Married To The Mad Vampire Lord

Belle was left standing in the study with her sister, who lingered at the side, watching her with sharp eyes. It was all Belle could do not to walk straight out on Eve, but she knew the girl had stayed back because she had something in mind.

"I still can't believe it's possible for someone to change this much in just a single year and a few months, sister. I wasn't expecting it at all. Honestly, I was expecting… well, perhaps you could say, I was expecting the worst, judging from how everyone called the man you married mad." Eve tilted her head, her lips curving in a faint smile.

"Your freckles used to be so prominent, and your skin was far too pale in a way that made people talk. But now…" She waved her slender hand dismissively once she caught her elder sister's attention, her hazel eyes settling blankly on her. "Despite the way you looked before, I still believe you were prettier then than now. What you're wearing doesn't suit you in the least." She gave a small laugh. "I only wish you had maintained yourself better over there, sister."

Belle did not say anything at all. In the past, when they used to be invited to gatherings, Eve had always been the queen of fashion, knowing every trending style and happily recommending dresses for her. She would shower Belle with compliments that made her blush and feel pretty, even though Belle knew others didn't see her that way. Her sister's opinion had always been enough.

Even when, at an event, Belle realized she was wearing the dullest dress among the ladies, she never complained because Eve was always the light of the gathering, her beauty drawing every eye. Eve's opinion had mattered more than anyone else's. But now Belle could finally see what all of that was for.

Her sister had wanted to shine. She had dressed Belle in plain gowns so that beside her brightness, Belle would look dim. Just as light needs shadow to glow brighter, Eve had needed Belle's dullness to stand out like a star. Belle almost smiled bitterly at the irony of how blind she had been.

When Belle did not speak, her sister continued to say, "I just wanted to know what your life there has truly been like. Is what you told Papa true?" Eve asked curiously, twirling a strand of her smooth blonde hair around her index finger while eyeing her sister, struggling to keep her disdain and displeasure at bay.

"What did I tell him?" Belle asked, brows furrowed.

"About the mad vampire not caring. I mean, it doesn't make any sense that you would look like this if he were as cold and ruthless as the rumors say he is." Eve prodded subtly, her eyes prying and her body language impatient to fish for answers about her sister's life in the other land.

"And what exactly are you insinuating, dear sister?" Belle asked, weary and longing to be alone so she could rest her exhausted body and think about the next problem awaiting her in this household that had disappointed her yet again.

"I am only trying to know if all that you are wearing was bought by him, with his money. I saw our servants carrying many trunks into the house from the carriage you rode in. I couldn't help but be curious. Did he buy you all that?"

Eve did not want to appear resentful with her prodding, she tried not to give away her real intentions, yet she had no idea that her tone could not hide her envy. She had refused the marriage proposal, believing she had escaped a life of misery and had passed it on to her sister. But now, she did not want to believe that she had cheated herself out of something good only to hand it to someone she thought undeserving of it.

It was not as though their parents lacked the money to spoil her, but her spending was limited. She could not even afford the dress her elder sister was wearing now with her allowance.

The gown Belle wore had only recently begun to trend among the high society ladies after their princess had worn it. And just like every other girl, Eve wanted desperately to have one of her own. But she had to save for it slowly, for her father would not grant her such a sum all at once despite how much he pampered her. Yet seeing her sister now, draped in it so casually, and seeing the many trunks brought inside, Eve could not help but believe she had given her sister the better life that should have belonged to her, and cheated herself out of all such luxuries.

Belle was not meant for luxury, she thought bitterly. Belle had always been foolishly content with kind words and simple things. It was Eve who was meant for grandeur and riches.

Belle, who now had more luxury than she had ever asked for, had long grown used to wearing gowns without a thought to how much they cost. But hearing her sister's words and seeing the way Eve was eyeing her, Belle could almost read the thoughts turning in her mind.

For the first time in her life, she was tempted to boast and flaunt how much her husband had cared for her, how he had bought her things without her even needing to ask. But she knew such pride would win her nothing here except more trouble in this house. So instead, she replied simply,

"No. It was a gift from the Vampire King. Lord Dagon doesn't care enough to buy me all this."

Belle had thought that by saying so, the jealous gleam would disappear from her sister's eyes. But Eve did not like that answer any better. Though she tried to hide her reaction, she was not skilled at concealing her feelings, or perhaps Belle had simply grown sharper at reading people than she once had been.

