Music Recommendation: Guy-John Lunn
During the entire time of breakfast, Eve could feel Lady Aurora's scrutinising eyes on her. But when she looked at the woman's way, she found the woman talking to someone else at the table or looking elsewhere.
Not liking that the lowly human woman was sitting at the same table as her, Lady Aurora directly spoke to Eve, "Since when did you start to join the Moriarty's to have breakfast? This must be the first time?"
Eve politely smiled and replied, "It has been long since I started having breakfast together with the family, milady."
The woman softly huffed, before she stated, "Up in the North, we don't dare to mingle with the people below our status. The last thing we need is the lowly ones to misunderstand where they stand compared to us. I hope you haven't too. After all, you are still a governess."
"Not for a long time, Lady Aurora," Vincent responded, and Lady Aurora turned to look at her possible future son-in-law, offering him a smile along with a question in her eyes.
"Mm? Have you decided to replace her with another one for the job? Or is it that this human is leaving town?" Lady Aurora continued to question, and Rosetta watched her brave mother, who was bold enough to put her hand in the terror's mouth.
Rosetta sang praises for her friend, "Mother, Eve is an excellent governess. Better than our Mrs. Merstun, who came from a high family."
Lady Aurora offered a slight smile to her daughter and said, "I am speaking to Vincent, Rose. Don't speak in between when I am talking to someone. You know how much I disapprove of that habit of yours."
Rosetta's face turned red in embarrassment, and her smile faltered before she looked down at her plate to avoid meeting others' eyes at the table. Especially Eugene, whom she noticed had turned to look at her.
Lady Aurora turned back to Vincent and said, "About having a lowly status human join us at the dining table."
"It would be better for you to reconsider your thoughts and words for her, Marchioness," Vincent bluntly responded, leaning back on the chair on which he sat, before letting his arm rest on Eve's chair behind her. "Looking down at the members of the Moriarty family has never done anyone good."
Both Marquee Hooke and his wife looked at Vincent and then at the human. Marquee Hooke turned to Viscount Eduard and asked him, "I don't think I heard about your son being married." There was a slight tension in the man's voice as he said it, while Lady Aurora's eyes narrowed at this bizarre, unexpected news.
Viscount Eduard answered with a smile, "We haven't announced it yet, but it was decided very recently that Ms. Genevieve Barlow will be marrying Vincent within a few weeks of time."
Charles Gallagher raised his glass in the air that held blood in it and remarked, "Wonderful news, isn't it?" and he gingerly took a sip from the glass. He was bummed because since Eve had appeared in the mansion, somewhere in his mind he had hoped to sleep with her. Governesses from low status were often quick to agree to share a bed for a decent amount of money. But the moment had slipped.
Rosetta felt happiness bubbling up in her chest. The joy she felt right now from knowing Vincent Moriarty was soon going to get married to Eve, only confirmed her earlier suspicion. Now she could happily continue to pursue Eugene. But her mother didn't share the same happiness as her.
Lady Aurora was taken aback, and her eyebrows rose high towards her hairline. She murmured in shock, "What? That's not possible."
She had already decided that her daughter would marry Vincent Moriarty, and she wasn't going to change her decision! She stared at the human with disbelief. Just as she thought, her daughter had failed to snag the man, and this human had used her charms on the Viscount's son.
Vincent responded to Lady Aurora's words, "Hm? What's so hard to believe about? I have agreed and so has Eve. Now we only need the priest to perform the ritual."
Lady Aurora placed her hand on her husband's thigh to get his attention, and Marquee Hooke said, "I thought the matter about my daughter marrying your son was fixed when we last visited here. Lady Annalise, you were the one who reached out to me and now I hear that my daughter will be cast away for a human?"
Lady Annalise held a troubled expression on her face. Before she would try to reply, Viscount Eduard explained, "Forgive me about it, Marquee. But we decided not to hope on it after your daughter Rosetta said she didn't want to marry Vincent. I believe if Lady Camille was here, she would explain the same."
Lady Aurora chuckled at the Viscount's words, "Pardon me, Viscount Eduard, but Rosetta doesn't know the difference between what is right and wrong sometimes. She made a hasty decision, but it doesn't mean that we have agreed to it." The atmosphere in the room started to heat up, and Eve noticed Allie turning worried like her.
"Marquee Hooke," Vincent uttered the name loud and clear for the little commotion to stop. He said, "The only person I will be marrying is this woman sitting next to me right now. You can accept or reject it, but it doesn't change anyone's opinion here. Not even your daughter wants to marry me, isn't that right, Lady Rosetta?" He turned to look at the young vampiress, who cautiously gave him a nod. "There we go. Now if we can finish our breakfast in peace."
When the breakfast did get over and everyone dispersed from the room, Vincent walked past the hallway when Lady Aurora stopped him, "You live up to your reputation, Vincent."
"I hope it is all good," Vincent brightly offered the woman a smile.
"I think it would be wise for you to reconsider your decision about marrying my daughter. It will be good for you and my family too," Lady Aurora patiently waited for his reply.
"Frankly speaking, I am having trouble seeing the good that you are trying to imply for both the families. Care to explain more about it?" Vincent hummed, his copper-red eyes directly looking at the woman. "You can have any man's son who belongs to a high status. I know I am the best, but sometimes you need to settle with something lesser than it."
There was no one in the hallways, apart from Vincent and the Marchioness, where both looked like they were battling with their eyes and words. Lady Aurora said, "You will be rising with the status of Marquee—"
"I don't think you know about me or my family so let me help you with it. Status and position means little to nothing to me. You can give it to someone else," the smile continued to grace Vincent's lips, and he keenly looked at the vampiress. He questioned, "Is there something you are hiding?"
"That is something you are expert at and need to tell me," Lady Aurora challenged him back. "I know you are the one who killed Camille."
Vincent calmly replied, "That is a wild accusation, and a big one at it."
Lady Aurora suddenly chuckled and said, "Camille's butler saw the carriage ride in the direction of the Moriarty mansion. My daughter is a naive girl, who doesn't know what to do sometimes, and I need someone who will secure her future. You see, Camille's butler found another crumpled note behind the drawer during Rosetta's stay. Half written by my daughter."
"And what was written in this note?" Vincent questioned the woman.
"It had mentions about the human woman. Many days ago, Camille and I had a discussion about this, about the human spending time with my daughter and ruining her life," Lady Aurora sounded sure, and she asked him, "Did you kill Camille?"
"No," Vincent deadpanned, "I had no reason to kill her," he shrugged his shoulders.
"Then you must have gotten her killed through someone. You killed and buried her in Darthmore. Not to mention, you even helped Mr. Walsh come out of the dungeon, when no one else cared," Lady Aurora's eyes suspiciously looked at Vincent. "You might be able to fool others, but not me. I know your hands are covered in her blood, and you would be surprised to know how I am sure about it."
"But that is not all, is it?" Vincent hummed, "You are here to make me an offer."
Silence fell for a few seconds in the hallways, and Lady Aurora said, "Marry my daughter, and I won't expose you. A marriage to cover up the murder you committed. I am a Marquee's wife, you might already be aware of the connection and power I hold."
Vincent started to laugh at Lady Aurora's offer, and he said, "What a funny woman you are. I am impressed. You don't care about the deceased woman, but the opportunity you can make with it. I love it," he grinned wide, while the woman's expression barely changed. He said, "Too bad, but I am not interested in your bargain."
"You are making a mistake, Vincent Moriarty. One that will cost you very expensively in the future," Lady Aurora warned him before the other people of her and his family appeared in the hallway.
Vincent's eyes turned cold, and he remarked, "Let us hope I don't make you pay for it then."
