Chapter 31 - Werewolf Gene

The dance went on until midnight. After midnight, the guest slowly started to thin out. Those who were from Wyverndale were preparing their carriages to go to their own homes. And as for the guests from other Kingdoms, the maids and servants had prepared rooms for them and were leading them towards their rooms.

Prince Fenris was trying to find his cousin Nigel but he was nowhere to be seen. And he also could not see Princess Adeline anywhere. He wanted to have a dance with her so badly but in the end, he did not even get to personally wish her a happy birthday. And with a heavy heart, he headed towards his room to rest for the night.

As soon as it was midnight, Adeline and Nigel had headed towards Adeline's room. Theodore was waiting for the two of them inside the room. He was lying on Adeline's bed as if it was his own.

"Why did you two take so long? I thought I would fall asleep waiting for you two." Theodore patted on the bed and gestured the two of them to sit beside him, while he was still lying down.

Both Nigel and Adeline sat down a bit reluctantly. Nigel was still feeling uncomfortable because his first memory of the encounter with the Devil was very humiliating for him.

Adeline broke the awkward silence and then asked to Theodore, "Theodore, you said that you are veiling yourself from humans right?"

"Yes, I did say that. And now you want me to reveal why Nigel was able to see me right?" Theodore quickly interjected in between. He shifted his gaze from Adeline to look at Nigel. Then he asked the Prince, "Nigel, you don't remember anything that happened to you before you saw me?"

Nigel pressed his mind hard again in an attempt to remember how he had ended up in Adeline's room but he remembered nothing. "All I remember is that I was about to get ready for the banquet. But I felt extreme pain in my chest. And the next thing I remember is that I woke up here and saw you. I don't remember what happened in between."

Adeline felt that she was a little out of loop here, but she decided to remain quiet.

"The pain you mentioned, how long has it been since you first started to feel it?" Theodore looked at Nigel with inquisitive eyes.

Nigel tried to remember when he felt such excruciating pain for the first time, but he could not exactly pinpoint the date. So he took a guess and replied, "It started a few months back, maybe since last 2-3 month."

"You felt extreme pain? What kind of pain? And why did you never tell me?" Adeline wanted to ask all of these questions to Nigel. But she decided not to ask, at least not right now. She had also hidden several things from Nigel and she could not exactly call him out for hiding one thing from her.

"And how old are you?" Theodore asked Nigel another question. He was acting like he was some sort of a detective.

Nigel was not sure what his age had to do anything with what kind of creature he had turned into. But he still answered, "I am 23."

Theodore was placing his fingers on his chin and was thinking something. "This is a little peculiar. Normally the werewolf side starts to manifest when they are still a teenager. But I guess there are some exceptions."

Nigel was staring at Theodore, waiting for him to give an answer. He was dying to know what he was. Since Adeline told him that they were not pure humans, he feared the worst. He started to wonder if he was some sort of ghoul.

Theodore abruptly sat up on the bed and then smiled at Nigel like he was his little pet. He ruffled Nigel's long silky black hair and then said, "You don't have to worry so much Nigel. You are a special kind of a human. Have you ever heard about a werewolf?"

"A werewolf?" Both Nigel and Adeline exclaimed at the same time.

"Yes, a werewolf. I believe that it was your first transformation. Firsts are always a blur, I heard." Theodore kept on staring at Nigel and said, "Earlier, you came inside this room in your wolf form. Maybe you sensed my presence, my distinct smell in this room and you followed the scent."

"I came here as a wolf? But how can I be a werewolf? I swear I was never bitten by a wolf… I don't even go to the forest to be bitten by one." Nigel's mind was in all places trying to figure out how that was even possible.

Theodore face-palmed himself and he had a look of disappointment on him. "You don't really know anything, do you? How can someone be so oblivious? You really are like an unaware little puppy."

Nigel scorned at Theodore and shouted, "Don't call me that Mr. Devil. I am not your little puppy."

