Chapter 16 The Answer Is Not At The End Of A Bottle (Make It A Vodka Bottle Instead)
Maeve shoved the drink down her throat— it was fast and immediate, and yet, there was no burn. No fire. No will to die resurfacing. She sighed and placed the glass down. “They said they had alcohol. What is this? Caprisun?”
Amir, who was standing next to her, tried not to budge his head towards the plate of food in her left hand— or foods, because she had placed a whole disgusting bunch of different things that should not be together on it as he said, “You say the weirdest things. But they are right,”
Maeve knew they were right, but that was not the point.
After her statement, a noble somewhere threw up, and another woman gasped so loud the glasses around shattered— yes, this is a fictional story, keep up with the inconsistencies.
But that was not the problem.
The problem was the fact that every man in the ball would not stop looking at her. At first, they stared, yes, which was fine— it was calculated in, and they didn’t give her the time of their day. Maeve understood that in a world where the women held more power and were rarer, it was only natural for them to have no desires in upsetting whichever women graced them with their presence.
But now… now they weren’t even hiding their feelings.
Or their confusion at the idea of an elf being a Vessel, especially when they didn’t have mana to begin with.
Maeve let out a small groan as she looked up at the system who was currently spamming hundreds of laughing emojis and hissed, “Haha. Very funny. Felt glad keeping that part of information away from me, huh?”
\[YOU MADE AN ENTIRE CONTRACT TO KEEP ME ON THE SIDELINES UNTIL YOU ‘NEEDED’ ME. MUST FEEL NICE KNOWING YOU NEED ME ALL THE TIME, HUH?\]
Maeve bared her teeth at it, an act that Amir noted and only raised an eyebrow at but said nothing. And what could he have said really? The woman clearly wasn’t mentally alright but… but she did have the biggest balls he had ever seen.
Because making an announcement calling him her Vessel was practically impossible.
See, Humans had Mana, and they used to bend nature to their will whether it wanted to be bent or not. It was one of the many reasons Elves did not like them. They were lazy, selfish, and arrogant with the people around them and the resources they managed to have.
As Elves, on the other hand, did not have mana. They worshipped, Vashka, the Mother Earth, and worshiped every living thing. They prayed and asked for guidance, took what they needed and not more. Learned skills that would protect them involving hunting, calling onto the elemental spirits and other things that might protect them from other species.
And it worked.
Until it didn’t.
So quick side note for future references— Vessels were men who women deemed worthy enough to store their mana in— the women in this equation are called Sources. Since they naturally have more, it seems a few of them have too much, which affects them physically, so a Vessel increases their life span by taking some of the mana.
And men can never truly know their affinity until their Sources share their Mana with them.
Though also, apparently, people have been forbidden from using magic in daily life except authorized by the crown. So it was not a big deal in a sense, but knowing one’s affinity gave one a sense of superiority— the men especially.
So in other words, Amir could not be regarded as her Vessel because he couldn’t even take her mana if he wanted— which also equaled to him being seen as less than by the other men.
Maeve needed vodka.
Amir raised his hand slightly, staring at his palm that had sizzled slightly when she touched him before letting out a sigh and placing it back to his side.
No. He was not going to let panic override logic.
Vashka would not make his mate a human. And not one without a soul like this.
And what was she even talking to?
“You listen to me, you glitching screen without a beating heart,” Maeve hissed. “It’s not my fault that I can’t do st— wait. Wait, are you censoring me?! After everything we’ve been through?! You won’t even let me curse this one time?!”
\[EVERYONE ALREADY THINKS YOU ARE CRAZY. SO GO ON. SCREAM LOUDER\]
Maeve was so close to letting the food drop— yes, that was how sad she was, but before she could lunge at the system which was practically nothingness, a voice called out from next to her. “You are aware that all of this will not benefit you in the long run, aren’t you? Especially with my Mother. She doesn’t like… people taking her toys,”
Maeve paused, turning to her side. Prince Cassian looked lovely, as he always did, and thanks to the sunglasses, she could bear his glow. Which was good. He was the reason she was doing all of this in the first place. “Was that a double entendre? Considering the fact that I’m also her toy and she probably wouldn’t like to hear that I’m not picking you as a Suitor? Is that what she sent you to tell me? Or you’re not allowed to say that part?”
