Married To The Mad Vampire Lord-Chapter 142: Time with husband_Part 1

The chamber they were given had two large beds with their things already arranged in the closet. They were to share a bed as they were four. The two women who had joined their group seemed to already know each other, and they picked one of the beds and went to sit on it, talking and laughing animatedly.

Belle and Evelyn took the other one that was close to the window. The chamber was spacious and well-lit.

Soon after they settled, maids were sent to help them change, and those who needed to bathe bathed. Belle had already bathed before coming that night, thus she changed into a nightdress as her bed partner was in the bath.

She couldn’t help but worry about Rohan. Would he also share a room with others? How would he cope if the men were being noisy? The ladies on the other bed were already laughing and talking away as they gossiped about another one of their friends who had been grouped with the vampires.

Their laughter was quite annoying and too loud for noble ladies. She couldn’t help but wonder if the men would be this loud—and how he would cope if they were.

She wished she had gotten to see him before they were brought here. She should have given him another pair of cotton, in case he would like to change the ones in his ears.

Belle was still worrying when Evelyn returned to her side with a maid who came to help wipe and dry her wet red hair. She seemed to also not like the other two loud ladies, because she turned to them and frowned.

"Lady Johnson, Lady Benedict, if you will please lower your voices. We are not in the local markets for you two to be this loud. There are others in the chamber with you," she chided with a stern tone that immediately made the two ladies go silent, their smiles frozen on their faces.

One of them was blonde, and the other was a black-haired petite lady with a small, slender body—but with the loudest laughter Belle had ever heard.

It seemed Lady Clifton was someone they couldn’t afford to disrespect, because they both bowed their heads in her direction, though they looked resentful with tight smiles for being chided like some kids by the daughter-in-law of the infamous Clifton household.

"Apologies, Lady Clifton. We will lower our voices," said the blonde lady among them, Lady Anne Benedict. But when she turned to her friend, she rolled her eyes and muttered, "The bitch. We better lower our voices before she decides to destroy our lives like she did to Jeannie."

Evelyn’s stern face softened as she turned to Belle sitting on the bed, and then she said, "Tonight is going to be a noisy night. Many do not sleep because of tomorrow’s excitement. But you can sleep now if you want. There’s nothing exciting again tonight—unless you look forward to the few minutes allowed for the ladies to meet their husbands before bed."

Belle’s eyes brightened and she pushed to her knees on the bed. "We get to meet our husbands before bed?" she asked, getting up from the bed out of excitement.

Evelyn looked at her with pursed lips and then a small frown. "Yes... we do. You look excited. Do you want to meet your husband?" she asked, wearing a look that suggested she couldn’t quite believe Belle actually wanted to see her husband—though she tried to mask it with a chuckle that came out somewhat nervous, one that did not go unnoticed by Belle, whose excitement was impossible to hide at the thought of finally seeing her husband.

"Yes, I do. You don’t?" she returned the question, and the lady shrugged and nodded.

"I do. Of course I do. I just thought you wouldn’t want to see yours, since there are rumors saying he isn’t treating you well. You see, I don’t join in the gossiping and rumors, but I can’t help my ears from picking on things when they are being said next to me," she quickly said in her defense.

Belle couldn’t help but laugh softly in spite of herself, because she could relate with that. For the first time since she stepped here, she could relate with someone. She listened to many things being said but never contributed. She was a master of listening to gossips in Aragonia—whether they were right or wrong.

"It’s fine. Rumors can be misleading. My husband treats me well," she said as she walked to the mirror and sat beside Evelyn on the long stool before the mirror meant for two, to fix her hair before the time to meet Rohan would come.

She also had to make sure to take the cotton pieces with her, Belle thought as she began combing her hair.

She was standing up to go and find the coat she had removed the cotton from when a servant walked in to say, "Lady Clifton, Lord Clifton sent for you."

Belle thought she saw Evelyn stiffen and pale at those words, but she quickly composed herself and smiled.

"I will be out there in a minute," she said to the servant and jerkily began to do her hair by herself in a hurry.

Belle walked to the closet and located the coat. She raised the sleeve and pulled out the cotton, then grabbed her robe after putting the coat back. By the time she was outside the closet, Lady Clifton had left the chamber, and the two other ladies had resumed their discussion in loud voices. This time, they were talking about Lady Evelyn.

