The Masked Vampire King's Accidental Bride
Chapter 321: A power hunt

Chapter 321: A power hunt

"What are you doing, sir?" Lucas asked when he saw his Prince sitting across himself on the private jet.

"Going to attend the meeting for -"

"Sir, you have always treated me like a friend before being subordinate. And you must know what I am asking about," Lucas asked.

Sebastian didn’t answer. He just looked out of the window casually. He had no answer to his question.

He himself didn’t know what he was doing. Was he punishing her? Or was he punishing himself? What he saw happening in that room was nowhere near normal.

And after dealing with witches for more than half of his life to know more about his curse as the prodigy prince and vampire’s heart eater, he didn’t need to be told twice that it was the work of a dark witch.

He wasn’t a fool to not understand why those vampires were executed the way they were, especially on the same day Elliana got hurt when the manager clearly mentioned that they had only gone on one mission.

A witch was obsessed with his princess.

But it wasn’t the reason he didn’t talk to her.

He would never do that to her.

The reason why he didn’t meet her after she woke up was because he wanted her to miss him. Miss him and want him. No. He wanted her to need him like she needed air to breathe.

It was a petty feeling. The feeling of revenge.

Though he said all those words to assure her she had been the owner of all those new emotions in his life so far, it hurt his pride how easily she assumed he would go to another woman.

She wanted him to crave her. Well, he would make it a double-ended deal.

Now she will miss him. And while missing him, she will keep asking herself what the hell did she do wrong that he didn’t even leave after telling her.

"You clearly look more bothered than her," Lucas scoffed, and a nerve in Sebastian’s forehead twitched at his words.

He was bothered. Of course, he was. More than he had thought. He wanted to leave like a normal husband leaving for a business trip with his wife kissing on his cheeks and telling him to come home soon.

It was already a torture that she wasn’t with him and now he had to leave like this.

He wanted to kiss her goodbye, probably pleasure her a little before he left so she could think about him and only him for these two days. That’s what he wanted to do, but the sense of that petty revenge ruined everything.

Sebastian clenched his hand around the armrest before opening his phone, casually shuffling through his gallery.

Photos. It was filled with photos of her only. Her standing near the window of her University, the first photo Blue had messaged him that was used for the campus belle competition too. Then it was her photo in the green dress that she had worn at the party.

There were many photos of her and him dancing in the royal palace. They were sent by the second mother.

Then there were some photos Miss Zoya had taken of Princess acting cute in the household and being mischievous and some photos of her from that trip.

Her smiles. They were fake. Just like her emotions.

But when she looked towards him, everything was real. And the realization alone was enough to make his heart skip a beat.

Lucas raised his gaze and looked at his prince looking at the Princess’s photos like she left him for another man or something and sighed. He strongly wanted to knock some sense into him but knew not to interfere.

He took out his phone and clicked a photo of his prince acting so obvious, reminding himself to send it to Miss Zoya to let her know how badly their prince was handling it, just like she had warned him when he was leaving.

After a journey of 8 hours, they finally landed on the grounds of the city they were to visit. It was an hour’s journey from the airport and Lucas was ready to stretch his legs after sitting for so long.

"The Duke would be here shortly, sir," the Second-hand man of Duke Carter said, and Sebastian nodded.

He didn’t sit on the seat immediately and looked around the restaurant they were called into.

Just like he had guessed. Though they weren’t making it obvious, around 20 vampires were looking at them from all angles, and nearly thirty or so cameras were fitted in the hall alone.

Sebastian wouldn’t be surprised if the reason the Duke wasn’t coming out immediately was because he wanted to watch them through the cameras for some time and see if they brought any kind of threat with them.

He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at the useless preparations and precautions. Did the Duke really think that he was here to eat? Eat him?

And even if he was, was this amount of preparation enough to stop him? Wasn’t he underestimating him?

The second in command of Duke was about to leave when Sebastian nodded at Lucas.

"Tell your sir we are here to discuss things not eat his heart, he can come out. We have other things to attend to. And if he isn’t interested, we are leaving. He might be a Duke but this is the youngest vampire prince he is wasting time of," Lucas’s tone was as expected full of authority.

