Fu Sheng stares at his finger. The bite mark isn't gone. Usually, his body heals fast. But, reddish bite mark refuses to go away. Each time he looks at it, he remembers the odd woman.
Something is different about that woman. When she bit him, he couldn't push her away. Usually, he kills anyone who even thinks of offending him. Usually, he snaps their necks if they turn out to have any link with the council or the rogue vampire hunters. Usually, he dislikes the converts.
Nobody has bitten him. Though biting a human for a meal is nothing unusual, but biting another vampire is intimate.
His fiance, before she was killed by the council, has tried to bite him once. He has broken her teeth with his foot before she could even touch him. But, he has let down his guard down in front of that woman. He should kill her already. He should interrogate her.
Did she poison him? Maybe, the bite mark is not disappearing because of the poison. Can a vampire really touch the enchanted wood? He has never seen one before.
He nibbles the bite mark on his finger with his thumb. Why did he feel that way back then?
The other nine vampires have been watching their majesty for hours now. They have been afraid to move, blink, or speak. The expression of their majesty is becoming colder with each passing moment. They couldn't imagine that their majesty's woman would turn out to be an assassin. Ever since the human maid found out the arrow, their majesty has been sitting at the same spot and looking at his thumb with a frozen expression.
"Your majesty..." Aiken takes a step forward. He is afraid, but he can see that Fu Sheng is thinking hard about something. It's related to that woman. In his imaginative mind, the woman betrayed their majesty, the king. She must be an assassin who approached the princess with a motive. She became close to their majesty, and then, she planned to kill him when he had his guard down. Thankfully, they found the arrow before the worst could happen. It's the council's conspiracy for sure.
"Hmm, I must be poisoned." Fu Sheng raises his finger and mumbles to himself, but all the other eight vampires can hear him clearly. His forehead creases into deep lines.
"Your majesty, did you get hurt?" Aiken gets close to their majesty with worry. The vampires are resistant to all kind of poisons. If their majesty is poisoned, did the council come up with some new type of poison then?
Fu Sheng stands up abruptly. "I am not hurt."
"Your majesty, what happened to you?" Aiken is on the verge of tears. Their majesty is definitely hurt. Why would he make that kind of expression? That woman must have broken his heart. Their majesty showed interest to a woman for the first time since the council killed his fiance. "Did that woman hurt you?"
Fu Sheng gazes at him. His eyes are emotionless and dark. "That woman did something to me."
"What did she do?" Aiken asks, barely breathing.
"She left some kind of poison inside my body." Fu Sheng paces impatiently. "I have a strange illness. My body becomes hot whenever I think of her. My heart has been fluttering abnormally. My stomach feels upset. I feel that I want her to bite me again. She must have left a poison spell inside me when she bit me. Her bite mark isn't disappearing either."
The audience's mouths are wide open. Their eyes are bulging out. They realize that it's their hearts that are also fluttering abnormally due to stress. What did they just hear? Is this a dream or a nightmare?
Their majesty is clueless. He is the oldest vampire among them. He has no idea. They eye each other nervously. Who should explain this to him? In the end, it's Aiken again because he is the closest one to their majesty.
"Your Majesty, I am afraid that it's not a poison," Aiken reveals after a deep breath and steps back slowly to make a wide distance between him and the vampire king. There is no telling what would happen if the king finds out.
"It's not a spell either."
"It's not?" Fu Sheng raises his sharp brow. "What is it then?"
Their majesty can't be that dumb in this matter, is he? What should he do? How should he explain? He looks back at the other vampires who are looking at anywhere but him. There is no going back now.
Their Majesty won't kill him, but he won't be in a good mood either. The woman is an assassin sent by the council.
Aiken bows deeply to their majesty and spits out, "She is your mate."
"What did you say?" Fu Sheng asks in a threatening tone. The other vampires wonder who should they pray to. They don't have a god. In their eyes, their majesty is their god. But, their king's mood is worse now. He is like to whack that woman into pieces if he finds out.
Aiken falls on his knees due to the pressure exerted by Fu Sheng's cold aura.
"A mate's first bite mark doesn't disappear."
Meanwhile, Huang Qiuyan is lost.
[System: Dear Host, the castle has protection spells ingrained in the walls. I can't scan it.]
[Host: I know that you are incompetent. I will find the way by myself.]
[System: Dear Host, I am afraid that you will end up in trouble again.]
[Host: Shut up, I will find the way.]
She doesn't answer to the system. The castle is huge and archaic. The walls are black and rough. She hasn't seen any window or door yet. It's dark.
"Argh! I am tired." She lightly thrusts the wall. "I am tired of walking. I should just keep smashing through the walls until I see the light."
[System: Dear Host, I don't think that it's a good idea.]
"You know any other way?" She scratches her chin. "I should use my strength to escape."
She wants to check her limit. She doesn't mind if she can make this castle collapse. After all, it belongs to that horrible man who threw her in prison.
Huang Qiuyan is full of enthusiasm. She giggles when she sees her work on the wall. It doesn't take her long. When she keeps breaking through the chambers until she enters the hall, she comes face to face with Fu Sheng and the other vampires.
They peacefully watch each other. Huang Qiuyan gives them a plastic smile and gives them an apologetic bow. She turns around and bolts.
"Your Majesty, your mate has escaped the prison."