The Crown's Obsession

190 A way out?- Part 3

It wasn't that Madeline was fond of the Wilmot's, but she didn't forget Lady Rosamund's subtle threat during their conversation. The vampiress spoke as if she didn't care about dying, but if she did die, Madeline's family would not be spared. It was funny how Lady Rosamund was trying to scare her while she was alright replacing Madeline with her daughter, Sophie.

Feeling the intense gaze from her right, she slowly moved her eyes to find Calhoun who was staring at her. He didn't say anything but continued to stare at her, chewing his food and Madeline returned back to having her food.

"Where is Markus?" asked Samuel to Lady Rosamund, "It has been quite some time since I last saw him here."

Lady Rosamund smiled at the mention of her son's name, "He has been busy working on the land which the King generously gave it to him. The mansion is still in progress."

"You should find a girl for him," suggested Calhoun, "But then we have Sophie here. Has she decided to live the life of a spinster?"

Hearing this, Sophie turned red, half with embarrassment and half with anger.

Sophie came to the castle only on her mother's word that her mother would help in setting things right. But so far, she was nothing but a person who had been swept off to a corner, like a speck of dust that was useless and unwanted. To make things worse, the King was making jokes and teasing her. She would have laughed it off, but Sophie was in a foul mood.

"It seems like Sophie is upset after what had happened last time when she visited the castle," said Calhoun.

"Upset?" asked Lucy, looking at both of them.

Without allowing Sophie to talk, Calhoun said, "Sophie was kind enough to prepare food for the servants. Unfortunately, she didn't know it would fall short in quantity. I was thinking, maybe I should have her prepare the meal for the wedding. What do you say, Madeline?"

Madeline was quietly eating when all the attention at the table fell on her. She saw how Calhoun smiled at her with mischief in his eyes.

Calhoun had noticed how Madeline kept getting lost in her own world while sitting next to him to eat with others.

He didn't like it.

He wanted all her attention.

He wanted to know what she was thinking right now, to not be present mentally in his presence; he wasn't going to let her off that easily.

Madeline could tell that Calhoun wanted to involve her in the conversation that was taking place at the table, but there were other ways of doing it.

Calhoun hummed at this, "By chance, are you saying it because the taste of Sophie's food is not on par to your palate?"

Madeline's eyes widened. Why was Calhoun creating a spark of fire at the table? She hadn't tasted Sophie's food because Calhoun had dismissed it right away before it could be even served.

"No," she shook her head, "Lady Sophie is family. I would like her to be present with us and not in the kitchen," it was the most she could come up with. Lady Rosamund whose eyes had narrowed quietly looked at Madeline who offered a smile to everyone at the table.

"What a kind queen we are all going to have," announced Calhoun, raising his glass up to toast and the others did the same, "To the future Queen."

"To the future Queen," came the chorus voice at the table. When Madeline's eyes met Calhoun's eyes again, she saw the crooked smile on his lips, as if enjoying something internally.

Later that night, walking back to her room alone, Madeline twiddled her fingers. She doubted Lady Lucy would be able to give her an insight into what happened. The vampiress didn't know her husband was cheating on her, nor did she know Calhoun was the one who had killed her parents.

Before she reached the door to her room, she noticed Calhoun was already there with his back leaning against the wall outside the room. One leg was on the ground while the other foot was taking the support of the wall.

"Where were you?" he asked, his red eyes taking in her presence.

"Lady Lucy was explaining me what I might need for the wedding. Was there something you needed?" asked Madeline. It wasn't often that Calhoun came to wait next to her room.

Calhoun looked at her, his eyes fixed on her before he pushed himself to let the foot that was on the wall rest back on the ground, "I wanted to see you, is that reason good enough?"?He walked towards her.

Madeline closed her eyes when he raised his hand to caress her cheek, "I heard about your interest in hunting. Tomorrow morning ride with me," Calhoun said, his eyes looking down at her lips and then back up to her eyes.

She didn't know how vampires hunting took place; therefore, she decided to go along with Calhoun, "Okay."

Calhoun was extremely pleased by her compliant nature, "It seemed like something was running on your mind back in the dining room, something that's bothering you?" he asked, keeping his demeanour calm without showing curiosity in his voice or face.

Madeline felt the question rise in her throat, moving towards the tip of her tongue. And just when she parted her lips to ask, Calhoun leaned forward to steal a kiss from her.

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