(Author’s POV)

"Secretary Shadow, can I have a word with you?" Iris voiced, her voice even, her expression still unreadable. "I want to ask you something about the potion you brought back." After saying her piece, she turned around and walked towards her designated room, walking briskly.

Adjusting his glasses, Chris nodded at the others and then followed her quietly. Brian and Catherine saw his receding figure, then looked at each other, their expression hard and cold. Then Catherine abruptly turned around and strutted out of the mansion, the click of her heels echoing. Brian, as usual, trailed her hurriedly. But not before giving Fabian a dirty look.

"Elder Silver, what are you waiting for? I think we should take our leave as well. After all, we need to prepare for tomorrow’s council meeting, ummhmm" Vinicio leaned beside Silvia and whispered. He extended his right hand for her to take it.

Silvia glanced at his gloved palm, then briefly at his face, where, needless to say, a coy smile was plastered. She then rolled her eyes, picked up her diamond studded purse and walked off. Vinicio chuckled, muttered to Fabian, "Hey, kiddo, that’s my signal to go. Ciao, ci vediamo." Waving his hand, he exited the scene as well.

Dion’s eyes flashed with a curious glint at how Vinicio addressed Fabian. ’They seem very close. Too close,’ Drey muttered. Dion didn’t answer, but his gaze stayed on Fabian.

Elisa, who was standing quietly, approached Elio, her voice soft and gentle as cotton candy, "Young Alpha Elio~ ...." She called his name.

Elio’s brows wrinkled ever so slightly, but his voice remained aloof as ever, "Yes, Ms. Queens?"

"Ahhh~ .... you are a medical student. So~ ... can you~ ... can you check up the injury on my hands. It has been burning and itching, making me feel uncomfortable since the morning," she said, her tone meek.

"Ms. Queens, if it’s been since morning, you should have asked Healer Hector or visited a hospital," he said, his voice professional yet blunt.

"I~ .... Healer Hector has been busy and I~ ..." her voice trembled.

Elio, seeing her like this, sighed; his conscience was hit. "Alright, I will check. Please, take off your gloves," he said.

Elisa bit her lips, her head lowered. With a voice as low as a rumble, she spoke, "Can we~ ... go somewhere private~ .... my hands, they are full of blisters. They look~ ... ugly." Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

Elio glanced at his siblings. He clearly wasn’t comfortable, but when Brave gave him a nod, he had no choice but to agree. "Then~ ... lead the way." Elisa nodded rapidly and hurriedly turned around and started walking towards her room.

Her solemn, teary face shifted to a calculating one, ’Gotcha~ ...’

But her happiness and the look of satisfaction didn’t last long as Nora spoke, "I will come with you, Eli." She then walked to Elisa’s side, whose expression had changed back to normal, "Can I, Ms. Queens?" She then quickly added, "It’s okay. I have seen worse. Maybe I could help you with something."

Elisa was speechless for a while. She wanted to be alone with Elio; that way, she could take that fucking charm off of his wrist. Only his was left. But if Nora went with them, it would definitely disrupt her plan. ’Tsk, this bitchy princess. Can’t she stay in lane, for once? Always disturbing me.’ She then recalled something and thought, ’No way~ .... Is she doubting me, by chance? When Aamon came to my room last time, did she sense something? But I~ ... but I erased every single trace of him.’

"Ms. Queens~ .... Ms. Queens, what happened? Why aren’t you saying anything? Do you not want me to go?" Nora asked, making an innocent face. Her purple golds locked on Elisa’s cat like greens.

Elisa could face every gaze in the room that was on her, waiting for her answer. With a stiff smile, she nodded, "Of course, Lycan princess. You can come." She then quickly walked towards her room, her green eyes turning red with rage.

Nora winked at Elio, as he mink linked her, ’You saved me there, Nor.’

’You owe me one now,’ Nora flashed a smile, then both twins followed Elisa.

_________________________

Meanwhile, in Iris’s room.

Chris closed the door behind him as Iris was standing with her hands crossed, boring her eyes, "Secretary Shadow, I will get straight to the point. Where did you get that potion from?"

"As I told you before, someone told me there was a special herb that could bring a dead person back to life. So, I went on a hike to the mountain, and there I found a glowing red flower," Chris answered confidently.

"And what about the thing I told you to find. What about~ ..." she lowered her voice a decibel or two, glanced around and then spoke, "the person with gold blood?’

’About that~ ...." He came closer to her and said the rest, "I investigated it and found that there was no such thing in existence. Nobody there knew about something called gold blood. Not a single person," he conveyed.

"That’s~ ... that’s impossible," Iris mumbled, her composure breaking.

Chris added, "But gold blood or not, with the help of the potion, isn’t his majesty’s health improved now? So, why are you so tense, Healer Hector?"

"That is what does not make sense. His majesty’s symptoms, as his personal healer, I know better than anyone else. There is no way a simple potion could have cured him, that too so quickly," she mumbled to herself, feeling suspicious.

"Healer Hector, because of the stress to keep his majesty’s condition stable for so long, you must be feeling fatigued. The worst has passed. His majesty, he is fine now. You are overthinking things."

"Maybe, I am," Iris said. She took two steps forward, standing right in front of him, "But~ ... Secretary Shadow, since when did you start calling the vampire king, ’his majesty?’ Don’t you use to call him with the title ’master?’

Without breaking his character, Chris spoke, his voice levelled, "You are quite observant, Hector Healer. I will give you that." A smug smile caressed his lips.

To Be Continued . . . . . . . .