.

"Answers?" Inquired Samantha, and Tobias fixed his bored gaze on the young maid and tilted his head.

"Are you playing dumb or does the human memory sustain temporary losses? That is not a question I need you to answer." Tobias silenced Samantha whose mouth was already open to speak, but she closed her mouth dejectedly, finding his comment arrogantly rude.

"Let’s not beat around the bush shall we?" Alistair took over with the same spine-chilling smile spreading on his lips. "Remember our conversation at the hunting ground, I’m sure you had plenty of time to think thoroughly about our offer, so do you or do you not agree to our request?"

Samantha remained quiet as she heard them speak, and her heart refused to calm down no matter how hard she tried. Were they being serious this whole time? After what happened with the Queen Mother, she never assumed they were still hoping she’d consider their offer, and now that she was placed in a very tight spot, how will she sneak her way out of this one?

"I don’t like having my time wasted, a simple yes or no will be enough." Tobias had uttered exasperatedly, and Samantha suddenly got an idea. To Tobias and Alistair’s surprise, her eyes twinkled as she looked up to meet their gaze.

"I’ll do it, but.....in return, I have a request that only the both of you can fulfill."

"How smart?" Alistair mused, "so its a deal for a deal."