4. I'll Be There

"Today, Arva doesn't come to the cafe anymore." Noura was standing on the balcony of her bedroom. It's a full moon tonight.

Two days had passed since the human slave change event in the palace, and the smell of human blood still lingered. The palace is being contaminated with human blood. Noura dizzy. This scent could not be removed by simply spraying ten kinds of perfumed oils on her clothes. Noura didn't know how to get rid of the sweet smell of human blood that almost made her complacent to taste it, even just a drop.

Humans who apply in addition to having passed the medical test and psychological test. They are also personality and honesty tests. If they have passed, the humans take an oath not to divulge vampire secrets to other humans. If they violate the covenant's commitment, they will be killed for up to seven generations. These humans were obtained from a special institution–a kind of illegal institution. The government doesn't know.

The event is held by way of an auction. The humans would be asked to stick a needle into the thumb—until the blood came out. The blood is collected in a place like an ashtray, and then the vampires will lick a little of the human blood. If they matched, the vampires would take home the human slave of their choice.

In the past, the change of slaves would only be done if the human slave died. Then Carlen created a new policy. 'For a citizen who feels bored and wants to replace their human slave, the change will be made at least after ten years of the human working for them.'

"Princess Noura, are you inside?" Vander knocked on the bedroom door.

"Yeah, just open it," shouted Noura. She was too lazy to walk. Usually, Vander would go straight in without knocking on the door. Maybe Vander was a little sane today.

Within a second, Vander was standing beside Noura.

Noura glanced at Vander, who was holding two glasses of animal blood in his hands. Noura was curious, how did Vander open the door? But she was too lazy to ask. Let's just say a maid was helping Vander.

"As usual, we have a shipment from Ferin." Vander handed the still full glass to Noura.

Before drinking it, Noura analyzed what animal blood was in the glass. "Tiger? Where did Ferin get the tiger?" Noura looked at Vander, who was gulping down the contents of the glass.

Vander shrugged his shoulders. "Don't ask me."

"Really, Ferin has broken the peace treaty. If the werewolves find out, I'm sure there will be a third war." Noura stared blankly at the glass in her hand. She imagines a tiger being hunted by Ferin and having its blood drawn. "If His Majesty finds out, he will definitely go straight to Ferin."

Ferin doesn't live in the palace, but he always smuggles animal blood into the Appalachia kingdom. So far, Noura has never drunk animal blood given by Ferin. Noura does not want to violate the peace treaty agreement, but Vander is still drinking it.

"Remember. Not only us animal blood-drinking vampires who hunt rare animals, but many werewolves who hunt rare animals to enjoy their meat. Even though they are both animals," said Vander.

Noura knows that. Even though it was clearly written in one of the peace treaty agreements, which stated that 'Vampires and werewolves are not allowed to hunt rare animals in the forest'. The two clans have agreed. She doesn't know who has betrayed in the werewolf clan.

Vander heard a rush of information about werewolves participating in hunting animals for their meat. He was investigating. Did Ferin have anything to do with the werewolves? Moreover, since last year, Ferin has regularly sent the blood of rare animals to him and Noura.

***

"The smell of the earth and the smell of human blood." Vander inhaled the air around him. So far, he's only been in the palace. When in the Hamakua Kingdom, Vander was forbidden to go anywhere by his father. While in the Appalachia Kingdom, he was indeed busy, but Carlen still had a little pity for him; if there was free time, Vander was freed to go anywhere.

"Don't be like that. Later humans who hear will be suspicious." Noura huffed in annoyance. She was always wary of bringing Vander into the human world. About five years ago, Vander had lost control of his lust for human blood. Luckily she was able to calm Vander down.

"Sorry, I'm pleased. Don't worry; I've had my fill of drinking animal blood. So I won't be tempted by human blood," Vander whispered quietly.

Noura was ready in front of the cashier. Vander was busy pacing around serving the visitors. Female visitors were mesmerized by Vander's face like a Greek god.

To be honest, to this day, Noura still has a bit of nervousness being in a cafe that requires her to meet humans. She was already very confident of not lust and not interested in human blood. Because when you think about it, it's a pity the humans who she drank her blood. Noura knew this was strange because no vampires felt even the slightest bit of pity for a human. Noura never told anyone about her feelings and thoughts; she kept it to herself; she was afraid of being labeled insane.

