Bride To His Darkness-Chapter 279: It’s Not A Soulmate Bond

"Who retaliated?" Tobias’s voice broke the silence– not because he wanted to, but because he wanted to make sure he heard right. The Samantha he knew would never hurt a fly, unless the fly had the same initial motive at first hand, but even if he tried to picture the scene that way, Samantha harming four hefty Palace guards at the same time???

Not to downgrade her strength but he found it preposterous to believe.

He concluded Ivan did not believe the guard as well, because the next second, he had grabbed the guard threateningly by his neck, lifting him off the ground while his eyes darkened with an intensity that mirrored the setting sun, revealing a smoldering anger that had the guard battling relentlessly for his life yet again.

His irises had inevitably switched, contracting instantly, and the guards man nearly peed on his pants at the sight of his demon side coming to life.

"What did you say?" It came as a harmless inquiry, but one can sense a suppressed volcano at the brink of eruption. At this point, half of the servants were seriously praying for the ground to open and swallow them whole, because after he dealt with the guard, who would be the next to face his wrath?

"She... left?" He asked again from the guard who was struggling with his legs swinging mid-air. Ivan had lifted him so effortlessly that his display of strength had everyone shrinking back in fear– everyone asides his family. He looked ready to skin the guards man alive for saying such a repulsive thing to his face, but Abdiel’s voice had saved the guard on time.

"What are you doing Ivan?!" He reprimanded his nephew, making him pause, "are you going to kill the only alive witness we have? Get a hold of yourself and drop him. Let him explain what he saw, and then you can decide if it is for the best! Don’t merely act out of anger, you will regret it!" He advised strictly, and he wouldn’t deny that he was also shaken-up by this side of Ivan, it had been a long time since he saw him act out his anger before.

"Regret?"

An arrogant snort escaped Ivan at his uncle’s words, but he released the guard who had escaped death for the second time that day. He turned to the servants who were quick to shift back in terror, and none of them had the bravery to look into his eyes– they dared not.

"Herbert." He called for Herbert who was dutifully by his side, and he said, "you know what to do. Send a search party, find her, leave no place uncurbed, you know the drill, don’t you?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. I will get to it right away." And he left to put the orders into action. So far, everyone’s options were to act according to Ivan’s demand, else they’d have their heads saying goodbye to whatever remnants remained of them. The chamber echoed with tension as everyone was faced with the unsettling mystery of their Queen’s disappearance.

Tobias and Alistair had joined in the search, afterall, she’s their Queen, and a Queen suddenly missing from the Palace was as problematic as having lost a king.

Most importantly, only Samantha was able to keep Ivan’s mood in check. Without her presence in the kingdom, all hell will surely break loose in the whole of GreenHollow.

An intensive search was carried out in the whole of the kingdom, and as Ivan had specifically ordered, no place was left uncurbed. Despite their exhaustive search, there was no vital information of Samantha or where she had disappeared overnight.

Too afraid to return to the Palace with no positive news, they continuously searched like tireless bees seeking nectar. Alistair waited behind while his brother did the interrogation in the town’s nearby. He returned to Alistair who hoped for some good news this time, but when Tobias shook his head, his shoulders slumped.

"What happens now?"

"I don’t know, this doesn’t make any sense." Said Tobias as he exhaled pensively, "if she left on her own accord, I doubt she’d have made it this far. I feel like we’re missing something."

"What?"

"Sam doesn’t understand her powers, if she wanted to act out of defense, those guards would be digesting in the belly of her chomper plants, that is the only defense I believe she knows. They were all strangled to death, save for one, and I think someone else has a hand in this."

"Someone else?" Alistair frowned worriedly as his brother reached for his steed, "any guesses?"

"None for now, but we better leave, there are still two more towns we need to check." Getting on their horses, they left.

Back in the Palace, Ivan had stormed into Lord Viktor’s chamber. He wasn’t the only one there, as he had Lucius with him, and they appeared to be discussing something important when he barged in. From Viktor’s indifferent demeanor, he could guess the vampire had been expecting him, and that only made Ivan grow wary of him.

"Ivan?" Lucius was the one to break the silence, but Ivan certainly didn’t come here to exchange greetings.

"Where is she?" Eyes already ablaze with fury, he demanded from Viktor who hardly flinched, "I’m sure you know about my wife’s disappearance so I don’t have to explain everything to you in detail. Where is she?"

"This is an outright accusation, Your Majesty, I’m being interrogated and Lucius is ignored?" He pointed at Lucius in front of him, and Ivan’s eyes moved to Lucius who gazed at him with an equally calm demeanor.

"You’re in it too?"

"Ivan, I’m as baffled as you are," Lucius gave his honest response, "but Viktor did warn you about the consequences of the soulmate bond your wife shared with another."

"Soulmate... bond?" For a moment, his mind crossed to the conversation he had with Viktor concerning the soulmate bond, and his fury deepened as he shifted his attention to Viktor, "is that why she’s gone?"

"I warned you that such bonds come with an unpredictable outcome," he admitted sternly, his tone unflinching, "your wife’s connection with another could have consequences beyond our control, and I advised caution. The threads of fate are intricate, and your impulsive actions may have set events into motion that even I cannot foresee."

"I am Samantha’s one and only soulmate, Marius isn’t her soulmate!" Ivan spelled it out carefully, catching the two vampire Lord’s off-guard.

"Marius?"

"Pardon?"

The way their face had paled drastically, Ivan knew he had to elaborate it further so that they would never speak of his wife having another soulmate who isn’t him.

"It’s not a soulmate bond, the bond she shares with Marius is plainly because he is the owner of the Orb and... Samantha is that Orb." He revealed it to the two of them, then he hesitated. He knew he promised his little lamb that he wouldn’t tell anyone about this, but at this point, he had no qualms breaking this particular promise as long as he finds her.

He needed her!

"It turned human." He continued, "Samantha has been the Orb this whole time"

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