The Vampire King's Possession
Chapter 394. Can’t or Won’t

Chapter 394: 394. Can’t or Won’t

Mauve watched Maria take her dirty dishes away. To think that she has been stuck here since after lunch. It was like a bad joke. You would think there was at least one place where she was treated properly.

"Would that be all, Princess?" Maria asked.

Mauve winced at the title. "Yes," she managed to reply.

"Good night, Princess," the maid said as she walked to the door.

Mauve merely nodded her reply and was grateful when she heard the sound of the door closing—hearing Maria call her, that had felt as if the maid was mocking her.

Mauve looked out the window. It has been sunset for a while now. The vampires would be here any time soon. She had terrible news for them.

She looked to the door. Malcolm never returned, and now she was confident he wouldn’t. It has been more than five hours. She doubted it would take that long to come to an understanding.

She laughed out loud. She must have been crazy to have hope. To think that someone would come to her rescue. It was a bit sad, but she would have to figure this out herself.

"Is this a bad time?" Louis’ voice reached her ears.

Mauve jerked. The vampire had heard her laugh maniacally. Not that she cared. Things were already going south. She doubted this could make it worse.

"No, it is not," she said, turning her head to face him.

Louis frowned, "What’s wrong?" His voice turned serious.

"Nothing," she said. She had stopped crying hours ago, and she was sure there was no sign of it on her face.

"Don’t lie, Mauve. The salty smell of tears is everywhere, coupled with your depressed aura and maybe the maniac laugh. That’s more than enough indication that something is wrong."

Mauve looked away, "I supposed you could say something is wrong."

"I am listening," he said.

Mauve turned her head to look at Louis. He wore dark clothes as usual, and his hair looked wind-blown. It was apparent he had tried to fix the mess with his fingers. It didn’t help much. That was when she realized he was alone.

"Where is Danag?" She asked, straightening her back as she looked around, wondering if she was so out of it she had not noticed him.

"Don’t change the subject. Danag would be here soon enough. Tell me what’s going on."

She looked at him, her lips forming a thin line. "I can’t leave."

Louis blinked, a frown appearing on his face as he tried to process Mauve’s words. "Can’t or won’t?"

"Can’t. The king has forbidden me from leaving."

Louis looked at her with a bored expression. "How is that a problem?"

"I can’t leave."

"Can’t or won’t?" He repeated, spinning the chair by her dresser so he could sit on it and look at her. He sat down and crossed his legs.

"Can’t."

Louis rolled his eyes, "Mauve, I am in your room. Do you think my movements are limited to this? If you say the word, you will be outside the castle walls before you can blink. His words mean nothing to me. I only go by what you decide."

Louis turned his gaze to the window, and Mauve followed his gaze just in time to see Danag jump into her room. "Lord Louis," he said as he got into the room. "Next time, please give me a heads up before you leave."

Louis smiled, "Where is the fun in that? Besides, you made it here, didn’t you? That’s all that matters."

"Mauve," he said and gave her a little nod.

She smiled at him, "I did ask about you."

"Danag, do you think we would run into any issues getting Mauve out of this building?" Louis asked before Danag could reply.

Danag tore his gaze from Mauve to look at Louis. "Is this a trick question?"

Louis chuckled, "No, Danag. Just answer the question."

"No, we won’t run into any issues." He looked from Mauve to Louis, his puzzlement apparent. "Did something happen?’

"Mauve said she won’t leave."

"Can’t Lord Louis..."

"Louis, Danag is obligated to call me by my title. You’re not. I’d prefer if you just called me Louis."

"Louis," she said, and he nodded approvingly. "As I was saying, I never said I won’t leave. I said I can’t leave."

"Why can’t you leave?" Danag asked.

"For some reason, the human King said she can’t," Louis replied before Mauve could say anything.

"Oh?" Danag looked confused. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"My words exactly."

"I understand that he is your father," Danag turned to Mauve as he started to speak. "But his words literally mean nothing to us. You are the only one who can stop us from taking you back."

"That’s what I have been trying to tell you," Louis said. "If it means having to break you out of here, we can do that pretty easily. So, what is it going to be? Are you leaving, or you won’t be leaving with us?"

"I..."" Mauve turned her head to the door as a knock cut out the rest of her words.

Before she could ask who was behind the door, she heard the click of the door unlocking. It was immediately thrown open, catching all of them off guard. Malcolm walked in and closed the door behind himself.

"If it isn’t the one who turned us away," Louis said.

Mauve wasn’t sure who looked more shocked between her and Malcolm. She had assumed the vampires would hide themselves at the intrusion, but neither Danag nor Louis moved from their spot.

"Vampires!" Malcolm said darkly. "What are you doing here? Mauve, are you okay?" He rushed to the bed.

She nodded her head, "I am fine. You didn’t even wait for me to tell you, you could come in."

"Sorry about that," he said awkwardly. "I thought you were asleep and didn’t have the patience to wait around for you to answer the door. That aside, why are you in a room with two vampires."

He glared at them looking from one of them to the other as he shielded her with his body.