Foul mood

The three maids who were taken away by the guards the other day, hanged dead on the trees.

Vanessa hadn't expected that the king would punish them. No, she didn't know he would go this far with their punishment. Maybe depriving them of food or a few lashes of the cane, seemed better.

"Did he have to kill them?" She muttered.

But then she had been so preoccupied with going to the town that she had not bothered to ask the king about what he planned on doing with them.

With the amount of shocks she'd been receiving lately, she couldn't guarantee her mental health would be safe.

While she stood there, surprised at the scene, Ralph came to inform her, "The king has called for you."

In the dining room, the vampiress sat at the table next to Theodore.

"Are we not going to ask the maids to serve breakfast?" Lady Claudette inquired with King Theodore about not finding a maid waiting to serve the king.

Theodore didn't bother to look at her as he said, "Feel free to call on any of the maids, but I'm waiting for someone."

"Then I will wait as well." She quickly said.

"Suit yourself."

Claudette suddenly asked, "Yo—Why are you still here?!" Confusion and surprise marred her tone.

Theodore raised his gaze to see who the lady was speaking to, and he saw Vanessa standing at the entrance.

"Where else should she be?" He raised one brow at the lady. "Did you probably forget who you slapped?"

The lady quickly schooled her emotions before forcing a smile to her lips and said, "Of course not." She stared daggers at the human. "I must have thought it was someone else."

"What are you standing there for, instead of serving me?" he said to Vanessa.

When the human had started serving, Lady Claudette inquired, "Milord, was she the one you were waiting for?"

"Mm." His gaze remained fixated on Vanessa. "Did you like my gift?"

Hearing the question, Vanessa stopped serving for a moment and turned to look at King Theodore, where a mixture of anger and impatience twirled in her eyes. 'This king surely knew how to irk her.'

"Thank you, Milord." Came her simple reply. With the vampiress in the room, she couldn't say anything out of place.

But Theodore's question had already aroused the lady's curiosity, and she couldn't help but wonder what exactly was going on.

Since the human entered the room, the once bright mood that had accompanied the vampiress to the castle had been replaced with a foul one, where the king didn't even bother to spare her a conversation or look.

Vanessa could feel the intense gaze on her that came from the lady. And it made her wonder if the glare could drill a hole into her because of its intensity.

"Your highness, is there a specific reason that you wanted her to serve?" Her tone did no justice in trying to conceal the scorn she felt towards the human girl.

"What is my personal maid for if not to serve me?"

Vanessa, who stood at a distance after finishing serving them their meal, turned sharply to look at the king.

'Did he promote me without my consent?'

"Oh, you should have told me that." Claudette said.

When she went to place a piece of meat in her mouth, Theodore taunted, "And why should I have done that?"

She let out a titter. "Um…Well—because I was curious." She blurted out.

"Then stop being curious, as curiosity always kills the cat." Theodore warned, and he sensed the human's gaze on him.

A sly smile appeared on his lips as he placed a forkful of steak in his mouth.

Not a moment later, the vampiress excused herself to visit the powder room.

Theodore said to Vanessa, "You don't appear to be as ecstatic as I imagined you would be."

He said that, but in truth, he was getting the perfect reaction he had imagined. She might have expected the punishment to be less, but Theodore wasn't one to leave behind trails that would only turn to poison.

"Sorry I couldn't live up to your expectations." She bowed.

"You are not even sincere." He provoked her with his words, a wicked smile on his face.

Vanessa's blood boiled in anger, and her fiery eyes rose to meet his calm gaze.

"What more do you intend I say? sincerely appreciate your killing them?" She asked with raised brows. "Why? Did you have to kill them?"

King Theodore, who had long since finished his meal, rose from his chair and approached Vanessa.

As he came closer, Vanessa took some steps backward until she was at the edge of the table, and she placed both of her hands on it for support.

But Theodore came even closer, placing his hands on each side of the table and trapping her.

"Wh-what do you want?" she inquired with a shaken voice. Vanessa wondered if she had finally said something out of place.

Her heart skipped beats out of fear when he suddenly leaned in, and her eyes instinctively shut themselves, but opening them back, she saw him still there.

His eyes pinned her to one spot, and she felt cornered.

He said in almost a whisper, "Do you want to know what she thought about you even when she was about to die?"

She gulped, already feeling that what she would hear would not be good. "What did she think of me?" Vanessa mustered up the courage to say.

And this time, Theodore leaned in even closer and whispered in her ear, "Easily fooled. Once they were set free, she planned on telling you how sorry she was, when in truth she was not."

At the same time in the castle, Lady Claudette, who had excused herself to use the powder room, stood in front of a terrified maid who had her head downcast.

The maid shook in fear anytime the vampiress talked, knowing fully well that a human like herself was no match for the lady.

"A simple job, and you couldn't even do it right. Humans are just so useless." She sneered at the maid with indignation.

"Milady, please pardon me." The maid's voice trembled as she spoke. "I was going to do it, but..."

"Silence!" deadpanned the vampiress, and her hand moved towards the maids neck. "Now, what shall I do with you?"

"Give me another chance, and I—"

"Milady," Ralph called from behind her, and she dropped her hand while the maid's eyes shifted anxiously to him. "Is something the matter?"