Indecent Folks

"If we meet each other again after I lose my memories, will you introduce yourself?" "It depends. Do you want me to?"

"A vampire and a human can't be together, right? But I guess we can be friends." "Friends? Sounds painful to me," he whispered.

I opened my eyes and found a blurry ceiling, so I blinked and turned to my left. Grace looked at me with a smile on her face as she caressed my arm. "Tell him she's awake," she said to someone behind her. "The prince," I whispered.

Grace nodded and caressed my forehead. "He's fine. You have fully healed. We'll wait for you in the assembly hall." She kissed my forehead before leaving the room. My hand flew onto my gut but it didn't hurt. I slid my hand into my robe and traced my wound with my fingers, but I didn't even feel a scar.

I felt like my blood went onto my head when a hunch came into mind. My hands shook as I held onto my chest, but I don't feel odd. I don't feel like a vampire. In the window, I could see the dome that I built for the palace. I don't usually do this because it's too big, but it must be the adrenaline rush.

The handmaids prepared my bath, so I fixed myself and put on a grey dress and black coat. I tied my hair into a bun before heading to the hall. They indeed were waiting for me. Grace settled on the head seat at the long table while Prince Gerald and Rougan sat to her left. The men stood the moment I entered the hall, but shame crept into me, so I gave them a wry smile.

I walked up to the seat across from them and gently bowed my head since they were still speechless. "It was my idea to let Prince Benedict stay in that forest. I thought the barricade was enough. Forgive me for the trouble." When I turned to the prince, he smiled at me and gently shook his head. "You just recovered, and you're talking about work?"

I pursed my lips and cleared my throat, stealing a glance at Grace, who smiled at me too. "Shall we settle first?" she asked.

I let the men sit first before I took a deep breath and settled. This initiative was important to Grace and the Irethians, but the kingdom might lose its chance.

"How do you feel?" the crown prince asked.

"Hmm, normal." I turned to Rougan with confused eyes. "I feel like my wound was never there," I only implied because the prince surely doesn't know about Rougan's nature.

"Prince Gerald and I already talked about the initiative. Of course, he had his hesitations after what happened, but we can't blame him. However, we're glad that you recovered fast. You even pulled a dome over the palace despite being unconscious for a day. We're lucky to have you, Dani," said Grace.

I took a deep breath and bit my lower lip. The prince's reluctance was already a bad thing. I have to fix this.

"For someone as powerful as you, I know it won't be hard to find a solution to this problem. This initiative is good for the merchants of Peraven and Ireth. I'm counting on you, Miss Jones," the crown prince informed me. "I'll take care of it, Your Highness. You have my word."

Rougan stared at me as if he saw me for the first time, so my cheeks heated as I tried to keep myself unbothered. His deep-set eyes bore into me like a shooting star.

"We'll see you out," the queen said, so I stood first and waited for them. I followed behind as my mind started wandering somewhere else.

The next thing I knew, we're already standing in the palace's entrance while Rougan and the prince boarded the royal carriage. I waved my fingers in the air to dissolve the dome while Rougan's eyes didn't leave me until the coachmen turned the carriage to face the gate.

Grace's hand slid into my arm as she smiled. "Don't worry. He's not leaving Ireth yet. He said he'll stay in the Merchants' District until the end of the Open Trade. How do you feel, really?" she asked.

I shrugged and shook my head. "Surprised. I didn't know that I'll make it. Rougan healed me, but did he..." I trailed, unable to speak of the those worse as the servants around might hear us. "The doctor was able to stop the bleeding and stitch your wound. When he said that you're already stable, Rougan came to me and told me that he can heal you, so I gave him my permission."

I licked my lower lip and turned to the carriage. "About Prince Benedict, I would like to know more about him."

"Take your time. The crown prince isn't in a rush anyway," she tapped my shoulder before walking back inside the palace.

I spent the whole afternoon asking around about Prince Benedict. Finally, I got some help from Ford to retrieve files in the registry, which could help me understand why Prince Gerald isolated himself. After hours of getting information, I found out that he's receiving food and clothing from the farmers. Sometimes, they leave food and blankets in the barricade, and they believe that he's in a royal cabin that King Alfred I built for him in the forest during his youth.

I stroked my lips with my fingers as I leaned against my chair in my office. Prince Benedict lost his wife to smallpox too, and they have a daughter named Rosalind. Rumours were that he sent his daughter into a ship bound to the North to get away from here when Grace's brother stole the throne.

Someone knocked, so I turned to the door and watched Ford walk in. "I'm still asking around and found this person. Come in," he said, laying his hand towards me. An elderly man showed himself and walked up to my desk. Based on his clothing, he must be residing in a retirement home for palace servants who had no families. "Tell her what you know," said Ford as he leaned against the wall beside the door.

