Conquering His Cold Heart

13 Monstrous Women

Caspian and Anastasia danced for some more. The other couples also joined the dance floor and danced along with the newlyweds.

After quite a while, the current music ended. And before the new piece of music could start, Caspian felt a gentle tap on his shoulder followed by a sweet voice, “Caspian, care for a dance?”

Anastasia saw a woman who had blonde hair like that of Caspian and her looks... well they were to die for. And within split seconds, Anastasia came to a conclusion, ‘She is one of his mistresses?’

But the response from Caspian debunked her conclusion, “Aunt Edith! You just arrived?” Caspian let go of Anastasia’s hands and turned to greet his aunt.

Edith chuckled and teased Caspian, “Oh, I arrived hours ago. But your eyes were glued to your wife for you to notice me.” She tilted her head to get a good look at Anastasia and asked Caspian, “Won’t you introduce me to your wife?”

“Yes, of course,” Caspian smiled and turned to look at his wife.

He gestured her to come closer and when she was standing by his side, he introduced his aunt to his wife, “Anastasia, she is my dearest aunt, Lady Edith Heradi.”

Anastasia gave a low curtsy to Edith and spoke in her soft voice, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Edith.”

Edith gave a warm smile and caressed Anastasia’s cheeks. “Aren’t you a sweet child?” Edith took Anastasia’s hands in her palms and asked, “So, you arrived at the castle yesterday?”

.....

“Yes, Lady Edith,” Anastasia replied in her usual, melodious voice. She could tell from Edith’s cold hands that she was also a vampire. But for some reason, she was not scared of her. Maybe it was because of her serene face or because of her warm smile. Either way, she liked Caspian’s aunt.

Edith then gave a corner-eyed look to her nephew and asked Anastasia, “He is not troubling you, is he?”

“No, he’s not.” Anastasia shook her head even when Caspian had done nothing but trouble her since the moment she stepped her feet in the castle.

Edith gently rubbed her thumb on Anastasia’s knuckles and asked her, “I live close by so if you ever feel lonely then feel free to visit me from time to time. Deal?”

Her warm demeanor made Anastasia smile. She nodded her head and agreed, “I will remember to visit you, Lady Edith.”

“Good girl!” Edith gave a genuine smile and gently patted Anastasia’s hand. And she turned her gaze towards Caspian to say, “Okay, child, you owe me a dance on this happy occasion.”

“Sure,” Caspian outstretched his hand towards his aunt. After she held his hand, he gave an apologetic look to his wife for having to leave her alone.

In response, Anastasia gave a reassuring smile and slightly nodded signifying that she was going to be okay. For a while, she kept on watching Caspian and Edith dancing gracefully to the beautiful piece of music. But she was startled when another pair almost bumped on her as they danced.

As she was standing in the middle of the dance floor without any partners, she walked a little further away from the main dance floor. She kept on watching Lady Edith, the one vampire who was very sweet to her and who didn’t look at her as if she was some lifeless pouch that stored blood for them to relish on.

She was intrigued when she recalled the way Edith spoke like a very old woman when she only looked like she was in her early thirties. And she wondered if Edith was Caspian’s own aunt or just someone who was a distant relative.

‘Lady Edith looks too young to be Caspian’s biological aunt... They share the same surname though,’ Anastasia was utterly baffled the more she thought about it.

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by a cautiously soft yet chillingly provoking voice from behind her. “So, you are the human who His Majesty had to take in as a charity case?”

Anastasia’s immediate response was to flinch as the cold breath brushed her bare shoulder. She could feel goosebumps running through her whole body. Slowly, she turned around to see the two women who were trying to approach her at the beginning of the ball.

Both the women had a beautiful appearance. One had brunette hair and blood-red lips. She was wearing an elegant soft pink gown. While the other lady had black hair and relatively light makeup done on her face. She was wearing a silk red gown.

Though both of them looked beautiful on the outside, they had this flare of anger in their glowing red eyes which frightened the Princess. ‘Oh, God! I’m so dead.’ Anastasia gulped and her body went stiff all of a sudden.

The brunette woman darted her eyes to see if Caspian was looking at them. She noticed that he was occupied with Lady Edith. And a grim smile appeared on her blood-red lips.

She looked back at Anastasia who was standing defenseless in front of them. She was going to take the chance to belittle the nasty human.

She leaned close to Anastasia and whispered after taking a whiff of her hair, “What is an ugly thing like you doing with our Majesty? Did your mamma and papa hate you? So much so that they had to send their daughter to become the juice box for His Majesty?”

Even though Anastasia was scared for her life, she couldn’t stand it when that filthy-mouthed lady talked trash about her dear parents. She clutched her fists and spoke through her fear, “My parents weren’t aware that this whole Kingdom was filled with monsters like you. Else they would have never sent me here.”

That woman scoffed and dramatically pressed her chest with her palm. “Ah! She can speak!” She glanced at her friend and mocked the Princess, “And she is a feisty one.”

She raised her palm and poked Anastasia’s lips with her long fingernails. She then narrowed her eyes and threatened Anastasia, “Be careful of your razor-sharp mouth. Run it carelessly in front of His Majesty and he will slit your throat on the spot.”

The dark-haired lady elegantly covered her lips as she chuckled. And she scorned, “I wonder how many days she will last. I bet on a week.”

“I don’t think she will last that long. My bet is three days at most.” Unexpectedly, the brunette woman made a swift swipe across Anastasia’s neck with her fingernail.

“Aah!” Anastasia tilted her head and touched her neck because she felt a sudden pain as if she had a paper cut. She was right. She felt a burning sensation on her neck.

But that wasn’t what shocked Anastasia. It was what that woman did after.

Anastasia was traumatized when that monstrous woman sucked the tip of her fingernail and moaned as if she was enjoying the taste of her blood. “Mhmm... Scratch what I said earlier. She won’t even survive this ball.”