Page 15 of Married to the Vampire Prince

Desire. Passion. Fulfillment. The night I’d spent in my new husband’s embrace had been amazing.

He was a vampire. A scary war hero. Yet he had treated me with such gentleness, making sure I was alright and that I was satisfied.

Still, he had run off in the morning as if someone were chasing him… or maybe he really was just busy. Regardless, he had stayed with me all night, cuddling with me. That action didn’t fit his image of a brute at all.

So puzzling, my husband was.

“Grace?” Mom gave me a worried look.

I realized I hadn’t said anything for a while. I mustered a smile. “I’m okay. I think my husband and I will be alright… in that department.”

With a soft sigh my mom relaxed, leaning more into the sofa.

Dad was still not convinced though. “You’ll tell us as soon as the vampires do anything bad to you.”

My gaze wandered past him to the maid that stood by the door. I couldn’t quite promise my dad something like that while the palace staff was listening. Besides, what could he do to saveme if anything bad happened? We were just powerless humans. The ruby blood made me special, valuable, but I was still frail and delicate compared to a vampire.

I didn’t want dad to worry though, so I gave him a resolute nod.

“There’s something you need to know.” Dad leaned on his knees, looking me straight in the eye. “Your mother and I received a lot of money from the King. A gift, he called it, since we were now part of the Hoyt family.”

The way dad said gift, I recognized he saw the King’s generosity as a ‘bribe’ – maybe given to make the fact that the vampire royals had taken me away from my family easier?

I thought back to the King’s warm smile. He had seemed genuinely happy that his son had finally decided to get hitched. I couldn’t picture him having any malicious intentions towards my family. The more likely reason for him sending the money was that he simply thought my parents should lack nothing, just as I would lack nothing in the palace, as long as I played my role right.

My stomach clenched at the thought of what could happen if I failed as a princess. Would my husband cast me aside? No, I didn’t want to see that kind of end for myself. I would have to do my very best to learn everything I needed to know as quickly as possible.

“How much money did you get?” I gave Dad a curious look.

Dad shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with my question. “Enough to… renovate the store and the house and… even open a few more shops if we wanted to.”

My eyes widened. That amount was a lot of money.

So the King really did want my family to lack nothing.

“Will you open more stores?” I gave Dad a warm smile. To imagine him as the head of a booming business – what awonderful thought. My parents certainly had it in them to run a grocery store chain. They were the smartest people I knew.

Dad coughed once. “Maybe… I haven’t thought that far ahead yet…”

I turned my gaze to Mom. “I’m so happy for you two.”

Mom returned my smile, but hers was much fainter. “We will make the best of the situation. But… Grace… we need to return to running the store now. It’s been closed for two days. Will you be alright if we leave you alone in the palace?”

My stomach clenched again when I imagined myself being in this place all alone without anybody I knew from my old life. I didn’t let my smile drop, though. I didn’t want my parents to worry about me. Even though they had enough money not to work now, I knew they loved their lives and business. They wanted to return to work. They must be feeling as out of place here as I was.

The burden of being the princess of Estone was mine and mine alone.

“I’ll be fine,” I let out a small chuckle. “I’ll have to spend the next few weeks learning how to be a royal, so we wouldn’t have much time to be with each other anyway.” I sobered up. “I’ll miss you, but I can always visit you if the loneliness of being apart from you is too much to bear.”

Mom dabbed at the edge of her eyes with her handkerchief.

Dad sighed and then looked at me with a resolute gaze. “You are my daughter, Grace. You’re a Milton. You’ll be fine.”

I was sure he was trying to convince himself of that fact just as much as he was trying to convince me.

My smile went even wider as I got up from my seat and walked over to them. Mom and Dad got up. I hugged Mom, and Dad joined the hug with his bear-like embrace.

I kept up my smile as I walked them to the door of my apartment. With one final glance, they left, taking with them the last familiar comfort I had from my old life.

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