Valerian Empire

Alexander sat in his study going through letters the council had sent regarding his proposal on acquiring the land which Katie once lived with her relatives.

Reuben, the head council wanted him to sign few documents and if that was done he could have the land added to his empire.

After the dark witches masquerade the entire area was under the council authorities for inspection and the other town folks didn't dare to step on it, scared the bad omen might be inflicted on their lives.

When a massacre takes place, the dark witches usually mark around the village to a circle and triangle.

Dark witches. His second in command Oliver was on the scout, hunting them. If the dark witches could go extinct that would be great, he thought to himself. Having them around was extra work but he knew one or two who was quite useful to him when needed.

Katherine's cousin was still missing but he had a hunch that the boy must be alive or should have escaped.

Then there was another issue in Valeria regarding the missing bodies from the cemetery. He wondered if it had anything to do with the dark witches. One of the families of the missing body in the coffin had turned to him for his help.

Someone knocked on the door interrupting Alexander's thoughts,

"Come in Martin," he said seeing his butler stand at the door.

The old man placed a glass of blood on his desk before going to stand still with the tray in his hand.

"Did everything settle down?" Alexander asked as he signed the paper that was in front of him.

"Yes, my Lord. The hall has been cleaned and is back to how it was except for the pumpkins which will be taken down tomorrow."

"And the guests?"

"Everyone has taken their leave except for the Tanner's, Boland's, and Ms. Caroline have stayed back using the below guest rooms as you asked," the old man replied back promptly, "We had two intruders but they escaped."

"What a shame, we could have used them for the next year's Hallow," taking the documents, Alexander opened the drawer to place them inside it before locking it with a key. Picking up the glass, he brought it to his lips before drinking it, relishing the liquid on his taste buds.

Once he finished it, the butler took the empty glass and walked towards the door.

"What is it, Martin?" Alexander asked seeing the old man come to a halt.

"Ms. Welcher and her friends haven't returned yet," the man informed his Lord, thinking his Lord might want to know.

"Thank you, Martin. You can leave for the night," Alexander nodded and saw Martin bow his head before leaving the room.

Going to his room he changed into much more comfortable wear for the night. Picking up his cat Areo in his arm, he went to the portico to look at the landscape of his empire, leaning his back on the wall. The Valeria Empire his grandfather, Vlad Delcrov had built. Lush green trees filled ahead of his mansion.

Nicholas and Alexander were the only ones that were the successors to the empire of the original Lords while the north and south had a different lineage of Lords.

The night was colder than yesterday and he saw a group of six people walk through the end of the woods and head towards the entrance of the mansion. Bending down, he let Areo down as his cat swished its black tail.

He saw Katie hug herself as she listened to one of the girls speak nonchalantly. His eyes zeroed at the attire she wore, loose-fitting shirt and trouser that belonged to a man. Was it the one with them now? It couldn't be. The shirt was bigger in size than the man who walked beside her. Though she looked adorable it didn't sit well with him that an unknown male's clothes were on her.

A sigh escaped his lips as he ran his hand through his hair to pull it back, letting half of the section fall over his forehead while the rest was combed back.

The event that took place in the hall earlier this evening was something he hadn't contemplated. Katie had looked utterly beautiful and he had kept an eye on her the entire time he danced with Duke Hamilton's daughter.

Her brown eyes averted every time their eyes met and he had noticed her tongue peek out of her delicate lips to run over her bottom lip nervously while his eyes followed the trail.

He had seen her smile at something Lord Nicholas said and the next second the man placed a kiss like it was a normal thing to do, not before adding fuel by having a smirk on his face as he looked at Alexander like the bastard knew something.

She had turned red, eyes wide with shock and when he had taken a step forward she had taken one back before she made her way out of the hall. Like a predator, he chased after her to only be stopped by one of his guests but he had looked for her after that.

It shouldn't have bothered him, yet it did. He had no right on what the girl should and shouldn't do, after all, like the girl had stated she wasn't his.

Truth was, that if they had met for the first time tonight, with no concerns and boundaries where she was someone non-significant he would have taken her to his chamber to spend a pleasurable night.

He was protective of her but there were days when he sometimes caught himself thinking things he shouldn't. She was off-limits. He had decided not to touch a single hair on her head, yet he had danced with her, teasing her to see her pale cheeks turn to a beautiful shade of pink. Unlike women who tried to flatter him with a shower of compliments, he actually enjoyed Katherine's presence.

Her hand in his as they talked.

It was better not to associate himself with the girl, he told to himself. Alexander knew very well that Katie's stay was only until she got to know about her cousin's whereabouts. It was obvious once found, she would leave the mansion.

Placing one hand on the railing, he jumped from his portico to the cold ground only to stroll in his empire.

As they entered the mansion, Katie was invited to Dorthy's room to sleep the night as they weren't done celebrating Hallow. As each room was given for two people with two beds, Matilda and Dorthy shared one room while Cynthia and Fay shared two rooms away from them.

Corey had work in the morning and therefore had taken his leave for the night.

All the five women sat in Dorthy's and Matilda's room, gossiping about the Hallow and the people who attended it.

"I couldn't take my eyes off the men today," Fay said resting her chin on both her hands making her look like a puppet as she spoke.

"I agree. It's a sight of a lavish feast for us women," Dorthy agreed.

"Most of them were high-class vampires or elite humans," Matilda commented wiping the sword with a brown cloth, "Lord Alexander was lenient to let us people in the mansion to attend the Hallow."

"How can you know if a man is good looking with the mask on?" Katie asked Dorthy with her brows furrowed.

"You need to check features like his eyes and jaw. The jaw is an important one to notice," her friend responded rubbing her jaw to emphasize her point.

"Really..." Katie murmured her thoughts drifting to Alexander's jaw.

"Lord Nicholas was here, did you know?" Cynthia asked them.