A gentle wind breezed through the cemetery and the place where they stood, softly ruffling and wavering the pieces of both of their hair. Eve used one of her hands to stop her hair from hovering in front of her eyes.
Eve felt Vincent's coppery-red eyes staring at her, patiently waiting for her answer. But he hadn't posed it as a question but as a statement.
She remembered the time in the past, when she was invited to attend some of the townsfolk's weddings and she attended with a slight envy and sorrow. Knowing she would never have what the other people did. To be loved and proposed for marriage. And now that it did, it felt surreal.
Eve softly gulped the feeling of the butterflies fluttering in her chest, and asked him, "Isn't it too fast?"
"I don't see a point of waiting and unnecessarily dragging the time when we both have affirmed our feelings for each other. Unless you don't want to be married," Vincent stated, his eyes calmly looking at her. "Like I told you before, you are a remarkable woman and if there's anyone I find worthy enough to spend my life with, I would want it to be you."
Vincent's words left warmth in Eve's mind and heart, a feeling of absolute safety. She then said, "Can you wait until Aunt Aubrey returns to Meadow?"
"To answer my words or to hold the wedding?" Vincent squeezed Eve's hand in his while taking a step close towards her.
Eve took a deep breath which ended up taking a whiff of Vincent's scent, which reminded her of the ocean. Of home. His gazed weighed on her, and she answered,
"To hold the wedding." A small worry appeared on her forehead, and she asked, "What about your family?"
A smile crept on Vincent's lips, the sweetness turning into mischief, and he said, "That will be taken care of. You don't have to worry about it. Now...I will need to hear it in words, my beloved."
Who knew that the arrogant pureblooded vampire would take responsibility so quickly. Not her, Eve thought to herself. She didn't have to ask if he was sure because she knew Vincent wasn't a person to do things without being sure. When he had mentioned Marceline as her future sister-in-law this morning, she had believed it was something in the far future.
"Yes. Yes, I will marry you Vincent Moriarty," Eve responded to the magical words Vincent had been waiting to hear from her.
"Let us seal it then..." Vincent's hand came to caress the side of Eve's face, and he leaned forward.
Eve's heart skipped a beat. She closed her eyes, welcoming the feeling of Vincent's lips on hers. No matter the number of kisses they had shared this week, it didn't dull the excitement of the moment. Her heart was ready to burst with happiness, to think that a man like him wanted her as much as she wanted him, maybe even more.
The kiss wasn't deep, but it was enough to spread sweetness in their body. Vincent tasted the sweetness from Eve's lips, and the more he tasted her, the hungrier he got as if not satiated.
Eve winced when she felt one of Vincent's fangs nip her bottom lip, and she felt him tenderly run his tongue to collect the drops of it. Vincent pulled away from her and said,
"Sealed with a kiss and blood."
A shy smile appeared on Eve's lips and she felt Vincent's hand slide from her face to settle on her waist. Their foreheads touched each other, and she saw him take a deep sigh of relief.
"Have I told you how lovely you are?" Vincent's eyes stared into hers, and he continued, "You might be a siren, but there's so much innocence of the mermaid in there, that I cannot wait to corrupt you in ways that you can't even imagine."
Eve's cheeks flushed at his words, and she cleared her throat, "We are standing in front of your mother's grave."
"My apologies, shall we go back into the carriage so I can continue about it in detail?" Vincent poked at Eve, noticing her turn flustered. He let go of her hand and placed it on the other side of her waist, gently massaging it. "I am sure it isn't something she never did," he cheekily remarked.
Eve wondered if Vincent had some fascination with graves and cemeteries. It was because the last time he had made her lay down next to him in the grave, and now he had proposed to her in front of his mother's grave. Somewhere it was a sweet gesture that he did it in front of the woman who was significant in his life.
"Come on, let me take you back home," Vincent let go of Eve's waist and caught hold of her hand as if not wanting to lose her and at the same time wanting to spend as much as they could together.
Offering their greetings to the deceased members of their family for the day, Eve and Vincent left Skellington and travelled in the carriage to Meadow.
And while the couple were on their way to Eve's home, on the other side, Rosetta Hooke had already appeared at Meadow, but her carriage broke before it could reach Dawson's residence. She glared at her coachman and scolded him,
"How hard is it for you to do your job as a coachman in making sure to check the condition of the wheels?"
"Forgive me, milady," the coachman offered her a deep bow, while she held a look of disdain at the lower vampire. "I didn't know--"
"When did I say you could give your explanation? Now I have to walk all the way and I will be tired, carrying all these gifts in my hands," Rosetta harrumphed in annoyance and her eyes narrowed. Looking around the place, she said, "I will walk to Eve's house, and you can get it fixed and park the carriage. Don't be late or I will fire you from your job."
"Yes, milady!" The coachman didn't raise his head until the lady walked away from the carriage.
