It was midnight when they arrived at the place. It was a breath-taking cavern with blue crystals embedded into its walls, giving it an ethereal feel. But they did not even spend a few minutes inside the cavern because Ezekiel stated that this place was not the cavern they were looking for. Alicia also did not feel anything unusual, nor did she feel any resonance as she explored the inside of the cavern, so she immediately agreed with the vampire prince.

  Thus, the group left and went straight to the airport. It seemed their journey this time would not be simple and straightforward as they did not have any clues about the exact location of the cavern they were looking for.

  The plane left the town that very same night and arrived in another country a few hours later. They had spent days visiting every crystal cavern in the west, moving from one country to another but their search always resulted in more disappointments.

  "We’ll target the south next." Zeke had said as they decided to love on from the west. And thus, the group ended up in another continent. This time, the next cavern was not located in a mountainous area but in a scorching desert……

  The group had settled for the day in a beautiful town situated around a scenic oasis in the middle of the desert.

  It was a quiet and hot place. Alicia had just left her room to have a look and tour around the tavern when she saw the young vampire sitting alone by a large window overlooking the oasis.

  Alicia had been distancing herself from her comrades whenever they settled in a human place to rest for the day. It was mainly because she did not want them to notice the amount of power she had lost in the past days since their journey started. She knew that Zeres might have already noticed since he was always the one who stayed close to her whenever they travel on their journey towards the caverns. Alicia already found that unbearable, but she could still take it if it was only Zeres who knew how weak she had already become. If these vampires knew as well, especially the vampire crown prince…… her ego as the witch queen would really suffer a blow and might be seriously damaged. That was why she was so hellbent in trying to hide her weakness from them in the past days until now.

  "Thinking about someone special?" Alicia smiled in a friendly manner as she probed the young vampire who had been silently staring at the sky. Aside from Zeres, she hung out with this boy most of the time since it seemed that the both of them were avoiding Ezekiel’s company. Alicia thought that Kyle was a really nice and gentle boy, and it was hard to believe that he was that oh-so-serious and cold Ezekiel’s younger brother.

  She had liked how polite and gentle the boy was and she had laughed when he first talked to her and called her ’Your Majesty’. He had argued back then that he must address her that way because she was a queen, causing Alicia to be unable to refute and she ended up smiling. She had told him later that he can address her as ’Queen Alicia’ because witches do not address their queens as ’Your Majesty’. And then he came to reply that since he was not a witch, he should still address proper protocols and refer to her as ’Your Majesty’. And thus, the boy started to address her the way he wanted. The other vampires did not seem to mind as well so Alicia could only shrug it off with a smile.

  "Uhm……" Kyle looked a little embarrassed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yes."

  "Is it your family? Or a girl?" Alicia asked gently, smiling mischievously. "From the looks of it, I have a sneaking suspicion it’s a girl. Wanna talk about her?"

  The young man’s eyes widened slightly, looking hesitant. "It’s okay, Kyle. You can talk to me. I’ll keep it a secret. How does she look like? I bet she’s cute." The witch queen’s smile turned into an excited grin. She never thought she would have a young man she could tease to ease her boredom. And perhaps, her teasing would help him out of his melancholy as well since it appeared that he was not comfortable with his own brother yet.

  Kyle bit his lips and looked away again. The sky was starting to darken, and the moon was already out. It had lit up the oasis and the beauty of the place became even more serenely eye catching. "She has beautiful green eyes……" he started. "And her hair is like fire. She also has lovely freckles. She’s…… beautiful."

  Alicia’s lips formed a small ’o’ as she nodded. She had pictured a certain cute but somewhat wild girl in the Black Forest that curiously fit his descriptions, but Alicia brushed that thought away, thinking that there was no way this young prince was talking about Lilith.

  "Hmm…… beautiful indeed and very rare. I haven’t seen a vampire with freckles as of yet."

  "She’s not a vampire."

  "Oh," Alicia was surprised. "So, she’s a human?"

  When Kyle shook his head again, Alicia almost gasped. "Could you be talking about Lilith?"

  He glanced at her and nodded shyly and then gazed at the sky again with a longing look in his eyes. Oh my, has he already fallen head over heels in love with Lilith?

  With her hand on her mouth, Alicia could only watch the boy. Worry starting to etch on her face because she knew that he was not allowed to fall in love with a witch. And if Lilith liked this boy too, oh no…… this relationship will only end as a tragedy.

  "But I can’t have her……" the boy said sadly while Alicia was still thinking about what she could say to comfort him. And then, she watched him smile – a bitter smile. "I thought I’d forget about her easily as we have only known each other for such a short time, but it seemed I was wrong." He paused and looked at Alicia, a faint glint of sorrow flashing quickly across his innocent eyes. "How can I make myself forget her? Do you know how to? Your Majesty?"

  ****

  A\\N: For those asking, my new book SPELLBOUND is exclusive only on p.a.tr.e.o.n. If you want to read it and support me at the same time, visit this link w_w_w.p_a_t_r_e_o_n.c_o_m\\kazzenlx (remove the underscores when you type the link)

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