After finishing that sentence Nigel immediately regretted saying it. Theodore was narrowing his gaze at Nigel. This sent goose bumps all over Nigel's body. "What if I provoked the Devil?" he thought and he swiftly steered the conversation away.

Nigel turned at Adeline with questioning eyes and asked softly, "We don't become a werewolf when we are bitten by a wolf?"

"I don't know much but I definitely don't think that that's how it works." Adeline puckered her lips and then kept quiet.

Theodore cleared his throat and straightened his back. Then he proudly began showering his vast knowledge to the kids. "You don't become a werewolf by getting bitten by a wolf, Mr. Prince. You need to have it in your blood."

"Have it in blood? Am I also a werewolf? Is that why I am also able to see you?" Adeline asked in a panicked voice. The last thing she wanted was to turn into a wolf like her brother.

Theodore was not prepared to answer her question. He didn't know how she would react when she would know the truth. And he did not want Adeline to give him the silent treatment again.

So he completely ignored her question and continued his blabbering. "The population of werewolf is very low. A particular tribe inherited the werewolf curse long ago because of the mistake of one person of that tribe."

Theodore waved his fingers in a spooky way and dimmed the brightness from lanterns that were lit in the room. He narrowed his gaze and then started to speak dramatically as though he was saying a horror story.

"And till date, this curse manifests on that tribe's descendent but very rarely. It is called a curse because you need to go through the shape shifting process every full moon which is painful in itself. And if you ever eat human flesh during that time, you will forever be stuck in the wolf's body."

Nigel could feel chill shiver running down his spine and to his fingertips. He started to feel lightheaded by thinking about the possibility of being stuck in the wolf's body forever.

When Nigel was lost in his fear, Adeline also could not help but share the same fear. "What if I have also inherited the curse?" this thought was lingering in her mind. "And what if I also turn into a wolf someday?"

Adeline could not take the knot in her stomach anymore and she shouted her question again, "Theodore, am I or am I not a werewolf? Why can I see you even when you veil yourself from the humans?"

Theodore would have loved to avoid this question right now but he did not find another excuse. He slightly slid back, a little away from Adeline and spoke very softly, "Umm… you are not a werewolf Adeline. But you being able to see me through the incantation might be my fault."

"Your fault?" There was a long pause after this. Adeline was trying to figure out what he could have done to her, to make her different from human.

Nigel was waiting for Theodore to reveal what he had done to his sister. He was starting to bubble up with anger. Nigel asked in a very hoarse voice as if the wolf inside of him was ready to pounce, "What did you do to my sister?"

Theodore wanted to teleport away in an instant because of the tension that was building up. So he spoke in his soft tone, "Calm down Nigel. No need to be angry. I know you are a good boy."

However, it was Adeline who immediately shouted, "What did you do to me Theodore?"

Theodore awkwardly started fidgeting his fingers and slowly said, "I infused a small part of my demonic power inside you when you came to my cave. That means you lean a little to my side, that's all."

"You made me a Devil?" Adeline gritted her teeth as she asked that.

Theodore immediately denied the accusation. "No, no… you are still a human… but a powerful one. Trust me Adeline, I did that to protect you, not to cause you harm in any way."

But Adeline still hated that Theodore had done so when she was a child and without her permission. Adeline clenched her fist so tightly that her knuckles were becoming white.

She was trying hard not to scream at Theodore when Nigel was right beside her, full of anger. She did not want the two of them to get in a fight with each other because of her. Because she knew who would be the clear winner, and she did not want to see her brother getting hurt or worse... dead.

Adeline gained her composure after some time and spoke without meeting the gaze with Theodore, "Theodore, I want to hear full explanation tomorrow. I want to rest for now."

"Of course. I will see you tomorrow then." Theodore was glad that Adeline had asked to meet tomorrow. He was afraid that she might have denied meeting him forever. He knew how stubborn she had grown up to be.

Theodore waved his hand around and then vanished from the room.. But for some time, Nigel could still see a dark mist lingering at the place where the Devil was sitting before.