Music Recommendation: Very Elegant- (K)NoW_NAME
Feeling the sudden brightness in the dark room, Eugene and Rosetta stared at each other. Eve watched them scramble and struggle to stand on their feet. The vampiress's cheeks looked red, and she quickly exclaimed,
"We weren't doing anything!"
"That's what people who are doing something say," Timotei muttered under his breath, and when Rosetta's eyes moved from Eve to look at the black thing sitting next to her, the black cat meowed.
"Thank you for finding us, Miss Eve." Even though Eugene's words sounded composed, he looked a little troubled because of what happened a minute ago. Rosetta's heart was beating loudly because Eugene had not just fallen on top of her, but in the darkness, his lips had touched hers, and she found it hard to look into his eyes. Eugene cleared his throat and explained, "The door got locked and we couldn't open it from the inside."
Eve nodded, without knowing what to say, because Eugene and Rosetta didn't look at her or each other. Rosetta then said,
"Thank you for searching for us, Eve!" Her voice was higher than usual, almost making it feel squeaky. She fidgeted before remembering, "Yes! The milk and cookies. The milk has turned cold. I will take it with me."
Eugene turned to look at Rosetta and stopped her, "You don't have to. I will take it from here."
"No, no. I brought it, so I should be the one to take it." When Rosetta's eyes finally met Eugene's, she turned flustered, remembering his soft lips against her own.
Picking up the tray, her eyes looked around the room in weariness to see if the spider was in the room, and she stepped out. She said to Eve, "I will see you at dinner."
Eve nodded. She noticed Rosetta taking a quick look at Eugene before hurrying away from the corridor.
"What was that shriek about? Did you finally decide to consider the vampiress's wish?" Timotei questioned Eugene.
"She thought there was a spider in there and was worried about it," Eugene explained, staring in the direction where Rosetta had walked in. "The rooms in here needed to be cleaned and the locks haven't been changed," he repeated. Eve smiled at his words,
"That's fine, Eugene. We are just glad that you both are safe. Lady Aurora came to the mansion looking for Rosetta, now thinks she ran away alone," she said with a hint of worry. Eugene's eyes widened at this. This wasn't good at all.
Soon in front of Moriarty's mansion, two carriages entered inside the gates before stopping in front of the mansion's entrance. One of the carriages belonged to Vincent, and the other belonged to the Hookes. The coachmen stepped down from their seats and opened the carriage door.
Alfie was quick to appear at the entrance, reaching where Vincent was, he offered his deepest bow. Seeing Lady Aurora get down from the carriage, the butler turned to look at Vincent, who looked calm.
"You are wasting your time here, Vincent. Instead of searching for my precious daughter in the other towns," Lady Aurora's words were curt and impatient.
Vincent raised his hands, and he let Alfie remove his outer coat. He said,
"Lady Aurora, you said I should look for her, the way I look for others. Then you should let me do it my way, unless you want to look for her all by yourself, which you are completely free to do," he turned to look at the Marchioness and offered her a polite smile, "Okay?"
Lady Aurora pursed her lips, ready to retort, when her husband placed his hand on her shoulder and said, "Our son-in-law knows what he is doing. He will find Rosetta."
"I knew you were a wise man, Marquee Hooke," Vincent smiled, indirectly calling Lady Aurora a fool, and she was ready to snap her fangs at him if it weren't for her husband's hand that gripped her shoulder.
Vincent and the others stepped inside the mansion's hallways, walking through it, and he ordered the butler, "Alfie, go and find where Lady Rosetta is in the mansion. Check every room, even the ones that are not in use."
The butler had already done it with others and Lady Aurora's maid, but he still complied. When he was about to leave, Rosetta appeared at the top of the stairs, holding the tray of cold milk and cookies.
"Well well well, look who it is," Vincent remarked with a lack of surprise, turning to look at the Hookes.
As relieved as Lady Aurora and her husband looked, at the same time, Lady Aurora turned angry. She walked forward and demanded, "Rose!"
Rosetta turned startled and asked, "Mother?"
"Where have you been?! We have been looking for you all over the place," Lady Aurora's gaze pierced into her daughter's eyes.
Were they looking for her? Rosetta realised she couldn't tell she had been locked in a room with Eugene for hours. She responded, "I was in my room. Did something happen?" She asked innocently.
Lady Aurora's eyes narrowed, and she remarked, "You weren't in your room." Noticing the tray in her daughter's hand, she questioned, "What are you doing?"
"This is for the Moriarty pet. The black kitty," Rosetta softly laughed, and she said, "I was in the room, mother. I have been in my room since lunch. I have been sleeping and just woke up."
The exact time Eve, Eugene and Timotei reached the top of the stairs and watched the scene unfold on the floor below.
"Earlier, Blythe went to your room, but you weren't there. Don't lie to me, Rosetta," Lady Aurora glowered, and Rosetta felt the heaviness in the air around them. It was something she was used to.
Usually Rosetta never lied to her mother, and because of her direct words and actions, her mother always believed her. Her direct words had also often gotten her into trouble. This time, she would have to lie, not for her but for Eugene's sake. To keep him away from her mother's furious gaze. She then turned to look at Blythe and questioned in authority,
"Did you check my room?"
"I did, milady. You weren't sleeping on the bed," Blythe promptly answered.
