~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Seeing the carriage leave the mansion, Vivian hoped for Leonard"s quick return back to Bonelake. Though the job would take no more than a day as she was told, the distance between Bonelake and Valeria was a long one.

Leonard had taken her to the Rune"s mansion the place she had come to be wary of since her last visit. For some odd reason, it seemed that every time she visited Lord Nicholas" mansion there was something happening. First, it was the lady to pour food on her and the second time when she felt a flood of memories rus.h.i.+ng through her by touching the crow.

Vivian knew why he had asked Lord Nicholas to give her home until he returned back. Though they both had come to love each other, their feelings growing strong with every pa.s.sing day, she was still a guest who had no business of staying in the mansion during the absence of the owner of the house. Then there was Sullivan Carmichael, Leo"s paternal uncle who would not take her presence kindly. The future worried her, some nights keeping her awake at the thought of what might happen when he would find out about their relations.h.i.+p.

With the carriage that had disappeared behind the thicket of trees, she looked at the dead leafless trees which surrounded the mansion. Even with the amount of rain that graced the lands, this side of the trees refused to live making it look dead. The dark cloudy sky didn"t let an inch of light pa.s.s through them making it gloomier than usual.

"Did you want to go with him?" she heard Lord Nicholas ask her, who stood a few steps away from her.

She shook her head, smiling, "No. I would end up distracting him. It is better this way, he will be able to complete his work faster," she answered.

Lord Nicholas tilted his head, "That"s true. Let"s get inside before the rain begins to hit the ground," turning around with a soft sigh she stepped inside the mansion with Lord Nicholas beside her, "Would you like something to eat?" he asked politely.

"No, I am fine, thank you," at an opportune time her stomach growled and the Lord smiled.

"I insist, please. Let"s head to the dining room," he led her to the dark dining room with a long rectangular table that was located to the side that had no chandeliers on the ceiling.

As she grew up she had come to hear news about the state the four lands were in- Valeria which was in the West, Bonelake which was in the East, the South Empire which was Mythweald and the North being Woville. The conflicts that often took place between Valeria and Mythweald, humans and vampires weren"t in peace anywhere. One would always kill another. But the council were the ones who held them together with their law and order. If it weren"t for them, the lands would be in the chaos of blood and death.

Lord Nicholas pulled a chair for her to sit before pus.h.i.+ng it forward. It seemed that rumours were really true about him being a gentleman. It didn"t stop her from being wary about the man after all the crow belonged to him.

"Thank you," she murmured at his kind gesture. As if she wasn"t cautious enough, Lord Nicholas decided to take a seat next to her which made her look at him blankly.

"What is it?" he questioned with a small smile that played on his lips, his eyes holding an untold twinkle.

"The dining room is dark," she commented to see him nod.

"That it is. My late father wanted to build it that way, he hated the sight of light and prefered the darkness," he explained, bending over the table he picked an orange from a whole lot of fruits that were on the table, "Frankly, I don"t like it."

"You don"t?"

"No, dear. I don"t. I prefer to live in the light. The darkness isn"t something I am comfortable with," his confession took her by surprise.

To think that a great man like Lord Nicholas had things he wasn"t at ease with but what Vivian didn"t know was that the man was cunning as a fox. The kind who twisted around situations to get what he wanted and right now he was only making her feel at ease so that he could get something out of her. Something he had been meaning to know since her last visit here.

"You can always add a window or two. Mr. Wells is an excellent architect, you can ask him," she suggested. The butler who had not been intimated came in with food for Vivian like magic.

"I could but I will have to think about it. I like things staying the way they are than with a lot of changes. Don"t you agree?" he asked whilst he peeled the orange that was in his hand, "A few things are better to be left untouched than meddle in," Vivian wasn"t an oblivious woman. Though she looked shy and naive, she wasn"t. There were times when she believed in her intuitions and right now she sensed his words to have a deeper meaning than what he tended.

That didn"t stop her from asking her question, "What if it brings relief? You mentioned you didn"t like the darkness yet you live in it here. If you allow, you will have light. A much brighter place," she smiled to see him smile back at her.

"Maybe. Maybe even though I don"t like the darkness it must be what I thrive on," she heard him mutter which she didn"t catch on.

"Huh?"

"It was nothing," Lord Nicholas smiled, his eyes turning small with his brown hairs looking dark, "We have excellent kitchen staff. I hope you find it to your taste."

"Thank you, milord," she thanked him before beginning to eat.

