Conquering His Cold Heart

The guests from Sorvando were following the Crown Prince Alexander to the other hall. Alexander was walking ahead of everyone while turning around every now and then to make sure that the guests were following him. He looked more like a host than the actual people of the castle.

Anastasia and Caspian were walking closely behind Alexander, while Vincent and Hamilton were walking behind their monarchs. And way behind them, Caspian’s royal guards were following them all while making sure that no suspicious-looking humans or werewolves were walking around their King and the Queen.

When they were still walking down the short gallery, Vincent suddenly felt discomfort in his stomach. He softly winced in pain, but still kept on walking forward thinking that the discomfort would slowly go away.

However, instead of the pain easing up, he felt the wine that he had drank earlier fighting to get out of his mouth.

He tightly sealed his lips and tightened his fist in an attempt to hold it all in. He glanced at the back of Caspian’s head and thought to himself, ‘Caspian never seemed to throw up even after drinking all those cups of tea daily. Maybe if I could hold it in for a bit then this discomfort will go away.’

But the situation got worse by the second. He even began to sweat a little on the forehead, which was very rare for his species.

Hamilton had been noticing the sudden change in Vincent’s demeanor. He couldn’t ignore Vincent’s ragged breathing anymore and finally broke the silence.

“Are you alright?” he asked Vincent in a whisper.

.....

Vincent looked at Hamilton and nodded. “Why wouldn’t I be?” he whispered back.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because of how you are sweating?” Hamilton tried to throw a satirical comment at Vincent. However, his satire was overshadowed by the worried tone that was too prominent in his voice.

Vincent quickly wiped his sweat and dismissed Hamilton’s worry, “It’s nothing. Really.”

Caspian was too close to them. So, he was obviously listening to their whispers. His heart sunk the moment he recalled how Vincent was the only one who had drank the wine that was offered to them.

‘Was there really something in the wine, or is it just the normal side effect of drinking something else than our regular diet?’ Caspian was bound to think that.

He was about to turn around and take a look at Vincent’s face. However, he was interrupted when Alexander spoke to him right at that moment.

“Your Majesty, this way please,” Alexander was standing in front of a huge door and was gesturing inside the hall.

Caspian gave a soft smile to Alexander and gave a gentle nod. “Thank you!” He then leaned closer to his wife and whispered to her, “Anna, why don’t you go inside first? I need to-”

Before Caspian was able to finish his sentence, he saw Vincent walking past him and then asking a question to the guards at the door of the hall.

“Excuse me. Would you mind pointing the way to the bathroom for me? The nearest one.”

The guard gestured to his left and replied, “Of course, Milord. Please go straight from here, and then take the first left turn.”

Vincent thanked the guard and then turned around to go in the direction as shown by that guard.

He noticed Caspian looking very worried. So he gave a subtle smile and then whispered to him, “It’s nothing serious. I just need to throw up and I will be fine.”

“Let Hamilton follow you,” Caspian whispered back to Vincent. He suspected that there could be something seriously wrong with Vincent. So, he didn’t want Vincent to be alone.

However, Vincent waved his hand and denied it. He didn’t want to ruin Hamilton’s night by making him babysit. “No, it’s alright. I promise it’s nothing serio-”

Vincent immediately closed his mouth tightly when he felt the wine fighting to come out again. He gave a quick bow to Caspian, and without wasting any more time, he rushed towards the bathroom.

Although Vincent had denied being followed, Caspian glanced at Hamilton. And Hamilton instantly gave a nod and went after Vincent.

Vincent was quick enough to reach the bathroom. Since that particular bathroom was meant to be for the soldiers and guards, there were several stalls inside. Vincent immediately entered one of them and shut the door behind him.

And the moment he closed the door, he started to let out all the contents of his stomach.

Hamilton arrived there a while later. He stood outside the stall and waited for Vincent to come outside.

However, when he didn’t come out and also didn’t make a sound for a minute or so, Hamilton asked, “Vincent? Are you alright in there?”

He heard Vincent’s relatively weak voice, “Oh, hey... I thought I asked you not to follow me.”

“I asked you if you are alright!” Hamilton frowned and lightly banged on the door of the stall. “Open the door,” he ordered.

Vincent did as he was asked. He glanced Hamilton in the eyes and replied, “I am fine.”

Hamilton was, however, not convinced. Vincent’s eyes looked red and moist. A worry line appeared on his forehead when he spoke, “You definitely don’t look fine, Vincent. Were you crying? Does it... Does it hurt somewhere?”

Vincent smiled and wiped his eyes. “I wasn’t crying! It’s because of all the gagging I did earlier,” he said while indicating his tears. And then he gestured for Hamilton to step aside from the door. “Let me wash my face.”

Hamilton didn’t immediately step aside though. “Are you sure nothing is wrong with you?” Just like Caspian, Hamilton was also suspecting that their drinks were spiked with some poisonous herbs. “If you are still feeling discomfort somewhere then now is the time to tell. You aren’t allowed to die on us. Definitely not here in the werewolves’ Kingdom.”

Vincent rolled his eyes and exclaimed, “Oh my goodness, Hamilton! I said I feel fine. Nobody is dying.” He clenched his jaw and grumbled, “Just let me wash my face.”