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PHYSIENTS WILL ALWAYS OFFER BEST STORIES AND LIVE STREAMING ALL TIME
ALLURE OF THE NIGHT
Chapter 171 Forgotten things
Music Recommendation: Beth’s story- Carlos Rafael Rivera
—
When Eve’s eyes went back to look at Vincent, he stared right back at her, and noticing his serious expression she couldn’t help but remember the awful dream she had where he had pulled the gun trigger at her. She looked away from him, staring at the surface of the table.
Vincent’s eyes narrowed slightly before he said, “I am attending a night soiree that’s taking place next week at Glasvile, and it is required to bring a company. Do you have a decent dress to wear?”
“Are you asking me to accompany you,” Eve asked him while furrowing her eyebrows in question.
Vincent’s lips twitched, and he said, “It is a soiree where people who belong to high profile will come to attend it. Including people from the Council. Thought you would be interested?”
Hearing his words, Eve’s ears perked. She asked him, “When exactly is it?”
“Saturday. I will send Briggs to pick you up from your house,” Vincent let her know and she nodded..
Finally she was going to find the truth, thought Eve.
Eve stood up from her seat, as she believed this was why Vincent had summoned her here. She bowed and said, “Thank you for helping me again. Your help means a lot to me.” After all, the vampire in front of her didn’t like to involve himself in things like this.
She was more than grateful because she had come to have trust in Vincent. Knowing when he was next or around, nothing wrong would happen.
Like a cunning predator, Vincent silently watched Eve walk towards the door and turn the knob. He called her name,
“Eve.”
Eve turned to look at Vincent, “Yes?”
“Aren’t you forgetting something.”
Eve felt her throat turn dry at the thought of having to offer her blood to Vincent. She had been praying in her mind that he wouldn’t remember it. Deciding to stall, she asked,
“I am? Funnily, I cannot remember it. Maybe I will remember it tomorrow, I am going to miss my carriage.”
“Briggs will drop you home.”
When Vincent pushed himself away from the wall and started to make his way to where she stood, Eve was tempted to turn the doorknob. He walked closer, stepping in front of her, he leaned towards her, and asked, “Did you really forget?”
“I think we should pick particular days so that I can mentally prepare myself for it when you drink my blood–“
Vincent leaned closer to Eve’s face before he picked up something from the side and raised his hand, “Your umbrella,” he said innocently.
Eve caught sight of Vincent holding her purple umbrella that she had lost since she had been captured by the guards of the village and thrown into the dungeon. Surprised to see it, she asked him, “How did you find it?”
“The village head had it in his possession,” when Vincent dropped the umbrella from his hold, Eve quickly caught hold of it.
“Thank you! I was worried that I lost it forever. They don’t make these kinds of umbrellas anymore,” said Eve, while her eyes were on her umbrella and the smile on her lips widened.
Vincent noticed how the mermaid looked happy on seeing her umbrella, which showed in her eyes.
Only children who were unaware of the world and were content in life smiled like this freely. He saw Eve’s pink lips move as she continued to thank him for returning her umbrella to her. His eyes followed every detail of her action. From the number of times she blinked to the volume of her voice. To how her eyes shifted from the umbrella to look at him.
“There was something I wanted to know, and didn’t know whom to ask. Will it be okay?” Eve’s blue eyes stared into Vincent’s coppery eyes. “If I took a look at the books in the library?”
Vincent stepped away from Eve, “What do you want to know?”
“About my kind,” replied Eve. “I can go take a look at it by myself.”
“Follow me,” Vincent’s eyes shifted away from Eve. When he turned the doorknob and opened the door, he said, “Outsiders, non-family members are not allowed to access the library, so that high-level information can stay within the circle of high society.”
Vincent led her to the mansion’s library. He later watched Eve eagerly learn about her kind, while her blue eyes moved from one end to the other end of the pages.
The vampire clicked his tongue before he walked to the other side of the book racks, picking up a book and reading it.
