Music Recommendation: Lyrides- Jozef De Schutter
Instead of sitting still in her place, Rosetta decided to look for Eugene. She wasn't interested in drinking tea and doubted she could swallow any biscuits with the anxiousness that had built in the pit of her stomach.
The vampiress started to search for Eugene by walking out of the drawing-room, and when she came across a maid, the maid stopped walking and offered her a bow. Rosetta demanded from the maid, "Where is Eugene?"
The maid raised her head and blinked, not knowing whom the vampiress was asking for. Rosetta rolled her eyes as if she was talking to an idiot. She said, "The man who came with Genevieve Barlow. Where is he?"
"Oh! Yes, milady, I believe he was told by the butler to clean the floor in the East wing," the maid quickly answered. Rosetta looked left and right, unsure which side she was supposed to go, and the maid raised her hand and pointed out to her left, "This side, milady."
"Of course, I knew that much. I was pondering on something," Rosetta softly harrumphed before continuing to walk as she looked for Eugene.
After three good minutes, where Rosetta turned slightly lost because of the number of corridors and passages in the mansion with many servants walking up and down to clean, she finally found him. Eugene stood in one of the corridors with a bucket of water and a mop. He dipped one end of the mop in the water, squeezing it before he started to mop the floor.
The man was in his mid thirties, his black hair combed to the side, where one piece of his hair had settled on his forehead after the amount of work he had been doing without a pause and he hadn't paid attention to his appearance. He wore a different attire than Rosetta was used to looking at him, an attire that belonged to the Moriarty family. A white shirt and black trousers. His eyes looked tired, even though his body was trained for the life of labour he was born in.
Rosetta wiped her clammy hands against her expensive skirt, and when one of the servants walked past her, she finally walked to where he was.
Eugene saw a shadow on the floor, and he turned to see if it was one of the servants of the Moriarty mansion who had come to pass him a message. But his eyes turned weary when he noticed it was the Marquee's daughter, Rosetta Hooke. He offered her a small bow, and Rosetta, who had never bowed her head to a servant or spared a look at people who were beneath her status, felt compelled to return his bow.
Rosetta and Eugene stared at each other with different emotions in their eyes. But when Eugene's eyes carried a questioning look to the woman, the vampiress suddenly blushed and turned her face away to hide it.
You can do it, Rose! Rosetta pumped words of encouragement to herself. There was nothing she couldn't do! She was the Marquee and Marchioness's daughter! But at the same time, she remembered the words spoken to her by her parent's a while ago. That her family was going to lose all the wealth soon.
Rosetta, who had grown up with wealth around her and a life of luxury without facing any hardship, didn't care much about it, even though she used her family status to throw in a person's face whenever she needed. She knew her parents would be very angry once they found out about her and Eugene, but they would come around, wouldn't they? After all, she was their only daughter.
Eugene asked her, "Would you like me to take you to where Miss Eve is, milady?"
Rosetta turned to meet Eugene's black eyes that held no lustre. She cleared her throat and said, "No, I am here to meet you."
Eugene was taken aback by the vampiress's words and he asked her, "How can I help you, milady?"
Rosetta looked around the place before asking, "Can we go to a quieter place?"
"Quieter place?" Don't tell me she wants to drink my blood even now, came the thought in Eugene's mind.
Thankfully, Rosetta cleared his doubt by saying, "Yes, I need to talk about something," and a slight relief entered Eugene's mind, and he nodded. He led her to the quieter side of the mansion where no servants would disturb them.
Eugene was cautious with Rosetta, not knowing if the vampiress was here to ask about her aunt's death. He watched her, wondering what she wanted to tell him.
On the other hand, Rosetta didn't know how to start, and she said, "My parents want me to marry Vincent Moriarty, but I don't want to," she pursed her lips for a few seconds and then continued, "He is not the person whom I want to marry because the person I want to marry is someone else on my mind."
Eugene wasn't sure why the young, wealthy vampiress was telling such personal matters to him. He politely advised her, "You should discuss this with your parents, milady. Maybe you could come to an agreement. Take the man you like to meet them." Considering how prideful and spoiled this vampiress was, he imagined her to have chosen someone of her own status.
Not wanting to beat around the bush, Rosetta said, "Come with me."
"For support? I think Miss Eve would be a better option to accompany you with something so important, milady," Eugene humbly denied her invitation with a bow, but this only agitated the vampiress.
"No, not support. I--uh, I wanted to tell something else not that," Rosetta had begun to sweat because as much as she had followed Eugene until now, her ability to confess had been washed out like the morning wind blowing away the dried leaves on the streets of the town.
"Okay," Eugene patiently waited for her to finish her words. At least it didn't look like she wanted to suck his blood.
Rosetta's eyes wandered everywhere before it came to meet Eugene's eyes, and she took a deep breath before confessing her feelings for him, "Eugene. I love you."
Eugene stared at the vampiress with a speechless look, not knowing if she was making a prank, and he looked around them to make sure no one had heard it. He slightly chuckled and said, "That almost got me, milady. But you shouldn't joke about such things. I should get back to my work," he bowed.
Rosetta's eyebrows furrowed, and she saw him turn around, ready to leave. She repeated, "I am in love with you, Eugene. Since we first met, and I am being serious."
The small smile that was present on Eugene's lips fell. He turned back to meet the vampiress's serious eyes. He said, "I--uh, I don't know what to say."
If Rosetta had a beating heart, it would have been pounding in her chest. Blood rushed to her face, adrenaline coursing through her body, and she stared at him. She had finally confessed! Finally, she and Eugene could be together!
Rosetta fidgeted a little with nervousness, waiting for Eugene's acceptance and then heard him say,
"I am sorry, but I cannot return your feelings."
