Chapter ２０

The mating ritual. It was something I didn't think would be any different from normal sex, which I had done...ahem...many times with Liam even before our wedding. But it turns out, the mating ritual had a difference of heaven and earth.

That was because the level of pleasure had heightened when Liam had shared his energy just in time of hitting my G-spot.

My toes had curled so much that it couldn't curl any further. Blooming flowers had filled my heart and leaked out, falling all around me.

I almost felt like I would die of pleasure.

I didn't know when I fell asleep because after we were finished, I was so tired that I couldn't even lift my finger.

So this was early in the morning and I was wearing my nightwear. I even had undergarments on and I wasn't feeling sticky down there.

Then I turned around to see the empty space beside me and hid my face in my blanket.

Ah! Liam actually cleaned my body and dressed me up! How embarrassing! My cheeks heated at that.

Just then, someone poked my arms making me jump out of surprise.

"Time to wake up, sleepy head." Olivia said and then glared at me. "I heard you messed up your vows."

I averted my eyes out of guilt. I knew she would find out. My vow was really too embarrassing.

What do I do? I really messed up yesterday. And I wasn't just talking about the vow, but also my blood sucking scene and the event that happened last night. I had embarrassed myself so much in the last 24 hours that I almost felt like running away and hiding somewhere forever.

I cleared my throat and asked while drinking water, "Where's Liam?" It was strange not seeing him in his own room in the morning.

"He's out with the spies."

I nodded and continued drinking.

"For a girl, you scream really loud."

I choked at that and coughed a few times before patting my chest. I scream loud? When did she hear me screaming? Don't tell me it's last night? My ears turned red at that. "W-who told you that?"

"I heard last night. Couldn't sleep."

My ears turned redder. Can't she just shut her mouth? This woman was already old enough. Why did she have to speak such lewd words?

"She really does scream, doesn't she?"

And there he was, another character in my life who had decided to make me embarrassed every second of my life. Liam's eyes carried a touch of amusement as he looked at me, leaning on the doorframe.

"When did you come back?" I said, trying to change the topic.

Thankfully, Liam didn't continue to embarrass me like last night. "Just now. I have some news." Then he looked at Olivia and nodded, gesturing her to listen as well. "None of the hunter members accepted the crime. Our spies contacted most of the hunters, but they either changed the topic or rejected the blame."

"Why are they hiding it?"

"Perhaps their leader wants them to hide it."

Again with this leader. Just who is this person who keeps troubling us every single day?

"But why? And why are they troubling us?"

"They're after the American throne, and you're my weakness." He said the last sentence with such an expressionless face that I had to pause before actually understanding the meaning behind it. And when I did, I blushed. But he continued. "There's an issue with the hunters that you still don't know about. On the surface, the hunters are an organization that helps the vampires in finding normal jobs. Under the garb of a talent acquiring firm, they capture many vampires and make them hunters. And we have lost many of our people just because of that."

"Talent acquiring firm?" I repeated the words, surprised.

"Yes, so if I manage to sign a peace treaty with them as a company owner, they can't harm me or any of my family members."

"How would you do that?" He would need to own a company to sign a peace treaty right? Or would it be possible for him to sign this peace treaty considering his status?

Sensing my confusion, he explained, "I can't use my princely status here. It's just for show, but we own a company that makes our status high even among humans."

"What?"

"Blood bank."

My eyes widened at that. Not because I realized such a weird business was handled by Liam or perhaps this guy was almost like a CEO of the company, but I knew which company he was talking about—ABO blood bank. My Grandpa had told me that vampires own a blood bank that even helps humans in need. But I never thought Liam was the person who would be handling this kind of business.

Liam didn’t show any expressions and continued. “Before that, let’s talk about you.”

Huh? “What is there to talk about?” I asked in confusion.

He didn’t reply and simply looked at Olivia.

The vampire witch coughed awkwardly added. “Actually, we had discussed something and finalized your daily schedule.”

I frowned. Why did I feel something fishy here? My gaze turned suspicious as I continued to look at the old lady who looked like my elder sister.

“Hunters have attacked once again, and I, Liam too, feel like your life is in danger.” She stopped as I nodded. She was right. I was indeed in danger. “So, I have decided to double your practicing time. That means you had been practicing your magic only in the morning, but from today, I will teach you three hours in the morning, you will practice the skills for the entire afternoon under my guidance, and in the evening, I will take your surprise test.”

My mouth fell open at that. Would I have no life at all from now one? I thought that once I would become the future queen of the American Vampires, I would have freedom. But it turns out that I even lost the tiny bit of freedom I had in my grasp.

I glared at Olivia and turned my head away without replying.

