A midnight visit

<< a/n: Please don't hate me too much because of this long awaited update. Support me :-) >>

"Have you started practicing your spells?" he asked. And when she didn't answer, he added, "I see, you have not."

"I need to see my parents before they are buried."

"Every request comes with a prize. Think twice before asking for something." Theodore watched her expression change to a troubled one.

Vanessa bit the bottom of her lips, and she did not realize how hard she had bitten on it until she tasted the metallic taste of her blood.

"What do you want this time?" she inquired. It hadn't been a day since the rumors, and he was already thinking of another hot spot to put her in. This was not good. She thought.

She shut her eyes for a moment as if thinking of something, with her teeth gritted.

"You don't like the offer? Feel free to decline." He smiled coyly.

Theodore moved his feet, ready to walk away.

"You wanted me to learn the spells quickly. Mistleville is a great place to start because it is the birthplace of the bluestone." She stated confidently.

And when she saw the thoughtful look on his face, a subtle smile cracked on her lips. "It is logical, isn't it?" she breathed out. "It would be wrong if I had to pay a prize for what you would gain. Don't you think?"

He nodded before saying, "It seems like, apart from having silver hairs, you are also silver-tongued." His lips curled up at one side. "But it would cost you more than that to convince me."

And this time, he started walking away without stopping. When there was some distance between them, she yelled, "Ok, I will pay whatever prize it is you want."

Meeting her parents was the only chance she had to wish them a proper goodbye. Everything had been so rushed back then.

Theodore didn't stop even after hearing her words, but as he continued to walk, he said just enough for her to hear, "Meet me in the parlor room at midnight."

Her eyes, which were cast to the floor as she thought of her parents, shifted to Theodore's back.

"Midnight?" She muttered as she watched his silhouette fade from view.

While hours passed in Greyforest castle, in front of one of the castle's balconies, Theodore stood, sipping his blood tea, as he watched the dark sky.

And soon Ralph came to stand next to him. "Done with work?" Theodore asked casually.

"Mm."

Theodore offered him another glass of blood tea that sat next to him, on the railings.

After drinking some of the contents, Ralph said, "Do you think it is safe to take the human girl with you?" His face held a subtle frown.

Not like he cared, but so many things could go wrong. Apart from her trying to run away again, feeling emotional after seeing her dead family, and practicing dangerous spells there, things could turn hectic.

Like she had said, it is, after all, its origin place.

Using spells that one wasn't familiar with was not advisable in every witch's cult. It is why their children were first taught to cast spells to grow plants.

"She had a choice, and she chose to bring this upon herself, so I will allow her to clear it up." Theodore said.

At the same time, a gust of wind blew their way, causing Theodore's hair to move along with it and leave it messy.

Drinking up the last remnants of blood tea in his glass, Theodore placed it on the balcony's railing and said, "Prepare the horses."

"Yes milord."

Theodore's shoe made clicking sounds as he maneuvered around to return to his chamber. Like Theodore himself, Ralph knew that the king wasn't going to the town of Mistleville just because the girl had requested it.

'Always the cunning king.' He grinned as the thoughts came to mind.

Meanwhile, in one of the rooms in the servant's quarter of the castle, Vanessa sat on her small bed with her legs crossed.

The witches' book of spells sat on her lap, and her eyes moved from one line of words to another, memorizing them.

"R-res..tringens om-mnia…" I am not getting any better with this. She sighed as she fell on her back, allowing it to hit the bed.

It felt like she had been trying to decipher incoherent spells. They all sounded like gibberish to her mouth and ears.

The lamp in her room flickered slightly when the pressure of the wind around it increased.

And for a moment, she thought it was going to turn off, but it did not. "What am I going to do?" she questioned herself.

Just in time, she heard a sound that resembled that of the bell tower, and she quickly snapped out of her thoughts.

Sitting up straight on the bed, she said, "It is time."

Memorizing spells was part of her cover-up so she wouldn't fall asleep, lest she miss the time.

With the help of the sound of the bell, she had been counting the number of hours that had passed since the time she retired to her room.

Vanessa grabbed her coat from where she had originally hung it. After wearing it, she tried to hide the book inside her coat.

Stepping out from her room, she felt the chilly wind hit hard on her skin despite wearing a coat, and she felt the need to rub her palms together to produce some amount of heat.

But her hands were all busy. She walked through the corridor quietly until she was standing in front of the parlor room.

When Vanessa stepped inside, her eyes moved around in the room to check if there was any sight of the king.

"Looking for me?" A voice rang close to her neck, and she gasped in surprise.

In an attempt to move away from the voice and turn around to see who it was, Vanessa almost hit Theodore on his nose and lost her footing.

She closed her eyes, anticipating the impact her buttocks would have on the floor. But when nothing happened, she realized she was holding onto something.

Her eyes flew open to see her hands holding tightly to someone's shirt.

"Scaredy-cat." He commented, and her eyes rose to meet his bright red ones that held some sort of amusement in them.

'What was so amusing about her current situation?' she thought.

Not to mention his mischievous smile and his now-messy hair, which made him appear harmless.

"Admire me too much, and we will not get to visit your dead parents." Theodore remarked. And as if a bolt of lightning had hit Vanessa, she quickly let go of his shirt.

Stepping away from him, she realized that she had accidentally dropped the book of spells. When she looked at the floor, she didn't catch a glimpse of it. "Where did it go?"