The Masked Vampire King's Accidental Bride
Chapter 368: A home that was hell

Chapter 368: A home that was hell

Elliana stepped ahead, walking to the dining room.

She sat in her usual seat, out of habit, as the servant pulled out the main seat for the King and the seat right in front of the king for the Prince.

Sebastian looked at the arrangement and noticed how far Elliana was from him.

He didn’t like it.

His eyes furrowed as his aura started to become cold and unapproachable from the lack of his wife’s warmth by his side.

Lucas, who immediately understood the change in behavior and the reason behind it, coughed lightly before clearing his throat to catch their Princess’s attention.

Since their Prince hadn’t completely marked and claimed the Princess, or made her part of the royal vampires through the blood ceremony, it was impossible to communicate with her through the mind link as they do among themselves.

*Ahem* *ahem*

Lucas tried again, but Elliana didn’t look up.

The lunch started and the servants started serving the dishes on everyone’s plate up to their liking.

Lucas and Ambrose were also invited to sit and dine by their prince’s side as they were the second-hand and third-hand men of the royal prince.

They looked at each other, their gaze holding the same question and meaning as they looked at their Princess who suddenly went quiet.

Too quiet from how they were used to seeing her. Their childish and lively princess was nowhere to be seen. She was replaced by a girl who was uncomfortable and too stiff.

She was just looking down at her plate, her hands clenched around her cutlery, something that Sebastian’s observant eyes didn’t miss.

It was such a contrast.

She was such a happy eater at his palace, a place where she was supposed to act like a lamb in front of a wolf, but here, where she was supposed to eat happily, she was just playing with the food on her plate as if she didn’t want to eat anything.

"Sweetheart, try this one. You will love it," Marla nodded at the servant.

Sebastian’s brows quirked when the servants placed the dish on her plate.

"She doesn’t like to eat Jackfruit," Sebastian commented, his voice still cold as he took a bite of food from his plate, the hatred in his heart for them turning the food tasteless, and Marla’s smile froze.

"Is that so? But here she always loved eating jackfruit and-"

"It makes her sick," Sebastian completed his sentence taking another bite that appeared more like a slap to everyone’s face in their palace who didn’t even know this basic information about the princess they claimed to love so much.

James’s hands froze at the information. Even he didn’t know about it. For someone who claimed to love both his daughters equally, he was quite oblivious about Elliana’s likes and dislikes.

"That’s fine. I can eat it," Elliana whispered with a soft smile.

"Will you really?" Sebastian asked, lifting his gaze to the girl, looking at her with a promise of havoc in his eyes and Elliana immediately placed her cutlery down.

"Please change the plate," Elliana said.

Everyone looked between Sebastian and Elliana.

It was clear Sebastian had that oppressive aura around him, and Elliana was merely doing everything to appease him.

"Haha, I am so sorry, sweetheart. It completely slipped my mind. It’s Madeline who likes jackfruit dishes," Marla said, and Elliana smiled forcefully.

"It’s okay, stepmother. It’s nothing serious," Elliana ate in silence after that, not even lifting her gaze to meet anyone’s.

She would respond to whatever Marla or James would say occasionally, but apart from that, she kept her gaze neutral.

After lunch, King James asked Sebastian if he would like to talk in his office or while having a tour of the kingdom, and Sebastian chose the second option.

Thus, the council head, King James, Sebastian, and Lucas left the palace to talk and tour the kingdom.

Ambrose was asked to stay back to keep an eye on Princess, and the poor guy was left standing between the ladies with the council head’s son.

However, an order was an order.

He stood slightly away from the Princess, giving her enough privacy but alert enough to attack anyone who would try to hurt her.

"So Elliana dear, how is life in the vampire’s kingdom?" Marla asked.

"It’s good. They treat me like a princess," Elliana kept her answers short and precise.

"Is there any problem there? You can share it with your mother. Even your husband isn’t here. So you don’t need to be afraid of anyone," Marla hushed.

