Chapter 15
Royal Knight Commander
Ara stopped thinking deeply when he heard a man named Nicolas talking. 'This man was probably the king's second in command.' She thought. There were a lot of people whose names she knew but not their faces. This gives her a realisation that she needs to study her enemy, know them well, and seek their strengths and weaknesses.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please start eating." Finally, Ara murmured. They already waste a lot of time before they can start eating.
"I sometimes envy them; they always drink blood while we're not," Maddie whispered, which made her look at her. Weren't they drinking blood? How could they survive?
"I mean human blood, human food was delicious but can't produce enough energy to use daily. The same as animal blood, the nutrients and energy were only temporary." She continued. Ara begged to differ. Animal blood is enough to sustain your thirst and hunger for blood.
Ara has been living alone for almost fifteen years now, and she only survives by consuming animal blood and human food. She is not violent, but don't trigger and provoke her. The last time she tasted human blood was three years ago, the man who almost raped a young girl. Out of anger, she drank the man's blood until he died. She burned the man's blood after that; she's not guilty nor sorry at all; a man like that deserves to die.
"That's right, but we always drink animal blood, Maddie, so there's no problem at all. We should be glad that they do not starve to death." Cattie stated her opinion.
"I'm glad but a little bit envious, haha. Just kidding, come on, Cat, are you that hungry to be this grumpy?" Maddie joked her. Cattie pouted and nodded her head, "Yeah, very much. Since we will be out of work early, we will go out for a hunt?" That caught Ara's attention.
"Hunt?" She asked them. "Yes, but just in the forest near the palace," Maddie answered. "Trees surrounded the whole palace. It's really isolated, but there are a lot of animals lurking inside the dark and large forest. It will be easy for us to hunt." She continued. Ara nodded in understanding, "I see. Okay, let's hunt later."
The two ladies smiled widely, "This will be fun. It's our first time to hunt with you. You're probably good at hunting." Ara shook her head, "Not really. I bet you two were good." That caused them to giggle; since Maddie was a seer, she had a hard time catching one. But since Cattie was a plant manipulator, it would be easy for her to capture her prey.
"No, not really. Haha." Maddie shyly answered. "Yeah, Maddie was suck in hunting." Cattie seconded the motion and gave her friend a teasing look. Maddie blushed even more. Yes, she admitted that one. What can she do? She's not really good on the matter.
Ara amusedly glanced at them; they surely loved to tease each other. But suddenly, Ara felt uncomfortable. She felt that someone was watching her, so she looked around. She saw the knight commander glance at her and winked; what? What was that all about? That's pretty unattractable.
She averted her gaze, but when she looked in their direction again, she was slightly caught off guard. It's not only one person who's looking at them now, but all of them.
She touched Cattie's arm to catch her attention. She's still talking to Maddie. "What?" She whispered to Ara. Geez, this is what I'm afraid to happen. Ara murmured to herself. "Stop talking; all of them were looking at us." She whispered back.
She saw how Maddie and Cat stiffened and paled from what she said. Ara was right; all of them, including the king, were looking at them. Did they talk that loud? Why did they stop eating? Mrs O'Neil was panicking inside her right now; she said they should stop talking and focus, but they defied her.
'These girls, they can't shut their mouth up for just how many minutes or hour. Oh, what should I do?" She thought in trouble. She had no idea what would happen now.
"I believe gossiping inside the palace is prohibited, especially when I'm around." A calm and yet dangerous voice heard in the area. The king's face was dead serious while looking at the three; Ara kneeled on the floor the same as Cattie and Maddie after hearing him say that. They're clearly aware that they are in trouble right now.
"Pardon, your Majesty. We don't mean to interrupt your lunch." Ara apologised calmly. She bowed her head to show respect and sincerity. How funny is this? She's not even sincere at all.
"We begged for your mercy, our king. Take easy on us; we made a small mistake; please pardon us." Cattie apologised, too. She's sweating hard, but she's shivering in fear right now. They should follow what Mrs. O'Neil had said; they should behave.
"The low maids were asking for the king's mercy? How pathetic." Lady Alyssa mocked, and there was a smug smirk playing on her lips as she looked at them. Ara remained silent. Lady Alyssa's words offended her. She surely thinks so high to herself to call them that way.
"We're really sorry, King; please spare us." Cattie forced herself to say without stuttering. She's really nervous right now. She glanced at Ara. She saw her still looking at the ground, not saying anything or just moving. What is she thinking?
"Come on, King. Just spare the poor girls. They looked really scared now." The knight commander calmly told him. Ara raised her head. Who's scared? She's not scared of him, them or anyone. Ara closed her eyes lightly and calmed down. She should act like she's scared so they do not get suspicious about her.
The king looked at him, "Oh, this is the first time I saw acted like you care, Rogers. When was the time you started caring for them?" He snapped. Mr. Rogers's lips formed into a tight line; yeah, he never cares. But the young and beautiful brunette maiden fascinates him.
Vladimir was furious about his knight commander; he had noticed him staring at his mate multiple times since he had entered the dining room. It's getting on his nerves; he doesn't like to see him flirting with her.
"No, not really, your majesty. But…" he pauses and looks at Ara, who's frowning right now. She heard what the man was thinking, that explained the wink a while ago. He's interested in her; why do they find her mysterious?
"But what?" Vladimir asked him. William Rogers smiled, "But something changes." He looked at the king seriously, "May I have a small favour from you, Your Majesty?" Vladimir wanted to raise an eyebrow; the royal knight commander rarely asked for a favour from him. He's curious to know about this one.
"Go ahead." He signs him to say his favour.
"I wanted that young lady to be mine." He said as he pointed Ara. Everyone in the room looked in her direction. Ara couldn't believe what she heard. What the heck?