118 Chapter 117

Erin could feel the tension with each day passing. She was in the castle for three days already, ignoring Richard. He tried to talk to her a few times, but she had more things in her mind. Honestly, she was just scared. Scared of the fact that if she stayed with him, she would only fall in the trap of love even more.

Unfortunately, her strategy didn't work as most of the time the only thing in her mind was Richard. She detoured around the castle, looking at the preparations for the war. That was her way to distract herself.

The army consisted mostly of orcs and dark elves. She could see a few half-vampires too. There were a few other races, such as hobgoblins and centaurs, but they were in the minority.

Though when she saw the centaurs for the first time, she paused, wondering how such a race could be seen in a vampire castle. What she knew, however, was that Richard was kind to his subjects. Although in the stories she had read back on Earth, the vampires and demon lords were shown as bad, she couldn't say the same about him. But she couldn't say if Richard was good either. After all, he had killed a lot of people in the past. Even worse, she did the same, too, but only to survive.

'Hmm, but does that make me bad? To kill so that I can survive?' She wasn't sure, but that wasn't just an excuse either. She had to kill, though there were a few times when she had blindly followed Richard's orders. Was it right for her to kill all those people?

'No, I shouldn't think about that.' Erin shook her head, while she continued her wandering through the castle. What surprised her when she woke up the day after she returned was that Anna was now with Seth. When she saw their interaction, she gaped at them.

Time quickly passed and the day when the human army was expected to come, finally arrived. Erin woke up in the morning as usual. Anna helped her with her clothing. She ate breakfast and then moved to the window, watching as the whole castle was bustling with activities.

'Maybe I should go to Richard now. After all, he is the lord of this castle. I can't ignore him forever.' She sighed and turned around, ready for her meeting.

"Anna, can you bring me to Richard?" She asked. After all, she wasn't sure where Richard was now.

"Gladly." Anna smiled brightly. Erin could see the mirth in her eyes. Erin wondered why Anna wasn't anxious about the upcoming battle. After all, the war wasn't a game. Even now, she could feel her slightly accelerated the heartbeat. Wasn't it normal to feel anxious in such a situation?

Erin cleared her mind and followed Anna out of the room, walking through the corridors. As always, anyone they met bowed to her. That only reminded her of her status now. It was like a tale, from a commoner to become royalty. So much time had passed already, but she still felt as if it wasn't real.

"We are here." Anna's voice brought her back from her reverie, as she looked forward and realized that she was in front of the throne room. 'So he was here.' Erin took a deep breath and straightened her body. She could hear discussions from inside, which meant that Richard most probably was organizing his troops at the moment.

'Maybe I should come later.' She thought, ready to turn around.

"The princess has arrived."

But then she heard that proclamation and looked in shock at the guard who said it. He was next to the room, bowing at her. That was the first time when someone announced her like that. She felt her cheeks reddening. Was it necessary for that?

The whole room fell silent. Erin gulped and entered, only to see all the people in the room bowing at her, their eyes locked on the floor. Only Richard was gazing at her, with a slight smile on his face.

"Come here." He gestured to a seat, which was next to his throne. Erin gulped and stepped forward, moving in that direction. She felt that everyone was focusing on her. With wooden steps, she managed to reach her destination. She felt the need to say something to Richard, but nothing came to her mind. Dejected, she sat down on her chair. Looking sideways at Richard, she could see his smile only widening.

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His throne made of red crystals was beautiful as always. Richard himself was wearing black attire with some golden strips on it. She had to say, that attire was matched well with his blond hair.

"Looked enough?" Richard's voice brought her back to reality, as she realized that her gaze was on him. She turned her head away, her cheeks hot. She felt gazes landing on her and looked around the room, only to see all the people were looking elsewhere. Was it just her imagination?

"Alright, the humans should be here in a few hours. Tell me, what are their numbers?" Richard asked, focusing on his subordinates once again. Erin let out a sigh of relief, as the focus shifted away from her.

"There are eight thousand humans, one thousand dwarves, and one thousand elves, for a total of ten thousand strong, my Lord." A dark elf answered.

"And how many troops do we have?" Richard leaned his chin on his hand, waiting for the answer with narrowed eyes.

"We managed to bring our army to seven thousand strong, my Lord. As we have two thousand more that can be used as reserves. Though their combat ability is weaker, they still could be of use." This time Vlorg answered.

The conversation continued, as more details and strategies were mentioned. Usually, the demon races preferred to go face to face with their enemies, but they still could use strategy if it was needed. After an hour of conversations, it was decided that they would stay in the castle and defend it. Though, none of the people in the room knew why Richard decided it to be so.

Erin could feel that the discussion was about to end, but there wasn't anything that mentioned her responsibilities. Though she had gotten used to being protected by Richard by this point, that didn't mean that she didn't want to help in the war.

"Um, what about me? What should I do?" She asked, nervous. The focus of everyone was once again directed at her. The room fell silent, as no one had the right to say anything, except Richard. Erin gulped, uncomfortable from the gazes that were locked on her.

"Well, you can follow me around for now," Richard said, while a mischievous smile was plastered on his face.

"I-" Erin was about to say that she wanted to fight too, but stopped herself. Why would she need to fight in this war? First, it was dangerous. Second, even though she hated some of the humans, she didn't hate all of them. But something deep down in her was screaming for her to fight. She could feel the excitement rising in her. Why did she want to fight so much? She wasn't sure. Was it the instinct of her current body? Or was it just that she enjoyed fighting?

True, she fell in her berserk mode a few times, the instincts fully controlling her. But she started to enjoy fighting. Still, the war was not just a simple fight. The screams, bodies, and despair from the huge battle were still lingering in her mind, as she remembered the battle against the werewolves.

But the excitement from the blood all around was still vivid in her mind. She was both scared and excited. What was wrong with her? Those feelings weren't normal. She tried to look for logic in all of this, but she got only more confused. In the end, she snapped at her thoughts and realized that everyone was still waiting for her answer.

"Alright, I will follow you for now." Erin finally replied, not knowing what else to do.

"Take your blood slaves with you and come to me in half an hour. We will move to the walls to check on the coming army." Richard instructed her, as she absentmindedly nodded and walked out of the room. The war was just about to start and she couldn't stop it anyway. For now, it was better to have clear instructions.

'Why did I want to participate in the war? I could just be in my room, away from all of that.' Even though Erin asked herself that, she didn't stop in her steps. She had to find her companions and prepare for the battle.