"You!" Madeline raised her voice at Elliana, but she noticed that Elliana wasn't the one who slapped her.
"Arohi!" Madeline screeched in pure anger, and the girl looked at her with droopy eyes.
It was clear she was a vampire and a very rowdy one at that. She had been listening to Madeline's trash-talking for a few minutes and couldn't help but step forward to stop the disturbance she was causing to her ears. There was a limit to everything.
"Shut your trash, will you? You have been going on and on when she isn't even saying anything. Is this how your kingdom teaches its princesses? If so, this illegitimate girl is far better than you," the girl called Arohi said, and Elliana took a deep breath.
"Madeline, I will pretend you didn't raise your hand at me and say these things about my mother one last time because I don't want to soil my reputation. Next time, I won't be so lenient -" Elliana was cut-off mid-sentence when they heard another presence.
"What is going on here?" A cold male voice reverberated in the corridor, and Elliana stiffened immediately.
Madeline immediately recognized the voice, and a soft smirk stretched across her face.
"Aditya!" Madeline put on a pitiful look and rushed to the new boy.
"Elliana is bullying me with the vampires now," Madeline hugged Aditya, and the latter looked at Elliana sternly.
Aditya was the son of the council head of the council of humans containing different bloodline mayors. He was a year older than Elliana and Madeline and was majoring in science. He was one of the most handsome eligible bachelors among humans for girls their age and an ideal boyfriend because of how gentlemanly he always acted.
Elliana had a major crush on him since she saw him for the first time in the royal Kingdom, but he was more smitten by Madeline because she was cunning, and he was brutally honest about it too.
Things just have to become worse, no? Was it not enough that Madeline was causing a scene and ruining the mood that Aditya had to arrive at? Elliana smiled sadly in her heart.
She still remembered expressing her feelings to him on her sixteenth birthday. Elliana had been thinking about telling him everything for quite some time, and coincidentally, he had arrived in the kingdom.
Aditya was like a good friend to her. She always envied his life because of how everyone respected him wherever he went. He was one of the most reputable teenagers she had met or seen in the entire royals.
For some reason, she was under the delusion that he liked her too. She meant, why would such a handsome royal person take time from his busy schedule to come and play with her, right?
So when she saw Aditya walking inside the kingdom with a bouquet, she was excited and thought he brought them for her.
She had run to the entrance with the biggest smile on her face. The smile, which immediately vanished when she noticed Aditya wasn't even looking at her. He was looking at Madeline, who looked atrociously beautiful that day.
Madeline knew Elliana liked Aditya, and that's why she deliberately asked Aditya to bring flowers for her to make Elliana jealous. And just like that day, Madeline used Aditya to hurt Elliana when she couldn't find any other reason or method. It was beyond sickening.
Elliana evened her mask to keep it intact before raising her head proudly. She has been weak in front of these people once. She didn't want to do that again.
She had promised herself that she would be the scapegoat for Madeline's evil deeds this one last time, and it includes taking blames for the mess that she always initiates.
"Is it true, Elliana?" Aditya walked ahead towards the girl that he always presumed innocent and caring.
"Will you believe me if I say no?" Elliana asked, looking straight into his eyes, capturing him in a way he had never thought was possible. Then again, he always gets drowned in these never-ending beautiful orbs, doesn't he?
There was something about her eyes that always drew him in. It had taken a lot of effort for him to pacify himself that he couldn't like Elliana. However, how can someone ignore a beauty like her? Her face and body should be a walking sin.
It was all good, and he was able to stay close to her until she developed the feelings and thought of expressing them. Aditya hated Elliana for it. He wanted to stay a bit longer with her. If she hadn't proposed, he would've spent more time with her without being awkward and giving himself a tough time over it.
Seeing Madeline clutching Aditya's shirt even more firmly, Elliana scoffed in her head before raising her gaze back to Aditya.
"You don't have an answer to such a simple question? I guess that's exactly where we stop interrogating someone whether she is guilty, right?" Elliana tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ears, and Aditya's gaze immediately moved to the long hair he always loved playing with.
How much he wanted to be the one to - he shook out of his thoughts when he saw Madeline cupping his face.
"I am not lying, Aditya. Arohi slapped me. Why do you think a vampire will slap me out of nowhere? And why the hell did it happen only after Elliana got married? She is guiding them to bully me," Madeline added further, and if the situation was any different, Elliana had clapped for Madeline for her brilliant acting skills.
