Once Vincent and Eve finished supper with their family, their trunks were loaded for the journey, and they left in the carriage with Mr. Briggs riding the carriage. Right now, Eve laid her head on Vincent's shoulder, staring outside the window at the darkness offered by the forest. The light fell from the lantern that hung on the sides of the carriage.
When the cold weather slithered into Eve's body, she shivered despite wearing a thick coat. Vincent remarked,
"You should wear my coat too, you will feel much better with it. The cold doesn't affect me as much as it does to you."
Eve pulled her head away from Vincent's shoulder and said, "I am fine." And she put her hand around his arm, hugging it and feeling a sense of bliss and safety.
Vincent kissed Eve's head and said, "My dearest Eve. I have other ways to warm you, if you are willing to."
A hint of pink spilt on Eve's cheeks, and she whispered, "We aren't alone." Her eyes fell on Timotei, who had accompanied them, as he was a vital key to the mission they had taken upon themselves. The black cat had fallen into a deep sleep, with his body curled and holding his tail with his front paws as if he let it free, someone would steal it.
"I can always have him ride in the front with Briggs, or have Briggs pull the carriage so that we can stretch our legs in the woods," Vincent said with such seriousness that it stirred Eve's desire for him. "Just say the word, and I will make it happen."
Eve smiled at Vincent's offer. Craning her neck, she kissed his cheek, "You should get some rest too. You have been able to rest since we returned to Skellington."
"You forget that I don't sleep much, and don't need it, as much as you do. How about we make a little adjustments now," Vincent suggested with a grin, and Eve wondered what he was talking about. He picked her up and placed her on his lap, while her legs rested on the seat. "You can place your head more comfortably on my chest, rather than on my shoulder and get an ache later. Go ahead."
"When did you turn this sweet," Eve murmured, staring into his red eyes.
"Somewhere after I met you. When you are in love, the person can bring out the best and the worst in the person," Vincent said, wrapping one of his arms around her.
"What are the worst things that I bring out in you?" Eve asked in a soft voice so that she wouldn't wake up Timotei. But her voice was mostly numbed down by the constant moving wheels of the carriage and the horses' hooves.
Vincent took a second before he replied, "Fear. There was a time when I didn't care about people, not as much as I care about you. Of course, I will do my best to protect you and I know you can hold your ground until I come to you now, but things come in the most unexpected way. Don't you want to know the best ones?"
"We have all the time in the world right now," Eve replied, which brought a crooked smile to Vincent's lips. He said,
"You believe in me. You accept me the way I am, and that's not a little thing. I know I have an odd side to me, but you have trusted it. Laid down in the dug out grave for someone else."
A chuckle escaped from Eve's lips, and she said, "That was something. I would have been more weirded out if I hadn't killed Lady Camillie. Not to mention, you helped me from not getting back to the dungeon."
"Mm, you wouldn't have survived the second time in there and I didn't want you in there. If you think about it, you were something to me before you confessed. Even though it wasn't labelled to what it was," Vincent tucked one piece of Eve's hair behind her ear. "You are my world, Eve. I won't let any harm befall on you."
"And you are mine," Eve leaned close enough for their lips to touch. The kiss was sweet enough to spread heat to her body like a fireplace. Once they pulled away from the kiss, she asked him, "Do you know when the golden moon is going to appear?"
"In two weeks," Vincent answered, bringing a deep frown to her forehead.
"That's too close," Eve murmured. She said, "Do you think the siren sister will come out that day... to finish what she couldn't before?"
"To kill me?" Vincent asked, and Eve nodded. "I don't think she will be successful with it. And there's not just me, but Noah on the 'to kill list' if my feeling isn't wrong. And the golden moon is not for her, but for me and Noah. For us to make use of. The siren or the mermaid can be used as a sacrifice, to complete what King Gauntlet couldn't finish. To gain full control of the sea and its creatures, and ascend to a higher being."
"Why didn't he kill Nerhys if he was trying to achieve it?" Eve asked him.
"A sacred power is wiser to be acquired when it is given willingly than being given, than by force," Vincent explained it to her. "Rest now, little girl. Have a good sleep, while I watch over you. You have nothing to worry about," Vincent let her head rest on his chest and hugged her.
The carriage continued to move through the forest path, heading toward the North land, where the royal palace was located. It took more than two days of journey for them to reach the place at noon. For the very first time, Eve could finally take a better look at the palace made of white marble walls. This palace was bigger than the Moriarty mansion in Holy Oak, and she was left in a daze. The large gardens surrounded the palace, and guards were at every pillar.
Timotei peeped outside the carriage using the same window as Eve and remarked, "This brings back some nostalgic memories. I used to sleep there, and there, and then at noon on that tree... wait where did that tree go?" He sounded excited to revisit the places which he once knew.
Mr. Briggs pulled the reins of the horses and stopped the carriage. He got down from his seat and opened the carriage door.
"Vincent!"
