Marceline sat on the bed in her secluded room, her posture looked proud and refined even though she had been left in this horrendous place for two days. Her face was rigid, and she refused to eat or drink the food offered.
She couldn't believe her entire family had decided to let her spend the rest of her years in the House of Purgatory. Anger bubbled and coursed in the vampiress's veins, but the longer time passed, the more she came to realise that her words fell on deaf ears. But her stubbornness increased the hunger she now felt and she bitterly waited for the guard to come in front of her room and bring her food.
When she heard footsteps approaching towards the room, her eyebrows drew, and a hint of relief passed her expression when she noticed it was the guard, carrying a tray of food and a glass of blood.
"Where are you going? Serving the food to the room next to mine when you haven't served me?"
But the guard disappeared from her sight without pausing or even looking at her. The audacity of this lowly guard… Marceline's eyes narrowed. Hunger mixed with her anger, she pushed herself from the bed and made her way towards the room's door gate. Holding the iron rods and pushing her nose and part of her centre face through the gaps so that she could have a better look at the ends of the corridor.
"You there!" Marceline called the same guard, when he walked past her room once again. "I am talking to you! Don't you have ears?"
What was going on in here?! She was Marceline Moriarty, the daughter of a wealthy and high-positioned Viscount!
"You think my father will be pleased if he hears about how you are treating me here?! He's a Viscount and he will punish you all!" Marceline shouted.
"Shut up, already!" Came a coarse voice of a woman from the left side, who Marceline assumed to be coming from the room next to hers. "Some of us are trying to eat in peace. I hear another word from you, I will snap you into two halves."
For a moment, Marceline turned quiet. But then she thought, how can the woman even harm her when she was locked in the room. Being used to getting her way and always being on the upper hand, she responded imperiously, "If you want, you can cut your ugly self. I am talking to the guard, not you."
She heard a chuckle from one side of the corridor outside the room, but not knowing if it came from the left or right, her red eyes moved around before the person who had chuckled walked to the front of her room.
It was a decently tall man with blonde hair, his eyes downturned and a sly smile on his lips. He said, "If I were you, I would watch my words, young miss of the Moriarty family."
Marceline glared at the man, who appeared to be around her own age. He didn't wear expensive clothing, which had her assume that he came from a lower family than hers. Not to mention, there were scars on his wrists, which were all healed.
"I was not served my share of the food and blood for the hour. I am hungry," Marceline stated in a haughty tone. "Where is it?" She demanded.
The man stared at her with his green eyes and replied, "If you weren't served, there's only one reason. You must have refused to eat or drink the first two days."
"I am not refusing now," Marceline frowned.
"Yes, maybe you aren't refusing it now, but if an inmate of the House of Purgatory refuses to eat by showing arrogance and pride as if you are from a superior place, you will be denied food for the next two days. So maybe think carefully next time you display your arrogance."
"What?" Marceline questioned, a deep frown appearing on her face as if she wasn't able to comprehend the logic. "I demand my food right now! I cannot be treated as if I am a vermin like the rest of the people here. I come from the—"
"The Moriarty family. Yes, we all heard about it, there's no need to yap about it. But you are part of the vermin culture, so get used to it. No matter what big name your family carries outside these high walls of the House of Purgatory, once you step inside, it is better for you to drop it right there, than cling to it. Right now to most of us, you are just a woman who keeps shouting," the man said to her with a smug expression. "Trust me, it is better to keep a low profile, than bring attention to yourself. If you think you were a hyena, there are vultures in here who will peck and tear you apart. So if I were you, I would stay quiet and behave. Don't think the guards aren't marking your bad behaviour."
Marceline couldn't believe this, and while gripping the iron rods, she tried to tone down her voice and said, "Please bring the man in charge of this place! I would like to talk to him! I will not send away the food untouched again! I wasn't keeping well and I couldn't eat it!"
"Sure, liar," the man said to her, his green eyes taking in a quick look at her, and he said, "You will step out of the room, it isn't like we are a pet. Be on your good behaviour and the guards will let you out, and you will be able to join the buffet in the hall, rather than be stuck in here." Saying this, the man left the front of her room as if Marceline had bored him.
The young vampiress's body shook in anger and frustration. She couldn't believe the plight she was placed in. All these years, Marceline had prided herself on being a member of the Moriarty family. For crying out loud, she wasn't some average vampiress but a pureblooded vampiress!
