Kissing Hellfire: Marry Me, Evil Lord
Chapter 170: Back in Evardin

Chapter 170: Back in Evardin

"I don’t intend to dishearten you, but I have to say this. Your illness is in its most crucial phase. A chain of ice is on your heart, the reason why you keep having severe chest pains. The more frequently it happens, the harder it clenches your heart. At this rate, you will have three months to live at most," Anthony said.

Three months. Lauren did not know if she should be happy or not. With what happened last night, she assumed a couple of months were too long, let alone three. Maybe it was because she expected the worst, so she wasn’t very disheartened by the bad news.

"But there is a way to make it a few years," Anthony added before Alec could threaten his life because he sensed his murderous words coming. Although he wasn’t sure if he should give the information or not, he still chose to say it. "That is, if you keep feeding on people’s energy."

"No, I cannot do that," Lauren was quick to say. She must admit, sucking people’s energy felt great every time she did it, but it always bothered afterwards. It was one the things troubling her at night. Even when she never harmed innocents and only killed bad people, it still didn’t sit well on her. She felt as if she was feeding the evil inside her.

"A few years? Are you fucking with me, Anthony? You have lived for centuries and you have nothing else up your sleeves?" Alec’s jaw clenched.

"I am knowledgeable, but you cannot expect me to know everything, King Alec, so forgive me if I have no solution to the problem."

"Don’t we really have any other options to prolong my life, Mr. Anthony? Perhaps any medicine—"

"How much energy does she need a week? Does she need to feed on people’s energy every day? How many people?" Alec’s train of questions made Lauren’s eyes widen. What was he planning? Hunt people for her to kill?

"What on earth are you trying to do, Alec? I won’t feed on people’s energy and kill lives so I can live!" Just looking at Alec’s cruel eyes, Lauren knew he wouldn’t hesitate to do it. But that was not the right thing to do. She may not always be upright and kind, but she couldn’t rely on that to prolong her life. If she only had three months to live, then she’d accept that.

"She needs to feed on someone’s energy once a week at least. Take note, I am not instigating you to do evil, but I am merely stating facts. The choice is always yours," said Anthony while looking at Lauren. He knew what kind of character Alec had. He was twisted, and he didn’t mind resorting to evil ways, but Anthony believed Lauren was different. She would think twice about it, so he didn’t mind telling them the truth.

"That’s all I can say for now. I will try to see if I can do something about it, perhaps I can search for more materials with information about the Capewell family and find something useful," Anthony’s words somehow calmed Lauren, but she was still worried about what Alec was thinking.

"Thank you, Mr. Anthony. Your help is very much appreciated." Lauren offered a polite smile.

"I expect you to do everything you can about this matter, Anthony," Alec said. His face was still grim, but he was calm when he spoke. "This is not a threat... I am asking you a favor. I’m sure a friend can do as much."

Lauren was surprised by what she heard. He acknowledged someone as a friend? And he even asked for a favor in a humble tone. Well, it wasn’t the first time she heard Alec asking for a favor since it had happened with Vincent, but it was different this time. He sounded unassertive like his usual self. He looked sullen and ready to comply with anything Anthony would demand, as long as Anthony was willing to do his part.

Anthony said he was going to rest and didn’t see them off. When they returned to the mansion, Lauren spoke first.

"If you are thinking of hunting people for me to kill, I am telling you as early as now that it’s not necessary. I am not going to steal someone’s life to extend mine, Alec."

Alec’s piercing eyes glared at her, his lips curving viciously. "If that’s what it takes to keep you alive, I am willing to serve the world to you on a silver platter, Lauren."

"But that is not what I want!"

"And you want to die, yes?" Alec’s jaw tightened. "You seriously believe I will let that happen?"

Lauren turned away and walked to the balcony. She was breathing heavily and she needed some fresh air. No matter what he was willing to do, she would never be convinced to live her life that way. She had enough nightmares about how she had sucked people’s lives away. She couldn’t sustain herself with other people’s energy. She wouldn’t stoop that low. She could end up dead, but that would be better than living like a sinister monster.

"I didn’t say we kill innocents, Lauren," Alec said behind her. "The council had many prisoners—people who had committed heinous crimes. You can feed on their energy. Those sentenced to death punishment, instead of putting them on the guillotine, we can punish them with your way."

Lauren shut her eyes and sighed before facing Alec. She glowered at him, finding his idea ridiculous. "And do you think I’d feel great about that? I am not a killing machine, Alec. I do not intend to use this cursed ability of mine to kill people, no matter if they are criminals or not!"

She could choose to do what was needed to prolong her life, even just for a few years, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Those several people she killed were not innocents, but she had been having nightmares about them. She was haunted by her own face every time she did it, by her own evilness, and by the dry corpses lying on her feet after devouring their energy.

Using darkness as a weapon was not for everyone. She had too much of it, and she couldn’t just live with it any longer. Her heart wasn’t made of stone. She felt guilty and bothered by what she was capable of. With each passing day, she feared that her dangerous powers might go out of control and hurt innocent people by accident.

"They are law offenders. Those people had killed, raped, violated, and harmed innocents. You can forget about guilt and conscience, Lauren. They deserve the worst possible death, so you don’t need to feel bad about it."

Lauren took a deep breath. "Look, I know you are worried about me and you just want me to live longer, but..." she shook her head. "I don’t want it that way. You should understand it is not easy on my part, Alec. Since the first time I killed a person with my dark powers, I have been having nightmares about it. Anthony had said he would try to find something that we could use to battle my condition."

She held his hand as she continued, "I am not giving up. I will fight, Alec. For myself... for us. We will figure this out together."

* * *

While having his lunch alone in the king’s office, Vincent almost choked when Alec and Lauren suddenly appeared in front of his table out of nowhere. He knew about Alec’s portal, but he did not expect them to return at this time or while he was having his cozy lunch. He sighed and took the napkin to wipe his lips.

"I see you are having a great time in my office," Alec said, to which Vincent replied with his usual smirk.

"Of course, I did have a great time. Evardin’s palace is so peaceful. How are you? Are you back for good or do you still have other places to visit?"

"No, we won’t be visiting other places. Thank you for doing us a favor, Vincent," Lauren said thoughtfully.

"Not a big deal," Vincent smiled. "Anyway, since the true king is back, there is no need for me to keep this face. You don’t have an idea how boring it was to pretend to be Alec. I need to stay grim always and speak so sternly. It was hard, but I enjoyed it as it was a challenging role."

After Vincent returned to his appearance, he stood in front of the mirror to say how much he missed his face. Seeing this, Lauren couldn’t help but chuckle. Vincent was such a crazy vampire. But she had to admit that he was a great help to them, which she didn’t expect.

Alec was about to ask a servant outside to call Matthias, but before he could, he heard Matthias’ voice.

"Your Majesty, Lady Amber from the Supreme House is here to seek an audience with you."