The Crown's Seduction

Chapter 29: Every Full Moon

Mineah quickly turned to Dani and the rest. "Quickly prepare a bath!"

The three moved in haste to do as they were told. By the time they were done, Taro had already returned from his task.

"I will help His Majesty get cleaned up," Taro said the moment he arrived. He then turned to Mineah and said, "Princess Alexa would like to have a word with you, Your Majesty. Marlo and Luis will lead you to her cabin."

Despite what she just heard, Mineah weakly stared at Nikolai who seemed to be in a daze still. His eyes were unmoving, staring blankly as if he was in his own world.

Taro probably sensed her hesitation as he added, "He's going through withdrawal right now. He'll be fine given enough time, and he'll quickly come to seek you, I'm sure." 

He then reminded, "Now come. Princess Alexa will explain everything to you, for now, Your Majesty. Please…"

Hearing the hint of anxiety in his voice, Mineah closed her eyes before letting out a heavy sigh as she got back on her feet. Moving, she let the two other Scions who previously blocked her way lead her to Alexa's cabin.

By the time she arrived, Alexa was quick to begin her spiel.

"My apologies for this inconvenience, Your Majesty. You see, we must maintain order and avoid any suspicions on what is actually happening," Alexa sighed with a wave of her hand. "It was why I instructed Nikolai's Shadow Knights to pick you up for me." 

She then gestured to the nearest chair. "Now please have a seat."

Taking Alexa's offer, Mineah sat on the chair and looked at her with a frown. How she wished she could use her eyes in these moments especially with Rosela a while ago. However, having her energy depleted was very dangerous not just for her, but…

She unknowingly let out another heavy sigh. Taking that as her cue, Alexa immediately said, "Growing up, Nikolai developed this very unusual habit of becoming nauseous at the sight and smell of human blood. His father and mother sought a lot of healers and physicians to check on him, but none could explain why he was like that."

"But I just witnessed him sucking Rosela's blood!" Mineah grunted. 

How could she not doubt such words? The scene kept on replaying itself in her head, and it just didn't sit right with her… Still, she couldn't pinpoint what exactly it was that she was feeling. She didn't like it!

"That's honestly very strange," Alexa frowned. "Usually, Nikolai will only have an episode of suddenly craving fresh human blood during a full moon." 

"Rosela is a Scion," Mineah pointed out. "That could be it."

"Hmm… Rosela is no ordinary Scion, Mineah. She was initially a Meld," Alexa informed her.  @@novelbin@@

There was a pause, and Mineah could tell that there was hesitation in Alexa's eyes. She inwardly cursed at her current weakness. She was really itching to use her left eye at this point.

Mentally shaking her head, Mineah composed herself and looked straight into Alexa's eyes. 

Without blinking, she firmly stated, "Aunt Alexa, I am now a part of the Ichor Clan and the Queen of Valcrez. You said it yourself that I'm now a part of the family, so please don't hesitate in telling me everything that I need to know, especially if it involves my husband."

Alexa seemed to be taken aback by her words. Seeing her opportunity, Mineah continued, "I perfectly understand your hesitation. You're probably thinking it's way too early for you to trust me since I haven't proven anything yet."

"That…" Alexa breathed.

"I am Nikolai's wife, and I intend to remain by his side so long as I still have breath left in me," Mineah genuinely added, her eyes refusing to break eye contact with Alexa. "No matter what, I will do anything for my husband's safety."

The Princess's shoulders dropped after her passionate words. Seeing her sincerity, Alexa rubbed one of her arms as she murmured, "Like I said, Rosela was initially a Meld; a hybrid from a vampire father and a human mother. However, Rosela didn't inherit any of her vampiric heritage. Instead, she was born completely human like her twin, Dahlia."

Alexa's face suddenly paled as she covered her mouth with her palm as if she had said something that she shouldn't.

"This… You must ask for more details about this from Nikolai if you want to learn more," Alexa fearfully remarked. "I have no right in disclosing this matter to anyone. It's already forbidden to even mention Dahlia's name. Please… Please don't tell him that I mentioned Rosela's twins to you."

"I won't, Aunt Alexa. Don't worry," Mineah reassured her even as she inwardly cursed herself at her wrong timing. "Just tell me all that you can tell." 

This was bad. Well, at least with this incident. She learned one thing and that was she must not read minds unless it was truly necessary.

After a while, Alexa nodded. "If I recall, the only one who could quench his thirst every full moon was Rosela's twin…" she admitted. "But ever since she died, Rosela became her substitute…"

Despite nodding along, Mineah still had a lot of questions about Dahlia. However, she refrained from asking. She had a lot of time to know more once she could already use her left eye to read minds again anyway.

Still, some things weren't adding up. Mineah's frown deepened as she thought about Rosela. "But Rosela's no longer human right?"

"That's true as well," Alexa confirmed. "My brother Arturo bit her and turned her into a Scion."

"If that's the case, then why would Nikolai still feed from her when she's no longer human?"

Alexa gave her an awkward smile as she stuttered, "Ah, that is… I-I c-can't tell y-you. You sh-should ask Nikolai instead on why he's still feeding on Rosela."

"Is that so?" Mineah pressed. "Or is Nikolai simply feeding from his kind? Or maybe other beings aside from humans?"

Alexa shook her head as she answered, "He only feeds on animals. That's the only kind of blood that he doesn't vomit out aside from Rosela and her twin."

"A while ago, he vomited out Rosela's blood though," Mineah murmured with a shrug.

"He did?" Alexa's eyes widened in disbelief. "That never happened before. He always feeds on Rosela without vomiting."

Mineah simply nodded. All the while, her mind was already at work. She could only assume that what triggered Nikolai's vampire craving for human blood was the special blood within her. From there, she could only wonder if that was the reason why he also vomited out Rosela's blood.

For some silly or odd reasons, Mineah hoped that such was the case. She wanted Nikolai to puke out Rosela's blood every time he tried to feed on her so that he would no longer suck on her blood!

"I guess he doesn't like Rosela's blood now," Mineah coldly stated with her eyes staring at the open window. Dragging her gaze back to Alexa, she directly asked, "Why did former King Arturo turn Dahlia into his Scion?"

Seeing Alexa's reaction, Mineah could easily fathom that Alexa would not give her an answer to her question.