Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 71: Words Of Compassion

Chapter 71: Words Of Compassion

Later in the day when Ivan knew there would be no one to disturb his moment of quiescence, he decided to pay a visit to his Grandmother’s mausoleum, sensing the urge that he needed someone he could talk to, someone he could share half of his problem with to lessen the heaviness weighing down on his shoulders. The atmosphere that afternoon felt placid, and he didn’t bother to wear his royal fur coat before stepping out of the Palace through the main door.

Approaching the mausoleum, his crimson gaze lingered somberly on the imposing black iron gate that was intricately designed with delicate patterns of intertwining vines and bats, symbolizing both life and the eternal night that envelopes the Palace itself. When he creaked the gates open and quietly stepped in, he was led onto a path of weathered stones, leading him through a well-maintained courtyard with dark hued roses that magically bloomed year round, an everlasting gift from one of the mages to the Queen Mother.

Upon entering the place, he could feel the air was heavy with an almost palpable sense of history and reverence. Marble statues of past monarchs line the walls, each one a regal representation of their time on the throne. If he one day dies after becoming King, his statue will be carved and placed amongst the rest of the monarchs as well.

Ivan’s distant gaze studied the face of those who had ruled before his time, and after he got past his Father’s glorious statue, the part where his Mother’s statue was supposed to be honored was left empty, since it had been deemed that she indeed committed suicide, a disgraceful act for anyone of royalty to indulge in, but he refused to believe she was driven by depression into doing it.

He could still remember it vividly, that cold night when he couldn’t get any ounce of sleep and kept tossing in his bed, feeling undeniably restless. The mourning of his Father was still ongoing in the Palace, and since he battled with insomnia, he decided to check up on his Mother to see if she had fallen asleep, the death of his Father had affected her immensely, and he was concerned about her well-being which prompted him to pay her Chamber a visit that night.

"Mother?"

The way his blue eyes had widened, and how his skin turned pale at the appalling sight. The shivers that went through his spine when guards rushed into the room to get his Mother down from the ceiling where she hanged, with a rope tied around her neck and her eyes, empty of any form of life. When the test was made, it had been informed at the royal court that his Mother committed suicide, but he was the only one asides the Queen Mother who believed she didn’t.

The only problem was proof, and he had none.

Queen Carina, his step-Mother had called his Mother all sorts of derogatory names and destroyed her image in front of the royal court. With his Father gone, it gave her and her son’s the opportunity to downgrade his Mother in front of the court who rashly believed it, all because she was human and not a Vampire like the rest of them. If it wasn’t for his Grandmother who held a hegemon within the Palace, his Mother’s corpse would have been heartlessly fed to the dogs, and he wouldn’t have been able to do a thing about it.

Looking away from the empty space as he didn’t wish to dwell on the pain of his past, he continued on his steps till he made it to the heart of the mausoleum where his Grandmother’s sarcophagus laid, an opulent masterpiece crafted from black onyx and adorned with gleaming silver accents. Engraved on its surface were symbols of power, strength, and wisdom.

As he stood before the resting place of the revered Queen Mother, his typically impassive demeanor faltered, causing his lashes to flicker, and emotions surged within him as he dropped to the ground on his knees.

With a heavy sigh, he spoke softly, "Is it wrong for me to say I miss our constant disagreements?" He asked no one in particular before shaking his head at his own question. "I never listened to them but... now I wish... I wish you were here to say them to me again. The royal court members are starting to lose their patience with me, the crises in the Palace are piling up and I have to be in three places at once. The responsibility of leadership is pulling me down and I can no longer think straight! There’s too many, too many and while I am left to handle everything by myself, including finding the orb I am supposed to pick a wife and add more problems to my unsolved burdens? They don’t understand what it does to me, they’re only concerned about fulfilling the Palace rules and while I crumble within, they expect me to find peace in it."

His voice trembled as he whispered, betraying the vulnerability he seldom showed anyone. "I am lost in the turmoil that engulfs the Palace, and I have to make decisions without being idealistic about it. I have faced many battles, I have conquered many foes but now I face a battle within myself. I don’t know how to heal the wounds, it’s.... insurmountable."

