Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 97: His Burning Hatred

Chapter 97: His Burning Hatred

Samantha stared at the dark Lord in confusion when he finally let go off her bandaged wrist. There was an unusual feeling she felt sinking at the pit of her stomach when he uttered those words to her, and although it had caught her by surprise, it frightened her too when he said he meant it.

Should she be worried about herself or the people that will try to harm her in the coming future? She didn’t know. He was leaving her brain jumbled and she hated it each time he disoriented her mindset like this.

Averting her gaze from his intense stare, Samantha looked at her wrist that had been neatly bandaged before returning her gaze to Ivan who had stood up and was about to leave the room.

"Where are you going?" Standing up from his bed, Samantha questioned Ivan who had reached for the door before coming to a halt. A tiny smirk graced his lips as he turned around to look at his little lamb whose eyes held visible curiosity.

"Do you want me to stay?"

"It is important I know my Lord’s movement." Samantha retorted politely with a gentle smile, and he clicked his tongue before returning to where his little lamb stood. Due to their height difference, Samantha was forced to tilt her head up in order to meet his eyes, but what she didn’t expect was for the vampire Lord to tenderly cup one side of her cheek with his palm, his fingers brushing against them lightly till he tucked away some strands she hadn’t noticed had loosened from her hair bun, and while he kept staring at her intensely, he leaned down as though he wanted to kiss her, making Samantha’s heart go rampant, but when her breath impulsively hitched at his action, his lips moved to her ear instead.

"I’m going hunting." He whispered, a smile she could not see adorning his lips at her flustered reaction.

"Hunting?" Samantha breathed out. She turned her head slightly so she could look at him, and he pulled back to meet her confused stare. "It cannot be the hunting ground so what type of hunting are you embarking on?" She asked, naturally taking a step back since he had stepped into her breathing space. She had been silly enough to assume he wanted to kiss her, she wondered why her mind even spiralled in that direction, but then, he always does this to her.

"It’s a human hunt, little lamb, and it is not something I can explain in a few minutes." Lord Ivan simply asserted, still taking note of the pink hue on her cheek. "But it is connected to the Queen Mother’s death. I will be back in the evening, the guards are unfortunately unlucky in hunting a few folks, so I must do this myself or I might not gain the opportunity for a next time. In the meantime, stay out of trouble, I’ll leave Herbert with you just incase, and if anyone requests for your blood while I’m away, tell them you have a Lord with psychotic problems and an irritating temper, am I clear?"

"As My Lord so wishes." Samantha bowed her head in affirmation, and for a second, Ivan had to rethink her acknowledgement before frowning at her approval. "Do you believe I have a psychotic problem?"

"Do have a good day, My Lord." Was all Samantha could say in response before she turned away from Ivan. The vampire Lord who stood at the entrance, could feel his lips part by her incertitude to his question.

He would have stayed to deal with this woman for agreeing with him, but he knew he needed to hurry since he had to be present at the royal court by tonight. Closing the door, Samantha could breathe in peace upon knowing he had left, and now that she was given the time to ponder on Lord Ivan and his family, she very much understood why he said he got therapy sessions as a child.

After knowing him and the type of family he has to handle on a daily basis, it was only normal for him to behave like this, and strangely, she no longer holds that grudge with him concerning what happened to her Father - cause deep down, even though he acted ruthless, she knew their situation that night wasn’t entirely his fault.

—--

"A-Ah! It hurts!" Claire complained loudly when her Mother tried to touch the bite mark on her neck. "I can’t believe he did this to me, he bit me!" Claire was yet to recover from the slight trauma, and she could remember vividly how Ivan had barged into her room and grabbed her without any warning of the sort.

"Keep complaining and it won’t heal on time, If the suitor I found for you sees this when he comes, he won’t be pleased." Queen Carina uttered her discontent before eyeing the marks on her daughter’s pale neck.

Studying the bite, Carina came to the conclusion that it wasn’t just one bite, that mistake of a vampire had the devious intention of hurting Claire, and Carina’s fist clenched as she turned away from her daughter who was back to sobbing quietly. "This behavior, it shall not be ignored, the royal court must hear about this."

"And what will they do?" Ivan’s questioning voice had jolted Carina into turning around, and Claire, who heard his voice behind her, had gotten up from the gazebo to stand behind her Mother like a frightened rabbit.

Ivan took unhurried strides to the gazebo and came to stand in front of Carina who looked him hard.

"What are you doing here?"

"Do you want to pounce on me? I’m not here for either of you, I forgot something." Walking past Carina, Ivan reached for the bloodied knife that laid hidden behind the chair where Samantha sat, and Carina’s eyes widened at the fact she didn’t notice it was there.

Ivan picked it up, his eyes trailing the bloodied edge before wiping it clean with another handkerchief.

"You had her blood right in front of you, yet you didn’t notice." He let out a disappointed tsk, "I shouldn’t be surprised, you weren’t always renowned for your genius." Eyeing both Mother and daughter, he took the knife and walked away from the gazebo, exiting the garden, and one could see a dark storm hover above Carina’s head at his indirect insult.

—---

In the remote village, Caddel had paid a visit to Maurice who had regained consciousness. The young boy of nineteen was sitting upright on the bed while the elderly woman changed his bandages around his lower abdomen, but he showed no sign of pain as if his body had gone numb from the feeling.

His honeyed brown eyes appeared distant, and the elderly woman glanced at Caddel with worry before calling him to a corner and whispered. "He has been quiet since the moment he woke up, he won’t eat anything, and he refuses to take the medicines I made. He just sits there and stares blankly, I am worried about his health if he continues to ignore treatment."

Caddel, who listened to the elderly woman speak glanced at Maurice who was still recovering from his burns, and he nodded to the elderly woman, indicating he understood her worries before returning to Maurice who hadn’t glanced at him since he stepped foot in here. Taking the chair beside his bedside, Caddel sat facing the young boy who hadn’t snapped out of his depressing trance yet.

"Maurice." He called, trying to gain his attention, and when he still didn’t respond, Caddel proceeded to say. "You told me you were looking for your sister before you passed out, you gave me her description too, do you mind giving me the same description again?"

At the mention of his sister, Maurice blank gaze wavered slightly as he turned his head to look at Caddel who had saved him from dying. He has been unconscious for who knows how long, and in his unconscious state he couldn’t shove off the memories of what had happened that night in his home, that night when the vampire Lord came and destroyed everything his family had.

He separated her from his sister, his Father, and now, the only reason he has chosen to live was so he could get revenge on the man who has caused him this much pain, cause presently, he felt nothing except for the hatred that burned in his chest.

"Did you find my sister?" He asked Caddel since the man who had saved him had, unexpectedly brought up the discussion concerning his sister’s description, but Caddel leaned back against his seat as his eyes studied the boy who remained laid-back and rather phlegmatic about his inquiries.

"Why do you sound hopeless?"

"It is better to be hopeless, that way, I won’t have to feel the pain even if I hear she’s dead.

"Your sister isn’t dead, she’s in the hands of the vampire Lord."