Rosetta walked on the streets of Meadow with her head held high, making it hard for her to look at what was ahead of her path. With one hand carrying the gifts for Eve and Eugene, she used her other hand to fan her face, she continued to walk before pausing her footsteps. It was because she noticed someone familiar walking in the opposite direction.
From the opposite side of the street walked Patrick Humphrey, who was on an errand to go to the market, in his mother's words. Since that day his family had been humiliated, his mother had stopped stepping out of the house to avoid any remarks on her, and had sent him to the market and even the seamstress, so that she didn't have to face the other women and men of the town. After all, it was upon their word that the people had decided to tarnish Genevieve's image.
He was tired of walking on the street when he caught sight of the wealthy vampiress, who stood not too far away from him and stared right at him. Before he could try to run away from there and out of her sight, Rosetta loudly said,
"You there," and Patrick's back straightened.
He pointed his finger at himself while the vampiress walked towards him. He asked, "Me?"
Rosetta rolled her eyes, "What are you dumb? Of course, I am talking to you. Have we met before?"
Mr. Humphrey shook his head, "I don't think so, milady."
But Rosetta wasn't convinced, because she knew she had spoken to this man before, but she was having difficulty placing him where she had seen him. She then said,
"You are right, I wouldn't have met a low status person like you before."
A nerve struck in Patrick, as he had always aspired to be a part of high society. But he was now working as a servant. He forced smile on his face and said,
"Excuse me, but I have to be--"
"Carry these. I will give you a gold coin," Rosetta was quick to unload the little bags into Humphrey's arms. She dusted her hand and wiggled her fingers as if she could finally walk without any hassle.
Humphrey found it rather insulting that this vampiress had, out of the blue, forcefully pushed all her things into his hands as if he was her servant when he was not! He opened his mouth to say--
"I saw you at the Moriarty mansion, didn't I?" Rosetta asked the lowly human who was beneath her. "Do you work for the Moriartys?"
Humphrey, who had tried to hold the drunk woman and bring her more alcohol so that he could gain some possible benefits from her, as she was the daughter of a Marquee, had not only gone into the drain, but she was now treating him as her servant.
"I work for the Quinn's, milady. Henry Quinn?" He brought up the name, but Rosetta only stared at him. "Let me arrange someone to take these precious bags from you--"
"Quick, I don't like to be kept waiting, or I will complain to Henry Quinn," Rosetta walked swiftly towards Eve's house, while Humphrey stared at the back of the vampiress. At a second thought, he could use the gold coin from her as the pay at the Quinn's mansion wasn't enough. He would quickly drop the things and scurry away from there!
When Rosetta reached Dawson's residence, Eugene had already left the door open expecting for Eve to be home any second. And on hearing the gate creek, he stepped out to greet Miss Eve but it was the vampiress who appeared to be in a good mood. His eyes then fell on Mr. Humphrey, who was the reason why Eve had been insulted and shamed.
Rosetta noticed Eugene's serious expression, who stared at the man behind her with a hint of contained anger. She wondered what had happened.
"Miss Eve isn't here yet, Lady Rosetta," Eugene informed the vampiress.
"That's okay, I can wait," Rosetta had all the time in her hand, because her aunt who used to keep an eye on her had passed away, and her parents weren't here. She was a free bird who wouldn't be questioned where and with whom she was.
When Mr. Humphrey stepped inside the gates and noticed Dawson's servant, he jerked his head and said, "How are you doing, Eugene?"
"Very well," hearing Eugene's curt reply, Rosetta wondered what was bothering her love. She directly asked Eugene with no filter,
"Did he do something?"
Eugene didn't realise that he had failed to school his expression, while Humphrey stumbled before catching his footing and placing the gifts at the front of the house. Humphrey slightly laughed and said,
"What is not there to like, milady. The family this man works for is an acquaintance of ours. Isn't that right?"
Rosetta didn't know why, but she didn't like this lowly human even though he came from the same town as her dear friend. She snapped, "Don't talk to him with such familiarness."
Humphrey didn't know what he had done wrong when he only stated the obvious, while Eugene turned slightly taken aback by the vampiress's words. Patrick said,
"He is a servant. You shouldn't--"
"So are you. He's in a position that you cannot match and you better speak to him in respect. Did you do something to Eugene?" Rosetta questioned, completely turning to look at Humphrey, who looked back and forth between her and Eugene. Humphrey's eyes went wide, not knowing what was going on or if this was a ploy to trap him in something worse.
Rosetta didn't like the thought of someone trying to belittle Eugene, and her eyes narrowed at Humphrey.
"I have not, you...!" Humphrey lost his mind and tried to control himself, not liking being talked down by this obnoxious vampiress. "I would like you to give my coin now so I can be on my way."
Rosetta turned to look at Eugene, while ignoring Humphrey and in a mellow voice asked, "Is everything alright, Eugene?" Humphrey didn't understand why this wealthy vampiress was speaking kindly to the lowly servant as if he belonged to her status!
