The Vampire King's Possession
Chapter 685. Can’t Remain In Shell

Chapter 685: 685. Can’t Remain In Shell

Lady Marceline and her mate, Lord Alaric, could not join them for the first meal, as Lord Alaric was a little tired from the travels, and Lady Marceline didn’t want to leave him all alone. They had their first meal in the confines of their room.

The Levatons were still around and mostly kept to themselves. Mauve never ran into any of them aside from during mealtimes. Unfortunately, the issues could not be avoided forever, especially with more lords coming to the castle. She would have to face them at some point.

Some would arrive today; there was no doubt about that, and the closer it got to the date, the more lords there would be within the castle walls. Mauve took a deep breath. It was annoying that Danag’s words rang in her head, and she turned just to see him turn away from her.

Her gaze rested on Damon and Erick. Things haven’t been much different since they found out. She did receive a few glares from Erick, but that was only the first day Jael broke the news. After that, she has neither heard a word from him nor has he looked in her direction. She would almost say he was avoiding her.

However, he hasn’t openly stated his disapproval, so she was going to take that as a good sign. She didn’t think Damon had any problems with it, and the few times they had run into each other, he had called her "My Lady." Considering he used to call her "princess" before, she could only assume this was his way of showing he didn’t have any problems with her being Jael’s mate.

Mauve turned to her meal, fiddling with it. She didn’t have much of an appetite this evening, and no matter how much she forced herself, the food tasted bland. However, if she didn’t eat, a certain potato head was sure to cause a ruckus about it, so she did her best to eat as much as she could.

After the first meal, Jael didn’t leave her side, and she ended up taking him to the rooftop to check up on her garden. After watering the plants, they sat on the bench and chatted for a bit. It felt nice to sit with Jael and look at the stars.

"I don’t know how much time I will be able to spend with you for the next couple of days," Jael said.

Mauve shook her head that rested on his shoulder. "It is fine. I understand. Besides, I have more than enough people to keep me company."

He looked down at her face; he didn’t look entirely convinced, but this was the situation, and he couldn’t change it. "Don’t hesitate to ask for me or anything if you want," he mumbled.

Mauve started to nod, then paused. "Can I make the walk outside the castle with you an everyday thing or at least every two days?"

"A week," Jael mumbled.

"Jael!" she cried and raised her head to look at him.

"I don’t think you should be moving around that often yet."

"I think I do. A little bit of exercise would be good for me. Besides, you’re going to be there to make sure I am alright."

He frowned, clearly not liking this idea. "It would end as soon as I say the word?"

"Yes," she said sweetly with the widest smile she could give.

"Fine," he said and lightly touched her face. "Two days."

"Thank you," she replied and nuzzled into him.

Jael smiled and was about to speak, but he suddenly frowned and turned his attention to the door leading to the rooftop. Mauve noticed this and lifted her head to follow his gaze, and immediately the door opened. It took a while for her to recognize who was coming up, but the closer the figure, the more she could guess.

"Sire, my lady," Danag said with a bow.

"What do you want?" Jael asked darkly while Mauve gave Danag a simple wave.

"Your attention is needed," the guard stated.

"Whatever it is, I am sure it can wait until after the second meal," Jael replied and turned away from Danag.

"I am afraid it can’t," Danag insisted. "Lady Francine is requesting to see you."

"She only just got here; let her get some rest."

"She isn’t the only one. Lady Marceline wanted to march up here. I told her I would inform you first. That was the only reason she calmed down."

"Danag," Jael said coldly. "Leav—"

"Jael, I am sure it is important."

He knew exactly what they wanted to talk about, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear their bickering. Lady Francine was one thing, but Lady Marceline was a completely different story, and the two of them combined was much worse.

However, he knew if he didn’t attend to the old hags, they were likely to barge up here, and he would rather have a conversation with them first before they ran into Mauve. He ran his eyes across her face, then looked at Danag.

"I will keep an eye on her, sire," Danag offered.

"I am fine with that," Mauve replied.

"I can call Mill," he suggested.

"I don’t think you should. I am sure she has her hands full with a lot to do with the lords coming around," Mauve said. Besides, it was pretty clear Danag wanted to be alone with her.

Jael narrowed his eyes. She could clearly see his hesitation. He glanced at Danag, and the guard kept his head bent. Jael slowly stood to his feet, letting go of Mauve. She smiled as she watched him leave. He stopped when he got to the door and looked at her; she waved, and he was gone.

Mauve stopped smiling immediately and turned to Danag. "I suppose you have something for me," she mumbled.

He nodded and walked closer. "Here, my lady."

It was a folded sheet. Mauve looked at it, wondering if she should be angry, but she had requested he write it down. She accepted it and opened it, and Mauve’s mouth almost fell open at the amount of words. It filled the front of the paper. She looked up at him, but he wouldn’t meet her eyes.

"You sure have a lot to say, Danag."

"I hope you’ll forgive my boldness, my lady."

Mauve sighed as she got to reading. "We will see," she said.

Regardless of how she felt, Danag took his time to write this out. As much as she didn’t like it, he was the only one willing to give her criticism and helpful advice. Everyone had been treating her differently, but Mauve knew she wasn’t acting any differently than usual, and she couldn’t remain in the shell she had always been in.

She winced as a thought popped into her head. If there was ever a time that neither Jael nor Louis was in the castle, she would be expected to take charge, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to do that, so maybe it wasn’t a bad idea to consider Danag’s advice.