When A Ghoul Falls In Love - Volume 1 Chapter 155

Nell stares hard at the drink in her hand. Green and yellow smoke is rising from its surface. It doesn’t look like an antidote at all.

She glances at her biological father. He gives her an assuring nod. Then, she looks at Eli questioningly.

“It’s not poison,” Eli tells her with bright eyes. “It’s not bitter at all.”

“Liar,” She mutters under her breath. “This looks like poison.”

“It’s true that it’s poison,” Amachi confirms the doubts in her heart. “Sometimes, poisons are best antidotes. This one will neutralize the Kiya Poison in your body.”

“…” Nell has never heard of these things. But she trusts that her father wouldn’t want her to die. Even her mother, who killed her child, wouldn’t murder her. After taking a deep breath, she gulps down the most bitter drink in her life.

“Nell is amazing.” Eli claps his hands, trying to cheer up his wife who is looking at him hatefully. “Even I couldn’t drink that poison without throwing up.”

She squints her eyes. “Don’t challenge me.”

“I am not challenging you.” He wipes the drops of antidote from her lips. If he tries to kiss her now, he might get slapped. “Do you want to drink something sweet?”

Nell looks away, and mumbles, “I just want to go home.”

He retracts his hand and sighs. “We will return after I make some arrangements.”

Back in the human world, the dangers are still lying in wait for her. Nothing is resolved. Nell promised to be the Fae’s companion. A promise can’t be taken lightly when it comes to the fae folks. Even the Council can’t interfere when there’s a debt or a promise. If Benny was here, he could have asked him the legality of this promise.

Eli walks out of Nell’s room when he notices a familiar scent. After Amachi and Devil follow him out, Zachary Krauss closes the door of Nell’s room.

The person is not supposed to be here. Yet, Eli isn’t surprised to see Ark Sanguine. Why did he come to see him?

“Your location is found out,” Ark informs him in a quiet voice, getting straight to the point. “If Eoin or the Crown Prince arrive here, your human will be in danger. An envoy from the Ember Court is here for her.”

“An envoy?” Eli widens his eyes. “They really sent someone?”

“Did you think that they would sit around and wait?” Ark frowns at his younger brother. “I expected you to be smarter.”

Eli grits his teeth. Did that fae think that he would send Nell with the envoy? That fae has mud in his brain if he truly expects that.

“The king wants Nell to meet the envoy,” Ark says to him scornfully. “The Crown Prince also wants to get rid of the human. The prime minister thinks that she is an assassin. To add to the problems, you also have another sorcerer here.”

He needs to resolve this problem before it becomes too big. Eli massages the space between his brows. An assassin… How can he prove that she isn’t an assassin? It won’t be enough if he says that she is in her awakening period. If he proves that the cat is her familiar, there will be people who will blame her for using the familiar to attack the prime minister’s mansion.

“Don’t worry much.” Ark murmurs, “Eoin is marrying Ophelia. The King thinks that our family is supporting him and the crown prince. All you have to do is come up with a reasonable excuse. He will accept it as long as you show support for the crown prince.”

But that crown prince wants to marry him. Eli’s face turns sour. He has been expecting for that crown prince to give up. Messing with the royal family has repercussions that he doesn’t want to face since he doesn’t want more enemies against him or Nell, albeit he is capable of protecting Nell. Eli glances at his eldest brother. “Why are you helping me?”

This is the first time that Ark has come to him like this. They have always been distant. Truthfully, Ark has been distant from everyone.

“You are my younger brother,” Ark replies as he turns his back to Eli and walks away. “Why else would I help you?”

Eli purses his lips. Did they become brothers today? Where was this hybrid for more than six hundred years?

***

In the room, Zachary Krauss observes his daughter in silence.

“Why are you staring at me?” Nell questions him with a frown.

“I was thinking how to remove that seal.” Zacharay Krauss inhales sharply. “If you can stop it with your will and magic alone, it shouldn’t be impossible to remove that spell from your mind.”

Nell becomes quiet.

“Although I also don’t want you to remember everything,” Zachary Krauss holds his head and speaks with a helpless voice, “I know that you need to remember a few people who are important to you.”

“I still can’t believe that they are dead.” Nell looks down at her hands. “I think that this is a nightmare. I will wake up soon and see Baek Joon Woo beside me.”

“You won’t forgive me if this is reality, would you?” Zachary Krauss gives her a sad smile. “If they have died because of me, you won’t even want to see me.”

Nell curls her fingers. She doesn’t know what to say. Baek Joon Woo’s words about her mother come back to her.

They were blaming themselves when it was her mother who killed their unborn baby. Baek Joon Woo also said that her father might have a reason for leaving her mother.

“If…” Nell turns her head toward him. “If this is reality, I will try my best to not hate you.”

Is this all that can be between them? Zachary Krauss regards her solemnly. “I wish to become your family.”

“I don’t know how to accept you as my family when I don’t know whether I am dreaming or not.” Nell doesn’t want to believe in this reality. The cat spoke of a horrible past. She doesn’t want that kind of past. So, if she can go back to a reality where none of this is true, she will return gladly. “If it is true, I won’t blame you anymore. It’s not like you have hurt them. We should only account for our actions. Why should we also carry the burden of other people’s sins? If this is truly my reality, I would make that person pay for everything that he did.”

***

Eli heads to the court. He needs to meet the envoy.

As soon as he makes his presence known, he senses more than a dozen people following him. A few are his father’s men. Other people belong to the Crown Prince and the Highmore family.

The flies are annoying, and he doesn’t have time to play with them. After crossing the soldiers who are nothing but a joke to him, Eli accelerates toward the guest quarters in the palace.

As soon as he gets closer to the quarter, a disgustingly sweet scent of the fae itches his nose. However, the scent is somewhat human. Did Killian send a human as an envoy? Who could it be? He pushes the door and steps into the door.

A blonde-haired man, donning a black cloak, is standing in the middle of the room, clearly waiting for him.

“Eli Sanguine.” The man’s voice is mechanical and hollow. “You came alone.”

It’s truly a human. Eli glances at the man’s shadow. And the human is nearly a fae. “Are you one of his slaves?”

The man doesn’t answer him. “I want to see Nell Solomon.”

“I won’t let you see her.” Eli contemplates what would happen if he kills this human. He doesn’t want to eat this human’s flesh. It smells wrong to him. Also, his wife gets jealous if he eats other humans — it happened when he ate Evie’s body. “What’s your master’s name?”

“Nell Solomon knows him as Killian Forst.” The man scrutinizes his face. “I guess I know why Nell Solomon would choose to be with you.”

Eli clenches his teeth. Everyone thinks that Nell wants to be with him because he looks like Baek Joon Woo. But he’s sure that it’s not the case. His face isn’t helping him at the moment.

“I can’t return without meeting her.” The envoy looks down at the floor. “Someone’s life is at stake.”