The Vampire's King Pet-Chapter 40: In the princess mind.

The room trembled as the surge of magic rippled outward. The wind that burst from Faith and Amethyst’s joined hands swirled like a contained storm, rattling plates and silverware, sending a shiver through the very walls of the dining hall. Serena instinctively leaned back, gripping the edge of her chair, while Derick reached for the dagger strapped beneath his coat—though what good a blade would do against witchcraft, he didn’t know. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Amethyst’s breath caught in her throat. Her heart thumped violently as her vision blurred at the edges, colors smearing together like wet paint. She tried to yank her hand back, but Faith’s grip was firm—unshakable. The witch wasn’t even looking at her. Faith’s glowing red eyes stared straight ahead, completely unfocused, as if she were seeing something beyond the walls of the castle.

"Faith?" Serena whispered, concern creeping into her voice.

Faith didn’t respond.

Instead, the world around Amethyst began to melt away.

Her surroundings faded, first the dining table, then the walls, then Serena’s worried face until everything was swallowed by a thick, rolling darkness.

"W-Wait—!" Amethyst’s voice echoed into the void, but she couldn’t hear herself. She felt weightless and suspended. The air tasted strange, cold, metallic.

Then, suddenly...

She dropped.

Amethyst gasped as her feet landed on something solid. She stumbled forward, catching herself just in time. The darkness thinned, dissolving like mist under sunlight, and she found herself standing on a rocky cliffside.

A chill ran down her spine.

She recognized this place.

This was the cliff where she had been found unconscious—the cliff where she had nearly died.

A pale fog hugged the jagged stones, drifting in slow waves across the surface. The sky was still dark, the faintest glow of dawn barely touching the horizon. The wind here felt sharper, colder, heavier.

Amethyst hugged her arms around herself. "Why am I here again?" she whispered.

A soft, calm voice spoke behind her.

"You’re not here physically, Princess."

Amethyst spun around.

Faith stood a few feet away, though her figure looked faint like a projection, a reflection caught in water.

"This is your memory," Faith said softly. "I’ve entered your mind to retrieve what your eyes saw that morning."

Amethyst swallowed hard. "I don’t remember anything."

"You don’t consciously," Faith corrected. "But your mind does. Memories never truly vanish. They only hide."

Amethyst opened her mouth to reply, but a movement in the fog caught her eye. A blurred figure herself standing near the cliff edge.

The sight made her stomach twist.

"Is that... me?"

"Yes," Faith said, stepping forward. "We are witnessing your past."

They watched as Amethyst, her past self—stood facing the horizon. But something was different. Her body was stiff, her posture too still, her eyes glassy and unfocused.

"She’s under a spell," Faith murmured. "A powerful one. This wasn’t just sleepwalking or confusion."

Amethyst’s heart quickened. She stepped closer to observe her past self more clearly.

"What kind of spell?"

"A directive spell," Faith said. "One that compels the victim to walk somewhere without questioning it. The kind that forces your feet to move even when your mind is screaming to stop."

A shiver ran down Amethyst’s spine. "Then... I didn’t walk here on my own."

"No," Faith whispered. "Someone brought you here. And that someone wanted you dead."

The wind howled suddenly, sharp enough to sting their skin. It whipped Amethyst’s hair wildly, and the fog thickened as if reacting to the memory.

Then the sound of footsteps echoed behind them, quiet, swift, purposeful.

Amethyst turned instinctively.

But she couldn’t see a face.

She couldn’t even see a full body.

The figure remained wrapped in shadows, the fog swirling around her like a cloak. Only the outline of a woman was visible, small, slender, and graceful in a chilling way. Faith eyes narrowed as her stature looked somewhat similar to hers.

Her steps were nearly silent.

"She’s the one," Faith whispered.

The woman in the fog moved closer to Amethyst’s past self. She extended her hand, long fingers, delicate but unnervingly strong. Her nails were sharp, almost claw-like. She reached out and gently touched the back of Amethyst’s neck.

The memory-Amethyst didn’t react. Didn’t flinch. Didn’t move.

"She reinforced the spell," Faith explained. "Making sure you couldn’t resist. Even if you wanted to."

Amethyst could feel her own pulse pounding in her ears as she watched.

Then the woman drew her hand back.

And that was when Amethyst saw it.

The fog shifted, just a little and the woman’s sleeve slid up her arm, revealing her wrist.

There, etched into her pale skin, was a tattoo.

