The Vampire King's Possession
Chapter 358. Wildflowers and Memories

Chapter 358: 358. Wildflowers and Memories

Mauve could barely believe her eyes as they left the last town leading to the capital where the castle was located. In a few hours they would be at the castle.

She did want to get to the castle as early as possible as the journey was just tiring and she still hasn’t been able to get a proper night’s sleep.

However, she wasn’t sure she was ready to face whatever was waiting for her. She still wasn’t mentally prepared for it.

"Princess," Owen called, raiding up to her window.

She pulled from the back rest, leaning forward so she could see him out the window.

"Yes," she replied.

"We are getting closer to the field of wildflowers. I thought you’d like to know," he said with a goofy smile.

"Thank you," she replied, and looked toward the incoming scenery.

"Most of the flowers won’t be in bloom as they already bloom before now but there should be a couple. It would still be nice to look at."

It didn’t matter to her as long as it held some flowers that was more than enough. "I am sure," she replied.

He nodded at her, smiling sheepishly as he moved away from the carriage so he could ride property away from it.

She turned her gaze from Owen and looked ahead. She couldn’t see the flowers yet. She could only see the path and the sparsely brown trees. However this was very familiar and it called to a recent and earliest memory.

Mauve blinked, staring hard as she could slowly see the field come up in view. Mauve pushed her head out the window again.

She didn’t even have to say a word for Galath to notice her. As soon as she poked her head out, he rode closer to her.

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"No, no. I was just wondering if we can stop at the field, I want to get a closer look."

"Of course, it is only a few minutes past noon and we will get to the castle in less than two hours so you can take as much time as you need. However, the sun is high up in the sky, I won’t advise staying out for too long."

"I won’t take too long, I just want to touch some flowers." That wasn’t the only reason, the field called to a memory she couldn’t fully capture and she hoped the field might make it clearer.

"Alright," he said and rode faster, she assumed he wanted to give instructions to the coachman.

A couple minutes later the carriage came to a slow stop. Mauve stood to her feet, rushing out of the carriage before Galath could get down from his horse to help her.

"Princess," he cried in horror. "Be careful."

He stopped in front of her as she stood to her full height, having bent slightly from the jump.

"It wasn’t that high, Galath. I can get down from the carriage without any issues but thanks for your concern." She was already walking past him as she spoke.

Her attention was on the wildflowers. The path separated the flowers into two parts as it ran through the field of flowers.

Mauve picked a side without thinking and walked towards it, a memory brightening up as she walked closer.

"Mauve," a voice said but she could neither recognize the voice nor hear. She just felt someone calling to her.

"Don’t run," the voice said and she could see someone run after her. "We still have a long way to go and you can fall."

Mauve jerked slightly as she tripped and fell in her memory.

"I told you," the woman said, walking towards her. She peered down and picked her up as Mauve started to cry.

"Shh, don’t cry. I know you like the flowers but if you run suddenly, you’re bound to fall," she lightly pressed Mauve into her shoulders.

"I will carry you the rest of the way, now stop crying."

The woman ruffled her hair and for a second, Mauve could swear that she could see her face. It was clear but she could see a brunette with a smile that was similar to hers.

It was brief and the image was gone as quickly as it came but Mauve knew that was her mother. It was most likely her trip to the palace.

She remembered the journey being long and having to walk on her feet was exciting, however it became tiring as her mother was too sick to carry her for most of the journey.

"Princess," Galath said to her, he was a little closer than she had expected.

She jumped, a bit shocked.

"Sorry," he said. "If you touch the flowers, absentmindedly you could get stung. A father of flowers like this is a father spot for bees and insects alike. I just wanted to tell you to be careful. I didn’t mean to startle you."

"Nah, I shouldn’t have been so lost in thought. It’s just that there is something so familiar about this place. You could say it calls to me," she chuckled.

"I am not surprised. You must have seen it while you were leaving the castle for the first time," he replied.

She nodded, "You’re probably right."

She turned away from the flowers and started walking toward the path. Galath rushed after her.

"Are you returning to the carriage?" He asked as he caught up with her.

"Yeah, we can leave now."

"You can stare longer if you want," he called after.

"There is no need for that," she replied.

She has gotten all that she could possibly get from the flowers. She just wanted to get more of that nostalgic feeling from the flower but now she knew exactly why.

She got close enough to the carriage and before she could stretch out her hand to touch the doors to open the carriage, Galath beat her to it. Without wasting much time, he helped her into it.

""Thank you," she mumbled and took a seat.

He bowed to her and slowly lifted his head, making eye contact with her. His gaze was intense.

"We will be at the castle soon," he smiled.

"I can’t wait," she lied through her teeth. She could absolutely wait and as much as she wanted to stall, she knew it was best to get this over with.

He bowed again and stepped back so he could close the carriage doors. She watched him from the window walk to where his horses were grazing.

"Hiyah," she heard the coachman say as the horses started to move.

Galath easily got on his horse, he caught up to them and passed. She leaned against the headrest and just stared at nothing as she braced herself.

In less than two hours, she would be facing her father and his wife again. She felt tense. What was it going to be like? Would they welcome her with open hands or would they give hers the cold shoulder as usual.

About an hour left she heard Galath calling to her, she turned to her side and he was riding close to the window. "Is something wrong?" She asked with a soft frown.

"No, I just wanted to let you know I sent Owen ahead so we shouldn’t run into any delays in accessing the palace."

She nodded and withdrew. She appreciated the information dump but she didn’t want anything that would stress her more. She was already so stressed from them being so close to the palace.

Mauve felt the already tight knots in her stomach, tighten up some more as the castle gates appeared. She stiffened up immediately, sitting upright.

She instinctively adjusted her hair and hoped nothing was out of place. The huge gates looked even bigger as she sat in the carriage, poking her head out and looking up at it.

She didn’t have to look at the closed gates for too long because it was immediately thrown open with a loud trumpet.

She winced at the loud noise, that was quite the welcome. The carriage went on full speed as the gates opened, pulling her through the path. She jumped a little and the bump. She appreciated the urgency but they were already here.

She stared out the window, looking at the familiar view. As usual the compound was in great shape, she got to love the servants.

The bushes were trimmed, the lawn was cut and not one hair was out of place. Queen Lale would have the servant’s head.

The fountain poured and she winced at a memory of being scolded while playing with the fountain water.

The carriage stopped suddenly, pulling up in front of the castle. Mauve felt her heart drop to her stomach. She made no attempt to move until she heard Sir Galath move closer to the carriage.

He pulled open the door and helped her out. She stepped out wincing a little at the bright glare from the sun. She heard the sound of the doors opening and turned to see who was at the entrance.

"Mauve, my daughter."