The following day, the sky was cloudy, and the weather didn't change much compared to the previous night, holding the same coldness.
Eve woke up early, finishing her bath and dressing herself in a presentable way. She couldn't stop thinking about the time she had spent with Vincent last night. Her toes still curled at the thought of their nightly activity before Vincent had left her to sleep.
Opening the room's door, Eve stepped out into the corridor and started to walk.
"Good morning, Ms. Barlow," one of the maids, who was holding a tray in her hand, greeted her.
Eve smiled at the maid and wished back, "Good morning."
The morning time in the Moriarty mansion was busier than Eve had expected. The maids and the servants were quick on their feet, dusting and sweeping before the other members of the Moriarty family would walk in the corridors and the hallways. Dried flowers in the vases were replaced by fresh flowers that held scent and colour in them.
As Eve climbed down the stairs, she noticed on top of the first flight of the stairs, Vincent stood with Viscount Eduard and Lady Annalise. She hadn't expected them to be up this early, and when she made her way to where they stood, she offered them a deep bow.
"Good morning," Eve politely greeted them.
Vincent didn't hold back, and he stepped forward towards her. He put one of his arms around Eve's back and leaned forward to kiss one of her cheeks. As he smiled, the corner of his eyes crinkled, and he asked her,
"Did you have a good sleep?"
Eve tried to keep a straight face, but she couldn't stop staring at Vincent's open affection towards her, and she knew it was something she would have to get used to in time. She replied with a smile, "Yes, it was good."
Vincent hummed with a knowing smile, "If you need more of what I did, I will be happy to help." Eve wanted to cover the shameless vampire's mouth before he would say something more to kill her with embarrassment.
Lady Annalise slightly frowned and questioned him, "Why? What is wrong with Ms. Barlow?"
"Nothing," Eve's quick response only made her appear suspicious.
"Eve was stressed with what happened yesterday and I massaged her feet yesterday," Vincent smiled with mischief in his eyes.
Hearing it, Viscount Eduard looked at Eve and said, "We are sorry to hear about the damage the houses had to bear for the rogue's actions. It is good to see that you and your people were uninjured."
"I am grateful to the Moriarty family for accommodating me along with my family members in the mansion this soon," Eve offered her gratitude with a bow.
Viscount Eduard gave her a nod, "Though Vincent and you aren't married yet, you are already part of the family. If not yesterday, you would be moving in here next week. I am guessing that my son has already made all the arrangements you need for your stay here?"
"Yes, he did, Viscount Eduard," Eve answered and at the same time, they heard the sound of someone's footsteps from the end of the corridor, as if the person was running.
Lady Annalise's frown deepened. She glared when she noticed it was her own daughter who was causing commotion this early in the morning. The little vampiress noticed Eve standing next to her brother and wondered what her governess was doing this early morning. Her feet moved even faster until her eyes met her mother's disapproving eyes, and she quickly reduced the speed of her little legs, which eventually came to a halt.
"It seems like you do whatever you want when you think no one is looking at you, Allie. Have you forgotten how to behave?" Lady Annalise was ever the strict mother whose lips set themselves in a thin line.
"I thought something was chasing me..." Allie replied in a small innocent voice, where one would believe it to be true if they didn't know that Allie had spent enough time with her elder brother to learn some of his ways.
"And what did you think was chasing you? Time?" Lady Annalise demanded with her eyes slightly narrowed at her daughter.
"Spider?" It was Vincent who answered, and Allie stared at him, before quickly nodding in agreement.
Eve internally smiled at the understanding that Vincent and Allie shared between each other. Vincent helped in saving the little one from their mother, and Allie helped him from being exposed to the little crimes that the little girl was aware of.
Viscount Eduard placed his hand on his wife's back to gain her attention, and he said, "As everyone is already awake, let us all have breakfast early today. Alfie," he called the butler. He stood on the floor below, and the butler quickly came forward. "Fix breakfast for everyone."
"Yes, Sire," Alfie responded with a bow and left.
While everyone reached the bottom of the stairs, Eduard looked around the place and called one of the maids before ordering, "Tell Marceline to join us for breakfast."
Eve walked towards the dining room along with the Moriarty family members, and she hoped the night had been easy for Eugene too. She doubted she needed to worry about the safety of the black cat, considering how he had lived many lives until now.
On the other side of the mansion and in Marceline's room, the vampiress was being helped by the two maids to be dressed, with her hands stretched wide. The maid sent by the Viscount knocked on the young vampiress's door and stepped inside the room.
Marceline moved her eyes to look at the lowly servant with disdain in her eyes. The maid informed her without raising her head,
"Milady, breakfast will be served in the dining room in a few minutes."
"This early? There's still an hour left before breakfast and I haven't gotten ready," Marceline waved her hand at the maid, "My hair hasn't been done."
