The right to judge

"She looks so much like her," Adrian pointed angrily.

"Like who?" Aziel asked calmly. Adrian calmed down a little when he remembered his brother was blind and could not see the face of the person he took under his wing.

"Marina. She looks so much like her, Aziel," Adrian gritted. It took everything in him to stay composed in the dining room earlier. The more he looked at her, the more he sees that despicable woman.

Aziel remained quiet for some time. He turned his head to face Adrian like he could see him, "Keep this to yourself."

"Hell no, Aziel. That woman's daughter doesn't deserve to be alive."

"And what makes you think she's Marina's daughter?" Aziel cocked his head slightly, "I personally saw to it that no one from that family lived to see the light."

"The facial similarities are too uncanny," Adrian frustratingly raked his hair with his long slender fingers.

"You're just overthinking. Your marriage to Sabrina is making you stressed, huh?" Aziel smirked.

"Don't make that face when it's all your fault. You should be the one getting married, you just had to get yourself cursed," Adrian scoffed. He leaned on the veranda and let the cold wind calm his raging heart.

They were in the wing that used to belong to their mother. Her room has never been cleaned since her death; everything has been kept as it was. Her scent that lingered always brought peace of mind to both, calming their always heavy heart.

"I heard she's beautiful."

"It doesn't matter, marriage is only a bother. She would only suffer because she's in this alone."

"At the end of the day, the both of you will still be husband and wife. Poor girl," Aziel chuckled, he patted Adrian on the shoulder before he left to go meet his new pastime– Lily.

As the obedient girl she was pretending to be, Lily has been patiently waiting for Aziel in the dining room.

"No running in the castle,

Everything you hear or see remains within the castle,

You should never go to the left wing on the other side of the castle. That is the King's wing, and it's off-limits for almost everyone, I included." Ethan was gone and so were Edward and the king. Elena stayed behind to keep her company. She told her about the do(s) and don't(s) in the castle. The more time she spends with Elena, the more she keeps getting mixed feelings.

She occasionally narrowed her eyes to see if she could sense any 'fakeness' in Elena's unusual kindness, but she didn't sense any. Weren't all vampires supposed to be kind?

Well, it wouldn't be a surprise if Elena had a skill in masking her malevolent nature, vampires were well known to hide their gruesomeness under a lovely and kind smile. Lily disregarded the thought that Elena was sincere and decided to go with the other notion that she was pretending.

"I'm really glad I finally have someone to talk to. I'm the only girl in the family, and it's pretty boring with the boys not paying mind to me," Elena smiled warmly at Lily.

"I'm glad my company can be of help to relieve your boredom," Lily meekly smiled.

"I can't wait for Adrian's wife to come, I've already made plans on how to spend the entire days ahead with her. Of course, I didn't plan it with you inside as you weren't here, but as they say, the more, the merrier."

"Adrian is getting married?" Lily asked as her eyes darted left and right in confusion. The cursed prince can't get married. All the women he has attempted to marry died the very next day of their marriage, no sane parent will send their daughter to die.

"Yes, in fact, we are leaving for the bride's mansion next tomorrow," Elena informed, picking up the ceramic cup, she took a small sip from the blood content in it.

"But isn't Adrian the cursed prince?"

"Where did you hear that from?" Elena chuckled, "Adrian is not the cursed prince."

Lily felt her palm become all mushy, she rubbed them together. Ethan told her the cursed prince was between Adrian and Aziel. It couldn't be the latter right?

"Then who is the cursed vampire prince?" she waited with bated breath, praying fervently that it wasn't who she was thinking.

"I thought you knew. Well, it's..."

"I see you've made acquaintances with dear Elena," Aziel's chilly voice sounded.

Lily felt a lone sweat trickle down her spine. How can he just appear at this time, as if he has been waiting for a moment to finally walk in? She watched him walk majestically towards them with his hands behind his back– as usual.

"I was guiding Lily on what to do if she still wants to have her head on her neck for her time stay here," Elena said neutrally. The warm smile she had while talking to Lily, was absent from her face.

"And what makes you think anyone will try to hurt her when she's under my care? Shouldn't you be finding a way to go to leave this house and move to your husband's?"

"Aziel!"

"Stay away from Lily," Aziel swiftly walked past Elena, he stopped at the end of the dining table, "Let's go," He said before he continued walking.

No one needed to tell Lily that the statement `let's go` was for her. She flashed Elena a tight sorry smile before she ran to cover the distance between her and Aziel.

She stood two steps away from Aziel as they walked, her eyes only leveling with his broad back.

"Are you curious about the cursed prince?" She suddenly heard him ask as they were climbing the tiresome stairs. She didn't even notice that they were climbing the strenuous stairs as her mind was filled with different other thoughts, and she could not be bothered to take note of her surroundings.

"Ye..No," She answered hesitantly. She wanted to know but at the same time, she dreaded to know who he was.

"Why? Are you scared of him?" Aziel questioned as a mysterious look claimed his features. No one could ever know what this man was thinking as his face didn't even give them a chance to ponder. A mere look from him will have them scurrying away with their tails in between their legs.

"Who isn't scared of him? A monster who kills, at first sight, I never want to come in contact with such a demon,"

"And who says that?!" Aziel turned abruptly in anger.

The sudden turn of Aziel made Lily lose her footing and just when she was about to fall, Aziel swiftly wrapped his hand around her waist and brought her to his chest.

That was so close, Lily thought to herself. But then she found herself in another situation when she tried to separate herself from Aziel, but her little movements did nothing to deter Aziel's strong hands that firmly wrapped around her waist.

Their face was only an inch apart and only a little closer, a regrettable kiss was bound to occur. Lily forgot how to breathe for a moment and inhaled deeply when she remembered to forget again the very second.

"What gave you filthy humans the right to judge?!"