Linnie threw an assortment of curses at Odrick, caring very little that it was the crown prince sitting in front of him. Aliza was to the side, her hand over her mouth. An outsider might think it was out of shock, but really, she was hiding a smile. In fact, she was trying her hardest not to laugh.
"Are you done?"
Linnie, huffing and puffing, gasping for air, nodded.
"I'm not a deviant, who do you take me for!?"
"You're marrying a little girl, creep," Linnie quickly shot.
Odrick sighed, a smile appearing on his face.
"I'm not going to marry her, if possible. So don't worry your cute little face, alright?"
Linnie shivered and went pale.
"...You're not a predator, are you? You're a homosexual."
"What!? Who do you take me for, really? I'm a really good person, I swear. I'm a prince," he said with a dramatic grin. Then, he got a little more solemn. "I'm telling the truth, though. I have no desire to marry Marielle... perhaps I hate it even more than she does. Alas, the will of the king is absolute. We're all pawns—even I, the crown prince."
Aliza scoffed. "These aren't things to speak about with a little boy, what's wrong with you?"
"You're completely right. I got lost in the conversation—you really remind me of someone, kid." Odrick narrowed his eyes. "I feel like I'm talking to someone well beyond their years, but at the same time, you're super childish. Freaky."
"Whatever that means," Linnie said, rolling his eyes. "I'll be leaving, now. Um, see you, Prince Odrick."
"It's 'Crown Prince Odrick,' actually."
"..."
"I'm just messing with you," he laughed. "Go and have fun at the festival. Oh, and I'd like to speak with the other one—Liora, was it?"
"I'll tell her you're interested, I guess."
Linnie left the dining hall feeling strange. He had been feeling strange quite often, as of late. Too many things were happening in quick succession. His life had previously been one of occasional scuffles and fights, a little thievery, horsing around—but mostly, it was lazy. Most days, he did nothing at all but lay around in the grass, staring at the clouds.
'I don't miss it at all!'
Linnie returned to his room for no real reason other than to see if Liora had gotten up yet. Her room was closed and locked when he left for breakfast, and he wasn't going to wake her if he didn't need to. Well, her door was open, but when he peeked inside, she wasn't there.
'I guess she left already.'
He opened the door to his room, but, strangely, it was already ajar. Shrugging it off, he carelessly walked inside. What danger would be inside this palace, anyway? But, you know what they say. Danger is often a lot closer than you think.
Do they say that? I have no idea, but it was true in this instance.
The sound of heavy panting was coming from none other than his bed. A mound beneath his sheets was slowly rising up and down, but stopped as soon as Linnie got too close. He furrowed his brows, cautiously grabbing the sheets and pulling them to the side.
Before he even realized what was happening, the wild girl leapt from his bed, snarling and bearing her fangs. Her claws were sharp, and swiped through the air, narrowly missing his neck.
"Wha-what the hell!? Get back! Get away from me, you crazy bi—"
He stumbled backwards into the dresser with such force that he knocked the mounted mirror off of the wall. The glass shattered as it hit the ground. Liora pounced, nearly taking his head off. He dropped to the ground and broke into a speedy and panicked crawl out of the room.
'The door! I need to get to the door!'
He felt her hand grasp his ankle, and his heart sank.
"Let go of me! Are you insane!?"
Kicking her in the face, he scrambled off the ground and ran into the hall. Right before he could close the door behind him, though, he was slammed into the hallway's wall. He dizzily stared up at the monstrous figure in the doorway, and his heart started to race.
He couldn't speak, paralyzed by fear as Liora slowly bent down to his level. Linnie swallowed, sweat dripping from his forehead.
'She's not gonna hurt me, is she? She's just playing around, haha...'
Liora forcefully grabbed his head by the hair, panting like a wild animal. Her golden eyes were wide and dialated, and she hadn't responded to a single thing Linnie had said. Then, she widened her jaws.
"No! Stop! I don't want you to—"
Her teeth sunk into Linnie's neck, piercing the large artery and allowing blood to flow into her mouth. They stayed like that for a few moments, and the now-familiar warm feeling washed over him. It beckoned him to surrender himself—to become her prey. But he wouldn't. Instead, he gritted his teeth and waited for it to be over. In this state, he had no strength to get her off of him.
When she finally slacked her jaws, she didn't fall back. She stayed there, and Linnie felt her hot breathing on his neck. He realized it was over and shoved her away, quickly scrambling to stand up. She crashed into the wall opposite from him, and slid down into a sitting position.
The both of them were breathing heavily, neither saying a word.
Strangely, he did hear a whimper. It wasn't from either of them, so Linnie slowly turned his head to the side, and his eyes met The Prince's. The younger one.
"Sh-she really is a Siaryn... I-I-I—"
Linnie glanced back at Liora. Her mouth was covered in blood. He could hardly believe it was all his—especially since that was only the portion she hadn't consumed. What a messy eater. She still looked sort of dazed, but she was starting to stir a little bit.
"What? Did you think we were joking or something? What are you doing here, anyway?" Linnie scoffed, trying to hide the wavering in his voice.