Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 96: Terrible Bodyguards

Chapter 96: Terrible Bodyguards

Carina couldn’t deny the fact that the servant’s unrelenting personality had piqued her interest, and with watchful eyes, it monitored the servant who picked up the knife with trembling hands, but the look on her face showed not a tinge of fear, only feebleness.

Samantha raised it up to her face as she studied the blade with a comprehending gaze, seriously pondering over something that didn’t seem to sit well with Carina. The sharp edges that glinted each time it caught the sun rays would make her heart skip in fear, but... this shouldn’t be any different than being pierced with a fang on her skin right?

Thought Samantha as she nervously swallowed, but then, her grip tightened against the hilt.

Stretching her hand forth and squeezing her eyes shut in dreadful anticipation, Samantha didn’t hesitate to slash her wrist since that was what the Queen wanted - some entertainment. Not a drop of her blood was given the chance to touch the porcelain cup, and since Samantha had closed her eyes shut in pain, they slowly fluttered open when she felt something soft around the wrist which she had slit, and to her biggest surprise, Ivan was crouching right in front of her, and he had tied her bleeding wrist with a handkerchief before a single drop could touch the cup.

"Lord Ivan?" Samantha’s eyes flew wide open at his unmistakable presence, but he wasn’t smiling when he raised his head to look at her.

Carina, whose plans were ruined right before her eyes, stood up in a frenzy. Her jaws clenched in silent fury and her eyes snapped at Ivan who was, to her disbelief, nursing the servant’s wounded wrist as he made sure he had tightened it enough to make the bleeding stop. Carina had another hidden motive for demanding for the servant’s blood, and she had the strangest feeling ever like she could sense a faint energy from the servant, it was very faint, and she always noticed it in a fleeting moment.

If she had tasted the servant’s blood today, she would be able to pick up on that energy and discover who this servant girl really was, but once again, Ivan was here to ruin her well-thought out plan.

"Stand up." He helped Samantha stand on her own two feet before turning around to look at Carina. The Queen was expecting her step-son to burst out in fury and lash at her like he had always done, she was expecting to see that unusual change in his irises again, his anger, but to her own apprehension, an austere smile curled his lips, and a look of malevolence danced in his pupils that hinted at his hidden lunatism.

"I think it is fair now." She heard him say as the scores between them had been settled. It sounded rather subtle, but the iciness was cold enough to send chills running down Carina’s spine, whilst her eyes narrowed into a dangerous slit as she suspected there was more meaning to that phrase of his.

"What did you—?"

"Mother!" Carina could hear her daughter screaming her name. The urgency in her daughter’s voice had Carina turning around quickly, but what she saw left the Queen frozen as her own daughter staggered into the garden - her eyes were filled to the brim with tears as she weakly dropped to the ground, sobbing to herself.

"Mother."

"Claire!" Reaching for her daughter who appeared to be crying as if she was in pain, Carina crouched in front of her, but before she could ask what had happened, her worried hazel eyes inadvertently noticed the bite mark on her daughter’s neck, and the color on her face drained. Whipping her head at Ivan who was unfazed by the sight, as if he couldn’t give a fuck if Claire died in this state, only made her blood boil in rage, and she snapped.

"You Monster! How dare you bite my daughter?!!"

"Hmm... aren’t you a little too quick to judge, Carina?" He smirked like a devil who was ready to bring destructive chaos as he approached where Mother and daughter remained seated. The fear that displayed in Claire’s eyes at his ominous approach had her hugging her Mother in trepidation.

"Get him away from me! He’ll kill me Mother! Don’t come close! Stay away from me!"

"Stay away from her!" Carina stood in front of her daughter, shielding her from the devil that approached her like a grim reaper, and Ivan, who noticed both their delightful panic, stopped in front of Carina who met his dark eyes.

"You will not lay another finger on my daughter! You’ve gone nuts! You’re insane! A monster!"

"A good one," Ivan corrected as a matter-of-fact, "a terrible monster would have left her broken, dead, and if I wanted to be that type of monster, I would drag her dead body to where my Mother’s ashes was buried and offer your daughter’s soul to her as peace offering, but I got considerate, I mean, she’s still my sister after all."

