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Dedicated to all my wonderful readers. Jennifer_Goliah, Nansy123, Adunola_Ezekiel, Pokemon_Master_8663, Betty_Carter, Soya, UBONG_JOSHUA, Daoist174098, Husnalmau, Storygirl and Mandee Thanks for all your support 💜

So I have decided we'll do the event. Starting Sunday. That is the first of August.

Not less than the following: 35 Chapter Comments, 35 paragraph comments, 14 reviews, 50 votes and gifts are up to you. All by Saturday. The two extra chapters will be released on Sunday.

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When the dishes were taken away, Clarissa and Dante excused themselves.

Leonard watched her go wondering what was going through her mind. Although he had no choice but to let her go to the vampire Lord, he wanted her to be happy and he was scared that whatever she had going on in her mind would lead to her unhappiness.

She had one of the guards set up the place where they would be shooting and another bring the things they would be needing.

The child's nervousness and excitement were clearly through the roof but unlike he thought, she didn't give him the gun right away.

She taught him to position himself and then showed him how to shoot by positioning herself as she had shown him then pulling the trigger several times. The fake bullets in the gun hit the targets which were bottles on point.

This made Dante even more excited to try.

The guards replaced the bottles with others.

She placed the gun in his little hands and positioned him herself. Her hand remained on his shoulder as he aimed for the first target. The child squinted one of his eyes to take the shot.

He missed terribly and almost fell due to the force of the gun.

" Don't close one of your eyes. " Clarissa said, steadying him. " You won't see the target well enough and hold yourself firm. "

He opened his eyes and did as she said. This time the bullet whizzed past the bottle but was closer than before.

Dante pouted.

" Straighten those lips and focus. "

Dante did just that and this time the force at which the bullet moved past it shook it a little. The next shot he took shattered the bottle into pieces.

Clarissa rolled her eyes as the child jumped and cheered with joy but a small smile settled on her lips

The sound of a horse coming towards them came to her ears and her hand went to the gun at her ankle.

Dante was less bothered and continued to shoot on his own; he missed most of it and only got two shots right but the boy felt like a knight.

Clarissa turned, ready to face whoever it was that was headed their way. When the horse and rider came into closer view, she found the rider to be Leonard.

She felt relieved.

There was something about a man and horse together that had always seemed attractive to her. Especially Leonard who seemed to look like he was born on it.

She stopped herself from smiling like a teenager. The man had no feelings for her and she would be making a fool of herself if she drooled over him.

He climbed down from the horse and walked up to her. " Greetings your highness. "

" Greetings," she replied and then turned away from him to look back at the little boy who had abandoned the guns and was now chasing his cat.

Children had such a short attention span.

" Will you really go to him? " Leonard asked her.

" Yes," she replied.

" And how do you plan to make him pay? "

She smiled deviously. " I'll make the fool fall in love with me and make him think of nothing but me. Then I'll kill him. "

The cat which had allowed Dante to catch him gently settled on the boy's lap and grinned.

Leonard did not think it would be that easy. Neither did she think it was right. " Rissa, I don't think you should do that. He is going to be offering us his help and it's risky you might get killed instead. I don't want to lose my friend. "

That word friend was starting to annoy her. But she kept the anger to herself. After all, it was not his fault that he couldn't love her.

" Let's just say that is my plan until I find a better one. "

He sighed to himself, knowing there was nothing else he would say to convince her otherwise.

The princess was feeling nasty especially after that friend remark. " And your other friend? How is she? "

For a second Leonard was lost until he remembered the bubbly Raine. Something told him that encounter would come back to bite him in the ass.

" I thought I knew all your friends until I met her. " Clarissa said, picking the gun Dante had dropped.

" She's not a friend... " Leonard tried to explain but she cut him off.

" If not, then is she your beloved? "

For a second Leonard wanted to tell her the truth but he didn't want anything that would cause her to change her mind. " no she's not. I met her the day the palace was attacked. She was very curious about my ability. "

The guards quickly replaced the broken bottles.

Clarissa turned to him, she felt slightly relieved knowing there was no one in his heart but still downcast knowing there was no hope for both of them to end up together. " How did she find out? "

" She saw me look at her when she had the cloak on," he explained.

" I see. " she turned to face the targets and aimed. " Some people are such attention seekers. " then she shot the bottles off one after the other.

Dante clapped happily letting go of the cat which jumped down and pranced off.

" Hey, cat! " he called after it.

" Let the cat be. It needs its freedom and are you going to continue calling it cat? You should try giving it a name. "

" Okay, " Dante said thinking of a name.

" First come and perfect your aim. "

He ran to her to do as she said.

The cat moved towards the castle feeling hungry once more. His search for food last night had been unsuccessful. But the meal at breakfast would not sustain him.

He walked past all the guards, past the throne room and kitchen where preparation for lunch and dinner was being made. The smell of the food was glorious as was expected of the royal kitchen but what it needed was not there. He moved past all the rooms to the laundry room.

The door opened and it walked in. Then the door closed back behind it.

A single maid was busy washing the clothes and beddings from the night before.

Ha, finally! He thought to himself.

The maid saw the cat which belonged to the princess's ward and smiled. She wondered if it was lost. It would have to stay down here with her until she left or until it left on its own she thought to herself.

The cat moved closer to her and touched her. She was so entranced by it that she left the clothes she was attending to. She showed no surprise when it seemed to change its form before her eyes. A part of her mind screamed in shock but no sound came out from her lips.

An attractive man stood before her with dark hair and purple eyes just like that of the cat but these eyes were red around the edges. In the darkroom, his eyes were dark and sinister but his smile which seemed soft had an edge to it she couldn't explain.

Her mind kept telling her to scream but she was no longer in control of her body.

Even as he bared his fangs and her heart beat faster than before, she was unable to move but her neck seemed to move to the side without her consent.

His fangs pierced through her neck. The feeling at first painful turned pleasurable.

When he had enough blood to satisfy his thirst, he pulled out his fangs.

She moaned, protesting his withdrawal. She looked up at him dazed.

He had made sure not to draw too much so as not to kill her or weaken her.

He caressed her neck softly and placed her against the wall. " Sleep. " he said in a whisper. " and forget this ever happened. "

She slumped with her eyes closed and slid down the wall.

Kieran turned back to a cat and left the maid in the room.

When she woke up, she was confused and wondered how she had ended up at his side of the room.

Author's note

Thank you so much for reading. Don't forget to vote, comment, share, rate/review, add to your libraries and reading lists. Don't forget that you can gift the book now. Thanks again💜