The Vampire King's Possession
Chapter 720. Why?

Chapter 720: 720. Why?

"What?" she asked with a frown.

"Nothing," he shrugged.

"I can tell something is up," she responded.

"You might be seeing things," he replied with a smirk.

Mauve gave him an unimpressed look, but she didn’t return with a snarky comment. "Did you eat during the second meal?"

"Why? Would you feed me if I say no?" Jael asked.

"And if I say yes?" she countered.

Jael looked taken aback. "You wouldn’t," he stated.

"Try me," she smiled at him.

"No," Jael replied and lay on the bed. "You should eat. You’ve barely been eating these days."

"Wet blanket," she muttered under her breath.

Jael sat upright immediately. "What did you just call me?" he asked in anger, but the smile at the corner of his eyes was clear.

"What did you hear?" Mauve asked as she happily munched on her food.

"What I’m hoping I’m wrong about," he replied, slowly standing to his feet.

"Hmm," Mauve shrugged her shoulders.

"Did you call me a wet blanket?"

Mauve almost jumped out of her skin. "Jael!" she screamed. She had not heard him walk up to where she sat eating until he whispered in her ear.

Jael snickered. "Next time, you’ll think twice about doing that."

"Shoo," she tried to chase him away.

Jael was still laughing as he walked away, clearly very pleased with himself. Mauve couldn’t help but join him in laughing. She soon returned to his bed when she was done with her meal.

"What did you want to ask me about?" Jael asked after some time had passed.

"Oh," Mauve said and wondered if that’s what had been bothering Jael. It wasn’t particularly serious. "Well, only with your permission, of course."

"I’m listening," Jael said, his voice serious.

"I was thinking I would..." she paused briefly and turned to look at Jael. She couldn’t begin to fathom how he would take this. "...tell Lady Marceline about the pregnancy?" Mauve squinted her eyes as she waited for Jael’s reply.

Jael stiffened and then slowly let out one word: "Why?"

"Mill is the only other female that knows, and she clearly doesn’t know anything about babies. I was thinking an older vam—"

"Lady Marceline has never birthed before."

"I know," Mauve whispered. "But you don’t need to have a child of your own to know about babies. I’m sure she was around for your birth. She sounded pretty close to your mother."

Jael’s gaze darkened. "They were pretty close."

"So she was most likely present while your mother carried you or possibly during your birth?"

Jael’s eyes narrowed. "Most likely."

Mauve gave him an unimpressed look. Jael knew but didn’t want to give her a clear answer, but she didn’t press him. "It would be nice to get all the help I can. If there’s something I’m supposed to do, I don’t want to do anything wrong."

"Why Lady Marceline?" he asked.

"She’s family, and she’s on our side."

Jael’s gaze darkened further, but he didn’t say anything to this.

"Do you not approve?"

"Does my opinion matter?" he asked.

"Of course, it does. I could have just told her, but I wanted to tell you first. I know your relationship is very strained, and I don’t want to do anything that you don’t like."

Jael ran his fingers through his hair, undoing the string that held it together. "I don’t like the idea, but at the same time, I can’t stand in the way of you wanting to find someone more experienced."

"Then that settles it. I won’t tell her," Mauve said and went back to lying down.

"No," Jael said, "that would just be selfish of me." He glanced at her. "Yes."

Mauve sat up immediately. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes," Jael responded. "I am. Lady Marceline did help Mother take care of me during my infant years, and yes, she was with Mother before, during, and after my birth. It’s not a bad idea to let her know."

Mauve wrapped her arms around Jael. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Don’t thank me. I still very much hate the idea."

"But you’re willing to let me do something you dislike so much. Thank you."

Jael replied with a muffled, "You’re welcome."

"Do you think we could go now?"

"What part of ’bedrest’ did you forget?"

"It will only take a few minutes," Mauve said with giddiness.

"No," he replied.

"Please," she widened her eyes and stuck out her lower lip.

Jael closed his eyes for a few moments. "Fine," he eventually gave in when Mauve wouldn’t stop begging. Taking the string from the bed, he retied his hair and stood to his feet.

"Come," he stretched out his hand to Mauve. "I will take you to her room."

Mauve nearly jumped on him, but she simply accepted his hand. "Thank you," she whispered again.

"Thank me again, and I will change my mind."

"My lips are sealed," she replied.

Jael glanced down at her, and Mauve greeted him with a bright smile. Mauve was so happy about this, he didn’t have the heart to rain on her parade. He couldn’t easily let go of what Lady Marceline stood for, and he doubted he ever would.

Jael knocked once. When he didn’t get a response, he knocked again, but this time, he knocked with enough force to make a dent in the door.

"Are you out of your mind?" Lady Marceline’s voice could be heard before she opened the door. "Whose door are you knocking on in that manner?"

The door opened, and everything froze. Mauve had only seen Lady Marceline with three expressions: disgust, irritation, and mild interest. This was the first time she would see shock clearly written all over the older vampire’s stiff face.

She recovered quickly, stepping out of the room and shutting her door behind her. "Did something happen?" she asked softly.

"Against my preferred wishes, we would like to have a word," Jael stated.

Mauve couldn’t help the smile that appeared on her face when Jael said we. She had been afraid he would stop at the door and not come in with her.

Lady Marceline looked at a loss. She stared hard at Jael. "Are you sick? I don’t mean in the head. I mean illness. Is something wrong?"