One of the female guests, who in the past had been ridiculed by Marceline, remarked, "It seems like no one is perfect."
When Eve's eyes fell on Marceline's shoes, she frowned. One was small, and the other was enormous. What was going on? She noticed Marceline's face turned red, and she didn't know if it was because of anger or embarrassment. The young vampiress quickly pushed her gown to hide the shoes beneath it.
Even the person, who had come to help her, held an unsure and apprehensive look on his face. Realising everyone noticed it, she said,
"I hurt my foot and injured it," she tried to put up a smile but miserably failed. While some nodded, some looked at her in doubt and continued to whisper among themselves.
"Vampires heal faster, what was the need for it?" One of the female guests whispered. "Do you think something is wrong with her?"
Marceline, who was already having a hard week with the curse backfiring on her and not knowing how to undo the curse, the murmurs right now didn't help her.
Eve reached the bottom of the stairs. Noticing how everyone only stared at the young vampiress, she went near where Marceline was and said, "Here," stretching her hand for the vampiress to take.
But Marceline was too angry, and the mask that she always wore had started to crack, and she clenched her hands, and some of them noticed her anger. Marceline didn't take Eve's hand, and only slapped it away.
"What is wrong with Lady Marceline?" asked someone in the guests.
"Now that I think about it, don't you think she looks a little tired? Like she's lost the shine," one of the male guests stated.
Marceline fumed further, and got herself to stand before storming out of there. Instead of going to the ballroom, she escaped to the backside of the mansion.
Not a moment later, the guests who had praised Marceline now turned their full attention on Eve, finding her more attractive than the vampiress. One of them even stepped forward and bowed in greeting,
"Milady, I couldn't help but admire your beauty that shines brighter than the stars in the sky. If you would allow me f—"
"Ms. Barlow is with me," Eve heard someone's words from behind her.
Eve turned in the direction of the familiar voice, which she had forgotten to whom it belonged. She pursed her lips when she noticed it was Henry Quintin.
Henry Quintin walked towards where Eve and the other man stood. When he tried to pick up her hand, Eve took a step back to prevent him from touching her. But the man was as shameless as before, to forget what happened in the past, and he smiled at her,
"Good evening, Ms. Barlow. It seems like destiny is on our side, by bringing us together once again." Henry Quintin turned to look at the other man with a pointed look, who left as Henry came from a higher social standing family. Turning back to Eve, he asked, "What do you say?"
Eve couldn't believe that he was behaving as if hadn't misbehaved with her. Keeping her composure, she said, "I think your mind doesn't catch things quickly when it comes to learning not to cause trouble Mr. Quintin. It would be better if you don't talk to me, or come near me."
Henry chuckled, brushing her rudeness, "Just because you are in the mansion of a high class family and surrounded by people of class, doesn't mean you are from one to think you can speak to me in such a tone. You are a woman from a lower class, and I am willing to change it for you."
When Eve ignored him and started to walk away, the man followed her, making it appear as if they were together. She stopped walking after a few seconds, and the man did the same. She turned to see him offer her a pleasant smile that might have worked on her before, but it didn't anymore. She politely said,
"Mr. Quintin, people like you make me believe that I am in a better class than you can ever achieve. You are in a class where no woman in her right mind would agree to be with you. So before you decide to change my class, I would advise you to change yourself."
Henry Quintin was baffled that this lowly woman was speaking to him like this in public, and some of the guests stared at them but more at him with disapproving looks. He nervously smiled at the other guests and returned his gaze to the lowly woman and said,
"Last time there was a little misunderstanding, not to mention, you seemed quite eager to come to my mansion—"
"You mean to attend the soiree where you tried to misbehave with me," Eve's words were direct, and she spoke calmly. She would have tried to avoid causing trouble before, but she had found her voice in handling the people of high society.
Even Henry noticed the change in her attitude, and the more she resisted, Genevieve Barlow only turned that much more alluring that he wanted to have her for himself. He opened his mouth to speak, but Eve beat him to it.
Eve said, "With what Mr. Vincent Moriarty did to you last time, one would think you would have learned your lesson to not step into the Moriarty household again or near me. Do you think he has forgotten what you did and he would beat you in front of people?" She questioned Henry, who blinked at her.
Henry had solely come to the mansion to attend the soiree with the thought that Lady Aurora had already set up with Eve, that she had swayed the lowly woman's mind. Thinking about Vincent Moriarty hitting him, his face turned rigid.
"Eve," someone called. Hearing the voice, both Eve and Henry turned in the direction. They noticed it was Duke Noah along with Lady Anaya, who made their way to where Eve was. The she-wolf asked, "Is everything alright?"
Eve smiled and replied, "Yes. Mr. Quintin was just leaving."
"I will go and find myself a drink," Henry excused himself before giving a nod to the two women, and when he turned to the Duke, he felt him intensely stare at him. He quickly scurried from there to see where the Marchioness was to have a quick word with her.
Anaya asked, "How have you been, Eve? I found it very strange when I heard the news about Mr. Moriarty going to marry the Marquee's daughter. Is that true?" She asked in a low voice.
Eve gave her a nod, "It is true."
"I am so sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do?" Anaya asked, and she placed her hand on Eve's shoulder before giving it a light squeeze.
"You do not have to worry about me, I am fine," Eve smiled, and her eyes shifted to look at Noah, who was staring at her. "Good evening, Noah."
"Good evening, Genevieve," Noah offered her a respectful bow, which Eve quickly returned. "Did something happen that Vincent decided to marry the Marquee's daughter?" His calm eyes probed into her blue ones.
Eve wished she could tell the truth to Noah, but it was complicated. He didn't know that she had killed someone, and to cover the murder, Vincent and Rosetta had ended up getting entangled in it. Some of the guests who stood nearby, couldn't help but eavesdrop on what the gossip was about, making it harder for her to explain and she responded,
"Rosetta was Vincent's parents' first choice for him and they wanted a vampire in the family."
Noah slightly frowned at this information, because he didn't believe Vincent to be compliant unless he had lost interest in Eve. He and Anaya didn't raise more questions, knowing the guests tried to listen to their conversation.
One of the council men came to where they stood and called Noah to talk about work. He excused himself from there, leaving with the councilman. Anaya suggested, "How about we two head to the ballroom together, unless you are waiting for someone? I am sure Noah will be busy with work."
Eve gave a nod, "Let us go in then," and they walked together towards the big hall.
