Female Novel
Increasing confusion
Draven had one knee on the ground while holding me in his arms. He stroked my back, trying to soothe
me until my body stopped trembling and I got back to my senses. As soon as I realized that I was in his
embrace, I flinched, releasing myself from his grip. Panicking, I pushed myself away from his chest and
my butt immediately landed hard on the ground. He looked at me in my pathetic state, barely holding
his laugh. I clenched my teeth and quickly got myself up from the ground.
"Um… I'm sorry about that... And thank you," I mumbled while avoiding his gaze and dusting the dirt off
my butt.
He softly chuckled, "You're welcome," and then he quickly added, "Are you ok now?"
"Yes…" I said, still avoiding his gaze. "I'd better go now…" I mumbled, walking past him and heading
the same way I came.
My head was a mess. I didn't know how I felt or what I felt. I only knew that I needed to get as far away
from Alpha Draven as possible.
"Wait." He rushed to grab my wrist, "Um…" He looked deep into my eyes, but not a word came out of
his mouth.
"I need to go back," I said softly as I took his hand off my wrist.
He didn't stop me. He only stared at me, clearly not knowing what to say, and I used it as an
opportunity to get away. I nearly ran out of that maze, miraculously finding the same route I walked
before. I felt that I could only breathe once I was heading towards the Palace's east wing.
"What the hell was that?!" I asked myself, trying to process everything, "How could I accept his
embrace like that?! How could I let him touch me?!"
I immediately imagined what would happen if Sariel saw me and Alpha Draven in this situation. I
flinched at that thought. But then I started to wonder, would he still be that jealous? He didn't seem to
act like that during the ball… His attention shifted towards Elora, while I couldn't even casually meet
him. I wasn't allowed to. The mere thought of it made my chest squeeze. I yearned for him. I wanted to
see him, even for a few minutes. I wanted to dive into his scent and feel his hands on my skin. I needed
him to clear my head and tell me that he longed to be with me as well.
I kept walking, bemused, with my mind occupied with all kinds of feelings. I was passing the main
building on the way to my chamber when I saw someone suspiciously glancing out of the east wing's
entrance and then running towards the maids' quarters. The person looked like a young maid, so it
wouldn't be abnormal for her to be in my wing. The more I was curious about the reason she acted so
strangely. My eyes followed the place she ran into, but I lost sight of her before I had a chance to have
a look at her face. I sighed, telling myself that it wasn't anything important, and walked to my chamber. I
was a few steps away from my door when I noticed it was slightly open. I stopped. My instincts entered
a state of alert. I didn't hear any sounds coming from inside the room, yet the more I thought I should
stay on guard while going inside. I pushed the door open, my eyes scanning the place thoroughly, but
there was no one there. I looked around, then cautiously checked the bathroom. I was alone. I started
to wonder if it wasn't Martha who left the door unclosed by accident until I found some strange, old
notebook lying on my bedside cabinet.
I looked around once more to make sure I truly was alone inside my room, and then leaned out onto
the corridor to check if there was any sign of the person who left that notebook in my room, but again,
the corridor was empty. I closed the door and decided to have a closer look at the strange thing that
was left beside my bed. I might have been paranoid, but I instantly thought that it could have been
another one of Elora's deadly schemes. On the other hand, my curiosity and the need to take my mind
off of Sariel, Draven, and all the other issues overcame the potential threat.
I grabbed a tissue and used it to open the book as if expecting the pages to be poisoned. I turned the
first page and it turned out to be some old diary. I ran through a few entries. The handwriting I found on
those pages was sophisticated and beautiful, while the entries themselves looked like historical notes.
As I took a closer look, I saw the dates marked in the corners: they were all dated in the nineteenth
century. As I read a couple more entries, I started to realize that the one who had written it was a
noble… a vampire noble, a woman at that.
"This is Elora's diary…" I gasped.
My paranoia acted again, and I cautiously wiped the pages with a tissue, wondering what kind of
motive the person who left the diary could have. I could bet that it was that suspicious maid's doing, but
why would she bring something like that to me? Yet, no matter who had done it and why, I decided to
find out if there was any way I could use what was written in the diary. Certainly, there was a chance
that it was fake, but then why would somebody create a fake Elora's diary just to give it to me?
I started reading every page carefully, digging into the young Princess's mischievous deeds. I couldn't
precisely estimate her age compared to the human lifespan, but I was guessing that at the end of the
nineteenth century she was something like a young adult. She was clearly enjoying her life as a
Princess, indulging herself in parties, spending large amounts of money, and sex… Thank God that last
part wasn't too detailed, because I would definitely throw up. She often mentioned some "S" that she
was almost obsessed with, and it wasn't hard to figure out that she meant Sariel. I could see how the
innocent infatuation was slowly turning into a dangerous addiction. One of the entries sent chills down
my spine in particular. She mentioned a situation where the chancellor's daughter started flirting with
Sariel during one of the royal tea parties. The chancellor and his family were all commoners, turned by
King Mael personally as a reward for their loyalty and services. Elora forged evidence that the
chancellor's daughter committed treason and sentenced her to death.
"Her lowly father came to me today, begging to spare her life. I told him that I would do that if he stayed
outside kneeling until six o'clock in the morning. That fool agreed and knelt, never realizing the
summer's sunrise begins earlier. An hour before dawn, I brought that dirty wench, his daughter, so that
she could watch her father's trial. As the sun came up right before six o'clock, the show began. I didn't
know that commoners' burning flesh could bring such a disgusting odor, and it takes a while before
they turn into a pile of ashes. Fortunately, that bitch's screams were satisfying enough to make up fornovelbin
the nauseating smell." I gulped reading her words.
Unfortunately, proving that Elora was a psychopath wasn't enough for the noble court to sentence her.
As a royal, she could literally get away with any kind of crime that would cost her life in the human
world. I needed something more.
I kept flipping the pages until the entries suddenly stopped. Strangely, more than half of the diary was
empty. I turned a few more blank pages and found there was a hole cut in the other half of the diary,
and there was a small casket inside. I gently took it out. It looked like a small jewelry box. I lifted its lid
and found a lot of small rolled-up pieces of paper. I instantly felt shivers of excitement. I hoped that
those little notes could finally get me the evidence I needed. I unfolded one piece of paper and tried to
read it.
"Iva tfxgkr nxzh fv sshmmtfah rh Dnmersow iteqijisz. Mk xg zirszu, imtb ej pdi qwv hawpc scoij. Cine
nxzh fv sswh sttkvv hva gfcqammtg," said the note.
I read it three times in confusion and disbelief, and then stared at the text, dumbfounded. My
excitement was quickly overcome by annoyance and frustration. The good thing was that the thing I
held in my hands could be exactly what I needed against Elora. No one hides irrelevant notes and
letters that way. But why the hell did it have to be encrypted?!