I felt the rush of air as the cloth sweep down—
Fwhip.
The weight on my chest vanished.
I gasped,my eyes flying open.
The Lady was leaning over the foot of the bed, her face illuminated now by the bedside lamp she had just flicked on.
She was holding the corners of a crisp, fresh linen duvet cover.
She gave the heavy fabric one final, professional snap, smoothing the wrinkles over my feet with a practiced hand.
"Forgive me, Miss," the maid whispered, her voice rasping like dry leaves.
"The nights get quite cold in this house. I didn't want you to catch a chill."
She tucked the edges of the sheet under the mattress with terrifying precision, then melted back into the shadows of the room without another word.
What the hell was that?
"Who the are you?" I whisper yelled in my sleepy voice.
Too tired and shocked to cause a scene or even shout.
"Lady Adele, I'm Coral, I work in the bed chambers"
I just stare at her.
"This is the servants wing that's why it's so dusty….. your room is on the fifth floor"
She continued like she hadn't just scared the life out of me.
"Ok thank you…where's the Lord of the house?"
"i do not know ma'am"
I shot her a glare as soon as the words left her lips.
I just leaned back to the bed with a scoff while she left the room.
I don't even know how I fell asleep again, must've been the journey stress and the jump scare I woke up to earlier,but now the room is pitch black unlike before.
I walked to the window and was graced with the moonlight,it feels so different here,then I remembered Clarette my Moonflower.
I scavenged my bag for the jar and placed her by the window while I changed into a comfortable silk robe.
It's very late but I'm hungry,no matter how scary the house may be I have to find food.
Bracing myself for any jump scares or potential danger,I walked out of the room
The staircase had decorative candles infact it was all around the house so finding the kitchen wasn't hard.
I actually found myself liking the pretty Castle because of the candles.
At home you'll have to move around with your own candle to be able to find anything.
Sighing,I checked the cupboards for something edible, anything really.
I'd prefer warm milk though, smiling to myself as I grabbed the milk,I poured it in a pan and moved to the heater to warm it.
That's when it occurred to me that I didn't know how to put it on,I stared at it.
After minutes of trying and trying.
In frustration,I slammed the heavy copper pot onto the stove, the sound echoing like a gunshot through the cavernous, moonlit kitchen.
"Useless! Absolutely derelict!" I hissed
I stared at the strange, ornate heater—a complex arrangement of brass pipes and a pilot light that refused to catch.
Sighing,I flicked a switch. Nothing.
I rattled a lever, and instead of light,it gave a hiss of cold gas as if to mock me.
"I just want warm milk"
I whispered a plea like the heater could hear me and magically turn on.
If only I had magic I'd just—
"It requires a gentle touch, not a tantrum."
I gasped, clutching my silk robe till my knuckles turned white.
I wasn't prepared for this jump scare,I looked over to where the voice came and saw a man by the fireplace,it seemed like he was fixing the passage to the chimney or something like that.
Do castles have chimney?
He must've been there when I walked in how did I not notice him.
Sighing,I folded my arms and turned towards his direction, he's still ignoring me like he was from start.
And he dared to say I'm throwing a tantrum over milk.
"Come fix it then…. I'll put in a good word for you when the Master returns"
But he didn't answer he was still focused on fixing something in the damn fireplace.
I was being kind after his rude remark and he's still being rude.
Does he know who I am?
A series of murderous thoughts flashed through my mind but I'd rather coax him to fixing the heater for my milk then I'll deal with him.
"Come fix it and maybe I could even pour you a cup…. would be so much help to you than me anyway since you've been working all day, we could even have it with some biscuits"
I said enthusiastically, thinking of the biscuits made me more excited and I could take some to pip, moving to check the cupboards again,this time I saw a jar of sour candy.
"Look we could even have them with this,I could take some upstairs for Pip and—"
Being cut off by a scoff that sounded like my voice irritated everything he was doing.