"The bitch thinks she is better than us for marrying into the Clifton household. I wish I wasn’t placed in the same group with her. It’s quite annoying how she carries herself, especially when her own family isn’t even that well off. She just got lucky to be beautiful and Lord Clifton took a liking to her..."

Belle pretended not to be in the room as she draped on her robe and applied a small drop of scented oils on her neck and arms.

"You’d better stay away from her, Lady Dagon," came the warning of Lady Benedict to Belle, who turned to her with a look of surprise that she was being addressed.

"Pardon me?" Belle acted taken aback.

"Lady Clifton is a bitch, a cruel twisted witch. If you get on her nerves, she will send her husband after your husband and make him lose his image and reputation—if not his life. Though I doubt she would be able to do that to you since you are married to the ma... A vampire.

"Anyways, Lady Clifton destroys people’s lives. I heard her best friend’s husband lost his job at the council because she had a disagreement with the friend. Jeannie, her best friend, is now reduced to the life of a servant because her family and her husband’s family lost everything. Since you are new to this land, take this as a warning and don’t make friends with her."

Before Belle could even say anything, a servant came in and bowed to her. "Lady Dagon, Lord Dagon has sent for you."

Belle felt her heart leap and her stomach flutter in excitement. She nodded her head, and without bothering to reply to the warning of the other woman—as she wasn’t even close to Lady Evelyn nor planned to be her friend—she hurried out of the chamber following the servant.

They were walking down the long corridor when she heard the sound of someone sobbing and an angry male voice that rose in a harsh, low scolding.

"...Stop crying, fool. I told you to carry the case for me, but you fucking forgot it at home! What did you think—that I will remain bound to a barren bitch like you when my inheritance is at stake? You can’t even do one fucking thing right! You—"

The voice immediately ceased, as if he had heard the clicking sounds of approaching footsteps. By the time Belle and the servant walked past the corridor where the voice had come from, it was another scene they were greeted with.

Lady Clifton, who had left the chamber, was being held by her husband as he kissed her passionately. Belle hurriedly turned her head from them and quickened her pace in embarrassment.

It was when they passed the couple that she turned back to see the man, who had just a moment ago been kissing his wife, pushing her away from him with a force that almost made her fall back.

Belle frowned at the scene. Was he the one scolding her, and was she the one sobbing just now? Belle wondered silently, as she could feel that something was off—but then she decided it was none of her business.

Though she told herself it was none of her business, she couldn’t help but think about what those two ladies in the chamber had said about Lady Clifton. They’d said she destroys people’s lives with her husband’s help, but it did not look like they were on good terms, with the husband scolding and insulting her.

Belle’s head was so wrapped around thoughts, she did not realize they had reached where the servant had led her to her own husband—until she felt a strong arm close around her, imprisoning her arms at her side. She jumped a little but then recognized the embrace enough to relax before she impulsively thought about pushing away. His chin came from behind and rested on her shoulder. His body was cold.

Belle became alarmed. "You’re cold," she pointed out, as she tried to move away to look at his face.

But Rohan did not loosen his hold around her and only hummed, "Hmm. It’s nothing serious. What are you thinking about? You looked so lost in thought just now," he whispered, as he turned his head and pressed his lips to her neck and breathed in her scent.

Belle flushed all over as she felt his kiss on her skin. The servant had turned and left the moment she led her to one of the balconies in the castle, where the light was faint and bathed in moonlight. The night sky was clear, with no signs of thick clouds.

"Nothing," she replied, but then she decided to ask, "Do you know the Clifton family well enough?"

"I’ve heard of them. Why?" he asked, closing his eyes as he rested his chin back on her shoulder.

He had been unfortunate enough to share a chamber with two humans and a pureblood, annoying vampire who happened to be another one of his distant cousins—who had compelled the humans and made them into his servants. Rohan was in no mood for any disturbance nor games and had left the chamber when told he could see his wife before midnight.

"I am sharing a room and a bed with the Clifton son’s wife," she told him.

"Did she do anything to disturb or insult you?" came his quick inquiry, like he would kill the woman if Belle told him she had been bullied.

"No, she didn’t do anything. But I think her husband is being abusive," she told him what she noticed in the corridor, and Rohan chuckled dryly.