It had already been a few days ever since I saw Liam at home. Unknown guards still roamed around the palace like it was their own place, fearing nothing. I even heard them gossiping about me and Liam while sitting beneath the porch with Daleri.
“Have you heard how Emily killed one more person?” A guard standing inside whispered, but I could hear him clearly. My ears perked up at his gossip, and I listened tentatively.
There was some noise as if someone had hit the other person’s head. “What’re you saying she’s the crown Princess! Our future queen!”
The first guard snorted. “A queen who’s killing everyone. How cruel.”
Hearing those words, my shoulders dropped and a depressed expression appeared on my face. I couldn’t refute those words because I did end up killing people, and the guilt was eating me alive. It took me a few seconds to get out of my entangled emotions and focus on the gossip again.
“Oh right, Lady Barbara is back again.” There was a touch of excitement in the voice of the guard.
The other guard gasped in surprise and said, “Seriously? That means we’re saved!”
I didn’t hear anything after that because the fact that Barbara was back at the time when Liam wasn’t available meant that she was planning something big. And I didn’t know whether she wanted to go against me or Liam, but if I fell in her hands this time, I feared that I’d die. My death would bring immense sadness to my husband, and he would let his guard down, and die. And once he dies, no one could save the American Vampire’s society. Another war would surely occur and Derrick wouldn’t be able to save the day.
The cause of the American Vampire’s demise will be me. As soon as this thought entered my head, I started trembling in fear. But I forced myself to think rationally because this was just my speculation. What if the hunter’s leader wanted to take revenge against me?
I pursed my lips and looked at Daleri. “We should do something.”
“My lady, if you don’t mind, can I say something bluntly?”
I raised my eyebrows and gestured to her to continue.
“Please stop making things difficult for master Liam.”
I was surprised at her comment and a sudden wave of anger burst out in my heart. I never made things difficult for my husband! What I did were normal things, nothing more, nothing less. “When the hell did I do that?” In fact, her comments shouldn’t really anger me like this. I was more frustrated by seeing how motherly Daleri was suddenly becoming strict like this.
“Haven’t you realized that you did this too often?” I had just opened my mouth to refute but Daleri continued. “You impulsively end up ruining master Liam’s plan because of anger. Did you end up making the guard suspicious while entering the guest corridor back then? And what about the people who were killed by you suddenly?”
Being touched upon in my sore point, my mood became depressed again. I lost my appetite for drinking my tea and stared at the birds chirping in the branches of the trees inna daze.
Seeing my expression, Daleri’s eyes softened. “I’m not saying that was your fault, but you have to stop acting on your emotions. Just practice and learn some self-control so that you don’t end up repeating your mistakes.”
I slowly nodded, but didn’t dare to reply.
***
I sneaked out of my room after practicing meditation taught by Daleri. I knew I should learn some self-control and hide inside my room for a few days, but I just couldn’t help it. As soon as the thought of Barbara entered my head, I couldn’t sit silently. My mind wandered and I got so anxious that I felt like I was on the verge of losing my mind again. If this happens again, I’d end up revealing my powers to the guards, and Barbara would have enough evidence to get me behind the bars.
And after one hour, I was at the end of my limit and decided to do something myself in the absence of Daleri. So what if she couldn’t help me? I’d help myself and show the world that I was innocent!
With determination in my eyes, I rushed toward the guest corridor. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a guard standing like before. In fact, after sneaking out, I didn’t see a single guard lurking around me. For a moment, I narrowed my eyes suspiciously and glanced around.
Was this a trap? I didn’t know, but I couldn’t tell. When I found the entire place empty even after ten minutes of searching, I relaxed. Perhaps it was just me overthinking things. I shook my head and threw the suspicious thoughts to the back of my mind and stepped forward.
I walked over in my tiptoes toward Barbara’s bedroom and stuck my ear. To my surprise, I heard a muffled voice of someone talking loudly on the phone.
“How stupid could she get?…” Barbara laughed. “I know! Say George, are you sure Liam was here a few days ago?… hmm… I don’t get it. At first, you gave me the information that Liam was here, but when I asked the guards, they didn’t say anything. From where did you get that information?”
