“Di-Did I do anything to offend you, Your Majesty? Why do you want to send me back all of a sudden?” Anastasia asked in a surprised tone because that was the last thing she expected would happen to her.
Caspian then bluntly replied, “I thought you would jump at the thought of getting away from a monster like me. Was I wrong or are you going to do so once I leave the room?”
“You are wrong,” Anastasia almost instantly shouted back at the King.
She toned down her voice a bit and added, “You cannot send me back to Orsenia. I am already yours.”
The last sentence came out a bit wrong. She wanted to say that she was already his bride and that she was not some goods that he could return if he didn’t like it. But as she was a bit frightened by the very presence of the Vampire King, she tried to blurt out her sentences, which made her sound a bit desperate instead.
Embarrassed, she immediately covered her mouth with her palm and looked away.
Caspian found that little act of Anastasia to be very amusing. The corner of his lips slightly curved up, almost unnoticeably.
However, he was still adamant about sending her away. He took a step forward, prompting Anastasia to take a step back in fear.
The smile on his face faded away and he spoke in a menacing voice, “I am willingly giving you a chance to get away from me. So why don’t you go back to where you came from while I am still being nice to you?”
Anastasia wanted to say yes and run back to her own kingdom. She indeed thought that it was better to die of her disease than to marry someone who feasted on human blood.
But then again, it would be a lie to say that she wasn’t afraid of dying. All these years, she had convinced herself that she would gladly accept her death when the time came. But last night proved to her that she was not ready yet. She was as afraid as anyone when death was right in front of her.
She wanted to obtain the cure. She wanted to live, not just a sickly life but a healthy one. She wanted to explore the world, go on adventures, and enjoy everything that life had to offer.
So she daringly looked into the enchanting eyes of Caspian and said, “I am not going anywhere. I am already betrothed to you. So I am going to stay right here as your wife.”
Those words from Anastasia managed to strike a chord in Caspian’s cold heart. For a fraction of a second, he wanted to give in to her insistence and keep her with him.
But he forced himself to assume that she was a proud Princess who cared about not being called names for a failed marriage more than her own safety.
He gave an intimidating look to Anastasia and spoke in a harsh tone, “Princess, Sorvando is no place for a sweet lady like you. You already know that this is a Kingdom of nightmares. So I am telling you for the umpteenth time, go home!”
“And I am telling you for the umpteenth time that I’m not going back!” Anastasia clenched her gown tightly and bravely spoke up.
Caspian was baffled by that firmness of the Princess to stay at Sorvando even after seeing him murder a man and even after his countless attempts to scare her away.
‘Maybe she is sent here to spy on me and my kingdom. For all I know, she might not even be a real Princess but just a decoy,’ he suspected that Orsenia was plotting against Sorvando.
He had seen her scared to her core yesterday. And he had heard her crying hysterically. So when he was giving her a chance to run, there was no way that she would deny it unless she had come to Sorvando with some malicious intent.
Caspian glared at the stiff Princess and took a step forward again. “Why are you being so stubborn, Anastasia Vairina? Do you have some hidden agenda that you are being so hellbent on staying with a predator like me?”
It was true that the Princess indeed had some hidden agenda. So her heart began to race like there would be no tomorrow for her. A few worry lines appeared on her forehead as she questioned herself, ‘Did I make it so obvious that I am hiding something?’
Caspian could clearly hear her escalating heartbeat. He gave a sinister smirk to Anastasia as if he had caught her red-handed.
And he slowly taunted her in an intimidating tone, “So, you really do have a hidden agenda, don’t you? I can hear your scared little heart drumming.” He gave a smoldering look to her and asked, “Tell me, what are you hiding from me?”
Anastasia’s heart began to beat even faster when he said that he could hear her heartbeat.
Still, she tried her best to speak calmly as she gazed at Caspian’s enchanting face that was radiating beautifully in the morning light, “I have nothing to hide.”
“Oh, but I beg to differ…” Caspian took another step while menacingly staring at the already scared Princess, “…because your heart is clearly telling a different story.”
Without missing a beat, Anastasia spoke half-truth, “It’s because you are standing too close to me.”
“Hmm… It’s understandable.” Caspian gave a whimsical smirk.
He leaned down so that his face was right in front of the Princess’ face and whispered, “I could very easily make you my prey after all.” He parted his lips and smiled to reveal his fangs. Then he teasingly ran his tongue over his fangs as he intensely gazed at her neck.
Anastasia couldn’t tell if he was just trying to intimidate her or if he was serious about killing her this time. She tore off her gaze from his deadly fangs and took a step back as slowly as she could as if her gown would conceal her movement.
Caspian couldn’t help but chuckle at that futile attempt of the Princess to maintain distance between them.
“Oh, you cannot get away from me this easily, Princess.” He instantly closed the gap between them and stood right in front of Anastasia just so that he could intimidate her. “And just imagine what would happen if you stay with me. You would never know when I would sink my fangs on your slender neck.”
He caressed her neck with the back of his palm and continued in his menacingly deep voice, “I could easily kill you and your parents wouldn’t even know. Do you really want to get married to a beast like me?”