Lady Aubrey turned to look at Eugene, who appeared frozen in front of the door. Her eyebrows slightly furrowed, wondering why he looked as if he had seen a ghost. She placed the newsletter on the table before getting up to see who it was.
"Who is it, Eugene?" Lady Aubrey asked before coming to stand near the door. Her eyebrows rose on seeing a young vampiress standing at the front of the door.
Rosetta didn't know what this man she had met last night was doing and demanded, "What are you doing here?"
Eugene's breath was caught in his throat. Gathering his courage, he offered a bow and replied, "Good morning, miss. I work here at the Dawson's family." He then looked at Lady Aubrey and whispered, "This is Lady Rosetta Hooke. An acquaintance of Miss Eve," while a confused Rosetta's eyes moved to look at the houses on the left and right where she stood.
"Ms. Hooke, I am Aubrey Dawson. Genevieve's paternal aunt. Eve is getting herself ready to go to work. Would you like to come inside and have some tea?" Lady Aubrey invited the vampiress inside the house, catching the young lady's eyes taking a peek inside the house.
Rosetta bowed her head at the older lady and reluctantly stepped inside the house. Her eyes carefully looked around the place, where the space felt shrunken, and the living room she was led to was smaller than any room she had stepped into in her or her aunt's mansion. She remarked in awe,
"This must be a magical house. The house is much smaller than how it appears from the outside."
"Indeed, it helps in keeping the house warm and cozy during chilly nights," Lady Aubrey replied with a polite smile.
When Rosetta's eyes fell on Eugene, the glare returned as if she was going to complete what she couldn't do last night. That was to suck his blood out.
Lady Aubrey ordered Eugene, "Eugene, why don't you bring tea for Ms. Hooke."
"No," replied Rosetta in a prim and proper voice.
Same time, Eve climbed down the stairs and said to Eugene, "Eugene, the shoe will need to be repaired that I wore it would be--Miss Rosetta," she looked surprised on seeing the vampiress in here and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Did Lady Camille forget to mention what she told her last night about Rosetta? And it was quite early for the young vampiress to show up here.
Rosetta quickly stood up from her chair and walked to where Eve was. The vampiress hugged her, and Lady Aubrey and Eve's eyes met for a second. Rosetta then pulled away and said, "I heard from my personal maid that you brought me to my aunt's mansion safely. Thank you so much for looking out for me last night. I wanted to thank you and decided to come here to tell it to you as soon as I could."
Eve smiled and replied, "I am glad to see that you are doing well this morning, Miss Rosetta. You didn't have to come here to thank me for it."
"You are right," murmured Rosetta, as if she hadn't thought it through and had come here on impulse, But then her face brightened with a smile, "I wanted to make sure you returned home safe too."
Eve nodded, "Thank you for that." With Eugene slipping out of the living room to set breakfast, she asked Rosetta, "Would you like to sit and have breakfast with us?"
"I am fine, thank you," but at the same time, Rosetta's stomach grumbled, letting the people there know that the vampiress was hungry.
When Rosetta woke up in the morning, she heard from the maid that she had been dropped by the human. Without speaking with her aunt and letting her know where she was going, the vampiress had gotten ready quickly and hurried to Meadow by taking a ride from a gentleman who owned four horses.
"We insist, Ms. Hooke. It would be rude to refuse," stated Lady Aubrey, and Rosetta's lips twisted.
"Well... if you are insisting, then maybe I shall," Rosetta replied with her nose high; she walked towards the table.
When they sat at the table, Eve noticed how Rosetta glared at Eugene as if she was ready to drill nails into his head. When the food was brought to the table, the vampiress stared at the loaves of bread and butter, accompanied by scrambled eggs at the side. This was breakfast? This wasn't something Rosetta usually ate, as her food was more lavish, but she had a need where she desperately wanted to fit in, to belong somewhere.
She copied what Eve and Lady Aubrey did by picking up the bread and then smearing butter on it. When Eve took a bite from the bread, the vampiress's eyebrows deeply furrowed.
She hesitantly took a bite from the bread and paused. She exclaimed, "This is good, what is in the bread and butter?"
"It's just regular bread and salted butter, Miss Rosetta," answered Lady Aubrey, and Rosetta stared at the bread.
The vampiress didn't know such simple food could taste so good. She nodded, "I see, so it is salted butter."