The man turned to me and cleared his throat. "These are only stories that I heard from my son. He was also a knight, but he passed away two years ago. While he's on duty, he said that he found a letter in the barricade. They believed it was from Prince Benedict, and he was asking for some herbs that could cure skin disease, so they brought some. We thought they were infected with smallpox, too, but it seems like a different disease. I asked my son to bring food to the barricade during his birthday, and he told me that he saw a lady in the forest roaming in the field. He believed it was Princess Rosalind, but she ran towards the forest when she saw her, so they weren't able to talk. He was so sure that it was her, and I told him not to tell anyone. It must be the only way that Prince Gerald knows to protect his daughter. My family leaves herbs in the barricade until today, but we don't know about the landmine that they planted in the field. It must be the idea of the queen's late brother," he said.

I took a deep breath and glanced at the window of my office before turning to Ford. "Get a horse and go get Rougan. Tell him I need him, and I'll meet him at the barricade." I stood and picked up my coat before tapping the man's arm. "Thank you, Sir."

I went out of the building with Ford, and we both rode a horse going in opposite directions. The sky already cleared up, so the sun shone brightly in the streets. After half an hour, I reached the wheat field and found the defensive wall that I built.

I walked past the ruins and stood behind the wall, staring at the forest from a distance. The recess in the soil from where the landmine exploded turned into a mud basin. I slid my hands into the pockets of my coat and sighed heavily. My mind began wandering from the events of yesterday. For some reason, it brought me comfort knowing that Rougan stayed with me.

After Julian passed away and before I met Grace, I already accepted that I might die alone somewhere. Still, the heavens went a little easy on me and allowed me to be with Rougan yesterday, despite the circumstances. I heard a noise of a horse galloping behind me, so I turned and found Rougan. He hopped off the horse and sprinted towards me, looking both excited and worried. He looked gorgeous as he gazed at me intently, and his hair swayed with the wind. "Ford told me to come here," he said.

"It seems like I might need your blood again."

He looked at me from head to toe. "Were you injured somewhere else?" he asked worriedly.

I shook my head and smiled at him. "I don't need it, but someone in that forest might."

His eyes landed on the forest behind me as he furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"

"We'll pay a visit to the prince," I told him.

"Wait, Dani. It's not safe. We don't know how many landmines they planted here," he warned, looking around.

I faced the field and sat on my heels before fixing my palm on the ground. I released an amount of force into the ground and traced the soil to look for the landmines. When I caught their places through the waves, I melted them down. The ground shook a little before I stood and wiped the dirt off my palms.

"Let's go." I clenched my fingers and pulled an invisible dome over us that moves as we walked past the defensive wall.

"Do you believe that a 78-year-old prince is actually living here?" he asked.

"A 78-year-old prince and his daughter."

He confusedly shot a look at me as we walked along the trail ahead of us. The river and chirping birds echoed in the forest while I looked around for any sign of movement.

"Why do you think they've attacked us?" he asked.

"If they never got out of this forest, then they don't know that Grace was back. So they must be thinking that the monarchy under his brother's rule sent us."

He stopped walking, so I turned to him and found a cabin to our left. It was huge and made of bricks. His hands landed on my back as we stood a few meters away. Then, we heard footsteps, and someone showed himself from the back of the cabin, holding a crossbow. I blinked as I raised my hands to surrender and stared at the prince. Rougan turned to me and raised his hands too.

The prince looked older than he should. His beard was white, and he hasn't cut his hair, but he had a decent pair of clothes.

"Why won't you leave me alone?!" he yelled.

"We're here to help and bring what we believe is good news."

"You shouldn't have set afoot here." He shot an arrow at us, and Rougan planned to catch it, but it dissolved upon hitting the invisible dome. The prince stood straight and stared at me. "What are you?" he asked in fright.

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"We came empty-handed, my Lord. No weapons against you. We just wanted to talk."

He pulled something behind him. It was a gun. "Then talk."

"Princess Grace is back," I informed him. "She came back a year ago and now the queen of Ireth because her brother is dead."

He blinked and gently lowered his gun. "How do I know if you're telling the truth?"

I gently shook my head. "You could only trust us. I also found out about Rosalind. She's the one with skin diseases, isn't she?" I asked.

He furrowed his brows and aimed his gun back at me. "Stay away from my daughter."

"We came to help. This man beside me is a vampire," I told him.

The prince gasped audibly and pointed his gun at Rougan. "What do you want?!" he asked us.

"His blood can heal your daughter. He did it to me twice."

"Why are you helping me?"

I licked my lower lip and sighed heavily. "I was the one standing closest to the landmine yesterday. We were just roaming around, touring the crown prince of Peraven, but yesterday's event made me focus on your situation. You don't have to hide anymore, my Lord. The queen will welcome you back home along with your daughter."

He fell silent as he stared at us until a tear fell from his eye. "Don't lie to me."

"The kingdom is flourishing. We can leave you here and go on with our lives, but we came here because we are concerned. You've been hiding for years, and it ends today. Let your daughter get all the help. We can help her."

