My head swung in the direction of the door when my ears picked up the sound of keys jingling in the lock before it burst open, making a path for a fragile and slender figure dressed in a maid outfit to enter.
My gaze racked up and down her frame as if examining some kind of parasite.
No kidding. That's exactly what she was.
A bloodthirsty creature who may pass for a human if you go by her mundane look, clumsy steps, gentle smile, and friendly warmth radiating through her.
Pity her crimson red eyes and pale white skin don't go along with her act.
Her lips stretched further into a big grin as she reached me right next to the bed and greeted me,
"Good morning, amigo. I'm Nancy. My lord assigned me to take care of your needs. I never thought it would be possible to meet a werewolf let alone a rare bloodline alpha so early since I'm a baby vamp under training, and they don't allow trainees to wander alone outside the walls. That's why I got so hiked up when I was chosen out of hundreds. Please forgive me for babbling when I get nervous. It's really a biggy to meet you in person, my lady."
I looked at the maid like she had ascended from another planet. 'She is kidding, right? Am I an animal locked in a zoo for a baby vampire's entertainment?'
As far as I know, I was kidnapped and bitten and taken captive against my will. In short, I was a prisoner. Then why in the crazy world did this girl gape at me as if she would jump the tower to please me?
'Is she insane? What games are they playing with me?'
As if my thoughts just print on my face, she rushed to add, "That's King's order. He wanted to make sure you feel comfortable here."
If my ears didn't play tricks on me, I bet I heard admiration in her tone. Similar to what fans use whenever watching their favorite Korean drama actor on screen doing something romantic.
Eh, romantic, that wasn't the case here! Are you blind, little girl? And since when did the so-called Vampire King care for a werewolf? This had to be a miracle or part of any big scheme.
'Since he finds out this werewolf is his soulmate,' and here it came. My missing wolf bothered to let her presence known only to make a commentary on the matter about which I was still in denial.
'Let's not talk about it.'
She rolled her eyes at this. 'Ignoring the truth is not gonna make it better, Soph. You should-'
Before my wolf could sprout more nonsense in my mind, I blocked her from the mind link.
Right now, in my books of priorities, my relationship status was the least of my concerns.
Back to the topic. Time to test the waters.
"Does that mean you are going to show me the way to get out of this creepy place? That's what I want."
The maid was caught off guard for a moment. Her eyes widened like fungus and she stumbled on her words.
"M-my lady, forgive me, but that's outside my authority. You can't leave until milord says, so I mean nobody could leave the castle without his approval. That's how it works here."
As expected.
"Useless. Then what are you here for?" I knew I didn't have to be rude to her. She was just doing her job, and it was not her fault I was there, but my inner bitch didn't bother to have mercy for a vampire.
'They are all the same.'
She lowered her gaze while whispering in a small voice, "I'm here to help you with your bath and to get ready to join everyone for breakfast."
'You gotta be kidding me! Do you think I'm dumb? You lunatic.'
Breakfast with vampires or be their breakfast!?
"I'm not going to eat your food and who eats breakfast at midnight? And last time I checked vampires don't eat human food! Do you think I'm easy to fool? Get Out!" I flashed my canines, warning her to step back or things could get a little nasty here.
Her small body was trembling under me, imitating dominance oozing out of me. Her hands were clenching at the brim of her short black & white maid outfit as she dragged a step back when I moved one towards her. However, she didn't attempt to leave.
"Don't just stand here. Go and tell your King that I'm not going to play along with whatever sick game he is playing. I want to get out of here and I will. It's his call whether he let me go without creating trouble for both of us or not."
"Go!" I growled at the last part.
She ran for the door for her dear life and forgot to close it in a hurry. I smirked.
'That's my chance.'
***
For the castle of vampires, this place was over-lightened with the lamps and candles hanging in every corner and hallway. However, the place was quite silent and had off vibes. I had to think before breathing out loud. Damn vampire's hearing power.
Thanks to the soft amber glow, I could make out the corridor ahead clearly, but it wasn't comforting that now and then I ended up where I started.
Same brick walls. The same door of the room. Same hallway.
My body gets in the grip of exhaustion after wandering for a while. I felt dizzy.
'This place was a fucking maze! There's no way out.'
My body was cursing me, making me regret not accepting the breakfast invitation earlier. I had no idea how long it had been since I was kidnapped, but judging by the horrible noises my stomach was making; I was sure a hell of a lot of time had passed since I ate my last meal.
Call it the demand of my empty stomach or failure to figure out the way out, I choose to go back inside the room I woke up in.
To my surprise, the maid from earlier was standing by the door with a pair of neat clothes and a towel in her hands. Seeing me approaching, she forced her eyes down while a ghost of a smile played on her lips.
I gritted my teeth, trying not to think of it.
"A bath and change of clothes would be great before breakfast, my lady." She nodded towards the other door, which I assumed was a bathroom.
With an exhausted sigh, I walked toward it.
***
True to her words, Nancy ran me a hot water bath and got me neat clothes, even successfully taming my wild curls.
In the meantime, I tried to get some Intel out of her. Better to know your enemy before heading into the war zone. Well, in this case, I was already there. So far she held back her tongue just offering titbits about her being a newbie vampire and appointed here to work not a while ago by Vampire King himself and so on.
By the time she walked me through the maze of hallways to the breakfast hall, I wasn't sure if I was breathing.
Call it a miracle how she remembered the way because no matter how much I tried, all the way seemed the same until we reached in front of the dining hall. It could be due to exhaustion or there's something else going on behind the screen?
The Dining Hall. There weren't one or two vampires, but hundreds. All the red eyes turned in my way as soon as I crossed the threshold.
I gulped silently.
My guts sank. I had a feeling that this was not going to be something I could add to the happiest memories of my life.