Conquering His Cold Heart

333 Hiding Fear

Tilla got out of the stall that she was in after she stopped hearing the maids rambling on about how they were going to try and steal the favor that Lord Vincent was showing her.

Tilla’s hands were shaking a little because one of them was being pretty specific about what she was going to do to Tilla in order to remove her from the path – accidentally colliding with her and injuring her beyond ‘repair’, putting hurdles in her everyday tasks and forcing her to leave the castle on the pretense of not being able to serve the Queen properly, etc.

She slowly headed towards her room, her mind blank, and her eyes vacant. It looked like she went into shock after hearing all those merciless words from the vampire maids.

After reaching her room, she slowly put the bucket down on the floor and went to sit down on her bed. She heaved a deep breath from her mouth and wondered, ‘Did I make a blunder?’

She lifted her legs and rested them at the edge of the bed. She hugged her knees and buried her face in between her knees. And she kept on thinking about how things ended up turning out this way.

‘Now that I think about it, Lord Vincent always followed me around. Sometimes scaring me to death, and the other times, apologizing for it. Then in Xanmar he… ended up kissing me.’

Her stomach rumbled when she recalled how she had made Vincent drink blood from her wrist, and later, how he kissed her as if they were lovers.

She closed her eyes tighter and kept on thinking. ‘I was determined to pretend that the kiss never happened between us. But then he appeared in front of me like an angel when I was thinking that it was the last day of my life. He saved me.’

‘And ever since then, he hasn’t left my side. I also stopped trying to push him away because I was grateful that I was alive because of him… I… I started to appreciate him with all my heart.’

.....

Tilla frowned at the way things turned out and then murmured, “But I never thought that my appreciation for him would be so dangerous, not just for me but for Lord Vincent as well as the Queen! They were slandering the Queen because of me!”

If time allowed, Tilla would have loved to shed some tears in the hopes of making her heart feel a bit lighter. However, it was already time for her to head for the central wing of the castle and serve the Queen.

She pulled herself together and gently dabbed her fingers on the rims of her eyes. She blinked several times to make her tears disappear and then jumped out of her bed.

“Let’s focus on what’s important,” she mumbled to herself and smiled. “I bet they were only expressing their frustration because they were feeling lonely.”

She nodded to herself and made herself believe that those maids were just talking and that they wouldn’t actually do things to her that they said they would do.

“Okay, let’s go to the kitchen and take the tea to Her Majesty.”

Tilla clapped her hands and headed out after locking her door.

As soon as Tilla entered the exclusive kitchen that was used by the chefs to prepare the Queen’s food, the chef greeted her and pointed at the tray that he had already prepared. “The tea is ready.”

“Thank you, chef,” Tilla gave a polite nod to the chef and then carefully carried the tray outside.

While she was about to enter the premises of the central wing, she heard someone swooshing towards her at a great speed. By now, she had somewhat adapted and was able to perceive if a vampire was running around her.

Tilla quickly turned around in fear that the maid from earlier was about to crash with her.

However, she felt greatly relieved when she saw Vincent warmly smiling down at her.

“Lord Vincent!” she brightly smiled back at him. A soft and relieved whisper soon followed out of her mouth, “It’s just you…”

Vincent furrowed his brows and slightly tilted his head to the side. And he asked after shrugging and slightly raising his brows, “Were you… expecting someone else?”

Tilla quickly shook her head and denied, while still maintaining that soft smile on her face, “Umm… No, I wasn’t.”

Vincent’s gaze slowly shifted from Tilla’s face to the tray that she was holding. The empty cup on the tray was clattering against the teacup. The clattering sound was very subtle but obviously, it wasn’t that unnoticeable for a vampire.

He worriedly looked back at Tilla’s face and asked while taking a step toward her, “Tilla, did I scare you just now?”

Tilla lost her smile for a split second when he asked that. But she quickly put on an even wider smile on her face and denied again, “No, you didn’t. I’m okay.”

She instantly clasped the tray tighter so as to stop her hands from shaking. She didn’t want anyone to know that she was still suffering from the shock that she underwent in Xanmar. She knew that everyone already had enough to worry about, and she didn’t want to add to the already existing problems.

“Are you sure?” Vincent held out his hand in order to hold Tilla’s hand. He wanted to support her hand because he knew Tilla’s hands were shaking and that she was just lying about being okay.

However, before he could touch Tilla’s hand, she took a step back and turned around. “Um… I will be late if I linger around here for long. And Her Majesty’s tea will get cold.” After saying that, she immediately started to walk towards the back door of the central wing.

Vincent pulled his hand in slight disappointment and held it behind his back. But he didn’t think much about it and caught up with Tilla.

Tilla looked at Vincent with a slight nervousness in her eyes and asked him, “You’re going to greet the King?”

Vincent clicked his tongue and replied as the corners of his lips curved upward, “I think I will go and greet the Queen first. I only briefly met her yesterday morning. She was telling me an interesting story about herself but I had to leave because you pushed me out of the room.”

Tilla opened her jaw in disbelief and defended herself, “It was time for Her Majesty’s breakfast! If you wish to chat with her for longer then you should visit her in the afternoon.”

Vincent scoffed and folded his arms in front of his chest. And he asked in an accusing tone, “Are you indirectly asking me not to follow you?”

Tilla stepped inside the door of the central wing and replied as she walked down the empty corridor, “Maybe.”

Vincent rolled his eyes at Tilla but kept on walking alongside her. “Well, I have already made up my mind and I am not changing it because someone doesn’t want me there. I’m sure the Queen enjoys my company.”

“Maybe the Queen is just being polite.” Tilla shrugged and looked at him with a teasing smile.

Vincent instantly stopped on his track and asked Tilla with all seriousness, “Are you being serious? The Queen is only being polite with me? Does she not enjoy my company?”

Before Tilla could say that she was just being sarcastic, her attention was grabbed by someone else swooshing from ahead of her.