He bit his lower lip before he finally lowered his gun. "She's inside," he whispered.

We followed him inside the cabin. There was a fireplace adjacent to the door and two beds to our left. In a corner, we found the princess hugging her knees in the corner.

"Father, who are they?" she asked in a hoarse voice. Her skin was pale, flaky and reddish.

"They're here to help, Rose. Come sit here."

She stood and walked up to the edge of the bed. She's just two years younger than the queen, but her diseases made her look a lot older. It wasn't as severe as smallpox, but it looked terrible.

I went to the cupboard to get a knife and a glass. Rougan walked up to me and slit his palm to collect his blood. He filled half of the glass, and we watched his wound close before turning to the nobles.

"Drink all of this," Rougan said, walking up to the princess and handing her the glass.

The princess frowned, probably from disgust, but we let her take her time to finish it all. She coughed so much that it alerted his father beside her, but her skin started healing until the large flakes fell off her skin, and the colour of her lips went back to normal.

A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I watched the prince cry in happiness and hug his daughter. "We'll bring you back to the palace. You should meet your niece, my Lord. She grew up as beautiful as Princess Rosalind."

"Thank you," the prince cried. "I was losing hope all this time, but God sent us angels."

I shook my head and glanced at Rougan before turning to the prince. "We're far from angels, but we're happy to help."

Princess Rosalind smiles at us. "Thank you so much. I owe you my life."

Rougan and I shared a horse as we headed back to the palace. The prince and princess were in the mood for a race, so we reached the palace gate in just twenty minutes.

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We hopped off the horse and kept ourselves quiet as we let the nobles looked around. Of course, the guards were clueless, but it's about time that they get to know the other members of the monarchy. "I didn't know that it's so big up close," Princess Rosalind whispered as she turned around to glance at me.

I smiled at her and nodded. "It's a lot bigger inside." I turned to a guard nearby and whispered. "Tell the queen to meet us in the main hall."

"Right away, Miss Jones," he replied before sprinting towards the entrance of the palace.

We walked up inside, and I led them to the main hall to wait. The paintings of the royal family hung on the walls, so they made themselves busy looking at each of the paintings. "More than a decade," Prince Gerald whispered as he stood in front of the portrait of his image. He must be about forty at the time.

I caught a figure from the altar and saw Grace holding the skirt of her dress while she ran in excitement. The ladies-in-waiting behind her had a hard time catching up. A smile made its way onto her lips as she runs towards his uncle to hug him.

"Grace!" the prince laughed in happiness while Rougan and I stood by the wall quietly.

"Uncle!" Grace called in delight.

Rougan gently reached for my waist while we watched the three nobles reunite. "When are we going to have time for ourselves?" he whispered to my ear while chuckling softly.

I nudged him and kept myself from smiling when Grace looked at us. She mimed the words thank you while his uncle and cousin turned to us. We exchanged smiles as we watched them walk into an archway.

When they're gone, I turned to Rougan and cleared my throat. "There's something I want to give to you."

He looked around my bedroom and stared at the tiny figurines on one of the shelves while I went to my dressing table and took a box that I hid from a compartment.

I walked up to him while he stood by the huge window. He turned to me while I took a deep breath and handed him the box. He opened it and stared at the vial inside. "What is this?" he asked.

"In the past year, I had the resources to know your whereabouts," I whispered. "I got to know what you do and what you seek, so I found out that you're looking for a Loop," I said.

His jaw dropped in surprise as he stared back at the vial. "This is a Loop?"

A smile made its way onto my lips as I nodded. "Yes. A covert witch is living in Ireth's far south. I met her five months ago, and I found out that a Loop is one of the serums that she can create."

He was speechless as a smile made its way onto his lips. "This is...miracle. I sought several witches for this," he whispered. I let him admire the serum for a while until he suddenly pulled me for a hug, so I closed my eyes and indulged myself in the comfort of his embrace.

"Does Sawyer know?" I asked. "That you want to turn back into a human?"

He gently pulled away and smiled at me. "His mind is like always four steps ahead. He already knew that I wanted him to be the next Sunken leader. He also knew that this thing would happen one day."

"What thing?"

"That I will choose to be human again so that I could be with you." I sighed heavily while his confession filled my heart with joy. "Get married, grow old and even have children. That is, if you want children?" he asked innocently. I chuckled and rested my hands on his chest. "I'll think about it."

His smile grew wider as he nodded and pulled me closer. "Shall we celebrate my last days of being a vampire, then?" he asked.

"How?"

"Like this." He claimed my lips as he pinned me against the wall. I chuckled in his mouth and matched the hunger of his kisses. "I love you," he mumbled without breaking our kiss while he showered my lips with gentle pecks. My heart rejoiced as I held the love of my life. This must be it. Something that I thought I could only dream of the beginning of a lifetime with him. "I love you too, Rougan."

END.