Married To The Mad Vampire Lord

For the next hours before evening, Belle said nothing to anyone. She followed her group members, clutching her crossbow to herself in a subconscious, defensive way that had come to her after hearing that scream. It was like she was walking on the edge of thin ice, as any movement in the forest alarmed her. She feared someone might choose to pick on them.

She could not remove the unsettling scream from her head and the fear that many might die before the hunt ended—at this rate, since there were no guards watching over them. How could the king allow such things to happen? And how could anyone be heartless enough to kill another person?

"You should loosen up," came Evenly’s voice from her side, who noticed how Belle was silent the whole time with a wary look on her pale face.

"It happened to me the first time I joined the hunt. I was as wary as a scared cat after I witnessed someone’s head get cut off their body. I didn’t know something like this happened in the forest during the hunt, but thankfully my cousin was there to block my mouth from screaming and being seen by the people. He guided me and taught me to ignore it."

Belle frowned in disbelief. "Does the king know about it? I mean, the people killing?" she asked, turning to look at the red-haired woman who held her gun on her shoulder more like a hooligan than the lady she was. She seemed to have gotten used to everything, and Belle doubted if she would ever get used to this kind of thing and life.

Killing should never be justified like this, especially when the hunt was meant to celebrate the vampires’ civilization and their life beyond the savage ways of ancient times. If they still killed like this, then it meant they had not truly become civilized enough to even celebrate such a milestone. Perhaps the king was unaware of what truly went on in the forest.

Evenly scoffed. "He knows. His sons and daughters are part of the hunts. But it’s easier to ignore and blame the killings on animals than to give punishment to the important nobles and even royal relatives who are behind the mini game of hunting their enemies in the forest to take revenge. It’s a time any killings of an important person will not be punished."

"If many knew something like this happens, why do they still participate?" Belle questioned in dismay.

"As long as you are a citizen of Nightbrook and a noble with an important title, you have no choice but to attend once invited. The moment you stop receiving the invitation is the time where you lose everything—wealth and power—and it goes the same if you reject the invitation. It’s not up to someone whether they want to join or not. You just have to."

Evenly turned to look at Belle, who was looking at her. "Don’t worry, many others are really here to hunt. As long as you don’t have an enemy among those behind that mini game, you will be safe and untouched."

Belle’s entire body turned cold as she turned to look ahead where a deer came to pass them. No one paid attention to it because it wasn’t big enough, and it continued to eat the grass without running away from them—like it knew it wasn’t his kind they hunt for.

It seemed the humans in Aragonia knew nothing about Nightbrook even though they thought they knew. Many things went on in it that weren’t known outside. They had their strange system, and she doubted if the Aragonia people would ever be able to conquer this dangerous land.

She had decided to choose to live her married life with her husband without any intentions of hidden missions, but it seemed there were many things she had to live with if she chose to spend her entire life in Nightbrook. She would have to go through this hunting every year—and that she doubted she would be able to, with how she was just discovering many layers to it.

How could she live with that? But then if she did not live with that and get herself accustomed to it all, she would have to leave her husband in order to go back to the land she was more used to—and that she... couldn’t do.

When the sky began to show signs of evening, Belle realized she would have to slip away to find the spot Rohan had told her to meet him, if it turned out they would be camping in the forest. She realized she would be more comfortable in his presence for the night. If it wasn’t against the hunting laws, she would have grouped with him.

It was at dusk that Belle got to slip away from the group, and thankfully none of them asked her where she was going, as a few of them had also disappeared from their group and returned an hour or minutes later. It was all right for a member to go out of the group to find a prey, and Belle’s absence was seen like that.

When she walked away from them, she took out the map from her pocket and looked down at it. There was indeed a marked path for her to follow and the marking was so clear that even if she was on any part of the forest she would be able to follow it and reach her destination.

Without wasting time, Belle began to walk and then run. She ran with all her might, but thankfully, she stopped to look down at the map—had she not, she would have stumbled straight into a group led by one of the most powerful participants, people who had come not to hunt animals, but to take revenge on those who have offended them.

She carefully walked backwards, retraced her steps, and then hid behind a tree, holding her breath as she heard their voices approaching.

"I’ve killed three. I still have four more to go. Those bastards really think I’d let them walk free after what they did? What about you, Princess Zora?" asked one of them.

From the name mentioned, Belle realized they were vampires. She recognized the woman’s name— the youngest Princess of Nightbrook. She had seen her earlier in the hall with her group members and Cordelia, who for some reason had decided to pretend she did not know her or have anything to do with her. They had made eye contact, and the other woman had smirked at her before looking away.

"I don’t have anyone to kill," Zora said, her tone light and careless. "I’m only helping a friend get her revenge tomorrow. Don’t worry, it’s going to be fun... because I want to watch something amazing. The hunt is boring."

Their voices began to fade as they moved off in another direction, and only then did Belle release the breath she had been holding in fear of being noticed. Vampires were known to have sharp senses, but it seemed these ones were too caught up in their wicked plans to detect her presence.

Once she was sure they had walked far enough, Belle stepped out of her hiding place and started to run again.

With no lamp to guide her, she pushed herself to move faster, running with everything she had to reach the meeting spot before darkness completely cloaked the forest. And to her absolute relief, she saw Rohan walking toward her from the distance, as if he had been coming to meet her halfway.

He was walking calmly, showing no signs of caution or fear, and as if he already sensed her, he lifted his head and looked in her direction.

Her heart trembled as all the knots that had twisted her nerves over the past hours began to loosen, making her feel light, and an overwhelming sense of safety washed over her like a warm tide

Smiling through the pounding of her chest, she ran to him and threw herself into his arms, where his embrace closed around her instantly.

"Did you miss me that much, sweetheart?" he murmured with a soft chuckle, holding her close as he stroked her back and hair.

Belle didn’t even try to hide the fact that she missed him. She nodded her head and rested her face against his chest, her fingers clutching a handful of his coat like it anchored her.

"You did well finding your way. Have you eaten?" he asked, leaning back a little to look at her face. He had not expected her to be brave enough to navigate the forest and had been coming to get her himself.

She shook her head. Food was the last thing on her mind. She hadn’t touched the snacks the others had been eating; the scream she’d heard earlier had stolen away her mood and appetite.

"I’m not hungry," she muttered, letting her head fall back against his chest.

Rohan’s lips curled into a small smile. "But I am. Let’s find a place to stay the night, hmm?"

It was later that night when Rohan made a fire and prepared a sleeping spot beneath a tree, since they had no camping tent. They shared the jerky Belle had taken from her group’s camping bag. As they lay close together in the quiet of the forest, Belle finally asked him, ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

"Do you know about the ways of the hunt? People killing their enemies?"

She looked at him where he lay beside her, her head resting on his upper arm, using it as a pillow against the hard ground. His coat was spread over her, shielding her from the cold. Rohan lay facing up, his gaze fixed on the hazy moon peeking through the canopy of leaves above them. The soft glow of the fire danced over his features, casting flickering shadows along the curve of his jaw and the bridge of his nose.

At her question, he turned his head to her and dipped his chin down. When he spoke, his warm breath fanned her forehead. "I just found out yesterday. The hunting game has become messed up throughout the years and it turned out people are using it to get back at each other. Did you see anything?" He narrowed his eyes down at her, watching her shake her head.