Hearing Madeline's words and seeing her pitiful expression, Aditya looked at Elliana, whose face was a bit hard to read because of the mask, and squared his jaws.
"Elliana, just because you got married -"
"Aditya, accept my apologies, but I heard Madeline talking nonsense because she is still my half-sister. However, you -" Elliana looked at him straight.
"You mean nothing to me. Just because I am married? Have a correction here. It's because I am married now that you guys shouldn't mess with me," Elliana looked at the girl Arohi gratefully before turning around and leaving.
Miss Zoya, who saw all the commotion, noticed the princess stopping behind a pillar and wiping her tears that were threatening to spill, and she gritted her teeth.
She swore if she even met this Madeline human again, she would remember to slap her tightly and hurt her in a way she would remember for eternity.
Elliana stood behind the pillar for some time to calm her raging heart and dim all the memories trying to resurface and make her sad.
She didn't want to be sad.
Elliana clenched her fists before walking towards the garden mindlessly.
Blue looked at the princess, who looked so out of her character at the moment. When Prince told her to observe the girl, she thought she was just following a random human who was cunning, but hearing her own sister shaking her like this, even Blue felt bad.
'Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror? This is how your mother must also look because you never took after your father. Do you want to look for that wh*re? Why aren't you trying to find your lookalike?' Elliana remembered her stepmom's hurtful words when she was only seven and woke up to a nightmare.
"Princess, I have been looking for you. Shall we go? The prince will arrive at the mansion soon, and we need to find something suitable for the makeup for the excuse of what we bought with the money or why we went to the mall," Miss Zoya rushed to Elliana, not wanting to let the princess roam alone and think about the sad things.
"I am sorry, I forgot. Is the payment done?" Elliana evened her expression before looking at Mise Zoya, masking her sadness, and Zoya's heart ached for the girl.
"Yes, princess. Thank you so much. This is the card," Miss Zoya handed the card to Elliana, and she nodded before placing it in her clutch securely.
"Let's go," Elliana said, scrunching her brows when she felt like she saw a shadow behind a tree.
However, as soon as she looked at the tree, there was nothing there. Elliana sighed before following Miss Zoya back to the car.
Her gaze flickered to Madeline and Aditya. To hurt Elliana even more, Madeline immediately held Aditya's elbow, and Elliana looked at the boy one last time before she sat inside the car.
"Start the car," Miss Zoya ordered the driver, and they left after that.
Meanwhile, inside the Limo, Sebastian, who had been having an online meeting with his friends overseas about the situation of vampires in their area, closed his laptop and looked at his phone that had a transaction message.
[$25000 had been successfully debited from your account ×××××××××××××]
Sebastian looked at the transaction message and remembered that he had given his black card to Elliana. He opened the message and noticed the transaction was made at the International University of Science and Business Administration. It was a co-ed University of vampires and humans.
Why did she spend the money there? Sebastian became even more confused with her expense and looked at Lucas.
"Lucas, call that co-ed International University and ask them the name of the student on which this amount is spent. Take the reference Id from the message," Sebastian ordered, racking his brains, thinking about all the possibilities.
Could it be that she was paying for her sister? They were supposed to enter college too, right? But why would she pay the fee for her stepsister? As long as he heard from her and Lucas, they never got along.
Sebastian looked out the window, closing his eyes till Lucas found out about the information.
As soon as he let his mind calm, the image of Elliana smiling at him with her eyes brimming with tears appeared in front of his eyes, and he scrunched his brows.
He shook away the image and tried to think about what he would do at the masquerade party that was in a month and how to infiltrate the hunters when the image of Elliana looking at him with hope when he found her near the lake appeared in his head, and he opened his eyes, annoyed.
What was his mind doing only thinking about that foxy girl?!
"Damn it!" Sebastian threw the Laptop beside him, and Lucas looked at his Prince through the rearview mirror, hurrying the receptionist.
"Sir, we found out the student's name," Lucas said, and Sebastian looked at him.
"The student is called Shreya Colton," Lucas said, and Sebastian scrunched his brows.
"Shreya Colton? Who is she?" Sebastian asked, and Lucas cleared his throat.
"Miss Zoya's adoptive daughter," Lucas said, waiting for Sebastian to react. However, the latter only nodded before looking out.
So this is how things are going to be, huh? Sebastian smiled evilly behind his mask.
