295 Subtle notice
Vincent pushed Marceline’s fang with such quickness that the young vampiress didn’t realise it for the first two seconds as she was too busy making sure that she escaped the punishment that her father and her brother wanted her to go through. And when the fang fell on her tongue, her dull red eyes widened in horror.
“It is always better to have both fangs together or nothing at all, isn’t it?” With a serious look, Vincent remarked, swiftly pushing the other fang that Marceline had failed to retrace.
The second fang of Marceline fell on the carpeted floor. If it were possible, she would have had a heart attack.
“What did you do?!” Marceline questioned something she already knew, as she had never expected Vincent actually to break her fangs. Death would have been easier for her to digest than now living a life without her fangs. Still in shock, she ran her tongue across the front of her teeth and found her fangs missing. “You didn’t give me the time to choose what I wanted!”
“You chose death,” Vincent deadpanned, “But I want you to live, Marcie. I am not so cruel to kill you for such things,” he stated, stepping away from her.
C-cruel…
To Marceline, it was as if someone had suddenly pulled the ground beneath her feet and she didn’t know where she was standing. Her eyes caught sight of the fang on the carpet, and then she spat the fang in her mouth on her palm to stare at it. Within a few seconds, her position had been moved from a high social status to the bottom of the vampire life, which she had so much looked down upon.
Lady Annalise’s mouth was left hanging. It had happened so fast, yet slow enough for her to take in the scene.
Eduard didn’t like the fact that his daughter Marceline was defanged because everyone knew how vital fangs were for a vampire and vampiress. It wasn’t just what the vampires were just identified with; the fangs were used to feed and protect themselves from harm. But his daughter had tried to wiggle out of the punishment. In a worrisome voice, he said,
“Marceline, you should learn to take responsibility for your thoughtless actions. You could have saved your fangs by apologising to Ms. Barlow and marrying Horace. Living a comfortable life in the West. But instead of asking for forgiveness or showing any remorse, you chose death,” the Viscount shook his head.
Marceline’s already open mouth turned wider in shock and questioned in panic, “And what Vincent did is right? He broke my fangs! I am not a human but a vampiress! You want me to suffer!”
“A little humility goes a long way, dear sister,” Vincent stated, and she wanted to grit her teeth, but that only brought an ache to her chest. “You belong to the Moriarty family, the same blood that runs in our little sister’s veins is what runs in your blood too. Maybe if you change how you view people, you will regrow your fangs overnight, not right away but maybe in a few months.”
“M–maybe,” Marceline stuttered. He broke her fangs with a ‘maybe’, where they didn’t know how long it would take for her own fangs to grow or if they would even grow.
Unable to stand in the room any longer, Marceline ran out of the room and towards her room to take refuge from the tragedy that had struck her. One could hear her sobbing whilst the young vampiress stormed in the corridors until she reached her room. And when she did reach her room, she closed the door with a loud thud that everyone heard.
Lady Annalise, who was left speechless, looked at Vincent and then her husband before excusing herself from the room.
Vincent noticed a drop of blood on the carpet, which had earlier fallen from his sister’s mouth when he had caught her off guard and broken her fang. Feeling his father’s gaze, he shifted his gaze to meet his father’s eyes.
“I was worried you would stop me,” Vincent claimed, his eyes holding calmness and a trickle of mischief.
Eduard’s expression was serious, as if he pondered over Vincent’s words and said, “Because she is my daughter and your sister? I have faith in your words and actions.”
“That she deserves to be punished?” Vincent questioned, and Eduard walked towards the door before closing it so that no one from outside would hear their conversation between them.
The Viscount nodded, before he walked towards the fireplace and stood in front of it. He brought his hands forward, feeling the warmth of the fire that didn’t seep into his skin and continued to stay cold. He responded,
“That too. Marceline should have known better than to unnecessarily treat someone who was tied to the Moriarty family… But about what you said about her turning into a new leaf, about this issue that she has continued to harbour towards the humans,” Eduard then placed his hands to his back and held them there. He said, “Status and power isn’t all about trying to use it against someone by bringing them down. It is about protecting people we care about. How is Ms. Barlow doing?”
“Better,” Vincent responded, and he watched his father, who continued to look at the fireplace. He said, “You don’t seem surprised by my decision to marry Eve.”
“Ms. Barlow?” Eduard asked his son, as he didn’t know the governess by her short name. “Vincent, I am not against you or Marceline marrying a human. They are the kind who are easy to mingle in our blood, and I know it will still produce a pureblooded vampire or vampiress. But my worry would arise, if the person was not a human. Like how Marceline wanted to choose a werewolf, and you… You seem to have chosen someone too.”
The Viscount turned around to meet his son’s eyes, who held a calm expression on his face.
“Seems like you know more than what others do, father,” Vincent was impressed by his father’s words.
Viscount Eduard Moriarty was aware of the fact that their governess was not an ordinary woman. And the reason was pure since the time Allie had received her fangs out of nowhere. He remembered a few days ago, when he was home and worried about his youngest daughter as she was fangless, and compared to Vincent and Marceline, she was quieter.
He had found Allie with fangs a day before his wife had found out, and it was because his youngest daughter sat in her room, running her tongue over the fangs after taking a bite from the fruit in her hand. The man knew a miracle didn’t exist in their world and that it had something to do with their governess, whom Allie had opened to in such a short time. The governess had done something to help his fangless daughter.
It wasn’t just Allie who seemed to have opened her heart to the governess, because he knew his son had opened his heart too.
Eduard said, “Frankly, I would have been worried if you chose a human as your partner. Not that it is wrong, but the pain that comes with the loss because of their fragileness, nothing can compare to the suffering. I don’t know what Ms. Barlow is, but I am hoping she is stronger than a human?” As a parent, who had gone through the loss of his loved one, the Viscount didn’t want his children to go through similar pain.
“She is, and she has me to protect her,” Vincent assured his father.
Eduard walked to where Vincent stood, and he placed his hand on his son’s shoulder before patting it. He said, “I don’t think I need to tell you more, as I believe you are well aware of how things in our world work.” Earlier today, he had spoken to Ms. Barlow, and she was more than decent and if Vincent chose her, she probably was special. “When do you want to hold the wedding?”
“In a month’s time. Dear sister is in shock right now and I doubt in the headspace to marry, but that shouldn’t stop another wedding in the Moriarty family,” Vincent remarked, his lips curling.
Eduard nodded, “Alright. Let me know if you need any help.”
Before his father could step out of the room, Vincent asked, “Do the Moriarty family have any history or present with the Gauntlet’s family?” The Gauntlet family were the family who was entwined with the curse of the goddess of the sea Nerhys. Timotei, the cat, had left Vincent curious about his roots and ability.
His father furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head, “Not that I am aware of. Why?”
“Was just curious,” Vincent offered his father a smile.
“Have a goodnight, son,” his father wished him and left the room. A few minutes later, the butler arrived and informed Vincent, “Master Vincent, the human has been sent out of the mansion and home.”
“Good,” Vincent remarked before he ordered, “Open the underground cellar. Time to dig in through the old files.”
“Yes, Sire,” Alfie bowed and turned around, leaving the room along with Vincent.
Back in Marceline’s room, the vampiress had fallen flat on the bed on her stomach and she sniffled. When she pulled her face from her pillow, she scrambled away from the bed to come and stand in front of the mirror.
Marceline opened her mouth, feeling her stomach drop on seeing her fangs missing from her mouth. How could she get back her fangs? Maybe her sister could tell her. There was surely some trick to it!
She quickly left the room, making her way to Allie’s room.