The young vampiress laughed. She moved closer to her mother and whispered, "That's because I wasn't sleeping on the bed. I fell asleep in the bathtub. You said I should appear better, and I was trying to do that, mother."
Lady Aurora gritted her teeth. She turned to her maid and demanded, "Did you check the bathtub?"
Blythe was sure that she had stepped into the room, but with the bathtub behind the room's divider, she wasn't sure if the young miss was in there. She stuttered, "M--Milady, I am sure I ch--chec--"
Rosetta squinted her eyes when her mother slapped her maid, which echoed in the hallways. Lady Aurora glared at Blythe, "How could you have missed something so simple?! You unfit mongrel," she said in a low voice. She could feel Vincent staring at her with that smirk on his lips, and it got on her nerves.
As if that wasn't enough, the Skellington's magistrate arrived at the Moriarty mansion, and he entered. Reaching where everyone was, he cleared his throat to get everyone's attention, and the people turned to look at him. Mr. Welbeck bowed.
"Mr. Moriarty." He then looked at the Hookes and said, "The butler in your mansion told me that I might find you here or in the Council. As this place is closer, I decided to check here first." He then informed them with a polite smile, "I have sent my men to look for your daughter, and have asked them to do it discreetly."
"Which daughter are we talking about, Mr. Welbeck? Because if I am not wrong, the Hookes have only one daughter and she's right here," Vincent remarked, turning to look at Rosetta and then back at the magistrate, who turned confused.
"Ah, you found your daughter?" Mr. Welbeck asked the Hooke couple, slightly annoyed that the pair had made him stop his men from the work they were doing to work on their demand.
Lady Aurora felt like she was being humiliated now because of her maid's inefficiency. Then there was Vincent, who continued to stare at her as if wanting her to admit that she was in the wrong. Hiding her rage, she offered a polite smile to the magistrate and said,
"Pardon us for causing your trouble, Mr. Welbeck. We didn't know she was right here, and as parents, we thought she went missing and became worried. But we sincerely thank you for your quick assistance in our difficult time."
Though not pleased, Mr. Welbeck maintained a polite smile and offered a bow, "We are always happy to help Marquee and Marchioness Hooke."
"It is good that we found Lady Rosetta in the mansion, else Lady Aurora would have sentenced me to death," Vincent's smile was as bright as the flames in the candles that were soon going to be burning in the mansion.
Mr. Welbeck looked surprised by this information.
Marquee Hooke covered it by saying, "My wife was joking with you earlier, Vincent."
"That I was responsible for Rosetta's absence, and I might have killed her?" Vincent asked nonchalantly. "If Rosetta went missing, I would be subjugated to execution."
"That was all a joke. There's no need to take it to heart," Marquee Hooke tried to lower the impact of his wife's reputation being ruined in front of the magistrate and patted Vincent's back.
"Seems like Lady Aurora is a humorous person," Vincent laughed, looking at the Marchioness.
Lady Aurora and Marquee Hooke thanked the magistrate again, soon they left the mansion before Vincent would say something more. Rosetta returned to her room, while the maid followed right behind her.
The magistrate sighed, and he said to Vincent, "It seems like I will be heading home late today. I will need to send out a word to my men to stop looking for the vampiress. Earlier today, they came to my office and sounded very upset."
"Pardon them, Mr. Welbeck. The Hookes haven't been doing that well. With the recent loss of their close relative and losing money because of gambling. They seem to suspect anyone and everyone they come across," Vincent casually threw in the information, and Mr. Welbeck raised his eyebrows.
While Vincent accompanied the magistrate to the mansion's front entrance, Mr. Welbeck responded, "I did hear about Lady Camille's death... but what is this about gambling?"
"I don't mean to spread news about the unfortunate, but as this is you, let me share it, but don't tell it to anyone else," Vincent's voice lowered, and he continued, "I heard from this man named George Salford, who lives up in the North. The Hookes, at first gambled only for leisure, but then it became a habit. It runs in the blood, and they pawned almost everything, and have no money. This man Salford said that they are in dire need of money to uphold their status, you know how badly it will look on them."
Mr. Welbeck nodded, "That is very true, Mr. Moriarty. I thought they were wealthy enough, but it seems like the story is otherwise. It surprises me."
"True, such a thing to do and happen," Vincent put a long face, and he said, "Salford also insinuated that Lady Camille's death was orchestrated by the Hookes."
"You don't say! How is that possible? I thought they were in the North until recently," Mr. Welbeck looked more than surprised.
Vincent nodded, "I told the same thing when I heard it. But he said that the Hookes had hired people to kill..." He noticed the horror on Mr. Welbeck's face and then said, "Of course, these are rumours and we shouldn't believe in it. After all, the Hookes are upstanding members of our society. It is better to stay quiet about it."
Mr. Welbeck only nodded and said, "We will never know. I will see you at the Council, Mr. Moriarty. Always a pleasure to meet you," he bowed and climbed inside his carriage.
Vincent stared at the leaving carriage and slipped his hands into his trousers pockets. Turning around, he stepped back inside the mansion.
That night, Mr. Welbeck passed the little information about the Hookes to his wife, while skipping Vincent's name. A piece of information that was soon going to spread in and out of Skellington.
