Music Recommendation: Heavens, what an afternoon- John Lunn
With all the guests leaving the Moriarty mansion, Noah and Anaya also decided to take their leave as they had attended the event they had been invited for. Even though it wasn't successful.
Reaching near the mansion's beginning of the hallways, Anaya and Noah reached the stand where a few more coats hung on the stands. The she-wolf looked at the stands, and Noah asked her,
"What's the matter?"
"Ah, I think my coat is missing," Anaya murmured, while her eyes calmly looked again.
Noah asked one of the servants, who had finished helping one of the guests wear their coat, "Have you seen a golden coat with white fur on its lapel?"
"Golden coat?" The servant asked, and he quickly took a look at the stands by moving the other coats that hid the ones below it. Not finding it, he asked the other servant, "Did you see a golden coat here with white fur?"
Anaya politely said, "It belonged to me. A woman's coat."
The second servant's eyes widened, and he quickly nodded, "I believe I did see your coat, milady. But another woman took it saying it was hers and she left in the carriage ten minutes ago."
Anaya pursed her lips and then said, "I see." It wasn't as if she couldn't afford another coat. She wondered who had 'mistaken' her coat to be theirs. She turned to Noah and said, "That's fine. Maybe once the lady realises, she will return it."
"Why don't you wear my coat for now?" Noah offered Anaya, but she shook her head.
"I will be fine," Anaya assured him with a smile.
Before the two could step out from where the coats were being picked and worn by the guests, as they left one by one, Marceline appeared in the hallways.
Marceline, who was about to climb up the stairs and her room, had noticed the Duke of Woodlock standing near the beginning of the hallways and couldn't help but talk to him.
"Duke Noah, what a lovely surprise to see you here. Are you leaving?" Marceline put on her politest demeanour as she asked him with a bow.
Noah returned her greetings with his bow, "Good evening, Lady Marceline. Yes, we finished having supper and we have stayed here longer than we intended. It is late after all."
Marceline waved her hand, "It is never late for us supernatural creatures. We are, after all, the creatures of the night. Some of us are having a little drink in the parlour room, my brother and I will be very delighted to have you two join us. Even the Marquee and the Marchioness," she smiled.
Noah Sullivan was Marceline's ideal person, someone she had hoped to end up with, and she couldn't look away from his midnight eyes.
"Unfortunately, I need to take Lady Anaya back home," Noah replied, looking at Anaya, who was staring at the vampiress. Returning his gaze to Marceline, he said, "We can always visit later."
Marceline, who had deliberately ignored the she-wolf until now, turned her dull red eyes to look at the woman. She offered a sweet smile that even reached her eyes, and she asked, "Lady Anaya, how about you stay for a drink?"
Anaya smiled, and she replied, "I think if I drink another glass, I wouldn't be conscious and I always prefer to drink in a closed company than with strangers. Thank you for the invitation."
Marceline gritted her teeth. If it were possible, she would have sought Noah, but with her cursed foot that had thickened, she couldn't climb up and down the stairs without anyone taking a peek at her swollen foot. Not only that, it was painful to move it, yet she was pushing herself to make it appear as if everything was fine.
"Noah is a close acquaintance of this mansion, which should make us close too, Lady Anaya," Marceline smiled, but deep down, she disliked this woman for standing next to Noah and living in the same mansion.
"Noah and I are close to Ms. Barlow. I am not sure about others as I haven't found time to mingle, but tonight I am tired," Anaya couldn't be fooled by Marceline because she had grown up with many selfish and cunning she-wolves around her, making her brace herself to fend for herself. She said, "I would love to spend time with you to get to know you better. How about you and Eve attend the afternoon tea in Sullivan's mansion?"
But Marceline couldn't leave her house in her current state. Not to mention, the person she was interested in bonding with was Noah, not this bitch. She said with a faint smile, "Of course, that can be done. It is a pity we didn't get to spend time today."
Anaya remembered not seeing the vampiress the entire time in the ballroom, and she wondered if the woman was unhappy about her brother marrying Hooke's daughter.
Noah said to Marceline, "We should get going, Lady Marceline. It was good to see you," his words were polite.
Marceline felt her heart squeeze, and she clenched her hands into fists. All she wanted was to spend time with him, yet it was hard because of the woman next to him. She wished to get rid of her.
But before leaving, Noah and Anaya, who had a good nose for picking up scents around them, now picked up the foul smell drifting in the air. Noah frowned, while Anaya asked,
"What's that smell? As if something is rotting."
Marceline's face paled, not realising the rotten foot was leaving a foul stench. She quickly covered it up with, "It's probably the damn cat that has dug out some more rats and brought them in or around the mansion. It is Ms. Barlow's pet cat," she laughed.
Genevieve's pet cat? Noah questioned in his mind, as this was the first time he heard it. As if on time, Allie appeared in the hallways, carrying a black cat, and she followed the Head Council.
"There is the cat!" Marceline pointed her finger, hoping to distract them from the smell, while she internally started to panic.
