Chapter 29 - He Can See You?

When Prince Nigel entered the hall, the King had already gotten up from his throne and other guests were also loitering around. So he did not attract much attention when he entered the banquet hall. He quietly moved his feet to the front of the hall where his maternal relatives were sitting.

His mind was still lingering around in his previous encounter with the Devil. "Why did he say that he was Adeline's guardian? Was he inside the room when I went to Adeline's room to wish her? I could smell something… powerful and I am definitely sure that it was him. Does Adeline even know that the Devil was inside her room?"

Nigel was so lost in his thoughts that he did not even realize that he had already reached to the table and was sitting beside his cousin. He did not even greet his relatives. He just sat there, resting his chin on his palm, and thinking away.

Queen Mother and Queen of Aberdeen were waiting for Prince Nigel to greet them. Queen Claricia had already joined them and she was trying to get the attention of her son "Nigel… Nigel…" but there was no reply.

Prince Fenris noticed the awkwardness going on in their table and straight off elbowed Nigel in the stomach.

Prince Nigel gasped when he felt the elbow and he felt like he just came out of a deep trance. He looked to his side and saw Blevine and Tasha smiling at him. He quickly got up from his seat and then bowed to them. "Greetings, Queen Mother and Queen Tasha, I hope you are enjoying the dinner."

Both Blevine and Tasha softly smiled to acknowledge the Prince's greeting.

"Yes, the dinner is very lovely." Queen Tasha replied in a soft and mesmerizing voice.

However, Queen Mother said in a bit of a stern voice, "Why were you so late in joining the dinner? I believe there was nothing more important to you than your favorite sister's birthday celebration."

This statement from Queen Mother caught Nigel completely off-guard. He started to stammer while delivering lies to them, "Er… I-I had some things to take care of b-before I came here."

Queen Mother and Queen Tasha nodded and then continued drinking their wine and eating delicious food. They were sharing their stories with Queen Claricia and Claricia was also doing the same.

Prince Fenris, however, did not buy his lies. He had this feeling in his gut telling him that there was definitely something wrong. He knew how much Adeline meant to Nigel and he knew that he would not miss such an important event of his favorite sister.

Fenris also noticed that since Nigel had arrived, he had not stopped fidgeting his legs. And he constantly seemed to be spacing out. "Brother Nigel, are you sure you are alright? Is something bothering you?"

Nigel mustered up a smile and then shook his head, "No, nothing is bothering me. I am fine."

"You know you can share anything with me right? And I mean any...thing." Fenris was worried that the howls that he had heard earlier might have been from his cousin.

But even if he wanted to share what was wrong, Nigel still had no memory of his transformation. He was still trying to figure out what was he doing in Adeline's room, that also with the devil.

A maid brought a tray full of food and wine to Prince Nigel and laid it in front of the Prince. If it was any other time, he would have already gorged into the delicious food items in front of him but right now, the food did not seem appetizing at all. So, he just pretended to eat.

King Dragomir was entertaining some of the guests in another separate room with the game of poker. Queen Lillian and Queen Vultrada had also already headed outside to join their respective families and were sharing talks and laughs with them.

Princess Adeline had maternal grandmother and grandfather but they were already too old to be able to travel in carriages. So Adeline really had no close family to talk to right now. She did not want to barge in to Nigel's table and make them uncomfortable. Which was why, she was sitting in her throne and was playing with her food, wishing for the night to pass quickly so that she could sleep.

She was so bored that she did not even notice Theodore sitting right behind her. Theodore leaned in closer to Adeline and then whispered in her ear "Boo".

And he caused the unsuspecting Princess to jump a little, causing her to drop her fork on the ground. A few eyes fell on Adeline and she tried her best to act normal.

Adeline pretended to put some food in her mouth and covered her lips with her hand. Then she whispered to Theodore who was, by now, sitting by her side, "Stop scaring me Theodore, people will think that I am crazy."

Theodore leaned back on his chair and stared at the ceiling. He replied in melancholic voice, "Let them think what they want. We cannot stop people from thinking, can we?"

"Shh… people might hear you Theodore." Adeline was worried that people might find out about Theodore being present amidst them. That would be really bad because she knew by now that he did not have a good reputation among humans. They all feared him, even her father feared him.

But that didn't stop Theodore from talking. He turned his face to see Adeline and smiled seductively. And he spoke softly in his deep and hypnotizing voice, "So what if they hear me? Are you afraid about what they will do to me if they find me here, or are you afraid about what I will do to them?"

Adeline just smiled and then shook her head. "I cannot make him stay quiet." She thought to herself. And she thought that if she just stayed quiet, Theodore might also keep quiet.

But Theodore was not going to endure her silence once again. He was already bored when he was alone in her room. And now he wanted to talk with her and dance with her. He didn't care about being heard by drunken people anyway. They would just think that they were too drunk and they were hearing voices.

Theodore whispered in his low but deep voice, "Let's pick up where we left earlier. As I was saying, I would love to have something." After saying this, his golden eyes were gazing at Adeline's soft pink lips.

Adeline felt this overwhelming sensation all over her body as if his voice had triggered something that was dormant in her body. She scratched her pale neck and then broke her gaze from Theodore's face.

Theodore was watching Adeline biting her lower lips softly and was enjoying the flustered look on her face.

When Adeline was looking away, her eyes fell on Nigel who was staring towards her. She gave a smile to her brother but there was no response from his side.

She kept on staring at Nigel for few more seconds and then she felt that Nigel was not staring at her but he was staring at Theodore. So she whispered to Theodore, "Umm, Theodore, don't you feel like brother Nigel is staring at you?"

Theodore turned away his gaze from Adeline to where Nigel was. Then he smiled and waved at him. Nigel immediately turned away as if he did not see anything.

Adeline was seeing all that was happening around her. And she had a hunch that Nigel definitely saw Theodore. And she exclaimed, "He can see you!"

"Oh! Yes he can." Theodore normally said as if that was not bothering him at all.

"Wh…" Adeline almost shouted but she controlled herself and spoke softly, "What? How can he see you? And why are you being so calm about it?"

Theodore gave a mysterious smile and whispered, "Something happened when I was sleeping in your room. But I will tell the story when we will be alone."

But Adeline was too curious to know what had happened. She knew that Theodore was still veiling himself from the humans. And if Nigel could see him right now then… she had no idea what to think of that. "Theodore, just tell me already. What happened to Nigel?"

Theodore smirked and said, "I can't right now." Theodore knew that Nigel had no memory of his turning into a werewolf. And by revealing that to him right now, he did not want to scare him or worse… make him turn again. The full moon had still not passed yet, it was Theodore's magic that was able to change him back to human form.

"What do you mean you can't? We are still far away from all the people. No one can hear you if you whisper. So what's the problem?" Adeline blurted out with unfaltering curiosity in her deep blue eyes.

Theodore signaled Adeline to watch Nigel closely and when she complied, he whispered, "You can hear me, can't you Nigel?"

When Theodore said those words, out of instinct, Nigel turned his head towards Theodore.

A soft gasp escaped from Adeline's mouth. She knew of some mystical beings which had sharp hearing abilities and strong sense of smell. And she guessed that her brother might have somehow turned into one of those beings.

Then Theodore kept on whispering, "I will tell you both what I saw after the dance ends. Nigel, you should come to Adeline's quarter if you want to know about what happened earlier. I am sure you are desperate to know the answer."

Nigel took a deep breath and nodded at the two of them.