Eve read about things mentioned about water creatures that she had never heard about until then. After all, she never had anyone who could guide her. Even if her mother was alive, her mother would not have had this information.When she turned to the next page, she read about the powers some of the rare mermaids held–controlling the flow of water, being able to speak to her kind telepathically. Then her eyes fell on something written there–
‘The creatures of the sea do not dream and can stay awake on a subconscious level.’
Eve’s eyebrows furrowed as she stared at those words. She closed the book and looked for where Vincent stood.
“Did the book satisfy your curiosity?” He questioned as he continued to read the book in his hand, while he stood in front of the book rack.
“It did,” Eve nodded, and she returned the book to him. “Can there be mistakes in the book that I read? Wrong information.”
“Very rarely. What part did you find to be wrong?” Vincent walked to another side of the rack and placed the book that Eve had been reading until now.
Eve took a deep breath as anxiousness started to fill her mind. She replied, “About mermaids not dreaming.”
Vincent turned to look at Eve and responded, “In rare cases mermaids are said to dream about past related things. About home or possible torture they go through. Just that you don’t hear about it often, as people don’t have time to ask their meal such things.”
Eve asked, “And what if it isn’t related to that?” Vincent’s eyes narrowed at her words.
“Then those have underlying meaning. A premonition.”
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ALLURE OF THE NIGHT
Chapter 172 Meaning of dreams
Music Recommendation: Wandering Jane- Dario Marianelli
—
It took Vincent less than five seconds to figure out what was going on. He stared at Eve with his coppery-red eyes while the mermaid’s face had turned pale as snow.
“When was the last time you dreamt of something?” Vincent questioned her.
“Last night,” Eve’s words were just above a whisper while she tried to wrap her head around her dream. Her words came broken, “Before the guard… he-uh came to alert us about the rogues who were told to be headed near our town.”
Deep down, Eve had hoped that the dream meant nothing and her mind was just having a wild time by itself. She stared at Vincent with fear crawling up her spine. Would the day come when Vincent Moriarty would kill her?
“You look pale,” Vincent stated.
“Y-you don’t have a twin brother by any chance, do you?”
Vincent looked at her in surprise and said, “We were eleven when we went to a farm and I decided to push him into a well, where his skeleton now rots. How did you know?” He asked sarcastically before rolling his eyes, “What was the dream about?”.
Eve whispered, “You killed me…”
Oh, dear God, was she going to die at the hands of her employer? The man who had been protecting her? Eve’s thoughts went into overdrive with the thought of her oncoming death, and unable to keep the balance of her body, her body swayed right next to the book rack for support.
The book rack shook and a few books not pushed inside came to fall. Before the books could fall on Eve’s head, Vincent quickly pulled her to his side.
“You disastrous little girl,” Vincent muttered in annoyance. He heard Eve’s breathing quicken, and so did her heartbeats as if she was running a mile. “Eve?” He called her
Eve held a dazed look, and when Vincent took a look at her eyes, her pupil had dilated. When he flicked her forehead with his finger, his action seemed to break her out of shock.
Alfie arrived at the front of the library and asked Vincent, “Master Vincent, would you like me to bring your evening tea?” He looked surprised that his master had let the governess step inside the library room.
Vincent continued to stare at Eve and then go off her hand. He ordered the butler, “Bring Ms. Barlow a glass of water.”
“Yes, Sire,” Alfie bowed his head while noticing the tense atmosphere inside the library before he left.
Eve took a seat in the library. She held her hands on her lap. The Moriarty’s butler quickly returned to the room with a glass of water, offering it to the lady before leaving them.
Seeing Eve take a few sips from the glass, Vincent demanded, “Tell me what you dreamt. From the start to finish, whatever you saw.”
“The town was on fire. Everywhere. Up in flames and people screaming for help. I was going to call for my aunt and Eugene’s help, but there was a block. A big wall as if–“
“As if you weren’t in your house anymore?” Questioned Vincent, and Eve nodded. “For a dream to ignite, it often picks up something that is familiar. Makes it easier for it to transition from familiar to unfamiliar place, people or things. You were in someone else’s house. What else did you see after that?”
“You,” Eve’s grip on the glass tightened. “You held a gun to my head and then pulled the trigger.”
