Chapter 95: Chapter 95
DAHLIA:
Four male vampires surrounded me in a semi-circle. They don’t look very welcoming at all…
“Thank you,” I responded in the coldest manner that I could, “but I can perfectly take care of myself.”
Internally, I was shaking in fright. It was only Eva who dared to bare her fangs to these vampires that gave me the courage to speak out to them.
“Are you sure, dear? I think you’ll need someone by your side at all times… It’s dangerous for a woman in your state to go around… unescorted…”
My eyebrows shot up in the air. A woman in my state – what on earth does that even mean?
“What do you -?” Before I could finish asking the gentleman what he had meant to tell me exactly, another man butted into our conversation.
“Lady, there you are. I had been looking everywhere for you,” he said, his words directed to me.
I blinked several times to get an idea of who this man was. He felt familiar, and yet I could not tell because he was wearing a royal blue mask.
Moon Goddess, how is it that all vampires have black hair and red eyes?... It was too hard to tell who one was exactly especially if the face is covered like so…
“Lady, your sister-in-law was looking for you… Why don’t you join her?”
“Sister-in-law,” I muttered.
The longer I stared at him, the more familiar he became, until finally I recognized who he was.
“Sir… Sir Cas-!” He winked at me, and I became aware that I shouldn’t be dropping his name like I almost did in an illegal auction.
“I… Yes, please escort me to my sister-in-law. I have forgotten where she was,” I said in a nervous laugh.
I went with the vampire in a royal blue mask – Sir Casior Willfrey. He eyed the vampires who surrounded me, and escorted me into a less crowded place in the hall.
I met Sir Casior back in Payn. He was the vampire who came to help Tristan, Livia, and I when we were attacked by rogues back then. With Livia’s introductions, I learned he was the head of the Internal Affairs of the Apricus Kingdom and also Livia’s ‘special friend.’
Maybe a ‘special friend’ wasn’t the right term, but if they both wanted to call it that way, I had no right to interfere…
“Lady Dahlia, what are you doing here on your own,” he said in a hushed but utterly surprised voice.
“Sir Casior, first of all, thank you for rescuing me … I don’t know why, but I think a lot of people had been acting weird since I got here… I didn’t come here alone though. I was with Tristan, but he is occupied at the moment…”
I looked at the stage to check the item being auctioned. It turned out to be a dragon scale.
“Goodness, he shouldn’t have left you alone!… Didn’t he know it was dangerous to leave you in this state? Vampires would surely flock you at this rate!”
I looked back at Sir Casior with a mixture of surprise and annoyance. What was that all about? What kind of state am I in that Tristan couldn’t possibly leave me for a few minutes by myself?
“So, is Lady Livia really here,” I asked.
“No. I pleaded for her to stay in Loracan, although I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d show herself here unannounced out of concern for the two of you.”
I sighed. It would have been better if she was here… But then again, she’ll be one more person to worry about… How can being Shadow Rune wolves be such a pain in this circumstance?
“Can you keep me company until he comes back,” I pleaded with Sir Casior.
“Of course… Or better yet, why don’t you keep me company? I’m here on official business anyway...”
“What kind of official business,” I asked.
“You’ll see… Do you want to go backstage with me?”
At the mention of ‘backstage,’ my heart leapt excitedly. Coming backstage would mean seeing the items that will be auctioned, right?
“Ah, but how about the bidding?”
“The final event won’t be until much later. Besides,” he said, his face breaking into a smile, “don’t you want to inspect the goods up close?”
Do I even have to think twice? Of course I’d grab the opportunity to see the red ruby in a more intimate manner anytime…
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TRISTAN:
I was not mistaken. It was the same energy, the same smell… I cannot be mistaken!
The moment that the red ruby was unveiled in public, an intense heat radiated from the center of my head where my wolf’s rune was supposed to reside.
In my human form, the effects of the magical pull wouldn’t show, but I knew that my wolves were feeling it too. I could hear Albus and Arthur whimper as the intense warmth hit our head where my own spirit stone, the physical image of the Shadow Rune legacy, lies.
It really was my mother’s rune! I could even feel her energy and the sound of her voice coming from it, beckoning me closer…
Thus, I instantly confirmed my suspicions with Dahlia when she asked me about it in a low voice.
However, there was one thing that was bothering me… Compared to the intensity of the power that was hitting me, why did the spirit stone look so small and seemingly unstable?
This spirit stone looked positively manipulated. It couldn’t have produced this much power within it because of its size… Sure enough, I could sense a small amount of similar energy coming out from it, but the one I am sensing now was more pronounced and definitely more concentrated.
I peered at it closely, and that’s when I realized the truth…
It wasn’t the spirit stone right in front of the audience that was emanating the sweet scent of summer and peach and the energy that felt akin to my mother’s spirit…
Something – or someone – with that same kind of energy was emitting it… And that person was not on the stage but up there in a hidden podium at the upper right deck of the auction hall…
Is it possible that someone I knew so well could be found up there?