Chastity of the eyes

"What?!" Vanessa gasped when Ralph informed her of the king's order. "I can't." She decided without missing a breath.

Ralph watched her, gauging her reaction. "If I hadn't made myself clear, I would say it again. It is not a request but an order from the king." He paused for a moment before adding, "It's all thanks to the king that you are still alive, so don't think highly of yourself."

She forced a tight smile on her face and said, "I will remember to keep that in mind."

Now in Theodore's chamber and inside his bathroom, Vanessa had just finished preparing the bath water when she heard footsteps coming her way.

Her back straightened. Going to stand in one corner of the room, she lowered her gaze, her face perplexed.

Theodore walked in, and with her gaze lowered, Vanessa was limited to seeing only the king's bare feet. But she already wanted to run away so she could save her eyes chastity.

Which king had no shame enough to walk naked in front of a maid? She scoffed discreetly.

Water splashed out of the bath tub as Theodore stepped into the scented water that was foaming up to the brim of the tub.

Theodore hummed in approval as he laid his back relaxingly at one end of the tub, with his hands sitting freely on each side - somehow showcasing his taut muscles.

Tilting his head to look at her, he said, "Don't just stand there and come over here."

Vanessa's hands unconsciously squeezed the sides of her dress. From a free girl, where nobody expected too much from her, she had been changed to the personal maid of a cold vampire king.

Was she supposed to be thankful for it or wonder why everything happened the way it did.

Reaching the front of the tub, where the king's head rested with his eyes now shut as if he were taking a nap, she picked up the scented liquid and poured some of the content on her palm.

When she knelt down ready to start washing Theodore's already wet blonde hair, Theodore commented, "You have a noisy heart, you know? Breath." His voice was gentle.

Her heart has been on a rampage since the time he ordered her to come, and Theodore has been enjoying the tone of it all this time.

She exhaled, trying to keep her heartbeat stable while her trembling hands moved forward to reach his hair.

It's so soft.

"Who knew you would be loving the feel of my hair so soon?" he said in a taunting tone.

"H-how…T-that's no—" Unable to bring out the right words, she pressed her lips together. Her face was already flushed red with embarrassment; she had not meant to say that out loud.

Silence.

Despite the fact that the bubbles inside the bathtub covered the king's chest, Vanessa tried not to let her eyes linger anywhere that was not his head.

'How could he be so shameless?' thought Vanessa to herself.

As it was her first time staying this close to an undressed man, the situation felt even more embarrassing, and Theodore was enjoying her plight.

Lost in her thought, Vanessa held hard on the king's hair. But before she could pull it, Theodore said, "What stunt are you trying to pull?" His eyes watched her from the wide wall mirror in front of him, where he saw her blink once, bringing herself back to reality.

She quickly released her grip before bowing. "Forgive me, your highness."

"You seem to have a lot to say. Go ahead."

At that point, she wanted to look at his face to see if he was joking, as you never know how his mind works.

Pausing the movement of her petite hands on Theodore's hair, she voiced out, "I don't want to be your personal maid." Her brows drew together in concentration. "When did kings become entitled to having maids who attended to them personally?"

"You would be surprised. Sadly enough, you don't have a say here. And let's not forget that you have a pending prize to pay." He reminded her with a serious tone that had her feet curling, fearing that her words would put her further into trouble.

'Now how could she forget that?' It had been in the back of her mind since she agreed to it, and she wondered what the prize would be.

She shook her head as if trying to put her worries aside when, in truth, the action did nothing to help.

"Does the witcher from our visit do spells?" Theodore inquired.

"You mean Tom?" She addressed with a fond smile, which Theodore caught before a look of suspicion marred her face.

Though curious to know why the king was suddenly interested in her brother, she still answered, "My father always praised him because of how good he was at casting spells," but it was not the same with making potions.

Vanessa remembered how excited he was when he got the rare potion, which he in turn gave to her to keep. It was always described as the dead potion, where the elements to make it were hard to find.

But as ironic as it may sound, it was part of what kept her going that night. 'Again, should I be grateful for it?'

"Mm. An expert in spells, you say."

"Why did you ask?" Her eyes continued to stay glued to his head, unaware that a pair of bright red eyes were watching her from the mirror. An almost amused look in his eyes.

"What did you create a barrier for?" He chimed in with a question, not bothering to answer her earlier question, which caused her lips to set in a thin line.

"But you didn't ans—"

His lips twisted. "When were servants entitled to question their master? Tell me what I want to know." His demanding tone compelled her to tell,

"I did not want anyone damaging things that I'm yet to find out about." She sighed.

Everyone knew how the system worked – the abandoned town would continue to be in the king's name, but who would he appoint as custodian over the town?

Theodore watched the girl hold a furrowed brow before saying, "Was that all?"

All?... She thought for a sec and added, "I plan on conducting my deceased family's funeral once I'm free" from your clutches.

Free. Theodore smiled puckishly at her naivety.

Though the vampire king had promised to think about letting her go once he got the Krispadal, he didn't plan on giving her the freedom she desired now. Not ever.

"I already know my hair is soft and nice to finger comb, but..." He intentionally left his words hanging, giving her the benefit of doubt. And Vanessa wondered what he was up to again until he said, "Stop romancing it and start watching my body." With a humorless tone that came out serious.