“Is this how a queen is supposed to act?” His cold reply sent ripples of shock in my heart. I had thought that despite the argument we had, my husband would take my side no matter what. But seeing his cold face, I couldn’t help but take a step back.
Why? Why was he acting like this: aloof and indifferent?
He must have been angry at me because of my words. Other than this, I couldn’t find any other reason. Tears formed in my eyes as I turned to look at him. Just as I raised my head and met his eyes, his expression became even darker. I didn’t know what was the reason behind his actions, but he didn’t say a word other than that. He simply ignored me and glanced at Barbara. “Go to your room.” And after that, he left.
Left, just like that.
What was happening? First, me and Liam had decided to act aloof and indifferent to each other so that they couldn’t harm me. But then, I heard from the microphone that the leader wanted to kill me for some reason and I felt like the acting thing was useless because me and my husband were still confused over Barbara’s words. We didn’t know whether the thing she said in the recording was true or not. And suddenly, I had a fight with Liam, and he left me alone. Not only that, I even realized after chatting with Barbara that what she had said in the recording was also true. That means, me and Liam didn’t have to act aloof anymore because even if he acted aloof, I’d still be in danger.
But then, why was Liam still urging to act like this? Was he still unaware of the fact that what Barbara had said was true? That the leader hated me to the point of killing me? I narrowed my eyes. I remembered it was Liam only who had said that we should doubt Barbara’s words in the recording. Now that I thought about it, if he already knew the truth behind Barbara’s words, perhaps Liam wanted to act aloof for some reason, and he didn’t want to tell me that. His actions gave a big blow to my heart, and I still couldn’t tell what was happening.
Was he really acting or did he really get angry because of my words?
I couldn’t understand, but the more I thought about it, the more anxious I got. I felt my body becoming weaker and weaker as I fell on my knees, sobbing silently.
Why couldn’t I live a life with peace and romance?
After a long time, I stood up silently, wiping my face.
I had to make sure to become stronger! Did I have any other choice? No!
And I knew the only person who could help me was Olivia.
***
“I can see her, right?” I asked Daleri while fidgeting my fingers. Glancing at the familiar building on the right side, I shrank back on my seat. This was the same place where George had taken me earlier: the vampire’s council.
“Yes.” She said and patted the back of my hands to calm my nerves. An hour ago, I had approached Daleri and asked her to take me to see Olivia secretly. Even if she was in contact with Liam, I begged her to not to say a word to him.
This was a secret meeting, and I only wanted Daleri to know about it. Surprisingly, she agreed and told me to wait until midnight. Only after everyone fell asleep, I sneaked out with Daleri through the backyard and made my way toward the car about half a mile away from the palace. And here we were, an hour later right before the place I dreaded the most—the council house.
Seeing that, a frown formed across my forehead. “Why are we here?”
“She’s detained here.”
My frown went deeper at that. I knew Olivia had taken the blame for something I had done unconsciously, but I didn’t think they’d be so serious with this. I had originally assumed that Olivia was detained at her house. But the fact that they had locked her here had never crossed my mind. Before I could speculate more, Daleri snapped me out of my thoughts.
“She was first locked at her home for a while, but they caught her sneaking out of her house. So they brought her here and locked behind the bars.”
“She’s behind the bars.” I couldn’t help but be concerned about Olivia’s well-being. Prisons aren’t a great place for living. I wondered if Olivia was alright.
Seeing my worried face, Daleri added. “Don’t worry Emily, Olivia is fine. This isn’t a normal prison, she got all the facilities she needed.”
Hearing that, my shoulders relaxed and I got out of the car. The surrounding was pitch black as silence spread around me. Wind blew past me, making me shiver. I rubbed my arms as I followed Daleri to sneak inside the building from the backdoor.
Just as she approached, a guard standing on the backdoor saw us and bowed before Daleri. “You two only have half an hour. Hurry!” He whispered and opened the door.
This conversation made me confused. Daleri was only an old human being. How could she know so many people at this place?
When she saw my confused face, she understood what I was confused about. She chuckled and gently rubbed my head affectionately. “Old Queen Melody had many followers, and they are still loyal to her and Liam. Don’t worry about anything, okay?”
I nodded. I trusted Daleri and depended on her as if she was my mother. Even though Liam had gotten cold to me recently, I still believed in Daleri. I didn’t give up my hopes of having a better future with him!
After using the elevator to reach the 9th floor, we passed through many corridors and rooms only to reach one of the rooms at the end of the corridor. She looked right and left before opening the door, letting herself in. That room connected another corridor. The end of the corridor connected two rooms. On the right, it was the place for regular criminals, while the left side had a nameplate in the bold letters on the top saying, ‘Special cases’.
Daleri opened the door and entered.
What confused me the most was that although we had to sneak inside this kind of place, there weren’t any guards here!
Seeing my face from the corner of her eyes, Daleri understood and replied, “This place doesn’t need any guards. Once the guards place the lock using their magic, they can keep an eye on every criminal here.”
