Seasons went by, and the seeds sowed in the soil sprouted to form plants and trees. The young Noah grew into an adult, who worked for the Duke of Woodlock, his father.
Noah had turned into a handsome man with strong facial features and build, while the look in his eyes was gentle. Just as his family wanted him to turn out to be, he had an extreme hold on his emotions and his surroundings. His demeanour appeared as soft as the snow. While most the people only saw what they wanted without realising that when the same snow melted under heat, it hardened into ice, where one had to proceed with caution.
One of the bright sunny mornings, like any other day, Noah accompanied his father to Meadow to speak to one of the officials. They were walking in the marketplace when Noah caught sight of a young woman. The incident that had been buried had returned. Someone whom he had believed he would never come across again.
His breath turned short as he stared at the young woman whose mother's murder he had witnessed.
The young woman walked from the opposite side, talking to a man. They carried a bag each in their arms. Noah heard her speak,
"It seems like the magistrate has decided not to hold a fair in our town again."
"I heard the officials decided to cut down expenses to handle and manage the town, milady," the servant beside her replied.
The woman's lips set themselves in a thin line, and she sighed, "We shouldn't miss the oncoming fair that will be held in Atharath downtown. What do you say Eugene?" She asked him with a smile.
"Of course, Miss Eve," he agreed. "Maybe Lady Aubrey would like to join us this time. But make sure you have used those salts."
Eve nodded, "I have been careful about it after what happened last time."
Noah stared at the blue-eyed woman, who was addressed as Eve. Somewhere he stopped walking when she walked past him, and he turned to stare at her. She was the mermaid who had escaped from his uncle's clutches. He wasn't too young not to see the resemblance between her and the girl who played with the cloth-like doll in his mansion many years ago.
The night the woman had been murdered, Uncle James's men had returned without the girl, saying she had somehow escaped. But Noah hadn't expected her to live this long, especially when she wasn't a human but an outcast.
"Noah?" His father called him, who had walked a few steps ahead of him. The Duke looked displeased as if wanting to leave this place. He questioned, "What are you doing by standing there? Keep distance from the lowly creatures. Come now."
Noah's father continued to walk away from the marketplace with the other man he was with. When Noah turned around, the girl had disappeared from his sight.
Without staying there for another second, Noah walked out of there with his father and the Council's official.
Many days passed, such that Noah couldn't get the thought about the young woman out of his mind. From afar, he had quietly observed her, getting the reports about her and her family. It seemed that a woman named Aubrey Dawsons had taken her in, while being aware of the person being an outcast.
When the day of the fair arrived, Noah was working in his room when his uncle decided to knock on his door.
"Noah," Uncle James called him with a smile. With time, the man had grown older, and his rugged appearance had smoothened because of his cunningness. Even though the woman whom he had murdered had stabbed his eye, the wound had healed, except that the man had turned blind in one of his eyes. The older man said, "Did you meet the magistrate in Thresk Hills? I need you to make him understand that he needs to follow our word than give the vampires leverage over things."
Noah smiled and calmly said, "It has already been done and taken care of."
James Sullivan looked pleased, and he said, "Excellent! I knew if there was anyone who could accomplish it, it is you." He patted the younger man's back. He said, "Some of the past deeds have resurfaced."
"Deeds?" Noah calmly inquired.
The older man nodded and picked up the quill that Noah had used earlier. He said, "Fowler has reopened some of the missing reports that were closed. I need you to keep an eye on the man."
"I will see into it," Noah offered a polite bow.
"Isn't it good to have each other's backs? This is why we say how important family is because we know we can rely on each other," James smiled, placing the quill in the same place. The look in his eyes turned serious, and he said, "If you find anything about Fowler tracing things to us, you let me know about it. About anything."
In the afternoon, skipping lunch Noah stepped out of Sullivan's mansion and reached Atharath downtown, where the fair was going on. His black eyes looked around the place, filled with the crowd, who mostly belonged to the middle class and a few members of the high society.
"Only two crowns for one hat! Pick your choice of hat!" Shouted one of the merchants, and on noticing one of the women looked his way, the man said, "Milady, come take a look at it! It will look lovely on you!"