My eyes widened at that, and I stepped back. What the hell! I remembered lying to Lucy that Liam was here! And I didn’t tell anyone else about it! How could George know about it? I frowned and pressed my ears to the door again. But this time, the woman inside just laughed, greeted, and ended the call. I couldn’t hear where George heard it, but I had a hunch that he was recording Lucy’s calls. Thinking about it made me feel sick. What kind of husband was he?! He was even spying on his own wife!
I wanted to kill him this instant!
I took a few deep breaths to calm myself before hiding in a corner. This time, Barbara couldn’t hide herself from me! I had to find a way to expose her for Liam so that he can forgive me once and for all!
With determination in my eyes, I continued to follow Barbara as she locked her door and played with the keys in her hands. She took a stroll in the corridor and turned toward the backyard garden where I used to practice my skills.
Why did it seem like this person suddenly acted as if she was in her own house? I tilted my head in confusion, but silently followed her.
Suddenly, she stopped and turned around catching me off guard. I didn’t think this woman knew I was following her. So I had lowered my guard until she turned around and directly stared at me with her cold eyes. I froze as I glanced at her.
“Why’re you following me?”
I didn’t say anything, just pursed my lips and averted my eyes. I pretended that I was just taking a stroll like her. Just then, a smile formed on her lips as she walked toward me and stopped at a distance in front of me. “So, how’s Liam doing? Haven’t seen him around lately.” She just said, pretending to be curious.
I got furious at that. How could she dare to take his name? “This doesn’t concern you.” I said coldly and turned around. I wanted to turn my back to her before she could do anything.
But who would have thought that she was faster? She moved and stopped in front of me. “Let’s have a fight, shall we?”
“I’m a human…” I said weakly, knowing it was futile to act this way. Barbara knew this, and perhaps, the entire vampire world knew it. Thinking of this, I lowered my head.
A round of laughter was heard from her. “Are you still going to pretend? Huh?”
I pressed my lips in a thin line and didn’t reply. Instead, I turned back to walk toward the forest. I wanted to get away from Barbara as soon as possible.
“Everyone knows who you’re, and it’s just a matter of time before I have evidence.” She paused before smirking. “Don’t worry, no one’s gonna snap your pictures like before.”
Like before?!? Did she mean she was the person to snap my pictures when I had unlocked my powers?
My eyes widened at that, but before I could reply, Barbara’s hand glowed as a light purple ball formed in her hand and electricity flooded out in the random direction. I instantly rushed back and used a blocking spell before Barbara raised her hand and directed the purple light toward me.
“Do you know what’s my specialty?” She said as she created a bow using her purple, transferring it in her other hand. Another purple ball appeared, and she created an arrow out of it. Aiming at me, she fired it. I could only raise my hand to mutter the spell and block it, but I didn’t reply to her. It was useless. I didn’t know what Barbara wanted! She had many chances of killing Liam, but she didn’t want to. And recently, I have heard a lot about the hunter’s boss’s hatred for me, so I knew that the boss did hate me, but what about Barbara? What was the reason behind her actions? What did she want? I was curious about it, but I didn’t want to ask her. Instead, I chanted a spell and threw a weak attack toward her.
Even though I was afraid of using my powers for the fear of my outburst, I could still use weak spells to protect myself in dire needs.
Barbara raised her eyebrows in surprise, but she continued to attack me like this. “I can create anything using this ball of energy.”
Hearing that answer, I was suddenly reminded on the day when I had unlocked the power. That day too, someone had used a similar bow and arrow to kill the driver sitting in front of me. That scene was ingrained in my brain as one of the most disturbing scenes that I could never forget in this lifetime.
Does that mean this arrow was associated with Barbara? Did this woman kill the driver back then? Even the thought itself was enough to send a shiver down my spine. That meant, the hunter’s organization was after me for a long time!
Just when I was about to panic again, Barbara threw another attack. It didn’t take long before the woman overpowered me, cornering me with her power. After half an hour of battle, I was lying on the ground, completely exhausted because of constantly using half of my energy to control myself and the other half to use protective spells. Thankfully, Barbara didn’t have any killing intentions, but I could see that the woman didn’t like me either.
“What do you want?” I asked her weakly. What was she after? Why did she want to capture me so badly?
“You’re too stupid. So stupid that I feel frustrated. That’s why I want to kill you.” Her cold reply sent a chill down my spine.
She thought I was stupid and that’s why she wanted to kill me? I had assumed previously that she was after me because of Liam. Was she a psychopath? My eyelashes trembled as I licked my lips.