Danger, the smell of werewolves is thick here, especially after the arrival of two top Redwood Pack officials yesterday. Wait, yesterday, Alpha Orlan's face was suspicious. Why is he looking at princess Noura so intensely? Vander thought. He was suspicious of Alpha Orlan. Yes, he will find out. But how do he find out?

"Vander, Ivander, gosh, what he's thinking about." Noura waved her hand in front of Vander's face.

Noura snorted in annoyance. Is Vander having hearing problems? Just like herself, Vander also drank animal blood. Of course, his hearing ability has decreased.

Noura pinched Vander's hand, which snapped Vander out of his thoughts.

"What?"

"What are you thinking? You've been daydreaming."

“I didn't think of anything,” Vander argued with a wide grin.

"I will hate you if you're hiding something from me." Noura threatens. She and Vander had known each other since childhood. Because the relationship between the two families is very close—the Walton family and the Carlton family—which is one of the descendants of pure vampires.

Until now, Vander had often come to the Appalachia Kingdom just to help Carlen or carry out an errand from his father—king Aldwin.

"I'm not lying. I can't lie to you." Vander blinked one eye. Noura glared, and Vander's sanity began to disappear.

Noura is busy serving paying visitors. The female visitors whispered to Vander's handsome face. The visitors didn't know that they were both vampires who could clearly hear their whispers—albeit faintly.

***

After meeting his mate, Orlan couldn't sleep well. The image of Noura's face and that intoxicating scent he really missed. He wanted to hug his mate. Now he knows how tormented Leon and Arva are, who are often separated by distance and time.

During two days. Orlan and Jay continued to argue. What should they do? They haven't found a way out yet. Instead, they argued with each other without anyone wanting to budge.

Orlan cursed Dafa for constantly relating himself to the witch's prophecy in 1150. Now it's come true; his name is listed in the prophecy.

Oh Gosh. Moon Goddess. Why is his mate a vampire? Everything is more complicated because Noura is a princess. It's getting harder for Orlan to meet Noura. Of course, King Carlen was always watching his little sister. Arva said, usually King Carlen would come to the cafe twice or three times a month.

The more dizzy Orlan's brain thought. If the cartoon illustrations were true, perhaps his head was already smoking. Very boiling. Especially hearing Jay, who constantly whined, asking him to meet Noura.

Orlan stared out the window. He cursed himself a lot. Why, for these two days, was he like a stalker? It's really not cool at all. This is the work of the underworked and cowardly.

Orlan exhaled. The restaurant he had been to for the past two days was right in front of Arva and Noura's cafe.

Luckily Arva wasn't coming to the cafe. So no one knows when lunch time and when he home from work Orlan immediately went to this restaurant. Just to be able to see his mate and smell the distinctive aroma emanating from his mate, even though it's not too thick. What about Dafa? His beta definitely supports it because Dafa is the one who believes the most that his name is written in the prophecy.

Orlan was a little apologetic. Why didn't he never come to Arva's cafe before? Even though the cafe has been around for a year. Orlan also knows that Arva is working with Noura to build the cafe. If he knew Noura was his mate, maybe Orlan would come to the cafe opening. It made him and Jay not have to think about where else to look for their mate, and they weren't stricken with anxiety for fear of dying before feeling the beautiful feeling of falling in love. Well, regret always comes last.

"Orlan, come on, let's switch bodies. I really want to lunge at that vampire prince. How dare he stare at our mate so intensely. Allow me to pop his red eyes."

Orlan could only hold his head which felt dizzy. Jay is very noisy. He took a sip of coffee. Because he didn't want to miss what his mate was doing, he forgot that he had ordered coffee. So the coffee is cold and not delicious to drink.

"I also want to meet our mate. I want to tell her, don't give that sweet smile to just anyone. That smile belongs only to us. I don't accept it!"

Orlan glared. Why is Jay so possessive? He also didn't accept the kind and friendly attitude that Noura gave to the male visitors, but he knew Noura was doing it only as a formality.

Orlan's eyes were still loyal to the cafe in front of him. Orlan's body stiffened, hastily turning his head to the left. When Orlan saw clearly, Vander's eyes were wandering around the buildings and streets. Orlan was afraid that Vander would notice his presence here.

"It's a good thing the vampires don't have the ability to read minds anymore." Jay suddenly fell silent. He got tensed. It was dangerous for Vander to see them.

Orlan agreed with his wolf's words. He also felt lucky that vampires could no longer read minds. If it were, Noura would definitely know if she and Jay had been sitting here since yesterday watching and talking about it.