Lord Nicholas was polite to her the entire time as she ate, making conversations with her while he didn"t have to. For a man of his status, he could have left her alone but instead he provided her with his company. It was only because she was the woman whom Leonard care for did Lord Nicholas make an effort to sit with her.

When she finished her meal, Lord Nicholas invited her for a game of chess in the drawing room.

Vivian sat in front of Lord Nicholas with full concentration with her back straight as she stared at him and the board between them. Waiting for him to make the move after she had moved her knight forward.

"You seem to be well taught in the game of chess, Lady Vivian. Was it Leo who taught you?" Lord Nicholas rubbed his chin while looking at the pieces, his eyes hardly moving around the board.

"He did. He was a strict teacher when it came to the game," she said recollecting the fond memories she had with Leonard. He wasn"t lenient when it came to teaching her. During the time he had started to teach her, every wrong move had resulted in her forehead being flicked not so gently by him. At the end of the game, her forehead would be swollen along with the rim of her eyes turned red.

"Fond memories?" she found Lord Nicholas looking up from the chessboard her to which she slightly blushed. Not answering to it she waited for him to move his chess piece. By the end of the game, she couldn"t stop grinning like a child who had received her Christmas present as she had won with her last move. She had thought she would for sure lose.

"Seems like I lost," Lord Nicholas stared at the board with deep concentration as if he couldn"t believe it, "He taught you well."

"Have you never lost a match in chess before, Lord Nicholas," Vivian enquired the Lord who was still pondering on how he had lost.

"Hmm, I haven"t. It is a first for me not even against Leonard," he murmured for her to raise her brows, "If I might ask when was the last time you played the game with him?"
.
"Maybe a year ago," it was the time when Leonard had appeared at the Carmichael mansion suddenly without a word. With Mr and Mrs Carmichael not at home, Leonard had drawn out the board from his cupboard. Unfortunately, they never got to finish the game that day.

"Is that so. Now that you"re a lady, Leonard should take you to the soirees. It would be lovely to see you win against the gentleman of our kind but might I add this," he said, picking up the pieces and placing it neatly in the box to which Vivian helped him with, "The gentleman in our society don"t take losing that well. It is a matter of pride, you see. Don"t worry about me," he gave her a rea.s.suring smile, "Let"s take that I lost it to a pretty girl purposely."

"It might be a coincidence of luck, milord. Would you like to go for another round?" she asked him to hear him chuckle heartily.

"I think I am good," he locked the board before picking it up in his arm, getting up he walked across the room to place the board from where he had picked.

With their game that had come to an end, Vivian didn"t know what to do next. Three days in the Rune"s mansion was going to be long, especially without Leonard not around, "So Vivian, since when have you been working at the Carmichael"s mansion?" she heard Nicholas ask.

"I think since I was six or seven," he hummed in response.

"That"s very young. I didn"t know about you until I got my hands on one of your letters when it was sent to the Rufus" mansion," he smiled making her smile back at him queasily, which letter was he talking about, thought Vivian to herself, "Don"t worry, I didn"t get to read it. Leonard is a private man and more private when it comes to things that are dear to him."

When she was about to get up, he signalled his hand for her to sit down, "Do you mind, milady?" he asked lifting a bottle that was on placed on the shelf. She shook her head quickly to the question.

It was only noon yet she felt somewhat tired. Coming to a strangers house to live all she wanted was to go to the room a.s.signed to her so that she could rest but Lord Nicholas had other plans.

"Don"t you have any siblings my lord?" she asked, seeing him pour his gla.s.s to half full.

"None that I know of," he answered as if giving it a serious thought which made her smile in the process, "How about you?"

What about her? thought Vivian to herself, resonating the question which she had recently begun to ask herself since her hands had begun letting her see things.

"You don"t know," Lord Nicholas came to a conclusion.

She was a maid, after all, it wasn"t uncommon for maids who were brought in the high society to work for families to not know who their family were. Ident.i.ties like that disappeared without notice and then who cared about them? The servants were the lowly beings whose purpose was to serve their owners and masters they belonged to. It didn"t matter to others if they were abandoned or had been brought from the slave establishment.

"The master-slave bond might be broken but you"ll have to register yourself if you want to be a proper lady. You will have to visit the council and sign in a few forms for evaluation," stated the Lord.

"Is that necessary?" she had never heard of such a thing before.

"It is. It seems trivial but it"s for your own safety. My guess is it hasn"t crossed Leonard"s mind yet."

"My own safety?"