The Vampire King's Possession
Chapter 377. Malcolm’s Help

Chapter 377: 377. Malcolm’s Help

The first set of eyes her brain registered was that of her half-brother; unlike Malcolm, he had utterly avoided her the entirety of the month she had been here.

He would glare at her but nothing more. Mauve wasn’t complaining; most of her childhood had included several ways in which he had bullied her.

It was good he chose to ignore her now. This was certainly better than getting his attention. She walked closer to the table with Sir Galath by her side.

"Mauve," Malcolm’s loud voice echoed in the room. He was sitting next to his younger brother.

"Sit next to me," he said, tapping the empty seat on his other side.

Mauve smiled and nodded. She walked toward him, passing his back. She kept her gaze straight ahead, not wanting to look in the direction of a particular person.

Sir Galath walked ahead of her and pulled out her seat so she could slide into the gap, and then he pushed it closer for her to sit.

"Thank you," she whispered to him as she sat.

"My pleasure," he replied and went around to sit across from her.

By the looks of things, she was pretty early. Most of the knights weren’t here yet, nor were the king and queen.

"Mauve," Malcolm called to her.

She raised her head to look at him. "Yes," she replied.

"How have the horse riding lessons been going? I see you have made incredible progress."

"I wouldn’t say the progress has been incredible," she said.

"Now, don’t be modest, princess. I did tell you you learned pretty fast. You got the basics in less than a week, and the rest of the month has simply been practice, practice, practice." He turned to the crown Prince. "She is ready to go for a proper ride out of the castle."

"I would disagree," Mauve said adamantly.

Malcolm chuckled, "Well, if your teacher says you’re good enough. I guess it best to believe that you are."

"I guess you’re right," she smiled.

It felt a bit surreal, and though Mauve didn’t think she would be able to make this much progress, somehow she felt if she admitted, it would dissipate.

"What’s this I hear about you taking up bow and arrow?" He asked suddenly.

Mauve jerked, "That’s not true. I had simply seen Galath training, and I asked if I could try."

"And?" He asked.

"And?" She repeated.

"How did you do?"

"Terribly, of course, I have never held one in my life. The arrow didn’t even leave the bow. It literally just fell to the ground."

Mauve heard a slight snicker, and she looked up to see a weird look on her other brother’s face.

"I told her she needs time, and soon enough, she should be able to fire an arrow as well as I can."

"I don’t see any reason why she has to learn," Malcolm said.

Galath frowned slightly, "I don’t think it’s a bad skill."

"Skill?" Malcolm frowned. "I wouldn’t call learning how to use a bow and across a necessary skill."

Mauve frowned; she didn’t like the tension in the air for something she wasn’t interested in, but somehow she couldn’t help but be slightly pissed that Malcolm didn’t think she should learn how to use a bow and arrow.

She was about to comment when the door was thrown open, and her father and his wife walked it. The conversation died immediately, and the subject was forgotten.

Thankfully, the rest of the lunch went off without any other issues, and as soon as it was over, she fled the hall.

*******************************

"You wanted to see me?" Malcolm asked as he walked into her room.

Mauve frowned, looking up from where she was seated. She took note of the guards standing outside the door to her room. They must have accompanied him here.

"You didn’t have to come here. I could have gone to see you myself," she said and started to rise.

"No, remain seated. It’s no trouble; besides, it’s not every day you ask to see me. I suppose this is important."

"It is," she replied as she dropped back on the couch.

Malcolm walked toward her. She could see the curious expression on his face. She just wanted to ask for his help.

"Okay?" He said, stopping in front of her but not taking a seat. "What is this about?" He asked.

"Well, I wanted to ask for a favor. Would you have a seat, please? Having you tower over me is a bit unnerving."

"Sorry," he replied and sat next to her.

Mauve squinted her eyes but didn’t argue. She took a closer look at her half-brother. As always, the only resemblance they had was the hair. She looked completely different.

She wondered if it was because she looked more like her mother, but she wasn’t sure. However, she had to look like someone, and it certainly wasn’t her father.

The streaks of white in Malcolm’s hair were more than hers. His hair was shorter too, a bit wavy, and the whites in it glimmered in her bright room.

"Okay, tell me what this is about. Why would you like me to do for you?"

"Sure thing," she said and adjusted so her fame was facing him.

He was leaning against the couch, an arm across the headrest. That was when Mauve realized he was putting on riding clothes. Did he stop what he was doing to see her?

"I don’t think you’re aware," she started to say, but a servant accompanied me when I was showing to the Vampire Regions. Her name is Vae."

Malcolm frowned, his dark brows forming the letter v. "What has that got to do with anything?"

"Well, she returned about a month later. However, I haven’t been able to get in touch with her. According to the servants I asked, she had to care for her very sick mother."

"So, what would you like me to do?" Malcolm asked, his frown was still in place.

"I was hoping you could help me find her. No one knows exactly where she is, and I can’t reach her."

"It’s a servant you’re talking about, and like you said, she is taking care of her sick mother. I doubt she would appreciate the interruption."

Mauve blinked. She had not expected that response. True, Vae probably did have a lot on her hands, and things didn’t start to go south for the maid until she went with Mauve.

It wouldn’t be too far-fetched if Vae were resentful towards her, and now, simply because it suited her feelings, she wanted to reach out to the maid.

What would that do? She couldn’t treat her sick mother and certainly couldn’t get her engagement back. What was she trying to do? Why did she think this was a good idea?

"I suppose you’re right, but I haven’t seen her myself, and I just wanted to confirm her whereabouts. I was also hoping to help her..."

Mauve let the rest of her words drift, and she bent her head down, looking at her toes. If Maria was right about the kind of sickness Vae’s mother had, it meant there was no cure, and there was really no point trying anything as she would die either way.

Mauve closed her eyes at the thought of this. She had thought she would be such a great help, and Vae would be grateful to her, but she had simply let her emotions cloud her judgment.

"I can’t promise," Malcolm started to say. She lifted her head to look at him. "However, I will try my best. Do you have more information you could add?"

"Yeah, her engagement was called off, and she is an aunt. I think she has an older sister." Or was it brother? She couldn’t really remember.

Malcolm frowned, "That’s not very useful information, Mauve. What’s her last name?"

Mauve blinked, "I don’t know."

Malcolm sighed, "Do you have any way of finding out more information about her?"

She did, but now that she thought about it, she didn’t see how going into Vae’s life would help her case. She would likely just complicate the situation.

"Yes," she whispered.

"Well, get me more information, and I will put guards on it. How does that work for you?" He asked with a smile.

She nodded. "That’s fine, thank you."

He stood to his feet and adjusted his belt. "If there is anything else you need, don’t hesitate to let me know."

She nodded and stood to her feet. "I won’t."

"Don’t look so down. I’ll find your maid, okay?"

Mauve nodded, but she wasn’t so sure about that anymore. Vae probably wanted to deal with her mother’s incoming death with people who meant something to her, not a random makeshift princess she was forced to take care of.

"I will see you to the door," she whispered.

"There is no need for that. You look a bit drained. Get some rest."

Mauve nodded and watched him walk out of her room. She had not expected to feel this way after the conversation.