Vampire Prince's Temptation

14. Burn the portrait!

"Everyone, take your position," Jane raised her voice, and the group of dancers walked toward her. She counted everyone one by one before telling them, "We all practiced a lot. So, there has nothing to be scared of. If one of you becomes shy to fell all eyes on you, just block your mind, and imagine that you are dancing in our rehearsal hall. Am I clear to all of you? Do you have any questions regarding this?" 

Aileen stared at her cousin blankly. To her, Jane was chief of the military force, and those dancers were the soldiers. She always barks orders and if things don't go in her way, she would make the whole cottage upside down. No matter how many ways Aileen will try to pursue her, she will not be succeeded in the end. She looked at her dress and rubbed her palm on the soft and flowy fabric which was rich in color. 

She was wearing a floor-length off-shoulder silver gown with a deep v-line cut on her back. She was wearing a pair of silver gloves in her hand that reaches to her elbows. There was light makeup on her face, kohl in her eyes, and platinum earrings hanging from her ears, that touches her neck. Her amulet was still on, as her late aunt forbade her to take that off. Her hair was tied up in a bun, a white rose stuck in it. 

Jane's gown was the same, but the color was different. It was a combination of white, grey, and black colors that looked very attractive on her. There was not any deep cut on her back, but she has a little bit on her chest part. Her blonde hair was tied in a loose bun, and locks were hanging on her face. 

Then comes Cosette, whose gown was completely black. Even her nail paint was black. Her gown has a three-button in the front, full-sleeved, and a belt around her waist. Her red hair was curled, kept that open. Kohl in her eyes was deep, and her make-up was a little heavy, looked radiant and stunning at once. 

The three gowns were selected by Cosette. She bought them by herself, ignoring her friends' protest. 

She wanted them to look good on the ball and that's why she went to the mall and bought them along with accessories. The hair and makeup were done by the pixies who gave them a look judging by their personality. They looked so stunning, beautiful that the pixies, nymphs along the goblin couldn't take their eyes off them. Cosette gifted a new cloth to the goblin who was near to tears to see the present for him. 

Aileen felt a nudge beside her and saw Cosette standing beside her. "Nervous are we?" 

She shook her head and sighed deeply. "How much did these gowns and accessories costs?" She wanted to know the price to find a way to return money to her. Cosette didn't say anything about it anyway. 

"Seriously! You need to stop showing that attitude of yours. That look can't change my mind. And remember one thing, Cosey. I am not scared of you or frightened by your roaring. So, come to the point,"

Aileen narrowed her eyes at Cosette who was bitting her inner cheeks, staring at her challengingly. "Say something!" She was annoyed by that demoness who always listen to herself and no one else. 

"Do you need to know that now, Ailey?" Cosette scoffed at her. Tilting her head, she said in a serious tone, "I am losing my focus. If I talk to you now, I will forget my magic notes. And you don't want that, do you?" 

Aileen knew that was just one of the excuses of the demoness. She decided to talk about that as they would reach home. At the time, the goblin ran inside, and told them hurriedly, "It's our turn out. Let's leave,"

~ ~ ~ 

"What kind of nonsense you are spouting, Arabella?" The King could barely control his anger on his sister-in-law. "You are making a scene here. I don't want anyone to talk about this matter behind my back."

The King didn't want any issue to come their way. It was an important ceremony and he didn't want to ruin that day with anyone, not even his own family. "You should take your seat now and stay quiet," 

"No one is listening to us," She looked at the King challengingly with a smirk on her face. "I am just telling the truth, my Lord. Why don't you want to know from whom your precious guest steal that portrait?" 

"W-what?" Tiffany gasped in shock. She didn't steal it. But that didn't erase the fact that she was using another one's art for her benefit. "You must be misunderstanding, Arabella. We didn't steal anything - " Arabella cut her off with a chuckle. The princess felt embarrassed. She couldn't lift her face to face them. 

Keiran looked at the mother-duo in suspicion. He doubted from the beginning about them claiming it was drawn by the Princess. Their father failed to notice it, but the princes didn't miss seeing that. 

It was obvious that they wanted to lure the king to push her daughter to him. How pathetic! All they care about is money and power. Then he thought, "If it wasn't them, then who drew him on that paper?" 

"Misunderstand?" She scoffed at her. "Why don't check it by myself? If I fail to see it, then I will apologize,"

The mother-daughter gulped hard when Arabella walked toward the portrait. The King's permission didn't matter as the three vampires wanted to know who drew that. 

Taking off her gloves, she touched the picture and she instantly found herself in a storeroom where she saw a girl was drawing anxiously. She saw the girl, and then the surroundings carefully. 

The color was everywhere around the room. 

Then she walked toward the window and there she saw a man was standing, watching from afar. 

The time the artist was down with her coloring she looked shocked and decided to burn that paper. When she left for the living room hearing the calling bell sound, that man grabbed that and left after scrapping a few words on the board with color. He didn't buy it but stole that from that girl. 

As the witch Arabella withdrew her hand, she faced the King and the princes before she turned to the lying duo. “They stole it from that artist without her knowing. They didn’t even leave reward to that girl,”

They were embarrassed for the truth to come out in that way. Tiffany couldn't deny it anymore as the witch has already seen and told that clear to everyone. The princess stood with her head down and hands formed in fists on her both side. Evil thoughts were running inside her head to destroy that witch. 