Eve couldn't help but smile at the vampiress's innocence. It was as if Rosetta was a little chick who had come out of shell and only started exploring the world. She asked, "Would you like some more?"
Rosetta nodded and ate more quickly this time. When Eugene came to pour tea into her cup, she went back to glaring at him.
"Miss Rosetta, does your aunt know that you are here?" Eve asked because it was clear from Lady Camillie's words that she wasn't fond of her niece associating herself with the people like her from Meadow. Rosetta's mouth was full, and she blissfully continued eating before shaking her head. "No?"
Rosetta swallowed the food and replied, "Aunt Camille was still taking a bath, and I decided to come here," she went back to eating and drinking the tea served to her. On seeing a look of worry appear on Eve's face, the vampiress waved her hand, "You don't have to worry about her. Aunt Camillie is harmless."
When Eve and Lady Aubrey entered the kitchen to keep their used plates, Lady Aubrey said, "Your friend seems to be different than most. It is good to see you making friends."
"I was a little worried in the beginning, but she is a lot different than the vampires and vampiresses I have met," Eve replied as she washed her hands.
"I can tell. You cannot always avoid trouble and sometimes it is better to get along with it. How is your foot now?" Lady Aubrey asked before continuing, "Frankly, I wished you would take a day off, but then I doubt that the members of the Moriarty family would take your leave well."
Eve leaned forward and kissed Aunt Aubrey's cheek, "I will be careful. I have bandaged it again and the shoes that I am wearing will avoid any leak if there's any bleeding."
Lady Aubrey nodded before a sigh escaped from her lips, "Take care of yourself, Eve."
Outside the kitchen and in the small dining room, Eugene bowed his head and offered an apology to the vampiress before she decided to kill him again,
"Milady, forgive me for what I did yesterday. It wasn't my intention when you came near me--"
The look in Rosetta's eyes hardened, and her jaws clenched. She glared at him, "Who told you could speak to me?"
"My apologies, milady," Eugene apologised to her one more time, but his politeness only irked her. She got up from the chair with it lightly screeching before she stormed out of the dining room and the house.
In truth, Rosetta had no recollection of how she had received a bump on her forehead. The only thing she did remember was coming out of Moriarty's mansion and throwing up before this servant had offered her water and a handkerchief. She was embarrassed that she had cried in front of a servant, and she couldn't help but glare at Eugene.
When it was time to leave, Eve and Eugene stepped out of the house to notice Miss Rosetta standing outside.
The vampiress cleared her throat and said, "I would like to ride in your carriage."
Seeing Miss Rosetta's carriage nowhere in sight, Eve nodded, "Of course."
While Eugene went to bring the carriage in front of the house, Eve and Rosetta started to talk about the ball that had taken place last night. At the same time, Mr. Humphrey, whose eyes had turned red from lack of sleep, appeared at the end of the street.
It was only when the clock struck twelve last night did Mr. Humphrey came to find that Eve had already left the Moriarty mansion long ago. Right now, he held flowers in his hand, ready to propose to the woman he believed to be his future wife before any other suitor would come to her door.
But when Mr. Humphrey caught sight of the Marquee's daughter standing with Eve, his eyes widened, and he quickly turned around and walked away from there, before Eve would find out that last night he had tried to appease the vampiress.
Once Eve dropped Rosetta not too far from Lady Camille's mansion, the young vampiress quickly entered to be caught in time by the woman.
"Rosetta, where have you been for the last two hours? Bed empty with no note and the servants have no clue either," questioned Lady Camille. "I have been worried sick."
"I was taking a walk, to get some fresh air," Rosetta innocently replied. "Where do you think I would go?"
Lady Camille stared at her niece before she said, "Come let us have breakfast together."
"Yes! Breakfast!" Rosetta quickly hurried to the table and looked for butter and salt. Not finding it, she quickly went to the kitchen, surprising the servants and her aunt.
Rosetta ordered the cook to hand over the butter and salt. Once in her hand, she poured the entire jar of salt into the butter before mixing it. She then ordered the maid to bring it to the table.
"Aunt Camille, today I will make you taste what heaven feels like," said Rosetta, picking up the bread and smearing as much butter as she could. She then placed it on her aunt's plate. "Try it."
Lady Camille used her knife and fork to cut a piece. When the older vampiress put it in her mouth, she coughed and spat it out. "It would be best if you don't step foot in the kitchen for my own health."
Hm? Didn't she do it right? Rosetta asked herself.
