Chapter 242

Drip. Drip.

The warm bath water dripped from General Vulen's hair back into the bath water he sat chest deep in. His long brown hair spread out afloat in the water around him.

Solana.. She said her name was Solana. He thought to himself as he closed his eyes and splashed warm water onto his face. The bath felt refreshing after a long day in Drethia Kingdom. It was not an easy place to get along well. There were people constantly trying to bother him. Some vampires in the castle would even try to deliberately get a rise out of him. If they could coerce him into reacting rudely to them they would earn a reason to act ruthlessly towards him.

Reaching to the side outside the bathe his hand slowly grasped for something. Pulling it into the tub close to him he opened his hand to reveal the small crystal he used to look over Queen Lyra's palace. Where ever he went he always took the crystal with him so that he'd feel more comfortable parting ways with her when he moved around for work.

It was not a trick that anyone could use. General Vulen's mana was special just like Pope Johann Lovette's ride hand man Uriel. He was a rare talent who could use mana for communication purposes. That was one of the reasons his king kept General Vulen in high regard. Using his mana he could project images into crystal and control sounds in order to communicate at long distance. It was a skill that allowed Yiven Kingdom to find General Vulen very useful in the field.

General Vulen never invaded the privacy of his queen however as he kept his distance and only viewed the palace from the crystal. He never pried further to spy on her directly as it felt disrespectful towards Queen Lyra. Viewing the palace had always been enough for him but now when he stared at that crystal he hesitated to bring forth the image of the palace. Normally he would not think twice about pulling up the image of Queen Lyra's palace. Things were different now as he felt uncomfortable at the thought of gazing at those palace walls. Without realizing it himself he decided against doing so.

Standing up General Vulen wrapped a towel around himself and placed the crystal down outwardly giving him excuse for not acting on his usual behavior he muttered to himself so that he would believe in his own words, "I should get back quickly."

It was a lie that he desperately wanted to believe himself. Not wanting to accept the reality that he was doubting in himself and doubting in everything that he held dear to himself. General Vulen could not easily let go of something that he had spent most of his life holding dear to him. Making it difficult for him to accept what he felt. He could not completely understand any of it since he had never doubted in himself before as much as he did in that moment.

Once General Vulen was dressed he returned to his room. Opening the door and entering he found himself faced with the image of the elf servant Solana sitting next to a table filled with different things. The castle's servants had brought in countless things knowing they were serving General Vulen's room. Being a guest of the king made other servants worried about upsetting the king if they mistreated the guest. They were not aware that the food he had ordered was actually prepared for the servant girl, Solana.

General Vulen sighed at the sight in front of him, "I apologize they must have assumed.."

"Why are you apologizing?" Solana asked while stuffing a bite of steak into her mouth, "I enjoy meaty foods most."

Flinching at the sight of Solana stuffing her face with steak, General Vulen walked over to the table and sat down at the opposite side of the table. He could not understand how a girl could fill herself with so much meat. Solana was not the type of girl to hide her true appearance in front of others. It was a wonder how she survived among the vampires with her honest behavior. She is like an open book with the things she likes.

"Hm?" General Vulen flinched as he felt like he had just thought of something strange. What was I thinking just now?

"You said I could ask you about anything I wanted when you got back." Solana reminded him suddenly snapping him back to the conversation at hand. There was no way she was going to let him forget that he had given her permission to ask him anything she wanted to know about. It was a chance that she was not going to let slip past her.

"Yes," General Vulen replied to her as he felt a sudden chill down his back. It felt like she was thinking of something that was going to be difficult for him to answer. "what is it you want to know exactly?"

Solana planned her question carefully before speaking, "Why are you going so far for the queen of Ethiadan when you know what will happen to you?"

Solana was not dumb enough to be unaware of the fact that what General Vulen had come to the Drethia king could only be something dangerous. It was most likely something that would result in the general's own kingdom seeing him as treasonous. There was no such person that was worth someone giving up the entirety of who they were and that was exactly what she saw the general doing.

SLAM!

General Vulen slammed his fist against the wall where he stood causing Solana to jump in surprise from the sudden loud sound. He could barely contain the rise in his unpleasant feelings as he spoke slowly and deeply, "You... No everyone questions my sincerity and my actions when it comes to what I'm doing and the things I have already done. I do not regret giving everything for another."

"No," Solana felt like he was misunderstanding something and her voice lowered unconciously as she tried to explain herself with some difficulty, "I wasn't questioning you. I just think that you do not understand that what you feel for the queen is not love. It's just an obsession that you have engraved in yourself over time..."

"You think what I feel is me deluding myself?" General Vulen asked her bluntly causing her to still where she sat while gazing at him with that look in her eyes. It was a look that made him feel uncomfortable. Did she pity him? Did she feel sorry for him? He could not tell what it was that she was feeling for him to make her say such words.

"Yes. I do." Solana answered honestly as she felt there was no need to lie since things had already come that far.

Once the conversation had reached that point General Vulen could not handle talking to Solana any further. It was stirring his emotions in a way that caused him to cease the conversation. Calling upon other servants he quickly but calmly had others aid Solana in reaching her own room safely. He had already helped her enough that there was no need for him to needlessly do more for her.