Martha told me that I could go wherever I pleased around the castle. She even drew me a simple map, so I wouldn't get lost in case I decided to take a walk. Luckily, after wandering through those corridors all day, I could now at least find the dining room, where I had eaten breakfast with Sariel, and the patio, where I could get some fresh air. Additionally, I could go back to my chamber afterwards without getting lost on the way. That certainly was progress.
Even though the castle was huge, it took me only several hours to find this place boring. Everyone except me had something to do, and the one thing I always hated was doing nothing at all. I thought that taking a break from work would do me good, but the more I had time to think, the more I kept finding this free time devastating to my sanity.
I heard that when people face something traumatic, they visit a shrink or some therapist to help them deal with their inner demons. The only person I could talk to was Ma
"W-what?" I mumbled, terrified. "I heard those wolves were standing at the castle gates for several hours demanding an audience. They said that they were coming in peace, and only because the Duke has something that belongs to them…" Martha explained. "And those wolves were let inside the castle?!" I called out anxiously. She replied hesitantly, "They must have said something that finally convinced the Duke to let them in." My heart started to pound erratically. I wondered how werewolves knew that I was in the Duke's castle. Was there a spy working for my father that lived here? Or perhaps there was someone at the auction who saw me and notified the wolves? I was in a complete panic. I had no time to tell Sariel the truth about where I came from and who my parents were. Now, things could get drastically complicated. I had no idea what those wolves could have said to convince the Duke to give them an audience. I was terrified at the mere though
All shapeshifters turned into their animal form in a split of a second. I stood on the platform a few meters away from all of them and observed the situation terrified. I looked at Sariel. He was smiling wickedly as if the werewolves did something he was hoping for. Declan as a red-fur wolf stood as a leader. He was glaring at Sariel with his fiery eyes. Sariel spread his arms wide open, provoking him to attack, and Declan's fury had already overpowered his rationality. He charged up ahead at Sariel. The others followed. "No!" I screamed, but my scream died among the snarling sounds of fury. Suddenly, Mr. Gotha and three other vampires barged from the back of the audience hall. They must have already been prepared to take action in case of attack. A few enraged wolves stormed at them while Declan and the rest of the wolves charged at Sariel. Sariel didn't move an inch. He just waited for the wolves to come at him at their full speed. Declan jumped to
I gasped and stared deeply into his eyes. "My father… did what?" I muttered, fearfully. "You heard me. Now, tell me… would you be so eager to "protect" a child of your mother's killer?" Sariel smirked coldly. "I am nothing like him!" I burst out, "I don't even resemble him in the slightest! You know very well that his features are determined by the wolf gene, which I don't have!" "Is that supposed to be the reason why I should protect you from him?" He chuckled mockingly. I clenched my teeth. There was no way I could cover my tracks in New Argent City after three days. Until then, my father would surely mobilize an army of wolves to block every possible communication road out of the city. I could as well give myself in. Duke's protection was the only chance I had to survive… "I'm… begging you…" I mumbled, "You have a reason to hate my father, but so do I…" "Oh, poor little princess! Do you think I care that you rebelled because you and
I was walking along the castle corridor following Mr. Gotha. We were clearly going towards the north wing. I only went there once while taking a tour around the castle with Martha, and even there I wasn't allowed to enter any of those rooms, since they were off-limits as the Duke's private chambers. While walking I kept clenching my fists, encouraging myself to keep my emotions at a minimum level and focus solely on business. I knew that I could be confident and strict as long as I keep it all around my area of expertise. I assumed that we were going to the Duke's study room which I was told was combined with a grand library. I was sincerely looking forward to seeing it since until now I could only look at its door… We were getting closer, and I even became a little excited about entering that grand library, but Mr. Gotha passed Duke's study room and kept walking. "Um… Am I not supposed to meet the Duke in here?" I pointed at the door we passed. "Mast
I walked inside slowly, not because I wasn't confident, but more because I still didn't feel comfortable in the high heels that Martha forced me to wear. She was fanatically excited about choosing my outfit for my first day at work. She picked a simple black, fitted dress with short sleeves and a pair of bloody-red heels. She told me that I had to be dressed to kill on my first day. Well, judging by the curious glances of the people standing in the entrance hall, she was right. I could smell their hostility from the moment I crossed the threshold. I walked to the reception desk and realized that for the first time I would probably have to use the name that I had hated all my life to introduce myself. I clenched my teeth and looked at the lady receptionist. "Good morning, my name is Lilith…" "Ms. Lilith! I'm so glad that I can finally meet you!" I heard a man's voice coming from behind me. Reacting to the sound of that man's voice, the eyes of the lady
My office was spacious and kind of luxurious. I hadn't been to many offices before, but I had seen some in movies and TV series. Each time I saw an elegant wooden desk, a comfortable office chair, carefully designed cabinets, or an exquisite coffee table with sofa and armchairs, it was a place that belonged to someone from the higher-ups. It could be the general manager's office or the department director's office. The place where I was standing, a place that was supposed to be my office, looked exactly like the ones I saw on the TV screen. I felt strange. I walked around delicately stroking the desktop and my new, top-class laptop. I even had my very own coffee machine. It was all so different from how I used to work, although it was hard to compare my current situation with sitting on the bed or floor with a laptop on my knees while drinking the remains of cold coffee that I made myself several hours earlier. I knew that my abilities should have given me a five-digit month
It was understandable that no one was going to help the most hated human working at the Argent Investment Bank carry heavy boxes of documents. I had to do it all by myself. Certainly, Sariel didn't even think about assigning someone to assist me. I bet that in normal circumstances there would be at least five people working at the external audit, but since I was the one who suggested this I had to accept the fact that I had become a one-person department. Working alone wasn't a problem. I used to handle assignments that involved hundreds of documents without any help. At that moment, it was all about those damn boxes from the archives. I carried three boxes at once. The boxes weighed around thirty pounds each. These were merely documents from the first quarter of the year 2011. I walked through the corridor while people were passing me by, wickedly chuckling or smirking. I wouldn't be surprised if one of them decided to trip me. "Lilith, calm down and think of it as
My body started to shiver when I began to process Gabriel's words. "H-how?" I mumbled, my gaze pleading him to say more. He smirked, then continued, "Twenty years ago, when the old Duke of Calvet was still alive, Sariel enjoyed his life as a young master. Many women craved him, and many women belonged to him. He could almost bathe in the blood of his marked ones. Everything changed when he fell in love with one and started dismissing others." "It sounds like a romantic story." I smiled sourly while feeling a dull pain in my heart as if I were actually jealous of the one he once loved. "It was, and it was a big scandal," Gabriel sighed. "He rejected the daughter of the Marquess of Balliol, and openly claimed that he would turn his loved one and marry her." I envied that human girl more and more, even knowing that their story didn't end well. "He must have been committed, so what went wrong?" I waited impatiently for the rest of the stor