Conquering His Cold Heart
Chapter 486 - 486: It Was the Person

It didn't take long for Caspian's face to contort with displeasure when he read the first few lines of the very first page of Anastasia's diary.

'I… have a strong feeling that my so-called husband will be the death of me. I fear him. Just a while ago, he came to my room and threatened me saying that he would snap me like a twig if he got hungry…'

Caspian inhaled a sharp breath and pinched the bridge of his nose when he read that. And as if Anastasia was there to hear him, he tried to clarify why he said that, "Anna… I only said that to scare you away. I didn't want an innocent woman like you to be bound to a detestable monster like me…"

He was soon flipping through the pages without any regard for his wife's private thoughts. He was somewhat curious to know how his wife really felt about him.

Yes, there was no doubt in his heart that Anastasia's love for him was very real.

Still, he couldn't stop himself from double-checking her feelings for him by reading her inner thoughts that she had written in her diary.

His eyes soon glinted when Anastasia's initial perspective about him began to change in the diary.

He repeated her words in his head. 'He has suddenly started to treat me tenderly, lovingly if I dare say so… I hate to admit it but it wasn't bad at all.'

The glimmer in his eyes soon vanished, however, when he read further and understood the hidden reason behind the sentences that soon followed – 'We have an agreement now. If I can make him fall in love with me within one year then I will be spared. Else, at the end of one year, I will see my end at his hands. It's not a bad deal for me since… you know why.'

"Well… Now I know why you were stupid enough to place that bet that was meant to scare you back to Orsenia," he mumbled.

He lifted his gaze from the diary and looked up at the ceiling. He took a few deep breaths before continuing to read again.

Soon enough, the corners of his lips curved up just a little when he read Anastasia's inner monologues about the time he had attempted to kiss her after she had recovered from the shock that she got upon being attacked by the mad vampire.

'He… made me feel things I had never felt before. HE KISSED ME ON MY CHEEKS AND NECK. He was even trying to kiss me on my lips! How scandalous!'

Caspian couldn't hold in his soft chuckle. "How is that scandalous, silly? I was only trying to kiss my wife."

With his eyes glued on the pages of the diary, Caspian went to sit down on the sofa and continued to read. The more he read, the more he felt guilty for ever doubting his wife's love and devotion toward him.

It was clear as a day that Anastasia was deeply and truly in love with him.

It was also clear that she had no hidden agenda behind hiding her illness from him. All she wanted was to find a cure and live a long and happy life with him, which, by the end of the diary, he realized that she had slowly given up on that dream of hers.

By the time he finished reading the diary in its entirety, Caspian was sitting there with his eyes full of tears and his heart overflowing with even more love and respect towards his wife. The way Anastasia had expressed her unconditional love for him and had sung his praises in the diary was ethereal. And he also couldn't help but feel that he didn't deserve her at all.

'It must have been so hard on her… to continue laughing in front of me when she was suffering on the inside. And what did I do? I tried to hurt her and push her away…' He slammed his hard fist against his forehead, regretting the moments he was throwing tantrums like a pampered child instead of sitting down with his wife and talking things over.

He had finally decided to do that when she returned from the Warmane Mansion but some bastards were brave enough to kidnap her.

Caspian suddenly became livid again. He clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. And he promised himself, "I swear on my life that I will make them pay… Whoever it is who decided to take you away from me."

After sitting there on the sofa for the next half an hour, submerged in the whirlpool of emotions, Caspian finally forced himself to close the diary and place it on the table.

He had to get out of his wife's chamber before his emotions got out of control.

After walking for what felt like a whole day for him, Caspian found himself in his own chamber, staring at the pile of unopened gifts.

His hands and feet began to move automatically and before he knew it, he was opening the boxes and blankly looking at the things that his wife had bought for him.

The process went on for a full hour.

Caspian suddenly jerked from his dazed state when something made a clanking sound and he almost dropped that item from his hand. Thankfully, his power activated on its own and that item safely returned back to his palm.

He looked at his hand and found that he was holding a really beautiful teacup. He also found five other matching cup sets along with a teapot in one of the boxes on the table.

Caspian gulped. His throat felt like a desert that hadn't received a drop of rain in over a century. And he craved a warm cup of aromatic tea instead of warm sweet blood.

Without wasting a second, Caspian called a maid and ordered her to bring him a cup of tea.

"And use that tea set over there," he pointed at the table before the maid left the chamber.

He didn't allow the maids to touch anything else on the table though. He had yet to take a proper look at them.

The tea arrived in no time. Caspian sat down on the sofa and eagerly lifted the cup as soon as the maid set it down on the table. He gave the tea one cool blow before sipping it, eager to taste the flavorful tea.

However, he spat it out as quickly as he had sipped it. He couldn't swallow even a drop of it.

"Why the hell does it taste so bitter? Did you even put the sugar in it? Or did you put something else entirely instead of tea leaves?" he yelled at the maid who had failed to escape the room in time.

The poor maid tightly clasped the tray and said in a rushed manner, "Martha was the one who prepared the tea. She said she knew how to brew it exactly to Your Majesty's liking…" She was implying that it was prepared exactly how Anastasia always prepared it.

