Chapter 89
The Crown's Entrapment
In the other part of the camp, Gideon shook his head as he walked towards Princess Ezmeâs tent.
âWhy would they send this brat instead of another officer?â Gideon murmured to himself as he approached the tent. âThisâll be a pain in the assâ¦â
He was just about to enter the tent when Princess Ezme suddenly went out, looking at him with a haughty eye as he stopped in front of her.
âI can smell your stink from my room, so let me spare you the time of entering my tent and meet you here,â Ezme snorted.
Gideon shook his head with a grin. Slightly bowed to Ezme, he greeted, âWelcome to your new playground, milady.â
Ezme scoffed once more. With a pout, she mumbled, âI heard that your kingâs mate passed out during the burial rites. Hah! Sheâs not fit to be his mate if sheâs that weak. Death is inevitable in a war, and showing her weakness in front of her people like that is just so lame.â
Gideon shrugged at her words. This wasnât his first time interacting with Ezme, but he still couldnât get over this attitude of hers. No wonder King Nikolai would often prefer for this brat to be out of his sight, just so that she stay out of his sight and out of trouble.
âMust I remind you then, milady, that Princess Xenia is human,â Gideon politely defended.
âItâs only natural for their kind to have these kinds of emotions.â It was only a good thing that his king wasnât present at the moment. He would be displeased if he ever heard what this princess had to say about Xenâs current state.
Ezmeâs eyebrows lifted as she snorted, âIâm half human, so I know what youâre saying. Still, for me, sheâs too weak for Darius.â She then looked around as if looking for something, âAnyway, when will Darius come back?â
âWeâre not sure. Thereâs no news yet, but Iâm sure theyâll be back soon,â Gideon answered with a smile.
âIn the meantime, why donât you rest for a while, milady? I still have a few responsibilities to see to, and seeing as youâre definitely well settled, let me check up on the rest of Valcrezâs reinforcements and make sure that theyâre doing fine.â He kept up his smile as he bided his time. He just simply couldnât wait to run away from this crazy Princess of Valcrez.
âAh, no need to check on them since theyâre behaving pretty well despite the fact that theyâre currently surrounded by luscious mealsâ¦â the Princess commented, showing a sharp fang to Gideon on purpose.
âStop that! Youâre creeping me out,â Gideon complained with a frown.
âBut Iâm hungry⦠Also, your wolfman form is creepier,â Ezme murmured with a devious grin.
Gideon wanted so much to groan in annoyance right about now. This brat loved to take a sip of their blood, and they allowed her since she would only take a sip to satiate her hunger.
Apparently, for her own reasons, it was better to sip on werewolves than on humans and turn them into a vampire. Unlike werewolves who could control their venom to turn humans, a vampireâs bite would automatically turn a human into one of their own kind.
âWhy donât you follow your brother? Just drink on animals!â Gideon complained.
âItâs not like Iâm always drinking your blood!â Ezme rolled her eyes at him. âDo you want me to tell Darius that youâre depriving me of your blood then?â
âAh, this brat!â
âHow old are you to keep showing these kinds of tantrums, huh?â Gideon scoffed. âWhen will you grow up?â
âIâm twenty and hungryâ¦â Ezme answered with a grin.
âFine then! A five-second sip! No more no less,â Gideon relented, offering his neck to the princess. âIâll definitely file a complaint to King Nikolai about this!â
Waiting for the bite to come, Gideon rolled his eyes as the seconds ticked by. However, the bite he expected didnât come. Instead, Ezme walked past him and said, âAh⦠Your blood doesnât taste good anymore. Iâd rather just roam around, honestly.â She then dramatically sighed, âAh⦠my appetite lately hasnât been good. I wonder whyâ¦â
Gideon rolled his eyes. Apparently, Ezme was just playing a prank on him again. Either way, he was just glad that she already left him alone. Watching her leave, he wondered who the Princess would bully nextâ¦
He didnât worry too much about it though, since it was only Ezmeâs naturally playful attitude that would be wreaking havoc across the camp. They all knew that the Princess was harmless, especially to humans, but⦠she definitely spelled TROUBLE despite it all.
He could only hope that sheâd at least keep it down, at least for now.
******
Humming to herself, Ezme walked towards Princessâs tent. She passingly saw that Bartos was very occupied with the human sitting beside him, and Ezme took the liberty to walk right past them and enter the tent in a flash without anyone seeing her. She then curiously looked, seeing whatever effects there were inside before stopping at the bed where Princess Xenia was currently sleeping.
Looking at her fellow princess, she frowned when she saw beads of sweat forming on Xeniaâs face.
âAre you having a bad dream?â Ezme murmured. She hadnât had the opportunity to properly stare at the human Princessâs face before, so she took the opportunity to do so now. âHmm, not bad for a beautyâ¦â
She scoffed at the sleeping princess. In all honesty, she still thought that this Princess didnât suit Darius at all.
âNoâ¦â the human princess whimpered.
Ezme raised an eyebrow. Out of her natural curiosity, she leaned down and touched the princessâs arm. In that instant, she entered her dream.
âWhat is this?â Ezme scoffed at Xeniaâs memories.
She understood that she was dreaming about her final moments with the Seer that just passed away. Xenia was shouting, while the Seer was slowly fading away from her sight.
âItâs time for you to wake up,â Ezme interrupted the dream.
âYou?!!! What are you doing here?â Xenia asked.
âIâm inside your dream since Iâm curious to find out what it is. Looks like itâs not a nightmare though,â Ezme casually replied. âAnyway, you need to wake up and gather yourself. I can see youâre having some hesitation regarding Darius⦠Well, itâll be a good opportunity for me, but where would be the challenge in that?â
She let out a grin as she stared at her fellow princess. It was clear that her Ebodian counterpart wasnât marked yet.
âIâll leave your dream now. Enjoy more nightmares, if you like,â Ezme snapped with a wink before leaving Xenia in her dreams.
Opening her eyes, Ezme removed her hand on Xeniaâs arm, and at that instant, the Ebodian Princess jolted awake.
âThatâs quite fast. Donât you want to enjoy a bit more time with your Seer?â she asked with a frown.
The human Princess was panting as she sat up. As soon as she gathered her senses, she glared at her and asked, âWhat are you doing here?! Who gave you permission to enter and invade my privacy!?â
Ezmeâs eyebrows raised as she scoffed, âHmm, quite a temper there.â
âGet out now! You have no right to be here!â the human princess yelled.
Ezme frowned and childishly said, âYou⦠youâre so not fit to be Dariusâs mate! Hmp!â
And with that Ezme instantly left in a flash, exactly like the way she entered in the first place.