"My Lord, I apologize for me lying to you. My daughter has tried to draw the prince that she saw in her dream. Unfortunately, she failed in it. She used to be good at drawing in her childhood. After the time her father left us all, she lost the urge to draw again." Tifanny wanted to buy sympathy from the King in which she succeeded very well. The princess showed her fake tears that melted King's heart gradually. 

"I am sorry, My Lord. My daughter once told her close friend about her dream and maybe that's how that artist drew that portrait, remembering everything she heard of that conversation. It wasn't me who stole that from that artist's home, but one of our servants who did. If I was aware of it, why wouldn't I hand her the reward she deserved?" Upon hearing Tifanny, the King went to deep thought. 

Whatever she told him, justified very clearly. That artist must have listened to that conversation of the Princess and her friends and that's how she got the idea and drew that on the paper. 

Tifanny's Kingdom was not lacking in wealth. She'd never hesitate to give money and take that portrait in return. It was that servant's fault and he should get punished for stealing that from that artist's home. 

The three Princes staring at their father blankly. He seemed to buy all the lies that lady was pouring into him. Their aunt Arabella was giving cold glares to the mother-daughter duo. She hated them from the core of her heart and no one knows the reason behind it except for her late sister, the mother of the princes.

The King told them, "Lady Tifanny, I understand what you have said. I deeply feel sorry for your daughter. She at least tried and I can see how much she respects and admire my eldest son. I can't blame anyone of you as I can see it was none of your faults. It is that servent's fault and he should get punished," 

"Yes, my Lord," Tifanny breathed in relief internally. She was beyond happy that her tricks did work on the King, which means there is a chance of pursuing him to consider her daughter as a suitor of the next king in the line. "That servant will get punished for lying to me about buying that portrait from the artist," 

Then they left and went to take their seat on the first floor. 

"Mother, do you think he will choose me as his bride?" The princess looked anxious. She wanted to impress prince Keiran, but that didn't happen only for that rebel witch of their aunt. 

Her mother squeezed her shoulder in comfort, evilly told her, "My dear daughter, please keep faint on your mother. Once she decides something, no power can stop her from getting what she wants. You will be the next queen of the Northland and that's final;" Mariel breathed in relief. Tifanny was determined. She would do anything to please the King and if that doesn't work, she has another plan to make him agree with her. 

~ ~ ~ 

Prince Keiran asked Arabella, "Aunt, can you tell who the artist is? Where does she live or anything?" He wanted to know about that girl. If possible, he wished to give a visit to her in her home. He was never into art, but for some reason, the portrait did catch his attention, getting an urge to keep that with him forever. 

She said confidently, "She lives here, in this land." From what she observed, she was certain the girl didn't have any idea of what she was drawing in that storage room in the beginning. If that's not the truth, then why she looked shocked to see that portrait and told herself that she would burn that paper instantly? 

That led Arabella to the conclusion that the girl hated Keiran. Her hatred wasn't on her art, but on the person, she drew on that paper. Another thing Arabella was sure about that Tifanny lied about that artist of her hearing the gossip of the princess with her friends. That girl hated her nephew. Then why would she draw him in that way? She colored whatever she was seeing in her mind restlessly in that storage room.

Arabella told him bluntly in a hushed tone, "I believe she hates you more than anything in her life," 

"What?" Keiran was speechless. His brothers looked shocked to hear their aunt. That girl hated him!

In the beginning, he decided to reward that artist. Later, upon hearing his aunt, he wanted to hunt that artist down and s.laughter her before giving her a chance to say the reason behind her hatred. 

He was tolerating a human girl's ill behavior on him. He couldn't allow others to do the same to him. 

To him, Aileen was different. It was not her who has started the fight between them first, but him. 

He was looking for a way to approach her. 

He was not good at talking to girls and that's why he thought the only way to start a conversation with her was by bullying her. But she didn't get bullied, instead, she fought back against him. 

"She wanted to burn this portrait as soon as her eyes landed on the figure she drew on the paper," 

Arabella looked amused when she was telling that to prince Keiran. She didn't get the chance to observe that girl clearly, but she was surprised by her behavior toward him. Girls can't take their eyes off the handsome princes of the Northland and that girl can't even stand the sight of his portrait! Unbelievable...

"It could be one of the girls our brother rejected," Karter told that to himself. But Keiran and Knox heard that anyway and angered them in no end. Arabella snorted, went back to her thought of that girl again. 

"What she looks like, aunty?" It was Knox who asked his aunt in a stained tone. He could barely control his anger on that pathetic girl who dared to confess her bitterness for his eldest brother. No one disrespects the King's family. The time he will get a hold of that artist, that day will be the last day of that girl. 

"She looks petite, has wild curly brown hair, wears baggy clothes, an unearthly beauty looks just like her- " Aunt Arabella pointed her finger to the front that the three princes followed, and all of them sucked in a breath to see the girls, walking in the middle of the ballroom with a group of nymph and pixies. "It's her. The one in a silver gown, a Cello in her hold. Oh, she is into music too! Are they going to play here?"