Chapter 22: Chapter-22 A painting

It took Elliana thirty minutes to finally draw the rough sketch before she brought some water and started coloring the figures she had drawn so carefully. It was the first drawing of her sketchbook, and she wanted it to look good.

It wasn't her best piece, but she was satisfied with her artwork. She collected her colors after two hours of painting and arranged them nicely in the bottom area of her closet.

After the drawing dried, she looked at the painting with a smile.

"Mrs. Elliana, would you like to try some desserts?" Elliana heard the chef's voice from the intercom, and she left the file on the bed before answering a quick yes and leaving the room.

"A chocolate cake?" Elliana widened her eyes before blinking her eyes at the chef.

"I hope I don't trouble you a lot," Elliana said, and the Chef shook his head.

"You are like my daughter, Mrs. Elliana. You don't bother me. Rather it fills me with joy when I look at your happy smile after eating the food I cook. I have worked in this kitchen for so many years, but your smile gives me the most satisfaction and the appreciation I was looking for," the chef said, his focus on the dishes.

When the princess didn't say anything for some time, he looked up at her, only to smile when he saw her dirty mouth.

She was seriously like a kid.

"Wipe that chocolate before sir sees you like this or -" Chef said while walking to the kitchen to bring the napkins that he forgot to put on the table, and Elliana shrugged before taking another mouthful of the cake.

"Are you having snacks?" Sebastian's voice echoed in the empty dining room, and Elliana froze in her place along with the chef, who contemplated whether he should go out.

No. He should give the napkins to the princess. She already had a bad day. What if the prince scolds her for something which isn't even her fault? But what if he scolds her and suspends him from the kitchen? That way, he won't be able to cook for the princess anymore. Chef felt troubled.

"I..." Elliana looked the other way, licking her lips with her tongue to clean the most chocolate she could, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Sebastian since he was standing right above her.

"Can I have some?" Sebastian asked, and Elliana looked at her messy plate, unsure if she should offer the remaining cake to the prince from her plate or if he was asking her to call the chef and get him another plate.

"Mr. Chef, can you -" Elliana froze when Sebastian sat beside her and ate from the same spoon as hers.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she looked at the prince with sheer shock. Why would he do that? Did the prince just share an indirect kiss with her? Is this considered their first kiss now? Elliana's thoughts ran wild, and she looked at her plate shyly.

"So messy," Sebastian said before he grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him.

He looked at the chocolate on the corner of her mouth before shifting his gaze to her wide eyes.

He was tempted to tease her, but that would want him to take off his mask, and he didn't want to do that. He wiped the chocolate on her lips from his thumb before bringing his thumb under his big mask to have a good taste of it.

"It's sweet indeed," Sebastian said, not averting his gaze from her shy eyes.

He saw the swirl of emotions in them, adoration, shyness, and care being the dominant ones, and sighed.

"Brandon, bring my things to my office. I have a meeting to attend," Sebastian ordered no one in particular before standing and leaving.

Once the prince left, Elliana heaved a sigh of relief before touching her lips with a faint smile.

Her lips didn't feel like hers anymore. They felt like they now belonged to the prince since they touched them. Elliana flailed her legs under the table happily before continuing her eating, making the chef chuckle, who was peeping at her.

Before walking to his office, Sebastian stopped by his room to wash up a little.

He walked out of the washroom with a fresh look before wearing appropriate clothes for the meeting with his prince overcoat. As he did his cufflinks, his gaze fell on the sketchbook on the bed through the mirror's reflection.

He hates messy things the most.

It will be really a task to live with a girl like her who isn't that mindful of her image and the things around her. He sighed before walking to the bed to keep the sketchbook on the table.

As he bent to place the Sketchbook on the table, he paused and opened it to see if she drew something.

To say he was amazed would be an understatement. It was a sketch of two people. One of them looked like the princess herself, and the second person looked like him.

His backside was drawn on the sketchbook while the princess's side profile looked towards him with longing and love in her eyes. Her hand was extended as if she was trying to call on to him while the prince was looking at a lake.

