The Vampire King's Possession
Chapter 767. A Poisoned Truth

Chapter 767: 767. A Poisoned Truth

Jael sat shirtless on the bed as Mauve clung to him. She had single-handedly ripped his clothes off, crying about how hot it was. She had wanted to take off her own clothes too, but somehow he had been able to convince her, and now she was sitting across his legs with her head on his bare chest.

"How are you so cool?" she cried.

"I can’t believe you called me here for this," Jael said with an amused tone to his voice.

"I took a cold bath. Mill even used hand fans blowing as hard as she could, but that only made me hotter. This," she paused, smiling up at him, "is ideal. I don’t know why I didn’t think about it before now."

"You use me as your personal cooler all the time. You just don’t call me to come serve that singular purpose."

"Were you busy?" Mauve asked. "I’m sorry for interrupting your work."

"It was inconsequential; you weren’t interrupting anything."

Mauve grinned up at him. "You always say that," she replied as she ran her palms over his broad chest.

Jael grabbed her hands, stopping her movement. "How do you feel?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Just really warm," she replied as she rubbed her face on him.

Everything had quieted down after she had shown what the fire spells did to Palers. Kieran was still at the castle, and according to Jael, he was doing some research. Lord Levaton, on the other hand, had left the castle the next night and had taken Damon with him. Jael hadn’t been pleased about this, but surprisingly, he didn’t speak more on the matter.

Danag was back to being head of the guards again, and he was busier than ever. He sometimes didn’t join them during the mealtimes, and whenever she saw him, he always seemed in a hurry. There hadn’t even been any time for her to consult him privately.

She was letting things run their course. Kieran had asked if she could help in his further research, promising it wouldn’t be anything dangerous, but Jael had responded that he would only agree if he was in the room with them. Mauve was fine with this, but surprisingly, Kieran had not needed her just yet.

"You’re sure you’re not sick?"

"Of course not," she said and pulled her hand from his grasp. He let her go, only for her to head down his torso, tracing his abs with her fingers.

"Mau—"

Mauve lifted her head as Jael stiffened.

"What is it?" she asked and followed his gaze.

"Weird," he said as he stared at the door.

"What’s weird?" she asked.

"I can sense Corbin, Danag, and Erick coming this way."

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"We are about to find out," he replied, and almost immediately, a knock rang out, followed by a voice.

"Sire," Danag called. "Is this a bad time? May I have a word with you?"

Jael looked down at Mauve. "You can go," she said.

"Are you sure about that? I can just ask them to come back another time."

Mauve shook her head. "It’s fine; I’ve cooled down enough."

"I’ll be right back," he said and started getting out of bed, picking up his clothes.

Mauve smiled and waved him off. Jael slipped the clothes over his head as he walked away. He was pulling at the end of it when he opened the door. "You better have a good reason for this," Jael stated as he stepped out of the room, closing the door behind himself.

"Yes, Sire. This is pretty important," Danag responded.

Jael frowned as he took in Corbin. The lad wouldn’t meet his eyes, just kept his head bent and mumbled his greetings. Erick stood to the side, looking bored and clearly not pleased about being part of this.

"What’s going on?" Jael asked no one in particular, but Danag replied.

"Corbin here has some strange news," Danag said.

Jael glanced at Corbin, and the young lord shuffled on his feet, still refusing to meet the Primus’s gaze. Jael’s eyes narrowed, and he was about to dismiss them, but Danag looked pretty serious. He couldn’t begin to fathom what was going on, but there was no harm in finding out.

"I’m listening," he said and folded his arms.

"Would it be too much to ask that we have this conversation in private? Please, Sire."

"Tch! This is already pissing me off enough!" Out of the corner of his eye, Corbin jumped.

Jael turned his gaze to Corbin. He looked like a cornered rat, fidgeting at the slightest movement. Jael pulled his gaze away from him and started for his study.

"Please, Sire," Danag insisted.

"This had better be good," he said as they trailed after him.

Jael got to his study and sat in his seat with a yawn. "Go on, then," he replied.

Danag walked forward and placed a letter on his table. "Please read this, Sire."

Jael gave Danag an unimpressed look without looking at it. "You should have handed the letter and walked away. If you’re not ready to give a summary of the situation, I’d assume it has nothing to do with me."

"Seraphino sent a letter to Corbin," Erick blurted out. "And no, I didn’t make a mistake. It was disguised as a letter from his father, and in this letter, Seraphino wants Corbin to find a way to kidnap her ladyship for him, else he would tell you about Corbin’s and his father, Lord Phelan’s involvement in poisoning her."

"Poisoning?" Jael asked with a frown. "What are you talking about?"

"Her sudden illness was because of Seraphino. According to Corbin, he created what humans call the ’White Disease.’ Corbin doesn’t know how this illness is made. All he did was listen and tell Seraphino when he could give her ladyship the drink. Otis and Seraphino handled the rest."

Jael didn’t say anything for the longest time, just stared ahead as his palms closed into fists. Corbin flinched and took a step back.

"Corbin," Jael suddenly called. His voice was cold.

"Sire," Corbin replied, bowing down.

"Is this true?" Jael asked.

"Yes," the lad admitted.

"Was your father aware of it?" Jael asked.

Corbin slowly nodded.

"Is he aware of this?" Jael asked.

Corbin nodded again. "It was his idea."

"Lord Phelan wrote in his letter that if his son were to tell you of Seraphino’s plans, you would be likely to pardon them, and if not, the consequences won’t be as grave as joining hands with Seraphino now."

Jael listened attentively, then slowly turned to Corbin. "Then what changed? You’ve sold out my mate before now. Why have you suddenly decided you don’t want to be Seraphino’s minion anymore?"

"The new rule and she holds the answer to how we will end Palers."

Jael’s eyes glowed; he was seething and currently applauding himself for not lunging at Corbin and ripping his head clean off. According to him, it was fine before now. Before now, Mauve could be poisoned, kidnapped, whatever—it didn’t matter.

"I’d advise you to leave my castle," Jael said very slowly. "I can’t guarantee that I won’t take your life, but if you leave now, you can at least keep your head."

Corbin let out a gasp that echoed through the room, but he knew the Primus was serious. He didn’t bother bowing before fleeing the room. Jael touched the sides of his head; he was infuriated.

"Send a letter to all the lords; we will have a trial in a week," he said and stood up. "Send a letter to Lord Phelan; tell him unless he wants to be put on trial, he better send everything he has that pertains to Seraphino and be ready to stand against Seraphino. This time around, that bastard isn’t getting away with this."