Claimed by the Prince of Darkness novel Chapter 166

Chapter 166: Conditions Of The Treaty

Ruelle had never seen the man before, yet he knew her name.

"I thought you had more pressing documents to attend to than revisiting an old treaty," Lucian said, his gaze settling on the elder minister, cold as frost.

She felt him guide her to the couch and have her sit beside him.

The elder minister replied, "With the treaty now in effect, there is little that could take priority. It is time we saw it through. Lord Azriel is in agreement." His eyes returned to the young woman and he added, "I believe it would be wise to address that before it becomes a matter of concern."

It was only after a second that Ruelle realised the minister was staring at the markings on her neck. She heard Lord Azriel ask Lucian,

"Is she aware of the treaty?"

"No," Lucian replied.

The elder minister’s thin eyebrows rose. He questioned, "Where are the Belmonts? I thought she was already informed, especially with the soul bond you gave her."

Ruelle hesitantly asked, "What treaty?" It felt as if everyone else knew what was happening, while she had no clue.

The minister didn’t waste time in explaining, "Twelve years ago, your family and the Slaters were selected to fulfil a treaty intended to benefit both our kinds. A marriage between you and Lucian—"

What? Ruelle blinked at the old man’s words.

"—unfortunately, your family could not be located after the war broke out, and the matter was allowed to lapse," the minister continued evenly. "It has now been restored. With the consent of both families and my own, the treaty now stands in effect once again."

A faint frown came to form on Ruelle’s face as she tried to process the minister’s words. The treaty King Septimus mentioned last night, the signature her father spoke of this morning... they were talking about this? And to think all this time she had been worrying about turning into someone’s mistress.

Her parents hadn’t uttered a word about it as if they had forgotten it. She and Lucian. It felt surreal and she turned to look at Lucian, noticing him already watching her.

The door to the study room opened.

"I wasn’t aware we were having a family meeting," remarked Dane, entering the room with languid grace. A smile appeared on his face when he caught Ruelle’s neck. "A little too early to be crashing in, Minister Carnifex."

"Mm," the minister hummed in response. "We were discussing about the treaty."

Brother Dane knew about it too, the thought dawned in Ruelle’s mind. No wonder he had always treated her well and had gone so far as to bring her to the Slaters’ mansion.

Ruelle then saw the minister briefly nod before he pulled a bronze locket on a chain from his coat. Just as he raised his hand, the woman who had been quietly standing at the back came next to him and collected it in her hand.

"I need to have your blood agreement. Both of you."

The chain was brought to Ruelle and she took it. The metal was cold against her palm and turning it around, she pressed the sides for it to click open. Inside, a small needle waited at the centre.

With all eyes on her, Ruelle pressed her thumb to the needle. The prick was small but sharp enough to let her know all of this was real. When she pulled back, two drops of blood welled inside the locket, bright red against bronze.

Lucian then took it from her without hesitation. Then in a blink of an eye, the needle drew his blood, joining hers in the locket.

The minister took the locket back and as he slipped it back inside his pocket, he said with a tone of indifference,

"The marriage ceremony will be held within a month. It should be enough time for everything to be prepared."

A month? Ruelle’s eyes widened.

"Unless Miss Ruelle needs more time?" the minister added upon noticing her expression.

Things were moving so fast that she was glad that she was sitting right now as she received the news. She felt everyone’s eyes on her and she carefully replied,

"No, it isn’t that. I was just surprised by it." She just hadn’t thought about it happening this soon. But if they were going to get married one day, did time matter?

The minister then continued looking down at the copy of the treaty. He stated, "The next condition is to verify if we still have a pureblooded vampire and a human’s union. Peyton, bring the tubes."

A toll bell rang loud in Ruelle’s ears, as she wasn’t entirely human. Curious, she asked,

"What if I were turned into a halfling?"

"The treaty would still hold," Lucian said, taking her hand and checking the finger she had pricked. "Only those bound to it would change."

That meant there would be another human in place of her, thought Ruelle to herself.

Lucian turned to the minister, unruffled. He said,

"There’s no need to recheck our blood. You already know that I have a corrupted heart. So you won’t have the expected result. And neither will Ruelle’s as she’s been marked with my corruption."

Minister Carnifex paused to think about it, as he had already seen Lucian’s corruption in the past, as if understanding how the components worked with the blood.

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