Chapter 119 - Invitation for tea - Part 2

[Zeke, are you done with your task?] I mind-linked Zeke, my fourth-in-command, who had been extremely busy recently. He had to fill in for Andrew and Jack as they were both too preoccupied with my leftover work, hence why we're meeting quite often these days.

I'm a firm believer that too much work is always better than no work. 

[I am, sir] came the quick reply from Zeke. It had been two years since Zeke had started working as my fourth-in-command, and he appeared to be a man with few words who always got the job done. How I wish there were a lot more people like him instead of people like Andrew. 

[Where are you now?] I asked. 

[I've just reached the packhouse. Is there something that you need from me, sir?] 

[I'll need you to go back to the village and call for Mr. Lickham.]

[Mister who, sir?] 

[Mr. Lickham] I repeated. [Have you forgotten about the man? The bald magistrate. I remember telling you to send him his letter of dismissal along with his other punishment.]

[Mr. Wickham] he corrected me, but there was no need for me to remember his name in the first place. [And what will be the purpose, sir?]

[Tell him that I've invited him for tea] I said, skimming through the map in my hand, [I'm sure he'll be ecstatic.] 

After receiving Zeke's positive reply, I mind-linked a servant to prepare some refreshments for the impending guest. Now that it's settled, all that I had to do was wait. 

Oh, right. We haven't eaten dinner since we returned from the church. I hope Violet will still have the appetite to eat after what we saw today. Would all these candles be a little too much? The scent was getting too strong the longer I stayed here. Perhaps we didn't need to fill the whole room with them. It's getting a little nauseating. 

[Bob, is dinner ready? I don't want my mate to be hungry.] I mind-linked my most favorite chef, blowing out a few candles in the room while doing so. 

A few short moments after I sent the mind-link, a chuckle came from Bob. [I'll bring them to your room right away, sir. I've even prepared Luna's favorite chocolate cake for dessert.]

While waiting for Bob and Mr. Wickham, I took a quill and a few papers, wanting to write a letter to the two other regions regarding the possible threat posed by the black witches.

Black witches have been hiding in the dark for years, and they've never caused any problems in all of those years. That fact itself made most of us believe that they had given up their initial goal, but it seems that we were very wrong. They had been plotting something major all along—and we could only hope that their preparations were still far from finished. 

Though the clues I'd found today may not be a hundred percent credible, there was nothing wrong with taking a precaution. After all, it was always better to be safe than sorry—and that two heads are always better than one. Should the black witches proceed with their plan, a lot of lives would be lost.

We wouldn't want another war like the Great Axthrone War to happen again. Despite the fact that we won the last battle, we had to make a significant sacrifice. Many lives had been lost, and it had reached the point where even humans were on the brink of extinction.

As a result, few humans were aware of the existence of dark creatures. Werewolves and vampires were more of a fable to them, whereas black witches were known to be our ultimate enemy. It was only right that all of us knew about the black witches, even if it did lead to the white witches being labeled as enemies as well. 

Now that I've learned about Violet being a white witch, perhaps I should make an effort to help clear the white witches' name. 

Though I didn't experience the last war, I've always heard about how horrific it was from the stories my mom used to tell me—they were the stories she'd gotten from my grandfather, Derek William. I had never met him before, so I didn't know just how great of a man he was—though I did know that his son was nothing similar to him. 

Just as I was getting tired of waiting, Zeke sent me a mind-link informing me that he'd successfully brought Mr. Wickham to my humble home. He also told me about how Mr. Wickham was busy packing his belongings when he came to fetch the man. Of course, that was not fishy at all.

I got off the sofa and headed towards the bathroom door, wanting to tell Violet about my absence. When I knocked on the door, a loud thud came from inside. 

"Violet?" I called out, worried that something might have happened to her inside. "Are you okay?" 

"I am," she replied calmly, acting as if nothing had fallen inside. It sounded like she was the one who fell, though. "Do you need something? Ah! Did I take too long? Sorry, I'll be out in a minute." 

"No, it's fine. Take as much time as you want," I chuckled. "I just wanted to let you know that dinner is almost ready and that I'll be out for a little while." 

She didn't give me any reply, but I could hear her moving in a hurry inside. Not long after, the bathroom door swung open, showing my beautiful mate with her dress still messily worn, her hair wet. A sweet, intoxicating scent immediately washed over me the moment the door opened. Even all those candles in the room didn't smell as good as the woman before me. 

"You're leaving?" She asked, a towel over her wet hair. Water dripped down from her hair onto her dress, dampening her already thin dress. I quickly took her night jacket, wrapping her inside. "Where?" 

"Work," I replied curtly, then took the towel off her head, helping her to dry her wet hair. "Rabbit, you should always properly dry your hair. We don't want you to catch a cold, do we? It's cold at night."

"Do you still have some work left?" She ignored my advice and shifted the conversation back to my work, seemingly sad to see me leave. "Even after Andrew and Jack helped you with work?" 

"Hmm," I hummed, then smirked. "Why? Do you hate being away from me that much?" Though my initial intention was to tease her—again—her response left me a little bit off guard. 

"I do," she said, a small grimace on her face. It was rare for her to express herself frankly about how she felt about me without feeling embarrassed. Is my hard work finally paying off? "Working is not bad, but... I don't think you should work continuously without proper rest. You haven't even had dinner or taken a bath, and yet, you're going back to work. Can't you take a rest today and get back to work tomorrow?"

How am I supposed to leave her if she's begging me not to leave like this? 

Is it even appropriate for me to smile when she was expressing her concern for me? I bit back my lower lip, trying to hold back my smile, but failed, so I pulled her into an embrace to avoid my smile being seen. I didn't want her to think that I was taking her concern as a joke. 

"Don't worry," I patted her shoulders, grinning widely behind her back. "Who do you think I am? I'm the strongest Alpha in this whole world. I'll be fine even after working continuously for a year. Besides—" I pulled away, immediately seeing her pout after hearing my answer, "—I'm going out to meet Mr. Wickham." 

Hearing the familiar name, her eyes flicked towards mine. "The bald magistrate?" I nodded. "Then, let me go with—" 

"No," I quickly rejected her offer. "You've seen enough ugly things today. We don't need you to see more of it. Your eyes need to rest." 

"But—" 

A knock sounded from the door. It must be Bob.

"You came at the right time, Bob," I said as I opened the door for him. "You wouldn't want to miss out on Bob's delicious meals, would you?" I turned to Violet and beckoned to the plates Bob had just set on the table. Her mouth watered as she inhaled the aroma. "I'll let you know everything I learned from Mr. Wickham once I return, so stay here and eat your meals while they're still warm, and then rest for the day, okay? I promise I'll be back before long." 

Though she persisted with accompanying me, she soon changed her mind when she saw the chocolate cake on the table, as well as Bob's forlorn expression when he realized that none of us would eat his meals if we both left. 

"Come back soon, okay?" 

Ignoring Bob's presence, I stole a quick peck on her lips, winking, "Don't miss me too much—or do. Whatever makes you happy."