A serpent.

Black as ink, coiled tightly with its head raised, fangs bared, and eyes shaped like diamonds. The serpent’s body wrapped elegantly around the woman’s wrist, as though alive.

Amethyst inhaled sharply. "A serpent..."

Faith’s glowing red eyes focused on the tattoo with frightening intensity.

"That symbol," Faith said slowly, "belongs to a very old coven. One that was thought to be extinct."

Amethyst tore her gaze from the tattoo to look at Faith. "Who are they?"

Faith didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, the memory continued.

The woman finally spoke, her voice low, silky, and cruel.

"Fall."

She didn’t shove Amethyst’s past self hard. It wasn’t a rough push. It was a gentle tap—barely more than a touch, something that would seem harmless.

But the enchantment did the rest.

Amethyst’s past body tilted forward. Her feet moved without her control, stepping closer and closer to the cliff edge.

"No—no—no!" Amethyst cried out, rushing forward, though she knew she couldn’t change the memory.

Faith grabbed her arm. "Princess don’t! You can’t interfere with the past."

Amethyst watched helplessly as her past self stepped off the cliff.

The wind roared.

Her stomach dropped.

A scream tore through the air but it wasn’t Amethyst’s past self.

It was her.

Her present voice echoing through the memory.

She watched herself fall into darkness, her body limp, completely unconscious. Her heart hammered painfully as the memory faded, dissolving into smoke.

The woman with the serpent tattoo stayed for just a moment longer, standing at the cliff’s edge. She brushed her fingers through her hair, turning slightly as if sensing something.

For a second, just one Amethyst thought she saw a partial glimpse of the woman’s profile. A sharp jawline. Full lips. A cold, beautiful expression. That profile looked oddly familiar.

Then everything vanished.

---

The world spun violently, and in the blink of an eye, Amethyst was back in the dining hall.

She gasped and stumbled backward, ripping her hand away from Faith’s. Her lungs burned as she sucked in air. Sweat dampened her forehead. Her heart pounded as if still falling from that cliff.

Serena rushed to her side instantly. "Amethyst! Are you alright?"

"I—I saw it," Amethyst whispered, her voice trembling. "I saw the whole thing..."

Derick knelt beside them. "What happened? What did you see?"

Amethyst’s hands shook uncontrollably. "A woman. She brought me there. She touched me. She made me walk to the cliff. I wasn’t even awake. I couldn’t fight it. I—"

Faith placed a hand on Amethyst’s shoulder, grounding her.

"I saw it too," the witch said quietly. Her voice was unusually serious. "She wasn’t just any witch. She was trained. Skilled in magic and witch craft. And she belongs to a place that should be extinct, she’s very skilled, it’ll take a while before we can catch her."

Serena swallowed. "What does that mean?"

Faith met their eyes—her expression grim.

"She has a serpent tattoo on her wrist, she follows orders from someone."

Derick froze. Even he had heard the stories. Ancient witches. Forbidden magic. Women who specialized in assassinations disguised as accidents.

Amethyst felt her blood turn to ice. "She tried to kill me..."

"Yes," Faith murmured, her red eyes dimming back to their normal shade. "And she’ll try again."

The room grew silent.

A heavy, suffocating silence.

Faith stood, her expression firm and calculating. "She’s powerful. Very powerful. But she made a mistake."

"What mistake?" Derick asked.

Faith’s eyes darkened.

"She left a signature behind—the serpent tattoo. And that tattoo... marks her rank."

Amethyst stared at her. "What rank?"

Faith looked at her with a mixture of fear and certainty.

"High-ranking. Almost a Commander."

Serena gasped softly.

Derick’s expression hardened.

Amethyst’s throat tightened.

Faith continued, "This was not a random attack. Someone hired her."

Amethyst felt a cold knot form in her stomach. "But why me? I’ve never harmed anyone."

Faith shook her head slowly. "This wasn’t about who you harmed or you yourself, it’s about the king and the person tried to get to the king through you. "

She leaned closer, her voice dropping.

"My brother? Who would do such a thing?"Amethyst asked. "Is it the same person who tried to harm lady Serena?" she asked again almost immediately.

Faith nodded.

Derick sighed. "The king has a lot of enemies, unfortunately this one is going too far. We need to speed things up to capture whoever is doing this before he goes too far." he said.

"Yes but right now I need to rest, I’ve used enough magic for today." Faith said, she turned around and walked out of the cafeteria.