It was beautiful, and one would say that it was filled with positive feelings, but to Sebastian, it looked depressing. He looked at his back and realized that it was his reality.

He was standing alone near the lake with no one by his side. For a moment, it felt like she was trying to draw how lonely he was, and it won't be wrong if that was the exact meaning. It was true.

Seeing the princess extending her hand as if she wanted to hold the prince's hand and pull him out of his -, Sebastian felt a sudden wave of emotions and closed the Sketchbook with a sigh before placing it on the table.

She was a good painter. He was yet to disclose all her talents. The more he spent time with her, the more unique she looked from others.

With a last look at the sketchbook, Sebastian left the room.

"Are you getting my point? I can look over the fact that you asked the princess for help, and you went behind me, but you'll have to do this for me," Sebastian sat behind his table on his boss's chair, and Miss Zoya looked at her feet before nodding.

"The princess will start college tomorrow. I want your daughter Shreya to keep a keen eye on her. We can't overlook the fact that there would be other humans in that University along with her. Even if the princess is not wrong, I want to keep her under observation. She might not try to do something, but those humans around her can't be trusted," Sebastian looked at Miss Zoya, and when she didn't say anything, he sighed.

"I am doing this for her benefit too. She has demanded that I don't disclose we are married. She wants to live her college life like a free soul, away from all the royal shackles, and I want someone to keep her safe. Blue will be constantly on alert. All your daughter needs to do is stand for the princess. You can do that after everything she did, right?" Sebastian asked, and Miss Zoya finally lifted her gaze before smiling.

"I will ask Shreya to do so. I would be more than happy if my daughter could assist the princess in any way," Miss Zoya said, and Sebastian nodded.

Very well.

One of the main reasons he probed Elliana to attend the university is because he wanted her to be close to those humans so he could find out if they were devising any strategies against them.

From what Miss Zoya said, the council head's son of the humans was also smitten by Elliana at some point. They can use this as a strategic approach to lure and find out more about their evil minds. There is no seduction bigger than the seduction of something you can't have.

Now that the council head's son knows he can't have Elliana, everything she'll do will affect and attract him. Sebastian nodded at himself, ignoring the uneasy feeling he was getting from the thought of people bullying Elliana.

He will support her, but she is also important to his mission. If he couldn't use her, there would be no meaning in all this drama and effort he was putting into being gentle with her.

Sebastian leaned back in his chair before looking at his phone.

The last call he made was to Elliana itself. He had saved her number by her initials E.H.

He didn't know why he even bothered to write such a long name for himself on her phone.

"Sir, can I ask you one more thing?" Miss Zoya asked.

"What is it?"

"Since you are only using Elliana for your mission, it won't be a problem if she falls in love with another man, right?" Mizz Zoya's question rendered Lucas and Sebastian speechless.

What the hell was wrong with this woman? She was asking for permission for the princess to commit adultery?

"And what is that supposed to mean, Miss Zoya?" Sebastian looked at her, unsure of what was going on inside her head.

"The literal meaning, sir. I want to be there for her as a mother. I want her to be able to share everything with me. She is one of the most beautiful girls I have seen. It's a given that she will have many suitors in college. Since you are just using her, I will at least guide her on how to choose a good man to be her first boyfriend. I can't wait for her to return and tell me everything," Miss Zoya clapped her hands.

"I also know that many prominent vampires are also studying there. What if she catches the eyes of one of those? They are not less than royalty. I just hope she finds a gentleman who would kiss the path she will walk on," Miss Zoya swooned.

"She deserves the best. Huh, I can't control my heart anymore. There are so many things I have to prepare for. The first impression is important," Miss Zoya couldn't control her excitement and didn't even bother to say she was leaving and left just like that.

Lucas looked at the prince to ask him if they were ready for the meeting, but when he saw the ugly expression on his face, he gulped before leaving the room silently. It wasn't long before the sound of glass shattering echoed in the corridor, and he sighed.

Things will either turn too interesting or too painful for everyone in the household from now on that the princess will join College, and the prince might gain some competition.