The Masked Vampire King's Accidental Bride-Chapter 44: Enough with the sweet pretense.

"Sir, it’s Blue calling. Do you have a minute to talk to her? She says this is urgent," Garry walked to Sebastian, and he lifted his gaze from the report he was reading before nodding at him.

"Put it on the speaker," Sebastian vaguely murmured.

"Respect to the prince," Blue started, and Sebastian hummed to let her know he was listening.

"There is something I would like to report, sir,"

"What is it?" Sebastian placed the file on the desk and put the paper stopper on it, his sole attention on the phone call now.

"I... I would like to start with an apology because I failed you and your faith in me, sir. I went away just for a few minutes to talk to the leader. I swear that she was playing in the forest when I left her, but -"

It was obvious to the Prince that something had happened with the Princess from how Blue was talking, and he didn’t have the patience to hear her go round and round.

"Come straight to the point," Sebastian pinched the space between his brows before lifting his pen to sign the document Harry brought.

Blue gulped, cold sweat beads appeared on her skin as she sat on top of the building, looking at the princess, who was twirling in front of a large mirror.

"The princess was attacked," Blue murmured, and Sebastian put the pen down.

"Attacked?" He asked again, his gaze shifting to Garry and Harry, standing there with wide alert eyes, ready for any action.

Blue took a deep breath and explained everything she saw and what happened in the forest, and the more she spoke, the uglier his expression became as Garry and Harry looked at the prince in concern.

"How is she doing?" Sebastian asked when Blue stopped.

"She is currently with Daniel and Alcinder, trying on a new set of clothes because of the incident. From what I can see, there is a mark on her neck. It seems someone had tried to choke her too," Blue said, and Sebastian hummed.

"Okay. I will deal with it when you guys return," Sebastian ended the call, and Garry looked at the prince, curious about what was going on inside his head.

From what he has seen these days and how the prince acts around the princess, his reaction just now was a bit too mundane.

As if it didn’t matter to him whether she was alive or dead. ƒrēenovelkiss.com

"Harry, I want you to look into it. Find the human boys who left their lectures and were spotted near the forest area through CCTV. Since Blue said Elliana fought them, they must be wounded too. It shouldn’t be hard to find them. I want to see who wants to hurt Elliana," Sebastian said, and Harry bowed.

Garry nodded in realization. The prince was trying to control his anger to think about things calmly.

"If the humans want to hurt her, that’s bad news for us. There is no way we will be able to use her for the reason I got married to her," Sebastian stood from his place and walked to the window, leaving Harry and Garry speechless.

Why was his behavior different when he was with the princess and different when he was alone?

Is the prince really such a good actor, or does the innocence of the princess render him unable to stay rude to her? They wondered before leaving the room after Sebastian ordered.

Meanwhile, Elliana looked at the prices of the dishes on the menu and raised her brows.

"This is so expensive," She said, and Alcinder looked at her innocent expression.

She looked like a kid brought to a fancy restaurant for the first time. He hardly believes she has never been to a fancy restaurant since he has seen her in branded clothes and accessories only.

"Would you like to come to the bike race with me after this?" Daniel asked out of the blue, and Alcinder glared at him.

His expression clearly asked - ’Are you out of your mind?’

Elliana looked at Daniel with wide happy eyes and nodded.

"Will you let me ride it?" Elliana asked, and Daniel nodded, making her smile.

"Of course," he said.

After eating food that Alcinder and Daniel paid for since Alcinder said he was compensating her for the food she let them eat, they moved to the bike racing arena, and Elliana looked at the mountains with a new glint in her eyes.

"I don’t have a bike, though," She said to the host, who nodded with a smile.

"In that case, you’ll have to rent one from here. How about this, you can choose whatever model you like and pay the rent for it? The garage is there," the host said, and Elliana looked at Daniel hopefully.

"Wait. When you said you wanted to ride the bike, you mean you want to be the one using it?" Daniel asked, and Elliana bobbed her head up and down.

"As long as English is concerned, I think that’s what that sentence meant,"

"But I thought you wanted to sit behind me," Daniel pouted. He was actually hoping to have her arms wrapped around his torso while he made her squeal in excitement. He was thinking of it since he saw her in this attire, and Elliana smiled.

"This is the perfect attire for bike racing. I couldn’t have done it in a dress. I know how to ride a bike too. It shouldn’t be a problem if I ride, right?"