"I see. Then it seems you receive more gifts from the king. If I had known that life in the vampire land wasn't going to be so terrible as people made it seems, I would never have stepped back and let Mama and Papa send you instead of me. They risked your life so much. I am sorry for that, I truly am. I felt bad the entire time you were away, and many times I wanted to write to you. But I was afraid the letter would never reach you," Eve said with a feigned remorseful expression as she reached out and gently clasped her elder sister's shoulders.

"Then why," Belle asked sharply, unable to hold it back any longer, "did you write to Mr. Marchant, telling him the reason I was sent to that land and encouraging him to come for me, when that could have killed us both?" Her voice was low, but her eyes carried the weight of betrayal, for she was sickened by her sister's deceit, the very sister she had loved, pampered, and given everything to with all her heart.

Eve's delicate brows drew together as if in confusion. "What? When did I write to that man? I did no such thing! He went to Nightbrook? When?" she exclaimed, faking innocence at the mention of the letter she had indeed sent. She was guilty of it, and secretly proud, but she had not known the man had truly went into the vampire lands. Though she had hoped he would go she had not thought he would.

"He came to Nightbrook and almost complicated everything for me." Belle remarked.

Eve gasped in astonishment. "Oh my! Nobody knew that! That stupid, arrogant man! No wonder he disappeared for weeks, and then, when he suddenly returned, he was engaged to Lady Althea Hart. You cannot imagine the scandal it caused, going from a mere dressmaker to the fiancé of the Marquis daughter. He was suddenly part of our society, and, arrogant as ever, he even pretended not to know you when he was introduced to me as your sister!"

Belle stared, genuinely stunned by what her sister revealed about Jamie. "What do you mean? How is that possible?"

Eve, eager now to please her sister for her own reasons, calmly began to recount all that had transpired during the time Belle was away.

A few months ago, Jamie Marchant had disappeared from Aragonia, and many assumed he was heartbroken from losing the woman he loved. People had even begun to forget him and his little shop as he wasn't someone important in the high society but a mere dressmaker. Then, suddenly, at the grand seasonal ball, he appeared, arm in arm with the Marquess's daughter, introduced as her betrothed, with their engagement announced to the public. He was even granted the title of Baron.

"There are rumors," Eve whispered conspiratorially, "about some ancient lineage connecting the Marchants to nobility, and that being the reason for the engagement and the title he received. But no one knows what it truly is. Most believe the man is nothing but a gold-digger who schemed his way up the high social ladder. I never liked that man!" Eve spat with disgust.

Belle went rigid at what she heard. She suddenly remembered the Isabelle in her nightmare, and Deven Marchant. That Marchant had been tied to the Marquess family. And now, this Jamie was suddenly engaged to a Marquess's daughter. Such things never happened in their society, not to ordinary men. One could not climb the ladder so quickly without a powerful connection to take you up. Could it be that Deven Marchant had truly existed in the past, and was somehow connected to this Jamie Marchant?

Belle paled. She desperately wanted to believe the people in her nightmares had not been real. She did not want them to have ever existed. She did not want any connection between herself and them.

But if Eve said Jamie did not remember her, then it meant Rohan's compulsion had taken hold and he had moved on.

She needed to speak with Rohan. He would know how to confirm whether Jamie was truly connected to that man in her nightmare, and to that Isabelle who had died. She had no one else to talk to about this but him.

Belle was so lost in her troubled thoughts that she did not realize Eve was speaking to her again until she caught the end of her words:

"...you won't mind?"

Mind what? Belle blinked at her sister, frowning, hoping she would repeat the question. But then, realizing Eve must have been referring to Jamie's engagement to the Marquess's daughter, she shook her head.

"No. I don't mind." She had already moved on from Jamie and did not care if he loved another woman or not. What unsettled her now was not him, but the strange and sudden anger that surged in her chest whenever the Marchant name was mentioned. That was what troubled her more.

Eve's eyes brightened instantly, and she sprang forward to hug Belle, exclaiming, "Thank you! You are the best sister ever, I knew you would never mind. See you at supper!"

With that, Eve hurried out of the study before Belle could stop her and asked for an explanation of what she truly meant.

Not thinking too much about Eve, as she had far more pressing matters on her mind, Belle left the study to search for her old room, unaware that she had just agreed to something she had not meant to her sister.