Kissing Hellfire: Marry Me, Evil Lord
Chapter 195: Two Things to Protect

Chapter 195: Two Things to Protect

"You should take a walk around before you leave, young lady. The sunset is beautiful here."

Lauren smiled and nodded. She was about to walk away to look around so she would find the clue she was looking for, but the man said something.

"If you do not mind, will you give this to Luciana on my behalf?"

She gazed down at what was on his hand and her brows furrowed a little. It was a book with an old leather cover. The edges were thick and yellowish like parchment. Could it be that this book contained the clue she came for?

"I don’t mind," she said, reaching for the book. Its covering was a bit rough in her hand.

"Thank you," he smiled kindly.

"Thank-"

Before Lauren could finish, she froze in her spot when the man suddenly broke into pieces like a shattered glass before fading away.

Soon, everything in her surroundings started to collapse right before her eyes. It was like a world crumbling to its end.

In the middle of a shattering illusion, she sought a way to go out, but she could not find any doors. All that was left was the land of the meadow now, and the moment it crumbled, she felt herself falling into a deep abyss.

Holding the book with two hands against her chest, Lauren watched the last glimpse of light before darkness swallowed her whole.

* * *

Lauren opened her eyes to a familiar ceiling. After blinking twice, her view of the ceiling was replaced by a face that made her sigh in relief. She thought she died inside the portrait’s illusion because she remembered losing consciousness, but after seeing Alec’s face and their bedroom’s ceiling, she concluded that they were back in the castle.

"How are you feeling?" Alec asked worriedly.

He supported her as she sat up, and that was when she realized they were not alone in the room. At the foot of the bed, the royal physicians lined up, looking at her with relief on their faces as if their lives depended on whether she would wake up or not.

"I am fine. Nothing happened to me. I just passed out, I guess." She then glanced up at the royal physicians. "Thank you for checking on me. You may leave us."

As soon as they were left alone, Lauren told Alec, "Did you scare them? They look as if they were given a second life when they saw me awake."

He didn’t say anything about it and she was not surprised.

"What happened back in the ship? I tried so hard to open the door of the cabin but all my powers weren’t working, even my portal. Then it opened all of a sudden and I found you lying on the floor."

Lauren recalled everything that happened. From how she got inside the illusion, how she talked with the great priestess’ husband, and how the world in the illusion crumbled along with her consciousness.

"Remember the wedding portrait on the north wall of the cabin? It had an illusion and I got inside when I touched it. I saw the man in the portrait, the great priestess’ husband and he gave me..." she trailed off when she realized something. "The book! Where is it?"

"Here," Alec grabbed the book from the side table and gave it to her. She released a sigh of relief. She was afraid that she had lost it.

"Thank goodness!"

"Is it there in the book? The clue I mean," he said gently.

"I haven’t opened it yet so I am not sure, but why would the man in the illusion give this to me if it’s something irrelevant?"

"Understandable," he nodded. "The book is not part of the illusion since it didn’t disappear when you went back to the real world. It must contain important information. I tried to open it but it’s locked."

Lauren examined the book. It indeed had a strong clasp made of metal and was intricately designed with peculiar patterns and symbols. She failed to notice it when the man handed her the book, but now she could see its details clearly.

"The pages are made of thick parchment, so it must be more than centuries old," Alec said while she tried to unlock the clasp carefully, but no matter what she did, she could not pull the latch to release the clasp as if the two were connected as one and inseparable.

"Yes, I can see that, but..."

"Let’s set it aside first," he interrupted. "You have been sleeping for three hours. You missed lunch."

There was a knock and Matthias entered with a food tray. His wary eyes darted to Lauren first and when he saw she was wide awake now, his face lit up, delighted.

"It’s nice to see you are finally awake, Your Majesty," said Matthias after he put down the silver tray on the side table. It had a bowl of freshly cooked soup, a plate with sliced fruits, and a glass of water.

"Thank you, Matthias. I assume you did well while we were away."

The man chuckled softly. "Of course, I wouldn’t dare make a mistake."

Just in time for Matthias to open the door to leave, Edith arrived, but she only stood in the doorway.

"Lord Vincent is waiting for you in your office, King Alec."

"Why is that man here again?" Alec sounded annoyed.

"He said he is here for an urgent matter."

Lauren put her hand above Alec’s to get his attention.

"I am okay now. I’ll eat the soup. You can go ahead and meet Vincent. If he said it is an urgent matter, it must be something really urgent."

He held her hand that was above his, bringing it to his lips to kiss the back of it, his gray eyes dark yet tender.

"Take a rest after you eat. Don’t you dare leave the castle," he warned.

She smiled. "I wouldn’t. I have nothing to do outside." Then she turned to Edith who was about to excuse herself. "Can you please ask Julian to come over?"

"Yes, Queen Lauren."

Lauren could feel a big storm was about to come in Evardin—a bloody one. And she needed to secure the safety of her friends. So she decided to tell Julian to bring Vivian and Ethan to the castle. She had tasked some royal guards to watch Vivian’s place day and night, but she couldn’t help but worry. It wasn’t certain what else their enemies were capable of, so she couldn’t let her guard down.

Meanwhile, in the king’s office, Vincent stood by the window with a straight face. It was one of those rare moments when his lips weren’t stretched into a playful smile. He was dead serious, and Alec immediately noticed the ominous air around him when he arrived in the room.

"What is it?" Alec stopped by Vincent’s side, his stance slightly angled toward Vincent. He could tell the lord had not come at leisure and was here for something important.

"Dimitri asked me to come and warn you."

Alec’s face turned harder than Vincent’s.

"What did he see?"

Dimitri, the crown prince of Acheron, had clairvoyance included in his abilities. However, he was still learning and he couldn’t see the future clearly. He couldn’t see what he wanted to see and only had vague visions once in a while, but every time he did, it always happened.

"A bloodbath in the lunar eclipse," Vincent’s voice didn’t hold the slightest hint of playfulness. "He saw Evardin’s castle, so it could not be an incident in our kingdom. His vision was vague, but he was sure he saw a lot of dead people during the eclipse."

"It means the rebels would attack the on the night of lunar eclipse, and it is a full-blown attack this time."

"And it is three nights from now." Vincent looked at Alec as if he was wondering what his course of action would be. "It’s an internal conflict, so Acheron will not meddle."

It was against the law for a kingdom to meddle with another kingdom’s internal conflicts, no matter if they were allies. Only the Supreme House could extend help once they saw the problem was getting out of hand.

"I can help though," Vincent smirked, but it wasn’t the usual playful smirk he usually had.

Alec raised a brow. "I wouldn’t refuse any help, so you should think twice. Don’t blame me if you get killed."

Vincent chuckled as if what he heard was ridiculous.

"Come on! Do you seriously think I am that weak? I am still a royal and pureblooded vampire. Don’t underestimate me."

Alec looked out the window. Back when he was living alone, bloodshed and chaos never worried him. But it was different now that he had someone to protect. He had no doubts about his capability to protect Lauren, but he knew she wouldn’t like it if the kingdom she saved from her father’s hands would turn into a graveyard. So he decided he had two things to protect: the love of his life and their kingdom.