32: 32 Spare Me

32 Spare Me

The afternoon session is a royal etiquette class taught by Susana. She looked at me and Vivian with cold eyes. Her eyes seemed to be a ruler to measure our movements, and every mistake we made was caught and scolded. 2

"Vivian, raise your hand."

I made a standard gesture and looked at Susana's unkind eyes in Vivian's direction. The bell between my wrists rang softly, and I could not help but remind her anxiously in my heart.

"Ah, sister, I don't like this etiquette lesson."

Vivian, with a sad face, raised her arm again with difficulty. The bell carried the sound of her heart. Among the trained maids, Vivian is like a duckling among the Swans. In the fluttering pink fluffy dance skirt, her non-standard posture is always obvious.

"Hang in there, Vivian. This class will be over soon. How about having the chef bring you your favorite cranberry cake tonight?"

I stretched my arms on the polished wooden floor as Susana asked, practicing the ballroom dance that royalty must learn, and peering out of the corner of my eye at the struggling Vivian.

Vivian, as my lady-in-waiting, must be with me at the reception tomorrow, whether she likes it or not.

The music stopped and I felt a tingling pain in my limbs. Perhaps because of my particular system, these movements, which Susana didn't think were complicated, required me to practice them over and over again in order to develop a skilled posture.

"I must say, Miss, you have a quick grasp of dance." Susana nodded at me. I was about to thank her, but the next line froze my smile.

“But your lady-in-waiting is very stupid.”

Vivian wrinkled her nose in anger at Susana's scolding. Her clear green eyes winked at me several times in grievance, and I had to constantly calm her down.

"I think you know, my lady, that at tomorrow's reception all the nobles and elders will come to congratulate you on your arrival. As your lady-in-waiting, how could she not know basic manners? It's disrespectful to you."

I rarely see so much emotion on Susana's frozen face. It seemed that she was really upset, so I said apologetically, "I know exactly what you mean, Susana, but I don't think that the nobles would have bothered Vivian with such innocuous details."

“That's right!” Vivian's cheerful look drew Susana's glare.

From the first day at the palace, Vivian hated all Susana's behavior and often liked to go against it. While I was having a headache about Vivian and Susana, the door was knocked and Alen was standing at the door.

"Susana," he said sternly, "His Highness asked me to bring Delia and her maid Vivian to him. I'm sorry you have to end your course early today."

Alen hesitated when she mentioned Vivian. I suspect Kral's original order didn't say to take Vivian out, but Alen must have seen Vivian's eager gaze and decided to save her.

"If it's an order from the prince, of course I have no problem with it. My class is almost over. You can leave now." Susan looked at Vivian's excited look and said coldly.

"Of course it was His Highness Kral's order," Alen said, smiling at Susana's piercing gaze.

So Vivian and I left our etiquette training and followed Alen around the castle.

"What happened, Alen? Why did Kral come to me?"

“You remember your sister, Bernice, right?”

Blood-colored broken arms and shrieking screams suddenly come to life in my memory. My pain and panic ran through my mind, and my face turned a little pale. I forced myself to be calm. "Of course, I remember her. Then what?"

"His Highness Kral ordered Bud to take Bernice back to the castle. At first, we thought she had lost an arm, so it would be difficult for her to survive. Bud would only be able to bring back a body, but..."

"But what?" I looked anxiously into Alen's gentle but deep blue eyes.

"But there was another group who wanted to take her away, and Bud took Bernice from that group and fought. His Highness has kept her in the cellar and has been interrogating her for a week, but she hasn't said anything.”

Who wants to take Bernice? Are they related to Wolfsbane? It is hard not to be suspicious. I lowered my head and silently followed Alen to the basement.

The entrance to the basement is on the first floor on the left side of the castle. Alen handed me and Vivian each a torch with a tarp on it. He opened the door, engraved with pure black reliefs, and a cold, dark smell came to his face.

"Alen, is this the basement of the Palace?"

To my surprise, Vivian was not afraid. She even tried to go down first, but Alen quickly stopped her.

"There are a lot of traps down here. Don't run around." Alen grabbed Vivian by the shoulder and pushed her against the door. His smiling eyes were full of seriousness.

"Oh, okay, I get it. You're so serious." Vivian made a funny face at Alen.

"Ha-ha," I couldn't help laughing out loud, and it was hard to believe that Alen had been made helpless by a grimace.

"Ahem, Vivian, we listen to Alen."

I studied Alen's awkward face and Vivian's happy eyes. The moon goddess sometimes makes jokes. If Vivian is Alen's mate, the personality gap between them is really big, and they still have a long way to go.

The basement was like a huge crypt, with many branches in the winding corridors, each leading to a different path. Burning candles were placed at intersections. The occasional underground wind made the lights flicker and the underground road appeared half-dark.

Alen stopped at every intersection to look at the candles. I don't know how he did it, but Alen looked at the candle for a moment and decided which way to go. Vivian took my hand and whispered to me that she smelled blood and carrion in many directions.

I remembered that according to the palace rules Kra had told me, the basement should be a forbidden part of the palace. Only royalty and guards could enter it. But I'm still a fiancee in name only, not to mention Vivian, who isn't even a werewolf. Why are we allowed in this place?

Kral should have brought us into this forbidden place at the risk of being discovered by other nobles.

Vivian and I can communicate by using bells. So we can understand each other just by making eye contact. Alen was silent. We walked silently underground until I heard a scream: "Spare me, Your Highness!"

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