Garden Of Poison-Chapter 231: Early Halloween

Before Emily could respond or say something, blood rushed up her neck and settled in her cheeks. Surely, he wasn’t expecting her to lick the cream off his finger. She quietly stared back at the blue eyes that patiently waited for her.

The water she had earlier gulped down had provided no relief, as her tongue still felt as though someone had set it aflame, and she took a deep breath through her lips in an attempt to alleviate the sensation.

Until now, Emily had only been subjected to Raylen’s sarcastically kind taunts and teasing, but his current actions had left her speechless. Desperate to extinguish the fire in her mouth, she leaned forward, much to Raylen’s pleasure.

There was a glint of wickedness in Raylen’s eyes, mixed with excitement. He made no effort to move from his seat, only observing the lovely princess glaring at him as she leaned forward to his waiting finger covered with the buttercream to soothe her. He noticed her delicate lips parting open like a flower blooming in spring, and he couldn’t help but part his own lips as he watched her like a hunter tracking his prey.

But before Raylen could see Emily’s mouth wrap around his finger or lick it, the princess’s hand reached for his plate, which held the slice of cake, and a triumphant smile appeared on her lips. She said,

"You shouldn’t be so smug, King Raylen. You can enjoy the cream yourself."

But as Emily pulled the plate towards her, Raylen caught her wrist. His grip was firm, but not harsh enough to leave an imprint of his fingers on her skin. The sudden movement caused her to inhale a sharp breath.

"Stealing my cake isn’t very nice, Princess." Raylen’s words fell like a whisper, their faces close to each other. "Should I remind you that I don’t share? What is mine is mine alone and no one else’s. But I would like to be benevolent in your case and offer you the cream."

"And should I remind you that I am perfectly capable of eating it with my own two hands?" Emily retorted, even as she felt her heartbeat quicken.

"Such a difficult princess to please," Raylen murmured, and as a faint smile appeared on his lips once more, Emily’s eyes caught sight of his sharp canines. He questioned her, "Why trouble yourself when there’s help readily available at your service?"

Emily was well aware that Raylen was a conniving demon of the highest level, but she hadn’t realised just how shameless he could be until now. She said, "The service I require from you is to let go of my hand. Now."

She felt Raylen uncurl his fingers from around her wrist and heard him say, "There you go. Just as you requested." She gingerly let go of the plate and pulled her hand to her side.

It felt like Raylen was suddenly engaged in a competition with the men who had courted her until now, and he was going for the kill rather than waiting like the others. It left Emily unprepared because no one had ever been so forward with her before. Maybe Marshall had displayed such boldness, but that man had also degraded her and attempted to ruin her reputation. In contrast, this archdemon was openly trying to seduce her.

Emily watched Raylen put the buttercream-covered finger in his mouth, the cream vanishing as he pulled it out and licked it clean.

In Emily’s imagination, she envisioned hurling the entire cake at Raylen’s face, and she couldn’t help but smile at the mental image before quickly composing her expression as she was still mad at his antics. She pushed her chair back and began to walk around him when she heard him say,

"Not going to have a slice of cake?"

Emily’s eyes narrowed, and instead of cutting a slice of the cake, she impulsively grabbed the entire platter with her hands and stormed out of the dining room. She retreated to her room and took a bite from the cake, and its buttery texture helped to soothe her tongue. Before she realised it, she had devoured half of it—partly fueled by her anger and partly by her hunger. At the dining table, she hadn’t eaten much, thanks to her companions.

Currently, she sat beside the fireplace, listening to the gentle crackling of the logs, a spoon in her hand as she licked her lips.

"It is tasty," Emily murmured, feeling full, her back leaning against the wall.

The candles scattered around the room continued to burn brightly, and she heard the soft sound of her door being opened. She briefly wondered if it was her mother coming to apologise for her earlier behaviour. However, when the footsteps drew nearer, she realised it was her maid, who glanced left and right as if wondering where she was as the bed was empty.

"I am here, Julia," Emily let her know, causing the maid to jump in fright at the sound of her voice.