Vincent tilted his head, and silence filled the room. One could hear the distant sound of birds chirping as they flew back to their nests. He said,
“Did you die? Feel pain.”
Eve looked at him quizzically before she shook her head, “I woke up.”
“There. There’s nothing to worry about. You weren’t dead and all is well. A dream can go both ways here, either I pulled the trigger and it didn’t kill you, or that it did kill you. Premonition is the underlying meaning of the dreams that you have, and doesn’t have to be in the literal sense,” said Vincent in a nonchalant tone.
“So you won’t kill me,” though Eve didn’t pose a question, it was still a question that had shaken her mind.
Vincent smiled at Eve’s words and said, “Only an idiot would kill a golden goose, and I am no idiot.”
How could she forget. Vincent loved her mermaid blood.
“The first half of my dream… is one of the towns going to be in trouble?” Eve asked with a frown.
“May or may not be. We need to understand the nature of your dream, based on what it actually hints. Have you heard of the trial and error method, Eve? It is where we will test the first time to see how it works,” explained Vincent, “The people of the council are here to protect the people… Even if they are a lot of times late. Anything else that you want to talk about?” He raised his eyebrows at her.
Eve shook her head and finished the rest of the water in the glass before standing up. She asked him, “Is it allowed to borrow a book from here and return it later?”
“It isn’t,” came the vampire’s sharp refusal. Eve didn’t try to push her luck, knowing Vincent had already helped her more than enough today by letting her step into the library. He said, “You should go home, don’t want the little girl getting lost in darkness.”
With Eve’s eyes on Vincent, she could sense that his words held something more than what he said. A slow clever smile spread on the vampire’s lips as if with a subtle delight in knowing people’s misfortunes.
Eve offered him a polite bow and said, “Have a good evening, Master Vincent.”
When Eve stepped out of the library, Vincent heard the soft clicking sounds of her shoes in the corridor before they completely disappeared. He walked through the first floor’s corridor, stepping into one of the galleries at the front of the mansion.
“Briggs,” he called his coachman, who stood next to the carriage.
“Yes, Sire?” Answer
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ALLURE OF THE NIGHT
Chapter 173 Gold in the wavering water
After listening to Rosetta’s story from yesterday and today, where her aunt appeared to be annoyed that some ‘lowly-vampire’ must have killed the mermaid she had invested her money in. Eve finally left from there and hopped on the local carriage to return home.
The sky had turned inky blue with traces of white near the horizon.
Three more people were travelling in the carriage that Eve was in, and as time passed, she started to feel someone’s gaze on her. Subtly she turned to look in the direction of the two men and one woman beside her, who were all busy looking out the window. She wondered if she had imagined it and went back to look outside the carriage window.
When the carriage halted before Meadow, Eve noticed a few more carriages and people with coats standing and discussing something. One of the male passengers in the carriage said,
“A lot of people in the town today.”
The coachman turned his head and said, “It’s the bodies they found last night. Haven’t you heard about it?”
“I thought the case would have been closed by this hour,” said the female passenger..
“I heard that they aren’t sure who did it. Whether it’s the werewolves or vampires. The humans were not just killed, but their insides were ripped out,” stated the coachman, which had the passengers frowning. “It has been told that a similar case took place in the North and East side.”
The coachman pulled the reins of the horses, starting the carriage before it continued to head towards Meadow.
One of the male passengers in the carriage said to the coachman, “It can also be the work of a mermaid. These creatures are said to have sharp fingers and nails which make it easy to rip fleshes.”
“How fearsome,” murmured the female passenger, who sat next to Eve and belonged to Meadow town.
A lot of knowledge was never passed down from the authorities, even to the members of the high society, less the lower class, who blindly believed loose information. This led to a lack of patience with the outcasts, that made people want them all dead, not caring to understand that some were innocent.
“Indeed, they are milady,” replied the male passenger. Now that Eve took a closer look at the person, she noticed the man was a vampire who probably came from a lower class, unlike the ones who belonged to the elites. “All these outcasts have been causing problems again.”
The woman couldn’t help but agree and said, “It was only three-four weeks ago since the guards last searched every home in our town. Thankfully we are free from those creatures since they last caught the vile sea creature. Isn’t that right, Genevieve.”
