The Vampire King's Possession
Chapter 641. Herb Plants

Chapter 641: 641. Herb Plants

Mauve held the hem of her dress as Jael stared intensely at her. He wasn’t pleased, and she could tell by the way his jaw ticked and he ran his fingers through his hair.

"You will be back soon," he repeated. It sounded more like a statement than a question.

Mauve nodded vehemently. "As soon as Jean is done for today, I will be back. He won’t take too long, as he knows I still need to rest, but I want to start as soon as possible."

Jael narrowed his eyes and threw himself back on the bed. "Okay."

"Thank you," she giggled.

He peeked at her as though he wanted to say more but held his tongue. "You should go before I change my mind," he said and rolled to his side.

"Oh no," she cried and rushed to the door. She went out to see Mill standing outside.

"I was just about to come get you," the vampire said.

"Shouldn’t you be in bed?" Mauve asked with a smile.

"Well, I have to make sure you make it out and back into the castle without any difficulty, so not yet."

"Thank you. I will try not to take too long so you won’t have to spend too much time awake because of me."

She started down the path, and Mill walked behind her without saying anything. They were almost at the stairway when she saw Jean coming down from the stairs leading away from his room.

"Jean," she greeted him with glee.

"Princess," he called and sped down the stairway.

She smiled at him. "The sun has been up for a while."

"I noticed," he replied. "Shall we?"

Mauve nodded as he stopped in front of them. They walked down the last set of stairs together, with Mill quickly leading them through the path and towards the kitchen. Mauve figured it was better to use this route than the front doors.

The kitchen exit would be easy for her to open and close by herself, and more importantly, she wouldn’t have to bother anyone when coming back into the castle, even though Mill was insistent on waiting for them. Thankfully, neither Mill nor Jael disagreed with her going through the kitchen exit.

She looked around as she walked through the familiar space. It was empty, and Mill held the light as she led them out. "Right this way," Mill said, gesturing to the door in the corner.

Mauve already knew the way out. She remembered what had happened the first time she had tried to go outside in the daytime. Jael wasn’t very pleased. Mauve got to the door before anyone else and undid the lock. Unlike the one leading to the rooftop, it gave in pretty easily.

"You should have let me do that," Mill said to Mauve.

"Of course not. You should stay back, Mill. I don’t want you to get caught in the sunlight."

"I am standing far apart; I don’t think the sun can reach here."

Mauve turned to look at her, prepared to argue, but there was enough distance between Mill and the door, and more importantly, Mill knew to stand to the side so the sunlight wouldn’t reach her.

"Okay," Mauve mumbled.

"I will be here when you come back."

"As you like. I will try not to take too long," she said, and Mill nodded.

Mauve slowly turned her head to the door and winced at the bright light. It was still morning, but the sun shone with a vengeance. She blinked a little, then jerked her head back to check if Mill was out of the sunlight.

"I am fine," Mill said. She was clinging to the corner of the kitchen, close to the wall and almost out of Mauve’s line of sight. She wasn’t that far off the last time Mauve checked, but it made sense that vampires instinctively shied away from the sun.

Mauve slipped out quickly, with Jean following her, and closed the door behind them. She winced a little as her skin picked up the sun. It was nice to stand in its light. It was no different from standing on the rooftop while the sun shone, but somehow it felt very different.

The side of the kitchen had what seemed to be a shed, and Mauve noticed it wasn’t closed. She wondered what was kept in there, and her first instinct was to check, but they didn’t have enough time, and she had to get back into the castle as soon as possible, or someone was bound to get grumpy.

"Do you know where we have to go?" she asked Jean, realizing she didn’t know her way around. She already knew this but it stung a little to have to ask a stranger. Would there be a chance for her to convince Jael to let her roam the castle after Jean left?

"Yes, most of what we need should be in this direction." Jean walked forward as he spoke.

"Oh," Mauve replied, following him.

He led her away from the castle, past the shed, and then they stopped in front of a bushy section. It looked overrun with weeds, but with the way Jean stared intensely at it, she could guess it was more than just weeds.

He took a step forward, searching through the plants. Mauve squinted her eyes, trying to see what he was looking for. She could perceive a sweet mint smell. It wasn’t too harsh, even though it permeated the air. She wondered if this was from one plant or a combination of plants resulting in this smell.

"Princess," Jean suddenly called, pointing to something. "This plant in question would be very good when you have a fever. Chewing on the stem can also help with headaches."

"What’s the name?" she asked, walking closer. She tried to be mindful of the bushes as she walked through them, but there was no way to completely avoid them to get to where Jean was pointing.