Caspian closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand all while clenching his jaw. He was trying hard not to throw up right then and there. His empty stomach was knotting badly just by the unpleasant smell and disgusting taste of the tea that still lingered at the back of his throat.

'But it always tasted so good when Anna served it. I agree I could never digest it and had to throw up later but… but it always tasted sweet, not bitter!'

He placed the cup back on the table and mumbled while half gagging, "Take it away." He then got up to rush for the bathroom when he heard the clattering of the cup and looked over his shoulder.

The maid's hands were shaking along with the teacup. Poor thing was terrified because she thought the King would punish her for serving the horrible tea.

Caspian frowned and groused, "Careful with the cups. It's a precious gift."

He retched immediately after entering the bathroom. Though nothing came out since there was nothing in his stomach to begin with; the dry heaving didn't stop for a long time.

After finally regaining his composure, Caspian sat down on the bathroom floor. He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and muttered to himself as he realized something.

"It was never the tea I liked… It was the person making the tea…and her company as she did so."

The countless times Anastasia had come to his study to brew him a cup of tea flashed one after another before his eyes. She never failed to hold a warm smile as she came to his study every day, right on the clock. Tea breaks had become a part of his daily routine. Anastasia's warm smile had become his stress reliever.

Caspian's eyes welled up unexpectedly. But given the situation, it wasn't a surprise.

He abruptly pushed himself up on his feet before the bathroom got flooded with his cold tears.

And since no one had come to him today to give him any kind of update, he decided to find someone and confront them.

"Are all of you so incompetent that you cannot find a single woman?" Caspian seethed with fury when he saw Jasper, Vincent, Zenon, and a few other ministers huddled together in a meeting room.

Jasper rose on his feet and after greeting the King, he took all the blame. "I apologize for being such a failure, Your Majesty. I am ready to resign since I was unable to–"

Caspian raised his hand and snapped back at Jasper before he even finished talking, "I don't want anyone giving up on my wife yet! Just tell me the recent update."

Jasper lowered his head and gave Caspian a summary, "We have raided all properties that are directly or indirectly owned by Bartholomew and his followers. We didn't find any signs of Her Majesty in those places. We just confiscated some items that probably going to be used for the protest. Other than that, we have also raided the properties of those who had enmity with you. But… nothing."

Caspian walked with his staggering feet and sat down on an empty chair in the room. His head felt so heavy that he had to support his jaw with his palm.

"Did anyone contact Orsenia? Is she there by any chance?" he asked in a barely audible voice.

Vincent cleared his throat and answered, "I had sent Tilla and a few of my trusted people there to gather the information. I got a letter yesterday night saying that Her Majesty is not there. At least not in the castle or any other properties of King Desmond."

"And what about Lavinya? Is there any chance that she is with Alexander?" At this point, Caspian was open to any possibilities. He was trying to grasp anything that provided him with a glimmer of hope.

Vincent knitted his brows in disappointment and shook his head. "I contacted Hamilton for that since he was already in Lavinya. He visited the Crown Prince and made sure that Her Majesty wasn't there with him. The Crown Prince is completely unaware of Her Majesty's disappearance."

Caspian closed his eyes. His jaw ticked and he gritted through his teeth, "Then where the hell is she? Did the earth swallow her whole or did the sky pull her in?"

Everyone's eyes were focused on the King's shaking fist. It was clear that he was resisting doing any damage to anyone or anything in the room.

Just when everyone was fearing their fate, Isaac came rushing to the room and breathlessly blurted, "I think we all might have been looking for Her Majesty in the wrong places."

"Elaborate," Caspian shot a scowl at the newcomer and ordered.

Isaac almost lost his leftover breath when he noticed that the King was also there in the room. But he couldn't back out now. So, he gathered his scattered courage and then answered in a hushed tone, "I have never failed to control my hunger to this day. This was the first time."

"I will make it your last if you don't get to the point within 10 seconds." Caspian didn't give a horseshit about the glances that he was getting.

Isaac gulped. And just like Caspian had asked, he jumped to the conclusion. "They were werewolves. The ones who kidnapped Her Majesty."

Caspian felt as if his whole world suddenly came to a stop when he heard that. Isaac sounded so confident that Caspian believed him without hearing how he came to that conclusion. And without missing a beat, he pinned the blame on the werewolf who clearly hadn't shaken off his infatuation with Anastasia.

"Everard, that fucking dog!"

It was easier to place the blame on Everard because Caspian had clearly heard Everard's parting words when he was leaving the coronation ball after getting into a vicious fight with each other.

'I am going to make her mine, one way or another. And I won't stop at anything until I do that.' Everard's words, not Caspian's.

"I should have known from the very beginning that it was him!" Caspian's furious aura thickened the atmosphere of the room, suffocating everyone who was witnessing the King's eyes reddening with murderous intent.

"I was a fool to not once suspect someone as sleazy as that piece of filth. I shouldn't have been blinded by the fact that he had made amends with Alexander, or by the fact that he had the decency to send me an apology letter," he said in a guttural voice.

