On feeling her mother's arms tighten around her, Rosetta asked, "Mother?"
"Yes, Rose?" Lady Aurora released her hands around her daughter and brought her hands back inside the cell. She looked at her daughter, who was the ticket for her to get out of this horrible place. Never had she imagined that the place she had sent people to would be the place she would be living in.
Rosetta said to her mother, "You haven't greeted my husband Eugene since we arrived." She turned to Eugene and raised her hand towards him.
Eugene took his wife's hand before stepping right next to her. He noticed how Lady Aurora's face fell, and so did her father, who looked repulsed by the thought about their daughter married to a servant.
Rosetta didn't miss the look on her parent's faces and she felt her heart break. It was because it was evident that her parents weren't happy about the marriage since the time they had come to find out about it.
Lady Aurora tried to offer Eugene a smile that faltered and said, "The dungeon is so dark that we didn't catch sight of him. Hm."
Rosetta frowned and she said, "Mother, father. I hope you can acknowledge our marriage and embrace it with open arms. I would be very upset if you didn't because Eugene is my life and I love his family." She paused for a moment and then said, "Eugene and his family is no more from a lesser class, because you are now on the same boat as us."
For once Rosetta was truly glad that her parents and she had no money because this would allow her parents to see the way she looked at things.
Lady Aurora's face hardened nothing less to the wall of the cells because her daughter's words weren't comforting. Her voice had turned hoarse with her husband after continuously shouting with every whip that had touched them with a hiss.
Rosetta's father wanted to speak back and scold her, but he and his wife were in a capricious position with no way out of here. No one was willing to talk for them or listen. All the guards did was use their whips on them.
Eugene smiled at Rosetta and said, "You worry for nothing, Rose. Your parents must be tired because of the dire condition in this cell. I am sure they have accepted our wedding the day they placed a foot in here. Isn't that right, Mrs. Hooke?" He turned his head to look at the woman, who once so haughtily had threatened him and his family.
Lady Aurora wanted to glare at the human's insolence to think he could speak to her directly, but it was the pain in her back that had her seal her lips and not to mention her daughter was standing right in front of her.
Eugene continued smiling and said, "Once they are out, they will be staying with us. In Meadow. It would be rude to leave them on the streets with nowhere else to go, right?"
"You are so considerate, Eugene," Rosetta beamed at her husband at his thoughtfulness. She turned back to look at her mother with a bright smile and she said, "It would be wonderful, mother. I know it will be hard in the beginning, but you will learn to appreciate the small things in life. Just like I did."
Mr. and Mrs. Hooke didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse, as they were forced to live in a town that they despised and looked down upon. They nervously smiled at their daughter's excitement.
"W--we look forward to it, Rose. So very much that we can hardly wait for it," Mr. Hooke replied to his daughter, while trying to hold back his tongue.
"Wonderful!" Rosetta clapped her hands. "We will speak to Vincent and see how long it will take for both of you to come out. I love you both."
"And we love you, Rose," Lady Aurora said to her daughter.
But Rosetta wasn't done talking and she said with her smile lowering from her face, "I heard what happened between you and Lady Aubrey, mother. Her missing toes... I think it would be best that you apologise to her when you see her. Because even though Eugene and I live there, it is Lady Aubrey's house and you will need permission. I think you could take this little gap of time until you are out, to think what to say to her. We'll see you soon," she smiled and held Eugene's hand before leaving the place.
Lady Aurora's face fell once her daughter left the cell. She turned to look at her husband angrily, "This is happening all because of you. Neither would you have gambled our family money away, nor we would be in such a terrible condition! I have to bow down to that lowly human!"
"Shh! We are getting out of here and let us be happy with it for now, Aurora!" Mr. Hooke hushed his wife before someone heard them or their daughter returned. "We are in no position to be talking about status. Frankly, staying in here is one kind of torture, and getting out is another."
Lady Aurora rubbed her temples before wincing in pain when she stretched her back, "What has our life come to? We were marquee and marchioness, and now... now we are prisoners with no status, no money, nothing!" She said in frustration, "I will drink them dry before I bow my head to the lowly people!"
Footsteps echoed from the other side of the corridor, and soon Eugene appeared back in front of the cell that had the Hooke's couple glare at him. Lady Aurora asked him, "Was it always your plan to trap our daughter and get her married to you?"
Eugene stared at the couple and replied, "Yes, she's a lovely woman. I didn't see why I shouldn't be married to her. You do forget that I have respect and value more than you do, Mrs. Hooke."
"What value does a servant have?" Lady Aurora clicked her tongue in distaste. "Rosetta will one day realise the grave mistake she has done by marrying you. She was brought up nothing less to a princess and would expect it later if not now."
Eugene lowered his eyes before giving them a nod. He said, "It seems like you don't know your own daughter. And I am not a lowly servant any more," and he raised his eyes where his black eyes had changed to red eyes and the couple saw it quickly with shock on their faces. He said, "I will be a council member, and you will learn that your daughter values emotions than materialistic items. Let us hope all of us can get along for each other's sake," he offered a small bow and left the dungeon.
Lady Aurora's lips trembled in continued shock, and she turned to her husband and asked, "H--he is a vampire!?"
"Seems like we are stuck, Aurora... It is better for us to accept defeat," Mr. Hooke said in a dull tone as he stared at the black wall in front of him.
