The castle had five floors and Aziel's room was located on the third floor.
Lily stood above the flight of stairs that seemed to stretch to no end. Going down wouldn't be a problem but coming up... She possibly couldn't do this every day.
Lily looked around and noticed that this was not the route they followed yesterday to Aziel's room. The other route was very narrow and quiet, almost as if it was hidden and a personal passage.
Finally, they reached the end of the stairs. She watched as different maids moved around doing their business. They would frighteningly bow in front of Aziel before scurrying away like he would eat them if they stayed a second longer.
Aziel pretended he didn't see the fear he inflicted on those who came across him. His name alone made people shiver, what more his presence?
"I'm sorry to disturb you my Lord, but if I may ask, where are we going?" Said Lily as she tried to keep up with his slow and concise footsteps. She was used to walking fast-paced, but walking this slow made her anxious.
"Aren't you hungry?" She heard him ask. She wasn't hungry before but now that he had mentioned it, her stomach erupted in light rumbles.
"Just a little. I'm used to not having eaten for days." She lied smoothly.
"Good. Here we are." Aziel's voice caught the attention of the ten people in the dining room. Six were seated and the remaining people, who she guessed to be slaves, were either on the floor massaging the feet of their master or were standing massaging the shoulders of their master.
Only two people at the table were without slaves. The king who sat at the head of the table, and one of the princes who she had never seen. He wasn't there when she was first brought to the royal family.
They were two princes she never saw. One was with a slave and one was without a slave. She wondered among the two who was the cursed one.
Aziel walked to sit at the end of the table, opposite his father. That seat was meant for someone with equal authority and power as the king.
Lily didn't move and remained at the entrance of the dining room waiting for an order to tell her if she should go in or not. She was surprised when she saw where Aziel sat. Even the cursed prince didn't dare sit at the head and yet here he was, comfortably assuming the seat. What surprised her the most is how no one said anything and just went on with food.
"How dare you bring a criminal to our dining table!" Elliott started. Lily hadn't even set foot into the room, yet he was already shouting. If there was one thing she noticed, Elliott always seemed to be at loggerheads with Aziel. Now she can say for sure that Elliott spited Aziel. Which means he wanted to have her killed because Aziel saved her. This man was insane.
"Are you challenging me?" Aziel turned his head to face Elliott. The malevolent smile that curved his lips sent shivers down the spine of Lily.
"Aren't you going to say anything, Father?" Elliott faced his father instead. He was afraid of what Aziel would do if he challenges him further.
"Eat quietly," King Uriah said, but his eyes looked straight and Aziel. Aziel shot him a mischievous smile, and he went back to his food.
"Come here Lily," Aziel ordered as he cut into his half-cooked meat. Lily was startled when her name was called. All the hunger she felt earlier vanished, and she only wanted to stay out of these vampires' sight.
"You keep making me repeat myself. Maybe a good beating will make you more alert," Said Aziel as he casually placed a piece of meat into his mouth and chewed slowly.
Lily pursed her lips and walked carefully into the dining room.
"Sit next to me," Aziel ordered when Lily came to stand behind him.
"That's the limit, Aziel! You don't expect us to eat with a lowlife who would easily pass a slave!" Lily couldn't help it; she shot Elliott a deadly glare.
`Some people just need to have their mouths tightly sewn to help cleanse the atmosphere because people like Elliott keeps polluting the air with every word they breathe out`
"Just look at that! How dare you glare at me!" Elliott slammed his hands on the table. Lily pitied his slave who stood behind him. She looked so frightened seeing her master's mood turn sour. Elliott will probably pour all his aggression on her later on.
The thought of this made Lily soften her face and give the slave a reassuring smile.
"No one's complaining," Elena said, she picked up her metal cup gracefully and took a sip from the red liquid inside. Seeing how thick the liquid was...Lily gasped. Was that blood? She placed her hands to her mouth and Elena chuckled at her action.
Well, she was starting to like Elena. She seemed different from the others. To top it off, she had a kind and beautiful face that would melt anyone's heart, including Lily.
"Says who?" Elliott snapped, "we are royalty, and we don't fine with just anyone let alone a criminal."
"I'm not complaining," One of the princes she didn't meet yesterday said.
"To avoid further escalation of things, Lily please join us. I insist" Prince Edward said and Lily finally thought it was safe to take a seat.
