Chapter 144

144 Damsel in Distress

Tilla felt like her heart would come out of her mouth, not because she was afraid of Vincent, but because of how close he was standing to her.

She was so nervous that she escaped into the Queen’s room. And when she was inside the antechamber, she shouted without even sparing a glance at Vincent, “I accept your apology, Milord. Now you don’t have to follow me. I ACCEPT.”

Vincent folded his arms and leaned on the door of Anastasia’s room.

He kept on smirking because he was enjoying this a lot – teasing Tilla.

And he teased her even more, now that she was reacting the way he wanted her to. “You accept? Do you mean you accept my proposal to meet you late at night?”

Tilla abruptly turned her head in disbelief. She could see that Vincent was greatly enjoying himself.

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“I didn’t say that!” Tilla said in a stern voice, finally not giving Vincent the satisfaction by losing her composure.

She turned around to fully face Vincent and added further, “I said I accept your apology for scaring me to my core and making me stake your throat. Now, if that wasn’t clear enough, I shall ask Her Majesty to help me write a formal letter of acceptance of your apology. How does that sound, Milord?”

Vincent stood up straight and cleared his throat at the mention of the Queen. He gave a nervous chuckle and then replied, “That won’t be necessary. I understood. And I am relieved that I have finally been forgiven.”

.....

“That’s great then.” Tilla gave a forced smile to Vincent and walked inside Anastasia’s bedchamber to fetch the shawl that the Queen had demanded.

After grabbing the shawl, she took a deep breath in and thought, ‘Please begone...’

She then slowly walked outside to the antechamber. She sighed in relief when she didn’t see Vincent still waiting for her.

She furrowed her brows and thought to herself, ‘Why does he have to tease me like that? Does he not have anyone else who he can tease and do whatever? And why do I keep falling for his petty mockery?’

She slammed her fist on her chest and scolded her heart, ‘This thing... Don’t make weird noises when he is around! He can hear you. And I think that’s why he takes pleasure in teasing you every chance he gets.’

Tilla walked down the corridor and reached the staircase. She took the turn to go down the stairs, only to come across a vampire maid who was rushing at the top of her speed.

“Oh my God!” Tilla jumped a little as she was startled. “Whoa! Whoa!” In her shock, she happened to step on the rim of her gown.

“Oh... no, no, no...” She tried her best to maintain her balance and tried to grip the railing of the stairs, but she couldn’t.

“Arghhh...” She accepted her fate and closed her eyes to embrace the fall.

She stumbled down a stair and was ready to keep on rolling down when suddenly, she heard someone rushing and then felt someone grabbing her by her waist.

Tilla thought that the vampire maid who had startled her was back to save her, and she heaved a sigh of relief.

“Thank y-”

She opened her eyes only to see Vincent looking down at her and smiling. ‘Oh! Uh...” She cleared her throat and got back up on her feet.

Needless to say, her whole face turned red again.

“Are you okay?” Vincent asked in the softest voice possible. He still had his arm around Tilla’s waist. He looked into her eyes and said, “I think I did the right thing by waiting around for you to come.”

For a second, Tilla’s gaze was stuck on Vincent’s remarkable face. She had forgotten to breathe. However, in the next moment, she sharply inhaled and quickly averted her gaze.

She then gave a slight bow to the lord and hurried down the stairs.

Vincent held his arms behind his back and smirked whimsically. “No ‘thank you’ for me?” he shouted from the top of the stairs.

Tilla wanted to say it; she was grateful that he saved her from the fall and possible fractures. However, she was too flustered to say it at the moment. Thus, she kept on running away.

Vincent then took a deep breath in and thought to himself, ‘Well... I think a hello to the Queen wouldn’t hurt.’ He had a lively smile on his face as he made his way to the garden.

When he reached the garden, he saw Tilla helping Anastasia wrap the shawl around her head and her neck. He adjusted his posture and then headed towards the area where the two of the ladies were standing.

“Vincent.” Anastasia gave him a warm welcoming smile the moment her eyes fell on him.

Vincent gracefully bowed and greeted Anastasia, “My Queen.” He then turned his gaze on Tilla only to see her swiftly turning her head away.

“You came back from the King’s study?” Anastasia asked Vincent.

Vincent shook his head and replied while stealing glances at Tilla, “No, I was just roaming around the hallways, saving a damsel in distress.”

Tilla’s heart skipped a beat when she heard that. And she hoped that Vincent wasn’t petty enough to complain to the Queen that she ran away without thanking him.

The way Vincent kept on peeking at Tilla didn’t go unnoticed by the Queen. The corners of her lips curved up slightly upon seeing the positive tension in the air.

She adjusted her shawl and asked Vincent an indirect question, “And could that damsel in distress be someone I know?”

“Probably,” Vincent answered with a grin on his face.

Anastasia was now smiling ear to ear. She glanced at Tilla but directed her question at Vincent, “And may I know what happened to the said damsel in distress?”

“Well...” Vincent glanced at Tilla again and began narrating the previous incident, “She got startled by some careless maid and was about to fall down the sta-”

“I am very grateful that you saved me, Milord,” Tilla abruptly cut Vincent off in the middle so that he wouldn’t speak of the embarrassing moment any further.

Vincent smiled and said to Tilla, “Oh, don’t mention it, Tilla. I happened to be right there and I simply did what I could.”

Tilla looked down and subtly rolled her eyes because she could tell that he came there following her because he wanted to hear her saying ‘thank you’ to him.

So, she boosted his ego further, hoping that he would leave her alone, “I have to say it where it’s due, Milord. I am really thankful that you saved me from getting hurt.”

Anastasia gave a smile to Vincent and she also added, “Thank you for saving my friend, Vincent.”

She couldn’t help but feel as if she was the third wheel there. So she stretched her arms and then yawned. “Ah! I feel like laying down on the bed now.”

“I will take you there,” Tilla instantly held Anastasia’s arm so that she could also escape Vincent.

However, Anastasia shook her head and said, “No, I feel like walking alone. I need some alone time to process a few things that I have in my mind.”

Tilla wanted to cling to Anastasia and go along with her anyway. But it wasn’t her place to be stubborn. So she pulled her hand away from Anastasia and bowed. “I will come to the chamber in a while then.”

“Rest well, Your Majesty,” Vincent also gave a respectful bow to the Queen. He was happy that she was giving him a chance to have a proper talk with Tilla.

“Sure.” Anastasia gave a smile and then left.

Tilla gave an awkward glance to Vincent and tried to walk away from there. She thought that anywhere would be better than standing in front of him and giving him a chance to play with her heart any further.

However, Vincent stood in front of her again and then asked in a serious tone, “Tilla, can we look past our past differences and start afresh? I don’t like this awkwardness between us. And I definitely don’t want you to run away every time you see me.”

“I don’t do that...” Tilla looked away and defended herself.

“Yes, you do,” Vincent said with a frown. And he said with the same seriousness, “I want to befriend you, Tilla. At least give me a chance to redeem my previous actions.”

Tilla didn’t know why he was so adamant about befriending her when she was nothing but a mere handmaid of the Queen. However, she didn’t want to argue any further with Vincent. And she wanted to get away from there.

Thus, she agreed to his request. “Sure, I would like to befriend you as well, Milord. It would be an honor.”