\[YOU SOUND ANGRY. DID YOU ALREADY FORGET OUR AGREEMENT?\]
Maeve couldn’t forget. It was the reason why she couldn’t sleep and rest properly. She had to make a key beat, or at the very least, an alternate one, but she had come to realize even with all the major things she’s been doing, all she’s managed to do is overwork, less sleep, and more hunger.
It was almost as if this was a stupid romance novel and a key beat could only progress when something involved main characters.
Plus, the fact that NACE was not even mentioning the major plot point was the Duke being the lover of Isabella Montague.
What? You didn’t notice? Come on.
Let’s go back.
Remember, the Duke was literally the first person to realize that something was different about Isabella, also referring to her as HIS Isabella. Maeve had picked that up, and noticed that anyone would reasonably be angry at someone inhabiting the body of their lover, or their lover acting completely different. It explained the approval ratings too.
The male leads in the world have to be drawn to her. Like Lucien and Cassian. Except this time, he already had a reason to be distrustful. Lucien might have been her best friend but it seemed he didn’t know her too well and put her on a pedestal, Cassian on the other hand didn’t know at all.
So the approval ratings for the former wouldn’t explode unnecessarily that’s why Lucien’s was little by little and the latter was large because they literally just met, like love at first sight.
By the way, as Maeve narrated all of this to you the readers (yes, I’m breaking the fourth wall as the author, hello), to the outside world, it seemed to the people around her like she was deep in thought, staring into nothingness with a very strange and worrying expression on her face.
Cassian even wondered for a nano second if she were the ugliest thing he had ever seen.
But surely, you get the gist now?
Ah, she didn’t want to do this. She didn’t think she had to. She knew for certain that the Duke, with that announcement, had probably lost whatever inhibitions he had before. He hadn’t trusted her, but now, seeing her with a suitor, claiming that he was her Vessel, that would drive him insane enough to report to the Queen.
And Maeve needed that woman to leave her alone somehow.
Perhaps, if Eldoria believed that she was too much trouble, she’d cut her off.
Hopefully. Jesusfully. Amen.
God, she was using her brain too much. She didn’t like it.
Nor did she like what she was about to do.
She turned around, placing the plate on Amir’s hands, “Do not drop this. And you know what to do, yes?”
He did know what to do. Surprisingly, the lady’s plan was working. At least, some of it. Amir knew that she hadn’t planned for the shock of the Vessel thing in the way it happened, but she had planned for one thing.
‘All the women would want you. It’s instinct. When they see you and me, looking different, daring to be different, they’d automatically desire to be me, or to have something of mine. Being me is already too difficult, they probably think that I am insane. They wouldn’t want to be seen that way. BUT you are an attractive man, and from what I understand, so attractive that I technically do not deserve you. So they’d try to take you away,’
And then he asked what he was to do.
Maeve winked at him.
Thrice
In the most disgusting way.
He had been certain she meant… strange activities but after he made it clear he would not participate in such trivialities, she made an insulted face and told him that she needed him to practically sell the clothes he had on, not himself. The brand.
‘Make yourself so irresistible that when they realize they cannot have you, they’d want their Vessels or Suitors to be you. That way, I have money,’
And the look while she said the last part almost gave him a heart attack.
As he nodded, he watched her turn around and face the male who was staring at her with such… predatory energy that he couldn’t help how he stared, trying to observe, but the second he put any effort in, this man, the prince, he assumed, looked up at him— and his eyes flashed red.
A strange image of a snake wrapping itself around his body blared through his head.
He jerked slightly, a frown coming to his face.
He didn’t think that male was even human to begin with.
“Hey, you, you’re going to cheer me up,” Maeve placed a hand over Cassian’s shoulder, completely oblivious to the things happening around her. “What do you think about dancing the entire night with me?”