Married To The Mad Vampire Lord-Chapter 25: Burned dresses

Staring at the window, Belle recalled the ring Rohan had tossed out of it, and she clenched her fists. She would get it back, Belle decided. Thankfully, he had not tossed it into the fireplace that was now dimmed, and the logs had turned to ashes, or she would not have the chance of getting it back.

He had no regard for her family or Jamie, but she did. To her, whatever her parents had done was all because of what had happened years ago, and if she managed to succeed in this mission and make them proud, they might find it in their hearts to accept her again, just like when she was little before that incident. Thus, she would need to make sure she left this land with herself intact and her resolve still there.

But first things first, she needed to get that ring back. Belle hurried into the bath area, and without waiting for hot water or the maids, she took her bath herself as she was used to it. In fact, she would be quite uncomfortable if the maids were to bathe her now; the last time she had been bathed was in her childhood. She did not bother about the cold as she washed her body and hair to remove every trace of what had happened last night so she wouldn’t think or feel his lingering touch that set an unknown feeling into her stomach and the part his fingers had gone into.

She cursed him every time the place throbbed at the mere thought of it, so she decided not to think of it again if she could help it.

Done with her bath, Belle wiped her body with the clean folded linens on the side stool close to the wooden brown tub. She then proceeded to wear one from the four of her chemises she had hung by the bath side last night. She walked into the chamber and opened the door to her dressing room to take the dress she would wear but froze and blinked in disbelief. Hadn’t she unpacked her own trunks herself last night when the maids brought them in? She asked herself, and as the memory of her doing that task flashed in her mind, she asked herself again—then where in the Lord’s name were they?!

The dressing room, where she had carefully hung her dresses on the hanging pegs last night, was now empty, with nothing in it. Where could her attires have disappeared to? She wondered. However, she did not need to wonder about it for too long before she heard a knock on her door and went to open it without thinking.

She froze yet again at who was at the door. Yes, she had expected a maid who must have come in to take her things without informing her to come and explain or return them, but she had not expected all the human servants she had seen yesterday, including a vampire servant who stood at the front of the rest, to be at the door. In each of their hands were folded various colors of dresses and well-decorated boxes she didn’t have to open to see that they were jewelry and accessories. She frowned in displeasure.

The human servants had their heads bowed down, but the vampire, whose light red eyes met hers equally, spoke with a politeness Belle knew could not be genuine, for the vampires were known to look down on humans, regardless if they were turned or normal vampires.

"Good morning, my lady. We are here to set your dressing room and also help you to dress for breakfast. His lordship would like to eat with you in the hall," said the vampire girl at the front with light brown hair that was let down over her shoulders and was framing her beautiful heart-shaped face. She had on a polite face, but Belle had learned not to trust these vampires who gave off a polite persona just like her husband, who claimed to be kind but was anything but that!

However, that was not her main concern now, as she knew she would try to avoid any vampire as much as possible, but the fact that Rohan wanted her to come down and eat breakfast with him. Since when did vampires eat breakfast? He had not eaten on their journey here and had only taken a piece from the snacks in her hand, and from what she learned in Aragonia, vampires don’t need food as much as humans. As long as they have blood, they would survive—unless he planned to feed her and then have her blood for his breakfast.

That thought made her stomach twist in nervousness, and she gulped down her rising panic to demand, "Where are my dresses? The ones I brought with me from Aragonia?" She added when the vampire at the front showed her the dresses they brought but then understood and said,

"His lordship had burned them to make fire in the dining hall to keep the castle warm for you, my lady." The maid relayed exactly what his lordship had said when he ordered them to go into her chamber and bring him every piece of clothing and item she brought with her from Aragonia, including the trunks. He had said the castle would be too cold for his human wife, so she needed warmth, and since there was nothing to use to start the fire—well, there were many things—her unworthy clothes were a good fire builder.

He had sat on his heels, carefully placing the clothes into the fireplace before lighting them on fire, a smile playing on his lips as he hummed a toneless tune to himself. Many had been swayed by his smile, but if only they knew—Rohan’s smile was not something one could use to gauge his mood or character. And while he seemed to care enough for the bride, whom everyone had expected to find dead this morning, appearances could be deceiving. They had all heard terrible things about him, yet the human servants outside the door were beginning to believe he might not be as bad as the rumors suggested.