Being a Duke’s son himself, his power was no joke, and the second in command nodded at the warning under his tone.

Sebastian sat on the chair, his legs extended in front of him as he closed his eyes.

Normally any man would be keeping a close eye on all the men watching him, but he knew none of them here wanted to invite their death.

The only way to catch him off guard was by holding hostage people close to him, and Sebastian was quite sure that Lucas wouldn’t let it happen anytime soon.

"Prince Sebastian," Sebastian heard a voice, and he opened his eyes ever so slowly.

He made no move to put his legs down, and the Duke smiled awkwardly, an apologetic smile stretching on his lips.

"6 minutes and 32 seconds late," Sebastian mentioned causally before he put his legs down.

"Duke Carter Blood," he stood from his place and shook Carter’s hand firmly before he sat back.

Lucas immediately stood behind Sebastian as a loyal subordinate, and the Duke nodded at Lucas in recognition since he was also a Duke’s kid.

Lucas nodded back.

"Let’s discuss the things we are here for," Sebastian didn’t waste a second in getting straight to the point.

"First, you are already aware of the vote-casting system for the throne seat and might think I am here for that. I am not. Decide it based on our work.

Second, on our way, we heard a few things about illegal weapons being circulated among vampires in this country, and so far no plausible action has been taken, why? The second royal family was dealing with this case. What happened? Is it because of the death of the prince?" Sebastian asked all the questions in one go and an emotion flickered in the Duke’s eyes that he quickly masked.

"Vacate the hall and turn off the cameras," Duke commanded, and Sebastian quirked his brows.

"It’s funny how you don’t trust your men," He said before looking at Lucas.

"Stay," One word, and it was enough for Lucas to know, that no matter who says anything, he shouldn’t move.

Once all the extra unnecessary men left the hall, Carter finally nodded at his secondhand man who brought out a few files from his bag.

Carter opened them one by one, and to say Sebastian was shocked would be an understatement.

They were pictures. Pictures of people that can turn the world, and the entire decision of the throne in his favor.

"When did this happen? And why didn’t you inform the royal family?" Sebastian asked, keeping his cool when he was anything but calm.

"I didn’t have a reason to. I am not sure if you understand the severity of the matter, Prince Sebastian. Do you think the second family, fourth family, or the other royal families all over the world don’t understand what is happening in the main royal family? The power hunt? What is happening with you?" The Duke asked, catching Sebastian’s attention.

"They are trying to look for a weak point and all of you are out. Have you forgotten the crucial point of deciding the King? It doesn’t lie at stakes of powers and strength. Your father wasn’t the most powerful. He was the one who could rule it well with his cunning mind. And you out of everyone know who has the most cunning mind in your family at the moment," the Duke trailed off.

"Vincenzo," Sebastian whispered, and Duke Carter nodded.

"But he isn’t interested in the throne," Sebastian said.

"Which leaves you with -"

"Marcus and Stephano," Sebastian said.

"And Prince Marcus will always support Prince Stephano. It was never about who could handle most cases and who had the most strength. It has always been about who is the most cunning," Duke Carter looked at Sebastian with a sigh.

"Pardon my words, Prince, but unlike you, Prince Stephano doesn’t become immediately angry -".

"He waits and observes everything around you to strike you when you least expect him to," Sebastian completed his sentence, and the Duke nodded.

Sebastian could understand everything, but a question lingered in his mind. The topic started with illegal weapons, but why was the Duke trying to make him understand he doesn’t stand a chance with the throne?

Sebastian raised his brows at him before a smirk played on his lips.

"How much percentage do you get?" He asked.

"Excuse me?" Carter asked, caught off guard.

"It’s a simple question, Carter. How much percentage do you get out of those illegal weapons," Sebastian asked and Carter gulped, making him smile evilly.

He knew it. He knew things were complicated here.

"It was funny of you to think we family are against each other. We are fighting for the throne, yes. But we still would lay down our lives for each other. And you know it from the last time you talked to my brother and told him I was coming here to meet you, which was two hours ago," Sebastian smiled and it was enough for the Duke to break into cold sweat.

There was a reason people didn’t easily agree to have a meeting with Prince Sebastian and he understood it now.

He wasn’t just powerful. He was probably more calculating than his father.