As he poured out his heart, laying bare his fears and regrets, tears welled up in his immortal cold eyes, betraying the depth of his sorrows, but not once did he let them drop. "We had disagreements but you were always the beacon in my darkest hour. I’d come to you and you would make everything feel tolerable again, even if they weren’t supposed to feel that way, but without you, I feel adrift in an eternal night with no stars to guide me."

The mausoleum seemed to echo with the weight of his emotions, as if the spirits of last rulers and ancestors listened to the grief he had been withholding inside of him. In that sacred moment, Ivan looked up at his Grandmother’s sepulcher and found some measure of solace from it. He didn’t know why, but he felt a little bit better after coming here to unburden his soul, the place provided a semblance of peace amid his chaos, and he knew now what his Grandmother meant each time she said she was never leaving him.

She might not be here physically, but he could sense she was still with him. Though the challenges remained daunting, the knowledge that he still had his Grandmother’s love and guidance, even in spirit, gave him the strength to keep pushing and face the greater darkness that loomed ahead.

Bringing out the blood-stained parchment that whiskers had given him, his gaze lingered intently on the drawing of a young man that had been scrupulously sketched on it. According to the brief description Herbert had given him in the study room, Ivan’s gaze couldn’t help but find it similar to the drawing of the man on the parchment he was holding.

"A young hunter." He murmured to himself, knowing it was about time he put on his cold mask and visited the royal Fletcher in the dungeon.

Just as planned, Samantha waited for the two Vampire brothers at the colonnade, anxiously pacing back and forth as she checked the weather to see it was nearing noon. She wondered if they’d come or not, and if they did, would they bring the parchment like she had requested from them? She hoped so, because she doubts she’ll be able to spend another full week in the Palace and under the intense gaze of Lord Ivan.

"You’re here!" She uttered with glee upon sighting Prince Tobias coming from the opposite direction, and when he stood in front of her, Samantha immediately bowed her head in greetings.

"How have you been Prince Tobias?" She asked with a smile after he gave her the permission to look at him, and as usual, his demeanor remained unsmiling.

"How am I supposed to answer that if I may ask?" He tilted his slightly to the side, genuinely unaware of how he was supposed to respond to such a question. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone bothered to ask about his well-being, it made him feel strange.

"You could say fine." Samantha responded to his expression, and she found it cute when he appeared clueless for a second, and that cluelessness still lingered in his crimson eyes as he nodded.

"Fine." Switching topic, his hand reached down to check his trouser pocket, and to Samantha’s delight, he brought out a folded parchment from his trouser. "This is the list you requested for, I had to send a guard to get me the location of each slave establishment, and it’s all written here."

"Thank you!" Before Samantha could take it from his grip, he retreated his hand to stop her from doing so, and the smile on Samantha’s lips slowly dropped when she met his penetrative gaze.

"Are you doing ’your’ job?" He stressed the second to the last word in his question, and Samantha nodded her head before moving her ponytail hair to the other side of her neck and showing the visible bite mark to Tobias.

"See?"

"He marked you already?"

Samantha nodded at his question, taking note to the slight surprise in his tone. "I guess he liked it, cause he wanted to do the same thing this morning but got interrupted by Herbert. You have nothing to worry about, I’ll make sure he opens up to me but if it’s about forcing him to get married, then I cannot do that, even if I have the right. I can only open him up to women’s emotions so he can feel free to mingle with...uhm other women without ignoring them, and if he does so, he’ll be sure to find an interesting princess he can get married to in no time and live happily ever after. Like the ones in storybooks!"

"And you? What will happen to you?"

He asked her a question she wasn’t expecting to hear, and Samantha half-smiled before answering earnestly. "I do not wish anything bad for Lord Ivan, if possible then I hope he finds true happiness. I don’t know if I am right concerning what I’m about to say but he always carries an expression of someone who wants to disappear from the world, when all he really wants is to be found." She uttered softly with her smile wavering, feeling a strange emotion build up in her heart at the thought of Ivan being emotionally neglected, but she quickly discarded it aside.

"I am a servant, and there’s no way I can offer him that solace, so I am hoping he meets someone special who would make him see the true beauty in living, and that he’ll forget my existence."