Both Elys and Henry were left dumbfounded by the prince’s sudden intrusion in their conversation.
It wasn’t as much of a shock to Henry, as he had learned to live with the fact that a vampire prince was his master – it was an inevitable part of the job. What made his ear ping was that his master agreed to have someone he doesn’t know to serve him.
The young prince might have been laidback from the kingdom’s politics, but he still was wary of the people that came into his abode.
No matter how insignificant his role was to the vampire society right now, the prince wasn’t stupid to let his guard down from those that want him out of the picture.
Was Prince Aleksander up to something here?
As Henry returned into his quarters, he mulled the thought over and over again. He tossed and turned in his bed, a bit anxious with the new development after the wedding.
After about what seemed like a long night, Henry finally resigned to the conclusion – despite the length of his service, sometimes he just couldn’t fathom the choices of his master.
On the other hand, Elys was also pondering into Aleksander’s actions when she was finally alone in the bathtub. Her face was the only part of her body left that wasn’t submerged in the ice-cold waters, her eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.
Contrary to Henry’s restless contemplation, Elys was deadly still. She only moved when the grandfather clock chimed another hour had passed, jerking in surprise as she was pulled back into reality.
"Haa..." Elys released a long sigh after she sat straight. "It’s a long, long night. Perhaps I should get some rest already."
Water spilled over to the sides as she leaned on the porcelain tub. Surprisingly, out of all the rooms that were unkept and full of dust and cobwebs, the bathroom was delightfully spotless. She didn’t even notice a single speck of dust on the shiny tiled floor.
’How couldn’t I have notice he was there?’ she mused in her mind, ’I need to be extremely careful around him – especially now that I know he has a way to manipulate what I see in my mind. His magic is dangerous.’
Elys raised her wounded hand to inspect it. The attendant had made sure to clean and put an ointment over it before they went off to take a look at the manor.
She had taken off the bandage, and noted the deep gash that the broken glass had made with her own desire to kill the prince out of reflex.
’I need to have someone by my side here,’ she thought silently.
She wasn’t at ease with Henry. Even with the old man being polite with her, he was still distant and always dodged the questions Elys threw at him.
Elys knew too well what he was doing. Henry was undeniably doing it in the hopes of saving his own neck from the wrath of his master – Aleksander Ardorlean of the Western Kingdom.
It annoyed her, but she understood very well.
’Henry can’t be trusted; he will always be loyal to the prince no matter what I offer him,’ she thought.
Also, there was none she could offer him anyway aside from promises of hidden riches within the Northern Kingdom. She couldn’t bring anything with her except herself when the vampires took her and the rest to become slaves to the West.
Elys can’t get rid of Henry as well – that would just be too obvious with only the three of them in the manor.
Catching herself almost sighing for the nth time, the princess splashed her face with water instead.
The fallen princess rose up from her now lukewarm bath. Water gracefully glided and glistened on her smooth skin with the light reflected from the moon outside her glass window. Her flaming hair had now darkened with the touch of the water, darkening into a deep crimson.
It almost even looked like blood.
Elys stepped out of the bathtub, her footsteps lithe from years and years of practice. She looked out towards the glass window where the crescent moon smiled at her menacingly. With determination in mind, she finally made her decision.
She must bring Cordelia into the bastard prince’s manor as her maidservant.
There was no one else that could come to mind. Cordelia was experienced in both serving her as a royalty, and also with secret missions.
She was one of the best, should she had chosen the military life over serving the Whitecasters.
+++
Elys’ sleep was not the best that night.
The princess had tossed and turned in the hard bed. Nightmares of the raid and her parents’ death and that of her people replaying in her head for the nth time.
Morning came, and Elys tried her best to get rid of the tiredness that formed under her eyes.
Dark circles were evident as she found her reflection on a shiny surface when she awoke at the break of dawn. Hopefully the cold water from the bathroom had done its job to remove the puffiness.
She didn’t want to show the prince any signs of weakness – even that of her incessant insomnia.
"Your highness," the attendant’s voice came as he knocked on her door, "breakfast is ready. Will you dine downstairs or shall I bring your food here?"
Elys wanted to keep herself inside the room for a little longer, but she also thought it was better to take a look of the manor in the light of day. Last night had been so dark she barely even noticed the grandiose of the walls and ceilings.
Even with her trained vision, there was only so much that the human eye can do in the dark.
"I will be out in a moment," she replied shortly afterwards.
She looked over the side where her wedding dress and the rest of the jewelries that paired were neatly stacked in her open closet. The wide wardrobe didn’t provide much despite the size of it as she came to realize.
She had pored over her choices, but there was nothing inside to change into but one pair of dress and undergarments. Those same clothes being the one she changed into last night after her bath.
Elys patted the crumples in her skirt and sleeves as much as she could, and then with the same dress that she slept in, she went out of her room to greet Henry a good morning.