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Hamilton took a sip of the fresh blood. He gently swirled the cup and replied to his mother, “Well, since my cousin’s wife is here, I changed my mind.”

He shifted his gaze to Anastasia. And then he spoke to her, “I would love to know more about my new relative.”

Anastasia was looking down at her plate while stiffly munching on the pie. And when she heard Hamilton talking to her, she panicked and abruptly coughed. She almost choked on the pie.

“Easy, Your Majesty!” Hamilton put his cup aside and got up to pour a glass of water to Anastasia. “Here.” He handed over the glass to her.

Anastasia gulped down half a glass of water at once. She put the glass down and then gave a gentle nod to Hamilton, “Thank you!”

“Don’t mention it,” he replied and sat back down in his chair.

The previous servant returned with another cup full of red liquid for Lady Edith.

Anastasia inhaled deep and quietly, and she looked back down at her plate.

.....

Hamilton noticed the discomfort that Anastasia was having. He picked up his cup and nonchalantly said, “Don’t worry. We didn’t kill any humans to extract our lunch.”

Anastasia gave a nervous laugh. She stole a quick glance at Hamilton and shot the dart in the dark in a calmer tone, “I am aware of the blood servants.”

“Ah!” Hamilton raised his brows and nodded. He took a whiff of the aromatic blood. And then spoke as if he was enchanted by the blood, “So, Caspian doesn’t hide things from you.”

Anastasia swallowed her food and answered, “It was Zenon who told me about the blood servants. But yes, Caspian also provides answers to my questions.”

Hamilton gave a nod. “It’s good to know that he is not being a brat to you too.”

Anastasia gave a smile and focused on her lunch.

She wanted to finish it quickly so that she wouldn’t have to pretend to be okay when two of the vampires were leisurely sipping on human blood right next to her. Though she knew that no humans were harmed, it was quite unsettling for her.

And to make the lunch bearable, she kept on repeating in her head that they were having tomato juice and not blood. It worked to some extent, at least until she avoided her gaze with the cups.

But she couldn’t keep on avoiding it when Hamilton kept on asking her questions after questions.

“I was actually curious about one thing, Your Majesty.” Hamilton gave a piercing gaze to Anastasia and asked, “Does Caspian talk about Percival with you?”

“His brother? No, he... does not actually.” Anastasia pressed her lips together. She looked a little down because Caspian would never talk about his family with her.

Lady Edith sighed after seeing Anastasia sad. And she asked Hamilton in an irate voice, “Hamilton, stop! No discussion of work on the lunch table.”

Hamilton gave a shrug and denied the ‘accusation’ from his mother. “I was just asking her a normal question.”

“Sure!” Edith said dismissively. She glanced at Anastasia and said, “Don’t mind him. He has been obsessed with Percival for these past few years.”

Anastasia glanced at Hamilton and asked, “What kind of work do you engage yourself in?” She was curious to know what the mother and son were arguing about.

Hamilton swirled his drink and answered proudly, “I like to call myself a historian.”

Anastasia munched and swallowed a piece of sausage. She then glanced at Hamilton and asked him again, “You are... writing a biography on Caspian’s brother?”

“Hmm. Did Caspian tell you that?” Hamilton raised one of his brows and asked.

Anastasia took a glance at Lady Edith and then shook her head. “No, I guessed since Aunt Edith just told you not to discuss work here. And you were talking about the late King. So...”

Hamilton was amused by her lucky guess. He smiled and leaned forward. He then passionately spoke, “I wanted to immortalize late King Percival and his works.”

Suddenly, he sighed and knitted his brows together. He gave a blank stare at the table while he further spoke, “But the situation surrounding his death was a little mysterious. And I had been digging around about that event, and following leads to uncover everything that happened that day.”

“But for some reason...” Hamilton glanced at Anastasia and continued, “Your husband doesn’t like what I am doing. And he has been giving me cold shoulders ever since I decided to write that biography.”

“You look like a reasonable person.” Hamilton kept on giving icy look to Anastasia and asked, “Tell me, what’s so wrong about it? What’s wrong about wanting to record his history, his legacies?”

Anastasia pursed her lips for a moment and then replied, “I don’t see anything wrong with it, per se.”

Hamilton raised his brows and asked, “But?”

“But I think I get Caspian’s point of view about not wanting a biography on his brother’s life,” Anastasia replied while furrowing her brows.

Hamilton leaned back on his chair and asked, “And why does Her Majesty think that?”

“It’s just my guess but...” Anastasia inhaled deeply and said, “You said that the situation surrounding his brother’s death was mysterious.”

Hamilton placed his cup back on the table. He folded his arms and prompted Anastasia to speak further, “I’m listening.”

She cleared her throat and replied with a serious expression on her face, “Maybe, Caspian started giving cold shoulders to you because he had already come to terms with his brother’s death. It’s been two centuries if I am not wrong.”

Anastasia adjusted her position to face Hamilton. And she continued, “So when you began digging again, and when you tried saying to Caspian that something was amiss about that death, maybe he got afraid that his old wounds would reopen again.”

Hamilton kept on giving little nods for a while. And he spoke in a complaining tone, “That could be one possible explanation for his behavior. But it would have been easier for me to understand him if he just properly talked with me.”

Lady Edith, who had been quietly listening to the conversation until now, suddenly pointed out, “You are the one who was ignorant, Hamilton. It hasn’t been that long since Anastasia came here, you know. And even when lacks knowledge about the past, she understands Caspian better than you.”

“It’s because she is his wife! So, isn’t it a given that she understands Caspian better?” Hamilton tried to argue with his mother.

“Not necessarily!” Edith glared at Hamilton and tried to knock some empathy into him. “You’re his cousin, for heaven’s sake! You’ve known each other for centuries! It’s common sense to know that Caspian would be hurt if you went around poking about Percival.”

While the mother and son were having their argument, Anastasia quietly stuffed the last piece of corn nugget in her mouth and pretended she was invisible.

Hamilton frowned and asked his mother in a disgruntled tone, “So, what do you want me to do? Give up on my work? Throw away everything that I have researched and compiled until now?”

Edith let out a sigh and calmed herself.

And she suggested in a rather softer tone, “Try not to shove it into Caspian’s face that you are still working on Percival’s biography. And if you do find out what was amiss about the death, sit down with him and share the information. Try to be there for him. Don’t be an absent cousin.”