Williams abruptly pulled the reins, and as soon as the carriage stopped, he witnessed the king jumping down from it. As a low-level vampire, his hearing abilities were limited compared to Maxen, whose hearing was far superior to any pure-blooded vampire. So he wondered if the king had detected some presence in the forest.
'What if it was the murderer of Mr. Warbeck trying to escape through the forest?' Williams questioned inwardly, his red eyes scanning the area as if the murderer might jump out at any moment.
Meanwhile, Maxen stepped away from the carriage, taking big, long strides as he followed the sound of the footsteps. His eyes narrowed when he caught sight of the silhouette of a young woman dashing towards him.
She was panting and drawing the air in fast and shallow breaths, while her jet-black long hair wildly swayed in the wind. Her fair, long legs wobbled slightly as she attempted to run faster, desperate to escape from someone who was following her. Her wine-red dress, a striking contrast to her pale skin, flittered in the air, making her look like a captivating goddess.
As Eva got closer, Maxen heard her heartbeat clearly, which sounded strangely familiar. While he struggled to recall where he had heard that heartbeat before, she unintentionally collided with him and the impact caused by the crash made her stumble backwards.
The next moment, Maxen's arm involuntarily snaked around her waist to stop her from falling. His breath caught in his chest when she raised her head, her big doe-like eyes locking with his. He felt as if he were beholding the entire universe as he gazed into her enchanting purple-violet eyes. And when she placed her right hand on his chest and clutched onto his shirt tightly, he felt a strong tug at his heart, as if she were pulling at his heartstrings.
For the first time in his life, he felt something stir deep inside his cold heart, which was as hard as a stone that no one had been able to crack till now. What was this strange feeling inside his heart? he wondered, staring into her dazed eyes.
"P-Please.. help me.. t-they are trying to -", Maxen heard her mumbling incoherently, and before she could finish her sentence, her eyes rolled back, and she slumped against him, her body turning limp.
Maxen tightened his grip around her waist, pulling her closer to him when he saw her head lolling back. He gazed at her face with a frown, slightly upset that he did not get the chance to see her purple eyes for longer.
"Return the girl to us and leave this place quickly, if you want to live to see another day", warned one of the guards who stood a few feet distance from Maxen, while the other one had a sinister smile on his face while his eyes raked over Eva's body lazily.
With his head lowered, Maxen's eyes appeared darker than the shadows within the forest, creating the illusion of black eyes to the guards. Mistaking him for a human, they thought he would flee in fear, desperate to save his own life. But the man paid no heed to their words, as his entire focus was fixed solely on the girl cradled in his arms.
"Tsk, It appears that someone needs to be taught a lesson not to meddle in other's affairs," the first guard snickered loudly.
Still not receiving a response from the man, the other guard drawled, "Looks like the human has got some spine to go against the night creatures. Shall we test the strength of that spine by pulling it out altogether?"
Immediately after saying those words, they charged towards the pair in unison. While the first guard went for Maxen's neck, the other one stretched his hand forward trying to haul Eva from Maxen's arms.
But, before the second guard's hand could even reach Eva, Maxen moved his hand slightly to the side and both the guard's eyes trailed down to look at the man's hand, only to be shocked at the sight of what they saw.
Maxen gripped a heart in one hand, while his other hand held the girl without budging an inch. The second guard's gaze shifted from the heart to his own chest, where he noticed a bloody hole with drops of blood trickling down. His eyes circled like saucers as he fell to the ground with a loud thud.
Maxen casually tossed the heart onto the ground, his expression unperturbed, as if he had not just ripped the heart of a vampire without so much as a twitch of a muscle.
Horror-stricken, the other guard stood paralyzed in the same spot. Everything had happened in just a matter of a few seconds, and his eyes didn't even register how effortlessly the man had pulled out the heart of a vampire. He felt his entire body quiver when his eyes locked with Maxen's dark red eyes. His knees gave out, and he collapsed to the ground, trembling in fear.
"P-Please spare me," he stuttered and pleaded in a shaky voice.
"What did you intend to do with the girl?" Maxen's cold voice sent shivers down the guard's spine, rendering him unable to form any coherent words in his mind.
"I will give you only ten seconds to answer," Maxen said nonchalantly, but the guard trembled like a leaf, fully aware of the warning in his tone.
"I-I don't know anything. It was the magistrate. H-He... He suspected that the girl had fled her house as she appeared to be all alone. Seeing she was beautiful, he decided to have a t-taste of her before selling her as a slave for a handsome sum of gold coi--," his words got caught in his throat, noticing Maxen's tightly clenched fist. He stammered and continued, "S-Since the girl had some fighting skills, he decided to d-drug her tea instead, not wanting to raise suspicions among the townsfolk in case she caused a ruckus. But before he could lay a hand on her, she managed to escape from the place."
"You can leave now," Maxen waved his hand, causing the guard to release a sigh of relief.
The man got up from the ground swiftly and tried to stand steadily before he turned around to flee from the place as fast as he can. He only took a few steps forward when he heard the sound of something cutting the air, and a dagger whooshed past his neck. Before he could understand what had happened, his head rolled down to the ground, and his body slumped forward. Blood gushed out from his severed neck, soaking the mud beneath him.
Maxen moved his eyes from the two bodies of the guards to the girl before he scooped her into his arms and carried her to the carriage.
Williams rushed forward to open the carriage door for the king, who entered the carriage and sat on the plush seat before carefully settling Eva on his lap.
A flicker of concern crossed Williams' face as he glanced at Eva, contemplating what fate awaited the unfortunate girl in the hands of the king. She escaped from the den of foxes only to fall into the mouth of an even bigger and more dangerous blood-thirsty predator.
"Would you like me to find a physician nearby, Your Majesty? The lady may need some help from a physician since she appears to have been drugged." he tried to talk the man into going to a physician's place he could find nearby, wanting to give the girl a chance to escape from his master's clutches.
"Did all the royal physicians in the castle suddenly die? Why have I not heard of such an occurrence?", Maxen raised his eyebrows and a small smile hung at the corner of his lips, but it lacked humour and there was a hidden warning behind his smile, "Don't try to outwit me if you want to cherish your poor old heart".
"Please pardon me for speaking out of line, My King", coachman Williams bowed his head and went to mount his seat at the front of the carriage before he used the whip to prod the horses to move forward. He could only sigh in his heart for the poor girl, who was trapped in the arms of the king.