"They treat me well. There’s nothing to complain about," Elliana said again, her fingers nipping at her nails.

Aditya, who was sitting in front of her looked at her edginess and sighed. She was clearly getting uncomfortable from all these questions.

"Elliana, would you like to go to the caves? It was your favorite place when you used to play around," Aditya suggested, and Elliana smiled gratefully.

She really needed and wanted to be out of there.

"I would -"

"What are you talking about, Aditya? She is here after such a long time. Of course, she would like to talk to her stepmother," Marla laughed forcefully.

"Right, Elliana? Let’s go to your room," Marla raised her hand, and Elliana flinched out of habit, ready for the hit, something that immediately caught Ambrose’s attention who was looking at his phone.

His brows quirked, but he didn’t say anything.

Marla’s hand froze before she patted Elliana’s head with a forced smile.

This girl was really hell-bent on insulting her in front of everyone. It looks like she will have to teach her a good lesson today.

She tried to sneak Elliana away from the vampire and Aditya so she could finally have a good talk with her.

Marla held Elliana’s hand in a tight grip and pulled her up, pulling her to the room with Madeline.

"But Mrs. Heart -" Aditya started, making Marla heave an exasperated sigh.

"Aditya, why don’t you go and have a tour with Madeline? It’s been so long since you guys spent some time together," Marla nodded at Madeline, who sighed and nodded.

She really wanted to torment Elliana with her mother and avenge the slap, but now she was left with no choice. This was the first time she hated Aditya’s presence here.

"Sure, mom. Aditya, let’s go," Madeline said bashfully before intertwining her fingers with Aditya’s.

Aditya noticed how Elliana’s gaze went from his face to his hand that was clasped in Madeline’s before she turned around.

His fists clenched, but he was helpless now. Madeline was her fiancee and Elliana was someone who was currently out of his league.

With a dejected sigh, he turned around letting Madeline take him out.

"Mr, you can stay here. It’s not too for you to follow your prince’s wife to her room, right?" Marla added when she saw Ambrose following them.

Ambrose looked at Elliana for any kind of hints, but when he didn’t find any, he nodded, staying back.

As soon as Elliana walked inside the room, Marla closed the door behind her, the forced smile she had on her face, immediately dropping and replacing with a cold glint.

Elliana shuddered involuntarily.

This look... Every time her stepmother has this kind of look, nothing good ever happened to her.

"I heard you slapped Madeline," Marla asked.

Elliana shuddered, stepping back from her. She hated being alone with her stepmother.

"So you think just because you have gotten a new place you can disrespect us? Hmm?" Marla asked before she raised her brows when she saw Elliana’s lips trembling in fear as she stepped away from her.

"Ohhh, why are you getting scared, sweetheart? I am not going to hurt you or anything. I am just asking you a simple question. So you better answer me," Marla grabbed Elliana’s hand before pulling her close, making the girl’s lips tremble even more as a soft whimper left her mouth.

"Why did you slap my daughter?" Marla asked, throwing Elliana towards the bed harshly, making her fall on the mattress.

Elliana’s heart picked its pace as tears brimmed her eyes.

"I... I told her, I won’t hear anything against my mother. She -" Elliana started, but Marla’s cold chuckle stopped her.

"Well, did anything she say that day wrong? Wasn’t your mother just a slut who opened her legs for the king when she saw the rich man? Didn’t that filthy whore take off her clothes because she wanted to be covered in bills?" Marla asked, and a tear slipped down Elliana’s cheeks.

"My mother wasn’t anything that you are -"

"Then why are you an illegitimate child? Why don’t I see your mother in the palace? Why the hell is she hiding if she isn’t wrong?" Marla asked before she grabbed Elliana’s hair in a tight fist, pulling her up.

"And what was that downstairs? Do you want everyone to know that I treat you badly? You want to ruin my reputation?"

"No, stepmother. I don’t -" Marla pushed Elliana’s chest harshly, making her fall backward, the back of her head hitting the corner of the bed, making the girl wince loudly as she saw black dots appear in her vision.