When A Ghoul Falls In Love

"I love you, Nell." Eli tells me calmly, "But I can't let this woman live anymore."

This is the first time he said something like this to me. A ghoul. I realize that he's also dangerous. The woman is writhing in pain. Not just her. Eoin and Nicholai are also suffering in their seats. Nicholai's mother is screaming for help while Nicholai is clawing his own throat. 

Duke Balthier continues to ask Eli to stop. But he doesn't pay any heed to his father. 

Is this his true self? I stare into his golden eyes. They don't look warm anymore. When he killed Evie, I didn't care. He said that Evie was already dead. I didn't care enough to find out who could have killed her. Now, I know who it could be. I have no doubt that both Eli and Devil knew. 

"If you hurt them more, everything between us will end right now." I say to him, "I promised you that I won't leave you, but I have never promised that I will marry you or I will stay as your lover."

He blinks his eyes, surprised. 

"I don't care if you are a ghoul, a prince, or a lord." I make it known to him, "I can't care less if you are a war hero. Your past won't bother me. But I don't want to be with someone who will also harm his siblings or a woman who loves him like this."

In that instant, Carmine releases a breath. Nicholai falls on the table, completely unconscious. Eoin gasps for breath, eyeing Eli with deep hatred. 

I turn toward Carmine Highmore. I don't have hard feelings toward this woman. If I was in her position, I would have done worse things than digging into someone's history.

The woman straightens her back and fixes the creases on her gown. Her face is pale, but she doesn't show any sign of distress or anger. She stands up proudly. 

"Even if you hurt me like this, I won't stop loving you," She mutters stubbornly.

And it's annoying to hear that. 

"You didn't complete your sentence." I tilt my head. If this woman thinks that hearing about my past would faze me, she can't be more wrong. "Whom did I sleep with?"

This time, she looks at me with molten rage. It's gone in a flicker. These noble ladies know how to control their expressions. "Don't you know already?"

"I want to hear it from your mouth." I want to know who my rapists were.

"Ha!" She scoffs at me. "Was it ten years ago in the human world? Everyone heard it. A bunch of humans removed the seal from the fae gate and slept with the satyrs."

Satyrs. Fae. My hands tremble weakly. Next to Carmine, I see Maisie without any clothes. Her body looks like it's been ravaged by a beast.

"I guess you and your friends didn't expect it to go out of your hands." Carmine chuckles, "Satyrs are lowly creatures who can't think from anything other than s.e.x, especially when they are in heat. I am curious about how many satyrs have slept with you. Five? Ten?"

Before Eli could move, I grab his hand. "I have no idea."

As much as I know, I nearly died that day. My body was nothing better than how Maisie looks in front of me. 

"Huh?" Carmine blinks her eyes. "Why would you not know?"

"It's none of your business why I won't know." I smile at her. "Let's talk about business. You love Eli Sanguine."

Maisie laughs as if she has heard a joke. I ignore her. 

"I love him more than my life." Carmine places her bruised hand on her c.h.e.s.t. "I will be his wife."

The woman seems sure of it. 

Noble bloodline. V.i.r.g.i.n. And unclaimed by any man.

I scratch my chin. Is this the test?

"Wait for a moment!"

A new voice breaks the stifling atmosphere. I see a man with tousled blonde hair and eyes as blue as lapis lazuli rushing toward us. The man is tall, dressed in a white and purple vintage attire with high hunting boots and a furry purple cloak. Carmine's face contorts when she looks at him. I raise my head to take a look at Eli. 

His golden eyes are on me. For the first time, I can't read his emotions. Is he angry at me?

"Eli." 

"I didn't know that you would threaten to abandon me for people who would have killed you if I leave you alone for a moment."

The sharp voice sends a shiver down my spine. He looks away. Though he's standing next to me, I realize that his warm personality must have been a mirage that's been hiding his other side.

"Carmine Highmore, I challenge you for the position of Prince Eli's betrothed!" The man yells loudly. 

"Hmph!" The woman drops her noble demeanour and glares at the man. "Your royal highness, have you forgotten the laws too? You are a man."

"So what?" The man puts his hands on his h.i.p.s. "The laws don't condemn marriage between men. You said it yourself. Only someone who has higher standing than you can replace you. I am a v.i.r.g.i.n. I belong to the main royal bloodline. And I am not claimed by any man or woman."

What the hell is happening here? I peer at Eli. He isn't even looking at the man. His eyes are fixed on the ground. Is he sulking? He looked angry earlier. But now, he looked like a lost puppy.

"But Eli doesn't want you," Carmine argues. "And you are the crown prince. How can you marry him?"

The crown prince... I have heard about him. Who else is left? I think that there was one more person. 

"My father said that it's fine." The crown prince's face turns beet red as he steals glances at Eli. "When I threatened to cut off my d.i.c.k, my father said that I can marry whoever I want as long as I have an heir. He and I can unite our bloodlines using the latest mage technologies. If Eli agrees to accept me as his significant other, anything is possible."

The last few words sound disturbing to me. 

"Still, his mother is related to your bloodline," Carmine shouts. I guess the crown prince bothers her more than me. 

"Lady Nilora was the third daughter of my great-grandfather's younger brother." The Crown Prince tells her scornfully, "As long as we don't share the same grandfather or grandmother, the union is allowed."

Great-grandfather's younger brother's daughter? Does it still count as royal blood? I peek at Eli again. His eyelashes are lowered. He lets out a lonely sigh. Then, he meets my eyes. The corner of his lips tilts down. He turns his head away, focusing his gaze on the yellow grass again. 

Is he going to speak up or what? I can't keep up with his family tree. 

"If his majesty approves this, what can you do?" The Crown Prince sneers at her. "I am not a man with a small heart. I will accept any lover that Eli wants. If he wants that human, he can have her as his second wife."

How about asking me first? I am also here. 

"How is that possible?" Carmine frowns deeply. "He's also a royal now."

"It only applies to the role of a husband." The Crown Prince lets out a low laugh when Carmine pales. "If Eli and I get married, one of us have to take the role of the husband during the wedding. The laws apply to the noblemen. There is no law that prevents a wife from taking another wife or husband from the lower origin or claimed woman."

I try to wrap my head around it. So, a royal man can't marry an unchaste woman of common origin who is also claimed by another man. But the wife of that man, who might be already married to some royal man, can marry anyone. 

Basically, women are free to marry anyone. Noblemen must marry v.i.r.g.i.ns.

My head hurts. I don't know whether I should feel bad for men of this world or the women.

"But Eli hasn't agreed to take you as his husband!" Carmine stomps her foot on the ground. "We have been arguing about this for three hundred years. Why won't you give up?"

"I will never give up." The Crown Prince howls at her. "I love him more than anything in the world. I love him enough to endure another woman beside him. I will fight the fae if Eli wants that woman so much."

I don't know what to say. Both of them seem better than I am. If I was in the crown prince's position, I would have had Carmine assassinated and asked for a king's decree to have Eli betrothed to me.

Thankfully, I am not them.