Eve nodded, “The siren was caught by the officials and the town has been clean since then.”
At night, after pouring salts into the bathtub, Eve dipped and transformed herself into her mermaid body. She had submerged herself in the clear water, staring at nothing in particular while lost in thoughts. Moonlight passed through the little window of the bathroom while candles surrounded the room.
There were a lot of things that weighed on Eve’s mind and she sighed. She pushed herself up, breaking through the still surface of the water before coming to sit upright while both her hands gripped the edges of the bathtub.
“One at a time,” Eve whispered to herself.
The sound of water dripping in the bathtub filled the bathroom, where the earlier water dripped from her head to her face before falling. Her mermaid body turned back to a human one, and she drew her legs closer, hugging it. No place was safe. She would find a threat wherever she went, and it was never easy to start afresh.
The memory of her mother’s death had scarred her, and she doubted if she would ever receive the closure she was looking for. From what Vincent had told her, sometimes people don’t get what they look for. But it was worth looking for than imagining what it could be.
Eve concentrated on her breathing with her eyes closed, calming it the way she had learned since she was young. So that her fear would never come to be detected by vampires or werewolves who had keen ears.
She was about to get up from the tub when her eyes fell on the gentle waves the surface of the water created. It wasn’t the water that caught her attention but her very own reflection, where gold specks with blue eyes looked back at her.
Eve quickly got up from the bathtub. With water dripping down her body and spilling on the floor, she came to stand in front of the mirror. But her eyes didn’t have any hint of gold or yellow in them.
Days continued to pass, and the guards turned alert in guarding the villages and towns. Two days before the soiree that Vincent had mentioned to Eve, in the evening after finishing work, when she was making her way back to the local carriage stop of Skellington, Rosetta approached her from behind.
“Good evening, Eve!”
“Good evening, Rosetta,” Eve offered a slight bow, noticing the young vampiress turn behind before starting to walk along with her. “Is everything alright?” She asked the vampiress.
“Oh, it isn’t anything. I thought we should take a walk together” Rosetta’s voice came out to be a little lost.
Eve couldn’t help but feel Rosetta’s actions to be suspicious. The vampiress walked quickly, holding Eve’s arm, while she tried to make sure not to stumble. Rosetta turned back to look behind her before looking forward.
“How was your day? Did the Moriarty’s give you a hard time?” Rosetta asked as if it was nothing, while Eve, this time for sure, knew something was up. It was because the vampiress was asking about her day rather than speaking about her own.
“It was a decent day. Miss Allie and I went through the geography of our lands…” Eve noticed Rosetta turn behind again and asked, “You are worrying me, Rosetta.” She resisted the young woman from pulling her arm and looked at her.
“I will tell you about it. But can we keep walking?” Rosetta asked Eve. She cleared her throat and added, “Please.”
Eve agreed and continued walking, heading towards the edge of the town. She wondered if perhaps Rosetta had a fight with someone on the street, which was why she kept turning behind.
Rosetta finally revealed, “My parents are here. Earlier, my father said in the letter that he had a week’s work here, but it has been cancelled and we’ll be leaving in two days.”
“Oh,” Eve replied before saying, “Maybe if you speak to them they would understand.”
Rosetta shook her head, “They are upset and angry at me for not being able to build a relationship with Vincent Moriarty. My father said the reason he sent me here was so that I could form an alliance with them. That’s not the worst part, my father has arranged a dinner tomorrow and invited the Moriarty family to Aunt Camille’s house to see if the situation can be fixed.”
Eve could tell why Rosetta’s father was keen on building an alliance with the Moriartys. She also knew that the vampiress couldn’t refuse or go against her parents’ decision. This was how things worked in high society, where the children were mostly used to improve their families’ reputation, power or wealth, which often came with an underlying advantage.
Eve said to Rosetta, “I don’t think stalling would help, not for long.”
“Maybe I should run away? I can come to stay at your house!” Exclaimed Rosetta while exploring her options.