Julia turned, her eyes finding Emily. "I was worried about where you were, Princess," she confessed. Then, with a hint of doubt, she inquired, "What are you doing, sitting down there?"

"Resting," Emily replied, scooping up another bite of the cake with the spoon and placing it in her mouth, much to her maid’s surprise and shock.

It was because the princess had been raised not to sit on the ground, Julia thought to herself. She glanced at the bed, wondering if there was something amiss and if she needed to check it. However, she noticed that the princess looked tired and pressed her lips together before inquiring,

"Are you alright, Princess Emily?"

Emily took a deep breath and replied, "I am fine." She couldn’t help but smile bitterly as she remembered how she had anticipated seeing her mother.

Unlike her younger brother Aiden, Emily had accepted her fate of being born into the royal family and understood that she had to act and behave in a certain way. It was how she had been brought up. However, at this moment, it felt like no matter how hard she tried, it was never enough to satisfy her mother.

"Want to have some?" Emily offered the cake to Julia, who declined with a shake of her head.

"It seems that you have acquired a taste for cake," Julia noted, and she saw the princess stare at the nearly finished cake. "Did something happen during dinner, milady?"

Emily turned to look at her maid, and instead of responding to her, she asked, "How was your mother, Julia?"

"My mother?" Julia asked, her eyes widening slightly.

Julia had been brought to Blackthorn Palace as a captive in one of the last trades with the pirates, along with many other women, approximately two years ago. Emily had observed the maid’s diligent work and had decided to choose her as her personal maid. The young woman’s enthusiasm for the little things often brought a smile to the princess’s lips.

"From the memories I have... she was kind and made my father and I happy. She used to wear this pin in her hair, with a blue butterfly. She used to hold my hand until I fell asleep... until she fell sick and passed away when I was young," the maid answered.

"I am sorry to hear that," Emily murmured, and then she added, "You know, if you ever want to return home, I would be more than happy to make the arrangements."

"There’s no one back at home. My father passed away a few years ago as well, and my home is now in Versailles. Serving you makes me happy, Princess Emily, and I am fortunate that you picked me." Julia offered her a deep bow.

Emily smiled at Julia, but deep down, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy that her relationship with her mother wasn’t as harmonious as she had hoped. She had never received a lot of her father’s attention, as he was more focused on his sons, and her mother seemed to pay the wrong kind of attention to her.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the soft creaking of the flooring outside her room. It sounded like someone was walking by, and she doubted it was Raylen. Curious, she got up and walked towards the door, hearing Julia question her from behind her,

"Milady?"

Emily cautiously peeked outside the room, and as she expected, there was no one in sight, but the creaking persisted, making her gulp softly. This castle was a haunted house, she thought to herself. Once the sound ceased, she turned to her maid and remarked, "I think I will go to sleep now. You should get some rest as well."

Julia nodded, taking the leftover cake with her, and exited the room, disappearing at the far end of the corridor.

That night, Emily drew the blanket covering her closer, clutching it tightly to her chest. She tried to tune out every other noise outside the castle and her room as she drifted off to sleep. As she continued to slumber, footsteps drew nearer to her bed.

’Emily.’

Emily’s body jolted awake, and she realised the room had been plunged into darkness. Her eyes darted around until they fell on a silhouette standing on one side of the room. A startled gasp escaped her lips as she noticed the figure had long hair, but their face remained shrouded in shadow.

’Come with me, Emily,’ the voice spoke to her.

Was she dreaming? Emily asked herself because she didn’t recognise the intruder in her room, and if the person was speaking, it meant Raylen could hear them too due to his excellent hearing ability. But there was no sign of him, and she noticed the silhouette continuing to gaze in her direction.

’I need to show you something. Something he has done,’ whispered the voice. Emily felt goosebumps rise on her skin, which were far different than the ones she had experienced earlier this evening.

Was she having a disturbed dream because of the recent events? There was no way this... thing was real. It had to be a dream.

"If it isn’t... I should get back to sleep," Emily muttered, refusing to leave the bed. With that thought in mind, she placed her head back on the pillow and turned her back to the door.