"Do you think this is some kind of joke? Riding a bike isn’t as easy as acting cute and stuffing your mouth with tasty food. Don’t you see the steep hills? Do you think you would pull it off when everyone tries to take over you?" Alcinder scowled, and Elliana walked to the garage rather than answering him.

"I know what I am doing. I am not a kid," Elliana looked at him, and Alcinder scowled.

"Are you joining, or are you going to stay back and care about your life like a coward?" Elliana’s words were beyond provocation.

"Or I have a better option," Elliana walked closer to Alcinder, making him look down at her because of their height difference.

"You can sit behind me," She smirked at him, and he clenched his jaws.

There is no way she said what he thinks she said, right?

Daniel pursed his lips to stop the smile, which was itching on his face. The more time he spent with her, the more interesting she became. This was the first time he saw Alcinder so tongue-tied and flustered.

"Do you really think I am foolish enough to get on the bike with you? Stop dreaming," Alcinder said as they walked behind Elliana while she looked around for a compatible bike in the garage.

The parts used in the bikes, as some of them were custom-made, were described on a panel of paper in front of them, and Elliana grabbed the Card like thing, dropping the card when she didn’t like the modifications.

"Just accept it, Mr. Alcinder. You are sacred. I didn’t know vampires get scared too. Not only are you broke and petty, but you are also pantophobic too. You are indeed broadening my horizon on information on your species," Elliana said, and Daniel quirked his brows.

"Panto, what?"

"Pantophobic is a person who gets scared of things easily," Elliana said, and Alcinder scowled at her.

He knew what she was doing. She was deliberately provoking and gaslighting him to get him into this useless bike race with them. He was not a fool to not read between her lines.

However, he won’t deny that it was working. The way she was speaking was annoying him now.

Elliana walked further into the garage when her gaze fell on a rusty model at some distance. She walked to that model and read the specifics before a smile etched on her lips.

"I want to have this one. Is it in good condition?" She turned around and waved at the engineer, standing at the entrance, letting them choose freely, and he rushed to them.

"Elliana, are you sure? There are so many good models here. Even better looking and with good specifications too. Why do you want to ride this rusty model?" Daniel asked, and Elliana shrugged.

"Because I want to look good in the photos? A biker’s best photos come when he is on a sexy rusty model rather than a brand-new bike," Elliana said before looking at the engineer.

"You are the first person, apart from Glory, who chose this model. What makes you choose this one? This is our best modification, according to Glory. She has never lost a competition here," the engineer said, and Elliana touched the bike.

"Many riders pass this bike because of its rusty look and overlook its specifications, but it’s the best one," the engineer said.

Daniel held Elliana’s elbow before pulling her aside.

"What?" Elliana whisper-yelled at him.

"I don’t think you should take this one. Look at the engineer praising the bike like it’s the best model in the world when it’s nothing but a rusty bike with some good modifications. It looks like a trap to me," Daniel said, and Elliana rolled her eyes.

"Meet me at the end of the race behind me, and I’ll tell you exactly how good this bike is, deal?" Elliana asked, and Daniel thinned his lips.

"Don’t you think you are being a bit too overconfident?" Alcinder walked to her, and Elliana grinned at him.

"Tell me, Mr. Alcinder. Does that female vampire, what was her name, Samantha, not like bike racing? Is that why you are chickening out? What is the big deal in sitting behind me? Does that hurt your male ego?" Elliana said, and Alcinder scowled before taking a deep breath.

"Fine. I agree with it. I will sit behind you. But don’t ever think you win. I am doing this because Daniel would be riding a bike too, and I don’t want you to jump off a cliff because you couldn’t handle a bike and turned suicidal," Alcinder said, and Elliana smiled at him.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Mr. Alcinder," She smiled in victory before turning around.

"I will take this one for sure," Elliana said, and the boys behind her looked at each other before sighing.

She almost had a near life-and-death experience when that boy decided it was a good idea to drown her, and she realized one thing.

Life was too short to cry over petty things. She has been living her life a bit too carefully. If meeting her mom was her fate, she would meet her sooner or later, and if it wasn’t, no one could help her.

She should stop living her life like a scaredy cat in front of others and be what she always hides. The spirit of the adventurous girl that she has inside herself doesn’t want to live under the pretense of being a scared-innocent girl anymore.