The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 51: Plotting Revenge

Chapter 51: Plotting Revenge

"What really happened?" Valerius asked Annalise as he helped her arrange the items that they would be taking with them to the Grand Duke’s mansion.

"I’m not sure..." Annalise responded, her voice coming out in a mere whisper. Her eyes stung with punished tears that she had been trying to keep in control ever since she returned to the castle without Lord Damian. The man had disappeared somewhere without telling anyone.

The more everyone kept asking about what happened and where Lord Damian was, the guiltier she was feeling. A part of her knew deep down in her heart that she was actually not at fault but the guilt was still there.

After all, if she hadn’t forced him to accompany her for shopping against his will, the situation wouldn’t have gotten this bad.

"Annalise..." Valerius was immediately beside her, taking hold of her hands in his own as he forced her to turn and face him. His voice was filled with the usual warmth but there was also a hint of worry in it.

"Don’t blame yourself. It’s my fault too, I shouldn’t have ordered him to accompany you since I knew that he was in a bad mood. You have nothing to blame yourself for." He rubbed her arms lightly as he tried to calm her.

All the resolve that she had built to keep her emotions in control, broke down the very moment she looked into Valerius’ eyes. Her heart trembled in pain as she felt the weight of guilt washing over her.

Valerius immediately pulled her into his arms without wasting a single second. "It’s alright. Everything will be alright." He murmured softly against her ear as he continued to rub her back in a gesture of comforting her.

The newly formed mate bond between them got filled with warmth and care as Valerius pointed his entire attention to making her feel good.

The tears stopped rolling down her cheeks as Annalise found herself relaxing. The sadness started dissipating and her guilt also lessen. She tightened her hold around Valerius and snuggled closer into his embrace.

"Is she crying?" The question came from Kenric who had just entered the room. The third Lord sounded worried as he came to stand next to the two of them.

"She’s better now," Valerius replied to his brother’s question.

Annalise felt another pair of arms sliding around her waist and the very next second, she found herself being back hugged by Kenric. "I can’t believe that stupid man made you cry. But I promise, I’ll help you take revenge on him and we will make him regret what he did today." He promised as he placed a gentle kiss against her temple.

Annalise spared a quick look at the man over her shoulder as his words had successfully piqued her interest. Just the thought of taking revenge on Lord Damian sounded like music to her ears. "Really?" She asked to confirm that he wasn’t joking.

Her question made Kenric turn into a serious mode as he straightened and replied, "Really. I promise that I will help you make him regret his actions. But you have to listen to my words."

Annalise hurriedly looked at Valerius to see what the First Lord had to say because no matter how good the idea sounded to her at the moment, she didn’t want to end up making another mistake that would only result in more guilt and sadness.

Valerius let out a small sigh as he replied, "I would have never agreed with such a plan..."

A pout immediately made its way to Kenric’s lips as he heard those words. And while Annalise didn’t follow his suit, it was quite evident on her face that she was expecting a different answer.

"... However, looking at how stubborn he’s acting and the mistake that he made today by making our wife cry... I’ll allow this revenge thing only this time. But make sure not to go overboard."

The last statement was almost impossible to be heard as Kenric already started shouting in joy as soon as Valerius gave his permission. "Don’t worry, I won’t do anything that will cause hurt to her." He promised his brother as he looked at Annalise with a beautiful smile playing on his lips.

"What is your plan?" Valerius asked as he loosened his hold on Annalise but still kept one of his hands wrapped around her waist.

"It’s pretty simple." Kenric responded as he cupped Annalise’s face with both his hands and continued, "I just want you to ignore him. Pretend like he doesn’t even exist, and I’ll do the rest of the work."

Valerius raised his eyebrows in question at his brother’s words. ’What is your plan?’ He asked through their mind link.

’Nothing much. Let’s just have a good time with our wife tomorrow and make our brother feel left out. I wanna see how long he’s going to pretend that he doesn’t want her just as much as us.’ Kenric answered as he spared a quick look at Valerius.

’You want him to feel jealous.’ Valerius concluded and he didn’t seem much impressed with the idea. He was just relaxed to know that Kenric wasn’t planning anything extreme. If worse came to worst, Damian would only throw a tantrum just like he was doing at the moment. And if the plan succeeded, Annalise would probably get to see Damian on his knees asking for her forgiveness.

"Sometimes I feel like you guys can talk in each other’s mind." Annalise’s comment pulled their attention towards the woman who was looking at them with a skeptical look on her face.

The smile playing on Kenric’s lips only became bigger as he replied to her comment, "Then you guessed it right, Little Bird. The three of us can really talk through telepathy. It’s a sibling thing."

The look of surprise that immediately took over her face made Kenric chuckle as he placed a kiss on her forehead, he just couldn’t help himself, his wife was just too cute.