Emily closed her eyes. But then she felt someone breathe right behind her, and this was enough to have her roll out of bed and fall to the ground. Her heart raced as she stared at the other side of the bed, but there was no one there. Then she heard her door slowly creaking open, as if the person wanted to lead her somewhere.

Getting up, Emily grasped the nearby candle stand and walked towards the door, hoping to catch a glimpse of the person’s face. However, when she stepped into the corridor, all she could discern was the woman’s back, obscured by the darkness.

"Raylen!" Emily whispered, turning towards the room he had stepped out of earlier that morning. "Raylen...!" she called him again, only to receive no response from him.

"Maybe I am dreaming," Emily muttered to herself, though she didn’t particularly like this dream.

She began to walk through the corridor, and as she moved into the next one, she caught sight of the silhouette walking down the wide staircase. Her bare feet padded along the cold floor, her anxiousness rising.

Emily followed the silhouette through the deserted corridors, which eventually led her to the floor below, where Alice’s portrait hung. The walls didn’t appear aged like what Raylen had previously shown her, and she whispered to herself,

"There are people in the castle..."

The silhouette halted at the doorway of a room, a room Emily had been curious about. When the woman turned towards her, her heart leaped to her throat upon seeing the woman’s blank face.

’This is what he did... This is what he is capable of. Merciless and wretched,’ the voice whispered again.

There had been plenty of chances to peek in here before, but Emily had respected Raylen’s privacy by not coming here alone. She took a hesitant step towards the room, and when she entered it, the light from the candles fell onto the objects in the room. If the woman’s faceless face didn’t knock the air out of her, the sight before her certainly did.

Seated on the chairs within were skeletons, each attired in stained clothing. The skeletons were of different sizes.

"Raylen must be preparing for an early Hallow..." Emily murmured, and she stepped backwards out of the room.

Without spending another second there, Emily quickly walked away, but before she could climb up the stairs, the silhouette appeared above and said to her,

’Follow me. I need to show you something else.’ The voice was a whisper that made it hard to decipher whether it belonged to a male or a female. But Emily was done following it any further and didn’t wish to discover anything more. As if sensing her refusal, the woman at the top of the stairs began to slowly descend towards her.

’Come with me... Emily.’

Emily’s feet began to carry her in the opposite direction, and before she knew it, she had entered the place where the two women from Hell were imprisoned in their cells.

"Having a difficult night?" Celeste inquired from where she was seated.

"Were you the one who did it?" Emily asked with a frown and noticed the female archdemon stare at her in response.

"Did what?" Celeste asked her.

Emily didn’t trust the demoness and wondered if she had a hand in what just happened. She turned to look in the direction she had come from and noticed the silhouette had disappeared.

"Emily, I can’t believe you put me in a cage considering the friendship we shared," Amara stated, her lips no longer sewn shut.

"We were acquaintances, never friends," Emily clarified, drawing a line between them. After the stunt Amara had pulled, she hardly even considered them acquaintances.

"How harsh. It seems my brother’s rejection didn’t sit well with you," Amara taunted slightly. "I heard that you told everyone you were each other’s soulmates, which forced him and Layla to leave this kingdom because of what you did."

"What happened was a consequence of his own actions. Just like what you say now will determine the extent of your suffering in this cell," Emily reminded Amara calmly, without losing her composure.

Celeste’s eyebrows furrowed as she stared at Emily with curiosity.

Amara smiled, which soon turned into a sneer. She said, "It seems like you have been enjoying King Raylen’s favour, but it won’t last much longer because he will soon return to Hell."

Emily couldn’t fathom why parents couldn’t simply let their children be and felt the need to dictate their lives. She replied, "He isn’t interested in returning."

And as Celeste continued to observe Emily, the other demoness said, "Don’t tell me you’ve become attached to King Raylen after Nate’s rejection. Any attempt to get close to him is futile because the Devil has already chosen a suitable partner for him," and with that, she turned to look at Celeste.

Emily’s eyes shifted from Amara to Celeste, who stared back at her with obvious displeasure.

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Author Note- Tomorrow there will be 2 Chapters updated. Thank you everyone for continuously supporting the book with your continuous comments, gifts and GT’s. It is very much appreciated <3 Happy weekend!