Vincent was surrounded by a few council members, who were astonished that he was finally settling down with a woman. But internally, they prayed for Marquee and Marchioness Hooke's daughter's sanity, who had agreed to marry him. It was because of the pureblooded vampire's nature.
"Will you be living here in Skellington or be moving to North where the Hookes are living?" One of the Councilmen asked Vincent. "Maybe you will soon be working for the King and Queen, rather than in the Council."
"It does sound exciting but I will settle for wherever Lady Rosetta wishes to," Vincent answered with a bright smile, "After all, I should consider and respect my wife's wishes and thoughts."
Vincent's reply received many gobsmacked expressions from the men around him, who quickly fixed the surprised expressions on their faces. One of them was even brave enough to say,
"It seems like you are enamoured by Lady Rosetta Hooke. She must be quite a lady for you to agree with her," and the person cleared his throat in the end.
Vincent smiled and responded, "Maybe that's what happens when you meet a woman like her. I cannot wait for us two to get married and build a family." To the Hookes, Vincent's words were nothing less than him trying to keep the blood seal that he had signed in the registry when in truth, the pureblooded vampire was only making groundwork so no fingers would be pointed at him, but it would go back to the Hookes who had enthusiastically dug the grave for him.
"We wish you the best for the coming marriage," one of the councilmen wished him.
Mr. Stoker walked to where Vincent was and said, "Vincent Moriarty, I see you have decided to settle down. Not with anyone but with the daughter of the reputed Hookes."
"Unfortunately, I was waiting for you to give me your daughter, but you seem disinterested in it," Vincent joked, and this got the councilman to twitch.
Mr. Stoker offered a tight smile, "Sad indeed that I wasn't aware of it, or we would have discussed it." Not in a million years would he give his daughter to this crazy vampire who got on his nerves.
Mr. Stoker exchanged a few more words before dispersing from there with other council members. Not a moment later, Clayton arrived next to Vincent, and he asked with a straight face,
"Am I supposed to wish you or wait for you to pull something?"
A grin appeared on Vincent's lips, "Not so soon. This is just the beginning. But if you have bought me a gift, I would be more than happy to accept it."
Clayton pursed his lips and put his hands in his trouser pockets. He said, "I could be resting in my room rather than attend a sham engagement."
"Clayton!" A sweet voice interrupted their conversation, and it was none other than Allie who came to stand in front of them. "Look I got a cat!" She was holding Timotei in a death grip so that he wouldn't escape from her arms, and the cat had given up on running, deciding to be carried everywhere.
The Head Council stared at the cat and then at the little girl, who was Vincent's youngest sister. He responded in a dull voice, "Good for you. Go play with it."
"Let us play together," Allie replied with brightened eyes, and when Vincent chuckled at his sister's words, Clayton glared at the pureblooded vampire and then his little sister.
"I am allergic to cats," Clayton answered, and Allie frowned.
"To Timotei too?" Allie asked him with a confused look.
"Yes Timotei too," Clayton replied.
Allie's shoulders drooped, and she muttered, "I was looking forward to playing with you."
"Hamster," Vincent said to his sister, "This one might look like another hamster, but he is older than me or our father."
"Really? But he's so small," Allie innocently replied to her brother. Clayton gritted his teeth, knowing Vincent was enjoying this too much while the vampiress had no clue.
"Yes, you will need to play all by yourself today," Vincent clicked his teeth, noticing the little girl look sad, Clayton rolled his eyes before saying to the little girl,
"I can spare a few minutes."
Allie's eyes brightened like the burning flames of the candles on the chandeliers.
Vincent's eyes moved to where Eve stood. She looked like an exquisite meal in the dress, and with her back facing him, he noticed the dip in her smooth back. She stood with Noah's future finance, talking to her while she drank a glass of wine. But it didn't seem like she liked it, as she drank only half of it and returned the glass to the servant.
When the servant was walking by, collecting other empty or used glasses, Vincent took hold of the same glass that was sipped by Eve and finished the entire wine left in it.
Marquee Hooke appeared next to Vincent and informed, "It is time, son for us to make the announcement." The man seemed in a haste, wanting to finish the announcement as quickly as possible and disappear from there, while taking the debt collectors along with him and away from the other guests.
Vincent asked Marquee Hooke, "Is everything alright? You seem a little stressed. Don't worry, I won't run away and leave the guests and Rosetta," a small cunning smile appeared on his lips as he said it.
Marquee Hooke, who was looking around the hall, quickly looked at Vincent and laughed, "Of course, we know you won't be doing anything like that as you have signed in the registry with your blood."
Together, they walked to the front side of the hall, where Viscount Eduard and his wife Lady Annalise, stood on one side. A few steps away stood Lady Aurora and Rosetta, who seemed jittery.
Marquee Hooke picked up a glass and used a knife to hit the end of the glass with it to get every guest's attention in the ballroom. Soon the guests stopped their chatter to pay attention to him, and he said,
"Moriarty and the Hookes are here to share good news with you people, which many of you have already guessed," he smiled and looked at Viscount Eduard, who stepped forward and said,
"Welcome everyone and thank you for making your presence here today. My family and the Hooke's family have decided to bring the two families closer by having the marriage between my son Vincent and Marquee Hooke's daughter, Rosetta. They will be married to each other in one week's time from now. This is a union we are very much looking forward to."
Eve, who stood a little away from them, heard the announcement and pressed her lips. One week was too short of a time, and it was obvious that the Hookes were trying to speed things up rather than waste time.
Her eyes fell on Vincent, who looked unruffled, making her wonder if anything could ruffle the vampire. Her gaze then shifted to look at Rosetta, who stood next to him, and the vampiress stared at the Viscount and her father with a look of shock. Because she had been uninformed about the wedding date to be fixed this close.