“You also have to learn how to control your thirst when you are in your vampire mode.” Liam butted in only to make things worse. I could see Olivia nodded.

“Yes, that means an hour extra for that.” the lady said.

“Would you need to find extra time for practicing dangerous magic?” Liam joined the conversation forgetting about the fact that I was sitting here!

“Yes! How about late at night?”

“No, not at night.” Liam didn’t even think twice about Olivia’s suggestion. “She’ll be busy.”

The lady rolled her eyes. “And I assume you will make her scream every night?”

“Yes.” He said in such a way that it didn’t seem like he was talking about something shameful, rather a business deal. My face heated at that as my ears turned red. These two were discussing my life without any consent! Anger engulfed my heart as I glared at both of them.

“I’m still sitting here!” I took a few deep breaths to calm myself and said, “First, what happened to your peace treaty?”

Liam sighed. “I’m preparing relevant documents for holding the conference with the leader of hunters.” Then he paused and sad, “I don’t think the leader will see us. This leader is the most mysterious person I have ever seen. Doesn’t come to light, and no one knows the name. Only the highest members of the hunters are able to contact that person. We don’t even know whether the leader is a man or a woman. It can even be an unreasonable kid!”

I was surprised by hearing about this unknown leader.

Before I could open my mouth to ask, Liam continued. “So the conference is likely to be held between mine and the hunter’s subordinates.”

“You won’t go?”

“I will, but I’ll stay in the background to watch over things.” Then he laid back on his seat on the couch. “If they won’t approach me directly, why should I give them a face?”

I nodded and walked over to the bathroom. Just as I was about to go inside, Olivia threw a bunch of clothes over my face. I caught them and looked at the clothes curiously. It was a grey trouser and a simple top. “Wear this and come to the backyard after breakfast for the first session of practice.”

I nodded.

…

I’m never going to forgive Liam today. I had just entered the bathroom when he barged in saying he wanted to take a piss. I grunted and continued to bathe behind the curtains. But how could I know that my newlywed husband would end up throwing the curtains off, revealing my naked body? And that wasn’t it. Before I could scream out of the sudden shock, he climbed in and...you can imagine what happened next. And he even did it twice while sharing his energy.

My waist pained so much that I couldn’t walk straight after bathing. Fortunately, someone, I wasn't as exhausted as I should have been. But still, this wasn't what Liam was supposed to do just before my training

That monster!

I threw the spoon in a bowl filled with tomato soup as the liquid splashed outside, but I couldn’t care less. I glared at Liam, who was sitting silently on his chair in front of me, drinking blood as usual. He ignored me as well.

Fine, I would ignore you too. Let’s see who sleeps in bed at night!

I stood up and walked toward the backyard. As I reached, I heard steps following behind me. I rolled my eyes knowing who exactly it was.

“Don’t you have a company to handle?”

“Nope.” Liam strolled in the backyard and sat on a chair a little away from the circular platform. “Go on. Don’t mind me.”

Don’t mind him? I glared at me and rubbed my waist. My body was paining from the exercise we did before breakfast, and this man still had the nerve to face me after this! If Olivia blamed me for not performing my best because of how exhausted I was, I would put the blame on Liam’s shoulders!

Olivia didn’t say anything and moved aside to keep the book on the ground. “Lift it up.”

I knew what she meant. Even though I would act dumb on many occassions, I knew this time that Olivia wanted me to use my magic. I would be really stupic if I didn't know this simple thing because lifting magic was the only thing that Olivia made me practice the entire time!

I took a few deep breaths and muttered a spell. The next moment, I opened my eyes that had already turned purple. Electricity made my hair wave in the air as it turned purple from the scalp to the end. Looking down at the book, I squinted and circulated the energy in my subtle body. The energy flowed in the veins as if it was blood.

In my mind, I focused the energy on my palms, and my subtle body worked to accumulate the energy traveling throughout my body in my palms. My hands glowed as the book started trembling on the ground. Dust rose around me, filling my lungs with a faint dirty smell. I coughed but didn’t lose my focus. I directed the energy from my palms on the book lying on the ground. The energy, which should be invisible to the naked eye, could be seen through my subtle eyes which were activated at the moment. It blew with wind and circled the book lying on the ground, lifting it up with ease.

My eyes lit up at the success. I couldn’t believe I did that! Perhaps I became even more powerful after sharing energy with Liam!

After a while, I let the book rest on the ground again and looked at Olivia. My gaze was practically screaming for her to pat on my back out of pride. But the lady just nodded and picked the book, flipping the first page. “You are too slow. If it wasn’t for the mating ceremony, I think you would take another month just to lift the book in the air.”