Allure Of The Night

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Music Recommendation: Mrs. Elton Arrives at Hartfield- Isobel Waller

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Eve stared at the drawing of the stick figure and watched the little girl draw another ‘x’ on the other eye of the woman. One of these days, one of the Moriarty family members was going to kill her, thought Eve. 

“Miss Allie, is the governess dead?” 

The little girl stopped making the repeated cross mark and looked up at Eve. To Eve’s distress, the little girl nodded, and Eve took a sharp breath. 

Of course, she was aware of this, at least deep in her mind. As eager as one would be to work in the family who belonged to higher society, it came with pros and cons. 

This is why Vincent had laughed as if he enjoyed the little joke his sister Marceline had told her. The previous governess was killed because she didn’t do her job right. How could anyone kill a person for a small reason like that? 

“Is that why you followed me?” Eve asked Allie, who stared at her for a few seconds before slowly nodding. 

Eve then watched Allie draw another stick figure, and next to it was another small stick figure where the two stick figures held hands. The little girl looked up and pointed at Eve and then at her. 

“That is comforting,” Eve replied with nervousness in her voice. 

Eve noticed that Allie wasn’t upset with the information she had shared, and something told her that the little girl knew who had killed the previous governess. But she didn’t dare to ask who had murdered the governess. 

“I will see you tomorrow, Miss Allie,” said Eve, offering her a smile and bow. The little girl did the same, learning manners from her new governess. 

Eve picked up her umbrella and her lunch box, heading towards the door and was ready to leave—

“I love your umbrella.”

The sudden voice startled Eve, making her heart jump, and she turned and noticed it was Allie who had spoken. “Thank you, it is my favourite,” replied Eve with a smile. “You have a lovely voice, Miss Allie. You should speak more.” 

Allie only nodded as if she had gone back to being mute. The smile collapsed from Eve’s lips when she stepped out and started to walk alone in the corridor. 

Her thoughts were consumed by what the little girl revealed, and as she walked, she heard footsteps approach from the opposite side of the corridor. 

When her gaze raised, she felt her heart pause on noticing it was the man with the scar on his face. Scar that looked deep and unfading even after the years that had passed.

He was partly the reason why she had taken up the job here. With every step they took forward, they got nearer, and the man’s eyes briefly looked at Eve, and so did she. His eyes were black, and so was his hair. His clothes were expensive, and the air around him was enough to make one know what company he kept near him. 

The man walked past Eve, and she released the breath that she had been holding until now. 

Eve was taken back to the time where her little feet tried to run while her mother desperately screamed for her to escape. 

‘Run, Eve! Run!’

Her mother’s cries haunted her in the darkness, which was filled with pain and agony. Eve wanted to help her mother, to make it stop, but it never did because there was nothing she could fix about the past. 

When Eve turned, the man had disappeared from the corridor. Her jaw clenched, and her hand tightened around the umbrella. 

Seeing someone related to her mother, logic left her mind, and emotions took over her.

Her feet had a mind of its own, which started to walk back in the direction where she had come from while her eyes searched for the scarred man. She spotted the man take another corridor, and she followed him without being noticed. She placed her lunchbox in one corner while keeping her umbrella close to her chest. 

The Moriarty’s mansion was huge, with more corridors and space that one couldn’t fathom from outside. After a minute, Eve lost sight of the person, and her eyes searched for him. He was right in front of her. Where did he go? She could hear her heartbeat loud in her ears. 

“What do you think you are doing here?” 

Eve turned, and her eyes fell on Lady Annalise. 

“Don’t you know that most parts of the mansion is restricted only to the family members or the servants who clean,” Lady Annalise’s words dripped with superiority.

Eve offered a deep bow while trying to calm her heart and closed her eyes to take a moment to gather her thoughts. When she lifted her head, she noticed the woman had taken a step closer to her. 

“My sincerest apology, milady. As it is my beginning days here, I lost my way and ended up on this side of the mansion,” Eve gave the woman a believable reason.

But with Eve, who was standing under the roof of Lady Annalise, no matter how genuine the reasoning was, the woman had been waiting to fix the wrinkle her stepson had caused. 

“How convenient that you were able to get lost, when the way to the entrance from the piano room isn’t complicated. But that is understandable,” Lady Annalise clicked her tongue, “For a woman like you who comes from such a low background, you wouldn’t know what it means to live in a place like this. You must be living in a house with a broken roof and one room?” The woman mockingly laughed at Eve. 

But to the rich woman’s annoyance, Eve only smiled. She replied, “If you take a look at the history of our lands, there have been many men who have changed their fate from being poor to ones in power.”

“That was history, girl. Look at the present, the world that was written and the world that we live in present are two different things,” Lady Annalise scoffed at the human’s ignorance. “If you think you can climb the social ladder by being a governess, think again. Look at yourself. Your family had a former governess, so you are a governess. A maid’s daughter will turn into a maid, a cobbler’s son will turn into a cobbler, that is how it is.”

Lady Annalise was intent on showing the human where she belonged. 

The only thing Lady Annalise was unaware was that Eve was far too comfortable with who she was. Eve had people who cared and loved her. There had never been a shortage of food on her plate or clothes to wear. 

“I was talking about the space of the mansion, milady. Not the status,” replied Eve.

“You didn’t, but it is never too late to remind a person especially for the impudence,” stated Lady Annalise. She continued, “How about we come to an agreement? I will give you a year’s worth of wage. In fact more than that. Quit the job here and never show your face again.”

A year’s worth of wage? Eve couldn’t lie to herself, but the offer was tempting. It would be a lot of gold coins and silver… 

Lady Annalise smiled, waiting to hear the woman agree and see the human finally quit. 

“No,” responded Eve.