The Vampire King's Possession
Chapter 747. Selfish Intent

Chapter 747: 747. Selfish Intent

Mauve thought Jael’s question about who taught her was odd. That was certainly not what was typically asked when someone was discovered to suddenly use magic. Or was she reading too much into this? She couldn’t help but be suspicious of the fact that Jael had instantly known someone had to teach her. Did he know about magic? However, she didn’t ask any of these questions and had simply given Jael the answer, and he immediately sent for Louis.

"How could you put her through something so dangerous? Are you out of your mind? Teaching her magic? Just what were you thinking?" Jael asked as Louis walked into the room.

Mauve felt her heart drop to her stomach as Louis met her eye. She mouthed the word "sorry," but she wasn’t sure if he could decipher what she was saying or not, as his expression didn’t change. He just kept a straight face.

"Magic?" Louis asked and then raised a brow at Mauve.

She slowly nodded. "It wasn’t anything dangerous, Jael. Louis was very cautious."

"Cautious or not, you should have never done something so dangerous. How long has this been going on?"

"I stopped it," Louis answered immediately. "We haven’t had any lessons in a long time."

Mauve nodded her agreement. She was watching Jael carefully, and each time it looked like Jael might try to attack Louis. "He was worried about the pregnancy," she said.

"How could you?" Jael directed his gaze at Louis, his voice laced with disbelief and restrained anger. "You knew better than to take such risks, especially with her condition!"

Louis met Jael’s furious glare without flinching. "I did what I thought was necessary. She wanted to learn, and I ensured her safety every step of the way."

"Ensured her safety?" Jael’s voice rose. "Magic is unpredictable! You can’t ensure anything when it comes to something so volatile. Especially not with her!"

Mauve got out of bed and rushed towards the two men standing in the middle of the room. "Stop blaming Louis! I wanted to learn. I was the one who pushed him to teach me."

Jael turned to her, his expression a mix of worry and frustration. "I am also sure you knew nothing about it. Louis had to have brought it to your attention first."

"That’s not completely true," Mauve said. The situation was getting blurry. Did Jael just admit that magic wasn’t completely unknown? But he had looked at her with disbelief when she first mentioned using magic to start the fire.

"True or not, you didn’t think to tell me? To ask if it was safe?" Jael asked.

Mauve hesitated. "I didn’t want you to say no. I needed to learn—"

"For what purpose, Mauve?" Jael interrupted, his voice softer now, but it still held anger. "What could possibly be so important that you’d risk yourself and..." He trailed off, glancing at her stomach.

"I—" but Mauve didn’t get the chance to complete her sentence as Jael suddenly turned to Louis.

"How dare you? I have all but tolerated your presence. Let you come back here and stay after leaving for so long, and this is what you do? How dare you put Mauve in such dan—"

"Don’t speak to Louis like that," Mauve said. "He isn’t the only one to blame in this situation. I was the one who insisted. If you want anyone to blame, blame me, but I promise we didn’t put the child in danger."

Louis cleared his throat, drawing their attention. "She’s stronger than you think, Jael. She’s a fast learner, and her control was impressive, even in the short time we worked together."

Jael’s jaw tightened. "That doesn’t justify it. She’s not some experiment for you to test magic on."

"I wasn’t testing anything," Louis replied calmly. "I taught her because she asked."

"Ha, because she asked. Liar. Say something more believable next time. I know you, Louis. You never do anything simply because someone asked. I would know. You taught her because you wanted to. Was that the whole point of you sticking to her because of this? It’s been years, isn’t it time you let go? I guess even putting the most important person in my life in danger is nothing compared to your goals."

Louis closed his eyes. "There might have been some selfish intent, but it wasn’t the only reason. I promise. I would never put Mauve in danger. On my life."

"And what happens when something goes wrong? What was your plan for that? When the magic backfires or she pushes herself too far?" Jael’s voice cracked with emotion. "Did you by chance think of that?"

"Jael," Mauve interjected, stepping closer. "I understand your fear, but this was my choice. It is magic. I have never even heard about this before. If there was some way I could learn it, I figured I could use it to get rid of the White Disease. It killed both me and Vae’s mother. There is still no cure for it, and it is only a miracle I survived."

Jael’s shoulders slumped slightly, the fire in his eyes dimming. He hated that he couldn’t be as angry as he wanted. Mauve had a valid reason. He couldn’t help her when she was sick, and he hated that Louis took advantage of that. And then there was the dead Paler. There was no way he could be angry when this was clearly the answer they were looking for. He grabbed his head and walked towards the bed.

Mauve didn’t know what to do. She looked to Louis, and he shrugged. She wished she could look as unbothered as Louis did, but she figured he was just suppressing his emotions. Without anything to do, she walked towards Jael.

Mauve would have knelt in front of him if her stomach wasn’t in the way, so she sat beside him and slowly took his hand. He let her, and she squeezed his hand. "I am sorry I kept it from you, but I knew I wasn’t supposed to learn it, and I was scared."