Prudence really felt lost in front of him. The crazy king! thought Prudence in her mind. It was true Vincent had told her he could decipher her lies and yet Prudence, in her attempt to knock at every door and window, had lied to him.
"Why did you scream a while back, Prudence?" Vincent asked as he walked with Prudence through the large corridors of his manor.
Prudence's heart raced. If she lied again, of course, he would catch her and god knows how that would turn out. It always looked like Vincent turned bigger in front of her like a devil and no matter how much she strained her heels, her size only reduced as compared to him. "I just wanted to have a conversation with you," Prudence tried to word it as politely as possible. But there was no polite way to explain why some screamed desperately like that.
Vincent slowed down his footsteps because Prudence walking one step behind him. "I was having a conversation with you in the lunchroom. You weren't interested back then," Vincent commented.
Prudence internally looked at the heavens and asked God what had she sinned to be pushed into this hellhole?
"Please don't do anything to Master George," Prudence pleaded, as she deviated from his topic, coming straight to the point. "I promise you I have nothing for him in my heart." She did not want it to be too late to say this as they were nearing the stairway.
Vincent stopped in his track, and it immediately made Prudence stop as well. Prudence halted as well. She was not used to this, but there were some things she was trying to fit the pieces together if she had to look at Vincent as the king. One of the things included never to walk in front of your king and never meet his eyes. Prudence stood in front of Prudence as if she was some maid here offering respects to him.
She hated this, but there were only the maids here to learn from and needed to stay calm to not aggravate Vincent anymore than she already had.
"Look into my eyes when you say the truth, else I will think of them as other lies," Vincent's deep voice reverberated through Prudence's body like a command. Prudence gritted her teeth as her hands turned into a fist. She raised her head up to look at Vincent and when her blue eyes met his crimson eyes, she suddenly realised he had stepped closer to her.
Gasping immediately, Prudence took a step back as one of her hands went over her chest in sudden reaction. Vincent had bent down to her height and when she had looked up, their faces had been too close.
Prudence cleared her throat as she saw Vincent was still expectant of her answer, "His Grace, you don't have to confront George as I hold no feelings for that man."
Vincent hummed, "Calling him only by his name." Prudence panicked at the little blunder she had made. When mouth opened to say a no Vincent placed his index over her lips and said, "You must have known each other for quite a long time that you can refer to him by just his name. It calls for a good chat with him."
"It was a slip, His Grace," Prudence tried to clear, but Vincent had already started walking.
When Prudence caught up with Vincent, he titled his head and passed her a charming smile, "it is going to be a lovely reunion for you today."
"I did not mean it that way," Prudence whispered again, but she knew her words were falling on deaf ears. All she could hope for was that Vincent did not try to do what he had done at her house; pull a gun at George. Knowing George, Prudence only hoped that George did not claim his liking towards her in front of Vincent, or who knew Vincent might pull the trigger this time. The world of the mafia was truly dangerous, Prudence thought as she climbed down the stairs right behind Vincent.
Walking down the long stair and through the corridor, Prudence caught sight of, back of George's head and he was sitting along with a woman who kept correcting her hair.
Oh god was his mother here as well! Prudence felt the dip in her heart in that thought.
Orson, who observed Vincent approach, bowed to His Grace, and this had the guests stand up immediately. Mrs Fiona Edler had a sparkle in her eyes on seeing Vincent up this close. She had arranged for many soirees and parties, but Vincent had never shown up for them. Rather, he had sent Drakos ahead to great the host in Vincent's stead.
"It is such a pleasure to be graced by your presence, His Grace," Mrs Edler said as she bowed in front of him, not noticing the familiar girl that walked behind Vincent.
Vincent flashed his charming smile to the woman and asked, "Lady Fiona, I hope you have been treated well on your way here."
Fiona almost blushed thinking about it. "Lord Drakos is such a charm," she replied, placing her hand on her cheek. Throughout their journey, Drakos and his smooth tongue had convinced Lady Fiona that Vincent had some good intentions with her son. A little mischief that Drakos was.
George, on the other hand, was convinced that the matter was something more serious. As much as his mother was excited, he was becoming increasingly worried.
Vincent took a seat on the big couch while the Edler mother and son were seated. Prudence who had been taking ginger steps not moving ahead so Mrs Edler wouldn't notice was summoned by Vincent, "Prudence come here." Vincent called with his two fingers in a come hither motion. Prudence had her head low and hands tied forwards and if it wasn't for the silk she wore and the pearls that decorated her, she would have looked noting less to a maid in this manor.
Prudence moved to stand beside the couch on which Vincent sat with his legs crossed and the hand closet to Prudence spread on the backrest.
George observed Prudence and the way she had dressed. He had always held her in his eyes despite of her working in the stables. It was something about the way her wavy dark orange hair paired with the ocean blue eyes or maybe the fire that sparked in her time and again. Today, George couldn't seem to take his eyes away from her, seeing her all dolled up.
Vincent, who noticed this, couldn't help but grit his teeth. Someone else eyeing Prudence was not acceptable to him. Even the maids here were not allowed to lift their heads at her.
"Mr George, I heard you take a liking towards Prudence here," Vincent said with a charming smile.
Lady Fiona, who had missed out on the girl while taking in the looks of Vincent, finally looked at the girl. She knew who the girl was. Just because she was dressed well did not mean her origins changed. "My dear Georgie has no such interests," Mrs Edler tried to keep her tone as polite as possible, but the scorn on her face wasn't hidden as she quickly stood up from her seat.
"I am sure I did not question you, Mrs Edler," Vincent turned to the lady as the smile on his face fell, "Let your son do the talking."
"But His Grace," Mrs Edler retorted as she placed her hand on her chest and spoke with fake care ridden expression, "I know my son better than anyone and I raised him very well to be associating with a stable girl like her." Lady Fiona eyed Prudence up and down, doubting how did a stable girl like her come here. She thought Prudence must have begged Vincent to set herself up with George and spoke up again, "His Grace please don't listen to this lowly girl, our status is-"
"Lady Fiona," Vincent's voice was calm, but the underlying warning in it was pretty evident. "I don't like to say things twice," Vincent's eyes went to George, who was hiding behind his mother, "George Edler, I am waiting for you to speak."
Mrs Edler tried to retort again, "But, His Grace, I already said-"
She was tongue-tied the moment Vincent ignored her and passed a look at Orson, "Perhaps Mrs Edler is forgetting her place and eager to meet shadow, why don't you bring him out for her."
The Edlers were one of the very few human families who lived inside Vista Boulevard. Although they were nowhere close to other prestigious vampire families that lived here, they liked to believe in themselves as someone highly esteemed. Mrs Edler had never met Vincent in her life before and was not aware of his ways. She did not care about who this Shadow was. She knew her son's infatuation with the stable girl and she thought she could get favoured over Prudence any day in Vincent's eyes when it came to status.
When Mrs Edler was about to speak again, everyone heard a deep settled growl come from the passage behind Vincent.
Prudence's heart slipped out of her rib cage on hearing the sound, and so did George's. Mrs Edler was frozen in place where she had stood up and it seemed like her body was not responding to her brain.
The sound of chain clinging and another growl set everyone dreaded.
Prudence gulped as she looked at Vincent with creased brows. All this time, Vincent's eyes were fixated on Prudence, and he saw how the tune of her heart had changed. He had threatened with guns in front of Prudence before, and it was his pet now. He knew how she was scared of this world that Vincent ruled over, and Vincent was just making sure she was prepared for the big show he had planned for tomorrow. But right now meeting Shadow was going to be lovely for her.