Rosangela: The Runaway Princess (Book #2)

I woke up with a stiff neck and a splitting headache. Clutching my head, a groan escaped my lips.

“Thank goodness you’re finally awake, Angela!” someone said.

I snapped my head to the direction of the voice and found Prince Xavier sitting on an armchair beside the bed where I was lying on.

“You know,” Xavier added, “You have been out for more than two hours and I began to worry about you. I thought I might have drained your blood.”

The minute I heard that, memories of what happened a few hours ago came flooding back. I quickly hitched myself into a sitting position and crawled away from him. “Stay away from me, Xavier!”

“Hey calm down, Angela! I am not going to hurt you,” he convinced me.

“You already have,” I said shortly.

He heaved a long sigh. “You’re right.”

All of a sudden, Xavier grasped my hand. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you, Angela,” he apologized.

I shook his hand off me rudely. “Your apology is not accepted,” I hissed.

“I know you’re angry with me,” said Xavier, “but--”

“Angry is not the word for it, Xavier,” I cut him off, “I am furious. You could have killed me.”

“I’m sorry, Angela. I can’t think what came over me at that time. Somehow, I found your blood very addictive and I just couldn’t stop drinking it. I didn’t realize that it could kill you,” he explained.

‘Thank God Xavier still doesn’t realize that I am actually a half-blood vampire even after he has drunk my blood,’ I said inwardly with relief.

‘But wait! Speaking of drinking blood, I suddenly remember what my father and Alpha Adolph Wolfgang had ever told me more than a year ago. They said that my grandfather wanted my blood for his immortality. Since Prince Xavier has drunk my blood, does it mean he is immortal now?’ I was asking myself.

I was pulled out of my trance as Xavier waved his hand in front of my face. “Angela, are you okay? Why did you suddenly go very quiet?” he asked worriedly.

“I’m fine. I just feel a little bit dizzy. It’s surely because I have lost a lot of blood,” I lied.

“Once again, I apologize for what I’ve done to you, Angela,” Xavier said regretfully.

“No, I’ll never ever ever forgive you,” I stated indignantly.

“Please don’t say that!” he pleaded, “I’ll do anything so that you can forgive me.”

“Anything?” I inquired.

He nodded his head. “Yes, anything.”

My face cracked into a smile. “Okay then, I only have one wish for you.”

“OK, what is that?” he inquired curiously.

“I want you to let me go! I am eager to get back home and reunite with my family,” I replied firmly.

Xavier shook his head vehemently. “No, I can’t do that!”

“But you said you would do anything so that I wanted to forgive you,” I protested.

“I’ll do anything, except for that,” he remarked.

“You’re a liar! I hate you,” I raged.

There was a hurt look on Xavier’s face after he heard my words. “I’m sorry, Angela, but I really can’t let you go.”

“Just get out of my sight! Your presence makes my headache get worse,” I boomed.

“I think I know how to fix that.” All of a sudden, Xavier rose from the chair and climbed onto the bed.

I shrank away from him. “What are you doing?”

“Relax! I’m not going to hurt you again. I just want to help you soothe the pain,” he reassured me.

I sat still while Xavier moved the hair from my neck and had a look at it.

“How could it be?” he gasped.

“What’s wrong?” I queried curiously.

Instead of answering my question, he asked me back, “Where is your bite mark?”

“How could I know? Maybe you check the wrong side,” I guessed.

“No, I am sure I bit you here. But let me see!” Xavier checked the other side of my neck.

“It’s not here either,” he muttered.

I got tensed up. ‘Oh no! Did my wound heal by itself again?’

“It’s really weird! There’s no way the bite mark can dissappear so quickly!” Xavier commented in mystification.

“Maybe you didn’t bite deep enough so it didn’t leave a scar,” I said, making up an excuse for the situation.

“If I didn’t bite deep enough, how could I drink your blood?” he snarled.

“Don’t ask me! Your guess is as good as mine, Xavier,” I said truculently.

“But there must be an explanation for this. Your bite mark can’t just vanish by itself,” he spoke in a low mumble, as if to himself.

“Ouch!” I faked a yelp while holding my hand against my head in an attempt to distract his attention.

“What’s going on?” Xavier asked me anxiously.

“My head aches again,” I lied to him.

“Wait! I’ll get you something to reduce the pain,” said Xavier, whereupon he sprang out of bed and rushed out of the room, shutting the door after him.

I let out a sigh of relief after he left. “Fortunately, I can make him forget about the bite mark for a moment.”

A few minutes later, someone tapped at the door.

“Come in!” I shouted.

The door swung open and Lucy entered the room with a tray on her hands.

“Hello Lucy,” I greeted her as she was making her way towards me.

Lucy responded, “Hi, Mirabelle.”

I frowned. “Why did you call me Mirabelle?”

“You said your real name is Mirabelle, right?” she answered, setting the tray on the bedside table.

“Oh, that’s right. But please don’t call me Mirabelle when we’re around others!” I requested.

“OK, I will only call you Mirabelle when we’re alone,” she promised.

Lucy took a vial of pills from the tray. She got the lid off the vial and tilted it until a pill fell out.

“Here drink this!” she said, proffering the pill.

I eyed the pill in her hand suspiciously. “What is that?”

“It’s painkiller. This should help ease your pain. Prince Xavier ordered me to give it to you,” Lucy explained.

“Why didn’t Prince Xavier give it to me by himself?” I complained.

“King Joaquin summoned Prince Xavier to the ballroom because His Majesty wanted to introduce his son to some important guests. That’s why Prince Xavier ordered me to give you the painkillers,” Lucy elaborated.

“Oh,” I commented.

“Drink this painkiller now, it will make you feel much better!” Lucy proffered the pill to me.

“Okay,” I said unenthusiastically.

I took the pill from her hand and swallowed it.

Lucy handed me a glass of water and I drank it quickly.

“Thank you,” I said as I gave the empty glass back to her.

“My pleasure,” she responded, putting the glass down on the tray.

“Mirabelle,” Lucy called.

“Yes?” I said.

“I just want to tell you that I am going to take a week off work commencing tomorrow. I promise I’ll stop by the kingdom of Clanbella on the way home to give Sigmund your message,” Lucy stated.

“Thank you very much for your help, Lucy,” I said gratefully.

“Don’t mention it! It’s the least I can do to help,” she replied with a smile.

I smiled at her in return and said in my mind, ‘At long last, I will be able to get out of this place soon. It doesn’t matter if Sigmund wants to take me to meet my grandfather. The most important is I can leave this kingdom before King Joaquin or Prince Xavier finds out what I’ve done to Mariana. I am going to call my father from the kingdom of Clanbella and ask him to pick me up later. I will make my grandfather understand that I do not belong in the vampire kingdom, and I’ll try to persuade him to allow me to live in the human world again.’

“Go to sleep now! It’s very late,” Lucy suggested.

“But Prince Xavier--”

Lucy interrupted me, “Prince Xavier wont be back until before the sun rise, so don’t wait up for him.”

“Fine. I’ll try to get some rest now.” I finally lay back against the pillows.

Lucy tucked me in and then said, “I must get going now. I’ve still got loads of things to do today.”

“Oh it’s all right,” I said.

Lucy picked up the tray from the bedside table. “See you later, Mirabelle. Good night.”

“See you, Lucy. Good night.” I waved at her as Lucy walked out of Xavier’s bedroom.

After Lucy left, I finally shut my eyes and fell asleep immediately.