Eve heard someone shout when they got down from the carriage, and soon her eyes fell on a young man with curly blonde hair, who quickly made his way to where they stood. The man wore expensive clothes and appeared in his late teenage years. The young man stepped forward, ready to throw his arms around him, but Vincent sidestepped for the man to end up hugging the air in front of him.
"Rude even now," he muttered before a bright smile appeared. The young man said to Vincent, "I heard that you got married. To Marquee Hooke's daughter."
"Not to her," Vincent corrected the mistake and said, "Prince Tobias, I would like you to meet my wife, Genevieve. And Eve, this is the youngest prince."
"Fifth!" The young man said, raising his hand with a bright smile to show the number. He picked her hand and kissed the back of her hand before praising her, "Wow you are very pretty. Where did you find her, Vincent?"
"In the fair," Vincent replied, half-truth and half in humour, and the prince looked surprised. The young man murmured, "I didn't know you could..."
Vincent then asked the prince, "Did you receive the Head Council's letter?"
"I believe big brother did, but he isn't here nor are the others. They have gone to the East lands," Prince Tobias informed, who seemed fond of Vincent and, right now, couldn't get his eyes off of Eve. But when his eyes fell on the black cat that the woman carried, he softly harrumphed, "You have a black kitty as a pet, how exciting. I keep telling the family we should have a black cat, but they say it will bring bad luck. Because so many old portraits of King Gauntlet has a black cat in there."
Eve held Timotei firmly so the cat wouldn't jump on the young prince to scratch him as the little fur shook.
"Black cats can be troublesome. You never know when they will attack you," Vincent remarked as they climbed the long white stairs outside.
Prince Tobias laughed as if he was trying to imagine it in his mind. He asked, "What brings you here? Do you need something signed or did you come here to introduce Lady Genevieve to the King and the Queen?"
"It is about King Gauntlet. We would like to pay a visit to the graves of his and his family's graves," Vincent said with ease, and the young prince nodded.
"It seems like King Gauntlet still holds the same name as when he and the others were alive. "It was only last month that one of the Duke visited the palace, wanting to see what was left of King Gauntlet because he was keen on finding artefacts," Prince Tobias stated, raising his eyebrows.
"Was it Duke Sullivan?" Eve asked him, and the prince nodded his head vigorously.
"Yes, I think that was the name. I met him for a brief moment," said the young prince, and he then said, "As it has been more than six or seven centuries since King Gauntlet's reign, everything has been locked so that it can be preserved as historical information and things."
"Was there anything specific that the Duke was looking for?" Vincent asked, wondering what Noah would have come here for. Maybe to find answers like they were here?
Prince Tobias shrugged his shoulders, "I am not sure actually. He entered the old cellar for barely five or ten minutes before he left."
Vincent and Eve shared looks at each other, but didn't comment on it. What did Noah take from here? The second dagger? It was possible, Eve thought in her mind.
Prince Tobias raised his hand and snapped his fingers at one of the maids, "Prepare the dining room room. The Viscount's son, Vincent Moriarty and his wife will be having lunch with me."
The maid offered a deep bow and hurriedly walked to pass the order.
"In the meantime, let me take you to the cemetery. So that you can take a look. Though I must tell you that it is strange to go honeymooning with your wife to the cemetery. But Vincent has always been since I last remember," the young man murmured with furrowed eyebrows.
"You don't have to go through the difficulty of showing us. We will take a look through the servant's help," Vincent politely said to the prince.
The prince waved his hand and said, "It isn't like I am busy right now, and I prefer walking around than sitting and listening to the number of possible suitors drawn out for me by my mother." He led them to the back of the huge castle before entering the forest through the back of the palace.
There were twelve cemetery buildings, which were where King Gauntlet's family members resided. Some members shared the cemetery building, while a few had their individual space. As they finished visiting all the buildings, and when Prince Tobias turned to speak to Vincent, Timotei whispered to Eve,
"Is it my eyes that are deceiving me, or was there no grave made for me? I am appalled by this!"
Timotei was right, Eve thought in her mind. There was no mention of the black cat or a grave for it. Was the skeleton buried somewhere else or... thrown somewhere as if it was of no use? But a black cat that was significant enough to be painted in the portraits people remembered, there was no way his dead body was discarded.
When they stepped away from the place, Prince Tobias excused himself briefly, leaving the three of them to talk in the dining room. Eve said in a hushed tone,
"There's no mention of Timotei anywhere in there."
"How dare they not build a cemetery in my name!" Timotei hissed in anger.
"Maybe you weren't as significant as you thought you were in your past life. Just a regular cat," Vincent poked at the already wounded cat, who looked more offended than ever.
"I am worthy enough to have a shrine built in my name. I am a small body, how much space and work is that going to take?" The black cat huffed in anger.
Vincent thought before saying, "People are often buried with things they held value when they were alive. Some take their clothes, some jewels. Maybe the cat is in one of the graves."
"All the cemetery buildings are locked," Eve reminded him because they had got to see the tomb through the windows without entering it.
Vincent nodded before remarking, "Then we shall break into it when everyone is asleep."
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