The Vampire King's Possession
Chapter 456. Jael’s Compliance

Chapter 456: 456. Jael’s Compliance

"I lost," he said with a bright smile. "It has been a long time since I was happy about losing. Thank you."

"You don’t have to thank me and it wasn’t a bet so you didn’t lose," Mauve said. She was still a bit stunned about his entrance.

"Technically it was a bet, because now that you won I have to do something you want."

"That’s not a bet," she said.

"I am pretty sure that’s how bets work, Mauve," Louis said while his face called her stupid.

"Yeah, but there were no repercussions on my end if I couldn’t convince Jael. I had nothing to lose. It’s not really a bet if the other party loses more."

"That’s a gamble which is still a bet and I had nothing to lose that I wasn’t already going to lose..."

"Would you drop it?" Mauve said. Louis was expectedly stubborn.

He gave her a blank stare and turned to Mill. "Hello Mill, I apologize for not saying my greetings earlier."

"Lord Louis, it’s no problem. I figured this was important," she said and took a step back.

Louis frowned a little before saying, "It really can’t be that hard to call me by my name. Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"I was asked to watch Mauve," she replied.

"Oh, since Louis is here. You can leave." Mauve suddenly said.

"What?" They both simultaneously said.

"I know Louis has nothing better to do," she said and didn’t miss Mill’s mouth falling slightly open. "And I know you are busy and the only reason you’re here is because you have to be. So, it’s fine, you can leave."

Mauve hoped it didn’t look like she was chasing Mill off because that was truly not the case. She was considerate about Mill but more importantly, she wanted to hear all the details from Louis and she doubted he would be able to speak freely with Mill here.

"What do you mean I have nothing better to do? Are you saying I am jobless?!" Louis scolded.

"Aren’t you?" She asked with a straight face even though she was on the verge of bursting into laughter. "Are you saying you have something better to do?"

"Well, no but being jobless is a stretch. I will let you know that my job in this castle is more important than anyone else."

"What’s your job then?" She asked without missing a beat.

"It’s important, that’s all you need to know."

Mauve rolled her eyes at him and then turned to Mill. "You can leave. You don’t have to worry about me."

Mill nodded looking a bit unsure but she didn’t argue. She just bowed to Louis and gave both of them a puzzled look before making her way out.

"You’re suddenly full of yourself," he said as soon as Mill left. "All you do is one task and all of a sudden I’m jobless."

"Well, don’t take it to heart. You’re here it certainly means there is nothing for you to do."

"Just because I came to thank you in person doesn’t mean I don’t have better things to do." He said.

"You shouldn’t have," her voice turned serious. "I didn’t do something so great."

"Look at you acting modest."

"I am modest," she said with a glare.

"Liar! Say something believable."

She glared at him. "Anyway, how did the conversation go? I can’t imagine it went well. Jael completely pretended he didn’t know what I was talking about when I asked."

"It was awkward," he said.

"I am sure," Mauve said, shaking her head.

"He said I could stay and when I said no..."

"Wait a minute, you said no? Did I hear that correctly?"

"Yeah but only because he said it like someone had a knife to his neck. I don’t want to be here if he doesn’t want me to be."

"So, to hell with all the work I put in, right?"

"Would you let me finish?"

"At least while you’re here it would be easier to work on the relationship or whatever is left between you two."

"Would you let me finish?" He repeated. "The first time we spoke you were more polite."

"Are you calling me rude?!" She gasped.

"As I was saying," he continued with a smile. "When I said no, he said he would cut off my limbs so I wouldn’t be able to leave."

"Huh?" Mauve said. "He threatened you."

Louis nodded, giving her a sad look, "Yes, he did. I was trying to be considerate and he didn’t care."

"That wasn’t our agreement," she responded. "It completely defeats the purpose if he threatens you like that. It means he has no plans to get along with you."

"Exactly why I wanted to leave. I do appreciate your help and frankly, if I had even the slightest faith that you would be able to convince him, I would have deterred you."

Mauve gave him a blank stare.

He looked away, "No offense but I am sure it was pretty obvious that I thought you wouldn’t be able to pull this. Which begs the question of how the hell did you do it?"

She smirked, "That’s for me to know and for you to find out." Suddenly, her tone turned serious as she said, "Come with me."

Louis gave her a puzzled look but he neither argued nor refused. "Okay," he said and gave her a mock bow, stretching his hand towards the door. "After you."

As Mauve walked down the stairs that led to Jael’s study, everything told her this was a bad idea. Jael has already done this much, there was no reason to push.

However even though she knew it was best to let time take care of the rest, she couldn’t let it be. She knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in," his gruff voice said. Mauve winced, why did he already sound angry?

"It is most likely because he can sense I am here," Louis said.

She turned to him with a puzzled expression. "Did I say that out loud?"

"Nope, but I saw the way you jumped."

"Oh," she replied and turned her attention to the door.