“Then, won’t they catch us?”
“I have a special item that hides our presence for only half an hour. The guard in the backdoor is one of our spies in the council house. So you don’t need to worry about these things.” Daleri said and opened one of the doors to the room.
As soon as the door opened, a fresh scent of flowers engulfed my nose. The living room was filled with flowers and pots as a familiar person was bending over one of the pots. She was sprinkling water with the help of a can while humming a song. As soon as she heard our noise, she instantly put the can on the ground and walked toward us. Her eyes lit up at my sight and rushed toward me to give me a warm hug.
“Are you alright?”
Hearing a familiar voice, my eyes teared up, and I said in a choked voice, “I missed you!”
“I know.” Olivia said as she gently patted my back. I didn’t know at what point Daleri left me and Olivia alone, but she wasn’t inside anymore when me and my so-called Grandma sat on the couch with a cup of tea on the table.
“So what happened?” That was the first question she asked after calming down the emotions.
Hearing that, I couldn’t help but lower my head to hide the tears in my eyes. How could I tell her what had transpired between me and Liam? I pressed my lips in a thin line and explained everything starting from the day Barbara and her men swormed in my house. All the bodyguards were replaced as I lost my ability to practice my magic freely.
When she heard that, she was surprised. “And then?”
“And then what? I didn’t know what to do. First we thought she was after Liam, and she wanted to use me to make him miserable.”
“She’s not?” Olivia raised her eyebrows.
I shook her head. “I had Daleri fix a microphone inside her room and guess what I heard?” I fished out my phone and played the recording.
After hearing that, Olivia frowned deeper, but didn’t say anything else.
Then I continued to tell her what happened after that. How Liam suspected that Barbara might not have said the complete truth about the boss of the hunter’s organization hating me. But we couldn’t just ignore this little warning. So he took me away to practice my magic skills in private in a special villa.
“He took you there!?” Olivia’s brows jumped up in surprise.
I tilted my head at her response. Why was she acting like it was very difficult to accept this? “Why?”
Olivia shook her head and looked at me in amazement. “It seems he really does love you after all. That’s the place meant for a family member. Once you’re the royal family’s truest member in both body and soul, you can go inside.”
My mood went in the negative direction after hearing that. A bitter smile formed on my lips. I knew that place was special, but I didn’t think it was that important for Liam’s family. But what did I end up doing after that? Thinking of the night I just blurted out hateful words to my own husband, I couldn’t help but feel regretful. Tears poured down my eyes like a waterfall without a hint of stopping.
Seeing my emotional face, Olivia didn’t say anything for a while, and kept caressing my back. When I had calmed down, she patted her lips and said in a gentle tone, “You don’t have to say anything.”
I shook my head. “I have to!” She was the only person I knew who could console me at this time. I frantically wiped my tears and continued. “The entire time, someone had followed us toward the villa, but they couldn’t enter. They just sat outside for days and weeks, waiting for us. But one day…” I stopped again as my voice stopped at my throat because of my excessive emotions. I took a few deep breaths to say my next few words. “One day, someone had died outside, and it was night. I didn’t think of anything and rushed out only to see it was a trap. They were trying to kill me. But at that exact moment, my powers surged out of my body, and one of the people died on the spot. Thankfully, Liam was there, and he controlled me, leaving the last person alive, on the brink of his death. But he revealed something.” I lowered my eyes and said, “The hunter’s leader is really after me.”
“Hmm…that’s new info. If she’s after you, then she might have known about you.”
After that, I wanted to continue and tell her the truth about how I was a jerk and said those things in a fit of anger. But I couldn’t open my mouth. So I just lowered my head, biting my lips hard enough to taste blood in my tongue.
“You had an argument with him, didn’t you?” Olivia guessed as she gave me a sympathetic glance.
I slowly nodded, not knowing what to do anymore. “And that girl Barbara, she even knows how to use this situation for her benefit. She fought with me, and made it seem like I was bullying her!” I cursed that woman under my breath. A cold glint appeared in my eyes.
“Okay, it was all in the past.” Olivia could see the change in my mood and silently tried to change the topic.
I took a deep breath to calm myself before falling into depression again. “But what about Liam? Why would he behave like that?”
“Don’t overthink. It’s your bad habit.”
I nodded in agreement. I do tend to overthink things, and due to that, I would end up messing things a lot!
“Now, tell me what I should do?”
Olivia was silent for a moment as if she was contemplating something. A frown had appeared after listening to my story. After a while, her lips parted. “Trust your husband. He knows what he is doing.”
“But couldn’t he tell me?”
“He’s just embarrassed. Don’t you know his nature already? You have said those words, and you’re regretful, but he doesn’t know that yet. He still thinks you’re doing all of these things out of anger.”
My expressions changed after hearing that as a realization struck my head. That was it! Liam was away because he was too embarrassed to say anything, and might still be wondering if I was still mad at him. How stupid of me!
“Olivia!” I turned toward her and hugged her tightly. “You’re a lifesaver!”