Not that Eve opposed the idea, but she knew such actions had repercussions. Rosetta’s father wasn’t a nobody but an Marquee; if he wanted, he could easily ruin her and her family’s peace. The people from the lower families feared people from powerful families for a reason.
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ALLURE OF THE NIGHT
Chapter 174 Carriage of Death
When they reached the carriage stop, the carriage arrived on time. Rosetta said to Eve,
“Wait! Let me come with you.”
“Will it be alright?” Eve didn’t want Rosetta or herself to get into trouble. The vampiress quickly nodded and said,
“I don’t think it should be a problem with me going and spending time with my friend, right?” And saying it, she quickly turned to look behind her, while Eve pulled out her little pouch and offered coins to the coachman for two persons to ride in the carriage.
Though Eve stepped into the carriage and took her seat, Rosetta didn’t get inside. She looked back and forth, not behind her, but at the carriage that had ‘only’ two horses, and the terrible woodwork of the carriage, which wasn’t like the carriage she was used to riding in.
The coachman asked her, “Are you getting inside, Miss?”
“Yes, I am,” Rosetta tipped her chin up in pride, but she couldn’t get herself to step foot on the carriage.
Eve noticed Rosetta struggle in wanting and not wanting to get on the carriage. For the young mistress to still be considering it only meant how much she wanted to get away from her parents’ scoldings about the failed alliance with the Moriarty family.
“Are you okay, Rosetta?” Eve asked in concern because she knew that a young woman like Rosetta had never used the local transportation.
Rosetta nodded, “I am fine. I just need some fresh air.”.
The coachman waited a few seconds before reminding her, “Miss?”
“Yes! Yes! I am going!” Rosetta snapped at the coachman, sending a small glare toward him. Her father owned better carriages that all had four horses attached to it, unlike this carriage in front of her. The coachman was supposed to feel grateful that a person like her was even near it and planning to travel in it.
There were already two people in there along with Eve, and she wondered how she could share such a small space with many people… people who came from the lower society.
Eve placed her things to the side and offered Rosetta her hand. The vampiress looked startled at Eve’s gesture when her friend stretched her hand forward,
“Why don’t you hold my hand and it won’t be that hard,” Eve assured her.
Rosetta hesitantly placed her hand in Eve’s hand and finally stepped inside the carriage. With her dress which had many layers, it took quite a few seconds before she finally settled down next to Eve. She made her hair proper so that she still looked like a member of the elite family.
“See, it wasn’t that hard. You did well,” Eve praised Rosetta, whose cheeks tinted pink in pride as if she had crossed mountains to be next to her friend.
But when Rosetta turned to look at the other two passengers in the carriage, they stared at her, giving her curious looks. This made the vampiress glare back like a child, making the two of them look away.
Rosetta looked at the cramped space and leaned toward Eve. She whispered, “How do you travel in this small box?”
Eve couldn’t help but smile at Rosetta’s innocence. She replied, “You get used to it. It isn’t bad and you meet different people every day, sometimes familiar people.”
“That’s good?” Rosetta furrowed her eyebrows.
“In a way yes,” Eve nodded, “Life isn’t as mundane as it usually is.”
“I could never see it that way,” Rosetta’s eyes were wide, which looked at the broken ceiling of the carriage.
Every bump created by a stone or puddle on the ground worried the young woman as if the carriage would fall apart at any moment, mainly because the carriage creaked way more than it normally did. She wondered if this would be her last ride, and she clutched her dress as if it were her life.
When the carriage finally reached the Meadow town, the coachman opened the carriage for the passengers to step down, and Rosetta was the first one to jump out. She walked away from the carriage of death to take some deep breaths.
Eve let the other two passengers step down from the carriage before she got down. She saw Rosetta had turned her back and was looking at the town. At the same time, one of the passengers, who was a woman Eve was familiar with, asked,
“How is your work going on, Genevieve? I heard that families from high society pay their people well.”
Eve offered a polite smile and replied, “It has been going wonderful so far, and I guess one could say that. How was your trip to your sister’s house?”
“Just the usual. Teaching young girls about etiquette is hard, especially when all they want to do is play. Only if I could afford you,” the woman laughed, hoping Eve would find time to help her nieces.
