His Half Blood Princess

12.

Today makes it that I have spent one month in Lord Edwin Vincent's villa. The past week had been rather, different?

Dressing up in the clothes Lord Edwin Vincent bought and having one or two people help me get into the dresses was kind of new to me, but even I couldn't help but love how I looked beautiful in them. I am a young woman after all.

I had changed from the girl who wore cheap clothes, slept on a bed too small for her tall frame and ate bread and soup to the girl who dined with a lord, slept in a room like that of a princess and wore expensive clothes along with a diamond necklace to go with it.

The other necklace was too big to be worn every day and Lord Edwin Vincent gave me a much smaller one which I was now wearing along with a blue gown as I went down to have lunch.

Lord Edwin Vincent had said that it was the way of life for people like him and it would be an insult to his status to not have me involved since I was under his care. My old clothes I told Maria to share among the maids and servants as Helen wouldn't take any of them.

But even with all that, one thing was still missing which couldn't be replaced. My family. And I intended to ask Lord Edwin Vincent about them today.

I entered the dining room to find that the food had been served but Lord Edwin Vincent wasn't there, he had seemed busy ever since he came back from his trip and he didn't come down until fifteen minutes later.

"Sorry I kept your highness waiting," Lord Edwin Vincent strode in and leaned his staff on the edge of the table before taking his seat. "I was preparing the last stuff for my work and I needed to make sure everything was perfect before the last check." he explained with a smile and I realised I never knew what type of work he did.

"You said you had an office in town too."

"Yes, and I am presently working on getting a promotion," he replied and started eating.

If you are working on getting a promotion in an office in town, then why are you always working in the office in a forest? I resisted the urge to ask him.

Ten minutes later, Edwin Vincent looked up from his food.

"Why aren't you eating?" he asked me.

"I have been meaning to ask about my mother and brother." I said, choosing my words carefully. I didn't want to be reminded that I was the reason we got separated.

"I thought you would never ask," he said thoughtfully.

"I think of them all the time," I said slowly.

"Well, I am pleased to tell you that you will be seeing them soon." he grinned.

"Really?!" I exclaimed, both happy and surprised at how he is in a very good mood today.

"Yes, of course, why not? I will take you to their place next week."

"Thank you so much." I heaved a sigh of relief.

"But do you think it's safe now?" I asked him.

"What? What is safe?" he asked, looking dumbfounded.

" Those people won't try to kill me for..." I trailed off.

"Of course not, you are absolutely safe with me," he assured.

"You seem to be in absolutely good mood today," I noted.

"Something I have been preparing for some time now is coming to an end soon?" he replied, looking determined.

"How soon?" I asked.

"Today, probably," he shrugged.

"I wish you all the best then." I smiled at him.

"Thank you." he smiled back and we went back to eating, each one of us happy with what we had in mind.

*

*

*

Isn't it funny how everything keeps getting so much better when, in fact, it's just the calm before the storm? And then when it hits you so hard, you are confused as to which part you wished never happened, the calm or the storm?

Well, in my case, I would rather a storm than a hurricane that is about to come to me.

It was two hours after lunch and I had finished reading a book and went to get the sequel from Lord Edwin Vincent's library.

I entered the library and placed the other book back in it's place on the shelf and was taking the sequel when I heard the heavy sound of a door creaking and I stopped halfway from taking it off the shelf.

For a moment, I was confused as to where the sound came from because the last time I heard a door creak this loud was back in my home and, as far as I know, all the doors in the Villa were not the creaking type.

I was starting to think I had imagined the sound until I heard footsteps and then the door being slammed heavily, after which came the sound of juggling keys and I realised that it was the door next across from the library, Lord Edwin Vincent's office, and that he was probably locking it to keep people like me away from snooping in.

I rolled my eyes at myself at how a black door could affect me just because of a nightmare, until he started to speak and I realised it was with one of his said 'trusted servants'.

"I need to make sure no one is around when we perform the ritual," he said as I removed the book from the shelf and stopped in my tracks. What on earth are they talking about? "Send all of the human servants away. I don't want them to suspect that much," Lord Edwin Vincent ordered sternly.

But wait a minute. Humans? Did he just say humans?

"Yes my lord." I recognized Herald's voice instantly.

"And tell Maria to groom her for the ritual," he added.

"Sir, do you think she's eligible? She has never shifted into her wolf before, and I don't think she ever will with the magic suppressing her wolf."

"Hmph," Lord Edwin Vincent grunted. "the witch told me to follow the scent that would lead me straight to her and she was never wrong. You can't know better than her. And even if she has never shifted, she is our only chance. It is not everyday one comes across a half blood."

"But sir," Herald said in a hushed voice and I had to strain my ear to hear him. "would killing her be necessary for the ritual? Why not do it like the other girl?" Gerald suggested.

"No Herald. You have heard the prophecy yourself. What needs to be done must be done. I can't afford to lose the position to my rival, Sir George."

"And the other girl, sir? Is she to be left to go outside of the villa too?"

"Helen has nowhere to go to and she is too ashamed to try to get out of this place and go back home, neither does she know the way back." Lord Edwin Vincent replied. I knew the man so well I could tell he had a smirk in his face as he said that.

"Yes, my lord. This girl is more courageous." Just what girl are they talking about?

"That's what I admire about Serena the most." Lord Edwin Vincent agreed and that was it, as I heard their footsteps depart.

I must have spent thirty minutes standing unable to comprehend what I had just heard and everything started making sense.

From the beginning when he had told his men to take me away without knowing who I was last week when he said he had picked me up and other things he had done or said which appeared strange at first.

And poor Helen, so this was what she was trying to warn me about all along. Lord Edwin Vincent didn't bring me here to help, he brought me here so he could kill me. And he knew all along that I wasn't human and neither was he.

I wouldn't be here if I hadn't killed my father, and maybe I deserved what I was getting. If there is anyone who did not deserve any of the heartbreak, then it was my mother.

If he had brought me here to kill me, then where did he take my mother and brother?

He had said he was taking me to see them and I happily agreed, not knowing he had other plans in mind for me, which would see that I saw them again.

Is this the end of it for me? Is this how my life is going to end?

I didn't realize I was crying until my vision started getting blurry. Now I understand.

This is what my wolf tried to warn me in the beginning and the reason I couldn't communicate with her.

I may deserve to die, but one thing I know is that this man does not have the right to kill me. They were right, I am courageous, and I am not going to sit down and wait until they are ready to kill me.