The maid pursed her lips and went to inform, "But, milady--"
"Didn't you just hear what I said? Now leave and stop getting on my nerves!" Marceline snapped at the maid and the maid quickly left before she would take the ire of the vampiress.
Marceline had barely slept well with everything that was going on in her life.
First, her plan to drive the lowly human her brother was attached to had miserably failed. Secondly, because her first attempt had not just failed but had made way for Eve to end up staying under the same roof as her. Lastly, not to mention, the lowly human was the reason why she didn't have fangs anymore.
The young vampiress gritted her teeth in anger and released a heavy breath through her nostrils. Right now, her priority was her fangs, and she had to find out how to get them back! She ordered one of the maids in her room,
"Tell the coachman to prepare the carriage, I will be leaving soon."
The maid bowed and left, while the other maid stood next to Marceline. The young vampiress turned to the maid and ordered, "What are you idling about? Brush my hair and have it tied low."
Not too far from the Moriarty mansion stood another mansion that belonged to the late Lady Camille Wright. Lady Camille's brother, Marquee Hooke and his wife, Lady Aurora sat in the parlour room with their beloved daughter, Rosetta Hooke.
Rosetta sipped on her tea without a word, while Marquee Hooke was busy inquiring about his sister to the butler. The butler answered,
"The authorities haven't found any evidence, Sire. If I may speak, I believe Lady Camille went to visit Moriarty mansion."
Marquee Hooke shook his head and said, "And why would she go there and then to Nicholson's mansion, where her carriage was parked right in front of it?"
"That... I am unsure," the butler replied. He then said, "It was the letter that Lady Rosetta had left behind."
Lady Aurora turned to look at her daughter and questioned, "What letter? How is it that you failed to mention it, Rose."
Rosetta rolled her eyes and cleared, "It was just a thank you note for Aunt Camille, mother. I don't know why that was even important. That is like you being upset that I walked on the street here." Her mother stared at her, and she quickly said, "I just wrote in the letter how I enjoyed my time here with her and thanked her for looking after me. Aunt Camille must have remembered something or was confused, how would I know?" She innocently asked in the end.
Her mother turned to look at her husband and suggested, "Perhaps we should go visit the Moriarty family. We didn't get the opportunity to talk about some things, maybe now is the time, yes?" She passed a look at her husband as if they had unfinished business with the pureblooded family, and the man nodded.
"Ready the carriage to leave. We will be visiting the Moriarty mansion," Marquee Hooke ordered the butler, who readily nodded. The butler was happy hearing the order because he believed the notorious Moriarty family was behind his mistress's unusual death.
Marquee Hooke and his wife, Aurora Hooke, got up from the plush couch. The older vampiress nitpicked her daughter and said,
"Fix your clothes and your face, Rose. You aren't a small child but a woman who is going to marry soon."
"To who?" Rosetta asked warily, not knowing what her mother was planning for her.
"Vincent Moriarty, who else would it be?" Lady Aurora questioned her daughter.
"But I don't like him. I don't want to marry him. I think his interests are elsewhere," Rosetta responded, and when her mother frowned at her, she shrugged her shoulders. "Neither do I, nor Vincent like each other. Can we give it a rest already?"
"No," Lady Aurora snapped at Rosetta, looking at her daughter as if she was naive, who didn't understand how the world worked. She stubbornly said in an authoritative tone, "If there's anyone you are going to marry, then it is going to be Vincent Moriarty and no one else. And if his interests lie somewhere, it is time you work on making yourself interesting to him."
If it weren't for the night when Rosetta had witnessed something going on between Vincent and her dearest friend Eve, she would have been worried as she hadn't even reached the dock yet, where her ship with Eugene was yet to sail.
The young vampiress didn't understand why her mother was intent on marrying her off to a person from the Moriarty family. It wasn't as if her family name wasn't powerful and wealthy, not to mention her father held a higher status compared to those pureblooded vampires, Rosetta thought in her mind.
Noticing her daughter dawdle in her thoughts, Lady Aurora ordered Rosetta, "Go quickly to your room and powder your face.
It seemed like she didn't have much time and would have to confess to Eugene before her mother would find another vampire for her, thought Rosetta and left the room.
When Rosetta was out of sight, Lady Aurora turned to the butler and questioned him, "Tell me in detail about what happened the day when Camille went missing and after it. We need to know everything, including what my daughter has been doing all this time in our absence."
Lady Aurora listened to everything her sister-in-law's butler had to say, and though it appeared as if she was interested in finding out who had killed the deceased vampiress, that wasn't why she inquired. Once the butler relayed everything that had happened, the woman's chin tipped up thoughtfully.
"I will bring justice to Camille's death, Myles," Lady Aurora assured the butler with a smile. "But I will need your full cooperation for it."
The butler was quick to respond, "Of course, Lady Aurora! Anything you need!"