“I would have loved to teach them but unfortunately I am busy. I have been helping in the repair of the house,” said Eve, and the woman nodded.
“I heard that you are having a new flooring done,” the woman’s eyes brightened as she said that. “You should get the garden redone too.”
Eve softly laughed and said, “I don’t think Aunt Aubrey would be happy losing the old plants. She loves them dearly, as her own children.”
“Oh, hush now!” The woman waved her hand and said, “What children, when you are there with her.” Her eyes then moved to look at Rosetta, who had walked around the carriage to look at the wheels that had almost killed her. The woman lowered her voice and asked, “Where did you find that unique piece?” She laughed at the end.
“Unique piece?” Eve raised her eyebrows, and the woman jerked her head in the vampiress’s direction.
“That arrogant girl with you. It’s strange to see you in a company like that. Very unlike you.”
Though Rosetta wasn’t in their direct view and her ears weren’t the best, she did catch the conversation between Eve and the woman. The vampiress took a step forward and peeked from behind the other side of the carriage.
The vampiress couldn’t help but ponder over the woman’s words. She heard Eve ask softly,
“Why would you think that?”
The woman waved her hand again, “You don’t have to be polite with me and can tell me the truth. A girl like her, especially a vampiress will only look down at us. That is what she was doing in the carriage as if we were some insects. I could tell just by one look that she is nothing like you, and is prude and arrogant. Snobbish might I add.”
Rosetta gritted her teeth, ready to pounce on the woman for having the nerve to say such things.
Eve smiled and said, “She’s a lovely woman once you know her.”
“You are too kind, Genevieve. Not to mention tolerant about such things,” said the woman and whispered, “I have met plenty of spoiled young mistresses like this, who think they can look down, when they don’t know how to earn their own shilling. Having someone force themselves on you must be a burden, who then reflects badly on you.”
Rosetta wondered if this was true, and her heart sank, her face turning small. She turned her back even though she stood behind the carriage. She wasn’t fit to be anyone’s friend… Nobody liked her. Her hands clenched while her eyes turned smaller.
“I think you are the only one thinking that way, Lady Nadia,” Eve’s words were ever polite that didn’t go up and down, and she said, “Rosetta isn’t arrogant but innocent in a few ways. Most of us have the habit of keeping it within ourselves, while she openly expresses it without hesitation. I think that is a quality to look for, isn’t it? At least we know what the person feels, that harbours ill feelings towards others and then complains about it to someone else.”
The vampiress’s eyes widened at Eve’s kind words for her, and her hands unclenched.
The woman huffed with a smile, “That’s because she comes from a wealthy family. People from wealthy families are often forgiven for their behaviour. In general.”
“Maybe,” agreed Eve, and she said, “But I would feel better if you don’t hold my friend to be one of them. Unless you think I have poor choices of people I talk to.”
“Of course not dear!” Lady Nadia placed her hand on Eve’s shoulder. “I will see you tomorrow then,” the two women offered their bows while Rosetta stepped away from the carriage and came into view.
Eve and Rosetta headed towards the house.
Mr. Humphrey had decided to speak to Eve on what she meant by calling a handsome and amiable man as ‘brother’. He wasn’t too far from the carriage stopped, now hid behind a wall. The man cursed his luck, not knowing why this vampiress was hanging around Eve. It seemed like he would have to wait again.
Rosetta felt comfortable and at ease in Dawson’s small house. Not because she was away from her parents’ scoldings but because Eve had stood up for their friendship, which made her chest puff in happiness.
Twenty-five minutes had passed since Eve had reached home, and from the kitchen, she saw Rosetta speak to her aunt while she and Eugene were in the kitchen. And as peaceful as the atmosphere was, someone knocked on the door.
“I will go see,” Eve informed Eugene, who was preparing tea for everyone.
She walked to the door and opened when she saw a woman with a fur coat standing in front of her. The woman’s eyes were longer at the sides, and her eyebrows thin while she sized Eve.
“How can I help you?” Eve’s words were polite with a smile.
“Rosetta,” the woman called.
