Chapter 11 : Time to face the consequences of my actions

"Uh... Vanessa ?! I think I should take you home now. What do you say ?", Eric said to me nervously.

"Yeah, sure. But are you ok ? You don't seem to be doing well", Vanessa replied while looking at Eric.

"No, I'm fine. Let's go then", Eric replied.

The ride back was silent, neither Eric nor Vanessa said anything as the mood was a little weird between them after Eric tried to kiss her and she refused to.

Finally arrived at the castle,

"That's it, we arrived. Vanessa, listen I ... I'm sorry for earlier if I made you uncomfortable and still sorry for all that too, I swear I didn't plan on taking you to a nightclub. Maybe I shouldn't have trusted my friends on our date tonight ", Eric said nervously while looking down.

"Eric! You don't have to apologize, I assure you. I had a pretty good time actually and your friends look really funny. And as of earlier, you caught me off guard and I didn't know what to do about it. I think we may not be at this point in our relationship yet. After all, I just barely met you and we are on good terms but I want us to go step by step, you see, without hurrying too much", Vanessa replied with a calm and soft voice.

"Yeah, I totally agree with you. We should take it slowly as you said", Eric said with a deep breath

"I'm happy that we are on the same page. See you next time Eric. I really had a good time tonight", Vanessa said smiling at him.

"See you Vanessa. So is there any chance that I will see you again", Eric said but Vanessa has already left.

So as not to draw attention to herself, Vanessa preferred to take the secret passages in the walls where she and Richard often once played when they were still young vampires. To his surprise he saw Richard sit on the floor in these secret passages.

"Richard?!" , Vanessa said, very surprised.

"Vanessa ?! What ... What are you doing here and dressed like... that ?", Richard said very astonished while ogling Vanessa.

"Uhh... And you, what are you doing here ?", Vanessa replied quickly.

"Hey ! I asked first", Richard replied while standing up.

Then Vanessa noticed that he had bruises on his face.

"What happened to your face ? Are you okay ?" , Vanessa said worriedly and shocked, trying to touch his face but Richard prevented it.

"It's nothing. I'm good and don't touch me. Now tell me what are you really doing here ? You only use these passages when you sneak out", He replied angrily.

"I... I went out with some friends. Happy now ?", Vanessa replied.

"With some friends,huh? Vanessa I know all your friends and I'm pretty sure that you didn't hang out with them. So with whom were you ?", Richard replied.

"Fine ! But promise me first that you won't tell my father", Vanessa replied.

"You know precisely that I can't promise you that", Richard said.

"Please just do me this favor ?" Vanessa replied with beaten dog eyes.

"Stop it ! I can't promise you that. Now speak !", Richard replied, annoyed.

"Ok, I'll tell you only if you tell me what happened to your face. Deal ?", Vanessa said.

"Deal", Richard said "I fell from the stairs. Your turn now", Richard said.

"Really ? You fell... from the stairs, huh ?", Vanessa asked curiously.

"Yes, as I said to you. Now where were you and with whom ?", Richard said.

"Fine ! I was with this werewolf", she replied.

"You what ??? Vanessa we both know that he is not one of ours. You can't just hang up with him like that and even less marry him", Richard said but he was interrupted by Vanessa.

"Wait what ?! Who told you that I'll marry him", Vanessa said, astonished by Richard's words.

"Then why are you hanging out with him then after all you prefered to choose him rather than me", Richard said.

"What ? Can't I have werewolf friends ?" , Vanessa replied, annoyed and then crossed her arms.

"I still don't even understand why you did that and messed up everything that you were born for for this werewolf that you barely know. I...I need explanation", Richard said followed by a deep breath with a sad face before adding " in case you didn't know you just humiliated all my family in front of the most powerful leaders of Vampire Kingdom ''.

I know what I've done was extremely selfish and seeing Richard like that saddens me a lot but even I don't know why I did this. In fact, I just felt like a kind of connection between Eric and me that inevitably attracted me to him.

"I...I don't really know, Richard. I just...", Vanessa said stuttering.

But then they heard a male voice called very loud "Vanessa! Vanessa!". Actually, it was Vanessa's father who was looking for her to talk with her.

"You should go, it seems your father would also like to have a little chat with you",Richard said sadly and then let Vanessa pass.

"Richard ! Promise I'll explain to you when I understand it myself but for now I don't have any explanation yet to give to you", Vanessa said while looking at him.

"Yeah, I know but actually I don't really want to talk or see you for sometime. I'm sure you can understand me", Richard finally said and then sighs deeply and leaves Vanessa.

The secret passage that Vanessa took led directly to her room so she was able to open the door in time for her father, she took the first gown that she found and then put it on .

"Good evening father !", Vanessa said respectfully.

"Good evening Vanessa !", her father replied. She knows from that moment that she is in a very bad situation right now because her father only calls her Vanessa when he is angry or disappointed by her behavior. In general he called her by different nicknames.

"I know what I've done wasn't the right thing to do during the ball and I sincerely apologize for that father. I'm now ready to right my wrongs from now on", Vanessa said to her father while looking at the ground.

"Wasn't the right thing to do ?", her father replied with a raised tone before adding : "what you did was utterly senseless, thoughtless and unworthy of a person of your rank", always with a raised tone.

"What happened to you Vanessa ? Have you lost your mind ? Do you at least realize the consequences of your actions? Because of what you did a war could break out between Vampires and werewolves and between Vampires ourselves and that could weaken our authority, our power and in addition you humiliated the family of Richard in front of all the vampire kingdom. For them, now our kingdom has weakened, some vampire rulers are already starting to challenge my authority. Your marriage to that werewolf or not having any relationship you have with him would only make things worse. So tell me Vanessa how will you fix this mess, uh ?", her father said angrily and with a raised tone.

At that moment, I didn't know how to respond to my father. He was right, there is nothing that I can do to fix up all this mess. Do I regret what I've done ? No ! Not at all ! If it had to be done again I think I would have done the same thing again. It's just that this is the first time in my long life that I felt free and at the same time attracted to something that I've never felt before.