Caspian's grip on the armrest of the chair tightened, so much so that the wood was starting to crumble into sawdust. He looked at the room which was already full of all the people he needed in order to execute his next plan.

"Gather all the soldiers. We are going to fight a war and kill those dogs," he announced going into a war with werewolves so casually that it sounded like they were going for a casual stroll.

However, everyone understood where Caspian was coming from.

Someone had dared to snatch the love of his life, the only speck of sweetness in his eternity, the one who had managed to thaw his callous heart.

There was no way Caspian would go easy on that person.

"NOW!" Caspian snarled at Jasper when he didn't act on command.

"I will gather the troops right away." Jasper scurried out of the room as if he were a passing breeze.

Zenon immediately got up on his feet, worried and terrified because of the King's sudden order. "Your Majesty! Let's take a moment and get to its depth before we–"

"You will be the one to get to the depth, six feet under to be precise, if you so much as dare protest after what you've done, Zenon." Caspian was warningly pointing his finger at Zenon. "I might have pardoned you out of necessity but I can revoke it as easily if you dare say that we should call off the war."

"I'm not saying we should call off the war." Zenon would have suggested taking a small stealth team and safely bringing the Queen back to Sorvando, but he didn't want to say that right now and get killed for real this time. "I was going to say we don't have any proof that King Everard indeed has our Queen. What if he doesn't? We should confirm–"

"Confirm?" Caspian's brows twitched as if he had heard the most unamusing joke of the century. "Sure. I will humor you for once," he gritted through his teeth. "I'll confirm whether Anastasia is there in Xanmar or not after I confront that dog, face-to-face."

Caspian got up, glared down at Zenon who was still showing his defiance, and slowly enunciated each word, "The war is happening, Mr. Advisor. And no one, not even you, can stop me."

Caspian didn't wait for Zenon to counter him. He immediately left the room, leaving everyone in a state of panic and urgency.

Some others in the room also left after the King. If the war was happening, everyone was expected to follow the protocols and do their part.

Zenon finally got the time to catch Isaac with his glare. "Congratulations!" he said sarcastically. "You just catapulted a war and we don't even know if Her Majesty is really being held captive by King Everard."

He swooshed in and said to Isaac while glaring down at him with contempt, "Thousands of innocent blood will be in your hand if that werewolf King turns out to be unrelated to Her Majesty's kidnapping. You should have read the room before blurting out your stupid self-drawn conclusion."

"Except, it was not a stupid conclusion." Now that the person who was talking down to him wasn't the King, Isaac talked back while exuding confidence. "I didn't come here until I was sure of it myself. Her Majesty was kidnapped by the werewolves."

"And how exactly did you draw that conclusion, may I ask?" Zenon folded his arms, challenging Isaac with his authoritative aura.

Isaac didn't hesitate to speak. "Their blood. We know from our encounter with that redhead that their blood is irresistibly inviting. And for someone like me to lose my mind over the thought of licking a drop of blood couldn't have been a mere coincidence."

"Or you were just that hungry," Zenon hissed.

Isaac immediately countered, "When I thought back to that day, I realized that my hunger pangs were aroused by the smell of blood in the first place. The intoxicating smell only got stronger. I believe someone was hurting themselves on purpose to lure me away from Her Majesty. And I fell right into their trap.

I also recalled not too long ago that I had heard someone answering my smell-drunken whisper. Humans don't listen to my whisper when they are at least 50 meters away from me."

"It could have been some vampire who lured you out with their blood servant's blood. Just own it that you fucked up that day, Isaac!" Zenon pressed, not willing to easily accept a hunch as proof.

"But not a single witness said that they saw any other vampires in the town that day except two royal guards," Vincent said from the back.

Isaac seemed even more determined to prove his point now. "And one of our witnesses clearly said that the kidnappers weren't vampires which made us assume they were humans, restricting our search within Sorvando. We failed to take it into account that when not affected by the moon, there's not much distinction between humans and werewolves."

"Well… what about their smell? If they were werewolves, they should have left a trail of god-awful smell behind." Though he was still arguing, Zenon himself didn't sound so sure anymore.

Vincent heaved a sigh and mumbled more to himself than to others, "I had picked up the smell of something sour twice when I was following the trail of footprints. I thought it was a weird smell but didn't pay much attention to it.

The trail led to a dead end soon, and in my frustration, I had forgotten about it until now." He looked up to meet the eyes of two men and said, "I think they used some kind of chemical to get rid of their lingering smell."

Zenon didn't speak a word anymore. He simply went to sit down on a nearby chair with his head down, accepting his defeat.

Vincent clutched his fist. His heart was also filled with rage now that he knew whom to direct his pent-up anger and frustration at – Everard.

"If you had figured this all out then why didn't you say anything sooner?" he asked Isaac in a low growling voice.

"I didn't speak anything until now because I was trying to figure out whether my hazy memory was real or fake." Isaac's eyes gleamed with a vengeance when he said, "Now that I'm sure that those memories were real, I am ready to put my life on the line for the sake of our Queen."

He then looked at Zenon and said while purposely targeting him, "Now if you will excuse me, I have some preparations to make before going to the war."

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