After nearly three days, the carriages finally arrived at Skellington. Eve and Vincent were quickly greeted by Alfie, who offered them a deep bow and helped them out of their coats.
"How was your journey, Sire? Hopefully everything went well..." the butler asked in slight doubt, as he wasn't sure how well Lady Marceline had taken the news about her staying in the House of Purgatory. Somewhere, he wished he could have been there, considering the amount of trouble the young vampiress had put him through over the last years.
"Better than what we expected it to be. Eve was able to meet our grandparents," Vincent replied in a nonchalant tone, and this got Alfie's eyes wide.
They were awake?! Wait, even Lady Ravette? Alfie blinked in shock.
"Timotei was kind enough to wake them up and had decided to be their cat one day," Vincent remarked. Lady Annalise and Lady Aubrey appeared from the other side of the hall, approaching them.
"You are both home!" Lady Annalise exclaimed, feeling a slight relief and anxiousness in her chest. "I thought you were returning sooner."
"We took a little trip to Holy Oak before returning," Vincent responded.
One of the maids stepped inside the mansion with a letter in her hand. She offered a deep bow and informed, "Sire, there is a letter from Holy Oak."
Eve wondered if Vincent's grandparents had forgotten to tell them something. But when Vincent took hold of it, he murmured, "Looks like we reached before their letter arrived." He wondered where his grandparents had sent the letter that had taken its own time to reach.
"Whose letter?" Lady Annalise asked him with a frown.
In the meantime, Lady Aubrey came to Eve's side and hugged her. The elderly woman said, "Welcome back home, Eve."
"It is good to be back, Aunt Aubrey. I hope everything has been well here," Eve asked in a low voice, and she saw the woman nod.
"Everything has been more than well here. I have been bonding with little Allie and teaching her what I know. It has been a wonderful time," Lady Aubrey seemed content, being back to teaching as a governess until Eve returned.
"What...?!" Eve heard Lady Annalise exclaim, startling them, while the vampiress stared at Vincent. "They were put to sleep... How did this happen? Is Genevieve alright?" She turned to look at Eve with a deeper frown. "Did Lady Ravette do something?"
Even though Lady Annalise was a vampiress, she wasn't too keen about her mother-in-law.
"It was fine," Eve assured her mother-in-law with a smile. She said, "They were hospitable once we turned familiar with each other."
Lady Aubrey asked, "What's going on?"
"Vincent's grandparents are awake from their slumber. His grandmother, Lady Ravette has never been keen on having humans in the family, and has always resorted to killing them. To turn them to vampire or vampiress," Lady Annalise explained to Lady Aubrey in a quick tone.
Vincent said, "Don't worry, dear mother. Everything is under control. In fact, grandfather and grandmother were so pleased about Eve, that they decided to leave the mansion in our name as a wedding present." He waved the letter that was sent by his grandparents, which was written for his parents and said, "This is about them waking up."
Lady Annalise felt a slight headache, and nodded, "Okay... But it doesn't cost to be careful."
"Of course," Vincent offered a bright smile and said, "I wouldn't let any harm befall on my wife. They sent you souvenirs," and he handed the letter to Lady Annalise, who took hold of it.
Alfie took a look at Lady Annalise, who didn't seem happy with the news of the in-laws waking up. He quickly went to get the things down from the carriage to take it inside, while Vincent leaned towards Eve and kissed her cheek. He said,
"I have to go to the Council. Rest until then."
Eve nodded, "Take care," feeling a smile threatening to break in front of everyone. She noticed Lady Aubrey smile as if Eve had found the right man for her, who cherished her. She saw Vincent leave, and Lady Annalise excused herself from there.
"Are the grandparents as scary as Lady Annalise makes it to be?" Lady Aubrey asked Eve, as they started to walk through the hallways.
"Vincent's grandfather Strix is fine. Just like any regular grandparent, but Lady Ravette is a little extreme. I had to duel with her," Eve whispered the last words, and Lady Aubrey's eyebrows rose high. "But I got her to approve of me."
Lady Aubrey nodded, "I don't think there's anyone's heart you can't melt, Eve. If the person's heart doesn't melt, then something is truly wrong and I don't say it because I raised you as my daughter. Talking about daughter, Rosetta has been waiting for your return."
And as expected, when Eve and Lady Aubrey finished walking up the stairs, they heard Rosetta's excited voice, "EVE!"
It took less than three seconds for Rosetta to engulf Eve in a hug that had the mermaid slightly stagger before she got her footing.
"I am so happy to see you! How was your trip? Did you have fun? Did you drop that woman in Purgatory?" Rosetta continued her questions as her eyes lit up.
Lady Aubrey softly chuckled at Rosetta's questions and said, "Eve only arrived, dear. Why don't we let her rest a little? She had a long journey."
As if coming to a realisation, Rosetta quickly nodded, "Yes, the journey must have been long. You will be here with me."
Eve shook her head, "That's fine. I did fall asleep in the carriage."