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
"Princess, you are back!" The chef who was returning to his room, stopped and greeted her. However, when he saw her dazed expression, he looked behind her at Miss Zoya, who shook her head at him.
Right now the princess was anything but chirpy.
"Miss Zoya, I want to be left alone for some time. How can I reach the rooftop/terrace?" Elliana asked, and Miss Zoya thinned her lips.
She knew exactly why Elliana wanted to be left alone. A part of her wanted to console her and say everything would be alright and that nothing that her sister said was true, but that would also mean embarrassing her even more by letting her know she heard everything.
"Beth! Accompany the Princess to the terrace and leave her alone once she is there. Do not disturb her until further orders, okay?" Miss Zoya asked another maid, who nodded in return.
Elliana followed the maid to the terrace and stood near the railing. During the journey from the university to the mall to Palace, her mind kept replaying the incidents at the University.
What hurt her the most was that the man who was once her friend didn't even trust her enough. Everything Madeline said was the truth as hard as a rock for him.
It's funny how Madeline found a way to make her life interestingly sad even when she isn't living with them, or should she say, wasting their resources and smooching off the royal family.
Her father has still not contacted her even after two days. It makes her wonder if she really mattered to him. Or was she someone he wanted to get rid off of too? Was he not worried about her at all? Right. Why would anyone want to worry about her anymore? She was filth for them. A black spot that they got rid of in a very fashionable manner and were able to use at the same time.
It was because of Aditya, no? Now it made sense how Madeline, who had caught an infectious disease, looked perfectly fine at the university.
She was eyeing the position of the council head's wife. There is no way Elliana would believe that Madeline was in love with Aditya. She wasn't the kind of girl who believed in love.
Madeline might be in love with the power that comes with becoming the council head's son, but not with the person for sure. Elliana looked ahead towards the forest, feeling the same allure to nature that she always felt.
The urge to leave everything behind and live in the arms of mother nature was even stronger than before, and she pulled the chair towards the railing before sitting there to calm her mind.
Meanwhile, Sebastian walked inside the palace and looked around to see if his so-called wife returned.
"Has the princess returned?" He asked the guard, who bowed in return.
"Yes, sir. The Princess returned a few minutes ago," the guard said. Sebastian was about to go straight to his room to confront Elliana when he paused.
Rather than confronting the princess, he should ask Miss Zoya about it, no? Among the two of them, Miss Zoya is more likely to tell the truth. He can even pressurize her.
Sebastian walked to the living room and summoned Miss Zoya through the mind link before sitting on the boss's chair.
When Miss Zoya walked inside the living room and saw the prince pinching the bridge of his nose, she immediately knew that the prince was dissatisfied with something.
"You called me, sir?" Miss Zoya stood in front of him with her head bowed, and Sebastian opened his eyes to look at the woman he respected.
"Yes, Miss Zoya. I want you to report on the Princess's adventures today. You were with her all the time, right? What did she buy? Where did you guys go? What kind of things did she like that made her excited?" The prince asked, and Miss Zoya gulped.
"She bought a sketchbook and some expensive colors," Miss Zoya said, and Sebastian raised his eyebrows.
So the second transaction of $58 was for that stuff? He found it funny when he saw the notification. For a moment, he didn't know which one shocked him the most.
The fact that Elliana paid for Miss Zoya's daughter's fee or the fact that she only bought some colors and sketchbooks for herself?
"Is that all?" Sebastian looked at Miss Zoya with a stern gaze, and the latter immediately broke down.
There is no way she can hide the truth from the Prince. Even if it means Shreya would have to drop out of the University, she can't risk the life of her daughter with this lie.
The prince will find out about it sooner or later, and if he finds out she lied to him, he will never forgive her. Zoya bit her lips.
She should've known that it was a bad idea. Why she got influenced by Princess's nice words was beyond her.
Wait. How can she blame the princess? How can she be so mean and rude? She arrived only two days ago and was only trying to help her. Zoya's lips trembled at the thought of breaking her daughter's heart, but it wasn't like she had any choice either.
Sebastian hates lies and betrayals the most in the world.
"We went to International University," Zoya started.
"University?" Sebastian pretended like he didn't know anything.
"Yes, sir. Princess, she... She paid for my daughter's fee," Miss Zoya stuttered.
"And why would the princess do that?" Sebastian supported his head on his palm and looked at the head maid with a stare, a stare that makes the worst convicts squirm under him and reveal the truth.