Belle had thought she was incapable of feeling anything but fear towards her vampire husband, but she was angry, and her fingers clenched into the mahogany wooden door as she gritted to the servants, "I will not wear these clothes. They are not mine, and neither will I go down for breakfast. Tell him that." Saying this, she slammed the door and locked it, then marched to her bed and threw herself on it in anger.

Most of her dresses were made in Mr. Marchant’s shop, and though she paid for them even though he refused payment, she wore them with pride and pretended they were a gift of love from him. Most of the dresses might not have been new and in season, but she still believed he had no right to burn them like rags!

And another thing that made her furious was the fact that, hidden inside her trunk, beneath the soft fabric sewn into it, her mother had concealed all the items she was meant to use for her mission—to uncover their weaknesses under the human king’s orders. She had a bottle of holy water, some garlic, and a small stake that humans suspected might be capable of killing these night creatures and needed her to test.

Not that Belle had ever planned to kill any of them herself or even use the stake—she had only intended to keep the holy water for her own safety. But now, everything was gone. And as the thought settled in, she desperately hoped Rohan hadn’t noticed any of those things while burning her belongings.

Belle heard the maids outside come back and knock frantically on the door, but she pretended not to hear them.

"My lady, his lordship says that if you don’t come out to eat with him, he will kill us one by one until you do. Please, my lady, don’t defy him. He doesn’t make empty threats!" came the desperate voice of the vampire servant outside.

She had been the one to report that the lady refused to eat with him or accept the clothes he had sent, and for that, she had been threatened. Unlike the human who had only been brought here a few days ago, she had served in the castle for much longer. She knew the master well—too well. He never made empty threats.

Living under the same roof as him, she had watched many of her peers be killed for even the smallest mistakes. She had learned how to survive, how to do things in a way that wouldn’t displease him. And she certainly did not intend to die now for the sake of a human!

Just like the vampire servant, the human servants outside could not understand what was wrong with the lady, she should be lucky a man like Lord Dagon was giving her attention and went out of his way to get dressmakers to deliver dresses to her this morning. Any girl would be lucky to have his good attention and have him buy her things, but she was acting like he had killed her loved ones by burning clothes a lady was not supposed to wear!

Belle sat up on the bed and stared at the door. He wouldn’t dare kill innocent people because she defied him, would he? She wondered as she bit down on her fingers. She might be angry with him, but then she wasn’t so heartless as to test his patience and end up getting the servants killed for it. She would never live with herself if anyone were to get in trouble because of her.

Belle got down from the bed and trotted to the door to open it. The servant girls all sighed in relief as they saw her open the door, and they bowed to her in gratitude before hurrying into the room.

"I have taken my bath, there’s no need to send for the bath," Belle said when one of the maids told the other to go and prepare the bath while they set her dressing room. They looked taken aback and relieved at the same time that she had made the work easier for them.

Three of the servants went to set the new dresses while one stayed to help her dress. And the girl who stayed happened to be the same girl she had wanted to help yesterday, who reminded her of her sister. The girl looked so innocent and slender as she moved to set the corset around her waist.

"What is your name?" Belle asked curiously, and the girl looked startled by the question before she ducked her head and answered.

"My name is Farrah, my lady," she spoke quietly.

"Where are you from?" Belle asked with a smile. If she wanted to learn more about the vampire land, she would need as many humans as possible on her side. Farrah, in particular, seemed like an easy ally, innocent and overlooked. Belle had already noticed how a vampire servant, busy barking orders at the others, had struck Farrah on the back to make her move faster.

"I... I am from the House of Girls’ Slaves establishment, my lady."

"That means you were taken from the human lands to be sold as a vampire slave?" Belle had heard of the slave establishment in the vampires’ land that sold out humans like goats to vampires who were willing to pay to have them. The notion of such a thing always disgusted her and had been one of the reasons she wanted these bloodsuckers ruined and brought down, and all the innocent humans released back to where they belonged.

"I wasn’t taken from the human land. I was birthed in the slave establishment. I have never been to the human land, most of us have never been there, but we wish to see what it’s like someday before we fall prey to the wrong vampire. You are lucky to catch the eye of a man like Lord Dagon. Most human girls in this land would give anything to be married to a vampire who is wealthy and rich," the girl said with a halfhearted smile that made her green eyes sad.

Belle wanted to tell her there was nothing lucky about marrying a vampire, and that too someone who was said to be mad, when suddenly the door was slammed open and the devil she wanted to avoid strode in like everything that walked and breathed belonged to him, causing all the servants to freeze, including her.