The Royal Revenge
Chapter 48: Hungry

Chapter 48: Hungry

Elys had been noticing it for a while now – specifically last night – that Aleksander particularly getting too riled up when it involved the golden-haired knight.

Of course, she knew the prince hated almost everyone in his kingdom. But aside from the king and the nobles, his animosity towards Teo was definitely of some other level.

This was more prominent too if she happened to be in between the two, just as before they left the castle last night.

The corners of the princess’ mouth raised into a smirk. Teo might have been right after all – the prince seemed like a jealous possessive husband.

If this was a hundred percent true, then Elys might have found another part of the prince she could exploit for her plans in the future. She crossed her fingers behind her, hoping everything would go smoothly with their journey so things would fall together for her.

Elys followed his footsteps, discovering moments later that both of them now stood under the cool shade of a huge tree with a wide canopy.

The tree’s flowers were just at the peak of blossoming, clusters of yellow-orange and red flowers covering the canopy, leaving almost no room for the green leaves. A few greens would pop out here and there, but the flowers definitely ruled the tree.

A soft summer breeze blew and tugged at them, causing small whirls of petals rain down on Elys and Aleksander beautifully.

"Dancing flowers," Elys muttered under her breath.

On the other hand, Henry heaved as he spread out a thick picnic blanket. He also propped up a few pillows for his master to sit on comfortably.

Elys smiled at the old attendant, quite amazed he could still carry as much in his old age.

"Princess, would you like something to eat and drink?" Cordelia offered as she followed the couple with a basketful of pre-prepared snacks and refreshments.

She had stayed up all night to get everything ready for the long journey they had to make. The Western and Eastern Kingdom were practically at opposite ends of the continent, which meant they were bound to travel for several days on end.

Not to mention there would definitely be some bumps along the road aside from treacherous landscapes – thieves, ruffians, bandits to name a few. Ah, yes, wild animals and monsters too.

"Yes, I would appreciate some," the princess said, snapping Cordelia’s train of thoughts, "thank you, Cordelia."

The woman kneeled down beside the princess and gave her a warm smile. She set several selections of fruits, biscuits, and slices of ham and cheese, and Cordelia saw the princess’ eyes glitter in excitement.

She knew the princess loved such foods.

"We don’t have anything cold to pair these," Cordelia pointed out a bit glumly as she put a canister of fruit juice beside the food containers.

"The spring seems pretty cold, perhaps that would help with the heat," Elys suggested.

"Then I will go and fetch you some, princess," Cordelia excused herself.

Elys grabbed bits and pieces of snacks, popped them in her mouth and eventually was practically stuffing her mouth full. She didn’t even realize she had been famished. Perhaps it was due to the fact she fell asleep along the way.

Where were they now, anyway?

She hadn’t been able to see much of the road they took out of the Western Kingdom. She blamed the prince for that, shutting the curtains with his extreme aversion to the sun.

The princess called over Henry, and then asked, "What time is it already? And where exactly are we?"

The attendant dug out his watch from his breast pocket, "It is well past ten in the morning, your highness. As for our location, I believe we are at neutral territory near the mountains of Mir. I heard there are bandits around here, we must be wary."

Almost quarter of the day asleep?! No wonder Elys felt famished. This was what people might call as a late breakfast and early lunch then.

"Ah, I see," she said.

"Would there be anything else?" Henry asked.

"No, that would be all. Thank you," Elys replied.

Cordelia returned with a canister of cold spring water, and Elys happily accepted it. She patted her hands off a napkin, and then downed the water as if she was severely parched.

A few drops of water slipped through the corners of her mouth.

The liquid traveled from her lips to her jaw, slowly pulled by gravity to drip on her blouse. Elys didn’t even notice her dress getting wet, and she wiped her mouth feeling refreshed.

"That was great," she commented, patting her full stomach.

After she was forced to marry the bastard prince, food was one of the best things that ever happened to Elys.

Aside from her hunger for vengeance, perhaps her hunger for food was the only thing she looked forward to everyday as she stepped out of her room in the manor.

GROWL...

Elys’ ears perked. Was that the sound of her stomach growling? But that can’t be, she swore she was already full!

GROWL...

Elys stared at her belly. Another stomach growl, but now she was fully convinced it wasn’t hers at all. She turned to her right, and saw the irritated face of the prince staring at her coldly.

"How rude of a wife. You didn’t even offer me anything," he grunted.

"Oh..." the princess gasped. "Ah! Yes, yes, blood. Right."

Just like her, the prince must have felt famished too from the long hours of sleep. Elys recalled too late that he usually did feed at this time of the day when he overslept.

She pulled her sleeves up, and then without even thinking, held her wrist near the prince’s mouth.

Aleksander stiffened, his eyes steering from Elys’ face and then to her outstretched arm in front of him.

The scars of his previous feeds were nearly invisible.

But when one fed too frequently on the same area every single day, there was bound to be some visible scar that wouldn’t completely heal – even with the natural healing powers of vampire saliva.