Eve adjusted her right arm, which was wound around Vincent's shoulder, before gripping it tightly. Her nails dug into his shoulders, and Vincent, who was carrying her asked her seriously,
"Do you plan to sow seeds on my shoulders, Ms. Barlow?"
Eve's eyes widened, and she curled her fingers while continuing to take his support.
When Vincent started to climb the stairs, instead of taking her to the servant's quarters, Eve asked him,
"Where are we going?" Her voice came slightly breathy.
"To Hell, would you like to accompany me there?" Vincent passed a dull look at her, and Eve pursed her lips. "Humour me."
"Do you want to go to Hell?" Asked Eve.
She positioned her shoe so that her heel pointed to the ground and the tip of her shoe pointed to the ceiling. Doing so had stopped the blood from seeping and falling to the ground. To further protect it, she had placed her good foot to support the bottom of her injured foot by crossing her ankles.
"I think it will be interesting with many like minds in the same room," replied Vincent before he answered, "A quieter side of the mansion. What did you do to your foot? You were fine dancing with the perfect Duke earlier."
"I stepped on a glass piece that earlier broke in the ballroom," Eve dug her nails into her palm to distract herself from the excruciating pain she was experiencing.
"To think of all the guests, the glass decides to stick to you. You are a walking disaster, but then that would be wrong," hummed Vincent without explaining what he meant, and Eve looked at him with a question in her eyes.
On the way, a few servants caught sight of their Master carrying a beautiful woman. Their eyeballs almost fell out of their eye sockets because Vincent had never bothered to help his family, less a stranger. The servants knew that though they had witnessed something like this, they should keep their mouths closed and not mention it to anyone.
Vincent carried Eve to the deserted part of the mansion. Candles continued to burn brightly on the stands that were placed in the corridors. They were away from the music and the crowd chatter, and Eve didn't dare to look at Vincent, especially when they were this close.
He finally took her to an empty room and let her down. Eve slowly got down from his arms until they came to stand in front of each other.
"Sit," ordered Vincent, his eyes holding a slight glare and darkness. "I will be back," and she saw him leave the room.
Eve was compliant and sat on the chair next to her. The last thing she had expected from Vincent was to help her. It was because there had been plenty of times when he had not bothered to help her and had instead enjoyed her fall or trip in the past.
Now that no one was around her and she was alone, she leaned her upper body forward and hid her face in her lap. She took deep breaths to bear the pain a little longer. Hearing footsteps from the corridor outside the room, she quickly raised her head, a little worried.
"Relax. It's just me," Vincent stepped into the room with a bowl of water and a small box in his hand. He handed her a cloth, "Good enough?" He asked her while picking a candle stand and placed it near her.
Eve nodded and said, "Thank you for helping me. I will do it from here."
Vincent placed the things next to her so that she could use them. He walked to the bed in the room and sat at the edge of it, watching her.
Eve first removed the shoe from her uninjured foot, and when she turned the shoe, she noticed it held a little shine because of the broken glass pieces. When she removed the next shoe carefully, Eve saw her blood in there and the sole of her foot bloody.
The shard of a glass piece that had pierced through her shoe was no more in her shoe but had stuck itself to the sole of her foot. She was about to pull the front of her gown when she looked up to meet Vincent's eyes.
She requested, "Could you look away, please?"
Instead of replying to her request, he said, "You should hurry. The scent of your blood is filling the room, Ms. Barlow. I thought I should just let you know that I am thirsty and didn't drink much this evening."
Eve ignored him because what was her legs when the man had seen her entire naked back? She pulled the front of her gown and dipped her foot in the cold water. The bowl turned red. She then tried to bring her foot to place it on her lap, but the layers of her gown hindered her. When she was successful, she noticed the light trail of blood surrounding the glass that trickled down.
Her hand shakily moved towards the glass piece, ready to pull it out.
On the mansion's ground floor, Noah and an older gentleman, who had gone out to discuss important matters concerning their towns, returned to the ballroom. The guards pushed the double doors open for the two gentlemen.
"If I knew we were going to have a mermaid in here, I would have postponed our talk, Duke Sullivan," chuckled the old man while walking forward to take a better look at the mermaid. "It has been a while since I got the chance to eat one. I hope the mermaid is served for dinner."
On the other hand, Noah stared at the mermaid crying in desperation, and his black eyes turned gold. Like a few of the guests who were invited to the ball, he was a werewolf.
On noticing Noah in the room, Marceline directly invited him, "I would like to personally invite Duke Noah Sullivan to come forward and have a bite of the mermaid."
The guests turned in the direction where the young vampiress was looking and saw Noah stand at the back. Some of the guests looked at him in envy that he was offered the delicious meat, while others wondered if this was Lady Marceline's way of openly declaring that the Duke had caught her interest.
"How fortunate, Duke Sullivan!" One of the guests remarked. "It must be nice to be a Duke and get such favours easily."
"Very true," said another person.
Marceline's eyes shone in happiness. Not only was the human governess out of sight, but Noah was here.
Noah looked at the people in the room before his eyes settled on Lady Marceline. He offered her a slight bow, "Thank you for your generosity, Lady Marceline." Hearing her being called generous only made Marceline's chin tip up further. "But I will have to refuse it."
Murmurs broke into the room. Marceline's smile fell because until now, no one had rejected her in public like this before.
"Do not take me wrong. It is just that my body cannot digest mermaid meat and it causes quite a few problems," Noah politely smiled at her and added, "I do hope you enjoy it."
Noah offered a bow to her and the others before taking his leave from the ballroom.