"It's because I accidentally slipped how much Shreya wanted to study, but I am an unfortunate and imbecile mother who couldn't afford it for her adoptive daughter," Miss Zoya said, and Sebastian sighed.
"And for some reason, you couldn't come to me even when I told you that you mean a lot to me? Was it easier to have this slip up in front of a stranger than your Prince?"
"I was afraid, sir. I already feel like I am using too much of the palace's resources by living in the palace when all the maids live in the quarters. You have done so much for me already, sir. At first, I was reluctant when the princess mentioned she would help me, but eventually, I gave up. Please forgive me,"
Sebastian looked at Miss Zoya sternly for a few seconds before his expression turned even.
"And what did you promise her to do in return for this favor?" He hated going around in circles and asked directly.
"Nothing, sir. She didn't ask for anything. She just said she feels happy when she can help others. Her life and title have been worthless all her life. If she can help someone else by using her status, she is more than happy to do so," Miss Zoya said, and Sebastian hummed.
He didn't expect any of these answers when he found out about the expenditure, but it's not like this scenario had another meaning.
"Sir, you can punish me for what I did, but please don't punish my daughter or the Princess. She is not at fault. The poor girl even got humiliated so much that it brought tears to my eyes and -"
"Humiliated? What do you mean?" Sebastian's ears perked along with Lucas, who walked to the living room with the blueprint of the palace where the masquerade ball was to be held.
"It's just that, when we reached there, and Princess was paying for the fee, her stepsister Madeline came out of nowhere and started asking her questions. Mrs. Elliana didn't want to talk to her, but that vile human pulled the princess away," Miss Zoya clenched her fists, and the action didn't go unnoticed by Sebastian.
"She insulted Mrs. Elliana repeatedly, even when the princess said she didn't want drama. She called our princess a bas*ard, imbecile, fool, b*tch, wh*re, and daughter of a h*e. That girl even asked the princess if you haven't killed her because you are drinking her blood or because she is a good wh*re in the bed with a -" Miss Zoya paused at the word about to leave her mouth.
How can she be shameless enough to even speak of it so casually?
She raised her gaze and saw the Prince's hard and angry ones. Sebastian looked into Miss Zoya's eyes and read what was on her mind through telepathy, his gaze turning darker with each second.
"And the Princess didn't do anything? How can she let anyone bully her like this? Who is she afraid of? Does she have no confidence in me or our family?" Sebastian roared in anger. This wasn't just an insult to Elliana but to him too.
"Pardon my interference, Prince. You are like my son to me. But have you done anything in these two days to ensure you have gotten her back? That you will be there to protect her?" Miss Zoya's words were harsh to Sebastian, and he didn't like how the head maid was being brutally honest with him.
"She knows that you suspect her, and she did her best to not do anything that will hurt your reputation. She even went there with a mask so that no one recognizes and questions her. What else do you expect from a human girl who knows nothing about our world?" Miss Zoya asked, and Sebastian scoffed.
"You are already taking her side, Miss Zoya! Are you bribed just like that?" Sebastian asked, and Miss Zoya smiled before shaking her head.
"I am not taking her side, prince. I am just trying to show you that maybe you are being a bit too harsh on your relationship. Maybe she is just a broken girl who has never received love from her family, just like you?" Miss Zoya asked, and Lucas looked at the prince whose hands clenched to his side.
"You had your mom and dad until they were alive. That girl? Did she have anyone? I am sorry if my words were rude, but please think about these things. You can kill me if my words offended you, but it won't change the truth," Miss Zoya bent on her knees, and the prince looked at her in shock.
Though his expression remained the same because of his mask, Lucas could feel the temperature around the prince, dropping.
Miss Zoya has never knelt in front of anyone. Even when his mother was present and a maid had broken an expensive vase and blamed Miss Zoya, at that time, Miss Zoya had brazenly said she would rather get killed than now to anyone when it wasn't her fault.
Just what kind of magic does this girl possess for people to start siding with her already when it's only two days?
"You have had your research done on her, right? Think carefully before doing something that will leave you guilt-stricken for the rest of your life. You can kill 100 humans without remorse if they deserve it, but the death of one innocent can snatch everything you ever believed in, everything Elder Miss taught you," Miss Zoya said, and the prince looked at the bowing head maid one last time before he left angrily.
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
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