Before dawn broke through the sky, Eve woke up from her sleep. Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness in the room, her gaze fell on Vincent, who was fast asleep. While she was sleeping, she had turned around and now faced him. His head rested on the soft pillow, while her head was resting on his arm.
Vincent's silver hair looked darker than its usual self because of the lack of light in the room.
"You should get some more sleep," Vincent remarked, with his eyes still closed and a peaceful look on his face.
"Did I wake you up?" Eve asked him and felt his arm around her waist, pulling her closer.
"I did," Vincent replied and pressed his lips on Eve's forehead.
His lips felt tender on her skin, and she heard him ask, "Is your body doing okay?"
Eve nodded, "It is," and she snuggled closer to his chest, and he placed his chin on top of her head.
"You can take the day off from work. Today you don't have to teach Allie," Vincent let her know.
"No, that's fine. I don't have anything planned, and we already celebrated my birthday in the best way possible," Eve softly answered.
"I still insist that you take the day off to spend it the way you wish. Maybe you can visit Meadow to check the reconstruction of the house. Away from the things that are going on here as the Marchioness will be here to spend her day in the mansion," Vincent loudly guessed.
Eve took a deep breath before exhaling the air. With just a week left before the wedding, there were many things to do, and the Hookes would spend a lot of time in the mansion. She nodded, "I guess I will do that. I will take Eugene to come along with me."
"Yes, I was going to say that. It's the place where you grew up with Lady Aubrey and Eugene," Vincent remarked.
The Dawson's house held importance to her. Suddenly, she remembered the house in Brokengroves, the one she spent with her mother when she was young. She then said, "Can I ask something else from you?"
"Go ahead," Vincent felt Eve pull away so that she could look at his face.
"The house in which my mother and I used to live in, in Brokengroves. Can you make sure that it still stands, and it isn't destroyed when the new town is made?" Eve asked him before continuing, "I can add in what I have earned--"
Vincent placed his finger on her lips, stopping her from speaking further. He said, "You don't need to do that. I meant every word, when I said you are my wife and I would like to fulfil your dreams and wishes. So allow me to do that, and you can use the money you have worked hard for, for something else. Today when I go to Darthmore, I will take a look at whose name the house's ownership is registered to."
Eve didn't want the house that held memories of her childhood with her mother and her there to be stolen from her like her mother had been brutally snatched away from her. She heard a soft chirping sound from a bird outside the mansion and said,
"I should go back to my room before someone notices me missing in my room."
Though the sky was yet to turn bright, soon, the mansion's servants would wake up to start their work, and the members of the Moriarty family would wake up too. Leaning forward, Eve pressed her lips on Vincent's lips and sat up. She was about to leave the bed when Vincent caught her hand.
"I will see you to your room," Vincent said to her.
Getting out of bed, they wore their clothes and then stepped out of the room. Eve whispered, "Aren't you worried about someone catching us?"
"No," Vincent replied in a nonchalant voice, yet there was a smile on his lips. "Stepping out of the room together, is better than only you stepping out of it."
Vincent's thought brought a smile to her lips. It was because her stepping out of his room alone would make her appear as if she was offering service to Vincent and then returning to her room.
"I thought you didn't care about what people thought," Eve softly said, while walking in the deserted and quiet corridor.
"I don't," Vincent slipped his hands in his trouser pockets, "But I know you do. And if it matters to you, not all, but to some extent it matters to me too. You are a gem that shines brighter than anyone, and I won't let anyone dim it."
When they reached in front of Eve's room, Vincent returned to his room.
Eve decided to take a bath. Closing the door and locking it, she walked to the wooden divider and turned on the faucet for the water to fill the bathtub. Once the tub was ready, she removed the gown she had worn the previous night and stepped inside the cold water.
Eve immersed her body in the water. She remembered the time she spent with Vincent, being in his arms. A shy smile appeared on her lips. To think that she was his and he was hers in every sense. Her head emerged out of the water, while she played with the wavering water with her fingers.
And while Eve played with the water, her eyes fell on her right wrist where Vincent had marked her.
"It is so pretty," Eve murmured, running her fingers on top of the two wings held by the cursive 'V' in the middle.
When she placed her hands on her knees, she noticed something odd happen. Turning her wrist upward under the water, she watched only the right wing on it, and the left had disappeared. She frowned,
"What is that..."
Eve brought her hand out of the water and noticed the wing reappear. She whispered, "This is so strange. Where did it go?"