Aziel slightly squinted his eyes. So she would rather listen to Edward than him? He had asked her to sit earlier, and she didn't, but only one word and a smile from Edward had her drawing out a chair immediately. Did she like Edward?
"Get her some sandwich Matthew," Said Aziel to the butler who stood meters away from the dining table.
"I'll be right back," Matthew bowed his head and left to get things done.
Elliott dramatically dropped his cutleries and stood up abruptly, "You may all be comfortable sharing a table with a criminal, but I'm not. Hope you all choke on your food," he then stormed off with his slave running after him almost in tears.
"Your name is Lily, right?" Elena smiled warmly at Lily.
"That's right," Lily answered.
"Don't mind Elliott, Lily. He may be a bit cranky, but he's not that bad." As if, Lily fought the urge to roll her eyes.
"I understand," she smiled shyly instead.
"Do you have clothes? I have a few clothes in my closet, I can give them to you maybe if you want." Lily didn't say anything, but she smiled at the offer. She wondered why Elena was this nice to her. This was not what she expected when she was coming here.
She expected everywhere to be gloomy, and horrid and the people living here to be carrying frowning faces everywhere they went. This was so different. Everyone except Elliott and the guy who sat opposite her, all smiled at her.
Speaking of the guy sitting opposite her, why was he so quiet? He never raised his head from his plate and just kept stuffing meat into his mouth like no one existed. Even when Elliott was yelling, he didn't bother to know what it was all about. The gloomy look and the air around were perfectly suited for someone who was...cursed.
Is there any chance that he is the cursed prince?!
Lily quickly focused her gaze elsewhere when he suddenly raised his head to look at her. He didn't look at her for long and went back to his food.
Boy was he handsome, but why did he look so much like Aziel?
Right on time, Matthew came in with two maids; one came with a tray of sandwiches and the other came with a glass of freshly hand-squeezed orange juice.
"Get some blood tea, Matthew."
"Animal or human blood, My lord?" The butler asked.
Lily blinked her eyes repeatedly to see if she heard correctly.
"Human blood," Aziel answered and Lily coughed out loud. She couldn't believe her ears. How could they easily drink human blood like it was water? Was the blood Elena was drinking from the humans as well?
"It seems your slave here doesn't know isn't aware that we drink human blood, brother" The same prince who supported her earlier spoke. He bent on the dining table, so he could look at her, "You're human right? Are you afraid your blood will be the next one in our cups?" He chuckled when he saw how wide Lily's eyes went.
"Stop scaring her Ethan," Edward said and looked at Lily, "We only drink blood from dead humans. Don't be too scared."
How is that reassuring, Lily thought. They could just as well just kill an alive human, and then they'd be dead. Does that also validify his statement?
Lily didn't ponder more and slowly devoured her sandwiches. She occasionally took sips from her juice as well. Their idea of them poisoning her came up once in a while, but the taste of the sandwiches made her keep reaching for more.
Matthew walked and handed Aziel his blood tea. Lily squirmed silently as she watched Aziel bring the cup to his mouth and empty all the contents of the blood tea.
"We need to talk," she heard the prince opposite her say. She had thought Aziel's voice was masculine, but when they say deeper than the ocean, they meant this prince's voice.
Another proof that this could be the cursed prince.
"About what?" Aziel asked nonchalantly.
"In private," the prince added. He stood up and left the dining hall not minding if he was being disrespectful to the king.
"Wait for me here," Aziel said as he dabbed the tablecloth on his lips. He stood up as well and left the dining hall with his brother.
"What do those brothers want to talk about again?" Ethan voiced cheerfully.
"Those brothers?" Lily didn't know when she blurted out those words. She was grateful though because she just found another new piece of information.
"Yes, those brothers. You already know Aziel, the other one is Adrian." He gestured for her to come closer, and she did, "You may not know this, but one of them is the infamous cursed prince."
Lily made an 'O' shape with her mouth. She guessed right.
Adrian was the cursed prince.
***AUTHOR'S NOTE***
This is the order of the Maximilian siblings from oldest to the youngest
First child - EDWARD MAXIMILIAN
Second child- ELLIOTT MAXIMILIAN
Third child- ELENA MAXIMILIAN
Fourth child- ETHAN MAXIMILIAN
Fifth child- AZIEL MAXIMILIAN
Sixth child- ADRIAN MAXIMILIAN