The Vampire King's Possession
Chapter 667. Reluctant Acceptance

Chapter 667: 667. Reluctant Acceptance

Jael led Mauve out of his bedroom to the dining hall. Explaining what he had done was easier than he had expected, and she didn’t hate the idea. He already knew she wouldn’t, but it was a completely different situation when he had to tell her. He glanced down at her and smiled. Mauve caught him looking and she frowned, but not out of annoyance, more out of confusion.

"Did Mill miss a spot?" she asked.

"Ha," Jael replied. "Why do you always think that?"

"Because even though you’re smiling at me, there is still a very serious look in your eyes."

He blinked. "Because I am looking at you intently," he replied. She giggled and leaned into him but didn’t say anything more.

Jael knew exactly what she saw. He was worried; Louis didn’t want him to tell Mauve but there was no way he wouldn’t. He just needed the right time to do so and, in the meantime, he wanted to watch her closely. If perhaps there was some truth to what Louis said. He didn’t want to think of what he would have to do if there was.

The guards bowed to both of them as they got to the hall and opened the doors. Their earlier surprise was gone and they did their duties without hesitation. The door opened and Jael was immediately greeted with stares, but they didn’t last long on him. As soon as they saw it was him, all eyes immediately moved to Mauve.

He glanced at her and she didn’t seem to mind. Now that he had told her what was going on, she seemed pretty braced for it. He wanted to scoop her up and kiss her soundly on her lips. Her strength was something that called to him. He didn’t want to put her through any more pain ever again.

Jael forced himself to look away and he moved towards the table, gently guiding her. He pulled out her seat and she dropped into it. "Thank you," she said.

Jael held his reply as he sat down. The Lords did the same and Jael’s eyes met with Louis’s. He got a stern frown but Jael quickly turned away. After the conversation Mauve interrupted and the arrival of his guards, Jael had done his best to make sure Louis didn’t have the opportunity to converse with him privately.

He understood that Louis meant no harm, but his ability to not empathize with his feelings towards his unborn child was a pain in the ass. Jael didn’t judge him, though; he was sure he would have given similar advice if the roles were reversed.

He watched Mauve as she ate. Eyes moved from her to him. Other than his guards, no one else had brought up the new development. He knew they could tell; however, he was sure none of them would dare try anything he wouldn’t condone.

The Lords in the castle were simply children of Lords and knew they had no power to contend or question this. It was their parents he would have to worry about and since news around here tended to travel fast, Jael was sure he would get either an unwanted letter or an unwanted visitor. He hoped it would be the former; the latter would be harder to get rid of.

Danag hadn’t hidden his displeasure. He had seemed at a loss for words and had simply confirmed his fears, but the matter was already decided and there was pretty much nothing he could do about it. It was a reluctant acceptance but one that had to happen nonetheless.

Mauve barely ate her meal. She picked at it at first but as the last meal progressed he could tell she had no intention of eating more. "Do you not like it?" he asked her when she played with the food for the fiftieth time.

Mauve jerked at his question as though she had not expected him to speak to her. "Oh," she tore her gaze away from him and then to the food in front of her. "I don’t know," she managed to say. "It tastes a little off."

Jael squinted his eyes. "Off?" He frowned. "What do you mean?" He put some food into his mouth, wondering if he had missed something. It didn’t taste off.

"I don’t know but it leaves a weird taste in my mouth," she replied. Her expression changed and he knew she did try her best to eat it but for some reason she couldn’t.

"Would you like something else?"

"No," Mauve shook her head. "I think I also lost my appetite."

Jael frowned, "You barely ate during the second meal."

"I am not hungry and I am still a little full from the first meal."

Jael gave her an unbelieving look. However, there was no way he would allow her to go to bed without eating properly. "If you say so. I’ll ask the servants to bring you some fruits."

Mauve looked like she was about to protest but she must have seen something in his eyes because she simply nodded and leaned back against the seat, completely abandoning the meal. Now that she realized she didn’t have to eat it, she had no intent to try any more.

Jael forced his gaze from her as he continued his meal, trying to figure out what was off about it. His taste buds said there was nothing wrong and none of the people at the table seemed to have any problems with the food. He glanced at Louis and he gave him a knowing look.

Jael frowned and returned to his meal. Was this perhaps related to her illness or was it the pregnancy? He shook his head and concentrated on the food.

***

Mauve sat back as she watched them eat while she waited for Jael to finish eating. She didn’t know why but every time she tried to take a bite, a smell offended her. It wasn’t enough to make her nauseous but the more she ate, the more she figured she was getting close to that.

She was on the verge of tossing out the food when Jael noticed and was glad when he just seemed concerned and didn’t force her to try to eat. She didn’t like the fact that she had to eat fruits, though; her stomach felt pretty closed from the smell.

She turned her gaze away from Jael and held Louis’s gaze for a moment. He smirked at her and then deliberately brought a spoonful of food to his mouth as though he wanted to mock her for not being able to eat it. Mauve grimaced; she doubted anyone could make her regret eating it.

She looked away from Louis to the rest of the crowd. Corbin had his eyes locked in her direction and now that he had more reason to look, he didn’t look away even for an instant. His stare didn’t bother her, though, now that she knew what this was about.

She wondered how vampires could sense the mark on her and what sort of signal they got out of it. Mauve glanced at them. It was a pity; she would probably never understand it. She turned her gaze back to Jael and he was done with his meal.

She watched him slowly stand up and stretch out his hand to her. She happily took it. Anything to get out of this hall. He led her straight to his room and it didn’t take long for them to hear a knock.

"That should be yours," Jael said as they sat down on the bed.

Mauve frowned; she hadn’t seen him give the order. Did they just overhear when he was talking about it and bring it immediately?

"Come in," he said.

The door opened and two servants walked in. Mill wasn’t with them and Mauve felt worried for a second. "Sire," the first one bowed. "My lady," she heard.

Mauve was at a loss for what to say for a moment. The servants didn’t speak to her. The only one she had ever spoken to was Jasmine, and that was because Mill had asked her to. Servants barely acknowledged her in the hallway unless asked to, but right now there was one speaking to her without needing to.

"Are these fruits to your liking or is there anything else you would prefer?" Jael asked.

"Mauve," Jael called and nudged her when she was taking too long to respond. "Is there something wrong?"

"No," she said. "This is fine."

The servants nodded and bowed again before leaving the room.

"How do you feel?" Jael asked, but before even waiting for her response, he touched her forehead with the back of his hand. "You seem a bit out of it," he commented.

"I was distracted for a minute," she said and pulled his hand from her face. "I am not sick."

"Are you sure about that? You only ever lose your appetite when you are."

"I haven’t lost it," she said and picked a fruit to prove her point. Jael gave her a questioning stare and she dug her teeth into it.