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“Ruby? Oh... Er... She...”

So, he couldn’t say anything to Anastasia except stutter.

He began thinking of a lot of reasonable explanations that he could give to his wife. However, the only explanation that kept on coming back to his mind was what Zenon had suggested to him – asking the doctor to lie for them. However, that idea didn’t work anymore since the doctor was now dead.

“Caspian...” Anastasia gently placed her palm on his cheek. She could clearly see the hesitation in his eyes.

She was aware that she was putting Caspian in a difficult position by mentioning Ruby’s name. Caspian had mentioned before that there were things that he couldn’t share with her.

So, she tried to be understanding and said, “Caspian, I’m really sorry that I threw a temper tantrum in the dungeon. You were trying to make me understand that Ruby was a dangerous woman but I wasn’t ready to listen to your side of the story.”

Caspian didn’t know where she was going with this conversation. He wondered if Anastasia had somehow managed to find out that Ruby was a werewolf. But he wanted to be completely sure before opening his mouth. So, he thought of listening to what she had to say first.

“She ran away, didn’t she?” Anastasia asked with a sad look on her face.

.....

Caspian was a little surprised that she knew about that incident. “Yes, she did,” he replied in a low voice, thankful that he didn’t spin up any lies earlier.

He was even more surprised when she further said, “And I also heard that she bit two of our guards before she ran off. I heard how sick they got. I’m sorry for being stubborn and asking you to release her. I forgot that I was in the Kingdom full of supernatural beings and thought that she was an innocent human based on my single interaction with her.”

Rather than being angry at who revealed such sensitive information to her, Caspian felt as though a heavy weight had been lifted from his head. He was so glad that he didn’t have to lie to her.

He held out his hand and gently caressed Anastasia’s lips. “Indeed, you heard it right. Two of our guards were on the verge of death because of her attack. And yes, she isn’t an innocent human.”

He sighed and further added, “Sometimes, our eyes can be deceiving. But I am glad that you found out the truth.”

Anastasia glanced at her husband with eyes full of questions. She wasn’t sure if she would get the answer but she asked anyway, “You were hesitating to tell me what she was on that day. May I know it now? Is she also a vampire? Or maybe she is one of the dhampirs?”

Caspian’s expression instantly changed upon hearing that question. Although his wife already knew a great deal about the things that Ruby had done, he wasn’t ready to share what she actually was. It wasn’t his secret to tell.

So he turned his gaze away from her and replied, hoping that his wife would understand and hoping that she wouldn’t ask that question ever again, “I’m sorry Anna. I cannot reveal that information to you. Our ancestors had made a blood pact with their kind, saying that we would never reveal their secret to humans. And they had done the same.”

“Oh!” Anastasia pressed her lips together and nodded. She didn’t know what the blood pact meant. But from the way how seriously Caspian was taking it, she assumed that it was something pretty serious.

Caspian pulled Anastasia closer to his chest and further emphasized, “It’s a secret that I need to take to my grave. So, I hope that you understand the situation that I am in.”

Anastasia tightened her grip around her husband and whispered, “I understand. I won’t ask you about her anymore. Just know that I deeply regret what happened because of me.”

Caspian placed a soft kiss on her head and whispered back, “It wasn’t your fault. Don’t blame yourself. If anyone, it was my fault for not sending the right person with her. Vincent underestimated her and almost paid that price himself. But at least I am glad that he wasn’t hurt.”

“Me too,” she whispered.

There was a silence between the two of them.

Caspian closed his eyes and said while caressing Anastasia’s back, “Goodnight, wife.”

“Goodnight,” Anastasia replied and she also closed her eyes.

Within a few minutes, Caspian was close to falling asleep. However, a realization crossed his mind, and all of a sudden, he flung his eyes open.

‘Oh hell!’ Caspian recalled his own words, ‘It’s a secret that we need to take to our grave! And... Zenon... He shared it with those humans who died, didn’t he? Is that the reason they’re all dead?’

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes again. He thought of finding out more about that blood pact tomorrow and tried to go back to sleep.

However, all he did was close his eyes and think about a lot of things till the morning rays of the sun entered the chamber.

—

With the full moon getting closer and closer, Everard was getting more and more anxious.

He couldn’t help but think about the possibilities of how things would go down that night.

‘What if I get surrounded by a lot of vampires before I reach Anna? I’ve never fought with any vampire before and I don’t know how strong they are. Hell, I don’t even know how strong I am in my werewolf form.’

He sighed and sipped the tea that his maid had brought for him about an hour ago.

‘Ruby said that she was able to bite two of them and run. Maybe it’s not that hard to fight them.’

He sipped the cold tea again and thought, ‘But she had caught them off-guard at that time. They all might be extra cautious now that they know what we can do to them.’

Everard heaved a sigh and mumbled, “Breaking into Sorvando and then again breaking into the castle isn’t going to be an easy task.”