When A Ghoul Falls In Love

When Carmine Highmore stands up and walks around the table, everyone's eyes are fixed on her. Her each step is measured and elegant. She stops in front of Eli Sanguine. 

"My love, you are back." Her eyes curve into crescent moons when she smiles. As if she's in a movie, her red hair flutters along with the breeze.

She has declared a war on me with the words 'My love'. Eli is scowling at her darkly. I have no idea what's going on inside his head. If they have been betrothed before I appeared in Eli's life, I am definitely the third person in their relationship. Nothing makes it sound right. Eli should have broken the betrothal if he had never been interested in this woman, especially before he showed his interest in me.

He's not the first stupid man who appeared in my life. Baek Joon-Woo was similar. But it was Evie who broke up with Baek Joon-Woo when he moved to the city where I lived. Then, she followed him to the city. 

Evie had never forgotten Baek Joon-Woo. She had visited his grave and his family. And she had tried to make me remember. I pushed her away. 

Both of them are dead. Weren't they meant to be together? If Baek Joon-Woo and I hadn't started going out, wouldn't he go back to her? 

If Eli and I had never met, would he have married Carmine?

"Back then, you were a little girl," Eli says to the woman with a frosty voice. "So, I said nothing. You and I have never been lovers. Don't try to cause misunderstanding between me and my wife. She's my only love."

"Wife?" Carmine furrows her delicate brows. There's clear hurt in her eyes, but she doesn't seem to waver. "You aren't married to her."

"We married in the human world." Eli takes my hand. "Even if it was annulled because of some people who can't mind their own business, she will always be my wife."

"Then, tell me, Lord." Carmine Highmore c.o.c.ks her head, eyeing him with a challenge. "Have you lost your v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y to her?"

What's up with this question? I frown hard at her. I guess that she would care about his v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y. Since I haven't done the final deed with him, she must have been bubbling with joy.

"How is it any of your business?" The creases on Eli's forehead are gone. He looks calm as the surface of a pond without a single ripple. But a small stone is enough to destroy that serenity. "Answer me, Lady Highmore."

"Maybe you have forgotten the customs of your homeland after spending so many years away from this world." Carmine Highmore clasps her hands together. "Someone with royal blood can't marry a woman of unknown origins, Lord. You must marry a noble."

Oh, there are crappy laws here. Why am I not surprised? Eli also looks surprised. How ignorant was this man in the past? 

"My father married a commoner too." Eli glances at Judith. "A woman abandons her father's last name after she marries. I don't belong to the main royal bloodline, Lady."

I wreck my brain. Are dukes part of the royal bloodline? Now, I feel dumb. I will only watch from the sidelines. 

"And she's not a duchess. Though the seat of the Duchess of Sanguia has been empty for hundreds of years, your father has not forgotten about the laws of the country. Only a woman of higher origins can take the seat of the Duchess. Lady Victoire has a noble origin, but she never had a higher standing than Lady Nilora."

He narrows his eyes. It seems that Carmine is right. 

"The law doesn't only apply to the position of the Duchess of Sanguia." Carmine speaks in a low voice, "I am your betrothed. If you want to break off our engagement, you must provide a good reason. Only a woman who belongs to a higher bloodline and noble virtues can replace me. If you still want to marry an unchaste woman like her, you can only take her as your mistress."

"Our engagement was never official." Eli grimaces at her. "We didn't even have an engagement ceremony."

Carmine Highmore spreads her palm with a gleam in her snow-white eyes. A small marigold flame manifests a few inches above her palm. It solidifies into a scroll. Though I have seen strange things before, it's still surprising to see this. 

"You are right. We never had an engagement ceremony." Carmine smirks at him, "This is a decree by the king. In the light of the overwhelming achievements during the war, Eli Sanguine, the fourth son of the Duke of Sanguia, has been granted the title of the azurite prince. His betrothal to Carmine Highmore, the youngest daughter of Prime Minister Biak Highmore, has been acknowledged by the king. As per the laws, a member of the royal family must choose a woman who is a v.i.r.g.i.n as his first wife."

Eli squeezes my hand tightly. He must not have expected this. His betrothed has come prepared. 

"And she must belong to a noble bloodline." Carmine continues, "She must be a woman who isn't claimed by any other royal of the higher standing. Lord Sanguine, do you know who has claimed this woman?"

Eli doesn't answer her. His grip on my hand becomes hard. I clench my jaw and ignore the pain. He must be uneasy about this. 

"Who claimed me?" I ask Carmine.

She turns her head toward me. There's no malice in her eyes. It's clear that she doesn't even consider me a competition. "A letter from the dark ember court arrived in the third hour of this day. It was addressed to our king. It's a formal complaint against Lord Sanguine. The claimant is the king of dark ember court himself."

"Dark Ember Court." Julianne exclaims, "Isn't that a new court that arose out of nowhere? I heard that the king of dark ember court practices lost fae magic."

"How do you know that?" The boy, whose name is Cyan I think, asks Julianne. Devil had memorized all of their names and faces. He passed the information to me before I came here. 

"I read about it when I was looking for information on homo sapiens." Julianne scowls, irritated by some idea. "Why does the library have the information on a new rising fae court and not a single sentence about the meaning of homo sapiens?"

"It's because you are an idiot." Nicholai snaps at her, "If you had told us when you found out about this human first, we wouldn't be having this situation today."

"A woman who is claimed by the new king in the fae world…" Eoin laughs. "Fourth Brother is amazing."

"Why is it bad?" Belinda asks curiously. 

"A fae can't claim unless there's a debt or a promise." Eoin says to her, "There are ranks among the nobles. Without a doubt, the King of any world is above the prince or the son of the duke. Even if Eli is a prince now, he's challenging the dark ember king by trying to marry a woman who belongs to the fae king. There's no way that our king will ever approve of his marriage with this human now."

"Well, she didn��t have any chance even if the fae king hadn't claimed her." Nicholai pauses for a moment. "Lady Highmore, how did you find out that she's unchaste?"

"I looked into her background," Carmine replies with an air of indifference. "I guess the fae world doesn't have laws like us. Any woman can become a queen or a concubine in that world."

"Any woman?" Eoin probes. "What did you find out? Did she have a lover?"

I don't respond. Is this the test? Actually, I don't care. Faes. So, my friends and I were… But I don't remember being in any debt to a Fae. But I don't remember any important details at the moment.

"Not only that," Carmine wrinkles her nose in disgust. "She had slept with --"

Suddenly, her voice breaks. Her mouth is still wide-open and the wrinkles on her nose are frozen as if time has gone still. 

"Eli, what are you doing?" His father slams his hands against the table. 

Carmine collapses on the ground. Her arms and legs twist awkwardly. She arches her c.h.e.s.t as her mouth struggles to scream. Sound of bone snapping pierces my ears among the screams. I glance at her shadow. As I have expected, her shadow is acting strange. The hand that is holding mine is turning icy. I turn to Eli. His golden eyes have never been colder before this moment. 

"Release her." I jerk off his hand. "I want to hear it."