Another merchant on the way said loudly, "Caramel sweet sticks prepared fresh this morning! Something to eat as you walk!"
Noah didn't pay any attention to the merchants, and his eyes continued to look for the young lady who had mentioned visiting the fair. He knew the right thing in terms aligned with his family would be to inform his uncle about this girl's existence. After all, who knew if one day she would point fingers that James Sullivan had killed her mother.
But the guilt didn't allow him to bring it up; instead, he decided to keep an eye on her. Not finding her here, he turned around. When he started to walk back, at the same time, someone crashed into him.
Genevieve Barlow held two caramelised sticks in her hands, and right now most of the sweet syrup was on his shirt. Her eyes widened in shock, and she bowed,
"Forgive me for that. I didn't mean to spoil your shirt!" When she looked up to meet his eyes, Noah noticed the liveliness in those blue eyes carried in them.
[Music Recommendation: This is love- Sondia]
Unlike other outcasts, she was sheltered and appeared like any other person who was part of society. A small smile appeared on his lips and he said, "That's fine. Don't worry about it."
Eve looked a little worried, as it was apparent that this man she had run into was from high society. She watched him pull out his handkerchief from his trouser pocket. Using it, he cleaned the sticky sweet off his shirt, but the stain was too hard to ignore.
"Water will help," Eve said to him, "Give me a moment, please."
She went to one of the shops, asking for water, and Noah followed her. On getting a glass of water, she turned and offered it to him, "This will remove the stickiness."
Noah stared at her, who stared back at him with a slight frown, wondering if he was angry at her. He asked her, "How much is the stick for?" Even though he had heard the merchant utter the price.
Eve was taken aback by his question, and she replied, "Two shilling," and then offered, "Let me get it for you as an apology."
"Thank you," Noah smiled at Eve and noticed her smile before turning to the merchant.
"Miss Eve! I was looking for y--oh!" Eugene paused, who had been looking for Eve, as she hadn't returned after she told him that she would get something to eat. Noticing the tall man wearing expensive clothes, he offered a bow before looking at Eve in question of who this person was.
"I am Noah Sullivan," Noah introduced himself with a bow.
Eve bowed again and said, "I am Genevieve Barlow and this here is Eugene." She looked at him with surprise for holding such gentleman-like behaviour, not knowing it was only the beginning of their friendship.
At first, Noah had only wanted to know the person the small girl had turned into. She looked happy and content, with a family who cared for her, and he didn't want to ruin it by disturbing something that was in peace.
The more Noah got to know about Eve, the more he liked her, and it wasn't hard to fall in love with her. It was because of her kind heart and sweet nature that made it easy for a person to like her. As weeks and months passed by, he fell more for her.
But he could never confess to her. He had hidden the secret for so long that it felt like the time to let her know had passed and revealing the truth would only strain things. This was something he was selfish about.
Noah loved Eve enough to look after her from afar until now, making sure to keep his feelings to himself without letting her know. But now that they stood on the patio, under the starless sky, where they stared at each other, he whispered in his mind,
'I love you.'
Eve stared at Noah, wondering what he wanted to say, and after two seconds, he finally said, "I would like to see you off in the carriage tomorrow. You should go and get some sleep."
She nodded, smiling at him and said, "Goodnight, Noah."
"Goodnight, Genevieve," Noah wished her, watching Eve walk away from him with the distance between them growing.
Noah stepped back into the corridor, taking a left and walking a few steps before he stopped and said, "You should get some sleep too."
Lady Anaya moved away from the pillar, "I thought I did a decent job hiding behind here." Noah didn't appear to see her. The she-wolf noticed how Noah's guard had returned, which had dropped only in front of the human. Seeing him start to walk, she asked him, "You like her more than a friend. Why didn't you confess to her?"
Noah smiled at the lady's question, who looked at him curiously, "Somethings are better left unsaid."
It wasn't that he couldn't do it. Building something took a lot of time and effort, and it took only a matter of seconds to break it. He prefered to keep Eve as his friend than drive her away from him forever.