Rosetta jumped from her seat and quickly appeared next to Eve. She looked stunned and asked,
“M-mother, what are you doing here…?”
Eugene peeked from the kitchen while Lady Aubrey got up from her chair and walked to the front of the house. When the older human’s eyes fell on the vampiress, her eyes slightly widened and her body stiffened.
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ALLURE OF THE NIGHT
Chapter 175 Mother of High Status
Music Recommendation: A thorough education- Dario Marianelli
—
What Eve found astonishing was not seeing Rosetta’s mother standing in front of their house’s main door but that the woman was here this soon when it had been only a few minutes since she and Rosetta had arrived home. When her eyes fell behind the woman, she caught sight of Lady Camille’s coachman, who was the one to bring the woman here.
“You left without informing anyone of where you were going, Rose,” the Marchioness spoke to her daughter in a refined voice that didn’t sound angry with Rosetta. She said, “Your aunt told me that you made a new friend and might be here. I don’t know why you felt the need to hide it from me or your father.”
Rosetta smiled at her mother’s words, “I didn’t mean to hide it. We are going to stay in Skellington only for some more time and I wanted to spend some time with her.”
The older vampiress’s gaze moved from her daughter and looked at the three humans. She questioned Rosetta, “Won’t you introduce me to your friend, Rose?”
Rosetta turned excited by her mother’s words and said, “This is Genevieve Barlow. That is Lady Aubrey Dawson, and,” the vampiress paused a little to see the servant who stood outside the kitchen, “That is Eugene.”
Eve and the other two offered a polite bow to the older vampiress.
Rosetta introduced her mother to the others, “This is my mother, Marchioness Aurora Hooke.”.
“Would you like to come in?” Eve asked out of politeness, not knowing if it was impolite to invite a woman who belonged to a higher status into their humble home.
With how posh the lady appeared, Eve wondered if the woman would outright refuse. But instead, she gave a nod and stepped inside the house.
Lady Aubrey being a hospitable woman, led the older vampiress to their living room and had the two vampiresses sit while taking a seat herself. She asked, “What would you like to drink?”
The faint smile on Lady Aurora’s lips didn’t drop and she said, “I don’t suppose you have blood in the house, do you?”
“Mother…” Rosetta whispered, who sat next to her mother.
“It was a genuine question,” Lady Aurora replied before adding, “As you made friends, I thought they would have stored some for you when and if you are thirsty.” She turned to look at others in the room and said, “I hope you didn’t find my question to be disrespectful.”
“Certainly not, Marchioness,” Lady Aubrey replied before she said, “Unfortunately, we don’t have blood stored in the house.”
The older vampiress hummed, her eyes meeting Rosetta. When her eyes moved to Rosetta’s back, the younger vampiress immediately straightened her back as she was sitting in a slightly slouched position. Lady Aurora questioned her daughter, “How did you end up being friends with Ms. Barlow? Aren’t you worried that you might bite her if you get too hungry?” There was a soft chuckle at the end of her words.
Eugene, who continued to stand near the kitchen, frowned at the Marchioness’s words. This was something that worried him since the night of the ball when Lady Rosetta had tried to take a bite from him.
Rosetta turned slightly red in embarrassment, and she replied, “I would not do that t–“
“It is just something to ponder on, isn’t it, dear?” Lady Aurora smiled, looking at Eve and Lady Aubrey. “So Ms. Barlow, are you betrothed yet? Though young, you must have started to receive proposals?”
Eve’s beauty didn’t go unnoticed by the older vampiress, and thanks to her mermaid genes, she appeared young enough for no one to assume that she was walking on the path to being a spinster.
“I am not,” Eve’s words were polite, and Lady Aurora raised her eyebrows.
“Mother, Eve is a governess!” Rosetta spoke excitedly, somewhere even proud. “She teaches the–“
“Rose, dear. I am sure Ms. Barlow can speak for herself. You seem to have forgotten what your own governess taught you to not intervene in the conversation,” Lady Aurora then turned back to look at Eve with slight curiosity. “So you are a governess. I don’t think I heard how you both met, unless my daughter came looking for a governess which seems to be in need of.”
