Vincent walked through the grand corridor, with his shoes sharply clicking against the clean marble floor. When he reached the parlour room, the guests were drinking or eating, a few engrossed in talking.
On seeing Vincent in the room, one of the vampiress made her way to greet him. She bowed, "Mr. Moriarty, it is a pleasure to be invited to today's ball. I am Luisa Florence. Daughter of Duchess Theodora Florence."
Lady Luisa had been looking forward to spending time with the pureblooded vampire. Right now, she knew she was the prettiest woman in the room and was confident about it. She stretched her hand forward, waiting for Vincent to take it and kiss the back of her hand.
Instead of taking her hand, Vincent pulled out the cigarette case from his pocket and placed one of the cigars between his lips. In between lighting the end of his cigar, Lady Luisa cleared her throat and pulled her hand back to her side. She said,
"I have been looking for you, Mr. Moriarty."
"Have you now?"
Vincent stared at the vampiress, who smiled at him coyly. She nodded, "Yes. You seem to have missed drinking the mermaid's blood. I have saved my glass for you."
Marceline, who overheard the conversation, walked towards them and praised, "How very kind of you, Lady Luisa. To have resisted the temptation and saved it for my brother, you would make a wonderful wife."
"Talking about wife, I heard the Duke rejected your invitation to drink the mermaid's blood with you," Vincent looked at Marceline with pity. Her face instantly went red by his next words, "Don't be sad, dear sister. You should be used to being rejected by men you pursue."
Marceline softly laughed to save her face before saying, "I think you have got it wrong, brother. It is I who has been rejecting them and not the other way round."
"Is that so? I was sure it is how it is," Vincent took a drag from the cigar and blew the smoke from the corner of his mouth. And the same corner of his lips pulled up when he saw Marceline subtly glare at him.
Lady Luisa offered the mermaid blood to Vincent, saying, "This is for you, Mr. Moriarty."
Vincent stared at the glass and then said, "Thanks, but I will pass," he tapped the end of the cigar for ash to fall into the ashtray.
Both the vampiress turned stunned at Vincent's refusal. Marceline turned slightly suspicious because she knew how much Vincent enjoyed drinking blood, especially one that belonged to a mermaid since they were young. As much as her brother vexed her, at the same time the vampiress sought for his approval. She said,
"The blood is delicious, Vince. Won't you taste it?"
Lady Luisa nodded and added, "I took a sip and it does taste delicious."
Vincent took another drag from the cigar in a relaxed manner.
"It is hard to taste a low quality mermaid's blood when you have tasted one of high quality. Because everything else tastes nothing less than trash, and I am not interested in garbage," he smiled while his eyes twinkled. He said to Lady Luisa, "You can offer my glass to my dear sister Marceline."
Lady Luisa quickly excused herself acting as if she was being called by another guest, leaving the siblings in each other's company.
"Don't you think it is rude to judge the taste of the blood without even tasting it, brother?" Marceline questioned, looking slightly upset.
Vincent chuckled at her words. With narrowed eyes, Marceline asked, "What's funny?"
At first, Vincent shook his head and then decided to reply, "It seems like your tastebuds has turned rotten and needs some cleaning. It would be better for you to agree that you brought a low quality mermaid, than agree that you failed to recognise the blood quality."
"The least you could do is appreciate my efforts, than mock me, brother. If we are talking about tastes, I might as well ask what you were doing with the governess," Marceline stated with a fake smile plastered on her face. "Have you taken a liking towards her? She did look pretty."
"Indeed, she looked ravishing," and in more than one way, Vincent thought in his mind. He said, "Ms. Barlow is a beautiful woman who doesn't need to try too hard unlike some who try to pull dirty tricks."
Marceline rolled her eyes, huffing. She said, "You imagine too much, Vince. We all have been in the ballroom, being polite with each other."
"Do you think I am dear mother or father, or one of your puppets, Marci?"
