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Ever since that argument, Adeline had not seen Elias except during meal times. He\'d force her to dine with him, sitting directly beside his seat. She\'d play with her food until she felt his rage reach its limits. 

Once his fingers went pale from tightly gripping the wine glass, and his glare became vicious, did she finally eat. Angering him hurts. She didn\'t think seeing irritation in his eyes, dedicated solely to her would hurt this much but it did.

She touched her chest, prickly with pain and sighed. He was right. Her heart belonged to him, but he was quite rude about it.

"The castle is quiet." 

Adeline sat by the window, looking out of it. Her windows faced the gardens, with beautiful trees, bushes, and different species of flowers. She pressed her hand upon the cold glass, wondering if this was her fate from now on.

Adeline twiddled with her necklace. Fancy dresses didn\'t matter, lavish lifestyles didn\'t faze her. She craved freedom, the sun on her back, and the wind in her air. She longed to walk through the gardens, book in hand, whilst wandering through the pavement.

Elias didn\'t let her outside. She had tried to sneak out, but there were guards stationed in the hallway. She had overheard from the maids that he always knew where she was.

"What a stalker."

Adeline rose from the window chair. She opened the doors of her bedroom and stepped outside, wondering why the hallways were so quiet today.

This morning, when she left for breakfast, she had seen Dorothy leaving down the hallways. It seemed she had spoken in hush whispers with Elias. When they saw her, they walked in the other direction. 

"I wonder what it\'s about."

Adeline tried to exit the hallways, but yet again, there were guards. She held back a complaint and walked back into her room. Opening the windows, she peered down at how far of a drop it would be. Her stomach grew queasy. She would fall to her death.

Adeline slammed the windows shut and leaned her head upon it. She let out a small, irritable sigh. Closing her eyes, she fiddled with her necklace for the thousandth time. 

It had been days since she had a proper conversation with Elias. He was still irritated by her, and so was she. She had tried her best to match his pace, but all he did was taunt and bully her. 

"Someone should tell him his courting is outdated." Adeline continued to play with her necklace as she slowly began to daydream of the past.

Adeline could practically feel the caress of her mother\'s hand, and the pat of her father. They cherished her so dearly, that she didn\'t think anything could be wrong in their marriage. She didn\'t think, not even for a split moment, that she was not her father\'s child.

Her name alone was a testament to their love. Addison and Kaline had combined their names to form hers, though she suspected the overseers did that. 

"If it truly happened, Father would\'ve never tolerated it." Adeline rose from her seat and decided to do something useful for her time. Her gun needed some polishing, or else it\'ll have dust on it. 

- - - - -

"You better explain yourself!" Lydia Claymore hissed the second she saw the King walk into the bedroom. "You told me Adeline was fatally wounded, then have your people drag me to this empty bedroom and change my clothes! Are you here to violate my friend\'s trust and do what? Rape me?!"

"As if I\'d dirty my hands with the likes of you," Elias scoffed. He leaned against the doorways, warily watching her. 

The sun had set long ago, and the moon was at its peak. 

"What is the freakish smell and why are you wearing that?" Lydia sniffed the air. 

It smelled faintly of sage and herbs as if a ritual was performed. She narrowed her eyes at him, who was dressed in black night robes with long, black pants. If she didn\'t know better, she\'d think he was here to bed her.

Lydia touched her dress. "And why am I dressed in this freakishly white gown? Your maids are crazy, you know. A group of them came in and stripped me, putting me in this stupid white dress as if I\'m some greek goddess."

Elias glanced distastefully at her gown. It was loose and flowy, as if one tug could pull the dress off of her. This was as cliche of a ritual as a vampire king falling for a human girl.

"Don\'t insult the greek gods by your meager comparison to them." Elias folded his arms. "I\'m here to weed out a disloyal comrade of mine."

Lydia glanced at him. What did that mean? "And why am I involved in that nonsense?"

"Because for all he and my grandmother knows, I\'m supposed to be in bed with you."

Lydia gagged. She turned away from him, muttering nonsensical words under her breath. She was going to tell Adeline of this! What kind of crazy bastard did her good friend get involved with?

\'My poor Addy! I should rescue her from him as soon as possible!\' Lydia had just gathered her team of lawyers. She only needed them to send a heavily threatening letter to the Mardens about taking them to court. 

"I assume the \'he\' you\'re talking about is Quinston?" Lydia said. "Why do you think he\'s disloyal?"

Elias rolled his eyes. "And why should I tell you?"

"Because I\'m helping you!" 

Elias curled his lips. "You yell too much. Would it hurt you to stop screaming in my ears with your awful voice?"

Lydia gasped. She picked up the nearest item, wishing to toss it at him. He shot her a warning glare. With great reluctance, she obediently placed the item down, which was a comb. Just to spite him, she began brushing her hair.

"Nothing you do will tame that disgusting bird shit color hair you have."

Lydia glared at him. "You should worry about your eyes, the color of menstrual blood."

"Now you\'re just disgusting," Elias muttered. 

He shook his head with disdain. It would be convenient if Lydia were to suddenly die in today\'s crossfire. Which was going to happen in less than a few minutes.

He checked the wristwatch. A minute to be exact. By now, Quinston would\'ve sent his men to infiltrate the castle, hoping to kill the King when he\'s buried deep in a woman. It would be easier to kill the guards when the King was occupied.

It was a stupid plan, really, but approaching footsteps racing down the hallways implied otherwise. He shook his head in disappointment, wishing the person he kept in charge of the military was a lot smarter than this.

"I hear footsteps." Lydia glanced at Elias, as if the idea just clicked in her mind. "This was a setup… To catch Quinston. But why? He seemed so loyal—"

"The guns you gave Adeline. How many rounds do they have?" 

Lydia blinked. She scratched the back of her head, wondering which gun she had given it. "I\'d say each gun is nine bullets, so a total of eighteen."

"Your father owns an arms manufacturing company and you only gave your friend two guns?" Elias scoffed. "How cheap."

"I\'d like to see what you gave Adeline," Lydia bit out. "Aside from that dress."

"Look around you fool. I gave her a castle to live in and servants that weight on her."

Lydia was speechless. She irritably eyed the item, wondering if it was too late to toss the comb at him. But she didn\'t have the time to explain or process before he tossed something onto the bed.

"Use this and get under the bed. I\'m going to save Adeline."

Lydia nearly laughed at the statement. Save Adeline? Who did he think he was? 

Nonetheless, she picked up the weapon he gave her and rolled her eyes. "I\'m going home. My father\'s men are waiting downstairs for me."

Lydia took a step forward just as gunshots were heard. 

"Get down!" he hissed, forcing her word.

Her eyes snapped to him, as Elias stepped away from the door. She yelped when bullets pierced the doors and ducked near the desk for cover.

She didn\'t have time to grab the gun he had tossed onto the bed. Cursing him to the depths of hell, she could only dodge and hide. He was gone before she could even blink. 

Less than five minutes had passed before everything went quiet.

"Truly a sadistic King!" Lydia grounded her teeth. What a stupid man. If he knew the assassinations were going to take place, why didn\'t he place more guards around Adeline?

She understood that he couldn\'t be by Adeline\'s side for now, but she had hoped he was more well-prepared.

"Hmph, I\'m going to be the night in shining armor and save my good friend first." 

Lydia grabbed the puny gun from the bed, glaring at its model. How was she going to defend herself with this pistol that only held nine rounds? Was this some sick, twisted joke he played on her? 

Just then, she heard screaming in the distance, but it was definitely not Elias or Adeline.

Lydia sighed. It would be a long night.