The man walked to the heater,his movements fluid and annoyingly calm.
"The pilot is temperamental," he murmured, leaning over the stove.
His hands were pale,and his fingers moved with a surgeon's precision as he adjusted a tiny valve.
"As is everything else in this place" I grumbled, crossing my arms and leaning against the cold stone counter.
"Empty, freezing, and utterly rude.Waking up to a maid trying to smother me in my sleep."
He just concentrated on his work while I rambled on.
"I am the Princess of Aethegard. I am daughter of the high priestess and all I get is a cold dusty room that gave me sleep paralysis,an empty stomach that led me to this kitchen as late as midnight and now a valet that can't even turn on the heater to warm my milk….great!!!"
He knelt down and twisted a valve,completely ignoring my rants.
"It isn't enough as it is I've been sold away to some vampire Lord,who can just drain the blood in my veins whenever he wants, but I also have to warm my own milk?.....and I don't even get a welcome gesture"
Scoffing I moved around a little, becoming more angry.
Saying it all out helps me realize that this isn't some sick dream, it's the cruel reality I've been thrown into and forced to live in because this nightmare is my duty.
Sure I was happy to help the coven in whatever way I could,but this?
I wasn't expecting any of this and I should at least have the right to complain about it.
"And he's away?"
I let out a cruel humorless laugh that sounded more like a sob from a wounded puppy.
"Doing what? Brooding in a coffin? Polishing his fangs?..... I'm sure he's a shriveled husk of a thing. A monster who hides in the dark because he can't face the world"
I sighed, rubbing my temples like it'll magically erase the problems.
"The sisters at the coven says he hasn't been seen in a century….pfttt…he's probably some decrepit, senile beast who's forgotten how to host a guest,much less a Lady….since he's how old?...200?"
Sighing,I turned towards the heater.
"Oh thank goodness…. you've warmed the milk"I must've been too busy with my rant,I forgot about the milk.
But something feels off, because he's just standing there with the milk in his hand and it's like he's been standing there for a while now watching me.
And something feels really off about it, especially the way he looks rather amused?
"I think…. I'll just head back to my room"
I said stepping back and he seems to take it as an invitation because he's stepping forward,in very slow, devastatingly slow steps,till he stops right in front of me and the moonlight from the window shone on him.
"500" he said staring intensely into my eyes.
"Um…."
"Five hundred not two hundred"he corrected.
"He isn't brooding in a coffin,either," he continued,his voice carrying a terrifying, rhythmic stillness.
My heart did a slow, painful roll in my chest.
"He finds them… cramped,"
"And his fangs require very little polishing when they are kept busy."
I froze as he moved.
Making me take one more step backward and I hit the wall.
He stepped into the singular beam of moonlight cutting across the floor from the high window. My breath hitched as I stared into his eyes.
They were green but a different shade, I don't think I've seen anything like it before, it's lighter,so much lighter, like mint green? Or—-
"As for being a 'decrepit, senile beast'…"
He tilted his head, the movement fluid and dangerously graceful, giving me better access to view his sharp jawline and skin that seemed to glow with a faint ethereal luminescence.
"He hasn't forgotten his manners. He simply finds that most guests aren't worth the effort of being… hospitable."
He was right in front of me now. I was small, but he made me feel microscopic. The scent of him hit me—cold rain and something metallic.
Those glowing green eyes dropped to the frantic pulse in my throat, his lip curling in a mix of fascination and pure, unadulterated loathing,as he used the tip of his fingers to trace a spot on my neck.
I felt a sudden urge to tilt my neck to the side to offer him more access,but I quickly pushed it to the back of my mind.
What the hell is wrong with me?
"Go to bed Adele"
And he was gone in the blink of an eye.
I sprinted upstairs to my room and locked the door.
And since when was I holding any milk?
He must've put it in my hand.
I took a large gulp as I tried to process everything.
That was him?