Wine

"Although many vampires hate witches, some of them are definitely not, me included," Luca said playfully.

"I see. By the way, that was my necklace, right?" Ayana said as she hinted at Luca's neck where her pendant nested.

"No, this is mine," Luca answered as he used one of his hands to cover the pendant. The smirk on his face really annoyed Ayana.

"I thought we just made a deal to be an ally," Ayana said tiredly.

Luca chuckled as he unclasped the pendant around his neck.

"Turn around. I will put this on you," Luca said, holding the necklace.

"It's okay, just give it to me," Ayana reached out her hand.

"Let me do this. I promise I will not try to strangle you with the necklace," Luca said jokingly, but Ayana was too tired to respond to him. In the end, she turned around and let Luca put the necklace on her.

As the pendant touched her skin, Ayana felt relief wash over her. She could not believe she would get her necklace this quick. She initially thought that she would have to steal it from Luca, or maybe doing some sneaky attack behind the man's back to get back her necklace.

Just when Ayana was thinking of going back to her original position, the man circled his arms around Ayana's body and hugged her. Ayana was stunned for a moment.

"What are you doing? Let me go," Ayana said as she tried to free herself from the man's hug.

"Since I have given your pendant back, why don't you just follow my lead and calm down. It's not like I can kill you with a hug," Luca said, not budging at all.

"You can suffocate me to death with your hug," Ayana murmured, still trying to free herself.

After trying for some time and the man's hand still trap her like a stone, Ayana gave up. She was tired and looked at the man and realized that the man actually enjoyed seeing her struggling. Ayana leaned back and took a deep breath. Her body started to relax after a while. Ayana found this situation strange. How could she feel so relaxed in Luca's arms?

It must be because of the wine. That's right. I always become very relaxed after drinking alcohol.

***

A black car made its way to the front of Luca's castle. The front door opened as a man get off and walked to open the door on the passenger seat. A woman elegantly stepped out as all the maids lined up on both sides to greet her.

"Tell Luca to meet me in the library," Irene gave an order to the butler, who walked right behind her.

"Yes, madam," The butler said politely, bowing at the Irene emerging figure that went to the second floor.

"Where is Master Luca?" Nicolaus said as he looked at one of the maids.

"But, Master still hasn't come back yet," The maid looked at Nicolaus with confused eyes.

"What?" Nicolaus was flustered. His master should arrive at the castle first since they departed around 15 minutes earlier than them. Does it mean that they were going somewhere first before coming back to the castle? Nicolaus pondered as he started to step toward Irene's room.

Nicolaus knocked on the door as he arrived at Irene's front door.

"Madam, it's me."

"Come in," Irene's voice sounded from inside.

Nicolaus opened the door and stepped inside the elegant room. Compared to Ayana's girlish room, this room is definitely bigger and more luxurious since it is the main bedroom. Although Irene was not the mistress of the castle and only slept on the castle occasionally, since she contributed a lot to the castle, Luca let her do anything she wanted, including staying in the main bedroom.

Irene was sitting in the chair beside the window. She was relaxing after a tiresome dinner. She planned to talk to Luca for a moment before taking a warm bath. She needed a lot of energy to talk to her son-in-law tomorrow. Irene sighed just with the thought of talking with Marcus. She always felt like talking to a ten-year-old was better than talking to a man.

"Master Luca hasn't come back yet, madam," Nicolaus said politely. The man's report stunned her. 

"Isn't Luca coming back to the castle first? Did he tell you where he was going before coming back to the castle?" Irene asked with a frown.

"Master Luca indeed departed first before us, madam, but he did not tell me where he headed to," Nicolaus answered readily. 

Irene pondered with a frown. She can feel that something was happening and felt uneasy about that, but she cannot tell what exactly it is.

"Did he start to reject the marriage? Did he want to kill the girl? Or maybe just scare her" Irene mumble. She was thinking for a while and could not get the answer. She could not predict what Luca would do next.

"I know that everything was too easy. It's a miracle that he agreed to be married to a human for two years," Irene said with tiredness in her voice as she massaged her head.

"You may go. Wait for Luca and call me as soon as he arrives," Irene said as she gestured to the butler to leave her.

Nicolaus bowed a little before stepping out of the room.

Although she ordered the butler to call her when Luca arrived, Irene walked downstairs as the night went on. She became more anxious as time passed by. It is a quarter past one in the morning and Luca hasn't shown any sign that he would be back with Ayana. Irene was restless since she could not reach Luca and Ayana's phone.

Irene was sitting on the sofa when the sound of the car approaching the castle broke the heavy silence. It was two past ten. Irene sighed as she stepped to the front door.

Several maids and stewards line up to welcome their master.

The driver just opened the passenger door when Irene's irritated and worried tone sounded, "Where have you been?"