บท 30: The Princess and the Vampire

The Princess and the Vampire

My injury was treated by no one but the princess. Well, partially. It was something I wasn't expecting.

The wound throbbed with a dull ache, I stood before the king, trying to maintain my composure despite the ache. His stern gaze swept over my injury, a mixture of concern and authority etched into his features.

"You need to get treated before it becomes infected," the king declared, his voice leaving no room for argument.

Me? Get infected? I almost laughed at the absurdity. Vampires don't get infections, at least not in the way humans do. The only thing we have to fear is the madness that occurs when a vampire is afflicted with blood rabies, a disease that causes us to lose our minds and act on pure animal instincts. A disease that no vampire has ever recovered from.

Yet, when the king said "infected," I stifled my urge to laugh. This was an opportunity I couldn't let slip away—a chance to be close to the princess. Alita. The mere thought of her sent a shiver down my spine, a mixture of longing and something darker. What if I lied with her? Would it quell this burning desire? I am not a nice guy. I never said I was.

As I reached for my injury, the king turned to call for one of the guards, but then her voice cut through the tension. "I will do it, Father. I will treat his wound."

The king looked at his daughter, then back at me, doubt evident in his eyes. "Are you sure you can do this?"

Alita nodded with a determined glint in her eye. "I believe I can. Besides, if he tries anything, I will scream for help."

The king's expression was a mix of bemusement and resignation as he glanced between his daughter and me. "That is not what I mean, Alita, but anyway, I will leave you to experiment with him while I check on Philippe. His absence is beginning to make me worry."

With a final nod, the king left the tent, leaving me alone with Alita. The silence that followed was palpable, broken only by the soft, rhythmic beating of her heart. She stood there, clearly unsure of what to do next, her fingers twisting a strand of hair that had escaped her bun.

"The guards always go around with the aid box," she muttered, more to herself than to me. "I wonder where it is."

While she busied herself with the search, I found myself unable to look away from her. Her hair, coiled into a bun, begged to be set free by my hands. She looked so small and delicate, evoking a primal urge within me to draw her close and protect her. It was maddening, these emotions stirred by a single slip of a girl. I was a million-year-old vampire, for God's sake, having indulged in countless beauties with seductive charms that kept me coming back for more. Yet here I was, captivated and confounded by Alita. What is wrong with you, Bowen? You are strong, you are feared, and you are—

"What is your surname?" she asked, her voice pulling me from my spiraling thoughts.

I blinked, momentarily disoriented. "What?" I said breathlessly, then cleared my throat. "Yes."

Alita gave a small, nervous smile. "Brace yourself, I am not good with this."

"I don't mind," I replied, trying to sound reassuring.

She stepped closer, and the urge to taste her became almost unbearable. Would her blood taste as lovely as she looked?

From a small bottle, she uncorked a clear liquid and poured it directly onto my injury. At first, the sensation was one of cold, almost soothing. But that quickly changed as the heat began to build, followed by a pain so intense it felt as if my flesh was being devoured by invisible creatures.

"Is the princess trying to kill me?" I gasped, unable to hide the agony in my voice.

Alita looked genuinely alarmed. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know it would hurt this much."

Her concern was touching, though it did little to ease the pain. "What... what is that thing?" I managed to ask through gritted teeth.

I watched with a mixture of horror and curiosity as my wound worsened instead of healing. "What is that?" I demanded, my voice strained with pain.

Alita's face paled. "It has no label, but I thought it was a disinfectant. I didn't know it would escalate the injury to this extent." She poured a drop on her palm, and it sizzled instantly. She let out a sharp cry, pulling her hand back.

I grabbed the bottle from her, sniffing it, but it had no smell. Frustration and anger flared within me. "Which idiot puts a potion like this in an aid box?" He turned to the box and noticed various items that didn't resemble medical supplies. "This isn't an aid box. It's for handling animal carcasses. This substance is used to vaporize the body if it's too big to carry." I sighed, dumping the bottle back in the box. "You must have mistaken it for the aid box, Princess."

Alita's eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry, I only wanted to treat you. I would never have done that if I had known."

I inhaled deeply, trying to calm myself. I settled back in the chair, feeling the strain on my body. "I need to visit Meriona or probably just stay in my castle and get the rightful amount of blood I need and also shift back to my original self without the fear of being discovered."

An awkward silence fell over the room. Alita didn't know what to say, and I was also lost for words.

I cleared my throat and said, "So..."

At the same time, Alita opened her mouth to speak. "So..."

We both laughed, the tension easing slightly. "You go first," we spoke in unison.

I smiled. "Princess first."

Alita shook her head. "You can speak. I was going to apologize for my ignorance."

I shook my head. "It's fine, but I need your permission to go home so I can heal properly."

Alita nodded. "Yes, you can take as long as you need to get better."

I pointed to a cloth lying on the table. "Can you wrap my arm with that cloth?"

Alita sprung into action but accidentally hit her injured finger on the table. She flinched but didn't make a sound.

I noticed and held her hand, studying it. "It's a small one," I said, surprised to see her blood was purple. "I thought you would have red blood since you're half fairy and half human."

Alita laughed uneasily and tried to remove her hand from my grasp, but I held on, loving the feel of her small hand in mine.

I raised her finger to my lips, but Alita pulled it back. "What do you want to do?"

"Heal you," I said simply.

Alita shook her head. "Heal yourself first."

I rolled my eyes and dipped her finger into my lips. Alita's eyes widened. "This one is very strange," she thought.

I licked her finger, staring into her blue eyes. I noticed something he had never seen before: her eyes bore splashes of gold that shimmered brightly. I felt as if he was drowning in them.

Alita closed her eyes, trying to gather herself. "What is wrong with me? I fell for the stranger at the square and now for this male fairy. I am a princess, not some harlot."

I slowly removed her finger from my lips. "All clean. You taste good."

Alita blinked slowly, staring at Bowen's eyes before looking down at her finger. She gasped in surprise. Her skin had healed perfectly, the cut entirely gone.