Petrona slowly opened her eyes turning her head slightly to the side. Demyan's and Adrik's argument woke her up. She felt a little better after Viridi's "kiss" and the protective influence of the Obsidian ring. She reached out with her hand and Demyan jumped the gun. Adrik flinched because he almost did the same thing.
He got dangerously attached to her as well. It shocked him because, in the previous time, he had never been this close to her. Kind of... it frustrated the heck out of him seeing Demyan by her side. He really should have taken her far away...

Petrona tried to smile a little to calm them both down. "Prince Demyan... Prince Adrik..." A huge rock fell down from Demyan's heart. He had to do it... Demyan gently took Petrona's face into his palm and kissed her.
Adrik annoyed looked away. Why couldn't Demyan wait till he was away from the room... Demyan, after he was done side-eyed Adrik with a smirk. Somehow telling him, that he is the chosen one, and they (Adrik and Viridi) were just lucky to touch her lips just because of the circumstances.
Petrona felt a little uncomfortable with Demyan's kiss after she witnessed how close he was with Livia. She also noticed and questioned what was going on between Demyan and Adrik. Before, they were quite cordial and friendly. Now, she felt some tension and malice instead. He noticed her puzzled expression. Should Demyan lie or be honest with her?
Petrona pushed away from Demyan's embrace... "My Prince... please don't!" Petrona touched her lips and tried to create distance between them. Demyan was taken aback. What was going on? Why was she so cold towards him?
Adrik sarcastically chuckled and that made Demyan mad immediately. He sprung up and grabbed Adrik by the collar of his shirt. Demyan had no clue, that the whole time, Petrona was watching the interaction between him and the vampire countess at the bed chamber... all the lovey-dovey stuff orchestrated by Livia.
It created distrust and misunderstanding in Petrona's heart. Due to her weak state and immediate unconsciousness, she somehow forgot that Livia was already dead by Demyan's hand. "Please... my Prince! Don't fight!" Demyan obliged immediately and sat back on the bed. He wanted to touch her hand but she slowly pulled it away.
Demyan still didn't understand it. Adrik pushed him to the side and offered his hand. She took it. Demyan's insides shuttered. What was the meaning of this?! Did she fall in love with Adrik because of the one kiss? Did Adrik bewitched her somehow? Does she hate him because he allowed Livia to abduct her?
She just woke up, so Demyan let it slide. Firstly, Petrona should sleep a little more and regain some strength. There will be plenty of time to talk. He shooed Adrik out of his bedroom. Petrona seemed to be kind of uncomfortable, that she was left alone with Demyan. It did break his heart to experience her coldness. He tried to brush it off.
"Take some more rest and sleep a little. Tomorrow you will feel better." Petrona turned to the other side with the back to Demyan. He was a little saddened but he planned to solve any misunderstanding the next day.

Few hours passed and Petrona was soundly sleeping on the bed. Demyan was sitting under the bookcases reading something. Adrik appeared out of nowhere to check on Petrona. That enraged Demyan and was ready to throw the book at him.
Adrik rolled his eyes at his impulsiveness. "If you do that, you will wake her up." Demyan stopped mid-swing. Adrik was right... Both were communicating by whispering. "What do you want here? She is fine and doesn't need to be seen by you."
Adrik smirked at Demyan. "Are you sure about that?" Demyan was confused and Adrik disclosed to him the secret about how they got so fast back to the castle. "Did you know she was held in a small cave at the river border with the Forest of Howls? Do you know, how we could travel so fast? We used the portal mirror Livia had the whole time in her bedroom." Demyan's eyes widen in disbelief. Every night he was so "close" to Petrona without knowing it. He felt useless. Adrik continued with his rant. "One more thing... That mirror, while inactive as a portal still showed what was going on in the bedroom in real time..."
Demyan's head twisted towards Petrona. It dawned on him. He understood everything now. She saw and heard THEM... He grabbed his head desperately into his hands. Petrona's injuries weren't only superficial, but also psychological. Livia made her believe that Demyan loved that wretched vampire woman and didn't care about Petrona.
Adrik stepped closer to Petrona and stroked her face gently. "You should let her go. Don't you see how much hurt you caused her? She will be also much safer at a distance from you." That wasn't what Demyan wanted to hear. He stood up aggressively... "LEAVE" Adrik sighed and flew out of the window clutching Petrona's scarf which he had around his neck.
Demyan stood there silent, staring at sleeping Petrona. His gaze slowly went down focusing on the floor. First thing in the morning, he should explain everything to her and apologize. His mind wandered together with his eyes out of the window.

Now that she is here, he should surprise her with something... and he knew immediately what he should do... but it will be a beautiful surprise.