"But you're my mate, Maxim," I said, "Please—"
"Mate?" King Ignatius burst out laughing as if I have just said something funny.
"What are you laughing at?" I asked confusedly.
At my question, the king's laughter died down. Lastly, he replied me with a sneer, "You know, Princess, Maximilian isn't your mate."
"What?!" My jaw dropped in astonishment.
"Is this some kind of joke? Why did he say that Maximilian wasn't my mate? Whereas, he's the first who told me that Maximilian was my mate. I have to confirm it now," I thought.
"Why did you say that Maximilian wasn't my mate?" I inquired.
"Because he indeed isn't your mate," he answered.
I was confused. "But you told me yourself that Maximilian was my mate, right? And my grandfather also said the same."
"We lied, okay?" he admitted.
"Why did you lie to me?" I asked even though I might have known the answer. They deliberately told me that Maximilian was my mate in order that I was willing to marry him. So, on our wedding day, they could make me become a sacrifice. But I wanted to hear the truth from his own mouth.
"Why don't you ask your grandfather? Because he's the one who ordered us to tell you lies," he suggested with a smirk.
Of course! King Bellamy was behind all of this. It was really hard to belive that Prince Maximilian wasn't my real mate. And now, there was another thing that bothered me. Thus, I quickly voiced my curiosity, "If Maximilian isn't my mate, so whose mate is he?"
"He's the mate of your mother's. But your mother rejected him. And she preferred to marry your father, the pathetic human, rather than my son, the vampire prince." King Ignatius' voice was full of venom when he talked about my parents.
The fact that Maximilian's true mate was my mother came as a shock to me. I still couldn't believe that Maximilian was supposed to be my father. Wait! If my mother had mated with Maximilian, I would never have been born. This whole situation was very confusing and I needed an explanation right away.
"Maximilian, I want you to explain to me everything now!" I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest.
Prince Maximilian let out a long sigh. "Okay, I'll explain everything to you."
He then turned to his father and requested, "Dad, could you please leave us alone? I need to talk to Mirabelle privately."
King Ignatius disagreed, "But Maximilian—"
"Please Dad!" he pleaded.
Without a word, King Ignatius stalked off.
After he disappeared behind the dungeon door, Maximilian drew nearer to me. So now, the only thing that separated us was the bars of 'my' cell.
"My father is right. You're not my mate, Rosanne," he admitted.
"So you're really my mother's mate?" I queried in disbelief.
"Yes, your mother was my mate. But when she found out about it, she told me she had fallen in love with another vampire and then she rejected me," he explained.
"Who was the vampire she fell in love with?" I inquired out of curiosity.
Maximilian's fists clenched slowly until his knuckles were white. I could see the anger that bubbled up inside him. But he tried his best to suppress it.
"I can't tell you who he is," he finally answered.
His reply didn't satisfy my curiosity, but I didn't want to urge him to tell me who the vampire that my mother used to love was because I was afraid I would upset him even more.