She pushed it open and walked in, noticing that Louis didn’t immediately follow behind her. She looked ahead and saw Jael sitting by his desk. Erick sat across him and from the look on Erick’s face, he didn’t appreciate the interruption.

"Mauve," Jael said stiffly as his eyes moved from her and rested on Louis.

"Sire," Louis said with a bow.

"Lord Louis," Erick called out. He didn’t acknowledge Mauve’s presence nor did he look in her direction.

"What are you doing here?" Jael said, not hiding his displeasure. His expression quickly changed when he saw Mauve’s eyes on him.

"Mauve wanted to come see you and I figured it was only right that I made sure she got here safely."

"Jael," Mauve called, drawing his attention to her. She went around his desk and stood beside him.

He slowly turned his attention to her and Mauve watched his expression soften and she found herself smiling at him.

"What brings you here?" He asked.

"Louis said you threatened to cut his limbs off," Mauve said.

"Huh?" He turned to Louis. "You wuss! You told you her!" Jael looked absolutely horrified.

"She asked what happened," he said. Mauve could see he was hiding his amused expression.

"And you told her that..."

"Jael," Mauve called, interrupting him. "You promised you’d get along with him." Her tone turned serious.

"Yes," he said, looking away from her.

"You have no intention of doing that, do you? It defeats the purpose, Jael," she whispered.

Mauve closed the gap between them and climbed onto Jael’s legs. He readily accepted her and made sure she was comfortable. She rested her head on his chest and let out a satisfactory sigh.

"That’s not true. I gave my word."

"Yeah," she smiled brightly at him. "I am sure you’ll keep it," she let out a soft yawn.

"Are you tired? Want to take a nap?"

She shook her head. She wasn’t tired, it was probably because she was comfortable in his arms that she yawned.

Jael turned his attention to Louis and Mauve didn’t miss the glare. She thought he was going to say something about the whole situation and she could see Louis shuffled on his feet.

"There will be a meeting after the second meal. Erick, go with him and debrief him on the current situation. I suppose his input might be important."

Louis said a brow, he looked genuinely shocked.

"As you wish," Erick replied and stood to his feet.

"You’re dismissed," Jael said.

Mauve watched Louis bow slightly and followed Erick out of the study. She tore her face from the door and looked at Jael.

"Thank you," she whispered with bright eyes as she stared up at him.

Jael frowned and looked away from her. "Whatever."

She giggled and rested her head on his chest again.

"How’s your neck?" He suddenly asked.

Mauve nodded, "Good. I can barely feel any pain."

She jerked as his finger touched the spot on her neck.

He frowned, "I thought you said it wasn’t painful."

"It isn’t," she blushed. "I just wasn’t expecting you to touch my neck."

"Oh," Jael replied, raising one eyebrow. "That’s what you meant." His fingers continued to trace the outline of her neck.

"Jael," she cried, jerking her head up to look at him. He smiled at her and her gaze softened.

She turned away before he could see her smile. His entire desk was filled with letters and she could tell he had a lot of work to do.

"Am I not interrupting?" She asked.

"Absolutely not. I was already sick of working." He buried his face in her hair and wrapped his arms around her.

"But don’t you have to reply to all of them?" She asked, concerned.

"Yeah, but replying would only mean getting more letters. Besides, the situation hasn’t changed and they keep asking the same questions."

"I see. What about the meeting today?" She asked. "Is it about what happened yesterday?"

Jael groaned, "Are you only here to talk about work? I’d rather not have to think about it until after the second meal."

"Then what would you rather talk about?"

"You," he whispered.

"What about me?" She asked with what she hoped was a straight face but it was a bit hard not to smile at his response.

"Is there anything you’d like?"

Mauve blinked, she was a little taken aback by his question. "What do you mean?"

"You know, the fence is completed but you still can’t go around just yet. The fields need to be cleared amongst other things and if you like, you can decide how it would look."

Mauve jerked her head upwards as she looked at Jael. "You don’t mean that. Why would you let me decide something like that?"

He frowned as he looked down at her, "It’s your home too. It’s only proper that it should be you."

"Jael..."

"Of course, you won’t do it alone. I will get you all the help you need."

"But Jael..."

"No buts, I am sure you can handle it."

Mauve looked up at Jael with wide eyes. She didn’t think she was the best person for the job but at the same time the fact that Jael would even consider putting her in charge meant a lot to her and she wanted to do her best.

"I haven’t heard your answer, Mauve."

"I will do it," she whispered.

"Great," he said with excitement.

"Don’t be mad if you don’t like it."

"I doubt that’s possible. I am sure I’ll love anything you do."

She smiled, "Don’t say that until you actually see what I’ll do. When do I start?"

"Immediately. When you’ve decided on what you want done. I will make preparations. If you need help you can ask anyone. I am sure Danag or Mill will give you better insights."

"Alright," she replied, leaning back onto him.