Marceline stared hard at Vincent, but her gaze barely did anything except for him to take an even more comfortable seat on the couch. The thought about her foot starting to smell had completely escaped from her mind, as somewhere she had gotten used to the foul smell wafting around her since this afternoon.
"I have already forgiven you," Marceline said just so that Vincent would leave her alone, and Vincent's eyebrows rose in question.
"Really?" He asked her.
"Yes," Marceline asserted, as she put a fake smile on her lips, "I thought a lot on what you said and why you did it, and have decided to accept my faults towards Ms. Barlow."
The smile on Vincent's lips slowly lowered, and he said, "Why does it feel like you are only saying it because you want me to leave you. You don't mean it, do you, Marcie?" A smile cracked again on his lips.
Vincent took a deep breath before exhaling the air through his lips, but when he had inhaled, he tried to find where the stinking smell was coming from. The smell was spread to every corner of the room. Marceline clenched her fists, knowing she would have to put more effort in having him leave the room. She said in a convincing voice,
"You have always been right, Vince. My hate towards humans has stemmed because of the loss of our mother, when she did nothing wrong. You did the right thing by choosing Ms. Barlow, and you should know that I am always going to support both of you. In fact, I was just thinking a moment ago on how I should talk to the Marchioness, to agree to not go ahead with the agreement made between our two families."
The snow that had earlier begun falling from the sky had picked up speed and momentum along with the wind, which had turned the atmosphere into a slight blizzard.
Vincent smiled, which was calm and kind, and Marceline almost fell for it when he stood up from the couch, "Okay." Finally! He believed her enough to leave her alone. But then she heard the next words from him, "Tell the woman to make another invitation to the guests, that what she sent earlier was a little prank and wasn't true."
Marceline's mouth fell open, "N--now?"
Vincent gave her a nod, "Yes, you are the one who said you are ready to go now. So why wait when it can be done right away." He then continued, "Also, it is going to take quite some time for the envelope to reach some of them and it would be rude to invite them here when there's no soiree being held."
"How about I send a letter to Lady Aurora through a servant to cancel the soiree? There's a blizzard outs--"
"But Lady Aurora won't listen to a servant, will she? It would be better if you directly talk to her, lest she thinks the servant was sent by me," Vincent watched Marceline's unwillingness, and he asked her, "What's the matter, dear sister?" He walked to where she stood, as she hadn't moved an inch since she had opened the door for him.
Marceline couldn't say no, as he would call her bluff. But surely he wasn't expecting her to step out of the mansion in this blizzard!
Marceline said, "Even in this dire weather, I will go and meet her myself, to show that I am on your side."
"Let me accompany you to the Hooke's mansion. I don't want you to be bored in the carriage," Vincent offered, but Marceline quickly shook her head.
"You don't have to do that, Vince. You have been far too kind to me, and I can do this myself," Marceline said to him in haste. "Let me--let me go and get my shoes."
"Why don't you let me, your amazing brother, help you with that?" Vincent walked to where the shoe rack was, and he picked up a pair of her shoes. "How about I help you wear them?"
"No!" Vincent frowned hearing Marceline's high-pitched scream.
"You woe me, Marcie. I was only offering to help. You don't have a husband to look after you and father is disappointed with your previous actions and so was I. But seeing how you are repenting over your past actions, I believe I should be a good brother to you," Vincent threw in a few facts that made Marceline feel bitter.
Marceline grabbed the pair of shoes from Vincent and said, "You don't have to do that. Don't you have something else to do? Go spend time with Eve and in the meantime I will try to be useful to you."
Vincent stepped closer to his sister, who wearily looked at him. He then put his arms around her and hugged her, "I knew I could count on you."
Seeing how Vincent didn't budge from there, Marceline cursed at her luck and her family for putting her through a wretched time in her life. She saw her brother patiently watching her wear her shoes, and she turned away from him, before slipping her good leg into the shoe and then came the bad leg. A squelching sound was heard when she put her bad foot in her shoe, and Vincent's eyebrows rose.
"What was that?"
Marceline panicked and quickly covered it by saying, "The snow from earlier must have slipped into the shoe, and there must be water in it."
Vincent didn't react as he could only guess something had happened to his dear sister's foot. Noticing how she had not moved from her spot, he realised the foul smell was coming from her leg.
"I shall go now, before the blizzard gets harsher and it is harder for the carriage to move," an unwilling Marceline remarked as she stared at the weather through the nearest window. "It will be difficult for Adam to drive the carriage in this snow," she added, hoping that Vincent would stop her from going to the Wright's mansion.
"Briggs is much more efficient in riding the carriage in the snow. You should take him along with you," Vincent offered his coachman for her to take, and Marceline's face turned paler.
Marceline could feel the sides of the shoe scraping the already worsened skin on her right foot, and all she wanted to do was scream in agony. Instead, she held it in and said, "I shall be going now."
Vincent nodded, "Have a safe journey and make sure to convince the Marchioness."
The smile on Marceline's face faltered, and she said, "I will try my best to do that. I will go now."
"You should before the snow storm gets worse," Vincent suggested. For a moment, Marceline wanted to strangle her brother. "Go on."
Marceline turned and tried to walk as straight as possible without fumbling. Suddenly Vincent stopped her by saying, "By the way, I met two of the councilmen who met you today. What were you doing in the Palavista forest?"
The young vampiress's eyes widened on hearing it, and she slowly turned to look at him before smoothening her expression. She smiled and asked, "What was I doing there? I was taking a stroll in the woods like many others."
"Lucky you. The witch there was killed before she could come in contact with you," Vincent watched the anger and disappointment pass through Marceline's face. He then said, "Catch this," and threw something at her.
Marceline caught hold of it with both her hands and looked down at her hands. It was her bracelet. She had been worried about her foot that she hadn't noticed her bracelet was missing. She said, "Did you get this from the forest? I must have lost it in there while I was taking a walk," she smiled and put the bracelet in her dress pocket.
She asked her brother, "Did the councilman give it to you from when I met this afternoon? Send them my thanks."
"It wasn't them who gave it to me," the smile on Vincent's lips disappeared.
Marceline looked at her brother with a questioning gaze, "Who found it then?"
"I did," Vincent responded, and he made his way to where she stood, staring at him. He stared back at the woman, who shared blood with him, his parents. He said, "I had a little case to work on because of missing girls and women. A young girl went missing early this morning from the village that comes after Palavista, and to my surprise, I found this expensive looking bracelet. Just like the one you wear."
Vincent didn't question her if she was there, but every word of his pointed to the obvious subject that made Marceline's face rigid. He said,
"If you are committing a crime, at least learn not to be caught like an idiot."
Vincent stepped away from her and took a few steps forward when he heard Marceline demand from him, "What do you mean by that, Vince?!"
"When did you turn this vile, Marcie? I wonder if you can even recognise yourself and it is a true pity that you destroy yourself."
Vincent's words were cold and his eyes looked soulless as he said those words to Marceline, that didn't let her rebuke him. He said, "Do you know what the difference is between you and I? You claim to love our family by words, while I show it by actions. It would have taken a minute to put you in the dungeon," he whispered the words at the end.
Marceline's hands turned into fists, and she gritted her teeth, while feeling even more humiliated than when she had been defanged.
"I saved you from being thrown into the dungeon for Lady Camille's death! You are selfish enough to not see what I do for you," Marceline spoke in anger, and hearing her, one corner of his lips pulled, and he said,
"So quick to agree that I killed the woman. Question is," Vincent paused for a moment before continuing, "If you did it for me, or for your own selfish reason to keep your reputation clean."
