"Oswin, call the maids who were there in the tearoom when it happened," Alec ordered, to which the butler complied right away.
When the three maids arrived, Alec asked them, "Did you see Lauren muttering incantations when she served her blood to Samantha yesterday?"
Lauren knew that there was no way Alec believed her hands were clean, so she wondered why he was turning a blind eye to it.
"No, milord." The three maids shook their heads.
"See, uncle? My wife didn’t do anything. Perhaps Samantha’s body couldn’t absorb Lauren’s blood because it has a different quality than what she usually consumes. About the manservant, I think you misunderstood me. Samantha is like a sister to me and I didn’t like how she grew fond of the lowly servant who obviously had affections for her not as his master but as a woman."
Hearing how a servant dared to covet his daughter, it made Mr. Hendricks furious. "That servant deserves to die then!"
"No, Papa! Emmanuel had no such desires! He was only loyal to me as his master-"
"You never cared about those people from the lower class, Samantha. How come you are defending him now? Do you also like that bastard?" Mr. Hendricks’ eyes narrowed sharply at his daughter, couldn’t imagine that the child he raised would just fall into the hands of a worthless scum. If the servant was still alive, it would have been his pleasure to kill the man himself.
While the father and daughter were having an argument, Alec pulled Lauren to the dining hall and told the maids to serve breakfast.
"About the manservant. Is it true the man shared a close bond with Samantha that’s why you killed him?" asked Lauren, doubting Alec’s words earlier.
"It is true. Samantha needs to learn a lesson when it comes to touching what isn’t hers to play with. It wouldn’t be a lesson if he wasn’t a valuable person to her."
How cruel.
"You know I’m not really innocent, don’t you? I could have refused your cousin when she asked for my blood but I didn’t. What happened was intentional."
"Of course I know that," Alec put down his utensils and sipped on his glass filled with blood wine. "But isn’t it what husbands are supposed to do? Protecting their wives..."
Lauren wanted to laugh at his good humor. "Protecting your meal and entertainment you mean?" she said sarcastically before dropping her utensils and standing up. "I’m done. I will go to town to buy a new dress for Lady Aubrey’s soiree. Have you made up your mind?"
"I only have two weeks to settle everything here so we can move into the palace. To avoid gossip, you better not go without me. Let’s just say the newlyweds can’t get enough of each other and want to spend more time alone."
Lauren’s eyes squinted, still wondering what business he had to live for two weeks here when they were supposed to live in the palace right after the wedding. The case files and other things he needed could easily be transferred, so what important business was stopping him? She couldn’t help her curiosity. However, she didn’t think a secretive man like Alec would allow her to meddle with his personal affairs.
Since the soiree wasn’t that important to her, she just didn’t push her luck.
"Fine. But the next time we are invited to celebrations, we will attend," Lauren said with finality before walking away, not giving him a chance to argue about it.
Stepping out of the carriage in front of an establishment owned by the Sullivan family, Lauren noticed the dark clouds hovering on the horizon, a sign that it would rain soon. She had left the Everston mansion after having breakfast, didn’t want to cross paths with Samantha. It was a relief the vampiress would leave this afternoon and she didn’t have to deal with her.
As she didn’t want to be killed by boredom in the mansion, she decided to meet Ethan. However, just when she was about to enter the establishment owned by Ethan’s family, a glimpse of a young girl running to an alleyway next to the establishment caught her attention. Even though she only saw it for a brief moment, she was quite sure that the young girl’s gray dress had stains of dark red which looked like blood.
"Did you see the little girl?" Lauren asked the footman.
The footman who wasn’t paying much attention to the people around looked at her confused, "What girl, Your Highness?"
Lauren shook her head. "Never mind. Wait here."
Instead of going inside the establishment, she headed to the alleyway.
She looked down and saw mud water beneath her shoes but it didn’t stop her from going further when she saw the girl standing in the middle of the long alleyway.
Lauren realized she was right. She could smell the reek of blood from where she stood, and it was obvious it came from the young girl who seemed to be not older than seven. She also noticed the girl’s dress wasn’t gray but white, it only looked that way because of dirt.
"Are you hurt, little girl?" Lauren walked towards the child, thinking that she was injured and in need of medical attention.
It wasn’t new how the upper class abused their power and didn’t care about the people below them. The servants, may it be children or elderly, were not spared by the vicious nature of those in power. So she wouldn’t be surprised if the girl was a servant who escaped her employer after suffering severe punishment for a small mistake.
The girl didn’t answer and ran to the end of the alleyway. Lauren followed her until she stopped behind the young girl who stood there frozen.
Wondering what condition the girl was in, Lauren crouched to touch the girl’s shoulder so she would face her, but before she could, the girl turned around. Lauren pulled her hand when she saw the girl’s eyes were all black and had drops of blood trickling down her face.
"Do you want to play with me?" the little girl asked in a small eerie voice.