Knowing how Rosetta often failed to gain any positive attention from suitable males, Lady Aurora didn’t need any competition next to her daughter or hindrance when it came to gaining affection from men.
Though Lady Aurora held a friendly smile on her face, where her gaze was soft, unlike the harsh glare she often received from Lady Annalise, Eve couldn’t help but find something ominous about the woman with how she looked around.
Eve chose her words carefully when she replied, “Rosetta and I met at an inn, we were in the company of different people.”
Lady Aurora hummed before giving a nod, “I see. Where do you work?”
“At the Moriartys mansion,” Eve answered, and the vampiress’s eyebrows subtly rose in surprise.
“The Moriartys in Skellington?” Questioned Lady Aurora, and seeing Eve nod, the woman said, “What small world we live in. It is also the family Rosetta will be marrying into in the near future. You must know Vincent Moriarty?”
“Yes, he’s the person who employed me there for his youngest sister,” said Eve.
“There is a dinner that we need to attend. We should get going,” Lady Aurora stood up from the seat and, seeing her, the others in the room stood up.
“Rose, go tell the coachman to get ready to leave.”
“Yes, mother,” Rosetta obeyed her mother’s words. But before she left the living room, the young vampiress stepped in front of Eve and said earnestly, “I will see you tomorrow. Maybe, you should come have dinner with us. The one we are hosting tomorrow.” Rosetta doubted she could survive dinner with the Moriartys and wanted to have her friend’s support.
Lady Aurora’s eyes subtly narrowed at her daughter. She said, “It isn’t your aunt who is hosting the dinner, but the Moriartys.”
“Oh?” Rosetta looked like she had the most complicated life. She said to Eve, “I will meet you before I leave, okay?”
Eve smiled and nodded, noticing how Rosetta’s eyes lit up just with the thought. Rosetta offered a slight bow to Lady Aubrey, and when she turned around, her eyes fell on Eugene before leaving the house.
Once Rosetta had stepped out of the house, Lady Aurora turned to look at Eve and Lady Aubrey. Her eyes settled on Eve and she said,
“I don’t know how you lured my daughter to come to a place like this, less be friends. I would like it if you don’t entertain her the last two days, she’s here. If needed, avoid her and everything will be well between all of us,” her words were stern and held obvious distaste towards the humans of low status.
“It isn’t Eve who initiated the friendship, Marchioness Hooke. If that is what you are implying,” Lady Aubrey cleared the possible doubt in the vampiress’s mind.
“Which is why it would be good to stop pretending to be friends with my daughter. Yes? Once Rosetta goes back with us, I would prefer no communication to take place between you two. I am aware that Rosetta’s aunt has already warned you. Once we get back today, I will be sure to speak to Rosetta so that she is well informed about being friends with a governess,” Lady Aurora made it clear to Eve, who stared back at her.
Unable to hold back, Eve said, “Friendships aren’t those that are formed base on status, Lady Aurora. What you call friendship is nothing but an arrangement of status and wealth.” Eve felt Aunt Aubrey place a hand on Eve’s arm to calm and quieten her.
The vampiress’s eyes shifted then shifted to look at Lady Aubrey and said, “I am sure you can make your niece not do anything I don’t like. After all, you have better experience in knowing what happens in high society.”
The vampiress offered a slight half-hearted smile before stepping out of the house.
Eve heard the neighing of the horses outside their house, and the carriage left with Marchioness Hooke and Rosetta in it. She turned to Lady Aubrey and asked,
“You knew her?”
Aunt Aubrey walked back to the chair in the living room and sat down. She said, “I do. A few years ago she was the Countess of Bladorm, or to be precise the daughter of the Count of Bladrom who was a widow. Her status has changed since she married a Marquee.”
“She’s the vampiress who hurt you back then in the soiree,” Eve didn’t expect the vampiress to be Rosetta’s mother. The woman didn’t like them near her Rosetta. No man or woman of the high society liked their children to be near a poor family.
“A small world indeed,” sighed Aunt Aubrey.
Eve’s eyes moved to look at Aunt Aubrey, who stared at the wall grimly as if seeing the older vampiress brought unpleasant memories.
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