Erin looked back at the gift inside the box. It was the necklace that she had seen earlier and couldn"t decide whether to buy it or not. Richard was not with them at that time, then how did he know what she wanted? That perplexed her a bit. Could it be that Anna had told him about it? That wasn"t possible either! They had just returned from their shopping. Richard couldn"t be that fast. A coincidence, perhaps? Or was Richard close back then? She shook her head. There was no point thinking about it."This isn"t practical, I don"t want it." Erin pushed the box in Richard"s direction, trying to reject the gift, though in her heart she liked it. She was just too embarra.s.sed to accept the gift.
Richard"s brows furrowed, and he started contemplating what he should do next. That wasn"t something he was good at. If it was a battle, it would be easy just to defeat his opponent. Managing his territory? That was simple, too. Giving a few orders to the people who followed him was enough for that. Then what about showing his feelings to the girl he liked?
He looked at Erin again, remembering the first time he saw her. She was on the verge of death back then, so fragile and beautiful. At that moment, Erin stole his heart. The problem was, he didn"t know how to show his feelings. That was something he had never done before in his long life. He was a lone soul from the beginning, always striving to get stronger until he became one of the strongest. He never experienced love, but now looking at the girl in front of him, he felt sure that he was already in love with her.
Relaxing his brows, he said to Erin, "Keep it, for now, it"s yours. If you don"t want to use it, just put it somewhere else. If you really don"t like it, you just can discard it."
Now it was Erin"s turn to hesitate. What should she do? Should she keep it or not? She looked back at Richard, then at the gift. She took the box in her hand and put it in her bag. It was just a gift, in the end, she could accept it. After all, she could see that Richard was trying to make her happy. That side of him was something she wasn"t expecting, but it wasn"t bad.
Richard saw that she had accepted his gift. He finally relaxed. "Soon, we are going out for food. You should prepare yourself for that." Erin nodded at his words and started thinking about what he had actually meant by food. Did it mean that she would have to drink the blood of a human? She remembered her previous thoughts and sighed. Determination flickered in her eyes. "I am ready," she said.
"Alright, I"ll go out for some time. When I return, we"ll go out and hunt." Saying so, Richard left the room. In a few minutes, he was already in another part of the city, relaxing at the roof of a mansion and listening to the conversation below.
"Still nothing? We need to find her! Station your men at every exit point of the city! We can"t let her escape!" An angry voice echoed from below.
"Yes, boss! Don"t worry! We"ll find her! There are already people stationed at every exit of the city! She can"t leave without us noticing!" Someone else answered.
"That"s good then. I can"t let my money escape from me. Search everywhere until you find her!" The first voice bellowed.
"Yes, we"ll find her and capture her for you!" A number of voices answered at the same time.
As Richard listened, he couldn"t suppress his smile. What good preys! He will let them be for now, but if Erin couldn"t handle them, he will be merciless. After listening for some more time, he finally stood up. "It"s time to take Erin out for hunting. Those guys can wait for now."
Returning to the inn, he opened the door to their room and saw Erin asleep on the bed, holding the necklace in her left hand. He smiled and came by her side. He shook her shoulder gently. "Erin, wake up. It"s time to go hunting."
Erin"s eyelashes quivered a bit, but she didn"t wake up. Richard shook her a few more times and finally, she opened her eyes. Still sleepy, she looked at him. His face was a bit close to her. A few moments later, she jumped out of the bed, her body on guard. "What are you doing?"
"I am just waking you up. It"s time for the hunt." Saying so, Richard got out of the room, leaving Erin to wake up fully and comprehend what had happened. It was better that way, or else she would be on her guard against him again. He didn"t want to be ignored like before.
Erin looked at the door through which Richard had left. She relaxed and sat down. As she reflected upon the earlier scene, she sighed. It wasn"t her fault to be like that, why had he come so close to her? Shaking her head, she stood up. It was time for hunting.