The Vampire King's Possession
Chapter 552. Sympathy

Chapter 552: 552. Sympathy

"You heard me," Marceline said. "Besides, there is no malice in my gaze, you just don’t like the fact that I am staring which is something you should be used to by now as I have said."

"I see," Mauve whispered.

"Don’t say that. I am truly surprised you’ve lasted this long. However, it doesn’t seem like you’re going anywhere any time soon."

Mauve tried to look at Marceline’s face, it was hard to tell if the vampire was disappointed by her tone.

"You make that sound like a bad thing," Mauve mumbled.

Lady Marceline gave her an unimpressed look. "Why should that bother you if that’s what I think?"

Mauve gave her a puzzled stare.

"Surely, you didn’t expect to be greeted with open arms. Saying otherwise will only prove my point on how naive you are. We are not supposed to like you but you make it harder for you to be tolerated."

Mauve frowned, "What does that mean?" She asked.

"You act like you’re seeking their approval and you shouldn’t. You should walk with your head high in front of all of them. Jael already shoves you everyone’s faces, you should be proud."

"I am proud of it," Mauve insisted.

"It doesn’t seem that way to me," Marceline replied. "They won’t like you and there is absolutely nothing you can do to change that but you can least stop them from treating you like a regular human."

"I don’t expect them to and I am fine with the way things are."

"For now," Marceline replied. "It will only get worse from here. Nobody took your presence seriously but your appearance at the party showed a couple of things."

"I don’t understand," Mauve replied.

Marceline sighed, "I suppose I should try to make this clearer for you. It’s only going to get worse from here. If you don’t have a strong backbone, you’ll break at the hands of the Lord. Sure, Jael would protect but there is only so much he can do. If you lack the mental fortitude you’ll break."

"Thank you for your advice," Mauve replied curtly.

She did see meaning in what Lady Marceline was saying but the vampire didn’t have to say it rudely.

She was Jael’s family and Mauve wanted to have some relationship with her but she wasn’t sure Lady Marceline felt the same.

Marceline frowned. "You don’t look like you would take it but I figured it was better to speak to you than Jael, his head is made of rocks."

"I appreciate you taking your time to tell me all that," Mauve replied.

"You’re so cautious it is hilarious. If you think I am being rude, you should tell me."

"I do think you’re being rude but I can’t say that, you’re Jael’s aunt."

Lady Marceline’s eyes softened and she laughed. "Only you think that but I do mean no harm."

"You don’t have an issue with me being human," she whispered.

"I don’t really care who my nephew chooses," Marceline replied and Mauve winced. "He is a handful and I have nothing but sympathy for you. It is pretty obvious you have strong feelings for him. It’s bad enough that you’re human. You not only have to deal with him but the Lords too and I can tell most, if not all find you distasteful."

"Do you?" Mauve asked.

"Does my opinion matter?" Marceline asked.

"Of course, it does," Mauve threw her words back at her.

"I wouldn’t say distasteful, what I feel for you is something closer to pity. You have so much ahead of you, I don’t think you’ll be able to handle it."

"You think I am weak," Mauve frowned.

"No, actually. I think you’re pretty strong. However, you aren’t confident about it enough and it shows. Vampires prey on weaknesses and darling, you have a lot of them."

"What would you have me do then?" Mauve asked with heavy eyes.

Marceline stood up and walked closer to Mauve, she touched her lightly on the cheeks. "Nothing," she replied. "Just don’t give off the look that you’ll be easy to break. I think you’re doing great but I fear it might not be enough. If this is what you’ve chosen then you should be prepared for anything."

Lady Marceline pulled her hand away and started for the door. "I should go back to my mate, he will soon notice my absence. I do hope you’ll take my words into consideration."

She was gone before Mauve could even come up with a reply, leaving nothing but cold air behind. Mauve grimaced as she hugged herself.

Half of Marceline’s words had been confusing. She thought she understood the core of it but at the same time, she didn’t.

She pressed the sides of her head with the heel of her palms. Vampires were hard to deal with. She wanted to get back to work but she knew her thoughts would be consumed with this.

After a few minutes, she pushed herself off her feet and walked to the door. She looked around and saw there wasn’t anybody around.

She frowned and went back in. She knew better than to wander but she didn’t want to cooped in with her thoughts.

She walked back to the desk and then to the window behind it. The curtains were drawn and Mauve poked her head out.

She looked down and she could vaguely make out the field. She wasn’t too high but there was no way she would fall off and not sustain terrible injuries.

She looked up to the sky and only a few stars were out. She figured it would most likely be like that for a few more days.

She heard the sound of the door unlocking and frowned, turning slightly to see who was coming in, Mauve braced herself. She doubted she could handle another encounter like Lady Marceline.

Mauve felt her face break into a smile when a familiar dark brown hair poked his face in.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Louis asked with a grin.

"Louis!" She cried.

"You look awfully happy to see me," he grinned and fully stepped into the study, closing the door behind him.

"No, I am not," she replied even though she was still smiling.

She walked away from the window and back to Jael’s seat. "Don’t you have to be in the meeting?" She asked.

"Meeting?" He asked with a frown. "Oh, it’s for Jael only. It’s just Lords that want to see him privately."

"What are you up to?" He asked.

"Nothing serious," she replied.

He frowned as he moved closer, "Did something happen?"

"Why?" She asked.

"You look like you’re forcing yourself to smile."

"I am not," she insisted, wondering if she should tell him about Lady Marceline’s visit.

"If you say so," he replied, still staring oddly at her.

Mauve sighed, somehow she could tell it was better to tell him than to tell Jael.

"Lady Marceline just left here," Mauve said.

Louis frowned, "Oh, she said something bad, didn’t she?"

"I wouldn’t say it’s bad but it wasn’t good."

"Oops, sorry."

"You don’t have to apologize," she whispered.

"What did she say?" Louis asked.

"I don’t know," she responded.

"What?"

"Not like that. I know what she said but the meaning isn’t very easy to decipher. She sounded like she meant well and at the same time, it didn’t feel like that."

"She most likely meant well," Louis said without hesitation. "If you’re unsure she was probably trying to be nice. She doesn’t hide how mean she can be. What did she tell you?"

"I don’t know if I should tell you," Mauve replied.

Louis simply nodded, "As long as she didn’t say anything that bothered you, you shouldn’t think too deeply about the situation."

Mauve simply nodded, she didn’t know how to tell him that everything Lady Marceline had said bothered her.

"Why are you here?" She asked.

"No reason. Mill is busy," he responded.

"Oh," she replied. "Would you mind going upstairs with me then?"

"The garden?" He asked and she nodded.

"I thought you’re busy." He gestured to the table with his eyes.

She pouted, "I need some air," she replied and stood to her feet.

Louis frowned, "Just what did she tell you."

"Nothing bad," Mauve replied, walking past him.

She got to the door and pulled it open. She frowned as she listened to the voices coming from downstairs.

She walked closer to the bar and poked her head over it. It seemed as if the Lord was leaving.

"Oh, I guess he is leaving. I guess he came alone this time. He was so quiet, I barely noticed his presence."

Mauve frowned as she noticed Erick walking out the door with him. "Who is he?" She asked.

"Erick’s father," Louis responded.

"What?" She asked.

"You didn’t know? Well, that’s expected, it’s not exactly common knowledge."

She had heard about his father but had never met him but I guess she should have known, the resemblance was hard to miss.