Viscount Sebastian chuckled. It was faint and sounded like a breath. Viscount Sebastian had never been so entertained by her stupidity. Adeline was exactly like her mother. She was just a pretty face with no brain. How did a fool like her find a fault in a legal contract?

"S-so if you can be patient enough," Adeline assured him "I will fulfill your request soon."

Viscount Sebastian loudly laughed. The taunting noise echoed in the room and sent her flinching back.

Her eyes clamped shut in fear.

His lips curled into a snarl. Her terrified reaction was just like that of the past, when he saw her before her parents ever did. It was funny how the world worked.

"What a brave girl you've become," Viscount Sebastian spat out.

The Mardens had always been at the mercy of the Roses. Adeline's father was a Crown Prince. Prince Kaline of Kastrem. They were only Princes and Princesses in name.

A castle didn't reside in Kastrem. It was forbidden for any other castle to be built besides the one possessed by His Majesty. However, Crown Prince and Princesses resided in enormous mansions that might as well have been castles.

Kastrem's expansive land was valuable. Residing on their land were large mines where precious gemstones had been unearthed for decades. The mines gave the Rose family their wealth.

Crown Prince Kaline was filthy rich. His fortune was supposed to be given to Adeline the day she turned twenty-one. It was an unexpected age. Children usually inherited their parent's fortune when they turned eighteen.

It was as if Prince Kaline knew he was going to die and there would be people fighting for Adeline's wealth. Why prolong it for three extra years? What was he waiting for?

"Fine then," Viscount Sebastian said. He could wait two more days. The dance was held for three and the first had passed. Soon, Adeline's fortune would be his.

His sardonic expression morphed into satisfaction. He watched as she politely placed the paper back onto his desk. A girl of her lineage and blood, bowing her head like a servant. He truly enjoyed that sight.

- - - - -

"Adeline?" Asher called from down the hallway.

Asher had been searching everywhere for her. From the first floor of the estate to the fifth, there was not a single inch of the large house that he did not investigate.

"He summoned you into the private study again?" Asher sharply asked. He rushed to her in no time, knowing the Viscount did not treat women well. He should have known this was where she would be.

Adeline was visibly shaken. Her eyes were wide. She stumbled over her footing and nearly tripped, but caught herself in time.Seeing her like this made his blood boil. Did that wretched Viscount hurt his niece again? What gave that man the rights to do so? Adeline was a Princess!

"Asher," she whispered. "I have to do it."

Asher's anger was momentarily blinded by confusion. He didn't understand what she was babbling about.

"What are you talking about?" he questioned in a hardened voice. A second later, he cringed. It sounded harsh, even in his own ears.

"He agreed," she mumbled.

Adeline approached Asher. She was a jumbled mess. Was Lady Luck on her side for once? Did the coldhearted Viscount actually agree with her? Or, was he getting her hopes up, only to disappoint her later?

She couldn't figure it out. The thought bothered her more than she had wished.

"Asher, you'll always be with me, won't you?" she asked.

Asher wondered how that was even a question.

Asher had accompanied her since she was five and he was ten. Since then, there was not a day that passed where he didn't accompany the crybaby Princess. Tears would gush out of her eyes over the slightest inconvenience and whenever she wept, she'd cling to him. When she had such a claim on his heart, how could he not accompany her for the rest of his life?

Adeline had not cried for an entire decade now. Not even at the funeral of her own parents. On her parents' burrial grounds, she was forced to grow up. Her eyes had dried up like her shriveled heart.

From the tender age of ten, Adeline learned not to trust a single adult. All of them were evil. Especially the ones closest to her, the ones who smiled the brightest, the ones who lovingly patted the top of her head.

"Of course I will, Adeline," Asher promised. "Where else would I go?"

Adeline swallowed. "E-even if I kill someone?"

Asher's blinked. "Is that possible?"

Asher was entertained by her startling words. Death was not a simple thing. Murder was not tolerable. Especially in the age they lived in, where a death would be sentenced before a jury and court. What was she thinking?

Could Adeline's frail wrist lift a knife? Did she possess the guts to kill? She used to cry over killing a fly.

"It seems you have consumed alcohol whilst I went to fetch the cake," Asher joked. "You must be drunk, Adeline. Come, let me guide you back to your room."

Adeline's shoulders dropped in disappointment. Did no one believe in her? Even her closest friend believed she was too weak to hurt something. It was half the truth. But still. Couldn't he have faith in her? Just as she had faith in him? magic

"Asher," Adeline slowly said. She reluctantly followed him back to her room.

"Yes?""Why did Aunt Eleanor say she didn't see me dancing with someone? I really did—"

"Adeline," he warned, spinning around.

Adeline came to a startling halt, nearly bumping into him. Luckily, she had quick reflexes. She didn't want to hit her forehead on his muscular back. It would hurt.

"That man you were dancing with is a Vampire," he revealed. "Maybe Madam Eleanor doesn't deem him as a suitable suitor, thus, would like to pretend the event never happened in the first place."

Adeline nodded her head. Was that why Aunt Eleanor looked so horrified when she had been dancing with the stranger? Her twisting gut told her otherwise.

"But Aunt Eleanor mentioned that she wished I would hopefully catch His Majesty's attention," she pointed out. There was a hole in Asher's story that didn't make sense.

"As much as Aunt Eleanor despises Vampires, she wouldn't say something that bizarre," Adeline added on.

Aunt Eleanor was just a harsh critic. That's all. She would nitpick every single thing Adeline did. The same went for anyone else.

Adeline would like to believe it was out of love. People that cared about each other would have to show their concern somehow. Aunt Eleanor's intention was in the right place, but her actions were not.

"I wish I could read minds, Adeline," he patiently articulated, as if explaining a simple topic to a small child. "But I am not a vermin—"

"Vampire," she corrected. "Don't insult them..."

Asher suppressed a scoff. They were monsters. Demons, even. Why was she so kind to the race that restrained humans? Did she not realize the circumstances she was in?

"Vermin, Vampire, same thing," he stated. "The point is, I can't read what Madam Eleanor is thinking. I can only make guesses. You'd have to ask her yourself."

Adeline frowned. "Vampires don't read minds though. They only do that in fictional novels."

"You know what I meant," Asher mumbled. "If you want to know, you'd have to ask Madam Eleanor."

That was the problem. Adeline couldn't ask Aunt Eleanor. The older woman would only nag on about finding a suitor. It was one lecture after the other. If it's not about the food being consumed, then it was about Adeline's posture. This and that. It was overwhelming at times and hurt her immensely.

In the eyes of Aunt Eleanor, everything Adeline did was incorrect.

Adeline had thick skin, but it thinned to nothing when insults were hurled by relatives. She cared about their opinion. In the end, she was always affected by their comments.

"Nevermind then," Adeline responded.

She would rather drop the subject than approach Aunt Eleanor. Besides, her stomach was rumbling and Adeline was growing more grumpy by the minute. She was starving, but could not eat.

Adeline wordlessly brushed past him and headed straight for her room. She was angry that he was treating her like a small child.

'He knows the answer,' she thought to herself. 'I'm certain he does. Why else would he try to change the subject this evening?' she wondered.

It was strange.

And never in her wildest dreams would Adeline expect the truth.