Eve's words only infuriated Marceline, and she glared at the lowly human who had suddenly started speaking as if she was already part of a high-standing family in the society. But with no support in the room, where Vincent also had a point, the vampiress drank the blood offered in the glass.
On the other hand, Eve could feel Marceline's gaze on her. It wasn't harsh, but she could feel the wrath of the vampiress. She couldn't believe that Marceline could stoop so low and busied herself with the meal and Allie, who seemed happy.
Allie asked Eve in her small voice, "Will you be living with us here in the mansion?"
"What a smart hamster. That is right, Eve will be living with us before the end of this week," Vincent hummed in approval, and his eyes met Eve's, who stared back at him.
"Ms. Barlow and you aren't married yet, Vincent, for her to share the same roof," Lady Annalise pointed out the obvious, as she hadn't wholly digested the fact that a lowly human from the town of Meadow was going to be her daughter-in-law.
"It is only the roof mother, not the room. Unfortunately, Ms. Barlow isn't forward in such matters, isn't that right, my Eve?" Vincent asked Eve with such sweetness that everyone in the dining room paid attention.
Marceline, who was slowly sipping the blood from the glass, coughed as it entered her windpipe and came out of her nose. She quickly picked up the napkin next to her plate and dabbed her nose. Lady Annalise paused eating her food because never had she heard Vincent use such a sweet tone before, while the others just stared at him before resuming what they were doing.
Eve offered him a tight smile. It seemed that Vincent had forgotten about showing his affections to her public. His words were often dipped with sarcasm that people around him had gotten used to, that his tone with Eve felt foreign.
Vincent then said to his father, "Eve's aunt right now is in Berkshire, and with the ill rumours that dear sister spread about Eve, it is uncomfortable for her to live there anymore."
Viscount Eduard's eyes shifted to look at Marceline, still cleaning the blood she had spewed. The man nodded and said to Eve, "Vincent is right, Ms. Barlow. You will be a member of this family soon, and it will be easier to also start the wedding preparations from here."
Eve bowed, "Thank you for your kindness, Viscount Eduard."
She heard the Viscount say to his wife, "Anna, you know the seamstresses, make sure Vincent's bride wears the best wedding gown made that no one has ever seen."
Lady Annalise pursed her lips and offered a slight bow, "I will see what I can do." When she looked at Eve, her expression turned sour.
Once everyone finished having their breakfast, Vincent and Eve walked in the corridor near the piano room. She said to him, "Your sister hates me."
"Mm? Hamster dotes on you as if you are her own, don't pay attention to the other one," Vincent responded to Eve, who held a worried look on her face.
"But she is your sister," they were related by blood, Eve thought and she wished she could get along with everyone. Until today, she had believed that Lady Annalise despised her, while Marceline was kind towards her. But it seemed like Lady Annalise was ready to tolerate her, but Marceline... Eve didn't know why she did it. Remembering something from the conversation in the dining room, she said, "You broke her fangs."
"Very gently," Vincent answered, adding, "She didn't feel the slightest pain," and he smiled with his fangs in view.
Eve stared at him, "Would you have done it if I didn't have the ability to restore it?"
"You ask a compelling question," Vincent's hand reached for Eve's hand, lightly pulling her to have her face him. "I did it because she deserved it. She might be my family, but you are no less to it. In a matter of days you will be my wife, and if anyone tries to screw with you, I will screw them over. You know how it goes," and his lips curled.
Releasing her hand, he brought his hand to her face to gently caress the side of it with the back of his fingers. He asked her, "How was your night? Did you sleep enough?"
"It was a little chaotic because Timotei wanted to sleep in the house, on the bed. In Lady Aubrey's bed, because he said he wanted 'privacy' but Eugene didn't want him to stay in the house," Eve remembered last night where in the end, Eugene and the black cat had ended up sleeping in the living room. She then asked him, "How was your night?"
"It was interesting. I went through some of the recorded parchment files that belonged to my ancestors of the Moriarty family. I found the name associated with King Gauntlet, who was cursed by your Sea Goddess. Sullivan's name was in there too."
"Like Noah Sullivan?" Eve's eyebrows furrowed, and Vincent nodded.
He explained, "The Moriarty's and the Sullivans worked too closely to the Gauntlet's family. The King lived his life more than he was meant to. He had five wives. A pureblooded vampiress, one regular vampire, a human and a werewolf. A witch, whose identity was exposed and she was killed. The human died out of sickness. And out of the five, one was Moriarty and another was Sullivan's daughter."
"Then... Does that mean you were related to the King?" Eve looked surprised. She had heard Timotei mention it last night, when he was talking to Vincent, but she didn't expect Vincent to belong to the same blood.
"There was only one single Moriarty without any branches for the tree to widen in the beginning years. Mine is the only Moriarty family," Vincent stated, "So yes, I am related to him, and your favourite Duke is a distant cousin of mine. Do you know if Noah had any ability?"
Eve shook her head, "He's always been human-like..." Her eyes then widened and she asked, "You think the bloodline has passed the curse to you and Noah?" To kill one, because the two couldn't co-exist together...
"It is a vague possibility, but if it is true," Vincent paused before a wicked smile appeared on his lips, "That would be something, wouldn't it?"