"What puppets are—"
When Marceline's eyes met Vincent's, she saw him smiling at her, a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Earlier, why did you leave the ballroom? It seemed like you were too keen to follow the governess out of the room," his voice calm yet daunting at the same time. "The woman returned with a wobbly foot."
"I had to fix my gown and my hair, than bother myself with the governess. I have better things to do," Marceline didn't blink away from him and continued, "I cannot believe you would think I went to do something to her. Why, did something happen to her?" A look of concern appeared on her face.
Vincent stared back at his sister with an unwavering gaze before he took another puff and blew out the smoke. He then pressed the cigar's burning end against the ashtray, extinguishing it.
"Listen very carefully because I will say it only once," Vincent's words were low, but the threat in there didn't go unnoticed as he continued to smile at Marceline, "I know you are drunk on stupidity and foolish ideas, but keep it for someone else. If you try something like what you did today and when I catch you, I will make sure you will want to leave Skellington and that you never did it."
Marceline knew her brother was sharp, but she didn't know he would trace today's event to her. But he hadn't caught her red-handed, and there was no way for the dumb human governess to know that it was her who had placed the glass piece on the floor for her. Her brother only doubted her but he had no proof.
"I didn't do anything," Marceline was firm with her words and she said, "You can ask her yourself. We only spoke about Duke Noah and nothing more than that."
"Let us hope that is true for your own good." Vincent then placed his hand on Marceline's shoulder and offered her a pitiful look, "My poor sister. This is what happens when you go to steal people who aren't meant for you, but it seems like you have trouble letting go of the past."
Hearing Vincent's words, Marceline's face hardened and she clenched her teeth. She watched Vincent leave her side. She hadn't forgotten what had happened in the past. Something that was lost was to be replaced, thought the vampiress in her mind.
She put a bright and pleasant smile on her face before joining their guests.
On the other hand, outside the entrance of the Moriarty mansion, Patrick Humphrey stood next to one of the tall, wide pillars. After being hoodwinked by the Marquee's daughter, he realised it was best to wait for Genevieve Barlow as she was the fairest woman.
He had been standing outside for too long, waiting for Eve to step out. In frustration, he had gulped down the wine glasses he had earlier brought for the vampiress. But this had only turned him sleepy. He had his eyes closed while leaning against the pillar, and at the same time, Eve walked past him and through the gates of the Moriarty mansion.
Two minutes later, one of the guards caught the human next to the pillar and tried to wake him up, "Excuse me, Sire?"
Mr. Humphrey woke up startled, his eyes wide and his hand on his chest. He looked left and right to see where he was. He demanded, "What do you want?"Â
"You would be much more comfortable sitting inside. The guests have moved themselves to the parlour room," informed the guard, who didn't know that Mr. Humphrey was never invited to the ball but had come after stealing another person's invitation.
"No, I am fine here," Mr. Humphrey straightened his coat and then questioned, "How long is the ball going to be?"
"That would depend on the family. It shouldn't take more than two hours from now," said the guard, and Mr. Humphrey clicked his tongue in annoyance.
That was too long, thought Mr. Humphrey. He had forgotten to wear his gloves, and his hands were freezing. But what was a little cold if he was going to win a woman's heart? He thought to himself before waving his hand.
"Go get me something warm to drink," Mr. Humphrey ordered the guard.
While Patrick Humphrey believed Eve was inside, away from the mansion and on the streets, Eve carefully walked on the heel of her injured foot towards the carriage. On reaching her carriage, she knocked on the carriage door and called,
"Eugene, it is me, Eve. Open the door."
Eve turned behind her to ensure she hadn't carried trouble from the mansion or on her way. Hearing the carriage door open, her eyes met Eugene's worried ones.
"What happened, Eugene?" Questioned Eve.
Eugene turned to look inside the carriage, "I didn't do anything I didn't mean to, Miss Eve. I swear."
A frown appeared on Eve's face, and she took a peek inside the carriage. Her eyes widened when it fell on an unconscious Rosetta, and there was a bump on the vampiress's head.