“Didn’t you like Liam?” I blurted out before I could even stop myself from saying it out loud.
Barbara chuckled. “Of course I do, but killing you isn’t necessary to get him. I have other ways.”
Finally, after a long time of this cat and mouse game, this woman was ready to talk bluntly. I should use this opportunity to get more information. A hint of anticipation flashed in my eyes. “Who’s your boss?”
“You have no right to ask that question.” She sneered as she walked toward the door. Her reaction confused me. Just who was this hidden boss of the hunter’s organization?
Before she could leave the backyard, I stopped her. “Wait!”
“What do you want?”
“Why me?” This was the question I wanted to ask for a long time. “You wanted to kill me for a long time right? Even before Liam chose me?”
Barbara remained silent as she squinted her eyes at me. She seemed to be thinking of something before a disdainful smile formed on her lips. “Do you think you’re special, babydoll? I didn’t know you personally before I saw you in the palace during the official ball party. You were just a name for me to remember. It was the boss who’s after you.”
“But why?”
“I’m not obliged to answer you.” She said and opened the door.
Just as she was going to head out, I stood up and rushed toward her, closing the door swiftly. “I’m not done yet!” I glared at her.
She raised her eyes and looked at me with interest. “So the little bird has learned how to go against me?”
Her smirk and tone made me so angry that I wanted to spit on her face. But I didn’t. I knew I shouldn’t be angry at this woman. Taking a deep breath, I asked again, “Why does the leader hate me?”
I wanted to be done with everything. I didn’t think I’d get another chance like this to get everything out of this woman before me. But after receiving the reply, I was sure that the words I had heard on the microphone that day were true. The leader of the hunter’s organization was after me and perhaps Liam was their secondary target. Thinking of him, a trace of regret flashed in my eyes. If he was here, he would have handled the situation perfectly. But I could only mess things up. Ignoring the emptiness in my heart, I raised my head and waited for the woman’s reply.
“Have you seen a bug? It’s so small, but because of poisonous teeth, it thinks it’s a very important personality. Under the influence of its power, it unconsciously ends up harming many bugs around him until someone comes and crushes it under their thumb like this.” Barbara picked up a bug crawling on the ground and crushed it in her fingers. “You’re the bug, and all you know is how to kill people.” A smirk formed on her face. “Isn’t it the duty of a council member to capture a criminal?”
After that, Barbara opened the door and entered, leaving me stunned in the backyard. The woman touched my sore spot. It was indeed true that I had ended up killing many people around me because of my powers, and even said ungrateful words to Liam that day under its influence. But what was my fault? I only learnt a wrong spell that made me go berserk every time I was anxious.
But I couldn’t do anything about it! I couldn’t stop killing people just like that unless and until I find a permanent solution to this problem. Barbara’s words did make me angry. She must have known about my condition, and how did I turn out like this, but she still decided to ignore my question and say such words to me. How dare she!
My face went red in anger as I dashed inside, running after her in the corridor. I pulled her wrist and forced her to turn around. “Why?” My throat was dry as the tone of my voice seemed as if I was crying. “Why’re you doing this to me? Just why? What did I do to you guys?” A tear dropped from my eyes as I roughly wiped it and glared at the woman. “You did this to me, didn’t you? How could you? Do you enjoy making my life miserable? Do you enjoy seeing me like this? I’m killing people all because of you! I don’t want this, I just wanted to live peacefully! But what did you do? You changed a spell I had used to practice, making my power uncontrolled.
“Say, how much money did you get to make my life miserable?” I tightened my grip on her wrist, making her flinch, but I ignored her reaction and continued. “People like you are stupider than me. You say you wanted to kill me because I’m stuoid, but what about you? Aren’t you doing the same? You’re just someone’s puppet being controlled to kill me from someone else’s behalf!” I raised my eyes that were red because of anger and glared at her. “Why don’t you just kill me then? Do it and end my life already!”
When I finished, I saw Barbara’s forehead covered in sweat. Her complexion had paled. Seeing her expression, I realized that I had subconsciously used my power in anger. I slowly released her wrist and saw her rubbing her wrist again and again that had turned red due to my powerful grip. Before I could say something, she ran past me and stood in front of the person I recently yearned to see.
“She hurt me! You’re her husband, aren’t you? Didn’t you hear what she said to me? Do something!” In front of her, Liam was standing, gazing at me intently with his cold eyes.