Rosetta put her arm around Eve's hand and said, "I have been wanting to ask you something, Eve."
"Ask away," Eve said, and Rosetta cleared her throat.
Lady Aubrey walked with them and said to Eve, "Rosetta has been worrying about her parents. Is there a way to get her to meet them for a little while?"
Eve's eyes turned to Rosetta, who pursed her lips. She said, "I think you can. I will speak to Vincent about it."
As if remembering she had work to do, Rosetta said, "I will come look for you later and tell Eugene you are here," and she hurried from there.
Lady Aubrey and Eve watched Rosetta waltz out of their sight, and the elderly woman said, "Poor girl. She has been having a hard time. With her parents' actions, and being reduced to a servant now," she shook her head, "Two days ago, she went out to the market and people couldn't keep their ill thoughts to themselves. Thankfully, Eugene was able to console her."
Eve was aware that Rosetta would be placed in a difficult position because of her parents.
"Society has always been harsh. Harsher to the ones who fall from their high position," Eve replied softly. "She has turned into a better leaf in a short duration. With the right time and care, she would be able to stand her ground."
Lady Aubrey agreed, "True. She is a good woman and has a kind heart. Poor thing was sad when the plant she planted wilted the next day and I got to see Eugene teaching her," she smiled in the end. "How are you, Eve? You seem a little worried, as if you can't rest," the woman's wise eyes stared into Eve's blue eyes. "Did something happen on your journey?"
Eve gave a slight nod, "Vincent and I will be leaving to the North. To visit the royal family."
Lady Aubrey asked, "Did they invite you two there?"
"No, it has something to do with our lineage. Vincent and mine," Eve said in a low voice, even though there was no one to eavesdrop on them. This caught the older woman's attention, who looked curious. "I think I will find my answers there, and Vincent's bloodline starts from there."
"That is something that raises questions. But if it brings you closer to who you are and about your family, then you must go," Lady Aubrey supported Eve. She then hugged the young woman and said, "Just stay safe. Knowing who you are and what people are capable of, it will always worry me even though you are all grown."
"I will be, auntie," Eve hugged Lady Aubrey back.
"Everything will one day settle down and you will find the answers that you have been looking for," Lady Aubrey assured her.
When Lady Aubrey left Eve, Eve returned to Vincent and her room. On entering the room, Eve's eyes fell upon her wedding bouquet, now covered in a glass case. She wanted to gift it to Anaya and would need to visit Woodlock for that.
Eve took a long bath in the bathtub along with the salts, letting her mermaid body soak in the slightly cold water.
Eve took a look at her wrist, which was submerged in the water, and her skin was back to showing only one wing. She raised it above the water level, and the disappeared wing returned.
A sigh escaped her lips, while there was still a hint of worry in her eyes and thoughts.
And while Eve continued to soak herself in the bathtub, far away from Skellington and in Woodlock, James Sullivan looked considerably upset, while he held a letter in his hand.
The man gritted his teeth, his hands clenching enough to crumple the letter. He couldn't believe this could happen.
"Are you alright, James?" Lady Hilda asked him, when she was strolling around the mansion.
James offered a tight smile, "I don't think so. The things that I have been collecting for quite some time, were sent away. Away from my reach."
Lady Hilda's eyes narrowed slightly, and asked, "What do you mean?"
At the same time, one of Sullivan's carriages passed through the mansion's gates and stopped in front of the mansion's entrance.
The previous Duke Jeffry Sullivan of Woodlock and his son, Noah Sullivan, stepped out of the carriage. Lady Hilda smiled at her husband, who stepped near her and kissed one of her cheeks.
"Any news about our dear butler?" Lady Hilda asked her husband.
"Unfortunately, none. The magistrate has checked every nook and corner, tried to question people if they saw him, but it has come to a dead end. No one knows about his whereabouts," her husband replied to her.
"Do you think someone killed him? We have known him for so long, I doubt he would ever leave without saying a word," Lady Hilda said with a frown.
"That's what I would believe. That someone probably captured him and is looking for answers," James remarked.
Jeffry responded, "What answers are they even looking for with the family butler? Noah put a report in the Council, but so far we have found nothing."
Noah nodded with a straight face, "Maybe Uncle James is right. Maybe someone thought the butler was important and took him away. But so far, we have no answers of where he disappeared."
"It is a true pity that a loyal butler like him went missing in broad daylight," James murmured before a sigh escaped from his lips.
"Noah, I have a few documents that are supposed to reach Mr. Burton. They need to go by this evening," Noah's father asked him.
"I will be going out sometime and will have it delivered. Or have Kieran deliver it," Noah said, but his father shook his head.
"No, not Kieran. Just you," Jeffry said. "I can only trust you to complete it better than the servants."
"Of course, father," Noah nodded, offering a slight now.
Jeffry put his arm around his wife's waist, he said, "Let us have some warm tea," and then they walked inside the mansion. On the way, Lady Hilda's eyes met James's eyes, wondering what the man was earlier annoyed about, but not asking about it, she left with her husband next to her.
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