His voice dripped with mockery as he referred to Claire as his sister, and then the smile on his lips dropped cold, whilst he pointed a finger at Carina. "Never lay a hand on what is mine, cause I won’t hesitate to destroy yours. Take it as a warning, cause I won’t show the same mercy next time." After making it clear to Carina who didn’t have the nerve to fire another rebuttal, she could only keep quiet as Ivan went to hold the hand of the servant, taking her away and leaving the garden.

Alistair and Tobias, who sat on the roof watching the drama that happened below, wanted to give an applaud for such morning entertainment, but by doing so their presence would be discovered, and neither of them had the strength to face Carina.

"I knew Ivan was going to do something foolish, but why did I like it?" Tobias cocked his head slightly, wondering if he too was silently going insane without knowing it. Alistair played with the chains around his wrist, and his lips twitched when he watched Carina attend to Claire’s neck.

"We really could have stopped any of this from happening, you know?" He glanced at Tobias, "why did you stop me from intervening when you knew we could have stopped that human from hurting herself? Look at the beautiful chaos you’ve caused."

"Beautiful it is," Tobias hummed before exhaling softly, "but I did it because I wanted to know what Ivan would do. He likes that human girl, and his actions confirm my suspicion. Didn’t you see? He hurt Claire to get back at Carina cause we told him his precious servant had hurt herself at Carina’s orders. It was necessary that he sees her hurt so he’d believe us."

"We’re terrible bodyguards." Alistair concluded.

"Indeed we are." Tobias relaxed against the roof, placing his hands behind his head as if it were a pillow, but a slight smile curled his usually stiff lips.

Returning Samantha to his Chambers, Ivan made her sit on the bed. The white handkerchief was already half soaked, and he had to untie it in order to have a good look at her wound.

"I don’t know if I should call you dumb or stupid." He muttered, but the iciness in his gaze had been replaced with concern.

"I think we were both stupid." Samantha quietly uttered, and she noticed the way his eyes snapped at her upon using the word ’we’

"Hurting your sister was the best idea you could come up with?" Samantha questioned, and there was not a hint of pain on her face despite the fact she was still bleeding. "My Lord, I think you were more than fair."

"Do my ears deceive me? Why do I get a feeling you actually enjoyed seeing Claire in tears?" He asked at her rather chuffed countenance, looking pleasantly baffled.

"Didn’t you?" Samantha questioned back with knitted eyebrows, amusing the vampire Lord who returned his gaze to her blood that was almost about to drip. He brought her hand to his mouth so he could lick every stain of blood off her wrist, refusing to let a drop go to waste, and when he licked her wound with his coarse tongue, Samantha impulsively shivered from it, and she was starting to feel dizzy.

"Cover it so it doesn’t bleed further." Ivan gave the command, and Samantha did as she was told. Ivan rose to his full height and reached for one of his drawers. He brought out an Ash-colored paste that was kept in a palm-sized jar bottle and returned to his bed where his little lamb sat.

Opening the jar, he took a scoop with one hand and gestured for Samantha to show him the wound. When she did, he applied the paste around it, and he could hear her hiss out from the effect of the paste.

"Never feed off your blood to anyone else."

"I suspected I would have died the minute I refused. I may hate my life but I can still determine how I wish to leave it. However, I am pleased, for a moment I assumed The Queen had the upper hand, but after what you did, I think I made the right choice proving my loyalty to you in front of her, although her requests were quite tempting."

"Did cutting yourself do some kind of damage to your brain?" Ivan questioned after he used a white bandage to wrap her wrist. "Did she upset you that much? From what I’ve noticed, my little lamb only brings out her worst side when she’s offended, or am I missing something?"

"No, you are not. I was scared that I could feel my bones shaking, but I was offended too." Samantha honestly said before clicking her tongue. "When I took the knife, do you know what I thought of doing with it first?"

"Enlighten me."

"I was curious to know if the Queen could also recover from a heart stab like you." She met Ivan’s gaze, "but that would be considered a treason, so I decided to play victim and know what else the Queen might demand from me, but then you showed up and carried my sins for me...it reminded me of your promise."

"You are quite talented in playing a victim."

"How so?" She frowned.

"I wanted to cut off her head and bring it to you." Ivan uttered, as if he was still struggling to suppress the urge. "You should fear the effect you’re starting to have on me, I might burn the kingdom if someone touches you in that manner again, and I mean it."